Its Time To Say ~ Goodbye ~ Adios ~ and Thank You!

Written by rubin Sunday, 15 April 2012 06:51

The Autry National Centre to show premier American West Painter ~ Howard Terpning

Written by Mitchell Morrison Sunday, 15 April 2012 06:46

Los Angeles, California.- The Autry National Center is proud to present "Howard Terpning: Tribute to the Plains People", on view at the center from May 12th through July 1st. This dynamic retrospective exhibition of the work of premier American West painter Howard Terpning known for his devotion and respect for both the material culture and traditions of Blackfoot, Crow, Lakota, and other Plains tribes, does more than paint a picture; it tells a story. Today, the artist has close relations with living Native Americans, is invited to attend many of their sacred ceremonies, and tribal elders call him the storyteller of their people. Terpning is also considered by his peers and collectors to be one of the greatest of all painters of the American West. “Having my work exhibited at the Autry as a retrospective will be an important milestone in my career, and I feel honored to have my work displayed in the museum. The paintings reflect my admiration for Native people, and the stories that I tell on canvas provide a very small window into the lives of the First Americans who inhabited the Great Plains,” said Terpning.

Using historical research, meticulous attention to detail, and sweeping landscape vistas, Terpning creates engaging, open-ended stories about life, family, and survival on the Western frontier during the period prior to the end of the Indian Wars. Terpning often consults with Native American tribal members to ensure accuracy in all his works. This exhibition brings together over eighty masterworks, some never displayed in public before. What started as a successful illustration career in Hollywood—with work on such films as Gone With the Wind, The Sound of Music, and Cleopatra—led to a focus on Western art, which is often narrative in style. During a civilian combat artist assignment, Terpning traveled to Vietnam and witnessed the devastation of the local indigenous population during the war. Those eyewitness accounts sparked his interest in the treatment of Native peoples in the United States.


Several of Terpning’s masterful pieces have been on exhibit at the Autry throughout the years, including the 2004 Masters of the American West award-winning piece "The Force of Nature Humbles All Men". It is now part of the Autry’s permanent collection. Fascinated by the movement and force of rushing water, he was inspired to create this painting from a thundering, cascading river of water moving through a narrow gorge in Glacier National Park. Using photographs he took as the basis for a large rock formation, Terpning placed a group of Blackfeet riders on this natural stage. Shown looking in multiple directions, their outward gaze suggests an even more expansive scene to which each individual reacts differently. Terpning considers this his signature work. "Sound of a Distant Bugle" (2009) also conjures the imagery of water. While attending a gathering at the Big Horn River, Terpning observed a group of young Native men charging into the river on horseback. Working with the idea of stepping back in time, Terpning visualized them as a party of Cheyenne warriors cooling off on a hot day as they look out for potential danger. An intricate design and complex composition are demonstrated in numerous details throughout the painting. Highlighting the reflections in the water, maintaining the illusion of a fast-moving current, creating the appearance of wet skin, placing the figures in different depths, and creating movement throughout the piece are characteristics of Terpning’s masterful style. These two Autry pieces will join the 84 additional works on display.

Howard Terpning has tremendous respect for the Native American people who lived in the nineteenth century, portraying them honestly and accurately. He has close relations with living Native Americans, is invited to attend many of their sacred ceremonies, and tribal elders call him the storyteller of their people. He is also considered by his peers and collectors to be one of the greatest of all painters of the American West. Terpning spent more than twenty-five years as an illustrator after receiving his art education at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art and the American Academy of Art. He began to transition from a lucrative illustration career to fine art during the mid-1970s. He was invited to join the prestigious National Academy of Western Art and became a member of the Cowboy Artists of America in 1979. The awards he has received from these two institutions are too numerous to list. Terpning has won many awards at the Autry National Center's Masters of the American West Fine Art Exhibition and Sale. He received the Thomas Moran Memorial Award for Painting in 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2001. In 2005, his painting Camp at the Cougar’s Den was honored with both the Thomas Moran Memorial Award for Painting and the Patrons’ Choice Award. At the 2004 Masters, The Force of Nature Humbles All Men received the Masters of the American West Award and the Trustees’ Purchase Award, and in 2000 Terpning was given the John J. Geraghty Award in recognition of his advancement of contemporary Western art. Terpning and his wife, Marlies, reside in Tucson, Arizona. Howard Terpning is represented by Settlers West Galleries Inc., Tucson, Arizona, and giclée reproductions of his work are available through Greenwich Workshop dealers.


