Communicating Belief

I’m excited about a new exhibit will open in October at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. This exhibit, Sacred Spain: Art and Belief in the Spanish World promises to be one of the great exhibitions to be held at this museum. As a member, I will be one of the first to view this show.

This show will include major works by well-known Spanish artists such as El Greco, Diego Velazquez, Francisco de Zurbarian, and Mexican artists such as Juan Correa and Cristobal de Villalpando. The exhibit will contain painting and sculptures. The show consists of 71 works—some of which have never been seen in public.

I think this groundbreaking exhibit will be a opportunity for me and other viewers to think about the artistic challenge of communicating belief. I believe it will be interesting to examine these works of art and attempt to understand the making and meaning of religious images.

Discover the Art of Reading at Nella’s Books and Collectibles. You will find a great selection of art books, art catalogs and magazine back issues.

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Turner Revisited

There will be a new exhibition featuring one of my favorite artists, JMW Turner, opening soon. The exhibit entitled “Turner and the Masters” will be held at the Tait Britain, London beginning September 23.

This show will compare Turner’s work with some of the old masters, Rubens, Poussin, Rembrandt, Watteau and others. I believe this show will attempt to stress the strong influence the masters had on Turner. It is clear that Turner did emulate the great masters.

I have probably had more exposure to Turner’s work than any other artist. The Indianapolis Museum of Art has one of the largest holdings of his work in the U.S. My favorite Turner paintings are the landscapes that include stormy skies, shipwrecks and other scenes in nature.

Turner is always exciting and this new exhibit should be enjoyable to all who are able to attend the London show.

You can find several books on JMW Turner as well as other art books and catalogs at Nella’s Books and Collectibles.

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A Window to the World's Museums

I previously mentioned my discovery of a new and exciting web site, ArtBabble. I recently learned that there have been a lot of changes (all good) to the site.

As you may know, the Indianapolis Museum of Art launched ArtBabble.org about four months ago. ArtBabble.org is the revolutionary site devoted exclusively to showing art-based digital videos. At the start, there were about 200 videos and six partners. The number of videos now has almost doubled and the partner list continues to grow and includes some very noteworthy institutions. In addition, there are links to content related to the videos and interactive features like viewer discussion.

I will be discussing ArtBabble a lot more in the future. I will be checking out the new shows like the upcoming exhibition at IMA, “Sacred Spain: Art & Belief in the Spanish World”, as well as lectures, documentaries and interviews from some of the world’s leading art authorities.

Discover the Art of Reading at Nella’s Books and Collectibles. You will find a great selection of art books, art catalogs and magazine back issues.

www.nellasbooksandcollectibles.ecrater.com

Our Nicest Day

The Penrod Art Fair was held in my hometown on Saturday. As I previously mentioned, this event is advertised as Indiana’s Nicest Day and I would have to definitely agree.

The weather was perfect and the attendance was as expected—approximately 30,000. I volunteer in the morning for this event so I arrived early and had an opportunity to observe workers setting up. I later met with friends and we ate and enjoyed some of the entertainment. There were performers on the dance stage, rock stage, the symphony stage and the blues tent. I later visited booths of some of the artists and those who represent the arts locally.

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is the perfect setting for this event.
This year there was something new. The culinary arts were represented. There were demonstrations by pastry chefs and others on the culinary stage throughout the day.

I thoroughly enjoyed the sites and sounds at this year’s Penrod Art Fair.

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The Premier Art Festival

I’m looking forward to this weekend. I will be attending an art fair on Saturday that is billed as the largest art festival in the country.

There will be over 300 artists plus over 60 arts related organizations. This one-day show has everything you would want in an art festival. There will be food, drink, entertainment and the opportunity to purchase unique art from artist all over the country. To top this off, it takes place in one of the most attractive settings in the area, the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

This fair was created by the Penrod Society. The art fair has been held each year since 1967. The Penrod Society is a non-profit organization that supports the arts and activities in the Indianapolis area. The proceeds from the festival provide grants for the local area and scholarships for young artists.

I am really excited about this art fair. I plan to be among about 30,000 other art lovers enjoying the sites and sounds.

You will find a great selection of art books, art catalogs and magazine back issues at Nella’s Books and Collectibles.


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Selling Art to Pay the Bills?

A report of plunging prices of 18th and 20th century America art reflected at the sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions. It appears that a few museums are having difficulty selling off some of the acquisitions but others have been somewhat successful. This past spring Christie’s had a sale that consisted of 45 lots from U.S. institutions. Some did well and others did not.

One of the museums that did not do well at this most recent auction was the Indianapolis Museum of art. The museum had Western paintings by that failed to sell. What did sell? Montclair Art Museum and the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens sold paintings by William James Glackens and Thomas Eakens respectively. In all, sales were not what had been predicted.

Museums don’t usually get rid of American art. These items are often buried away in the basements or some other obscure place. According to the current deaccession standards, art work can only be sold for the purpose of acquiring new work. Because there is not limit on when these new items have to be purchased the money can placed in the museum’s funds for holding and by doing so provide other financial benefits.

You can find great selection of art books, art catalogs and magazine back issues at Nella’s Books and Collectibles.

www.nellasbooksandcollectibles.ecrater.com