EXPLOSION OF LILLIES (Detail)

Girl with an explosion of Lillies (Made for Mischief)

Girl with an explosion of Lillies. (Made for Mischief) Acrylic on Canvas 24"X48"

Modern Art in Dallas Fort Worth

The Artist visited MOMA at Dallas Fort Worth recently. Designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the building is a triumph of high minded modernity, Part Neo Stalinist concrete bunker, part green-house water feature. This unlikely melange of austere modernist vision creates a restful and strangely calming space. The museum contains a number of important works by such artists as Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Hockney. Particular highlights include a stunning example of Twenty-Five Colored Marylins (1962) by Warhol and a 1938 painting entitled Masqued Image by Jackson Pollock, a painting that for me reveals a missing-link connection between the figurative modernity of Picasso and the worlds most famous abstract expressionist. Whilest the permanent collection is a minor if visitable gathering of the usual artistic suspects upstairs in the museum, the yawnsome art school conceptualism of Vernon Fisher is perhaps best avoided. Obsessive and self indulgent, there is not a single stand out piece that as an art collector I would want to own. Is this the standard by which contemporary art should be judged? Or is the intellectual journey writ large on the gallery wall justification enough for such arts existence? Vernon Is a Fort Worth Artist made good, for this I give him and the gallery credit. Galleries should push local talent, but is this the best that Texas in general and Fort Worth in particular has to offer? I think not.

Ambroise Vollard and the Vault of Fauve

Sotheby's holding selling a long-lost treasure trove of paintings, prints, books and drawings by key avant-garde artists of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The works belonged to Ambroise Vollard, the legendary Parisian art dealer who played a pivotal role in the development of the Impressionist and Modern Art market: the artists he represented ranged from Renoir and Van Gogh to Cézanne, Picasso and the Fauves. Vollard’s contribution to the development of Modern art is perhaps unparalleled, as he created the market for Impressionist  & Modern art . 

The extraordinary trove of art treasures were discovered in 1979 in a bank vault at the Société Générale in Paris. The works were deposited there in 1939, soon after Vollard's death, by Erich Slomovic, a young Yugoslav associate of Vollard to whom the dealer had consigned the works. Soon after, Slomovic fled to Yugoslavia where he died in 1942 at the hands of the Nazis. The contents of the vault remained untouched for 40 years. On 21st March 1979, the bank was permitted under French law to open the vault and to sell any contents of value in order to recoup some 40 years of unpaid storage fees. As a result, the collection was consigned for a sale to be held at Hotel Drouot in Paris in March 1981. The announcement of the sale however, was swiftly followed by legal challenges, as a result of which the sale was cancelled. Those challenges now finally resolved, and the works are to be sold by agreement among the legal beneficiaries of the Vollard Estate. 

A second sale at Sotheby's in Paris reveals the broad range of Vollard’s enthusiasms. Highlights  include an early portrait by Cézanne of his childhood friend, the great novelist Emile Zola as well as risqué monotypes by Degas including the celebrated La Fête de la patronne. The sale also showcases a striking example of Gauguin's rare and inventive monotypes, or transfer drawings, that he made with Vollard's encouragement and such important early prints by Picasso as Le Repas frugal, 1904 from the artist's Blue Period and Les Saltimbanques, 1905 from the slightly later Rose Period. There is also a very touching self portrait by Renoir dedicated to Ambroise Vollard, as well as a striking colour lithograph of Le Chapeau Epinglé, one of the most popular printed works by the artist. Alongside these remarkable pieces, collectors will find smaller gems such as an anonymous photograph showing Vollard at a dinner table surrounded by his artist friends, and handwritten pages penned by Chagall recounting his first arrival in Paris.

http://www.sothebys.com/

André Derain everyones favourite Fauve?

