For my weekly blog assignment, I wanted to write about art as both a local movement as well as a historical one. I saw an advertisement in a local magazine highlighting a new exhibit at the Aldrich Museum here in Connecticut. I then found an in depth article written by the New York Times on the Aldrich. The exhibition, titled “Something for Everyone” by artist Fritz Haeg, combines several artistic mediums, such as painting, sculpture and graffiti into one cohesive presentation.

While reading the article, I was drawn to the exhibit on photography by John Shearer. He focused on laborers and immigrant workers in the Westchester and Fairfield counties. For me, this shows the power that art has in any medium to not only expose the difficulties of immigrant life but also capture images that would go unseen by the masses. The goal for the overall exhibition was to include work from area artists, and I like the feeling of personalizing art from a more localized perspective.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/nyregion/19artct.html?ref=design

http://www.ctpost.com/entertainment/article/Aldrich-Museum-serves-up-an-arty-party-507843.php

-akadeena mcdaniel

While researching this assignment, I came across two articles that discuss an important visit from Pope Benedict XVI to the country of England. The Vatican is no stranger to controversy, as the current Pope has come under repeated fire for not taking action to address child sexual abuse within the church. Because of this, it is important for the Pope to make a kind gesture while visiting another country. His cultural gesture comes in the form of art, and I find the possibility of art as a tool of diplomacy to be fascinating.

The article discusses a series of famous tapestries that were made from cartoon originals by renowned artist Raphael. The tapestries, prized for their beauty, have hung in Rome’s Sistine Chapel since they were originally woven by skilled artisans. The link between the Vatican and England comes in the form of the cartoons, the detailed artist’s sketch that is what weave smiths use to construct a tapestry. Raphael’s cartoons have been a prized collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for centuries, but never have the cartoon originals and their subsequent tapestries been showcased in the same gallery. During his visit to England, Pope Benedict XVI brought with him the tapestries as an act of cultural generosity to be featured in the V&A Museum.

Yet there is more to the article then simply reuniting Raphael’s blueprints with his tapestries. The author of the article knows that it will take more than a gesture of artistic kindness to solve the Vatican’s current controversies. However, I find that using art as a method of diplomacy has the true potential to mend relationships between countries. Art features countless beautiful works, and its priceless nature gives it a strength unmatched by any other cultural gift. By allowing another country to host your own country’s artistic heritage, it shows a level of respect that could play a pivotal role in diplomatic relations.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/raphael-stitches-in-the-fabric-of-time-2072095.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2010/aug/25/raphael-vatican-catholic-church-tapestry

-akadeena

Blog post submitted by Jessica Mraz

South African artist William Kentridge has won Japan’s 2010 Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy (NY Times). The Kyoto Prize is similar to the Noble Prize in that it recognizes “significant contributions to the betterment of society” (NY Times). Included in the prize is “50 million yen ($550,000), an honorary diploma, and a 20-carat gold medal in a November ceremony in Kyoto” (ArtInfo). Kentrige has won this award because he has created “a new contemporary vehicle of artistic expression within which various media fuse together in multiple ways” and for his “deep insight and profound reflection on the nature of human existence” (ArtInfo). Being awarded the Kyoto prize is an astounding honor only given to creative visionaries of our time. William Kentridge is worthy of this esteemed prize because of his memorable & creative art and animations.

William Kentridge is considered a “rock star” (CNN) in the African art world because of his success and recognition around the world. In fact, “the art market in South Africa has increased by an average of 500 percent in the last ten years” (CNN) due to Kentridge and other African art trailblazers. Kentridge’s art has sparked attention and interest all over the world. His work “tracks a personal route across the fraught legacy of apartheid and colonialism through an innovative use of charcoal drawing, prints, collages, stop-animation, film and theater” (Greg Kucera Gallery). Kentridge has mastered and communicated through many mediums and indeed in brilliant ways.

I was fortunate enough to see some of his animations at the Seattle Art Museum several years ago. I was blown away by the craftsmanship of the hand-drawn animations. They were emotional, sensitive & meaningful animations and imagery. MOMA has also recently acquired some of his art (CNN) for the permanent collection. I’m excited for my next trip to MOMA so I can see more of his revolutionary and brilliant work.

