Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries, Paris was the locus of artistic activity. For that reason, the current exhibition Snapshot: Painters and Photography, Bonnard to Vuillard profiles six long-term residents of the French capital: printmaker Henri Rivière, Belgian painter Henri Evenepoel, and four members of the Nabis (Hebrew for ‘prophets’), a well-known artists’ circle active in Paris. The show pairs the professional output of these selected post-Impressionists with their recreational experiments as amateur photographers. Introduced in 1888, the handheld Kodak camera became a ubiquitous accoutrement of the modern artist. In addition to Parisians, Snapshot also includes the work of Dutch modernist George Hendrick Breitner, which demonstrates the universality of the avant-garde and their quick response to new technology. Such efforts to present a more inclusive history of the period broaden the show’s geographical scope.

Breitner’s work is unfamiliar to many outside of his native Holland. He spent the majority of his career in The Hague and Amsterdam, with brief sojourns in Berlin, London, and Paris. From 1876 until 1880, Breitner attended the Hague Art Academy, and, following disciplinary expulsion from the institution, he continued his studies in the private studio of Hague School painter Willem Maris for one year. Under the tutelage of Maris, he painted en plein air, a practice that likely contributed to his break with more conventional methodologies. Around the same time, Breitner discovered the French Naturalist writings of Gustave Flaubert, the Goncourt brothers (Edmond and Jules), and Émile Zola, which informed his selection of subject matter. His compatriot Vincent van Gogh also exhibited an appreciation for the transnational literary movement. Naturalist texts made available a plethora of suitable motifs for urbanites like Breitner and van Gogh. The two artists exchanged their favorite publications, and van Gogh accompanied Breitner on sketching excursions in The Hague’s working-class districts, and other sites described by Naturalist authors. Consequently, these activities yielded cityscapes as opposed to the pastoral views and seascapes favored by the preceding generation of Dutch artists, namely the Hague School painters.

George Hendrik Breitner, “The Dam, Amsterdam” 1895. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

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Filed under: Exhibitions

I’ve been playing the piano at the IMA for over 30 years in several different capacities. I recently came across some old programs from several chamber music concerts in the 1980s and a solo recital I played there in 1982. Through the years, I’ve played for several openings, including an exhibition of work by Félix Vallotton (an artist currently featured in the exhibition Snapshot), and in the galleries. For 20 years I was the pianist for the Cameo Trio, which gave many concerts at the IMA and became Piano Trio in Residence there a few years before it was disbanded in 2003. In addition, I played the harpsichord for “Christmas at Lilly” for six years.

When Ellen Lee invited me to play for the exhibition Snapshot, she mentioned the name Misia Natanson. This was a great clue for me to follow when selecting music to play for this exhibition. While Misia – a pianist who hosted an artistic salon in Paris – was a muse to visual artists (she’s featured throughout the exhibition in works by Édouard Vuillard, among others), she served as inspiration for composers, as well. Misia’s piano teacher, Gabriel Fauré, introduced her to Maurice Ravel, who was a student of his at the time. Ravel later dedicated a composition, Le Cygne, to Misia and his work Sonatine is dedicated to Misia’s brother and his wife. Also present was Claude Debussy, whose works Misia loved. Ravel and Debussy were friends of Erik Satie, who later dedicated his ballet, Parade, to Misia. I selected music by these composers to play at the opening event and in the galleries, and it was a treat for me to add to the ambience of this wonderful exhibition.  If you’re interested in learning more about this fascinating woman, a good resource is the publication Misia by Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale.

For more information on performances inspired by Snapshot, visit the IMA’s events page.

Filed under: Exhibitions, Guest Bloggers, Uncategorized

Henri Evenepoel, "Louise at Wépion," summer 1897. Modern gelatin silver print, 2011.

