Tom Wesselmann: Beyond Pop Art

Tom Wesselmann

May 19 - October 7, 2012

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is hosting the first ever North American retrospective of the American Pop artist Tom Wesselmann, consisting of about 180 of his works, some of which were never exhibited before. Most prominent are seventy-five paintings and earliest metal pieces produced by laser steel-cutting. Of great interest are also his preliminary drawings and maquettes as well as some thirty archival documents such as photographs, letters, billboards, etc. After this exhibition ends in October 2012, it will travel to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond where it will open to the public in the spring of 2013.

This exhibition presents Wesselmann’s most significant series: Great American Nudes, Still Lives, Smokers, Bathtub Collages and Seascapes. The two works just above demonstrate the elegance and simplicity, and even sensuality with which Wesselmann often handled his creative imagery.


Here are two Seascape paintings. In the one just to the left, the Sky - the nurturer of all - is reaching towards the Earth below. A symbolic image of dove could be discerned, with a beak and a head on the left, and an upward wing extended towards the sky on the right.

In the painting below it, and just to the left from this text, a human being is reaching towards the sky and above the clouds. In both painting the sea water is not blue, but almost a green of the grass. Thus this colour not only seems to represent the water, but also grass, both being the part of the Earth's landscape.

Do these two paintings project some spiritual concerns Wesselmann might have harboured? Apparently, at the time he was producing this work (according to his wife Claire Wesselmann, present at the press conference at the inauguration of this exhibition) her husband was writing Haiku style poems. Haiku is traditionally a very short Japanese poetry, involving a juxtaposition of images. Through very laconic means, a very profound and even spiritual meaning is achieved. These two Seascape paintings of Wesselman definitely seam to be "Haiku" paintings, where with very few elements and colours, a poetic visual effect and a profound meaning is achieved.

Early in his career, Tom Wesselmann began to investigate and reinvent traditional genres like the nude, still life and landscape. Beginning with collages, he incorporated a diverse array of materials in his work: advertising billboards, plastic flowers, television sets and neon signs. The photo to the left and above shows a collage-painting with the typical period domestic items which, when properly arranged, create the illusion of "art" of the everyday life. The objects are taken out of the realm of the mundane and are imparted an aesthetic value, thus catapulting them from the everyday drudgery into a seemingly sublime sphere.

The photo on the left is an example of a Wesselmann’s invention of steel line drawings. The idea was to take a pencil drawing from his sketchbook, to “detach” it from the paper, and place it directly on the wall.

Wesselmann had a keen appreciation for the art history. He also incorporated a number of reproductions of paintings he liked in his work, for instance by Matisse, Picasso and Mondrian. In addition, he also incorporated all sort of materials. This new understanding and the definition of genres led him, along with Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, to invent a new Pop aesthetic.  He was especially preoccupied with form and the relationship of shapes to each other. He also used strong undiluted colours, making striking aesthetic and content statements when playing with the tension between colour and shape.

Below is a view of one of the MMFA Exhibition Halls with three  magnificent paintings by Tom Wesellmann.

Click on images to enlarge them.

List of Photos as they appear in the text:

1. Tom Wesselmann, Still Life No. 53, 1964, Painted molded plastic, Mugrabi Collection, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

2. Tom Wesselmann, Still Life No. 60, 1973, Oil on canvas, New York, Estate of Tom Wesselmann, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

3. Tom Wesselman, Smoker No. 1, 1967, Oon shaped canvas, in two parts, New York, The Museum of Modern Art Susan Morse Hilles Fund, 1968, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

4. Tom Wesselmann, Smoking Cigarette No. 2, 1980, Oil on wood and masonite, 173.9 x 200.6 x 45.7 cm, New York, The Estate of Tom Wesselmann, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

5. Tom Wesselmann, Seascape No. 24, 1967, Oil on shaped canvas, New York, The Estate of Tom Wesselmann, MMFA 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

6. Tom Wesselmann, Seascape No. 22, 1967, Oil on shaped canvas, New York, The Estate of Tom Wesselman, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

7. Tom Wesselmann, Still Life No. 30,  Oil, enamel and synthetic polymer paint on composition board with collage of printed advertisements, plastic flowers, refrigerator door, plastic replicas of 7-up bottles, glazed and framed color reproduction, and stumped metal, New York, The Museum of Modern Art,  MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

8. Tom Wesselman, Still Life with Two Matisses (Portraits), 1990/1992, Alkyd oil on cut-out aluminum,  New York, The Estate of Tom Wesselman, MMFA Retrospective 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

9. Tom Wesselmann, Sunset Nude with Wesselman, 2003, Oil on canvas, Huston, Sandders Collection, MMFA Retrospective 2012,  Photo by Nadia Slejskova

10. Tom Wesselmann's Retrospective, Exhibition Hall, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 2012,  Photo by Nadia Slejskova

You can purchase the exhibition catalogue at the Museum's Boutique and Store.

