NEW YORK – The 50th anniversary of Andy Warhol’s groundbreaking film Empire is being marked by a month-long special exhibition at the very building that is the namesake and sole image of the epic work.
Throughout July, Empire is being continuously shown in the Fifth Avenue lobby of New York City’s Empire State Building. The exhibition also features images of Warhol’s art and details of his life and filmmaking.
Additionally, on the evening of Friday, July 25, the Empire State Building will be illuminated with thousands of white lights sparkling in honor of the film’s anniversary. It was on that date in 1964 when Warhol trained his camera on the Empire State Building for six and a half hours, declaring, “The Empire State Building is a star!”
From the dusk of 8 p.m. into the darkness of 2:30 a.m., Warhol captured the changing lights of the towering structure and the sky above. When Warhol premiered the film, unedited, the following March, he projected it in slow motion, bringing its length to over eight hours.
“Andy Warhol is arguably the most famous American artist of the 20th century and Empire was his most famous film,” said Geralyn Huxley, Curator of Film and Video at The Andy Warhol Museum and project leader for the Empire State Building exhibition. “It is fitting that he and his work be honored by the most famous of American buildings.”
The exhibition is being displayed in four windows of building’s famed Art Deco lobby from July 1-July 31, 2014. Admission to the lobby is free. Empire is a classic example of Warhol’s early work in film, which began in 1963. He ignored Hollywood conventions by making a film that contained a single image for an extended period of time. Warhol said, “I never liked the idea of picking out certain scenes and pieces of time and putting them together, because… it’s not like life… What I liked was chunks of time all together, every real moment.”
Visible at times from up to 80 miles away, the Empire State Building is one of the most recognized and photographed landmarks on the planet. Warhol shot Empire from across Manhattan, from the 41st floor of the Time-Life Building.The Empire State Building enhanced its present-day star quality in November 2012, by replacing its tower flood lights with a state-of-the-art LED lighting system as part of its Empire State ReBuilding program. The new tower lights are capable of producing up to 16 million color variations and an unlimited number of patterns and effects. Although the tower lighting regularly honors milestone events and charitable causes, singling out an individual – such as with the July 25th lighting evoking Warhol’s silver motifs.
Emile Louis Picault (French, 1833-1915) patinated bronze figure ‘The Whaler,’ $13,200. Capo Auction image
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. – Capo Auction Fine Art and Antiques’ first summer auction in New York on Saturday, June 28th featured exquisite bronze figures, along with a contemporary sculpture and a traditional Steinway. LiveAuctioneers provided Internet live-bidding services for the sale.
A beautiful Emile Louis Picault (French, 1833-1915) patinated bronze figure The Whaler, which is 23 inches high, with signature incised and numbered 8901 (on plinth), sold for $13,200.
Along with that, a Romain de Tirtoff (Erté, Russian/French, 1892-1990) bronze figure La Femme a la Panthere (L from the alphabet series) was dated 1980. Signed on the base “Erté,” it was also impressed “206/250 RKP INT. CORP 1980” with a JM foundry stamp. It stands 14 3/4 inches tall and sold for $5,400.
Another highly anticipated piece was the very unusual Carole A. Feuerman (American, b. 1945) sculpture called Waterskier, which is painted resin and stands 36 inches high (without base). This sold for $15,600. And, on the more traditional side, Capo Auction sold a magnificent Steinway piano, serial no. 236473, 1932, in mahogany case with an associated bench. Length 64 inches. It sold for $7,800.
To contact Capo Auction, call 718-433-3710.
View the fully illustrated catalog for Capo’s June 28 auction, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
March Avery (American, b. 1932) Kitchen Window, 1966, oil on canvas. Est. $1,000-2,000. Material Culture image
PHILA., Pa. – Material Culture’s July 18 auction, “Fine, Self-Taught & Outsider Art,” provides a stage for many categories of art across its 564 lots. The auction house, a leader in folk and self-taught art, brings forward the work of many such artists in this sale, from the United States and around the world. Fine art consists primarily of American and European paintings, prints, and works on paper from the 19th century through the present day.
The sale commences at 10 a.m., EST, on Friday, July 18, with LiveAuctioneers providing Internet live-bidding services. This diversity of art will be exhibited, free and open to the public, in Material Culture’s gallery space July 16-17, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
One of the leading artists in fine art is American painter March Avery (b. 1932), daughter of Milton Avery. Trained by her father, March’s work displays the focus on color relation, rendering the representational also abstract, that made Milton’s work so important amongst his colleagues Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Marsden Hartley. The younger Avery’s finest works at auction are the 1966 oil on canvas painting “Hadrian’s Olives” (lot 414) and the 1975-77 oil on canvas board “Catnap” or “Caleb and Friend” (lot 418). Another 20th century female American painter shown at auction is Dorothy Heller (1917-2003), represented by a work of oil on canvas, a portrait of a woman in long, abstract expressionist brushstrokes (lot 419).
