The Two Crowns Sir Frank Dicksee 1900 Oil On Canvas About the Art The Two Crowns was first exhibited at the 1900 Royal Academy exhibition where it was received with critical acclaim for it's lush, detailed painting. "In The Two Crowns Dicksee portrays an English medieval prince returning home in triumph on a white horse decorated with three feathers. Wearing a golden crown, he gazes up at a crucifix, Christ's crown of thorns contrasting starkly with the jeweled headpiece and opulent armour of the prince. Although surrounded by admiring onlookers, the prince is transfixed by the sight of this representation of Christ, a vivid reminder of the lack of importance of temporal power and riches." - Tate Museum I'll be honest when I first was this painting, I wasn't particularly struck by it's religious message and was immediately drawn to the colors, flowers, the dresses of the women and that gorgeous horse. But as I read about the painting I liked the idea of looking past outward and temporary beauty toward those things of lasting substance. No matter what your religious views are, finding riches in things that can't be counted surely is worth a moments pause by princes and paupers alike. And for the record, can we agree that those ladies are fawning over that glorious horse, no? About the Artist "(27 November 1853 – 17 October 1928) was an English Victorian painter and illustrator, best known for his pictures of dramatic literary, historical, and legendary scenes. He also was a noted painter of portraits of fashionable women, which helped to bring him success in his own time. Dicksee's father, Thomas Dicksee, was a painter who taught Frank as well as his brother Herbert and his sister Margaret from a young age. Dicksee enrolled in the Royal Academy in 1870 and achieved early success. He was elected to the Academy in 1891 and became its President in 1924.[1] He was knighted in 1925, and named to the Royal Victorian Order by King George V in 1927." - Wikipedia Dicksee's work was technically astounding and beautiful but his career was marked by a clash of the old vs. new in the art world. His work was considered old fashioned by the end of his career but critics still valued his work and his portraits gave him a long and lucrative career. Women of wealth and prestige were thrilled to have a portrait by Dicksee displayed in their homes. Our Sponsor Please visit us tomorrow to see the prizes! How to Enter the Monthly Challenge: 1. You need to have a Pinterest account. Go get one ASAP if you don't have one already. It's easy, fun and inspiring. 2. Email us at [email protected] to get added to the monthly challenge board. Subject: Monthly Challenge Board Request You will be emailed an invite to the board within 48 hours. Accept the invite and you are ready to pin your entries. 3. Two ways to pin your entry to the board: Pin your photo from the internet (on your blog, Etsy shop, etc.) Add your photo directly from your computer Create something using an art bead that fits within our monthly theme. We post the art to be used as your inspiration to create. This challenge is open to jewelry-makers, fiber artists, collage artist, etc. The art bead can be created by you or someone else. The challenge is to inspire those who use art beads and to see all the different ways art beads can be incorporated into your handiwork. An Art Bead must be used in your piece to qualify for the monthly challenge. ***Beads strung on a chain, by themselves and beads simply added to wire or cord will not be accepted.*** Please add the tag or title FEB ABS to your photos. Include a short description, who created the art beads and a link to your blog, if you have one. Deadline is February 28th You may upload two entries per month. ENTRIES for ART BEAD ARTISTS! • Beads Makers Pinterest Board - Art beads must be created by you and fit the Art Bead Scene's monthly challenge theme. They can be made for the challenge or ones you have made before. Two entries per month are allowed. One entry will be picked by the editors each month for a free month of advertising on the Art Bead Scene. Bead entries have to be pinned by the 27th of the month. Beads only - do not post jewelry on this board. If a post doesn't fit the challenge it will be deleted. Monthly Challenge Recap • Please post at least one single shot of your creation on the Pinterest Board. This will be used to make a collage for the Monthly Challenge Gallery. Every creation will be added to the collage, regardless of a blog post. So everyone gets included! Your entry must be on Pinterest 2 days BEFORE the recap to be included. • Be sure to share with us the name of the art bead artist in the description of your photo so that if you are selected for the weekly Perfect Pairings on Friday, both you as the designer and the art bead artist can get the credit you both deserve! • An Link Up button will be added to the bottom of the Monthly Challenge Recap post. Here you will be able to link up your blog post if you have one. Be sure to hop around and see all the great inspiration and leave some comment love! • The Monthly Challenge Recap with Blog Tour will be posted on February 28th. Monthly Challenge Winners • One prize winner will be selected at random from all pictures posted on the Pinterest board. • One prize winner will be selected at random from all blog posts added to the hop for the Monthly Challenge Recap post. So if you want to be in the pool for the second prize, be sure to use the Link button at the bottom of the post to share your process and inspirations! • Winners will be randomly chosen from all the qualifying entries on February 1st. Perfect Pairings: Designer + Art Bead Artist • Perfect Pairings focus on both the jewelry designer and the art bead artist. • Be sure to point out all the art bead artists in your work in the description of the photo on the Pinterest Board. Links to their website or shop are appreciated. That way we can all find new art beads to love! • From all the entries during the month, an editor will pick their favorite design to be featured every Friday here on the ABS, so get those entries in soon. What is an Art Bead? An art bead is a bead, charm, button or finding made by an independent artist. Art beads are the vision and handiwork of an individual artist. You can read more about art beads here. ***A bead that is handmade is not necessarily an art bead. Hill Tribe Silver, Kazuri ceramic beads or lampwork beads made in factories are examples of handmade beads that are not considered art beads. Beaded beads, stamped metal pendants or wire-wrapped components are not considered art beads for our challenge.***