It’s hard to believe that it has been almost four years since Indianapolis was selected to host the 46^th Super Bowl. For most of us, the Super Bowl has some sort of yearly tradition tied to it. We get together with friends, indulge ourselves, laugh at a few commercials and watch a football game. It’s one day, maybe two with a lingering hangover, and one event.

For a host city, the Super Bowl is much more than this.

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Filed under: Current Events, Local

Paul Gauguin, "Still Life with Profile of Laval," (1886). Samuel Josefowitz Collection of the School of Pont-Aven, through the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc., the Josefowitz Family, Mr. and Mrs. James M. Cornelius, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard J. Betley, Lori and Dan Efroymson, and other Friends of the Museum. 1998.167

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) presented a painting to his friend and colleague Charles Laval (1862-1894) in 1887. The work, Still Life with Profile of Laval (1886), reinvigorates the longstanding European tradition of painters exchanging Freundschaftsbilder – pictures that demonstrate friendship and, often, artistic allegiance. Yet, in the article “Japan as Primitivistic Utopia: Van Gogh’s Japonisme Portraits” (1984), Tsukasa Kōdera credited van Gogh (1853-1890) with resuscitating this practice in 1888, a year after Gauguin’s gift to Laval. Van Gogh imagined Japanese artists living and working in a fraternal community, which he sought to emulate. He envisioned developing a similar artists’ cooperative in Arles, his new home and a place he called the “atelier du Midi.” Kōdera cites correspondence between Gauguin and the Dutch artist (specifically, a letter [now lost] dated September 1888) as evidence that van Gogh proposed a portrait exchange to foster the Gemeinschaft (sense of community) between himself and fellow artists Gauguin, Laval, and Émile Bernard (1868-1941). However, Van Gogh’s role as progenitor of the modern Freundschaftsbild is debatable. His inspiration to exchange portraits was derived from a false impression that Japanese artists participated in the same activity. According to Kōdera, Self-Portrait: Les Misérables (1888; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam) represents Gauguin’s first contribution to the genre. Van Gogh reciprocated the gesture with his Self-Portrait as Bonze (1888; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard, Cambridge, MA).

Paul Gauguin, "Self-Portrait with Portrait of Bernard (Self-Portrait: Les Misérables)," 1888. Oil on canvas, 45 x 55 cm. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

Vincent van Gogh, "Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin (Self-Portrait as Bonze)," 1888. Oil on canvas, 59.5 x 48.3 cm. Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, MA.

These portraits, which are rendered in new artistic idioms, announce the painters’ collective denial of naturalism and simultaneous entrée into the international Symbolist movement. Interestingly, Still Life with Profile of Laval (1886), which predates van Gogh’s request to swap portraits and Gauguin’s rejection of Impressionism, has not yet been discussed in these terms.

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Filed under: Art, The Collection

Well, by now it is hardly a secret that the Pantone Color of the Year is Tango Tangerine.

courtesy of Pantone.

It is a deep shade of orange but here’s a more detailed description.

Yes, tango and tangerine all in one color.

The tango – filled with sensuality, barely repressed animal sexuality and total control of staccato yet fluid movement.

Tangerine – filled with aromatic oils, sticky sweet yet tart juice, and so round and firm in the hand.

What a combination!

I’m a big fan of orange and the many shades of orange. Here are a few things I found about my house last night.

This does not include clothing, my yoga mat, or my fabulous piece of carry-on luggage.

In my designs, orange has played a role for years. I was unaware of people’s resistance to orange when I started using it. A good many have come around to my point of view. In truth, it goes with about any other color. You do have to watch with lavender (BIG mistake as a rule). And you must choose your pinks carefully. But a hot pink with a hot orange is, well…… HOT. And the right magenta with the right orange is true paradise.

We have several perennials to choose from for orange. So many new Echinaceas I lose track at times.

‘Tiki Torch’ from Terra Nova has been a favorite since I grew it a few years back. I know they have newer ones but the color on this one is so good.

Photo(s) courtesy of Terra Nova® Nurseries, Inc.

Of course their ‘Tangerine Dream’ looks good too.

Photo(s) courtesy of Terra Nova® Nurseries, Inc.

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Filed under: Horticulture, Uncategorized

Diane writes about the film A Matter of Life and Death (1946), screening at the Toby this Friday at 7pm as part of the Winter Nights film series.

A Matter of Life and Death (1946). Eagle-Lion Films Inc./Photofest ©Eagle-Lion Films Inc. Photo by Fred Daniels.

There are some old movies that just grab you—heart and mind—and carry you away before you even realize it.  This is one of those films, a British film made during the final days of World War II, that is still on the favorites list of British filmgoers 60 years later.  It is wonderful, especially on a big screen. Oliver Sacks, Martin Scorsese and Steven Sondheim loved it as teenagers.  Teachers–bring your students. Anyone looking for a great night out will be captivated by the drama, the humor, and love despite great difficulties.  If you would like to know more about the work of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, you will enjoy visiting The Powell and Pressburger Pages.

And if you want to enjoy the film without any more preconceptions, you can stop reading now.

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Filed under: Film, Public Programs, The Toby

When I joined the project team for the Art & Nature Park nearly five years ago, the IMA’s journey of park development was well underway.  The process would eventually span a decade or more, culminating in the grand opening of 100 Acres in June 2010.  Now, the recent announcement of the Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion as a 2012 National AIA honor award winner has provided the final underscore for the initial launch of 100 Acres, as well as a new standard for the park as it moves into the future as a space in constant evolution.

Although the park as a whole was a wide ranging, multi-faceted project, the Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion always served as the nucleus for the entire endeavor, and in my mind the benchmark of success or failure for the park overall.  The constant challenge throughout the development of the park was to implement eight unique, autonomous commissioned artwork installations and a network of landscape and infrastructure improvements, yet weave them together into a coherent, holistic visitor experience.  It became apparent early in the process that the Visitors Pavilion was to be the center point, around which the rest of the park would live in context.  It was important that the park be a place for multi-faceted experiences, a place which celebrates the gray areas between man and nature, between art and architecture, between carefully programmed experiences and organic, meditative spaces.  The role of the Visitors Pavilion was at the same time clear and elusive: to serve as the flagship space where these gray areas could be called out.

The first set of development drawings I saw in 2007 showed the essence of the final product, but in a much different incarnation.  Marlon Blackwell Architects had been working hand-in-hand for years with landscape architect Ed Blake, artist Mary Miss, and the IMA project team to develop the comprehensive architectural plan for the park, and a structure known as the Interpretive Pavilion was the architectural workhorse of that plan.  It was to serve practical needs such as shelter, restrooms, and a hub for communications.  It was also to serve as the programming hub for the park, providing a home for educational initiatives, events, and temporary exhibitions.

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Filed under: Art and Nature Park