So Long Oolong by Donalee Nelson
Inspiration
I never know where I will find
inspiration for a painting. Sometimes it is a color that I find beautiful and
want to use and sometimes it’s a place or a thing that strikes me as worth
trying to incorporate in a painting. Once I was trying to paint my version of
my grandparent’s solarium and it just wasn’t working. I happened to see a
painting of a room that had a different angle for the floor so I changed the
angle on my painting and it made a huge difference. The painting above is of
things I have in my home. This is not their normal composition but they seemed
to work well together. You never know where the inspiration will come from.
Highlights
Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist is a
traveling exhibit starting off at the Phoenix Art Museum on March 9 – September
8, 2019. The little known artist studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and
showed at the famous Armory Show of 1913. As she moved away from the mainstream
she decided to settle in Cathedral City, California. The show features about 45
of her paintings. After Phoenix the show goes to the New Mexico Museum of Art,
then on to the Whitney in New York and finally to the Palm Springs Museum of
Art. To see some of Agnes Pelton’s wonderful art work go to www.phxart.org and get all specifics.
Where you can see my artwork
My artwork
is available at Rons. For
further information call the shop at 805.489.4747. Rons
is located at 850 W. Grand in Grover Beach a few blocks from the train station,
a golf course and the beautiful Pacific Ocean. For more information go to Rons website at www.ronsingroverbeach.com or find
him on Facebook.
Not To Be Missed –Museum Exhibits
Currently at the Catalina Island
Museum is Wrigley’s Catalina: A
Centennial Celebration. It focuses on Wrigley’s first year of ownership
in 1919 and how he planned to develop the island. The exhibit features photos,
letters, documents, plans, blueprints, maps, and most interesting: digitized
historic audio recordings of the Wrigley family and associates as they recount
stories about the venture. Find out more about this exhibit which runs through
January 19, 2020 and the Catalina Island Museum at www.catalinamuseum.org and take a
tour. In September the museum will feature an exhibit about Esther Williams.
Upcoming at the Laguna Beach Art
Museum is Thomas Hunt: California
Modernist. Mr. Hunt was the son of a preeminent Canadian painter. He
moved to Laguna where he painted many seascapes and helped found the Laguna
Museum. A supreme colorist, Mr. Hunt’s work will be on view from October 13, 2019-January
12, 2020. My mother and I spent many wonderful times in Laguna wandering
through the various art galleries. Many were off the beaten track. There are
several other exhibits as Laguna celebrates the centennial of the beginning of
the art association in this beautiful beach town. If you are as anxious as I am
to see what is happening, take the time to get a preliminary look at www.lagunaartmuseum.org and learn
more about these exhibits.
Opening at the Bowers Museum in
Santa Ana on March 9, 2019 is a spectacular event. Guo Pei: Couture Beyond will highlight the art of the famous couturière. On view through July 14, 2019 the exhibit will show over 40 pieces
of her work. Take a look at www.bowers.org for
more facts and interesting information.
Currently at the Norton Simon
Museum in Pasadena is Matisse/Odalisque.
The small exhibit spotlights paintings featuring erotic images of women in
stylized oriental harem-like surroundings. Many are obviously staged and even
though Matisse declared his work to be an excuse to paint nudes the backgrounds
are exquisitely decorated. In addition to Matisse the exhibit features artists
such as Picasso and Brazille. It runs through June 17, 2019. The museum also presents
Titian’s ‘Portrait of a Lady in
White,’c. 1561 through March 25, 2019. No one knows for certain who the
subject was but Titian referred to her in letters as someone very dear to him
and, in fact, called her the mistress of his soul. To learn more about the
charming portrait go to the museum website at www.nortonsimon.org and also get
information on upcoming exhibits.
As a special feature at the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art Rauschenberg:
The ¼ Mile (or 2 Furlong Piece) will be on view through June 9, 2019. The
work took over 17 years to create and consists of 190 panels. More information is
available at www.lacma.org about these
exhibits.
Monumentality is currently in place at the Getty Center
in Los Angeles. The exhibition runs through April 21, 2019 and explores various
monuments and why some are still viable while others are not. The center also
has many Online Exhibitions as well as Traveling Exhibitions. Information at www.getty.edu will fill you in on what is going
on as well as with dates and times.
Highlights of the
Permanent Collection celebrates the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s 75th
anniversary. The current ongoing exhibit features some of the museum’s most
well-known pieces. The Armand Hammer Foundation has loaned some amazing
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings to the Santa Barbara Museum of
Art. Of course, Portrait of Mexico
Today, painted by David Alfaro Siqueiros while living in political
exile in Los Angeles in 1932, has a home in the front façade of the museum. It
is intact and is in a protected spot. We are so lucky to have it. Check on line
at www.sbmuseart.org/ for more details.
