Ten Most Expensive Jewelries Ever Made

This is number 7 of my postings on most expensive things money can buy. I have posts on paintings, photographs, sculptures, books, cars and houses/(mansion of Bruce Makowsky of Bel Air, California). In my readings I thought that the HOPE diamond should be in the list. I was surprise it is not in the list.

Some of the designs of the pieces of jewelry in the list below can be made using artificial/synthetic materials,or synthetic gemstones if you can not afford the real ones and can be purchased in the gift shop of the Museum in Natural History in Washington, DC.

http://www.wonderslist.com/10-most-expensive-jewellery-pieces-in-the-world/

Ten Most Expensive Books for your Reading Pleasure

In my previous postings I have listed ten most expensive photographs, paintings, cars, homes and sculptures. Today I am listing the top ten most expensive books. Before I did my search, My educated guess for number 1 was either the Gutenberg Bible or the Birds of America by Audubon. Again, I was wrong and surprise to read the following list. This shows how ignorant I am about books. So before you open the link below, can you give me your educated guess on the number 1 most expensive book in the world.

http://www.worldstopmost.com/2017-2018-2019-2020/news/most-expensive-books-world-top-10-best-selling-popular-list/

Ten Most Expensive Cars for your Driving Pleasure

My posting on the series of top ten most expensive things money can buy will not be complete unless I write about cars. Before I did my search on the Internet, my educated guess listed in my mind a Ferrari, a Bugatti and Lamborgini. I was correct on this guess. So here's the list for your enjoyment. I hope someday you win a lottery, and can afford to buy one car in this list. But for the moment, just dream on my friends.

Speaking of love for cars reminds me of a family friend in Chicago in the early 1960's as well as of another relative still in the Philippines. The former changes car every year because he does not like to drive a car older than one year and it is a status symbol to him. He feel rich and accomplished driving the newest car in the market. The latter changes car every two to three years for the same reason. On the other hand my youngest son and I are driving 15-year old cars that had been fined tuned. As long as it runs well and I feel safe and I am happy driving an old car.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/the-top-ten-most-expensive-cars-in-the-world/2/

Bruce Makowsky Mansion in Bel Air is for Sale

Bruce Makowsky ( QVC tycoon) is selling his Bel Air Mansion for only $250 million dollars. If you have that money you will own the most expensive home ever listed in America complete with a helicopter, and staff paid for two years and a $30MILLION car collection

The 38,000-sqft home has 12 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms, 130 works of art and a $30M car collection. The Bel Air property has a bowling alley, a movie theater and - of course - a pool with its own swim-up bar. There is also a collection of cars, including 1930s roadsters and 21st century supercars, worth $30million. Makowsky has also factored in the costs of seven live-in employees who will work at the property full-time 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4134106/The-expensive-home-hits-market-250-million.html#ixzz4WEBevmIo

For a list of top ten most expensive homes in the world, read the following:

http://www.wonderslist.com/10-most-expensive-houses/

For a list of ten most expensive homes in the US on 2015, view this video: I have been to one, the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA

Ten Most Expensive Sculptures

Jeff Koons-Balloon Dog

I have listed the ten most expensive photographs and paintings ever sold in history in my previous blogs. Today I am posting the ten most expensive sculpture ever sold. I am not deep into sculpture, but I enjoy sculpture once in a while. All I know about sculpture is some of the works of Rodin and Michelangelo. For a list and photographs of the top ten most expensive sculptures read the site as follows: Enjoy!

Walking Man
http://www.ppcimaginarium.co.za/posts/the-most-expensive-sculptures-ever-sold

Ten Most Expensive Paintings in History

The other day I posted ten of the most expensive photographs sold as of today. My curiosity was aroused on the list of expensive paintings. Before I did my Internet search ( see site below), I thought that the Number One has to be a Picasso or a Van Gough. I am mistaken as listed in the following site as follows: Before you open the link, can you give me an educated guess? Enjoy the paintings!

The Scream-a familiar painting in my memory, but not the Number 1.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11596376/The-ten-most-expensive-paintings-in-history.html

Top Ten Most Expensive Photographs-Is Photography Art?

Rhein II
I do not intend to infringe on the copyright of this photo. I will remove this photo upon request from the owner of the original photograph.

I just finished reading two interesting articles on the debate/discussion whether photography is an art form or not. (https://contrastly.com/photography-art-form/) and (http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/photography-art.htm).

One of the arguments in favor of photographs as an art form is the fact that people buy photographs as well as paintings and sculptures. According to Wikipedia, the following is the top 10 highest prices paid for photographs (in US dollars unless otherwise stated). All prices include the Buyer's Premium, which is the auction house fee for handling the work.

The list include the rank, the name of the artist, the price paid and the date sold as well as the place of the Seller/Auction House.

