2011 November | Americana Week, Auctions, Antiques Shows and Art Shows in New York City

Don’t Miss REAL/SURREAL at the Whitney During Americana Week

November 30, 2011 admin No comments

The permeable boundary between the real and the imagined is the subject of Real/Surreal at the Whitney Museum of American Art. A close look at the interconnection between two of the strongest currents in twentieth-century American art, the exhibition includes eighty paintings, drawings, photographs, and prints made in the years before, during, and immediately after the Second World War by such artists as Paul Cadmus, Federico Castellón, Ralston Crawford, Mabel Dwight, Jared French, Louis Guglielmi, Edward Hopper, Man Ray, Kay Sage, George Tooker, Grant Wood, and Andrew Wyeth.

This exhibition, the second in a series of shows reexamining the Museum’s collection chronologically from its earliest days to the present, focuses on the tension and overlap between realism and Surrealism.

When American Art Speaks

November 30, 2011 Regina No comments

Americans are not the only ones fascinated by the rich history of the West. Case in point is George Catlin’s “North American Indian Portfolio” that recently found a home with a German collector.

The first edition was published in 1844 and is the artist’s firsthand account of Native American life. It took quite a bit of effort, and an adventurous spirit, to get out in the “wild” to depict hunting scenes and

From George Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio (1844)

amusements of the Rocky Mountains and prairies of America. To appreciate this, you need only take a look at the broad category that is American Art. Some of the best pieces are on exhibit through December 1 at the American Art Fair at New York’s Bohemian National Hall.

As for American colonial art, the 1786 portrait of Abigail Rose that sold recently at Skinner’s, is a supreme example of the craft. The painting depicts a 14 year old girl seated in a Queen Anne chair next to a table that holds books and a Battersea patch box.

The composition speaks volumes about social history. And social history, from the colonists to the American Indians, is what Americana Week is about. You’ll see, and want, items that bring tears to your eyes. From the women’s work of tatting and quilting to handmade furniture that is as gentle in its presentation as mid-Century is today, you might as well plan on getting a hit of history.

You’ll find antique shows with “something for everyone,” and dealers who have searched out remnents of history so precious the might as well be considered national treasures. If you can afford to buy, do. If not, think of the offerings as museum pieces you can touch and feel.

Americana Week is just weeks away and in the coming days we will be spotlighting some of the more interesting and intricate items you’ll see. Come January 1, you’ll be able to download the free mobile app that gives you instant accessibility to the exhibits, the shows, the attractions that are Americana Week.

New American Wing Galleries at the Met to be Open for Americana Week

November 30, 2011 admin No comments

The Metropolitan Museum’s collection of American art returns to view in expanded and dramatic new galleries on January 16, 2012, when the Museum inaugurates the New American Wing Galleries for Paintings,

American Folk Art Museum PAss the Hat

Sculpture, and Decorative Arts. The new installation will provide visitors with a rich and captivating experience of the history of American art from the 18th through the early 20th century.

Twenty-one of the new galleries—including the 18 sky-lit Joan Whitney Payson Galleries—have been created for museum’s extraordinary collection of paintings. Its origins date back to the 1870s, thanks to the strong support of founding Trustee-painters Frederic Edwin Church and John Frederick Kensett. The Museum’s holdings are particularly rich in the works of the great masters, including John Singleton Copley, GilbertStuart, Thomas Cole, Church, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, and John Singer Sargent.

The centerpiece of the new installation is Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s 1851 painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” The gallery will also showcase Church’s “Heart of the Andes” and Albert Bierstadt’s “Rocky Mountains”—just as they were displayed at the famous 1864 Metropolitan Sanitary Fair.

The opening of the New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts in January 2012 represents the third and final phase of a major, multi-part renovation project.

For more information, please visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art website.

Thanksgiving Now and Then

November 24, 2011 Regina No comments

From my window overlooking the balloons gearing up to float down Central Park West on this Thanksgiving Day, I want to wish all our readers a very wonderful day.