Material Culture’s sale also showcases the work of Hans Christoph Drexel (1886-1979), a German artist whose successful early career was quashed by the Nazis. Denouncing his dark work as degenerate, the Nazi censors forbade him to paint. Like many German artists of this period, Drexel’s art has remained largely hidden from view. The present works were discovered in the estate of Drexel’s godson, Dr. Christof Heinicke, and include a range of works from pre WWI to post WWII. His nine works at auction highlight his mastery of watercolor and his expressionistic use of pastel. Perhaps most striking is his untitled work of watercolor, gouache and pastel on paper, depicting a black bird in flight under an equally dark sky, separated by folk buildings and a watchtower in bright yellow and blue (lot 126). In addition to landscapes, several portraits by Drexel come to auction, the faces in them at once familiar and unsettling (lots 124, 130, 131). Another German-born artist featured at auction is Albert Urban (1909-1959), with six lots of his abstract compositions dating to 1945. Nearly-recognizable forms leap and recede from the geometrical webs of these ink on paper drawings, both colored and black and white (lots 386-391).
Exceptional works by self-taught artists will be on offer. Eleven lots by Purvis Young (1943-2010), a native of Miami, displays the artist’s marriage of assemblage and painting, as in the untitled piece that unites masonite, cardboard, fabric and wood as surfaces for painted figures and buildings (lot 36). The artist’s common themes of the African-American experience and urban life are seen in many of the paintings at auction. American self-taught artist Justin McCarthy (1891-1977) is shown in three paintings that exemplify his variety of subjects. “Christ Carrying the Cross” (lot 27), a strolling couple in “University Campus” (lot 28), and a landscape of “Lake Wallenpaupackke” (lot 29) are all rendered in McCarthy’s bright color and exuberant line. A portrait of McCarthy (lot 31) by another notable self-taught American artist, Jack Savitsky (1910-1991), shares the provenance of the McCarthy figural paintings, coming to auction through the collection of Patricia L. and Morris C. Thompson.
Displayed first among self-taught artists is Ghanian painter Kwame Akoto or “Almighty God,” born in 1950. The eight lots (17-24) by this famous street artist exhibit a number of the subjects for which he has become known, including depictions of animals with a moral theme or anti-smoking message, spiritual or political allegories, and portraits, from his daughters to African Kings. The auction also features a wealth of self-taught art, comprising forty-five lots, from the Living Museum, which fosters the creative talents of the patients of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Institute. Several of the Museum’s star artists, including Issa Ibrahim (b. 1965), Richard A. Smith (b. 1947) and John Tursi (b. 1961) are highlighted in this auction. Ibrahim blends pop culture such as cartoons and action heroes with political messages or erotic situations; his leading pieces at auction are “Justice League” (lot 84), a large canvas depicting President Obama, Michelle Obama and Joe Biden as Superman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern, and a painting of Michael Jackson with mixed-media collage (lot 85). Smith’s erotic drawings play with proportion and are often colored with food products, such as mustard. Eight lots by Tursi exhibit the artist’s use of prismatic color and vibrating contrast in the geometrical construction of his surreal faces. Other American self-taught artists shown at auction include Mose Tolliver (1925-2006), Richard Burnside (b. 1940), Barbara Strawser (20th century), Missionary Mary Proctor (20th century) and R.A. Miller (1912-2006).
Other leading lots in fine art painting include a portrait of Saint Sebastian in the manner of Guido Reni (Italian, 1575-1642), oil on canvas in a gilt frame (lot 232), and a still life with flowers by Jeanne de Kock (European, 19th-20th century), also oil on canvas (lot 234). Another still life, by Russian-American artist Joseph Solman (1909-2008) depicts a group of items alongside large windows suggestive of an artist’s studio (lot 405). An oil painting of the Schuylkill Bridge (lot 381) by Giovanni Martino (American, 1908-1997), a still life by Margaret E. Short (American, 20th c.) and two paintings by John Van Dreal (American, 20th c.) round out the category. Featured watercolors include paintings by Christian Ernst Bernhard Morgenstern (German, 1805-1867), Aaron Draper Shattuck (American, 1832-1928), Colin Campbell Cooper (American, 1856-1937), Ignat Bednarik (Romanian, 1882-1963), Ben Benn (Russian/American, 1884-1983) and Adolf Arthur Dehn (American, 1895-1968).
