Renoir to Chagall: The Allure of Color

Degas, DETAIL, Dancer Adjusting Her Shoe

     Kentucky has the good fortune to host an exhibit of French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists at The Speed Art Museum in Louisville. Part of this exhibit (55 paintings) comes from the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, TN.  I have enjoyed several exhibits at this Gallery when I lived in Memphis, so more than likely I have seen these paintings, but it has been years ago!  The remainder of the exhibit, nearly 30 more works, comes from the Speed's collection and from public and private collectors throughout the state.
     This exhibit seems to include works by every name one would associate with Impressionism.  The list of artists included in this show are Degas, Monet, Renoir, Cassatt, Matisse, Cezanne, Chagall, Pissarro, Cezanne, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Braque. That is a major lineup and I'm excited to take in the show sometime next month.

Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1880-81

     Impressionism was a critical movement that changed the direction of Modern Art. It's characteristic short, visible brush stokes, use of color, emphasis on light, movement  and depictions of common daily life and landscapes were a far cry from the traditional realistic historical scenes and portraits with meticulous finishes where hardly any traces of brush stokes were visible.

     In an 1874 exhibition of the then new Impressionist style, the critics response was mixed but generally it was not readily accepted. Monet and Cezanne received harsh attacks from critic Louis Leroy.  Leroy gave the name Impressionist to the group of artists experimenting with this style of painting when he titled his newspaper article The Exhibition of the Impressionists. This was a kind of wordplay inspired by the title of Monet's painting, Impression, Sunrise. Leroy wrote that Monet's painting was at most, a sketch, and could hardly be termed a finished work. He wrote, "wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape."

Monet, Impression, Sunrise 1873

     I have always enjoyed the art of Mary Cassett, best known for her depictions of everyday scenes of mothers with children.  Below is her watercolor, La Toilette, a picture I have (unfortunately only in the form of a cheap reproduction), but nevertheless, I enjoy the calm serenity of it. 

Cassatt, La Toilette, 1891

 

     On the Speed Museum Facebook Page, they posted pictures of the Fed Ex truck delivering the collection to the museum as well as a shot of the paintings propped up against the wall, waiting to be hung.  I enjoyed seeing these "behind the scenes" so to speak, shots of the paintings arriving and a glimpse of how the museum looks while getting ready for the opening of a show.  I thought it added to the anticipation and excitement for the exhibit, or at least it did for me. The next time I see a big Fed Ex truck like this, I'm going to imagine that it is transporting something really interesting and wonderful, like French Impressionist paintings. 

The banners go up for Renoir to Chagall.

The crates full of paintings being unpacked and placed near the wall where they will be hung.

 Notice the Chagall propped us against the wall.  Wow!

Below is probably one of Marc Chagall's best known paintings, I and the Village.  This was done in 1911 and is exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art.

Admission to Renoir to Chagall: Paris and the Allure of Color is $5 for members, $15 for non-members. Children under 18 are admitted free to the exhibition with the purchase of an adult exhibition ticket. Ticket includes admission to museum’s permanent collection and Art Sparks, interactive gallery. Group packages are available by calling 502.634.2960.

The Speed is offering a variety of family and adult programs to help visitors better engage with Renoir to Chagall including tours, films, hands-on workshops and more. A complete listing of programs can be found here.

The  Speed Art Museum
2035 S. Third St.
Louisville, KY  40208
Wed,. Thur. & Sat. 10am to 5mp / Fri. - 10am to 9pm
Sun. - 12pm to 5pm / closed Mon. & Tue.

WENDELL BERRY

     Kentucky author Wendell Berry has been chosen to deliver the Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. This will be the 41st year that the National Endowment for the Humanities has named a lecturer for the most prestigious honor the government bestows for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities. The lecture, "It All Turns on Affection," will discuss man’s interaction with nature, as depicted in history, philosophy, and literature.You can read more in this link to the press release from the National Endowment for the Humanities concerning  this lecture and a brief biography on Mr. Berry.

