Pierre Le Guennec was an electrician who worked in several homes owned by Picasso and claimed that the 271 works in his possession were gifts from the artist and/or the artist’s wife themselves.  Despite this story, and the fact that Le Guennec came forward with the pieces voluntarily, he has found himself in the midst of a potentially huge court battle.

Claude Picasso has severe doubts that his father would have ever given away so many of his works, now worth $80 million ($60 million euros), according to Liberation.  He was introduced to the works when Le Guennec himself approached the Picasso estate in September looking to have the pieces authenticated, but was instead later taken into custody (after an official complaint was filed by Picasso’s heirs) and the works were seized by authorities Central Office for the Fight against Traffic in Cultural Goods.

There is no word on when these works, which include everything from notebooks to completed cubist paintings, will ever be visible to the public during (or after for that matter) the court proceedings.

Come rain or come shine…

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R  elated Links:
Peacock Feather Tote Bag
Vinyl Underground Laptop Messenger Bag

I felt like the gallery was arranged just for me, tying in Whitman verses with artistic renderings of high-profile figures and societal issues of such a historically important time period. Ringing true of the recent American Stories exhibition I just previewed at the Met, viewing this exhibition so soon after American Stories helped draw figurative lines that connected the two, allowing me to visualize a broader scope of artistic trends and issues of the time. Most noteworthy for me were two contrasting portraits of Walt Whitman used in different editions of his masterpiece Leaves of Grass.

First was Samuel Hollyer’s “Portrait of Walt Whitman” from 1854, used in the 1855 version of LofG. Picturing him in workmen’s clothes, Whitman stands with one hand on his hip, one in his pocket, defiant of societal norms and polite conventions of the time. The other portrait by Charles Hine, painted in 1860 was used in the 3rd edition–the first to be published by a publisher (Thayer and Eldridge). Whitman particularly loved this one because, although he still didn’t give in to conventions, he felt it portrayed him as a more refined literary figure despite the criticism he was up against at the time.

Not always attracted to portraiture, I found myself particularly gravitating toward these paintings, as well as a George P.A. Healy portrait of Abraham Lincoln only days after his election into office. They seemed to say much more about not only the progression and development of these men but about the state of the Civil War, slavery, and the types of efforts that were being made, in various forms, to contribute to ending the ongoing conflict.

Renowned author and Lincoln expert Philip Kunhardt gave a lecture, “The President and the Poet: The Converging Lives of Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman,” following my viewing of the exhibition. An exceptionally interesting parallel between author and president, Kunhardt spoke of the similarities (more than I realized) and differences of author and president.

Drawing up side-by-side pictures of the men on a presentation screen, Kunhardt demonstrated similar paths and progressions in their lives until the point of Lincoln’s assassination and Whitman’s death as an older man. He also outlined their backgrounds–both farmers’ sons, devoted to bringing unity to the nation, and both not giving great concern to their physical appearance– describing how each influenced the other significantly. Lincoln, reading aloud from Whitman’s work, appreciated his zest for life and patriotism for his country, Lincoln’s prose becoming more Whitman-esque along the way. Whitman, admiring Lincoln so much that it fueled some of his greatest works of poetry (“When Last the Lilacs in the Doorway Bloom’d” and “O Captain, My Captain”), supported the president even when he faced criticism.

Having researched Whitman, Emerson and the likes, I was hoping to gain additional information from Kunhardt’s notable background. Articulate, engaging and informative, that’s just what happened. I’m anxious to read his literature! I do plan to go back to the gallery and explore a few areas that I didn’t get to sift through as thoroughly as I would’ve liked and will pick up the oversized hardcover catalog book as well. The beauty of living 15 minutes away from such a beautiful museum!

The juxtaposition between several elements of art—literature and painting—with an important historical backdrop was impressive and rewarding to view.

The exhibition runs through January 24, 2010– so catch it while you can!

The couple is famous for their “wrapping” technique—though it was not always used in their work—of using fabric to encompass a (usually famous) landmark, whether in urban or rural environments. Their ingenuity, however, brings about a far more important result as it alters one’s perception of a certain atmosphere. There is something beautiful about the intentions of this work and about the way it is able to be shared with some many people, as they simply walk to work or experience their days. The art is physically temporary and fleeting, yet remains always in its observers’ memories.

These works took years to come to fruition—preparatory plans, materials and execution (but most especially permissions from authorities) proved time-consuming, yet the passion was in their hearts and so it came to be 20 times: Their art is more recently well-known for their New York, NY “Gates” exhibition in Central Park during which orange fabric awnings were set up throughout the park, free to catch the sunlight, reflect shadows, brighten the park’s environment and wave in the wind (26 years to complete: 1971-2005). Other projects included wrapping the Pont Neuf in Paris, France (10 years: 1975-85), Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, Germany (25 years: 1971-1995) and many more.

