ATLANTA SHOW CONFIRMS DALI'S APPEAL
SALVADOR DALI: THE LATE WORK, currated by Elliott King at the High Museum Of Art in Atlanta was just as splendid a show as I had hoped. When you read a high-quality show catalog, the curator's essay will reveal just how much he or she "gets" the artist's work and will also frequently demonstrate how much he or she likes it. In the case of an Elliott King, you have a curator with a life-long dedication to the study of the artist so an exhibition he organizes can be expected to offer special insights. This one absolutely did and the crowds responded big time.
The High Museum's idea was to mount a final celebration titled "Dali 'till Dawn" that would keep the exhibition open for its final 31 hours. King was scheduled to lead three tours - 1am, 3am and 5am! The next afternoon, after we both flew to St. Petersburg ahead of Atlanta's snow storm, he called to ask if I could join him and some other Dali people for drinks and possibly dinner. What stamina! What youth!
Elliott and I linked up in Atlanta (as planned) and went to meet a very engaging and stimulating coupe for drinks. We then swung past the museum at about 8:00 to see what was happening. The line for admission was about three blocks long. We went back to the hotel and agreed to visit the exhibition at 10:00 PM. Again, when we arrived we were stunned to see the line had not diminished and the museum was packed. The atmosphere was electric and the excitement easily negated the fact that the temperature was 38 degrees and a strong, cold wind was blowing. Apparently hundreds of people thought the discomfort was worth braving. They were eventually well rewarded.
I also got the reward I had long anticipated as Elliott gave me a personal tour of the show and we discussed the works, their history and techniques and a great deal more about our mutual passion--Salvador Dali. It is always so exciting to be with an intellectual and well informed companion, especially at such an exhibition. The show was really splendid in spite of the fact that 18 artworks had been reurned to The Salvador Dali Museum to be hung for the grand opening of their new building on the 11th. I, of course, had examined every one of them under magnification when I appraised the museum's collection three times throughout the years.
When I left the High Museum at 1:30 in the morning with two companions with whom I discussed Dali until 2:30 back at my hotel, the line to get into the exhibition was still two blocks long! The temperature had dropped even lower, but these folks would not be denied. The show was crowded all night. What a recognition of the fascination people have with Salvador Dali and what a recognition of the show that Elliott King had curated--in just one year. Wow.
I arrived in St. POetersburg in time for the members' reception at the new museum. The Grand opening is tomorrow. Stay tuned for a report of all of the fun and foolishness and my opinions of the new buiding.
Showing posts with label High Museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label High Museum. Show all posts
Monday, January 10, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
ARGILLET BEFORE ATLANTA
ARGILLET BEFORE ATLANTA
What a surprise to have a quick flurry of e-mails and telephone calls with Christine Argillet who, with her very talented artist husband Jean and her son and his girlfriend had decided to make a trip to Santa Fe. Christine and Jean have been here about three times before and my wife Melinda and I are always delighted to see them. What a sparkling and fun evening we have when we meet for dinner. It has been equally fun to meet for lunch or to have them visit our home in the canyon. We have also gotten together several times at their home in Venice, California.
Naturally there was talk of Christine's totally unique father, art publisher, photographer and gallerist Pierre Argillet. I remembered my visit with Pierre at his chateau south of Paris and the Argillet's added much from their extensive experiences. Viken Argillet had spent a lot of time with his grandfather on various occasions, including when he could not fly out of Paris because of the 9/11 attacks. I suggested that these experiences helped him develop his "eye" as a filmmaker and he enthusiastically agreed.
Christine told me that when her father and Dali hit on an idea for a suite of prints illustrating a text, they were both so impatient to see the results that their joint energy was frenetic. I have seen many of the preliminary sketches that Dali did during their discussions. I have also seen a lot of the "home movies" Pierre made of the "happenings" they staged and of other visits to the chateau by Salvador and Gala. The best of all--which Baron Philippe duNoyer has promised me a copy of--is a short clip of Salvador Dali dancing the Charleston on the lawn.
What a pleasure it was to get a Dali fix from this delightful family just days before I fly to Atlanta for the closing of Elliot King's A-1 exhibition of the late works of The Master. How do I know the show is so good before I even see it? I've been spending time with the excellent catalog that Elliott gave me when we met for lunch last month.
