NYT Review of The Artful Recluse

Previously at The Santa Barbara Museum of Art and currently at the Asia Society and Museum in New York, The Artful Recluse showcases almost 60 paintings from an era of unrivaled historical drama and artistic achievement in China that spans from the late Ming (ca. 1600–1644) and the early Qing dynasties (1644–ca.1700). The show, co-curated by Peter Sturman, Professor of History of Art and Architecture at UCSB, and Susan Tai, Elizabeth Atkins Curator of Asian Art at SBMA, was recently reviewed in the New York Times.

Celebrating the Armory Show centenary

The International Exhibition of Modern Art was held at the 69th Infantry Regiment Armory in New York between February 17 – March 15, 1913 and made a deep and wide impact on American art and its viewing public. Some interesting websites on the exhibition’s 100th anniversary include:

• 1913 Armory Show: the Story in Primary Sources: a visual timeline from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, as seen through letters, meeting minutes, news articles, sales records, etc.
• Exhibitions:
  • The New Spirit: American Art in the Armory Show, 1913: at the Montclair Art Museum (February 17 – June 16, 2013), the first exhibition to focus primarily on the American artists represented in that show
  • The Armory Show at 100: information about an upcoming exhibition (October 11, 2013 – February 23, 2014) at the New-York Historical Society that will reassess the Show and its impact by bringing together 75 works of art and presenting an extensive catalogue of images and essays
• The Virtual Armory Show: a gallery-by-gallery textual and visual recreation of the exhibition, for a virtual museum created by by Shelley Staples for the (now disbanded) American Studies Group at the University of Virginia

A digital collection highlighting Schinkel’s creativity

The Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz now hosts an online catalogue of their significant collection of drawings, watercolors, gouaches and prints by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841). The project, Das Erbe Schinkels (Schinkel’s Legacy) contains almost 6,500 entries. Users can search either in English or German, including Iconclass and bibliography keywords. The project, developed in part with the exhibition Karl Friedrich Schinkel. History and Poetry (7 September 2012 – 6 January 2013 at Kupferstichkabinett im Kulturforum, Berlin), also aims to fit works within both a timeline of Schinkel’s artistic techniques and preferred materials as well as the broader issue of long-term user access.

Save the Date: Los Angeles Art Show 2013

It’s that time of year again to mark your calendars for the Annual Los Angeles Art Show, which will be held January 23-27, 2013 in the South Hall of the LA Convention Center. This year is even more comprehensive, with four distinct “fairs-within-a-fair” (last year there were three): Modern & Contemporary, Historic & Traditional, Vintage Posters, and the IFPDA Los Angeles Fine Print Fair. All this translates into 200,000 square feet of paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photography, installation, and video from around the world. Information has not yet been posted for events, so check the LA Art Show blog often!

Experience the documenta 13 3D tour

For those who were unable to get to Kassel, Germany this summer for documenta 13, here’s your chance to virtually experience installations at all venues. The 360°-Tour offers participants numerous ways to navigate the vast system of projects: by visitor’s favorites (with accompanying video), by a room-by-room “walk through” of each venue, by individual works of art chosen from a map, or by artist. Additional projects are web based.

hat tip to Laurie Monahan

Gallery of Lost Art

A new online exhibition, Lost Art, “explores the stories behind the loss of some of the most significant works of modern and contemporary art.” The works of art shown are not only those stolen, but also those which have been destroyed by disasters or neglect, and are all in various states of “loss” — temporary or permanent. The project is curated by the Tate and will post a new work each week. Be sure to use the zoom in/out and click-and-drag functions to get the full effect of the warehouse-like space.

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and Google Earth map Land art

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA has teamed up with Google Earth to provide interactive maps of works in the current exhibition Ends of the Earth: Land Art to 1974 by “pinpointing their original locations to demonstrate the global nature of Land art and its relationship to real places and times.” Users can see both aerial photographs and street views of the sites as well as background information and contemporary images of each work as installed.

Hammer Museum: “Made in L.A. 2012″ and new hours

The Hammer Museum will have new hours of operation starting Saturday, June 2. The museum will be open 11:00 am – 8:00 pm Tuesdays through Fridays and 11:00 am – 5:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays (the museum is closed on Mondays). Both admission and parking fees will remain the same.

These new hours begin at the same time as the exhibition Made in L.A. 2012, the museum’s first large-scale biennial survey that features work by 60 artists from the L.A. region and exhibited in three venues (Hammer Museum, LA><ART, and the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park).

Now in ARTstor: Major works from Guggenheim’s permanent collection

ARTstor announced an addition of more than 750 images from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s permanent collections in New York, Bilbao, Venice, and Berlin. This is the first installment of a projected 7,000 total images from the Guggenheim Foundation, which will include not only works of art but also 5,000 installation views from the 1990s to the present from the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

New iPad app celebrates Leonardo as anatomist

Who says you can’t take it with you: The Royal Collection revealed a new iPad app that offers zoomable high-resolution images of, and other nifty toys with, all 268 anatomical studies by Leonardo da Vinci in their collection. The app has been launched in conjunction with its current exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist (4 May-7 October, 2012) at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London. Alongside the images are interactive tools like 3D anatomical models, a “magic spyglass” that reverses the artist’s mirror handwriting, and a translation of his notes with just a tap of the finger.