arttravelbug

Browsing in the library today I stumbled across an interesting book: Art Towns California: Communities Celebrating Creativity: Festivals, Galleries, Museums, Dining & Lodging, by John Villani . Beyond interest in the book itself, it struck me that it might be part of a series. And, indeed it is. Although it is a very short series. No matter, it's still a good one. The 100 Best Art Towns in America: A Guide to Galleries, Museums, Festivals, Lodging & Dining, by John Villani This is Villani's best known book. The DEL-100 Best Small Art Towns in America: Discover Creative Communities, Fresh Air, and Affordable Living, by John Villani Another version of this book, with the words The DEL in front of it, but I haven't quite yet discerned the difference. The main ones seem to be a focus on living in creative communities (versus just visiting art collections) and the inclusion of some Canadian cities (yeah!). I have no idea what 'The DEL' refers

I have been a fan of the Opera Garnier since I stumbled upon it early into my month in Paris in 2009. I was already blown away by the building when I looked up and first set eyes on Chagall's remarkable ceiling. I gushed at the time , and have since acquired a tremendous print of the ceiling (yet to be framed) and a book or two. Yet, despite learning that construction began in the 1860's, I never really thought about how that Chagall got there. Then, this morning, reading an old copy of a Sunday NY Times left over from a vacation (I buy a copy and read it front to back over a week, and unfinished sections set aside... one of which just surfaced), I had a major ah ha moment: "Among the theater's most famous fixtures are the chandelier and the painted ceiling that surrounds it ~ originally by Jules Eugène Lenepveu, then replaced in 1964 with a new sprawling work by Marc Chagall depicting scenes from operas by Mozart, Wagner and more." Behind the Curtain at

A compelling headline in ArtNews today: Stolen Gustav Klimt Painting May Have Been Discovered in an Italian Gallery’s Wall . So, if you've dreamed of visiting Piacenza, Italy, but have held back because the prized Klimt was missing, your dreams may soon come true. A little history of the lady: 1916-17: Gustv Klimt paints his famous Portrait of a Lady. The oil on canvas painting measures 60 by 55 centimetres (24 in × 22 in). It depicts a portrait of a female figure, composed in an unusually lively expressionistic style. 1925: It was acquired by the Galleria Ricci-Oddi in Piacenza, Italy. 1996: X-ray analysis revealed that the portrait was an overpainted version of Klimt's lost work Portrait of a Young Lady (in hat and with scarf), which disappeared in 1917. The original portrait showed a woman with whom Klimt is believed to have had a love affair, but after she died suddenly, he painted over the work. February 22, 1997: The painting was reported stolen, shortly

In honour of the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus school, some interesting resources... For the better part of a century, Walter Gropius’ Bauhaus Dessau has been a mecca for a certain flavor of design lover. People from around the world travel to the modernist building in Weimar, Germany, to pay homage to the school that launched countless design careers. Now, a smaller version of the Dessau is hitting the road in celebration of the Bauhaus’s 100th anniversary this year. A 161-square-foot building-on-wheels designed to look like the iconic workshop wing of the Gropius building - glass facade and sans-serif signage included - will travel to Berlin, Kinshasa, in the Democratic of Congo, and Hong Kong, playing host to workshops and exhibitions that aim to update the Bauhaus’s European-centric teachings for a more global modern age. ... [read more on Curbed] . When architect Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus school in 1919, his utopian manifesto proclaimed that minimalism and a

Pablo Picasso and his cat, taken by painter Carlos Nadal at Vallauris 1954. The previously unknown photo was donated by his son Alejandro Nadal to the Museu Picasso Barcelona in 2010. What do Emily Barto, Pablo Picasso, Louis Wain and Andy Warhol all have in common? They all loved their cats. If you love art, artists and cats too, you'll likely enjoy these features about well known artists and their cats. Mary Savig, the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art's curator of manuscripts, recently dug through the institution's collection and published Artful Cats, a collection of artists with their cats. Highlights and endearing examples were featured by Artsy in These Smithsonian Archival Photos Show Famous Artists with Their Cats . I was particularly taken with the photographs of Hedda Sterne (outside and gazing skyward with Poussin), Frank Stella in his studio (reclining with Marisol), Beatrice Wood at her pottery wheel observed by one of her Manx cats (so that

The Birth of Venus, painted by Sandro Botticelli in the 1480s, is one of he world's truly beautiful artworks. I still remember it taking my breath away in when I stood before it. If you've seen it, you know what I mean. If you haven't, then go. Just GO. Though here is a tale from last week that might give you pause. "A man suffered a heart attack after he became overwhelmed by the beauty of Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. The unnamed Italian, 70, was gazing at the 15th century masterpiece in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence on Saturday morning when he had an intense artistic experience. He was the latest to fall victim to an apparent condition known as Stendhal's Syndrome - defined as dizziness, fainting, hallucinations and even heart palpitations when seeing something of 'great beauty'..." [ read more in the Daily Mail ]. Stendhal Syndrome Stendhal syndrome was named after Marie-Henri Beyle (1783–1842), better known by his penname Stendhal