The Art Museum

"Russel Wright On TV"

2010-01-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

This week the return of the series "Heroes" features the largest collection of Russel Wright's American Modern dinnerware that I've ever seen on television -- outside of the spot with Anne Wright featured on the Martha Stewart show. It looks to be a mix of chartreuse, granite grey, coral, and seafoam. I wonder who on the show's set design staff was responsible for setting up this apartment kitchen, obviously they are a big fan of RW. I might snoop around the Heroes blogs to try and find out.

The American Modern collection photo above is from the Russel Wright Design Center site portfolio (see sidebar for URL). If you like Wright's designs, originals can sometimes be found in remote corners of your Aunt Tilly's attic, or antique shops and flea markets.

Some originals and out-of-production reissues by Oneida can be found at:

http://www.replacements.com/

Current reissues can be purchased at:
http://www.bauerpottery.com/

"Autumn, By Sinatra"

2009-11-19T08:36:00.000-08:00

Some autumn inspiration from Frank, to accompany a few beautiful photos that capture "Autumn In New York".

"Design By Dansk"

2009-10-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

Who knew that stainless steel and wood looked so good together?

Dansk has, for fifty years. They've been making classic modern teak pieces since the Mid 20th century, and are still making classics for the future. http://www.dansk.com

See some retro Dansk classics at http://www.hiandlomodern.com

"Bergman Estate Auction"

2009-09-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

I was intrigued to read on "iwatchstuff.com" that Ingmar Bergman's estate is being auctioned off this month via Bukowski's Auction House. Personal items ranging from photos, awards, Mid-20th Century modern design home furnishings and accouterments, old cameras, collected artworks, movie posters, the clapperboard used for filming "The Silence", and what is believed to be Death's chess set in "The Seventh Seal", are on the block. Being a Scandinavio-phile, this fascinates me and I only wish that I could bid on something from this amazing collection. Anyone who enjoys Bergman's films, or just Scandinavian design and collectibles, would be interested in seeing these auction items even if bidding is out of the question. Be sure to click on "Browse The Catalog" on the side menu to see the entire collection, it's incredibly personal to Bergman and many interesting items of 20th Century days gone by are included.

http://bergmanauction.com

http://www.iwatchstuff.com

"Industrial Art At NASA"

2009-07-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

This shot of a NASA centrifuge room reminded me of a Mondrian painting.

"Space Advertising Couture"

2009-06-08T12:03:00.000-07:00

Louis Vuitton (along with Annie Leibovitz and her ace photo-shopping/SFX crew) have commemorated the 40th anniversary of man landing on the Earth's Moon in LV's July release advertisement. As far as I can tell, the bag in the image is nothing out of the ordinary for the LV line (no special compartments for a flight helmet or pilot's kneeboard and aviator glasses), but the Louis Vuitton Core Values advertising campaign has chosen to wisely include one man who walked on the Moon, another who cheated death while orbiting the Moon and returned to tell the story, and the first US woman in space, to distinguish their product. Well done Louis, and very nice advertising artwork. I also like the use of 'Mater the rusty truck from the movie "Cars" for the rustic Americana touch. :-)

See the LV site: http://www.louisvuittonjourneys.com

More news: http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum38/HTML/001014.html

Behind the scenes shots: http://www.hotblog.no/?p=3328

"3D Space Photos"

2009-02-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

NGC2244

NGC281

Look at one of the photo sets above, and cross your eyes just a little until you see three images side by side instead of two. The image in the center field of view will be a 3D version of the picture.

Courtesy of: http://www.universetoday.com/

"Merry Christmas"

2008-12-25T15:57:00.000-08:00

The Birth of Jesus, Pietro Cavallini, 1291 (mosaic) Rome, Santa Maria Trastevere. Cavallini (c. 1250 – c. 1330) was an Italian painter and mosaic designer working during the late Middle Ages. His work demonstrates an artistic style known as Roman naturalism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Cavallini
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_of_Jesus

Detail of mosaic:

"Happy Birthday Mr. Disney"

2008-12-05T06:26:00.000-08:00

"Walt once said, 'If we can dream it, we can do it.' Then he showed the world how to give cartoons a heart, make an animated feature film, and build Disneyland. Experts bet on his failure at every turn. When Walt did encounter major setbacks he had a way of turning them into a success." -- excerpt from "Walt Disney, The American Dreamer" by Tom Tumbusch.

