Museums and Exhibitions in New York City and Vicinity
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GLENN LONEY'S MUSEUM NOTES
CONTENTS, SEPTEMBER 2013
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| Caricature of Glenn Loney by Sam Norkin. | |
Please click on "
* " to skip to each subject in this index:
Glenn Loney's Rambles Round Museums, Galleries, Installations, & Auctions-- *
IRAN MODERN *
WILLIAM KENT: Designing Georgian Britain *
AMERICAN STYLE: Global Sources for New York Textile & Fashion Design,
1915 1928 *
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: *
WANGECHI MUTU: A Fantastic Journey *
World Monuments Fund--Jewish Heritage Program: *
Saving Chassidic Synagogues in Southeast Poland *
The David Berg Rare Book Room: *
How About That $387,750 On Line Bid for APPLE 1, Hand Built by Steve
Wozniak Himself! *
Asian Art Week at Christie's Achieves $71.5 Million Total: Four Days with
Eight Sales! *
First Christie's Auction in Shanghai: First Picasso Ever Sold at Auction in
Mainland China… *
Christie's First Open Auction of Post War & Contemporary Art
Earns $13.6 Million. *
MULTIPLICATION OF HORIZONS: [Plus] The Iceland Project *
CZECH NATURE IN NEW YORK: *
DAVID D'ANGERS: Making the Modern Monument *
KÄTHE KOLLWITZ: The Complete Print Cycles *
CHAGALL: Love, War, & Exile *
threeASFOUR: MER KA BA *
ELAINE REICHEK: A Postcolonial Kinderhood Revisited *
JULIA MARGARET CAMERON: *
MEDIEVAL CHURCH TREASURES FROM HILDESHEIM: *
INTERWOVEN GLOBE: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500 1800 *
BALTHUS: Cats & Girls *
ARTISTS & AMATEURS: Etching in 18th Century France *
MASTERPIECES OF TIBETAN & NEPALESE ART: Recent Acquisitions *
FEATHERED WALLS: Hangings from Ancient Peru *
BRUSH WRITING IN THE ARTS OF JAPAN: *
FIFTY YEARS OF COLLECTING ISLAMIC ART *
TIEPOLO, GUARDI, & THEIR WORLD: Eighteenth Century Venetian Drawings *
MAGRITTE: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926 1938 *
NEW PHOTOGRAPY 2013: Adam Broomberg & Aliver Chanarin, Brendan Fowler,
Annette Kelm, Lisa Oppenheim, Anna Ostoya, Josephine Pryde, Eileen Quinlan *
DANTE FERRETTI: Design & Construction for Cinema *
FOUR SEASONS: [Arcimboldo--Enlarged
by Philip Haas] *
WILD MEDICINE: Healing Plants Around the World, Featuring The Italian Renaissance
Garden *
BEAUTY'S LEGACY: Gilded Age Portraits in America *
Around the Town with the Public Art Fund: *
T. J. WILCOX: In the Air *
ROBERT INDIANA: Beyond LOVE *
TEST PATTERN *
Glenn Loney's Rambles Round Museums, Galleries, Installations, & Auctions--
At The Asia Society:
[Closing 5 January 2014]
Thanks to the US imposing Punishing Sanctions on Iran, we don't get many Arts Imports anymore.
Whatever you may have thought of the Shah of Persia, at least he & his Sister were Great Supporters of the Arts--Performing & Otherwise.
Just Think! Almost in the Shadow of the Great Mountain Tombs of Darius & Xerxes, Peter Brook produced Orghast at Persepolis!
Indeed, the Shiraz Festival showcased many 20th Century Greats, from Robert Wilson to Jerzy Grotowski.
In the Heyday of the Peacock Throne, Iranian Artists exhibited at the Venice Biennale.
Shariah Islamists, however, are not Big Fans of Representational Art: The Prophet had forbidden all Depictions of Men, Women--even with Burkhas, & Animals!
What Mohammad--Blessed Be His Name!--would have thought of News Photos & Al Jazeera TV only an Imam could determine…
Fortunately for the Vibrant Installation of Modern Iranian Arts at the Asia Society, Astute Collectors bought when the Price & the Time was Right!
They also removed these Images, Sculptures, & Crafts from the Purlieus of Disapproving Ayatollahs.
Inshallah!
Over on Park Avenue, you can now see some Hundred Works by 26 Artists, working when Tehran was still a Cosmopolitan Center.
At The BBC Gallery:
WILLIAM KENT: Designing Georgian Britain
[Closing 9 February 2014]
Opulent & Italianate do not begin to describe the Architectural & Decorative Splendors that William Kent designed for Georgian Monarchs & their Queens.
