Category Archives: Modern Art

Alexander Calder, Untitled Mobile, 1963, Painted metal and wire, 29” x 57” x 24”, Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s Auction House. Alexander Calder, Untitled Mobile, 1963, Painted metal and wire, 29” x 57” x 24”, Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s Auction House.

Just a Second: Kinetic Art

Kinetic art is art that moves.  Probably the best-known artist who created kinetic art was Alexander Calder (1896-1976), who made mobiles – large and small – that moved with the slightest breeze. Calder made these sculptures by suspending abstracted organic shapes … Continue reading →

Charles Sheeler, Upper Deck, 1929, oil on canvas, 28 ¾” x 21 ¾”, Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, currently on view in the Cult of the Machine exhibition. Charles Sheeler, Upper Deck, 1929, oil on canvas, 28 ¾” x 21 ¾”, Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, currently on view in the Cult of the Machine exhibition.

Make the Time: Cult of the Machine

This is the last week that the exhibition Cult of the Machine will be on view at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. If you can’t see it there, you will be able to catch it at the Dallas Museum … Continue reading →

Eva Hesse, Sans II, 1968, fiberglass and polyester resin, 38" x 86"x 6 1/8", SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA Eva Hesse, Sans II, 1968, fiberglass and polyester resin, 38

Eva Hesse and What It Means to Be Post-Anything

Eva Hesse was an artist at the center of the Post-Minimalist art movement. There are many “Post-” art movements in the history of art, which simply is a way of describing art that expands upon some of the achievements of … Continue reading →

Camille Claudel, The Waltz, conceived in 1889 and cast in 1905, bronze, Musée Camille Claudel, Nogent-sur-Seine, France, Photo by Scott Lanphere via Wikipedia, artwork and photograph in the Public Domain. Camille Claudel, The Waltz, conceived in 1889 and cast in 1905, bronze, Musée Camille Claudel, Nogent-sur-Seine, France, Photo by Scott Lanphere via Wikipedia, artwork and photograph in the Public Domain.

Make the Time: Musée Camille Claudel

If you are fortunate enough to travel to France, make the time to visit the new Musée Camille Claudel in Nogent-sur-Seine, which is about an hour’s drive from Paris. Best known as Auguste Rodin’s lover and muse, the immensely talented … Continue reading →

Alfred Stieglitz, Photograph of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, 1917, Image in the Public Domain via Wikipedia. Alfred Stieglitz, Photograph of Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, 1917, Image in the Public Domain via Wikipedia.

100 Years of Alienation

If you feel somewhat alienated by art, or if you find a lot of modern and contemporary art hard to understand, you are not alone. People have been feeling this way for 100 years now, and we all can blame … Continue reading →

Paul Fehér, Muse with Violin Screen (detail), 1930, wrought iron, brass; silver and gold plating, The Cleveland Museum of Art, on Loan from the Rose Iron Works Collections. Paul Fehér, Muse with Violin Screen (detail), 1930, wrought iron, brass; silver and gold plating, The Cleveland Museum of Art, on Loan from the Rose Iron Works Collections.

And Now for Something a Little Different

Today the exhibition, “The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s” opened at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City. This is an opportunity to discover how all areas of design reflected the excitement of rapid modernization. … Continue reading →

Sonia Delaunay, Prismes électriques (Electric Prisms), 1914, oil on canvas, 98.4” x 98.4”, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Public Domain via Google Images. Sonia Delaunay, Prismes électriques (Electric Prisms), 1914, oil on canvas, 98.4” x 98.4”, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Public Domain via Google Images.

What is Orphism?

Pioneered by the couple Sonia and Robert Delaunay, Orphism was an art movement in Paris that was influenced both by Cubism and color theory. These artists used abstract form and color alone to indicate the subject and sensations. Borrowing from scientific … Continue reading →

Alexander Calder, Mobile, 1941, 60 x 152 3/8in., Painted aluminum, steel, steel rod, and wire, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Alexander Calder, Mobile, 1941, 60 x 152 3/8in., Painted aluminum, steel, steel rod, and wire, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Just a Second: Kinetic Art

Kinetic art is art that moves, and therefore optimally it engages a viewer. One of the early artists to make kinetic art was Alexander Calder, who created mobiles that were so carefully balanced that the slightest movement of air created by an approaching viewer … Continue reading →