Henry Moore's Birthday

Henry Spencer Moore (1898-1986) Mother and Child. London.

“Sculpture is an art of the open air... I would rather have a piece of my sculpture put in a landscape, almost any landscape, than in, or on, the most beautiful building I know.”
Henry Spencer Moore (1898-1986) Draped Seated Figure at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Henry Spencer Moore (1898–1986), an English sculptor & artist, was born on this day in 1898. He is best known for his abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art.

Henry Spencer Moore (1898–1986), Three Piece Reclining Figure No. 1, Bronze, 1961
Henry Spencer Moore (1898–1986), Knife Edge - Two Piece (1962) bronze, opposite the House of Lords London.

Henry Spencer Moore (1898–1986), at the Toronto City Hall Plaza

Henry Spencer Moore (1898–1986), Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt.

Henry Spencer Moore (1898–1986), Hill Arches, National Museum, Canberra, Australia
Henry Spencer Moore (1898–1986), Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 5 1963-64) bronze, Kenwood House, London.

Henry Spencer Moore (1898–1986), Oval with Points (1968-70)
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Woman Artist - Annie Albers (1899-1994)

“A longing for excitement can be satisfied without external means, within oneself; for creating is the most intense excitement on can come to know.” Anni Albers

Anni Albers, Ancient Writing, 1936 Rayon, Linen, Cotton, and Jute

Josef & Anni Albers were pioneers of 20th-century modernism. Josef Albers (1888-1976) was a teacher, writer, painter, & color theorist—now best known for the Homages to the Square he painted between 1950 & 1976 & for his innovative 1963 publication The Interaction of Color.


Anni Albers, City, 1949 Linen and cotton pictorial weaving

Anni Albers (1899-1994) was a textile designer, weaver, writer, and printmaker who inspired a reconsideration of fabrics as an art form, both in their functional roles & as wallhangings.


Anni Albers, Dotted, 1959 Rep-woven ground with multicolored knots

The couple met in Weimar, Germany in 1922 at the Bauhaus. This new teaching institution, known for its effects on all modern design, had been founded 2 years earlier, &emphasized the connection between artists, architects, & craftspeople.


Anni Albers, From the East, 1963 Cotton and Plastic

In November 1933 Josef & Anni Albers emigrated to the USA where Josef had been asked to make the visual arts the center of the curriculum at the newly established Black Mountain College near Asheville in North Carolina.


Anni Albers, Intersecting, 1962 Cotton and Rayon

They remained at Black Mountain until 1949. Josef continued his exploration of a range of printmaking techniques & took off as an abstract painter, while continuing as a captivating teacher & writer.


Anni Albers, Pasture, 1958 Mercerized cotton

Anni made extraordinary weavings, developed new textiles, & taught, while also writing essays on design that reflected her independent & passionate vision.


Anni Albers, Red and Blue Layers, 1954 Cotton

During this time Josef & Anni Albers traveled widely both in the United States and Mexico, a country that captivated their imagination & had a strong effect on both of their art.

Anni Albers, Red Meander, 1954 Linen and cotton

In 1950, the Alberses moved to Connecticut.


Anni Albers, Sheep May Safely Graze, 1958 Cotton

From 1950 to 1958 Josef Albers was chairman of the Department of Design at the Yale University School of Art.

 
Anni Albers, South of the Border, 1958 Cotton and Wool

After his death in 1976, Anni Albers continued to weave, design, & write.

 
Anni Albers, Sunny, 1965 Cotton and Linen

In 1963, she began to explore the new medium of printmaking & produced a group of lithographs & screenprints of great spatial & textural complexity.

 
Anni Albers, Tikal, 1958 Cotton, plain and leno weave

Anni Albers, Two, 1952 Linen, cotton and rayon

Anni Albers, Under Way, 1963 Cotton, Linen, and Wool

Anni Albers, Wall Hanging, 1925 Wool and silk.

Egon Schiele 1890–1918

Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Portrait of Valerie Neuzil or Portrait of Wally


Just last week, on June 20, 2010, a long-running battle over who owned the above painting was settled in New York City with a payment of $19 million dollars to the estate of the artist.


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Two Seated Girls


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) was an Austrian painter. A protégé of Gustav Klimt, Schiele was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century.


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Portrait of a Woman


Schiele's work is noted for its intensity & for the many self-portraits the artist produced.


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Self Portrait with Spread Fingers


The twisted body shapes & expressive line that characterize Schiele's paintings & drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism, although still strongly associated with the art nouveau movement (Jugendstil).


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Portrait of the Artist's Wife Edith Schiele Seated


Portrait of Wally, a 1912 portrait, was purchased by Rudolf Leopold in 1954, and became part of the collection of the Leopold Museum, when it was established by the Austrian government, purchasing more than 5,000 pieces that Leopold had owned.


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Woman With Black Hat


After a 1997-1998 exhibit of Schiele's work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the painting was seized by order of the New York County District Attorney and had been tied up in litigation by heirs of its former owner who claim that the painting was Nazi plunder and should be returned to them.


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Portrait of the Publisher Eduard Kismack


The dispute has been settled one week ago on July 20th, and the picture was purchased by Leopold Museum for $19 million.


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Two Little Girls


In the autumn of 1918, the Spanish flu epidemic that claimed more than 20,000,000 lives in Europe reached Vienna.


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Hindering the Artist is a Crime It is Murdering Life in the Bud Self Portrait


Schiele’s wife Edith, who was 6 months pregnant, succumbed to the disease on 28 October.


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Portrait of a Woman


Schiele died only 3 days after his wife. He was 28 years old.


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Self Portrait


During the 3 days between their deaths, Schiele drew sketches of Edith; those were his last works.


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Two Boys


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) The Dancer Moa


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Portrait of the Artist's Wife Edith Schiele Seated


Egon Schiele (1890–1918) Portrait of Karl Zakovsek


Terms of the court settlement for the Portrait of Wally...
(a) the Leopold Museum pays the Estate $19 Million;
(b) the Estate releases its claim to the Painting;
(c) the United States Government dismisses the civil forfeiture action it brought against the Leopold Museum and releases the Painting to the Leopold Museum;
(d) the Leopold Museum will permanently display signage next to the Painting at the Leopold Museum, and at all future displays of the Painting of any kind that the Leopold Museum authorizes or allows anywhere in the world, that sets forth the true provenance of the Painting, including Lea Bondi Jaray’s prior ownership of the Painting and its theft from her by a Nazi agent before she fled to London in 1939; and
(e) before it is transported to the Leopold Museum in Vienna, the Painting will be publicly exhibited at the Museum of Jewish Heritage -- A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, in New York, beginning with a ceremony commemorating the legacy of Lea Bondi Jaray and the successful resolution of the lawsuit.

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