Tate Liverpool

Until 15 Oct 2017

Tate Liverpool presents the faces of Germany between the two World Wars seen through the eyes of painter Otto Dix (1891–1969) and photographer August Sander (1876–1964). Portraying a Nation: Germany 1919–1933 brings together two artists whose works document the glamour and misery of the Weimar Republic, a time of radical extremes and political and economic upheaval.

Portraying a Nation, which exhibits Dix and Sander as a pair for the first time, reflects a pivotal point in Germany’s history, as it introduced democratic rule in the aftermath of the First World War. The period was one of experimentation and innovation across the visual arts, during which both artists were concerned with representing the extremes of society, from the flourishing cabaret culture to intense poverty and civilian rebellions.

Featuring more than 300 paintings, drawings, prints and photographs, Portraying a Nation unites two complementary exhibitions. Otto Dix: The Evil Eye explores Dix’s harshly realistic depictions of German society and the brutality of war, while ARTIST ROOMS: August Sander presents photographs from Sander’s best known series People of the Twentieth Century, from the ARTIST ROOMS collection of international modern and contemporary art.

The exhibition focuses on the evolution of Dix’s work during his years in Düsseldorf, from 1922 to 1925, when he became one of the foremost New Objectivity painters, a movement exploring a new style of artistic representation following the First World War.

Dix’s paintings are vitriolic reflections on German society, commenting on the country’s stark divisions. His work represents the people who made up these contradictions in society with highlights including

Otto Dix, 1891–1969
Hugo Erfurth with Dog 1926
(Bildnis des Fotografen Hugo Erfurth mit Hund) 1926
Tempera and oil paint on panel
800 x 1000 mm
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
© DACS 2017. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.

Portrait of the Photographer Hugo Erfurth with Dog 1923,

Otto Dix, 1891-1969
Self-Portrait with Easel 1926
(Selbstbildnis mit Staffelei) 1926
800 x 550 mm
Leopold-Hoesch-Museum & Papiermuseum, Düren
© DACS 2017. Leopold-Hoesch-Museum & Papiermuseum Düren. Photo: Peter Hinschläger.

Self-Portrait with Easel 1926,

as well as a large group of lesser known watercolours.

Buried Alive

Gas Victims

Soldier's grave between the lines

Wounded Soldier

Machine Gunners Advancing

Mealtime in the Trenches

Dix’s The War 1924 will also form a key element of the exhibition, a series of 50 etchings made as a reaction to and representation of the profound effect of his personal experiences of fighting in the First World War.

Portraying a Nation: Germany 1919–1933 is made up of Otto Dix: The Evil Eye, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf.

Otto Dix: The Evil Eye is curated by Dr Susanne Meyer-Büser, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Francesco Manacorda, Artistic Director and Lauren Barnes, Assistant Curator, Tate Liverpool.

Otto Dix, 1891-1969
Butterfly 1922
(Schmetterling) 1922
Graphite on found paper
217 x 135 mm
Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf
© DACS 2017. Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf.

ensure that all works that are provided are shown in full, with no overprinting or manipulation.

Otto Dix, 1891-1969
Argentinian Venomous Scorpion 1922
(Argentinischer Gift-Skorpion) 1922
Graphite on found paper
134 x 217 mm
Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf
© DACS 2017. Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf.

Otto Dix, 1891–1969
Reclining Woman on a Leopard Skin 1927
(Liegende auf Leopardenfell) 1927
Oil paint on panel
680 x 980 mm
© DACS 2017. Collection of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University. Gift of Samuel A. Berger; 55.031.

Otto Dix, 1891-1969
Giant Snake 1922
(Riesenschlange) 1922
Graphite on found paper
135 x 217 mm
Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf
© DACS 2017. Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf.

Otto Dix, 1891-1969
Mask Fish 1922
(Maskenfisch) 1922
Graphite on found paper
217 x 135 mm
Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf
© DACS 2017. Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf.

Otto Dix, 1891-1969
Tibetan Turkey Vulture 1922
(Tibetanischer Truthahngeier) 1922
Graphite on found paper
135 x 217 mm
Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf
© DACS 2017. Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf.

Otto Dix, 1891-1969
Vulture Skull 1922
(Totenkopfgeier) 1922
Graphite on found paper
217 x 135 mm
Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf
© DACS 2017. Galerie Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf.

Watts Contemporary Gallery
26th June to November 26 2017

George Frederic Watts (1817-1904) was one of the most original artists of the nineteenth century. An accomplished painter, sculptor, draughtsman and creator of vast murals, he became known in his own time as 'England's Michelangelo'. The term suggests an artist of range, depth and intensity.

Born in London, Watts was a highly ambitious young man, and he spent several years in Italy during the 1840s studying the art of the Renaissance. For the rest of his long career, he aimed to emulate both the magnificent forms of Classical Antiquity and the sumptuous colours of the Italian masters.
At the same time, Watts strongly felt that art had the capacity to change people's lives in modern Britain, and that his own work might have an important role in helping society move forwards. Fundamentally, he believed that his message of hope, progress and evolution was relevant to everyone.

Early in his career, the artist responded to press reports about the plight of the poor by painting angry scenes of realism such as

Found Drowned (c. 1848-50, Watts Gallery Trust).

He also sought to place his pictures where they might have an impact beyond the art-world:

The Good Samaritan (1850, Manchester Art Gallery), for example, was presented to Manchester Town Hall in honor of a local prison reformer, while a mosaic version of

Time, Death and Judgement (late 1870s-1896, St Paul's Cathedral) was placed on public view in London's East End. Over time, Watts came to be seen as a type of painter-prophet.

As well as commenting on the state of society through the medium of his art, Watts often reinterpreted stories from the past so that they might speak to those in the present, as in his

Eve triptych (from 1868, Watts Gallery Trust and Tate),

The Death of Cain (c. 1872-75, Royal Academy of Arts)

and Prometheus (1857-1904, Watts Gallery Trust).

Yet perhaps his most powerful symbolic works are strikingly bold, cosmic visions such as

Hope (1886, Private Collection)

The All-Pervading (1887-96, Tate)

and The Sower of the Systems (1902, Art Gallery of Ontario).

By giving human form to universal — for instance in

Love and Life (1884, Private Collection)

or Love and Death (c. 1874-87, The Whitworth Art Gallery)

— he hoped to make them more relatable. Taken together, this avant-garde imagery reveals the artist's enduring quest to find a visual language to express his sense of human progress being bound up in the unfolding of the universe.

It was through portraiture that Watts was able to capture the spirit of his times. From youth into old age, the artist painted likenesses of himself, his friends and his famous contemporaries. Upheld as portraitist to the nation, he invited influential figures – including the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, the artist Frederic Leighton and the Catholic leader Cardinal Manning – to join his illustrious Hall of Fame.

Equally as compelling are his portraits of women, such as his charismatic first wife, the great actress Ellen Terry, the authoress Marie Fox (Princess Liechtenstein), and Jeanie Senior — Britain's first female civil servant — whose pioneering social reforms inspired the artist to make use of his own celebrity to support philanthropic causes. Eventually it was said that 'the world begged' to sit for Watts.

G F Watts: England's Michelangelo brings together many of Watts's most celebrated works including his cosmic imagery, protest paintings and dramatic portraits. See this unique one-off exhibition at Watts Gallery until 26 November.

P.S.

July 13, 2017 Sotheby offered one of the greatest compositions by George Frederic Watts, ‘England’s Michelangelo’, to come to auction. A tour de force of dramatic power,

Orpheus and Eurydice remained in Watts’ possession until his death in 1904 when it was inherited by his adopted daughter Lilian. The romantic subject matter may have been inspired by the emotions Watts was experiencing following the breakdown of his first marriage to the young actress Ellen Terry, resulting in their separation after only eleven months. The painting was offered at Sotheby’s London sale of Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist Art on 13 July with an estimate of £300,000-500,000.

Simon Toll, Sotheby’s Victorian Art Specialist, said: “Orpheus and Eurydice encapsulates everything that made Watts’ art so visionary and revolutionary in the 1860s – powerful drama, a sensual and expressive use of paint and rich colour and reverence for the work of the Italian Old Masters. This hauntingly beautiful vision of lost love is among a handful of his best-known pictures and the most important example of his art to be seen at auction in the last decade and a half. It is fitting that a picture of two lovers emerging from the shadows should itself re- emerge into public view in the year that marks the two-hundred year anniversary of the artist’s birth.”

The legend of Orpheus and Eurydice was popular in the 1860s at a time of revival for classical subject matter in British art. Rossetti, Burne-Jones, and Watts’ neighbour in Kensington, Leighton, produced their own visual interpretations of the moment when Orpheus, after journeying to the Underworld to lead Eurydice back to Earth, gives in to temptation to look at his wife despite the warning not to look back at her until they reached daylight. Watts was fascinated by the subject and made at least eight paintings of the two lovers, the earliest version in 1869, towards the end of a decade in which he had immersed himself in themes of abandonment, romantic disappointment and separation. The version to be offered for sale is probably the culmination of the artist’s experiments with a horizontal format and half-length figures, painted circa 1870. After 1872, he used a vertical format of full-length figures, which arguably lessens the intimacy and intensity of the composition. Watts never ceased to be fascinated by the possibilities of the narrative and in the last years of his life he painted another version.

Such an important picture in Watts’ oeuvre, Orpheus and Eurydice required a large number of sketches and drawings, a process in which he worked through the dynamic controposto of the figures, especially the stretch and turn of their necks. Whilst aspects of the painting echo the traditions of the Renaissance, particularly the colouring of Titian, others are wholly modern and anticipate the abstractions of the next century. A significant tenet of the new Classicism that emerged in the 1860s was that narrative should be conveyed by the artistic qualities of gesture, form and colour rather than in details and accessories requiring interpretation. In this version of the work, Orpheus is clothed in a swirling vortex of fiery red drapery, suggestive of the flames of his father Apollo the Sun-God, his tanned muscular body contrasting with the languid pallor of Eurydice. The insertion of a dead tree-trunk marks the boundary between the worlds of life and death, a device which heightens the heart-breaking moment when Orpheus turns to see his wife disappear into the darkness forever.

Orpheus and Eurydice demonstrates the stylistic preoccupations of the new art movement of the 1860s, when fifth century Greek art was considered the fountainhead of beauty. Combining grandeur with naturalness, Phidias’ sculptures for the Parthenon were regarded as the most important treasures of the ancient world. The figures in the painting reveal close study of the Parthenon pediment figures in their drapery and anatomy.

