SO MUCH TO LEARN .......
The other morning I sat down with endless cups of coffee and went through expo naute (an application on where and when, for art exhibitions) studying all that there was to see in France and Europe at the moment and coming up. I can’t tell you how frustrated I felt at the end of that episode. Only two exhibitions which I had not planned to go to - « From Matisse to the Blue Rider » and Giacometti’s drawings and water colors. In Zurich. There are exhibitions coming up in Marseille but not before the end of April and Zurich is not until next month either. I went through everything again and either found contemporary art and installations which perhaps at another period I would have been tempted to see - not now - impressionists, which don’t really enthuse me any longer even if the collection has never been shown before or late Renaissance or earlier. I know for a fact that I haven’t exhausted the periods I like so much and yet this year - or so far - there isn’t too much to look forward to.
This poster at the Beaubourg centre has intrigued me for a while. « Multiple Modernites » When I actually saw the painting, what I expected to be large, was in fact very small.
A renewal of the museum’s traditional presentation. I guess it started at the end of last year. Very much based on the modern period which I like so much and this time around, all continents were covered. USA, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa alongside the different movements in Europe. I was sorry that Australia was not included. There were, so I read 200 unfamiliar works with new acquisitions and recent donations. As the new presentation was to be on until January next year, I hadn’t been in a rush to go. Now I was and thirsty to see what there was to be seen.
Three hours and more later, I was exhausted and saturated. So the final galleries were sauntered through without my paying too much attention.
The new showing is organized in chronological order from 1905 to 1970. Yippee, that’s me. Also, I could see at once that there would be many new discoveries. Walking into the first gallery, I discovered this.
A monumental painting by Amédéé Ozenfant (French, 1886-1966). He was a French cubist painter and writer. Together with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) he founded the Purist movement. This is supposed to represent a reconciled humanity with a hope in a new world. Alas, we didn’t get there, did we?
In the same period, there were pictures by favorite painters, such as Matisse, (1869-1954) Dufy (1887-1953) Sonia Delaunay (1885-1971), Natalia S. Gontcharova (Russian 1881-1962) - her painting illustrated wrestling at that time and is for me very striking because of the bodies in action.
Auguste Macke (1887-1914) - I like the strength in his portraits.
Oscar Kokoschka (1886-1980) - I had never seen her portraits. The Brancussi was being shown here of the first time.
In contrast her young girl in 1921.
Lyonel Feininger (USA 1871-1956). As this was done during the cubist period -1913, it is realistic and yet influenced I would think by Europe. Modernity is not unified but many faceted.
Just as I love this one done in 1916.
By the time I had looked at the first galleries and that was more than an hour after my arrival, I saw that a pattern was forming. I was looking at many artists I knew and yet it was their differences that were pulling me. For instance, these anonymous wood sculptures must certainly have influenced many an artist of that time.
Here was a Marcel Duchamp who was himself a keen chess player. Once again very cubist and strong before he became a Dadaist and entered into the Ready Made period for which perhaps made him famous.
Gino Severini is one of the rare Italian Futurist artists I follow. I am not too sure if I had seen this or not. Of course I asked myself, where is the bear or was the bear a dance?
There were artists of course who I knew nothing about. Henry Valensi (Algerian 1883-1921). In the early years of the 20th century, Valensi was in Paris where he mixed with the avant-garde Futurists, Cubists, Surrealists and Orphists (which was an offshoot of Cubism that focused on pure abstraction and bright colors). He was researching dynamic energy a movement which sought to « give form to sensations ». To do this, Valensi « took inspiration from harmonic coloring of musical compositions ». There was a fascinating video which showed what he did and these are just a couple of examples.
Suzanne Roger (1835-1934 and French) I had never heard of. Although there are quite a number of her abstract paintings on Internet there is very little about her. I don’t say I really liked this but somehow it seemed to be quite different for the period in question. A strange title for a strange picture.
