Of the many strengths of Southern/Modern, a daring and revisionist show about the American South at the Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, the one that follows you out to your car is the alternate history of modern art it proposes.

Southern art or food or literature, for that matter has long suffered a reputation of isolation. You cant understand it. You would have to be born there, says the tortured Quentin in William Faulkners Absalom, Absalom! Ninety years later, Southern exceptionalism is over (mostly), and the areas artists and curators and chefs now go to great, overcorrective lengths to be global, to be modern. But the artists of Faulkners day they were still responding to an ancient, haunted South. Their audience was stationary, and their language local. They were regionalists. Or so the story goes.

Not here. These 100 or so paintings and prints suggest an invigorating direction that was there all along: a pungent pairing of social history with artistic experiment during the first half of the 20th century. By bringing together professional artists who worked below the Mason-Dixon Line (exempting Florida) between 1913 and 1956, and as far west as Arkansas and Missouri, Southern/Modern surveys the riches of a stylistic evolution you will find at, say, the Museum of Modern Art in New York the Impressionism that loosened up the 1900s, the Cubism of the 1910s, the Surrealism of the 20s, the modeled social realism of the 30s, the feral abstractions of the 40s and 50s as told by a region often buried in the art history books.

Among its big, engrossing canvases by astute social observers like George Biddle (the architect of the New Deals Federal Artist Project, which gave many of these artists work during the Depression) and Lamar Dodd (a founding father of art education in Georgia), we find a moving imitation of Monet by the Alabama painting teacher and leader of the Dixie Art Colony, John Kelly Fitzpatrick.

The lobes of cyan and mud-green in Fitzpatricks Negro Baptising (1930) jelly into a sunny riverbend. Two parishioners are about to be dunked. In the distance, further stripes of paint indicate hundreds of Black spectators on the bank none personalized but each a person. Around them all, a tall bridge traces the inner margins of the canvas, with the piers of the bridge at right and its guard rail running along the top. Its a framing device George Bellows and other urbans employed to remind us where we, the viewers, stand that is, outside the action. But in Fitzpatricks pastoral setting, the bridge illuminates our subject: A maligned community, in other words, will baptize wherever it must, even under the irksome wagon-clack of overhead traffic.

Curated by Martha R. Severens (formerly of the Greenville County Museum of Art in South Carolina) and Jonathan Stuhlman (of the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C.), Southern/Modern broadcasts the latest trends in the presentation of Southern art, such as youll find in the richly contextualized American sections of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts or the Georgia Museums own permanent collection. In this telling, art is a global and porous affair. And far-flung provinces serve as entrepts to and from the vanguard not just detours to be represented like Nashville hot chicken in the flavor portfolio of Pringles.

Black artists and not just subjects share half the stage, for instance. Take Hale Woodruff, a Nashville resident who studied Picasso in 1920s Paris and learned muralism under Diego Rivera in Mexico. Only the Depression could have brought the painter back stateside, reluctantly, where he taught in Georgia and, on a Rosenwald grant for Black students, studied soil degradation.

In Southland (1936), one fruit of this labor, Woodruff arranges a rural hillside into a stressful, almost Cubist pyramid: at top are the ruins of an old manor house, at right a wasted shack, with dead stumps and tree trunks lying around. After centuries of enslavement, and now sharecropping, King Cotton had sucked the land dry. But Woodruff renders the actual painted earth in tones of salmon and sherbet singing, iridescent hues that negate all the death. Its a Rorschach test: do you see a wasteland, or a vibrant painterly possibility?

By the 1930s, federal initiatives like the Tennessee Valley Authority promised development in the South. For locals, the question became how much new pavement and electricity could be borne by their culture, by their maams and sirs, their gentility, their neighborly warmth. At Vanderbilt University a group of romantic-minded poets, calling themselves the Agrarians, protested the gospel of Progress in a 1930 manifesto called Ill Take My Stand. Robert Penn Warren, aged 25, wrote an essay for the book, suggesting Black people form their own agrarian state a defense of segregation he would spend the rest of his life atoning for.

Less famously, visual artists amplified this fear of advancement. See the sterilized surrealism of the Virginian painter Jewett Campbell, where skyscrapers spring from the natural environment. Or the watercolor satire of Homer Ellertson: in his suavely executed Dean House, Spartanburg, S.C. (circa 1932), a Goodyear service station has set up shop in the front yard of a plantation home. The sepia tone of this work feels retrofuturist, as if were glimpsing some coming destiny from an even later date.

