The Art of Glass

The British Museum displays The Art of Glass as part of the online tours. What follows is the Museum's introduction to the exhibit:

"For centuries glass has been valued for its visual and tactile properties which have allowed the creation of many beautiful objects. This tour uses some of the outstanding glass objects in the British Museum to illustrate the major developments in the history of glass manufacture.

"Glass is made by melting a mixture of sand and an alkali. The first glass vessels were made in the Near East in about 1600 BC. The brightly-coloured glass was opaque and was used to make small bottles, jars and jugs by coating a clay core with molten glass, then adding trails of colour. This glass was regarded as an artificial precious stone which only the rich could afford.

"In the mid-first century BC, glassworkers in Syria-Palestine discovered how to inflate hot glass by blowing through a tube. The method was taken up throughout the Roman Empire and production expanded rapidly. By the end of the first century AD, weakly coloured or transparent glass was an everyday material. Glass table wares became common and window panes and glass mirrors began to be used.

"Syrian glassworkers developed the techniques of gilding and enamelling glass in the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries. Glassworkers in Europe adopted these techniques, which were developed extensively in Venice in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

"The demand for a truly colourless transparent glass or 'crystal' drove developments in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Since then the exploitation of the visual properties of glass in new ways has continued to play a key role in its appeal."

A Blue glass jug, inscribed for Thutmose III, is described in this way: "The colour of this vessel probably imitates turquoise, the yellow and white represents gold and silver. The tamarisk trees, dots and scales, and the name of the king are enamelled, the earliest known example of this technique in Egypt."

The Lycurgus Cup, considered extraordinary, is noted as "the only complete example of a very special type of glass, known as dichroic, which changes colour when held up to the light. The opaque green cup turns to a glowing translucent red when light is shone through it. The glass contains tiny amounts of colloidal gold and silver, which give it these unusual optical properties.

"The cup is also the only figural example of a type of vessel known as a 'cage-cup'. The cup was made by blowing or casting a thick glass blank. This was then cut and ground away until the figures were left in high relief. Sections of the figures are almost standing free and connected only by 'bridges' to the surface of the vessel.

"The scene on the cup depicts an episode from the myth of Lycurgus, a king of the Thracians (around 800 BC). A man of violent temper, he attacked Dionysos and one of his maenads, Ambrosia. Ambrosia called out to Mother Earth, who transformed her into a vine. She then coiled herself about the king, and held him captive. The cup shows this moment when Lycurgus is entrapped by the branches of the vine, while Dionysos, a Pan and a satyr torment him for his evil behaviour. It has been thought that the theme of this myth — the triumph of Dionysos over Lycurgus — might have been chosen to refer to a contemporary political event, the defeat of the emperor Licinius (reigned AD 308-24) by Constantine in AD 324.

The online presentation lets the viewer observe the cup when held up to the light — surely, a spectacular infusion of color that results.

Visit the online shop

 

Replica Egyptian falcon , £225.00

Visit the online shop

Vive la différence!
The English and French stereotype in satirical prints, 1720-1815

The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England includes a number of online exhibitions in addition to the current offerings.

The relationship between England and France during this time period was complex. There was a great deal of travel and cross-cultural influence, which would often manifest itself in the emulation of concepts or qualities of the other's culture. There was also a great deal of enmity. The two countries were rivals in economic, colonial, constitutional and religious ways, and they were at war for much of the 18th century, continuing into the 19th century. The differences which were celebrated by some were seen in times of stress as a threat to each side's value system. The satires in this exhibition demonstrate how the portrayal of national stereotypes was affected by the fluctuating political climate of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Satires by their very nature are oppositional, and stereotypes by their nature represent a kind a gut prejudice, designed to accentuate and distort an idea of a figure into a pantomime image, a ludicrous parody. The stereotypes owed a lot to ignorance. The satirists were of course capturing only what they knew, which was at best based on first-hand observation, and at worst founded on rumours alone. They present far too limited a field to give a true impression held by an average citizen at any one time. In each print the neighbour is transformed into a figure of fun, but with multiple layers to the joke, such as social arrogance, jealousy or fear.

The online exhibition includes pages on the view from England and France.

Another online exhibit is that of Conserving Art:

The conservation and restoration of the Chinese vases broken in 2006

An incident in the Museum on Wednesday 25 January 2006 involving a member of the public resulted in damage to three huge oriental porcelain vases which had been on display for many decades.

The impact that toppled the vases resulted in pieces of porcelain being distributed over a wide area.

Public and press shared the opinion that the reconstruction of the vases was impossible.

Was it impossible? Follow the vases' progress from scattered fragments to their redisplay in the Fitzwilliam Museum. The site includes slideshows, film clips of the conservation process and a timelapse of one of the vases under reconstruction (in the Reassembly section of the interactive).

Further details can be found on the Frequently Asked Questions pages, including how the vases were broken.

