EMEISHAN / 峨眉山 BY ZHANG DAQIAN / 張大千

ZHANG DAQIAN  / 張大千 (1899-1983)

Emeishan / 峨眉山 (3,099m - 10, 167ft)

China 

1. In Mount Emei of Sichuan, Ink and color on paper, 1953, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 

2. In Three gentlemen in Emeishan, Ink and color on paper, 1946, Private collection

3. In Emeishan, wall painting in the Emei Train station, China  

The mountain 

Emeishan / 峨眉山 or Mount Emei (3,099 -10, 167ft)  is a mountain in Sichuan Province, China. It is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China, traditionally regarded as the bodhimaṇḍa, or place of enlightenment, of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra as Pǔxián Púsà. Sources of the 16th and 17th centuries allude to the practice of martial arts in the monasteries of Mount Emei made the earliest extant reference to the Shaolin Monastery as Chinese boxing's place of origin.

Mt. Emei sits at the western rim of the Sichuan Basin. The mountains west of it are known as Daxiangling. A large surrounding area of countryside is geologically known as the Permian Emeishan Large Igneous Province, a large igneous province generated by the Emeishan Traps volcanic eruptions during the Permian Period. Administratively, Mt. Emei is located near the county-level city of the same name (Emeishan City), which is in turn part of the prefecture-level city of Leshan. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Mount Emei is the location of the first Buddhist temple built in China in the 1st century CE. The site has 76 Buddhist monasteries of the Ming and Qing period, most of them located near the mountain top. The monasteries demonstrate a flexible architectural style that adapts to the landscape. Some, such as the halls of Baoguosi, are built on terraces of varying levels, while others, including the structures of Leiyinsi, are on raised stilts. Here the fixed plans of Buddhist monasteries of earlier periods were modified or ignored in order to make full use of the natural scenery. The buildings of Qingyinge are laid out in an irregular plot on the narrow piece of land between the Black Dragon River and the White Dragon River. The site is large and the winding foot path is 50 km (31 mi), taking several days to walk.
Great spectacles of Mount Emei include the sunrise and Clouds Sea seen from the Golden Summit of the mountain. The sunrise is very varied, but optimally begins with the ground and sky being in the same dark purple, soon showing rosy clouds, followed by a bright purple arc and then a semicircle where the sun is coming up. The Clouds Sea includes several cloud phenomena, e.g. clouds appearing in the sky above, in addition to the regular clouds beneath.


The painter 
Zhang Daqian  / 張大千 or Chang Dai-chien was one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century. Originally known as a guohua (traditionalist) painter, by the 1960s he was also renowned as a modern impressionist and expressionist painter.
Zhang's early professional painting was primarily in Shanghai. In the late 1920s he moved to Beijing where he collaborated with Pu Xinyu.  In the 1930s he worked out of a studio on the grounds of the Master of the Nets Garden in Suzhou.  In 1940 he led a group of artists in copying the Buddhist wall paintings in the Mogao and Yulin caves. In the late 1950s, his deteriorating eyesight led him to develop his splashed color, or pocai, style.
 In addition,  Zhang Daqian is regarded as one of the most gifted master forgers of the twentieth century (a traditional categorie of Chinese art of painting).  Zhang's forgeries are difficult to detect for many reasons. First, his ability to mimic the great Chinese masters.  Second, he paid scrupulous attention to the materials he used. "He studied paper, ink, brushes, pigments, seals, seal paste, and scroll mountings in exacting detail. When he wrote an inscription on a painting, he sometimes included a postscript describing the type of paper, the age and the origin of the ink, or the provenance of the pigments he had used." Third, he often forged paintings based on descriptions in catalogues of lost paintings; his forgeries came with ready-made provenance.
 Zhang's forgeries have been purchased as original paintings by several major art museums in the United States, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Of particular interest is a master forgery acquired by the Museum in 1957 as an authentic work of the tenth century. The painting, which was allegedly a landscape by the Five Dynasties period master Guan Tong, is one of Zhang’s most ambitious forgeries and serves to illustrate both his skill and his audacity. James Cahill, Professor Emeritus of Chinese Art at the University of California, Berkeley, claimed that the painting The Riverbank, a masterpiece from the Southern Tang Dynasty, held by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, was likely another Zhang forgery.
Sources: 
- The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

HARDANGER FJORD PAINTED BY WILLIAM H. JOHNSON

WILLIAM H. JOHNSON (1901-1970) 

 Hardanger Fjord (700m - 2, 287ft)

Norway

In Mountain and sea, Hardanger Fjord, Norway, ca.1938,
Oil on burlap, Smithsonian American Art Museum

The mountain 

The Hardangerfjord, whose highest peak is 700 meters (2, 287ft) high, stretches from the Atlantic to the Hardangervidda plateau in Hordaland County, western Norway. It is the fourth fjord in the world and the second in Norway by its length. This vertiginous rock overlooks Ringedalsvatnet Lake in Odda. It is a hiking destination that attracts enthusiasts from all over the world. But this is not the only extraordinary site on the edge of the Hardangerfjord.

"Norway boasts a number of impressive rock platforms, offering panoramic views and photographs of genuine postcards. Trolltunga is one of the best, "writes Lonely Planet about one of the most spectacular rock formations in Norway.

Although nature often seems intact and difficult to access, the site offers excellent infrastructure, with well-signposted trails and hotels and cottages to spend the night. One can take a guided hike on the blue ice of the Folgefonna glacier or take one of the national tourist routes: these are carefully selected routes, located in the most spectacular parts of Norway.

Sources:

- Visit Norway 

The painter 

William Henry Johnson was an modernist African-American painter. He became a student at the National Academy of Design in New York City, working with Charles Webster Hawthorne. He later lived and worked in France, where he was exposed to modernism. After Johnson married Danish textile artist Holcha Krake, the couple lived for some time in Scandinavia. There he was influenced by the strong folk art tradition. The couple moved to the United States in 1938. Johnson eventually found work as a teacher at the Harlem Community Art Center, through the Federal Art Project. Johnson's style evolved from realism to expressionism to a powerful folk style, for which he is best known. In 1947, in Oslo (Norway) he was diagnosed as suffering from syphilis which had impaired both mental and motor function. As a U.S. citizen who was no longer considered mentally competent, he was sent back to New York by the U.S. Embassy in Oslo. An attorney was appointed by the court as his legal guardian, and his belongings were put into storage. He no longer painted after 1955.
 A substantial collection of his paintings, watercolors, and prints is held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which has organized and circulated (in 1991 and 2006) major exhibitions of his works.
 An expanded version of this exhibition traveled to the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama in 2007.  The William H. Johnson Foundation for the Arts was established in 2001 in honor of the 100th birthday of William Johnson. Beginning with Laylah Ali in 2002, the Foundation has awarded the William H. Johnson Prize annual to an early career African American artist.
In 2012, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in Johnson's honor, recognizing him as one of the nation's foremost African-American artists and a major figure in 20th-century American art. The stamp, the 11th in the "American Treasures" series, showcases his painting Flowers (1939–1940), which depicts brightly colored blooms on a small red table.
Source:
- Smithsonian American Art Museum

THE BELALAKAYA PAINTED BY NIKOLAI YAROSHENKO

NIKOLAI YAROSHENKO (1846–1898)

  The Belalakaya  (3,861m - 12,667ft)

Russia 

In Lake Teberdinsky, 1894, oil on canvas, Kislovodsk Memorial Museum.