More than Agrarian conservatism, though, the painters in this show echo what the historian C. Vann Woodward later called the irony of Southern history: the fact that, as America dominated the global stage from the Monroe Doctrine to World War II, the southeastern quadrant of the country persisted in a long line of self-destructive, embarrassing regressions, from a feudal regime to a secession attempt to an apartheid state.

Hatred of that history seems to have driven the Virginia-born painter Robert Gwathmey to adopt a style somewhere between primitivism and the illustrated wartime poster. In the ropy, segmented outlines and loud, flat colors of his Sunny South (1944), an angry piece of agitprop on loan from a private collection, workers hunch wearily with their sacks of cotton in an empty field. At left and right, an old plantation and a modern factory straddle the scene. It is an allegory of pre- and post-Emancipation, with little in visible difference for the working class. At center, the sons and daughters of the Confederacy gather around a statue of their departed hero, Robert E. Lee.

Every exhibition argues something by virtue of its parameters, and the dates at play here remind us that the triumph of American art the seminal Armory show of 1913 to the death of Jackson Pollock in 1956 took place alongside the rise of civil rights in modern political discourse.

In When the Klan Passes By (circa 1939), the Howard University painter James A. Porter uses dark but thin brushloads to convey, through the averted eyes of the Black family in the foreground, the private consequences of race terrorism. (If the dumpy Klan cartoons in Philip Gustons current retrospective deserve a trigger warning, Porters ice-bath of domestic fear needs a trigger embargo.) Unlike Porter, Gwathmeys allegory of race, with his setting like Monopoly houses, is an imagined, didactic one: His laborers come in all skin tones, arguing that the old plantocracy divided the classes for many years to come, dooming poor whites as well as Blacks.

This is a model exhibition: a targeted provincial study of the innovations we too often associate with Paris and New York. It will be relevant to the many Northern institutions that house these artists (several appear in the Mets current collection show on the Depression, Art for the Millions). A few blue-chip artists (Zelda Fitzgerald, Thomas Hart Benton, Jacob Lawrence) fit comfortably among fascinating lesser-knowns. Last fall in Los Angeles, I saw (and loved) a similar survey of Korean art. Now I want one on the Rust Belt, Canada, North Africa, India. What did modern mean to the rest of the world?

In January, Southern/Modern will travel to Nashville (a city whose controversial gentrification will let these pictures really talk), then to Charlotte and Memphis. But no farther north. Which is a shame, because New Yorks influence on the South was not only direct and palpable, as the exhibition persuasively argues, but also reciprocal, which the show does less to explore: At Cooper Union in the late 40s, Gwathmey taught the future Pop star Alex Katz. From his new post at New York University in the 1950s, escaping the South once again, Woodruff became a rare Abstract Expressionist of African descent. To the Big Apple, graduates of Black Mountain College, in North Carolina, returned like winged pollinators to a hive. (Representing the Black Mountain contingent here is an early jigsaw-paned composition by one graduate, Elaine de Kooning, and a geometric abstraction by her instructor Josef Albers, a German refugee from fascism.)

The loosey-goosey 1950s close the show, and though Ms. de Kooning is name-brand avant-garde, it was a new abstractionist (new to this reviewer, at least) who really grabbed me. After the war, the printmaker Caroline Durieux, neighbor to Faulkner in New Orleans, sourced isotopes from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, where the uranium was enriched to level Hiroshima. With scientists, Durieux developed radioactive inks that would stay active for 25,000 years.

One of Durieuxs electron prints, Carnival, Circus, or Green Abstraction (1956), a beguiling centrifugal arrangement of ripples and flakes in hot primary colors, toured Berlin, India and Pakistan in a group show called The Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. If that exhibition was some big act of Cold War propaganda, I dont care. It came as welcome relief, after our summer of Oppenheimer, to find such invention and such buoyancy in yet another Southern darkness.

Southern/Modern

Through Dec. 10, Georgia Museum of Art, 90 Carlton Street, Athens, Ga., (706) 542-4662; georgiamuseum.org. The show will travel to the Frist Art Museum (Jan. 26, 2024, through April 28), 919 Broadway, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 244-3340; fristartmuseum.org.

