This Old Palette: December 2010

First Annual Christmas Sketch Workshop

Bodo

One of the things
that's alway's bothered me
is that
the P&C has not had
drawing workshops on Christmas Day.

Tor

Ramadan,
Yom Kippur,
Diwali,
Nowruz:

The P&C is never closed
in observance of those holidays.

Gil

So
why should it be closed
on a day
celebrated
by the one world religion
that has the
greatest tradition of visual art?

Chris

To remedy this injustice,
(and to accomodate a model
who really needed more work)
we intitiated
the first
Annual Christmas Sketch Workshop.

And the model's costume
looks like it will become
part of this new tradtion.

(since does seem to recall
some old December issues
of Playboy Magazine)

Ben Silbert

The owner
of a watercolor
by one "Ben Silbert" (1893-1940)
recently
came across
our listing of
"Benjamin Silbert"
in the "Graphic Art Section"
of the
1916 P&C 20th Anniverary exhibit
at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Ben Silbert was born in Russia and
studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1924
he was included in
this exhibit
at the Art Institute
along with Joseph Birren
(who was also a P&C member)

And in 1927
he was included in
another show
at the Art Institute
of
"Watercolors, Pastels, and Drawings"

(BTW, even though Silbert's work
is not pictured,
it's one of the best
A.I.C. catalogs I've ever seen.
There are many good drawings)

So,
I'm figuring
that Ben and Benjamin
were one and the same

especially
since these drawings
remind me
of a Palette and Chisel
figure drawing workshop.

This piece
is in the
Brooklyn Museum

and this piece
is in the Art Institute
(but regrettfully,
it is neither on display
nor
pictured in their database)

I'm not sure when he left,
but Silbert did not stay in Chicago,
and is known as a New Yorker.

He also seemed
to have been working hard
to find a patron,
as witnessed by his pursuit
of the Cone sisters of Baltimore
who were friends of Gertrude Stein
and major collectors
of Matisse, Picasso,
and other leading artists
of their time.

Here's his portrait of
one of them:

Etta Cone

"The artist Ben Silbert flooded her with letters of his travels, and described in intricate detail his works in progress. Etta was obviously flattered by the attention, and may not have suspected that the correspondents were at least partly motivated by their own financial considerations."
...as quoted from
The Cone Sisters of Baltimore : Collecting at Full Tilt

Portrait of a Girl in White

The "Girl in White" is Mildred Louer Bird, whose grandson sent me this image.

It was exhibited at the Art Institute in 1924. Tragically, Ms. Bird died in a plane crash five years later.

Mary Qian in Southwest Art Magazine

Mary Qian
is on the cover
of the January 2011 issue
of Southwest Magazine.

Here's the feature story
as it appears
on their website.

There's lots of biography and
a full account of
the painting trip to China
she recently took
with Pam Gibson,
Tim Leeming, and Jose Antonio Bedolla.

And I didn't remember
that she's been at
the Palette and Chisel
since
2004.

Her relentless
pursuit of excellence
certainly
has made a difference,
especially
in the Sunday painting workshop
that she's been monitoring
for several years.

*********

Note: the magazine feature story
includes many of Mary's paintings
that are not shown on website.

Members are sure to notice
many of the regular models
who work here,
and one painting
even includes a
Palette and Chisel member
in the background.

The image is a bit sketchy,
but it appears to be
the co-founder
of ThisOldPalette,
Stuart Fullerton.

Exhibit: Eight Artists, Eight Visions

Scott Powers

Here's my favorite,
with that melancholy green haze
that Dan Gerhartz
is noted for.

And to augment that feeling
note how that
pretty young woman
has such knarly old hands.

Scott Powers

What a fine idea:
to stretch the model out
horizontally,
but only put her head
under a strong light
to give the scene
some depth.

A fine trip
back to about 1860
that makes me think
of Courbet

Stuart Fullerton

Stuart Fullerton

While Stuart
takes us back
only to the early 20th C.
(I'm thinking Thomas Wilmer Dewing)

Or maybe
someone
from the 1930's

Christina Body

Christina Body

(no one seems

more enthusiastic

about the city)

Christina Body

Kathleen Newman

James Hajicek

Erroll Jacobson

Pablo De Leon

Stephanie Weidner

Bridgman Arrives !

The George Bridgman arrives!

What an incredible addition
to the second floor studio!

Many thanks
to Stuart Fullerton
who stumbled accross it
on a on-line auction
and bought it for $1000.

The Academy bought it from him
for the same price,
and then various donors
chipped in to pay
another $5,000 to
restore and mount it.