Last art exhibition you visited?

[cih]

I took another look at the catalogue and they do have 4 of the 20 or so photos after all. Don't know how that compares with the other book, but it is definitely moving me in the direction of buying this new catalogue.

That's funny, because the book I said had some of those pictures in, actually hasn't! I can't see them in any book I have here so I'm flummoxed

[ejp626]

I took another look at the catalogue and they do have 4 of the 20 or so photos after all. Don't know how that compares with the other book, but it is definitely moving me in the direction of buying this new catalogue.

That's funny, because the book I said had some of those pictures in, actually hasn't! I can't see them in any book I have here so I'm flummoxed

As long as you're not Fluxus-ed...

[robertoart]

Not exactly a visit, but of interest to the art buffs will be this - in regard to everyone's favourite cinematic-like painter.

My link

If I am reading between the lines, these works have always been known (and indeed the self portrait drawing was immediately familiar to me), but it looks like a couple of Art-scholars are looking to re-energise the discourse.

I find this most interesting as well...

"But the pieces could also significantly alter Caravaggio’s biography. The artist, most known for his chiaroscuro, or shadow and light technique, was always believed to be self-taught. But according to research done by Curuz and Fedrigolli, which led to the discovery of the drawing, he was actually an aristocrat by birth, and was surrounded by art and artists from a very young age.

Caravaggio also allegedly was the lifelong protégé of Costanza Sforza Colonna, in whose palace he lived with his grandfather. Through his aristocratic mentor, Caravaggio was later introduced to the powerful Barnabite Order in Milan, from which he received his first commission, the experts claim".

I haven't read the recent expansive literary 'biopics' like these by Graham-Dixon and Peter Robb

My link

My link

but wonder whether the 'toffiness' of Carravaggio's background is well known, or is new researched information

As an aside to the 'bixing' thread, Art histories (like Carravaggio's) can rival Jazz 'bixing' anyday

Edited July 6, 2012 by freelancer

[BillF]

Saw this exhibition at Liverpool Tate today. Wasn't impressed. Although there are obvious similarities between late Turner, late Monet and abstract expressionism, Mr Twombly just wasn't of sufficient stature to support a third of this show, otherwise given over to two giants. Would have been better if his solo contribution had been replaced by a representative collection of relevant abstract expressionists, such as Pollock, Rothko, Tobey, etc - as well as some Twombly, too.

[ejp626]

Saw this exhibition at Liverpool Tate today. Wasn't impressed. Although there are obvious similarities between late Turner, late Monet and abstract expressionism, Mr Twombly just wasn't of sufficient stature to support a third of this show, otherwise given over to two giants. Would have been better if his solo contribution had been replaced by a representative collection of relevant abstract expressionists, such as Pollock, Rothko, Tobey, etc - as well as some Twombly, too.

Completely agree. Twombly's a total plonker. I don't know why museums keep pushing his stuff. He is one of a few contemporary artists I really hate -- him and Dan Flavin.

[robertoart]

Saw this exhibition at Liverpool Tate today. Wasn't impressed. Although there are obvious similarities between late Turner, late Monet and abstract expressionism, Mr Twombly just wasn't of sufficient stature to support a third of this show, otherwise given over to two giants. Would have been better if his solo contribution had been replaced by a representative collection of relevant abstract expressionists, such as Pollock, Rothko, Tobey, etc - as well as some Twombly, too.

Completely agree. Twombly's a total plonker. I don't know why museums keep pushing his stuff. He is one of a few contemporary artists I really hate -- him and Dan Flavin.

Well the amount of young artists that work with flouro's suggest Flavin is a big influence on young contemporary artists. Although considering how fast the worm turns these days, maybe he is already a boring old fart. Twombley I have only seen in reproduction, but I usually enjoy the aestheticization of graffiti - so I like to ponder Twombley when I come across an article. One thing I remember reading about Twombley, was from the English visual art writer Matthew Collings. I think he was writing a few years ago about a Twombley retrospective. He said basically, that when Twombley gets it right, his paintings are truly great, but when they don't work - they really don't work. So there is no middle ground between his great work and aesthetic failure. I don't know about that, but I guess you could say the same thing about lots of painters that rely on grasping the gesture and chance. I would still like an opportunity to spend a few hours in a room full of Twombley's - to try and discover which ones were great and which ones weren't. Maybe I couldn't tell the difference anyway. I guess it would be harder to get a feel for that amongst Turner and Monet as well.