Alright, of course there had to be a few Picasso thrown in. There is no doubt at all how recognizable he is for me now. Yet sometimes I think a painting is by him, but not at all.
This is Carlos Paes Vilaro (Uruguay. 1923-) From across the a gallery I thought it was an early Picasso, but of course, not at all. So who was he? An abstract artist, painter, potter, sculptor, muralist, writer, composer and constructor. Just that !
Although I am very familiar with the donators, Michel and Louise Leiris (1984) the name Eugène Nestor Kermadec (1899-1976), was seemed unknown to me. Following Wikepedia
There were many more names linked to cubism than I had imagined - but apparently not so many of them came into the limelight. This, I can hardly call cubist and yet there is a freedom about the drawing which is appealing.
Of course I knew Georgia O’Keeffe (USA - 1887-1986) and saw an extremely erotic and sensual exhibition of her’s a couple of years ago in New York. She was certainly considered one of America’s leading lights. If you remember she lived with Alfred Stieglitz, the photographer in the 1920’s. This painting I love as it is as if the sky and water emerge in a flamboyant burst of colors. Abstract perhaps but very evocative of tropical sun rise I have seen along the way.
Oh, dear and another painter I didn’t know. Morgan Russell (1886-1953: USA).
But then again, I like this. It is cubic of course but there is energy and forms which fly in different colors over the canvass.
For a moment, I will say nothing - just show you a number of paintings done by an artist I love and follow…..do you know who it is?
The last picture told you of course. Kandinsky. His palette is extraordinary especially concerning the earlier paintings before his compositions…..
What troubles me a little is that there are more and more French artists of this period that I am discovering. It’s a pleasure of course but why were so many kept in the dark or in the archives. Here is Germain Van Der Steen who was born in Versailles in 1897. He studied English at Oxford University - so I wonder if he was better known to the English before being mobilized during the first war? He was gassed and returned suffering from a respiratory disorder. Painting became a means of distraction. He certainly had an expressive power for a self-taught artist. I guess his style is naive but I must find out more about him.
Tatline we studied at the Louvre School but I think this too was an installation which was new in the collection.
Tarsila (1886-1973) was a Brazilian modernist - one of the pioneers in fact. Once again he borrowed cubism and probably more authentic themes of Brazilian culture. This small painting is astonishing for its intense colors and dream-like atmosphere. The title Cuca (the bogey woman) refers to a fantastical creature, half caiman half woman found in Brazilian stories for children. When I came to it, there were three young German art students talking about the painting. I didn’t understand all they said but one kept coming back and photographing the Cuca. He was as « struck » by it as I was.
Another Brazilian, Vicente Do Rego Monteiro (1899-1970). I knew his name as he had come to Paris with his older sister to study in the Julian Academy. Another precocious artist who certainly made a name for himself when he returned home in 1917. This painting I find quite fascinating as from a little way off it could just be mounted sand….
Anthropophagy was the ultimate expression of a movement driven by poets and painters in Brazil in the early Twenties. The artists who supported it were not a homogenous group. Their works reflected a variety of European references - Cubism and Dadaism before converging on an aesthetic of realism. It was a national art reflecting modern intensity and political issues while promoting indigenous cultures. Their art, so they said, was freed from Western taboos which may well be the case. However, most of it that I know or saw was of a naive nature. Candid Portinari (1903-1962) was another kettle of fish. His painting reminded me a little of scenes from Picasso’s Guernica. The eyes of crazed men in the centre of a composition full of violence and misery.
We move on and discover more…who was Graham Sutherland? I’m sure my English readers will be appalled at my ignorance. From the UK - 1903-1980. Reading the little there is on him I can’t say that I went overboard. He didn’t start painting until he was 30 and was even a war artist but this standing form is very different from other paintings I saw in the new collection.
