Photos By Gail
Manufactured by the Viennese firm J & J Kohn, this elaborate child’s cradle (Model 1573, circa 1895) would have been lined with cushions to create a soft, sheltered, egg-shaped bed for an infant. The curved design, featuring a long vertical arm to support draped netting, reflect the style of art nouveau – an international art, and design movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Continue reading Eye On Design: Child’s Cradle By J & J Kohn
Photo By Gail
Belgian artist René Magritte (1899 – 1967) is famous for his surrealist works, which often challenge the viewer’s perception of reality and the ordinary. In The Portrait (1935), a simply laid-out meal is not as simple as it seems. Each object is rendered with equally sharp focus and pictorial realism, yet any expectation of everyday reality is overturned, above all by the unblinking eye that stares inexplicably from a slice of ham on a plate. The perspective of this still life tilts dramatically toward the surface of the picture plane, as if to confront or perhaps invite the viewer to join the table.
Photographed in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC
Photo By Gail
Artist, writer, and activist David Wonjarowicz (1954 – 1992) first gained public attention in the early 1980s on the streets of downtown New York through his handmade posters and graffiti murals. Fire (1987) is one of four paintings in a series titled The Four Elements, in which the artist aimed to complicate narratives from American culture by suffusing them with his own lived experiences.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: David Wojnarowicz, Fire
Photo By Gail
Little Ghost Eating Bread (1934) depicts a mysterious scene within an other worldlylandscape. Animated by Oppenheim‘s dark sense of humor, it portrays a cartoon-like figure about to step off a ledge while merrily nibbling on a loaf of bread. A cloaked form is partially visible on the right. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Merit Oppenheim, Little Ghost Eating Bread
All Photos By Gail
Bauhaus Stairway Mural (1989) speaks to Roy Lichtenstein’s dialogue with various art historical styles, which would figure prominently throughout his career. Measuring more than 26 feet tall and painted in oil and Magna on canvas, this spectacular mural pays homage to the German artist Oskar Schlemmer (1888 – 1943) and his painting Bahaustreppe (Bauhaus Stairway, 1932), which is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in NYC, and reproduced below.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Roy Lichtenstein, Bauhaus Stairway Mural