Kusama and Cornell

 Yayoi Kusama with Cornell 1970

(he looks a little like he's choking her, but she looks happy)

Yayoi Kusama Age 10 1939

Blouin Artinfo has more photos of Kusama (that's where I got these).

Link to my recent boingboing essay on the book about Joseph Cornell, Utopia Parkway.

Kusama and her relationship with Cornell is mentioned in the book.

The photo (above) was taken in 1970, he died in 1972.

Ladies on Bicycles 1899

What am I up to?

Here are some details of a larger oil painting that I am working on.

These are just some quicky ipod glimpses of the unfinished work.

The temporary title is "Fig Leaf Parasol".

The Art of Amy Crehore 

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Painting of the day by Ilya Repin

 I like this painting by Ilya Repin called "Dragon-fly". It is a portrait of the artist's daughter, Vera Repina (1884, oil on canvas). More about Repin here. He was born on August 5, 1844, so it's his birthday today. He was a great Russian realist painter.

The Art of Amy Crehore 

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My essay about Utopia Parkway (the book) for Boing Boing

I wrote an essay about one of my favorite books- Utopia Parkway, The Life and Work of Joseph Cornell by Deborah Solomon (shown above)- for Boing Boing's Enthralling Books series. It is an absolutely wonderful biography of an eccentric man who became a great American artist.

Here's the LINK to my essay.

Here is a link to the works of Joseph Cornell. (artnet)
One thing that touched me about Cornell, which I failed to mention in my essay, was how he cared about and related to children. Shortly before he died in 1972, he had a show at Cooper Union School in NYC. This show was just for children and his works were hung at the child's-eye level. He actually attended the opening and they served cherry coke and brownies (which I am sure he gladly scarfed down). Shown here are a few pictures of the event (from A Joseph Cornell Album - Viking 1974- courtesy Dore Ashton/Denise Hare). You can see more photos at: Stopping Off Place Blog

The Art of Amy Crehore

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Historic Mechanical Instruments and Figures

Watch this amazing "clown illusionist" in action - the Morris Museum website (follow the link below) has sound clips and video clips of 22 historic mechanical figures and instruments from the Murtogh D. Guinness collection. You can visit a permanent collection of these (700 objects) if you live near Morristown, NJ. (I used to live near there myself, but this collection was not available at the time.) 

 LINK

The Art of Amy Crehore

Photos of the Day: Brigitte Bardot 1953

Retronaut has 12 stunning photos of Brigitte Bardot on the beach at Cannes in 1953 (from LIFE magazine archives). These really show her personality. 

LINK

I am working on paintings with swimmers/bathers lately, so it is nice to see these. Stay tuned to this blog for another new painting of mine to be posted soon.

The Art of Amy Crehore

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