Waterhouse Expedition: Impressions

We spent the whole day at the Montreal Museum of Art, which has a large retrospective of J.W. Waterhouse's historical and mythological paintings. Instead of trying to do a big biography or thorough analysis or anything, here are a few notes and random impressions for people who are thinking of going. This is the last stop of the show, and it won't go to the U.S. It closes February 7.


Visitor Notes:
The show is dramatically set against black walls throughout, with a special room for drawings, sketchbooks and preliminary studies. It got pretty crowded on a Saturday, but everyone was really polite, and you could spend as long as you wanted. The audio tour has music from Faure, Debussy, and Wagner rather than a bunch of talk. Plan on taking at least a full day. We ran into an art friend who made the pilgrimage and was allowing three full days for seeing everything a few times. We drove up and stayed at the Holiday Inn midtown, which is in walking distance and not too expensive.

Impressions of the Show
--Many of the paintings are a revelation to see in the original. They're not only big (the figure of Mariamne above is life size), but they have a tremendous emotional presence, and they can be absorbed on so many levels: story, paint technique, color.
--Even though Waterhouse was methodical in his planning, the paintings show a lot of improvisation. There are passages painted over or heavily worked, scraped out--more like a manuscript by Beethoven than by Mozart.
--In his best works, such as Lady of Shalott, there's a tremendous feeling of dream and reality perfectly interwoven, with every element of the picture adding to the mood and the story. Not a single thing could be added or taken away.
--There's a lot of color interest that doesn't reproduce well, especially warm and cool passages in the darks, and pale tints and gradations in the lights. In particular I had read contemporary accounts of Ulysses and the Sirens that praised it for its color, but I've never found it very impressive in reproduction. It truly deserves its praise, as it has deep, rich blue-greens played off against warm passages.
--Because of the lack of letters, journals, or other biographical source material, there's a lot of speculation about his personal life. One of the captions suggested the theory that he may have burned all his papers because he was dabbling in spiritualism. Who knows?
--Pretty much all the heavy hitters are there, with the exception of Hylas and the Nymphs, Ophelia, Gather Ye Rosebuds, and Pandora.

For more about Waterhouse, check out the link-rich overview on Lines and Colors and William Stout's impressions of the show.

There's a full-color exhibition catalog called "J.W. Waterhouse: The Modern Pre-Raphaelite."
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Addendum:
Videos of Peter Trippi talking about several paintings by Waterhouse (Thanks SVSART)

The Waterhouse Expedition: Border Problems

The first thing I should have realized was that it's a bad idea to act fishy to the border guard.

“You only gave me two passports,” he said. “There are four people in this car. Who are the two in the back seat?”

“Oh, those guys are artists, sir. Art teachers, actually. I mean, also”

"Doug Anderson and Dennis Nolan." He read their names and studied my face. "Why do you want to go to Canada?”

“We want to go to the museum to look at the paintings of a guy named John William Waterhouse.”

The second thing I should have realized was that it’s stupid to make smart remarks.

“How do you all relate to each other?” he said.

“Very well, thank you.” I glanced over at Jeanette. Her eyes widened. She wasn’t smiling. Neither was the guard.

He snapped the passports shut. “I see that two of you have never been to Canada before. We would like to get to know you better. Please pull over to Detention Building 2.

We sat in a bleak room with a lot of desperate looking people and signs about FIREARMS written with capital letters. An hour went by. Finally my name got called. A hard looking lady started asking me a bunch of questions. I pulled out the sketchbook. What did I have to lose now?

“Could you make this take as long as possible?” I asked. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to draw your portrait.


This time it worked. She looked through the sketchbook and actually smiled a little and eventually sent us on our way.

We lost a lot of time before we finally arrived in Montreal, and we’ll have to make up for it tomorrow.
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Addendum: Steve, here are the earlier posts on Dennis Nolan. Art History: A Fresh View and Two Things to Remember.

Monster’s Assistant

Arthur Rackham, the story goes, hired an old woman model who posed for many of his characters: not just nymphs and hags, but also trees and dragons.

Whenever you’re creating an imaginary creature, it’s good to have someone act out the pose. In a pinch you can act it out yourself in front of a mirror or a camera with a self-timer. You can change all the forms around, but there are often valuable details you can pick up from real life.


This little hunchback monster, a sidekick to the Birdman character (full image on earlier GJ post) was such a reality-based creature.

