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The Harvard Art Museums

5/20/2018

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I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, MA.  I highly recommend you check it out as they have a wonderful and varied collection of artwork from earliest times to the present.
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The Harvard Art Museums are actually comprised of three art collections; The Fogg, the Busch-Reisinger, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum.  The three were combined in a beautiful space designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop.  The Museum's literature stated that it is their hope that their collections and unique spaces inspire new ways of looking and thinking about art for all visitors.  ​

I started out off the main atrium to explore the European Art of the 19th and 20th Century and the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries.  
I came across this painting to the right by Paul Cezanne called, "Study of Trees."  It is oil on canvas and is from the early 20th Century.  When I think of Cezanne, I often think of impressionism, delightful landscapes, or beautiful bowls of fruit!  This painting demonstrated Cezanne's role in connecting 19th Century Impressionism to 20th Century Cubism.  I love how the trees are represented here because he was able to depict depth using diagonal shapes and brushstrokes that hint at movement and depth.  There are dashed lines that define the tree trunks on both sides of a country road.  It's no wonder why Harvard has this painting as part of its collection; Although it's not as well-known as Van Gogh's "Starry Night" or Monet's "Waterlilies," it's one of the most important paintings from this time period and the history of abstract painting.
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Pablo Picasso's "Still Life with Inkwell" Oil on Canvas, c. 1911-1912. Picasso applied cubism to the traditional still life.
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Pablo Picasso's "The Pomegranate" Oil on Canvas, 1911-1912.
Here is Willem de Kooning's 1937-1938 Oil on Masonite painting titled, "Untitled (The Cow Jumps Over The Moon).  I learned that de Kooning was trained as a commercial artist and his artistic styles move back and forth between abstract and figurative methods. This painting below is one of his earlier works, which reminds me of Joan Miro's work to some degree.  His later artwork, for which he is more well-known, is more gestural and epitomizes the abstract expressionism movement.  
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Georgia O'Keefe, "Red and Pink" Oil on Canvas, 1925. Perhaps an abstraction of flower petals.
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Vincent Van Gogh's "The Blind Man" Watercolor on paper mounted on canvas, 1903.
Joan Miro in his painting to the right titled, "Mural" made in 1935 plays with the idea of surrealism.  Animal-like figures are seen here on an oddly shaped background with areas of pure, flat color.

If you haven't seen my blog on Barcelona Art, there is a ton I included on my visit to the Joan Miro Museum.  Click Here to read my blog on Barcelona Art!
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You wouldn't know it based on the type of artwork he became famous for, but the painting below is by the artist, Roy Lichtenstein.  "The Capture of Roanoke Island" was painted in 1953, well before he developed his pop art comic-book style of art.
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I came across several sculptures by the artist David Smith.  For those of you who read my blog about the Downtown Art Scene in Los Angeles, I included a David Smith sculpture.  You can read it HERE!

I learned that due to a generous donor, the Harvard Art Museums have the largest and most complete collection of David Smith's artwork than any other museum in the world.  David Smith lived in Indiana and Vermont and although he began his career as a painter, he created many many sculptures.  In the photo to the right, Smith's sculpture, "Flight" that was created in 1951 and depicts birds in flight.  What's interesting is his use of both welding steel and casting bronze, and his process to paint the former and patina-ting the latter.
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David Smith's "Detroit Queen" Bronze, 1957.
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David Smith's "Doorway on Wheels" Steel with Paint, 1960.
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Three Untitled works of art by David Smith created in 1959.
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David Smith's "Birthday" 1954, "Books and Apple" 1957, and "Bird" 1957. All Sterling Silver.
I stared at this painting below "Grazing Horses IV (The Red Horses), painted in 1911 by Franz Marc for quite a long time.  Not because I love horses, but rather it struck me as fascinating.  Franz Marc painted horses a lot, and was known for his preoccupation with animals.  I learned that this particular painting was actually his first work of art to enter a museum's collection, the same year it was made.  What struck me was his use of unnatural colors in a very natural scene.  It's hard to see in the photo, but I was intrigued with the use of bright red in only one or two spots on the horses.
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Here to the right is one of my favorites...  Piet Mondrian's "Composition with Blue, Black, Yellow, and Red," painted in 1922.  Many people have commented that much of my own artwork reminds them of Mondrian's artwork.  In this blog article from the Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, I discuss this in greater length.  CLICK HERE to read that blog article!
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Claude Monet's "Red Boats, Argenteuil" Oil on Canvas, 1875. This painting is notable because x-rays of this painting show that Monet reworked this painting a few times.
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Georges Pierre Seurat, "Seated Figures, Study for A Sunday Afternoon On The Island of La Grande Jatte" Oil on Panel. 1884-1885. This is one of about 30 oil studies made in preparation for his masterpiece.
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Henri Matisse, "Geraniums" Oil on Canvas, 1910.
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Max Beckman's self-portrait in 1927, "Self-Portrait in Tuxedo" Oil on Canvas.
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Gustav Klimt's "Pear Tree, 1903, later reworked by the artist. Interesting to note that Klimt chose to use a square canvas, which at the time was not typically used for landscapes.
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In the Foreground, Alexander Calder's "Little Blue Under Red" c. 1950 Painted Steel.
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Three Sculptures: "Head of a Woman" by Aristide Maillol; Degas' "Grande Arabesque, Third Time, modeled c 1885-90, cast after 1920; and Charles Despiau's "Seated Man, Statue for the Monument to Emile Mayrisch" c. 1930.
To the Right:
​Jackson Pollock's "No. 2" mixed Media on Canvas, 1950.

No 2 is an example of Pollock's fully developed paint-pouring/splatter-painting/dripping techniques. 

