The Mods

From the top left:
Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Frida Kahlo, 
Francis Bacon, Maurice de Vlaminck, Pablo Picasso,
Helen Frankenthaler, Marcel Duchamp, Mark Rothko,
Edvard Munch, Amedeo Modigliani, Sonia Delaunay.

MATISSE & PICASSO: The Titans of the Twentieth Century

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Charlie Rose interviews the curators of the Matisse & Picasso exhibit that was up at the MoMA in 2003.  These videos were posted this year.


Kirk Varnedoe and John Elderfield are the curators.

Barnes Foundation Virtual

The Conversation, Henri Matisse, 1938.
at SFMOMA.

One Mr. Albert C. Barnes had the foresight to collect deeply in the Modern Art movement.  His foundation, for years a quirky and intimate museum, is now available to your eyes, too.  Follow the link for a virtual and interactive tour, and be amazed by rooms full of Matisse, Cezanne, Renoir, Seurat, Modigliani and Picasso.


Tour.

Joan Mitchell - Gestural Pursuasion

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There are many more of my new artworks to show you.  But, I think I'll spread it out and keep my reader's waiting.  Meanwhile, here is the next room in my walking tour of the San Fransisco MOMA.  I favored two strong and large paintings in this room, and the first one was by Joan Mitchell.  I'll tell you about the other one next time.

I had to reach my arms out to either side to gather the dimensions of this painting in my mind.  I found it to be just the span of my arms.  Then, I imagined it on its side, and again there was just the width of my arms.  Gestural.  Approachable.  Edible.

The date interests me a great deal.  The height of the the Modernist movement, in my mind, was 1950.  This piece was done in 1960, and the hues are brighter than those used in the fifties.  Modern, or Mod?

Also, I became more aware than ever of the canvas color, the same as Henri Matisse reveals in Woman With A Hat.  Sort of a warm, barely reddish buff or egg-white color.  These artists definitely are thinking about the dimension of the canvas itself, and you are immersed by the feeling of painting.  

Could my kid do this?  Of course, I know the answer is "no."  But still, the work is far more approachable than Ingres.

Joan Mitchell
Untitled, 1960
83.4" x 74.5"


SFMOMA link to this image.




Joan Mitchell Wikipedia.
Joan Mitchell Foundation.
Bomb Magazine.
The Art Story.
artnet.

Trends

News

Curator Jessica Morgan, of the Tate Modern, writes about the big ideas driving art now, and I have to say I concur with her. I, myself, am very interested in Modernism, but worry that it's old stuff. I ask myself if my art is too much like Modern Art, then is it adding anything to the whole? Do I even care?

The economic downturn has me thinking that a grand opportunity is here for artists to retreat and see if there is an art within them that is less market oriented. What kind of art would I make if there were no chance to sell it?

Morgan writes:

In a curatorial sense, I am fascinated that few exhibitions try to take on really big issues. I think there is a certain amount of fear in the idea of taking them on. One result is that people look to the past. There has been a tendency to revert to the early stages of modernism. It was a point of utopian hope, experimentation and bold ideas of political change.

There has also been a type of artwork that allows the audience to create or complete it. I’m thinking of artists such as Carsten Höller, who made the slides at Tate Modern, or Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster [whose current show is in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall]. They take on the role of curator and to some extent allow the curator to be an artist.

The economic shift will affect the art world. One of the things I hope may fall by the wayside is the type of fashionable production created by the market. We’d all be better off without quite so many galleries and useless publications.

Thanks, Katherine, for taking me to this article.

Addendum. Again, indebted to Katherine Tyrrell. I found Edward Winkleman's articles (Part 1, and Part 2) reflecting some of my thoughts about how artists and collectors might proceed in tough times. I have been thinking about the behavior of American artist during the Great Depression. We are very far from the economic realities of the thirties, but some of the templates from that time come to mind. Pre-selling art, long term views about collecting and strategies like that crossed my mind, too.

Matisse Trail

Self Portrait, 1900
Ink on Paper
Henri Matisse

Via Adam Cope, of Dordogne Painting Days, is this gallery website: Le Domaine Purdu. The gallery is connected to (run by?) the last student of Matisse. I particularly enjoyed the Fauve works found in the Modern Art section.

The King of the Fauves - Henri Matisse

The Goldfish, 1912

o/c, 146x97 cm
Matisse

Since the proto-colorists were called "Fauvists," it has been my long time goal to study that most-noted Fauve, Henri Matisse (1800-1950). Matisse persisted in his ultra colorful style even after the era of the short-lived Fauvist movement (1905-7), which featured stylized realism and assigned non-local color to objects.

The giant Pablo Picasso overshadowed Matisse as they both worked simultaneously to create Modern Art in the early part of the Twentieth Century. Picasso, the great Cubist, and Matisse, the father of Fauvism, were friendly rivals. The one brought us the line, the other brought us color in the Modern Art sense.

As I bring this study along, I will be writing reviews of the books and articles that I am reading, and I will generate a link list and a "Quick Key" button for this blog page that will lead you to the best Matisse info on the web.



Bibliography:

Matisse the Master: A Life of Henri Matisse: the Conquest of Colour, 1909-1954

By Hilary Spurling

The Unknown Matisse: A Life of Henri Matisse: the Early Years, 1869-1908

By Hilary Spurling

Matisse,
By Volkmar Essers



Matisse Factoids:

Rude patrons at a salon displaying Matisse paintings would openly revile his work, and to amuse themselves would smear the still-wet paint with their fingers.

The Red Studio was voted the number 5 most influential Modern Artwork of all time by a panel of 500 art experts.

Like our hero, Mark Rothko, Matisse has a chapel. Don't you? Maybe I'll have to start a post about great artists and their chapels.

Part of Matisse's legacy has been his active progeny. One of his sons, Pierre Matisse, and his daughter, Marguerite, were influential in interpreting their father's works and life. Also, Pierre ran The Pierre Matisse Gallery, in New York City, which gave first-time exposure to a lexicon of notable Twentieth Century artists. His grandson, Paul, and his great granddaughter Sophie are active artists working in the US today.