The Autry National Center of the American West is an intercultural center and museum in Los Angeles, California that celebrates the diversity and history of the American West through three important institutions: the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of the American West, and the Institute for the Study of the American West. The Autry's mission is to explore the experiences and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West, connecting the past with the present to inform our shared future. All of the exhibitions, public programs, K-12 educational services and publications are designed to further this mission. Located at the Museum of the American West, the Wells Fargo Theater is also part of the center. The Southwest Museum's 238,000-piece collection of Native American art is one of the most significant and representative of its kind in the United States, second only to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian. Comprising 14,000 baskets, 10,000 ceramic items, 6,300 textiles and weavings, and more than 1,100 pieces of jewelry, the collection represents indigenous peoples from Alaska to South America, with an emphasis on cultures from California and the Southwestern United States. The Southwest Museum was founded in 1907 and is the oldest museum in Los Angeles. The Museum of the American West was established in 1988 by Gene Autry (as "Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum") to explore and share the comprehensive story of the American West and the multiple cultures, perspectives, traditions, and experiences–real and imagined–that make the West significant. Its collection is composed of 21,000 paintings, sculptures, costumes, textiles, firearms, tools, toys, musical instruments, and other objects. The Institute for the Study of the American West is a research and publishing enterprise that produces and supports scholarly work in Western history and the arts. In 2002, the Women of the West Museum of Colorado merged with the Institute, infusing the Autry’s focus with a scholarly and educational emphasis on gender issues and women’s experiences in the American West. Visit the center's website at ... http://theautry.org

The Honolulu Museum of Art to display Hiroshige's "Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô"

Written by Ilse Trouveretraite Sunday, 15 April 2012 06:36

Honolulu, Hawaii.- In Japanese art only a handful of names are as universally recognizable as Leonardo da Vinci, Claude Monet or Andy Warhol. One of these artists is Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). And this summer the Honolulu Museum of Art presents "Hiroshige: An Artist’s Journey", an exhibition featuring one of the Japanese master’s most iconic series — The Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô. As popular today as he was in the 19th century, Hiroshige had a lasting influence on Western artists such as Vincent van Gogh and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. One of the things that people love about his prints is the fact that you get the opportunity to discover not only the artist, but the Japan of his time,” says Shawn Eichman, the museum’s Curator of Asian Art. “There’s a real sense of nostalgia in his prints. It is like looking through a window to the last days of Japan before it became a modern nation.” "Hiroshige: An Artist’s Journey" will be on view at the museum from June 14th through August 12th. What also makes Hiroshige stand out among Japanese artists is the deep humanity of his work, as compared to his equally famous contemporary Katsushika Hokusai, who is known for his masterful draftsmanship. “Whereas Hokusai would use people as elements of an overall graphic design, Hiroshige would often downplay the elements of graphic design and drawing in favor of capturing the sense of humanity of the scene,” says the curator.

Read more: [[The Honolulu Museum of Art to display Hiroshige's "Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô"]]

Fossil of Oldest Bird to be Displayed at London's Natural History Museum

Written by Veselin Toshkov, AP Wednesday, 23 May 2012 20:30

LONDON.- The fossil that confirmed Darwin’s theory of evolution, Archaeopteryx, will be displayed for the first time in a new gallery called Treasures, opening at the Natural History Museum in November 2012. The fossil Archaeopteryx lithographica shows both bird and reptile features and was discovered just two years after Darwin published On the Origin of Species. The fossil became a key piece of evidence for the origin of birds and the confirmation of evolution and is known by some as the Mona Lisa of natural history.

Read more: [[Fossil of Oldest Bird to be Displayed at London's Natural History Museum]]

The Nationalmuseum to rehang 19th Century French Art

Written by Sami Arvidsson Sunday, 15 April 2012 06:25

Stockholm, Sweden.- From 19 April, visitors will be able to see Nationalmuseum’s extensive collection of French 19th-century art presented in a new way. The exhibition charts the modern way of living that emerged during that period and how it influenced art. It forms part of a project to test out future ways of presenting the museum’s collections in the refurbished building. "Modern Life – France in the 19th Century" tells the story of how French society embraced the modern age during the 19th century and what impact that had on the art movement. The time provides a common theme for the exhibition, with social issues and dramatic events driving the story forward, from the French Revolution in 1789 to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Nationalmuseum’s collection includes a rich gallery of figures who helped to create what we might consider modern life, with portraits by both French and Swedish artists such as Edouard Manet, Anders Zorn, Edgar Degas,Auguste Renoir, Eva Bonnier and Auguste Rodin.

