2007 Artopolis

There's no accounting for taste,
or for what might compel me
to pull my camera out of the red knapsack and start clicking away
while walking through Chicago's first Artopolis art fair.

It's mostly contemporary art -- so it was made to disturb/confront
and I'm disturbed enough,
so 95% of it did not get a second glance.

But there was also "modern art" -- i.e. early 20th Century,
as well as a few retro-contemporaries,
so my camera got quite busy.
(and it was the first time I ever filled up the memory card)

Consuming five hours (and probably five miles)
of hiking and art looking,
it was truly a marathon event,
and I suspect that the kind of things that
interested me in hour #4 were different
from what attracted me when I first walked through the door.

The following pictures are shown in the order
in which they were seen

-- and it begins with the show called "Art Chicago"
which has the international galleries
and the more prestigious American ones.

(needless to say, it had zero contemporary figure sculpture)

(and note: a completely different take on this exhibit can be found here )






Lorser Feitelson 1898-1978






This is the early work (1923) of Feitelson who is better known for the simple, hard-edge abstracts he did in the following decades.

His abstracts, though pleasant, put me right to sleep,
but this is the kind of fantasy I can share.

Orpheus beware !


And while I'm sure there's something sick
about these male fantasies of life on Lesbos
(the title of this painting is "The Island")

It's a disease, that in my case,
appears to be incurable.

...and this piece has that explosive, erotic energy
I remember from 19th C. Indian miniatures.

What a shame this painter's work
later became so radically reductive.
(i.e. banal)



John Santoro (b. 1963) "Backyard" 2006

Santoro is the only contemporary Chicago painter
I liked at the show,
and this happy suburban scene
does not seem characteristic of his
usual "Chicago Ugly" work I found online.



But it's certainly how I used to feel while playing in a backyard,
and it would make a nice pattern
for the surface of a Wabi-Sabi ceramic



Janice Biala 1903-2000

From what I've just read,
Janice was the prototypical 20th C. art chick,
Polish-Jewish girl growing up in New York,
then moving to Paris,
moving in with the aging Ford Madox Ford,
and spending the rest of her life among the avant garde.

This painting comes from the collection
of one of her friends, the art critic, Harold Rosenberg.

This painting is not quite there for me --
neither as earthy/powerful as an African pattern can be,
nor as luscious/beautiful as a European painting.

But it reminds me of another Jewish-American
art chick of that period,
my beloved grandmother Pearl,
so I am quite fond of it.





Eric Aho "Rutland Green"

I really like this younger painter (I'm guessing he's born in the 60's)
who's not afraid to make things that are beautiful




This heavy paint reminds me of some of the houses I've painted.
(houses - not canvases !)



But mostly it reminds me of scenes from my life,
of bright sunny days from 30 years ago.



These details are so tasty to me.



Henri Hayden (1883-1970) "Vue sur beauval" , 1959

Here's someone from that first generation of modernists,
a Polish artist who moved to Paris in 1907,
and joined in all the excitement.

He followed the leaders into Cubism,
and I suppose that as a follower, he doesn't often make it into American museums.


But he's still a good painter, and I enjoyed this late work.



Wolf Kahn (b. 1927) "Gray sky, gray barn" 2006

Judging by the price tag ($60,000), Wolf is one of the deans of American landscape painting,
and I love the eerie emotion of this piece,
and since the viewer is looking up to that barn,
through a maze of verdant scrub,
it reminds me of so many moments I've spent floating down rivers.






Bernard Lamotte (1903-1983) Les Amoureux

I think I'd call this French-American
a high-end illustrator
(i.e. these are paintings, not prints,
and the scenes may not be
pleasing for those who demand the Norman Rockwell attention to detail)


If you look him up on the internet,
you'll find many more light hearted, charming urban views.

How I wish that this was the kind of painting
that would be going into the new Modern-Contemporary wing
of the Chicago Art Institute.

Because I want paintings that summon good feelings and memories,
not just paintings about painting.

William Bailey (b. 1930) "Migianella del sogno" 2003


This enormous still life was really an eye-catching anomaly.
I mean, something this large, and reverentially designed,
ought to have a sacred subject matter,
something like "Saint Spyridon in the ceramic studio"

But it's just a table of big, clean , simple pots.
How Protestant-Puritan !
And what an appropriate expression for
modern academia with its out-sized materialism.

