FONDATION BEYELER FOUNDER ERNST BEYELER DIES IN BASEL

Ernst Beyeler, whose early eye for undervalued Picassos and Impressionists helped him assemble one of Europe's most famous art collections, has died, his Beyeler Foundation said Friday. He was 88.
Beyeler died Thursday evening at his home near Basel, said the museum, which he created 13 years ago out of his sprawling gallery of masterpieces. Beyeler, the son of a Swiss railway employee, became a widely respected art patron after World War II by acquiring hundreds of works by Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet, Henri Matisse and others. He presented them to the public in his Basel gallery and later in the foundation he founded near the German border.
His art collection eventually grew to a value of at least 2 billion Swiss francs ($1.85 billion), according to the Swiss finance magazine Bilanz, thanks to Beyeler's taste for quality and his personal connections with painters such as Georges Braque, Marc Chagall and Alberto Giacometti. He also was a friend of Picasso.
"Art must touch you and leave a strong visual and mental impression upon you," Beyeler once said in an interview with Swiss weekly magazine NZZ Folio.
Born on July 16, 1921, in Basel, Beyeler discovered his passion for art after taking a job in an antique shop shortly after World War II. He then studied economics and art history at the University of Basel and started collecting Japanese woodcarvings.
He exhibited his woodcarvings in 1947, showing an early understanding for what separated quality from tried and trite artwork. In his exhibitions, he sought to give paintings and sculptures enough space to have an impact on the viewer so that art and observer could interact with each other, rejecting the old-fashioned museum approach of stuffing as many works into a little room as possible.
In 1948, he married Hildy Kunz, who became a constant companion in his art business until she died in 2008. Together, they mounted numerous art exhibitions featuring modern classics in the 1950s, drawing on debts and even paying a $4,500 price in installments to make Wassily Kandinsky's masterpiece "Improvisation 10" his first major acquisition.
"There are pictures we always wanted to live with," Beyeler once said, adding that it gave him a better feeling than having money in the bank.
In the 60 years since, more than 16,000 paintings, drawings and sculptures, including Picassos, Monets and Vincent van Goghs, changed hands at his Basel gallery. He kept the Kandinsky painting, and today it could fetch US$25 million at auction, according to published estimates. Beyeler's success in the art trade lay mainly in buying such underrated works, from Monet's "Nymphs" and one of van Gogh's wheat fields to a Henri Rousseau painting of a "Hungry Lion Pouncing on an Antelope." When their prices increased dramatically, he was able to sell them at considerable profit.
The purchase of several hundred major art works from Pittsburgh collector David Thompson was one of Beyeler's biggest deals. He acquired between 1959 and 1965 some 100 works by Paul Klee, around 340 objects by Cezanne, Monet, Picasso, Matisse, Fernand Leger, Joan Miro, Piet Mondrian, Braque and other major artists, as well as 80 Giacometti sculptures.
Beyeler "had the guts and commitment to 'bet large' on the greatness of 20th-century modernism some years before it was 'consecrated' by the art market," one-time MoMA director William Rubin wrote in 1997.
It was four decades earlier when Beyeler first met Picasso.
"One day he took me by the arm and said 'take your time to chose what you want. I will let you know then what I am willing to let go,'" Beyeler said, recounting for the Swiss weekly Schweizer Illustrierte how Picasso lent him 46 works for his Basel gallery in 1966.
"Among these were some great paintings," Beyeler said, adding that he acquired 26 of them in all. They included the masterpiece "Woman" that he forever kept.
In 1981 the Beyeler Gallery organized a comprehensive retrospective to mark the centenary of Picasso's birth. Beyeler also spearheaded successful exhibitions at the Basel art museum, becoming the most influential patron in Switzerland. In 1971 he was a founder of Basel's renowned international art fair that continues today as one of the world's biggest draws for contemporary works.
After adding some 100 oil paintings, watercolors and drawings by Kandinsky to his collection in the 1970s, Beyeler created a foundation in 1982 together with his wife. He presented the collection of around 200 works of modern classics in Madrid, Berlin and Sydney, but then decided to build his own museum and enlisted star architect Renzo Piano.
The Beyeler Foundation opened its doors in 1997, presenting 140 works of modern classics, including 23 Picassos.
A masterpiece of contemporary architecture, the museum is airy and affected by the soft colors, large windows and outdoor park with two ponds that create different shades of light and color as they reflect on artworks consciously placed on the walls of different rooms.
"I have always perceived works of art as parables of creation — 'analogous to nature' as Cezanne once said — as an expression of joie de vivre," Beyeler said at the museum's unveiling. He continued to visit the museum and attend its special exhibitions of artists such as Cezanne, Monet, Andy Warhol and Mark Rothko.
The culmination of his career came in 2007 when all the works that passed through his hands were reunited at the museum for a grand exhibition that included van Gogh's 1889 "Portrait of Postman Roulin," Roy Lichtenstein's "Plus and Minus III" and a huge expressive drip painting by Jackson Pollock.
Increasingly frail but remaining energetic, Beyeler was seen by an Associated Press reporter in 2009 chatting with business partners in the museum's cafeteria. In his last years, he set up a foundation to direct part of the gains of his museum to protecting tropical forests.

Website : Fondation Beyeler

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Bron/Source : Artdaily

GODEN SCHITTEREN OPNIEUW OP HUN OLYMPUSBERG

Het doek 'De Goden op de Olympusberg' schittert weer als vanouds. Dankzij de restauratie heeft de grootste plafondschildering van Vlaanderen vooral aan perspectief en kleurauthenticiteit gewonnen.
Tijdens de restauratie is beslist om het doek in de oorspronkelijke staat van 1772 te herstellen. Die beslissing vormde de aanleiding om heel wat overschilderingen, die dateerden van het einde van de 19e eeuw, weg te halen. Tijdens die fase toverden de restaurateurs eind november de beeltenissen van Zeus en Pheme te voorschijn.
Daarnaast zorgt die beslissing ervoor dat de oorspronkelijke kleurenpracht, die meer intense en realistische kleuren bevat, terug ten volle tot zijn recht kan komen. Bovendien heeft het doek nu een veel dieper perspectief.
Huzarenstukje
Voor de restauratie werd het doek van zijn oorspronkelijke locatie in de Hofkamer in Huis Den Wolsack naar het ING-gebouw in de Antwerpse Lange Gasthuisstraat overgebracht. Hoewel dat transport een huzarenstukje was, verliep alles volgens plan. Minder goed verliep het rechttrekken van het doek. Bij een eerste poging in februari 2009 liep het goed fout. Het doek scheurde. Niet helemaal verwonderlijk, als je weet dat het zo'n 65 vierkante meter groot is. Een nieuwe poging in september 2009 verliep wel succesvol.
Rubenianum
Wie het doek in zijn hernieuwde glorie wil bewonderen, kan nog tot 2 maart terecht in het ING-gebouw in de Lange Gasthuisstraat 18. Het bankkantoor is open van maandag tot vrijdag van 9 tot 16 uur.
Daarna verhuist de plafondschildering opnieuw. Niet onmiddellijk naar zijn oorspronkelijke locatie, want de Oude Beurs wordt momenteel gerestaureerd. Die restauratie van de ruwbouwwerken, technieken en het interieur zal nog enkele jaren duren.
Daarom bespreekt Erfgoed Vlaanderen momenteel de laatste technische details om het doek tijdens de werken onder te brengen in het Rubenianum, het studiecentrum verbonden aan het Rubenshuis. "Daar zou het doek ook tegen het plafond hangen, zoals in zijn oorspronkelijke context dus. Het publiek zou het doek daar ook kunnen bewonderen. Al blijft het natuurlijk een niet erg voor de hand liggende oplossing, want een spanraam maken voor zo'n groot doek is natuurlijk niet zo eenvoudig", besluit Bart Jonckheere van Erfgoed Vlaanderen.
Elien Haentjens

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Bron/Source : Knack

LONDON'S DALI UNIVERSE ... MOVING TO NEW LOCATION

Dali Universe, one of the world’s foremost collections of Dali, is moving from County Hall on London’s South Bank to a new location in London.
Over 500 Dali artworks which were exhibited to great acclaim over a ten year period, are moving to a new home which is better situated to please the museum going public.
We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and we look forward to announcing a new space and a new exhibition which will have many of the old favourites as well as a new Dali collection of original drawings and paintings on loan from a secret Spanish admirer.
In the meantime, art lovers who wish to see one of Europe’s largest collections of Dali, can visit the Espace Dali exhibition in Montmartre, Paris: http://www.daliparis.com/

