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Tag: Kandinsky
Die Sünde by Franz von Stuck
Die Sünde by Franz von Stuck (1893)
Today I am want to look at the life and times of one of Wassily Kandinsky's early art tutors, the German painter of mythological and allegorical scenes, Franz von Stuck. Stuck was not just simply a painter. He was a man on many talents. Stuck was also a sculptor, printmaker, illustrator and architect.
Franz von Stuck was born in 1863 in Tettenweis, a village in the farming area outside the city of Passau and which lies close to the Austrian-German border about 150 kilometres north east of Munich. He was brought up in a moderately affluent Catholic family who plied their trade as farmers and millers. He enjoyed drawing from an early age and it is said that when he was just six years of age he would spend time drawing caricatures of the local village people. At the age of fifteen he went to Munich to study art. He first attended the Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule, a high school of applied arts in the city. One of his teachers was the German landscape painter Ferdinand Barth. After three years at this school, Stuck transferred to Munich's Akademie der Bildenden Künste (The Academy of Fine Arts) where he received tuition from the German history painter, Wilhelm Lindenschmit the Younger and Ludwig Löftz. Once he had completed his art tuition at the Akademie he found some work as an illustrator for various Munich publications such as Die Jugend, a cultural weekly publication, which soon became a style-setting icon that launched the German art nouveau movement, named Jugendstil, after the magazineand the Fliegenden Blätter (Flying Pages), which was the name of a humorous and satirical German weekly magazine which was full of illustrations and caricatures. Stuck's input in these magazines over a four year period enhanced his reputation as an artist and illustrator.
In 1889, he began to paint in oils and that year he submitted his work, Der Wächter des Paradieses (The Guardian of Paradise) for inclusion at the Jahresausstellung exhibition at the Glastpalast in Munich. This venue was the glass and iron edifice modeled after London's Crystal Palace. The building, like the Crystal Palace, was destroyed by fire, in 1931 and resulted in the destruction of over a hundred artworks from the early 19th century . For his painting, Franz Stuck was awarded a gold medal and a prize of sixty thousand gold marks. This painting depicted a mythological scene and was the type of depictions that would appear in many of his works, the best of which was thought to be his paintings which depicted a solitary figure rather than his group figure works. Franz Stuck had become a leading figure in the Munich avant-garde side of art life but also figured prominently in the official art world of the German city.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Munich was a place at the forefront of German art. It was a charismatic city for German artists of every style who wanted to create something new, something different. The city itself had a young, modern, and exciting feel about it and was a place where artists could create and conceive new styles. The majority of Munich's fine art painters belonged to the Königlich-privilegierte Münchener Künstlergenossenschaft (MKG) (Privileged Royal Artists' Association of Munich). This was the largest social and professional society for artists in Bavaria which had been founded in 1869. Its remit was to further the interests of a wide range of artists both in and around Munich. All was well until the Künstlergenossenschaft Salons (The Society's exhibitions) of 1889 and 1891 when the jurists, the people whose job it was to decide which works of art would be exhibited, chose a large number works which were blatantly biased towards Naturalism, Impressionism and Symbolism. Following this the majority of artists within the Society voted for the implementation of regulations which would insist that future juries would cease favouring any one kind of art and guarantee that diversity of outlook would be their key criteria when choosing works for inclusion. Over a hundred artists within the Association refused to accept this dictate and seceded in April 1892. One of the co-founders of this new group of artists was Franz von Stuck.
More than a hundred artists came together as a new group by founding the Verein bildender Künstler Münchens e. V. Secession (Association of fine artists in Munich Secession). This new artistic grouping refused the historicism propagated by the academies and wanted to create something new. Their motto was that art concerns the whole man and the whole social life. Besides the artists themselves, there were some very influential backers to the formation of this new association such as George Hirth the writer, publisher and founder of the avant-garde magazine Jugend. Initially the Secession found little favour with official circles because of its modernist leaning and in the belief that this Secession would bring disunity to the Munich art scene and would lead to the fall from grace of Munich as a great centre of German art and allow Berlin to take its place as the centre of German culture. However once the Secessionists gained in popularity, the official line changed and Luitpold, who was then Prince Regent ofBavaria, and other government officials gave their full support to the Secessionists, provided them with financial support and bought up many of the paintings from their exhibitions. At the Secessionist exhibition in 1893 Franz von Stuck's painting Die Sünde (The Sin) was shown and it caused a sensation.
In 1895 Franz von Stuck was given the position of professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, in Munich, an establishment where he had once studied. Two of his most famous students were Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky, both of whom would go on to establish the Blaue Reiter art group. He also became chairman of the board of the Genossenschaft Pan [Pan Co-operative], designing the covers for Pan, its art magazine. It was around this time that he designed and had built the Villa Stuck for himself. It was testament to his extraordinary abilities in design, sculpture, interior decoration and architecture. He also designed the furniture for his house and these won him another gold medal, at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris.
Franz had an affair with Anna Maria Brandmaier, the daughter of a local baker, which resulted in the birth of a daughter, Mary Franziska Anna. The child was given into the care of Mary Lindpaintner, a wealthy American widow of a Munich physician. On March 15th 1897 von Stuck married Mary Lindpaintner and his daughter grew up in his own house. Seven years later, in 1904 he and his wife would formally adopt her after a legal battle against the young girl's natural mother. He also adopted the two children from Mary's first marriage, Olga and Otto.
In 1906 he was knighted as Franz Ritter von Stuck. His Symbolist paintings, including many sensual nudes, and combine a linear style with an erotic flare. In 1913, at the height of his artistic success and fame, Stuck decided to build a studio next to the villa. Completed in 1914, it was double the size of the existing structure and contained two stories. The first floor was for sculpture and the second, with its 16.5-meter-wide, 7-meter-high dome was used for painting. Franz von Stuck died in Munich on August 30, 1928 aged 65. His house, Villa Stuck, remains a living testament to the man and the artist. Villa Stuck is a nationally and internationally renowned meeting place for the art of the 19th bis 21. to 21 Jahrhunderts. Century. Eine bedeutende Sammlung von Werken Franz von Stucks (1863-1928) und internationale Ausstellungen zur Kunst um 1900 sowie zur modernen und zeitgenössischen Kunst machen die Villa Stuck zu einem einzigartigen Ort des Kunsterlebens. An important collection of works by Franz von Stuck and as well as international exhibitions of modern and contemporary art transform Villa Stuck into a unique place.
My featured painting today is Stuck's highly acclaimed work entitled Die Sünde (The Sin) which he completed in 1893 and is now housed in the Neue Pinakothek Museum, Munich. It was first exhibited at the Secessionist Exhibition of 1893 and which, at that time, caused a sensation by the controversial nature of the depiction. It is by far his best known painting of which he made many versions in the period of from 1891 to 1912. The main effect of the painting is created by the contrasts in the colours and by the concept of the picture.
In the painting we see a woman who coyly exhibits her bare breasts and stomach which the artist has bathed in light whilst the he has hidden the rest of her body in the darkness of an alcove. A snake lies on her right shoulder and the reptile curves around the back of the woman's neck and along her left shoulder. The snake symbolises original sin for it was a snake that tempted Eve to eat first the fruit from the tree of knowledge, and then it was she who tempted Adam. The woman in the painting is not a woman but women in general. In this painting the woman, with her snake, represents evil. The woman before us is controlling us, the viewer, us, the voyeur. She is tempting us. We stand still in front of her and cannot avert our eyes. She is mesmerising us. She is inviting us to join her. Are we sucked in by her beauty even though we know the dangers that would follow? The viewer is curious and may be longing for adventure and is willing to submit himself or herself to the attraction of the unknown. If we were to step forward into the painting we would cut off the source of light and all would be dark and we would be left with just the woman and her snake, then what?
The massive gilded frame of the painting adds to the contrast with the darkness of the painting itself. Such heavy frames as this one were very common in Jugendstil art, with the artists themselves designing their own frames for their own works of art.
When it was first exhibited in its present home, the Neue Pinakothek Museum, Munich, it caused a sensation with crowds flocking to see this piece of seductive and erotic art. The painting left a lasting impression on those who viewed it and this effect was described by one who viewed the work:
"…The fame of the painting drove us through the galleries; we stopped nowhere and opened our eyes for the first time when we were finally standing opposite it. It was displayed on a special easel in its broad, monumental gold frame, […] and now all three of us stared at the night of hair and snake which did not allow too much of the pale, female body to be seen. The shadowed face with the bluish-white of the dark eyes was less important to me at first than the iron sheen of the nestling snake, its evil, beautifully designed head and the dull chequered pattern on its back, over which a delicate blue line ran like a seam. […] There are works of art that strengthen our sense of community, and there are others that seduce us into isolation. Stuck's painting belonged to the latter group.."'
Author jonathan5485Posted on August 8, 2012 Categories Art, Art Blog, Art display, Franz von Stuck, German artistsTags Art, Art Blog, Art History, Dieünde by Franz von Stuck, Franz von Stuck, German painter, Jugendstil, Kandinsky1 Comment on Die Sünde by Franz von Stuck
Compositions, Impressions and Improvisations by Kandinsky
Impression III (Concert) by Kandinsky (1911)
Impressions III (Concert) was painted by Kandinsky soon after he had attended a concert by Arnold Schonberg in Munich in 1911 and according to the exhibition catalogue notes the painting should be looked upon as:
"…one of modern art's most outstanding examples of synaesthesia, correspondences between music and painting that other early twentieth-century artists sought. A dynamic wave of yellow paint flows across the painting from left to right like a great swell of sound that seemingly reverberates to and fro. Above it in the upper half of the painting is an energetic black in a diagonal position. In the preparatory pencil sketches one can clearly decipher the scene with the open, black grand piano as well as the curved backs of the seated listeners and those standing along the wall…"
This is my final look at the later life of Wassily Kandinsky and some of his more abstract works of art. In this blog I am featuring three of his these works, one from each of his three self-classified categories. After 1910, Kandinsky decided to compartmentalise his work into three groups. The first he called Impressions and these paintings would still retain an element of naturalistic representation. They would be direct impressions of nature. The second category he deemed would be Improvisations and these paintings would convey spontaneous emotional reactions inspired by events of a spiritual type. The last category he termed Compositions. These were paintings which were not done spontaneously but put together carefully, over a period of time, following a number of preliminary studies. These were to be his most complicated works. Although the titles he gave to the three categories seems somewhat arbitrary in fact they harked back to his love of music and in the way he connected, in his own mind, art and music. He would often add musical titles to his individual works such as Fugue, Opposing Chords or Funeral March. By doing this, he wanted to evoke sound through sight and create the painterly equivalent of a symphony that would stimulate not just the eyes but the ears as well.
Kandinsky is believed to have had synaesthesia. Synaesthesia comes from two Greek words Syn which means together and Aesthesis which means sensation. It is a condition that allows a person to appreciate sounds, colours or words with two or more senses simultaneously. Kandinsky believed that colours and painted marks triggered particular sounds or musical notes and vice versa. Did Kandinsky have synaesthesia? Maybe we will never know for sure but what we do know is that he was preoccupied all his life with the correlation between sound and colour. Following a performance of Wagner's great opera Lohengrin in Moscow Kandinsky recalled:
"…I saw all my colours in spirit, before my eyes. Wild, almost crazy lines were sketched in front of me…"
Let me now return to his life story. In my last blog we had reached the point when Kandinsky and some of his artist friends had set up Der Blaue Reiter group as a rival to their previous exhibiting association the NKVM (The Neue Künstlervereinigung München). In the first exhibition held by the Der Blaue Reiter group, Kandinsky exhibited three of his works, entitled, Impression-Moscow, Improvisation 22 andthe painting which had been rejected by the NKVM jury, Composition V. The exhibition came with a small almanac that Kandinsky and Franz Marc had been working on and the foreword of which set out to explain what visitors to the exhibition would see. They wrote:
"…We are not seeking to propagate any precise or special form in this small exhibition. Our purpose is to show, in the variety of forms here represented, how the inner wish of the artist takes shape in manifold forms…"
The exhibition which besides including works from artists, Kandinsky and Münter, included works from Franz Marc, Auguste Macke, Henri Rousseau to name but a few. It also included strange sketches by the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg. It was a confusing mish-mash of works, and artistic styles, which totally baffled and stunned both viewers and art critics alike. Even the most benevolent critics found great difficulty in finding some sort of common ground between the various artistic styles on show. It was also around the time of this first exhibition that Kandinsky published his book Uber das Gestige in Kunst (Concerning the Spiritual in Art) in which he presented the reader with his thoughts about what he envisioned was the new purpose of art and his writing showed the great diversity of Kandinsky's intellectual and artistic awareness. In his book he discussed the spiritual foundations of art and the nature of artistic creation. He also wrote an analysis of colour, form and the role of the object in art, as well as the question of abstraction.
Improvisation 19 by Kandinsky (1911)
Improvisation 19 was completed by Kandinsky in 1911. Annegret Hoberg, the curator at the Städtische Galerie, Lenbachhaus, Munich, which houses many of Kandinsky's paintings, including this one, wrote about the painting in the exhibition catalogue:
"…It seems as if an unknown ritual occurs in Improvisation 19, a kind of initiation and enlightenment of figures who can be understood as novices. One sees translucent figures outlined only in black. On the left is a procession of smaller form presses forward to the front, followed by shades of colour. The largest part of the painting, however, is filled with a wonderful, supernatural blue, which also shines through the group of figures shown in profile on the right, who seem to move toward a goal outside the painting. The spiritual impact of these long, totally incorporeal figures draws both on the uniformity (that is, they are all the same height, as in Byzantine pictures of saints) and on the fact that deep blue, almost violet shade in their heads may symbolize extinction or transition….This work underscores Kandinsky's almost messianic expectation of salvation through painting…"
The onset of World War I in 1914 affected Kandinsky, as being a Russian citizen, he had to leave Munich immediately. He along with Gabriele Münter left and went to Goldach in Switzerland, a small town on Lake Konstanz. They remained there until December of that year when Kandinsky went to Moscow and Münter travelled to Stockholm where she would remain and wait for him. Kandinsky did go to Stockholm and met with Münter for the last time. Their close relationship which had started back in 1902 had recently being deteriorating and by March 1916, it had run its course and the one-time lovers parted for the final time. Kandinsky returned to Moscow and soon after his arrival in the Russian capital he met a young woman, Nina von Andreyevskaya, the daughter of a Russian general, and in February 1917 the two were married.
Whilst in Moscow Kandinsky spent much of his time not only painting but working as a teacher, writer and administrator. He immersed himself in the cultural politics of Russia and collaborated in the new reforms in art education. He was director of the theatre and film section of Narkompros, which was the Peoples Commissariat for Enlightenment. In February 1919 the Museums of Painterly Culture were established in Moscow and St Petersburg and Kandinsky became the first director of the institutions and worked hard to expand the organization by setting up a further twenty-two museums in the Russian provinces. In May 1920 Kandinsky helped set up Inkhuk, the Institute for Artistic Culture and he formulated a curriculum for the teaching of art which was based on his strongly held belief that there was an inter-relationship between art and music and looked closely at fundamental forms and colours. His theories did not go down with many of the Russian avant-garde artists on the staff of the institute. They firmly rejected any kind of irrationality in the creative process and because of such differing views between these leading artists and himself Kandinsky found his position weakened and ultimately untenable.
In the autumn of 1921 a road to salvation was offered to him by Walter Gropius, a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School in Berlin, who invited Kandinsky and his wife to visit the school. This was a different Germany from the one he left at the outbreak of war. Many of his artist friends, such as Franz Marc and Auguste Macke, had been killed fighting in the war, whilst others had moved away. The Berlin art scene had changed. The Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) movement was now to the fore. This grouping of German artists executed works in a realistic style, and they reflected what was characterized as the resignation and cynicism of the post-World War I period in Germany. Leading protagonists of this style of art were George Grosz, Otto Dix and Max Beckman. Also popular at the time were the works of the Expressionists and the cultural movement known as Dadaism. This movement was, in the main, a protest against the brutality of the War and the members were also against what they believed was an oppressive intellectual rigidity in both German art and its everyday society. All of these artistic genres were diametrically opposed to all forms of abstract art, and so when, on arrival in Berlin, Gropius offered him a professorship in the Bauhaus in Weimar, Kandinsky jumped at the chance to start a new life in a new city.
In 1924, an artist friend from his Munich days, Paul Jawlensky, introduced Kandinsky to the German art collector and art dealer, Emmy Scheyer. At that meeting she also met Kandinsky's fellow Bauhaus faculty members, Lyonel Feininger and Paul Klee. She formed the four artists into an exhibition group called Blaue Vier (The Blue Four) and Scheyer became their representative in America. The four artists often toured, sometimes as far as America, giving lectures and staging Blaue Vier art exhibitions.
When Kandinsky left Russia he had to leave the majority of his paintings behind. They were sold but the return on them was poor due to the falling value of the Russian currency. However during his eleven years at the Bauhaus he completed over three hundred paintings and several hundred watercolours, all of which he catalogued. His time at the Bauhaus ended in 1932. The previous year had marked the start of a vitriolic campaign against the Bauhaus by the Nazi party and the following year they had it shut down. Kandinsky and his wife fled from Germany and went to Paris and settled in a new apartment in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Kandinsky continued to paint and within twelve months living in Paris his output totaled an amazing 144 oil paintings and approximately 250 watercolours. Kandinsky, although born in Russia, had been granted German citizenship in 1928 but when he tried to renew his passport in 1939, his request was declined. That year, just before the start of World War II, Kandinsky managed to obtain French citizenship.