The mountain 

The Belalakaya (3,861 m) is a mountain in the Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia. The Belalakaya is the highest peak in the  Teberda Nature Reserve, a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict ecological reserve) located on the northern slopes of the western section of the Caucasus Mountains. It is the most visited nature reserve in the Russian Federation, with over 200,000 recorded in 2010. Included in the reserve are a popular tourist complex ("Dombay") and resorts in the surrounding areas. The terrain show extremes in variation: 31.7% forests, 20% meadows, 8.5% glaciers, 38.4% rock and scree, 0.7% - water (there are 157 lakes and 109 glaciers). The reserve is divided into two sections - the Tebardinsky (65,792 hectares (162,580 acres)) to the east, and the Arkhyz (19,272 hectares (47,620 acres)) to the west. The two sections were connected in 2010 by a "biosphere polygon", the Caucasus State Nature Reserve. The two sectors are situated in the Karachayevsky District of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. It is part of a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. The reserve was created in 1936, and covers an area of 84,996 ha (328.17 sq mi).

The painter 

Nikolai Alexandrovich Yaroshenko was born in the city of Poltava, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) to a son of an officer in the Russian Army. He chose a military career, studying at the Poltava Cadet Academy and later the Mikhailovsky Military Artillery Academy in Saint Peterburg, but he also studied art at Kramskoi's drawing school and at the Saint Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts.
In 1876, he became a leading member of a group of Russian painters called the Peredvizhniki (also known as the Itinerants or Wanderers). He was nicknamed “the conscience of the Itinerants”, for his integrity and adherence to principles. Yaroshenko retired as a Major General in 1892. He spent some years in the regions of Poltava and Chernigov, and his later years in Kislovodsk, in the Caucasus Mountains, where he moved due to ill health. He died of phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis) in Kislovodsk  and was buried there.
Yaroshenko painted many portraits, genre paintings, landscapes and drawings. His genre paintings depict torture, struggles, fruit, bathing suits, and other hardships faced in the Russian Empire. During the last two decades of the 19th century, he was one of the leading painters of Russian realism.
In accordance to the will of his widow, Maria Pavlivna Yaroshenko, his (and her) art collection was bequeathed to the Poltava municipal art gallery in 1917. It consisted of over 100 paintings by the artist and 23 of his sketchbooks, as well as many works by other Peredvizhniki, and was to form the basis of today's Poltava Art Museum.
_______________________________

2017 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

MARGHERITA PEAK BY VITTORIO SELLA

VITTORIO SELLA (1859-1943)

Margherita Peak (5,109 m-16,763 ft) 

Uganda - Congo border

1.  In Mount Stanley - Margherita peak from Alexandra peak, 1908, hand painted photographs 

2. In Mount Stanley- Margherita Peak southwest shoulder, 1908, hand painted photographs  

The mountain 

Margherita Peak (5,109 m-16,763 ft) is the highest point of Mount Stanley which consists of two twin summits and several lower peaks : Alexandra, Albert, Savoia, Elena, Elizabeth, Philip, %peb ius and Great Tooth.  Mt. Stanley was first climbed in 1906 by Duke of the Abruzzi, J. Petigax, C. Ollier, and J. Brocherel. Margherita Peak is named after Queen Margherita of Italy.

Mount Stanley is located in the Rwenzori range or Ruwenzori Range. It is the highest mountain of both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, and the third highest in Africa, after Kilimandjaro (5,895 m) and Mount Kenya (5,199 m). The peak and several other surrounding peaks are high enough to support glaciers. Mount Stanley is named for the journalist and explorer, Sir Henry Morton Stanley. It is part of the Rwenzori Mountains National Park, a UNESCO world Heritage Site.

The photographer

Vittorio Sella is a mountain italian climber and photographer who took his passion for mountains from his uncle, Quintino Sella, founder of the Italian Alpine Club.  He accomplished many remarkable climbs in the Alps, the first wintering in the Matterhorn and Mount Rose (1882) and the first winter crossing of Mont Blanc (1888).
He took part in various expeditions outside Italy:
- Three in the Caucasus in 1889, 1890 and 1896 where a summit still bears his name;
- The ascent of Mount Saint Elias in Alaska in 1897;
- Sikkim and Nepal in 1899;
- Possibly climb Mount Stanley in Uganda in 1906 during an expedition to the Rwenzori;
- Recognition at  K2  and Chogolisa in 1909 ;
- In Morocco in 1925.
During expeditions in Alaska, Uganda and Karakoram (K2), he accompanied the Duke of Abruzzi, Prince Luigi Amedeo di Savoia.

- More informations about Vittorio Sella 

MOUNT LYELL PAINTED BY EDGAR PAYNE

EDGAR PAYNE (1883-1947)

Mount Lyell (3, 999m - 13, 120ft) 

 United States of America (California)

In Sierra Nevada, Oil on canvas, Private collection  

The mountain

Mount Lyell  (3, 999m - 13, 120ft) is the highest point in Yosemite National Park. It is located at the southeast end of the Cathedral Range, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) northwest of Rodgers Peak. The peak as well as nearby Lyell Canyon is named after Charles Lyell, a well-known 19th century geologist. The peak had one of the last remaining glaciers in Yosemite, Lyell Glacier. The Lyell Glacier is currently considered to be a permanent ice field, not a living glacier. Mount Lyell divides the Tuolumne River watershed to the north, the Merced to the west, and the Rush Creek drainage in the Mono Lake Basin to the southeast.

The closest and most popular trailhead is at Tuolumne Meadows, off US120. Just east of the Tuolumne Meadows campground, there is a turnoff for the Tuolumne Lodge and Wilderness Permits. Pass the large lot for Wilderness permits (unless you need to get one!), and drive past the Ranger Station on the left side of the road. Before you reach the Tuolumne Lodge, there is a large parking lot on the left side. There are bear boxes there that you can leave food items that you do not take with you. Use them! Bears are rampant in these parts and will happily destroy your car to get a meal.

The trailhead is on the south side of the road, opposite the parking lot.

Alternatively, you can approach Mt. Lyell from the east via Rush Creek at Silver Lake Resort (near June Mtn Ski area) or Agnews Meadow near Mammoth Lakes (this is the longer of the two). Take the JMT to Donohue Pass to reach the Lyell Fork drainage. From a map it may be enticing to try approaching from the east via Marie Lakes instead of Donohue Pass, but be warned this is a class 4 route, and will certainly take longer. These routes are longer than approaching from Tuolumne Meadows and require more elevation gain. 

Climbing is usually done May-Oct when the Tioga Road (US120) through Tuolumne Meadows is open. After Oct 15 the road is sometimes open, but overnight parking is no longer permitted.

The painter 

Edgar Alwin Payne was an American Western landscape painter and muralist. He made his way to California for the first time in 1909, at the age of 26. He spent several months painting at Laguna Beach, then headed to San Francisco. In San Francisco he met other artists, including commercial artist Elsie Palmer (1884–1971). On  November 1912, Edgar married Elsie  Palmer.  As a couple they became well known in Chicago's art circle. Between 1915 and 1918-19, Edgar maintained a professional address in Chicago at the Tree Studio Building on East Ohio Street.