Website : Dali Universe

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AFTER LONDON AND BEFORE MADRID THE GRAND PALAIS IN PARIS WELCOMES TURNER AND THE MASTERS

The British landscapist J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) was highly unusual in that he responded to the works of the old Masters and his contemporaries throughout his lengthy career. This often anxious, pernickety, deliberately competitive but always fertile exchange was an integral part of his work as a painter. Turner emerged in the mid-1790s as a particularly gifted and ambitious watercolourist, rivalling his greatest contemporaries (including his friend Thomas Girton (1775-1802)) but also eager to improve his painting technique by studying the Welsh landscapist Richard Wilson (1713-1782) and visiting private collections. In the absence of museums, the early British collections gave him access to the old masters he sought to equal.
As a young man he was moved to tears by one of Claude Lorrain’s paintings (1600-1682), despairing that he would ever do as well. But his work did not go unnoticed and he exhibited at the Royal Academy at an early age, readily emulating contemporary painters and watercolourists. Driven by a powerful ambition, he broadened his fields of investigation: topographic watercolours, seascapes, classical landscapes, fantastic landscapes, genre scenes and history paintings. This variety reflects the wide range of references he had accumulated.
At first he faithfully applied the methods of the budding English watercolour tradition. When he turned to oil painting, he took inspiration from the Dutch landscape painters in the Rembrandt tradition, using a narrow, sombre colour range. The stimulating and already classical example of his great predecessor Richard Wilson led him, towards the turn of the century, to tackle classical landscapes of broader scope and brighter colours. At the same time he studied the art of the great landscape painters working in Italy in the 17th century: Salvatore Rosa (1615-1673) and Nicolas Poussin (1596-1665). Far from producing pastiches of these great models, Turner let powerful, turbulent energy upset the perfection of their harmonious compositions and came close to launching the masterly British tradition of fantastic landscapes with The Deluge (1805, Tate) directly inspired by the painting of the same name by Nicolas Poussin (1664, Louvre). The two canvases will be shown side-by-side in the exhibition. Turner’s few sallies into history painting (The Holy Family, 1803, Queen’s collection, or Venus and Adonis: Adonis departing for the chase circa 1805, private collection) used richer, deeper colours influenced by Titian (circa 1490-1576) (Virgin with a Rabbit circa 1530, Louvre) and Claude Lorrain. His small figure paintings rival with lesser known masters from the period such as Watteau (1684-1721) (What you will!, 1822, Williamstown, Clark Institute) or his most famous rivals such David Wilkie (1785-1841). The fruitful dialogue with the landscape artists of the following generation, Bonington (1802-1828) (French Coast with Fishermen 1826, Tate) and Constable (1776-1837) (The opening of Waterloo Bridge, 1829, Tate) amplified the freedom of Turner’s brushwork and tone (Calais Sands, Low Water, Poissards Collecting Bait, 1830, Bury Art Gallery or Beached Boat circa 1828, Tate). After 1820, his discovery of Venice (Venice from the Porch of the Madonna della Salute, 1835, New York, Metropolitan Museum) and a more intensive study of Claude Lorrain led to more sophisticated colour and a mastery of multiplane, vaporous compositions (Palestrina Composition, 1828, Tate). As Turner himself wished, the exhibition will compare one of his most complex masterpieces, The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire (1817, Tate) with two of Claude Lorrain’s magnificent visions which inspired it: Sunset at sea (Louvre, 1639) and Le Débarquement de Cléopâtre à Tarse (Louvre)
By deliberately engaging with other painters, Turner developed his dazzling freedom to paint which reached its apogee in the last decade of his career (Snow Storm, Steam-Boat Off a Harbour’s Mouth, 1842, London, Tate).
“Turner and the Masters” is an illustrated demonstration of the way Turner constructed his remarkable vision throughout his long career. It brings together a hundred paintings and graphic works (studies, engravings) from major British and American collections, the Louvre, the Prado and the Tate Britain.

Website : Galeries nationales, Grand Palais

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HIGH TO HOST EXHIBITION EXAMINING 20 YEARS OF INNOVATION IN EUROPEAN DESIGN

The High Museum of Art will host “European Design Since 1985: Shaping the New Century,” the first comprehensive assessment of Western European design from 1985 to 2005. The exhibition traces the evolution of design with nearly 200 works by some of the most influential artists of this era, encompassing furniture, glass, ceramics, metalwork and a broad range of product design created by 117 designers from 14 Western European countries. Additional works from this period will be incorporated from the High’s growing collection of contemporary design. “European Design Since 1985,” organized by the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) and the Denver Art Museum, in conjunction with Kingston University, London, will be on view at the High from June 5 through August 29, 2010.
“This exhibition includes some of the most iconic designs of the time, instantly recognizable but rarely seen in person outside of major American and European cities,” stated Ronald T. Labaco, the High’s curator of decorative arts and design. “The High’s permanent collection includes some of the finest holdings of 19th- and early 20th-century American decorative arts in the country, and this exhibition gives us the opportunity to showcase the next chapter of design history.” “European Design Since 1985” examines the development of the larger aesthetic movements of decorative and industrial design that transcended national borders and defined new relationships between art, design, and craft during this period. The exhibition also focuses on the two generations of designers that shaped these movements. The first generation, born after World War II, includes Ron Arad, Philippe Starck and Marc Newson. Born after 1960, the second generation has only recently begun to attract international attention and includes Jurgen Bey, Maarten Baas and Marcel Wanders.
The exhibition is structured around two larger themes: “design as art” and “design as industry,” or what are commonly known as postmodernism and modernism, respectively. Within these larger movements, there was a powerful dynamic of action and reaction that is reflected in the installation of the exhibition, which is divided into three sections: the initial postmodernist surge, the modernist reaction, and finally a postmodernist revival.
The designers of the postmodernist tradition primarily focused on producing objects that were more conceptual in nature and made in limited or studio production. The exhibition opens with two late manifestations of postmodernism that continued the influence of such design groups as Memphis and Studio Alchymia.
• Decorative Design was one of the first signs of globalization in design. Manufacturers hired designers from around the world, contributing to the advent of the designer as a superstar and brand name. As a stylistic movement, it is characterized by a revived interest in pattern, ornament and rich color on forms that were either high-style or vernacular in nature. This section includes Philippe Starck’s “J. - Serie Lang” armchair (1987), manufactured by Driade S.p.A, which dramatically balances a sophisticated upholstered form on a single rear leg.
• Expressive Design sought to revive the concept of design as sculpture. In this movement, the primary emphasis is on the form of the object, often richly colored or textured to highlight the materials or method of construction. One example is Ron Arad’s “Big Easy” (1989), made by One Off Ltd. It is a hand-hammered and welded steel chair that serves as an iconic example of this movement’s work in metal—a design that revels in its raw, gutsy power.
The designers of the modernist movement were primarily concerned with producing functional objects that could be industrially mass-produced. The second section of the exhibition showcases the three primary traditions that document the modernist resurgence in design: Geometric Minimalism, Biomorphism and Neo-Pop.
• Designers of the Geometric Minimal movement sought to recapture the essence of the modernist tradition by creating spare, sophisticated forms drawn from a vocabulary of simple geometric shapes. Jasper Morrison’s “Plywood” side chair (1988), manufactured by Vitra, is an iconic example in which a rectangular wooden side chair is reduced to the absolute minimum in terms of form and material—a reaffirmation that less is more.
• The soft, undulating forms of Biomorphic Design are derived from those found in the natural world. An iconic example is Marc Newson’s “Orgone Chaise” (1993), manufactured by Pod. This handmade luxury object illustrates Newson’s interest in using industrial technology to produce naturalistic shapes based on the inherent properties of the material—in this case, aluminum—with sensuous surface effects.
• Neo-Pop Design was a modernist interpretation of the influential Pop design movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The straightforward, light-hearted and playful aesthetic often blurred the line between “high” and “low” art, characterized by inflated or inflatable forms with bright colors or bold patterns as decoration. Jerszy Seymour’s “Pipe Dreams Watering Can” (2000), manufactured by Magis, demonstrates how an everyday object can be mass-produced as a work of extraordinary beauty.
The exhibition concludes with a look at the three postmodernist reactions: Conceptual Design, Neo-Dada/Surreal Design—both of which served to blur the lines between design, art and craft—and Neo-Decorative design.
• The Conceptual Design movement favored a more intellectual, rational and highly conceptual approach to recast design as a cultural force rather than simply a means of commercial production. With an emphasis on concept, there was no uniform stylistic approach by its adherents. Jurgen Bey’s “Kokon Double Chair” (1999), made by Droog, gives new identity and purpose to the found object—a pair of chairs—by covering them with a “skin” of PVC plastic.
• Neo-Dada/Surreal Design approaches design first and foremost as art. Drawing upon Dada/Surrealist traditions, the RADI Designers created a “Whippet Bench” (1998), which illustrates the interplay between image and volume, and between graphic design and three-dimensional shape. The design also alludes to the historical use of animal forms in furniture in a manner that is both tongue-in-cheek and Surreal by asking one to sit on the back of man’s best friend.
• Neo-Decorative Design is a blossoming revival of the earlier Decorative movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s that is characterized by an emphasis on decoration and historical forms through the use of bold color, pattern and texture. Tord Boontje’s “Red Veil” chair (2004), manufactured by Moroso, is as impractical as it is beautiful, with layers of gauzy red fabric erupting into a magical, fantasy-inspired piece.

