ART LECTURES

DAVID STOLLER

JEWS & AMERICAN MODERNISM II

Art Lectures in New Hope

On October 26, 1952, Helen Frankenthaler, all of 24 years old, gazed at the large 7’ x 10’ canvas spread out before her on the floor. She intended to draw, but as if being guided by some invisible hand, spread on the canvas turpentine-thinned colors—blue and pink, sea-foam green, salmon and red—and watched as they pooled, stained, and soaked the canvas. She called it “soak and stain,” and her painting Mountain and Sea, in the National Gallery of Art, instantly became a landmark in American modern art, and introduced a new style that was to be called “color field” painting. Frankenthaler’s career flourished over six decades, time enough to launch another major innovation in the art of woodcuts that would change that medium forever. ;

Around the same time, Louise Nevelson, twenty years Frankenthaler’s senior and already becoming known for her structural assemblages of recycled wood and her archaic forms—later heralded as the first examples of environmental art—was moving toward larger and larger works. In 1958, her monumental 11’ x 10’ sculpture Sky Cathedral, in MoMA, hit the art world like an explosion. No one had ever seen anything like it—particularly from a woman artist. After a career already spanning three decades, Nevelson took her place among the giants of American sculpture. Over the next three decades, she would continue to produce extraordinary public works that are installed all over the world. ;

The Little Shul by the River, Kehilat HaNahar, New Hope’s Reconstructionist synagogue, is presenting Zoom lectures by David Stoller on the lives and careers of these two giants of American modern art, Nevelson on April 10 and Frankenthaler on May 1, continuing its series on “Jews & American Modernism.” The public is invited. To register, email littleshul@kehilathanahar.org. Recordings of the previous lectures on Ben Shahn and Mark Rothko are available at kehilathanahar.org/bagel-u. Please visit kehilathanahar.org for more details on these and other cultural and educational programs. n

Helen Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea, 1952, oil and charcoal on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc.

Louise Nevelson. Photo: Robert Mapplethorpe.

exhibitions

Martinis, Dry, 12 x 16 inches, oil on board

Jim Rodgers - Solo Exhibition Silverman Gallery 4920 York Rd., Rte. 202, Holicong, PA 215-794-4300 Silvermangallery.com Wed.–Sat. 11–6 & Sun. 11-4 March 19–April 16 Meet the artist: 3/19, 5–8 & 3/27, noon–4

Silverman Gallery of Bucks County Impressionist Art is proud to present new work by Jim Rodgers. Jim has been painting Bucks County, the Delaware River towns and beyond since the mid-1980s.

Gallery visitors and collectors are attractd to Jim’s wonderful use of light and color. He creates fine art that draws you in from across a room, inviting you to step into the views that have caught his eye and imagination. The collection will also be on the gallery’s website.

Photograph by Allan Tannenbaum.

Keith Haring: A Radiant Legacy

James A. Michener Art Museum 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, PA 215-340-9800 MichenerArtMuseum.org March 12–July 31

Featuring more than 100 unique and notable works by acclaimed Pop Art icon.

Born in Reading, PA, and raised in Kutztown, Keith Haring (1958-1990) was arguably the most accomplished and prominent American artist of the 1980s. Through his friendship with artists Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat, he became interested in the colorful graffiti art of city streets which would influence his meteoric rise.

During his brief ten-year career, Haring rewrote the rulebook for contemporary art, integrating the seemingly discrete arenas of New York City’s gritty downtown counterculture and uptown art aristocracy. A friend of Andy Warhol’s, Haring unabashedly developed and promoted his own brand through commercial partnerships, mass market products, and even his own storefront. Equally important was his social justice activism, raising awareness of AIDS and fighting against racism and the proliferation of illegal drugs.

Grace Graupe-Pillard, Wear One, 2020, oil/alkyd/wood, 48” x 36”

New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship Exhibition Artworks, 19 Everett Alley, Trenton, NJ Artworkstrenton.org March 22-May 21 Opening reception March 26, 6pm-8pm Tuesday–Saturday 11–6

“This exhibition falls right in line with the Artworks Trenton mission of promoting artistic diversity by fostering creativity, learning, and appreciation of the arts. The exhibition will showcase 38 artists from across NJ, working in a variety of disciplines,” said Addison Vincent, gallery manager.

The Arts Council created the Artists’ Fellowship Program in 1971, and to this day it continues to acknowledge and assist artists working at the highest levels of excellence as determined by their peers.