Picasso's Muse Marie-Thérèse Explored at Gagosian

Marie-Thérèse Walter was Picasso's lover, if not his wife, for most of her life. The exhibition Picasso and Marie-Thérèse: L'Amour Fou up at Gagosian through June 25th is a museum-quality exploration of Picasso's many iterations of the blonde, Grecian-nosed woman using works borrowed from private collections and prestigious museums. The likelihood of seeing such a gathering, especially some of the privately owned works again is rare, a reason in itself to visit.

The works themselves are of mixed quality, but there are some truly fantastic pieces in themselves. What I enjoyed even more was the story the show told; a romantic one of continuing if not untroubled love. Marie-Thérèse became Picasso's mistress at 17, bore him a child, and committed suicide after his death, 50 years after they met. He painted her throughout his life.

"I see you before me my lovely landscape MT and never tire of looking at you, stretched out on your back in the sand, my dear MT I love you. MT my devouring rising sun. You are always on me, MT mother of sparkling perfumes pungent with star jasmines. I love you more than the taste of your mouth, more than your look, more than your hands, more than your whole body, more and more and more and more than all my love for you will ever be able to love and I sign Picasso." - Letter to Marie-Thérèse from Picasso

A great slideshow on the WSJ site shows many of the pieces.

Ravelled Reviews

Paul Cezanne, Still Life with Fruit Dish

In honor of Cubism, Gertrude Stein, and Cezanne, a fractured ravels in review that attempts to document the act of ravelling. (Unfragmented links included).

Yesterday, it was Cubism, Visual and Literal, without Gertrude Stein's mug in the end, before some explicit in odd ways not explicit enough notes on Butt in ASS , dear lord what a title for an exhibition, and horses, really big horses and what glitter at Jack the Pelican and why would they have named the gallery that, whose full name is Jack the Pelican Presents, and then in between is smushed a really great piece written by Richard Serra- Had I dressed it up better, images and all, maybe more people would have read it, my eyes are caked with sleep, before, before is so long ago, and my finger hurts from a paper cut given by a file folder, who knew such barbarities existed, so then here we are, we're reviewing ravels, but what the hell happened this week, do I drink too much that I have the memory of a goldfish, but wait--I'll check, oh dear, I really need a new website. And then i had written about loving my 'hood, which terrible choice of word now strikes me as particularly annoying, and yet we must march on, although to note the accordion shop is choice, and so then- then now my boyfriend came into my room and did a flying ninja pose and told a work story, Gertrude didn't have to deal with this, and so lastly I see I wrote about the High Line, which is nice, as I tell you, but maybe not so special it needs to be written about so much, but then I broke that cardinal.

Pablo Picasso, The Reservoir, Herta de Ebro

Images from the special exhibition on the fifth floor of MoMA, which leads you by the nose over to the room next door, for this savagery, savagery!:

Cubism, Visual and Literal

Georges Braque, Bottle, Newspaper, Pipe, and Glass (1913)

A success, a success is alright when there are there rooms and no vacancies, a success is alright when there is a package, success is alright anyway and any curtain is wholesale. A curtain diminishes and an ample space shows varnish.

Louis Casimir Marcoussis, Still Life with Three Fish (1925)

One taste one tack, one taste one bottle, one taste one fish, one taste one barometer. This shows no distinguishing sign when there is a store.

Pablo Picasso, Table with Loaves and Bowl of Fruit (1909)

Any smile is stern and any coat is a sample. Is there any use in changing more doors than there are committees. This question is so often asked that squares show that they are blotters. It is so very agreeable to hear a voice and to see all the signs of that expression.

Georges Braque, Woman with Guitar (1914)

Cadences, real cadences, real cadences and a quiet color. Careful and curved, cake and sober, all accounts and mixture, a guess at anything is righteous, should there be a call there would be a voice.

Text from "Rooms" section of Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons (1914), in which convetional meaning becomes fractured, split apart, and reorganized.

Picasso Notebook Stolen in Paris

Via the BBC:

A sketchbook of some 32 drawings by Pablo Picasso worth about 8m euros ($11m; £6.8m) has been stolen from a museum in Paris, police have said. The theft from the Picasso Museum was discovered on Tuesday afternoon but the exact time and circumstances have yet to be determined. Initial investigations showed the sketchbook was held in an unlocked display case on the first floor.

Police sources told the Agence France-Presse news agency that the theft would probably have been committed between Monday evening and noon on Tuesday. There were no signs of a break-in an no alarms were set off. The museum was closed at the time, although there was a private viewing on Tuesday.

My first thought is: how awesome would it be if the theif were some rich, old lady with cleptomaniac impulses at the private viewing? The kind with embarrassed younger relations who had to keep returning silver spoons from dinner parties. She would just have to nod drowsily as if she were falling asleep, then quickly stick her hand in there and put the notebook in her pocketbook.

