Observingarts: Julie Boserup and Søren Lose at The National Museum of Photography, Denmark

The exhibition will run from 30 April, 2016  - January 31, 2017. Read more

Julie Boserup, Leisure I, 2014, Inkjet print partially sanded, pencil, wallpaper and found images, 152,5 x 162 cm, unique

Søren Lose, Monuments series, 2012. Ink-jet on Hahnemühle German Etching 310 g, smoked oak, museum glass, 26 x 22 cm, editions of 10

Observingart: news

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino, A Study for Hercules, in three-quarter-length, 1640s.
Photographer / Source  Cecilia Heisser/Nationalmuseum

The Nationalmuseum has acquired a red-chalk figure study for a Hercules, in three-quarter-length from the 1640s by the Italian Baroque artist Guercino. The drawing that in the 18^th century belonged to the Swedish diplomat and art collector Count Carl Gustaf Tessin has thus been reunited with the main part of his drawings collection in the museum’s holdings. 

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Lars Bohman Gallery: 

Last week for Helena Blomqvists exhibition Florentine
The show runs through April 24.

Daybed Portrait 1963, 2016
Fine Art Print
108 x 130 cm

Observingarts: Spring exhibition explores intimate realms at the National Gallery of Denmark 11 February 2016

Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) Soap Bubbles c. 1733-34

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / Wentworth Fund, 1949

What do emotions and moods look like when expressed in the realm of art? And how can the intimate interaction between people be depicted? 

The exhibition Closer – Intimacies in art explores how artists from the 18th to the mid-20th centuries sough to portray ‘intimacy’ through close, sensitive observation of people, nature and domestic settings. The exhibition assigns a crucial role to the matter of intimacy in the evolution of modern art. 

Highlights include works by Jean-Siméon Chardin, Nicolai Abildgaard, Edvard Munch, Berthe Morisot, Vilhelm Hammershøi, Edward Hopper and Pierre Bonnard.


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Observingarts: The director’s personal exhibition at National Gallery of Denmark 11 February 2016

Jean-Siméon Chardin, 

Soap Bubbles, circa 1733–34. 

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / Wentworth Fund, 1949

Intimacies in Art is about intimacy, the intimate space, and how artists from many periods – ranging from 1730 to 1930 – have sought to capture the private and the intimate through close observations of people, nature and the rooms in which we live. Curated by the director of the SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, Mikkel Bogh, the exhibition presents spectacular works and hitherto unseen gems by artists such as Chardin, Abildgaard, Munch, Bonnard and Hammershøi.

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Observingarts: artist and empire at Tate Britain

Take a look at how the British Empire has shaped art past and present! Tate Britain's critically acclaimed Artist and Empire still runs if you are in London. Featuring a vast array of fascinating objects representing a complex mix of traditions, places and cultures through which the fragmented history of the Empire is told.

Observingaqrts: Matthew Barney at Astrup Fearnley Museum

Matthew Barney Cremaster 5: Lánchíd: The Lament of the Queen of Chain, 1997Akryl, støpt polyuretan, vivak, Pyrex, polyetylen og protetisk plast 305 x 610 x 488 cm

Matthew Barney (b.1967, San Francisco, USA) is arguably the artist of the 1990s who most profoundly changed the language of sculpture.

He achieved this through the introduction of new materials, from petroleum jelly to gym equipment, the conflation of media and narrative structures, and his enigmatic biological fictions that are at once hilarious and monstrous. For Barney, sculpture is an emanation of places, performances, films, photos, drawings and ephemera, in which he is typically the story’s protagonist. In this exhibition, he has created a new layout and a narrative that goes from TRANSEXUALIS (decline) (1991) through The Cremaster Cycle (1994–2002) to theRiver of Fundament (2014).

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Observingarts: New acquisition by The Nationalmuseum Sweden : Photographic portrait of Gustaf VI Adolf by C.G. Rosenberg

C. G. Rosenberg

Photographic Portrait of HM King Gustav VI Adolf, 1950. 

Photo: Anna Danielsson/Nationalmuseum.

C.G. Rosenberg was not primarily a portrait photographer, but was known chiefly for his images of nature and architecture. From 1922 to 1955, he was a contributor to the Swedish Tourist Association’s yearbook and, as such, was instrumental in shaping mid-20th-century popular perceptions of Sweden. Admired by many architects of the time, Rosenberg was invited to photograph prestigious projects such as the Stockholm Public Library, the Woodland Cemetery (Skogskyrkogården) in Enskede and the Stockholm Concert Hall. He was also commissioned to photograph heritage buildings and artifacts.