​He put raw, un-stretched canvas on the floor and worked from above, pouring, dripping, flicking, and spraying paint onto the surface of the canvas.  The movement shown here is a record of his bodily movements as he produced the painting.
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Franz Kline's "High Street" Oil on Canvas, 1950. It's made with House-painters' brushes and inexpensive enamel house-paint.
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Mark Rothko's "Untitled" Oil on Canvas, 1947. A precursor to his well-known, iconic style, of two or three tiers of brightly colored rectangles.
Below is Jasper johns' "The Dutch Wives", encaustic on canvas, created in 1975.  If you haven't read my blog article on the Jasper johns retrospective exhibition at The Broad Museum in Los Angeles, you can find it HERE.
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Josef Albers' work here below shows his thought process of how art is a type of research.  With the same format of squares within squares, he tested a vast array of color combinations; He took all this research and theoretical findings to publish his book in 1963, "Interaction of Color," which is an essential resource for art and design students to this day.
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Josef Albers: "Homage to the Square: Against Deep Blue" 1955 and "Homage to the Square: Four Greens" 1964. Both Oil on Masonite.
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Auguste Rodin's "the Walking Man" Bronze, created around 1899-1900.
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Above is Richard Serra's "Untitled (Corner Prop Piece) created in 1969.  It's a sculpture comprised of a lead plate and pole and an example of minimalism and the use of industrial materials in fine art.  Serra makes use of the room's architecture including the walls and floor, essential to the sculpture.
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Claude Monet's "Red Mullets" Oil on Canvas, painted around 1870. I love this painting as it's so different from a typical Monet landscape, or waterlilies painting.
Here are three painting studies by John Singleton Copley, all painted in 1787.  I learned that the city of London commissioned the artist to create a large painting commemorating Britain's victory over the Spanish and French at the Siege of Gibraltar in 1782.  These portraits are character studies and experiments of his in composition.  Looking at this from a contemporary art perspective, I love how the portraits are "unfinished."
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Below is a wonderful painting from a German artist that I was unfamiliar with named Corinne Wasmuht.  It is titled, "50 U Heinrich-Heine-Str." oil on wood and created in 2009.  The painting is a portrayal of Berlin's Heinrich Heine Street subway station and its surrounding neighborhood.  It's hard to tell scale from photographs, but this is a huge painting and it's scale immerses the viewer, but the paintings various perspective points and different scales of objects also disorient the viewer.  It's really a magnificent painting and I can see why it was gifted to Harvard's Busch-Reisinger Museum. 
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Ai Weiwei's "258 Fake" created in 2011 features 12 monitors that show 7,677 photographs taken between 2003 and 2011
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Below are some fascinating samples taken from the Forbes Pigment Collection.  Edward Forbes was the director of the Harvard Art Museums from 1909 to 1944.  During his tenure, he traveled the world, collecting a large number of pigments for the library.  Today, the Pigment Collection contains more than 2,500 samples that are beautifully displayed in cabinets on the 4th floor and are used to this day to help identify pigments used in historical artworks.
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I came across this wonderful, short video on the Forbes Pigment Collection that was created about 2 years ago. Check it out!

Inventur--Art in Germany, 1943-55
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The special exhibition at the Harvard Art Museums was titled, "Inventur--Art in Germany, 1943-55" and focuses on modern-period artists who remained in Germany during World War II and the Holocaust.  The exhibit runs through June 3, 2018 on the 3rd Floor of the Museum.

​The artwork in the exhibition is in some way, a representation of the individual artist's response to Nazi censure, which prevented artists from exhibiting and/or selling their artwork.  I found it fascinating that the exhibition was called Inventur, meaning inventory,  because it is a collection of the artist experience for over 50 artists.

With Hitler's rise to power, there was a major government-driven effort to align individuals and organizations with the doctrine of the Nazi State.  Many teaching artists lost their jobs.  The well-known art school, The Bauhaus School of Art and Design, was closed under Nazi Rule.  Artwork that was not approved of by the Nazi State was coined "Degenerate Artwork."  If artists chose not to leave Germany or were not permitted to leave Germany, they had no choice but to create art privately.
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Hans Uhlmann's "Male Head" Steel sheet, 1942.
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Ernst Wilhelm Nay's "Embers" Oil on Canvas, 1951.
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Thomas Grochowiak's "Technical District I, Blue" Oil on Canvas, 1951.
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Jeanne Mammen's "Falling Facades (Berlin Ruins), oil on cardboard, 1945-1946.
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Konrad Klapheck's "Typewriter" Oil on Canvas, 1955.
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Fritz Winter's, "Figuration in Front of Blue" Oil on Canvas, 1953.
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Willi Baumeister's "Large Montaru" Oil with synthetic resin on board, 1953.
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Willi Baumeister's "Growth of the Crystals II" Oil with resin and putty on board, 1947/1952.
For more information about The Harvard Art Museums, please visit their website:  www.harvardartmuseums.org.  I definitely recommend visiting the Museum as you're in for a wonderful experience!  
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The Los Angeles County Museum Of Art-LACMA

4/1/2018

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The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA, is the largest art museum in the Western United States.  LACMA boasts a permanent collection of over 130,000 pieces of art.  There are various buildings to explore as well as outdoor areas with sculpture.  It is located adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits, so you can perhaps schedule a visit to both for the same day.  It's also a block away from the Peterson Automotive Museum.

At the time of my visit, a number of exhibitions were turning over, so I was only able to see a small sampling of what LACMA has to offer.  For visitors information, please check their website:  ​www.lacma.org/.
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Here's a photo of me at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in front of Chris Burden's sculpture, "Urban Light" installed in 2008.  Burden restored over 200 cast-iron streetlamps to create this work of art.  Burden was fascinated with urban life and how streetlamps are one of the fundamental building blocks of an urban metropolis.  I found it interesting that the streetlamps were recently converted to LEDs, reducing the installations's annual energy consumption by 90%.  The conversion to LEDs was funded by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation this year.  Chris Burden was commissioned by Brandeis University's Rose Art Museum to create a similarly themed sculpture.  You can see it by CLICKING HERE in an older blog article about the Rose Art Museum.
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Chis Burden's "Metropolis II" depicts an urban landscape.  Burden created "Metropolis I" seven years before "Metropolis II".  The earlier work featured eighty Hot Wheels cars zooming around a model city.  This work is much larger and includes 1,100 custom designed cars, 18 highways, and a vast array of buildings and structures. The artwork runs on select days and times, so plan ahead!
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Jeff Koon's, "Balloon Monkey (Orange)", Mirror-Polished Stainless Steel with Transparent Color Coating, 2006-13. This is one of five unique versions.
Richard Serra's "Band" is a massive sculpture that fills a huge exhibition hall from top to bottom, from front to back.  The sculpture took two and a half years to develop.  Made from over 200 tons of steel, it measures 12 feet high and over 70 feet in length.  
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Below are two views of the same sculpture, titled "Phoenix" by Alexander Liberman, created in 1974-75.  I love how a different view of this sculpture creates an entirely new image, a new feeling, a new perspective.  
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"Levitated Mass" (Shown below) was conceived by artist, Michael Heizer, in 1969, but only realized in 2012.   "Levitated Mass" is a 456-foot-long concrete pathway, over which sits a 340-ton granite boulder. As you walk down the pathway, it descends to fifteen feet in depth, directly underneath the massive boulder before ascending back up.
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Below are two views of the same Alexander Calder sculpture created in 1964 titled, "Three Quintains (Hello Girls)."  It is made from sheet metal and paint with motor.  To me, it appeared to be moved by the wind, but apparently it has a motor that moves the mobile sculpture.  
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Metropolitan Museum of Art New York

1/10/2018

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Wishing all my friends and subscribers a Happy 2018! 