Even though I made a little maquette, I based details of his forehead and his hands on the live-action photograph, which I made with a digital camera on a timer.

The original painting is currently on display at the "Son of Baby Tattooville" exhibition at Riverside Art Museum in southern California. The show will end November 21.

Earlier GJ post on the exhibition.

Enchantment Symposium Tomorrow

Tomorrow the Joseloff Gallery of the University of Hartford in Connecticut will open the exhibition "Enchantment Then and Now: Drawing Connections."

The exhibition includes Briton Riviere (above), J.L. Gerome, William Bouguereau, Howard Pyle, NC Wyeth, Graydon Parrish, Walton Ford, and a selection of other contemporary painters whose work addresses the theme of enchantment, narrative, and romanticism.


Above: Howard Pyle, "Why Seek Ye the Living in the Place of the Dead?," 1905.

There will also be a panel discussion tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 6th, 1:30-3:00 p.m moderated by former Dahesh Museum director and current editor of Fine Art Connoisseur Peter Trippi. The panel includes Alison Moritsugu, Graydon Parrish, Patricia Watwood, the Director of the Dahesh Museum of Art, David Farmer, and me. The opening reception will be Friday from 5-7.
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Review of the exhibtion in the Hartford Courant.

Preview all the art in the exhibition at the Joseloff Gallery's Flickr Page.
Information about the symposium and the opening reception on Friday.

Death Cart

Maybe it’s the weird braincase, or the tufts of hair, or the chips of obsidian for eyes——but this guy gives me the creeps.

He’s part of a Death Cart (Carreta de la Muerte) Made ca. 1890 near Taos or Córdova, New Mexico, United States. Philadelphia Museum, link. Happy Halloween!

Baby Tattooville Wrapup

I’ve been meaning to post a few photos and sketches from Baby Tattooville, the pop surrealism art event held at the Mission Inn two weeks ago in Riverside, California.

The gathering is the brainchild of Bob Self, above, publisher of Baby Tattoo books. Forty-five collectors and 11 lowbrow artists convened to talk, eat, collaborate, and doodle in sketchbooks. Shown here are Yoskay Yamamoto and Tara Macpherson, a returning guest artist.

I took a shift at the Art Jam alongside Miss Mindy, with BoingBoing cofounder Mark Frauenfelder shooting video and Buddha supervising.

The painting also included the brushwork of Greg Simkins, KMNDZ, Yoskay Yamamoto, Michael Hussar, Molly Crabapple, Buff Monster, Liz McGrath, KRK Ryden, Travis Louie, Gary Baseman, and Audrey Kawasaki. Photo courtesy of Arrested Motion.


My contribution to the painting was this bemused bug-eyed fellow named Ollie the Observer, wearing a party hat decorated by Buff Monster.

At the opening celebration of the “Son of Baby Tattooville” exhibition at the Riverside Art Museum, Mr. Monster could see that I was shortchanged in the hair, tattoo, piercing, and moniker departments, so he kindly loaned me his shades, a small coolness upgrade.

Every artist signed the “11-in-One” print, which was given out to each of the attendees, along with a goodie bag that included toys, books, prints, and originals.

My own contribution, in addition to a poster, will be one of the original Explorer’s Journal sketches, which I’m finishing up this week.
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Official Website on Baby Tattooville and the Son of BT Museum Exhibit
Lots more coverage of the event on Arrested Motion.
BoingBoing post by Mark Frauenfelder

Enchantment Exhibition and Symposium

The Joseloff Gallery of the University of Hartford has just announced its "Enchantment" exhibition.

The opening reception will be held on Friday, November 6, and the show will continue through January 17, 2010. Artists include Bouguereau, Bargue, Wyeth, Bridgman, Cornwell, and Gerome. The exhibition was curated by Zina Davis, who drew from the Dahesh Museum, the Kelly Collection, and many private collections.

"Enchantment brings together the past and the present with paintings from the Romantic era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries along with work by contemporary artists, many of whom pay direct homage to the Romantic and academic traditions for their beauty, symbolism, and illustrative qualities, while others use irony and humor to celebrate the genre in today's world."

On November 6, from 1:30 to 3:00 in the Wilde Auditorium, Peter Trippi, editor of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, will moderate a panel discussion entitled "Enchantment Then and Now: Drawing Connections."

Son of Baby Tattooville Exhibition

If you live in the LA area, don't miss the opening of "Son of Baby Tattooville" at the Riverside Art Museum this weekend.

