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BooksCasanova: The Seduction of Europe
by MFA Publications "From the salon to the boudoir: the world of Casanova as seen through the art of his era...Twelve essays by prominent scholars illuminate multiple facets of Casanova’s world as reflected in the arts of his time, providing a fascinating grand tour of Europe conducted by a quintessential figure of the 18th century as well as a splendid visual display of the spirit of the age." México 1900-1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco and the Avant Garde By Augustín Arteaga "México 1900–1950 offers an unprecedented survey of Mexican art from the turn of the century through the Revolution (1910–20) and until the early 1950s. It examines key works across different mediums by major Mexican artists, including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and José Clemente Orozco, as well as by lesser-known figures and women artists. The catalogue showcases Mexican modern art as its own distinct avant-garde, fundamentally different from that of Europe." Pieter Bruegel's Historical Imagination By Stephanie Porras "[Porras] She offers a carefully considered take on his notion of the Netherlandish past as it manifests in the peasants who cavort and carouse their way through his oeuvre. While this is familiar terrain, Porras’s study redirects focus from the once-heated debate about Bruegel’s peasants as either moralizing signifiers of excess or amusements for urbane viewers. Instead, by citing Netherlandish humanism’s interest in reconciling classical antiquity with the local Batavian past, Porras builds on Bruegel’s unassailable status as the most gifted interpreter of Hieronymus Bosch’s pictorial idiom to portray him as an erudite artist who formulated a Netherlandish antiquarian vernacular. Porras has illuminated an aspect of Bruegel’s art that has always been present, though we did not recognize it." Red: The History of a Color By Michel Pastoureau "In this beautifully illustrated book, Michel Pastoureau, the acclaimed author of Blue, Black, and Green, now masterfully navigates centuries of symbolism and complex meanings to present the fascinating and sometimes controversial history of the color red. Pastoureau illuminates red's evolution through a diverse selection of captivating images, including the cave paintings of Lascaux, the works of Renaissance masters, and the modern paintings and stained glass of Mark Rothko and Josef Albers." The Return of Curiosity: What Museums are Good for in the 21st Century By Nicholas Thomas "In its quiet, well-mannered way, Thomas’s essay is a passionate polemic, of profound interest to the visitor and the museum professional." ReNew Marxist Art History Edited by Warren Carter, Barnaby Haran and Frederic Schwartz "From the early decades of the twentieth century until the 1980s, Marxist art history was at the forefront of radical approaches to the discipline. But in the last two decades of the century and into the next, Marxist art historians found themselves marginalized from the vanguard by the rise of postmodernism and identity politics. In the wake of the recent global crisis there has been a resurgence of interest in Marx. Now available in paperback, this collection of essays, a festschrift in honor of leading Marxist art historian Andrew Hemingway, brings together 30 academics who are reshaping art history along Marxist lines." Words and Pictures By Meyer Schapiro "Schapiro examines how changing norms of representation influence artists' rendering of a text. Using examples ranging from Roman catacomb paintings to Giotto frescoes, Schapiro argues that the representation of human figures in frontal or profile positions embodies such dualities as sacred/profane, active/passive, good/evil. The second essay, ""Script in Pictures,"" considers medieval book art as a field for the invention of styles and the expression of individual sensibilities. With subtlety and scholarship, this masterful book deepens our understanding of the iconography of Western art. " Women Who Read are Dangerous by Stefan Bollman "What is it about a woman reading that has captivated hundreds of artists over the centuries? Stefan Bollmann’s Women Who Read Are Dangerous explores this popular subject in more than 70 artworks—drawings, paintings, photographs, and prints—by iconic artists such as Henri Matisse, Edward Hopper, Suzanne Valadon, August Sander, Rembrandt, and many more. " Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts by Christopher de Hamel "De Hamel’s real interest and expertise lie in palaeography: understanding how and why manuscripts were put together, mining the meanest