Fine art is also highlighted in works on paper by well-known painters, such as three etchings (lots 243-245) by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903), and six lots of drawings (lots 205-210) by Henri Lebasque (French, 1865-1937). Drawing includes “Market Scene at Piazza di SanMarco Venice” (lot 154) by Andre Maire (French, 1898-1984), a portrait, possibly of painter Jacob Lawrence (lot 457), by Raphael Soyer (American, 1899-1987) and an abstract composition (lot 400) by Taro Yamamoto (American, 1919-1994). Many lithographs and etchings by significant artists are featured in the sale, including pieces by Frank Weston Benson (American, 1862-1951), Ellison Hoover (American, 1888-1955), Reginald Marsh (American 1898-1954), Louis Lozowick (American, 1892-1973), Harold Altman (American, 1924-2003) and Henry Moore (British, 1898-1986). Illustration art from the turn of the 20th century is showcased in work by Leon Guipon (American, 1872-1910), Edwin Megargee (American, 1883-1958) and Grace Gebbie Wiederseim Drayton (American, 1877-1936).
A strong collection of Haitian art at the sale is led by three pieces by Georges Liautaud, frequently regarded as the artistic father of all subsequent metalwork in the country. The steel sculptures at auction are two-dimensional renderings of sprightly people, goats, or the two together (lots 63-65), and their provenance includes the Thompson collection, as above. Among Haitian painting and prints, “The Massacre,” by William Jean Louis (20th century) stands out (lot 66). The savagery of the title’s action, at bottom center, is offset by the breathtaking beauty of the landscape that surrounds.
Other highlights of the auction include over thirty lots of Japanese woodblock prints, with pieces by Utagawa Hiroshige (also known as Ando Hiroshige), Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Utagawa Toyohiro and Utagawa Kunisada. A group of eight Asian painted panels, tree-filled landscapes populated with animals such as cranes and deer, will be auctioned together (lot 342). The auction also opens with a series of vintage posters, led by a linen-backed lithograph of a Brigitte Bardot film (lot 1). Made for distribution in Italy, the poster bears the title “Piace a Troppi,” for the 1956 French film “Et Dieu…crea la femme” (“And God Created Woman”).
View the fully illustrated auction catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
March Avery (American, b. 1932) Kitchen Window, 1966, oil on canvas. Est. $1,000-2,000. Material Culture image
Justin McCarthy (American, 1891-1977) Christ Carrying the Cross, 1960s. Provenance: The Collection of Patricia L. and Maurice C. Thompson. Est. $1,000-1,500. Material Culture image
Hans Christoph Drexel (German, 1886- 1979) Untitled (Chickens), watercolor and gouache on paper. Est. $1,000-1,500. Material Culture image
Frank Weston Benson (American, 1862-1951) Old Tom (246, Paff), 1926, drypoint etching from an edition of 150. Est. $1,000-2,000. Material Culture image
Joseph Solman (Russian/American 1909-2008) Still Life, oil on board. Est. $2,000-3,000. Material Culture image
Dorothy Heller (American/New York, 1917-2003) Abstract Expressionist Portrait of a Woman, oil on canvas, old repairs. Est. $1,000-2,000. Material Culture image
Joe Iurato at the Bushwick Collective, New York City. Photo via downtowntraveler.com
NEW YORK – Joe Iurato captures children in a way that balances wonder and mischief. In his hands, kids are not entirely “The Bad Seed,” or complete sweetness and light. I saw his work for the first time at the Centre-Fuge Public Art project, which involved a meeting between a toddler-size boy and a bird, increasing my appreciation for both. They’re looking at each other a bit suspiciously, but more out of curiosity than malice.
Iurato’s pieces are small, spray-painted wood cutouts that often reference skateboarding, or art, or other interests he’s had throughout his life. Over the July 4th weekend I spotted one at the Bushwick Collective, on Troutman Street. A boy, his face in a downward gaze and hidden by a baseball cap, crouches down on the street.
He’s outlined so clearly and vividly in blacks, with such accurate shadowing, he looks like a still from an animated movie, like he would soon get up and flicker across the wall, a movie for passersby. And then there’s the action coming from a tiny spray can in his hand, out of which flow the words, “Never let go,” in blue spray paint.