Original post:

'Southern/Modern': Rediscovering the Radical Art Below the Mason-Dixon Line - The New York Times

Ferrisburgh, a kestrel at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, has begun painting for mental enrichment after losing his ability to fly. Anna Morris

An American Kestrel named Ferrisburgh has found a new calling as an artist after an unexpected wing injury took away his ability to fly. The falcon led his first art class this fall at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS), a nature center and wildlife rehabilitation facility in Quechee, Vermont, where he is now an educational ambassador.

In exchange for a tasty mealworm snack, the bird ran across canvases with his feet covered in nontoxic paint, creating colorful tracks behind him as visitors watched. Meanwhile, wildlife educators told Ferrisburghs story to participants and shared what members of the public can do to help falcons in the wild, reports USA Todays Camille Fine.

The painting kestrel found his way into human care about four years ago, after he landed on the head of a man walking outside near his home in Ferrisburgh, Vermont. The bird was loudly chattering, perhaps in search of food.

After this incident, the man brought the raptor to a local rehabilitator, who concluded the kestrel had likely imprinted on humans. This means that as a young bird, he bonded to people rather than to his own species. The condition prevents him from ever being released into the wild, so the rehabilitator wanted to place him with an educational organization. Ferrisburgh, named for the location where he was found, was transferred to VINS in the fall of 2019.

We dont really know a lot about his early life, but we can assume from his friendly behavior toward humans that he was raised by humans from a young age, Anna Morris, director of on-site and outreach programs at VINS, tells Smithsonian magazine. This is, of course, illegal in the United States. You cant just take a wild bird as a pet.

Roughly the size and shape of a mourning dove, American kestrels (Falco sparverius) are the smallest and most colorfulfalcon species in North America. The little birds have reddish-brown backs and tails, blue-gray heads (in the case of the males) and pale bellies with black spots. Two dark patches on the back of a kestrels head, known as ocelli (or little eyes in Latin), may help ward off predators or protect them from songbirds, which might defend their nests by dive-bombing, ormobbing,raptors.

At VINS, rescued kestrels and other raptors serve as bird ambassadors that help teach members of the public about their ecology and the plights they face in the wild. Ferrisburgh became one of these ambassadors years ago, but this summer, his career in education took a turn. In June, keepers found him on the ground in his enclosure with a fractured wing, reports the Washington Posts Cathy Free. They still dont know what caused the injury.

Ferrisburghs accident took away his ability to fly during educational demonstrations. Still, the institute staff wanted to keep him engaged after he healed, so they began thinking creatively about new activities for the bird.

While working at a different facility as a teen, VINS environmental educator Malerie Muratori trained a crow to paint by holding a paintbrush in its beak. (They aptly named the bird Vincent van Crow.) And another VINS educator, AmeriCorps member Lexie Smith, had also previously worked with birds that created art with paint and a canvas.

With these other avian artists in mind, the team wondered whether Ferrisburgh would be interested in painting. So, in an airy part of the VINS building, they spread out newspaper and some nontoxic paint, per the Post. Using hand signals the kestrel already knew, the team taught him to run through the paint in exchange for a snack. Ferrisburgh seemed to enjoy the experiencethough Muratori and Morris admit he probably doesnt recognize that hes creating artwork. Mostly, they say, hes focused on the food.

He does have one of his little paintings up behind him in his living space so he can see the art hes created. I just dont think he understands the implications of it, Muratori says, laughing, to Smithsonian magazine. Hes certainly unaware that hes an international superstar.

Because captive animals dont face the same challenges as their wild counterpartssuch as escaping from predators, working for their food or having many sensory inputs from a changing environmenttrainers need to create physical and mental experiences that keep them engaged, Allison Martin, the director of Kennesaw State Universitys applied animal behavior lab, tells Smithsonian magazine. Art, she says, can be a good enrichment activity, even though its not necessarily a natural behavior.

Zoos across the United States have painting enrichment available for a variety of animals, including sea lions, elephants, giraffes and macaws.

Its a nice cognitive challenge for them to learn a new behavior, Martin says. Theyre not going to encounter paint in their natural environment, but it is something that is stimulating, or could be, at least.

But she says those working with animals should be mindful of the creatures needs and make sure theyre doing the activity correctly. Like Ferrisburgh, animals creating art should have a choice in whether they participate, she adds. Trainers should use positive reinforcement, such as rewards with a special treat, rather than aversive methods. They also should use nontoxic paint to keep the animals safe and monitor them closely for signs of stress.

Morris says the institute offers daily enrichment activities for all the ambassador birds. But the VINS team thought members of the public would enjoy seeing Ferrisburghs enrichment, too, so they held a family program called Coloring with Kestrels in September. Participants could watch Ferrisburgh paint while creating artwork alongside him and learning about the natural history of the species.

