1.
Croatia
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Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state between Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which one of the countrys primary subdivisions. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres and has diverse, mostly continental, Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The countrys population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, the Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They organised the state into two duchies by the 9th century, tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Petar Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which seceded from Austria-Hungary, a fascist Croatian puppet state backed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany existed during World War II. After the war, Croatia became a member and a federal constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991 Croatia declared independence, which came wholly into effect on 8 October of the same year, the Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration. A unitary state, Croatia is a republic governed under a parliamentary system, the International Monetary Fund classified Croatia as an emerging and developing economy, and the World Bank identified it as a high-income economy. Croatia is a member of the European Union, United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the service sector dominates Croatias economy, followed by the industrial sector and agriculture. Tourism is a significant source of revenue during the summer, with Croatia ranked the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world, the state controls a part of the economy, with substantial government expenditure. The European Union is Croatias most important trading partner, since 2000, the Croatian government constantly invests in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Internal sources produce a significant portion of energy in Croatia, the rest is imported, the origin of the name is uncertain, but is thought to be a Gothic or Indo-Aryan term assigned to a Slavic tribe. The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym *xъrvatъ is of variable stem, the first attestation of the Latin term is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir from the year 852. The original is lost, and just a 1568 copy is preserved—leading to doubts over the authenticity of the claim, the oldest preserved stone inscription is the 9th-century Branimir Inscription, where Duke Branimir is styled as Dux Cruatorvm. The inscription is not believed to be dated accurately, but is likely to be from during the period of 879–892, the area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period
2.
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
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The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna is a public art school of higher education in Vienna, Austria. In 1701 he was ennobled by Emperor Joseph I as Freiherr of the Empire, with his death in 1714, the academy temporarily closed. On 20 January 1725, Emperor Charles VI appointed the Frenchman Jacob van Schuppen as Prefect and Director of the Academy, hofakademie der Maler, Bildhauer und Baukunst. Upon Charles death in 1740, the academy at first declined, however during the rule of his daughter Empress Maria Theresa, a new statute reformed the academy in 1751. The prestige of the academy grew during the deanships of Michelangelo Unterberger and Paul Troger, in 1772, there were further reforms to the organisational structure. Chancellor Wenzel Anton Kaunitz integrated all existing art schools into the k. k. vereinigten Akademie der bildenden Künste, the word vereinigten was later dropped. In 1822 the art cabinet grew significantly with the bequest of honorary member Anton Franz de Paula Graf Lamberg-Sprinzenstein and his collection still forms the backbone of the art on display. In 1872 Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria approved a statute making the academy the supreme government authority for the arts, a new building was constructed according to plans designed by the faculty Theophil Hansen in the course of the layout of the Ringstraße boulevard. On 3 April 1877, the building on Schillerplatz in the Innere Stadt district was inaugurated. In 1907 and 1908, young Adolf Hitler, who had come from Linz, was denied admission to the drawing class. He stayed in Vienna, subsisting on his allowance. Soon he had withdrawn into poverty and started selling amateur paintings, mostly watercolours, during the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany from 1938–1945, the academy was forced to heavily reduce its number of Jewish staff. After World War II, the academy was reconstituted in 1955 and it has had university status since 1998, but retained its original name. It is currently the only Austrian university that doesnt have the university in its name. The Academy currently has about 900 students, almost a quarter of which are foreign students and its faculty includes stars such as Peter Sloterdijk. 110,000 volumes and its etching cabinet has about 150,000 drawings, the collection is one of the biggest in Austria, and is used for academic purposes, although portions are also open to the general public. Official website website of the Media Server Study in Austria, A Guide
3.
