Thursday, December 31, 2015

"Looking East" Exhibition at SF Asian Art Museum

San Francisco Asian Art Museum is exploring "How Japan Inspired Monet, Van Gogh and Other Western Artists" with its current special exhibition "Looking East". 

DSCN0941 _ Looking East, Asian Art Museum

The exhibition was not a gimmick as one might suspect but it is also pointless to determine which pieces influenced which. I would only venture to showcase those pieces made strong impressions on me, either they are by western or Japanese artists.  Some of them are very delicate and others exciting and the rest humorous and delightful.

DSCN0911 _ Still life with azaleas and apple blossoms, Charles Caryl Coleman, Looking East, Asian Art Museum

DSCN0911 _ Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Still life with azaleas and apple blossoms, Charles Caryl Coleman

DSCN0916 _ Kajikazawa in Kai Province, Katsushika Hokusai, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Kajikazawa in Kai Province, Katsushika Hokusai

DSCN0986 _ Night Herons (Nachtreiher), Otto Eckmann, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Night Herons (Nachtreiher), Otto Eckmann

DSCN0985 _ Silver Herons (Zilverreigers), Theodorus van Hoytema, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Silver Herons (Zilverreigers), Theodorus van Hoytema

DSCN0981 _ Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Five Swans, Otto Eckmann

IMG_2863 _ Landscape with two Breton Women, Gauguin, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Landscape with two Breton Women, Paul Gauguin

IMG_2862 _ Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Port of Saint-Cast, Paul Signac

IMG_2861 _ Haystack (sunset), Claude Monet, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Haystack (sunset), Claude Monet

DSCN0987 _ Vase of flowers, Henri Matisse, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Vase of flowers, Henri Matisse

DSCN0977 _ The Silver Screen, Frank Weston Benson, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
The Silver Screen, Frank Weston Benson

DSCN0933 _ Maternal Caress, Mary Stevenson Cassatt, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Maternal Caress, Mary Stevenson Cassat

DSCN0943 _ Postman Joseph Roulin, Vincent van Gogh, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Postman Joseph Roulin, Vincent van Gogh

DSCN0942 _ Actor Onoe Kikujiro Il as Takiyasha-hime, Utagawa Kunisada, Actor Matsumoto Yonesaburo, Utagawa Kunimasa, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Actor Onoe Kikujiro Il as Takiyasha-hime, Utagawa Kunisada & Actor Matsumoto Yonesaburo, Utagawa Kunimasa

DSCN0939 _ The artist's grandmother, Emile Bernard, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
The artist's grandmother, Emile Bernard

DSCN0924 _ Meditation, Alfred Stevens, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Meditation, Alfred Steven

DSCN0980 _ Fig leaves, Edna Boies Hopkins, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Fig leaves, Edna Boies Hopkins

DSCN0979 _ Bradley: His Book, William H. Bradley, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Bradley: His Book, William H. Bradley

DSCN0978 _ Cover of Love (Amour), Maurice Denis, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Cover of Love (Amour), Maurice Denis

DSCN0953 _ Family Umbrella, Helen Hyde, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Family Umbrella, Helen Hyde

DSCN0952 _ Jane Avril, Caudieux-Petit Casino), Toulouse-Lautrec
Jane Avril & Caudieux-Petit Casino), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

DSCN0949 _ Painted horse escaping from a votive plaque, Totoya Hokkei, Hunting, William Nicholson
Painted horse escaping from a votive plaque, Totoya Hokkei & Hunting, William Nicholson

DSCN0948 _ The Jockey, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
The Jockey, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

DSCN0945 _ Illustration of the Opening Ceremony of the Union Horse Racing Club's Racetrack around Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park, Hashimoto Chikanobu, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Illustration of the Opening Ceremony of the Union Horse Racing Club's Racetrack around Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park, Hashimoto Chikanobu

DSCN0937 _ The square at evening, Pierre Bonnard, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
The square at evening, Pierre Bonnard

