An Exhibit of 21st Century Angel Art and a brief introduction to Angelology: Paintings and Pictures of Angels, Angel names and Angel lore; Realistic paintings inspired by Classic illustrators with commentary by American Illustrator & Biblical Scholar Howard David Johnson, whose works have been published all over the world by distinguished learning institutions and publishers including the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. 

"The Angel of the LORD visits Gideon"

Newly Updated for 2024! Scroll down for new Angel Art... Presents: A Gallery of Angel Artwork Created for The Twenty-first Century~ Welcome to our Gallery of Paintings, Drawings and Pictures of Angels~

"The Angel visits Hagar in the Wilderness"

 Artworks reflecting the beliefs and writings of the World's Great Religions in mixed media including traditional oil paints, acrylics, colored pencils and 2D & 3D digital media following the style of the classic illustrators. 

This gallery is devoted to the holy angels who God has sent to minister to us and protect us every day....

Enter a world of Beauty and Imagination...

 Angels: (from the Latin Angelus meaning messenger) are a race of spiritual beings intermediate between God and men; described in Hebrew, Christian, and Islamic scriptures, as well as in the Kabala. They are usually depicted with wings (but not always) and have no gender unless granted physical form in a mission to the Earthly realm.

They are celestial attendants of almighty God. The most famous of them are Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel.  The nature of angels is that they are servants of God and have no free will, they were made of fire as men were made from clay and do only that which God bids them.

The Four Cardinal Archangels~ "The Pillars of The EARTH"

 In traditional angelology, angels constituted the lowest of the nine celestial orders (seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominations or dominions, virtues, powers, principalities or princedoms, archangels, and angels). They served as messengers and saviors to mankind, but tradition tells us a third of them rebelled against the most high led by Lucifer, the most beautiful of them all in a war in heaven before the Earth was formed. They were judged and are now called demons and are as malevolent and pernicious as the holy angels are kind and beneficial...

Angels endowed with divine knowledge appear in the apocalyptic and rabbinic literature as the teachers of men. This is the so-called "whisper of the angels". Michael initiated Adam and Seth into the secrets of creation and taught Adam agriculture. The angels Michael, Uriel, and Raziel initiated Enoch into the mysteries of the world. The angels mediate between God and man and carry the prayers up to the throne of God. Angels accompany the dead on their departure from this world.

"St. Peter freed from Prison" MMVII	"Zechariah's Vision of the four Angel Chariots" MMXII	"The Angel with the Second Trumpet" MMXV
How far this Angelology was influenced by Babylonian and Persian mythology, and what its relations are to Mandćan lore and to Egyptian-Hellenistic Gnosticism, is still a matter of dispute but Persian mythology is throughout and interwoven with Angelology (see Brandt, "Mandäische Religion," pp. 194-198). Coptic Gnosticism, also, has Ariel as king of the nether world, corresponding with Ur of the Mandćans.

"The Angel of Deliverance" MMVIII	"Michael cutting through Fear" MMVIII	"Jacob's Ladder" MMVII
Over thousands of years, mankind has described the functions of angels in many ways. The role of angels is developed in greatest detail in religions based on revelation - the disclosure or communication of divine truth or divine will to human beings. These monotheistic religions that share this view include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Zoroastrianism.
"The Angels at the Tomb on Easter" MMXVII	"Archangel Zadkiel [God is my Righteousness]" MMXXIII	"Isaiah and the Seraphim" MMXVII

  In the Koran, Jewish and Gnostic angelologies seem to be intermingled. In Mohammed's time the old Arabian goddesses—Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat —were spoken of as angels and daughters of God (Koran, sura xxxvii. v.150, liii. v.20). The chief of all the archangels is Gabriel (Jibril); Michael comes next; Israfil (Sarafiel) sounds the trumpet of the resurrection; and Azrael is the angel of death...

The chief of all the archangels ~ Gabriel (Jibril)

InIslam, instead of four, there are eight angels that support the throne of God (sura xlix. v.17). Some angels have two, some three, others four wings (sura xxxv. v.2). "They celebrate the praise of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those that are on earth" (sura xlii. v.2).

 He was prompted to do so through the example of the Stoics; they are "souls hovering in the air"; "some have descended into bodies; others have not thought fit to approach any part of the earth; and these, hallowed and surrounded by the ministrations of the Father, the Creator employs as assistants and ministers for the care of the mortals."

They report the injunctions of the Father to His children, and the necessities of the children to the Father. And, with reference to this, Holy Scripture represents them as 'ascending and descending.' . . . Not God, but we mortals are in need of a mediator and intercessor" (Philo, "On Dreams," i. v.22). "Souls, demons, and angels are things differing in name, but identical in reality. Yet, as men speak of God and of evil demons and of good and evil souls, so they speak of angels, calling them ambassadors of man to God and of God to man; and they are holy because of this blameless and honorable office. Others, on the contrary, are profane and unworthy, as is seen in Ps. lxxviii. 49" (Philo, "On Giants," pp. 3-4).