Link to “William Kentridge – Felix in Exile (1994)”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk5tPkqQoL0

References
ArtInfo: http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/34974/william-kentridge-wins-2010-kyoto-prize/
CNN: http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/17/the-rock-star-of-african-art/
Greg Kucera Gallery: http://www.gregkucera.com/kentridge.htm
NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/arts/design/21arts-SOUTHAFRICAN_BRF.html

In May 2010, world-renowned artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois passed away from a heart attack. The artist was 98 years old (The Associated Press). Bourgeois was French born and studied art at the Academie des Beaux-Arts and then moved to New York, where she died 72 years later (The Associated Press). She was a skilled & versatile artist working within many mediums throughout her long lifetime. Her work is radical, sexual, expressive and shocking at times. She gained wide-spread recognition while in her seventies with an exhibit at MOMA (The Associated Press). Her work can be characterized within the surrealist and abstract expressionist movements, although she seems to have an identity or movement all on her own (ArtNet). Bourgeois is also considered an important feminist figure of her time because of the radical, kinky and open exploration she had with her sculptures. Her portrayal of sexuality and her reflection of society’s complexes associated with sexuality is psychoanalytic yet feminist in nature.  This is obvious in the Robert Mapplethorpe 1982 portrait of Louise Bourgeois with her giant penis sculpture (ArtNet). Bourgeois liked to shake things up; she is quoted as stating “I really want to worry people, to bother people,” in 1984 (The Associated Press).

When I lived in Seattle, a public sculpture of hers opened at the Olympic Sculpture Garden. “Father and Son” was a controversial addition to the sculpture park because of its portrayl of a nude man reaching out to a nude boy in a water fountain (Waymarking). The work was seen as questionably pedophilic, and shocking no doubt. Bourgeois was a spectacular and important modern artist. Her contributions to the feminist movement, modern art and our culture are priceless. Her drive to keep producing art throughout her long lifetime is not only inspirational, it is exemplary of a great artist.

The Associate Press: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h5klJLO7a2KsLqtuuW5DdpbXajkgD9G222C00
ArtNet: http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/saltz/the-heroic-louise-bourgeois6-4-10.asp
Waymarking: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1HR0_Father_and_Son_by_Louise_Bourgeois_Seattle_Washington
Photo from ArtNet: http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/saltz/the-heroic-louise-bourgeois6-4-10.asp

~Jessi lee Mraz

Last week I did a post on Frank Lloyd Wright’s legacy. But this week, I’m going to be focusing on a different legend, perhaps even one more influential and more popular: the one and only Andy Warhol.

http://www.poolparty.com/quotes/images/2007/09/24/andy_warhol.jpg

The man is a legend – there’s just no doubt about it. You may love him or hate him, just as you may love or hate his work. Some might think it too simple to be real art, others might enjoy the plain, bright, and colorful array of works he did over the years. But no matter what anyone says, Andy Warhol is a true superstar. He looked up to celebrities all his life, such as Marilyn Monroe, and even today, especially in the art community, he is still a superstar. He was a revolutionary hero, bringing art to the masses. “Warhol,” wrote art history author Marilyn Stokstad, “was among the first to notice that the mass media bring the whole world much closer to us.” (Stokstad, 1153) Warhol changed the style of art for the twentieth century into the twenty-first century.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2Z9Kxv7YNNw/SSMETWhxWeI/AAAAAAAAARw/mf43VxtaMOQ/s400/Andy-Warhol-Mickey-Mouse-8380.jpg

Warhol’s art and influence have had a lasting effect on American culture, and even today, people realize his enormous popularity. According to a New York Times article, written by Celia McGee, “he made news when his silk-screen painting “200 One Dollar Bills” went for $43.7 million at auction.” (NY Times) But that’s not the end of the story. McGee goes on to add: “There are new museum and gallery shows in both London and New York; a new Bond No. 9 perfume named after him; a new book, “Pop: The Genius of Andy Warhol”; a new swimwear collection with his flower prints from his friend Diane von Furstenberg…. His face stares out from this month’s ARTnews magazine with the headline “Warhol Inc.” in hot pink.” (NY Times)

But that’s not even the end of it. “Now,” added McGee, “he is putting in an appearance in a genre not much associated with his work and world: the stage musical.” (NY Times) The Yale Repertory Theatre is putting on a play called “Pop!”, based on when Warhol was shot. “From there “Pop!” takes place inside Warhol’s head, becoming a surreal whodunit centered on the would-be assassin’s identity.” (NY Times)

http://www.art.com/products/p10281508-sa-i853506/andy-warhol-beethoven-pink-book.htm?sorig=cat&sorigid=0&dimvals=5000076&ui=c61c074a8db14dfc8e0ac483e9accb57

His own play. A perfume named after him. Countless books on him. Whether you like him or not, you will have to admit that Warhol has made a significant impact not only on the art community, but also on the modern world. A true American icon, one whose influence will undoubtedly last through the ages, Andy Warhol brought a whole new meaning, purpose, and life to art and American culture.