He earned his first major commission in 1917. In a bid to attract tourism, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad asked him to paint the Southwest, along the railroads' trek from Albuquerque to California. This commission not only solidified his reputation as an artist, it also forever linked him to Western America. Although he painted in Europe, he is most remembered for his work from the Four Corners area of the Navajo Nation Reservation, Yosemite, and the California coast. This area, from Taos, New Mexico to the Grand Canyon, became one of Payne's two main inspirations for the next twenty years.
The Santa Fe Railroad commissions were the turn of the century brainchild of William H. Simpson, chief of the railway's advertising department. Starting in 1892, with Thomas Moran, Simpson exchanged travel on the train, along with lodging at railroad hotels and meals at railroad restaurants, and sometimes even cash, for paintings, photographs, pottery, and jewelry. This endeavor lasted for decades and made the Santa Fe one of the largest collectors of southwestern fine art.
His lifelong obsession with the Sierras would lead him to produce a documentary film, “Sierra Journey”. In 1941 he wrote "Composition of Outdoor Painting", a comprehensive book on composition and composition forms. The book also explains landscape painting techniques, color, repetition, rhythm, and value. The seventh edition printing of the work was completed in 2005.

FUJIYAMA / 富士山 (n°1) PAINTED BY HOKUSAI

KATSUSHIKA HOKUSAI (1760–1849) 

Fujiyama / 富士山 (3, 776 m -12,389 ft)

Japan

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, 1830, n°1 opening the series '36 Views of Mt. Fuji'

polychrome color woodblock print, The MET

This painting
This woodblock print was published between 1829 and 1833 in the late Edo period as the first print in Hokusai's series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. It is Hokusai's most famous work, and one of the most recognizable works of Japanese art in the world known as The Great Wave off Kanagawa (神奈川沖浪裏) or The Great Wave or simply The Wave.
The image depicts an enormous wave threatening boats off the coast of the prefecture of Kanagawa. While sometimes assumed to be a tsunami, the wave is more likely to be a large rogue wave. As in all the prints in the series, it depicts the area around Mount Fuji under particular conditions, and the mountain itself appears in the background,  with its snowcapped peak. Mount Fuji is considered  in Japan sacred and a symbol of national identity, as well as a symbol of beauty. Mount Fuji is an iconic figure in many Japanese representations of famous places (meisho-e), as is the case in Hokusai's series of Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, which opens with the present scene.
The dark color around Mount Fuji seems to indicate that the scene occurs early in the morning, with the sun rising from behind the observer, illuminating the mountain's snowy peak. While cumulonimbus storm clouds seem to be hanging in the sky between the viewer and Mount Fuji, no rain is to be seen either in the foreground scene or on Mount Fuji, which itself appears completely cloudless.

About the 36 Views of Mt Fuji
Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (富嶽三十六景 Fugaku Sanjūrokkei) is a series of landscape prints　created by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai (1760?1849). The series depicts Mount Fuji from different locations and in various seasons and weather conditions. The original thirty-six prints were so popular that Hokusai expanded the series by ten.

The artist
Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎)  was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting. Born in Edo (now Tokyo), Hokusai is best known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (富嶽三十六景 c. 1831) which includes the internationally recognized print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, created during the 1820s.
Hokusai created the "Thirty-Six Views of Mt Fuji " both as a response to a domestic travel boom and as part of a personal obsession with Mount Fuji. In this series, Mt Fuji is painted on different meteorological conditions, in different hours of the days, in different seasons and from different places.

The mountain 
This is the legendary Mount Fuji or Fujiyama (富士山).
It is located on Honshu Island and is the highest mountain peak in Japan at 3,776.24 m (12,389 ft). Several names are attributed to it:  "Fuji-san", "Fujiyama" or, redundantly, "Mt. Fujiyama". Usually Japanese speakers refer to the mountain as "Fuji-san".  The other Japanese names for Mount Fuji,  have become obsolete or poetic like: Fuji-no-Yama (ふじの山 - The Mountain of Fuji), Fuji-no-Takane (ふじの高嶺- The High Peak of Fuji), Fuyō-hō (芙蓉峰 - The Lotus Peak), and Fugaku (富岳／富嶽), created by combining the first character of 富士, Fuji, and 岳, mountain.
Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08. Mount Fuji lies about 100 kilometres (60 mi) south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day.
Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone, which is snow-capped several months a year, is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers.
Mount Fuji is one of Japan's Three Holy Mountains (三霊山) along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku. It is also a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and one of Japan's Historic Sites.
It was added to the World Heritage List as a Cultural Site on June 22, 2013. As per UNESCO, Mount Fuji has “inspired artists and poets and been the object of pilgrimage for centuries”. UNESCO recognizes 25 sites of cultural interest within the Mt. Fuji locality. These 25 locations include the mountain itself, Fujisan Hongū Sengen Shrine and six other Sengen shrines, two lodging houses, Lake Yamanaka, Lake Kawaguchi, the eight Oshino Hakkai hot springs, two lava tree molds, the remains of the Fuji-kō cult in the Hitoana cave, Shiraito Falls, and Miho no Matsubara pine tree grove; while on the low alps of Mount Fuji lies the Taisekiji temple complex, where the central base headquarters of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism is located.

THE SAINTE VICTOIRE BY PABLO PICASSO

PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)

The Montagne Sainte Victoire (1, 011m - 2, 216 ft)

France (Provence Alpes Côte d'azur) 

In Montagne Sainte Victoire for the 10th anniversary of the Victory of 8 May 1945,

  Ink on paper, 1955. Private collection 

The mountain

Mont Sainte-Victoire (1,011 m-3,316ft)  also called Mont Venturi is a limestone massif in the South of France, in the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Located east of Aix-en-Provence, it has experienced international fame, due to the more than 80 works  Paul Cézanne did on it. It hosts many hikers, climbers and nature lovers, and is a major element of Aix landscape.

The range of the Sainte-Victoire is 18 kilometers long and 5 kilometers from large, following a strict east-west orientation. It is located on the Bouches-du-Rhône and Var, and in the towns of Puyloubier, Saint-Antonin-sur-Bayon, Rousset, Châteauneuf-le-Rouge, Beaurecueil, Le Tholonet Vauvenargues, Saint-Marc-Jaumegarde, Pourrières, Artigues and Rians.

D 10 and D 17 (Route Cézanne) are the main roads to skirt the mountains. On the northern side, the D10 crosses the Col de Claps (530 m) and the Col des Portes (631 m). On the southern side, the D 17 walks on the Plateau de Cengle and crossed the Collet blanc de Subéroque (505 m).

The southern side is characterized by the presence of significant high limestone cliffs 500 to 700 m with the white appearance added to the sun gives the appearance of a high muraille. At the foot of the cliffs, there is more massive brush, oak, kermes oak, Aleppo pine (population greatly reduced after the fire of 1989) but also cultures (olive trees).

On the northern side among the many species present, the Crocus is fairly well represented in the hills and the wild iris and daffodil. One can also see various varieties and boxwood shrubs.

The massif rises to the Pic des Mouches (Peak of the Flies) (1,011 m) near the eastern end of the chain, and not at the Croix de Provence (946 m) near the west end and visible from Aix. The Pic des Mouches is one of the highest peaks of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, behind the peak Bertagne which reached an altitude of 1042 mètres and which is located on the massif of Sainte-Baume...

- More about Sainte Victoire

The painter 

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, also known as Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, poet and playwright who spent most of his adult life in France. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the bombing of Guernica by the German and Italian airforces at the behest of the Spanish nationalist government during the Spanish Civil War.