Looking back at the threads of culture that culminate in the broad category of Americana, I can’t help thinking we owe so much to the Native Americans who populated this land long before the pilgrims arrived.

Next week, the Indianapolis Museum of Art opens Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. The exhibit features more than 100 items, including ritual objects, ceremonial clothing, pottery, and basketry.

These masterworks provide a glimpse of the diversity of expression found in Native American art, and reflect the importance of the arts in sustaining ancient traditions that still exist today and will endure in the future.

Sunset Glory Bannerstone

Coinciding with the opening of the exhibit is the auction of a premier collection of Native American artifacts. The Birdstones, bannerstones, flints – dating back to the glacial kame period – are from the renowned Earl Townsend, Jr. Collection.

If you know these artifacts, you know how rare they are. If you don’t, then think back to the arrowheads you may have been lucky enough to find as you hiked though woodlands and multiply in rarity and importance. The Native American artifacts go off at Dan Ripley’s Antique Helper on December 4th.

Whether you classify these artifacts as Natural History or Native American Art – or even stretch the meaning of Americana a few thousand years – it is certainly worthwhile to take a look at them.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving!

Pass the Hat for the American Folk Art Museum

November 21, 2011 Regina No comments

American Folk Art Museum Pass the Hat Campaign

The American Folk Art Museum celebrates more than 5,000 artworks – from Colonial America portraits to a remarkable collection of handmade quilts to the best Outsider Art.

Its educational and research opportunities are simply unparalleled. From my own experience, I’ve found the curators to be accessible and generous with their expertise.

Quilting Patterns - Women's Art

American Folk Art Museum’s recent history reflects the economic distress that has pressured so many people across the country. It found itself underwater and went through months of angst about an uncertain future. And then, Ford stepped up to the plate with support. AFAM will go on at its home near Lincoln Center.

To assure a strong future, the spunky little museum is breaking ground. Its slogan is Reimagine, Revitalize, Reinvent.

Plans include a revamped financial program and expanded collaborative opportunities for its collection. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art will display 15 of AFAM’s artworks when it opens the American Wing and the Henry Luce Center for the Study of American Art in January, 2012.)

The Henry Darger Study Center

Now…the American Folk Art Museum is reaching out to Americans and lovers of Americana with a grass roots campaign. Called “Pass the Hat,” the campaign is asking for gifts of $20, $50, $100 – any amount larger or small will demonstrate support and help the museum at this time.

As Roberta Smith stated in the New York Times, “[We] need the creative energy of this . . . little institution, its outstanding exhibition program and its wondrous collection, an unparalleled mixture of classic American folk art and 20th-century outsider geniuses.”

I urge you to visit the American Folk Art Museum’s website and make your contribution. (What better time than Thanksgiving, that uniquely American folk tradition?)

If you’re in New York City during Americana Week, you will surely want to spend an afternoon viewing the collections. So, toss $50 – or whatever you can afford – into the hat now. Help assure a healthy museum in the future.

Contact Info:

American Folk Art Museum

2 Lincoln Square (Columbus Ave at 66th Street, near Lincoln Center)

New York City 10023

212-595-9533

www.folkartmuseum.org

Monthly Archives: November 2011

Don’t Miss REAL/SURREAL at the Whitney During Americana Week

When American Art Speaks

New American Wing Galleries at the Met to be Open for Americana Week

Thanksgiving Now and Then

Pass the Hat for the American Folk Art Museum

American Art Headlines

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Dallas in the 50s, George Grosz at the DMA

American Vanguards Comes to the Amon Carter

SFMOMA’s Hopper Tops $10 Million at Sothebys

Jubilation/Rumination at Folk Art Museum Runs thru Sept 2

Arthur Laurents: The Collection of a Broadway Icon

American History Comes Alive at the Bedford Springs Hotel

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