And that was William Bailey's adult life:
entirely spent - as student and then professor
at Yale University.




Yes, it's beautiful,
and yes, I'm glad I saw it,
but as with the monumental ancient sculpture of Assyria,
I'm glad it's a world I don't live in.

(BTW - at $175,000, it's also the most
expensive painting on my tour)


Harriet Frishmuth (1880-1980) "The Star"
1918, 19" high

I've been something of a fan of Frishmuth
for a long time -- since she had a piece in
the courtyard garden of the Cincinnati Art Museum.

She's very sensual,
but maybe just a little effete
which offends my proper sense of masculinity

She coaxes --rather than asserts
her way into space.

Although,
I think we share an interest
in lithe, nubile,
athletic young females

She lived a full hundred years,
but from what I've seen,
didn't sculpt during the last fifty --

apparently the depression killed the
market for bronze garden sculpture,
and Modernism made her style
appear old fashioned.

George Raab (1866-1943) 1917

What a joy to discover this elegant Midwestern painting,
but also this Wisconsin artist
and the eventful narrative of his life.

Back in the good old days,
the curatorial staff of American art museums
consisted of prominent local artists and collectors,
and for many years Raab was the
curator of the Layton Art Gallery,
(now the Milwaukee Art Museum),
and as you might see from the above link,
I admire that collection.




This portrait was made during his years at the Gallery,
and soon after his marriage to a
beautiful, wealthy young woman half his age
(one of the perks of being a cultural big-shot).

Well, things didn't turn out as he might have hoped,
and he lost both the job and the girl,
and ended up being the big fish in Decatur, Illinois
(a rather small pond)

But the story of his ex-wife interests me,
because she went on to pursue a career as a developer
of the Wisconsin Dells recreational area,
and after the Second World War,
she was vice-president of the enterprise
that bought some military
amphibious vehicles and turned them
into a (godawful) tourist attraction.

BTW - not to sound too much like "Antiques Road Show",
but the above painting was listing for $143,000,
presumably on the basis of its impressive design
(since elsewhere on the internet,
his paintings can be bought for 1/20th that price)

And might I suggest that the power of this
portrait is the possible consequence of
an artist spending his life
in an art museum ?







Adam Straus - "Country Road turning to the left ", 2004
(presumably -- it will begin turning left somewhere up ahead!)

I can't find out very much about this artist,
so I'm guessing he's quite young.

Most of his paintings
are less conventional than this,
but this is the only one that appealed to me,
because I've been down that road many times,
and well I know that it will begin turning left
... eventually

meanwhile...

I can smell the air,
I can hear the insects

Richard Diebenkorn 1922-1993

The tragedy of Art Chicago
is that the best (or only?) live-figure drawing
in the show
was made by an Abstract Expressionist.

So yes -- it's got tonal color,
and yes -- it's got spatial design,
( a strong, pleasing design)
but no -- it's got no volumes,
and no -- it's got no figure worth looking at.

I.e. -- it's the depiction of a bored, tired model

"when's my next break ?" she whines

Which makes it so profound,
an apologist (Arthur Danto) of Contemporary Art might say.



Ralph Mayer (1895-1979) Forsyth St. , 1940-1968

Did he really spend 28 years working on this ?

I love this large (48" ) painting -- so I think it was worth it --
a kind of epiphany of outdoor advertising,
as a 14th. C. Italian might have done
with angels, instead of billboards, floating up above.

But it turns out that Ralph Mayer
is far better known as the author
of one of the most successful "How to Art" books
ever published:


"Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques"


William Bailey "Reflection" 2000

Here's a large (60" X 50") figurative piece done by
the same man who painted all that large crockery
in the picture shown earlier.

What's that nice, clean, rational coed
doing buck naked in the parlor ?

Alright - Puritans like sex too,
but shouldn't she be
studying for an exam or something ?




Nadelman "Woman with dog" 1930

I've always been a big fan of Nadelman -- and this was one of his paper mache pieces -- a laudable attempt to offer a more affordable, but not mass produced, art object.

