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

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• Experimental & Affordable Works of Art Shown at London Art Fair
• ART-ATHINA Contemporary Art Fair Opens in Athens
• Jake and Dinos Chapman Open New Exhibition at White Cube, London
• The Saatchi Gallery Brings "British Art Now" to the Art Gallery of South Australia
• The Boston Globe Names the ICA ~ "Biggest Arts Story of the Decade"
• The Hammer Museum Presents "Now Dig This!" ~ African American Artists
• "Rockwell's America" named London's best art exhibition for 2011 by American Spectator magazine
• British Painter Nigel Cooke Opens at Stuart Shave-Modern Art
• Francis Newton Souza Revealed & Celebrated at Christie's June Sale
• The Tarble Arts Center Shows 82 Years of Painting from the Collection
• Birmingham Museum of Art opens New Gallery Reflecting African-American Experience
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents Spanish Painting
• Nassau County Museum of Art Showcases the Romantic Fascination of the Sea
• Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents Large-Scale Solo Dedicated to the Work of Anish Kapoor
• The Honolulu Museum of Art to display Hiroshige's "Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô"
• Art Knowledge News Presents "This Week In Review"

Experimental & Affordable Works of Art Shown at London Art Fair Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:16 PM PDT LONDON.- London Art Fair is the premier UK art fair for Modern British and Contemporary art. Now in its 22nd year, it features over 100 galleries presenting the great names of 20th Century British art and exceptional contemporary work from leading figures and emerging talent. This year the section featured large scale installation, mixed media and video work, photography, limited edition prints and multiples and contemporary painting. This year London Art Fair also welcomed 176/Zabludowicz Collection Editions. Art Projects Now in its 6th year, the Art Projects section expands into a new space with 25 projects featuring emerging artists and new work. Established as one of the most exciting sections of the Fair, Art Projects encompasses solo and curated group displays and large scale installation from an exciting forum of international galleries including Foley Gallery (New York), gallery baer (Dresden), Galerie f5,6 (Munich), Antena Estudio (Mexico City) , as well as BEAR SPACE (London), CHARLIE SMITH London, FOLD Gallery (London), Monika Bobinska (London), Rod Barton (London) and Sumarria Lunn (London). Galleries exhibiting in Art Projects: Antena Estudio (Mexico City), BEAR SPACE (London), CHARLIE SMITH London, FOLD Gallery (London), Foley Gallery (New York), galerie baer (Dresden), Galerie f5,6 (Munich), Golden Thread Gallery (Belfast), HF Contemporary Art (Welham Green), I-MYU Projects (London), James Hyman Gallery (London), L-13 LIW (London), Mauger Modern (Bath), Monika Bobinska (London), Open Gallery (London), ORDINARY-LIGHT Photography (London), Pavilion (Leeds), Rod Barton (London) Sarah Myerscough Fine Art (London), Sesame Gallery (London), Sumarria Lunn (London), The Catlin Guide (London), The Multiple Store (London), The Steps Gallery (London). Saatchi Gallery Bookshop, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and The Whitechapel, all selling limited edition prints and multiples. AXA Art, the Contemporary Art Society and Own Art will be leading tours of the Fair and there is also a programme of talks and discussion with partners including The Art Fund and Apollo Magazine. All talks, tours and discussions are FREE to attend with a Fair ticket or invitation. A limited number of places could be reserved in advance.

ART-ATHINA Contemporary Art Fair Opens in Athens Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:15 PM PDT Athens.- Between May 12th and 15th ART-ATHINA continues its exemplary mission of promoting art, and in particular contemporary artistic creation, making a keenly anticipated return with its 17th edition. ART-ATHINA 2011 will take place at the Faliro Pavilion (TaeKwonDo), widely regarded as the perfect venue for the event. This year, a similar number of galleries and cultural institutions will be participating (58 and 40 respectively), offering visitors the opportunity to enjoy a panorama of contemporary Greek and international art through the work of more than 300 artists, and also through the exhibits of museums, cultural institutions and art publications. The works of art on sale at the exhibition will attract any potential buyer, since their prices will start from 300 Euros and they will even include works that could form part of museum or large private collections.