"Autumn, by Charlie Harper"

2008-10-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

"Charley Harper (August 4, 1922 - June 10, 2007) was a Cincinnati-based American Modernist artist. He was best known for his highly stylized wildlife prints, posters and book illustrations. In a style he called "minimal realism", Harper captured the essence of his subjects with the fewest possible visual elements."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Harper

"Lego Shushi"

2008-08-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

'Nuff said. X-D

"2008 Olympics Opening Ceremonies"

2008-08-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

"For Those Who Follow LOST-TV"

2008-07-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

The imaginary "DHARMA Initiative" group from the LOST TV series has a booth at the San Diego Comic Con this week. That's a long story in itself, but the D.I.'s new look is intriguing. Gone is the hippie-commune style that the LOST creators devised for the original 1970s incarnation of the D.I., and an updated stylized design has taken its place. I like it, it looks like a futuristic version of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie style, or a space-aged Arts and Crafts movement. Photos are courtesy of LOST fans' long-standing man-on-the-scene in Hawaii, who has provided us with many set location images over the past four seasons of LOST.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawaii/

"Bill Sienkiewicz 'Dark Knight' Art"

2008-07-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

It's movie-art time again! Today on "Ain't It Cool News" I found production and promo art for "The Dark Knight", plus a link to the webpage of the artist. I'm sorry to admit that I've never heard of this artist before, but at least I know about him now. He's done comics, movies, trading cards, album covers, and much more. Sienkiewicz uses a wide variety of styles and media to convey the feel of each subject, genre, and client, as the case may be. Definitely an artist to learn from.

P.S. The movie is amazing.

http://www.billsienkiewiczart.com/

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37549

"A New X-Files Comic"

2008-07-10T19:48:00.001-07:00

With the second X-Files movie premier approaching this month, it looks like there will be a revival of the comics as well. The graphics look good, and intriguing enough for me to plan on checking this weekend with my comic store down the street as to the release date. :-) See more details here at the EW site:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20211133,00.html

"More Googie Wonders"

2008-06-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

See article below.

"Have You Seen Googie?"

2008-06-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

Sure you have, even if you don't know it (and if you're old enough). "Googie" is the name given to the space-aged style design of commercial architecture in the mid 20th century, that reflected the zeitgeist of our overall futuristic mindset. Think of the Jetsons, and you get the idea. This style of architecture began and expanded mostly on the West Coast, but can be seen here and there (where it hasn't been torn down already) across the United States. Googie grew out of the streamline style, and mutated into the various shapes of stars, boomerangs, amoebas, flying saucers, rockets, and other popular images that evoked our intended future in space and beyond. Some of the best examples are coffee shops, motels, gas stations (see above, Palm Springs), fast food joints, and bowling alleys. Even McDonald's original golden arches were a part of the early Googie style, similar to the LAX building. Many futuristic Googie styles were also born at the Seattle and New York World's Fairs and copied around the U.S.

The sweeping arches and jutting supports seemed to defy gravity and make customers feel as if they were next to, or inside of, a hovering spacecraft. Suddenly new buildings were sporting alien looking spires or floating parabolic rooftops. Even churches, especially Protestant, got into a (albeit subtle) futuristic mood resulting in some very ethereal houses of worship. And they were mostly made of clunky flagstone, concrete, and steel, mind you -- not the lightweight composite materials available today -- with lots of glass. This made the eerie floating effect of the designs seem all the more intriguing because of the contradicting heaviness of the materials. Designers had a lot of fun with lettering as well. Text hovered all over the signage, and resembled bubbles, stars, and other heavenly objects of our imagined birthright to the universe. Colors used were often the popular shades of the 50's -- mint green, melon, turquoise -- but when outer space was put into the mix, any bright neon colors on the background of dark blue space were appropriate.

