Inside the Artists’ Studios at the Bruce Museum

If you have ever wished you could observe artists engaged in the process of creation, Inside the Artists’ Studios presented by the Bruce Museum on One Museum Drive in Greenwich allows you to explore the individual investigations and analyses of four artists through their paintings, prints, photographs and three-dimensional miniature constructions.  This exhibit runs through March 9 and features a Guide-by-Cell Audio Tour that is free of charge and may be accessed simply by using your cell phone. 

The artists participating are well known and bring special skills to this exhibit.

Perspective Box
Jimmy Sanders (American, b. 1963) Perspective Box, 2007
Wood, oil paint, 28 x 36 x 28 in.
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT Photo courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York 

Jimmy Sanders, for example  has been influenced by the work of 17th-century Dutch painters, most notably in his Perspective Box, Studio in Florence, which he modeled after his own Florentine studio. Sanders traveled in Europe in the late ‘90s and, after seeing Hoogstraten’s A Peepshow with Views of the Interior of a Dutch House (c. 1655-60; The National Gallery, London), was inspired to create a contemporary version of this Old Master creation.

Lori Nix Studio
Lori Nix (American, b. 1969) Lori Nix Studio, 2013 Chromogenic print, 42 x 69 in. Courtesy of the Artist
© Lori Nix 

Describing herself as a “non-traditional photographer,” Lori Nix constructs her sets and then photographs them. After photographing the “scene” she has laboriously constructed, Nix dismantles the diorama, leaving the photograph as the ultimate creative object. Her latest project is a self-reflective examination of her own crowded living/work space.

ack the Dripper
Joe Fig (American, b. 1968)
Jack the Dripper, 2006
Cibachrome print, Ed. of 10, 16 x 20 in.
Courtesy of the Artist and the Tierney Gardarin Gallery, New York 

Examinations of artists’ working lives also inform the pieces created by Joe Fig. Like Haas, 

Fig moved to the representation of contemporary artists’ spaces, interviewing artists before recreating their studios in miniature. Fig’s intimate views clearly appeal to the viewer’s desire to sneak a peek into the artistic process of artists such as Chuck Close, Ross Bleckner, Eric Fischl, April Gornik, Bill Jensen, Ryan McGinness, Philip Pearlstein, James Siena and Joan Snyder.

he Art of Painting
Richard Haas (American, b. 1936)
The Art of Painting a.k.a.The Allegory of Painting, 1968-69 Wood, cardboard, cloth, paper, acrylic, pencil, masonite, lights, 221/2 x221/2x221/2in.
Courtesy of the Artist
Art © Richard Haas/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY 

Richard Haas began exploring the artist’s studio environment in the 1960s. He started with iconic masters, then moved into creating dioramic boxes of his contemporaries’ studios – including Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline – as well as views from his own 12-foot studio windows in New York’s then-gritty and industrial SoHo.

About the Bruce Museum: Explore Art and Science at the Bruce Museum, located at One Museum Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for students up to 22 years, $6 for seniors and free for members and children under 5 years. Individual admission is free on Tuesday. Free on-site parking is available and the Museum is accessible to individuals with disabilities.  For additional information, call the Bruce Museum at (203) 869-0376 or visit the website at www.brucemuseum.org.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Closer: The Graphic Art of Chuck Close at The Bruce Museum

The Bruce Museum in Greenwich is presenting Closer: The Graphic Art of Chuck Close in the main Love, Newman Wild Galleries through January 5, 2013 with a portion on view in the Lecture Gallery through January 26.

With a body of work composed almost entirely of portraits, the American artist Chuck Close has been astounding us with his artistic verisimilitude for more than four decades. His prints, especially, are adventures in problem solving: working from the particularities of each print medium – woodcut, etching, silkscreen, linocut, aquatint, pulp-paper multiple – he gives his imagination free rein to reconceive their aesthetic possibilities. Although a spirit of experimentation characterizes Close's work across all media, it is particularly evident in the wide-ranging scope of his printed production.

Chuck Close announced his arrival on the contemporary art scene with his large-scale, black-and-white airbrushed heads, paintings based on photographs he had transferred to canvas by means of a grid. Recognition came quickly: his work was shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in 1969, followed by a solo exhibition at New York's Bykert Gallery in 1970 and a one-man show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1971. In 1972 he created the first print of his professional career, a mezzotint, which began a life-long engagement with the aesthetics and technology of printmaking. The collaborative nature of this work has been vital to the artist's creative process: working with master printers, Close alters one or several variables to create endless permutations in a wide variety of print techniques, usually recycling past portraits of himself, his family, and his friends.

The Bruce Museum is also sponsoring a lecture series relating to this exhibition on Dec. 12 beginning at 7:30 p.m. and is titled Closer: The Art of Chuck Close in the Context of the 1970s that is being led by  Kenneth Silver, PHD, Professor of Art History, New York University, Adjunct Curator of Art, Bruce Museum.  There will be a dessert reception for both lectures from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. and reservations are required.  Visit www.brucemuseum.org to make reservations. 

