From weathervanes to whirligigs, carnival characters to religious figurines, "American Verna... more From weathervanes to whirligigs, carnival characters to religious figurines, "American Vernacular" presents hundreds of newly identified and never before published objects that add significantly to the literature on outsider art. An introduction by Margit Rowell, formerly chief curator at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, explores why the vernacular (which encompasses folk, outsider, primitive and self-taught traditions) has moved from the fringe to the centre of the art world. Authors Frank Maresca and Roger Ricco have spent years on the trail of unusual and uncommonly beautiful examples of 19th- and 20th-century folk sculpture and have compiled their findings in this illustrated informative volume. With hundreds of colour photographs and full commentary by experts, it is a thorough exploration that should appeal to serious collectors and those just learning about the field.
The Museum of Modern Art has collected and exhibited illustrated books from its earliest years. I... more The Museum of Modern Art has collected and exhibited illustrated books from its earliest years. In addition, through the inspiration of its founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., who made the first of three visits to Russia in the winter of 1927-28, a year before the Museum opened in 1929, this institution has built an extraordinary collection of Russian avant-garde art in all mediums. It was, therefore, with excitement and gratitude that the Museum accepted The Judith Rothschild Foundation gift of some 1,100 illustrated books and 100 related works from this seminal period. Considered the finest of its kind in the world, this collection will now be available for future generations to be exhibited and studied in the context of nearly 400 Russian avant-garde works from the Museum's Departments of Painting and Sculpture, Drawings, Photography, Film and Media, Architecture and Design, Prints and Illustrated Books, and the Library. This publication, and the accompanying exhibition, proudly celebrate this momentous gift and also demonstrate to our audience the fundamental importance of the book medium in this moment of historic creativity. The idea for forming this collection of Russian avant-garde books came from Harvey S. Shipley Miller, Trustee of The Judith Rothschild Foundation. Knowing of the interest of Judith Rothschild, and that of her family, in this period, he set out to make a definitive collection with the purpose of donating it to an institution. Formed in an aston ishing burst of activity with the help of Jared Ash, The Judith Rothschild Foundation Curator, this collection is unique in its breadth and depth, and includes all the major books by such masters as Kazimir Malevich, Olga Rozanova, El Lissitzky, and Aleksandr Rodchenko, as well as publications in areas of special interest such as provincial mate rial, children's literature, architecture, and Judaica. In addition to the current exhibition and catalogue, the Museum's plans for this unique collection include a variety of initiatives. The first will be a Web-based catalogue raisonne with animations that display turning pages of the most important volumes. It is further hoped that a program for scholars will be established for collection-based research projects in art history, as well as related fields of literature and graphic design. Seminars for college students and Museum members are also planned to allow for the study of this material in the original rather than through slides. This exhibition and catalogue would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of its co-organizers: Deborah Wye, Chief Curator of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, an ardent proponent of Russian avant-garde printed art, and Margit Rowell, former Chief Curator in the Department of Drawings and Guest Curator for this project, a widely respected scholar of the period. They, along with the team of Jared Ash Nina Gurianova, primary consultant; Gerald Janecek, consultant; Harper Montgomery, Assistant Curator; and the staff of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books have brought this project to fruition in a remarkably short time with superlative results. On this occasion, I wish to convey my special thanks to Harvey S. Shipley Miller, the originator and tireless supporter of this project and a devoted friend of The Museum of Modern Art. A committed patron of the arts, Mr. Miller has shown his passion as a collector and his infinite imagination and intelligence in compiling this superb collection This exhibition and publication are testament to his vision and creativity.