​At the end of 2017, I visited the world-renowned Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  I've been fortunate to have been to the Museum several times in the past, but I admit, it's been too many years since my last visit.  As a professional artist, it's important for me to draw inspiration from the many artists whom I admire, both from the past and from present day.  So, when I visit New York, I always make an effort to visit art museums, art galleries, and stumble upon public art installations.
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In recent years as you've read in my previous blog posts, I visited museums like the Whitney, the Guggenheim, MOMA, the Brooklyn Museum, the New Museum, the Jewish Museum, just to name a few.  I encourage you to look through the Categories Listing on the right side of this page and click on what interests you, whether it be museums, cities, or famous artists.
The Met has been in the news this past week because it was announced that its admission policy is changing, requiring visitors to pay for admission (the Museum has been pay-as-you-wish for over 50 years).  The new admission policy will go into effect on March 1, 2018.  Residents of New York State, and students from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will remain pay-as-you-wish.  Children under 12 will remain free.  Be sure to check out their website for more information:  www.metmuseum.org

​I'd recommend purchasing your ticket(s) online and arriving to the Museum when it first opens.  You will wish you had more time for your visit if you don't! The line for admission seemed to span the entire length of the huge museum, but having purchased an advance ticket, I was able to walk in a separate door, check in, and head straight into the galleries.  Admission will get you into the Met Fifth Avenue, the Met Cloisters, as well as the new Met Breuer.
I didn't have the chance to visit the Met Cloisters and the Met Breuer.  My visit to the Metropolitan Museum of New York on Fifth Avenue was amazing.  First of all, it is massive.  I forgot just how large the museum is that is located on the Upper East Side on Fifth Avenue between East 80th and East 84th Streets. ​ This blog post covers my experience of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue, mainly what was on exhibit in their Modern & Contemporary Art galleries, 19th and Early 20th Century European Paintings and Sculpture, and some of their Asian Art collection.  There were also two special exhibitions going on that I'll include: One on the hugely talented artist David Hockney.  And the other on an artist that you may have heard of before, Michelangelo!  At the end of this blog, I'll include a few other artistic surprises outside of the Met I encountered on my trip to NYC.
I started in the Modern and Contemporary art section of the Museum, which spans from around 1900 through the 1950s. The photo here is a striking painting from artist, Georgia O'Keeffe.  In an earlier blog article, I posted a photo of O'Keeffe's painting of the Brooklyn Bridge. CLICK HERE TO VIEW.  Upon her relocation to New Mexico, her artistic interests changed from the buildings and bridges of New York City to the natural elements of New Mexico.  In this work of art, she isolates a single skull, highlighting its jagged edges, worn surfaces, and sun-bleached bone color.  The skulls and bones that she paints (this is one of may similar paintings she did while living in New Mexico) represent the desert's beauty.  In the painting here, she makes reference to the strength of the American spirit, with the red, white, and blue imagery.  
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"Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue" Oil on Canvas, 1931
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This Pablo Picasso painting shown here is called "The Dreamer" and was painted in 1932.  It features one of his lovers and muse and portrays a very sensual image.  I love how he uses simple forms to depict the woman's body using primary shapes.  I've included some close-up shots of the detail, including his iconic signature!
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Pablo Picasso, "Woman Asleep as a Table" Oil and Charcoal on Canvas, 1936
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Pablo Picasso, "Reading at a Table" Oil on Canvas, 1934.
This next photo, a painting by the Spanish artist, Joan Miro, is rather fascinating...  It is called "Photo: This is the Color of My Dreams" and was painted in 1925.  I write a lot about Joan Miro in my Blog that features the art of Barcelona.  I visited he Miro Museum last winter.  You can read more about the art of Barcelona as well as about my visit to the Miro Museum HERE.  This painting is one of a number of paintings in his series called "Painting-Poetry," which combines words and symbols to portray his interest in dreaming and the subconscious mind.  
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If you're ever in Barcelona, be sure to check out the Fundacio Joan Miro.  www.fmirobcn.org/en/

The painting also reminds me of Rene Magritte's painting, "The Treachery of Images" also known at "This is Not a Pipe" and features the French writing, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe".  I believe it is on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, so hopefully I can see it again on my next visit!