Website : Trailer You Tube

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Bron/Source : Artdaily

EXCLUSIVE GLIMPSE OF THE RICH HISTORY OF THE FASCINATING WORLD OF CHARM OF CHANEL

Only a handful of fashion houses belong to the select world of haute couture. Membership of the Chambre syndicale de la haute couture, which was established in 1868, is an exclusive honour subject to a tough selection procedure and strict rules. The designers affiliated to the Chambre are among the best in the world, repeatedly surprising us with their breathtaking creations. This is the world of great names like Dior, Lacroix and Gaultier. In spring 2010 Gemeentemuseum Den Haag will be giving visitors an exclusive glimpse of the rich history of a fascinating world of charm, champagne and Chanel.
This major exhibition will showcase the history of haute couture, alongside creations by today’s top couturiers. Renowned fashion houses like Dior, Chanel, Christian Lacroix and Jean Paul Gaultier will lend a number of exclusive couture creations from their latest collections, fresh from the catwalk, and never before seen in the Netherlands. Visitors will be able to admire close by the details that make these garments so unique: the sumptuous fabrics, unparalleled embroidery, the cut. In short: all the skills of Parisian couture.
Contemporary couture is not the only thing the exhibition will highlight, however. The museum galleries will also recount the story of couture, beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century. Visitors will not only have the opportunity to admire exclusive creations by top designers, but also design drawings, accessories, moving images and photographic material. The exhibition will also cover the history of Dutch couture, from the copies of designs from Paris to the great Dutch couturiers like Charles Montaigne (Karel Meuwese), Frans Molenaar, Frank Govers, Fong Leng and rising new star Jan Taminiau.
The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag owns one of the largest fashion collections in Europe, in which all the great couture houses are well represented. The original pink Givenchy dress that Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s is just one famous item in the collection. It also includes earlier pieces that illustrate the history of couture: Worth, Poiret and Vionnet were forerunners of the famous couturiers who now define the look of Paris’s Avenue Montaigne.
Maarten Spruyt, who previously designed several successful fashion exhibitions for the Gemeentemuseum, including Fashion NL: the next generation (2006), Hague Court Fashions (2007) and The Ideal Man (2008), will be responsible for the art direction. This exhibition is part of Holland Art Cities.

Website : Holland Art Cities

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Bron/Source : Artdaily

STERREN ALS KUNST IN AMSTERDAM

Het Amsterdamse fotografiemuseum Huis Marseille wijdt vanaf volgende maand voor het eerst een tentoonstelling aan astronomie. Bijzondere historische foto's en spectaculaire beelden van de modernste telescopen vormen de kern van de expositie. Dat maakte het museum vrijdag bekend.
In samenwerking met de Stichting Academisch Erfgoed (SAE) en de Nederlandse Onderzoekschool voor Astronomie (NOVA) maakte het museum de afgelopen jaren een inventarisatie van het zogenoemde fotografisch astronomisch erfgoed in Nederlandse universitaire en museale collecties. Volgens het museum bevat de collectie vrijwel alle internationale topstukken op dat gebied.
De tentoonstelling leidt de bezoeker door de tijd en afstand, met foto's van de zon en de maan, via ons zonnestelsel, de Melkweg en andere sterrenstelsels, naar beelden die dicht bij de oerknal liggen. ,,Op deze manier maakt de bezoeker niet alleen losjes een reis door de geschiedenis van de fotografie - de eerste foto's werden van de maan en de zon gemaakt - maar ook door de tijd.''
De expositie First Light is van 6 maart tot en met 30 mei te zien in Huis Marseille.

Website : Huis Marseille

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Bron/Source : Leeuwarder Courant

DE TEKENFILM VAN JACQUES TATI

‘L'ILLUSIONISTE' is gebaseerd op ongebruikt scenario van Tati.
Nee, Jacques Tati is niet uit de doden opgestaan. Maar hij heeft wel een nieuwe film gemaakt. Sylvain Chomet, van ‘Les triplettes de Belleville', toverde hem met potlood weer tot leven voor ‘L'illusioniste'.

Ergens in een lade van Sophie Tatischeff lag nog een scenario dat haar vader in de periode tussen 1956 en 1959 had geschreven. Big deal, zult u denken, maar Sophie was de dochter van Jacques Tati en het script was nooit verfilmd. Behalve zij wist zelfs niemand dat het bestond, tot ze het vertelde aan Sylvain Chomet. Chomet kwam haar toestemming vragen om een stukje uit Tati's film Jour de fête te mogen gebruiken in zijn animatiefilm Les triplettes de Belleville: haar vader, op zijn fiets, in het water.
Les triplettes de Belleville werd genomineerd voor een Oscar en bracht wereldwijd vijftien miljoen dollar op. Chomet kreeg niet alleen zijn stukje Tati, maar ook de toestemming om het vijftig jaar oude scenario te gebruiken. ‘Sophie vond het een goed idee om er een animatiefilm van te maken: Tati hield van animatie en bovendien wilde ze niet dat een acteur de rol van haar vader zou spelen. Jammer genoeg is ze een paar maanden later overleden.
'De fantasiewerelden van Jacques Tati en Sylvain Chomet vullen elkaar inderdaad wonderwel aan. L'illusioniste, dat op het Filmfestival van Berlijn in wereldpremière ging, is een in klare lijn getekende en van prachtige aquarelachtergronden voorzien juweeltje over een goedgeklede goochelaar, mijnheer Tati. Yè-yègroepen en de opkomende televisie knabbelen aan zijn broodwinning in de music hall; het witte konijn dat hij elke avond uit zijn hoge hoed moet toveren, is een chagrijnig beest dat in je vingers bijt zodra het de kans schoon ziet.
Tijdens zijn tournee langs steeds kleinere cabarets belandt de goochelaar op een Schots eilandje, waar het naïeve kamermeisje van zijn hotel hem voor een echte tovenaar houdt. Ze volgt hem naar Edinburgh en de goedzak moet er allerlei baantjes nemen om haar de cadeautjes te bezorgen die hij volgens haar uit de lucht plukt. Maar al bij al trekt hij zich goed uit de slag, net als de eeuwig opgewekte acrobatendrieling — gesprekken beperkt tot ‘hop, hop, hop!', want dit is weer een film zonder dialogen — die voortdurend zijn pad kruist. De bonte nevenpersonages maken er een soort Oud België van, maar dan uit de jaren vijftig.
‘Als je iemands werk afmaakt, moet je bij wijze van spreken in zijn laden gaan snuffelen voor je de draad kunt opnemen', zegt Chomet. ‘En dit was bijzonder intiem, want Tati was music hall-artiest voor hij regisseur werd, en dat voel je aan details in het script.'
Chomet heeft zich goed ingeleefd, want je ziet niet waar zijn inbreng begint en die van Tati eindigt. Zo blijkt de animator de buikspreker en de clown zelf te hebben bedacht.
Net als het konijn. ‘In het scenario was het een kip. Dat is wel geestig, maar het zou de hel geweest zijn: kippen zijn zo dom als het achterend van een varken, ze maken voortdurend lawaai en ze schijten alles onder. Dus dacht ik: een konijn. En om geen klassiek konijn te gebruiken, maakte ik er een carnivoor konijn van.'
Zoals Chomet het vertelt, zou je zweren dat iemand echte kippen naar de set had meegebracht. ‘En Tati maakte dan weer animatiefilms! Hij was meer graficus dan cineast. Wat hij met de camera doet, was niet bijzonder; hij maakte eerst een tableau met sterke lijnen en dat filmde hij. Alle personages zijn voluit te zien; hij was ooit mimeartiest, dus gebruikte hij zijn hele lichaam. En hij werkte niet met professionele acteurs: hij speelde zijn figuranten voor wat ze moesten doen en duldde geen improvisatie. Hij stelde zelf hun kostuum samen. Hij gebruikte niets van de originele geluidsopnamen, alles werd nog eens nagesynchroniseerd. Hij was een totale control freak, die zijn universum volledig zelf creëerde. Als dat niet de definitie van een animator is, weet ik het ook niet.'
Inge Schelstraete.

