Philly

View from the hotel in Downtown Philadelphia... Right on Market Street...

Alchemical Vessels

Photos by the very talented DMV artist and Art Advisor Sharon Burton - they are images of the Alchemical Vessels show at the Joan Hisoaka Healing Arts Gallery in DC. Year after year this is one of the coolest shows of the DMV art season and it's not only a Who's Who of DMV Artists, but also an amazing and powerful proof of what gifted minds can create with just about any substrate.

At $125 a vessel, it is also a steal and for a great cause... Go buy one!

Details here.

And (of course) my contribution...

Suddenly, She Wasn't Afraid Any Longer. 2014 Charcoal on Vessel by F. Lennox Campello.

Asshole of the Week: Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

(Via) U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) appeared on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell slamming U.S. efforts to provide Cubans with a Twitter-like social media network.

This was part of a broader, global Obama Administration program to provide connectivity to the censored citizens of closed regimes.

As a matter of fact, Senator Leahy has been a champion of these programs throughout the world, but apparently feels the Cuban people aren't worthy of the same support merited by Syrian, Iranians, North Koreans and the victims of other repressive regimes.

Here's language from Leahy's very-own 2014 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill:

SEC. 7072. (a) Of the funds appropriated under titles 8 I and III of this Act, not less than $44,600,000 shall be made available for programs to promote Internet freedom globally: Provided, That such programs shall be prioritized for countries whose governments restrict freedom of expression on the Internet, and that are important to the national interests of the United States: Provided further, That funds made available pursuant to this section shall be matched, to the maximum extent practicable, by sources other than the United States Government, including from the private sector.

Thus, we ask Senator Leahy:

Is Cuba not a government that restricts freedom of expression on the Internet?

Is Cuba not important to the national interests of the United States?

Or, are Cubans just second or third-class citizens less deserving of Internet freedoms?

In Leahy's false outrage on MSNBC, he also stated:

“If you’re going to do a covert operation like this for regime change, assuming it ever makes any sense, it’s not something that should be done through USAID."

Really, Senator?

So how come your very own bill states:

Funds made available pursuant to subsection (a)  shall be—made available to the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for programs to implement the May 2011, International Strategy for Cyberspace and the comprehensive strategy to promote Internet freedom and access to information in Iran, as required by section 414 of Public Law 112–158.

Senator Leahy should be commended for his global commitment and leadership on Internet freedom. However, Senator, be consistent -- for Cubans are no less deserving of these freedoms.

 And to the left (of course) that's Leahy all smiley with one of the Castro brothers, heads of the one of the most racist, repressive and brutal dictatorships in the world.

Go see this MFA show

Adrienne Gaither's MFA fine art thesis defense is on Wednesday, April 16, 2014 @ 6PM. It will be hosted by Deep Space Arts at The Warehouse (411 New York Ave, NE: 3rd Floor). This location is metro accessible (NOMA) and there is parking available. 

You want to go see this MFA show and you want to buy one of these paintings now...

Please RSVP by Friday, April 11, 2014.

This is why galleries do art fairs

Nassikas on the way to a collector's wall

That DMV artist Georgia Nassikas taking one of her paintings to get wrapped at the VIP Preview of the Affordable Art Fair last night.

That painting is now hanging on a wall of a very happy art collector in NYC.

If you want some passes to the fair this weekend, send me an email.

Go to this opening tomorrow!

"Suddenly, She Wasn't Afraid Any Longer"
Charcoal and Conte on Provided Clay Vessel
2014 by F. Lennox Campello

Opening April 4, 2014, the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery will host the return of Alchemical Vessels with an opening reception from 7-9 PM. Above is the image for the vessel that I've created and donated for this effort... Last year my piece went really early (first 10 or so)... just sayin'... cough, cough.

Alchemical Vessels brings together 125 local artists and 20 invited curators for a community dialogue on healing and transformation through the arts. Each artist will transform a simple ceramic bowl by means of his or her own personal aesthetic and medium, drawing inspiration from the bowl as a place of holding, open community, sacred space, and even the alchemical vessel. The show is an amazing grouping of Who's Who in the DMV art scene.

