Art & Design Matters

Marc Chagall's "America Windows" ......

Marc Chagall's love and admiration for the city of Chicago inspired him to create these luminous stained-glass windows as a gift to the Art Institute.

Chagall had a long history of relationships here in Chicago, dating back at least to 1946. He first arrived in the United States seeking harbor during World War II. In honor of America's bicentennial in 1976, the windows merge symbols of US history, the Chicago skyline, and the arts.

Bathe in the luminous blue light of Marc Chagall's famous "America Windows"—on view in Gallery 144.

She's a beauty! Available at

Amazing write up about Clara Driscoll who designed the Wisteria lamp for Tiffany Studios.

"I believe in skill, properly used, and know of no master who is not a master craftsman. Vital expression can be thrown into vivid relief only by the conquering of one's means. My work can be no greater than I am, and continual enrichment of my life is of great concern to me. Any subject that releases me and sets my creative faculties in motion, I believe to be an adequate subject. It is what I take to the subject that is of importance. When I successfully express myself, my work is autobiographical and registers what appreciation and understanding I have of life." ....Eugene Speicher, from an interview by Ernest W. Watson published in the October 1942 issue of American Artist.

It's just one publication of many in my collection.

Henri Rousseau
French, 1844-1910
Flowers in a Vase, 1909
Oil on Canvas
Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1939

For Henri Rousseau, the theme of the still life, especially flowers, offered a pleasant diversion from more ambitious, academic subjects. The strict frontality of his flower paintings and his employment of clear, solid-colored forms and restricted, flattened space are all characteristic of folk or "primitive" art. The flowers in this painting have been carefully rendered. All of the floral varieties in the bouquet are recognizable: peonies, tulips, daisies, mimosas, acacias, and forget-me-nots. The surface is smoothly and evenly brushed, but it is sometimes interrupted to allow the white preparatory ground to show through as an element of texture. REF: The Buffalo AKG Art Museum signage

Photo Credit: Alice Lowe for the New York Art Crawl

Remembering Charlie Watts

The Rolling Stones - No Filter
Houston, Texas
NRG Stadium
2019

Photo Credits:
Alice Lowe

Thai repoussed silverplate offering bowl with scenes from the Vessantara Jataka

If you love seashells, you'll love visiting the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, when it reopens. It is currently closed for rebuilding following the impact of Hurricane Ian.

During my visit, there was an exhibit titled "Treasures of a Sailor's Widow," and this antique folding table was one of the treasures on display.

The signage read: Many a sailor's wife or sweetheart waited patiently for months in her New England cottage for the return of her beloved from a long voyage to the South Atlantic and the Caribbean. Her reminders were the treasures he would carry back with him from far away ports such as this seashell collection. Although she would most likely have stored her collection in boxes or displayed them on shelves, here she has decorated a large shadow box, in the tradition of Sailors' Valentine's, and turned it into a folding table.

What a beauty!

Photo Credit: Alice Lowe for the Art & Design Matters Florida Art Crawl.

The beauty of Jax Beach, Florida! These are some "no filter" photos I took while taking a walk on the water's edge at sunset. The peachy pink sky reflects on the drenched sand while the sandpipers pranced along the shore. I like to tell people that while I attempted to capture the sea, the sea captured me. It was a magical experience for me that almost put me in a trance.

Photography by Alice Lowe for the Florida Art Crawl.

Vonnie: Ireland’s Forgotten Fashion Icon - Fashion, Family and Fate. An intimate family portrait is woven as three sisters recollect the legacy of their mother, Vonnie Reynolds; an Irish forgotten fashion icon forced to retire after a tragic accident.

I can't wait for the opportunity to view the documentary; directed by Renata Lim and produced by Melissa Collins.

Vonnie was given the Key to the City of Houston and is an honorary citizen of Houston, Texas and was a house guest of the Mayor of Dallas.

Charles James
American, born England, 1906-1978

Ball Gown, c.1947

Silk Taffeta

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Gift of Burdine Clayton Johnson and Christophe Venghiattis in memory of Susan McAshan

Photo Credit: Alice Lowe for the Texas Art Crawl at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Title: Trail Drive
Location: Downtown Dallas, Texas
Sculptor: Robert Summers
 
Photos Credit: Alice Lowe for the Art & Design Matters Texas Art Crawl; close up photos of a portion of this massive sculpture setting.
 