DSCN0936 _ Woman in Bed, Profile (Femme au lit, profil), Toulouse-Lautrec, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Woman in Bed, Profile (Femme au lit, profil), Toulouse-Lautrec

DSCN0935 _ Child with lamp, Pierre Bonnard, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Child with lamp, Bonnard, Looking East, Asian Art Museum


DSCN0940 _ Street corner seen from above, Pierre Bonnard, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Street corner seen from above, Pierre Bonnard

DSCN0927 _ English Woman (Englaenderin), Emil Orlik, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
English Woman (Engländerin), Emil Orlik

DSCN0926 _ [Courtesan as the immortal] Fei Zhangfang, Okumura Masanobu, Laziness (La Paresse), Félix Edouard Vallotton
[Courtesan as the immortal] Fei Zhangfang, Okumura Masanobu & Laziness (La Paresse), Félix Edouard Vallotton

DSCN0920 _ Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake, Utagawa Hiroshige I, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake, Utagawa Hiroshige I

DSCN0919 _ Standing courtesan, Keisai Eisen, Looking East, Asian Art Museum
Standing courtesan, Keisai Eisen

DSCN0931 _ Looking East, Asian Art Museum

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- "28 Chinese" at Asian Art Museum, San Francisco
- Last Chance to See Terracotta Warriors in San Francisco Asian Art Museum
- Calligraphies at San Francisco Modern Art Museum
- Impressionism from National Gallery of Art (DC) in San Francisco
- Last Call - "The Girl With A Pearl Earring" in De Young Museum, San Francisco
- Art Displays in San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Art in the Streets of San Francisco
- Modernism from the National Gallery of Art in De Young Museum, San Francisco

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

My Featured Painting: Dichotomic "In Distant Country"

One of my paintings selected in a recent exhibition at Berkeley Central Arts Passage, Today's Artists Interact with Major Art Movements from the Renaissance to the Present, is a painting of part cityscape and part animal figure study.

In Distant Country / 在遙遠的国度 / In fernem Land  
In Distant Country / 在遙遠的国度 / In fernem Land
Oil on Canvas
22″ x 28"
Completed in 2011

The left side of the painting, in shades of washed-out gray, depicts the Old St. John's Hospital, an 11th-century hospital in Bruges, Belgium while the right side zooms in one of the omnipresent swans and the symbol of that ancient city, painted in intensely saturated rich hues. I conceived this painting while visiting Bruges, when I was quite intrigued and even moved by the stark contrast of immobile and somewhat faded history and threadbare nobility, and the living creatures full of grace, energy and slight menace.

Furthermore, I named this title to ensure that the German title In fernem Land is the first line of the most celebrated aria by the title character in Wagner's opera Lohengrin, a mysterious knight arrived in a boat drawn by a swan, narrating his mythical original and his frustrated hope by lacking of faith he demanded from a woman he loved and rescued, whose child-ruler brother was turned into that swan and his disappearance had triggered a chain of events.

The medieval building and the medieval story interwoven, the purity and menace of this lofty bird, along with the historical baggage of Wagner, conspire to add extra meanings to this rather deceptively simply painting.

Originally posted on matthewfelixsun.com

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Featured Painting "Progression"
- Featured Painting "Liberation Road"
- My Featured Work - Portrait Painting "Grandma"
- Featured Oil Painting “Father and Son”
- Featured Oil Painting "The Triumph of Saint George"
- Video Presentation of Oil Painting "Progression"

Sunday, December 13, 2015

My Favorite Artworks at Ca' d'Oro, Venezia (Venice)

Almost every major old mansion, or Ca', as called by the locals, in Venice, are an impressive museum. Ca' d'Oro, is the most iconic of them all, famed for its Gothic columns, arched windows and fascinating asymmetrical façade, and it not only boast artifacts demonstrating the life in the begone era, it also houses some impressive artworks as well.