Samurai – The Prestigious Collection of Richard Béliveau

Samurai

May 17, 2012 - March 31, 2013


Pointe-à-Callière, the Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History is holding the first ever exhibition of items from a private collection of Richard Béliveau, a university professor, researcher and author, and a prominent collector of Japanese objects and artwork. His is one of the most important collections in the world because of its historical value, its rarity, and the number and variety of its items.

One of the oldest Items on Display is on the photo on the left - the Samurai Helmet from Muromachi Period (1336-1576). It has 61 riveted plates. Some helmets were made even with 100 plates. As most of the helmets, it has a frontal crest called in Japanese "maedate". The frontal crests were to ward off evil forces and also, I presume, to scare the opponent. They often feature items from nature, legends and various personal believes. Many if them have a variety of horns, as you can also see in the very top photo. In the forefront of that photo is a very bright red Samurai outfit or rather armour, which belonged to "Demons of Li" clan. It has a lacquered iron boal helmet with huge maedate-frontal crest. It is the only armour in the collection that has a "jinbaori" - a field overcoat.

Here, to the left, is another Samurai helmet. This time it has a crab as the front crest. This crest came from a legend and is a tribute to courageous samurai worriers. The legend has it that during a navel battle in 1185, the young Emperor Antoku threw himself overboard to avoid the dishonour of defeat. Many of his Heike warriors died that day. Since then the waters of that area have been filled with crabs with human faces. If a fisherman pulls out such a crab, he throws it back into the water, since no one would want to eat a crab with a samurai spirit.

What would a samurai be without his sword? The sword was held in a place of honour, on a special sword holder. The sword was cleaned every day to ensure the blade would not rust. To the left is one such sword holder presently on display at the PAC Museum.


Samurai had a very strict code of conduct, not only as warriors, but also regarding the general everyday conduct. Samurai were also versed in arts like calligraphy. The calligraphy was considered to express one's spiritual nature. "Skill in calligraphy depends entirely on the energy and spirit with which it is executed. A samurai must proceed unflaggingly, never tiring or becoming dispirited, until the task was completed. That's all." Quote by Hagakure.

Buddhism and its principles of spirituality were also very important to Samurai. Some samurai warriors even took along with them into military campaigns portable Buddha altars. Some had Buddhist prayer - chanting beats incorporated in their attire.  

The Buddha, in the sculpture to the left, sits in the centre of an open lotus flower as a symbol of perfect enlightenment.

The following two items on display are from the 19th century, and celebrate the importance and reverence of nature, so central in Japanese culture. They are bamboo Ikebana baskets, the one on the right representing a bird's nest.

Come to the museum to see for yourself the magnificent colours and artistic design of many Japanese artifacts on display.

For those who live very far away and would not be able to attend this exhibition, here is website with a lot of additional information Samurai culture with many pertinent links and references.

http://factsanddetails.com/japan/cat16/sub106/item500.html

List of Photos as they appear in the text

  

1. 10 Samurai outfits, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova.

2. Richard Béliveau and his Samurai Collection at PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012

3. Samurai Helmet, Muromachi Period (1336-1576), 61 riveted plates, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

4. Samurai Helmet with a Crab Frontal Crest,Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

5. Sword Holder, Samurai Swords, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

6. Japanese calligraphy set, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

7. Buddha, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

8. Bamboo Ikebana Basket, 19th century, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

9. Woven Bird’s Nest Bamboo Ikebana Basket, 19th century, Richard Béliveau private collection, PAC Museum, Montreal, 2012, Photo by Nadia Slejskova

PAPER 12 - Ai Weiwei Cardboard Sculpture

Between April 12 – 15, 2012, Montreal held the annual Paper Show, number 12 this time, in French - PAPIER 12. What impressed me the most was a giant cardboard stature by the Canadian artist Sean Martindale of the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. The sculpture is 8 feet high. Next to it stands a 40 lb bag of sunflower seeds, the direct reference to Ai WeiWei’s installation at the Tate Modern Gallery in London, England, as seen in a photo in my previous article on Ai Weiwei just below this post.

This sculpture is quite magnificent and I trust you will appreciate it as much as I did.

Artist: Sean Martindale

Love the Future/Free Ai Weiwei

(2011), recycled cardboard, 40lb bag of sunflower seeds.

221 x 152 x 63.5 cm (87" x 60" x 25")

$45,000

The sculputure at KWT contemporary

Photo by Nadia Slejskova

No copyright, free to download.