Composition IX by Kandinsky (1936)
Composition IX was completed by Kandinsky in 1936. In the work we can make out multiple diagonal bands of colours and small shapes that resemble embryos as much as crustaceans. This canvas earned Kandinsky criticism for not sufficiently articulating the background and the shapes. Nevertheless, it is one of the rare large format canvasses to which Kandinsky once again applied the name of "Composition". In his book, Concerning the Spiritual in art, he said that this one, of all his "Compositions", was his most accomplished painting. In total, he completed only ten in all throughout his entire career. Sadly, when the French government purchased it for just 5000 francs rather than the 100,000 he had demanded, he felt quite humiliated. This complex canvas is in fact one of the two works that the French State bought from Kandinsky during his lifetime.
His last known watercolours and drawings were completed in the summer of 1944 and he held his last exhibition at the Parisian gallery, Galerie L'Esquisse that same year. Wassily Kandinsky died of arteriosclerosis in December 1944, aged 78.
I have to admit I have struggled with this blog, the third covering the life and times of Wassily Kandinsky. I struggle to understand abstract art even though leading up to this offering I have read reams of information with regards this type of art. I have included three of Kandinsky's paintings, one from each of his designated "types". I will not insult those of you who are very knowledgeable about this form of art by trying to explain, interpret and analyse the works but have relied on exhibition catalogue descriptions of the works. I would like to have ended this blog by saying how much I like the works of Kandinsky but to do so, would be extremely economic with the truth. I will conclude this look at the life and works of Wassily Kandinsky with one of his quotes:
"…Lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting, and… stop thinking! Just ask yourself whether the work has enabled you to 'walk about' into a hitherto unknown world. If the answer is yes, what more do you want?…"
Have you managed the "walk about" ?
Author jonathan5485Posted on August 4, 2012 Categories Abstract art, Art, Art Blog, Art display, Russian artist, Wassily KandinskyTags Art, Art Blog, Art History, Compositions by Kandinsky, Impressions by Kandinsky, Improvisations by Kandinsky, Kandinsky, Russian artists, synaesthesia, Wassily Kandinsky2 Comments on Compositions, Impressions and Improvisations by Kandinsky
Grüngasse in Murmau by Wassily Kandinsky
Grüngasse in Murnau by Kandinsky (1909)
In my last blog I was following the life story of Wassily Kandinsky and had reached the juncture in his life, 1901, when he had opened up his own art school, Phalanxschule, in Munich. The previous winter, along with help from some of his like-minded artist friends, he had launched the exhibiting association, known as the Phalanx, and they had held their first exhibition in August 1901.
First Phalanx Exhibition in 1901
Kandinsky designed the Art Nouveau styled poster advertising its opening. In all the Phalanx held twelve exhibitions during its ten years in existence and it was in the seventh one in 1903 that works by Claude Monet were exhibited. The tenth exhibition included a number of works by post-Impressionists such as Paul Signac, Felix Vallotton and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.
Jugend magazine cover
In the final years of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, the in-vogue artistic style in southern Germany was Jugendstil or as we may better know it, Art Nouveau. The German word, Jugendstil means "youth style" and derives from the German cultural weekly publication Jugend. The style-setting iconic magazine, founded by George Hirth, promoted the Art Nouveau style. This up-and-coming art form was both artistically graceful and stylistically revolutionary. The Jugendstil artists and designers had their base around Munich, and while their work stylistically was likened to that of the French Art Nouveau of the fin de siècle era, the Jugendstil art depicted many Teutonic and mythological themes. Probably due to this, many of Kandinsky's works at that time consisted of figure studies, scenes of knights on horseback, scenes from romantic fairytales and some fanciful reminiscences that he clung to of his beloved Moscow. The second Phalanx exhibition contained many Jugendstil works.
Kandinsky and his wife Anya Chimiakin separated by mutual consent in 1904 and he and his former Phalanxschule art student Gabriele Münter, who had become his lover, set off on a number of trips around Europe. They travelled to the Netherlands and Tunisia in 1904. The following year was spent in Italy and for a year between 1906 and 1907 the pair settled down Sèvres, a town in the outer suburbs of Paris. During this stay he exhibited works at the avant-garde Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Indépendants. At this time in Paris the art work of Gauguin, the Nabis, who were a group of Post-Impressionist avant-garde artists, Matisse and other Fauves were being exhibited. Fauvism was the first of the major avant-garde movements in European twentieth century art, and was characterised by paintings that used powerfully vivid, non-naturalistic and exuberant colours. This exposure to fauvism resulted in Kandinsky starting to paint fauvist-inspired landscapes in which the manner he used colour quickly departed from the naturalistic and descriptive. His use of colour was for reasons of expression, and in a lot of cases, non-naturalistic, motivations. Colour to Kandinsky now became ever more important and as this importance grew in his mind, the less he painted post-Impressionist type landscapes. Kandinsky's colours became more brilliant and vibrant. Often his paintings around this time were large areas of solid bright colours set in sharp contrasts of light and dark and warm and cold.
Although travelling around Europe, Kandinsky always found time to return to Russia and exhibited some of his works at Moscow and St Petersburg exhibitions. In 1908 Kandinsky and Münter returned to Munich. From there, they often took painting trips to southern Germany, during which they visited the small town of Murnau, which nestled in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. Both Kandinsky and Münter fell in love with the sprawling landscape of this area and found great inspiration from the scenic views with its kaleidoscope of colours with the high Bavarian Alps acting as an awe-inspiring background. The following year, the couple bought a house in the town and their two artist friends from Munich, Jawlensky and Werefkin often stayed with Kandinsky and Münter and together the group produced a number of wonderful landscape paintings and works depicting the town of Murnau itself. One of these works was one done by Kandinsky in 1909 and is today's featured painting. It was an oil on cardboard painting entitled Grüngasse in Murmau which depicted one of the local streets in the town where he was living.
It was during the time the four artists lived under the same roof that conversation often turned to art and new forms of art. The most important result of these artistic discussions was that gradually Kandinsky's became more interested in abstraction in art, in which representational forms, whether people or places, would increasingly melt away and be replaced by colours and basic shapes. In this Abstract art, the painting did not depict a person, place or a thing in the natural world, even in an extremely distorted or exaggerated way. So the subject of the painting was based on what you saw, such as colours, shapes, and simple brushstrokes. Kandinsky believed that different colours provoked different emotions. He believed that the colour red was lively and confident; green was peaceful with inner strength; blue was deep and supernatural; yellow could be warm, exciting, and disturbing and white seemed silent but full of possibilities. Kandinsky had now also decided to compartmentalise his work into three categories. The first he called Impressions and these paintings would still retain an element of naturalistic representation. They would be direct impressions of nature. The second category he deemed would be Improvisations and these paintings would convey spontaneous emotional reactions inspired by events of a spiritual type. The last category he termed Compositions. These were paintings which were not done spontaneously but put together carefully over a period of time, following a number of preliminary studies. These were to be his most complicated works. Although the titles he gave to the three categories seems somewhat arbitrary in fact they harked back to his love of music and in the way he connected, in his own mind, art and music. Kandinsky said of the connection between colour and music and of the connection between an artist and a musician:
"…Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, and the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul…"
In the spring of 1909, the four artist friends from the house in Murnau, Kandinsky, Münter, Jawlensky and Werefkin along with Adolf Erbslöh and Alexander Kanoldt, all of who had studied art in Munich, formed an exhibiting society known as The Neue Künstlervereinigung München (NKVM) (New Artists' Association of Munich). Their exhibitions were to be an alternative to established exhibitions. The aims of this newly formed group were laid out in the preamble to the founding circular of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München. It stated aims were:
"…We believe that the artist is continuously collecting both impressions from the outer world of nature and experiences from an inner world. And that he is searching for artistic forms to express the interaction between these types of impressions, forms which must be free of all irrelevant detail in order to express only what is necessary in a powerful way – in short, the pursuit of an artistic synthesis. This seems to us to be a solution that currently unites increasing numbers of artists. In founding this association, we hope to create a physical form for intellectual relationships between artists and to make it possible to speak to the public with a single voice…"
The NKVM mounted their annual group exhibitions at Galerie Thannhauser in Munich. The first NKVM show at the Thannhauser Gallery was held in December 1909 and a total of 128 works of art were put on display. The second exhibition followed in September 2010 and this was opened up to French and Russian avant-garde artists, such as Georges Braque, Picasso, André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and Alexander Mogilevsky.
Suddenly with these exhibitions Munich became the centre of avant-garde art. These exhibitions of avant-garde and abstract art were not universally popular with the Munich art critics of the time. They were very forthright in their condemnation of one of Kandinsky's entries, Composition II, unanimously agreeing that the painting was simply the work of a madman or somebody high on drugs.
The third exhibition of the NKVM was set for December 2011 and artists were asked to submit their painting to the exhibition jury so they could be considered as suitable or not for inclusion in their third exhibition. By 1911 Kandinsky's work was becoming more abstract in nature and some of the groups fellow artists were starting to criticise his style. One of his main submissions, Composition V, was rejected by the jury as being too big and not in accordance with their Society rules on size but it was thought that it was also considered to be too abstract. This decision pleased some of the artists in the group and annoyed others, such as his close friends, Münter, Jawlensky and Werefkin and the German painters Franz Marc and August Mack, and a schism in the NKVM occurred. Kandinsky immediately resigned and along with his supporters formed a new exhibition group to rival the NKVM. The group was called Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). The origin of the name of this new group was once thought to have come from Kandinsky's own painting which he completed in 1903 entitled Der Blaue Reiter but in Annette Vezin's 1992 book, Kandinsky and the Blue Rider, she wrote that Kandinsky wrote 20 year later that the name of the society came from Franz Marc's enthusiasm for horses and his own love of riders, combined with the fact that he and Marc both loved the colour blue. To further annoy the NKVM group, Kandinsky's Blue Rider group decided to hold their first exhibition at the same time as the third exhibition of the NKVM and in a room next to theirs!
I will pause my story on the life of Kandinsky and in my next blog delve into his later life and the works he produced.
Author jonathan5485Posted on August 2, 2012 March 15, 2015 Categories Abstract art, Art, Art Blog, Art display, Avant-gard art, Russian artist, Wassily KandinskyTags Abstract art, Art, Art Blog, Art History, Avant-gard art, Blue Rider group, Der Blaue Reiter group, Gabriele Münter, Grüngasse in Murmau by Wassily Kandinsky, Jugendstil, Kandinsky, NVKM, Phalanx art group4 Comments on Grüngasse in Murmau by Wassily Kandinsky
The Isar near Grosshessolohe by Wassily Kandinsky (1901)
My last blog featured the German artist Gabriele Münter and I talked about her relationship with her one-time art teacher and lover, the Russian painter and gifted writer, Wassily Kandinsky. Today I am going to delve into his early life and feature one of his earliest paintings.
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was born in Moscow in 1866. He was the son of, Vasily Silverstrovic Kandinsky, a tea merchant. In a short-lived partnership, his father married Lidia Ticheeva and Wassily was their only child. Wassily recalled that when he was just three years of age he was taken on vacation to Italy and even at that young age he was fascinated by the colours that were all around him. In his 1913 essay entitled Reminiscences he wrote:
"…The first colours that made a strong impression on me were bright, juicy green, white, carmine red, black and yellow ochre. These memories go back to the third year of my life. I saw these colours on various objects, which are no longer as clear in my mind as the colours themselves…"
This photographic memory he had for colours and scenes that he witnessed in his everyday life in his beloved Moscow were to remain with him throughout his life and were to prove to be an inspirational source in his paintings. Kandinsky loved Moscow and was devastated when at the age of ten he was taken to live in Odessa by his father, who had been made manager of a local tea factory. Shortly after he and his family moved to Odessa, his father and mother divorced and Wassily was brought up there by his mother's sister, Elizabeth Ticheeva. At the age of ten he had his first art and music lessons at the primary and grammar school in Odessa, where he remained for the next nine years.
Aged twenty, Kandinsky enrolled at Moscow University where he attended classes in law, economics and ethnography (a branch of anthropology dealing with the scientific description of individual cultures). His dissertation, The Legality of Workers' Wages, focused on the legitimacy of labourers' wages. In his last year of studies, he received a commission from the Society of Natural Science, Ethnography and Anthropology to go on a research expedition to Vologda in north west Russia, where he recorded the local peasant laws, and it was during this period that he came into contact with the folk art of the region. He was taken with the colourful decorative houses and the people dressed in their bright and vibrant peasant costumes, all of which made a lasting impression on him. He never forgot the colourful scenes and later these memories would be encapsulated in some of his early works. His report back to the Society after his trip was well received and he was made him a member of the Society, opening the way for him to pursue numerous lucrative jobs.
His university life came to an end in 1892 when he received his law degree and became a member of the Law Society. He was the offered a position as lecturer at the university which he accepted and it was whilst in that post that he met his cousin, Anya Chimiakin, and after a short courtship, they married. In 1896 at the age of thirty he was offered a professorship at Tartu University and this was to be a pivotal point in his life. He had to decide whether to carry on with his lucrative academic career or veer towards an artistic life and all the financial uncertainties that go with it. One major factor in his eventual decision to tread the artistic path was when he visited an exhibition of French Impressionists in Moscow at which he saw the painting by Claude Monet entitled Haystack at Giverny, which is now housed in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia. Kandinsky was in awe of the work. He later wrote of his thoughts when he saw Monet's painting:
"…And suddenly for the first time I saw a picture. The catalogue told me it was a haystack. I could not recognise it as such. The inability to perceive was embarrassing. I felt that the painter had no right to paint so unclearly. Dully I felt that the subject of the painting was missing. And I noticed with astonishment and confusion that not only does the picture enthral one, but also impress itself indelibly on the memory, always quite unexpectedly appearing down to the last detail before one's eyes. This was all unclear to me and I was unable to draw any simple conclusions from this experience. But what was totally clear to me was the unexpected power of the palette, a power which had earlier been hidden from me, but which surpassed all my dreams…"
Kandinsky decided, at that late age of 30, to give up his academic career and study art. At this time Munich was regarded as a cosmopolitan city of art and it was an exciting period for art at that time in the German city as the Munich Sezession had just taken place three years earlier when a number of modernist artist groups had split from the conventions of nineteenth century Salon painting and Salon-style exhibitions. The Munich Sezssion was committed to excellence in all areas of artistic ventures and its paramount raison d'etre was to have an international and multidisciplinary approach to art. So, in 1896, Kandinsky travelled to Munich and enrolled on a three year course at the Anton Ažbe's school of painting. Ažbe was a Slovene realist painter and teacher of art. He founded his own school of painting in the Bavarian city, which became a popular attraction for Eastern European students. Whilst attending this school of art he met and befriended the Expressionist painters, Alexei Jewlensky, a fellow Russian, and the Russian-Swiss Expressionist painter, Marianne von Werefkin.
After an initial failed attempt in 1898, Kandinsky applied and was accepted into the Munich Academy of Art in 1900, where one of his tutors was Franz von Stuck, the great German Symbolist and Art Nouveau painter, who at the time was considered the finest draughtsman in Germany. One of his fellow students in Stuck's class was Paul Klee who would later work alongside Kandinsky. In 1900 Kandinsky exhibited some of his work at the Moscow Artists Association. Kandinsky was not completely happy with the art scene in Munich. He believed it to be too conventional and conservative and too associated with the affluent middle-class, and very narrow-minded in its doctrines. The following year Kandinsky decided to bring together some like-minded artist friends so that together they could exhibit a more progressive selection of their work. This idea bore fruit and in 1901 he, along with Rolf Niczy, Waldemar Hecker, Gustave Freytag and Wilhelm Hüggen, founded the exhibiting association called Phalanx. Kandinsky was the main driving force behind the project. The group aimed to help overcome the difficulties that often stood in the way of young artists wishing to exhibit their work and it attempted to redress the sexual inequalities found in the Munich Akademie by allowing men and women equal access to exhibitions. Following the success of the association Kandinsky, who was its president, opened his own school for painting and drawing, known as the Phalanxschule. One of the first pupils to enrol in his school was the German artist, and soon his lover, Gabriele Münter (see My Daily Art Display July 28th 2012)
I have chosen for my featured painting today one of Kandinsky's earliest works. It is entitled The Isar near Grosshessolohe, which he completed in 1901 and which is now housed in the Stadtische Galerie in Lenbach, Germany. Großhessolohe is a small town, which lies on the banks of the River Isar, some five miles south of Munich. To me, the painting has the look of the works of French Impressionists and maybe the exhibition of their works in Moscow, which Kandinsky had witnessed five years earlier, had a bearing on this painting. Kandinsky had loved the Impressionists use of colour and this early painting of his highlights his similar passion for colour. Kandinsky was one of the most important innovative painters of modern art and was considered the father of abstraction and yet in this early painting of his we have no hint of how his future works would change. In my next blog we look a little further into Kandinsky's life and witness how his art
Author jonathan5485Posted on July 31, 2012 July 31, 2012 Categories Art, Art Blog, Art display, Impressionists, Wassily KandinskyTags Alexis Jawlensky, Franz von Stuck, Gabriele Münter, Kandinsky, Phalanx, Phalanxschule, The Isar near Grosshessolohe by Wassily Kandinsky, Wassily KandinskyLeave a comment on The Isar near Grosshessolohe by Wassily Kandinsky (1901)