[ejp626]

Saw this exhibition at Liverpool Tate today. Wasn't impressed. Although there are obvious similarities between late Turner, late Monet and abstract expressionism, Mr Twombly just wasn't of sufficient stature to support a third of this show, otherwise given over to two giants. Would have been better if his solo contribution had been replaced by a representative collection of relevant abstract expressionists, such as Pollock, Rothko, Tobey, etc - as well as some Twombly, too.

Completely agree. Twombly's a total plonker. I don't know why museums keep pushing his stuff. He is one of a few contemporary artists I really hate -- him and Dan Flavin.

Well the amount of young artists that work with flouro's suggest Flavin is a big influence on young contemporary artists. Although considering how fast the worm turns these days, maybe he is already a boring old fart. Twombley I have only seen in reproduction, but I usually enjoy the aestheticization of graffiti - so I like to ponder Twombley when I come across an article. One thing I remember reading about Twombley, was from the English visual art writer Matthew Collings. I think he was writing a few years ago about a Twombley retrospective. He said basically, that when Twombley gets it right, his paintings are truly great, but when they don't work - they really don't work. So there is no middle ground between his great work and aesthetic failure. I don't know about that, but I guess you could say the same thing about lots of painters that rely on grasping the gesture and chance. I would still like an opportunity to spend a few hours in a room full of Twombley's - to try and discover which ones were great and which ones weren't. Maybe I couldn't tell the difference anyway. I guess it would be harder to get a feel for that amongst Turner and Monet as well.

It's obviously all about taste, but I can't imagine I would be impressed by any artist inspired by Flavin. I simply don't consider light emanating from tubes to be "art."

Twombley rubs me the wrong way every single time. It's like he's intentionally rubbing it in the face of all the middle-brow heathens who say "but my kid could do that." But live by the sword, die by the sword; 99 times out of 100, I would consider a child's scribbles to be of more interest than Twombley's.

[robertoart]

Saw this exhibition at Liverpool Tate today. Wasn't impressed. Although there are obvious similarities between late Turner, late Monet and abstract expressionism, Mr Twombly just wasn't of sufficient stature to support a third of this show, otherwise given over to two giants. Would have been better if his solo contribution had been replaced by a representative collection of relevant abstract expressionists, such as Pollock, Rothko, Tobey, etc - as well as some Twombly, too.

Completely agree. Twombly's a total plonker. I don't know why museums keep pushing his stuff. He is one of a few contemporary artists I really hate -- him and Dan Flavin.

Well the amount of young artists that work with flouro's suggest Flavin is a big influence on young contemporary artists. Although considering how fast the worm turns these days, maybe he is already a boring old fart. Twombley I have only seen in reproduction, but I usually enjoy the aestheticization of graffiti - so I like to ponder Twombley when I come across an article. One thing I remember reading about Twombley, was from the English visual art writer Matthew Collings. I think he was writing a few years ago about a Twombley retrospective. He said basically, that when Twombley gets it right, his paintings are truly great, but when they don't work - they really don't work. So there is no middle ground between his great work and aesthetic failure. I don't know about that, but I guess you could say the same thing about lots of painters that rely on grasping the gesture and chance. I would still like an opportunity to spend a few hours in a room full of Twombley's - to try and discover which ones were great and which ones weren't. Maybe I couldn't tell the difference anyway. I guess it would be harder to get a feel for that amongst Turner and Monet as well.

It's obviously all about taste, but I can't imagine I would be impressed by any artist inspired by Flavin. I simply don't consider light emanating from tubes to be "art."

Twombley rubs me the wrong way every single time. It's like he's intentionally rubbing it in the face of all the middle-brow heathens who say "but my kid could do that." But live by the sword, die by the sword; 99 times out of 100, I would consider a child's scribbles to be of more interest than Twombley's.

