Art of the Americas

The Art of Killing: ‘Arts of War’ at Cambridge’s Harvard Peabody

peabody 4 To the cynic, humankind is, at its very core, drawn towards cruelty and brutality. Even before our ancestors mastered the art of metalworking we were inventing more efficient ways to annihilate those that might oppose or threaten us. Indeed, some of our most innovative creations, both scientifically and artistically, have evolved from warfare.

Left: Leather and wood armor, China. This example of armor of painted leather and wood was made by the Lolo, or Yi, people from China’s Sichuan Province near the Tibetan border.

However, there has always been a macabre fascination with creating beauty out of even the most brutal of weapons. Curator and archeologist Steven LeBlanc has put together a stunning and thought-provoking collection that illustrates this juxtaposition quite eloquently in the Harvard Peabody’s exhibit Arts of War: Artistry in Weapons across Cultures. LeBlanc specializes in the American Southwest and prehistoric warfare which makes his topic for this show no surprise. What is surprising though, is the contemplative atmosphere it creates within the viewer. It asks you to ponder the complex relationship humanity has with its tools of destruction, from the intimate hand wielded katana to the impersonal long range killing capacity of a bomb. Why do we give such reverence to objects that serve such a dark purpose? xxxxxMore

217 Films New Essay in Film, ‘Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA’

www.artesmagazine.com — Work/Welfare Line, New York (c. 1935)

There are still many people, perhaps our grandparents or great-grandparents, who can vividly recall the Great Depression of the 1930s. Memories of hardship, loss and displacement become the narrative when we ask those who lived through it to recall what it was like. It has shaped the behavior (and fears) of those who experienced it, even today. Following the stock market crash of `29, the United States, and many other parts of the world, were plunged into a decade-long cycle of protracted unemployment, shortages of food and shelter, and—worst of all—a state of antipathy. Only after the election of 1932, when Franklin Roosevelt assumed the office of president, were progressive programs instituted to address the issues created by the crushing economic downturn. As unlikely as these aggressive federal initiatives are to ever be repeated in today’s cynical political climate, their effect at the time was dramatic and, for many, life altering. xxxxxxMore

A Gourmand’s Guide to Louisville, Kentucky’s Most Happening City

Part One features two of Louisville’s most popular hotels, one overflowing with museum-quality works of art, along with eight of the city’s most-talked about restaurants with special attention paid to the food and cocktails that not only fueled my stay but allowed me to, in the course of nine days, to move with ease from one place to another.

Arriving is a State of Mind

It seems that no matter what city I visit I tend to fall in love with it, sometimes deeply. Yes, wherever I go—the result is that I meet myself there, face to face. The world of commerce being what it is, it is not often that I get to quietly experience myself unhindered by daily annoyances in this manner. Being able to look at where I am coming from, where I have been, where I am now, and just perhaps where my next step in life might take me without having to spend a month in rehab, is a joy. This, coupled with indulging my intellectual and hedonistic desires—always a must on any trip made (why else leave town?). xxxxxx More

‘Vida y Drama de México’: Mid-20th C. Political Posters at Yale Univ. Art Gallery

Melancholy defines revolutions; the triumph is always followed by the terror or the bureaucracy. But before that inevitability asserts itself, there is always an exuberant conviction that it will not happen again. In contrast to this righteous delusion, ink pressed onto paper can be, in itself, an act of defiance which asserts that the struggle against injustice never ends. And so it is in the work of the Taller de Gráfica Popular offered by this comprehensive and challenging exhibition.

Left: 1. Alberto Beltrán, Vida y drama de México: 20 años de vida del Taller de Gráfica Popular (Life and Drama of Mexico: 20 Years of the Life of the Taller de Gráfica Popular), 1957. See ‘Footnotes’ for complete citations. xxxxxxMore

Philadelphia’s Penn Museum Cooking with ‘Culinary Expeditions: A Celebration of Food & Culture’

Food and—more specifically—its consumption are intimately linked to our identity as social beings, anchoring us together as families, communities and nations. Wolves consume calories the same way each time, hurriedly to avoid losing their kill to another. For creatures of the wild, swallowing trumps savoring every time. Not so with the human species. We suspend food on our tongues, rolling our eyes with delight with each bite. Chewing releases vital flavors as taste buds and the brain’s sensory and memory centers revel in the experience.

