Arts Reader

September 2011 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Fall 2011, Issue 77 | NO COMMENTS

Published on the 30th anniversary of the Lilliane and David M. Stewart Collection, The Century of Modern Design (Flammarion, $49.95), edited by David A. Hanks, contains an international array of iconic furniture, ceramics, textiles, graphic art, jewelry and objects of daily life—as well as unique masterpieces—from the 1930’s to the present. The text chronicles how this widely admired collection developed with a focused mission, guided by the discerning advice of an international roster of authorities in the field. Intended as a teaching tool, the volume is also directed to the general public, incorporating narrative introductions to each decade and 500 color and black-and-white illustrations.

Couldn’t make it to the fifth exposition of the Renwick Gallery’s celebrated craft invitational series this year? You can still see the work of the four extraordinary selected artists—fourth-generation silversmith Ubaldo Vitali; neurosurgeon-turned-porcelain artist Cliff Lee; innovative furniture maker Matthias Pliessnig; and stained glass artist Judith Schaechter—in History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011 (Scala Publishers, $24.95). Authored by exhibition curator Nicholas R. Bell, Ulysses Dietz and Andrew Wagner, the illustrated volume explores the roots of contemporary American craft and decorative arts, and includes biographies of each artist.

Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore (Yale University Press, $20), by Karen Levitov, celebrates two visionary American collectors who believed art could indeed transform everyday life. Released in connection with the exhibition on view at the Jewish Museum in New York through Sept. 25, the illustrated volume gathers 47 art works from the internationally renowned collection including paintings, sculpture and works on paper by Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, Renoir, Gauguin, van Gogh and others. Levitov also recounts the story of the Cone sisters, and discusses what distinguished their connoisseurship from their contemporaries.

For more than three decades, the biennial Quilt National exhibit at the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, Ohio, has showcased the best and most exciting contemporary quilts being created around the world. Published to accompany the world-class 17th biennial international juried show, Quilt National 2011: The Best of Contemporary Quilts (Lark Crafts, $27.95) presents spectacular photography of the 2011 winners, accompanied by the artists’ descriptions of their pieces and reflections about their work These extraordinary textile designs reflect the development and growth of the medium, and suggest where it may be heading tomorrow.

Editor’s Note: Hooray for America’s Art Museums!

September 2011 | BY Hope Daniels | Fall 2011, Issue 77 | NO COMMENTS

: The National Academy in New York will have a retrospective of Will Barnet’s work during “Will Barnet at 100,” opening Sept. 16; his piece “OId Man’s Afternoon” is seen here.

Despite incessant wrangling on Capitol Hill over budgets, the debt ceiling and everything else; despite disappointing job numbers, consumer spending and housing starts; despite a roller coaster stock market and generalized anxiety over how to interpret our current economy, America’s museums (God love them!) are still rolling out new wings, renovated spaces, even whole new venues for the enjoyment of arts enthusiasts everywhere.

In New England, it’s the spacious Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In New York, it’s the grand reopening of the National Academy Museum on Manhattan’s Museum Mile, as well as a musical chairs remix of building spaces for MOMA, the American Folk Art Museum, the Whitney and the Met.

Cranbrook Art Museum, in suburban Detroit, reopens this fall following extensive renovations that allow for display of its complete fine art and design collections. A stunning new 34,000-square-foot home for the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland is under way in Ohio, while on the west coast, SFMOMA has started work on the $480 million expansion of its current site.

Better yet, a whole new museum is rising in Bentonville, Ark., thanks to philanthropist Alice Walton, who has made it her mission (and is footing a very big chunk of the bill) to bring high art to her home state.

And that’s just a small taste of what you can anticipate coming this fall. To read the full lineup, click here for AmericanStyle’s Fall Arts Preview. Remember, too, to support the museums that are supporting you.

Parting Shot: Do You See What I See?

