File under "There Is Hope For Me": Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz's National Security Advisor is an Art Historian!

Breath a sigh of sweet relief, world. There is hope for a 30-something with a Bachelors Degree in Art History (with a concentration in Modern Art) like me! It looks like Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz (I like to think of him as America's favorite Canadian) had found his advisor on national security and she is a doctor in Art History! Now if only I liked politics...

Senator Cruz (of Texas, if you don't know... Which I apparently didn't and had to look it up- I told you I don't like politics) has acquired the talent of Dr. Victoria Coates, a PhD (ahem, she is a doctor which is a real thing) in Art History (she is a "cultural historian" which sounds pretty fancy to me) and author of books like "David's Sling: A History of Democracy in Ten Works of Art" and co-authored "The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection". She comes to us via The University of Pennsylvania (by way of Trinity College in Hartford with a BA in Art History in 1990 and Williams College with an MA in Art History in 1992) with her concentration in Italian Renaissance in 1998.

She got her start in the glamorous world of politics from good old Donald Rumsfeld (Remember him? He was Secretary of Defense under President Gerald Ford from 1975-77 and President George W. Bush from 2001-06). Ms. Coates was the editor for Rumsfeld's book "Known and Unknown: A Memoir" in 2007, and from that moment forward, it was easy street for her. She became Governor Rick Perry's "national security expert" for a hot minute (5 months, I believe) though having no history in politics or even the military (She could have obtained a double major in Political Science while in college but she missed it "by one class credit"). She also had a brief stint as the curator of the Cleveland Museum of Art from 2010 to 2013 before she became Mr. Cruz's go-to-person on the security of our country.

I am at a complete loss for words to describe how I feel about this. On one hand: I am happy because there is something else out there to do in the world with a degree in Art History that doesn't involve 1) working in a super competitive field, 2) working with snot-nosed kids and 3) working with colleagues in a field that think they are better than the next historian... Three things that is keeping me from furthering my career in the arts. But, then I start to think how this woman could make not only us women look bad but also put those in the art community as the new laughing-stock of the academic world. I will forever hear from people questioning my decision on putting myself through college to get a "useless degree."

Now that I think of it, there is no hope for me. I hate politics. Pass. But, good luck Victoria... You are going to need it.

Paolo Porpora painting destroyed by clumsy kid

A 12 year old boy in Taiwan is in hot water after "accidentally" tearing a hole in a 350 year old painting by Italian Baroque painter Paolo Porpora this past Sunday.

The painting, called "Flowers" has an estimated value of about $1.5 million. The boy (according to his statement and video surveillance) apparently lost his balance while standing next to the painting that was part of a Leonardo da Vinci show at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei which was called "The Faces of Leonardo: Images of a Genius". The boys right fist, which was clutching a can of soda, punctured thru the oil painting.

The boy claimed that he had collapsed due to a heart condition but will unfortunately be banned from all art galleries as a result of the accident. One of the organizers of the exhibition stated that "'The Faces of Leonardo: Images of a Genius' exhibition is displaying over 50 authentic painting by prominent artist from the Italian Renaissance period to the 20th century... All 55 painting in the venue are authentic pieces and they are very rare and precious. Once these works are damaged, they are permanently damaged."

He is a very lucky boy as the organizers of the exhibition said that they will not be asked to pay for the cost of restoring the priceless piece. The painting, which was on loan from a private collector, was shipped back to Italy on Monday for restoration.


For your entertainment: The video of the incident...

12 Contemporay African artist that you *should* know

Thanks as always to the fantastic Huffington Post for this article on some of the most influential African artist in the Contemporary world that you should know about. Although, contemporary artwork is not my favorite thing to study in the world of art (I am a pure modernist, with a passion for art from the early 1900s to the 1960s), but these are names that I will be adding to my list.

Syrian Archaeologist beheaded for refusing to lead Isis to antiquities site

Well known antiquities scholar Khaled al-Asaad, known for his extensive knowledge of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, was killed by the Islamic State (or Isis as we know the group as) for refusing to lead the terrorist group to the location of the priceless and valuable artifacts. Asaad was beheaded and his mutilated body was hung from one of the ancient Roman columns and his body was left on display in the town square in front of a museum in the ancient city. It has been reported that he was killed in front of about a dozen people.

It is believed that the Islamic State has been looting ancient locations of their artifacts to then sell the items to fund their activities and eventually destroying the ancient sites all together. The group believed that destroying the artifacts is a way to destroy objects seen as "false idols". 

