Displaying items by tag: robert indiana

The Portland Museum of Art placed the Robert Indiana sculpture “Seven” in front of the museum Monday morning. The steel sculpture, which announces the museum’s presence at 7 Congress Square, will be celebrated at 5:30 p.m. Friday as part of the city’s First Friday Art Walk.

Indiana, 86, lives on Vinalhaven off Rockland. “This is a public announcement that 7 Congress Square will always be a place for art,” said chief curator Jessica May. She called Indiana “one of the state’s most beloved artists,” and said placing art outside the museum is part of a larger effort to engage with the public whenever possible.

Last month, Colby College Museum of Art put on a view a 1968 painting by Joan Mitchell that museum director Sharon Corwin believes is the best example of abstract expressionism in Maine. Next month, the Portland Museum of Art will unveil an 8-foot-tall steel “Seven” sculpture by Robert Indiana, once rejected by the Prince of Monaco, in the pedestrian plaza out front.

The two works share few similarities, but they represent the latest high-profile acquisitions by two leading museums in Maine and highlight the challenges facing curators and museum directors as they shape collections across the state.

In both instances, the museums acquired the art because benefactors took personal interest in bringing it to Maine.

For centuries, artists have incorporated the written word into their art. Robert Indiana, one of the original American Pop artists, made them the focus of his artistic career.

Today, Indiana's words are some of the most recognizable in the world. His most famous works — such as LOVE, HOPE and EAT — have become an integral part of today's artistic and cultural landscape.

"Robert Indiana from A to Z," opening Oct. 12 at the Allentown Art Museum, covers just about everything that is Robert Indiana, with 80 works and personal objects from the artist's collection spanning eight decades.

The cruise ship “Reflections,” one of 11 boats owned by Celebrity Cruises, set sail last week from Miami. Unlike most ships headed to the Caribbean, “Reflections” features 6,059 impressive works of contemporary art.

Given a budget of $4.1 million, Mariangela Capuzzo of International Corporate Art curated pieces from the company’s $60 million art collection. Working with the notion of reflections in mind, Capuzzo chose works by Robert Rauschenberg, Brazilian artist Albano Alfonso, and sculptor Will Ryman, among others. In total, there are eight site-specific works on board.

Celebrity Cruises is owned by Christina and John Chandris, the son of a Greek shipping magnate. The duo began collecting in 1990 when they purchased Robert Indiana’s Love sculpture, a bronze by Fernando Botero, a Damien Hirst painting, and many other well-known works.

Starting in the 1950s, Rudolph and Hannelore Schulhof began building a 20^th century art collection that has become the source of much speculation after the widowed Hannelore died this past February. Boasting nearly 350 works in total, Christie’s will auction 63 pieces from the collection including works by Joan Miro, Ellsworth Kelly, and Robert Indiana as part of its Impressionist and Modern Art Works sale and its Post-War and Contemporary Art sale in November. The sale is expected to bring in about $25 million. Christie’s will open the doors to the Schulhof’s Long Island mansion on Saturday, September 21 and Sunday, September 22 from 10AM to 5PM. Visitors will get a glimpse of an extraordinary, museum-quality collection. In fact, 100 of the works had previously been promised to three museums including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice as well as the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

The Sculhofs met in Vienna right before the start of World War II and married in Brussels in 1940. After traveling to the United States with extended family, Rudolph launched what would become a fine art reproduction company. When the couple first started collecting they tended to go after established names but were cajoled by the art dealer, Justin Thannhauser, to consider the art of their own time. As the Schulhof’s company had an office in Milan, they would frequent the city’s galleries as well as the Venice Biennale on their visits to Italy. It was on one of these trips that the Schulofs met the prominent American art collector, Peggy Guggenheim. A longtime friendship ensued, resulting in rapports with the artists themselves and the couple’s generous posthumous gift of 83 works to Guggenheim’s Venice institution. Another 200 artworks will remain in the Schulhof’s home and the family will decide on distribution in the future.