​This painting to the left by Joan Miro called "Circus house" is Tempera paint on canvas and belongs to a series of paintings related to dreams.  
This oil on canvas painting on the right is by a female artist named, Kay Sage, titled "Tomorrow is Never" and was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum  of Art because of her contribution to Surrealism in American art.  She painted landscape forms with dull and sad color-tones as a metaphor for the human mind and psychological states of existence.  I love the architectural feel of the painting, and it reminded me of a scene that one might see in a futuristic science-fiction movie!
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Max Beckman, "Beginning" Oil on Canvas, 1949.
In Marc Chagall's painting shown below, "Le Pont de Passy et la Tour Eiffel," painted in 1911, we experience a fascinating view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower.  The important thing about this painting is its composition.  Chagall uses several converging diagonal lines: the bright red road, the orange cement wall, and the lines denoting the blue sky.  If you think about the time period of the painting, it's interesting to note how it depicts some of the modern changes to the city of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower, the construction of the Pont de Passy Bridge and technologically modern train, electrical power-lines, and how it is juxtaposed alongside the element of the horses and wagon alluding to and earlier time in history.
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I love Stuart Davis' artwork.  He was influenced by the Cubist language of flat, overlapping planes and wedges and uses unique geometric shapes to create an abstract still life.  The painting shown here is called "Percolator" and depicts an old coffeepot that is both abstract and identifiable.
The Rockport, Massachusetts-themed painting below by Stuart Davis is called "Report from Rockport" and is oil on canvas.  I love all the colors, lines, and shapes that are depicted in this painting.  I've included  a detailed close-up shot as well.  This painting is representative of Davis' Color Space Theory, in which juxtapositions of colors are used to create the illusion of depth in artwork.
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Stuart Davis painted this in 1939 as a mural for Studio B WNYC at the Municipal Broadcasting Company. Oil on Canvas.
With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, painters like Fernand Leger incorporated streamlined forms and contours of assembly-line production into their artwork.   In the painting shown here, "Three Women by a Garden" painted by Fernand Leger in 1922, three generations of women are depicted. "Woman with a Cat" was painted in 1921.
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I love this painting shown here to the right by Rene Magritte called "The Eternally Obvious" created in 1948.  I learned that he first painted this nude portrait of his wife, which he later cut into sections and framed them separately, or reassembled them onto glass.
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I thought this was a very cool piece of artwork by artist, Jean Arp, shown above.  It's Oil on Wood Relief and is titled "Torso, Naval, Mustache-Flower." I think it's kind of bizarre in a cool way.
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Piet Mondrian is one of my favorite artists.  Here is one of his iconic paintings called, "Composition" completed in 1921.  It's an early example of the geometric style of painting that Mondrian called Neo-Plasticism, that emphasized planar relationships in painting, architecture, and design.  Many people who look at my own personal artwork sometimes comment that they see hints of a Mondrian influence in my artwork.  Here is Mondrian's painting at the Met, next to one of my paintings!
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Piet Mondrian, "Composition" Oil on Canvas, 1921.
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Eddie Bruckner, "Mosaic Color Grid Periphery" Acrylic on Canvas, 24" x 30", 2006. Click Image For More Information.
Mondrian used black lines to divide the canvas into rectangles that are sometimes painted in shades of blue and red, creating lighter hues by mixing primary colors with white.  Later on in his artistic process, Mondrian stopped creating these hues and used pure, primary colors.  In comparing his painting with mine, we each use an entirely different process to create our black lines and blocks of color.  If you notice, the black line at the bottom right of his painting doesn't quite reach the bottom.  To me, it detracts from the overall design.  Here are two other artists, whose works are hung alongside Mondrian's at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  
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Fritz Glarner, "Relational Painting Number 64" Oil on Canvas, 1953.
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Burgoyne Diller, "Second Theme" Oil on Canvas, 1938-40
I love Jackson Pollock's artwork!  The painting below is called "Number 28" and was painted in 1950.  His drip and pour paintings are widely recognized as his greatest achievement in art.  He used simple sticks or paint stirrers and enamel house paint, sometimes poured right from the can, spilling lines directly onto raw canvas spread on the floor.  What I love about his paintings are that the paint on the canvas we see is a record of the artist's creative process and his movement as he walked around all the sides of the canvas.
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Detail of "Number 28"
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Jackson Pollock, "Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)", Enamel on Canvas, 1950.
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Detail of "Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)".
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Franz Marc, "Fighting Cows" Oil on Canvas, 1911.
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Vasily Kandinsky, "Improvisation 27 (Garden of Love III)", Oil on Canvas, 1912.
One of the Special Exhibitions on display during my visit was "Michelangelo:  Divine Draftsman and Designer."  Michelangelo Buonarroti lived from 1475 to 1564 and is celebrated for his excellence of the power of drawing and invention that provided the foundation for all the arts.  His drawing skills, design, sculpture, painting, and architecture all combined to give him the reputation of "The Divine One" by his contemporaries.  The exhibition showed a range of over 200 works by the artist that was pulled together from 50 public and private collections across the United States and Europe.  The exhibit opened in November and is on view through February 12, 2018.  Below are just two of his incredible artworks I saw at the Met.  #MetMichelangelo
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During my visit there was a magnificent exhibit of the British artist David Hockney that showcases 60 years of his art career.  I highly recommend visiting this exhibit that is at the Met Fifth Avenue through February 25, 2018.  David Hockney's painting address translating movement, space, and time into a two dimensional painting.  Hockney is probably best known for depicting California swimming pools and backyards in the mid-1960s.  Many of his paintings are quite large, perhaps over 6 or 7 feet square.  I love how he uses Acrylic paint on canvas.
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David Hockney, "A Bigger Splash" Acrylic on Canvas, 1967.
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David Hockney, "Savings and Loan Building" Acrylic on Canvas, 1967.
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David Hockney, "Pool and Steps, Le Nid du Duc" Acrylic on Canvas, 1971.
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David Hockney, "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two figures)" Acrylic on Canvas, 1972.
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Hockney began to experiment with the iPad shortly after it came out and used an app for drawing to produce his first works of art in this new medium. Hockney used his iPad and put together this three-screen animation of his views through his bedroom window, 2010-2013. I've included a short video clip for you to experience it for yourself!
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This Limited Edition Lithograph of "Pushing Up" 1993 was for sale, unframed, for $14,500 in the gift shop at the end of the exhibit.
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Robert Motherwell, "Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 70" Oil on Canvas, 1961.
Alexander Calder created a series of moving sculptures called mobiles that he created in a diverse range of abstract configurations.  Shown here, is a free-moving wind mobile that is carefully balanced on a movable pivot point. I learned that he was inspired by the work of Joan Miro, and the similar shapes and forms can be observed in Calder's mobiles.  In the video below, you can see the kinetic nature of his mobile, "Mobile" created in 1941 from painted aluminum, steel, steel rod, and wire.
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Willem de Kooning, "Attic" Oil, Enamel, and Newspaper Transferred on Canvas, 1949.
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Mark Rothko, "No. 16" Oil on Canvas, 1960.
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Willem de Kooning, "Easter Monday" Oil and Newspaper Transfer on Canvas, 1955-56.
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Detail of: Willem de Kooning, "Easter Monday" Oil and Newspaper Transfer on Canvas, 1955-56.
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Morris Louis, "Untitled" Magna on Canvas, 1960.
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Detail of: Morris Louis, "Untitled" Magna on Canvas, 1960.
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Cy Twombly, "Untitled (Rome)" Oil Paint, Wax Crayon, and Graphite on Canvas, 1962.
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Detail of: Cy Twombly, "Untitled (Rome)" Oil Paint, Wax Crayon, and Graphite on Canvas, 1962. I love how he uses mixed media.
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Henri Matisse
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Edgar Degas
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Auguste Renoir
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Paul Cezanne
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I took this photo of this Pablo Picasso painting because it is titled, "At the Lapin Agile" painted in 1905. It was this painting that inspired Steve Martin's terrific play, "Picasso at the Lapin Agile"!
Here are some of Claude Monet's masterpieces...
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​Auguste Rodin's sculptures are simply incredible.

​If you're ever in Paris, the Rodin Museum is not to miss!
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Emanuel Leutze, "Washington Crossing the Delaware, Oil on Canvas, 1851. Depiction of George Washington and his men crossing the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to attack the Hessians.
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William Merritt Chase, "At The Seaside", Oil on Canvas, 1892.
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While it wassn't the focus of my visit to the Met, I did come across some very cool Asian art, such as this huge statue that towered from above. Also on view was Japanese Bamboo Art.  Bamboo has long been an integral part of the Japanese lifestyle and culture.  Bamboo is the fastest growing grass plant and was used in traditional architecture and to create objects such as flower baskets, fans, etc.  The exhibition featured more than 90 baskets and sculptures from the Abbey Collection, a private collection of bamboo artwork.
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And now for the Surprise...  Not at the met, I came across one of Ai Weiwei's latest temporary public art installations at the foot of Central Park.