ELEMENTOS DE LA NATURALEZA LLENOS DE SIMBOLISMO, COMO ARROZ, LECHE, CERA, POLEN Y LACRE, SIRVEN A... more ELEMENTOS DE LA NATURALEZA LLENOS DE SIMBOLISMO, COMO ARROZ, LECHE, CERA, POLEN Y LACRE, SIRVEN AL ARTISTA ALEMAN WOLFGANG LAIB (1950) PARA CREAR OBRAS QUE ESTETICAMENTE LLENAN LOS SENTIDOS, INVITAN A LA CONTEMPLACION Y LA ESPIRITUALIDAD. ESTAS PROPUESTAS PUEDEN APRECIARSE HASTA EL 22 DE NOVIEMBRE, EN "WOLFGANG LAIB. PASOTRASPASO", EXPOSICION DEL MUSEO UNIVERSITARIO ARTE CONTEMPORANEO (MUAC), COMO PARTE DEL CICLO UNO MAS INFINITO. EN SUS PIEZAS, EL ARTISTA -AL QUE NOMBRAN MONJE BUDISTA OCCIDENTAL- PROPONE UNA COSMOVISION DERIVADA DE UNA CONCEPCION SAGRADA DEL ESPACIO Y DEL TIEMPO. PARA LAIB, EL PROCESO DE CREACION INICIA CON LA SELECCION DE LOS MATERIALES, PORQUE CADA UNO DE ELLOS TIENE UN LENGUAJE, UNA TEXTURA Y UN SIGNIFICADO. LAS HERRAMIENTAS QUE UTILIZA SON UN MEDIO PARA ALCANZAR DETERMINADOS EFECTOS Y DESPERTAR SENTIDOS. L CREA ARTE AL TAMIZAR POLEN O DERRAMAR LECHE; CUANDO FUNDE CERA DE ABEJAS O AMONTONA ARROZ. CON WOLFGANG, ESOS MATERIALES ADQUIEREN MULTIPLES SIGNI...
From weathervanes to whirligigs, carnival characters to religious figurines, "American Verna... more From weathervanes to whirligigs, carnival characters to religious figurines, "American Vernacular" presents hundreds of newly identified and never before published objects that add significantly to the literature on outsider art. An introduction by Margit Rowell, formerly chief curator at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, explores why the vernacular (which encompasses folk, outsider, primitive and self-taught traditions) has moved from the fringe to the centre of the art world. Authors Frank Maresca and Roger Ricco have spent years on the trail of unusual and uncommonly beautiful examples of 19th- and 20th-century folk sculpture and have compiled their findings in this illustrated informative volume. With hundreds of colour photographs and full commentary by experts, it is a thorough exploration that should appeal to serious collectors and those just learning about the field.
Antonin Artaud, who died almost fifty years ago, remains one of this century's more compellingand... more Antonin Artaud, who died almost fifty years ago, remains one of this century's more compellingand complicated-literary figures, a man of enormous talent and insight whose disturbed and often difficult life inflected almost every aspect of his work. Troubled by mental illness and addicted to drugs, he explored his inner world through poetry and prose, creating a body of material whose haunting depictions of alienation, trauma, and pain have few parallels. Best known for his "Theater of Cruelty," a project based on his vision of cruelty as truth and as a transforming experience, Artaud was also an accomplished artist whose drawings record the harrowing images that populated his mind. Comprising approximately seventy works on paper, this exhibition provides the first opportunity in this country to examine the full extent of Artaud's graphic work. Highly charged and expressive, as intense as they are personal, these strange incantations and spells, fragmented images, and penetrating portraits offer a glimpse of Artaud's world, particularly his obsessions with death, sexuality, and identity. The sheer visual force of these drawings, with their rubbed surfaces, burn marks, smears, and staccato bursts of line and color, distinguishes them from the work of other artists and reveals his unique voice. Artaud's suffering and anguish remind us of Vincent van Gogh, with whom Artaud identified closely. He, too, underwent extensive treatment for his illness, suffered long confinement, but never knew the comfort of a cure. He shared van Gogh's sense of existing outside the normal boundaries or constraints of society, resulting in profound alienation and isolation from the world, like van Gogh, he experienced fits of erratic behavior that gave way to periods in which he was able to create images of transcendent power from the depths of his experiences, and, as with van Gogh, these bursts of creativity were, para doxically, often accompanied by moments of terrifying torment, self-loathing, and anguish. In their alienation and suffering, both men have become emblematic of the modern artist at odds with the world. Although these drawings ultimately must be seen in the broad context of Artaud's complicated and disturbed life, and in relation to his extraordinary literary output, they also can be appreciated for what they are: discrete works of art, often of great power and beauty. And while Artaud's literary genius was recognized-if not fully appreciated-during his lifetime, it is only recently that his legacy as a visual artist has become clear. Margit Rowell,
The Museum of Modern Art has collected and exhibited illustrated books from its earliest years. I... more The Museum of Modern Art has collected and exhibited illustrated books from its earliest years. In addition, through the inspiration of its founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., who made the first of three visits to Russia in the winter of 1927-28, a year before the Museum opened in 1929, this institution has built an extraordinary collection of Russian avant-garde art in all mediums. It was, therefore, with excitement and gratitude that the Museum accepted The Judith Rothschild Foundation gift of some 1,100 illustrated books and 100 related works from this seminal period. Considered the finest of its kind in the world, this collection will now be available for future generations to be exhibited and studied in the context of nearly 400 Russian avant-garde works from the Museum's Departments of Painting and Sculpture, Drawings, Photography, Film and Media, Architecture and Design, Prints and Illustrated Books, and the Library. This publication, and the accompanying exhibition, proudly celebrate this momentous gift and also demonstrate to our audience the fundamental importance of the book medium in this moment of historic creativity. The idea for forming this collection of Russian avant-garde books came from Harvey S. Shipley Miller, Trustee of The Judith Rothschild Foundation. Knowing of the interest of Judith Rothschild, and that of her family, in this period, he set out to make a definitive collection with the purpose of donating it to an institution. Formed in an aston ishing burst of activity with the help of Jared Ash, The Judith Rothschild Foundation Curator, this collection is unique in its breadth and depth, and includes all the major books by such masters as Kazimir Malevich, Olga