tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968461846924543512024-02-19T00:39:06.495-08:00Fifty Two PiecesThere must be an infinite number of possible thoughts on any one piece of art, but we will only cover seven, a weeks worth. For 52 weeks, through 2009, you will see a work of art from the Portland Art Museum* and a riff each day inspired by it – prose, poetry, photos, video, thoughts or ponderings.Amy LaVallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11854865064562107491noreply@blogger.comBlogger373125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-14088100530947173562011-04-19T13:40:00.000-07:002011-04-19T14:42:43.769-07:00Goldfish in PortlandThat would be Goldfish Bowl at the Portland Art Museum...<br />
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Here's Roy Lichtenstein's <b>Goldfish Bowl</b> currently on view at the Portland Art Museum. It's on loan so if you want to see it in person you'll need to plan ahead since the owner could decide to take it back at any moment. <br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lavallelinn/5633466043/" title="108/365 Goldfish Bowl (after Matisse) by LaValle PDX, on Flickr"><img alt="108/365 Goldfish Bowl (after Matisse)" height="640" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5221/5633466043_e28aae134f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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As Lichtenstein did in a number of his images, he's triggering off of another artist's work. Here it's Matisse's <b>Goldfish and Palette</b>. Matisse had created two goldfish scenes in 1914. This one is an abstraction of an earlier more conventional view. He's outlining the forms in black as Lichtenstein repeated in his bronze sculpture. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnT5Z3uX0bNJotDwpDGhsv6duWRJXbXegXof44_NU_pmeAtNDNXD_VDw9aKddZ14gpmBA8dsF7hoCJIyBDlFqetiaWajRDV5gV3f_c-8vHNJvMBeE4alwt5XS3iy9ic-1eRrLt-5Q0751g/s1600/Henri+Matisse.+Goldfish+and+Palette.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnT5Z3uX0bNJotDwpDGhsv6duWRJXbXegXof44_NU_pmeAtNDNXD_VDw9aKddZ14gpmBA8dsF7hoCJIyBDlFqetiaWajRDV5gV3f_c-8vHNJvMBeE4alwt5XS3iy9ic-1eRrLt-5Q0751g/s320/Henri+Matisse.+Goldfish+and+Palette.jpeg" width="248" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">.(also posted on my <a href="http://www.lavallescamera.blogspot.com/">other blog</a>)</div>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-50303508931549010962010-03-30T11:14:00.000-07:002010-03-30T11:14:43.751-07:00Vincent Van Gogh ~ Happy 157th!!!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Yes, if Vincent Van Gogh were still alive he'd be 157 years old. We featured Vincent during <a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Van%20Gogh">Week 38</a> here at Fifty Two Pieces. Going back and rereading the week, I was reminded of not only him but also a number of other artists, including Robert Colescott, Roy Lichtenstein and David Hockney. </span></span></span></span><br />
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Here's the reprised post for Tuesday of that week.<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; white-space: pre;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Van Gogh ~ Appropriations by Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Colescott</span></i></span><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">At least two of the artists we have featured here in Fifty Two Pieces have painted appropriations of Van Gogh's work. Roy Lichtenstein from Week 37 made this print of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bedroom at Arles</span> with Drawing on the verso in 1992. Evidently, Vogue Hommes, Paris, published a special hand signed catalogue, portfolio in a limited edition of 50. The illustration on the reverse (shown here on the left) was made when Roy Lichtenstein spilled coffee on the print during the signing. In addition to this print, Lichtenstein also painted an oil of Van Gogh's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bedroom at Arles</span>. It is shown below on the left as well as Van Gogh's original version of his <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bedroom at Arles</span>.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Robert Colescott from Week 20 was another artist famous for his appropriations of work by fellow artists. His versions became riffs and parodies. One of his most famous was of Van Gogh's <b>Potato Eaters</b>. Both images are shown below and it's fairly clear which artist was responsible for which painting.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJxLRg662Dn-4153TuIryIJuvLFqMo9q8pp1ABnPm-lhkJ8VYfeoxFbj6IPvvFTZUwr25IfuPnqgzkaBCDFZQiD8PrVya6393aGjbgwJapg_5qweC66Bxga9g_dEpBulAwaD69iIwARls/s1600-h/Colescott-Eat-Dem-Taters.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380717004840294754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJxLRg662Dn-4153TuIryIJuvLFqMo9q8pp1ABnPm-lhkJ8VYfeoxFbj6IPvvFTZUwr25IfuPnqgzkaBCDFZQiD8PrVya6393aGjbgwJapg_5qweC66Bxga9g_dEpBulAwaD69iIwARls/s320/Colescott-Eat-Dem-Taters.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 234px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjCrUi4YVOjaDVyQCrjAna0NG8WAiM9Ow_p11hVl8jtPIiLrpPIVa7u486zhGti5SKLhbu6zraFXQmyxMadC-xuFepKxrqZavbiMoyQojwsv4-_BkjTxSLHTXpWV3KhTjVrOO_qPjjTLY/s1600-h/potato-eaters.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380717355696410098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqjCrUi4YVOjaDVyQCrjAna0NG8WAiM9Ow_p11hVl8jtPIiLrpPIVa7u486zhGti5SKLhbu6zraFXQmyxMadC-xuFepKxrqZavbiMoyQojwsv4-_BkjTxSLHTXpWV3KhTjVrOO_qPjjTLY/s200/potato-eaters.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 234px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 320px;" /></a></div>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-26478557900902905662010-03-12T07:20:00.000-08:002010-03-31T15:33:23.564-07:00Gregory Grenon ~ Sighting at the Ecotrust Building<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZFxwhHcOOjpiulIfPR5hWb0VOIp1qOX8y8oJ8GCx7R-4nn99EXT6Sfe2K6HbabSVo_J9zuNKoB7dzGQ3vYommaLoZKi_5vFFMo6e7CM9Z3PsjC73_IG5J8jQMvm_7I8phGQ15RKXj5a7/s1600-h/IMG_1240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZFxwhHcOOjpiulIfPR5hWb0VOIp1qOX8y8oJ8GCx7R-4nn99EXT6Sfe2K6HbabSVo_J9zuNKoB7dzGQ3vYommaLoZKi_5vFFMo6e7CM9Z3PsjC73_IG5J8jQMvm_7I8phGQ15RKXj5a7/s640/IMG_1240.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
This painting, "I'm Very Well Protected (1991)" by <a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/week%2016%20-%20Gregory%20Grenon">Gregory Grenon (week 16)</a>, can be seen at the Ecotrust Building. A local artist here in Portland, you can see his oil paintings on glass around town. Two of them (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=gregory%20grennon&w=all">images here</a>) are in the entryway of the Westin Hotel on SW Alder. Three clues that you're looking at a Grenon. His images are almost always of women. The colors are intense. The surface is glass, not canvas or board.LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-35971240803941789122010-02-13T08:51:00.000-08:002010-02-13T09:03:47.377-08:00Lee Kelly ~ Reprised, Part of the Portland Transit Mall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrvJxDBe0WKZrZvxmhzhRRf_nxOSEj5NM9sPEGoGQsUdegYDcQg6QVAezp4oxNDbIzZ_gGEOjpfRRSjL2I7zqhHtVLz9CXrNhJbc_rNkVc6AtdwGdzBevytBO2D1NnJqvTI3ZX1vNsqm1/s1600-h/DSC_0011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrvJxDBe0WKZrZvxmhzhRRf_nxOSEj5NM9sPEGoGQsUdegYDcQg6QVAezp4oxNDbIzZ_gGEOjpfRRSjL2I7zqhHtVLz9CXrNhJbc_rNkVc6AtdwGdzBevytBO2D1NnJqvTI3ZX1vNsqm1/s400/DSC_0011.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
On one less than sunny day, I walked past this sculpture by Lee Kelly the artist of Week 23 here at Fifty Two Pieces. It is part of the Portland Transit Mall, very near Burnside on SW 6th Ave. Since Kelly is a long-time Portlander, Portland is graced with many of his works. I selected the post from 5 June 2009 to reprise. I love the shot of Kelly working in his studio -- those hands have created so much. <br />
For all of the posts from Week 23, <a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/week%2023%20-%20Lee%20Kelly">click here</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre;"> </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre;">Originally posted on Friday, 5 June 2009</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Lee Kelly ~ The Hands that Made "Arlie"</span></span><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Here are the hands of the man who made Arlie, our featured sculpture of the week. Lee Kelly was born in 1932 and has made art longer than probably most of the people who read this blog post have been alive. He has done so many things in those seventy-seven years. Think about that, seventy-seven years alive on this planet, living in the Pacific Northwest. Born in Idaho he spent part of his childhood here in Portland, served in the Korean War and returned to the Portland area. He has travelled widely, across many continents and his artistic works reflect those experiences as well as the totality of the life he has led.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">He is an inspiration for the artists and public here in Portland providing much needed support for the artistic community when he could easily not be involved. There are a few videos of Lee Kelly available to watch on the internet. This one from OPB will really give you an insight into the man and his art. Those of us who have experienced his works are fortunate and those who are part of his inner circle are the ones who are truly blessed.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Lee Kelly has a studio in an old barn on property outside of Salem. That's where he has creates his art by welding and grinding. It would be a real treat to visit there. Not all of us can do that. So Oregon Public Broadcasting did a video interview of him there in Salem. The video linked here cannot be embedded as youtube and vimeo productions can be. So for a look at Lee Kelly, his life and his art, click this link ... <a href="http://www.opb.org/programs/artbeat/videos/view/110-Lee-Kelly">Lee Kelly on OPB.</a></div>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-37204020731770067392010-02-03T19:03:00.000-08:002010-02-05T23:46:01.479-08:00John Buck Reprised and Now on the Green Line / Transit Mall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lodge Grass ~ 2000</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho00USdpFZ8J7CpUpdTAV8GIZDaZjtmVNXsSPHMKI0ujYOR5i2FzpAIjfjiXEIkUOp9848QmifM6veDsMA_2qZY8VUyr3xZxywl68QtFtOKvy2BzJMaTjKo_KrMwxVXuFWNS0acxPIs6mm/s1600-h/DSC_0014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho00USdpFZ8J7CpUpdTAV8GIZDaZjtmVNXsSPHMKI0ujYOR5i2FzpAIjfjiXEIkUOp9848QmifM6veDsMA_2qZY8VUyr3xZxywl68QtFtOKvy2BzJMaTjKo_KrMwxVXuFWNS0acxPIs6mm/s320/DSC_0014.