Not only the Historical Fragments of Imperial Rome but the Surviving Actualities of Renaissance Italy to be seen by Royals & Nobles on The Grand Tour were incorporated into Kent's Palladian Façades & Sumptuous Interiors.
Of course, Queen Caroline would want some wonderfully Gilded Furniture & Old Masters to match the Delights of her new Drawing Room…
Once you have a Massive Neo Renaissance Palace under construction, you surely would want Kent to design a Fantastic Garden, not only with some Classic Ruins but also a Chinese Pagoda or two.
German Counts, Barons, Dukes, Princes, & Kings were so impressed with Kent's Creations, that there are also some Fabulous Gardens sprinkled around the Rhineland, Bavaria, Hesse, & Baden.
This Lavish Show at the Bard Grad Center Gallery even includes some of Kent's Opulent Furniture, as well as his Drawings & Renderings, thanks to the Victoria & Albert Museum.
AMERICAN STYLE: Global Sources for New York Textile & Fashion Design, 1915 1928
[Closing 2 February 2014]
When The Great War broke out in 1914, European Design Influences were cut off from American Designers & Textile Manufacturers.
[No one then called it World War I, as it was, for America, the War to End All Wars…]
This cessation of Trans Atlantic Design Traffic inspired the American Museum of Natural History to suggest to the Textile & Fabric Folks that they might draw inspiration from Native Sources in the Americas!
How about Blackfoot Indian Garb, Siberian Fur Jackets, Andean Feather Weavings, or even Mexican Clay Stamps?
Well, Siberia isn't exactly in The Americas, but it's just across the Bering Straight, after all.
This Show documents the Results, with such American Designers as Ilonka Karasz, Ruth Reeves, Jessie Franklin Turner.
At The Brooklyn Museum:
[Closing 12 January 2014]
You didn't have to be the Viceroy of Peru to enjoy a Lavish Lifestyle in Spanish Colonial America.
But it certainly helped to be a Friend of the Spanish Monarch's Deputy, especially if you wanted the Oversight of a Great Gold Mine.
Nonetheless--aside from wearing Elegant Outfits when traveling in a Gilded Coach to Venerate the Holy Sacraments--it was not regarded as Good Form to show off the Family Wealth in front of the Conquered Incas & the Spanish Soldiery.
Instead, the most Ornate Costumes & the Richest of Jewels were reserved for the Home, to be seen & admired only amongst Intimates.
The New Show at the Brooklyn Museum is rightly titled Behind Closed Doors. Not only were the often heavily carved Wooden Doors of Colonial Baroque Palacios closed to the passing Incas, Mayas, & Aztecs, but also to Spaniards of the Lower Orders.
They were built like Fortresses on the Avenidas: No Front Lawns nor Pink Flamingos…
The Immense Wealth on display in the Cathedral of Cuzco--Gold & Silver Altars in not one, but Four Separate Naves!--cannot be reproduced on Eastern Parkway.
Nonetheless, some of the Riches are, indeed, on display, along with elaborate Floor Plans of each Chamber in a typical Colonial Residencia.
The Current Exhibition draws heavily on the Brooklyn Museum's own Amazing Collections, amassed over time by various Expeditions. You will not only see Handsome Portraits, featuring Spanish Grandees & their Ladies, but also their Chairs, Tables, Fabrics, Silver, & Crystal…
Even though the Great Chieftans of the Aztecs, the Mayans, & the Incas were slaughtered--think of Montezuma & Atahuallpa--with their Sacred Codexes destroyed & their Temples defiled, at least someone thought to have Images of The Inca painted!
What's especially fascinating about the Religious Paintings on view is that they were made by Native Artists, following Spanish & Italian Models.
Ordered to paint Images of such Saints as Michael & Gabriel for newly constructed Churches & Monasteries, Los Indios chose to depict San Michel Arcangelo with a Rifle, instead of a Flaming Sword.
After all, the Spanish Soldiers had conquered them with Guns, not with Swords…
WANGECHI MUTU: A Fantastic Journey
[Closing 9 March 2014]
Born in Nairobi, Mutu has nonetheless, managed to become a Brooklyn Based Artist.
She is noted for her Large Scale Collages, one of which has been Specially Commissioned for this Exhibition: The End of Eating Everything.
Mutu is celebrated for her Afrofuturist Landscapes, which often feature Cyborgian Figures, "pieced together from Human, Animal, Machine, & Monster Parts."
Her Environments are said to be: "Lushly Tropical & Post Apocalyptic."
