Monthly Archives: August 2009

Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris

For over 40 years, Park West Gallery has been a reliable resource for the artworks of Modern Masters, including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. Park West recently launched a microsite dedicated to Pablo Picasso and his artwork -  visit picasso.parkwestgallery.com to learn more.

Henri Matisse. Lorette (detail). 1917. Photograph by K. Wetzel © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts © 2008 Succession H. Matisse, Paris/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.

WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA — Works by the leading masters of modern art are on display at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) in the exhibition, Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris. The show is part of a statewide tour that marks the first time since the late 1940s that selections from the collection of T. Catesby Jones (1880–1946) — a prominent collector from Virginia — will be reunited. More than 50 works gifted by T. Catesby Jones to the collections of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the University of Virginia Art Museum will be included.

Among the works displayed will be Pablo Picasso’s Woman with Kerchief (1906), Henri Matisse’s portrait of Lorette (1917), and a Cubist collage by Juan Gris. Other artists represented in the exhibition include Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Raoul Dufy, Jacques Lipchitz, André Masson, and Georges Rouault.

The display encompasses many of the key artists, innovative styles, and central themes that emerged and developed during a crucial period in the history of modern art. The exhibition tells the story of new modernist movements before and during World War I, cubism, surrealism, and the transformative World War II period when many of the best-known French modernists fled Paris for New York.

Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris is currently on view until November 29, 2009

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Fabulous Auctioneer Crew Impresses Park West Cruise Art Collectors

Peter Max. Blushing Beauty on Blends. © Peter Max 2006.Park West Gallery customers provide lots of wonderful feedback about Park West artists and art auctions. We are proud to share the following compliments from some art collectors who recently enjoyed a Park West cruise art auction at sea…

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“This past cruise was my husband and my 9th cruise. Since cruise #2 we have been going to the art auctions onboard. Hands down, the art crew that you had on our latest cruise was the absolute best!!!! Catherine was phenomenal.

I purchased what I consider some of the best artwork to add to my collection, including a Peter Max, which I have wanted for years.

Catherine’s knowledge of the artists and their works brought all of us into a world that few have made me feel comfortable in. She was by far the best art auctioneer that I have dealt with, and I have been to many onboard auctions.

She was not pushy, she did not get upset when no one bid on certain pieces, she included everyone in the auction even those who were not planning to buy, she guided the buyers to artists that she knew we would be happiest with, she made the entire experience a pleasure and kept me coming back for more with her various informative meetings about certain types of art, when obviously there were plenty of other things to do on the ship.

Catherine’s staff was so supportive, friendly, helpful, and like Catherine, very compassionate. The staff included Samantha, Jacques, and Mark. My only hope is that when we go on another cruise next year, these wonderful, wonderful people will be present again.

My husband and I feel that we have encountered the absolute best that Park West has to offer, and I know that when I go to my next onboard auction, I will be drastically comparing that art crew to the fabulous crew that we had the pleasure to deal with on our recent cruise.

Keep up the good work Catherine, Samantha, Mark, and Jacques. And Park West, congratulations on having 4 such wonderful people working for you.”

Rosemarie D.
Milford, MA

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Artist Birthdays August 31 – GAETANO GANDOLFI

GAETANO GANDOLFI (August 31, 1734 – June 20, 1802)

  • Nationality: Italian
  • Field: Painting, sculpture
  • Art Movement: Baroque, Neo-Classicism
  • ARTiFact: He died playing bowls in a church field, probably of a heart attack, although there is an alternative tradition that he was knocked on the head by a ball.
  • Important Artwork (shown below): Joseph’s Dream (detail), c. 1790.

Gaetano Gandolfi. Joseph's Dream (detail). c. 1790.

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Park West Gallery Launches Marcus Glenn Website

Marcus Glenn, Park West Gallery

PARK WEST GALLERY recently launched a microsite for Michigan-based artist Marcus Glenn. The site features information about the artist, a virtual gallery of his artwork, and video footage of Glenn showcasing his work and talking about his inspiration.

Glenn is known for creating figures that are animated and mannerist in approach; they often stretch and twist into impossible yet highly expressive positions. He developed a distinctive style of combining painting with sculpture to create a bas-relief effect. He calls this approach ‘Flat Life’ and has been cultivating it for more than a decade.

Art novices and aficionados alike appreciate Marcus Glenn’s artwork; his works have been acquired by collectors around the world and he has completed several high-profile commissions. To name a few, Glenn has created multiple artworks for Daimler Chrysler, painted a mural for renowned restaurateur Patrick Coleman, and created artwork for special pre-Super Bowl XL events held in Detroit.

“Marcus Glenn is an exciting, young artist and we enjoy bringing his artwork to collectors all over the world,” said Morris Shapiro, Park West’s Gallery Director of 26 years. “This new website dedicated to the Park West Gallery Marcus Glenn Collection will allow even more people to become familiar with his work, and it will also give previous collectors of his artwork more insight into the works they have acquired.”

Through this new site, Park West Gallery has made Marcus Glenn’s fine artwork viewable worldwide and continues its mission of bringing fine art to people everywhere. Park West has created websites for numerous Old Masters and contemporary artists, and continues to develop additional artist sites.

Visit the Marcus Glenn website at www.parkwest-glenn.com

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Artist Birthdays August 28 – EDWARD BURNE-JONES

EDWARD BURNE-JONES (August 28, 1833 – June 17, 1898)

  • Nationality: English
  • Field: Painting, decorative arts
  • Art Movement: Pre-Raphaelitism
  • ARTiFact: In 1852 he went to Oxford University where he met lifelong colleague, William Morris. The artist later became a founder-partner of Morris & Co. (est. April 1861), manufacturer of  individually designed, handmade objects - the beginnings of the Arts and Crafts movement.
  • Artist Quote: “I mean by a picture a beautiful, romantic dream of something that never was, never will be – in a light better than any light that ever shone – in a land no one can define or remember, only desire – and the forms divinely beautiful…”
  • Important Artwork (shown below): King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid (detail), 1884.

Edward Burne-Jones. King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid (detail). 1884.

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Salvador Dali and the Biblia Sacra

The Park West Gallery Dali Collection is one of the most thoroughly documented and authenticated collections of Salvador Dali artwork. For over 40 years, Park West has been a reliable resource for authentic work from master Salvador Dali. Visit the Park West Gallery Dali website

About the Biblia Sacra
Salvador Dali, Biblia Sacra, Park West GalleryThe Biblia Sacra watercolors were produced by Master Artist Salvador Dali as illustrations for a new edition of the Bible. Dr. Giuseppe Albaretto, a devout man and Dali’s friend and patron, had great faith and dedication to the Catholic Church. It was this faith and dedication that lead him, in 1963, to commission Salvador Dali to create the illustrations.

Dr. Albaretto knew that the project would require Dali to study the Bible, and he hoped this would bring his artist friend back to God. From this commission came the Biblia Sacra, as series of surreal depictions of key themes from the Bible. The Biblia Sacra suite consists of 105 color mixed-technique lithographs after 105 watercolor paintings created by Dali between 1963 and 1964.

Salvador Dali, Bibilia Sacra, Park West GalleryPublishing and Printing
Each Biblia Sacra was comprised of five volumes, bound in richly tooled leather, containing the text of the Bible along with the 105 lithographs. Dr. Albaretto arranged to have the work published by Rizzoli Editions of Mediolani, Italy, with himself as the editor.

Three editions were produced that resulted in a total of nearly 1800 sets of Biblia Sacra volumes, of which ninety-nine sets were personalized for prominent individuals and families. Additionally, there were some lithographs released by Rizzoli Editions as individual unbound images and as portfolios of six images without text.

Mixed Technique Graphic Works
Biblia Sacra, Salvador Dali, Park West GalleryThe Biblia Sacra works are a combination of offset lithography, continuous tone lithography, serigraphy (silkscreening) with application of varnishes and metallic inks. The works were “printed” on a heavy stock designed specifically to hold up to the various techniques used.

Quality craftsmanship and artistry are evident in every Biblia Sacra work. The unique combination of multiple printing techniques gives these illustrations a richness and depth that resulted in works that are exceptionally true to the original paintings.

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Artist Birthdays August 27 – MAN RAY

MAN RAY (August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976)

  • Nationality: American
  • Field: Painting, photography
  • Art Movement: Dadaism, Surrealism
  • ARTiFact: In 1946 he married Juliet Browner in a double wedding with friends and fellow-artists, Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning. When he died in 1976 he was interred with an epitaph that reads: “unconcerned, but not indifferent”; when Juliet died in 1991 she was interred in the same tomb – her epitaph reads: “together again.”
  • Artist Quote: “There is no progress in art, any more than there is progress in making love. There are simply different ways of doing it.”
  • Important Artwork (shown below): The Rope Dancer Accompanies Herself with Her Shadows, 1916.

Man Ray. The Rope Dancer Accompanies Herself with Her Shadows. 1916. © Man Ray Trust/ADAGP, Barcelona 2008.

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Park West Auction at Sea Offers Artwork of Exceptional Quality

Victor Vasarely. Tridim-KK (detail). 1969. Park West GalleryPark West Gallery customers provide lots of wonderful feedback about Park West artists and art auctions. We are proud to share the following compliments from some art collectors who recently enjoyed a Park West cruise art auction at sea…

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“We were lucky enough to be invited to a cruise of Alaska by Park West Gallery and there are no words to fully describe the great experience we shared.

The Park West staff was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, thoughtful, accommodating and sensitive to any request we made.

The quality of the artwork was exceptional and as an added bonus we met two world renowned artists. When you add to the above the beautiful cruise ship and being a part of a very friendly, fun group, it made for one of our best vacations.

Thanks for including us in that wonderful event.”

Edmond & Susan H.
New York, NY

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