The art: Titian, St. John the Evangelist on Patmos, ca. 1547.
The news: On NPR’s Fresh Air, scholar Elaine Pagels discusses her new book about the Book of Revelations, “Revelations: Visions, Prophecy & Politics in the Book of Revelation.”
The source: Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Nota bene: All day long, 3rd of May will feature art informed by the Book of Revelations!
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sea of Buddha, 1995.
This week’s Modern Art Notes Podcast features Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts curator Francesca Herndon-Consagra, who joins me to discuss “Reflections of the Buddha,” on view at the Pulitzer through March 10. Among the topics we discuss is how Buddhism informed the work of Pulitzer architect Tadao Ando, a non-Buddhist. The museum recently published its online catalogue for the show. No one does this exhibition-specific micro-sites better than the Pulitzer: The pictures are fantastic and plentiful and there’s plenty of smart information available.
The first guest on the program is trickster-cum-artist Tom Friedman, whose first New York show in six years opens this weekend at Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine gallery. Friedman is also included in “Lifelike,” a major exhibition opening this month at the Walker Art Center. The show will travel to the New Orleans Museum of Art, MCASD and to the Blanton.
To download or subscribe to The Modern Art Notes Podcast via iTunes, click here. To download the program directly, click here. To subscribe to The MAN Podcast’s RSS feed, click here. For more images of the works discussed on this week’s program, click here.
The art: Folio from a Koran, 9th-10th century.
The news: “The Hajj and Eid al-Adha 2011,” from In Focus with Alan Taylor at TheAtlantic.com. The Hajj is currently taking place in Saudi Arabia.
The source: Collection of the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery, Washington.
Nota bene from the Freer/Sackler website: “The verses are from sura (chapter) 22, entitled al-Hadj (Pilgrimage) and include a discussion of the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Hadj is one of the five principal duties of every Muslim.”
The art: Tintoretto, Moses Drawing Water from the Rock, 1577.
The news: “Rick Perry’s Unanswered Prayers,” by Timothy Egan for the New York Times. Egan begins:
“A few months ago, with Texas aflame from more than 8,000 wildfires brought on by extreme drought, a man who hopes to be the next president took pen in hand and went to work:
‘Now, therefore, I, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, under the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Statutes of the State of Texas, do hereby proclaim the three-day period from Friday, April 22, 2011, to Sunday, April 24, 2011, as Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas.’
Then the governor prayed, publicly and often.”
The source: Collection of Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice.
The art: George R. Lawrence, General View, Opening Prayer of the 1904 Republican National Convention, 1904. Little remembered now, Lawrence was one of the most famous and technologically ambitious photographers of his time. The Wikipedia entry on him provides a quick backgrounder.
The news: “Is America Ready for ‘George W. Bush on Steroids?’” by Joshua Green on TheAtlantic.com. The post is a look at Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s weekend political/prayer meeting at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.
The source: Collection of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
The art: Max Ernst, The Blessed Virgin Chastises the Infant Jesus Before Three Witnesses: Andre Breton, Paul Eluard and the Painter, 1926.
The news: “Pitzer College in California Adds Major in Secularism,” by Laurie Goodstein in the New York Times.
The source: Collection of the Museum Ludwig, Cologne.
