Tag Archives: Art Insider

Artists: French-American Artist Louise Bourgeois’ Iconic “Spider” Sculpture

Sotheby’s (May 6, 2023) – Fraught with chilling grandeur, Spider from 1996 is the ultimate embodiment of Louise Bourgeois’ singular contribution to the history of Modern Art.

Among the earliest monumental iterations of Bourgeois’ Spiders, the present work represents the absolute zenith of her artistic practice and the most ambitious embodiment of her signature motif; decades later, her towering Spiders stand among the most iconic sculptures of the twentieth century.

In its elegant yet otherworldly presence, Bourgeois’ spellbinding Spider speaks to the conceptual concerns at the very heart of her oeuvre: an unflinching confrontation of her own emotions and psyche, translated into sculptural form.

Art: Vincent Became “Van Gogh” With ‘Jardin Devant le Mas Debray’ In 1887

Sotheby’s (May 3, 2023) – ‘Jardin devant le Mas Debray’ captures this pivotal moment in summer of 1887 where color, subject and paint handling crystallized into Van Gogh’s mature style, one that would flourish in the three years remaining of his life in Paris, Arles, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and Auvers-sur-Oise.

Jardin devant le Mas Debray | Modern Evening Auction | 2023 | Sotheby's
Jardin devant le Mas Debray by Vincent Van Gogh

It was during this period of time, from 1887 to 1890, that Van Gogh’s greatest masterpieces were created, forever changing in the history of modern art. Surrounded by artists, dancers, musicians, actors and writers in Montmartre, Van Gogh abandoned the dark palette that dominated many of his early paintings in Holland and replaced it with a newfound love of color.

Exhibitions: Inside ‘After Impressionism’ In London

Christie’s (March 24, 2023) – Curator MaryAnne Stevens explains the inspiration for the National Gallery’s new show, which is sponsored by Christie’s. Dominated by Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Munch, it also includes lesser-known figures such as Isidre Nonell and Max Slevogt.

After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art

25 March – 13 August 2023

Explore a period of great upheaval when artists broke with established tradition and laid the foundations for the art of the 20th and the 21st centuries.

The decades between 1880 and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 were a complex, vibrant period of artistic questioning, searching, risk-taking and innovation.

The exhibition celebrates the achievements of three giants of the era: Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin and follows the influences they had on younger generations of French artists, on their peers and on wider circles of artists across Europe in Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels and Vienna.

Art History: The ‘Dance (I)’ By Henri Matisse (1909)

The Museum of Modern Art (March 17, 2023) – In our latest ArtSpeaks episode, Eana Kim, Vilcek Fellow in Paintings and Sculpture chose Henri Matisse’s “Dance (I)” because his work led her life in an unexpected direction.

“What really struck me was Matisse’s journey from mastering all the academic skills to unlearning everything to create his own art,” Kim says. “He really tried to dig into and explore the fundamental elements, like forms and colors. He was looking into something more essential to create something pure. I needed to follow that path.”

In the online edition of MoMA’s ArtSpeaks program, we invite staff members, artists, and special guests to share personal impressions of an artwork in the galleries. Here, curator Eana Kim examines Matisse’s iconic expression of pleasure and joy.

Museum Insider : ‘Wheat Fields After The Rain’ By Vincent Van Gogh (1890)

Wheat Fields after the Rain (The Plain of Auvers) – 1890

Wheat Fields is a series of dozens of paintings by Dutch Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh, borne out of his religious studies and sermons, connection to nature, appreciation of manual laborers and desire to provide a means of offering comfort to others. The wheat field works demonstrate his progression as an artist from the drab Wheat Sheaves made in 1885 in the Netherlands to the colorful and dramatic 1888–1890 paintings from ArlesSaint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise in rural France.

Inside British Art: ‘The Red Boy’ By Thomas Lawrence

Restorer Paul Ackroyd gets ‘The Red Boy’ ready to be displayed in the Gallery.

The Red Boy, or Master Lambton, are popular names for a portrait made in 1825 by Sir Thomas Lawrence. It is officially entitled with the name of its subject, Charles William Lambton, who was the elder son of John Lambton.

Paul Ackroyd, restorer, is cleaning ‘The Red Boy’, an iconic painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence. It was so popular it was the first-ever painting to feature on a British postage stamp.

Art: ‘Whistler To Cassatt – American Painters In France’ (Denver Museum)

Timothy J. Standring, Curator Emeritus at the Denver Art Museum, discusses Mary Cassatt, including “Mother and Child,” one of her most important works.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler challenged traditional approaches to painting by focusing more on colors and composition rather than the subject matter. In this video, Timothy J. Standring, Curator Emeritus at the Denver Art Museum, takes a look at Whistler’s artistic journey to finding his unique style.

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Art: ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ By Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler

Alex Roediger, MoMA’s senior information coordinator, looks at Helen Frankenthaler’s “Jacob’s Ladder” (1957) with a painter’s eye, and finds that “more paint” isn’t always the key to making a dramatic statement—even in Abstract Expressionism.

Art Insider: Van Gogh’s Creative Spark In Paris

Vincent Van Gogh was a master of creating sumptuous still lifes. In this latest Expert Voices, Sotheby’s specialist Simon Stock describes how his painting “Nature Morte: Vase Aux Glaïeuls”, offered in Sotheby’s upcoming Modern Art Evening Sale (9 October | Hong Kong), perfectly captured the essence of the artist’s first summer in Paris in 1886. Discover how the artist infused his inspiration of Japanese wood block prints into his paintings, and how he painstakingly captured the joy of living in his still lifes, but also the transience of life.

Art: Vasudeo S. Gaitonde’s “Painting 4” – The Abstract Artist ‘Haven From Chaos’

Cara Manes, Associate Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture, discovers a haven from the chaos of the everyday amid the “silence” and imperfection of Vasudeo S. Gaitonde’s “Painting, 4.”

Vasudeo S. Gaitonde was regarded as one of India’s foremost abstract painters. He received the Padma Shri Award in 1971.