text:
Godrej Properties wins Builder of the year at CNBC-AWAAZ's 12th National Real Estate Awards 2017-18
MediaInfoline October 29, 2018
CNBC-AWAAZ hosted the 12th Real Estate Awards 2017-18 presented by RR Kabel last week in New Delhi. The awards were conceptualised to recognize and honor the endeavours of those entities who have played a vital role in the development and growth of the real estate industry. The evening was hosted by Mr. Vipin Bhatt, Real Estate Editor and Senior Anchor at CNBC-AWAAZ and Priyanka Sambhav, Editor – Consumer Affairs at CNBC-AWAAZ, with Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister (IC), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs gracing the event as the honourable Chief guest.
Despite unfavorable economic conditions in last few years, it's the tenacity and strategic thinking of these highly-driven entities that has ensured the Real Estate sector doesn't just survive but also serves as a catalyst for rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles and aspirations of the Indian consumer. The evening commenced with an opening address by Mr. Vipin Bhatt followed by a welcome note by Alok Joshi, Managing Editor, CNBC-AWAAZ & CNBC-Bajar who set the tone for the evening. This was followed by a panel discussion between Shreegopal Kabra, MD, RR Global, Mr. Gautam Chatterjee, Chairperson, Maharashtra RERA, Mr. Getamber Anand, Chairman, CREDAI, Mr Manoj Gaur, Md, Gaursons India Ltd., Mr. Sunil Rohokale, CEO-MD, ASK Investment Managers Ltd, and Mr. Anshuman Magazine, Chairman- CBRE moderated by Mr. Vipin Bhatt on the 'Vision that the industry has for 2018, the change agenda, revival and reforms'.
The evening also witnessed the launch of the Charter Book. Following which was the felicitation of the special categories that included Lifetime Achievement Award, Builder Of The Year and Best Home Loan Provider amongst others.
Speaking about the initiative, Joy Chakraborthy, CEO Forbes India & President Revenue, TV18 said, "Despite the slowdown, the Real Estate and construction sector continues to be a key contributor to the GDP and a crucial growth driver of our economy and we at Network18 are immensely proud to announce the winners of the 12th edition of 'CNBC Awaaz – Real Estate Awards'. In addition to being a testament to the hard work put in by these leaders of the Real Estate Industry, this honor also signifies achievement in an era that has been extremely challenging for this sector. The editorial team at CNBC Awaaz have been integral part of the of this journey over past many years and it is quite pleasing to have felicitated those flag bearers who are driving this Industry to its new growth path."
The initiative by CNBC-AWAAZ acknowledges the efforts made by these high-fliers in the real-estate space. With these establishments and performers playing a key role in uplifting the economy of the nation, the aim is to keep the momentum going in future editions of the Real Estate awards.
Amazon.in presents "Digital Day"
Proptiger.com expands its global footprint with Dubai
Percept Wins 4 Metals At 'Wow Awards Asia 2019'
MediaInfoline Jul 03
Mindshare wins 'Media Network of the Year' award at Cannes 2019
Malini Agarwal of MissMalini Entertainment Wins Global Social Media Icon 2019
Times SheUnLTD Entrepreneur Awards 2019
MediaInfoline Oct 29
iTV Network Hosts 'Vikas Ke Vishwas Ka Budget' Conclave

