Jean Arp: Making Something from Something…

Jean Arp - Torso, Navel, Mustache-Flower - 1930 - Oil on wood relief - 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 x 1 1/2 in. (80 x 100 x 3.8 cm) - Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY (click photo for larger image)German-French artist Jean Arp (also known as Hans Arp 1886-1966) could turn anything into a work of art—and that’s exactly what he did!

Although his work is non-representational, it is all rooted in nature and very organic in form. He was also one of the first artists to let chance and randomness become part of his work.

Arp is best known for his multilayered, painted wood reliefs. By the time Arp created the work featured here, he had already perfected his assemblage technique: he drew designs on cardboard templates and had a carpenter execute them in wood. 

Arp was born in Alsace and studied at the Strasbourg School of Arts and Crafts, at Weimar (1905-7) and the Academie Julian, Paris (1908).  In 1912 he went to Munich where he knew Kandinsky and exhibited semi-figurative drawings at the second Blaue Reiter exhibition in 1912. In 1913 he exhibited with the Expressionists at the first Hebrstsalon (Autumn Salon) in Berlin. Aware of the developments within the French avant-garde through his contacts with such figures as Apollinaire, Max Jacob and Robert Delaunay, Arp exhibited his first abstracts and paper cutouts in Zurich in 1915, and began making shallow wooden reliefs and compositions of string nailed to canvas. In 1916 he was a founding member of Dada in Zurich, and he participated in the Berlin Dada exhibition of 1920. Arp is also associated with the Surrealist movement.

Albert Marquet: A Style of Impressions

Albert Marquet - View from a Balcony - 1945 - Oil on canvas - 25 5/8 x 19 3/4 in. - Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York, NYFrench painter Albert Marquet (1875-1947) was very involved with Fauvism during the early years of the twentieth century. Fauvism—the first movement of Modern Art—was a wild, vibrant style of expressionistic art that shocked the critics. It has since been recognized as one of the seminal forces that drove Modern Art. It’s practitioners were called the fauves, French for "wild beasts," as a term of derision, referring to their apparent lack of discipline. Once thought of as a minor, short-lived, movement, Fauvism paved the way to other significant developments in modernism in its disregard for natural forms and its love of unbridled color. 

Marquet participated in a group exhibition with Henri Matisse (1869-1954), André Derain (1880-1954) and Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958) at the "Salon d'Automne" in 1905. In the following year, Marquet traveled extensively through France and also visited Germany, Holland, North Africa, Russia and Scandinavia. Between 1940 and 1945, Marquet lived in Algiers. He only returned to Paris permanently in 1945, two years before his death. 

Albert Marquet developed his own style, which was influenced by his varied impressions during his travels. He moved from typical Fauvism to a simplified, calmer style more akin to Impressionism He remained faithful to that approach for the rest of his life. In addition to landscapes Marquet also produced some excellent figurative paintings, including several powerful female nudes and numerous portraits. The painting featured here was completed shortly after his final return to Paris.

“A Signature at Gunpoint Cannot Lead to a Valid Conveyance”

Egon Schiele - Woman Hiding Her Face (click photo for larger image)“The Art Newspaper” reported on April 6th that London art dealer Richard Nagy has to return two Egon Schiele works worth $5 million dollars to heirs of Holocaust victims. Although Nagy argued that his purchase of the works was entirely legal, Justice Charles E. Ramos posited that the manner of the initial seizure of such works undermines this argument. “A signature at gunpoint cannot lead to a valid conveyance.”

The battles and debates over who legally holds title to works alleged to have been confiscated by the Nazis during WWII continue—as do the lawsuits over such art. In 2005, Massachusetts industrialist David Bakalar claimed ownership of yet another work by Schiele. That suit was won by Bakalar, on the grounds that the heirs of the original owners did not claim their right to title soon enough. According to the 2016 Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act (HEAR)—claims can now be made on Nazi-looted work up to six years after they have been discovered.

In both cases noted here, the original owner of the art in question was Fritz Grünbaum.

Grünbaum was an Austrian Jewish cabaret artist, operetta and pop song writer, director, actor and master of ceremonies. He was also a  well-known collector of Austrian modernist art. Of the more than 400 pieces he owned, 80 of them were works created by Egon Schiele (1890-1918). Grünbaum was killed in Dachau concentration camp in 1941.

In many such cases, proof of original ownership cannot be determined, nor can it be proven that such items were stolen by the Nazis. Richard Nagy intends to appeal the decision on the basis that evidence of seizure of the works by the Nazis does not exist.

Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was one of the leading figures of Austrian Expressionism, whose works embody an “unprecedented level of emotional and sexual directness and use of figural distortion in place of conventional notions of beauty”.

The work featured here is one of the two works awarded to Grünbaum’s heirs. You can read more about Schiele right here on What About Art?

An Electric Peach Orchard—Arthur Dove

Arthur Dove - Electric Peach Orchard - 1935 - Oil on canvas - 20 1/4 x 28 in. - The Phillips Collection - Washington, D.C. (click photo for larger image)American artist Arthur Dove (1880-1946) (discussed in several posts on What About Art?) was “attracted to the timelessness of nature, which he interpreted into a modern abstract vocabulary of color, shape, line, and scale.”

One of the earliest American modernists—and the first American non-objective artist—Dove’s art reflects his belief that color and form are instruments with which to express the essence beneath the physical exterior of things.

A.M. Cassandre: A Master of Design

A.M. Cassandre - Étoile du Nord - 1927 - Lithograph - 41 3/8 x 29 3/4" (105.2 x 75.5 cm) - Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) - New YorkA.M. Cassandre (1901-1968) was a Ukrainian-born French Art Deco graphic artist, stage designer, painter and Printmaker. After studying art at L’Ecole des Beaux Arte and the Académie Julian in Paris, Cassandre gained a reputation with such posters as “Étoile du Nord” (featured here). His “Dubonnet” posters were among the earliest designed specifically to be seen from fast-moving vehicles, and they introduced the idea of the serial poster, a group of posters to be seen in rapid succession to convey a complete idea.

In 1926, Cassandre co-established the advertising agency “Alliance Graphique”. Shortly afterwords, he began experiementing with typography, designing several new typefaces. In 1939, he turned away from creating poster art, and devoted himself entirely to stage set design and painting.