Women of Renown

From the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston:

"The versatile artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi designed theatrical prints, landscapes, cartoons, and scenes of daily life, but he is most famous for images of warriors and historical figures. His skill in creating exciting designs helped make such scenes one of the most popular subjects for Japanese prints in the nineteenth century. But his was not just a man's world. In Kuniyoshi's prints, the valiant heroes who battle monsters and human enemies, and the great rulers, poets, and religious leaders from Japanese history include women as well as men."

Tomoe Gozen, from the series One Hundred Stories of Famous Women of Japan since Ancient Times

"Accounts differ as to the fate of Tomoe after the defeat and death of her lord, Yoshinaka, in 1184. She is sometimes said to have died in battle; according to another story she lived on quietly and eventually married another warrior. When the shogun ordered her to demonstrate her strength, she amazed everyone by moving one of the pillars holding up the roof of a building."

It's possible to view just the text or just the image at the online exhibit

Shop at the Museum

One of the most stunning museums we've visited over the years is in Michigan, the newly renovated Detroit Institute for Art. It is the US mecca for those who admire the work of Diego Rivera and the mural, Detroit Industry.

Julie Mehretu's City Sitings is the exhibit to visit but don't overlook, beyond all the other wonderful holdings, the DIA shop. The home decor section features a Robert Held Poppy Classic Vase inspired by Claude Monet's famous painting Poppy Field; a striking indigo Pewabic Pottery Vase and a Gladioli Music Box.

A personal item would be a Roessler Glass bracelet, a pair of Egyptian Royal Triple Drop Earrings (for $28), and a tie designed from the Detroit Industry mural. The mural is also featured in the Kids section as a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle as well as (what else!) Granny's purse, a "die-cut board book offers an interactive treasure chest of treats and surprises inside — peek at her notebook, try on her rings and scarf, tie a bow. It's also a portrayal of a Granny brimming with wit and wisdom and a love story to bridge the generations."

Asian Lacquer: The Irving Collection and the Seattle Museum

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting an exhibit of Asian Lacquer. Here's how the museum introduces the subject:

"Lacquer, a sap that is a natural plastic, has served as an artistic medium in China, Korea, and Japan for millennia. Lacquer is used for painting and is combined with gold, mother-of-pearl, and other materials. In addition, layers of lacquer can be carved to create wondrous patterns or engaging figural scenes. Ranging in size from small boxes for incense to larger containers for sake, and in date from the 14th to the 19th century, the exquisite works in this exhibition also have cultural significance related to the art of writing or historical and literary themes."

Images from the site include sutra covers: "These covers were made to store texts from the 108-volume Tibetan Buddhist canon produced in Beijing in 1410, and "a Food Box with Striped Decoration and Chinese Figures, with "patterns on this tiered food box [that] derive from Indian and Southeast Asian textiles that were part of the trade linking Japan to other regions of Asia as well as to centers farther west. A Cabinet with Butterflies is "painted with black and gold lacquer and inlaid with pearl shell and a Box with Design of Shells and Seaweed held "personal accessories such as combs. From the seventeenth century on, groups of such boxes were part of the extensive assemblages of lacquered furnishings found in the trousseaux of the elite and the expanding merchant class."

An Octagonal Dish with Decoration of a Shou Character with eight auspicious emblems, including flaming pearls, a pair of horns, and a pair of books, encircle the character for longevity (shou) in the center of the dish; the same designs are found on the exterior. The dragons in the outer edges of the plate are all missing one claw. Five claws were understood as imperial symbols, and it is likely that the missing claws were removed in order to downgrade the dish for presentation to a member of the nobility or a senior official at the court.

The Seattle Art Museum is hosting Japan Envisions the West: 16th- to 19th- century Japanese Art From the Kobe City Museum. This exhibit, too, contains lacquered items such as a Cabinet of Drawers with Design of Birds and Flowers, Mid-19th century Lacquered wood with mother-of-pearl inlay, metal fittings and a sewing table.

The Phillips American Art Time Line

So often timelines reveal and put into perspective the sociological influences brought to bear in an artist's subject matter, such as the two below, part of the Phillips American Art Timeline, a view of 150 years of art.

Thomas Eakins, Miss Amelia van Buren, 1891

Eakins centered his attention on Van Buren's face and hands, creating through subtle means — deft highlights, distant glance, and relaxed yet tensile hands — an image of great psychological complexity. Her weary head leans on her curved hand, while her other hand rests in her lap. She looks absently towards but not into the strong light, which emanates from the left and defines her face. Eakins establishes in this passage Van Buren's character, her quiet strength and determination. And it is in this manner, through a portrait of his friend and fellow artist's contemplative state, that Eakins comments on his own achievements at the end of a long, tumultuous career.

The sitter, Van Buren, is an elusive, but fascinating figure. Born in 1856 she was recorded by 1880 as an "artist in color." Her lifelong friendship with the Eakins family began when she took the artist’s life classes at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1884. Van Buren later became interested in photography, an enthusiasm she may have initially acquired from Eakins, who himself had used photographs extensively in his work. She turned from painting to work exclusively as a photographer. She may have found the expressive potential of photography challenging, seeing photography as an art form in its own right, and, too, Van Buren may have believed that for a woman, photography offered a better chance for recognition.

