Falling For Fallingwater, The Grand Tour Continues...

Fallingwater

by Frank Lloyd Wright

in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania

Rhododendrons were dripping with moisture as we rounded the bend toward the visitor center in Mill Run, Pennsylvania.  We were going to see the Frank Lloyd Wright house known round the world as Fallingwater.  Under our umbrellas as we walk up the gravel driveway, we hope for some sunshine to dry us out as we wait for our tour to start.  It is a slow day and there will only be about 70 groups of about a dozen people going into the house today; we are tour number 15.  While we wait, I look over an exhibition of gifts that the Kaufmann family ( who commissioned the Frank Lloyd Wright design ) had received and read about their history.  The Kaufmann family owned department stores and in fact one of them was in Rochester when we first moved here from New York City.

We will be walking through a structure cantilevered over a waterfall in the Laurel Highlands, a rolling hill country southeast of Pittsburgh.  You wouldn't expect the world's most famous 20th century house to have been built during the Great Depression, but that is what we have before us.  Making a pilgrimage to Fallingwater should be on everyone's bucket list, because it really is that good.

Coming into view is the house and the way it reflects the local geology and this is part of the charm of the building, and also part of the philosophy in the mind of the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.  Trying to be harmonious with the natural setting, and gathering visual strength from the layers and rocky ledges that this house nestles among, really has a startling effect.

John James Audubon

hand colored engraving of the Common Raven

Before I even noticed the terrific details of the interior architecture, I was greeted by a familiar image - an Audubon print I grew up with of The Raven, hanging in the vestibule as we walked up and into the house.  I was told by the tour guide that part of the estate included a bird sanctuary, and it was now all under the care and supervision of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

The ceilings are rather low in the house and this intensifies the horizontal expanse of each floor, and terrace.  The rooms have built in furniture which adds warmth as does the color scheme of Cherokee Red highlights and a light Naples Yellow for the major concrete structure.  A corner window of six stacked increments amazes me when it is opened and you realize that the structure is unique - everything is custom built and requires a lot of care.  Also surprising, was to find a copy of my father's book, "Birds of the World " under a statue of a Madonna in the Master Bedroom.

Indoors and Outdoors blend beautifully at

Fallingwater

In places where art can be hung, there are famous Japanese prints by Hiroshige, and also works by Picasso.  Another surprise for me was to find a sculpture by Joseph Goto on one of the terraces ( I had met him once or twice before his death in 1994 ).  His brother Byron was a friend of the family.  Among the crafts in the house were South American, and American Indian pottery, and paintings by Victor Hammer, William Huggins, and Sideo Frombolutti.

Almost miraculous is the cooling effect of the moving water from below the house.  A breeze comes up the steps and into the room, and the sounds of splashing water can be heard.  The site of this house took a while to find, and the Kaufmann family who owned the house took great care in preserving its appearance.  Today you treat the property as you would a work of art in a museum.  While the tour was in progress we could not take any photos but after the tour was over I managed to take a few quick images before we returned to our car in the parking lot.

Make it your business to go and see this marvel, you will be glad that you did! 

Looking For Kuniyoshi, The Grand Tour, Part 2

"Boy Stealing Fruit" by Yasuo Kuniyoshi, 1923

from the exhibition 

The Artistic Journey of Yasuo Kuniyoshi

at

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Washington, D.C.

A few months ago at a show in New York City, I was engaged by a conversation with my friend Tom Wolf, who is an artist and art historian teaching at Bard, and he told me about a book he had written and an exhibition that was about to open in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian.  I was staying in Baltimore for the BRIDGES conference this week ( which I will write about soon ) so I decided to drive down the pike to D.C. and catch "The Artistic Journey of Yasuo Kuniyoshi" - on view now through August 30, 2015.  If you don't see this show at The Smithsonian this summer, I am afraid you are out of luck because it will not travel to a city near you.

'Fish Kite", 1950, by Yasuo Kuniyoshi

Yasuo Kuniyoshi is a early 20th century artist ( not to be confused with a Japanese printmaker by the same last name ) and you will see his artwork in bits and pieces spread over many museums ( including a wonderful little painting titled "Charade"that I found in Ithaca, at The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art -    see my Post from April 13, 2015 ).

A fair number of the works in the Smithsonian exhibition come from Japanese collections and while I have seen many of his paintings - I have never encountered a show of Kuniyoshi this extensive before.

