Archives 1989 - Pampas Series No. 28 - w/c - 22x30
Was in awe of the Williams arrangement of "Simple Gifts," played by Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill. How perfect! I played clarinet way long ago and respect the perfect tone McGill produced... whoa! Loved Yo-Yo Ma's exuberance as he played, so obviously 'in the moment'! Aretha was joyous! Elizabeth Alexander's poem opened the mind (I'm slow with poems, will have to reread.) And to top it off, a grand landscape painting was brought in special for the lunch and given special attention... who says the arts aren't given their due? Then you toss in marching bands (I've marched many miles and always tear up when I see the kids being so proud) and I'm totally won!
In spite of all of this, I managed to grab a bit of time to line up my inventory sheet for the retro show. So... it's honed down, separated from the rest and designated and documented. I'll take it to Florence, AL, on Monday, Feb 2... hang it and return home. There may be a gallery talk at a later time, but no special opening, no invitations mailed out. Something was said about a reporter and photographer, newspaper notifications... sounds good. I dig low key!
On Thursday I join several artist friends in Atlanta for some gallery running and other good times. Will document fully... home on Sunday.
6 comments:
I was pleased and surprised too that the Yosemite painting was hung and commented on for the inaugural lunch. I missed the reason that it was selected (probably boo hooing too loudly), but it looked great there.
I received an email from the White House requesting that I fill in a form with any concerns, comments, questions, etc. I suggested that they hang some big abstract paintings from within the last 50 years in the White House, especially the Oval Office. Wouldn't that be great! They could borrow just about anything they wanted from museums and/or collectors, I would think. What a treat it would be to see something lively that isn't a hundred years old beside our great new president.
I agree totally, Nancy! I'm remembering back... seems a former president (rats, can't remember which, might have been Clinton) did borrow contemporary art from the museums in DC to hang in the WH. That's worth a google!
Aha! It was the Clintons, and the painting they borrowed was a DeKooning. Article here: http://tinyurl.com/au6xfr
I clicked on your link but it wouldn't find the page so here's another one
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D03E7DE103CF937A15750C0A962958260
which is an article by Deborah Solomon from 1994. (By the way, she writes the one page personal interview in the Sunday Times magazine but she wrote excellent biographies of Jackson Pollock and Joseph Cornell that contain info I never heard of anywhere else such as details of JC's sex life - fascinating!) Anyway, I thought this paragraph from the article explained a lot:
"That's why a few jaws dropped recently when President Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, decided to hang a painting by Willem de Kooning. The picture is an unlikely choice for the White House, not least because Mr. Kooning is still alive, and a Government policy requires that no work of art can be acquired for the permanent collection of the White House until its creator has been dead for at least 20 years"
So I guess that lets you and I out!
Um... that's the second time in a week that a tinyURL.com link failed on me. Thanks for finding a working URL. But, hey! I wouldn't mind being 'borrowed' for the WH, would you? ;-)
Nope. I'm ready to upload my jpegs whenever they send out the call. On the other hand, I'm not holding my breath - especially since I'm not dead yet.
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