Visual Arts

Visual Arts: Dutch Treat – A Pair of Classy Catalogues

February 23, 2008
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By Gary Schwartz The Rijksmuseum has published the first volume in a series of scholarly catalogues of its collection of Dutch paintings of the 17th century. The two books, one of text and comparative illustrations, the other of color plates, are not only a model of collection catalogues, they are also an unguarded kaleidoscopic self-portrait…

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Short Fuse: Diana Thater — Chess and Chelsea

January 17, 2008
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by Harvey Blume Marcel Duchamp famously tweaked art for being inferior to chess, saying: “From my close contact with artists and chess players I have come to the personal conclusion that while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists.” Duchamp backed this opinion up by abandoning art for years to pursue…

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Visual Arts Feature: The Dutch Identity Crisis

January 13, 2008
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By Gary Schwartz Is there or is there not such a thing as “the Dutchman?” My fellow immigrant Princess Maxima thinks there is not, but since she dared express that opinion in public last September, she has been subjected to an ongoing barrage of reprimands. Indeed, since the brief era of Pim Fortuyn, public discourse…

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Fuse Flash: Anybody See the Fat Lady? Pollock Matter Affair Still Gropes for that Final Act

January 10, 2008
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Just over a month ago, conventional wisdom had it that the long-running Pollock Matter Affair, one of the most contentious art controversies in living memory (see past posts in Arts Fuse and Anonymous Sources), had finally ground to a halt. Oops. As predicted in The Arts Fuse in November, the debate has found some more…

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Fuse Flash: Cabal? What Cabal? Pollock Experts Move in Small Circles

December 9, 2007
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Only months ago, developments in the Pollock Matter controversies made news around the world (See past Fuse Flash and Anonymous Sources). But the Nov. 28 International Foundation for Art Research [IFAR] symposium, “Are They Pollocks? What Science Tells Us About the Matter Paintings,” drew relatively scant media notice, even though it had been billed by…

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Fuse Flash: The Sun Sheds More Light on “Suspenseful, Comic, Odd” Pollock Event

November 30, 2007
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The New York Sun’s Kate Taylor sheds more light on the Nov. 29 symposium, “Are They Pollocks? What Science Tells Us About the Matter Paintings,” sponsored by the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR). Perhaps less pressed by deadlines, Taylor’s Nov. 30 article provides a more complete summary of the event than reporter Randy Kennedy…

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Fuse Flash: New York Times Breaks Long Silence on Matter Controversies

November 29, 2007
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The New York Times broke nearly eight months of silence in its Nov. 29 issue to report on a symposium, “Are They Pollocks? What Science Tells Us About the Matter Paintings,” presented the previous night under the sponsorship of the International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR). Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock doing his thing

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Fuse Flash: Pollock Research Fractured?

November 27, 2007
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According to a report in ScienceDaily, more surprises may be in store for those following the Pollock-Matter controversies. The award-winning website, which specializes in breaking developments in scientific research, has announced that Case Western Reserve University physicist Lawrence Krauss will be among the invited guests to a New York symposium this week on scientific studies…

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Fuse Flash: Another Shoe off the Pollock Matters Centipede?

November 18, 2007
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For those still perusing the shopping mall of controversies built around the Pollock Matter Affair (see past Fuse Flash and Anonymous Sources posts) another well-polished shoe (or more) may drop later this month at an International Foundation for Art Research (IFAR) symposium in New York City.

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Visual Arts: The Cotswolds Rembrandt

November 17, 2007
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em>The initial reactions by Rembrandt specialists to the Cotswolds painting were nearly all marked by caution.

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