You don't need to go to Machu Picchu — Anand-Haqq

I've never been and have no desire to go. It pleases me that we live in a world where such a beautiful thing exists.

Slawec Gruca paintings:

If there is anything that makes me get as close as possible to the abstraction of what is "Beautiful" and its substance. It is the romanticist, idealistic, and classicist art of the 18th and 19th centuries:









"Apotheosis In Man; Apotheosis Is Man."

Georges Mathieu - Composition (1986)

These are beautiful paintings. I have never seen them before, even though I have studied a certain amount of history of art. The two pictures of the women seem very contemporary, with the whole presence of light, and the two men are very unusual looking, almost like characters from gothic fantasy.

One of my funny experiences was how when I was about 19 I had a book by Nietzsche, with a romantic painting of a naked woman on the cover. My Catholic mother thought that it was not right for me to be reading a book with this picture on the cover. She went out and bought a piece of wrapping paper and insisted I cover the book.

Your Catholic mother should've been more worried about the content of the book than the cover. Lest ye be corrupted.

Yes, I guess this is strange, and it sometimes seems that Catholics, and I am sure other groups of religious people, tune into aspects of religion but not in their entirety. I feel that I have questioned Catholic views in many ways. I have chosen to keep that from my parents, partly to protect them and partly to protect myself because I need private space to explore ideas freely.

These are beautiful paintings. I have never seen them before, even though I have studied a certain amount of history of art. The two pictures of the women seem very contemporary, with the whole presence of light, and the two men are very unusual looking, almost like characters from gothic fantasy. — Jack Cummins

The innocent idealization of the human being is something incredible to me. The greatest virtue of art is to rationalize our instincts in such a way that we can contemplate "Beauty" while not driven by "Desire". This is something that has been lost.

Yes, I think that you have a point. We can perceive beauty and admire it but perhaps stand back in awe. Perhaps the idea of desire, especially in the realm of sexuality, creates a problem in the way we can see it as addressing our own physical pleasures. A detached sense of beauty may exist as a form of inspiration.

We can perceive beauty and admire it but perhaps stand back in awe. Perhaps the idea of desire, especially in the realm of sexuality, creates a problem in the way we can see it as addressing our own physical pleasures. A detached sense of beauty may exist as a form of inspiration. — Jack Cummins

I believe that we have consciously abandoned our ability to act and think consciously, rationally and logically over our instincts.

We exist constantly with the shadow of our wild past influencing us. The apotheosis that I refer to at the end of the images I had posted, is our ability to feel our instincts, and, by simple and mere conscious will, deny it.

What is desire, becomes beauty; what is hate, becomes honor; what is fear becomes courage, etc...

But that had been lost...

I might be a bit of a romantic philosopher but I feel positive about what has been lost. Perhaps I grew up listening to too much music by INXS and the Doors, but I came to the conclusion that instincts are best sublimated in the form of artistic creativity. I am unsure of ideas such as hate and honour, having some experience of them, but trying to go beyond attachments. Ultimately, I see creativity as the main point which stands out beyond instincts and social goals, but I am not sure if I could justify this philosophically.

I just love any true British countryside

Although having said that, I'm struggling to get any onto a message

<img src="https://wanderlusters.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Scottish-Highlands-Hiking-Guide-1155x770.jpg" alt="A Guide To Hiking The Scottish Highlands – https://wanderlusters.com"/>

I don't know if this has worked?

Yes that's one of the pictures, thank you!

It could be so random but I want to share with you friends this beautiful castle near in my hometown: Madrid.

The castle is called Manzanares el Real.

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Variant Reinterpretations of Interstellar's Gargantua





It's unfathomable how curved geodesics, metric tensors and differential geometry can render an artistic truth as serene, and visually incalculable.

I don't know if this has worked? — scientia de summis

To get a picture to show up, copy the URL into the post. Then highlight it and click on the icon of a picture at the top of the comment. That should work. If it is a picture of your own, there is a button for uploading files - a box with an up arrow. There is also one for videos at websites - a video camera.

As I told you, my brother and I went to Europe in 2014. One of the things that struck me was the large numbers of castles and other fortresses. It seemed like there was one every couple of miles. They were the Starbucks of the 15th through mid 20th centuries. Just goes to show what a hard place to live Europe has been over the centuries.

Not random at all. If you've looked at the rest of this thread, you've seen lots of buildings, old and new.

This thread pops back up every so often. It's probably my favorite one on the forum. Thanks for contributing.

Interesting! Exactly as you remember is full of castles. Fun fact: Spain in the Middle Age was called “Castilla” which it comes from literally for the big number of castles built in the country :smile:
Here is another one I like:

It is called Buitrago de Lozoya.

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Madrid. This oil was painted by Antonio López in 1994. It is so beautiful despite the city changed a lot since then because there are some towers that do not appear. They way this artist represents urbanism is so accurate. It is weird to express but this paint gives me sensations both of nostalgia and uncertainty because in a big city of Madrid you will not know what will happen but I promise you will remember it forever :flower:

Beauty, for me, is an attractive force. I suppose that's the reason why attractive is synonymous with beauty. I guess we could view/define beauty as a gravity analog operating through our senses and minds. Ugliness then would be a force that counters attraction, repulsive in essence.

Given this, what might I infer from the scientific reports of an expanding universe with each galaxy moving away, faster and faster, from every other galaxy? The universe, it seems, on the whole, is really, really ugly.

They way this artist represents urbanism is so accurate. — javi2541997

I like it too. When you said it was beautiful, I wasn't sure I agreed. I wouldn't call it a beautiful view, but it does give you a visceral feel for how cities become cities.

When I fly over cities like this, I think to myself - "How many people down there are eating oysters. How can there possibly be enough oysters? How can they possibly get all the oysters to everyone who wants them." It gives a feel for the weight, the density, that civilization brings to the world.

Also - thanks for keeping the thread alive. It's my favorite.

You are welcome and thanks for the feedback about the painting :up:

"That Sultan of generosity is the Master of Reason;
He is Sanctity and the light of the eyes.
In the path of the Shah,
Khata'i sacrifices his soul.
For the kingdom, property, gold, and silver:
- Of the people!"

Joel-Peter Whitkin- “The Kiss”