Zagreb
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Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of Croatia. It is located in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately 122 m above sea level. In the last official census of 2011 the population of the City of Zagreb was 792,875, the wider Zagreb metropolitan area includes the City of Zagreb and the separate Zagreb County bringing the total metropolitan area population up to 1,237,887. It is the biggest metropolitan area in Croatia, and the one with a population of over one million. Zagreb is a city with a history dating from the Roman times to the present day. The oldest settlement located in the vicinity of the city was the Roman Andautonia, the name Zagreb is recorded in 1134, in reference to the foundation of the settlement at Kaptol in 1094. Zagreb became a royal town in 1242. In 1851 Zagreb had its first mayor, Janko Kamauf, and in 1945 it was made the capital of Croatia when the demographic boom, the city extends over 30 kilometres east-west and around 20 kilometres north-south. The transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific, and research institutions, Zagreb is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies, and almost all government ministries. Almost all of the largest Croatian companies, media, and scientific institutions have their headquarters in the city and it is a city known for its diverse economy, high quality of living, museums, sporting, and entertainment events. Its main branches of economy are high-tech industries and the service sector, the etymology of the name Zagreb is unclear. It was used of the city only from 1852, but it had been in use as the name of the Zagreb dioecese since the 12th century. The name is first recorded in a charter by Ostrogon archbishop Felician, dated 1134, the older form of the name is Zagrab, the modern Croatian form Zagreb is first recorded in a 1689 map by Nicolas Sanson. An even older form is reflected in Hungarian Zabrag, for this, Desy proposes the etymology of Chabrag, a well-attested hypocorism of the name Cyprian. The same form is reflected in a number of Hungarian toponyms, the name Agram was used in German in the Habsburg period, this name has been classified as probably of Roman origin but according to Desy it could be an Austrian German reanalysis of *Zugram. In Middle Latin and Modern Latin, Zagreb is known as Agranum, in Croatian folk etymology, the name of the city has been derived from either the verb za-grab-, meaning to scoop or to dig. One folk legend illustrating this derivation ties the name to a drought of the early 14th century, in another legend, a city governor is thirsty and orders a girl named Manda to scoop water from Manduševac well, using the imperative, zagrabi, Mando. The oldest settlement located near todays Zagreb was a Roman town of Andautonia, now Šćitarjevo, Gradec and Kaptol were united in 1851 by ban Josip Jelačić, who was credited for this, with the naming the main city square, Ban Jelačić Square in his honour
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History painting
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History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than artistic style. History paintings usually depict a moment in a story, rather than a specific and static subject. The term is derived from the senses of the word historia in Latin and Italian, meaning story or narrative. Most history paintings are not of scenes from history, especially paintings from before about 1850, History paintings almost always contain a number of figures, often a large number, and normally show some type of action that is a moment in a narrative. The genre includes depictions of moments in religious narratives, above all the Life of Christ, as well as scenes from mythology. These groups were for long the most frequently painted, works such as Michelangelos Sistine Chapel ceiling are therefore history paintings, History painting may be used interchangeably with historical painting, and was especially so used before the 20th century. Where a distinction is made historical painting is the painting of scenes from secular history, in the 19th century historical painting in this sense became a distinct genre. In phrases such as historical painting materials, historical means in use before about 1900 and he placed emphasis on the ability to depict the interactions between the figures by gesture and expression. This view remained general until the 19th century, when artistic movements began to struggle against the establishment institutions of academic art, which continued to adhere to it. Scenes from ancient history had been popular in the early Renaissance, and once again became common in the Baroque and Rococo periods, and still more so with the rise of Neoclassicism. In some 19th or 20th century contexts, the term may refer specifically to paintings of scenes from history, rather than those from religious narratives. Scenes from ancient history and mythology were also popular, artists continued for centuries to strive to make their reputation by producing such works, often neglecting genres to which their talents were better suited. The large works of Raphael were long considered, with those of Michelangelo, un Peintre qui ne fait que des portraits, na pas encore cette haute perfection de lArt, & ne peut prétendre à lhonneur que reçoivent les plus sçavans. He who produces perfect landscapes is above another who only produces fruit, a painter who only does portraits still does not have the highest perfection of his art, and cannot expect the honour due to the most skilled. By the late 18th century, with religious and mytholological painting in decline, there was an increased demand for paintings of scenes from history. Classical history remained popular, but scenes from national histories were often the best-received, the unheroic nature of modern dress was regarded as a serious difficulty. When, in 1770, Benjamin West proposed to paint The Death of General Wolfe in contemporary dress and he ignored these comments and showed the scene in modern dress. Although George III refused to purchase the work, West succeeded both in overcoming his critics objections and inaugurating a more historically accurate style in such paintings. M. W, conveniently their clothes had been worn away to classical-seeming rags by the point the painting depicts
5.