The setting for this spectacular historical tableau is in Pioneer Plaza, a 4.2 acre park with an artificial waterfall and stream in front of the Dallas Convention Center. The Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau considers Pioneer Plaza "the most photographed attraction in the city."

Much of his Western art demonstrates his love of wildlife and the cowboy spirit of the small Texas town.
 

Here are some photos that I took of Charles Umlauf sculptures depicting mother and child that are displayed at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden + Museum in Austin, Texas.

Charles Julius Umlauf (1910-1994) was the sixth of eight children born to French and German immigrant parents on a farm outside South Haven, Michigan. When he was eight, the family moved to Chicago. Umlauf's fourth grade teacher recognized his talent and helped him earn summer scholarships at the Art Institute of Chicago. Working under master sculptors Lorado Taft and Albin Polasek, Umlauf gained competence in a wide array of media. In 1937, Umlauf married fellow Art Institute student Angeline "Angie" Allen. The couple moved to Austin in 1941 when Umlauf became a Life Drawing and Sculpture professor at the University of Texas' Art Department. He taught at UT for 40 years, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1981.

REF:
Photography by Alice Lowe

RIP Mary Quant

Dame Mary Quant (1930-2023)

It’s impossible to overstate Quant’s contribution to fashion. She represented the joyful freedom of 1960s fashion, and provided a new kind of role model for young women.

She helped to define Britain’s global identity as a centre of streetstyle and innovation, with signature looks such as PVC macs, colourful tights, and the skinny-rib sweater.

Fashion today owes so much to her revolutionary and trailblazing vision.

📸 - Mary Quant and Vidal Sassoon, 1964. © Ronald Dumont/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Synchronicity of Color, or the “art boxes,” are iconic art pieces at Discovery Green®.
They were commissioned by Discovery Green and implemented by the Houston Arts Alliance and the City, which owns the largest two of the four-piece ensemble because they clad the city’s two underground garage stair structures.

Margo Sawyer, a professor of art at the University of Texas at Austin, conceived and fabricated the metal boxes while she was participating in the master planning for the park. Their paint is used on drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. The major pieces are “blue” and “red.” Sawyer created two “echoes” that are part of the ensemble – the orange-themed boxes at The Grove and a mix of colors at HPL Express. She believed the park would benefit from color, and she delivered many times over.
Sawyer's work offers some of the most popular photo spots in the park.
Ref: Discovery Green
Photo Credit: Alice Lowe for the Art and Design Matters Texas Art Crawl
…..a social magazine for the traveler seeking art and design with adventure along the way!

Palacio de Marquesa, a Heritage Hotel & Resort, is a Taos, New Mexico luxury hotel that pays tribute to the stories of the remarkable woman of Taos including Millicent Rogers, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Agnes Martin, & Georgia O'Keeffe.

We stayed in The Modernist room, that honors Agnes Martin, during our New Mexico " No Agenda" Culture Road Trip in 2021.

We hope to return there just as soon as we can.

Photo Credit: Alice Lowe for the Art & Design Matters New Mexico Art Crawl in Taos at the

Mary Cassatt .....

In 1872, Mary Cassatt arrived alone in Madrid, fulfilling a cherished dream to study the country's rich artistic traditions. During her extended stay, she began work on four pictures with Spanish subjects that she would produce over the next five months.

In "After the Bullfight," Cassatt depicts a torero in full dress, casually lighting a cigarette in a relaxed moment, his red-silk scarf draped loosely over a wooden support.

Employing vigorous brushwork and rich pigment to describe the costume, Cassatt imbues the work with a modernist sensibility while reflecting her admiration for the Old Masters through a more daring technical style. The bullfighter’s characteristic bravado hints at flirtation with an admirer outside the frame.

See "After the Bullfight" among three paintings by Mary Cassatt now on view at the Art Institute.

at The Met .....

Women's History Month Writer Ada Calhoun reflects on motherhood, memory, and how a trip to the museum helped her process her grief following the death of her father. 

