A Modern Influence

"This exhibition explores the 43-year friendship between artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and Baltimore collector Etta Cone (1870-1949). More than 160 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and illustrated books provide new insights into the formation of the renowned Cone Collection, one of the greatest collections of modern art in the United States. Etta, with her older sister Claribel (1864-1929), acquired more than 700 works by Matisse between 1906 and 1949 and bequeathed the majority of them to the BMA as part of a gift of 3,000 objects. Etta's dedication and curiosity ultimately lent the Cone collection its characteristic depth and breadth. After accepting Etta's invitation to visit her in Baltimore in 1930, Matisse realized he could have a major U.S. presence, and began creating and offering Etta specific works of art with the Cone collection in mind." Among these works are masterpieces such as The Yellow Dress (1929-31) and Large Reclining Nude (1935), rarely shown drawings, and the preliminary studies for his first illustrated book, Poems by Stéphane Mallarmé (1932). The works in the exhibition are generally arranged by acquisition date, demonstrating Cone's increasingly discerning eye for Matisse's work throughout their long partnership. A fully illustrated catalog accompanying the exhibition contains new scholarship on the formal, technical, and social aspects of the decades-long working partnership between artist and patron.

This collection engages with questions of influence, a vexed and problematic concept whose intellectual history is both ancient and vast. It examines a range of texts written in French, sometimes in dialogue with visual/musical works, drawn mainly from the eighteenth century onwards. Connections are made with related work in a range of disciplines.

Salamensky investigates Oscar Wilde, his contemporaries, and the public frenzy over his work and life as illustrating the crucial importance of performance in the construction of the 'modern' and our own, postmodern, lives.

This gorgeous volume celebrates the creative eye and inspiration of the man who, through his art, photography, design, magazine work, and social life, influenced and changed our visual culture. This visually rich volume presents, for the first time side by side, the commercial work and artwork of Alexander Liberman. Liberman was not only one of the world’s most powerful editorial art directors, he was also a respected photographer, artist, and graphic designer. His personal exploration and relationships through these mediums shaped his own artistic vision that would alter the relationship of art, design, and fashion forever. In the early ’40s, he became art director of Vogue, and then editorial director for Condé Nast Publications from 1960 to 1994. His transformation of Vogue from a stately publication to the bold and lively publication that it is today forever changed the way women and men viewed fashion and style. It’s Modern is a vibrant volume that pairs Liberman’s professional efforts with his personal artwork and design. This juxtaposition, along with personal archival photographs and texts, artworks, and photographs by iconic friends and collaborators, builds a complete portrait of a genius whose personal life and inspirations were as fascinating as his artwork. With works by Matisse, Beaton, Leibovitz, Newton, Ritts, Brassaï, Parks, Horst, Picasso, Avedon, and Penn, this engaging book is a must for lovers of fashion, art, magazines, graphic design, or photography.

Traces the life and often controversial career of the nineteenth-century painter.