"The Angel who stands in the presence of God" MMXVII	"The Captain of the LORD's Host appears to Joshua" MMXVII	"I am your fellow servant ~ Worship only God" MMXVII
In religions based on revelation, God and humans are usually distant from each other. Angels serve to bridge the gap. Angels praise and worship God, reveal the divine word and carry out God's will. They may also help people attain deliverance, comfort or receive special favors. Furthermore, in acting for God, angels may influence human affairs through such acts as rewarding faithful believers, punishing those who do evil, and helping those in need.  An angel set over the beasts is mentioned in Hermas' "Visions," iv. V.2; his name is Thegri. Angels tend to play a less important role in religions that worship many gods. These gods themselves may carry out angelic functions, often taking on a human appearance.
"The Angel comforts Christ at Gethsemane " MMXVII	"Raphael with Caduceus Staff" MMV	"St Paul Preaching in Prison" MMXVII

In religions based on the belief that everything is god and that the universe and mankind share one essence, angels are far less important. They are not needed to bridge a gap between divinity and mortals. However, even in these religions angel-like spiritual beings may help people relate to divinity. It is in the Book of Daniel that a systematic classification of angels is first presented. In Joshua (5:13-15) reference is made to "the captain of the Lord's host".

"The Angel Raphael" MMVIII

"The 2nd angel poured out his vial upon the Sea"

"The Archangel Uriel"

REVELATION 16 ~ The Seven Angels with Seven Vials

3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

Jewish tradition lays down A Heavenly Hierarchy, The process begun in The book of Daniel, and continued through the entirety of apocalyptic literature, finally revealed a heavenly hierarchy of stupendous proportions. In "The Celestial Hierarchy" written by Pseudo-Dionysius the notion is set forth that archangels and angels were the lowest of the Angelic orders and were the only angels directly involved in the worldly affairs of mankind. 

According to The Book of Enoch there are SEVEN Archangels: "holy ones who watch"): (1) Uriel ["God is Light"; set over the world's luminaries and over Sheol [compare Enoch, xxi. v.5, xxvii. 2, xxxiii. v.3, 4]; (2) Raphael, set over the spirits of men [compare Enoch, x. 4, where he is told to bind Azazel and to heal the earth with Tobit—iii. v.17]; (3) Raguel [Ra'uel, "the terrifier"], who chastiseth the world of the luminaries; (4) Michael, set over the best part of mankind, over the people of Israel; (5) Sariel [Ćth., Sarakiel, Suriel, "God turneth"?], set over the spirits who seduce the spirits to sin; (6) Gabriel, set over paradise, the serpents [seraphim?], and the cherubim; (7) Jerahmeel ["God is merciful"], whom God set over the resurrection.

"Escorting a Soul to Heaven" MMVII

"The ANGEL of Prophecy" MMVIII

"The Guardian Angel" MMVII

Angels accompany the dead on their departure from this world. Accompanying angels are not permanent, but temporary, companions, they carry out missions but can be constantly re-dispatched by the least of us through faithful prayer as answered by the almighty. No single angel can carry out two messages, nor can two angels fulfill only one message. Of the three angels that came to Abraham, Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, brought the tidings of Isaac's birth; Gabriel, the angel of heavenly vengeance and of fire, had to overthrow Sodom; and Raphael rescued Lot" (Gen. xviii. v.2). Michael to the right, Uriel to the left, Gabriel in front, and Raphael in the rear of the throne. The Book of Jubilees, a version of the Pentateuch speaks of the Creation of Angels: "The angels of the face and of glorification, the angels of the elements of fire, wind, and darkness, of hail and hoar frost, thunder and lightning, of cold and heat, of winter and spring, summer and fall, of the abyss and night, of light and morning, were created on the first day. "Since Medieval times Christian theology has taught that Angels are organized into several orders, or Angelic Choirs.