   

   

The Collection of ELIZABETH TAYLOR at Christie's

  
    I've had my calendar marked for months now, anticipating the auction by Christie's of the legendary jewelry owned by Elizabeth Taylor. The items up for auction have been on display in New York for the public to view before the sale started. An online auction began December 3 and will continue until the 17th.  The online auction had some affordable pieces listed with some prices starting at only a few hundred dollars. But, after looking at the  prices of what those pieces went for, it seems as if they were all in the thousands of dollars.

     A few thousand dollars was not the case last night when I watched some of the auction live and the auctioneer started the bidding in the tens of thousands of dollars and the bids increased in increments of $20,000. It was fun to watch, I always like an auction and this one was particularly exciting. December 13 marked the beginning of the sale of the significant pieces and will continue until December 16. The sale has been divided up into the categories of:  The Legendary Jewels ( I and II), The Icon and Her Haute Couture, Fashion and Accessories, Fine and Decorative Art & Film Memorabilia, including costumes.

Christie's had all the pieces on display for viewing, called the A to Z of Elizabeth Taylor.  Below are pictures of the display of kaftans and handbags.  All pieces were in near perfect condition.

  

   

     Christie's reports today that the jewelry set a world record for the most valuable private collection of jewels sold at auction with $115,932,000, shattering the previous 1987 record set by the jewels of the Duchess of Windsor, which didn't come close to this dollar figure. Those sales totaled $50,281,887.

      A  record was set last night with the sale of the famous Burton diamond ring.  An almost completely flawless diamond of 33.19 carats sold for $8,818,500.  The ring's estimated value was 2.5 to 3.5 million, but one has to factor in the Elizabeth Taylor mystique that goes along with that ring and everything else that is being sold. Therefore, you know the price is going to be more that the actual value.

"...When I look into it, the deep Asscher cuts-which are so complete and so ravishing-are like steps that lead into eternity and beyond. My ring gives me the strangest feeling for beauty.  With its sparks of red and white and blue and purple, and on and on, really, it sort of hums with its own beatific life..."   Elizabeth Taylor, My Love Affair with Jewelry

     The other record for the night was the sale of the La Peregrina pearl, diamond and ruby necklace by Cartier. The necklace was estimated to go for 2 to 3 million dollars but the hammer price was $11,842,500.
The famous drop-shaped pearl on this necklace has a rich history.  It was discovered by a slave in the Gulf of Panama sometime in the 1500s and was given his freedom because of the find. It ended up as part of the Spanish royal jewels, Prince Philip II of Spain gave it to Mary Tudor of  England as an engagement present. In succeeding generations it was owned by the Spanish queens Margarita and Isabel. The next major owner of the pearl was the Bonaparte family in the 1800s. This pearl was a gift from Richard Burton and he enjoyed buying his wife jewelry, particularly pieces that held historical significance such as this one. Taylor once lost the pearl and she frantically searched the room for it before Burton found out that it was lost.  Finally, as a last resort, she picked up her little Maltese dog and felt in its mouth, there, miraculously unscratched, was the pearl.

The Burtons commissioned Cartier to design a new mount for the pear-shaped pearl.  The diamond bail suspending the pearl is original to the piece. When Burton purchased it in 1969 for $37,000 it was suspended on a simple pearl and platinum chain. A large photograph of this piece is on the back cover of My Love Affair with Jewelry.

Two portraits made by Valasquez, the great Spanish court painter, depicts the two queens wearing the pearl.    

   Queen Margarita on Horseback (1634-35)  In this painting, Queen Margarita wears the pearl as a broach fastened to her bodice.

   Daughter-in-law to Queen Margarita, Queen Isabel, wears the pearl suspended from a long necklace.








