Last Call:Fall 2014 Exhibitions Ending in January, February and March 2015

Pablo Picasso, Jacqueline in a Black Scarf, October 11, 1954

Private Collection,  

©2014 Estate of Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

The end of the Fall Art Season is quickly approaching as the old year fades into the new. 

Here is the list of  important Fall 2014 shows closing in January, February and March 2015.

"Picasso and Photography," Gagosian Gallery on West 21st. St., through January 3rd.

"The Crusader Bible," "Artists' Holiday Cards," Morgan Library and Museum, through January 4th.

"Assyria to Iberia - Classical Age," Metropolitan Museum, through January 4th.

"Zero: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s-60s," Guggenheim, through January 7th.

"Picasso and Jacqueline," Pace Gallery on West 25th St., through January 10th.

"David Hockney," Pace Gallery on West 25th St., through January 10th.

"Richard Pousette-Dart," Pace Gallery on West 25th St., through January 10th.

Marisol Escobar, The Family, 1969

All rights reserved, Marisol Escobar/Licensed by VAGA, 

New York; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN

"Marisol: Sculpture and Works of Paper," El Museo del Barrio, through January 10th.

"Iceland: Artists Respond to Place," Scandinavia House, through January 10th.

Kathleen Gilje, Woman with an Ermine, Restore, 1997

at the National Academy, 

Courtesy of  Francis Naumann Gallery and the artist

All rights reserved

"Beyond the Classical," National Academy, through January 11th.

"Renaissance Tapestry," Metropolitan Museum, through January 11th.

"Theodore Rousseau and the Untamed Landscape," Morgan Library and Museum, through January 18th.

"Robert Gober," Museum of Modern Art, through January 18th.

"Egon Schiele," Neue Galerie, through January 19th.

Irving Harper, Owl, Paper Sculpture

"Irving Harper," Rye Art Center, through January 24th.

"Chris Ofili," New Museum, through January 25th.

"Lee Krasner and Norman Lewis," Jewish Museum, through February 1st.

"Bartholomeus Spranger," "Death Becomes Her," Metropolitan Museum, through February 1st.

Henri Matisse, Blue Nude II, 1952

"Henri Matisse: The Cutouts," Museum of Modern Art, through February 10th.

Georges Braque, Le Roche-Guyon, Summer 1909,

Leonard A. Lauder Collection 

"Leonard A. Lauder Cubism Collection," Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 16th.

"Madame Cezanne," Metropolitan Museum, through March 15th.

"Helena Rubenstein," Jewish Museum, through March 22th.

Happy New Year - with our best wishes,

Cheers!

Beth New York

aka Beth S. Gersh-Nesic
Director, New York Arts Exchange
www.nyarts-exchange.com 

New Year, New You: Celebrate with Tea 101 - classes begin on December 30, 2014

• Tea 101

• Prep the Pot (Tea 101) Class  - Tuesday, December 30, 2014; 6:30

  • How tea created empires and revolutionized culture.

  • Overview of the production process: harvest, oxidation, blending, and bagging.

  • Introduction to the main types of tea, and their less common variations.

  • Benefits to a lifestyle of overall wellness

  Place: 1120 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Floor; near 42nd Street, NYC

  If you'd like to know more about classes, or to arrange an on-site course at your business,

• Contact/Register: Natasha@kronentea.com 
• First Class: $49.00 (ask for NYAE discount)

Merry Christmas 2014 - Nativity Scenes in Art

18th Century Neapolitan ornaments on the  Metropolitan Christmas Tree

 Collected by Loretta Hines Howard since 1925 and on view since 1957, 

over 200 figures were donated in 1964;  Linn Howard, Loretta's daughter, 

still dresses the tree with her daughter, Andrea Selby  

Made possible by gifts to The Christmas Tree Fund and the Loretta Hines Howard Fund.

The Metropolitan Museum's Christmas Tree is a seasonal favorite. Fully decorated by Thanksgiving Weekend, it remains one of the time-honored traditions for New Yorkers and visitors, who seek out the best holiday displays all around the town. This year the tree will be on view through January 6th: Epiphany.