The exhibition includes that hard-to-classify artzone known as lowbrow, pop surrealism, graffiti, tattoo culture, and contemporary fantasy art. My recent painting called "Birdman" will be included in the show. More on the making of Birdman in a future post.

Other artists include Buff Monster, Johnny KMNDZ Rodriguez, KRK Ryden, Greg “Craola” Simkins, Yoskay Yamamoto, Audrey Kawasaki, Travis Louie, Elizabeth McGrath, Miss Mindy and a few surprise guests.

It's been a tough workout, but I think I'm finally in shape and ready to rock!

The exhibition runs through Nov. 21. There is a special public reception, but I must admit to a bit of confusion as to whether it takes place on Thursday (according to the Press Enterprise) or Friday (according to the Riverside Art Museum blog), or Saturday (according to the official Facebook page).

In any event, the opening reception will include a figure drawing event known as Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, hosted by artist Molly Crabapple. Although the event is open to the public, please be aware that the figure drawing session will have nudity.
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The Riverside Art Museum is at 3425 Mission Inn Ave., Riverside, 951-684-7111, www.riversideartmuseum.org

For more information at the Riverside Art Museum blog
or the Press Enterprise.

Spectrum and Art Out Loud

Fantasy art is alive and well in large measure because of the tireless efforts of Cathy and Arnie Fenner (lower left photo), who publish the Spectrum annual collection of fantastic art.


New York's Society of Illustrators was the host on Friday for the opening of the second Spectrum exhibition, with over 100 paintings and their creators. Irene Gallo, art director of TOR books, is visible in the left foreground of the top photo. She spent huge amounts of time making the tough choices of what to include in the exhibition, and there wasn't room to include many deserving artists.

It was a privilege for me to meet many whose work I have admired, including Thomas Kuebler (photo lower right), whose vividly real sculpted fortune teller inhabited the center of the room.

On the following day, the Society opened its doors again for Art Out Loud, a live painting event that included Sam Weber, Charles Vess, Donato Giancola, Greg Manchess, and me.

I had the painted quick portrait sketches of Walt Reed and his son Roger. Walt is a renowned historian of American illustration and founder of Illustration House gallery. It was Walt's book Illustrator in America, 1900-1960 which got me interested in the profession when I was a junior high school student, and I was thrilled to have him sign my dog-eared copy.
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The Spectrum exhibition will be on display through October 17, and it's free. More info here.
Thanks to the Society of Illustrators and to Jessica and Gene for the photos.

Cumberland, Part 4: Final Art

I read somewhere that Beethoven worked on his fifth and sixth symphonies side by side, switching back and forth between dark drama and pastoral light.


While I was painting this scene of blood and fire, I was also starting on the art for Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara. Rather than clashing, the two worlds that were crowding the inside of my head seemed to need each other, like Jekyll and Hyde.


Fast forward to 2008. The book tour for Chandara brought Jeanette and me through Virginia, and the timing worked out for us to be there and see the installation of the painting at the Mariner's Museum, the same museum where I had done the research about three years earlier. For naval history buffs of any kind, this place is Mecca.

Since the last time I had been there they had opened the new Monitor center, where they are continuing to work on conserving the remains of the U.S.S. Monitor. The famous ironclad was recovered from the sea floor in the 1970s and stabilized in tanks. Now it's emerging piece by piece under the careful attention of professional restorers. You can follow along on webcam videos.

Part of the new development at the museum, built after my painting was finished, is an immersive walk through of the Virginia and the Monitor, and a multi-media presentation that puts you in the middle of the terrible events of March 8 and 9, 1862.

When my painting was installed on a 10 year loan to the museum, I was touched by all the kind comments that people wrote in a guest book that was set up next to the painting.

I also received a letter from John Quarstein, one of the most respected historians of the Battle of Hampton Roads, and one of my consultants on the project. It was a great honor to read his words of approval: “I think you have created the most accurate and awe inspiring depiction of the death throes of the Cumberland. You have done a masterful job of luminating the story of March 8, 1862.”

The truth is, I could never have done it without the help of Mr. Quarstein, Mr. Ratliff, and the team of experts and art editors at National Geographic who answered all my questions and gave me the benefit of their life studies. These kinds of paintings are never done alone. They really do take the cooperation of a lot of people, and it was my privilege to meet people who have given their lives to bringing the past to life.