"The Ministering Angel of Comfort" MMVIII

\ "Zechariah and the Seraphim in the Temple" MMXVII

"Kissed by an Angel"

     In the Book of Tobit the name of a third angel appears—namely, Raphael ("God healeth," Tobit, iii. v.17)—called thus after his mission. "God hath sent me," he says, "to heal thee and Sarah, thy daughter-in-law. I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One" (Tobit, xii. v.14-15). The angels that execute God's judgment are called "the angels of punishment" Each angel has a tablet on his heart on which his name, combined with the name of God (EL). Four Angels of the Throne: On the other hand, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Fanuel (Penuel) are introduced as "the four angels of the face of the Lord." After the watchers ("those that sleep not") have been described (ibid. xxxix. v.12, 13) as chanting the "Holy, holy, holy!" and mutually responding, "Blessed be the name of the Lord!" the following passage occurs (ibid. xl. 2): "I saw on the four sides of the Lord of spirits four presences [faces] different from those that sleep not, and I heard the voice of those four presences as they gave glory before the Lord of glory: The first [as the angel of peace explained it afterward], Michael "who is like God?", merciful and long-suffering, blesses the Lord of spirits for ever and ever; the second, Raphael, set over the diseases of the children of men, blesses the Elect One [the Messiah] and the elect ones who cleave to the Lord of spirits [the pious ones]; the third, Gabriel ["the mighty one of God"], set over all the powers, intercedes in behalf of the inhabitants of the earth [see Enoch, x. 9-10, 12-14]; and the fourth, Fanuel [Penuel "turning to God"], set over repentance and hope of eternal life, prevents the Satans from accusing men."

"The Seraphim Barachiel The Lightning of God"

"The Angel Guardian of the Church at Ephesus"

"The Angel of the LORD answers Daniel"

      Then again mention is made of seven classes of angels (Enoch, lxi. v.10 et seq.): (1) the cherubim,(2) seraphim, (3) ofanim, (4) all the angels of power, (5) principalities, (6) the Elect One (Messiah), and (7) the (elementary) powers of the earth and the water. They are endowed with seven angelic virtues—one more than is ascribed to the Messiah (Enoch. lxi.; after Isaiah. xi. v.2): "In the spirit of faith, of wisdom, of patience, of mercy, of judgment, of peace, and of goodness they glorify, saying: 'Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of spirits be blessed for ever and ever.'" A parallel to this is offered by the Testaments of the Patriarchs in Test. Levi, iii., where this description of the seven heavens is given: "In the highest of which dwelleth the great Glory in the Holy of Holies, and beneath it are the angels of the presence of the Lord, who minister and make propitiation to the Lord for all the ignorance of the righteous. . .  And in the heaven below this are the angels who bear the answers to the angels of the presence of the Lord, and in the heaven next to this are thrones and dominions in which hymns are offered to God; in the third heaven there are hosts of the armies ordained for the day of judgment, to work vengeance on the spirits of deceit and of Belial; the second has fire, snow, and ice ready, all the spirits of retribution for the day of judgment; and the lowest is gloomy because it is near the iniquities of men."

"Young King David in the Caves of Adullum" MMXVII [left], "Ezekiel's Vision" MMV [center] and "Joan of Arc" MMV [right]

Cherubs and Cherubim

     With this Heavenly hierarchy firmly in mind,  a look at the visual portrayals of Angels in the Western Art tradition seems appropriate, particularly Cherubs and Cherubim; above are two very different interpretations : "Joan of Arc" MMVI (left) has the popular and time honored but incorrect interpretation of "Cherubs" or more aptly "Putti" and "Ezekiel's Vision" MMX (right), with more accurate six-winged Cherubim Angels with three faces each from descriptions in the visionary Book of Ezekiel chapter one. Classical (or Greco-Roman) tradition has influenced Christian art from it's earliest origins. Since the conversion of Constantine in 313 A.D.  The earliest Christian catacombs and tomb art incorporated the popular Greco-Roman Putti (or little Cupidic figures). The Putto were revived with passion in the works of Donatello and Raphael and became commonplace in the renaissance before they became one of the most dominant interpretations of Angels in painting and sculpture. The misuse of the term Cherubs for the Putti and their use in art as symbols of innocence has become so commonplace and time honored that it is now considered correct. Commonplace and correct are not always the same. Most people don't even know about the authentic Cherubim, who are among the highest ranked and holiest of God's Angels or realize they have been replaced with mischievous little demons from Pagan religion in much of our Western Art tradition.

" Zadkiel the Standard Bearer of the LORD" MMXX [left], "Into the Lake of Fire" [center] and  MMXIV "The Book of LIFE" MMXIV  [right]

ANGELS and DEMONS

The Book of Revelation Ch. 20: "The Dragon that old serpent, that is the Devil, cast in the Lake of Fire where he will be tormented for ever and ever." Satan is one of the sons of God (Job, i. 6, ii. 1). This makes the problem of evil all the more difficult. 

 The PORTAL Guardians of Enoch's Vision

The gateways between the physical and spiritual worlds...

