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• Swann Galleries To Feature An Auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings
• The Weatherspoon Art Museum Presents Fritz Janschka's Works Inspired by James Joyce
• All Visual Arts (AVA) Hosts a Major Retrospective of French Artist Charles Matton
• The Pan-African University Launches the Virtual Museum of Modern Nigerian Art
• The Zimmerli Art Museum Presents Canaletto and Domenico Tepolo Etchings
• The Malmo Konsthall Exhibits Chris Johnson ~ A Self-taught San Francisco's Graffiti
• Sotheby's Presents Monumental Sculptures in the Grounds of Chatsworth House
• MoMA Features Pivotal Moments in Henri Matisse's Radical Invention
• Waterhouse & Dodd To Show 20th Century European & American Art in Soho
• Sculptor Desiderio da Settignano hosted by the National Gallery of Art
• LewAllen Galleries Presents Works By Jeanette Pasin Sloan & Steve Smulka
• National Gallery of Art showcases Luis Meléndez ~ Master of the Spanish Still Life
• Norton Museum of Art presents "Off the Wall: The Human Form in Sculpture"
• Cantor Arts Center Showcases Art from "Dürer to Picasso"
• Moscow Museum of Modern Art presents Photographers Paul Steinitz and Ja’bagh Kaghado
• Albright-Knox Art Gallery To Show Modern Masters
• Museum of Modern Art to host a Panel Discussion on Salvador Dali and New York
• Moderna Museet Stockholm Presents Major Siri Derkert Retrospective
• Kunstmuseum Basel displays 101 Master Drawings from the Kupferstichkabinett
• Art Knowledge News Presents "This Week In Review"