technical detail for unexpected aperçus about culture and history...De Hamel tells the lives of his manuscripts with verve and unfolds his judgements with style. It is both fascinating and, in its engagingly donnish way, very funny. " Household Gods: Private Devotion in Ancient Greece and Rome by Alexandra Sofroniew "Showcasing the collections in the Getty Villa, this book’s emphasis on the spiritual beliefs and practices of individuals promises to make the works of Greek and Roman art more accessible to readers. Compelling representations of private religious devotion, these small objects express personal ways of worshiping that are still familiar to us today. A chapter on contemporary domestic worship further enhances the relevance of these miniature sculptures for modern viewers. " Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel: Art & Science around 1600 by Wolfgang Augustyn and Thea Vignau-Wilburg "This richly illustrated volume introduces readers to the visual worlds of the Flemish miniaturists Joris Hoefnagel (1542–1600), who enriched entomology with his exquisite depictions of nature, and his son Jacob Hoefnagel (1575–1632/33), who painted mythological and allegorical scenes." Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné Edited by Martin Harrison "The culmination of an 11-year project, this publication presents 584 paintings by Francis Bacon, replacing the previous catalogue made in 1964. Many works, tracked down through Harrison’s detective work, have never been published before, or have only been seen in poor black-and-white reproduction. And neglected subjects, such as the female nudes, now have a chance to be studied together." |
ExhibitionsOpera: Power Passion & Politics
Victoria & Albert Opening 30 September 2017 "Told through the lens of seven premieres in seven European cities, this immersive exhibition takes you on a journey through nearly 400 years, culminating in the international explosion of opera in the 20th and 21st centuries." Alphonse Mucha: In Quest for Beauty
Walker Art Gallery: Liverpool 16 June- 29 October 2017 "Czech-born Alphonse Mucha (1860 – 1939) is recognised as one of the most prominent artists of the Art Nouveau movement, producing iconic works including Gismonda; the artist’s first poster design for the actress Sarah Bernhardt. Alphonse Mucha: In Quest of Beauty is a major touring exhibition from the Mucha Foundation which explores the work of the artist around the theme of beauty – the core principle underlying his artistic philosophy.Showing around 100 works primarily drawn from the Mucha Trust collection, the exhibition will include drawings, paintings, photographs and some of the artist’s celebrated poster designs, synonymous with the Art Nouveau style of the fin-de-siècle. A number of key ‘aesthetic’ and art nouveau works from National Museum Liverpool’s own collections will also feature within the exhibition." Reflections: Van Eyck & the Pre-Raphaelites
National Gallery London 2 October 2017 - 2 April 2018 "Discover how van Eyck’s 'Arnolfini Portrait' was one of the beacons by which the Pre-Raphaelites forged a radical new style of painting. Acquired by the National Gallery in 1842, the Arnolfini Portrait informed the Pre-Raphaelites’ belief in empirical observation, their ideas about draughtsmanship, colour and technique, and the ways in which objects in a picture could carry symbolic meaning. The exhibition will bring together for the first time the 'Arnolfini Portrait' with paintings from the Tate collection and loans from other museums, to explore the ways in which Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882), Sir John Everett Millais (1829–1896) and William Holman Hunt (1827–1910), among others, were influenced by the painting in their work." Chagall: The Breakthrough Years 1911-1919
Kunstmuseum Basel 17 September 2017 - 21 January 2018 "This exhibition explores the early work of Marc Chagall. His creative breakthrough came at a time when his life was torn between contrasting experiences. Chagall lived in Paris from 1911 until 1914, creating paintings that combined his recollections of Russian provincial life with iconic fragments of the metropolis around him. Reminiscences of Russian folk art make an appearance in his works from the period, as do the most recent stylistic experiments he was exposed to through his life in the center of the artistic avant-garde and his acquaintance with many of the most progressive artists, including Picasso, Robert and Sonja Delaunay, and Jacques Lipchitz. Overtaken by the outbreak of World War I during a visit back home, Chagall was forced to spend the next eight years in Russia." Glass in the Middle Ages