Connecting Thru MUSIC

PLEASE take a moment to visit this important campaign. My friends at Statement Arts have developed wonderful programs for New York area youth. This summer they have teamed up with the legendary Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center to run a free music and college preparatory program for 50 underserved kids. This is a much-needed program and will be a life-altering experience for these very deserving kids. 

Let It Pour

It is no secret that I love the rain. And Paris. And the Impressionists. And Woody Allen. Herein lies a bit of all those wonderful things.

Paris Street-Rainy Weather, 1877, Gustave Caillebotte

And...a little scene from Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris. 

Gil: This is unbelievable! Look at this! There's no city like this in the world. There never was. 

Inez: You act like you've never been here before. 

Gil: I don't get here often enough, that's the problem. Can you picture how drop dead gorgeous this city is in the rain? Imagine this town in the '20s. Paris in the '20s, in the rain. The artists and writers! 

Inez: Why does every city have to be in the rain? What's wonderful about getting wet? 

Sargent + Matisse

These ladies look to be enjoying their weekend. I intend to do the same.

Nonchalior (or Repose), 1911,  John Singer Sargent

Girl With a Fur Coat, Yellow Background, 1944, Henri Matisse

More Sargent....at the Met

More Matisse....at the Met

And then this happened...

The face says it all. 

Read about this historic sale here.

The Scream (1893), Edvard Munch

Yesterday here in New York City, a piece by French artist Paul Cezanne sold for a healthy $19 million at Christie's auction house. The work titled 'Card Player' is a study for a series (1890-96) by Cezanne called 'Card Players' and depicts his Aix-en-Provence gardener Pauline Paulet. The painting, a watercolor, has been lost since 1958; art history scholars only had knowledge of the piece through photographs until is resurfaced recently in the home of a Dallas, Texas doctor. The painting was purchased by an anonymous bidder, and so, this may be the last we see of this special work for quite some time. Take a look...

The Card Player, Paul Cezanne

 (from the New York Times via Christie's)

The Card Players, Paul Cezanne

(from Paul Cezanne.org)

• To see more works by Paul Cezanne, click here.
• Take a look at the Cezanne collection living at the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York City. Click here.
• Bring some Cezanne into your life. Browse the selection at ART.com.

One of my favorites...

A Modern Olympia, Paul Cezanne

Always Inspiring

I am for an art ...

by Claes Oldenburg

I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum.

I am for an art that grows up not knowing it is art at all, an art given the chance of having a staring point of zero.

I am for an art that embroils itself with the everyday crap & still comes out on top.

I am for an art that imitates the human, that is comic, if necessary, or violent, or whatever is necessary.

I am for an art that takes its form from the lines of life itself, that twists and extends and accumulates and spits and drips, and is heavy and coarse and blunt and sweet and stupid as life itself.

I am for an artist who vanishes, turning up in a white cap painting signs or hallways.

I am for an art that comes out of a chimney like black hair and scatters in the sky.

I am for an art that spills out of an old man's purse when he is bounced off a passing fender.

I am for the art out of a doggy's mouth, falling five stories from the roof.

Matisse

Source: busybeingfabulous.com via Meg Biram / on Pinterest

Art History

Well, by now we all know how much I adore and obsess over ART. Here are just a few of the many beautiful art books I am currently lusting for. 

Degas and The Nude - works by the French artist Edgar Degas

Bruce Sargeant And His Circle: Figure and Form

SARGENT - One of so many great books on John Singer Sargent

George Seurat - The Drawings - stunning drawings by French painter George Seurat

Van Dongen - the works of Dutch artist Kees Van Dongen

  George Barbier: Master of Art Deco: Fashion, Illustration, and Graphic Design - the complete works of French illustrator George Barbier

I can see it...

 'Fifteen Pairs of Hands' at the National Gallery of Art
Artist: Bruce Nauman

Repose

On a recent trip to Washington, DC I of course visited the National Gallery of Art. It truly is one of the most beautiful museums in the world. I could have stayed there all day. On my next trip, I just might do that. 

Nonchaloir (1911), John Singer Sargent

read more....

National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Robert Rauschenberg at the National Gallery of Art

I have always loved the work of artist Robert Rauschenberg. This work at the National Gallery of Art was a recent discovery for me - I thought I'd seen it all. The piece, Wall-Eyed Carp/ROCI Japan, is large and vibrant, and inspiring. I couldn't take my 'eye' off of it. 

Read more here...