Second Glance


NATURE MORT AUX GRENADES by Mona Hatoum, 2006–07, Galleria Continua.

Palestinian in background and raised in Beirut, the art of Mona Hartoum reflects what she knows and what she has lived with. She studied art in London and found herself separated from her parents while she was there, and her art reflects the struggles she and her family have felt. This piece looks like a table covered in glass paperweights, but upon closer inspection you can see that they are brightly colored, glass replicas of hand grenades.


 

Site Specific

Ahuja Azure, Cirtron and Amber Persian Wall by Dale Chihuly, 2010, The University Hospitals' 

 Dale Chihuly is the most famous glass artist in the world. Since the later part of the 20th century, his installations have been gaining in popularity and recognition. Chihuly himself no longer blows the glass in his pieces, but he conceives and designs them and oversees their installation. The Dallas Arboretum is hosting an exhibition now through November 5, 2012.

Beautiful Death


The Getty Museum is hosting an exhibition whose subject is the representation of death in medieval manuscripts. The manuscript was the most important piece of individually owned art during that time. People would commission artists, usually monks, to create books of prayers for them that were intended for personal use. They were small in size so the owner could easily carry them around. The exhibition entitled Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages runs through August 12, 2012.

The Road Less Travelled


Adolph Gottlieb was one of the founders of the Abstract Expressionist movement. His work went from figural portraits in the 20's and 30's, to large amalgamations of images that resemble collages in the 40's, to stark divided canvases in the 50's and 60's. These later works are the ones he is best known for, the ones that require the viewer to study the painting and think about what is not represented, as Gottlieb himself put it,"...the very nature of abstract thought is to reduce the complexity of all of life and to bring it down to something very simple which embodies all this complexity"(from an interview of Gottlieb by Martin Friedman, 1962).

That is part of the challenge of Abstract Expressionism, it begs the viewer to invest in the work with their own thoughts and interpretations, and for this reason, many people are put-off by it. Some people would rather have the art do the work and entertain them, or clearly reflect the skill of the artist, and therefore abstract works, which seek to say a lot with very little, leave them wanting more.

Apaquogue is named for a road in East Hampton where the artist had a home.

Bringing the Modern to Tradition

The Modern Song

(Modan bushi

) by

K. Kotani,

1930. (Detail.)

The Japan Society

(Credit: Exhibition organized and circulated by Art Services International, Alexandria, Va.)

The Japan Society

is currently hosting an exhibition of Japanese art from the

Art Deco

period. The work presented shows us a country working to combine tradition with the modern western world whose influence had been felt in Japan for a while, but whose culture was only then beginning to be adapted. This can be seen most prominently in the depiction of the Japanese version of the

"Flapper,"

or modern early 20th century woman, who was up-ending society in the west, as well.

The exhibition runs through June 10th at the

Japan Society, NYC

.

Hidden Meanings

The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533, The National Gallery, London.

Hans Holbein the Younger was born in Germany but spent most of his career in England as the court painter to Henry VIII. His work was strongly influenced by the Northern Renaissance painters like Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Wyden. Their realistic style rendered in bright jewel tones, was his style, as well. This portrait of two men thought to be ambassadors to the English court from France, is filled with hints and puzzles about the men's lives, and even a message for we viewers. On the bottom of the piece in the center, you see a skull painted in Anamorphic perspective. It is seen only from particular angles and is thought be placed there to remind us all of our mortality.




Glass Jewels

Stained Glass Panel in

Frank Lloyd Wright

Style at

Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix.

Frank Lloyd Wright

always liked to create an entire environment in his buildings and homes. He designed furniture, rugs, light fixtures, stained glass, pottery, fabrics - whatever a home would need. His student

Albert McArthur

, who collaborated with Wright on the design, included a glass panel typical of his teacher's style that now serves as a beautiful focal point at the entrance.

Stacked Blocks by Design

Vintage Postcard of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel

The hotel opened in 1929 and was the first resort complex in the Phoenix area. Two brothers from Chicago named McArthur, asked their brother Albert McArthur, who had studied with Frank Lloyd Wright to design the hotel complex. McArthur and Wright collaborated on the design and it's detials and McArther used Wright's "textile block" design to create the "Biltmore Block" from which the buildings are constructed.


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On the Water


Although the title seems to indicate that this work was done in Venice, Italy, it tongue-in-cheek, because it was actually done in Suffolk England, the city of Walberswick, to be exact. Mackintosh who was working primarily as an architect, took-up watercolor (an earlier pursuit) when commissions slowed.


More Strawberries


Wallpaper design with Strawberries by C.F.A. Voysey, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

This is another Victorian design for wallpaper by the architect and designer Charles Voysey. His work was influenced by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain, and also by the Art Nouveau movement. World War I interfered with his commissions for building homes and decorating them, but in 1931, a retrospective of his work held at the Batsford Gallery, brought recognition for his work.


We're Shocked Too


Yesterday, a version of this iconic artwork broke all auction records when it sold for $119.9 million dollars making it the highest amount a work of art has ever sold for. It is actually not surprising, as The Scream has become one of the most recognized art works in the world along with the Mona Lisa and American Gothic.

Classic Beauty

Daybreak

by

Maxfield Parrish

, 1922, Private Collection.

Parrish's

father was an artist and he was encouraged by his family to pursue a career as an artist. He had a good deal of success as an artist, but also as an

illustrator

who added life and color to many books. This is one of his most famous pieces and is still available as a print today, also still very popular.

There is a retrospective of Parrish's work through September 2, 2012 at The National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, RI.

The Bold Five

I Saw the Figure Five in Gold by Charles Demuth, 1928, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The subject of this painting is the poet William Carlos Williams whose poem The Red Wheelbarrow is a favorite among literature students because it is short and sweet. Demuth created a series of abstract portraits of friends including Williams which he called Poster Portraits.

Art Done Outside

Matthew Airent's Angel by Reverend Howard Finster, 1987, Private Collection.

Reverend Howard Finster is categorized as an "Outsider Artist," which means that he was basically self-taught and that he created his art out of a inherent need to express himself. His art took many forms including his home Paradise Gardens, located in Summerville, GA. The city hosts a festival every year in his honor (it is May 5 & 6 this year).

The First Male Supermodel


A project called Corsi: The World's First Male Supermodel a documentary by Jake Gorst that tells the story of the actor and model who worked with important late 19th and early 20th century artists and whose face and figure can be found in paintings and statues all over the world.

 Corsi posed for this series by British Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones

The Hand Refrains, Pygmalion II by Edward Burne-Jones, 1875-78, Birmingham City Museums & Art Gallery


Gorst is looking for funding via Kickstarter his project deadline is April 20th.