David Wiesner & The Art of Wordless Storytelling is the first comprehensive retrospective devoted to this internationally recognized master of the picture book. The exhibition includes nearly 70 original watercolors handmade by David Wiesner (b. 1956) for nine of his most famous books, including three for which he won the prestigious Caldecott Medal: Tuesday (1992), The Three Pigs (2002), and Flotsam (2007).

David Wiesner, Mr. Wuffles!, pg. 8, 2013. Watercolor and india ink on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

David Wiesner, Fish Girl, pg. 168-169, 2016. Watercolor and ink line on paper. Courtesy of the artist.
 

David Wiesner, Art & Max, pg. 25, 2010. Watercolor, acrylic and poster paint on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

David Wiesner, Flotsam, pg. 19, 2006. Watercolor on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

David Wiesner, Tuesday, pg. 10-11, 1991. Watercolor on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

This is the first exhibition that seeks to contextualize the work of a noted, so-called “children’s book illustrator” in the greater art-historical context of not just the contemporary visual culture of comic books and major motion pictures, but also the more somber realm of social critique, practiced so effectively in the 19th century by the likes of Honoré Daumier and continued with gusto by his avant-garde followers between the World Wars. In the case of David Wiesner, many strands of influence are apparent in his now revered approach to wordless storytelling. As explored in the accompanying catalogue, one easily detects the artist’s early attraction to surrealist masters of the 20th century (Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, and René Magritte), combined with an abiding fascination with the story-telling techniques of such American pioneers of the illustrated picture book as Lynd Ward (1905–1985), and the indelible impressions made by Ward’s earlier European counterparts, Otto Nückel (1888–1955) or Franz Masereel (1889–1972).

The charm of these wordless narratives is apparent; but the actual process by which Wiesner achieves this seemingly effortless effect of visual wit is not often fully apprehended, especially if limited to the reproductions of the illustrated books. Viewing the original works reveals the multiple layers of watercolor that he uses to create the opaque, exquisitely nuanced hues that bring each piece to life.

David Wiesner & The Art of Wordless Storytelling
January 29, 2017 – May 14, 2017
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Santa Barbara, California

June 18, 2017 – November 5, 2017
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Amherst, Massachusetts

FRAMING SPECIFICATIONS AND ADVICE

METRO GALLERY FRAME

Thin Profile: 114
Type: Thin Gallery Frame
Wood and Finish: maple wood frame with pickled white finish
Purchasing Option: joined wood frame
Framing Advice: fitting gallery frames

The Artmobile has been serving the state of Arkansas for over 50 years and is one of the nation’s very few mobile art museums. This unique gallery space features themed exhibitions of works from the Arkansas Arts Center’s permanent collection.  Works are carefully selected for their artistic integrity and educational value. The Artmobile is a perfect source of arts exposure for schools, libraries, festivals, and more!

“Animals: Familiar & Fantastic” highlights various artistic methods and techniques used to bring life to creatures both real and imaginary. This exhibition of works from the Arkansas Arts Center’s permanent collection encourages exploration of the human-animal connection and an assessment of our role in the amazing animal world.

 https://www.arkansasartscenter.org/artmobile

Beginning in 1996, the community of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota, began planning and working on The Saint John’s Bible, the first handwritten, illuminated Bible to be commissioned by a Benedictine monastery in five hundred years.

The New Mexico History Museum is currently hosting an exhibition of original pages of The Saint John’s Bible installed in Metroframe Cases.  This exhibition showcases 44 stunning pages from two of The Saint John’s Bible’s seven volumes – Wisdom Books and Prophets. Fifteen years of painstaking work by some of the finest calligraphers, artists and theologians in the world came to a close last year with the completion of The Saint John’s Bible – a contemporary handwritten and illuminated Bible created by a team of artists and calligraphers at a Scriptorium in Wales. The exhibition at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico runs until December 30, 2012. Images Courtesy New Mexico History Museum. Photography by Blair Clark, Exhibition Designer Caroline Lajoie.