September 2011 | BY Jennifer Clary | Fall 2011, Issue 77 | NO COMMENTS

If you happen to be walking down Main Street in Los Gatos, Calif., and come to a building with a gaping hole in it, don’t panic. It is the work of trompe l’oeil artist John Pugh, titled “Siete Punto Uno” (7.1). Originally commissioned by the city as a public art piece, it took on a whole new meaning after the 7.1 scale earthquake that rocked the area in 1989. “The Loma Prieta earthquake certainly inspired a different direction and concept for the piece,” said Pugh. The finished work illustrates a wall crumbling to reveal a sacrificial altar block with two Mayan jaguar gods (thought to be the propitiators of earthquakes) morphed with the images of the two cats of Los Gatos. A “woman” peers around the hole left in the wall.

Web Exclusive: Click the thumbnails below to see a before and after of Pugh’s most recent work, “Mana Nalu” in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Best Is Yet to Come: Exhibitions Calendar

September 2011 | BY Jennifer Clary | Fall 2011, Issue 77 | 1 COMMENT

: Andy Warhol’s screenprint on crumpled Mylar “Abstract Sculpture” is part of “Warhol: Headlines” at the National Gallery of Art.

From work by world-renowned contemporary artists to ancient mummies, from craft innovators to folk art treasures, the fall arts season ushers in compelling exhibitions at museums all across the country. Here is a sampling of our favorites:

• The Mint Museum Uptown in Charlotte, N.C., brings together more than 100 works spanning the 50-year career of collagist Romare Bearden, widely regarded as one of America’s most pre-eminent African-American artists, in “Romare Bearden: Southern Recollections,” now through Jan. 8, 2012. The show focuses on how the American South served as his continual source of inspiration.

• The first major museum retrospective of Willem de Kooning, considered one of the most prolific artists of the 20th century, is coming to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Spanning nearly seven decades, the exhibition brings together more than 200 works—including paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints—to occupy the museum’s entire sixth-floor. On view Sept. 18-Jan. 9, “de Kooning: A Retrospective” is the first in-depth presentation of his lifetime body of work.

• The Museum of Arts and Design in New York provides a unique look at some of the more well-known names in art through an unexpected medium in “Picasso to Koons: Artist as Jeweler.” More than 200 works of art jewelry will be featured—many created for lovers, family members or friends—that convey surprising tenderness and whimsy. Running Sept. 20-Jan. 8, the wearable sculptures will be presented in three groupings, with sections devoted to the human figure, nature, Pop subjects, words and geometry.

• No stranger to making headlines himself, Andy Warhol’s fascination with the tabloid media could be seen in many of his paintings, installations, photographs and sculpture. From Sept. 25-Jan. 2, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., presents the first exhibition of more than 80 works that focus exclusively on this obsession in “Warhol: Headlines.”

• Is there something in California’s air that generates creativity? The Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles showcases the innovative and artistic period that took place in the state after the World War II in “Golden State of Craft: California 1960-1985.” On view Sept. 25-Jan. 8, it pays tribute to innovators in the craft field with more than 70 exceptional works in every medium by 65 of the most influential artists of that time.

• Explore the history of the decorative arts in America’s most famous residence in “Something of Splendor: Decorative Arts from the White House,” Oct. 1-May 6 at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. Visitors can view 93 never-before-seen objects from the permanent collection of the White House, including furniture, ceramics, metals, glass and textiles.

• The Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin celebrates the dynamic medium of polymer Oct. 21-Feb. 5 in “Terra Nova: Polymer Art at the Crossroads.” Expect to see works by polymer pioneers in jewelry, sculptural objects and even furniture that emphasize the ongoing development of this expressive medium, as well as its future potential.

• From Oct. 27-Feb. 5, discover a significant collection of Shaker objects in an exhibition at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine. “Gather Up the Fragments: The Andrews Shaker Collection” tells the story of the first and most avid collectors of Shaker art, Edward Deming Andrews and his wife Faith, through more than 200 objects, including furniture, visual art, tools, textiles and small craft.