At The Center for Jewish History:
World Monuments Fund--Jewish Heritage Program:
Saving Chassidic Synagogues in Southeast Poland
What a Surprise!
Down at the CHJ--to hear a Lecture on the Restoration of Shabby Old Synagogues in a rather Tattered Section of Poland--I discovered that some of my Own Dollars have been used in this Gargantuan Effort.
If you have never been to Lublin, Lancut, Lesko, or Przemysl--all on the Chassidic Circuit--you can have no idea of the Devastation left in the wake of the Nazi Occupation.
Under Communist Rule, things did not improve, nor did Most of the Congregants return to their Houses of Worship…
As a Member of the World Monuments Fund, I found it fascinating to see the results of Restoration of the Historic Zamosc Synagogue.
But the WMF's Jewish Heritage Program is at work Worldwide in preserving Jewish Cultural Sites--not only Synagogues, but also Shuls & Cemeteries…
The David Berg Rare Book Room:
Not only does the CHJ have several Permanent History & Culture Installations--as well as a handsome Auditorium & Public Lecture Series--it is in process with an innovative way to Explore Old Torah Scrolls & Rare Books.
This Digital Technology was recently on view at the Jewish Museum.
As we looked at Ancient Scrolls or Centuries Old Illuminated Books--which necessarily can only be opened to One Section or One Page, when on display--a Touch Screen below the Treasures enabled us to Turn the Pages!
Not the Actual Pages, but wonderfully vivid Digital Images!
A Word of Caution: When you visit either the CHJ or the Jewish Museum, be prepared for Airport Security Measures!
Fortunately, I didn't have to Take Off My Shoes…
At the Morgan or the Whitney or MoMA, they never even ask to poke in your Backpack or Shoulder Bag, but they are obviously worried at the CHJ.
Do they fear, perhaps, Vengeful Palestinians--who want their Homes, Shops, & Farms in the West Bank returned to them?
At Christie's Auction House:
How About That $387,750 On Line Bid for APPLE 1, Hand Built by Steve Wozniak Himself!
You don't have to go over to Christie's at Rock Center if you want to spend a Lot of Money.
You can do it now On Line, as some Eager Bidder did recently during Christie's First Bytes: Iconic Technology From the Twentieth Century.
Officially designated as Apple 1, this Tech Wonder was one of the First 25 Apple 1s assembled, inscribed in Black Ink--with No. 01 0025--by Steve Wozniak.
Bidders in this Record Breaking Sale were from 96 Countries, some 77% of them New Bidders.
When an Auction Sale is exclusively On Line, you may be able to see the Objects on Offer only On Line as well.
But Auction Houses like Heritage--which sell only On Line--often have Special Previews in Manhattan, showing selected Items to be sold.
Even if all the Paintings, Jewels, Furniture, Carpets, Sculptures, or Whatever are actually able to be seen at Christie's in Manhattan--always interesting, even if you have No Intention of Bidding--On Line Bidders may well Win the Bid.
Last November, at the American Paintings Sale in New York, Edward Hopper's nostalgic October on Cape Cod sold for $9.6 Million to an On Line Bidder: The On Line Record!
Asian Art Week at Christie's Achieves $71.5 Million Total: Four Days with Eight Sales!
The Collection of Supratik Bose brought in almost $Three Million, with a World Record for a Tagore work titled Untitled (Siva Simantini).
Part II of the Lizzadro Collection fetched $3,742,250, with a White Jade Rectangular Pendant winning $2321,750.
Japanese & Korean Art totaled more than $5 Million, with nearly a Million Dollars bid for an 18th Century Blue & White Jar with Tigers depicted on it.
Over Six Million Dollars were earned for Archaic Chinese Bronzes. An Eleventh Century Ritual Wine Vessel was sold for $2,363,750.
Indian & Southeast Asian Arts brought in some $9 Million. Almost One Million Dollars were bid for a Bronze Parvati, circa 1100 AD.
The sale of Fine Chinese Paintings won $10,901,250, with Shen Zhou's Mountains in Autumn being bought for almost $2 Million.
Chinese Ceramics & other Artworks totaled more than $28 Million. An 18th Century Bottle Vase was sold for $1,683,750.
First Christie's Auction in Shanghai: First Picasso Ever Sold at Auction in Mainland China…
Instead of Chinese Bidders having to come to Manhattan--or Bid Online--Christie's is now taking the Artworks where the Money is.
Almost 1,000 Bidders & Spectators crowded the Sale, with Online & Telephone Bidders from all over the world as well.
A Ruby & Diamond Necklace by Faidee was sold for $3,405,284.
Christie's First Open Auction of Post War & Contemporary Art Earns $13.6 Million.