Walt Kuhn, Plumes, 1931

Plumes is quintessential Kuhn: a performer, shown in frontal view and wearing a slightly disillusioned expression, is placed against a simple background and depicted in bright, dissonant colors. The theme of a showgirl donning theatrical costume frequently recurred in Kuhn's mature work and was met with a great deal of success. Painted directly from the model, Mabel Benson, in December of 1931, Plumes was one of several canvases the artist created after a European trip that included a visit to the Prado in Madrid. The architectonic, three-dimensional form, the plain background, and the black-and-white contrasts with touches of red reveal the influence of Spanish artists such as Goya and Velázquez and certain Spanish-inspired works by Manet. Plumes, as does much of Kuhn's figurative work, conveys a feeling of contained energy. The contours of the figure seem to vibrate in contrast to the seemingly bored facial expression. Quiet and poised, she seems capable of movement at any moment. This tension is similar to that which Kuhn had admired in Archaic Greek sculpture. The artist created yet another sensation of tension in the painting by confining the solid, powerful figure and the plumes closely within the boundaries of the frame.

The painting was exhibited for the first time at the Marie Harriman Gallery in January 1932. The show was a success, and Plumes in particular was admired for the strength and simplicity of its balance, color, and composition. Duncan Phillips, who received an exhibition catalogue, was "especially impressed by 'Plumes'." Immediately after acquiring the painting, Phillips included it his 1932 Kuhn show. The girl under the Plumes, he wrote

"…is thoroughly disillusioned and tired of it all. She seems to sag under her magnificent head-dress and to wonder perhaps why she ever left home. That head-dress is none the less a magnificent passage of painting. The feathers are the very essence of feathers and, as texture, they are the apotheosis of pigment."

William Steig

We've read books to our children and grandchildren written by William Steig over the last 45 years, including Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Dr. DeSoto, Tiffky Doofky and The Amazing Bone. A holiday present to our grandchildren this year will be a signed copy of Dr. DeSoto Goes to Africa

The Jewish Museum is hosting an exhibit, From The New Yorker to Shrek: The Art of William Steig. Steig died in 2003.

An introduction to the exhibit online describes Steig's drawings:

"Filled with empathy, Steig’s drawings resonate long after our first encounter with them. In his art, the isolation of the self — one of the artist’s lifelong preoccupations — is treated in its various guises. The children he drew are often grouchy and ill-mannered, and his adult world is populated with convicts and lovers, drunks and drifters, philosophers and the absurdly rich, and couples engaged in bewildered attempts to understand each other. These characters — often warty and scabrous types depicted with great affection — are both a rich source of humor and crucial to one of his central insights: there is much in this world that can perplex and frustrate us. Above all, Steig’s work is about the redeeming power of nature, art, and love, to which we seem to be most receptive as children, or when we are in touch with our own childhood as adults. 'I think I feel a little differently than other people do,' Steig said. 'For some reason I’ve never felt grown up.' ”

Another feature is Five Lines: "William Steig's daughter, Maggie Steig, recalls in the exhibition catalogue that her father could find faces anywhere — in the grain of a piece of wood or the folds of a cushion.  Later in life he enjoyed a game they called Five Lines. One person would draw five random lines and the other person then added to the lines to turn it into a face.

Finally, Farrar, Straus and Giroux has been generous enough to make available a bookmark that can be presented to the Museum for $2 off the price of admission.

Shop at the Museum

The Textile Museum in Washington, DC carries a selection of textiles to be purchased. Fortunately, the dissolution of the Soviet Union affords more ready access to suzani textiles:

"Contemporary suzani textile is handwoven and hand-embroidered by women incorporating designs traditionally used in the 18th and 19th centuries in the Silk Road cites and towns of Uzbekistan. By the early 20th century the art of natural dying had largely fallen by the wayside in places like Samarqand, Bukhara, Tashkent, and Shahrisabz. However, with independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 there has been a return of some of the traditional commerce of the region. One of the happy outcomes is the rediscovery of the use of natural dyes and a renascent production of suzanis, this traditional needlework of the women of the Silk Road."

Pillow covers are one example of this kind of needlework as well as wearable jackets. Japanese scarves and a kimono are other applications available as well as Indian and contemporary quilts. Ikat and Batik items are on display, too.

Penn Museum

The Pyramid Shop for kids at the Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology features 'backpack' kits with treasures from your chosen area, such as Egyptian, African, Americas and Asian themes.

For instance, the Americas pack includes:

Three hacky-sacks will keep your soccer skills sharp and a set of six Worry Dolls will solve your problems. Worry dolls are given to Guatemalan Indian children by their parents who tell them to tell their worries to the dolls at night. Overnight the dolls would solve their worries. Also includes a mini god.

