ArtPourri

Survey Results Reported—The Metropolitan Museum of Art has released a survey showing that the acclaimed and widely attended fall/winter special exhibition Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings generated $251 million in spending by regional, national and foreign tourists to New York. The landmark exhibition shattered Museum records for attendance at a show of drawings with 459,972 visitors.

Wedding Stamps—The U.S. Postal Service has issued "Our Wedding" stamps, especially designed for mailing invitations and RSVPs. The booklet contains 20 one-ounce and 20 two-ounce first-class stamps. Both stamps feature an illustration of a white dove and a heart, surrounded by calligraphic flourishes set against a lavender background (1 oz.) and a light green background (2 oz.). Based on the now popular mid-19th century Spencerian ornamental script, artist Michael Osborne consulted vintage etiquette and penmanship books that contain plates of calligraphic designs used to embellish correspondence during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Auction News—Sotheby’s May 3rd evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art will include a spectacular painting from Henri Matisse’s celebrated Nice period—Nu couché vu de dos (1927). Never before offered at auction, it is estimated to sell for $12-15 million. Also featured will be a stunning portrait by Pablo Picasso: Dora Maar au chat (1941), one of the largest and most important portraits of the woman who was Picasso’s mistress and principal source of inspiration. The rare, ¾ length portrait is estimated to bring in the area of $50 million.—At Christie’s, Las Vegas entrepreneur Steve Wynn was the winning bidder for J. M. W. Turner’s Giudecca, La Donna Della Salute and San Giorgio at $35.8 million—a record price for the artist.

Museums to Collaborate—The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art Center are teaming up to exchange artworks and develop public programs inspired by each institution’s collections. A loan of Franz Marc’s 1911 painting Die grossen blauen Pferde (The Large Blue Horses), will be on view when the MIA opens its new wing for 20th century art on June 11. The MIA is expected to loan a selection of drawings to the Walker for an exhibition scheduled for 2007.

Laureate Named—Seventy-seven year old Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha has been chosen the 2006 Laureate of the esteemed Pritzker Architecture Prize for "his deep understanding of space and scale…." A formal ceremony will be held on May 30 in Istanbul, Turkey, when a $100,000 grant and a bronze medallion are bestowed.

NEA News—The NEA will award more than $63 million in grants to arts organizations nationwide in its second major round of funding for fiscal year 2006. Funding will go to 970 nonprofit arts organizations through the categories of Access to Artistic Excellence, Learning in the Arts, Arts on Radio and Television and Folk Arts Infrastructure. Monies will also be distributed to state, jurisdictional, and regional arts agencies in keeping with the mandate to allocate 40% of the grant-making budget to these partners.

Exhibitions:

Cincinnati, OH – Cincinnati Art Museum – Rembrandt: Master Printmaker marks the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn’s birth in Leiden (The Netherlands) in 1606 with a selection of his finest works in this medium. Rembrandt, considered one of the greatest printmakers of all time, created over 300 prints and was one of the first artists to experiment with etching and drypoint techniques. Through June 11.

Newark, NJ – The Newark Museum – Off the Pedestal: New Women in the Art of Homer, Chase and Sargent is the first exhibition to examine how American masters, such as Homer, Sargent, Eakins and Gibson, interpreted the newly-emancipated women who emerged in America in the post-Civil War era. Approximately 100 compelling works—paintings, drawings, photographs and engravings—reveal the pivotal role of artists in fashioning the distinctive traits that came to characterize this "new woman" who flaunted social conventions. Through June 18. Travels to Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX, and the Frick Art and Historical Center, Pittsburgh, PA.

Washington, DC – Corcoran Gallery of Art – Botanical Treasures of Lewis & Clark—New Art for the Bicentennial presents more than 60 works of art—including graphite drawings, watercolors, oil paintings, sculpture, jewelry and quilts—created by artists associated with the Corcoran’s Botanical Certificate program especially for the show based on observations of flora identified by Lewis and Clark. Through July 9.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 16 No. 7 -- May 2006