One of the most remarkable men of the nineteenth century, Watts is perhaps now best-known for his magnificent sculpture

Physical Energy in Kensington Gardens and for his large, imposing mythological, biblical and symbolist canvases. He also portrayed every great statesman, artist, poet, aristocrat and society beauty of his generation. Genuinely interested in the great issues of the day, he challenged the injustices of the world in his allegorical paintings. The most famous of all Watts’ paintings is

Hope, a postcard of which Nelson Mandela kept in his prison-cell at Robin Island.

Van Gogh Museum
13 October 2017 - 7 January 2018

From 13 October 2017 until 7 January 2018, the Van Gogh Museum is devoting itself to 'The Dutch in Paris 1789 - 1914. Van Spaendonck, Jongkind, Van Gogh, Van Dongen, Mondriaan.' A major exhibition in which the work of the Dutch artists will be shown for the first time in conjunction with that of their French contemporaries.

Over 130 works of art will be on display, including iconic paintings like

Van Gogh’s Boulevard de Clichy (1887)

and jewels like Breitner’s Ballet-dancer (1886).

The works of Dutch artists will be shown in conjunction with that of their French contemporaries like Monet, Degas, Signac, Pissarro, Cézanne, Braque en Picasso. The Dutch in Paris will show how the interaction between Dutch and French artists came about and the impact it had on both Dutch and French art. Not only did French artists influence their Dutch colleagues, the Dutch made their mark on French art too.

Paris

Paris! The City of Light has been an inspiration for centuries, touching the hearts of millions of people around the world. The French capital drew artists from across Europe in the nineteenth century, an era of political, scientific and artistic revolution. New generations of artists left their native countries to go where the action was. A major new exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum, The Dutch in Paris 1789–1914, will present Paris through the eyes and hearts of eight Dutch artists. Their work will be shown for the first time in conjunction with that of their French contemporaries.

Friendship

Paris, with all its creative hotspots, exhibitions and training opportunities, exerted a magical attraction throughout the nineteenth century on artists from all corners of the world. Dutchmen like Scheffer and Jongkind made their way to the ‘world’s art capital’ to show and sell their work and to forge new contacts. Dutch artists mingled with their French counterparts at academies, private studios, salons and cafés, and on the city’s grand boulevards. Their friendship and backgrounds inspired them to create works that transcended frontiers, both literally and figuratively. Artists like Jongkind, Breitner, Van Gogh, Van Dongen and Mondrian collaborated with Monet, Degas, Signac, Pissarro, Cézanne, Braque and Picasso to develop new styles and techniques.

The Dutch in Paris will show how this interaction came about and the impact it had on both Dutch and French art. Not only did French artists influence their Dutch colleagues, the Dutch made their mark on French art too. It was Jongkind, for instance, who taught Monet, Boudin and Sisley how to capture light on the canvas. Dutch painters returning home from Paris influenced their fellow artists in the Netherlands: Breitner brought French impressionism to his native country, prompting Isaac Israels to begin painting ballerinas and nudes as well – subjects that had previously been quite unusual among Dutch artists.

Love story

The Dutch in Paris 1789–1914 tells the exciting story of the French nineteenth century in eight chapters, each devoted to a Dutch artist working in Paris. The exhibition can be read as a passionate love story between the Netherlands and France: painters take the viewer on a journey to the ever-changing French capital and show us the city through their eyes and hearts. The chosen works explore Paris and its development through images of Haussmann’s famous boulevards, nightspots like the Folies Bergères and districts such as Montmartre: some of these locations are still familiar to today’s visitors to the city, while others have changed beyond recognition.

International

© Kees van Dongen, The blue dress, 1911, c/o Pictoright Amsterdam 2017

The Dutch in Paris 1789–1914 is a unique exhibition organized in collaboration with the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) and the Petit Palais in Paris. It features over 130 works by big names (David, Géricault, Corot, Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Van Dongen, Picasso, Mondrian, Cézanne and Braque) as well as less well-known figures (Van Spaendonck, Van Dael, Scheffer, Tassaert, Jongkind, Sisley, Kaemmerer, Boldini, Boudin, Breitner, Signac, Sluijters, and Jozef and Isaac Israels). A selection of loans from museum and private collections in France and the United States can be admired, many of them for the first time in the Netherlands.

Van Gogh & La France in 2017

The Dutch in Paris 1789–1914 is part of the Van Gogh Museum’s ‘Van Gogh & La France in 2017’ programme, which also includes the successful exhibitions Daubigny, Monet, Van Gogh and Prints in Paris 1900. The Dutch in Barbizon, meanwhile, will be shown at The Mesdag Collection (part of the Van Gogh Museum) in The Hague from 27 October 2017 to 14 January 2018.

National Portrait Gallery, London
13 July – 22 October 2017

The National Portrait Gallery has opened its first exhibition of old master European portrait drawings, many rarely seen, and some not displayed for decades.

But while the works on display are by some of the outstanding masters of the Renaissance and Baroque, the drawings in The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt (13 July – 22 October 2017) have been selected not only because they are extraordinary records of an artist’s skill and a sitter’s appearance, but because they appear to capture a moment of connection, an encounter between an artist and a sitter.

Some of the people depicted in these portraits can be identified, such as the emperor’s chaplain or the king’s clerk, but many are the faces from the street – the nurse, the shoemaker, and the artist’s friends and pupils in the studio – whose likenesses were rarely captured in paintings during this period. The exhibition includes some of the hidden treasures of Britain’s finest collections, as the drawings’ sensitivity to light means they cannot be put on regular display.

Highlights include 15 drawings generously lent by Her Majesty The Queen from the Royal Collection, including eight portraits by Hans Holbein the Younger; a group of drawings produced in the Carracci studio from Chatsworth;

and the British Museum’s preparatory drawing by Albrecht Dürer for a lost portrait of Henry Parker, Lord Morley, who had been sent to Nuremberg as ambassador by King Henry VIII.

Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, says: ‘While our Collection includes

Holbein’s magnificent and monumental ink and watercolour drawing of Henry VII and Henry VIII from c.1536–7, remarkably, the National Portrait Gallery has never staged an exhibition devoted to the practice of portrait drawing during the European Renaissance. While the sitters’ identities are often unknown, their encounters with the artist are preserved in drawings that vividly demonstrate the creative moment that lies at the heart of many of the greatest portraits. Some of the drawings were perhaps never intended to leave the artists’ studios, but are arguably amongst the most engaging and powerful impressions of personal likeness in the history of art.’

Dr Tarnya Cooper, Curatorial Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, and co-curator of The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt, says: ‘Part of the appeal in looking at portrait drawings is that they seem to speak to us directly without embellishment or polish; in contrast to painted portraiture the graphic process appears unmediated by the artfulness of technique. Some of the portrait drawings in this exhibition were executed at speed, capturing a fleeting moment in time, while others were more finished and controlled, yet still appear to have an honesty and integrity that captures a dynamic connection between artist and sitter.’

Andrew Marr, broadcaster, writer and artist, says: ‘There is something exciting about seeing the very scratches and smudges made by the fingers and crayons of the finest artists, from Leonardo Da Vinci to Rembrandt. There is a page of Rembrandt drawings, clearly done at breakneck speed, showing male faces, tousled hair and a woman breastfeeding, which bring you immediately into his room in 1636, as if it was here and now. There are Holbein drawings of wary youths from the court of Henry VIII so fresh you could bump into them in half the bars of London tomorrow; this exhibition is like being shoved into a party full of characterful, unforgettable strangers.’ (Mail on Sunday Event Magazine, 9 July 2017)

The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt brings together forty-eight portrait drawings by artists who worked throughout Europe, including Antonio di Puccio Pisano (Pisanello), Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, Francesco Salviati, Hans Holbein the Younger, Annibale Carracci, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Anthony Van Dyck, and Rembrandt van Rijn.
Lenders to the exhibition are from Britain’s finest private and public collections, a rich source of European old master drawings. These include the Royal Collection Trust, The British Museum, Chatsworth, Senate House Library, Scottish National Gallery, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UCL Art Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Ashmolean Museum and The Courtauld Gallery.

Professor Jeremy Wood, contributor of an essay on collectors and the popularity of portrait drawings in Britain in the catalogue for The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt, says: ‘Many of the pioneering British collectors of European drawings were artists, and, even more strikingly, often portrait painters. This undoubtedly sharpened their interest in buying the drawings and their understanding of how these vivid likenesses had been captured on paper’.

The exhibition came about as a result of the Gallery’s continuing interest in exploring the practice of making portraits in a variety of media throughout history. By bringing together an important group of drawings, The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt explores what the study of European portrait drawing can tell us about artistic practice and the process of sitting.

By including a display of the types of drawing tools and media used – from metalpoint to coloured chalks – and considering the individuals depicted in these often intimate portraits, many of whom remain unidentified, the exhibition will show how these artists moved away from the use of medieval pattern-books as source materials, to study the figure, and the face, from life.

Accompanying the exhibition will be a rich programme of talks and workshops exploring the artist’s techniques and practices with contributions from a range or art historians and contemporary artists.
Jenny Saville, artist, says: ‘Drawing is an equation of nature. It's as instinctive as thinking and is the first physical point of contact in the world of imaginative thinking, whether you're drawing a head, a map, designing a chair, a building or an iphone.’

The exhibition has been supported by a panel of exhibition advisers, who have embraced the exhibition’s challenge to consider the terms of portraiture and the extent to which an encounter between individuals captures a portrait, even if the image was intended as an exercise in drawing with no thought for the identity of the sitter.

The Encounter: Drawings from Leonardo to Rembrandt iscurated by the National Portrait Gallery’s Curatorial Director Dr Tarnya Cooper, and its Collections Curator, 16^th Century, Dr Charlotte Bolland.

Dr Tarnya Cooper has curated at the National Portrait Gallery the exhibitions Elizabeth I and Her People (2013) and Searching for Shakespeare (2006). Her publications include Citizen Portrait – Portrait Painting and the Urban Elite, 1540–1620 (2012) and A Guide to Tudor & Jacobean Portraits (2008). She was Principal Investigator of the Gallery’s Making Art in Tudor Britain research project and co-curator of The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered at the National Portrait Gallery (2014).

Dr Charlotte Bolland is Collections Curator, 16^th Century, at the National Portrait Gallery and was co-curator of The Real Tudors: Kings and Queens Rediscovered at the National Portrait Gallery (2014) and Les Tudors at the Musée du Luxembourg, Paris (2015).

