Outside of the Andy Warhol exhibit, ‘Shadows,’ was a blue light installation. I was circling the cylindrical Hirschorn Gallery from the other direction and came across a series of four bronze bas-reliefs by Henri Matisse. The curve of the walls hid the light installation but the blue glow still struck the Matisses, which looked as if they were thick blocks of blue stained glass, lit from behind. Even after I determined the truth of the matter, it seemed like a happy coincidence, particularly in light of Matisse’s strong association with the color blue.
The Modern Commune
The Paris Commune is a bit of history of great importance in Europe but seldom thought of over here. Until the seventies, one of the legacies of the Commune was that a mayor of Paris could not become the president. But if it is discussed here, it is as a small sidebar in the history of the unification of Germany.
I agree with this article that the Commune has some lessons for and parallels to the Occupy movement, though I could do without the moralizing about the Museum of Modern Art.
Bookshelf Porn
Freud The Artist?
What Ever Happened To Modernism?
I admit, I kind of miss modernism. Even if the good folks over at Scarriet keep finding silly excuses to rail against it.
The First Temple
Apparently, this is the oldest temple we yet know about.
There’s something so amazing about how neolithic cultures came together to create these structures and societies. It’s one of the many things I wish I had studied more of (my wishlist of books includes a couple on neolithic and copper/early bronze age Ireland). Also makes one a little sad to know that you’ll never become are proficient in one’s understanding of the era as one would like. Or, at least that such proficiency would come at the expense of spending that time with some other area of study. Life is a zero sum game sometimes.
Airline Safety Manuals As Art?
Andy Warhol In DC
There are not one but two different Warhol exhibitions in DC right now.
And both can be seen for free.
One is at the Hirschorn Museum and the other at the National Gallery of Art.
And here is an article blaming Andy Warhol for excesses in the contemporary art market. Just thought I’d throw that in there.
For All You Jane Austen Fans
But I Like Klimt!
I’m a sucker for a good piece on either the philosophy or economics or art. This article is the latter.
But the article also pissed me off.
The author is very tough on Klimt. Namely on the Klimt bought by the Neue Galerie in New York City for $135 million. Now I’m not commenting on the price of that piece, but I love Klimt. I even took a pilgrimage to the Neue Galerie to see their collection of Klimts and Seccessionist Art.
This is what the author has to say:
The crowds lining up to see Lauder’s Klimt in 2006 must have figured that looking at the most expensive work in the world would also expose them to one of the greatest. They were wrong. Almost no one would say that Klimt is crucial to the history of art.
Darn it, I like Klimt. A lot. He’s one of my favorites. I was introduced to him by an ex whose tendency (desire) to create chaos and destruction around her, while maintaining the adamant position that it’s constant presence in her vicinity was purely coincidental (if you are a man over the age of twenty-five, you have dated some version of this girl), could be seen as being mirrored in Klimt’s later portraits, with the serene subject surrounded by a glittering and chaotic abstract background.
Getting back to the art – what is the working definition of ‘crucial’ operating here? He’s not important?
Ugh.
the coffee philosopher 