Palm Desert Gallery Walkthrough – 2023/2024 Season

PUBLISHED IN: Gallery Tours

Take a look at our winter season preview showcasing our new exhibition now on view in our Palm Desert, California. Featuring Impressionist masters, including Sisley, Pissarro, and Frieseke, Modern groundbreakers, such as Picasso and O’Keeffe, and Post-War and Contemporary creators including Indiana, De Kooning, Richter, and more.

We are pleased to announce our winter hours at our Palm Desert location at 45188 Portola Avenue: Monday through Saturday from 9:00 – 5:00.

ARTWORK CURRENTLY ON VIEW AT HEATHER JAMES PALM DESERT

Cottonwood Tree (Near Abiquiu), New Mexico (1943) by celebrated American artist Georgia O’Keeffe is exemplary of the airier, more naturalistic style that the desert inspired in her. O’Keeffe had great affinity for the distinctive beauty of the Southwest, and made her home there among the spindly trees, dramatic vistas, and bleached animal skulls that she so frequently painted. O’Keeffe took up residence at Ghost Ranch, a dude ranch twelve miles outside of the village of Abiquiú in northern New Mexico and painted this cottonwood tree around there. The softer style befitting this subject is a departure from her bold architectural landscapes and jewel-toned flowers. <br> <br>The cottonwood tree is abstracted into soft patches of verdant greens through which more delineated branches are seen, spiraling in space against pockets of blue sky. The modeling of the trunk and delicate energy in the leaves carry forward past experimentations with the regional trees of the Northeast that had captivated O’Keeffe years earlier: maples, chestnuts, cedars, and poplars, among others. Two dramatic canvases from 1924, Autumn Trees, The Maple and The Chestnut Grey, are early instances of lyrical and resolute centrality, respectively. As seen in these early tree paintings, O’Keeffe exaggerated the sensibility of her subject with color and form. <br> <br>In her 1974 book, O’Keeffe explained: “The meaning of a word— to me— is not as exact as the meaning of a color. Color and shapes make a more definite statement than words.” Her exacting, expressive color intrigued. The Precisionist painter Charles Demuth described how, in O’Keeffe’s work, “each color almost regains the fun it must have felt within itself on forming the first rainbow” (As quoted in C. Eldridge, Georgia O’Keeffe, New York, 1991, p. 33). As well, congruities between forms knit together her oeuvre. Subjects like hills and petals undulate alike, while antlers, trees, and tributaries correspond in their branching morphology. <br> <br>The sinewy contours and gradated hues characteristic of O’Keeffe find an incredible range across decades of her tree paintings. In New Mexico, O’Keeffe returned to the cottonwood motif many times, and the seasonality of this desert tree inspired many forms. The vernal thrill of new growth was channeled into spiraling compositions like Spring Tree No.1 (1945). Then, cottonwood trees turned a vivid autumnal yellow provided a breathtaking compliment to the blue backdrop of Mount Pedernal. The ossified curves of Dead Cottonweed Tree (1943) contain dramatic pools of light and dark, providing a foil to the warm, breathing quality of this painting, Cottonwood Tree (Near Abiquiu). The aural quality of this feathered cottonwood compels a feeling guided by O’Keeffe’s use of form of color.

GEORGIA O'KEEFFE

<br>In Diego Rivera’s portrait of Enriqueta Dávila, the artist asserts a Mexicanidad, a quality of Mexican-ness, in the work along with his strong feelings towards the sitter. Moreover, this painting is unique amongst his portraiture in its use of symbolism, giving us a strong if opaque picture of the relationship between artist and sitter. <br> <br>Enriqueta, a descendent of the prominent Goldbaum family, was married to the theater entrepreneur, José María Dávila. The two were close friends with Rivera, and the artist initially requested to paint Enriqueta’s portrait. Enriqueta found the request unconventional and relented on the condition that Rivera paints her daughter, Enriqueta “Quetita”. Rivera captures the spirit of the mother through the use of duality in different sections of the painting, from the floorboards to her hands, and even the flowers. Why the split in the horizon of the floorboard? Why the prominent cross while Enriqueta’s family is Jewish? Even her pose is interesting, showcasing a woman in control of her own power, highlighted by her hand on her hip which Rivera referred to as a claw, further complicating our understanding of her stature. <br> <br>This use of flowers, along with her “rebozo” or shawl, asserts a Mexican identity. Rivera was adept at including and centering flowers in his works which became a kind of signature device. The flowers show bromeliads and roselles; the former is epiphytic and the latter known as flor de jamaica and often used in hibiscus tea and aguas frescas. There is a tension then between these two flowers, emphasizing the complicated relationship between Enriqueta and Rivera. On the one hand, Rivera demonstrates both his and the sitter’s Mexican identity despite the foreign root of Enriqueta’s family but there may be more pointed meaning revealing Rivera’s feelings to the subject. The flowers, as they often do in still life paintings, may also refer to the fleeting nature of life and beauty. The portrait for her daughter shares some similarities from the use of shawl and flowers, but through simple changes in gestures and type and placement of flowers, Rivera illuminates a stronger personality in Enriqueta and a more dynamic relationship as filtered through his lens. <br> <br>A closer examination of even her clothing reveals profound meaning. Instead of a dress more in line for a socialite, Rivera has Enriqueta in a regional dress from Jalisco, emphasizing both of their Mexican identities. On the other hand, her coral jewelry, repeated in the color of her shoes, hints at multiple meanings from foreignness and exoticism to protection and vitality. From Ancient Egypt to Classical Rome to today, coral has been used for jewelry and to have been believed to have properties both real and symbolic. Coral jewelry is seen in Renaissance paintings indicating the vitality and purity of woman or as a protective amulet for infants. It is also used as a reminder, when paired with the infant Jesus, of his future sacrifice. Diego’s use of coral recalls these Renaissance portraits, supported by the plain background of the painting and the ribbon indicating the maker and date similar to Old Master works. <br> <br>When combined in the portrait of Enriqueta, we get a layered and tense building of symbolism. Rivera both emphasizes her Mexican identity but also her foreign roots. He symbolizes her beauty and vitality but look closely at half of her face and it is as if Rivera has painted his own features onto hers. The richness of symbolism hints at the complex relationship between artist and sitter.

DIEGO RIVERA

Led by a triumvirate of painters of the American Scene, Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Grant Wood took on the task of exploring, defining, and celebrating the Midwest as a credible entity within the geographical, political, and mythological landscape of the United States. Their populist works were figurative and narrative-driven, and they gained widespread popularity among a Depression-weary American public. The landscapes Grant Wood painted, and the lithographs marketed by Associated American Artists were comforting reminders of traditional Midwestern values and the simplicity of country life. Yet, Wood's most iconic works, including American Gothic, were to be viewed through the lens of elusive narratives and witty ironies that reflect an artist who delighted in sharing his charming and humorous perspective on farm life. <br> <br>In 1930, Wood achieved national fame and recognition with American Gothic, a fictionalized depiction of his sister, Nan, and his family dentist. Frequently regarded as the most famous American painting of the twentieth century, to fully grasp American Gothic's essential nature, one must recognize Wood's profound connection to his Iowan roots, a bond that borders on a singular fixation and the often-brutal confrontation between the moral and cultural rigidity of Midwest isolationism and the standards that prevailed elsewhere in America. This war of values and morality became dominant throughout Wood's oeuvre. Their fascination with American Gothic may have mystified the public, but the story, told in the attitude of a farmer and his wife, is as lean and brittle as the pitchfork he carries. Their attitude, as defiant as it is confrontational, is an unflinching dare to uppity gallery-goers to judge their immaculate well-scrubbed farm. American Gothic became an overnight sensation, an ambiguous national icon often interpreted as a self-effacing parody of midwestern life. Yet it also served as an unflinching mirror to urban elite attitudes and their often-derisive view of heartland values and way of life. In Grant Wood's hands, the people of the Midwest have stiffened and soured, their rectitude implacable. <br> <br>Portrait of Nan is Grant Wood's most intimate work. He may have been motivated to paint it to make amends for the significant scrutiny and harsh treatment his sister received as American Gothic's sternly posed female. Grant poured his heart into it as a sign of sibling love. Intent upon painting her as straightforward and simply as possible so as not to invite unintended interpretations, Wood's deep attachment to the portrait was significant enough for him to think of it as having irreplaceable value. When he moved from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City in 1935, he designed his entire living room around the work. It occupied the place of honor above the fireplace and was the only painting he refused to sell. <br> <br>The lithograph July Fifteenth, issued in 1938, proves his mystical vision of the Iowan heartland is anything but a pitchfork approach. Drawings assumed central importance in Wood's output, and this work is executed in meticulous detail, proving his drawings were at least as complex, if not more so, than his paintings. The surface of the present work takes on an elaborate, decorative rhythm, echoed throughout the land that is soft, verdant, and fertile. Structurally, it alludes in equal measure to the geometry of modern art and the decorative patterning of folk-art traditions. This is a magical place, a fulsome display of an idealized version of an eternal, lovely, and benign heartland. <br> <br>The Young Artist, an en plein air sketch, may have been produced during, or slightly after, what Wood called his "palette-knife stage" that consumed him in 1925. Having not yet traveled to Munich where, in 1928, he worked on a stain-glass window commission and came under the influence of the Northern Renaissance painters that sparked his interest in the compositional severity and detailed technique associated with his mature works, here, he worked quickly, and decisively. The view is from a hilltop at Kenwood Park that overlooks the Cedar River Valley near Cedar Rapids, where he built a house for his sister, Nan.