Ai Weiwei’s citywide public art project "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors" was officially unveiled on October 12, 2017, and will remain for four months throughout New York Ciity. It includes major sculptural installations in Central Park, Washington Square Park, and smaller installations at some bus shelters and lamp-post banners.  The public art he created addressed the growing hostility towards immigrants, the refugee crisis, and the rise of nationalism world-wide. 
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Located at one of the main entrances to Central Park, Weiwei's "Gilded Cage" takes the concept of a fence and turns it into a large scale interactive object.
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And lastly, I came across these wonderful sculptures created by artist, Jaume Plensa, that are permanently installed at the Grand Hyatt Hotel near Grand Central Terminal.  I learned that these two huge sculptures are reminiscent of the Moai sculptures on Easter Island.
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Overall, my visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art was simply amazing.  I could have spent the entire day looking at all the art and taking photos of every piece of artwork, but I could only include these 6 dozen or so photos!  I wish I had the time to visit Met Cloisters and Met Breuer as well.  Well, reason for another visit!  I hope you enjoyed this blog and I welcome your comments!  Have a friend who would enjoy reading this blog?  Then please share it with them via email or social media!  You can click on the Facebook and Twitter buttons below!
PS: If you liked this article, you might like these other articles on my artistic travels:
Kennebunkport, Maine
Los Angeles, California
New York City Street Art
Napa Valley, California
Park City, Utah
Barcelona, Spain
Caribbean Art
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Matisse in the Studio and the MFA Boston

5/1/2017

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I had the pleasure of visiting the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, which is always an incredible experience.  There are always new exhibits to see as well as a chance to see some of one's favorite works of art since visiting last.  

Henri Matisse, perhaps one of the most famous artists in the world, was the subject of a fascinating exhibit.  The "Matisse in the Studio" exhibit pushed the limits of how one experiences Matisse's work.  Having seen his artwork countless of times at museums all over the world, including visiting the Matisse Museum in the south of France, I've never quite have seen artwork presented in this unique format.

Henri Matisse was an artist who revolutionized 20th Century art.  This international exhibition examines the critical importance of the objects in Matisse's studio and how they influenced his creative process and finished artwork.

The exhibit has a number of thematic sections that each focus on different stages of his career as an artist. Matisse didn't limit his work to one medium like painting or sculpture, but also did many drawings, cut-outs, collages, prints, and more.  What makes this exhibit particularly fascinating is that the artwork is presented next to the objects that helped inspire Matisse's creativity and served as subject matter for much of his work.  Matisse found inspiration everywhere:  In sculpture, in a chocolate pot, textiles, furniture.
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In the painting here to the left, "Goldfish and Sculpture," Matisse presents  the bronze sculpture below of a quintessential feminine pose from the history of European sculpture.
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Below, the pewter jug served as inspiration for the painting below.  You can see how the curved lines of the jug, the waviness, are imitated in the lines of the background tapestry, the woman's robe, and the actual jug he painted as a vase of flowers.  As you can see in the close-up photos below, the wavy lines are not painted on, but Matisse rather scratched the paint off the surface of the canvas.  This reminds me of how I used this technique in some of my artwork.  You can see some of those paintings here and here.
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Show above is a table that appears in the painting to the left.  And below is a female torso Roman sculpture that Matisse used to create the "Formes, Plate IX" for the illustrated book "Jazz".  Matisse used cut paper as its own medium.  He also uses Guache paint on paper that he cut and pasted on canvas to create "Mimosa" and "Panel with Mask".  The movie, "A Model for Matisse" discussed the relationship between Matisse and his longtime friend and nun, Sister Jacques-Marie.  Their relationship began when she started working for him as his nurse, but later she often served as a model for Matisse's most famous artworks.  The nun also helped paint the paper that Matisse used for his cutouts.  The sister was instrumental in helping Matisse design the Vence Chapel (the Chapelle du Rosaire), one of his greatest accomplishments in his career as an artist.  The two large cutouts were designs for the robes that the priests were to wear while celebrating Catholic Mass.  
The "Matisse in the Studio" exhibit runs from April 9, 2017 to July 9, 2017.  For more information, please visit www.mfa.org.
Make Way for Ducklings
Another special, but smaller (one room) exhibit that runs through June 18, 2017 features the art of Robert McCloskey.  Anyone who has visited the Boston Public Garden or has read the beloved children's book set in Boston, "Make Way for Ducklings," knows Robert McCloskey's artwork quite well.  This unique and very "Boston" exhibit is a retrospective of his beautiful illustration work for "Make Way For Ducklings" as well as other famous children's books such as,  "Blueberries for Sal," "Time of Wonder," and many more. 

"Make Way For Ducklings" is a story about a family of ducks who stopped Boston traffic by making their way to the Public Garden.  Originally, McCloskey wanted to illustrate the book in color, as shown in the colored pencil draing below, however due to the high costs of color printing at the time, the editor chose to print the book with brown ink.

There is a beautiful bronze sculpture model on exhibit (Shown in the photo to the right).  Commissioned in 1985, artist Nancy Schon created the full-sized Make Way For Ducklings sculpture that has been delighting visitors of all ages at the entrance of the Boston Public Garden at the intersection of Charles St. and Beacon St.

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Art of the Americas. Level 3
Below is just a few snapshots I took during this visit to the MFA, some of my old favorites as well as some new favorites.  Below from are some wonderful photos of Piet Mondrian's work, "Composition with Blue, Yellow, and Red," Georgia O'Keefe's "White Rose with Larkspur No. 2," Joseph Stella's "Old Brooklyn Bridge" large, oil on canvas painting, Pablo Picasso's sculpture, and his "The Bull" series completed in 1945 and 1946.  

