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Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
Kansas City, MO.
On view now through August 31, 2003
For information, call 816.753.5806
or visit www.kemperart.org
A slice of lemon cake, a row of bow ties, city asphalt. The mundane is made monumental in the paintings of contemporary California artist Wayne Thiebaud. Spanning half a century thus far, Thiebaud's career has been steeped in success culminating in the current exhibition of forty signature portraits, cityscapes, landscapes, and still lifes, including his well-loved confectionary arrangements.
Associated with the 1960s Pop Art movement, his everyday subject matter engages the viewer through the use of exaggerated perspectives, inventive lighting, textured brushwork, and a luscious palette often consisting of lemon yellow, raspberry, and cool turquoise. He celebrates the stuff of life--from plastic sunglasses to pies and gumballs.
While recognized as an influential contributor to American pop culture and contemporary realism, Thiebaud retains a genuine modesty and thoughtfulness summed up in his comment quoted in the exhibition catalogue: "Painting looks simple," he says. "All you've got to do is transfer a piece of color to one surface without embarrassing yourself, but you find that’s almost impossible to do."
An illustrated, 104-page exhibition catalogue that includes an interview with the artist is available through the museum.
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Wayne Thiebaud, Lemon Cake, ca. 1983. Collection of Paul LeBaron Thiebaud. Copyright Wayne Thiebaud/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.
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Decorative Arts Center of Ohio, Lancaster, OH.
On view now through August 24, 2003
For information, call 740.681.1423
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Sampler by Ann Cumming Schenck, 1821, Franklin, Ohio.
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Celebrating the state's bicentennial year, the history of Ohio comes to life in this landmark exhibition showcasing 146 needlework samplers dating back to pioneer times. Intricate details woven by the daughters of English, Scotch-Irish, German, and French settlers, convey the cultural and religious influences of a diverse new frontier. The exhibition features a large number of privately held family heirlooms available for public viewing for the first time and, as stated in the companion catalogue, "weave(s) together a brief story of the stitcher, her family, and the circumstances that surrounded her life."
The comprehensive catalogue, available from the museum gift shop, documents over 290 early Ohio samplers with an almost equal number of photographs and provides a brief history of regional pioneer settlements. Author signed copies can be purchased online at www.ohiosamplers.com.
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Narramissic, South Bridgton, ME.
July 19–26, 2003
For information,
call the Peabody-Fitch Home and Farm
at 207.647.9954
or Julie Lindberg at 207.647.8261.
As portrayed by renowned author and illustrator Tasha Tudor, rural New England life was idyllic, replete with farming families, smiling corgis, and country fairs. While readers are temporarily transported back a century and a half with such popular books as Pumpkin Moonshine and A Time to Keep, this icon of children's literature is still living the life enshrined in her books.
Roasting turkeys over an open fire, wearing petticoats, making soap, and other antiquated activities constitute the way 87-year-old Tudor lives. Her 1830s-style Vermont homestead is filled with family heirlooms (she dines off inherited Canton), providing the inspiration for the artwork that lends such an air of authenticity to her stories
The art of Tasha Tudor has appeared in over one hundred books during a sixty-plus year career. The current exhibition, organized by Wayne, Pennsylvania antiques dealer Julie Lindberg, showcases more than twenty of Tudor's original drawings and watercolors. Also on view, with selections for sale, are Tudor's tiny doll valentines and Christmas cards, prints, some of her books, and related collectibles and photographs.
The exhibition is being held in an authentic early Maine setting: the historic home Narramissic (the Abenaki Indian word for "hard to find"), also known as the Peabody-Fitch Home and Farm. The original Georgian structure was built in 1797 and expanded in 1831 into a federal style house and working farm. Now the property of the Bridgton Historical Society and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the house museum hosts early American life demonstrations throughout the summer and fall. For an events schedule, visit www.megalink.net/~bhs/.
Learn more about Tasha Tudor at www.tashatudorandfamily.com. Her latest book, Corgiville Christmas, can be purchased on the site this fall.
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