Monday, November 09, 2015

Curious Case of a Picasso and a Koch

A Picasso picture of a cabaret artist, which carries a second painting on the reverse, sold for $67.45 million in New York Thursday, scoring a windfall for American billionaire Bill Koch. 
Mr Koch, who is ranked 307 on the Forbes 400 richlist has a net worth of around $2.1 billion.  
The sale was the top lot of the season so far, proving a savvy investment for the Republican party donor who paid just $3 million for the canvas in 1984 and later discovered he got two for the price of one with a second painting on the reverse. 
Sotheby's had valued the canvas, 'La Gommeuse,' at $60 million. It was painted in Paris in 1901 when the artist was just 19 years old and grieving the suicide of a close friend.
But read about the secret in this painting that made it even more valuable! Click here. 

Sunday, November 08, 2015

Saturday, November 07, 2015

Which one is which?

My daughter and her evil twin...
Elise Lenna Campello Strasser

Friday, November 06, 2015

MoCo 43rd Annual Faculty Exhibition

Montgomery College’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts has their 43rd Annual Faculty Exhibition coming up!

The exhibit opens December 3 at the King Street Gallery, with a reception from 6–8 p.m. This exhibition features artwork by notable emerging and established DC artists and at 43, in gallery/art years, that's like 200!

The prolific faculty and staff of Montgomery College’s Visual and Performing Arts department exhibit recent work in this annual exhibition. The show includes notable DMV area artists J. J. McCracken, Jake Muirhead, Renee Lachman, Jeremy Flick, Ellington Robinson, and Jenny Walton, among others.

McCracken and Walton are two of my fave DMV artists... but will definitely check out the others...
 
Representing varied interests and backgrounds, the College's faculty exhibits paintings, prints, photography, sculpture, and more. The 43rd Annual Faculty Exhibition includes pieces previously exhibited nationally, and never-before-seen artwork. 

The 43rd Annual Faculty Exhibition runs December 3– February 7 at the King Street Gallery. A reception will be held Thursday, December 3 from 6–8 p.m. 

The event is located at the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center. For more information, visit http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/arts-tpss/exhibitions/

Free and open to the public.

Thursday, November 05, 2015

Ready for SOFA

Alida Anderson Art Projects, LLC booth at SOFA Chicago 2015
Alida Anderson Art Projects, LLC booth at SOFA Chicago 2015

Washington, D.C., Artists on Display

Joseph White: Paintings and Watercolors 1963-2008 is a retrospective showcasing the diversity of Joseph White’s work, including large-scale representational paintings, works on paper and his current paintings based on his post-it drawings.

Beverly Ress: The World is a Narrow Bridge features an exhibit of representational colored pencil drawings cut into, folded, and manipulated, so that they sometimes have a sculptural quality. The exhibit pairs with another drawing exhibit, Micheline Klagsbrun: FREE FALL FLOW, featuring the artist’s most recent body of work, ranging from ink and pencil drawings on vellum of various scale to large canvases and three-dimensional wall hangings and sculptural forms.

Two Designers and Their Art: Michael Graham and Marc Pekala. The artists, trained as graphic designers, have taken their visual training in applied art and used it as the foundation of their personal artistic explorations. The exhibit consists of drawings, paintings, collage and digital prints.

The American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, call 202-885-1300 or look on the Web at www.american.edu/cas/museum. Follow the museum on Facebook (facebook.com/AmericanUniversityMuseum), on Twitter (@AUMuseum_Katzen), or on Instagram (AUMuseum_katzen).

Wednesday, November 04, 2015

Studio available in Bethesda

Available Artist Studio Space in Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District
 
AVAILABLE STUDIO INFORMATION
  • Studio is 215 sq. feet. & can be shared by two artists
  • Rent is $405 per month, inclusive of all utilities.
  • Artists are required to be in the space during retail hours of Wed. - Sat., 12-6pm and during the monthly Bethesda Art Walk.
  • Artist has 24/7 access to Studio B and their personal studio space.
  • Artist may sell artwork and there is no commission taken on artist sales.
SELECTION
 
Members of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District and arts professionals will review the applications and select the Studio B artist. If necessary, an interview may be requested. Applicants will be notified about whether their applications have been selected. Bethesda Urban Partnership will perform credit and criminal background checks and execute leases with the tenants. Once maximum occupancy is reached, applicants will be placed on a waiting list until a studio becomes available.