Maria Martinez ......

Maria Montoya Martinez, Povika, "Pond Lily" (ca. 1886–1980)

Maria Martinez was a self-taught potter who helped elevate Pueblo pottery to a respected art form. She and her husband Julian were successful polychrome potters and together revived black pottery. Their work improved the economic conditions of the community. Recognized internationally, Maria was an innovator with strong spiritual and cultural awareness. Her skills and techniques have been carried on successfully by subsequent generations.

Roadside Marker Location: Pueblo of San Ildefonso; Rio Arriba County, NM Hwy 502, Mile Marker 12.5

March is Women's History Month. During this month we'll be highlighting some of the women featured on New Mexico's roadside markers. Text provided by our colleagues at New Mexico Historic Preservation Division

Photo Credit: Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
Maria Martinez polishing pottery, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico
Photographer: Wyatt Davis
Date: 1938
Negative Number: 044192

Willow chair from Craftsman Farms
read more .....

Depicted in the Girls' Bedroom in the November 1911 Natalie Curtis article in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯, this chair is a rare survivor and is the only known surviving piece of willow furniture from Craftsman Farms. This is surprising as the 1917 inventory for the sale of the property listed 24 pieces of willow–from chairs, to baskets, to tables–and at least one other settle is seen in period photographs.

Stickley used willow (sparingly) as early as 1900, when he included a willow basket with his Chalet Desk (no. 505), but it was the article "Craftsman Willow Furniture" in the July 1907 issue of his magazine that signaled his sustained interest in it. By 1904 he included two pieces of willow in the catalog "What is Wrought in the Craftsman Workshops," and the March issue of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯 depicted willow furniture in an interior, recommending them as a lighter counterpoint to his wooden furniture. Yet, it was not until 1907 that he began marketing pieces under the Craftsman name with any consistency. These must have been popular designs, as his willow furniture is amongst the few designs that survived the return in 1915 to the Colonial Revival aesthetic that dominated his last years.

Image: Willow Chair (no. 54 1/2), Craftsman Workshops, 1908-11 (ca.), museum collection

https://www.stickleymuseum.org/collections/s/onlinecollection/item/1452

Which one is your favorite piece of pottery?

Shades of green from the museum's pottery collection.⁠

1. Chelsea Keramic Art Works, 1872-89 (ca.)
2. Dedham Pottery, 1895-1908 (ca.)
3. Gates Potteries (Teco), 1902-15 (ca.)
4. Newcomb College Pottery, 1902
5. Grueby Pottery Co., 1900-09 (ca.)

Visit our online collections anytime, at:
https://www.stickleymuseum.org/explore/collections/

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🍀Happy Saint Patrick's Day🍀

Original swinging doors at McSorley's Irish Saloon in New York City.

📷 Photo Credit: Alice Lowe for the Art & Design Matters New York Art Crawl at McSorley's Irish Saloon.

York

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Grand Central Terminal - In a day when new was favored over the old, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis understood the legacy of Grand Central Terminal. She treasured the Terminal's majesty, beauty and historical importance. In 1975, she worked tirelessly as an advocate for historic preservation with The Municipal Art Society of New York to draw public and political attention to the safeguarding of the Terminal, as well as other threatened New York City landmarks. Thanks to her extraordinary efforts, the Supreme Court of the United States of America upheld the NYC Landmarks Law, saving the Terminal from demolition and setting a precedent for historic preservation throughout the nation. Generations for years to come will be forever grateful to the woman who revealed the legacy of Grand Central Terminal to the world.

"Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future? " ....Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Photo Credit: Alice Lowe for the Art & Design Matters New York Art Crawl at The Grand Central Terminal

A close up photo of an architecture detail from the exterior of the Art Deco masterpiece, Buffalo, New York City Hall building. Completed in 1931 by the John W. Cowper Company.
Phot Credit: Alice Lowe for the
New York Art Crawl

Congratulations to these finalists....

Notre-Dame Cathedral in New Orleans - FREE until March 19, 2023 Immerse yourself in the 850-year history of Notre-Dame Cathedral with this augmented reality experience produced by the French technology firm Histovery.The ...