Website : The Illusionist - Pathé International

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Bron/Source : De Standaard

VINYLES ET POCHETTES D'ARTISTES A LA MAISON ROUGE A PARIS

La Maison rouge à Paris expose du 19 février au 16 mai des vinyles, disques et pochettes d'artistes
L'événement réunit la collection de disques 33 tours du collectionneur, commissaire d’exposition indépendant et éditeur belge, Guy Schraenen.
Le but : présenter dans leurs composantes acoustiques et visuelles, des disques 33T d’artistes plasticiens, reflètant la variété des expérimentations sur le langage et le son depuis les années 1920.
Depuis plus de trente ans, Guy Schraenen a collectionné objets, catalogues, livres d’artistes, et revues de multiples groupes. Il a rassemblé là plus de 1000 objets comprenant des disques vinyle (presque 800), mais aussi des bandes magnétiques, des cdroms, des revues spécialisées, des ouvrages de référence, des catalogues et des œuvres.
L’exposition se divise en diverses sections qui vont des mouvements de l’avant-garde des années 1920 comme le Dadaïsme et le Futurisme, jusqu’aux expérimentations sonores les plus récentes en passant par des mouvements comme Fluxus, le Nouveau Réalisme, le Pop Art, le groupe Zaj ou l’art conceptuel.
La relation entre les arts visuels et la musique rock et pop est soulignée avec les disques des Rolling Stones ou des Beatles, mais aussi des groupes plus récents comme Kraftwerk ou Sonic Youth ; des artistes comme Andy Warhol, Robert Franck, Peter Blake, Raymond Pettibon, les ont transformés en icônes.
Sur une table d’écoute spécialement conçue pour l’exposition, les visiteurs pourront avoir accès à presque la totalité des disques de la collection.
Le microsillon a le vent en poupe
Le support mis au point aux Etats-Unis et importé en France par Eddie Barclay semble reprendre du poil de la bête, alors que les ventes de CD s'effondrent.
Pour l'un des responsables du disquaire Le silence de la Rue, qui vend plus de vinyls que de CD, "il y a depuis deux ans un renouvellement générationnel. Les nouveaux clients ont la vingtaine, parfois moins".
Même constat chez le confidentiel Bimbo Tower, spécialisé dans les musiques alternatives et expérimentales qui vend "50-50" entre CD et grandes galettes noires : "il y a maintenant des petits jeunes".
Au Virgin Megastore des Champs-Elysées qui dispose de seize mètres de rayons consacrés aux vinyls - ce qui est conséquent pour un magasin généraliste - on a constaté "une hausse des ventes depuis deux ans mais surtout six mois-un an". L'une des raisons de ce regain de notoriété des larges galettes noires : "les gens sont maintenant bien équipés en enceintes et en amplis et ils sont attentifs à la qualité du son. Ils se rendent compte qu'en téléchargeant du mp3 sur Internet la qualité n'est pas toujours au rendez-vous. Il manque de la dynamique et de la chaleur", explique un vendeur.
Mais les tirages restent limités, "entre 500 et 5.000 exemplaires" raconte un responsable de Superfly Records, un magasin Internet depuis 2002 qui a ouvert un "magasin physique", dans le centre de Paris, il y a trois mois. "Et encore, 5.000 c'est pour des artistes très très connus. Par exemple, une réédition de James Brown peut être pressée à 5.000", précise-t-il.
Pas de retour triomphant du vinyle pour autant. "On reste dans du collector, on s'adresse à des passionnés, des collectionneurs, c'est une niche", confie Superfly Records. Des mordus qui s'attachent à l'objet en tant que tel mais aussi aux pochettes, grandes de 30 cm de côté, qui donnent une véritable identité visuelle aux disques et accordent de l'importance au travail d'illustration.
Mais le simple fait que ce magasin ait ouvert est un signe positif du retour du 33T. "Il y a de plus en plus de sorties. Avec tous les petits labels indépendants autour du monde qui repressent, on a entre 20 et 50 sorties par mois", assure Superfly Records.
Derniers signes tangibles de ce retour, même les grands artistes internationnaux se sont remis aux platines et aux diamants. U2 et Amy Winehouse, par exemple, sans compter les White Stripes, excusez du peu.

Website : La Maison Rouge

FIC123.BE een website met info en cultuur.

Bron/Source : France 2

A LA DECOUVERTE DU PEUPLE MEXICAIN

Bicentenaire de l'indépendance et centenaire de la révolution : 2010 valait bien un festival entièrement centré sur le Mexique. Six expositions en montrent différentes facettes, loin des clichés, et interrogent l'identité mexicaine à travers peinture, photo, architecture… Cinéma, littérature, musique et spectacles complètent le programme avec, en prime une « fiesta mexicaine » et une soirée de « lucha libre ».
Bien sûr, il y a d'un côté Frida Kahlo, devenue en quelques années une véritable icône de l'art mexicain. Et de l'autre côté, les Alebrijes, ces étranges animaux colorés en papier mâché et en bois. Mais pour le reste, le festival ¡ México !, qui démarre ce jeudi, ne propose que des découvertes, loin des clichés et souvenirs de vacances.

Imagenes del Mexicano, l'exposition centrale du programme présenté par le Palais des Beaux-Arts (lire ci-dessous) en est la plus belle preuve.
À travers 150 pièces, elle interroge l'identité mexicaine au fil du temps. Et celle-ci s'avère incroyablement complexe.
Dès l'entrée, au-delà de la réplique d'une tête olmèque géante, on découvre de petits personnages en terre cuite, réalisés à l'époque pré-hispanique. Mais déjà, les choses se compliquent. Entre Olmèques, Mayas, Aztèques, Mixtèques et autres civilisations voisines, on voit déjà apparaître des figures, des styles, des cultures, des sociétés différentes.
En quelques pièces, cette première section le montre bien, révélant notamment un étonnant personnage aux trois visages (jeune, vieux et mort) se déployant comme une poupée russe. À peine est-on conquis par celui-ci qu'on nous annonce que certains spécialistes contestent son authenticité. Et nous voilà plongés d'emblée dans toutes les interrogations autour de cette fameuse identité mexicaine. Entre le vrai, le fabriqué, le copié, le décalqué, le rejeté, l'inventé, le mélangé, Imagenes del Mexicano nous entraîne dans un parcours où toute certitude doit être abandonnée.
Divisée en dix sections, l'exposition suit à fois une progression chronologique et thématique. Du monde pré-hispanique, on passe d'un coup à la « Nouvelle Espagne » pour s'intéresser aux races et aux classes de cet Eldorado supposé. « Dans cette époque, nous explique Luis Adrian Vargas Santiago, co-commissaire de l'exposition avec Dafne Cruz Porchini, le statut de chacun était influencé par la race. Au sommet, on trouvait l'Espagnol de souche. Juste en dessous l'Espagnol né en Amérique, ensuite le Métis, puis l'Indien et enfin le Noir, esclave et donc tout en bas de l'échelle sociale. Celle-ci se compliquait dès qu'il y avait mélange : un mixte d'Indien et de Noir n'avait pas grand-chose à espérer tandis qu'un enfant né de père espagnol et de mère indienne allait se trouver au milieu de l'échelle sociale… Et tout cela était très et précisément codifié. »
Sous le regard de l'autre
On le constate avec une série de tableaux montrant effectivement les différents types de cette Nouvelle Espagne où, par ailleurs, les Espagnols se divisaient également selon leur caste. Chacun se faisant peindre le portrait pour bien montrer où il se situait.
Mais l'identité mexicaine se construit aussi par le biais du regard extérieur. On découvre ici des séries sur les costumes mexicains, les différentes classes, les différents types indigènes, vus par Frederick Catherwood, Claudio Linati et bien d'autres visiteurs européens. Dans la foulée, les Mexicains eux-mêmes se réapproprient ces images, les adaptent et entrent dans le cliché qu'ils combattront plus tard. C'est notamment le cas avec l'empereur Maximilien (et son épouse, la Belge Charlotte) qui, en adaptant le costume charro pour se faire accepter de son peuple, transforme celui-ci et en fait un archétype adopté par les Mexicains eux-mêmes.
On voit ainsi se construire l'identité d'un peuple extrêmement mélangé, jusque dans les artistes qui lui tirent le portrait. D'un côté les peintres académiques, de l'autre les autodidactes grâce auxquels on peut découvrir les nombreuses figures des Mexicains des campagnes.
Sans oublier les bouleversants portraits d'enfants morts du XIXe, l'idéalisation de l'indigène dans la première moitié du XXe et la vision moderne (peinture, photographie et extraits de films irrésistibles) d'un Mexique urbain, chahuté et plus complexe que jamais. Un parcours passionnant permettant de comprendre un peu mieux ce pays fascinant et insaisissable.

