How Cézanne Saw a World in an Apple

Just as poet William Blake asks us “To see a world in a grain of sand” in his poem “Auguries of Innocence,” painter Paul Cézanne asks us to see the world in an apple in the many still lifes that span his long career. In The World Is an Apple: The Still Lifes of Paul Cézanne currently at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, PA, we’re invited to enter into the world of “the painter of apples” and come away with new eyes that see what Cézanne called the “ambient penetration” of all things, that living quality of even inanimate objects best captured in the still life, or as the French would say, “Nature morte,” literally and paradoxically “dead life.” Using one of the oldest of genres, Cézanne set the rules for the modern art that followed him while forging a naïve, simplistic persona the real philosopher in paint hid behind. After viewing The World Is an Apple, you’ll come away with a new appreciation not only of Cézanne the painter, but also of Cézanne the visionary who saw the whole world in even the simplest apple and wants you to, too. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "How Cézanne Saw a World in an Apple."

Can a 19th Century British Art Movement Solve the Modern Global Jobs Problem?

“Workers of the world, unite!” Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels bellowed in The Communist Manifesto in 1848, largely in response to the Industrial Revolution (and Second Industrial Revolution) threatening not just the livelihoods but the very lives of many workers as profit reigned mercilessly over people. Marx even put the slogan on his tombstone, long before the Soviet Union adopted it as their official mantra. Workers of the world today facing the double whammy of technological revolution and systemic economic collapse wonder what, if anything, they should unite around. Although she doesn’t take the idea as far as I’d like to, Yvonne Roberts in The Guardian offers a possible solution in 19^th century British artist and designer William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Morris “esteemed craftsmen and women, unlike today when they are seen are second-besters,” Roberts writes, but I think you can extend that “second-best” label to nearly all the “99%” facing underemployment or non-employment around the world. Can a 19^th century British art movement solve the modern global jobs problem? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of  "Can a 19thCentury British Art Movement Solve the Modern Global Jobs Problem?"

[Image: William Morris. The Strawberry Thief, 1883. Textile design for walls or furnishings.]

[ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be presenting a lecture titled “Art Made Personal: Chris Sanderson and the Wyeth Family” at the Christian C. Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford, PA, on Sunday, June 23^rd, from 1 to 3 pm. Please come out to support a great museum with a great collection of art and historical artifacts.]

Should Museums Stop Teaching?

When the Tate Britain recently revealed the latest rehanging of their astounding collection of British art, many long unseen works found a new place in the galleries, but one long-standing feature was not to be found—explanatory wall text. The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones hails this rehanging as “a radical rethink at Tate Britain that also sees more paintings on its walls, sculptures on its floors and history in its bloodstream than ever before.” Is this rethinking of the role of the explanatory wall text the first step in a rethinking of the role of a museum itself? Would it be a good or a bad thing if museums no longer supplement our direct, naked experience of the art? Should museums stop teaching?  Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Should Museums Stop Teaching?"

Why We Should All Wander and Wonder With Mike Perry

If you’re a parent and you want to introduce your child to art, it’s sometimes hard to find that perfect combination of optimism and imagination in a single artist. Too often creativity comes in a dark, brooding package. In Wondering Around Wandering: Works So Far an artist’s book by Mike Perry, creativity—boundless, bubbling, beautiful—comes in a cheerful, colorful package. “While my early life was sometimes difficult,” Perry writes in his preface, “I’ve always sought to create artwork that includes a strong upward current.” Hoping to “invoke the solace of dreamspace,” Perry believes that “[e]very one of us has the innate potential to be bright, happy, and complete with sex, laughter, and outward expansion. Galaxies can exist anywhere—this is the universe at its best.” Mike Perry’s visual universe provides pictures to match those words and inspires others to wander and wonder their way to their own personal galaxy. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Why We Should All Wander and Wonder With Mike Perry."

[Image: Mike Perry. We Are the Infinity of Each Other, 2011. Paint, 1-color silkscreen, and resin on canvas board. 19 x 25 in.]

[Many thanks to Rizzoli USA for the image above and a review copy of Wondering Around Wandering: Works So Far by Mike Perry.]