DSCN0631 _ Ca' d'Oro, Venezia, 12 October

Venice / 威尼斯 / Venedig

My favorite work my saw during my 2012 trip was a painting from the workshop of one of my favorite Renaissance artists, Andrea del Sarto, titled Madonna and Child with St. John, which had all the hallmarks of the said great master, particularly the pale green, blue and pink tones of draperies, and those rosy cheeked, plump figures announcing the advent of mannerism, which outgrew the naturalism of Renaissance.

DSCN1959 _ Madonna and Child with St. John, Andrea del Sarto's Workshop, Ca d'Oro, 14 October
Madonna and Child with St. John, Andrea del Sarto's Workshop, Ca' d'Oro

My second favorite was a sculpture of a nude male torso, which situated in the middle of a courtyard whose walls and floor were covered with very intricate and elaborate mosaic, and contrasting wonderfully against those complicated background with its restrained classical simplicity.

DSCN2107 _ Mosaic courtyard, Ca d'Oro, Venezia, 14 October 

DSCN2107 _ Mosaic courtyard, Ca 
d'Oro, Venezia, 14 October (detail) - 
500


My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 109: My Favoritate Artwork at Ca' Pesaro, Venezia (Venice), Italy
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 107: My Favorite Artworks at Ca' Rezzonico, Venice

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Famed Palaces and Houses (Ca') in Venice
- Two Museums in Venice - Gallerie dell'Accademia & Collezione Peggy Guggenheim
- Il Ghetto di Venezia and Museo Ebraico (Jewish Museum) in Venice
- Bridges in Venice, Italy
- Magical Piazza San Marco in Venice
- Teatro La Fenice di Venezia (La Fenice Theatre in Venice)

Monday, November 30, 2015

Berkeley Central Arts Passage Gallery

Berkeley Central Arts Passage Gallery is a half-block long gallery in downtown Berkeley, nested inside a huge apartment compound, connecting two major streets full of major institutions such as  City College, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Aurora Theatre, Jazz School, and Freight and Salvage club.

A Berkeley gallery, Expressions Gallery, was entrusted to curate several recent shows for Arts Passage: "The Many Forms of Art", "Today's Artists Interact with Major Art Movements", and "Our Challenged Planet".

The Many Forms of Art surveyed many forms and the definition of those art forms, ranging from painting, drawing, sculpture and particularly the varieties of print making, as show in the video below:



Today's Artists Interact with Major Art Movements demonstrated how active artists were influenced by major art figures and movements in the past, and how they reacted and responded to the rich history:



Five of my paintings were included in that show.

IMG_1134 - The Triumph of Saint George - large
The Triumph of Saint George (Baroque)

IMG_1135 -Progress & Mackerel - large
Progression (Romanticism) and Mackerel (Realism)

IMG_1136 - In Distant Country - large
In Distant Country (Modern Art)

IMG_1137 - Siege - large
Siege (Neo-Expressionism)

Last week, the latest exhibition opened and my painting, Leisurely, was included in this "Our Challenged Planet exhibition, which ends on February 2, 2016:



IMG_2570 - Leisurely - large
Leisurely



Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- Changes Exhibition Opened at Expressions Gallery, Berkeley
- New York Gallery Wrap Up
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- "Golden Ages" Opening at Expressions Gallery, Berkeley
- Students' Show at Worth Rider Gallery, UC Berkeley

Thursday, November 19, 2015

My Favorite Artworks at Ca' Rezzonico, Venice

Venice has almost as many museums as its numerous Palazzi; one of these stately buildings stands along the Grand Canal is Ca' Rezzonico, whose art collections are fully in line with the peculiar tastes of the 18th century Venetians, decorative, precious, and a bit silly, but redeemed somewhat by whimsical playfulness and perhaps self-mockery.

The favorite piece I saw there was a fresco titled "Mondo Novo" by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, featuring vivid and even theatrical figures populating the streets in Venice, very much like those portrayed by the great Venetian Commedia dell'arte playwright Carlo Goldoni.

