#4 2013 (41)

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Jasper Rees

THE SCULPTED SPIRIT OF FLORENCE IS REDISCOVERED THROUGH ITS ANTIQUE ROOTS IN THE MAGISTERIAL EXHIBITION "THE SPRINGTIME OF THE RENAISSANCE. SCULPTURE AND THE ARTS IN FLORENCE 1400-60" AT THE CITY'S PALAZZO STROZZI. ORGANIZED JOINTLY WITH THE LOUVRE, IT MOVES TO PARIS AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER, RUNNING THERE UNTIL EARLY 2014.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Alexander Burganov

STEPPING INTO THE TWILIGHT OF A LARGE ROOM, IN WHICH THE ONLY ILLUMINATION COMES FROM SMALL SHINING WINDOWS, THE VIEWER INEVITABLY FEELS A SENSATION OF BEING INVITED INTO ANOTHER, UNEARTHLY, WORLD. "ANOTHER" IT MAY INDEED BE -BUT IN NO WAY AN UNEARTHLY ONE. THE WINDOWS CONCERNED ARE CHALK AND PEN SKETCHES WHICH ILLUSTRATE "MICHELANGELO UND SEINE ZEIT" (MICHELANGELO AND HIS TIME), NOW ON DISPLAY IN THE ALBERTINA MUSEUM IN VIENNA. THE OLD SHEETS OF PAPER IN SIMPLE CLASSICAL FRAMES SEEM TO SHINE FROM WITHIN WITH SOME MAGICAL, UNREAL LIGHT. THEY ARE KNOWN TO BEAR THE TOUCH OF THE HANDS OF MANY OF THE GREATEST ARTISTS OF THE PAST: MICHELANGELO, RAPHAEL, LEONARDO DA VINCI AND OTHERS. IT IS THE INSPIRATION, NAME AND PERSONALITY OF EACH OF THEM THAT IS EVIDENT IN THESE ANTIQUE DRAWINGS MARKED WITH THE ARTIST'S PASSION, TENDERNESS OR DESPAIR. LABOURING ON THOSE SHEETS, THE MASTERS CONCERNED MAY HAVE BEEN CONVERSING WITH GOD - AND THE VIEWER FEELS IN SOME WAY, ALMOST INVOLUNTARILY, THAT THEIR HOLY MURMURS CAN BE OVERHEARD.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Marina Vaizey

THE EXHIBITION "HOUGHTON REVISITED", WHICH RUNS UNTIL NOVEMBER 24 AT HOUGHTON HALL IN NORFOLK, ENGLAND, MUST COUNT AS THE MAJOR UK-RUSSIAN VISUAL ARTS PROJECT OF 2013. 70 WORKS FROM THE WALPOLE COLLECTION, ASSEMBLED BY BRITAIN'S FIRST PRIME MINISTER SIR ROBERT WALPOLE IN THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY, AND THEN SOLD IN 1779 TO CATHERINE THE GREAT TO BECOME PART OF THE HERMITAGE, RETURNED TO HANG IN THEIR ORIGINAL HOME AT HOUGHTON HALL, IN ROOMS REMODELLED TO MATCH THEIR ORIGINAL SURROUNDINGS.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Tom Birchenough

ONE OF THE MAIN EXHIBITIONS OF WINTER 2006 IN MADRID WAS AN UNPRECE­DENTED "DOUBLE" EXHIBITION OF THE ARTISTS JOHN SINGER SARGENT AND JOA­QUIN SOROLLA, STAGED IN TWO LOCATIONS - THE THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA MUSEUM, AND THE MAJOR CENTRAL CITY EXHIBITION HALL, THE FUNDACION CAJA MADRID. AFTER ITS CLOSURE IN SPAIN IN JANUARY, IT WILL RUN AT THE PETIT PALAIS IN PARIS UNTIL MAY 13.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Natella Voiskounski

