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Penguin Random House
‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.
Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.
Eakin was present at The Norfolk Library Saturday, March 16, for a conversation with Robert Dance, author of the 2023 biography “Ferocious Ambition: Joan Crawford’s March to Stardom,” a member of the library’s board of directors and a trustee of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford. The event was a “bonus” part of the Haystack Book Festival, a program presented by the Norfolk Foundation — delayed from the event’s 2023 October panel discussions due to scheduling.
Picasso's 1910 oil painting "Femme et Pot de Moutarde" ("Woman with Mustard Pot") was shown at the 1913 Armory Show in New York, Boston, and Chicago. The Chicago Tribune reported a viewer commenting, “But how did the mustard pot survive after such evident mutilation of the lady’s features?”The Hague
Eakin and Dance’s conversation touched on the 1913 Armory Show in New York City. Also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, the Armory Show was a groundbreaking event and marked the inaugural showcase of modern art in the United States. It served as a pivotal platform, acquainting American audiences — for better or worse, per the conservative attitudes of the day — with prominent European avant-garde figures like Marcel Duchamp and Henri Matisse, catalyzing a profound shift in the landscape of American art.
“The one thing to keep in mind is that images circulate easily today, so we’re even familiar with art that we haven’t seen, but the opposite was true 100 years ago,” Eakin said at the Norfolk Library. “Everything had to be seen, you had to confront it, and there was a scarcity, especially of new art. Access to artworks was very limited unless you were traveling to Europe. The [American] taste at the time was: You have a country that is an insecure, powerful new country that’s just arrived on the world scene. What [America] wanted more than anything was to be regarded as a great European power. America wanted to have those Old Master paintings, paintings that were owned by princes and kings.”
This was also the shared opinion of such influential shapers of East Coast America’s established art world, like art collector and philanthropist Isabella Stewart Gardener, who went on to found Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1903; financier John Pierpont Morgan, one of the greatest benefactors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and art collector and industrialist Henry Clay Frick, whose collection of distinguished Old Master paintings can be seen today at The Frick Collection on the Upper East Side of New York City.
“Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” ("The Young Ladies of Avignon") by Pablo PicassoThe Museum of Modern Art
“The idea of new art having value was a shocking concept,” Eakin continued. “There was also a larger tradition of insecurity, but also theorizing about deviant art — what would come to be called ‘degenerate art.’ We think of this as a Nazi term, but actually, the conversation about degeneracy in art starts in the United States, and it starts very much with shows like the Armory Show.”
Picasso had actually shown work in America prior to the 1913 Armory Show. In 1911, Alfred Stieglitz, an American photographer and gallerist who would go on to marry modernist painter Georgia O’Keeffe, showcased the first exhibition of Picasso’s drawings in the United States in his gallery 291, located on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. Eakin noted that 83 cubist drawings by Picasso were shown, each priced at $12 dollars. Only one sold — to American artist and critic Hamilton Easter Field. The two had already met in Paris.
For a pop culture perspective of Picasso at the time, we can look to James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster “Titanic,” where Kate Winslet’s American socialite character Rose has brought Picasso’s 1907 pro-cubist oil painting “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” aboard the RMS Titanic. This is a bit of historical revisionism, as “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” did not sink with the ship but is hanging in The Museum of Modern Art thanks to an acquisition by the museum’s patron, Lillie P. Bliss, who features prominently in the later half of Eakin’s book. Still, the remark by Rose’s fiancé, an American industrialist, rings true for the time and his own social circles: “Something Picasso… He won’t amount to a thing. Trust me, he won’t.”
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As legend has it, St. Patrick was brought to the Emerald Isle when he was kidnapped by pirates and enslaved.
Though he eventually escaped, he returned and advanced Christianity throughout the island, according to his short biography, the “Confessio.”
Today, Patrick is regarded as the patron saint of Ireland, and the day is celebrated with religious feasts and services. When it reached the United States via Irish immigrants, St. Patrick’s Day became a secular celebration of Irish culture.
On Sunday, March 17, at 5:30 p.m., the Norfolk Library presented a sold-out spectacle celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. The event featured The StepCrew, an Irish dance group that balances traditional and modern forms of step dance.
The dancers were supported by three fiddlers and an amazing five-piece ensemble comprising members of The Chieftains, Cherish the Ladies, and Bowfire Virtuosic.
Led by Cara Butler, who is well known as The Chieftains’ top Irish dancer, and supported by brothers Jon and Nathan Pilatzke, who are highly regarded as Canada’s leading step dancers, The StepCrew presented a stunning array of dances fusing Ottawa Valley step dance, Irish step dance, and Tap, showing the similarities and differences between each style.