Unfortunately most of these funky space-aged works of art have either been left to deteriorate on vacated lots, or are being systematically demolished, to be replaced by the bland imagination-less buildings (or the self-important gargantuas of New Las Vegas) currently popular today. Thankfully there are local organizations springing up to attempt to save these artifacts of the spirited era that conceived them, but many of the best have been lost. So go out and find some Googieness where you live, and take a few pictures just in case it won't be there very much longer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie

A good book on Googie history:

"100 Suns Exhibit"

2008-06-02T13:18:00.001-07:00

I saw an exhibit of Michael Light's (Full Moon, etc.) at the Knoxville Art Museum that I had forgotten to add this blog, until seeing the new Indiana Jones movie reminded me (also, Ohighway's book blog entry reminded me the second time, thanks!) Light has revived and reprinted archival images from government prints and negatives, and put together a large book and exhibit displaying the visual awe, wonder, and terror of nuclear bomb test clouds and plumes.

From his website/book: "A Note On The Photographs - The images in this book show U.S. atomic detonations from the era of above-ground nuclear testing, which lasted from July 16, 1945 to November 4, 1962. In that time, the United States conducted 216 nuclear tests in the atmosphere and oceans, and the Soviet Union conducted 217."

For the exhibit, the prints are enlarged to an average of 2'x3' feet in size, and the beauty of atomic energy itself is very evident. It's easy to understand why people who lived in Las Vegas used to go to the edge of town to watch the blasts, back in the day. The visual effects are amazing, and in the night images one can imagine how it might look to see stars being born in outer space when gazing at all that shining power. Back here on earth though, that power can be very detrimental. The exhibit was non-judgemental politically though, as far as I could tell. Light merely presents the glowing test blasts and clouds as they are, at the point of capture by various government personnel. For the moment his website is being revamped, and the images of the "100 Suns" book are not available. Next time you are in the book store, see if they have it, it's an amazing collection of images.

http://www.michaellight.net/100suns/

"Tony Stark's Pad"

2008-05-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

The "Iron Man" movie just released is spectacular in my opinion, but I'll leave the reviews for that movie for the comic guys. Suffice it to say there was not one moment of the movie that did not impress me, even though I have never read a single Iron Man comic book until today. But of course what totally blew me away was the house that he lived in, which was one of my favorite styles of architecture -- sweeping curved concrete with glass walls. I just read that the house was mostly CGI and sets, of course, but is based on a house owned by some bazillionaire oil sheik. When I searched on his name though, not one site came up for it. So thus far I doubt the house's actual existence in any capacity.

But, the house does look a lot like the Arango House built by John Lautner, one of the premier architects of the mid 20th Century. It resides on the side of a hill in Acapulco, Mexico. I hope that later this year more information will surface as to whether or not any particular house was a model or inspiration for the one in the movie. For more on the movie architecture, view a video that Yahoo released of the director giving a short tour of the set:

http://www.themovieblog.com/2008/04/tony-starks-house-tour

For more on John Lautner see this site: http://www.johnlautner.net/

Additional Lautner factoid: his Elrod residence (which is also similar to Stark's house) is the round concrete house used in the Bond movie "Diamonds Are Forever".

http://www.007locations.com/usa/california/elrodresidence/index.html

R.I.P. And Thank-You, Sir Arthur C. Clarke"

2008-03-19T10:04:00.001-07:00

Another great mind and inspirational achiever of the 20th Century passed from us this year (Dec.1917-Mar.2008). Clarke's writings of science and fiction inspired among other things, many beautiful, curious, and bizarre works of art to accompany his imagination. A big task to live up to, considering his fertile mind invented the idea of geosynchronous orbiting satellites, in one of his earliest science fiction stories. And who can forget the majestic Robert McCall movie posters for his story "2001: A Space Odyssey"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke

"Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd"

2008-02-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

This evening I was suddenly compelled to go out and see "Sweeney Todd", and was glad that I did. On a scale of art alone, it's visually fascinating. Even though the color palette was of the predominantly indigo and sepia tones that Burton (and many these days) often uses, in this case it enhances the era portrayed and wasn't annoying. The sets were unique and displayed an antique grittiness that made you subliminally feel the bleakness of London at that time, as Dickens portrayed it so well. The pie shop was worn and dusty, with its rusty cast iron, yellowed tiles, and chunky wooden furniture. White pristine stonework around the Judge's house points out the protective wall separating the privileged inside, from the not-so-privileged on the streets. All the windows that the camera often pans through are the warped glass of that age. Todd's attic barber shop has a wall which is almost entirely made of these warped windows, that look out over the world of London that he despises, which is how Todd is looking at life -- through his warped sensibilities that have been twisted by hate of his fellow man. The outdoor shots in the streets and alleys have a tight claustrophobic bricked-in feel that convey how trapped the lower classes must have felt in London at that time. The costumes are interesting as well, not necessarily completely historical, but with a ragged Goth aesthetic to them where accuracy might be missing.

The film of course possessed the feel of some familiar Burton predecessors, such as 'Edward Scissorhands', 'Sleepy Hollow', and 'Corpse Bride', albeit in a less abstract manner. It also had some of the ancient richness of 'Labyrinth' sets. In fact, in some songs Depp sounded a lot like David Bowie in 'Labyrinth', but that was fine. The singing was not an issue to me, just the visuals. The sets were extremely unique and artistically a natural progression for Burton, after his previous projects via his style. He manages to portray a dreary old London era in a new way that allows viewers to melt into the sets and scenery of another time, regardless of the grim subject matter, retelling the almost 200 year old legend of the demon barber for a new century.

"Fantastic New Book By John Howe"

2008-02-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

I was rummaging around the art section of the bookstore this week to check on new releases and saw John Howe's new book. Wow. Being one of the foremost fantasy artists to emerge in the latter part of the 20th C., if his artwork inspires you, wait until you see this tutorial. It's not extensive in fundamental training (which it should not be), but does cover things like setting up your work area, and the materials and techniques that he uses. He then goes into the meaty topics, such as drawing various creatures, human beings, backgrounds, armor, etc. The book is profusely illustrated with his sketches and paintings (some covering stages of progress) and the text is very thoughtful, giving his insights on technique, inspiration, and motivation.

Howe's artistic style has always affected me the way that Roger Dean's fantasy art did when he became well known via his album cover art for music groups like YES. Of course the styles are different, but both artists have the ablility to totally transport you to other worlds that you've never seen or imagined before. Howe's worlds are often visually soft and feature dream-like fogginess, but are no less powerful for it.

I highly recommend this book to artists, and he also has a website that is worth visiting regularly. Among other great features on his site, you can send e-cards of his work but I haven't done that yet so I don't know if it's a free service or not.

http://www.john-howe.com/

"The New LOST Game Concept Art"

2008-01-27T16:59:00.000-08:00

To me, concept art, especially for movies, is some of the best and most interesting work I've ever seen, although it's not always the kind of subject that you would naturally think to hang up in your living room. So that's what dens and family rooms are for! I also think that matte paintings for movies are beautiful as well, going way back to the old masters from the early days of film. But concerning the post title, I've found some interesting artwork that was posted on the Lostpedia website, for the Lost video game coming out soon. There are 19 images of conceptual art there so far.

http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Lost:_Via_Domus

"Extraordinary Fantasy Sculpture"

2007-12-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

This evening I caught the last few minutes of a show on the History channel that was showcasing a great spot to visit to see some fantastic roadside Americana. It's a welded scrap metal sculpture "park" called Forevertron, created by a man who calls himself Dr. Evermor (Tom Every). Amid the behemoth amorphous pieces, there are giant guitars, bugs, birds and other oversized objects of metal whimsy. Among the "scraps" used, are parts of an Apollo space program decontamination chamber, as well as other pieces of historical American junque!

