PB Art Scene

Palm Beach continues to present a strong art front.

“Street Smarts” by Deborah Brown opened to the public on in December with many women attending to support this female artist including Sarah Gavlak, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Arden Sherman of The Norton Museum, and Irene Karp. The exhibition weaves together the artist’s personal experiences with the emotional undercurrents of New York City’s street market culture. On view through January 14 at Gavlak Gallery at The Royal Poinciana Plaza.

Also at The Royal…Tom Wesselmann’s vivid still-life painting, Still Life #34, is one of the artists presented in the Painted Pop exhibition at Acquavella Gallery through February 11. Pictured here, the 1963 Wesselmann is displayed along with an early 1961 painting by Andy Warhol and a 2004-6 sculpture by Claes Oldenburg & Coosjevan Bruggen.

And, following the success of fashion designer and art collector Lisa Perry’s Onna House in East Hampton, which supports and showcases the work of female artists from around the world, Onna House Palm Beach is opening at The Royal on January 18 featuring ceramics made by local style icon, photographer and artist Kelly Klein.

At Sotheby’s – in the Slat House at The Royal, an incredible selection of works by Giacometti and Picasso are on view through February 11, 2024.

Alberto Giacometti & Pablo Picasso: A  Modernist Legacy, features works as early as 1915, in which Picasso’s early Cubist out put influences the younger Giacometti’s early years in Paris and traces their personal exchange through out the following decades. Both remarkable yet profoundly different artists, who attracted and influenced each other, they formed an unexpected friendship that left a legacy of some of the most defining works of their time.

 

At the Society of the Four Arts…Internationally renowned artist Mickalene Thomas (b. 1971) spoke with Isolde Brielmaier, Deputy Director of the New Museum in NYC, about her elaborate paintings composed of rhinestones, acrylic and enamel, and other mixed media paintings, photographs, films and installations that dissect the complexities of Black and female identity within the Western canon. They also talked about the mentorship program Mickalene has developed at Pratt Institute for students who wish to learn more about the business of art.

Philanthropist and collector Leonard Lauder also took to the stage at The Society of the Four Arts to discuss the remarkable collection of Cubism he has promised to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It includes some of the most influential art of the early twentieth century; more than 78 paintings, drawings, and sculptures by four preeminent Cubist artists: George Braque (French, 1882-1963), Juan Gris (Spanish, 1887-1927), Fernand Léger (French, 1881-1955), and Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), valued at more than $1 billion.

Mr. Lauder told the packed auditorium that “the joy of living is giving” and he selected The MET as the way to share his collection because he feels “it’s essential that Cubism – and the art that follows it, be seen and studied within the collections of one of the greatest encyclopedic museums in the world.”

He also spoke about his love for hanging art and creating moments where you can see “how paintings speak to one another up on a wall.” And offered advice to fellow collectors to “never assume your bid will be the final, winning bid. Never hang up the phone,” he said, “It’s important to stay on the phone as it can backfire,” which he mentioned had happened to him. He added that “it’s as important to learn what NOT to collect, as it is what to collect.”

Also coming up at the Society of Four Arts…photographer and Palm Beach resident Priscilla Rattazzi will talk about her latest project, Three Lindens, from the Peter Marino Art Foundation, on January 25. The program will open with a brief video presentation produced and narrated by Priscilla, followed by a conversation with Four Arts Chief Programs Officer Sofia Maduro. The discussion will focus on the genesis of the Three Lindensphotography and book project, Priscilla’s deep connection to these trees and the importance of trees in all of our lives.

At the Norton Museum of Art… Ellen Graham: Unscripted. Over the course of her career working for such magazines as Vanity Fair, Time and Vogue, photographer Ellen Graham has captured actors, musicians, models, athletes, and royals in their own environments: unplanned, unposed, and unscripted. Photos of notables including David Bowie, Isabel Kara, The Duchess of Seville, and others. March 2 – June 16, 2024.

Palm Beach’s George Merck – who serves as chair of the American Art Archives of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as a board member of the Norton Museum of Art, has opened GMAC: The George Merck Art Collection –an exhibition space located at 4 Via Sunset, where he plans to share his collection of modern and contemporary works with the public. George and his wife Lauren Layne Merck hosted an opening cocktail in December featuring the work of artist Tony De Lap, entitled “The Geometry of Illusion.” The exhibition showcases four works made by the artist between 1987-1991 from his private collection.

DeLap (1927-2019) is a pioneer of West Coast minimalism and known for his abstract works utilizing geometry, illusionist techniques and meticulous craftsmanship. He was a mentor to some of California’s most important artists, including Bruce Nauman, James Turrell and John McCracken, who all studied with him.

And Miami based multi-media artist Rachel Lee Hovnanian, whose work is on exhibit as part of The Divine Feminine: Contemporary Women Sculptures at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens through April 2024, will present her paintings in Beyond the Hedges at County Gallery in Palm Beach beginning March 8, 2024.

Rachel’s work explores the complexities of modern feminism through the lens of our cultural obsession with beauty and narcissism, eliciting conversations around ideals regarding physical perfection and the compound psychological effects of the media and technology.

And Art Palm Beach will be coming to the Palm Beach County Convention Center, January 24 – 28, 2024. The mid-winter contemporary art fair provides an opportunity for collectors to explore and acquire a broad selection of contemporary and modern art from around the globe while helping to support the American Heart Association. Fifteen percent of ticket proceeds will be donated to their Life is Why campaign. Also, this year, Ray Waterhouse of Modern Fine Art will present Esquisse pour le Grand Cirque, 1956, by Marc Chagall.

For tickets, visit artpalmbeach.com