     Several different auction catalogues can be purchased. The one I found to be particularly interesting was the Limited Edition Box Set which is selling for $600. This box set includes the out of print book by Elizabeth Taylor, My Love Affair with Jewelry and Christie's auction catalogue for The Legendary Jewels, Evening Sale. Numbered 51/2000 - 2000/2000 and stamped Edition B. Christie's will donate all profits from the sale of this Limited Edition set to The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.  I have the book My Love Affair with Jewelry and did not even know it was out of print. I have enjoyed that book and enjoyed sharing it with my friends. The book is a large coffee table one with detailed photographs of her jewelry-- so close that you can even see the scratches on some of the gold.  The text consists of interesting anecdotes about each piece by Taylor.

A picture of the cover of my book, My Love Affair with Jewelry.

      I think I will print out a list of the jewels sold, just for a kind of record and update to the book for my own personal enjoyment. I have recently learned that this type of thing was done as a hobby by wealthy Victorians. Whenever they would see something in print concerning an author or an update to a book they owned, they would insert that into their book.  I have done sort of the same thing to a few of my books, although one does not have to be wealthy now days to own a book, cut articles out of a newspaper or print something from the Internet to include with their book. But, it was interesting to learn that other people were thinking the same way.  And I thought my idea was original!

The following is the interesting disclaimer that went with the pieces bought at the sale:

By registering to bid, you hereby agree that the copyright, and any and all associated intellectual property and other rights for this item are exclusively retained by The Elizabeth Taylor Trust and/or Interplanet Productions, Ltd. Buyers of the Property will not receive the copyright or any related reproduction rights in the Property and all intellectual property rights are explicitly reserved by Seller and are freely exploitable by Seller in perpetuity. Furthermore, the use of Elizabeth Taylor’s name, photograph or likeness may not be used relating to this item without the express written permission of The Elizabeth Taylor Trust and/or Interplanet Productions Ltd.

Snowflake Bentley

     In 1885, Wilson Bentley was the first to successfully photograph single showflakes. He was a farmer with little formal education that grew up in Vermont in an area called the "Snowbelt." It is called the Snowbelt because the place gets around 120' of snow each year.  As a young boy Wilson was fascinated with snowflakes and he studied the individual snowflakes and even drew their hexagonal shapes. At the age of 17 his parents bought him a camera. After many trials and errors, he was finally able to capture the beauty and exactness of each unique ice crystal with a microscope attached to his bellows camera. With this camera he managed to photograph thousands of snowflakes.  You can enjoy Wilson Bentley's beautiful snowflake photographs, as well as many other snowflake related items which are available to purchase on the website devoted to Snowflake Bentley.  Click here for the link.


Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind."

Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley 1925


     The children's book, titled SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY, recounts the inspiring life of Wilson Bentley and won the 1999 Caldecott Medal for its beautiful wood block print illustrations. It is a book that combines both wonderful illustrations with science, a combination not often seen.  To me, the book teaches the merits of tenacity, the beauty and wonder as well as the science of ice crystals, and the uniqueness of our universe, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem at first-                                                              all good  things for a child to know.

THE THANKSGIVING VISITOR and A CHRISTMAS MEMORY by Truman Capote

     After reading many works by Truman Capote, the most recent book being THE COMPLETE STORIES OF TRUMAN CAPOTE (which does not encompass all his works as some would tend to think due to the title, I think I would have titled the book differently), the stories I enjoy the most are the ones he writes about the people and places of the South. These are the stories that strike my heartstrings so much so that I have read A CHRISTMAS MEMORY every year at Christmas time, and sometimes the months in between, for some 26 years, and have cried every time I've read it.  Capote spent his childhood in rural Alabama and those southern characters, places, and attitudes he writes about have been ingrained into Capote since childhood. To me his words about that place and time convey a heartfelt intensity that his other work seems to lack.

     Here is a picture of the book Rich surprised me with back in the summer and I have been slowly finding time to read it.  But, my timing worked out fine because I just finished reading THE THANKSGIVING VISITOR, right in time for Thanksgiving.

This is the book I'm currently reading.  The cover shows a very young Capote, when his career as a writer was just beginning. The book contains 20 stories, including THE THANKSGIVING VISITOR and A CHRISTMAS MEMORY.  It also has two other great stories set in the South, MY SIDE OF THE MATTER and CHILDREN ON THEIR BIRTHDAYS.