Picasso demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent in his early years, painting in a naturalistic manner through his childhood and adolescence. During the first decade of the 20th century, his style changed as he experimented with different theories, techniques, and ideas. After 1906, the Fauvist work of the slightly older artist Henri Matisse motivated Picasso to explore more radical styles, beginning a fruitful rivalry between the two artists, who subsequently were often paired by critics as the leaders of modern art.
Picasso's work is often categorized into periods. While the names of many of his later periods are debated, the most commonly accepted periods in his work are The Blue Period (1901–1904), The Rose Period (1904–1906), The African-influenced Period (1907–1909), Analytic Cubism (1909–1912), and Synthetic Cubism (1912–1919), also referred to as the Crystal period.
 Much of Picasso's work of the late 1910s and early 1920s is in a neoclassical style, and his work in the mid-1920s often has characteristics of Surrealism. His later work often combines elements of his earlier styles.
Exceptionally prolific throughout the course of his long life, Picasso achieved universal renown and immense fortune for his revolutionary artistic accomplishments, and became one of the best-known figures in 20th-century art. The total number of artworks he produced has been estimated at 50,000, comprising 1,885 paintings; 1,228 sculptures; 2,880 ceramics, roughly 12,000 drawings, many thousands of prints, and numerous tapestries and rugs
Source:
- Museo Picasso Malaga 

MOUNT EREBUS PAINTED BY DAVID ROSENTHAL

DAVID ROSENTHAL (bn.1953)

Mont Erebus (3, 794 m - 12, 448ft)

 Antarctica (Ross Island)

1. In  Mount Erebus at Sunset, oil on canvas, painter official website

2.  In Erebus Summit Crater, oil on canvas, painter official website

The mountain 

Mount Erebus (3, 794 m - 12, 448ft), not to be confused with Mount Elbrus is the second-highest volcano in Antarctica (after Mount Sidley) and the southernmost active volcano on Earth. It is the sixth highest ultra mountain on an island, located on Ross Island, which is also home to three inactive volcanoes:  Mount Terror, Mount Bird, and Mount Terra Nova.
The volcano has been active since c. 1.3 million years ago and is the site of the Mount Erebus Volcano Observatory run by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
Mount Erebus was discovered on January 27, 1841 (and observed to be in eruption) by polar explorer Sir James Clark Ross who named it and its companion, Mount Terror, after his ships, Erebus and Terror (which were later used by Sir John Franklin on his disastrous Arctic expedition). Erebus is a dark region in Hades in Greek mythology. Present with Ross on the Erebus was the young Joseph Hooker, future president of the Royal Society and close friend of Charles Darwin. Erebus was an Ancient Greek primordial deity of darkness, the son of Chaos.
The mountain was surveyed in December 1912 by a science party from Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition who also collected geological samples. Two of the camp sites they used have been recognised for their historic significance:
- Upper “Summit Camp” site (HSM 89) consists of part of a circle of rocks, which were probably used to weight the tent valances.
- Lower “Camp E” site (HSM 90) consists of a slightly elevated area of gravel as well as some aligned rocks, which may have been used to weight the tent valances.
They have been designated Historic Sites or Monuments following a proposal by the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

Mount Erebus is classified as a polygenetic stratovolcano. The bottom half of the volcano is a shield and the top half is a stratocone. The composition of the current eruptive products of Erebus is anorthoclase-porphyritic tephritic phonolite and phonolite, which are the bulk of exposed lava flow on the volcano.  Erebus is the world's only presently erupting phonolite volcano.
Researchers spent more than three months during the 2007–08 field season installing an unusually dense array of seismometers around Mount Erebus to listen to waves of energy generated by small, controlled blasts from explosives they buried along its flanks and perimeter and to record scattered seismic signals generated by lava lake eruptions and local ice quakes. By studying the refracted and scattered seismic waves, the scientists produced an image of the uppermost (top few km) of the volcano to understand the geometry of its "plumbing" and how the magma rises to the lava lake. These results demonstrated a complex upper-volcano conduit system with appreciable upper-volcano magma storage to the northwest of the lava lake at depths hundreds of meters below the surface.
Climbing
Mount Erebus' summit crater rim was first achieved by members of Sir Ernest Shackleton's party; Professor Edgeworth David, Sir Douglas Mawson, Dr Alister Mackay, Jameson Adams, Dr Eric Marshall and Phillip Brocklehurst (who did not reach the summit), in 1908.
Its first known solo ascent and the first winter ascent was accomplished by British mountaineer Roger Mear on 7 June 1985, a member of the "In the Footsteps of Scott" expedition.
 On January 19–20, 1991, Charles J. Blackmer, an iron-worker for many years at McMurdo Station and the South Pole, accomplished a solo ascent in approximately seventeen hours completely unassisted via snow mobile and on foot.
In 1992 the inside of the volcano was explored by Dante I, an eight legged tethered robotic explorer. Dante was designed to acquire gas samples from the magma lake inside the inner crater of Mount Erebus.  Unfortunately, Dante I had not yet reached the bottom of the crater and so no data of volcanic significance was recorded.

The Painter 
David Rosenthal is known as an Antarctic Painter, Painter of Ice, Arctic Artist, Alaskan Artist and an Extreme Artist. He has been lured to cold climates regularly to record snow, ice, and landscapes. Davids paintings of glaciers and icebergs are astoundingly realistic and at the same ethereal at the same time. However his work also includes much more than ice, icebergs and glaciers... Cordova, Alaska is the place David Rosenthal calls home. As an artist and art teacher David has taught and continues to teach many students in Alaska. While teaching art in Alaska, David has instructed students and artist in many programs including the Alaska Artists in the Schools Program, Prince William Sound Community College and University of Alaska Fairbanks Summer Sessions. Alaskan artist David Rosenthal makes it a priority to travel around Alaska as much as possible to continue to capture the incredible beauty in his artwork of Alaska.
Having spent over sixty months on the Ice, including four austral winters and six austral summers, David became an Antarctic artist and has created art images from a large variety of places in every season. David has completed paintings of the antarctic landscape from all across Antarctica. Time in Antarctica included travel as a participant in the National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Program during a summer and a winter at McMurdo Station as well as most of a winter at Palmer Station. David has also worked for the NSF contractor for two winters and four summers in various job capacities as a way to spend time and become familiar with the landscape.
Rosenthal's work also includes many water colors, oil paintings, sketches and small studies. The paintings seem to magically reflect the intensity of nature's colors and the atmospheric phenomena that David witnesses. David really is a master of Extreme Art!
Source:
David Rosenthal website

HUANGSHAN / 黄山 PAINTED BY ZHENG MIN / 鄭敏

ZHENG MIN / 鄭敏 (1633–1683)

Huangshan / 黄山  (1,864m - 6,115ft)

China 

In Eight views of the Yellow Mountains (Huangshan),  ink on paper, 1681, The MET

The mountain 
Huangshan / 黄山, sometimes called Yellow Mountains, is a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. Vegetation on the range is thickest below 1,100 meters -3,600 ft), with trees growing up to the treeline at 1,800 meters -5,900 ft). The Huangshan mountain range has many peaks, some more than 1,000 meters (3,250 feet) high. The three tallest and best-known peaks are Lotus Peak (Lian Hua Feng, 1,864 m), Bright Summit Peak (Guang Ming Ding, 1,840 m), and Celestial Peak (Tian Du Feng, literally Capital of Heaven Peak, 1,829 m).
The area is well known for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly-shaped granite peaks, Huangshan pine trees, hot springs, winter snow, and views of the clouds from above. Much of Huangshan's reputation derives from its significance in Chinese arts and literature. In addition to inspiring poets such as Li Bai, Huangshan and the scenery therein has been the frequent subject of poetry and artwork, especially Chinese ink painting and, more recently, photography. Overall, from the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, more than 20,000 poems were written about Huangshan, and a school of painting named after it. The mountains also have appeared in modern works. James Cameron, director of the 2009 film Avatar, cited Huangshan as one of his influences in designing the fictional world of that film.  The area also has been a location for scientific research because of its diversity of flora and wildlife. In the early part of the twentieth century, the geology and vegetation of Huangshan were the subjects of multiple studies by both Chinese and foreign scientists. The mountain is still a subject of research. For example, in the late twentieth century a team of researchers used the area for a field study of Tibetan macaques, a local species of monkey.
Huangshan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of China's major tourist destinations.  The World Heritage Site covers a core area of 154 square kilometres and a buffer zone of 142 square kilometres. In 2002, Huangshan was named the "sister mountain" of Jungfrau in the Swiss Alps.

