Art News

Lucian Freud, Figurative Painter Who Redefined Portraiture, Is Dead at 88

The New York Times reported recently that Lucian Freud, whose stark and revealing paintings of friends and intimates, splayed nude in his studio, recast the art of portraiture and offered a new approach to figurative art, died on Wednesday night at his home in London. He was 88.

Mr. Freud, a grandson of Sigmund Freud and a brother of the British television personality Clement Freud, was already an important figure in the small London art world when, in the immediate postwar years, he embarked on a series of portraits that established him as a potent new voice in figurative art.

Mr. Freud was a bohemian of the old school. He set up his studios in squalid neighborhoods, developed a Byronic reputation as a rake and gambled recklessly (“Debt stimulates me,” he once said). In 1948, he married Kitty Garman, the daughter of the sculptor Jacob Epstein, whom he depicted in several portraits, notably “Girl With Roses,” “Girl With a Kitten” (1947) and “Girl With a White Dog” (1950-51). That marriage ended in divorce, as did his second marriage, to Lady Caroline Blackwood. He is survived by many children from his first marriage and from a series of romantic relationships.

Naked!

“He’s buck-naked — Lord have mercy!” a woman said, stopping to gawk at, loudly judge and then photograph a sudden expanse of flesh.

Seconds after 7 a.m. on Monday, trousers were dropping and skirts were lifting all along Wall Street. The mass dishabille was part of a site-specific work of performance art, “Ocularpation: Wall Street,” by an artist, Zefrey Throwell. It was intended as a commentary on work and the economy, Mr. Throwell said, though that seemed to be lost on the police stationed near the New York Stock Exchange.
There, three people — two men and a woman dressed (briefly) as a stock trader, a janitor and a dog-walker — were arrested and taken to a nearby precinct, where they were given summons for disorderly conduct and later released. By 7:05 a.m., the remaining 46 men and women who were part of the project had simply put their clothes back on and gone about their day.

(Stories from: New York Times online) Drawing by Charlotte Rossmann

Art News

Clemente Exhibit        in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS, MO.- The Saint Louis Art Museum presents: Francesco Clemente's High Fever, which brings together a series of nine dark and mysterious woodcuts that explore the beauty, pleasure and pain of love by contemporary Italian artist Francesco Clemente. Influenced by the mysticism of India, Clemente conveys both the sensual and spiritual aspects of love, including childbirth and motherhood. Clemente exploits the natural grain of his woodblocks to dramatic effect, allowing it to become part of the repertoire of expressive marks found in each of the compositions. The grain and the dark tones of the ink reference the Northern European history of the woodcut. Born in Naples in 1952, Clemente taught himself to paint after finishing high school.  The exhibit will be on view July 15 through October 9, 2011.


Chinese art in Denver
 DENVER, CO.- This fall, visitors to the Denver Art Museum (DAM) will get a rare look inside China’s artistic history through two special exhibitions. Xu Beihong: Pioneer of Modern Chinese Painting and Threads of Heaven: Silken Legacy of China’s Last Dynasty explore this mysterious and ceremonial country during two time periods—the latter years of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), and the subsequent formation of the Republic of China during the early to middle 20th century. Xu Beihong offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the full spectrum of work by the 20th century Chinese artist who is widely recognized as the father of modern Chinese painting. One of the first Chinese artists to study in Europe, Xu revolutionized painting in China by drawing influence from both the East and West.
 
Soulful Stitching in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Stunning, colorful, patchwork quilts known as kawandi and made only by craftswomen living in the little known Siddi communities of Africans in India are on display at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) as part of its exploration of how traditional practices are adapted over decades throughout the African Diaspora. The exhibition presents over 30 quilts of a variety of styles and techniques and also the compelling story of the Siddis, descendants of East African slaves, sailors and merchants who currently live in the highlands of the KarantakaSiddis) in India” opened at the Museum of African Diaspora Friday, July 15, 2011. The traveling exhibition consisting of 32 quilts will be on view until September 18, 2011.

Drawing by Charlotte Rossmann

Frank Lloyd Wright

For Sale: A masterpiece you can live in!
Unbelievably several of Frank Lloyd Wright's beautiful houses are currently for sale.  These are magnificent homes and many are in the multi-million dollar price range but still, it is shocking that they haven't been snatched up.  There are currently at least 17 Wright properties on the market now and the number may be as high as 27. The vast majority of the houses are upper-bracket, priced from $800,000 to $7.5 million.

Interestingly enough, Wright also did a lower end type of house later in his career and these are very affordable.  This house is near McGregor, Iowa and is the lowest priced Wright house on the market at $129,000.  It has three bedrooms and 2 baths.  In addition there are the quality features of a Wright built house such as maple floors, original fireplace and leaded windows.

The beautiful house above is  is priced at $2,590,000.  To find out more you can google Frank Lloyd Wright.

Two New Abstract Landscapes

Two oil on canvas paintings.  The inspiration is color and pattern. 



R.B. Kitaj

Kitaj was born in 1934 and died in 2007.  He was a well known artist who was born in America but spent most of his life in England.  He studied with the artist David Hockney and in fact, they became life long friends.
Kitaj's work relied on strong areas of color and overlapping planes that resembled painted collages.  The work was heavy with symbolism, historical, political and literature references.  Kitaj was known as a being an excellent draftsman.  His work showed the economy of a brilliant line, the mark of one gifted with the drawing tool. 
He called his style 'agitational usage'.  His large, complex compositions are a montage of distorted landscapes, constructions and exaggerated human forms. 
Yet, much of his work is very realistic as Kitaj moved between some fairly abstracted images to highly realistic figurative work.  A talented and skilled painter, his work emotionally expressive and powerful.    
After his wife died in 1997 Kitaj moved to Los Angeles.  He was one of the artists to to make a post-it drawing in 2000 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of 3M.  His post-it was sold on the internet for $925 making it the most expensive post-it note ever sold.
Kitaj took his own life 8 days before his 75th birthday.