“LATE LIBERTIES,” John Connelly Presents, New York, NY. Through Aug. 24
Bridget L. Goodbody reviews: “One can�t help but agree with Augusto Arbizo, a curator of �Late Liberties,� that it�s hard to find a place for abstract painting in today�s art world, driven as it is by a market enthralled primarily with the new and the blue chip. The artists selected for this show, all of whom deploy abstraction, have thus positioned themselves between a rock and a hard place. Exploring the tried and true is risky business.” Artists include: Artists: Augusto Arbizo, Tauba Auerbach, Jeff Elrod, Kim Fisher, Dana Frankfort, Daniel Hesidence, Alex Kwartler, Carrie Moyer, Elizabeth Neel, Raha Raissnia, Wendy White, Michael Zahn Read more.
“ASHER B. DURAND (1796-1886) Dean of American Landscape,” National Academy Museum, New York, NY. Through Jan. 6
Benjamin Genocchio reviews: “For this exhibition, a handy coda to shows of Asher B. Durand�s works at the Brooklyn Museum and the New-York Historical Society, the National Academy has borrowed eight major 19th-century American landscape paintings from the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Mass., most of them never before shown in New York. The first part of the show couples those works with a pair of large early allegorical Durand canvases from the collection of the academy, of which he was a founding member. The paintings, by artists like Rembrandt Peale, Thomas Hotchkiss, Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt, emulate Durand�s pastoral subjects, botanical detail and balanced compositional style, demonstrating his widespread influence. The Church work, ‘Valley of the Santa Ysabel’ (1875), pretty much rocks this room. The second part of the show combines paintings and graphic works by Durand from the academy�s collection and archives summarizing his career and diverse accomplishments.” Read more.
