Art Knowledge News - Keeping You in Touch with the World of Art...

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• The Jewish Museum to open "Kehinde Wiley ~ The World Stage: Israel"
• The Swedish Nationalmuseum reveals "Passions" this Spring
• The Katherine Cone Gallery to present "California Girls"
• The Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina opens "American Dreamers"
• The Gibbes Museum of Art presents "The Art of Alfred Hutty"
• Museum Jorn celebrates Asger Jorn on the run-up to his 100-year Anniversary
• James Hyman Photography Shows Early Salt Prints of Gothic Architecture
• The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts features Henry Ossawa Tanner Retrospective
• The Missoula Art Museum exhibits The Art of Silversmith Haddon Hufford
• The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon Pays Tribute to Jean Martin
• AKN Editor Visits The Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland ~ The World’s First Public Museum
• Markus Lüpertz' Metamorphoses of World History at the Albertina Museum
• Tate Liverpool Announces a major Picasso: Peace and Freedom Exhibition
• Crocker Art Museum Announces Inaugural Exhibitions for Expanded Museum
• Swann Galleries to Auction Fine Prints & Drawings in New York
• "Tony Berlant: New Works" on View at Brian Gross Fine Art in Los Angeles
• Ketterer Kunst's December 10th Auction to Feature Modern & Post War/Contemporary Art
• " Pacific Encounters " Polynesia Art at The Sainsbury Centre
• ‘Samuel Beckett: a passion for paintings’ at National Gallery of Ireland
• This Week in Review in Art Knowledge News

The Jewish Museum to open "Kehinde Wiley ~ The World Stage: Israel" Posted: 07 Mar 2012 09:51 PM PST New York City.- The Jewish Museum will present "Kehinde Wiley/The World Stage: Israel", from March 9th through July 29th. A new acquisition by the contemporary American artist Kehinde Wiley (born 1977, Los Angeles) served as impetus for the exhibition. The painting, Alios Itzhak (2011), is a nine-foot tall portrait of a young Jewish Ethiopian-Israeli man surrounded by an intricate decorative background inspired by a traditional Jewish papercut in the Museum's collection. This work was acquired in honor of The Jewish Museum's recently retired director Joan Rosenbaum. The exhibition features 14 large-scale paintings from Kehinde Wiley's new World Stage: Israel series. The vibrant portraits of Israeli youths from diverse ethnic and religious affiliations are each embedded in a unique background influenced by Jewish ritual art. Also included are 10 works of Jewish ceremonial papercuts and large textiles chosen by the artist from The Jewish Museum's collection. All of the 14 paintings on view are being displayed in New York for the first time. The artist-designed and hand carved wooden frames created for World Stage: Israel paintings combine imagery of the Hands of Kohen (the blessing hands of a Kohen - a descendant of the high priest, Aaron) and the Lion of Judah (symbolizing power and majesty and often represented in symmetrical, confronting pairs of lions) each supporting a text in Hebrew. For Wiley's Jewish subjects the text shown is the Ten Commandments; for his Arab Israeli subjects, the plea of Rodney King, victim of a 1991 police beating in Los Angeles that sparked race riots, "Can we all get along?" Wiley says his appropriated decorative backgrounds serve as catalysts for his paintings. The paintings represent a unique fusion of the orthodox with the secular and European traditions with those of North Africa and the Middle East. Roughly two-thirds of the portraits in the Israel series are of Ethiopian Jews, others are of Ashkenazi Jews and Arab Israelis. The artist is driven by an ongoing exploration of globalization, diasporas, cultural hybridity, and power. Saying he knows what it feels like to exist on the periphery, Wiley likes to catapult often powerless, anonymous young men of color onto enormous canvases and into the visual language of the powerful. The large size of the paintings reflects Wiley's observation that scale has been used as a measure of historical importance throughout art history. One of the most significant young artists working today, Kehinde Wiley is originally from Los Angeles and currently lives and works in Beijing, Dakar and New York. A gifted painter, he takes everyday people and paints them often larger than life-size in the grand poses of nobles, saints and colonial rulers from classical European portraiture. While the body language is borrowed from the past, the clothes are current and often hip-hop in style. The idea is to endow status on his young, urban subjects from carefully chosen spots around the globe. Rich tapestries of color and pattern form the bright and ornate backgrounds from which the young men posture. Patterns are found in the decorative traditions of each culture Wiley has chosen for his World Stage series. The fifth in the series, Israel, is close to completion with 14 of the 18 paintings in the set on view in The Jewish Museum's exhibition. Prior sites for Wiley's ambitious series have been China, Africa, Brazil and India. To find his subjects – almost always young, black and male – he goes to places the hip and young hang out. For "The World Stage: Israel", Wiley scouted in discos, malls, bars and sporting venues in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in 2010. He formally poses the young men and photographs them. The result forms the basis for his paintings. A nine-minute video in the exhibition shows Wiley in marketplaces, homes and public arenas of Israel's two largest cities finding the faces and figures that will become his subjects. Kehinde Wiley was born in Los Angeles, received a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 1999, and a MFA from Yale University in 2001. His paintings are in the collections of over forty museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Hammer Museum; High Museum; Walker Art Center; Brooklyn Museum; and The Jewish Museum, New York, to name a few. Selected exhibitions include The National Portrait Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and Columbus Museum of Art, among others. His work has been the subject of eight monographs to date, with a forthcoming Rizzoli publication scheduled for release in March. The Jewish Museum, one of the world's largest and most important institutions devoted to exploring the remarkable scope and diversity of Jewish culture, was founded in 1904 in the library of The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where it was housed for more than four decades. In 1944, Frieda Schiff Warburg, widow of the prominent businessman and philanthropist, Felix Warburg, who had been a Seminary trustee, donated the family mansion at 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street to the Seminary for use as the Museum. Located along New York's Museum Mile, this elegant former residence has been the home of the Museum since 1947. A sculpture court was installed alongside the Mansion in 1959, and the Albert A. List Building was added in 1963 to provide additional exhibition and program space. In 1989, a major expansion and renovation project was undertaken. Upon completion in June 1993, the expansion doubled the Museum's gallery space, created new space for educational programs, provided significant improvements in public amenities, and added a two-floor permanent exhibition called Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey . The expanded Jewish Museum preserves the French Gothic chateau-style exterior of the original Warburg Mansion, which was designed by architect Charles P.H. Gilbert and completed in 1908. Judge Mayer Sulzberger donated the first gift of 26 objects of fine and ceremonial art to the library of The Jewish Theological Seminary of America with the suggestion that a Jewish museum be formed. Subsequent gifts and purchases have helped to form the Museum's distinguished collection and develop the concept of the institution, whose mission has been to preserve, study and interpret Jewish cultural history through the use of authentic art and artifacts, linking both Jews and non-Jews to a rich body of values and traditions. Today, The Jewish Museum's permanent collection, which has grown to more than 26,000 objects -- paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, ethnographic material, archaeological artifacts, numismatics, ceremonial objects, and broadcast media materials -- is the largest and most important of its kind in the world. The Jewish Museum regularly presents large temporary exhibitions of an interdisciplinary nature. Such exhibitions often employ a combination of art and artifacts interpreted through the lens of social history in order to explore important ideas and topics. The Museum's highly successful The Dreyfus Affair: Art, Truth and Justice (1987), Gardens and Ghettos: The Art of Jewish Life in Italy (1989), From Court Jews to the Rothschilds: Art, Patronage and Power 1600-1800 (1996), ASSIGNMENT: RESCUE, The Story of Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee (1997) and Berlin Metropolis: Jews and the New Culture 1890-1918 (1999) are examples of this type of exhibition. The Museum is also known for its exhibitions of fine arts interpreted in the context of social history, such as Painting a Place in America: Jewish Artists in New York, 1900-1945 (1991) ; social history exhibitions such as Bridges and Boundaries: African Americans and American Jews (1992); and monograph shows of significant artists such as Camille Pissarro (1995), Marc Chagall (1996), Chaim Soutine (1998) and George Segal (1998). The Museum also regularly presents the works of contemporary artists in group exhibitions such as Too Jewish? Challenging Traditional Identities (1996) and one-person shows like Bordering on Fiction: Chantal Akerman's "D'Est" (1997). Its education department presents a diverse and wide-ranging array of programs for individuals, groups, families and schools. For nearly a century, The Jewish Museum has illuminated the Jewish experience, both secular and religious, demonstrating the strength of Jewish identity and culture. Its unparalleled collection and unique exhibitions offer a wide range of opportunities for exploring multiple facets of the Jewish experience, past and present, and for educating current and future generations. It is a source of education, inspiration and shared human values for people of all cultures. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.thejewishmuseum.org