The park is located in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The Dr. is truly a visionary and Storm King Art Center in NY seems anemic compared to Forevertron Park! Someone should create a big coffee-table book on it, if they haven't already. I really have to go there and see it. Here is a great site that gives a nice report of a visit:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/WIBARforever.html

"My New Favorite Comic"

2007-10-22T16:54:00.001-07:00

About one year after its premier, I've discovered a great "little" comic book/graphic novel -- David Petersen's "Mouse Guard", about a wonderful tiny world away from the real one that we live in. The books are tiny as well, about half the size of a regular comic, but printed on harder paper stock. The story is short on text, and that can be a good thing sometimes, but it is big on visuals. Set mostly out in the wilds of nature, medieval mice live their lives, draw vital boundaries, and battle their enemies to survive. The houses and holes that they abide in are as cozy as you would imagine a little mouse's house to be, like Wind in the Willows, for example.

Drawings of the characters and scenery are perfectly rustic. The foliage is lush and the colors are rich. Although it does take a while to get to know the characters, because of the scant text, you learn about them fast enough I suppose. I missed buying all the original issues last year of the Fall series (I hear that they are hard to find how) so I recently bought the compiled book. The new comics of the Winter series have begun to be released, so you can buy them all separately, or wait for the larger collection book again that will surely be released next year.

For any parents who are tired of not being able to find decent storied comics for their children, this is a great one to introduce them to. While it does show that there are some bad mice (and hungry snakes) in the world, the main characters are full of honor and duty to each other and their kind, and are dedicated to being in service to save what's good in world.

The official Mouse Guard website is: http://www.mouseguard.net/

"John K's Animation Blog"

2007-09-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

I just stumbled on the blog site of "Ren and Stimpy" creator John Kricfalusi, where he writes about cartoon art from the early days on, as well as giving valuable instruction on drawing and cartooning basics. His blog is a great read, even if you are not an artist, cartoon or otherwise. He also reveals many of the inspirations that jump-started his ideas and pet projects in his life. The above image comes from an article he posted on animation artist Art Lozzi of Hanna Barbera. I always liked Yogi's stylized backgrounds since I was a kid. Especially when he was running from the Ranger and the scenery kept repeating round and round.

John K's blog: http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/

The Lozzi page: http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2006/10/color-theory-good-color-without-lot-of.html

Enjoy!

" Russel Wright's Great Spirit "

2007-08-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

In the Lower New York Hudson Valley, a wonderful artistic site to explore is the forest garden and dwelling place of Mid 20th century designer Russel Wright. Russel found and bought the land in 1942 after it had been stripped for its lumber and granite supply. The granite was used to build many historic buildings in and around the NYC area. Wright spent a few decades working the land to transform it into a beautiful forest "garden" sculpted by his love of nature. He also built a fantastic modern house for himself and his family that emerges out of the rock, adjacent to a quarry pond that is filled by a tall but gentle waterfall. The land is called Manitoga which means Great Spirit in Algonquin, and the home is called Dragon Rock after the rocky cliff that slopes down to the quarry pond like a dragon bending over to drink.

The house's structure consists of two parts, the main house and the studio, and includes eleven levels overall. Some levels are substantial, and others are small like perches, resulting in compelling variation. The construction of the house is the perfect mix of 20th century experimental materials utilized in a natural Japanese-like style. Inside, where the juxtaposition of the space-age construction and the side of the mountain live, it feels like the Flintstone's house built with Jetson's materials, and it completely works. The structure sits on the land much like a tree house but built into a cliff and is wonderfully tranquil. When you are in it surrounded by the organic sensibility and the ambient nature pouring in through the glass walls, you don't want to leave. House tours are scheduled every day now, so it's easy to spend a lot of time there. They begin in the lower plain, go up the short forest walk around the house, through the studio and main house, and back down via the pond walk to the starting point. All in all the tour takes a generous 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how many queries guests ask, etc. Tours of the house require registration and begin at specific times.