Jean-Marie Wynants.

Jusqu'au 25 avril au Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles.

Website : BOZAR

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Bron/Source : Le Soir

LA POESIE DU CHAOS URBAIN - MUSEE DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE DE CHARLEROI

Le photographe montréalais est actuellement à l'honneur à Charleroi. Son travail en noir et blanc met en évidence la complexité de la ville. Des images qui font naître la poésie et le rêve.
Dans un monde où l'image est omniprésente, que peut encore apporter le photographe qui n'ait déjà été montré ? Peut-être justement ce déferlement d'images, cette surenchère des signes, cet indescriptible chaos visuel dans lequel les êtres humains se trouvent entraînés comme dans une spirale infernale.

C'est en tout cas ce que tente de faire Serge Clément dont le très beau travail en noir et blanc est actuellement présenté au Musée de la photographie à Charleroi. Venu de Montréal où il vit et travaille, Serge Clément connaît bien cette accumulation de signes propre aux grandes villes. Il la photographie sous tous les angles, de part et d'autre de l'océan. A Charleroi, il fait se rencontrer deux projets distincts : l'un sur l'Amérique, l'autre sur l'Europe. Il les présente de manière radicale : dans de grands livres dont on tourne les pages avec précaution mais aussi sur un long mur où les images forment un bloc unique, compact, augmentant encore la sensation de confusion, de complexité, de perte des repères.
Comment s'y retrouver en effet dans ces successions de reflets, de tâches, d'ombres, de mouvements saisis à travers une vitre, une grille, un fin rideau, une lumière éblouissante. Le photographe livre ainsi une multitude de clichés où les plans se superposent, composant une mosaïque complexe dont on ne découvre que petit à petit les différentes strates.
La manière dont il présente l'ensemble, formant un gigantesque puzzle dont les pièces peuvent être mélangées à l'infini, génère également de nouvelles interprétations, de nouveaux égarements. Et bien sûr, une multitude de questions et de récits. Car l'univers quotidien saisi par Serge Clément devient soudain effrayant, fascinant, poétique, drôle même quelque fois. Chaque image nous entraîne dans une rêverie qui peut parfois virer au cauchemar.
A Charleroi, il présente l'ensemble sans titre, ni date ni nom de lieu. Une manière de tout mêler, de mettre en évidence la mondialisation par l'image qu'entraîne la reproduction aux quatre coins du monde des mêmes symboles, clichés, façons de voir et de montrer.
De tout cela ressort pourtant l'art du photographe, capable de saisir la beauté, la poésie, l'étrangeté naissant de ce chaos. Percutantes dans leur masse, chacune de ses images s'avère également fascinante dans sa singularité. Car même si trop d'images peut tuer l'image, certains artistes parviendront toujours à tirer de tout cela un instant de grâce révélant à nos yeux ce qu'ils étaient incapables de voir par eux-mêmes.
Jean-Marie Wynants.

Jusqu'au 16 mai au Musée de la photographie à Charleroi.

Website : Musée de la Photographie

FIC123.BE een website met info en cultuur.

Bron/Source : Le Soir

ART MADRID 2010

The Spanish International Contemporary Art Fair, Art Madrid celebrates its fifth year from 17 to 21 February 2010, in the Pabellón de Cristal at the Casa de Campo in Madrid, with the presence of 65 galleries, selected from among the most prestigious national and international scene. The fair reinforces on this edition their commitment to contemporary Spanish art and renews its support for emerging artists and young galleries.
Art Madrid is a fair aimed specifically to contemporary art collectors and has a complementary relation with other fairs, helping to convert Madrid into the international art capital during the month of February, being a well known event of the city in the artistic circuit.
The commitment to the Spanish contemporary art materializes in the fact that 90% of the galleries are Spanish. Numbers that allows Art Madrid to be not only the second contemporary art fair of in Spain for the number of galleries, but also the one that has a higher proportion of Spanish galleries, coming from 13 autonomous regions. In this respect, 9 galleries from the Spanish Aragón Autonomous Community will be at the fair, with the appointment of the Aragón Goverment and the cooperation of the Aragonese Contemporary Art Galleries Association. Moreover, Art Madrid will receive 6 international galleries (4 Europeans y 2 Latin Americans), from Portugal, France, Colombia and Cuba.
Commitment with emerging artists and youg galleries
Art Madrid hosts for the second consecutive year, a space dedicated to emerging art, into the Young Art program, which receives the younger artists and galleries with less than five years of existence. There are 46 artists (35 of them less than 40 years old) from 10 galleries, which will show their works in 20 different spaces (three more than last year).
A big art gallery from the XXth y XXIth Centuries
During five days, the Pabellón de Cristal transforms into a big art gallery were you can see reunited paintings, sculptures, photographies and so on from all over the world, from big names of the historic avantgarde, like Picasso, Miró, Vasarely, De Chirico, Sonia Delaunay, Arman, Bonifacio, Torres-García and Le Corbusier; or the second half of the XXth Century: Warhol, Richard Serra, Wilfredo Lam, Francesco Clemente, Botero, A. R. Penck, Julian Opie, Schnabel or Gerhard Richter, with many more. Of course the biggest names in the contemporary Spanish art will be represented, as the likes of Tàpies, Antonio López, Canogar, Palazuelo, Torner, Arroyo, Chillida, Equipo Crónica o Miquel Barceló, and the next artist’s generation, like Evru-Zush, Verbis, Plensa, Carmen Calvo, Eva Lootz, Alexanco, Gonzalo Sicre, Pérez Villalta, Francisco Leiro…
One more year, the fair hosts big names of contemporary photography, as Chema Madoz, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, Rax Rinnekangas, Marcos López, Alberto Schommer or emerging Spanish artists, like Salvador Díaz, Juan Francisco Casas, Carlos Salazar, Jacinto Moros, Samuel Salcedo and Michel Pérez, among others.
“Residentes: Artistas Latinoamericanos en España”
Moreover, the fair will work within the Official Program for the Independence Bicentennial Commemoration of Latin American countries. For this reason, it will feature an exclusive space dedicated to this event. The exhibition "Residentes: artistas latinoamericanos en España," shows the work of eleven emerging Latin American artists who live in Spain. Those artists come from Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Mexico.
Creation of the Art Madrid Collection of Unique Works on paper
A significant innovation is the creation of the Art Madrid Collection of Unique Works on paper. Its goal will be original works on paper (not serial) by Contemporary Spanish artists. The acquisitions will be done during the fair, among the participating galleries.

Website : Art Madrid

FIC123.BE een website met info en cultuur.

