Even though admission is free, I encourage you to still support the arts on your visit. Make a donation at the door, buy something from the museum gift shop, or if you really loved your visit, become a member. Your funding is what allows projects like these to continue year after year and remain successful!

So revisit an old friend or dive into unexplored waters. That’s what this day is all about—the discovery and appreciation of magnificent art, both old and new.

Be sure to report back on your adventures in the comments below! What museum did you attend? What did you think of it?

As a longtime fan, I hesitate saying simply “fashion designer Alexander McQueen” because for him, his work was an art-form. Fashion was simply his medium. And I agree. It allowed him to tell stories and provoke thought. The exhibit reflects this notion fully with exquisitely designed rooms that showcase the pieces in such a regal and meaningful way.

I attended Savage Beauty with my mother— who is a fine artist and worked for years as a fashion illustrator— so it was wonderful to hear her unique perspectives of the work. After a 45-minute wait, which we were more than willing to endure, we walked through slowly, both in awe of McQueen’s vast array of talents. Haven’t seen Savage Beauty yet? It’s opened until August 7th, 2011.

The exhibit is broken into 6 elaborately-designed areas, each matching a theme significant in McQueen’s career:

• The Romantic Mind: McQueen’s background and the start of his career— A time during which he perfected the craft of tailoring at Saville Row and the art of draping at Givenchy.
• Romantic Gothic/Cabinet of Curiosities: Pieces with historical influence, especially from the Victorian Gothic era. Hard-edged accessories, often made with exaggerated materials (metal, wood), often made by designers like Philip Treacy (Read: designer of a great deal of Kate Middleton hats).
• Romantic Nationalism: Identified strongly with his Scottish background, he emphasized the harsh political background of the county, bringing to light their often glazed-over struggles, created by England. Still, McQueen felt very connected to London, where he was raised.
• Romantic Exoticism: McQueen explored elements from traditional garbs in various cultures–Asian, Indian, African— and interpreted them in his own, fresh way.
• Romantic Primitivism: The battle of Nature vs. Man and Predator vs. Prey. McQueen was deeply influenced by nature, and man’s role within it. With an animalistic viewpoint, he used elements of nature in these works, such as tattered fabrics, horsehair and mud.
• Romantic Naturalism: Recognizing the potential of technology in the future of fashion and our world, he used computerized and digitally-enhanced fabrics. The concept of devolution (instead of evolution) is explored with futuristic clothing that are still very grounded in a current aesthetic.

The Craft: Emanating throughout the exhibit is the obvious fact that McQueen was an immaculate tailor and craftsman. Executing his work with just as much thought-out detail as the concept behind it, Savage Beauty shows McQueen’s exploration of mediums and materials. With a clear eagerness to experiment, he often used feathers, as well as fresh flowers, clam and mussel shells and mud— all materials which connected him to nature. Combining materials furthered the piece’s concept: pairing organza and tulle, for instance, with leather or metal.

The Concept of contrast and juxtaposition is my absolute favorite aspect of the designer’s work as a whole. It’s one of the largest running themes throughout his career and this exhibit, yet each collection is rich with uniqueness, innovation and always remained distinctive from those that came before it. Soft and hard, light and dark, life and death, heavy and delicate all contradict and compliment each other and meld together to create something beautiful— a cohesive and powerful idea.

Alexander McQueen truly was a Savage Beauty and so was his work. He saw inspiration everywhere. This idea was echoed from room to room as he often referenced artwork (Jacobean portraiture), historical figures (Joan of Arc), authors (Poe and Grimm), filmmakers (Burton) and scientists (Darwin). Power and domination were pronounced— he wanted to dress women as strong and sexual, instead of demure and meek, individuals. Still, a softness was necessary to create balance and he found this fragility resonating in melancholia. The recognition of a dying or wilting life form has a subtle power and beauty to it— one that others don’t always see. McQueen saw an overwhelming and natural harmony in the macabre.

At a McQueen show, one may have felt voyeuristic or intrusive. They would have found themselves at a circus, a rainstorm, a ballet or observing a life-sized chess game. One model stood surrounded by flames. Another was sprayed with paint. Videos of these “runway” shows were positioned throughout the gallery rooms. They can also be viewed at the Met’s website.

It’s no surprise that performance diva Lady Gaga donned many of his pieces, nor that fashionista Sarah Jessica Parker was a huge fan. In fact McQueen’s pieces, as dramatic as they were, graced the red carpet many, many times.

Even as a fan of his, I learned so much in this exhibition. I also got to see some of my favorite McQueen pieces close-up and in-detail. It goes without saying that Alexander McQueen left us too early, but he did so by his own will— the same way as he lived his life.

“It is important to look at death because it is a part of life. It is a sad thing, melancholic but romantic at the same time. It is the end of a cycle–everything has to end. The cycle of life is positive because it gives room for new things.”

Buy the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty Exhibition Book on Amazon now!

The theme for 2011, according to the AAMD’s press release, is “Museum and Memory,”so expect that museums will be hosting programs based around the concept of “how museums preserve individual and collective memories.” By engaging their communities, museums can demonstrate the vital role they play in the development of society and in one’s understanding and their role in history.

See below the full list of north American Museums who are official participants of Art Museum Day. For a comprehensive list of the international participants, check the International Museum Day website.

After having attended another lecture from this series about the rivalry between Renaissance artists Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarrati, I was interested to hear what art historian and lecturer Marcy B. Freedman had to say about the relationship between these more contemporary savants.  Once again, she was engaging and enlightening!

Picasso and Matisse: Provocation and Respect

While a common misconception about these two artists is that their work is Non-objective (do not depict actual objects or subjects), the art is more appropriately called Representational—art that represents nature as an abstraction.

Like Friend, Like Fauve?
While they were “rivals” in a professional nature, it was friendly competition between Picasso and Matisse–unlike Da Vinci and Michelangelo who resented each other success and constantly tried to one-up one another.  Picasso and Matisse admired each other and fed off of the other’s bold moves and successes.  I dare say that if it weren’t for one, the other may not have reached the height of his potential.

Having met in the early 1900s as mutual friends of poet Gertrude Stein and her brother, Leo—both art collectors—it is fit to say that the artists both studied each other’s work and reacted on what they saw.  Picasso was jealous of Matisse’s avant-garde technique as a Fauvist (French for “wild beast”) who painted with a sense of freedom, using vibrant colors and loose strokes.  Picasso, who was in his Blue Period, saw merit in this technique because it praised not just the literal sight of an object but instead expressed the emotion of what one sees while observing that object.

While Picasso yearned for his art to be more “avant garde” like Matisse’s, he lived the bohemian lifestyle far more than Matisse did.  Picasso’s work was done from imagination and memory, in casual clothes, at nighttime; meanwhile, Matisse often wore a suit while working, with a model as reference, during the day.   Picasso’s rough exterior contrasted the haughty, philosophizing Matisse.  I couldn’t help but draw parallels between these descriptions of their lifestyles and those of the rough-around-the-edges Michelangelo and showy Da Vinci!

Careers: A Cat and Mouse Game
Most often, these artists chose to depict the mood that the object produces rather than a realistic rendering as shown in accurate shape, color and depth. The timeline of their careers shows that the two certainly fed off of each other.  What one did influenced the other and shifted their artistic direction, if even slightly.

Matisse’s “Le Bonheur Vivre” (“Joy of Life”: above left) takes a Renaissancean (okay, it isn’t a word, but I think it should be!) subject matter of people enjoying the spacious outdoors and steeps it in bright color and free lines, allowing the viewer to experience the mood of the scene.

Picasso’s response was “Le Mademoiselle D’Avignone,” (“The Ladies of Avignone”: above right)—a brothel scene. He explores the opposite message to “Vivre” by pointing out the dangers of such joy.  He conveys figures reminiscent of African art in a muted color palette with no separation of figure and space.

It was around this time that Picasso was developing the Cubist movement with his contemporary Braque.  Analytic Cubism was quite anti-Matissean in style, with limited color palette and curvature (Example: Picasso’s “Girl with Mandolin” above left).  So Matisse ignores Cubism and paints “The Dance” and “The Music” (above right) with lots of color and movement.

Picasso finally introduces color and shapes into his work, with Synthetic Cubism, to represent his subjects which are broken up in almost a non-objective way (Example: “Three Musicians” above).  Still, the viewer’s eye is drawn to what it recognizes as a recognizable figure or object in the painting and that subject is shown to them with a new perspective.

