Editor’s Letter: May 1, 2013
Posted on 1 May 2013 | By Richard Friswell
“The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.” ~Francis Bacon
Left: Yoshitora (active circa 1840 – 1880) Lovely Beauty Design (1870). Private collection
Losing Your Head in New York
ARTES, a fine arts magazine, is always on the lookout for coo
l images that could fit the old adage: art is where you find it. Readymade art has a long and illustrious history, beginning with the Dadaist and surrealists, who fashioned artistic statements out of unlikely material, combining them in unique and quirky ways, like Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel (1913, 3rd version, 1951), or his Fountain (1917) right, making the statement that art is personal and doesn’t depend on the usual combination of ‘artful’ subject matter and the institutional validation of the museum/gallery culture. It caused quite a stir at the time…and still does–during this year, in particular, the 100th anniversary of the famed Armory Show in New York. artes fine arts magazine Read more
April 1, 2012
Posted on 1 April 2013 | By Richard Friswell
“A child sees everything in a state of newness; he is always drunk.” ~Charles Baudelaire
Left: Part of a mosaic pavement with the personification of the month of April. Early 6th century, stone and marble. From Thebes, Chalkis, 23rd Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities. Photo: © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
ARTES, a fine arts magazine, tears headlines of some of the world’s biggest newspapers on this, April 1st, 2013:
FLORIDA SINK HOLE SWALLOWS BEER TRUCK, REVEALING TROVE OF PREHISTORIC CAVE PAINTINGS: BISON, WOOLY MAMMOTH, SEAL AND MORE…
SCHOLARS CLAIM ANCIENT NATIVE-AMERICAN CERAMICS DEPICT MOSES, TEN COMMANDMENTS: PROOF OF LOST TRIBE OF ISRAEL
.
PAINT-BY-NUMBERS IS BACK! REPLICATE A POLLOCK MURAL-SIZED ‘DRIP PAINTING’ OF YOUR VERY OWN!
NEW TRANSLATION OF PICASSO LOVE LETTERS PROVES HE WAS NICE GUY, NOT A WOMANIZER. (see image, right, c. 1948)
POPE FRANCIS ORDERS SISTINE CHAPEL CEILING REVISION: HEAVEN-BOUND GAYS OK WITH HIM.
IMPRESSIONISM A BIG MISTAKE: WINE INDUCED NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS THE UNDERLYING CAUSE.
HALF-BILLION DOLLAR’S WORTH OF STOLEN ART ADORNS PHILLY PIZZA SHOP WALLS. WENT “UNNOTICED” FOR 20 YEARS. artes fine arts magazine Read more
March 5, 2013
Posted on 5 March 2013 | By Richard Friswell
“Every time I paint a portrait I lose a friend.” ~John Singer Sargent
Left: Lucian Freud, The Hon. Colin Tennant (1968). Private collection
Convergences
When the arts and sciences intersect, the product of those partnerships is often greater than the sum of their parts. In a recent trend that is, after all, not so new*, nuclear physicists and biologists are in earnest dialogue with painters and dancers, for example, to determine what they can learn from each other. From this perspective—having, of late, witnessed some of the provocative and inspiring results of their combined labors—it may be fair to say that an entirely new genre of creative expression lies at this intersection. When joined together to configure, plan and share, these highly-energized collaborations between left brain scientists and right-brain studio types struggle, at first, to find a common language adequate to describe their respective domains. The lexicon emerging from these exchanges is worthy of study in itself, but it serves only as a means, not an end. artes fine arts magazine Read more
February 1, 2013
Posted on 5 February 2013 | By Richard Friswell
“The act of painting is about one heart telling another heart where he found salvation.” ~Francisco de Goya
Left: Henri Matisse, The Dream (Le rêve), 1935. Collection Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Casting Call!
ARTES readership is growing by ‘leaps’ and bounds
ARTES, a fine arts magazine, is approaching its fourth anniversary. A concerted effort by a small group of dedicated professionals has made ARTES a well-respected magazine, read by over 60,000 unique visitors each month, with 170,000 page reads. It has maintained its scholarly, historically-based focus, as wide-ranging topics in art, architecture, photography, theater and design are presented each month. ARTES is a tasteful and thoughtful platform for communicating with a educated, professional readership who, statistics show, collect art, read about art and include museums and galleries on family trips. artes fine arts magazine Read more
January 1, 2013
Posted on 1 January 2013 | By Richard Friswell
“Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.” ~Stella Adler, Actress & Acting Teacher
Left: Hans Memling, Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1480). Private Collection.