John Godsalve by Hans Holbein the Younger c.1532-4 Royal Collection Trust

A sheet of figure studies, with male heads and three sketches of a woman with a child by Rembrandt von Rijn c.1636

Old Woman Wearing a Ruff and Cap attributed to Jacob Jordaens c.1625-40

Giulio Pedrizzano, The Lutenist Mascheroni by Annibale Carracci c.1593-4 Royal Collection Trust

Man with shoulder-length hair, unknown Venetian artist

Study of a nude man, Leonardo da Vinci

Neue Galerie New York

June 29-September 25, 2017

http://www.neuegalerie.org/content/richard-gerstl#3395

Richard Gerstl
Semi-Nude Self-Portrait
1902-04Oil on canvas Leopold Museum, Vienna

Richard Gerstl

Grinzing 1907

Neue Galerie New York is presenting "Richard Gerstl," the first museum retrospective in the United States devoted to the work of the Austrian Expressionist (1883-1908). This exhibition is co-organized with the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, and will be on view at the Neue Galerie through September 25, 2017.

Gerstl was an extremely original artist whose psychologically intense figure paintings and landscapes constitute a radically unorthodox oeuvre that defied the reigning concepts of style and beauty during his time. The longstanding secrecy surrounding Gerstl’s dramatic and untimely suicide at the age of 25, and the scandalous love affair that preceded his death, only further magnify the legend that has grown around this lesser known, but influential member of Vienna’s artistic avant-garde at the turn of the twentieth century.

The show is organized by Expressionist scholar Jill Lloyd, who has assembled several important exhibitions for the Neue Galerie, including "Van Gogh and Expressionism" in 2007, "Ferdinand Hodler: View to Infinity" in 2012, and "Munch and Expressionism" in 2016.

Approximately 55 paintings and works on paper are on display, including portraits, frontal nude figures, highly gestural group portraits, landscapes, and comparative works by Gerstl’s artistic contemporaries. A special gallery is devoted to Gerstl’s relationship with the leading Austrian composer Arnold Schönberg; the artist’s friendship with Schönberg abruptly ended in 1908 upon the disclosure of the love affair between Gerstl and Schönberg’s wife Mathilde. Although Gerstl’s extant body of work comprises only approximately 90 works, his groundbreaking style is central to the development of the Expressionist movement of fin-de-siècle Vienna.

A fully illustrated catalogue, published by Hirmer, accompanies the exhibition featuring contributions by leading scholars in the field, including Raymond Coffer, Jane Kallir, Diethard Leopold, Jill Lloyd, Ingrid Pfeiffer, Maria Sitte, and Karol Winiarczyk.

The Museum of Modern Art

Opens November 1, 2017

This presentation in the Museum’s fourth-floor collection galleries will focus exclusively on works made by artists in their mid to late careers. Spanning from the 1960s to today, the installation chronicles the many years of sustained experimentation, daring invention, and thoughtful reconsideration that distinguish an individual artist’s career long after his or her breakthrough moment.

Highlighting lesser-known works by prominent artists and key works by some less familiar names, Artists at Mid to Late Career provides an alternate view of the history of art over the last half century. All works are drawn from MoMA’s collection, with examples by Lee Bontecou, Louise Bourgeois, Beauford Delaney, Gego, Philip Guston, David Hammons, Jasper Johns, Alice Neel, Georgia O’Keeffe, Gerhard Richter, and many others.

Alice Neel (American, 1900–1984). Benny and Mary Ellen Andrews. 1972. Oil on canvas, 60 x 50″ (152.2 x 127 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, NY. Gift of Agnes Gund, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Arnold A. Saltzman Fund, and Larry Aldrich Foundation Fund (by exchange).

David Hammons (American, born 1943). Untitled. 2010. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas with plastic, 138 x 108 x 10″ (350.5 x 274.3 x 25.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, NY. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan L. Halpern and bequest of Richard S. Zeisler (both by exchange). Copyright © 2017 David Hammons.

Ed Clark (American, born 1926). Untitled. 2009. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 81 x 64 1/2″ (205.7 x 163.8 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, NY. Gift of Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin. Copyright © 2017 David Hammons.

Gego (Gertrud Goldschmidt) (Venezuelan, born Germany. 1912–1994). Drawing without Paper 84/25 and 84/26. 1984 and 1987. Enamel on wood and stainless steel wire, 23 5/8 x 34 5/8 x 16 3/4″ (60 x 88 x 40 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, NY. Gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros in honor of Susan and Glenn Lowry. Copyright © 2017 Fundación Gego.

Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986). From a Day with Juan II. 1977. Oil on canvas, 48 x 36″ (122 x 96 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, NY. Georgia O’Keeffe Bequest. Copyright © 2017 The Museum of Modern Art /Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Gerhard Richter (German, born 1932). Woods (5). 2005. Oil on canvas, 77 5/8 x 52″ (197.2 x 132.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, NY. Gift of Warren and Mitzi Eisenberg and Leonard and Susan Feinstein. Copyright © 2017 Gerhard Richter.

Philip Guston (American, born Canada. 1913–1980). Source. 1976. Oil on canvas, 6′ 3″ x 9′ 9″ (190.5 x 297.2 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, NY. Gift of Edward R. Broida in honor of Uncle Sidney Feldman. Copyright © 2017 The Estate of Philip Guston.

Roy Lichtenstein (American, born Canada. 1913–1980). Interior with Mobile. 1992. Oil and magna on canvas, 10′ 10″ x 14′ 3″ (330.2 x 434.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, NY. Enid A. Haupt Fund; gift of Agnes Gund, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, Michael and Judy Ovitz in honor of Roy and Dorothy Lichtenstein; and Anna Marie and Robert F. Shapiro.

The Museum of Modern Art

September 23, 2017–January 01, 2018

This exhibition surveys the career of the preeminent Dada and Surrealist artist Max Ernst (French and American, born Germany. 1891–1976), with particular emphasis on his ceaseless experimentation. Ernst began his pursuit of radical new techniques that went “beyond painting” to articulate the irrational and unexplainable in the wake of World War I, continuing through the advent and aftermath of World War II.

Featuring approximately 100 works drawn from the Museum’s collection, the exhibition includes paintings that challenged material and compositional conventions; collages and overpaintings utilizing found printed reproductions; frottages (rubbings); illustrated books and collage novels; sculptures of painted stone and bronze; and prints made using a range of techniques.

Several major, multipart projects represent key moments in Ernst’s long career, ranging from early Dada and Surrealist portfolios of the late 1910s and 1920s to his late masterpiece—a recent acquisition to MoMA’s collection

Max Ernst. Folio 10 from 65 Maximiliana or the Illegal Exercise of Astronomy (65 Maximiliana ou l’exercice illégal de l’astronomie). 1964. Illustrated book with twenty‑eight etchings (nine with aquatint) and six aquatints by Ernst and letterpress typographic designs by Ilia Zdanevich (Iliazd). Page: 16 1/16 × 12 1/16″ (40.8 × 30.7 cm). Publisher: Le Degré 41 (Iliazd), Paris. Printer: Georges Visat. Edition: 65. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of David S. Orentreich, MD, 2015. Photo: Peter Butler. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

—65 Maximiliana, ou l’exercice illégale de l’astronomie (1964). This illustrated book comprises 34 aquatints complemented by imaginative typographic designs and a secret hieroglyphic script of the artist’s own invention.

Max Ernst. Plate I from Let There Be Fashion, Down with Art (Fiat modes pereat ars). c. 1919. One from a portfolio of eight lithographs. Sheet: 17 3/16 x 12 9/16″ (43 x 31.9 cm). Publisher: Schlömilch Verlag, Cologne. Printer: unknown, Cologne. Edition: 60 announced; only a few known sets. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1935. Photo: John Wronn. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. The Hat Makes the Man (C’est le chapeau qui fait l’homme). 1920. Gouache, pencil, oil, and ink on cut‑and‑pasted printed paper on paper. 13 7/8 x 17 3/4″ (35.2 x 45.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1935. Photo: Paige Knight. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. The Gramineous Bicycle Garnished with Bells the Dappled Fire Damps and the Echinoderms Bending the Spine to Look for Caresses (La Biciclette graminée garnie de grelots les grisons grivelés et les échinodermes courbants l’échine pour quêter des caresses). c. 1921. Gouache, ink, and pencil on printed paper on paperboard. 29 1/4 x 39 1/4″ (74.3 x 99.7 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1937. Photo: Robert Gerhardt. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Woman, Old Man, and Flower (Weib, Greis und Blume). Paris 1923, Eaubonne 1924. Oil on canvas. 38 x 51 1/4″ (96.5 x 130.2 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1937. Photo: Kate Keller. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale (Deux enfants sont menáces par un rossignol). 1924. Oil on wood with painted wood elements and frame. 27 1/2 x 22 1/2 x 4 1/2″ (69.8 x 57.1 x 11.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase,1937. Photo: Kate Keller. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. The Wheel of Light (La Roue de la lumière) from Natural History (Histoire naturelle). c. 1925, published 1926. One from a portfolio of 34 collotypes after frottage. Sheet: 12 11/16 × 19 5/8″ (32.3 × 49.8 cm). Publisher: Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris. Printer: unknown. Edition: 300. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of James Thrall Soby, 1959. Photo: Peter Butler. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Rendezvous of Friends ‑ The Friends Become Flowers (Le rendez-vous des amis – Les amis se changent en fleurs). 1928. Oil on canvas. 51 1/8 x 63 3/4″ (129.8 x 161.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Samuel A. Berger and the artist (by exchange), 1973. Photo: Paige Knight. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Birds above the Forest (Oiseaux au-dessus de la forêt). 1929. Oil on canvas. 31 3/4 x 25 1/4″ (80.6 x 64.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Katherine S. Dreier Bequest, 1953. Photo: John Wronn. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Butterflies (Papillons). 1931. Cut‑and‑pasted printed and painted paper, cellophane, and pencil on paper. 19 3/4 x 25 1/2″ (50.2 x 65.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1935. Photo: John Wronn. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Loplop Introduces Members of the Surrealist Group (Loplop présente les membres du groupe surréaliste). 1931. Cut‑and‑pasted gelatin silver prints, cut‑and‑pasted printed paper, pencil, and pencil frottage on paper. 19 3/4 x 13 1/4″ (50.1 x 33.6 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase, 1935. Photo: John Wronn. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. One page from Oedipus (Oedipe), Volume IV, from A Week of Kindness or the Seven Capital Elements (Une Semaine de bonté ou les sept éléments capitaux). 1933–34, published 1934. Line block after collage, from a five-volume serial novel with 182 line blocks after collages. Page: 10 3/4 x 8 1/16″ (27 x 20.5 cm). Publisher: Éditions Jeanne Bucher, Paris. Printer: Georges Duval, Paris. Edition: 812. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1964. Photo: Robert Gerhardt. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Bird‑Head (Oiseau-tête). 1934‑35. Bronze. 20 5/8 x 15 x 10 3/8″ (52.4 x 38 x 27.3 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the James Thrall Soby Bequest, 1983. Photo: Thomas Griesel. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. Napoleon in the Wilderness. 1941. Oil on canvas. 18 1/4 x 15″ (46.3 x 38.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase and exchange, 1942. Photo: Thomas Griesel. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. The Blind Swimmer (Nageur aveugle). 1934. Oil on canvas. 36 3/8 x 29″ (92.3 x 73.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Mrs. Pierre Matisse and the Helena Rubenstein Fund,1968. Photo: Mali Olatunji. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Max Ernst. The King Playing with the Queen (Le roi jouant avec la reine). 1944 (cast 1954). Bronze. Overall: 38 1/2 x 33 x 20 1/2″ (97.8 x 83.8 x 52.1 cm); 20 1/2 x 18 1/2″ (52.1 x 47 cm) at base. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of D. and J. de Menil, 1955. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