Swann Galleries To Feature An Auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings Posted: 12 Sep 2011 10:14 PM PDT New York City. - Swann Galleries will conduct an auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings on Thursday September 22nd. As always, the sale features an excellent selection of American and European works that span the two centuries. The 19th century portion of the sale features more than 20 prints by James A.M. Whistler, with highlights including the etchings The Traghetto, No. 2, The Riva No. 2, and Upright Venice, all circa 1879-80, and all signed with the artist's famous butterfly signature (estimates: $15,000 to $20,000 each for The Traghetto, No. 2 and The Riva No. 2, $30,000 to $50,000 for Upright Venice). Also among important prints is a complete set of the deluxe edition of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's L'Album des Douze Lithographies Originales, one of 50 on Japan paper, 1904-1919 ($40,000 to $60,000). Other Impressionist prints of note include three collaborations with lithographer George W. Thornley, all printed on Chine appliqué, Edgar Degas's Petite Danseuse à l'éventail, circa 1888 ($12,000 to $18,000); Claude Monet's Fillette, dans l'allée d'un parc, portant des bouquets, printed in a rose color, circa 1892 ($20,000 to $30,000); and Camille Pissarro's Jeune Paysanne, printed in violet, circa 1900 ($7,000 to $10,000). Another Pissarro highlight is a pencil drawing, Les homes parlent dans la rue ($6,000 to $9,000). Other unique 19th century works include Adolph von Menzel's Bildnis einer Frau, pencil on paper, 1871 ($7,000 to $10,000); a color chalk drawing by Edward Burne-Jones of a Standing Nude, circa 1891-98 ($10,000 to $15,000); Jean-Baptiste-Armand Guillaumin's Au bord de Rivière, Bateau et Pont, color pastels ($6,000 to $9,000); and pieces by Albert Marquet, Théophile Steinlen, Félix Vallotton, and others. A particularly strong selection of American prints includes two desirable works by Edward Hopper, Portrait of Walter Tittle (The Illustrator), a 1918 etching so scarce it has not come up for auction in the past 25 years ($15,000 to $20,000), and his iconic Night Shadows, etching, 1921 ($30,000 to $50,000 respectively). Other appealing city views are Childe Hassam's Fifth Avenue, Noon, etching 1916 ($7,000 to $10,000); Martin Lewis's Quarter of Nine—Saturday's Children, drypoint, 1929 ($15,000 to $20,000); and Stuart Davis' lithograph Theatre on the Beach, 1931, which depicts the Théâtre de Montmartre in Paris ($25,000 to $35,000). There are also luminous color woodcuts by Gustave Baumann and Bror J.O. Nordfeldt; a run of lithographs by Thomas Hart Benton, among them five illustrations from the film The Grapes of Wrath, 1939 ($8,000 to $12,000 for the set); irreverent scenes by Paul Cadmus such as Horseplay, showing young men in a locker room, etching, 1935 ($6,000 to $9,000); color lithographs and screenprints of African-American subjects by Romare Bearden; and a deluxe portfolio of Impresiones de Egipto by Francisco Zúniga, with 10 color lithographs, one of which has hand coloring in watercolor, 1982 ($7,000 to $10,000). The remainder of the sale is devoted to modern European works, and features some important prints and drawings by Pablo Picasso. The drawings are a Portrait de vieille femme, pen and brush and dark brown ink on tan paper, circa 1900 ($30,000 to $50,000) and Méléagre tue le Sanglier de Calydon, pencil on Japan paper, circa 1930, which is likely a study for the same-titled etching from Les Métamorphoses d'Ovide ($40,000 to $60,000). Top Picasso prints include Visage (Marie-Thérèse), lithograph, 1928, and Portrait de Jacqueline au bandeau accoudée, color linoleum cut, 1962 ($50,000 to $75,000 each); and after prints Les Saltimbanques, color aquatint and etching, 1922, and Baccanale, color aquatint, circa 1960 ($15,000 to $20,000 each). There are also a partially glazed terre de faïence vase with engraved decoration and painting, 1954 ($10,000 to $15,000); a 23-carat gold Poisson pendant, 1973 ($12,000 to $18,000); and a color screenprint on a cotton scarf for the 1952 Festival pour la Paix ($2,000 to $3,000). Significant prints by other artists are Georges Braque's Composition (Nature morte aux verres), etching and drypoint, 1912 ($20,000 to $30,000); László Moholy-Nagy, Planes and Stripes, woodcut, circa 1922 ($10,000 to $15,000); Henri Matisse's Odalisque au Magnolia, lithograph on Japan paper, 1923 ($30,000 to $50,000); Kees van Dongen's La Marquise de Casati, color lithograph on Japan, circa 1950 ($10,000 to $15,000); and an assortment of beautiful color lithographs by Marc Chagal including Carmen, 1967 ($40,000 to $60,000). European drawing highlights are Juan Gris' Le Soldat, brush and ink and black crayon on paper, 1908 ($12,000 to $18,000); an Untitled watercolor, pen and ink by El Lissitzky, circa 1920 ($30,000 to $50,000); George Grosz's Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht, brush and black ink on paper, circa 1922, a study for a later print ($15,000 to $20,000); Le Corbusier's Nature morte aux nombreux objects, color crayons and pencil on paper, 1923 ($40,000 to $60,000); Fernand Léger's Acrobat, gouache on paper, circa 1950 ($20,000 to $30,000); and Man Ray's La Femme Portative, pen and ink, 1937-74 ($10,000 to $15,000). Swann Galleries was founded in New York in 1941 by antiquarian book dealer Benjamin Swann as an auction house specializing in rare and antiquarian books. George Lowry acquired the business and became president in 1970 upon Mr. Swann`s retirement. At that time, a staff of four organized and conducted book auctions for a customer-base composed mainly of dealers. As the auction world opened to the general public, separate departments were established for different fields of collecting: first photographs, then autographs, and in the late 1980s-early 90s, prints and drawings and vintage posters. Swann is now a world leader in the auction market for works of art on paper. Nicholas Lowry joined Swann in 1995 as head of the Poster department. He was named Principal Auctioneer in 1998 and Vice-President in 2000. In January 2001, he assumed the title of President and took over day-to-day management of the company, which now has a staff of 30; George Lowry stepped up to the new title of Chairman. For over 25 years, Swann has been located on East 25th Street, just one block east of Madison Square Park, adjacent to the historic Murray Hill, Gramercy Park, and Flatiron districts, and right across town from Chelsea. The premises doubled in size in 1999 with the addition of a second gallery and salesroom. Visit the auction house's website at ... http://www.swanngalleries.com

The Weatherspoon Art Museum Presents Fritz Janschka's Works Inspired by James Joyce Posted: 12 Sep 2011 10:13 PM PDT Greensboro, NC.- The Weatherspoon Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro is pleased to present "Fritz Janschka: My Choice: Joyce". Fritz Janschka has been fascinated with the work of James Joyce throughout his artistic career. Likely one of the few people who have read the bulk of Joyce's work, Janschka has drawn inspiration from it to create paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture that are as fantastical, witty, and filled with sly social commentary as Joyce's writings are. Featured in this exhibition are selections from two series of artworks, Finnegans Wake and Chamber Music. "My Choice: Joyce" is on view at the museum through November 20th. Born in 1919 in Vienna, Fritz Janschka entered the Academy of Fine Arts in 1943. He developed an affinity for the dream imagery and meticulous detail of the Surrealists.

