New U.S. Postage Stamps Commemorate Modern Art in America

With this sheet of 12 Modern Art in America 1913-1931 (Forever®) stamps, the U.S. Postal Service commemorates a dozen modern artists and their works, 100 years after the groundbreaking Armory Show opened in New York in 1913.

The dozen masterpieces reproduced on the stamp pane were created between 1912 and 1931 and include:

• House and Street (1931) | Stuart Davis
• I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold (1928) | Charles Demuth
• The Prodigal Son (1927) | Aaron Douglas
• Fog Horns (1929) | Arthur Dove 
• Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912) | Marcel Duchamp 
• Painting, Number 5 (1914-15) | Marsden Hartley
• Sunset, Maine Coast (1919) | John Marin
• Razor (1924) | Gerald Murphy
• Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico/Out Back of Marie's II (1930) | Georgia O’Keeffe 
• Noire et Blanche (1926) | Man Ray 
• American Landscape (1930) | Charles Sheeler
• Brooklyn Bridge (1919-20) | Joseph Stella

The International Exhibition of Modern Art, known as the Armory Show, opened in New York City on February 17, 1913. This exhibit, held at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue at 25th Street, presented more than a thousand works, about a third of them by European artists.

At the Armory Show, Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 excited derision as well as admiration. Duchamp and other European painters greatly influenced American artists, including those who created the works shown on this stamp pane. Like Duchamp, who became a U.S. citizen, modern art—and modernity itself—soon found a congenial home in America.

The stamp sheet also includes a quote by Marcel Duchamp and verso text that identifies each work of art and briefly tells something about each artist. Art director Derry Noyes worked on the stamp sheet with designer Margaret Bauer.

Check out my previous blog post about the children's book written and illustrated in response to the Armory Show here.

Martin Celebrates His Father and Aviation History in Colombia

My father laid the groundwork that made me an artist.

Knox Martin | Barrinquilla, Colombia | December 2012

Artist Knox Martin is in Colombia celebrating his father's legacy as an aviation pioneer and the centennial of aviation in that country. Known as the father of Colombian aviation, William Knox Martin (1891 – 1927), was the first man to fly over the Andes Mountains. The fascinating life of Martin, Sr. is told here.

Knox recounts, "My father was also a poet and an artist, he gave me the wings to find my way, to paint, to fly, to touch the sky."  Above, the 89-year-old artist scans the skies beneath the eagle of Founders Park, one of the many sites that are part of this historic anniversary celebration.

Peace Window | Marc Chagall

Following the death of Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, the staff of the United Nations set up a Committee and a Foundation to create a memorial to him and 15 others who died in a plane crash in Africa while on a peace mission, September 17, 1961.

The Committee invited artist Marc Chagall to contribute a piece of his work to the memory of Mr. Hammarskjöld and to all those who had lost their lives in the cause of peace. It was decided that the monument would be a free-standing piece of stained glass. 

The panel, measuring 15 feet wide and 12 feet high, is predominantly blue in color. In it Chagall sought to express the simplicity and beauty of the ideals of peace and brotherhood for which the United Nations was founded. In the center is the figure of a young child being kissed on the cheek by an angelic face which emerges from a mass of flowers. The right side suggests mankind's yearning for peace, its prophets and its victims, and symbols of law. On the left are depicted motherhood and people struggling for peace. Musical symbols in the panel evoke thoughts of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which was a favorite of Mr. Hammarskjöld.

Initially placed in the southeastern section of the lobby of the Secretariat Building, facing the East River, the "Chagall Window" was later moved to the eastern side of the public lobby. It underwent an extensive renovation in 2001.

Stained glass has to be serious and passionate. It has to live through

the perception of light. For me a stained-glass window is a 

transparent partition between my heart and the heart of the world. 

Marc Chagall

A Sanctuary | Inside the Artist's Studio

Being inside an artist’s studio is like being inside their brain—each is different in their own very unique way. Make no mistake that you will ever be truly welcome to enter, for this is their sanctuary. It is the place where their ideas flow freely, experimentation takes place, and art happens. Creative energy bounces off the walls. You can feel it when you walk in the room. I equate it with the same feeling of reverence that you have upon entering any spiritually charged space—a cathedral, hallowed ground, or museum. Your initial reaction is breathlessness and awe. 

At first glance, one may think the artist's studio looks chaotic and messy. That could not be further from the truth. There is much order and design to the way an artist utilizes their space. You are not welcome to come in and clean it or organize it or touch anything. Whether you are there as a friend, collector, muse, model, or significant other to the artist, you are a guest. Do not touch so much as a paintbrush, a pencil, or a tube of paint. And, for God’s sake, do not touch the art! Would you rub your hands across any work of art in a museum? The answer to that is no. An alarm would sound, security guards would appear, and you might be asked to leave. 

I have been witness to studio guests being admonished by the artist for touching something in their studio. No, I think a more correct representation would be subjected to the wrath of the artist! To the artist, it’s as if the top of their skull was opened and you started plucking out pieces of their brain. You most assuredly will be lambasted with a stream of obscenities and banished from the space. Think of it as the most heinous act you could ever imagine, like rape—a total violation of one’s being. 

Further, the art that hangs on the walls throughout the rest of an artist’s home is perpetually temporary. And, one can reasonably expect that a piece you see one day, thought to be finished, may never be seen in that state again. It’s a process. I can’t tell you the number of times I have been shown what I think is a beautiful work of art, only days/weeks/months later to see the canvas being slashed, or washed down in the shower, scraped down, or painted over. 

The best part of all of this though, is the wonderful experience it affords to be present in an artist’s studio—to see their intensity when they work or see the sparkle in their eye when talking about a work of art. Seeing an artist covered in paint, or chalk dust, or plaster, or any other medium is art unto itself. They work with abandon and shut out the world as if in a trance. When an artist is working, there is no attention to time of day, day of the week, or month of the year. Their spiritual artistic quest does not allow for the normality of time for eating or sleeping. They live within that moment. Do not disturb. 

If given the opportunity to visit an artist’s studio, just listen to what they have to tell you or just watch what happens. It’s amazing.

National Veterans Art Museum | Chicago

Opening today at its new location, the National Veterans Art Museum provides a unique viewpoint on the controversial subject of war to all visitors. An intensely moving balance of beauty and horror, the collection provides insight into the psyche of combat veterans and the consequential hindsight war leaves on its survivors.

In 1981, a few Vietnam combat veterans put together an artistic and historical collection that would become a timeless, humanistic statement of war on behalf of all veterans for future generations. The overwhelming emotional response to the work, along with an increasing amount of contributions by artists, led to the official establishment of a permanent museum. After viewing the collection, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was so personally moved that he allocated a permanent building to house the collection. Since 2003, the museum has broadened its mission to include art by veterans of all wars. Today, the NVAM houses more than 2,500 works of art, including paintings, photography, sculpture, poetry, and music. All the works in the Museum’s permanent collection were created by more than 255 artists who are veterans of American conflicts. See the entire collection online here.

Welcome Home is the first temporary exhibit at the NVAM's new location at 4041 North Milwaukee Avenue, featuring art by Vietnam War veteran Dr. Charles Smith and Iraq War veteran Ash Kyrie, 

Of the show, Ash Kyrie writes: 

"Welcome Home" is the customary message given to soldiers after returning from war. After that initial message there is no set dialogue. The veteran learns about the world that they left, and their family meets a new person. As a veteran I am creating work that discusses the disconnect between civilians and the war being conducted to protect them. 

Welcome Home opens to the public with a reception today and remains on display through May 2013.