I had the chance to really evaluate his talent - and it is significant - I would say his circus performers and fakirs are archetypes in their own right.

Yasuo Kuniyoshi's 1924 " Self Portrait as a Photographer "

oil on canvas

I walked into the Smithsonian to cool my heels, and dig into this exhibition, and the first painting that I saw was a self-portrait by the painter of himself as a photographer - how ironic!  Kuniyoshi's eyes betray something happening ( off screen perhaps ).  Is the artist saying that despite his passion for stylization - what he is giving you here is a document of how things really look like ( a kind of willful or wishful substitution ).

I am really familiar with his brand of graphic exaggeration, because my father who was also an artist practiced the same thing and may have even been heavily influenced by the art of Kuniyoshi at a time when he was a budding artist just out of college ( late 1930's ).

"Little Joe with Cow",  1923

"The Artistic Journey of Yasuo Kuniyoshi"  also has a surprisingly large self portrait of the painter dressed up to play golf - not an image you associate with the bohemian life.  We should know more about this artist who never really gave up on figurative art and go into pure abstraction, even when that became the prevailing trend ( I think of DeKooning in this and an artist like Diebenkorn ).  In fact

Kuniyoshi doesn't go in for histrionics in his work, most of the canvases are modest in scale - and in fact his colors were subtle all the way until the 1950's when the palette brightened  ( the end of the wars may have had something to do with this ).

" Maine Family",  1922-23

Where Kuniyoshi is more expressive - that is in the size relationships and contrasts - we get the sense that one of his strengths is in design - and that is a word that is not often associated with mid-20th century art.  It is however,  part of the Kuniyoshi legacy - he tells a short story in his art, his art has social significance, and we root for the artist as we root for the underdog.  The artworld in the mid- 20th Century was beginning to be a very competitive marketplace.

"Strong Woman with Child ", 1925

by Yasuo Kuniyoshi

I congratulate my friend Tom Wolf for doing the work to put this show on the map.  It has garnered a lot of attention and wonderful reviews!

Grand Mid Atlantic Tour / Part One

Passer-by at The National Gallery

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

The National Gallery is a cool spot in a Capitol way.  I duck in for a few minutes on a hot summer to soak up some art, and I have to sit for a second - this being a hazy humid day - and the place is ripe with tourists, and nobody stops to look at the paintings anymore, they just pause long enough to click their smart phones and move onto the next one.  Can you imagine going half-way around the world for a museum experience and then not look at the art but only at your iPhone?  There is something wrong with this equation!  This does not bode well for the art or the artists.  Can we not slow down long enough to take a long or meaningful look at the art that is presented to us?

Van Gogh paints a selfie

oil on canvas, 1889

Enough complaints, I went to the National Gallery to reconnect because I have been working on the computer too long and I forget what the touch is about, I need to see it and feel it.  As for the Cezanne, that young man in the red vest is one of my favorites in this collection of stars.  Van Gogh stares out at the viewer in constant concern for the little details.  The fine red edges of oil paint round the lids of eyes look at me from 125 years ago, like there is no tomorrow.  Did I mention that I spent the last few months reading Van Gogh's letters, and boy was that worth it - now I know why his paintings look the way they do!

J. B. Chardin, oil on canvas

Down the hall I go back in time to Chardin and gaze fondly at his young man playing a card game, his alphabet lesson, his still life, and so much more.  Chardin is endlessly rewarding, to notice the humility with which he paints women in their kitchens.  Chardin makes the commonplace look noble.  This is the magic trick that he plays, and a lot of this has to do with scale, and the interactions we have with his compositions.

The marble bust looks the other way as the artist continues her copy

Madame Moitessier looks out from her portrait as calm as you can be when you have been hanging on the wall all these many years.  She has seen it all, but now we have someone who really is looking at the painting that Ingres made so many years ago.  The copy is being made the old-fashioned way, with a value study in greys underneath, and the mixed colors on a layer on top.  When it is all done a varnish will top it off and look great into the next century.

In the American art section the viewers have to be grateful to John Wilmerding who has made some promised gifts to the museum on view now.  Among my favorites are the painters Fitz Henry Lane ( formerly Fitz Hugh Lane ) and J. F. Peto.  When I look at Peto, he is not too far from the work of Chardin, except now the articles he portrays are a bit shabby, beaten down even.  A pile of old books begs to be disposed of.