Currently, the main shop is displaying reproductions of select gold jewelry that appears in the exhibit, River of Gold: Precolombian Treasures from Sitio Conte

Mythic Creatures at the American Museum of Natural History

The Museum introduces this exhibit in the following way:

The world is full of stories about brave heroes, magical events and fantastic beings. For thousands of years, humans everywhere — sometimes inspired by living animals or even fossils — have brought mythic creatures to life in stories, songs and works of art. Today these creatures, from the powerful dragon to the soaring phoenix, continue to thrill, terrify, entertain and inspire us.

We seem to catch glimpses of these creatures all around us: hiding beneath the ocean waves, running silently through the forest and soaring among the clouds. Some symbolize danger. Others, we think, can bring us luck or joy. Together mythic creatures give shape to humankind's greatest hopes, fears and most passionate dreams.

Creatures of the Deep: Water beckons us. It is soothing and seductive … but it's also capable of unleashing deadly force. The mythic creatures that inhabit the depths give form to water's essential mysteries. They arouse feelings of curiosity, hope — and bottomless fear. Like water itself, these creatures can be beautiful and enticing. But will they share their life-giving bounty? Or lure us to destruction?

Creatures of the earth: We share the land with countless living animals. Some are familiar; others seem quite bizarre. Creatures from the lands of myth can be both recognizable and strange. Sometimes they appear to have body parts from ordinary animals combined in very unusual ways. Other times they look just like familiar animals — but have extraordinary and magical powers.

Creatures of the Sky: Have you ever wondered what it feels like to fly? The smallest bird has powers we will never share. But mythic creatures of the air have even greater powers. Imagine a bird so huge it blocks out the sky, or stirs up storms with its wings. In myths and stories, winged horses, dragons and even people all have the power of flight. These stories help express the wonder and awe inspired by looking up at the sky.

Dragons, Creatures of Power: Of all mythic creatures that rise from the water, prowl across land or fly through the air, the dragon is the most famed. Stories of serpentlike beasts with fabulous powers inspire awe in almost every part of the world. Rain-bringing dragons in Asian tales can shrink so small that they fit in a teacup — or grow so large that they fill the sky. Dragons in Europe can slaughter people with their putrid breath, or spit fire and set cities ablaze. The earliest dragon legends date back thousands of years, and the creature still haunts our imagination today.

Each of the divisions have a number of sections to explore and wonder at, including a peek behind the scenes at some Exhibitions staff members hard at work preparing exhibits for Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids.

The Clark Brothers Collect

The Clark Brothers, whose collection is on view at the Metropolitan Museum, are, in part, on view online, part of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. His younger brother, Stephen Carlton Clark, was a prominent donor to and trustee of the Metropolitan. His wife, Francine, was a former actress with the Comédie Française.

Fortunately, many of Sterling and Francine's collection can be viewed online at the Clark Art Institute:

" In the 1910s and 1920s, when the Clark brothers began collecting European art, Impressionist paintings were becoming increasingly popular with American collectors. Sterling eventually acquired a broad range of works by most of the prominent Impressionists, works that soon formed the heart of his collection. These artists, he felt, had inherited and updated traditional Renaissance painting techniques. Stephen collected in this field much more selectively. He once commented to a dealer that 'the Impressionist School does not interest me tremendously,' but he did seek out singular masterpieces by artists such as Édouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas."

" 'People are crazy about Renoir,' Sterling Clark commented in his diary, and he himself was certainly among them. He acquired a total of thirty-nine paintings by the artist, whom he considered 'a great master.' Stephen Clark, too, collected Renoir's works, acquiring seven paintings despite his occasional uncertainty about Impressionism. Indeed, his portrait of Madame Henriot was among his largest and most expensive purchases, but as he explained to the dealer, 'it is, however, such a beautiful picture that I would be willing to buy it . . . in spite of the fact that I don't quite know what to do with it.'  "

"In the field of American painting, both brothers collected the work of certain artists in considerable depth. Winslow Homer particularly appealed to them — in total, the brothers acquired over twenty paintings by the artist. Sterling called Homer one of the "best artists of the nineteenth century" and considered his Homer paintings, drawings, and prints among the highlights of his collection. Sterling also acquired a remarkable suite of paintings by John Singer Sargent, while Stephen preferred the stark realism of Thomas Eakins and contemporary artist Edward Hopper. In collecting American paintings, Sterling maintained his usual low profile, but Stephen often collected with an eye toward donating them to museums. As he stated of Eakins's paintings, 'it will be my aim to provide for their ultimate disposition in a way that will promote Mr. Eakins's fame for posterity,' and he donated works by Eakins and Hopper to burgeoning institutions like the Addison Gallery of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York." 