The Swedish Nationalmuseum reveals "Passions" this Spring Posted: 07 Mar 2012 09:50 PM PST Stockholm, Sweden - This spring's big exhibition at Nationalmuseum, "Passions", is all about emotion in art. Starting on March 8th, and remaining on view through August 12th, over 100 works depicting emotions such as sorrow, fear and joy will go on show. The artists represented include Albrecht Dürer, Edvard Munch, Rembrandt, Tony Oursler, Rineke Dijkstra and Bill Viola. "Passions – Five Centuries of Art and the Emotions", will examine how the emotions are interpreted and portrayed in art. Body language has been a source of fascination through the ages, right up to the present day. Self-help books and courses offer guidance on interpreting the secret language of the human body and on appropriate body language for various situations. Artists have been interested in the emotions, and how they are expressed, since ancient times, depicting facial expressions, gestures and body language in their works to convey sorrow, suffering, fear, melancholy, tenderness and joy.

The Katherine Cone Gallery to present "California Girls" Posted: 07 Mar 2012 09:49 PM PST Los Angeles, California.- The Katherine Cone Gallery is pleased to present "California Girls", on view from March 17th through April 21st. "California Girls" is a group exhibition of emerging contemporary California women artists, including Kelly Berg, Jennifer Celio, Olivia Hill and Vanessa Prager. There will be a reception for the artists on Saturday, March 17th, from 6-9 p.m. The exhibition is titled "California Girls" in celebration of Judy Chicago's experiment in the 1970's with young California women artists working to become professional artists in a mostly male dominated art world. Thus, this show focuses on the young California women artists of today who are creating their own trails to blaze. The documentary video "Judy Chicago and the California Girls", which was Produced, Directed, and Edited by Judith Dancoff, will be displayed during the exhibition, as a homage to the young women artists of the past and a dedication to the future of young women artists and there role in today's art world.

The Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina opens "American Dreamers" Posted: 07 Mar 2012 09:26 PM PST Florence, Italy.- "American Dreamers: Reality and Imagination in Contemporary American Art", an exhibition organised in conjunction with the Hudson River Museum (Yonkers, New York) and curated by Bartholomew Bland, opens at the Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina (Palazzo Strozzi) on March 9th and will remain on view through July 15th. It comprises a reflection on the work of artists who use their fantasy, their imagination and their dreams to build alternative worlds to the increasingly complex and difficult reality of life today. Does the "American dream" still exist? Since 11 September 2011 the United States of America has witnessed the collapse of its sense of invulnerability and security, but at the same time a spirit of optimism, the ability to imagine and to dream, the will to carry on believing in a future with a happy ending through work and through the triumph of the values of freedom and of equality of opportunity, have maintained their central place in the very idea of "being American" and of the "American dream".  The latter promises success and happiness constantly fuelled by the fantasy of Hollywood and by the aesthetics adopted in the advertising campaigns of such leading multinational brands as Coca Cola or Walt Disney. Fleeing reality is a way of fighting against the complex difficulties of life today: a psychological break with reality or the creation of a better alternative become strategies for escaping from such concrete and very real threats as rising unemployment, the negative international financial situation, or forecasts of impending environmental doom. The eleven American artists involved in the exhibition (Laura Ball, Adrien Broom, Nick Cave, Will Cotton, Adam Cvijanovic, Richard Deon, Thomas Doyle, Mandy Greer, Kirsten Hassenfeld, Patrick Jacobs and Christy Rupp) resort to their imagination to produce a personal revisitation of reality or at times even a flight from that reality, through the construction of parallel, alternative worlds which explicitly turn their backs on "true" reality.  Some of the works condense the essence of reality into miniaturised systems while others expand outwards into space, creating worlds in which spectators can immerse themselves in parallel realities, and yet others feed on fantastic, dreamlike images or reflect on such symbolic themes as the home and the family which continue even today to play a central role in the construction of the myth of the "American way of life". The exhibition attempts to explore these different issues revealing the language of the artists involved in order to create parallel worlds that, in many cases, are in sharp contrast with each other.  The show opens with a site-specific work by Adam Cvijanovic (1960), whose wall painting draws visitors into a visual illusion, a surprising panorama that portrays an idyllic and typically American urban landscape that can be interpreted in two different ways: is it being demolished or built?  Will Cotton has created an unreal world of overabundance in which everything becomes cotton candy, custard and cream, merging references to the American pop culture (from the singer Katy Perry to Candy Land, a board game that is immensely popular among American children) and art history (18th-century French painting by artists such as François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard). The Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina (CCCS) was born in 2007, as part of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, with the intention of giving the city of Florence an international contemporary art centre. The CCCS is devoted to producing and showing thematic exhibitions, following an interdisciplinary approach linked to the most up to date scientific research on current trends in contemporary culture. Since 2008 CCC Strozzina has been organising the Emerging Talents Award, a project created by the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi to sustain young Italian art through an exhibition and a prize that offers young Italian artists the chance of emerging and promoting their work in Italy and abroad. CCC Strozzina is also in charge for the site specific installation program realised for the Palazzo Strozzi courtyard – an "open space exhibition room" where contemporary art calls into question the history and harmonies of this Renaissance architectural site. Examples of these have been the Chinese artist Wang Yu Yang with Artificial Moon in 2008, Yves Netzhammer (Switzerland) – who created the complex intervention Inventory of Abstraction (2009) that overlapped sculpture, video and soundscape –, or the Italian maestro Michelangelo Pistoletto whose Metercube of Infinity in a Mirroring Cube created a stunning dialogue with the courtyard space during the 2010 autumn-winter season. Since its opening, the CCC Strozzina has exhibited works of such international artists as Bill Viola, William Kentridge, Dan Perjovschi, Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman, Andreas Gursky, Wolfgang Tillmans, Antony Gormley and Gerhard Richter. Their works have been shown together with those of younger or not yet so established artists, always looking toward a dialogue between different approaches and new reflections about the selected topics. The challenge posed by the Renaissance architecture of Palazzo Strozzi for contemporary art is taken as a stimulus to create a dialogue between past, present and future. CCC Strozzina is always searching for a responsive reception from the audience through involvement in activities such as lectures led by academics from different disciplines, artists' talks, and a rich educational programme dedicated to schools, adults, kids and families. Visit the centre's website at ... http://www.strozzina.org

The Gibbes Museum of Art presents "The Art of Alfred Hutty" Posted: 07 Mar 2012 09:06 PM PST Charleston, South Carolina.- The Gibbes Museum of Art is pleased to present "The Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston"", on display at the museum through April 22nd. "The Art of Alfred Hutty", on view in the Main Gallery, offers a career retrospective of the 20th century American artist Alfred Hutty, the master painter and printmaker who is considered one of the principal artists of the Charleston Renaissance. The exhibition features evocative landscapes and realistic studies of the human condition created by Alfred Hutty (1877–1954) in Woodstock, New York and Charleston. The exhibition includes sixty works in oil, watercolor, pastel, and most importantly, etchings, drypoints, and lithographs. Following the premiere at the Gibbes, the exhibition will travel to the Greenville County Museum of Art and the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia.

Museum Jorn celebrates Asger Jorn on the run-up to his 100-year Anniversary Posted: 07 Mar 2012 08:26 PM PST SILKEBORG, DENMARK - "Jorn <<< Ensor" is the first in a series of three ambitious exhibitions which places Asger Jorn together with some of the masters he considered his most important role models and source of inspiration. Ensor, Picasso, Miro, Klee, Munch and Kandinsky. James Ensor was one of Asger Jorn's greatest sources of inspiration. His works have in recent years been shown at several exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. In Denmark, however, the Belgian artist's works are not particularly well known amongst the general public. This situation will now be remedied by Museum Jorn in Silkeborg with this exhibition. "Jorn <<< Ensor", is the first major collection of the eccentric artist James Ensor's works ever to be presented in Denmark.

James Hyman Photography Shows Early Salt Prints of Gothic Architecture Posted: 07 Mar 2012 08:25 PM PST London.- James Hyman Photography is delighted to present one of the most substantial exhibitions of rare, early salt prints ever staged by a commercial gallery in London. A specially curated presentation brings together two of the greatest achievements of Western civilization: Gothic architecture and the invention of photography. "From Sermons in Stone to Monsters of Modernity: Early French Photography And The Church" will be on view at the gallery from May 9th through May 26th. This museum quality exhibition includes loans as well as works for sale. The exhibition title references the religious significance of the portal programmes of Gothic cathedrals with their multiple biblical scenes as well as the gargoyles of Notre Dame that were the mid-nineteenth century invention of Viollet-le-Duc. The exhibition traces the ways in which the great Gothic churches and cathedrals of France were placed at the heart of their work by the most important French photographers of the 1840s and 1850s.

