ARTES MAGAZINE

The inaugural exhibition of three contemporary photographers at Marfa Contemporary, in Texas, is a success for a number of reasons. Firstly, the architecture of the new gallery is aesthetically in sync with its surroundings. Thus, the interior space, designed by Oklahoma City-based architect Rand Elliott, adheres to the architectural makeup of Marfa, showcasing cracks and [...]

I love museums on the move, particularly those that take their mission to educate, seriously. Located in a beautifully-renovated former post office, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (left) boasts an international collection deserving of repeated accolades. With the earliest renovation of the original structure by architect David Adler in 1939, and with several more expansions and improvements [...]

Classical limestone bank buildings line the streets of downtown Wilmington, Delaware; facades that suggest prosperity and life. But until recently, the streetlights shining vigilantly at night exposed nothing but emptiness.  And, although Wilmington became a national financial center for the credit card industry – since the Financial Center Development Act of 1981 removed the legal [...]

 “I shall confess to you that I have only had one teacher: the past; only one education: the study of the past.”  - LeCorbusier (1929)   Moored like sleek Cigarette boats in a harbor full of luxury yachts, the growing number of New Canaan ‘moderns’ (more than 75 exist today), offer an unexpected visual respite in a [...]

If you are concerned about the numerous fake Salvador Dali signatures floating around, here’s another one to consider: located at the top of the Yann Weymouth designed, (HOK, http://www.hok.com/) the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, this one is etched in reinforced concrete. Distinguishing the planar façade of the building – what amounts to a [...]

“E xcept man, nobody lies. A rosebush cannot lie. It has to produce roses; it cannot produce marigolds — it cannot deceive. It is not possible for it to be otherwise than it is. Except man the whole existence lives in truth. Truth is the religion of the whole existence — except man. And the moment [...]

ARTES: This is such an unusual structure, projecting so much of the natural beauty of its surroundings, that it attracted my attention at a recent Scandinavia House exhibition in New York. I just had to contact you. Tell me a bit about the inspiration for the Juvet Landscape Hotel. J&S: The Juvet Landscape Hotel is [...]

Black Mountain College was founded in the fall of 1933 by a group of faculty who had broken away from Rollins College following a fracas in which several faculty members were fired and others resigned in protest. It closed in the spring of 1957 after a judge ordered that academic programs should be ended until [...]

At first glance, the only similarity between Vegas and Venice is that they both begin with the letter V. Look closer though, and you’ll see another parity—they’re both vanishing. Pilot, trained architect, and fine art aerial photographer, Alex Maclean, sees a disturbing beauty in these doppelgangers. Disturbing because of the environmental destruction these two iconic cities [...]

This is a tale of two historic homes in a beautiful seaside, New England town, and of how visionary zeal and coincidence braided history, friendship and a passion for things beautiful together in a most unusual way… On May 1, 1915 Alfred Vanderbilt boarded the Lusitania bound for Liverpool as a first class passenger. It [...]