High Kicks and Low Life: Toulouse-Lautrec Prints

LIVERPOOL—The Walker Art Gallery presents High Kicks and Low Life: Toulouse-Lautrec Prints, on view now through August 8.

From the museum website:

This exquisite exhibition of around 50 prints by the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), depicts the glamour and style of 19th century Parisian theatre and daily life.

High Kicks and Low Life: Toulouse-Lautrec Prints presents a selection from the British Museum’s fine holdings of Toulouse-Lautrec’s graphic work. Divided into two sections, ‘Scenes from Theatrical Life’ and ‘Scenes from Daily Life’, the former presents striking images of the can-can dancer Louise Weber, known as ‘La Goulue’ (‘The Glutton’) and Jane Avril, one of Lautrec’s favourite subjects. In contrast to the lively exuberant scenes of the cafés and bars of Montmartre, Lautrec portrays with great sensitivity the extremely private and intimate life of the prostitute in the second section of the exhibition. The artist lived briefly in several brothels and captured at first hand the daily rituals of feminine life, beautifully executed in the Elles portfolio of 1896.

Though Lautrec’s last years were plagued by alcoholic excess, this remarkable artist has left behind a body of work full of insight, wit and above all astonishing technical and artistic virtuosity.

For more information, please visit www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

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French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is considered one of the great masters of Post-Impressionism. Although exhibitions of Toulouse-Lautrec’s work were not well received in his lifetime, he is now one of the world’s most popular artists, represented in most major museums of France and the United States. The Park West Gallery/Toulouse-Lautrec Collection »

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Related Links:

• Cafe and Cabaret: Toulouse-Lautrec’s Paris
• Artist Birthdays November 24 – HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC
• About Ukiyo-E: Subjects in Japanese Prints 
• The Park West Gallery Japanese Woodcut Collection 

Peter Max To Receive Prestigious Pinnacle Alumni in Art and Design Award

NEW YORK, NY—Peter Max and Annette de la Renta, two major figures in the art world, will be honored by The Black Alumni of Pratt (BAP) on Wednesday, May 26 at black tie dinner at the Four Seasons restaurant.

Max will receive the prestigious “Pinnacle Alumni in Art and Design Award.” President Bill Clinton will make the presentation by video. When Max learned that another honoree is Lee Daniels, the director of the now filming “Selma” about Martin Luther King, he donated a portrait of Martin Luther King for the BAP auction.

Both of the honorees are receiving their awards for both the marks they have made in the art world and for their considerable humanitarian work.  

[via  ArtDaily]

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Peter Max Honors MLK
Originally aired April 2008 on CBS’s The Early Show 
On the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968), artist Peter Max unveiled his latest creation for the set of “The Early Show.”

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Park West Gallery has enjoyed a relationship with Peter Max since the 1970s, and is the artist’s largest and longest-running dealer in the world.
Visit the Park West Gallery Peter Max Collection »

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• Pop Artist Peter Max Paints Taylor Swift
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• Honoring MLK Day: Norman Rockwell and the Civil Rights Movement

Museums Offer Free Admission to Military Families This Summer

More than 600 museums nationwide are offering free admission to military families all summer in a new partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

The list includes some of the nation’s premier art museums, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as science centers, children’s museums and other sites in all 50 states.

The free admission program, called Blue Star Museums, is available to active-duty military and their immediate family members (military ID holder and five immediate family members), which includes active duty Reserve and active duty National Guard. 

Blue Star Museums runs from Memorial Day, May 31, 2010 through to Labor Day, September 6, 2010. 

See the full list of participating institutions at www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums

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By the way…if you find yourself in Michigan this summer, stop by Park West Gallery—admission to our 23 spacious exhibition galleries is always free!
Park West Gallery Location & Hours »

Picasso Peace and Freedom at Tate Liverpool

Pablo Picasso’s The Charnel House (1944-45). ©Succession Picasso/DACS 2009. Photo: ©2009 Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art NY/Scala, Florence.

UK—Picasso: Peace and Freedom is currently on view through August 30, 2010 at Tate Liverpool. This major exhibition brings together over 150 works by Pablo Picasso from across the world.

From the museum website:

This exhibition will reveal a fascinating new insight into the artist’s life as a tireless political activist and campaigner for peace, challenging the widely held view of Picasso as creative genius, playboy and compulsive extrovert.

This is the first exhibition to examine in depth the artist’s engagement with politics and the Peace Movement, and will reflect a new Picasso for a new time. The exhibition provides a timely look at Picasso’s work in the Cold War era and how the artist transcended the ideological and aesthetic oppositions of East and West.

For more information on this exhibit, visit www.tate.org.uk

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Park West Gallery has become one of the longest running and largest dealers of Picasso graphic works internationally. Our current collection, both archived and actively offered, includes over one thousand five hundred works, including drawings and mixed media unique works, etchings, aquatints, linoleum cuts, lithographs, and ceramics, all rigorously authenticated, guaranteed and selected based on the highest quality and value.

Visit the Park West Gallery Picasso Collection Website »

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Related Links:

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• An Interview with the Artistic Director of the Museo Picasso Málaga
• Picasso Etchings Discovered Between Pages of a Library Book
• The Pompidou Mobile: Picassos, Matisses and Calders – Oh My!

Park West Gallery Summer Sale Now Online

With graduation and wedding season in full swing and Father’s Day right around the corner, the Park West Gallery Summer Collection was put together with the discriminating gift-giver in mind!

 The collection is currently featured online and boasts an array of fine artwork, high-end designer jewelry, Japanese woodcuts and animation art, all of which are being offered at exciting sale prices now through August 15^th.

Customers may also view the Summer Collection at Park West’s elegant, museum-style gallery in Southfield, Michigan while enjoying the 3 ½ acres of sculpture gardens and luxuriant grounds that surround it.  

More than 300 artworks from some of the world’s greatest artists are featured in the Summer Collection including old and modern masters Picasso, Miro, Rembrandt and Salvador Dali as well as contemporary artists Dominic Pangborn, Yaacov Agam, Alfred Gockel, Csaba Markus, and Peter Max. A variety of media are available including oil and acrylic paintings, watercolors and drawings, hand-signed limited edition etchings, lithographs, serigraphs and hand-embellished graphic works.

Fine jewelry from high-end designers such as Erte, Aussie O, Roberto Coin, and Yvel is also featured. While the collection is diverse, all of the jewelry has certain qualities in common such as superb craftsmanship, timeless characteristics and unique design.

The Japanese Woodcuts in the Park West Gallery Summer Collection were created in the 1800s and early 1900s and provide a glimpse into the rich history of Japan. The subject matters depicted include: kabuki (depictions of actors from the Edo period, during which the theater was both fashionable and popular); sumo wrestling (viewed by the Japanese to be equally spiritual and physical); the Tale of Genji (perhaps the first complete novel which was written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu in the eleventh century); Bijn-Ga (meaning pictures of beautiful women); and breathtaking floral designs.

Also featured is a portion of Park West’s expansive animation collection including works featuring lovable Looney Tunes, Disney, and Hanna-Barbera characters. Limited edition cels, lithographs, hand drawings, and production cels make up this special offering.

View the Summer Sale Collection at sales.parkwestgallery.com

Gallery Hours: Monday-Wednesday, 10am-6pm; Thursday-Friday, 10am-7pm; Saturday, 11am-6pm

Call toll-free: 800-521-9654 x4; Canada/Int’l: 248-354-2343 x4

Email: sales@parkwestgallery.com

Park West Gallery Artist Interviews: Leslie Lew Part 3

In Part 1 of Park West Gallery Director Morris Shapiro’s interview with renowned artist Leslie Lew, the artist discussed her artwork and thriving career. In Part 2 Lew discussed her background. Following is Part 3 in which she discusses the early years of her artistic career beginning with her time in Chicago where she attended the Art Institute of Chicago…

Morris Shapiro: When you were in Chicago, you became affiliated with a wonderful movement called the “Hairy Who” movement. It’s not a very well-known movement, but I think it was very influential because a lot of the imagery seemed to emerge from culture…from comic books and pulp fiction. You studied the important artists of that period, and you knew some of the important artists from that period.

Leslie Lew: Ray Yoshida was my advisor for the whole time, and Ray was one of the big names in the Hairy Who. He just passed away about six months ago.

