Orson Welles Goes to the Exposition, Sells the Eiffel Tower to Cleopatra for A Dollar-

NOTED IN THE NEWS-

- Cleopatra emerges from sands, seas of time : "A new exhibition traces the life, loves, and death of Cleopatra, Egypt's final pharaoh and one of history's most compelling and enigmatic figures..." Read more

- (Who says you can't still get bargains at auctions?) Christie's sued for selling £100m 'Da Vinci' for £11,400: A former owner claims the auction house was negligent when it sold his da Vinci drawing as a 19th century German work, and for 0.01% of its potential value... Oops. read more


ARTS ALMANAC-

May 6, 1880: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German expressionist painter and printmaker, was born. "Kirchner was one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th century art. He volunteered for army service in the First World War, but soon suffered a breakdown and was discharged. In 1918, he settled in Davos, living in a farm house in the Alps. His reputation grew with several exhibitions in Germany and Switzerland in 1920 and with a monograph and the first part of a catalogue raisonné of his graphics in 1926, a mural commission by the Folkwang museum in 1927, and a presence at the Venice Biennale in 1928; he became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1931. In 1933, Kirchner was labelled a "degenerate artist" by the Nazis and asked for his resignation from the Berlin Academy of Arts; in 1937, over 600 of his works were confiscated from public museums in Germany and were sold or destroyed. In 1938, the psychological trauma of these events, along with the Nazi occupation of Austria, close to his home, led to his suicide.

May 6, 1889: The Exposition Universelle and the Eiffel Tower are both officially opened to the public. "The Exposition was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution. The main symbol of the Fair was the Eiffel Tower, which served as the entrance arch to the Fair. Though not yet completed, exhibition attendees were allowed to walk up to the second floor platform of the tower."

A report in the June 14th, 1889 issue of Engineering noted: The exhibition will be famous for four distinctive features. In the first place, for its buildings, especially the Eiffel tower and the Machinery Hall; in the second place, for its Colonial Exhibition, which for the first time brings vividly to the appreciation of the Frenchmen that they are masters of lands beyond the sea; thirdly, it will be remembered for its great collection of war material, the most absorbing subject now-a-days, unfortunately, to governments if not to individuals; and fourthly, it will be remembered, and with good cause by many, for the extraordinary manner in which South American countries are represented.

May 6, 1915: Orson Welles, American film director and actor was born, and cinema would never be the same again. What else can I say? If you don't know much about the man I suggest you go look him up- there's probably a page or two that mention him somewhere on the internets.


IN OUR STORE-

“The Quest for Immortality. Treasures of Ancient Egypt”

Edited by Erik Hornung & Betsy M. Bryan.

Published by the National Gallery of Art in 2002.

“From the beginning of their civilization, ancient Egyptians conceived of an immortal afterlife, devoting vast material resources and energy into preparations for eternity. This catalog, filled with vivid photographs of objects from Cairo's Egyptian Museum, discusses their continually evolving understanding of the afterlife in the period from the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BC), when stability and prosperity fostered a flowering of cultural activity, to the Late Period (664-332 BC). More than 100 objects are shown in detail—coffins, tombs, masks, papyri, sarcophagi, and sculpture, some in multiple images or with full-page closeups—and the introductory essays are illustrated with some 75 additional color photographs.”

$35.00

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VIDEO OF THE DAY-

Holy Platinum Jazz Violins, Batman! To the Schools!

NOTED IN THE NEWS-

- Five cleared of trying to extort £4.25m from duke over stolen Da Vinci painting : Jury issues not proven verdicts against two accused and not guilty for the other three after eight-week trial. "Five men accused of trying to extort £4.25m from one of Britain's richest peers for the return of a stolen Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece have all walked free after an eight-week trial..." Read the full story


- Museums Take Their Lessons to the Schools : "SUTTON, Mass. — Sitting in the dark, knees crossed, looking up at the stars projected on the planetarium dome, the fourth-grade class might have been on a field trip to the Museum of Science in Boston. But instead, they were having what Katie Slivensky, an educator from the museum, calls a “backwards field trip” in a portable, inflatable planetarium set up for the morning in the old gym at Sutton High School — a 50-minute lesson on the stars, moon and planets, tied to state learning standards for physical science, earth and space... " Read the full story


ARTS ALMANAC-

April 22, 1658: Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violist, violinist, teacher, and composer, was born. "Torelli is most remembered for his contributions to the development of the instrumental concerto, especially concerti grossi and the solo concerto, for strings and continuo, as well as being the most prolific Baroque composer for trumpets.

April 22, 1891: Laura Gilpin, American photographer, was born. "Known for her photographs of Native Americans, particularly the Navajo and Pueblo, and her Southwestern landscapes, Gilpin said she made her earliest dated autochome in 1908 when she was 17 years old. She found her true vision in the peoples and landcsapes of the American Southwest, and she published several books on the region. She went to become one of the great masters of the art of platinum printing, and many of her platinum prints are now in museums around the world. She said "I have always loved the platinum printing process. It's the most beautiful image one can get. It has the longest scale and one can get the greatest degree of contrast. It's not a difficult process; it just takes time." Over a thirty-year period from 1945-1975 her work was seen in more than one hundred one-person and group exhibits."

April 22, 1916: Violinist Yehudi Menuhin was born. "Violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom, he is commonly considered one of the twentieth century's greatest violin virtuosi. His recording contract with EMI lasted almost 70 years and is the longest in the history of the music industry. He made his first recording at age 13 in November 1929, and his last in 1999 at age 82. In total he recorded over 300 works for EMI, both as a violinist and as a conductor."

