Photo By Gail
Jean Arp, also known as Hans Arp (September 16, 1886 – June 7, 1966) was a German-French sculptor, painter, poet and abstract artist in other media such as torn and pasted paper. When Arp spoke in German he referred to himself as Hans, and when he spoke in French he referred to himself as Jean. Interesting!
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Jean Arp, Constellation with Five White and Two Black Forms: Variation 2
Photo By Gail
This Surrealist object was inspired by a conversation between Meret Oppenheim, (Swiss, 1913–1985) and artists Pablo Picasso and Dora Maar at a Paris cafe. Admiring Oppenheim’s fur-covered bracelet, Picasso remarked that one could cover anything with fur, to which she replied, “Even this cup and saucer.” Soon after, when asked by André Breton, Surrealism’s leader, to participate in the first Surrealist exhibition dedicated to objects, Oppenheim bought a teacup, saucer, and spoon at a department store and covered them with the fur of a Chinese gazelle. In so doing, she transformed genteel items traditionally associated with feminine decorum into sensuous, sexually punning tableware.
Fur-Covered Cup, Saucer and Spoon (1936) is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.
Photo By Gail
Surrealist painter Leonora Carrington (1917–2011) was born and educated in England but lived most of her adult life in Mexico City. She was one of the last surviving participants in the Surrealist movement of the 1930s. At one point, Carrington was involved in a relationship with fellow surrealist Max Ernst, but the couple never married.
Here is a detailed description of Self-Portrait from Met Museum:
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Leonora Carrington, Self-Portrait
Rafael Silveira, Wild Life. Oil on Canvas in Custom Carved Frame (All Photos By Gail)
Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to present Unforeseeable, new works by Brazilian artist Rafael Silveira in his debut solo exhibition in New York. This is one of my favorite exhibits ever at LeVine!
Continue reading Rafael Silveira’s Unforeseeable at Jonathan LeVine Gallery
Photo By Gail
Max Ernst (born in Germany on April 2, 1891) was a prolific artist and a primary pioneer of both Dada and Surrealism. Seriously, his life and career are so mind-blowing they almost take too long to talk about. In Ernst’s painting Napoleon in the Wilderness (1941), a semi-nude female figure (representing his mistress at the time, Leonora Carrington) holds a strange, whimsical trumpet while almost encased inside one of several organic rock and coral formations amide a decaying fantasy landscape.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Max Ernst, Napoleon in the Wilderness