Happy Friday! Enjoy this beautiful oil on canvas, titled "Autumn," by American Impressionist Fern Isabel Kuns Coppedge (1883-1951), via the James A. Michener Art Museum.
The leaves have finally started turning and it's beginning to feel (and smell) like fall! This painting by local artist, Mary Page Evans, radiates autumn in Virginia. It is named Shenandoah Jazz after all....
If you love Evans as much as I do, be sure to check out the retrospective of her workat the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington. The exhibit, Painted Poetry: The Art of Mary Page Evans, opens March 31st and runs through May 27th, 2012.
Mary Page Evans, Shenandoah Jazz III, 2002 oil on linen, 48-1/2 x 59 inches
The Phillips Collection's new exhibit, Degas’s Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint, just opened this past Saturday...and I'm dying to go! The exhibit focuses on Degas's ballerinas-the anatomy of the dancers and flow of their movements. Around thirty works have been brought together, including paintings, sculptures and works on paper. Here's a sneak peak:
Ballet Rehearsal, oil on canvas
Dancers at the Barre, oil on canvas
Dancer Adjusting Her Shoe, pastel on paper
Two Dancers Resting, charcoal on paper
Dancer Moving Forward, Arms Raised, bronze
Dancers in Rose, pastel on paper
Can't wait till I can get to Dupont Circle to see the collection!
I hope your weekend is as beautiful as this painting!
Theodore Robinson (American 1852-1896), Low Tide, Riverside Yacht Club
1894, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in (45.7 x 61 cm)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
"Less is more" is my mantra, especially when it comes to art. Working with art every day, I see a lot! So not only do I really want to love what I put on my walls, I also want to the art work to shine. While I'm usually more of a minimalist, I'm really digging this eclectic and vibrant salon wall...it's gotten me thinking....
My husband and I went up the New York a few weeks ago and naturally I dragged him to The Met. I forgot how truly massive The Met really is. I think we made it through one-fourth of the collection before we were kicked out because they were closing!
One of the highlights of my visit was this majestic painting by Claude Monet (French 1840-1926). In the busy gallery with tourists and families, it was a little slice of serenity.
I recently discovered New Orleans artist David Rex Joyner. Joyner's mixed medias are very reminiscent of two of my favorite abstract impressionists, Willem de Kooning and Hans Hofmann. I love how he blends nature and landscape into these wonderfully vibrant and playful abstracts.
Brace
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas
16 x 16 inches
Cloud
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas
30 x 30 inches
Float
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas
9 x 12 inches
Serenity
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas
16 x 16 inches
StumbleAcrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas
36 x 48 inches
Trust
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas
36 x 48 inches
Wake
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas
9 x 12 inches
I'm back! After a busy month and half, we had a successful first auction this past weekend! I find there's nothing more inspirational than the beginning of the auction season, a fresh start. After a summer of collecting works, here are a few of my favorites:
Lot 601 Hubert Emile Bellynck (French b. 1859), Sailboats at Sea oil on canvas, 19-3/4 x 25-1/2 in (50.2 x 64.8 cm) estimate $600-800, realized $800
Lot 606 Michel Henry (French b. 1928), Inlet with Sailboats oil on canvas, 11-3/4 x 9-3/4 in (29.9 x 24.8 cm) estimate $800-1,200, realized $450
Lot 616 Ruskin Spear (British 1911-1990), At the Dressing Table
oil on panel, 24 x 20 in (61 x 50.8 cm) estimate $15,000-25,000, did not sell
Lot 618 Richard Forsyth (British 20th Century), Low Tide, Crail Harbor oil on canvas, 28 x 36 in (71.1 x 91.4 cm) estimate $400-600, realized $800
Lot 630 Attributed to Jane Stuart (American 1816-1888)George Washington at Dorchester Heights oil on canvas, 36-1/4 x 24-1/2 in (92.1 x 62.2 cm) estimate $5,000-10,000, realized $16,000
Lot 639 Francis Daniel Devlan (American 1835-1870), After the Storm oil on canvas, 42 x 60 in (106.7 x 152.4 cm) estimate $5,000-10,000, realized $8,500
Lot 647 James Francis Day (American 1863-1942), The Bather oil on canvas, 24-1/4 x 20-1/4 in (61.6 x 51.4 cm) estimate $2,000-3,000, realized $5,500
Lot 663 Mary F. R. Clay (American d. 1939), Cagnes sur Mer oil on canvas, 21-1/4 x 25-1/4 in (54 x 64.1 cm) estimate $400-600, realized $800
Check out the rest of the catalogue here! What are your favorites?
