Worth a View - A Michelangelo Marble Boy?

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 – 1564), Young Archer, c. 1490, marble,

overall (wt confirmed): H. 37 x W. 13 1/4 x D. 14 in., 177lb. (94 x 33.7 x 35.6 cm, 80.2867kg)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York 

Lent by the French State, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs

Go look at the Young Archer, a marble boy, attributed to Michelangelo at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On loan from the French Republic, it has received much publicity but underwhelming visits according to my experience and the guard on duty this past Sunday afternoon.

New York University Professor Kathleen Weil-Garris Brandt created quite a stir in 1996 when the New York Times announced her discovery of a lost early work by Michelangelo. It was located right here in New York City at the headquarters of the French Cultural Services in a mansion on Fifth Avenue. The statue, identified as a young archer or cupid, stood above a fountain in the building’s entrance hall. Many rushed to see it but the marble sculpture was in a position that made close examination difficult. Later that year, Professor Brandt published her research in the Burlington Magazine (Vol. 138, No. 1123, Oct., 1996, pp. 644-659). From the beginning, many leading scholars were dubious. Controversy continues.

The statue is now installed where it can easily be studied on the first floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Vélez Blanco Patio. I personally began my viewing by looking down from the Patio’s second floor gallery and from this level was impressed with the details of the statue’s curly hair and the elegant lines of what remains of the body. The figure's arms, lower limbs and a vase needed stability are missing. 

Downstairs, on closer inspection, I felt uncomfortable with the ungainly proportions of the figure’s narrow shoulders and long, thin thighs. I thought the youth’s head rather large relative to the small, well-developed torso. Comparisons to Michelangelo’s early work seemed stretched.

I did appreciate the remarkable modeling of the figure’s head, chest, rib cage and back. Also of note is the rendering of the slight bulge of flesh alongside the outer edges of the baldric as it crosses the figure’s chest. This indication of pressure on flesh is particularly apparent around the belt's back fragment.

In front of the work, an identifying label reads “Attributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)”. Nearby, explanatory wall panels recount the piece’s history and offer cogent arguments for the attribution.

The jury is still out. For me, the authenticity as a Michelangelo piece is questionable.

Spend time with this work. You may want to form your own opinion.

Matisse and the Antique

Griffin Court, Modern Wing, 2009,
Renzo Piano, Architect
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Matisse looked at and thought about classical art. He created works based on antique precedents. The results were radical. I was particularly struck by this on a recent visit to the Art Institute of Chicago's splendid new Modern Wing.

In a third floor gallery are two Matisse bronze statuettes exhibited in a glass vitrine: Thorn Extractor and Woman Leaning on Her Hands. The Thorn Extractor depicts a figure in a startling version of the Spinario pose, a motif representing a seated youth removing a thorn from the sole of his foot. The term Spinario is from the Italian noun spina meaning thorn. I wrote about the Spinario figure in my last blog, “Andrea Riccio Lamp – New to The Metropolitan Museum of Art”, Monday, September 21, 2009.


















Henri Matisse, Thorn Extractor, 1906, bronze,
7 15/16 x 5 ½ x 6 in. (20.3 x 14 x 15.2 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Matisse’s Thorn Extractor is bent over in concentration. The balance and repose of its ancestors are gone as well as the openness of limbs. Matisse’s Extractor is crunched up and awkward. His muscular left leg is straight, flush against the back support; his right leg is drawn up so that its knee almost reaches his right shoulder. It is a strong, dynamic formation with surface facets that animate the bronze as they catch light.












Henri Matisse, Woman Leaning on Her Hands,1905, bronze,
4 ¾ x 9 ¼ x 6 ¾ in. (12.11 x 25.5 x 17.2 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Adjacent is the artist’s Woman Leaning on Her Hands. The figure rises from the floor with outstretched arms. Her horizontal extension contrasts with the Thorn Extractor’s essentially vertical axis.















Henri Matisse, The Geranium, autumn 1906, oil on canvas,
39 ½ x 32 1/8 in. (100.3 x 81. 5 cm)
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois


















Henri Matisse, Thorn Extractor,
Detail of The Geranium

On a nearby wall hangs an early Matisse still-life, The Geranium. Here the painter has included his own sculptures – specifically the two bronze statuettes on view in the glass showcase. The image bursts with light, color and life. Dated 1906, its unconventional nature astonishes.