1. Andreas Gursky, Rhein II (1999), $4,338,500, November 8, 2011, Christie's New York( see photo above)

2. Richard Prince, Spiritual America (1981), $3,973,000, May 12, 2014, Christie's New York

3. Cindy Sherman, Untitled #96 (1981), $3,890,500, May 2011, Christie's New York

4. Gilbert & George, For Her Majesty (1973), $3,765,276, June 30, 2008, Christie's London

5. Jeff Wall, Dead Troops Talk (A vision after an ambush of a Red Army patrol, near Moqor, Afghanistan, winter 1986) (1992), $3,666,500, May 8, 2012, Christie's New York

6. Andreas Gursky, 99 Cent II Diptychon (2001), $3,346,456, February 2007, Sotheby's London auction

7. Andreas Gursky, Chicago Board of Trade III (1999-2000), $3,298,755, June 26, 2013, Sotheby’s London

8. Richard Prince, Untitled (Cowboy) (2000), $3,077,000, May 14, 2014, Sotheby’s New York

9. Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #48 (1979), $2,965,000, May 13, 2015, Christie’s New York

10. Edward Steichen, The Pond—Moonlight (1904), $2,928,000, February 2006, Sotheby's New York

Update: http://resourcemagonline.com/2014/08/most-expensive-photographs/41214/

The new #1 now belongs to Peter Lik whose photograph entitled “Phantom”, was sold in December 2014 to a private collector for a mind boggling $6.5 million.(see link above). It easily surpassed the previous record held by Andreas Gursky’s “Rhein II”, which sold for $4.3 million back in 2011.

Phantom

Integration of Art and Science- Are You An Artist?

A couple of weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Dr. Joel Cuello, our current President of Philippine-American Academy of Science and Engineering (PAASE) listing the link and an article about some of his paintings. I did enjoy viewing his paintings. So he is not only a well-known scientist (he is a globally recognized expert in the engineering of sustainable biological and agricultural innovations) but also a published artist. (http://ovpaa.up.edu.ph/create/#cuello2)

This aroused my curiosity on the relationships between art and science. I did some Internet search on famous scientists who are also artists. Two famous names among several names in the list (https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/24/science-wonder/) did not surprised me: Albert Einstein and Leonardo Da Vinci. I have also read several fascinating and interesting articles and viewed several videos that science and art are interrelated and are not opposite disciplines.(https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/from-stem-to-steam-science-and-the-arts-go-hand-in-hand/).

The following video attracted my attention because the scientist/artist is not only a female but a very young one from a country outside the US. I hope you enjoy the following video ( TED) as much as I did.



Finally here are a few quotes on art and science that I hope you will enjoy:
https://todayinsci.com/QuotationsCategories/S_Cat/ScienceAndArt-Quotations.htm

Note: If you are a PAASE member and you are also an artist please let me know. Who is an artist? One, such as a painter, sculptor, or writer, who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill to create works of aesthetic value, especially in the fine arts.

Music and Mathematics: Have You Heard of Dr. Raul Sunico?

I have not been following the music scene in the Philippines. However, just the other day I received an E-mail from our current Philippines American Academy of Science & Engineering (PAASE) President, DR Joel Cuello, about one of the members of PAASE that is both a mathematician and a world famous pianist. His name is Dr. Raul Sunico. I have vaguely heard of his name, and had never heard him play. So I did some Internet search and here's a video of Dr Sunico that I enjoyed very much.


Here's a biography of Dr Sunico:

Raul M. Sunico graduated from the University of the Philippines with the degrees of Bachelor of Music (cum laude), Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, and Master of Statistics. A scholarship from former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos through the
Young Artists Foundation of the Philippines enabled him to finish his Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School in New York and a Doctor of Philosophy degree, major in piano Performance from the New York University. In 2005, he was also conferred a
Doctor of Humanities degree (honoris causa) by the Far Eastern University.

Sunico has given solo recitals in the United States, Canada, Mexico, India, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Japan, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, England, and the Philippines. He was the
soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra (Romania), Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra (Poland), Towson Community Orchestra (Maryland, USA), Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan Normal University Wind Orchestra, Tokyo Sinfonia, Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, Ho Chi Minh Symphony Orchestra, Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, and other major Philippine orchestras.

Sunico is concurrently the President of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Dean of the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music. BRAVO!!

My first practical knowledge that there is a correlation between music and mathematics was in the early 1950's when I was a college student at the University of the Philippines. One of my many UPSCA ( UP student catholic action) friends was studying piano at the College of Music. She graduated with high honors from the College of Music. Later on she studied Mathematics and graduated with high honors again. She was then appointed as Instructor in Mathematics at the College of Liberal Arts. Her name: Mercy Lopez. I have no contact with her since then, but needless to say, I admired her very much and had a crush on her for being a talented pianist and mathematician.

Mercy Lopez at the Men's South Dorm Open House with Me and Room Mates, 1954

Below is a short video about Math and Music.



For additional details on music and math correlation read the following:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/serendipupdate/correlation-between-music-and-math-neurobiology-perspective

Treasured Photos of UPSCA and Fr John Delaney-1952-1957

Newspaper Clippings on the Death of Fr John Delaney, 1956. Today is the 61st Anniversary of his death. For more details on his life and work in UP Diliman, read, http://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/2016/01/memories-of-my-college-years-in-up.html

The following are old photos I just discovered recently dating from 1952 to 1957 mostly of Macrine's and my UPSCA Activities. UPSCA is the University of the Philippines Student Catholic Action for those of you not familiar with the initial.

1953 UPSCA Choir

Barbecue Party after UPSCA Concert, UP Diliman, 1954

Marinduque Association, Silver Jubilee, Manila Hotel, 1957

UPSCA Social Works with Fr John Delaney, 1952

UPSCA Meeting with Fr Delaney and Tito Tino ( Fr. Constantino Nieva)-President of UPSCA, 1952