Sinking of the Cumberland, Part 1A: The Backstory
Sinking of the Cumberland, Part 1B: The Research
Sinking of the Cumberland, Part 2: Choosing the Scene
Sinking of the Cumberland, Part 3: Acting it Out
Sinking of the Cumberland, Part 4: Final Art

Spectrum Exhibition Opens September 11

I can't think of a place I'd rather be on September 11 than the opening of the second Spectrum Exhibition a the Museum of American Illustration in New York. The last Spectrum show was one of the most popular exhibitions in the history of the Society of Illustrators.

From the Society of Illustrators website

The Museum of American Illustration is proud to announce an exhibit featuring the top fantastic artists from around the world as seen in the annual Spectrum. Created in 1993 by Cathy and Arnie Fenner to showcase fantastic-themed art work, Spectrum is now the leading resource for art directors, art buyers, and fans of the genre. Selected pieces are chosen by top jurors in the field and images are produced in the full color book printed annually.

The Spectrum exhibit features a selection of over 120 works from both legendary artists and talented newcomers from the last four annuals. Divided into seven categories, the exhibit showcases multi-media works including original art in both traditional and digital medium, video, 3D, comics and graphic novels. Artists include Julie Bell, Kinuko Y. Craft, Eric Fortune, William Basso, Brom, James Gurney, Tony DiTerlizzi, Terese Nielsen, Yuko Shimizu, Michael Whelan, Donato Giancola, John Jude Palencar, Phil Hale and many more. The artwork will be on display from September 1 through October 17, 2009. In conjunction with the exhibit the Society will hold an Opening Reception on Friday, September 11, 2009. Tickets are $40 for non-members and $35 for members, and are limited.

Other posts on Irene Gallo's The Art Department

Mazza Summer Conference

Since its inception in 1982, the Mazza Museum of International Art from the Picturebook in Findlay, Ohio has always been devoted to its mission as a teaching museum.

For schoolchildren, artists, teachers, and librarians, it’s a pilgrimage destination. Above: Raul Colon.

Students at the adjoining University of Findlay can earn a degree in children’s book illustration and can work at the museum on an internship.

Over the years, Mazza has invited over 300 children’s book artists and authors to visit and speak. Every summer the museum invites about 15 picturebook artists to a weeklong conference attended by a few hundred librarians and teachers.

I was privileged to take part this year, along with Peter Brown, Raul Colon, and Keith Graves (above), and M. Sarah Klise, Will Moses, Jan Wahl, Bruce Langton, Julie Downing, Stacey Schuett, Brian Pinkney, Grace Lin, and William Low (not pictured).

Peter Brown shared how he was inspired for his recent book The Curious Garden.

Each of us gave a visual presentation and a workshop session to a smaller group. Hey, that's blog commentator Steve Gilzow in on the right! Good to meet you, Steve.

Thanks to all the staff and volunteers at Mazza and the conference attendees for such a memorable time.

Conference information and full list of 2009 attendees, link.
Daily blog from this week describing each of the presentations, link.

Mazza Museum of Picturebook Art

When I was compiling a list of museums of illustration, I overlooked the Mazza Museum of International Art from Picturebooks.

It is located on the campus of the University of Findlay in northwest Ohio.

The five adjoining rooms display hundreds of original children’s book illustrations, drawn from a collection of approximately 3400 works. The collection has grown from just four original works purchased a little over 25 years ago.

Displayed beneath the originals are copies of the books for which the works were created, along with black binders with more information about each of the creators.

When I visited last week, they let me add to the Artist's Wall, right next to C.F. Payne.

The museum is free of charge, but accepts donations.
Wikipedia on Mazza.

Centre for Life

We had a memorable visit to the Centre for Life in Newcastle, UK, where the “Return to Dinotopia” exhibition will be held through this summer.

This superb hands-on science discovery museum has an upstairs room where over 50 Dinotopia paintings are on display, along with a large format digital slide show taking viewers behind the scenes into the making of Dinotopia. I gave three slide presentations to a variety of groups in the egg-shaped auditorium.

One of the highlights was meeting a longtime Dinotopia Message Board administrator Nathalie, who came all the way from Holland.

Another highlight was listening to Noel Jackson, one of the directors of the science center, as he performed a piece that he composed called “Dancing with Dinosaurs.” Behind him on his right was the painting of the dinosaur playing a concertina in Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara.