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: grey; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Cast bronze, 49.5 x 15.5 x 12 inches, Edition of 3</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Back in May, Fifty Two Pieces featured John Buck. The Portland Art Museum owns a number of his wooden pieces. Lewis and Clark is home to some of the very tall bronze sculptures. However, all of us in downtown Portland can now enjoy one of his smaller, four feet high, pieces. Lodge Grass is a cast bronze and is located on SW 6th, just south of the rather large Lee Kelly that we'll have to showcase in the future. Portlanders are very fortunate to have so much public art on their streets. </span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: grey; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; line-height: normal; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">John Buck from Inside His Studio</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: #999999; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 2px; line-height: 14px; text-transform: uppercase; white-space: normal;">TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2009</span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Amy's link yesterday to <a href="http://artworksmagazine.com/?p=629">ARTWORKS</a> will give you an insight into John Buck, the man and how he came to be a word carver. All through school his sculptures had been made from found objects from other people's yards. During a semester abroad spent in England while he was in graduate school, Buck found that he was cut off from that source. As a result, he began to use the piles of wood the school provided him. He says it took him a while but he finally bonded with this new process and the rest is history so to speak. </div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">John Buck's own website <a href="http://www.johnbuckart.com/">John Buck Art</a> opens with the image above, a look inside his studio. This and other photos from his spread in Montana would indicate that he has spent many years collecting tools and carving pieces that he can use in future assemblages. Here's another view of his studio. </div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">It's almost as if you can see the bones of the works he will create – a look inside John Buck's mind.</div></span>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-34818575201262333562010-01-26T14:51:00.000-08:002010-01-26T14:54:21.127-08:00Lovejoy Bakers and Sol LeWittOne of the most popular pages here at Fifty Two Pieces continues to be one of Sol LeWitt's. I've linked it below this image that I took of a Sol LeWitt inspired piece. You can find this striking yellow piece of art outside of Lovejoy Bakers in The Pearl here in Portland.<br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><h2 class="date-header" style="color: #999999; font: normal normal normal 78%/normal 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.2em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1.5em; text-transform: uppercase;">FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2009</h2><div class="post hentry" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=296846184692454351&postID=3481857520126233356" name="8162206822229211088"></a><br />
</div></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25px;"><span style="color: orange;"><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/03/sol-lewitt-incomplete-open-cubes-all.html">Sol LeWitt - Incomplete Open Cubes, 122 All Together Now</a></span></span>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-90061842398967765542010-01-19T16:07:00.000-08:002010-02-04T06:15:20.729-08:00Franz Kline ~ Reprised and with a Mind Open to all Kinds of ThingsOkay, this is just not a reprised piece from our archives. I've decided to include some additional content that I came across while trolling the internet. Voice from the Couch knew that I wouldn't be able not to add to this site. Here's a nugget from Crown Point Press ~ well worth the five minutes.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Franz Kline 1959, Steve Martin 1981 ~ Rue</span><span style="color: orange;"> <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">originally posted 02/05/09</span></span></span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrDxlrwRIvae-Zt9Pn9uVW8IL-ZCl9KLut0e2ayCR5UDXcTIOGQsq24CopjuSgTXYYjqYP1eSxdd58FBTBFMiJw13tVnDnSGMbxFMF7kZGbpFeVvk_h1O-9RRLJ1YZGXzYW28XGp8Jzqt1/s1600-h/d4189263x.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299377723463308930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrDxlrwRIvae-Zt9Pn9uVW8IL-ZCl9KLut0e2ayCR5UDXcTIOGQsq24CopjuSgTXYYjqYP1eSxdd58FBTBFMiJw13tVnDnSGMbxFMF7kZGbpFeVvk_h1O-9RRLJ1YZGXzYW28XGp8Jzqt1/s400/d4189263x.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 400px; width: 308px;" /></a><br />
This piece by Franz Kline, famous Abstract Expressionist painter, is entitled Rue (on loan to the Portland Art Museum from a private collection). Like his other paintings, Rue is the result of Kline having lived for many years in New York. He said that the feelings aroused in him by seeing the city for so long was what he painted. Although some abstract expressionist painters of his day left their paintings untitled. Kline chose to name many of them. Just before his first one man show he asked Willem and Elaine De Kooning to help him name his paintings. "[I]n a spirit of levity with a bottle of scotch on the table," was how Elaine would later describe the eight hour naming session. My own mind turns over the word rue and I chuckle thinking about the person who rues the day that he ate the rue he had found on the "rue".<br />
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Kline definitely belongs to the sub-group of abstract expressionists known as action painters. In my reading I found this quote from his friend Philip Pavia , "When I would visit Kline in his studio, he had stretched a large canvas on the wall, and underneath he would push with his feet a wood beer box to a certain spot. After a few trials and errors, he fixed the box into a right spot. He then slanted a plank from the floor with one end on the beer crate. A temporary ramp. Coming up the plank and down the plank, he slanted his brushstrokes for long strokes or short ones, and some of them were very loaded with paint." <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGYtJZ3GX5y4hj-91pknzhOB8lIdJ1K4SrZexIpgNW5_ZHWbNVcrzamZc2LI9PExuk7sdqC-4H3e-MQvftWXJhLvX9S4uLAwj4ToOO7KyH61ACzCa8kXLeU3luvM4a_Y571f4yRzhM7Vg/s1600-h/d5123468l.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299375249618558642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGYtJZ3GX5y4hj-91pknzhOB8lIdJ1K4SrZexIpgNW5_ZHWbNVcrzamZc2LI9PExuk7sdqC-4H3e-MQvftWXJhLvX9S4uLAwj4ToOO7KyH61ACzCa8kXLeU3luvM4a_Y571f4yRzhM7Vg/s320/d5123468l.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 219px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 220px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDb6QTSkZuDuDmHsXynwFIjolpY3_aeNbZ_nZSBL47WN4YLmTI9nJ6sHBKAYgTCUB8WIreUbJFvojV3Ny2Ci8rrTCPSdACT8lTvld0iFVdt_yOPdJYH9T2f00ZyTv1T3YZLBMtYmb9pPR3/s1600-h/kY21N89eLifourarUMjCvZeko1_400.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299375963231975986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDb6QTSkZuDuDmHsXynwFIjolpY3_aeNbZ_nZSBL47WN4YLmTI9nJ6sHBKAYgTCUB8WIreUbJFvojV3Ny2Ci8rrTCPSdACT8lTvld0iFVdt_yOPdJYH9T2f00ZyTv1T3YZLBMtYmb9pPR3/s200/kY21N89eLifourarUMjCvZeko1_400.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 166px;" /></a> Although Kline's paintings were the result of the emotions the city aroused in him and he didn't care to be in his painting, one owner of Rue did say that he could see himself in it. Steve Martin is listed as being the previous owner of this painting and had always said that he wanted to be part of it. The Portland Art Museum is also exhibiting the photo Annie Leibovitz took of Steve Martin in Beverly Hills when he posed for his portrait. Complete with black brushstrokes on his white suit, Martin realized his dream. A companion photo appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-20452571465527888342010-01-09T17:13:00.000-08:002010-02-04T06:16:48.640-08:00Prague Panoramas -- Josef Sudek Sausages, 242 and countingJust this last week, this page has become very popular with visitors. So for everyone's enjoyment, I've decided to have Josef Sudek's Prague Panormas be the Reprise of the week. Expect to see more of Sudek, later in the year. His work was exceptional.<br />
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2009 <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Prague Panoramas -- Josef Sudek Sausages, 242 and countin</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">g</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mi1lUzhuGaBvCuZxvmTmjnihOfTP7Ky5U95aqp7moqa6QH3hYpnpvcBdkIA92VZ-ap4tB70osnOY8TflJu24LE1sRAXAwm8a8CTVzmCfNrmzUnmn01cWF9jVAFQcBfKOpmOShVwyN6o6/s1600-h/445.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306558644306699842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mi1lUzhuGaBvCuZxvmTmjnihOfTP7Ky5U95aqp7moqa6QH3hYpnpvcBdkIA92VZ-ap4tB70osnOY8TflJu24LE1sRAXAwm8a8CTVzmCfNrmzUnmn01cWF9jVAFQcBfKOpmOShVwyN6o6/s200/445.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 132px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
Josef Sudek was a master photographer, a genius with the lens and his use of light. Two areas of his photography have intrigued me -- his panoramic series made in the 1950's and his portraits. Many who are familiar with his work are unaware that he used his genius to take portraits of his family and friends. Those photographs will have to wait for another day. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJxDzDW1m0Kzd5aHFLiphH1CYc_6Kjy6Sa8f6rne8GdvZvXh0F7xUiG2W2xdKeze7OqJRdM4GWenuvnsS1nGV3ZvOulssUrR58xEphOg4lY80U7ets0ZEnDqS35TDIfNPKE8go7eufoiDu/s1600-h/sudekpanorama+vertical.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306559564491807682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJxDzDW1m0Kzd5aHFLiphH1CYc_6Kjy6Sa8f6rne8GdvZvXh0F7xUiG2W2xdKeze7OqJRdM4GWenuvnsS1nGV3ZvOulssUrR58xEphOg4lY80U7ets0ZEnDqS35TDIfNPKE8go7eufoiDu/s320/sudekpanorama+vertical.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 94px;" /></a>For today, praha panoramaticka (Prague Panoramas) take the spotlight. In the early 1950's, Sudek acquired an 1894 Kodak Panorama camera. This camera had a spring-drive sweeping lens that made a negative 10 cm x 30 cm (4"x12"). Sudek used this camera on his daily journeys through Prague and the surrounding countryside. One admirer wrote... "The unusual format with its extreme proportions of 1 x 3 and the special distortions caused by the sweeping lens are extremely demanding, like the constraints of a sonnet. Yet like any set of artistic constraints, the peculiar requirements of the panoramic photo offer opportunities not found elsewhere. Sudek never tired of exploring the possibilities of the photographic sonnets he could make with his antique mechanism whose shutter speeds were marked simply "fast" and "slow". With it he gave us a geodesic feeling for the country-side which far surpasses anything we get from isolated views, and in Prague itself he showed how the River Vltava is an integral part of the city and how the labyrinthian quality of the city is offset by its broad open spaces. He was never short of resourceful ways of using the panoramic format. Before the horizontal panorama had yieided all its secrets, Sudek turned the camera on its side and gave us vertical panoramas!" <br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Prague Panoramas</span> was published in 1956 and is one of the most sought after books in European antiquarian book shops. There are reprints available, but they too are quite pricey. On-line images of these photographs are limited to a few horizontals, but no verticals (ah, change the google search ever so slightly and voila, there's the vertical, see upper right). As you enjoy the composition and light in the following images, think of Sudek and his remarkable sense of humor... On February 26, 1956, Sudek jokingly remarked about his Praha Panoramaticka which was about to go to press: "made 242 sausages of Prague so far; at least 60 more left to make". <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ogIM_zp38ZWwNmzvr1LplZBrT2fr2amS_24LYw675bqqh1HSXckLcifJOltm_kOKg_8hnocZOJhLxyNtn31Y5Bya0HO3dxg4wA4BN1MqBjFM9NotRpI2tJFB630xQM6BIArkeaWdCK4o/s1600-h/287362_49549_a005.