National Gallery of Art,
October 8–December 3, 2017

Jean Honoré Fragonard, Young Girl Reading, c. 1769, oil on canvas,
National Gallery of Art, Washington,

Gift of Mrs. Mellon Bruce in memory of her father, Andrew W. Mellon

Combining art, fashion, science, and conservation, the revelatory exhibition Fragonard: The Fantasy Figures brings together—for the first time—a newly discovered drawing by Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) and some 14 of his paintings that have been identified with it including the Gallery's own Young Girl Reading (c. 1769).

Fragonard is considered among the most characteristic and important French painters of his era, and this series casts light on the development of his career, the identity of his sitters and patrons, and the significance of his innovative imagery. Fragonard: The Fantasy Figures and the fully illustrated catalog that accompanies it not only present new art-historical and scientific research into this series but also examine the 18th-century Parisian world in which these paintings were created. The exhibition may be seen only at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in the West Building, from October 8 through December 3, 2017.

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Sketches of Portraits, c. 1769

drawing

unframed: 23 x 35 cm (9 1/16 x 13 3/4 in.)

Private Collection, Paris

Covered with 18 thumbnail-sized sketches and apparently annotated in the rococo artist's own hand, the drawing now known as Sketches of Portraits emerged at a Paris auction in 2012 and upended several long-held assumptions about the fantasy figures—a series of rapidly executed, brightly colored paintings of lavishly costumed individuals.

"The first exhibition to unite the fantasy figures with the recently discovered drawing focuses on this aspect of Fragonard's production in a powerful and intimate way," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art, Washington. "We are grateful to the public and private collections, both here and abroad, that have generously lent to this exhibition, as well as to Lionel and Ariane Sauvage whose gift supported the catalog's publication."

Fragonard: The Fantasy Figures explores the many interpretations of this series in the context of the artist's career. Fragonard strove to create a specific portrait type that showcased the painterly skill for which he was renowned. The fantasy figures also enabled him to experiment and to refine his ideas of artistic reference and emulation. Created within the competitive atmosphere of the Parisian art world, these works were influenced by a range of events, artworks, and visitors to his studio.

The fantasy figures depict men and women posed at leisure or employed in various pursuits, such as acting, reading, writing, playing instruments, or singing. Wearing extravagant attire, these figures are dressed in what was known in 18th-century France as à l'espagnole (Spanish style)—plumed hats, slashed sleeves, ribbons, rosettes, ruffs, capes, and accents of red and black. Shaped by artistic imagination, these paintings pushed the boundaries of accepted figure painting at the time.

Exhibited for the first time is the newly discovered Sketches of Portraits (c. 1769), a thin sheet of paper with three rows of 18 small sketches—all but one are annotated with a name, 14 have been identified with one of Fragonard's painted fantasy figures, and four remain unknown. The emergence of Sketches of Portraits prompted a two-year investigation of Young Girl Reading, conducted as a collaborative effort by the Gallery's Yuriko Jackall, assistant curator of French paintings, John K. Delaney, senior imaging scientist, and Michael Swicklik, senior conservator of paintings. Published in the April 2015 issue of Burlington Magazine, the findings established Young Girl Reading as a part of the fantasy figure series and shed light upon Fragonard's approach to the ensemble as a whole.

Jean Honoré Fragonard

François-Henri, duc d'Harcourt, c. 1770

oil on canvas

overall: 81 x 65 cm (31 7/8 x 25 9/16 in.)

Private Collection

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Anne-François d'Harcourt, duc de Beuvron, c. 1770

oil on canvas

overall: 81.5 x 65 cm (32 1/16 x 25 9/16 in.)

Private Collection

Other works in the exhibition include the rarely lent, privately held portraits of the Harcourt brothers François-Henri, duc d'Harcourt (c. 1770) and Anne-François d'Harcourt, duc de Beuvron (c. 1770)—which are on view together for the first time since the 1987 exhibition Fragonard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Musée du Louvre—

Jean Honoré Fragonard

The Vestal, c. 1769–1771

oil on canvas

overall: 80 x 63 cm (31 1/2 x 24 13/16 in.)

with frame: 98 x 83 x 10 cm

Private Collection, courtesy Etienne Breton, Saint Honoré Art Consulting, Paris

as well as The Vestal (c. 1769–1771),

Jean Honoré Fragonard

The Actor, c. 1769

oil on canvas

overall: 81 x 65 cm (31 7/8 x 25 9/16 in.)

framed: 106.68 x 89.54 cm (42 x 35 1/4 in.)

Private Collection

The Actor (c. 1769),

Jean Honoré Fragonard

The Singer, c. 1769

oil on canvas

overall: 81 x 65 cm (31 7/8 x 25 9/16 in.)

Private Collection

and The Singer (c. 1769).

Jean Honoré Fragonard

M. de La Bretèche, c. 1769

oil on canvas

overall: 80 x 65 cm (31 1/2 x 25 9/16 in.)

framed: 112 x 87.5 cm (44 1/8 x 34 7/16 in.)

Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures, Paris

Also on view is the Louvre's M. de La Bretèche (c. 1769), which depicts the wealthy brother of one of Fragonard's most devoted patrons, Jean-Claude Richard, abbé de Saint-Non.

The exhibition is curated by Yuriko Jackall, assistant curator, department of French paintings, National Gallery of Art.

The 176-page, fully illustrated exhibition catalog includes an overview and technical examination by Yuriko Jackall with John K. Delaney and Michael Swicklik, all at the National Gallery of Art, and essays by Carole Blumenfeld, research associate at the Palais Fesch-Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Ajaccio; Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, fashion historian; Jean-Pierre Cuzin, former director of the department of paintings at the Musée du Louvre, Paris; Elodie Kong, an art historian specializing in the collecting habits of financiers in 18th-century Paris; and Satish Padiyar, senior lecturer in 19th-century European art at The Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

Also see Fragonard and the Fantasy Figure: Painting the Imagination

Book by Melissa Percival

Jean Honoré Fragonard

The Warrior, c. 1769

oil on canvas

overall: 81.5 x 65.4 cm (32 1/16 x 25 3/4 in.)

framed: 110.81 x 93.98 x 10.48 cm (43 5/8 x 37 x 4 1/8 in.)

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Image © Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA (photo by

Michael Agee)

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Woman with a Dog, c. 1769

oil on canvas

overall: 81.3 x 65.4 cm (32 x 25 3/4 in.)

framed: 106.7 x 90.2 x 9.5 cm (42 x 35 1/2 x 3 3/4 in.)

Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1937 (37.118)

Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image Source: Art Resource, NY

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Man in Costume, c. 1767-1768

oil on canvas

80.3 x 64.7 cm (31 5/8 x 25 1/2 in.)

The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Mary and Leigh Block in honor of John Maxon, 1977.123

Photography © The Art Institute of Chicago

Jean Honoré Fragonard

The Writer, c. 1769

oil on canvas

overall: 80.5 x 64.5 cm (31 11/16 x 25 3/8 in.)

framed: 115 x 91 cm (45 1/4 x 35 13/16 in.)

Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures, Paris

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Portrait of a Man, c. 1769

oil on canvas

overall: 85 x 65 cm (33 7/16 x 25 9/16 in.)

framed: 113 x 90.5 cm (44 1/2 x 35 5/8 in.)

Musée du Louvre, Département des Peintures, Paris

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Cavalier Seated by a Fountain, c. 1769

oil on canvas

overall: 94 x 74 cm (37 x 29 1/8 in.)

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, Bequest of Francesc Cambó, 1949

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Portrait of a Man, c. 1775

oil on canvas

overall: 72 x 59.5 cm (28 3/8 x 23 7/16 in.)

framed: 95.4 x 83.5 x 7.5 cm (37 9/16 x 32 7/8 x 2 15/16 in.)

Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris

National Museum of Oslo

3 March - 28 May 2017

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

14 July - 5 November 2017

In cooperation with the National Museum of Oslo, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart is presenting exceptional works of American graphic art of the period from 1960 to 1990.

Roy Lichtenstein, Sweet Dreams, Baby!, 1965, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Graphische Sammlung © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein/ VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 201

https://www.staatsgalerie.de/en/press/great-graphic-boom-engl/sgs.html

Printmaking had previously served primarily to make religious or political content accessible to a broad public and as an important means communication in other areas as well. In the early twentieth century it was above all the German Expressionists who devoted themselves to this technique quite extensively. Decades later, in the late 1950s, the U.S. then experienced a veritable “graphic boom”.
At this point in time, the most prominent artists of the American avant-garde – exponents of Abstract Expressionism, Hard Edge, Pop Art, Minimal Art and other currents – began experimenting and working with a wide variety of printmaking techniques.

Publishing companies specializing in printmaking – for example Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE) in New York, founded by Tatyana Grosman in 1957, or GEMINI G.E.L (Graphic Editions Limited) in Los Angeles, established in 1966 – played a special role, owing above all to the high standards they set for graphic art. Individual sheets, portfolios and artists’ books were produced in great numbers. Especially the Pop artists used printmaking as a means of responding to industrial mass production and the advertising language of the media.

The majority of the artists had already made names for themselves as painters. At the same time – following in the footprints of the pioneers of modern graphic art such as Paul Gaugin, Edvard Munch and Pablo Picasso – they employed above all lithography and screen printing, but also other printmaking techniques, to arrive at individual artistic formulations.