Wilfredo Lam (1902-1982) and yes I do know and have even spoken about him. A Cuban born artist who travelled to Spain in 1923 and knew some of our greatest European artists. He took an active part in the civil war alongside the Republicans. Strange as it maybe, Lam discovered African Art in Madrid. He dedicated an exhibition to Picasso in 1936 whom he met two years later in Paris. This encounter liberated his painting by reviving his childhood. He was also encouraged to explore primitivism….this comes through very strongly in the following works…..also one of the paintings looks strangely influenced….what do you think?
Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991- Mexican) He too was in Paris and I would think had been influenced a little by the Surrealists, starting with André Breton. I like this, although it took me a few minutes to see he was singing……
Everyone knows how much I like Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) and before he went into his ‘dripping » period, his work was abstract and haunting….he too was greatly influenced by Kandinsky, Miro and Picasso. I love his fantasy figures - they always make me smile and give me another burst of energy.
André Masson (1896-1987 as we know, worked with Pollock - don’t you see the similarity in their abstraction?
Then suddenly you see this by Masson. He too amazes me each time with his different techniques.
This was Totemism. Here the artists were interested in the magical powers associated with objects highlighting the « totemic » aspects in their works. André Masson, Wilfredo Lan and Jackson Pollock were of one mind in the search for processes and forms which give shape to the mythic and organic depths of mankind and are common to the origins of all cultures. I wrote about a joint exhibition on Pollock and Masson at the Pinocothèque some years ago.
There is still a lot to come and my notes are not as easy to read as they were. Perhaps now it’s time for bed
I must admit that my notes are still not easy to read….but here we go.
Carl-Henning Pedersen (23 September 1913 – 20 February 2007) was a Danish painter and a member of CoBrA. He was known as the "Scandinavian Chagall", and was one of the leading Danish artists of the second half of the 20th century. It doesn’t surprise you that I saw this from a long way off……
Marcel Gotene from the Congo, died last year at the age of 74.
He was certainly a well known artist in his own country and outside as well. His painting is abstract with a mixture of figures which come very much from his imagination. They say he painted with his heart. I have seen other work which perhaps I like more but this too has a lot of charm.
We move from South America to Africa and now back to Europe. André Cadere (1934-1978), Portuguese but lived and died in France. He was best known for his handmade series of painted round wooden bars, challenging the boundaries between painting and sculpture. Cadere was one of the first artists to realize that objects were inseparable from market and institutional contexts: half of his focus was on the systems of distribution in the art world, as he introduced bars in galleries and retract them, usually carrying a bar like a staff. When I heard about him first he was referred to as « The Stick Man » and I don’t remember seeing anything else of his work. So I was somewhat surprised to discover this.
Of Algerian Jewish descent, Jean Atlan was born in Constantine, French Algeria, and moved to Paris in 1930. He studied philosophy at the Sorbonne. He started as a self-taught painter in 1941. He was arrested for being Jewish and for his political activism in 1942. He pleaded insanity and was confined to the Sainte Anne asylum.
You will see now why I know a little about him. In 1946 he met Asger Jorn and got involved with the CoBrA art group. His studio became a meeting place for the group in Paris. His paintings are bold with outgoing energy and the strong colors that I like so much.
Laurent and I went to the Shafic Abboud (Liban -1926-2004) retrospective at the Arab Institute in 2011. We both loved his work. Graceful, full of color. This composition is very representative of what I remember so felt pleased with myself that for once I recognized him as a painter.
Hisao Domoto (1928-), obviously Japanese. I discovered his work last year in the MAM in New York. A big painting of red and white squares comes to mind so this was a pleasant relief to look at.
I remember some of her work at the Arab Institute. She does a lot of painting, sculptures, beautiful ceramics so this came as quite a surprise to me and I frankly could not have associated her techniques to oil and cement mounted on a panel.
I love Jean Arp (1886-1966) so this just a bit of pleasure.