Moving Forward…
Matisse, returning from a stay in Morocco finds Picasso having his turn as head honcho of the art scene. (Note: the 12-years-younger bohemian Picasso was “up and coming” on the scholarly Matisse in the same way that the 23-years-younger roughed Michelangelo was creeping up on the refined Da Vinci!)

Following his trip, Matisse began to more aggressively explore the act of focusing on the creation of a work more than on the outcome of that art itself.  (This time period was one that MOMA focused on last year in their “Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917,”exhibit for which I was happy to attend the preview.  More pictures from it can be seen below “Related Articles” at the end of this post.)  As a result, he made it an intentional practice to show the changes, reworkings and corrections—the process—on the canvas rather than cover them up. During this period, the color, curves and space of his past paintings recedes, giving way to more geometric shapes with subdued black & gray coloring (like “Yvonne Landsberg” below left).  Influenced by Delacroix, Matisse’s paintings became more naturalistic and continued to be ambitious and challenging.

In the meantime, Picasso moves to Rome, meets an aristocratic woman and marries her.  This development shifts the artist into a more realistic and surrealist influence.  It was his mistress, however, that served as his muse.  Marie Therese Walter (depicted in “Le Reve” above right) became the subject of much of his work, turning toward a curvy, colorful style more similar to early Matisse.  One of these portraits–” Femmes Lisant (Deux Personnages)”–sold this week for $21.3 million at Sotheby’s.  From here, Picasso’s painting style changed and shifted for years to come.

I’ll end with two quotes which Marcy B. Freedman poignantly pointed to in her lecture.  Matisse once said:  “Only 1 person has right to criticize me and that is Picasso.” Upon his friend’s death in 1954, Picasso kept to himself and didn’t produce much work, but did say:  “All things considered, there is only Matisse.”

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• Guitar As Art
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From Museum of Modern Art’s 2010 exhibition: “Matisse: Radical Invention (1913-1917)”:

Discovery Museum and Planetarium looks into why the guitar is the world’s most popular musical instrument. Their “Guitar: The Instrument that Rocked the World” exhibit delves into an exploration of  historic, scientific and societal viewpoints.  The well-balanced display engages all senses with the inclusion of interactive, audio and visual elements (like guitar-making demonstrations, live performances and hands-on exhibits).  It’s a great one to bring the kids to!  Discover the past, present and future of guitars until May 15th .

Museum of Modern Art‘s “Picasso: Guitars 1912-1914” brings to light a short experimental period for the artist who crafted a (primarily) cardboard statue of a guitar and two sheet-metal versions of it as well.  This was part of a larger exploration of the usage and potential for various materials.  On display with dozens of other works from this period, “Guitars” can be viewed until June 6th, 2011.

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Metropolitan Museum of Art is exhibiting “Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York” which celebrates Italian American accomplishments in guitar-making.  Featuring instruments in a surprising variety of shapes, materials and ornamental decoration, the museum also focuses especially on three gifted artists—John D’Angelico, James D’Aquisto, and John Monteleone.  Even if you can’t get to the museum, which houses these special instruments until July 4th, check their extensive website for related video interviews and performances.

Past Exhibition reviews at the Met:

Morrison Hotel Gallery, whose specialty is fine art music photography, takes a look at the guitar by featuring the work of Johnathan Singer.  His “The Art of the Guitar” photography show is a natural one for Morrison Hotel Gallery which was founded by “former record company executive and producer Peter Blachley, former independent record store owner Rich Horowitz and music photographer Henry Diltz,” according to the website.  The museum is also sponsoring a series of yoga classes that will raise money for Guitars in the Classroom.

Know about another guitar exhibit that’s missing from my list?  (It doesn’t have to be in NY or CT!)–Send it over to me at artfeedonline@gmail.com

Though currently best known for his outdoor “balloon” figures, it’s the defining piece in Koons’ 1988 Banality series—a sculpture of everyone’s favorite pink jewel-stealing cat, “Pink Panther”—that’s causing his latest buzz. The porcelain proof of the sculpture, which only rendered 3 editions, is set to be auctioned at Sotheby’s on May 10th at their “Contemporary Art Evening Sale” in New York.