Asaad, was was 82 years old at the time of his death, had worked as the head of antiquities in Palmyra for 50 years. Asaad had been detained for over a month and was later executed when he refused to cooperate. Asaad was well known in the antiquities community for his early work in the excavation of Palmyra as well as the restoration of key parts of the city. "He was a fixture, you can't write about Palmyra's history or anything to do with Palmytian work without mentioning Khaled Asaad... It's like you can't talk about Egyptology without talking about Howard Carter" said Amr al-Azm, the former Syrian antiquities official who worked closely with Asaad and knew him personally.

*edit*

It has just been confirmed that ISIS has destroyed an Unesco temple in Palmyra. 

ICYMI: Is art history worth studying?

On Sunday nights Fareed Zakaria's GPS on CNN, the topic of the importance of getting a college degree in our current economy. The discussion stems after President Obama made a comment while at a General Electric plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“I promise you, folks can make a lot more potentially with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree."

 Hear what Zakaria and guest Adam Gopnik have to say: Are the Humanities Worth Studying?


PS: I think they are!

More: Obama vs. Art History

ICYMI: PBS's American Experience on "The Rise and Fall of Penn Station"

For all my architecture buffs in the world, on Wednesday night, PBS's program American Experience aired a program about the construction of Pennsylvania Station (or Penn Station as it is also known as) in New York City. In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad successfully accomplished the enormous engineering feat of building tunnels under New York City's Hudson and East Rivers, which helped to connect the railroad to New York and the New England region thus uniting eastern half of the United States. The tunnels terminated in what was one of the greatest architectural achievements of its time, Pennsylvania Station. Penn Station covered nearly eight acres, extended two city blocks, and housed one of the largest public spaces in the world. But just 53 years after the station’s opening, the monumental building that was supposed to last forever, to herald and represent the American Empire, was slated to be destroy.

The program had some amazing photographs and videos of the old station. If you love architecture and history, this show is a must see!

Pop Culture: Ai Weiwei inspired nails

Yesterday, I wrote about Ai Weiwei and his vase being destroyed while on display in a gallery in Miami. I found this later and I hope to one day try this out on my own nails.

Ai Weiwei piece destroyed by Florida artist

A vase by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, that was on display at the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAAM), was destroyed this past Sunday as an act of protest and the artist who destroyed it will be facing criminal charges, according to police...

The vase was reportedly valued at $1 million, was destroyed by Maximo Caminero, a Dominican born, local Miami artist. Caminero picked up one of the colored vases by Weiwei, and after security guards told him to put the piece down, he then smashed it on the floor. The accused said that he broke the vase in protest "of the museum's lack of local artists displays." If found guilty in court, Caminero could be found on a third-degree felony criminal mischief which could be punishable by up to five years in prison (since the property that was destroyed was valued over $1000.) When asked about why he destroyed the piece, Caminero said "I was at [the museum] and saw Ai Weiwei's photos behind the vases where he drops an ancient Chinese vase and breaks it... And I saw it as a provocation by Weiwei to join him in an act of performance protest.''

The vase was a painted urn, which dates from the Han dynasty of 206BC-220AD, in bright colors as part of his "Coloured Vases" series which was on display at the PAMM. Behind the grouping of a dozen or so vases are three large photos of Weiwei dropping the pottery on the ground as a way to "express the notion that new ideas and values can be produced through iconoclasm." Luckily, it seems like the museum or insurance will cover the cost of the damaged piece. It is uncertain if Caminero will cover the cost of the vase. Weiwei said that “when I received the report of the damage, I didn't pay much attention, because my work is often being destroyed or broken during the exhibitions.' His exhibition titled 'The Ai Weiwei: According to What?' runs through March 16th.


More:
Ai Weiwei Responds to Destroyed Artwork
Who's the Vandal?: Weiwei or Caminero
 '

ICYMI: PBS's NOVA on Brunelleschi's "Great Cathedrial Mystery"

On Wednesday night, PBS's program NOVA aired a program about how Filippo Brunelleschi created the dome for Florence's 600 year old Santa Maria del Fiore (aka the 'Duomo'). For years, engineers and historians have long debated how Brunelleschi and his workers could have possibly created the symmetrical and perfectly aligned dome that reaches over 40 stories tall all without the help of any protection from falling off the dome!
This program was amazing, showing how Brunelleschi's techniques were used and with an American team tries to replicate the dome (on a much smaller scale) using the information that they have gathered.

*facepalm* Artists names that you are probably pronouncing WRONG!

Believe it or not, there are proper ways to pronounce names in the art world... What sounds correct to us English speakers is not always the right way. The Huffington Post has created a little guide to helping us say some of the most famous artists names correct.

Believe it or not, I am not afraid to admit that I did mispronounce a few names (an Art History major knows when to admit defeat every now and then!) I think I need to brush up on my foreign language skills!

Aweful parents let their child climb on Judd sculpture...

