Category Archives: Arts & Literature

Top Exhibitions: ‘Pollès – Monumental Sculptures’, Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, France (Cinematic Video)

Dominique Pollès, called Pollès, is a French sculptor born in Paris in 1945. He is considered as the inventor of “organic cubism”.

Like Leonard de Vinci in an anatomical search of perfection, of representation of movement,with an almost scientifical or medical glance, Pollès holds the utmost passion of anatomy: he learns about the human body, the complicated hank of muscles, movements of members and all the bodily mechanics.

That’s why in 1964 he starts medicine school and along side goes to the Charpentier Academy where he follows art lessons. In 1966, he encountered sculpture in London where he was invited by his friend Enzo Plazota. This final step teaching him all the bases of sculpture. Pollès then decides to go to live in Italy, in Carrare, an important art place. He moved in 1970 and settled in Pietrasanta where he still lives. ​

His sculptures, by creating a vision of the moving being, polished and smoothed, break the pureness of aestheticism. He just knows one theme, one model: the female form. According to Pollès, this is the most beautiful one, the most harmonious one. “When we are looking at a feminine body, it is splendid, it is musical”.

His love of women, the sensuality, the complexity, the shapes and passions, brought him to explore the female form. Since the beginning he has created a singularly stylized cubist form; this becoming his signature form. ​ All are cast in bronze by Pollès himself and made in a series of four with one artist’s proof. His masterliness of the patina is considered unparalleled. The world’s recognition of his craft is evidenced by the many awards he has won, the unique places he has shown and the prestigious private collections he is in, including that of Princess Caroline of Monaco. ​

Pollès was recently honored in an exhibition outside Paris, sponsored by the French Government, called “Sculptors From Rodin to The Present”. He was one of the few living sculptors to be so honored; the others include Abakanowicz, Arman, Saint-Phalle & Wesselmann. Maurice Rheims, a respected Art Critic, and a member of The French Academy, has said “I consider Pollès to be one of the outstanding sculptors of our time.”

His show in the Bagatelle Gardens in Paris in 1998 was a major honor as he was one of only two artists who have ever been allowed to present their work in the Bagatelle. The other artist is Henry Moore. – Galerie Philia is an internationally recognized contemporary design and modern fine arts gallery representing worldwide known designers and artists.

The Galerie Philia attempts in this way to build bridges between different artistic continents in order to enlighten artworks endowed with a marked artistic depth.

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Art: ‘Apollo Magazine – December 2020 Issue’

INSIDE THE ISSUE
 
FEATURES | Kirsten Tambling on Shakespearean relics; Susan Moore visits a museum-worthy collection of Old Masters; Alisa LaGamma on African art and attribution; Alice Gorman asks who is responsible for protecting space heritage
 
REVIEWS | Robert Barry on Bruce Nauman in London; Mark Evans on Prince Albert’s Raphael Collection in Woking; Imelda Barnard on Haegue Yang in St Ives; Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth on the history of European porcelain; Andrew Hussey on Isidore Isou; Thomas Marks on a collection of recipes by video artists
 
MARKET | Susan Moore previews December sales in New York and looks back at the autumn season; Emma Crichton-Miller on the enduring appeal of German limewood sculpture
 
PLUS | The Apollo Awards 2020Caroline Campbell and Michael Prodger consider the consolations offered by historic paintingsMadeleine Schwartz on fakery and the Russian avant-garde; Christopher Turner in search of Bologna’s historical waxworks; Charles Holland on architectural copies and cover versions; Robert O’Byrne on the brilliantly named painter Hercules Brabazon Brabazon

Opera: Soprano Renée Fleming Sings The “Ave Maria”, Verdi’s “Otello”

Soprano Renée Fleming sings the “Ave Maria” from Verdi’s “Otello” in the Met’s live At-Home Gala on April 25, 2020.

Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare’s play Othello. It was Verdi’s penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887. 

New Periodical: “Liberties” A Journal Of Culture And Politics (Autumn 2020)

Each issue of Liberties, the Foundation’s decidedly analog quarterly publication, will feature a combination of essays from prominent writers and introduce new talent. Contributors already signed include leading voices from this country and abroad in the worlds of culture, business, entertainment, government, politics, and technology. Each edition of Liberties will also publish new poetry from both highly awarded and up-and-coming poets.   

LISTEN TO INTERVIEW WITH PUBLISHER BILL REICHBLUM:

FROM “THE STACK” (MONOCLE 24 PODCAST)

To advance independent thinking and propel new ideas, well-known figures from the worlds of arts, business, government, higher education and philanthropy today announced the formation of the Liberties Journal Foundation. Based in Washington, D.C., the Foundation is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that seeks to inform today’s cultural and political leaders, deepen the understanding of citizens, and inspire the next generation to participate in the democratic process and public service. The Foundation’s first initiative is a new quarterly journal, Liberties – A Journal of Culture and Politics, slated for October 2020 debut.

Founding members of the Foundation include the well-known Washington attorney, philanthropist, and former diplomat, Alfred H. Moses; chairman and CEO of cross-border trade company Quberu, Peter Bass; and, respected arts, education, and business leader, Bill Reichblum. 

A book for the coat pocket, Liberties’ diverse voices celebrate one commonality: freedom of inquiry and thought.

