american society of contemporary artists NUMBER 39 SUMMER 2010_ ____THE JOSEPH V. LUBRANO ASCA AWARD IN MEMORY OF BERNARD KASSOY PRESENTED TO STUDENT AT PURCHASE COLLEGE By Harriet FeBland Major 17ft High Sculpture, "Electra 2," Disappears From the Entrance to the Westchester County Courthouse I am sharing the following cir- cumstance with my fellow art- ists. It is a warning an d exam- ple of a treacherous situation to be seriously considered when negotiating art loans. Artists believe institutions, gal- leries, museums, counties, cities etc. are committed to protecting and caring for our art on loan. This is an example of one of the worst violations of this commit- ment in my experience. For the past 30+ years a 17 foot high aluminum "totem" sculpture, Electra 2, that I cre- ated, has stood at the entrance of the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains, New York. Approximately one year ago, I was informed by one of my past students, living in Westchester, that the sculpture was no longer at the site. I immediately began calling the County Execu- tive Offices inquiring about its w hereabouts. The County Courthouse had been renovated and renewed, and no one knew what happened to the sculpture during this procedure. No one knew w ho was in charge of its re- moval or who gave the order to remove it. The art, which is almost 2 stories high, would need a flatbed truck to take it to a warehouse for storage and a team of men to move or maneuver it. I loaned this work to Westchester County at the re- quest of Dee Del Bello and her committee in 1974, dur- ing the tenure of her husband Alfred Del Bello, the then County Executive. Since learning of its disappearance, I have telephoned numerous and various departments over the past year, all of which denied any knowledge ofSee Sculpture page 2By Bobby Schiller, The Joseph V. Lubrano ASCA Award in Memory of Bernard Kassoy A SCA's presi- dent, Bobby Schiller, pre- sented the Jo- seph V. Lubrano ASCA Award in Memory of Ber- nard Kassoy Art Student Award to undergrad stu- dent, Malcolm MacDougall III, at SUNY Purchase Coll ege, Purc hase, New York. The Purchase Campus, is part of the State University of New York. The award commemorates two ASCA artists who shared a commitment to the promotion of talent among young artists, Bernard Kas- soy (1914-2008) and Joseph V. Lubrano (1914-2007). The Award was initiated and funded by Joe Lubrano’s daughter and son-in-law, Linda L. Lubrano and Ran- dall J. Slate, Bobby states that "Malcolm is a very gifted sculptor. He is finishing his sophomore year at Purchase in the Visual Arts Division. He was so promising in high school that he spent most ofhis high school senior yearon the SUNY campus doing sculpture! He is not only amazingly talented, but is always helpful to his class- mates and his professors. See Award page 4 MAJOR 17FT HIGH SCULPTURE DISAPPEARS Venus 2009 Bronze and Steel 16”x13”x22”
american society of contemporary artists NUMBER 39 SUMMER 2010_____
THE JOSEPH V. LUBRANO ASCA AWARDIN MEMORY OF BERNARD KASSOY
PRESENTED TO STUDENT ATPURCHASE COLLEGEBy Harriet FeBland
Major 17ft High Sculpture, "Electra 2,"Disappears From the Entrance to the
Westchester County Courthouse
Iam sharing the following cir-
cumstance with my fellow art-ists. It is a warning and exam-ple of a treacherous situation tobe seriously considered whennegotiating art loans.
Artists believe institutions, gal-leries, museums, counties, citiesetc. are committed to protectingand caring for our art on loan.This is an example of one of theworst violations of this commit-ment in my experience.
For the past 30+ years a 17
foot high aluminum "totem"sculpture, Electra 2 , that I cre-ated, has stood at the entranceof the Westchester CountyCourthouse in White Plains,New York. Approximately oneyear ago, I was informed by one of my past students,living in Westchester, that the sculpture was no longer atthe site. I immediately began calling the County Execu-tive Offices inquiring about its whereabouts. The CountyCourthouse had been renovated and renewed, and noone knew what happened to the sculpture during thisprocedure. No one knew who was in charge of its re-
moval or who gave the order to remove it. The art, whichis almost 2 stories high, would need a flatbed truck totake it to a warehouse for storage and a team of men tomove or maneuver it.
I loaned this work to Westchester County at the re-quest of Dee Del Bello and her committee in 1974, dur-ing the tenure of her husband Alfred Del Bello, the thenCounty Executive. Since learning of its disappearance, Ihave telephoned numerous and various departmentsover the past year, all of which denied any knowledge of
See Sculpture page 2
By Bobby Schiller,
The Joseph V. Lubrano ASCA Awardin Memory of Bernard Kassoy
ASCA's presi-
dent, BobbySchiller, pre-sented the Jo-seph V. LubranoASCA Award inMemory of Ber-nard Kassoy ArtStudent Award toundergrad stu-dent, MalcolmMacDougall III,at SUNY Purchase College, Purchase, New York. ThePurchase Campus, is part of the State University of NewYork.
