Category Archives: History

Artists: Inside Story Of Andy Warhol’s “Athletes” Paintings (Christie’s)

From a Christie’s Magazine online article (February 2020):

Christie's Magazine logo‘The sports stars of today are the movie stars of yesterday,’ proclaimed the artist. It was true; thanks to rapid advances in TV broadcasting, sporting champions in the 1970s were starting to achieve the same level of popularity as other entertainers.

Andy Warhol Athletes paintngs Muhammad Ali & Pele Christie's Magazine February 2020

In 1977, Richard L. Weisman approached his friend Andy Warhol with the idea for a new series: a set of silkscreen portraits of the day’s leading sports stars. Called ‘Athletes’, these pictures have come to be regarded as some of the standout works of Warhol’s later years.

Andy Warhol Athletes paintngs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Tom Seaver Christie's Magazine February 2020

Weisman (1940-2018) was a dedicated collector, and the two men bonded mostly over art, although they also crossed paths regularly at social gatherings across New York. On some occasions, these gatherings were held at Warhol’s Factory studio; on others, at Weisman’s apartment on United Nations Plaza.

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Video Profiles: 80-Year Old Scotsman Don Cameron, Hot Air Balloon Pioneer

For more than half a century, Scotland-born Don Cameron has been a pioneer in the world of hot air balloons. He built and flew western Europe’s first modern hot air balloon in 1967, before founding his company Cameron Balloons from the basement of his flat.

The company has since become one of the world’s largest balloon manufacturers, making hundreds of balloons each year. It is the market leader in special-shaped balloons, producing the likes of Darth Vader, Vincent van Gogh and a dinosaur.

Video by Morgan Spence

History & Literature: “Homer and the Epics”

The bard and the visual artists he inspired.

Phoebe C. Segal, Mary Bryce Comstock Curator of Greek and Roman Art

Homer is the legendary author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are the central works of ancient Greek literature. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek kingdoms. It focuses on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles lasting a few weeks during the last year of the war. The Odyssey focuses on the ten-year journey home of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, after the fall of Troy. Many accounts of Homer’s life circulated in classical antiquity, the most widespread being that he was a blind bard from Ionia, a region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey. Modern scholars consider these accounts legendary.

From Wikipedia

History: “Discovering Ancient Nubia: Kings and Pyramids in the Sudan”

Take a close look at the tombs of the Napatan kings who conquered and ruled Egypt from the late 8th century to 666 BCE, using objects that the MFA excavated from 1913 to 1932 with archeologist George Reisner.

MFA Museum of Fine Arts Boston logoNapatan kings later held sway over the kingdom of Kush in the northern Sudan, and built pyramids for themselves and their wives in cemeteries at Kurru and Napata. Studying these lavishly decorated pyramids, and the mortuary rites that took place in the attached chapels, makes clear some of the differences between ancient Egyptian and Napatan beliefs and priorities.

Susan K. Doll, Nubian scholar

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Art Review: “The Floor Planers” By Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte (1875) (Musée d’Orsay Video)

For her performances in over sixty films and forty theatrical productions, Ariane Ascaride has notably been awarded the César for best actress in Marius and Jeannette (1998) and the Coppa Volpi for lead actress at the Venice mostra for Gloria Mundi (2019), two films directed by Robert Guédiguian. She is also a director and a screenwriter.

The Floor Planers by Gustave Caillebotte 1875 video by Musée d'Orsay Januaary 2020

Les raboteurs de parquet (English title: The Floor Scrapers) is an oil painting by French Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte. The canvas measures 102 by 146.5 centimetres (40.2 in × 57.7 in). It was originally given by Caillebotte’s family in 1894 to the Musée du Luxembourg, then transferred to the Musée du Louvre in 1929. In 1947, it was moved to the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, and in 1986, it was transferred again to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, where it is currently displayed.

Musée d’Orsay website

Art: “The Rediscovery Of Gaston Lévy’s Collection” Of Paul Signac & Camille Pissarro (Sotheby’s Video)

Known best as the author of Paul Signac’s first catalog raisonné, Gaston Lévy was perhaps the most remarkable art collector in pre-war Paris. After the Nazi regime seized his properties and dispersed his paintings, masterpieces were thought to have been lost to the Lévy family forever.

Camille Pissarro Gelée blanche Jeune Paysanne Faisant Du Feu 1888

However, This February Sotheby’s is proud to offer three recently restituted masterworks from the Lévy collection in our Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale. In this episode of Expert Voices, Sotheby’s Head of Restitution Lucian Simmons chronicles the story of Gaston Lévy’s collection and explores the extraordinary talent of Paul Signac and Camille Pissarro through their works Gelee Blache, Quai de Clichy and La Corne D’or.

Paul Signac Quai De Clichy Temps Gris 1887

(4 February | London)

Super Bowl Ads: Planters To Kill Off 114-Year Old “Mr. Peanut” (1916 – 2020)

From an AdWeek online article:

AdWeek logo“It’s with heavy hearts that we confirm Mr. Peanut has passed away at 104 years old,” said Samantha Hess, brand manager for Planters, in a statement. “He will be remembered as the Mr. Peanut in 1950'slegume who always brought people together for nutty adventures and a good time. We encourage fans to tune in to Mr. Peanut’s funeral during the third quarter of the Super Bowl to celebrate his life.”

In a shocking move, Planters, the Kraft-Heinz-owned snack brand, has killed off its iconic mascot in a teaser for its Big Game spot. Mr. Peanut’s untimely demise began with a Nutmobile crash, followed by falling off a cliff and ending in an explosion.

In the 30-second teaser, Mr. Peanut is driving his signature Nutmobile around a winding cliff with actors Matt Walsh (Veep) and Wesley Snipes in the front and back seat, respectively. Walsh spots an armadillo in the road, and Mr. Peanut swerves—right off the cliff.

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