The Met Museum, Houston Museum
of Natural Science and Roman Dining Posture

We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a family many times over a 30 year period. We looked forward to the Christmas Creche exhibit during the seasonal holidays; we went to see the bed in The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler; the armored horses; and the Egyptian art, topped off by a visit to the restaurant situated around a reflecting pool. For years, we would take a small group of our daughters' friends into NYC to celebrate one or the other's birthday at the Met.

Now some of those touchstones have changed. The restaurant is located elsewhere and the new Greek and Roman Galleries have taken its place. Although we find it a worthy successor, there was something magical about that entering that restaurant space. The Romans would have loved eating there while reclining on their dining couches.

We digress here a moment to excerpt from Matthew B. Roller's introduction to his book, Dining Posture in Ancient Rome: Bodies, Values, and Status:

"What underlies many specific representations of women reclining (typically alongside men) or seated (at a distance from the reclining men) is not actual practice but profound anxieties about women's capacity for, and inclination toward, transgressive sex, which is inferred from their juxtaposition with male bodies and their proximity to wine. The broader point, moreover, holds true for men and children as well as for women. Dining posture in general — for diners of every status, age, and sex — is profoundly intertwined with key social values. Thus, upon assuming a particular posture and a particular relationship to other bodies, a diner associates certain values with herself or himself; conversely, a person to whom certain values are ascribed is thereby authorized to assume a particular dining posture."

The Met has a tour of the newly opened galleries, commented on by Philippe de Montebello, whose accented and cultured voice leads you through the various works:

Essentially a "museum within the museum" for the Metropolitan's world-renowned collection of Hellenistic, Etruscan, South Italian, and Roman art, the new galleries will completely transform a space that was used for decades as the Museum's restaurant, but that was originally designed by the renowned architects McKim, Mead and White in 1912 as galleries for Roman art.

Its centerpiece is the spectacular Leon Levy and Shelby White Court, a monumental peristyle area for the display of Hellenistic and Roman art with a soaring two-story atrium. This colossal statue of the young Hercules, a lion skin draped over his arm, will be there, along with many other works, including our great Badminton sarcophagus decorated with more than 40 figures—including Dionysus, the god of wine, shown riding his panther—and the seasons.

Here you will meet, face to face, the emperors of Imperial Rome: Augustus, Caligula, the young Nero, Antoninus Pius, Caracalla; and a pantheon of great figures from ancient times: Herodotus, Epicurus, and many others.

In the Hellenistic treasury, you will see masterpieces of craftsmanship in precious gemstones, glass, and metals, like these great serpentine armbands in gold with two tritons, male and female, each holding a small, winged Eros. And nearby, great bronzes, like the sleeping god Eros, here depicted with great immediacy and naturalism, as a plump baby. It is one of the few bronze statues to have survived from antiquity.

Read the rest of the transcript of Mr. de Montebello's presentation at the Met site.

Less celebrated, perhaps, is the exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science's exhibit, Imperial Rome, which "displays more than 400 objects divided into six thematic sections, beginning with a marble sculpture of Julius Caesar, whose murder marked the demise of the Roman Republic, through the establishment and growth of an enormous Empire that melded cultural and historical legacies from around the ancient world. Marvel at small bronze to large marble statues; precious vessels in silver; and mosaics, glass and ceramics, as well as engravings, jewels, and a significant number of coins illustrating the sophistication of Roman society."

Amazing Rare Things

The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, London

Naturalist David Attenborough cocurated an exhibit drawn from "from five remarkable and diverse groups of natural history drawings and watercolours in the Royal Collection. They date from the late fifteenth century to the early eighteenth century, a period when European knowledge of the world’s flora and fauna was transformed by voyages of discovery to Africa, Asia and the Americas. Through painstaking examination and description, Leonardo da Vinci, the collector Cassiano dal Pozzo, Alexander Marshal, Maria Sibylla Merian and Mark Catesby hoped to comprehend the natural riches of an ever-expanding world."

About 18 selected items from the exhibition are examined more closely by Attenborough.

This is an opportunity to be introduced to and learn more about Maria Sibylla Merian:

The Gross Clinic Stays

After contributors stepped in to save Thomas Eakins's best known painting, Gross Clinic, from being shipped to Wal-Mart heiress, Alice Walton, for her future museum, it now will be co-owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It has been owned by the Thomas Jefferson University.

Curator of American Art Kathleen Foster explains the import of Thomas Eakins's painting through a Podcast (Exhibition Minutes) you can either download or listen to at the site.

"Nearly half of the $68 million required to purchase the work has been committed; however, there is still a great need for additional support to secure all the funding necessary to finalize the acquisition."

The Academy explains Eakins's influence on its history during his tenure as a teacher:

"Eakins's teaching ideas led to a much greater emphasis on the study of human anatomy including dissections of animals and human cadavers, and increased emphasis on the nude model. In turn, he de-emphasized the study of the antique casts, encouraging students to work directly from a figure. Eakins also introduced a sculpture class in modeling the body from life, a practice which heretofore had not existed in American art schools. Eakins was dismissed from the faculty in 1886 for his over-emphasis on the use of the nude. However, many of the Eakins-era curriculum innovations remained part of the school program after his departure."

