Photo By Gail
After the Bauhaus closed under political pressure in 1933, Wassily Kandinsky was forced to abandon Germany for a second time, and he settled in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Sein. The artist increasingly experimented with materials and colors, favoring pastels and gold-hues reminiscent of his Russian origin.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Wassily Kandinsky, Dominant Curve
Photos By Gail
Ad Reinhardt (1913 – 1967) studied both Eastern and Western art history at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He deepened his understanding of Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies by attending the lectures of Zen teacher Daisetz Suzuki at Columbia University. Number 22 (1949) shows Reinhardt fusing Eastern and Western traditions by using calligraphic brushwork inspired by Chinese and Japanese calligraphy in a gridded composition influenced by those of de Stijl cofounder Piet Mondrian.
Number 22, Detail
In classical East Asian painting, the fragility of paper wet with ink limits the artist’s ability to rework the composition. The sturdier canvas support and slower-drying oil paints used throughout much of the history of Western painting allows artists to highlight various revision and layering techniques. Although he worked in oil on canvas, Reinhardt chose to restrain himself and not rework his painting’s surface, in keeping with Asian calligraphic traditions. The result is a far more controlled manner of gestural painting than those of the Abstract Expressionists.
Photographed in the Guggenheim Museum in NYC.
Photo By Gail
Hilma af Klint (1862 – 1944) was a Swedish artist and mystic whose paintings were among the first abstract art. af Klint often incorporated insights gleaned from color theory in her paintings, while endowing colors with unique symbolic significances. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Present: Hilma af Klint, The Dove No. 1 (One of a Series)
Photo By Gail
In the mid-1960s, affordable, single-use paper clothing enjoyed a burst of widespread popularity when it was introduced to an American market eager for commodities. This Disposable Paper Dress was produced by the North Carolina factory of Mars of Asheville on the occasion of the 1968 presidential election.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Nixon Disposable Paper Dress
Photos By Gail
This deep-fried toy tank is one of seven identical models that make up the artwork entitled Visual Art, Add Oil! March Forward! (1999 – 2005) by Chinese artist Zheng Guogu.
Photographed as Part of the Exhibit Art and China After 1989 at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC.