Bathers with a Turtle - Matisse

Henri Matisse French, 1869-1954 Bathers with a Turtle, 1908 oil on canvas 70 1/2 x 86 3/4 inches Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. 24:1964

From ArtDaily.org

CHICAGO (AP).- A new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago takes a close — sometimes even microscopic — look at one short and enigmatic phase in the 65-year-long artistic career of France's Henri Matisse.

Matisse, who lived from 1869 to 1954, is often seen as the least controversial and the most serene of the great 20th century modernists. Though his occasional early sculptures are darker, Matisse's paintings and prints seem to live in a sunny place outside of time. Their tone of bright calm makes their reproductions favored decor for hospital corridors.

Looking at them, you would not know that Matisse lived through both world wars and the Great Depression, or that Paris fell to enemy troops twice in his lifetime — in 1871 and 1940.

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A Work of Futurism...PLUS!

Gino Severini, Abstract Rhythm of Madame M.S., c. 1915, oil on canvas, 83x65 cm, Mizne-Blumental Collection, Tel Aviv Museum of Art

The Museum of Tel Aviv holds numerous works by important Italian artists, several of which are presently on exhibit there. Gino Severini is represented by one of his famous Futurist paintings from c. 1915, featured here. Severini (1883-1996) was an Italian painter, born in Cortona. In 1901 he moved to Rome, where he met painters Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla (who gave him lessons in Divisionism). Severini moved to Paris in 1906, and forged friendships with such figures as Picasso, Apollinaire, and Max Jacob. While living in Paris, however, he remained in close contact with his Italian associates, and joined the Futurist movement in 1910 . Although much of his Futurist work remains influenced by Divisionism, from c. 1912 forward his work also shows a strong awareness of Cubism, a movement he highly recommended to his fellow Futurists. Futurism developed primarily in Italy, in around 1910. Its objective was to express the energy and values of the machine age. 

The Movement of Picasso

Pablo Picasso The Old Fisherman (Salmereon) 1895, Museu de Montserrat, Barcelona

Whenever I revisit the works of Pablo Picasso I discover new aspects and elements to his art and am in awe of his perpetual evolution. In surveys of Modern Art, I tell students that the broadest, most well-known movements within the period are Fauvism, Cubism, Expressionism, Dada, Surrealism, and Picasso. He cannot be categorized--and he influenced virtually all of his contemporaries, as well as the artists of later generations. His influence continues to be felt today One of my favorite class exercises is to show slides of 8 or 10 paintings--none of them with captions underneath--and ask students to try and name the artists who created these works. They come up with all kinds of answers. But...the answer is that all of the paintings I show were created by Picasso. Who would have thought--for example--that the painting shown here is a Picasso?

The Abstraction of Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O’Keeffe, "Red, Yellow and Black Streak", 1924. Oil on canvas, (100 × 80.6 cm), 39 3/8 × 31 3/4 inches. Musée National d’Art Moderne, Center Georges Pompidou, Paris.

Georgia O’Keeffe was an American painter, best known for her large-format paintings of natural forms, especially flowers and bones, and for her depictions of New York City skyscrapers and architectural and landscape forms unique to northern New Mexico. She remains one of the most important artists in the history of art, in that her works convey the integrity of her Modernist vision, her independent spirit, and, above all, her profound sensitivity to the vitality of natural forces. O’Keeffe also played a key role in challenging the notion that gender was in any way a determinant of artistic competence or creativity. By so doing, she helped to establish a new and significant space for female artists in a realm that continues to be dominated by men.