Georgina Kelman :: Works on Paper

A Quick Trip to London

2012-02-10T17:14:00.002-05:00

Sometimes quick trips that come up without much warning are much more fun than ones that have long been planned for. So when the opportunity to go to London for a long weekend presented itself I didn't have to be persuaded that it would be a good idea.

Of course, I hadn't anticipated that I would be there for the snow event of the season - a whopping two inches of the white stuff that managed to curtail half of the flight activity at Heathrow Airport and was the talk of the town! The reality is that no one seems to have salt or a snow shovel so the sidewalks and streets quickly became a slushy, slippery mess, but the sight of Green Park covered in a blanket of snow on a Sunday morning was magical indeed.

Even though I missed the Super Bowl the year the New York Giants were playing, I felt fortunate to be in England on the actual day of Queen Elizabeth II's sixty year anniversary as monarch. Born and raised in Canada, I grew up singing "God Save the Queen" every morning in school and am an unapologetic fan of the monarchy. Of course, my example has always been this Queen who continues to serve her country and subjects indefatigably with as much devotion in her Diamond Jubilee year as when she assumed the throne in 1952. Accession Day 2012 was an appropriately sober preamble to the festivities scheduled throughout the Commonwealth culminating with The Central Weekend, June 2-5, in London.

Unfortunately it was an odd between-exhibitions season for the London museums. I just missed the blockbuster "Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan" at the National Gallery and was not quite in time for "Abstract Masterpieces in Parallel" at The Courtauld Institute of Art. I was able to see the re-creation of the Russian avant-garde monument "Tatlin's Tower" still standing in the courtyard of the Royal Academy (see above) although the installation was supposed to have been dismantled at the end of January. And I was also able to visit the hugely popular exhibition celebrating England's most beloved living artist, David Hockney, also at the Royal Academy.

"David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture" focus' on the artist's depiction of landscapes with an emphasis on very recent works. Although born in West Yorkshire and very much a British artist, Hockney is also adored by Americans for the years spent in California and New York. The time spent in the United States inspired both early and later landscapes, the Grand Canyon (see above) and Yosemite respectively, both painted in a massive scale appropriate to the vistas.

Now in his mid seventies, Hockney has returned to his roots but with a decidedly 21st Century slant. His most recent works are studies of his local surroundings - the trees and forests of Woldgate, East Yorkshire - drawn by the artist on his iPad then printed and mounted on stretchers like paintings (see above). The repeating images are fascinating and allow a complete study of the subject with an immediacy that painstaking drawing and painting cannot. A massive 32 canvas oil created especially for this exhibition anchors the gallery and provides a deeply personal view of Hockney's private landscape.

Other highlights of this whirlwind visit would have to include a fabulous couple of hours at the National Gallery viewing masterpieces from the 13th to the early 20th Centuries, the solemn high mass in the beautiful Victorian space of St. Paul's Knightsbridge, a small but excellent exhibition entitled "Arp is Art" at the Luxembourg Dayan Gallery on Savile Row, attending the evening Impressionist and Modern Art Auction featuring paintings from Elizabeth Taylor's collection at Christies, St. James's, and shopping the after Christmas sales in Mayfair! It has been a fun few days here in London and a nice break from the February doldrums. Cheerio!

And now for something completely different...

2012-01-31T17:59:00.001-05:00

I know I sometimes overload my readers with posts about art and exhibitions in museums and galleries. But today I have a totally different kind of show to tell you about! Intrigued by a recent review in The Wall Street Journal I headed down to Chelsea to see what, exactly, was going on at the Dillon Gallery on West 25th Street and their current exhibition "Phantosmia --All But the Smell"!

In an unusual, to say the least, take on the typical gallery show, the artist, Christophe Laudamiel, is actually a perfumer and the exhibit consists of seven "scent sculptures", each enclosed in a little tent, and meant to evoke different feelings or emotions. Visitors are instructed to breath normally, not sniff or inhale too deeply, and to cleanse each scent from the nose by smelling one's skin before proceeding to the next tent.

With museum style labels at the entrance to each "scent sculpture" we were advised of the title of the fragrance “At Your Own Risk,” “Fear,” “Fragile,” “The Last Virgin,” The Monkey and the Banana” and “The Whip and the Orchid”, what it comprised and how it might make us feel. An overall scent, "Remembrance of Things Lost", inspired by the life Marlene Dietrich no less, covers the open space.

As far as I could tell, the "point" of the show was purely an olfactory experience and an effort to raise the science of scent to an art form. Mr. Laudamiel does make the point that present day perfumers are much more restricted with the ingredients they can use compared to the industry of several years ago. With global regulations and a new awareness of allergic reactions, modern day fragrances are composed of more synthetic and fewer true exotic oils as esters. The result, according to the artist, is a less pure product and a change in the essence of the trade from art to business. With this show Mr Laudamiel aims to raise our awareness of the fragrance industry and indeed the role of scent in our lives. "Phantosmia - All But the Smell" is a fleeting exhibition, much like the aromas that surround us, but certainly worth poking one's nose into!

The 58th Annual Winter Antiques Show

2012-01-22T16:00:00.001-05:00

We have not had a very severe winter here in New York City. In fact, compared to last year this winter has been practically balmy. But finally Mother Nature sat up, realized it was the middle of January, time for the Winter Antiques Show and certainly time for some snow! So with a suitable flourish for this most prestigious event, the temperatures fell, the winds picked up and suddenly we were enveloped in a proper winter storm! Perfect timing, I thought, as I put on my brand new and as yet untested snow boots, and headed off to to enjoy the warm and elegant cocoon of the rare and wonderful art, furniture and objects filling the booths of the 73 dealers from the U.S. and Europe exhibiting at this, the 58th Annual Edition of the Winter Antiques Show.

As usual the wares presented ranged from the sublime to the bizarre, the practical to the extravagant, and everything in between. From rare books to Oriental rugs, Fabergé enamel frames to North West Coast carved masks, from Delft porcelain to Shaker boxes there was something for everyone.

This show has always had an emphasis on Americana, but this year there seemed to be more diversification in both nationality and era. While the term "antique" always implied "over 100 years old", that definition has been stretched to include photography and furniture and design up to the 1950s. While this may irk the purists among us, it does make for an interesting variety of material for the visitor to enjoy.

And enjoy I did! Almost without exception, every booth offered something marvelous to behold. Like the Thomas Jefferson Autograph Letter Signed dated 1809 and discussing religious freedom in the new United States of America, on the stand of Kenneth W. Rendell, New York. Or the fantastic turn of the century Japanese silk scroll by Ogata Gekkô, depicting "The Hell Courtesan with her retinue as skeletons in autumn" hanging at Joan B. Mirviss, New York. Or a beautiful 17th Century English beadwork dressing box with three dimensional figures of Charles II and Catherine of Braganza embroidered in colorful glass beads on display at Elliott & Grace Snyder, Massachusetts.

If I had to pick a favorite piece I would have a tough time deciding between three very different items. I loved the diamond and enamel "eye" brooch designed by Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí - a surprising find at A la Vieille Russie, New York. I was fascinated by the 1870 Mississippi African American Pictographic Plantation desk/secretary with its wonderfully carved relief of tools and instruments covering every plane featured on the stand of Tillou Gallery, Connecticut.

Maybe it's a result of my heritage, but I think my favorite object at this year's show would have to be the wood block wallpaper panel entitled "Canada" printed in 1855 by Zuber Manufacture, France, as part of the series "Zones Terrestres". This panoramic mural of a ship navigating the treacherous icebergs of the Great North is one of only two known examples and can be found with antique wallpaper specialist Carolle Thibaut-Pomerantz, Paris.

Before I knew it several hours had passed. I had been so absorbed in the worlds of portrait miniatures, grandfather clocks, stained glass lamps, suits of armor, sailors' valentines and myriad other collectibles that I totally lost track of time! It was another magical visit to the Winter Antiques Show - an annual delight of treasures and wonders and the perfect way to spend a January afternoon!

Maurizio Cattelan "All" at the Guggenheim

2012-01-15T16:49:00.003-05:00

When a good friend suggested, or rather insisted, that I go to see the Cattelan exhibition at The Guggenheim I must confess that at first I thought he meant a show of Catalan artists namely Dalí, Miró, Tàpies and maybe some Gaudi pieces as well. So on this very brisk Saturday afternoon I walked over to Fifth Avenue and 89th Street and was met with a line of people waiting outside the museum to buy tickets. Unfortunately I had procrastinated too long - I was having dinner with this friend on Wednesday and besides, the show was closing next weekend so I joined the queue and endured a rather awful street performer "entertaining" his captive audience while we waited. But when I finally entered the rotunda all was forgiven - this was something worth standing in line for - a fabulously original installation in this singular space and it looked like a lot of fun too!

I'm going to keep you in suspense a little longer and give you some background on the artist. Maurizio Cattelan (b. 1960) is an Italian contemporary artist with a well deserved reputation as a joker if not a "bad boy". Plagued with insecurities, phobias and foibles, Mr. Cattelan has alternately mocked the art world and conventional society with his sometimes morbid, often shocking and always unorthodox iconography. Mr. Cattelan, an artist notorious for thwarting exhibitions to the point of bricking up the entrance to a gallery so the visitors could only glimpse the contents through a window, has declared this retrospective his swan song. He will no longer torture himself with the burden of producing art and the possibility of failure, but wow, is he going out on a high note!

In effect "All" is a title to be taken quite literally. Mr. Cattelan has assembled almost his entire output since 1989 comprising sculpture, paintings, photographs and drawings, and suspended it from a grid that covers the glass ceiling of Frank Lloyd Wright's magnificent "nautilus" interior. This site-specific installation features 128 works of art that hang from cords at different heights so the visitor can see different works at each point in his progression up or down the spiral walkway.

I opted to start at the top and took the elevator up to the sixth floor. There I was at eye level with the steel beam structure from which the various pieces were hanging. Despite the maze of ropes and slings visitors could clearly view the individual works but in an entirely different context from a traditional piece-by-piece museum presentation. The installation became an artwork in itself, profiting from this unique space and never to be repeated.

When you look at the photos you may think your eyes are playing tricks on you, but they aren't! Yes, those are two policemen hanging upside down in "Frank and Jamie", 2002, and a lady in a refrigerator in "Betsy", 2002. Yes, it is a real, stuffed donkey sitting on a platform "Untitled", 2004, and you guessed it, there really is a faux dinosaur skeleton suspended in "Felix", 2001.

The grey granite tombstone with the World Cup scores engraved "Untitled", 1999, is indeed hanging at the same height as Adolf Hitler kneeling "Him", 2001, and slightly higher than the super-sized foosball table "Stadium"1991.

Works range from the slightly macabre, to the anarchistic to the simply amusing like the taxidermied pigeons "Tourists", 1997, perched on beams and artworks throughout the installation.

Not a show for an animal rights activist for sure, "Love Saves Life", 1995, really is a stuffed rooster on top of a cat on top of a dog on top of a donkey, and the cow below "Untitled", 1997, has scooter handles implanted over its ears.

I wonder what Pablo Picasso suspended above like Superman "Untitled" 1997, is thinking but he certainly isn't bored!

I was almost sorry when I reached the bottom of the ramp and the end of the show. I leave you with this photo taken from the foyer floor directly below the piece. It was like the end of a really great carnival ride - exhilarating, breathtaking, thrilling, dizzying but you can't get that grin off your face!

P.S. Check out the short video on the museum's website for a time-delayed recording of the installation of "All"!

"The Renaissance Portrait" at the Met

2012-01-07T16:59:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year greetings to my wonderful readers! To start the year off on a very bright note, I'd like to tell you about a marvelous exhibition that just opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York. I've been longing to see this show but thought I'd wait until the out-of-town crowds thinned a little and today, with a spring-like temperature of 60 degrees, was the day to walk across Central Park and go.

I love Renaissance portraits having discovered their beauty quite by accident on a short visit to Bruges, Belgium, in November 1999. It was unseasonably cold and my friends' recommendation to take a boat ride on the city's canals was entirely out of the question as they were completely frozen over. In a desperate attempt to find something to do in a warm environment I persuaded my Dada-devotee husband to check out a special exhibition that had been advertised on banners all over town - "From Memling to Pourbus". Not knowing anything about the Netherlandish Renaissance I rented an audio guide and started the tour. After about 30 seconds my husband tapped me on the shoulder and wanted to share the headset. Between the magical atmosphere inside a Gothic cathedral and the gentle but compelling beauty of the portraits, we were entranced and never since have missed an opportunity to see more of these painted "snapshots" of the Middle Ages.

What I discovered at this latest show at the Met, is that there is a distinct difference between the Northern and Southern European styles of portraiture at that time. Both the Flemish and the Italian Renaissance masters sought the same objective of commemorating and/or glorifying the image of family members, heads of state and of the church but each achieved it in a slightly different way. For example, the Italians preferred the profile as opposed to a three quarter or full face view of the sitter favored by the Belgians. The Italians also adopted a sparer, more direct, view of the subject while in the North portraits were often enhanced with background scenery or objects that pertained to the situation of the sitter. Both schools are magnificent in their attention to detail and ability to capture psychological traits with a few brushstrokes.

What I also learned is that the Italian Renaissance portrait artists, namely Veneziano, Donatello, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Pisanello, Mantegna, Bellini and the master of all, Leonardo da Vinci, used many different media to capture their sitters' likeness'. Beside the traditional oil painting, portraits were often executed as marble busts or relief sculptures, chalk drawings on paper, cameo pendants, illuminated manuscript paintings on parchment or quite frequently as bronze medallions.

The exhibition spans the period from approximately 1450-1530, the heyday of Renaissance portraiture and focus' on the major center of Florence under the influence of the mighty Medicis, the courts of Ferrara, Mantua, Bologna, Milan, Urbino, Napoli and Papal Rome, and finally Venice where the concept was late to take hold. 160 works, including some fabulous loans (two from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II), present a comprehensive and cohesive survey of why and how this genre developed and its considerable influence on contemporary culture and society.

A quote from Leonardo da Vinci graces the wall at the entry to the exhibition. He explains "How to make a portrait in profile after seeing the subject only once: You must commit to memory the variations of the four different features in profile, which would be the nose, the mouth, the chin, and the forehead. Let us speak first of noses, of which there are three kinds..." He makes it sound so simple! "The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini" is on view until March 18, 2012.

"Youth and Beauty" at The Brooklyn Museum

2011-12-28T16:40:00.001-05:00

As I was looking for a suitable topic for the last blog of the year, the exhibition "Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties" now on view at The Brooklyn Museum caught my eye. The 1920s holds a certain romance for me - the era of flappers and bathtub gin, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway, Art Deco and Modernism - and the lure of "Youth and Beauty" on top was irresistible. It seemed like a perfect choice.

The exhibition started off well. It promised 140 works done between 1920-1929 by 67 different painters, sculptors and photographers, all American, and all exploring the "new realism" of the Post World War I age. Some of the names were very familiar to me - Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Weston, Thomas Hart Benton, Joseph Stella - but there were many artists I did not recognize and was keen to see more. The first galleries explored the new sexual freedom and body culture of the decade and presented several marvelous nudes done in a cutting edge style for the time. The influences of Sigmund Freud, "Naturalism" and the idea of personal liberty could clearly be seen although classical ideas and formalism were not far behind.

The exhibition continued with a look at the Harlem Renaissance and "The New Negro", then "Silent Pictures" and how the movies re-interpreted our world. So far so good. Then things started to get sticky. In what I can only assume was an effort to affix her own personal stamp to the decade, the curator, Teresa A. Carbone, began a dialogue on the angst of urbanized America and how such developments as mechanization, bureaucratization and a new consumer culture caused a reflex reaction in American art. Now, I'm not an expert, but it has always been my understanding that the era was called the "Roaring Twenties" for a positive reason. The Great War was over. People had work and money to spend on enjoyable activities. Technology was responsible for marvelous things like automobiles and skyscrapers and the cities were the centers of life. It was a time of celebration, the last great age before the crash of 1929 and the beginning of the Depression, life was good.

I am not a fan of the current trend of revisionist art history and the application of 21st Century mores to past events and cultures. I have had several recent encounters with professors and young art historians re-attributing works done by artist couples from the husband to the wife in an effort to counteract "gender-bias". Most of these re-attributions are done without much in the way of facts or scholarship, rather an "idea of the moment" and an effort to stand out in the competitive world of academia. It is a fashion that I would love to see go out of style.

To be fair, Ms. Carbone did include some iconic paintings of the period including Georgia O'Keeffe's "The Shelton [Hotel] With Sunspots, N.Y.", 1926, Edward Hopper's "Night Windows", 1926, and Charles Demuth's "My Egypt", 1927 to name a few. There were also some marvelous photographs by Stieglitz, Cunningham, Man Ray and Weston. And in one of the last galleries dedicated to still life pictures in the kitchen and bath, were not just one but two wonderful Precisionist works by Gerald Murphy "Razor", 1924 (see right) and "Cocktail", 1927, both great examples of their genre. These paintings alone were worth the trip!

As 2011 draws to a close, and I mark six years and 300 blog posts, I'd like to thank all my loyal readers for their wonderful support and wish all of you a fabulous New Year!

"The Game of Kings" at The Cloisters

2011-12-26T17:27:00.001-05:00

At the northern tip of Manhattan Island, in Fort Tryon Park, is The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that houses their substantial collection of medieval art. The building is comprised of elements from actual European cloisters, acquired in the early 20th Century, transported across the ocean and re-assembled as a museum that opened to the public in 1938. The Cloisters as we know it today is thanks in large part to the generosity and foresight of John D. Rockefeller Jr. who provided not only for the building and the site on which it sits but also purchased several hundred acres of land across the Hudson River in New Jersey so that the view would never be marred by unsightly development.

It had been quite a while since I'd visited The Cloisters. Although it was one of my first museum stops when I moved to New York in 1983 and I retained very fond memories of more recent visits, I had not ventured to the Inwood section of town in a long time. But while contemplating how to enjoy a few days off over the Christmas break I heard an ad on the radio promoting a special exhibition and the fact that the museum would be open for Holiday Mondays. That was it - I couldn't wait to go!

A trip to The Cloisters is like stepping back in time. I emerged from the elevator that brings "A" train passengers to street level and started walking along a path past historically themed gardens and very soon the tower of The Cloisters came into view. As I entered the Main Hall through the Froville Arcade I was impressed by the beautiful decorations befitting a church in the Middle Ages. Holiday garlands of holly, ivy and bay laurel accented with apples, hazelnuts, pine cones and rosehips graced the arches as agents of blessing and protection as well as celebration. It was magical.

The Romanesque Hall stands immediately off the Main Hall and it was here that the special exhibition "The Game of Kings: Medieval Ivory Chessmen from the Isle of Lewis" is being presented. What could be so special about a few game pieces you may wonder? One look at the first vitrine and you will know - they are exquisite. Created circa 1150 AD, probably in the region of Trondheim, Norway and likely for a Medieval Norwegian king, the chess pieces were discovered in 1831 by a peasant digging in a sandbank on the Isle of Lewis, in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. Because the chess figures were part of a larger group of walrus ivory artifacts, researchers believe that the treasure trove probably belonged to a merchant who traded in these goods. The crofter who found the hoard was terrified, fearing the little figures were elves or evil spirits, and eventually the British Museum acquired the bulk of the chess pieces with the National Gallery of Scotland taking a few. For the first time ever, the British Museum has very kindly lent 34 of its 67 chessmen to the The Cloisters so museum-goers on this side of the Atlantic can marvel at these little gems.

Take, for example the four Knights presented as a group. Each is armed with a spear, a sword, a helmet and a shield with individual decoration and each is mounted on a sturdy little pony with a shaggy mane. Or the majestic Kings seated with swords across their knees on elaborately carved thrones and featuring long wavy hair. Their counterparts, the Queens, are also seated on thrones but their hair is covered with crowns and veils and each has her right hand pressed to her face as if in deep contemplation. Three Bishops wear miters and carry tiny croziers while one raises his hand in a blessing. The lowly Pawns, the most abstract of the set, are the only pieces without human form bearing a greater resemblance to decorated bullets than a people. The most amusing are certainly the four Rooks portrayed as foot soldiers protected by helmets, shields and swords with distinctive decoration making each unique. But one in particular stands out - the "Berserker" the warden so eager for battle that he contains himself only by biting on the top of his shield! None is larger than four inches in height and each has a distinctive facial expression and pose that distinguishes it from the others. More importantly, each is an example of superb craftsmanship on the part of the carver who imbues the piece of walrus tusk with a unique personality and charm.

But The Cloisters has a lot more to offer! Its fantastic collection, assembled for the most part by Mr. Rockefeller and a Mr. George Barnard, an American sculptor whose passion for Medieval art led him to found a museum of his own, numbers over 5,000 objects ranging from polychromed Madonnas to illuminated manuscripts, all presented in this marvelous, authentic setting. Visitors tour the Gothic Chapel with marble tombs of Knights and colorful stained glass windows, into the now covered Cuxa Cloister garden with its fountain and potted citrus trees, passing the chamber with the renowned 16th Century Belgian Unicorn Tapestries to the Merode Room with its Netherlandish masterpiece, the Merode Altarpiece depicting The Annunciation to the Virgin Mary. Downstairs one can visit the manicured herb garden, the Glass Gallery and the impressive Treasury featuring even more exquisite ivory objects such as plaques, caskets, devotional diptychs, croziers and crosses.

My readers know that I am a devotee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and never miss an opportunity to visit. But during this special season, the season of miracles, a trip to The Cloisters with its intimate, almost reverend setting seemed more appropriate and a perfect Christmas pilgrimage. An ideal ambiance from which to wish you and yours a blessed holiday!

A Visit to the Merchant's House Museum

2011-12-19T16:02:00.004-05:00

One of the joys of a big city like New York is the profusion of museums. From the vast and varied collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the smaller more specialized institutions there is something for everyone. One of the more obscure offerings on the museum front, and one that I had never visited, is the Merchant's House Museum located on East Fourth Street in lower Manhattan.

I was inspired to visit the Merchant's House Museum by a very small blurb on the front page of the Greater New York Section of the Wall Street Journal that said "Catch This". Okay, I thought, why not? So I hopped on the "B" train and headed downtown to East Fourth Street in the area known as "NoHo" or "North of Houston" for those of us not used to the lingo.

The Merchant's House is a private townhouse built in 1832 and lived in for nearly a century by the Tredwell family. Seabury Tredwell was a wealthy hardware merchant with a warehouse near the seaport. In the 1830s the area above Bleeker Street was an exclusive residential neighborhood and this was where Mr Tredwell chose to purchase the newly constructed townhouse (for the sum of $18,000) as the family home for himself, his wife Eliza and their eight children. Fashions changed and the more desirable areas moved farther uptown but the Tredwells continued to live on East Fourth Street until the last family member died there in 1933 and the mansion became a museum three years later.

Now, I probably should have realized when the street was closed to traffic due to major construction that this was not an opportune time to visit the historic home, but I was on a mission and not to be deterred! I climbed the stoop and rang for entry and was admitted by an elderly docent who informed me that the fourth floor servants quarters were closed to the public, the guided tours were suspended for the time being, but I could do the self-guided tour that included three floors but not the garden. Okay, I thought, I'm here now so let's do it!

The Tredwell's red brick and white marble row house at 29 East Fourth Street is the only family home to have survived virtually intact, both inside and out, from the 19th Century. Remarkably very few major renovations or modernizations have altered the structure and much of the original furnishings remain in situ. Today's visitors are, in effect, stepping back in time and can experience how a well-to-do merchant class family lived in New York in the 1800s.

Well, nearly experience anyway. As well as the aforementioned construction that involved scaffolding in front of the windows and protective plywood covering a good portion of the walls, there is also a special seasonal exhibition entitled "From Candlelight to Bubble Light: A 1950s Christmas in an 1850s House" that can be a little disconcerting to the purists among us. Imagine a perfect Greek Revival parlor with a superb square rosewood pianoforte and a Duncan Phyfe dining set "enhanced" with an enormous collection of Christmas kitsch ranging from silver flocked trees to plastic snowmen and everything in between. It did bring back some fond memories of my childhood but I am not sure this embellishment was a positive addition to the décor.

I did do the prescribed tour including the ground floor with its comfortable family room and large kitchen (featuring a water pump and a cast iron coal stove), the main parlor floor with its impressive architectural details and 13 1/2' ceilings and the upper bedroom floor with Mr. Tredwell and Mrs. Tredwell's separate chambers, a small study and a primitive w.c. As I mentioned, the fourth floor servants quarters where the four Irish girls, as the housemaids were commonly referred to, lived in rather less luxurious circumstances, were off-limits to the public.

Although my visit to the Merchant's House Museum was diminished by the intrusion of the renovations and the resulting inaccessibility to the displays, I am still glad I went and found it an enlightening look at New York and New Yorkers of long ago.