Bron/Source : Artdaily

ENSORJAAR 2010

In 2010 is het precies 150 jaar geleden dat Ensor geboren werd. En dat wordt zowel in Oostende, Gent als Brussel uitgebreid gevierd.
Het voorbije jaar werd Ensor al uitgebreid in de schijnwerpers geplaatst in het buitenland. In juni pakte het Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York uit met een grote retrospectieve, in oktober verhuisde die grotendeels naar het Parijse Musée d'Orsay.
In 2010 staan er dan weer tal van activiteiten in ons land op het programma. Geen retrospectieve tentoonstellingen, maar wel expo's die de ruimere context rond Ensor belichten. Drie visies
Oostende, dat onlosmakelijk met de kunstenaar verbonden is, mag de spits afbijten. Met 'Bij Ensor op bezoek' heeft Mu.ZEE ervoor gekozen om voor de allereerste keer alle beeldende kunstenaars, schrijvers, cineasten, museumdirecteurs en verzamelaars samen te brengen die een bezoek hebben gebracht aan James Ensor. Zo reisden onder andere Wassily Kandinsky en Emil Nolde naar de Koningin der Badsteden om er met Ensor in zijn woonkamer, het zogenaamde Blauwe Salon, te discussiëren over politiek, literatuur en kunst. De expo is opgevat als een wandeling door dat Blauwe Salon, dat geëvoceerd werd door B-architecten.
Daarnaast heeft directeur-conservator Philip Van den Bossche drie gasten uitgenodigd om hun visie op het werk van Ensor te geven. Zo ging de jonge kunstenaar Pieter Vermeersch op zoek naar het verband tussen het uitbundige kleurengebruik van Ensor en zijn muzikale aanleg. Schrijver Oscar Van den Boogaard focuste dan weer meer op het literaire aspect. Illustrator Carll Cneut mocht met de foto van een hoogbejaarde Ensor, die thuis in zijn salon zit, aan de slag. Ook in Gent en Brussel staan er tentoonstellingen op het programma. En ook die zullen telkens focussen op één bepaald aspect. Intussen maken ze zich in Oostende op voor de opera 'La Mort au bal masqué' en de 'Mars op Oostende', een sociaal-artistiek geïnspireerde stoet in de geest van Ensor.
Elien Haentjens

Website : Ensor via Wikipedia

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Bron/Source : Knack

VIENNAFAIR : THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR TO BE HELD IN MAY

“In times of economic challenges it becomes all the more important to contribute together to the success of the VIENNAFAIR. This is why we have again extended our services for the galleries and have at the same time aimed to attract even more visitors to the VIENNAFAIR 2010 with an extensive discussion programme and an extended programme for art collectors”, Matthias Limbeck, manager in charge at fair organiser Reed Exhibitions Messe Wien, explains the target for the upcoming sixth edition of the VIENNAFAIR. The international fair for contemporary art with the focus on Central and South-Eastern Europe will be taking place from May 6 to 9, 2010, at Vienna’s Congress Center Messe Wien.
Strengthening Vienna as Internationally Significant Art Venue
“Cooperation is the key to success. This is why we have developed more possibilities for the galleries to design programmes for their fair stands together with each other. With this we are enabling more international galleries to exhibit at the VIENNAFAIR and strengthen the international exchange at the art venue Vienna”, Edek Bartz, exhibition director of the VIENNAFAIR sums up the present status of registrations. “The internationally staffed fair advisory committee has supported us greatly in our work and we are already looking forward to an exciting fair programme”, Bartz adds. The members of the fair advisory committee are Miryam Charim (Charim Galleries/Berlin/Vienna), Ursula Krinzinger (Galerie Krinzinger/Vienna), Simon Rees (Contemporary Art Centre of Vilnius/Lithuania), Philippe Valentin (Galerie Chez Valentin/Paris), Anthony Wilkinson (Wilkinson Art Gallery/London), Thomas Wüstenhagen (layr:wuestenhagen contemporary/Vienna) und Asia Zak (Zak Branicka/Berlin).
Strengthening the Art Market with Information and Discussions
This year’s discussion programme at the VIENNAFAIR 2010 circles around the video in contemporary art and is once again designed in cooperation with “departure”, the financing agency for the creative industries. In addition, selected artist videos from international collections will be presented in the separate presentation area in the centre of the fair hall. Around this presentation area the stands of ZONE1 are grouped where galleries, each on 20 square meters, can present works of young artists in individual presentations at special conditions. As in previous years the ERSTE Bank will support the participation of a selection of galleries from Central Eastern and South-Eastern Europe as sponsor.
The Art Venue Vienna as Point of Attraction for International Art Collectors: the Special Programmes of the VIENNAFAIR 2010 By means of a specially developed, particularly extensive programme this year directly at the fair as well as with museum visits and special guided tours the VIENNAFAIR will bring app. 200 international art collectors to Vienna and will create with this an important basis for the economic success of the participating galleries.

Website : VIENNAFAIR 2010

FIC123.BE een website met info en cultuur.

Bron/Source : Artdaily

MAGNUM PHOTOS ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH MICHAEL DELL FOR ITS ARCHIVE COLLECTION

Magnum Photos, Inc., MSD Capital, L.P. and the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin today jointly announced a landmark partnership under which the Magnum Archive Collection, which contains nearly 200,000 original press prints of images taken by world-renowned Magnum photographers, will be preserved, catalogued and made accessible by the Ransom Center. The Collection will reside at the Ransom Center pursuant to an agreement with its new owner, an affiliate of MSD Capital, which recently acquired the prints from Magnum Photos.

Magnum Photos, a cooperative agency founded, run and governed by its member photographers, has been a standard of photographic excellence and innovation over the past 60-plus years. The vintage prints in the Collection have been amassed since the 1930s and include images of major world events, celebrities, family life, poverty, religion and social affairs by Magnum photographers including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt, Leonard Freed, Bruce Davidson, Rene Burri, Eve Arnold, Dennis Stock and more than 80 others. Images of icons from Picasso to Marilyn Monroe, from Sinatra to Gandhi, and from Castro to a young Queen Elizabeth coexist in the Collection with depictions of international conflicts, political unrest and cultural strife. Included are famous photos from the Spanish Civil War, the D-Day landings and the Six-Day War, as well as unforgettable scenes of historic events: the rise of democracy in India, Afghanistan and Iraq; the U.S. Civil Rights movement; the Rwandan genocide; and much more.
The Collection will be preserved and cataloged by the Harry Ransom Center, a humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin, whose photography collection holds the world’s first photograph, and has substantial holdings in fine arts and photojournalism. The Ransom Center will promote the Collection through scholarly research, fellowships, lectures and exhibitions. The Center will also host visits and programs with Magnum photographers.
Managing Director Mark Lubell of Magnum Photos said: “MSD Capital is an ideal partner, with a deep appreciation of and commitment to this unparalleled collection of photographic prints. Housing the collection at the Ransom Center not only allows this archive to be studied by photographers but also helps satisfy the huge interest in it among historians, anthropologists, curators, journalists and the public at large. Through this arrangement, we are able to acknowledge, celebrate and preserve Magnum’s historic past, and continue to be industry innovators by developing new platforms to distribute our future work.”
MSD Capital, the private investment firm of Michael S. Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Inc., purchased from Magnum Photos the physical press prints, which include many of these photographers’ most iconic images. Magnum’s member photographers will retain the copyright and licensing rights to all of the images in the Collection.
“This is a singularly valuable collection in the history of photography,” said Thomas F. Staley, Director of the Ransom Center. “It brings together some of the finest photojournalists of the profession and spans more than a half century of contributions to the medium. We are delighted to make these remarkable materials accessible to researchers and students.”
John C. Phelan, Co-Managing Partner of MSD Capital, said: “We immediately recognized the unique opportunity to own this extraordinary collection of prints by the world’s finest photojournalists. The images contained within the Collection capture the events and spirit of the 20th century in a way that only Magnum photojournalists can.”
Glenn R. Fuhrman, Co-Managing Partner of MSD Capital, added: “The Magnum Collection is an irreplaceable trove of American and world history. Given the technical changes that have taken place in the world of photography, including the digitization of images, a collection of prints like these will never exist again.”
Michael Dell commented, “I am so pleased to be able to entrust this significant body of work to the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas for research, study and exhibition. The Ransom Center has a well-known record of excellence and is ideally suited to manage the archiving and study of such a substantial and important collection. Having this incredible collection in Austin is especially exciting to me.”