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts features Henry Ossawa Tanner Retrospective Posted: 07 Mar 2012 07:37 PM PST Philadelphia, PA.- The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is proud to present "Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit", on view at the museum through April 15th. "Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit" contains over 100 works, including 12 paintings that have never been shown in a Tanner retrospective and the only two known sculptures that Tanner completed. The exhibition also includes Tanner's famed "Resurrection of Lazarus", from the collection of the Musée d'Orsay, a career-making canvas that earned Tanner his first international praise when it was exhibited in 1897 and which has never before crossed the Atlantic. Showcasing Tanner's paintings, photographs, prints, sculptures, watercolors, and drawings, Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit is being organized by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where the artist studied from 1879 to 1885, and will tour to the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. "Henry Ossawa Tanner: Modern Spirit" will delve into the life and career of Henry O. Tanner from his upbringing in Philadelphia in the years after the Civil War; through the artist's training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; his success as an American artist at the highest levels of the international art world at the turn of the 20th century; his role as an elected leader of an artist's colony in rural France; his unique contributions in aid of servicemen during World War I through the Red Cross in France; his modernist invigoration of religious painting deeply rooted in his own faith; and Tanner's depiction of the Holy Land and North Africa. The exhibition will also present the first scientific and technical analysis of his artistic materials and methods. The most substantial scholarly catalogue to date on Tanner's life and work will accompany the exhibition. This book includes 14 essays written by established and emerging scholars from the United States and France, and is being published by University of California Press. Additionally, the first-ever children's book about Henry O. Tanner will be published by PAFA and Bunker Hill Press. Written and illustrated by the renowned artist-author Faith Ringgold, this publication will inspire generations of young people through the extraordinary accomplishments of Tanner. Through the rare combination of spectacular galleries, an internationally known school of fine arts, and their public programs, the Academy strives to provide students and visitors alike with a unique and thrilling experience. The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a national leader in fine arts education that brings together artists and the public through exceptional teaching programs, a world-class collection of American art, major exhibitions, and widely accessible public programs. A rare combination of a world-class museum and school of fine arts, PAFA will be a defining voice for education in the evolving traditions and cultural diversity of the fine arts in America. PAFA's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings, sculptures, and works on paper. Its archives house important materials for the study of American art history, museums, and art training. Since its founding in 1805, PAFA has been committed to fostering and collecting American art. Scholars have deemed PAFA's one of the world's three best collections of American art for its depth, breadth, and quality.With a collection of nearly 1,800 paintings, PAFA owns some of the most important and recognizable works in American art, including works by Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart, Charles Willson Peale and Winslow Homer. The paintings collection is renowned for its holdings from the Federal period, including works by the Peale family, numerous portraits by Gilbert Stuart and Thomas Sully, and a fine collection of portrait miniatures. Works from the late 19th century, when American artists began working in a more international style, constitute one of the high points of the Academy's collection. Paintings bv William Merritt Chase, James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, John Twachtman, Theodore Robinson, Childe Hassam, Henry O. Tanner, Cecilia Beaux and Thomas Eakins are among the most significant examples. In the early 20th century, the Academy collected works by some of its famous alumni, including Robert Henri, John Sloan, William Glackens, Everett Shinn and George Luks, all of whom were connected with the Ashcan School. Twentieth century developments in abstraction are documented in the collection by artists such as Arthur B. Carles, Florine Stettheimer, Stuart Davis, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ben Shahn, Jack Levine, Mark Rothko, Jacob Lawrence and Richard Diebenkorn. As a school synonymous with the figurative tradition, the Academy's collections also are rich in the works of 20th-century representational artists such as Edward Hopper, Guy Pène du Bois, Reginald Marsh, Isabel Bishop, Thomas Hart Benton, Alfred Leslie, Philip Pearlstein, Andrew Wyeth and Bo Bartlett. PAFA houses more than 12,000 works on paper, including drawings, watercolors, pastels and all media of printmaking. The Academy's collection is highlighted by noteworthy works by some of America's most important artists such as John Singleton Copley, John James Audubon, Winslow Homer, James McNeill Whistler, Mary Cassatt, Maxfield Parrish, John Sloan, George Bellows, John Marin, Charles Demuth, Charles Burchfield, Andrew Wyeth, Claes Oldenburg and Andy Warhol. Sculpture has been an intrinsic part of the Academy since its founding in 1805. With more than 300 works ranging from 1780 to the present, the Academy's sculpture collection is particularly notable for its portrait busts, neoclassical marble sculpture, French-inspired bronze figures, direct carvings in stone and wood and the overall variety of materials and techniques represented. William Rush, one of the three artists connected with the formation of PAFA, was also one of the nation's first sculptors, representative of the American craft tradition aspiring to European fine arts. The Academy holds several notable works by Rush, including a masterful self-portrait. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.pafa.org/Museum

The Missoula Art Museum exhibits The Art of Silversmith Haddon Hufford Posted: 07 Mar 2012 07:18 PM PST Missoula, Montana.- The Missoula Art Museum (MAM) is proud to present "Haddon Hufford: Silversmith" on view at the museum through April 15th. Haddon Hufford is a master silversmith practicing his craft near Frenchtown, MT. Though he has lived in the Missoula Valley since 2006, the Missoula Art Museum was unaware of this inimitable craftsman working within close proximity until Hufford submitted to the Montana Triennial in 2009. The museum is now very excited to present this intimate solo exhibition, "Haddon Hufford: Silversmith" at MAM and to introduce Hufford and his work to our visitors.Hufford was born and raised in New York's Hudson River Valley. He studied graphic design at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan before serving in Vietnam as a combat cameraman in the Army's 1st Air Cavalry Division, 1969-71. Back in New York City, Hufford worked twenty-eight years in the film industry as a dolly and crane grip and set builder.

The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon Pays Tribute to Jean Martin Posted: 07 Mar 2012 07:03 PM PST Lyon, France.- The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon presents " Jean Martin (1911-1996): The Expressive Years", on view at the museum through June 4th. In 2009, the museum received a donation of Martin's painting "The Blind" (1937) and a set of drawings from the years 1930-1940. Based around that donation, this new exhibition will explore the artist path of one of the major artistic figures of the inter-war period. Between 1945 and 1947, Martin presented annually at the Katia Granoff gallery in Paris, where he was based from 1946. He also produced many sets and costumes for theater productions, especially for the Hermentier Raymond, Jean-Marie Serreau and Louis Jouvet companies. In 1952, with his wife, he founded the Art Gallery & Christian Tradition in rue Saint-Sulpice, participating actively in the revival of sacred art.