How about $963,750 for Andreas Gursky's Pyongyang II?
For that kind of Money, you could Charter a Plane & fly to North Korea…
Sandy Calder's Starfish went for almost Half a Million Dollars!
It was only Ink on Paper & titled Untitled, but someone bid $327,750 for a Keith Haring.
At The Czech Center & Bohemian National Hall:
MULTIPLICATION OF HORIZONS: [Plus] The Iceland Project
[Closing 31 October 2013]
If you have never heard of Czech Artist Magdalena Jetelová, rush over to the Czech Center!
In the small Second Floor Gallery, she has installed a long rod of Blue Neon, which is reflected onto what looks like a Silver Mylar Panel attached to one wall.
When the Music of famed Czech Composer Antonin Dvorak is played, the Panel seems to breath, in consonance with the Dvorakian Melodies.
The Idea is that Jetelová is making the Czechian Sounds suddenly Visible…
Then there are some Black & White Photographs of Long Bands of Bright Laser Light stretching across the Icelandic Landscape.
This Project invokes the Geological Divide between Europe & America: The 9,000 Miles Long Mid Atlantic Ridge is only visible in Northern Iceland. This Cleft is called Ingvellir, now revealed by Jetelová, working with Lasers.
[No Closing Date Registered, but this Opened on Friday the Thirteenth!]
Since the Division of Czechoslovakia--with the Collapse of Communism--the Slovaks have had to look after themselves.
But the Justly Proud Czechs not only celebrate their Long History & Admirable Culture, they also preserve their Natural Wonders & Rural Enchantments.
This interesting Exhibition is largely composed of handsome Photographs--mounted on Easels--which document various aspects of Czech Forests, Lakes, Rivers, & even Underground Cave Systems, as well as Wild Animals & Birds.
Of course, there are some Great Castles & Bohemian Churches looming high on the Rocky Crags above the River Elbe, so there is also a focus on Architecture in Nature.
In these times of Eco Friendliness & Green Economies, it is good to know that the Czechs are wisely guarding their Natural Heritage.
At The Frick Collection:
DAVID D'ANGERS: Making the Modern Monument
[Closing 3 December 2013]
No, this is not Jacques Louis David, the famed French Portraitist, but Pierre Jean David D'Angers, who made marvelous Medallions of the Great & Famous of the Post Revolutionary Era.
But his Sketches, Terra Cottas, & Works in Wax, as well as Bronze & Marble Sculptures, made him widely admired, even by Goethe, Paganini, & Balzac.
David's 39 Monumental Statues of such Immortals as Gutenberg, Racine, & Thomas Jefferson are today to be found, not in Major Squares, but in Provincial French Cities & the famed Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Nonetheless, Père Lachaise is always Worth a Visit. You can also see the Monument of Oscar Wilde & the Gravesites of Edie Piaf & Jim Morrison.
At The Galerie St Etienne:
KÄTHE KOLLWITZ: The Complete Print Cycles
[Closing 28 December 2013]
Do Not Miss These Searing Images.
Kollwitz was always uncomfortable with Color, so her Passions found a more remarkable Outlet in Black & White Prints.
She was always opposed to Oppression, War, Poverty, & Injustice. She strongly supported Workers & Peasants. She understood the Pathos of Death…
After you have studied the Images of the Peasant War, the Revolt of the Weavers, & the Death Cycle, be sure to pick up a copy of Gallerist Jane Kallir's excellent Essay on Kollwitz.
At The Jewish Museum:
[Closing 2 February 2014]
Following the Russian Revolution, when many Princes, Dukes, & Counts fled to Paris, some distinctive Jewish Artists, like Marc Chagall, also left the Motherland for the City of Light.
But, torn from their Native Roots, they were effectively Aliens, lacking the Spiritual & Cultural Inspiration they had left behind.
Fortunately, Chagall carried with him the Folk Memories of the Jewish Shtetls. He also adapted himself to Parisian Themes & Colors, without losing any of his Unique Shtetl Imagery.
With the Looming Threat of Nazism & its rampant Anti Semitism, Chagall made another Move: to New York, where he was even more of an Alien.
The vibrantly colorful Chagall Show now at the Jewish Museum documents both the External & Internal Influences on this Iconic Surrealist as he moved farther away from his Native Ground.
One Gallery is dedicated to Images of the Crucified Christ & His Agonies, which Chagall saw as Metaphors for War, Persecution, & Jewish Suffering.
Oddly, the Press Release makes this Statement about these Paintings: "Jesus was often depicted as a Jew."
What can they be thinking, up at the Jewish Museum?
