Getty Center on Thursday

I arrived early at the Getty Center high above Brentwood, a neighborhood of L.A. West of the 405 Freeway.  The rains had stopped and the air was clear with the sun showing the city at it's best.

The first exhibit I visited was in the Getty Research Institute.  It is entitled "World War I:  War of Images, Images of War."  The description states that the exhibit examines the art and visual culture of the war which occurred 100 years ago.  It says that the war was a conflict of unprecedented mechanized slaughter as well as a struggle over the cultural dominance and direction of Europe.  "The exhibition juxtaposes the representation of the war in visual propaganda with depiction of artists who experienced the brutality firsthand."  It includes "trench art" made by soldiers.

Here is a sample of what I saw:

"Napoleon and Wilhelm" by Henri Zislin (French, 1875-1958)
Color Lithograph.  The French illustrator contrasts the "benevolent" worldview of Napoleon with the mass death wreaked by the Kaiser of Germany.

"British Sea Lion" by August Gaul (German, 1869-1921)
Lithograph.  The German journal Kreigszeit Kunstlerflugblatter  frequently satirized Great Beitain, here depicting the enemy as a sea lion balancing a globe on its nose.

Map of Europe in 1914 by Walter Trier (German, 1890-1951), color lithograph, November 1915.
The map presents a cartographic caricature of Europe's warring nations from a German perspective.  Germany and Austria-Hungary are shown defending themselves against the hostile maw of Russia to the east and a toppling France to the west.  Great Britain is pictured as a dour Scotsman with his gnarling British bulldog.

"The Way Home" by Thomas Theodor Heine (German, 1867-1948
Color lithograph, 1915.  This cover shows the way home to the Russian bear, bloodied and walking through the snow..

Le mot, a journal by artist Jean Cocteau and designer Paul Iribe launched this French cultural journal (The World) three and a half months into the war..  This one is entitled "The Good Cross" on the cover of the journal in January 1915.

"The Rose of France" February, 1915

"Our Toy:  The Villainous Kaiser Wilhelm,"  January 1915
Color woodcut and letterpress.

"The Sower of False News," by Eugen Damblans (French, 1865-1945)
Le petit journal, March 21, 1815

"For the Country, My Eyes! For Peace, Your Money," 1918 by Alfredo Ortelli (Italian, 1889-1963
Color lithograph.  This poster was issued to promote a national loan program enacted to help finance the war.  The figure is the blind Italian lieutenant Carlo Delcroix (1896-1877).  He was hailed a national hero.

"At the Marne:  Victory is Evanescent," June 25, 1918 cover by Thomas Theodor Heine
Color lithograph.

"Let there be war now/where and with whom one wants / and all German blades will be strongly and joyfully gleam in the sun." (Bismarck) by Max Frohlich (German), 1915

"Destroy this Mad Brute - Enlist," 1917 by Harry R. Hopps (American, 1869-1937), color lithograph.

"Wilhelm's Carousel," 1914 by Kazimir Malevich (Russian, 1878-1. 935)

"God Hands the Book with the Seven Seals to the Lamb," 1917 by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German 1880-1938), pencil, ink and watercolor on cigarette pack.  Kirchner made this drawing while battling a nervous breakdown at a sanatorium in Switzerland.  His two months of military experience without serving in combat had left him terrified of being drafted into what he called a "bloody carnival."  This self portrait accompanied by Death was made on the back of a cigarette pack as he lacked any other resources. 

Map before the war

Europe after the war with a the number of war deaths from each country shown.  In addition, Canada  sent 13.5 percent of its male population of which half were killed or severely wounded..  The U.S. entered the war in April 1917, sent 4,355,000 to fight of which 323,000 were killed, wounded, or missing.

"The Way Home," 1919 by Max Beckmann (German, 1854-1950) Lithograph.  Beckmann condemned the war as a national disaster.  He was released from military service due to a nervous breakdown in 1915, but remained haunted by visions of the war for years.

"The Englishman and His Blove'Oh, dar, blood is more slippery than water after all.'" 1914 by Thomas Theodor Heine (1867-1948). The German journal represents an Englishman in a colonial pith helmet sliding off a globe covered in blood suggesting that the British empire has lost control of the world empire.

I then visited the "Spectacular Rubens, The Triumph of the Eucharist" exhibit.  In the early 1620 Peter Paul Rubens designed a series of monumental tapestries for the governor -general of the Netherlands, the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia.  This exhibit shows several of Rubens's preparatory oil sketches for four of the tapestries from the Madrid church for which they were made.  This Eucharist series, which celebrates the glory of the Roman Catholic Church, was presented in Madrid.

No photography was allowed, however, I have included copies of Rubens's paintings from the permanent collection of the Getty.

"The Entombment" 1612 by Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish, 1577-1640

"The Calydonian Boar Hunt," 1611-1612 by Rubens

The final exhibited I visited is the photography of Josef Koudelka entitled "Nationality Doubtful."  Koudelka was born in 1938 in Czechoslovakia at about the time it was claimed by Germany.  He became interested in photographing gypsies in Romania but returned to Prague when the Warsaw Pact invaded to put down the "Prague Spring: in 1968.  His work made it to the western press as the "anonymous Czech photographer," and brought the atrocities of the invasion to the front pages of the western press.

