“The Book of HOV” is a sprawling exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library that features among its vast array of memorabilia, art, and clothing, a full-scale replica of Jay-Z’s Baseline Studios, where the iconic musician created some of his most celebrated and beloved songs. Oh, and the exhibition was a complete surprise to Jay-Z.
Art News
Acclaimed American sculptor, activist, and arts educator Augusta Savage (1892—1962) was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance who fought for equal rights for African American artists and inspired future generations as a teacher.
As temperatures rise to summer highs, one artwork seems to encapsulate our collective torpor better than most: Salvador DalÍ’s The Persistence of Memory. The iconic 1931 work depicts a series of clock faces that appear to be melting in a seaside landscape hauntingly barren except for a leaf-less tree, a couple of simple architectural structures, and a distorted, globular form resembling the face of a sleeping human with incredibly long
In the opulent halls of the Chateau Versailles, where grandeur and luxury intertwine, one name continues to captivate the imagination: Marie Antoinette. A woman shrouded in mystique, she sought solace and privacy within the sprawling palace walls. In her pursuit for a personal sanctuary, Marie Antoinette commissioned the creation of her own chambers, where she could escape the rigors of courtly life and indulge in the comforts of solitude.
The archaeologists also came across the base of a large rectangular hall, which was realized to be the ‘curia’ (senate house) of the theatre of Pompeii. Infamously, this was the building in which Julius Caesar was assassinated.
A self-taught artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat fortuitously met his artistic hero, Andy Warhol, when he was beginning to pursue his celebrated creative career. At seventeen years old, Basquiat spotted Warhol having lunch with curator Henry Geldzahler at a restaurant in Soho. He approached the artist and NYC Commissioner of Cultural Affairs to show them his postcard-size collages.
Often an artist finds their voice through decades of work. A unique signature is created. Even though the focus may shift and bend, the inimitable remains. There is no one like her anywhere. The painter Jess Allen is one of these artists. Even though her subject changes, she is recognizable.
This year’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny finds Harrison Ford in his final adventure as the legendary archaeologist, Indiana Jones. In the film, Jones and his goddaughter race to find the missing half of Archimedes’ Dial, a device that enables time travel, before a Nazi scientist can use the dial to change the outcome of WW2.
Many modern audiences, upon learning about the intricacies of Paul Gauguin’s life, adopt a distaste for him as a person. Even so, between bouts of deplorable behavior, Gauguin created art that many experts consider important to the art-historical timeline.
When thinking of great art, we can’t discount the importance that collectors, philanthropists, and banking families played in the art market from the Renaissance onwards.