Communicating science to people isnt always an easy task, but art kind of speaks to everybody in its own way, Muratori says. People are there. Theyre getting creative. Theyre opening up those neurological pathways in their brains, and theyre also seeing a very adorable little kestrel also making art. And theyre becoming endeared to him, while also learning about his species and how this species right now is in decline.

While kestrels are the most common of all falcons in North America, they are disappearing. The continent has lost an estimated two million kestrels since 1970or about half the total population, asChris McClure, executive vice president of science and conservation at The Peregrine Fund, tells Audubon magazines Jillian Mock. In the northeast, the birds have fared worse: There, kestrel numbers have dropped about 80 percent in the past 50 years, Muratori says.

Researchers arent sure exactly whats behind the population decline, though some suspect its a combination of factors, including habitat loss and a drop in their insect food sources due to climate change and pesticides. Muratori says programs like Coloring with Kestrels give the institution an opportunity to talk to people about conservation actions they can take, such as building nesting boxes for the birds and not using pesticides on their properties.

In the future, VINS plans to hold a painting event twice a year, says Morris. And Muratori is already eyeing a resident raven that could prove to be a willing artist after he completes his educational ambassador training.

The role of the birds here, as educators, is building connections and empathy motivating people to make little changes in how they live their lives that have huge beneficial impacts on the natural world, Morris says. Thats what were all about.

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Meet Ferrisburgh, a Rescued Kestrel Who Started Painting After a ... - Smithsonian Magazine

by Len Lear

If you were walking down Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill recently, you just might have seen Trevor Wade Thomas and his easel-holding tripod, painting a distinctive picturesque local scene. It would be just one of the 100 local scenes he is in the process of painting, most of which are completed.

I just always liked coming to Chestnut Hill, and I am a glutton for old houses, explained the Erdenheim resident. When I am painting, people stop and ask questions. Some of them think I'm a survey worker. There is a genuine cultural interest in Philadelphia people.

In Colorado, where Thomas previously lived, he said the identity is rooted in the mountains. Here, there is a real interest in the community.

People will say, 'Did you check out this building? Did you check out that location?' The community really has a lot of fervor. Some people will ask if they can buy the painting. Of course, the answer is 'yes.' All of them are 6 inch by 8 inch oils. My favorites are churches, Valley Green Inn, Bredenbeck's, the Water Tower and views looking down the street and seeing what the outcroppings are. These things make Chestnut Hill such a cool neighborhood.

Thomas was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1987. He knew at age 5 or 6, in the first grade, that he enjoyed drawing. My teacher at the time said I had a real talent for it, he recalled. By the 10th grade I was hooked on it. My mom's maternal grandmother was a colorist. Dad was a home remodeler. His dad did mechanical drawing for Goodyear. Dad always had an artist's eye, so I got 'drawn' in and continued to study art.

Thomas earned a bachelors degree, magna cum laude, with an emphasis in studio art from Colorado College in 2010. During his undergraduate studies, he had the opportunity to study in Europe and work with various visual art media. After graduation, Thomas apprenticed for Eric James Bransby, a celebrated muralist.

He worked as Bransby's principal assistant on a mural for the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and learned the traditions of egg tempera, buon fresco and traditional mural painting from Bransby, who had studied under Thomas Hart Benton, who initiated the American mural movement of the 1930s. Since then, Thomas has created two murals of his own, including an altarpiece for the Church of St. Uriel in Sea Girt, N.J.

Thomas then came to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA). I wanted to come east and had never been to Philadelphia, Thomas said. The city and school felt right, and I did make the right decision. The history of PAFA is trying to experience the world through painting.

In 2015, Thomas earned an MFA from PAFA. During his studies, Thomas developed a strong devotion to figuration and anatomy, which remains a central topic in his visual explorations and teachings.

The artist, whose wife, Kim (Malora) Thomas, is a child therapist and Erdenheim native, has taught art at Cabrini College in Radnor and in Colorado. In my heart of hearts, I am an academic, he said, but now I am painting the Chestnut Hill scenes three days a week ... I see the world through shape and light. I grew up a home remodeler's son, so I have a puzzle-like process.