NY Times Article: http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/theater/29pop.html?scp=2&sq=abstract%20expressionism&st=cse

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: Volume Two. Pearson Education, LTD.

In a 2007 article I recently read, I discovered just how powerful art can really be. It can change lives, reveal secrets and truths, be humorous or show deadly, horrible war scenes. Art can change the world and the way we live in it. One of the examples of this is with premier Harlem Renaissance artist Jacob Lawrence.

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/The-Migration-Series-No-58-1941-Posters_i366335_.htm

At a time when America was slowly changing, moving forward economically, socially, and artistically, African-Americans were making a significant impact with an artistic and cultural revolution called the Harlem Renaissance.

“Between the two world wars, hundreds of thousands of African Americans migrated… to the urban, industrialized North, fleeing racial and economic oppression and seeking great social and economic opportunity. This transition gave rise to the so-called New Negro movement… (which) in turn stimulated a flowering of black art and culture known as the Harlem Renaissance.” (Stokstad, 1114)

One of the leading, and perhaps most famous Harlem Renaissance artists was Jacob Lawrence, a young African-American artist, whose series of paintings helped to bring about a change to America that had needed to come for many, many years – a change that would shape the 20^th century into one of strong, culturally diversity and uniqueness.

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/res_rec/seminars_readinggroups/cultural_history/week_7/21227135.jpg

“Jacob Lawrence painted ‘The Migration of the Negro,’” wrote New York Times author Holland Cotter, “60 small pictures in tempera on hardboard panels, in what seems like a flash. The series was completed in 1941, after about a year of work in a cold-water studio at 33 West 125th Street in Harlem. Lawrence was 24. With its visual tact and deep emotion, it was instantly recognized as a tour de force, a new American epic. It made his career.” (NY Times)

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/L/lawrence/lawrence_34.jpg.html

“The (Migration) series,” Cotter added, “is about the shift of African-American populations from a poor and repressive rural South to a prosperous but unwelcoming urban North between the two world wars. Lawrence’s family participated in that shift. For him it was lived history, an organic phenomenon, and he conceived his depiction of it that way.” (NY Times)

The Harlem Renaissance was more than just an art movement – it was a cultural phenomenon that brought hope and life to millions of people all over the country. With black artists like Lawrence making such an impact, African Americans were finally starting to get the recognition they deserved. Through Lawrence’s strongly culturally based paintings, the powerful Harlem Renaissance took firm hold in America.

Sources:

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: Volume Two. Pearson Education, LTD.

NY Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/arts/design/28lawr.html

“Many,” wrote art history author Marilyn Stokstad, “considered Frank Lloyd Wright… a pioneer of architectural Modernism, the greatest American architect of the twentieth century.” (Stokstad, 1101)

From a very young age, I’ve known about famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He’s probably the first architect I’ve heard about. I’ve seen so many of his designs and structures, but each time I look at one, I’m fascinated by how much he was able to combine nature, art, and living together in perfect harmony.

http://www.howardmodels.com/frank-lloyd-wright/Frank-Lloyd-Wright.jpg

“Though he routinely used modern building materials… he always sought ways to keep his buildings connected to the earth and organic realities.” (Stokstad, 1103) This aspect of his work is what fascinates me the most. To be able to combine a modern house with its natural surroundings so the two blend together is no small feat.

http://unusuallife.com/wp-content/uploads2006/FrankLloydWright.jpg

And even years after his creations, Frank Lloyd Wright is still talked about. “A recent exhibition,” wrote New York Times author Dave Itzkoff, “on Frank Lloyd Wright went very right indeed for the Guggenheim Museum: it was the highest-attended exhibition in the museum’s history since it started keeping track of such figures in 1992, the museum said.” (NY Times)

http://www.joannegardiner.com/images/Img2130.jpg

The idea of combining nature and architecture is widely appealing still today, clearly. People still flock to see his work that brings forth a picture of natural peace, beauty, light, and feeling. Although he may have been dead for over fifty years, his works still make a huge impact on the art and architectural community. And no wonder: I don’t think anyone has brought together nature and architecture in such a modernized, yet stunning way before. Frank Lloyd Wright definitely deserves all of the praise and credit that he still receives.

SOURCES:

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: Volume Two. Pearson Education, LTD.

NY Times article: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/wright-exhibition-sets-guggenheim-attendance-record/?scp=2&sq=frank%20lloyd%20wright&st=cse

It’s a shame that many artists can’t have their cake and eat it, too. But many internationally recognized artists today, whose paintings sell for millions upon millions, were not all that popular in their own time, particularly with the art community.