More of Enoch's Visions ~ "Guardian of the Northern Portal" MMXVI [left], ["Guardian of the Southern Portal" MMXVI [center] and "Guardian of the Eastern Portal" MMXVI [right]

The Guardians of the four portal gates from The Book of Enoch" Angels from the second sphere called "Dominions" (Eph. 1:21; Col. 1:16) (lat. dominatio, plural dominationes, also translated from the Greek term kyriotētes, pl. of kyriotēs, as "Lordships") or "Dominations" are presented as the hierarchy of celestial beings "Lordships" in some English translations of the De Coelesti Hierarchia. The Dominions regulate the duties of lower angels. It is only with extreme rarity that the angelic lords make themselves physically known to humans.
The Dominions are believed to look like divinely beautiful humans with a pair of feathered wings, much like the common representation of angels, but they may be distinguished from other groups by wielding orbs of light fastened to the heads of their scepters or on the pommel of their swords.

The Angel-Princes of the Earth

There is, however, a special angel-prince set over the world, Sar ha-'olam (Yeb. 16b, Sanh. 94a). He composed the verses, Ps. xxxvii. 25, civ. 31, and, partly, Isa. xxiv. 16.  He has been identified, whether correctly or incorrectly, with Metatron. According to the Testament of Job (lii.), this vice-regent "sitteth upon the great chariot" His "name is like the name of his Master" (Sanh. 38b, according to Ex. xxiii. 21), known under the name of "Metatron"; frequently explained as "Metator," "Metathronos," and "Metatyranos." Already in Dan. x. 20-21, the idea prevails that each nation has a heavenly guardian angel or prince. In Enoch, lxxxix. 59, the seventy shepherds are the guardian angels of the seventy nations over whom Michael, as Israel's angel-prince, is set as ruler. With these seventy-one angel-princes of the world God sits in council when holding judgment over the world (Hebrew Enoch; Jellinek, "B. H." v. 181); each pleading the cause of his nation before God. But The Archangel Michael, the angel-prince of Jerusalem (Zion, Targ. Ps. cxxxvii. 7-8), is set over all the seventy angels.

     However great the tendency to enlarge the number and the influence of the angels over life, there is, on the other hand, great stress laid upon the fact that the angels are in many respects inferior to man. Already Enoch (xv. 2) intercedes on behalf of the angels, instead of having them intercede for him; and none of the angels could see what he saw of God's glory (ibid. xiv. 21), or learn the secrets of God as he knew them. When John fell at the angel's feet to worship him in his account in The Book of Revelation, (22:9) the angel said: "Don't do that! For I am thy fellow servant just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!"

Pronouncements of God's Judgment

"The END of TIME" MMXIV [left], "Escape from SODOM" MMVII [center] and "Adam and Eve Expelled from the GARDEN of EDEN" MMX [right]

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Bibliography:

For more on Angelology and online copies of some of these rare books mentioned visit our sources:

Julia M.H. Smith, Europe After Rome: A New Cultural History 500-1000. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Page 77 Tobit 12:15 James F. Driscoll, "St. Raphael" in The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1911)  The encyclopedia of angels, p.45, by Rosemary Guiley, Infobase Publishing, 2004. The Talmud and The Q'Ran www.jewishencyclopedia.com and The Dead Sea Scrolls,

 www.sacred-texts.com  and of course - The Holy Bible

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INDEX of GALLERIES

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Who is American Illustrator Howard David Johnson?

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Essay and Articles Section: Philosophy, Art, & Art Philosophy Personal Opinion Essays on Realism yesterday and today by the artist. STYLE and TECHNIQUE Howard David Johnson is an outspoken proponent of mechanical aids to visual art. Unlike the opponents of mechanical aids, his mission is not to prove his talent but to help preserve our vanishing Western cultural heritage. In addition to his mastery of the traditional media, now combines drawing, painting, photography, and digital media with more than thirty years of experience in these fields to create his Realistic Art Numerica in 21st century paintings and pictures. Did you know the Greek word "Photography" means "Painting with Light"? Today with the advent of computers it truly lives up to it's name. Due to developments in Art and Technology, a broader definition of painting is needed than that which is found in common usage. Introducing Art Numerica- an exciting merger of traditional visual art and cutting edge technology... a new art form for the twenty- first century... Art Numerica is not limited to realistic art but also offers limitless horizons for everything from cartoons to abstractions. It is the most dramatic development in the visual arts since the Renaissance.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

"Painting, in art, the action of laying colour on a surface, or the representation of objects by this means. Considered one of the fine arts"

~Encyclopaedia Britannica. 

"Painting. noun. 1.) The act or employment of laying on colors or paints. 2.) The art of forming figures or objects in colors on canvas or any other surface, or the art of representing to the eye by means of figures and colors any object; the work of an illustrator or painter. 3.) A picture; a likeness or resemblance in shape or colors. 4.) Colors laid on. 5.) Delineation that raises a vivid image in the mind; as in word painting.

~ Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language

Pastel, Acrylics, and Colored Pencils combined	Snobbism in the arts is nothing new. Some people will tell you that oils are the only valid medium for realistic paintings. That Colored Pencil, Digital, and other Realistic Painting and Drawing Media are not valid  for "real" art. Young artists, Don't let them bother you. Their forerunners used to condemn Pastels before they gained acceptance and called them "crayons" when Johann Alexander Thiele (1685-1752) invented them.  Mercilessly disrespectful  art critics of the time could not stop the Experimentalists no matter how viciously they attacked and derided them. "Crayon-painting" as it was called in England was practiced early on by persecuted pioneers in Switzerland and many other nations. What a debt we owe to these master artists who refused to knuckle under to the pressure of those short-sighted critics during those historic and experimental times. It took until 1870 with the founding of the "Societe` Des Pastellistes" in France that respect came  at last to these heroic & immortal visual artists.
In England the liberation of the Pastellists from slight regard and undeserved disrespect came with the first exhibition of "The Pastel Society" at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1880. Pastel Painters like Mary Cassat and others from America and other nations forever silenced  the snobs with their masterworks and gained recognition at long last for Thiele's invention as a valid art medium. I am persuaded that history will repeat itself.  Like Pastels, I believe these wonderful new colored pencils and even Digital Realistic Art Media will one day receive the recognition they deserve as powerful mediums of artistic expression just as pastel paintings did. What is your definition of art? Have you thought about it? Mine is: "anything that makes you feel or think."      Consider dancing... it can be a little skip in the step or rise to the level of the incomparable Russian Ballet. Did you know that just the materials alone for a single oil painting cost up to a thousand dollars these days? Even paying the artist less than minimum wage no one but the super rich can afford them anymore. Something's got to give. Realistic paintings in oil have been highly prized for centuries and the appeal and following of realistic art is undiminished to this day. Oil paintings featuring Abstract Art and Realistic Art are generally the most treasured form of all the visual art media and with good reason. But snobbish art critics  favoring abstract art have declared  that realistic paintings, or illustrations are not art for a century. With so many representationalist  paintings by so many immortal master artists hanging in the Louvre, the Hermitage, and the British Museum and others I think the disrespect for realistic illustrators that dominated the 20th century is academically ridiculous as well as vain and intolerant, insisting theirs is the only valid opinion. What is your definition of Art? I believe almost any form of human expression can be raised to the level of "high art" especially  visual art and Realistic illustration...
The detail reveals Realistic art and abstract art combined	By my own definition of art, which is: "anything that makes you feel or think" most abstract paintings are not "real art" to me personally, because abstract paintings usually neither make me feel or think,  usually focusing obsessively on technique and avoiding any coherent content. I usually draw a complete blank mentally and emotionally when I look at them. In 1979 the Houston Metropolitan Museum of Art displayed a triptych of 3 giant   paintings they paid fifty thousand dollars for-  three blank white canvasses entitled "untitled". Then there was "The incredible new artistic Genius" with an I.Q. of 62 ...Congo the chimpanzee with his gala New York art exhibition...an elaborate prank played on the Snobbish American Art critics about a generation ago by research scientists in the field of primatology. Imagine how upset they were when he created one of his "ingenious masterpieces" right before their eyes. ( My Source for this is the Time Life Science Library volume entitled "The Primates". )
Art education has been almost completely removed from American Schools as a result of generations of this kind of  fabulous nonsense contributing to America's cultural illiteracy crisis. Now, the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and other notables are being removed from school libraries.  After generations of this, most American college graduates today cannot name even one living visual artist, abstract or realistic. There is no way that mandating more math, requiring more reading, or scheduling more science will replace what we have lost as a culture.     What is your definition of Art? ~HDJ *****
Note: Abstract Paintings by Congo the Chimpanzee outsold Warhol and Renoir by over 25,000 dollars in June 2005 at a London art auction. Born in 1954, Congo created more than 400 drawings and paintings between the ages of two and four. He died in 1964 of tuberculosis. There is no precedent for this kind of sale.

           Early abstract art  masters proved themselves as realistic artists before delving into realms of the intangible. They had to do this at that time to prove themselves because of the challenges they faced from the establishment for going against the status quo. In the latter part of the 20th century, realistic artists like HDJ were challenged to do abstract art to prove themselves as shown in the example above (Deirdre of the sorrows). Later realistic art training was abandoned in most schools and things like splattering paint in fits of rage  were deemed more than enough. By the end of the 20th century something as destructive and ridiculous as nailing a pack of cigarettes to a shoe was considered fine art but not realistic paintings. Fashions in art have often been as silly as fashions in ladies hats.  As the century drew to a close, many people had had enough. The realistic revolt was at hand. The rebirth of realism was fueled by the advent of the digital era. Now, for the first time in almost two centuries, an artist or illustrator could earn a decent living again with his realistic art. This is historic. Realistic art is not going to go away, especially now that photography has truly merged with traditional realistic visual art. Photography comes from the Greek words meaning "painting with light". Now with the advent of digital media the capability of realistic art has become almost limitless, truly, "painting with light". The merger of all the world's art forms to realize the potential of motion pictures has come now to still realistic art media. This website for example, combines music, prose, poetry, photography and traditional realistic art media to create an experience beyond merely looking at realistic paintings.