Installation of works by Henri Matisse, Gallery 391A,
third floor, Modern Wing, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

This is a wonderful gem of museum installation. Matisse’s original sculptural figures are exhibited next to the artist’s painting in which they are portrayed. All three works were created about the same time. The Thorn Extractor is dated the same year as the painting; the Woman Leaning on Her Hands a year earlier.

The Museum acquired the painting in 1932. The statuettes arrived decades later: the Woman in 1992 and the Thorn Extractor in 2008. The Extractor came as a gift from the Ruth Stanton Family Foundation. I’d like to think that some astute person or persons from this Foundation recognized and seized the fortunate opportunity to complete this painting/bronze statuette juxtaposition – a happy circumstance.

Matisse and the Spinario also reminds us that art talks about art as it redefines and builds on the past. You will recognize more of this as your visual vocabulary increases. Continue to look. The enrichment is there for the seeing.

Andrea Riccio Lamp - New to The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Andrea Briosco, called Riccio, Oil Lamp, ca. 1515-1525,
bronze, 9 5/8 x 8 13/16 x 2 5/8 in.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has acquired an Andrea Riccio (1470-1532) bronze oil lamp that is on display in the Italian Renaissance Bronze Gallery. This is the only surviving Riccio lamp that still has both its lid and legs.

(For more on Riccio, see my blog post on Wednesday, November 26, 2008, “Andrea Riccio at the Frick Collection”.)

The Museum’s new lamp is in the shape of an unrigged sailing vessel. Across its body, cavorting infants form the main frieze which is framed by delicate shells. The lamp rests on slender curving legs whose shapes are echoed by the lid’s handles. On either side of the cover, a playful child sits holding on to the tail of a dolphin-like sea creature. Classical details animate the work as the eye moves from one design element to another. There is movement and rhythm in all manner of decoration. The technique is of the highest quality. This new acquisition joins the other Metropolitan’s Riccio holdings that include the artist’s work, those attributed to his “followers”, “in the manner of” or “workshop of”.

There is a lot more to see in this Italian Renaissance gallery whose objects may be modest in scale but offer much to enjoy. Here are depictions of mythological, secular and religious figures – Venus images as well as saints – inkwells and plaques. The bronzes are small enough to fit nicely on a studio shelf or study desk. Their compact size allows for intimate viewing, examination and comparisons with nearby objects.





















Bartolomeo Bellano, David with the Head of Goliath, ca. 1470-80, bronze

Nearby the Riccio display is a case containing a gilt-bronze statuette of David with the Head of Goliath by Bartholomeo Bellano who was a student of Donatello and Riccio’s teacher.

A bronze Spinario statuette from North Italy dated 1500-1520 can be contrasted with the approximate life-size bronze Spinario attributed to Antonello Gagni, Italy (Sicily) 1507-09, on view in the adjoining Vélez Blanco Patio.





















Attrib. to Antonello Gagini, Spinario, 1507-09, bronze

The Spinario, a depiction of a boy removing a thorn from his foot, was based on a Greek original and copied by the Romans. Very few Roman bronzes survive but a 1st century Roman bronze Spinario did and was one of the first antique sculptures to be coped by Italian Renaissance artists. I like to find representations of the Spinario motif and think about how the artist individualized the theme. Some, following the Roman antique example, show the youth’s left foot crossed over his right thigh; some depict the opposite. Some are lithe elegant youths; some are solid unpretentious boys. You may find your own favorite image to follow.

Go see the new Riccio and spend time with the Italian Renaissance bronzes. The viewing will reward the eye as well as the mind – just what an artist like Riccio intended.

Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art

Jeff Koons, Michael Jackson and Bubbles, 1988

The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art should be on every art lover’s radar screen. Located in Oslo, Norway, it has a significant collection of contemporary international art and has produced lively, intelligent temporary exhibits. Although the museum’s two present exhibition floors are a delight to view art in, very few, if any, of the extensive permanent holdings can be seen when special exhibits take place. Much needed additional space will be provided by 2012 when the museum moves into two new buildings designed by Renzo Piano that will be located in a sculpture park also designed by Piano.