Also in Santa Barbara at the
Santa Barbara Historical Museum there is a fashion exhibit of a different sort.
The West Dressed Woman runs
through March 24, 2019 and features outfits from the museum’s costume collection.
Many garments belonged to prominent local women shown in an historical context.
The best place to learn more is at www.sbhistorical.org
where times, dates and directions are listed.
Gauguin: a Spiritual Journey will be at the de Young Museum in
San Francisco until April 7, 2019. The exhibit features some of the artist’s
works on paper taken from the museum’s own collection and over fifty paintings,
carvings and ceramics on loan from Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Check www.deyoung.famsf.org which will have
all you need to know. The de Young prides itself in making its exhibits
accessible and has instituted a plan for people who are unable to come to the
museum whether for medical reasons, distance or finances. They have two robots that will take visitors
on a tour via the internet. Rebecca Bradley is the Accessibility Curator. You
can email her office at access@famsf.org
if this great idea is of interest.
Ongoing
at the Seattle Museum of Art is Big
Picture: Art after 1945. The exhibit includes some amazing works by
Rothko, Motherwell, Newman, Hoffman, etc., and there are interesting videos on
the museum website. I am looking forward to Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts and Crafts
Movement coming up in June 2019. Go to www.seattleartmuseum.org to obtain
more information. All are wonderful and the interactive videos online are
great!
The Clyfford Still Museum in Denver continues to present
intriguing shows. Two new exhibits take over on January 18, 2019 and run
through April 28, 2019. Clyfford
Still & Photography includes around 70 photos from the artist’s
archives and covers the period from 1905 through the mid-1970s. This exhibit
also highlights some comparative paintings, books, clippings and ephemera.
Surrounding this is Highlights from
the Collection which includes close to 35 paintings, 35 works on paper
and a sculpture by the artist which covers his 60-year career beginning in
1925. Check out www.clyffordstillmuseum.org
for all the details.
Solitary:
Alienation in Modern Life delves into the concept of alienation in the 19th
and 20th centuries. This exhibit continues at The Nelson-Atkins
Museum in Kansas City, Missouri through May 5, 2019. Many artists have made
works based on the impact of and psychology of aloneness in modern times, including
Kirchner, Klee, Matisse, Miró and Otto Dix who are all represented in this
show. The museum’s website at www.nelson-atkins.org will
provide more information.
Super/Natural:
Textiles of the Andes is at the Art Institute of Chicago now through June 23, 2019.
Featured are over 60 textiles and a selection of ceramics that cross cultures,
and different areas of Peru, as well as time periods. Also at the museum
through June 9, 2019 is Rembrandt
Portraits. Featuring two portraits, one a self-portrait, the focus is
on Rembrandt’s use of props to highlight the painter’s ability. If you ever
have a chance to see any of his self-portraits together it will be quite a
treat as they tell his life story beautifully with all its ups and downs. I was
pleased to learn that The Art Institute of Chicago is hosting the first
exhibition of the work of Edouard Manet at the museum in more than fifty years.
Manet and Modern Beauty opens
May 26, 2019 – September 8, 2019. This show focuses on his later work,
specifically the paintings he did of actresses, models, and female friends.
During this period in his life he also did a beautiful series of floral still
lives. He was quite ill at this point and in a great deal of pain and was
having trouble walking. He is perhaps best known for the paintings Le dejeuner sur l’herbe, Olympia, and Un Bar aux Folies-Bergère. My favorites are, however, these later
works so it will be wonderful to see this show. More details are at www.artic.edu for these and other fascinating
exhibits.
The Detroit Institute of Arts has expanded its Asian Galleries which opened
November 4, 2018. Joining the Japanese Wing are the new Asian Galleries which
include works from China, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Buddhist Art from
all over Asia. Upcoming are several excellent exhibits. Currently, From Camelot to Kent State: Pop Art,
1960-1975 is an exhibit which is up until August 25, 2019 and features
works by Claes Oldenburg, Jasper Johns, Rosenquist, Rauschenberg and Warhol. It
includes over 70 works of art and covers the Kennedy years to the shootings at
Kent State. I happened to be in a motel in Toledo on the day of the shootings,
close to Kent State, where I heard unsympathetic comments about how protesters
should be dealt with…many seemed to feel that the results were warranted.