Jake and Dinos Chapman Open New Exhibition at White Cube, London Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:14 PM PDT LONDON.- White Cube presents a new exhibition by Jake and Dinos Chapman. Jake and Dinos Chapman began their artistic collaboration after graduating from the Royal College of Art in London in 1990 when they created We are Artists. Since this self-defining anti-aesthetic manifesto was first stencilled onto a mud-splattered wall at the ICA London in 1992 they have developed their own shared discourse as 'sore-eyed scopophiliac oxymorons' with, as they put it at the time, 'a benevolent contingency of conceits'. Exhibition on view 15th July through 17th September.

The Saatchi Gallery Brings "British Art Now" to the Art Gallery of South Australia Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:13 PM PDT Adelaide, AU.- "Saatchi Gallery in Adelaide: British Art Now" will bring together the audacious best of contemporary art straight from London's internationally acclaimed Saatchi Gallery – arguably the biggest influence on contemporary British art over the past 25 years. It features groundbreaking works that challenge conventional artistic sensibilities, created by more than forty of the new generation of daring British contemporary artists. "Saatchi Gallery in Adelaide: British Art Now" will be on view at the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide from 30th July until 23rd October. "Saatchi Gallery in Adelaide: British Art Now"  will provide an incredibly rare opportunity to engage Australian audiences with the new generation of UK artists through their cutting-edge works. Audiences will be able to view works by more than 40 of the UK's most important and challenging emerging contemporary artists across media including installation, assemblages, painting, sculpture, drawing, photography and printmaking. "British Art Now" will be the biggest exhibition ever mounted by the AGSA, taking three quarters of the museum's display space, and the first time that the Saatchi Gallery have mounted an exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere. Twelve years ago, the National Gallery of Australia cancelled the provocative "Sensation" exhibition of contemporary art from London's Saatchi Gallery the gallery's director deciding the exhibition was "too close to the market." Among the 150 works will be sculptures, photography, painting and installations from artists including Hurvin Anderson, Matthew Darbyshire, Donald Urquhart, Jonathan Baldock and Karla Black. Although the new exhibition will will feature mostly new British contemporary art, several older works will be on view, including Tracey Emin's My Bed (a life-size installation of Emin's messed-up bed alongside a pile of personal detritus), which caused a sensation when it was first displayed in 1998 (but which was not part of the "Sensation" exhibition). The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), is the premier arts institution in the Australian state of South Australia. It has, after Victoria, the largest state art collection in Australia. With a large collection of more than 35,000 works of art and more than 510,000 visitors annually, the AGSA is renowned for its leading collections of Australian art (notably Indigenous Australian and colonial art), European art and Asian art, as well as for its innovative exhibitions. The gallery was established in 1881, and has existed at its current location since 1900. Subsequent renovations and a significant extension of the building which opened in 1996 added contemporary display space without compromising the interior of the original Victorian building. Visit : www.artgallery.sa.gov.au/

The Boston Globe Names the ICA ~ "Biggest Arts Story of the Decade" Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:12 PM PDT BOSTON, MA.- In a round-up of major developments on the Boston art scene, the Boston Globe recently named the Institute of Contemporary Art, ICA "the biggest art story of the decade." Following a string of successful shows, such as Anish Kapoor, Past, Present, Future, Tara Donovan, and Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand, the ICA's latest exhibition, Damián Ortega: Do It Yourself , is on view for just a few more weeks. Called "masterful" (Art Papers), "seductive" (New York Times), and "a kind of magic act" (Boston Globe), it closes Jan. 18th.