All Visual Arts (AVA) Hosts a Major Retrospective of French Artist Charles Matton Posted: 12 Sep 2011 09:53 PM PDT London.- AVA (All Visual Arts) is proud to present the first major retrospective of French artist Charles Matton. Thirty eight undiscovered boxes will be installed in Kings Cross. From 1985 until his death in 2008, Charles Matton created mixed media works  which defy easy  classification. Theatrical, atmospheric, meticulously constructed, his small scale interiors are housed in see through boxes with glass fronts. "Charles Matton: Enclosures" is on view from September 8th through October 7th. The miniature spaces represent real world interiors and revisited memories from Matton's own life, as well as other recognizable places. The artist also fabricated interiors from his imagination, intended to recreate cherished sensations, such as the loneliness felt in an abandoned hotel corridor or the intimacy of a forgotten and disused library.

The Pan-African University Launches the Virtual Museum of Modern Nigerian Art Posted: 12 Sep 2011 09:38 PM PDT Lagos, Nigeria.- Nigeria National Museum in the city of Lagos opened in 1957, and contains a notable collection of Nigerian art, including pieces of statuary and carvings and archaeological and ethnographic exhibits (including a rare terracotta human head from Jemaa (circa 900 to 200 BC), part of the Nok culture). However it does not collect or exhibit contemporary art. An ommission that is now being addressed by the Pan-African University in Lagos, which has just launched the Virtual Museum of Modern Nigerian Art; a unique, interactive, searchable website that enables users to view contemporary art from Nigeria and to learn about the artists, schools and styles.

The Zimmerli Art Museum Presents Canaletto and Domenico Tepolo Etchings Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:50 PM PDT New Brunswick, New Jersey.- The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum is pleased to present "Two Venetian Masters: Canaletto and Domenico Tiepolo Etchings from the Arthur Ross Foundation" on view in the Voorhees Special Exhibition Galleries until January 8th 2012. This exhibition presents etchings by Canaletto (Antonio Canal, 1697-1768) and Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (1727-1804), two of the great Italian artists who made Venice an artistic capital during the eighteenth century. Printmaking played an important but different role in each artist's career. Canaletto worked almost exclusively as a painter and took up etching as a way to challenge himself technically and creatively. Domenico Tiepolo pursued etching to a much greater extent, making reproductive and original prints that both promoted the achievements of his artistic family and distinguished his own unique talents within it.

The Malmo Konsthall Exhibits Chris Johnson ~ A Self-taught San Francisco's Graffiti Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:36 PM PDT MALMO, SWEDEN - The American artist Chris Johanson (born 1968) is a self-taught product of San Francisco's skateboard and graffiti culture. In his playful and humorous works he comments on what it is like to be human and live in today's society. He works in widely varying media such as painting, film, installation and music. Johanson grew up in a suburb of San José in California and began his artistic career as a teenager. He painted skateboards and made posters and flyers for his friends, and then gradually began using public space to comment on American society. On exhibition through 27 November at The Malmo Konsthall.