Also below are two of Jackson Pollock's incredible paintings, along with a close up shot of his drip-work, splattering, etc.  and lastly, I've included a piece by Charles Sheeler titled "On a Shaker Theme" and an incredible work of art by Stuart Davis, "Apples and Jug" where he takes the traditional still-life and transforms it into his modernist universe, with elements of cubism and even of advertising imagery.
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Charles Sheeler, "On a Shaker Theme" Oil on Canvas 1956
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Stuart Davis, "Apples and Jug" Oil on Composition Board, 1923
Contemporary Art
In the Contemporary Art galleries, two pieces struck me on this visit.  One is Carmen Herrera's, "Blanco y Verde (#1)", Acrylic on Canvas.  Originally from Havana, Cuba, Herrera studied painting in New York.  The simplicity of the forms here was really striking.  I love the exactness of her straight lines, and her minimal use of color.  We don't know if there is a background or a foreground, and we almost lose our-self within the painting completely.  Carmen Herrera recently had a retrospective exhibit of her work a the Whitney Museum of American Art a few months ago.
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Andy Warhol's beautiful and dark statement with his silkscreen on two canvas panels called, "Red Disaster."  I've included a close up, so the image that is reproduced multiple times on the right canvas panel is clear.  You will see that it is a photograph of an electric chair at New York's Sing Sing Prison, that was originally published in newspapers around the time of the Cold War and accusations of treason against people at that time.  His repetition is often accredited to his feeling that people spend their lives seeing things, but not really observing them.  ​
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Memory Unearthed:  The Lodz Ghetto Photographs of Henryk Ross
This powerful exhibit recently opened in March and will be on view through July 30, 2017.

“Memory Unearthed” is a very moving exhibit that provides a rare glimpse of life during the Holocaust.  Holocaust Survivor, Henryk Ross took this incredible display of photographs of life inside the Lodz Ghetto from 1940 to 1944.

Henryk Ross was confined to the Lodz ghetto in 1940 and enlisted by the Nazi regime as a bureaucratic photographer taking photos for Jewish identification cards, for propaganda materials, etc. Secretly, Henryk Ross documented the horrible living conditions and persecution of the Jews under the Nazis.   Ross his the photos and negatives before the last of the Jews were sent from the ghetto to the Auschwitz and Chelmno death camps. The photos seen in this exhibit survived because Ross buried the photos and negatives hoping to provide a historical record of the persecution of the Jews.
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All the photos were very powerful to see.  However, there was one piece of artwork that I found completely incredible and breathtaking from an artistic perspective.  I've included the photo below.  It is actually a modern print from an original 35mm negative, depicting Ghetto police escorting residents for deportation.  The image itself and the unfortunate and horrifying circumstances in the photo are very compelling.  But beyond the face value of what is happening in the photo, you can see that the negative is partially destroyed, burned, or deteriorating.  From one perspective, the visual piece of artwork is quite beautiful and striking.  And from another perspective, it is quite ugly, off-putting, sad, and even symbolic.  ​ This exhibit helps us Never Forget the horrors of the Holocaust and its victims of persecution and death.
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Overall, this was an incredible visit to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.  With every visit, there are new things to see, experience, learn, and explore.
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Barcelona Art

4/18/2017

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The art of Barcelona is in one word, spectacular.  I can't recall ever being on a 10 day vacation with every single day including fascinating art museums, unique architecture, and breathtaking public art.  With so much art to talk about in this blog article, I've structured it into 3 parts.
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Part 1:  Barcelona Architecture
One cannot talk about Barcelona's architecture without mentioning Antoni Gaudi.  Part of the Modernista movement of the late 19th Century, Antoni Gaudi is Barcelona's most famous architect.  Almost anywhere you look in Barcelona, Gaudi had some part in its creation, from the houses, apartment buildings, churches, sidewalks, parks, and even the city benches lining the streets.  In Modernism, nature was a huge element present in decorative motifs as well as present in the actual architectural structure of Gaudi's buildings.  Below are some of Gaudi's masterpieces, but there are dozens of others throughout Barcelona to visit and experience.
Casa Batllo
I really enjoyed seeing Casa Batllo, which is situated on a main street in the heart of Barcelona.  Mosaic is everywhere.  The Chimneys of the building are works of art.  The roof is representational of a dragon's back.  The exterior facade demonstrates Gaudi's expert use of texture and color. Below are some photos of the exterior of the building as well as the interior.  The sidewalk tiles as shown in the photos below line the streets and feature an underwater, marine-life motif.  
Sagrada Familia
Gaudi's Sagrada Familia is innovative and highly symbolic.  The architect's objective was to explain the teachings of the Church through sculpture and architecture.  Following Gaudi's death, work on the Sagrada Familia continues to be carried out by collaborating architects and artists.  The project is expected to be complete by 2026, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death.  

The stained glass windows were perhaps one of the most beautiful aspects of the Sagrada Familia.  The colors were so vivid and bright.  
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Gaudi designed this streetlamp along with a few similar ones that are located throughout Barcelona.
Park Guell
Park Guell is another one of Gaudi's masterpieces.  It was build between 1900 and 1914.  It was opened as a public park where Gaudi let his imagination run wild with his incredible use of mosaics throughout the park.  Below are some photos of Park Guell. The mosaic work is unbelievable and reminds me very much of the mosaic illusion that I paint in many of my own paintings.
La Pedrera
La Pedrera is also known as Casa Mila.  It was completed in 1912 as an apartment building.  There are curved walls that seemingly defy the laws of gravity. The rooftop is amazing at night and includes all of Gaudi's architectural trademarks.  Bricks in the attic create arched ceilings and are uniquely used using the log side of the brick, which also features the brick-maker's fingerprints.  There are terrific wrought iron balconies and exquisite ceramic mosaics.  I highly recommend visiting La Pedrera by booking a night tour, which includes a full tour of the building and a surreal visual light display on the rooftop under the stars, followed by a champagne toast and cookies!  
Although my time in Barcelona didn't permit me to visit the Palau Guell, I should mention that it is an excellent example of one of Antonio Gaudi's early architectural masterpieces.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is a magnificent example of domestic architecture in the context of Art Nouveau and one of the first important commissions Gaudi received at the start of his career.  It is located just steps away from La Rambla, not far from La Boqueria.

Part 2: Barcelona's Art Museums and Fine Art
A Guide to Visiting Barcelona's Museums:
If you plan to visit Barcelona, I highly recommend purchasing the Barcelona Museum Pass, also known as an art passport from ArtTicket BCN, which will give you access to six Barcelona museums, including the ability to skip the lines.  The Passport give you access to the Picasso Museum (Museu Picasso), the Joan Miro Museum (Fundacio Joan Miro), the National Museum of Art of Catalunya (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya), the Antoni Tapies Museum (Fundacio Antoni Tapies), the CCCB, and the MACBA. I purchased the passport online (for 30 Euros), and simply showed the ticket to the first museum I visited to receive the passport.  The passport is stamped upon entry at each museum.  To learn more about the ArtTicket BCN, check out their website:  http://articketbcn.org/en/barcelona-museum-pass.  I should also mention that it is very important to check the hours of each of the museums as they vary significantly.  Most museums, with a few exceptions, are closed on Mondays. Also, all city museums are free at last one afternoon per month, so be sure to check the websites in advance for hours and special  exhibition dates.  