An Academy milestone was the acquisition of Charles Bregler’s Thomas Eakins Collection:

"In 1938, Susan Eakins died, and the Eakins home was sold. The next year, Charles Bregler, a former student of Thomas Eakins, gathered up a large number of drawings, manuscripts, glass plate negatives and photographs, with the permission of the estate executors who believed all the material to be valueless. Bregler hoarded this collection until 1944, when he sold a part of his holdings, mostly works of art, to Knoedler's in New York (now in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden). In 1958, the rest of his collection passed into the hands of his widow, Mary Bregler, who also guarded the collection zealously. After several attempts by Academy staff to examine the material, Curator Kathleen A. Foster finally persuaded Mary Bregler to transfer it to the Pennsylvania Academy. After a year of negotiations and an appraisal by Sotheby’s, the Academy purchased Charles Bregler’s Thomas Eakins Collection."

Asia Society's Gilded Splendor

Treasures of China's Liao Empire (907-1125) on view at the Asia Society reveal the complex cultural and religious legacy of the Khitan culture:

An abundance of luxury wares found in Liao tombs testifies to the international nature of Liao culture. The tomb of the Princess of Chen and her husband contained glass vessels and a large bronze basin imported from Iran and the Near East, amber from the Baltic Sea, rock crystal from South or Southeast Asia, and jade possibly from Inner Asia. Foreign stylistic elements are visible on a number of the objects from this tomb, such as C-shaped gold bracelets with animal terminates, which were first developed in the Near East. Beaded necklaces strung with spacers originated in India and were often used on Buddhist statues during the preceding Tang dynasty. Frequent contacts with the Jurchens, Tanguts, and Uighurs enabled the Liao empire to acquire a rich variety of resources ranging from horses and falcons to Buddhist scriptures, jade, and precious metals. The Liao rulers also received tribute annually from the rulers of Song China in the form of large quantities of silver taels and silk. With this steady income of wealth, the Liao elite could afford to buy luxurious commodities from Song artists, including the delicate Yue celadon wares from Zhejiang and fine white and green wares from Shaanxi and Hebei provinces.

Finding the image gallery and its treasures is not easy at the site. This web site requires flash player 8 or later. Click to download. The image gallery is divided into four sections: The Nomadic Heritage, The Chinese Tomb Tradition, Luxuries and Necessities and Religious Life. Click on each section and then again on Image Gallery. Persevere and descriptions, such as these, will be revealed:

The tradition of placing amulets in the hands of the dead is Chinese in origin and can be traced back to the Han dynasty in the second century BCE. The Khitan culture introduced the addition of gold chains to handheld burial amulets. The amulet, adorned on one side with an image of two phoenixes, was placed in the hand of the Princess of Chen when she was buried in 1018. The prominent hooked beaks, characteristic of Khitan imagery, reflect the Khitan's passion for falconry. The amulet on the right, depicting a crouching horned dragon, was found in her other hand. The Khitan regarded amber as a magical substance. The amber in these two amulets can be traced to the Baltic Sea region and was possibly acquired through trade or tribute or through Buddhist missionaries from Central Asia.

Another image is of a mannequin and one of a fragment of a textile.

Composed of seventeen different wooden parts, this mannequin contained the cremated ashes of the deceased in its hollow chest. It was crafted to represent a male figure with free-moving limbs connected by joints and sockets. Remaining pigment indicates that the figure's head, neck, and the lower part of its arms were originally painted; however, most of the body was not painted, suggesting that the mannequin was originally clothed. Archaeologists have discovered similar mannequins in large, rectangular wooden coffins or laid on coffin-beds in tombs. These mannequins received a burial that was no different from that of a real corpse, which suggests that those who buried them believed they represented the deceased whose ashes they contained.

Blue gauze textile embroidered with blossoms: This embroidered textile was among 276 textiles discovered in the relic deposit inside the cha, the structure at the top of the White Pagoda in Balin Right Banner. These textiles can roughly be divided into three major groups according to their function: sutra wrappers, decorative gauze, and banners attached to miniature pagodas. The well-preserved state of the embroideries suggests that they were not folded up, but rather laid out flat in the deposit. Their purpose is not clear, although they were most likely used in a religious context.

There are also virtual tours of the Liao tombs, selected dynasty sites as well as maps and timelines.

Shopping at the Museum

"In the course of a systematic search of archival material and library holdings in central Germany conducted by the Bach-Archiv since 2002 Dr. Michael Maul and Dr. Peter Wollny came upon two hitherto unknown manuscripts from Bach's youth containing copies of organ works by the composers Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Adam Reinken; they were written in and shortly before 1700 and thus represent the earliest known documents in Bach's own hand, which makes them important sources for the musical development of the young composer."