J.F. Peto  "Take Your Choice", 1885

Fitz Henry Lane takes you Down East to the coast of Massachusetts and on into Maine.  His little jewel of a painting called "Braces Rock" is an exercise in clarity, and a calm vision, and he belongs with a group you can call the "Luminists".  I feel better already!

Fitz Henry Lane

"Braces Rock"  

oil on canvas, 1864

65th Rochester - Finger Lakes Juried Exhibition

The Memorial Art Gallery

hosts

The 65th Rochester - Finger Lakes Exhibition

Stepping out of the snaking line that leads to the entrance of the 65th Rochester - Finger Lakes Exhibition at The Memorial Art Gallery on opening night, I was greeted by the art of a friend from Geneva, New York, and that is a pair of color woodcuts by Phillia Yi.  Her work has a lyrical application of clear color in abstractions where the scale is pleasing - the art is inviting and easy to live with.

Around the corner into the show there is a mixture of surprises among the 68 works selected by this year's juror, Michael Rooks from Atlanta's High Museum of Art.  In some past years this show was so selective that few of the entrants had their works chosen for viewing, but this year we have a better representation of the artists in this region, and the only reservation I have is that there is not much in the way of sculpture or installation, though this is strong in our area.

Stephanie McMahon

of Alfred Station

Stephanie McMahon seems to be given the most space for her colorful paintings which to this observer are a mix of influences from Karin Davie and Mary Heilman to Jonathan Lasker - all in bright eye-popping hues.  I like the fact that the juror has often chosen more than one work to represent an artist, so for example there are two photos from Kathy Vajda, and two for Nick Ruth.  Nick's two semi-abstract works open the question of modern technology and start a conversation about communication and surveillance ( or are they the same? ).

Christine Sulivan

of Elmira

Christine Sullivan from Elmira, New York, has one of the poster images - a map of the Finger Lakes with superimposed forms meant to illustrate our geology here, so even though the painting is handled like an abstract, in reality it is a view in the mind's eye of the physical structures - a geomorphology as she calls it of the lake district.  The painting is a bit like camouflage, and it reveals and conceals at the same time.

Willie Osterman

of Canandaigua, New York

Visitors to this year's show can pick their favorite entry which will be announced at a later time, but for me my pick would be Willie Osterman's  photo installation of the human body ( I think it is a self portrait ) titled " I Am That " from 2014.  I love the depth of each of the boxes that depict a part of the human anatomy in a crucifer layout - but it is much more than that.  There are optical illusions and depth because there are many layers to this art.  There is a bit of an influence of the old glass plates used in photography as well as reference to contemporary artists like the Starn Twins    ( minus the tape ).

Willie Osterman is my colleague at The Rochester Institute of Technology and there he demonstrates how to make these  ambrotypes.  Other works of photography in the present show like Edgar Praus' "Store Fronts" in Jackson, Mississippi remind me of color versions of Walker Evans ( and in fact one of the store fronts in this triptych directly evokes Evans' name ).

Bill Keyser's two sculptural pieces in the middle of the show make analogies to the human hand 

( "Fetch" ) and to a dangerous fall ( " Black Ice" ).  For a more academic approach to the human form look to Tom Golambos' big figures in his oil on canvas.  This work is all about drawing and accuracy and the time it takes to shape and form a painting of two humans on bed sheets - it is very accomplished.

Kala Stein

of Springwater, NY

Kala Stein exhibits a sculptural object that is also utilitarian ( serves as a vase ) and they have been featured from time to time in the gallery shop. I like the patterning and the way these fit together.

I was happy to see that the Finger Lakes juror included two works from Barbara McPhail - both are Monotypes which is a form of printmaking, on top of which she draws directly in color pencils.  In "Where Once Was Ice" she directly calls our attention to climate change and the dire situation for polar bears, it is a bit ominous - even if these prints have pleasing colors for the most part.

John Kastner also has two pieces in the show, and I like his " I Had A Car Like That Once " of 2014. This gouache on board is obsessive in detail with a constant droll sense of humor - part R. Crumb and Peewee's Playhouse combined.

Going out the door, I really liked the big abstractions from Rebecca Aloisio from 2014.  She lives in Victor, and the mixed media approach is fresh and she is a new artist for this viewer.  All in all, I found the present iteration of the Finger Lakes Exhibition to be a happy one, and especially because The Memorial Art Gallery supports this community of artists in this manner.  Go and see for yourself - what are you waiting for?!