Rozanova, El Lissitzky, and Aleksandr Rodchenko, as well as publications in areas of special interest such as provincial mate rial, children's literature, architecture, and Judaica. In addition to the current exhibition and catalogue, the Museum's plans for this unique collection include a variety of initiatives. The first will be a Web-based catalogue raisonne with animations that display turning pages of the most important volumes. It is further hoped that a program for scholars will be established for collection-based research projects in art history, as well as related fields of literature and graphic design. Seminars for college students and Museum members are also planned to allow for the study of this material in the original rather than through slides. This exhibition and catalogue would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of its co-organizers: Deborah Wye, Chief Curator of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, an ardent proponent of Russian avant-garde printed art, and Margit Rowell, former Chief Curator in the Department of Drawings and Guest Curator for this project, a widely respected scholar of the period. They, along with the team of Jared Ash Nina Gurianova, primary consultant; Gerald Janecek, consultant; Harper Montgomery, Assistant Curator; and the staff of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books have brought this project to fruition in a remarkably short time with superlative results. On this occasion, I wish to convey my special thanks to Harvey S. Shipley Miller, the originator and tireless supporter of this project and a devoted friend of The Museum of Modern Art. A committed patron of the arts, Mr. Miller has shown his passion as a collector and his infinite imagination and intelligence in compiling this superb collection This exhibition and publication are testament to his vision and creativity.
From weathervanes to whirligigs, carnival characters to religious figurines, "American Verna... more From weathervanes to whirligigs, carnival characters to religious figurines, "American Vernacular" presents hundreds of newly identified and never before published objects that add significantly to the literature on outsider art. An introduction by Margit Rowell, formerly chief curator at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, explores why the vernacular (which encompasses folk, outsider, primitive and self-taught traditions) has moved from the fringe to the centre of the art world. Authors Frank Maresca and Roger Ricco have spent years on the trail of unusual and uncommonly beautiful examples of 19th- and 20th-century folk sculpture and have compiled their findings in this illustrated informative volume. With hundreds of colour photographs and full commentary by experts, it is a thorough exploration that should appeal to serious collectors and those just learning about the field.
The Museum of Modern Art has collected and exhibited illustrated books from its earliest years. I... more The Museum of Modern Art has collected and exhibited illustrated books from its earliest years. In addition, through the inspiration of its founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., who made the first of three visits to Russia in the winter of 1927-28, a year before the Museum opened in 1929, this institution has built an extraordinary collection of Russian avant-garde art in all mediums. It was, therefore, with excitement and gratitude that the Museum accepted The Judith Rothschild Foundation gift of some 1,100 illustrated books and 100 related works from this seminal period. Considered the finest of its kind in the world, this collection will now be available for future generations to be exhibited and studied in the context of nearly 400 Russian avant-garde works from the Museum's Departments of Painting and Sculpture, Drawings, Photography, Film and Media, Architecture and Design, Prints and Illustrated Books, and the Library. This publication, and the accompanying exhibition, proudly celebrate this momentous gift and also demonstrate to our audience the fundamental importance of the book medium in this moment of historic creativity. The idea for forming this collection of Russian avant-garde books came from Harvey S. Shipley Miller, Trustee of The Judith Rothschild Foundation. Knowing of the interest of Judith Rothschild, and that of her family, in this period, he set out to make a definitive collection with the purpose of donating it to an institution. Formed in an aston ishing burst of activity with the help of Jared Ash, The Judith Rothschild Foundation Curator, this collection is unique in its breadth and depth, and includes all the major books by such masters as Kazimir Malevich, Olga Rozanova, El Lissitzky, and Aleksandr Rodchenko, as well as publications in areas of special interest such as provincial mate rial, children's literature, architecture, and Judaica. In addition to the current exhibition and catalogue, the Museum's plans for this unique collection include a variety of initiatives. The first will be a Web-based catalogue raisonne with animations that display turning pages of the most important volumes. It is further hoped that a program for scholars will be established for collection-based research projects in art history, as well as related fields of literature and graphic design. Seminars for college students and Museum members are also planned to allow for the study of this material in the original rather than through slides. This exhibition and catalogue would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of its co-organizers: Deborah Wye, Chief Curator of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, an ardent proponent of Russian avant-garde printed art, and Margit Rowell, former Chief Curator in the Department of Drawings and Guest Curator for this project, a widely respected scholar of the period. They, along with the team of Jared Ash Nina Gurianova, primary consultant; Gerald Janecek, consultant; Harper Montgomery, Assistant Curator; and the staff of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books have brought this project to fruition in a remarkably short time with superlative results. On this occasion, I wish to convey my special thanks to Harvey S. Shipley Miller, the originator and tireless supporter of this project and a devoted friend of The Museum of Modern Art. A committed patron of the arts, Mr. Miller has shown his passion as a collector and his infinite imagination and intelligence in compiling this superb collection This exhibition and publication are testament to his vision and creativity.