Like many European immigrants, Thomas great-grandfather Augustino DiTomasso, changed his name at Ellis Island. He became Gus Thomas. He was a ceramic tile painter who immigrated here by himself on a boat in 1913 at age 11. I did foreign studies in the town of Bugnara in Abruzzo, where my family came from, Thomas said. I was taken to the oldest man in town, 89. His last name was also DiTomasso. A man took me down a hill and said, 'This is your great-grandfather's brother's house.' That was 2008. A lady who was my grandfather's first cousin said she could see the family resemblance in my face.

Currently, Thomas teaches foundations about materials and techniques both privately and at local institutions. He consistently publishes artistic and educational content on his YouTube channel, the Oil and Earth Studio. His work has been showcased and collected in the U.S. and Europe, and he regularly exhibits his work.

For more information, visit oilandearthstudio.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com

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New to the NW, he's painting 100 Chestnut Hill scenes - Chestnut Hill Local

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10 Best Face Painting Supplies for 2023 - The Jerusalem Post

Under the latest and popular online series of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya entitled Exhibit of the week Magar Aur Kachhwa- A gond painting collected from Gond communities of Mandla Madhya Pradesh in 1999 displayed in the audience as the First Exhibit of the month of December 2023 through official website, Facebook, Instagram and twitter page of the IGRMS.

In this regard Amithabh Pandey, Director, IGRMS said that the Magar and Kachhwa is a painting made by the famous Gond artist late Jangarh Singh Shyam.

The painting depicts the image of a Crocodile and a Turtle. Among the Gonds the Crocodile represents strength, wisdom and protection while the he Turtle stands for stability, wisdom and ability to adopt which symbolizes the resilience and harmony found in nature.

The Gond painting tradition is deeply rooted in mythology and folklore.

These paintings are popular for filling the surface with unique motifs, the form, shape and size of the motifs are influenced by nature, beliefs, folklore, culture and traditions. The traditional motifs usually carry a special significance.

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Gond painting by Jangan Singh Shyam on display - Daily Pioneer

If its beginning to look a lot like Christmas, you have John Stanewich to thank.

The 73-year-old Somis muralist has spent the last couple of weeks painting snowdrifts, lights, wreaths and his beloved birch trees on business windows across the region, evoking the spirit of a winter place that coastal dwellers can only dream of.

I do this out of a love for artwork. Im an entertainer, so if I can make you forget something for just a short period of time, Ive done my job, Stanewich said between brush strokes on a mural at Santas workshop in Las Posas Plaza, Camarillo.

His is not the stuff of caricature, like the outsize Santas, Rudolphs and Frostys of the late, great Ventura County muralist Chris Martinez.

I do landscapes, Stanewich said. God bless Bob Ross.

Indeed, in spring, theres no giant Stanewich Easter Rabbit. Most of his windows that time of year feature paintings of flowerpots. For Fourth of July, he doesnt paint Uncle Sam. Stanewich still evokes patriotism, but with American flags, banners, white picket fences and lots of red, white and blue.

I dont do Halloween, he said. For fall, just the basic pumpkins and cornstalks.

Which brings us to winter.

At the plaza off Las Posas Road, the artist and his helpers have been working on windows for 44 businesses, along with an empty space where kids will get to have their picture taken with the jolly elf on select days starting Dec. 2.

Stanewich has an almost pastoral interpretation of the season.

Nobodys doing that anymore, he said. Theyre doing the big Santa Claus or Rudolph with the big nose. Here were just opening peoples eyes with the snow and the ribbons. Were putting Christmas lights in the wreaths and in the garland.

In addition to the shopping center, Stanewichs winter work can be found at Cafe Fucille locations in Camarillo and Ventura, and at Country Harvest restaurant in Camarillo, where he paints the other seasons as well.

His tools include bristle brushes and sponge brushes, and paints of various colors, all of which he packs around on a cart that looks like its seen many seasons.

As Stanewich worked, Camarillo resident Desha Duncan, who was enjoying a beverage from the adjacent Starbucks, approached the painter and complimented him on his work.

I love the fact its so Christmasy, so beautiful, she said. I love the way he does the trees. Theyre a little different than what you sometimes see that are so cartoonish. His are very realistic, and they make you feel like youre in nature.

What caught her eye initially was Stanewichs white birch trees, so evocative of a place where fallen leaves on the ground are eclipsed by pristine fallen snow.

They look very natural and real, Duncan said.

In Stanewichs hands, the birch is hardy, tall and bare, its bark peeling away.

Theyre white, which is cool for Christmas or for winter, he said. The black lines make them really stand out as a birch versus aspen. Aspen are on the golden side.

