Sunday Morning at the Palette and Chisel in Chicago

My work in place in the Small Gallery at Palette and Chisel.

The exhibit runs through June 15.

The gallery is one of the former drawing rooms in this 19th century mansion.

The largest light-filled space, used for classes and for open studios with live models, is on the third floor, where the mansion's ballroom once was.

A Quick Visit To MOMA And The Exhibit "On Line : Drawing Through The Twentieth Century," featuring Loie Fuller's Dance Serpentine

I took a quick trip to NYC this past week and spent a couple of mornings at MOMA.

What drew me to MOMA (as opposed to any of the other places in New York) was the "On Line" exhibit, currently showing into February.  This exhibit promises a look at one hundred years of drawing, 1910 to 2010, examining how artists over that time expanded the concept of drawing.

The exhibit is lively and kind of fun, with sculptures and film, as well as works on paper and other supports.  Mostly, though, it felt like jokes about line, one-liners, puns, cleverness about line.

One of the things I like best about it is a short film, silent and in color, dating from 1897-99.  Called Dance Serpentine II, it features a dancer wearing silk robes containing bamboo rods, moving the robes and herself through space, as lights change the color of the robe.  The overall feeling, as Paula describes it, is "Kabuki like."  Here's a link to a film of Dance Serpentine, a version  with Loie Fuller (the dancer and choreographer) performing, dating from 1896.

The video I've linked to of Dance Serpentine is still inspiring, over one hundred years later. It's under a minute long, and well worth viewing.   I am amazed by the early use of color film, something I did not know existed then.  And I like the cleverness of the dance.

Loie Fuller was part dance innovator, part applied scientist (she pioneered in lighting). She inspired many artists in her career and she lives on in their works and in her own, with choreography that is still influencing modern dance.

The photographs I've posted were taken by me with my husband's i-phone.  The first is a view into the courtyard, the day after last week's snowfall.

The second is of visitors to the permanent collection.  The paintings are by Modigliani.

George Bernard Shaw and Helmut Gernsheim: Notes On The Gernsheim Collection At The Harry Ransom Center

George Bernard Shaw, famous playwright, was born in 1856 and died in November 1950.  Throughout his life, he took photographs to record events and to express himself artistically.  He said:

"If Velasquez were born today, he would be a photographer and not a painter."

In 1949, Helmut Gernsheim, engaged in producing a history of photography, submitted a series of questions to Shaw.

The typed questions and Shaw's handwritten answers are on display at the Ransom Center, along with a 1950 letter from Gernsheim, with handwritten reply by Shaw.

In his answers, Shaw writes that he is still actively taking photographs, something he has been doing for most of his life.  He lists the different cameras he has used over the years. The beauty, strength and wit of the replies, written so near Shaw's death, are striking.

In the letter shown here (photographed with i-phone by Matt Spitzer), Gernsheim tries to get Shaw to agree to let Gernsheim look through Shaw's photos, to select some for Gernsheim's book on the history of photography:

Gernsheim pleads:  "I won't disturb you in your work; in fact, you need not see me if you don't want to!"

Shaw says no:
"Quite out of the question.  You would have to ransack the whole house: a week's hard work.  They are not collected and catalogued.  Keep off."  [Signed, GBS 5/6/1950.]


From Gernsheim exhibit at the Ransom, through January 2, 2011.

Shaw's photographic legacy is being cataloged in the project,  Man and Cameraman.  Apparently, a great deal more than "a week's hard work."

[Shaw is famous for so many sayings;  I invite you to leave your favorites in the comments]

Three Deer

Three deer, photographed yesterday afternoon.

The doe closest to me clearly saw me and calmly stayed put while I ran to get my camera and took multiple photos.  She got tired of watching me later and resumed grooming herself.

Update:   I've relocated the photo of the three dears to a new place, one which I'll add to as I explore more of  Austin.