Category Archives: Arts & Literature

Boomers In London: Day 2 – South Bank To Tate, Westminster Back To The City

Set out at 9 am across Tower Bridge and experienced South Bank.

Borough Market is a must visit and it delivered delicious stall after stall of every cheese, meat, vegetable and savory or sweet foods.

We then continued along the Thames for a quick view of Shakespeare’s Globe, followed by a tour of the Tate Modern.

We then hopped aboard the Tate Boat for a trip to the Tate Britain at Millbank. This is the home of the largest collection of J.M.W. Turner paintings in the world.

John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough are also in abundance.

Headed north to Buckingham Palace before walking through St. James Park to the National Gallery.

The National Gallery is amazing. A must visit for Renoir, Van Gough, Monet and Rembrandt.

We finished up with a visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral and a great final walk along the Thames to the hotel near The Tower.

Top Exhibitions: “Manet and Modern Beauty” At The J. Paul Getty Museum Opening October 8

The Rue Mosnier with Flags - Eduard Manet - Getty MuseumÉdouard Manet was a provocateur and a dandy, the Impressionist generation’s great painter of modern Paris. This first-ever exhibition to explore the last years of Manet’s short life and career reveals a fresh and surprisingly intimate aspect of this celebrated artist’s work. Stylish portraits, J. Paul Getty Museumluscious still lifes, delicate pastels and watercolors, and vivid café and garden scenes convey Manet’s elegant social world and reveal his growing fascination with fashion, flowers, and his view of the parisienne—a feminine embodiment of modern life in all its particular, fleeting beauty.

 

To read more: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/late_manet/

Museum Exhibitions: “Beyond Midnight – Paul Revere” At The New York Historical Society

From an New York Times online review:

Grant Wood (1892−1942), Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931. Oil on Masonite. Metropolitan Museum of ArtRevere’s place in history was cemented by the Longfellow poem, published in 1861, more than 40 years after Revere’s death. Longfellow “was flexible about the historical details,” said Debra Schmidt Bach, who coordinated the exhibition for the New-York Historical Society. “I mean, it was a fictionalized poem,” she said. “It was not intended as a detailed examination of the ride.”

NY Historical Society.JPGThe exhibition was organized by the American Antiquarian Society, of which Ms. Hewes is the curator of graphic arts. Nan Wolverton, the show’s other curator, is the director of fellowships at the antiquarian society, and of its Center for Historic American Visual Culture. The display includes more than 140 objects from the antiquarian society’s extensive Revere holdings; the New-York Historical Society’s own collection; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Massachusetts Historical Society, among others.

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/arts/design/paul-revere-beyond-midnight.html

Top New Music Videos: “Sacred Ground” Featuring Cellist Shaun Diaz By Shawn Reeder

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Shawn Reeder

Cellist and Composer: Shaun Diaz

Sacred Ground Music Video by Shawn Reeder 2019

Every so often life brings a magical opportunity to collaborate with a fellow artist with whom you share deep resonance. This summer I got to share in that experience with my dear friend and phenomenal cellist & composer, Shaun Diaz. Here’s a film we created together from one of Shaun’s most powerful pieces of music that he remastered & renamed this summer, “Sacred Ground”. To see more of our work, please check out our sites and social media!

Sacred Ground Music Video by Shawn Reeder 2019

Documentary Photography: Robert Frank Chronicled Post World War II America

From a New York Times online article:

Mr. and Mrs. Feiertag, Late Afternoon, 1951.CreditRobert Frank; National Gallery of Art, WashingtonRigorously unsentimental in his attitude to the world around him, Mr. Frank deviated from form in 1950, taking what was arguably his most romantic picture. He had his reasons. He was in love. The year before he had met artist Mary Lockspeiser, who became his first wife. In “Tulip/Paris,” he photographed a young man who is holding behind his back a tulip — presumably intended for the woman standing in the background. An old man, at the other end of life’s arc, approaches the viewer. It is a classic romantic Paris street photograph.

Robert Frank kicked documentary photography into the present with a loud clang. In place of the detached formalism of Walker Evans and the poetic lyricism of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Andre Kertesz, he brought a moody, cool intensity that stamped his pictures with a readily identifiable hallmark. Using a 35-millimeter Leica, he could compose images as elegantly framed as if he’d set up a tripod, or as blurry and off-center as an amateur snapshot. He took whatever means he needed to express a vision that was alternately empathetic and obstreperous, as contradictory as the man himself.

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/arts/design/robert-frank-photographs.html?module=inline

Top Interviews: “Downton Abbey” Movie Producer & Writer Julian Fellowes

From a Wall Street Journal article:

We asked Lord Fellowes about the servants and family members who made it to the movie. Here are edited excerpts:

Downton-Abbey-Movie-Posters 2“It’s a way of life that’s gone and I don’t think it’s a bad state that it’s gone. But realistically it must’ve been livable on a level by pretty well everyone involved or it wouldn’t have gone on for a thousand years.”