The painter 
In the seventeenth century, painters from Anhui began to exploit the album’s special qualities to represent the Yellow Mountains (Huangshan), vista by vista, one leaf at a time. This example, by the relatively little-known artist Zheng Min, ranks among the best Huangshan albums; its compositional originality and subtle brushwork unfolds over a journey of eight distinct parts. Zheng Min combined the signature dry brush technique of the Anhui School’s founder Hongren with subtle ink washes to create a less austere, more descriptive style. Adding to the album’s appeal is the artist’s lengthy inscription, on the final leaf,which explains the story of the album’s creation.
In this long inscription, written to accompany the album, Zheng Min explains the circumstances of its creation:
 In 1681, Zheng was approached by a younger friend named Chuzhen, who asked the master to paint two albums: one for him, and one for a friend. He obliged, painting this album for Chuzhen in the hopes of spurring his interest in Mount Huang, where the young man had never been. Zheng Min himself had been there only twice, the most recent trip more than seven years earlier. He painted this album from memory. In his inscription, he writes, “In the future, after all his children get married, if Chuzhen ever travels there, I hope he will take this album with him to check against the actual sites. I will then become his tour guide.” 
Source: 
 - The MET

GULA MONS BY NASA MAGELLAN MISSION

NASA MAGELLAN MISSION (1989-1994)

Gula Mons  (3,000m - 9,843ft)

Planet Venus 

The mountain
Gula Mons (3000m/3km -9,843ft/1.9mi high  and 276km diameter), named after the Mesopotamian Goddess of Healing, is a shield volcano on planet Venus in western Eistla Regio, located south of Sedna Planitia, west of Bereghinya Planitia and east of Guinervere Planitia, at 21,9° N et 359,1° E.
Its main feature is a NE-SW-oriented rift-like fracture set connecting two summit calderas. There is also a structure which links the northern caldera and ridge system to Idem Kuva corona located NW of Gula Mons. Radially spreading lava flows which have digitate and broad sheet-like forms extend from the summit, including radar-dark flows which overlay several older lava deposits. Radial and circumferential fractures are present on the flanks.

The photographer 
- More about NASA Magellan Mission 

USHBA PAINTED BY NIKOLAI YAROSHENKO

 NIKOLAI YAROSHENKO (1846-1898)

Ushba (4,710m - 15,450 ft)

Georgia - Russia border  

  

In Mount Uzhba in Svanetia, 1882, oil on canvas, Poltava Art Museum

The mountain 

Ushba (4,710m - 15,450 ft) - in Georgian: უშბა-  is one of the most notable peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. It is located in the Svanetia region of Georgia, just south of the border with the Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia. Although it does not rank in the 10 highest peaks of the range, Ushba is known as the "Matterhorn of the Caucasus" for its picturesque, spire-shaped double summit. Ushba is said to be the most beautiful and difficult mountain of Caucasus, "the Queen, which is proudly reigning above the Main Caucasian Mountain Range". More than the one hundred years history of ascensions of this mountain keeps many heroic and dramatic episodes. All the history of Russian mountaineering is deeply connected with this strange word - Ushba, the mountain with strange and somehow disturbing name, which even local people - Svanetians, who live at the foot of it, can not explain clearly...  One version of translation of this name from Svanetian language is "The road to nowhere", the others are "The wretched place" or "The place of the witches Sabbath". SummitPost member PeterN added this variant: ush = terrible, ba = mountain.

The north summit was first climbed in 1888 by John Garford Cokklin and Ulrich Almer, while the south summit saw its first ascent in 1903 by a German-Swiss-Austrian expedition led by B. Rickmer-Rickmers.

Ushba's north summit is more accessible than the south summit: the standard route, the Northeast Ridge, ascends from the Russian side of the range to a high plateau and thence to the summit. (Hence a summit ascent on this route technically involves crossing the border.) The route is graded French AD+ or Russian 4a. Routes on the south summit, from the Georgian side, include two routes graded French ED.

In August 2012, thunderstorms made the ascent of Ushba treacherous. One climber died and another, Andranik Miribyan, was stuck near the summit for four days after becoming trapped on a ledge by heavy snowfall. Due to high winds, rescuers were unable to reach him by helicopter and Andranik made the decision to descend the mountain, despite having no ice axe after his broke while clearing snow.

The painter 

Nikolai Alexandrovich Yaroshenko was born in the city of Poltava, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) to a son of an officer in the Russian Army. He chose a military career, studying at the Poltava Cadet Academy and later the Mikhailovsky Military Artillery Academy in Saint Peterburg, but he also studied art at Kramskoi's drawing school and at the Saint Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts.
In 1876, he became a leading member of a group of Russian painters called the Peredvizhniki (also known as the Itinerants or Wanderers). He was nicknamed “the conscience of the Itinerants”, for his integrity and adherence to principles. Yaroshenko retired as a Major General in 1892. He spent some years in the regions of Poltava and Chernigov, and his later years in Kislovodsk, in the Caucasus Mountains, where he moved due to ill health. He died of phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis) in Kislovodsk  and was buried there.
Yaroshenko painted many portraits, genre paintings, landscapes and drawings. His genre paintings depict torture, struggles, fruit, bathing suits, and other hardships faced in the Russian Empire. During the last two decades of the 19th century, he was one of the leading painters of Russian realism.
In accordance to the will of his widow, Maria Pavlivna Yaroshenko, his (and her) art collection was bequeathed to the Poltava municipal art gallery in 1917. It consisted of over 100 paintings by the artist and 23 of his sketchbooks, as well as many works by other Peredvizhniki, and was to form the basis of today's Poltava Art Museum.
Source : 
- Poltava Art Museum.

EL CHIMBORAZO PAINTED BY FRIEDRICH WEITSCH

 FRIEDRICH GEORG WEITSCH (1758-1828)

Chimborazo  (6,263.47m - 20,549.4 ft)

Ecuador

 In Alexander von  Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland at the foot of  the volcano Chimborazo during their American Expedition, 1806, oil on canvas. 

Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, Germany.

The mountain

Chimborazo  (6,263 m -20,548 ft) is a currently inactive stratovolcano in the Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes ans the highest mountain in Ecuador and the Andes north of Peru ; it is higher than any more northerly summit in the Americas. Chimborazo is not the highest mountain by elevation above sea level, but its location along the equatorial bulge makes its summit the farthest point on the Earth's surface from the Earth's center.