GRANT WOOD

WILLEM DE KOONING - Woman in a Rowboat - oil on paper laid on masonite - 47 1/2 x 36 1/4 in.

WILLEM DE KOONING

According to the catalogue raisonné compiled by The Brandywine River Museum of Art, the preliminary drawing for Puritan Cod Fishers was completed by N. C Wyeth prior to his death in October 1945. The entry records an image of the sketch as well as the artist’s inscriptions and its title, Puritan Cod Fishers, characterized by the catalogue as ‘alternate’. In either case, the large-scale canvas is a unique work that Andrew Wyeth later recalled was painted solely by his hand, a demarcated collaboration of the father’s design and composition brought to fruition by a remarkable son’s execution. For Andrew, it must have been a deeply felt and emotional experience. Given his father’s attention to detail and authenticity, the lines of the small sailing craft represent a shallot, in use during the sixteenth century. On the other hand, Andrew likely deepened the hues of the restless sea more so than his father might have, a choice that appropriately heightens the perilous nature of the task.

Andrew Wyeth & N. C. Wyeth

Alexander Calder was a key figure in the development of abstract sculpture and is renowned for his groundbreaking work in kinetic art; he is one of the most influential artists of the Twentieth Century. "Prelude to Man-Eater" is a delicately balanced standing sculpture that responds to air currents, creating a constantly changing and dynamic visual experience. <br> <br>Calder's Standing Mobiles were a result of his continuous experimentation with materials, form, and balance. This Standing Mobile is a historically significant prelude to a larger work commissioned in 1945 by Alfred Barr, the first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. "Prelude to Maneater" is designed to be viewed from multiple angles, encouraging viewers to walk around and interact with it. <br> <br>The present work is a formal study for Man-Eater With Pennant (1945), part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The work is also represented in "Sketches for Mobiles: Prelude to Man-Eater; Starfish; Octopus", which is in the permanent collection of the Harvard Fogg Museum. <br> <br>Calder's mobiles and stabiles can be found in esteemed private collections and the collections of major museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Tate Gallery in London among others.

ALEXANDER CALDER

N.C. Wyeth’s extraordinary skills as an illustrator were borne of impeccable draftsmanship and as a painter, his warmly rich, harmonious sense of color, and ability to capture the quality of light itself. But it is his unmatched artistry in vivifying story and character with a powerful sense of mood that we admire most of all — the ability to transport himself to the world and time of his creation and to convey it with a beguiling sense of conviction. That ability is as apparent in the compositional complexities of Treasure Island’s “One More Step, Mr. Hands!” as it is here, in the summary account of a square-rigged, seventeenth-century merchant ship tossed upon the seas. The Coming of the Mayflower in 1620 is a simple statement of observable facts, yet Wyeth’s impeccable genius as an illustrator imbues it with the bracing salt air and taste that captures the adventuresome spirit of the men and women who are largely credited with the founding of America. That spirit is carried on the wind and tautly billowed sails, the jaunty heeling of the ship at the nose of a stiff gale, the thrusting, streamed-limned clouds, and the gulls jauntily arranged to celebrate an arrival as they are the feathered angels of providence guiding it to safe harbor. <br> <br>The Coming of the Mayflower in 1620 was based on two studies, a composition drawing in graphite and a small presentation painting. The finished mural appears to have been installed in 1941.

N.C. WYETH

Trained as a woodcarver, Emil Nolde was almost 30 years old before he made his first paintings. The early paintings resembled his drawings and woodcuts: grotesque figures with bold lines and strong contrasts. The style was new, and it inspired the nascent movement Die Brücke (The Bridge), whose members invited Nolde to join them in 1906. But, it was not until the garden became his locus operandi by 1915 that he built upon his mastery of contrasting luminosities to focus on color as the supreme means of expression. Later, Nolde claimed “color is strength, strength is life,” and he could not have better characterized why his flower paintings reinvigorate our perception of color. <br> <br>Much of the strength of Nolde’s dramatic, Wagnerian-like color sensibilities is the effect of staging primary colors, such as the deep reds and golden yellows of Sonnenblumen, Abend II, against a somber palette. The contrast highlights and deepens the luminosity of the flowers, not just visually, but emotionally as well. In 1937, when Nolde’s art was rejected, confiscated, and defiled, his paintings were paraded as “degenerate art” throughout Nazi Germany in dimly lit galleries. Despite that treatment, Nolde’s status as a degenerate artist gave his art more breathing space because he seized the opportunity to produce more than 1,300 watercolors, which he called “unpainted pictures.” No novice in handling watercolor, his free-flowing style of painting had been a hallmark of his highly-charge, transparent washes since 1918. Sonnenblumen, Abend II, painted in 1944, is a rare wartime oil. He let his imagination run wild with this work, and his utilization of wet-on-wet techniques heightened the drama of each petal. <br> <br>Nolde’s intense preoccupation with color and flowers, particularly sunflowers, reflects his continuing devotion to van Gogh. He was aware of van Gogh as early as 1899 and, during the 1920s and early 1930s, visited several exhibitions of the Dutch artist’s work. They shared a profound love of nature. Nolde’s dedication to expression and the symbolic use of color found fullness in the sunflower subject, and it became a personal symbol for him, as it did for Van Gogh.

EMIL NOLDE

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>From the earliest days of painting during the nineteenth century, which was precipitated by the advent of Impressionism, Renoir established a reputation as the finest portrait painter among the emerging landscapists. Works such as Lise with a Parasol (1867) demonstrated his ability to capture the essence of his subjects with a distinctive flair, setting him apart from his peers. Inspired by a transformative trip to Italy in 1882, Renoir shifted his approach, emphasizing modeling and contours with smooth, blended handling, integrating a new found rigor and clarity reminiscent of the old masters. Often referred to as Renoir’s “Ingres period,” he retained the reputation of the painter best suited to manage the traditional process of recording a sitter's likeness with the distinctive flair and vibrancy of an Impressionist. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>By 1890, Renoir’s style evolved again. He thinned his pigments to achieve a jewel-like translucence, infusing his works with a tender, ethereal quality. This final phase reflects the physical limitations of encroaching rheumatoid arthritis but also a deeper, more reflective approach to his subjects, capturing their inner light and character with subtle, luminous strokes. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>No longer obliged to rely upon society portrait commissions, by 1900, Renoir began to focus on portraits and studies of family, close friends, and neighbors. “Fillette à l’orange”, painted in 1911, extends our appreciation of his very personal, intimate style and reputation for imbuing his portraits of children with all the affectionate charm he could muster. It avoids the softer, generalized approach that prompted his son Jean’s remark that “we are all Renoir’s children, ”idealized versions of beauty and sensuality expressed in universal rather than with physiognomic specifics. We may never know her identity, but her likeness is vivid because Renoir concentrates on her face and expression. Nevertheless, the interplay of light and color highlights her features and brings to life the tender and affectionate nature characteristic of Renoir’s later portraits. An orange as an accessory is often included in portraiture as a symbol of fertility. Yet, here, it seems to serve as a formal element for the artist to demonstrate his skill at displaying its size, shape, and heft in this young girl's hand.</font></div>

PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR

Alexander Calder executed a surprising number of oil paintings during the second half of the 1940s and early 1950s. By this time, the shock of his 1930 visit to Mondrian’s studio, where he was impressed not by the paintings but by the environment, had developed into an artistic language of Calder’s own. So, as Calder was painting The Cross in 1948, he was already on the cusp of international recognition and on his way to winning the XX VI Venice Biennale’s grand prize for sculpture in 1952. Working on his paintings in concert with his sculptural practice, Calder approached both mediums with the same formal language and mastery of shape and color. <br> <br>Calder was deeply intrigued by the unseen forces that keep objects in motion. Taking this interest from sculpture to canvas, we see that Calder built a sense of torque within The Cross by shifting its planes and balance. Using these elements, he created implied motion suggesting that the figure is pressing forward or even descending from the skies above. The Cross’s determined momentum is further amplified by details such as the subject’s emphatically outstretched arms, the fist-like curlicue vector on the left, and the silhouetted serpentine figure. <br> <br>Calder also adopts a strong thread of poetic abandon throughout The Cross’s surface. It resonates with his good friend Miró’s hieratic and distinctly personal visual language, but it is all Calder in the effective animation of this painting’s various elements. No artist has earned more poetic license than Calder, and throughout his career, the artist remained convivially flexible in his understanding of form and composition. He even welcomed the myriad interpretations of others, writing in 1951, “That others grasp what I have in mind seems unessential, at least as long as they have something else in theirs.” <br> <br>Either way, it is important to remember that The Cross was painted shortly after the upheaval of the Second World War and to some appears to be a sobering reflection of the time. Most of all, The Cross proves that Alexander Calder loaded his brush first to work out ideas about form, structure, relationships in space, and most importantly, movement.

