Valentine's Day // Celebrate with heART!

February 14th celebrates love and connectedness. Like most holidays, Valentine's Day  has become an opportunity to market and sell products, but it’s hard to ignore the day and the ads, when the sentiment it’s promoting is love and friendship.  In the visual realm, the holiday is about color; reds, pinks and fuchsias, and about shape; hearts, hearts and more hearts!

The spectrum of color symbolizes all that’s synonomous with Valentine’s Day. Red is about passion, love, desire and also energy, strength and power. Red is interesting, people love it…or they don’t. There are artists recognized for their strong use of color, particularly red. Abstract Expressionist Barnett Newman, known as a color field painter for his canvases of pure flat color that expressed his philosophies (not for this post), had numerous solid red paintings.  Vir Heroicus Sublimis, 1950-51, from his Zip Series, is in MOMA's permanent collection.

Also minimal, this photograph by Elisa Keogh captures the colors of a vibrant sunset, red contrasted with warm golds, from her Horizon series.

Anne Raymond's artwork has a strong focus on color. Clients and I  often gravitate towards her blue canvases, but for red-lovers, her paintings are very appealing. Cadmium pairs the color of the red dye itself with natural greens and golds for a strong but warm result.

Painter Xanda McCagg uses layers of color, texture and line in her work. Struck, covers this range of colors in a small canvas, 10.5"x8.5"

Shelli Breidenbach is known for her equestrian photography, which is featured in Ralph Lauren stores throughout the world. One of her series Red, is bold, she silhouettes the horses against strong colorful backgrounds to create a graphic image.

Pink, at the opposite end of the red spectrum is a softer color that also symbolizes love and romance, and in addition, caring and tenderness. Andrea Bonfils uses pinks with reds in her mixed media reference to Mark Rothko, Rothko Pink Window

The heart shape has been the symbol of love and emotion since the Middle Ages. The first recorded drawing of a heart was documented in 1250 and ever since, hearts have been and remain popular with artists and collectors. From subtle and abstract, Red February ll, in a series by  Raymond,

to fun and bold.  “Drippy Heart”, from Kerri Rosenthal, one of many in her successful heart series.

A peek at how one of Rosenthal's graphic hearts looks in a beautifully styled entry by her design firm, D2 Interieurs

Actress Drew Barrymore recently published a photography book devoted to her heart collection. "I have always loved hearts…the way that a continuous line accomplishes the most extraordinary thing--it conveys love." Her book Find It In Everything, contains the photos of heart-shaped objects and patterns she has come across in everyday life and photographed over the past ten years, from a bowl of cut tomatoes

to a random paper on the street

Contemporary artist, Jim Dine, is renowned for his heart-filled artwork, prints, paintings and sculptures. He combines the influence of Pop Art, with everyday objects and hearts. For Dine, the hearts function as a "sign that one can care, that there is a constant presence of feeling."  From a colorful print, Four Hearts, 1969

to the 12' Two Big Black Hearts, 1985

Valentine's Day is about feelings, and the day is drenched in warm colors; from pinks to strong reds, and visions of hearts everywhere to convey the feelings. I will overlook the ads and the commercial aspect of the holiday…because I like that it’s a day that speaks to the sentiments of friendship and love and connectedness.

And, I'll enjoy the chocolates that seem to be everywhere…Happy Valentine's Day!

Holiday Wishes // Black & Whites with a Golden Touch

The recent snowy days inspired this black, white and neutral palette. Looking outdoors, whether at the contrast between the fresh snow, and the bare trees or the city streets and lights, this feels like winter. The artworks on our holiday card are without color, whether oil painting, mixed media or photography, they are soft shades of white or the high contrast of classic black and white, touched with golden snowflakes! Anne Raymond's paintings are usually filled with strong color. Never Late has color, but in a very subtle way. Raymond captures the various whites of winter, complimented by warm and natural colors of nature.

A quiet painting is a departure for Xanda McCagg as well. Her canvases which use line and form as an abstract expression of larger experiences are usually strong and vibrant. In Touched, the subtle monochromatic shades of grays, whites and tans, with graphite lines, are just as layered as her more colorful work.

In Lightness, Andrea Bonfils layers encaustic wax to add more depth to her gestural underwater photograph, creating a floating and ethereal effect when contrasted against the dark ground.

A client hung a triptych of Bonfils underwater series to beautifully compliment a white living room by Heiberg Cummings Design.

In Africa, Stuart Zaro captured the natural graphic beauty of these zebras. Zaro’s intertwined Zebras No.2 , from his Game Blue Collection, are a reminder of the gentle and stunning beauty of nature.

The simplicity of black and white makes a statement. Kerri Rosenthal, a painter recognized for her bold and creative use of color, also does a strong collection of black and white works.

