Tag Archives: Art

Surrealism: “Midnight In Paris, 1929″(Dalí Museum)

Excerpts from a Wall Street Journal online review (Feb 25, 2020):

Midnight in Paris Surrealism at the Crossroads 1929 Special Exhibit Dali MuseumMasson, a founding Surrealist, saw the movement as an immersion “into what the German romantics call the night side of things.” However, “towards 1930,” Masson wrote, “a formidable disaster appeared in its midst: the demagogy of the irrational.” “Midnight in Paris” touches on Surrealism’s highs and lows, its darkness, poetry, beauty and banalities, reminding viewers—at the heart of the Dalí Museum, no less—that the movement is much, much more than melting watches.

In 1920s Paris, Surrealist revolution and transgression were in the air, but not everyone agreed on how to make Surrealist works or what they should look like. “Midnight in Paris: Surrealism at the Crossroads, 1929,” an exhibition of 80 paintings, prints, sculptures, drawings, collages, photographs, films and documents at St. Petersburg’s Dalí Museum, proposes to examine Surrealism’s rich visual fabric, conflicts and rivalries during the movement’s heyday in the City of Light. Organized by Didier Ottinger, deputy director of the Musée national d’art moderne at the Centre Pompidou, and William Jeffett, chief curator of special exhibitions at the Dalí, it focuses on the moment just before Surrealism burst onto and began to dominate the world stage.

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Exhibitions: Inside Look At “Picasso And Paper”, Royal Academy Of Arts (Video)

Join Curator Ann Dumas for a view inside the ‘Picasso and Paper’ exhibition, which features works spanning the artist’s entire career. Can you guess which work the artist made when he was just nine years old?

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Motor Racing: “The Art Of Competition – Racing Posters” (RM Sotheby’s)

RM Sotheby's LogoIn motor racing, a win or podium finish is often immortalized with the reward of a trophy but to foster and create the enthusiasm leading up to the race and attract the masses of racing enthusiasts and fans to witness many of the world’s greatest historic motoring races, it was often the beautifully executed imagery that drove people to the tracks. 

Often a work of art in itself, historic motor racing posters manage to capture the very spirit of each race, venue, marques and their respective drivers best. What better way to celebrate heritage of motor racing then through this outstanding offering of nearly 60 original posters and artwork, all offered without reserve.

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Top New Art Books: “Ten In One – The Impressionists” (Taschen, March 2020)

Ten In One Impressionism The Birth of Light in Painting Taschen March 2020The lives and oeuvres of Impressionist pillars Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Rousseau, Seurat, Toulouse-Lautrec, and van Gogh are each explored in-depth in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series. Now, this volume combines all 10 monographs into one for the price of three.

“These seductive books have slick production values, excellent illustrations, and smart texts. Each one is a fast-food, high-energy fix on the topic at hand.” – The New York Times Book Review

This book gathers ten Basic Art monographs into one volume featuring:

  • Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Rousseau, Seurat, Toulouse-Lautrec, and van Gogh
  • a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of each artist, covering their cultural and historical importance
  • approximately 1,000 illustrations with explanatory captions

Ten In One Impressionism The Birth of Light in Painting Taschen March 2020

With blockbuster exhibitions, record-breaking auction prices, and packed museums, Impressionism remains close contender for the world’s favorite period of painting. Its favorite subjects— from dappled harbor scenes and summer days to vibrant Parisian salons and gardens—brim with optimism and joie de vivre. The works once dismissed as unfinished or imprecise are now beloved for their atmospheric evocation of time and place, as well as the stylistic flair of rapid brushstrokes upon canvas.

What we take for granted today—the relativity of perception depending on the viewer, lighting mood, or location to the object—was then the inspiration for some of the finest paintings in art history. Consider Monet’s 30+ variations of the Rouen Cathedral, Cézanne’s dazzling experimentation with color, Gauguin’s primitivist innovations, or Manet’s scandalous nudes: rarely has a single genre produced so many brilliant artists in such a short time.

Since 1985, TASCHEN’s Basic Art series has published some 200 individual volumes, making it the world’s most successful art-book series. Each title contains an extensive text on the artist’s life and work, a detailed biography, and some 100 high-quality color illustrations with explanatory captions. With Ten in One, TASCHEN now presents ten Basic Art monographs in one volume. A must for every art lover!

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Art Lecture Videos: The History Of Hollywood “Horror Movie Posters” (Columbia Museum Of Art)

Recorded February 14, 2020 at the Columbia Museum of Art.