He’s a little bit mischievous, as one might imagine his parents would not approve of his graffiti, but I bet they’d also impressed at his initiative. I wondered if the boy was a graffiti artist in training, if maybe one day he’ll not only be hanging out by the wall, but also creating pieces of his own.
# # #
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Joe Iurato at the Bushwick Collective, New York City. Photo via downtowntraveler.comJoe Iurato at the Bushwick Collective, New York City. Photo by Ilana NovickJoe Iurato at the Bushwick Collective, New York City. Photo by Nora Nussbaum
Since the Calaveras Dam project began, many prehistoric fossils have surfaced, including the teeth of a Desmostylus hesperus, a 440lb, 6ft-long creature resembling the modern-day hippopotamus. This 2008 reconstruction was created by Dmitry Bogdanov, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.FREMONT, Calif. (AP) – Giant teeth from a 40-foot-long shark and portions of what could turn out to be an entire whale skeleton are among more than 500 fossils that have been unearthed at a dam construction site in Silicon Valley, a newspaper reported.
Most of the fossils uncovered at the Calaveras Dam replacement project in Fremont are believed to be about 20 million years old, dating to the Miocene Epoch, when the ocean extended as far inland as Bakersfield, California, the San Jose Mercury News reported Monday.
Scallops, clams, barnacles and the teeth of an extinct hippopotamus-like creature called a Desmostylus have all been dug up since 2011, when work on the project began.
“We started finding fossils here before construction even started,” paleontologist Jim Walker, who is working alongside construction crews on the project, said. “It was exciting. We were finding scallops, and I said, ‘I want to get a whale.’ And we did.”
Crews have discovered nine whale skulls. Plant fossils and fossils of animal tracks and burrows have also been discovered.
The $700 million dam replacement project is part of a 15-year, $4.6 billion upgrade to the Hetch Hetchy water system, which relies primarily on the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park and serves about 2.6 million customers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The reservoir created by the Calaveras Dam is among several local reservoirs that supply the region. The dam, completed in 1925, is being replaced with one more capable of withstanding earthquakes.
Crews are currently removing earth in front of the dam, the Mercury News reported. Construction on the new dam itself, which will go up about 400 yards downstream, is expected to start in 2016, with completion expected two years later.
Paleontologists will continue working with construction workers for the next few years. The fossils eventually will end up at a museum in the Bay Area, according to officials from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which is building the dam.
___
Information from: San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Since the Calaveras Dam project began, many prehistoric fossils have surfaced, including the teeth of a Desmostylus hesperus, a 440lb, 6ft-long creature resembling the modern-day hippopotamus. This 2008 reconstruction was created by Dmitry Bogdanov, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Painter Patricia Hill Burnett with her portrait of First Lady Betty Ford, which is now part of the permanent collection at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Image courtesy of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential LibraryANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – A portrait of former first lady Betty Ford is being placed on permanent display in the lobby of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Columnist Laura Berman of The Detroit News reports an unveiling of the painting by Patricia Hill Burnett is Tuesday at the library in Ann Arbor. The 93-year-old painter once was Miss Michigan and also is known as a feminist and socialite.
President Gerald Ford died in 2006 and former first lady Betty Ford died in 2011. They lived in Rancho Mirage, California, for decades. Their hometown was Grand Rapids and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is located in Grand Rapids.
Elaine Didier, director of the Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum, says the portrait is “one of the prettiest that’s ever been done.”
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Painter Patricia Hill Burnett with her portrait of First Lady Betty Ford, which is now part of the permanent collection at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Image courtesy of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Lee Surrendering to Grant at Appomattox / Alonzo Chappel (American, 1828-1887), ‘Lee Surrendering to Grant at Appomattox,’ circa 1870, oil on paperboard. Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of Nancy L. Ross in memory of Patricia Firestone Chatham. Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, The SmithsonianWASHINGTON (AP) – The National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian is continuing a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with a new exhibit focusing on the two generals who led Confederate and Union troops into battle.
The museum opened its latest “One Life” exhibit series last week with a gallery devoted to Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. It will be on view through May 2015.
The show uses images mostly from the National Portrait Gallery collection, including photographs, documentary drawings and artist renderings of important events during the final year of the war. It also includes the death mask of each man’s face. A key painting is Winslow Homer’s “Skirmish in the Wilderness” from Connecticut’s New Britain Museum of American Art.
The Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865.
# # #
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Lee Surrendering to Grant at Appomattox / Alonzo Chappel (American, 1828-1887), ‘Lee Surrendering to Grant at Appomattox,’ circa 1870, oil on paperboard. Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of Nancy L. Ross in memory of Patricia Firestone Chatham. Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, The Smithsonian