 

TO APPLY
Complete this application and submit the following:
  • Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  • Artwork Samples
  • Proof of Income
  • Proof of Identity
  • $30 fee per applicant for credit and criminal background checks
 
QUESTIONS or want to make an appointment to see the space? Please email artist@bethesda.org.

Tuesday, November 03, 2015

Personal Patterns

PERSONAL PATTERNS PANEL DISCUSSION
11.5.15   4-5 p.m.
Moderated by Claudia Rousseau, curator

featuring: Susan Goldman, Joan Belmar, Amber Robles-Gordon, Jessica Beels, Helen Frederick, and Ellyn Weiss

Cafritz Foundation Arts Center / Lecture Hall 101

Monday, November 02, 2015

Opportunities for Artists

Artists wishing to be considered for an exhibit in the Howard County Arts Council (HCAC) galleries are invited to submit a general exhibit application. The HCAC Exhibits Committee meets quarterly to review applications and select artists for the exhibit space. Artists, ages 18 and older, working in all media and styles including time-based and installation artists, are encouraged to apply either individually or as a group. The Committee also welcomes proposals from curators and organizations.
 
Detailed entry guidelines are available on the ‘Exhibits’ page of the HCAC website, for pick-up at the Howard County Center for the Arts, or by mail by calling 410-313-2787 or emailing info@hocoarts.org. The next deadline for submissions is Friday, January 1, 2016.
 
HCAC manages two galleries at the Howard County Center for the Arts with over 2100 square feet of exhibit space. The HCAC gallery program was established to enhance the public’s appreciation of the visual arts, provide a venue to exhibit the work of local, regional, and national artists in a professional space, and provide leadership in the arts by presenting a broad spectrum of arts in all media from both emerging and established artists.
 
HCAC presents 11-12 exhibits per year of national, regional, and local artists, including two-person, small and large group, juried, curated, and community shows.
 
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10AM - 8PM, Saturday 10AM - 4PM, and Sunday 12 - 4PM.  To learn more about HCAC programs and exhibits, call 410-313-ARTS (2787) or visit www.hocoarts.org.  

Sunday, November 01, 2015

Heading to Chiraq

Van loaded - Check
Audrey Wilson at the wheel - Check
Enroute Chiraq for SOFA - Check

We'll be featuring work by Dulce Pinzon, Simon Monk, Audrey Wilson, Laurel Lukaszewski, Alma Selimovic, Elissa Farrow-Savos and the Lenster.

The SOFA CHICAGO 2015 Opening Night Preview takes place on Thursday, November 5 from 5-9 pm.  The by-invitation only VIP Preview is from 5-7 pm. The Public Preview begins at 7 pm and tickets are $50/person. Tickets are available online or at the door.

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Looted sculpture returned

A bust of the goddess Diana looted from the Royal Lazienki Palace in Warsaw by the Nazis has been returned to the Polish government following an amicable resolution with the current possessor who had consigned the work for sale at a Viennese auction house.

From the late 18th century, Jean-Antoine Houdon’s ‘Bust of the Goddess Diana’ was displayed in the collection of King Stanislaw August at the Royal Lazienki Palace.  In 1940, under Nazi occupation, the Houdon sculpture and 56 paintings from the National Museum in Warsaw were packed and transported to Krakow, the headquarters of the General Governor, Hans Frank.

The location of the Houdon bust remained a mystery until it was identified by the Polish Ministry of Culture whith help of the National Museum in Warsaw when it was offered for sale at Im Kinsky auction house in Vienna. The Polish Ministry of Culture contacted Art Recovery Group who, acting on a pro-bono basis, worked together to encourage the co-operation of the auction house and the consigner in ensuring the restitution of the Houdon bust.

Utilising their extensive international network, Christopher Marinello, CEO of Art Recovery Group, also recruited a former adversary, Hannes Hartung, Managing Partner at Themis Partners and the erstwhile representative of the late Cornelius Gurlitt, and his colleague Andreas Cwitkovits, to provide assistance at a local level.

With priceless diplomatic support offered by the Polish Ambassador to Austria, Artur Lorkowski, an amicable resolution between the consignor and the Polish government was reached. The Houdon bust will now be returned to the Polish government ahead of a formal restitution ceremony at the Royal Lazienki Palace next month.

