Yayoi Kusama and Joseph Cornell were lovers

Although I had read Joseph Cornell's biography a couple of times, I hadn't realized that it was the amazing dot woman artist Yayoi Kusama who had been his first girlfriend (when he was 60). I blogged about Cornell a couple of times: here and here. 

 I also recently blogged about Kusama ( LINK). 

She talks about the affair (lasting 10 years) in an old interview with Kusama by Grady Turner in Bomb Magazine (1999).

Degas - drawings of the nude

Thanks to Artinfo slide show-

Bringing in the new year with some exquisite drawings by Degas. 

He makes me want to draw. 

I'm finishing up a couple of new paintings this week and I will post them here soon. 

THE ART OF AMY CREHORE

P.S. I am no longer posting my art on tumblr, in case you were looking for me there.

Rosa Loy and Neo Rauch

Rosa Loy is married to Neo Rauch. She is a painter, too. This video shows them exhibiting together. Here is her website: Rosa Loy. Their show was at the Essl Museum near Vienna in 2011. I would have liked to have seen that show.

Lori Ellison at McKenzie Fine Art (Jan 5 - Feb 11, 2012)

James Kalm (a.k.a. Loren Munk) filmed our friend Lori Ellison's art opening in NYC on Thursday night. 
LINK to video. 
Lori's drawings and paintings show a deep appreciation for the importance of design in art. She patiently builds intricate patterns on paper or wood using subtle textures and optical illusions. These meditative works are executed with the precision of Indian miniatures. Like woven textiles or combs created by insects (with their natural irregularities), William Morris' patterns or early examples of Op art, these creative works are mesmerizing and uplifting to behold. I'm sorry I can't see them in person (the great video helps), but if 

you are in NYC, be sure to catch this wonderful show at McKenzie Fine Art (511 West 25th Street).

Bubble Houses by Wallace Neff

Wallace Neff designed Italian-style mansions for Hollywood celebrities, but he also designed some revolutionary bubble houses. Many were built in Falls Chruch, VA and elsewhere. Here is a bubble house that he built in 1946 in Pasadena, CA. Artist Steve Roden and his wife Sari actually live in the last surviving one (a single dome "shell" house that the architect built originally for his brother, before living in it himself). You can read stories here and here. PHOTO gallery. (L.A. Times) 

I'm jealous!

 (thanks, beatgrrrl )

National tricone ukulele 1928

This is a style #1 National brand German silver tricone ukulele that we have at home - most likely from 1928 (based on a National advertisement that I saw). The pear-shaped body is exactly like the mandolins that National offered at the time. It has 3 small resonator cones inside.

The Art of Amy Crehore

Origins of Modern Art- Maurice Denis 1870-1943

I enjoy looking at the design elements, colors and compositions of these paintings by French artist and writer Maurice Denis

Read about him here and see more of his wonderful paintings here. 

There is a beautiful museum in France that opened in 1980 located in Saint-Germaine-en-Laye called the Maurice Denis Museum. It was once his house. Before that, it was a hospital.

Looks like a great place to visit. It is dedicated to his work and the work of his artist friends of the Nabis movement (inspired by Gauguin at Pont-Aven, it lasted from 1888 to 1903). Read about the Nabis. LINK