             The autobiographical story of THE THANKSGIVING VISITOR was written in 1967 and tells of a Depression Era Thanksgiving dinner of 1932 when second grader Buddy (Capote) was living in the home of his three spinster cousins, one bachelor uncle and his beloved rat terrier, Queenie. One of the cousins whom Buddy affectionately called Sook, was his sixty some year old best friend. The story tells of Sook inviting Odd Henderson, who tormented Buddy on a daily basis just because he was a sissy, as Odd had once told Buddy, to Thanksgiving dinner. In Sook's innocent childlike view of others, she could not comprehend what Buddy told her of  how Odd treated him and of the anguish and dread that Odd brought to Buddy each day as he went to school.  She said they just needed to get to know each other better. The story is written so that both adults and older children can enjoy it and without revealing the humorous details of the story, I will say that the unexpected behavior of  Buddy, Odd and Sook will both entertain and teach a lesson.

     A line from the book that shows Buddy's dislike for Odd Henderson: "But nobody, I don't care who, looked as down-and-out as Odd-a skinny, freckled scarecrow in sweaty cast-off overalls that would have been a humiliation to a chain-gang convict."

THE THANKSGIVING VISITOR illus. by Beth Peck

Capote with his cousin Sook Faulk

 
















 
     "Oh my," she exclaims, her breath smoking the windowpane, "it's fruitcake weather!"  Sook proclaims the beginning of the holiday season with this line from A CHRISTMAS MEMORY. Capote's heartwarming snapshot of his Christmas's spent with Sook and the activities and bond they shared  makes this my favorite holiday story.  Although my childhood was not like his, the story has enough elements in it to remind me of the relationship that I had with my grandmother and our holiday rituals, which included making fruitcakes soaked with Brandy, that I return to this story year after year. The feelings of warmth and security that comes from loving an older relative and the shared joy of  that bond jumps off the pages of this story and fills my heart with my own memories of a childhood and grandmother now gone. This book can be enjoyed by grown ups and children alike. For the love of this story and the memories it brings to me of my granny, every year when the temperature's just right, I exclaim,  "it's fruitcake weather"!

A copy of my book A CHRISTMAS MEMORY illus. by Beth Peck

      
     Another Christmas related story by Capote is ONE CHRISTMAS. It tells the heartbreaking story of a Christmas in which Capote was put on a bus to New Orleans to spend the holidays with his father. I do not recommend this story for children, it is not a happy tale although you do get glimpses of the comfort Capote felt under the care of Sook, which is always a joy to read. The cover of my book has a picture of Capote and his father Arch Persons.  Capote has a different last name because in later years he took on the last name of his adoptive father.

ONE CHRISTMAS

     Of course there are many, many other books and movies that Capote is known for that I could have written about, but I only wanted to talk about my favorites for the holidays.  Here is a link for further reading:  http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/truman-capote/introduction/58/

N.C. Wyeth and the TREASURE ISLAND illustrations

     Currently on exhibit at the Brandywine River Museum  in Chadds Ford, PA are 16 of the original paintings of pirates, swashbucklers and high sea adventurers that N.C. Wyeth painted for Robert Louis Stevenson's book TREASURE ISLAND.  This is the first time in 100 years that all the painting have been assembled together.  Unfortunately one of the illustrations was lost in a fire in 1952.  The paintings come from the 1911 edition of TREASURE ISLAND, and established Wyeth as one of the most important illustrators of the day. Charles Schribner's Sons, publisher of the book, paid Wyeth $2,500 for the illustrations and he used the proceeds to buy 18 acres along the Brandywine River. Wyeth's house where he raised his family of extraordinary artistic children and where he built his studio and made quite a comfortable living as an illustrator still stand in Chadd's Ford. The house and studio are now open for tours. I have had the good fortune of being able to visit Chadd's Ford and the Brandywine River Museum.  This area is full of people and places that N.C. Wyeth's son Andrew has made noteworthy through his paintings over the years, but more of that in another blog.