The Hammer Museum Presents "Now Dig This!" ~ African American Artists Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:11 PM PDT Los Angeles, CA.- The Hammer Museum is proud to present "Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980", a comprehensive exhibition that examines the vital legacy of the city's African American visual artists. "Now Dig This!" comprises 140 works from 35 artists that have rarely been shown in a museum setting and includes early pieces by now well-established artists as well as works once considered "lost." The exhibition expands the art historical record by presenting an array of artists, some not widely recognized by a broad public, and connecting their work to the movements, trends, and ideas that fueled the arts in Los Angeles during this period. The work of these African American practitioners was animated to an extent by the civil rights and Black Power movements reflecting the changing sense of what constituted African American identity and American culture. Artists featured in the exhibition include Melvin Edwards, Fred Eversley, David Hammons, Maren Hassinger, Senga Nengudi, John Outterbridge, Alonzo Davis, Dale Brockman Davis, Noah Purifoy, Betye Saar, and Charles White. "Now Dig This!" is presented as part of Pacific Standard Time, a collaboration of more than sixty cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together for six months beginning in October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene and how it became a new force in the art world. Organized by the Hammer and curated by Columbia University professor Kellie Jones, "Now Dig This!" will chronicle and celebrate this nuanced and multicultural history of Los Angeles. "Now Dig This!" is on view at the museum through January 8th 2012. "Pacific Standard Time is a very significant event for the city of Los Angeles. The deep and remarkable history it explores serves as a foundation for the thriving creative community of artists living and working here today," remarks Hammer director Ann Philbin. "Now Dig This! reveals a specific moment when a group of African American artists, gallerists, writers, and collectors generated a nexus of creativity and influence that is largely unknown to the general public."  While much has been written about artists like Ed Ruscha, Judy Chicago, Edward Kienholz, and Bruce Nauman, artists like Fred Eversley, John Otterbridge, and Noah Purifoy have not enjoyed the same recognition. Additionally, there has been significant attention paid to Los Angeles's Ferus Gallery and the development of Artforum magazine, however far less is known about their African American counterparts such as Alonzo and Dale Davis, owners of the Brockman Gallery; and Samella Lewis, who began Black Art: An International Quarterly (now the International Review of African American Art) and wrote the two-volume Black Artists on Art. "The artists that have been included in "Now Dig This!" represent a vibrant group whose work is critical to a more complete and dynamic understanding of twentieth century American art. Their influence goes beyond their immediate creative circles and their legacy is something we are only now beginning to fully understand," says exhibition curator Kellie Jones. By illuminating the richness and complexity of this creative community, "Now Dig This!" demonstrates how these African American artists and friends were not working in isolation but were quite integral to the developing U.S. art scene during the latter part of the twentieth century. The exhibition will offer a fuller view of the changing art landscape during this important era of artistic and cultural ferment, as artists shifted from more traditional formats such as painting and works on paper to modes such as assemblage, finish fetish (a West Coast style of minimalism), postminimalism, conceptualism, and performance. The Hammer Museum explores the capacity of art to impact and illuminate our lives. Through its collections, exhibitions and programs, the Hammer examines the depth and diversity of artistic expression through the centuries with a special emphasis on art of our time. At the core of the Hammer's mission is the recognition that artists play a crucial role in all aspects of human experience. The Hammer advances UCLA's mission by contributing to the intellectual life of the University and the world beyond. The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Culture Center (AHMACC) opened to the public in November 1990. Founded by Dr. Armand Hammer, former Chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, the Museum was designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes. Financed by Occidental, the Museum was built adjacent to the Corporation's international headquarters in Westwood. At that time, the Museum featured galleries for Dr. Hammer's collections — old master paintings and drawings, and a collection of works on paper by Honore Daumier and his contemporaries — as well as galleries for traveling exhibitions. Dr. Hammer died in December 1990, three weeks after the opening of the Museum. Upon his death, all construction was halted and the building was never completed, leaving many spaces unfinished — most importantly, the 300-seat theater on the courtyard level. In 1992, the Museum began negotiations with its neighbor, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to assume the management and operations of the institution. In April 1994, the partnership with UCLA was finalized and the following year the University relocated to the Hammer its collections and the staff of the Wight Art Gallery and the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts. The Hammer also assumed responsibility for the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden, located at the north end of the UCLA campus. Today, the Museum's exhibitions present contemporary and historical work in all media of the visual arts. Through its exhibitions, the Museum is committed to promoting cultural understanding, to introducing the work of underrepresented artists, and to interpreting art of the past and present. In addition to selections from its permanent collections, the Museum has a series of temporary exhibitions, including Hammer Projects. All of the Museum's exhibitions are accompanied by extensive public programs. In its role as a cultural center, the Museum endeavors to be a vibrant intellectual forum for the exploration of cultural, political, and social issues. To this end, the Museum offers a rich variety of public programs such as lectures, symposia, film series, readings, and musical performances. The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center is operated by the University of California, Los Angeles. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has partially endowed the Museum and constructed the Occidental Petroleum Cultural Center Building, which houses the Museum. Visit the museum's website at ... http://hammer.ucla.edu