The 19th century saw the industrial revolution, mass migration to the cities, popular revolts and the emergence of democracy. With all these changes came new ways of looking at people and society. A fascination for the growing wealth of entertainment and goods on offer in the cities developed, alongside a new way of viewing the natural world. The new penchant for plein air painting and the impressionists’ experiments with light and colour led to a deeper realism in the depiction of nature. Towards the end of the 19th century, the new inventions and fashions of the age started making increasingly frequent appearances in landscape paintings – trains steaming by, holidaymakers strolling along glittering beaches and leisure spots punctuating the banks of the Seine. In the field of applied art, nature inspired elegant designs decorated with stylised plants and flowers, as well as rugged shapes and rough surfaces.


The works of Swedish artists and their sojourns in France are also woven into the exhibition. Many Swedish artists travelled to Paris in the second half of the 19th century, and the little town of Grez-sur-Loing became home to an international artists’ colony. Works from artists such as Eva Bonnier, Karl Nordström, Carl Fredrik Hill and Ernst Josephson are here for all to see. The exhibition is part of a project looking at how to present the Nationalmuseum’s collections in the refurbished museum, once work is completed. The exhibition is thus testing out new forms of presentation and ideas that will then be assessed and help to determine how the art will be displayed in the future. One idea being trialled in collaboration with the Getty Conservation Institute is the use of LED lighting. All the works in the exhibition come from Nationalmuseum’s own collection, with the exception of a few photographs that are on loan. Paintings, sculptures, drawings and applied art will appear side by side, with objects placed closer together than usual so that more works can be put on show. The presentation will be supported by texts about individual pieces, slideshows, moving images and touchscreens. More information about the exhibition, particular works and related activities will be available online and via Twitter. A book group will also be organised during spring and autumn in conjunction with the exhibition.

The creation of Nationalmuseum in Stockholm was the most extensive governmental investment in culture in the 19th century in Sweden. For some 150 years the building has functioned as an art museum, enjoying a special international position both as an architectural monument and an important cultural heritage. Topical exhibitions and a varied program ensure that every visit to the museum is an enriching experience. Join a guided tour, rent an audio guide or wander around independently and discover the museum’s artistic treasures. Experience Swedish fin de siècle painting in the form of well-known works by Carl Larsson, Hanna Pauli, Anders Zorn and Bruno Liljefors. Get to know the art of earlier times too: from portraits painted during Sweden’s age of greatness in the 17th century to the Romantic landscapes of the 19th century. Highlights from the 18th century include Roslin’s veiled lady and Sergel’s sculptures and drawings.


As well as Swedish art, they present works by international masters: Rembrandt, Antoine Watteau, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin and many others. The Modern Form exhibition (Den moderna formen) presents developments in Scandinavian design and applied art over the past 100 years. Alongside Jonas Bohlin’s Concrete armchair, you can see ceramics by Stig Lindberg, glass by Simon Gate, and Gösta Thames’ “cobra” telephone. The Design in Sweden exhibition (Formen i Sverige 1500–1740) discusses the roots and development of European design. See the fashionable furnishings of the time, tapestries, china, splendid silverware and much more. Presented in their historical context, the artifacts provide a picture of innovations and trends among the upper classes between 1500 and 1740. In April 2008, Statens fastighetsverk (the National Property Board) was commissioned by the Government to carry out a preliminary study of the requirements for a refurbishment and renovation of the Nationalmuseum. Work on an extensive refurbishment programme is expected to start soon. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.nationalmuseum.se

The Philadelphia Museum of Art to survey "Rockwell Kent ~ Voyager"

Written by Nancy Westinghouse Sunday, 15 April 2012 06:12

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.- Once famous among his contemporaries as an artist, author, adventurer, and political activist, Rockwell Kent (1882–1971) left an enduring legacy as a printmaker and illustrator of books. His drawings and limited edition prints could transport viewers to far-away lands, bolster progressive causes, and prove effective both in advertising and book illustration. "Rockwell Kent ~ Voyager" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from May 19th through July 29th, surveys the artist’s achievements from 1907 to the 1950s, including the artist’s travel narratives, illustrations for literary classics, and advertising designs, as well as works that illuminate his commitment to leftist politics from World War I through the McCarthy era. With over 100 works on paper, the exhibition also features watercolors, pen and ink drawings, a sketchbook, and lithographic stone that open a window onto the artist’s creative process.