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Observingarts: Paul Klee and Ivan Augéli at Moderna Museet

Paul Klee, Ad marginem, 1930 Courtesy Kunstmuseum Basel

Bequest of Richard Doetsch-Benziger, Basel 1960

Photo: Kunstmuseum Basel, Martin P. Bühler

16 January – 24 April, 2016 Moderna Museet in Stockholm Curator: Fredrik Liew

Moderna Museet starts the new art year with the exhibition Klee/Aguéli. Paul Klee and Ivan Augéli never met, and their works have been shown widely but in separate contexts. Now they meet for the first time, in an exhibition that shows how a painting of a garden or a palm grove can be an act of resistance.

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Ivan Aguéli, 

Afrikanskt landskap, 

ca 1914 © Ivan Aguéli 

Foto: Moderna Museet

Observingarts: The National Museum’s new exhibitions for the 2016 art year

Japanomania. 

Andreas Schneider, 

Påfugl, design for tapet eller stoffmønster, akvarell, 1909.

Foto: Nasjonalmuseet

Japanomania, Hans Gude’s glittering seas, the breakthrough of functionalism, extreme furniture design, and the multifaceted career of Sidsel Paaske. This is the 2016 art year at the National Museumof Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo:

2016 kicks off with the exhibition “Villa Tugendhat” at Villa Stenersen. Tugendhat is the best preserved example of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s (1886–1969) early functionalism and served as an inspiration for Arne Korsmo’s work on Villa Stenersen.

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Observingarts: The Broad winter/spring

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16, 2015—Following a popular inaugural season of programming, The Broad today announced the line-up for the winter/spring season which will continue the museum’s thematic program series and include feminist performances, experimental musical artists and a film screening with panel discussion led by filmmaker Ava DuVernay. The season includes four Los Angeles premieres by Cassils, Martine Syms, Xandra Ibarra and Daniel Wohl. The Broad’s public programming is a complement to the museum’s extensive collection of contemporary art and brings a fresh perspective to the ideas embodied within the artwork at the museum. Read more at The Broad

Observingarts: "The Artist" at The Modern Museum, Sweden

Helene Schjerfbeck, Self-portrait with Palette, 1937. © Helene Schjerfbeck/Bildupphovsrätt 2015 

From the collections of Moderna Museet.
  Photo:; Albin Dahlström/Moderna Museet 

The Artist

11 February – 4 September 2016

The Artist is an exhibition that discusses what it means to be an artist, in both a contemporary and a historical context. It examines roles, ideals and myths, illustrating how artists have related to the values, audiences and markets of their time. The exhibition is co-produced by Konstakademien (The Royal Academy of Fine Arts), Moderna Museet and Nationalmuseum, and on show will be close to 100 works by some of the biggest names in art history, from Rubens and Rembrandt via Renoir and Picasso to Cindy Sherman. 

Observingarts: Tate 2016

Georgia O’Keeffe

Abstraction White Rose ,1927, Oil on canvas

36 x 30 (91.4 x 76.2)

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Gift of The Burnett Foundation and Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation 

© Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Tate  2016 exhibition programme will features major exhibitions devoted to some of the most prominent artists of the twentieth century: Francis Bacon at Tate Liverpool, Georgia O’Keeffe and Robert Rauschenberg at Tate Modern, and Paul Nash at Tate Britain. Paul Gauguin’s voyage to Tahiti will be the subject of work by two contemporary artists in an exhibition at Tate St Ives. 

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Observingarts: in need of some Munch!

Every now and then we all need some Munch to have a healthy life! 

For a Norwegian I guess it is something you just need, like cod oil - one spoon every morning! 

I got revitalized at KODE Bergen the other day. 

And I do prefer Munch to cod oil!

Edward Munch 

Summer Night. Inger on the beach.

1889 

Oil on canvas

Observingarts: Artist and Empire at Tate Britain

Elizabeth Butler (Lady Butler)

The Remnants of an Army 1879

Oil on canvas

support: 1321 x 2337 mm

frame: 1780 x 2790 x 216 mm

'In 21st century Britain, ‘empire’ is highly provocative. Its histories of war, conquest and slavery are difficult to address but its legacy affects us all. Artist and Empire brings together extraordinary and unexpected works to explore how artists from Britain and around the world have responded to the dramas, tragedies and experiences of the Empire. 

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Observingarts: Louisiana One Work David Altmejd The Flux and The Puddle 12 November 2015

Installation photo from The Flux and The Puddle, 2014. 

Photo courtesy of David Altmejd Studio.