I'm going home to Connecticut this weekend for some much needed family time. My whole family hasn't been together since February (yikes!) and it's been far to long. While I'm excited to see my parents and my sisters, I think I'm most excited to see my nephew James- who has blossomed from a baby to toddler overnight.
I stumbled across this image on Pinterest and instantly thought of the little boogaboo and the artwork he'll be creating in the coming years. This is such an inventive way of displaying children's art...without covering the refrigerator. I can't wait to see what James creates!
I'm currently on my way to New York City to visit with my best high school girlfriends. We have a fun-filled weekend planned, but I think I'm most excited about my date with the Frick Collection tomorrow morning.
One of the current exhibits is In a New Light: Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert, which I'm elated to see. I remember sitting in my Venetian art class in Rome and falling in love with Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert. I was shocked to discover that I wouldn't be able to visit the painting during my time abroad...because it was all the way back in New York! Naturally between college, graduation and moving straight to DC, I never did make it to the Frick to see the masterpiece. So I'm thrilled to see the painting, especially with the new discoveries made during a thorough technical examination of the painting last year.
Giovanni Bellini (Italian c. 1430/1435–1516), St. Francis in the Desert c. 1475-78, oil on poplar panel, 49 x 55 7⁄8 inches
The Frick Collection, New York
I fell in love with Manhattan designer Eric Cohler's Charleston home several months ago. Every now and then I like to revisit the beautiful house with its sweeping verandas and Federal architecture. I think one of my favorite aspects is Cohler's ability to marry traditional and modern design. I love his use of contemporary art to add a pop of color and a vibrant flare to each room. Cohler- who has a masters degree in historic preservation- has done an amazing job blending the historical nature of the house with the comforts of today.
When I got home from today, the temperature was 101°, with a heat index of 116°! After my sweltering metro ride -because I never seem to get onto a car that truly has fully functioning air conditioning- I was ready to dive into a pool. The only problem...we do not have a pool. If only this painting -by one my favorite artists Childe Hassam...if you couldn't tell- was my backyard, I'd be in heaven!
Childe Hassam (Am. 1859-1935), Rockweed Pool, oil on canvas
Fortunately my in-laws live 10 minutes away and have a wonderful pool...which I might live in till Monday...
Between the Gulf Shores vacation and my mom visiting last weekend, I'm still trying to adjust to my everyday schedule...which is much harder said than done!
I thought what better way to get back into the groove then sharing an old favorite by renowned French Impressionist artist Claude Monet. I was first introduced to Monet-and to this painting-through Cristina Bjork's books Linnea's Almanac - shealso wroteLinnea in Monet's Garden. Not only did it inspire my green thumb, but it also heavily influenced my passion for art. As a child and now as an adult, I still adore Monet's works. Each brushstrokes is exquisite and the colors are vivid. His paintings are alive and breathtaking...even as an image!
Claude Monet (French 1840-1926), The Water Lily Pond, 1899, oil on canvas
One of my favorite American Impressionist artists, Childe Hassam, created a series of paintings inspired by the increase of nationalistic of flags in New York, as a result of the First World War. This oil of Fifth Avenue lined with American flags embodies all that we cherish on this July 4th.
Childe Hassam (American 1859-1935), Fourth of July (The Greatest Display of the American Flag Ever Seen in New York, Climax of the Preparedness Parade in May)
oil on canvas, 36 x 26-1/8 in, 1916
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, special exhibition Childe Hassam, American Impressionist, June 10-September 24, 2004