ALEXANDER CALDER

During the early 1870s, Winslow Homer frequently painted scenes of country living near a small farm hamlet renowned for generations for its remarkable stands of wheat, situated between the Hudson River and the Catskills in New York state. Today Hurley is far more famous for inspiring one of Homer’s greatest works, Snap the Whip painted the summer of 1872. Among the many other paintings inspired by the region, Girl Standing in the Wheatfield is rich in sentiment, but not over sentimentalized. It directly relates to an 1866 study painted in France entitled, In the Wheatfields, and another, painted the following year after he returned to America. But Homer would have undoubtedly been most proud of this one. It is a portrait, a costume study, a genre painting in the great tradition of European pastoral painting, and a dramatically backlit, atmospheric tour de force steeped in the quickly fading gloaming hour light buoyed with lambent, flowery notes and wheat spike touches. In 1874, Homer sent four paintings to the National Academy of Design exhibition. One was titled, “Girl”. Might it not be this one?

WINSLOW HOMER

No artist bridged the gap between European Modernism and American Abstract Expressionism the same way Hans Hofmann did. The reason is simple. He was trained in Parisian academies prior to World War I and was friendly with Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and, most significantly, Robert and Sonia Delaunay. Conversely, his endeavors as a teacher and later, as a mature artist in full command of his abilities were stimulated — made possible even — by the exhilarating New York milieu that gave rise to Abstract Expressionism. So perhaps it is not surprising that unlike most of the Abstract Expressionists who pursued a single iconographic look — Rothko’s soft-edged rectangles, Franz Klein’s enlarged calligraphic strokes, Clyfford Still’s dark, ragged shapes — Hofmann was constantly reaching for different and contradictory effects. That meant his paintings were wildly varied and that they carved a wide swath toward the most exciting avenues available to contemporary abstraction. Hofmann proved to be a gallant experimenter, refusing to settle on a single style for long. <br> <br>The Climb was painted in 1960 at a time when most American painters were pushing abstraction in new directions. Not surprisingly, as an outlier, it does not evoke Hofmann’s usual “push and pull’ technique. But it is very much a painting of its time, marked by a sensuousness and a deft, painterly touch. It suggests what Irving Sandler characterized as Hofmann’s hedonistic touch, an optimistic celebration of the lyrical abstraction that overcame the burning darkness of painting in the 40s and trumped even the lighter palette of Pollock or Pousette-Dart that emerged later. While the passages of The Climb are brushed rather than poured or stained, it reflects the delicate lyricism of his former student, Helen Frankenthaler who, since 1952 had experimented with floating areas of color, absorbed into the canvas with watercolor-like ease. She, in turn, had inspired a generation of Color Field painters including Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland. On the other hand, these short bands and prismatic slurries recall those halcyon days in Paris when Hofmann worked through color theory with his good friend Robert Delaunay and thought a lot about prisms. Hofmann not only retained elements of Synthetic Cubism, but the lessons he learned from the Fauves and the artists who verily invented abstraction, Wassily Kandinsky, Kasimir Malevich, Frantisek Kupka, and Piet Mondrian to name a few of the key players. The Climb is a glorious expression of a painter drawing from both the past and the present, painting in a playful, but not frivolous manner fully informed and prepared to express his abilities as a painter, simply, and with great conviction. <br> <br>As New York City became the avant-garde’s global hub in the 1940s, radical, new approaches to art, such as action painting and abstraction, took root among the informally grouped New York School painters. By 1950, Abstract Expressionism was well underway, but the movement was often overlooked by institutions. When the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced its plan to exhibit a survey of contemporary American painting, many of the New York School painters felt there was a bias against more “progressive” art in the museum’s selection process, prompting them to draft an open letter protesting the show. <br> <br>The letter garnered attention, and Life magazine published an article on the protest in January 1951, “The Irascible Group of Advanced Artists Led Fight Against Show.” To accompany the article, Nina Lee photographed 15 of the 18 painters who signed the letter, including Hans Hofmann, Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, Ad Reinhardt, Richard Pousette-Dart, William Baziotes, Jackson Pollock, Clyford Still, Robert Motherwell, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko. Today, this article is considered a turning point in the prominence of Abstract Expressionism, and the artists involved are often referred to as the “Irascibles.”

HANS HOFMANN

The frame of reference for Irish American Sean Scully’s signature blocks and stripes is vast. From Malevich’s central premise that geometry can provide the means for universal understanding to Rothko’s impassioned approach to color and rendering of the dramatic sublime, Scully learned how to condense the splendor of the natural world into simple modes of color, light, and composition. Born in Dublin in 1945 and London-raised, Scully was well-schooled in figurative drawing when he decided to catch the spirit of his lodestar, Henri Matisse, by visiting Morocco in 1969. He was captivated by the dazzling tessellated mosaics and richly dyed fabrics and began to paint grids and stipes of color. Subsequent adventures provided further inspiration as the play of intense light on the reflective surfaces of Mayan ruins and the ancient slabs of stone at Stonehenge brought the sensation of light, space, and geometric movement to Scully’s paintings. The ability to trace the impact of Scully’s travels throughout his paintings reaffirms the value of abstract art as a touchstone for real-life experience. <br> <br> <br>Painted in rich, deep hues and layered, nuanced surfaces, Grey Red is both poetic and full of muscular formalism. Scully appropriately refers to these elemental forms as ‘bricks,’ suggesting the formal calculations of an architect. As he explained, “these relationships that I see in the street doorways, in windows between buildings, and in the traces of structures that were once full of life, I take for my work. I use these colors and forms and put them together in a way that perhaps reminds you of something, though you’re not sure of that” (David Carrier, Sean Scully, 2004, pg. 98). His approach is organic, less formulaic; intuitive painter’s choices are layering one color upon another so that contrasting hues and colors vibrate with subliminal energy. Diebenkorn comes to mind in his pursuit of radiant light. But here, the radiant bands of terracotta red, gray, taupe, and black of Grey Red resonate with deep, smoldering energy and evoke far more affecting passion than you would think it could impart. As his good friend, Bono wrote, “Sean approaches the canvas like a kickboxer, a plasterer, a builder. The quality of painting screams of a life being lived.”

SEAN SCULLY

The world of Marc Chagall cannot be contained or limited by the labels we attach to it. It is a world of images and meanings which form their own splendidly mystical discourse. Les Mariés sous le baldaquin (The Bride and Groom under the Canopy) was begun as the artist entered his 90th year, a man who had known tragedy and strife, but who never forgot life’s moments of rapturous pleasure. Here, the dreamy delights of a Russian village wedding with its arrangements of well-worn attendees are brought to us with such happy wit and cheerful innocence that there is no resisting its charm. Using a golden toned emulsion combining oil and opaque, water-based gouache, the warmth, happiness, and optimism of Chagall’s usual positivism is wrapped in a luminous radiance suggesting the influence of gold-leaf religious icons or early Renaissance painting that sought to impart the impression of divine light or spiritual enlightenment. Using a combination of oil and gouache can be challenging. But here, in Les Mariés sous le baldaquin, Chagall employs it to give the scene an otherworldly quality, almost as if it has just materialized out of his mind’s eye. Its textural delicacy creates the impression that light is emanating from the work itself and gives a spectral quality to the figures floating the sky.

MARC CHAGALL

Located on the French Riviera between Nice and Monte Carlo, the Bay of Eze is renowned for its stunning location and spectacular views. As you can see on pages 80-81 of Rafferty's book, this painting skillfully captures the dizzying heights, set just west of Lou Sueil, the home of Jacques and Consuelo Balsan, close friends of Winston and Clementine. <br> <br>The painting manipulates perspective and depth, a nod to the dramatic shifts of artists including Monet and Cézanne, who challenged traditional vantage points of landscapes. The portrait (i.e. vertical) orientation of the canvas combined with the trees, and the rhyming coastline channels the viewer’s gaze. The perceived tilting of the water's plane imbues the painting with dynamic tension.

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

<div>Still lifes like<em> Oranges and Lemons (C 455) </em>give us an insight to the rich and colorful life of Churchill, just as his landscapes and seascapes do. Churchill painted <em>Oranges and Lemons</em> at La Pausa. Churchill would often frequent La Pausa as the guest of his literary agent, Emery Reves and his wife, Wendy.  Reves purchased the home from Coco Chanel.  While other members of the Churchill family did not share his enthusiasm, Churchill and his daughter Sarah loved the place, which Churchill affectionately called “LaPausaland”.  To avoid painting outside on a chilly January morning, Wendy Reves arranged the fruit for Churchill to paint. Surrounded by the Reves’s superb collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works, including a number of paintings by Paul Cézanne, Oranges and Lemons illuminates Churchill’s relationships and the influence of Cézanne, who he admired. The painting, like Churchill, has lived a colorful life, exhibited at both the 1959 Royal Academy of Art exhibition of his paintings and the 1965 New York World’s Fair.</div>

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

JULIAN SCHNABEL - Untitled - oil and wax on tarp - 120 x 96 in.

