The upcoming show on the work of Vincent Van Gogh, held next year at London’s National Gallery, will reunite two of the surviving versions of the artist’s iconic Sunflowers.  Painted in 1888, one of the canvases is on loan from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, while the other was purchased by the National Gallery in 1924.  “It will deepen every visitor’s appreciation of the artist,” said  Nicholas Penny, director of the National Gallery. (more…)

Robert Indiana, Red Gold Alphabet, (2011), via Woodward Gallery

On view at Woodward Gallery in New York is American pop artist Robert Indiana’s most recent series on paper and canvas entitled “A – Z,” serving as a fitting accompaniment to the artist’s current show at The Whitney Museum.  Born Robert Clark in New Castle, Indiana in 1928, Robert Indiana is best known for his iconic LOVE series. He has also created similar works in the same style with short words such as EAT, HUG, and more recently, HOPE, from which all proceeds were donated to Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008. (more…)

Robert Ryman, Untitled (2010), Photo: Bill Jacobson, Courtesy of the Pace Gallery

The work of American artist Robert Ryman (b. 1930, Nashville, Tennessee), is at once rigorous and experimental, playing with the possibilities of material, scale, brushstroke, and installation itself.  He is most commonly identified with the movements of monochrome painting, minimalism, and conceptual art, and frequently explores the classical distinctions between sculpture and painting, as well as concerns with themes of perception, context, and enforced limitations.  Since the 1950s, Ryman has focused on the conceptual nature of his work, exploring the varieties found in primarily white paint on square surfaces. Preferring to be known as a “realist” rather than a minimalist, his work presents compositions at face value, prompting an examination of the optical and material properties of the painting discipline. (more…)

Cy Twombly, Sunset (1957), Image Credit: Tom Powel Imaging / Courtesy Dominique Lévy, New York.

Twenty minutes of continuous, monotone sound, followed by twenty minutes of absolute silence; such is the premise for Yves Klein’s 1949 Monotone Symphony, a powerful piece considered to stand at the core of the artist’s pioneering conceptual ouevre and one that bore remarkable influence on fellow artists Cy Twombly and Lucio Fontana, each of which drove their own sense of dichotomous action on canvas and sculpture, defining the continued explorations of abstraction and concept in post-war art.

Yves Klein, Pluie Bleu (S 36) (1961), Image credit Tom Powel Imaging, © Yves Klein, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York ADAGP, Paris 2013.

(more…)

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia has announced its intent to sell East Wind Over Weehawken, a 1934 canvas by Edward Hopper, to raise funds for the purchase of new, contemporary works for its museum.  The sale, set for Christie’s December auction, is estimated to earn between $22 and $28 million, marks a return to the museum’s tradition of buying contemporary art.  Harry Philbrick, the museum’s director, remarks:  “We had a very strong tradition of doing that until the 1950s when we pulled back.  In recent years, we have been trying to be more active.” (more…)

Philip Taaffe, Recent Work (Installation view), courtesy Luhring Augustine Gallery

Recent work by Philip Taaffe is currently on view at Luhring Augustine gallery in Chelsea, New York, marking Taaffe’s first solo show of paintings in New York since 2007. Culling together a diverse set of influences and materials, the works on view unveil Taaffe’s explorations of imagery in art, architecture, and archeology, both in contemporary and historical contexts.

(more…)

Elizabeth Peyton, Jonas Kaufmann, March 2013, NYC (2013), via Gavin Brown’s Enterprise

Gavin Brown’s west-side gallery is currently playing home to a new set of works by artist Elizabeth Peyton, continuing the artist’s ongoing series of portraiture through a series of works taken from the New York Metropolitan Opera, as well as Peyton’s well-documented self-portraits and depictions of celebrities.   (more…)

Alex Katz, Sunset 2, (2008) via Museum Haus Konstruktiv

The Swiss museum Haus Konstruktiv is currently presenting Landscapes, a solo exhibition of work by American Painter, Alex Katz, focusing mainly on the artist’s landscapes and natural scenes, spanning from 1948 until today.  The exhibition marks the first comprehensive display of Katz’s work by a Swiss Institution, despite his international acclaim and presence in several important private Swiss collections. Of particular note are a number of included works that have previously never been displayed. (more…)

Sabine Moritz, Mother (2010), via Marian Goodman

Limbo, the state of being suspended in time, between past and future, repose and action, is the title of Sabine Moritz’s first solo show with Marian Goodman Gallery in Paris.  Spread over two floors, the exhibition includes eighteen oil on canvas paintings, and over sixty drawings, a dense body of work started in late 2001.  Moritz, who lives and works in Cologne, Germany, was on her way to New York City on September 11th, when her plane was diverted up to Nova Scotia. For three days she was stuck in this remote landscape, with thousands of other displaced travelers, watching the events and its aftermath unfold. This period of waiting and disconnect, gave her time to reflect about the changing nature of borders, conflict, and the technology of war.

Sabine Moritz, Limbo (Installation View), via Marian Goodman

(more…)

Helen Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea (1952), Courtesy Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc., on extended loan to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. © 2013 Estate of Helen Frankenthaler/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.

In 1951, at the age of twenty-two, American painter Helen Frankenthaler appeared in her first solo exhibition in New York.  It was a fitting introduction to the artist, who, over the next ten years, developed a uniquely evocative style that would define her as a major talent of mid-twentieth century New York City.  Sixty years later, Gagosian Gallery is exhibiting some of Frankenthaler’s works from this decade, showcasing the creative practice of the artist’s pivotal early years, and offering perspective on her ever-evolving style.

Helen Frankenthaler, Untitled (1951), © 2013 Estate of Helen Frankenthaler/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Photography by Robert McKeever”. (more…)

Illinois-based Blick Art Materials has bought out the New York art supply company Utrecht, adding 45 stores to its already established 39.  Terms were not disclosed on the handling of Utrecht’s line of supplies, paints, and other materials.  “The acquisition of Utrecht gives us a tremendous, well-established brand and greater geographic reach for our brick and mortar channel,” said Blick CEO Robert Buchsbaum.   (more…)