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306562857443287234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ogIM_zp38ZWwNmzvr1LplZBrT2fr2amS_24LYw675bqqh1HSXckLcifJOltm_kOKg_8hnocZOJhLxyNtn31Y5Bya0HO3dxg4wA4BN1MqBjFM9NotRpI2tJFB630xQM6BIArkeaWdCK4o/s320/287362_49549_a005.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 112px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wplpKijS7NcIDOW3xQBYdXWG1wB1S40iFYbphwhGAUYBkP5WVTpcs73cMSLgF8OVdvac3mzUBzykYjNhmPqc8lbTwpFkIIWgHNiY1W1OyuDUHSG-6XFODcoO8aqhYR8RGjd57QiWBEte/s1600-h/287389_49554_a004a.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306563123523504098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wplpKijS7NcIDOW3xQBYdXWG1wB1S40iFYbphwhGAUYBkP5WVTpcs73cMSLgF8OVdvac3mzUBzykYjNhmPqc8lbTwpFkIIWgHNiY1W1OyuDUHSG-6XFODcoO8aqhYR8RGjd57QiWBEte/s320/287389_49554_a004a.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 114px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNyfMheQ-9Ri5KY2SlxUA8p_u7H1KYMj_sGoLQMhceJARbGdwH4zTipa_fuB7N0KMUUtvI4zijVy6aGIrUj2GPwUFn3vrUJ5QY04WeJYqu_mNzOCfCFz46EFCezbpRta6n5KmKLzB2suPU/s1600-h/sudekpanoramapone.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306563613918659938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNyfMheQ-9Ri5KY2SlxUA8p_u7H1KYMj_sGoLQMhceJARbGdwH4zTipa_fuB7N0KMUUtvI4zijVy6aGIrUj2GPwUFn3vrUJ5QY04WeJYqu_mNzOCfCFz46EFCezbpRta6n5KmKLzB2suPU/s320/sudekpanoramapone.gif" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 134px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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And last but not least, the European Commission has Sudek panoramas in one of their conference room. The overall effect is gallery-like until the people have arrived. Perhaps this was why Sudek preferred his photos without people unless he was taking an actual portrait. To be continued...<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDFZadGjTNYj2XyWnGvJaBlyYNCtJxPoi71VMTVgnyCaS7TStAYGN-Ca-_LSYLf60GghjXgFOe-yj-N3OFiYHefGP0rdN1qv0CquC4QqKXXA61guDkollOEKKJwqp0Ylkn6hDAeCQp7yJ/s1600-h/sudekpanoramaconf1.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306564384700243682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDFZadGjTNYj2XyWnGvJaBlyYNCtJxPoi71VMTVgnyCaS7TStAYGN-Ca-_LSYLf60GghjXgFOe-yj-N3OFiYHefGP0rdN1qv0CquC4QqKXXA61guDkollOEKKJwqp0Ylkn6hDAeCQp7yJ/s320/sudekpanoramaconf1.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXibfYdAf2m5YTVxvTmRWh350bwKw6QVQwn1tXf8eQI-WhteS92eilcg44x2lehUlb3lyXbdSkNNozUs2sbtdtOMgB4Lccc6uvBCPJ07ftpJ2ltKZSYc7R8CkwPgKiTcji9bJktTOFfVNN/s1600-h/sudekpanorama2.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306564497524779282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXibfYdAf2m5YTVxvTmRWh350bwKw6QVQwn1tXf8eQI-WhteS92eilcg44x2lehUlb3lyXbdSkNNozUs2sbtdtOMgB4Lccc6uvBCPJ07ftpJ2ltKZSYc7R8CkwPgKiTcji9bJktTOFfVNN/s320/sudekpanorama2.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 240px; width: 320px;" /></a>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-52792235274742071442010-01-06T18:34:00.000-08:002010-01-06T18:36:20.648-08:00Back by Popular Demand ~ The Two Roys and Kris<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:11px;">A number of people have asked about what's happening to Fifty Two Pieces, now that our original commitment of 52 pieces has been met. Reviewing the stats from our accumulator, Stat Counter, we've noticed that even the most loyal haven't seen all of our posts. Without further ado, we're reprising some of our own favorite posts, not on a regular basis but probably once a week, more or less. So check back in occasionally and you'll see some of our own personal favorites. And now for The Two Roys and Kris... WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">Roy Lichtenstein ~ Sweet Dreams Baby with Roy Orbison</span> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_yG0Z3QOGEU_3GrsUJ6R0y8Sn22i1dz6K6r9XndnxRHx3q81fEiZ3T52a_9aU5y6EC_AHbM0E1iWk2uWfMAU8QsTTeceuQEWoOOs4afz_Kf0noEbSeR4tCbv2z66aZsIihJhkUg1Atyc/s1600-h/LichtensteinSweetDreamsBaby.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_yG0Z3QOGEU_3GrsUJ6R0y8Sn22i1dz6K6r9XndnxRHx3q81fEiZ3T52a_9aU5y6EC_AHbM0E1iWk2uWfMAU8QsTTeceuQEWoOOs4afz_Kf0noEbSeR4tCbv2z66aZsIihJhkUg1Atyc/s400/LichtensteinSweetDreamsBaby.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380199359571104642" /></a> Earlier this week I mentioned Roy Lichtenstein's sense of humor and how it came into play with his choice of words for this image – Sweet Dreams Baby. Once I started to think of the usual endearing use of that phrase, it was extremely difficult not to hear Roy Orbison singing what some think of as his signature song,<span style="font-weight:bold;"> Sweet Dreams Baby</span>. So although Roy Lichtenstein listened to classical music while painting in his studio, I'm certain he would enjoy the sight of Bruce Springsteen playing backup to Roy Orbison in the version of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Sweet Dreams Baby</span> posted below. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rMq6uiP-buU&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rMq6uiP-buU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <span style="font-weight:bold;">More Words, Images and Music</span> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXY7DnmeyUyftPce6PF3X42pRyQCMyGPPzv7BhsO3StPZPJCLEqmjx8K38GtLB8ss-cg0Ry7FddW4b8OsQHoAekv22UB9hPtVBHwaGHmQWhwnb3dg6kRuxbfvGOs-FE1BBsxgGTgGezc3/s1600-h/hogarth_william_marriagealamodeplate4.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 326px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXY7DnmeyUyftPce6PF3X42pRyQCMyGPPzv7BhsO3StPZPJCLEqmjx8K38GtLB8ss-cg0Ry7FddW4b8OsQHoAekv22UB9hPtVBHwaGHmQWhwnb3dg6kRuxbfvGOs-FE1BBsxgGTgGezc3/s400/hogarth_william_marriagealamodeplate4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380198215827965314" /></a>But wait, more music can be heard while looking at the prints in<a href="http://portlandartmuseum.org/exhibitions/series/Gilkey-Center/Word-and-ImageWord-as-Image"> Word and Image/Word as Image</a>. For example take a peek at William Hogarth's <b>Marriage a la Mode</b>. This engraving is from a set of four and concentrates on Squanderfield's bride. She's having her hair done while listening to the lawyer Silvertongue (you have to love the choice of names). Just in case there's any doubt about the affair between those two, Hogarth has placed a black servant boy playing with a broken horned statue in front of them – Squanderfield should know at this point that she's "fooling around". There's a great deal to see in this engraving, including Silvertongue's portrait on the far right wall. Hogarth did the faces and heads but had Simon Francois Ravanet complete the background because of its technical demands. While taking in Silvertongue and the rest of Squanderfield's friends, listen to Kris Kristofferson singing <b>Silver Tongued Devil and I</b>.<div> <object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bvCaQ0NQvzg&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bvCaQ0NQvzg&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object></div></span>Amy LaVallehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11854865064562107491noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-22350143387790800522009-12-31T14:15:00.000-08:002009-12-31T18:18:51.253-08:00The Top Ten<div>Here's our list of the top ten artists at Fifty Two Pieces and the pages that made them so popular. Like most popularity lists this one is skewed by length of time a page has been circulating on the internet. Although Raphael and La Donna Velata made the cut it was just barely. However, Raphael only first appeared during the last week of October. Part of the reason Josef Sudek is a front runner in popularity has to do with the world wide audience Fifty Two Pieces has. Visitors come from all over the world and make frequent revisits. Although most of the over 17,000 visitors are from the United States, Canada and Great Britain, people from over 100 countries have dropped in on Fifty Two Pieces. </div><div><br /></div><div>Check out these artists and the other 42 that we have presented in the last year. For each one on the Top Ten List we've also included a link to all of their posts.<br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGYtJZ3GX5y4hj-91pknzhOB8lIdJ1K4SrZexIpgNW5_ZHWbNVcrzamZc2LI9PExuk7sdqC-4H3e-MQvftWXJhLvX9S4uLAwj4ToOO7KyH61ACzCa8kXLeU3luvM4a_Y571f4yRzhM7Vg/s1600-h/d5123468l.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 110px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGYtJZ3GX5y4hj-91pknzhOB8lIdJ1K4SrZexIpgNW5_ZHWbNVcrzamZc2LI9PExuk7sdqC-4H3e-MQvftWXJhLvX9S4uLAwj4ToOO7KyH61ACzCa8kXLeU3luvM4a_Y571f4yRzhM7Vg/s320/d5123468l.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299375249618558642" /></a> <b>Franz Kline</b><br /><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/02/rue-franz-kline-1950-steve-martin-1981.html">Franz Kline - Rue and Steve Martin</a><br /><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/02/21-etchings-and-poems-franz-kline.html">Etchings and Poems</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Franz%20Kline">All things Franz Kline...</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpKzRXVwifT2x9m8YyoHR2Y07WO4wG1z2e7PDaR3RMinZCyDq9jKLm0cegP6DDcnHOXVP1i_r9bmIFsUcQp32lXN9ZQgJdJBRpZz1sZPmA463LQhrbHW5_uAlGLttJwUeDi-2gmthXKNn/s1600-h/lewitt_incomplete.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 80px; height: 71px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpKzRXVwifT2x9m8YyoHR2Y07WO4wG1z2e7PDaR3RMinZCyDq9jKLm0cegP6DDcnHOXVP1i_r9bmIFsUcQp32lXN9ZQgJdJBRpZz1sZPmA463LQhrbHW5_uAlGLttJwUeDi-2gmthXKNn/s320/lewitt_incomplete.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312416969673308210" /></a><b>Sol LeWitt</b><br /><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/03/sol-lewitt-incomplete-open-cubes-all.html">All of Sol LeWitt's Incomplete Open Cubes</a><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/03/sol-lewitt-letter-to-eva-hesse.html">Sol LeWitt's Letter to Eva Hesse</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Sol%20LeWitt">All things Sol LeWitt...</a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXtlhi05olupdENX2sIoDF-k8V8wUflvHtPnobGbaqVj2rIXuoQDDXuX2Ny5u1NBzL8f9RoAZ45Y88eNc9WaW-DrXTJ5T5DQoXB3QFd7bYTblBswaZxSFUTwq5YL4U9INmbo7xrN-kQgR/s1600-h/earlyhour.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 80px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXXtlhi05olupdENX2sIoDF-k8V8wUflvHtPnobGbaqVj2rIXuoQDDXuX2Ny5u1NBzL8f9RoAZ45Y88eNc9WaW-DrXTJ5T5DQoXB3QFd7bYTblBswaZxSFUTwq5YL4U9INmbo7xrN-kQgR/s200/earlyhour.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421539865624296018" /></a><b>Karl Hofer</b></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/04/early-hour-karl-hofer.html">Early Hour</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Karl%20Hofer">All things Karl Hofer...</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBnw9UWoA2wmiPSAqXDr1mPvchY-7aSrfFppWpmuLPYz8ODgcqT-PYKWSEaO69ux0QSzv7hxyuAhtlCAuzh5S6kd605rtJi1VKCfKAhpWNHfGxeH1oGQKcPgL-Issg7VvamgWAF_Fp32O/s1600-h/sudek_fragments.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 75px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOBnw9UWoA2wmiPSAqXDr1mPvchY-7aSrfFppWpmuLPYz8ODgcqT-PYKWSEaO69ux0QSzv7hxyuAhtlCAuzh5S6kd605rtJi1VKCfKAhpWNHfGxeH1oGQKcPgL-Issg7VvamgWAF_Fp32O/s200/sudek_fragments.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306176495214075602" /></a><b>Josef Sudek</b></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/02/josef-sudek-labyrinths-and-windows.html">Labyrinths and Windows</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/02/prague-panoramas-josef-sudek-sausages.html">Prague Panoramics</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/02/josef-sudek-portraits-of-czech-friends.htm">Portraits of Czech Friends</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Josef%20Sudek">All things Josef Sudek...