Website : Magnum Photos

FIC123.BE een website met info en cultuur.
Bron/Source : Artdaily

PRESTIGIEUSE MANIFESTA HOUDT HALT IN HASSELT IN 2012

De kunsttentoonstelling Manifesta houdt in 2012 halt in Limburg. Het is de eerste keer dat de Europese biënnale voor hedendaagse kunst in België plaatsvindt. Met de organisatie van de prestigieuze tentoonstelling hoopt het provinciebestuur de regio nog meer op de kaart te zetten. 'De biënnale trekt telkens meer dan 108.000 bezoekers.' Kizzy Van Horne
De beslissing is gevallen. De reizende Europese biënnale voor hedendaagse kunst Manifesta komt voor het eerst naar ons land. Limburg had zich kandidaat gesteld, maar concurreerde tegen een Engelse regio. Zo'n 1,5 jaar geleden bezocht de organisatie Limburg en onlangs viel het verdict.
'We zoeken om de twee jaar naar een regio met een meerwaarde, een regio waar dialoog kan ontstaan. De provincie Limburg is zo'n bijzondere regio', zegt Hedwig Fijen, directrice van Manifesta. 'Limburg heeft met het mijnverleden een interessante industriële geschiedenis. En het is mooi om te zien wat daar mee gedaan is. Wat in Limburg gebeurt, zal straks in Europa gebeuren. Het is de Europese Unie in het klein. De herpositionering in een postindustriële samenleving en de zoektocht naar een nieuwe invulling van het industrieel erfgoed, daar zijn veel landen in geïnteresseerd. En hoe dat hier gebeurt, daar kunnen veel landen nog van leren. Dit proces zal aan de basis liggen van een boeiende tentoonstelling.'
108.000 bezoekers
Kunstencentrum Z33 speelde een belangrijke rol in het aantrekken van Manifesta. Maar ook het provinciebestuur is enthousiast. Samen met de biënnale van Venetië en Documenta in Kassel is Manifesta een van de vooraanstaande kunstmanifestaties in Europa. Met dit verschil dat Manifesta rondreist.
'Toen ik de eerste cijfers zag, vroeg ik me af of Limburg dit wel kan dragen', zegt gedeputeerde van Cultuur Gilbert Vanbaelen. 'Maar ik ben ervan overtuigd dat het belangrijk is om Manifesta in 2012 naar Limburg te halen om onszelf als jonge, creatieve en dynamische provincie op de kaart te zetten. De biënnale trekt telkens meer dan 108.000 bezoekers. Wat ook voor het toerisme in onze regio belangrijk is.'
Ook kunst uit eigen regio
Tweehonderddertig kunstenaars, architecten en schrijvers zullen zich laten inspireren door de regio en deelnemen. 'Ook kunstenaars uit eigen regio worden betrokken bij het project', aldus de gedeputeerde. Bovendien wordt ook gezocht naar lokale partners, zoals bedrijven en scholen om de organisatie tot een goed eind te brengen. De oude mijnterreinen en productiehallen van de Philipsfabriek zullen dienst doen als tentoonstellingsruimte. Hoeveel de tentoonstelling precies zal kosten, is nog niet duidelijk. Maar wel wordt gerekend op een basisbedrag van drie miljoen euro.

Website : MANIFESTA International Foundation

FIC123.BE een website met info en cultuur.
Bron/Source : Het Nieuwsblad

BERLINALE 60 - 11 - 21.02.2010

Berlin - a cosmopolitan, exciting capital, a city of culture with international appeal. In the middle of it all: the Berlinale – not only the city’s largest cultural event, but also one of the most important dates on the international film industry’s calendar. More than 19,000 film professionals from 136 countries, including about 4,000 journalists, are accredited for the Berlin International Film Festival every year. The Berlinale is truly a mega event. At the same time, it is a festival of encounters and discussions. With more than 270,000 tickets sold, the Berlinale is not only a film industry meeting. It also enjoys by far the largest audience of any film festival in the world. For two weeks, art, glamour, parties and business meet at the Berlinale.
A Wide World of Film
Up to 400 films are shown every year as part of the Berlinale's public programme, the vast majority of which are world or European premieres. Films of every genre, length and format can be submitted for consideration. The Berlinale is divided into different sections, each with its own unique profile: big international movies in the Competition, independent and art-house productions in Panorama, movies specially for a young audience in the Generation section, the most exciting German cinema productions in Perspektive Deutsches Kino, an in-depth look at films from “distant” countries and experimental forms in the Forum, as well as an investigation of diverse cinematic possibilities in the Berlinale Shorts. The programme is rounded off by a thematic Retrospective and a Homage, which focuses on the lifework of a great cinema personality. Both of these sections, which are curated by the Berlin Film Museum, aim to place contemporary cinema within a historical context.

The European Film Market (EFM), the film trade fair integrated into the Berlinale has developed into one of the most important events for the international film business. The Berlinale and EFM, the festival and the market, together form a unique network of formal and informal connections. Since 2006, the main venue of the EFM has been the Martin-Gropius-Bau, a prestigious location with charm and character in the immediate vicinity of the festival centre at Potsdamer Platz.
Showing, enabling, initiating...
The Berlin International Film Festival sees itself as a showcase for what is happening in cinema, but also as an actor and propagator on the international film circuit. Whether through film series, workshops, panels and thematic collaborations with other cultural players - the Berlinale offers countless forms of co-operation and creative interaction.
One of the many fruits of the festival’s cooperative orientation is the Berlinale Talent Campus, which takes place during the festival and is made possible by a broad network of creative partners. The Campus invites about 350 young film talents from around the world to meet with experienced film professionals and personalities for a week of workshops and discussions. This “talent forge” is primarily about the transfer of know-how, teamwork and the exchange of ideas. The Campus is an investment in the future of the festival, but even more so in the future of cinema.

In terms of thematic focal points and forms of presentation, the Berlinale situates itself at the meeting point of the available and the possible. This fundamental openness for new ideas and solutions, for unconventional formats and surprising lateral connections also finds expression in ongoing initiatives that are permanently embedded in the festival. Such as the Berlinale Co-Production Market, which, associated to the European Film Market, provides fruitful territory for international co-productions; or the World Cinema Fund (WCF), a joint initiative with the German Federal Cultural Foundation. The idea and aim of this support mechanism is the realisation of film projects in structurally disadvantaged countries and strengthening their position in the international film industry. The Fund’s activities continue throughout the year and therefore stretch far beyond the festival itself.
The Berlin Spirit
Artists from around the world are attracted to Berlin and many consider Berlin the unofficial capital of German film. It is home to a rich cinema scene and a diverse, discerning public. Last but not least, Berlin has captured the imagination of countless filmmakers. Over and over again, the city has served as the backdrop for great silver screen productions, often becoming itself the secret protagonist of the movie. Think “film” and “Berlin” is bound to spring to mind. For two weeks every year Berlin is totally enraptured by the Berlinale.

Website : Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin

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Bron/Source : Berlinale 60

UNIEKE TENTOONSTELLING MET WERK VAN TON VAN DE VEN IN HET ANTON PIECK MUSEUM

Onder de titel ‘Dromen met geleende hand’ is tot en met 31 augustus in het Anton Pieck Museum een bijzondere en unieke tentoonstelling te bezichtigen. Het is voor het eerst dat Ton van de Ven, voormalig creatief directeur van de Efteling, toestemming heeft verleend om een deel van zijn ontwerpen en schetsen ten toon te stellen. De expositie wordt op 16 april – één dag vóór de geboortedag van Anton Pieck – persoonlijk geopend door Van de Ven die als geen ander met zijn ontwerptekeningen in de voetsporen van Anton Pieck trad.

De expositie bestaat uit 74 werken uit de archieven van De Efteling. De werken geven vier van de belangrijkste attracties weer die door Van de Ven werden ontworpen en die internationaal naam en faam kregen.

Website : Anton Pieck Museum

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Bron/Source : Anton Pieck Museum