The exhibition will feature some 170 sheets offering impressively broad insight into the styles and manifestations of American printmaking and its establishment as an independent art form.
Organized by the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart in collaboration with the Nasjonalmuseet Oslo.

Works by 23 artists, both well-known and less familiar, are on display. Featured attractions include

Barnett Newman 1905-1970
P01027-44 Eighteen Cantos 1963-4
Series of eighteen lithographs of various sizes
Presented by Mrs Annalee Newman 1972

Tate Gallery,

Barnett Newman's major Cantos series (1964)

and Agnes Martin's On a Clear Day (1973), as well as Robert Rauschenberg's use of found objects and Jasper Johns's reworking of mundane subject matter such as flags and letters. Lithography and silk-screen prints were the media of choice for many artists, while Helen Frankenthaler, Donald Judd, and Brice Marden explored older techniques such as woodcuts and etching.

Roy Lichtenstein's famous Brushstroke is a natural inclusion here, as are

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Graphische Sammlung, Leihgabe 1968 Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, © 2017 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts,

Andy Warhol's portraits of Elizabeth Taylor and Jackie Kennedy. Other highlights include Warhol's Campbell's soup cans

and Louise Bourgeois's Ste Sebastienne.

Savarin, 1981, Jasper Johns given as a gift to the National Museum as a honor to Her Majesty Queen Sonja. Foto: Børre Høstland/Nasjonalmuseet

Artists represented:

Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), Barnett Newman (1905–1970), Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010), Agnes Martin (1912–2004), Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), Robert Motherwell (1915–1991), Sam Francis (1923–1994), Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015), Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997), Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008), Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011), Robert Indiana (*1928), Donald Judd (1928–1994), Cy Twombly (1928–2011), Andy Warhol (1928–1987), Jasper Johns (*1930), Lee Bontecou (*1931), John Baldessari (* 1931), Frank Stella (*1936), Ed Ruscha (*1937), Richard Serra (*1939), Bruce Nauman (*1941)

Sam Francis, The White Line (Die weiße Linie), 1960, Farblithographie auf elfenbeinfarbenem Papier, 90,5 x 63 cm, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart,

ALBERTINA | VIENNA, AUSTRIA
29 SEPTEMBER 2017 – 7 JANUARY 2018

This autumn, the Albertina will pay homage to Raphael with a major exhibition of some 170 paintings and drawings representative of nearly all of the artist's important projects.

Developed in cooperation with the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Raphael will offer a fresh look at the Renaissance master’s thought and composition method, based on an exploration of his entire career: from the early Umbrian period (up to 1504) to the years in Florence (1504/1505–1508) and finally to his time in Rome (1508/1509–1520).

Raphael is based on the Albertina’s own significant holdings by the artist, accompanied by exceptional loans of famous works from prominent institutions such as Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, London’s Royal Collection and National Gallery, Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Vatican Museums.

Alongside Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, Raphael completes the Renaissance’s great artistic triumvirate. What’s more, his world-famous drawings make this prematurely deceased master one of art history’s great draughtsmen, as well.

As a painter and architect who worked in Florence and Rome and for popes and princes, Raphael was a true universal genius of the High Renaissance who constantly sought to strike a balance between naturalist imitation and idealisation.

Raphael, Portrait of Bindo Altoviti, ca. 1514–1515. National Gallery, London

Raphael, Madonna of the Meadow, 1511

Raphael, The Esterhazy Madonna, 1508

Raphael, The Garvagh Madonna, 1511

Raphael, Colonna Madonna, 1508

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art
July 31, 2017-January 7 ,2018

Chagall: Fantasies for the Stage highlights the principal role that music and dance played in Chagall’s artistic practice. The performing arts were a significant source of inspiration for Chagall throughout his long career: he depicted musicians in many of his paintings, collaborated on set designs for the Ballet Russes in 1911, created murals and theatrical productions for the Moscow State Jewish Theater in the 1920s, and designed costumes and monumental sets for ballet and opera in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

The exhibition concentrates on Chagall’s four productions for the stage—the ballets

Aleko, set to music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1942):

Marc Chagall

Aleko. Costume design for the ballet Aleko

(1942)

Marc Chagall. Zemphira, costume design for Aleko (Scene IV). (1942

Finale of the Ballet "Aleko", 1942 - Marc Chagall

Marc Chagall. Aleko and Zemphira by moonlight, 1942, gouache and pencil on paper

The Carnival, scene II of the Ballet "Aleko", 1942 - Marc Chagall

The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky (1945):

Chagall's study for The Firebird ballet curtain

Marc Chagall, 'Model for the curtain in the first act of "The Firebird"

Daphnis and Chloé by Maurice Ravel (1958):

Marc Chagall The Nymphs' Cave, from Daphnis and Chloe

Marc Chagall, Daphnis and Lycenion, from Daphnis and Chloe

Marc Chagall, "Chloe is carried off by the Methymneans", from "Daphnis and Chloe".

and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute (1967):

The exhibition features the artist’s vibrant costumes and set designs—some of which have never been exhibited since they appeared on stage—and also presents a selection of iconic paintings depicting musicians and lyrical scenes, numerous works on paper, and documentary footage of original performances.

In bringing these pieces together, Chagall: Fantasies for the Stage communicates the moving and celebratory power of music and art, and spotlights this important aspect of the artist’s career.

Organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Initiated by the Cité de la musique - Philharmonie de Paris, and La Piscine - Musée d'art et d'industrie André Diligent, Roubaix, with the support of the Chagall estate.

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

17 October 2017 to 21 January 2018

The exhibition Picasso / Lautrec analyses the relationship between the early work of Pablo Picasso and that of the French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

La Rousse in a White Blouse, 1889

In 1899, the young Picasso first became associated with Els Quatre Gats, a group of avant-garde writers and artists in Barcelona who were close to modernism and the decadent movement and were influenced by Toulouse-Lautrec, among others. However, it was between 1900 and 1904, at the time when Picasso was living for periods in Paris prior to permanently moving there, that he made contact with the work of the Post-impressionists such as Lautrec.

Pablo Picasso, The Frugal Meal, 1904.

During those years Picasso’s subject matter focused on the city’s low life and on the atmosphere of the night-time café-concerts. His painting was clearly influenced at this point by Lautrec’s, as this exhibition will reveal.

Curator: Francisco Calvo Serraller and Paloma Alarcó.

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Gustav Klimt, "The Virgin," 1913. Oil on canvas, 74 3/4 x 78 3/4 in. (190 x 200 cm). National Gallery Prague, Inv. 04512 © 2017 National Gallery in Prague

Gustav Klimt, "The Virgin," 1913. Oil on canvas, 74 3/4 x 78 3/4 in. (190 x 200 cm). National Gallery Prague, Inv. 04512 © 2017 National Gallery in Prague
(Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco will present KLIMT & RODIN: An Artistic Encounter, opening at the Legion of Honor in October, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the deaths of Auguste Rodin in November 1917 and Gustav Klimt in February 1918.

The exhibition will celebrate the legacies of these two pioneers, who each broke the reigning aesthetic boundaries of the time to find new vocabularies and create powerful agendas for modern painting and sculpture. Arranged in dialogue with the Legion of Honor’s acclaimed collection of Rodin works, KLIMT & RODIN will provide an incredibly rare opportunity for American audiences to see a range of signature works by the Austrian master Klimt, many of which will travel to the U.S. for the first time.

“This will be an exceptional and breathtaking opportunity to experience the art of Gustav Klimt in San Francisco,” says Max Hollein, Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “And as a native Viennese, I am especially proud that we are able to present the beloved works by Klimt at the Legion of Honor. With our important Rodin collection, we are perfectly situated to engage Klimt’s masterpieces in dialogue with Rodin’s oeuvre.”

This first major Klimt exhibition on the West Coast will survey the span of the artist’s practice. Among the 36 works by Klimt that will be exhibited are iconic paintings, such as

Nuda Veritas (1899), Klimt’s response to the conservative views of the art establishment, on loan from the Österreichisches Theatermuseum;

Upper Austrian Farmhouse (1911), in his landscape style, loaned by the Belvedere in Vienna;

Portrait of Ria Munk III (1917) from the Lewis Collection;

and The Virgin (1913), (above) loaned from the National Gallery in Prague, in which Klimt’s use of color is on full display.

“This exhibition will provide an insight into leading art developments in Europe at the turn of the century through the lens of two of its most important artists,” adds curator Tobias G. Natter. “It marks the very first time a survey of Klimt’s works with some of his most outstanding masterpieces will be exhibited in California.”

Setting the context for the exhibition will be two seven-foot-tall panels reproduced from one of Klimt’s most celebrated works, the

Beethoven Frieze (1902).

The exhibition copy of the frieze will give American audiences a special opportunity to experience the iconic work outside of Vienna. Widely regarded as the start of Klimt’s “golden period”, the frieze was painted for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition in celebration of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and illustrates the human desire for happiness in a tempestuous world marked by suffering.

A key moment of the exhibition will be the meeting between Klimt and Rodin in 1902. While Klimt, the president of the Vienna Secession, was still developing his signature style, Rodin was at the peak of his international fame. Vienna was honored to welcome the sculptor, who had exhibited several key works at the Vienna Secession — one of the most innovative manifestations of Viennese Modernism — the year prior. Rodin visited the exhibition in person and was fascinated by its temple-like space and the groundbreaking Beethoven Frieze, which lead to a meeting between the two artists. KLIMT & RODIN will stage another encounter between the two artists for the first time in more than a century.

“Rodin’s work represents modernity in sculpture and the rejection of the academic tradition, and has inspired admirers and followers all over the world.” states Martin Chapman, curator in charge of European decorative arts and sculpture at the Fine Arts Museums. “It’s a great pleasure to be able to show our extraordinary holdings with a rich trove of paintings and sketches by Klimt from significant collections around the world.”

Approximately 25 sculptures and works on paper by Rodin from the Fine Arts Museums’ collection will provide visual dialogues with the works by Klimt. The exhibition is thematically arranged around the Vienna Secession, Rodin’s 1901 exhibition in Vienna, Rodin’s 1902 visit to Vienna, Klimt’s landscapes and Rodin’s surfaces, and the depiction of women  for both artists an eternal source of inspiration  exploring shared touch points and developments in the two artists’ practices throughout.

Klimt’s portrait style will be represented through his modern paintings of society women, such as

Portrait of Sonja Knips (1898),

Johanna Staude (1917-18),

and The Black Feathered Hat (1910),

the latter from a period when the French influence in Klimt’s work was particularly strong.