JULIAN SCHNABEL

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Fernando Botero's legendary ascension as an international sensation began when Museum of Modern Art curator Dorothy Miller stumbled upon his Greenwich Village studio in 1961 and purchased "<em>Mona Lisa, Age Twelve</em>." His trademark portly figures and playful, lighthearted humor became known as "Boterismo." More importantly, the art leaving his easel revealed an unbridled respect for the Old Masters, the compelling chiaroscuro of a Zurbarán still life, the sfumato of da Vinci, and always the craftsmanship of van Eyck, Dürer, or Rubens. Botero continues that thread of technical mastery with "<em>L'Atelier de Sánchez Cotán</em>" even as he reshapes these classical themes through his unique lens. A mixed media collage and oil on canvas, the work pays homage to the Spanish Baroque still life painter Juan Sánchez Cotán by subverting and modernizing the traditional still life genre. Botero captures Cotán's hyperrealism with a surreal, almost whimsical aesthetic. An oversized apple suspended on a string dominates the composition, a nod to Cotán's meticulously arranged still life paintings, known for the striking suspended effect of fruit or vegetables. Botero's rendition, however, imbues the scene with a sense of playfulness and detachment from reality, as seen in the box-like contraption, resembling a stage or a viewing device containing miniature versions of objects within the painting. The stark, flat backdrop, devoid of Cotán's characteristic chiaroscuro, accentuates the sense of artifice.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Fernando Botero's death on September 15, 2023, was a significant loss for the art world. Although his roots are deeply Colombian, his appeal is global, coupling commercial success with critical acclaim—a balance few artists have achieved. Works such as “<em>L'Atelier de Sánchez Cotán</em>” are not just whimsical or aesthetic; they prompt the viewer to appreciate the enduring dialogue between tradition and innovation, showcasing an artist of great technical finesse and mastery.</font></div>

FERNANDO BOTERO

Painted by young Grant Wood shortly after the second of three European tours he took during the 1920s, The Young Artist extends the artist's interest in painting en plein air begun in northern France. The pointillism of Seurat appealed to Wood, and palette knife painting consumed him in 1925. Yet he had not yet traveled to Munich where, in 1928, he came under the influence of the Northern Renaissance painters, which sparked his interest in the compositional severity and detailed technique associated with his mature works. Painting quickly and decisively, Wood produced The Young Artist from a hilltop at Kenwood Park that overlooks the Cedar River Valley near Cedar Rapids, where he built a house for his sister, Nan.

GRANT WOOD

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Martha's Vineyard played a pivotal role in Thomas Hart Benton's artistic journey, offering him both inspiration and respite from urban life. His first visit to the sparsely populated island in 1920 marked a turning point, allowing him to escape the sweltering New York summers and find clarity in the island's serene environment. At a time before the island was deluged by the fabulously wealthy, Vineyard was a freewheeling community of artists and intellectuals that gave the ever-inquisitive Benton much-needed stimulation. It is here that Benton's bold colors and dynamic compositions achieved contour inflections, pictorial rhythms, and a strong-hued palette, which we associate with his mature style. Inspired early by Cézanne, Benton's landscapes transcend fleeting impressions. Yet he never abandoned the influence of Synchronism and its focus on color harmonies, tempo, and rhythm. That latter influence drives the energy and spirit of "Keith's Farm, Chilmark," organized into horizontal bands of visual information, creating a sense of motion and unity.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>With its rolling pastures to the Atlantic Ocean and tranquil cloud formations beyond, the view over the Keith Farm pastures is one of the island's most spectacular. Overlooking Menemsha Pond to the Vineyard Sound, Benton captured and distilled the essential nature of the place, transforming it into a picturesque and personally significant composition. His use of modern techniques to strip the landscape down to its basic tendencies embodies pride in regional America and a reverence for the country's natural beauty in ways the streets of New York never could. Simultaneously, Benton imbues the work with what his daughter, Jessie, noted: music played a vital role in her father's art, informing a sense of motion using sinuous forms, each rendered in flowing complementary and contrasting colors and 'twisting, always moving, moving, moving.' Typical of Benton's best paintings, "Keith's Farm, Chilmark" is a well-orchestrated work that pulls individual elements into a unifying scheme of visual rhythm — a testament to his mastery of landscape painting and deep connection to Martha's Vineyard.</font></div>

THOMAS HART BENTON

The Pop Art Movement is notable for its rewriting of Art History and the idea of what could be considered a work of art. Larry Rivers association with Pop-Art and the New York School set him aside as one of the great American painters of the Post-War period. <br> <br>In addition to being a visual artist, Larry Rivers was a jazz saxophonist who studied at the Juilliard School of Music from 1945-1946. This painting's subject echoes the artists' interest in Jazz and the musical scene in New York City, particularly Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side. <br> <br>“Untitled” (1958) is notable bas the same owner has held it since the work was acquired directly from the artist several decades ago. This work is from the apex of the artists' career in New York and could comfortably hang in a museum's permanent collection.

LARRY RIVERS

PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.

PIERRE BONNARD

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Born in 1982, French native and Brooklyn-based artist Julie Curtiss is celebrated for her beguiling paintings that reimagine a surrealist's conceptual and aesthetic principles for the contemporary era. Her work draws heavily on the Surrealist fascination with Freudian psychology and the subconscious, themes championed by figures like André Breton and Louis Aragon. By blending these Surrealist influences with the dreamlike, graphic qualities reminiscent of the Chicago Imagists, Curtiss creates a visual language that is both referential and distinctly hers. Her imagery often focuses on deconstructing the female form and symbolically representing stereotypical feminine aesthetics, echoing the work of early 20th-century female Surrealists who used dreamlike settings and humor to explore and critique the female experience.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black><em>“D'apres l'Olympia”</em> epitomizes Curtiss's painterly approach to 21st-century sexuality, combining a distinctive yet referential visual lexicon that has earned her international acclaim. By destabilizing the art historical trope of the female nude and reinterpreting Manet's iconic painting of the same name, Curtiss melds elements of French modernism with the graphic sensibilities she developed after moving to Tokyo in 2006, where she honed her signature comic book-like aesthetic. The large red shoes—a striking departure from Manet's original—introduce a sense of humor, simultaneously evoking pop-cultural references while critiquing stereotypical femininity. These oversized, vivid shoes might symbolize the exaggerated expectations placed upon women or serve as a playful nod to the absurdity of societal norms. While her admiration for Manet is evident, it is Curtiss's ability to merge these historical references with contemporary concerns and aesthetics that makes<em> “D'apres l'Olympia”</em> a powerful commentary on the evolving nature of female.</font></div>

JULIE CURTISS

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Camille Claudel's life story reflects an era when societal constraints often dimmed the brilliance of women; their genius was viewed as a threat to the male-dominated world. Most introductions to Claudel are steeped in misleading biographical details related to her as Rodin's assistant, mistress, or lover, associations that diminish her achievements as a first-rate sculptor whose work borrows little from Rodin in style or subject matter. Despite these challenges, Claudel's legacy has endured, celebrated through exhibitions, biographies, and films since her rediscovery in 1982. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black><em>“La Vague (The Wave),”</em> a remarkable sculpture of three women frolicking joyfully, embodies Claudel's passion for art and connection to nature. The women, their hair unruly like the sea, are depicted in a moment of freedom and abandon, yet the looming wave hints at the inevitable sorrow to come—a metaphor for Claudel's life, shadowed by fate. This piece, initially shown in plaster and later cast in bronze with an onyx marble wave, draws direct inspiration from Hokusai's <em>“The Great Wave,”</em> reflecting the Parisian fascination with Japanese art at the time. While <em>“La Vague”</em> showcases Claudel's technical mastery and the influence of Japanese aesthetics, it also poignantly symbolizes her acceptance of the overpowering forces of nature and the tragic course her life would ultimately take. This bronze, cast in 1997, is one of only two not held in a museum, further emphasizing the rarity of and reverence for Claudel's work.</font></div>

CAMILLE CLAUDEL

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT - Untitled (Pigeon Anatomy) - oil, graphite, and chalk on paper - 22 x 30 in.

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT

DAMIEN HIRST - Forgotten Thoughts - butterflies and household gloss on canvas - 48 x 48 in.

DAMIEN HIRST

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Deeply influenced by his populist views and commitment to social realism, Thomas Hart Benton became an advocate for the common man, often depicting the struggles and resilience of ordinary Americans in his work. Coal strikes were frequent occurrences in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and <em>"Mine Strike"</em> is a visually compelling account of such an uprising, rich with social commentary. At the time, Benton traveled the nation seeking inspiration for a mural project and was particularly interested in social issues. In 1933, he illustrated the modern social history of the United States for <em>“We the People”,</em> published by Harper & Brothers, New York. <em>"Mine Strike"</em> is carefully constructed to highlight the chaos and human drama. </font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>The figures are robust and grounded, reflecting Benton's signature style of muscular forms. The scene, though aggressive and violent, displays commitment and sacrifice. Two officers fire on the strikers, one of whom has fallen to the ground, shot. Set against the backdrop of an imposing mining complex, a towering black structure known as a 'tipple' looms ominously over the strikers. Its darkly sinister anthropomorphic shape contrasts sharply with the lighter, more organic human figures — an appearance intensified by its coal chutes resembling mechanical arms. This visual metaphor of industrial oppression underscores the pervasive threat posed by the coal mining industry and those paid to protect its interests.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Through <em>"Mine Strike,"</em> Benton not only documents a specific historical moment but also critiques the broader socio-economic conditions of his time. His depiction of the workers' plight is a powerful statement on the exploitation and struggles the working-class faces. Benton's political leanings towards advocating for social justice and his commitment to portraying the reality of American life are vividly encapsulated in this painting, making it a poignant and enduring piece of art.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Benton made two compositions about strike activities during this time: this painting and another, <em>“Strikebreakers”</em>, painted in 1931. Of the two, Benton used <em>"Mine Strike"</em> as the basis for a well-known lithograph issued in 1933. Benton described the scene as a "Strike battle" in the coal country. This is an imaginary reconstruction of a situation only too common in the late twenties and early thirties."</font></div>

THOMAS HART BENTON

HANS HOFMANN - Song of Love - oil on canvas - 36 1/4 x 48 1/4 in.

