Sir Joshua Reynolds painted this portrait of Col. Isaac Barre. Image courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation says the exhibition called “More Than Meets the Eye: Maps and Prints of Early America” will be on display at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum through next April. The exhibition showcases two important new acquisitions to the foundation’s collections.
Among the most important pieces is British portrait of Col. Isaac Barre, who served as major and adjutant general at the 1759 Battle of Quebec during the French and Indian War. He also served in Parliament where he earned a reputation for his opposition to British taxation of the American colonies. Barre also coined the description of the American patriots as “Sons of Liberty.”
The portrait is the foundation’s first by Sir Joshua Reynolds, one of the founding members of the Royal Academy, an institution established in 1768 by act of King George III and the first to provide professional training for artists in Britain.
Barre’s portrait also features a map in which the colony of Virginia outlined in red. When the foundation received the painting, curators identified the map in the painting. The map was published in London in 1755. A map book containing an imprint of the map was also recently acquired and is on display with the portrait.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation operates and maintains the preserved 18th century site as an educational and tourist venue.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Sir Joshua Reynolds painted this portrait of Col. Isaac Barre. Image courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.The Colonial Williamsburg exhibit includes this map of North America, which was published in London in 1755. Image courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
Joan Mitchell (American, 1925-1992), untitled color lithograph, edition 11/94, signed lower right, 22 x 20 inches. To be auctioned by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on May 16, 2011. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com and Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
NEW YORK – From the book Joan Mitchell, Lady Painter: A Life (Alfred A. Knopf), by Patricia Albers: At age 12, Joan Mitchell decided to be a painter. She had shown a flair for writing and for painting, but her father made her choose between the two, warning against being a dilettante.
He needn’t have worried – Joan turned out to be as driven as he was. When Mitchell died in 1992 at age 67, her paintings sold for millions and belonged to major art museums. But her fame came at a terrible price.
A lifelong alcoholic, Mitchell was a nasty drunk, brawling with lovers until she was black and blue. Reckless, promiscuous and self-destructive, she wanted children yet had several abortions because she believed motherhood was incompatible with a career.
Art historian Patricia Albers, who spent eight years on this densely packed, excellent biography, offers a largely sympathetic portrait of Mitchell, uncovering ample evidence of her warmth and generosity and tracing her outrageous behavior to a variety of unresolved psychological issues.
Born in Chicago, Mitchell grew up in a wealthy family. A championship figure skater as a teen, she went on to study at Smith College and the Art Institute of Chicago, where she was a star pupil.
In 1949, she moved to New York with her former husband, Barney Rosset Jr., who later founded the legendary Grove Press, at Joan’s suggestion. They arrived just when a group of downtown artists, later called the New York School, was about to set the world on fire. Mitchell fell under the spell of Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline, whose bold, large-scale abstractions liberated her from her academic training.
Sometimes called a second-generation abstract expressionist, Mitchell defies such labeling. Although she borrowed their gestures and techniques, her paintings capture remembered landscapes and emotions, not the artist’s inner world. Nor did she emulate the random effects of an artist like Jackson Pollock; every brushstroke was intentional.
Although Mitchell never created a movement, she stands out for her striking use of color. Like one of her idols, Wassily Kandinsky, she was a synesthete, perceiving color in other sensory perceptions. People, weather, landscapes, memories _ all throbbed with the intensity of the palette of another hero, Vincent van Gogh.
Fiercely competitive from an early age, Mitchell waged a lifelong battle against sexism. Even her father – who badly wanted a John, not a Joan – told her she’d never amount to much because of her gender. Thus her ironic references to herself as “lady painter,” a sly put-down she used knowing full well that her art deserved to hang alongside that of her more celebrated male contemporaries.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Joan Mitchell (American, 1925-1992), untitled color lithograph, edition 11/94, signed lower right, 22 x 20 inches. To be auctioned by Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on May 16, 2011. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com and Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.Book cover for Joan Mitchell, Lady Painter: A Life by Patricia Albers, now available to purchase through Amazon.
VIENNA (AP) – A trove of medieval jewelry and other precious objects found by a man working in his backyard includes pieces made for a royal court and may be worth as much as 100,000 euros ($150,000) government experts said Monday.
The officials from Austria’s department of national antiquities and the Academy of Sciences said they were only at the beginning of their investigation into the provenance and other details of the find.
