Hello again, everyone.
Yes, it has been several weeks since I’ve written anything here. It was just a matter of being busy, running around trying to do a lot (mostly seeing art) and preparing for the arrival of a visitor who’s staying with me now.
One of the other things I did was to photograph a model named Arctica (above). She has a slim fashion model kind of figure, so I guess my photos will look closer to fashion imagery than to the glamour type that one might get with a curvier model. I won’t know, of course, until I develop the film (whenever that will be), but for now, here’s one of the snapshots I made with my new Canon S90 digital camera.
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I wrote last time about seeing the Picasso exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Well, as it turned out, it was just the first of five Picasso exhibits that I’ve seen since then. The first, as I said, was the Met show – and I even went back to see it a second time the following weekend. (As it happened, I went to the Met three weekends in a row – something I can’t recall ever having done before.)
I wrote last time about seeing the Picasso exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Well, as it turned out, it was just the first of five Picasso exhibits that I’ve seen since then. The first, as I said, was the Met show – and I even went back to see it a second time the following weekend. (As it happened, I went to the Met three weekends in a row – something I can’t recall ever having done before.)
I next went to see a show of about 200 prints by Picasso at the Marlborough Gallery on West 57 Street (which I would also see twice), followed by the exhibit of Picasso’s at the John Szoke gallery on the same block. The fourth Picasso exhibition was the one at the Museum of Modern Art, which I saw this past Friday night (along with the naked people in the Marina Abramovic performance art retrospective) before I headed on over to the Metropolitan Opera to see my final opera of the season – Rossini’s “Armida.”
Finally, I had enough time available to drive across the George Washington Bridge to Englewood, New Jersey, to see the show of Picasso prints at the Midday Gallery. I guess it’s just a time for Picasso in and around town right now, and there’s more coming. On June 27, the Met Museum will host a series of lectures (followed by a film) about Picasso. One of the scheduled speakers is Francoise Gilot, Picasso’s former lover. I will try to be there.
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Another Picasso event I attended was a lecture by Lucien Clergue about the artist at the Throckmorton Gallery. Lucien is one of the pioneers of art nude photography and I’ve known him since 1995, when I attended one of my first figure workshops with him. He was also a friend of Picasso from the 1950’s until the artist’s passing in 1973, and his talk shed some light on the artist’s personality (though obviously not all sides of it).
Another Picasso event I attended was a lecture by Lucien Clergue about the artist at the Throckmorton Gallery. Lucien is one of the pioneers of art nude photography and I’ve known him since 1995, when I attended one of my first figure workshops with him. He was also a friend of Picasso from the 1950’s until the artist’s passing in 1973, and his talk shed some light on the artist’s personality (though obviously not all sides of it).
While the photos exhibited at the gallery included some photos of Picasso, the vast majority were art nudes. They were well worth seeing. (You can see an online version of the exhibition by clicking here .)
On a final note about Lucien Clergue and Picasso, I bought a copy of Lucien’s book, “Picasso Mon Ami” from Lucien when I visited his home town of Arles, France back in 1996. I was there to a
ttend the annual photo festival, the Rencontres International de la Photographie – an even that Lucien helped to found. I made an appointment to visit Lucien in his office, and on the way I stopped into a bookstore where I saw the Picasso book for sale for about $60.
I told this to Lucien, and he said that he could sell me a copy for $40. I told him that I would have liked to have had it, but I said (quite truthfully) that my suitcase was already very full and very heavy.
ttend the annual photo festival, the Rencontres International de la Photographie – an even that Lucien helped to found. I made an appointment to visit Lucien in his office, and on the way I stopped into a bookstore where I saw the Picasso book for sale for about $60.I told this to Lucien, and he said that he could sell me a copy for $40. I told him that I would have liked to have had it, but I said (quite truthfully) that my suitcase was already very full and very heavy.
“So what,” he responded. “You sit on it, you squeeze it in!”
I bought the book, which he signed for me. I’m glad I got it - and yes, I was able to squeeze it in!