In what ways did you think it was essential for “Downtown Abbey” to be accurate?

I think if you try to get all the details right and you talk to enough people who remember that life—which there were when I was much younger—you can imbue it with a kind of reality that seems believable to people who maybe don’t know about that way of life and certainly may not approve of it, but when they watch it, they can see how it worked. They can understand how people lived like that. Whereas when you start to get all the details wrong, it doesn’t feel believable. It doesn’t feel truthful.

To read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/writer-julian-fellowes-prepares-downton-abbey-for-the-big-screen-11568552402

Top New Documentaries: Interview Of Ken Burns, Director Of “Country Music” (PBS Podcast)

Ken Burns PBS InterviewThe latest documentary on PBS from Ken Burns starts this Sunday, and will likely get your foot tapping. “Country Music” is an eight-part series, featuring never-before-seen footage and photos. Amna Nawaz sat down with Burns, who has now had more than 30 films on PBS telling the stories of America. The conversation is part of our ongoing series on arts and culture, Canvas.

Top Upcoming Exhibitions: “Paul Klee – 1939” At The David Zwirner Gallery NYC Sept. 10 – Oct. 26

From the DavidZwirner.com online listing:

Paul_Klee___Armer_Engel___1939The works on view illustrate how Klee responded to his personal difficulties and the broader social realities of the time through imagery that is at turns political, solemn, playful, humorous, and poetic. Ranging in subject matter, the works all testify to Klee’s restless drive to experiment with his forms and materials, which include adhesive, grease, oil, chalk, and watercolor, among others, resulting in surfaces that are not only visually striking, but also highly tactile and original. The novelty and ingenuity of Klee’s late works informed the art of the generation of artists that emerged after World War II, and they continue to hold relevance and allure for artists and viewers alike today.

David Zwirner is pleased to present Paul Klee: 1939, the gallery’s inaugural exhibition of Paul Klee’s (1879–1940) work since announcing its exclusive collaboration with the Klee Family. On view at 537 West 20th Street, New York, the exhibition focuses on Klee’s art from 1939, the year before he passed away, which marked one of the artist’s most prolific periods.

To read more: https://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/1939#/installation-views

Short Film Documentary: “Achille Salvagni” Is An Artistic Look At The Renowned Designer

 

Achille Salvagni DesignerAchille Salvagni is recognised as one of the most sophisticated and innovative creatives working today. His influences range from the rich heritage of generations of master designers before him, to cutting-edge contemporary design tendencies. Combining Italian craftsmanship with his passion for noble materials, Salvagni’s timeless interiors reflect his unique approach and the understated elegance of his aesthetic.

For the past 18 years, Salvagni has been at the forefront of his field, tailoring bespoke interiors for some of the most influential personalities, and commissioned to lend his expertise to prestigious international residential projects in New York, Miami, Paris and London, amongst other leading global cities. Salvagni continues to delight and surprise through his careful and considered juxtaposition of objects, materials and tones.

His London Atelier draws from a selection of now iconic pieces and places them in an intimate domestic environment allowing collectors and design aficionados to experience their craftsmanship first-hand. Using only the noblest materials — mahogany, rosewood, royal oak, laurel, onyx, bronze and gold — the works are realised by Rome’s rich collection of unparalleled artisans found in the Vatican City and amongst the cabinet makers of the Quirinal Palace. With a couturier’s approach to design, even the smallest details of the Atelier’s works are the result of an exacting attention to detail, from the patina selection through to custom door handles and hinges.

In this film, Salvagni offers an insight into the philosophy behind his works and how his Roman heritage has influenced his craftmanship.

Website: https://www.achillesalvagni.com/about/

Top Exhibitions: “Félix Vallotton: Painter of Disquiet”, Metropolitan Museum NYC October 29

From the MetMuseum.org website:

Nuit tombante sur la Loire - Félix Vallotton, 1923Witness to the radical aesthetics that gripped Paris in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Vallotton developed his own singular voice. Today we recognize him as a distinctive artist of his generation. His lampooning wit, subversive satire, and wry humor is apparent everywhere in his artistic production. Vallotton’s trenchant woodcuts of the 1890s solidified his reputation as a printmaker of the first rank while boldly messaging his left-wing politics.

Félix Vallotton: Painter of Disquiet will present pivotal moments in the artist’s career as a painter and printmaker. Painted portraits, luminous landscapes, and interior narratives that pulse with psychological tension join the exhibition from more than two Metropolitan Museum of Artdozen lenders. Swiss-born and Paris-educated, Vallotton (1865–1925) created lasting imagery of fin-de-siècle Paris.

For the first time ever, this exhibition will display Picasso’s legendary portrait of Gertrude Stein, from The Met collection, alongside Vallotton’s rendering of this formidable collector, which was painted a year later. Vallotton finished his portrait in a matter of weeks and gave it to Gertrude Stein.

To read more: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2019/felix-vallotton-painter-disquiet