And.....speaking of the show and the catalog, there is something that I have not mentioned previously. Elliott astounded me with the information that he had only a year to plan the exhibition with the staff of the High Museum, arrange loans of the major works from institutions in the US and Spain, write the catalog with essays by other Dali scholars and pull all of the thousands of details together prior to the opening. I was astounded. Such an exhibition usually takes three or four years of work.
I'm getting pretty excited about the trip to Atlanta and then on to St. Petersburg. I have seen a great many of the works in the show, and, of course, have appraised all of the paintings at The Salvador Dali Museum. Elliott was even able to include the iconic and internationally-known 1931 oil "Persistence of Memory" from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I always enjoy asking people who have not seen the actual painting how large they think it is. The answer is usually expressed with hand movements indicating a work about 20 by 24 inches or larger. It's only 9 1/2 by 13 inches! That makes it even more impressive.
What a surprise to have a quick flurry of e-mails and telephone calls with Christine Argillet who, with her very talented artist husband Jean and her son and his girlfriend had decided to make a trip to Santa Fe. Christine and Jean have been here about three times before and my wife Melinda and I are always delighted to see them. What a sparkling and fun evening we have when we meet for dinner. It has been equally fun to meet for lunch or to have them visit our home in the canyon. We have also gotten together several times at their home in Venice, California.
Naturally there was talk of Christine's totally unique father, art publisher, photographer and gallerist Pierre Argillet. I remembered my visit with Pierre at his chateau south of Paris and the Argillet's added much from their extensive experiences. Viken Argillet had spent a lot of time with his grandfather on various occasions, including when he could not fly out of Paris because of the 9/11 attacks. I suggested that these experiences helped him develop his "eye" as a filmmaker and he enthusiastically agreed.
Christine told me that when her father and Dali hit on an idea for a suite of prints illustrating a text, they were both so impatient to see the results that their joint energy was frenetic. I have seen many of the preliminary sketches that Dali did during their discussions. I have also seen a lot of the "home movies" Pierre made of the "happenings" they staged and of other visits to the chateau by Salvador and Gala. The best of all--which Baron Philippe duNoyer has promised me a copy of--is a short clip of Salvador Dali dancing the Charleston on the lawn.
What a pleasure it was to get a Dali fix from this delightful family just days before I fly to Atlanta for the closing of Elliot King's A-1 exhibition of the late works of The Master. How do I know the show is so good before I even see it? I've been spending time with the excellent catalog that Elliott gave me when we met for lunch last month.
And.....speaking of the show and the catalog, there is something that I have not mentioned previously. Elliott astounded me with the information that he had only a year to plan the exhibition with the staff of the High Museum, arrange loans of the major works from institutions in the US and Spain, write the catalog with essays by other Dali scholars and pull all of the thousands of details together prior to the opening. I was astounded. Such an exhibition usually takes three or four years of work.
I'm getting pretty excited about the trip to Atlanta and then on to St. Petersburg. I have seen a great many of the works in the show, and, of course, have appraised all of the paintings at The Salvador Dali Museum. Elliott was even able to include the iconic and internationally-known 1931 oil "Persistence of Memory" from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I always enjoy asking people who have not seen the actual painting how large they think it is. The answer is usually expressed with hand movements indicating a work about 20 by 24 inches or larger. It's only 9 1/2 by 13 inches! That makes it even more impressive.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
MEETING ONE OF THE TRUE EXPERTS
MEETING ONE OF THE TRUE EXPERTS
The large exhibition currently at the High Museum in Atlanta is about to end. SALVADOR DALI: THE LATE WORKS was guest curated by Elliott H. King, a Dali scholar who received his PhD at the University of Essex where he worked closely with Dawn Ades. He has focused on the art created by Dali after 1940--a period that has been critically dismissed by many as inferior to his earlier works. "Not so" says Dr. King and demonstrates in the exhibition that the Master created numerous very important works in the years from 1940 to 1980.
It is the creative period during which Dali painted "Santiago El Grande" (1957); "The Ecumenical Council" (1960); "Christ of St. John of the Cross" (1951); "Madonna of Port Lligat" (1950) and numerous other significant works, including portraits. King's curatorial triumph, however, was acquiring the loan of "Assumpta Corpusculaire Lapislazuline" (1952) from a Spanish collection. This exhibition clearly demonstrates that the years covered were filled with more than just the commercial commissions and public shenanigans. In other words, it is an important contribution to the study of Dali and an eye-opener for the critical dismissers.