There are still many works of art that as a result of Nazi plundering stays in Austria. The Polish government persists in it’s efforts to find and recovery all of them:

  • http://lootedart.gov.pl/en/

    “There are still a lot of Nazi-looted works of art in private hands in Austria but an unfortunate reluctance to recognise legitimate claims continues to obstruct restitution efforts. In this instance the commendable actions of the possessor have set an admirable example and we are very pleased that Diana is going home.

    “Countless objects looted by the Nazis remain unaccounted for and we encourage the art market to exercise greater diligence in establishing the true provenance of works bought and sold. Passing these problems on to the next generation is not the answer, they need to be resolved now.”

Friday, October 30, 2015

Renwick Gallery Reopens Nov. 13

The Renwick Gallery, home to the Smithsonian American Art Museum's craft and decorative arts program, will re-open to the public Friday, Nov. 13, following a comprehensive two-year renovation. The museum reopens with a refreshed interior aesthetic, restored and newly visible historic features and infrastructural upgrades that preserve the unique historic character of the National Historic Landmark building while updating it for the 21st century.
 
The opening exhibition, "WONDER," features site-specific, gallery-sized installations by nine major contemporary artists, including Maya Lin, Leo Villareal and Janet Echelman. These larger-than-life installations feature surprising materials worked in transformative ways--looming spires constructed from hundreds of thousands of index cards, intricately patterned "wallpaper" made of brightly colored insects and a massive hemlock tree recreated in countless tiny wooden blocks are among the works that explore the future of craft and transform the Renwick itself into an immersive work of art.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Foodies

Have you ever went over a friend's house to eat
And the food just ain't no good
 I mean the macaroni's soggy the peas are mushed
 And the chicken tastes like wood
 So you try to play it off like you think you can
 By saying that you're full
 And then your friend says "momma he's just being polite
He ain't finished uh-uh that's bull"
 So your heart starts pumping and you think of a lie
 And you say that you already ate
And your friend says "man there's plenty of food"
 So you pile some more on your plate
   - Sugarhill Gang

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

For tomorrow: 30th Annual Mayor's Arts Awards

Mayor Muriel Bowser and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) have announced the special honorees and finalists of the 30th Annual Mayor's Arts Awards.  The awards represent the highest honor conferred by the District of Columbia in recognition of artistic excellence and service. 
 
"Washington, DC continues to be a national arts leader with a thriving creative economy," said Mayor Bowser. "It is my pleasure to honor individuals and organizations that contribute so much to our culturally rich neighborhoods and vibrant arts community."
 
An award ceremony will take place on Thursday, October 29, 2015, 7 p.m. at the Historic Lincoln Theatre at 1215 U Street, NW.  Citizen Cope and Motown artist Kevin Ross will also perform. This is always a GREAT party and great entertainment!
 
The finalists for the 30th Annual Mayor's Arts Awards include:
 
Excellence in an Artistic Discipline
●       Joy Ford Austin
●       Coyaba Dance Theater
●       The National Hand Dance Association
●       Pan American Symphony Orchestra
●       Split This Rock
●       Renée Stout (She better win or someone is getting their butt kicked!)
 
Excellence in Service to the Arts
●       BloomBars
●       DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative
●       Washington, DC Film Festival
●       Women in Film & Video
 
Innovation in the Arts
●       826DC
●       The Embassy Series
●       Southeast Boy Productions
●       Washington Performing Arts Society
 
Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education
●       Inner City - Inner Child
●       The Lab School of Washington
●       Washington Performing Arts Society
●       Young Playwrights' Theater
 
Outstanding Emerging Artist
●       Jay Coleman
●       Company E, Inc.
●       Adam Davies
●       Robert Person
 
Excellence in Arts Teaching
●       Lauren Bomba (Maury Elementary School)
●       Carmen Jenkins Frazier (School Without Walls)
●       Terry Thomas (Seaton Elementary School)
 
In addition to awardees, special recognition will be given to several individuals and organizations for their outstanding support of arts, humanities, entertainment and creative industries. These individuals include:
  • Molly Smith, Artistic Director, Arena Stage - Impact on Culture and Humanities 
  • Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Arts Advocate - Lifetime Achievement 
  • Dr. Sachiko Kuno & Dr. Ryuji Ueno, S&R Foundation - Visionary Leadership 
  • Dolores Kendrick, Poet Laureate of Washington, DC - Special Recognition 
  • Street Sense, publication - Humanitarian Highlight

The ceremony will be open to the public.  For more information, visit, http://dcarts.dc.gov/page/30th-annual-mayors-arts-awards-about

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

State of Art/DC: A Conversation

Registration is now open for the November 16 panel conversation – State of Art/DC: A Conversation. 
 
