AFP Art Consulting

02/18/2025

For nearly 10 years, I have worked with the children of textile artist Nancy Hemenway Barton (1920-2008) to get her work into the world, and into museum collections. The Denver Art Museum just opened an exhibition of Nancy's work that includes three large scale tapestries that have been gifted to the museum. The work (and the exhibition), is inventive, innovative, impressive and impeccably beautiful. Seeing so many objects installed together and listening to her three grown sons honor and extol the virtues of Nancy as both an artist and a mother, was truly moving. If you find yourself in Denver, go see the show, and the museum itself, which is a gem.

Confluence of Nature: Nancy Hemenway Barton features 12 textile wall sculptures and five works on paper by artist Nancy Hemenway Barton, each an exploration of the stunning locations from around the world that informed and inspired her artistic process.

05/05/2023

There is some time, but get ready...!

Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997), Still Life with Crystal Bowl, 1972. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 52 × 42 in. (132.1 × 106.7 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, purchase, with funds from Frances and Sydney Lewis 77.64. © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

04/18/2023

It seems like a visit to the MFA is in order! Certainly having the opportunity to see "Drowning Girl" and work by artists inspired by the iconic Hokusai "Great Wave" is worth a trip. Share your thoughts if you check it out ~

Did you know that the waves in Roy Lichtenstein's iconic "Drowning Girl" are an intentional nod to Hokusai's "Great Wave?" 🌊

The celebrated pop artist lifted the imagery of "Drowning Girl" from Tony Abruzzo’s illustration for “Run for Love!” in "Secret Hearts" no. 83 (November 1962). Magnifying his original source and cropping the frame significantly, Lichtenstein emphasizes the swirling seascape enveloping his heroine.

This iconic work, on loan from MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, is on view in "Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence" through July 16! Through more than 300 works, the exhibition looks at Hokusai from the viewpoint of many other artists who interacted with him—during his lifetime and beyond: https://bit.ly/41khvOC

💧: Roy Lichtenstein, "Drowning Girl" (1963), oil and acrylic on canvas, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Philip Johnson Fund (by exchange) and gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bagley Wright, 1971. Accession Number: 685.1971. © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY.

02/23/2022

Wonderful, just amazing! An incredible space for the incubation of new and creative ideas. Bravo 👏🏻

The pop master’s estate, a longtime friend of the Whitney Museum, will donate his Greenwich Village studio to the museum’s Independent Study Program. It will open next year.

04/15/2021

The 19th century. Where to begin? So many changes occurred over the course of that century, many inspired by the Industrial Revolution. I could post work more aligned with the previous century; or by Ingres, perhaps one of the last great academic painters; or the poetic work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; or from other styles and movements like Orientalism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, or from the American Renaissance. Architecture too, with the creation of the Otis elevator and hence, the skyscraper. What about Gaudi in Barcelona? The list is endless. So here is a piece created in the middle of the century that is symbolic (to me) of all the change wrought that century. The Crystal Palace, a grand steel and glass structure designed by Sir Joseph Paxton for the First Great Exhibition of 1851, in Hyde Park, London. It is the place where ideas about art, science and culture first had global reach, and opened up the world in a way not previously imagined.

04/15/2021

Western art in the 18th century was characterized by two contradictory movements - Rococo and Neoclassicism. These two images illustrate just how much these styles diverged. Francois Boucher's "Allegory of Painting", 1765 (National Gallery of Art, DC), with it cotton candy colors and lush idealized beauty; and Jacques-Louis David's "Death of Socrates", 1787 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY), based on Plato's description, the drama rendered in dark brooding tone and expression. Both artists were French but they couldn't have been more different. I don't think I have a favorite work from this century. Do you have any to share?

04/14/2021

Painted at the turn of the 16th-17th century, one of my most favorite paintings is by German-born Dutch artist, Hendricks Goltzius -“Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus Would Freeze”, c. 1602. Hanging at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, this work is ink and oil on canvas - like a large pen work with paint added for color. Goltzius had been, up to the time he created this hybrid mythological painting, the most famous draftsman and printmaker in Europe.
I recommend visiting Philly for the art and the food!

04/12/2021

Andrea Palladio, considered the most influential figure in Western architecture, designed the Villa La Rotondo in Vicenza, Italy, 1567-1592. With four identical facades, the structure epitomizes the classical focus on rationality, symmetry, geometry, and humanism. Palladio's work has inspired generations of architects. His villa designs influenced the appearance of American houses from the Colonial period to the present. I suspect "The Four Books of Architecture" is still required reading in all architecture programs.

04/12/2021

In honor of World Art Day, I am going to share an influential or favorite artwork every day for the next week from a different century. World Art Day is an international celebration of the fine arts, declared by the International Association of Art (IAA/AIAP), a partner of UNESCO, to promote awareness of creative activity worldwide. The first World Art Day was held on April 15th, 2012, a date chosen in honor of Leonardo da Vinci's birthday.

With the emergence of spring, here is Sandro Botticelli's "Primavera", c. 1480, tempera on poplar wood. The meaning of the mythological scene has long been a mystery, though the image is a celebration of love, peace, and prosperity.
A nice way to herald a new, and hopeful, season.

02/10/2021

During these cold, snowy New England days, I thought some images of the sea might soothe, a bit.... The 10 works presented are a diverse and fine array of maritime (not in the traditional sense!) reflections through the ages.

Jessica Lack selects 10 great works that chart artists’ shifting relationships with the sea, from the Middle Ages to today

01/23/2021

This is incredible! Salgado, a co-founder of the project, is a renowned, and remarkable photographer. See some of his work here:
https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/sebastio-salgados-journey-from-brazil-to-the-world/?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=8F8FC59BCAD23B9DDE0D905746CE0DBF&gwt=regi&assetType=REGIWALL

They transformed a barren plot of land into a thriving forest.

01/21/2021

Today’s art history lesson

A Marina Abramović version racked up thousands of likes on Twitter.