The award commemorates two ASCA artists whoshared a commitment to thepromotion of talent amongyoung artists, Bernard Kas-soy (1914-2008) and JosephV. Lubrano (1914-2007).The Award was initiated andfunded by Joe Lubrano’sdaughter and son-in-law,Linda L. Lubrano and Ran-dall J. Slate,
Bobby states that"Malcolm is a very gifted
sculptor. He is finishing hissophomore year at Purchasein the Visual Arts Division.He was so promising in highschool that he spent most of his high school senior year on the SUNY campus doingsculpture! He is not only
amazingly talented, but is always helpful to his class-mates and his professors.
about them and spend considerable time just looking atthem. They were commissioned for the Four Seasonsrestaurant in the Seagram building in New York City.Visit the restaurant, on 53rd St. and Park Avenue, after you see the play, ignore the steep prices on the menu,and try to imagine the painting you saw on stage in thatsetting. If your sensibilities are like my own, you wouldunderstand that they just don't fit into those surround-
ings. The color of the wood on the walls is wrong, thebright lighting is wrong, the proportions of the murals arewrong, and the seriousness of the work is wrong for thatsetting. Perhaps Greenberg thought they would look"disastrous" there, in that setting. Or perhaps he ques-tioned the nature of the commission. Maybe Rothko pre-ferred losing the commission to losing his reputation. Iunderstand they are presently much admired in a specialsetting at the Tate Modern in London.
Rothko's work will no doubt be questioned by everynew generation. Red and John Logan do it now, again,so many years after Rothko's suicide in 1970.
We need volunteers to help continue the survival of our ASCA Newsletter. We welcome art-relatedarticles, reviews of exhibitions and your upcom-
Have you seen the John Logan play about Rothko at theGolden Theatre? The first opportunity I had, I ran
down to the theater to purchase a $25 ticket for a seat near the roof, arrived five minutes before curtain time, did notfind an elevator, but made it to my seat breathlessly. Actu-ally, the play was already in progress or the lights were onand the audience aimlessly chatted. Alfred Molina, whoplays Rothko, sitting on stage with his back to the audi-ence, was studying a painting hanging against a spatteredwall-easel at the center of the stage. It seemed to be pre-dominantly cadmium red deep and ivory black, hence thetitle of the play, Red.
It was a great show. Rothko and his assistant, played byEddie Redmayne, always were aware of the presence of the paintings. They treated them with considerably morerespect than they gave each other. They stretched, sized,painted, trimmed off and nailed canvas. At one point theythrew themselves at a huge canvas, and together within thespace of less than three minutes, with the help of brushesand rags, entirely covered the canvas without once stop-ping to stand back and look at their work. Oh, the magic of the theater!
This was not a play about painting techniques. Early on,Rothko makes it clear that a painting that lives must have acreative artist who not only understands his culture andcultural history, but must be able to relate the ideas of theMasters to each other and to his own work. He refers toNietzsche's Birth of Tragedy , the Dionysian Jackson Pol-lock and questions his own Apollonian stance. He regards
Picasso as a genius, but saves his greatest accolades for Manet, who understood darkness. Spiritually, Rothko feltcloser to Manet, who joined with those Frenchmen whofought on the barricades of the time. Certainly, Rothko wasa champion of his work and sharply withstood the criticswho belittled him as a charlatan. He also had and still hasendless admirers. The play's author speaks mostly of Rothko's motivating feelings. He sees him as an idealistand not a materialist.
Still, there have been artists who have questionedRothko's skills; after all, some of his art studies were limitedto barely 6 months with Max Weber at the Art StudentsLeague. His Yale college training had been in science.
Many artists considered him self-taught. Clement Green-berg, the renowned Abstract-Expressionist critic, in the Oc-tober 1962 issue of Art International , refers to Rothko's"disastrous Seagrams' murals." At the Eighth Street Club,the almost exclusively male abstract Expressionist debatingsociety of his time, where every idea was challenged,Rothko defended his views. But it would be difficult for any-one who has seen Red, to leave the theater without re-newed admiration for Rothko. The paintings in the play areactually mute actors. They interact with the two protago-nists, who move them about, scrub paint over them, talk
“RED” - A Broadway Play AboutMark Rothko
Sculpture, continued from page 1
it and always referring me to someone else. It is nowone year, and I consider myself being stonewalled andhave written and telephoned the newly elected West-chester County Atty. Robert Meehan. After threemonths, he eventually returned my calls. He investi-gated the situation and wrote me stating "following adiligent search, no records have been found to confirmthe sculpture's removal from its site, and the sculpturehas not been found." The situation is now in the handsof my lawyer.
Everywhere, artists are asked in good faith to contrib-ute their work on loan for the benefit of the communityor to beautify our public places to benefit society. Art-
ists are seldom paid for these loans. I was not. Monu-mental sculpture on loan is expected to be cared for,while away from the artist's protection, by the munici-pality or institution making the request. To have the artremoved without informing the artist of the intent to re-move it, all without thought of the responsibility to theartist by the County of Westchester, is the worst viola-tion of this commitment. It is a serious crisis of confi-dence, not only to myself, but to all artists.
