Speed of Life

by Gregg Chadwick Frequent readers know that I enjoy the wit and  erudition  of Tyler Green. His Modern Art Notes Podcast is always worth a listen. The latest episode, embedded above, features  art historian  William E. Wallace   and curator   Julian Brooks. Wallace discusses his latest book - “Michelangelo, God’s Architect: The Story of His Final Years and Greatest Masterpiece.” Wallace's new book is available on Bookshop .   Tyler writes :"The book offers a rich and lively biographical examination of the last two decades of Michelangelo’s life, a period when he became the architect of St. Peter’s Basilica and other buildings, even as he continued to sculpt and draw."  Michelangelo The Florentine Pietà  1547-55 Wallace's discussion of Michelangelo's late  Pietàs is exceptionally interesting. These are two of my favorite sculptural works by Michelangelo because of their incomplete nature.  Michelang...

Wonderful podcast by Tyler Green featuring artist Lari Pittman. The Hammer Museum at UCLA is featuring the exhibition “Lari Pittman: Declaration of Independence,” a retrospective of Pittman’s nearly forty-year career.  Tyler writes: The exhibition reveals Pittman’s engagements with America’s history and with issues and subjects that have been core to our history and identity, including landscape, violence, citizenship, belonging and more. The exhibition was curated by Hammer chief curator Connie Butler. It is on view through January 5, 2020. The excellent exhibition catalogue was published by DelMonico Prestel.  Amazon offers it for $51.

Joseph Mallord William Turner ( April 23, 1775-December 19, 1851) The Fifth Plague of Egypt 48" x 72" oil on canvas 1800 Indianapolis Museum of Art photo courtesy of the Indianapolis Museum of Art Spurred on by fellow artblogger, Tyler Green , the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Indianapolis Museum of Art are putting their paintings on the line over next weekend's Super Bowl between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. I'm calling an improbable New Orleans victory over the Colts. In which case the Indianapolis Museum of Art will lend Turner's vibrant and mysterious The Fifth Plague of Egypt to the New Orleans Museum of Art. If the favored Colts win, the New Orleans Museum of Art will lend Claude Lorrain's Ideal View of Tivoli to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Check out Tyler's blog for the ultimate in museum director trash talk and mannered New Orleans (and Indianapolis) grace as well. New Orleans Museum of Art director E. John Bulla...