One Degree of Separation
We are all residents of Newtown, Connecticut.
When tragedy struck that community, less than an hour from where ARTES is published, we asked ourselves, “Who do we know there?” The answer soon emerged. Many knew a bereaved family of one or more of the victims directly—or at least knew someone who knew someone. We breathed a sigh of relief as we struggled with the cruel reality of events unfolding on that day and its aftermath, and embrace our loved ones more closely. But the fact is, just as in the wake of 9/11, there is a gut feeling that life has changed permanently for every American from 9:30 a.m. December 14th, onward. artes fine arts magazine.com Read more
December 12, 2012
Posted on 12 December 2012 | By Richard Friswell
“Anyone who says you can’t see a thought simply doesn’t know art.” ~Wynetka Ann Reynolds
Left: Arthur Leipzig, Sleeping Child (1949)
Why are these people laughing?
Venice, St Mark’s Sq., November 2012, showing record tides. Photos:above, below left, Luigi Constantini, AP.
As editor of ARTES, a fine arts magazine, I sometimes find myself considering events around the world in the context of threats posed to fine art, architecture and artifacts by war, political and religious disputes and natural disasters. As you know, I have regularly aired my views on the state of national treasures that find themselves suffering at the hands of zealots and combatants, historical sites that are caught in the crosshairs of ethnic disputes and priceless works of art that are often subject to a different kind of abuse—theft. But, in recent weeks, the dystopian implications of climate change and the world’s rising tide levels resulting in havoc wreaked by flood waters, has left many scientists and politicians staring wide-eyed into the headlights of a growing catastrophe. And it’s not just Super Storm Sandy that has experts re-evaluating the rate of Arctic ice cap melt or the power of massive fronts of wind energy riding errant tropical highs to move mountainous walls of sea water into our neighborhoods and public transportation sites. The vast majority of environmental scientists and most responsible citizens of the world (except that handful of politicians and corporate activists who have a vested interest in fossil fuel consumption) see the inexorable trend toward atmospheric ozone depletion and ocean warming as leading the globe to the brink of disaster, and beyond. The New York Times recently reported that 20 of the 30 most expensive insured catastrophes worldwide since 1970 have occurred since 2001—and 13 of them were in the U.S. artes fine arts magazine Read more
November 2, 2012
Posted on 2 November 2012 | By Richard Friswell
“Oh, what a friend chance can be when it chooses.” ~Winslow Homer (written in pencil on his studio wall, Prout’s Neck, Maine)
Above: Bodhisattva Padmapani (‘the bearer of lotus’), Artist unknown (ca. late 5th c.). Cave painting, in situ, Cave 1, at Ajanta, Maharashtra, India.
Stealing Away Our Personal History…
ARTES, a fine arts magazine, has recently been reporting on unus
ual finds in the world of art and architecture: From a Haitian artists’s retrospective in Nottingham, England; to a newly-identified Goya painting in Madrid; little-known, early modern architectural design in the Republic of Georgia, in eastern Europe; a 5000-year retrospective on Indian art; to stunning photography of the wide expanses of West Texas now being shown at busy, Marfa Contemporary, in a town of 2500! This is all thanks to the dedicated writers living around the world who see ARTES as a thoughtful , well-designed and carefully-edited platform for telling their story, bringing their discoveries to us so you, too, can know.