I will never forget that day and the anguish I felt. Humble and Human: An Exhibition
in Honor of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. is a collaboration of two
great museums. Both the Albright-Knox Museum in Buffalo, New York and the
Detroit Institute of Arts are among my favorites. The exhibit starts in Buffalo
on February 2, 2019 – May 26, 2019 and then travels to the DIA and opens on
June 23, 2019. Ralph Wilson Jr. lived in Detroit and was the founding owner of
the Buffalo Bills. He was also a philanthropist. The exhibit features work by
Cezanne, Degas, Gauguin, van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir among others. Check the museum website at www.dia.org to find information on this show and
its collections.
The Smithsonian
National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington
D.C. is the culmination of over a century of work. Founding Director Lonnie
Bunch said that “The African American experience is the lens through which we
understand what it is to be an American.” The website welcomes us with its
opening words: A People’s Journey, A Nation’s Story. It is part of our national
history. The museum contains much memorabilia, including both negative and
positive. Of course, there is much history here including examples of slave
ships. However, there are more current examples, including Carl Lewis’ journey,
clothes from James Brown and Pearl Bailey, a trumpet owned by Louis Armstrong and
Chuck Berry’s red Cadillac. Items also includes some owned by Harriet Tubman,
the dress Rosa Parks was sewing when she refused to leave her seat, and clothes
designed by Geoffrey Holder for the award winning Broadway play The Wiz. Areas include a sports museum
and a visual arts museum among others. The only permanent art exhibit on the
mall will be Visual Art and the
American Experience, which focuses on the contribution Americans of
African descent made to the history of American Art. The galleries will also
feature changing exhibits so check out www.nmaahc.si.edu
for information. The Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden and Plaza,
also part of the Smithsonian, features a wide range of sculpture from Auguste
Rodin to more modern examples like those of Jean Arp. It is a great outdoor
space with an ongoing display of many of the finest sculptures in the world Make
sure to check out Kusama’s Pumpkin.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington
D.C. is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the birth of Venetian
artist Tintoretto with the exhibition Tintoretto:
Artist of Renaissance Venice. The show runs March 24 – July 7, 2019. It
is the first retrospective of his works in North America. Included are close to
50 paintings and many works on paper. Find more details at www.nga.gov with several examples for you to
enjoy.
While you are in Washington D.C you might
also want to take a look at the Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens, the final
home of Marjorie Merriweather Post. She was a collector and her home is open
with special exhibits. Perfume and
Seduction is up through June 9, 2019 and features eighteenth century
luxury items for the ritual of la toilette. If you are a lover of the
decorative arts this is a good place to go and www.hillwoodmuseum.org will give you
information and reveal some of her amazing pieces of eye candy.
Ongoing through June 9, 2019 is Eye Deal: Abstract Bodies of the
Chicago Imagist at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. This exhibit
features a group of figurative Chicago artists who came to the fore in the
1960s. Their work was a commentary on popular advertisements of the time and
were witty and comical. For
more information go to www.mmoca.org and get
a look at various exhibits.
Fabulous Fashion: From Dior’s New Look to Now should
be on every fashionista’s list. In fact, the exhibit, which is at The Philadelphia
Museum of Art through March 3, 2019, should be a draw for any art lover. The
show is from the museum’s own collection so visit the museum’s website for
descriptions of this exhibit at www.philamuseum.org
and see more information about other shows as well.
Humble and Human: An Exhibition in Honor of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. is a
collaboration of two great museums. Both the Albright-Knox Museum in Buffalo,
New York and the Detroit Institute of Arts are among my favorites. The exhibit,
which began in Buffalo on February 2, 2019 – May 26, 2019, then travels to the
DIA, where it will run June 23 - October 13, 2019. Ralph Wilson Jr. lived in
Detroit and was the founding owner of the Buffalo Bills. He was also a
philanthropist. The exhibit features work by Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, van Gogh,
Monet, and Renoir among others. The museum’s website at www.albrightknox.org has some
interesting insights on the show.
The New York Historical Society
has a beautiful website that you must see. The fourth floor of the museum has
been turned into a Gallery of Tiffany
Lamps from the museum’s extensive collection. This ongoing exhibit
features 100 lamps, many designed by women. Starting last November and ongoing
is Audubon’s Birds of America Focus
Gallery which will display watercolor models for the artist’s work, The Birds of America. The society also
has Picasso’s Le Tricorne on display.
The painted theater curtain from the ballet was produced in 1919. Visitors can
also have a look at Ed Ruscha’s Fanned
Book from 2013. There is much to see at this great venue so check out www.nyhistory.org and prepare to be
surprised by all the wonderful historical pieces on view.
Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera is an
ongoing exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. With over
50 large paintings, sculptures and assemblages, the show covers the 1940s
through the 21st century and has works by Pollock, Frankenthaler,
Herrera, Twombly and Nevelson as well as abstract work by artists from
different countries. Also on display is In
Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at the Met which runs through
October 4, 2020. Covering the golden age of Dutch painting it also places the
works in their cultural context. Play
it Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll, presented in concert with the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, comes to the Met on April 8 – October 1, 2019.
Exploring the relationship between musicians and their instruments, about 130
instruments and costumes will be on display. More information on these special
shows is at www.metmuseum.org so look
for highlights there.
The
Museum of Modern Art in New York shares Joan Miró: Birth of the World, a painting which was inspired by a poem. The
show runs through June 15, 2019. The exhibit examines the painting and puts it
in context with the artist’s other paintings. MoMA is also hosting the 2019 Armory Show at Piers 90, 92
and 94. The show is on March 7-10, 2019 and features international galleries,
art commissions and dynamic programs for the public. The museum website at www.moma.org has more information.
Andy Warhol – From A To B And
Back Again is at the Whitney in New York until March 31,
2019. The exhibit is the first to focus on the artist by a U.S. institution
since 1989. Warhol experimented with many techniques and was an important and
influential artist. For more about his life and art go to www.whitney.org and find much more
information.
Several ongoing shows are at
the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Since the museum has an extensive collection
it is featuring the work of Constantin Brâncuși, one of the most important sculptors of the 20th
century. The Guggenheim started collecting his work in the 1950s and it is
their impressive collection that is on display. Also ongoing at the museum is
the Thannhauser Collection
which features many French masterpieces by such artists as Degas and Picasso.
Don’t forget to check out other museum locations such as Bilbao and Venice.
Bilbao has a great Giacometti show as well as one from van Gogh to Picasso. Feel
free to go to www.guggenheim.org for
information and make sure to listen to various curators talk about the
challenges of restoring Red Lilly Pads,
an Alexander Calder mobile. Also on view is an amazing and unique Kandinsky
painting which is oil on glass…make sure to see Lion Hunt painted in 1911.
If you are a Hobbit fan this
show is for you. The exhibit at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City
is the largest display of Tolkien material to be shown to the public. Tolkien: Maker of Middle Earth
includes original material from several collections and will be open through
May 12, 2019. Included are family photos and memorabilia as well as
illustrations, maps and designs. The museum website, www.themorgan.org shares a view of the
exhibit.
At the Brooklyn Museum Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be
Deceiving is on view through May 12, 2019. This exhibit displays many items
of the painter’s personal property including clothing and photos. Also on
display are important paintings and drawings by the artist. The museum has also
included works from its extensive Mesoamerican Art collection as well as
historical film and ephemera. To learn more go to www.brooklynmuseum.org for more
details.
The Boston Museum of Fine Art Exhibition Lab: Sargent and Fashion
through June 23, 2019. As a precursor to a huge Sargent exhibit coming in 2021-22,
this show allows visitors to give input for the big show that the museum is co-organizing
with the Tate. Also at the Boston Museum is Frida Kahlo and Arte Popular. This exhibit which runs
through June 16, 2019 focuses on Kahlo’s collection of Mexican folk art and its
influence on her work. Continue to check so you don’t miss anything because
coming up soon is Toulouse-Lautrec
and the Stars of Paris. The exhibit details the nightlife of Paris and
Montmartre and the folks he painted there and made into stars. The exhibit
begins April 7 –August 4, 2019. Please be sure and look at www.mfa.org to find more information.
Nature’s Nation: American Art and Environment is at The
Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts until May 5, 2019. The show uses
the work of such artists as Audubon, Bierstadt, Homer, Cole and O’Keeffe to
show the relationship between art and our natural habitat. Many of the over 100
works are iconic masterpieces but several are rare. The place to find more
information is www.pem.org and get a view of
this engaging exhibit.
Currently at the Victoria and Albert
Museum in London through July 2019 is Christian
Dior: Designer of Dreams. The exhibit takes a look at one of the most
influential clothing designers of the twentieth century. Dior created the New
Look, which included fuller skirts that were right in step after the
restrictions of WWII. His assistant was a young man, Yves Saint Laurent, who
took on the mantle of head designer when Dior died, and who became equally as
famous. For more information check these out at www.vam.ac.uk
if they are of interest.
C0ming March 27-August 11, 2019
to the Tate Britain is The EY
Exhibition: Van Gogh And Britain. The show features 45 works by the
artist in an attempt to share how the artist was inspired by Britain and how he
inspired British artists in return. The Tate Modern shares the work of one of
the finest colorists of the 19th century with its show, Bonnard: The Color of Memory.
Running until May 6, 2019, the exhibit covers the period from 1912 through 1947
when Bonnard died. Color became very important to him and he enjoyed painting
from memory and sketches. Many of his paintings are of everyday places and
people … glimpses of places just left or meals just finished. At the Tate
Liverpool through March 17, 2019 Fernand Léger: New Times, New Pleasures highlights the influence of modern life
on the artist. For more information on these exhibits www.tate.org.uk will have everything you need
to know. While you are there, check out the amazing videos at the site about
various exhibitions and van Gogh’s Starry
Night over the Rhône.
The National Gallery in London
has put together the first exhibition of the work of the artist Sorolla in the
United Kingdom in over a century. Sorolla:
Spanish Master of Light runs from March 18 – July 7, 2019. His
iridescent canvases are exquisite. Find more information at www.nationalgallery.org.uk when
you look for details.
Jeff Koons at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum is open from February
7 – June 9, 2019. The combination of one of the most subversive artists and the
world’s oldest public museum is interesting in itself. The exhibit is curated
with input from the artist himself which also adds a surprising element. Spanning
over 4 decades and featuring 17 major works, the show will undoubtedly spark
controversy. Check out their website at www.ashmolean.org
for information plus some interesting videos.
There are many exciting exhibits
at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Berthe
Morisot: Female Impressionist is there June 18 – September 27, 2019
followed by Degas at the Opera
which is scheduled for September 24, 2019 – January 19, 2020. The Musée de
l’Orangerie also has many fine exhibits. Check out www.musee-orsay.fr if you will be in Paris
for any of these shows.
The Musée Unterlinden in Colmar, France underwent a
renovation and expansion in 2016. In the Alsace region, the museum has been in
existence since 1853 and is home to Grünewald's Medieval masterpiece, Isenheim Altarpiece, as well as one of
only 3 tapestries of Guernica
approved by Picasso. It also has a large collection of Dubuffet artwork. The
National Geographic station aired the made-for-television series on Picasso’s
life which features a dramatization of the making of Guernica and how it came to be and why. I had the privilege of
seeing the work at MoMA years ago. As I got off the elevator in the museum I
came face to face with this large masterpiece. I have never forgotten the
experience. The museum’s website at www.musee-unterlinden.com,
is very informative.
Simply
the Best:
The best place to find books on
the arts, Arcana is a very
special bookstore located in the Helms Bakery complex in Los Angeles…it is
wonderful! I have known owner Lee Kaplan for decades and his selection of books
is as superb as his taste is impeccable. Arcana: Books on the Arts is at 8675 Washington Boulevard, Culver
City, CA 90232. For information go to http://www.arcanabooks.com
or call 310.458.1499.
Michiko Jewelry Design is an
incredible jewelry store in downtown Seal Beach, CA, featuring excellent one-of-a-kind
gifts. The shop owner and artist, Carol Matsumoto, custom designs beautiful
pieces. Michiko is at 228
Main Street. Call 563.431.3237 for more information or check www.michikojewelrydesign.com
Places
to Go, People to See
UC Santa Barbara just received
a treasure trove of drawings by the late architect Lockwood De Forest III. His Italy Scrapbook was made on a
trip he took in 1921. The drawings are primarily of gardens so are of interest
to artists and gardeners alike. In order to view it call the UC Art and
Architecture Museum in Santa Barbara at 805.893.2951 to make an appointment.
As we head toward spring there
are garden tours in almost every community and with so much rain this year we
look forward to a plethora of blooming wildflowers. The annual Santa Barbara International Orchid Show
takes place March 15-17 this year. Plants are for sale at the Earl Warren
Showgrounds. More information can be found at www.sborchidshow.com so check out the
website.
For a whole lot of fun and a
whole lot of sea glass head for the Cayucos
Sea Glass Festival in the charming coastal town on March 9 and 10.
There will be plenty of sea glass and sea glass art as well as food and live
music. All the particulars are at www.cayucosseaglass.com
for those who plan on attending.
Ramona, the early California story of star-crossed lovers
and racial inequality has been performed at Hemet’s Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre
for many years. If you’ve never had the opportunity to see it now is the time.
The production with more than 600 performers, dancers and musicians comes to
life for several weeks including April 13-14 and 27-28 as well as May 4-5. The
historical story is a must see so go to www.ramonabowl.com
for details.
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