Sotheby's Presents Monumental Sculptures in the Grounds of Chatsworth House Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:35 PM PDT Chatsworth, Derbyshire, UK - Sotheby's are once again bringing contemporary sculpture to the relaxed setting of the historic gardens of Chatsworth House in England's Peak District. "Beyond Limits", now in its sixth year running, opens to the public on September 16th (though many of the artworks are already installed) and will run until October 30th. Works by more than 20 leading artists from around the world, including René Magritte, Nadim Karam, Takashi Murakami, William Turnbull, Marc Quinn, Ju Ming, Jaume Plensa and Barry Flanagan, will be on display with many showing in the UK for the first time. Some sculptures reach up to five metres in height and all are available for sale to collectors through Sotheby's. Sotheby's was founded in London on March 11, 1744, when Samuel Baker auctioned "several Hundred scarce and valuable books" from the library of the Rt Hon Sir John Stanley for a few hundred pounds. The story of Sotheby's expansion beyond books to include the best in fine and decorative arts and jewellery is also the story of the global auction market, defined by extraordinary moments that continue to capture the world's attention. Since 1744, Sotheby's has distinguished itself as a leader in the auction world. Their auctions, conducted in the venerable salerooms in London and Paris, the museum-quality galleries of their headquarters in New York and the spirited environs of Hong Kong rivet audiences worldwide. Season after season, the depth and excellence of Sotheby's offerings have produced watershed, record-breaking sales. Sotheby's has been entrusted with the sale of many of the world's treasures, amongst them: Napoleon's St Helena library, the Duchess of Windsor's jewels, the Estate of Mrs Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Rembrandt's Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer, Rubens' Massacre of the Innocents, Pablo Picasso's Garçon à la Pipe, Francis Bacon's Triptych, 1976, The Grand Ducal Collections of Baden, the Qianlong Yellow-Ground Famille-Rose Double-Gourd Vase, the 5,000-year-old Guennol Lioness, Giacometti's L'Homme Qui Marche I, the Magna Carta, the first printing of the Declaration of Independence and The Martin Luther King Jr Collection. Sotheby's has long recognised that great works of art, as well as the collectors interested in consigning and acquiring them, inhabit the global sphere. They were the first international auction house to expand from London to New York in 1955, and the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong and the then–Soviet Union. Today they maintain 90 locations in 40 countries and they conduct 250 auctions each year in over 70 categories. In addition to their four principal salerooms, the company, recognising the potential in new markets, also conducts auctions in six other salerooms around the world, further expanding its global reach. Visit the auction house's website at ... http://www.sothebys.com Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England. It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549. Standing on the east bank of the River Derwent, Chatsworth looks across to the low hills that divide the Derwent and Wye valleys. The house is set in expansive parkland, and backed by wooded, rocky hills rising to heather moorland and contains a unique collection of priceless paintings, furniture, Old Master drawings, neoclassical sculptures, books and other artefacts. Three floors are open to the public, allowing the collections to be seen in their original settings. From the grandeur of the 1st Duke's Painted Hall and State Apartments with their rich decoration and painted ceilings, to the 19th century Library, Great Dining Room and Sculpture Gallery. Chatsworth has been selected as the United Kingdom's favourite country house several times.Chatsworth House appeared in the 2005 film adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It represented Pemberley, Mr Darcy's home. The house was also used in The Duchess (2008), featuring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes, and The Wolfman (2010), with Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins. Visit the house's website at ... http://www.chatsworth.org

