Monkdogz Artblog

As our Haiti Art Fund auction moves into its final week (it closes at 11:59 Eastern Standard Time on March 31^st), it is gratifying to see that the media are still writing about Haiti on the front pages.  Haiti has not been forgotten.

The Times has an article written by Martin Fletcher about how the artists are living and coping since the earthquake:

Toni Monnin, an American who is married to a Haitian and runs one of that country’s leading art galleries, agrees: “Haitians don’t like to depict the sadder or tougher side of life because their lives are already so difficult.”

Could that innate optimism and resilience survive the earthquake that destroyed the capital, Port-au-Prince, killed 230,000 people and left 1.2 million homeless? Ninety per cent of Galerie Monnin’s 60 artists lost homes, relatives, materials — everything. Priceless collections of art were lost.

Two months later the first “earthquake paintings” are emerging. They are as powerful in their way as the most harrowing photographs of the catastrophe, and say much about the Haitian character. They do not ignore the horrors, but neither do they dwell on them. Their predominant message is one of faith, hope and salvation.

“It’s a kind of catharsis,” Monnin says. “It always comes back to resilience. It’s the Haitian thing. You just get on with life and keep going.”

These are very powerful words.  These sentiments are obviously well road tested and will easily translate into life skills that would benefit any of us struggling with our own concerns and issues.

Born in a camp in 1942 in Germany, Ursula von Rydingsvard’s earliest memories, until the family emigrated to the United States in 1950, are of the austere wooden barracks in which her parents and six siblings lived. Today her experiences of wood are in her creations of monumental works in cedar. Galerie Lelong on 26th Street in Chelsea is exhibiting three of her large works.

Roughly cut pieces of cedar are joined to form beautiful large works that are elegant and fluid despite their organic nature and size. The wood imparts warmth to the structures that makes them feel alive and the scent adds an additional dimension to the works and the atmosphere. This exhibition is titled ERRĀTUS which means “wandering” or “roaming” in Latin.

The gallery press release describes the works:

von Rydingsvard has created three epic works in cedar, each remarkable in its vast scale and vision. Bride’s Veil rises up from the floor, unfolding into rhythmic waves. Under von Rydingsvard’s hand, the cedar feels fluid, like fabric. In Blackened Word, slight tracings serve as the foundation for a nearly seven-foot tall freestanding structure—the tentative handwriting of an elderly woman was laid on the floor, from which von Rydingsvard built upward to create a towering, undulating wall. The third work in the exhibition, Unraveling, is an elaborate, overwhelming wall “drawing” in cedar. The largest and most complex among von Rydingsvard’s works hung on the wall, Unraveling features cup-like shapes that protrude and extend downward, forming a giant’s drapery. In ERRĀTUS, von Rydingsvard displays her natural agility in drawing the intimacy, grace, and emotion out of the most primal of elements.

The exbition is open until May 1st.

There’s a commercial gallery in Chelsea that shows good work. The artists that they represent show innovative work of good quality. Some of them are cutting edge are potentially worthy of significant collections and museums.

However the gallery personnel are arrogant, dismissive and often obnoxious in dealing with visitors to their gallery that they deem not to be worthy.

The gallery business is a symbiotic relationship between the gallery and the artists. The art that a gallery displays determines the character, quality and audience of that gallery. Similarly, the gallery that an artist associates with affects their own reputation, potential future and value.

We also work in an industry that suffers a difficult reputation of elitism, self-aggrandizement and at its worst fraud; where perception is often the only basis for the valuation of quality and price. In this environment a good reputation for quality, integrity and value is hard earned.

My moral dilemma is do I help promote a gallery that adds fuel to the fire of the poor reputation of the industry because they show innovative work or do I not promote the gallery but at the expense of the artists.

Does the artist have a responsibility to work with galleries who have a reputation of honesty and integrity or do they have to be grateful when a well known gallery asks to represent them. And let’s be open here, this is not the only bad boy gallery in town; there are plenty of others.

On the other hand there are plenty of galleries which are reputable and work hard for their artists and clients. Do I assume that there are enough of those galleries to write about and forget the ones that disturb my values?

What do you think?

20 years have gone by since Keith Haring died of AIDs related complications and Tony Shafrazi Gallery where Haring had his first solo show is exhibiting another solo show to mark the anniversary.

