JULY 26-AUGUST 1

NEW YORK

Eric Shaw (b. 1983) Legerdemain, 2016. Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 54 inches. Courtesy of Hollis Taggart Galleries.

Highlight: Summer One, Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, NY
July 28-September 2, 2016
This exhibition at Hollis Taggart Galleries is the first in a series of contemporary shows curated by the art dealer, Paul Efstathiou. The exhibition brings together seven artists who are on the brink of a new stage in their career—no longer emerging artists, the individuals represented have each achieved a major landmark, whether it be a prestigious fellowship or a long-awaited solo show. In addition, each artist is recognized for having established a singular vernacular to express the world around them. Highlights: Summer One will include works by William Buchina, Elizabeth Cooper, Ted Gahl, John Knuth, Matt Mignanelli, Eric Shaw, and Devin Troy Strother. Click here to continue reading.   

A rendering of the Hampton Designer Showhouse.

Hampton Designer Showhouse, Sag Harbor, NY
On view through September 5, 2016
The Hampton Designer Showhouse, presented by Traditional Home magazine, opened with a Gala Preview Party on Saturday, July 23. The Hamptons mainstay, which is in its sixteenth year, is helmed by an inimitable team of designers—Mario Buatta is the Honorary Showhouse Chairman, while Jamie Drake and Alexa Hampton serve as the Honorary Design Co-Chairmen. This year’s showhouse, a traditional Shingle Style abode, features twenty-five top interior designers and decorative artists, including McGrath II, Melanie Turner Interiors, Dodson Interiors, and Michael del Piero. The showhouse will benefit the Southampton Hospital. Click here to continue reading.

NEW ORLEANS

Case Study House, #8/ Eames House, Architecture model, Charles & Ray Eames/Eero Saarinen 1945-49. © Vitra Design Museum; Photo: Andreas Sütterlin.

The Essence of Things – Design and the Art of Reduction: An Exhibition of the Vitra Design Museum, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
On view through September 11, 2016
Visitors to the New Orleans Museum of Art have a rare chance to see approximately 150 objects spanning 100 years of design history. Organized by the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, The Essence of Things celebrates the simplicity of design through everyday objects, including furniture, appliances, and clothing. Works by such luminaries as Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, Ettore Sottsass, and Frank Gehry are currently on view. The Vitra Design Museum boasts an impressive collection that features over 7,000 design objects and the estates of numerous design icons, including Verner Panton. Click here to continue reading.  

MAINE

Alex Katz: Small Paintings, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME
On view through August 17, 2016
The Center for Maine Contemporary Art, which unveiled its new, Toshiko Mori-designed building last month, is hosting an inaugural exhibition of works by Alex Katz. The show spotlights the small-scale oil paintings that Katz creates at the beginning of all of his works. The intimate and unselfconscious canvases provide a unique glimpse into the working process of one of contemporary art’s most illustrious and influential figures. Katz, who is best known for his flat yet bold figurative works, has had a small home and studio in Lincolnville, Maine, for the past sixty years. He continues to paint today, at the age of 88. Click here to continue reading.

CALIFORNIA

William Marple (1827-1910) Mount Tamalpais from Napa Slough, 1869. Oil on canvas, 20 x 32 inches. California Historical Society.

California: The Art of Water, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Stanford, CA
On view through November 28, 2016
This fascinating exhibition centers around one of the world’s most precious resources—water. Focused specifically on California, where water has an immense impact on the landscape, culture, and economy, The Art of Water features over fifty works made by leading artists, including Albert Bierstadt, Carleton Watkins, and David Hockney. Through these images, the exhibition charts how water, or the lack thereof, has affected the region through the centuries. For example, in the second half of the nineteenth century, artists created depictions of well-watered farms and flowing rivers and streams, while today, a number of artists and photographers are capturing a landscape profoundly altered by drought and industrialization. Click here to continue reading.  

DELAWARE

Barkley L. Hendricks (b. 1945) Sacrifice of the Watermelon Virgin or Shirt Off Her Back, 1987. Color offset lithograph, 21 5/8 × 30 inches. Lent by University Museums, University of Delaware, Paul R. Jones Collection, A Gift of the Brandywine Workshop, Philadelphia, PA. Image © Barkley L. Hendricks. Courtesy of the Artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Dark Humor: African American Art from the University Museum, University of Delaware, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE
On view through September 25, 2016
This daring exhibition sought inspiration from the term “black humor,” or “dark humor,” which was coined by the surrealist theoretician, Andre Breton, in 1935. The phrase denotes a subgenre of comedy that focuses on subjects that are serious, unsettling, and often considered taboo. Dark Humor explores how contemporary African American artists have utilized black humor as a means to address cultural and racial stereotypes. The exhibition features works culled from the African American art collection at the University of Delaware. Among the artists represented are Camille Billops, David Hammons, Barkley Hendricks, and Peter Williams. Click here to continue reading.

MADRID

Gustave Caillebotte, Oarsman in a Top Hat, 1878. 90 x 117 centimeters. Private collection. © RMN-Grand Palais/Photo: Daniel Arnaudet.

Caillebotte, Painter and Gardener, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
On view through October 30, 2016
Caillebotte, Painter and Gardener offers an in-depth analysis of the theme of the garden in Gustave Caillebotte’s work as well as the artist’s relationship with Claude Monet. Known for his tighter, more realistic take on Impressionism, Caillebotte’s works are infused with an exhilarating sense of modernity. Perhaps the least known of the French Impressionists, Caillebotte has enjoyed a rediscovery of sorts in recent years and has been the subject of numerous shows in the U.S. and Europe. This exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Musée des impressionnismes Giverny in France. Click here to continue reading.   

ARLES

Vincent van Gogh, An Old Woman of Arles, Arles, February 1888. Oil on canvas, 58 x 42 centimeters. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. (Vincent van Gogh Foundation).

Van Gogh in Provence: Modernizing Tradition, Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles, Arles
On view through September 11, 2016
This captivating exhibition brings together thirty-one paintings by Vincent van Gogh from the collections of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. Curated by Van Gogh expert Sjraar van Heugten, Van Gogh in Provence highlights a shockingly prolific seven-year period in Vincent van Gogh’s career, culminating with the artist’s stay in Provence, where he produced around 500 endlessly fascinating works. Arranged chronologically, Van Gogh in Provence beautifully illustrates how the artist’s style evolved, beginning with his tender portraits of peasants in the Dutch countryside and ending with his electrifying late landscapes that helped pave the way for abstraction. The vast majority of the works on view have never been exhibited in Arles. Click here to continue reading.