Be part of the discussion about the future of art in this region! Join visual art professionals, artists and passionate art advocates in an envisioning of the future of DC region’s art scene.  The evening’s program is presented by ArtTable at the National Museum of Women in the Arts on Monday, November 16th – 5:30 to 8:30 pm. 
 

Monday, October 26, 2015

Opportunity for Artists

What is your paradise? Brooklyn's Ugly Art Room has moved to Oregon and for its first show is seeking postcard size ("4x6") artworks for an exhibition on 11/19/15 in Corvallis, Oregon titled "Paradise." ENTRY IS FREE & ALL WORKS ARE ACCEPTED See link for all participation details.

Details: http://tinyurl.com/pyxp4yh

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Sunday School

Me: What did you learn in Sunday School today?

Anderson: All about David and Goliath.

Me: Tell me about it.

Anderson: Well... you see.. the Hebrews and the Philippines were at war...

Here comes ABMB

Over the 12 years that this blog has been active, I've discussed many times the experiences of doing an art fair - starting with my first one with the former Fraser Gallery about a decade ago, when "artfairing" was all fresh and new.

Soon we'll be heading to SOFA Chicago, as that formerly 3-D only art fair opens its walls to 2-D work. Right after that we'll head South to Miami for Context Art Miami for our yearly dance at ABMB.

Art Basel Miami Beach takes place December 3-6, 2015, although ABMB itself has become such a magnet for art symbiots of all kinds that the primus inter pares fair now encompasses more than 200 leading art galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa which will exhibit artworks by over 2,000 artists at the "real" ABMB.

And as I've noted a million times before here are now well over two dozen satellite art fairs all revolving around ABMB, and quite a few DC area art galleries and private dealers will be represented in several of these fairs.

It's been a long time since the now defused Fusebox Gallery became the first DC area art gallery to venture to the Miami area in 2003; as I recall to show Fusebox artists at The Art Positions section -- those air-conditioned shipping containers right on the beach that sometimes had disastrous encounters with the beach and the ocean.

The more I talk art fairs to gallerists and art dealers the more that it makes sense why a good gallery should do at least 3-4 art fairs a year. Many Mid Atlantic area gallerists note that they could not exist if it wasn't for the art fairs.

"About 75% of my yearly sales now come from the three art fairs that I do each year," related to me an Old City Philly gallerist. "Next year I am going to apply to double that number."

I hear a similar story from DC area gallerists, some of which are now even exploring art fairs in Europe and Latin America, as the sales continue to climb more and more at the fairs, and the appetite for the European Euro is discovered.

Galleries such as Connersmith, Morton Fine Art, Adah Rose and others all work very hard and do fairs all over -  the fact that they keep coming back to fairs is indicative of the success of their attendance to the fair; it costs a truckload of money to do an art fair... in other words, since most art galleries are run on a very tight budget, if you blow a couple of fairs in a row, you may be out of business, or worse, forever disinclined to do another fair (instead of re-examining the gallery's approach to the art fair, as art fairs are not "art shows" in the sense that a gallery puts a show in their spaces).

This is a bitter lesson that many DC galleries have also learned... the ones which used to do art fairs, but no longer do them.

Moral of the story: If you are a gallerist, you owe it to your gallery and to your artists to start thinking of a smart exhibition program approach to the art fair and applying to the high quality art fairs - not the bad ones.... therein lays the key.

This doesn't mean that the "new" art model is just art fairs; far from it. There are such models, and several private art dealers do great in getting into art fairs and selling loads of work.

But they do not contribute to their city's cultural life. And that's OK... a city's cultural tapestry has many members and parts, including private art dealers.

