Happy Birthday, Dear Georgia

O'Keeffe, Two Pink Shells

Today, Georgia O'Keeffe would have been 125 years old.  She is perhaps one of the most misunderstood painters of the twentieth century.  All too often, critics and historians attempt to alter her abstractions into something she never intended (but how can we really ever know what she intended).  

While the temptation to see things buried within her shapes will always challenge viewers, I appreciate Georgia's work on a purely  aesthetic level.  Her soft colors and crisp lines enchant me.  From the time I first copied her sunflowers in elementary school until I wrote my master's thesis about The Lawrence Tree, Ms. O'Keeffe has occupied a very special place in my creative mind.  

John Loengard’s 1967 portrait

Pretty Monday: Autumn by the Brush

Vincent Van Gogh

With the array of warm colors in autumn, it's no wonder artists of the nineteenth century often paused to paint fallen leaves or architectural arbors.  Autumn makes us pensive.  It causes us to consider inevitable change both in the natural world and in our lives.  Bright orange and red leaves juxtaposed next to crisp blue skies, ethereal and hazy sunlight make fall visually stunning and emotionally moving. Here are some of the loveliest looks at autumn in art history. 

Flowers for Friday

“Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.” -Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe, Pink Tulip, 1926

Flowers for Friday

"There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted."
-Henri Matisse

Art Smart: Troglodyte Treasures

For those of you darlings who may not know, my "day job" is teaching art history to college students.  I adore my career and cannot believe I am among the lucky few who spends her days wandering through the history of Western art (for more on this topic, read my post "Do What You Love" from last year).  

In an attempt to share my passion and knowledge with you, I am going to start a series examining one artwork in detail each week.  My desire is to give you the opportunity to see something visually stunning and to learn a bit about art history in the process.  

A Life on Film

Recently, one of my students brought the work of American photographer Vivian Maier (1926-2009) to my attention.  As I looked through her black and white prints of ordinary life around Chicago, her skill seemed on par with photographs by the greats like Robert Frank and Walker Evans and Dorthea Lange; yet, I had never heard her name.

A Thing of Beauty

"There are always flowers for 
those who want to see them."
-Henri Matisse

The other day in class, I proposed a question to the students in my Survey of Western Art II course: "When was the last time you saw something so beautiful that it brought you to tears?"  For the first time, I actually witnessed my students in a deeply contemplative mood.

Pink Week: Painter's Palette

Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lady in Pink, 1781

Being able to spend hours immersed in color is one of the most wonderful aspects of my career as an art historian.  Though I appreciate the compositional qualities of black and white photography and the technical aspects of a marble sculpture, I've always been most attracted to the array of shades in an oil on canvas. 

An Architecture of Joy

"I was constantly thinking as if I was asking each building I love so much in Venice whether they would accept me in their company" -Louis Kahn, Italy, 1951

I've praised Louis Kahn before in my review of My Architect.  He is among the handful of architects I know best.  Of course I don't have Frank Gehry or I.M. Pei in my address book, but I believe I've gained a personal connection to these architects by merely being in their spaces.

Mapping it out

 

I have a map fetish.  For this reason (and my superb navigational skills---thanks for that gene, Dad), I will never ever ever own a G.P.S.  I am categorically opposed to those little Garmin goodies which tell you to turn here and exit there.  

I love getting my hands on a map, awkwardly unfolding its pages and figuring out where to go.  Plotting a route, veering off course, and seeing the grand design of a city is supremely pleasurable for me.

Words to Live by

New York State of Mind: Part 2-The Art

Detail of Mark Rothko at MOMA

Alabaster vase in the Egyptian wing at the Metropolitan Museum

Henri Matisse in the Met

An Afternoon at the Museum

It takes a truly stunning exhibition to captivate me.  Art history is my job.  And as with all jobs, we often become calloused by our day-to-day activities, no matter how much we adore them.  So on Saturday, I was unexpectedly spellbound by the Jean-Louis Gerôme exhibition at the Getty Center.

Traveling Tuesday

This evening I'm giving my Art Appreciation students a lecture on the Italian Renaissance.  For most of them who hadn't set foot in a museum prior to my course, the only familiarity they have with the Renaissance is because of the Ninja Turtles: Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo and Raphael.  

The Art of Design: The Peacock Room

In 1876, a shipping magnate from Liverpool, England consulted James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American expat painter living in London, in redesigning his Far East-inspired dining room. At first, Frederick Leyland, the patron, asked Whistler for simple suggestions on paint colors for the space, as one of Whistler's portraits was to hang over the mantle.

When the patron was away on business, Whistler impulsively seized creative control and redesigned the entire room, without financial support or consent from his client.

Paris Reverie: Le Musée Rodin

"The main point is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live. To be human before being an artist!" -Auguste Rodin

Most often, the big museums of the world receive heaps of praise from the press and from art-hungry tourists. But for me, the little collections of art delight my eye and capture my imagination.

While the Met or the Louvre or the Prado boast encyclopedic collections that seamlessly cover any major period or movement in art history, given a choice, I prefer museums with smaller yet carefully assembled collections.

The Art of Travel: Souvenirs

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” - Robert Louis Stevenson
The word souvenir conjures up visions of cheap Eiffel Tower key-chains and "I Heart NY" t-shirts and gaudy Cancun shot glasses. Linguistically though, souvenir comes from the French verb "to remember," a much more lovely notion than its modern consumerist meaning.

While I hope that my mind will always guard the precious details of all my adventures, I do often tote back an object that will help me remember a great trip. Most often that object is a small painting.

In the eighteenth century when groups of wealthy young Northern Europeans flocked to Italy on the Grand Tour, often they would return with a veduta (a view), a detailed painting of the cities they visited. While I cannot return from my trips with a Canaletto in tow like those eighteenth-century British gents, I do aspire to adopt a similar travel practice, even if on a far more modest budget.

The Art of Design: Signac

For me, design inspiration almost always comes from something on hanging on my wall. Color palette, textures or shapes---what you're attracted to in an artwork will certainly translate into a room you adore. Art is the ultimate inspiration. How would this pointillist St. Tropez Tree by Paul Signac inspire a living room?

I envision myriad shades of blue with touches of lemony yellow, eclectic furniture and a few beachy elements: Images borrowed from TheGlamLamb, House&Home, HouseOfTurquoise, Lonny, SkonaHemviaDesiretoInspire & CandiceOlsen.

Lux Nova

In the 12th century, when Abbot Suger of Saint Denis decided to rebuild his Romanesque church near Paris, he wrote the new Gothic architectural vocabulary and incorporated one of the visual revelations of medieval art: stained glass windows.

Oh Happy Mother's Day

To the best mother of them all, my dear sweet TW! Have a happy day, Mom! Wish I were there to bake your favorite banana-blueberry muffins or deliver you some pink peonies!