MoMA Features Pivotal Moments in Henri Matisse's Radical Invention Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:21 PM PDT NEW YORK, NY.- Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917, a large-scale investigation into a pivotal moment in the career of Henri Matisse (1869–1954), presents an important reassessment of the artist's work between 1913 and 1917, revealing this period to be one of the most significant chapters in Matisse's evolution as an artist. On view from July 18 through October 11, 2010, at The Museum of Modern Art, the exhibition examines paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints made by the artist between his return to Paris from Morocco in 1913 to his departure for Nice in 1917. Over these five years, he developed his most demanding, experimental, and enigmatic works: paintings that are abstracted, often purged of descriptive detail, geometrically composed, and dominated by blacks and grays. Comprising nearly 110 of the artist's works, Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917 is the first exhibition devoted to this period, thoroughly exploring Matisse's working processes and the revolutionary experimentation of what he called his "methods of modern construction." Organized by The Museum of Modern Art and The Art Institute of Chicago, the exhibition is curated by John Elderfield, Chief Curator Emeritus of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art, and Stephanie D'Alessandro, Gary C. and Frances Comer Curator of Modern Art at The Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition is the result of a five-year collaboration between MoMA and The Art Institute of Chicago, combining new archival and art-historical research, fresh physical examinations of artworks, and innovative methods of scientific investigation to generate an unprecedented understanding of Matisse's work during these years. Technical examinations have revealed the evolution of objects from this period and illuminated previously unknown relationships among them. Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917 is organized chronologically, and begins with the immediately preceding years of 1907–1912. When Matisse was 22 years old, he began to study under Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau, who sent his pupils to make copies of Old Master paintings in the Musée du Louvre. Matisse pursued a similar practice in his independent work, reusing compositions and a range of subjects and poses in an effort to pare down forms to what he called "a truer, more essential character." On view is Paul Cézanne's (French, 1839–1906) Three Bathers (1879–82), a work Matisse had acquired in 1899 which then became a touchstone for the artist as he worked on issues of color and construction in his own bathers compositions. Also on view are Matisse's Nude with a White Scarf (1909) and Bathers with a Turtle (1908), which inaugurated Matisse's new practice of extensively reworking his canvases. By 1909 Matisse had formed relationships with a number of important and supportive collectors, including Sergei Shchukin, who commissioned decorative panels by Matisse for the stairway of his Moscow home. For this project Matisse initially suggested imagery of dance and bathers, subjects that would allow him to synthesize his evolving interests in harmonious colors, arabesques, and flat, overall designs with the tradition of décorations, pictures of mythical subjects intended to evoke tranquility. The composition of bathers begun that year would be transformed over the following nine years to become Bathers by a River, on view in the final gallery of the exhibition. Also in 1909, Matisse continued to work on his largest sculpture to that point, the bas-relief Back, begun in 1908, which he would return to several times over the next 21 years. On each occasion Matisse began with a new plaster cast of the relief; but instead of destroying the previous states when he moved on to the next version, Matisse preserved them, resulting in Back (I), Back (II), Back (III), and Back (IV), each of which is on view within the exhibition. The last gallery of the exhibition also includes a digital presentation illustrating the known states of Bathers by a River and Back, exploring the techniques that provided the foundation for the artist's most radical inventions of this period. 1914, New Ambitions On January 1, 1914, Matisse and his wife, Amélie, moved into an apartment on the fourth floor of 19 quai Saint-Michel in Paris, directly beneath the studio he had occupied from 1894 to 1907. Matisse wanted a break from his studio in Issy in order to better focus on his artistic exploration. The new space energized him, and in just over six months he produced almost a dozen canvases. Although Matisse used a different visual approach in almost every painting, the works are united by palette and size, giving them the quality of a series. These remarkably bold works constitute Matisse's response to Cubism's new challenge to the representation of form and space. On view is Interior with Goldfish (1914), the first of four great canvases from this period that picture the artist's studio. The form and position of the fishbowl, furniture, grillwork, and planter within the work underwent multiple revisions, many of which are visible in the finished painting. He reprised this composition in Goldfish and Palette (1914–15) simplifying the vertically banded format of the earlier work into a single broad black band. Also on view is View of Notre Dame (1914) and Woman on a High Stool (1914), the latter of which shares its simplified geometric forms, heavy contouring, and austere palette with the work of Cézanne and the Cubist paintings of Matisse's own peers. In View of Notre Dame (1914), which depicts the Paris cathedral as seen from Matisse's studio window, he reworked features of the canvas before covering almost the entire surface in blue, leaving early compositional elements visible beneath the paint. The section concludes with Portrait of Yvonne Landsberg (1914): startling even to its maker, it is one of the most dramatic of Matisse's canvases from early 1914. After many campaigns of wiping, incising, and repainting, work on this canvas ended with the artist scraping the lines that radiate from the figure, echoing the curve of the subject's hairline and the arms of her green chair. This painting is joined by Branch of Lilacs (1914), and Still Life with Lemons (1914), a work that demonstrates Matisse's interest in the visual vocabulary of Cubism. August 1914–1915, Interruptions and Returns Matisse's daring achievements in 1914 came to a dramatic and abrupt end with the outbreak of World War I. The period between August 1914 and the end of 1915 was full of stops and starts, interruptions and returns, as the artist tried to negotiate the challenges of wartime and satisfy his own creative ambitions. In summer 1915 Matisse and his family moved from Paris back to Issy, which they had left the previous year when their home there was requisitioned by the French military. While reorganizing his studio, the artist was inspired by the