The three sculptures in existence, which depict a partially-nude woman holding a Pink Panther doll, are owned by the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago) and a private collector. It is believed that the proof is being sold by art book publisher Benedikt Taschen (of my favorite publishing house, Taschen).

Tobias Meyer, Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s, said of the work:

“It conflates the classic themes that define the artist’s output – materiality and artificiality, eroticism and naivety, popular culture and rarefied elitism – and is the model expression of one of the most innovative and influential artists of our times.”

The sale of this work can be a Koon milestone for several reasons:

COMPETITION
First, with a believed selling potential of close to $30 million, he rivals the record for the highest sale by a living artist, currently held by Lucian Freud for “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” which sold for $US33.6 million in 2008.

PERSONAL RECORD
The Second reason for this potential sale’s milestone status is that Koons may break his own record, making more than his current highest sale of $25.7 million for his “Balloon Flower (Magenta)”.

REVITALIZATION
Why So Blue?:
As “Balloon Flower (Magenta)” created his record price tag in July 2008, “Balloon Flower (Blue)” didn’t sell to its expected potential, reaping a “mere” $16.9 million sale in 2010. Earlier that month, two of his works at Philllips de Pury failed to sell at all. “Pink Panther,” particularly in breaking either of the above two records, will likely signal Koons’ comeback in sales.

Also set to be auctioned at the May 10th Sotheby’s event is Andy Warhol’s “Sixteen Jackies” which is estimated to draw at least $20 million. Be sure to check back at ArtFeedOnline.com for updates on the auction’s results!

I had the pleasure of attending Jeff Koons’ rooftop exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

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The Katonah Museum of Art partnered with art historian Marcy B. Freedman to present the series “When Giants Collide: Rivalries in Western Art,” which offers a fascinating exploration into the rivalry between two famed artists.  This week’s lecture topic was:

Call me an art nerd, art advocate or art-obsessed (or all of the above), but I just can’t get enough of events and lectures that get to the meat of art: its history, its anecdotes and its significance.  Pair an underrated gem of a museum with an articulate art historian and High Renaissance art, and—dear heavens—you have me by the heart. Luckily for me, I had the delight of attending this lecture which did just that.

Though I’ve studied Renaissance art a bit, I still learned from Freedman’s lecture.  She was engaging and informative; giving stories, quotes and anecdotes to support her facts.  Not only did the two featured artists work during the same time period, they were also in direct competition—feeding off of one another’s successes and thriving on each other’s failures.  The Renaissance’s tendency toward egotism and puffed bravado was well at play.

Leonardo was refined, showy and ostentatious.  He was also agitated that the younger Michelangelo, more rouged in appearance and reserved in temperament, was making a name for himself and (—how dare he?—) causing the type of stir that could overshadow his own spotlight.  Still Michelangelo was no saint and knew how to dish it as well as he could take it.

Renaissance Italy was a society that often pitted its master artists against one another in order to encourage production of the highest possible quality of work.  Leonardo and Michelangelo were both among those commissioned by The Council Hall of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy to capture the spirit of triumphant battles on murals for the Hall.  This was the most obvious head-to-head competition between the two artists.  Though neither saw their work to completion, rendered drafts demonstrated a distinct difference of artistic preference, direction and concern.  Leonardo presented an emotionally-charged glorification of soldiers at battle while Michelangelo focused on the soldiers at rest, showcasing his expert depiction of the human form.

With no clear winner between the two artists’ overall careers, it should be noted that they also had different artistic approaches. Michelangelo, working in private and sheltered surroundings, was more disciplined within a strong art focus.  Leonardo, a procrastinator who invited friends to watch him work, was spread among broader areas of interest and showcased expert knowledge in all disciplines.  Still, whatever their approach, the constant tension between the two and the desire to top one another, egged each of them toward further success and acclaim.

Marcy B. Freedman’s insightful lecture approached the topic at hand in a way that would reflect the larger view of the Renaissance society and its attitudes of the times.  Determined to make their work their own within this society, Da Vinci and Michelangelo portrayed a world newly crafted in their own distinct ways—paving the way for a whole new set of brilliant rivaling artists.