During the undertaking of these vast landscapes in the execution of their works, Claude and Jeanne-Claude asked for nothing but the ability to perform their art and share it with the world. They’ve asked for no scholarships or grants and no money from marketing opportunities in order to keep their art as pure in its intentions as possible, paying for all of their projects out-of-pocket as they sell their older works and preparatory sketches.

Even in the mourning of Jeanne-Claude’s death, Christo has remained diligent in his selflessness, asking that no flowers be sent to him, but instead that all donations be sent to a charity of the donor’s choice. And as has Jeanne-Claude been selfless in her own death, by donating her body for scientific research. Christo says that he will continue their works-in-progress in honor of his wife and a memorial will be planned in her name.

From their website:

The effect lasts longer than the actual work of art. Years after every physical trace has been removed and the materials recycled, original visitors can still see and feel them in their minds when they return to the sites of the artworks.

There is no other way to describe that the feeling of that effect other than to say it is magical.

I did spend some of the weekend with some great photo opps and last night I submitted some new photographs to my Imagekind page.  I still have more to put up, but here are just a few of the items I posted:

**All photographs in this post are copyrighted (c) to Mary Alice Franklin.  Email artfeedonline@gmail.com for any permissions.

I love, love, love the fact that the French Parliament is considering a “Full Photoshop Disclosure” law for advertisements.  This would require that these entities inform the viewers if any Photoshopping or airbrushing was done on a given picture.  This would be mandatory for magazine ads, product packaging, press photos and art photography as well.

Much like a cigarette ad, these pictures would require a footer: “Photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person.”  Any violators would be fined €37,500 or up to 50% of the cost of their campaign.

The law reminds me of a Standards Authority rule passed in the UK requiring that advertorials (paid advertisements masked as editorials, leading the reader to believe that the product recommendations are the opinion of the editor and not a paid ad.) be clearly marked with the word “Advertisement” as to not deceive readers.  With so many people trying to make themselves as thin as models in magazines without considering that the model may not even look that way in real life, this new proposal is a welcomed change.

If the law passes, it seems that it may be no more than a formality and I’m not sure that people would change their way of thinking for it (Remember that this doesn’t prevent places from altering images—it only requires them to put a small disclaimer on the bottom of it).  Still, an acknowledgement is a great a start.

That said, do we think this type of law can be in the future for the United States?  I think Americans would be hesitant to pass such a law—Perhaps because it would skew their vision (version?) of reality, proving untrue the idealism that we’ve put in the spotlight for so long.  Perhaps it would lose companies money because our society is built on the concept of unattainable beauty.

And what a shame since it could do our sometimes delusional society a favor by taking unrealistic weight goals, celebrity and unethical publishing practices down all at once!

The weather made a fantastic day and my autumn theme felt just right with the cool breeze that hit me throughout the day.  With a fair showing of artists, streets surrounding the city’s cultural center were closed for patrons of all types to walk freely through the vendor tables:  Parents with children, college students, and many a local with dogs on hand.  With holidays quickly approaching, many people took the opportunity for gift-buying.

Though it’s a bit of a trek for me, the show was worthwhile and I ran out of business cards, so hopefully it will continue to be!  My favorite customer:  A young boy of maybe 8 years old who begged his mother for a framed print of the Eiffel Tower.  They decided to keep browsing before making a decision, only to return later in the day when he convinced her, saying “I want it more than anything else in the world!  Even chocolate!”  I would have given in, too.  Because come on:  I don’t even want anything else more than chocolate!  At least I’ll know it went to someone who will enjoy it!  Or color on it with crayons…

All in a day’s work!

I’ll admit:  I have 2 accounts and both are for my own websites.  @Wild_Magnolia for my Etsy shop and another for my Examiner.com column.  I do actively try to post about things I enjoy, share links of interest, Re-Tweet and ponder relevant thoughts (key here is “relevant.”  Let’s face it: no one cares what I had for breakfast.), but find it hard to constantly be updating on a regular basis (as some people do 8 or so times a day!).  I actually do find the site helpful, but a lot of what I click on are links from like-minded individuals and tips on marketing and publicity.  Still, it’s fun to browse around when I don’t mind it eating up my afternoon as I jump from one link to the next.

So let’s hear back from everyone:
Do you have a twitter account? If so, what do you use it for?  (feel free to include your @name with your comment!)
If you have a business, do you find that Twitter is a successful and worthwhile site to use?
If you don’t have a business or site to promote, how often do you actually click on the links that your followee’s post?

Curiouser and curiouser.