Its outcome will now be watched closely by art com-munities and artists before considering negotiating fu-ture art loans.
closer to the condition of music-inarguably the most ab-stract art form as well as the theme of her present exhibi-tion. This is just as clear in a painting such as her acrylicon canvas "Vivaldi, The Four Seasons-Summer," whereorganic traces of floral forms and swirling foliage can bestill discerned within the vigorous painterly pyrotechnics,as it is in "Sunset #8," with its much more Minimalistcomposition and burnished golden hues. For, as in the
case of Turner, nature-whether it takes the form of theroiling energies that underlie all that grows or the impas-sive stoicism of a horizon line-invariably informs deEchevarria's compositions, much as it informed those of the great musical composers from whom she takes inspi-ration in the present exhibition.
Indeed, the sense of the natural world is a constantpresence and inspiration, however codified by gesture or geometry, is what distinguishes de Echevarria's paintingsfrom those of her worthy predecessor Mark Rothko, towhom she is certain to be likened by some for both thestateliness of her most stringently geometrical composi-tions and the rarefied sense of color-as-light that her
canvases unfailingly emit.Indeed it is the pure chromatic intensity radiating fromher paintings, above all else, then imbues them with aspiritual resonance which transcends the anecdotal toachieve abstract autonomy, even in a composition suchas "Debussy, Le Mer #2," with its muscularly cursivestrokes of ultramarine blue and white evoking rhythmicnocturnal waves and curling sea foam illuminated bymoonlight. For a while this painting is clearly derivedfrom nature its primary impact is abstract.
The opposite might be said of "Mahler, Resurrection#1," in which it could initially appear that there is no os-tensible subject, until one considers the illusions to a cru-ciform in the stark rectangular frontality of its composi-
tion. Yet the smoky ochre hues with light streamingthrough in the top portion of the evocative work in acrylicand oil on canvas simultaneously suggest the ultimaterelease from the suffering of earthly existence and thehope for renewal in the afterlife that inspired Mahler'smost transcendent symphony.
Perhaps the most magnificent evidence of the giantstep that Maria de Echevarria has taken in her presentexhibition can be seen in the three major canvases, eachmeasuring 60 x 48", that share one large wall in the gal-lery. Although they were obviously not conceived as atriptych , given that "Winter" is composed in a palette of cool, grayed-down monochromes contained within hori-
zontal stripes, while "Source" and "Beach" both presentmuch more vibrant hues within similarly austere formats,all three paintings work wonderfully in concert. At thesame time, their themes are diverse, encompassing, re-spectively, a season, a mystical state of origin, and anelement of Marinescape. Indeed, Maria de Echevarria'sability to build such subtle diversity upon such a solidformal armature represents a giant step in the ongoingadventure of her artistic trajectory.
Painter Maria de Echevarria’sMusical Leap Forward
By J. Sanders Eaton-Gallery and Studio Magazine
I
t is incumbent upon any ambitious artist to evolve,whether in cau-
tious steps of greatleaps forward, inorder to make pro-gress and remainrelevant. For thewidely exhibited Ar-gentinean artistMaria de Echevarria,who divides her timebetween studios inNew York and NewMexico, the mostrecent breakthrough
came with a decisionto consciously sur-render to the classical music that constantly plays in her studio. Vivaldi, Debussy, Mahler-and at least in onework, Bossa Nova!-Became conduits to the Sublime in arecent exhibition "The Colors of Music" at the gallery of the Consulate General of Argentina, 12 W. 56th Street.
Anyone who has followed de Echevarria's career over the past decade or so knows that her paintings have al-ways possessed a strong spiritual component. As re-cently as 2003, at Gallery 2/20, 220 W. 16th Street, andin 2004 in the same venue as the present show, she ex-hibited paintings in which ethereal figures was seen
within atmospheric metaphysical landscapes. In a previ-ous review, the writer made clear that these "beings of light" appeared in some, but not all, of de Echevarria'scanvases. Now the spectral figures have vanished alto-gether from the latest series and, perhaps somewhatsurprisingly (since they were certainly mysterious), their absence proves to be no deficit.
For it would appear that de Echevarria no longer re-quires such figurative props, neither to serve as spiritualsymbols or spatial markers to enhance the sense of avast environment that invariably comes across in her canvases, nor to increase the drama therein. And al-though they once seemed integral to her overall artisticproject (particularly in "Encounter," one of this writer'spersonal favorites among her early paintings), she hasactually broadened her horizons by doing away withthem, much as the British master J. M. W. Turner didwhen he eliminated the little wave-tossed ships thatcould seem like small, finicky decals stuck onto his tu-multuous seascapes, thus advancing his paintings atleast a century forward to become precursors of AbstractExpressionism.
Similarly, de Echevarria's elimination of such specificfigurative references now propels the compositionsheadlong into a realm of pure abstraction, bringing them
T his article originally appeared in the “Focus on the Arts” section of the Yonkers Record, October 6,
1966. It was also reprinted for the Artists Equity Asso-ciation of New York, Inc. Although the individuals cited inthe article are no longer active in government etc., the
law is still relevant to the arts today.