• Surround yourself with caballeros and charros in “Folk Treasures of Mexico: The Nelson A, Rockefeller Collection at the San Antonio Museum of Art” from Oct. 29-Feb. 19 at the Tacoma Art Museum in Washington. Featuring 80 important works of Mexican folk art in all mediums, collected by Nelson A. Rockefeller between 1933-1978, the exhibition includes works created for religious rituals, recreation and daily life.

• Celebrate two pioneers of the American Studio Glass Movement Nov. 17-Jan. 6, 2013 in “Founders of American Studio Glass” at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. Split into two concurrent exhibitions, the shows honor innovators Harvey K. Littleton and Dominick Labino, who pushed the envelope with their groundbreaking glass vessels and sculptures. See the evolution of Littleton’s work from the 1960s to the ‘90s and go through the archives of Labino’s letters, drawings, photographs and patents.

• The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond draws from the world-famous Egyptian collections of the British Museum in London in “Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb,” running Nov. 19-March 11. Exploring the secrets of the mummy and the ritual of death, it will feature more than 100 artifacts, ranging from elaborate gold masks and jewelry to massive sarcophagi.

Where the Fairs Are: Show Calendar

August 2011 | BY Karol V. Menzie | Fall 2011, Issue 77 | 2 COMMENTS

: “Solidback Spider,” artist Joe Graham’s contemporary riff on traditional Windsor chairs, will be on view at the Paradise City Arts Festival in Marlborough, Mass.

There’s no better place to get up close and personal with working artists than a retail show, and fall is prime season for some of the biggest and best in the world of contemporary craft. Must-sees? Check out this list:

• Start your engines, craft connoisseurs. Get ready to snap up everything for the carefully designed home at Milwaukee’s 2011 Fine Furnishings & Fine Craft Show Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at the Garage at the Harley-Davidson Museum. The show features more than 50 exhibitors, most showing larger works ranging from one-of-a-kind items to whole suites. www.finefurnishingsshow.com

• Buying jewelry can be fun, especially if you buy it from the artist who created it. New York’s Museum of Arts and Design jewelry show, LOOT 2011: MAD About Jewelry, Oct. 11-14, presents 50 emerging and established artists showing everything from stainless steel bracelets to traditional designs. www.madmuseum.org

• Want to join a conversation between the energy community and the artists who use that energy? It’s part of the Texas Contemporary art fair Oct. 20-23 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. In addition to bringing together art works from more than four dozen international art dealers, artMRKT Productions will host talks and demonstrations to spark ideas about energy and sustainability in the “energy capital” of the country. www.txcontemporary.com

• With two months to shop, the 43rd annual Celebration of American Crafts gives you plenty of time to study the work of more than 300 artists in glass, ceramics, jewelry, wearable art and more. Artists are carefully selected to represent each medium. The exhibition, Oct. 29-Dec. 24, benefits the Creative Arts Workshop, a nonprofit regional art school based in New Haven, Conn. The show is held in the school’s Hilles Gallery. www.creativeartsworkshop.org

• Of two minds when it comes to art: contemporary or wild? Two shows with two different approaches offer objects for both sides of your personality when the annual International Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair (SOFA) joins The Intuit Show of Folk & Outsider Art Nov. 4-6 at Chicago’s Navy Pier. SOFA CHICAGO will feature more than 80 galleries and dealers from 10 countries, presenting cutting-edge and traditional art, while the Intuit show offers the unconventional in folk, self-taught and visionary art. www.sofaexpo.com

• More than 190 craft artists, including this year’s international Scottish contingent, will show and sell their art at the 35th annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show Nov. 10-13 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The show features glass, baskets, metal, paper, ceramics, jewelry, wood, and decorative and wearable fiber. www.pmacraftshow.org

• The annual American Craft Show NYC teams up with the Contemporary Art Fair NYC Nov. 18-20 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, offering works for both your home and yourself. The craft show will feature furniture, ceramics, glass, jewelry, fashion and textiles, while the art fair will feature paintings, photography and sculpture. www.americancraftshownyc.com

