Alison Kruvant on Hedda Sterne

Alison Kruvant on Hedda Sterne

I wanted to write about this painting, but I’ve never seen it.   Hedda Sterne, Third Avenue El, 1952–53, Oil and spray enamel on canvas, 40’ 3/8” x 31’ 7/8”, Collection of the Metropolitan Museum, Not on view   Third Avenue El, by Hedda Sterne, was sold in October...
Lincoln Perry on Frank Auerbach and Marino Marini

Lincoln Perry on Frank Auerbach and Marino Marini

“Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.”  – Edgar Degas The crucial words here may be “no longer.”  This implies that Degas knew at one point, or thought he knew, a way of working that he subsequently came to question.  This...
Stephen Benenson on Goya and Picasso in Madrid

Stephen Benenson on Goya and Picasso in Madrid

Francisco Goya, Fight with Cudgels, 1820-1823, Oil mural transferred to canvas,  123 x 266 cm In the summer of 2001, after my Junior year in college, I backpacked across Europe with my friend David. We had worked together to organize the two-month trip around two main...
Norm Paris on Max Ernst

Norm Paris on Max Ernst

Max Ernst, Europe After the Rain II, 1940-42, Oil on canvas, 54 x 146 cm I first saw Europe After the Rain II at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the Max Ernst retrospective in 2005. I wasn’t really expecting to like the show. Back then I viewed Ernst as somewhat of...
Leslie Roberts on ‘Fire in the Evening’ by Paul Klee

Leslie Roberts on ‘Fire in the Evening’ by Paul Klee

Paul Klee, Fire in the Evening, 1929, oil on cardboard, 13 3/8 x 13 1/4″, Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Joachim Jean Aberbach Fund, MoMA I saw Paul Klee’s Fire in the Evening last week, newly hung on the fifth floor of the renovated MoMA. I was reminded how very...