For many months, prior to the passage of the new artlegislation, a series of fact-finding sessions to determinethe problems of the art world were taking place. Spear-heading the investigations was Attorney General Louis J.Lefkowitz, whose hearings resulted in the formulation of three bills. They were drawn up with the help of SpecialAssistant Attorney General Joseph Rothman, who hashad more than a casual interest in the problems of theartist since he is also a serious painter, and with the sug-gestions and advice of a specially appointed AdvisoryCommittee. The committee of 30 was made up of artists,lawyers, museum directors, and representatives of theArt Dealers Association, and Artists Equity Association of New York, the only invited art organization representingartists. Hy Cohen, AEA's president attended all ses-sions. It became the duty of this committee to assist Mr.Lefkowitz's office in an analysis and appraisal of the tes-timony given at the public hearings which dealt primarilywith "Art Frauds." Discussions were held concerningmeans to protect the buyer of art against fraud and for-gery and to ensure the interests of the practicing artist inhis relationship with dealers and with others who might
exploit his labors without adequate compensation.Most interesting of the four preliminary sessions were
the third and fourth. At the third, artists were given thefloor and a host of illustrious names in the art world par-ticipated: Gottlieb, Rivers, Lipchitz, Reinhardt, Stamosand many others. These were some of the recommen-dations: Legislation against reproduction of art in anyform without permission of the artist-and conversely-noreproduction without reimbursement. Supervision andcontrol of foundries to prevent unauthorized recasting of sculptures. A major educational campaign to assist thepublic in recognizing repros, recasts, etc. Relief from pre-sent government methods of taxing artists' estates. All
agreed on artists' continuing rights to a work of art and of the need for government aid to art and artists. Most con-troversial were their discussions concerning a need for acode spelling proper artist-dealer contracts and dealer-customer practices. Attorney Joshua B. Kahn David fa-vored written receipts to customers, verifying oral claims.All agreed "experts" needed immunity. In the fourth andfinal session of February, which turned out to be a galaevent, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller made a special appear
See Art and The Law page 5
Award, continued from page 1
It was my pleasure to present the award.
Malcolmlives in Ards-ley, New Yorkand has exhib-ited at Pur-chase College
and throughoutWestchester County. Heworks primarilyin bronze andsteel. “Mysculptures,"says MacDou-gall, "represent the infinite in terms of time and space.
Like a chair of molecules, mypieces can be made in end-less length. But because of the restrictions in the real
world, I need to bring them toa conclusion, just as onechooses to bring a sentenceto a close.
There is an irony in mywork, as it is a large-scalelook into a microscopic world.I am inspired by crystals andother microscopic organicforms and am fascinated withthe elements of the naturalenvironment that go unno-ticed because of their size,”he says. The amalgamationof forms is a continuing theme throughout his work
that produces a framework for growth and expansion.
ART… AND THE LAW
Parallel Worlds of Truth and IllusionBronze and Welded Steel 38”x14”x30”
Contemplation of a Microscopic LandscapeWelded Steel 24' x 9' x 11'
Eternal Conflicts of GrowthWelded Steel 60”x60”x90
-ance and promised prompt action when and if bills werepresented to him for signature. A special feature was thepresence of several French art experts, curators, lawyersand dealers who gave evidence on French law as it per-tains to the protection of artists' rights. Atty. Gen. Lefko-witz was the interrogator, and did most of the questioningassisted by Joseph Rothman. The answers were to the
point and often amusing.The French experts were: Mme. Madeline Hours, Cu-rator of the Louvre Museum, M. Robert Lebel, Presidentof the Chambre des Experts, and M. Roger Hauert, At-torney. The following interesting facts came to light: alaw, affecting the artist in France was passed in March1957, which gives the artist a moral and economic rightto his work. This is automatic and his work is automati-cally copyrighted. The "moral right," means that he is,during his lifetime, the expert who decides whether thework is by him, that he owns reproduction rights, that hispainting may not be changed, cut up, mutilated, etc. after it is sold. The moral right is passed on to the widow or toone of the artist's heirs for a period of thirty years. Thereproduction right is absolute. Whether the reproductionis part of a book, article, or for commercial purposes, theartist must be consulted.
Denies PaintingThere have been some strange consequences of the
"moral right." Vlaminck, at the age of 80, was asked toauthenticate a painting he had done when he was 20.He denied he had painted it. Another French artist whohad an exclusive contract with the dealer, denied that hehad painted a picture which she had sold privately in or-der to protect his relationship with his dealer. In spite of some abuses, the French experts said that the law
worked very well.Since the hearings were initiated to protect the public
from Fakes and Frauds, considerable time and discus-sion was devoted to the subject, complicated as it was.The fake was defined as "a work of art made to deceive."It was said that the Bill of Sale from a reputable art gal-lery was the legal equivalent of a certificate of authentic-ity. An expert in France who is asked by the Courts of Justice to testify is immune from the law suits. The other experts are immune unless malice, conflict of interest,etc. can be proven. The most familiar item in French lawis a 3% tax on auction sales and on resale of works of artwhich has, up to now, gone to the artist. Many American
artists whose work has gone way up in price when resoldlooked with envy at the French artists who collected 3%of each resale of his work. Unfortunately, it was reportedthat this is coming to an end in France. It was discov-ered that one of the few groups not receiving Social Se-curity was the artist. The 3% will not go into a SocialSecurity Fund and efforts will be made to get 3% of olddealer sales, as well.
From the results of the appraisal of all this testimony,three new bills were drawn up, the bills became amend-ments to the General Business Law of New York State.