Canadian David Altmejd (b. 1974 in Montreal, lives in New York) has created one of the most spectacular works of recent years in sculpture and installation. The 50m² display contains figures and formations in among other materials wax, mirrors, plaster, acrylic paint, latex, feathers, ceramics, ink, wood, steel wire and quartz. It is a quite extraordinary experience that sends the viewer off on a small journey powered by curiosity, intuition and close inspection. More at Louisiana

Observingarts: Gauguin. Tales from Paradise – Museo delle Culture di Milano 28 October 2015

Reclining Tahitian Women   1894

Oil on canvas 60 x 98 cm

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

Organized by 24 ORE Cultura – Gruppo 24 Ore and curated by the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, the exhibition “Gauguin. Tales from Paradise” features approximately 70 works from twelve international museums and private collections, together with artefacts and pictures documenting the places visited by the artist. Next spring the Glyptotek will show a version of the exhibition back in Copenhagen, based on the experiences of this Danish-Italian collaboration. 

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Vahine no te Tiare (Woman with a Flower),1891

Oil on canvas 70.5 x 46.5 cm

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

Paul Gauguin's fascination with “the primitive” represents a recurrent theme in his artistic production. His approach springs from a deep-seated desire to make a break with the conventional rules of the society of his day and the criteria of French Impressionism, in order to attain a higher degree of truth and genuineness in both life and art. Gauguin's personal view of the “primitive” as the primordial power governing the world, as the fundamental essence of human nature, led him to artistically combine a vast range of figurative sources distant in space and time.

Observingarts: Major Showing of Woodcuts at the National Museum from Albrecht Dürer to Edvard Munch

Nikolai Astrup, Fugl på sten,  Martzstemning. Foto: Knut Øystein Nerdrum The “Impressions: Five Centuries of Woodcuts” exhibition, set to open on 6 November at the National Gallery, will showcase a wide array of Norwegian and international woodcuts. The selection is wide-ranging, spanning from Albrecht Dürer to a newly produced installation by Thomas Kilpper. The exhibition will feature woodcuts by artists such as Hanne Borchgrevink, Tore Hansen, the Kierulf sisters, and Mamma Andersson.  It will also display exquisitely executed Japanese colour woodcuts from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Though the formats and styles vary greatly, the works are linked by their use of graphic techniques. See museum homepages for pictures and video presentation.  More

Observingarts: Stavanger Art Society turns 150.

King Haakon of Norway opens Stavanger Kunstforening in 1925.

In 2015, Stavanger Art Society – which runs Kunsthall Stavanger – turns 150. The event will be celebrated with an anniversary exhibition in four parts with a combined opening and birthday party open to everyone on Thursday 26 November 6 pm – 9 pm. The official opening of the exhibition will be conducted by Minister of Culture Thorhild Widvey. 

Red more about birthday party at Kunsthall Stavanger

The Shadow of the Avant-Garde, Rousseau and the Forgotten Masters Oct. 2, 2015 – January 10, 2016 Museum Folkwang

Erich Bödeker (1904-1971)Zebra, 1965
Beton, Blech, Eisen, bemalt, 110 x 130 x 25 cm
Kolumba. Kunstmuseum des Erzbistums Köln
© Kolumba
© Foto: Lothar Schnepf

"Works by self-taught, non-academic artists are usually referred to as ‘naïve’ or ‘outsider art’ and are conventionally viewed as a distinct category, separate from modern art. But in terms of their power and intensity, these works often rival the great modernist masterpieces. In this major exhibition, the Museum Folkwang presents for the first time the works of such artists as Henri Rousseau, André Bauchant, Séraphine Louis, Martín Ramírez, and Bill Traylor alongside seminal works of modern and contemporary art by Honoré Daumier, Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, and, more recently, Blinky Palermo and Mike Kelley. The show has been curated by Kasper König and Falk Wolf". More about the exhibition at Museum Folkwang. 

Observingarts: New acquisition: Study of a Lumpsucker attributed to Hendrick Goltzius’ circle

Hendrick Goltzius circle, Study of a Male Lumpsucker, the 1590s. Photo: Anna Danielsson/Nationalmuseum. 

Nationalmuseum Sweden has acquired a watercolour study of a male lumpsucker dating from the late 1500s. The drawing is closely connected with the group of nature studies executed by Dutch artist Hendrick Goltzius at around the same time. These were especially popular among contemporary learned collectors of art and naturalia. The newly acquired study is a significant addition to the museum’s important collection of Old Master drawings, and brings new perspectives on the group of autograph Goltzius’ drawings. 

More at Nationalmuseum Sweden