Also on view will be a number of erotic drawings, highlighting his preoccupation with the female body. Klimt’s landscape paintings, revealing his independence of form, represent another significant genre in the exhibition; from the early impressionist

On Lake Attersee (1900),

to the later Italian Garden Landscape (1913),

engaging more expressive brushwork and color.

The Legion of Honor is the sole venue for the exhibition, which will be on view from October 14, 2017 through January 28, 2018. The exhibition is guest curated by Dr. Tobias G. Natter; leading Klimt scholar, previous director of the Leopold Museum and former curator in chief at the Belvedere in Vienna, with contribution from Martin Chapman, curator in charge of European decorative arts and sculpture at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Gustav Klimt, "Portrait of Ria Munk III (Bildnis Ria Munk III)," 1917 (unfinished). Oil on canvas, 180 x 90 cm. The Lewis Collection
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Auguste Rodin, "The Kiss," 1881–1882 (reduced 1904 [no. 4], cast ca. 1914). Bronze, 23 1/4 x 14 1/4 x 14 7/8 in. (59.1 x 36.2 x 37.9 cm). Inscribed: Rodin. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Gift of Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, 1941.34.8
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Ordrupgaard
July 14th to August 27th 2017

In the exhibition: Masterpieces. From Degas to Hammershøi Ordrupgaard offers a wide selection of masterpieces from the museum’s French and Danish collection. In the exhibition you will be able to experience Ordrupgaard’s crown jewels by masters such as Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Auguste Rodin, Paul Gauguin, Vilhelm Hammershøi and several others.

As something quite unique, you will also be able to see Ordrupgaard’s extensive collection of pastels – works that are rarely exhibited due to their highly light-sensitive and fragile nature. These include Degas’ much loved, masterful depictions of ballerinas in the rehearsal room, together with portraits by Renoir and Manet of Parisians and life in the French metropolis in the late 1800s.

Degas the alchemist

From the 1880s on, pastel became Degas’ preferred medium, and towards the end of his working life he produced very few oil paintings. Degas went his own way; he tested and challenged the possibilities of the pastel technique, experimented with effects, and developed new, radical methods. While his colleagues were focusing on the effects of natural light, Degas was captivated by the powerful artificial lights of the theatre, opera and ballet. The soft, powder-like crayon was ideally suited to the artist’s momentary depictions of the ballet, where he gave vibrant form to structures and to the shimmering of light on surfaces. His interest in ballet intensified from 1870 on, and Degas was eventually to create no less than 1,500 works with dancers as the motif. Ordrupgaard’s collection contains a wide range of the famous pastels, which now, for the first time in three years, will be shown to the public.

1910 · Edgar Degas.

Revisiting Hammershøi

The Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916) is considered to be one of the most original talents of his day, and his works appeal greatly to the contemporary viewer. He is especially known for his poetic, highly evocative interiors. Following Ordrupgaard’s highly popular exhibition At Home with Hammershøi from 2016, the public will now have an opportunity to revisit a string of Hammershøi’s most iconic works, including the major work

Dust Motes Dancing in Sunbeams, which Hammershøi painted in 1900. The exhibition also includes a wide range of Ordrupgaard’s own works by Hammershøi which were not shown in At Home with Hammershøi, as they were on loan to museums abroad at the time.

Masterpieces. From Degas to Hammershøi will be on view from July 14th to August 27th 2017.

Showcasing the finest historic and contemporary castle artists and combining history with art, Capture the Castle at Southampton City Art Gallery is the first ever large-scale art exhibition on the subject of British castles. It conjures the mystique, excitement and prestige of the castle from Iron Age hill forts to Victorian reproductions and fantasy castles. It includes famous and rarely seen works from public and private collections, including loans from Tate, The British Museum, V&A, the Government Art Collection and from the collections of major artists.

J.M.W. Turner, Norham Castle, on the River Tweed, 1822-3, Tate Collection, accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856 © Tate, London, 2017

Steeped in history and legend, these extraordinary buildings exude a powerful and brooding presence. They conjure knights in shining armour, high-born heroines, evil deeds and deep dungeons, high adventure and royal intrigue. The first sight of a great Medieval castle such as Conwy, Harlech or Dover can be a spine-tingling moment because of their exceptional visual wow factor.

Sebastian Pether, Moonlight Scene, Southampton (Southampton Castle)
Southampton Maritime and Local History Collection

Turner, Girtin, Cotman, Ibbetson, Sandby, Varley and many others travelled to castles throughout Britain in the search of the Picturesque. Castles, often sited in spectacular locations, were the perfect subject for the Romantic movement of the early 19th century that embraced the heroic past. Castles have been equally inspiring to modern-day artists and the exhibition includes work by over 25 contemporary artists including Christopher Le Brun (President of the Royal Academy of Arts), Alan Rankle, Norman Ackroyd RA, Alan Lee and David Gentleman.

Wardour Castle

The exhibition includes a fully illustrated catalogue, which has been generously sponsored by the Punter Southall Group, and runs until 2 September 2017.

Augustus William Enness (1876–1948) · Southampton City Art Gallery. Ludlow Castle

National Gallery of Art
September 3, 2017, through January 28, 2018

In the second half of the 19th century, advances in physics, electromagnetic radiation theory, and the optical sciences provoked new thought about the physical as well as the spiritual worlds. Aspects of that thought are revealed in Edvard Munch: Color in Context, an exhibition of 21 prints that considers the choice, combinations, and meaning of color in light of spiritualist principles. Informed by popular manuals that explained the science of color and by theosophical writings on the visual and physical power of color, Edvard Munch (1863–1944) created works that are not just strikingly personal but also are charged with specific associations. Edvard Munch will be on view in the West Building from September 3, 2017, through January 28, 2018.

The majority of the prints in the exhibition come from the Epstein Family Collection, the largest and finest gathering of the artist's graphic work outside of his native Norway. Their holdings are being steadily donated to the Gallery.

"We are indebted to the Epstein family for their extraordinary commitment to the Gallery and to the understanding of Edvard Munch's art," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "It is an honor to dedicate this exhibition to the memory of Lionel Epstein, who passed away earlier this year."

The Gallery has presented seven exhibitions on Munch: Woodcuts, Lithographs, and Etchings from Paul Gauguin and Edvard Munch (1947); Prints by Edvard Munch from the Rosenwald Collection (1972); "The Sick Girl" by Edvard Munch (1975); Edvard Munch: Symbols and Images (1978); Edvard Munch: Master Prints from the Epstein Family Collection (1990); Edvard Munch: Master Prints (2010); and Edvard Munch: A 150th Anniversary Tribute (2013).

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Early in his life, Munch was exposed to spiritualism and aural concepts that became popular on an international scale at the end of the 19th century. His childhood vicar was the well-known spiritualist Reverend E. F. B. Horn. Additionally, as a young artist in Oslo, Norway, Munch would meet his friends directly across the street from traveling medium A. Stojohann's "Scientific Public Library." Given such exposure, Munch would have been open to the notion of spiritual power, four-dimensional planes, and invisible forces. It is known that he believed he could see energies radiating from specific colors.

Many of Munch's contemporaries, including Paul Gauguin (1848–1903), Maurice Denis (1870–1943), and Odilon Redon (1840–1916), were well aware of these new philosophies, and their work bears some general relation to them. In Munch's use of color, which intensified psychological and expressive meaning, the correlation with theosophical theories and ideas is specific.

The exhibition is curated by Jonathan Bober, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings, and Mollie Berger, curatorial assistant in the department of prints and drawings, National Gallery of Art.

Edvard Munch

Self-Portrait, 1895

lithograph

sheet: 45.6 x 31.5 cm (17 15/16 x 12 3/8 in.)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection

Edvard Munch

Melancholy III (Evening; On the Beach), 1901

color woodcut

framed: 70.17 x 80.33 x 4.45 cm (27 5/8 x 31 5/8 x 1 3/4 in.)

Epstein Family Collection

Edvard Munch

Melancholy (Woman on the Shore), 1898

color woodcut

framed: 60.01 x 65.09 x 3.18 cm (23 5/8 x 25 5/8 x 1 1/4 in.)

Epstein Family Collection

Edvard Munch

The Sin, 1902

color lithograph from two stones in beige, ochre and green

overall: 69.53 x 40.01 cm (27 3/8 x 15 3/4 in.)

framed: 102.55 x 69.22 x 3.97 cm (40 3/8 x 27 1/4 x 1 9/16 in.)

Epstein Family Collection

Edvard Munch

The Vampire (Vampyr), 1895

color lithograph and woodcut with watercolor [trial proof]

sheet: 38.9 x 55.7 cm (15 5/16 x 21 15/16 in.)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund and Gift of Lionel C. Epstein

Edvard Munch

Anxiety, 1896

color lithograph printed in black and red

overall: 41.28 x 38.74 cm (16 1/4 x 15 1/4 in.)

Epstein Family Collection

Edvard Munch

Moonlight I, 1896

color woodcut

overall: 41.2 x 47.5 cm (16 1/4 x 18 11/16 in.)

framed: 70.96 x 76.99 x 3.81 cm (27 15/16 x 30 5/16 x 1 1/2 in.)

Epstein Family Collection

Edvard Munch

Girl's Head Against the Shore, 1899

color woodcut

framed: 78.11 x 67.63 x 3.49 cm (30 3/4 x 26 5/8 x 1 3/8 in.)

Epstein Family Collection

Edvard Munch

Man's Head in Woman's Hair (Mannerkopf in Frauenharr), 1896

color woodcut

sheet: 55.9 x 38.8 cm (22 x 15 1/4 in.)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, Rosenwald Collection

Edvard Munch

The Kiss in the Field, 1943

woodcut printed in red-brown with watercolor on wove paper

block: 40.4 x 49 cm (15 7/8 x 19 5/16 in.)

overall: 53.8 x 64.1 cm (21 3/16 x 25 1/4 in.)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Ruth Cole Kainen

Edvard Munch

Madonna, 1895, printed 1913/1914

color lithograph

overall: 60.01 x 44.13 cm (23 5/8 x 17 3/8 in.)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of The Epstein Family Collection

Edvard Munch

Old Man Praying, 1902

color woodcut

framed: 84.46 x 64.14 x 3.81 cm (33 1/4 x 25 1/4 x 1 1/2 in.)

Epstein Family Collection

Edvard Munch

Encounter in Space, 1902

etching and aquatint

framed: 64.61 x 55.56 x 2.7 cm (25 7/16 x 21 7/8 x 1 1/16 in.)