And I like how she, and her goofy little dog,
fit in so well
with the modern people in this gallery



Kathe Kollwitz "Rest in the peace of his hands" (1867-1945) 1935-6

A lot more will have to written later
about these wonderful little reliefs,
that, as I recall,
addressed specific events
in the artist's personal life.

Something about a deep relief
really grabs me
more than either a full-round sculpture
or an illusionistic painting.



"Lament" self portrait 1938-40

(note: these pieces are about 10.5 " high)






End

Gerhard Marcks (1889-1991)
Woman with Apple, 1948, 23"

Marcks is one of my favorite 20th C. sculptors
- which probably coincides with the fact that he's occasionally available
to be seen in American museums.

Here's a figure made the year I was born.



"Woman with Apple" ?

Why doesn't he just call her "Eve"?

It's funny how traditional Christian iconography
appears even when it hasn't been summoned.




This is the fullness,
and the relaxed elegance
that gives me so much pleasure



Pierre Fournier Des Corats (1883-1953)

There's less pleasure for me in this piece,
but I'm inspired to try something like it,
a large, 50" sculpture
that's more like a deep relief.

These are the bronze versions of
the stone sculpture carved for the mansion of
William Randolph Hearst mansion in San Simeon Cal.

They represent Summer and Winter

(and I wonder whether Patty Hearst grew up with them)


I like this view..




but not this one -
it somehow feels less like a figure sculpture
and more like a clumsy piece of furniture









Pierre-Marie Poisson ( 1876-1953)
Allegory of Maritime Commerce
maquette for sculpture commissioned
for the Ocean Line La Normandie, 1935

I suppose that decorative and fine-art sculpture
are supposed to be kept distinct from each other
.. but I don't know why

(and over the passage of time,
doesn't that distinction disappear ?)

Poisson was a leading decorative sculptor
of his day,
and I have a lot more
of this kind of work on
my website




Cecile (or Madeleine) Lalande Dutemple (1910-1942) - Eve , 1937

I'm not sure that this life size piece deserves all this attention,
but this poor sculptor,
a pupil of Chlana Orloff , died so young,and this is her only documented, exhibited work.

I 'm also not sure
whether its fine finish
should be more attributed
to the foundry than to her.


But it certainly got my attention,
and what else is sculpture for ?



Hugo Robus ,1885-1964, 16", --" Young Girl (shy) "1951
(drawing in background by Francis-Marie Martinez Picabia, c 1941)







Like the piece before,
it's not that I like this so much as
its oddness seems to hold my attention

as something from one of the possible civilizations that
America might have become but didn't

..reminding us of the tragic story of The Sculpture Center ,
which began as a well-equipped working space
for sculptors in midtown Manhattan
(Hugo Robus worked there)
but was hi-jacked by its board of directors in 2002
and transformed into a gallery of contemporary art in Long Island City.







Robus - Spirit of Youth, 1931


Why do these pieces feel so Japanese ?

They seem so well made,
but so tangential to what might interest me



Joseph Cszaky (1888- 1971 ) " Mother and Child", 1927


Here's a Hungarian who joined the first generation
of Cubist sculptors in Paris.

In my alternate narrative of art history,
cubism - like Bolshevism -
was one of the disasters of the 20th C.

But Cszaky's figures still feel human,
and very appealing,
to me

(note: the above sculptures (except for the Marcks)
were all shown by the
Martin Du Louvre gallery from Paris,
which also provided a relatively
thorough history of the artist and the piece.
I certainly hope they return to Artopolis next year)



Amer Kobaslija ( b. 1975 - Serbia) "Janitor's closet II", 2007 , 93" X 72"

I love a neat, clean space (to visit!)
but I'm more comfortable
living and working in chaos,

and there's an entire school of
contemporary painting
that seems devoted to the formal redemption
of my living habits.

This is the latest -- and so far -- the largest
example of that distinguished endeavor,
combining a ripe sense of disorder
with an uneasy sense of vertigo.

I love it !



Max Weber (1881-1961) , 1907, 16"

I hate Max Weber,
I hate Cubism,
I hate abstract expressionism,
and I hate the grandfathers,
fathers, and children of that disaster called Contemporary American art.

But I like this painting,
done when Weber was 25,
living in Paris,
hanging out with the avant garde,
and painting like Cezanne.




He had an eye for beauty,
but unfortunately he soon discovered
that it had nothing to do with art.



David Hockney, portrait, 2003

There was a wall full of Hockney line drawing portraits,
illuminated by some strange yellow light,
that didn't work well with my camera.

But they're fine drawings anyway,
with a delicious sense of design.

Hockney is a somewhat controversial figure
in the world of drawing
because he's suggested that the old masters
used a camera obscura to aid in their optical realism.

This has greatly exercised
the gentle folk at the Art Renewal Center
for whom such realism is a necessary (and objective!)
condition for excellence in the fine arts.

But I think that these drawings
(and all drawings)
can do quite well without it.
(or despite it)

David Hockney - portrait of Carla Powell, 2003

Here's another Hockney portrait -- and, no,
I don't like this woman --but I like her portrait
(as a Mousketeer)
- if that makes any sense-

Several more such portraits are here (if this link is still working)

If it's not working -- here's a breezy sales pitch from the gallery:

There is a familiarity in these new portraits and yet there is a subtle transformation. The intimacy is maintained, but there is a new candor that has been introduced into the work. Understanding how we see has been an area of intense interest for Hockney throughout his career and his experimentation with the Camera Lucida in 1999-2000, which had culminated in his provocative book "Secret Knowledge," has contributed to his awareness. Hockney describes these works as coming from a conscious rejection of seeing from a photographically influenced perspective. "I'm quite convinced painting can't disappear because there's nothing to replace it. The photograph isn't good enough. It's not real enough."

(and maybe that "conscious rejection" is necessary in a world
where everyone grows up
looking at way too many photographs)







Jeremy Long (b. 1971) "1920 N. Dayton" , 2007

This is, by the way, a HUGE painting (72" X 96")
You really feel like you're
in the same room with the artist, his son, and his model.

So if you like to visit an artist working --
this is the painting for you.
(also -- if you like to visit that booming Chicago neighborhood near the corner of
Dayton and Armitage -- not far from where I lived back when that
area was still an (affordable) urban blight)






Here's the artist himself and here's more of his work --
all of them large paintings that present his
heroic life as an artist and husband/father.

The world certainly needs more heroes - so why not ?
He's pursuing a much more financially
precarious career than all his yuppie neighbors--

And he certainly seems to have those core blue collar
Chicago values of family, strength, hard work, cleanliness etc.

He's also a member of a group of painters who work within the
"Post-Abstract Figuration experience"

Which primarily means, I think, that they don't want to be confused
with the lost souls of the "Pre-Abstract Figuration experience"
-- i.e. the living Impressionists and the neo-academics --
who are exiled from Artopia as well as from the rest of the contemporary art world.

But it also means that they've been looking at paintings done c. 1950 instead of c. 1900 -- so they favor a kind of energy that's too wacky and aggressive to settle into the solid volumes of anatomy and the luscious surfaces of fabric pattern.
(as in the recently shown paintings of Evan Wilson)





Bo Bartlett (1955-)

Every year, I find Bo Bartlett at Art Chicago,
every year I like what I find,
and this year was no exception.

I like spooky,New England paintings,
and reading his website ,
I've discovered that Andrew Wyeth may have been
the Bo's source for this quality.

(His website also serves as a kind of seasonal blog,
with four entries every year -- and it makes for very
good reading)

*********************************************************


That's it for the Art Chicago portion of
this year's Artopolis -- which, overall,
interested me less than the past few years
-- back when they were losing their top galleries
so they had to let the less prestigious (i.e. middle brow)
galleries have space on their floor.

Now ... under the professional ownership and guidance
of the Chicago Merchandise Mart,
they're back to chasing that ever elusive
cutting-edge of contemporary art fashion.





Now -- our stroll is entering the Antiques Fair
portion of the exhibit

And -- as ever -- my favorite items
are usually the Tang terra cottas




On reflection,
this one might not be
quite as pleasing as the
Tang Horseman at the Art Institute,
but it comes close.



Here's a real nice view!

Is there any coincidence
between the period being such
a golden age in the arts ---
and its interest in foreigners (like this one) ?

Francesco Beda - 1840-1900 "The painting lesson" 81X58 cm

Isn't this Gawain ?

As he travels through Europe,
meeting lovely, sensitive young women
in the drawing rooms
of great palazzi ?



