picture this

without the middle class we'd have nothing to talk about. without the need for sources and sales potentials, we would never invaded, er..., engaged in trade practices with japan. the japanese artists themselves would not have created the prints since there would have been nobody to buy them.

and then as the prints
arrived to (accidentally) inspire all of europe and the world, shopkeepers with a savvy eye imported them to sell them to another middle-class population. and other shopkeepers saw the potential of these bright posters for wider commercial use, and contests were held to find talented young artists to create them for their goods. priester matches awarded their first prize to lucian bernhard and the rest is history.

off on the other side of the atlantic a new young art student arrived from italy, where he had been exposed to all of the new trends in arts and typo- graphy. it was the early 1920s and in upstate new york the photography magnate george eastman was about to open a theater. since the invention of threadable film, movies were booming and he thought he might even show them in his new space.

no poorly executed mass produced movie poster would satisfy him, however, and he too held a contest. yes, you guessed it; our new resident won.



batiste madalena was a genius. he did one of each pair here, and many many more. despite the fact that he is clearly utilizing styles and techniques the european (german, british) artists were, his creations were entirely distinct. with their brilliant and unique use of color, of contrasting out- lines, and of a truly rich flatness, his look was, and still is, entirely his own.

after four years of his creating on average one poster a day, the theater was sold to paramount; they thought differently about hand-done, painted posters. one rainy night, bicycling home for the day, madalena rode along the alley behind the theater and stopped in his tracks. overflowing in the large trash can he saw his posters, paint running and spattering to the ground.

how he must have felt as he gathered as many of them as he could; reports vary widely but approximately 25% of the originals were salvaged. he and his wife cleaned them, pressed them, restored them, and put them in the attic for the next 50 years.

when they were to be discovered, displayed, and given back, to some extent, to the middle class. there are two books, now playing, and movie posters, a hollywood library database, and tales told. i haven't seen this one, but find the other two limited in what they offer.

but not limited in the satisfaction they provide.

museum monday

This exhibition includes about 120 works by the leading designers and fabricators of late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century Art Nouveau jewelry. Although many of these artists acquired their skills in traditional, high-style jewelry houses, they found inspiration in the work of the Pre-Raphaelites, the philosophy of John Ruskin (1819–1900), the paintings and poetry of the symbolists, and the arts of Japan.

For motifs, they looked to the flora (orchids, lilies) and fauna (dragonflies, butterflies) of the natural world and the sensuality of the female form.

This new aes- the- tic was, in large measure, a reaction against nineteenth century historicism, industrialization, and the “tyranny of the diamond,” and these Art Nouveau artists chose to interpret nature rather than imitate it. 1

MFA Boston • Avenue of the Arts • 465 Huntington Avenue • Boston, Massachusetts 02115-5523 • 617-267-9300

a couple of exciting exhibitions at the MOMA almost worth flying to new york for (also remember):

Batiste Madalena: Hand-Painted Film Posters for the Eastman Theatre, 1924–1928 October 15, 2008–April 6, 2009
and

Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night
September 21, 2008–January 5, 2009

check out the wonderful site

MOMA • 11 West 53 Street • between Fifth and Sixth avenues • New York NY 10019-5497 • 212- 708-9400