“We have in front of us high-end products (made) for the highest consumer class of Central Europe” of the Middle Ages, academy member Thomas Kuehtreiber told reporters as security guards lifted a black velvet cloth from a glass case to reveal some of the rarer pieces.
The Federal Office for Memorials said the trove consists of more than 200 rings, brooches, ornate belt buckles, gold-plated silver plates and other pieces or fragments, many encrusted with pearls, fossilized coral and other ornaments. It says the objects are about 650 years old and weigh about 6.6 pounds (3 kilograms).
Some of the more stunning objects on display Monday included a delicately formed brooch adorned with pearls and coral and a ring inlaid with an amethyst-like semiprecious stone.
A media statement said the find was tentatively valued at tens of thousands of euros. Employees with the memorials office told The Associated Press they could be worth as much as 100,000 euros or nearly $150,000. They asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to media.
The memorials office said the man, who did not want to be identified, came across the objects in 2007 while digging in his back yard in the town of Wiener Neustadt, south of Vienna to expand a small pond. But he did not report it to authorities until after rediscovering the dirt-encrusted objects in a basement box while packing up after selling his house two years ago.
Officials presenting the pieces did not say when the finder first came to them with the ancient trove. They said that investigations into the find had only begun and could last up to four years.
They speculated that the objects could have been plunder from a conflict or owned by a trader who had buried it for safety ahead of approaching potential customers to make a deal.
The location of the find lies on an important medieval trading route that ran between Poland and Italy, they said.
“We will probably never find an answer” to the treasure’s origins, said Nikolaus Hofer of the memorial office.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
High chest of drawers, made for Matthias Slough, Lancaster, Lancaster County, 1770–85. Heritage Center of Lancaster County. Image courtesy of Winterthur.WINTERTHUR, Del. – Each year when Winterthur reopens after its February hiatus, there’s something special planned for visitors. It’s always worth waiting for.
This year, we’re treated to a landmark exhibition – six years in the making – of the diverse furniture of our region, along with the people who made, owned, inherited and collected it. “Paint, Pattern & People: Furniture of Southeastern Pennsylvania, 1725-1850” opened April 2.
In addition to furniture this exhibit of over 200 objects includes related paintings, watercolors, fraktur and needlework. Designed to delight scholars, private collectors and those of us curious about the rich cultural heritage of southeastern Pennsylvania, it highlights the creative expression of local artisans. Focusing on the diversity of furniture made and owned by both English and German-speaking people, specific emphasis is placed on the distinctive local expressions of form and ornament.
Despite the extensive research that informs the exhibit, this is not merely a collection of stuffy brown furniture and priceless antiques, according to senior curator Wendy A. Cooper and assistant curator Lisa Minardi.
The “Paint and Pattern” aspects of the exhibit encompass both brightly painted, eye-catching chests, candle boxes, spice boxes and desks, while pieces made of rich native walnut and inlaid with light wood and sulfur also enliven the exhibit. And everyone can relate to the various tables and chairs on display.
The exhibit’s focus is not on priceless, high-style Philadelphia furniture, but rather on locally made furniture often influenced by urban sophistication. To convey this point, the first two pieces that greet visitors are imposing high chests of drawers from Philadelphia and Lancaster. These pieces present a rare opportunity to compare and contrast the details of their carved decoration.
The Philadelphia high chest is among the finest examples of rococo style, made of highly figured imported mahogany, with pierced brasses tinted to resemble gold, heavily carved foliate-and-shell designs, and a commanding original cartouche. The Lancaster high chest may appear to the casual observer to be remarkably similar. But, guided by the curators, exhibit visitors will learn about and appreciate the differences.
For example, decoration on the Lancaster piece shows foliage and shells similar to the Philadelphia chest, but is more profusely carved and covers the entire skirt and tympanum (the topmost board). Closer examination reveals that the ornament on the Lancaster high chest was carved from the solid wood of the piece, rather than separately made and applied, as done in the Philadelphia chest.
Debunking Myths
As the last part of the title “Paint, Pattern & People” reflects, people are also an important focus of this study of regional furniture. The careful analysis of so many well-documented pieces in the exhibit prompted curators to explore new ground in understanding the makers and owners who created the many localisms seen in southeastern Pennsylvania furniture. With this extensive collection, it was possible to identify specific places where pieces were produced.
