Real Clear Arts – Page 22

New Year, New Format? Some News!

For some two years now, I’ve been finding it hard to find time to blog here. But I still hear of items of interest to the art world that go little remarked, and I notice other things, announced, that should be remarked on. It is at times like those that I wish there was a short form, like Twitter, but not Twitter. I’ve never tweeted and don’t follow anyone on Twitter either.

So in 2017 I’m going to try posting here more often, but with very short posts. More than 144 characters, but maybe no more than 144 words and, I hope, a picture. When I see something really important and have the time to weigh in in a longer way, I will. If I can break news here, as I did with leavings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last year, I will still do that.

But mostly I’ll be telling readers about news or trends to applaud or developments in the art world to deplore.

We’ll start now with something to cheer: today the Amon Carter Museum (pictured) in Fort Worth announced an “unprecedented” endowment gift of $20 million, to be paid over five years, by the Walton Family Foundation. It is “the largest in the museumâ€™s history and establishes an endowment to support future exhibition and education initiatives.” More details here.

Oh, I hear the complaints already–a drop in the bucket for the Waltons. Maybe. But it’s not a drop in the bucket for the endowments of most museums. Rejoice and be glad!

It’s Still the Christmas Season

When I wrote two recent seasonal posts here–about art-related Christmas/Chanukkah presents and about the Star Trail at the National Gallery–I had Â forgotten about an exhibition whose notice I had saved. It came in a press release dated Sept. 1, and I just turned it up in a bout of cleaning out emails.

Since Oct. 12, the Liebieghaus Sculpturen Sammlung in Frankfurt has been exhibiting Holy Night: The Christmas Story and its Imagery. Since the nativity of Christ is one of the most explored subjects in art, why is this notable? For me, the subject is fascinating–as an expert in Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, but an agnostic, once told me, comparing the many images of, say, the Annunciation is a rewarding exercise for any art-lover. You don’t have to be Christian to love Christian art, even in this age of increasing secularization in the United States.

lh_presse_heilige_nacht_maria_in_hoffnung_anfang_16_jh The Liebieghaus exhibition focuses on art of the Middle Ages, supplemented with Early Christian and with Baroque images. You can read more details in the press release. Since I have not seen the exhibition in person, I can only repeat that it offers “an impressive demonstration of the surprising diversity of pictorial themes related to the Christmas story.”

In addition to well-known motifs such as the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Adoration of the Magi, many stories and images that have meanwhile all but fallen into oblivion await the visitor: episodes such as Josephâ€™s Doubt and the Circumcision or the miracles on the flight into Egypt.

It is displayed chronologically, from the Annunciation to the return from the Flight into Egypt, and continues through Jan. 29.

I’m posting a few images that, I hope, are new (or newish) to you–of the circumcision of Jesus by the Master of the Tucher (c. 1440-50), a sculpture of a pregnant Mary from Swabia, early 16th C, and a sculpture of the Magi from the Upper Rhine, late 15th C. (top to bottom), all courtesy of the Liebieghaus.

You can see more images and installation photos here.

There’s another reason this is interesting. The Liebiehaus, as you will remember, was until recently headed by Max Hollein–now the director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Hollein has said he wants the two museums he oversees, the DeYoung and the Legion of Honor, to organize more of their own exhibitions.

If this is the kind of show Hollein green-lights, I am hopeful that he will also approve a great variety of exhibitions in San Francisco.

Merry Christmas: This Year’s Nativity Scene

By tradition, every year about this time I post a nativity scene here, for your enjoyment and contemplation while I am away with family for Christmas. There’s no shortage of possible choices. This year, reminded and inspired by my review of the Giovanni di Paolo exhibition at the Getty, I’ve chosen one by the artist who perhaps most inspired Giovanni: Gentile da Fabriano.

Here is his Adoration of the Magi, dated 1423. It’s in the collection of the Uffizi.