Of course Jesus was a Jew. He was what today might be called a Reform Rabbi…
The Romans crucified him because he was also a Trouble Maker.
Jesus did not die a Christian. He died a Jew. A Persecuted Jew.
Christianity was an Invention of Saul, inspired by his Accident on the Road to Damascus…
Could it be an Accident that the Blue Benches in the Crucifixion Chamber are formed in a Cross?
If you love Chagall--in War, Peace, & Love--this is a Show not to be missed! Thirty One Paintings & Twenty Two Works on Paper…
[Closing 2 February 2014]
In order to project their Video Designs on what looks like a kind of Black Pyramid, the Artists Involved in the Mer Ka Ba Project have made their Gallery Space almost Midnight Dark.
This means that most of their Unusual Female Costumes--which seem to have been made by a 3 D Digital Printer--almost dissolve into the Surrounding Darkness.
But if you go towards the back wall--behind the Black Construction--you will find that you can walk inside, engulfed by Mirrors that create an Astounding World of Refracted Light & Personal Images.
ELAINE REICHEK: A Postcolonial Kinderhood Revisited
[Closing 20 October 2013]
Apparently, Elaine Reichek has had a difficult time Growing Up Jewish, in a largely Gentile America.
Nonetheless, she has adapted the Old New England Art of Needlepoint to document her Cultural Agonies & Ethnic Insecurities.
Fortunately, even being at Yale, but Not One of Them, she was able to survive on Irony…
At The Metropolitan Museum of Art:
[Closing 5 January 2014]
These remarkable & moody Photo Portraits & Set Scenes have been said to "Mirror the Victorian Soul."
Although one of the Early Photo Portraitists, Julia Margaret Cameron did not use her Lenses nor her Darkroom with the aid of any Early Photo Manuals.
Cameron was an Original, with an almost Pre Raphaelite Vision.
She was lucky to have Alfred, Lord Tennyson as a Neighbor & Occasional Sitter.
But she knew almost Everyone of Importance in the Victorian Cosmos of Intellect & Culture.
In addition to Portraits of Poets & Intellectuals, she also staged Biblical Scenes, as well as a haunting vision of King Lear & His Daughters…
There are 38 Camerons in this small show & they are also small, so one needs to pause & look carefully.
Magnifying Glasses will help bring out some Details.
MEDIEVAL CHURCH TREASURES FROM HILDESHEIM:
[Closing 5 January 2014]
The Great Cathedral in Hildesheim is undergoing Restorations, so these impressive Art Works are free to travel abroad for the first time.
Saint Oswald lost his Head--he was Decapitated--but what remains is encased in an Oswald Head Reliquary, also on view.
One might say of Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim that he also Lost His Head when commissioning so many priceless Religious Ritual Objects.
Hildesheim--in Nieder Sachsen--was famed for its Bronzes. The Cathedral's monumental Bronze Baptismal Font, an amazing feat of Bronze Casting, has also crossed the Atlantic.
Even if you have never heard of Hildesheim--Heidelberg, perhaps?--it is nonetheless well worth a Visit. But only when the Cathedral is finally secure & sanitzed.
INTERWOVEN GLOBE: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500 1800
[Closing 5 January 2014]
It is amazing to see how Colored Threads have been interwoven over the Centuries to create not only intricate Design Patterns, but also Landscapes & Figures.
I think I found some Cookie Monsters lurking in one large Weaving…
These Magical Fabrics come from the Heart of Europe, as well as from the Far Off Orient.
A Special Dividend is provided with actual Dresses & Coats from various Periods, showing how Textiles & Laces were employed.
Look! Here is an Elegant Parisian Gown with a Watteau Sac of Pleated Fabric flowing down its back!
How many Belgian Nuns went Blind, making the Lace for those Elaborate Sleeves?
[Closing 12 January 2014]
Even in Advanced Age, Balthus was still painting Pussies…
He loved including Cats in his Odd Visions of Women & Girls. He was almost obsessed with The Eternal Feline.
His Last Model was only in her Early Teens, but she nonetheless Spread Her Legs for him.
Austria's Egon Schiele once went to Prison for his similar Obsession, but he didn't include Pussy Cats in his Watercolors.
A Curatorial Aside suggests that Balthus' Cats were a Stand In for the Artist Himself: Ding an Sich?
Balthus' real name was Balthasar Klossowski, but Family Friend Rainer Maria Rilke encouraged the Young Artist to shorten his appellation.
Rilke also arranged for Balthus' juvenile Cat Drawings of his Pet Feline, Mitsou, to be published as Mitsou.