Read more: [[The Philadelphia Museum of Art to survey "Rockwell Kent ~ Voyager"]]

Blain|Southern to present New Paintings & Sculptural Works by Jonas Burgert

Written by Fiona Northiham Sunday, 15 April 2012 01:42

Berlin.- Blain|Southern are pleased to present "Gift Gegen Zeit (Poison Against Time)" on view at their Potsdamer Straße gallery in Berlin from April 28th through July 7th. For this exhibition, German artist Jonas Burgert will unveil a series of new paintings, some monumental in scale, alongside sculptural works. Jonas Burgert paints a stage every time that he lifts his brush. With every stroke, with every composition, his works depict the inexhaustible theatre play that is human existence: man’s need to make sense of his purpose in life. It is a quest that by its very nature is inconclusive, but which opens doors to every sphere of reason, imagination and desire. Oversized canvases are peopled with fantastical creatures of unlikely proportions. Some are towering, gigantic figures, others as small as infants. The cast includes monkeys and zebras, skeletons and harlequins, amazons, children, sometimes even the painter himself. The supernumerary present a gruesome pageant. Walls disintegrate and floors gape open to reveal heaps of bodies or a lurid, glowing liquid; people wear masks and strange costumes, war-paint adorns the faces, and the distinction between carcass and animate, living and dead, is often unclear.

Read more: [[Blain|Southern to present New Paintings & Sculptural Works by Jonas Burgert]]

Merry Karnowsky Gallery to show Craola (Greg Simkins) & KMNDZ (Johnny Rodriguez)

Written by Emily Pendergast Saturday, 14 April 2012 23:48

Los Angeles, California.- The Merry Karnowsky Gallery is proud to present two new solo exhibitions, on view at the galleries from April 21st through May 19th. In the Main Gallery, they will be showing "Cloud Theory", a solo exhibition by artist Greg “Craola” Simkins. Simultaneously, the Square Gallery will be exhibiting "One Step Beyond" a solo exhibition by Johnny “KMNDZ” Rodriguez. The Merry Karnowsky Gallery is home to several of the most significant artists working today. Founded in 1997 by Merry Karnowsky, the gallery has had a central focus for over a decade; championing emerging and mid-career artists who push beyond the boundaries of formal definition. The Gallery is devoted to exhibiting contemporary works of art that are challenging, innovative and committed to fostering new directions in American art.

Simkins, who is known for his whimsical imaginings and superior technique, was raised in Los Angeles, and is forever influenced by, and influencing, the animated aesthetic. Always exploding and busting out from within, Simkins' imagery is symbolic of symbiotic and ever-changing relationships. His gift is creating characters both familiar and odd for us to fall in love with. “As a child I used to play a game, which involved nothing more than lying on my back, staring at the sky. As the clouds formed and floated by, my imagination inserted characters into the story unfolding before my eyes. These clouds became the catalyst for what would become a lifelong compulsion to daydream and slip into other worlds merely by being outside. While working out ideas for this exhibit, it became clear that clouds would be the foundation for each piece. By bringing them into the foreground and making them the framework for my ideas, I quickly discovered how “The Outside”—this world that I have created for myself—has consumed my subconscious. After years spent buried in books, learning about animals and oddities, heroes and villains, truth and fiction, "The Outside" has become an assortment of bizarre morphing creatures, winged observers, antique odds and ends, and tentacled heroes who have become my friends over the years. Simultaneously, “The Outside” has illuminated my secret desire of escaping this world with its politics, its trappings, and its stresses. These pieces serve as an intermission from the struggles of our world and bring back the heart of a kid, lying on his back, interpreting what he sees in the clouds, completely and utterly carefree.”


"Johnny “KMNDZ” Rodriguez: One Step Beyond" romantically pairs the past with the present to articulate ideas of moving forward into the future. To Johnny, ‘KMNDZ’ is more than a contemporary moniker referencing the ‘undo’ option on a MAC, but a reminder that we can rectify the past by reflecting upon the lessons learned to better our next actions. Acutely aware of man’s tendency to get caught up in a search for false perfection, this is the first time that Rodriguez has introduced human figures in his work in lieu of dehumanized robotic renderings. Bringing back his usual suspects, the paintings are filled with intricate birds, beads, bombs and typography that interact with characters of flesh, and steel. A successful leader in the graphic design community, Rodriquez has worked for some of the world’s premier design agencies and top entertainment companies. Still, the internal desire to expand creative expression beyond the accepted commercial realm comes to the forefront in the artist’s new body of work. An intricate understanding of modern technology, and a natural love for the ‘Godliness’ in all things seem to collide in an otherworldly manner. Memories of people, or moments lost, have become immortalized in rich layers of color, existing within the urban environment in which they were rendered. “Aside from trying to push my art further and painting outside my comfort zone, the show is a love letter to all of my friends lost. It’s about sharing my hope in life and the beyond. With newly introduced renderings of people in my work, it’s like I am discovering painting all over again.”