Franz Hagenauer Austria c. 1920 1906-1986

Apparently, there was an entire family of
Hanenauers who made decorative bronze
objects in the early 20th C.

This one feels so perfectly balanced,
with the proportions, the surrounding spaces.

My ideal of urban elegance
(and I like the idea of young women
removing their clothes to walk the dogs)

 

 

Picasso: Vollard Edition


Continuing our stroll through the Antiques Fair,
this is a page from the Vollard edition
(that was also just on display at the Art Institute)

A Classical fantasy,
custom made for me.

This is why I love figure drawine, Picasso,
and the ancient Classical world.

( if only Picasso had turned his hand
to making those kinds of statues..
if only Prokoviev had continued to
write classical symphonies...
if only Strauss had continued to write
Mozartean operas... etc etc etc)



Ohara Koson (1877-1945), 1910

What's interesting about Ohara
is that all his work was made for export to the West.

Early 20th C. Japan was so fascinated by Europe,
that their own culture had fallen out of style.
(as related in these Mishima books that I read last year)


Isn't there something lurid about this butterfly ?
As if these insects were
overdressed courtesans ?


Harry Parr, 1939

A rather silly piece,
but still, stuffed away in a glass case with other ceramic falderol,
it caught my attention.








Here's another (inferior) version --
which leads me to conclude
that what I really like is the patina,
all those whacky, tasty colors
that remind me of expensive Italian ice cream.
(or this Meissen treasure,
which admittedly is a bit more sumptuous)

(and I'm feeling that this is me,
at the age of two)



Spain or Italy, 15th C.

(just as I feel that this is me ... at the age of 20)

But what happened to that poor man's right hand ?




I suppose the piece is
part of an emsemble --
maybe he's pointing to a wound
in the Savior's flesh ?




Henri Lebasque (1865-1937) "Le basin aux reflets bleus, Le Pradet , 1923
26 x 32 Inches


Lebasque is an also-ran in the current narrative
of art history.
People still like to put his paintings on their walls
(so the above sells for six figures)
but I'm sure that he's considered
too derivative to merit a place in art history.

And yet --- if the above were treated
like an artifact from ancient Egypt or China,
it would be treasured for its beauty.

(and if I were of the class
that keeps a condo by the beach--
this painting would be in it)


Karl Albert Buehr (1866-1952)
This is the kind of German-born Chicago painter
who joined my art club a century ago...
but for some reason Karl never did,
though he did teach at the Art Institute for many years.

And for some reason,
this photo does not remind me
of why this painting appealed to me at the show.
Maybe it's just my familiarity with this local style.





So similar to this one by a contemporary club member,
Louis Oscar Griffith, who was also found at Artopolis.


..or maybe I'm imagining that it was once much brighter.






Caroll Nichols (1882- ) "BlueIce, Buck's County" , 1934

This is the kind of painting I love to find at the Antiques fair:
i.e. one made by the totally obscure artist
(nothing on the internet - and nobody knows when he/she died)





John Storrs (1885-1956)
"portrait of Monique" (artist's daughter) , 1925

Storrs has become Chicago's official modernist
(in the generation that followed Laredo Taft).
He hung out in Paris -- he was born wealthy -- he did as he pleased.

Our stroll is coming to an end now...
and here's a few final pieces from the Antiques Fair.

The above is by Lorenzl or Preiss
(I can't remember which)
both of them being leaders in the
decorative nude figurine market of the naughty twenties.
The subsequent war seems to have killed that market,
and it never recovered.




Georges Robin 1895-1981

Something about these paintings --
as if they're trying to be timeless, generic rural scenes
appropriate for the walls of motel rooms
in scenic Wisconsin.
(but these are much better than all the
ones I've seen)


Here's another by the same painter,
so dreamy - relaxing --
this is how I feel after the sun
has been beating down on my head all day.



Alexandre Louis Jacob (1876-1972)

This painter is a bit livelier --
and seeing another piece on the internet --
I think I'm becoming a fan.

He must have been consciously retro
back when he began his career at the turn of the last century.

He's got much more in common with Jacob Van Ruisdael
than with Cezanne, Monet, or even Daubigny.

These aren't just landscapes -- they're the setting for a cosmic drama.
(like the world was supposed to be.. back in the 17th C.)