August Eisenmenger
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August Eisenmenger was an Austrian painter of portraits and historical subjects. At the age of fifteen, Eisenmenger was already a student at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, in 1848, his financial circumstances forced him to leave the Academy. He didnt find a position until he became a student/employee at Carl Rahls studio in 1856. In 1863, he became a teacher at the Protestant School in Vienna. He eventually obtained a professorship at the Academy in 1872 and he also established a private school where he taught Rahls style of monumental painting. Rudolf Ernst was one of his best known pupils there, iHe died in Vienna in 1907. In 1913, a street in Viennas Döbling district was named after him, later, that street was removed for an industrial site and a new street was dedicated to him in the Favoriten district in 1959. Apollo and the Nine Muses, ceiling panels in the Vienna Musikverein, the ceiling panels in the Grand Hotel. The Twelve Months, an oil panel at the Palais Gutmann Ancestral portraits and panels depicting episodes in the lives of Maximilian I and Leopold V, at Hernstein Castle. The frieze medallions at the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna Frieze medallions in the room of the Chamber of Deputies in the Austrian Parliament Building. Werner Kitlitschka, Die Malerei der Wiener Ringstraße, verlag Steiner, Wiesbaden 1981, ISBN 3-515-02484-0. Media related to August Eisenmenger at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Ferdinand Keller (painter)
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Ferdinand Keller, or von Keller was a German genre and history painter. His father was a civil engineer, in 1857, when he was fifteen, his father was awarded a contract to design bridges, roads and dams in Brazil. Ferdinand and his brother Franz were able to accompany him, over the course of a four-year stay, he was able to teach himself drawing by sketching the tropical landscape. Shortly after their return, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe, where he studied with Johann Wilhelm Schirmer, after Schirmers death, he studied with Ludwig des Coudres. He was unsatisfied with the Academy, however, and took private lessons the studio of Hans Canon and this was followed, in 1866 and 1867, by study trips to Switzerland and France. He achieved his first recognition with his painting The Death of Philip II at the International Exposition, from 1867 to 1869, he lived in Rome, where he made the acquaintance of Anselm Feuerbach and maintained a joint studio with him. In 1870, he became a teacher of portrait and history painting at the Karlsruhe Academy and was appointed a Professor in 1873, from 1880 to 1913, he served as Director. In addition to his paintings, he provided decorations and curtains for the new Karlsruhe Court Theater. His decorations for the King Carl Hall at the Landesmuseum Württemberg pleased the King so much that he awarded Keller a title of nobility, frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden, commissioned him to paint the History of Baden for the National Art Gallery. On a smaller scale, his etchings have been used to illustrate numerous books and he died in 1922 in Baden-Baden. A street in Karlsruhe was named after him in 1964, michael Koch, Ferdinand Keller, Karlsruhe, C. F. Müller,1978 ISBN 3-7880-9618-7 Leo Mülfarth, Kleines Lexikon Karlsruher Maler, Karlsruhe 1987, pgs. 70-72, ISBN 3-7617-0250-7, S. 70-72 Eva-Maria Froitzheim, Ferdinand Keller. Zeichnungen, Karlsruhe 1992, ISBN 3-925212-18-3 Literature by and about Ferdinand Keller in the German National Library catalogue
7.