The contrast of the opposite colors provides an appealing tension, whether it’s in a photograph, painting, a room or fabric. Take a look through my Pinterest board for more black and white inspiration.

Surfer Girl, an iconic image from Bramasole Photography, by Christine Wexler captures the beach and summer at its best. On these wintry days, I love looking at Wexler’s beach photos - they capture carefree, warm summer daysHoliday calls for some sparkle and shine! The Swarovski Snowflake, the huge twinkling crystal above Fifth Avenue and 57th St. is a sparkling ornament with a purpose, “It’s a special symbol for the world's most vulnerable children. It hangs as a reminder of UNICEF’s commitment to reach a day when zero children die from preventable causes.”

Wishing you a very happy holiday and peace and good health in the New Year!

It’s a New (art) World // art & Amazon

"Amazon prides itself on disrupting the traditional way of doing things". This was Charlie Rose's introduction to his recent 60 Minutes interview with Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. The question many in the art world are asking is whether Amazon will disrupt the way business has traditionally been done in their industry.

 

dis·rupt  \dis-ˈrəpt\: to cause (something) to be unable to continue in the normal way : to interrupt the normal progress or activity of (something)

The fact that this question is being asked seems to tell the answer. Since the launch of Amazon Art in August there has been lots of conversation, pro and con as to whether the world's largest online retailer can be successful selling art.

Since its launch in August this year, Amazon Art quickly became the largest global art seller. According to a New York Times article, Art Collections a Click Away, they launched with “180 galleries worldwide on their site, offering for sale over 43,000 artworks from 4,500 artists…to  their 100 million customers in North America and 225 million customers worldwide.” Selling art in the same way they sell books and toothpaste presents the question of how it will be perceived, and whether it will be successful.

The NYTimes quoted Art Tactic, referencing their survey of galleries, they found that  “89% of those surveyed sold art online”. This is not new, it’s just being exploded on a large scale by Amazon.

Giving the Gift of Art, a recent Wall Street Journal article details the numerous art sellers offering art for this holiday season ranging from an $18.00 Andy Warhol soup can puzzle to an $18,000 Warhol screen print. On Amazon, there are Warhol's listed for up to 35 million dollars!Romanoff Elements evolved from an interest to make art more “accessible” - to create an ease for buying art and to bring art to where the customers are. Time is a valuable commodity, and many are not interested in spending theirs browsing galleries and art fairs. Even for those who love art, they may not choose to spend much time shopping for it. It makes sense. Shopping for art online doesn't take away from the galleries and fairs, in fact, it has the potential to create new art customers, and more possibilities for collectors.

Naysayers talk about the importance of seeing art in person, the relationship with the dealer and learning about the artist and artwork. All of this can be done with online conversation and discussion. Criticism is often focused at the highest end of the art market. Yet, according to Business Insider, “Out of some 40,000 items (listed on Amazon), including thousands of original works — 18,000 are under $1,000 and 29,000 are under $5,000”. The focus is not on the much discussed 1941 Norman Rockwell’s painting, “Willie Gillis: Package From Home”  listed for $4.85 million, rather on those items listed for under $5,000.

The question of how an artwork is represented by it’s photo is a good one. Can the color, depth and texture be fully appreciated on a two-dimensional screen? A part of Amazon’s disruptive behavior is to guarantee returns within 30 days. Individual galleries have varying policies regarding this, but the artwork can go back. This eliminates a lot of uncertainty.

The presentation of art on Amazon has been criticized for not being “upscale," not being  “refined” as it should be for the creative process of looking at and buying art. Business Insider addresses what it does right though, “The real upside of shopping on Amazon for art…is how user friendly it is: You can search by color, size, price, and even subject.” Other art sites, it claims, are not as, “inherently easy to navigate.”  Again,Amazon can apply its successful formula to yet another category.

When you browse through photography, you can select an image, the size of the image, and the matte and framing options

and you can see how the artwork will look to scale in a roomAmazon, a data-driven business entered online art selling because they established the growth potential among their customers. Bezos described their "consumer centricity… that they don't want to erode the (consumer) trust" to Rose in the December 1st interview. If anyone can be responsive and create a way to sell art online, Amazon will. They will respond to feedback, take their time and thoughtfully develop a way to serve their market.

They are working to ‘de-mystify’ the process. The dealers and galleries that have joined the site, sell their work elsewhere, but agree that Amazon can help reach many more (millions) of customers than they can through more traditional channels. Stephen Tanenbaum, Co-Founder of UGallery told Business Insider, "We sold a piece of art to Germany this morning and another one to California…As word starts to get out, I think people are giving it a shot."

Romanoff Elements is “giving it a shot” also. We look forward to the potential of attracting new buyers from throughout the world.  Please visit our gallery on Amazon Art, scroll through and experience this new (and disruptive) art shopping and buying experience.