And we will finish with Larry Rivers (USA: 1923-2002) He was an American artist, musician, filmmaker and occasional actor. If his name rings a bell it maybe because you saw him a film or as he was thought to be the Father of Pop Art, it could be for that reason.
This is neither a painting nor a sculpture but a citation of Olympia by Manet. You may recall that at the time, Olympia caused a scandal because she was not Venus, but a prostitute ! Rivers evokes another scandal here: that of segregation in the US of Black and White. Quite something is it not.
Perhaps the first time that I have tried to say a little about the artists « I have met » or « renewed » my acquaintance. Sometimes I write about an exhibition and remember it vaguely years later. Too often it will be Laurent who reminds me that we had seen so and so in such and such. This time I hope to remember the names a little more easily, but one thing is sure - I will be going back for a further look.
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| Alfonso-Angel Ossoria - Red Egg 1942 |
This poster at the Beaubourg centre has intrigued me for a while. « Multiple Modernites » When I actually saw the painting, what I expected to be large, was in fact very small.
A renewal of the museum’s traditional presentation. I guess it started at the end of last year. Very much based on the modern period which I like so much and this time around, all continents were covered. USA, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa alongside the different movements in Europe. I was sorry that Australia was not included. There were, so I read 200 unfamiliar works with new acquisitions and recent donations. As the new presentation was to be on until January next year, I hadn’t been in a rush to go. Now I was and thirsty to see what there was to be seen.
Three hours and more later, I was exhausted and saturated. So the final galleries were sauntered through without my paying too much attention.
The new showing is organized in chronological order from 1905 to 1970. Yippee, that’s me. Also, I could see at once that there would be many new discoveries. Walking into the first gallery, I discovered this.
A monumental painting by Amédéé Ozenfant (French, 1886-1966). He was a French cubist painter and writer. Together with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) he founded the Purist movement. This is supposed to represent a reconciled humanity with a hope in a new world. Alas, we didn’t get there, did we?
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| AMEDEE OZENFANT - The 4 races 1928 |
In the same period, there were pictures by favorite painters, such as Matisse, (1869-1954) Dufy (1887-1953) Sonia Delaunay (1885-1971), Natalia S. Gontcharova (Russian 1881-1962) - her painting illustrated wrestling at that time and is for me very striking because of the bodies in action.
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| Matisse, Girl with Black Cat 1910 |
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| RaouL DUFFY 1916 FISHERMAN WITH NET |
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| Sonia Delaunay - YOUNG FINNISH LADY 1907 |
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| Nathalia Gontcharova - The Wrestlers 1909-10 |
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| Auguste Macke (German) Head of woman orange and brown, 19? |
Auguste Macke (1887-1914) - I like the strength in his portraits.
Oscar Kokoschka (1886-1980) - I had never seen her portraits. The Brancussi was being shown here of the first time.
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| Oska Kokoschaka (Austria-Hungary) | Portait of Bancusi 1930-31 |
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| Oskar Kokoschka - Young woman sitting 1921 |
Lyonel Feininger (USA 1871-1956). As this was done during the cubist period -1913, it is realistic and yet influenced I would think by Europe. Modernity is not unified but many faceted.
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| LYONEL FEININGER (USA) ON THE BEACH 1913 |
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| Lyonel Feininger - The Lovers 1916 |
Just as I love this one done in 1916.
By the time I had looked at the first galleries and that was more than an hour after my arrival, I saw that a pattern was forming. I was looking at many artists I knew and yet it was their differences that were pulling me. For instance, these anonymous wood sculptures must certainly have influenced many an artist of that time.
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| Marcel Duchamp Chequer Players 1911 |
Here was a Marcel Duchamp who was himself a keen chess player. Once again very cubist and strong before he became a Dadaist and entered into the Ready Made period for which perhaps made him famous.
 |
| Gino Severini - The dance of the bear at the Moulin Rouge ,1916 |
Gino Severini is one of the rare Italian Futurist artists I follow. I am not too sure if I had seen this or not. Of course I asked myself, where is the bear or was the bear a dance?