AKN Editor Visits The Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland ~ The World’s First Public Museum Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:48 PM PST The fascinating history of Basel's public art collection (the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel) can be traced back to the 17th century. When it acquired of the Amerbach Kabinett (a Humanist-inspired collection begun in the pre-Reformation era), Basel became the first municipality to possess its own art collection long before princely collections were made accessible to the public in other cities of Europe. On the death of Basilius Amerbach (1533-1591), grandson of the famous printer and son of a distinguished lawyer who had been a close friend of Erasmus, the encyclopaedic collection contained not only some 60 paintings (among them 15 by Hans Holbein the Younger) and a very large portfolio of drawings and prints, but natural objects, ethnographic artefacts and a library as well. In 1671 the art collection was transferred to the "Zur Mücke" house near the Cathedral Square and opened to the public, becoming one of the city's major attractions. In 1823 the Amerbach art collection, which had already been enhanced by donations from the Council and private donors, was merged with the holdings of as second museum started by jurist Remigius Faesch (1595-1667). This brought not only further paintings by Hans Holbein the Younger, but also important works by 15th to17th century artists from the Upper-Rhine region into the collection. In 1849, the need for more display space resulted in a move to the late classicist, multi-purpose building by Melchior Berri in Augustinergasse (which still houses the Museum of Natural History and the Museum today). A bequest by Samuel Birrmann (1793-1843), a Basel painter and art dealer, helped to introduce an acquisition policy, and in 1855 a fund earmarked for contemporary Swiss art was established under the aegis of the Museum Commission. The Canton of Basel-Stadt, too, has been providing acquisition funding since 1903. With the completion of a purpose-built building by architects Rudolf Christ and Paul Bonatz in St. Alban-Graben, the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung moved into the Kunstmuseum Basel in its present form in 1936. The building has been thoroughly refurbished over the past few years. For additional display space The Museum für Gegenwartskunst was established in a converted factory at St. Alban-Rheinweg in 1980. A joint venture with the Emanuel Hoffmann and Christoph Merian Foundations, many more recent works were transferred from the Kunstmuseum to the new museum. Never content to stand still, the next great challenge for the Kunstmuseum is implementing a planned expansion. This new building, will be located opposite the museum, is intended to be a special exhibition area offering the visitor a constantly new experience. Much remains to be done before the projected opening date of 2015, but its completion will be the latest chapter in this museum's long tradition of re-invention and growth. Visit the museum's website at: http://www.kunstmuseumbasel.ch The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the largest and most significant public art collection in Switzerland, particularly Upper-Rhenish and Flemish paintings and drawings from 1400 to 1600 and 19th to 21st century international art. The museum has the world's largest collection of works by the Holbein family. Other highlights of the fifthteenth and sixteenth century are paintings by Konrad Witz, Hans Fries, Hans Baldung (called Grien), Niklaus Manuel (called Deutsch), Lucas Cranach the Elder and outstanding works by the Upper-Rhenish Masters of the fifthteenth and sixteenth century as well as Flemish art of the sixteenth century. The main features of the seventeenth and eighteenth century are the Flemish and Dutch schools (Rubens, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Frans Francken, Rembrandt, Jacob Ruisdael), German and Dutch still lifes (Wilhelm Claesz Heda, Georg Flegel, Sebastian Stoskopff) and an important group of paintings by the Swiss artist Caspar Wolf. The Kunstmuseum also owns the worldwide largest collection of paintings by Arnold Böcklin. Noteworthy in the nineteenth century collection are the most comprehensive group of Nazarene paintings in Switzerland including works by Koch, Overbeck, and Olivier, important assemblages of works by Füssli, French painting from Romanticism to Realism including Delacroix, Géricault, Corot and Courbet. Swiss art of Birmann, Calame, Anker, Zünd, Buchser, Segantini and Hodler. German art with Feuerbach and Marées and especially French Impressionism with works of art by Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir , Pissarro, Sisley and Postimpressionism represented by Cézanne, Gauguin and van Gogh. The museum also has 8 sculptures by Rodin. The focal points of 20th-century art on display are Cubism, Expressionism and American art after 1945, including the unique compilation of works by Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Fernand Léger, Paul Klee, Hans Arp, Alberto Giacometti, Marc Chagall, Barnett Newman, Joseph Beuys, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella and Bruce Nauman. In January 2005, the Library of the Kunstmuseum Basel moved into a building directly adjacent to the Kunstmuseum. Formerly home to premises of the Swiss National Bank, the building was donated to the Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel by Maja Oeri in 1999 and bears the name "Laurenz-Bau", in memory of the prematurely deceased son of the donor and her husband. Apart from the library, the building also houses the administrative offices of the Kunstmuseum and the Department of Art History of Basel University. The Library, which is open to the public, contains over 150,000 titles. Established in 1849 and with its first catalogue dating back to 1859, it is among the oldest art libraries in Switzerland. Most of the works in the Library relate to the history of painting and sculpture from Charlemagne to the present day, with particular emphasis on 15th- and 16th-century German and Upper Rhine art and on Classical Modernism. Some 200 periodicals and yearbooks provide information on the latest developments in the art world and art scholarship. The holdings can be accessed by way of standard author and subject catalogues, but also with the help of special catalogues (auction, exhibition and gallery catalogues, etc.) and periodicals. Use of the Library is free of charge. Until 13 February 2011, the Kunstmuseum, Basel is exhibiting "Thurneysser – Superstar". A trained goldsmith, mining proprietor, physician, alchemist, pharmacist and astrologer – the skills and professions of Leonhard Thurneysser zum Thurn (1531–1596) from Basel are no less astonishing than the story of his life. Starting out as a small-scale debtor, he ended up a prodigiously wealthy man. When the successful world traveller came home in 1579, he had the Zürich artist Christoph Murer create a unique cycle of stained-glass windows for his residence in Basel. The cycle glorifies Thurneysser's life in a manner hitherto generally reserved for saints and princes. Two windows and a fragment of a third one have survived along with three preliminary drawings. Linked to this exhibition, the Kunstmuseum is also showing a selection of designs for glass painting from its own collection, entitled "From Holbein to Murer – Designs for Glass Painting". Also displayed (until 6 February 2011) is a collection of Lovis Cornith prints. Lovis Corinth (born 1858 in Tapiau, East Prussia, died 1925 in Zandvoort, Netherlands) initially trained as a painter at the Königsberg Academy of Arts, but it was not until he transferred to the Art Academy in Munich that he met artists who gave priority to painting after nature. Landscapes and figures (especially portraits and nudes) became his preferred genres. Although Corinth is held to be a key representative of German Impressionism, his subject matter and painting style as well as his characteristically dynamic and accentuated contours show an affinity with Expressionism. Like the Expressionists, Corinth always sought immediacy in art, as demonstrated in his preference for etchings and the fact that he drew directly on the stone block when making lithographs. The exhibition presents works selected from a collection of over 200 prints by the artist, bequeathed to the museum in 2009.