"Rockwell's America" named London's best art exhibition for 2011 by American Spectator magazine Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:10 PM PDT LONDON.- The American Spectator magazine's December/January 2012 issue named the National Museum of American Illustration's Norman Rockwell's America - at London's oldest art museum, Dulwich Picture Gallery for their Bicentennial Celebration last year- to be London's best art exhibition of 2011. The exhibition drew record-setting attendance numbers as the first ever showing of Rockwell's original artworks in the UK, and is now on display at the NMAI in Newport, Rhode Island under the title Norman Rockwell: American Imagist. The National Museum of American Illustration (NMAI) is a nonprofit independent, educational, and aesthetic organization located in Vernon Court. It is the first national museum devoted exclusively to illustration art, images created to be reproduced in books, periodicals, art prints, and advertisements.

British Painter Nigel Cooke Opens at Stuart Shave-Modern Art Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:09 PM PDT LONDON.- Stuart Shave/Modern Art presents a solo exhibition of new work by the British painter Nigel Cooke, Night Crossing. This is Cooke's fourth solo exhibition with Modern Art. Nigel Cooke's paintings construct a dark and melancholic world; a deeply psychologised landscape filled with an atmosphere that articulates the trauma of creative dereliction. At its core, Cooke's work is an allegorical conception of creativity and production, played out in a world populated by artists and philosophers. This is a place haunted by vagrant and degenerate martyrs who have caved-in to a parody of existentialism and committed themselves to experience over abstractions of thought. These characters abandon reason, willfully and foolishly throwing themselves headlong into the unseen and unknown. On view 30 April until 29 May.