There were artists of course who I knew nothing about. Henry Valensi (Algerian 1883-1921). In the early years of the 20th century, Valensi was in Paris where he mixed with the avant-garde Futurists, Cubists, Surrealists and Orphists (which was an offshoot of Cubism that focused on pure abstraction and bright colors). He was researching dynamic energy a movement which sought to « give form to sensations ». To do this, Valensi « took inspiration from harmonic coloring of musical compositions ». There was a fascinating video which showed what he did and these are just a couple of examples.
 |
| Henri Valensi - Symphony in pink, 1946 |
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| Henri Valensi - Palm tree wedding, Bou Saada, 1921 |
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| Henry Valensi - Green Symphony 1935 |
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| Suzanne Roger (French) The Riot of Knives 1934 |
Alright, of course there had to be a few Picasso thrown in. There is no doubt at all how recognizable he is for me now. Yet sometimes I think a painting is by him, but not at all.
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| Picasso - Figure 1927 |
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| Picasso, Nude lying down 08/010- 1936 |
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| Carlos Paez Vilaro (Uruquay) Bull, 1956 |
This is Carlos Paes Vilaro (Uruguay. 1923-) From across the a gallery I thought it was an early Picasso, but of course, not at all. So who was he? An abstract artist, painter, potter, sculptor, muralist, writer, composer and constructor. Just that !
Although I am very familiar with the donators, Michel and Louise Leiris (1984) the name Eugène Nestor Kermadec (1899-1976), was seemed unknown to me. Following Wikepedia
« he studied at the École des Arts Decoratifs in 1915 and later at the École des Beaux Arts. During this time Paris was the center of the avant-garde, and the painterly language was Cubism. Kermadec, along with several foreign and French artists came into Cubism after 1918 when more and more artists adopting this technique and that the almost scientific approach was relaxed and replaced by a more lyrical style and figurative style »
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| Eugene Nestor Kermade ( French) The atelier 1938 |
There were many more names linked to cubism than I had imagined - but apparently not so many of them came into the limelight. This, I can hardly call cubist and yet there is a freedom about the drawing which is appealing.
 | |
| Georgia O'Keefe - Red, yellow and black streak, 1924 |
Of course I knew Georgia O’Keeffe (USA - 1887-1986) and saw an extremely erotic and sensual exhibition of her’s a couple of years ago in New York. She was certainly considered one of America’s leading lights. If you remember she lived with Alfred Stieglitz, the photographer in the 1920’s. This painting I love as it is as if the sky and water emerge in a flamboyant burst of colors. Abstract perhaps but very evocative of tropical sun rise I have seen along the way.
Oh, dear and another painter I didn’t know. Morgan Russell (1886-1953: USA).
« He was a modern American artist. With Stanton Macdonald-Wright, he was the founder of Synchromism, a provocative style of abstract painting that dates from 1912 to the 1920s. Russell's "synchromies," which analogized color to music, were an early American contribution to the rise of Modernism » - so another movement which I will need to look into.
Morgan Russell (USA)In life there is substance,1925
But then again, I like this. It is cubic of course but there is energy and forms which fly in different colors over the canvass.
For a moment, I will say nothing - just show you a number of paintings done by an artist I love and follow…..do you know who it is?
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| - Arabic town 1905 |
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| 1935 Two Green Points |
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| No title - 1944 |
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| Landscape - 1908 |
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| 1912, With Black Arc |
The last picture told you of course. Kandinsky. His palette is extraordinary especially concerning the earlier paintings before his compositions…..
 |
| Germain Van de Steen (France) Cordial understanding |
What troubles me a little is that there are more and more French artists of this period that I am discovering. It’s a pleasure of course but why were so many kept in the dark or in the archives. Here is Germain Van Der Steen who was born in Versailles in 1897. He studied English at Oxford University - so I wonder if he was better known to the English before being mobilized during the first war? He was gassed and returned suffering from a respiratory disorder. Painting became a means of distraction. He certainly had an expressive power for a self-taught artist. I guess his style is naive but I must find out more about him.
