The World's Fair Collection of Alfred Heller

Thursday, 22 September 2005 13:33

NEW YORK.-The largest and most diverse collection of mementos connected to World’s Fairs will be presented when Christie’s offers The World’s Fair Collection of Alfred Heller. The collection consists of books, posters, stereoview cards, paintings, photographs and ephemera from virtually every fair since and including the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, which attracted crowds to the magnificent Crystal Palace. Additional fairs represented in the collection are such illustrious events as the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the 1889 and 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition and the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. World’s Fairs were the historians of progress and the best showcases to show off the latest advancements in technology and architectural design. One of the most famous examples was the Eiffel Tower, created for the 1889 Paris Exposition. Among the many pieces in the collection documenting this major event is a two volume textbook written by Gustave Eiffel entitled, La Tour de Irois cents metres. (Paris, 1900) (estimate: $15,000-20,000). This book served as the main resource for subsequent studies on the architecture of 19th century metal structures and is a gem for collectors searching for one of the only five hundred printed copies.

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Weaving the Legend of Don Quijote

Thursday, 22 September 2005 13:38

DALLAS, TEXAS.- The Meadows Museum presents Weaving the Legend of Don Quijote - 18th Century Tapestries from the Royal Court of Spain. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of part one of "Don Quijote" by Miguel de Cervantes. It became one of the most successful and influential novels of its time and remains a literary classic. The book was a particular favorite of King Philip V of Spain, who commissioned tapestries presenting events in the story. In extraordinary condition and lush with detail and color, the 19 tapestries in the exhibition are grand in scale—as large as 13 x 17 feet—and will be shown along with books, paintings, illustrations and other artistic media showing different interpretations of Cervantes' work from throughout Europe. The visitor will see breathtaking craftsmanship along with a clear example of cultural unity, appearing just at the time when nations and states were emerging in Europe; despite the diversity of identities, there was a common culture represented by the adoption of Don Quijote as a reference point. The Meadows Museum is the first venue for this exhibition and the only venue in the United States.

New World Found Under Adoration of the Magi

Thursday, 22 September 2005 13:43

ROME, ITALY.- Maurizio Seracini has been researching Leonardo da Vinci’s work The Adoration of the Magi. He found, below the surface, an under-drawing. Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, said, "Whatever the true nature of the under-drawing, it had yet to be made public." Mr. Seracini gave an excusive preview of the results to The Guardian. In the foreground there is a ruminating figure surrounded by a sea of faces. Behind Mary there is an oddly shaped, incomplete structure. There are horsemen on the other side engaged in a struggle. Mr. Seracini stated he found a whole new world under the surface created by Da Vinci.

Camille Claudel and Rodin: Fateful Encounter

Thursday, 22 September 2005 14:11

DETROIT, MI.-Rivera and Kahlo; Pollock and Krasner; de Kooning and de Kooning – much of the popular history of 20th-century art has been told through the tumultuous pairings of brilliant artists. Now, Camille Claudel and Rodin: Fateful Encounter, a major international exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) , provides the first side-by-side comparison of Camille Claudel (1864–1943) and Auguste Rodin (1840–1917), whose work helped shape the extraordinary legacy of turn-of-the-century Paris. Fateful Encounter showcases 58 sculptures by Rodin, 62 by Claudel, and select works by their contemporaries. These objects, along with rare photographs, drawings, and letters, reveal how Claudel’s and Rodin’s artistic and personal lives were intimately entwined. The DIA is the only U.S. venue for the exhibition, which is organized by the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec in conjunction with the Musée Rodin in Paris. Fifty museums and private collectors have lent objects to the show.