I'm just impressed you've even heard of these guys

And if you don't have some significant connection to the Contemporary artworld then I'll settle for just being flabbergasted

But there is definitely much more to Twombley than rubbing the 'everyman's' nose in it. If he wanted to do that - in this day and age - he wouldn't waste time and effort bothering with oil on canvas.

[ejp626]

I'm just impressed you've even heard of these guys

And if you don't have some significant connection to the Contemporary artworld then I'll settle for just being flabbergasted

But there is definitely much more to Twombley than rubbing the 'everyman's' nose in it. If he wanted to do that - in this day and age - he wouldn't waste time and effort bothering with oil on canvas.

I guess so. It's not that hard to become an amateur critic or an even more amateur collector -- just a subscription to Art in America and a few visits to local art galleries. It is true that I scheduled a work trip around the Max Beckmann exhibit at MoMA-Queens back in the day and am participating in a conference in Denver next month, primarily so I can check out the new Clyfford Still wing of the museum. I expect the Still to be much more up my alley (relative to the Twombley -- I loved the Beckmann exhibit).

As far as Twombley, it isn't so much what he is thinking about now in our digital age, but what he was doing in his heyday in the late 60s and early 70s that defines him in my mind.

Personally, I do find his chalkboard art paintings (this one is from 1970) to be deliberately provocative and, worse, uncompelling. Of course, he has the right to do what he wants, but in turn, it triggered a strong negative reaction in me and causes me to devalue him as an artist.

Edited July 14, 2012 by ejp626

[jeffcrom]

The Gustav Vigeland statues in Frogner Park in Oslo. Got a lump in my throat several times.

[alankin]

Photography by Ralph Eugene Meatyard: "Dolls and Masks" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

http://philamuseum.org/exhibitions/762.html

Evocative, compelling and and a bit disturbing.

[paul secor]

Photography by Ralph Eugene Meatyard: "Dolls and Masks" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

http://philamuseum.org/exhibitions/762.html

Evocative, compelling and and a bit disturbing.

Meatyard had a unique vision.

[robertoart]

Photography by Ralph Eugene Meatyard: "Dolls and Masks" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

http://philamuseum.org/exhibitions/762.html

Evocative, compelling and and a bit disturbing.

Meatyard had a unique vision.

And a unique name

[alankin]

Photography by Ralph Eugene Meatyard: "Dolls and Masks" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

http://philamuseum.org/exhibitions/762.html

Evocative, compelling and and a bit disturbing.

Meatyard had a unique vision.

And a unique name

And he grew up in Normal, Illinois.

[robertoart]

Photography by Ralph Eugene Meatyard: "Dolls and Masks" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

http://philamuseum.org/exhibitions/762.html

Evocative, compelling and and a bit disturbing.

Meatyard had a unique vision.

And a unique name

And he grew up in Normal, Illinois.

[ejp626]

Was fortunate enough to catch two exhibits in Edinburgh -- one on the closing weekend, so it was pretty crowded. This was Van Gogh to Kandinksy: Symbolist Landscape in Europe 1880-1910 at the main exhibition space.

At the Modern Galleries, they had Picasso & Modern British Art.

I thought both were pretty decent exhibits, but I didn't feel compelled to buy the catalogues in either case.

There was a somewhat similar exhibit at the Whitney called Picasso and American Art (or something equivalent) and I thought the American artists were stronger than the British artists in this exhibit.

In this exhibit, really only Ben Nicholson came at all close to holding his own. I did find it more than a little ironic than in 10+ visits to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, I had to travel to Edinburgh to see their copy of the Picasso print La Minotauromachia. It is pretty stunning work when seen up close, so it is unfortunate that it is so rarely in public view.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Good stuff. Much more preferable than that excuse of an exhibition of pointless bling by Damien Hirst in Tate Modern. Only £36k in the gift shop for a spun painted skull. Struth !

I dropped by there at the end of August and the Hirst line was too long. Wound up taking a little video in that gift shop before an employee told me to stop. Guess that was bad of me, eh? Anyway, I thought the skull in that display case was kinda neat looking. You like my little green camera in the reflection? Sorta matches the skull.