For example, Matisse, “whose ‘The Woman with the Hat’ sparked controversy at the 1905 Salon d’Automne – not because of its fairly conventional subject, but because of the way its subject was depicted: with crude drawing, sketchy brushwork, and wildly arbitrary colors that create a harsh and dissonant effect.” (Stokstad, 1068)

“Woman with the Hat” – Henri Matisse – http://www.abcgallery.com/M/matisse/matisse80.html

And yet, Matisse’s paintings are easily worth in the millions today. Why? Because of the painting’s rarity? Or because that artist dared to defy the more elegant style in favor of a rougher work, thus breaking free of tradition? Rebels are always seen as heroes by some, but unfortunately, many artists, like Matisse and Picasso, were ostracized by many in the art community, even their own friends. (Stokstad, p 1078)

Yet today, paintings by the revolutionary modern artists such as Picasso and Matisse and Salvador Dali are selling for millions of dollars. For example: “ ‘Girafe en feu’ (Giraffe on Fire), a large gouache on paper signed by Salvador Dalí in 1937 belongs to the early phase of Surrealism, rarely seen at auction these days,” writes New York Times writer Souren Melikian. “Sotheby’s gave the rare work a $150,000 to $200,000 estimate. Obviously too low, it could easily have been doubled. But the best specialists never imagined that it might end up at $1.87 million, and set an auction record for any work on paper by Dalí.” (NY Times)

“Girafe en Feu” – Salvador Dali” – http://img2.allposters.com/images/CFJ/1355.jpg

Melikian’s article, “With Top Quality Offerings, Sotheby’s Nets $181 Million,” tells of how a collection of paintings is selling, sometimes surprisingly high.

“Moments later,” she adds, “a price that was almost as astonishing was paid for a Fauve view of the harbor at Collioure painted around 1905 by André Derain. Unlike Derain’s usual Fauve landscapes which are painted in broad, juxtaposed colored areas, “Barques au port de Collioure” is done in well-spaced short strokes allowing the white ground to appear. This technique could have paved the way to pure abstraction, but Derain did not choose to explore that avenue any further. Fascinated, bidders ran up the rare Derain to $14.08 million, setting a world record for the artist.”

It’s moments like these when I’m sure many artists wish time travel were possible.  When a painting becomes rare after many years, or presents some revolution for that time period, the price goes up and up, until many paintings, like the nearly $30 million “The Apostle James the Major” by Rembrandt (Telegraph.co.uk), are growing close to a hundred million dollars.

“There were a few more extravaganzas,” continues Souren Melikian. “An abstract composition of geometrical figures from Kandinsky’s Bauhaus period done in 1932, “Krass und Mild” (Dramatic and Mild) realized $10.61 million, and one of Picasso’s cartoon-style pictures “Buste d’homme” (Man, Head and Shoulders) dashed off on Oct. 15, 1969, cost its buyer $10.38 million.” (NY Times)

Well, I guess it does pay to be an artist. If the time is right, that is.

Sources:

NY Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/arts/06iht-melik6.html

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: Volume Two. Pearson Education, LTD.

Telegraph.co.uk: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3650925/Art-sales-old-Master-seeks-new-owner.html

Mary Cassatt is undoubtedly one of the most famous female painters in history, and probably the most famous female painter of the nineteenth century. But unlike many painters who portray the glamour and majesty of the earth and her peoples, Mary Cassatt sticks closer to home, one of the reasons she is my favorite female artist.

Mary Cassatt, although born in a well-off family in Pittsburgh, later moved to France. Like the old saying goes: “Stick with what you know”, Cassatt did just that. She “focused her work on the world to which she had access: the domestic and social life of well-off women.” (Stokstad, pp. 1034-1035)

Several of Cassatt’s works are showing at the Met in the exhibition “American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765-1915.” (NY Times) Roberta Smith reports on the subject, saying:

“Mary Cassatt is one of several artists who regularly steals the show. The four Cassatts on hand, which dominate the show’s sixth gallery, upended my appreciation of her achievement…” (NY Times)

Something about Cassatt’s style, in the way she paints her characters, most of which are women and children, bring a warmth to the painting and touch people’s hearts in a way many painters cannot. In painting people just going about their lives without pretense or superficiality, Cassatt captures the true essence of the person she paints and brings it to life. Not only in the lifelike expressions and movements of her characters, but also of the warm, vibrant colors and composition of her work.