Francis Newton Souza Revealed & Celebrated at Christie's June Sale Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:08 PM PDT LONDON.- Christie's unveils an unprecedented sale of works of art selected from the Estate of Francis Newton Souza to take place on 9 June 2010 as part of the South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art auction. Comprising over 150 lots created throughout the artist's career - from the late 1930s through to the 1990s and through his time in India, London and New York – the sale includes paintings, drawings, collages, watercolours and prints as well as ten revealing sketch books. Estimates range from £1,000 to £150,000, offering collectors an extraordinary and unprecedented opportunity to participate in an event that celebrates and commemorates one of 20th Century India's leading artists.  "Christie's has been given unprecedented access to the life, studio and works of the late F.N. Souza to stage an auction event that will honour this extraordinary artist," said Hugo Weihe, Senior Vice President, Christie's. "This sale encapsulates the evolution of an artist both in terms of media represented and also the chronology of his development. We are also delighted to offer works that were exhibited at the Tate Britain retrospective alongside many previously unpublished pieces". Early Years in India Francis Newton Souza was born in 1924 in Goa, India. Raised as a Roman Catholic, he attended St Xavier's, a prestigious Jesuit school in Bombay. In 1940, he enrolled at the Sir JJ School of Art, Bombay. After the Second World War, the Indian Independence movement revived and his painting became increasingly political, a development he claimed led to his expulsion from art school. In 1947, Souza co-founded the Progressive Artists' Group. Their goal was to find a powerful new artistic expression, distancing itself from established academic traditions. The initial political content of the artists' work gave way to a sensuous eroticism which provoked the disapproval of the art establishment. This attitude may have prompted Souza's decision to move to England in 1949 following an invitation from the British High Commissioner to exhibit there. A stunning Self-portrait, watercolour, dated 1949 (estimate: £12,000-18,000), is a study to the life-size nude Souza produced that same year. The latter featured in a solo exhibition at Tate Britain in 2005. This work shows the care that the artist undertook with preparatory works and illustrates the layered application later evident in the oil painting. The angular outlines and strong brushstrokes, coupled with opposing colours, show affinity with artists Oskar Kokoscha and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. From the same period, Christ Head, oil on board, 1948 (estimate: £50.000-80.000), reflects the artist's occupation with religion, a theme he revisited throughout his career which stems from his strict Roman Catholic upbringing and his anti-clerical stance on the Church. His perception of sin and oppressive political order informs his treatment of subjects like the Crucifixion and explores man's brutality towards its own species. This heavy impasto work with its stained glass effects was of particular such personal importance that he kept the painting in his possession throughout his life. It is labelled NFS (not for sale) on the reverse alluding to this attachment. London – 1950s and 1960s After his arrival in 1949, Souza's first years in Britain were challenging as he was an unknown to the art world, despite his certain notoriety in India. He could not gain access to the support structure that provided teaching posts and grants for British artists, and was further distanced by the pervasive racism of British society in the 1950s. Souza struggled to make a living as a painter or a writer. The turning point came in 1954 when he became close to author Stephen Spender, who helped with introductions in the art world. This led to his first exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). In 1955, Victor Musgrave's