Dancers

Dancers in the Wings, 1880
Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)
Pastel and tempera on paper, mounted to paperboard
27-1/4 x 19-3/4 in.
Norton Simon Art Foundation M.1977.06.P
Norton Simon Museum

I love when you fall a work of art at first glance and then upon research and more you find out it is even more awesome than you originally thought. I have never been a fan of Degas, I found his subject matter a bit dull (sorry ballet fans) and have never been particularly attracted to the pastel colors of so much of impressionism. I never once doubted the awesome talent of the artist, it just wasn't for me.

While searching for something else I came across this gorgeous piece by Degas. Drawn in by both composition and the colors, which are almost juicy, I was excited to discover that the work is actually made up of at least 10 pieces of paper (Norton Simon Museum website) which were used to enlarge the drawing. I've always been fascinated by what pastel can be in the hands of someone like Degas. The work is also part tempera, but this is definitely something that cannot be discerned via the digital world (see as much art as you can in person!). I would love to see this work and really understand how the mediums are used.

Bus Stop

David Park (1911-1960)
Bus Stop, 1952
oil on canvas
36 x 34 in.
Collection of Mary and Jim Patton, promised to the Ackland Art Museum
image: http://www.ackland.org/art/exhibitions/patton/park1.html

I discovered David Park today when doing research for a patron. She was looking to authenticate a painting she has that she believes is by David Park. I didn't recognize the artist's name, and happily I quickly discovered this wasn't an unknown mediocre artist (which is all too common in our reference inquiries).

The work I've chosen to share stands out from many of Park's other works which tend to focus on abstracted nude figures. I was drawn to the color palette in this work, the strong ochres, browns and oranges with happy swash of blue in the car bordering the right hand side of the painting.

"Most of his energy has gone into his feeling for the shifts in the inner space of an image and for the creation of light, which he can make sizzlingly bright or glowingly soft. A person’s eyes, in a Park, might be no more than dots. Yet the magic of his brushy and muscular paintings, often marked by hot reds, yellows, and oranges, is that the people in them have psychologically full presences, and we are pulled into the reflective spirit of the images." --"The Tender Art of David Park" by Sanford Schwartz

Scholar by a Waterfall

Ma Yuan (Chinese, active ca. 1190–1225)
Scholar by a Waterfall
Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), late 12th–early 13th century
Album leaf: ink and color on silk
9 7/8 x 10 1/4 in. (25.1 x 26 cm)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
image: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/07/eac/ho_1973.120.9.htm

Ma Yuan "was a master of “one-corner” painting, in which visual interest is focused in a corner of the work." (britannica.com). Very much a master, the corner focus is what drew me to this work. I think it creates a greater intimacy in the work, a small delicate world that the viewer can enter.

I have to admit to my complete lack of knowledge in Chinese painting as from what I can gather with a little research, Ma Yuan is one of the most famous and popular Chinese traditional painter known to the western world. Landscape painting in Chinese art.

The cradle

Berthe Morisot (French, 1841-1895)
Le Berceau (The cradle), 1872
oil on canvas
image: Musee d'Orsay http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/notice.html?no_cache=1&nnumid=001132&cHash=366b77b867

A beautiful picture by Berthe Morisot. Focused on the daily life of the Modern woman, Morisot captured beautiful moments. Morisot's sister modeled for this painting and she is looking down upon her own baby. The simple beauty of the cradle curatin and focused attention of the mother. Admittedly, Morisot falls into a number of artists I neglected for a long time. It took me awhile to develop not only an appreciation for Impressionism but an aesthetic interest in these more quiet paintings.

Along with Mary Cassatt, Morisot is considered one of the most important women painters of the late 19th century. Very good friends with Edouard Manet, Morisot was not just a woman painter but exhibited alongside other Impressionists of her time (she was the first woman to join the circle of French Impressionists). Despite her connections with this group, she was not as well known during her lifetime.