This Summer Harvest

Ock Hee's Gallery

in Honeoye Falls, New York

"Summer Harvest "-  July 25 to August 29, 2015

Several weeks ago I wrote about the sixth day of the sixth month, and Rochester Contemporary Art Center's 6 X 6 exhibition which has come to an end - but not before they were able to let people buy more than 2500 works of art for just $20. per work!  I can't think of another gallery that has had such support and success as they proved with this event.  A terrific fundraiser, this has become a yearly attraction that artists support, because they get to show their work, but more importantly there is a connection established between the community and an arts organization dedicated to visual art.

Rochester Contemporary Art Center's 6 X 6 exhibition

Thank you to all the volunteers that make this happen and to Gallery Director, Bleu Cease for his clear vision and energy!

Ock Hee's Gallery, "Summer Harvest"

with

Dennis Burns, Patricia Wilder, Kurt Feuerherm, Arthur Singer, and Alan Singer

This week I had the pleasure of hanging a group show that will open soon, at Ock Hee's Gallery in Honeoye Falls, New York, and we call the show "Summer Harvest".  Ock Hee has a deep and real interest in the visual arts, as well as the world of gardening and garden design.  At the end of the year she will close her art gallery and she will begin a new chapter, but in the meantime she is putting together some very interesting shows.

Dennis Burns has wonderful ink and brush paintings that focus on nature, whether it is a pair of cicadas or the cherry blossoms on a tree branch.  There is an interesting progression in the works presented by all the artists and you may be able to see this as a conversation between the artworks presented to the viewer.  It might be a relationship that starts with a color, or it might be a relationship that is shared by the quality of a line or the "arabesque".

Kurt Feuerherm  ( foreground )

and

Arthur Singer ( 1917-1990 ) 

at "Summer Harvest"

Kurt Feuerherm has shown his artwork widely in major museums, and here in Rochester recently at Warren Phillip's Fine Art and Framing, and The Rochester Contemporary Art Center ( in " Makers and Mentors " ).  In this present show Kurt has free standing sculptural objects that are modest in scale but big in personality and they are fun to contemplate.  Kurt's animals seem to have a youthful awkwardness like very young animals just getting used to being in the world.

Arthur Singer illustration from  "Life of the Hummingbird"

As birds and animals go, my father, Arthur Singer ( 1917-1990 ) is represented here by images he made for two or three of the books he published during his lifetime.  He spent over forty years on projects like the Golden Guide to Birds of North America, and other books like "Birds of the World" and "Life of the Hummingbird".  For "Summer Harvest" I picked out some choice images that are modest in scale but represent Arthur Singer's mastery of his subject.

Patricia Wilder has exhibited her work in depth here in Rochester, and in the surrounding area, and during this August you might find her shows of photography in places like the Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua.  Her photography is related to the color-field paintings of the mid-20th century.  Here in our show her work is all about color, and in one case about the scribbles of graffiti on a blue background.

My prints and paintings often are oriented towards landscape, and some are very geometric in their composition.  Some of my prints are gounded in art and mathematics, and while these two seem to be on opposite sides of the coin ( like logic and intuition ) I use both processes in my work.  I will write more about this in the coming week as I journey to Baltimore for a conference and exhibition called BRIDGES - an international affair whose focus is on Art & Mathematics.

Post Script:  By some lucky toss of the coin, we won this George Condo in a raffle at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center's 

show  6 X 6.  WOW!

Muralism

IMPACT  at 1975 Gallery

Rochester, New York

Muralism - The art of getting up on a wall and letting the audience see the process unfold.  That is part of the goal of Wall / Therapy, taking painting out of the cloistered studio environment and out into broad daylight - at a giant architectural scale.  As Wall / Therapy commences this summer in Rochester, New York, go out and find the new sites - and even if you don't get a chance to see an artist's work in progress, the paintings will remain long after the artists have cleaned up and moved on.

"Cloud Tails" painting by Nate Hodge

at

1975 Gallery

On a more intimate scale, the 1975 Gallery has just launched the 2015 Wall / Therapy season with an indoor show they call "IMPACT" which pairs local artists with some new found friends in Europe called Urban Nation.  IMPACT has some very talented artists from both scenes, and the works for sale range from limited edition prints and works on cardboard, to a very moving trio of paintings by Andreas Englund of a fellow that reminded me of the movie "Bird Man".

