Displaying items by tag: still lifes

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but those by Cézanne are treasured apples of the eye.

On view through Sept. 22, “The World is an Apple: The Still Lifes of Paul Cézanne” is a well-focused, special exhibition at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, home to one of the greatest Cézanne (1839-1906) collections in the world.

This is the show’s inaugural run and the only U.S. venue before traveling to the Art Gallery of Hamilton in Ontario, where it will be seen from Nov. 1 to Feb. 8, 2015.

Like perfect pitch in music, drawing remains the skill by which artistic talent is measured.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts visitors can see how 100 different artists have drawn over the past 500 years and then step into the museum’s own studio and try their hand at sketching a still life, the human figure, or whatever springs to mind. The museum has even unearthed some plaster casts of antique sculpture that can be copied, as students once did in art school.

The DIY room is the playful wrap-up to “Marks of Genius: 100 Extraordinary Drawings,” an important show of impressively varied drawings, watercolors and pastels from the museum’s collection. Running through Sept. 21, the exhibit anticipates the museum’s 100th birthday next year and will travel to museums in Grand Rapids, Mich.; Raleigh, N.C., and Omaha after it closes in Minneapolis.

A prolific artist who synthesized formal problems through a close study of objects, Paul Cézanne’s lifelong engagement with still life yielded what is arguably the most innovative body of work in the genre by any artist in the Western canon. Premiering this weekend at the Barnes Foundation, “The World is an Apple: The Still Lifes of Cézanne” exhibition is a select gathering of 21 paintings which includes early to very late works — with themes ranging from apples and flowers to skulls — and demonstrates Cézanne’s achievement in the genre. This is the only U.S. location where this exhibition will be seen, and is primarily made up of paintings from private collections around the world, so are rarely seen by the public.

“While he surely looked closely at nature, Cézanne self-consciously plays with colors, forms and space in a manner that invites a free association that contrasts with the fixed meanings of academic tradition in his still lifes. He creates an alternative world where things can move and exist improbably and signify variously, exploding and evading the traditional containment of the ‘silent life of things,’” explained exhibition curator Benedict Leca.

The Legion of Honor in San Francisco is currently hosting the exhibition “Intimate Impressionism,” which features nearly 70 Impressionist and Post-Impressionist landscapes, seascapes, still lifes, interiors, and portraits from the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Masterpieces by Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Alfred Sisley are on view.

The sweeping exhibition offers glimpses into the artists’ processes and highlights their inspirations, favorite subjects, and individual perspectives. For instance, a section of the show explores how Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, and Sisley were motivated by their plein-air predecessors when painting the natural world. Depictions of artists’ studios, domestic interiors, and family members further deepen connections between the artists, their works, and the audience.

The exhibition, which will remain on view at the Legion of Honor through August 3, was made possible by the closure of the National Gallery’s East Building for a major renovation and expansion project.    

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are currently hosting the exhibition “Modern Nature: Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George” at the de Young Museum. The show, which was organized by the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, New York in association with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the first exhibition to explore Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings of Lake George.

Between 1918 and 1934, O’Keeffe would spend months at her husband Alfred Stieglitz’s family estate slightly north of Lake George Village in New York’s Adirondack Park. During this highly productive period, O’Keeffe created over 200 paintings depicting the bucolic, wooded setting, which differ greatly from her well-known renderings of the sparse Southwestern landscape.

“Modern Nature” features 53 works from public and private collections and includes botanical compositions of flowers and vegetables as well as still lifes and paintings of the trees that grew on the 36-acre estate. The exhibition also includes paintings of weathered barns and other structures as well as panoramic landscapes. Works have been loaned from a number of celebrated public institutions including the Seattle Art Museum, the Denver Art Museum, the High Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Walker Art Center.

Colin B. Bailey, director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, said, “It is especially gratifying to host this pioneering and scholarly exhibition of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Lake George‒period works, as the artist’s ‘Petunias’ (1925), featured in the exhibition, is a highlight of our renowned collection of modernist works by artists associated with the Stieglitz circle.”