DSCN3002 _ Ca' Rezzonico, Venezia, 15 October

My second favorite was a bas-relief, Priamo chiede ad Achille (Priam Implores Achilles), a poignant and messy scene presented in restraint, manifested in those cleanly rendered classical lines:

DSCN2992 _ Priamo chiede ad Achille, Antonio Canova, Cà Rezzonico, Venezia, 15 October


My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 108: My Favorite Artworks at Ca' d'Oro, Venezia (Venice)
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 106: My Favorite Artworks at Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venezia (Venice)

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

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- Il Ghetto di Venezia and Museo Ebraico (Jewish Museum) in Venice
- Bridges in Venice, Italy
- San Giorgio Maggiore, Il Redentore, Scuola e Chise Grande di San Rocco, Venezia
- Magical Piazza San Marco in Venice
- Teatro La Fenice di Venezia (La Fenice Theatre in Venice)

Saturday, November 14, 2015

My Featured Work: Sorrow and Suffering, a Diptych Commemorating the Tragedies of our Time

Human history is sadly saturated with sorrow and suffering, a theme resonates strongly with me. In 2003, I made a diptych of oil paintings, titled "Sorrow and Suffering", to record the pain people suffered and will suffer at the hands of ruthless and/or reckless political leaders, when George W. Bush was brandishing his excuse to invade Iraq.

Diptych - Sorrow and Suffering / 雙面圖 - 悲哀和苦難 / Diptychon - Traurigkeit und Leiden  
Sorrow and Suffering
Oil on Canvas 
Completed in 2003

Since that fateful invasion, the unstable Mideast became ever more explosive and the human suffering ever escalated. Yesterday a series of concerted attacks on civilians in the great city Paris shocked and saddened the civilized world and this diptych expresses my feeling aptly.

Originally posted on my website: Featured Works.

Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- My Featured Work - Portrait Painting "Grandma"

- "Arabesque" and Other Paintings Inspired by Literature
- A Portrait - First Painting Completed in 2012 - Matthew Felix Sun
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- "Diptych - Dawn" Won Another Award - Matthew Felix Sun

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

My Favorite Artworks at Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venezia (Venice)

Collezione Peggy Guggenheim (Peggy Guggenheim Collection), located in an unfinished 18th-century palace, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, boasts many modern masterpieces ranging in style from Cubism and Surrealism to Abstract Expressionism.

One of my favorite work there was a sculpture in the garden: The Cloven Viscount (Il visconte dimezzato) by Mimmo Paladino, which was simultaneously formal and fluid, familiar and strange, comforting and unsettling.  The figure, installed inside a small square brick confinement, in a small pile of gravels, was unassuming and even humble, but his intentionally stiff posture, resembling age-dried twigs, bore the traces of the ravage of time and wearying journey. 

DSCN2977 _ The Cloven Viscount (Il visconte dimezzato), Mimmo Paladino, 1998, Collezione Peggy Guggenheim
The Cloven Viscount (Il visconte dimezzato), Mimmo Paladino, 1998

My second favorite work was a painting by Giogiro de Chirico, titled The Red Tower, in the typical style of the highly individual artist - subtly yet strikingly contrasting colors, enigmatic landscape and cityscape, opaque symbols and overwhelming sense of desolation and loneliness.  The focal point of the work, the Red Tower, was really a foreboding fortress squatting somewhat in the background, and held secrets the artists refused to divulge.

 DSCN2881 _ The Red Tower (La Tour rouge), Giorgio de Chirico, 1913, Collezione Peggy Guggenheim, 15 October
The Red Tower (La Tour rouge), Giorgio de Chirico, 1913


My Favorite Museum Collection Series
>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 107: My Favorite Artworks at Ca' Rezzonico, Venice
<< My Favorite Museum Collection Series 105: My Favorite Artifacts in Il Ghetto and Museo Ebraico (Jewish Museum) in Venice

List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

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- Anderson Collection at Stanford University