• Treats for the eye as well as the ear will greet visitors to the Paradise City Arts Festival Nov. 18-20 at the Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, Mass. More than 170 artists from 30 states will show home furnishings, wearable art, jewelry and paintings at the show, while musicians near the Sculpture Cafe serenade visitors with jazz, swing and cabaret music. In a section called “Picturing the Music,” artists will show works inspired by music. www.paradisecityarts.com

• Do all your holiday shopping in one great spree at the 11th annual One of a Kind Show and Sale Dec. 1- 4 at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. The show features more than 600 juried artists, offering handmade accessories, ceramics, fashion, gourmet, holiday, kids’ stuff and paintings, ranging from simple to extravagant. www.oneofakindshowchicago.com

• A chance to meet the nearly 200 artists offering fashions, silver, ceramics, paper, wood, glass, jewelry and wearable art is a big draw at the 24th annual Washington Craft Show Dec. 2-4 at the Washington Convention Center in downtown Washington, D.C. All items are handcrafted and chosen to show off some aspect of the American spirit. www.washingtoncraftshow.com

• One-of-a-kind and limited edition pieces are the hallmark of the 4th annual CRAFTBOSTON Holiday show Dec. 9-11 at the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts. The show features nearly 100 artists showcasing furniture, glass, ceramic, basketry, metal, paper and wood objects, in a wide range of prices. www.societyofcrafts.org

• The 13th annual New York Ceramics Fair has a new venue, the Bohemian National Hall at the Czech Consulate on East 73rd Street, as well as a revitalized exhibitor list, with more U.S.-based and international galleries. “All things fired” will be offered Jan. 18-22, 2012: porcelain, glass, pottery and enamels. www.caskeylees.com

• An international list of more than 80 artists and galleries will be exhibiting at the 14th annual Art Palm Beach show Jan. 20-23 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. In addition to art, photography and design, the show offers a series of lectures and panel discussions on subjects ranging from “A Conversation on Aboriginal Art,” to “Art Now: The Convergence of Photography, Video and Contemporary Art.“ www.artpalmbeach.com

Best in Show – Top Art Fairs in USA

August 2011 | BY Karol V. Menzie | Fall 2011, Issue 77 | 2 COMMENTS

: The Ceramics Annual of America features contemporary ceramic artists, including Wesley Anderegg, creator of “Two Headed Man”.

Shows, shows, shows— with so many of them all over the country, it’s difficult to chose to which ones to attend. Here are some of our favorites:

St. James Court Art Show
Louisville, Ky.
Sept. 30-Oct. 2
www.stjamescourtartshow.com

The Ceramics Annual of America
San Francisco, Calif.
Oct. 7-9
http://ceramicsannual.org

Bayou City Art Festival, Downtown
Houston, Texas
Oct. 8-9
www.bayoucityartfestival.com

Sedona Arts Festival
Sedona, Ariz.
Oct. 8-9
www.sedonaartsfestival.org

Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands
Asheville, N.C.
Oct. 20-23
www.southernhighlandguild.org

Best of the Northwest
Seattle, Wash.
Nov. 18-20
www.nwartalliance.com

CraftWestport
Westport, Conn.
Nov. 19-20
www.craftwestport.com

Piedmont Craftsmen’s Fair
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Nov. 19-20
http://piedmontcraftsmen.org

Art Basel Miami Beach
Miami Beach, Fla.
Dec. 1-4
www.artbaselmiamibeach.com

Sarasota American Craft Show
Sarasota, Fla.
Dec. 2-4
www.sarasotacraftshow.com

Meet the Masters

August 2011 | BY Jennifer Clary | Fall 2011, Issue 77 | NO COMMENTS

: “After Bath” by Edgar Degas.

