Two films about the other side of art

The Art of the Steal

Directed by Don Argott
Produced by Sheena M. Joyce
Editing by Demian Fenton

The Art of the Steal is a 2009 documentary film about efforts to break Albert C. Barnes's will and relocate the Barnes art collection from its longtime home in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia.[1] The collection of late-19th- and early-20th-century art includes 181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, 60 Matisses 44 Picassos and 14 Modiglianis. The 9,000 piece collection is valued at over $25 billion.[2]

In his three-and-a-half star review of the film, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "It is perfectly clear exactly what Barnes specified in his will. It was drawn up by the best legal minds. It is clear that what happened to his collection was against his wishes. It is clear that the city fathers acted in obviation of those wishes, and were upheld in a court of appeals. What is finally clear: It doesn't matter a damn what your will says if you have $25 billion, and politicians and the establishment want it."

In response to the film's release, Bernard C. Watson, chairman of the Barnes Foundation board of trustees and one of the figures targeted in the film, published an editorial letter in the Philadelphia Inquirer claiming the film "lacks objectivity and perspective."

As of June 2010, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 85% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 52 reviews with an average score of 7.2/10. The site's consensus of reviews was:
"Deeply esoteric and unapologetically one-sided, The Art of the Steal proves a documentary doesn't have to make an objective argument as long as it argues well.."
However, according to the film, many of the so called "guilty parties," e.g. Rebecca Rimel (CEO of the Pew Charitable Trust, the group which purportedly benefited financially from the Barnes' move), Raymond G. Perelman (a powerful local billionaire alleged with orchestrating the move), and Bernie Watson (the president of the Barnes foundation who allegedly handed control of the museum to the Philadelphia authorities), declined to be interviewed for the documentary.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Exit Through the Gift Shop: A Banksy Film is a film which tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art. It is presented as a documentary, but reviewers have questioned its factuality. The film charts Guetta's constant documenting of his every moment on film, to his chance contact with his cousin, the artist Invader, and his documenting of a host of street artists with focus on Shepard Fairey, and also Banksy though the latter's face is never shown, and his voice is distorted to preserve his anonymity. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 24 January 2010. It is narrated by Rhys Ifans. Music is by Geoff Barrow. It includes Richard Hawley's "Tonight The Streets Are Ours." It has been nominated on the longlist for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar for the 27 February 2011 Oscars.

The documentary received overwhelmingly positive reviews, holding 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.One consistent theme in the reviews was the authenticity of the film: Was the film just an elaborate ruse on Banksy's part, or did Guetta really evolve into Mr. Brainwash overnight? The Boston Globe movie reviewer Ty Burr found it to be quite entertaining as a farce and awarded it four stars. He dismissed the notion of the film being a "put on" saying "I’m not buying it; for one thing, this story’s too good, too weirdly rich, to be made up. For another, the movie’s gently amused scorn lands on everyone." Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars out of 4, starting his review saying that "The widespread speculation that “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is a hoax only adds to its fascination." The New York Times movie reviewer, Jeannette Catsoulis, wrote that the film could be a new subgenre, a "prankumentary".



Text: WIKIPEDIA

Modigliani . The business model of life.

These are random quotes, images, films, feelings, question and maybe answers.
You will decide the meaning of my post, and the business model of your life.

'There hasn't been any art yet. Art is just beginning.' Constantin Brancusi. Romanian Sculptor. 1876 – 1957
"How much would you pay for planet Earth? " New Scientist, 12 October 2010

" Amedeo Modigliani, a painter and a sculptor, was born July 2, 1884, in Livorno, Italy. "
" He was wasting his talents as much as he wasted his money. He could never make enough money to live and was used to selling his drawings for only a few sous."
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/
2010
" A sculpted stone head by artist Amedeo Modigliani sold at Christie's in Paris on Monday for euro 43.18 million ($52.8 million), breaking the record for a work by the Italian artist, the auction house said. It was also the highest-priced work sold at an auction in France, Christie's said. An anonymous buyer bid for the piece by telephone. The piece, sculpted between 1910 and 1912, depicts an elongated head with almond-shaped eyes and flowing hair, and it is reminiscent of the artist's paintings. Modigliani, who lived from 1884 to 1920, originally focused on sculpture but switched to painting in part because of health problems. "
http://www.artknowledgenews.com/2010-06-15-00-28-16-world-record-price-for-a-modigliani-sculpture-sold-at-auction-at-christies-in-paris.html





" Tête is notable as a compendium of the key sources that helped Modigliani to forge his distinctive style. Foremost among these influences was the sculptor Constantin Brancusi, whom Modigliani met through Dr. Paul Alexandre in 1909. Brancusi quickly became both friend and mentor to the young artist. In the present work, the simplification of form, emphasis on geometry and feeling for linear rhythm clearly reflect the Romanian artist’s influence, Brancusi. "



"Brâncuşi held a particular interest in mythology, especially Romanian mythology, folk tales, and traditional art (which also had a strong influence to his works), but he became interested in African and Mediterranean art as well."
http://www.christies.com/
His parents, Nicolae and Maria Brancusi, were poor peasants.