</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/02/prague-panoramas-josef-sudek-sausages.html"></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwt3jkwqJFYeSak-1lXzx0mZJbuAjidJQjt_o2XP0IQ4qPQ8BwMWM_iqpItq-OFDt_xmXe941I2o63jh8zZ646khRgGIbetGBUTGl75x6vbMr5aylcpPBR9319WseEHiSsuoWCZJqJhacO/s1600-h/Artist's+Studio+"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 75<br />px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwt3jkwqJFYeSak-1lXzx0mZJbuAjidJQjt_o2XP0IQ4qPQ8BwMWM_iqpItq-OFDt_xmXe941I2o63jh8zZ646khRgGIbetGBUTGl75x6vbMr5aylcpPBR9319WseEHiSsuoWCZJqJhacO/s200/Artist's+Studio+" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379984718957835666" /></a><b>Roy Lichtenstein</b> </div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/09/van-gogh-appropriations-by-roy.html">Van Gogh Appropriations</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/09/roy-lichtenstein-sweet-dreams-baby-with.html">Sweet Dreams Baby</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Lichtenstein">All things Roy Lichtenstein...</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGkN3Gte1Rmu4RY94b3y0zhHa39W7jpBuRgiDObweW0QOIYvcfGASgTAEN5B8Wf5MpGHb2jSxO0CWmKThMeZBre-kFwrlPPhPPTsJ6rwCS-fmHpT0Q7srpUVTTjSS0HFsEg4lkSyEobjC/s1600-h/bogeaureau.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289061111444715394" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 80px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 100px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGkN3Gte1Rmu4RY94b3y0zhHa39W7jpBuRgiDObweW0QOIYvcfGASgTAEN5B8Wf5MpGHb2jSxO0CWmKThMeZBre-kFwrlPPhPPTsJ6rwCS-fmHpT0Q7srpUVTTjSS0HFsEg4lkSyEobjC/s200/bogeaureau.bmp" border="0" /></a><b>William Adolph Bouguereau</b></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/01/william-adolph-bougeureau.html">Nature's Fan</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Bouguereau">All things Bouguereau...</a></div><div><br /><br /><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3AQpfeBUw0uMRVtKqVRKFKjVtZ7yEbE_SGa6ADxZMggLzLLOLeSq724VEtYceakcjP5ogM5CzXUtEuMqVW1aoqqVF32jWzXZpPsFfrr-v-Ft2VF2ZZpvvfdCDYuoS0Ed_F_XIXtM0M89/s1600-h/gary.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 87px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS3AQpfeBUw0uMRVtKqVRKFKjVtZ7yEbE_SGa6ADxZMggLzLLOLeSq724VEtYceakcjP5ogM5CzXUtEuMqVW1aoqqVF32jWzXZpPsFfrr-v-Ft2VF2ZZpvvfdCDYuoS0Ed_F_XIXtM0M89/s200/gary.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421582507557429378" /></a><br /><b>Ann Gale</b><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/01/lopez-garcia-and-giacometti-also.html">Inspiration from Lopez Garcia and Giacometti</a><br /><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/01/ann-gale-cites-lucian-freud_16.html">And Lucian Freud</a> </div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Ann%20Gale">All things Ann Gale...</a><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnRRMAnR1xGRpPAp0ASUYoWIyNS2A97CTnaJYBcOSuWYkZGk5sEjUNWO-Y1EauttAKUnV-25s_G1wrO_jAYHmr0ckh7Gl-TpNQYTo0w-BJWLwletiUi5RhfQ7AsElbuGWFgxuRkB5gnnP/s1600-h/thedesperateman.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 80px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnRRMAnR1xGRpPAp0ASUYoWIyNS2A97CTnaJYBcOSuWYkZGk5sEjUNWO-Y1EauttAKUnV-25s_G1wrO_jAYHmr0ckh7Gl-TpNQYTo0w-BJWLwletiUi5RhfQ7AsElbuGWFgxuRkB5gnnP/s200/thedesperateman.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421584931492461730" /></a><br /> <b>Gustave Courbet</b></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/08/gustave-courbet-self-portraits-of.html">Self Portraits</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Courbet">All thing Courbet...</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/08/gustave-courbet-self-portraits-of.html"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsicz65lrdrd2YiTib8QvOy_rEsa8QW76KofTkqzRxUrI-wLNGsGnzc4VHBsPKna2edRnnNZqSV8jM1vUfCh6VLxZVYuLINCfQJKfEYYKj1palXcAXBssHqlLNPjEzgCuvj6UN1fGacyho/s1600-h/DSC05115.JPG.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 75px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsicz65lrdrd2YiTib8QvOy_rEsa8QW76KofTkqzRxUrI-wLNGsGnzc4VHBsPKna2edRnnNZqSV8jM1vUfCh6VLxZVYuLINCfQJKfEYYKj1palXcAXBssHqlLNPjEzgCuvj6UN1fGacyho/s200/DSC05115.JPG.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421588170744958018" /></a><b>Mark Rothko</b></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/01/rothko-no-14-1960-emotionality-and-myth.html">No. 14 - 1960</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/01/other-visiting-rothkos.html">Other Visiting Rothkos</a><br /></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Rothko">All things Rothko...</a></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eSXrD6Ept7LwRQHqQf7v1tYJywJ78vQyHwCohxBEay8uXQoMpTVZqpFd7KtiVK8bduYbC0cOS_cLPTbifV9yprg3sBruijCcXcl98BGeaSp2l9974zDslqKlGw8SJZhCaJZmBnVFraL1/s1600-h/velata.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 79px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3eSXrD6Ept7LwRQHqQf7v1tYJywJ78vQyHwCohxBEay8uXQoMpTVZqpFd7KtiVK8bduYbC0cOS_cLPTbifV9yprg3sBruijCcXcl98BGeaSp2l9974zDslqKlGw8SJZhCaJZmBnVFraL1/s200/velata.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421589497088157874" /></a><b>Raphael</b></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/10/raphael-margherita-as-la-fornarina.html">La Donna Velata and La Fornarina</a></div><div><a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/search/label/Raphael">All things Raphael...</a></div></div></div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#33CC00;">Amy had this to say today...</span></i><div>My personal favorite, the artist I most enjoyed learning about this year, is you LaValle. This project taught me so much about partnership in writing and learning. It has been invaluable for me. I have logged into Fifty Two Pieces for the last time and no new years resolution will ever be the same.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><i>LaValle had this to say on this last day of 2009...</i></span></div><div>Starting tomorrow, I'll no longer be thinking about what I'll be writing about on Fifty Two Pieces, nor will I be researching what that writing will be about, nor will I be waking up early to actually write it. Not doing all of that in turn will be leaving hours of extra time every day. What is she going to do you might ask? Voice from the Couch is also waiting to hear and not too patiently for that answer. </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, I'll be starting a photography blog <a href="http://takethestreetcar.blogspot.com/">Portland Through My Lens</a>. I'm challenging myself to ride the Portland Streetcar every day of 2010 and take photographs and post at least one of those images. The restrictions I'm imposing on myself are that the photos must be either from the streetcar or within two blocks of the streetcar. And I should amend the challenge to everyday that I'm in Portland since I do hope to travel sometime during the year. I'll have to come up with a sub-challenge for those days.</div><div><br /></div><div>2009 has been a fine year, full of lots of planning, website maintenance and many discoveries. Thank you Amy for a great year. And thank you to everyone, all 17,000+ visitors, who have helped to make the year as good as it was.</div>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-45056268828094781892009-12-30T10:28:00.000-08:002009-12-30T18:29:44.565-08:00Claude Monet ~ Waterlilies and Mark Rothko<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44vnI_zjQiFuEiU0b8afwuOCntAvi_O_3awhzmcezOPiGu2qMeAORwZiCfUveX-NKBBfI9og578C2t1aHiBAFS6PL0-nJCr4FTOS_0Yv1iC-WagFfhr60dXmJJ8ef_76PrFrJ5dcCKjYT/s1600-h/T04148_9.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 167px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg44vnI_zjQiFuEiU0b8afwuOCntAvi_O_3awhzmcezOPiGu2qMeAORwZiCfUveX-NKBBfI9og578C2t1aHiBAFS6PL0-nJCr4FTOS_0Yv1iC-WagFfhr60dXmJJ8ef_76PrFrJ5dcCKjYT/s320/T04148_9.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421098718450885954" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHI23kl7AUu5z3XrlzO8PIB4Qbmo_bxg1eJ0RZPqYKBi725DGoMgBIPRcvmeUHNhUrpfdW83MiulbDRMXXprXZ070ybUEhhFtbRv0mshjodUQ2XRD7zpFPu4_i3mnOCPpOz4fmIeA7lH5I/s1600-h/L01903_9.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 147px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHI23kl7AUu5z3XrlzO8PIB4Qbmo_bxg1eJ0RZPqYKBi725DGoMgBIPRcvmeUHNhUrpfdW83MiulbDRMXXprXZ070ybUEhhFtbRv0mshjodUQ2XRD7zpFPu4_i3mnOCPpOz4fmIeA7lH5I/s320/L01903_9.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421098509319560306" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Yesterday, Voice from the Couch couldn't put down the <i>Monet and Modernism</i> book. He had already read up on Andy Warhol and then found Mark Rothko in an earlier section. Voice had this to say... "Well of course, Rothko would be connected to Monet. This is great." Some time later, Voice let me have the book back and I was able to continue my reading on Rothko and some of his thoughts on Monet. <blockquote>The reactions [of the viewers]...say unanimously my work has the power to convery anew way of looking. This message becomes visible through a new structural language they have never experienced before. In my pictures you find an unspoiled, conscious, elemental humanity. Even the pictures of Monet have something of this, which is why I prefer Monet to Cezanne... Despite the general view that Cezanne created a new way of looking at things and was the father of modern painting, I prefer Monet. Monet was the greater artist of the two. I don't agree with the current public opinion about the colorists and their art... because color in itself is among the sensory components of art. </blockquote>This quote is from a conversation between Rothko and Alfred Jensen on June 17, 1953.<br /><br />The two paintings above show Claude Monet's <b>Water Lily</b> painting from 1916 and on the right Mark Rothko's <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">untitled</span>, 1952 in similar yellow greens and lavenders. Rothko has taken the horizontal Monet with its visual field of waterlilies and made it vertical. Rothko carries the abstraction one more step. Take a look at the Rothko piece and you can that see his technique of taking spaces filled with color and then have them hover is very similar to the inner spaces of surface found in Monet's waterlily paintings.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3GXzr0zVX0UzaMFL1bNrERqOKm8fsk1fxAis0PQ7liticTgI7NEALySX9s4KmoPyO-61oroU5DZCovZmQkQmH1FU5XmrWGjODd0S4z4lDwTJYDTqa5tVkTPqluRsxsiITIMLhzlQbYFV/s1600-h/monet27.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3GXzr0zVX0UzaMFL1bNrERqOKm8fsk1fxAis0PQ7liticTgI7NEALySX9s4KmoPyO-61oroU5DZCovZmQkQmH1FU5XmrWGjODd0S4z4lDwTJYDTqa5tVkTPqluRsxsiITIMLhzlQbYFV/s200/monet27.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420500102054010418" /></a>And of course there is also the series aspect of Rothko's work. Much like Warhol (<a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/12/claude-monet-waterlilies-and-andy.html">see yesterday's posting</a>), Rothko is indebted to Monet for pioneering the concept of repetition, the creation of a series. A prime example of that would be his Seagram murals (see below). Originally designed for the Four Seasons the original plan was for seven – that is all the rooms the restaurant could handle. How many did Rothko produce? Not just the nine that ultimately became part of the Tate collection but 21 others for a total of 30. To see all of the Tate murals <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/markrothko/interactive/room-3.shtm">click here</a>. There's also a curator's video at that site as well as gallery notes. The image below is of three of the murals. Voice from the Couch is making plans to see these sometime this year! Until then he plans to make frequent visits to the Portland Art Museum's Monet - <span style="font-weight:bold;">Waterlilies</span>.