ELEMENTOS DE LA NATURALEZA LLENOS DE SIMBOLISMO, COMO ARROZ, LECHE, CERA, POLEN Y LACRE, SIRVEN A... more ELEMENTOS DE LA NATURALEZA LLENOS DE SIMBOLISMO, COMO ARROZ, LECHE, CERA, POLEN Y LACRE, SIRVEN AL ARTISTA ALEMAN WOLFGANG LAIB (1950) PARA CREAR OBRAS QUE ESTETICAMENTE LLENAN LOS SENTIDOS, INVITAN A LA CONTEMPLACION Y LA ESPIRITUALIDAD. ESTAS PROPUESTAS PUEDEN APRECIARSE HASTA EL 22 DE NOVIEMBRE, EN "WOLFGANG LAIB. PASOTRASPASO", EXPOSICION DEL MUSEO UNIVERSITARIO ARTE CONTEMPORANEO (MUAC), COMO PARTE DEL CICLO UNO MAS INFINITO. EN SUS PIEZAS, EL ARTISTA -AL QUE NOMBRAN MONJE BUDISTA OCCIDENTAL- PROPONE UNA COSMOVISION DERIVADA DE UNA CONCEPCION SAGRADA DEL ESPACIO Y DEL TIEMPO. PARA LAIB, EL PROCESO DE CREACION INICIA CON LA SELECCION DE LOS MATERIALES, PORQUE CADA UNO DE ELLOS TIENE UN LENGUAJE, UNA TEXTURA Y UN SIGNIFICADO. LAS HERRAMIENTAS QUE UTILIZA SON UN MEDIO PARA ALCANZAR DETERMINADOS EFECTOS Y DESPERTAR SENTIDOS. L CREA ARTE AL TAMIZAR POLEN O DERRAMAR LECHE; CUANDO FUNDE CERA DE ABEJAS O AMONTONA ARROZ. CON WOLFGANG, ESOS MATERIALES ADQUIEREN MULTIPLES SIGNI...
From weathervanes to whirligigs, carnival characters to religious figurines, "American Verna... more From weathervanes to whirligigs, carnival characters to religious figurines, "American Vernacular" presents hundreds of newly identified and never before published objects that add significantly to the literature on outsider art. An introduction by Margit Rowell, formerly chief curator at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, explores why the vernacular (which encompasses folk, outsider, primitive and self-taught traditions) has moved from the fringe to the centre of the art world. Authors Frank Maresca and Roger Ricco have spent years on the trail of unusual and uncommonly beautiful examples of 19th- and 20th-century folk sculpture and have compiled their findings in this illustrated informative volume. With hundreds of colour photographs and full commentary by experts, it is a thorough exploration that should appeal to serious collectors and those just learning about the field.
