By Emily Waldorf
Detail from Botticelli's 'The Trials of Moses' (1481-82) in the Sistine Chapel. Proust's character Swann felt that Odette shared a striking resemblance to the graceful leaning figure on the left.
Have you ever confused beauty with virtue? One of Marcel Proust’s characters, Swann, in his famous work, In Search of Lost Time, falls in love with a debaucherous courtesan, Odette, when he is overcome by her similarity to a Venus-like character in a Botticelli fresco. Eric Eichman, in his article in The Wall Street Journal, “The Savage Lessons of Pretty Pictures,” describes Swann’s enchantment with Odette and subsequent fall from grace:
“He has read into Odette qualities much greater than those she actually possesses – because she has reminded him of a figure from a Botticelli fresco…The similarity enhanced her beauty,” Continue reading ‘Confusing Beauty with Virtue: Images and Text in Proust’
Filed under: old masters, Paris | 8 Comments
Tags: Eric Karpeles, Erich Eichman, Paintings in Proust, Proust, Savage Lessons of Pretty Pictures
Edgar Arceneaux: Not a Cliche
By Laura Gatewood
Arceneaux is the director of the Watts House Project, described as an "artist-driven urban revitalization initiative" centered around the famous Watts Towers in South Central Los Angeles, pictured above.
Resisting the pull of the tortured soul cliché, painter Edgar Arceneaux has managed to attain both artistic and commercial prominence while also taking up the mantle of community service as director of the Watts House Project in South Central Los Angeles. His often conceptual artwork explores themes of memory, perception, and how the established social and cultural values can undermine realities based on logic and truth.
Graduating from California Institute of the Arts in 2001, Arceneaux has had solo and group exhibitions at the Hammer Museum in 2003, Galerie Kamm in Berlin, San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art in 2006, and the Whitney Biennial in 2008. His work will be also be included in the upcoming California Biennial at the Orange County Museum of Art next month. Currently on view at Susanne Vielmetter in Los Angeles is Arceneaux’s intriguing solo exhibition titled Correlations and Isomorphisms, Continue reading ‘Edgar Arceneaux: Not a Cliche’
Filed under: artist projects, contemporary art, galleries, Los Angeles, museums, non profit spaces | 1 Comment
Tags: California Biennial, Correlations and Isomorphisms, Edgar Arceneaux, Galerie Kamm, Hammer Museum, San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, Susanne Vielmetter, Watts House Project, Whitney Biennial
By Steven Siegman
Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Portrait of Costanza Bonarelli, 1636–38, at the Getty
I was thrilled when I heard about the Bernini and Baroque Portraiture exhibition at the Getty. I consider myself an admirer; in my mind, what Michelangelo is to painting, Bernini is to sculpture. About 3/4 of the collection is comprised of “Portrait Sculpture” or busts. There are also a few paintings and drawings. The Getty curators who organized the show hoped to portray Bernini as a great innovator of the portrait sculpture genre, bringing subtler emotion and better detail to an ancient form.
I thought that the busts were attractive, each one pleasingly formed about three feet by three feet. However, I personally felt very little inspiration while previewing the exhibition and was certainly not left gawking in pleasure or awe at their magnificence. Continue reading ‘Bernini at the Getty: Absolute Art for Absolute Power’
Filed under: Los Angeles, museums, old masters, reviews, sculpture | 7 Comments
Tags: Bernini, Bernini and Baroque Portraiture, Bernini busts, Getty, portrait sculpture
Black and White Art for Bébé
By Emily Waldorf
Part of the proceeds from the sale of Art For Baby will be donated to the NSPCC.
Interested in giving Junior a head start as a future art world connoisseur? Pick up art philanthropist Yana Peel’s newly released Art For Baby book published by Templar Publishing in conjunction with OUTSET Contemporary Art Fund. The book includes all black and white images that were donated to the project by artists such as Damien Hirst, Keith Haring, Julian Opie, Bridget Riley, Takashi Murakami, and Kasmir Malevich, among many others.
In the October issue of Tatler, Francesca Segal explains how Peel’s baby art book idea was born after discovering her newborn baby entranced by a Julian Opie video called Sarah Walking: Continue reading ‘Black and White Art for Bébé’
Filed under: books, contemporary art, education | Leave a Comment
Tags: Art For Baby, Bridget Riley, Damien Hirst, Julian Opie, Keith Haring, NSPCC, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Takashi Murakami, Templar Publishing, Yana Peel
By Emily Waldorf
Nicole Kidman shot by Annie Leibovitz in New York, 1993.
If you happen to be in London for the Frieze Art Fair, you should schedule a visit to The National Portrait Gallery’s concurrent exhibition: Annie Leibovitz: A Photographers Life 1990-2005. Organized by the Brooklyn Museum, the exhibition features over 150 of Leibovitz’ photographs, including her well-known images of celebrities, politicians, and the like as well as more personal images of her three daughters, her long term partner Susan Sontag, and close friends. Continue reading ‘21st Century Court Portraitist: Annie Leibovitz in London’
Filed under: art fairs, celebs, contemporary art, London, museums, photography | 2 Comments
Tags: A Photographer's Life, American Vogue, Annie Leibovitz, British Vogue, Brooklyn Museum, David Bailey, Demi Moore, Frieze Art Fair, London, Portrait Café, Susan Sontag, The National Portrait Gallery
Why not throw your own fashionable tea party? Here, Annie Leibovitz interprets Alice in Wonderland's mad hatter tea party for Vogue, featuring Natalia Vodianova, Christian Lacroix, and Jean-Paul Gaultier
By Lauren Dickinson
Break up an afternoon of fall shopping or gallery perusing with the time honored tradition of afternoon tea.
1) Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay: Classic tea service with a gourmet bent, though the real reason to go out of your way is the stunning ocean views. Gaze at the crashing waves while curled up next to a roaring fire.
2) The Peninsula Beverly Hills: If you can’t make it to Hong Kong, where the Peninsula’s tea service has been a must do forever, the Beverly Hills spot will provide your fix of civilized glamour, served in the Living Room. Continue reading ‘Reviving Tradition: Top 5 California Tea Spots’
Filed under: epicurean, Los Angeles, reviews, San Francisco, TOP 5's | 3 Comments
Tags: Afternoon Tea, Alice in Wonderland, Annie Leibovitz, Best Los Angeles afternoon tea, best Los Angeles tea spots, Christian Lacroix, Crown and Crumpet, high tea, Jean Paul Gaultier, Neiman Marcus Rotunda, Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay, Royal/T, The Peninsula Beverly Hills, Top 5 Tea, Vogue
By Emily Waldorf
Francisco Luna's mixed media work, Libros, at Praxis International Art
I attended Art London last week at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. The fair is set up in a giant white tent hidden behind stately 17th century red brick hospital buildings. An exhibition of Lynne Chadwick sculptures lines the walkway to the entrance of the fair, setting up guests for the modern and contemporary art that lies within. Continue reading ‘Report from Art London at the Royal Hospital Chelsea’
Filed under: art fairs, art market, collecting, contemporary art, dealers, galleries, London | 8 Comments
Tags: Albemarle Gallery, Art London, Beaux Arts Bath, Envie d'Art, James Kinmont Fine Art, Lynne Chadwick, Praxis International, Royal Hospital Chelsea, Stephanie Hoppen, The Fine Art Partnership, Wilhelmina Barnes-Graham
By Emily Waldorf
The Impossible Collection by Franck Giraud and Philippe Ségalot, published by Assouline, with an introduction by Joachim Pissarro, a partner in the authors' art consultancy and great grandson of Camille Pissarro, $500
If money were no object, which works of art would you pick out from the 20th century to create the ne plus ultra in art collections? Private art advisers Franck Giraud and Philippe Ségalot of the New York and Paris based art consultancy Giraud.Pissarro.Ségalot (François Pinault is a client) take a stab at curating their ideal collection in their new book, The Impossible Collection: The 100 Most Coveted Artworks of the Modern Era, published by Assouline.
The book is organized chronologically through the 20th century starting with Picasso’s 1901 self-portait in the aristocratic style of Goya and Vélazquez and ending with Rudolf Stingel’s 2000 relief Untitled. Editing down the 20th century’s greatest works is not an easy task and of course highly subject to curatorial bias. Continue reading ‘Book Review: Impossible Collection: The 100 Most Coveted Artworks of the Modern Era’
Filed under: art market, books, collecting, contemporary art, modern art, reviews | 2 Comments
Tags: Franck Giraud, Philippe Ségalot, The Impossible Collection
By Emily Waldorf
An untitled work from 1943 by Arshile Gorky, on view at Haunch of Venison's New York gallery through November 12, 2008
Christie’s owned gallery Haunch of Venison opened its New York location on September 12 with an impressive lineup of 63 blue-chip Abstract Expressionist works. The not for sale show, titled Abstract Expressionism: A World Elsewhere, includes many works borrowed from museums in a grand gesture to make an impressive début on the New York contemporary art scene.
The show is curated by well-respected London based critic, curator, and art historian David Anfam and includes artists such as Barnett Newman, Aaron Siskind, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Clyfford Still, David Smith, Willem de Kooning, and Arshile Gorky. Continue reading ‘A Grand Abstract Expressionist Gesture Opens Haunch of Venison’s New York Gallery’
Filed under: art criticism, galleries, modern art, New York, reviews, Uncategorized | 5 Comments
Tags: Aaron Siskind, Abstract Expressionism: A World Elsewhere, Arshile Gorky, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still, David Anfam, David Smith, Franz Kline, Haunch of Venison, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Mark Rothko, Roberta Smith, Willem de Kooning
By Katie Enna
The head auctioneer taking bids in front of one of Hirst's spin paintings
Damien Hirst’s latest antic has been all the talk of the auction world this past week. His exhibition “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” and subsequent sale on Monday and Tuesday at Sotheby’s in London made auction history.
Historically auction houses have been secondary dealers, respecting the contemporary galleries who sell an artist’s new work. As the contemporary art market has taken off, such unspoken ground rules started to erode as Christie’s and Sotheby’s started to stretch the rules more to their liking and become more eager to get newer work in their sales. Continue reading ‘Live from London: Dissecting Damien Hirst’s Latest Antic’
Filed under: art market, auctions, celebs, collecting, contemporary art, dealers, galleries, London | 4 Comments
Tags: Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, Christie's, Damien Hirst, Gagosian, Haunch of Venison, Jay Jopling, Sotheby's, White Cube