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Two poems by EON (one of my pen names) can be found at a charming little scifi magazine called Antipodean Science Fiction at http://www.nor.com.au/users/antisf/stordex.htm.
One of the poems, 'The Waterborne', was inspired by a thread that took place last year on the >H list. Also included are links to transhumanist resources and to Natasha's art page, which contains more of my work.
BTW: I'm signing off for an extended break, so please don't take offense if you write to me and I don't reply soon.


Christmas Party at the Soutar's!
Don't MISS THIS!!! Bring your favorite holiday dessert and a gift for the White Elephant Gift Exchange (maximum $5 gift). Also bing a non-perishable food item, scarf or blanket fro support our church food pantry/local community outreach program.
See you at the Soutar's home!


text:
Gilbert Chartrand (né le ) fut un homme d'affaires, négociant et homme politique fédéral du Québec.

Biographie
Né à Verdun dans la région de Montréal, il entama une carrière publique en devenant conseiller municipal pour la ville de LaSalle de 1983 à 1984.

Élu député du Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada dans la circonscription fédérale de Verdun—Saint-Paul en 1984, il fut réélu en en 1988. En 1990, il quitte le caucus progressiste-conservateur et siégea comme indépendant. Après s'être rallié au nouveau Bloc québécois au cours de l'année, il changea à nouveau de parti en 1991 pour retourner dans les rangs des Progressistes-conservateurs.

En 2007, sa femme et lui furent accusés de fraude et conspiration les conduisant à une sentence de prison. AMF

Voir aussi

Député fédéral canadien provenant du Québec
Député du Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada
Naissance à Montréal
Naissance en novembre 1954

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Infographic: Ever Heard of the Chinese Junk Boat?
As many may be unfamiliar with them today, Chinese junk boats have played a tremendously important role in shaping our modern world.
The junk is a flat-bottomed boat made from lightweight soft woods, which features unique sails reinforced with bamboo slats and a partitioned hull that prevents flooding if one section is breached. These boats are fast, highly maneuverable, and able to be sailed easily upwind. They were once built on massive scales, making them by far the largest boats on the sea during their heyday from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century AD. They were also the first vessels in history to use sternpost rudders, a technology that didn't reach Europe until several centuries after it became common on Chinese junks.
Another interesting fact is that the junk was also used in 1405 by Admiral Zheng He who left on the first of his 7 expeditions around the world. With a fleet of some 300 ships and 30,000 sailors, Zheng He traveled from Hong Kong through the Singapore Straight, along the entire coast of India, into the Gulf of Aden, around the Arabian Peninsula, and down the entire coast of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope before returning home via Indonesia. In contrast to Columbus' 3-masted 62-foot Santa Maria, Zheng He's principle junk boat was a whopping 9-masted 400-foot behemoth.
Infographic – Ever Heard of the Chinese Junk Boat?
Infographic: Ever Heard of the Junk Boat?


