Sunday in the Neigborhood Gardens

Colleen and I enjoyed six gardens in our neighborhood of Windsor Square and Hancock Park through our local historical society.  We were docents at one home and I had the privilege of viewing these two Morgan cars that were on display in the garden where we were assigned.  The one on the left is a 1958 four cylinder and the red one is a 1987, 8 cylinder.  They Morgan family makes about 500 cars a year at their factory in England.  The cars have a wooden frame.  They are beautiful pieces of art.

"Twin Visions" on Tuesday at the Rutberg Gallery

I roamed through the Jack Rutberg Fine Arts Gallery, 357 N La Brea Ave., L.A., to check out the "Twin Visions" exhibit...the works of identical twin brothers, Jerome Witkin and Joel-Peter Witkin. They were born in September of 1939 in Brooklyn, New York.  Joel-Peter lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and his works, according to Wikipedia, "often deals with such themes as death, corpses, and various outsiders such as dwarves, transsexuals, hermaphrodites and physically deformed people." Jerome lives in Syracuse, New York and quoting Wikipedia, "is an American figurative artist whose paintings deal with political, social and cultural themes, along with serious portraiture that melds the sitter's social position with a speaking likeness that reveals character."  These twin brothers were reportedly estranged from each other and never have exhibited together, until now.

Jack Rutberg, was as always an excellent host, welcoming me to his gallery and talking about the amazing artists he represents.

Here is a bit of what I saw:

"Night In A Small Town," 2007 Joel-Peter Witkin

"Life is an Invention: The Constellation of Balthus," 2007, Joel-Peter Witkin

"The Raft of George W. Bush," 2006, Joel-Peter Witkin

"Face of A Woman," 2004, Joel-Peter Witkin

"Vincent and his Demons II," 2012 by Jerome Witkin

"Retablo," 2007, Joel-Peter Witkin

"Vincent and His Demons III," 2012 Jerome Witkin

"The German Girl," 1997, Jerome Witkin

"Crack House," 1990, Jerome Witkin

"A Jew In A Ruin," 1990, Jerome Witkin

"Study For Terminal," 1986-87, Charcoal on Paper, Jerome Witkin

"Terminal," 1987, oil on linen by Jerome Witkin as seen in a book.

I found two gems upstairs at the gallery:  "Seated Woman," 1931 by David Alfaro Siqueiros, 1896-1974

"Seated Woman," 1963, Mahogany, by Francisco Zuniga (1912-1998)

Huntington Library, Gardens and Museums on Thursday

Thursday was a picture postcard day in San Marino, CA and a fine day for roaming around the library, gardens and museums with veterans.  We learned a lot about the Gutenberg Bible on velum, one of only 14 remaining, printed and painted 600 years ago.  It took about 5,000 sheep and other animal skins to make the velum for the printed pages.  Then each page was painted by artists showing scenes in the bible...with actual gold accents.  A wonderful docent answered all our questions.

We then strolled by the Shakespeare garden to the American art museum where I took pictures of some of the favorites seen below.  Then off to the Chinese garden with a view of the lake, bridges and pavilions while we sipped great tea and munched on cookies.  Then off to the Japanese Garden, Rose Garden and the Huntington Mansion to see the furnishings and  great art....English and French.

It was a great day...tired feet but happy minds.

"Abraham Lincoln," modeled 1860 cast 1880 by Leonard Wells Volk, 1828-1895.  On May 18, 1860, Leonard Volk made a life mask of Abraham Lincoln by covering the future president's face in plaster, letting it set, and carefully removing it.  He then used the mask to create numerous bronze sculptures of the 51 year-old presidential candidate.

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"Sailing Ships off the New England Coast," 1855 by Fitz Henry Lane, 1804-1865

"Chimborazo," 1864 by Frederic Church, 1826-1900

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"Bronco Buster," 1895 by Frederic Remington, 1861-1909

"Untitled," by Harry Bertoia, 1915-1978  "Based on the form of a tree, this sculpture's roughly patinated bronze leaves seem to flutter in an unseen wind."

"Benediction," 1922 by Caniel Chester French, 1830-1911 bronze

"Free Floating Clouds," 1980 by Sam Francis, 1923-1994 Acrylic on canvas

Silver by Allan Adler, 1916-2002.  This "Silversmith to the Stars," was the most innovative silversmiths working in Southern California after WWII.  Clients included Eleanor Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Clark Gable, Frank Sinatra, Carol Channing, Steven Spielberg and Michael Jackson

"Bird Drinks Creek Dry, Fish Escapes," 1965 by Edward Ruscha, b. 1937

"Brillo Box," 1964 by Andy Warhol, 1928-1987, "art that was intended to provoke anxiety about the nature and value of art." 

