In this first of a two-part lecture series, RTF director Matt Ehret delivers a presentation on Thomas Cole’s Course of Empire and broader political struggles over the soul of the early republic and humanity more broadly during the 19th century. You will be introduced to the aesthetical movement of painting that aspired to achieve the…
Category: Visual Arts
How Classical Painting Liberates us from the Shackles of the Senses
An exploration of Schiller’s Aesthetics as it pertains to political revolutions past and future By Matthew Ehret This article is based on a RTF lecture given on Feb. 11, 2019 in Montreal Canada. German poet Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) wrote his twenty six Letters on the Aesthetical Education of Man in 1794 in order to address…
Cultural Warfare and the American Revolution (Franklin, Benjamin West and S.B Morse Revisited)
Did you know that the leading painter of England during the American Revolution (who also served as President of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts) was a Philadelphian republican ally of Benjamin Franklin named Benjamin West? Did you know that a renaissance movement uniting arts and sciences was what made both the American revolution possible…
Why Must Aesthetics Govern A Society Worthy Of Political Freedom? Ask the CIA
By Matthew Ehret In the mid-1990s, a series of exposés featured on the London Independent and elsewhere brought a dark secret to light. Many were startled by the revelation that the entire evolution of 20th century modern art was directed in large measure by the CIA! This not only included the direct financing of abstract painters like Jackson Pollock…
Unifying Spirit between East and West: Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), Italian Renaissance painter in the Forbidden City.
By Matthew Ehret “In pursuing the Belt and Road Initiative, we should ensure that when it comes to different civilizations, exchange will replace estrangement, mutual learning will replace clashes, and coexistence will replace a sense of superiority. This will boost mutual understanding, mutual respect and mutual trust among different countries” -Xi Jinping, Belt and Road…
How the Hudson River School of Canadian Painting was Derailed
At a historical inflection point during the American Civil War, it was uncertain what Canada would become… would we become an independent republic, or a part of Lincoln’s America or would we remain a Northern anti-American confederacy under British control? (Britain’s other confederacy did fail in 1865 after all). Nowhere was this battle over our…
RTF Review: Ballet’s Secret Code
By Nicholas Jones Ballet’s secret code is a documentary about the Origins and principles behind Maestro Enrico Cecchetti’s lifetime of work and devotion to the Classical humanist art form: Ballet. Madam Julie Cronshaw takes us through the depths of his character, education and philosophy and his work as a Ballet Master under Diaghilev for the…
Why the Revival of Classical Painting is Imperative Today (Rising Tide Interview with Patrick Cyr)
In this interview, Quebec-based classical painter and art instructor Patrick Cyr talks with Rising Tide Foundation Director Matthew Ehret about the importance of classical thinking the need to revive the lost techniques of classical painting in order to bridge the artificial gulf separating the arts and sciences in today’s age. Patrick’s website can be found…
Francisco de Goya: Master Critic of the Human Condition
By Adam Sedia Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) is one of Spain’s best known painters. Heir to the tradition of El Greco, Velázquez, Murillo, and Zurbarán, textbooks consider him the last of the Old Masters and simultaneously first of the moderns. But Goya’s importance derives from a deeply individual approach to his subject matter,…
Through Darkness, Light: The Hidden Idealism in Goya’s “Black Paintings”
Francisco de Goya (1746-1828), one of the greatest painters in the long Spanish tradition, is famous for the dark and macabre subject matter he depicted, as epitomized in his famous “Black Paintings” made toward the end of his life. The apparent darkness of his art, however, was the product of the disillusionment that came from…