portrait

Portrait of Toby, 2010

Oil on wood

(Click image to enlarge.)

2 local art institutions revisit art from 1934

1934... The Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and war in Europe. This was also the year that Frankin Roosevelt's administration established the Public Works of Art Project. (Remember the movie "The Cradle Will Rock" about the similar Federal Theater Project, set around this time?) This month, both the Frick Art and Historical Center and the Westmoreland Museum of Art are exhibiting art created in 1934. The Frick has a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Westmoreland will have an exhibit from the private collection of Jason Schoen.

The Public Works of Art Program was the first federal government program to support the arts nationally. The program payed artists to embellish public buildings and maintain America's spirit in a difficult time through their work.

Link to a slide show of works from the exhibit at the Frick, 1934: A New Deal for Artists:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/americanartmuseum/sets/72157613558866320/show/

Janine Antoni

In the mail the other day, I received the schedule for upcoming Art Lectures at Carnegie Mellon Univertsity. These are free and open to the public.

I was excited to see that Janine Antoni will be coming to give a lecture. The first time I learned of her was while I was a student at CMU, when I saw a photograph of her painting with her hair.

This photograph of Janine Antoni painting with her hair inspired a silly little fantasy of mine that when I’d grow old, I’d have a studio in the mountains somewhere. I’d wear big smock dresses with tubes of paint in the pockets. I’d wear my hair (which I’d imagine would be long and silver like Georgia O'Keeffe's) in a braid, and I’d use the tip of my braid as a paint brush and paint landscapes. I have no idea why this was something I’d aspire to do, but remembering this fantasy, there is still something alluring about that idea!

The next time I came across the art of Janine Antoni was at the Hirshhorn while I was teaching at the Smithsonian. There was an installation of two rows of busts facing each other, all self-portraits of Janine. In one row, the busts were creamy white, and in the other, waxy brown. The white ones were cast in soap, and the brown ones were pure chocolate. Antoni is an artist who finds art in her artistic processes (painting with her hair for example), and this piece was also about a process, the title being two verbs: Lick and Lather. The busts had been worn down to various extents, some where the face was just a ghostly remnant. She had worn them down by licking the chocolate busts of her own face, and bathing with the soap self-portrait busts. Her art is often both performance art and sculpture, and she uses daily activities (such as eating and bathing) as another means to create art.

Janine Antoni's lecture at CMU will be on Tuesday, April 27, at 5pm in the Kresge Theatre, and it is free to attend.

Recamier

This "couch" on display in the Carnegie Museum of Art's new exhibit of decorative art reminded me of this painting I saw a few months ago at the Louvre:

In drawing this connection, I learned some things, the first of which is the identity of the woman in this portrait by Jacques-Louis David (whose history paintings are a dominant presence in the Louvre). Her name was Jeanne Francoise Julie Adelaide Recamier.

Madame Recamier was considered to be the most beautiful woman in her day, and she influenced French art and literature. She was admired for her beauty, intelligence, kindness and graciousness, and was always surrounded by prominent geniuses who adored her good company. Here is an interesting short biography I found about her on-line: http://www.historyswomen.com/moregreatwomen/MadameRecamier.html

Now, the "Couch" as it is titled at the Carnegie Museum of Art: This is a chaise lounge, but is also described as a neoclassical "recamier" -- which is the woman's name in the David painting! (This particular neoclassical recamier was made in America in 1825.)

Link to detailed description of this couch from the Carnegie's web site:
http://www.cmoa.org/searchcollections/details.aspx?item=1006639

Gallery Crawl

Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District-- Tonight!
http://www.pgharts.org/education/gallerycrawl.aspx

Decorative Arts at the Carnegie Museum of Art

We finally went to see the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Galleries at the Carnegie Musuem of Art, which had its grand reopening at the end of November after being rennovated to highlight 500 objects from the museum's decorative arts and design collection. It is a beautiful rennovation that greatly enhances the experience of visiting the museum. The exhibit explores the evolution of style and design in the Western World from the mid 18th-century to the present, highlighting decorative arts of Western Pennsylvania.

Portrait

Portrait of Toby Goldstein McHenry

Oil on wood