– “Baby Smiling at her Mother” — http://s3.artknowledgenews.com/files/MaryCassattBabySmilingAtHer.jpg

“In “Young Mother Sewing” (1900),” adds Roberta Smith, “the little girl leans into her mother’s lap while fixing us with a directly slightly suspicious stare. In “A Woman and a Girl Driving” (1881), a young adult is intently driving an open carriage through a park, perhaps the Bois de Boulogne. The little girl at her side steadies herself on the wheel guard, but her unfocused stare suggests that her mind is intently elsewhere.” (NY Times)

– “Breakfast In Bed” — http://www.marycassatt.org/Breakfast-in-Bed.html

Although her paintings are simple, quiet, and pictures of ordinary life, it is for those very reasons that make her one of the greatest painters of the nineteenth century. Her peaceful works of mothers, children, and young women have brought forth a new era of simplicity and gentle warmth into the art world.

Philadelphia Museum of Art “A Woman and a Girl Driving, 1881,” Mary Cassatt (NY Times)

Sources:

New York Times article: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/closeup-mary-cassatts-young-girls-in-american-stories-at-the-met/?scp=3&sq=renoir&st=cse

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: Volume Two. Pearson Education, LTD. Upper Saddle River, NJ  07458.

The paintings from the Hudson River Valley School are some of the most incredibly detailed paintings of earth in the nineteenth century; maybe even in the history of art thus far.

But these paintings are more than just detailed: they portray the magnificent beauty of America in her wild prime. The views they capture, along with the composition itself, portrays such an awe-inspiring picture that it makes your breath catch, and you wonder if someone even painted such a masterpiece. They look almost too incredible to have been painted by a human hand.

I’ve been fortunate enough to see the majority of the paintings up close and in person, and they are definitely more incredible in real life. But one thing that I always wanted to see was the spot that the artists used as reference.

In Benjamin Genocchio’s New York Times art review: “Taking in the Views that Led to Great Art”, he outlines a trail in the Catskill Mountains that Hudson River Valley artists such as founder Thomas Cole used in their art. Cole “believed that a too-close focus on factual accuracy was murderous to art, so he made paintings months after his sketches were complete, the better, he said, for memory to “draw a veil” over the scene.” (Stokstad, 1005)

Thomas Cole: “The Oxbow” — http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Cole_Thomas_The_Oxbow_%28

The_Connecticut_River_near_Northampton_1836.jpg/800px-Cole_Thomas_The_Oxbow_%28The_Connecticut_River_near_Northampton_1836.jpg

Considered the founder of the Hudson River Valley School, Thomas Cole, “the English-born founder of the Hudson River School, made his first sketching trip in the Catskills in the 1820s. The paintings that followed created a sensation in the New York art world, and a host of other talented young American painters soon joined Cole in the Catskills. Their influential paintings include scenic views of the natural wilderness from Sunset Rock, one of the sites on the Hudson River School Art Trail a route that can be followed, with the help of a brochure, to sites that inspired some of America’s first great art.” (NY Times)

“From the North Lake Beach parking area in the Catskill Forest Preserve,” Genocchio writes, “a narrow foot trail climbs a rocky incline. After following the trail for about 20 minutes, hikers reach Artists Rock, which gives a sweeping view of the Hudson Valley, the river a sliver of silver in the distance. The trail then leaves the ledge and in less than a half mile it meets a junction with a side trail toward Sunset Rock, the prized view from atop North Mountain that by the late 19th century had become an iconic view of the northern Catskills, celebrated in the work of the Hudson River School painters.” (NY Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/nyregion/11artwe.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=hudson%20river%20valley&st=cse — Hardie Truesdale

Brooklyn Museum  — “A View of Two Lakes and Mountain House,” a painting by Thomas Cole that was inspired by the river valley. (NY Times)

“North-South Lake in the Catskill Forest Preserve is a starting point for a tour of the landscapes painted by members of the Hudson River School, including Sunset Rock,” adds Genocchio. “…It takes about two hours, round trip, to visit the rock and back, or considerably more if, like me, you get lost, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Walking the Hudson River School Art Trail is as much about the journey as the destination. Take your time, wander from the path, and discover why a whole generation of American artists fell in love with this beautiful part of the country.” (Genocchio, NY Times)

Although I’ve only seen the paintings, this New York Times art review has made me want to trace the steps of the Hudson River Valley School to see what they saw, envision what they envisioned, and discover their influence taken from the beauty of the American landscape.

Sources:

NY Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/nyregion/11artwe.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=hudson%20river%20valley&st=cse

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: Volume Two. Pearson Education, LTD.