They were introduced in the state Senate by Sen. Whit-ney North Seymour and in the State Assembly by As-semblyman S. William Green. These are the bills:
1) Representations & Warranties... which saysthat identification of a work of art in an invoice or billof sale is deemed a warranty of its genuineness.2) Reproduction Rights... up to now the courts
have ruled that when a work of art is sold, the rightto reproduce it is automatically part of the sale. Thisbill separates the reproduction rights from the artobject and reserves the reproduction rights to theartist. Whenever a work of art is sold, the right toreproduce it now legally belongs to the artist whocan transfer it, or license it, or give it. It is now his/hers and his/hers heirs' until it passes into the publicdomain.3) Artist-Dealer Relationship... there are two partsof this bill. Part One defined what is meant by "onconsignment" and declared that it was unlawful (alarceny) for the consignee (dealer) to withhold art
works held on consignment.
Refuse ProsecutionThis clarifies the relationship between the artist and
his dealer with respect to works of art. The D.A. of NewYork County has consistently refused to prosecute deal-ers because his office did not feel that the agency rela-tionship was legally clearly defined. This bill clears upthis point once and for all and arms the D.A.s with aclear-cut law enabling them to prosecute dealers whoabuse the trust. It was with Part Two of this bill that thedifficulties arose. This provided that when a work is sold,the artist's share of the sale was to be put in trust andpayable on demand. It was discovered that tax difficul-
ties arose, jeopardizing the interests of artists for whoseprotection the bill was primarily drawn. It was finallyagreed by all parties concerned to eliminate the trust pro-visions for further study in the interest of salvaging for this legislative session Part One of the bill.
These bills were passed and signed and became ef-fective September 1, 1966. It took many people muchwork to create and pass them. Those most intimatelyinvolved with its inception and passage spoke at a meet-ing open to all artists called "Law and the Artist" held Oc-tober 19, 1966.
We need volunteers to help continue the sur-vival of our ASCA Newsletter. We welcomeart-related articles, reviews of exhibitions
The ASCA ART GALLERY presents examples of artby ASCA members selected from the Gallery Album.
Please send photos of your recent work, and if space
permits, they may be included in upcoming editions of the Newsletter. Remember to include your name, the titleof your work, the medium, and an arrow showing whichside is UP. Mail your photos to Hank Rondina, 209 Lin-coln Place, Eastchester, New York 10709, or e-mail your
was remarkably large and powerful. His loose fittingslacks and shirt flowed in rhythm to his gray hair whenhe walked, barefooted in thick leather sandals. I offereda few words of explanation as he swiftly move towardsMrs. Hofmann.
As he softly spoke to his wife, solicitous and con-cerned, I realized I was no longer needed and left. Marie(Miz) Hofmann had fractured three vertebrae in her fall.
Later, I learned that Hofmann found confirmation of hisideas of the nature of the universe in the ebb and flow of the ocean tide. This dialectic of nature he called "pushand pull." The dynamism of life was reflected in histeaching and his art. Without "push and pull" art wouldbe static, lifeless. Art reflected life if not always drawnfrom it. Though Jackson Pollock rejected Hofmann'sadvice to work from life, he saw himself as a life force.Certainly the nature of life was expressed through thedynamic work of both artists.
Mrs. Hofmann moved silently within Hofmann's space.Students treated her with respect and acknowledged theimportance of her presence in Hofmann's life. She knew
when he had to be alone, to work or to wind down fromthe day of teaching. He needed time to think his ownthoughts, untroubled by his energetic students. He wasobviously committed to teaching and much loved by hisstudents. Some felt his serious dedication to studentssapped his creative energies so that his own creativedevelopment didn't follow the kind of smooth path thatmore self-centered artists had. Curators and critics wholooked for a signature style were often disappointed.Market acceptance came late. Mrs. Hofmann shared hisfate.
The following is an example of Olga's work that illus- trates the principle of "Push and Pull" as presented
by Hans Hofmann to students.
The strong downward off-center thrust of the diago-nal American Elm tree sets in active motion compo-sitional forces of " push and pull" that define the lifeforce of this work. The principle of "push and pull" is not limited to Cubism or Abstract Expressionism.
OLGA KITT“HANS HOFMANN’S LESSONS”
By Olga Kitt
Olga is currently writing a book entitled“Hans Hofmann’s Lessons,” which is scheduled to be pub-lished by the Art Department of Bronx Community College.
The previous chapter appeared in the Summer 2008 issue of this newsletter. The following is a second chapter from Olga
Kitt's "Hans Hofmann’s Lessons."
Hofmann in Provincetown
The sun had lost its heat by the time I arrived at Hof-mann's house in Provincetown one June day in
1954. The sky was turning pink and I could smell theincoming sea mist on the warm breeze. All was quiet.
I had been very critical of the art instruction I enjoyedin colleges where I received my degrees, probably unjus-tifiably so. Many of my professors were nationally recog-
nized. While speaking other graduates of New York'sHigh School of Music and Art, I discovered they too hadbeen looking for a knowledgeable artist who could accel-erate their artistic development. All those who had stud-ied with Hans Hofmann raved about him. It was their recommendations that brought me to his summer homeon Commercial Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
The door to his traditional Cape Cod house was ajar.No one answered my knock.
"Hello," I called as I pushed the door open . " Anyonehome?"