Coaching is, for many managers, a highly under appreciated skill. It is usually assumed that anyone who is good at something, when promoted to manager, will naturally be good at teaching and coaching those skills.
Teaching and coaching are powerful skills that have to be learned just as much as the skills that get managers promoted. And those skills will make you a far more effective leader. In this episode, Kelly and Robby are joined by perennial champion football coach, Bill Blankenship to talk coaching for leaders in the workplace.
Coach Blankenship has won everywhere. He has coached two Oklahoma 6A schools to state championship titles (Union and Owasso). He coached Fayetteville high school to an Arkansas 7A football state championship in his only year there. And, to top it off, he spent four seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, the University of Tulsa, finishing 19-8 with a Liberty Bowl championship in his first two years, before falling to 5-19 his final two years.
Hear Bill's tips for coaching through failure, setting expectations, how to create a winning culture, and much more. Learn how effective coaching unlocks the potential of your people, and try to tune out the boys geeking out in the presence of a legend.


text:
Following the earlier rumors and leaks, Samsung finally made its latest Windows Mobile smartphone, the SGH-i900, official. Running on Windows Mobile 6.1, the i900 supports quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps. Furthermore, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR are on board as well as a an FM radio and a GPS receiver. The Synaptics 3.2" WQVGA (240 x 400 pixel) touch screen features haptics and vibrations give users feedback when the display is touched. Tap, sweep, drag and drop operations let consumers navigate through the TouchWiz UI. An accelerometer auto-rotates the display when tilted on the side.
As known from the Samsung SGH-i780, the i900 also sports a touch sensitive trackpad instead of a regular D-Pad. The i900 comes with a built-in 5.0 megapixel CMOS camera with auto-focus, facial and smile detection, auto-panorama shot and image stabilizer and the Samsung i900 features a massive internal memory of 8 or 16 GB which is even expandable with microSD memory cards. Further features are TV-out which seems this time confirmed.
At a size of 112 x 56.9 x 12.5 mm, the i900 features a 1440 mAh battery.
Samsung said that the SGH-i900 will be launched in Southeast Asia starting late June with a European launch starting in July. A price wasn't given today.
Samsung Press Release
Related Articles i900
PHOTOVIEW: Samsung Galaxy S Advance Android 2.3 Smartphone
REFRESH: Samsung announces Samsung Galaxy S Advance Android Smartphone
LEAK: Samsung to unveil the Samsung Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Tab 2 during Mobile Wor
TEASED: Samsung to announce the next evolution in Samsung Mobile
UNCONFIRMED: Samsung Nexus S to hit Europe as the GT-I9003 with different Bands


Do you want to keep track of what your kids do on their own computer?
Have your children uploaded any improper photos or videos online?
Or do you want to know your kids' social networking activities but don't know how?
If your answer is "Yes", you need a password keylogger for Mac to help you find out all the truth easily. A Password Keylogger for Mac can secretly records all the passwords typed on Mac such as passwords of Gmail, Yahoo, Twitter, AOL mail, Hotmail, Facebook, My Space or any others. With these information, parents can easily keep track of almost everything kids do on Mac.
Today people you care about are creating many different passwords to avoid your sight for their inappropriate Internet usage. They create different passwords for their Mac OS X network logon, Email accounts, website member accounts, online game accounts, etc. The list is endless.
Then how to know passwords of your kids or employees? How to gain the access to their Email and Facebook accounts? Is there any Password Keylogger for Mac for recording all the usernames and passwords?
Just right here. Amac Password Keylogger for Mac is a kind of spy software for Mac that can be used as password logger on Mac OS X to monitor all computer activities by capturing and recording all the usernames and passwords.
Using Amac Password Keylogger for Mac, you can find password information you want. This is the most advantageous and powerful tool by which you can proficiently record the whole keyboard activity of your kids and employees.
Apart from recording diferent kind of passwords, Amac password Mac keylogger also can record more things such as logging websites visited, chat messages in Skype, AIM, Adium and more, capturing screenshots at the preset interval. All of these features can be well used to keep track of whatever your kids or employees do on the Mac.
Amac Password Keylogger for Mac will save and send all the recorded usernames and passwords to an Email or FTP you set for it. By accessing the Email box or FTP space, you can view all the logs without approaching the Mac installed with Amac Password Keylogger for Mac.


I simply want to mention I am very new to blogging and honestly loved your website. Likely I'm want to bookmark your website . You really come with wonderful posts. Regards for sharing your webpage.
I am changing organizing firms and would love to relocate my WordPress Blogs over. Does any individual understand of a simple method to complete this?.


Day 332: Brooklyn Summer Ale from Brooklyn Brewery. Style of beer is 'Blonde Ale'. ABV is 5.0%.
Tasting Notes: Dark golden in color with a white head. A malty aroma. Flavor is malty and floral. Moderate carbonation with a medium body.
Description: Summer in Brooklyn is all about following your impulses, winging it from beaches and barbecues to stoops and rooftops. Brooklyn Summer Ale is a refreshing, flavorful pale ale made to accompany you on all your warm weather adventures. 100% British 2-row barley brings its famed bready flavors, capped off with German and American hops to provide a snappy, clean bitterness and a bright, floral aroma. It's a sunny pale ale, Brooklyn style.


Who is this chess player – it was the Vish!
today this player is over 25 years old – actually he is 37, and will turn 38 on December 11th.
his current rating is not his highest ever, but his ranking is – his highest rating ever was 2803, in April 2006, when he became the fourth player in history to break the 2800 barrier. Today at 2792 he is the highest ranked player in the world.
originally he wanted to become a tennis player, but because of the early morning practice hours he switched to chess – see the first story below.
he is predominantly a 1.e4 player – though he has been known to play 1.d4 on rare occasions.
he is passionately interested in astronomy and cosmology. Recently we heard him discuss the role of acceleration in Einstein's twin paradox with a quantum physicist – this was at a lunch in Dortmund, where he quizzed a young German physicist named Vera Spillner, who is doing a PhD on string theory, and a second one on the philosophical interpretation of time. Megachick.
he has a fine sense of humour – and a knack putting things in their right perspective. At the above lunch he asked: "So you guys understand the start of the universe down to the first 10-40 (ten to the power of minus 40) seconds? Everthing that came after that is a piece of cake. It's just the first 10-40 that you need to work on?" Yes, said Vera, that about wraps it up.
he speaks three languages fluently, but his first language is English – Anand speaks Tamil, English and Spanish (and is currently picking up German fast). Although he speaks Tamil with his parents and his wife Aruna, he can express himself best in English.
we are basically fairly sneaky people, here in the ChessBase newsroom – the above clues, while all true, were meant to lead people astray.
But they didn't. Over 70% of the visitors who wrote in guessed it correcly: it is of course Vishy Anand, the Indian chess superstar. Most recognised him by looking at the eyes. The picture was taken from the following article in the Indian magazine Sify, carried on the 60th anniversary of Indian independence. We quote it with kind permission of the author.
The Amritrajs were going great guns in tennis in Chennai (then Madras) in the 1970s, and inspired by this, an eight-year-old was enrolled for tennis classes.
Left: Viswanathan Anand dressed up and all set to go for chess classes as a six year old.
Even though the origins of the game can be traced almost 3000 years back to India, the first player to hit the international scene was the legendary Mir Sultan Khan in the1920s when he accompanied his employer to England. This player from Punjab won the British Chess Championships in 1929, 1932 and 1933, and also represented England in three Olympiads, defeating many leading players, the major casualty being former World Champion Jose Raoul Capablanca. Ranked amongst the top ten in the World then, Sultan Khan's chess exploits ended tragically after his return to India with his employer in 1933 and he faded into obscurity.
Thereafter, there was a lull and only post Independence did we have Manuel Aaron winning the National title a record nine times and becoming India's first International Master (IM) in 1961. The scintillating Khadilkar sisters, Vasanthi, Jayshree and Rohini dominated women's chess for a decade from the inaugural version in 1974, with all three becoming Women International Masters. They abruptly quit the chess scene, leaving plenty of potential unfulfilled and their disappearance unanswered.
Left: India's first world-class chess player, Mir Sultan Khan.
It was then that lightning struck Indian chess in the form of Viswanathan Anand. Rapid-fire moves, tactical strokes and chess understanding way beyond his age had people flocking to his table at the Tal Chess Club, where the six-year-old started his tryst with destiny. In 1983, the 13-year-old, fighting heavy fever and wrapped in a blanket, demolishing the unshakable Aaron, using just half an hour on his clock, was a sight to behold. This was a signal that we were to witness the most glorious chapter in the history of Indian sports.
1987 was historic, with Anand becoming the first Asian to be crowned World Junior Champion and then the country's first grandmaster. Sensational victories against the then invincibles, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov in the same tournament at Tilburg in 1991, were followed by Anand winning the Reggio Emilia in 1992, the strongest ever chess tournament. The so called Grand Slam events like Corus, Linares, Dortmund and Rapid events like Chess Classic of Frankfurt nee Mainz were conquered time and again by Anand.
The year 2000 was another landmark as Anand destroyed and demolished all opposition to finally win the World title, at Delhi and Iran. What was endearing was that he was hailed a 'Gentleman Champion' in reference to his non-controversial, ever-smiling character, admired and adored by players and organisers alike. Anand has won the award for highest supremacy in chess, the Chess Oscars, thrice. Incidentally, Bobby Fischer was the only non-Russian to win this award before. Anand is only the fourth player in the World to cross the magical but elusive 2800 rating mark after Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov.
Even as Anand set up a scorching trail, there was another compatriot, Dibyendu Barua from Kolkata, equally talented or gifted but sadly eclipsed. He caught international attention by defeating Korchnoi as a 16-year-old and till date is the only Indian to win a board Gold medal, at the Chess Olympiad in 1990.
His brilliant play in adverse positions earned him the tag 'Indian Houdini', but his lack of opening preparation denied him his dues. Barua's is one talent that promised a lot more but faded away, mostly due to lack of facilities and finances.
Chess in the nineties and the millennium became altogether a new story in India. The children and their parents were equally enthusiastic in following the footsteps of India's most successful son. Suddenly, children's chess started exploding in India and we had Pentala Harikrishna winning the World under-10 title in 1996. Then followed Koneru Humpy with a clutch of age-level World titles, and soon India started dominating in Age Category events at Asian as well as world level. Harikrishna broke Anand's Indian records as the youngest IM and GM, and also won the World junior. Humpy went a step ahead and set a world record as the youngest ever to win the World Junior Girls title at 16 years. Humpy, trained by her father, is ranked second in the World after Judit Polgar of Hungary. The 20-year-old is undoubtedly pointed out as a potential Women's World Champion.
Krishnan Sasikiran is another success story inspired by Anand. Though Sasikiran did not make a mark in Age Categories, his steady and determined play had him breaking into the elite 2700 ELO mark. Humpy won the first Individual Gold medal for chess at the Doha Asian games in 2006 and then combined with Sasikiran and Harikrishna to bag the team Gold. In fact, this trio have to their credit many Asian championships and Commonwealth championships.
After this trio, there is a lot more promising potential in the form of Parimarjan Negi who broke Harikrishna's record of becoming the youngest Indian GM. Dronavalli Harika has also won a clutch of Gold medals at Age Categories and there are many more talented youngsters who are promising to bloom. Comparisons with Anand are inevitable for any rising star in India but former World Championship Nigel Short however cautions" Don't make the mistake of comparing the young players with Anand, for he is a genius and the others are still unfinished products".
The author of the above overview of chess in India is the newspaper journalist Manisha Mohite, who lives and works out of Pune, India. She is a welcome colleague at chess tournaments, to which she travels all over the world. Sometimes the journey can take her over 60 hours.
Manisha writes for a variety of newspapers and magazines, including Sify Sports, where the above article originally appeared.