Here’s what the Uffizi says about it:

The work was commissioned by a wealthy banker and intellectualÂ Palla StrozziÂ for the family chapel in theÂ church of Santa Trinita.

This is one of the greatest masterpieces ofÂ international gothic style, with its elegant and fairy tale atmosphere and figures in sophisticated poses.

TheÂ Adoration of the Magi themeÂ was common since it allowed to hint at the economic prosperity and cultural superiority of who commissioned the work.
The procession of the Magi fills the whole composition and is a chance to flaunt plushy clothes and golden decorations. Behind the three Magi we can recognize the portrait of Palla Strozzi in the man with the falcon.

TheÂ sumptuous clothesÂ of the characters, theÂ refined harnessesÂ of the horses, the description of the landscape and the even more magnificent carved wood frame make this work a veritable masterpiece.

In years past, I have shown nativities by Botticelli, Fra Agelico, Petrus Christus and others–but this one is pretty hard to beat for sheer glory!

Have a wonderful holiday.

Art For Christmas and Chanukkah

Are you still shopping for gifts this holiday season? An email from Winterthur this morning reminded me that I’ve been meaning to suggest giving the gift of art–or art books, even for children or grown-up kids. .

The new Winterthur book in the email isÂ ABC: A Winterthur Book for Children, which features items from the museum’s collection like a 1776 print showing a woman with hair thatâ€™s 10 feet high and a teapot shaped like a person.

Says the press release:

The images and rhymes in the book combine to teach math (count the ovals), technology (see how a taxidermy bird looks under an X-ray) and, of course, history. â€¦[It also asks:] â€œWould you believe that boys once wore a dress until age four or more?â€

There are, of course, dozens of like-minded books for children of all ages in museum stores. As I travel this country. and others. visiting museums I’m often very pleased by the selection of books in their shops. Some museums–like the Getty (at left)–even have a special kids’ store chocked full of books and toys.

And for adults, I’ve been meaning to mention a book that Rizzoli published in September–you know that adult coloring books have been popular for the last year or two. Why not give this one, Color Your Own Masterpiece? Inside are 30 art works, including Las Meninas and The Night Watch. Some museums–e.g., the Van Gogh Museum–have joined the trend, with books like Color Your Own Van Gogh and Color Your Own Dutch Masters.

There are lots of other ways to give art this season. It’s not too late!Â There’s still time to buy these great gifts.

The Art Emerging In A New(ish) Museum

Come along with me to see a new museum filled with contemporary art that, for the most part, hasn’t been overexposed.

My recent trip took me to Morocco, where I was pleased to find a museum of modern and contemporary art in Rabat, the capital. It’s just two years hold, named after King Mohammed VI, the current ruler. If you can read French, take a look at its website. The building, whose design reflects a modernized traditionalism, is quite handsome–spacious and airy, with nicely sized white-walled galleries on two floors. There’s a tea room and a bookstore, too.

The permanent collection resides on the second floor, and consists (I believe–I did not check every label) of works by Moroccan artists–many of whom have, btw, succeeded on the global markets. There’s a beautiful triptych called Converging Territories (2005) (below) by Lalla EssaydiÂ , who lives in the U.S. now and is represented in New York byÂ Edwynn Houk Gallery. The photo doesn’t do the piece justice, though–there’s writing throughout the background, for example, and I clipped the edges of the large-format work. She is one of the best-known artists on view here, I would guess.

I found many other works to be very appealing if not revelatory.

The first floor, however, was more interesting to me. Its galleries housed a special exhibition of works by women (including two more by Essaydi). Here’s a look at one of the galleries with a variety of works.

One provocative artist is Fatima Mazmouz, who examines the female body, and in a couple of works here, the pregnant woman in the Arabic culture–these are, I’d guess, pretty transgressive for part of the audience.

There were both figurative and abstract works among the others in the show, too. One I liked is by Najia Mehadji titled Sublimation No. 1.

It was quite fun to see this budding museum; I hope it gets many, many visitors.

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