Honoring the World Trade Center - 9/11/2001 - 9/11/2022

The WTC in a Mud-puddle, 1974, taken from 

                                             West Street before the building of the West Side Highway

© Paula Barr & Artists Rights Society (ARSNY).

The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a large complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) at 1,368 feet (417 m); and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) at 1,362 feet (415.1 m)—were the tallest buildings in the world. 

The core complex was built between 1966 and 1975, at a cost of $400 million (equivalent to $3.56 billion in 2022).  The idea was suggested by David Rockefeller to help stimulate urban renewal in Lower Manhattan, and his brother Nelson signed the legislation to build it.  The buildings at the complex were designed by Minoru Yamasaki. In 1998, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey decided to privatize it by leasing the buildings to a private company to manage. It awarded the lease to Silverstein Properties in July 2001.  During its existence, the World Trade Center symbolized globalization and the economic power of America. The Twin Towers became an icon of New York City.  It had a major role in popular culture, and according to one estimate was depicted in 472 films. Following the September 11 attacks, mentions of the complex in various media were altered or deleted, and several dozen "memorial films" were created.

                                                                                The Statue of Liberty and the WTC 

© Paula Barr & Artists Rights Society (ARSNY).

Remembering Hurricane Katrina on its 17th aninversary

Bathroom in private home on Lake Pontchartrain, LA.

17 years ago today, on August 29, 2005, New Orleans’ poorly maintained levees broke and flooded the city when #HurricaneKatrina hit New Orleans. The privileged few were able to flee the disaster while thousands were left in flooded streets and on the rooftops of their homes. Over 1,800 people died as a result.

Corner store, 9th Ward, New Orleans

Katrina brought widespread damage and death to New Orleans and surrounding areas, including parts of Mississippi and Alabama.

9th Ward home

"Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes to strike the United States in recorded history. Katrina's destruction wasn't limited to just Louisiana and Mississippi with damage reported as far east as the Florida Panhandle due to the large wind field and storm surge associated with the hurricane. In all, Hurricane Katrina was responsible for 1,833 fatalities and caused $125 billion dollars in damage.

 

Gas station on the Corner of Desire in the 9th Ward.

For all image requests and reproduction rights, please contact Artists Rights Society (ARSNY).

 Bernd and Hilla Becher 

Now on view at The Met Fifth Avenue 

July 15 – November 6, 2022

Water Towers (New York, United States), 1978–79

 Bernd and Hilla Becher 

The German artists Bernd and Hilla Becher (1931–2007; 1934–2015) changed the course of late twentieth-century photography. Working as a rare artist couple, they focused on a single subject: the disappearing industrial architecture of Western Europe and North America. Their objective style resonated with the serial approach of contemporary Minimalism and Conceptual art. 

Using a large-format view camera, the Bechers methodically recorded blast furnaces, winding towers, grain silos, cooling towers, and gas tanks with precision, elegance, and passion. Their rigorous, standardized practice allowed for comparative analyses of structures that they exhibited in grids of between four and thirty photographs.

This posthumous retrospective in shown with the minimalist works by Carl Andre and Sol LeWitt. As you leave the exhibition you see how the Becher's fit so well into contemporary sculpture.

 

The Life Brigade   ca. 1882,  Oil on canvas

Winslow Homer: Crosscurrents

This work startled me with its minimalist composition, palette and brush. Homer is a master of color and paint found in his oils and watercolors.

At Cullercoats, Homer painted almost exclusively in watercolor; this remarkably bold oil sketch

was likely produced after his return to the United States. Inspired by scenes of rescue and his

admiration for the local volunteer lifesaving crews that he had witnessed in action.

 

It’s a knockout.

 The Washington Post

Now on view at The Met Fifth Avenue,

April 11 – July 31, 2022

Holbein: Capturing Character

The Morgan Library & Museum

This will be the first major U.S. exhibition dedicated to the art of Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98–1543), who created captivating portraits of courtiers, merchants, scholars, and statesmen in Basel, Switzerland, and later in England and served as a court painter to King Henry VIII (1491–1547). The Morgan’s display will feature around 60 objects from over 20 lenders across the globe, including 31 paintings and drawings by Holbein himself. His work was detailed with inscriptions, insignia, and evocative attributes, conveying truthful likenesses but also celebrating the individuals’ identities, values, aspirations, and achievements. Exclusive to the Morgan’s exhibition is Sir Thomas More (1527)—one of the masterpieces of Holbein’s first stay in England—depicting the philosopher, statesman and humanist at the height of his political career. More sat for Holbein shortly before he was promoted to Lord Chancellor, the highest-ranking office in Tudor England. Holbein presents his sitter as an authoritative statesman, prominently adorned with a golden chain of office.

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98–1543) was among the most skilled, versatile, and inventive artists of the early 1500s. He created captivating portraits of courtiers, merchants, scholars, and statesmen in Basel, Switzerland, and later in England, and served as a court painter to Tudor King Henry VIII (1491–1547). Enriched by inscriptions, insignia, and evocative attributes, his portraits comprise eloquent visual statements of personal identity and illuminate the Renaissance culture of erudition, self-fashioning, luxury, and wit

Holbein worked closely with Erasmus of Rotterdam, Thomas More, and other esteemed scholars in Renaissance Europe as both a portraitist and book illustrator. The book, with its ability to preserve and revive ancient texts and promulgate new ones, became the period’s humanist symbol par excellence, which many patrons wanted displayed in their portraits. Holbein was also active as a designer of personal jewels, which could serve as small declarations of the wearer’s taste, beliefs, and erudition. Featuring examples from the artist’s diverse output alongside select works by his Northern contemporaries, Capturing Character explores Holbein’s contributions to Renaissance portraiture and celebrates the era’s sophistication and visual splendor.

A Life Remembered

Shirley Blackwell's death was completely ordinary. She died on the day after Christmas 2020, at the age of 70, after long term kidney and lung issues. The event was reported in the local paper in Alliance, Ohio, dispassionately listing the usual things that are printed when a beloved member of a community dies: where she worked, who she is survived by, and details about where the celebration of her life would be held. Nothing was mentioned about the infamous pictures that she appeared in as part of a series for Life magazine, an event that would alter the course of her family forever. Nothing was said about the struggle she had faced for years trying to find money for college. And nothing certainly was mentioned about the time her mother’s dreams were put on hold after being fired from her job for participating in the magazine spread. Instead, niceties appeared in her small hometown paper and the death of the little girl in her Sunday best standing alongside her aunt outside of a “Colored Only” entrance in 1956 was ignored by the national media.

This Gordon Parks photo was taken in Mobile, Alabama, next door to my father's department store.  I was touched by Ms Blackwell's obit and wanted to share the legendary, Life magazine, photo. 

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