There are two more lectures in the series: “An Illusory Battle in Paris Ingres vs. Delacroix” (April 5) and “Provocation and Respect: Picasso vs. Matisse” (April 26).  I’ll definitely be attending on April 26th, so stay tuned for another review!  I can’t wait!

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• Google launches Art Project

Introducing Google.com’s newest innovation: Art Project.  Launching today with 17 participating museums from around the world, Google presents over a thousand works of art for its viewers to examine in greater detail than ever before.  Not only that, but you can take a tour of these museums, zoom in to ungodly degrees of megapixels, create your very own “masterpieces,” and save them to a collection.

Take a virtual walk through a museum of your choice.  Look at the floor plan, choose your destination, mosey around the gallery and click on a work of art if it interests you.

Read about the work, read about its artist, view other work by that artist and watch related YouTube videos.  Get close and personal with every aspect of the art.
Become one with the masterpiece.

Go to town nitpicking your favorite artist’s technique and precision.  You’re no longer restricted to only viewing artwork from behind a museum stanchion that sits a few feet away from the wall.  Zoom in on whichever work of art you decide to further explore in extreme detail. With high-as-heck resolution.  Move your cursor around the work, dig on its colors, its technique and take a snapshot of detailing that you truly adore.

Save the snapshot to your account, with your own notes, to view anytime you wish in a collection that you organize and name yourself.  As if this project wasn’t interactive enough, send your collection to friends and family to view.

Sure, Google is no replacement for going to Florence, visiting the Uffizi Gallery and ogling over Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus,” but it’s a good substitute to tide you over as you collect those frequent flyer miles and get there in person.  So until then, Google is your best friend.  Hugs for Google: We’ll be BFF’s for life.

Participating Museums:

Joining the video will be 3 elemental structures that put the video and works contextually in place with Time, The World and The Museum, taking the personal accounts in the video and expanding them into constructs that are relatable to viewers through several other forms.

The online video series, which will update every Wednesday throughout 2011, will officially launch tomorrow, January 5th, with 4 videos posted. Quoted from the museum’s website, they are:

• Small Things: Associate Director Carrie Rebora Barratt looks for tiny works of art in the Museum’s collection.
• Virtuosity: Paintings conservator Michael Gallagher talks about the appeal of technical virtuosity.
• Maps: Medieval art curator Melanie Holcomb explains how maps help her make sense of the world.
• Tennessee: Video producer Christopher Noey describes how various works in the Museum bring to mind his childhood state of Tennessee.

Upcoming themes include White, Black, Religious Art, The Ideal Man, The Ideal Woman, and Light.

To view the new feature, visit www.metmuseum.org/connections.

The buzz? That it may remain a museum, this time with a focus on architecture, so suggests New York Magazine. Like the building itself, this idea (which was based off of a flippant comment by Robert A.M. Stern) has gotten a myriad of reactions from people who love the idea, want to pair it with a design-focused element, or want to tear it down and create something new from the ground up. Regardless of whether they go in the architectural direction, what seems to be certain are talks between The Whitney and The Met combining efforts for a joint venture.

The Whitney Museum of American Art, currently on Madison Avenue, is home to numerous famous works by the likes of Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, Man Ray and Jackson Pollack. Its Board announced some time ago their plans to construct a new building project in the Meatpacking District, the design to be headlined by architect Renzo Piano. The newest update on plans, released on December 20, 2010, revealed that they are finally in position to begin actual construction on May 24, 2011 with the museum set to open in 2015. This new location, adjacent to the above-street-level High Line park, will allow for 50,000 square feet indoors and 13,000 square feet of rooftop galleries, creating more space and a new approach to displaying their permanent and upcoming collections.

Meanwhile, the lonely Marcel Breuer building that the Whitney left behind, standing on Madison Avenue, will be repurposed. A museum of architecture based in a building whose architectural taste has been questioned (at least in the placement of it on such a prestigious and uptown-y central avenue) would be a bold choice, but one I won’t complain about. As far as I’m concerned, anything that joins The Whitney and The Met in a new venture, and smack-dab in the middle of New York City, is a winner in my book already!

More information on the fate of Madison building and the progress of the downtown project will be posted on ArtFeedOnline.com as it becomes available, so stay tuned.

The new location, the before and the projected “after”:

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