Few Beginning Painters could hope for a Preface by Rilke, who wrote one for Balthus. But then, Rilke became the Lover of his Mother, Baladine…
ARTISTS & AMATEURS: Etching in 18th Century France
[Closing 5 January 2014]
There was a time when the finely etched Prints--made from Painted Originals by Famed Artists--were admired but the Talented Men who transformed Paintings into Prints were not so much esteemed.
In 18th Century France, however, the Painters themselves began to experiment with Soft Ground Etching.
When a Copper Plate was coated with Varnish, it could be drawn upon with a Stylus--not quite the same as Engraving a Plate…
This was almost as easy as Drawing on Paper. Fragonard & Hubert Robert both experimented with this Technique.
But it was so easy, so accessible that Talented Amateurs also took up the Stylus, to try their Hand, as it were.
This form of Etching encouraged Spontaneity & Originality.
There are some 130 Prints on view, but not all of them are Distinctive, Spontaneous, or Original.
There is a Plethora of Cherubs, for instance.
MASTERPIECES OF TIBETAN & NEPALESE ART: Recent Acquisitions
[Closing 2 February 2014]
Not true that if you've seen One Buddha, you've seen them all…
There are some amazing Treasures in this almost Hidden Show.
You will have to climb an Intricate Stairway up into what looks like a Buddhist Temple Dome to reach the Artworks.
Well worth the Climb, however…
FEATHERED WALLS: Hangings from Ancient Peru
[Closing 2 March 2014]
Somewhere in the Met's Vaults there must be a Feathered Cloak from The Inca.
But these are only long Feathered Panels: some Blue, some Yellow.
BRUSH WRITING IN THE ARTS OF JAPAN:
[Closing 12 January 2014]
What makes this exhibition especially appealing is that the varied forms of Calligraphy are often found on such Objects as Fans & Screens.
Scrolls--both Vertical & Horizontal--are the customary surfaces for magnificent Brush Work.
There's also a Taxidermified Deer, encased in what looks like an Idealized Stag Form made of Crystal Bubbles of varied sizes…
But No Brush Work there!
FIFTY YEARS OF COLLECTING ISLAMIC ART
[Closing 26 January 2014]
These Calligraphies, Designs, & Objects come from as Far West as Spain--when Toledo was under Moorish Rule--to the Far East & India.
The Prophet forbade any Graven Images of Man, Animals, Fish, & Fowl, but those Persians loved Miniatures…
So here is the Shahnama, or Book of Kings, illuminated in the 16th Century for Shah Tahmasp.
There are also some marvelous Calligraphies, as well as some dazzling Geometrics.
At The Morgan Library & Museum:
TIEPOLO, GUARDI, & THEIR WORLD: Eighteenth Century Venetian Drawings
[Closing 5 January 2014]
The Ink Drawings & Sepia Brushwork of some of these handsome Tiepolos & Guardis--all from the Morgan's own Priceless Collections--may have faded a bit over time, but they are still subtle Testimonials to the Artistic Excellence of the Resident Talents of the Second Golden Age of that famed Maritime Republic, Venice.
How about the Grand Canal as seen by Canaletto?
The Morgan has some Two Hundred of Tiepolo's Drawings, with some Thirty on view in this Exhibition.
The most engaging of these, of course, are those images of his Pierrot Clowns, with their almost Conical Hats.
Venice itself is the Star of this Show, but Hosts of Angels seem to encrust the Heavens in designs for Religious Ceilings…
At MoMA--The Museum of Modern Art:
MAGRITTE: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926 1938
[Closing 12 January 2014]
Is there an Iconic Magritte missing from this Comprehensive Retrospective?
Despite the Overarching Sense of Déjà Vu, where is that Man with the Apple in the Center of his Face?
Nonetheless, here is that Pipe that is Not a Pipe, as well as many other Surreal Old Favorites…
Not to be Missed!
There is also that fascinating Image of a Huge White Egg inside a Bird Cage.
But, when I ventured to make a Digital Copy, a Guard warned me away: "No Photography! The Owner won't permit it!"
Somewhere, there must be an Immense Hen who owns the Copyright?
[Closing 6 January 2014]
Surely, someone at MoMA has to be Joking?
Are these Objects or Images about Photography or about Self Promotion?
Supposedly, "they turn Pictures back into Questions, creatively reassessing the meaning of Image Making today."
Bring back Weegee & Cartier Bresson…
Nonetheless, Anna Ostoya amuses with some of her tiny Photo Rectangles, especially those mounted in Wall Corners, so they seem almost to be looking at each other: A Hand with an Eye in the Center, for instance.
Recalls Buñuel & Chien Andalou…
These are titled Pseudomorphism of Art & Life Relations.