All Aboard for the "Holiday Train Show"

2011-12-16T19:37:00.012-05:00

I'm ashamed to admit that despite living in New York for 28 years I've never visited The New York Botanical Gardens. Founded in 1891 and a National Historic Landmark since 1967, the NYBG is a spectacular 250 acre oasis of green in the middle of the Bronx. The gardens include a herbarium, a conifer arboretum, an azalea garden, rose gardens, lilac and magnolia groves, a rock garden, wetlands and 50 acres of old-growth forest all dominated by a magnificent 1890s vintage "crystal palace style" greenhouse now dubbed the Enid Haupt Conservatory. It is to this Conservatory that visitors flock during the Christmas season to see the annual Holiday Train Show - the impetus for my long-overdue visit!

Friends have been telling me for ages that I ought to go and see the train show at the Gardens, but for various reasons I never got there. This year I made it a priority and ordered the tickets over Thanksgiving weekend for the Friday afternoon before Christmas week. I was committed! After an easy ride up on the "D" train and a short walk through the neighborhood I reached the entrance where I was guided to the path that would take me to the Conservatory.

It was very peaceful to walk through the Gardens in the quiet of a December afternoon. I passed a few wild turkeys strutting through the grounds and then I came to the welcome tent where overall-clad "engineers" took my ticket and directed me into the Conservatory and the beginning of the tour. The magic was about to begin!

I entered the rotunda of the Conservatory - a lush, palm-filled tropical environment with a reflecting pool in the center. Here in the pool were several models of New York institutions like the Statue of Liberty, the old TWA terminal at JFK Airport and the Great Hall at Ellis Island...

So far, so good, but I still hadn't seen any trains! Wait a minute, is that a whistle up ahead? Sure enough, just past the reflecting pool the entire north wing of the Conservatory had been transformed into a model train mecca!

Look up! There goes a tram over the Brooklyn Bridge...

Look down, a freight train is passing the Guggenheim Museum...

A commuter train is passing some townhouses on the Upper East Side...

All Aboard! The passenger trains are boarding underground at the old Pennsylvania Station...

Here we are Downtown in Washington Square Park...

In Midtown where the buildings reach the sky...

And Uptown at the Apollo Theater...

You may be wondering what these model building are made of? A side presentation, the "Artists' Studio" provided an informative guide to how these works are created. Once a subject has been chosen, the original blueprints are studied and a structure is made out of foam board. This frame is then entirely covered with natural vegetation such as twigs, leaves, acorns and bark to reproduce even the smallest architectural details entirely out of plant material. Here is a look at how the replica of Rockefeller home "Kykuit" was put together:

The 2011 Holiday Train Show comprises over 140 replicas of New York buildings and monuments, both past and present, with more being added every year. Some favorites include The New York Public Library with the lions "Patience" and "Fortitude" flanking the steps...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue...

The tracks cover 1,200 feet using gauge 1 brass track that can actually run outdoors. It takes ten days for a team of twenty to assemble the tracks, mount the replicas, tuck in the plants and install all the bells and whistles and switches to make this show come alive. So visitors such as myself can wonder at the George Washington Bridge...

Historic Grant's Tomb...

Or just enjoy the magic of New York City at Christmas time...

Joaquín Sorolla and the Glory of Spanish Dress

2011-12-09T16:36:00.018-05:00

In 1911, the Valencian painter Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) was commissioned by The Hispanic Society of America in New York to create a series of oils on the subject of life in Spain. The project was completed in 1919 and "Vision of Spain" was installed and opened to the public in 1926 comprising 227 linear feet of murals, fourteen panels in all. Originally planned to depict the history of Spain, Sorolla shifted the theme toward the culture of the country, a celebration of each region and its particular traditions in custom, landscape and dress. The result was a snapshot of the entire Iberian Peninsula from Basque fishermen to Andalusian flamenco dancers and the climax of Sorolla's career.

Recently opened at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute on Park Avenue at 69th Street is a wonderful exhibition celebrating both the genius of Joaquín Sorolla and the rich tradition of Spanish costume and culture. "Joaquín Sorolla and the Glory of Spanish Dress" was conceived by fashion designer extraordinaire Oscar de la Renta, chairman of the Institute's Board of Directors, with Vogue Magazine's André Leon Tally acting as curator. With generous loans from Madrid's Museo del Traje and Museo Sorolla as well as from private collections, this exhibition presents a remarkable combination of costume and art on equal footing and is a visually stunning travelogue of the regions of Spain.

Over thirty mannequins display vintage ensembles including a sumptuous silk brocade and gold-embroidered tulle Valencian evening gown, a humble wool felt shepherd's costume from Extremadura, an exuberantly decorated wedding gown complete with copious amounts of authentic jewelry from Castile-La Mancha, elegant riding habits, saucy flamenco dresses, and the star of the show, lavishly embellished traje de luces, suit of lights, created for the bravest of matadors. But the best part of the show is not just the marvelous ensembles, it's the original Sorolla sketches and paintings from the "Vision of Spain" series that are hanging next to the vitrines. One can see exactly what the artist envisioned when he traveled the country, soaking up the specialties and traditions of each region, before committing his observations to canvas.

What is also very interesting about this exhibition is the gallery devoted to modern fashion design and how couturiers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, Ralph Lauren, Karl Lagerfeld and Carolina Herrera have been influenced by traditional Spanish clothing. The Infanta, flamenco dancer, toreador and other 19th Century styles have been elegantly re-interpreted for today's woman and leave no doubt as to the enduring impact of Spanish flair on the world of style.

I fell in love with Sorolla's paintings several years ago at a wonderful exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris entitled "John Singer Sargent and Joaquín Sorolla: Painters of Light". The murals prepared for the "Vision of Spain" series are more illustrative than his portraits but still clearly show Sorolla's sweeping style and ability to capture the dignity and grandeur of even simple subjects. This exhibition is an homage to the cultural diversity of Spain and a marvelous celebration of its diverse tradition and culture. "Joaquín Sorolla and the Glory of Spanish Dress" is on view until the 10th of March, 2012.

Joaquín Sorolla "Harvest, Jerez", 1914

A Visit to the Florida Everglades

2011-11-29T18:14:00.013-05:00

With all the hype around the 10th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, I thought I would give you an alternative view to the scene here in South Florida. Not one to follow the hoards from chi-chi opening to chi-chi party, I decided to do probably the most un-cool thing imaginable and drive two hours south to Homestead, home of the eponymous Speedway, Rodeo and Air Reserve Base, and the gateway to one of this country's greatest National Parks - the Everglades.

Comprising over 1.5 million acres of subtropical wilderness, the area known as the Everglades began as Royal Palm State Park in 1916 but did not officially become a National Park until 1947. It made news headlines in 1992 and again in 2005 when the area took direct hits from Hurricanes Andrew and Wilma respectively, both storms causing massive devastation. But on this November day, early in the region's dry season, the temperature was a mild 75 degrees and skies were brilliant blue - perfect for touring this marvelous park.

With only one afternoon and not quite sure of what to see and do, I consulted the knowledgeable volunteers at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center located just inside the Park entrance. Armed with a map and a list of suggestions I felt confident that I could get a pretty good feel for the Park and its special attractions even in a short time. The adventure was about to begin!

First stop was the Royal Palm Visitor Center where I parked the car and hoped that the huge vultures lurking nearby would not really be as vicious as the posted signs warned (they weren't). Close by was the beginning of the Anhinga Trail, a half mile loop of raised boardwalk that passed over crystal clear water that was just the opposite of how I thought swamp water should look.

The trail is named after the anhinga bird, quite a large waterbird with a swan-like neck that is plentiful in this area. There were also many snowy white egrets and ebony black crows. But what we had all come to see were the alligators and we were not disappointed!

I was walking along the boardwalk with my eyes open for a sighting when I noticed a very unusual looking log in the water. Sure enough it was a big alligator quietly watching and waiting for lunch. A little farther along and a little tiny baby turtle was crossing the walkway. Still farther and there was a "teenage" alligator sunning himself beside the path.

He drew a few spectators but no one was going to get too close!

At the end of the Anhinga Trail is the Gumbo Limbo Trail, another short loop that passed through a tropical hardwood "hammock" filled with lush vegetation. Gumbo limbo is an indigenous tree that features an unusual reddish brown bark. Other native trees included Spanish oak, palms, mangroves and cypress but what was most remarkable about this forest were the bromeliad plants that had attached themselves to the tree trunks and branches and were thriving on their adopted "parent".

A short drive away was Pa-hay-okee Overlook, another short boardwalk trail that leads to a "treehouse". From this elevated deck visitors can see for miles and truly appreciate the vast expanse of sawgrass growing in freshwater sloughs (pronounced "slews") and prairies interrupted only by hardwood tree islands or "hammocks". It was an impressive sight.

Although many of the trees looked dead, it turned out that these are deciduous cypress trees and they naturally lose their needles and look this way during the dry season.

The next stop was the Mahogany Hammock Trail, another short loop but this one was like walking through a jungle. Here the plant life was so dense that huge trees that had fallen over and could barely been seen with all the new growth that had taken over.

Finally I came to the end of the road, the Flamingo Visitor Center and Marina, a 38 mile drive from the entrance of the park. This was the most developed area of the park but facilities were limited. I enjoyed a snack of trail mix sitting on a dock watching manatees frolicking in the water and hoping to glimpse a crocodile. Unfortunately it was too late for a boat ride but I had already seen and learned a lot of new and interesting things. The sun was getting low in the sky and it was time to head back to the urban sprawl of Miami Dade but with a totally new appreciation for the Everglades and its remarkable ecosystem.

I leave you now with a nifty bit of information that I'll bet you didn't know. How can you tell the length of a grown alligator without actually measuring it (a rather dangerous proposition)? I'll tell you! The number of inches between the eye and the tip of the snout is roughly equal to the number of feet between the snout and the tip of the tail. One of those surprising facts that just might come in handy sometime!

"de Kooning: A Retrospective" at MoMA

2011-11-25T16:44:00.006-05:00

Now that Thanksgiving dinner has been reduced to a few leftover turkey sandwiches, it's a good time to get out and see some museum exhibitions! Probably the major show of the season is a retrospective of the Dutch-born but considered New York School artist Willem de Kooning that runs through January 9, 2012 at the Museum of Modern Art.

Although considered one of the most important artists of the 20th Century and a figurehead of the Abstract Expressionist movement, it is not until now that a comprehensive survey of his career has been presented. To make up for this oversight, New York's Museum of Modern Art has devoted the entire sixth floor, approximately 17,000 square feet of exhibition space, to showcase nearly 200 drawings, sculptures and paintings covering all eras of de Kooning's work.

To answer a question that I know is lurking in the back of many readers' minds, readers who may be a little cynical about Modern Art being "art" at all - the answer is yes, Mr de Kooning is a very accomplished academic artist. In fact his formal training in Rotterdam comprised both commercial and fine art applications and his earliest works, two of which are on view here, are traditional still lifes of the finest quality. How, one might wonder, did he go from classical to abstract with such verve?

"Being anti-traditional is just as corny as being traditional" said Willem de Kooning when asked about his early work. Indeed, he is one of very few Modern artists who simultaneously worked on figural works and abstractions sometimes fusing the two ideals in one painting making it a bit of a hybrid. After emigrating to the U.S. in 1926, de Kooning emulated his colleagues Matisse, Gorky and Stuart Davis as he searched for his own voice. It did not take long to find. By the time de Kooning was 40, he was already an important figure in the New York art world and was successfully merging portraits (his series' of "Men" and "Women" paintings) with abstracted and fantastic interiors and exteriors. His method included applying layers and layers of paint over charcoal and pencil drawings giving an ethereal quality to the images underneath and allowing him to add more complexity to the final painting.

"I am not interested in abstracting or taking things out or reducing painting to design, form, line and color. I paint this way so I can put more and more things in - drama, anger, pain, love, a figure, a horse, my ideas about space". One look at his 1950 masterpiece "Excavation" and you will see what he means...

By the mid-1950s de Kooning was engrossed in one of the major transformations of his career. He began to open up his painting to a looser, more painterly approach that often combined subject with background, i.e. women with interiors or landscapes. His new "full arm sweep" approach was a dramatic change and one that cemented his reputation as the master of abstract expressionism. His colors became brighter, the feeling more joyous, and he explored new mediums such as lithography and bronze sculpture. It was a marvelous period in his work.

"Two Figures in a Landscape", 1967

By the 1970s de Kooning was showing signs of Alzheimer's and years of excessive drinking had also taken their toll. His painting style became much sparer, less exuberant, and almost graphic in quality. Willem de Kooning died at his home on Long Island in 1997 at the age of 92 but his legend lives on in the history of 20th Century art.

What's On at the Neue Galerie

2011-11-22T15:41:00.006-05:00

In honor of the tenth anniversary of one of the most beautiful museums in New York, the Neue Galerie has stepped outside its stated mission of presenting early 20th Century German and Austrian Art and is exhibiting the private collection of its co-founder Ronald S. Lauder. And what a collection it is! Aside from the obvious masterpieces by artists Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka and decorative objects by Koloman Moser, Dagobert Pesche and Josef Hoffmann that we have come to know and love, it turns out that Mr. Lauder has a passion for collecting that extends well beyond these parameters!

As my regular blog readers know, I am a huge fan of the Neue Galerie and visit almost every new exhibition. Inside the elegant surroundings of the 1914 mansion on Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile are treasures of the Wiener Werkstätte, Bauhaus, German Expressionism and the Blaue Reiter movements. This jewelbox of a museum is the brainchild of the late art dealer Serge Sabarsky and the businessman, philanthropist and art collector Ronald Lauder. Though Mr. Sabarsky did not live to see his dream become a reality, his friend Mr. Lauder fulfilled the vision with a passion for excellence that reflects his devotion to the project. Now, as part of the anniversary celebration, Mr. Lauder is sharing works from his personal collection with us, the museum going public.

It turns out the Mr. Lauder was bitten by the collecting bug at a very young age and he indulged his addiction to art in a wide range of areas. Indeed, the great surprise in this exhibition is the variety of objects and eras. From medieval arms and armor to Dégas pastel drawings - the works may be disparate in theme but united in quality. Sleek, steel, 16th Century shaffrons (helmets for horses) look as sculptural as Constantin Brancusi's marble and wood "Mademoiselle Pogany II", 1919. Portraits of men spanning nearly a century including Paul Cézanne's "Man with Crossed Arms", 1899 (right), Egon Schiele's "Mime van Osen", 1910, and Gerhard Richter's "Study for Serial Number 324 (Freud)", 1971, are certainly varied in style but share a level of artistic caliber that is first rate.

This exhibition provides a rare opportunity to take an intimate peek into the private world of an avid collector. However much we think we know about Mr. Lauder and his art collection, this show demonstrates that there is much more to the man and his collecting passion than one could ever imagine. "The Ronald S. Lauder Collection: Selections from the 3rd Century BC to the 20th Century / Germany, Austria, and France" is on view until April 2, 2012.

"Stieglitz and His Artists" at the Met

2011-11-20T16:48:00.014-05:00

It is my theory that when the economy is down museums turn to their own collections to put together shows. This is actually a very good thing for the museum-going public as there are often treasures tucked in the bowels of museum storage or hanging in obscure galleries that one would never have the opportunity to see if curators were not forced to look in their own storerooms rather than secure loans from outside sources.

This is certainly the case now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where, for the first time ever, they are displaying a major portion of the Alfred Stieglitz Collection bequeathed after the artist's death in 1946. This is a two-part exhibition underscoring the remarkable achievements of Stieglitz as both a photographer in his own right and as an arbiter of Modern Art.

"The Metropolitan Museum has opened its sacred halls to photography" wrote Alfred Stieglitz to a friend in December 1928, boasting "My photographs have performed the miracle." This was not merely braggadocio - it was Stieglitz's gift of 22 photographs that opened the sealed doors of this illustrious institution to the concept of photography as a legitimate art form on a par with traditional painting, drawing and sculpture. To honor this legacy, the Met is showing "Photographic Treasures from the Collection of Alfred Stieglitz" - a selection of superb vintage photos by Edward Steichen, Frank Eugene (see his portrait of Stieglitz, right) Clarence White, Gertrude Käsebier as well as gorgeous prints by Stieglitz himself.

While photography was invented in the 1820s, it was not until the early 20th Century when Alfred Stieglitz, equipped with a hand-held Graflex camera and therefore unencumbered by a heavy tripod, began to explore the medium as an art form rather than for purely documentary purposes. His concept of "Photo Secession" that promoted "Picturesque" photography generated a number of followers and the resulting body of work - the work that Stieglitz himself promoted in his galleries (The Little Galleries, 291, and, An American Place) - eventually formed the nucleus of the Metropolitan's magnificent collection of photography. It is a very special treat to view the forty eight works now on display - a testament to Stieglitz's acumen and a veritable "who's who" of early photographers.

But Alfred Stieglitz was a multi-dimensional person and photography was only one facet of his vision. Two years after closing "The Little Galleries" and opening "291" as a showcase for the Photo Secessionists, he expanded his exhibition manifesto to include figurative drawings and prints by European artists. Seeking to shock the Puritanical Americans, Stieglitz exhibited works by Toulouse-Lautrec, Rodin and Rops and later the Masters of Modernity Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Francis Picabia and the Futurist Gino Severini.

With The Armory Show of 1913 and the introduction of Marcel Duchamp's scandalous "Nude Descending a Staircase" the shock value of Stieglitz's European imports wore off and 291 was faced with stiff competition. Stieglitz responded by refining his mission and turned his focus exclusively on American Modernists.

It was a very clever move. Stieglitz became the champion of American artists John Marin, Marsden Hartley, Arthur Dove, Charles Demuth and most famously, the artist who would also become his wife, Georgia O'Keeffe. All were true Modernist painters - the likes of which had not been seen on this side of the Atlantic and might never have reached their levels of achievement without the tireless devotion of Alfred Stieglitz. And while his galleries were never financial success', his collection of art, many pieces having been gifts in lieu of repayment of loans to his artists, was astonishing.

In fact, when Stieglitz died of a stroke, his personal art collection numbered over 850 works plus 3000 prints of his own photographs and 580 prints by other photographers. It took three years for his widow to sort and organize his Estate and eventually make significant gifts to major institutions including George Eastman House, The National Gallery of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Fisk University, Library of Congress and, of course, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Alfred Stieglitz believed in American art and he believed in the ability of American artists to stand on a par with their European counterparts in the field of Modernism. His collection, which we have the privilege of enjoying until January 2, 2012, is a testament to this unique perspective and exceptional foresight.

P.S. For anyone who has ever been curious about just exactly how they make that fabulous Christmas Tree - here's a quick behind-the-scenes preview...

It's Print Week in New York!

2011-11-01T15:17:00.007-04:00

There has been a lot of excitement in New York City lately. First a freak snowstorm that dumped three inches of snow in Central Park and took down a lot of beautiful trees. Then Hallowe'en which is always a spooky experience. And now, for the really big excitement...it's New York Fine Art Print Week!!!

Okay, maybe Print Week is not as exciting as this Sunday's New York Marathon, but for lovers of fine prints and works on paper it is the week we wait for all year. This edition is shaping up to be bigger than better than ever and if last night's preview of the International Fine Print Dealers Association Print Fair at the Park Avenue Armory was any indication, the art of the print is alive and well and thriving in New York.

Featuring 90 dealers from around the world, the works presented at this fair range from 16th Century Dutch engravings to Contemporary American carborundum pieces where the ink has barely dried. From Dürer to Warhol from Hokusai to German Expressionism, these prints are of the highest quality and rarity and appeal to the most discriminating of collectors.

A few blocks down Park Avenue, at the Lighthouse International Conference Center, is the Fine Print and Drawing Fair. Now in its second year, this satellite fair features 25 dealers from the U.S. and Europe including yours truly! With a wider range of works on paper, this fair is not quite as print-specific as the IFPDA show. Here collectors will find all manner of mediums from posters to drawings to traditional prints at a price point a little friendlier to the average buyer's budget.

For devotees of contemporary art, the Editions Artists' Book Fair is going on this weekend in Chelsea. This show is dedicated to new prints and artist's books and is a great snapshot of what's going on in artists' studios right now.

All of these fairs end on Sunday evening, but if you can't get in to New York this weekend, or you just can't get enough, many local museums and institutions are offering special exhibitions relating to prints and print-making. Check out the IFPDA website for an up to date schedule of events and see just how exciting the print world can be!

The Dada Baroness

2011-10-28T17:01:00.008-04:00

"[The Baroness] is not a Futurist. She is the Future"

So wrote Marcel Duchamp about his comrade in Dada the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven as they shocked the New York art world in the years immediately following World War I. Today, Marcel Duchamp is a universally recognized name, but who exactly was this Baroness and why are we still talking about her?

Well, first of all, she wasn't exactly a Baroness. She was born Else Hildegard Plötz in the German resort town of Swinemünde in 1874 to a castigating middle-class father and his mentally unstable wife. Her counter reaction was to leave home as soon as possible and head for the big city, Berlin, where she made her way as a prostitute turning tricks with anyone and in any way that would earn her a few marks. She moved on to Munich where she continued her sexual exploits with an astonishing vigor and began to explore the avant garde world of art and artists. In 1901 she married the Jugendstil architect August Endell and a year later, with her husband's knowledge, hooked up with his friend the poet Felix Paul Greve whom she eventually married. Mr Greve, who was homosexual when they met, had such severe financial problems that he chose to fake his own suicide and escaped to the U.S. in 1909. Elsa arrived in 1910 and the two of them briefly operated a farm in Sparta, Kentucky before he deserted her and headed for Manitoba, Canada, where he became known as Frederick Philip Grove.

Not one to be left crying in her soup, Elsa cut her losses and made her way to New York City where she met, and in 1913 married, the Baron Leopold von Freytag-Loringhoven. As you can imagine this was not a fairy tale wedding as the German Baron left one year later to join the war effort and committed suicide shortly thereafter. The Baroness was once again penniless but now armed with a title as well as her remarkable cunning and resourcefulness, she attacked the burgeoning New York art scene with a vengeance. And this is where Marcel Duchamp and Dada come in.

With Europe engulfed in a horrible war, many avant garde artists and writers made their way to the safety of New York. By 1916 the triumvirate - Duchamp, Man Ray and Picabia - were stirring up the traditional art scene and Dada was born on this side of the Atlantic. It didn't take long for others to take up the call with Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven leading the way. She didn't just make Dada art, she was Dada.

It can be said that the Baroness was the original performance artist and a prototype for many of today's contemporary art forms. Yes, she painted a little, created sculpture out of found objects and wrote copious amounts of poetry that would give grammarians a coronary, but her main schtick was just being herself. Well, maybe an embellished version of herself. The Baroness became famous, or infamous, for parading around Greenwich Village wearing a tomato-can bra, a bustle with a tail light and/or a bird cage with a canary inside. She shaved her head and painted it red, pasted postage stamps to her cheeks and wore black lipstick. She shocked even those who knew her with her outrageous get-ups and flamboyant behavior and as you can imagine was never accepted by mainstream art buyers.

By 1923, as the Dada Movement was waning, the Baroness was becoming more of a persona-non-grata even among her friends. In retrospect, she was beginning to show signs of the same mental illness that had consumed her mother, as she became more and more difficult and more and more derelict. Later that year she moved back to Berlin where her situation worsened and she was reduced to selling what ever she could, from sex to newspapers, to keep her alive. She eventually made it to Paris where her friends, the Americans Djuna Barnes, Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, tried to help but she was too far gone. In 1927 she died of gas asphyxiation, but if it was a suicide or a terrible accident is unclear.

For years after the Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven passed into obscurity, forgotten by all but the most devoted art historians and poets. But several years ago that began to change and now the Baroness is re-emerging as a rather important force in not only the worlds of art and literature but as a feminist icon as well.

Which brings me, finally, to the catalyst for this blog - the publication of a new book on the Baroness by my good friend Dr. Irene Gammel. Irene, formerly a professor of English at the University of Prince Edward Island and now teaching at Ryerson University, Toronto, while holding the Canada Research Chair in Modern Literature and Culture, has been a pioneer in study on this elusive and controversial figure. Her 2002 book "Baroness Elsa: Gender, Dada and Everyday Modernity" opened up the subject to an unprecedented flood of interest from novelists, art historians, fashion designers and specialists in gender and feminist studies. The Baroness was suddenly hip.

This week Irene is launching her newest book, "Body Sweats - The Uncensored Writings of Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven", published by the prestigious MIT Press and sure to focus even more attention on this previously enigmatic figure. I congratulate Irene on another literary achievement. Thanks to you, the Baroness has re-emerged as the marvelous, maverick, doyenne of Dada!

"Beauty, Morals and Voluptuousness in the England of Oscar Wilde"

2011-10-17T12:27:00.010-04:00

The Victorian era in Britain was an extended period of peace, prosperity and social change. It was also a time when culture, morality and the arts shifted from the confines of the established rules of ornament toward a new ideal of beauty. One of the most enduring of these rebellions was the Aesthetic Movement, begun in 1860 and thriving until the end of the century with the passing of Queen Victoria and the beginning of the Edwardian era.

Now on view at the beautiful Musée d'Orsay here in Paris is a very special exhibition that brings together all facets of the applied and fine arts, from furniture and decoration to painting and sculpture, in celebration of "Art for art's sake". What set this movement apart from prior stylistic conventions was the idea that paintings should be painted only to be beautiful and likewise one should be surrounded only by beautiful things. In short, the founders of the Aesthetic Movement sought to create an environment of beauty first and foremost with practicality a secondary consideration.

What grew out of this unorthodox way of thinking was a style that emphasized the exotic (Japan had just been opened to the West and Oriental objects were all the rage), the antique (excavations at Troy and Tanagra had unearthed archeological treasures) and the sensual (think beautiful, half naked women and men). It was unlike anything in the past yet drew very much on history for inspiration.

For me, the real joy of this exhibition was the variety of works on display. Beside beautiful paintings by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, Frederick Leighton and one of my favorites, James Tissot, there was all manner of household objects and decoration. Wallpapers, dresses, jewelry, metalwork, tea sets, furniture, fireplace surrounds and book bindings, all in the spirit of creating the "House Beautiful". Exotic motifs abounded with peacocks, Chinese vases, tropical fruits and flowers adorning the most utilitarian of objects to create something that was far more precious then its intrinsic value would suggest.

Perhaps the most representative symbol of the Movement was the ultimate Aesthete and first celebrity style guru, Oscar Wilde. Foppish in behavior and appearance, Oscar Wilde became a lightening rod for all that was considered "unhealthy" or "strange" by critics and he was finally prosecuted and sentenced to two years in jail for homosexuality. Sadly, the culmination of what had been a movement for beauty deteriorated into a movement for decadence and soon the fashion turned toward Art Nouveau and the styles of the new century. The Aesthetic Movement's time had come and gone but it remains a golden age in British design and marvelous subject for an exhibition! "The Cult of Beauty" is on view at the Musée d'Orsay until January 15, 2012 and then it will travel to San Francisco, Fine Arts Museum.

"L'Aventures des Stein" at the Grand Palais

2011-10-16T05:02:00.008-04:00

Bonjour from Paris where the sun is shining, the air is crisp and the chestnut trees are just starting to turn color and shed their leaves.

One of the big shows of the season here is the American import "Matisse. Cézanne, Picasso...The Stein Family" which originated in San Francisco, is now in Paris and will travel to the Metropolitan Museum in New York early next year. It is a big show befitting a big subject and knowing the Parisians penchant for queuing up for admission, I planned ahead and booked timed-entry tickets well in advance!

Many of us are familiar with Gertrude Stein and her companion Alice B. Toklas living the bohemian life in 1920s Paris. But far fewer realize that Gertrude Stein was only one quarter of the clan that comprised the Stein Family's presence in Paris and the profound impact they had on Modern Art as we know it today. By diligently reassembling a good portion of their collection and including a fascinating selection of documentary photos and ephemera, the curators have presented us with an excellent survey of Modern Art and the movements before and after.

Let's begin at the beginning of the 20th Century when the American avant garde writer Gertrude Stein moved to Paris and set up housekeeping on the Rue de Fleurus with her brother Leo Stein, himself an art critic. The following year their elder brother Michael and his wife Sarah moved into an apartment on the nearby Rue Madame. By 1904, Leo and Gertrude were acquiring works by the "pillars of Modern Art" - Manet, Cézanne, Renoir and Dégas among others - based on principals of classical modernity. Michael and Sarah were also involved in the art world and soon developed a particular passion for the works of Henri Matisse who had emerged as a leader of the "Fauves" in 1905. Between the four of them it did not take long for a major collection to develop.

What had also flourished was "Saturdays at the Steins" a weekly salon that began at 6 o'clock at the home of Michael and Sarah with a gathering of expatriates, bohemian artists and passing strangers. Later in the evening the party relocated to the Rue de Fleurus where guests were awed by the magnificent collection, particularly of Cézannes, hanging on the walls in Gertrude and Leo's apartment. In the early years, before 1920, these soirees were informal gatherings where very often the main entertainment was Leo Stein performing interpretive dance. After World War I, with the influx of Americans coming to partake in the artistic stew that was Gaie Paris, Gertrude's salon became a meeting place for such literary lions as Hemingway, Pound and Fitzgerald as well as the established guest list of artists such as Picasso and Matisse.

But I am getting ahead of the story. By 1913, Leo Stein was becoming disenchanted with the direction of Modern Art, particularly with the movement toward Cubism. He was a Classicist, a disciple of art historian Bernard Berenson, and not in favor of the new tendency to "deconstruct" in paintings. He and Gertrude agreed to divide their collection, with him keeping most of his beloved Cézannes, which he took with him to Italy in 1914.

By this time Michael and Sarah had established themselves as major patrons of Henri Matisse and were great defenders of his work. Shortly before World War I they lent nineteen of their finest canvas' to an exhibition at the Fritz Gurlitt Gallery in Berlin. Sadly, with the outbreak of the war, the return of the paintings was blocked and they were lost forever. Their fortunes dwindled, Sarah became a Christian Scientist, and they eventually moved with a fellow follower into a villa designed for them by Le Courbusier in the suburb of Garches. However with the rising threat of Fascism in Europe Michael and Sarah decided to return permanently to the United States in 1935.

Gertrude Stein remained in Paris until the end of her life in 1946. During World War I, she famously drove a Red Cross ambulance along with her long time companion Alice B. Toklas. In the 1920's, as Picasso's fame (and prices) rose, she turned her collecting attention to the work of other emerging artists and amassed a splendid collection of pieces by Francis Picabia, Pavel Tchelitchew, Juan Gris and the Berman brothers. Her Buddha-like portrait was captured by Man Ray, Marcoussis, Lipchitz, Vallotton and many others making her one of the most recognizable characters of the period. But while her art collecting was prodigious she eventually became most famous for her literary accomplishments and her unique repetitive and playful writing style.

When I said the show was big, I wasn't kidding. The curators have successfully tracked down many of the great artworks that were dispersed after the deaths of the three siblings and have presented them here in eight sections. Many of these pieces normally hang in major museums but some were in private hands and generously lent to the exhibition. There are also fabulous vintage photographs of the apartments with the pictures installed on the walls, first edition examples of many of Gertrude's books and audio recordings of her reciting her poetry in that distinctive cadence.

I went to the show having a good general knowledge of Gertrude Stein and her role in 1920s expatriate Paris, but I left with a true appreciation for this singular family and their impact on 20th Century art as we now know it. I can't wait until it comes to New York and I can see it all over again!

A perfect October day looking North West from the Pont Neuf

What's On At The Museum at FIT

2011-10-05T17:34:00.005-04:00

Founded in 1969 as an integral part of the Fashion Institute of Technology's ambition to "collect, conserve, document, exhibit and interpret fashion", The Museum at FIT presents exhibitions and publications of an academic nature that are also immensely appealing to anyone interested in the evolution of style.

The fall, The Museum at FIT presents two divergent but compelling exhibitions. On the main floor we find "Sporting Life" a historical review of sports clothing and how it has evolved from the mid nineteenth century to the present. Focusing on sixteen various sports including bicycling, tennis, swimming and skiing, the exhibition examines how the styles have changed according to social custom, changing ideas of beauty and technological advances in fabrics and materials, and also how athletic attire has influenced fashions worn off the playing field or beach.

Drawn largely from the Museum's own collection of garments the curators present each sport's clothing in chronological order. For example, the swimming section ranges from heavy woolen bloomers to less cumbersome, but still wool, maillot style bathing suits to today's super-sleek techno racing suits. Or tennis togs that began as loose-fitting but long-sleeved and long-skirted white linen dresses for women to shorter-skirted but still very ladylike outfits to spandex form-fitting performance attire favored by today's tennis players.

It was amusing to see how many designers were influenced by sporting attire in their regular clothing lines. Examples such as Manolo Blanik's 1994 high heeled version of the L.L. Bean duck boot and Norma Kamali's 1980's collection of sweatsuit fashion separates made me realize how pervasive athletic clothing has become in today's society.

Moving downstairs to the Special Exhibitions Gallery we come to an homage to fashion icon "Daphne Guinness". Known for her signature eight-inch platform shoes and her platinum and black striped hair, Daphne Guinness (daughter of the brewery heir and grand daughter of a Mitford sister) is also a passionate collector of vintage couture fashion and gorgeous diamond jewelry.

For this exhibition the space is divided into an small foyer featuring her vertiginous shoes displayed as sculptures behind glass and a large gallery with six sections focusing on "Dandyism", "Armor", "Chic", "Evening Chic", "Exoticism" and "Sparkle". The setting is rather simple but ethereal videos playing above and around the viewer and the stunning clothes enhanced with all that sparkling jewelry is finally quite dramatic. Ms. Guinness has a eye for design and her collection of modern vintage clothing by some of today's top designers is superb. Nothing is more than 25 years old, but the elegance and detail of the clothing she has acquired makes it seem more classic. Marvelous examples of couture dresses and separates by Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen, Christian Lacroix and some of her own designs, are displayed on white mannequins and enhanced with copious glittering jewels.

The Museum at FIT is located on the Institute's campus in the heart of the garment district. It is open from Tuesday to Saturday and admission is free.

"Frans Hals in The Metropolitan Museum"

2011-10-01T15:31:00.008-04:00

The Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals was born in 1580 (or maybe 1581) in Antwerp but spent most of his life in Haarlem where he died in 1666. Although sought after as a portrait painter at the onset of his career, his style fell out of fashion and he ended up destitute, basically a ward of the State, having sold all his worldly possessions to pay his debts.

But as is often the case in fairy tales and the art world, Frans Hals' name is now glorified as one of the three greatest Dutch painters of his time, second only to Rembrandt van Rijn and recently edging out latecomer Johannes Vermeer in popularity. Indeed, Hals is credited with having had a profound influence over such 19th and 20th Century artists as Vincent Van Gogh, John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase, Claude Monet and Robert Henri.

Despite these accolades, the œuvre of Frans Hals is still relatively vague in the eyes of modern day American museum goers. In an effort to correct this ambiguity, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has dug deep into its vast holdings to put together an exhibition showcasing Hals' genre and portrait paintings as well as a number of works by his contemporaries obviously following in his rather substantial footsteps.

Frans Hals' early works are exuberant country scenes with Dutch folk characters such as Peeckelhaering (Pickled Herring) and Hans Wurst making merry with local maidens. These jolly genre scenes are typically brightly colored and portray local personalities and customs. As he matured he turned more toward portraiture, either of married couples (which he painted separately), families (he was a genius at group scenes) or of prominent individuals. Here his palate is toned down, and often monochromatic with a few loose brushstrokes able to convey rich tones and the finest details (see portrait "Paulus Verschuur", left).

Thanks to the collecting passion and later great generosity of such patrons as Benjamin Altman and Louisine Havermeyer, the Metropolitan Museum of Art can boast one of the greatest single collections of paintings by Frans Hals. An exhibition such as this one, though probably not one of the most popular on the Museum's calendar, is invaluable to museum goers who wish to explore the past and appreciate how important an inspiration these titans of art continue to exert today.

"The Artist as Jeweler" at MAD

2011-09-30T13:40:00.010-04:00

I'm afraid I've been remiss in posting blogs this month but I'm back in action with a full slate of new shows for the 2011 fall season! Let's start off with a visit to the Museum of Art and Design, or MAD as it is affectionately known, and their small but wonderful exhibition "Picasso to Koons: The Artist as Jeweler" that opened on September 20th and runs until early next year.

We are all familiar with traditional fine art forms, paintings, drawings, sculptures etc, articulating the sentiments of artists throughout the ages. This show explores a much more intimate means of expression - pieces of jewelry - often created as unique gifts for close friends or in very limited editions for a select few, and therefore not very well known to the museum going public. This presentation of 180 miniature artworks by some of the biggest names in Modern and Contemporary art reveals just how important to the artists' œuvre these very private treasures are.

What surprised me the most about this exhibition was the cross section of artists who used jewelry as an artistic medium. I was familiar with the wire jewelry of Alexander Calder (see my blog "Calder P.S." January 11, 2009), the iconic "Ruby Lips" brooch of Salvador Dali and the gold spiral "Pendentif Pendent" earrings of Many Ray, but I had no idea that artists as diverse as Damian Hirst, Louise Bourgeous and Arman had created Lilliputian versions of some of their best known works such as a silver "Pill Charm" bracelet, a gold spider brooch and a silver deconstructed violin belt, respectively.

Grouped together in one vitrine were pins, bracelets and a watch by Pop Art icons Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Indiana, Victor Vasarely and Andy Warhol. A gold and blue enamel "Water Ring" by Anish Kapoor was as beautiful in a small format as his larger convex colored sculptures. Italian "Spacialist" artist Lucio Fontana's silver and lacquer "Elisse Concetto Spaziale" bracelet was as elegant in miniature as his slashed monochrome oil paintings. And my personal favorite was a pair of silver earrings on a stand by George Rickey that were as mesmerising a kinetic sculpture as anything he created for the great outdoors.

I was very much looking forward to seeing this exhibition and I was not disappointed. Guest curator Diane Venet presents a strong selection of works by an amazing roster of artists, each confirming the supposition that these special pieces, personal and generally non-commercial, were in fact every bit the objets d'art as the larger more famous creations we go to art museums to see.

P.S. Special thanks to my friend Dong Kingman Jr. for taking me to the show!

Announcing Catalogue Number Six!

2011-09-12T18:09:00.002-04:00

I am pleased to announce the publication of my sixth catalogue!

Georgina Kelman :: Works on Paper presents Catalogue Number Six, a cornucopia of fine prints, drawings and watercolors by European and American artists from the Victorian Era to the Jazz Age. In it you will find items ranging from a World War I poster drawn by a French schoolchild to Paul César Helleu's master print "La Duchesse de Marlborough", from an illustrated book by Art Nouveau genius Alphonse Mucha to an uncut set of 19th Century playing cards. There is something for everyone and every budget so please feel free to contact me for your copy.

Summer has once again flown by and we are winding up for the fall art season. It promises to be an exciting one and I hope you will join me for visits to museums and attractions here in New York and wherever I happen to land! Cheerio!

In Memory of 9/11

2011-09-08T17:18:00.011-04:00

As the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches the memories of where we were and how we reacted as the catastrophe unfolded have resumed a prominent place in our daily psyche. Time may not exactly heal all wounds, but the pain became less acute as life returned to a facsimile of pre-9/11 normal. Now with the memorial looming, and New York City once again under a high terror alert, we are reminded of the overwhelming fear and sorrow that ruled our normal existence in the aftermath of that terrible day. But there were also some rays of sunshine in those dark hours. Tales of unbelievable bravery, kindness and generosity were reported as Americans and our allies around the world came together to recover and rebuild.

In a beautiful and moving tribute to the heroes of 9/11, the photographer Joe McNally spent three weeks shooting life size photographs of firemen, police officers, emergency service workers and some ordinary folks in extraordinary circumstances. The result is the "Faces of Ground Zero, Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001" a book and traveling exhibition that is now on view at the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. Spread over the ground and second floor of this shopping and residential complex are dozens of huge Polaroid photographs, each with a caption and many with a current digital image alongside. The exhibition is mesmerizing.

Staring into the eyes of John Baldassare, a Lieutenant with Ladder 9 Engine 33 FDNY a firehouse that lost most of its men; Peter Regan, a United States Marine who searched the rubble looking for his Dad, a firefighter; Michael Lomonaco, Executive Chef at Windows on the World who happened to run an errand that morning and avoided the fate of most of his co-workers; Lisa Beamer, widow of Flight 93 hero Todd "Let's Roll" Beamer, and America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, was to relive the episode all over again.

For me the most touching photograph was of Jan Demczur (see left), a window washer who became trapped in an elevator with five other people on the 50th floor. Mr. Demczur used he squeegee to open the door and was faced with a wall of plasterboard. For 95 minutes, Mr. Demczur and his fellow prisoners chipped away with the metal blade of his wiper to make a one foot by 18 inch opening through which, one by one, they were able to escape. Mr. Demczur's comment, "I can't talk about it" was all that needed to be said.

I, like many other people, shed a lot of tears in the days and months that followed September 11, 2001. For the first time in a long time this exhibition brought tears to my eyes again. Not macabre but respectful and honest, it is a tribute to the human spirit and the power of freedom.

We Will Never Forget

The Calm Before the Hurricane

2011-08-27T11:38:00.009-04:00

Columbus Avenue Facing South

Hello from New York City where citizens are bracing for the arrival of a rather unwanted guest - Hurricane Irene - the first hurricane predicted to hit the area since Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Officials are taking this storm VERY seriously with Mayor Bloomberg taking the unprecedented step of shutting down all public transportation effective at noon on Saturday and ordering the evacuation of people living in low lying areas along the waterfront.

I must admit that I did not pay the impending storm much attention until yesterday when I thought it was time to stock up my fridge and larder and was confronted with long lines and some empty shelves at the market. Then came the news reports of gas stations running out of gas and the airports planning to shut down at noon today and the threat became much more real.

This morning broke cloudy and quite humid and I thought it would be a good idea to head out and pick up a few more supplies before the storm hit. My neighborhood, usually teeming with activity on a Saturday morning was like a ghost town! All the shops and restaurants were either closed or getting ready to shut for the next two days and sand bags and plastic sheeting was the order of the day. Even the fancy new Apple Store, a magnificent glass structure, was sealed up tight not to open until Monday at 9.

Of course, supermarkets, convenience stores and wine shops were doing land office business with lines extending out the doors! I quickly accomplished my errands, took a few photos and made it home just as the first deluge hit at 11 AM.

Now I am tucked up in my apartment with a full refrigerator, lots of candles and a flashlight and a few indoor projects to work on - providing we still have power! I am watching the news flashes from coastal North Carolina where Hurricane Irene has come ashore and looks like she is heading directly up to Manhattan. It is an eerie feeling to be waiting for the onslaught of wind and rain but a bit of an adventure as well. Let's keep our fingers crossed that there is a minimum of damage and I will report back soon.

Exploring the Beautiful Niagara Parkway

2011-08-15T18:12:00.014-04:00

Greetings from the Niagara Peninsula where I am spending a few August days with my family. This historically significant region was originally settled by the Iroquois Indians, then known as the Ongiaras, and later by the Loyalists escaping the American Revolution. Due to its strategic location on Lake Ontario, it was the scene of massive fighting between the British and Americans during the War of 1812 climaxing in the burning of Fort George. Today the area could not be more bucolic with acres of orchards and vineyards, immaculate gardens and parks, imposing homes, and charming inns and B & B's dotting the roadsides. The jewel in the crown must be considered the town of Niagara on the Lake, home of the renowned Shaw Festival, and a destination for day trippers seeking a nice meal, interesting shopping and fine entertainment in an exquisite setting.

So on this perfect summer day we decided to take a ride on the Niagara Parkway and enjoy the region's natural beauty. We began our tour near General Isaac Brock's statue and behind the Sir Adam Beck Power Plant, at the Floral Clock in Queenston. Created in 1950 by Ontario Hydro, the clock features 16,000 carpet bedding plants changed twice a year and maintained by the Niagara Parks Horticultural staff. It is a landmark in the area and is accurate as well as beautiful.

A little farther down the road is the Butterfly Conservatory located on the manicured grounds of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens and School of Horticulture. A visit to the Butterfly Conservatory is pure magic. Imagine walking among 2,000 tropical butterflies in a rainforest setting as they flutter about in a riot of color! And then, very briefly, one lands on your shoulder or hand and you can't believe that these delicate, beautiful creatures are real - but they are!

As you can imagine, the Niagara Falls area is very busy during the summer tourist season and we decided to leave the driving to the professionals and hop on the Niagara Parks People Mover. The bus makes several stops along the route including at the Whirlpool Aero Car where you can take a gondola ride over the Great Gorge, the elevator down to the White Water Walk along the raging rapids and the Maid of the Mist boat tour - the oldest tourist attraction in North American. We hop off the People Mover at Queen Victoria Place and have a quick bite of lunch on the terrace at Edgewaters Grill. The food was not great but the view could not be beat as we looked out over both the American and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.

Restored, we set off to see the main attraction - Niagara Falls - a tourist destination since the mid 1800's, the major source of hydroelectricity for the Eastern Seaboard and a lure for daredevils from tightrope walkers to barrel divers. Now this was not my first trip to the Falls. I've had the good fortune to visit several times and during every season but the reaction is always the same - awe inspiring. Majestic, beautiful, powerful, thundering are mere adjectives to try to impart the impression made by this natural wonder. Looking over the stone fence at the millions of gallons of water rushing to the edge, plunging over the precipice to fall 73 feet into the roiling, foaming gorge below is both mesmerizing and terrifying at the same time. Especially since the day before a tourist from Japan had missed her footing, fell into the river, was swept away and is still missing at the time of this blog.

The Table Rock Welcome Centre offers tourist information, access to the Journey Behind the Falls, and the newest attraction, Niagara's Fury, a 4-D virtual experience recreating the sights and sounds of the formation of the Falls. Here we picked up the People Mover again and continued South to the Floral Showhouse.

For over 60 years visitors have come to enjoy the outdoor gardens and indoor greenhouse displays of the Floral Showhouse. A paradise of flowers and tropical birds, the plantings vary by season and offer an Arcadian respite to the energy and crowds of the Falls.

It's time to get back on to the People Mover and head back to our starting point. Along the way we pass the abandoned Ontario Power turbine plant, the wreck of the Niagara Scow, a barge that went aground in 1918 (fortunately no one on board perished) and remains lodged at the edge of the Falls, through the mist created by the thundering waterfalls and on past the myriad attractions and sights that line the route. We return to the Butterfly Conservatory, but before getting into the car I couldn't resist an ice cream and a walk through the magnificent park of the Niagara Park Botanical Gardens!

Celebrating 75 years of bringing floral beauty to the region, the School of Horticulture, who plant and maintain the gardens, have put on an anniversary show that is absolutely gorgeous. The 99 acres of grounds showcases an arboretum, a rose garden, perennial gardens, a European allée, herb and vegetable gardens and a formal parterre garden. Charming surprises like a small waterlily pond or a sculpture of garden tools add to the overall pleasure of wandering the exquisitely planted and manicured green. It was a perfect conclusion to a wonderful day exploring the beautiful Niagara Parkway!

"Savage Beauty" At the Met

2011-07-27T14:46:00.004-04:00

In my attempt to stay au courant in the worlds of art and style, and to keep you, my dear readers, up to date on the latest and hippest, I undertook a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's summer blockbuster "Savage Beauty". Now usually a trip to The Met is a pleasure and something I approach with enthusiasm, but this exhibition was a little outside my realm. Not to mention the fact that the queues were reputed to be horrendous no matter what hour of the day one chose to visit. But realizing that this is a show that "must" be seen, I recruited my most fashionable friend, Betty, to venture with me over to Fifth Avenue and wait the hour and a half in line before confronting the masses of visitors intent on seeing the life work of Alexander McQueen.

Alexander McQueen burst onto the British fashion scene in 1992 at the age of 23 and remained a "pedal to the metal" superstar until his death by suicide last year. Not without controversy in both his designs and his personal life, McQueen was known for drama and extravagance on the catwalk and his collections were sought after by celebrities around the world. For the Met's annual Costume Institute show, they have chosen to honor the late designer's creativity with a retrospective of his work presented in a suitably dramatic setting.

Within galleries titled "The Romantic Mind", "Cabinet of Curiosities", "Romantic Exoticism" and "Plato's Atlantis", the curators have presented collections ranging from "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" to "Highland Rape" from "It's Only A Game" to "Widows of Culloden", each in a highly decorated, sensory-overloaded environment.

Take for example the spinning, mirrored disco-gone-crazy gallery meant to represent a music box but a far cry from the little plastic ballerinas I grew up with! Or the mannequins posed alongside natural history objects in display-cases like a museum within a museum but with films of fashion shows playing non-stop. Or the video installation of a glass coffin appearing out of the ether with glass silently smashing to expose a reclining nude covered with insects to accompany McQueen's "VOSS" collection. The outfits too were crafted out of unusual objects including steel skeletons, balsa wood, dried flowers, bird heads, razor clam shells and football helmets.

There were moments of clarity however, even for a non-fashionista like me. The ode to McQueen's Scottish heritage (and his revolt against British "oppression") featured garments with a tartan theme that I do actually remember from the magazines and some of them were quite lovely and wearable. The video of his fashion show where the models moved about a checkered board as if in a chess game was inspired and beautiful. And the hologram of Kate Moss dancing in a white gown with hundreds of floating layers was breathtaking indeed.

I make no pretensions about my sense of style - I am decidedly un-fashionable - but I do appreciate good design. My strongest reaction to the exhibition was that Alexander McQueen, apart from being overtly homosexual, did not like women and his clothes were in no way intended to accentuate or beautify the wearer. I was, however, thoroughly impressed with the Met's fabulous installation and ultimately glad that we waited in line to see the show.

Summer Reading

2011-07-25T14:06:00.003-04:00

Looking for a good book to settle down with in front of the air conditioner this summer? Something not just historic but pre-historic? A true story that is stranger than fiction? I have the perfect choice for you! Newly released this spring is "Boneheads: My Search for T. Rex" by Sausalito based author Richard Polsky.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that I know and like Richard Polsky and he kindly gave me a copy of this book. He is probably best known as an art world writer with two well received and very engaging non-fiction works to his credit "I Bought Andy Warhol" and the sequel "I Sold Andy Warhol (too soon)". Richard had mentioned that he was working on something completely different but I was not prepared for "Boneheads" when I picked it up on a recent afternoon when the mercury was well above 90.

It turns out that Richard, beside being a contemporary art aficionado, has long been fascinated with dinosaurs and having reached a crossroads in his personal and professional lives decided to pursue a life-long desire to search for the Holy Grail of paleontology, a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. In this quest, Richard takes us on an adventure covering territory from the Badlands of South Dakota to the annual Gem, Mineral and Fossil convention in Tucson, Arizona. We meet characters such as Maurice Williams who discovered Sue, the biggest T. Rex skeleton to date, Henry Galiano owner of Maxilla & Mandible, a fossil store in New York, not to mention the self-declared "Fossil King", Bob Detrich. And we share in Richard's highs and lows as he attempts to crack the inner circle of this rather eclectic group of dinosaur hunters or "Boneheads" as they are affectionately known.

I am not going to tell you what happens in the end, but I will promise a few hearty chuckles along the way. Who knew antediluvian pursuits could be so very entertaining!

Museuming in Manhattan

2011-07-09T17:06:00.018-04:00

Last Saturday afternoon was a perfect summer day - sunny and warm and not too muggy - and since everybody else seemed to have left town for the beach, the ideal time to visit a few museums and catch up on exhibitions. So after lunch I strolled through Central Park and headed uptown to 92nd Street to begin my tour at The Jewish Museum.

Stepping back in time to the 19th Century, I found myself in the bourgeois Jewish household of the Cones of Baltimore. Herman and Helen Kahn/Cone had twelve children. Two of their sons, Moses and Caesar, began a textile business that became the largest supplier of denim to Levi Strauss and as you can imagine was very prosperous. Two of their daughters, Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta, became avid collectors of Modern Art and their collection laid the foundation for The Baltimore Museum of Art.

Fast forward to today and a generous loan from The Baltimore Museum that allows us this glimpse into the lives of The Cone Sisters and a chance to see a few of their treasures. At a time when Victorian ladies pursued genteel domestic avocations, Claribel and Etta traveled to Europe, hooked up with Gertrude Stein and started spending money. And how! The Cone Sisters quickly became the patrons of Henri Matisse and purchased prodigious amounts of his paintings, drawings and sculptures. But they were not limited to Matisse. Their collection included works by van Gogh, Gaugin, Pissarro, Renoir and Picasso as well as innumerable pieces of jewelry, textiles, laces, rugs and furniture picked up on their travels throughout Africa and Asia. A selection of these works, accompanied by some fascinating documentary photos and ephemera, are a testament to the far-sightedness of these Baltimore damsels.

Claribel died suddenly in 1929 and Etta passed away 20 years later. At the time of her death the collection amounted to over 3,000 works and an adjoining apartment had been rented to house both the collection and the collector under one roof. "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore" is a look at these remarkable women and their obsession with art and is on view in New York until September 25th.

Heading down Fifth Avenue to 86th Street we come to one of my favorite museums, the Neue Galerie, whose current exhibition "Vienna 1900: Style and Identity" looks at the fine and decorative arts of the era and how they relate to the cataclysmic social shifts that were occurring at the same time. Turn-of-the-Century Vienna was a hotbed of psychological and sexual reform, think Freud, meeting with a revolution in art and design, think Klimt and the Wiener Werkstätte. Attitudes toward women and sexuality were changing dramatically as reflected in the erotic drawings of Egon Schiele, the stylized, highly decorative portraits of Klimt and the candid intellectual studies Kokoschka painted of his sitters. Things were also shifting in the world of décor and domestic appointments as the Victorian model was being replaced by Modernism and the Vienna Secession.

The third floor of the exhibition is dedicated to interior design and ranges from the pioneering forays of Otto Wagner, the godfather of Modernism, to the strict formalism of Adolf Loos to the more lighthearted and all encompassing approach of the Wiener Werkstätte practitioners Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Dagobert Peche. The Neue Galerie is endowed with probably the finest collection of furniture and household objects of this era outside of Austria and an exhibition of this sort is a golden opportunity to present these treasures to an appreciative audience. Many of the pieces I had seen before on prior visits, but by rearranging and rehanging, in effect redecorating the museum, everything looked fresh and could be viewed in a different context. If you are a fan of Modernism, this is the show for you!

Finally I headed over to Madison Avenue and 75th Street to The Whitney Museum of American Art where the first U.S. retrospective of Lyonel Feininger is now on view. To be perfectly honest this was not my first choice for a Saturday afternoon but I was very pleasantly surprised. "Lyonel Feininger: At the Edge of the World" presents the artist and his work with a charm and humanity that I found captivating and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

Lyonel Feininger was born in New York in 1871 but moved to Germany at the age of 16. He began his artistic career as an illustrator and caricaturist and his comic series' "Kin-der-Kids" and "Wee Willie Winkie's World" appeared in the Chicago Sunday Tribune in 1906. His early paintings reflected the influence of German Expressionism in their depictions of carnival characters in vivid colors but by 1912 he had moved on to Cubism and its deconstructed planes.

With World War I and the scarcity of materials, Feininger turned to the most available resource he could find, wood. Not only did he produce a beautiful series of wood cut prints, he also began crafting tiny wooden sculptures of trains, buildings and people. Although initially intended as toys for his sons, these miniatures developed a life of their own as they represented a "golden childhood" and perpetuated his obsession with a "City at the Edge of the World".

But it was after The Great War that Feininger achieved his greatest fame in the circle of the Bauhaus and its Utopian Society. His paintings of the period reflect his love of music, particularly the fugue where a single theme is built upon and expanded and modulated until it becomes magnificent. Likewise, his depictions of buildings and boats and seascapes become more complex, richer and full of emotion as layers of colors and forms are applied. It should come as no surprise that his work was noticed and decried by the Nazis as "degenerate" - an attribution that Feininger could not bear and he returned to New York after a 50 year absence.

Feininger lived in Manhattan until his death in 1956. Although he arrived as a virtual unknown in his birth city, his Modernist paintings of the skyline and the seashore slowly earned him a very respectable reputation, albeit never to the extent of his recognition in Germany. Thanks to the Whitney many more people will now discover the charisma and the power of this native son.

It's getting late and I've seen a lot of art, not to mention the miles I've walked! Time to head back and enjoy this perfect July evening with a glass of wine at an outdoor café and toast all the wonderful, diverse artists who have colored our world. Cheers!

"Betsabeé Romero: Lágrimas Negras" at The Neuberger Museum of Art

2011-07-05T18:05:00.005-04:00

On the drive home from Katonah and its wonderful "Double Solitaire" exhibition, I took a short detour and visited the Neuberger Museum of Art on the campus of SUNY in Purchase, New York. I knew a little bit about the Neuberger and its fabulous collection of Modern Art, but their current special exhibition, "Lágrimas Negras (Black Tears)" had been highly recommended by a colleague as a "must-see" if you're in the neighborhood. So, as I did, in fact, happen to be passing by, and it was still early in the afternoon, I thought why not?

After a rather challenging tour of the campus under construction I finally found the museum entrance and went in. I had no idea what to expect of the exhibition and was very happily surprised. Betsabeé Romero is a self-described "mechanic artist" and is one of Mexico's major contemporary artists. Using the automobile as a metaphor for the evolution of cultures, the artist transforms cars and their components into works of art that explore the conflicts between traditional ways of life and modern, high-speed, society.

Now all this might sound a little strange and maybe even depressing, but in Señora Romero's hands the old tires, fenders, rear view mirrors and hoods are transformed into beautiful objects. A sculpture of six Volkswagen fenders decorated with colored industrial tape and arranged in a spiral with the lights on is entitled "Rehileta de Canela (Cinnamon Pinwheel)", and is actually a graceful and compelling work. Old tires cut into long strips with Mexican folk images carved into the treads and colored with bits of chewed gum pasted into the carvings become "Simbolos Masticados". A video shot through the decorated windows of a Mexican taxi cab turns the city into a fairyland as the car drives around and around with music playing in "La Vuelta al Zócalo en 80 Secondo (Around the Zocaló in 80 Seconds)". And my favorite, "Ciudados que se Ven (Moving Cities)", 2004, transforms used tires into linocut prints as the engraved tire treads are inked and the images transferred onto long strips of cloth suspended from the ceiling.

When I visited this exhibition I realized that I had already seen Betsabeé Romero's work, most recently in Basel at the Museum Tinguely's current exhibition "Car Fetish: I Drive Therefore I Am" where her decorated and rose-filled automobile "Ayate Car" was on display. But the single installation shown there was no comparison to the multi-media exhibition on view until August 14th at the Neuberger. Cast-off automotive parts never looked so good!

"Double Solitaire" at the Katonah Museum of Art

2011-06-30T12:48:00.009-04:00

The tiny hamlet of Katonah is located about 40 miles north of New York City in Westchester County. It is known for famous residents past and present including John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States, Bill W., the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous and currently domestic doyenne, Martha Stewart. It is also noted for its outstanding cultural institutions including the Caramoor International Music Festival and the small but very significant Katonah Museum of Art.

The Katonah Museum of Art is a non-collecting museum that mounts ten to twelve shows annually, either guest-curated or developed in conjunction with another small institution. I became familiar with the museum several years ago when they produced a superb exhibition dedicated to the art of Joseph Cornell entitled "Andromeda Hotel" that was so well done it warranted a train ride to the suburbs to visit. This summer, in conjunction with the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Katonah Museum is presenting "Double Solitaire: The Surreal Worlds of Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy". Several years in the planning and already postponed once, this show has overcome its esoteric subject matter to achieve both critical and popular success and is proof that the public really will come out for something they don't quite understand but find intriguing.

Yves Tanguy was born in Paris in 1900 and grew up on the Brittany coast, an environment that influenced his work during his life. He was one of the original followers of André Breton's Surrealist Manifesto and remained a key member of the Movement throughout his career.

Katherine Linn Sage was the daughter of a wealthy Albany family whose parents divorced when she was quite young and she spent her formative years with her mother traveling in Europe. Although always interested in art, she did not begin her painting career until she was almost middle aged and divorced from an Italian nobleman.

At the International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936, Kay Sage saw Yves Tanguy's painting "I Am Waiting For You" and fell in love. Not just with the painting but with the artist whom she finally met in person two years later after he came to an exhibition of her work in Paris. "Kay Sage - man or woman? I didn't know. I just knew the paintings were very good" and Yves Tanguy was hooked. They fled Europe together (helping a few other refugee artist friends along the way) during World War 2, were married in Reno, Nevada, in 1940 and set up housekeeping in a farmhouse in Woodbury, Connecticut, turning the barn into two studios so they could paint.

As a couple Kay and Yves were inseparable, but as painters each retained his own identity and they refused to be considered a "team" of painters. The title of this exhibition, "Double Solitaire", aptly refers to their artistic lives together, dueling yet companionable, private yet shared, and was the name of the only other exhibition ever dedicated to this Surrealist "It" couple presented at the Wadsworth Atheneum in 1954.

For the first time their works are co-mingled, with 25 paintings by each artist hanging together in two galleries accompanied by revealing documentary photographs and printed material. It is easy to tell who painted what, but it is fascinating to see how they influenced each other in subtle but definite ways. Tanguy's early anthropomorphic landscapes with their dreamy, maybe nightmarish, overtones, hang alongside Sage's menacing monoliths of the same time. As their lives intertwine his works become less cluttered while hers get more complicated. Eventually a balance occurs as their compositions become more similar although Sage tends toward science fiction architecture and Tanguy a post-apocalyptic rubble.

When Yves Tanguy dropped dead of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1954, his widow was devastated. Her life had no meaning without him and the prophetic title of the original painting she saw of his, "I Am Waiting For You", became true when she shot herself in the heart to join him in Eternity. The 15 year marriage of Tanguy and Sage was remarkable partnership on many levels and they were able to live their lives as they painted their canvas', separate but together, a "Double Solitaire".

As I drove back to the City, past the many lovely homes and estates in the area, I thought about what it must have been like to live in Woodbury during the 1940's and 50's, surrounded by fellow artists including Calder, Matta and Gorky. Although they all socialized, Yves Tanguy and Kay Sage remained true to their Surrealist roots and never made the transition to the popular Abstract Expressionist movement. Their 15 year marriage was a remarkable partnership both emotionally and creatively, and they were able to live their lives as they painted their canvas', separate but together, a "Double Solitaire". Congratulations to curators Jonathan Stuhlman and Stephen Robeson Miller on a wonderful exhibition!

Left: Yves Tanguy "There, Motion Has Not Yet Ceased", 1945
Right: Kay Sage "I Saw Three Cities", 1944

Having a Ball in Basel

2011-06-19T12:59:00.010-04:00

For a relatively small city, Basel boasts a world class compliment of cultural institutions including over 40 museums, the Basel Theater staging plays, opera and the ballet, 25 smaller theaters, countless musical stages, 40 cinemas plus the internationally renowned art event of the season - Art Basel. This year Art Basel 42 opened to the public on June 15 and organizers were expecting over 60,000 visitors to pass through the Messe in this annual Modern and Contemporary art extravaganza.

Some of these visitors come only to see the art fair, but many, including myself, stay in town for a few days to enjoy the rest of what the city has to offer. As usual the local museums pulled out all the stops and we were treated to a plethora of wonderful exhibitions and I'd like to share some of my favorites with you.

Let's start at the Kunstmuseum, the world's first public municipal museum and home to an amazing permanent collection of works by Hans Holbein as well as masters of 19th and 20th Century art. This year they have drawn heavily on their own holdings to present "Konrad Witz" a 15th Century graphic artist, muralist and glass painter who was considered one of the most radical innovators of his time. From 1434 until he died in 1447, Witz lived and worked in Basel and it was here that he created some of his most famous altarpieces and panels. Drawing heavily on the techniques of his Netherlandish contemporaries, Witz pursued his own studies of light, shadow and reflections that gave his pieces a unique, almost other-worldly appearance. His portraits stare with mystical, almost surreal, expressions on their faces - a bold and cutting edge approach at the time. But what struck me the most about his paintings was the velvet. You could almost feel the soft pile of the luxurious velvet robes worn by the Madonnas, the angels and the Saints he depicted, beautiful to behold and a technological marvel at the time.

Moving downstairs to the museum's Prints and Drawings Department I popped in to a special exhibition entitled "From Daumier to Degas: French Nineteenth Century Prints". Of course, this is a favorite area of mine and I loved the examples of etchings by Degas, Manet and Pissarro, lithographs by Redon, Vuillard and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Now it's time to hop on the Number 6 tram for a short ride out to Riehen and the fabulous Fondation Beyeler - a must-see on any art tour of Basel. This summer's special exhibition explores the œuvres of two 20th Century sculptors, Romanian born Constantine Brancusi (1876-1957) and American Richard Serra (b. 1939). Now, I know and like the work of both of these artists, but they work in extremely different, and in my opinion not exactly complementary, styles. Brancusi's sensuous and elegant "Birds in Flight", "The Kiss" and "Sleeping Muse" are a sharp contrast to the massive and brutal "Strike", "House of Cards" and "The Consequence of Consequence". The curators' desire to demonstrate similarities and differences might have been better served with two separate exhibitions but they are to be commended on assembling so many superb examples of each of these important artists' works.

Finally we are going to head back into the city and visit the Museum Tinguely, a private foundation dedicated to the "Metamechanical" or "Kinetic" works of Swiss artist Jean Tinguely. Situated on the banks of the Rhine and opened in 1996, this stunning museum is filled with Tinguely's fantastical moving sculptures, built entirely of found objects, that whirr and ding and squirt and spin in a mad, magical and mesmerizing dance.

Jean Tinguely (1925-1991) was also an auto racing fanatic and it is this side of him to which the museum pays homage in its special exhibition "Car Fetish: I drive, therefore I am". Comprising 160 artworks including videos, paintings, photography and installation pieces, the show explores the enormous influence the automobile has had on 20th Century art. Set up as a driving circuit, the exhibition features works by many diverse artists including Giacomo Balla, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Mel Ramos and Richard Prince.

Far from just a means of transportation, our cars often reflect our cultures, our personalities and our desires as they become our moving living rooms through life. This look at the "art history of automotive inspiration" is a very revealing study of just how much we, as a society, invest our identities in what we drive.

A very fun touch to this exhibition is the drive-in cinema installed on the museum lawn. About 30 old cars are set up in a semi-circle around a large screen and one can call to reserve a car for the evening's movie. I only wish I'd had time to enjoy the Swiss version of an American institution!

It has been a great few days in Basel but now it's time to go home to New York. I hope you'll check back as I explore this summer's offerings and share them on my blog. See you soon!

What's On In Paris

2011-06-12T13:45:00.005-04:00

One of the first exhibitions I went to at the Metropolitan Museum of Art after moving to New York City was the amazing retrospective of the paintings of Edouard Manet in 1984. I remember listening to the audio guide with Philippe de Montebello's mellifluous tones describing the intense, velvety blacks and being thrilled to the point of buying one of every postcard I could find in the gift shop. What does New York in the 80s have to do with Paris of the 21st Century? I'll tell you. For the first time since that important show, a new exhibition with a fresh perspective on the artist and his work is on view at the Musée d'Orsay. Evidently this is what the public is craving as the galleries were filled to capacity even in the early morning viewing hours when I thought I was so clever to avoid a crowd!

To be sure, the curators can put almost any spin on the work of Edouard Manet (1832-1883) as the paintings speak for themselves. In this case the focus is on his anti-establishment, modernist tendencies but in my humble opinion the case is never clearly made. What I, and I am sure 90% of the other visitors, came to see were the beautiful paintings that we know from books and reproductions, in no matter what context. We were not disappointed. "Manet: The Man Who Invented Modernity" is a greatest hits parade of 19th Century masterpieces. His startling "L'Homme mort (Dead Matador)", sensuous "Olympia", disturbing "Le Balcon (The Balcony)" and reverent "Christ aux anges (Dead Christ With Angels)" were all hanging along with less major works, pastels, drawings, decorated letters and books. The only painting missing was "Un Bar aux Folies Bergère" but there was enough to see to make this a really wonderful morning.

Moving on to the early 20th Century and the master of Futurism, Gino Severini, in a small but exquisite exhibition at the Musée de l'Orangerie. Born in Italy but artistically formed in Paris, Severini's styles progressed from Pointillism to Cubism to Neo Classicism, but it is for Futurism that he is most well known All of these movements emphasized division and dissection of forms but with Futurism the deconstructed images create an intense feeling of movement and speed. One can almost see the wheels turning on the canvas.

Severini was a star of the discipline but the outbreak of World War I changed everything. Palettes darkened and a more serious, mathematical approach, Cubism, became the style Despite successful exhibitions in London and New York, Severini marked the end of the War with a return to his Tuscan roots and a more classic approach to art. His later works were no longer fantasies of color and motion, they were murals based on the Commedia dell'arte or traditional still lifes. While still very accomplished the glory days were over. "Gino Severini: Futuriste et néoclassique" is on view at the Musée de l'Orangerie until July 25, and while you're there don't miss the magnificent Monet "Waterlily" oval mural rooms upstairs!

Another artist who worked at almost the same tie but in a totally different milieu was the Dutch painter Kees Van Dongen. Now on view at the Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris, "Van Dongen: Fauve, Anarchist, Socialite" is not simply a review of his stylistic periods, rather a look at his life, his œuvre and the contradictions within.

Van Dongen came to Paris in 1897 as a rebel intent on shaking things up. His style evolved from Steinlen inspired drawings of the Paris underworld, to the riot of color typified by the Fauves, to Middle Eastern exoticism and his signature women with heavily kohl-rimmed eyes to his ultimate cocktail era portraits of elegant flappers.

Van Dongen may have been an anarchist but he was far from a starving artist. Successful throughout his career, he earned a huge reputation and commensurate fees while socializing with the Paris glitterati of the Roaring Twenties. He enjoyed "the good life", both personally and professionally, until he died in 1966. "Living is the most beautiful picture - the rest is just painting" - words to live by from this paradoxical artist.

Finally, some readers may remember a blog of June 2008 when I visited an installation by Richard Serra that was part of the MONUMENTA series, an annual event (more or less) where the organizers invite an artist of international renown to create a site-specific work to fill the monumental nave of the glorious Grand Palais.

This year marks the fourth edition of MONUMENTA and it features "Leviathan" by superstar Anish Kapoor. Born in Bombay in 1954, but a resident of London since the early 1970's Kapoor is probably my personal favorite in the world of contemporary sculpture and installation pieces and a natural choice for the MONUMENTA challenge. Using a single color, a single object and a single form, Kapoor has successfully created a space within the space of Grand Palais that invites the visitor to walk around and inside the work, to immerse him or herself in the monochrome and to have an intensely contemplative experience. For me, the exterior surface was like a purple skin, pliable and warm, and entering the sculpture was a little like entering inside the human body. I found the whole experience fantastic and judging from the other people standing there in open mouthed amazement, I was not alone. I don't know yet who the next MONUMENTA artist will be, but he's got a tough act to follow.

"Leviathan" interior

It's been a wonderful ten days here in Paris and I've seen a lot of great art but now it's time to trade brie and Bordeaux for wurst and beer as I head off for Switzerland and Art Basel 42. See you soon!

"L'Art de l'automobile"

2011-06-08T16:14:00.007-04:00

I remember being astonished the first time I met a New Yorker who could not drive. I couldn't believe that an adult really, truly, did not know how to drive a car. My parents loved cars, in fact the first car I was transported in as an infant was a Jaguar XK 140 sports car - lovely to look at but not exactly a family wagon, especially in a damp climate. I couldn't wait to turn sixteen and get my driver's license - my ticket to ride - FREEDOM!

So even though I live in New York and do not actually own a car, I can drive, in fact I like to drive, and I love the style of a really beautiful machine. So the prospect of an entire exhibition devoted to the art of the automobile was a "must see" in Paris.

This is no ordinary car show. It is the crème de la crème comprising seventeen masterpieces of vintage cars from the private collection of Ralph Lauren, on view at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, on the rue de Rivoli. Mr Lauren is known world wide for his sophisticated "country manor" look and for making it almost cool to be preppy. What is probably less well known is that he is a connoisseur of fine automobiles and has an enviable collection of top of the line models. But if you stop and think for a minute there is a natural connection between designing elegant and practical clothes and appreciating polished and powerful machines.

For the next two months the normally staid main floor of this museum next to the Louvre has been transformed into the ultimate car showroom. The central section shows a dozen racing models ranging from a 1933 Bugatti 59 Grand Prix to a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB, the left side section features four touring models on rotating pedestals and the right side offers a 1996 McLaren F1 LM, an homage to the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours road race. Each of the cars has been meticulously restored, has actually been raced or at least driven and represents a chef d'œuvre in both design and engineering. Many are right hand drive, some are one-seaters, a few have marvelous details like leather straps to hold down the hood or copper wire to fasten the body parts together, one has gull wings and another has a rear fin that looks like a batmobile. Each and every one is a work of art.

Whether you drive a bicycle or a Porsche this is a show that will amaze. Seventeen exquisite examples of design and engineering, each with its own tale of speed and daring and each a testament to the beauty of the machine aesthetic, right next door to the most famous museum in the world. Thank you Mr Lauren!

"Watteau: The Drawings" at the Royal Academy

2011-05-23T10:20:00.009-04:00

As I was passing through London on my way back to New York I checked the local gallery listings to see what was on. What a nice surprise to find the first British retrospective of drawings by Jean Antoine Watteau on view right now at the Royal Academy of Arts. Now I am not a connoisseur of old master drawings, but Watteau is special and I couldn't pass up this opportunity to learn more about the artist and his work.

Watteau was born in 1684 to a roof tiler and his wife in Valenciennes, France, an area recently ceded from Flanders. A precocious child, he was studying art in Paris by the the age of eighteen and worked as a commercial artist to practice his craft and hopefully catch the eye of a wealthy patron. His early works included drawings of barber's and draper's shops and a series of fashion plates that were reproduced in print.

The early 1700's marked the final years in the reign of King Louis XIV and the more relaxed period of the French Regency. For the aristocracy, it was an era of more lighthearted pursuits and this was reflected in the art. Watteau earned his reputation by creating a totally new pictorial genre, the fête galante, a spirited portrayal of the upper classes engaged in fun and games usually in a garden or other outdoor setting. Watteau became a master of this form, often incorporating bits from the Italian Commedia dell'Arte and depicting his patrons in Arcadian scenes that implied a harmony between man and nature.

Despite what might be considered frivolous subject matter today, Watteau was by no means a dilettante and his skill as a draftsman remains unparalleled. His early red chalk drawings are exquisitely rendered and he later perfected a technique called trois crayons (three pencils) that involved drawing with a mix of red, black and white chalks often with gouache highlights. In fact, Watteau is probably far better known for his drawings than his oil paintings and his works on paper are coveted by collectors.