If you're interested in contemporary art, check out this website that provides a network devoted to contemporary art in Barcelona:  ​http://www.artbarcelona.es/circuit/en/.
Picasso Museum in Barcelona
The Museu Picasso of Barcelona is a wonderful center documenting Pablo Picasso's early years of apprenticeship.  With over 4,000 works of art in its permanent collection, you'll see why this museum is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Barcelona.

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he Picasso Museum highlights the artist’s relationship with the city of Barcelona.  I learned that Pablo Picasso's father was a teacher at the San Telmo Fine Art and Crafts School. and had an important influence on Picasso's future career as an artist, who demonstrated a strong interest in art from a very young age.  There are some drawings and small panels in oil that give an idea of his efforts to give his own creativity free rein and explore new techniques by taking in his immediate environment. 

In Barcelona, Pablo Picasso continued his art education at the La Llotja Fine Art School.  The photos here show his artwork featuring Barceloneta Beach and two ports.  After taking these photos, I learned that photos were not allowed, so unfortunately, I do not have photos showing the rest of the museum.  This Picasso museum focused on his earlier works, and very few on display were "well-known Picasso masterpieces."  The museum highlighted Picasso's creative process of some of his work of his Blue Period.  Some of the highlights of the museum included Las Meninas Series.  This was a series of paintings based on the Velazquez painting Las Meninas.  

For more information, please visit www.museupicasso.bcn.cat.
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Fundacio Joan Miro
The Joan Miro Museum (Fundacio Joan Miro) is located in the Montjuic area of Barcelona and houses the work of Joan Miro as well as temporary exhibitions of 20th and 21st Century art.  The collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings displayed at the museum is one of the most comprehensive collections representing every stage of Miro's career as an artist.   There are paintings related to Surrealism and works based on the Spanish Civil War.  Miro's work on large canvases in the late 1970s onward demonstrate his use of large color fields and painting with free gesture.  

For more information, please visit www.fmirobcn.org.
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Alexander Calder donated the Font de Mercuri (The Mercury Fountain) to the museum to symbolize his friendship with Miro.
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC) holds one of the most important medieval art collections in the world.  The museum is housed in the spectacular Palau Nacional building that provides an incredible view of the city and the Magic Fountain.  Be sure to see the Font Magica (The Magic Fountain) in action in the evenings with a spectacular music and light show!
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Contemporary Art Museum
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I enjoyed my visit to the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA).   There was an exhibit from the Catalan artist Antoni Miralda, called "Miralda Madeinusa," which reconstructs some of the important installations from the 1970s, during his stay in the United States. His work, "Breadline" from 1977 was recreated to show a wall of colored bread that was originally displayed at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston in 1977.  The exhibit brought attention to the food lines during the Great Depression. I've included some photos of the installation below.  

For more information, please visit www.macba.cat.
Fundacion Fran Daurel
Located within Poblo Espanyol is the Fundacion Fran Daurel, a small but wonderful museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art.  The museum was created in 2001 by the art collector, Francisco Daurella.  The museum was created to share his private art collection with the public.  Photography was not allowed within the museum, but wonderful works from Dali, Picasso, Miro, and more were on exhibit!  Although I didn't have time to explore, there is also a sculpture garden adjacent to the museum.  Although the museum is free to enter, there is an entrance fee to Poble Espanyol.  Poble Espanyol is a Spanish village attraction that recreates the streets of various geographic regions of Spain.  Its storefronts house local artisans, craftspeople, and a very fun-to-watch glass blowing workshop. 
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Jose-Luis Pascual
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Totem, by Jose-Luis Pascual
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Glass Blowing Artisans at Poble Espanyol

​Museums Further Afield from Barcelona:
In the town of Girona, I visited the Museum of Jewish History.  The goal of the Museum is to preserve the history of the Jewish communities of Catalunya.  Art at this museum included various Jewish ritual objects.  Be sure to visit if you are in Girona, which is not far from Figueres, where the Dali Museum is located.
 Teatre-Museu Dali:  Salvadore Dali Museum
Figueres is situated in the north of Catalunya and its history is closely linked to Salvadore Dali.  Salvador Dali was born in Figueres in 1904.  The Teatre-Museu Dali (Theater Museum) is simply amazing!  The Museum itself  is the largest surrealistic object in the world.

The Teatre-Museu Dali is home to a considerable amount of the artist's work including impressionism, futurism, cubism, and surrealism.  His artwork and the building itself are almost combined together.  In an annex of the Teatre-Museu Dali is the Dali Joies exhibition, displaying a collection of jewelry made from gold and precious gems designed by Salvadore Dali between 1941 and 1970.  Each piece is unique and characterizes the artist;s entire work:  hearts, eyes, lips, animal and plant forms, religious symbols, etc.  Below is a photo of one of his jewels of an eye.

Driving about a half hour away from Figueres to the beach village of Cadaques, you can visit Dali's summer home, Casa-Museu Salvador Dali.

For more information, please visit www.salvador-dali.org.
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On of my favorite pieces was this one below entitled, "Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at a distance of 20 meters is transformed into the portrait of Abraham Lincoln (Homage to Rothko).”  Gala was his wife and muse for many years.
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The exterior of the museum is a work of art as well. Statues with loaves of bread on their heads.   Inside the museum in the open air courtyard is a spectacular and wild work of art called, "Rainy Taxi". If you put a Euro in the slot located at the base of the artwork, it will rain inside the taxi, and an umbrella will open up on top of the artwork!
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Montserrat Museum
If you travel to the town of Montserrat, be sure to visit the Montserrat Museum (Museu de Montserrat).  The museum is located in the square in front of the monastery.  The museum has a permanent collection of over 1,300 works of art.  I was really impressed with the diversity of their collection, including modern paintings and sculptures (Picasso, Dali, Monet, Rusinol, Mir, etc.), antique oil paintings (Caravaggio, El Greco, etc.), archeological antiquities from Egypt and the Middle East, and so much more!
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The museum includes paintings by Old Masters with works from the 13th Century to the 18th Century.  The largest section of the museum is devoted to works from the 19th and 20th Centuries and includes a wonderful selection of Catalan painting and sculpture of the Modern period.  I was very impressed with their collection of paintings by the great masters of French and international impressionism (Degas, Sisley, Monet, Pisarro, Sargent, etc.).  Picasso and Dali, avant-garde artists are also well represented!  
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Santiago Rusinol
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Joaquim Mir
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Miquel Villa
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Salvadore Dali, Composition With Three Figures, Neocubist Academy, 1926
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Sean Scully