And Why Not?
DANTE FERRETTI: Design & Construction for Cinema
[Closing 9 February 2014]
Remember, in Hugo, when that Locomotive didn't stop in the Paris Station, but kept right on going through the Giant Clock & the Façade?
How about that Fantastic Vessel in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen?
Or those New York Society Scenes in The Age of Innocence?
These are all the Design Inventions of Dante Ferretti, who has not only won Three Oscars but has also been able to work with such Film Makers as Fellini, Scorsese, Pasolini, & Terry Gilliam & Tim Burton.
Ferretti was on hand for the Opening of this Fantastic Show, which features a Dazzling Labyrinth of Twelve Screens, surging with colorful images from such Major Film Triumphs as The Aviator, Il Nome de la Rose, Cold Mountain, La città delle donne, Sweeney Todd, Casino, Gangs of New York, Arabian Nights, Hugo, E la nave va, & Hamlet.
The Press was treated to an Initial Sample: the bizarre Todo Modo, a Jesuit Sponsored Religious Retreat--in an Ancient Roman Catacombs, with a Modernist Brutal Concrete Meditation Hotel built over it--for some of Italy's Leading Politicians, CEOs, Bankers, Billionaires, & Fraudsters.
Marcello Mastroianni is the Bad Priest who hides a Dark Secret…
This Haunting Film--filled with Bloody Murders & Stolen Hosts--was made way back in 1976, by Elio Petri.
Too bad he didn't wait for the Berlusconi Regime…
There will be Six Months of Ferretti Screenings at MoMA, featuring no less than Twenty Two Films for which he created Memorable Designs.
But the Titus Galleries--outside the MoMA Film Theatres--are filled with Ferretti Drawings & Set Plans.
Upstairs, on the Main Floor, are Two Ferretti Designed Lions of Saint Mark, plus Two Ornate Art Deco Chandeliers, saved from the Studio Scrap Heap, as well as that Paris Rail Station Clock face, with no Locomotive jutting out from it…
At The New York Botanical Garden:
FOUR SEASONS: [Arcimboldo--Enlarged by Philip Haas]
[Closing 27 October 2013]
This Autumn, it is still not too late to see Autumn writ Large at the Botanical Garden.
In fact, this Image of Autumn stands Fifteen Feet Tall, facing Winter, Spring, & Summer.
All of these Vegetable Giants--composed of Oversized Copies of Organic Materials native to each Season--are inspired by the Surreal Renaissance Portraits of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who imagined Faces with Noses of Squash & Hair of Wood Brambles.
The Paintings themselves are astonishing, but it's overwhelming to see these Seasonal Faces in Three Dimensions, in Full Vegetable Colors.
Words cannot, need not, do Justice to Haas' Remarkable Sculpture Assemblages.
How about Four Digital Images of the Four Seasons?
Even better: take Metro North up to the Botanical Garden before the Seasons move on to another Venue…
WILD MEDICINE: Healing Plants Around the World, Featuring The Italian Renaissance Garden
[Closing 8 September 2013, But The Italian Renaissance Garden Is a Permanent Installation.]
Hey! Don't eat that Berry!
Absolutely Do Not Munch That Orange Colored Leaf!
In any case, you are usually not supposed to Feast Upon--let alone Touch--any of the Growing Plants on show in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.
Not all Medicinal Plants are to be Taken by Mouth, especially not Twice Daily.
Some Species--like Belladonna or Nightshade or Foxglove--have Healing Properties, but not when ingested directly. Bayer or Pfizer have to extract the Key Chemicals.
Vegetative Poisons can Kill You, but some may also Save Your Life…
The Botanical Garden's Wild Medicine Show offered more than 500 Species of Medicinal Plants--most grown in its own Greenhouses--making it the Largest Exhibition of such Flora ever mounted.
If you cannot resist taking a Taste of Mint or sniffing a Crunched Leaf, this Show provided Interactive Stations such as The Healer's House.
Yes, that is a Cannabis Plant, but no Smokes are on offer…
Over there are some Blood Red Opium Poppies!
Also: No Smoking!
Did you know that the lovely Camellia can fight Cancer? Too bad that Camille had TB, instead of Cancer!
Desdemona sang the pathetic Willow Song, but how could she have known that one day Aspirin could be made from Willow Bark?
Unfortunately, Othello was a Major Headache that could not be cured…
If you take Metro North up to the Botanical Gardens, you will now be too late for this fascinating Exhibition.
But the Italian Renaissance Garden is always on view.
This entrancing Living Catalogue of Medicinal Plants was originally created by Scholar/Scientists at the University of Padua long, long ago.