Left: Tarentine Red Figure, Bull’s Head Rython, Apulia, Italy (ca. 350-320 BCE)

Only our most primitive Paleolithic ancestors likely consumed their food without cooking it. Once fire was discovered as a means of enhancing mastication and digestion, it was a short step to specialty meal preparation. The regionalization of herb and spice enhancements, grain and vegetation cultivation soon demarcated one tribe from another, one culture’s culinary traditions from that of their neighbors. Given our rapidly-evolving omnivorous propensity, gourmet kitchens became a Darwinian evolutionary inevitability! xxxxxxMore

Heard Museum, Phoenix, Channels ‘Modern Spirit: The Abstract Art of George Morrison’

In terms of art history and identity politics, the abstract artist George Morrison (1919-2000) is an enigma. The artist, whose Chippewa name was Wah Wah Teh Go Nay Ga Bo (Standing in the Northern Lights), was an integral part of the mainstream avant-garde of the New York school and running mate with the abstract expressionists. There are few overt signifiers in his lyrical, meticulously crafted paintings, drawings, prints and reliefs in wood of his Native American heritage. xxxxxxMore

Arts and Crafts Styling of Early 20th C. Architects, Greene & Greene

Experiencing the creative work of architectural brothers, Greene & Greene, is like sipping a rare, richly-made wine—offering sensory delights from the firm of two authentic American Arts and Crafts masters. As the brothers Greene—Charles and Henry—worked primarily in California, they created the ‘gold standard’ for the Arts and Crafts design style. Their work, both as entire projects and in the detail found there, serves as an exquisite example of design, presented in clear, concise and elegant terms. artes fine arts magazineMore

New York Historical Society with Comprehensive Exhibit of James Audubon Watercolors

John James Audubon (1785-1851) was not the first person to attempt to paint and describe all the birds of America, but for half-a-century he was the young country’s dominant wildlife artist. His seminal Birds of America (1827-39), a collection of 435 life-size prints, quickly eclipsed others’ work and remains a standard against which ornithological renditions that followed are measured. A man of his times, he reflected the surging interest in moving science out of the realm of theological debate, as it endeavored to create taxonomic models for newly-discovered creatures in a rapidly-expanding natural world. With one foot in the arts and the other in the natural sciences, Audubon defies ready characterization. With his eye very much affixed to his future place in history, his gifts as poet, writer and documentarian, he strived to actively engage his audiences in the drama and inherent beauty to be found in the birds he so actively observed, researched and documented with his brilliant, dynamic images. artes fine arts magazineMore

High Museum, Atlanta, with Modern Artists, Spouses Kahlo and Rivera

Largely based on some 200-plus murals in Mexico City and several in the United States, Diego Rivera (1886 – 1957) was among the most renowned artists of his generation. His second wife, Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a self taught painter, little know by the art world of that time. Of the 143 works she created before her death at age 47, some 55 were self-portraits.

Left: Frida Kahlo, Autorretrato como Tehuana (Diego en mi Pensamiento), (Self-Portrait as Tehuana (Diego in my Thoughts), 1943, oil on masonite. The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of Mexican Art. © 2012 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D. F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

By the 1970s, her intimate, harrowing work, hammered on an anvil of physical pain, endless surgeries, and deeply wounded by Diego’s philandering—including an affair with her sister—Kahlo was discovered and embraced by feminist art historians. Her star has soared since then, while his seemingly extinguished. artes fine arts magazineMore

California Impressionism: Paintings from Irvine Collection at U. New Hampshire Museum

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, California’s spectacular landscape was the catalyst for a profusion of light-filled paintings. Artists determined to capture its vivid colors painted the landscapes in a distinctive style that has come to be called California Impressionism or California plein air painting.

Left: Joseph Morris Raphael (1869-1950), Market of St. Catherine, Bruxelles (c. 1911), oil on panel, 7” x 7”. All images courtesy of The Irvine Museum, California.

The free exhibition of “Paintings from the Irvine Museum” is hosted by University of New Hampshire’s Museum of Art (Durham, NH) and includes 35 paintings by 29 artists. An advocate of traveling exhibitions, the Irvine Museum was a museum without walls for quite some time. According to James Irvine Swinden, President of the Irvine Museum, the museum did everything backwards. He explains how the museum was formed before a building was built. Founded only 20 years ago, it has over that time presented 60 traveling shows and produced 17 books. A major premise of the museum (and consequently, its works) is the preservation and the fostering of respect for our earth and its fragile ecosystem. artes fine arts magazineMore