The event was curated by Norfolk Library events planner Eileen Fitzgibbons, an Irish American who brings her passion for Irish culture to Norfolk every year by booking top-notch acts from Ireland and around the world. With the luck of the Irish on her side, Fitzgibbons found the group serendipitously.
“It’s the Norfolk Library Associates’ 50th anniversary this year,” said Fitzgibbons. “They wanted me to find a special band, though all the bands I have booked are special. I was looking for a group we had not had before. I got a call from Cara Butler, who had just had lunch with Kevin Crawford from the amazing Irish band Lúnasa. We had them about five years ago. Her band StepCrew had just had a cancellation on St. Patrick’s Day, a sad thing for sure, and she asked Kevin if he had any ideas. He said to call Eileen Fitzgibbons at the Norfolk Library, and the next thing you know, they are coming. A tip of my hat to Sarah at Wildwood [The old Mountain View Inn] for letting the Crew take over her B&B.”
The StepCrew wowed the audience with a mix of traditional Irish and more modern forms of dance such as tap. The group used the performance both to entertain and to educate by showing the dance styles in their pure form as well the fusion of and connection between different styles. For example, at times the group transitioned from Irish dance by letting the music drop out so that the dancers could perform tap, then launched back into Irish step.
Finding the revelry irresistible, the musicians broke out into dance at times as well. Toward the end of the show, the audience was invited to learn steps and danced with the group.
Attendee Stella Mae Cobb said: “They were perfectly coordinated and were in sync beautifully. It was similar to Riverdance. The performance was engaging and masterful. I loved it.”
“Craic” is the Irish word for good time. Judging by the joyous expressions on the faces of the crowd, good craic was had by all.
For more information on The StepCrew, follow them at stepcrew.com
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Stephen Sanborn
There are three opportunities coming up in March — the 22nd, 23rd and 24th — to be transported through time and memory when The Two of Us Productions presents “A Shayna Maidel” at the Copake Grange.
Director Stephen Sanborn brings to life Barbara Lebow’s award-winning drama, weaving together the poignant reunion of two sisters after World War II through the haunting echoes of their past.
“A Shayna Maidel,” meaning “pretty girl” in Yiddish, tells the story of the reunion of two sisters after World War II, one having survived the Nazi concentration camps. Co-producers Sanborn and his wife, Constance Lopez, have been working with the Copake Grange since 2017 bringing in one-night events such as suspense theater, staged readings, murder mysteries, karaoke and even Sanborn’s own jazz quartet. They are also producing full-scale productions like “A Shayna Maidel” at least twice a year.
“We are supporting the longer-term relationship we have with the Grange where we want to present on a regular basis as a part of working with them,” said Sanborn. Having previously produced Arthur Miller’s “Broken Glass,” several productions of “Cabaret” and a staged reading of “I Am a Camera,” the book that “Cabaret” is based on, Sanborn shared, “We have a particular affinity for this time period. This is the time period where a lot of things happened in the world that set the course in many ways for where we are today.”
“A Shayna Maidel” delves into the complexities of family, survival and resilience in the aftermath of tragedy. Sanborn explained, “It’s not all happiness and light, but it’s positive in a way that, despite all that happens, you can find a way to go forward.” The play’s exploration of memory, particularly through the lens of one sister’s experiences in Auschwitz, adds layers of emotion and depth to the narrative. Much of the story takes place through these memories and dream sequences.
In order to accomplish the transitions between past and present, dream and reality, Sanborn utilizes lights and colors, creating separate worlds: “The way we handle the dream sequences is that I’m able to do a color wash on the whole stage. I use blue, a deep blue and blush pink to denote the memory sequences.”
Sanborn reflected on the relevance of this particular story, stating: “We’re trying to be true to the material because it speaks to experiences that people are having right now. You could pick several places in the world where families are being separated or people are being oppressed and worse. There’s certainly a message there that’s relevant, and we’re trying to make sure that we tell it with the appropriate level of strength so that it comes across for what it is.”
Through its exploration of themes such as immigration, family separation, oppression and memory, “A Shayna Maidel” is sure to resonate with audiences on a profound level. “I think it’s a story that needs to be told,” said Sanborn.
Witness this powerful production, as The Two of Us Productions continues its mission to bring thought-provoking theater to the community Friday, March 22, through Sunday, March 24, at the theater at the Copake Grange, 628 Empire Road in Copake, New York. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinee is at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $20 for adults, and $15 for students and older adults. Call for group rates. For reservations, visit www.TheTwoOfUsProductions.org or call 518-329-6293.
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