André Derain’s Arbres à Collioure has sold  at Sotheby’s London for a record £16.3 million ($24 million). It doubled the previous record for the artist set at Sotheby’s in November last year, when Guy Bennet bought Barques Au Port de Collioure for $14.1 million. The sale also established the highest price ever paid for any Fauve painting.

Derain’s Fauvist works are more desirable than his rather more accomplished, if generic later paintings. Juicelings should check these out, and judge for themselves. I find it interesting that Matisse, who coached Derain extensively, sold an equivelant painting Odalisques Jouant aux Dames at the same Sotheby’s auction for £11.8 million. Matisse famously  visited Derain’s doubtful parents, to persuade them their son should become a painter rather than an Engineer .

Arbres à Collioure is  the kind of painting that has every art philistines blood boiling, ‘My twelve year old daughter could have done that,’ they will invariably moan. What a hundred years ago? Before color magazines, films, and television, when the world was still dominated by monoprint engravings, linocuts and black and white Victorians? I think it is about time you increased that child’s pocket money, about sixteen million should cover it.

www.artmarketinsight.com/wallet/amidetails/showweb/158

Los Angeles Art Festival 2012

The Hammer Museum has teamed up with non profit gallery LAX Art to organise a biennial Art festival in 2012 that will span the city of Los Angeles. Exhibitions will take place at a variety of public sites and feature artists from the LA Area. Plans for the biennial grew out of conversations between Ann Philbin Director of Hammer Museum and Lauri Firstenberg the founder of LAX Art. Hammer curator Ali Subotnick has previously co-organized an edition of the Berlin biennial and Deputy Director Douglas Fogle has previously organized the Carnegie International. LAX art regularly introduces the work of New LA based Artists. The 2010 biennial opens at the  Orange County Museum of Art on October 24.

Creating Sky and the Sea

As the sky meets the horizon it becomes lighter. So flat color blue just doesn’t cut it if you are heading for a realistic effect. Conversely the sea gets darker as it meets the horizon so take this into account when you are balancing the colours within your composition.

Contrast makes your work more realistic

A common mistake that artists make is the failure to consider contrast within their work. Contrast could be described as the difference between the black point and the white point within a composition. All points between are shades of grey. Therefore the ultimate contrast is between black and white. This idea will be common to those of you who have ever used Photoshop. But in terms of your paintings there are strict visual rules you need to follow if you want your work to appear more realistic and natural. Foreground elements must always display the most contrast, strong highlights and dark areas of shade. As the composition recedes into the distance (in a landscape for example) the contrast, colour and focus becomes less pronounced. This creates the illusion of depth

Artistic Alchemy Draw like Da Vinci

Classical rules of composition are not magic. Just maths! Almost every artist, sculptor, architect and musician you liked - used or uses these rules. The Golden Mean, Divine Proportion, The Golden ratio, the Divine Section all describe the same thing, a mathematical technique to divide a canvas, marble block or musical stave into aesthetically pleasing compositional divisions. At the heart of this principle is a series of numbers called the Fibonacci series. The Fibonacci numbers can be used to describe harmonious spatial relationships found in nature including leaves, flowers, shells and human anatomy. The closer images adhere to the Fibonacci series the more natural and pleasing the relationships appear to the human eye. Spatial relationships that do not adhere to the series register as dissonant to the human mind. As an artist who  you can exploit these principals to your advantage. People see harmony within your work, but often they will be unable to describe why the work appeals to them so strongly. There are many websites dedicated to Fibonacci and the Divine Proportion, check them out then get drawing. Also check out other artists and the proportion of everyday items in your home. See how many of them conform to the Artistic Alchemy. Like a Dan Brown novel but with real treasure at the end!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio
http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fib.html

In the diagrams the xpoints within the circle show the ideal point of compositional focus. You can also have secondary points of focus and subdivide areas into further golden boxes within boxes. Enjoy!

Don’t be discouraged

So you have been working on a painting for months, maybe it is your first or second painting, and nothing seems to be going right. You feel there is a gap between what you are communicating and what you want to communicate, what do you do? Stop and assess the situation. There are a number of things that may be going wrong.