Duncan said window-dressing such as Stanewichs says a lot about the people who ask that it be put up.

It makes me feel like that store values Christmas and the holidays, and so it makes me feel like I want to go inside, she said.

That is precisely what business owner and plaza promotional director Michelle Sanchez was going for when she contracted with Stanewich.

It brings them in, Sanchez said of the imagery. It just brings the holiday spirit back, because we lost that a long time ago with the COVID.

Someone else had been painting the plaza, and then a merchant saw Stanewichs work at Country Harvest.

They got his phone number and come to find out hes a local, Sanchez said. And our thing is about keeping it local.

As for the art: It looks beautiful. Ive gotten so many calls. Its amazing, Sanchez said.

Such comments put a spring in Stanewichs step.

It warms your heart, and it makes you want to do it more, he said.

Stanewich is a Camarillo High alumnus who lives on a ranch with his wife, Sandra Scholle Stanewich. He retired from the Auto Club, where he handed out countless TripTik travel planners, processed many DMV transactions and notarized a document or two. Hes a musician, and these days spends his time with the local gem and mineral society, a gourd society and even prospecting.

Like painting, he calls all these endeavors his hobbies.

He also likes to mentor young people and is always ready to share a brush.

This excites me. If I can get kids interested in art, Ive done my job.

When the seasons over, does the artist have to take it all down?

No. Its like having a baby. I couldnt do that, Stanewich said. We have people come in and clean.

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Painting the town Christmas - Moorpark Acorn

MARGATE The city is getting in on the Philadelphia Eagles'kelly green craze.

The city is in the process of painting all of its bike lanes a similar color to the Eagles' throwback jerseys, to distinguish the difference between lanes.

City engineer Ed Dennis gave a status report at the Nov. 16 City Commission meeting, where he said the bike lane painting would be completed in the next couple of weeks.

The striping started at Fredericksburg and Atlantic avenues and will continue to Huntington Avenue.

"It's ready to go, so shouldn't take too long to complete," Dennis said.

The city is paying Farmingdale, Monmouth County-based Traffic Lines Inc. $266,652 for work on the project.

City officials said they were happy with the traffic improvements the road diet had brought over the past few years. The project turned Atlantic Avenue into a one-lane road in each direction, lowered the speed limit to 25 and widened the bike lane path from five feet to 10.

The city decided to paint the entire bike lane green because that is the designated legal color that goes with the state Department of Transportation's standards. Painting the entire lane green,instead of just parts of it, would cause less confusion for motorists, officials said, and keep them from using it as a driving lane or for turns.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate at the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade, the Feriozzi family from Margate, Andrew, Ginna, 3, Isabella, 5, and Liz, watch as the dancers from Leslie's Dance Studio pass by on Ventnor Avenue.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate at the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade, Marius, 11, and Chris Barranco, Margate residents, waiting for Santa to arrive at the end point.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate at the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade, Kristy and Taylro Rishell, 2, both from Ventnor, wait patiently for Santa to arrive at the end point in front of Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate at the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade, Chair of Sustainable Margate Steve Josiecki gives some aquatic facts about whales to Reed Fiedler, 10, visiting from Massachusetts.

Kai Hoops, 5, of Ventnor, waves at the passing parade on Ventnor Avenue.

Firefighter Danyl Loyle, a part-time elf, and Santa Claus, both trained in American Sign Language, arrive at their end point in front of Bocca Coal Fired Bistro during the Shop Small Extravaganza on Saturday in Margate.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate at the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade, Silas Gerber, 5, from Margate, poses for a picture with Santa as he arrives at his end point in front of Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, at the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday event, Miss New Jersey Victoria Mozitis says hello to Addison Papada, 6, a seasonal resident of Margate , after having just met Santa at the Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate at the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade, Marius, 11, and Chris Barranco, Margate residents, take photos of the passing parade, including someone dressed as Lucy the Elephant.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

On November 25, 2023, in Margate, the annual Shop Small Extravaganza holiday parade was held with emergency vehicles, Miss New Jersey, U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Atlantic City Division, and Santa making their way down Ventnor avenue, stopping at Bocca Coal Fired Bistro.

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Margate painting bike lanes green to prevent drivers from using them - Press of Atlantic City

Welcome to One Fine Show, where Observer highlights a recently opened exhibition at a museum outside New York Citya place we know and love that already receives plenty of attention.

