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Impressionism
Critic’s Notebook: Conceptualizing Tradition
In 1997, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei published a photograph showing Tiananmen Square blocked out by his middle finger. He titled his image Study in Perspective, in a phrase making a provocative statement out of an obscene gesture. Formulating his contempt for power in a manner akin to a classical painter extending a digit to reckon proportions, Ai suggested that the individual artist might eclipse even the most oppressive government.
Coats of Many Colors
The difference between a mediocre piece of American painted furniture and a great one is measured in a span smaller than an inch. Vulnerable to the ravages of time and the whims of fashion, few of these furnishings have survived the centuries with their painted surfaces intact.
Exhibitions: Sèvres’ Success
Since the mid-18th century, Sèvres has produced porcelain for monarchs, diplomats and private collectors alike. Even as the factory’s wealthy clients were put to the guillotine in the midst of the French Revolution, the National Convention decided that Sèvres must continue to run. “We all know that French history is riddled with changes of regime and political and social turmoil over the centuries,” says Liana Paredes, curator of a new Sèvres exhibition at the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens in Washington, D.C. “What were the factors that safeguarded this factory and its production through such a long history?”
In Perspective
By: The Editors EXHIBITIONS Back to Nature: Babcock Galleries in New York has a comprehensive show of the work of Alan Gussow from Oct. 8–Nov. 25. Gussow, who died in 1997, combined abstraction with observation in landscape paintings that expressed his conservationist philosophy. Buried With the Pharaohs: Opening Oct. 18 at the Museum of Fine…
Market: On the Continent
By: John Dorfman Although relatively little known to art buyers in the English-speaking countries, German and Austrian auction houses are excellent hunting grounds for unusual finds at sometimes bargain prices. This month and next, a large number of sales in a wide variety of categories will be held. Starting off the fall season, the storied…
Market: Splendors of the East
By: Sallie Brady It’s time for enthusiasts of Asian art and antiques to journey to London for the fortnight of gallery exhibitions, auctions, lectures and museum exhibitions collectively known as Asian Art in London. In Kensington Church Street, St. James’ and Mayfair—the three areas where these specialists cluster—collectors and curators can look forward to themed…
Talking Pictures: The Great Debate
By: Jonathan Lopez Which art form is superior, painting or sculpture? On the face of it, this question might seem futile, since there is no right answer. But for artists in Renaissance Italy, the comparison, or paragone, of the arts was a matter of spirited and often invidious debate. The argument usually centered on a single issue—whether…
Film: Light and the City
A glass box of a room juts into the Los Angeles night; within it, two young women converse, unconcerned with the glittering grid of city lights beneath them. This striking image became famous not only because of its composition but because of its enduring resonance as an emblem of California modernism.
Collecting: C’est Daguerre
In preparation for this past spring’s photography sale, the specialists at Sotheby’s New York were researching a 4- by 5.25-inch daguerreotype, taken in 1848 or earlier, of a rural estate on what is now New York City’s Upper West Side. The image, remarkably detailed despite some tarnishing, shows a house at the top of a hill, with a white fence encircling the yard in front of it.
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