N.C. Wyeth in his studio ca. 1903-04

     Most of the TREASURE ISLAND illustrations are owned by the Brandywine River Museum and the Wyeth family. These illustrations by Wyeth have been influential in movie and stage settings for any TREASURE ISLAND production since these images first appeared in the 1911 edition., becoming the definitive version of what a swashbuckling pirate should look and act like. From correspondence we know that these 3' x 4' works were done in about 3 1/2 months, an incredible pace and quite a bit larger than most illustrations were typically done. The paintings were reproduced down to about 6 or 7 inches tall for the book. The book was already a success, published first in the late 1800's, but the past illustrations had been line drawings for the most part.   These highly detailed, vividly descriptive paintings full of color, breathed new life into the already loved book, making Long John Silver and Billy Bones actually jump off the page. Wyeth used familiar places, neighbors and acquaintances for his models and inspiration.  He chose passages from the book that he thought would easily translate visually.

Jim, Long John Silver and his Parrot

A view of Wyeth's studio located behind his home in Chadd's Ford. The studio is as he left it, with an unfinished commissioned painting still on the easel. Wyeth was suddenly killed in a car and train collision a few miles from where he lived. The staircase has wheels so that it could easily be moved around in order to reach the large scale paintings that Wyeth most often did.  Notice the large almost floor to ceiling windows to the left that provided an abundance of natural light for him to work in.

     A 1916 silent movie of "Treasure Island" modeled its costumes and character types after Wyeth's work, and actor Lionel Barrymore said in a newspaper interview that his portrayal of Billy Bones was inspired by Wyeth's archetype. Disney animators interpreted Wyeth's style for the 1950s "Treasure Island" as well as the futuristic "Treasure Planet" from 2002.

     "No director had a finer production illustrator than N.C. Wyeth," director Fraser Heston says in a letter included in the exhibit. The son of Charlton Heston, he based his "Treasure Island" storyboards on Wyeth's work for a 1989 movie starring his father as peg-legged pirate Long John Silver.

Billy Bones  - From this illustration, one can easily recognize how our image of what a pirate is supposed to look like comes from Wyeth's creation.

Mary Blair

Mary Blair with Walt Disney

   

Scene from It's A Small World

     The Google logo celebrated the 100th birthday of artist Mary Blair today. I only knew of Mary Blair's work at Disney with her design of the It's A Small World ride in Disney World, but as I researched her I found that she did lots of other work for Disney as well.  I have posted some of my favorites:

The hookah smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland, 1951

Cinderella, 1950

Peter Pan, 1953

     Mary Blair also did ads for such companies as Pall Mell cigarettes, Hanes Underwear, Meadow Gold and Dutch Boy Paints, to name a few. Here is my favorite cigarette ad, I love the fresh waternelon behind the cigarettes.  Does this imply that cigarettes are as good for you as fresh fruit, and in the same category?

Ad for Pall Mell

Hanes underwear ad

     Here is some of Blair's work, pre-Disney:

Backyards

Self-Portrait

       I also learned that Blair's husband, Lee Blair and brother-in-law, Preston Blair both did work for Disney  as well. Lee Blair worked for Disney in the late '30's and '40's, working on such projects as Pinocchio, Bambi and Fantasia. My favorite watercolor of his is of a self-portrait, such a handsome man. He went on to work for an ad agency in New York City, how glamorous!  The self portrait is posted below:

Lee Blair, self-portrait

     My favorite of the three, though, is the work of Preston Blair, such a great discovery today! This is my absolute favorite, I want to be the girl in this watercolor, if just for an evening. Notice the penthouse view of a New York City skyline. On my first trip to NYC I saw a couple dressed much like this, coming out of the Waldorf Astoria.  I imagined all kinds of scenarios for them, never knowing their actual story.

Man and Woman Kissing

 Here is a link to the three Blair artists.