<div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNoGIaIBW3otSI4MqNDiAqgTWdzOWxDzVAYbpYs3ORYCUEuw-i2li5DKf2QKs8Y9EWNgmAh6dLmXdYmO8hfmviS0vXLwZzRL3WnwjFStQxuA2zLwljGl4p5E4w2WUVJSOsMGS6vfj9juMS/s1600-h/sillitoe3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 372px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNoGIaIBW3otSI4MqNDiAqgTWdzOWxDzVAYbpYs3ORYCUEuw-i2li5DKf2QKs8Y9EWNgmAh6dLmXdYmO8hfmviS0vXLwZzRL3WnwjFStQxuA2zLwljGl4p5E4w2WUVJSOsMGS6vfj9juMS/s400/sillitoe3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421139898823846306" /></a></div>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-73430965457240402612009-12-29T12:24:00.000-08:002009-12-30T05:51:59.554-08:00Claude Monet ~ Waterlilies and Andy Warhol ~ Flowers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTxBshbsLCL7rhYFLtLlut6G1gQk-KUFL0UMJp54gKcsHYzmynohSMv36scT9oQ73z7Zl3oxIfJxyGXCanCE7LF59tz7A8VVnScgXq1psIChIc1YuAJjwWj-Hyyzqc4SVRgmVr0ZlSO84/s1600-h/48725_322.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 314px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTxBshbsLCL7rhYFLtLlut6G1gQk-KUFL0UMJp54gKcsHYzmynohSMv36scT9oQ73z7Zl3oxIfJxyGXCanCE7LF59tz7A8VVnScgXq1psIChIc1YuAJjwWj-Hyyzqc4SVRgmVr0ZlSO84/s320/48725_322.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420762230928069794" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTLIlGhcL0_W6cvczvQLlq1recA_u5hM0ogTh7qzZR9trmpcb15OP5_FPERzk_Z6F7KZOk4AhT5wviB9EZ9zChX6luzKh4oT3WjVlWWPRDgSqBKhSr_SOphs6pL-PRKMqLZnQdq0OsNNB/s1600-h/15.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 317px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTLIlGhcL0_W6cvczvQLlq1recA_u5hM0ogTh7qzZR9trmpcb15OP5_FPERzk_Z6F7KZOk4AhT5wviB9EZ9zChX6luzKh4oT3WjVlWWPRDgSqBKhSr_SOphs6pL-PRKMqLZnQdq0OsNNB/s320/15.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420762068000225922" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />These two images are part of one of Andy Warhol's very successful series using the flower motif. The Flowers series in 1964 was based on a photograph of hibiscus flower blossoms. Warhol saturated the large images of the flowers with intense color and put them on a verdant background. They really do seem to float off the canvas much like Monet's treatment of lilies in his pond. Warhol deeply admired Monet's waterlilies spending much time with them at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.<br /><br />So in addition to leaving the artists of the next generations the legacy of rich, varied color, Monet also introduced the 20th century art world to the concept of the series - "a systematic approach to the the subject of art and to pictorial means." His many studies of light and haystacks, cathedrals and waterlilies were the precursors to the many varied uses of a series. Some artists may present images in series so that all things are different, for others, the images are increasingly similar. Monet's Legacy Series - Order and Obsession in Hamburg in 2001 explored the connection between Monet and artists of the twentieth century. It's catalogue was intended to:<blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">investigate the historical and cultural backgrounds against which artists began to work in series. Factors such as the advent of industrial mass production and the accompanying development of reproductive techniques will be taken into consideration, as will philosophical issues such as the notion of the whole and its parts, the individual and the collective, perception, space, movement and time.</span></blockquote><br />Warhol is quoted in Monet and Modernism, another exhibition during 2002 as having said...<blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">Most artists repeat themselves all their lives. Isn't life a repetition of the same things happening all the time? I just like doing the same thing over and over again. It's one way of expressing yourself! All of my motifs are always identical but also very different. They change wit the luminosity (of the color), with time, and with the atmosphere. Isn't life a series of motifs that change while they go on repeatin themselves?</span></blockquote> If you listen carefully, you'll probably hear Claude Monet agreeing with those last two sentences.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3GXzr0zVX0UzaMFL1bNrERqOKm8fsk1fxAis0PQ7liticTgI7NEALySX9s4KmoPyO-61oroU5DZCovZmQkQmH1FU5XmrWGjODd0S4z4lDwTJYDTqa5tVkTPqluRsxsiITIMLhzlQbYFV/s1600-h/monet27.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3GXzr0zVX0UzaMFL1bNrERqOKm8fsk1fxAis0PQ7liticTgI7NEALySX9s4KmoPyO-61oroU5DZCovZmQkQmH1FU5XmrWGjODd0S4z4lDwTJYDTqa5tVkTPqluRsxsiITIMLhzlQbYFV/s200/monet27.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420500102054010418" /></a><br />Unfortunately Claude Monet's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Waterlilies</span> is the only waterlily painting owned by the Portland Art Museum. So to see a series of them in person, you'll have to travel to New York and visit the Museum of Modern Art and see all three of theirs. Or you can do a search on Google.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJ9hbp1MW-2rhHlpN0Nijh6amozUbiocHqGpkV_8KrNabN1uUMnXNUN0-85EUVEqHGSmaAywHYmE9OKlhSgLFmpuULRRLSI77rM8WRREfxz4o_wKSoqP9Sv7DRfderAqhmUfnk15RfapF/s1600-h/DSC_0021.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJ9hbp1MW-2rhHlpN0Nijh6amozUbiocHqGpkV_8KrNabN1uUMnXNUN0-85EUVEqHGSmaAywHYmE9OKlhSgLFmpuULRRLSI77rM8WRREfxz4o_wKSoqP9Sv7DRfderAqhmUfnk15RfapF/s320/DSC_0021.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421025946899232898" /></a>Voice from the Couch sat down with Monet and Modernism last night and had this to say...<br />"Hmmm... Warhol was born in 1928 and died in 1987.<br />You have to include this portrait. Those eyes in the negative will stay with you all next year."LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-16930976218633861162009-12-28T17:18:00.000-08:002009-12-28T22:04:27.599-08:00Claude Monet ~ Waterlilies and Ellsworth Kelly, Tableau Vert<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWywOcVBRCik_XL1DTDs-yZDrH4kf7n3_3OsZWgDdOxdIbFJKnXTP7rKPAc8NCC3LVn9WxpCEN-BteyiCoDT-r95JZZ0_iJiX8hVG6X8GE3CdWZmP2HWnrCJWYo5nuDgeRk6nF6_bDgLL_/s1600-h/kelly-resized.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWywOcVBRCik_XL1DTDs-yZDrH4kf7n3_3OsZWgDdOxdIbFJKnXTP7rKPAc8NCC3LVn9WxpCEN-BteyiCoDT-r95JZZ0_iJiX8hVG6X8GE3CdWZmP2HWnrCJWYo5nuDgeRk6nF6_bDgLL_/s400/kelly-resized.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420461773279014402" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifrVQwfhqRL2L53HkZEE3N0rbv-JwelQ4tQnpADnkMNTFE6vGAcOalu848D6uZh6wVH_3LVQlDosGDcwOQlmewEU9yyZ7U0rxqJ0NMJf___glffJYfLcvLEiOysnEnvmylRqqmYYuG1ay-/s1600-h/TL1951-Kelly.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 106px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifrVQwfhqRL2L53HkZEE3N0rbv-JwelQ4tQnpADnkMNTFE6vGAcOalu848D6uZh6wVH_3LVQlDosGDcwOQlmewEU9yyZ7U0rxqJ0NMJf___glffJYfLcvLEiOysnEnvmylRqqmYYuG1ay-/s400/TL1951-Kelly.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420499103675434450" /></a>This Ellsworth Kelly painting, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tableau Vert</span>, is the first one he painted after he returned from his trip to Giverny to see Claude Monet's home. That was back in August of 1952. Kelly had just discovered that Monet had painted work after the infamous Haystack series. When Kelly arrived at Giverny, he saw a different Giverny than we see today or when Monet was still alive. After Monet's death in 1926, his house and gardens had not been kept up and had fallen into a state of disrepair. At the time Monet's stepson, Pierre Hoschede took Kelly to the studio to see the paintings that had been completed after 1900, Kelly walked into a building where pigeons were flying around. Those birds had entered through broken panes of glass. Leaves were strewn on the floor probably similar to the peanut shells at certain bars. However, the room was filled with paintings of waterlilies - about fifteen of them were over twenty feet long. Kelly describes them as "overall compositions of thickly applied oil paint representing water with lilies, no skyline. I felt that these works were impersonal statements. ... Monet's last paintings had a great influence on me, and even though my work doesn't look like his, I feel I want the spirit to be the same."<br /><br />Ellsworth Kelly recently gave <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tableau Vert</span> to the Art Institute of Chicago in 2009. In an interview he talks of how he created it "by mixing blues and greens to echo the colors of grass underwater". Unhappy with the result when he finished it, he had set it aside until 1985. At that time he had this to say “I liked it, but perhaps that was because time had passed." Now that <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tableau Vert</span> hangs at the AIC it presents new challenges that would probably interest Monet. Like most paintings it changes colors depending upon the light that it is seen under.<br /><br />Photographer Robert Hashimoto, has worked for the AIC for more than 25 years, and says that <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tableau Vert</span> has been the work that has been most difficult to shoot. Although the name of the painting translates as "green picture" it is a mottled blue-green. Hashimoto felt that to him the painting seemed almost blue when he had it in the studio. Here is how the resolution of that issue went down.<br /><blockquote>The photo proofs were made on an ink jet printer and compared with the painting in the galleries. Digital prints “metamerize” in mixed daylight and tungsten light, making the colors look strange under different wavelengths. The warm, yellow Tungsten light used in the galleries makes the painting look greener than it does in the color-balanced light of a photography studio. “Perception of color is so subjective,” Robert says, “everyone sees color differently.” After cataract surgery, Robert now sees far more intense colors than he’d seen before – particularly in the blue end of the spectrum. “That’s when I call someone in to give me a second opinion,” he says. </blockquote>Monet, having had his own issues with both cataracts and myopia, certainly would have taken great interest in how the issue of light unfolded in this scenario.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3GXzr0zVX0UzaMFL1bNrERqOKm8fsk1fxAis0PQ7liticTgI7NEALySX9s4KmoPyO-61oroU5DZCovZmQkQmH1FU5XmrWGjODd0S4z4lDwTJYDTqa5tVkTPqluRsxsiITIMLhzlQbYFV/s1600-h/monet27.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3GXzr0zVX0UzaMFL1bNrERqOKm8fsk1fxAis0PQ7liticTgI7NEALySX9s4KmoPyO-61oroU5DZCovZmQkQmH1FU5XmrWGjODd0S4z4lDwTJYDTqa5tVkTPqluRsxsiITIMLhzlQbYFV/s200/monet27.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420500102054010418" /></a>If you want to see <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tableau Vert</span> in person, you'll have to travel to Chicago and visit Gallery 297 in the new Modern Wing of the AIC. Of course, Monet's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Waterlilies</span> is a bit more accessible for those of us who live here in Portland. We just need to go to the second floor of the CMCA at the Portland Art Museum.<br /><br />Voice from the Couch reminded me to tell you that the photo of Ellsworth Kelly in this post is of Kelly while he was painting <span style="font-weight:bold;">Tableau Vert </span><span>in 1952.</span>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-41432179446147735002009-12-27T20:17:00.000-08:002009-12-27T21:14:20.102-08:00Claude Monet ~ Waterlilies and Irises, Favorite Flower?