FRAMING SPECIFICATIONS AND ADVICE

GALLERY FRAMES

Profile: Custom Milled

Type: Custom Designed Gallery Frame

Wood & Finish: maple wood frame with clear water based finish
Wood & Finish: cherry wood frame with custom cherry finish
Wood & Finish: ash wood frame with black lacquer finish

Purchasing Option: joined wood frame

Custom Wood Spacer: 3″ custom wood spacer

Framing Advice: fitting gallery frames

The Bell Museum will debut Audubon and the Art of Birds, an exhibition that explores the human fascination with birds, and showcases one of the museum’s most valuable treasures: a double-elephant folio edition of John James Audubon’s Birds of America. The rare collection of hand-colored engravings was donated to the Bell Museum in 1928.

John James Audubon (1785-1851) is one of the most enduring figures in American art and culture. His biography reads like a romantic novel. Born the illegitimate son of a French sea captain in what is now Haiti, he was raised in France during the years of revolution. As a young man he came to America to seek his fortune on the western frontier. After years of struggle and business failure, Audubon decided to devote his life on his true passion, the painting of birds. In 1820, at age 35, he set out to paint every bird in America, life-size and in color.

Today, Audubon is synonymous with birds and the conservation of nature. His images revolutionized the way we view birds and the natural world. Before Audubon, artists depicted animals either as allegorical figures, or as stiff, dead specimens. Audubon’s birds are not only technically superb, with every feather and scale delineated, they reveal birds as living, dynamic creatures whose intrinsic beauty and vitality are worthy of study and preservation. Today, artists and naturalists continue to find inspiration in his work and life, and his prints are as popular as ever.

This exhibition focuses on the masterwork of American art, science and conservation – Audubon’s the Birds of America. Organized around a series of themes, the show compares the naive drawings of early naturalists such as Mark Catesby and Alexander Wilson, to the brilliant colors of Francois Levaillant’s engravings and the lavish publications by John Gould. During the 20^th Century artists such as Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Francis Lee Jaques, and Roger Tory Peterson took bird art in new directions. The human fascination with birds continues today, and the show includes works by a select group of living artists, such as Lars Jonsson and Walton Ford, whose work is inspired by Audubon’s example.

The exhibition assembles over 100 prints, drawings and paintings; including a selection of newly conserved original double-elephant folio engravings from the Birds of America, and 60 to 70 works by other artists from the 1500s to the present day. The artworks are complimented with displays of antique illustrated books, specimens and artifacts, interpretive panels, hands-on exhibits and activities on bird biology. The exhibition draws upon the collections of the Bell Museum, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Woodson Art Museum, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences, National Museum of Wildlife Art and individual collectors and artists.

Audobon and Art of Birds
October 5, 2013 to January 19, 2014
and February 1 to June 8, 2014*
Bell Museum of Natural History ,
University of Minnesota

October 4, 2014 – Jan. 4, 2015
National Museum of Wildlife Art
Jackson, WY

May 15 – July 26, 2015
Sam Noble Museum 
Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

FRAMING SPECIFICATIONS AND ADVICE

METRO GALLERY FRAME

Standard Profile: 106
Type: Standard Gallery Frame
Wood & Finish: cherry wood frame with natural cherry finish
Purchasing Options: joined wood frame
Framing Advice: fitting gallery frames

Cardozo Fine Art has created the most extensive exhibition program of Curtis photography in history. These exhibitions and Metropolitan frames have been seen in over forty countries and on every continent but Antarctica. It is estimated that through his books, exhibitions, lectures, and former gallery, Cardozo has brought Curtis to well over 10 million people world-wide.

Metropolitan first began doing business with Cardozo Fine Art in June of 1999. They came to us because they wanted to replicate some of the original Edward Curtis frames.  Because of our work with Cardozo Fine Art we have learned about the amazing legacy Curtis left the world. 

Edward Curtis
Edward Curtis was born in 1868 and grew up in abject poverty in rural Minnesota. He built his first camera at age twelve and thus unwittingly embarked on his lifelong photographic career. In 1887, Curtis moved to the Pacific Northwest where he quickly positioned himself as Seattle’s foremost studio photographer. This success gave him the freedom to pursue his love of the great outdoors and this activity brought him into contact with small groups of Native Americans who were still living somewhat traditional lives.