So announced the Bach-Archiv Leipzig which will put the documents on display in September but in the meantime, you can browse at the Archiv's shop. There you can find a facsimile of Aria Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn’ ihn: In May 2005 Leipzig-based musicologist Michael Maul made a sensational discovery in Weimar. While sifting through the Herzogin Anna Amalia library he unearthed the manuscript of a sacred aria by Johann Sebastian Bach which was previously completely unknown. There are also items of a more pedestrian scale such as a Bach 2007 calendar and key fob. The child's kaleidoscope appealed to us. For the caffeine-demanding, consult Ey! How Sweet the coffee tastes! a book by Hans-Joachim Schulze which Includes the CD, Coffee Cantata, (English edition.

Artists and Animals

Although this Carnegie Museum of Art show has closed in Pittsburgh, virtual access is still available in an audio form.

Here is the Carnegie's introduction to the audio sampling of The Jealous Lioness, Great Peacock Moth and Crab on Its Back and Man Proposes, God Disposes from its exhibit, Fierce Friends: Artists & Animals, 1750–1900:

"In the 18th and 19th centuries, modern theories of evolution and the proliferation of machines elevated animals to a new status in religion, philosophy, and the arts. This exhibition, co-organized by Carnegie Museum of Art and the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, explores the ways that artists of the period addressed the issue of humanity’s relationship with nature as exemplified through our treatment of animals. Through paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and photographs, the exhibition shows how the visual arts drew upon science, natural history, and literature about animals, and how those fields, in turn, were shaped, inspired, or influenced by the work of artists. Designed to create visual juxtapositions that surprise, delight, and provoke, the exhibition presents great paintings and sculptures next to fossils, specimens of taxidermy, ground plans of zoological gardens, illustrated books, bird cages, and steam engines."

Click at the site to hear selections from Fierce Friends audio tour:

• Paul Meyerheim: The Jealous Lioness

• Vincent van Gogh: Great Peacock Moth and Crab on its Back

• Edwin Landseer: Man Proposes, God Disposes

Menagerie: Artists Look at Animals at the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Folk art is an exhibit that " focuses on contemporary animal art by craft and folk artists, and those influenced by folk art, created from a variety of materials — wood, clay, glass, fiber, metal, and found — and techniques, from stitched to painted to carved, sculpted, or welded. On display will be more than fifty works of art drawn mainly from local collections and from Bay Area artists. The emphasis is on North America, from the far North through Mexico. Each work’s cultural background or meaning for the individual artist will be included."

Sheila Tuffanelli's Jazz Cat, Carol Eckert's Birds and Elk and Marilyn da Silva's Raven at a Picnic are examples of a whimsical look at animals who we usually see through much more traditional visual approaches.

The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA will be exhibiting Going Ape: Confronting Animals in Contemporary Art:

"Among the several themes that run throughout this exhibition are a questioning of the age-old wild/tame dichotomy and a confused duality between human/animal. Artists also use animal imagery to express anxiety and guilt about the wide variety of crimes perpetrated against animals and nature by our own species in the name of Science. But not everything is doom and gloom. Many of today’s artists, like artists throughout history, create images of animals to celebrate their sheer beauty of form, shape, surface, and variety, as well as their animating spirits."

Past Exhibitions

We admit that we missed this Sackler Gallery exhibit, Love and Yearning: Mystical and Moral Themes in Persian Poetry and Painting when it was first presented in 2004. The gallery described it thusly:

This exhibition featured twenty-six of the finest illustrated manuscripts relating to Persian lyrical poetry highlighting the union of word and image. Love and Yearning: Mystical and Moral Themes in Persian Poetry and Painting contained works drawn from the Sackler and neighboring Freer galleries' renowned permanent holdings and loans from several private collections and from the Textile Museum in Washington, DC. These works demonstrate how 15th- to 17th-century artists transformed the rich imagery of mystical concepts found in Persian lyrical poetry into stylized, meticulously detailed and colorful images.

Here are some excerpts from the folios:

Solomon and Bilqis Sit Together and Converse Frankly:

One day, King Solomon and Bilqis (the queen of Sheba) exchange their innermost secrets to each other. Solomon confesses that, despite his absolute power, he always looks first at the presents brought by visitors seeking to increase their honor and glory in his eyes. Bilqis, in turn, confides that she longs for every young man who passes by. Thus, the two reveal a mutual need for gratification.

Qays First Glimpses Layli:

In a lovelorn state, Qays asks everyone he encounters for news of a young beauty. When one group tells him of a certain Layli, he dashes off on camelback to her camp. There he receives a warm welcome but sees no sign of the reported beauty. The youth is about to despair when suddenly he spies the beautiful Layli. The two are soon enamored of each other and spend the day together in intimate conversation, and when night comes, they experience the agony of separation, foreshadowing Qays's later transformation into Mahjnun, the madman.

Salaman and Absal Repose on the Happy Isle:

When the king reproaches his son, Salaman for his amorous relationship with his nursemaid Absal, the two lovers decide to flee the court. After a month-long voyage they reach an island full of springs, trees, fruit, and birds. This is such a tranquil and beautiful spot that they remain there in carefree, blissful companionship.