Artists usually outgrow the movements that are associated with them. The term impressionism grew out of a derogatory description, and Donald Judd shunned the term minimalist. Moreover, youll find no Mark Rothko in the new show Glory of the World: Color Field Painting (1950s to 1983) at the NSU Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale, because though he pioneered the painting of fields of color, he didnt consider himself to be a part of that discipline. That term better described those whose work followed the atomic bomb that was Abstract Expressionism.

The exhibition really is about the generation that comes after because they faced a dilemma, the museums director and curator and former Rothko Foundation head, Bonnie Clearwater, recently told the Miami New Times. They were all committed to abstract painting, and unlike the abstract expressionists who came before them and went through this whole process going from representational and expressionist art to surrealism and biomorphism, and ultimately to their resolved full-blown abstractionthis generation starts where that ends.

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What emerged from Abstract Expressionism was Pop Art, Minimalism, Op Art, Photorealism, the Black Art Movement, hard-edge abstraction and Color Field painting, of which this show offers almost fifty stellar examples by artists like Frank Stella, Lawrence Poons, Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, Morris Lewis, Helen Frankenthaler and Sam Gilliam, its title taken from a quote by Stella writing on Hans Hofmanns Gloriamundi (1963).

The show would seem to argue that Abstract Expressionism had all those other movements wrapped up into it and that once its Pandoras Box was opened, the Color Field discipline was free to luxuriate in palette experiments without all the emotional complexity or politics. The Gilliam paintings are wonderful examples from the 1970stie-dyes that intermingle to the point that they redefine groovy.

But the Nolands steal the show, namely THIS (1958-1959) and THAT (1958-1959), seven-foot squares with abstracted bullseyes that differ only in the vibrant color selection of their rings but still manage to tell completely different stories. And why do you always assume that everything is a target, man? If youre ever feeling the vibes too hard, you can usually count on Princetons own Frank Stella to knock some sense into you, but even hes getting into the hippie act for this show. Like Noland, his offerings are larger in scale. Theres Waskwaiu II [Variations on a Circle] (1968) and theres Sacramento No. 6 (1978), both of which show meticulous planning in their design and then outr choices for their colors. Stellas palette would become his own to the point you could remove it from the designs and still know whose it was.

Louis acrylic resins on canvas are also big and probably among the more intense works in the show. They appear to be giant curtains, behind which very different plays are about to be staged. Shout out to the Poonses, which build on the work of Jackson Pollock, free from the troubles and hypnotizing effect of the latter.

Fort Lauderdale isnt too far from Miami. If youre going down to Art Basel you should consider swinging through.

Glory of the World: Color Field Painting (1950s to 1983) is on view at the NSU Art Museum through June 30, 2024.

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Review: Glory of the World: Color Field Painting (1950s to 1983) - Observer

The painting before (left) and after (right) the removal of the Victorian overpainting and careful restoration of the original. (Photo: screenshot of video from Carnegie Museum of Art)

Years ago, a painting of a young woman ended up at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum was not very impressed by the benign, uninspired face of the sitter, leading to the painting's eventual deaccession from the collection. Instead, it found its way into the collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It then sat in the basement, unseen, until it caught the eye of Louise Lippincott, a former museum curator. She showed the work to chief conservator Ellen Baxter, who worked her magic to transform a mediocre work into its original, elegant form. The shocking before and after, documented in 2014, demonstrated the many transformations a work can go through over the centuries.

Originally, the painting was thought to depict Eleanor of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I de Medici, who ruled Florence. A sticker on the back frame alleges the painter was court artist Bronzino. However, Baxter suspected the truth was hidden within, under the pretty yet unremarkable features of the young woman. An x-ray scan confirmed that beneath the face was another one, with larger features and much more character. Beneath the petite hand was a larger one, and it held a vase which had later been painted over. The 16th-century painting had clearly undergone a transformation in the 19th century. The wood panel on which it was painted was shaved down to a very thin strip which was then affixed to canvas. Meanwhile, the face and hand of the woman were overpainted with a more Victorian, delicate image that lacked the vibrance of the original.

Baxter removed the old varnish covering the painting and slowly removed the 19th-century paint as well. Beneath it is the remarkable face of Isabella de Medici, daughter of Cosimo I and Eleanor of Toledo. While not certain, the work was likely done by Alessandro Allori, who trained under Bronzino. The work was then fully conserved to restore its original glory, with careful varnish and delicate inpainting to fix flaking. Baxter notes in a video of the process that she is careful to match color and texture while resisting the urge to put [herself] in the painting. Her work is engaging, and she talks to the painting pleasantly as she restores its glory. These restorations follow certain ethical rules of transparency.