Do not limit your Explorations to the Conservatory. Take the Tram for a Tour around the Grounds!
At The New York Historical Society:
BEAUTY'S LEGACY: Gilded Age Portraits in America
[Closing 9 March 2014]
In the Wake of the Civil War, the New Found Prosperity resulting from Industrial Expansion--by the likes of Carnegie & Frick, as well as the Financial Shenanigans by such Titans as JP Morgan & Mellon--urged these Founders of Fortunes to engage Leading Artists to Memorialize Them & Their Boundless Wealth.
From its own almost Boundless Archival Vaults, the NYHS has mounted some of the Most Memorable of these Gilded Age Portraits. It has even essayed to present them in Period Settings.
Among the Notables are Emma Thursby, the Lewisohns, Sam Untermyer, Georgina Schuyler, James Hazen Hyde, & the Rev. Henry Codman Potter.
Among the Portrait Artists of Note: Carolus Duran, Eastman Johnson, John Singer Sargent, & Wm. Bougeureau.
Around the Town with the Public Art Fund:
Down at City Hall Park, you could see Lightness of Being, which featured Seminal Works by Eleven International Artists, including Daniel Buren, Olaf Bruening, Franz West--who was already Dead, & Ugo Rondinone, who had those Stone Giants on view in Rock Center all summer.
That Parade of Immense Images was titled Human Nature. Why not…
At Fifth Ave & 59th, on the Doris Freedman Plaza, Thomas Schütte's United Enemies has now been replaced with what looks like a Concrete Block House at Guantanamo…
At The Whitney Museum of American Art:
[Closing 9 February 2014]
TJ is under the impression that his Panorama--a so called Birds Eye View of Manhattan, Videoed through the Changes of the Day, from his Union Square Studio--harks back to the Panoramic Projections created in the Dawn of Film History.
Actually, it most resembles those Fabulous Nineteenth Century Panoramas, which you entered into by Stairs leading up to the Painted in the Round View of such Wonders as Imperial Rome or even The Battle of Bull Run, all lit by Natural Light, coming from above. Or Gas Light, for Evening Visitors…
But, if you are an American Artist who has No Real Background in the Past, how would you know about Historical Panormas?
Nonetheless: "His Historical Narratives collage Historical Fact, with Fiction, Myth, & Fantasy."
So you also get some Film Footage of Andy Warhol & Co at the Factory inflating what looks like a Huge Silver Helium Condom to greet the Papal Procession as it passed by on into History.
Also: Footage of the Graf Zeppelin & the Empire State Building Mooring Mast…
In an Adjacent Room, there's another Early Film Technology on view: An Actual Film Projector is projecting a Film Loop! Not Digital at all!
This Show is padded out by some Art Choices that TJ has made from the Permanent Collection, including a Box by Joseph Cornell, a Photo by Weegee, & a Painting by Florine Stettheimer!
[Closing 5 January 2014]
That Huge Metal Block that spells out LOVE over on the Avenue of the Americas is also on view--in various Sizes & Forms--at the Whitney.
You will also be assailed by Commands to EAT & DIE, encircled by a Typical Robert Indiana Circle.
The Whitney's Fourth Floor Gallery is crammed with colorful Indiana Circles, many of them looking like Targets, but celebrating American Cities & Qualities.
America has long loomed large in Indiana's Output, but this Overwhelming Show--Indiana's First Major American Retrospective--also includes some of his Herms, which are, though Classic in Name, are actually Vertical Found Object Sculptures, including a great many Rusted Iron Wheels…
Although one of the Ikons of Pop Art, Indiana has no Stuffed Roosters on view: Those belong to Bob Rauschenberg…
Born in 1928--also the Birth Year of your Arts Reporter, who is not having a Retrospective--his Adoptive Family, the Clarks, named him Robert Clark.
Clark is clearly not the Kind of Name that will resonate with Curators & Critics.
So Robert made a change, adopting the Name of his Native State.
Look, it could have been Worse: How about Robert Indianapolis?
[Closing 1 December 2013]
These Works--some of which either Need Repair, or are clearly Works in Progress, not yet ready to be hung on walls--are Recent Acquisitions, cobbled together by what the Whitney is pleased to call Young & Emerging Artists.
They "encourage us to sift through Layers of Visual Information…"
This Formulation encourages me to wonder whether there might be--in some Parallel Universe--a Whitney Museum of Un American Art?
Copyright © Glenn Loney 2013. No re publication or broadcast use without proper credit of authorship. Suggested credit line: "Glenn Loney, Curator's Choice." Reproduction rights please contact: jslaff@nymuseums.com.