HANS HOFMANN

AMEDEO MODIGLIANI - Cariatide - blue crayon on buff paper - 24 x 18 in.

AMEDEO MODIGLIANI

A major figure in both the Abstract Expressionist and American Figurative Expressionist movements of the 1940s and 1950s, Elaine de Kooning's prolific output defied singular categorization. Her versatile styles explored the spectrum of realism to abstraction, resulting in a career characterized by intense expression and artistic boundary-pushing. A striking example of de Kooning's explosive creativity is Untitled (Totem Pole), an extremely rare sculptural painting by the artist that showcases her command of color.  <br> <br>She created this piece around 1960, the same period as her well-known bullfight paintings. She left New York in 1957 to begin teaching at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and from there would visit Ciudad Juárez, where she observed the bullfights that inspired her work. An avid traveler, de Kooning drew inspiration from various sources, resulting in a diverse and experimental body of work.

ELAINE DE KOONING

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Known for his ability to blend traditional Japanese techniques with modern aesthetics, Hiroshi Senju's sublime depictions of bands of cascading veils of paint evoke sensations of tranquility and awe. Senju began exploring waterfall imagery in the early 1990s, pouring translucent pigment onto mulberry paper mounted on board, creating cascading movement. In this work, "<em>Waterfall," </em>he masterfully bonds ribbons of cascading water into two curtain-like ethereal panels. Senju's interest in synesthesia is undeniable. "<em>Waterfall</em>" conjures sound, smell, and feel sensations as much as the rushing water's appearance. In the present work, he placed these dynamic elements in a context that grounds the viewer's sense of place within the natural world. A wedge of blue in the upper left corner contrasts the otherwise monochromatic palette, providing a sky association bounded by a hillside or cliff (for which Senju is known). Additionally, as the cascading water descends, it reaches a destination expanse at the bottom of the picture plane, where the force of the water disperses into a fine mist at the point of contact, serving as a visual anchor. </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Senju's finesse is evident throughout. He uses mulberry paper, a traditional Japanese material known for its delicate texture and strength. The paper's natural fibers absorb pigments in ways that create subtle gradients and fluidity, enhancing the visual effect of the cascading water. He employs traditional Nihonga techniques, such as layering washes to build depth and movement and utilizing varied brush strokes to achieve different effects. Additionally, he incorporates modern methods like the airbrush to apply fine mists of pigment, creating smooth and seamless gradients that mimic the delicate spray and vapor associated with cascading water.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>Hiroshi Senju pays homage to the traditional art forms of his heritage while pushing the boundaries of contemporary art. His ability to convey the sublime through simplicity and abstraction makes this artwork a testament to his unique vision and artistic mastery. It stands as a serene reminder of nature's timeless beauty, captured through the ability of a master painter and artist.  </font></div>

HIROSHI SENJU

HANS HOFMANN - Untitled - oil on canvas - 25 x 30 1/4 in.

HANS HOFMANN

Max Weber moved to Paris in 1905 when the city was the epicenter of artistic innovation. His early works demonstrate the contemporaneous influence of Fauvism’s bold color palette and Cubism’s fragmented representation of reality. However, Weber did not merely imitate these styles; he integrated and reinterpreted them to create something his own. Weber’s importance lies not just with his abstract works, but also in his role as a conduit of modernist ideas. Weber played a crucial role in the transatlantic dialogue that helped shape the course of American art in the twentieth century. His depictions of female figures showcase a synthesis of the abstract and the representational, capturing the essence of his subjects while breaking away from traditional figurative works.

MAX WEBER

Mel Ramos is best known for his paintings of superheroes and female nudes juxtaposed with pop culture imagery. Many of the subjects in his paintings emerge from iconic brands or cultural touchstones like Chiquita bananas, M&M bags, or Snickers. In these works, visual delight is combined with suggested edible and commercial indulgence. <br> <br>Leta and the Hill Myna diverges from some of Ramos’ other nudes. Here Ramos depicts his wife, whom he spoke of as his greatest muse. Like his works depicting superheroes, Leta and the Hill Myna is imbued with mythos and lore. Myna birds are native to South Asia where some are taught to speak, often to recite religious. Furthermore, playing on his wife’s name and the avian theme, Ramos is referencing the famous tale of Leda and the Swan in which Zeus embodies a bird to rape Leda. The story has been reinterpreted throughout history, including by great artists such as Paul Cezanne, Cy Twombly and Fernando Botero. With this depiction, Ramos places himself in that same art historical lineage.

MEL RAMOS

HERB ALPERT - Arrowhead - bronze - 201 x 48 x 48 in.

HERB ALPERT

Informed by his devout Catholic faith, Rouault's artistic evolution was unique amongst modernists. Captivated by the vibrant colors and how light passes through medieval stained-glass windows, he applied thick, rich layers of paint and amplified raw and bold forms awash with deep blues within heavy black lines. Rouault often supported strong recurring religious themes dedicated to the power of redemption. Carlotta serves neither that higher calling nor the marginalized suffering of subjects that included clowns, prostitutes, and crucifixions. Instead, Carlotta is an opportunity to admire Rouault's more subtle color variations and the dynamic interplay between the rough, tactile quality of the impasto and the softer, more diffused effect of the scumbled passages of a model unencumbered by themes of human pain and despair.

GEORGES ROUAULT

Francisco Zúñiga created sculpture as a boy when he assisted his father, a local sculptor of wooden santos. He turned decisively to sculpture after he arrived in Mexico from his native Costa Rica in 1936 and developed a wide-ranging body of work based on the figure that spanned direct carving in wood, modeling in clay, sculpting directly on hard stone, and bronze casting. "Desnundo Reclinado de Dolores" is a departure in that it neither reflects his interest in pre-Columbian art nor his persistence in depicting indigenous-looking women with exaggerated hips and stomachs. Instead, it is a classically modeled tour de force performance of a hip-rotated, forearm-supported kneeling female that Rodin would have been proud to have claimed as his own.

FRANCISCO ZUNIGA

In "Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2", Mel Ramos playfully intertwines the legacy of Marcel Duchamp's modernist masterpiece with the vibrant aesthetics of Pop Art, crafting a clever and visually stimulating reinterpretation. By associating Duchamp's abstract motion with his signature pin-up style, Ramos creates a dynamic dialogue between the revered traditions of fine art and the bold, graphic qualities of commercial imagery. This work exemplifies Ramos's skill in navigating art history and contemporary culture, using the allure of female nudity to explore and satirize societal obsessions with beauty, desire, and commodification. In doing so, Ramos's piece becomes a quintessential Pop Art concoction, reveling in its playful association with Duchamp while simultaneously critiquing and celebrating the visual culture of its time.

MEL RAMOS

Genieve Figgis is a notable figure in the contemporary Irish art scene, recognized for her clever and critical group portraits that often poke fun at long-ago social conventions. A relative latecomer to painting, she caught the attention of American appropriation artist Richard Prince on Twitter, who went on to purchase one of her works and introduced her to the influential circles of the New York art community. Figgis' work playfully critiques affluent middle-class consumption habits and luxurious lifestyles, as immortalized by artists of the past, and brings such subjects firmly into the present day with a mixture of satire and raw, authentic portrayals of life. Think of Figgis as reaching across the sands of time to Daumier or Hogarth, whose work frequently offered a satirical look at contemporary society, joining artists engaged in social satire and known for their keen observational skills.

GENIEVE FIGGIS

JOHN CHAMBERLAIN - ASARABACA - industrial weight aluminum foil with acrylic lacquer and polyester resin - 20 x 23 x 22 in.