Markus Lüpertz' Metamorphoses of World History at the Albertina Museum Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:47 PM PST VIENNA.- Markus Lüpertz, born in 1941, has been one of Germany's most important contemporary artists on the international scene for quite some time now. The presentation focuses on central themes of his oeuvre and, with its retrospective approach, offers a fascinating introduction into the creative process pursued by the painter, graphic artist, and sculptor: it highlights his "German Motifs," his nudes, and his exploration of subjects from the canon of classical art and cultural history in a representative selection of about 100 works and seven bozzetti for the sculpture Daphne (2002–2005).

Tate Liverpool Announces a major Picasso: Peace and Freedom Exhibition Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:46 PM PST LONDON.- A major exhibition bringing together over 150 works by Pablo Picasso from across the world will be presented at Tate Liverpool from 21 May to 30 August 2010. Picasso: Peace and Freedom will reveal a fascinating new insight into the artist's life as a tireless political activist and campaigner for peace, challenging the widely-held view of the artist as creative genius, playboy and compulsive extrovert. Picasso: Peace and Freedom is curated by Lynda Morris, AHRC Research Fellow and Curator, EASTinternational, Norwich University College of the Arts, and Dr. Christoph Grunenberg, Director, Tate Liverpool. This is the first exhibition to explore the post-War period of the artist's life in depth, and will reflect a new Picasso for a new time. Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the exhibition provides a timely look at Picasso's work in the Cold War era and how the artist transcended the ideological and aesthetic oppositions of East and West. The exhibition will bring together key paintings and drawings related to war and peace from 1944-1973, alongside a wide range of contextual materials and ephemera. The centrepiece will be the artist's masterpiece, The Charnel House 1944-45, marking 50 years since it was last seen in the UK. This remarkable work was Picasso's most explicitly political painting since Guernica 1937. Monument to the Spaniards who Died for France late 1945 to 31 January 1947 will also feature in the exhibition along with The Rape of the Sabine Women 1962, painted at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis on the verge of Third World War. Picasso's Dove of Peace became the emblem for the Peace Movement and universal symbol of hope during the Cold War. Picasso's lithograph of the fan-tailed pigeon, given to him by Matisse in 1948, was selected for the poster of the First International Peace Congress held in Paris in 1949. Picasso later provided variations on the dove for the Peace Congresses in Wroclaw, Stockholm, Sheffield, Vienna, Rome and Moscow. The dove also had a highly personal significance for Picasso going back to childhood memories of his father painting doves kept in the family home. In 1949 Picasso named his daughter 'Paloma' – Spanish for 'dove' – born in the same month as the Peace Congress in Paris. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was arguably the most influential and prolific artist of the 20th century. After 1944 Picasso, the greatest living artist, became a figurehead of left wing causes. He joined the Communist party in 1944 and it was during this period that the political content of his work came to the fore. His paintings frequently reference and comment upon key historical moments, chronicling human conflict and war, but also a desire for peace. The exhibition is organised by Tate Liverpool in collaboration with the Albertina, Vienna where it will be shown following its presentation in Liverpool. Vienna hosted the World Peace Congress in 1952, promoted by a poster featuring Picasso's drawing of a dove surrounded by a circle of interlocking hands.

Crocker Art Museum Announces Inaugural Exhibitions for Expanded Museum Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:45 PM PST SACRAMENTO, CA.- This fall the Crocker Art Museum will celebrate the opening of its 125,000-square-foot expansion, designed by Charles Gwathmey, with a retrospective of the work of Sacramento native Wayne Thiebaud. On view beginning October 10, 2010, Wayne Thiebaud: Homecoming is one of a series of special exhibitions that will inaugurate the galleries in the Crocker's new Teel Family Pavilion. Featuring more than 50 paintings and drawings spanning the artist's career, Wayne Thiebaud celebrates the work of Sacramento's most renowned artist.

Swann Galleries to Auction Fine Prints & Drawings in New York Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:44 PM PST New York City -Two back-to-back sales from Swann Galleries' prints and drawings department offer the widest array of works on paper this September.  On Thursday, September 18, a full-day sale will feature 100 Fine Works on Paper, followed by 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings.  The following Tuesday, September 23, Swann is offering a stellar private collection of American Prints Featuring Sporting Prints by Frank W. Benson, with a survey of fine American printmaking in the first half of the 20th century, including the largest collection of Frank W. Benson prints ever offered in a single auction. The first section of the September 18th sale of 100 Fine Works on Paper contains an embarass de richesses, including Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job, bound volume with 22 engravings, 1826 ($40,000 to $60,000); a lifetime impression of Whistler's scarce lithograph, The Little Nude Model, Reading, 1889-90 ($20,000 to $30,000); and Pissarro and Thornley's 25 Lithographies, complete portfolio, Paris, circa 1900 ($25,000 to $35,000).  Other notable works include Lautrec's Confetti, color lithograph, 1894 ($25,000 to $35,000); many Picassos including his scarce etching, En la Taberna, Pêcheurs Catalans en bordée (Au Cabaret) on Montval paper, before steel-facing of the plate, 1934 ($40,000 to $60,000); Feininger's Das Schiff, Abend, am Meer, watercolor and black ink, 1946 ($40,000 to $60,000); Chagall's scarce color lithograph, Bonjour sur Paris, 1952 ($30,000 to $50,000), and the cancelled copper plate for his etching, Les Amoreux dans le ciel de Saint-Paul, 1968 ($30,000 to $50,000).  A most unusual offering for Swann is Grandma Moses's Snow Roller of Vermont, oil on artist's board, 1944 ($30,000 to $50,000). The second session follows these standouts with another 571 lots of desirable European and American works on paper.           Tuesday, September 23, the prints and drawings department hosts a sale comprised of two private collections dedicated to American printmaking from the first half of the 20th century. The sale features the largest selection of prints by Frank W. Benson ever offered in a single auction, including his etchings of Old Tom, 1926 ($8,000 to $12,000) and Dory Fisherman, 1927 ($4,000 to $6,000), shore birds and camping scenes galore, and, in a different vein, his only still life print, and one of only 7 lithographs in his oeuvre. Other highlights include John Taylor Arms's West Forty-Second Street, Night ($7,000 to $10,000) and The Gates of the City, color aquatints, 1922 ($10,000 to $15,000); Gustave Baumann's Cholla and Sahuaro, color woodcut, 1924 ($10,000 to $15,000); four major prints by Martin Lewis including Rainy Day Queens, drypoint, 1931 ($15,000 to $20,000); and many examples by Stow Wengenroth, including Manhattan Gateway, lithograph, 1948 ($6,000 to $9,000). The first section of the auction on Thursday, September 18, will begin at 10:30 a.m. with 100 Fine Works on Paper.  19th and 20th Century Prints & Drawings will follow at about 11:30 a.m.  The afternoon session will begin at 2:30 p.m.  The American Prints Featuring Sporting Prints by Frank W. Benson sale will take place on Tuesday, September 23, and will begin at 1:30 p.m. The works of art will be on public exhibition at Swann Galleries on Saturday, September 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Monday, September 15, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday, September 16, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday, September 17, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  The American prints will continue to be on exhibition from Friday, September 19, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, September 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Monday, September 22, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Tuesday, September 23, from 10 a.m. to noon. A two-volume illustrated auction catalogue for the 100 Fine Works on Paper and 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings sale, with information on bidding by mail or fax, is available for $40 in the U.S. / $50 elsewhere from Swann Galleries, Inc., 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, or online at www.swanngalleries.com. An illustrated auction catalogue for the American Prints Featuring Sporting Prints by Frank Benson is available for $35. For further information, and to make advance arrangements to bid by telephone during the auction, please contact Todd Weyman at (212) 254-4710, extension 32, or via e-mail at tweyman-at-swanngalleries.com.