Epstein Family Collection

Edvard Munch

Head by Head, 1905

color woodcut

framed: 68.58 x 84.14 x 3.18 cm (27 x 33 1/8 x 1 1/4 in.)

Epstein Family Collection

September 16, 2017–January 7, 2018

Opening September 16, 2017 at the Montclair Art Museum (MAM), Charles E. Burchfield: Weather Event is an exhibition of more than 40 of the renowned artist’s lyrical landscape watercolors and drawings that trigger the memories and moods inspired by weather and climate change. His works invite the viewer to experience through the artist’s eyes the environments in Ohio and New York south of Lake Erie. The exhibition will be on view through January 7, 2018.

Charles E. Burchfield (1893–1967), Sunburst, 1929–31, oil on canvas. The Charles Rand Penney Collection of Works by Charles E. Burchfield, 1994, 19994:001.052. Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation and the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

Individual weather events are examined through both an artistic and a scientific lens. Weather refers to the state of the atmosphere for a given time and place, while climate is the sum of weather events that describes a place or region. Burchfield’s works capture both, with “all day sketches” conveying snapshots of past weather on specific days as well as later watercolors painted over a number of years conveying the character of a place.

Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)
November Storm, 1950
Watercolor on paper
Burchfield Penney Art Center
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sherlock A. Herrick, Jr., 2001
Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation and the Burchfield Penney Art Center
Courtesy: The artist and Montclair Art Museum

The exhibition is organized around themes that inspired Burchfield: the sky, changing seasons, haloed moons, sunbursts and cloudbursts, heat waves, and wild weather. The works convey the artist’s emotional responses to the weather and his desire to portray the invisible aspects of nature, such as sounds and heat waves, by means of visible signs and symbols.

Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)
July Sunlight Pouring Down, 1952
Watercolor on paper
On permanent loan to the Burchfield Penney Art Center
Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation and the Burchfield Penney Art Center
Courtesy: The artist and Montclair Art Museum

“Burchfield saw nature as a source of spirituality and was especially awed by the changing of the seasons,” said Gail Stavitsky, MAM chief curator. “His works are a reminder that we constantly experience a glorious transformation of the seasons, and a celebration of the skies.”

Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)
Fireflies and Lightning, (1964-65)
Watercolor, graphite and white conté crayon with masking tape on joined paper mounted on board
Burchfield Penney Art Center
Purchase made possible with funds from M&T Bank, an anonymous donor, William P. and A. Laura Brosnahan, the Vogt Family Foundation and the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, 1998
Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation and the Burchfield Penney Art Center

Courtesy: The artist and Montclair Art Museum

Charles E. Burchfield (1893–1967) was one of the great visionary modern painters of the 20th century. Burchfield started his artistic career at the Cleveland School of the Arts in 1915. His artistic influences include the stylized, simplified forms and vibrant colors in Japanese prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige, Chinese scroll paintings, and Cleveland modernists Henry Keller and William Sommer. Moving to Buffalo in 1921, Burchfield’s foray into realism at this time was inspired by what he saw as the uniquely American aspects and romantic picturesque qualities of Buffalo and its environs. In the 1940s, Burchfield returned to more abstract forms of his earlier landscapes, following this artistic vision until the end of his life.

Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)
Early Spring Sunlight, 1950
Watercolor and charcoal on paper mounted on board
Burchfield Penney Art Center
Gift of Dr. Meyer H. and Ann S. Riwchun, 2000
Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation and the Burchfield Penney Art Center
Courtesy: The artist and Montclair Art Museum

This exhibition was organized by The Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY. It was curated by Tullis Johnson, curator and manager of archives at The Burchfield Penney Art Center, and Dr. Stephen Vermette, climatologist and professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at Buffalo State College. It is arranged at the Montclair Art Museum by Gail Stavitsky, MAM chief curator.

Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967)
Clearing Sky, July 1, 1917
Watercolor on paper
The Charles Rand Penney Collection of Works by Charles E. Burchfield, 1994
Reproduced with permission from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation and the Burchfield Penney Art Center

Courtesy: The artist and Montclair Art Museum

“To me, the artist, interested chiefly in weather—all weather is beautiful, and full of powerful motion.” — Charles E. Burchfield, 1943

The Gallery, Winchester Discovery Centre
5 August – 15 October 2017,

Sainsbury Gallery, Willis Museum, Basingstoke

21 October – 16 December 2017,

In the weeks prior to his death, J.M.W. Turner is said to have declared (to John Ruskin) ‘The Sun is God’– what he meant by this, no-one really knows, but what is not in any doubt is the central role that the sun played in Turner’s lifelong obsession with light and how to paint it.

Turner and the Sun, an exhibition curated by Hampshire Cultural Trust, will be the first ever to be devoted solely to the artist’s lifelong obsession with the sun. Whether it is the soft light of dawn, the uncompromising brilliance of midday or the technicolour vibrancy of sunset, his light-drenched landscapes bear testimony to the central role that the sun assumed in Turner’s art. Through twelve generous loans from Tate Britain – the majority of which are rarely on public display – this focused exhibition will consider how the artist repeatedly explored the transformative effects of sunlight and sought to capture its vivid hues in paint.

The sun appears in many different guises in Turner’s work. Sometimes it is something very natural and elemental, at others it is more mysterious and mystical. Turner was working in an era when the sun - what it was, what it was made of and the source of its power - was still a source of mystery and wonder. The Royal Society was housed in the same building as the Royal Academy, and it is known that Turner attended lectures and was acquainted with scientists such as Faraday and Somerville. It is therefore possible that he was influenced by new scientific theories about the sun when he tried to depict it. Certainly, Turner’s own Eclipse Sketchbook of 1804 – which will be featured in the exhibition - shows him recording visual data of an atmospheric effect on the spot.

Turner also mined ancient mythology for inspiration. The tale of Regulus, the Roman general punished by having his eyelids cut off and thus made to stare at the sun, is echoed by the artist replicating the effect of solar glare in paint, while the stories of Apollo and the Python and Chryses both feature the Greek sun god, Apollo.

Given his place in the vanguard of Romanticism, Turner was also interested in poetry and wrote his own pastoral verse. He would often acclaim the life-giving energy of the sun and bemoan its absence during Winter: ‘The long-lost Sun below the horizon drawn, ‘Tis twilight dim no crimson blush of morn’ and ‘as wild Thyme sweet on sunny bank, that morn’s first ray delighted drank.’

Highlights of Turner and the Sun include

Sun Setting over a Lake (c 1840, Tate) an unfinished but highly vivid depiction of a sunset. At first, the viewer tries to discern behind what is, possibly, Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, but what soon becomes evident, is that the principal subject of the painting is the light and the way it is reflected in the water and gilds the sky and clouds above.

A charming example of Turner painting rays of sunlight emanating from the centre of the composition can be seen in

The Lake, Petworth, Sunset; Sample Study (c.1827-8, Tate), which is one of a series of six sample studies made for the four finished canvases for Petworth House.

Venice: The Giudecca Canal, Looking Towards Fusina at Sunset (1840, Tate)

The popularity of the Grand Tour and the enduring appeal of Venice created a lucrative and artistically important opportunity for Turner in his late career.

Going to the Ball (San Martino) , exhibited 1864, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 – 1851). Tate: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856. Photo © Tate, London 2017.

In Going to the Ball (San Martino) (exhibited 1846, Tate), we see boats taking Venetian revellers to a masque ball against the backdrop of a golden cityscape. This was Turner’s last painting of Venice and was in his studio at the time of his death in 1851.

Sunset: A Fish Market on the Beach ,c.1835. Copyright Tate, London, 2015.

Some of Turner’s most acutely observed images of the sun are his informal, private exercises in watercolour and experiments with wash and colour. Swiftly executed, sometimes in batches, they capture transient effects where the sky is utterly dominated by the effects of the sun. A selection of these will be seen in the exhibition, and they are normally only viewed by appointment.

Exhibition curator Nicola Moorby said: “We all know that Turner is the great painter of the sun, but what is particularly interesting is trying to analyse why.”

She continues:“One of the reasons he is such an exciting and inspirational painter is because he has a very experimental approach to technique. In order to try and replicate the effects of the sun in paint, he uses a whole range of visual tricks and devices. For example, we often seen him juxtaposing the lightest area of a composition with something very dark to heighten the contrast. He uses arcs, orbs, radiating circles of colour, broken brushstrokes, textured oil paint, seamless watercolour wash – sometimes he depicts sunlight as something very solid and physical, at other times it is a dazzling glare that we can’t properly see. Turner doesn’t just try to paint the sun. He seems to want to actually try and replicate its energy and light so that it shines out of his pictures.”

Janet Owen, Chief Executive of Hampshire Cultural Trust, says: “By combining naturalistic observation with imaginative flights of fancy, Turner’s light-drenched landscapes encapsulate the elemental force of his art and remain as dazzling today as they were for a contemporary audience. We are thrilled to be able to shine a spotlight on them here in Hampshire.”

Pallant House Gallery
1 July – 1 October 2017

Pallant House Gallery presents a major exhibition on the British artist John Minton (1917 – 1957), marking the centenary of his birth and 60 years since his death. It explores the artist’s achievements far beyond his reputation as a leading illustrator and influential teacher, spanning:
Evocative wartime landscapes, including views of London, rooting him firmly in the Neo-Romantic tradition.

Exotic subject matter in a new colour palette inspired by travel to Corsica, Jamaica, and Spain, including the newly rediscovered

John Minton, Jamaican Village (detail), 1951, Oil on canvas, private collection, photograph © 2016 Christie's Images Limited/ Bridgeman Images © Royal College of Art

‘Jamaican Village’ (1951) .

Figurative work including portraits of young male students and friends that express something of Minton’s experience as a leading gay artist in the 1940s and 1950s. These have added poignancy as 2017 marks 50 years since the decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales.
Book illustrations, posters and lithographs, showing his position as a leading post-war illustrator.
Ambitious paintings exploring historic and current events, as he sought a new context for history painting in an increasingly abstract art world.

STORMY DAY, CORNWALL 1946

John Minton (1917 – 1957)

Minton was a Bohemian figure in London during the 1940s and 50s who counted artists such as Lucian Freud and Keith Vaughan in his circle, and a following of Camberwell School of Art and Royal College of Art students known as ‘Johnny’s Circus’. Often the life and soul of a party but also plagued by self-doubt, his work reflected his complex character.