rediscovery of his 1893 canvas La Desserte (After Jan Davidsz. de Heem), on view in this section, which he had copied from the 1640 original in the Musée du Louvre when he was a student. He remade the composition with Still Life after Jan Davidsz. de Heem's "La Desserte" (1915) "adding everything I've seen since," he said, and working with "the methods of modern construction." He was most likely referring to Cubism, which he used to toughen his visual approach, though continuing to privilege detail and brilliant color. In his new work he also returned to still lifes, portraits, and open windows or doors—familiar subjects that he could easily set down on canvas and then develop when time allowed. On view is Composition (1915), in which Matisse returned to his earlier mode of working, drawing the composition and then filling it in with color. In contrast, the surface of Head, White and Rose (1914–15), reveals the extent of the artist's revisions; the scraping and overlapping layers of paint as Matisse reworked a naturalistic image into an abstracted face. These canvases are joined by The Italian Woman (1916), which demonstrates how, even in his most daring and austere paintings of this period, Matisse continued to reuse and repeat themes, this work being the first of a series of over 50 paintings and drawings of the Italian model Laurette that Matisse would make over the next year. This section also focuses on Matisse's printmaking. In fall 1913, after a six-year hiatus, Matisse returned to printmaking; and when he relocated to his quai Saint-Michel studio, he purchased a hand etching press with which to make his own prints. Through early 1917 he produced eight lithographs, 66 drypoints and etchings, and at least 69 monotypes, the latter for the first and only time in his career. Their modest subjects reflected the world around him—everyday life in the studio, and especially his family and friends. The format, tools, and techniques of printmaking had a great impact on Matisse's practice, and in its potential for simplification of color and form the medium complemented the artist's formal goals. January–November 1916, The Challenge of Painting The year of 1916 was one of the worst of the war for France, punctuated by the terrible battles of Verdun and the Somme. That year, Matisse made progress on some of the most difficult but pivotal works of his career, notably The Moroccans (1916) and Bathers by a River (1909–17). In The Moroccans, he employed his demanding "methods of modern construction" on an ambitious scale. Its surface is thick with the trails of repeated reworking, products of the artist's attempt to reconsider and adjust his approach to familiar motifs. Matisse conceived this "souvenir of Morocco" in 1912, stretched a canvas for it in 1913, returned to his composition on an enlarged scale in 1915 and started this new canvas in 1916. Black is the principal agent in The Moroccans, at once simplifying, dividing, and joining the three zones of the canvas: the still life of melons and leaves on a tiled pavement, bottom left; the architecture with domed marabout, top left; and the figures, right, among them a seated Moroccan seen from the behind and, above the shadowed archway, figures in two windows. Matisse built up the surface with thin layers of pigment, with the color of the underlying layers modifying those on top. Other paintings of this time demonstrate that the artist had begun to loosen his approach in certain ways, with the works in this gallery suggesting that Matisse was slowly beginning to experiment with a new process while preserving the same formal concerns: paring down what he had previously painted not by scraping it away but by applying new paint to cover and reshape what lay below. In The Window (1916), light from the outside powerfully enters the room. Turquoise merges floors and walls, flattening deep space and solid forms into a single plane. The thick band of white paint signals the powerful, dematerializing nature of light. In Bowl of Oranges (1916), the still life fills the canvas's visual field, producing an effect of colossal size. Matisse reinforced this sense of monumentality through near-sculptural handling of paint, applying coarse, hatched strokes, layering new pigment over dry layers, reserving the heaviest paint for areas of reflected light, and employing a thinner application in the dense, dark shadows. This compressed composition echoes the dense, compacted areas of the surface of The Moroccans and recalls its vivid yellow melons and other circular motifs. 1916–1917, Changing Course In spring, summer, and fall 1916 Matisse returned yet again to Bathers by a River and his Back series, both of which were by then significantly altered from their 1913 states. The artist built upon his earlier processes of scraping and incising while adding new material, reducing and fragmenting form. He also painted The Piano Lesson (1916), the most ambitious of his interiors in this whole period, and, in early 1917, the starkest of this period's portraits, Portrait of Auguste Pellerin (II). While these works make no direct reference to the war in style or subject, they were physical and mental challenges for the artist, pushing his art to levels of extremity and difficulty that may be considered his responses to the conflict. The Piano Lesson depicts the living room of Matisse's home at Issy-les-Moulineaux, with his elder son, Pierre, at the piano. The painting also features, at bottom left, the artist's sculpture Decorative Figure (1908) and, at upper right, his painting Woman on a High Stool. The artist began with a naturalistic rendering which he then purged of detail as he worked, scraping down areas and rebuilding them in broad fields of color. His incising on the window frame and stippling on the left side produced a pitted quality that suggests the eroding effects of light or time, a theme reiterated by the presence of the metronome on the piano. The artist's major preoccupation in 1916–17 was the advancement of Bathers by a River. He transformed the almost monochrome canvas of 1913 into a composition of vertical bands with now greatly enlarged and abstracted figures confined within the rigid geometric structure. His changes closely relate to those that he made in transforming Back (II) into Back (III) at the same time in the Issy studio. In the painting, a central black band both divides and coheres its two halves, one filled with verdant foliage, the other void of incident. Matisse's final work on the canvas was to revise the colored band between the third and the fourth figure, and to lightly scrape into the paint at the left side to reveal the layers beneath. The incising of the foliage here relates to that of the contemporaneous landscapes Shaft of Sunlight, the Woods of Trivaux (1917) and Garden at Issy (1917). Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917 concludes with a digital presentation illustrating the known states of Bathers by a River and Back, exploring the techniques that provided the foundation for the artist's most radical inventions of this period. Visit MoMA at : www.moma.org/