Yearning to step back in time to see masterworks before contemporary art took hold? You’re in luck. We’ve compiled a short list of exhibitions you’ll want to check out this fall at museums around the country.

“Degas’ Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint”
Oct. 1-Jan. 8, 2012
The Phillips Collection
Washington, D.C.
www.phillipscollection.org

“Monet’s Water Lilies”
Oct. 2-Jan. 22, 2012
Saint Louis Art Museum
St. Louis, Mo.
www.slam.org

“George Inness in Italy”
Oct. 7-Jan. 8, 2012
Taft Museum of Art
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.taftmuseum.org

“Degas and the Nude”
Oct. 9-Feb. 5, 2012
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Boston, Mass.
www.mfa.org

“Pissarro’s People”
Oct. 22-Jan. 22, 2012
Legion of Honor
San Francisco, Calif.
http://legionofhonor.famsf.org

Fall Arts Preview: New Life, New Spaces

August 2011 | BY The AmericanStyle Staff | Fall 2011, Issue 77 | NO COMMENTS

: A major expansion project at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is expected to support a permanent collection that has more than doubled in size.

Museums reborn, museums resurrected, museums opening (some in the most unlikely places): the art world is bubbling up with exciting and unexpected things to see and do in the 2011 fall arts season. The word “contemporary” comes up a lot as museums continue to find ways to engage arts patrons and enthusiasts alike.

Among the new additions to the American museums world is the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Both an expansion and a transformation, it houses seven galleries and triples the display space for contemporary art to 80,000 square feet in the dramatic I.M. Pei-designed building. A 24-hour celebration starting Sept. 17 leads up to the public opening the following day and the debut of its new 24-hour video acquisition, Christian Marclay’s “The Clock.” The video is a compilation of movie and television clips of clocks that tell the current time at any given moment. The opening exhibition is “Ellsworth Kelly: Wood Sculpture,” a survey of 19 works by the noted artist, on view through March 4.

Playing with the idea that “all art is contemporary,” Jen Mergel, senior curator of contemporary art, said, “We hope to build curiosity, context and an exchange about contemporary culture as an unending story.”

Named for long-time museum benefactors Joyce Linde, her late husband Edward and their family, the galleries also include educational facilities and events space.

A grand reopening takes place on Sept. 16 for New York’s National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, which has been closed since last July. Architect Bruce Fowle reinvigorated the Beaux-Arts Fifth Avenue mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

“Will Barnet at 100” is the opening exhibition, with 43 paintings and prints that date from 1935 to 2008. It’s the first New York museum retrospective of the renowned artist, who celebrated his 100th birthday on May 25. In addition, ”An American Collection,” a show of 100 works from the museum’s repository, will chart the course of American art from 1820 to the 1970s, including works by Winslow Homer, George Bellows, Isabel Bishop, Richard Estes and William Merritt Chase.

Among works on view throughout the wing are pieces by internationally recognized artists including El Anatsui, Lynda Benglis, Jun Kaneko, Mona Hatoum, Ken Price, Eva Hild and Betty Woodman.

For more of “New Life, New Spaces,” pick up the Fall 2011 issue of AmericanStyle, on newsstands Sept. 6!
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2011 Top 25 Arts Destinations

May 2011 | BY Caitlin Fultz | Issue 76, Summer 2011 | 7 COMMENTS

: Located in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian American Art Museum is home to one of the largest and most inclusive collections of American art in the world, with approximately 42,000 works—from Impressionist paintings to contemporary craft. CREDIT: Ken Rahaim

Readers were pumped up and fully engaged in casting ballots for their favorite arts places in AmericanStyle’s 2011 Top 25 Arts Destinations competition. It’s the 14th annual edition of our wildly popular readers’ poll, and the results are now official. For the fourth year in a row, no other major city in the country has been able to unseat the Big Three: New York City held on to first place in the Big Cities category, with nearly 40 percent of all votes cast; Chicago remained in second place, with 23.4 percent; and Washington, D.C., stayed in the No. 3 spot, with 20.2 percent. San Francisco came in at fourth place, followed by Boston at No. 5.