Here are some of the photographs I found on the Getty Web site:

Carlos Santana interviewed by Cheech Marin

Last Monday, December first was a fun day.  In addition to a trip to MOCA, and roam through the Grand Center Market, reading at the Last Bookstore, I went to a L.A. Library Aloud program at the historic Orpheum Theater on Broadway.  Cheech Marin interviewed Carlos Santana about his new autobiography that was recently published.

It was a fun interview and interesting as we learned more about Santana's life.  I am looking forward to reading the book.  But here are a few headlines that we heard:

Carlos was born in a small town near Tijuana, Mexico.  His father was a musician and traveled a lot.  He was raised by his mother who he respected and loved.  He began playing the guitar at a young age and while a teenager was playing in strip bars in Tijuana. He went to San Francisco where his father was working and began making his way as a musician.  His big break came when he was invited to play at Woodstock Festival.  When the album came out, he became a big hit with record deals and concert gigs.  With his first big check he bought a house for his mom.

He also talked about the importance of being who you are and the confidence to express that.

Here are a few pictures taken by Gary Leonard, photographer that I found on the Aloud web site:

Cheech and Carlos

The Theater



They had a lot of fun during the interview.

Andy Warhol: Shadows at MOCA

On Monday I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art to view the "Andy Warhol: Shadows" exhibit and others contemporary works of art from the MOCA collection

The exhibit description states that in 1978-79 Andy Warhol produced "Shadows" which in this exhibit consists of 102 six foot by more than 4 foot canvases mounted edge to edge and a foot off the floor.  (The number of panels used in an exhibit of "Shadows" depends on the space available.)  This gives a striking appearance when you walk in to the multi-room gallery.  I sat on a bench and just took it all in, enjoying the colors which range from an electric green to a somber brown.

These were produced in Warhol's studio in New York called "The Factory."  The name is appropriate as his repetitive productions must have seemed like a factory when all the workers were painting and silk screening under Warhol's direction.  The canvases were painted with the bight colors using a floor mop leaving the mop marks on the canvases.  The design was based on photographs of shadows taken in "The Factory."  The description states:  "It remains one of his most mysterious works, seemingly empty and full, fast and slow, light and dark at the same time."

I then roamed through art works from the MOCA permanent collection.  Here are a few of what I saw.

"Gabriel," 2002 by John Sonsini, b. 1950, Rome, New York; lives and works in Los Angeles.

"Reciprocal Relation," Per I, II, III, IV, 1969 by Alfred Jensen, b. 1903 Guatemala, d. 1981, New Jersey.
Oil on canvas. 

"Tree Puppies," 1992 by Jeff Koons, b. 1955 Pennsylvania; lives and works in New York City.
Polychromed wood.

"Telephone," 1961 by Andy Warhol, b. 1928 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; d. 1987 New York.
Acrylic and pencil on canvas.

"Map," 1952 by Jasper Johns, b. 1930, Augusta, Georgia; lives and works in Sharon, Connecticut.
Encaustic and collage on canvas.

"Interview," 1955 by Robert Rauschenberg, b. 1925, Port Arthur, Texas; d. 2008, Captive Island, Florida.
Oil, found painting, found drawing, lace, wood, envelope, found letter, fabric, photographs, printed reproductions, toweling, and newspaper on wood structure with brick, string, fork, softball, nail, metal hinges, and wood door.

"Betrothal I," 1947 by Arshile Gorky, b. 1905, Khorkom, Armenia; d. 1948, Sherman, Connecticut.
Oil on paper.
"I don't like the work "finish."  When something is finished, that means it's dead, doesn't it?...The thing to do is always to keep starting to paint, never finish a painting."  Arshile Gorky

"Tall Figure II, Tall Figure III," 1950 by Alberto Giacometti, b. 1901, Borgonovo, Switzerland; d. 1966, Chur, Switzerland.
Bronze.  "Waht is important is to create an object capable of conveying the sensation as close as possible to the one felt at the sight of the subject."  Alberto Giacometti

Francisco Zuniga's "Evelie de Pie" at U.S.C

While enjoying the U.S.C. Band warm up before the U.S.C vrs. Notre Dame football game on Saturday, I noticed that this Francisco Zuniga 1978 sculpture entitled "Evelie de Pie" seemed to be also enjoying the festivities.  Look hard for her, she is on the right side of the photo watching the band walk by.

That's "Traveler" the white horse that is ridden around the field every time the Trojans make a touchdown.  The horse and rider took seven trips around the Coliseum as U.S.C. trounced the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.  Yes, the fans wave victory fingers as the band plays "Conquest" written by Alfred Newman as the score for the 1947 movie "Captain from Castile."  Newman was the musical director of Twentieth Century-Fox.

Allen Toussaint and Preservation Hall Jazz Band

The Broad Auditorium at the Santa Monica College was jumpin' this past weekend.  The sold out house audience enjoyed the great New Orleans jazz music played by the seasoned members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Mr. New Orleans, Allen Toussaint.  The band members started the night and then Allen joined them.  We heard old favorites like "St. James Infirmary."  Allen riffed by himself on the piano for a fun interlude.  After a standing ovation that lasted for about 5 minutes, everyone returned with encore numbers and ending with Allen's "Summer Nights."

The members of the band are Mark Braud, trumpet and vocals, Charlie Gabriel age 81, clarinet and vocals Jaffe, Ronell Johnson, tuba and vocals, Joe Lastle, Jr., drums, Freddie Lonzo, trombone and vocals, Clint Maedgen, saxophone and vocals,  and Rickie Monie, piano and organ.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Allen Toussaint