Watteau took his inspiration from modern life, although he occasionally drew from history and the Old Masters. A 1715 visit by a delegation from Persia to Louis XIV at Versailles presented a wealth of new material for Watteau who portrayed these exotic guests with great attention to detail. He applied the same care to his depictions of Savoyards, a group of people who came down from the mountains of Savoie during the winter to try to earn a meager living in the cities. In a rare show of sympathy to these indigent people, Watteau focused his depictions on their dignity and humanity rather than their sorry circumstances.

In 1717 Watteau was commissioned to design four oval panels on the theme of the seasons to decorated the dining room of the collector Pierre Crozat. Although unschooled in sketching anatomy, Watteau quickly became very proficient in his drawings of nudes, so much so that he personally destroyed his notebooks before he could be decried as immoral. The drawings that survive show an intimate connection with the models and a sensuality in their portrayal that might very well have been construed as wanton in the early 18th Century.

Later that year Watteau was finally accepted as a full member of the Academie Royale de Peinture et Sculpture but his success was fleeting. Suffering from tuberculosis and left penniless by a bad business deal, Watteau died at the age of 37 in 1721. His life was short but his influence lived on in the work of such painters as Boucher, Reynolds, Gainsborough and Picasso. This exhibition is a fitting tribute to Watteau's superb eye and technical proficiency and a wonderful snapshot of life in the time of The Sun King.

A Visit to Santiago de Compostela

2011-05-20T05:17:00.006-04:00

In the 1st Century A.D., Saint James, one of the original Apostles, preached throughout Europe ending up in what is now the Province of Galicia in northwestern Spain. According to legend, along the way he rescued a knight from drowning in the sea and the knight resurfaced covered in scallop shells. Saint James then returned to Judea where he was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa. The story continues that his body was recovered by angels who transported him back to Spain on a rudderless ship where he was entombed in stone and interred in a field. Nearly 800 years later, a hermit witnessed a miraculous light and the sound of angels singing that led him to the burial place, and the rest, as they say, is history. Today, Santiago [Saint Iago, or James] de Compostela [Campus Stellae = field of stars] is a destination for Christians on a par with Rome and Jerusalem.

Now the "real" way to visit Santiago de Compostela is to make a pilgrimage that involves at least a 100 kilometer walk along the Portuguese Route, the English Route or the most popular camino francès or French Route that crosses the Pyrenees from France and heads west across northern Spain. Carrying backpacks and walking sticks, often adorned with a scallop shell, modern day pilgrims must collect stamps in a passport, or credencial, along the route to be presented at the final destination to prove they have walked the distance and can truly claim the honor of having made a pilgrimage. How many people make this trek you wonder? Well, last year was a Holy Year in Spain (meaning Saint James' Day, July 25th, fell on a Sunday) and Santiago de Compostela welcomed 300,000 pilgrims in addition to the millions of less dedicated visitors who arrived via car, train or bus, like me.

I have long been enthralled with the idea of making a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, not entirely for religious reasons but also as a personal test and a period of reflection, however the possibility of spending weeks hiking and away from civilization, and my computer, is not realistic at this time. So when the opportunity to visit Santiago de Compostela in a less pure but considerably quicker way came up, I grabbed it, and rode in modern comfort to this mythical place.

The skyline of Santiago de Compostela is dominated by the towers of its Cathedral that stands on the Praza do Obradoiro in the casco antiguo, or Old Town. Initially constructed in 829 AD, it was destroyed by the Moors in 1000 AD (fortunately the tomb of Saint James was not harmed) and rebuilt in magnificent splendor in the 11th Century. The original Romanesque structure was re-fronted in the 18th Century with a more fashionable Baroque façade now stained ochre with lichen and moss. This is the finish line for pilgrims who have walked the camino for days and weeks and many were overcome with emotion as they looked up to see the statue of Saint James the Pilgrim with a staff and a cloak welcoming them from the top of the Cathedral.

Inside many pilgrims go directly to hug another statue of Saint James, kiss his cloak and to put their hand on the column that also bears his likeness. A staffed row of confessionals awaits any pilgrim who feels the desire to confess and earn a plenary indulgence that purportedly cleanses him of mortal sin in the hope of salvation. There is a special Mass for pilgrims at noon when the Priest reads the names of all who have completed the walk that day and may, if one is really lucky, culminate in the ritual of the botafumeiro (see replica at right). Here, an enormous silver censer is hoisted over the apse and eight men operate ropes that cause it to swing like a pendulum at speeds up to 40 miles per hour to release the perfumed smoke.

Now as I was just a tourist I had a slightly different but very pleasant experience in the Cathedral. I was enthralled with the ornate interior decorated with lots of gilding and huge polychrome angels bearing archers' bows along the ceiling. I took the stairs under the altar to see the crypt where the relics of Saint James and two disciples are contained in a massive silver casket and I visited the museum next door to see other ecclesiastical treasures before exiting through the gift shop to the Plaza de la Quintana.

A short walk around the corner and I was in the Praza das Praterias on the south side of the Cathedral that was once home to many silversmiths and is now the site of some very lovely shops. I was at the edge of the Cathedral enclave and at the beginning of the town with its 15th Century stone arcades built to protect pilgrims who slept in the streets. Today the narrow passageways are lined with boutiques selling everything from fine silver objects to t-shirts sporting the yellow arrow that points the way to Santiago along the routes.

The old town is also famous for its many fish restaurants and I took advantage of the hour to stop in for lunch along the Rua Franco (not named for the dictator but rather the country, France). I feasted on small plates of ham and cheese, chorizo, a sort of potato pancake and octopus with sweet paprika all accompanied by a delightful Galician white wine. It was delicious!

My stay in Santiago de Compostela, indeed my trip to Spain, is nearly over. As I was walking back through the arcades and plazas I was struck by a most unexpected sound - someone was playing the bagpipes! It turns out that the Celtic roots are very deep here in Galicia and as a native Nova Scotian who grew up with bagpipes I took that as a very good sign that one day I will return again, maybe even as a pilgrim!

A Visit to The Rock of Gibraltar

2011-05-15T13:03:00.004-04:00

The gateway to the Mediterranean, the southernmost point on the Iberian Peninsula and a symbol of solidity since ancient times, the Territory of Gibraltar is a British Protectorate of 2,642 square miles bordering Andalusia, Spain. Visitors to Gibraltar are greeted with Metropolitan Police "Bobbies", double decker buses, prices in Pounds Sterling and a plethora of pubs serving fish & chips and stout!

Of course Gibraltar is most famous for the Rock that has marked the separation between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea for mariners since the beginning of civilization. Originally inhabited by the Phoenicians, it had been occupied briefly by the Carthaginians, Romans and the Visigoth Kingdom of Hispania before coming under Moorish control for seven centuries. In 1462 Spain re-asserted its rule until the Anglo-Dutch of 1704 that ultimately gave Britain dominion after the Treaty of Utrecht.

Gibraltar's location at the tip of Spain and just a stone's throw from Morocco made it an ideal naval base and it played a key part in Lord Nelson's Battle of Trafalgar, the Crimean War and control of the British Empire east of the Suez Canal. Today the economy of Gibraltar is based on tourism, financial services and the shipping industry and its 30,000 inhabitants enjoy a special relationship with both England, the governor, and Spain, the cultural inspiration.

Now I have to admit that I knew very little about Gibraltar when I arrived there the other day, but I came away very impressed with the rich history and its unique situation due in large part to the geography of the region. The Rock of Gibraltar, or as Greek legend has it, one of the two Pillars of Hercules (the other being Morocco's Mont Abyla), dominates the landscape both physically and sentimentally, but there is more to Gibraltar than The Rock.

A walk along the waterfront takes me to "Irish Town", a quaint section of narrow streets and low, tile-clad houses, all with the requisite Spanish balconies looking onto the lanes. Farther along I came to the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, an unimposing structure with a heavily Moorish flavor that serves as the seat of the Anglican Diocese in Europe. Near the Cathedral is the Museum of Gibraltar that offers a charming history - natural, political, military and cultural - of the region including the archeological remains of a Moorish bathhouse. On I went, past the cemetery where many sailors who perished in the Battle of Trafalgar are buried (Lord Nelson himself was preserved in a barrel of wine and transported to England to be laid to rest), past the Governor's Mansion where John Lennon and Yoko Ono were married, to the Botanical Gardens to wait for the gondola that would take visitors up the 1,400 foot elevation to the summit of The Rock.

A six-minute ride and there we were - on top of The Rock of Gibraltar! Needless to say the view was impressive with Spain on one side, Africa on the other and two major bodies of water as the dividers. But the most amazing sights of all were the only true native inhabitants of the area - the famous Barbary Macaques, or Apes as they are more commonly referred to. Superstition holds that if the monkeys ever leave, so will the British, but they seemed to be thriving, and rather enjoying their habitat, so there is probably no need for concern.

Back down The Rock and a little more exploring through the delightful old town before it was time to leave. Unfortunately I did not have time to visit Europa Point, Gibraltar's southernmost tip, or The Great Siege Tunnels, excavated during the Spanish War of Succession and used most recently during World War II, but I enjoyed my brief visit enormously and have a new appreciation for anything as "Solid as The Rock of Gibraltar"!

A Walk in the Footsteps of Antoni Gaudí

2011-05-14T01:59:00.009-04:00

¡Hola from the beautiful port city of Barcelona - 2,000 years old and a fabulous combination of Gothic and Modern, Moorish and Spanish, traditional and avant-garde!

The capital of Catalonia has many famous sons and daughters including the artists Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, opera singers Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras and cellist Pablo Casals, but none is as renowned or as overwhelmingly identified with the city as the Moderniste architect Antoni Gaudí. So, with limited time to explore this multi-faceted city I decided to focus on this singular citizen and set off on an all-day walking tour of Gaudí's marvelous edifices.

It was easy to start - the first stop turned out to be just a few meters from my hotel! Palau Güell (1886-1888) was built as a private residence for Gaudí's great patron, textile baron Count Eusebi de Güell and was the project that catapulted the architect's career. Unfortunately, at the time of my visit the interior was closed to the public due to renovation so I could only admire it from the outside. A monumental entrance with parabolic arches, fanciful iron gates and doors and decorated with the Catalan coat of arms topped by a helmet with a winged dragon was a pretty good hint that this was not an ordinary home. But the best evidence came when I looked up and saw the multi-colored ceramic chimney pots like a crazy topiary crown!

Turning left onto the central promenade of old Barcelona, La Rambla, I cruised along with a sea of populace past flower stalls, human statues, men selling bizarre noise makers and a few covert games of three-card Monte, up to the Plaça de Catalunya and the Passeig de Gràcia. Here the crowd thinned out and the boutiques got fancier and after a short walk I came to what is probably Guadí's most famous private commission, Casa Batilló. Originally constructed in 1877, the townhouse was purchased by the Batlló Family who requested a total remodeling by Gaudí during 1904-1906. The façade of the building is surreal. Known locally as the Casa dels ossos (House of Bones) there is not a single straight line to be found. Rather, the onlooker can imagine anything from a skeleton to an underwater kingdom to a dragon's scales. A warped exterior wall of carved sandstone is covered in a mosaic of broken ceramic tiles with irregularly shaped windows and balconies set in.

I was delighted to discover that the house is now open to the public and offers tours of the interior enhanced by an excellent audio guide. Not surprisingly the outrageous exterior carnival of shapes and colors was echoed on the inside but with one very important detail. Despite the seeming impracticality of the design, Gaudí was actually very thoughtful and creative in his attention to creature comforts. For example, each of the sinuously carved doors and windows was outfitted with a discreet ventilation screen that could be opened or closed to allow the circulation of air. Gaudí also used architecture to express his religious devotion and the house is not only furnished with a convertible chapel on the parlor floor, it also bears many symbols of Christianity such as a roof line representation of the Dragon of Evil impaled on St. George's cross and a turret with anagrams of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and Gaudí's unique four-armed cross.

Back out onto the Passeig de Gràcia and a short walk up to the corner of Carrer de Provença to see Gaudí's massive five-story building Casa Milà, better known as La Pedrera (The Stone Quarry). Built between 1906-1910 for a wealthy widow and her new husband, the exterior features the same undulating lines and elaborate ironwork as Casa Batlló but is not as sublimely whimsical. Tours of the interior including the rooftop chimney park and a restored apartment are also available but I was running late and still had a long walk to get to my next destination, Gaudí's magnificent cathedral Temple Expiatori de La Sagrada Familia.

Begun in 1882 and still very much a construction site, Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Familia was conceived as a virtual "Bible in Stone" and has become the very symbol of the City of Barcelona. The exterior is highlighted with shell-like towers, often topped with Gaudí's signature colored ceramic finials, which stand guard over the three façades dedicated to The Nativity, The Passion and the Glory of Jesus. The interior resembles a forest with tree-like columns reaching high up to the ceiling where an oculus sheds light upon the altar. The stained glass windows are vividly colored in oranges, greens and reds and the overall effect is much lighter and more transporting than most traditional Gothic cathedrals. Consecrated last November, the anticipated completion date is still at least 20 years in the future, but this work in progress is a must-see on any visit to the city.

It's nearly three o'clock and time for lunch! Heading back to the Diagonal I came across an appealing tapas bar and sat down to a delicious feast of little plates of ham and olives and cheese and octopus and some things I'm not sure what they were, all washed down with a perfect local beer. Restored, it was time for the climb up to Barcelona's answer to Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens, Parc Güell.

Intended to become a residential estate in the style of an English garden city, the project did not succeed and the venture was turned into a public park instead. Today both residents and visitors come to enjoy the view from sculpted gardens and recreation areas all decorated with Gaudí's signature broken ceramic tile mosaics. There is also a museum dedicated to the master in what had been the Park's show house that was actually occupied by Gaudí from 1906 to 1926, the year he died in an ignominious tram accident.

Finally it's time to head downhill to the last stop on the tour. Just off the Carrer Gran de Gràcia, on the Carrer Carolines, is the Casa Vicens, an example of Gaudí's early work done in the Orientalist style. Built as a private residence, the dwelling comprises four floors with Moorish arches and tile decorations on three façades. It has turrets, a fountain and a large garden and is surrounded by a wall featuring Gaudí's characteristic ironwork and floral themes. The home remains in private hands with no public access so I had to be content with gazing from across the street!

Although it is still sunny and warm it has been a long day and I covered a lot of kilometers on my Gaudí expedition. It's time to go back to the hotel to have a little rest before dinner in one of Barcelona's many fabulous restaurants. I will be leaving here tomorrow but please check back for the next stop in my Iberian Itinerary! ¡Adios!

"Rooms With A View" at the Met

2011-05-05T15:29:00.007-04:00

One exhibition that has been high on my "to see" list is the very popular "Rooms With a View: The Open Window in the 19th Century" now being presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And this glorious spring afternoon seemed like the perfect time to walk through Central Park to visit the museum and see what everyone was talking about.

This small but very elegant show presents the work of about forty artists, mostly Northern European, many of whom are practically unheard of on this side of the Atlantic. A real pity it turns out as these exquisitely rendered drawings and paintings are not only quite beautiful but are at the same time intriguing and extremely intimate.

The exhibition explores the Romantic theme of the open window - a metaphor for longing, for escape, for the unattainable. Almost voyeuristic in nature, the visitor experiences an intimate peek into a private domain with the added perspective of a glimpse into the world beyond. There are paintings of decorated rooms with figures sewing, reading, working and looking out at the world, of spartan rooms with no distraction but the view through an open window and of artists' studios with painters working at easels or drawing on sketchpads. All convey the same feelings of confinement, contemplation and division.

The star of the show is the German artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) (see "Woman at the Window" top right) whose mastery of the genre inspired followers such as Georg Friedrich Kersting (see "Caspar David Friedrich in his Studio" right), Adolf Menzel and Martinus Rørbye (see "View From the Artist's Window" upper left). All aspired to convey the "picture within a picture", or "story within a story" that captivated the imagination of the 19th Century, and now the 21st Century audience. Which goes to show that some themes are always modern, no matter what the circumstances. The interiors and the fashions may change but the view from inside looking out remains. "Rooms With a View" can be seen at The Met until the Fourth of July.

"His & Hers" at F.I.T.

2011-04-27T16:40:00.007-04:00

I was walking along Seventh Avenue the other day when I passed the Fashion Institute of Technology and realized that I had not visited the Museum at FIT in quite a while. So having some time to spare before I had to be at my appointment, I took a peek at the current exhibition "His & Hers".

The aim of the show is to explore the similarities and differences in men's and women's fashions from the eighteenth century to the present. Not surprisingly the early styles are more gender specific in design than the "unisex" modes of the late twentieth century but there were certain areas where feminine and masculine overlapped even in the 1700s.

This evolution of gender neutrality in fashion is interesting to observe through examples of styles from the museum's own collection. Beginning with the premise that historical fancy dress for both men and women was often lavishly embroidered and decorated in a manner that would be considered "feminine" today and continuing through the "masculinization" of women's clothing with the popularity of divided skirts for sporting costumes, we can clearly trace the development of such avant garde statements as Yves Saint Laurent's iconic "Smoking" tuxedo for women in the 1980's.

The show offers many examples of men's and women's clothing from opulent antique gowns and court suits to "mod" jumpsuits from the groovy sixties. On view are evening clothes, sportswear, wedding attire, nightclothes, career suits and casual clothes all intended to enhance the idea that masculine and feminine, if not interchangeable, have more in common than one thinks.

"His & Hers" may not fully make the case for equality in dress, but it does give one something to think about - but hurry, the show closes on the 10th of May!

"Picasso: Guitars 1912-1914" at MoMA

2011-04-23T16:18:00.008-04:00

"What is it?"
"Does it rest on a pedestal?"
"Does it hang on a wall?"
"What is it, painting or sculpture?"

So wondered the bewildered visitors to Picasso's studio at 242 Boulevard Raspail in Paris when confronted with his latest creation.

"It's nothing, it's el guitare" responded the artist nonchalantly. The time was late 1912, and Pablo Picasso had made a guitar. Not a wooden instrument with frets and steel strings, but a cardboard version that had been cut and folded and and threaded with twine and looked a little like a guitar if you used your imagination but evidently posed more questions than it answered.

El guitare became Picasso's obsession for the next two years as he created several variations on the cardboard construction and finally, in 1914, a sheet metal form with metal wires as strings. What these seemingly childish pursuits were, in fact, was a breakthrough period in Picasso's work that led to the development of Cubism and other 20th Century art movements. The cardboard guitar, in all its simplicity, paved the way for de-construction of planes and shapes and inspired a whole new way of looking at things.

These two cutting edge guitars were eventually donated by the artist to New York's Museum of Modern Art where they are currently on display along with 70 closely connected collages, drawings, paintings and photographs that they inspired. "Picasso: Guitars 1912-1914" is a special exhibition devoted to this very particular, watershed period in Pablo Picasso's career. Very specific, not overwhelming and extremely interesting, this small but excellent show clearly demonstrates the profound influence the guitar form had on Picasso, his art, and eventually on his fellow artists.

Following the initial fabrication of the cardboard guitar, Picasso set forth on an exploration of unconventional techniques and materials. With the guitar as a theme he created collages and paintings using "Papery Procedures" incorporating newspaper, wallpaper and sheet music onto the canvas and "Powdery Procedures" where the pigment was mixed with grit to give it texture, or painted to look like wood grain or marble as a trompe l'œuil. The results were stunning and the guitar became the central subject of many works, often in combination with wine bottles and glasses, cups of coffee, with the head of a girl or a man and with "F holes" added to become a violin.

Interestingly, Picasso did not publicly exhibit his pre-World War I musical instrument works until the late 1960s, but he did have them photographed at the time, often in groups as a documentation of what he was working on. These photographs were published shortly after in avant garde journals such as "Les Soirées de Paris" and give an amazing glimpse into the world of this visionary artist.

Pablo Picasso was a larger than life artist and personality and his legend continues to grow. This exhibition explores just a tiny chapter in his career, but an important one, and puts a lot of his later work into better perspective. "Picasso: Guitars" is on view at MoMA until June 6th.

"Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay" at the Cooper Hewitt

2011-04-16T16:22:00.012-04:00

Last month I visited the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and reported back on the sparkling exhibition "Set In Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef and Arpels". Today I returned to visit the second floor galleries and an exhibition that opened while I was in Paris that is dedicated to the work of one of my very favorite 20th Century artists, Sonia Delaunay.

Sarah Stern was born in the Ukraine in 1885. After being adopted at the age of five by her wealthy uncle, Henri Terk, young Sarah moved to St Petersburg where she enjoyed all the privileges of an affluent, well connected Jewish household. Her exposure to the fine arts was augmented with travels through the capitals of Europe and an excellent education including private lessons in drawing and painting. Her natural talents as an artist were quickly recognized and in 1905 she moved to Paris and began formal studies at the Academie de la Palette and visiting galleries and salons to really soak in the scene.

Here's where her life gets interesting. A marriage to the German collector and dealer Wilhelm Uhde allowed her to remain in Paris rather than return to her family in Russia and furthered her education in the "business" of art. However, it was in Uhde's gallery that she met and fell madly in love with Robert Delaunay and her husband, realizing that he didn't stand a chance, graciously stepped aside and divorced her so that she and Robert could be married.

Robert and Sonia were true soul mates. Together they developed their avant garde color theories of Orphism (a brighter version of Cubism) and Simultaneity (color as a major element in the creation of form and movement) and though they worked separately on most projects, each influenced the other greatly.

The practical reality was that Sonia's talents as a designer would provide the financial security for Robert to paint his canvas' and she was able to support her family through commissions for ballet and opera costumes, textile design and custom clothing. "Casa Sonia" in Spain and "L'Atelier Simultané" in Paris were frequented by such patrons as Gloria Swanson and Nancy Cunard who were attracted to her bold geometric compositions in strong colors. In the 1930s, Sonia became a major designer for the Dutch department store Metz & Co to whom she provided over 200 styles. She also collaborated with the poets Blaise Cendrars and Tristan Tzara to illustrate several artist books which are prized by collectors to this day.

The span from 1918 until the mid 1930's was a watershed time in Sonia Delaunay's career and it is this period that the Cooper Hewitt focus' on in this retrospective. Featuring literally hundreds of textile samples and drawings, and augmented with photographs, actual dresses and accessories, the exhibition "Color Moves: Art and Fashion" clearly demonstrates the artist's avant garde genius in the field of design. I mean, imagine a geometric knit bathing suit on the Riviera in 1922 and you're talking style!

Sadly, the Great Depression spelled an end to her fashionable boutiques and worse still her husband Robert died of cancer in 1941. She survived World War II hiding in the French countryside where she also managed to protect the rolled up canvas' of her husband and his dear friend Hans Arp. After the war she returned to Paris and resumed her career as an artist although never with the same verve as before. In the years after her death in 1979, Sonia Delaunay has finally emerged from the shadow of her husband and has earned the esteem of both the art and design communities. "Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay" is a major tribute to this outstanding colorist and should not be missed!

P.S. All of the color illustrations are pochoir prints from Sonia Delaunay's 1925 album "Ses Peintures, Ses Objets, Ses Tissus Simultanés, Ses Modes" and can be found on my website: GeorginaKelman.com

A Visit to Les Invalides

2011-03-30T07:17:00.016-04:00

I have long been fascinated with the period around the French Revolution and its cast of characters and have visited many of the historic sites associated with the era. Yet one has always been difficult to make time for despite its being very centrally located in the VIIième Arrondissement of Paris. But this trip, thanks to a special exhibition that has received very good reviews, I finally made the pilgrimage to the Hôtel National des Invalides and the Musée de l'Armée.

The Hôtel des Invalides began in 1674 as a town governed by its own military and religious rules and featuring a barracks, convent, hospital, veterans' home and workshops for tapestries, shoe repair and the illumination (decoration) of manuscripts. During the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte, the municipality was converted into a totally military institution with the final act being the installation of Napoleon's tomb (see right) in the chapel under the Dome in 1861.

Today visitors can wander the former compound from the imposing Dome Chapel to the Main Courtyard with its impressive collection of French classical cannons. History buffs will revel in the special museums within including the Charles de Gaulle Historial, The Two World Wars, Ancient Armour and Arms XIIIth-XVIIth Century, From Louis XIV to Napoleon III and the Saint-Louis des Invalides Chapel. But right now there is a very special reason to visit this monument - The Princes of Europe's Armour - a fabulous survey of French armour for both royals and their horses.

By the 16th Century gunpowder and firearms began to replace the use of spears and cross bows in European warfare. This change in weaponry meant that chain mail and traditional suits of armour were no longer effective in protecting soldiers in battle and they became more ceremonial than functional. What developed was a sort of "fashion statement" conveying the wealth and importance of the wearer. Royal arms and armour became elaborate symbols of the Crown and were often enhanced with precious metals, and sometimes jewels, to ensure that their status was not overlooked.

Each country had its own distinctive style of armorial decoration and the French workshops were known for ornate, embossed suits with embellishments in gold and silver. Intricate designs featuring mythological creatures, animals, nymphs, foliage and historical events, were created by French designers but often executed by master craftsmen in Antwerp, Belgium. French armour enjoyed a brief "Golden Age" from 1550-1600 when it reigned as the most desirable for crowned heads from Stockholm to Dresden.