Founded in 1997 by Merry Karnowsky, the gallery has had a central focus for over a decade; championing emerging and mid-career artists who push beyond the boundaries of formal definition. The Gallery is devoted to exhibiting contemporary works of art that are challenging, innovative and committed to fostering new directions in American art. With a creative stable that is one of the most significantly sought after both nationally and internationally, the gallery has become one of Los Angeles’ premier insurrectionary art venues. In March of 2008, Karnowsky opened a second gallery in the Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, committed to bringing fresh, innovative works to the burgeoning Berlin art scene. Articles about the gallery, and/or it's artists have been featured in Juxtapoz, Swindle, Flaunt, Paper, Nylon, The Face, Variety, Giant Robot, Super X Media, Art Week, Art Issues, Flash Art, Modern Painters, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The LA Weekly, and The Los Angeles Times. MKG Gallery artists have been included in group and solo Museum exhibitions at The Grand Central Art Center, The Baltic Center for Contemporary Art, The Cincinnati Art Center, The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, MOCA Miami, The San Jose Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Visit the gallery's website at ... http://mkgallery.com

The Leopold Museum to offer the First Comprehensive Show of Rudolf Kalvach

Written by Constantin Mouysset Saturday, 14 April 2012 23:41

Vienna.- The Leopold Museum is proud to present "Fantastic! Rudolf Kalvach: Vienna and Trieste Around 1900", on view at the museum from June 7th through September 17th. This summer exhibition will show the first comprehensive presentation of the expressive oeuvre of Rudolf Kalvach (1883-1932), an artist whose works are situated at the point of intersection between Jugendstil and Expressionism. The retrospective traces the career of this highly talented artist, whose biography is closely linked with the era of »Vienna 1900« and the early works of the Expressionists Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) and Egon Schiele (1890-1918). Born in Vienna in 1883, Rudolf Kalvach studied at the modern-day University of Applied Arts from 1900. Among others, his teachers included Carl Otto Czeschka (1878-1960) and Berthold Löffler (1874-1960). One of his fellow students was Oskar Kokoschka and some of Kokoschka‘s early renderings bear a certain resemblance to Kalvach’s works. In 1901 Kalvach‘s family moved to Trieste, but Kalvach continued to study in Vienna. Towards the end of his studies he created his first postcard designs for the Wiener Werkstätte and started to depict exotic and mystical figures which can be seen as a distinct reference to Oskar Kokoschka’s "Dreaming Boys".

Rudolf Kalvach featured among the artists represented in the legendary 1908 Kunstschau in Vienna. He even designed a poster for the exhibition, which, like the poster designed by Kokoschka, was included in the presentation. In 1909 Rudolf Kalvach became a member of Egon Schiele’s artists’ group 'Neukunstgruppe' and a few years later joined the association of Austrian artists 'Werkbund'. Rudolf Kalvach lived and worked alternately in Vienna and Trieste. Kalvach suffered from a mental illness that forced him to undergo prolonged treatment at various psychiatric hospitals from 1912 onwards. In 1932 Rudolf Kalvach died aged just 49 in a sanatorium in the Czech town of Kosmonosy. One of the exhibition’s main emphases will be on Rudolf Kalvach’s woodcuts depicting scenes from the port of Trieste. The presentation will also feature historical photographs of the picturesque harbor, which will further evoke the charming atmosphere of this motif. Situated on the Upper Adriatic Sea, the harbor of Trieste was an important economic hub of the Habsburg Empire around 1900. As woodcuts played an important role in early 20th century art, a main part of the exhibition will be dedicated to color woodcuts from around 1900.


The Leopold Museum is a unique and active museum awash with light in the heart of Vienna and the biggest cultural magnet in the MuseumsQuartier. Besides exciting special exhibitions, it not only houses the most substantial and most important collection of Egon Schiele worldwide but also priceless masterpieces by Gustav Klimt, including what is probably most important figurative painting “Death and Life”. In no other museum in Vienna one can get so close to the fabled “Fin de siècle Vienna” and witness the birth of Modernity. The collection shows how the art of the Habsburg Empire changed from strict Historicism and romantic impressionism within a few years to the unique “Wiener Moderne” which encompasses Klimt and Schiele as well as Oskar Kokoschka, Richard Gerstl, Koloman Moser and many other artists who are all well represented with major works at the Leopold Museum. A further focus of the museum is on the Austrian interwar period, which brought out many important artists like Albin Egger-Lienz, Anton Kolig and Herbert Boeckl and partly points in the direction of the second half of the twentieth century. This is why Austrian artists of the post war generation or exceptional works of the nineteenth century by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Friedrich Gauermann, August von Pettenkofen, Anton Romako, Emil Jakob Schindler, Carl Schuch and others are repeatedly presented. Substantial and amazingly modernly designed into the everyday objects of the Fin de Siècle round up the collection, especially works by Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos, Dagobert Peche and the founders of the Wiener Werkstätte Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser all of whom can be seen in the museum. And since all the great artists of the Wiener Moderne met on a regular basis in the epochal coffee houses for inspiring exchanges, it goes without saying that the Leopold Museum also has a coffee house. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.leopoldmuseum.org