" Please, come in," a soft, distant voice replied. At theback of the house a small electric light bulb barely illumi-
nated the first floor. Around me were Hofmann's strongbright paintings. Primary colors echoed in the Victorianfurniture painted by Mrs. Hoffmann and structurallyplaced in front of his monumental paintings. The head-board of the simple wooden full bed rested against awhite wall. Underneath the bright red wool blanket, Ca-nadian Hudson Bay, lay Mrs. Hofmann, pale and rigid.She had been an art student but later her garden re-placed her canvas. Light hair, light eyes, light skin, frailthin body but inner strength.
" Come in." " I registered for June classes at the Hof-mann School, but I am afraid I may have arrived too latein the day." Such was my clumsy reply.
" Hans is not in now. Each day he goes to the beach
at this time to watch the tide change and the sunset."" Are you all right?" I asked. Her voice was faint and
she barely move."No."" Can I help you?" "Hans will be home soon. He'll be surprised to see me
this way. I fell down the narrow stairs at the back of thehouse. Could you stay until he arrives?"
We waited quietly, exchanging a few words. The sunhad almost set when Hofmann arrived. As he stood inthe open doorway he seemed to fill the entire space. He
During my early years I studied fine and applied artprivately under the tutelage of an artist who was theproduct of the then innovative Bauhaus School.
World War II ended my art education until I enteredAlfred University where I studied General and CeramicArt. Subsequently I continued working as a textile andwall paper designer while contributing my skills to chari-table organizations.
Upon moving to New York I studied stone and woodsculpture at the Sculpture Center.Although I have taken drawing lessons at the Art Stu-dents League and Greenwich House and have spentinnumerable hours in museums, I am, basically, self-
taught.I have exhibited my work in New York, New Jersey andConnecticut.
The Philosopher's ZoneAlan Saunders , ABC Radio National 4 March 2006
The following is an interview conducted by Alan Saun-ders of ABC Radio National. His guest is Arthur C.
Danto, Johnsonian Professor Emeritus Philosophy,Columbia University. He is best known for his contri-
butions to the philosophy of art and aesthetics.
I t's in a gallery, it's carrying a heavy price tag, but is itart? And how can we know that it's art when it looks
suspiciously like a Campbell's soup can or the artist'sown unmade bed? Arthur C. Danto, one of the most sig-nificant philosophers in the English-speaking world, hasevolved a theory of what art is and how we can know itwhen we see it. Moreover, his theory has turned out tobe a powerful tool for analysing the history of philosophy,too. According to Danto, philosophy becomes necessary
when the need arises to distinguish between two indis-cernibles: is it real life or is it a dream? is it cause andeffect or just one damn thing after another? Is it a Brillobox or is it art?
Alan Saunders: Hello, I'm Alan Saunders and onABC Radio National this is The Philosopher's Zone .Well, if you were just l istening to All in the Mind , youmight have some idea now of what makes a 'creativebrain', but what about the products of all that creativity?How do you know it when you see it, or rather, how doyou know that what you are seeing is one form of creativ-ity - let's call it art - rather than another, which we can
call craft.In other words: it's in a gallery, it's carrying a heavy
price tag, but is it art? And how can we know that it's artwhen it looks suspiciously like a Campbell's soup can or the artist's own unmade bed?
I'm devoting the whole of this week's program to aconversation with Arthur C. Danto, Emeritus JohnsonianProfessor of Philosophy at Columbia University, and oneof the most significant philosophers in the English-speaking world, who has evolved an elaborate theory of what art is, and how we can know it when we see it. Andit all came about in the sixties when he saw some fac-simile Brillo cartons, displayed as art by Andy Warhol.
Arthur C. Danto: That's right. To be a l ittle bit moreexact, there were several different kinds of commercialshipping cartons that he had facsimiles of. There were, Ithink, about eight different kinds of cartons: there wereKellog's cornflakes, Pine's ketchup, Campbell's tomatosoup, but the Brillo box was clearly the star of the show,it's the one that everybody basically remembers. Theywere all piled up, so you made a turn off the lobby in avery upscale town house on the East side of Manhattan,and it was like you were walking into the stock room of aincongruity of the situation to let you know that you were
See Danto page 10
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in an art gallery. That was called the Stable Gallery.Alan Saunders: So here we have facsimiles of com-
monplace objects being displayed as works of art. This isnot entirely new, because of course at the beginning of the century Marcel Duchamps had used genuine com-monplace objects as works of art; like a urinal, hadn'the?