Gallery One mounted Souza's first solo exhibition in Britain, and from 1956 until the early 1960s, he was also heavily supported by Harold Kovner, an American patron. "For me, the all pervading and crucial themes of the predicament of man are those of religion and sex" stated Souza in an interview in 1964. His style and subject matter became more extreme after his move to Britain and the raw, expressionist style that he had already developed found a context in the work of Francis Bacon and Graham Sutherland. Bacon had already created works that fused religious and erotic imagery, however Souza's works did not express the horror of the human condition rather they revealed the salvation of mankind through Christ's sacrifice. Dating from this period is Souza's Untitled (The Pope), signed Souza 55, ink on paper (estimate: £4,500-6,000). The artist's travels afforded him viewings of Diego Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1650) and Francisco de Goya's Pinturas Negras (c. 1819), which incidentally are often cited as influence to Souza's black paintings of 1965. These works also influenced a series of disturbing images such as this example. Much like Bacon's obsession with this subject matter, Souza also paid attention to the mouth and teeth with heavily-loaded symbolism. Red Curse, 1962, painted on black satin, is a powerful work exhibited at Souza's Gallery One solo exhibition in that year. Its composition brings to mind the artist's interest in the notions of biological mutations and the nuclear bomb at this time. A dramatic work, it is enhanced by the artist's choice of media as it was typical of Souza to experiment painting on a wealth of different fabrics in his process. Reflecting London as a source of inspiration are Red Mansion, 1964 (estimate: £20,000-30,000), a classic Souza landscape inspired by his immediate surroundings. The characteristic lopsided houses and rich primary colours, fractured with bold, black lines, creates a world of choreographed chaos depicted with a rigorous energy that is synonymous with the artist. Also from this period is Untitled (Inner Circle), signed Souza 1965 (estimate: £35,000-45,000), a set of twenty two drawings produced by the artist in 1966 for the Macmillan published novel 'Inner Circle' by author Jerzy Peterkiewicz. This group includes the artist's personal copy of the book along with additional drawings not reproduced for this project. Late 1960s – New York In 1967, after shows in Europe, India and the United States, Souza moved to New York. Although he struggled to find an audience in America, his years there produced a dramatic period of technical experimentation. Unpublished Diary Extract: 5 October 1969 'I asked Barbara to describe my work in three words: she said, you paint "Sex, Violence and the Mind!" Matisse said, "I should like any man who is feeling defeated to gain a sense of calm and repose when he looks at my paintings". I would like my paintings to disturb the calm, the smug – in fact they do and that is why I am described by a German critic as a painter who makes Expressionists look friendly!' Unpublished Diary Extract: 1 October 1970 New York – Manhattan in particular, is a dazzling hell-heaven on earth. Its truly the most original city in the world, churning out the past present and future day and night non stop. More Recent Works – 1990s onwards Building on his skill as a draughtsman, Souza experimented with various forms of interventions in his process, as seen in his innovative 'chemical drawings'. These used solvents as the artist was fascinated by the notion of creating art out of nothing, painting without paint. Untitled (Couple), 1997, (estimate: £5,000-7,000) is a fascinating example. This playful, liberated late work exudes a more lighthearted Souza, drawing figures on recycled wrapping paper that no longer seem tormented and angry but are regal. Technical Range and Virtuosity Additional highlights in the sale include sketch books and works on paper which offer a fascinating insight into his working methods and development.