By looking at who made and owned various pieces of furniture, the curators were able to debunk a number of myths. A few examples:
While Quakers adhere to values of simplicity, it’s clear from their furniture that they had a great appreciation for highly decorated pieces. The exhibit traces ornate furniture bought and passed down through their families.
Painted chests were not owned exclusively by women. Owners’ names carved into these chests give evidence that men owned them as well.
Decorations painted on furniture are not conclusive evidence of the owners’ gender. Chests with lions and unicorns, masculine-appearing designs, were owned by women.
Schranks – wooden wardrobes thought to be newlyweds’ furniture – have been found to be commissioned by well-established married couples who could afford the substantial costs.
For anyone who has admired the wealth of regional furniture in area antique shops, antique shows, museums or private homes, this landmark exhibit will provide unique insights into the furniture and people of southeastern Pennsylvania.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
High chest of drawers, made for Matthias Slough, Lancaster, Lancaster County, 1770–85. Heritage Center of Lancaster County. Image courtesy of Winterthur.High chest of drawers, owned by Michael and Miriam Gratz, Philadelphia, 1760–75. Winterthur Museum, gift of Henry Francis du Pont. Image courtesy of Winterthur.Slide-lid box, possibly Lancaster County; 1800–1840. White pine; paint; H. 6, W. 9, D. 12 inches. Collection of Jane and Gerald Katcher. Photo, Gavin Ashworth, New York City.Chest attributed to the Compass Artist, Lancaster County; 1785–1820. White pine, tulip-poplar, oak; paint; iron; H. 22., W. 49., D. 21 1/8 inches. Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Donald M. Herr. Image courtesy of Winterthur.Desk, probably Jacob Maser (1812–95) Mahantongo Valley, Northumberland County; 1834. Tulip-poplar, white pine, maple; paint; brass; H. 49 1/8, W. 39, D. 19 inches. Winterthur Museum, gift of Henry Francis du Pont 1964. Image courtesy of Winterthur.Cover of the exhibition book. Image courtesy of Winterthur.
TOKYO (AFP) – An anonymous painter in Japan at the weekend added an image of the stricken Fukushima atomic plant to a public mural about the horrors of a nuclear explosion by the late abstract master Taro Okamoto.
The clandestine add-on image – painted in a style mimicking that of Okamoto’s “Myth of Tomorrow” on display at a busy Tokyo train station – created a stir on Twitter before police took it down Sunday evening.
The small wooden panel – which shows black smoke billowing from reactor buildings resembling those at Fukushima – was attached to the wall without causing damage to the original 30-meter-long (100-foot-long) wall painting.
Okamoto, who was born 100 years ago and died in 1996, is one of Japan’s best-known modern artists. Strongly influenced by Pablo Picasso, he is known for his abstract paintings and sculptures, including his “Tower of the Sun” erected for the Osaka Expo in 1970.
“Myth of Tomorrow,” created in Mexico in 1968-69, went missing for years but was rediscovered in 2003, returned to Japan and finally installed at a pedestrian overpass at the capital’s busy Shibuya railway station in 2008.
The non-profit organisation that is the guardian of the painting was quoted as saying by local media: “It is an outrageous prank and we are troubled.”
An official with the group said “it is problematic to create a link when many people are suffering” between the horror of an atomic bomb explosion and the crisis at the tsunami-hit nuclear plant, the Tokyo Shimbun reported.
Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11 destroyed the cooling systems of the Fukushima plant, causing explosions and fires. The plant has since leaked radioactive substances into the air, ground and sea.
Still frame depicting a caricature of Muammar Gaddafi from a YouTube video about the slain graffiti artist Qais Ahmed Al-Hilali. Courtesy Repubblica Radio TV, TM News and YouTube.
BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – Muammar Gaddafi pumping petrol into a winged camel, Gaddafi with the tail of a snake and a forked tongue, Gaddafi as Dracula.
The flamboyant Libyan strongman is fueling a flourishing cartoon caricature scene in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Those are just a few of the themes produced by a group of young artists who reached not for their guns but for their colored pens and spray cans when Libya’s revolution kicked off in mid-February. One of them paid for it with his life, gunned down by secret police.
The group now goes by the name of their dead colleague, Qais al-Halali, and continues its work from a ramshackle office in a makeshift media centre next to the rebel headquarters on the city’s seafront.
“We draw caricatures here and then distribute them around the city. We give them to people to show at demonstrations or hang on walls,” said Akram al-Bruki, 32, who uses the moniker Kimo to sign his work.