JOHN CHAMBERLAIN

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Standing at an impressive 103 inches, this elegantly spare “Sonambient” sculpture by Harry Bertoia allows us to marvel at one of the finest artisans of his generation. This piece, the tallest in the series currently available here at Heather James Fine Art, features a precise arrangement of 36 slender tines in a 6 x 6 grid. This arrangement's uniformity and symmetry are visually captivating and crucial for the sculpture's acoustic properties. The rods, austere and uncapped by finials, have an aged patina with copper undertones, suggesting Bertoia's use of copper or a similar alloy known for its resonant qualities and distinctive coloration. Given the outstanding length of these rods, the attachment method is particularly noteworthy. Bertoia meticulously inserted each rod into individual holes in the base plate using precision drilling and securing techniques such as welding that ensured the rods were firmly anchored and stable, maintaining the structural integrity essential for consistent acoustic performance.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Beyond his uncompromising nature, Bertoia's work draws significant inspiration from natural elements. This sculpture's tall, slender rods evoke images of reeds or tall grasses swaying gently in the wind. This dynamic interaction between the sculpture and its environment mirrors the movement of plants, creating an immersive, naturalistic experience. Yet when activated or moved by air currents, the rods of this monumental work initiate metallic undertones that confirm its materiality without betraying its profound connection to the natural world.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Integrating technical precision and natural inspiration depends on exacting construction that ensures durability and acoustic consistency, while its kinetic and auditory nature imbues the piece with a sense of vitality. This fusion invites viewers to engage with the sculpture on multiple sensory levels, appreciating its robust craftsmanship and evocative, naturalistic qualities. Bertoia's ability to blend these elements results in a work that is both a technical marvel and a tribute to the beauty of the natural world.</font></div>

HARRY BERTOIA

After disappointing sales at Weyhe Gallery in 1928, Calder turned from sculpted wire portraits and figures to the more conventional medium of wood. On the advice of sculptor Chaim Gross, he purchased small blocks of wood from Monteath, a Brooklyn supplier of tropical woods. He spent much of that summer on a Peekskill, New York farm carving. In each case, the woodblock suggested how he might preserve its overall shape and character as he subsumed those attributes in a single form. There was a directness about working in wood that appealed to him. Carved from a single block of wood, Woman with Square Umbrella is not very different from the subjects of his wire sculptures except that he supplanted the ethereal nature of using wire with a more corporeal medium. <br>© 2023 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

ALEXANDER CALDER

Of Herb Albert’s many bronze cast, silky-black patinated spirit totems, few have the distinctively masculine feel of Warrior. Topped with a descending, serrated crown that could as easily refer to the crest of a bird of prey as the headdress of a Plains Indian chief the title “Warrior” is an apt description that addresses the attributes of strength, courage, and unbreakable spirit among others. Much like the work of Henry Moore, those associations depend, in part, upon negative space to create the dynamic and strong impression this formidable sculpture makes.

HERB ALPERT

Roger Brown is known for his personal and often fantastical imagery and highly stylized paintings with figures and objects that reflect his interest in everyday experiences. Acid Rain explores themes of modern life and social commentary that reflect the role of the artist in society and the potential of art to instigate change. On a more personal level, the theme of acid rain may symbolize corrosive emotional or psychological states, such as depression, anxiety, or the feeling of being overwhelmed by circumstances beyond one's control. Just as acid rain was a largely unseen but devastating environmental problem, the crisis of the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic likely motivated Brown to create the work to process personal grief, critique the inadequate response from political leaders, and advocate for compassion, understanding, and medical research.

ROGER BROWN

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Donald Judd's role in defining the Minimalist movement is pivotal. He rejected traditional modes of representation, favoring the creation of objects that challenge viewers to find beauty in simplicity and the precision of industrial materials. Judd transformed the landscape of modern art with forms that are clean, unembellished, and elegant in their simplicity.<em> "Untitled"</em> exemplifies this minimalist approach, where form, material, and longevity are the primary focus.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>In the context of Judd's oeuvre, the anodized aluminum surface of <em>"Untitled"</em> allows for a smooth, consistent finish that enhances the minimalist aesthetic by highlighting pure form and material, free from the distractions of imperfections or the need for additional surface treatments like paint. More significantly, an anodized surface is corrosion-resistant, underscoring that Judd is not merely creating art for the present moment but crafting pieces intended to endure indefinitely, preserving their pristine, minimalist aesthetic for posterity. Created in an edition of 12 and measuring 41.5 inches in length, with a depth and height of 6.25 inches, <em>"Untitled" </em>exemplifies this meticulous approach, showcasing the industrial aesthetic that Judd so effectively brought into the realm of fine art. Its clean, unembellished form emphasizes the importance of material and the geometric purity that Judd sought to achieve.</font></div>

DONALD JUDD

JOAN MIRO - L'Oiseau - bronze and cinderblock - 23 7/8 x 20 x 16 1/8 in.

JOAN MIRO

© 2023 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

ALEXANDER CALDER

KEITH HARING - Untitled (Figure Balancing On Dog) - aluminum - 35 1/2 x 25 x 29 in.

KEITH HARING

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Richard Prince's "<em>Untitled</em>" from 2009 is a provocative and multilayered piece that engages with the themes of censorship, appropriation, and the boundaries of art. Prince uses a photographic montage of naked, intertwined bodies—imagery that evokes the explicit nature of an orgy and obscures its tawdry nature with a pattern of pink, egg-shaped acrylic elements covering much of the underlying image. The placement of these shapes is seemingly arbitrary, yet they play a crucial role in how the viewer perceives the piece. This obscuring overlay can be interpreted as a visual metaphor for censorship, alluding to how society imposes restrictions on what is deemed acceptable for public consumption. By covering parts of the bodies, Prince draws attention to the act of censorship itself rather than merely the content being censored. The viewer is left to imagine what lies beneath, heightening the sense of curiosity and the taboo.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Prince's work often critiques mass media and the commercialization of culture, and this piece is no exception. By altering found images, he questions the ownership and authorship of visual culture. The "censorship" elements in this work might also reference the commodification of sex and how the media sanitizes or obscures the raw, human aspects of such imagery to make it more palatable for the public.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>In "<em>Untitled</em>," Prince challenges viewers to confront their perceptions of morality, art, and the power dynamics inherent in censorship. The work serves as a commentary on how images are manipulated and controlled in society, pushing the boundaries of what is considered art and what is considered obscene. Through this layered approach, Prince continues his exploration of the intersections between art, culture, and societal norms.</font></div>

RICHARD PRINCE

"Wigwam rouge et jaune", a captivating gouache painting by Alexander Calder, is a vibrant exploration of design and color. Dominated by a lattice of diagonal lines intersecting near their pinnacle, the composition exudes a dynamic balance. Calder introduces an element of whimsy with red and yellow diamond shapes, infusing the piece with playfulness and creating a festive atmosphere. Red balls at the right-leaning lines' apex evoke a whimsical impression, while smaller gray spheres atop left-leaning lines offer contrast and equilibrium. Calder's masterful fusion of simplicity and vital design elements makes Wigwam rouge et jaune a visual delight.

ALEXANDER CALDER

Manuel Neri was a central figure in the Bay Area Figurative Movement in the 1960s. Instead of abstract forms, the group emphasized emotion through the power of the human form. The present work, "Untitled" (1982), explores the female form on a life-sized scale. Neri preferred to work with just one model throughout his 60-year career, Maria Julia Klimenko. The absence of a face in many of the sculptures adds an element of mystery and ambiguity. The focus of the composition in "Untitled" is the structure and form of the figure. Manuel Neri is represented in numerous museum collections worldwide, including the Addison Gallery/Phillips Academy; Anderson Collection at Stanford University; Art Institute of Chicago; Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University; Cincinnati Art Museum; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Denver Art Museum, the El Paso Museum of Art, Texas; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Harvard University Art Museums; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Honolulu Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

MANUEL NERI

Deborah Butterfield holds a significant place within the pantheon of American sculptors, renowned for her pioneering spirit and mastery of diverse mediums. Crafted in formed-wielded steel, "Beacon" is a testament to her boldness and dedication to pushing artistic boundaries. Butterfield embraced the challenges of this demanding medium, and it is a fusion of innovation and tradition. With its modern aesthetic characterized by sweeping, elegant lines, this horse sculpture is a source of enchantment, inviting viewers into a realm where contemporary art converges with timeless beauty. Beacon honors the classic grace of the equine form and reaffirms Butterfield's position as a visionary within the landscape of modern sculpture.

DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD

The daughter of minimalist sculptor Tony Smith, Kiki's art is not limited to any single medium or technique, and her work often invites multiple interpretations. Club embodies the form and dimensions of a human leg, the essential element for movement and stability. Smith's title invites the viewer to reimagine a leg as a weapon and consider the fragility of the human condition, the power dynamics of bodily autonomy, and the complex interplay between strength and vulnerability. Such a transformation of a body part into an object conveys both protection and aggression and reflects upon how gender-specific bodies navigate our social and personal environment. Club exemplifies Smith's ability to create pieces rich in symbolism, open to interpretation, and provoke thought about the human experience.

KIKI SMITH

When a horse lies down, it is because it feels safe, which, for Deborah Butterfield, is a way of saying that it is okay to make ourselves vulnerable. "Echo", constructed in ways that respect her foraging skills and ability to weld metalwork, does not adhere to a traditional portrayal of a horse but instead reveals something of its essential nature. Constructed from pieced-together steel sheets, some rippled, others folded or crimped, it is a piece that bears the mark of time, aged to a rust-brown patina, imperfections celebrated rather than concealed. Butterfield's deliberate choice of materials and their treatment adds depth and character, transforming Untitled, Echo into more than just an equine representation — it reflects the rugged beauty and the resilience of the animal it represents.

DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD

<div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Born in 1881, the same year as fellow Spaniard Pablo Picasso, María Blanchard carved her distinct path within modernist art, blending Cubist influences with emotional depth. <em>"La Comida" </em>demonstrates Blanchard's evolution towards a more figurative style while retaining explicit Cubist references. This shift aligns her work with the “<em>Retour à l'ordre”</em> movement, a tendency many fellow artists embraced at the time. Thematically, “<em>La  Comida</em>” recalls van Gogh's early works, particularly "<em>The Potato Eaters</em>" (1885), in both palette and subject matter. Like van Gogh, Blanchard draws attention to the simplicity of rural life, using muted tones of browns, reds, and ochres to convey the grounded, almost austere nature of the figures around the table.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Blanchard’s work after 1921 progressively bridged the gap between the rigid forms of early Cubism and a more emotive, personal representation of her subjects. Geometric rigors are present, but the scene's naturalistic light and volumetric composition echo Cézanne's influence. The sharp brushstrokes and angular figures evoke a sense of protection, reflecting Blanchard's intention to shield the inner spirit of her characters from the gaze of others. Yet, her sensitive portrayal invites viewers to connect emotionally with her work, engendering a sense of intimacy and quiet communion. Despite the somber palette, there is a subtle warmth, with the figures' inner spirit shielded from judgment, much like those in van Gogh's painting. Yet in synthesizing elements of Cubism, Blanchard added emotional complexity to the rural themes van Gogh explored, making her contribution distinct yet reflective of earlier artistic traditions.</font></div>

MARIA BLANCHARD

<div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>María Blanchard, born in 1881, initially emerged as a committed Cubist painter, heavily influenced by her friendships with Juan Gris and other avant-garde figures. Her work in the 1910s showcased rigorous geometric abstraction, yet by the early 1920s, she began to transition toward a more figurative style. This shift aligned her with the “<em>Retour à l'ordre”</em> movement, in which many artists returned to more classical forms after the upheavals of war and early avant-garde experimentation. Blanchard's increasing focus on emotional depth and human subjects became a defining feature of these later works, culminating in pieces like "<em>Fillette à la pomme</em>."</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Blanchard's Cubist roots, prominent in the angular treatment of the hands and apple, are softened throughout the girl's modest attire, suggesting a spiritual or religious significance. The model's pious countenance and the muted palette of browns, grays, and blues further reinforce that the painting continues a thread of religious themes, as seen in Picasso's early masterwork, "<em>The First Communion</em>," and Blanchard's own "<em>Girl at her First Communion</em>." The apple held in hand introduces layers of symbolism, often representing knowledge, innocence, or temptation, an association that suggests an emotional transition, bridging childhood and deeper awareness.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Aptos size=3 color=black>Blanchard's ability to fuse Cubist form with symbolic narrative and emotional complexity makes this painting a poignant reflection of her evolution as an artist. She humanizes the rigid forms of Cubism while imbuing her subjects with depth and inner life.</font></div>

MARIA BLANCHARD

Manuel Neri's early paper mâché works broke ground in sculptural technique, and his approach to painting his sculptures reflects his deep engagement with the expressive potential of color and form. The choice and placement of colors in Hombre Colorado II create a particularly visceral response that reflects his nuanced understanding of the psychological and emotional dimension of color. Conceptualized and produced in 1958, Hombre Colorado II reflects a time when Neri and his wife Joan Brown were engaged in a rich artistic exchange of creativity and contributed significantly to the evolution of their respective styles and the Bay Area Figurative Movement, in which they played vital roles.

MANUEL NERI

"A Dream Within a Dream" is a significant series of paintings and silkscreens by Ryan McGinnes that takes its name from a famous poem by Edgar Allan Poe. Exploring themes of perception, reality, and the subconscious mind, McGinnes incorporates a variety of symbols and motifs, including geometric shapes, botanical elements, and figurative motifs, which he arranges in intricate patterns that seem to shift and morph before the viewer's eyes. The title suggests a sense of ambiguity and uncertainty, reflecting the elusive nature of reality and the fleeing quality of human experience. By engaging with themes of perception and illusion, McGinnes encourages viewers to question their assumptions about the world and to consider the possibility that reality may be more fluid and subjective than it appears.

RYAN MCGINNESS

Deborah Butterfield is an American sculptor, best known for her sculptures of horses made of objects ranging from wood, metal, and other found objects. The 1981 piece, Untitled (Horse), is comprised of sticks and paper on wire armature. The impressive scale of this piece creates a remarkable effect in person, presenting a striking example of Butterfield's celebrated subject matter. Butterfield originally created the horses from wood and other materials found on her property in Bozeman, Montana and saw the horses as a metaphorical self-portrait, mining the emotional resonance of these forms.

DEBORAH BUTTERFIELD

HERB ALPERT - Inspired - bronze - 100 x 20 x 12 in.

HERB ALPERT

Known for his fascination with fame, celebrity, and cultural icons, Andy Warhol occasionally reached beyond his contemporaries to include historical figures. Of particular interest, Goethe's theories on color emphasized how colors are perceived and their psychological impact, contrasting with the prevailing Newtonian physics-based understanding of color as a scientific phenomenon. Although there is no direct link that Goethe's color theory directly inspired Warhol to select him as a subject, it thematically highlights how we view Warhol's art as engaging with historical traditions to symbolize a bond between their respective fields and eras. In this sense, the work serves as an homage and a cross-temporal collaboration, linking Warhol's visual language with Goethe's awareness of color as a potent, stimulating element in perception.

ANDY WARHOL

Shaped by his native Italy and adopted America, Joseph Stella investigated an extraordinary range of styles and mediums in artworks of astonishing diversity and originality. In 1911, Stella rode the avant-garde wave of Fauvist, Cubist, and Futurist trends, but he was the only American modernist who lived day-to-day with the Italian Old Masters. The pose and handling of "Reclining Nude" relates to a series of works Stella painted during the 1920s depicting seductive women from mythological or fantasy sources such as "Leda and the Swan" and Ondine, a beautiful water nymph from a popular 19th-century romantic German fairy tale. Portrayed instead without floral or symbolist imagery, Reclining Nude, painted in the 1930s, more appropriately reflects that sobering time.

JOSEPH STELLA

During the late 1990s, Manuel Neri began to transform numerous plaster sculptures into bronze, frequently returning to earlier works to produce newly imagined renditions of each piece. These series, nearly indistinguishable in shape and surface detail, explore the impact of varying color schemes and mark-making that involve various actions, including incising brushing, scraping, or layering materials. By experimenting with different marking techniques, Neri could explore the interplay between form, color, texture, and light. In the context of Standing Figure No. 3, Neri limited his palette to an analogous color scheme, thinning the paint to create subtle gradations that enhance the sculpture's sleek, refined exterior.

MANUEL NERI

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Harry Bertoia was an authentic visionary in art, and they are rare. Of those whose métier is sculpture, Alexander Calder and Harry Bertoia are the twentieth-century American standouts. They are engineers of beauty; their creative currency is feats of invention and pure artistry that honor our experience of them (if we are willing to quiet our mind) as if a sacred event. It was Duchamp who suggested Calder call his kinetic works “mobiles”, but it was up to Bertoia himself to coin a word to describe something for which there was little precedent. Visually precise, kinetic, and offering resonant, vibratory sound, a “Sonambient” sculpture is at once a metaphor for our sentient experience in the world yet capable of inducing an aura of transcendent experience. Given that insight, it is easy to understand Bertoia’s view that “I don’t hold onto terms like music and sculpture anymore. Those old distinctions have lost all their meaning.”</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>The present “Sonambient” sculpture is a forty-eight-inch-tall curtain of thin-gauged tines. Once activated, it becomes a 15 3/4 inch long, 8 inches deep wall of sound. Five rows of narrow tines are staggered in number, alternating between 30 and 29 tines that, when activated, present as an undulating wall of sound. When touched or moved by air currents, the rods produce a sound that, while metallic, does not betray its source of inspiration: the serene connection Bertoia felt in observing the gentle undulating movement of desert grasses. As always, this is a Bertoia sculpture that invites participation in the experience of changing shapes and sounds, a participatory work that asks us to be present in the moment, to connect across time with the object and its creator.</font></div>

HARRY BERTOIA

ALEX KATZ - Peter - oil on masonite board - 15 7/8 x 7 1/8 in.

ALEX KATZ

JESSIE ARMS BOTKE - Two White Peacocks - oil on board - 29 1/4 x 24 1/2 in.

JESSIE ARMS BOTKE

A veteran of the battle of Verdun, Fernand Leger witnessed the horror and staggering loss of over 1 Million of his fellow countrymen during World War I. This horrific experience of fighting in the trenches of Europe left an indelible mark on the artist. The modern and mechanized aspects of this new form of warfare, with tanks, modern artillery, and gruesome tactics, inspired Leger to create some of his greatest masterpieces. <br> <br>The Present drawing, executed in 1930, is a relic from the decade following the First World War. Untitled (1930) was purchased from the Katherine Kuh galley in Chicago- and has been impeccably preserved by the family of the original purchaser. It is exceedingly rare to find drawings like Untitled outside of Museum collections.