The ceramic bowl was selected as the fundamental element of the exhibition to symbolize creating a space where healing can take place—an idea at the heart of Smith Center's work and mission. Metaphorically speaking, Smith Center—the space and the work we do within our walls—resembles an alchemical vessel. People bring their everyday burdens, fears, and pains to us, and in this place of holding, we help transform those toxic elements into hope, light, wisdom and strength.

The Alchemical Vessels exhibition will open at the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery on April 4th and run through May 16th, 2014, with the opening reception on Friday, April 4th, 7-9pm. The Alchemical Vessels Benefit will take place on Friday, May 2nd, with doors opening at 7pm. With a $125 Benefit-Vessel Contribution, guests will be admitted to the event and will select one of the 125 works on display to add to their own collections. 

For more information about the Alchemical Vessels 2014 Benefit, please visit www.smithcenter.org/benefit.

Artists: Eames Armstrong, Sardar Aziz, Karen Baer, Beth Baldwin, Michele Banks, Joseph Barbaccia, Carolyn Becker, Jessica Beels, Joan Belmar, Lori Anne Boocks, Anne Bouie, Amy Braden, Julia Brown, Karen O. Brown, Larry Brown, Amanda Burnham, Lenny Campello, Shanthi Chandrasekar, Mei Mei Chang, Peter Charles, Asma Chaudhary, Travis Childers, Eunmee Chung, Wesley Clark, Michael Corigliano, Sheila Crider, Candy Cummings, Anna U. Davis, Rosetta DeBerardinis, Tamara De Silva, Elsabe Dixon, Joel D'Orazio, David D'Orio, Chelsea S. Dobert-Kehn, Thomas Drymon, Nekisha Durrett, Victor Ekpuk, Laura Elkins, Dana Ellyn, Erica Benay Fallin, Felisa Federman, Jeremy Flick, Suzi Fox, Barbara Frank, Nancy Frankel, Shaunté Gates, Dawn Gavin, Bita Ghavami, Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter, Melissa Glasser, Janis Goodman, Pat Goslee, Sherill Anne Gross, John Grunwell, Nelson Gutierrez, Kristen Hayes, Eve Hennessa, Sean Hennessey, Linda Hesh, Matt Hollis, Leslie Holt, Jessica Hopkins, Karen Hubacher, Monica Jahan Bose, Barbara Johnson, Wayson R. Jones, J'Nell Jordan, Mila Kagan, Sumita Kim, Joan Konkel, Yar Koporulin, Walter Kravitz, Kate Kretz, Randall Lear, Heather Levy, Yue Li, Nathan Loda, Armando Lopez-Bircann, Laurel Lukaszewski, James Mahoney, J.J. McCracken, Donald McCray, Jayme Mclellen, Tendani Mpulubusi El, Komelia Okim, Amie Oliver, Luis Peralta, Michael Platt, Maryanne Pollock, Lynn Putney, Maria-Lana Queen, Beverly Ress, Kim Reyes, Glenn Richardson, Marie Ringwald, Amber Robles-Gordon, Pam Rogers, Lisa Rosenstein, Nicole Salimbene, Samantha Sethi, Matt Sesow, Amy Sherald, Shahin Shikhaliyev, Ellen Sinel, Casey Snyder, Susan Stacks, Dafna Steinberg, Jennifer Strunge, Lynn Sures, Lynn Sylvester, Ira Tattelman, Christine Buckton Tilman, Erwin Timmers, Ben Tolman, Novie Trump, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto, Laurie Tylec, Michael Verdon, Jodi Walsh, Jenny Walton, Ellyn Weiss, Stephanie Williams, Audrey Wilson, Sharon Wolpoff, and Carmen C. Wong.