text:
Q: execution difficulties on my java program I have created a simple java program to manage a commercial company's store
I'm using netbeans 8.0.2, here is Magasins.java
package tn.tuniprob.gestionmagasin;

import java.util.*;
public class Magasins {
  private int id;
  private String adresse;
  private final int CAPACITE=50;
  private Produit []tab=new Produit[CAPACITE];
public int getId() {
    return id;
}

public void setId(int id) {
    this.id = id;
}

public String getAdresse() {
    return adresse;
}

public void setAdresse(String adresse) {
    this.adresse = adresse;
}

public int getCapacite() {
    return CAPACITE;
}

public Produit[] getTab() {
    return tab;
}

public void setTab(Produit[] tab) {
    this.tab = tab;
}

public void ajouterproduit(int i)
  { String nom = null;
      String marque=null;
      float prix=0;
      int idp=0;
      Scanner sc1 = new Scanner(System.in);
  if((i<CAPACITE)&&(i<50))
  { for (int j=0;j<i;j++)
  {
      System.out.println("entrez l'id");
      idp=sc1.nextInt();
      System.out.println("entrez le nom");
      nom=sc1.nextLine();
      nom=sc1.nextLine();
      System.out.println("entrez la marque");
      marque=sc1.nextLine();
      }
      for (int j=0;j<i;j++)
      { if (idp==tab[i].getid())
      {System.out.println("objet dupliqué");}
        if (i==CAPACITE)
              System.out.println("magazin complet");
  else {
              for (j=0;j<i;j++)
              System.out.println("objet dupliqué");
              this.tab[i].setid(idp);
              this.tab[i].setlibelle(nom);
              this.tab[i].setmarque(marque);
      }
  }}}

public void afficher()

{  for(int j=0;j<CAPACITE;j++)

      System.out.println("d'abord le magazin: id="+id
                          +" adresse="+adresse+" capacite="+CAPACITE+
                          "\n produits: numero"+j+" id="+tab[j].getid()+" libelle="
                          +tab[j].getlibelle()+" marque="+tab[j].getmarque()+" prix="
                          +tab[j].getprix()+" date d'expiration="
                          +tab[j].getDate_expiration()+"\n");

 }

public void affichernbtotal()
{ int somme=0;

    for(int j=0;j<CAPACITE;j++)
    {
    if(null!=tab[j]) {
        somme=somme+1;

    } }
    System.out.println("le nombre total des produits est="+somme);}
public int comparer(Produit p)

{for (int j=0;j<CAPACITE; j++)
if ((p.getid()==tab[j].getid())&&(p.getlibelle()==tab[j].getlibelle())&&(p.getprix()==tab[j].getprix()))
return 1;

  return 0;
    }

public int comparer(Produit p1,Produit p2)

 {if((p1.getid()==p2.getid())&&(p1.getlibelle()==p2.getlibelle())&&(p1.getprix()==p2.getprix()))
    {return 1;}
    else
    {return 0;}
    }

 public boolean chercher(int id)
    {for(int j=0;j<CAPACITE;j++)
    if(tab[j].getid()==id)
        return true;
    return false;
    }

public void supproduit(int i)
{
    tab[i].setid(0);
    tab[i].setlibelle(null);
    tab[i].setmarque(null);
    tab[i].setprix(0);

}
public Magasins comparer(Magasins m1, Magasins m2)
{
    int s1=0,s2=0;
    for(int i=0; i<CAPACITE;i++)
        if((m1.tab[i].getmarque()!=null))
            s1++;
    for(int i=0; i<CAPACITE;i++)
    if (m2.tab[i].getmarque()!=null)
        s2++;
    return ((s1<s2)?m2:m1);
}

}

and this is Produit.java
package tn.tuniprob.gestionmagasin;

import java.util.Date;
public class Produit {
    private int id;
    private String libelle;
    private String marque;
    private float prix;
    private Date date_expiration;

    public Produit(int id, String libelle, String marque, float prix) {
        this.id = id;
        this.libelle = libelle;
        this.marque = marque;
        this.prix = prix;

    }

    public int getid()
    {return id;}
    public void setid(int a)
    {id=a;}
    public String getlibelle()
    {return libelle;}
    public void setlibelle(String a)
    {libelle=a;}
    public String getmarque()
    {return marque;}
    public void setmarque(String a)
    {marque=a;}
    public float getprix()
    {return prix;}
    public void setprix(float a)
    {if (a<=0) System.out.println("erreur"); else prix=a;}
    public void afficher()
    { System.out.println(id+" "+libelle+" "+marque+" "+prix+" ");}

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "produit_alimentaire{" + "id=" + id + ", libelle=" + libelle + ", marque=" + marque + ", prix=" + prix + '}';
    }

    public Date getDate_expiration() {
        return date_expiration;
    }

    public void setDate_expiration(Date date_expiration) {
        this.date_expiration = date_expiration;}
         public void afficherplusdate()
    { System.out.println(id+" "+libelle+" "+marque+" "+prix+" "+date_expiration);}

}

My Main.java is just here to test every method, my problem is on the execution there is
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
    at tn.tuniprob.gestionmagasin.Magasins.ajouterproduit(Magasins.java:70)
    at tn.tuniprob.gestionmagasin.Main.main(Main.java:24)

when I try to run it, can you give me a solution please? thanks in advance
PS: I really hate java but it's on my school program to tech everyone that trash

A: private Produit[] tab = new Produit[CAPACITE];

This will create an array of size 50 initialized with null values, something like this:
tab = {null, null, null, ...}

so tab[0] and tab[1] are still null.
When you invoke tab[0].getId(), this throws NullPointerException.
You need to initialize the array first with some values in order to use them, something like:
tab[0] = new Produit();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Pink eye (conjunctivitis) Pink eye (conjunctivitis) is an inflammation or infection of the transparent membrane (conjunctiva) that lines your eyelid and part of your eyeball.
Allergy/Fly Season – Eyes. Dr. Corine Selders. July 2007. Summertime is upon us and so are the flies in Ramona! Flies and allergies can cause eye irritation in many horses.
Home Remedies for Common Maladies usually light pink skin inside the eyelid?) Are my eyes making a lot of goop, especially when I first wake up? Eye Remedies (Pinkeye/Stys) Prevention: don't touch your eyes with dirty fingers.
Popularly known as Pink eye (Eye Flu), conjunctivitis mostly occurs due to an allergic reaction on an Allergies Ophthalmic neonatorum Environmental factors, such as smoke, dust, HOME REMEDIES FOR CONJUNCTIVITIS. 1.
It is often called "pink eye" because of Table I lists home-care measures that can be taken to relieve and prevent symptoms. Medication A number of preparations are available to treat allergic conjunctivitis. home remedies and medications are available.


Concentration-dependent cyto and genotoxicities of graphene oxide (GO) and reduced GO (rGO) sheets on spermatozoa were studied. rGO sheets with various surface chemical states were achieved using hydrazine (N2H4) hydrothermal (HT) reactions and green tea polyphenols (GTPs). Although 0.1 μg mL−1 graphene could not change sperm viability and kinetic parameters, <40% and 20% of spermatozoa were viable and progressively motile, after 2 h incubation with 400 μg mL−1 GO or rGO, respectively. All the graphene nanomaterials induced concentration-dependent reductions of adenosine triphosphate and NAD+/NADH produced by spermatozoa for motility and metabolic activity. While GO, N2H4–rGO, and HT-rGO sheets caused increasing reactive oxygen species and sperm nitric oxide production, GO sheets reduced by antioxidant GTPs decreased them. Hence, physical trapping of spermatozoa by graphene (particularly GTP–rGO) is one of the important mechanisms describing the cytotoxicity, in addition to the other reactions, resulting in the inactivation and/or death of spermatozoa. Graphene genotoxicity was initiated by 1.0 μg mL−1 of N2H4–rGO and HT-rGO and 10 μg mL−1 of GO and GTP–rGO sheets. The extremely sharp edge and/or high mobility of N2H4–rGO provided easy penetration of the sheets into spermatozoa to interact with cell nuclei. In contrast, the steric effect induced by GTPs attached on rGO caused a lower genotoxicity.


text:
Q: Google Geocoding API Blocked My IP Address I use a program to query the Google Geocoding API, and search coordinates for city names. I use time.sleep(1) to make sure I do not exceed the request limit per second. I am also pretty sure that I have no exceeded the daily limited of request and I have enabled billing on my account.
The code worked a while ago, but now as I run it, the code returns an error like this:
 raise JSONDecodeError("Expecting value", s, err.value) from None
json.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Expecting value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)

