BelchSpeak » Art

Owner of Stolen Art Lied to FBI of Renoir Painting’s Origins

Dr. Jones — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 15:39:06 +0000

A Renoir painting disappeared from a Baltimore Museum in 1951. It eventually wound up in the hands of Marcia Fuqua of Virginia, who claimed that she bought the painting for 7 bucks at a flea market. When the FBI started investigating the theft and the re-emergence of the painting, Fuqua wrote the FBI claiming that she had no training in fine arts. Which was a lie, and something that could land her in very hot water.

There is a great write up of this story at the WaPo here. No one is claiming that Fuqua’s Mom stole the painting, but Fuqua’s lies to the FBI is enough to land her in jail.

Who’d Mess With PopEye?

Dr. Jones — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 00:52:27 +0000

Popeye the Sailor was one of my absolute favorite cartoon characters when I was a kid. Sadly, my own boy doesn’t share my enthusiasm because all the best cartoon are “gray” according to him. Max Fleisher’s animation was wondrous, and likely would have overtaken Walt Disney’s talents. But the mumbling, jovial coastie who loved flat-chested chicks and didn’t take guff from anyone, has now been modeled in 3D. And looking at him now, who the hell, Bluto included, would want to mess with him?

More great pics of this at LaughingSquid.

By the way- those swollen forearms? That was a common malady of sailors who used to have to scrape barnacles from hulls day-in and day-out. Its a form of tendonitis and inflammation of those muscles. And its even scarier looking in real life.

Woman Finds Renoir Masterpiece at WV Flea Market Worth 100K

Dr. Jones — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:28:34 +0000

The woman bought a Renoir. It was in a box with a lot of other art stuff. She liked the frame. Paid 7 bucks for the whole box. How it disappeared from public view in 1926 and wound up in West Virginia is anyone’s guess.

Jon McNaughton’s Obamanation Painting

Dr. Jones — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:59:55 +0000

This outstanding artist has captured all of Obama’s radical failures as President. And this video is going viral.

His website is here.

Granny Botched a Fresco Painting Restoration

Dr. Jones — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 19:10:22 +0000

This is so awful you just have to laugh. An elderly woman, upset at a deteriorated fresco painted by a Spanish Master, took out her own paintbrush and paints and completely mauled the artwork.

From the BBC here:

An elderly parishioner has stunned Spanish cultural officials with an alarming and unauthorised attempt to restore a prized Jesus Christ fresco.

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Elias Garcia Martinez has held pride of place in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza for more than 100 years.

The woman took her brush to it after years of deterioration due to moisture.

Cultural officials said she had the best intentions and hoped it could be properly restored.

The once-dignified portrait now resembles a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic, he says.

So freakin’ hilarious. Thanks to Penn Jillette

I retweeted this but I’ve also get to tweet it.It’s just too funny.Man, it’s funny.Kills me. bbc.co.uk/news/world-eur…

— Penn Jillette (@pennjillette) August 22, 2012

Tranny-Chicken

Dr. Jones — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 02:00:02 +0000

Tranny-Chicken, a photo by BelchSpeak on Flickr.

A very unusual piece of art was hanging in a local gallery here in Key West. It featured a cross-dressing chicken, complete with bustier, fishnets and high heels.

Hey, why did the cross dressing chicken cross the road? Because it had its dick stuck in the bi-curious duck that was crossing the road.

Backyard Bear Battle

Dr. Jones — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 22:15:09 +0000

Saw this over at Breitbart. Two big-ass bears slapping at each other seems kinda terrifying.

Just have to be brave.

Snot-Nosed God

Dr. Jones — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 05:46:30 +0000

Snot-Nosed God, a photo by BelchSpeak on Flickr.

There is a gigantic buddhist head in the lobby of the Hotel Valencia in San Jose. For whatever reason, water constantly drips down the face and nose of this ghastly sculpture, making the statue look like it has a perpetually snotty nose.

Every time I walk by I want to offer the statue a gigantic tissue.

Yoko Ono’s Dirty Art

Dr. Jones — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:34:40 +0000

It is truly amazing that a talentless hack can keep getting her art put on display. Now Yoko has piles of dirt in a room and is calling it art.

From the DailyMail here:

To The Light, in the Serpentine Gallery, is her first exhibition in a London public institution for more than a decade.
In one work of art on display there are three identical mounds of earth labeled ‘Country A’ ‘Country B’ and ‘Country C’ in front of the classic ‘War Is Over’ poster she made with John Lennon.

At least she’s not still singing. Bad art is bad art, but of course bad artists just blame the beholder for not understanding their shitty art.

Bad At-At!

Dr. Jones — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:55:28 +0000

Bad At-At!, a photo by BelchSpeak on Flickr.

I saw this at the Porch bar on Duval Street. A great print, but it was really tough to grab a photo due to the glare of the glass. As usual, Genius-Scan for the iPhone is your friend.