Avian Avatars

The Realist: A Red-Tailed Hawk. @ Broadway between 37th and 38th (click photo for larger image)If you're in New York City, April marks the final month to see "Avian Avatars", a group of five enormous sculptures , each symbolizing a unique, mythical bird, on Broadway’s Garment District Plazas, between 36th and 41st streets.

"Crafted from maple saplings, wire ties and found objects, the sculptures stand from 18 to 26 feet tall, with each bird sharing a unique myth. Avian Avatars is meant to indicate transformation, encouraging the public to heed to the stories about current human impact on the changing natural world."

Read all about it HERE...

Paul Klee: “Color and I are One”

Paul Klee - Föhn in Marc's Garden - 1915 - watercolour on paper mounted on cardboard - Height: 20 cm (7.87 in.), Width: 15 cm (5.91 in.) - Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus - Munich (click photo for larger image)Paul Klee (1879-1940) was a Swiss-born painter and graphic artist whose personal, often gently humorous works are replete with allusions to dreams, music, and poetry. His art is difficult to classify. Art created by non-industrial cultures, surrealism, cubism, and children's art are all blended into Klee’s small-scale, delicate paintings, watercolors, and drawings—which number over 7000. Klee grew up in a musical family and was himself a violinist. After much hesitation, however, he chose to study art, and attended the Munich Academy in 1900. Klee later toured Italy (1901-02), responding enthusiastically to Early Christian and Byzantine art. A turning point in Klee's career came on a visit he made to Tunisia in 1914. He was so overwhelmed by the intense light there that he wrote, “Color has taken possession of me. No longer do I have to chase after it, I know that it has hold of me forever. That is the significance of this blessed moment. Color and I are one. I am a painter.” 

Les Nabis: The Prophets

Paul Sérusier (French, 1863-1927), The Talisman, 1888, oil on wood panel (cigar box lid), 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches (27 x 21.5 cm), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. This painting is generally considered the first Nabis work.An avant-garde group of French painters and poets, active during 1888-99, were persuaded to reject naturalistic representation and, instead, to paint in flat areas of pure color. That advice came from the Post-Impressionist art Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903) and was given to the French painter, Paul Sérusier (1863-1927). This group called themselves “Les Nabis” from the Hebrew word Nebiim, meaning "prophets."  Also influenced by the Symbolist movement, the Nabis felt that a painting should not imitate reality but parallel nature, creating a world unto itself. They stressed the importance of subjective and sometimes mystical perceptions. Along with painting, they worked in theater design, book illustration, posters and stained glass. Piérre Bonnard (French, 1867-1947) and Edouard Vuillard (French, 1868-1940) were important painters in the group, along with Aristide Maillol (French, 1861-1944), Maurice Denis (French, 1870-1943), Paul Ranson (French, 1864-1909), Ker-Xavier Roussel (French, 1867-1944), Félix Vallatton (French, 1865-1925), Henri-Gabriel Ibels (French, 1867-1936), Jozsef Rippl-Ronai (French, 1867-1944), and Sérusier.