MS: And then you moved to New York and were part of the famous East Village movement.

LL: Yes. My being influenced by the Hairy Who in Chicago was a part of that. The Hairy Who was around about the same time as the Pop Art movement…they were just a different offshoot; a little bit wilder, actually. They really would have fit right in with the East Village artists because they were really funky. I was so influenced by Roger Brown and Jim Nutt and the others, that when I went from Chicago to New York, my work fit in perfectly with the East Village movement. It was really cool.

It’s kind of an interesting story, too, the way I got to New York. I was still in graduate school at the Art Institute of Chicago, and I decided I wanted to go to New York. There were a couple of different programs. I applied to the Whitney, but that year they didn’t accept any painters…they decided that year to just accept video artists. But, it turned out there was an offshoot art program called “Semester in New York City” that was funded by the New York Arts Council and affiliated with the Whitney. So, they invited the artists that had applied to the painting program that year. It turned out that I got the rejection letter from the Whitney saying they were doing only video, and the next day I got the letter inviting me to the “Semester in New York” program. So I went. They had the greatest studios…they had an old telephone factory right on the West Side highway and the entire building was studios. And they had major artists come every Friday and critique our work. It turned out to be a great experience.

MS: And also at this time you were a single mother with a young child?

LL: I wasn’t a mother yet. When I first got to New York and getting into East Village movement and showing, and I met another painter named Jeffery Lew and we got married. He was a popular artist in the 70s and very good friends with Rob Rauschenberg. For a few years it was really fun, but it became difficult when I started getting some notoriety with the East Village, because his day had kind of passed. I was trying to be cool about it, but it was really hard. People would come up to him and say “how does it feel to be Mr. Leslie Lew?” By that time I had given birth to my son, and he just couldn’t handle it, so I became a single mom on my own.

MS: A single mom on your own, as an artist, raising a baby. That has got to be a pretty intense road. I think it probably has a lot to do with the strength that you have now as an artist and some of your imagery. A lot of the very “heroic” nature of some of your imagery probably comes from that period.

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Stay tuned to the Park West Gallery blog for Part 4 of this fascinating interview with Leslie Lew, and review Part 1 and Part 2 here!

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Related Links:

• Park West Gallery Artist Biographies: Leslie Lew
• Browse Artwork from the Park West Gallery – Leslie Lew Collection
• Park West Gallery Director’s Art Marketing Tips for Aspiring Artists

Today in Art History: May 20, 1916

On this day in 1916, a 22-year-old Norman Rockwell painted his first cover for The Saturday Evening Post. Over the next 47 years, the artist would paint over 300 covers for the publication.

The original oil on canvas painting, titled Boy with Baby Carriage (or alternatively, Salutation) and measuring 20.75 x 18.625 inches, is currently housed at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts.

Norman Rockwell’s first cover for The Saturday Evening Post, published May 20, 1916.

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Through association with the Norman Rockwell Licensing Company (the estate of the artist) and Curtis Publishing (owner of the copyrights of the Saturday Evening Post artwork), Park West Gallery has been able in recent years to bring new and exceptional collecting opportunities for Norman Rockwell artworks to enthusiastic collectors. For more information, please call 800.521.9654 x 4 or email sales@parkwestgallery.com

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Related Links:

• Google Celebrates Rockwell’s 116th Birthday
• Norman Rockwell and the Civil Rights Movement
• Norman Rockwell – Dead But Busier Than Ever
• Private Rockwell Collections of Lucas and Spielberg To Go Public
• An Essay by Park West Gallery’s Director: Experiencing Rockwell

Exclusive Interviews with Dominic Pangborn and Marcus Glenn

Local artists Dominic Pangborn and Marcus Glenn recently gave interviews regarding their relationship with Park West Gallery. Both artists provided a unique perspective on the Park West Gallery experience; however, both commented on how Park West is able to get their artwork into the hands of collectors the world over and how enjoyable it is to actually meet the people collecting their works. Check out the videos below, and stay tuned for more Park West Gallery Artist Testimonials!

See more exclusive videos of your favorite artists at the Park West Gallery YouTube Channel >>
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Related Links:

Official Harley Artist Scott Jacobs on Park West Gallery
Park West Gallery Artist Interview: Noah