Orange // & the Natural Beauty of Fall

It's been a spectacular fall, the weather and the colors of this season seem far more intense than in recent years. The natural beauty has been the topic of many conversations, Instagram pics and Facebook posts recently, so before it’s gone, I want to share some thoughts on the colors, and the beauty of autumn. Artist Andrea Bonfils captures the season's colors and texture in a combination of oil and encaustic wax. Falling Leaves, from her Nature in Wax Collection,

Orange is the color mostly associated with fall, mixed with the many hues of yellows, to golds to browns. A recent Sunday morning walk revealed all of these colors, contrasted with the incredible rich colors and reflections in the lake at a friend’s picturesque Northern Westchester home

Artists have always been inspired to capture this natural beauty.  I love how Wolf Kahn expresses nature in his work, Orchard Patch is his view of fall,

Orange is named for the fruit, but has come to mean many things, different in various cultures. In a recent yoga class, my yogi talked about the 2nd chakra, as the source of creativity. In another breath, she, like so many of my friends referenced the incredible colors around her during her morning walk, "there is orange everywhere -- like the trees are on fire"

 

Many Masters have been known for their use of orange, among them Gaugin, van Gogh and here is Venice Twilight, by Monet

Octave is one of  Anne Raymond's orange canvases, inspired by the natural colors near her Hamptons home,

Color consultant and Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, Leatrice Eiseman, explained the choice of orange last year as Pantone’s Color of the Year 2012, as “a spirited reddish orange...continues to provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.” Orange feels that way, it has energy.

I have described Kerri Rosenthal's color-filled paintings as happy and full of life  - an example is Nice 2

It's a classic color, it works as a beautiful contrast to quieter shades. Orange has become syononomous with the luxury retailer, Hermes.

A search of "Hermes Orange" brought up 62,110 posts on the home decoration and renovation site Houzz!

 

Orange as a fashion statement  has found its way into popular culture this season. The name of the new series, “Orange is the New Black”  has started a marketing trend, being used as a reference in interior design and fashion and I imagine in other fields as well.

In the NYTimes Style section last month, Bill Cunningham captured Le Grande Orange

Elle Decor referenced it recently, about the a pair of vintage Italian armchairs upholstered in pumpkin orange leather, in designer Cynthia Frank's Southampton home

And of course, this week is Halloween...a celebration of fun and scary things, all in orange and black. Feng Shui, attributes orange and black used together for the holiday because they are on the opposite ends of the energy spectrum. “Orange is a very lively and happy color, the color of fall bounty and the warmth of fire, it is often called the ‘social color’. Whereas black reflects mystery and void, the color of a space with no beginning and no end, filled with mystery, it holds the energy of power and protection.”

Photographer Elisa Keogh captures this contrast in Norwalk, CT orange-black,

and how fun is Tiffany’s "Spooktacular" wink in this past Sunday's NYTimes?

The leaves are starting to fall, it ‘s time, it was a beautiful and long fall season, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did...

Happy Halloween!

Color // Cool Summer Nights

Late August, and the reality is setting in that Labor Day is around the corner. Barely two weeks left of summer and the ease we feel in the months of July and August. But, two long weekends lay ahead and time to still enjoy the long days and cooler nights before the pace picks up and the fall season begins. The cool shades of blue in these artworks speak to the start of the changing seasons.

Blue is nature’s color, from the water to the sky, it has many depths and hues, from a soft “sky blue” to an intense almost black, “midnight”.  A look at the range of blues, from Pantone, an international color resource.

From the soft blues in Bewitched,  a great name for this ethereal photo from Elena Lyakir where sky meets water and barely changes color but for a few clouds and horizon line.

To the vibrant color that Andrea Bonfils captures in the depth of the ocean’s blues, in one painting in an encaustic wax diptych, Beyond Deep.

Figurative artist Alex Katz uses broad flat colors in his portraits and landscapes. In August, 2007,  he captures sky and water with a medium range of colors, in a spare yet definitive way.

Kerri Rosenthal, an artist known for her colorful work, also reflects the seasons in her paintings. She describes blue as, "Summer skies and the blue oceans, feelings of warmth and happiness."  Rosenthal's expressive Monsieur Bleu,

Blue is statistically the most popular color. I have experienced this as I’ve shown and sold artwork and visited homes with varying degrees of the color. Artist Anne Raymond is strongly influenced by the natural beauty of her surroundings in the Hamptons. Blue July is one of her many stunning blue works that reflect the natural color, combined with warmer colors.

The color blue is considered cool and slow as opposed to the warmth and intensity of reds. It’s a comfort color, it takes you to a good place, to where you feel the cool water and endless sky. Photographer Elisa Keogh captures the spectrum of colors in Weston, CT (blue-green-black) from her Horizon Series.

