Klimt Review: Well Said

"The difference between seeing the art vs. looking at a reproduction is so vast, that personally, I always find it worth it because I learn so much, and the experience provokes so much thought..."

- Sky Pape from the Artists Unite Issue blog.

Picasso@Whitney / Klimt @ Neue Gallery

Hurry, Last Chance: I finally went to see the Klimt show at the Neue Gallery before it closes on October 9th. While the painting of Adele Bloch is indeed very fine, and fetched the highest price ever paid for a painting ($135 million clams!), I can think of many paintings by Picasso alone that are more important, arresting and valuable (mot to mention Matisse).

Michael Kimmelman Agrees: Johns is a Bore!

"Picasso-inspired works by Jasper Johns, that most hermetic and constipated of American masters. ... Johns doesn’t so much enthrone Picasso as repeatedly entomb him."

Michael Kimmelman in today's NY Times
As we reported a few days ago, Johns comes off looking tiresome and forced in this pairing of Picasso and a host of American artists. I still think this is a must-see show, with a great many worthy De kooning, Pollock, Gorky and yes, Max Weber paintings sharing the space with Pablo.

Wowie-Zowie! Picasso and American Art @ the Whitney Museum

Wowie-Zowie! Blam! Get to the Whitney and see this fabulously conceived and wonderfully surprising exhibit. Picasso is paired with a slew of state-side modernistas in ways that show some to their advantage and cause some to wilt in the glaring light of the greater genuis that was Pablo Picasso in all his many guises.
Pollock, de Kooning and Max Weber (see his Chinese Restaurant) show outstanding tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds; Jasper Johns comes out looking pallid, thin and rather dry. Some of the Roy Lichtenstein paintings hold up better than others (his output was uneven).
I went to the 'members only' preview today and was knocked out by the stunning examples by Pollock and De Kooning (the De Kooning Queen of Hearts painting would have looked great here alongside a painting of the same title by John Graham, though).
One small Picasso painting of a bullfight stands out for the outragously fluid paint handling which made it look quite at home among Pollock's signature drippings.
*****
This is a must-see exhibit and may turn out to be the highlight of the Fall season.

Related links:
De Kooning paintings from the Columbia University Art History Database (scroll dopwn to see Pink Angel from 1945)

Point Line Space: Examples

Here is a page of some of my favorite artists and some very abstract and geometric compositions. The image by Josef Albers above serves as a reminder af an upcoming exhibition at the Whitney Museum.

Don't forget the Picasso and American Artexhibit opening this week at "the uptown bunker for difficult art" : the Whitney Museum.

Gmail Space

This allows you to use your Gmail Space (2GB) for file storage! Very cool.

Howard Models

Google Image Result for http://www.howardmodels.com/replicas/Empire200/EmpireTop.jpg
Great models and renderings here.