Daniel Finamore, curator of It’s Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection talks about the exhibition and where these posters fit into the canon It's Alive Columbia Museum of ART History of Horror Movie Posters video Feb 20 2020of art history. Finamore is the curator of Maritime Art and History at the Peabody Essex Museum. Best known as lead guitarist of the famed rock band Metallica, Kirk Hammett is also an obsessive collector of visually arresting horror and sci-fi film art and has dedicated the last three decades to creating one of the world’s most important collections.

It’s Alive! features more than 100 pieces of graphic art, many hailing back to the days of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, that have seeped into the public imagination and reflected society’s deepest fears and anxieties for nearly a century. Not only do these objects explore the power of graphic art in its own right, they have inspired Hammett’s work throughout his own artistic career.

Organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.

New Exhibitions: “Giorgio De Chirico – Metaphysical Painting” At The Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris (2020)

The exhibition Giorgio de Chirico. Metaphysical painting retraces the career and the artistic and philosophic influences of the artist Giorgio de Chirico from Munich to Turin, then to Paris where he discovered the artistic avant-garde of his era, and lastly Ferrare. The connections between the painter – discovered by Apollinaire and Giorgio de Chirico Il Ritornante 1917-1918subsequently backed by the art dealer Paul Guillaume – and the Parisian cultural and literary circles will be highlighted as never before.

Born in Greece and trained in the fount of classical culture and late German Romanticism, de Chirico developed the foundations of a new artistic exploration alongside his younger brother Alberto Savinio. A student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich as of 1908, he discovered the thinking of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer as well as the works of Böcklin and Klinger. After travelling to Milan then Florence, it was in France, and more specifically Paris, as of autumn 1911, that he established his unique visual vocabulary through contact with the modernist artistic revolutions. He was quickly noticed by numerous artistic celebrities of the time, among whom Guillaume Apollinaire, Maurice Raynal, André Salmon, André Breton, Paul Éluard and Jean Paulhan were the first to take an interest in and promote his work.

Musée de l'Orangerie logoThe exhibition thus comes into its own at the Musée de l’Orangerie alongside the figure of Paul Guillaume, the first art dealer to work with Giorgio de Chirico. On his return to Italy in 1915, he and his brother Savinio were sent to Ferrare for military reasons, where he continued his artistic research. This period (June 1915-December 1918) provided an opportunity for painters Carlo Carrà and Giorgio Morandi to get to know the two brothers, thus resulting in the creation of what was later to be known as the “metaphysical movement” which brings the exhibition to a close.

Exhibition organised by the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris and the Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg

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Art Videos: “Georgia O’Keeffe’s Century Of American Art” (Sotheby’s)

Sotheby's AuctionsIn the final years of Georgia O’Keeffe’s nearly century-long life, she employed and befriended the young sculptor Juan Hamilton. The two would become inseparable, and upon her death in 1986, Hamilton inherited fine art and personal affects from the artist’s estate, including rarely seen pieces from the estate of O’Keeffe’s late husband, Joseph Stieglitz.

This March, Sotheby’s is honored to present these works in Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, Juan Hamilton: Passage, a dedicated auction in New York on 5 March 2020. In this episode of Expert Voices, Head of American Art Kayla Carlsen explores the stories behind this remarkable collection while highlighting exceptional works, including O’Keeffe’s Nature Forms – Gaspé, Stieglitz’s Hand and Wheel and Hamilton’s Untitled (Red Form).

(New York | 5 March 2020)

Art: “What Is A Japanese Living National Treasure?” (British Museum Video)

The British Museum has been collecting artworks made by Japanese Living National Treasures since 2007, but what is a Living National treasure and why are they so important to Japanese Cultural Heritage? In this film Nicole Rousmaniere, research director of SISJAC and Hayashida Hiyaki of the Japan Kōgei Association talk all about the Living National treasures programme and highlight some of the most beautiful pieces of Japanese craftsmanship collected by the Museum.

New Art Books: “The Art Of Still Life” By Todd M. Casey

The Art of Still Life A Contemporary Guide to Classical Techniques Composition and Painting in Oil Todd M CaseyEvery artist needs to learn and master the still life. Written by a well-known artist and expert instructor, The Art of Still Life offers a comprehensive, contemporary approach to the subject that instructs artists on the foundation basics and advanced techniques they need for successful drawing and painting.

In addition to Casey’s stunning paintings, the work of over fifty past and present masters is included, so that the book will do double duty as a hardworking how-to The Art of Still Life Todd M Casey Feb 2020manual and a visual treasure trove of some of the finest still life art throughout history and being created today.

