In the introduction to Locating Sol LeWitt, editor David Areford advocates for a “plural LeWitt,” that is, a more expansive view of the artist and his practice, one that fully embraces the multiple mediums he pursued and the sometimes difficult and contradictory aspects of his conceptual art. In this spirit, the
Margaret F. MacDonald— In 1861 Whistler wrote to his closest friend, Henri Fantin-Latour, about his work on Wapping (pictured above), and described the model, Joanna Hiffernan: “a girl who is jolly difficult to paint! … I have painted her three times and I do not want to get tired … … I
In a fascinating conversation that ranges from Alice Neel’s politics to her painting practice, we talk with Kelly Baum and Randall Griffey, the co-curators of the current exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and co-editors of the related catalogue, Alice Neel: People Come First. YaleUniversity · Alice Neel's Deep
David S. Areford— Sol LeWitt. For the dedicated or even occasional museum visitor, the artist’s name conjures up expansive and colorful murals (his “wall drawings”) and equally commanding, large-scale cubic sculptures (his “structures”). Often installed in grand public interior or exterior settings, these artworks collaborate with the architectural and spatial
Anne Monahan — Horace Pippin (1888-1946) painted two self-portraits in the 1940s on his way to becoming the decade’s most successful black artist. Both evince an indifference to illusionistic perspective in line with modern aesthetics, even as his self-taught pedigree appealed to those wary of avant garde styles and politics.
Well known during the twentieth century for his bold, imaginative illustrations that brought new characterizations to classic stories such as Treasure Island and The Boy’s King Arthur, N. C. Wyeth (1882–1945) vigorously pursued parallel interests in painting landscapes, seascapes, portraits, still lifes, murals and advertising images throughout his career. N.
Rachel High– Recently published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press, My Soul Has Grown Deep: Black Art from the American South accompanies the exhibition History Refused to Die: Highlights from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, on view at The Met Fifth Avenue through September
Hélène Valance— This spring, I had the luck to spend a few days in the Eolian archipelago off the coast of Sicily, in a house poised on the edge of a steep cliff overlooking the Mediterranean, with little in sight except the silhouettes of nearby volcanic islands. On my first
Antonio Sergio Bessa– In his foreword to the 2007 Whitney catalogue, museum director Adam Weinberg wrote with great insight that Gordon Matta-Clark’s work “resisted commodification and the museum context.” I would add that to counter the tendency to commodify, the experiential element in presenting his work is of utmost importance.
Corita Kent and the Language of Pop is an exhibition opening this Thursday, September 3rd, at the Harvard Art Museums. The Boston Globe recently published a piece in which Cate McQuaid whimsically proposes that if Don Draper and Mother Teresa had a love child, it would be Corita Kent. The