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| Vladimir Tatline - 3rd maquette for Monument 1919/79 |
Tatline we studied at the Louvre School but I think this too was an installation which was new in the collection.
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| Tarsila (Bresil) A Cuca 1924 |
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| Vincente Do Rego Monteirp Child and animals,1925 |
Another Brazilian, Vicente Do Rego Monteiro (1899-1970). I knew his name as he had come to Paris with his older sister to study in the Julian Academy. Another precocious artist who certainly made a name for himself when he returned home in 1917. This painting I find quite fascinating as from a little way off it could just be mounted sand….
 |
| Candido Portinari (Bresil) Composition, 1945 |
Anthropophagy was the ultimate expression of a movement driven by poets and painters in Brazil in the early Twenties. The artists who supported it were not a homogenous group. Their works reflected a variety of European references - Cubism and Dadaism before converging on an aesthetic of realism. It was a national art reflecting modern intensity and political issues while promoting indigenous cultures. Their art, so they said, was freed from Western taboos which may well be the case. However, most of it that I know or saw was of a naive nature. Candid Portinari (1903-1962) was another kettle of fish. His painting reminded me a little of scenes from Picasso’s Guernica. The eyes of crazed men in the centre of a composition full of violence and misery.
 |
| Graham Sutherland (UK) Standing Form, 1952 |
We move on and discover more…who was Graham Sutherland? I’m sure my English readers will be appalled at my ignorance. From the UK - 1903-1980. Reading the little there is on him I can’t say that I went overboard. He didn’t start painting until he was 30 and was even a war artist but this standing form is very different from other paintings I saw in the new collection.
Wilfredo Lam (1902-1982) and yes I do know and have even spoken about him. A Cuban born artist who travelled to Spain in 1923 and knew some of our greatest European artists. He took an active part in the civil war alongside the Republicans. Strange as it maybe, Lam discovered African Art in Madrid. He dedicated an exhibition to Picasso in 1936 whom he met two years later in Paris. This encounter liberated his painting by reviving his childhood. He was also encouraged to explore primitivism….this comes through very strongly in the following works…..also one of the paintings looks strangely influenced….what do you think?
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| Wilfred Lam (Cuba) Umbral,1950 |
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| Wilfredo Lam (Cuba) No title 1942 |
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| Wilfredo Lam (Cuba) Pasos Miméticos, 1950 |
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| Rufino Tamayo (Mexican) The man who sang, 1950 |
Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991- Mexican) He too was in Paris and I would think had been influenced a little by the Surrealists, starting with André Breton. I like this, although it took me a few minutes to see he was singing……
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| Jackson Pollock, The Moon-Wiman Cuts the Circle, 1943 |
Everyone knows how much I like Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) and before he went into his ‘dripping » period, his work was abstract and haunting….he too was greatly influenced by Kandinsky, Miro and Picasso. I love his fantasy figures - they always make me smile and give me another burst of energy.
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| André Masson , The Pyrhian, 1943 |
André Masson (1896-1987 as we know, worked with Pollock - don’t you see the similarity in their abstraction?
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| André Masson, The Earth 1939 |
Then suddenly you see this by Masson. He too amazes me each time with his different techniques.
This was Totemism. Here the artists were interested in the magical powers associated with objects highlighting the « totemic » aspects in their works. André Masson, Wilfredo Lan and Jackson Pollock were of one mind in the search for processes and forms which give shape to the mythic and organic depths of mankind and are common to the origins of all cultures. I wrote about a joint exhibition on Pollock and Masson at the Pinocothèque some years ago.