A Tool

A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter, 2009
Caleb Larsen
8"x8"x8"
Acrylic, custom electronics, programming, internet connection, online auction.







image: ebay http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=190367275705

Description: "This object perpetually attempts to sell itself on eBay" (from description on, you guessed it, eBay)

Thank you to a friend to alerting me to today's art of the day. As can be expected, "art" is an interesting term in this context. Just looking at the photo, it looks like a shiny box, minimalist maybe? Ah, but wait! This is no ordinary box. I struggled to categorize this work for my picture files (sculpture, conceptual art, digital media?). I went with sculpture because I was too lazy to create a folder for conceptual art and am not sure I'll add much to the folder since I rely a bit on visuals for this blog. I still wanted to bring this to the attention of a few more because I find it pretty fascinating (this does not necessarily mean I like the work, that's what is wonderful about art I think).

So what is this thing anyway? To briefly expand on it's description as perpetually attempting to sell itself on eBay, yes, the artist has the work for sale on eBay. The duration of the sale is 7 days. Once the item is sold it changes hands. The new owner (who is referred to as the collector which I question since it is likely it won't stay in this person's hands forever) is then required to put the object up for sale once again. There you have it. There are a slew of rules and regulations to follow once in possession of the object (I'd rather just call it a box) and those are what fascinate me the most. I highly recommend reading them here.

The best clause:

1. Any failure to follow these terms without prior consent of Artist will forfeit the status of the Artwork as a legitimate work of art. The item will no longer be considered a genuine work by the Artist and any value associated with it will be reduced to its value as a material object and not a work of art.

This is the first run of the sale, currently being sold be the artist. I would be interested in seeing how sales go in the future.

Good times.

Modern Painters

Modern Painters (from 1873), 2008
Brian Dettmer
Altered Book
9 1/8 x 7 x 6 3/4 inches
image: Kinz + Tillou Fine Art

I am not sure if I've shared one of Dettmer's altered books yet. I was reading an article about writing and manuscripts in Timbuktu and quickly thought of finding an altered book for today's art.

I, like many, used to have a particular reaction to works such as this. As a librarian, reader and book lover I found it difficult to see what many would call the destruction of a book. Over the years I've become not only okay with it but find the resulting works of art fascinating. This is all that Brian Dettmer does, he is a sculptor but his material is not just paper but existing books. Most of the books he uses are old editions of encyclopedias and atlases. Mass produced volumes that over time just get pushed away. Why not create a new and much less static life for this object?

This particular work is not one of the most amazing in aesthetic but I chose it because of the book itself, Modern Painters by John Ruskin. An interesting play between text, art, the old and the new. I have a lot of more trouble with the use of this 19th c. volume, a classic in the history of art (it appears that the 1873 should be 5 volumes and is currently selling for between $200 and $500 depending on condition). I am unsure as to why he only used 3 volumes (earlier editions had less volumes) unless there was an 1873 3 volume set published. Anyway, the set wouldn't be considered rare and once you spend some time looking at Dettmer's work you stop seeing any form of destruction. The term, "altered book" is fitting, especially when the artist retains the semblence of a book. When you still know it's a book, the object retains a variety of lives and meanings.

Mobile matrix

Gabriel Orozco (Mexican, b.1962)
Mobile Matrix, 2006
whale skeleton, graphite
Exhibition December 13, 2009 - March 1, 2010 at the
Museum of Modern Art Exhibition website
images by me

So, I've definitely got art on the brain. I managed to get to 4 museums during my 3-day NYC jaunt last week (I always aim for more but museum fatigue is not a myth!) Most falls into the contemporary realm so I'll scatter my new fascinations with some early periods!

Always interested in what I will find in the atrium of the Museum of Modern Art, I was intrigued by Orozco's Mobile Matrix. Created for the Jose Vasconcelos Library in Mexico City, the installation was de-installed and re-installed in MoMA's atrium. The skeleton of a great whale was excavated from a beach. The cleaned up skeleton was then covered in concentric circles of graphite.

Orozco had used graphite on bone before, Black Kites 1997

Interview with Orozco on the making of Mobile Matrix

Some fantastic shots http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyclovesnyc/4189469944/in/photostream/