Art Bomb-7/11/2014 MoMA, Arthur Tress

Ally says:

One of the best things about living in a city like New York is access to the museums. A few years ago, as a Christmas gift to ourselves, my husband and I got a membership to the Museum of Modern Art. This 6 story building on 53rd street has become like a second home. For a girl who works weekends I manage to clock a lot of hours in there.

And why not?

Look at this collection:

Reclining Nude - Modigliani

Les Demoiselles D'Avignon - Pablo Picasso

Masks Confronting Death - James Ensor

Monument to Balzac - Rodin

Dance 1 - Matisse

Persistence of Memory - Dali

Self Portrait with Cropped Hair - Frida Kahlo

And that's just like less than 1 percent. Each time I go to the MoMA it's packed. I get it. If I were visiting NYC, I would make sure I went there too. I mean, my goodness, they have Starry Night!

It's as beautiful in real life as you think it will be. And yet.....and yet....every single time I go to the museum I watch people walk up to the art, take a picture with their cell phone and then look at it on their phone and I just want to scream - "It's right there! In real life! That isn't a print! Why do you want to look at a digital version??"

Except what would be the point, right? I understand that the museum allow pictures (though I kind of wish they didn't) and that people want memories (Pictures or it didn't happen) but I swear 9 times out of 10 they don't even look at the real live painting before them. They just look at their picture.

Anyway, end rant. If you're in NYC, please try and make it to the MoMA. I know that with all the museums in town your time is limited but I promise you, the MoMA is worth it. And it's free on Fridays from 4-8!

If you come by, chances are good you'll find me standing here, in front of the most beautiful piece of art in that building. Van Gogh's Olive Trees. In my head, I'm sitting on that low branch right in the middle, feet swinging, watching the breeze race through the grass, happy as can be in Saint-Remy, France.

Aleathia says:

Hey Brooklyn....here's looking at you.

This is Arthur Tress.  He was born in Brooklyn, NY in the 1940's.  He started taking photographs when he was 12 years old and never turned back.  He is known for amazing work in staged surrealism and expositions of the human body.  His work is stunning in black and white and it really speaks to the young high school student in me who spent all her extra hours in the dark room trying to get just the right exposure; to the girl who nearly got kicked out of school for producing images contradictory to her teacher's views.

I recently saw an article stream through my Facebook feed about Arthur Tress and a collection of his photography called The Dream Collector.  He started this series in the late 1960's and in the 70's compiled the works into a book.  The main theme of the book are images based on childhood dreams which we all know lend themselves to the surreal very easily.

"Flood Dream" by Arthur Tress

"Singing Chair" by Arthur Tress

"Boy in TV Set" by Arthur Tress

This one is probably my favorite of the grouping that I have seen and I can't quite seem to find the name of the photograph:

Arthur Tress has many different themes he works with...some were a bit more risque than I felt like posting this morning.  I'm not sure folks wanted the Full Monty for breakfast.  But he does have a collection called Shadows which is very near and dear to my heart as I am presently working on two series of works, one called Reflections and the other Divisions.  I think looking at the negative space of things takes a keen eye.  I can only hope to be as talented as him someday.

If I read his bio correctly, he should have some of his work up at the MoMA in New York so when you are check out Ally's suggestions you should seek out Arthur Tress for the full effect.

Art Bomb-7/4/2014 Amedeo Modigliani

Aleathia says:

I have always been a lover of art, always amazed at what people could create from their minds or their interpretations of what they see.  The connection the mind has to embellish someone with these abilities is a gift.

Today we are going to look at the significant painters of Montparnasse in Paris.  In the early 1900's artists lived in the heart of the city which made up Bohemia.  Montparnasse was on the left bank of the river and Monmartre (home of Moulin Rouge) on the right bank of the river.  Prior to artists and musicians settling here it was rural farmland, peaceful and quiet.

The artist we will focus on is Amedeo Modigliani.  He arrived in Monmarte in 1906 after having studying art in several places in Italy where he was from.  His artistic encouragement started when he was a small boy. He was often ill with respiratory ailments and his mother gave him art supplies to pass the time which was often sedentary and solitary.  His dream as a young man was to go to Paris and study painting there.  It was the destination of the time.

"Girl with Blue Eyes" by Modigliani

Modigliani dove into the scene and was considered the "prince" of the artists he worked along side.  He was charming and a ladies man.  There was little money to be made in this time for artists and Modigliani was often poor.  He had developed a drinking habit that caused him to sell paintings and drawings in bars just to pay for his drinks.  He worked exclusively with faces and figures and did not care for the embellishment of costume or setting.  He did no landscapes or still life.

"Bride and Groom" by Modigliani

What we can notice about Modigliani's work is that most of the faces he painted were long with pensive expression on their faces, we can see the beginning of Cubism start to enter his work though he would not take it as far as his fellow painters.  What is most haunting is that most of his subjects eyes appear blank as if he has removed the window to their souls; as if by painting them he captured something from them they might not be willing to give.

"The Servent Girl" by Modigliani

The colors Modigliani used feel muted and somber.  There is nothing flashy about his palette, only colors of a man saddened by life.  However, there are a number of paintings in his collection where the figures to have distinct eyes and if you spend enough time looking at his work, the ones with eyes can frighten you.

"Lunia Czechowska" by Modigliani

In 1914 Modigliani met two people that changed his life and his career, Beatrice Hastings from England and Leopold Zborowski from Poland.  He was intimately involved with Beatrice and she encouraged his painting over his drinking and Zborowski was his champion for selling art.  After 3 years together the relationship with Beatrice fell short as it was noted that she was often "cold" towards Modigliani.  He later married Jeanne Hebuterne in 1917.  Modigiliani would die 3 years later at the age of 35 from tubucular meningitis.

The other artists of Montparnasse and Monmarte:

"A Finger on Her Cheek" by Kees Van Dongen

"Nude against a Red Background" by Pablo Picasso

"The Dance" by Andre Derain

"Kiki of Montparnasse" by Moise Kisling