Exposition Universelle (1900)
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The style that was universally present in the Exposition was Art Nouveau. The staging of the first International Exhibition in 1855 was motivated by a desire to re-establish pride, the succession of exhibitions followed the same theme, the regeneration of nationality after war. Eight years before the launch of the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, countries from around the world were invited by France to showcase their achievements and lifestyles, the Exposition Universelle was a uniting and learning experience. It presented the opportunity for foreigners to realize the similarities between nations as well as their unique differences, new cultures were experienced and an overall better understanding of the values each country had to offer was gained. The learning atmosphere aided in attempts to increase cultural tolerance, deemed necessary after a period of war, the early announcement and the massively positive response disenchanted the interest that had been circling around the first German International Exposition. It is suspected that the Exposition Universelle did not do as well financially as expected because the public did not have the funds to participate in the fair. The 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle was so expensive to organize and run that the cost per visitor ended up being about six hundred more than the price of admission. The exhibition lost a total of 82,000 francs after six months in operation. Many Parisians had invested money in shares sold to raise money for the event, with a much larger expected turnout the exhibit sites had gone up in value. Continuing to pay rent for the sites became increasingly hard for concessionaires as they were receiving fewer customers than anticipated, the concessionaires went on strike, which ultimately resulted in the closure of a large part of the exposition. To resolve the matter, the concessionaires were given a refund of the rent they had paid. The financial consequences of the 1900 Exposition Universelle were devastating for many Parisians, the Exposition Universelle was where talking films and escalators were first publicized, and where Campbells Soup was awarded a gold medal. At the exposition Rudolf Diesel exhibited his engine, running on peanut oil. Brief films of excerpts from opera and ballet were apparently the first films exhibited publicly with projection of both image and recorded sound, the exposition also featured many panoramic paintings and extensions of the panorama technique, such as the Cinéorama, Mareorama, and Trans-Siberian Railway Panorama. The centrepiece of the Palais de lOptique was the 1. 25-metre-diameter Great Exposition Refractor and this telescope was the largest refracting telescope at that time. The optical tube assembly was 60 meters long and 1.5 meters in diameter, light from the sky was sent into the tube by a movable 2-meter mirror. Partly organized by Booker Washington and W. E. B, du Bois, this exhibition aimed at showing African Americans positive contributions to American society. Many of the buildings constructed for the Exposition Universelle were demolished after the conclusion of the exposition, many of the buildings were built on a framework of wood, and covered with staff, which was formed into columns, statuary, walls, stairs, etc
8.
Matica hrvatska
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Matica hrvatska is the oldest independent, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution. It was founded on February 2,1842 by the Croatian Count Janko Drašković, Matica Hrvatska is also one of the largest and most important book and magazine publishers in Croatia. Magazines issued by Matica are Vijenac, Hrvatska revija and Kolo, Matica Hrvatska also publishes many books in one of its most famous editions called Stoljeća hrvatske književnosti. As of 2015 Matica has 120 branches in, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Hungary and Serbia. The name Matica is best translated as The Centre, although the term matica in this context translates as queen bee or parent body, according to this, the name of Matica hrvatska can be literally translated into english as Parent body of the Croats. Therefore, Count Janko Drašković proposed founding Matica as a part of the Illyrian reading room that was founded on August 4,1838, Matica hrvatska was officially founded on February 10,1842 in Zagreb as Matica ilirska. It was stated that its purpose was, Publication of old classical Illyrian, especially those from Dubrovnik. From 1846 to 1886, with interruptions, Matica ilirska had its headquarters in the National home palace. In 1862 the same organization as Matica ilirska was founded in Dalmatia, Matica dalmatinska had the same role in Dalmatia as Matica ilirska had in Croatia and Slavonia. Its purpose was to care for croatian cultural and language in Dalmatia as well as to publish books and its first president was Croatian politician from Zadar Miho Klaić. In 1912 Matica dalmatinska mergered into Matica hrvatska, First two books published by Matica were printed in Vienna in 1844 because of the censorship imposed by the central Government on Croatia. 1840s and 1850s were particularly difficult for Matica ilirska, although Statute of Matica was finally approved in 1847 book publishing and cultural life of the nation were not a priority at the moment due to the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Bach encouraged centralization of the Austrian Empire in favor of Vienna, in Croatia, the Government and Parliament were abolished, Croatian counties lost their historical independence while German language became official. Matica ilirska started to work as an independent organization in 1850 after the Illyrian reading room was abolished, in this period Matica was publishing magazine Neven. When the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts was founded in 1866 Matica ilirska joined with it so they could print and publish literary. However, due to many disagreements these institutions gradually ended cooperation, during the presidency of Ivan Mažuranić Matica started to publish literary-science magazine Književnik and Vijenac. Also Hrvatsko kolo and Glas Matice hrvatske were being published, after Matica ilirska ended its cooperation with Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1874 it regained its full independence. In this period the president was Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski during whose presidency Matica ilirska changed its name in Matica hrvatska because the first name lost its role, in this period Matica assert itself as the largest publisher in Croatia because it published approximately 250 books
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Media related to Oton Iveković at Wikimedia Commons