Arthur C. Danto: Well, that's right. In 1917, he madean effort to - he wasn't entirely commonplace because hesplashed signature on it and so forth, but basically that isright. But I think Duchamps came from a very differentkind of background and movement in art than Warholdid. Duchamps was part of a Dada movement which wasout in a way, to make fun of the pretensions of fine art,and Duchamp was polemical in attacking the celebratedartist's eye and the artist's hand. And so he was inter-ested in finding objects that he was prepared to consider works of art which were manufactured, so that there wasno hand involved, and pretty commonplace, so that therewould be nothing aesthetically distinguished about them,and in most cases probably nobody, unless they weredeeply involved with research, would know who evendesigned them, and so forth. Like the urinal he pur-chased out of a plumbing supply shop in downtown NewYork. Whereas Warhol came from the pop movement,which was gaining steam by 1964, and I think that theywere involved in something parallel. They were involvedin demoting the pretensions of high art, but they wereinterested in the celebration of vernacular culture youmight say: advertising logos, comic strip panels, thingsthat everybody would be entirely familiar with. But a lot of these things had a certain aesthetic distinction, whereasDuchamp was mainly interested in objects which had noaesthetic distinction whatsoever. And I think that the
other thing is that in the context, in New York City, thehistory of art had just gone through a period in whichpeople took high art very seriously. This was the abstractexpressionist movement, the artists were quite preparedto regard themselves as shamans, as metaphysicians, intouch with the deepest currents of the universe, and theartists like Lichtenstein and to some degree, Warhol,were out to deflate those attitudes, and to think that itwas probably just as difficult to draw Mickey Mouse as todraw something that, I don't know, William de Koenig or one of the other high-flying abstract expressionist paint-ers would draw. So it was a very different set of polem-ics.
Duchamp was against high art “because” and theDada movement thought that it was the art that was cele-brated and revered by the classes that made World War I an actuality in which millions and millions of very finepeople were killed. And in a way it was a punitive move-ment. It was out to disgrace the kind of art in which theruling classes believed, and a decision on the artist's partto act like buffoons rather than wise persons, whereas inNew York in '64 it was a very different situation. I don'tthink that the artists in the pop movement were out par-ticularly to punish anybody but they certainly were in-
volved in deflating, the ironising really, the pretensions atleast of abstract expression. So that there are the out-ward similarities, but very different artistic impulses andvery different, what one might call art historical explana-tions of the two bodies of work.
Alan Saunders: OK, well returning then to the Brillopads, here we have these facsimile Brillo pad cartons,which are, as far as appearance goes, indiscernible from
the real thing, and this brings us to what is known asyour method of indiscernibles. Now this seems to me tobe a very profitable approach, not just to art but to thehistory of philosophy. So can you tell us what it is?
Arthur C. Danto: Well, what I had in mind was; therewas a photograph of Andy posed in front of Brillo boxesby a man named Fred McDarrah and he looked like apasty-faced stockroom clerk in front of a box of shippingcartons. You couldn't have told from the photograph thatthese were anything except shipping cartons, becauseuntil 1964 nobody saw them as anything else, and whatWarhol had done had been to duplicate them. Now myinterest in this show, and as you said, I've been thinking
about it, started thinking about it a long time ago; butyou've got two objects, which are to all outward appear-ances, indiscernible, they look exactly alike, but one is apiece of avant-garde art, and the other one is just a utili-tarian container. And I thought, Well that raises the ques-tion of what is art in a very different form than has ever been raised before. Before, people would just askblankly, What is art? What Warhol did was to put it in adifferent way. How, if you have two objects which lookexactly alike, are, as I put it, indiscernibles, one being awork of art and the other one not, what's the difference?And it seemed to me that the difference has to be invisi-ble. You can't tell really the difference between one artand the ordinary object just by looking. And then some-
body said, 'Well there's a difference, I mean, Warhol'sboxes are made out of wood, the Brillo cartons are madeout of corrugated cardboard', and I said, 'You mean totell me that the difference between art and reality is thedifference between wood and cardboard and so forth?That can't be the answer.'
Philosophers have been pecking away at the questionof art for 2500 years. I mean the history of philosophybasically begins with that discussion in Plato. So it'sbeen regarded of some importance to mark the differ-ence between art and reality, but nobody had ever comeacross anything where art and reality were so indiscerni-ble that you realised that you were going to have to do
some serious thinking to try and make the difference,and make the difference count. That was the method thatI was working with, and I thought that it had the character of any classical philosophical question where you've gottwo things that can't be told apart, but they're momen-tously different. Like in the beginning of Descartes' Medi-tations, Descartes says, 'Well what better evidence can Ihave for what the senses provide me with?' And then hesays, 'Well that would be true if only I knew I was sens-ing, because as a matter of fact, I dreamt that I was hav-ing certain experiences and the dreams were very vivid,
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and I would have had no idea that there was nothing infront of me, nothing being perceived until I woke up, andrealised that I'd been dreaming'.
So, the difference between dream experience andwaking experience is momentous, but there's no way of telling one from the other until something happens andyou wake up, for example, and even then you've got aserious problem. So, I tried to show that all classical phi-
losophical questions are like that; that you've got a differ-ence which is un-empirical; you can't tell the difference,and yet the difference is momentous in a certain way,and that's what got me going. I think that my positivisticteachers felt that philosophy should be like science and itshould all be a matter of observation and verification asto whether something goes this way or that. But Ithought, all genuine philosophical distinctions are invisi-ble in that kind of way.