         The twenty- first century is already seeing a new renaissance in the arts because of the world wide web. There has never been anything like it. Abstract art, computer art, photographic art, and realistic art are continuing to be separate schools of art but are also blending to create exciting new horizons. Although Digital art does offer completely new horizons to the artist in the 21st century it does not mean the end of our time honored art traditions. Instead, it offers additional ways to keep these traditions and schools of thought  fresh and alive.

~ HDJ

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Essay Seven:  NEW!

On Art and Technology: When Seeing is Not Believing

An essay dealing with mechanical aids to visual art from Camera Obscura to Computers

  When the camera was finally made commercially available in the 1830's it exploded on the world scene and sent shockwaves through the art world as history had never seen before. Visual artists all over the world were suddenly put out of work and resentment and outrage followed. Suddenly much more realistic portraits could be had at a tiny fraction of the cost of a painting and delivered almost instantly. The art world would never be the same. When motion picture cameras were new, seeing was believing and human consciousness changed forever in the 20th century. Sometimes even Terror and Panic came from the initial shock! In 1905 cinema patrons defecated and urinated in their seats as they broke each other's arms and legs desperately fleeing for their lives from a crowded theater to escape a train charging straight for them! ... train footage filmed safely from a bridge with a camera lowered down on a rope. A modern cinema patron would not even feel uncomfortable. The Photograph and its manipulations have changed human consciousness and history... and will continue to do so in the future.

The Camera has changed everything.

    The Camera of Today owes it's origin to the Camera Obscura, a light- tight box with a lense and a screen that receives an image. This device has been used by artists since ancient times to trace the projected image of whatever they set before it on a screen. Intrigued by the idea of producing a permanent light-formed image instead of reproducing it by hand, a long line of inventors studied the problem and successively made contributions to the solution.

    Photography was neither discovered nor invented by any one man. It was the outcome of the early observations of the alchemists and chemists on the action of light, a subject that belongs strictly to the domain of photochemistry. Although the blackening of silver salts was known in 1565, it was not until 1727, when Johann Heinrich Shulze of Germany used a mixture of silver nitrate and chalk under stenciled letters, that it was definitely recognized that this darkening action was caused by light and not by heat. In the years that followed experiments with silver nitrate on leather and wood were successful. In 1817 J. Nicephore Niepce first tried photography with silver nitrate and paper. In 1826, L.J.M. Daguerre, a painter who had experimented with silver salts approached him and formed a partnership. Daguerre discovered accidentally that that the effect produced by exposing an iodized silver plate in a camera would result in an image if the plate were fumed with mercury vapor. The Daguerreotype process was a complete success. These chemical processes would be improved again and again until the advent of the digital camera we know today.  The attitude that Photography was not art and was a purely mechanical process requiring no talent whatsoever was put forth with great force and hostility in an attempt to get people to refrain from choosing it for their portraits instead of paintings. This is a typical reaction to new technology, when Pastels were first invented they were dismissed as a child’s plaything rather than a viable art medium. These attacks on new technology are not limited to the arts of course. When the Wright brothers were making history at Kitty hawk with the first manned airplane their detractors said: "If man were meant to fly, he'd have been born with wings." This kind of negativity is just human nature to some kinds of people.

Photography came into being through an artistic, not a scientific urge. Daguerre was an artist, a scene painter whose illusionistic diorama was a landmark in Paris long before his name was connected with photography. Critics were merciless as usual, with scathing condemnations of the media. However, in the hands of a sensitive artist, photography quickly showed it's artistic possibilities. David Octavious Hill, a Scottish Painter invented the camera set up and the pose as we know them today in the 1840's and was the first of a new breed of master photographic artists. Photography was here to stay. Diverse forms of retouching techniques followed both by accident and by design and took the medium to new levels of artistic excellence. Now, more than a century and a half later only an uneducated or blindly hateful person would say Photography is not an art form. Of course we've all seen our share of awful pictures with the heads cut off taken by amateur photographers but we've also seen the work of studio masters like the great portrait photographers from Hollywood in the 1930's and forties. Anyone who has tried to create such a sophisticated studio photograph realizes quickly that this is a very difficult art form to master even if a trained orangutan can take a bad snapshot with an instant camera made for children.

