April 2011 – Page 4 – { feuilleton }

Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration #19

Water Serpents I by Gustav Klimt. See it in colour here.

Continuing the delve into back numbers of Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, the German periodical of art and decoration. Yesterday’s post concerned a Klimt-like artist, today volume 19, covering the period from October 1906 to March 1907, includes further work by Klimt himself. The Wiener Werkstätte, with whom Klimt was affiliated, continues to dominate these editions, understandably so when the architecture, art and design being produced by the group was some of the most advanced in the world. In addition to the customary graphics and interiors there’s also some examples of dress design by Gustav Klimt which I hadn’t seen before.

As usual, anyone wishing to see these samples in greater detail is advised to download the entire number at the Internet Archive. There’ll be more DK&D next week.

A portrait of Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein by Gustav Klimt. The sitter was the sister of Ludwig Wittgenstein.

A poster by Koloman Moser.

Continue reading “Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration #19”

The art of Kozma Lajos, 1884–1948

Will at 50 Watts points the way to a set of line drawings by Kozma Lajos, a Hungarian artist better known for his later work as an architect and designer. What strikes me about these illustrations is their similiarity to the graphics being produced by German and Austrian artists a few years earlier, some of whom have been turning up in the recent samples from Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration. There’s the same Klimt-like decorative detail and a lack of perspective. See the series here and further illustration work at the end of this page.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The illustrators archive

Gilles Rimbault revisited

I posted a few examples of work by French artist Gilles Rimbault last year, and was hoping at the time that further drawings might come to light. We have D.R. Tenge to thank for posting these and other scans from Plexus magazine on the same LJ page where I found some of the earlier works, together with text that accompanied the pictures. “He pursues an endless search in the ‘erotisme fantastique'” Plexus tells us, and that’s a great description of this curious sub-genre which I’ve previously referred to (following Philip José Farmer) as “the pornography of the weird”. From what I know about Plexus it specialised in this typically late 60s/early 70s blend of science fiction, fantasy and erotic exploration, being a spin-off from Pauwels & Bergier’s magazine of “fantastic realism”, Planète; it also wasn’t the only magazine doing so which makes me wish that Taschen (or somebody) would delve into this sorely neglected area.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The fantastic art archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• The art of Ran Akiyoshi, 1922–1982
• The art of Gilles Rimbault
• The art of Jim Leon, 1938–2002
• The art of Sibylle Ruppert
• The art of Bertrand

Alchemically Yours

Ars, Scientia, Magia (2007) by Jesse Bransford.

Another art exhibition, and another group show at Observatory in Brooklyn, NYC, where some of my Lovecraft drawings were shown last year. Alchemically Yours is an alchemy-themed contemporary art show curated by Phantasmaphile‘s Pam Grossman, and she has this to say about the exhibition:

Like dreams, alchemy speaks in pictures. At first glimpse, alchemical manuscripts from the 16th and 17th centuries look like a panoply of hallucinations. They feature images of fornicating kings and queens. Suns and moons shining in stereo. Lions and serpents and eggs, oh my. Black and white and red all over. Secret codes and effulgent iconographies teeming with meaning, yet ultimately ineffable. These pictures beget picturing. They’re signs that beg to be resignified; to be reinterpreted and refined.

The participants in Alchemically Yours have done just that. Varying in medium and style, each piece in this exhibition pays homage to the alchemic tradition—all the while affirming that the artist fills the role of alchemist in the present-day. For who better can elevate the mundane, turn the sub- into the sublime? From the prima materia of color and canvas comes great and vivid work.

Caduceus (detail, 2011) by Robert M. Place.

The participating artists are Jesse Bransford, Molly Crabapple, Ted Enik, Marina Korenfeld, Adela Leibowitz, Sara Antoinette Martin, Ann McCoy, Robert M. Place, Ron Regé, Jr., J.L. Schnabel, Hunter Stabler, Panos Tsagaris.

Alchemically Yours opens on Saturday, May 7th, 2011, 7–10pm and will run from May 8th to June 12th, 2011.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Laurie Lipton’s Splendor Solis
• The Arms of the Art
• Splendor Solis
• Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae
• A Love Craft: Art Inspired by Monsters, Madness and Mythos
• Cabala, Speculum Artis Et Naturae In Alchymia
• Vision Quest
• Digital alchemy
• Fata Morgana: The New Female Fantasists

The art of Jaume Plensa

In the Midst of Dreams (2009) by Jaume Plensa. Photo by Michael Bodycomb.

Large illuminated heads and other works by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa will be on display at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park from April to September. As always, it’s gratifying to find shows like this being staged outside London. The YSP website has further details.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Three Heads Six Arms by Zhang Huan
• The art of Peter Randall-Page
• The art of Arnaldo Pomodoro
• Sculptural collage: Eduardo Paolozzi
• The art of Igor Mitoraj