Artists use blue pigments evolved from natural sources, dating back to the mid-1800‘s. The Impressionist painters introduced some of the blue paints, including cerulean, cobalt and ultramarine. Vincent Van Gogh famously captured the night sky in several paintings. In Starry Night Over the Rhone, painted in 1888, he described the many blues, "The dark blue sky is spotted with clouds of an even darker blue than the fundamental blue of intense cobalt, and others of a lighter blue, like the bluish white of the Milky Way ... the sea was very dark ultramarine, the shore a sort of violet and of light red as I see it, and on the dunes, a few bushes of prussian blue.”

Blue is often balanced or calmed with the contrast to white. Traditional blue and white porcelain has been made for over 2000 years from the pigment cobalt. This striking abstract blue and white painting, Passion Noted, aptly named by artist Xanda McCagg, considering the strong feelings many have for their favorite color.

and back to August, the beach and the water. These boys are looking to catch The Wave, a great way to end the summer - from Bramasole Photography by Christine Wexler.

For others, the last weeks of summer are a bit more quiet and reflective. Balance 5, by Andrea Bonfils,

For me, I plan to enjoy the last summer days and will keep wearing my white jeans on these last August nights...before it's time to transition to the blue jeans I'll wear throughout the fall!

Hoping these last days stay warm and the nights comfortably cool.

Armory Arts Week - Part 1 // The Armory Show

The Armory Show celebrated its 100th year this month. The first show was held in NYC at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Ave. It has grown into a week-long, city-wide arts event, Armory Arts Week, with a multitude of events throughout the city. The city hosts exhibitors, galleries, art dealers and buyers from around the world.

Each Manhattan-based event has a different focus. The Park Avenue Armory exhibits "blue-chip" art, the high end of the art spectrum from exclusive dealers worldwide. Additional venues in the city host international fairs like SCOPE and VOLTA. The Armory holds the Fountain Fair, museums host events through the week, as well as neighborhood fairs, the Independent Art Fair in Chelsea and others in Brooklyn and Soho that showcase the local arts scene.

The "Armory Show" itself moved to the Piers in 2001 and the focus is on Contemporary Art by living artists and Modern Art by historically significant artists. There was a mix of genres, countries and artists of all ages.The initial show 100 years ago caused an outrage, President Teddy Roosevelt said, "That's not art!"  in response to the exhibit of works by the new Modern artists, Duchamp, Cezanne, Matisse and more.

We hear the same thing  today as we walk through museums and art fairs -  especially when looking at today's newer genre, Conceptual Art. Here, one of Ai Weiwei's Bicycle sculptures.  The controversial Chinese artist's work is a commentary on the country's ubiquitous form a transportation.

Many contemporary artists are working with technology creating digital installations and video art as they explore , comment and reflect on the use and effects of technology in today's world.

NYC's Bryce Wolkowitz gallery showed South Korean artist Airan Kang’s Luminous Words. I have seen full exhibits of her terrific works, which are a continuing exploration of books as a source of knowledge in the digital age. You can select a few books to your existing bookshelf,

or choose to install a full digital library!

In "Dinner for Two", NY-based artist Rachel Lee Hovnanian is exploring “the blurring of reality and the narcissistic side of digital life”, at Leila Heller Gallery's booth. She comments on communication, and how it's changing, using video screens as a replacement for real-life interactions and communications.

There was art reflecting an interest in text and the written word. Mel Bochner  has been using text in his work since the 70’s. His well  known Blah Blah, Blah

 

and a grouping of smaller pieces

Another approach to the use of words as imagery is from Rob Wynne, who uses poured glass, creating wall sculptures, either graphic

or using words, often of iconic sayings

The Morgan Lehman booth was transformed by Kysa Johnson's installation. She recreated a Bank of America waiting room with blackboard paint covered in chalk drawings. At first glance the work is decorative, yet the imagery depicts the decay of Roman ruins based on an artist’s 18th century work. Johnson's work usually has either historical or scientific reference. Interior designer Bryant Keller was at the booth and told us about the smaller home installations he commissioned Johnson to do for his clients. I'm looking forward to seeing photos of the projects.

a detail of the intricate drawing

It's a busy, dizzying scene walking through the Piers - taking in the art, people watching and listening to assorted languages.

Enjoying Modern favorites, like Irving Penn's iconic fashion photographs

to seeing new artists, like South Korean artist Jung Lee , who places neon phrases within her deserted landscapes

The art fairs were well attended this year and the reviews were favorable. Each year there are more events through the city, which can be overwhelming as you try to tactically plan to take in as much as possible. I managed to visit several fairs and spent a day walking through Chelsea galleries, (more in my next post, Part 2).  A century later, as the Armory Fair is celebrating 100 years, seeing the new best thing in art is still a much-discussed, love-it or hate-it spectacle!