These experiences led Curtis to begin, by 1900, an undertaking that would consume him for the next thirty years. This project was the creation of his magnum opus, The North American Indian, a twenty volume, twenty-portfolio set of handmade books. Each Set contains over 2,200 original photographs, plus extensive text, and transcriptions of language and music. It is difficult to overestimate the enormity of Curtis’s task. The project involved over one hundred artisans, translators, sales staff, logistical support, field assistants, accountants, etc. In today’s dollars it was an approximately $35,000,000 publishing project, unparalleled in American publishing history.

While The North American Indian is an inestimable contribution to the worlds of art, photography, ethnography, and fine bookmaking, the project nearly killed Curtis. He lost his family, his money, and his health. By 1930 he was a broken man. While he lived out the rest of his life in obscurity, he left us with a sacred legacy that may endure for many centuries to come.

The Edward S. Curtis/Sacred Legacy Museum

The following is excerpted from a recent interview in Forbes magazine.

Michael Tobias: I gather that you are working to establish the first Edward Sheriff Curtis Museum in the world, having already taken much of your collection to over 50 countries. What are your goals for a Curtis Museum, and why now?

Christopher Cardozo: The Edward S. Curtis/Sacred Legacy Museum will bring the Sacred Legacy of beauty, heart and spirit to the world in ways that Curtis and his Native friends could never have imagined. It would also establish a single source facility for research on Curtis’s body of work. It will create increased understanding of and appreciation for, the beauty of the natural world, her diversity and to honor the inclusion of all peoples. The Christopher G. Cardozo/Edward S. Curtis Collection will be the foundation of the Museum. We hope to be open in 2018 – the sesquicentennial of Curtis’s birth. I believe The Museum will be a significant cultural, artistic, and economic asset for the city in which it is ultimately located. I am currently in early stage discussions in Denver, Dallas and Seattle
Cardozo Fine Art
Christopher Cardozo is widely acknowledged as the world’s leading expert in the work of Edward S. Curtis. Over the past thirty-eight years he has assembled the world’s most extensive collection of vintage original photographs by Edward S. Curtis. Cardozo is the author of two award-winning monographs on Edward S. Curtis: Sacred Legacy; Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian and Native Nations: First Americans as seen by Edward S. Curtis. He also has authored six other titles on Edward Curtis. Cardozo has lectured on Curtis for over thirty years and done so internationally.

Venues interested in presenting an Edward Curtis exhibition are invited to contact:

Alyssa Graham
Cardozo Fine Art
612-377-2252
alyssa@cardozofineart.com

Metropolitan Edward Curtis Exhibition Frames

As an artist one sometimes wonders if anyone will ever see or appreciate your work. This is a story for you. I was recently forwarded an email from Ginny Herzog about a collection that another customer Marian Steen inherited. Because we work with museums they thought it might be beneficial for me to know about the collection. After contacting Marian, I called Jane Jacob who is the founder of Jacob Fine Art in Chicago. Jacob told me a fascinating story which she had written in the Fine Art Connoisseur’s Nov/Dec. issue. The following is excerpted from Jacob’s article. Rudolf Ernst began collecting art while he was interned in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp during World War I. Ernst was a Russian Jew and while at the camp collected 297 artworks from other artists who were also interned. Once back in Austria, however, he left his collection in storage and never exhibited it before his death in 1936. He left the collection to his only daughter, Alice. Two years later, she and her husband, Nicholas Scheiner, fled to the U.S. just before Nazi Germany annexed Austria and began deporting its Jewish citizens. As they sailed into New York harbor, the Scheiner’s carried Rudolf Ernst’s collection in their suitcases. After a brief residence in Missouri, the couple spent the rest of their lives in Florida, where Alice died in Pompano Beach on November 3, 1999. Having no heirs, she bequeathed her father’s collection to the St. Louis artist Marian Steen, the daughter of the Scheiners’ friends, Charles and Helen Steen. As an artist, Steen wants the collection to be shown. She has hired Jacob Fine Art to organize the exhibition. Jacob Fine Art is a Chicago consultation and appraisal business specializing in American and European 19th-21st century art and provides services pertaining to stolen, fraudulent, and disputed art, specifically provenance research. Jacob is a director of the Appraisal Foundation in Washington, DC, and sits on the executive committee of the Appraisers Association of America in New York City. Venues interested in presenting the exhibition are invited to contact:

JACOB FINE ART

7544 West North Avenue/ Chicago/ IL 60707
T: 708-452-1450/ jane@jacobfineart.com