Damian Hirst, Mother and Child Divided, 1993

The museum’s collection includes works by such artists as Francis Bacon, Damian Hirst, Anselm Kiefer, Jeff Koons, Bruce Nauman, Shirin Neshat, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, and Cai Guo-Qiang. Some past shows focused on Andy Warhol, Richard Price, Charles Ray, Jeff Wall, and Matthew Barney.















Subodh Gupta, Date by Date, 2008
From the exhibit, "Indian Highway"

“Indian Highway”, the current exhibition, highlights Indian contemporary art and is part of a series that the museum organized with London’s Serpentine Gallery. The sequence of shows looks at contemporary art from the twenty-first century’s emerging powers – China, India and the Middle East.

For some reason, most of my art astute friends had never heard of this museum. A pity. My one problem with the Astrup Fearnley is the limited access to its permanent holdings. This should be rectified with the opening of the new buildings.










Anselm Kiefer, Zweistormland/The High Priestess, 1986-1989

On a recent visit to the museum, I was impressed with the "Indian Highway" exhibition but I wanted to see more of the museum’s holdings. The only ones on view were three powerful Anselm Kiefers. Their installation, in one vast asymmetrical gallery, was a knock-out. Why did they remain? Kiefer’s work is too heavy to move.

Put the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art on your must see list.

Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art
Dronningensgate 4, Oslo, Norway

Opening Hours:
Tuesday - Friday 11 am – 5 pm
Thursday - 11 am – 7 pm
Saturday - Sunday 12 pm – 5 pm
Monday - closed

The Russian Court comes to Amsterdam

Hermitage Amsterdam
Main Entrance

The impressive inaugural exhibition of the expanded Hermitage Amsterdam, At the Russian Court, Palace and Protocol in the 19th Century, opened June 20th. More than 1,800 objects project the resplendent nineteenth-century Tsarist court in a tour de force of museology. Materials are presented in a meaningful way, well-lit and easy to view. Introductory notes, labels and interactive computer kiosks are comprehensible and instructive. They offer nice tidbits of information that not only educate but entertain. Riches are everywhere - oil paintings, sketches, watercolors, photographs, film cuts, dresses, costumes, uniforms, clerical vestments, furniture, porcelains, jewels, snuff boxes, decorations, fans, hats, gloves, bags, shoes, parasols, menus, ceremonial books, arms, performance programs, toiletry articles, pipes, and more. Spending a day here is quite worthwhile.

So large a show may seem daunting but consider that what is on loan to Amsterdam represents less than 1 percent of the Russian State Hermitage Museum's 3 million possessions. The Hermitage Amsterdam is one of several “satellite” venues established by the Russian Hermitage to allow the public to see more of its enormous collection. Begun five years ago in a smaller residence, the Amsterdam branch now has a home in a handsomely restored seventeenth-century building, ten times the size of its original space. It is much more than a place for temporary exhibits. Besides the usual museum café, restaurant, gift shops, study center and auditorium, it has conference rooms, an extensive secondary school program and the Hermitage for Children, located in the first Hermitage Amsterdam building, with its own gift shop, school, workshops and classes. In addition, the Hermitage Amsterdam offers a schedule of cultural and educational events that include concerts, opera and films.

The initial exhibition is divided into two themes with one focusing on official court life and the other on royal balls, dinners and amusements. The regal eighteenth-century Romanov throne of Paul I dominates the entrance of the court section’s main gallery. Facing the throne, in a long glass showcase, is a jaw-dropping procession of thirty richly dressed mannequins representing courtiers and royalty. The lighting and placement is such that all details of cloth are discernable. We see clearly that male court attire was just as elaborate as the female’s. Portraits of elaborately adorned tsars and tsarinas line this gallery’s walls. Among them the depictions is a 1795 full length portrait of the Grand Duchess Elizaveta Alexeevna by Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun. The Grand Duchess is, as expected, gorgeously gowned and jeweled. The informative label discloses that Elizaveta Alexeevna married the Tsar’s son Alexander, who became Tsar Alexander I, in 1801, when she was fourteen and he was fifteen. We also learn that the French painter became a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts after she fled France during the revolution. Nearby smaller rooms tell the story of St. Petersburg, the imperial palace, the six nineteenth-century tsars, courtly activities, protocol and the relationship between the church and state.