Antonin Artaud, who died almost fifty years ago, remains one of this century's more compellingand... more Antonin Artaud, who died almost fifty years ago, remains one of this century's more compellingand complicated-literary figures, a man of enormous talent and insight whose disturbed and often difficult life inflected almost every aspect of his work. Troubled by mental illness and addicted to drugs, he explored his inner world through poetry and prose, creating a body of material whose haunting depictions of alienation, trauma, and pain have few parallels. Best known for his "Theater of Cruelty," a project based on his vision of cruelty as truth and as a transforming experience, Artaud was also an accomplished artist whose drawings record the harrowing images that populated his mind. Comprising approximately seventy works on paper, this exhibition provides the first opportunity in this country to examine the full extent of Artaud's graphic work. Highly charged and expressive, as intense as they are personal, these strange incantations and spells, fragmented images, and penetrating portraits offer a glimpse of Artaud's world, particularly his obsessions with death, sexuality, and identity. The sheer visual force of these drawings, with their rubbed surfaces, burn marks, smears, and staccato bursts of line and color, distinguishes them from the work of other artists and reveals his unique voice. Artaud's suffering and anguish remind us of Vincent van Gogh, with whom Artaud identified closely. He, too, underwent extensive treatment for his illness, suffered long confinement, but never knew the comfort of a cure. He shared van Gogh's sense of existing outside the normal boundaries or constraints of society, resulting in profound alienation and isolation from the world, like van Gogh, he experienced fits of erratic behavior that gave way to periods in which he was able to create images of transcendent power from the depths of his experiences, and, as with van Gogh, these bursts of creativity were, para doxically, often accompanied by moments of terrifying torment, self-loathing, and anguish. In their alienation and suffering, both men have become emblematic of the modern artist at odds with the world. Although these drawings ultimately must be seen in the broad context of Artaud's complicated and disturbed life, and in relation to his extraordinary literary output, they also can be appreciated for what they are: discrete works of art, often of great power and beauty. And while Artaud's literary genius was recognized-if not fully appreciated-during his lifetime, it is only recently that his legacy as a visual artist has become clear. Margit Rowell,
The Museum of Modern Art has collected and exhibited illustrated books from its earliest years. I... more The Museum of Modern Art has collected and exhibited illustrated books from its earliest years. In addition, through the inspiration of its founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., who made the first of three visits to Russia in the winter of 1927-28, a year before the Museum opened in 1929, this institution has built an extraordinary collection of Russian avant-garde art in all mediums. It was, therefore, with excitement and gratitude that the Museum accepted The Judith Rothschild Foundation gift of some 1,100 illustrated books and 100 related works from this seminal period. Considered the finest of its kind in the world, this collection will now be available for future generations to be exhibited and studied in the context of nearly 400 Russian avant-garde works from the Museum's Departments of Painting and Sculpture, Drawings, Photography, Film and Media, Architecture and Design, Prints and Illustrated Books, and the Library. This publication, and the accompanying exhibition, proudly celebrate this momentous gift and also demonstrate to our audience the fundamental importance of the book medium in this moment of historic creativity. The idea for forming this collection of Russian avant-garde books came from Harvey S. Shipley Miller, Trustee of The Judith Rothschild Foundation. Knowing of the interest of Judith Rothschild, and that of her family, in this period, he set out to make a definitive collection with the purpose of donating it to an institution. Formed in an aston ishing burst of activity with the help of Jared Ash, The Judith Rothschild Foundation Curator, this collection is unique in its breadth and depth, and includes all the major books by such masters as Kazimir Malevich, Olga Rozanova, El Lissitzky, and Aleksandr Rodchenko, as well as publications in areas of special interest such as provincial mate rial, children's literature, architecture, and Judaica. In addition to the current exhibition and catalogue, the Museum's plans for this unique collection include a variety of initiatives. The first will be a Web-based catalogue raisonne with animations that display turning pages of the most important volumes. It is further hoped that a program for scholars will be established for collection-based research projects in art history, as well as related fields of literature and graphic design. Seminars for college students and Museum members are also planned to allow for the study of this material in the original rather than through slides. This exhibition and catalogue would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of its co-organizers: Deborah Wye, Chief Curator of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, an ardent proponent of Russian avant-garde printed art, and Margit Rowell, former Chief Curator in the Department of Drawings and Guest Curator for this project, a widely respected scholar of the period. They, along with the team of Jared Ash Nina Gurianova, primary consultant; Gerald Janecek, consultant; Harper Montgomery, Assistant Curator; and the staff of the Department of Prints and Illustrated Books have brought this project to fruition in a remarkably short time with superlative results. On this occasion, I wish to convey my special thanks to Harvey S. Shipley Miller, the originator and tireless supporter of this project and a devoted friend of The Museum of Modern Art. A committed patron of the arts, Mr. Miller has shown his passion as a collector and his infinite imagination and intelligence in compiling this superb collection This exhibition and publication are testament to his vision and creativity.
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