However, an art gallery, a good art gallery anyway, is not just an art store, but an integral and key part of the cultural tapestry of a city. As my good friend John Pancake (former Arts Editor of the WaPo when the WaPo had Arts Editors) once told me, "a heroic venture."

And so the true and valid model for a good and reputable art gallery seems to be a mixture of a brick and mortar establishment (or in the new paradigm: a former brick and mortar gallery which has closed shop and is now just an online venture that does art fairs), a substantial and organized and updated web and digital presence, and a healthy assortment of art fairs.

Gallerists: Start applying now for 2016 - Alas many 2016 deadlines have already passed! Or stop complaining about being unable to sell artwork in your local market.

Friday, October 23, 2015

New Arrivals 2015 at the University of Maryland Stamp Gallery

Eric Hope has an excellent review of UMD's long-running and most excellent student-curated acquisition program; read it here.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

For TBT: Masters and Pretenders at the Nation's Capital (from 1990s)

For Throw Back Thursday - Below review was originally published in the early 1990s in Dimensions magazine and the El Eco newspaper chain - it still lives online here.
The summer art season is well underway in Washington - Ranging from American master James McNeil Whistler to Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, a wide variety of exhibits will be on display through most of the summer in and around the Mall, and are sure to satisfy, bore and entertain art lovers and visitors alike.
Artists who dabble in many media and subjects (with the notable exception of Picasso) are often viciously dubbed as "jack of all trades and masters of none." Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) can justifiably be called a "jack of one trade and master of that one trade." Simply put, Mondrian was little more than a graphic designer who simply re-arranged black lines and color rectangles over and over. 
In the end, he contributed hugely to modern design, and probably made the biggest impact of any 20th century artist upon daily common items. His images have become familiar in dresses, book covers, refrigerator doors, wallpapers, tiles and even bed sheets to name a few. 
Per two of the guards at the National Gallery, the show has so far been received mildly by the public (it was generally ignored by Dutch crowds in its debut showing in The Hague). 
The Hirshhorn Museum is showing the work of Irish-American artist Sean Scully; this exhibit is a good follow on to the Mondrian exhibit; try to see them both in the same day. Scully is one of the most successful painters of his generation (he maintains studios in New York, London and Barcelona) and is a direct product of the award machinations of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). 
Spanish master Salvador Dali once said that if "you can't paint well, then paint big," and this appears to be a maxim to Scully's works at the Hirshhorn, a series of 62 gargantuan paintings on display as a 20-year retrospective. Strangely reminiscent of giant quilts and jigsaw puzzles, the paintings sometimes baffle the honest viewer. The 15 by 19 foot "Angelo" (1994), which is representative of Scully's recent works, was compared to a giant Rubik's cube by an visitor while I was looking at the painting; I agreed. 
Alfred Stieglitz, one of the great masters of photography is on exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery. Perhaps the first superstar photographer of the 20th century, Stieglitz introduced unique portraits of Georgia O'Keefe and Pablo Picasso which have become art history icons. He is credited with being the catalyst which brought photography into the realm of fine art. 87 of his pieces on exhibit at the Corcoran are ample evidence of the well-deserved title of "fine art" when dealing with his works. This is a magnificent show from a remarkable man and tremendously important artist; it should not be missed! 
In a jump from the sublime to the mundane, the National Gallery's "Arshile Gorky: The Breakthrough Years," delivers four rooms full of work by the man anointed by Andre Breton, the high priest of surrealism, as the "last of the surrealists." 
Armenian born Gorky was fond of saying that the "origin of his work was in Armenia." A stroll through the exhibit quickly brings to mind the question that perhaps the origin of his works may be in the art of Spaniards Picasso and Miro, and even the work of the father of abstraction, the Russian Wassily Kandinsky. 
A tormented artist, Gorky struggled to find a place while being overly influenced by the true giants of his generation; he died at the early age of 44 in 1948. Had he been living today, I suspect he would be painting in the style of Scully or some such other modern "master" who happens to be "in." 
Finally, the work of (and portraits of) one of the better known masters, American James Abbott McNeill Whistler will be on exhibit both at the National Gallery of Art and the National Portrait Gallery. Critics once denigrated his works as "decorative" and "formalized;" they were wrong. No review is needed of the great work of this true master, a modern 19th century Velazquez - Don't miss this show!