In the Mid-Size Cities category, St. Petersburg, Fla., held on to the No. 1 spot with 26.9 percent of the vote. Former sixth place city Savannah, Ga., leapfrogged four places ahead into the No. 2 spot, pushing last year’s second place finisher New Orleans down a notch to No. 3. Rounding out the top five in this category are Charleston, S.C., at No. 4, and Scottsdale, Ariz., at No. 5.

The tightest voting margins played out in the Small Cities category, with Asheville, N.C., winning by a hair with 16.7 percent of the votes over No. 2 Santa Fe, N.M., with 16.5 percent. Third place went to Gloucester, Mass, a total newcomer to the Top 25 Small Cities list, which pushed Saugatuck, Mich., down a notch into fourth place. Sarasota, Fla., held its position again this year at No. 5.

Click the links below for a complete list of the Top 25 Arts Destinations in each category.

TOP 25 BIG CITIES
TOP 25 MID-SIZE CITIES
TOP 25 SMALL CITIES

Santa Fe’s House of Glass

May 2011 | BY Rosemary Carstens | Issue 76, Summer 2011 | NO COMMENTS

: “Ashore,” by artist Bobby Bowes, incorporates 20 blown glass vessels of varying sizes and is part of the Ehrenbergs’ extensive outdoor art collection. CREDIT: Chris Corrie

On any summer evening, high above the Santa Fe Opera open-air theater, Richard and Betsy Ehrenberg’s unique residence lights up like a crystal jewelry box against a star-scattered sky. Topping a ridge with 360-degree views of northern New Mexico—the Jemez mountains to the west and the Sangre de Cristos to the east—there could be no better setting to showcase their stunning fine art glass collection.

The Ehrenbergs both grew up surrounded by art. Betsy’s mother was an accomplished painter and museum visits were regular family events. Richard’s father, Raymond Ehrenberg, began collecting American paperweights in 1932, buying his first for $2.50. He went on to purchase from the foremost paperweight makers of his time, including Baccarat, Clichy and Saint Louis, amassing a collection that was the envy of his most competitive colleagues. The collection eventually passed on to Richard and Betsy and served as the catalyst for an amazing studio art glass collection of their own.

Initially the couple sought out modern paperweights to add to their antiques collection, but they soon found themselves enchanted with larger, three-dimensional sculptures in glass. They attended the Pilchuck Glass School’s annual fundraising auction in Seattle and purchased seven sculptures. At artist David Bennett’s studio they watched a piece being made and, as Betsy remembers, “the process fascinated us—it was like watching a baby being born!” They were hooked.

For more of “House of Glass,” purchase the Summer 2011 issue of AmericanStyle.
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Vicco Von Voss: Organically Inspired

May 2011 | BY Marilyn Millstone | Issue 76, Summer 2011 | NO COMMENTS

: The heart of the home is the kitchen, with a cozy dining area nestled into a windowed tower suffused with natural light. CREDIT: Celia Pearson

Trees. For studio furniture maker Vicco Von Voss, they are his teachers and his building materials, the inspiration that links his life with his livelihood. His reverence for them is evident in the airy contemporary timber-framed house he designed and built in 2004 on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Set back on five secluded acres overlooking Island Creek near Chestertown, the house is constructed mostly from local salvaged wood, in keeping with Von Voss’s belief in sustainability. Only 33 of the hundreds of trees used to build the house were cut—and those were white pine trees from a friend’s property “that we cut with the intention of giving them a new life,” he says.

“Every tree has a spirit in it,” notes the lanky 42-year-old as he tenderly rubs the massive red oak “summer beam” that serves as the structure’s primary support. “This tree used to stand where the stove is now,” he explains. “By incorporating it into the house, I’ve brought the spirit of the land into my home.”

For more of “Organically Inspired,” purchase the Summer 2011 issue of AmericanStyle!
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