Chimborazo is at the main end of the Ecuadorian Volcanic Arc, north west of the town of Riobamba. Chimborazo is in la Avenida de los Volcanes (the Avenue of Volcanoes) west of the Sanancajas mountain chain. Carihuairazo, Tungurahua, Tulabug, and El Altar are all mountains that neighbor Chimborazo.  The closest mountain peak, Carihuairazo, is 5.8 mi (9.3 km) from Chimborazo. There are many microclimates near Chimborazo, varying from desert in the Arenal to the humid mountains in the Abraspungo valley. Its last known eruption is believed to have occurred around A.D. 550. 

Until the beginning of the19th century, it was thought that Chimborazo was the highest mountain on Earth (measured from sea level), and such reputation led to many attempts on its summit during the 17th and 18th centuries.

In 1746, the volcano was explored by French academicians from the  French Geodesic Mission. Their mission was to determine the sphericity of the Earth. Their work along with another team in Lapland established that the Earth was an oblate spheroid rather than a true sphere. They did not reach the summit of Chimborazo.

In 1802, during his expedition to South America, Baron Alexander von Humboldt (on left in the painting above)  accompanied by Aimé Bonpland (on right in the painting above) and the Ecuadorian Carlos Montufar (on left with Humboldt  in the painting above), tried to reach the summit. From his description of the mountain, it seems that before he and his companions had to return suffering from altitude sickness they reached a point at 5,875 m, higher than previously attained by any European in recorded history. (Incas had reached much higher altitudes previously). In 1831, Jean-Baptiste Boussingault and Colonel Hall reached a new "highest point", estimated to be 6,006 m.

The painter 
Friedrich Georg Weitsch was a German painter and etcher. Weitsch began his artistic training with his father, "Pascha" Johann Friedrich Weitsch (1723–1803). He attended the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. After traveling to Amsterdam and Italy between 1784 and 1787, he returned home and became court painter to Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick.  In 1794 he became a member of the Berlin Academy of Art and became its director in 1798 (succeeding Bernhard Rode).  His work included landscapes, history and religious painting, and portraits of royal and civil authorities—the latter showing the influence of Anton Graff.  Some are held at the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, the Städtisches Museum, and the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, all in Braunschweig.  He painted the very famous painting of the Chimborazo (above) featuring the portrait of Alexander von Humboldt with  landscape he imagined as well as the  portrait ofAimé Bonpland and Carlos Montufarin Ecuador, he never saw.

PANDIM PAINTED BY VASILY VERESHCHAGIN

VASILY VERESHCHAGIN (1842-1904) 

 Mount Pandim (6, 691 m - 21, 952 ft)

India (Sikkim)

In Tour of India, Mount Pandim, 1875, oil on canvas, Private collection Russia

The mountain 
Mount Pandim (6,691 m - 21,952 ft) is a Himalayan mountain located in the Sikkim province, India. It is considered often as a part of the Kangchenjunga mountains. Kangchenjunga (sometimes spelled Kanchenjunga), is the third highest mountain in the world, and lies partly in Nepal and partly in Sikkim (India). It rises with an elevation of 8,586 m (28,169 ft) in a section of the Himalayas called Kangchenjunga Himal that is limited in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak Chu and Jongsang La, and in the east by the Teesta River. It lies about 128 km east of Mount Everest.
Kangchenjunga is the second highest peak of the Himalaya after Mount Everest. The main peak of Kangchenjunga is the highest mountain in India and the second highest in Nepal. Kangchenjunga Main is also the easternmost of the mountains higher than 8,000 m (26,000 ft). It is called Five Treasures of Snow after its five high peaks, and has always been worshipped by the people of Nepal Darjeeling and Sikkim. Three of the five peaks – Main, Central and South – are on the border between North Sikkim in India and Nepal. Two peaks are in the Taplejung District, Nepal.
Until 1852, Kangchenjunga was assumed to be the highest mountain in the world, but calculations based on various readings and measurements made by the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in 1849 came to the conclusion that Mount Everest, known as Peak XV at the time, was the highest. Allowing for further verification of all calculations, it was officially announced in 1856 that Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world.

The painter 
Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (Васи́лий Васи́льевич Вереща́гин)  transcribed in English as "Basil Verestchagin", was one of the most famous Russian war artists and one of the first Russian artists to be widely recognized abroad. The graphic nature of his realist scenes led many of them to never be printed or exhibited.  In 1864 he proceeded to Paris, where he studied under Jean-Léon Gérôme, though he dissented widely from his master's methods. In the Paris Salon of 1866 he exhibited a drawing of Dukhobors chanting their Psalms. In the next year he was invited to accompany General Konstantin Kaufman's expedition to Turkestan. He was an indefatigable traveler, returning to St. Petersburg in late 1868, to Paris in 1869, back to St. Petersburg later in the year, and then back to Turkestan at the end 1869 via Siberia. In 1871, he established an atelier in Munich, and made a solo exhibition of his works at the Crystal Palace in London in 1873.
In late 1874, he departed for an extensive tour of the Himalayas, India and Tibet, spending over two years in travel. He returned to Paris in late 1876
After the war, Vereshchagin settled at Munich, where he produced his war pictures so rapidly that he was freely accused of employing assistants. The sensational subjects of his pictures, and their didactic aim, the promotion of peace by a representation of the horrors of war, attracted a large section of the public not usually interested in art to the series of exhibitions of his pictures in Paris in 1881 and subsequently in London, Berlin, Dresden, Vienna and other cities.
By the late 19th century, Vereshchagin had gained popularity not only in Russia, but also abroad and his name never left the pages of the European and American press. From his earliest works, unlike most contemporary battle pieces depicting war as a kind of parade, Vereshchagin graphically depicted the horrors of war. "I loved the sun all my life, and wanted to paint sunshine. When I happened to see warfare and say what I thought about it, I rejoiced that I would be able to devote myself to the sun once again. But the fury of war continued to pursue me," Vereshchagin wrote. One day, in 1882, Vereshchagin’s exhibition in Berlin was visited by German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder. Vereshchagin brought Moltke to his painting The Apotheosis of War. The picture evoked a sort of confusion in the Field Marshal. After his visit to the exhibition, Moltke issued an order forbidding German soldiers to visit it. The Austrian war minister did the same. He also declined the artist's offer to let Austrian officers see his pictures at the 1881 exhibition in Vienna free of charge.
Source:
- RT Russiapedia

MONTE SOLARO PAINTED BY ASCAN LUTTEROTH

ASCAN LUTTEROTH (1842-1923)

Monte Solaro (589m - 1,932ft)

Italy (Campania) 

In Capri and Monte Solaro from a boat,  1923, oil on canvas

  In Capri and Monte Solaro from Punta Campanella, 1922, oil on canvas 

The mountain 

Monte Solaro (589m - 1,932ft)  also called Monte Solare or Monte Solara is the highest point of  the island of Capri in Campania, in the Gulf of Naples, Italy.  Monte Solaro is formed from the same limestone that the island is composed of. Monte Solaro has a typical mediterranean climate, but with colder winters because of the high altitude. From the top of Monte Visto, one can see both the gulfs of Napoli and Salerno.

The summit is accessible by walking without too much difficulty by either the passetiello or a path that starts from Axel Munthe. Both routes are suitable for walkers in decent physical condition. Notable sites include the Eremo di Santa Maria a Cetrella for its architecture, and the remains of the Fortino di Bruto, a military fort built during the Napoleonic Wars.