Lauits Tuxen, Wedding of Nicholas II and Grand Princiss Alexandra Fyodorovna at the Grand Church of the Winterpalace, 1895,
oil on canvas, 65.5 x 87.5 cm
State Hermitage Museum St. Petersburg

The juxtapositions of works are well done. For example, located in one room is the oil painting, Wedding of Nicholas II and Grand Princess Alexandra Fyodorovna at the Grand Church of the Winterpalace. On an adjacent wall in the same room hangs the actual 1879 icon of Saint-Alexander Nevski, Saint-Titus the miracle worker and Saint-Policarpus the martyr that is depicted in the wedding oil on the church's rear wall. You can look back and forth between the actual icon and its representation in the painting.

Further along are rooms filled with items given to the tsars and tsarinas by foreign and local governments within the Russian Empire. Memorable presents to Tsar Nicholas II are a pair of eighteenth-century Chinese screens of cloisonné, enamel, bronze and gilding, a gift of Chinese Emperor Guangxu and a Russian small, case-enclosed, 1903 Torah presented by the Jewish Community of Libava, Latvia. As if the royals needed more!


















François Flameng, Portrait of Princis Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova, 1894,
oil on canvas, 147 x 112 cm
State Hermitage Museum St. Petersburg

In the large gallery of the exhibit’s ball section, richly embellished gowns fill several centrally placed circular glass cases. About every five minutes, the round cases turn while ballroom dance music is heard. Surprisingly this presentation does not seem frivolous but rather delightful. It elicits smiles. Portraits of the aristocracy hang on the gallery walls overlooking the display cases. Of note is the eye-catching 1894 oil by François Flameng of the super beauty Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova whose son murdered Rusputin, the confident of Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna, in 1916. Two of the princess’s gowns are on view across from her portrait in the center circular case and her elaborate fan of tortoise shell, gold inlay, brilliants, chrysolite, Brussels lace, and rock crystal is exhibited in one of the adjacent smaller galleries. In nearby rooms, you can see the masquerade costume the princess wore to the court’s 1903 Jubilee Ball as well as her photograph wearing this attire.



















Nickolai Bodarevski, Portrait of Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna, 1907,
oil on canvas, 268 x 135 cm
State Hermitage Museum St. Petersburg

Concerning the garments on view in the exhibition, the dresses, gowns and costumes of Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna, wife of Tsar Nicolas II are particularly appealing. Her style was obviously tasteful, elegant and understated. Did she pick them out herself or had advisors? I suspect they were her choice.

More to be seen are materials relating to the private side of imperial life. There are such items as personal accessories, playing cards, hunting garments, weapons, theatre programs and, among the children’s toys, the miniature working rifles made for Nicholas II as a child.

The show leaves you with the feeling that you have truly visited the nineteenth-century Russian Court. Although those who made the imperial opulent life possible are left out, we know that revolution is just around the corner and we can see the reason why.

In 2010 and 2011, the Hermitage Amsterdam will present the exhibitions Origins of Modern Art. Matisse and Picasso followed by Alexander the Great. The Road to the East. If the present show is any indicator of the quality of things to come, plan to go.

At the Russian Court, Palace and Protocol in the 19th Century
20 June 2009 through 31 January 2010
Hermitage Amsterdam
Amstel 51, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Open daily from 10 am to 5 pm, Wednesdays to 8 pm.
Closed on January 1st and December 25th

Street Art

Melbourne, Australia,

Laneway Art

Melena Ryzik points out street art may have more appeal overseas than in the United States, “Where Louis XIV Meets Crash and Blade,” The New York Times, Saturday, May 30, 2009, The Arts section.

I was reminded about this on a recent trip to Melbourne, Australia. The Melbourne City Council had approved street art locations throughout the city that showcase what we American’s call graffiti art. Aerosol and stencil based mural artworks enliven the Melbourne laneways, small city streets, dead ends and narrow alleyways between main thoroughfares. I had visited three designated locations and was delighted with what I found.

Melbourne, Australia,
Laneway Art

I enjoy good graffiti or street art yet do not want to see New York City turn into the graffiti covered mess of the seventies. Possibly we can take a cue from Melbourne by designating or registering some alleyways and streets for a street art permit program. This process enriches Melbourne and could animate New York City as well.