Which brings me to the exhibition now on view at the Musée de l'Armée. Thanks to a major international effort, the museum has assembled a substantial collection of armour of the period including suits, helmets, shields, swords, breastplates and even horse armour. What makes this even more interesting is a set of life-size patterns on paper borrowed from a Munich museum and displayed alongside the pieces themselves. It is fascinating to compare the detailed drawings with the finished products and to consider the painstaking craftsmanship that went into their construction. The medieval objects of protection have been transformed into works of art. Arms and armour may seem like a pretty dry subject these days, but a visit to Les Invalides will bring the worlds of jousting and parade in the Middle Ages right back into the 21st Century!

P.S. Tonight is my last night in Paris before returning to New York. As a special send-off I saw for the first time in ages the group known as "Pari-Roller" who get together every Friday night since 1994 to roller blade through the streets of Paris. It was a marvelous sight, and one I took as a very good omen, to see the thousand or so participants roller blading along the Boulevard Saint Germain. A perfect farewell to a wonderful trip!

A Spring Saturday in Paris

2011-03-28T16:28:00.011-04:00

Spring is springing everywhere here in Paris and that includes a new crop of museum exhibitions as well. So Saturday afternoon I took advantage of a lovely afternoon and rode the bus over to the wonderful Musée Jacquemart-André on the Boulevard Haussmann to see their latest special exhibition "Dans l'intimité des frères - Caillebotte - Peintre et Photographe". Housed in the former mansion of Edouard André and his wife, Nélie Jacquemart, a pair of inveterate collectors who turned their magnificent home into a private museum and later bequeathed the house and its contents to the Institute de France, this is one of my favorite museums in Paris. The residence was built in the 1870's with no expense spared in design or decoration as a venue for entertaining and a showcase for the couple's fabulous art collection. Today visitors can view prime works by Fragonard, Botticelli, Canaletto and Rembrandt displayed in the original sumptuous surroundings.

In addition to the superb permanent collection the museum often mounts small but excellent temporary shows. The most recent expo is a double homage to the work of the Caillebotte brothers - the famous Impressionist painter Gustave and the lesser known but very competent photographer Martial. This is the first exhibition ever to present the brothers' works together, with paintings and photographs on facing walls so the visitor can really appreciate the similarities in interests and subjects. Both Gustave and Martial had an affinity for gardens, yachting and the poetry of day to day existence and both recorded the "modernization" of Paris during the era of Baron Haussmann. My favorite works depicted the view from the balcony of the family's apartment on the corner of the Boulevard Haussmann and Rue Gluck. Here we see Gustave's colorful Impressionist interpretations and Mariel's sharper, more avant garde black and white shots of the same scenes. "Caillebotte" is on view until July 11.

Next stop is the Palais de Tokyo on the Avenue du Président Wilson where Christies' has installed a preview of its upcoming auction of the contents of the Château de Gourdon. 902 lots ranging from suits of armor to Art Nouveau bedroom suites are all on the auction block but the main focus is a fabulous collection of Modernist furniture. Featuring the biggest names in decorative design including Jean Dunand, Eileen Gray, Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann and others, the sale offers some marvelous examples of Post World War 2 décor. Like a suite of eggshell and lacquer wall panels for the smoking room of a Parisian apartment (estimate 2-3 million Euro), a 1929 "ski chaise au Maharadjah" (estimate 2-3 million Euro) or a prestigeous lacquer and chrome semi-circular "Tardieu" desk and chair (estimate 2-3 million Euro)! Clearly this is not furniture for your average dorm room but it is fun to see! The sale takes several days and runs through the end of March.

When a sudden rainstorm soaks the streets it is time to dash back and get ready for the evening. Perhaps it will dry up enough to allow for an aperitif at an outdoor café before dinner. Bon appetite!

Storm clouds behind the Eiffel Tower

"La Comédie Parisienne" - Forain at the Petit Palais

2011-03-20T12:38:00.005-04:00

Built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900 the Petit Palais was designed to glorify the City of Paris and to celebrate the benefits of art. Its architect, Charles Girault, built a virtual palace that could accommodate a large flow of people through elaborately decorated interiors and a pristine inner courtyard (see below). Ornamental details such as murals, elaborate metal work, ceiling frescoes, mosaic tiled floors and stained glass windows create the perfect environment in which to display the museum's substantial permanent collection of 19th Century decorative and fine arts and the occasional special exhibition.

Which is the reason why I visited the Petit Palais last Sunday afternoon! It was a beautiful Spring day here in Paris, sunny and warm and everyone seemed to be outside enjoying a café as I strolled along the Quais, across the Seine and through the Tuilerie Gardens. The special exhibition I had come to see was "La Comédie parisienne" a retrospective of the work of Jean-Louis Forain (1852-1931), a not very well known artist today but one who was quite a player at the turn of the century.

After a tumultuous youth, Forain had the good fortune to make friends with Impressionist masters Edouard Manet and Edgar Dégas whom he met when he joined the "Société des artistes indépendants" a group of artists who wished to be able to exhibit their works to the public without the requirement of an admission jury as was customary in the late 1800's. Many of these artists went on to become world famous with their formerly refused works now hanging in prestigious museums.

But let's get back to Forain. He was the youngest member of the group and he developed a remarkable grasp of the techniques used by other artists. These skills he applied toward perfectly capturing on paper and on canvas the mores of Parisian society at the turn of the century. Exquisite watercolors, pastels and oils record scenes in restaurants and cafés, at the theater and ballet, and in the occasional bordello. Forain was more interested in commenting on what was happening behind the scenes rather than the public face and his depictions of little ballerinas with older "sugar daddies" are especially poignant.

Forain went on to become a very well known caricaturist (he was a regular contributor to the New York Herald), he created a series of mosaic murals to decorate the elegant but short lived Café Riche, and he was a correspondent during World War I. His later work, mostly nudes and portraits, is interesting but for me lacked the magic of his earlier pieces.

Forain was very much a product of his peers. Looking at his early works one can easily see the influence of Manet, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. But he was not a copyist, he had his own particular view and style. Although the work of Forain will never be regarded as "A" list, it is certainly important and his pictorial commentary on Belle Epoque society is almost disturbingly incisive. "La Comédie parisienne" is on view until June 5.

Magic in Maastricht!

2011-03-19T13:18:00.013-04:00

As many of my readers know, I have had the good fortune to visit The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) several times. Held every March since 1988, this fair has evolved from a nice little European show to become arguably the most important art and antiques event in the world. Now featuring over 260 exhibitors from 16 countries TEFAF offers the finest of works spanning centuries of cultures all vetted and all for sale. Last year over 73,000 visitors made the trek to Maastricht, Holland - no easy task but better than it used to be - and paid the rather steep 55 Euro (approximately $77) entry fee for the opportunity to see museum quality pieces in a very elegant setting.

This year, for the first time, I was able to attend the opening day of the fair, a gala event that surpassed my wildest expectations. The anticipation was palpable as a crush of fair goers waited for the doors to open and were greeted first with a breathtaking floral display and then an army of waiters and waitresses bearing trays of complimentary sandwiches, soups and beverages of every description. The food and drink service never stopped, it just adjusted to the time of day as we snacked though lunch, tea, cocktails and finally dinner. The champagne flowed and men were shucking oysters (see right) at an incredible pace as visitors reveled in this art fueled jubilee!

But let me get back to the real point of the fair - the art and antiques! Once again the variety and quality of the offerings were astounding and I literally caught myself with my mouth gaping in awe at the beauty of both the objects and the presentations. Some stands were highly specialized, like the snuff bottles at Robert Hall, London, or the icons at Jan Morsink Ikonen, Amsterdam, or the gilt leather wall hangings at Kunsthandel Glass, Jülich. Others were more generalized and created complete interiors elegantly appointed with boisserie, fine furniture and decorations such as Mallett, London, Axel Vervoordt, Belgium, and J. Kugel Antiquaires, Paris.

For me the highlights ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous and I would be hard pressed to choose one favorite object. Memorable pieces include a set of painted clay figures from the Qing Dynasty (circa 1800) whose heads nodded up and down and were decorated with real human hair, a pair of double magnum size cut crystal decanters from 1840 that weighed a ton before they were even filled, a 16th Century ceremonial gilt bronze hammer for the opening of the Holy Door of the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, and a 19th Century silver model of a dwarf cavalier believed to be a depiction of Sir Jeffry Hudson who was, get this, presented as a gift to Charles I and Henrietta Maria by emerging from a cold baked pie at a dinner given in their honor!

Exquisitely beautiful was a set of three devotional plaques made of coral, gilt copper and enamel in Trapani, Sicily, in the 17th Century. Monumental were the Da Porto Cabinets, a pair of enormous repositories made of tortoiseshell, ebony and ivory in Naples around 1660. Stunning in its simplicity was a Cartier Paris Art Deco pocket watch made of rock crystal and platinum. Slightly creepy was a Flemish anamorphose painting of "A Blind Hurly Gurdy Player" from the early 17th Century. Lost and found was a pair of Baroque marble statues of Jupiter and Juno by Giuseppe Piamontini. Expensive was the Rembrandt painting "Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo", 1658, with an asking price of $47 million.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that after seven hours at the fair I still had not see everything! Fortunately I had the next day to come back and take a quieter look through the booths and explore a few aisles that I had missed entirely. At 4:30 it was time to catch the train back to Paris but I can hardly wait until next year - the twenty-fifth anniversary - to revel in the wondrous world of TEFAF!

"Set in Style" at the Cooper-Hewitt

2011-03-09T17:46:00.013-05:00

In 1899, when Andrew Carnegie and his wife Louise began construction on a state-of-the-art, sixty-four room mansion on Fifth Avenue, they could never have dreamed that a hundred years later it would become home to the nation's only museum dedicated to contemporary and historic design. At that time 91st Street was quite far north of where the city's elite lived but it offered the Carnegie's the advantage of space, including room for a large private garden - unimaginable now, but a rarity even then. The home received landmark status in 1974 and in 1976 it was reinvented as the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, a branch of the Smithsonian Institution named after the granddaughters of Peter Cooper, the 19th Century industrialist, inventor and philanthropist who founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York.

But let's get back to the present. When my fashion forward friend Betty suggested we go to Cooper-Hewitt to see their current exhibition "Set in Style" I thought it sounded like a fun excursion. I'm always up for a show and as my readers know, I like variety! What greeted us was a sparkling homage to the masters of important jewelry, Van Cleef & Arpels, a showcase of their creativity, innovation and technical skills and a testament to their influence on high fashion since the firm was founded in 1896.

To be sure, the 350 outstanding pieces of very fine jewelry were breathtaking all on their own. But for me it was the imaginative installation by the French studio of Jouin Manku that brought the exhibition to life. Working within the historical framework of the home, the design team used the living spaces to show off the glittering gems. The former dining room was reinvented with a table "set" with precious trinkets. The Conservatory featured a huge glass dome in which jeweled and lacquered butterfly brooches seemed almost to flutter against the garden backdrop.

The exhibition was divided into six distinct themes each with fabulous examples taken from Van Cleef & Arpels own archives and international private collections. The first room featured "Innovations" with the House's signature "Mystery Setting" being the prime example. A short video demonstrated the process of designing and creating gemstone jewelry where the actual setting is invisible. The "Mystery Setting" was inspired by antique micro mosaics and involves a hidden armature into which perfectly matched stones are slid and set. As well as being gorgeous to look at, these are exceedingly complicated pieces and a tour de force achievement for any artisan.

Also fascinating was the room devoted to "Transformation" jewelry - pieces that could be taken apart and re-worked to be worn in different ways. Like a necklace that looks like a zipper that can be turned into a bracelet (see right), or a bird brooch whose wings come off to be worn as earrings, or a golden Colonne Vendôme that is actually a lighter!

There was a gallery dedicated to "Nature as Inspiration" where flora and fauna were recreated using precious gems and gold and diamond snowflakes were far more appealing than the ones that covered New York this winter! Another gallery focused on "Exoticism" and the influence of travel to Asia and Arabia was reflected in forms and decorative themes like a peacock patterned box or a Buddha head brooch (see below). And still another explored Van Cleef & Arpels' influence on and by the world of fashion from geometric Art Deco to the groovy swinging sixties.

The exhibition wrapped up with a look at jewelry commissioned and/or worn by famous personalities. Van Cleef & Arpels accessorized celebrities from the Duchess of Windsor to Jacqueline Kennedy, from Marlene Dietrich to Princess Grace and many many others. Style setting women from around the world have long recognized the beauty and distinction of a piece of Van Cleef & Arpel jewelry as something that went far beyond mere adornment. While I may never be able to own such a treasure, I certainly enjoyed this glimpse into the rarefied world of very important jewels. "Set in Style" in on view at the Cooper-Hewitt until June 5th.

P.S. Tonight I leave on a buying trip to Paris so please stay tuned as I share my travel and culture adventure with you! A très bientôt!

The Roman Mosaic from Lod - At the Met

2011-02-21T13:36:00.005-05:00

It is not often that I make a trip to a museum just to see one specific work, but last weekend I decided to walk over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and view the much publicized Roman Mosaic from Lod, lent by the Israel Antiquities Authority and on view in New York until April 3rd.

I wasn't really sure what to expect. The reviews referred to this artifact as remarkable and historic but it was, after all, just one piece from a region that is steeped in antiquities. As I walked through the Met's Greek and Roman galleries, not my usual department in this multifarious museum, I checked out the marble sculptures of emperors and the terracotta vases with black figures of gods and bronze vessels for transporting and storing water and was once again amazed at the civilization that existed long before the initials "A.D. Anno Domini" were even necessary. Then I came into the room with the mosaic from Lod and I realized what all the fuss was about!

There on view was an enormous mosaic tile floor as colorful and intricate as a Persian rug. The three component panels together measure fifty by twenty seven feet and are in almost pristine condition considering they are probably about 1,700 years old! Discovered in 1996 by a highway construction crew working near the city of Lod, formerly Lydda, a modern city not far from Tel Aviv, the mosaics had laid buried under literally centuries of rubble, forgotten but protected. A top archaeological team was dispatched and the newly revealed treasure was carefully excavated. But what to do next? Removing the debris had exposed the mosaics to the dangers of the elements and they were rather inconveniently located in the middle of an area cited for development.

The process of removing and conserving these ancient mosaics is documented in a short video playing continuously next to the pieces themselves. The fascinating film shows the team carefully lifting sections of the floor to be transported to a lab where they could be cleaned, preserved and studied. Discoveries such as ancient footprints in the mortar present new clues for archaeologists to ponder and may offer insights into the construction process itself.

What I found the most intriguing about the mosaic were the components and complexity of the design. Animals, birds and sea creatures co-exist on the canvas of this stone "carpet" separated into panels by intricate cable and scroll decorations. Exotic African beasts such as rhinoceros', giraffes and tigers pose on rocky landscapes. Merchant ships sail amid schools of fish, dolphins and sea monsters. Peacocks preen, lions roar and a leopard attacks a gazelle. The animal kingdom is represented in every form.

What was once an important decoration in a wealthy person's home is now a fascinating clue to ancient society. While we cannot determine whether the resident was pagan, Jew or Christian, we can certainly tell that he was a cultured man and a lover of the finer things in life. What luck to have this legacy to marvel at so many centuries later!

"Ivory: Baroque Splendor at the Viennese Court"

2011-02-15T16:30:00.006-05:00

Another highlight of my recent trip to Frankfurt was a small but wonderful exhibition of Austrian Baroque Ivories at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection. Housed in the former Liebieg Villa situated on the Main River, the collection spans five thousand years of sculpture from Ancient Egypt to Neoclassicism. In cooperation with the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien [Vienna Art History Museum] the Liebieghaus is now presenting a special exhibition that explores the finest of ivory carving produced in Vienna during the reigns of Prince Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein (1627-1684) and Emperor Leopold I (1658-1705).

Now this may seem like a very dry topic, and I cannot truthfully say that it was on the top of my "to do" list while in Frankfurt, but I had been given passes to the show and thought why not? I was glad I did - the show was exquisite.

Works made of ivory have had an exotic appeal since ancient times but the demand for this rare material imported from far away places reached its apex during the 17th Century in Vienna. Austrian royals were wild about ivory carving and commissioned works by accomplished artists as well as practiced the craft themselves. On display are 35 intricately carved goblets, pitchers, bowls, statuettes and plaques by masters of the art and a tankard by the Emperor Leopold. The subjects vary from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to Bacchanalian feasts to the Allegory of the Elements of Water and Air (see left) to pastoral hunting and fishing scenes. Each work is rendered in infinite detail and the sheen of the ivory makes it look almost artificial.

Of course ivory is now a protected material and the massacre of elephants and walrus' for their precious tusks is a thing of the past. The art of ivory carving has been replaced with more modern pursuits but we can still admire the artistic genius and magnificent workmanship that thrived in Austria during the heyday of ivory art. "Ivory: Baroque Splendor at the Viennese Court" is on view until June 26th.

"Surreal Objects" at the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt

2011-02-13T13:21:00.010-05:00

"The marvelous is always beautiful; everything marvelous is beautiful; nothing but the marvelous is beautiful!" wrote the Father of Surrealism, André Breton, in the "First Surrealist Manifesto" in 1924. With this proclamation Dada was dead and the floodgates of Surrealism had opened to engulf the worlds of art and literature with its revolutionary ideas. The Surrealists sought to provoke and amuse both themselves and their audiences in an effort to challenge established ideas of society. One of their primary tools for accomplishing this goal were "objects" - often ordinary items used in an extraordinary way thereby causing the viewer to re-assess his prior beliefs.

There have been many exhibitions of Surrealist Art in the past few years, but never one that focused exclusively on these fundamental objects. Last week I had the great pleasure to be present at the opening of "Surreale Dinge. Skulpturen und Objekte von Dali bis Man Ray [Surreal Objects. Sculpture and Objects from Dali to Man Ray]" a fabulous show at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany. This was an extra special event as it was also a celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the museum and it was quite a party! But let's begin with the exhibition...

The curator, Dr. Ingrid Pfeiffer, and her team had a very clear vision of what they did not want the show to be. They did not want a staid, formal presentation of well-known pieces shown like specimens under glass. Instead they, like the Surrealists themselves, threw off museum convention and created a salon with reproduction 1930s furniture made of painted black plywood against an almost kitschy maroon flocked wallpaper. The works on display were primarily three dimensional sculptures, rather than two dimensional paintings, and were set on platforms in the open air. The result was that there with nothing between the viewer and the art which, for the most part, made it much more present and accessible.

Another goal of the organizers was to avoid the clichéd ideas of Surrealism and to present fresh material to the public. In what must have been a treasure hunt worthy of Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Pfeiffer managed to accumulate 180 amazing pieces by 150 different artists, many of whom were quite obscure.

The end result is a comprehensive but not over-loaded collection of marvelous works in an inspired setting. Pure Surrealist genius is found in items like Salvador Dali's "Lobster Telephone (Aphrodisiac Telephone)", 1936/1964, Oscar Dominguez's pink satin upholstered "Wheelbarrow", 1937, Leonor Fini's wood and metal "Corset Chair", 1938, Marcel Mariën's one-eyed spectacles "The Untraceable", 1937, Meret Oppenheim's "Fur Gloves", 1936, and Wolfgang Paalen's "Articulated Cloud II", 1940, an open umbrella covered in natural sponges and hanging upside down.

But as I said, this was a double celebration! In honor of the museum's silver jubilee a special fireworks presentation was commissioned! Despite a light rain, "Time Tower" lit up the night sky and excited onlookers cheered the beautiful pyrotechnic display. It was a great commemoration of two wonderful events and I was thrilled to be a part of it!

Edward Hopper at the Whitney

2011-02-02T11:35:00.012-05:00

It would be an understatement to say that the first half of the twentieth century was a time of incredible change. Between the popularization of the automobile and electricity, two world wars and women gaining the right to vote there was very little left untouched. Art was no exception and here in America that meant the development of Realism - a new school that reflected these social transformations on canvas. In an homage to an icon of Realism and its offshoots The Ashcan School and the American Scene painters, the Whitney Museum of American Art is now presenting "Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time".

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was born to a middle class family in Nyack, New York, a ship building town on the Tappan Zee estuary of the Hudson River. His artistic talents were recognized at a very young age and he eventually studied at the New York Institute of Art and Design under the tutelage of William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri. The dawn of the new century saw a rejection of the refined themes of academic art and an embrace of a new, more representative style of painting that reflected the sensibilities of the day.

This exhibition centers on the work of Edward Hopper but incorporates pieces by other artists of the period as comparisons of styles and influences. For example, Hopper's dear friend Guy Pène du Bois' painting "Opera Box", 1926, shares the same flat, abstract, solidity as Hopper's "Early Sunday Morning", 1930. Another friend and colleague of Edward Hopper was the famous print maker Martin Lewis. Hopper avidly explored the medium of prints from 1915-1923 and the influence of his haunting "Night Shadows" (see left), 1921, can clearly be seen in Lewis' 1930 etching "Shadow Dance".

The parallels continue in the section on the Precisionists where Hopper's watercolors "Rooftops" (see below), 1926 and "Two Trawlers", 1923, share the formal geometries of nearby works such as Charles Sheeler's "River Rouge Plant", 1932.

In the last galleries the focus shifts to American Scene painting - probably the genre for which Hopper is most well known. Here we see the influence of the time spent in small towns and on his beloved Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as depicted in classic American landscapes reinterpreted in his distinctive impersonal yet compelling style. Solitary, inscrutable, bold and detached, paintings such as "Seven A.M." (see below), 1948 or "A Woman in the Sun", 1961, evoke the perplexing, vaguely disturbing, sensation so typical of Hopper's work.

Edward Hopper's contribution to the American art scene was profound. In an era of remarkable change, his work had the ability to confront and disquiet but without a shock. In "Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time", the Whitney has successfully presented its extensive collection of works by Hopper in a fresh new way - by creatively and effectively comparing it to what else was going on in the art world one can far better appreciate the mastery of Edward Hopper.

"Infinity of Nations"

2011-01-28T16:36:00.009-05:00

One of the jewels in the Smithsonian Institution's crown of museums is the George Gustav Heye Center, a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian located at the tip of Manhattan Island in the former U.S. Customs House.

The Center's namesake was born into a wealthy industrialist family in New York in 1874 and after dabbling the fields of electrical engineering and investment banking devoted himself to acquiring what became the world's largest collection of native American artifacts. As early as 1916 he had enough material to open The Museum of the American Indian at 155th Street and Broadway and was lending pieces to other museums for exhibitions. Eventually his massive collection, over 800,000 objects, became the basis for the National Museum of the American Indian and the Heye Center was opened by the Smithsonian in 1994.

In an homage to the perspicacious Mr Heye a new permanent exhibition has been unveiled that allows visitors to view over 700 works from North, Central and South America. This comprehensive survey of native art and artifacts is divided into 10 geographical regions covering Patagonia through the Arctic Circle and is aptly titled "Infinity of Nations".

The exhibition begins with a display of headdress', one from each of the regions represented in the show. While a headdress may be a universal symbol of status and mystical powers, the construction and appearance varies significantly by area and resources available. A Haida frontlet from the North West Coast of British Colombia is fashioned of painted wood with shell, sea lion whiskers and ermine as decoration. Farther south in Panama, a Kuna Kantule hat looks more like a woven crown of palm leaves with macaw and harpy feathers giving majesty to the headgear while a Peruvian Tiwanaku four cornered hat made of dyed alpaca wool offers both prestige and warmth to the wearer.

While I wouldn't call this exhibition a "Greatest Hits" of native art, it is a very comprehensive and informative look at societies from across the Americas. Lovely examples of utilitarian objects such as a woven Hopi Manta Blanket from Arizona, a Ute antelope skin cradle board with beaded decorations from Colorado and Inuit ivory snow goggles from the Arctic are side by side with more fanciful pieces like an Algonquian miniature house made of birch bark from the Upper Great Lakes and Karajá ijasò mask and rattles of grass and feathers from Brazil.

There are many fabulous items on display and most are interesting from both historic and artistic perspectives. But for me, the strength of the show is as a whole - an exploration of native cultures' similarities and differences across geographic and chronological borders - truly an "Infinity of Nations"!

57th Annual Winter Antiques Show

2011-01-22T10:30:00.003-05:00

We New Yorkers have already endured more than our fair share of snow and ice this season so the opening of this year's Winter Antiques Show was an especially comforting occasion! Always a ray of sunshine in the dreariest month of the year, the annual extravaganza of the rare and unusual provided a much needed diversion from Mother Nature's latest blow.

So despite the new snow delivered overnight and the forecast record low temperatures for the weekend, it was with great anticipation that I put on my winter boots and coat and walked through Central Park (actually quite beautiful with the sun shining) to the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue. Instead of the usual enormous bouquets of flowers, this year the foyer was decorated with more appropriate snowflakes - the cloth kind suspended from the ceiling and the light kind illuminated on the floor!