THE NEW YORK JEWISH MUSEUM'S SHOW LAST YEAR, "COLLECTING MATISSE AND MODERN MASTERS: THE CONE SISTERS OF BALTIMORE", PROVED BREATHTAKING. THE EXHIBITION DISPLAYED ONLY A SMAH PART OF WHAT HAS BEEN CALLED "A COLLECTION OF COLLECTIONS" OF EXQUISITE PAINTINGS, GRAPHIC WORKS, PRINTS, SCULPTURE, FURNITURE, EMBROIDERY, RUGS, AND TEXTILES. BUT THE CORE OF THE COLLECTION, ITS PRIDE AND GLORY, IS MATISSE, WHOSE PORTRAITURE, STILL-LIFES, SCULPTURE AND LANDSCAPES WERE ON VIEW. THE EXHIBITION TOLD THE FASCINATING STORY OF THE TWO SISTERS WHO, LED BY A FEMALE INSTINCT FOR BUYING BEAUTIFUL AND OFTEN USELESS -OR AT LEAST UNNECESSARY -THINGS, DEVELOPED A PERFECT TASTE FOR GENUINE ART AND BECAME DISTINGUISHED COLLECTORS OF 19TH- AND 20TH-CENTURY MODERN EUROPEAN ART. "A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER," WROTE THE BRITISH POET JOHN KEATS, AND ONCE THE CONE SISTERS HAD EXPERIENCED THE JOY OF ART, THEY CHERISHED THIS SUBLIME FEELING THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Ute Bauermeister

THE SUMMER EXHIBITION "MIRO. THE COLOURS OF POETRY" AT THE MUSEUM FRIEDER BURDA (2 JULY TO 14 NOVEMBER 2010) IS DEDICATED TO THE ARTIST JOAN MIRO, AND SHOWS AROUND 100 WORKS BY THE CATALAN ARTIST WHO SO STRONGLY INFLUENCED 20TH - CENTURY ART. THE PICTURES COVER SIX DECADES OF MIRO'S WORK, AND ARE DRAWN FROM VARIOUS PRIVATE COLLECTIONS AND MUSEUMS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. A LARGE NUMBER OF WORKS OWNED BY THE MIRO FAMILY ITSELF ARE SHOWN AS WELL, A RARITY IN ITSELF, WHILE OTHERS COME FROM THE FUNDACIO JOAN MIRO IN BARCELONA AND PALMA DE MALLORCA. THE EXHIBITION WAS CURATED BY THE WORLDWIDE EXPERT ON SCULPTURE JEAN-LOUIS PRAT, A CLOSE FRIEND OF MIRO WHO ORGANIZED EXHIBITIONS FOR HIM DURING HIS LIFETIME, WHILE THE ARTIST'S GRANDCHILD JOAN PUNYET MIRO ATTENDED ITS OPENING.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Alexandra Keiser

FROM 1923 UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1964, ALEXANDER ARCHIPENKO LIVED IN THE UNITED STATES WHERE HE PRODUCED A LARGE BODY OF WORK. WHILE ARCHIPENKO SCHOLARS HAVE FOCUSED MAINLY ON HIS EARLY YEARS IN FRANCE AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO CUBISM, IT IS ONLY NOW THAT RESEARCHERS ARE EXAMINING THE ARTIST'S PRACTICE AND THE RECEPTION HE RECEIVED DURING THIS LATER PERIOD, AND HIS PLACE IN THE WIDER STRUCTURE OF AVANT-GARDE CULTURE.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Natella Voiskounski

THE EXHIBITION "BORIS KOSAREV: MODERNIST KHARKIV 1915-1931" AT THE UKRAINIAN MUSEUM IN NEW YORK EXPLORES THE DESTINIES OF KHARKOV MODERNISM THROUGH THE LIFE AND ARTWORK OF ONE OF ITS MOST PRE-EMINENT FIGURES. THE TALLY OF YEARS, AS ON A TOMBSTONE, DEFINES THE BRIEF PERIOD OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND FLOURISHING OF MODERNISM IN KHARKOV.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Alexander Rozhin