The Tarble Arts Center Shows 82 Years of Painting from the Collection Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:07 PM PDT Charleston, IL.- The full range of oil and acrylic paintings found in the Tarble Arts Center's permanent collection are presented in the Tarble's summer exhibition. Titled "From the Collection: 82 Years of Painting", the exhibition is on view now. Paintings in a wide variety of styles and approaches are presented – Midwest Impressionism, folk art, and different forms of abstract art and representational art, from forms of Cubism to Surrealism to Photo-Realism.  Subjects include landscapes, still lifes, portraits, even some barn paintings. The paintings date from 1927 to 2009.

Birmingham Museum of Art opens New Gallery Reflecting African-American Experience Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:06 PM PDT BIRMINGHAM, AL.- The Birmingham Museum of Art opens on August 30, 2009, a gallery dedicated to the work of African-American artists. One of the few in the U.S., the gallery will reflect the depth of the Museum's permanent collection, highlight new acquisitions, and feature traveling exhibitions as well as works on loan from other institutions and private collections rarely seen by the general public. The Museum's curators of African, Contemporary, and American art will collaborate on installations to rotate on a quarterly basis. African-American art will continue to be shown in the Contemporary, American, and Folk Art galleries of the Museum.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents Spanish Painting Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:05 PM PDT New York City - The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso: Time, Truth, and History, a panoramic overview of the history of five centuries of Spanish art, on view through March 28, 2007.  Approximately 140 paintings by Spanish masters, including El Greco, Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Zurbarán, José de Ribera, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Francisco de Goya, Juan Gris, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso, have been culled from private and public collections throughout Spain, Europe, and the U.S., in this first historical overview of Spanish painting to be seen in New York. Spanish Painting from El Greco to Picasso: Time, Truth, and History brings together for the first time works by the great Spanish masters of the 16th through the 20th centuries: Francisco de Zurbarán, Diego Velázquez, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Francisco de Goya, Juan Gris, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, and many others, as well as El Greco and Pablo Picasso.  Unlike other overviews that display paintings in a strictly chronological order, this exhibition is broken into fifteen distinct sections, each based on a theme running through the past five centuries of Spanish culture.  These thematic axes highlight affinities between the art of the old masters and that of the modern era, and challenge conventional art histories that would seek to separate them.  Accordingly, works from different periods appear side by side within each section, offering often radical juxtapositions that cut across time to reveal the overwhelming coherence of the Spanish tradition. Until recently art historians bracketed Spanish painting between El Greco and Goya, maintaining that 20th-century avant-garde movements such as Cubism and Surrealism—both of which were pioneered by artists of Spanish origin—broke completely with the traditions that preceded them.  Today we have sufficient historical perspective to see that, despite their revolutionary aesthetic leaps, the great artists of the early twentieth century were nourished by traditional models that were, furthermore, local in character.  These models found their source in the Spanish School of the late-16th and 17th centuries, an era commonly regarded as the Golden Age of Spanish painting.  The aesthetic styles developed during these years—from the visionary opulence of El Greco to the intimate naturalism of Velázquez—dominated artistic production in Spain throughout the following two-and-a-half centuries, as the nation's imperial power declined and Spain became increasingly isolated internationally.  Even Goya, arguably the greatest Spanish painter of the 19th century, could break free from his forerunners only by looking them square in the eye; as the French romantic poet Théophile Gautier observed, "In his desire for artistic innovation, Goya found himself confronted by the old Spain." By the late 19th century, following Goya and the spirit of romanticism, a national critical conscience had awoken in Spain's artists and intellectuals, but the country's antiquated political, social, and economic structures largely thwarted this modernizing impulse.  This began a long period of exile or simple emigration, which marked the careers of all the 20th-century masters exhibited here. During this time many stereotypical treatments of recurring subjects that had formed in the wake of Spain's Golden Age were cast in a new light, as Europe rediscovered the art of the Spanish School and began to write its history for the first time.  Chief among these characteristics was Spain's resolute anticlassicism, which was reflected in its timeless customs, its culture, and its art, and which came to be seen as a source of resistance to the overwhelming homogeneity associated with an industrialized, modern world.  Thus as Spanish artists stigmatized the ideological clichés of traditional Spain, they also realized that formal innovation could only come if these same aesthetic values were brought up to date.  It is this endless return and reappropriation on a formal and iconographic level that binds together the works of Spanish artists, from Picasso, reaching back through Goya, to the masters of the Golden Age.  These connections become especially apparent in particular themes of subject matter, whether established genres, such as still life, landscape, or portraiture, or apparently simple depictions of children, nudes, crucifixions, or domestic scenes.  Each of these themes originates in the culture of 16th-century Spain, which was especially influenced by the Counter-Reformation, during which the Catholic Church reaffirmed its dogma, structure, and social role in response to the burgeoning threat of Protestantism.  Despite this foundation in the past, the themes play out over the ensuing centuries, setting the basic terms for Spanish painting even as historical contexts and stylistic tendencies change dramatically. Visit The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum at : www.guggenheim.org/