• Is the basic premise correct? Plans are important. The validity of the original idea has to be strong! Make sure the composition, proportion, anatomy and perspective is working from the outset.
• Are you attempting to paint beyond your ability? Practice. Sketch. work out colours. You cannot be Leonardo in a day! Find a way that works for you. 
• Is the composition sound? Do you know the rules of composition? Find out and apply them!
• Is there too much detail? This distracts the eye and can lose the artist and the viewer in a morass of irrelevant information, diluting the impact of your work. Keep it simple.
• Is colour theory working for you? Too many colours? Are they fighting with each other? Do you even know what that means? Find a colour wheel and study colour relationships
• Keep moving. If you are stuck with a painting start a new one. Plan carefully, work quickly. Do not be scared of perceived weaknesses in your technique, polish them with practice.

Gertrude Stein Art Collector

I often hear people say that they cannot afford to collect art. This always reminds me of the story of Gertrude Stein. From 1904 to 1913 Ms Stein gathered the first great collection of modern art in her apartment at 27 Rue de Fleurus, Paris France. The collection included Gauguin’s sunflowers and  three of his Tahitian paintings. a number of Cézanne’s including ‘the bathers’, Delacroix’s Perseus & Andromeda, Matisse’s Woman with a hat, various Picasso’s including a portrait of Ms Stein that now hangs in the Metropolitan museum of art in New York.  Other artists she collected include: Toulouse Lautrec, Henri Manguin, Pierre Bonnard and Honoré Daumier. 

Gertrude also hosted saturday evening art soirées in her apartment where such notables as  Henri Rousseau, Georges Braque, Andre Derain, Max Jacob, Guillaume Apollinaire and Ernest Hemingway could be found.

For a riotous an opinionated account of Ms Steins time in Paris before the first world war I would recommend the book she wrote in the guise of her lover: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. I would recommend also Ernest Hemingway’s ‘A Moveable Feast.’  The moral of this tale is simple, you can afford to buy art, just buy what you like at the price you can afford. Buy now, what are you waiting for? www.artbytonybulmer.com

Steve Wynn’s pointed elbow

Picasso painted four major pictures of Marie-Thérèse Walter. Le Rêve (the Dream) 1932, Nude, Green Leaves & Bust 1932, Nude in a Black Armchair 1932 and Woman in Hat & Fur Collar 1937. Billionaire Las Vegas hotel magnate Steve Wynn, a man of taste and discernment, is the famous owner of Le Rêve. He loves the painting so much he planned to build a hotel named after it (Subsequently he named it after himself). But oh dear, just as Wynn clinched a $139 million deal to sell the painting to hedge funder Steve Cohen the hyperactive hotelier poked his big pointy elbow right through the canvas, in what has been described as, ‘an over enthusiastic gesturing incident’. Wynn, who has little to no peripheral vision due to an eye condition known as retinitis pigmentosa was reportedly flinging his arms around windmill style, while he bragged about the painting to party guests who incuded Barbera Walters and art dealer Serge Sorokko. Perhaps he was explaining the weirdly phallic devision of the Marie-Thérèse’s head, clearly visible in the painting?
On 20 October 1977, four years after Picasso's death, Marie-Thérèse committed suicide by hanging herself in her garage at Juan-les-Pins, South of France. Steve Wynn repaired the painting and decided he couldn’t live without it. His Hotels remain the best in the world.

How much is it worth?

That is the other question they all want to know. How much? Art reduced to a commodity like pork bellies or snake oil trading certificates. But in the case of Picasso’s fabulous painting Nude, Green Leaves & Bust, the ‘how much’ turned out to be rather more than anyone expected $106.5 million in fact. The painting depicts Picasso’s  teenage mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter recumbent amongst shamrock foliage. It is a nice painting, but if you had a choice between that and a new hospital wing… I guess it all depends if you are in the need of a new hospital wing, or the kind of living room artwork that will send your household insurance premiums stratospheric (You could always sell the picture and move into your new hospital…)
Interestingly the painting was bought as recently as 1951 for the bargain price of $20,000 By advertising heiress Frances Lasker Brody and her husband Sidney. Ms Brody’s impressive collection of Modern Art, which includes many important works by Picasso, Matisse and others has recently been gifted to the Huntington Library in Los Angeles. Watch this space for show dates.

What are your influences?

Gimme a break, I like lotsa things, Eclectic is the name of the game, just like Picasso. Pablo liked Velazquez, Delacroix, Manet he also liked African Art (yawn) though I am sure it was Modigliani and Pablo’s trips to the Louvre’s African collection (Oops, slipped into my pocket honest officer!) that proved more influential. It has been said that Picasso turned Cezanne’s uniquely angular style of painting into fully fledged Cubist movement along with his Montmatre drinking buddy and partner in crime Georges Braque. Allegedly it was Matisse’s sniffy observations of the new ‘movement’ that helped coin the term ‘Cubist’
Picture the scene: our three hero’s staggering up Rue Ravigan ripped to the gills on cheap wine and Absinthe. Braque and Picasso (together) “We have evolved a new creative movement based on the artistic interpretation of the world in geometic form” Matisse (Pausing to light a Gitane and hoik in the gutter) “Sounds like a load of Cubist merde to me boys, now how about those chorus girls you were talking about?”

So I started painting

Yeah, you knew this was coming right? I needed an antidote to the virtual world so bad that the only thing I could do was to pick up a paintbrush. Soon as I did I unleashed a torrent of angst ridden catharsis. I worked fast, filled a sketch book with ideas, then threw the best ideas on canvas. Artists are often asked where they get ideas. The answer is complex. It may be through observation like Matisse or Cezanne it may be from imagination or the influence of dreams like Picasso or Salvador Dali. Technique and an understanding of technique is all important. Self confidence is important, so is knowledge: Composition, color, texture, rhythm, balance, movement, contrast and a whole host of other factors. But hold up, art is supposed to be FUN in big shouting capitals, forgot about that one didn’t cha? Not to worry most of the modern art establishment has forgotten that too and that is why I will be using the Creative Juicings blog to encourage artists of all descriptions and deliver clownish kick in the pants to the where the modern arts establishment needs it most. What are you waiting for? GET PAINTING!

Photoshop the new fantasy art?

Yes, I love Photoshop juicelings, but give me a break, when was the last time you actually drew anything, or…painted something? (That home decorating project in the back bedroom and the the xmas/birthday card you made last year don’t count.) Life like art, is about being willing and able to be wrong so that you can progress, make something new and tangible. You do not get multiple undo levels in life. You don’t get to ‘touch out’ the imperfections. Fantasy illustration was the big artistic thing back in the seventies and eighties. They were halcyon days when the airbrush and masking film ruled the world. Now they are memories in the Photoshop tool palette. Today we hear the pejorative ‘airbrushed’ whenever some Photoshop happy junior (or not so junior-ha-ha) has run their ham fisted pinkies over the voluptuous curves of the latest celebutant/media hag. Isn’t it time you all got your fingers inky? Picked up a paintbrush? or at least used that pencil for something other than… What do you use your pencil for juicelings?

Why should I get juiced?

As a graphic designer I have spent the best part of the last two and a half decades creating magazines and advertising. I surfed the tsunami wave of hi technology publishing, riding its peak as it roared to the virtual shore line of imags, Linden lives and electronic blah. So as the seas of gizmoization gently lap at your island of artistic integrity, I offer you ‘creative juicings,’ small palm fronded snipits of creative cool that will allow you to sit back in your sun lounger stirring the parasol around your cocktail and remember why you liked art in the first place.