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to host Tom Wesselmann Retrospective

Written by Maurice Pettusier Saturday, 14 April 2012 22:47

Montral, Canada.- The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is proud to present "Tom Wesselmann: A Retrospective", on view at the museum from May 18th through October 7th. Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) was one of the greatest American Pop artists. Famous from the early 1960s for his “Great American Nude” series and still lifes, since his death he is nonetheless the only one of his contemporaries associated with that seminal twentieth-century art movement who has not yet had a major exhibition devoted to his work. A single survey exhibition of the artist’s work was mounted in Japan in 1993 and travelled to Europe the following year. "Tom Wesselmann: A Retrospective" will show the evolution in the work of this artist, whose focus on the process of stylization casts him as an heir to such great French masters as Ingres and Matisse. His interpretation of the history of art and the definition of genres led him, along with Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, to invent a new, Pop, aesthetic. The exhibition will bring together some 150 works – seventy-five paintings, plus plastic bas-reliefs, cut-outs and polychrome wood sculptures, a number of them very large – representing the artist’s most significant series, as well as seventy-five preliminary drawings and maquettes. Archival materials (photographs, letters, books and magazines, billboards and so on) will further enhance the presentation.

Through major works, some of which have never before been exhibited, the retrospective  will endeavour to demonstrate the historical significance and contemporary relevance of this great American master. It will feature loans from various leading public and private collections, as well as from the artist’s estate. The exhibition has been organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, with the collaboration of the Estate of Tom Wesselmann, New York. Most people are aware of Tom Wesselmann’s brilliant career as a painter. However, amongst many other things, he was also a devoted fan of country music and a prolific songwriter in that musical genre. Music was not simply a hobby for Tom Wesselmann, but another creative outlet, and he put all his energy into it. By the end of his life, he had written over 400 songs, a number of which were recorded. One of his compositions, “I Love Doing Texas with You,” sung by Kevin Trainor, even gained a certain amount of notoriety by being included on the soundtrack for the Ang Lee film  Brokeback Mountain. Given the place that music now occupies at the Museum, some of Tom Wesselmann’s musical works will also be showcased in the exhibition.


Organized chronologically, the exhibition will examine all the series that made the artist famous. When he began to create art in the 1950s, Wesselmann simultaneously explored abstract collage comprising found pieces of paper and the art of the nude, where the influence of Matisse is evident. This section of the exhibition will include abstract and figurative works from this time, many of which have never been seen publicly, or even appeared in publications. Wesselmann decided very early in his career to investigate – indeed, reinvent – the traditional painting genres of the nude, still life and landscape, which were then considered moribund. Beginning with collages, he incorporated all sorts of  materials in his work: pieces of advertising billboards, plastic flowers, televisions, and neons, as well as reproductions of paintings he liked, in particular by Matisse, Picasso and Mondrian. This section will present major works from the “Great American Nude,” “Still Life,” “Bathroom Collage” and “Seascape” series that made his name as an artist. Wesselmann was interested in the issues of form and scale: the form of his works followed that of the subjects he painted. His investigations also led him to use the negative space of cut-out forms as an element in his compositions. Many monumental works from the series “Mouths,” “Smokers,” “Bedroom Paintings” and “Drop-Outs,” as well as Still Life No. 60 and Still Life No. 61, will be on view in this part of the exhibition. In the early 1980s, Wesselmann conceived the idea of creating metal line drawings, as if the lines drawn on a piece of paper could be picked up and placed directly on a wall. This section opens with an introduction to the artist’s working methods in his studio, the preparations that preceded the execution of every work, and the laser steel-cutting technique he invented and used to reinterpret landscapes, still lifes and nudes. It will also contain a group of small preliminary maquettes that have never been shown before.