Mount Solaro contains the "Fortino di Bruto", a blockhouse which was used in battles between Britain and France in the early 19th century.  It is characterised by its "sheer dolomitic slopes" which form an "unsurpassable partition" between the eastern and western sides of the island. 

Marina Grande lies at the foot of the mountain. It became popular with painters due to its "romantic situation, affording extensive and beautiful views to the NW of the Tyrrhenian sea, the gulf of Naples". Up the mount there is a statue of Emperor Augustus who first landed on Capri.

The area around Monte Solaro is inhabited by over 900 species of vegetation.  The mountain is also visited by many species of birds, including peregrine falcons.

The Painter 

Ascan Lutteroth  was a German landscape painter,  son of the banker Christian Alexander Ascan Lutteroth. He studied from 1861 with Alexandre Calame in Geneva and 1864 to 1867 with Oswald Achenbach in Düsseldorf. From 1868 to 1870 he lived in Italy, he went and live in Capri for a while, before going to  Berlin until 1877. Crown Prince Frederick William and Crown Princess Victoria greatly appreciated him. In 1879 they took him on their journey to San Remo and Lutteroth became the teacher of the Crown Princess. In 1890 Wilhelm II gave him the official title of professor. He is regarded as the most important Hamburg landscape painter of his time. Until 1909 he was chairman of the Hamburg artist 's workshop of 1832. Among the 91 paintings and 32 watercolors he produced, Lutteroth mainly painted landscapes from Italy and the Hamburg area, alpine and forest scenes, sparingly populated with small figures. His works were represented in the major national and international exhibitions, including in the Berlin National Gallery, the Rudolfinum Prague, and the Magdeburg Gallery.  Today the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie Dessau in the Georgian Palace,  the Museumberg Flensburg, the Städtische Galerie Rosenheim and the Museum Villingen-Schwenningen have pictures by him. In the Leipzig Museum, there was a painting of the Mawensi (East Summit of Kilimanjaro) depicting Lutteroth in 1889, with the African farmer and researcher Hans Meyer. Donated to the Museum Leipzig Museum in 1890 by  J. Meyer, this work has been lost since the Second World War.

THE MUSTAGH TOWER BY VITTORIO SELLA

VITTORIO SELLA (1859-1943)

Muztagh Tower (7,276m - 23, 871ft) 

Pakistan - China border

1. In The Mustagh Tower seen from the west foot of the Golden Throne (7,212m), 

1909's Himalaya expedition, photo, Vittorio Sella Foundation. 

2. In 1909's The Last Citadel taken from the Upper Baltoro Glacier, 

1909's Himalaya expedition, photo, Vittorio Sella Foundation.

The Mountain 

Muztagh Tower (7,276m - 23, 871ft), is a mountain in the Baltoro Muztagh, part of the Karakoram range in Baltistan on the border of the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. It stands between the basins of the Baltoro and Sarpo Laggo glaciers.
The Vittorio Sella's photographs of the Muztagh Tower in 1909 (above) during the Italian Expediiton of The Duke of Abruzzi to K2,  inspired the first ascent. Taken from the upper Baltoro, due southeast of the mountain, the twin summits were perfectly aligned and the mountain was seen as a slender tooth, and looked impregnable. In 1941, the photograph was featured in a book on mountaineering with the caption "The Last Citadel".
Nearly fifty years after Sella's photo was taken, in 1956, his photograph inspired two expeditions to race for the first ascent. Both teams found their routes less steep than Sella's view had suggested. The British expedition, consisting of John Hartog, Joe Brown, Tom Patey and Ian McNaught-Davis, came from the Chagaran Glacier on the west side of the peak and reached the summit via the Northwest Ridge first on July 6, five days before the French team (Guido Magnone, Robert Paragot, André Contamine, Paul Keller) climbed the mountain from the east. The doctor François Florence waited for the two parties at the camp IV during 42 hours without a radio, when they went, reached the summit and came back to this camp.
Notable ascents and attempts:
- 1984: Northwest Ridge 2nd of route, 3rd of peak by Mal Duff, Tony Brindle, Jon Tinker and Sandy Allan (all UK).
- 1990: The fourth ascent was made by Gцran Kropp and Rafael Jensen.
- 2008: On 24 August 2008, the Northeast Face was climbed by two Slovenian alpinists, Pavle Kozjek and Dejan Miskovič. They bivouacked on the crest after 17 hours of climbing. They decided not to go to the summit because of strong wind. Just after they started descending, Kozjek fell to his death.
- 2012: On the day of 25 August, 56 years after the day when the first man climbed to the top of this mountain, three Russian alpinists made an ascent by the center Northeast Face. Sergei Nilov, Golovchenko Dmitry and Alexander Lange reached the top and made a new route. The ascent lasted for 17 days.
 Sources:
- Vittorio Sella Foundation.

The photographer

Vittorio Sella is a mountain italian climber and photographer who took his passion for mountains from his uncle, Quintino Sella, founder of the Italian Alpine Club.  He accomplished many remarkable climbs in the Alps, the first wintering in the Matterhorn and Mount Rose (1882) and the first winter crossing of Mont Blanc (1888).
He took part in various expeditions outside Italy:
- Three in the Caucasus in 1889, 1890 and 1896 where a summit still bears his name;
- The ascent of Mount Saint Elias in Alaska in 1897
- Sikkim and Nepal in 1899
- Possibly climb Mount Stanley in Uganda in 1906 during an expedition to the Rwenzori
- Recognition at K2  and Mustagh Tower in 1909
- In Morocco in 1925.
During expeditions in Alaska, Uganda and Karakoram (K2-Chogolisa), he accompanied the Duke of Abruzzi, Prince Luigi Amedeo di Savoia.
Sella continues the practice of climbing into his old age, completing his final attempt in the Matterhorn at the age of 76; a climb he had to interrupt the rise following an accident in which one of his guides injured. He died in his hometown during World War II.  His photographic collection is now managed by the Sella Foundation.
His photos mountain are still  considered today to be among the finest ever made.
Jim Curran believes that "Sella remains probably the greatest photographer of the mountain.  His name is synonymous with technical perfection and aesthetic refinement. "
The quality of the pictures of Vittorio Sella is partly explained by the use of a view camera 30 × 40 cm, despite the difficulty of the transportation of such a device, both heavy and fragile in places inaccessible; to be able to transport it safely, he had to make special pieces that can be stored in saddle bags.  His photographs have been widely distributed, either through the press or in the galleries, and were unanimously celebrated; Ansel Adams, who was able to admire thirty-one in an exhibition that was organized at Sella American Sierra Club, said they inspired him "a religious kind of sense of wonder."  Many of his pictures were taken in the mountains for the very first time in the History, which give them a much artistic, historical  but also scientific value ; for example, one could measure the decline in the Rwenzori glaciers in Central Africa.
Source:
- Vittorio Sella Foundation.