On the way back from a pre-Christmas family visit, Melinda and I had the great pleasure of having lunch with Elliott King who generously showed up with a catalog of the exhibition as a gift. It is a beautiful publication and includes essays by other Dali scholars including Hank Hine, Director of The Salvador Dali Museum and William Jeffett, Chief Curator of Exhibitions at the Dali Museum.
What an intense hour and a half that was. Both Elliott and I jammed as much information and perspective-sharing into it as possible. I am quite sure it was the beginning of an enjoyable friendship characterized by mutual trust and the sharing of more information and perspectives. We first met in 2004 at the Dali centennial symposia at The Salvador Dali Museum, but did not have any time together.
I'm excited that we'll next meet in Atlanta for the final couple of days of the exhibition. Elliott is scheduled to participate in the 31 hour Dali Till Dawn event. He'll be giving three "insomniac tours" of the show at 1 a.m., 3 a.m., and 5 a.m.!!! Perhaps I can bring him coffee. Details and tickets are to be found at www.high.org.
On January 10th, both Elliott and I will fly to Tampa and drive to St.Petersburg for the January 11th Grand Opening of the new Salvador Dali Museum. You can check out the schedule of events at www.salvadordalimuseum.org. I am really looking forward to seeing the next stage in the phenomenal advances that have been made since my first visit with Ren and Eleanor Morse in 1987 at the time that I did my first (of three) appraisal of the collection.
There will be several postings in early January that will share with you my experiences at the High and Dali Museums. I believe this will be a great way to kick off a year in which I expect to regain whatever reputation and prestige the low life in the Dali market have tried to tarnish. As John Pope Hessey wrote, "Dedication to the truth can gain one many enemies."
For my supporters, well-wishers, clients and good guys, I send my very best for a rewarding 2011. Peace on Earth to men of good will.
The large exhibition currently at the High Museum in Atlanta is about to end. SALVADOR DALI: THE LATE WORKS was guest curated by Elliott H. King, a Dali scholar who received his PhD at the University of Essex where he worked closely with Dawn Ades. He has focused on the art created by Dali after 1940--a period that has been critically dismissed by many as inferior to his earlier works. "Not so" says Dr. King and demonstrates in the exhibition that the Master created numerous very important works in the years from 1940 to 1980.
It is the creative period during which Dali painted "Santiago El Grande" (1957); "The Ecumenical Council" (1960); "Christ of St. John of the Cross" (1951); "Madonna of Port Lligat" (1950) and numerous other significant works, including portraits. King's curatorial triumph, however, was acquiring the loan of "Assumpta Corpusculaire Lapislazuline" (1952) from a Spanish collection. This exhibition clearly demonstrates that the years covered were filled with more than just the commercial commissions and public shenanigans. In other words, it is an important contribution to the study of Dali and an eye-opener for the critical dismissers.
On the way back from a pre-Christmas family visit, Melinda and I had the great pleasure of having lunch with Elliott King who generously showed up with a catalog of the exhibition as a gift. It is a beautiful publication and includes essays by other Dali scholars including Hank Hine, Director of The Salvador Dali Museum and William Jeffett, Chief Curator of Exhibitions at the Dali Museum.
What an intense hour and a half that was. Both Elliott and I jammed as much information and perspective-sharing into it as possible. I am quite sure it was the beginning of an enjoyable friendship characterized by mutual trust and the sharing of more information and perspectives. We first met in 2004 at the Dali centennial symposia at The Salvador Dali Museum, but did not have any time together.
I'm excited that we'll next meet in Atlanta for the final couple of days of the exhibition. Elliott is scheduled to participate in the 31 hour Dali Till Dawn event. He'll be giving three "insomniac tours" of the show at 1 a.m., 3 a.m., and 5 a.m.!!! Perhaps I can bring him coffee. Details and tickets are to be found at www.high.org.
On January 10th, both Elliott and I will fly to Tampa and drive to St.Petersburg for the January 11th Grand Opening of the new Salvador Dali Museum. You can check out the schedule of events at www.salvadordalimuseum.org. I am really looking forward to seeing the next stage in the phenomenal advances that have been made since my first visit with Ren and Eleanor Morse in 1987 at the time that I did my first (of three) appraisal of the collection.
There will be several postings in early January that will share with you my experiences at the High and Dali Museums. I believe this will be a great way to kick off a year in which I expect to regain whatever reputation and prestige the low life in the Dali market have tried to tarnish. As John Pope Hessey wrote, "Dedication to the truth can gain one many enemies."
For my supporters, well-wishers, clients and good guys, I send my very best for a rewarding 2011. Peace on Earth to men of good will.
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