2008 Artopolis

Ernest Albert (1857-1946)American



The empty - the full,
the mystery of the orient,
working the same territory
as Hovsep Pushman



Harald Pryn (1891-1968) Denmark


Something about this recent winter in Chicago,
so thoroughly documented here
made me especially interested
in snow scenes from around the world.

There's something so prim and proper
about this Danish landscape.
Just a little too civilized






Robert C. Breer (b. 1926)

A fun, artsy fellow
who's best known for his short
films

... but I really like his geo-form designs as well.
(it would make a great jazz album cover)




Maurice Menardeau (1897-1977)

I feel like I'm in this room -
I'm ready to look at the paintings -
and then plop down on the sofa



Preston Dickenson (1889-1930)


Nothing like a fun day in the park
(with possibly some
psychedelics involved)



Enrique Santana

One of my favorite Chicago painters
(and our glass box architects
should love him too)





Enrique Santana


I've seen this Chicago Tribune facility
dozens of times.

But I never thought it could look this good.



Raphael Soyer (1899-1987)


I am such a fan of this man's drawings,
and now his paintings as well.


Don't you know these people?
(well -- maybe you have to be Jewish)

(and the detail areas are delicious)



Jeremy Long

An up and coming Chicago painter,
this painting is H*U*G*E
(maybe -- 15 feet long?)

O.K. -- maybe the self reference
gets just a bit tiring
(it seems like all of his paintings are
both huge - and about himself and family)

But Rembrandt did a lot of self portraits, too
didn't he?

Here's a
gallery
of his work.




John Hartman


is a Canadian painter
who paints cities
like Soutine painted a rotting carcass.

Above is London



John Hartman

and here's my adopted city, Chicago.
It feels a bit predatory doesn't it ?

Like some kind of voracious sea creature.



Jule Rene Herve (1887-1981)

So many good painters and sculptors from
that generation




Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968)


A modern Mona Lisa,
what message is she sending
with that blinking eye of hers?



Francis Chapin (1899-1965)

A leading Chicago painter
of his day.

(and that's how the city
still feels to me)




George Charles Robin (France, 20th C.)


The kind of painting I want to move into
and stay for a few days
when the rest of the world
feels a bit too burdensome.



Hashiguchi Goyo (1881-1921)

A dedicated student of the genre,
He died tragically young,
completing only 14 prints.

But - yes -- he is worthy
to be placed beside his hero -
the great Utamaro.





Hans Hofmann (1880-1966)


I hate ABX,
but like Hans Hofmann.

He's fun.

Does this mean I'm as neurotic as Jackson Pollock?



Andy Pankhurst, b.1968


It's just a wall, a door,
and a few twigs,
but I enjoyed it.



Andy Pankhurst


He's makes painting
a nude figure seem easy,
by mostly ignoring the nude.
A good strategy!






Every year
the antiques fair
shows an engaging
painting by an unknown painter.
No name - no date - no nothing.

The poor devil has been totally lost to history.

Except that this brief flicker of his vision
lives on.


Charles Warren Eaton (1857-1937)


What a delightful little romp through space.
Are Cezanne landscapes any better?



Eugene Laloue 1854-1941

Another one of those scenes
where I hear the people talking
and smell the smoke from a kitchen stove.

What was this thing made for?

It would seem so perfect for a hotel lounge -
or anywhere travelers can be found.

And what's with those strange, fat dreadlocks?
Was Manzu just goofing around with rolls of clay
and -- whoops -- that looks good--- let's keep it ??



I find it so thrilling





even in the details.
It's got:
"the force that through the green fuse
drives the flower"






I'm less excited
about Antonucci Volti ,
but still, I'm glad I've finally seen a piece
in real space.

This is my kind of thing:
heavy female body,
kind of mythic,
kind of dreamy.

But it lacks that spark.





Masahiko Hatori (1899 - 1988)


Every year,
the Antiques Fair has a dealer
in 20th C. Japanese collectables,
giving us the chance to admire
those clean, fresh lines of Japanese design.

This piece is both strong and cute,
not an obvious combination.




Hakuro (1926-1989)

More from the Japanese booth.
Doesn't his antelope seem fashionable?

These are not ordinary beasts--
but seem to be the pets of
some kind of sacred grove.








I think this is Franz Klimsch , though I'm not sure.

Whatever it is,
it's still the official style
of the Third Reich






There seems to be an endless supply
of great ceramics from the Tang Dynasty.

Why is that period so good?






and, of course,
more Tang women.

The proportions of her
hair-head-torso-legs
just seem so perfect





In my last 10 years
of going to these shows,
Nicholas Africano
seems to be the only sculptor,
local or otherwise,
who can sell a straight-ahead figure.

Casting them in glass is kind of risky,
many pieces are disappointing,
but when it hits,
the occasional translucency
makes it's delightful.

And what upscale home
wouldn't want to have
such an elegant but wayward son?

It appears that he got a little drunk
and fell in the pool.








Is this the same Armando Romero who's known for his cartoonish paintings?

I can't tell -- nor can I imagine why anyone who put the effort into carving this
marble figure would dump a cup of yellow paint over it.

But the results are certainly striking.
(and it reminds me of this Chinese figure with the dripping green paint.)

Maybe figure statues need to be painted
like glazed ceramic pots
to keep them from being seen
as toy action figures.

Giacomo Manzu (1908-1991)


Here are my favorite drawings from the show,
and I guess it's no surprise
that the people who drew them
were born around a hundred years ago.

The above is a very large drawing,
by a very great sculptor,
and it made me shout when I saw it.







Georg Kolbe (?)







Max Beckmann (1884-1950)

Rather explicit,
but can sex between old people
ever be pornographic?

It's
more like endearing.



Hong Purme

I found very little Asian brush painting
in this show
(apparently there was a gallery of it,
but I missed it)


I sure liked the work of this
young Korean woman, though.






Hong Purume


even down to the detail areas,
everything feels majestic - cosmic.


More of her work
can be found
here



Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-1918)


Here's another great sculptor.


I've never seen his drawings before,
but I think I've been trying to imitate his style
for many years.

Robert Herrmann (1922-1966)



The Artopolis shows at the Chicago Merchandise Mart
are getting larger -- as they are also getting worse.

Which meant, for me,
that I had to walk more
to find less.

But one of my happy moments was
the Cincinnati Art Galleries booth,
which introduced me to three
hometown painters
I'd never seen before.

I especially enjoyed these
urban landscapes by Robert Herrmann.

And I like his story.

He got a degree in Art History
(about the time I was born)
and wrote a dissertation on
Charles Demuth
but then, instead of
spending his life writing about art,
he spent his life making it

(or, actually, he only spent weekends painting,
and there doesn't seem to be any information
about his work-a-day career)

When he died, his sister took
a few paintings to a dealer,
and now, like Eva Cassidy
in the world of music,
he's had a distinguished posthumous career.







I'm sure that every American city
offers these kinds of views,
but these paintings feel
just like
Cincinnati to me,
a city big enough to really be urban,
and small enough to feel quaint.

(With that bright, clean
Teutonic sense of order
also found in Milwaukee)




Dixie Selden

seems to have been a swinging young Cincy socialite
who traveled around the world
making paintings a hundred years ago.

Above is a view of Tokyo.










Louis Vogt

(along with Dixie,
was also a student of Cincinnati's art hero,
Frank Duveneck.)


My This Old Palette
project has gotten me immersed
in Chicago painting c. 1900-1940,
but I'm kind of liking these Cincinnati painters a bit more.


They seem to have a lighter touch.