Melbourne, Australia,
Laneway Art

Getting back to the story of Melbourne and graffiti, in late 2003 the city of Melbourne issued a graffiti strategy report and took a civilized approach to graffiti management. They defined illegal graffiti types as (1) tagging that is words or numbers that are the signature of graffiti writers, (2) political or social comment, (3) graffiti art which is illustrations in graffiti style, (4) stenciling – templates sprayed on a wall. Street art was identified as artistic pieces placed in locations that were registered legal sites with street art permits.

Melbourne, Australia,
Laneway Art

With graffiti on my mind, I went to see the art exhibit “Whole In The Wall: 1970 - Now”. I thought much of what I saw should be seen outside. Think about it. Street art is one of the most democratic art forms available. It is free to all and should remain easily accessible. Seeing chunks of walls installed in sterile galleries on sale for six figure sums seems to me like seeing caged animals. It is as if the art screams for the outdoors and space. Perhaps as collectables, these works may be documented in situ and sold in limited multiple editions similar to the way in which performance art projects are preserved and sold.

As for exhibit, there are paintings that cry out for attention. Their cocky boldness, quick rhythms and bright colors look like they are still competing with the noise and activity of city life. Surprisingly, it was the relatively small, unobtrusive photographs in the show that grabbed my attention. I was particularly taken with the work of Jamel Shabaz, Silvio Magaglio, Henry Chaltant and Martha Cooper’s archival ink jet images. All capture well the time of their creation but are more than historical documentation. They attest to the talents of these artists and are right up there in impact with the street art many reproduce.

Jamel Shabaz















Silvio Magaglio

This large exhibit makes clear that the street art produced today for gallery sale is not the same as what was made years ago for the streets. The show also makes you aware of how artists with different nationalities took America’s graffiti movement and turned it into art that somehow manages to impart a particular national flavor. Finally, it attests to the fact that this now global art form is alive and well.

By the way, if you are ever in Melbourne, obtain a list of the current city street art locations from the Melbourne Visitor Centre’s Arts & Culture information brochure or visit www.thatsmelbourne.com.au and search for street art.

“Whole In The Wall: 1970 - Now”
Thorough June 27, 2009
Former Splashlight Studios
529-235 West 35th Street
Tue-Sat 10:30 am – 6:30 pm, Thu after hours until 10:00 pm, or by appointmentwww.helenbeckgallery.com

Only Two More Weeks

Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Special Exhibition
Special Exhibition Space, 1st Floor
Ends May 25, 2009
















François Lespingola , Hercules Delivering Prometheus,
Probably Paris, ca. 1675–1700,
Bronze group; 16 3/4 x 23 1/4 x 14 1/8 in.,
Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Grünes Gewölb


Approximately 125 of the finest French bronzes from the Renaissance through the reign of Louis XVI are on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art until May 25, 2009. After this date, you will have to travel to California where the exhibit will go on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Right now, take the opportunity to study these superb sculptures. There are portrait busts, monuments and statuettes. The works are arranged chronologically. The installation is well-spaced and allows for close viewing. It is one of those exhibits that seem to have just enough work presented to illuminate but not overwhelm. I wager this will be the only time for decades to see such a survey.













Barthélemy Prieur,
Funerary Genius From the Tomb of Christophe de Thou,
Paris, 1583–85
Bronze statue; 29 15/16 x 42 1/8 x 13 7/8 in.
Paris, Musée du Louvre,

I have several favorites in the show but urge you to spend time here and select your own. Some of the works that caught my attention were the tomb figures after Michelangelo by Barthélemy Prieur (Berzieux, ca. 1536–Paris, 1611); the super hero Heracles Delivering Prometheus by François Lespingola (Joinville, 1644–Paris, 1705); and, the pairing of Martin Van Den Bogaert’s, called Desjardines, (Breda, 1627– Paris, 1694) unfinished bronze statuette of Louis XIV on Horseback from Copenhagen next to an example of the finished work lent by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The unfinished work still has the uncut sprues, channels that were used to permit the molten alloy into the mold. It also includes the pouring cup through which the thick alloy entered the sprues. The juxtaposition of the finished and unfinished gives quite a lesson in casting methodology.

Also of interest to me was an engraving of the sculptor François Girardon’s (Troyes, 1628-Paris, 1715) gallery of his great sculpture collection – several works depicted in the engraving are on exhibit here.

The show’s catalogue with over 500 pages is a tour de force of scholarship. It is a reference book worth owning.

Remember: only two more weeks. Go now for you will want to make more than one visit before these bronzes leave New York.