Behind the scenes in the museum, I had a chance to hold a giant African land snail and a Madagascar hissing cockroach (above) in my hand. These are both surprisingly good creatures for interacting with the public, the museum's educators told me. They don't run around or bite or get stressed out too much from being handled. And young children, if they haven't been taught to fear them, kind of fall in love with snails and cockroaches.

Waterhouse in London

On June 23, The Royal Academy of Arts in London will present the largest retrospective ever assembled on the art of John William Waterhouse (1849-1917).

This exhibition includes 92 paintings and drawings, along with sketchbooks. The London exhibition will continue through September 13, after which it will continue at The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Canada from October 1, 2009 – 7 February 2010.
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Royal Academy website, link.

Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day: honors to those who have served in war, and also to those who have acted bravely through other means to avert war.

The sketch is from the West Point Museum, on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy in New York, one of the largest collections of militaria. Link to their website.

Love Story

The Arkell Museum in Canajoharie, New York is currently presenting an exhibition exploring the history of romance illustration.

The Arkell Museum recently built a modern new addition with plenty of space for their permanent collection of Homer, Dewing, Inness, and even a full-size copy of Rembrandt’s Night Watch. Now they have ample space for special and traveling exhibitions.

The “Love Story” show, on view through May 3, contains 53 original illustrations borrowed from the New Britain Museum of American Art.

The artwork illustrated amorous stories from the books and magazines published during the Golden Age of illustration. Many of the great illustrators are represented: James Montgomery Flagg, Harvey Dunn, Dean Cornwell, Henry Raleigh, Coby Whitmore, Al Parker, Pruett Carter (shown above), and Alice Barber Stephens.

Arkell’s curator Diane Forsberg explained the changes in social history reflected by the artwork. “The goal was for women to get married and stay married, no matter what,” she said, “and it stayed that way” even into the 60s and 70s when the final works were created.

Guest curator Martha Hoppin observed, “about half the works shown here accompanied stories about troubled marriages.” But they all had happy endings. The advent of television soap operas undercut the demand for illustrated women’s magazines and most of the illustrators found work in paperbacks or other places.

The guard told us, “People come in here and they spend a lot of time looking at the art.”

Arkell Museum, link.

Academic and Illustration Museums

I was trying to compile a list of museums, and I wonder if you can help me. I'm looking for museums with an especially good selection of 19th century academic realism, fantasy or science fiction artwork, or golden age American illustration, where the collection is usually on display, not locked in the basement.


Here's what I've got so far:

Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, PA
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware
Haggin Museum, Stockton, California
Metropolitan Museum, New York, New York
Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France
National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, Rhode Island
New Britain Museum, New Britain, Connecticut
Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland

Please let me know if I've missed your favorite museum, specifically for this type of artwork.

Victorian Painting Exhibition

The Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington is currently hosting a fine collection of 60 Victorian paintings from the Royal Holloway Collection at the University of London. The exhibition will continue through April 12.



The paintings include rural genre, animal painting, marines, landscapes, and historical scenes, like the The Babylonian Marriage Market, 1875, by Edwin Longsden Long (1829-1891). Many of the paintings are driven by storytelling and an awareness of the social conditions of Victorian Britain.



When we visited the exhibit, museum goers were electrified by the narrative aspect of the paintings to the extent that spontaneous conversations sprung up between delighted strangers. The Railway Station by William Powell Frith (1819-1909), above, is so full of as many intriguing subplots as a novel by Dickens. I never appreciated this painting from small reproductions. Bring your kids; they will love the stories.

The April issue of Fine Art Connoisseur has a feature article on the collection written by Tim Barringer.

The exhibit will tour extensively through the USA:
The Yale Center for British Art, May 7 - July 26, 2009.
Brigham Young University Museum of Art, August 15 - October 25, 2009.
Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach FL, March 12 - April 18, 2010.
Cantor Center for the Visual Arts, Palo Alto, CA, May 19 - July 25, 2010.
Fresno Metropolitan Museum, CA, November 20, 2010- January 30, 2011.
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, February 18 - May 1, 2010.

Charley Parker of the blog "Lines and Colors" also covered the show: link.

Google’s Prado Project

Google has cooperated with the Prado in Spain to scan major works in the museum in a fully searchable and interactive format, built on the Google Maps model. You can zoom right up to the paint texture of your favorite works.

This little movie from Google shows how they did it.


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To enter the interactive search page at Google: link.
Read more:
Computer World report, link.
Guardian report, link.