A few days ago, a gallery owner from Brooklyn, NY was in London visiting the Tate Modern. One of the pieces on display is Donald Judd's minimalist sculpture 'Untitled'. A general rule to any museum visitor is to not touch any of the work on display. This couple apparently did not get that memo, and allowed their child to crawl on this multimillion dollar piece of artwork.

Holy crap. Horrible kids, horrible parents. @tate pic.twitter.com/6h1nuY6CfQ
— Stephanie Theodore (@TheodoreArt) January 26, 2014

When she told the parents of the child what he was doing, she said that she "told the woman [that] the kids were using a $10mm art work as a toy, she told me I knew nothing [about] kids. [Obviously] she doesn't either."

Pop Culture Friday: Carter Family Portrait Gallery

 
Every royal family in history has had their portraits painted by some of the worlds most famous and influential painters in history... So why should the Carter-Knowles family be any different?

Check out Carter Family Portrait Gallery... They have replicated great paintings using images of Jay Z, Beyonce and baby Blue Ivy. Friends Kanye West, Kim K and others make appearances too! The portraits are mostly of Renaissance, pre-Raphaelites, but there are some modern artists (like Van Gogh, Whistler, Cassatt, and Warhol).




My favorite is this one: A take on 'Luncheon on the Grass' by Édouard Manet.

I am glad that Bey has some sort of clothing on!

Del Paso Words on Walls project...

While driving back home from an interview in the Arden area, I decided to make a quick detour to check out some local artwork that is in the area. Every time I drive down Arden Way, I see this brick wall that has a mural painted on the side of the building. The murals are created in part with the City of Sacramento and the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership. These five (although, I have only seen 4 of them) huge site-specific pieces are scatted throughout Del Paso Blvd. Five local Sacramento poets created unique poems inspired by the Boulevard. The poems were then transformed into murals with the help of graphic designers.

The main objective of the 'Del Paso Words on Walls' project is to "provide poets with the opportunity to create temporary public art while helping to foster and reinforce the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership’s goal of becoming Sacramento’s premier design district."

Del Paso Boulevard Art Scene

"A painting sprouted legs on Del Paso. It popped in

to Mama Kim's for a bite to eat.“I like your scene,” the server said.

“Thanks!” said the painting: “River, light rail, sycamores, sun...”

Then the painting wanted to see the world. “Go ahead,” said the Boulevard:

“It's spring: All the stoplights have turned green!” 

So the painting caught light rail at Del Paso and Arden.

“Where to?” asked the driver. “Round trip,” the painting said."

Poem: Susan Kelly-DeWitt

Graphics: Benjamin Della Rosa 

In Scarcity, We Bare the Teeth

"In scarcity, we bare the teeth
selling them off one by one
appetites in search of the highest price
no longer able to smile at or chew
what it means to live the good life."

Poem: Tim Kahl

Graphics: William Leung

The Mud Dauber Wasp

"She speaks to me about the mud dauber wasp,
reciting all that she learned from Encyclopedia Britannica
1970, the way it flies across the patio,
moving bits of earth larger than one would
imagine. She watches it build a nest beneath the eaves,
a thing of beauty, shining in her eyes."

Poem: Danny Romero

Graphics: Laura Edmisten-Matranga

 

Boulevard, Del Paso

"You silver spark the sapphire-bouquet mind
You fire-forth weeds of stars from asphalt cracks
Opening art's tender heart, sparkling arks
See your bones rise those orange-iron, air paths"

Poem: Paco Marquez  

Graphics: Hans Bennewitz

Free Museum Day!

If you live in the greater Sacramento area, check out Free Museum Day taking place on February 1st 2014.

I am thinking of taking my niece and nephew to the California State ailroad Museum in Old Sacramento. I have not been there since I was a kid!

One tip of advice, if you decide to go, be prepared for the long lines. When you give free things away, there will always be tons of people around.

And the $143 million Francis Bacon myster buyer is...

So...

Remember that Francis Bacon triptych that sold for a record breaking $143 million in November? The identity of the buyer was not known at the time of the historic sale and many people (including myself) were curious to what kind of person would spend so much on a piece of art. Well, mystery solved!!!

The new owner is no other than Elaine Wynn, the ex-wife of multi-billion dollar Steve Wynn (the CEO and founder of the Wynn Las Vegas). Ms. Wynn has been known as a huge admirer of Bacon's artwork and has expressed interest in purchasing any of his triptychs if they ever became available at auction. While she has never really been considered to be a "high-profile" art collector, she is board member of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Mr. Wynn, on the other hand, has quite the collection of artwork from histories most celebrated artist.