Yusuf Preaches to Zulaykha's Maidens in Her Garden

In her efforts to ensnare Yusuf's heart, Zulaykha invites him into a garden, where he is entertained by a group of beautiful maidens. Hoping that he would desire at least one of them, Zulaykha plans to change places with the chosen one and finally win her beloved. Instead of yielding to the women's charm, Yusuf spends the night preaching to them about divine wisdom.

When you're done with viewing the images from the exhibit, visit the shop at the Freer and Sackler Galleries' shop. There you can find Asahi pottery, Hoya Japanese crystal, Yixing teapots, Spring Blossom Ceramics, Sheba Jewelry and children's gifts.

First American Art

The companion to a 2003-2006 Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian exhibit, First American Art, "is the product of a collaboration among Native and non-Native curators, scholars, artists and the passion of the collectors, Charles and Valerie Diker." The Smithsonian shares "a deep commitment to articulating and heightening an understanding of American Indian aesthetics and to fostering an awareness of the exceptional beauty of Native art."

An 1880 shirt composed of hide, ermine, glass beads, wool, hair, feathers, cotton fabric, cotton thread is one object shown in the Integrity section; another a 1860 Octopus bag made from St. James Bay Cree Cotton, wool, silk, glass beads and wood; and finally, a 1860 Dogfish frontlet, 1860, fashioned from Haida Wood, pigment and abalone.

In yet another section from the site, a woman's hood, c. 1850, is created from Ojibwe wool, cotton, glass beads and cotton thread and also on display is a bandolier bag, c. 1820, Creek wool, silk, glass beads, silk and cotton thread.

Off the Pedestal

The Newark (NJ) Museum has organized an exhibit, Off the Pedestal: New Women in the Art of Homer; Chase and Sargent. "Come See the Women Who Shocked The 90's ... The 1890's" is the lead into the information about the exhibit.

The varied sections to explore are entitled: The Gilded Cage, Forces of Change, Women Outdoors, Thinking Women, Working Women, Breaking Boundaries and The New Women

There's also a message board where you can participate in a variety of online discussions related to the exhibition. "Share stories about inspirational new women in your own life or engage in stimulating conversations about the way unconventional women have been depicted in art, literature and film from the past to the present."

As well as visiting the Off the Pedestal exhibit, explore the online display of Picturing America:

Starting in colonial times and ending in the 21st century, Picturing America examines the powerful impact that artists have had on shaping American culture and identity. 

The exhibition includes over 300 works of art from the Museum's extraordinary collection. Masterpieces of painting and sculpture are shown with great works of photography, drawing and decorative arts by and for Americans of many backgrounds. Picturing America proceeds chronologically and each gallery's theme reveals the many layers of meaning found in the art. 

Take the online tour at the Museum which introduces the following gallery highlights:

1730 to 1900 The American Colonies
The Young Republic
Romantic Portraits for Eastern Cities
Country Portraits
The Rise of Landscape Painting
The Civil War and Its Aftermath
The Lure of Europe
The Gilded Age
The New Woman

1900 to Present Into the Modern Era
Far From the Modern World
A Modern Art For a Modern World
Faith, Fear and Failure in The Machine Age
In the Wake of the War
Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism
Challenging Conformity
Art Since 1965

Visit the Museum's shop for such items as a Beaded Wedding Basket from the island of Sumatra and Kuba Cloth Design Earrings from an etched design by artist, Alice Warder Seely. There's a poster, Poor Man's Cotton, reproduced from a Hale Woodruff painting in the Museum.

Links:

• African Art and the Internet - An article containing significant accessory links examines the Internet's impact on the lives of most students of African expressive culture. Links are also to discussion sites and much of this has been developed by Michigan State University.
  
• American Society of Botanical Artists - A site hosted by the Hunt Institute for Botanical Illustration and the images of the artist's work are difficult to resist. One contemporary artist, Paul Bell, is a professor of Forest Entomology and Pathology at Sir Sandford Fleming College (Ontario) and you can access his series of courses on the Internet. Another, Arundhati Vartak, is inspired by Indian miniature paintings and old Sanskrit classics while another is a jewelry designer and musician while one is a Margaret Mee Scholar.
  
• Art Institute of Chicago - A renowned museum with a collection emphasizing european decorative arts from 1100 to the present and scupture from the medieval period to 1900. Architectural Drawings houses a collection of more than 130,000 architectural sketches and drawings, including Louis Sullivan, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Stanley Tigerman, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
  
• Art Resources on the Web - A professor at Sweet Briar College has assembled an awesome collection of art links as well as being the gateway to art history . ArtStar - This is primarily an auction house for online sales but, in addition, there is a library section that not only carries their own magazine but a reference source with entries for thousands of living artists and professionals in the field. A glossary of arts terms, institutions, exhibits and artists round out a informative and good looking site.
  

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