RUNNING AT FLORENCE'S PALAZZO STROZZI UNTIL THE END OF JANUARY 2013, THE EXHIBITION "THE THIRTIES. THE ARTS IN ITALY BEYOND FASCISM" FEATURES ARTISTS WHO CAME TO PUBLIC NOTICE AFTER EXHIBITING AT THE VENICE BIEN-NALES DURING ITALY'S FASCIST ERA. IT PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO CAST A FRESH LOOK AT THE ARTISTIC CULTURE OF THIS TRAGIC HISTORICAL PERIOD OF EUROPEAN CIVILISATION IN THE 20TH CENTURY - ONE WITH REGARD TO WHICH THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE VARIANCE OF OPINION TO DATE AMONG ITS INTERPRETERS AND JUDGES.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Irving Sandler

THE SHOW OF 13 GREAT PAINTINGS BY MARK ROTHKO AT THE GARAGE CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY CULTURE IN MOSCOW PROMPTS ME TO RECALL MY FRIENDSHIP WITH THE ARTIST. THE ABSTRACTIONS RANGE IN DATE FROM A "MULTIFORM" OF 1949, THE YEAR THAT ROTHKO ARRIVED AT HIS MATURE STYLE, TO A PROFOUNDLY TRAGIC "LANDSCAPE" OF 1970, THE YEAR OF HIS DEATH. AS A YOUNG ART CRITIC, I WAS FORTUNATE TO WITN ESS AT FIRST HAND TH E EVOLUTION OF ROTHKO'S ABSTRACTIONS FROM 1956, WHEN I FIRST MET HIM, TO THE END OF HIS LIFE, AND TO INTERVIEW THE ARTIST ABOUT SIX TIMES ABOUT HIS MOTIVATIONS AND IDEAS.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Anne Mannix

THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART (BMA) WAS THE FINAL VENUE OF THE FOUR-MUSEUM TOUR TO PRESENT THE FIRST U.S. MUSEUM EXHIBITION EXPLORING THE LATE WORKS OF THE ICONIC AMERICAN ARTIST ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987). ON VIEW THERE FROM OCTOBER 2010 THROUGH JANUARY 2011, MORE THAN 50 WORKS REVEALED THE POP ARTIST'S ENERGETIC RETURN TO PAINTING AND RENEWED SPIRIT OF EXPERIMENTATION DURING THE LAST DECADE OF HIS LIFE. THIS PERIOD SHOWS WARHOL IN THE MIDST OF HIS CELEBRITY CREATING MORE PAINTINGS AND ON A VASTLY LARGER SCALE THAN AT ANY OTHER MOMENT OF HIS 40-YEAR CAREER. EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE PSYCHOLOGICALLY REVEALING FRIGHT WIG SELF-PORTRAITS, THREE VARIATIONS ON LEONARDO DA VINCI'S THE LAST SUPPER, AND COLLABORATIONS WITH YOUNGER ARTISTS SUCH AS JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT. SEVERAL OF THESE WORKS - ASSEMBLED FROM NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS, AS WELL AS THE BMA'S EXCEPTIONAL COLLECTION OF LATE WORKS BY WARHOL -WERE NOT EXHIBITED UNTIL AFTER THE ARTIST'S DEATH.

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INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

Alexander Rozhin

TWENTY CHAPTERS, OR TWENTY ACTS OF AN UNFINISHED PLAY ABOUT ARTISTIC LIFE WHICH THE GERMAN ARTIST GUENTHER UECKER IS DESTINED TO COMPLETE HAVE BECOME A CULMINATING EVENT IN BERLIN'S CULTURAL LIFE FROM MARCH TO JUNE 2005, ALONGSIDE THE EXHIBITION "NEFERTITI" IN THE KUNST FORUM, AND A CELEBRATION OF THE CENTENARY OF ALBERT EINSTEIN. THE RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION OF THE PROMINENT MASTER WHO GAINED WORLDWIDE RECOGNITION IN THE 1960S WAS DISPLAYED IN THREE LOCATIONS -THE MARTIN GROPIUS BAU, THE NEW NATIONAL BERLIN GALLERY, AND THE "NEUER BERLINER KUNSTVEREIN" (THE NEW BERLIN UNION OF ARTISTS). ALL THREE WERE PART OF A TRIBUTE MARKING UECKER'S 75TH BIRTHDAY.

 

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