MASTERWORKS SOLD TO BENEFIT YOUNGARTS, THE CORE PROGRAM OF THE
NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ADVANCEMENT IN THE ARTS

(organization that recognizes and supports America’s most talented 17-18 year olds in the visual, literary and performing arts.)

"The second work sold to benefit YoungArts is Jeanne Hébuterne (au chapeau), one of the first portraits Amedeo Modigliani painted of his great love (est. $9/12 million). Jeanne Hébuterne was 19 when she met Modigliani while studying art at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. For the next three years until Modigliani’s death in 1920 and Jeanne’s tragic suicide the following day, she would be his constant companion, immortalized in a number of portraits that are among the most powerful compositions of the artist’s oeuvre. Jeanne Hébuterne (au chapeau) was completed during the first intense months of the couple’s relationship. The excitement that the artist must have felt is evident in his rendering. The surface texture appears to be almost jewel-encrusted, and Jeanne’s deep-blue eyes possess a mesmerizing quality."
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=41701



"Jeanne Hébuterne, the shy student who would become painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani’s final muse, was born in Paris in April 1898."



" Modigliani’s epitaph reads Struck Down By Death In the Moment of Glory and Jeanne’s reads Devoted Companion to The Extreme Sacrifice, but Jeanne Hébuterne was more than a martyr. She was a talented, almost ethereal young woman, strong enough to handle Modigliani’s passion and to ease his death, but just not strong enough to carry on without him"
http://www.suite101.com/content/jeanne-hbuterne-a22237#ixzz12BTmTtyH


Do you know what love is ?

"Art lovers will now have a unique opportunity to catch a glimpse of the works of two iconic 19^th century artists -- Claude Monet and Amedeo Clemente Modigliani.Starting Monday, these spectacular works of art will be on display at Sotheby's London galleries till October 15.

Jeanne Hébuterne (au chapeau) by Modigliani is estimated at $9-12 million."

http://uk.ibtimes.com/

" Over half a billion pounds of modern and contemporary art is on view in London this week at Frieze and in the auction rooms, where Sotheby’s and Christie’s are exhibiting highlights of their forthcoming November sales in New York, in addition to the sales they are conducting this week.

From the forthcoming New York sales are $40 million paintings by Modigliani (at Sotheby’s), and Lichtenstein (Christie’s)."
telegraph.co.uk

LONDON Tue Oct 12, 2010 3:12am IST
(Reuters) - In a sign that confidence is returning to some sectors of the art market, Christie's and rival Sotheby's are quietly confident that records for key artists will fall at the upcoming New York sales in November.

The highlight was Amedeo Modigliani's "Seated Nude," expected to bring more than $40 million.



The auction record for any work of art by the Italian master was set by Christie's in Paris earlier this year, when a sculpture sold for $52.3 million including buyer's premium.



Happiness is an angel with a serious face.
Amedeo Modigliani

Frida, Modigliani and the beginning of a love story

Written o July 12th


A few minutes ago, Roger Ebert has posted on Twitter his review on “Frida”written in 2002. This is how I’ve found out that tomorrow, 56 years will have passed since the Mexican artist had died.

In 2001, while I was preparing the production of “Modigliani”, the casting for Frida’s part marked the beginning of a love story which totally changed my life.

No, I haven't find the love of my life but instead, I madly fell in love with cinema.

Nothing compares with making films . Probably, this is the only way of travelling through time and space, getting the chance to know various histories and stories of long gone lives or lives that someday will be born again in the future.

And because nothing never happens for a reason, I am reading now on facebook that today is Modigliani’s birthday. Amedeo Modigliani was born on the 12th of July, 1884 in Livorno, Italy.

Working at Modigliani, seven years ago, was one of the best time of my life. I lived in the era of a beautiful madness .



Beatrice Chirita - the romanian who played Frida in Modigliani





“I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.”
Frida Khalo






Modigliani, written and directed by Mick Davis, produced in Romania at Media Pro studios in Buftea.



"What I am seeking is not the real and not the unreal but rather the unconscious, the mystery of the instinctive in the human race"
Amedeo Modigliani

I kissed his hand and I left a letter for him on the table.

He was one of the greatest artists of the world. She was a divine singer.

Constantin Brancusi and Maria Tanase met in New York in 1939.

“I met Costache Brâncuşi in New York and I left him in the bed brought from his Paris studio. It was raining that day and he asked me to sing for him. Not to see him cry he propped his back against mine so that I could not spy his face. Later on, after many songs, he fell asleep. Not to wake him up, I put a pillow to support him instead of my back. I kissed his hand and I left a letter for him on the table. In an hour I had to leave for the country.”
Maria Tanase

The meeting was caught in a photo document. Seemingly, “the laments” of Maria Tănase did not enchant the sculptor, if we are to believe architect Octav Doicescu, since he preferred doinas and playful, merry tunes, with jocose lyrics. He favored spontaneous, direct, simple music. For this visionary artist of simplicity, the music of Wagner sounded “barbarian”, that of Beethoven “too dramatic”, whereas Mozart he deemed “gentle and sweet.” He compared J. S. Bach with a lion stepping majestically in the desert (V. G. Paleolog).
It is a fact though that music accompanied him along all his life, and the Romanian folk song soothed his longing after the country, comforting the immigrant to Paris until his death.
Brâncuşi And The World Of Music by Viorel Cosma (b. 1927)