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"Leaded Glass Window from the James A. Patten House, Evanston, Illinois," 1901 by George Washington Maher, 1864-1926 and Louis Millet, 1856-1923

"Pandora", 1858 by Chauncey Bradley Ives, 1810-1894, marble.  Note she has not yet opened the box that will release horrors into the world.

"Mrs. William Playfair," 1887 by John Singer Sargent 1856-1925

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"David Wilson Jordan," 1899 by Thomas Eakins, 1844-1916

"The Inner Studio, Tenth Street,": 1882 by William Merritt Chase 1849-1916

Painting is "Study," by William Merritt Chase
Chair created in 1869 by George Hunzinger, 1835-1898

"Zenobia in Chains," 1859 in marble by Harriet Goodhue Hosmer 1830-1908 

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"Puck," 1843 marble by Harriet Goodhue Hosmer

"Vesuvius from Portici," 1774-76 by Joseph Wright of Derby (British, 1734-1797) "Wright magnifies the volcano's terrifying mass against the minuscule buildings below"...Pompeii...with the moon rising through the smoke and clouds. 

"Charles Stuart Forbes," 1882 by John Singer Sargent

Gallery Roaming with Chris on Tuesday

My friend Chris and I met at one of the 40 galleries in Culver City yesterday, proceeded to several others, and enjoyed the current art being exhibited.  Our first stop was Blum & Poe at 2727 S. La Cienega Blvd where we saw work by Matt Saunders on the first floor entitled "Neon in Daylight."  He uses a cameraless photographic technique in which light is passed through painted linen or Mylar onto photosensive paper.  Matt Sanders was born in 1975 in Tacoma Washington, schooled at Yale (MFA) and has had recent solo exhibitions at the Tate Liverpool and other places.    Here is a sample of his work:

 Upstair at Blum & Poe is the work of Penny Slinger, a British-born artist who uses collages from different eras and never-before-seen film footage.  The description of her work describes how the artist "mined surrealism in the 60's and 70's to plumb the depths of the feminine psyche and subconscious...to express the more liberated realms of super consciousness."  She studied at the Chelsea College of Art in late 1960's. In the late 1970's, Slinger used her own staged photographs to create hauntingly surreal collages.   He is a small sample of her work.

The Cherry and Martin Gallery at 2712 La Cienega Blvd is showing some of the work of Lew Thomas called "Structual(ism) and Photography."  Below is one of his works entitled "Throwing-Nikomat" (1973) which integrates "the act of photography with the images photographed."

Next we went to the George Billis Gallery at 2716 S. La Cienega where we enjoyed the paintings of Kurt Solmssen who is described as a contemporary realist painter who captures his surroundings and life in the northwest Puget Sound area.  He is a plein air painter who uses bright color and light.  He was born and schooled in Philadelphia and has many solo exhibitions on both coasts.  Here is a sample of his work:

"Yellow Boat Summer Evening," 2013, oil on linen

"RG and the Yellow Boat,"  2013 oil on linen

"Bonfire," 2013 oil on linen

"Summer Coffee," 2013 oil on linen (The sun was shining through a window on this painting)

"Marsha and Forsythia," 2013 oil on linen

The other artist that we enjoyed at the George Billis Gallery is Matt Condron and his oil paintings of chairs.  He describes himself:  "I am a self-taught oil painter working in the realist style.  I work from photos I take during my travels largely throughout the U.S...some...from a recent trip to Chile...I hope to capture that still point between hurried activity whereby the viewer alone might remain, suspended in some reverie or another of his or her own."  Let's see what you think:

Next door we discovered  some interesting art by an artist by the name of Mitro, a French painter who was born in Rumania in 1957 and Masai Family and busts by Daniele Matalon in bronze.

And finally we roamed in to the Western Project gallery at 2762 S. La Cienega Blvd to see the new drawings by Patrick Lee. "For over ten years Lee has worked on his series "Deadly Friends;" an investigation into the lives of men on the streets of America. Looking to understand the subtle and often forceful appearances of men the artist has created a body of work this time inspired by the environs around LA City Jail and the nearby Union Station."   He meets and photographs random folks, listens to their stories and draws their portraits.
Here are some of his drawings: