Rococo Decorative Arts of the mid 1700s

This lady's diminutive desk has bulging, bombe surfaces. Its slanted top folds out on hinged struts that support its writing surface. Below three drawers, a false bottom pushes back, revealing three more tiny drawers. The flowers and vines that ripple across the exterior are repeated on the interior. These patterns are made of dark woods that were end-cut to create a stippled effect and silhouetted against the diagonal grain of pale tulip-wood.

Such floral veneer, making the most of natural wood tones, characterizes the style of Bernard II van Risamburgh, who stenciled his initials, B.V.R.B., underneath this piece. He often used ink stencils on his smaller works, which were too delicate to withstand blows from metal stamp punches.

Specializing in small-scale luxury furniture, Bernard was exceptionally versatile in technique. He used wood marquetry and Oriental lacquer, and is likely to have been the first cabinetmaker to decorate his pieces with plaques of Sevres porcelain. The second of three generations of Parisian furniture makers of Dutch origin, Bernard II van Risamburgh was among the finest eighteenthcentury craftsmen. For More info:

http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg14c/gg14c-1579.html

French Maritime Artist

These artists thought that if their work was exhibited fairly, it would gain acceptance. They sought favorable viewing conditions such as good lighting and ample space between paintings, and they also wanted to exhibit more works than the two allowed by Salon rules. In 1874, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas, Morisot, and Sisley led a number of friends to form an association and publicly presented the first group exhibition independent of the official Salon. They called themselves "Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, etc., Inc." to avoid descriptive titles and pejorative epithets. Critics noted their unorthodox style and especially a work exhibited by Monet with the title Impression, Sunrise (Musée Marmottan, Paris) and sarcastically dubbed them "impressionists." The group, which presented eight exhibitions in all, survived until 1886. By then the core impressionists were beginning to attain a degree of popular success. The exhibition strategy that had been essential to their enterprise was no longer necessary, and the group disbanded.

The audacious impressionist venture had overturned contemporary artistic institutions and freed artists to explore new forms of expression. A variety of styles arose as the impressionist movement concluded. Postimpressionism, usually associated with Seurat, Cézanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh, was neither a style nor a movement; rather, postimpressionism was differentiated by the largely symbolic and imaginary sources of inspiration that supplanted the naturalist and realist impulses that had shaped impressionism.

Art Gallery of New South Wales - Australian collection

The Art Gallery of New South Wales has three main curatorial departments: Australian Art (including Aboriginal art), Asian Art and Western (international) Art. This page breaks these departments into more specific collection areas. In Highlights, click on the arrows to move from one highlight to the next and get a quick impression of the scope of that collection area. Alternatively, click View Slide Show, and the highlights will be automatically displayed in sequence, with an 8 second interval. Click on Search to do a search relating to that particular collection area.


Australian collection

The Australian collection provides a comprehensive overview of Australian art in all media from early colonial times to the present. There is also a separate selection under Aboriginal Art. The old courts on the ground floor display a strong representation of some of the most loved Australian painters and sculptors of the 19th century, including national icons such as Roberts, McCubbin and Streeton, while on the other side of the entrance court in the Captain Cook wing, you can find an impressive collection of key works of Australian modernism. The Aboriginal collection can be found on the third level in the Yiribana gallery as well as having a presence in the twentieth century Australian wing. This display reflects the long history of traditional art across the continent, and contemporary practice and innovation in all media.

FRENCH PAINTING OF THE 19TH CENTURY

As the century began, the academic style favored by the official Salon still dictated the success of artists and public taste. But soon that began to change. Realists turned convention on its head to give heroic character to everyday subjects. Manet scandalized the public with his images of modern life. Impressionists tried to capture fleeting effects of light and atmosphere.

Painting in the first half of the nineteenth century was dominated by Ingres and Delacroix, the first continuing in the neoclassical tradition in his emphasis on linear purity and the second championing the expressive, romantic use of color as opposed to line. Both significantly influenced a new generation of painters who sought to communicate their own personal responses to the political upheavals of their time.

For two hundred years, the Academy, the School of Fine Arts, and the Salon, the official exhibition, had fostered the French national artistic tradition. But by the middle of the nineteenth century the academic system had degenerated.

During the 1860s and 1870s, the artists who later became known as the impressionists concluded that the smoothly idealized presentation of academic art was formulaic and artificial. Their relatively loose, open brushwork underscored their freedom from the meticulously detailed academic manner. They were innovative in their subject matter, too, choosing motifs that did not teach or preach, such as landscape or ordinary activities of daily life, which were considered trivial or degenerate by the Academy. Often juries, dominated by academic attitudes, rejected the young artists' paintings altogether.

U.S. Commission of Fine Arts

The Commission of Fine Arts, established in 1910 by Act of Congress, is charged with giving expert advice to the President, Congress and the heads of departments and agencies of the Federal and District of Columbia governments on matters of design and aesthetics, as they affect the Federal interest and preserve the dignity of the nation's capital. The Commission consists of seven "well qualified judges of the fine arts" who are appointed by the President and serve for a term of four years; they may also be reappointed. The Commission provides advice to the U. S. Mint on the design of coins and medals, and approves the site and design of national memorials, both in the United States and on foreign soil, in accordance with the Commemorative Works Act or the American Battle Monuments Act, whichever applies.

Within the District of Columbia community, the Commission advises on design matters affecting the Historic District of Georgetown, under the Old Georgetown Act, as well as other private sector areas adjacent to federal interests, under the Shipstead-Luce Act.

Indonesian Ceramic Pieces Arrive at MAGNT

A total of 199 fragile ceramic pieces have just arrived at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) in preparation for the second triennial Arafura Craft Exchange Trajectory of Memories, Tradition and Modernity in Ceramics which opens in July. MAGNT Curator Australian Visual Arts and Crafts Allison Gray said the works, mainly from Yogyakarta, Indonesia arrived in a sea container safe and sound and staff have just completed the unpacking process. “This exhibition has been three years in the making, so it’s great to see all the hard work of the artists, Guest Indonesian Curator Sudjud Dartanto and museum staff come to fruition with the arrival of the pieces,” Ms Gray said. “Trajectory of Memories, Tradition and Modernity in Ceramics, is based on artists living in neighbouring countries occupying the same Asia-Pacific region, and their responses to living traditions, which are continually evolving as we move through modernity, but it’s also an opportunity to simply enjoy the artistic achievements of Indonesian and Australian ceramicists.”

Guest Curator, Sudjud Dartanto said there were three different statements visible in the pieces from the seven artists. “First is affirmation of tradition, which is articulated in decorative motifs seen in Sudiyati, Arisuta and Ottley’s pieces, inspired by customary symbols these works show that this expression takes different shapes as artists’ choices are affected by a variety of factors,” Mr Dartano said.

“The second statement is subversion – the positioning of one’s personal stories as the antithesis of grand narratives – as reflected in the works of Titarubi and Orchard’s works, and lastly the third theme is the tendency to flirt with signism, which can be seen in the works of Asmudjo and Doolan who display a playful approach to the various idioms of modernity.”

Ms Gray said the exhibition will feature works from four Indonesian artists and three Australian artists, including local Darwin ceramicist Harvey Ottley. “Harvey uses a really interesting technique of introducing horse hair at the point of hot temperature in the firing, which results in the line pattern of her ceramic works,” Ms Gray said.

Exploratorium

Housed within the walls of the City of San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium is a park partner and a world-renowned museum and educational center with 650 science, art, and human perception exhibits. Founded in 1969 by Dr. Frank Oppenheimer, the Exploratorium's mission is "to create a culture of learning through innovative environments, programs, and tools that help people nurture their curiosity about the world around them." Visitors of all ages flock to the museum.