EXHIBITION CELEBRATES A COLLECTOR WHO TRANSFORMEND THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

New York investment broker Chester Dale's 1962 bequest made the National Gallery of Art one of the leading repositories in North America of French art of the late-19th and early 20th centuries. From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, on view in the Gallery's West Building from January 31, 2010 through July 31, 2011, will bring together 81 of the finest French and American paintings that Dale and his wife Maud, an artist and critic, assembled from the 1920s through the 1950s.
The exhibition and its accompanying book will explore the Dales' passion and talent for acquiring great art. Many of the works in the show are among the most renowned masterpieces in the history of art, but due to a stipulation in the bequest, may only be seen at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
"It is impossible to overestimate the transformative impact of the collection of Chester Dale and his wife Maud on the National Gallery of Art," said Earl A. Powell III, director. "Their legacy has not only enriched the Gallery but the nation as well, by sharing these extraordinary works of French and American art with the American public and the world."Exhibition Organization and Highlights.
From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection coincides with the Gallery's renovation of the northeast Main Floor galleries, where many of the Dale works are usually displayed chronologically and by artist. The exhibition in the Ground Floor central galleries, however, will be organized thematically for the first time—a nod to the exhibitions dedicated to still lifes, portraiture, and other subjects that Maud Dale arranged in New York City during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Viewing the works through the lens of these themes provides a fresh look at the scope of the Dales' collection.
The first gallery showcases key works by some of the Dales' favorite artists: Henri Matisse's The Plumed Hat (1919)—his first major purchase of French modern art—Auguste Renoir's A Girl with a Watering Can (1876), Vincent van Gogh's Girl in White (1890), and Amedeo Modigliani's Gypsy Woman with Baby (1919). A section displaying paintings of women includes portraits by Renoir, Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, and Pablo Picasso, as well as nudes and studies of the female form by Renoir, Cassatt, Matisse, and Gustave Courbet. Portraits of men are also featured, with works by Degas, Picasso, Paul Cézanne, and Edouard Vuillard.
A room devoted to landscapes and cityscapes includes two of Claude Monet's celebrated views of Rouen Cathedral (1894), George Bellows' Blue Morning (1909), Eugène Boudin's The Beach at Villerville (1864), and Robert Henri's Snow in New York (1902). Another room is dedicated to the genre of still lifes, with examples by Cézanne, Matisse, Georges Braque, and Henri Fantin-Latour.
The centerpiece of a gallery devoted to the idea of "monumental modernity" is the rich pairing of two large-scale works by two of the art world's major figures: Edouard Manet's The Old Musician (1862) is hung opposite Picasso's Family of Saltimbanques (1905). The synergy in subject and composition between these two masterworks creates a dramatic pairing. The room also features Paul Gauguin's Self-Portrait (1889), Van Gogh's La Mousmé (1888), and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette (1892).
Rounding out the exhibition are portraits of the collectors themselves, by four of the key artists whose work they championed. Chester Dale is painted by Salvador Dalí and Diego Rivera; while Maud is depicted by George Bellows and Fernand Léger.
A new 15-minute documentary film profiling Chester and Maud, produced by the National Gallery of Art on the occasion of this exhibition, will be shown continually in the galleries, along with informational text about the Dales and a chronology of their collection.
A selection of books from the Chester Dale Collection and related documentary material from the Gallery Archives will be installed in Gallery G-21 of the West Building. Additional works of art from the Chester Dale collection on display throughout the East and West Building galleries will be identified by a special icon for visitors who wish to explore this collection further.
Chester Dale and the National Gallery of Art
An astute businessman who made his fortune on Wall Street in the bond market, Dale thrived on forging deals and translated much of this energy and talent into building his art collection. His purchases were guided by his personal tastes as well as by his wife Maud. Initially the couple began collecting American paintings; among their favorite artists was their neighbor, George Bellows, who painted portraits of both of them.
By 1925, Maud had begun to steer Dale towards French art, and it was at her urging that he concentrated his collecting in the area of French art from the time of the Revolution to the present, together with earlier artists whom she called "ancestors." They purchased many works on regular trips to Europe after World War I. Dale often commented that he had the inquisitiveness and Maud had the knowledge. Even after Chester Dale became a partner in the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris in the late 1920s, Maud continued to advise and direct their acquisitions. Dale continued to make remarkable purchases in the early years of the Great Depression. Although he curtailed his activity by the mid-1930s, Dale added outstanding examples of both French and American art to his already spectacular collection in the years that followed. Maud Dale died in 1953. On May 27 of the following year, the 71-year-old Dale married his late wife's longtime secretary, Mary Towar Bullard.
Dale served on several museums' boards of trustees during his lifetime, starting with The Museum of Modern Art in 1929, the year it opened, and remaining in the post until 1931. In 1943 he became a trustee for three other museums: the Art Institute of Chicago (until 1952), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (until 1956), and the National Gallery of Art.
For Dale, the nascent National Gallery of Art offered the rare opportunity to put his mark on a major international institution, becoming a founding benefactor rather than one of many donors competing for wall space. In 1941 Chester Dale loaned seven American paintings for the dedication of the National Gallery of Art and later in the year added 25 of his most important French paintings selected to illustrate the development of French art. Further loans would follow. Dale made his first gift to the National Gallery in 1942, donating three old master paintings. This was followed by two substantial gifts in 1943: one comprising eight American canvases; the other, 11 of his greatest old master works, including paintings by El Greco and François Boucher. Dale would donate an additional 14 works to the Gallery during his lifetime, including three paintings by Bellows and the first work by Monet to enter the museum's collection.
These gifts, combined with loans already in place, seemed to make the National Gallery of Art the obvious candidate to receive Dale's collection; but he continued to make substantial loans to other museums, with large segments of his collection lent to both Chicago and Philadelphia in the 1940s. Nonetheless, in 1951 and 1952, Dale recalled these works, lending them instead to the National Gallery. At his death in 1962 he bequeathed to the Gallery the core of his still-substantial collection of modern art, comprising 223 paintings, seven sculptures, and 23 works on paper—among the single most valuable gifts ever given to the National Gallery. Subsequently, 17 works were donated by Dale's estate, bringing the total number of works in the Chester Dale Collection to 306.
As a result of Dale's generosity, the Gallery's permanent holdings of 19th-century French paintings nearly tripled in size. "It's not just the backbone," the former Gallery director John Walker is reputed to have said, but "the whole rib structure of the modern French school here." In addition to shaping the Gallery through the donation of his collection, Dale also served as president of the National Gallery from 1955 until his death.

Website : National Gallery of Art - Washington

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Bron/Source : Artdaily

ARTISTIEK TESTAMENT EL GRECO HOOGST UITZONDERLIJK IN BRUSSEL

Het meest beroemde Apostolaat van El Greco is niet alleen de apotheose van zijn leven, het vormt ook het hoogtepunt van zijn schilderkunst. In Bozar is het de apotheose van de El Greco-tentoonstelling. En dat is hoogst uitzonderlijk.
Nooit eerder waren de dertien schilderijen samen buiten het Museo del Greco te zien. Dat zal volgens de conservator ook nooit meer gebeuren. Dat de volledige reeks, die Christus met zijn twaalf apostelen voorstelt, nu wel in Brussel te zien is, is te danken aan de renovatiewerken die momenteel in het Museo del Greco in Toledo lopen.
Van El Greco (1541-1614) zijn er drie volledige apostolaten bekend. Dat van Toledo, dat hij schilderde tussen 1610 en 1614, wordt algemeen aanzien als zijn beste. Vooral de voor zijn tijd uiterst moderne schilderswijze, waarvoor El Greco zo beroemd is, valt op. De dertien doeken zijn stuk voor stuk kleurrijke portretten op een donkere achtergrond. In Bozar hangen aan beide wanden telkens zes apostelen zij aan zij, Christus de Verlosser hangt aan het hoofd. Onaantastbare status
Aan zijn erg karakteristieke stijl dankt El Greco zijn intussen onaantastbare status als één van de grondleggers van de Spaanse school. Maar dat is niet altijd zo vanzelfsprekend geweest. Zijn eigen tijdgenoten konden zijn dramatische en expressionistische stijl maar matig appreciëren. Desondanks slaagde El Greco er als eerste in Spanje in om van zijn kunst een commercieel succes te maken.
Maar als de Europese smaak rond zijn dood verandert, raakt zijn werk snel uit de mode en in de vergetelheid. Europa raakt in de ban van het Caravaggisme, dat de werkelijkheid probeert vast te leggen zoals ze is. Net het omgekeerde van El Greco dus, die maniëristisch werkt.
De stijl van El Greco is een amalgaam van verschillende invloeden. Eerst en vooral is er de oosterse invloed, want eigenlijk was El Greco een Griek. Oorspronkelijk heette hij Domenikos Theotokopoulos en werkte hij als iconenschilder in een lokaal kunstatelier op Kreta. Via Venetië, waar hij invloed onderging van het maniërisme en de Venetiaanse Renaissance, en het voor kunstenaars in die periode obligate Rome belandde hij in 1577 in het Spaanse Toledo. Hij zou er tot aan zijn dood in 1614 blijven.
Heropleving
Pas halfweg de 19e en vooral aan het begin van de 20e eeuw wordt de kunst van El Greco herontdekt. Dat is het werk van drie sleutelfiguren uit de Spaanse culturele scène van die tijd: kunsthistoricus Manuel Bartolomé Cossío die in 1908 een monografie publiceert, fotograaf Mariano Moreno en markies de Vega Inclán. Hij nam in 1910 het initiatief voor de oprichting van het Museo del Greco in Toledo. De essentiële rol van deze drie figuren staat centraal in Bozar. Die heropleving bezorgde El Greco de reputatie die hij vandaag nog heeft: die van pionier. Zowel op de Duitse expressionisten als op de kubisten, met onder andere Picasso, liet zijn kunst een onuitwisbare stempel na. En nu nog verbazen kunstliefhebbers zich over de moderniteit van zijn schilderkunst.

Elien Harntjens

Website : BOZAR

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Bron/Source : Knack