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xQkFZz00RzU1TS8-ZX84UCwT3q2R3ukh-WX5mJNzPEZQ3WhaxJmW2DJztBXFplI7kfdpyNa_UA2kldREaTGiXgkqrmCQ9mMS9WDybSvoRfzkyV8-X8p08MKSqGBkBSZNqu8VGcfedV6a/s1600-h/monet27.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 530px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xQkFZz00RzU1TS8-ZX84UCwT3q2R3ukh-WX5mJNzPEZQ3WhaxJmW2DJztBXFplI7kfdpyNa_UA2kldREaTGiXgkqrmCQ9mMS9WDybSvoRfzkyV8-X8p08MKSqGBkBSZNqu8VGcfedV6a/s400/monet27.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418804540633646274" /></a><br /> Ah, two days after Christmas and it's Monet time here at Fifty Two Pieces. The piece of the week is Monet's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Waterlilies</span>. Meandering around the internet I find multiple references to Monet's favorite flower. Now most of us might think it was a waterlily. After all, that was what he painted for so many years. But some would have it that the iris was his favorite flower. The iris isn't paramount in most people's minds or museums, but there are some images on the internet. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6St1IKib-HHHZj740YyRASQvkGf_Gi5cY7h9Mx-ARbPZkaFCqyNfseRtHp0JhgnsFQBnRKHBy66cmK0-wv-I7nfw2SiDVsyxdoDxeVy7de-SIAYPm5vICW1QsCRYsllgrw6NgSJB1kadX/s1600-h/11111+Monet+Irises.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6St1IKib-HHHZj740YyRASQvkGf_Gi5cY7h9Mx-ARbPZkaFCqyNfseRtHp0JhgnsFQBnRKHBy66cmK0-wv-I7nfw2SiDVsyxdoDxeVy7de-SIAYPm5vICW1QsCRYsllgrw6NgSJB1kadX/s800/11111+Monet+Irises.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420143843559446866" /></a><br /><br />And Voice from the Couch weighed in with this ... "Lilies, I don't remember any lilies at Giverney except those fields of them heading towards the Mediterranean".LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-30616033643082766782009-12-26T22:14:00.000-08:002009-12-27T05:54:54.737-08:00Claude Monet ~ Waterlilies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoTpDfLF8U4cN1xuqk1h_Qh_Qyxf9KarHGMBPrXAEHQ6P5QfQUVFpk080mSALtCu40ZVB_2BDZy_zNh_vzNhJo7HW1qeOSGVcq8v5Hx-I9oxjkU6xXqumTuQ857GsmUeIqvMRtXcXxlS-r/s1600-h/monet27.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 531px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoTpDfLF8U4cN1xuqk1h_Qh_Qyxf9KarHGMBPrXAEHQ6P5QfQUVFpk080mSALtCu40ZVB_2BDZy_zNh_vzNhJo7HW1qeOSGVcq8v5Hx-I9oxjkU6xXqumTuQ857GsmUeIqvMRtXcXxlS-r/s400/monet27.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419798658118072274" /></a><br />Much has been written of Claude Monet's failing eyesight and how it would have affected paintings such as the Portland Art Museum's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Waterlilies</span> painted during the period 1914-1915. As early as 1905 Monet no longer saw colors with the same intensity as he had done before. Time marched on and his perception of color continued to deteriorate. In 1912 he was diagnosed with nuclear cataracts in both eyes by a Parisian ophthalmologist. Although he finally consented to an operation on his right eye in 1923 he spent many years seeking other solutions all the while refusing surgery. He was aware of the poor results on others including Mary Cassatt. Lisel Mueller presents another view of Monet's perception of color and image.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Monet Refuses the Operation</span><br /><br />BY LISEL MUELLER<br /><br />Doctor, you say there are no haloes<br />around the streetlights in Paris<br />and what I see is an aberration<br />caused by old age, an affliction.<br />I tell you it has taken me all my life<br />to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels,<br />to soften and blur and finally banish<br />the edges you regret I don’t see,<br />to learn that the line I called the horizon<br />does not exist and sky and water,<br />so long apart, are the same state of being.<br />Fifty-four years before I could see<br />Rouen cathedral is built<br />of parallel shafts of sun,<br />and now you want to restore<br />my youthful errors: fixed<br />notions of top and bottom,<br />the illusion of three-dimensional space,<br />wisteria separate<br />from the bridge it covers.<br />What can I say to convince you<br />the Houses of Parliament dissolve<br />night after night to become<br />the fluid dream of the Thames?<br />I will not return to a universe<br />of objects that don’t know each other,<br />as if islands were not the lost children<br />of one great continent. The world<br />is flux, and light becomes what it touches,<br />becomes water, lilies on water,<br />above and below water,<br />becomes lilac and mauve and yellow<br />and white and cerulean lamps,<br />small fists passing sunlight<br />so quickly to one another<br />that it would take long, streaming hair<br />inside my brush to catch it.<br />To paint the speed of light!<br />Our weighted shapes, these verticals,<br />burn to mix with air<br />and changes our bones, skin, clothes<br />to gases. Doctor,<br />if only you could see<br />how heaven pulls earth into its arms<br />and how infinitely the heart expands<br />to claim this world, blue vapor without end.LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-68791286706284530512009-12-25T16:36:00.000-08:002009-12-25T17:19:18.969-08:00Monet on Christmas Day<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGAjcJtflRuL0GT8A9J0N-t3BNTFIYAuYXV5jubgOszo_qRRQiELFTeJMefOpRKMOKTgu9L6TeI3IfAXaG2SEkxvX0bAsi0Pg-OaO5C4NSiWy1dnW7pfY_CL8vAzoB01gSZVCs-pi9fM7/s1600-h/monet27.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 531px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGAjcJtflRuL0GT8A9J0N-t3BNTFIYAuYXV5jubgOszo_qRRQiELFTeJMefOpRKMOKTgu9L6TeI3IfAXaG2SEkxvX0bAsi0Pg-OaO5C4NSiWy1dnW7pfY_CL8vAzoB01gSZVCs-pi9fM7/s400/monet27.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419342665833410914" /></a><br />Monet has been in my thoughts today. Primarily about light. Light from my window here in Astoria. Start with the light from the stars at 2 am. Then the moon descending across the sky until it sets and the stars became even brighter. The overall brightness of the sky increased with the sunrise and the glow of pink on the clouds. Then the sun reflected from the water and now the pink of the sunset. It's been almost the full cycle. During all of those changes I thought of Monet and his various series – the haystacks, the cathedrals, the waterlilies. I'm most grateful that the Portland Art Museum has one of Monet's Waterlilies.<br /><br />And for me this particular painting is one of the best. <b>Waterlilies</b> has a level of abstraction that attracts me. And yet I know without looking at the title that the subject is waterlilies. How much better can that be? The color is vibrant. Some say that was because Monet's eyesight was deteriorating from cataracts and that intense hues would have appealed to him. Even without cataracts they appeal to me. Look at it closely and you can start to see fish swimming in the water. Those little circles are most definitely from fish. Ask any person who fishes and they'll tell you. Like all of the pieces of art featured here in the last year, to truly appreciate the wonders of this painting, you'll need to see it in person.<br /><br />Since I'm not near the museum, on this Christmas Day my present to myself was watching the light reflected from the Columbia River here in Astoria, Oregon. Different light and different water than Monet's but light and water nonetheless.<br /><br />Voice from the Couch: Nice choice of river photos. I like the verticals of the piers with the verticals from the <span style="font-weight:bold;">Waterlilies</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULYWhnv4JazORjJabwxHL3KVmIuMKIzEtvzSRh0hyUldvhVzVPG_BT0Zhyphenhyphen4tH7ua6XN84QuIvr1C09Zv0iksPHg2SWIufZOgkMvV4s7JC7WXx891QGGS7zePZORl4omXtC8S1hW0YMhFF/s1600-h/DSC_0132.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 532px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULYWhnv4JazORjJabwxHL3KVmIuMKIzEtvzSRh0hyUldvhVzVPG_BT0Zhyphenhyphen4tH7ua6XN84QuIvr1C09Zv0iksPHg2SWIufZOgkMvV4s7JC7WXx891QGGS7zePZORl4omXtC8S1hW0YMhFF/s400/DSC_0132.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419343193797407730" /></a>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-2380503894181893482009-12-24T05:56:00.000-08:002009-12-24T06:22:01.881-08:00Claude Monet ~ Waterlilies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xQkFZz00RzU1TS8-ZX84UCwT3q2R3ukh-WX5mJNzPEZQ3WhaxJmW2DJztBXFplI7kfdpyNa_UA2kldREaTGiXgkqrmCQ9mMS9WDybSvoRfzkyV8-X8p08MKSqGBkBSZNqu8VGcfedV6a/s1600-h/monet27.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 530px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xQkFZz00RzU1TS8-ZX84UCwT3q2R3ukh-WX5mJNzPEZQ3WhaxJmW2DJztBXFplI7kfdpyNa_UA2kldREaTGiXgkqrmCQ9mMS9WDybSvoRfzkyV8-X8p08MKSqGBkBSZNqu8VGcfedV6a/s400/monet27.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418804540633646274" /></a><br />Dateline: December 24, 2009<br />Today marks the first day of the last full week of Fifty Two Pieces. It's been a great year and we'll have a recap on December 31. For now though we'll move along with our piece of the week,<span style="font-weight:bold;"> Waterlilies</span> by Claude Monet. Some say it's the anchor of the first floor of the CMCA at the Portland Art Museum. It certainly commands your attention as you come up the stairs. Although it's neither signed nor dated, scholars have placed it as having been created sometime between 1914-1915.<div><br />Voice from the Couch and I are headed to Astoria and will be there through Christmas. Since Voice helped select this week's piece ("why don't you do the Monet?" were the exact words), I'm certain he'll have a few pithy comments and more suggestions during the week.</div>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-24376715703029957282009-12-23T05:39:00.000-08:002009-12-23T16:15:55.473-08:00Dan Flavin ~ (to Donna) II Background Information<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjSaxshQabv5UppGVtFqDrjWmsUvYUetLSRhbnVe0jNWZjbhaCeFUk-zVo9ZL3O0e_L2rTj2e2znB2FBEftSmx7iMx8HAf2uogoarEmEpRUywRZKvyYugr8wlYRMgxXoQoCgv1Z3Z_23n/s1600-h/flavin2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 318px; height: 348px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjSaxshQabv5UppGVtFqDrjWmsUvYUetLSRhbnVe0jNWZjbhaCeFUk-zVo9ZL3O0e_L2rTj2e2znB2FBEftSmx7iMx8HAf2uogoarEmEpRUywRZKvyYugr8wlYRMgxXoQoCgv1Z3Z_23n/s400/flavin2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418427977469093810" /></a><br />Take a close look at the image of <span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) II 1971</span> and then look at the original image used here at Fifty Two Pieces on <a href="http://fiftytwopieces.blogspot.com/2009/12/dan-flavin-untitled-to-donna-ii-1971.html">December 17, 2009</a>. Notice anything different? Voice from the Couch is always up for these sorts of questions and his response was the image is flipped. Yes, indeedy, that is a true statement. As the image exists out there on the internet, the blue bulb is on the left, pink on the right. Truth in blogging, I must tell you that as exhibited at the Portland Art Museum the blue tube on <span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) II 1971</span> is on the right, pink on the left, yellows on the bottom. Images seem to get reversed as you can see in the Flickr photos below. Some show the blue on the right and others blue on the left.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XPPbZ0mxj4km8Nxwy7vO5QWeT5WKByRCGKq3CsIgFCAjKZ-kJ9hMZMSet-SCV4ThDwR9ECt7_6DVQIXuAFbdTJ4f4e0mrrvTOAz3neUkZ-yAUm4gOkDOjZEAQO-Wn_SPGMDPloiyNhh8/s1600-h/Flavin+Flickr.