Liberties’ editorial team reflects the mission of the Journal pairing acclaimed literary critic Leon Wieseltier as editor with Celeste Marcus, a new talent, as managing editor. Bill Reichblum is the publisher. The book will be available as a soft-cover edition, by subscription or single copy, in bookstores and online.

“The Foundation exists to meet the thirst in our country for ideas and serious thinking at a time when the daily news dominates the media and overwhelms our lives,” says Moses. “The Foundation will provide an outlet for world-renowned writers on culture and politics to reach a readership that is looking for stimulation and inspiration at a time when our lives are increasingly assailed by ephemeral trivia.” 

“We believe there is a genuine need to take time to listen, to actively absorb in-depth thinking of both those with accomplished experience and the inventive new generation at the beginning of their careers,” says Reichblum. “Their creativity, insights, and perceptions can individually and collectively inspire culture and impact politics.”

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Art Books: Watercolor – A History (Marie-Pierre Salé)

The most comprehensive and best-illustrated history of watercolor painting ever published.

The term watercolor calls to mind atmosphere, luminosity, and immediacy―qualities that derive directly from the quick-drying, translucent nature of water-based pigments. In Watercolor: A History, Louvre curator Marie-Pierre Salé provides an authoritative and beautifully illustrated account of this versatile and widely beloved artistic medium.

Salé’s incisive text traces the development of watercolor from the thirteenth to the twentieth century in Europe and the United States, encompassing every type of work―from plein-air sketches to finished studio pieces―and a wide variety of artists. Here are Dürer’s detailed animal studies, Turner’s landscapes, Cézanne’s tireless explorations, Sargent’s light-dappled sketches, O’Keeffe’s pioneering abstractions.

This handsome volume features more than three hundred full-color illustrations, specially printed on Munken paper to capture the vibrancy and texture of the original works. It is sure to be welcomed by art historians and art lovers alike.

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Video Profile: Singer Art Garfunkel On Paul Simon, His Music & Legacy (Video)

After so many years, shows, and questions about his relationship with his on again-off again musical partner, Art Garfunkel is telling his side of his story. Whether in his 2017 book “What Is It All but Luminous: Notes from an Underground Man,” or the occasional interview— Garfunkel has started talking. Christopher Booker sat down with him just before his book was released in paperback earlier this year.

Cocktails With A Curator: Claude Monet’s “Vétheuil in Winter” (Frick Video)

In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon takes viewers through Claude Monet’s journey as an artist, focusing on “Vétheuil in Winter,” one of only four Impressionist paintings at The Frick Collection. Monet created this work during a particularly difficult period in his life, which included his wife’s passing and the bankruptcy of his biggest patron. For Xavier, this canvas signifies the importance of hope, as Monet persevered and went on to complete some of his greatest works in the wake of these challenges. The wintry landscape is paired with a complementary beverage of mulled wine. To view this painting in detail, please visit our website: https://www.frick.org/vetheuilwinter

New Books: ‘Billy Wilder On Assignment’ (Video)

Billy Wilder on Assignment: Dispatches from Weimar Berlin and Interwar Vienna Billy Wilder

Edited by Noah Isenberg Introduction by Noah Isenberg Translated by Shelley Frisch

Acclaimed film director Billy Wilder’s early writings—brilliantly translated into English for the first time Before Billy Wilder became the screenwriter and director of iconic films like Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot, he worked as a freelance reporter, first in Vienna and then in Weimar Berlin.

Billy Wilder on Assignment brings together more than fifty articles, translated into English for the first time, that Wilder (then known as “Billie”) published in magazines and newspapers between September 1925 and November 1930. From a humorous account of Wilder’s stint as a hired dancing companion in a posh Berlin hotel and his dispatches from the international film scene, to his astute profiles of writers, performers, and political figures, the collection offers fresh insights into the creative mind of one of Hollywood’s most revered writer-directors.

Wilder’s early writings—a heady mix of cultural essays, interviews, and reviews—contain the same sparkling wit and intelligence as his later Hollywood screenplays, while also casting light into the dark corners of Vienna and Berlin between the wars. Wilder covered everything: big-city sensations, jazz performances, film and theater openings, dance, photography, and all manner of mass entertainment. And he wrote about the most colorful figures of the day, including Charlie Chaplin, Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Prince of Wales, actor Adolphe Menjou, director Erich von Stroheim, and the Tiller Girls dance troupe.

Film historian Noah Isenberg’s introduction and commentary place Wilder’s pieces—brilliantly translated by Shelley Frisch—in historical and biographical context, and rare photos capture Wilder and his circle during these formative years.

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Art: Experience ‘The Wine Harvest’ By 17th C. Flemish Painter David Teniers


Hear the voice of Downton Abbey star Jim Carter bring to life David Teniers’ monumental depiction of a 17th-century wine harvest. Immerse yourself in Teniers’ unrivalled talent for storytelling as we see grape harvesters unloading their bounty, coopers fixing up wine barrels, a wine merchant sealing a deal, and worse for wear villagers raising their glasses to the temple of Bacchus. Unseen in over a century, ‘The Wine Harvest’ is the finest work by Teniers to come to market in living memory.

David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile artist known for his prolific output. 

Top Art Exhibitions: ‘Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera And Mexican Modernism’ (2020)

“Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection” is on view at the Denver Art Museum through January 24, 2021.