Seated Woman with Dog by Milton Avery, c. 1936. Photo credit: Christie's Images Ltd. 2013
The American Art sale at Christie's New York this Thursday, May 23, 2013 will include Seated Woman with Dog by Milton Avery (1885-1965). The 18 x 24 inch oil on board is estimated at $150,000 – $250,000. It is Lot 105.
Last week Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art sales set a record $638,615,900 in one week, including the evening sale on May 15th, which the raised $495,021,500, the highest sale total in auction history, including 16 new auction records for the foremost artists of the last 60 years.
It will be interesting to see if Avery's dog breaks any records.
Two Dog Art Today favorites, Nancy Schutt and Judy Henn, cite Milton Avery as an influence.
For more information and to preview the American Art Sale visit Christie's.
In the late 19th century, Oscar Wilde was a passionate proponent of Aesthetics, a movement that emphasized aesthetic values over socio-political themes in literature, fine art, and music. In 1887 Wilde established himself as an art critic by reviewing an exhibition of London's anti-establishment Grosvenor Gallery. He and the devotees of the gallery, whose interiors were green and yellow, dressed in those colors. And the similarly clad sunflower became the perfect accessory.
"The unconventional Aesthetes were lampooned in Punch magazine and satirized in the 1881 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Patience, which included the following lines:
A pallid and thin young man,
A haggard and lank young man,
A greenery-yallery, Grosvenor Gallery,
Foot-in-the-grave young man!
The success of Patience in England inspired Wilde's overseas
tour and launched him as a celebrity, but its stereotypical characters
caricatured the sexuality of Aesthetic leaders. So some of the fans who
wore sunflowers to Wilde's lectures surely wore them as the 19th-century
equivalent of the gay-pride rainbow flag.
The modern connotation of the
word gay may stem from the fact that it was an acronym for Green And
Yellow. Greenery-yallery." (Read the full article.)
In honor of the U.S. Supreme Court hearing arguments for federal recognition of same-sex marriage this week, I've selected some dogs and sunflowers.
Aesthetic Garland Stove Oscar Wild Trade Card with Pug, 1882 via ebay
Sunflower and Dog Worship by Stanley Spencer, 1937
After ten years of renovation, Holland's Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will reopen its doors on April 13, 2013. The national museum, built in 1885, is home to thousands of works from the 17th Century Golden Age of Dutch painting, including many renowned Rembrandts. But, according to Wim Pijbes, General-Director of the Rijksmuseum, their 21st century vision for the museum is to be modern.
To that end, they launched Rijksstudio, a groundbreaking online initiative featuring 125,000 high-resolution images available for download, printing, and manipulation for free. Knowing that unleashing this toolbox onto the public might overwhelm, they strategically partnered with (and linked to) innovative on-demand print companies like ixxi (wall art), eeeeFUN (electric scooters), colormyinterior (wallpaper), and designskins (smartphone skins).
And, to get the creative juices flowing, they asked leading international artists, designers, and architects to play around.
VW Van
Tattoo by Droog Studio
My favorite is this video (yes there's a dog in it)….
"Part of a Bigger Plan" by Christian Borstlap (click here to view)
Translation: Mother Task, Mom Picking Lice from her Child's Head.
It's a wonderful painting of Dutch domestic life. But perhaps a little dark, no?
And, I really liked that dog. What's he up to? Watching another child go off to school? Waiting for Dad to come home 'cause he's loose with the table scraps? Maybe, he just doesn't doesn't want head lice.
I made this…
Dutch Dog manipulated by Moira McLaughlin, 2013
It, too, is high resolution, available for framing, wallpaper, t-shirts, etc.
But, to me, what's really neat are the other images my new "painting" recalled…
You may remember the Cocker Spaniel. I believe it is Ginger, the dog of Warhol’s friend and Interview partner Peter Brant who encouraged Warhol to focus on pet portraits after he saw it. I wrote about Ginger here and included her in my “Dogs in Art” short film.
Ginger by Andy Warhol, 1976
Also last night, an Andy Warhol butterfly silkscreen sold for $1,258,500.
Endangered Species: San Francisco Silverspot by Andy Warhol, circa 1983 sold for $1,258,500.
Peinture (Femme, Journal, Chien) by Joan Miró, 1925
Peinture (Femme, Journal, Chien), Painting (Woman, Newspaper, Dog), was the third most expensive work sold on Wednesday night at Christie's Impressionist and Modern Art Sale. It was went to a bidder over the phone for $13.7 million. Its estimate was $12,000,000 – $18,000,000.
Andrew Wyeth’s studio, recreated by curators based on memories of family and friends, arranged as though he were in the process of painting Raccoon, a portrait of a hunting dog. Emma Lee/NewsWorks
The studio of one of my favorite dog artists, and one of the greatest American artists, Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), is now open to the public at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA.
Peter Crimmins writes about his studio visit with photos by Emma Lee of NewsWorks that will make you feel good about your own messy studio. According to Crimmins, “There are broken egg shells (Wyeth mostly worked in egg tempera), photographs are haphazardly hung on the walls, and sketches are scattered on the floor…Wyeth enjoyed seeing his preliminary sketches scuffed with footprints and paw prints.”
P.S. Did you know the Helga sensation was phony art-and-sex scandle ginned up by the collector who bought the paintings *and* the copyright?! I didn’t.
I am embarrassed to say that I had never heard of her. But she knew people weren't hearing about her the same way they were hearing about her husband, Max Ernst. People weren't carving her name in history, even though they were living the same life. She expressed this in a poem:
Many years ago today I took a husband tenderly This simple human gentle act Seen as a hard decisive fact By all who dote on category Did stain my work indelibly I don’t know why that is For it has not stained his
The Daily Telegraph writes in her obituary, "It is, perhaps, no surprise that Dorothea Tanning consistently refused to have children and instead lavished her attention on Pekingese dogs."
It is no surprise to me that her Pekingese dogs show up in her work.
collage, no date
Interior with Sudden Joy, 1951
Photograph of Dorothea Tanning and her dog by Lee Miller
Katchina and her Soul, 1951
Tableau Vivant, 1954
Max Ernst with Katchina by Dorothea Tanning
Maternity, 1946
Learn more about Dorothea Tanning's extraordinary life here.
I thought "The Fool" tarot card would be appropriate for today. According to Aecletic Tarot, "'The Fool' is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he needs to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning.
But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. While it's wonderful to be enthralled with all around you, excited by all life has to offer, you still need to watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool."
