Standing Guard


 The large figures on the Hope Memorial Bridge in Cleveland (also known as the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge) were created by sculptor Henry Hering in 1932 and executed by many stone carvers who found much work in Cleveland in the early 20th century. The architects of the bridge were the firm of Walker and Weeks. Hering was primarily a Beaux-Arts style sculptor, having been a student of the famous Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and the architect Frank Walker is credited with the over-all art deco design of the figures. In the 1970's they were almost taken down and the county engineer at that time thought they were hideous, but thank goodness they saved and remain an important part of the city landscape. The bridge was renamed the Hope Memorial Bridge in 1980 after the entertainer Bob Hope donated money for its restoration because his father had worked on it.


Hope Memorial Bridge: Guardians of Traffic holding truck - CSU Digital Humanities

Richness of Color

 Universe by Olga Suvorova

Another of the artists I have found on Pinterest series. Olga Suvorova (b. 1966) is a Russian artist whose beautifully detailed paintings call to mind the rich color and workmanship of the great Northern Renaissance artist Jan van Eyck and the Henry VIII court painter Hans Holbein. Suvorova's detail and imagination, combined with her use of color, create truly breath-taking paintings. 


The Theatre by Olga Suvorova

Art for All


Everyone knows about the financial and societal woes of Detroit. The once grand and prospering city has been in decline for decades now and an emergency manager was appointed in March which gave fiscal control to the state instead of the city. Last week the news came out that all city interests are being examined as possible revenue streams, up to and including, the city owned Detroit Institute of Arts. Now in all probability, the city would not be able to sell off assets given in trust or as gifts to the institution and the idea has already sparked a backlash in the museum community who would take it as a direct assault on museums in general. Even the suggestion of looting the collection really drives home how desperate situation is. The DIA owns some spectacular pieces, a Brueghel any museum would love to own, a beautiful Caravaggio, the painting by Whistler that sparked (pun intended) the legendary Whistler vs. Ruskin case, a sublime Bingham, and of course the Rivera Court, just to name a few. Perhaps all this publicity will remind people the depth and beauty of the collection and how a visit, over the course of the summer, to see it  for themselves would do the DIA and the city good.

Quiet Remembrance


Although considered part of the Harlem Renaissance movement, Motley never lived in Harlem. He was born in New Orleans and moved to Chicago where he studied art the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This painting from early in his career shows his grandmother Emily Motley (a former slave) quietly mending socks surrounded by mementos and references to her life.

Discovered on Pinterest

Marguerite Kelsey by Meredith Frampton, 1928, Tate, London.

Meredith Frampton was the son of a sculptor who created very detailed and finely finished paintings of a very modern style for the early 20th century. Some of his work, even veers toward the surreal in style. Frampton used a model for this work and dressed her in the latest austere fashions from Paris, making the work all the more modern in tone.

Herculaneum - The Redheaded Step Child

Pompeii A.D. 79 by Alfred Elmore, 1878, Yale Center for British Art

An exhibition entitled The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection opened on February 24th and runs through July 7, 2013 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The exhibition features works inspired by the loss of the cities in 79 AD and their re-discovery in the early 18th century. It includes works by a wise range of artists from Piranesi and his detailed drawings of the site, to Rothko's abstract expressionist take on the murals from the Villa of the Mysteries.


Western Art


This weekend a new art venue opens on Cleveland's near west side. The Transformer Station is a project of the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation and a collaboration with The Cleveland Museum of Art that strives to being contemporary art to Cleveland's oft neglected west side. The opening exhibition is called Bridging Cleveland Photographs by Vaughn Wascovich also, Light of Day Photographs from the Collection of Fred and Laura Bidwell.

Happy Birthday, Ingres



Madame Moitessier, 1856 by Jacques-Auguste-Dominque Ingres, National Gallery of Art, London.

True to the fashion of his time, Ingres was more interested in painting historic scenes than doing portraits, but also true, portraits are an artist's bread and butter. Mme. Moitessier's husband asked Ingres to paint his wife's portrait and Ingres refused, upon meeting her however, he was intrigued and agreed to paint her. Notice how the use of the mirror behind her, gives us two portraits in one.

Happy Birthday Gustave

Fruit Displayed on a Stand by Gustave Caillebotte, 1881-2, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Caillebotte existed on the fringes of the Impressionist group, as he was both a benefactor and a member of the group. He was a painter himself, but lived as a lawyer, solider, and engineer. He did not adhere closely to the painting by light and loose brush strokes of the Impressionists and his work belies his realistic-style training, however, he allowed enough of the looser, less studied style of the Impressionists to enter his work, that it was given a lightness, that more realistic work lacks.

Even in death he supported the Impressionists, leaving his vast collection to the French Government on the condition that it be displayed, not stored away. The artists and their work had not yet been embraced by the French people, and the government and they rejected that condition, but ended up accepting a portion of the work which they did display, making it the first time the artists of the group were displayed in a government exhibition.

Beautifully New

Lady with Fan by Gustav Klimt, 1917, Private Collection.

Happy Birthday to Gustav Klimt, today would have been his 150th birthday. The Austrian Art Nouveau painter, often chose women as his subjects and also used gold leaf to further embellish and decorate his work. There is a retrospective of his artwork at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, Austria now through January 6, 2013.

Beautiful Perfection

Cupid and Psyche as Children by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1889, Private Collection.

Among the most popular and prolific artists of the 19th century, Bouguereau was a traditional academic-style painter as many other artists were shunning (or being shunned by) the French Art Academy and heading in different directions. He preferred classical subjects, such as Greek Mythology, and a very straight-forward, realistic, presentation. His work remains quite popular for it's beauty, and the obvious skill of the artist.

Directing the New Age

The Marshmallow Sofa by George Nelson and Irving Harper for Herman Miller, 1956.

George Nelson was offered the Directorship of The Herman Miller Furniture Company in 1945 following the publication of a book called, Tomorrow's House which he co-authored with Henry Wright. Under Nelson's leadership, mid-20th century design had a home and was allowed to flourish.

The Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, MI is hosting a retrospective of Nelson's career through October 14, 2012.

Nurturing Young Talent

 Koala by Hannah Kiraly, 2012

Hannah Kiraly is my neighbor and a senior at Lakewood High School next year. Not long after I first met her I saw some of her photos and was blown-away by her natural talent. I have been pleased to see it grow and mature, as she as, and I believe it is important that she continue to take photos. Please check-out her work at the link on her name below, and just get a small glimpse of what she is up to. She is also a first rate cat sitter.

Hannah Kiraly: Click "Collect Me" to help me win a New York City photo exhibition and a$25,000 cash grant: One Life Photography Competition

Another View of the Jersey Shore

Jersey Shore by Mabel Hewit, c. 1935, Mary Ryan Gallery.

Mabel Hewit was from the Cleveland area and created woodblock prints in the "white-line" technique. Most of her subjects were everyday people and scenes. She enjoyed creating these prints, in part, because she felt that the brightly-colored woodblock prints were mare accessible to working people who were looking for colorful art for their homes.

Small Work on a Large Scale

Continuous Mile (Black) by Liza Lou, 2006-08, The Cleveland Museum of Art

Liza Lou is known for creating artwork out of beads and also for creating ambitious pieces. This work is a mile long length of beaded cotton rope that is then coiled around itself so that it forms a circle. It is created in a South African beading technique used by the Zulu peoples. Lou lives and works in both South Africa and Los Angeles.