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 339px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XPPbZ0mxj4km8Nxwy7vO5QWeT5WKByRCGKq3CsIgFCAjKZ-kJ9hMZMSet-SCV4ThDwR9ECt7_6DVQIXuAFbdTJ4f4e0mrrvTOAz3neUkZ-yAUm4gOkDOjZEAQO-Wn_SPGMDPloiyNhh8/s400/Flavin+Flickr.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418432061045167106" /></a><br />Being intrigued by whether the blue should be on the right or on the left, I did some further sleuthing and found this image in "Portland Art Museum - Project for the Millenium". Voice from the Couch is kindly assisting in bringing you this image.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylTqLFBpsvXhE2F_egctKal8BdMyEwFfb_-C5pq4_uqL1vYcspMhjjIDe04dlq0GtOijPyx0-CMSx1iQRYihVCMfv2xtziuojAPaQbOr3zzwYcJi0-6FAallnT2MAD2BoMFpuMXjRdDOH/s1600-h/DSC_0003_2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 393px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhylTqLFBpsvXhE2F_egctKal8BdMyEwFfb_-C5pq4_uqL1vYcspMhjjIDe04dlq0GtOijPyx0-CMSx1iQRYihVCMfv2xtziuojAPaQbOr3zzwYcJi0-6FAallnT2MAD2BoMFpuMXjRdDOH/s400/DSC_0003_2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418437413463440466" /></a><br />Not completely satisfied and knowing that Flavin made copious notes for each of his pieces, I did some further investigating into <span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) II 1971</span>. Flavin did dedicate his works to people – artists he admired such as Constantin Brancusi and Vladimir Tatlin, artists who were his friends like Donald Judd. It's unclear though who Donna was. What is clear is how <span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) II 1971</span> should be set up. "How do you know that?" Voice from the Couch asked. Michael Govan's book "Dan Flavin: The Complete Lights" lists all of the 'untitled (to Donna)'s'. It turns out there are five editions of this work, each a bit different than the other. To complicate matters editions 4 and 5 have what I'll call a companion edition 4a and 5a. <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=14H6gpbn4SMC&dq=michael+govan+Dan+Flavin+complete+lights&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=ArelYzL1AT&sig=jXc47C6zdt4xMDpWiE7e-y_1mho&hl=en&ei=hzUyS-WvMZLKNYj1xIsJ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=to%20donna%20&f=false">Click here</a> to see the Google Book Result showing the colored layouts of the editions. Here's a written summary including the number fabricated:<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) 1 1971</span> four bulbs (yellow on right, pink on left, two blues on bottom<br />Fabricated - 1<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) 2 1971</span> four bulbs (blue on right, pink on left, two yellows on bottom<br />Fabricated - 2<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) 3 1971</span> four bulbs (blue on right, yellow on left, two pinks on bottom<br />Fabricated - 1<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) 4 1971</span> four bulbs (blue on right, yellow on left, one pink on top, one pink on bottom<br />Fabricated - 1<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) 4a 1971</span> four bulbs (yellow on right, blue on left, one pink on top, one pink on bottom<br />Fabricated - 0<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) 5 1971</span> four bulbs (blue on right, pink on left, one yellow on top, one yellow on bottom<br />Fabricated - 4<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) 5a 1971</span> four bulbs (pink on right, blue on left, one yellow on top, one yellow on bottom<br />Fabricated - 4<br />The question still remains in my mind why the signage in the museum shows a Roman numeral and every place else lists an Arabic one. Does it matter or not? Some might say yes, since Flavin was such a stickler for documentation.LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-59883278681551487152009-12-22T07:08:00.000-08:002009-12-22T21:37:19.229-08:00Dan Flavin ~ (to Donna) II, His Light and Others<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZoBR_fHjmMTVnEI9bg2RMXuTsN-jyFXEnk5bQmxGQfWBWBZop-LvCG6tl-9aTn-wlMuxunRFBx4RRLMu0MCfBKRqWu6Md_ZvQatCXI8u2g41APTXDAHxNy130l73H-CkfmhfOU9N0f-V/s1600-h/Portrait+of+Dan+Flavin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 377px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZoBR_fHjmMTVnEI9bg2RMXuTsN-jyFXEnk5bQmxGQfWBWBZop-LvCG6tl-9aTn-wlMuxunRFBx4RRLMu0MCfBKRqWu6Md_ZvQatCXI8u2g41APTXDAHxNy130l73H-CkfmhfOU9N0f-V/s400/Portrait+of+Dan+Flavin.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418078061397606402" /></a><br />Dan Flavin's week here at Fifty Two Pieces is almost over and we haven't included a single portrait of this artist who had studied to be a priest, served in the Air Force during the Korean War, worked as a guard at various New York museums, changed how we looked at florescent lights, married his second wife in the rotunda of the Guggenheim and ultimately died of complications from diabetes. To make up for that, here is <span style="font-weight:bold;">Portrait of Flavin in Kornblee Gallery</span>. It was taken by Arnold Newman in 1967 for <span style="font-style:italic;">Look Magazine.</span> Those jagged edges make it a unique image, one that is not easily forgotten - much like experiencing a roomful of his work. The caption for this portrait says it all.<br /><blockquote><br />Flavin's 'proposals' usually take possession of an entire room, making it part of, rather than a container for, the effect. To simulate this, fold the four walls in the photograph up.</blockquote><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu43WbpwyClmbJBwy8ZC5XNQuD6cTbCfZnMljp6_B9k10Ebaxh65MvS94zUVmoGFqj2VccLId4Gfk4qw0vrsggMcQwqT3KtQWP9BSKa1xx49KRufpkUnIKU8uTA1Lt57lAF3l28x1VsvgN/s1600-h/flavin1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 183px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu43WbpwyClmbJBwy8ZC5XNQuD6cTbCfZnMljp6_B9k10Ebaxh65MvS94zUVmoGFqj2VccLId4Gfk4qw0vrsggMcQwqT3KtQWP9BSKa1xx49KRufpkUnIKU8uTA1Lt57lAF3l28x1VsvgN/s200/flavin1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418108212993474178" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) II 1971</span> or as it is sometimes listed <span style="font-weight:bold;">untitled (to Donna) 2 1971</span> is situated on the second floor of the CMCA at the Portland Art Museum. It does become part of the corner where it's installed. The other day the blue tube wasn't on and the entire effect was different. There was no mixing of the palette and the wall seemed so sterile by comparison to its normal colorful glow. Flavin's work in florescent tubes changed the public's view of this standard industrial light. There is other art at the museum that uses light, not florescent, but in the case of Joseph Kosuth, neon.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCVghJqPVLPtXwh845osD_fS_aN4DT4iBYuXdPBi6nrHgc7uUjBkIjLXXLMFTHcH0nKSnL5voH3DavyEp7nb3JaUxHwGkkNocx_YWUyTwxyRNATJbnOIHxMUk0WJbQ0OGg-HTtCcdXhPS/s1600-h/tumblr_ktcjkezCv41qzyrwvo1_500.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCVghJqPVLPtXwh845osD_fS_aN4DT4iBYuXdPBi6nrHgc7uUjBkIjLXXLMFTHcH0nKSnL5voH3DavyEp7nb3JaUxHwGkkNocx_YWUyTwxyRNATJbnOIHxMUk0WJbQ0OGg-HTtCcdXhPS/s400/tumblr_ktcjkezCv41qzyrwvo1_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418104152482604898" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Five Words in Orange Neon</span> is also part of the collection at the Portland Art Museum. To quote Flavin, Kosuth's work is what it is... five words in orange neon. Compared with Flavin's florescents though it's a different type of light, a different artistic approach. And one that enchanted Emma Paget. After her grandmother took her to the Portland Art Museum, little Emma sent a thank you note and included her version of Kosuth's sculpture.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3-Hd6l9MWhLlrBq7AaWHnP_Rd9A7iJjsQIzDH9qBH3-hGDmZhwr2nFCHMefHkvd5xp5FELrcIgGJGjN0A6Wz95SufCYIdDHU6Qbe1PGZ8pVxwJExjEXx8F1C5RB4RLD7BQ0FqVQ21lJ9Y/s1600-h/scan0001.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3-Hd6l9MWhLlrBq7AaWHnP_Rd9A7iJjsQIzDH9qBH3-hGDmZhwr2nFCHMefHkvd5xp5FELrcIgGJGjN0A6Wz95SufCYIdDHU6Qbe1PGZ8pVxwJExjEXx8F1C5RB4RLD7BQ0FqVQ21lJ9Y/s200/scan0001.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418176141614381490" /></a><br />Kosuth's orange neon has entranced young and old alike. A quick look at Flickr with Portland Art and neon as tags and you'll see any number of images of his work at PAM.<br />From a different museum and a different artist comes another view of light. Olafur Eliasson's take on light and our perceptions of light can currently be seen in Kanazawa, Japan. Just keep clicking on the page after you initially go to his website (<a href="http://www.olafureliasson.net/">click here</a>) and you'll be able to view a portion of the exhibition. In 2008, I was able to experience Eliasson's exhibition entitled "Take Your Time" at MoMA. The museum's site has quite a few videos and other information about this artist's work with all of our senses, including sight and how light affects our perception of the world around us. The direct link for Eliasson at MoMA is <a href="http://media.moma.org/subsites/2008/olafureliasson/#/intro/">here.</a> Youtube has a portion of some of the MoMA videos. Watch them and you can hear Eliasson talk about his work and see some of his installations.<br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lc3MHdaWt2I&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lc3MHdaWt2I&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-74716318250770279482009-12-21T13:14:00.000-08:002009-12-21T20:03:48.183-08:00Dan Flavin's Light in Tadao Ando's VesselIn an interview in December of 2007 Steve Morse told Matthias Waschek that as curator of the Flavin retrospective at the Pulitzer, in the world renowned architect Tadao Ando's building, he was not creating Flavin's work but rather acting as translator who spoke Flavin's language.<br />What a wonderful description of a curator's role in the process, and what a great first question for an interview.<br />I'm sure we all have our opinions about what makes this work. Does the light make the work? Does the curator make the work? Does the artist make the work? This is like owning an idea, does anyone really own an idea? Flavin's work feels like ideas. They feel open and free, like they don't belong to anyone. Flavin's retrospective required curators to apply his light to another artists' light, Tadao Ando. This was a thoughtful pairing, I'm sure, because these are two connoiseurs.<br />I had the opportunity to visit Ando's new building at the Clark Art Institute earlier this year and was blown away. The light of an Ando building is so present, so much a part of the space, it felt heavenly in its simplicity. To add to one of his buildings dozens of Flavin light sculptures must have been just phenomenal. Phenomenal for Flavin fans, but what about Ando?<br />Flavin's florescent surely cast a glare on Ando's use of natural light and ability to capture it so seductively. Could one still feel what the sun and shadows were doing to those walls during the Flavin exhibition? Whether a museum is a sculpture or not, it is there to house objects, and I'm sure Ando was proud to see his creation full of Flavins'. But Ando's buildings are sublime and complete, so if I were only to see this one once I don't know that I would want to see it full of Flavins. Then again, who else could make an Ando glow so brightly?