The use of Photography as a mechanical aid to traditional oil paintings and other forms of realistic art came right away. This is not surprising since artists had been tracing from Camera Obscura for thousands of years. Famous Myths; Leonardo Da Vinci ( 1452-1519 ) is often credited with the invention of Camera Obscura because he used it for his masterworks during the Renaissance and mentioned it in his notebooks, but this is simply not true. Similarly, Americans are credited with the camera, but it is also not true. Origins: Unlike the camera, the inventor and time of invention of Camera Obscura are unknown. Perhaps a crude form of it was known to the ancient Greeks, but there is no material evidence to substantiate such a point of view. The mathematical precision and perfect anatomy of Greek art combined with their passionate love of science and mathematics is testimony enough for many scholars. The earliest clear description of Camera Obscura occurs in the great optical treatise of the Islamic scientist Al-Hazen who died at Cairo, Egypt in A.D. 1098. His Opticae Thesaurus ( Book of optics ) was rendered into Latin sometime during the 12th or 13th century by an unknown translator. Al- Hazen honestly declares that he himself did not discover it, so we know from this it had to have been masterminded before A.D. 1098.

   In the early 1600's the telescope came into use and Camera Obscura spared viewers the harmful effects of gazing directly into the sun. I regret, but that we must acknowledge the fact that almost every art medium throughout the ages has been corrupted. In the 2nd century, the Roman emperor Hadrian had the head of his lunatic predecessor Nero removed from a statue and replaced by that of his favorite. Much later in 1539, Holbein painted a glamorous and flattering portrait of Anne of Cleves for Henry VIII. When the future queen arrived in England, King Henry met the surprisingly less than dazzling and glamorous Anne. His disappointment made history. Our modern society certainly can't claim t he honor nor take the blame of being the first to manipulate art forms.

     By the 21st century instead of the traditional assistants and apprentices, artists employed overhead transparency projectors, opaque projectors, artographs, light tables, slide projectors, color photocopying... and suddenly, computers and image editing software, which brings us to some very compelling controversies regarding these modern imaging technologies and their impact on various media and further changes to human consciousness. For example: The integrity of Photography as evidence in our courts of law stood for many decades until it was shattered by the digital manipulation of photographs and new standards needed to be introduced.  Websites sold peeks at photos of celebrities' heads pasted onto photos of wild women in scandalous poses for all the world to see- but advertised as real celebrity pix. Scandal rocked television and other news media when digitally altered photographs were being passed off as reliable evidence of important news stories...

      On a positive note, no one was threatened by how this technology enabled motion pictures to do epic things they could only dream of before. They were supposed to be make-believe images appearing real! A golden era in special effects cinema ensued. Then, this powerful digital imaging technology, like the camera, fell into the hands of the common man through computer programs like Adobe Photoshop. A new culture of skepticism had abandoned the age old adage; "seeing is believing" Photography has never told the whole truth, just parts of it. Photography is also an art form and therefore rightfully susceptible to creative alterations. In addition, the advancement of digital manipulation technology cannot be undone or halted. I believe that we must recognize that this digital technology exists on a gigantic-scale, and will never go away. Therefore, I suggest that digitally altered photos are distinct from traditional photography, and should be treated as such.

Contrasting views: anti-manipulation advocates’ fear a negative impact of digital manipulation in a court of law, and pro-manipulation advocates say that we must wake up to the fact that for for decades pictures have not been reliable evidence in court and that any good lawyer will attempt to discredit photographic evidence. In response to claims that photos should always tell the truth, the pro-manipulation camp would say that photos have never told the unvarnished truth. A camera shows, and has always only shown, a fraction of reality, and even then what we see is taken out of context or even fabricated. Photography from its onset has been subjected to modifications. In 1839, the Frenchman Louis-Jacques Daguerre patented the daguerreotype, or what could be called the first "picture." Simply explained, the daguerreotype combined the usage of the camera obscura and silver iodide to produce a permanent image on a copper plate. A very exciting innovation, Daguerre boasted of it, "With this technique, without any knowledge of chemistry or physics, one will be able to make in a few minutes the most detailed views" ("Photography"). Almost immediately, the daguerreotype, especially daguerreotype portraits, became immensely popular. Its popularity, of course, can be attributed to its novelty, but also because people believed the daguerreotype produced a more real image than a painting. The general attitude toward the daguerreotype was that it could create images more realistically because there was no artist to interpret and modify it in his own style.