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Jim Dine, Some Drawings at Neuberger Museum

Thursday, 22 September 2005 14:15

PURCHASE, NY.-Jim Dine, some drawings features 84 drawings in watercolor, charcoal, enamel, pastel and other media by one of the most well-known artists from the last forty years of American art. Essentially an expressionist with a classical bent, Jim Dine’s style emphasizes draftsmanship while underscoring the ultimate importance of emotional content. His autobiographical images of robes, hearts, tools and the Venus De Milo, which appear repeatedly in paintings, prints and sculptures, are legendary. In 1959, Dine had his first exhibition with fellow artist and co-collaborator, Claes Oldenburg. Using everyday objects as his signature subjects, Dine came to prominence as a Pop artist in the early 1960s. Beginning in 1970s, figuration and life drawing became the impetus behind much of his work, and Dine frequently used mixed media and ready-mades to produce his paintings. He subsequently returned to traditional painting techniques incorporated with collage, printing, etching, and paper-making.

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Mawurndjul : Journey through Time in Australia

Thursday, 22 September 2005 14:18

BASEL, SWITZERLAND.-Museum Tinguely presents – John Mawurndjul : Journey through Time in Northern Australia. John Mawurndjul - “John Mawurndjul is an innovator who has revolutionised Kuninjku bark painting”. (Judith Ryan, Senior Curator, Indigenous Art, National Gallery of Victoria). John Mawurndjul was born in 1952 on his clan territory in Western Arnhem Land in Northern Australia, where the absence of a recorded written form led to the development of a particularly rich iconographical tradition. He learned to paint in the traditional manner, by painting designs on the bodies of initiates during ritual ceremonies. Very early on, though, John Mawurndjul started painting also on the prepared barks of the eucalyptus tree. Inspired by the rock paintings of his distant forefathers, John Mawurndjul developed his own manner and mode of treating the traditional images. He gradually outgrew the motifs of Aboriginal iconography – the lightning spirits or the almighty rainbow serpent as life-giving but also as destructive spirits – to treat it today with entirely new concepts and in a totally new form.

Read more: [[Mawurndjul : Journey through Time in Australia]]

Peter Shire at the Chouinard Gallery

Thursday, 22 September 2005 14:20

SOUTH PASADENA, CA.-Peter Shire Brings the Story of His Evolution from Simple Ceramist to Mad Scientist to the Chouinard Gallery. In his own words, artist and Chouinard graduate Peter Shire has “… had 75 solo exhibitions (some very good, and some better); completed 20 public sculptures; been collected by 20 public institutions.” He is also a respected furniture designer, having been an original member of the Memphis Group. Curator Gary Wong makes this statement about Peter Shire’s show: “In the beginning there was clay, and Peter Shire has certainly left his mark in it. His well-known studio, which also houses Echo Park Pottery (E x P), is an extension of his life and lifestyle as a denizen of Echo Park and as an artist. Teapots, cups, saucers, bowls and vases have been thoroughly Shire-ized in his prolific and distinctive career as a ceramist. Beidermeired and Bauhaused, he deftly explored his medium’s design potential and the limitations therein. Just when he thought he’d done it all, he discovered the metal teapot. This was to be his latest device for massaging the gap between low and high art.

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Marc Chagall, The Black Glove, 1923-48

Thursday, 22 September 2005 14:25

ISHOJ, DENMARK.-Arken Museum of Moder Art will present Marc Chagall, The Black Glove, 1923-48. This exhibition has been mounted in collaboration with Chagall’s granddaughter Meret Meyer, and some of the major museums in Europe and Russia: Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Musée national du Message Biblique in Nice, Sprengel Museum in Hannover and State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Moreover a large number of major works are on loan from private collections. With more than 180 works spanning all of his work – forty paintings, gouaches and drawings as well as 150 lithographs, etchings and sculptures – this exhibition, which will be shown at Arken only, offers a comprehensive and exclusive vision of his world of love and tolerance A universal, divine factor of life - According to Jewish mysticism the world began its existence as a vessel into which God poured his love. And He filled the vessel beyond its breaking point, shattering it in millions of pieces. Therefore even the most diminutive things in the world hold a spark of divine love.