Nassau County Museum of Art Showcases the Romantic Fascination of the Sea Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:04 PM PDT ROSLYN HARBOR.- Nassau County Museum of Art's (NCMA) newest exhibition portrays the magnetism we feel for bodies of water alongside the dangers, even the terror, that seas often present. This exhibition examines the romantic fascination artists have always had for expanses of water through American and European artists working in many styles from the mid-19th century to the present. Organized by Director Emerita Constance Schwartz, the exhibition opens on Saturday, June 5 and remains on view through Sunday, September 12. The Sea Around Us is sponsored by David Lerner Associates with additional sponsorship by Astoria Federal Savings.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents Large-Scale Solo Dedicated to the Work of Anish Kapoor Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:03 PM PDT BILBAO, SPAIN - The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao presents the first large-scale solo exhibition in Spain dedicated to the work of Anish Kapoor. Over the past thirty years, Kapoor has gained international acclaim as one of the most influential and significant artists of his generation. His exploration of form and space and his use of color and material have profoundly influenced the course of contemporary sculpture. Organized by the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the exhibition, conceived and installed in close collaboration with the artist, offers insight into Kapoor's working method and creative process, and includes twenty major works from several series spanning the 1970s to the present. On view from 16 March to 12 October 2010.

The Honolulu Museum of Art to display Hiroshige's "Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô" Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:02 PM PDT Honolulu, Hawaii.- In Japanese art only a handful of names are as universally recognizable as Leonardo da Vinci, Claude Monet or Andy Warhol. One of these artists is Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). And this summer the Honolulu Museum of Art presents "Hiroshige: An Artist's Journey", an exhibition featuring one of the Japanese master's most iconic series — The Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô. As popular today as he was in the 19th century, Hiroshige had a lasting influence on Western artists such as Vincent van Gogh and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. One of the things that people love about his prints is the fact that you get the opportunity to discover not only the artist, but the Japan of his time," says Shawn Eichman, the museum's Curator of Asian Art. "There's a real sense of nostalgia in his prints. It is like looking through a window to the last days of Japan before it became a modern nation." "Hiroshige: An Artist's Journey" will be on view at the museum from June 14th through August 12th. What also makes Hiroshige stand out among Japanese artists is the deep humanity of his work, as compared to his equally famous contemporary Katsushika Hokusai, who is known for his masterful draftsmanship. "Whereas Hokusai would use people as elements of an overall graphic design, Hiroshige would often downplay the elements of graphic design and drawing in favor of capturing the sense of humanity of the scene," says the curator. With more than 3,000 Hiroshige prints, the Honolulu Museum of Art has the world's largest collection of works by the artist. The exhibition includes some of the museum's most renowned prints by Hiroshige, such as Kambara, heralded as one of the most lyrical compositions ever done by the artist. The museum's Kambara is universally recognized as the finest surviving impression of this print. The exhibition will also be a chance to see early and late impressions of different prints from the very unique series together, and to understand the ways in which woodblock prints changed over time. "One of the reasons Hiroshige is so well loved is he depicts human subjects with a great deal of sensitivity and familiarity, and portrays them doing everyday things. He often took the common man as his subject. You don't just see images of actors, courtesans or historical figures. You see farmers working in a field and stopping in a teahouse for a snack. He had a real sense for capturing the beauty of everyday life." At the age of 36, Hiroshige emerged in the public eye with his first major series, The Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô, depicting the landmarks along one of the major official roads connecting the ancient capital—and home of the emperor—in Kyoto with the new political center of Edo (modern Tokyo). The exhibition's title refers to Hiroshige's momentous first, life-changing trip on the Tôkaidô. At this time, the Japanese were increasingly interested in their own landscape as an art subject. As government restrictions eased, more people were able to travel, and they became fascinated with their island nation's famous scenic spots. The Fifty-three Stations of the Tôkaidô would become one of the most iconic artistic statements of the 19th century, and established Hiroshige as the leading figure in the genre of landscape prints. Hiroshige would return to the subject repeatedly throughout his career, but his first series enjoyed a special popularity and influenced countless other artists from his generation. The increase in travel within Japan in the 19th century led to the development of a new audience full of wanderlust. "Often these prints would be bought as souvenirs," says Eichman. "The wave of Japanese travelers coming to Hawai'i today is an extension of that interest developed in the 19th century. The huge tourism boom that you see in contemporary Japan is the development of a trend that is embodied by artists like Hiroshige." The Honolulu Museum of Art is one of the world's premier art museums, and presents international caliber special exhibitions as well as traditional Asian and Hawaiian art. Located in two of Honolulu's most beautiful buildings, visitors enjoy two cafés, gardens, and films and concerts at the theater. Since its founding in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke and opening April 8, 1927, its collections have grown to over 40,000 works of art. The Honolulu Museum of Art has a large collection of Asian art, especially Japanese and Chinese works. Major collections include the Samuel H. Kress collection of Italian Renaissance paintings, American and European paintings and decorative arts, art of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, textiles, contemporary art, and a graphics collection of over 23,000 works on paper. Other collections include the James A. Michener collection of ukiyo-e prints and the Hawaiian art collection, which chronicles the history of art in Hawaii. The collection also includes three-dimensional works by Alexander Archipenko, Leonard Baskin, Lee Bontecou, Émile Antoine Bourdelle, Alexander Calder, Dale Chihuly, John Talbott Donoghue, Jacob Epstein, Jun Kaneko, Gaston Lachaise, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Jacques Lipschitz, Claude Michel (called Clodion), Henry Moore, Elie Nadelman, George Nakashima, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi, Hiram Powers, George Rickey, Auguste Rodin, James Rosati, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Lucas Samaras, David Smith, Mark di Suvero and Jack Zajac. The permanent collection is presented in 32 galleries and six courtyards. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.honoluluacademy.org/

Art Knowledge News Presents "This Week In Review" Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:01 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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