Archives for March 2011

Well, there are lots of reasons for that. But a FB friend posted about an exhibit that I would really like to see, and when I sent him a message about it, he wrote back that Paris is loaded with seemingly great exhibitions at the moment, at both museums and galleries. So…

What initially caught my attention was The Caillebotte Brothers’ Private World, which opened today at the marvelous Jacquemart-Andre Museum. Of course we know about Gustave, whom I last saw in depth at the Brooklyn Museum’s 2009 exhibit. Even though his best works weren’t there, his innovation was obvious. The Paris exhibit includes his brother Martial, a composer, poet and photographer. New to me, and others:    

…a recent study of Martial’s photographic collection has revealed a great awareness of the subjects represented in the paintings of his brother Gustave: the views of Paris, the sailing boats, the gardens and the river banks. This discovery has enabled the Jacquemart-André Museum to do what no other museum has done before: compare Martial’s photographs directly with Gustave’s works….

 

…the exhibition reveals the underlying similarities between the Caillebotte brothers, by hanging 35 paintings alongside almost 150 modern prints…taken from Martial’s originals. Some of the paintings, which belong to private collections, have never been shown in public before.

Do museums that focus on American art need a new support group?

That idea was floated the other day by Andrew J. Walker, the incoming director of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, who starts his job in earnest on April 1.

Walker, who moved to Texas from his post as assistant director of curatorial affairs at the St. Louis Art Museum, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that “he hopes to encourage a collaborative relationship of loans and exhibitions with museums such as the Whitney Museum of American art in New York; the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, scheduled to open in November in Bentonville, Ark.; the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia; the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; and others, to the benefit of all, with the Carter in the lead.”

The Carter in the lead, he said, because it stands “taller” than the others, given its collection of masterworks.

It’s neither a bad idea, nor a great one — because these partnerships tend to develop among museums of similar size and quality anyway.

I’m all for starting exchanges, creating great exhibits of American art, and talking up American art, but I suggest that Walker somehow figure out how to include smaller, less well-endowed museums of American art, because they tend to need partnerships more. They don’t have the goods that draw audiences. Maybe the loan of just one master painting, which I’ve written about before here and here, would help.

But I like that Walker seems to be signaling that he’s going to be a big booster of American art, which the Carter — celebrating its 50th year — owns a great collection of.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Amon Carter Museum

Here’s a turnabout: Brandeis University, which set off a storm two years ago when trustees tried to sell art from the Rose Art Museum’s collection, now plans to renovate the museum, rather than destroy it.

Things are not so dire as they once seemed, which I what I posited in this space 11 months ago.

The university has posted a press release, dated Mar. 10, on its website, but the fact just came to my attention. The renovations are scheduled to take this place in the original building this summer, in preparation for the museum’s 50th anniversary next fall. The art will start coming down in April, although the newer wing will remain open, with a new access point, through mid-June.

Sandra and Gerald S. Fineberg made a gift that will pay the tab for new ceilings, new floors, new lighting, new HVAC, etc. etc.

Of course, the Rose still does not have a director. Director of Museum Operations Roy Dawes is in charge.

I haven’t heard much about the lawsuit filed against Brandeis by Rose trustees, which was supposed to go to court last December. But courts delay, and according to an article on Monday in the Waltham News Tribune, the lawsuit is still in Suffolk Probate and Family Court in Boston.

Figures.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Brandeis University 

…from my trip to Chile (Santiago, Valparaiso and Vina del Mar). The sunny, warm weather was perfect — the exact relief I was seeking from this miserable New York winter — but I didn’t see much art. What museums I visited have little of note, and a few are still closed as a result of the January, 2010 earthquake.

Now I have a week’s worth of newspapers (yes, I still read the inky kind) and mail to go through, plus much email, etc., which I couldn’t access at time while I was away.

I hope to post something later today.

The Venice Biennale is months away — it opens on June 4 — but the other day there was some somewhat startling news about it: Not only is Saudi Arabia putting forward its inaugural entry, but also it has chosen two women artists to represent the Kingdom. This in a country where women mostly may not drive, among other constrictions.

The artist Shadia Alem and writer Raja Alem — sisters, shown at left — are creating an installation called The Black Arch. Here´s the description:

It is very much about a meeting point of the two artists; of two visions of the world; from darkness to light, and of two cities – Mecca and Venice. The work is a stage, set to project the artists’ collective memory of Black – the monumental absence of colour. The first part of the installation relates to the physical representation of Black, referring to their past. The narrative is fuelled by the inspirational tales told by their aunts and grandmothers, and are anchored in Mecca, where the sisters grew up in the 1970s. As a counter point, the second part of the installation is a mirror image, an illumination, reflecting the present. These are the aesthetic parameters of the work. The Black Arch is also about a journey, about transition; inspired by Marco Polo and fellow thirteenth-century traveller Ibn Battuta – both examples of how cultures were bridged together through travel. The artists explain their intention: “to bring my city of Mecca to Venice, through objects brought from there: a Black Arch; a cubic city, and a handful of Muzdalifah pebbles.”, and to focus on the similarities between the two cosmopolitan cities and their inspirational powers.

As I noted the other day, I am traveling, and I was unable to go to the press conference last Friday about this. I couldn´t ask questions. But unless there´s something about this that I don´t know — the way the artists were chosen, whether subjects were limited, etc. — this strikes me as a good development no matter how it´s parsed. Good to have Saudi Arabia as part of contemporary art, good to have women artists allowed to work there.

Here´s more on the sisters from other sites: here and here.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Brunswick Group