Musée de Cluny Until 8 January 2018 "From architecture, where the stained glass shows the virtuosity of the artisans, to the most prestigious tables, glass is a luxury product. Over the centuries, it gradually became democratic in the form of civil glazings or tavern cups. But glass is also used for precision work: urinals enabling doctors to make diagnoses, stills used by apothecaries, mirrors that help with reading - as do glasses, which appear at the end of the 13th century. The exhibition "Le Verre, une Moyen Age inventif" shows some 230 works with illuminations, paintings and engravings, which help us to understand the uses of glass throughout the medieval period. " Marcel Duchamp and the "Fountain" Scandal
Philadelphia Museum of Art Until 3 December 2017 "One hundred years ago, Duchamp’s Fountain turned the art world upside down. Was it art? A hoax? Join us as we celebrate the centennial of the provocative and influential work that changed the course of modern art. Learn the story of Fountain, with period photographs, publications, and more of the artist’s readymades from our unrivaled Duchamp collection." Leonardo to Matisse: Master Drawings from the Robert Lehman Collection Metropolitan Museum of Art Until 7 January 2018 " This exhibition traces the development of European drawing from the Renaissance to the early 20th century through works by celebrated masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer, Rembrandt, Tiepolo, Ingres, Seurat, and Matisse. Approximately 60 drawings from the Museum's acclaimed Robert Lehman Collection present a dynamic array of styles, techniques, and genres—from panoramic landscapes and compositional studies for mythological and biblical narratives to arresting studies of the human form." |
ArticlesTear Down the Confederate Monuments—But What Next? 12 Art Historians and Scholars on the Way Forward- artnet news
Vigilantes Posing as City Workers Steal Street Art in Paris-Benjamin Sutton No Place for an Artist-CHRISTIE'S The Rich Artistic World of Giovanni da Rimini- Florence Hallett Silence Speaks Volumes at Chisenhale Gallery-Hannah Zafiropoulos An Illustrated Guide to Linda Nochlin's "Why Have There Been No Great women Artists?"- Tiernan Morgan & Lauren Purje 101 Unflinching Portraits of Survivors of US Gun Violence- Christine Ro Dali's Mustache Found Intact After 28 Years-Benjamin Sutton Damien Hirst Show Sparks Accusations of Cultural Appropriation-Artsy The ‘Hidden’ Messages within Jan Brueghel the Elder’s Scene of Rural Revelry-CHRISTIE'S There's More to Transylvania than Crumbling Castles- Nicholas Hodge 7 Things to Know About Artists Signatures- Christie's Botticelli's Venuses and our Enduring Need for Beauty- Susan Silas Why we Still Need John Berger's 'Ways of Seeing' -Emma Hope Allwood Why it's Time to Discover Russian Art- Christie's How Bernini Immortalized Human Sexuality in Stone- ALEXXA GOTTHARDT Performance Artist Stood still for 6 Hours to let People do What They wanted to her Body-Faye Why We Need to Start Seeing the Classical World in Color-Sarah E. Bond First House Ever Designed by Gaudí to Open as a Museum in Barcelona-My Modern Met From Matisse to Turrell, 8 Artists Who Designed Transcendent Chapels-ALEXANDRA ALEXA Jesus’s tomb has been restored in Jerusalem- Mary Pelletier For the First Time, Metropolitan Museum Will Display Indigenous Art in Its American Wing- Allison Meier God is in the Detail- Christie's Ai Weiwei: GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS-Public Art Fund How Should Art Address Human Rights? -The Atlantic Former MET Curator Speaks Candidly about the New York Museum's Current Challenges- Julia Halperin & Cristina Ruiz Did ISIS inadvertently uncover the secret to the “lost” Hanging Gardens of Babylon?-Noah Charney The Art of Lying Down-Maggie Gray World’s Largest Street Art Museum Takes Shape in Amsterdam-Elena Goukassain Banksy’s New Art Hotel offers Rooms with a View- Mary Pelletier Kunsthaus Zürich Digitizes 400 Dada Documents- Alyssa Buffenstein The Search for Franz Marc’s Iconic Blue Horses-Martin Bailey How Three Foreign Women Transformed the British Monarchy- Louise Nicholson Female Old Masters Finally get Their Day in the Sun-Hannah McGivern Klimt Helps Sotheby's Reach Auction Record in London -Ermanno Rivetti The Lifespan of Bauhaus Utopianism-Joseph Nechtvatal Uffizi to Show More Female Artists-Hannah McGivern The Great Paper Trail- Christie's Iran Opens Secret Cache of Art Masterpieces-Lizzie Porter
Young Blood for Old Masters- Ermanno Rivetti
Why 'Acts of God' Hardly ever Harm Gothic Cathedrals -Alexandra Gajewski Art Does Heal: Scientists Say Appreciating Creative Works can Fight Off Disease -The Telegraph |