A master draftsman, Wesselmann kept the drawings behind all the various series and periods in his work. In addition to an extraordinary sureness of line, they demonstrate the artist’s tireless creativity. This part of the exhibition will feature a wide array of his drawings, on paper and canvas, or in the form of maquettes, life-size or in miniature. Whether studies for works or carefree jottings, most of them will be on view for the very first time. In the final years of his life, Wesselmann executed both figurative and abstract works. Sharing the space in this gallery will be examples from his “Sunset Nude” and “Abstraction” series, painted when the artist was aware his end was near. Also on display here will be Exhibition Detail, an installation in which he placed two of his last pieces, an abstract composition and a nude, side by side. Tom Wesselmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1931. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in psychology, he decided to pursue a career in cartooning. Following graduation from the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Wesselmann moved to New York City to study at the Cooper Union, receiving a diploma from that institution in 1959. Creating collages and assemblages that incorporated ordinary objects and images from the world of advertising, he became one of the leaders in the Pop Art movement of the 1960s in the United States. In the 1970s, Wesselmann continued to explore the ideas and techniques that had appealed to him in the previous decade. After writing a 1980 autobiography documenting the evolution of his art, he carried on with his investigation of shaped canvases and executed his first laser-cut metal works. He expanded on those themes in the 1990s and early 2000s, creating abstract three-dimensional pictures that brought him back to his artistic starting point. In the final years of his life, he returned to depicting the female form, with the “Sunset Nude” series of paintings. Tom Wesselmann died in New York City on December 17, 2004.


The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has one of the highest attendance rates among Canadian museums. Every  year, 700,000 people visit its unique encyclopedic collection (free of charge) and its original temporary exhibitions, which combine artistic disciplines (fine arts, music, film, fashion, design) and feature innovative exhibition designs. It conceives, produces and circulates many of its exhibitions across Europe and North America. It is also one of Canada’s leading publishers of bilingual art books, which are  distributed worldwide. Over 100,000 families and school groups take part in its educational, cultural and community-oriented programmes each year. The fall of 2011 saw the opening of a fourth pavilion at the Museum – the Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion of Quebec and Canadian Art – and a 444-seat concert venue – Bourgie Hall – housing an outstanding collection of Tiffany stained glass windows. This expansion also brought about the reinstallation of the Museum’s rich holdings in its other three pavilions, which house the World Cultures, Middle Ages to Modern Art, and Decorative Arts and Design collections. Music is now an integral part of the Museum, providing another perspective on the visual arts, through musical audioguides and other innovative activities. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.mmfa.qc.ca

Hollywood actor Michael Lerner's collection to be sold at Bonhams in New York

Written by Howard Gladstone Saturday, 14 April 2012 22:47

NEW YORK, NY.- Timed to coincide with the release of his latest film, Mirror, Mirror, Hollywood actor Michael Lerner will be offering his book collection in the Fine Books & Manuscripts auction at Bonhams in New York on April 16th. Highlights from the library of Michael Lerner include an exquisite set of rare illustrated books with hand-colored plates, a selection of natural history volumes featuring works from the Duke of Gloucester’s personal collection and a comprehensive group of Aesop’s Fables from across the centuries. This aspect of Lerner’s collection is driven by his appreciation of unique tales similar to his latest film project. Born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Lerner began his acting career in 1963 at the London Academy of Music and Drama as a Fulbright Scholar, tutored by Christopher Fry. His first film was shot during this period by roommate, Yoko Ono and also starred several members of The Beatles. By the late 1960s, Lerner had moved back to the US and began working at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

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Museum of Liverpool To Open More Galleries & Had Record Visitors

Written by Penny Lancaster Friday, 18 May 2012 23:48

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - The new Museum of Liverpool will open even more galleries and an entire new floor before the end of the year. The news comes as it is announced that it has received a record half a million visitors in the first three months since opening in July.  Galleries including The Great Port and much awaited Liverpool Overhead Railway will open on Friday 2 December, along with a 38 metre time traveler's timeline, and a gallery dedicated to Liverpool’s King’s Regiment. Janet Dugdale, Director of the Museum of Liverpool said: “Having already had 500,000 visitors through our doors to see the first galleries opened, we’re so excited to be opening even more, which will reveal some much-loved and anticipated objects that we know will be taken into the hearts of our visitors. The gallery uses exhibits from National Museums Liverpool’s land transport collection to bring the story of Liverpool as a great port to life. Its centerpiece is the steam locomotive Lion (1838), along with a Sentinel 10-12 ton Super Steam Tractor (1927) used widely on the dockside, and the only known surviving Liver 3 ½ h.p. Phaeton automobile (1900) manufactured by the William Lea Motor Co Ltd of Birkenhead and Liverpool.