I went to the API link in the browser, and it asks me to type in identification characters, saying "Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network. This page checks to see if it's really you sending the requests, and not a robot.".
I don't think my code is anything malicious, and I wonder what I have done wrong with the code.
Here is my code:
 import urllib.parse
import requests
import pandas as pd
import time

main_api = 'https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?'
api_key = '&key = **********'
state = "washington,"
country = "US"

file = r'C:\Users\rin\xy.xlsx'
xl_workbook = pd.ExcelFile(file)
df = xl_workbook.parse("xy")
components = 'components=country:US|state:washington'

city_name = df['city_name'].tolist()

for x in post_office:
    address = x
    print(">>>>>" + x + "<<<<<")

    url = main_api + urllib.parse.urlencode({'address': address}) + state + country + api_key + components
    print(url)
    json_data = requests.get(url).json()

    json_status = json_data['status']
    print('API status: ' + json_status + '\n')

    city = json_data['results'][0]['address_components'][0]['long_name']
    state = json_data['results'][0]['address_components'][2]['long_name']
    if x == city and state == "Washington":
        print("MATCH:OK" + '\n')
    if x == city and state == "Oregon":
        print("ooooooooooo")
    elif x != city_name:
        print("WN")

    if json_status == "OK":

        formatted_address = json_data['results'][0]["formatted_address"]
        print()
        print(formatted_address)

        LATITUDE = json_data['results'][0]["geometry"]["location"]["lat"]
        LONGITUDE = json_data['results'][0]["geometry"]["location"]["lng"]
        print(LATITUDE)
        print(LONGITUDE)

        print(">>>>>>>END<<<<<<")
        print('\n')

    time.sleep(1)

A: It seems like you are always expecting the sucess reponse.
Instead of
LONGITUDE = json_data['results'][0]["geometry"]["location"]["lng"]

you can use
LONGITUDE = json_data['results'][0]["geometry"]["location"].get("lng", None)

Using the last one you never get exception when you are reading a dict (JSON), even if the dict doesn't have a key that you expecting.

A: It seems that the json you are receiving does not match the deserializer standard.
Can you paste the content of the request you are receiving ?
Have a look at that Python error load JSON code of google API


text:
Home > Sports > Playing 11 of the best potential is my focus: Rohit Sharma
Playing 11 of the best potential is my focus: Rohit Sharma
IANS8 May 2018 7:48 AM GMT
New Delhi: He has been a successful captain of the Mumbai Indians since 2013 and has lifted three Indian Premier League (IPL) titles in the past. With two back-to-back wins against Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders, batsman Rohit Sharma says he is looking at a good campaign in the Twenty20 cricket championship this time too, especially with the "mixed bag" of veterans and young blood.
"... We have a mixed bag of both T20 veterans and young-blood talent in the team. With this combination of experience and energy, I am confident that we are looking at a good series," Rohit told IANS when asked about his take on Australian paceman Pat Cummins's back injury and how he sees the chances of his team in IPL with a weakened bowling attack.
"Pat Cummins' injury is very unfortunate," added the cricketer who captained Mumbai to three IPL titles in 2013, 2015 and 2017 and is currently celebrated as one of the "Game Changers" in Chandon's latest digital edition of The Party Starter(tm) 2.0 campaign titled "The Party Starters".
In the ongoing IPL season, the team has so far played 10 matches and with three losses, they are at fifth spot in the points table currently and are in contention to make it to the play-off stage.
Asked how he plans to strategise on his best team combination, Rohit said: "Doing what's best for your team and making the best use of your playing 11 is what I look at. Often it happens that you don't use your playing 11 to their best potential; so my focus is to make sure I do."
In the international arena, Rohit is also the first and the only batsman to hit three One-Day International (ODI) double hundreds. He has the highest score in the 50-overs format to his name and his first double was 209 against Australia in 2013.
Many call him a gifted cricketer but Rohit, who wants to "leave behind a great body of work", says he is not a fan of that tag.
"I'm not a fan of that tag because my abilities are something I've worked very hard to develop. I started off as a bowler. Batting is something I started working on later. Every time I step on to that field, I give it my all and that is what I vow to do till the very end," said the 31-year-old.
On ground he is seen as someone who is very calm and deals with all complications with ease. So is he like that off ground too?
"A calm mind is as important as physical fitness in the making of a professional sportsperson. Many people mistake calmness for submissiveness and that couldn't be further from the truth.
"I have realised that being calm is nothing but being extremely focused on what you are doing. You blur everything in the sidelines and concentrate on a target. Training in a sport inculcates this very naturally and it is but natural that it spills over off the ground as well," said the right-hander.
And probably this is the reason why he "thrives on discipline".
"While there are no shortcuts to success, each of us is wired differently. I thrive on discipline. But when I am not playing, I also enjoy a night out with friends. The key is to strike a healthy balance and I have a fabulous support system by way of my family, friends and team-mates to thank for this," said Rohit, who is also a doting husband.
"The Party Starters" campaign salutes people across various genres who have made a difference in their field. The series will delve deep into each achiever's personal and professional journey and educate the viewer on how the brand is the perfect partner for every "party" moment.
Rohit is thrilled for the campaign and says he would be happy if his story "could encourage youngsters to see that if there is will, there's always a way to realise it".
"In today's fast-paced, time-poor age it is great to see a campaign that takes a step back and takes the time to delve into the back-story. Rather than see it through a unilateral lens of personal or professional topics, it's the first time that I have been part of a campaign that explores both nuances and how they have shaped me as a person."


YouTube Music Key could be the start of something much, much bigger.
Youtube has evolved in to a giant in the music business. It is one of the most viewed websites in the world. The smart artist can use this powerful outlet to promote their songs and advance their music careers. The key is to learn how to use it in a smart way. Many new artist have been discovered because they posted a video. That is why Youtube may hold the key to your music success.
This entry was posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2014 at 7:20 am	and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


Image: 123RF/genika Look on the bright side, load-shedding gives you the opportunity to indulge in some self-care.
... before the hot water in your geyser runs out. Meanwhile, cleanse your face in preparation for a face mask.
Fill your bathroom with enough flickering candles to create a soft glow. Up the relaxation factor by adding a scented candle with a calming fragrance like lavender or ylang ylang.
This recipe for a nourishing DIY hair mask from Linda Gieskes-Mwamba, founder of natural hair-care brand Suki Suki Naturals, can be whipped up with a couple of common kitchen ingredients and a few essential oils.
Image: 123RF/julie208 You'll find many of the ingredients you need to make hair and face masks in your fridge.
To make it, mash 1 ripe avocado and 1 ripe banana until smooth. Mix in 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2-3 tbsp sweet almond oil and 5 drops lavender essential oil. Sieve the mixture to remove the fibres from the fruit.
Apply the mask to your hair, cover with a plastic shower cap, and let it sit for 30 minutes. Rinse it off with lukewarm (never hot!) water.
From anti-ageing to moisturising, there's a mask to remedy any skincare concern.
For this load-shedding pamper session, we'd recommend a sheet mask as it doesn't need to be rinsed off; you simply massage any leftover serum in to your skin after you've removed it. That way you'll have clean bath water to rinse off your hair mask.
If your phone still has battery power, pop on your most relaxing playlist. Lie back in the bath and chill out.
To have a spa-like experience at home, Santé Wellness Retreat and Spa's Graham Hindle suggests you apply a rich, lightly fragranced body moisturiser or body butter all over, paying special attention to dry and neglected areas like the back of neck, elbows and heels. Apply each product slowly, using long fluid strokes, he says.
By now you should be feeling super relaxed and sleepy, so it's time to indulge in the most effective beauty treatment of them all: sleep.


Jonathan Henderson's passion for education was birthed at Mira Costa College in the Umoja Program. He has dedicated the majority of his career to providing motivational, cultural, social, and material capital to African-American students, staff, and communities in support of their retentive growth in higher education. Jonathan's most recent experience is at CSU Dominguez Hills where he worked with the Male Success Alliance (MSA) conducting student success focus groups, training and supervising site coordinators and providing academic advising for high school and community college students.
Jonathan received his A.A. from Mira Costa College, his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Sociology at Dominguez Hills. He has received several awards, including the California State University Chancellor's Highlight, the CSU Chancellor Award for Outstanding Community Service and the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for Outstanding Community Service from the United States Congress.


text:
Q: select unique records from table mysql php I have notification table, which contains notification_id, type, type_id ...
I want to select records which have unique type_id.
I am running this query:
SELECT $cols, DISTINCT type_id FROM notification ORDER BY alert_on ASC

There is something wrong here. What is the way to do it?
If I do like this:
SELECT DISTINCT type_id FROM notification

then it will work. but, i need all the columns from that table...

A: SELECT $cols,type_id FROM notification GROUP BY type_id ORDER BY alert_on ASC

A: $query = "SELECT DISTINCT ".$cols." FROM notification ORDER BY alert_on ASC";

The markdown for SELECT DISTINC is no SELECT sth , DISTINCT, is SELECT DISTINCT.