Curators: Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Educator, Philanthropist and Founder of D.C.'s Duke Ellington School for the Arts | Jarvis DuBois, Independent Curator and Principal at J. DuBois Arts | Monica Jahan Bose, Artist and Activist | Anne L'Ecuyer, Arts Management Faculty at American University | Camille Mosley-Pasley, Photographer and Principal at Pasley Place Photography | B.G. Muhn, Professor of Art, Georgetown University | Michael O'Sullivan, Art Critic for The Washington Post | Dr. Frederick P. Ognibene, M.D., NIH Physician, Fine Art Collector and; Past Board Chair, Washington Project for the Arts | Michael Platt, Artist and Professor at Howard University | Jennifer Riddell, Writer and Interpretive Projects Manager at the National Gallery of Art | Adah Rose, Principal at Adah Rose Gallery | Laura Roulet, Independent Curator and Writer | Molly Ruppert, Artist and Gallery Director at the Warehouse Theater | Terry Scott, Cultural Organizer and Independent Curator | Judy J. Sherman, Art Consultant and Principal at j. fine art | Thomas Stanley, Professor at George Mason University | Nuzhat Sultan, Independent Curator | Tim Tate, Artist and Co-Director of Washington GlassSchool | R.L. Tillman, Artist, Teacher and Curator | Dolly Vehlow, Fine Art Collector and Principal at Gallery O on H 

Planning Committee: Helen Frederick, Deborah Lesser, Wendy Miller, PhD, Kim Schelling, Timothy Schelling, and Ellyn Weiss.

VIP Night at AAFNYC

Our booth at the Affordable Art Fair New York City ... See images below.

It's VIP opening night and DMV artist and art fair rookie Georgia Nassikas is the first to break the ice with a pretty nice sale and an hour to go! Great work by Jodi Walsh and Anne Marchand getting loads of attention... drop me an email if you want a free pass to the fair tomorrow and this weekend in NYC.

Vanderbilt NAACP pissed off...

Derek Mason has been the new head football coach at Vanderbilt University for just a few months. For over a generation one off-campus tradition has been to paint a mural of the head coach on the side of a local business. Generally this occurs without controversy. Until, that is, the local chapter of the Vanderbilt NAACP took issue with the painting and started a petition to have it changed. The issue?

Read about the issue here. Personally, I think that the Vanderbilt NAACP should take a chill pill - In my visual opinion, this is not the case of the artist (Michael Cooper) wanting to portray Mason as in the "era in which black people's skin was darkened and their lips were made whiter in order to exaggerate their race in order to put them in a sharp contrast with the white race."

This is just partially a case of Cooper working from a photo (and never meeting the subject), but mostly a really bad mural painting in this Vanderbilt example, as Cooper seems like an otherwise quite apt muralist.

That lady who "restored" that ancient Christ fresco in that church in Spain and made The Christ look like someone from the Planet of the Apes still has the prize for the worst portrait ever...

Who Had Richer Parents, Doctors Or Artists?

A few weeks ago, we were sitting around the office arguing over this simple question: Who had richer parents, journalists or people working in finance? Doctors or artists? More generally: What's the link between household income during childhood and job choice during adulthood?

After some poking around, we figured out how to settle the argument. A government survey has tracked more than 12,000 people for decades. It allowed us to look at the same group of people in 1979 and 2010 — from a time when most were teenagers to the time when they were middle-aged and, for the most part, gainfully employed.

We crunched the data a few ways. First, here's a table that answers our basic question. It links peoples' jobs as adults in 2010 to their parents' income when they were kids in 1979.

Read this fascinating piece by Quoctrung Bui here.

New York next week!

It's the Affordable Art Fair in NYC next week, which year after year (since I've been doing them since 2005) has proven to be one of the most solid art fairs around.

This year we will feature the work of DMV artists Anne Marchand, Jodi Walsh and Georgia Nassikas.

Come and see us at booth 1.28!

New York City April 3-6, 2014 with
Private View on April 2

A fun four-day event hosting 78 galleries and a huge array of contemporary art, the spring edition of the Affordable Art Fair New York City will take place from April 2-6 at The Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea.

Georgia Nassikas "Lift"

Channeling Jackson Pollock is done

I've been discussing the latest video project, which is a commission for a new cruise liner, and the embedded videos are random videos of rock, paper, scissors, with random videos of the pieces that actually go there.

'Tis Finished, 'Tis Over, 'Tis Done!