Waterhouse & Dodd To Show 20th Century European & American Art in Soho Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:20 PM PDT New York City.- Waterhouse & Dodd are delighted to present a major exhibition "Art of the 20th Century in Europe & America" in their new Soho gallery. The exhibition will be on view from from 9th June to 23rd June at the gallery in Greene Street, Soho, New York City.

Sculptor Desiderio da Settignano hosted by the National Gallery of Art Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:19 PM PDT Washington, DC – The first international exhibition devoted to Italian Renaissance sculptor Desiderio da Settignano (c. 1429–1464) premieres in the United States at the National Gallery of Art from July 1 through October 8, 2007.  Desiderio da Settignano: Sculptor of Renaissance Florence brings together approximately 25 works—many coming to the U.S. for the first time—by the artist and his immediate circle, ranging from highly original portrait busts of children to subtle low-relief carvings of religious subjects. On exhibition JULY 1– OCTOBER 8, 2007.

LewAllen Galleries Presents Works By Jeanette Pasin Sloan & Steve Smulka Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:18 PM PDT Santa Fe, NM.- LewAllen Galleries is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition, "Bending Light: Jeanette Pasin Sloan & Steve Smulka". On view at LewAllen Galleries Downtown from August 5th through September 5th, the exhibition presents works by two leading artists who actively blur traditional genre distinctions to expand the range of contemporary representational painting.

National Gallery of Art showcases Luis Meléndez ~ Master of the Spanish Still Life Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:17 PM PDT WASHINGTON, DC.- Delights of the Spanish table depicted by 18th-century painter Luis Meléndez (1715-1780) will be presented to American audiences for the first time in nearly 25 years at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, May 17 through August 23, 2009. In a rare opportunity to explore the artist's working method, Luis Meléndez: Master of the Spanish Still Life will showcase 31 paintings, some of which have never been exhibited publicly, and nine examples of 18th-century kitchenware similar to those used as studio props by Meléndez.

Norton Museum of Art presents "Off the Wall: The Human Form in Sculpture" Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:16 PM PDT West Palm Beach , FL – On view now through September 6, 2009 at the Norton Museum of Art , Off the Wall: The Human Form in Sculpture features American and European sculpture based on the theme of the figure and dating from the late the 1800s to the present. The works are presented in three categories: Tell Me a Story, Head Shots, and Full Frontal. Over 30 figures, by artists such as Constantin Brancusi, Gaston Lachaise, Edgar Degas, Hiram Powers, and Max Ernst, will be on parade for viewing and judging on the specific qualities of sculpture which set it apart from other visual arts such as painting, drawing and printmaking.

Cantor Arts Center Showcases Art from "Dürer to Picasso" Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:15 PM PDT   STANFORD, CA.- Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University presents "Dürer to Picasso," the first in a year long series of exhibitions spotlighting the museum's collection. With 100 works from the Renaissance to WWII, "Dürer to Picasso" represents the top tier of art acquired through gift, purchase, and bequest since the museum's reopening in 1999, after a closure forced by the 1989 Lomia Prieta earthquake. On view through 15 February, 2009.