There is a little bit of everything. There are several original chalk drawings on the subway boards, radiant baby, dog, angel and bat, several three eyes, a small room of fluorescent works and a good collection of wooden totems and metal sculptures. There are even portraits of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe which I didn’t know he’d done.

The show titled “Keith Haring 20th Anniversary” has no press release. I suppose that Keith Haring’s work is iconic enough that it needs no explanation; all images are courtesy of Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York. 

So in the same vein, I offer you some images. The exhibition on West 26th Street in Chelsea continues until April 3rd.

Back in March 2009, we reported on the trial of Lawrence B Salander who was charged with 100 counts including grand larceny, forgery, perjury and securities fraud over 13 years valued at around $88 million, to which he pleaded not guilty.  Today he finally pleaded guilty to 29 counts of grand larceny and scheming to defraud investors to the tune of $120 million.  

In 2007, with several lawsuits pending including one brought by Robert De Niro, a judge ordered the Salander-O’Reilly gallery to cease trading and Salander declared bankruptcy.  De Niro sued Salander for selling several of his late father’s works without telling him of the sales (De Niro is the executor of his father’s estate) and pocketing the total proceeds.

The judge is expected to sentence Salander to imprisonment for 6-18 years depending on how much money is repaid to his clients.  However before then, Salander has been ordered to come before the judge on May 20^th with regards questions raised about his alcohol abuse according to the New York Times.

In the meantime, Robert De Niro has struck a deal with the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of Salander O’Reilley Galleries according to the New York Post,  to reclaim half of the 12 paintings held by the gallery for $14,000 so that they don’t go up for auction with the rest of the gallery holdings.  

Another victim of Salander was tennis star John McEnroe who had believed that he was buying a 50 percent interest in two paintings by Arshile Gorky, the Abstract Expressionist, for $2.03 million. However it transpired that John McEnroe, Salander and a third investor all owned a 50% share in the paintings.   Salander explained that “the financial side is not my strong suit.”  Furthermore John McEnroe later heard that one of the paintings was hanging in another dealer’s home.   Since then he has settled for full ownership of one of the paintings.  John McEnroe was one of Salander’s longtime friend and godfather to one of his seven children.  If he did this to his friends, what did he do to people he didn’t like?

What a prize just for information!  The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston is offering a $5million no-questions-asked reward for information leading to the recovery in good condition of old master artworks stolen in the largest art theft in history which was valued at nearly half a billion dollars.  The US Attorney’s Office is also offering immunity to anybody offering such information.  

Tomorrow sees the 20^th anniversary of the theft and a renewed move by the FBI to try and recover the paintings and sculptures.  The theft of the 13 works of art was carried out by two men who appeared to have significant knowledge of the museum’s security system.  They bound and gagged the two security guards during the very early hours of the morning and took nearly an hour and a half to select an intriguing range of artwork.  The heist included artwork by Degas, Manet, Rembrandt and Vermeer, but did not include one of the museum’s most valuable paintings, a self portrait by Rembrandt, which was taken from the wall but then left behind.  Lastly, the thieves took the only VHS tape that would have recorded them from the security office.  

The Boston Globe reports in full.

Anyone with information about the theft, the location of the stolen artworks, or the investigation may contact the museum’s Director of Security Anthony Amore directly at 617-278-5114 or theft@gardnermuseum.org. The museum can ensure complete confidentiality.

What is there to add to what Marina hasn’t already said about the beautiful documentary “Herb & Dorothy“?

I went last night to see the film presentation by producer and director Megumi Sasaki at MY Arts Prospect gallery in Chelsea and was thrilled to listen to Megumi, Japanese film maker, originally from Tokyo and established in NYC since the eighties, explaining how she had been moved by the couple and had chosen to make this film about their obsessive and compulsive passion.

Where a lot of other film makers had approached the couple in the past, none of them succeeded in raising enough funds to get the project even started. Even Megumi who started by filming on her own with her digital camera ended up having to find $500,000 to complete her project which turned into a major research and lasted for years.

It took quite some time for the couple to trust the director and let her enter their intimacy, whether in their small upper east side apartment or during a studio visit where the cameras had to be turned off when it was time to talk about pricing.

Megumi did a wonderful job in capturing the spirit of those exceptional collectors. She is currently working on her next project, a documentary about the museums that will host the 50×50 Vogels collection.

Megumi Sasaki is currently looking for help for her upcoming film and you can contact her at megumi@finelinemedia.net should you have any ideas or offers that could lead to giving her a hand in her great next project !