<br />To see more about the exhibition check out this amazing <a href="http://flavin.pulitzerarts.org/#/home/">web catalogue</a>.LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-8570214862855410342009-12-20T15:02:00.000-08:002009-12-20T20:30:13.310-08:00Dan Flavin ~ Untitled (To Donna) 2, 1971<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcMndVlrO4AGUavQFU1kPBwy2WNNjjFXM9iqzCVmbiPrx7CEaEYm08bsjg3uPWrPS6lOZvyjXWQtia3JDexkXNybHbC9HduYYVWxXIjxMg7n8YfQ3zkJhnEcFLhn8Qkasli4p_rqSNB2u/s1600-h/flavin1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 317px; height: 346px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcMndVlrO4AGUavQFU1kPBwy2WNNjjFXM9iqzCVmbiPrx7CEaEYm08bsjg3uPWrPS6lOZvyjXWQtia3JDexkXNybHbC9HduYYVWxXIjxMg7n8YfQ3zkJhnEcFLhn8Qkasli4p_rqSNB2u/s400/flavin1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417540511885198562" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60ID9NMg1WduIUH7rS8UXueVkGIAiD9ZSeUXaUGvc5HkFXiP6oW3a2CjP2cy90totGiNVeVagWxoXxOPLHub__r6ebK-ihlkm1QwaBVd7UKyTrwVwBOJF1d5l2wWjDfT2A_ckQYbQZgH2/s1600-h/poem.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 81px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi60ID9NMg1WduIUH7rS8UXueVkGIAiD9ZSeUXaUGvc5HkFXiP6oW3a2CjP2cy90totGiNVeVagWxoXxOPLHub__r6ebK-ihlkm1QwaBVd7UKyTrwVwBOJF1d5l2wWjDfT2A_ckQYbQZgH2/s400/poem.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417463669635046194" /></a>Earlier today I had plans for writing about many things Flavin. Life intervened. I did experience light though. And light is what was important to Dan Flavin. The light for me today was Northwest light, gray overcast between rainstorms. Amy Gray and I (the two conspirators here at Fifty Two Pieces) took a hike. Of course it wasn't the conventional hike in Forest Park. We did one of the trails that bisected Wildwood, which runs more than 26 miles, and went past an encampment of who knows what gnomes. This particular trail is definitely off the beaten path and one that you should probably not do alone even if you're a guy. Hold still long enough and you can hear the whistling from Deliverance. Be that as it may, the trail itself was beautiful -- untouched and unspoiled by the multitudes. The green of the moss was Flavin Green, intense and holy. Being the former altar boy and seminary student, Flavin read and wrote poetry. Here is some poetry that he wrote in 1961 a few years before his first all florescent piece posted yesterday.<br />There were a number of <b>to Donnas</b> like the one here at the Portland Art Museum and their tubes were arranged differently. That's a discussion for another time and place, perhaps here on Fifty Two Pieces, but not tonight.LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-67581284888214233652009-12-19T07:46:00.000-08:002009-12-30T08:29:08.821-08:00Dan Flavin ~ (to Donna) II and Diagonal of Personal Ecstasy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg4mlbX0clIQJr0hyphenhyphenVQvHL2PuRbGayv-PJni_oTzePjXqWL7Rk1kv2qY5livACFV0reV0clxeLG9iPv1EeVYT561o-KA-dwt1xEddpANH1L3A-h-8cEgqnNnpVr4ZdfVyIX0yV8pUdUHIX/s1600-h/Flavin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 386px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg4mlbX0clIQJr0hyphenhyphenVQvHL2PuRbGayv-PJni_oTzePjXqWL7Rk1kv2qY5livACFV0reV0clxeLG9iPv1EeVYT561o-KA-dwt1xEddpANH1L3A-h-8cEgqnNnpVr4ZdfVyIX0yV8pUdUHIX/s400/Flavin.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416980335021404722" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3TR2peY3DtFeNXqGaVgV_1CuLTLoCWuqpzJNYZJ44R7FSXaE6Q5d9ABjWSoyrDX2SxWdh8A-FtULBvPTtMiEizDb2jnE6e6tDFgln1tZNMi28hSFrVuxWsiMhFCIvJTqcESsg-RLujG7p/s1600-h/flavin1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 91px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3TR2peY3DtFeNXqGaVgV_1CuLTLoCWuqpzJNYZJ44R7FSXaE6Q5d9ABjWSoyrDX2SxWdh8A-FtULBvPTtMiEizDb2jnE6e6tDFgln1tZNMi28hSFrVuxWsiMhFCIvJTqcESsg-RLujG7p/s200/flavin1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416999016455667282" /></a>It's all about the light – that could be the subtitle of this post. With Dan Flavin (whether it's the Portland Art Museum's <b>Unititled (to Donna) II</b> or this image of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Diagonal of Personal Ecstasy (the Diagonal of May 25, 1963)</span> or any of his other more than 750 light sculptures), it's all about the light. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Diagonal of Personal Ecstasy (the Diagonal of May 25, 1963)</span> goes by many names. Sometimes it's listed as <span style="font-weight:bold;">the Diagonal of May 25, 1963 </span>and sometimes as <span style="font-weight:bold;">the Diagonal of May 25, 1963 (to Constantin Brancusi)</span>. By whichever name it's listed, this single flourescent tube is the first piece of sculpture Flavin created with just florescent lighting. Prior to that he had been combining both florescent and incandescent lighting in his works.<br /><br />In 1964, Dan Flavin had this to say about this work and his use of light in general.<br /><blockquote>"The 'diagonal' in its overt simplicity was only the installation of a distended or luminous line of a standard industrial device. Little artistic craft could be possible." 'Craft', in its strict, traditional definition may be absent from Flavin's oeuvre, but creativity, vision, and intellect remain commanding forces, The 'diagonal' of which the artist speaks is one his seminal works, 'the diagonal of May 25, 1963 (to Constantin Brancusci)' (1963). It presents nothing more than an eight foot long yellow - or "gold" - fluorescent light. This sparing composition was the result of a searching artistic exploration: the hunt for a format which "with obvious electric light ... could become my standard yet variable emblem—the 'icon'"</blockquote>.<br />Hear Flavin give an abbreviated version of his artistic statement in this very brief video...<br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/07w56KjAhJc&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/07w56KjAhJc&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br />And as a continuation of this week's string of videos here's another from David Zwirner, NYC (Nov 2009). Thanks to Youtube we can all enjoy room after room of Flavin light.<br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PCdNNiZB1aU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PCdNNiZB1aU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-15564811517110076512009-12-18T10:14:00.000-08:002009-12-19T09:26:06.028-08:00Dan Flavin in the CornerI cannot believe it is week 51 already. One week left. We've almost made it for an entire year- here is a good dance to represent how that makes me feel:<br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6aYxcpgbhDg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6aYxcpgbhDg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br />But if you want a little more serious Flavin education, watch this:<br /><object width="320" height="265"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XJTPaIorjoM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XJTPaIorjoM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" height="265"></embed></object><br />And how does this make me feel?<br />Makes me feel like my New Year's Resolution for 2010, to give away at least one thing every day, is a good one. Why? Because my husband says if I give away 365 things I won't have anything left. <br />Flavin says, you go girl.LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-91743826510405411652009-12-17T17:46:00.000-08:002009-12-17T19:20:31.698-08:00Dan Flavin ~ Untitled (To Donna) II 1971<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2K07qpvyWZAd58g6n6T7MmIuFhFeHUP_SedUaydCHkuQfQH0qh_FIxGC8AAeg8K7QzAF5pBG8GUMTlbzZx2zifcDdPTBYRXL-aF7ypZz0avNTcoi860GidFn1xDSTDbMj2iMAMMHPj33w/s1600-h/flavin1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 317px; height: 346px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2K07qpvyWZAd58g6n6T7MmIuFhFeHUP_SedUaydCHkuQfQH0qh_FIxGC8AAeg8K7QzAF5pBG8GUMTlbzZx2zifcDdPTBYRXL-aF7ypZz0avNTcoi860GidFn1xDSTDbMj2iMAMMHPj33w/s400/flavin1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416390301457163554" /></a><br />Dan Flavin was my choice for this week at Fifty Two Pieces. I've always been intrigued by what Flavin could do with a palette restricted to the colors from florescent bulbs. In this case, pink, blue and yellow tell the story. While you're looking at this sculpture, remember what Kenneth Noland the famous color field painter said about his paintings.<br /><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I think of painting without subject matter as music without words.</span></span></blockquote><br />Enjoy the music, I'm off to an holiday event!!!<br />Flavin's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Untitled (To Donna) II 1971</span> can be seen on the second floor of the CMCA at the Portland Art Museum.LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296846184692454351.post-54641284456049043272009-12-16T20:11:00.000-08:002009-12-16T20:26:16.606-08:00Albert Bierstadt ~ Mount Hood and Randy Gragg<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBKb9nSt0m3L4aC5_M2frp8JqlNCB_VztjRTeRjAKRHK0EM1K2HxVuQ_NpkbtUJzHfU1p7pUXlegYt-mNMTpWUlc8luYjMecFxC7UU-F-ncFsw2jg5DVR-dTsTHZf796Cs215ZPAXBrHO/s1600-h/Bierstadt-MountHood.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 800px; height: 480px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBKb9nSt0m3L4aC5_M2frp8JqlNCB_VztjRTeRjAKRHK0EM1K2HxVuQ_NpkbtUJzHfU1p7pUXlegYt-mNMTpWUlc8luYjMecFxC7UU-F-ncFsw2jg5DVR-dTsTHZf796Cs215ZPAXBrHO/s400/Bierstadt-MountHood.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416055302234390194" /></a><br />This December seems to be the month for Albert Bierstadt's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mount Hood</span> (located on the second floor of the Portland Art Museum in the American Galleries). It's not only been the focus of this week's edition of Fifty Two Pieces and Arcy Douglass' Artist Talk at the Portland Art Museum on December 10 but also central to Randy Gragg's <a href="http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/issues/archives/articles/editors-note-1209/">post on the Portland Monthly website</a>. I'm including the last part of that post to end this week. I don't think anyone expresses the positives of Bierstadt's <span style="font-weight:bold;">Mt. Hood</span> and its importance to Portland better than Mr. Gragg.<br /><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#006600;">Given Portland’s location 80 miles inland, the Columbia River our only connection to the larger world, it’s not surprising that the most dominant feature of the landscape—Mount Hood—became the city’s focus: we the congregation, the volcano the altar.<br /><br />Maybe painter Albert Bierstadt sensed Portland’s possibilities when he painted Hood in 1869. One of the mid-19th century’s most famous and flamboyant artists, Bierstadt took home world-record sums for his paintings and even charged admission to his shows. Though he never made an accurate painting in his life, preferring instead to collage together bits and pieces of the best landscapes he saw on journeys across the West, he played it pretty straight in his single portrait of Mount Hood. He painted the perspective of the volcano that Portlanders now know and love, but swapped out the dumpy little village then nicknamed “Stumptown” for the Columbia River and Multnomah Falls.<br /><br />Bierstadt’s painting debuted at the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876 before being shipped to his London studio. While on a visit to London soon afterward, Simeon and Amanda Reed—the future founders of Reed College—bought the piece and packed it back home. It eventually landed at the Portland Art Museum in 1953, where it now hangs on permanent view.<br /><br />Were Bierstadt standing today at the spot where he made his sketches, it’s easy to imagine that this time, dazzled by the way Portland’s skyline sparkles in the green and so politely bows at midpoint to gracefully vignette our mountain, he might just leave the city in.</span></blockquote>LaValle Linnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16056523295882982732noreply@blogger.com0