A: Can you try using GROUP BY
SELECT $cols, type_id FROM notification GROUP BY type_id ORDER BY alert_on ASC

A: SELECT DISTINCT column_name,column_name
FROM table_name;


text:
#include <aws/core/client/AWSError.h>
#include <aws/frauddetector/FraudDetectorErrorMarshaller.h>
#include <aws/frauddetector/FraudDetectorErrors.h>

using namespace Aws::Client;
using namespace Aws::FraudDetector;

AWSError<CoreErrors> FraudDetectorErrorMarshaller::FindErrorByName(const char* errorName) const
{
  AWSError<CoreErrors> error = FraudDetectorErrorMapper::GetErrorForName(errorName);
  if(error.GetErrorType() != CoreErrors::UNKNOWN)
  {
    return error;
  }

  return AWSErrorMarshaller::FindErrorByName(errorName);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Adoption Patterns of Proprietary and Open Source ILS in U.S. Libraries
Computers in Libraries [October 2015]
Abstract: I spend a lot of energy gathering and analyzing data describing the automation systems implemented in libraries. These data are recorded in the libraries, org database I maintain as part of Library Technology Guides. One of the interesting patterns relates to the adoption of an open source ILS versus those libraries that use proprietary products. In broad terms, proprietary products continue to dominate, but over the last decade, use of open source ILS products has grown to 12 percent in U.S. public libraries. Unique patterns apply to each sector of libraries and in each geographic region of the world. This discussion focuses primarily on public libraries in the U.S. and explores the interesting dynamics and adoption patterns between proprietary and open source ILS products.
I spend a lot of energy gathering and analyzing data describing the automation systems implemented in libraries. These data are recorded in the libraries, org database I maintain as part of Library Technology Guides. One of the interesting patterns relates to the adoption of an open source ILS versus those libraries that use proprietary products. In broad terms, proprietary products continue to dominate, but over the last decade, use of open source ILS products has grown to 12% in U.S. public libraries. Unique patterns apply to each sector of libraries and in each geographic region of the world. This discussion focuses primarily on public libraries in the U.S. and explores the interesting dynamics and adoption patterns between proprietary and open source ILS products.
I base my research on data that I collect on the technology products used by libraries throughout the world. The resource management and discovery products used by libraries in the U.S. are most accurately and comprehensively represented. Although there may be some degree of error, this portion of the database tends to be the most complete and up-to-date. I also track public and academic libraries more closely than other types. School libraries, for example, far outnumber other types and have fewer systematic sources of information related to the automation systems used. Corporate libraries tend to be the most reluctant to disclose the technology products they employ.
libraries.org includes entries for 9,472 public library organizations and 17,087 individual branches in the U.S. These numbers should not be taken as an exact representation of the current reality. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) reported 9.082 public libraries in 2012 managing 17,219 branches. There is some contraction in public libraries through consolidation of library systems, closing of branches, and other changes. Despite a margin of error, libraries.org serves as my principle source of tracking technologyimplementation trends in libraries.
Proprietary Products Dominate
Public libraries in the U.S. overwhelmingly have chosen to implement proprietary ILSs from commercial companies, with 88% falling into this category. A minority of 12% have selected open source ILS products, primarily Koha and Evergreen. Prior to the mid-2000s, all of the ILS products in use in the U.S. were based on proprietary software. Today, open source products fall into the routine mix of options when libraries consider new technology solutions.
I also note that the proprietary systems have shifted toward a much smaller number of providers. Continual rounds of mergers and acquisitions have resulted in consolidation that places multiple products under the ownership of a few large companies. SirsiDynix now supports Symphony, Horizon, and EOS.Web as it develops a new set of BLUEcloud products. Innovative supports Sierra and Millennium as well as the recently acquired Polaris ILS and VTLS Virtua. The Library Corp. (TLC) offers Library.Solution and CARL.X.
The chart above illustrates the deployment of ILS products in public libraries in the U.S. An interactive version of this tool is available on Library Technology Guides (librarytechnology .org/products/marketshare.pl) with options to view product implementation proportions according to library type, country, state, and library size.
Proprietary ILS products dominate in U.S. public libraries, with a large portion provided by a small number of commercial companies. Innovative tops the list, providing its ILS products to 2,266 libraries and their 5,034 branches. When counting library organizations, 24% of U.S. public libraries have selected products now supported by Innovative, or 29% when counting branches. Most of the public libraries using Millennium have migrated to Sierra; 242 libraries (594 branches) remain on Millennium, while 962 (2,133) have implemented Sierra. Another 1,061 libraries (2,307 branches) have implemented Polaris, acquired by Innovative in March 2014. Virtua was implemented in the Queens Public Library in New York, but, apart from that high-profile site, has not attracted significant interest by other public libraries in the U.S.
SirsiDynix holds 20% of the U.S. public library sector when counting by library organizations, or 26% when counting total branches. Symphony has been implemented by 1,557 public libraries (3,458 branches), or 16%. The number of libraries using Horizon continues to decline, with 304 remaining (990 branches), or 3%. The EOS.Web ILS acquired last year is used primarily in law, medical, and small academic libraries.
Library* Solution is used in about 538 public libraries (1,018 branches), representing about 6% of the public library sector. CARL*X is used in 5 large library systems in the U.S. (283 total branches), representing less than 1% of the total number of library organizations in the U.S. and 2% of branches.
The Apollo ILS from Biblionix has been adopted in 509 U.S. public libraries (537 branches), representing 5% of library organizations and 3% of total branches. Catering to very small public libraries, the portion of industry revenues received by Biblionix may be well below its market share as measured by libraries served.
Reflecting the fact that the data in libraries.org isn't entirely comprehensive, there are 689 U.S. public libraries for which I do not have information regarding the automation system used. All of these are very small libraries- most do not have websites-and it is likely they either do not have an ILS at all or they use an older, PC-based product. Another 551 libraries in the sector (6%) have specifically indicated that no ILS has been implemented. One of my major concerns is that as much as 10% of the public libraries in the U.S. lack a modern ILS, and this presents an opportunity for any organization able to provide technology affordable within very modest budgets and with features designed for libraries serving small towns or rural areas.
Koha Leads Open Source ILS into the Mainstream
There are three main open source options in the U.S.: Koha (originally developed in New Zealand in 1999), Evergreen (created by the Georgia Public Library Service in 2006), and Kuali OLE (an initiative to create software for academic and research libraries through a series of grants in 2008). Concerted interest in open source ILSs began in about 2006 internationally and within the U.S. Prior to this time, no open source ILS products were perceived as being able to meet the needs of libraries in the U.S.
In a 2002 article, "Open Source ILS: Still Only a Distant Possibility," I noted the lack of robust systems. At the time, there were some relatively primitive products, including Avanti, PYTHEAS, and OpenBook. Avanti and PYTHEAS were never implemented in any library to my knowledge. OpenBook was adopted by a few rural communities in the northwestern U.S. through the efforts of a nonprofit organization called Technology Resource Foundation (later called Learning Access Institute). This software is no longer developed and remains installed in only one library.
Conversely, Koha has emerged as the only survivor of this early group and has grown to be the most adopted ILS product in the world. Although, I noted in my 2002 essay that it had some promise, Koha, at that time, was much less sophisticated than the version currently in use. It was originally developed for a very small group of libraries in New Zealand that did not have especially complex needs. Back then, it lacked basic requirements (such as support for MARC records and record transfer through Z39.50), and it had only minimal capabilities for acquisitions, serials management, and other areas of functionality.
Koha saw a gradual increase in interest through about 2005, gaining some new capabilities and some adoption outside of New Zealand. Beginning that year, it started to gather international interest, attracting significant development efforts, and its use has snowballed ever since. Koha is now used in tens of thousands of libraries throughout the world. Its greatest numbers of implementations are seen in libraries in less wealthy nations such as the Philippines, India, Turkey, and Argentina. It has also been adopted throughout Europe and in the U.S. and Canada.
The functionality of Koha can be considered on par with many of the proprietary ILS products. It offers a robust set of features as a result of 15 years of continuous functional enhancements and technical improvements by an international community of developers. It follows the model of the traditional ILS for print resource management and is considered part of the genre of library services platforms designed for organizations with collections dominated by licensed electronic resources.
Commercial Support for Open Source ILS
Open source software does not preclude commercial involvement. Quite the contrary, most open source projects sustain a variety of commercial endeavors in addition to volunteer or nonprofit activities. Dozens, if not hundreds, of support companies have emerged to provide services surrounding Koha.
Almost all of the libraries using an open source ILS in the U.S. do so with the paid services of a commercial support provider. ByWater Solutions is the leading support provider for Koha. Equinox is the dominant provider for services related to Evergreen and also provides services for Koha. LibLime, a division of PTFS, provides support for an ILS based on a fork of Koha.
Open Source Market Share
Roughly 12% of the public libraries in the U.S. have selected open source ILSs; 1,170 libraries, including 1,983 branches, use either Koha or Evergreen. Slightly more public libraries use Evergreen (634) than Koha (536). Kuali OLE has been implemented in three academic libraries and is not meant for public libraries.
Koha currently has been implemented by about 6% of public libraries in the U.S. (536 libraries and 765 branches). Of this group, the largest portion has implemented it through the support of ByWater Solutions: 392 libraries and 587 branches, or 4% of total U.S. public libraries. A smaller number rely on the support services of LibLime: 116 libraries and 150 branches, or 1%. A few U.S. public libraries (16) have implemented Koha independently of any commercial support service.
The open source Evergreen ILS has also has seen significant interest, primarily by consortia of public libraries in the U.S. Designed specifically for library consortia, Evergreen offers strong functionality for public libraries interested in sharing a system to provide lower technology costs and to facilitate sharing resources among participating libraries. Oriented primarily to consortia, Evergreen has fewer implementations, with each instance supporting a large number of libraries. Only 21 implementations support the 634 U.S. libraries using Evergreen. In comparison, 118 implementations of Koha support 536 libraries. Evergreen serves 7% of U.S. public libraries.
Evergreen seems best-suited for large consortia comprising mostly small and medium-size libraries. It has also been implemented by one large municipal library: King County Library System in 2009.
Disruptive, Though Not Dominant
Today, open source ILSs have become routine options for many libraries. They appreciate the freedom and community developments associated with open source software, but are willing to pay for implementation, hosting, and support services. To date, interest has been focused more on the small-to-midsize libraries and from more public than academic libraries.
When the open source ILS movement began in the mid-2000s, its potential long-term impact on the industry was not clear. At that time, there was great frustration by libraries with at least some of the commercial companies offering proprietary software. Open source ILS was seen as an alternative that could potentially give libraries more control over the technology upon which they rely so heavily and freedom from commercial companies. It seemed at least possible that open source ILS products could gain traction and sweep into more of a dominant portion of the library software industry. The trajectory of adoption has proven to be more gentle and modest.
Over the last decade, adoption of open source ILSs among U.S. public libraries has grown from zero to about 12%. Given the demographics of the libraries involved, the portion of revenue is considerably less. While the open source ILS movement has not dominated the U.S. public library industry, it has proven to be a disruptive factor and continues as a modestly growing segment. Its impact on the international scene-especially in the developing world-is another story. It seems likely that open source ILS products-especially Koha-are positioned to serve increasingly large numbers of libraries of all types in many international regions.
17-18,20


Everyone was extremely friendly, the service was great- will definitely do future business with First Choice Automotive !!
Awesome experience. Excellent customer service here. The experts at First Choice are extremely kind, personable and treat you like a person, opposed to a number. I have been nothing but pleased by their thorough work!