Right: Phil Bebbington: Untitled (2011) Courtesy of the artist and Marfa Contemporary, Marfa, TX. artes fine arts magazine Read more
October 2, 2012
Posted on 2 October 2012 | By Richard Friswell
“I owe you the truth in painting and I will tell it to you.” ~Paul Cézanne
Left: Henri Matisse, Seated Pink Nude (Nu rose assis [Le Torse]), 1935-36. Private Collection
Taking this ‘Columbus Day Moment’ to Consider…
As we enter the autumn season as a time for gathering in and nesting for the impending winter season , ARTES, a fine arts magazine, is focused like a laser on its mission. With so many readers (and writers) throughout the world, the magazine aims to reflect a diversity of interests and themes, relating the art, architecture and design story across so many cultures and historical periods. And with that responsibility comes a pervasive concern for the survival and safety of so many beloved artifacts and destinations that are currently threatened by political divisions and armed conflict. The loss of life and displacement of families from their homes in places like Syria, Libya, Egypt, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Republic of Congo, in the face of tribal and ethnic disputes, may seem like a form of heartache far-removed from our comfortable lives here in the West. But the brutal treatment of women, the loss of multiple male members of a family who join itinerant militias to fight in the streets of their home town, and the deaths of children caught, literally and figuratively, in the crossfire of ancient disputes, is real—and so, too, is the cost being exacted on the cultural symbols of these nation states-in-flux. artes fine arts magazine Read more
September 4, 2012
Posted on 4 September 2012 | By Richard Friswell
“If you want to draw, shut your eyes and sing.” ~Pablo Picasso
Left: Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Jean-Louis Pascal (1893)
“August—die she must; September, I remember…”
ARTES, the fine arts magazine, is beginning its fourth year o
f publication and, in the words of the Simon and Garfunkle song, April Come She Will, we wish the summer of 2012 a fond farewell. I wish I could say that the staff enjoyed a few weeks of rest and relaxation in the South of France, but they refused to go, deciding instead to remain in the U.S., riding out the remnants of Hurricane Isaac (see right), to focus on a number of high priority projects and unscheduled planning sessions. For, this is now the season of new beginnings: when readers and writers come back from time away, turning their attention to activities and cultural events closer to home. artes fine arts magazine Read more
June 2, 2012
Posted on 2 June 2012 | By Richard Friswell
“All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” ~Federico Fellini
Left: Henri Matisse, Self-Portrait (1906), o/c. Statens Museum for Kunst, National Gallery of Denmark.
Global Reach!
ARTES broadcasting around the world
ARTES fine arts magazine (pronounced: ar-TESS) continues to reach a wider international audience and attract a cadre of writers working in the art world. The unique format of this on-line magazine was created nearly three years ago in the belief that there was a need for a digital forum for a range of articles—from short reviews of current gallery exhibitions to a scholarly treatment of a particular facet of an artist’s work or period in art history. As a result, academicians and curators, critics and art historians have discovered ARTES to be an ideal venue for sharing their perspective with a readership of nearly 50,000 unique visitors each month eager to deal, in depth, with the subject matter of fine art, architecture and design,. This mixed-review, Internet-based version of editorial coverage continues to separate ARTES from the pack. Dozens of sites offer local art event coverage, many cover auction results, art politics and personal changes at museums and galleries. Still more use Web sites to promote sales of their own magazine subscriptions and auction offerings. ARTES remains focused on the passion and intrigue of ‘art for art’s sake’ and continue to believe that there is a growing audience for our unswerving editorial objectives.
Miss Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth (1889)
Starting in the month of June, ARTES will be expanding its coverage to include theater reviews. Our focus will be limited at first, as a principle contributor to the ‘pages’ of our fine arts section, Ed Rubin, is also a well-known theater critic. He lives in New York City, but travels the world as one of our contributing editors. I am also convinced that those readers with a love of art are more likely to frequent a theatrical performance than many other interest groups. We will be starting small and hoping to attract more theater critics willing to contribute to this new category of reporting. THIS IS A CASTING CALL FOR WRITERS/BLOGGERS WITH A FOCUS ON AND PASSION FOR THEATER. While any submission cannot be compensated monetarily, you can be assured that your writing will reach a large, established, international audience. If you have been laboring in the vineyards of the blogosphere, with disappointing results, consider joining the ranks of the nearly 70 professional contributors to ARTES. Fame and fortune may not await, but the virtual curtain call you’ve been anticipating as that hard-working critic may be possible!
Also, beginning in June, look for more book excerpts from recent publications in the print world. The editorial team believes that the time-tested printed page is often the best medium available to shed unique light on a broad range of topics for lovers of all things ART!
Thanks for reading ARTESmagazine.com. 63% of our readers log on to us directly each month…a dedicated following, indeed!
Richard Friswell, Publisher & Managing Editor
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