Wynn's extensive collection includes: Dale Chihuly's "Fiori Di Como", Vincent Van Gogh's "Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat", J.M.W. Turner's "Giudecca, La Donna Della Salute and San Giorgio", Pablo Picasso's "Le Rêve", Edgar Degas' "Dancer Taking Her Bow", Johannes Vermeer's "Young Woman Seated at a Virginal" and other pieces by Rembrandt, Claude Monet, Jeff Koons and a vase from the Ming Dynasty.

Ms. Wynn has since lent the piece to the Portland Art Museum (it's in Oregon!), which will be on display until March 30.

ICYMI: Deborah Solomon on The Colbert Report...

ICYM: 

On yesterdays (January 14th, 2014) The Colbert Report... Art critic Deborah Solomon talks contemporary art and shares insights from her Norman Rockwell biography, "American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell." I think I will add this book to my wish list.

Wall Street Journal review
NYTimes Review (Dec.)
NYTimes Review (Oct.)

Detroit can keep its art afterall...

Back in July of 2013, the city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy due to being in debt over $18 billion. With the city being desperate and strapped for cash, there were rumors that the art that was housed in the local museums (like those at the Detroit Institute of Arts) would soon be auctioned to make some money. The art of such world renowned artist like Van Gogh, Matisse, Whistler and Rivera was estimated to be worth millions, with the entire collection of the DIA is valued from hundreds of millions to upwards of $20 billion.

When Christie's auction house assessed the collection in December of 2013, it was discovered that the collection (based on the most important key pieces) was actually worth a maximum of $867 million. The total price tag covered the 2,800+ pieces (which is less than 5% of the institute’s total collection) that were all purchased using city funds according to Detroit’s emergency manager, Kevyn D. Orr. The city was cautioned by Gerald E. Rosen, a Federal judge who, along with others, believe that the "possibility of selling part of the city’s cultural heritage has enraged many" and believe that it would "be a betrayal and would hurt the chances of a Detroit revival."

Today, it was announced that many National and local philanthropic foundations have committed $330 million to help pay down Detroits debts thus saving the museum from having to sell off the art. Groups like Ford Foundation, the Kresge Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation have all helped by donating money.

More:
Fate of Detroit's Art Hangs in the Balance...

$7 Stolen Renoir has to be returned to museum...

The frame is what caught Martha Fuqua's, a former physical education teacher from Virginia, eyes when she found a small napkin sized painting at a flea market in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in 2009. Despite the name plate at the bottom of the frame that said the words 'Renoir 1841-1919'. She stored the Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting garbage bag in her house for the next 2 1/2 years.

The 1879 painting titled 'Paysage Bords de Seine' (which is French for 'Landscape on the Banks of the Seine' was actually stolen from the Baltimore Museum of Art in November 16/17 1951. It wasn't until Fuqua's mother Marcia, who was an art teacher and an artist, told her to get the piece appraised in the Summer of 2012 (which the piece was estimated at $75,000 to $100,000) that got the attention of the BMA. The FBI seized the piece while legal proceedings were occurring. Fuqua believes that the painting should be returned to her because "she was unaware of it having been stolen or of it being genuine." The FBI claim that the piece is actually worth $22,000.

The judge ultimately ruled last week that the paintings ownership can not be claimed by Fuqua since the painting was stolen from the museum. The piece was originally the property of Saidie May, an art collector and one of the leading benefactors of the BMA. Her then husband Herbert bought the painting in 1926 while in Paris from the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery; May later loaned the piece to the museum in 1937. When May died in May of 1951, she bequeathed the collection to the museum and was stolen while being processed legally.

Seen in Sacramento: Picasso street art

I got excited when I spotted this piece while shopping around Midtown with the boy. Picasso is my favorite artist of all time. The art was created by Rodante Declarador, a local Sacramento graphic artist! He also created this other piece in Midtown

Hopper painting sells big at Christie's...

A painting showcasing the reality of post Great Depression New Jersey has been sold for a record setting price last week.

On December 5th, 'East Wind Over Weehawken', the 1934 painting of a deserted street corner in Weehawken, New Jersey sold for $40.5 million at Christie's Auction House. Early estimates called for the painting to fetch $22 to $28 million, the record selling price for a Hopper was $26.9 million for 'Hotel Window' which sold in 2006. The identity of the buyer has not been made public.

Procedes from the sale are going to benefit the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, one of the oldest art museums and schools in the country, which will help to establish a new endowment to purchase more art in the future. The PAFA was founded in 1805 by painter Charles Wilson Peale (who founded Peale's Museum in 1786, which later became the Municipal Museum of Baltimore but unfortunately close in 1997) and sculptor William Rush Notable alum of the academy include Thomas Eakins.

Fun Fact: The location of the painting is at the intersection of 49th Street and Boulevard East in Weehawken, NJ near the Hudson River. The houses have changed quite a bit in the 80 years since the painting was created, but the feeling remains the same.