April 22, 1922: Charles Mingus, American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and human rights activist, was born. "Having released numerous records of high regard, Mingus is considered one of the most important composers and performers of jazz as well as a pioneer in bass technique. Dozens of musicians passed through his bands and later went on to impressive careers. Mingus was also influential and creative as a band leader, recruiting talented and sometimes little-known artists whom he assembled into unconventional and revealing configurations. Nearly as well known as his ambitious music was Mingus' often fearsome temperament, which earned him the nickname "The Angry Man of Jazz"."


FROM OUR STORE-

“California Pottery: From Missions to Modernism”

By Bill Stern.

Published in San Francisco by Chronicle Books in 2001.

From the 1920s to the 1950s, designers including Rockwell Rockwell Kent and Edith Heath, and producers including Bauer, Catalina, and Vernon Kilns, were involved with California potteries. They made strikingly colorful dishware, garden pottery, and decorative and architectural tiles. The pieces reflect the style of the times, from Arts and Crafts and romantic Mission styles of the 20s to the Moderne styles of the 1930s, and the Modernist style of the 1940s and 50s. This enjoyable, well-illustrated book provides a history of California's diverse and colorful pottery.

$20.00

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More Accomplished People Were Born Today Than You Can Shake a Stick At-

ARTS ALMANAC-

April 15, 1452: Leonardo da Vinci was born. "Italian polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer, Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance man, a man whose unquenchable curiosity was equaled only by his powers of invention. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived. According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent and "his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote". Marco Rosci points out, however, that while there is much speculation about Leonardo, his vision of the world is essentially logical rather than mysterious, and that the empirical methods he employed were unusual for his time."

April 15, 1489: Mimar Sinan, Ottoman architect, was born. "Koca Mimar Sinan Ağa was the chief Ottoman architect and civil engineer for sultans Suleiman I, Selim II, and Murad III. He was responsible for the construction of more than three hundred major structures, and other more modest projects. His masterpiece is the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, although his most famous work is the Suleiman Mosque in Constantinople (Istanbul). He headed an extensive governmental department and trained many assistants who, in turn, distinguished themselves, including Sedefhar Mehmet Ağa, architect of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. He is considered the greatest architect of the classical period of Ottoman architecture, and has been compared to Michelangelo, his contemporary in the West."

April 15, 1741: Charles Willson Peale, American painter, soldier and naturalist, was born. "Finding that he had a talent for painting, especially portraiture, Peale studied for a time under John Hesselius and John Singleton Copley, and he traveled to England to take instruction from Benjamin West. Peale was quite prolific as an artist. While he did portraits of scores of historic figures (such as John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton), he is probably best known for his portraits of George Washington. The first time Washington ever sat for a portrait was with Peale in 1772, and there would be six other sittings; using these seven as models, Peale produced altogether close to 60 portraits of Washington. "

"Peale had a great interest in natural history, and organized the first U.S. scientific expedition in 1801. These two major interests combined in his founding of what became the Philadelphia Museum, and was later renamed the Peale Museum. He had expertise not only in painting, but also in other diverse fields, such as carpentry, dentistry, optometry, shoemaking, and taxidermy. In 1802, John Hawkins patented the second official physiognotrace, a mechanical drawing device, and partnered with Peale to market it to prospective buyers. Peale sent a watercolor sketch of the physiognotrace, along with a detailed explanation, to Thomas Jefferson. Peale named all of his sons for artists or scientists, and taught them to paint. Three of them, Rembrandt, Raphaelle, and Titian, became noted artists in their own right."

April 15, 1889: Thomas Hart Benton, American painter and muralist, was born. "Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter and muralist. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, he was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, almost sculpted paintings showed everyday scenes of life in the United States. Though his work is perhaps best associated with the Midwest, he created scores of paintings of New York - where he lived for over 20 years, Martha’s Vineyard - where he summered for much of his adult life, the American South and the American West."

April 15, 1894: Bessie Smith, American blues singer, was born. "Sometimes referred to as "The Empress of the Blues," Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with Louis Armstrong, a major influence on subsequent jazz vocalists.

April 15, 1900: Wilhelm Wagenfeld, noted industrial designer, was born in Bremen. "Wilhelm Wagenfeld was an important German industrial designer of the 20th Century, a disciple of the Bauhaus. He designed glass and metal works for the Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen., the Vereinigte Lausitzer Glaswerke in Weißwasser, Rosenthal, Braun GmbH and WMF. Some of his designs are still produced until these days. One of his classics is a table lamp, known as Wagenfeld Lampe, 1924, which he designed together with Karl J. Jucker.

April 15, 1904: Arshile Gorky, Armenian Artist, was born. "Gorky's contributions to American and world art are difficult to overestimate. The painterly spontaneity of mature works like "The Liver is the Cock's Comb". "The Betrothal II", and "One Year the Milkweed" immediately prefigured Abstract expressionism, and leaders in the New York School have acknowledged Gorky's considerable influence. When Gorky showed his new work to André Breton in the 1940s, Breton declared the painting to be "one of the most important paintings made in America". His paintings and drawings hang in every major American museum including the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (which maintains the Gorky Archive), and in many worldwide, including the Tate in London."

IN OUR STORE-

"Charles Willson Peale and His World"

By Edgar P. Richardson, Brooke Hindle & Lillian B. Miller.

Published by Harry N. Abrams in 1983.

This fine monograph includes biographical essays by Edgar P. Richardson and Lillian B. Miller and a study of Peale's science and technology by Brooke Hindle, as well as a foreword by Charles Sellers and a catalog of Peale’s known paintings.

$45.00

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