Bruki took out two commemorative posters of Halali, one showing a picture of his fresh-faced late colleague, the other showing the bruised and bloodied head of a dead man.
“He got a message to stop,” delivered by Kadhafi’s forces before they were chased out of the eastern city. “But he didn’t stop. When we started doing this we swore that no-one would stop us.”
The secret police finally caught up with Halali in late March, shooting him dead as he drove up to a checkpoint, said Bruki.
Bruki and his three colleagues vowed afterwards to step up their production to play their part in trying to bring about the downfall of the man who had ruled their country since before they were born.
“We didn’t go to the front. We fight with pictures and words,” said Ahmed Ahreb, 33, who writes captions and speech bubbles for the cartoons his friends make.
The walls of their office and of the whole media centre were jammed with their pictures and nearby buildings are daubed with graffiti and grotesque depictions of Gaddafi.
On the wall behind Bruki was a picture of Hosni Mubarak, the ex-president of Egypt who was ousted in a popular uprising in February, presenting a tray of drinks to Gaddafi.
“Take some Red Bull to help you fly,” says the speech bubble above the Egyptian.
“I’m not the kind who flies. I’m going to stay,” replies the Libyan.
Bruki said that the eccentric Gaddafi, with his jowly face, bushy hair, colourful clothes and penchant for glamorous female bodyguards, was an easy target for satire.
He pointed to his own favourite caricature on a wall in the media center corridor.
“Gaddafi Cats” was the slogan above a drawing of the strongman snuggled up between two buxom women bodyguards in green army uniforms and red berets.
Bruki produced a folder with several drawings he had just finished, which he said were being sent to Egypt to figure in an exhibition there before going on to another show in Qatar.
He also proudly took out his mobile phone to display a photo of himself spray-painting a cartoon of the leader he hates on the wall of an army barracks in central Benghazi.
“It was really dangerous to do this at the time because the secret police were in the streets,” he said.
He said he was convinced his group’s work not only boosted morale in rebel-held areas but that it also unnerved Gaddafi, whose forces control the western half of the country.
“Gaddafi definitely sees them and they make him nervous. Many journalists have come here and filmed us or wrote articles about us, and he will see that on the television,” he said.
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Click here to view a YouTube video of a Repubblica Radio TV/TM News Italian-language news story about Qais al-Halali, a graffiti artist who was executed by Libya’s secret police for his unflattering portrayals of Muammar Gaddafi:
A picturesque canal scene in Venice. Image courtesy of DanieleDF1995. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
VENICE (AFP) – Flood-prone Venice – home of the art world’s revered La Biennale di Venezia – has launched an ambitious plan to build mobile barriers at the mouth of its lagoon and protect the city from rising sea levels.
About 3,000 people are involved in the “Moses” project, which costs 5.4 billion euros ($7.9 billion), and is scheduled for completion in 2014.
“Once finished, the system will protect Venice from high water levels of up to three metres,” said architect Flavia Faccioli from the Venezia Nuova consortium, grouping some 50 companies involved in the project.
“We’re on schedule so far. We have already carried out three billion euros worth of works and will be carrying out the first test next July,” Faccioli told AFP.
The 78 giant box-shaped barriers will be divided into four sections at the head of the three inlets that link the lagoon with the Adriatic Sea. They will be inserted into immense tanks on the sea floor. Should high waters threaten the city, pressured air will be pumped into the barriers, raising them up on hinges to block the tidal flow. Once the danger has passed, the air will be expelled and the barriers would fill with water and sink back to the sea floor.
“We are building 11 crates at the same time,” Enrico Pellegrini, the head engineer at one of the building sites, told reporters as they inspected the ongoing works at the Malamocco inlet.
Special cement and non-oxidizing steel have been used for the 60-meter-wide girders which, at 27 metres high, are as tall as a seven-storey building.
“The biggest girders weigh 22,000 tons and will be transported, like the others, by wagons specially designed for the purpose by Norwegian company. Each can take up to 350 tons, the equivalent of a Boeing 747,” he said.
It will then take up to three days for a “syncrolift” system – usually used to help ships dock — to transfer the tanks to the sea bed.
“It’s a remarkable project, one of the most important in Italy and the world,” Venice’s mayor Giovanni Orsoni said.