Now -- we've left the Antique Fair
.. and moved over to the gallery of Folk and Outsider Art,
discussed at greater length here

Looking at this 19 C. Burmese deer -- I'm not sure why
I shot it --
maybe the photo just does not do it justice.
It's a large thing -- and it felt good
to share its space.




Outsider art ?
Or... just an art student from the 40's goofing around
in his sketch book ?

Or .. couldn't this sell as contemporary art--
if only some of those cryptic signifiers in the
background seemed more profound
and less adolescent ?

This artist could certainly draw a
monumental figure -- if only he could have
had a career doing so.





Finally -- we're strolling into the Bridge Art Fair --
over in the Holiday Inn that adjoins the Merchandise Mart --
and home for the galleries that weren't invited to Art Chicago.

Which is not a bad thing -- except that these
galleries seem to specialize in the post-apocalyptic
.. sharing with us that urgent message of:
"The world sucks -- and so do people"

Here's another blogger's take on this show,
which is much more representative than my own.

Remember now -- people are ugly and life is miserable !

Actually, I kind of like Heinneke Beaumont 's figures --
because at least they feel calm and noble amidst the chaos.

Here's some others I collected for the website last year
(I discovered her a Navy Pier art fair two years ago)


Ian Strawn "What's rights is wrong again"

This is my favorite miserable person.
(more can be found here





Daniel Blagg "Trailer Park", 40"X60"

..and this is my favorite miserable landscape.
(from Texas -- where else ? -- the hunting ground for ugly
where Lori has found so many
faded treasures. )

Both of the above paintings are rather obviously the children of photographs -
and the photographic way of seeing -- but isn't the computer screen
the best way to see them ? Where they flash on --- and then flash off ?

I just can't imagine living in a room with them
(without a few bottles of liquor handy)




But the best part of the Bridge show --
was the 50 feet of windows
up there on the 26th floor
that look down the urban river canyon
of downtown Chicago




This was also an issue --
back when Art Chicago occurred at Navy Pier
and the view out the lobby window
of the yachts on Lake Michigan
was far more interesting
than the art works in the exhibit.

***************

So now, our stroll is over.

It was fun -
but how I wish that eventually
this conglomeration of art exhibits
might eventually include
the kind of painting found in
the Denver Rotary "Artists of America" shows.

This is the most popular genre of American art -
for both those who collect it and those who
practice it.

Even if it's hopelessly middle-brow --
is it really so consistently awful
that it must be ignored by this
art fair of art fairs ?

In my fourth hour of wandering through the 5 shows
of the first Chicago Artopolis event,
I came across this figure
by a barely known carver from Ranger, Texas
named W. L.Bourdeau.






There are many, different reasons for liking something,
and maybe exhaustion had something to do
with why I found this piece so attractive.

It's such a contrast
to the overwhelming theme
of the the 10,000 pieces I'd already passed that day,
each trying to be stranger and more disturbing than the next


While I do get the feeling that old W.L.
was just trying to please himself
with the things he liked to contemplate,
like the bodies of young women


or the eternal dramas of family life.

These thing were dated 1955-1960,
but the gallery offered no other information
about the artist -- his anonymity
qualifying him as a genuine folk artist.

(although, in a reality check, there's only 2500 souls in Ranger, Texas,
a rural town on the dusty road from Fort Worth to Abilene,
people named Bourdeau still live there,
and I'm sure Lori drives through there every month. )

W.L. was well within the dominant trend of
American sculpture of the 30's and 40's,
so even if he didn't go to art school (and maybe he did),
he had to have some connection to the artworld of his time.

Maybe that's why his work really isn't selling for very much.
(at $2800 retail for a 17" carving,
he still wouldn't be able to live off his sculpture,
even in Ranger Texas)

And unlike the really famous outsider artists
(like our very own Henry Darger ), he doesn't seem to have been a borderline psychotic.

Here's the only other piece I enjoyed from the
Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art

This quilt attributed to
African-Americans in southern Alabama in the 1920's

I found it to be a very enjoyable, almost musicial pattern,
that seems to be spinning off into infinite variability.

This was a designer who seemed to be enjoying herself,
rather than suffering under the crushing weight of modernity.