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Dialogues: Duchamp, Cornell, Johns, Rauschenberg

Thursday, 22 September 2005 14:30

DALLAS, TX.The first exhibition to explore the artistic exchange among Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Cornell, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg will be presented by the Dallas Museum of Art . Dialogues: Duchamp, Cornell, Johns, Rauschenberg features more than 40 works, more than half of which will be drawn from the Museum’s own holdings and from the Marguerite and Robert Hoffman Collection, which was recently committed to the DMA. “Dialogues is a groundbreaking exhibition that looks beyond traditional assessments and categorizations of artists to examine the subtleties and nuances of artistic influence and exchange,” said John R. Lane, The Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art. “This exhibition, which features major works from the DMA’s growing collection of modern and contemporary art, fosters a reevaluation of the dynamic connection between these four seminal artists and furthers the Museum’s commitment to new scholarship on the art of the twentieth century.”

Read more: [[Dialogues: Duchamp, Cornell, Johns, Rauschenberg]]

Buddha Head - National Treasure from Kohfuku

Thursday, 22 September 2005 14:34

TOKYO, JAPAN.-The Tokyo National Museum presents Buddha Head - National Treasure from Kohfukuji, on view through October 16, 2005. A special feature of the Buddha Head of Kohfukuji. The Buddha Head often appears in textbooks to represent the Hakuho period sculptures. In Japanese history, the Hakuho period (late Asuka period) was when the first history books and the poetry anthology "Manyoshu" were born, and when the classical culture was at its height. As also seen in the wall paintings of the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus, this period is known for the vivid artistic expressions. With the calmness of its gaze and the youthful contours of its face, the Buddha Head from Kohfukuji brings us the image of a young nobleman from long ago. On October 30, 1937, the head of a Buddhist statue was found from inside the pedestal of the statue of Yakushi Nyorai (Bhaisajyaguru), the principle image at the East Main Hall of Kohfukuji that was under repair. It was the head of the statue which was the principle image of the hall during the Kamakura period, when Kohfukuji was revitalized. It was formerly the principle image of the lecture hall of Yamada-dera temple in Asuka.

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Designs That Protect Body and Mind

Thursday, 22 September 2005 14:41

NEW YORK.-Content: Safe: Design Takes On Risk, the first major design exhibition at MoMA will present more than 300 contemporary products and prototypes designed for a variety of reasons: to protect body and mind from dangerous or stressful circumstances; respond to emergencies; ensure clarity of information; and provide a sense of comfort and security. The objects will be displayed in the exhibition to address the spectrum of human fears and worries, from the most mundane to the most exceptional, from the dread of earthquakes and terrorist attacks, to those of darkness and loneliness. Safety is an instinctive need that has guided human choices throughout history and has in recent years become a focus, even an obsession. Risk, on the other hand, is mankind’s propelling fuel. Humankind craves discovery, innovation, and inspiration, no matter how dangerous. Designers are trained to balance risk with protection and to mediate between disruptive change and normalcy. Good design goes hand in hand with personal needs, providing protection and security without sacrificing innovation and invention.

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Renoir's Women at Columbus Museum of Art

Friday, 30 September 2005 09:56

COLUMBUS, OHIO.-Renoir’s Women will feature more than 30 key works loaned from renowned museums and collections around the world that reveal the breadth of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s vision during all phases of his career. This exclusive exhibition is the first to focus on Renoir’s representation of women, one of his favorite subjects, while illuminating the place of women in his art. This will be the only opportunity to see these outstanding works exhibited together. Renoir’s Women will explore the enduring nature of Renoir’s interest in women through his depictions of maternity, children, domestic settings, and nudes. One of the great masters of Impressionism, Renoir created works that are beloved for their brilliant color and dazzling brushwork. More than 20 museums and private collections from around the world are lending paintings, works on paper, and sculpture to this significant exhibition, which includes three Renoir treasures from the Museum’s own collection.

