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Richard
Calderhead New York is, among many other things, the Art Capitol of the World. Everyone from Oshkosh to Osaka knows New York: Gotham...Manhattan...or, just plain old The Big Apple. Home to the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Central Park...and even our clattery old subway system. Here we sit on our rocky little Island...an amazing agglomeration of People, Money, Power, Politics. But
today we shall focus on Art. Starting with the Metropolitan Museum of Art...our glorious, enormous, and all-to-often "taken for granted" Temple of Art (thank you, Phillipe de Montebello)...it is simply staggering in it's size and stature. The Wealth of Art includes dozens of smaller museums (Guggenheim, fabulous; the new MOMA...a sadly misguided makeover that is best left unmentioned)...through the seemingly countless Art Galleries and the World Class Auction Houses. It's all here...even, surprisingly...some of the artists who are producing the leading-edge work known as Contemporary Art. (Surprisingly, because decades ago a young and struggling Norman Mailer could afford to live right here in Greenwich Village; today, even a shabby 4th floor walkup is totally unaffordable.)
It was Opening Night (this is the start of the Fall Season)...and we got there early to check on the art on display for this Show. After greeting the Gallery owners, Marina Hadley and Bob Hogge, (see Bob on left) we chatted with some of the artists. There was a very attractive young Yugoslavian woman who paints abstracts in her Rome Studio (priced around $10,000)...a young aspiring painter from Uzbekistan, and various other emerging stars...and we met Paul Rousso, probably the best-known artist in this show. We then went downstairs to meet a Collector we had invited to this Opening. She is recently divorced and has moved to Manhattan "to be in the center of things." That sort of move costs a couple of $ Mill these days. And of course there are some blank walls in need of Art. We were introduced to Kate through a very successful interior decorator, who is handling the renovation of her new apartment. Our Collector arrived...a drop-dead gorgous, 6 ft. tall blonde. Very cool and VERY savvy, as you are about to learn. We got some Champagne (MonkDogz lays out a superb array of snacks...with drinks to match) and then we began to check out the various offerings. We were standing in front of an image of Marilyn Monroe...in the special and totally unique style developed by artist Paul Rousso. Virgina looked carefully at the Rousso work, then casually asked: "What would it take to get a portrait of ME done in that style?" I instantly responded: "Fantastic! You got it!....let's see if the artist is still here". I nabbed Marina, and she fetched Paul. After the introductions, I said: "Virginia is interested in having her portrait done...similar to the Marilyn. What would it take?" Paul explained how he worked...using digital photos...and then creating a painting, which will then be converted into the sinuous surface we were all admiring. (It's a sort of updated decoupage technique, to get technical for a moment.) "I'll need to take several photos...and then do the actual painting in acrylics." He grinned and said: "But Kate...hey...if you don't like the result you don't have to pay for it!" The next step? Kate is thinking it over. I turned to Kate: "That was utterly amazing. You walked in here ...spotted the Rousso, imagined yourself portrayed that way...and Bingo! And just like that, here's the artist, ready to go to work on your portrait!" I continued: "Any collector can go buy the 299th Warhol print of Jackie...a "borrowed" newspaper image with spashed-on color patches; but here you can have a unique, one-of-a-kind portrait of yourself that blows right past traditional styles...imagine the IMPACT this will have when it's hanging on your living room wall?" We were all laughing...imagining the reaction of her dinner guests! There it is...the Critical Mass of NYC...where Collectors' Money meets up with the Universe of Art Galleries that display today's Leading Edge Art. You simply cannot find this in FlyOverLand. There is just not enough Wealth to support such huge diversity. Who are the Heroes of this little Drama? First, the Painter Paul Rousso. He's establishing himself as a Player, via innovation and a totally new and fascinating imagery.
Left...a Memorial Portrait of Bob's Gallery Dog, Odie. RIP. Finally, of course, there is the Collector. Minus the Money, this whole enterprise goes up in smoke. The fact that our Collector has an actual budget for Art makes her a Hero to all concerned. (We're talking on the order of hanging a new Audi on your wall. This is not a game with Penny Ante Stakes.) Now think about the sequence described here; hundreds and hundreds of people showed up at the Opening. How many visualized themselves in such a portrait? How many actually negotiated with the Artist? Kate "got it." In a nanosecond, she leapt clear past Alex Katz or any other contemporary painter...to jump-start the process that can end up with her owning the modern equivalent of a Gustav Klimt! Only
in New York. World Capitol of Art. Clyfford Still. We've admired Still's paintings for decades. "One of America's really outstanding painters." And then? Still has occupied a unique place in American Art. Unique because he's there, up on the walls in various museums...but has not generated a whole lot of excitement in the past few years. Why not? Is it simply a matter of Dead and Gone? Maybe it's more a case of Market Movement; there are precious few Stills around. So there's not a lot of Auction Action. The Art Media has other things to do than to remember Still.
But this doesn't mean that the Auction Market will suddenly be flooded with Stills. The Collection is going to be kept together. This means that Still will remain a Historic Figure but will still be marginalized to some extent. He will still not be Collectible. We assume his heirs will let a few go over time; it's their Trust Fund, after all. We went straight to the main Library in NYC to see what, if any, books they had on Still. Very slim pickings. We checked out the best of the lot to read quietly...and we realize that a new book on Still screams out to be written. As long-time students of Art...we realized suddenly that we know NOTHING of Still. Yes, we know that signature style...on sight. Who doesn't?
We rubbed our eyes in disbelief when we looked at some of the dates on his work. Clyfford Still broke completely with the past, way back in 1942! Still had no Permission Slip to take his giant leap; there WAS no roadmap at that time. He just leapt out into space and the result was shockingly simple, direct and powerful. We show a Cezanne (section) to compare with a big, bold but very flat Still. Hmmm. Interesting visual comparison. Look at the luscious colors Cezanne played with. But Cezanne worked small compared to Still, who could cover the wall of a barn in an afternoon. With Still (or a step or two behind him), we have Rothko and Newman and some others. But Still appeared to be the one to take that very first giant step. No more apples. No more picturesque seaside scenes...no haystacks in the moonlight. Just...wham! Great, big eye-popping shards of color...uncompromising and unapologetic. Take it or leave it. Now...wouldn't you just LOVE to have a big, bold Still hanging on your big, empty wall in Tribeca? If you pine for a Still...you are out of luck. If, however, you'd like a brilliant and highly innovative contemorary painter to work up a Still for you...that can be arranged. Contact
us. Your Still-inspired painting can be in your hands in one month. Note: This is a limited-time offer. A Limited Number of paintings inspired by Still will be produced and shown in New York this Fall. 10 paintings, in large sizes. When they are gone...they're gone. And this Series will NEVER BE REPEATED. Richard
Calderhead
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Last
week (now Sept. 6) we had a rendevous at the Hottest Avant Garde
Gallery in NYC: MonkDogz Urban Art...located right in the heart
of Chelsea, NYC's newest Art Neighborhood.
Then
the Gallery Owners...Marina and Bob, who are supporting the cost
of running their Gallery in Super Expensive Manhattan ...including
a huge website with all the labor that entails. 
But
recently Still hit the news again...bigtime: His unseen works are all
going into a museum...and the estimated value of the collection is (hold
your hat for this one)...One Billion Dollars! 
But
we simply had NO IDEA of how powerful his work was, when seen en
masse.