TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, CÉZANNE, DADA AT THE NGA
The Bush administration may be wary of collaborating with the French, but the same cannot be said of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The NGA recently unveiled a two-year program of major exhibitions and other events that is being billed as a celebration of French art. First up is a special installation, "Fauve Painting in the Permanent Collection," Dec. 12, 2004-May 30, 2005, featuring 13 paintings by Matisse, Braque, Derain, Vlaminck and others in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the "Fauve" moniker (coined by the critic Louis Vauxcelles in the journal Gil Blas).
The 2005 lineup begins with a retrospective of the Hungarian-born photographer André Kertész (1894-1985), who cut his teeth in Paris in 1925-36 (before moving to NYC), which goes on view at the NGA, Feb. 6-May 15, 2005, and the L.A. County Museum, June 12-Sept. 5, 2005. Next up is "Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmatre," Mar. 20-June 12, 2005, featuring more than 250 works; the show travels to the Art Institute of Chicago, July 16-Oct. 10, 2005.
But the real collaboration with the French begins in 2006 with "Cézanne in Provence," Jan. 29-May 7, 2006, a show featuring approximately 100 oils and watercolors, including the monumental Bathers from the National Gallery, London. The exhibition is co-organized with the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence, where it subsequently appears, June 9-Sept. 17, 2006. The show launches "Cézanne 2006," a two-country festival that marks the centennial of the artists death and includes the opening to the public of Cézannes family home of Jas de Bouffan as well as his work cabin in the Bibémus quarry and his studio at Les Lauves. For more info, see www.cezanne-2006.com
Last but not least is "Dada," Feb. 19-May 14, 2006, the first major American exhibition to cover the full geographical spread of Dada -- Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, Paris, and New York -- and include all its major practitioners -- Tristan Tzara, Jean Arp, Sophie Taeuber, Marcel Duchamp and many more. The exhibition premieres at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Oct. 5, 2005-Jan.9, 2006, where it includes 700 objects. After downsizing to a still-substantial 300-400 items, the show appears at the National Gallery of Art, Feb. 19-May 14, 2006, and at the Museum of Modern Art, June 16-Sept. 11, 2006. The show is co-organized by all three institutions, and overseen by Laurent Le Bon of the Pompidou, Leah Dickerman of the NGA, and Anne Umland of MoMA.
NEW YORK GEARS UP FOR PRINTS AND MULTIPLES
The Big Apple is gearing up for two big fall print fairs this week. A favorite of the downtown set is the "Editions and Artists Book Fair," Nov. 4-7, 2004, in the Starrett Lehigh Building, 601 West 26th Street in Manhattans Chelsea art district. Now in its seventh year, the fair boasts an exceptionally avant-garde lineup, which can be found on Artnet here. The Nov. 4 opening night reception, which features performances by DJ Spooky and Thurston Moore, benefits Printed Matter; a $150 ticket includes a special-edition print by Kiki Smith. For info, call (212) 925-0325. Daily admission is free.
Uptown, the International Fine Print Dealers Association and Sanford L. Smith & Associates presents the 14th Annual Print Fair, Nov. 4-7, 2004, at the Seventh Regiment Armory. The ca. 90 exhibitors range from Aaron Galleries (Chicago), Allinson Gallery, Inc. (Storrs, Conn.) and the Annex Galleries (Santa Rosa, Calif) to the Worthington Gallery (Chicago), Charles M. Young Fine Prints and Drawings (Portland, Conn.) and Ruth Ziegler Fine Arts (New York). The Nov. 3 preview benefits the Museum of Modern Art. Tickets begin at $200, with a $1,500 benefactor ticket that entitles you to a print by Terry Winters; for info, email specialevents@moma.org. Daily admission is $15.
Fine Art Print Week 2004, by the way, runs in New York, Nov. 1-7, 2004
ASIAN CONTEMPORARY ART TAKES NEW YORK
Now in its third year, Asian Contemporary Art Week (Nov. 9-14, 2004) once again brings to New York a series of exhibitions, panel discussions and other public programs dealing with the red-hot topic of new art from the east. Among the exhibitions:
*Raghubir Singh Retrospective at Sepia, 148 W. 24th, Sept. 30-Dec. 30, 2004 * "Democracy Forever: Chinese Artists Perceptions of Global Politics," at Plum Blossom Gallery, 555 West 25th Street, Oct. 22-Nov. 27, 2004 * "Radical Realisms," works by Shi Chong at Ethan Cohan Fine Arts, 37 Walker Street, opening Nov. 10, 2004 *Raqs Media Collective, "The Imposter in the Waiting Room," at Bose Pacia, 508 West 26th Street, Nov. 11-Dec. 23, 2004 * "Surface to Air," works by Joelle Ciona, Tomoko Igarashi, Miwa Koizumi, Hiroko Takeda and Tobias Wong at Ise Cultural Foundation, 555 Broadway, opening Nov. 12, 2004 *Yang Yanping at Goedhuis Contemporary, 42 East 76th Street, Nov. 17-Nov. 30, 2004
Other exhibitions are slated for Gallery ArtsIndia, Art Projects International, Gallery 456/Chinese-American Arts Council and Gallery Vietnam; for a complete schedule, see www.acaw.net
Among the lectures and panels is one on "The A-Bomb and the Arts" at Japan Society on Nov. 9 (with Yuso Takezawa of the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, artists Makoto Aida and Ingo Gnther and others) and one on "Dialogues in Asian Contemporary Art" at the Asia Society on Nov. 12 (featuring Asia Society museum director Melissa Chiu, Istanbul Biennial curator Vasif Kortun and artists Shirin Neshat and Shahzia Sikander).
ART MARKET AT MORGAN LIBRARY
The Morgan Library may be closed for renovation (it reopens in 2006), but its curators are keeping busy -- notably, by presenting a pair of lectures on J.P Morgan and the art market as part of the Connoisseurs Antiques Fair, Nov. 19-22, 2004, put on by the Art and Antique Dealers League of America at the Gramercy Park Armory, 68 Lexington Avenue in New York. Morgan Library associate curator of drawings and prints Jennifer Tonkovich presents "Morgan and the Dealers: The Art Market in the Guilded Age," at 10 a.m. on Nov. 20, and Morgan Library curator Robert Parks presents "Pirate or Benefactor? Public Perceptions of Pierpont Morgans Collecting" at 10 a.m. on Nov. 21. For tickets, see www.morganlibrary.org.
MENIL COLLECTION NAMES CURATOR, HOPPS AWARD-WINNER
The Menil Collection in Houston has appointed Kristina Van Dyke as the museums first curator specializing in non-Western art. Currently she is a doctoral candidate at Harvard University. The Menil has also announced that Hamza Walker, director of education and associate curator of the Renaissance Society in Chicago, is the winner of the 2004 Walter Hopps Award for Curatorial Achievement, a biannual prize of $15,000.
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