 Neapolitan Baroque Crèche 

As we look at this magnificent  Baroque Nativity scene, arranged at the front of the Metropolitan's Christmas Tree, we might wonder when the Nativity scene in art began.  According to contemporary literature on the subject, we believe that the earliest Nativity scenes appear on sarcophagi in the 4th century, when Emperor Constantine permitted public worship and the building of churches:

Nativity, Stilicho's Sarcophigus, 4th century, 

Sant'Ambrogio Basilica, Milan

In the East, Byzantine depictions follow the description of Christ's birth found in the Gospel of James, which sets the joyous occasion in a cave:

Nativity, Byzantine, ivory, 10th century, Louvre 

Nativity, Daphni Monastery, 11th century

Later artistic interpretations relied on the Gospel of Luke and Matthew, in which the birth takes place outside an inn and the Christ Child is placed in a manger.

Nicola Pisano, Nativity, Pulpit, Baptistery, Pisa, c. 1260

Giovanni Pisano, Nativity, Pulpit of Sant Andrea, Pistoia c. 1300

Early Netherlandish and other late medieval works in northern European found inspiration in the 14th century visionary texts of St. Bridget of Sweden, who described  the Virgin Mary kneeling over the Christ Child laying on a bed of straw, radiating light: 

Hugo van der Goes, Nativity, Portinari Altarpiece,c. 1476-8, 

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

The mystery and miracle of Christ's birth finds several expressions in the history of art - peace and love, exultation and song, spiritual meditation and faithful devotion:  

Alessandro Botticelli, Mystical Nativity, c, 1500, 

National Gallery, London

George de la Tour, The Newborn Christ, 1645-7, 

Museum of Fine Art, Rennes

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos), Adoration of the Shepherds, 1605-10

Metropolitan Museum of Art (part of the El Greco exhibition through February 1)

Matthias Grunewald, Nativity, Isenheim Altarpiece, 1510-15

Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar, France

Feliz Navidad 

 Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noël

Fröhliche Weihnachten

Feliz Natal!

from all of us at

New York Arts Exchange

Beth New York

aka. Beth S. Gersh-Nesic, Ph.D.

Director

New York Arts Exchange

Judith and Hanukkah

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1620

T'was the 5th Night of Hanukkah and all through the house,

Cheese blintzes scent the kitchen

Sour cream delights the mouth.

Dairy products recall the courage of Judith

Who fed Holofernes cheese and wine

Then smote him to save the Israelites

In Bethulia, way before Antiochus IV's time.

The story of Judith of Bethulia who beheaded the Assyrian general Holofernes belongs to the Hebrew Bible's Apocrypha, right next to the chapters on the Maccabees, which tell the story of Hanukkah. We imagine that Judith's selfless act foreshadows the triumph of the Maccabees.

Here is the story of the Maccabees and Hanukkah.

Here is the story of Judith and Holofernes on Arthistory.about.com,

And here is a video about Judith and Hanukkah.

Plus - more works of art that feature Judith: 

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and her Maidservant, 1612-13

Alessandro Botticelli, Judith and Her Maidservant, 1472

Caravaggio, Judith Slaying Holofernes, 1598-99

Cristofano Allori, Judith and the Head of Holofernes, 1613

Valentin de Boulogne, Judith Slaying Holofernes, 1626

Donatello, Judith and Holofernes, 1460

Johann Adam Boller, Hanukkiah, c. 1705-32, 

Jewish Museum, NY, gift of Frida Schiff Warburg

Happy Hanukkah to all and to all a good 5th night,

Beth New York

aka Beth S. Gersh-Nesic, Ph.D.

Director 

New York Arts Exchange

www.nyarts-exchange.com

NYAE Exclusive: Luncheon with Diane Radycki on Wednesday, December 17th at 12 noon

Professor Diane Radycki with her book on 

Paula Modersohn-Becker: The First Modern Woman Artist (2013)

The New York Arts Exchange is pleased to offer an exclusive opportunity to meet Professor Diane Radycki, associate professor of art history at Moravian College and the director of Payne Gallery, for a private lunch and conversation about Paula Modersohn-Becker.  Professor Radycki has just returned from the opening of the Modersohn-Becker Retrospective at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, in Humlebaek, about 22 miles outside of Copenhagen, Denmark.  She will tell us about her work on PMB and the current exhibition - a virtual trip to Louisiana in the heart of NYC.


Please join us for this exceptional occasion - and holiday celebration as we end our 2014 Fall Tour Series.

Day and Date: Wednesday, December 17
Time: 12 noon
Place:  Asia Society, in the Garden Court Cafe, Park Avenue between 70th and 71st Streets
Fee; Included in the Fall Tour series; $60 a la carte.
(Lunch is not included.)


We look forward to sharing this wonderful event with you -
Best wishes for the holidays,
Beth New York

aka Beth S. Gersh-Nesic, Ph.D.
Director
New York Arts Exchange
www.nyarts-exchange.com