With the myriad of ways in which we visually record our day-to-day (Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, the list goes on), it’s hard to imagine a time when spontaneous documentation of our lives wasn’t possible. In 1888, the invention of the easy-to-use Kodak camera gave birth to the “snapshot”, forever changing how we document and share our favorite moments, both large and small. The IMA’s new exhibition Snapshot: Painters and Photographers, Bonnard to Vuillard (opening tonight!), explores the influence this camera had on the lives and work of seven painters in the Post-Impressionist era.

Ellen Lee, Wood-Pulliam Senior Curator at the IMA and co-curator of Snapshot, discusses the connections between this invention and influence on artistic practice:

In this audio clip, Todd Gustavson – Curator of the Technology Collection at the George Eastman House – discusses how these artists approached the process differently (for more like this, check out the free TAP mobile tour in the exhibition):

Share your own snapshots (digital camera, scanned film, Instagram filtered, whatever you’ve got!) and enter our online competition for a chance to win monthly prizes.  Photos will also be projected outside the exhibition at the IMA.

Filed under: Art, Exhibitions

Tawara Yūsaku, Untitled, (Ichi, 95), from Sora (Sky) series, 2001.

Inspired by the ink works of Japanese artist Tawara Yūsaku on view at IMA, I developed a performance piece called He She They (a duet).  It’s a physical exploration of the notion that the beauty of the whole is found in the appreciation of individual parts. The work of Tawara Yūsaka, while small on paper, packs a large impact when you notice that every mark on the page is a specific choice and each of these moments amounts to a greater purpose.

Each line and every dot vibrate in two dimensions, and it is this motion in the ink drawings that inspired He She They (a duet). We wanted to take Yūsaka’s reflection on the parts of whole from the page and transfer it to the human form, or translate it on to the body. This work examines two individuals coming together and offering each other their own pieces and parts – down to each pore and cell.

There will be multiple performances between 2 and 4 pm this Saturday, March 24.  You’re invited to follow the 10-minute performance as it progresses and unwinds through the galleries; be sure to stay to immerse yourself in this transfixing exhibition.

Filed under: Art, Exhibitions, Public Programs

For the past three weeks, New York-based dancer Sadie Wilhelmi has been in residence at the IMA training local gymnasts to use Body in Flight (Delta), a sculpture by artists Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, as a stage for a performance that mixes gymnastics with elements of modern dance. Sadie was the lead female athlete from the exhibition Gloria, which was organized by the IMA and installed at the U.S. Pavilion during the Venice Biennale from June through November, 2011.

Sadie performing the routine during "Gloria" at the U.S. Pavilion in Venice.

Body in Flight (Delta) is currently situated in the IMA’s Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion for an exhibition opening today, and will be on display through April 22. Local gymnasts Taylor Brown, Caitlin Marlow, Kelsie Sexton, and Adrianna Spiteri will conduct ongoing performances in Efroymson for the duration of the exhibition. See the Body in Flight (Delta) exhibition page for further information and a schedule of performances.

USA Gymnastics, the governing body for the representation of American gymnasts at the Olympic Games, is based in Indianapolis and helped recruit gymnasts for this exhibition. Through the organization’s network of athletic clubs, we were able to recruit these talented gymnasts for the exhibition.

First our volunteers started training with Sadie on the prototype for Body in Flight (Delta). The routine was initially developed on this model by choreographer Rebecca Davis, gymnast David Durante, and artists Allora & Calzadilla in collaboration with the four dancers/athletes who performed in Venice (Olga Karmansky, Chellsie Memmel, Rachel Salzman, and Sadie).

Sadie training with Adrianna Spiteri on the model for "Body in Flight (Delta)" in a closed gallery at the IMA.

For the last week, the gymnasts and Sadie have been working in public in the IMA’s entry pavilion to hone their performances on the actual artwork.

Sadie and works with local gymnast Kelsie Sexton to perfect the routine in the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion.

I hope that you’re able to join us over the course of the exhibition to see local talent showcased in our lobby. If not, you can view the performance as it was filmed in Venice from a far.

Also in the galleries and opening today is Allora & Calzadilla’s Vieques Series, a group of three videos filmed on and about the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

Filed under: Art, Contemporary, Venice Biennale