Be metal. Be Diva. Be Glam. Be Old School or New Wave, or whatever suits your inner rockstar at this unique event to benefit the Erie Art Museum. The second edition of “pARTy like a rock star” will be held Saturday, March 6, 2010 from 8-11p.m. at the Boardwalk Complex, 28 North Park Row.

Sponsors will enjoy an “all access” VIP reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Boardwalk’s Dream Ultra Lounge. The atmosphere offers a suitable environment for the VIP –plush black leather sofas, specialty drinks and copious hors d’oeuvres – all presented with celebrity style and flair. For the remainder of the evening, guests will enjoy dancing to tunes as the DJ mixes in the Dream Nightclub. In addition, attendees will enjoy great specialty drinks, free beer, and hors d’oeuvres all for $45 per person. Costumes encouraged and prizes will be awarded for Best Michael Jackson look-a-like, Best Group, Best Couple, Best Male and Best Female.

Advance tickets to the event are available by calling the Erie Art Museum 814.459.5477 or can be purchased at the door. Tickets are $45 (general admission) and $70 (access to plush VIP lounge), and proceeds benefit the Erie Art Museum.

Committee members include Rebecca Styn as Chair, Emily Adiutori, Heidi Baldwin, Don McCain, Michelee Curtze, Carolyn Eller, Michael Estrich, Neala Ferralli, Abby Gallo, Mary Gamble, Barb Haggerty, Mary Beth McMaster, Patty Rich, Tammy Roche, Julia Squeglia.

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Laura Donefer, who has been using glass as a primary medium in her work for more than 27 years, is the fourth artist invited to participate in the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA)’s prestigious Guest Artist Pavilion Project (GAPP). The American-born Donefer, who now lives in Harrowsmith, Ontario will be an artist in residence from May 14-22, 2010 and will return in the fall to continue her work.

The GAPP program invites one glass or contemporary artist per year to visit the Museum and spend time creating new work inspired by the TMA collection. In return, tThe Museum has asked the selected artists to give forputs no demands on the artist, other than one a public lecture and a glass-working demonstration relating to their worktime spent interacting with the public, both of which have been well-received by the public during past GAPP residencies in the past. during glassblowing demonstrations.

“The GAPP program is made possible by a generous donor to the Museum who believes strongly in public education and allowing these established artists the freedom and resources to explore their work in new ways without any pressure or restrictions,” said Amy GilmanJutta-Annette Page, curator of modern glass and contemporary decorative artsart and GAPP program co-administrator.

Known as an artist with a brilliant command of color and attention to detail, Laura Donefer has a mastery of blowing, hot casting, and torch- working glass. Much of her most more recent work is a study of ancient baskets with vivid colors and “handles” adorned with flame- worked beads, as well as shells and fibers. She plans to continue that work in Toledo, while also exploring a new installation of wild, contemporary baskets.

Laura’s vibrant personality is as colorful as her work. She is well known in the glass community for her glass “fashion shows”— events highlighting eclectic, beautiful and outrageous outfits made of glass (and some fabric) that have been the talk of the Glass Art Society’s international conferences in 2004 and 2009.

The Museum is located at 2445 Monroe Street at Scottwood Avenue, just west of the downtown business district and one block off I-75
with exit designations posted. For general information, visitors can call 419-255-8000 or 800-644-6862, or visit www.toledomuseum.org

Chelsea’s Agora Gallery will feature German artist, Dr. Lusine Breitscheidel, in its premier exhibition Contemporary German Art: The New York Experience. The exhibition is scheduled to run from March 23, 2010 through April 13, 2010 (opening reception: Thursday, March 25, 2010).

Mysterious, poignant, surreal, visionary. There are many words that aptly describe the work of Armenian artist, Dr. Lusine Breitscheidel, who possesses a painterly virtuoso and expansive imagination. A step into Breitscheidel’s world is two steps away from ordinary reality. Beautiful environs, pastoral or urban, splay out toward radiant horizons, the inhabitants of which are presented in varying degrees of realism. There may be unassuming jeans-clad suburbanites in one piece while another may feature supernatural characters with horns, wings, or exposed bones. Even in the most seemingly ordinary tableau there is always the sense of impending commotion, as if at any moment the scene’s peace may be shattered. Breitscheidel’s approach to painting is heavily stylized, incorporating the energetic brushwork of German Expressionists with brilliant patterns in the spirit of Gustav Klimt. Perception plays a big role in her work. “I am able to see the world from many different perspectives, including yours, and transform this vision through language of colors into unique pieces of work,” she says.