RECOLLECTION OF WALES 1944

John Minton (1917 – 1957)

The exhibition opens with Minton’s evocative wartime landscapes, including moving depictions of post-war London, which gained him the moniker ‘urban romantic’. Placing him firmly within the context of Neo-Romanticism in Britain, it explores the influence of the 19^th century visionary Samuel Palmer as well as that of his contemporaries including the Polish émigré Jankel Adler, and also Keith Vaughan, Michael Ayrton, Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde, all of whom he shared a home with during the 1950s.

Extensive travels to Europe and the Caribbean in the late 1940s and early 1950s offered Minton exotic subject matter that was an antidote to the reality of post-war Britain. With financial support from the publisher John Lehmann and a commission to illustrate the travel title ‘Time was Away’, Minton travelled to Corsica with the poet Alan Ross. It was for Lehmann that Minton produced illustrations for Elizabeth David’s much-revered cookbook ‘A Book of Mediterranean Food’ in 1950. The exhibition brings together original designs for these and other publications, including Treasure Island, and The Leader magazine, showing how Minton's commercial work was central to his fine art practice.

In 1951, a three-month trip to Jamaica inspired a new colour palette of sharp, acid colours and presented the artist with a backdrop of political and racial tension that mirrored his own search for equilibrium. This disquiet is evident in the recently rediscovered ‘Jamaican Village’ (1951) - this huge mural painting, first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1951 and gifted to fellow Royal College of Art tutor Pf. John Morris Wood, resurfaced for the first time in 65 years at a Christie’s sale in 2016. Thought to have been intended for the walls of legendary London clubs The Gargoyle or the Colony Room, this is the painting’s first showing in a public institution since 1951.

The second half of the exhibition focusses on Minton’s figurative paintings which demonstrate a remarkable skill in draftsmanship. In many, the artist’s roots in illustration are visible in the use of black paint and outlining. Minton’s sensitive and often psychologically intense portraits of young men, some of them his students, as in David Tindle, and some his lovers, as in Raymond Ray, can be analysed in relation to the artists’ own tortured homosexuality. Minton did not keep his sexuality secret, but battled with the stigma and risk attached to being gay at a time before the Wolfenden Report in 1957 and the legalisation of homosexuality in 1967. The 50-year anniversary of the decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales in 2017 brings added poignancy to the exhibition.

In the late 1950s Minton increasingly felt out of step with the rising interest in abstract art. The exhibition culminates with a group of paintings depicting historic and current events – the death of Nelson and that of the musician James Dean - in his attempt to find a modern form of history painting, a genre which had become deeply unfashionable. It was perhaps this feeling of being left behind that contributed to his suicide in 1957, aged just 40.

The exhibition is curated by Simon Martin, Director of Pallant House Gallery, and Frances Spalding, art historian and biographer of Minton.

John Minton: A Centenary

An illustrated book by the curators, adding significantly to the critical discourse on John Minton, accompanies the exhibition and is available in the Pallant Bookshop.

The exhibition is complemented by a display of paintings by William Coldstream, who also taught at the Royal College of Art alongside Minton. An exhibition of John Minton’s friends and contemporaries in the Neo-Romantic movement in the historic townhouse will provide further context to the narrative of Minton’s life and career.

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About Pallant House Gallery: Located in the heart of historic Chichester on the south coast, Pallant House Gallery houses one of the most significant collections of Modern British art in the country. Acclaimed for its innovative exhibitions and exemplary Learning and Community programme, the Gallery has won numerous awards since re-opening in 2006. www.pallant.org.uk.

Meadows Museum, Dallas

AUGUST 6-NOVEMBER 5, 2017

Nicole Atzbach, “Picasso/Rivera: Still Life and the Precedence of Form,” At the Meadows, Spring 2017, pp. 9–12:

During the run of his first solo exhibition at the Paris gallery of Berthe Weill in spring 1914, Mexican artist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) had an opportunity to visit Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) in his Paris studio. Rivera recounts this solemn rite of passage:

I went to Picasso’s studio intensely keyed up to meet Our Lord, Jesus Christ.... As for the man...
a luminous atmosphere seemed to surround him.... Picasso asked me to stay and have lunch with him, after which he went back with me to my studio. There he asked to see everything I had done from beginning to end....[W]e had dinner together and stayed up practically the whole night talking. Our thesis was Cubism–what it was trying to accomplish, what it had already done, and what future it had as a “new” art form.

–from D. Rivera, My Art, My Life

By late summer of 1915, much had changed within the Parisian artistic landscape from just the year before. Many artists had deserted the city, having been conscripted to serve in the First World War. Those who remained, such as Juan Gris and María Blanchard, were finding their own way with Cubism, while Rivera now had a bone to pick with Picasso, whom he previously professed to revere.

The source of Rivera’s ire was the perceived semblance between his 1915 Zapatista Landscape (The Guerrilla) and Picasso’s Seated Man (1915-16), which in its first iteration–as seen by Rivera in another visit to Picasso’s studio in August 1915–was known as Man Seated in Shrubbery. Rivera noted acute similarities between his canvas and that of the early state of Picasso’s work; namely, both works featured a similarly structured still life set outdoors. The Mexican artist’s very specific complaint was his former mentor’s liberal borrowing of Rivera’s formulaic foliage–scumbled patches of green and white paint on a dark ground.

The rumblings of Picasso’s plagiarism stirred some paranoia in the artistic coterie of Montparnasse, causing some to close their studio doors to the Spanish artist and to each other. Some of this concern was more mock than genuine; Jean Cocteau, poet, designer, and recent friend of Picasso, recalled “one week when everybody was whispering and wondering who had stolen Rivera’s formula for painting trees by scumbling green on black.”

Rivera’s widely broadcast complaint may have incited Picasso’s significant alteration of Seated Man (he painted out much of the disputed greenery), though in Rivera’s eyes this perceived plagiarism was the ultimate affront fol- lowing a number of instances that the Spaniard had riffed on Rivera. Picasso/Rivera: Still Life and the Precedence of Form takes as its point of departure another case study of the two artists’ works: Picasso’s Still Life in a Landscape (1915) at the Meadows, which will be displayed for the first time with Rivera’s Still Life with Gray Bowl (Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, Austin), painted in the same year. Exhibited in close proximity, these two paintings together encapsulate the two artists’ storied overlapping of themes and motif appropriation during that period.

Echoing key elements of Rivera’s canvas, Picasso’s still life features the familiar foliage devised by Rivera as well as a slice of sky above. The compositional similarities of these two works seem to extend beyond mere artistic rivalry, pointing to a common theme that both Picasso and Rivera were actively exploring in 1915: a still life set outdoors. Perhaps during their discussion at their initial meeting in 1914 about the future of Cubism, Picasso and/or Rivera thought to take the “‘new’ art form” to the past–to the Renaissance idea of painting as a window on the world.

10 upcoming exhibitions

With Still Life in a Landscape, Picasso seems to be following the lead of Henri Matisse’s iconic Open Window, Collioure (1905). Picasso playfully posits a thoroughly Cubist composition–marked by multiple points of perspective and the fracturing of objects in rejection of traditional pictorial conventions–within a metaphorical frame conceived by fifteenth-century theorist Leon Battista Alberti that, prior to the age of Cubism (or

more precisely, Paul Cézanne), would have presented a composition marked by linear perspective and mimetic representation. The juxtaposition of such diametrically opposed ideas fits perfectly within the game playing of synthetic Cubism: the integration of patterned and other- wise decorated, collage-like components (such as Rivera’s trees, which Picasso clearly did not consider proprietary) in Still Life in a Landscape underscores the two-dimen- sionality and shallow pictorial space of the composition framed by a sky and trees–vestiges of a simulated world. As a postscript, Picasso left the canvas exposed in select areas not only to create borders between elements but also to emphasize the artifice of the painting.

Rivera’s work from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library includes similar visual cues: objects placed on a table bordered by the token foliage and set beneath–or within–a blue sky. A comparison of these two 1915 Cubist works by two different artists sheds light on their distinct vernaculars, such as their individual treatment of the compote, an essential component of the still life. The close parallels of these two canvases fuel the stories of spirited rivalry between Picasso and Rivera. It should be remembered, however, that in wartime Paris other expatriate artists were also exploring possibilities of the open window, including Gris, who preceded both Picasso and Rivera with his own rendering of a still life before an open window in June 1915.

Putting aside the idea of cross-appropriation between artists, a comparison of another composition by Picasso with his work in the Meadows collection provides greater insight into the artist’s Cubist idiom. Also on display in this exhibition will be Still life with Compote and Glass (1914-15) from the Columbus Museum of Art. Formalistically, the still life components of the Meadows work as well as their positioning within the composi- tion closely parallel – and proceed from – the Columbus example: the glass at the right edge of the table and the white compote at the center of the Columbus canvas help to decipher their more cryptic counterparts in the Meadows painting. Painted in the winter of 1914-15, Still life with Compote and Glass is a prequel to the art- ist’s experiments with placing still life in a landscape.
Picasso/Rivera: Still Life and the Precedence of Form

will afford a closer look at the development of Picasso’s Still Life in a Landscape in the Meadows collection by presenting it together with its analogue from the Columbus Museum of Art as well as Rivera’s variation on the theme from Austin. The visual dialogue taking place in 1915 between these two giants of modern art will be further outlined through the display of Rivera’s 1915 Still Life with Bread Knife, a second generous loan from the Columbus Museum of Art. Beyond the rich anecdotes regarding the relationship of the two artists, this group of paintings provides an opportunity to find parallels as well as deviations between these can- vases. In spite of limited wartime resources, 1914-15 proved to be a fecund era of creativity for both Picasso and Rivera.

By Nicole Atzbach, curator

August 6 – November 5, 2017

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Still Life in a Landscape, 1915. Oil on canvas. Meadows Museum, SMU, Dallas. Algur H. Meadows Collection, MM.69.26. Photo by Michael Bodycomb. © 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886-1957), Still Life with Gray Bowl, 1915. Oil on canvas. LBJ Presidential Library, Austin, Texas. © 2017 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./Artist’s Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Still Life with Compote and Glass, 1914-15. Oil on canvas. Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio: Gift of Ferdinand Howald.

©2017 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886-1957), Portrait of Ilya Ehrenburg, 1915. Oil on canvas. Meadows Museum, SMU, Dallas

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Still Life in front of a Window, 1919. Oil on canvas. Weatherspoon Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886-1957), Still Life with Bread Knife 1915. Oil on canvas. Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio

Nicole Atzbach, “Picasso/Rivera: Still Life and the Precedence of Form,” At the Meadows, Spring 2017, pp. 9–12.