"Tony Berlant: New Works" on View at Brian Gross Fine Art in Los Angeles Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:43 PM PST Los Angeles, CA - Veteran Los Angeles artist, Tony Berlant, opens an exhibition of new works at Brian Gross Fine Art on Thursday, May 5, with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30pm. Berlant is renowned for his brilliantly colored metal collages on panel, which range from literal landscapes to pure abstractions. This new work turns toward the mystical, drawing on Eastern spiritual influences to create complex, transcendental compositions. Included in the exhibition are tall, vertical panels featuring a mysterious goddess figure that appears and disappears throughout the work. This goddess image appeared to Berlant when he photographed a section of the plywood floor in his studio and digitally altered the image to create a Rorschach effect. Berlant uses this manipulated image as a ground for several works, with varying amounts of overlaying collage in symmetrical compositions that seem to reference Eastern religious image and pattern, such as found in Tibetan thangkas.

Ketterer Kunst's December 10th Auction to Feature Modern & Post War/Contemporary Art Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:42 PM PST Munich, Germany.- Ketterer Kunst will be hosting their Modern and Post War/Contemporary Art Auction on December 10th. "It is a real sensation for the German art market. Works of such a remarkable nature are usually auctioned in London and New York", said Robert Ketterer about Hermann Max Pechstein's masterpiece with painting on both sides, which will be called up in the auction. In general, the range of offerings from Expressionism to Contemporary art is equally impressive, and features works by German masters such as Max Pechstein, Christian Rolff, Gabriele Münter, Karl Hofer, Max Beckmann, Emil Nolde, Anselm Kiefer, Max Liebermann, Otto Dix, Lyonel Feininger and Gerog Kolbe beside international works from Andy Warhol, Antoni Tàpies, Tom Wesselmann and Roy Lichtenstein among others. The Modern Art section is led by Hermann Max Pechstein's work "Weib mit Inder auf Teppich" and "Früchte II" respectively, as it is painted on both sides. The estimate is at €800.000-1.200.000. While the signed side with the still life references Cézanne and Matisse - indicating the artist's mastery in terms of composition and a stringent color expression - the nude captivates the observer with a sensual eroticism; an effect that is amplified by the expressive color value and the coarse painting technique. The primal directness of indigenous peoples by which the Brücke-artists were so impressed, finds expression in the couple's relaxed togetherness as well as in the choice of color: red-brown, yellow and green. A preliminary drawing of the Indian man is in the possession of the National Gallery in Berlin. Another top lot is a work by Conrad Felixmüller, which also carries the charming feature of being painted on both sides. While the rear side "Das eingeschlafene Modell II" (1940) is brilliantly kept in a form of Neorealism with its subtle coloring and material, the front side "Herbst in Klotzsche" (1920) deals with the atrocities of a senseless war. The estimate is at €250.000-350.000. With an estimate of €200.000-250.000 Fernand Leger's watercolor "Deux femmes à la toilette" from 1920 is just slightly below this mark. The work is a prime example of the artist's extraordinary mastery in composition and coloring. Christian Rohlf 's oil and tempera work "Soest" from 1916 will enter the race with an estimate of €140.000-180.000, just like several works by Gabriele Münter (among them "Stillleben mit Madonna", and "Murnauer Landschaft (Staffelsee)", each estimated at €180.000-240.000). Still, it is particularly Karl Hofer's striking "Mädchen mit Laute" from 1937 that will captivate the audience's attention. The artist made several versions of this subject, whereas two earlier works from 1932 and 1933 were pertinent to a rather formal structure. Later he abandoned this in favor of a more introvert perspective, which is why this work shows an almost lyrical trait that supports its theme. The dreamy look of the girl that seems to be lost in thought adds yet another atmospheric degree to the composition, just like the soft contours and the overall painting concept. The estimate is at €140.000-180.000. Slightly below this mark is a woodcut by Max Beckmann with an estimate of €100.000-150.000. His "Gruppenbildnis Edenbar" was made in 1923 and is definitely going to make as much furor as the portfolio "Jahrmarkt" which was made two years earlier. The latter has been estimated at €30.000-40.000. With its ten drypoint etchings it counts among the artist's most important graphic works. Besides Emil Nolde's "Marschlandschaft" (estimate: €100.000-120.000), the range of offerings is rounded off by Max Liebermann's "Dorfhäuser mit Sonnenblumen" (estimate: €90.000-120.000), the oil painting "Frühling auf der Höri mit Blick auf Steckborn" by Otto Dix and by Georg Kolbe's bronze "Auferstehung" (estimate €60.000-80.000 each), as well as by works by the following artists: Ernst Barlach, Lyonel Feininger, Erich Heckel, Wassily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Pablo Picasso, Hans Purrmann, Leo Putz and Paul Signac. Of course, an auction of this type cannot be complete without Otto Mueller, whose watercolor and chalk work "Zwei Mädchenakte/Zwei sitzende Akte" has been estimated at €80.000-120.000. Another artist worthwhile mentioning is Willi Baumeister with his oil painting "Nocturno mit roten Segmenten" (estimate: €70.000-90.000). The Post War/Contemporary section is led by several works carrying estimates between €70.000 to 90.000. Both familiar and yet unusual is Eberhard Havekost's oil painting "Benutzeroberfläche 5" from 2001 as well as the work "Figur Flora" by Horst Antes, which already alludes to the artist's later figure "Kopffüßler (Head Footer)", a figure exclusively made in cross-section. The same estimates have also been tagged to two sculptures which emanate a lust for life in quite different manners. While Giacomo Manzù's "Cardinale seduto" almost seems affable in its form and impression, the skinny, rhythmically bundled pipes of the plastic "Große Vierung" by Martin and Brigitte Matschinsky-Denninghoff seem to aspire an organic vitality. Next to the two large bronzes by Jörg Immendorff "Ich im Pinselwald" and "Sieger", which will both be called up with estimates of €60.000-80.000 each, this section also proudly presents two oil paintings by the Munich artist Rupprecht Geiger. While "467/67" from 1967 has been estimated at €40.000-60.000, the estimate for "419/65" is at €25.000-35.000. Other exciting works, among others, are by Markus Lüpertz ("Beethoven", estimate: €50.000-60.000), Günther Uecker ("Modell für Grossobjekt", estimate: € 30.000-40.000), Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Norbert Bisky, Bernhard Heisig, Markus Lüpertz, Anselm Kiefer, Sigmar Polke, Emil Schumacher, Antoni Tàpies, Fred Thieler, Tom Wesselmann and Fritz Winter. Since it was founded in 1954, Ketterer Kunst has been firmly established in the front ranks of auction houses dealing in art and rare books, with its headquarters in Munich and a branch in Hamburg. Gallery rooms in Berlin as well as representatives in Heidelberg and Krefeld have contributed substantially to the company's success. Ketterer Kunst has further rounded off its portfolio with the prestigious Ernest Rathenau Verlag, New York/Munich. In addition, exhibitions, special theme and charity auctions as well as online auctions are regular events at Ketterer Kunst. Robert Ketterer is auctioneer and owner of Ketterer Kunst.  Visit the auction house's website at ... http://www.kettererkunst.com/