    Opponents of Digital Manipulation insist Photography should always represent the truth, asserting Photography's  first and foremost function is to portray reality. Many assume that photographs have never been manipulated, and that this recent outbreak in digital technology damages the integrity of photography. Without delay, anti-manipulation proponents demanded an end to all "dishonest" photography, as it severely misleads the public. Also, they view digital manipulation as a purely mechanical process, with no talent or skill involved. Furthermore, anti-manipulation proponents fear manipulated photos might acquit murderers or rapists in courts of law. The thought that photography had replaced painting abounded. "As if photography needed to absolve itself from its ‘original sin’--of having brought about the death of painting", a movement known as pictorialism thrived around 1890-1914, the Art Nouveau period. Proponents of pictorialism primarily set out to gain the recognition of photography as an art rather than just a mechanical process. The pictorialists fashioned bizarre and oddly focused images in order to prove photography was indeed a creative art. It was here that such concepts as shading and enhancing during development appeared. Because of these new shadings and angles, it can be said that Art Nouveau saw the dawn of "Photo manipulation." So the manipulation of photography actually began early in the the 20th century.

        In 1982 there was outrage over the manipulation of the Great Pyramids on the cover of National Geographic but the Genie was out of the bottle. There was no going back. In the 1990’s Computer programs like Adobe Photoshop began to be available to the general public. Now, even someone with little or no talent could produce delightful works. On the other hand, sensitive artists could produce masterpieces on a scale undreamed of. It seems clear that using this technology to willfully falsify photographs for slanderous, scandalous, or persuasive ends is morally wrong, but what about using it to create obvious unreality that looks real or Fantastical Realism in art as in pictures of fairies or mythic creatures?

What is realism? Realism in Art and literature has always meant that the artist attempts to represent persons, scenes, things, and facts as they are, life as it is. The word is used in many senses- as opposed to romanticism, to conventionalism, to sentimentalism, to idealism and to imaginative treatment. Sometimes it is a term of praise, and sometimes it is a term of derision. During the 19th and 20th centuries the use of the word realism often implied that the details brought out were of an unpleasant, sordid, obscene, or generally offensive character. Even the greatest illustrators of the day were ridiculed. Realism is commonly applied to a 19th century school of writers and artists; but realism, in it's prime and proper sense, is as old as art and literature themselves, but in the hands of it's most notorious exponents, it quickly degenerated into a connotation of the more sinister features of realism.

     Many 20th century contemporary realists and artists working in the Photo Realism style were trained in an educational system openly hostile or dismissive to Classical realism and art tradition and were only taught the tenets of Abstraction and Expressionism. As a result many of these artists are more akin to the abstract and expressionist schools than the "Classical Realism" of the ancient Greeks, which adored beauty and nature. Contemporary Realism does not embrace the math and design of the Classical school but does not frown on beauty. Photo Realism only strives to look as much like a photograph as possible and sometimes the results are shocking or disturbing. Other times they are mundane and so ordinary as to be boring. They often deliberately decline to select subjects from the natural, beautiful, and harmonious and more especially, depict ugly things and bring out details of an unsavory sort for social and political purposes. The real mission of Photo-realism is not to record everyday life like a Norman Rockwell painting, but to expose the unconscious way we look at and accept photographs.

By the 20th century realism had spread to nearly all nations- realistic elements combined with those of Impressionism, Symbolism, and other movements. Fantastic Realism on the other hand, is born of these movements and tied to them in style and technique, but prefers to explore subjects that are strange or strikingly unusual rather than scenes of everyday life or objects. It is often bizarre in form, conception and appearance and even wondrous in its beauty. Sometimes macabre and grotesque, it is rarely boring like the other forms of Realism in visual art so often are. Fantastic Realism can be completely apart from reality, yet appearing to be quite real. It is versatile in that it can combine with or be a part of the Classical, Contemporary or Photo-realistic schools or stand as a style unique unto itself. I combine elements from all of these schools of Realism and then take it a step further by also combining a wide variety of media from traditional oil paintings to today's cutting edge digital media in my exhibits. Naturally, the darker side human nature shows itself again with condemnation of new schools of expression, and new art media and technology. Like the photographers before them, digital artists wanted the recognition of their work as an art rather than just a mechanical process. Unlike the snapshot camera or an abstract painting, a trained chimp or orangutan cannot do it: it takes the same visionary and eye to hand skills as any traditional art media to do it well.

   Since the times of the ancient Greeks, Art History records a relentless quest for Realism and artistic excellence. The masters of each generation strove to perfect their craft, then passed on the torch of their accumulated knowledge and skill to the next generation.

The accomplishments and technological breakthroughs of one generation have often set new standards of excellence for the next.

~ Howard David Johnson MMIV

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Thank you for visiting the Angel Art gallery of Howard David Johnson

Bibliography:

For more on Angelology and online copies of some of these rare books mentioned visit our sources:

The Talmud and The Q'Ran ~ www.jewishencyclopedia.com and www.sacred-texts.com

The Dead Sea Scrolls and of course - The Holy Bible

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