21 June, 2007

Art of This Century

What I Bought Myself in Seattle

After reading a very interesting post on Rothko, links and all, I am getting more and more Rothko-ized by the day. Because I want to create a few really excellent posts, I'll be taking a little time to write them well. Be patient, dear readers.

In the meantime, I'd like to share with you the recent addition to my art library:
Peggy Guggenheim & Frederick Kiesler, The Story of Art of This Century, by Davidson, Rylands, editors. Link. AOTC was the famous gallery that Peggy Guggenheim established in the Forties and where she was instrumental in launching the careers of many (if not all) of our Abstract Expressionists. Kiesler was the architect of the far out gallery space that became a hang-out for the avant-garde of the art world.

I had the strange experience of (unknowingly) visiting the location of the famous gallery at 20 West 57th Street in NYC. The actual place (Washburn Gallery ?) is a story or two above the Ameringer-Yohe Gallery, where I went to pay hommage to Wolf Kahn's pastels. During the same trip I bought a book at the MoMa that identified the location's place in history, and I thought about the serendipity of my chance visit.

9 comments:

Robyn Sinclair said...

Casey - When you come to visit me in Tuscany, you have to go to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum on the Grand Canal. I've read a few biographies on this lady who was so blessed with resources and an amazing instinct for talent - it's hard to love her all the time but one has to be in awe of her place in the history of modern art.

Casey Klahn said...

I understand that the Venice Museum is the repository for whatever art she bought during that period, minus some attrition due to trade-outs, sales, outright destruction or theft.

The Wiki bio has her as not terribly rich - the poor woman.

Do you know the back door to Venice?

Anonymous said...

Visting your blog always inspires me to learn new things. You always have something about a book that gives wonderful information to others. Thanks!
*HUGS*

Casey Klahn said...

No problem, Angela!

Making A Mark said...

The weird thing about the Guggenheim on the Grand Canal is that it looks so different to everything else - a long wall with a door in the middle

So are you moving from Kahn to Rothko - or just adding to the idols?

Have you ever looked at the Scottish Colourists?

Casey Klahn said...

KT:
I have looked at the Scot's Colourists, but just a little.
Wait til you see what I have next for Rothko. Too good to publish on a weekend.
Kahn always has had a great deal of Rothko in his work. Think of color fields when you look at him. I had a fellow come into my booth at Edmonds and look at my landscapes and say: "we have all learned a lot from Rothko, haven't we?"
Too bad Peggy G. couldn't afford anything better than on the Grand canal. But seriously, to risk completely new architecture like that is very telling. The word "courage" comes to mind.

Robyn Sinclair said...

Back door - Front door, I'm afraid they charge at every door in Venice, Casey. If you are happy to sleep in doorways and not eat - the most beautiful things are absolutely free! I read somewhere that beauty is enhanced by starvation - I think it's when one starts to hallucinate.

Casey Klahn said...

Unsavory Content to Follow:

I heard, when I was in Italy last year, that in Venice there were outdoor urinals throughout the city. Men could just "go" at will, right in front of God and everyone.
Now, if you understand that I had just had a bladder operation, and that I was in incredible pain on my trip (I couldn't cancel this once-in-a-lifetime chance to go to Italy with the 10th Mountain Division veterans), you can maybe see why I thought that Venice was as close to my Shangri-la as there could ever be!
I called my wife and told her to pack up the kids, and that we were moving to Venice. She was unamused when I told her the reason...(jealousy is so base)
Hey! Robyn brought up the homeless ! I'm just free associating here!

harry bell said...

Maybe I wasn't desperate to "go", but on neither of my trips to Venice (the last in 2006) did I see the urinals which so attracted you.

Abstract Expressionism, Art Criticism, Artists, Colorist Art, Drawing, History, Impressionism, Modern Art, Painting, Pastel, Post Impressionism