In this glowing portrait, the American impressionist painter Lilla Cabot Perry (1848 – 1933) renders, in loose and expressive brush strokes, a fashionable young woman sipping a cup of tea. Initially trained in an academic style, Perry traveled to France in 1887, first to Paris and then to Giverny, where she forged the close friendship with Claude Monet. Her technical and aesthetic approach was further informed by three years in Japan, where she met Okakura Kakuzo (1863 – 1913), a cofounder of the imperial art school, who exhibited her work in Tokyo.
Photographed in the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA)
After an extended stay in Paris in 1900, Giacomo Balla (1871 – 1958) became increasingly interested in depicting the dynamism of modern life. The focus on motion, speed, and technology that characterize his subsequent work was central to the Futurist movement, whose tenets Italian poet, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti set forth in his 1909 Manifesto of Futurism.
Yinka Shonibare’s surreal and visually unforgettable sculpture Headless Man Trying to Drink (2005) brings together biting social commentary, clever visual humor, and a rich exploration of post-colonial identity — all in one absurdly tragicomic gesture.
Crafted from fiberglass and wood, with clothing made from the artist’s signature Dutch wax-printed cotton, the life-sized headless figure leans forward, mouthlessly attempting to drink from a stylized water pump and fountain made of polymer-gypsum. Of course, without a head, this feat is impossible — which is exactly the point. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Headless Man Trying to Drink By Yinka Shonibare→
If you’re looking for an art experience that takes you beyond the ordinary and into the cosmos, check out Josiah McElheny’s monumental installation Island Universe (2008). With its five colossal, chandelier-like sculptures that seem to float in space, Island Universe is visually dazzling, and it may look familiar to some New Yorkers. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Josiah McElheny’s Island Universe→
Pierre Roy (1880 – 1950) was an active participant in the surrealist group in Paris in the 1920s and ’30s. With its realistic rendering of ordinary objects placed in a claustrophobic, anonymous setting, The Storm (1928) typifies “the uncanny“ – a feeling often resulting from the encounter of familiar things in illogical arrangements or contexts. The term was popularized in the early 20th century by Sigmund Freud, and became a prime interest of the Surrealists.
Photographed in the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA).