Channeling Jackson Pollock: Rock, Paper, Scissors
Oil on 8-ply Paper. 27 x 58 inches. By F. Lennox Campello

Heard on Univision

Tonight Univision had a segment on a little Mexican Native American girl who has a real gift for public speaking and who has been denouncing the virulent racism against indigenous Native American people in Mexico - so prevalent in the way that the Mexican government treats its indigenous nations as well as the way that Mexican society condones the racism against Mexico's original peoples and as she puts it: "Denies Mexico's own roots."

Alchemical Vessels Opens Next Week!

"Suddenly, She Wasn't Afraid Any Longer"
Charcoal and Conte on Provided Clay Vessel
2014 by F. Lennox Campello

Opening April 4, 2014, the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery will host the return of Alchemical Vessels with an opening reception from 7-9 PM. Above is the image for the vessel that I've created and donated for this effort... Last year my piece went really early (first 10 or so)... just sayin'... cough, cough.

Alchemical Vessels brings together 125 local artists and 20 invited curators for a community dialogue on healing and transformation through the arts. Each artist will transform a simple ceramic bowl by means of his or her own personal aesthetic and medium, drawing inspiration from the bowl as a place of holding, open community, sacred space, and even the alchemical vessel. The show is an amazing grouping of Who's Who in the DMV art scene.

The ceramic bowl was selected as the fundamental element of the exhibition to symbolize creating a space where healing can take place—an idea at the heart of Smith Center's work and mission. Metaphorically speaking, Smith Center—the space and the work we do within our walls—resembles an alchemical vessel. People bring their everyday burdens, fears, and pains to us, and in this place of holding, we help transform those toxic elements into hope, light, wisdom and strength.

The Alchemical Vessels exhibition will open at the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery on April 4th and run through May 16th, 2014, with the opening reception on Friday, April 4th, 7-9pm. The Alchemical Vessels Benefit will take place on Friday, May 2nd, with doors opening at 7pm. With a $125 Benefit-Vessel Contribution, guests will be admitted to the event and will select one of the 125 works on display to add to their own collections. 

For more information about the Alchemical Vessels 2014 Benefit, please visit www.smithcenter.org/benefit.

Artists: Eames Armstrong, Sardar Aziz, Karen Baer, Beth Baldwin, Michele Banks, Joseph Barbaccia, Carolyn Becker, Jessica Beels, Joan Belmar, Lori Anne Boocks, Anne Bouie, Amy Braden, Julia Brown, Karen O. Brown, Larry Brown, Amanda Burnham, Lenny Campello, Shanthi Chandrasekar, Mei Mei Chang, Peter Charles, Asma Chaudhary, Travis Childers, Eunmee Chung, Wesley Clark, Michael Corigliano, Sheila Crider, Candy Cummings, Anna U. Davis, Rosetta DeBerardinis, Tamara De Silva, Elsabe Dixon, Joel D'Orazio, David D'Orio, Chelsea S. Dobert-Kehn, Thomas Drymon, Nekisha Durrett, Victor Ekpuk, Laura Elkins, Dana Ellyn, Erica Benay Fallin, Felisa Federman, Jeremy Flick, Suzi Fox, Barbara Frank, Nancy Frankel, Shaunté Gates, Dawn Gavin, Bita Ghavami, Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter, Melissa Glasser, Janis Goodman, Pat Goslee, Sherill Anne Gross, John Grunwell, Nelson Gutierrez, Kristen Hayes, Eve Hennessa, Sean Hennessey, Linda Hesh, Matt Hollis, Leslie Holt, Jessica Hopkins, Karen Hubacher, Monica Jahan Bose, Barbara Johnson, Wayson R. Jones, J'Nell Jordan, Mila Kagan, Sumita Kim, Joan Konkel, Yar Koporulin, Walter Kravitz, Kate Kretz, Randall Lear, Heather Levy, Yue Li, Nathan Loda, Armando Lopez-Bircann, Laurel Lukaszewski, James Mahoney, J.J. McCracken, Donald McCray, Jayme Mclellen, Tendani Mpulubusi El, Komelia Okim, Amie Oliver, Luis Peralta, Michael Platt, Maryanne Pollock, Lynn Putney, Maria-Lana Queen, Beverly Ress, Kim Reyes, Glenn Richardson, Marie Ringwald, Amber Robles-Gordon, Pam Rogers, Lisa Rosenstein, Nicole Salimbene, Samantha Sethi, Matt Sesow, Amy Sherald, Shahin Shikhaliyev, Ellen Sinel, Casey Snyder, Susan Stacks, Dafna Steinberg, Jennifer Strunge, Lynn Sures, Lynn Sylvester, Ira Tattelman, Christine Buckton Tilman, Erwin Timmers, Ben Tolman, Novie Trump, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto, Laurie Tylec, Michael Verdon, Jodi Walsh, Jenny Walton, Ellyn Weiss, Stephanie Williams, Audrey Wilson, Sharon Wolpoff, and Carmen C. Wong.

Curators: Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Educator, Philanthropist and Founder of D.C.'s Duke Ellington School for the Arts | Jarvis DuBois, Independent Curator and Principal at J. DuBois Arts | Monica Jahan Bose, Artist and Activist | Anne L'Ecuyer, Arts Management Faculty at American University | Camille Mosley-Pasley, Photographer and Principal at Pasley Place Photography | B.G. Muhn, Professor of Art, Georgetown University | Michael O'Sullivan, Art Critic for The Washington Post | Dr. Frederick P. Ognibene, M.D., NIH Physician, Fine Art Collector and; Past Board Chair, Washington Project for the Arts | Michael Platt, Artist and Professor at Howard University | Jennifer Riddell, Writer and Interpretive Projects Manager at the National Gallery of Art | Adah Rose, Principal at Adah Rose Gallery | Laura Roulet, Independent Curator and Writer | Molly Ruppert, Artist and Gallery Director at the Warehouse Theater | Terry Scott, Cultural Organizer and Independent Curator | Judy J. Sherman, Art Consultant and Principal at j. fine art | Thomas Stanley, Professor at George Mason University | Nuzhat Sultan, Independent Curator | Tim Tate, Artist and Co-Director of Washington GlassSchool | R.L. Tillman, Artist, Teacher and Curator | Dolly Vehlow, Fine Art Collector and Principal at Gallery O on H 

Planning Committee: Helen Frederick, Deborah Lesser, Wendy Miller, PhD, Kim Schelling, Timothy Schelling, and Ellyn Weiss.

Channeling Jackson Pollock: Progress Report

Progress report: That's the finished painting for the almost finished "Channeling Jackson Pollock: Rock, Paper, Scissors" commission being done for a new cruise liner... And below it is the piece with the three windows removed...

Three video players will be embedded into those windows with looped videos of falling rock, falling paper and falling scissors (falling at random) in between still images of the piece of the painting that's supposed to be there... it is due to be picked up in two weeks!

And below are the three individual cut-out windows... each one a perfect, if small example, of Pollock's quite imitable style.

Prince George's Arts & Humanities Council Grants

FY 2014 Grants

Grant Period: May 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014
Please download Guide to Grants and Grant Application below

ARTS IN EDUCATION PROGRAM
Applicants may submit one Arts Education Program application per grant cycle
School-Based Projects
Community-Based Projects
Artist in Residency Projects
Professional Development Project

Deadline: April 30, 2014 at 5:00PM

FY 2014 Guide to Grants
Grant Application

 

A problem.... and a solution

An increasing number of print-on-demand sites, such as Zazzle and Café Press, are popping up on the Internet. Users can create customizable products featuring their own photos or other graphic designs.  Unfortunately, there is very little stopping some of these users from creating products with stolen copyrighted designs and other art, with the copyright holder never even knowing that their work is being infringed.  While these sites don’t condone copyright infringement, the business model does benefit from infringing material without much risk of being sued.

Read about it  here.

Frank Hyder at Rebecca Hossack

During my years in exile in Pennsylvania (2006-2009), I had the opportunity to become fairly immersed in the Philadelphia visual arts scene, and it was there that I met Philly artist Frank Hyder, who has subsequently become a good friend.