The de Young Museum is the only west coast venue for the exhibition. “Modern Nature” will remain on view through May 11, 2014.

The Orlando Museum of Art is currently presenting the exhibition ‘Rembrandt, Rubens, Gainsborough and the Golden Age of Painting’. The opening of the monumental show, which took place on January 25, 2014, marked the beginning of the museum’s 90th anniversary celebration.

The works on view are on loan from the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky and were created between 1600 and 1800, a period commonly known as the Golden Age of European painting. During this time, the number of artists and art collectors in Europe grew exponentially. The exhibition presents 71 works including portraits, religious paintings, landscapes and still lifes by artists such as Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck, Jan Steen, Jacob Van Ruisdael and Thomas Gainsborough.

‘Rembrandt, Rubens, Gainsborough and the Golden Age of Painting’ will be on view at the Orlando Museum of Art through May 25, 2014.

From February 15 through May 11, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco will present ‘Modern Nature: Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George’ at the de Young Museum. The exhibition, which has been organized by the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY in association with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, NM, is the first exhibition to explore Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings of Lake George. Between 1918 and 1934, O’Keeffe would spend months at her husband Alfred Stieglitz’s family estate slightly north of Lake George Village. O’Keeffe’s paintings of the wooded, bucolic setting differ greatly from her well-known renderings of the sparse Southwestern landscape.

‘Modern Nature’ presents the artist’s full swath of works created during her time at Lake George. The exhibition features 53 works from public and private collections and includes botanical compositions of flowers and vegetables as well as still lifes and paintings of the trees that grew on the 36-acre estate. The exhibition also includes paintings of weathered barns and other structures as well as panoramic landscapes.

'Modern Nature: Georgia O’Keeffe and Lake George’ went on view at the Hyde Collection last year and was so well-received that the museum extended its hours of operation during the show’s final days.

A monograph of the work of William Glackens, one of the founders of the Ashcan School and member of the 20th century American artist group, The Eight, will be published by Skira Rizzoli this year. The illustrated volume will feature some of Glackens’ most celebrated works including paintings previously unknown to the general public, nudes, portraits, still lifes, street scenes and landscapes. The monograph will also include scholarly essays that will explore Glackens’ relationship with French painting, his interest in fashion and costume, his depictions of women, and his work as an illustrator.

The monograph will accompany a retrospective of Glackens’ work, which will be held at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, NY from July 27, 2014 through October 13, 2014. The exhibition is being co-organized with the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia and the Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale and will include approximately 75 works from private collections and public museums across the U.S. The show will be the first major retrospective of Glackens’ work in over fifty years.

A selection of French Impressionist paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA are currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. ‘The Age of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’ presents 73 works by artists such as Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and Jean-Francois Millet.

The Clark launched its collection tour, which coincided with a three-year expansion of the museum, in 2011. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is the second venue in the U.S. to host the exhibition. In total, the show has been seen by more than 1.6 million people around the world.

The works on view span 70 years and include portraits, landscapes, marines, scenes of everyday life and still lifes. ‘The Age of Impressionism’ will be on view in Houston through March 23, 2014.

The National Gallery in London has received an early painting by Vincent Van Gogh thanks to the Cultural Gifts Scheme, which was introduced by the UK Government earlier this year.

During the mid-1880s Van Gogh painted approximately 40 portraits of the peasants who lived in the Dutch village of Nuenen. The series helped establish Van Gogh as a painter of working people and is considered a breakthrough achievement in his artistic development. ‘Head of a Peasant Woman’ is the first early work by Van Gogh to enter the Gallery’s collection. It is also the museum’s first portrait -- the six other Van Gogh paintings (four are owned by the Gallery and two are long-term loans) are landscapes and still lifes.

The Cultural Gifts Scheme was launched in March 2013 to encourage philanthropy for the arts since it enables UK taxpayers to donate important objects to the nation during their lifetime. In return, donors receive a tax reduction based on a set percentage of the value of the work they are donating. ‘Head of  Peasant Woman’ is the second artwork to be donated to the UK as a result of the Cultural Gifts Scheme.

The painting is currently on view at the National Gallery.