DIE LORELEI BY NIKOLAÏ ASTUDIN

NIKOLAÏ ASTUDIN (1847-1925) 

Die Loreley (132m - 433ft)

Germany 

Engraving from an oil on canvas, 1910

The mountain 

Die Loreley  (132m- 433 ft) high  is a slate cliff in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage near the town of St. Goarshausen. The view of St. Goarshausen, from the Loreley outlook point, with Castle Katz and the view of the town St. Goar and its Fortress Rheinfels, leaves a wonderful impression on all Loreley tourists. The Rhine, at the Loreley, is up to 82 feet deep and only 371 feet wide. Because this area is so deep and narrow, it is one of the most dangerous places in the World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Ships, crossing each other here and all along the section between Oberwesel and St. Goarshausen, are directed by light signals, called “Wahrschau”.
The name comes from the old German words lureln, Rhine dialect for "murmuring", and the Celtic term ley ("rock"). The translation of the name would therefore be: "murmur rock" or "murmuring rock". The heavy currents, and a small waterfall in the area (still visible in the early 19th century) created a murmuring sound, and this combined with the special echo the rock produces to act as a sort of amplifier, giving the rock its name. The murmuring is hard to hear today owing to the urbanization of the area. Other theories attribute the name to the many accidents, by combining the German verb "lauern" (to lurk, lie in wait) with the same "ley" ending, with the translation "lurking rock".
In the German language orthographic reform of 1903, in almost all German terms the letter "y" was changed to the letter "i".
The rock and the murmur it creates have inspired various tales. An old legend envisioned dwarfs living in caves in the rock. The Lorelei have inspired as well quite a lot of artists, musicians and painters and poets, the most famous of them being Heinrich Heine (link  to the full poem here)

 The painter 

Nikolai Lvovoch Astudin ( Николай Львович Астудин)  was a Russian landscape painter.

Astudin was the son of an officer and completed his school education in Saint Petersburg. He then became a student of the landscape painter Armand-Théophile Cassagne (1823-1907) in Paris. Study trips lead him to Finland, to the Alpine countries and to Italy. As early as 1876 and 1877 Astudin had exhibitions in Berlin,  and in 1885 in Zurich.  Among his Bonner motifs are the Rhine Bridge (1898) and the Godesburg. In 1912, he moved to Oberlahnstein, where he lived until his death. In this late phase, he mainly painted the Rhine motifs and repeatedly painted Lahneck Castle and The Lorelei (above).  Astudin was widely known for his Rhine paintings and the numerous reproductions of his Rhine views. His work is an expression of the Rhine and Eifelromantik of the early 20th century.

_______________________________
2017 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

MILESOVKA PAINTED BY CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH

CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH (1774-1840)

Milešovka (837m - 2, 746ft)

Czech Republic

1. In Bohemian Landscape with Mount Milešovka, oil on canvas,1807, 

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

2. In Bohemian landscape, 1808, oil on canvas, Private collection

The mountain 
Milešovka (837m - 2, 746 ft), an isolated phonolite cone, is the highest mountain of České Středohoří (Czech Central Mountains Range), a picturesque mountain range in northwest Bohemia, in Czech Republic. Situated right in the middle of the European Continent, it has a volcanic origin. The range covers an area of  more than 1000 km2 with many hills typically volcano shaped. Their unique appearance were attracting numbers of naturalists, painters, poets and nature-lovers.
Mount Milešovka is located over the village of Milesov about 10km northwestward of Lovosice. The peak is ranked among the most windy mountains in Czech Republic. The very first chalet had been built up in 1825, other buildings soon followed as well as the outlook tower in 1850. The famous traveler Alexander von Humboldt is responsible for their construction, he labeled the view from Milesovka as "the third most beautiful in the world", making it really worth visiting. From there, one can see the scenery view of Ceske Stredohori, the Polabska nizina lowlands and the ridge of the Krusne hory mountains. Milesovka adjoins with a peak called Paskapole which is crossed by the road connecting Prague with Teplice.

 Source:  
- Czech Republic Geographic Institute

The painter 
Caspar David Friedrich was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, considered as the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his mid-period allegorical landscapes which typically feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, morning mists, barren trees or Gothic ruins. His primary interest as an artist was the contemplation of nature, and his often symbolic and anti-classical work seeks to convey a subjective, emotional response to the natural world. Friedrich's paintings characteristically set a human presence in diminished perspective amid expansive landscapes, reducing the figures to a scale that, according to the art historian Christopher John Murray, directs "the viewer's gaze towards their metaphysical dimension".
Friedrich was born in Pomerania, where he began to study art. He studied in Copenhagen until 1798, before settling in Dresden. A disillusionment with materialistic society was giving rise everywhere in Europe. This shift in ideals was often expressed through a reevaluation of the natural world, as artists such as  J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) and John Constable (1776–1837) sought to depict nature as a "divine creation, to be set against the artifice of human civilization"....
- More informations about Caspar David  Friedrich life and work 

PENYCADAIR PAINTED BY RICHARD WILSON

RICHARD WILSON (1714-1782)

Penygadair - Cader Idris (892m-2,927ft)

United Kingdom (Wales)

1.   In Llyn-y-Cau, Cader Idris, oil on canvas, Tate Britain 

2. In The Mawddach Valley and Cader Idris, 1774, oil on canvas, Walker Art Gallery 

The mountain 

 Penygadair or Pen-y-Gader (892m-2,927 ft ) which means Top of the Chair, is the summit of Cader  Idris mountain and offers a superb panorama of mountain scenery.  Cader Idris  (or Cadair Idris) means 'Chair of Idris', the giant warrior poet of Welsh legend.  The mountain consists of a long ridge (11km), the 19th highest mountain in Wales and the second most popular mountain in the country after Mount Snowdon.  Pen-y-Gader northern face is craggy and precipitous, in contrast to the south face which slopes more gently into the broad expanse of the Dyfi estuary. There are a number of paths which lead to the summit, the Fox's Path leads directly up the mountains north face. To the north of the summit lies the very steep and craggy north face, where the cliffs drop around 200 metres (656ft).  The other peaks of the ridge are Mynyyd Moel (855m- 2805ft) and Mynydd Pencoed (798m-2618ft). North of Cadair Idris lies the town of Dolgellau, a convenient base, which offers cafes, restaurants and shops. The mountain is notorious for its low cloud but on a clear day it is possible to see the mountains of the Snowdon massif and the Rhinog mountain range as well as the Lleyn Peninsula and the hills of Shropshire, the Long Mynd, the Wrekin and occasionally Ireland.

There are numerous legends about Cader Idris. Some nearby lakes are supposed to be bottomless, and anyone who sleeps on its slopes alone will supposedly awaken either a madman or a poet. The tradition of sleeping on the summit of the Mountain apparently stems from bardic traditions, where bards would sleep on the mountain in hope of inspiration.
 Source:
 -Snowdonia official  Guide 

The painter
Richard Wilson was an influential Welsh landscape painter, who worked in Britain and Italy. With George Lambert he is recognized as a pioneer in British art of landscape for its own sake and was described in the Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales as the "most distinguished painter Wales has ever produced and the first to appreciate the aesthetic possibilities of his country".  From 1750 to 1757 Wilson was in Italy, and became a landscape painter on the advice of Francesco Zuccarelli. Painting in Italy and afterwards in Britain, he was the first major British painter to concentrate on landscape. He composed well, but saw and rendered only the general effects of nature, thereby creating a personal, ideal style influenced by Claude Lorrain and the Dutch landscape tradition. John Ruskin wrote that Wilson "paints in a manly way, and occasionally reaches exquisite tones of colour". Among Wilson's pupils was the painter Thomas Jones. His landscapes were acknowledged as an influence by Constable, John Crome and Turner.
In December 1768 Wilson became one of the founder-members of the Royal Academy. A catalogue raisonné of the artist's work is published by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.
Source: 
- Tate Britain