At the time Hyder was a very well-known and highly respected Philly area painter, and as a member of the faculty at the Moore College of Art & Design, he was also one of the pillars of the Philly area academic world, which was quite an accomplishment in that area, as it seems that there is an University or College every other block in the City of Brotherly Love, and most of them are highly respected and enjoy stellar reputations.

A couple of years ago, Hyder retired from Moore, and I cannot recall ever seeing a lifestyle change create such a powerful impact upon the career of an artist!

It is clear that the freedom found by Hyder (at least in having more time to paint and create) had a spectacular effect on his artwork - the man attacked his artistic life with a ferocious attitude that should be an example to all of you approaching the latter third of your life.

Don't get me wrong... prior to the retirement from Moore, Hyder was not one of those faculty types who rely on their tenure for job security and seldom (if ever) actually create and exhibit work. In fact, quite the opposite... Frank Hyder was exhibiting all over the place, mostly via art fairs and the "Giants in the City" installations. The man has had 80 solo shows in his career!

But retirement gave Hyder the opportunity to focus all of his time on the rediscovery of previous undeveloped ideas and the creation of new, fresh ones, and this is what makes the Frank Hyder of 2014 a refreshing, post-academia artistic example for a lot of artists, not only trapped in the academic world, but also trapped in a vicious circle of creative neutrality.

"Frank Hyder: Afterglow" is currently on exhibition through 9 April at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in New York City and this exhibition is a brilliant example of what I mean in the previous paragraphs.

A few decades ago, Hyder pulled his family from the then pretty rough Northern Liberties neighborhood where they lived in Philly, and for a few years lived in Venezuela. The influence of this life-changing event left a profound mark on the artistic footprint of his work, as well as his personal life (Hyder is perfectly fluent in Spanish and I suspect that many people who chat with him in Spanish may think that he is one of those millions of South Americans of German ancestry).

At the Rebecca Hossack exhibition, Hyder showcases his newest work in the series that is usually described as his "koi fish series." It is much more than that.

Via the focus on the koi fish, Hyder manages to flex his enviable printmaking skills, marry them to his equally talented painting skills, and (as if that wasn't enough) he then brings in an unholy assembly of acrylics, resin, metal leaf, oils, etc. to deliver a final product that has evolved from the subject to deliver what can best be described as a dance of color and movement and eye-fooling depth of field.

Look at "Harvest Run" as an example... and yes, there are koi fish, and yes they are the apparent focus of the piece. But is is the color, and it is the movement, and it is the depth created by the thickly-grooved metal leaf that hypnotizes the viewer in both visual punch and scale (48x36 inches).

Also on exhibit are several of Hyder's works from his "Luminaries" series. In this distinct series, Hyder pushes his development even further by integrating light into these electrical pieces. He has now made electricity a component of his work, and in doing so, he integrates a fourth dimensional element that really works well as an example of a liberated artist pushing the limit of the gallery walls.

Concurrent with this solo exhibition, Hyder will be participating in the Big Egg Hunt New York, a charitable endeavor benefiting New York City children through the Studio in a School initiative and endangered Asian elephants through the Elephant Family organization. Other participating artists and designers include Jeff Koons, Leo Villareal, Julian Schnabel, Marchesa, Terry Richardson, Bruce Weber, Tracey Emin, and Tommy Hilfiger.

"Frank Hyder: Afterglow" runs through 9 April at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery, 262 Mott Street in New York City.

Frenn on artscope Magazine

George Mason University's Chawky Frenn is on the cover of artscope magazine (New England's Arts and Culture Magazine), which also has a feature article on Prof. Chawky Frenn.

Chawky Frenn is a great activist in many realms. He is dedicated to teaching new artists at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia; produces books on the fine arts of the unde rappreciated city of Boston, with which he has close ties; and is an active figurative painter whose work focuses on bold topics such as the human condition and governmental issues.

Read it here.

This amazing series of works needs to find an exhi bition space in the DMV!