I was clearly not the only one who thought this would be a nice way to spend a Friday afternoon - the show floor was humming with visitors enjoying the elegant atmosphere and extraordinary offerings. From Persian rugs to French wallpaper, from Northwest Coast masks to Tiffany lamps, from exquisite portrait miniatures framed in jewels to medieval suits of armour, there was something for everyone!

It was hard to pick my favorite piece in this year's show but there were several that I found fascinating. Like the Alaskan fossil walrus skull that dated back about 10,000 years and still retained the lower jaw and tusks on the stand of Peter Petrou, London, and priced at $64,000. Continuing in a Northern theme, I loved the luminosity of Albert Bierstadt's painting "Iceberg", 1883, at Alexander Gallery, New York. More whimsical items include a set of eight stuffed frogs by the German toy maker Steiff for $2,800 at Frank & Barbara Pollack, Illinois, a tramp art double-armed lamp for $8,500 at James & Nancy Glazer, Maine, and a pair of rustic Adirondack armchairs fashioned of tree branches, twigs and roots and painted white at Hirschl & Adler, New York.

Throckmorton Fine Art, New York, had a marvelous large metate, or grain-grinding stone, in the shape of a jaguar and composed of volcanic stone. Made in Costa Rica circa 600-900 AD, this particular example was most likely used in a royal household as indicated by the engraved designs on the back and its immaculate condition. Hans P. Kraus Jr., New York, had a mock-up of a 19th Century photography studio on his stand which also featured a rare complete example of "The Cator Album", 1866/77. The open page showed a collage of a watercolor court jester strewing tiny albumen photograph portraits across a landscape. It was absolutely charming. I don't often comment on china and porcelain but Michele Beiny, Inc., New York, had on her stand an 1839 Sèvres chocolate service with its own fitted leather box. This gorgeously painted and gilded set had been presented to the winner of the Emperor's Cup Race in 1853 and could be yours for $110,000.

This year's special loan exhibition was titled "Grandeur Preserved" and featured masterworks from the Historic Charleston Foundation. Carefully selected from the Foundation's substantial collection, the artifacts presented here included peerless examples of furniture, needlework, silver, clocks and other treasures and gave renewed meaning to the idea of "Southern gentility"!

If this never-ending winter is getting you down I have the perfect solution! You have until the end of January to visit the Winter Antiques Show and lose yourself in a world of beauty, refinement and enchantment. Enjoy!

What's On at MoMA

2011-01-09T10:35:00.007-05:00

It's that odd time of year in the museum calendar - the time when the autumn shows are over but the winter shows have not yet opened. Fortunately there is one New York museum where visitors can still see some excellent special exhibitions as well as a fabulous permanent collection - The Museum of Modern Art.

On view since October 2010 but running through April 2011 is the astonishing exhibition "Abstract Expressionist New York". Culled entirely from the Museum's own collections, the 200 works on view present the best of the best of this very important 20th Century movement.

In the 1940s and 50s, American artists sought to find a new, independent voice in the face of the destruction of the World War II and the dominance of European masters. The contemporary art world was a different scene then. It comprised a very small and tightly knit group of artists, collectors, galleries and museums - a far cry from the "industry" we now associate with the field. The tiny band of artists we now classify as the Abstract Expressionists, in their efforts to change the culture and thereby the world, are largely responsible for this evolution in the way we "consume" art.

For the first time New York became the center of the art world and with it a revolution in the way art was created. Each of these post war artists, Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, David Smith, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell - to name just a few, expressed him or herself in a totally unique way. There is no common thread to their work except for the pursuit of something new, forceful, urgent and revolutionary, something to make a fresh start for civilization as they knew it.

This is a rare opportunity to see an entire floor of MoMA given over to one particular movement. The sheer size and superb quality of the collection is amazing. My jaw dropped when I walked into a gallery filled with Pollack's signature drip paintings and then another with ten of Rothko's luminous color works. Even the most jaded museum goer couldn't fail to be impressed!

Moving upstairs to the sixth floor we find "On Line" a look at the medium of drawing and how it has transformed through the ages. Now this may not seem very exciting as an exhibition topic, but the curators have managed to imbue the old-fashioned idea of pencil and paper with a whole new life. Organized chronologically in three sections, we begin with the early 20th Century and "Surface Tension" with a focus on the flat plane, to "Line Extension" where the line extends beyond flatness into real space and becomes three-dimensional, and ends with "Confluence" where line and background are fused and the line is pushed into our world. Sound confusing? Well, it is a little abstract but the exhibition is beautifully presented with excellent examples and the whole thing makes sense when you are there!

People have been communicating through drawing since early times, but the early 1900s saw an interest in a simplification of drawing - an exploration of the potential of what a line could convey. In 1910 the Futurists achieved expression of speed and motion on a flat surface through the use of the line. The Cubists and the Constructivists sought to break down imagery to its barest elements - again using the line to explore form and space. As this investigation continued, artists expanded to instilling a third dimension into the plane - a cut in the canvas, a form made out of metal wire, a construction made of string. With the end of the century approaching, the study expanded to truly three dimensional, often large scale work. The line, in the forms of sculpture, landscape, canvas and video, become part of our lives - the grid of interdependency, the intersection of surface and space, past and present, art and life.

After the intensity of this dialogue about lines it was refreshing to come across a performance piece on the the Museum's second floor. For a limited time visitors can enjoy Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla in "Stop, Repair, Prepare: Variations on Ode to Joy for a Prepared Piano". Conceived in 2008, the act comprises a grand piano with a hole cut out of the center through which a pianist leans out and plays upside down and backwards the Fourth Movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Sound like fun - it is! And the perfect coda to a marvelous afternoon at the Museum of Modern Art!

New Worlds for a New Year

2011-01-07T13:30:00.007-05:00

For my inaugural museum excursion of 2011, I visited the American Museum of Natural History on Central Park West. It was the very first museum I visited when I moved to New York in the 1980's and though it has changed a lot over the years, I still have a soft spot for the Hall of Mammals, the Hall of Birds and my very favorite, the Hall of North West Coast Indians, the oldest hall in the museum. As I strolled past the old-fashioned dioramas and new-fashioned computer interactive touch screens, I was heartened to see that nature and science still fascinate and inspire and children are still impressed by the enormous suspended whale and towering skeletal dinosaurs.

But the highlight of this visit to the museum was the 45 minute long film presented in super-size IMAX in the LeFrak Theater. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the IMAX Space Team put together an amazing movie tracking the building, launch and journey of this remarkable instrument.

The idea of a space-based telescope dates back to 1946 but actual design and construction did not begin until the late 1970s with the finished product ready to be launched in 1990. After a successful introduction into space via the Space Shuttle Discovery, it was soon realized that the primary mirror, the centerpiece of the optical system and critical to the quality of the images captured, was flawed, and so began a series of missions to repair and update equipment while orbiting in outer space.

The IMAX film, in a format as grand as the cosmos itself, follows the history of the Hubble Space Telescope from its initial blast off into the atmosphere through the recent awe-inspiring space walks to fix and improve the equipment. I literally was holding my breath as highly trained astronauts (who practised in an enormous swimming pool in Texas) captured, entered and refurbished the apparatus all while floating thousands of miles above the Earth in -200 degree temperatures with no gravity. Amazing.

Also amazing are the images that Hubble has given us. Formations of new stars, burning out of old stars, black holes, gamma ray bursts and the existence of other suns and galaxies can all be seen in the remarkable photographs and data transmitted back to scientists and astronomers at the Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington D.C.

Experts are unsure about the future of the Hubble Space Telescope. Despite the wear and tear of 20 years in outer space, and the obsolescence of its technology, the Telescope appears to be functioning well after its most recent refurbishment in 2009. Indeed the future of the entire American space program appears unsure as budgetary and other pressures squeeze NASA and its partners. It would be a pity to abandon the field now after so much innovation and progress and sheer national pride can be attributed to the agency and its operations.

I remember when Apollo 11 landed on the moon and astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin stepped onto its surface. It was an incredible moment and one that remains impressive even as space exploration becomes almost routine. Back out on the street, in the feeble light of a January afternoon, I looked up at the sky and mused what lies beyond our corner of the universe and what marvelous discoveries await. Happy New Year!

Christmas Wishes

2010-12-22T16:07:00.006-05:00

Some of my readers know that I was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, and moved to New York in the 1980's. But no matter how long one lives in or how much one loves this fabulous city, a girl never really loses her roots. And so, every December, as a reminder of simpler times, I get out this painting entitled "The Christmas Moose" by the Nova Scotian folk artist Joe Norris, and put it on the mantle in my living room.

Joe Norris was born in Halifax in 1924 and as a young child he moved with his family to Lower Prospect, a fishing community on the province's South Shore, not too far from where I grew up. Joe Norris was a fisherman by trade until a stroke at the age of 49 put an end to hauling nets and he picked up a paintbrush instead. Totally auto didactic, Joe painted what he saw - seagulls, fish, stars, deer - in a profusion of vibrant, happy colors on whatever surfaces he could find.

His paintings became very popular and by the time he died in 1996, Joe Norris' work had been featured in books on folk art, many magazine and newspaper articles, a UNICEF card, and his paintings hung in private and corporate collections throughout North America. I treasure my little moose, a gift from my husband, and look forward to its annual appearance for the holidays.

This blog marks the completion of five years and 250 posts of weekly sojourns into the worlds of art, culture and travel. When I first began in 2006 I could never have imagined how rewarding this blog would become for me. I thank you, dear readers, for all of your support and comments and hope you will join me for more adventures in 2011.

With Christmas literally hours away I would like to wish you and yours all the very best during this blessed season. May the magic and joy of simple things delight your days and sustain you throughout the year ahead.

An Amazing Sight

2010-12-18T09:39:00.007-05:00

I woke up early this Saturday morning, thanks to a car radio blaring Latin music at 6:30 AM. But as I raised the shades to see who was causing this commotion I saw a marvelous sight. There, on a leafless tree branch, right outside my bedroom window, was a huge bird! First I thought it was an owl, but a little checking on the Internet showed that it was in fact quite a rare species, a Merlin Hawk, usually rather small by hawk standards but with his feathers plumped up against the cold of a December morning, he looked quite impressive indeed!

He sat on the branch for almost an hour, not moving except to turn his head. Then, in a sudden motion, he swooped down toward the street and was gone. The magical moment was over. Now I'm almost grateful for that car radio! And you thought wildlife in Manhattan meant a discotheque!

Design Miami / Miami Design

2010-12-05T17:17:00.008-05:00

Greetings from gorgeous South Florida where I have been soaking up the sun and art fairs for the past few days. I will refrain from telling you just how perfect the weather has been here as I know my friends in New York are freezing and Paris is covered in a very rare blanket of snow. Suffice to say, Miami was everything I had hoped for as a pre-Christmas getaway!

I will also refrain from giving you a blow-by-blow description of the multitude of art fairs occurring simultaneously with the big attraction, Art Basel Miami Beach. Let me just say that Art Basel was much more energetic and successful than last year but not as go-go as 2007. Everyone I spoke with seemed very pleased and there were pieces marked sold on every booth. The same could be said for Art Miami, one of the more traditional adjunct fairs, but I must confess that I did not visit any of the more contemporary satellite fairs.

What I did visit for the first time and enjoyed very much was Design Miami, a fair devoted to the art of design and newly re-located from Miami's Design District to the parking lot of the Miami Convention Center that houses Art Basel. Even the tent was spectacular. Designed by the New York architecture firm of Moorhead & Moorhead, an industrial tent was transformed into an airy and intriguing structure by simply but cleverly cutting and folding the vinyl "skin".

Adding to the playful atmosphere was a swing installation by the winner of the Designer of the Year Award, Konstantin Grcic. Every one of his hanging net chairs was occupied by both adults and children happily swinging after a day of art viewing!

Inside the tent were several stands set up by the fair's sponsors. Audi took the opportunity to present its latest model, the Audi Spyder, and while you couldn't take it for a spin, you could enjoy a glass of something bubbly while admiring its sleek lines.

Another sponsor was Veuve Cliquot Champagne who presented daily "Once Upon A Time Bedtime Stories" in an actual bed. They also presented snacks and, of course champagne, but that was only for VIP visitors.

The most magical installation was by another sponsor, Swarovski Crystal, who created "Falling Light" a white room with 50 lights suspended from the ceiling, each with a Swarovski crystal optical lens, that were programmed to spin and turn and release "droplets" of light onto the floor. It was mesmerizing and made even better by a little girl doing an impromptu dance as she skipped and jumped with great intensity from "drop" to disappearing "drop".

There were also several dealers who created very engaging booths. One of them was the tropical forest look at R 20th Century, New York (see above). Paris in the 1930's and 40's came alive on the stand of Galerie Patrick Seguin (see below).

Gallery Seomi, Seoul, presented contemporary Asian design on their stand (see below).

Fascinating objects included this ghostly white marble dining table at stilwerk limited edition, Hamburg, Germany.

And an amusing candelabra at Venice Projects, Venice, Italy.

You can see that my few days in Miami have been a lot of fun and restorative for both body and soul. Tomorrow it's back to the cold of New York...but it's so much easier to face with a suntan!

A Visit to Mr. Morgan's Library

2010-11-28T10:50:00.007-05:00

Even by the over-the-top standards of New York's Gilded Age, John Pierpont Morgan stood alone. Probably the most vilified of the Robber Barons, J.P. Morgan's financial and steel empires were, at their zeniths, the richest and most powerful institutions in the United States and by extension, the world.

But there is another side to this captain of industry - he was a zealous collector of art and literature - and New Yorkers have benefited enormously from his philanthropy in these fields. A visitor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art will see Mr. Morgan's name listed over and over as donor of treasures from Chinese porcelains to Gobelin tapestries to Della Robbia terra-cottas and Gainsborough paintings. All of the finest quality and all hand selected by Mr. Morgan himself for the sheer joy of owning beautiful objects.

However, Pierpont Morgan is probably best known for the small but very impressive institution that bears his name - The Morgan Library & Museum on Madison Avenue at 36th Street. Competed in 1906 by the architecture firm of McKim, Mead and White, this magnificent structure with the Tennessee pink marble exterior was built as a library to house Mr. Morgan's growing collection of rare books and manuscripts. Even more opulent on the interior, the building featured a rotunda, Mr. Morgan's study, a librarian's office and a library all decorated and furnished with the finest money could buy, and Mr. Morgan had very deep pockets!

A visit to the Morgan Library had always been a rewarding experience. From the permanent collection of three (that's correct, three) examples of The Gutenberg Bible, a copy of The Declaration of Independence, two altar piece panels by Hans Memling and the jewel encrusted Lindau Bible there is always something absolutely fabulous on view. Special exhibitions included a memorable show of French bindings in the 1990's and more recently, a presentation of rare musical scores by Mozart among other luminaries to commemorate the opening of the Renzo Piano designed addition in 2006 (see my blog review).

Today there is something new to celebrate. On October 30, 2010, the Morgan Library re-opened after a short hiatus to restore the interior of the 1906 library to its original splendor. For the first time, visitors can step into the librarian's office, view the inside of the vault, and actually see the full three levels of the library's impressive holdings (see above). Beside extensive cleaning and restoration of the gorgeous ceilings, a new, state-of-the-art lighting system has been installed so visitors can truly appreciate the fine detail and beauty of the architecture. A 19th Century Persian rug now graces the library floor as a replacement for one long lost and original lighting fixtures have been rescued from deep storage and re-hung with care.

The Morgan is showing off these cosmetic improvements with several new temporary exhibitions. In a "Greatest Hits" worthy of a much bigger institution, The Morgan is presenting such diverse subjects as "Degas: Drawings and Sketchbooks", a selection of 20 drawings culled from the collection, "Anne Morgan's War: Rebuilding Devastated France 1917-1924" as seen through documentary photographs from the collection, "Mark Twain: A Skeptic's Progress" featuring 120 manuscripts, rare books. letters, notebooks, diaries, photographs and drawings of and by the author, also from the collection, and finally, "Roy Lichtenstein: The Black-and -White Drawings" the only installation borrowed from another institution and the first time an exhibition has been dedicated solely to the early black and white drawings of this celebrated American Pop artist.

If this isn't enough variety, you have only a short wait until the original red leather bound manuscript of "Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol" goes on view for the holiday season! All this set in some of the most extraordinary surroundings in town, refreshed and ready for the 21st Century!

What's On At the Neue Galerie

2010-11-27T12:10:00.010-05:00

While most of America headed to the mall for the annual Black Friday shop-a-thon, I did one of the things I like to do best - visit a museum! It was a strategic decision - I chose a museum that would allow for a nice walk through Central Park, would be relatively uncrowded and was presenting something that seemed amusing and totally fresh. I found the perfect destination in one of my favorite institutions, the temple to German and Austrian Modernist Art, the Neue Galerie!

In what seems like a total departure from the usual fare of Schiele, Klimt, Kokoschka and the like, the Neue Galerie, in conjunction with the Musée du Louvre, Paris, is now showing the work of a relatively unknown 18th Century sculptor. "What could have possessed them?" one may legitimately ask, but the answer is clear after a few short minutes in the exhibition.

Until January 10, 2011, visitors have the rare opportunity to explore the work of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, a fascinating Bavarian born, Austrian artist who worked in Vienna in the late 1700's. His career began in Vienna as portrait sculptor to the Habsburg court where he made fine but relatively ordinary busts of the aristocracy in the Baroque style. Around 1770 his fortunes changed due in part to the death of his patron and also to a presumed psychotic breakdown.

He left Vienna and wandered for six years before settling in Pressburg, or Bratislava as the city is now known, and began work on a series of "character heads" that would become his life's work. Of the 60 sculptures in alabaster or metal, 49 are still extant and nineteen of those are here on display. In an effort to rid himself of resentful spirits, Messerschmidt would pinch himself and contort his face while looking in the mirror and later record these expressions in sculptural form. The result is a series of bizarre, but to 21st Century eyes humorous, life-sized heads with contorted facial expressions.

With descriptive titles such as "The Ill Humored Man", "The Yawner" (above left), "The Vexed Man", "Afflicted With Constipation", "A Strong Man" and "A Hypocrite and Slanderer" (above right) there was not a visitor in the gallery without a smile on his or her face! The final vitrine containing the only true self-portrait in the exhibition entitled "The Artist As He Imagined Himself Laughing" was almost bitter sweet. Condemned as "insane" by early 20th Century historians, Messerschmidt had been described as a "modest and disciplined man...a person of unusual strength of mind and body - in his art an extraordinary genius" by his contemporaries. I guess it has to do with the times one lives in - what was common in the 18th Century comes across as crazy today - makes you wonder what our ancestors will think of us!

Sane or insane, Messerschmidt was a gifted artist who left behind a small but intense body of work which we are fortunate to be able to enjoy today.

Moving downstairs to the second floor, where beautiful objects in porcelain and silver are usually on display, is another small but lovely exhibition of Wiener Werkstätte postcards from the collection of Mr. Leonard Lauder. This is the first major museum show dedicated solely to postcards produced during this period and it is a perfect showcase for both the medium and the era.

The Viennese Workshops, or Wiener Werkstätte, was founded in 1903 by Josef Hoffman and Koloman Moser with the objective of creating practical objects of exceptional design and craftsmanship. This included furniture, fashion, ceramics, jewelry, silverware, architecture and printed objects such as posters, books and a series of postcards begun in 1907. Almost all of the designers of the movement contributed to this series and when production ceased in 1920, 925 different postcards by 57 artist had been published.

Mr. Lauder is recognized as a pioneer in this field of collecting and through his prescience has amassed what is probably the most complete ensemble of this œuvre in the world. On view are many fine examples selected for their graphic design, marvelous coloration and overall charm. Various themes include fashion, portraits, fairy tales, dogs, cigars and cigarettes and interiors as interpreted by such luminaries of the movement as Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, Moriz Jung and Maria Likarz-Strauss (see above left). All the postcards are numbered as part of the series and all are printed using chromolithography.

In a perfect demonstration of turning mass-marketed objects into works of art, the Wiener Werkstätte artisans succeeded in making boring documentary postcards into little jewels of design. I think you will agree, a visit to the Neue Galerie is a precious experience not to be missed!

A Visit to the South Street Seaport Museum

2010-11-21T13:05:00.014-05:00

For all their natural curiosity, New Yorkers often tend to stick to their neighborhoods, and I am no exception. For me, a trip downtown is a big event. I get lost in the streets with descriptive names instead of numbers and feel like I'm visiting a totally different city instead of riding a few subway stops from home!

Yesterday broke bright and beautiful and a great day to head down to the financial district and visit the South Street Seaport Museum where several interesting shows are on view. So I emerged from the Fulton Street Station and walked to the riverfront, past the huge Christmas tree now being installed on the square to # 12, the site of Schermerhorn Row built in 1810 to accommodate the many merchants who once traded there and now home to the Seaport Museum.

This historic setting is the perfect atmosphere to view the Seaport's current exhibition "Alfred Stieglitz New York" an assembly of 39 gorgeous vintage photographs not seen together since 1932 when they were shown by the artist himself at his midtown gallery. Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) is probably the most famous photographer in American history. He is known as the father of art photography, as opposed to documentary, and also as the husband of another American art icon Georgia O'Keeffe. A pioneer in the use of the hand-held Graflex camera, Stieglitz was no longer encumbered by a heavy tripod and could take photographs far more freely and casually. He was an active promoter of photography as an art form, vice president of The Camera Club, publisher of various photography periodicals including Camera Work, and founder of several galleries including The Little Galleries, 291, and An American Place.

In 1902 Stieglitz curated a ground breaking exhibition at The Arts Club called "Photo Secession". What was unique and hugely successful about this show was that for the first time ever photographers judged pictorial photographs as fine art. At this time in his career, Stieglitz was exploring "Picturesque" photography that shrouded the subject in clouds, snow, mist or darkness and created a softer, more atmospheric image (see "The Flatiron", 1903, above right). With this technique, Stieglitz was able to take away the harshness and dirt of the city and replace it with a dreamy, mysterious, ethereal metropolis that was far more appealing than the reality.

As The Gilded Age was replaced by Modernism and then The Great Depression, Stieglitz changed his view of his beloved New York to reflect the times. The sprouting of skyscrapers, the ultimate symbol of progress and innovation, inspired an edgier look with angles and shadows as viewed from his apartment on the 30th floor of The Shelton Hotel. And finally, as his health deteriorated along with the global economy, his despair and isolation are clearly evident in the grimmer and darker portraits of the city. It was the end of an era.

Which brings me to the second exhibition on view at the Seaport Museum - "DecoDence: Legendary Interiors and Illustrious Travelers Aboard the SS Normandie".

Launched in the middle of the Depression, in 1935, the SS Normandie was the epitome of style and chic. Exceptionally fast and commodious, this luxurious ocean liner could whisk passengers across the Atlantic in record time and complete comfort. At a time dominated by bread lines and Hitler, the SS Normandie was known for the finest of French luxury service, food, drink and décor.

The SS Normandie featured a crew of 1,339 and could hold 1,952 passengers, most in First Class. It had 1,100 telephones and a grand dining room that could seat 700 and was larger than the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Table service included silver by Cristofle and Puiforcat and crystal by Lalique amid wall panels by Jean Dupas and furniture by Ruhlmann. No wonder everyone from Sonja Henie to Douglas Fairbanks wanted to sail on board this magnificent ship!

With the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 the SS Normandie ceased to be a civilian transport and the next year it was taken into protective custody by the United States and renamed the USS Lafayette. When America entered World War II the U.S. Navy decided to retrofit the vessel to convert it to troop transport as it was docked in New York Harbor. In February 1942, by complete accident, a spark from a welder's torch landed on a pile of kapok filled life vests which ignited a blaze that could not be extinguished and this mighty ocean liner capsized and sank ignominiously at her berth on Manhattan's Pier 88.

The silver lining in this sad story is that prior to the renovation most of the furnishings and decor had been removed to clear the way for a more practical purpose. Today, in a minimalist but very effective exhibition, visitors can almost relive the glamor of this bygone age. Through the actual dining tables and chairs, china and crystal services, uniforms, menus and ashtrays we can imagine being passengers on board, entering the dining room in a bias cut satin gown with a glass of champagne in hand!

Of all the marvelous artifacts on view, one in particular sticks in my mind. It is a clutch purse, commissioned from the House of Hermès as a memento for First Class passengers on the inaugural voyage. A black leather ship is fastened on top with three silver "smoke stack" clasps and the sleek lines of the bow recreated in black stitching. A fabulous souvenir and typical of the inventiveness, elegance and whimsy that typified this iconic ship.

I thoroughly enjoyed my venture downtown and hope that you too will take a ride on the A train and step back to the early days of Old New York!