Venice, which sank by 23 centimetres (nine inches) in the last century, is hoping that the “Moses” project will help it preserve its buildings and rid its majestic squares of floodwaters once and for all.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
A picturesque canal scene in Venice. Image courtesy of DanieleDF1995. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau in the Greater Dallas suburb of Irving, where the Dallas International Art, Antique Jewelry Show will be held. Image courtesy of RMJM Hillier Architecture. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.
DALLAS – In response to numerous requests from dealers, the Palm Beach Show Group is changing the dates for its Dallas International Art, Antique Jewelry Show to Nov. 2-6, 2011. The original show dates, Oct. 27-31, 2011, presented a conflict with the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show and would have forced many dealers to make a choice of one or the other. Accordingly, the Dallas show was moved back by one week.
“After careful consideration, and since a vast majority of exhibitors currently committed to the Dallas Show liked the change, we have made the decision to move the dates…” said Scott Diament, president and CEO of the Palm Beach Group.
The Dallas International Art, Antique Jewelry Show will be held at the new, state-of-the-art Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas and will feature more than 100 top-tier international exhibitors. More than 100 categories will be on view, including fine art, antique and estate jewelry, furniture, porcelain, Asian antiquities, American and European silver, glass, textiles, sculpture, contemporary art and more.
The show will take place Nov. 2-6, 2011. Show hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6. Tickets are $15 daily and $25 for a 4-day pass. For more information about the show, visit www.dallasfallshow.com or call 561-822-5440.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau in the Greater Dallas suburb of Irving, where the Dallas International Art, Antique Jewelry Show will be held. Image courtesy of RMJM Hillier Architecture. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.
Edgar Allan Poe’s room is one of the most visited sites at the University of Virginia. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – An honor society that bears the name of one of Edgar Allan Poe’s major works is planning to renovate the room where the renowned poet and mystery writer lived during his short stint as a student at the University of Virginia.
The Raven Society won a $15,500 grant from an endowment established by the University of Virginia Alumni Association to refurbish Poe’s room at 13 West Range. Work is to begin this summer as part of a broader renovation of a handful of nearby student rooms at the Charlottesville school.
Clark Herndon, who just ended his term as the society president, said the project includes refinishing the room’s wood floor, painting, upgrading the lighting, installing a small mantel around the fireplace and replacing a decades-old sound system that plays a recording for visitors about Poe’s 10-month stay at the university in 1826.
After the renovation is complete, Raven Society members will work with U.Va.’s preservation experts to determine the historical accuracy of the room’s furnishings, which include a bed, a small writing desk, a washbasin and a bust of Pallas – a reference to where Poe’s talking bird perches in The Raven.
“The leatherbound foot locker, for example, may be replaced with a wooden chest,” said James Zehmer, U.Va.’s historic preservation project manager. “And there’s a chair or two that might not be quite accurate.”
The Raven Society was founded in 1904 by 12 original members. After the election of new members each semester, the society conducts a ceremony in Poe’s room that includes the reading of a stanza of The Raven, Herndon said. It’s the only time people are allowed in 13 West Range – visitors typically must view the room through a glass door.
The honor society acquired the duty of maintaining 13 West Range in 1907, and the room has undergone changes over the years to make it resemble student rooms when Poe lived there. The room was renovated again in the 1950s to remove a mantel and closets that were added after 1826.
Poe enrolled at U.Va. in February 1826, not long after Thomas Jefferson founded the school, and professors quickly recognized his academic excellence. At the time, there were 177 students, and their rooms all lined the university’s Lawn and Range, U.Va. officials said.
The 17-year-old student became active in university life, including becoming a member of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, and entertaining friends in his room with dramatic readings of short stories that bore the hallmarks of his later writings. But his time in Charlottesville didn’t last, as he was plagued with financial difficulties caused in part by his foster father’s refusal to cover all his expenses, and in part by heavy gambling. He withdrew permanently from the school that December.
He published his first works, Tamerlane and Other Poems, in 1827.
Poe is credited with writing the first modern detective story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, which appeared in 1841 in Graham’s Magazine, where Poe worked as an editor. It became the template for other writers’ mystery stories, including the Sherlock Holmes works.
Other Poe works include The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Pit and the Pendulum, which have frightened generations of readers and reflected his struggles with depression, difficulties with drinking and the loss of key figures in his life. Those struggles worsened, and he died at the age of 40.
Today, the Poe room joins the Rotunda as one of the University of Virginia’s most-visited sites.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Edgar Allan Poe’s room is one of the most visited sites at the University of Virginia. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