I personally can’t wait to see it, so we wish Megumi the best of luck in all her creative endeavors !

If you are lucky enough to be in New York this thursday evening, consider going to Chelsea to a unique talk on the making of the documentary film “Herb & Dorothy 50×50″ by the director Megumi Sasaki at Miyako Yoshinaga Art Prospects on 27th Street.  An RSVP is recommended to te@myartprospects.com .

Back in August of 2009 I wrote a post on Dorothy & Herb Vogel and the amazingly large and significant collection that they had amassed, titled “Affordable Collections“.  They are a really interesting couple with an amazing story that you have to become familiar with if you are at all interested in art and collecting.  Here is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about this wonderful couple.

If you can’t make the evening it’s worth trying to see the documentary.  A short trailer is available from their website. 

If you don’t know the story:

HERB & DOROTHY tells the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means. In the early 1960s, when very little attention was paid to Minimalist and Conceptual Art, Herb and Dorothy Vogel quietly began purchasing the works of unknown artists. Devoting all of Herb’s salary to purchase art they liked, and living on Dorothy’s paycheck alone, they continued collecting artworks guided by two rules: the piece had to be affordable, and it had to be small enough to fit in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment. Within these limitations, they proved themselves curatorial visionaries; most of those they supported and befriended went on to become world-renowned artists including Sol LeWitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, Robert Mangold, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Lynda Benglis, Pat Steir, Robert Barry, Lucio Pozzi, and Lawrence Weiner.

After thirty years of meticulous collecting and buying, the Vogels managed to accumulate over 2,000 pieces, filling every corner of their tiny one bedroom apartment. “Not even a toothpick could be squeezed into the apartment,” recalls Dorothy. In 1992, the Vogels decided to move their entire collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The vast majority of their collection was given as a gift to the institution. Many of the works they acquired appreciated so significantly over the years that their collection today is worth millions of dollars. Still, the Vogels never sold a single piece. Today Herb and Dorothy still live in the same apartment in New York with 19 turtles, lots of fish, and one cat. They’ve refilled it with piles of new art they’ve acquired.

HERB & DOROTHY is directed by first time filmmaker Megumi Sasaki. The film received the Golden Starfish Award for the Best Documentary Film and Audience Award from the 2008 Hamptons International Film Festival. It has also received Audience Awards from the 2008 SILVERDOCS Film Festival and the 2009 Philadelphia Cinefest. Palm Springs International Film Festival named HERB & DOROTHY one of their “Best of Fest” films in 2009.

I suppose that most artists who study “art” somewhere in their careers do “studies” of the nude form. So it shouldn’t be a surprise when artists who are better known for other mediums and styles produce a drawing of a nude. Such is the case with the British artist John Constable (1776-1837) of the “Hay Wain” fame who was best known for his iconic representation of the British countryside.

However what made Constable’s paintings so original in a time when there were plenty of other British landscape artists, was his wonderfully expressive characters in his paintings. There seems to be a story behind each person in his works and part of this must have been his study of the human form.

An example of this is coming up for auction at Bonhams on April 22nd in their 19th Century Paintings sale. This particular piece thought to have been drawn around 1808 has spent most of it’s life stuck in an album covered by an invitation to a Royal Academy dinner, probably because the Victorian owner may have thought it too risqué. With than sort of mentality, I wonder what they would have thought of his male nude study?

One of the treats at the Armory Show this week was a collection of ink drawing portraits by Elaine de Kooning, of her naked husband exhibited by Mark Borghi Fine Art.

It’s not that common to see drawings of the male form by female artists. They are elegant drawings and I feel blatantly show Elaine’s love for Bill early on in their marriage.. She first met him when he was teaching art, becoming his student. Five years later in 1943 they married. Although they were married for 46 years, they did spend much of their time apart and were known to each have had several affairs. However eventually they did reconcile.

She was part of the New York school of abstract expressionists and continued to draw but also worked as an art critic for Artnews and also taught. She developed her work as an abstract expressionist but interestingly she also gained a good reputation as a stylized portrait painter which resulted in her being commissioned to create a portrait of John F. Kennedy for the Truman Library.

De Kooning was a very thorough artists and often created hundreds of sketches and several canvases to produce her finished paintings. To see her drawings is to see part of her thought processes and her work in progress which is a treat with any artist.

See more drawings here…