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Altoids Curiously Strong Collection at New Museum

Friday, 30 September 2005 13:44

NEW YORK.-The New Museum of Contemporary Art will exhibit the acclaimed AltoidsÒ Curiously Strong Collection, now in its seventh year. The Altoids Curiously Strong Collection is a showcase of young emerging artists and the 22 works chosen for this year’s collection .. The Seventh Annual Altoids Curiously Strong Collection includes work by Reed Anderson, Jedediah Caesar, Augusto Di Stefano, Rob Fischer, Amy Gartrell, James Gobel, Mark Grotjahn, John Gutierrez, Violet Hopkins, Chris Johanson, Shin-II Kim, John Largaespada, Elissa Levy, Charlene Liu, Tony Matelli, Katie Pell, Ara Peterson, Juan Miguel Ramos, Amy Sarkisian, Randall Sellers, Anna Sew Hoy, and Yuken Teruya. “The New Museum is consistently on the forefront of new art and new ideas, and the Altoids Collection represents this well,” said Lisa Phillips, Henry Luce III Director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art. “This collection is an opportunity for the New Museum to exhibit work by talented young artists, and also to collaborate creatively with Altoids to formulate a new way for institutions to collect emerging artists.”

Read more: [[Altoids Curiously Strong Collection at New Museum]]

Regeneration: Contemporary Chinese Art

Friday, 30 September 2005 13:50

TEMPE, ARIZONA.-It could be considered a cultural revolution in the Chinese art world. Chinese artists born in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s are reconstructing their cultural, historical and artistic foundations into a new form of art revealed in Regeneration: Contemporary Art from China and the U.S. Regeneration is a national touring exhibition of 50-plus artworks by 26 artists, organized by the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, Pa.). The eight-venue tour stops at the ASU Art Museum, preceded by a show in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times says Regeneration is "an opportunity to catch up with Chinese artists who are making a mark at home and abroad." "Since the mid-eighties, there has been a growing interest in contemporary Chinese art in the West," says Samek Art Gallery Director Dan Mills, who curated the exhibition with Bucknell art professor and artist Xiaoze Xie. "After the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, decades of isolationism and cultural restrictions that influenced the production and exhibition of art gave way to a period of remarkable and fast-paced development."

Read more: [[Regeneration: Contemporary Chinese Art]]

Roots of Creativity by Hans Friedrich Grohs

Saturday, 01 October 2005 09:59

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.-The Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature at University of Richmond Museums presents Roots of Creativity: Landscapes by Hans Friedrich Groh. Throughout his life, German artist Hans Friedrich Grohs (1892-1981) found inspiration, solace, and spirituality in the landscape, from his birthplace in the coastal province of Dithmarschen, Germany, to the majestic Italian Alps, to the Arctic islands of Lofoten in northern Norway. This exhibition of more than 35 drawings and watercolors from the 1960s reveals the artist's personal response to nature that grew from his early training at the Bauhaus into his primary subject matter towards the end of his career. The works in the exhibition were selected from the permanent collection of the Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums, and from the Frauken Grohs-Collinson-Grohs Collection Trust. As a young master student at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Grohs studied under Lyonel Feininger, but he left the academy in 1919 following a controversial dispute with founder Walter Gropius regarding the sacrifice of German "identity" for the increasing internationalism of the institution's mission. Despite his allegiance to Germanic themes, in 1937 Grohs' expressionist style was targeted by the Nazi party and labeled "degenerate." Many of his creations were banned from public exhibition, confiscated, and then burned. Following the war, the instability and depression in Germany brought hardship for the artist, and consequently his art took on a tragic and escapist tone for the remainder of his life.

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ARTSingapore- Contemporary Asian Art Fair

Saturday, 01 October 2005 10:23

SINGAPORE.-Sold out by early 2005, all 65 booths were snapped up by 50 galleries participating in ARTSINGAPORE this year; the highest take up ever since the annual contemporary Asian Art Fair first started 5 years ago. The overwhelming response and participation from both repeat and new galleries from all over the world is a strong show that Singapore is well-poised as an arts hub and on the cusp of becoming the region’s most popular destination for the art trade.

Read more: [[ARTSingapore- Contemporary Asian Art Fair]]