Ilya Bolotowsky Abstraction

Work of the Week: Ilya Bolotowsky, “Abstraction”

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Gisela Carbonell, Ph.D. Curator

Engaging with art in challenging situations can provide respite and solace and remind us to find joy and beauty in basic things we often take for granted. As the new year unfolds and presents us with unexpected questions to consider and new goals to pursue, once again, I turn to art. It seems that for Bolotowsky, abstract art provided the order and balance needed in a historical moment that saw enormous socio-political changes as well as defining shifts in the art world.

The Notion of Place

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Dr. Ena Heller, Bruce A. Beal Director, Rollins Museum of Art

Last season, it had been two years since we introduced the theme of Place as Metaphor for our main collection gallery. Every season, we changed the installation somewhat, brought in new acquisitions and old favorites that had not been on…

Ridley Howard: Paintings & Moments

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Dr. Ena Heller, Bruce A. Beal Director, Rollins Museum of Art

Earlier this week I happened to get off the elevator on the second floor of The Alfond Inn. I had not been on that floor recently, so it had been a while since I had seen Ridley Howard’s Motel Pool. …

Jordan Casteel: Voice and Process

Jordan Casteel: Voice & Process

Posted on June 16, 2021 by Dr. Ena Heller, Bruce A. Beal Director, Rollins Museum of Art

Jordan Casteel and I have Italy and New York in common as career influencers. It was during a semester spent in Cortona as an undergraduate that Casteel decided to switch her major from sociology and anthropology to art. Later, while…

Exuberance in Nicole Eisenman’s Painting

Posted on June 1, 2021 by Dr. Ena Heller, Bruce A. Beal Director, Rollins Museum of Art

Last summer, when our museum was closed due to the pandemic and the future was very uncertain, we started looking for new ways to keep more closely in touch with our diverse publics: students, life-long learners, members, donors. We introduced virtual programs…

So Long, But Not Goodbye

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Grant Hamming, American Art Research Fellow, CFAM

The very first post in this series went live on April 1, 2020, amidst the first waves of shutdowns (including of CFAM) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, a great deal has changed, both at the museum and in…

The Quiet Dignity of Everyday Life

Posted on April 28, 2021 by Grant Hamming, American Art Research Fellow, CFAM

A year ago, I wrote about John Sloan’s The Women’s Page as part of a discussion of the prevalence of etchings of modern life in the CFAM collection. As I mentioned in that previous post, this etching is one of…

Joseph Cornell, James Rosenquist, and Generational Transmission

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Grant Hamming, American Art Research Fellow, CFAM

Back in September, I wrote about the affinities between Joseph Cornell and Earl Cunningham, two untrained eccentrics who made collecting the core of their artistic practices. In that post I also wrote about the serendipity of research, whereby the proximity…

George Grosz and America

Posted on April 6, 2021 by Grant Hamming, American Art Research Fellow, CFAM

When I saw the listing on the CFAM website for the artist George Grosz, I wondered if someone had made a typo. Grosz, I knew, was a German-born artist best remembered for his scathing depictions of the corruption of interwar…

The Underappreciated Tom Wesselmann

Posted on March 24, 2021 by Grant Hamming, American Art Research Fellow, CFAM

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Wayne Thiebaud, whose career has been much more varied than I had previously understood. This week, I’ve had the opportunity to consider another such artist, the similarly underappreciated Tom Wesselmann. If Thiebaud is…

Some Notes on Historical Notability

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Grant Hamming, American Art Research Fellow, CFAM

Usually in this space I am eager to share my most exciting finds, such as my renewed appreciation for Wayne Thiebaud. This week, however, I am in a somewhat more low-key, contemplative mode as a result of my research on…

California Dreamin’ With Wayne Thiebaud

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Grant Hamming, American Art Research Fellow, CFAM

There is just something about landscape art that helps transport me to past times and places. I was reminded of this quality once again this week, with my consideration of Three Cows, a drypoint etching by the American painter Wayne…

More Thoughts on the Materiality of Paint: David Stern

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Grant Hamming, American Art Research Fellow, CFAM

Previously in this space, I have written about the necessity of seeing works of art in person, as well as about the materiality of oil paint. This week my research led me to the art of David Stern, who uses…

Jim Dine, Mark di Suvero, and the Echoes of Downtown

Posted on February 17, 2021 by Grant Hamming, American Art Research Fellow, CFAM

In one of those quirks of the alphabet I wrote about when considering Joseph Cornell and Earl Cunningham, my list of twentieth century American artists includes Jim Dine and Mark di Suvero back-to-back. Both longtime, well-known contemporary artists, the two…

More Thoughts on Photography as Art: Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand

Posted on February 11, 2021 by Grant Hamming, American Art Research Fellow, CFAM

Back in October, I wrote about the moment around the turn of the twentieth century when photography became art. In that post, I examined the work of F. Holland Day and Gertrude Käsebier, two of the most influential figures in…