" Pacific Encounters " Polynesia Art at The Sainsbury Centre Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:41 PM PST Norwich, England - The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) East has announced that The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts based at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, will be open to the public following a major, 21-month refurbishment and building project.  The world-class Foster and Partners' building will celebrate its re-opening on 21 May with a unique Exhibition entitled 'Pacific Encounters: Art & Divinity in Polynesia 1760 - 1860'.  Architecture week offers the ideal opportunity to explore the 'new look' building and a unique exhibition, which is the most comprehensive celebration of the arts of Polynesia ever mounted.  Many items, which have been loaned by the British Museum and other museums across the world, are being displayed for the first time in the UK and feature 270 rare and extraordinary sculptures, ornaments, textiles and valuables.

‘Samuel Beckett: a passion for paintings’ at National Gallery of Ireland Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:40 PM PST Dublin, Ireland - While many contemporary artists have found inspiration in Beckett's drama, the emphasis of this exhibition is to look at the influence that art and artists had on his life and work.  Beginning with his visits to the National Gallery of Ireland as a young student and later lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, the exhibition reveals three key relationships in the writer's life; his relationship with the Gallery where, in the words of biographer James Knowlson, Beckett was 'weaned on the old masters'; with poet, art critic and former Director, Thomas MacGreevy; and with Jack B. Yeats. Bringing together over 40 works of art drawn from the National Gallery's collection as well as public and private collections in Ireland and abroad, the exhibition features familiar names from the 14th century to the present day, such as Silvestro dei Gherarducci, Perugino, Albrecht Dürer, Nicolas Poussin, Paul Cézanne, Edvard Munch, Jack B. Yeats, Alberto Giacometti, Bram van Velde, Avigdor Arikha, Henri Hayden and Stanley William Hayter.  The exhibition also investigates his experiences of art in London, Germany and Paris.  On exhibition until 17 September, 2006. On show together for the first time are a number of works by artists whom Beckett knew and befriended; Henri Hayden (Vue sur Signy Signets) Jack B. Yeats (A Morning, Regatta Evening and Cornerboys); Avigdor Arikha (The Golden Calf), and a number of compositions by Bram and Geer van Velde.  Fionnuala Croke, Head of Exhibitions, says that central to the show is the correspondence between Beckett and his Kerry-born friend, Thomas MacGreevy, whom he met in Paris in 1928 and who later became Director of the National Gallery of Ireland (1950-1963).  It was MacGreevy who introduced Beckett to James Joyce and other prominent writers and painters of the day.  The two men became life-long friends and wrote to each other regularly.  From that correspondence, drawn from the Manuscripts Department in Trinity College Dublin, we get an unrivalled picture of Beckett's developing interest in art. The exhibition also has on display a number of 'livres d'artistes' or artists' books where some of the most innovative responses to Beckett's work can be found.  Each of the artists' books are collaborations or dialogues of word and image between Beckett and artists, such as Louis le Brocquy (Stirrings Still), Avigdor Arikha (Au Loin un Oiseau), Stanley William Hayter (Still), Dellas Henke (4 original etchings from 'Waiting for Godot'), and Charles Klabunde (The Lost Ones) . The artistic aspect to Beckett is explored in detail in the accompanying publication, Samuel Beckett: a passion for paintings with an introduction by Fionnuala Croke and Dr. Riann Coulter, and essays by leading international and Irish scholars: Nicholas Allen, James Knowlson, David Lloyd, Lois Oppenheim and Susan Schreibman. Visit The National Gallery of Ireland at : www.nationalgallery.ie

This Week in Review in Art Knowledge News Posted: 07 Mar 2012 06:39 PM PST 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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