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The Palais de Tokyo in Paris ~ Europe's Biggest Contemporary Art Center Opens

Written by Claude deRoche Saturday, 14 April 2012 22:47

PARIS, FRANCE - After a renovation that nearly tripled its size, the revamped Palais de Tokyo swung open its doors Thursday, inaugurating what is now the largest — and perhaps dustiest — contemporary arts center in Europe. The dust is not a mistake. It's part of an unfinished look meant to inspire artists now allowed to run free within its walls. About 50 artists began a 30-hour stint of around-the-clock creation to celebrate the center's new life at the imposing Art Deco building on Paris' Right Bank. The renovation, that cost some €20 million ($26 million) over 10 months, opened up a dizzying 22,000 square meters (nearly 237,000 square feet) of space. That's more than three soccer fields. The renovation project opened up the Palais de Tokyo basement: some 16,000 square meters (about 172,000 square feet) of previously unused space that had collecting dust for over 20 years. It was left empty in 1995 after France's prestigious cinema school, the Femis, relocated.

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This Week in Review in Art Knowledge News

Written by Editor, Art Knowledge News Friday, 13 April 2012 19:39

This is a new feature for the subscribers and visitors to Art Knowledge News (AKN), that will enable you to see "thumbnail descriptions" of the last ninety (90) articles and art images that we published. This will allow you to visit any article that you may have missed ; or re-visit any article or image of particular interest. Every day the article "thumbnail images" will change. For you to see the entire last ninety images just click : here .

When opened that also will allow you to change the language from English to anyone of 54 other languages, by clicking your language choice on the upper left corner of our Home Page.  You can share any article we publish with the eleven (11) social websites we offer like Twitter, Flicker, Linkedin, Facebook, etc. by one click on the image shown at the end of each opened article.  Last, but not least, you can email or print any entire article by using an icon visible to the right side of an article's headline.

Goodbye . . Sadly Our Last Day Online Will Be April 16th

Written by Editor, Art Knowledge News Saturday, 14 April 2012 02:54

The Laing Gallery to display "Family Matters ~ The Family in British Art"

Written by Earnest Beaconsfield Saturday, 14 April 2012 02:40

Newcastle, England. The Laing Gallery is proud to present "Family Matters: The Family in British Art" on view afrom May 19th through September 2nd. The British family has been and continues to be a challenging and popular subject for artists. Major works from Tate, Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service, Laing Art Gallery and Museums Sheffield will show how the family has been subject to the regional, cultural, ethnic and economic diversity over the last 500 years in Britain. This includes an exciting mix of contemporary and historic art, including works by Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, David Hockney and Paula Rego.

The Family in British Art charts the depiction of the family over 400 years of British Art. What is a family and what is the idea of family? How have notions of the family changed over time? The Family in British Art explores the ways artists have formulated and explored these questions. It looks at how artists have shown the importance of the family in private and public life, and asks what role ideas of family have played in shaping our national and cultural identity. The family is at the heart of complex human relationships and encounters, so we should not be surprised to find representations of family that are full of argument, contradiction and paradox.


Previous explorations of the family in British art have focused on particular social and economic issues, or art historical periods. By contrast "The Family in British Art" brings together representations of the family across different periods and media to examine the changing nature of the family and its representations over time. By placing historical and contemporary works side by side, "The Family in British Art" traces how artists have explored notions of family for personal or political purposes. Four galleries are working together to use historic British Art collections to explore questions about nationhood and identity today. Four exhibitions, "Watercolour", "John Martin", "Restless Times" and "Family Matters", all address different aspects of British artistic heritage and contemporary practice and form "The Great British Art Debate". The different artists, time periods and techniques in each exhibition will show different views on Britain and the British people.

The Great British Art Debate is a partnership between Tate Britain, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service and Museums Sheffield, supported by The National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, and by the MLA’s Renaissance programme.


The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England is located on New Bridge Street. It was opened in 1904 and is now managed by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The gallery holds oil paintings, watercolours and Newcastle silver. In the early 1880s, Newcastle was the greatest glass producer in the world and enamelled glasses by William Beilby are on view along with ceramics (including Maling pottery), and diverse contemporary works by emerging UK artists. It has a programme of regularly rotating exhibitions and has free entry. The Laing is home to an impressive collection of art and sculpture and its exhibition programme is renowned for bringing the biggest names in historic, modern and contemporary art to the North East. The gallery boasts an extensive collection of paintings by John Martin, including the dramatic "The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah", as well as important works by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Edward Burne-Jones ("Laus Veneris"), Holman Hunt ("Isabella and the Pot of Basil"), Ben Nicholson and others. There is also an extensive collection of 18th- and 19th-century watercolours and drawings, including work by J M W Turner, John Sell Cotman and others. The Gallery has a packed programme of free events which include gallery talks, family activities and artists’ events. There are events throughout the year including talks from leading contemporary artists and fun activities for families. Many of these events, like the gallery, are free of charge. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/laing