Moscow Museum of Modern Art presents Photographers Paul Steinitz and Ja’bagh Kaghado Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:14 PM PDT MOSCOW - Moscow Museum of Modern Art and BrainStorm Management present an unprecedented exhibition of the legendary Paul Steinitz – photographer, visual artist and publisher, known by all and by no one. Paul Steinitz, whose silhouette reminds both of an incredibly flamboyant artist and an impoverished vagabond, has been an obscure legend of the Paris and New York underground of the last two decades. To gain proof of it, one needs only to flick through the copies of Amaan Magazine that he has published since the mid-90s. On its pages are writers, filmmakers, designers, and top models – everyone Paul Steinitz photographed was transformed by his vision and later earned international recognition.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery To Show Modern Masters Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:13 PM PDT BUFFALO, NY.- The work of four modernist masters and early twentieth-century pioneers of abstraction: — Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, and Sonia Delaunay — are explored in a new exhibition which opened at the The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, on January 21, 2011. The exhibition, organized by Albright-Knox Curator Heather Pesanti and Curatorial Assistant Ilana Chlebowski and drawn from the Gallery's Collection, features more than seventy objects in a variety of media, including paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, spanning decades of each artist's career. By following the transitions and shifts of these four masters' works from one style or movement to the next, viewers have the opportunity to explore the creative development of each of the artists, and forge connections between them.

Museum of Modern Art to host a Panel Discussion on Salvador Dali and New York Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:12 PM PDT New York City - Salvador Dalí first arrived in New York in 1934 and immediately became a flamboyant part of the city's life and art scene. Engaging with the artists and celebrities who helped create the spirit of the city at the time, Dalí pursued his interests in art and commerce, the urban streets, and friendships with members of polite society and those in the rebellious underground. This program brings together scholars and filmmakers who address the impact of Dalí's diverse activities on his work and on the New York artistic community.

Moderna Museet Stockholm Presents Major Siri Derkert Retrospective Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:11 PM PDT Stockholm.- The Moderna Museet Stockholm presents a major retrospective of works by Siri Derkert from May 28 until September 4th 2011. Siri Derkert's early cubist paintings are attributable to international modernism, while her later work for the Östermalmstorg underground station (1965) in Stockholm marked a radical change in the notion of public art. For the first time since 1960, Moderna Museet is featuring Siri Derkert's unique and multifaceted oeuvre in a major retrospective exhibition jointly rganized with the National Library of Sweden. Works from her youth, cubist paintings, fashion drawings from the 1910s, profoundly psychological portraits of children and adults, drawings and later experiments with materials such as concrete, iron strips and clay are all presented in a comprehensive show that also highlights the life of Siri Derkert. Her works for public spaces often deal with the peace movement and feminism, issues that are as relevant today as they were for her generation. In connection with this exhibition and a current research project at the National Library of Sweden, a series of seminars will be held on Siri Derkert and Carlo Derkert.

Kunstmuseum Basel displays 101 Master Drawings from the Kupferstichkabinett Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:10 PM PDT BASEL.- Covering a span of time from 1400 to the present, with approximately 60,000 drawings as well as 250,000 individual prints and books with original illustrations, the Kupferstichkabinett at the Kunstmuseum Basel belongs among the most important collections of this kind. Its origins can be traced to the Amerbach-Kabinett, the collection of Basel attorney Basilius Amerbach (15331591), from which large groups of drawings, predominantly by German and Upper Rhinish artists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, derive. These definitively characterize the Basel collection in the realm of premodern art, and include the 300 drawings of the so-called Basler Goldschmiederisse [Basel goldsmiths' designs], 50 drawings by Hans Holbein the Elder, 200 by Hans Holbein the Younger, 150 by Urs Graf, 80 by Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, and 50 by Hans Baldung Grien and his studio. The earliest drawing in the exhibition dates from around 1400. On exhibition 3 October through 24 January 2010.

Art Knowledge News Presents "This Week In Review" Posted: 12 Sep 2011 08:09 PM PDT This is a new feature for the subscribers and visitors to Art Knowledge News (AKN), that will enable you to see "thumbnail descriptions" of the last ninety (90) articles and art images that we published. This will allow you to visit any article that you may have missed ; or re-visit any article or image of particular interest. Every day the article "thumbnail images" will change. For you to see the entire last ninety images just click : here . When opened that also will allow you to change the language from English to anyone of 54 other languages, by clicking your language choice on the upper left corner of our Home Page.  You can share any article we publish with the eleven (11) social websites we offer like Twitter, Flicker, Linkedin, Facebook, etc. by one click on the image shown at the end of each opened article.  Last, but not least, you can email or print any entire article by using an icon visible to the right side of an article's headline.

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