A Massachusetts native, TODD M. CASEY studied at art schools in Boston and San Francisco before embarking on the classical artistic education offered by Jacob Collins’s famed Water Street Atelier in New York City. A modern master of the still life genre, Casey teaches at several institutions, including the Art Students League of New York. He is represented by Rehs Contemporary Galleries, Inc., New York, and his paintings are held in numerous private collections worldwide. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York’s Hudson Valley. Visit his website at toddmcasey.com.

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New Art Books: “Cherry Blossoms – Sakura Collections From The Library Of Congress”

Cherry Blossoms Sakura Collections from the Library of Congress book February 11 2020“Cherry Blossoms” reflects on the long tradition of flower viewing in Japanese culture with vivid color woodblock prints by ukiyo-e master artists, photographs, color lithographic posters and Kōkichi Tsunoi’s exquisite watercolor drawings from 1921. The book highlights the rich connections between Japan’s centuries-old traditions and contemporary counterparts. The American public’s affection for the blossoms is revealed in vintage and contemporary photographs of the Tidal Basin, collections related to the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Cherry Blossom Princess Program, as well as decades’ worth of creatively designed festival posters.

Vibrant springtime traditions of cherry blossom viewing in Japan and Washington, D.C., are explored in the new book “Cherry Blossoms: Sakura Collections from the Library of Congress,” published today by Smithsonian Books, in association with the Library of Congress.

Visual art, including prints, drawings and photographs from the Library’s collections, provide a fresh look at the tradition of cherry blossom celebrations that originated more than 1,200 years ago. Japan shared the tradition with the United States when they presented the nation’s capital with 3,020 cherry trees in 1912. Ever since, D.C. residents and visitors have been mesmerized by the trees and have joined in the festivities of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which draws more than 1.5 million visitors each year.

Fascinating Facts about Cherry Blossom Traditions:

  • It started over 1,200 years ago…with plum blossoms! The Japanese custom of flower viewing, or hanami, is thousands of years old. Beginning in the 9th century, saplings and trees were brought down from the mountains to grace the gardens of the aristocracy. The practice was first associated with plum (ume) blossoms before it became linked almost exclusively with cherry blossoms during the Heian period (794-1185).
  • A feudal warlord threw some of the most lavish parties. Before it became popular with people at all levels of society, cherry blossom viewing in Japan was reserved for the elite. Legendary feudal warlord and samurai Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-98) sponsored some of history’s most lavish cherry blossom-viewing events. His 1594 celebration at Mount Yoshino included a poetry party, a nō play, and a hanami party with 5,000 guests. In 1598, he built hillside teahouses to accommodate guests for his party at Kyoto’s Daigoji temple and transplanted 700 cherry trees to the site.
  • Blossoms Symbolize Fleeting Delights in Life. Cherry blossoms are heralds of spring, but their short blooming period also evokes the ephemeral beauty of life. Edo period (1603-1868) hanami celebrations featured the pleasure of food and drink, poetry and music – tinged with wistful appreciation of the fleeting beauty of both blossoms and earthly delights. This tradition continues. The transitory beauty of life becomes vivid when gusty spring winds end the blooming season with showers of drifting petals, an effect the Japanese call hanafubuki (cherry blossom blizzard).
  • A “Field of Cherries” in Potomac Park? It took the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers three decades to transform the low-lying area known as Potomac Flats into Potomac Park. A 1914 sightseer map of Washington features the new park and labels the road around the west end of the Tidal Basin as the “Speedway.” U.S. Department of Agriculture botanist David Fairchild and cherry tree advocate Eliza Scidmore promoted the site as an ideal place for a “field of cherries.”
  • Not all cherry blossoms are pink. Cherry blossoms varieties include multiple colors: white, pink, yellow – even green. Twelve different varieties of cherry blossom trees were sent from the city of Tokyo to Washington D.C. in 1912. While most were the white-pink Somei Yoshino, there were also 10 different varieties of double-flowered (or manifold) trees, one variety with green blossoms, called Gyoikō, and some varieties with fragrance. The trees around today’s Tidal Basin are limited primarily to Somei Yoshino and Kwan-Zan.

Authors Mari Nakahara and Katherine Blood, both curators in the Library’s Prints and Photographs Division, present a comprehensive view of the history of this annual celebration, illustrated by prints, posters, photographs and artifacts from the Library’s rich collections.

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