Closer: The Graphic Art of Chuck Close is accompanied by a generously illustrated catalogue by the same title. A lecture series and film series will also complement the exhibition.

About the Bruce Museum

Explore Art and Science at the Bruce Museum, located at One Museum Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for students up to 22 years, $6 for seniors and free for members and children under 5 years. Individual admission is free on Tuesday. Free on-site parking is available and the Museum is accessible to individuals with disabilities. For additional information, call the Bruce Museum at 203 869-0376 or visit the website at www.brucemuseum.org.  

 

Frolic at French Farm in Greenwich

French Farm - Greenwich Historical Society

French Farm on 516 Lake Ave. in Greenwich was the first property in the town to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975; and just recently it was designated as a Local Historic Property that will preserve it for future generations.  

Originally, the house was designed by H. VanBuren Magonigle and was built in 1911-1915 for Mary Billings French.  Today, this four-acre, 100 year old property has beautifully restored farm buildings and a rare plant collection that creates a series of distinctive gardens designed by late owner, David Wierdsma making this landscape a living work of art. Wierdsma inherited the property in 1972 and endeavored to preserve the original structures on the property and to create beautiful and whimsical gardens.

The farm is not always open to the public, however on Sunday, September 15, on behalf of the Greenwich Historical Society, the entire family is invited to visit French Farm for an afternoon of art and nature from 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., rain or shine.

This is the perfect place to celebrate the final days of summer and explore this unique private landscape that is part gentleman’s farm and part living work of art.  Kids will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with the farm’s animal occupants, enjoy a scavenger hunt, press cider, climb the “pterodactyl nest” tower, explore the fossil garden and enjoy nature crafts and activities on the lawn.

Adults have the option of two tours–one led by Florence Boogaerts, focusing on the horticultural aspects of the property; the other by farm manager Jacek Nidzgorski who will talk about the property’s cultural landscape, its collections and its origins and development. Artists are invited to set up their easels during the event, and photographers will be free to snap.

Buffet refreshments, served on the main lawn, will include an artisanal cheese board, seasonal bites and sweet and savory pastries, all created by celebrity chef John Barricelli of Sono Baking Company and Martha Stewart Everyday Cooking fame. Advanced reservations are required no later than September 11 and made be made http://www.hstg.org/adult.php#frenchfarm. 

Admission to this event is $35 for adults, Children 4 to 12: $10. No charge for children 3 and under.

For area information www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Bruce Museum features Durer, Rembrandt and Whistler

Collection of Dr. Dorrance T. Kelly Joachim and the Angel

Located in Fairfield County Connecticut, the Bruce Museum located on One Museum Dr. in Greenwich is featuring prints of old masters and works from the 19^th century through August 18^th.  This is one of the most distinguished local collections of prints that have been painstakingly assembled by Dr. Dorrance T. Kelly. The works include prints of Durer, Rembrandt and Whistler among other notable artists.

While Dr. Kelly’s collection has been comprised primarily of American 20th-century prints and prints by John James Audubon, in recent years he has also collected Old Master and 19th-century works extensively.

  James Abbott McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903)

   Limehouse, 1859

   Etching

   From “The Thames Set”

   Collection of Dr. Dorrance T. Kelly

These encompass splendid sheets by the great German printmaker Albrecht Dürer, including a rare etching, woodcuts, and engravings of such iconic images as his Nemesis of 1502.

Dr. Kelly's Dutch prints include several of the rare engravings after the influential Adam Elsheimer by Hendrik Goudt and no less than 28 images by the highly experimental printmaker Rembrandt van Rijn, ranging from early works of the 1630s to mature impressions from the 1650s.

Dr. Kelly's 18th-century holdings include sheets by the great Italian artists Canaletto and Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo and several fine sheets from Los Caprichos by the renowned Spanish artist Francisco de Goya y Lucientes.

Completing the collection is a group of etched cityscapes and figure studies by the American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

The Triumph of Mordecai
Collection of Dr. Dorrance T. Kelly

 Together the collection attests to the quality of some of the greatest printmakers in Western Art.

The exhibition – on view through August 18, 2013 and is accompanied by a scholarly catalog and a series of educational and public programs.

The Bruce Museum is grateful to Dr. Dorrance T. Kelly for sharing this extraordinary collection with the public.

About the Bruce Museum: Explore Art and Science at the Bruce Museum, located at One Museum Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm; closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for students up to 22 years, $6 for seniors and free for members and children under 5 years. Individual admission is free on Tuesday. Free on-site parking is available and the Museum is accessible to individuals with disabilities.  For additional information, call the Bruce Museum at (203) 869-0376 or visit the website at www.brucemuseum.org. 

For area information on Fairfield County www.visitfairfieldcountyct.com.