There is still a lot to come and my notes are not as easy to read as they were. Perhaps now it’s time for bed
 |
| Carl-Hennin Pedersen (Denmark) Gul hest, 1941 |
I must admit that my notes are still not easy to read….but here we go.
Carl-Henning Pedersen (23 September 1913 – 20 February 2007) was a Danish painter and a member of CoBrA. He was known as the "Scandinavian Chagall", and was one of the leading Danish artists of the second half of the 20th century. It doesn’t surprise you that I saw this from a long way off……
 |
| Marcel Gotene (Congo) No title, 1960 |
Marcel Gotene from the Congo, died last year at the age of 74.
He was certainly a well known artist in his own country and outside as well. His painting is abstract with a mixture of figures which come very much from his imagination. They say he painted with his heart. I have seen other work which perhaps I like more but this too has a lot of charm.
 |
| André Cadere (Polish) No Title, 1968 |
We move from South America to Africa and now back to Europe. André Cadere (1934-1978), Portuguese but lived and died in France. He was best known for his handmade series of painted round wooden bars, challenging the boundaries between painting and sculpture. Cadere was one of the first artists to realize that objects were inseparable from market and institutional contexts: half of his focus was on the systems of distribution in the art world, as he introduced bars in galleries and retract them, usually carrying a bar like a staff. When I heard about him first he was referred to as « The Stick Man » and I don’t remember seeing anything else of his work. So I was somewhat surprised to discover this.
 |
| Jean Atlan (Algerian) The mirrors of Asia, 1953-54 |
Of Algerian Jewish descent, Jean Atlan was born in Constantine, French Algeria, and moved to Paris in 1930. He studied philosophy at the Sorbonne. He started as a self-taught painter in 1941. He was arrested for being Jewish and for his political activism in 1942. He pleaded insanity and was confined to the Sainte Anne asylum.
You will see now why I know a little about him. In 1946 he met Asger Jorn and got involved with the CoBrA art group. His studio became a meeting place for the group in Paris. His paintings are bold with outgoing energy and the strong colors that I like so much.
 |
| Shafic Abboud (Liban) Composition, 1965 |
Laurent and I went to the Shafic Abboud (Liban -1926-2004) retrospective at the Arab Institute in 2011. We both loved his work. Graceful, full of color. This composition is very representative of what I remember so felt pleased with myself that for once I recognized him as a painter.
 |
| Hiso Domoto (Japan) Painting, 1960 |
Hisao Domoto (1928-), obviously Japanese. I discovered his work last year in the MAM in New York. A big painting of red and white squares comes to mind so this was a pleasant relief to look at.
I am taken this description directly from Internet as I certainly could not say it better. Without a doubt Parvaneh Etemadi is Iran's leading lady artist and has been so for many years. She is one of the rare artists in Iran who has been reinventing herself over and over again throughout her career.
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| Parvanej Etemadi (Iran) No title 1971 |
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| Jean Arp (The deer) 1914 |
I love Jean Arp (1886-1966) so this just a bit of pleasure.
And we will finish with Larry Rivers (USA: 1923-2002) He was an American artist, musician, filmmaker and occasional actor. If his name rings a bell it maybe because you saw him a film or as he was thought to be the Father of Pop Art, it could be for that reason.
This is neither a painting nor a sculpture but a citation of Olympia by Manet. You may recall that at the time, Olympia caused a scandal because she was not Venus, but a prostitute ! Rivers evokes another scandal here: that of segregation in the US of Black and White. Quite something is it not.
 |
| Larry Rivers (USA) I Like Olympia in Black Face, 1970 |
Perhaps the first time that I have tried to say a little about the artists « I have met » or « renewed » my acquaintance. Sometimes I write about an exhibition and remember it vaguely years later. Too often it will be Laurent who reminds me that we had seen so and so in such and such. This time I hope to remember the names a little more easily, but one thing is sure - I will be going back for a further look.
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