Breitscheidel lives and works in Munich, Germany.

Exhibition Dates: March 23, 2010 – April 13, 2010
Reception: Thursday, March 25, 2010, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Gallery Location: 530 West 25th St, New York City
Gallery Hours: Tues – Sat, 11a.m. – 6 p.m.

http://www.agora-gallery.com/ArtistInvite/Dr._Lusine_Breitscheidel.aspx

Image: Dr. Lusine Breitscheidel, Mountain Skydivers, Acrylic on Canvas

On Wednesday, 14 April, 2010 Sotheby’s London bi-annual Arts of the Islamic World Sale in London will present an exceptional array of fine and rare works of art that span from the rise of Islam in the 7th century through to the 19th century. The auction, which will also feature important examples of ancient manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork, weaponry, textiles, ceramics and paintings from North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, Islamic Spain and South Asia, is estimated to realise in excess of £4 million and will be highlighted by Part II of ‘The Tipu Sultan Collection’ (the first part was offered at Sotheby’s London in 2005 and brought £1,239,240/$2,267,437).

Commenting on the forthcoming sale, Edward Gibbs, Head of Sotheby’s Middle East and Indian Art Department, said: “We are delighted to bring to the market the second part of ‘The Tipu Sultan Collection’, which will include seven lots relating to one of the great heroes of Indian history, Tipu Sultan, “Tiger of Mysore” (reigned 1782-99). The first part of the collection, which was offered in these salerooms in May 2005, was extremely well-received, and we expect the second part – along with the other remarkable highlights in the auction – to generate great enthusiasm among collectors in this field.”

Part II of ‘The Tipu Sultan Collection’
The collection features outstanding weaponry and other rarities captured after the British stormed the autonomous Muslim Ruler, Tipu Sultan’s palace at Seringapatam in May 1799. Important highlights in the collection include a very rare sword and scabbard with Tiger-Form Hilt, from the Palace Armoury of Tipu Sultan, India, circa 1782-99 (est. £50,000-70,000), which was formerly in the collection of Viscount Strathallan and an extremely rare Indian bronze cannon cast by Ahmad Pali at the Royal Foundry at Seringapatam for Tipu Sultan, India, dated 1790-1 (est. £120,000-150,000), formerly the property of the Royal United Services Institute.

Further sale highlights:
A Safavid Brocaded Silk and Metal-Thread Textile Panel, Persia, Safavid, 16th or 17th Century. The velvet textiles of Safavid Persia have long been revered for their sophistication of design, their lavish use of materials (silk, often wrapped with silver and gilt foil strips) and extremely complex structure. Here the two-plane lattice design is punctuated by pairs of exotic birds. This previously unpublished velvet appears to be from the same textile as fragments that are now in the the Bargello Museum, Florence, the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon and the M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, and is estimated at £300,000-500,000.

Highlighting the remarkable artistic traditions of the Ottoman Empire included for sale is a Magnificent and Exceptionally Rare 17th century Ottoman Silver-Gilt Cantaloupe Melon-Form Hanging Ornament, decorated with vivid Peridot gems (est. £150,000-200,000). Intended to hang above the throne of a royal figure, its luxurious elegance is reminiscent of the wealth of an empire that, at its zenith, stretched across three continents.

The splendour of Ottoman metalwork is further represented by a Rare Large Pair of 18th century Ottoman Tombak Stirrups, Turkey, (est. 30,000-40,000,). Extraordinarily large in comparison to standard 18th century Ottoman tombak examples, these stirrups were produced on special commission, and their size and high artistic quality heightens their rarity.

A Pair of Ottoman Silver Candlesticks Bearing the Khedival Crest of King Fou’ ad and the Tughra of Abdülmecid, Turkey, 19th century (est. £60,000-80,000), is included in the sale. Produced under the reign of Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid (r.1839-1861), these two magnificent silver candlesticks were presented to King Fouad, (r.1917-36), the sultan and later ruler of Egypt and Sudan. Sharing both Ottoman and Egyptian royal background, the candlesticks are of great importance in terms of their history and artistic originality, and no similar pair has been recorded in any famous public or private collection of Islamic art.

Also featured in the sale is a Diamond and Ruby-set Gold Anklet (Ta’zim), India, 19th century, (est. £300,000-5,00,000), that was once worn by the Maharajah of Morvi in the late 19th century. Consisting of 18 goldwrapped twirling links, each encrusted with an oval finely-cut diamond and four lateral cabochon rubies, the anklet is inscribed on the reverse in devanagari with the maker’s name. Worn by noblemen on their right foot, these anklets were presented at Court as a sign of honour and status. A photograph accompanying this lot illustrates HH Thakur Sahib Waghji II Ravaji, the Maharajah of Morvi, wearing the anklet on his right ankle, probably taken on the occasion of his becoming a Knight Grand Commander of Order of the Indian Empire G.C.I.E.

An additional highlight is a Mughal Gold Inlaid and Gem-Set Jade, later set as a Brooch by Cartier, India, 17th century, (est. £200,000-300,000). Thought to have been a bazuband originally, the quality of the chiseled gold inlay and the gem-settings of the brooch indicate that it was almost certainly a courtly piece. On the reverse, the brooch is inscribed with Cartier Paris.

Further works in the sale include a Fine Iznik Polychrome Dish, Turkey, circa 1575, which is estimated at £60,000-80,000. The present dish displays a magnificent three-dimensional composition produced by the position and size of the five featured roses. Much reminiscent of illustration on paper, this dish represents the apogee of Iznik production which peaked during the late-16th and early-17th century. More realistic representations of particular flowers and leaves became apparent during this period and green artichokes, red tulips, blue hyacinths and other vibrant plant life became the focus of complex aesthetic arrangements.

An Ottoman Painted Wood Room, Syria, dated 1261 AH/ 1845 AD, comprising four walls, a niche and cornicing (est. £60,000-80,000). During the 18th and 19th centuries, Syria became an important centre for the production of complex and beautifully-adorned interiors. Consisting of carved, assembled and decorated wood panels, these rooms would have, along with tile panels and marble mosaics, added refined luxury to the home of a prominent and elegant family. In terms of stylistic forms, the colours and paneling evidence a clear European influence.

Image: Diamond and Ruby Gold Anklet (Ta’zim), India, 19th century. Estimate: £300,000-500,000. Photo: Sotheby’s

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765 1915, , a major exhibition highlighting the variety and strength of American artistic achievement during an epochal century and a half, from the colonial era through the period leading to World War I. American Stories—the first survey of American narrative painting in more than thirty-five years—features over seventy works, including loans from leading museums and private collections, as well as key works from LACMA’s collection. LACMA’s presentation—the exhibition’s only West Coast showing—will be on view in the museum’s Art of the Americas building open through May 23, 2010.

William Sidney Mount, “The Power of Music”, 1847. 17 1/16 x 21 1/16 inches. The Cleveland Museum of Art. ©The Cleveland Museum of Art

“American Stories features many of America’s most celebrated artists, represented by some of their best works—iconic examples that have appeared in American textbooks for generations,” says Bruce Robertson, consulting curator of American art at LACMA. “These images reflect their times, but they also actively develop and shape what we know about the past, as great works often do.”

Between the American Revolution and World War I, a group of British colonies became states, the frontier pushed westward until the new nation spanned the continent, a rural and agricultural society became urban and industrial, and the United States—reunified after the Civil War under an increasingly powerful federal government—emerged as a leading participant in world affairs. Throughout this complicated, transformative period, artists recorded American life as it changed around them. The exhibition concentrates on a core group of major painters: John Singleton Copley, Charles Willson Peale, George Caleb Bingham, William Sidney Mount, Richard Caton Woodville, Eastman Johnson, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, and George Bellows. In addition to
selections of these artists’ works, the exhibition features key examples by lesser-known artists that encompass a broad array of subjects and styles.

Excluding images based on history, myth, or literature, American Stories emphasizes instead those derived from artists’ firsthand observation, documentation, and interaction with clients. Recurring themes such as childhood, marriage, family, and community; the notion of citizenship; attitudes toward race; the frontier as reality and myth; and the process and meaning of making art illuminate the evolution of American artists’ approach to narrative.

American Stories opens with a thematically organized gallery that illustrates the continuity of stories through the full extent of the exhibition, as well as the different ways in which artists told these stories. These range from John Singleton Copley’s dramatic Watson and the Shark (1778) to William McGregor Paxton’s The Breakfast (1911). Copley portrays an encounter between a large shark and a fourteen-year-old boy swimming in Havana harbor, but also tells a story of the community of sailors who save him, while Paxton depicts the unraveling of another kind of community: marriage. LACMA’s presentation of American Stories is arranged in five broad chronological sections and includes a supplemental section devoted to stories unique to California.

