by Sandy | Jun 28, 2012 | Art, Blogroll, Exhibits, Museums
The Newark Museum celebrates Bearden’s 100th birthday with an exhibit of his collages and paintings. Featured are “approximately 80 works of art that span the career of this internationally renowned artist. The exhibition underscores not only Bearden’s artistic mastery, particularly in the technique of collage, but also his development of narrative and thematic explorations of his native South. “
Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections
The Newark Museum, until August 10, 2012
49 Washington Street, Newark,NJ
(Image: “Sunset Limited”, 1978, Collage on board)
by Bob Martin | Jun 21, 2012 | Art, Exhibits, Museums
Just about every 15 years, old questions about a legendary artist and his or her work are regurgitated in an effort to surface new answers, with the expectation of affirming our initial thoughts or disavowing them completely. Paintings and music in particular are trapped in the time of their creation and reflection of a life and time that is impossible to replicate. You only go around once! The work is a representation of what is
known at the time and needs to be viewed (my opinion for certain) in this way. A perfect example is that the Modern Jazz of the 1940s and 50s does not sound modern or radical in 2012.
The label gets in the way of our appreciating artist like Roy Lichtenstein (Pop Art), Horace Silver (Modern Jazz) and even Bach (Classical Music) because we are asked to consider the label first and then the art outside of context in which it was created.
Roy Lichtenstein like Miles Davis and many others had a diverse contribution to the arts that far exceeded the label associated with them. Really, what is cool jazz?
The Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective at The Art Institute of Chicago (May 16–September 3, 2012) “Presenting over 130 paintings and sculptures, as well as over 30 little- or never-before-seen drawings and collages, this exhibition gives full consideration to all periods of Lichtenstein’s career, including but not limited to, pre-Pop expressionist work, classic Pop Romance and War cartoon paintings…” includes what we are familiar with and much more. I just wished that the curators would allow us make up our own personal, current day, interpretation of what we are about to see or hear. That’s where the magic is.
by Sandy | Jun 5, 2012 | Art, Blogroll, Exhibits, Galleries
91 year old American artist Wayne Thiebaud has really glorified / delectafied sugary delights on both canvas and paper over his 7 decade plus career. Many of those sweet images are included in the retrospective at the John Berggruen Gallery in San Francisco, CA.
“Wayne Thiebaud: Paintings and Pastels” Until July 7, 2012
Berggruen Gallery, 228 Grant Ave., San Francisco, CA
(“delectafied” – as in delectable – yes, I made it up)
by Sandy | May 24, 2012 | Artist, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Exhibits, Museums
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston celebrates a 17th century artist in the exhibit, Elegance and Refinement: The Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aelst .
Van Aelst (1627–1683) “painted still lifes that are remarkable for their fine finish, carefully balanced composition, elegant subject matter, and rich, jewel-toned palette. Elegance and Refinement is an unprecedented exhibition of more than 25 paintings that celebrate the exquisite work of a neglected master who had a significant impact on late-17th-century still-life painting.”
Elegance and Refinement: The Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aelst
Until May 28, 2012
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston / MFAH
by Sandy | May 13, 2012 | Art, Blogroll, Exhibits, Museums
A popular traveling exhibit showcasing American art from an exciting period of the last Century can now be seen at the Dallas Museum of Art/ DMA. “The 1920s—“The Jazz Age,” “The Roaring Twenties”—was a decade marked by widespread urbanization, industrialization and mechanization, and social phenomena… American artists responded to this dizzying modern world with works that emphatically demonstrate a desire for clarity and wholeness and for the expression of stillness and order… Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties is the first wide-ranging examination of American fine art from the end of World War I through the start of the Great Depression.”
Some of the artists represented are, Thomas Hart Benton, Imogen Cunningham, Charles Demuth, Aaron Douglas, Edward Hopper, Gaston Lachaise, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Luigi Lucioni, Gerald Murphy, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston.
Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties – Until May 27, 2012
Dallas Museum of Art
1717 North Harwood
Dallas, Texas
(Images: Joseph Stella, “The Amazon”, 1925–1926 and Gerald Murphy, “Razor”, 1924)
by Sandy | Apr 25, 2012 | Art, Blogroll, Exhibits, Museums
The Los Angeles Museum of Art showcases work from 1931-1968 in their exhibit: “In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States“
“North America represented a place free from European traditions for women Surrealists from the United States and Mexico, and European émigrés. While their male counterparts usually cast women as objects for their delectation, female Surrealists delved into their own subconscious and dreams, creating extraordinary visual images. Their art was primarily about identity: portraits, double portraits, self-referential images, and masquerades that demonstrate their trials and pleasures.”
Some of the artists included are Louise Bourgeois, Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo, Lee Miller, Kay Sage, Dorothea Tanning, and Remedios Varo.
In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States * Until 5/6/12
LACMA/ Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