While that's a ludicrous scenario, you would think museums could spare funds for security. A lock would be an especially low-tech way to go. While I gloried at how close you could be to so many Picassos at Gagosian's new space in Chelsea, now I wonder if the small white box can provide enough security.

K

Ah, Ravels in Review

My fingers are relieved to take a bit of a break this week (perhaps you're relieved not to be presented with a long, involved post ; ) . I've gotten into some topics I find super interesting.

We kicked off the week with a proposal against taking photographs of artwork in museums, which got some agreement, certainly some disagreement, and a lot of mixed feelings. It stuck in my mind, and I revised my opinion to allow that instead of being evil and stupid is was perhaps a sign of engagement with an artwork.

We played a game matching the artwork to its auction house estimate. Nobody won, so I'm keeping the $1M prize. In fact, even the auction houses didn't win; they still have their two biggest works by Picasso and Giacometti.

I had the pleasure of seeing the musical South Pacific at Lincoln Center, and then having the song Honey Bun in my head for the whole week.

In fact, that annoying song is probably why I got a little contentious in my post on the Affordable Art Fair, contributing to my backhanded praise of the store Urban Outfitters for so cleverly following the pluralistic trends evident at the fair.



And my personal pick of the week was on the use of writing in painting, especially as it evolved during Modernism. Anyways, thanks for a fun week guys, and have a good weekend!

Addendum: On Sale this Spring For What?

Well, dear reader, the auction results from our little game of match the estimate to the artwork are in. Sotheby's had a terrible night on Tuesday, not selling some of its bigger works. To add insult to injury, Christies had a pretty good night on Wednesday selling the same artists.

Sotheby’s couldn't sell its Picasso (estimated at $16-24M) or its Giacometti at the Impressionist and Modern auction. Giacommetti's The Cat ($16-24M) at Sotheby's went nowhere, even though the next night at Christies Giacometti's “Bust of Diego (Stele III)” sold for more than its high estimate of $6.5 million.

On the other hand, Sotehby's Monet sold for well over its estimate. Six bidders fought for "Sailboat on the River Seine, Argenteuil" that was originally estimated to fetch $1.2-1.8M. It was purchased for $3.4M.

Ravels in Review May Day!

It is the first of May, which means many beginnings, Spring, outdoor activities, my 26 day birthday countdown, and last but not least--that my parents are visiting me this weekend! Their visit came off to a good start, with the 10 course tasting menu at Degustation last night, or if not, they were too stuffed and pickled to complain. Despite vowing last night not to eat for the rest of the month (luckily last night was the last day of April), we have more eatings planned, some museum goings, and some theater. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile what were we talking about this past week? Aside from a rather lame Monday, when I suffered from some of the less innocuous effects of summer, I talked about two gallery shows in Chelsea, Picasso at Gagosian being absolutely requisite (I hope to bring my mom tomorrow) and Louise Fishman being well-worth seeing, especially if you like textured, thickly-painted abstract canvases. I do. While you can't actually go see the recent installation in the atrium of the Guggenheim by Ann Hamilton, you can see my video of her Human Carriage and the applause it generates.

We've also had some fun discussing the huge, new ArtPrize being offered and the populist way it's being decided and a billboard takeover in New York City. This street warfare between advertisers and artists wasn't entirely successful; I hear that most of the billboards have already been reclaimed and painted over by companies.

Picasso at Gagosian: Go now!

As you know, if you read yesterday's or the day before's post, I had a great list of galleries in Chelsea that I wanted to go see. Yesterday was beautiful outside, so I biked up to 20th Street. Overall, I had a mixed reaction, but one thing stands out as being an incredible show and opportunity for any art lover:

The Picasso exhibition at Gagosian

It's amazing to see Picasso in a smaller, intimate gallery setting. This is Gagosian's new space at 522 W. 21st St, and it's beautifully lit. The sheer number of works in the 4 large spaces is dauntingly fun, and it really helps you make sense of Picasso's late period during the 60s and 70s, from which all the works were drawn. Called Mosqueteros, due to an abundance musketeers, cavaliers and prostitutes in these later works, the show comes mostly from private collections that are not accessible to the public. So Gagosian's exhibition is an unprecedented chance to see this grouping.

The artist in 1971

Gagosian's business acumen is amazing: rather than focusing on lower-priced works in these economic times, he is marshalingl his resources to create shows like the Pierro Manzoni retrospective and this one to generate buzz and excitement at a time when it's hard to generate sales. The exhibitions themselves have been wonderful.

I felt within the Mosqueteros, there was certainly an uneven quality to the grouping. Some paintings were great, others very great. The paintings themselves were jarring, ruthlessly honest, and aggressive with haunting eyes. If the exhibition shows you anything, it's that Picasso remains fresh and relevant today. It's on view until June 6, so go see it while you can.