FERNAND LEGER

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) was a prosperous period that helped shape Chinese history's foundations for future centuries. This era was marked by notable technological and cultural advances, including gunpowder and printing. Among artistic advances during this period was the perfection of the sancai glaze technique, which was a prominent attribute of sculpture during this period. Sancai (tri-colored) glazing used the three glaze-colors were ochre or brown, green and clear. Glazed wares were much more costly to produce than other terracotta wares, and were therefore only reserved for the wealthiest patrons. <br> <br>This Sancai-Glazed Horse would have been an incredible status symbol for its owner and many have been lost to time. This sculpture is comparable to examples held in museum collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

CHINESE

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) was a prosperous cultural period that helped shape Chinese history's foundations for future centuries. This era was marked by notable technological and cultural advances, including gunpowder and printing. Among artistic advances during this period was the perfection of the sancai glaze technique, which was a prominent attribute of sculpture during this period. Sancai (tri-colored) glazing; the three glaze-colors used were ochre or brown, green and clear. Glazed wares where much more costly to produce than other terracotta wares, and were therefore only reserved for the wealthiest patrons. <br> <br>The Sancai-Glazed Earth Spirit offered here depicts a "Zhenmushou." These are mythical hybrid creatures whose bodies are a combination of dogs, lions, boars and other animals. These fierce looking beasts would be found in pairs guarding the entrance of Tang Dynasty tombs.

CHINESE

MARC QUINN - Lovebomb - photo laminate on aluminum - 108 1/4 x 71 3/4 x 37 3/4 in.

MARC QUINN

CHARLES ARNOLDI - Sticky Wicket - acrylic, modeling paste and sticks on plywood - 44 1/4 x 91 x 3 in.

CHARLES ARNOLDI

WILLIAM WENDT - Laguna Hills - oil on canvas - 25 x 30 in.

WILLIAM WENDT

Jaudon was one of the founders of the Pattern and Decoration movement. With a foundation of feminist theory, Jaudon repositioned what were considered trivial art forms and minor visual images. These forms and symbols were relegated because of their association with the feminine or non-Western. <br> <br>At the same time, Palmyra exemplifies the ability of Jaudon to create aesthetically beautiful works. Jaudon interweaves shades of red into ornate arabesques recalling gothic stonework, celtic knots, and Islamic calligraphy. The crispness of the lines against the impasto and the layering of red tones makes it appear that the lines are carved like stone.

VALERIE JAUDON

<div><font size=3 color=black>Harry Bertoia's “Sonambient” sculptures are renowned for their meditative qualities, inviting viewers into a serene and contemplative state. Among the five “Sonambients” in our exhibition, even this most petite sculpture stands out with its remarkable sonic capabilities. This work, with its 64 tines, each capped with long, slender finials, produces a high-timbered sonority that is surprisingly robust. The delicate yet powerful sound offers an auditory experience that encourages reflection and heightened awareness.</font></div> <br> <br><div><font size=3> </font></div> <br> <br><div><font size=3 color=black>A pivotal aspect of the “Sonambient” sculptures' evolution was the involvement of Bertoia's brother, Oreste, whose expertise as a musician enabled him to help Harry reconceptualize these sculptures, not just as visual or kinetic art but as instruments capable of producing an immersive soundscape. This collaboration highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of Bertoia's work, merging the worlds of sculpture and music. Experimenting with rods and tines of different metals, varying in length and thickness, he discovered a wide range of tones and textural droning sounds. Exhilarated by their ethereal, otherworldly resonance and his brother's encouragement, Bertoia filled his historic barn in Bally, Pennsylvania, with more than sixty “Sonambient” sculptures. It became a kind of orchestral studio and laboratory where he recorded albums and held concerts, and the once lowly barn became a hallowed place—a chapel of sorts—where visitors experienced it as a pilgrimage and a place of profound inspiration and meditation.</font></div>

HARRY BERTOIA

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>Trace a line from Alexander Calder to the kinetic achievements of George Rickey, and it is clear both are engineers of beauty. Their creations are feats of invention and artistry that honor our experience of them. The present Rickey sculpture "Eight Lines II – Sketch for Twenty-Four Lines" exemplifies the artist's intentions to bridge the gap between engineering precision and artistic expression, offering a mesmerizing display of motion and balance. Measuring 57 inches by 54 inches by 54 inches, the arms of this sculpture move within spherical parameters deliberately yet unpredictably, responding to the slightest movement of air. This intricate dance of elements, driven by natural forces, transforms the sculpture into a dynamic interplay of mechanical precision and organic fluidity.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>A generation removed from Calder, Rickey came of age during World War II and widespread devastation. Ironically, yet without apology, Rickey honed his skills in precision and complex mechanical systems due to his military experience as a design technician focusing on the maintenance and instruction of aircraft gun turrets. These skills, of course, would later serve him well in fashioning his kinetic sculptures. With that in mind, the precise engineering and organic movement inherent in a Rickey kinetic sculpture symbolizes a bridge between destruction and renewal and serves as a testament to the resilience and innovative spirit of the post-war ethos.</font></div> <br> <br><div> </div> <br> <br><div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>With its radiating arms extending in multiple directions, "Eight Lines II – Sketch for Twenty-Four Lines" captures the essence of Rickey's meticulous design and engineering prowess. A design full of complexities, each arm, crafted from sleek stainless steel, moves gracefully, reflecting light and creating an ever-changing visual experience. This attention to detail highlights Rickey's skill in making connections that allow fluid movement while maintaining structural integrity.</font></div>

GEORGE RICKEY

<div><font face=Calibri size=3 color=black>In 1853, a twenty-three-year-old Bierstadt commenced study at the Düsseldorf Academy, the school primarily responsible for shaping the technical precision and atmospheric depth of the preeminent American landscape painters of the second half of the 19th century. Four years later, in the company of fellow artist Sanford Robinson Gifford, he painted <em>“Capri.”</em> Inscribed with the title and dated “June 11, 1857,” it is a striking example of the young artist’s early mastery, painted just two years before his watershed campaign in 1859 in the company of Frederick W. Lander, a land surveyor for the United States government. It is a fully realized study emphasizing the precision, detailed observation, and careful glazing technique indicative of the academic tradition of gradually building up the surface. He would begin with a detailed drawing, followed by monochromatic underpainting and successive layers of thin, transparent color glazes that achieve depth and luminosity in the translucent hues of the seawater rarely matched in the annals of landscape painting. <em>“Capri”</em> is a lovely achievement that foreshadows the drama and grandeur that would define Bierstadt’s later work, illustrating how his time in Italy helped shape his approach to landscape painting.</font></div>

ALBERT BIERSTADT

LÉON AUGUSTIN LHERMITTE - Laveuses, le soir - pastel on paper laid on canvas - 17 1/2 x 13 3/4 in.

LÉON AUGUSTIN LHERMITTE

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) was a prosperous cultural period that helped shape Chinese history's foundations for future centuries. This era was marked by notable technological and cultural advances, including gunpowder and printing. Among artistic advances during this period was the perfection of the sancai glaze technique, which was a prominent attribute of sculpture during this period. Sancai (tri-colored) glazing; the three glaze-colors used were ochre or brown, green and clear. Glazed wares where much more costly to produce than other terracotta wares, and were therefore only reserved for the wealthiest patrons. <br> <br>The Sancai-Glazed Earth Spirit offered here depicts a "Zhenmushou." These are mythical hybrid creatures whose bodies are a combination of dogs, lions, boars and other animals. These fierce looking beasts would be found in pairs guarding the entrance of Tang Dynasty tombs.

CHINESE

MARY ABBOTT - Untitled - oil and oil stick on paper mounted to canvas - 23 x 29 in.

MARY ABBOTT

EDGAR ALWIN PAYNE - Venetian Boats at Sotto Marino - oil on panel - 23 3/8 x 26 1/4 in.

EDGAR ALWIN PAYNE

JOANNA POUSETTE-DART - Untitled (Red Desert Study) - acrylic on wood panel - 33 1/2 x 42 x 3/4 in.

JOANNA POUSETTE-DART

SETH KAUFMAN - Lignum Spire - bronze with green patina - 103 1/2 x 22 x 17 in.

SETH KAUFMAN

<div><font face=Lato size=3 color=black>After leaving Picasso in 1953, Françoise Gilot set out to redefine herself and build an independent career. Never a one-dimensional artist, she moved through various styles, absorbed the lessons of Léger and Matisse, and by the 1980s, had become emboldened by colorful harmonies and an organic interplay of shapes that suggests an affinity with Friedensreich Hundertwasser's aesthetic. "<em>Maison Naïve</em>" celebrates Gilot's use of bold, organic shapes and vibrant, fluid colors that echo Hundertwasser's vision of architecture as an extension of nature, blending structure with an undulating, harmonious environment that reflects her creative evolution. </font></div>

FRANCOISE GILOT

FRANCISCO TOLEDO - Untitled - mixed media on paper - 8 x 10 1/4 in.

FRANCISCO TOLEDO

AI WEIWEI - "Fairytale" Chairs - wood - 49 x 45 x 17 1/2 in.

AI WEIWEI

HENRI MATISSE

LOUISE NEVELSON - Canada Series - plexiglass with metal fasteners - 44 1/4 x 31 x 11 1/2 in.

LOUISE NEVELSON

Provenance: <br>Heather James, CA <br>Private collection, NV (acquired from above May, 2000)

CHINESE