"Foghorns" by the fantastic Arthur Dove

Arthur Dove - Foghorns - 1929 - Oil on canvas - 18 x 26 in. (45.7 x 66 cm)
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado

Arthur Dove (1889-1946) was an American painter who was one of the earliest nonobjective artists. Dove’s art reflects his belief that color and form are instruments with which to express the essence beneath the physical exterior of things; his shapes are typically amorphous, his colors muted. In his wonderful "Foghorns" (1929), for example, he used size-graduated shapes and gradations of hue to visually express the sound of foghorns. Despite their nonobjective character, his paintings often suggest the undulating qualities of landscape and the forms of nature.

Dove had a profound influence on Georgia O'Keeffe. From the start of her career, O’Keeffe credited a reproduction of a Dove pastel as her introduction to modernism. Dove’s use of sensual, abstract forms to evoke the flowing rhythms and patterns of nature had already put him at the forefront of the American modernist movement by the time O’Keeffe entered the scene around 1916. Dove had been featured at the renowned photographer Alfred Stieglitz’s New York gallery “291″ in 1912, and O’Keeffe’s work was first shown there in 1916. O'Keeffe seriously considered giving up painting entirely early on in her career. Although she was an award winning art student--she wasn't particularly interested in painting those subjects for which she was lauded. She also didn't want to paint in the manner of one her most famous teachers--William Merritt Chase--but at the same time didn't want to follow the paths of the European modernists. Seeing Dove's work helped O'Keeffe to find her own visual voice. When she was in her 70s, O'Keeffe recalled that, “It was Arthur Dove who affected my start, who helped me to find something of my own.” By all means, explore the paintings of Arthur Dove. It will be well worth the journey.

Leonardo da Vinci and the Art of Sculpture: Inspiration and Invention

Preaching of St John the Baptist
1506-11
Bronze, height: 265 cm (with base)
Baptistry, Florence

I highly recommend visiting the Getty Center to catch the current Leonardo exhibit. In addition to seeing incredible drawings (and the Vatican Saint Jerome) by the great master--there is a newly restored "Bearded Prophet" by the great Early Renaissance sculptor, Donatello also featured. In addition, there are elegant works by Giovan Franceso Rustici, who--mentored by Leonardo--produced works that come as close as possible to the way in which Leonardo might have sculpted them--and which refer to paintings created by Leonardo. Seeing the drawings of da Vinci gives viewers a unique opportunity to witness his thought (and work) process. It is also a delight to discover when and where Leonardo's mind would wander! Don't miss this event!

Architect Frank Gehry in Front of His New Building

Architect Frank Gehry is seen in front of his latest creation, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken

LAS VEGAS (AP).- Architect Frank Gehry says he wanted a swirling stainless steel structure he designed for Las Vegas to be unique — to stand out from what he called "the cacophony" of high-rise casinos and condos forming the spine of Sin City's sprawl.

Getting his first look at the nearly complete Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, he declared himself satisfied.

Architect Frank Gehry is seen in front of his latest creation, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken

"It took my breath away," he said. "I like the way it fits. I wasn't trying to compete with the chaos around it."

"I mean, some people may think it's over the top," he added. "I don't think so."

Gehry, now 81, has built his career on shapes and angles all around the world: Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles; the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park; Seattle's Experience Music Project; the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

His philosophy?

"You deliver a unique building that creates a sense of pride, that works, that keeps the rain out, is uplifting, and makes you happy to go to work and live in," he told The Associated Press during an interview and walk around the building this week.

Excerpted from "Art Daily" - 21 March 2010

Quote of the Week

"Truth and reality in art do not arise until you no longer understand what you are doing and are capable of but nevertheless sense a power that grows in proportion to your resistance." - Henri Matisse

Bathers with a Turtle - Matisse

Henri Matisse
French, 1869-1954
Bathers with a Turtle, 1908
oil on canvas
70 1/2 x 86 3/4 inches
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. 24:1964

CHICAGO (AP).- A new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago takes a close — sometimes even microscopic — look at one short and enigmatic phase in the 65-year-long artistic career of France's Henri Matisse.

Matisse, who lived from 1869 to 1954, is often seen as the least controversial and the most serene of the great 20th century modernists. Though his occasional early sculptures are darker, Matisse's paintings and prints seem to live in a sunny place outside of time. Their tone of bright calm makes their reproductions favored decor for hospital corridors.

Looking at them, you would not know that Matisse lived through both world wars and the Great Depression, or that Paris fell to enemy troops twice in his lifetime — in 1871 and 1940.

Except for the academic interiors and still lifes he painted as a student after abandoning the law for art at age 20, Matisse's enduring trademarks were bright colors and a deceptively simple approach to form. Those aspects were present from the oils Matisse presented in 1905 as leader of the fauvists to the vast paper cutouts he created late in his life when arthritis made painting impossible.

But they disappeared suddenly when he returned to Paris from a trip to Morocco in 1913 and did not fully reappear until after the end of World War I. During that time, Matisse's paintings were dominated by blacks and grays, and there was an uncharacteristic density to his composition. Some critics attribute the change to war pressures and the challenge of a younger generation of painters, particularly the cubism championed by Matisse's younger friend and rival, Pablo Picasso. But Stephanie D'Alessandro of the Art Institute and John Elderfield of New York's MoMa believe Matisse decided to reinvent himself artistically and develop new methods of art construction.

D'Alessandro noted that when the Art Institute acquired the work a year before Matisse's death, the artist told the museum it was one of the five most pivotal works of his career. She also said he had kept it in his studio for years as an object for study.

Matisse began "Bathers by a River" in 1909 and revised it several times over the next year. He reworked it again several times in 1913, and again in 1916-1917. "We have learned that the canvas experienced more than 20 states (of composition) over the years, and that Matisse deliberately left traces of some of the older versions visible in its final form," D'Alessandro said. It was a practice he continued when he returned to a brighter palette and lighter forms in the 1920s and 1930s.

"He said once that the greatest works were those in which you had to start over from scratch to rework them," she added.

Excerpted from The Associated Press Copyright 2010

Quote of the Week

"All that I desire to point out is the general principle that life imitates art far more than art imitates life." - Oscar Wilde

The Peasant, Portrait of Patience Escalier - Vincent van Gogh - 1888 - Private collection Oil on canvas Height: 69 cm (27.17 in.), Width: 56 cm (22.05 in.)

The striking color, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms of Vincent's work are as evident in his portraits as they are in his landscapes and still life works. He had a gift for looking into the human soul--but he clearly looked into it with sad eyes. There is always a visible touch of Vincent in his portraits--regardless of the identify of the sitter. Rather than this being a critical observation, however, I see it as part of this wonderful artist's signature style.