So as a philosopher of art as I started out to be, I had-n't taken myself to be that until these very exciting daysin the sixties, then I really saw this as an exciting ques-tion. But all of a sudden there was a problem and after
that, I tried to say what the problem could have been. For example, when I began to look for a definition, I began tothink that one way of thinking about a work of art is thatit's got some kind of content; it's about something. Aboutthe Brillo box: I know what the content of a Brillo box is,it's virtually what the Brillo box contains; it's about Brillo,and you look at the outer decoration of the surfaces of the Brillo box and you discover that it really is a piece of brilliant rhetoric proclaiming the virtues of Brillo. But if Itried to say what his work was about, I might say, Well,it's about the Brillo box. The Brillo box is about Brillo, buthis work was about the Brillo box, it had a differentmeaning. Maybe why he was doing something like mak-ing a facsimile of a Brillo box was because he was cele-
brating commercial culture, celebrating everyday life,celebrating the commonsense world, or just celebrating,the way a boy who came from a very poor family cele-brating these delicious things that are available, likecanned soups and so forth. Whatever was in Warhol'smind, and for that one would have to do a certain amountof digging.
So it doesn't wear its meaning on its face the way theBrillo carton wears its meaning on its face. That was akind of beginning. And I poked along until I could find, asphilosophers have done since Plato, a set of necessaryconditions for something to be an art work. This was in amuch later book, The Transfiguration of the Common-
place.Alan Saunders: In his book, The Transfiguration of theCommonplace, Arthur Danto illustrates these issues byway of Pierre Menard: Author of The Quixote, a shortstory by the Argentinean writer, Jorge Luis Borges.Menard is an early 20th century French writer who de-cides to rewrite a 16th century Spanish masterpiece, theDon Quixote of Miguel Cervantes.
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Yanka Cantor, J. Sanders Eaton Gallery and Studio,Harriet FeBland, Olga Kitt, Hank Rondina, The Philosopher'sZone , Alan Saunders , ABC Radio National, Bobby Schiller,
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Marcia Bernstein—.exhibiting 2 pieces in "Art FromDetritus: Recycling With Imagination", Purelight Gallery,Turners Falls, Mass. May 21-July 2010..Elinore Bucholtz- The Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Art has acquired two paintings that will remain intheir permanent collection-ALSO- at the Red BrickGallery 315 E. Main St. Ventura, California July 26 - Aug.30 & Oct. 11 - Nov. 22 Jeremy Comins-- "Climbers" June 10-July 17, 2010 atDenise Bibro Fine Art, 529 W. 20th St. 4W., Reception:June 10, 6-8 PM. (see newsletter gallery)María de Echevarría-- Eldorado Studio Tour (15th and16th of this month). I'm presenting 40 works in my home-studio. There will be 83 studios open to the public and117 artists participating. I enjoy this annual tour Judith de Zanger - will exhibit four of her sculptures atthe Sackets Harbor Art Association in Upstate, NY June12th until October-ALSO- She will be teaching two
workshops there on July 21 and August 24th on "GettingStoned: The Tao of Sculpting"-ALSO- teaching a five daySculpting Class, "A Dialogue with Stone", at PetersValley Craft Center in Layton, NJ from July 9th - 13th-ALSO- teaching a four course workshop, called theMichelangelo Club, during the summer in the HendersonFree Library focusing on the process of doing art usingdrawing, collage, sculpting and writing. -ALSO- Andreand Judy de Zanger 212.289.8856 The NEXT IDEA Creativity Conference inthe Berkshire Mountains Oct 22-24, 2010www.CreativityInstitute.net for details -ALSO- Sculpturesat www.flickr.com/photos/taosculpting-ALSO- PodCast
interview on "TRIZ and INVENTIUM"(Creativity CardGame) at www.biztechtalk.com/2006/11/inventium_insta.html Get "WOW IDEAS" (Videos,Lectures and Articles) at www.CreativityInstitute.netHarriet FeBland-- Exhibiting at Grounds for SculptureMuseum, Hamilton, N. J., Seward Johnson Center For the Arts, special exhibition Jan.-Dec. 2010-ALSO-“TheMany Faces of Eve” various woodcuts celebrating women’s history month, Perth Amboy GalleryPerth Amboy, N.J March 8 – April 30.-ALSO- InvitationalExhibition of Small Works wall-relief, New Arts ProgramLehigh Valley and Berks, PA May 28 –July 10 -ALSO-
“9th Lessedra World Art monotype Print Annual 2010,Lessedra GallerySofia, Bulgaria June 9th –August 28-ALSO-“ Boxheart Gal-lery Pittsburgh, PA. "The 9th Annual Arts International"Jan. 2010--ALSO-Perth Amboy Gallery Perth Amboy, NJ.,Mar. 8th-Apr. 30Janet Indick- Exhibited at in the 121st National Associationof Women Artists Annual Exhibition at
The National Arts Club, NYC 15 Gramercy Park South (20th
Street, Off Park Ave) June 9 th – 27th
-ALSO-Showing at American Medallic Sculpture Asso-ciation Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA, August 10through August 15, 2010-ALSO- at The Federation Inter-national de la Medaille, Exhibit at the Finland MuseumJune 2010 (see gallery)
Rose Sigal Ibsen--Exhibiting at the National Association of Women Artists 121st Annual Exhibition, June 9-27 at TheNational Arts Club 15 Gramercy Park South New York City,Reception: June 17, 6-8 PMBasha Maryanska and Lea Weinberg- "Imaginary Implica-tions" N.A.W.A. GALLERY -80 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1405,
NYC ASCA WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS YANKA CANTOR, BILL JEFFERSON, RICHARD KARP,