Henri Matisse painting to be returned to art dealer Paul Rosenberg’s heirs

Another fascinating story in the never-ending saga of stolen artworks... I predict that when the Cuban dictatorship finally implodes, a lot of French millionaires will have to return to Cuba its arts legacy, illegally stolen from their owners in the early 1960s, and sold for cold-cash, to (mostly) French adorers of the Castro-brothers' regime.

In June of 2012, the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (HOK) was contacted by the heirs of Paul Rosenberg. The heirs presented documentation demonstrating that Henri Matisse’s painting Profil bleu devant la cheminée (Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace) dated 1937, was unlawfully dispossessed as a result of Nazi persecution from the famed French gallery owner and collector. Although Mr Rosenberg was able to flee to New York with his family in 1940, artworks belonging to him were confiscated by the special Nazi looting agency known as the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR). This painting was one of 162 works looted on September 5, 1941, and was therefore subject to an active claim of restitution by the Rosenberg heirs.

In 1942, the painting was used in trade by agents for Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, and subsequently acquired by Gustav Rochlitz, an art dealer active in Paris who was convicted in 1947 before a French Tribunal for trading illicitly acquired property during the Nazi occupation.

The painting was acquired by Niels Onstad from Galerie Henri Bénézit in Paris around 1950 and it has been a part of HOK’s collection since 1961. From 1946-1960, Paul Rosenberg and his heirs made numerous declarations in search of the painting to no avail. None of these reached Mr Onstad nor HOK. Prior to including the painting in the HOK Collection in 1960, Niels Onstad requested detailed provenance information, but did not discover the Rosenberg claim. Since then, the "provenance Paul Rosenberg Collection" has followed the painting in catalogues and numerous exhibitions all over the world. The knowledge of the whereabouts of the painting did not reach the heirs of Paul Rosenberg.

Although it is HOK’s unwavering position that both Niels Onstad, and subsequently HOK, acquired the painting in good faith, HOK has chosen to adhere to international conventions and return the painting to Rosenberg’s heirs, a decision for which the heirs express their deep appreciation.

“Henie Onstad Kunstsenter’s extensive investigation of the case has led to the decision that the return is justified, and HOK’s board has decided to return the painting without further conditions” says Halvor Stenstadvold, chairman of the board of HOK.

“This painting has been in our collection since HOK was founded; it is a key work, important for both HOK and its patrons. The comprehensive investigations have been exhaustive and HOK has taken the time necessary to examine all available facts in the case. The case may serve as a precedent for similar cases in the future. Our knowledge of archives and resources regarding provenance research will be made available to the public through a variety of exhibitions, seminars and publications during 2015” says Tone Hansen, HOK’s director.

Research was conducted by the HOK and the Rosenberg heirs in French and American archives, and HOK has collaborated with a number of museums, institutions and experts in France. The investigations confirmed that the painting was stolen from Paul Rosenberg as a result of Nazi persecution.

Christopher A. Marinello, a lawyer specializing in the restitution of cultural property, who handled the negotiations for the Rosenberg family, commented:

“This case illustrates the importance of Museums and cultural institutions undertaking comprehensive reviews of their collections in accordance with the Washington Conference Principles. The HOK is to be commended for their methodological approach in reviewing the provenance documentation we presented as well as the legal issues involved. Ultimately, it was the strength of the moral claim that persuaded the HOK to restitute this painting unconditionally to the Rosenberg heirs. We are grateful to our researchers in France and the United States whose expertise and assistance in this matter were invaluable.”

The case is the first of its kind in Norway, and while all such cases must be treated individually, HOK’s resolution will most likely impact other Norwegian institutions. HOK’s evaluations have thus been methodical, exhaustive, and under the guidance of the Ministry of Culture. It has been a demanding process for a single institution to undertake, and as a result HOK has called for the formation of a national committee. This committee would be charged with examining public collections and will be modeled after similar programs undertaken in the Netherlands, Germany and France.

Norway was one of the signatories of the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi- Confiscated Art in 1998 along with 43 other countries. HOK is a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) whose Code of Ethics were considered in conjunction with the Washington Conference Principles.

This restitution signifies the resolution of one claim for the Rosenberg heirs, but as for many families affected by Nazi-era looting, the challenging search continues for numerous spoliated works yet to be recovered.