[ValerieB]

Went Sunday to the last day of a magnificent exhibit at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery at Scripps College: "African American Visions: Selections from the Samella Lewis Collections". included in this exhibit were many fabulous pieces by Dr. Lewis, as well as astounding art pieces and sculptures from legendary geniuses like John Biggers, Elizabeth Catlett, Faith Ringgold, Carrie Mae Weems, Betye Saar, Alison Saar, John T. Biggers, et al. an additional treat were some wonderful photographs (most by Herman Leonard) of Duke, Ella, Dexter and Billie. Dr. Lewis spoke and there was an interpretive dance and poem readings which were inspired by Dr. Lewis's work. it was, to say the least, an enriching and exciting day.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Nearby at Charleston Farmhouse there was a small exhibit of Paul Nash's wood engravings.

Charleston is very interesting. My wife comes from that village (Firle) and knew all about it.

Earlier this week I had a few hours off in Frankfurt and went to see an exhibition of graphics and paintings of Odilon Redon.

I urge anyone with an interest in this fascinating artist to pay a visit - a representative overview is very rare, his works scattered all over the world. And his colors (after decades of black and white art) are impossible to reprint - they glow from the inside!

Mike, when next in Paris take time to visit the permanent Redon exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay

http://www.cord.edu/faculty/andersod/redon.html

The Redons are in a room off the beaten track as befits. The room is in the dark to protect the delicate material used by Redon.

Whenever I go to the Musée d'Orsay - which is pretty often - I take some time to admire these masxterpieces.

Redon is one of my favourite painters. I took my daughter to the Musee d'Orsay to see them back in the day. He was Debussy's favourite, too.

Also Gustave Moreau; his house is a museum of his work. Overwhelming!

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Haven't seen this thread before.

I don't often go to art exhibitions; they don't turn up in these parts too often, though Cardiff Museum has some nice stuff.

About 10 years ago, I had to go to a high-level political meeting held in a grand house on The Mall, which the Government owns and uses as a conference centre. After the meeting, I had a wander around the ground floor, which was stacked full of 18th and 19th century British paintings and portraits that don't usually see the light of day in regular galleries. Wow!

MG

[mjazzg]

Turner Monet Twombly at Tate Liverpool. beautiful exhibition, intelligently curated. Went to see the Twomblys and was not disappointed. he shone in such august company.

The previous week saw exhibition of Camino Real series by Twombly at Gagosian Kings Cross

[Mark Stryker]

"Faberge: The Rise and Fall" at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Wrote it up here: http://www.freep.com/article/20121014/ENT05/310140076/The-DIA-s-new-Faberg-exhibit-adds-historical-context-its-glittering-display?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Entertainment

[BillF]

Cardiff Museum has some nice stuff.

MG

- including some priceless French impressionists. Not many people know that Alfred Sisley painted on the cliffs near Penarth:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/alfred-sisley/index.shtml

Edited October 17, 2012 by BillF

[cih]

Had a revisit to the nearby galleries in Wakefield - The Hepworth - which has rotated its collection of paintings completely and has some things which I'm sure must be on loan (Bacon for one, who I don't really get)

And Leeds Art Gallery where there was a small exhibit of some British modernists influenced by the machine (or industry or something) - Bomberg, Paul Nash, Nevinson.. small black & white graphics and drawings - I like that stuff. Also I had forgotten that the gallery has a handful of Walter Sickerts

And another visit to the Miro at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, though I missed last Saturday night when they had a Miro meets Duke Ellington evening.

[mjazzg]

Had a revisit to the nearby galleries in Wakefield - The Hepworth - which has rotated its collection of paintings completely and has some things which I'm sure must be on loan (Bacon for one, who I don't really get)

And Leeds Art Gallery where there was a small exhibit of some British modernists influenced by the machine (or industry or something) - Bomberg, Paul Nash, Nevinson.. small black & white graphics and drawings - I like that stuff. Also I had forgotten that the gallery has a handful of Walter Sickerts

And another visit to the Miro at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, though I missed last Saturday night when they had a Miro meets Duke Ellington evening.

The Hepworth rotates the collection? great, another reason to return. What a fantastic gallery space and building. She deserves it, mind.

Maybe make it back in time to catch the Miro