Baxter's efforts are in service of presenting the princess in her glory, as the Paris Hilton of the day. Rich and wild, she took lovers and spent, spent, spent. She was well-educated and witty, but her intrigues may have contributed to her untimely death. Officially it was attributed to dropping dead while washing her hair, but historians believe her husband murdered her in revenge and anger for her affairs. As baxter describes her life, a bad end, but a good story. Painted in this newly uncovered work with a small vase typical of Mary Magdalene depictions, Lippincott explained to Carnegie Museums, This [portrait] is literally the bad girl seeing the light.

h/t: [Open Culture]

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Conservator Restore This Renaissance Painting of a Medici - My Modern Met

Paul Gauguin once brazenly claimed that he inspired Van Gogh to create the Sunflowers. This is patently untrue, since the still lifes were painted two months before Gauguins arrival at the Yellow House in Arles. The self-serving Gauguin wanted to claim credit for his colleagues signature works.

Van Goghs Sunflowers (August 1888) Credit: National Gallery, London

Gauguins boast comes in a letter to his Paris-based friend Andr Fontainas, to whom he sent his 1902 manuscript Racontars de Rapin (Tales). This 28-page unpublished article was written in the Marquesan islands in French Polynesia. Yesterday (30 November) The Art Newspaper reported that the manuscript has just been acquired by Londons Courtauld Gallery.

Paul Gauguins Self-portrait (1901) (detail) Credit: Kunstmuseum Basel

In Tales, Gauguin lists 40 artists he admires. Van Gogh is included at the very end of the list, although nothing more is said about him, despite the fact that Gauguin lived and worked with him for nine weeks in the autumn of 1888. Their collaboration came to an abrupt end when Van Gogh mutilated his ear.

The last page of Gauguins Racontars de Rapin (Tales), which includes Van Goghs name at the end of a list of artists he admired Credit: Christies

In his letter to Fontainas, dated September 1902, Gauguin wrote that on his arrival in Arles, following my advice and my instructions, he [Van Gogh] worked quite differentlypainting yellow sunflowers on a yellow background. This was a complete distortion of the truth: Van Goghs Sunflowers (August 1888) was actually hanging in Gauguins bedroom when he arrived.

Gauguin also claimed that it was he who encouraged Van Gogh to experiment, utilising the Dutchmans intelligence and fiery temperament. In conclusion, Gauguin wrote that when discussing Van Goghs noble nature I am forced to praise myself.

Paul Gauguins Sunflowers on an Armchair (1901) Credit: State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

The year before writing Tales, Gauguin painted a series of four still lifes with sunflowers. On three of these, the flowers are placed on chairs, which represent a nod to the Dutchmans painting Van Goghs Chair (December 1888), now at Londons National Gallery.

When Gauguin painted his 1901 still lifes with sunflowers, they might be seen as representing a homage to Van Gogh. But bearing in mind his claims to Fontainas, it seems equally likely that he was appropriating his colleagues famed motif. Gauguin may have wanted to add visual credence to his claim that he had provided Van Goghs inspiration.

Gauguins attempt was doomed to failure. Van Goghs series of Sunflowers is now universally recognised as his most popular paintingsand as all his very own work.

Paul Gauguins Sunflowers on an Armchair (1901) Credit: Emil Bhrle Collection, long-term loan to the Kunsthaus Zrich

Other Van Gogh news:

Three prints of Van Goghs Old Man drinking Coffee (autumn 1882), with the promised donation on the right Credit: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation) and (right) Monique Hageman, on long-term loan to the Van Gogh Museum

Monique Hageman, a research assistant at the Van Gogh Museum since 1986, has given a rare lithograph of the artists Old Man drinking Coffee (autumn 1882) to her institution. This represents an act of huge generosity. Hageman bought the print on 10 May at the Leiden-based Burgersdijk & Niermans auction house, paying 275,000. It will eventually be bequeathed to the museum.

The museum already owns the two other extant examples of Old Man drinking Coffee (each was finished by the artists hand and is slightly different). All three lithographs went on display yesterday at the Amsterdam museum, until early in the new year.

Continued here:

Gauguin's shocking claim: Van Gogh painted the Sunflowers ... - Art Newspaper