"Sotofish Purple" by Jeff Soto

I am a fan of the Wall / Therapy concept, and I even contributed to the practice of "Muralism" years ago with my class at R.I.T. - when we painted a large scale wall work in the parking garage below the Family Court building for the non-profit group CASA.  I know about the process, which first starts with getting permission from building owners, and then finding funds for the art materials.  For this year's Wall / Therapy project the curators Erich Lehman and Dr. Ian Wilson found funding success on the crowd source site Indiegogo.  You can donate to the cause if you go on the web: http://www.wall-therapy.com/about-wall-therapy/

At 1975 Gallery you can find rugged graffiti and very sophisticated painting right next to one another and this tells you something about the current art world - this is pluralism writ large.  Many of the works on view have a basis in descriptive representation and often an underlying narrative which you can begin to parse.

Prints for Sale

by

Onur and Wes21

Nate Hodge is a local artist who will be painting a mural this summer on Atlantic Avenue, and in the gallery he is represented by "Cloud Tails" - a composition that has a lot of movement and turbulence.

Another painting looks like a wrestling match in various values of grey - we will just call it an "action painting".

"Together We Fall" by Li-Hill

There are some funny prints up in the back by Onur and Wes21 - and I was engaged by the  ones called "Eat or Be Eaten" and the other called "Happy Meal "  These are photos of actual murals that were painted for locations outside of Rochester.  Unfortunately, you don't get the sense of immense scale that seeing the real thing would bring to a viewer.

Close Up by Andreas Englund

A trio of portraits may be the most moving images in this present show, and they are photo realistic paintings of an aging super-hero figure.  Andreas Englund is a well respected artist from Sweden and this is part of a very large series that deals with the aging process.

"Blooming Mind" by Brittany Williams

The artists are having fun and bringing attention to the city of Rochester.  It will become a destination to see what is going up on the walls, transforming blank walls into something that captures the imagination and gets people to talk and have a conversation about art and life.  Go and check them out this summer!

On the Road Again

Lettuce Make You Smile

Brooktondale, New York

Up on a country road in Brooktondale, only a few minutes away from Ithaca, New York, our neighbors Mary Alice and Jonathan have this great garden with superior varieties of lettuce and so much more.  We found some time to get outside and take in a new perspective.  I think about painting outdoors, and I actually found this place many years ago when I was still a student at Cornell University.  I roamed the countryside looking for a view where I could set up my easel.  Up at the top of the hill, the birds called, and the butterflies were all around.  Fireflies come out around dusk, it is so peaceful here, just what you need!

Iris "Sultan"

watercolor by Alan Singer

Earlier, I stopped by at The Mill Art Center in Honeoye Falls to leave a few paintings for their new show featuring many local artists who like to paint outside.  I might just set up in my back yard and paint the flowers, particularly the Iris that bloom around now. At the Mill Art Center there are many artists showing their skill at painting on site and the show opens on July 9th, so stop in to see the plethora of artwork.

I took a few photos to give you a taste of what is in store.

Plein Air paintings

at The Mill Art Center

opens July 9th, 2015

Years ago, when I was a student - there weren't as many people who were attracted to painting direct from life, outdoors.  I learned about this branch of art from my father, and from some of the best artists at work, including Fairfield Porter, Edwin Dickinson, Paul Resika, and Wolf Kahn.  When I was much younger I would spend entire summers working outside, so I have a healthy respect for this kind of painting.

Cathy Chin

Plein Air paintings at 

The Mill Art Center

In this new show at The Mill Art Center,  I was attracted to the color notes by Cathy Chin, and other works by Phil Bliss and Jim Mott, artists whose work I am familiar with.  There are also many other new names, and always some surprises, so take some time to drive over to Honeoye Falls, New York.

Once you are in Honeoye Falls, if you drive down Lehigh Street, stop in to see the summer show at Ock Hee's Gallery and view the art of Dejan and Lanna Pejovic.  This show has some similarities with the exhibition that this brother and sister held at The Geisel Gallery earlier in the year.  There are some new works not in the Geisel Gallery show, and this is well worth the stop.

Dejan and Lanna Pejovic

at Ock Hee's Gallery

2 Lehigh Street

Honeoye Falls, New York

Lanna and Dejan practice a kind of mix of representational and abstract art that boils things down to particular forms, which make you aware of space, shape and texture. Vaulted branches of a forest or the inside of a cathedral may come to mind.  The same peaceful feeling of being outdoors is conveyed in this art which deserves a wider audience, so go check it out.