Russel also carved wonderful forest walks in the woods, close to the house perimeter, and also further out around the property area of about 80 acres. Maps are available for following the paths around the land. You can walk at your leisure whenever the grounds are open. Russel created some paths to be easy, and others more difficult for hardier hikers. Each path was given its own name and points of interest, such as lookouts across the river. He also inserted sculpted areas that he called "rooms" on the paths, where hikers could sit, enjoy, and be still with the Great Spirit.

I consider it one of the highlights of my life, and a great privilege, that I was able to volunteer and work at Manitoga for a number of years. What I saw and learned there, as a docent and as a Russel Wright fan, will stay with me forever. Please visit Manitoga if you find yourself in the area. Every year improvements are made with special grants that preserve Russel Wright's dreams for Manitoga and the people visiting it. The website is: http://russelwrightcenter.org/. Becoming a member will help support this important place for Russel and for the future, and qualifies you for special events. If you cannot visit, a wonderful DVD tour narrated by Garrison Kieler is available on the website.

" Portrait of a Lady: Isa Dreier "

2007-08-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

Serendipity is a word that I like very much, and it's the word that I would use in describing my accidentally finding this little art book during an internet search for something else at the time. The book is an homage to a special person and artist, and is the catalog to a posthumous art show of Mrs. Dreier's lifetime of artwork put together by her family.

Many years ago I had the pleasure of knowing the Dreier family, and had been at the house a few times when Mrs. Dreier was there. What I mostly remember of her was her sunny personality and smile, and her rosy cheeks. I recall that she liked to take walks in the woods, and one day as I was arriving, she was on her way out the door for a trek wearing a straw hat tied on with a ribbon that framed her cheerful face. I thought at that moment that she seemed to have a love of living life in her that I admired...a feeling which was foreign to myself at the time.

Isa's husband was a US ambassador (which must have been similar in arduous responsibilities to being a military wife), and they had three children. Through the book I discovered that Mrs. Dreier loved her art as much as her family, and she never gave up creating during her years as wife and mother, irrespective of how those duties might have slowed down her opportunities to create as much as she would have liked. The styles of her paintings and drawings vary greatly, and are as unique as her personality. Some are delicate, whimsical, and soft. Others are more serious and bolder. They all possess the quality of life that I noticed in her as we passed through the door years ago. Please check out this small book if you get the chance.

" What Is Art? "

2007-08-17T15:53:00.001-07:00

There are as many answers to this question are there are humans who have lived since the beginning of time. Art and design happen in our lives the moment that we wake up in the morning, even in the most mundane acts. We look in the mirror and position our disheveled hair into a look that we can stand a little better. We butter and jelly the toast with a flourish at breakfast. Then we take the time to dress in a way that best suits our endeavors for the day. In the evening we mow the lawn to perfection, or arrange a cluster of daisies from the side of the road in a mug for the dinner table. Any time we reach out of ourselves to arrange or pose even the simplest of the objects around us we are creating art.

Maybe I am just a romantic along the lines of the Pre-Raphaelite, and to some extent the Aesthetic, movement. Art in life is necessary. Creating art to make people happy is good for the soul. Looking at beautiful art can ease a wearied psyche, and seeing violent art can be disturbing. Everywhere we look each day of our lives, there is art to be found any place that the eye can stop and pause its gaze. I want to try to explore the obvious, and not so obvious, art and design elements in the world. I also would like to pass on some of my favorite artistic discoveries. I will refer to God in some of my posts, due to my faith and because I believe that God blesses the world with art to enrich our lives, and to give us glimpses of what He sees. I also think that God's creation is beautiful art. This is just an experimental blog to express my artistic opinions. Thanks for being so kind and reading if you happen to stop here.