The World of Khubilai Khan - At the Met

2010-11-19T16:27:00.002-05:00

Long ago and far away, the great leader Khubilai Khan ruled the vast Mongol Empire during what became known as the Yuan Dynasty (1215-1368). It was a time of unparalleled growth and freedom in art and religion and its impact reverberated throughout the world for centuries to come. For a limited time we can explore this remarkable period in a landmark exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

During the Yuan Dynasty all roads led to Dadu (now Bejing) the city built by Khubilai Khan as the capital of the empire. Chinese theater flourished as did architecture, the applied arts, painting and calligraphy. Men and women wearing elaborate head pieces and magnificently embroidered or woven silk robes were free to travel and to pursue their devotion of choice. Zen Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Nestorian Christianity, Manichaeism and Islam were practiced and accepted although Esoteric Buddhism, a Tibetan influenced hybrid, was the most prevalent religion. It was a period of prosperity, creativity and progress.

Through loans from many leading Asian museums, the Metropolitan has assembled a wealth of marvelous objects to give visitors a first hand look at the sumptuousness of the era. Huge stone statues, delicate carved jade hat ornaments, classic blue and white porcelain serving platters, painted silk hanging scrolls and deeply sculpted red lacquer boxes are evidence of the sophistication of this ancient culture. More unusual items included a porcelain pillow with a glazed, three-dimensional scene of a celestial celebration under the head rest and a tea cup with a chi dragon handle done in an ethereal bluish finish called qing bai ware. Each of the artifacts on display was a superb example of a very advanced and cultivated people that treasured beauty.

"The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty" is a fabulous exhibition and will remain on view until January 2, 2011.

It's Print Week in New York!

2010-11-03T15:30:00.005-04:00

Aficionados of fine prints and works on paper have a lot to enjoy this weekend!

New York's Fine Art Print Week kicked off last night with the gala opening of the International Fine Print Dealers Association's annual extravaganza, The Print Fair, held at the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue at 67th Street. This is the 20th anniversary of the show and judging by the crowd mingling in the booths and aisles, it is very much a going concern. The IFPDA Print Fair continues to be the premier showcase for fine prints from Old Master through Contemporary, from Japanese woodcuts to French Surrealist illustrated books. 87 dealers from across the United States and Europe bring their finest wares hoping to entice a very knowledgeable public with something rare and essential to add to their collection!

I've worked in this field for over 20 years and I know a lot of the pieces and people, but this fair is always very special. Beside being a chance to see some of my favorite dealers and collectors, it is an opportunity to discover a treasure. This year was no exception with the star (for me at least) being a very early and exceeding rare and beautiful work by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner on the stand of Theobald Jennings, London. This tiny color etching was one of the first pieces created by the German Expressionist in his most famous series of street scenes and is one of only two examples, the other being in a museum collection in Davos, Switzerland.

A new fair, running concurrently and with the blessing of the IFPDA, is the Lighthouse Way Fine Print & Drawing Fair opening Friday evening at the Lighthouse Conference Center on 59th Street at Park Avenue. I am proud to be among the 25 dealers from the U.S., England and France who will participate in this inaugural show and am looking forward to seeing some old collecting faces and meeting some news ones too. Visitors can expect a very fine selection of works from Old Master through Modern and everything in between. I will be bringing a group of prints, drawings and watercolors from the Victorian Era through Art Deco with pieces by such artists as Helleu, Tissot, Chahine, Delaunay, Lepape, Bottini and many others. Please visit my website for an overview of my collection and if you would like a ticket, just drop me an email!

So if you're daffy for Dürer, wild about Whistler, or passionate for Picasso, this is a great time to see some wonderful works on paper!

BOO!!! It's Hallowe'en in New York!

2010-10-30T11:04:00.007-04:00

It's the day before Hallowe'en in New York City and signs of impending spookiness are everywhere!

Only the most fearless dares to pass before the ghosts and ghouls who lurk in the doorways...

Is it a gust of wind...or something more sinister...

Is it a good witch or a bad one? Do you dare to find out?

Better look behind you...

BOO!!!

A Day of Discovery

2010-10-23T06:39:00.007-04:00

For my last blog from Paris, I'm going to share with you a marvelous day filled with serendipitous encounters and a lot of fun!

Crossing the Pont du Louvre
with the Grand Palais in the background

Last Thursday was the opening of the annual "Salon du Papiers Anciens", a very low-brow fair dedicated to works on paper from books to postcards and everything in between. Held in a grim 1970's Art Brut building on the outskirts of Paris, it takes courage to go to but is generally worth the effort. I had visited the salon a few times before and had always come away with something but this year Paris is in the grips of the strikes and the public transportation is very much affected. Nevertheless, the day was beautiful and after a half hour wait for the bus and another delay while waiting for a demonstration to pass by I arrived at the fair ready to dig through the tons of wares in search of a buried treasure!

Passing stand after stand of posters, magazines, photos, old books, menus, prints, maps and stock certificates, I spotted several familiar faces and found a few interesting pieces to buy. Lunchtime came and it was time for my annual foie gras sandwich purchased, along with a glass of sweet white wine, from a vendor who participates at every fair. Not exactly a gourmet experience but absolutely delicious and I wouldn't dream of eating anything else there!

Back on the bus which rolled through Paris very nicely until encountering yet another demonstration on the rue de Rennes! That was okay, it was close enough to my destination to get off and go to visit some of my favorite galleries on the Left Bank. One of the best parts about being an art dealer is the people I deal with. I truly love to go and see my colleagues. Beside the anticipation of a great find, there is a very personal element built up over years in the business and this afternoon was no exception.

At 7 o'clock it was time to meet a dear friend for an aperitif. We chose La Closerie des Lilas, a Montparnasse institution that had been the "clubhouse" for literary and artistic lions since it opened in 1847. I had never visited but it was the perfect location for our rendez-vous with Macha a Russian artist who has lived and worked in Paris since the 1980's. We had a nice visit over a kir and then made our way down the rue d'Assas to the next stop in this excellent adventure!

Let me just back up for a minute here. A few days prior, at a party, I met a lovely couple and during the conversation they mentioned that the husband, Julio, was going to have an exhibition of his work at the Musée Zadkine and asked if I would like to come to the opening. Of course, I said yes, but I think they thought I was just kidding because the look of surprise when I actually showed up on Thursday night was marvelous!

The Musée Zadkine is a small museum dedicated to the work of the sculptor Ossip Zadkine, a Russian who worked in the "Ecole de Paris" style. Housed in the villa where he lived from 1928 until his death in 1967, the museum offers not just a survey of his works, but a glimpse into the lifestyle of an artist during the mid-20th Century. Zadkine's atelier, garden and home are now open to the public and filled with his works giving the visitor are real feel for the artist and his œuvre. But tonight was something special. For a limited time, the works of Zadkine were sharing the spotlight with a contemporary artist, Julio Villani, a Brazilian who emigrated to Paris and works in an almost "neo-Dada" style.

What was remarkable, and very effective, was the juxtaposition of the Modern Master with the young prodigy. Villani's sculptures stood strong beside the work of Zadkine and could almost be said to breathe new life into the environs. I had always intended to visit the Musée Zadkine but it was one of those things that always got pushed off to the next visit. This opportunity was worth waiting for.

Finally, it was getting late and time for dinner. I had planned to go to a small restaurant near my apartment but when I arrived a party was in full swing. Not to worry - I was informed at the door that they were having a special "Bergerac Soirée" and guests were welcome to come and join the celebration of the food and wine of this region. Who could resist? In I went, ordered some Bergerac red wine and the special of the evening and was entertained by a strolling accordion player who played everything from Edith Piaf to the Rolling Stones on her squeeze box! The crowd loved it and we sang and ate and drank until I realized it was almost midnight and time to go home!

Now it is also time for me to return to New York as my wonderful October sojourn in Paris is nearly over. But new discoveries await and I hope you'll join me for more autumn adventures back in the USA! A très bientôt!

The Middle Ages Are Alive and Well and Living in Paris!

2010-10-19T04:21:00.010-04:00

A scan of the museum listings in this week's Pariscope would lead one to believe that the Middle Ages are the latest thing with no fewer than three full-scale exhibitions dedicated to this long ago era. I couldn't visit just one, so I spent three lovely afternoons enveloped in Medieval splendor.

First stop, the Grand Palais for "France 1500: Entre Moyen Age et Renaissance" a survey of the period when France was the link between Italy and the Low Countries and the exchange of ideas and information made for innovation and discovery in the arts. It was a time when commissions for paintings and works of art were no longer just the domain of royalty, rather, for the first time, wealthy private citizens became patrons and the arts flourished.

The other major factor during this period was the invention of the printing press. The French were quick to adopt this new technology and in 1470 the first printed book was produced in Paris. Eight years later in Lyon the first book illustrated with woodcut engravings was printed. So began a tradition of book publishing that continues to this day.

This exhibition explores the development of French art and culture through tapestries, stained glass, sculpture, enamels, paintings and magnificent illuminated manuscripts. One can clearly see the evolution of style as artists were influenced by travel and dissemination of ideas from Italy to the South and Holland to the North.

The next stop was an old favorite that I had not visited in a long time, the Musée de Cluny, most famous for its marvelous tapestries "La Dame a la Licorne (The Lady and the Unicorn)". Housed in former Gallo-Roman thermal baths and the Gothic "Hôtel de Cluny", it has the perfect ambiance for a tour of Medieval treasures.

Beside the renowned tapestries, the museum also boasts a superb collection of stained glass, statuary, ivory carvings, carved and painted altars, medallions, silver and gold religious objects and paintings that date from the 13th to the 15th centuries and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the beautiful works in their atmospheric setting. But then I went downstairs to the frigidarium and I was overwhelmed by a special exhibition entitled "D'Or et du feu: l'art en Slovakie à la fin du Moyen Age" a small but perfect selection of art from Slovakia during the Middle Ages.

Slovakia, a country sandwiched between Austria and Hungary, is not often thought of as a center for art, but during the 1500s it was a very wealthy area that supported the arts generously. On display are magnificent altars and statues, heavily carved and lushly colored in a unique and beautiful style. Sort of a cross between German and Italian if you can imagine such a combination and absolutely beautiful. Also exquisite was a group of paintings with lovely colors and a relief pattern softly carved into the wood panel's background that resembled tooled leather in texture. The show was small but very fine and a real revelation.

Finally I came to "Trésors des Médicis" now on at the Musée Maillol in the 7th Arrondissement. Here we have a history of the illustrious Italian banking family, the Medicis, as told by their collections of sumptuous objects.

In the 15th Century the family patriarch Cosma de Medici began a tradition that continued until the line literally died out in the 1800s. Cosma became a major patron of the arts and commissioned portraits, bronzes and cameos by such artists as Botticello, Cellini and Bronzino. This love of beautiful objects passed from Cosma through his sons and daughters as each pursued his or her own particular collecting interests.

In the mid 16th century, François de Medici created a "cabinet of curiosities" that was unrivaled in Europe. Comprising of treasures from exotic lands such as carved ivory spoons from Benin (now Nigeria), a Teotihuacan jade mask from Mexico and a Tupinamba red feather robe from Brazil, this collection became known far and wide. More practical areas included a library of books that became the basis for the Bibliotheque Palatine, a passion for science, botany and mathematics that supported medical research, agricultural advancement and astronomy. Two of the female descendents were married to French Kings (Catherine de Medici to Henri II and Maria de Medici to Henri IV) and each amassed a copious quantity of fine and rare jewels, particularly pearls. Several male descendents became Popes and commissioned sumptuous religious objects and paintings.

The history of the Medici's, as presented here, is not so much a documentation of the riches of a very wealthy family as it is a look at the development of Italian art and culture. The Medicis were the tastemakers of their time, and they did it splendidly. Never vulgar, and often with a public benefit, the Medici family's support of science and art encouraged creative thinking - the kind of thinking that lead to no less than Galileo's amazing discoveries.

The last Medici, Anna-Maria Luisa, Electress of Palatine, pursued the family tradition of collecting but was more obsessed with providing an heir to continue the line. The most touching piece in the exhibition was an exquisite tiny baby cradle made of gold filigree with a large natural pearl as the blanket covering the infant within, a treasure made in Holland in 1695 and presented to Anna-Maria by her husband as a talisman. Sadly it did not help and she died childless in 1743 leaving her own and the entire Medici collection of treasures to the State.

Italy was the last stop in my Renaissance Revival - it's time to get back to the 21st Century and explore what's going on in today's Paris! Hope you'll join me!

Not Exactly Monet, But...

2010-10-17T18:04:00.005-04:00

Despite the best of intentions, my attempt to visit the over-subscribed exhibition "Monet" at the Grand Palais did not work out. After learning that no timed entry tickets were available until November, I decided to tough it out and wait in line with a few hundred of my fellow Monet enthusiasts to see this blockbuster show. When I arrived at the venue there were three lines. One for ticket holders, one for museum members and the third for people like me. From where I entered the sign declared a three hour wait but being an optimist I thought they were just trying to scare me. No such luck as I waited for an hour and finally got close to the sign that announced a two hour wait. That was where I bagged it!

But from adversity comes creativity and I had the great opportunity to discover a hidden gem, a private museum opened six years ago on the 4th floor of the renowned Maxim's restaurant and dedicated to the decorative arts of the Belle Epoque. In fact, it is a presentation of the amazing collection of Pierre Cardin of fashion design fame but more recently the proprietor of Chez Maxim's. Decorated like a courtesan's apartment in 1900, the rooms are chock full of masterpieces of furniture, porcelain, glass and decorative objects by the likes of Majorelle, Gallé and Tiffany & Co. Truly, it was like stepping back to fin de siècle Paris!

I am a big fan of the Belle Epoque and I was curious to see what Maxim's - not exactly a culinary highlight anymore - would present, but I was knocked out by both the quantity and the quality of the collection. Beside the fabulous suites of furniture in the salon, the dining room and the boudoir, I was very impressed by two charcoal crayon drawings by artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and a complete collection of pochoir colored lithographs by the House caricaturist Sem. Our excellent guide took my tour through the apartment pointing out details of architecture and design while she answered questions about the history of both Chez Maxim's and the Art Nouveau treasures within.

So if you have an hour to spare and would like an intimate look at what turn-of-the-century Paris was like, take a walk over to rue Royale and buy a ticket for a step back in time - a visit to the Musée Maxim's!

What's on at the Hôtel Drouot

2010-10-16T12:17:00.007-04:00

People interested in the arts or collecting of any kind are very familiar with the Hôtel Drouot. Not a "hotel" by American definition, but the center of the French auction industry - a sort of pop-up mini-mall of auctions that refresh on an almost daily basis. The first Hôtel Drouot was established in 1852 by a group of commissaires priseurs, licensed auctioneers, who realized that they would benefit from a central location where they could set up and sell their wares at public auction. The idea was a huge success and helped propel Paris into the spotlight as the center for the business of art.

Over the years the Hôtel Drouot has moved and expanded and now comprises four main buildings offering 21 rooms in which to hold public sales. Since 1980, the main location has been on rue Drouot, in the 9th Arrondissement, in a very "mod" building probably most memorable for the bright red carpet that covers the floors, and the walls, of the interior. An average of 3,000 sales occur each year under the auspices of the Hôtel Drouot, these in addition to the more elegant, but not necessarily as interesting, auction houses of Christies and Sothebys.

In 2010, Paris may no longer be the center for art, but a visit to the Hôtel Drouot on any Saturday will leave no doubt that the buying and selling of art and collectibles is a passion that is very much alive.

Take today for instance. When in Paris, I generally try to visit the Hôtel Drouot about twice a week as the previews last a matter of hours and the moment the gavel falls on the last lot, a whole new auction takes over the space. I was interested in a couple of sales that had been mentioned in the Hôtel's weekly news magazine, the "Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot" so this afternoon I took the number 85 bus over to have a look.

Once I got there I was struck again by the tremendous diversity and sheer volume of the goods offered for sale. Today there were two salons dedicated to jewelry sales, one or two of antique furniture and several devoted to paintings of varying periods and quality.

But then it started to get a little more interesting with a sale of movie posters and memorabilia at the house of Kapandji Morhange.

There was a special sale of very fine drawings by French artist Albert Marquet being shown by Aponem-Deburaux Enchères however the lights were dimmed low to protect the drawings and I could not take a photograph. But next door at Kahn Dumousset Millon & Associés I couldn't resist "Collector et Passion" featuring a mix of Walt Disney collectibles and race car souvenirs. Quite a combination and very amusing!

Across the hall was another amazing group up for sale - this was the private collection of a Monsieur Louis Audouin-Dubreuil who evidently had quite a passion for Africa and exotic travel as reflected by his total safari outfit from camp beds to hatchets. This was going to be a three part sale featuring photographs, posters, documents, personal effects, African art objects and paintings as presented by the House of Aguttes.

But my favorite sale of the day was downstairs in the "basement" section which I thought was a shame because it was of very high quality overall. Presented by Auction Art was "Le Passion d'un Cusinier" the private collection of a chef who had until recently owned and operated a Michelin starred restaurant in Lyon, considered by many to be the capitol of gastronomy. His other passion, beside food, was collecting which he pursued with relish. Squeezed into a rather small sale room was the result of years of searching and acquiring anything to do with food and drink. Hundreds of beautiful copper molds, porcelain menus and food themed posters were presented with antique restaurant furniture, fixtures, advertising ephemera and paintings. It was fascinating but a little sad at the same time.

This was just a typical weekend at the Hôtel Drouot - the items may change but the energy never does and neither does the thrill of discovering something absolutely wonderful within its hallowed walls!

Autumn in Paris

2010-10-13T13:22:00.008-04:00

I wonder if Vernon Duke had experienced "Autumn in Paris" before he composed "Autumn in New York" in 1934? Because if he had been in Paris now, he would never have looked anywhere else for inspiration! Absolutely classic fall weather with crisp, cool sunshine and an energy that speaks of the start of a new and invigorating season!

The chestnut tree leaves are turning brown and falling but bright red geraniums still bloom in window boxes everywhere. The air is just cool enough to warrant wearing a smart jacket and scarf to stroll along the boulevard and maybe have a café outdoors under a heater lamp. It's a great time to be here!

Well, maybe not a perfect time as the general strikes that have plagued France for the past few weeks continue with on-going disruptions of public transportation and consequently interruptions in services and deliveries. A strike had been called for Tuesday which made getting around very difficult with protesters marching against raising the retirement age to 62.

Nevertheless, with some strategic planning I was able to cross from the Left Bank to the Right and back again to visit some colleagues, but going to a museum was out of the question as they were closing without notice to (a) sympathize with the strikers and (b) allow their employees to find a way home under the difficult circumstances.

The major museum exhibition in Paris at the moment is a huge Monet retrospective at the Grand Palais. We've all seen countless paintings of waterlilies and the Japanese bridge, but this show promises to be very special with over 200 works, many of which had not been seen by the public in a very long time. I had every intention of seeing it right away until I discovered that the timed entry tickets are sold out until November! Any doubt that the French are still die hard museum-goers can be laid to rest with this one. So tomorrow morning I am planning to get an early start and stand in line for admission. Naturally, I'll post a report and we'll see if all the anticipation was worth while!

After another lovely day it's time to go to dinner. I think tonight calls for a classic "plateau de fruits de mer" a feast of shellfish accompanied by a dry Sancerre! A bientôt!

A Visit to "The New York Earth Room"

2010-10-06T12:30:00.006-04:00

I know, I've been remiss in my blogging these past few weeks, but I'm going to make it up to my loyal readers with this one! In the "..and now for something completely different" category, I'll be taking you on a visit to one of the oldest continuous art installations I know of, Walter De Maria's "The New York Earth Room".

In 1977, under the auspices of the Dia Art Foundation, the American Conceptual artist Walter De Maria filled a room knee-high with 250 cubic yards of earth. That's right, earth. Dirt to some, but that depends on how you look at it. It was actually De Maria's third Earth Room sculpture, the first being in Munich and the second in Darmstadt, but is the only one still extant. Actually more than just extant, thriving.

Situated on the second floor of a building on Wooster Street in New York's bustling Soho neighborhood, "The New York Earth Room" has been open to the public from 12-6 (with a break between 3-3:30) on Wednesdays through Sundays, for over 30 years. There is no admission charge, no photography allowed and and one cannot actually enter the room. It is not advertised yet a steady stream of visitors, about 70 a day, come to experience the quiet, the steadiness and the calm of this remarkable installation.

This is the brainchild of Walter De Maria, a native of California who has made New York his home since 1960. Despite a brief stint as a drummer in a rock band, Mr De Maria has dedicated his career to producing Minimalist and Conceptual sculptures and installations around the world. His most famous work is probably "The Lightening Field", 1977, installed in Western New Mexico and consisting of 400 stainless steel posts arranged in a grid over an area of one mile by one kilometer. Playing off the weather, time of day and other environmental changes, the posts reflect light, or lack thereof, to tremendous, ever-changing, visual effect.

But here in New York we are not as outdoor-oriented and Mr De Maria's approach to "The New York Earth Room" focus' on a limited interior space where the surroundings can be controlled. The result is a never changing (that in itself remarkable in this face-paced city) refuge that speaks to the visitor in different ways with each encounter.

Even the guardian of "The New York Earth Room" has remained constant! For the past 21 years, the space has been maintained by Bill Dillworth, an aspiring artist who took the job for a steady paycheck. He admits to having wondered at the time if he would become bored with the limited tasks involved in taking care of a room full of earth, but found that the concept and the place cast a spell over him and his weekly watering and raking have became almost a ritual ceremony.

So if you're looking for a quiet spot in the middle of the downtown frenzy, walk on over to 114 Wooster Street, go up the stairs, say hello to Bill and enter the magic of Walter De Maria's "The New York Earth Room".

P.S. This Saturday I'll be taking off for Paris. I hope you'll check back soon to see what I've discovered this fall season in the City of Lights!

Announcing Catalogue Number Five!

2010-09-18T17:57:00.003-04:00

I am pleased to announce the publication of my fifth catalogue!

Georgina Kelman :: Works on Paper presents "Catalogue Number Five", a selection of European and American fine prints, drawings and watercolors from the Victorian Era to the Jazz Age. As with the previous editions, this catalogue offers works by such 19th and early 20th Century artists as Bérard, Chahine, Degas, Helleu, Lepape, Steinlen, Villion and Tissot plus a few undiscovered genius'! This is a labor of love, and I hope you enjoy browsing the collection.

Many of these pieces, plus a lot more, can be viewed on my website, www.GeorginaKelman.com. If you would like to know more about the catalogue or have any specific art requests, you can contact me directly from the site.

Summer is quickly becoming a faded memory, but we have the new fall season to look forward to! Please check back often as I share my art adventures on this blog. Thank you for visiting and hope to see you soon!

A Visit to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection

2010-09-13T15:14:00.009-04:00

In the 1950's, the village of Kleinburg, Ontario, was little more than a pinpoint on the map just to the north and west of Toronto. Today, thanks to the passion and foresight of Robert and Signe McMichael, Kleinburg is known far and wide as the home of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection - the spiritual home of the renowned Group of Seven.

Let's begin at the beginning. In the early part of the twentieth century, a group of artists began working together in an effort to forge a Canadian painting identity using the nation's unique and magnificent landscape as an inspiration. It was, in their eyes, time to break away from their European roots and create a school or movement that reflected the reality of the new country and its intrepid inhabitants.

Tom Thompson "The Jack Pine", 1917

The "godfather" of this group was Tom Thompson, an outdoorsman at heart who recorded his observations of nature in his brilliantly colored paintings. It was his connection to and influence on other similarly minded painters that resulted in the formation of the Group of Seven - a name that eventually became a misnomer as the group expanded to ten! Sadly, Tom Thompson died in a canoeing accident before the Group of Seven was officially founded, but his vision was their guide throughout their existence.

Lawren Harris "Mount Robson", c. 1929

In 1920 the seven artists comprised Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, Franklyn Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson. Their first exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto was an immediate success and confirmed their commitment to exploring and depicting their native environs. Over the next few years the group incorporated three more official members, A.J. Casson, Edwin Holgate and L.L. FitzGerald, and is also credited with influencing contemporaries - most notably Emily Carr. By 1931 the Group of Seven had given its last show - they disbanded and continued to pursue their art on individual basis' but their impact on Canadian Art did not wane.

Now let's skip ahead twenty years when art collectors Robert and Signe McMichael purchased a tract of land in Kleinburg and built a large log cabin which they named "Tapawingo", or "Place of Joy". Here they displayed their beautiful paintings surrounded by the nature which inspired them. Not just patrons of the Group of Seven, the McMichaels took personal interest in the well-being of the surviving members. In fact, A.Y. Jackson spent his last years with them and is buried on the grounds along with five of his colleagues in the McMichael Cemetery.

A.Y. Jackson "Maple and Birches", 1915

Both the acreage of the property and the square footage of the home were expanded over the years as their collection grew and the number of art lovers who made the trek to visit them increased exponentially. Eventually, in 1965, the McMichaels donated the land, their home and its contents to the Province of Ontario which maintains the compound to this day as a museum and cultural center dedicated to the promotion of the Canadian identity through art. Today, visitors can enjoy walks through the woods, a look at Tom Thompson's very primitive painting cabin (moved there from its original location), temporary exhibitions focusing on Native arts and artists, and most of all, the installation of the McMichael's own personal collection of the Group of Seven within the log walls of their home.

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is open 364 days a year for the pure pleasure of viewing these magnificent works of Canadian art.