Part 3:  Barcelona's Public Art
The streets of Barcelona are filled with art by world renowned artists.  Below are just a few of these that I came across on my artistic journey.
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The sculpture "Barcino." Barcino is the Roman name of Barcelona. The sculpture is by Joan Brossa, located in the Plaza Nova de Barcelona, opposite the Palau Episcopal.
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A mural by Picasso located in the Plaza Nova de Barcelona.
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Beautiful sculpture located right on the beach in Barceloneta
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Roy Lichtenstein's Head of Barcelona, (El Cap de Barcelona), 1991–1992
This mosaic, "Mosaic del Pla de l'Os" (1976) is an incredible piece of public art located on La Rambla at the Mercat de la Boqueria.  The artist intended it to welcome travelers arriving by sea.  Another piece of his public art is located at the Barcelona airport, intended to welcome people arriving to the city by air. I love Miro's use of abstract shapes and primary colors.
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In Parc de Joan Miro, you can find the incredible, monumental sculpture "Dona i Ocell" (Woman and Bird) that is over 70 feet high in concrete and mosaic.  This was the artist's last public work created between 1981-1983. This was intended to welcome people to Barcelona traveling by land.  The photo shown here was taken at night.  At the time of my visit, the entire park was under construction and the sculpture was obscured by construction vehicles and fencing.
PS: If you liked this article, you might like these other articles on my artistic travels:
Los Angeles, California
New York City
New York City Street Art
Napa Valley, California
Park City, Utah
Caribbean Art
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Museum of Modern Art, New York

2/15/2017

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Every time I visit New York City, I always try to make it to the Museum of Modern Art.  Each visit exposes me to exciting new exhibits, while at the same time, I really enjoy seeing art that is regularly on view like Van Gogh's Starry Night and Picasso's guitar sculpture (among many others).  Seeing these familiar works of art is almost like being reunited with an old friend.  So for this blog post, I'll focus on the new as well as the old (at least to me) when I visited the Museum of Modern Art this past December.
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I love this Sol LeWitt "Wall Drawing #1144 Broken Bands of Color in Four Directions." Synthetic polymer paint on wall.
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I was excited to see the Francis Picabia exhibition, "Francis Picabia: Our Heads Are Round So Our Thoughts Can Change Direction," which runs through March 19, 2017.  Picabia lived from 1889 to 1953.  
Just recently, on February 14th, I came across an editorial article on Artsy.net by Isaac Kaplan entitled, "Do Francis Picabia's Anti-Semitic Remarks Tarnish his MoMA Retrospective?" After reading the article I learned about Picabia's anti-Jewish feelings (and womanizing behaviors).  MoMA's exhibit apparently does address this part of Picabia's character; however, I must have missed this as I walked through the gallery.  To answer Kaplan's question personally.  I think it does, in fact, tarnish his reputation.  I really enjoyed his artwork during my visit to the MoMA.  But after learning more about the artist, I can't say that I can admire him.  Famous artists are people that I want to look up to and admire.  They are people that I want the next generation of artists to look up to.  And so, while I can appreciate his artwork at face value and his artistic technique, learning about his anti-Semitic behavior does take him down several notches in my book.  Similarly, just like we want our kids to admire our professional sports players, it's hard to have our kids look up to them if they do drugs, treat women badly, are anti-gay, or are anti-Jewish, or discriminate in any way.  So, I'm kind of let down after my great experience viewing his work in the gallery.  But for this blog article, I will continue to proceed sharing my thoughts on the exhibit as if I hadn't learned of his anti-Semitic feelings and behavior.  

​Here is the link to the article for your information:  
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-francis-picabias-anti-semitic-remarks-tarnish-moma-retrospective
As I walked though the gallery rooms, the one thing that struck me the most was how his artistic style changed throughout his lifetime.  Picabia was an artist of many genres, and his body of work lacks consistency and categorization. He shifted styles over time.  The exhibit highlights his impressionist landscapes, abstract works, paintings, photo-based nudes, etc. 

​Here are some photos from the exhibit.
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These two Picabia paintings shown below reminded me of one of my own paintings that I painted earlier this past year, "Woof Woof! Gotta Get My Bone."  All three works utilize black lines in a similar fashion. I should note that my painting was created without ever seeing Picabia's work; I am just noting the coincidence in how we both used these lines in the same fashion.
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Woof Woof! Gotta Get My Bone, 10" x 20", Acrylic on Canvas by Eddie Bruckner
"Revolutionary Impulse: the Rise of the Russian Avant-Garde" was another wonderful temporary exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art that runs through March 12, 2017.  The fact that all the artwork on display comes directly from MOMA's permanent collection, demonstrates how wonderful MOMA is and how impressive their permanent collection is.  Of all the artwork on view, there were two artists whose work caught my eye.  

The two photos below are from the Russian artist Alexandra Exter. The oil on canvas painting on the left, called "Theatrical Composition" was very intriguing to me.  I loved the colors, shapes, and overall composition of the painting.  The other smaller works, pictured to the right are six designs from various stage sets like The Merchant of Venice, Othello, and others.
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The second artist, whose work I found very unique was the Russian artist, El Lissitzky. the painting shown below (along with a detailed close-up photo) is of the painting "Proun 19D"  It is painted on plywood and uses a variety of media such as gesso, oil, varnish, crayon, colored papers, graph paper, sandpaper, cardboard, metallic paint, and metal foil.
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To photograph all the well-know paintings from all the famous artists would be a huge undertaking.  So I'm including a small selection of some of my favorite pieces along with some detailed close-up photos from the following artists:  Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Jasper Johns, Henri Matisse, Fernand Leger, Jim Dine, Andy Warhol, Edward Ruscha, Josef Albers, James Rosenquist, Robert Rauschenberg, and Sol LeWitt.  I have the close-up photos to show the brushstrokes, the detailed use of color, and a glimpse into what the artist was focused on while painting their masterpiece.  
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Georges Seurat
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Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night"
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Jasper Johns' "Flag"
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Robert Rauschenberg's "Sky Garden" from "Stoned Moon Series"
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Pablo Picasso's Guitar Sculpture (3 views), and below, "Vase of Flowers" & "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
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Henri Matisse "The Piano Lesson"
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Fernand Leger, "The Mirror"
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Jim Dine
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Edward Ruscha, "OOF"
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Josef Albers, "Day and Night: Homage to the Square"
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Andy Warhol, "Water Heater"
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James Rosenquist, "F-111" Oil on Canvas with aluminum, 23 Sections on 4 walls.
I highly recommend visiting the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  More information about the museum can be found on their website:  www.moma.org.
PS: If you liked this article, you might like these other articles on my artistic travels:
Kennebunkport, Maine
Los Angeles, California
New York City Street Art
Napa Valley, California
Park City, Utah
Barcelona, Spain
Caribbean Art
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