Inventing American Stories, 1765–1830
Many early American artists focused on individuals, specific locales, and relationships, but the cleverest among them responded to broader narrative agendas, telling stories within the bounds of portraiture. Although portraiture dominated artistic enterprise into the post-revolutionary era, patrons gradually learned to read paintings as more than mere likenesses. Affected by shifts in society, artistic practices, and clientele, portraitists began to reveal their sitters’ desired social positions and to delight them with more elaborate compositions. Charles Willson Peale’s painting Benjamin and Eleanor Ridgely Laming (1788) portrays his married patrons as if they were still courting.

Stories for the Public, 1830–1860
In the early 1830s, artists began to paint more scenes of everyday life, filled with recognizable types: the good mother, the old Revolutionary War veteran, the canny Yankee, and other stock characters. Artists avoided subjects that might be melodramatic or unpleasant, unless they took place far away, in the new frontiers of the West. Audiences enjoyed the chance to see themselves, their neighbors, and a full range of Americans on the stages of these canvases, and to do so in the safety of their own homes. These scenes celebrate self-consciously the distinctive strengths and peccadilloes of a new nation. A few artists, however, did hint at the darker side of American experience—the danger of luxury, the taint of slavery, and the violence that lurked under the bustling, go-getting surface of American society—as in Eastman Johnson’s Negro Life at the South (1859), a subtle allegory of the strength of black Americans’ family bonds despite the pressure of poverty and slavery.

Stories of War and Reconciliation, 1860–1877
The unique and overwhelming circumstances of the Civil War and the years of Reconstruction challenged American artists. The confluence of charged political and economic events, as well as profound social change, created such turmoil that many artists chose to examine only small, reassuring slices of the human experience in subtle, open-ended narratives. Seeking to assuage the sorrow of the war and heal the nation’s fractured spirit, painters turned away from military and political content. Artists depicted women in new roles who were grappling with the responsibilities left to them after the loss of so many men in combat. And, as the agrarian basis of American life yielded to urbanization and industrialization, artists who lived, studied, worked, and exhibited their paintings in cities looked to the countryside for subject matter. Winslow Homer’s masterpiece The Cotton Pickers (1876, LACMA) addresses all of these issues in a monumental study of two black women picking cotton in Virginia after the war.

Cosmopolitan and Candid Stories, 1877–1900
By the mid-1870s, the tastes of American viewers and patrons had changed in response to the expanded opportunities for travel. They were as likely to paint people enjoying everyday life in Paris or the French countryside as they were in New York or New England. Their works evade the harsh realities of urban existence, and, compared to earlier genre scenes, their stories are ambiguous and at times elusive. Mary Cassatt’s study of a bored young sitter in Little Girl in a Blue Armchair (1878) touches on these issues. Many painters recorded the lives of women as devoted mothers, dedicated household managers, participants in genteel feminine rituals, and resolute keepers of culture. A few artists told tales about men at work and leisure while celebrating new American heroes. The cowboy emerged as an icon of American masculinity and the shrinking frontier, as is seen in Frederic Remington’s Fight for the Water Hole (1903).

Stories of the City, 1900–1915
By 1900, the city had become a significant theme for artists, a place of pleasure and excitement rather than danger. The artists of the Ashcan School (so-called because they were accused of painting ash cans, or garbage, rather than higher-class subjects) were known for celebrating the immigrant neighborhoods of the city and their entertainments rather than ignoring or condemning them. George Bellows and John Sloan in particular delighted in the raucous qualities of working-class culture, as seen for instance in Bellows’s spectacularly aggressive Club Night (1907) or his vivid Cliff Dwellers (1913, LACMA). But even as they championed the ability of painters to capture life itself, other artists were exploring abstraction. While storytelling painting would continue, it would now share the stage with radically different artistic forms.

California Stories
Exclusive to LACMA’s presentation is an additional section dedicated to California Stories, curated by Ilene Susan Fort, Gail and John Liebes Curator of American Art at LACMA. Drawn from local collections, a selection of a half dozen paintings focuses on themes of mining, tourism, and ethnicity unique to California, illustrating stories of the Gold Rush, the region’s extraordinary natural beauty, and the Hispanic and Asian heritage of the state. Among the artists represented will be Albertus Browere, William Hahn, and Ernest Narjot.

American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765–1915 is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and curated at LACMA by Consulting Curator Bruce Robertson, professor of art history, University of California, Santa Barbara, in collaboration with H. Barbara Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, and Carrie Rebora Barratt, associate director for collections and administration, both of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Margaret C. Conrads, Samuel Sosland Curator of American Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, also contributed to planning the exhibition. Prior to its showing at LACMA, American Stories was on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (October 12, 2009–January 24, 2010).

lacma.org