Category Archives: Art

ARTmonday: Sally King Benedict Abstact Paintings

I discovered the abstract paintings of Atlanta artist Sally King Benedict last month from a pin on interior designer Angie Hranowskey’s “Abstract” board.  I love the bold and cheerful colors, shapes, and compositions. Many of these are already sold; I’m hoping she’s at work on a new series.

Nugget 1

–  –  –

Texas Summer

–  –  –

Take It

–  –  –

Violet Track

–  –  –

Phase Out

–  –  –

Headdress

–  –  –

Free Love

–  –  –

Swingset

–  –  –

No. 65

–  –  –

Ethereal

–  –  –

No. 70

–  –  –

Temperature Spike

1 Comment

Filed under . REGULAR FEATURES, Art, Art Monday

ARTmonday: Ashley Goldberg • Portraits of Girls

Artist Ashley Goldberg of the blog Kitty Genius, whom I discovered on Pinterest, has been creating some great patterns of late: birds, feathers, dots, geometric shapes. When I clicked over to her Etsy shop, I was immediately drawn to these charming portraits of mod girls who seem to have come out of a world where ’60s London meets contemporary Harajuku. I may need to buy the postcard set.

Rosie

Ginger

Clementine

Diana

Doris

Follow the Sparrows

Susannah

Lily

Scout

Gwen

Celia

Leave a comment

Filed under . REGULAR FEATURES, Art, Art Monday

Get the Look: 34 (Mostly) Modern Sculptures

Bronze sculptures are expensive, modern or new, but there are examples of vintage and contemporary pieces in other mediums, like wood and ceramic, that are well within reach. I love the well-above-my-price-range biomorphic bronze by Antoine Poncet, as well as Kelly Wearstler’s cheeky legs. And the Finnish sheep in smooth black wood is adorable.

S H O P P I N G
‘Crystal Angel’ by Martti Rytkönen for Orrefors, $125 at Unica.
C. Jere Sputnik in Polished Chrome, $99 at Jonathan Adler.
Porcelain Skull by Nymphenburg, $439 at Unica.
Brass Knot, $1,495 at Kelly Wearstler.
‘Totemic Dreams’ with Bronze and Shino Glaze by Victoria Shaw.
‘Pointing Figure’ by Bernard Meadows, 1967, $10,000-$15,000, Sotheby’s
Bronze Legs, $1,495 at Kelly Wearstler.
Black Wood Ram by Aarikka Finland, approx. $615 at Aarikka.
Teak Fish Sculpture by Mike Morgenroth,1979, $24 at Abodeon.
Smolten Mirror by Cmmnwlth, $4,000 at Matter.
Vitra Miniature Wiggle Chair by Frank Gehry, 1972, $130 at MoMA Store.
‘Construction of My Heart’  in Alabaster, $4,500 at Arlene Angard.
Green Laminated Milled Acrylic by Phillip Low, $750 at Moss.
Puppy Abstract by Eero Aarnio for Magis, $147 at Nova68.
Nobuho Miya Iron Birds, $120 at Abodeon.
Briciole Sculpture/Divider by Paola Navone for Riva 1920 at Unica.
Resin Bottles by Constantin & Laurene Leon Boym, $55 at The Future Perfect.
Unglazed Abstract, 1952 by William August Hoffman, $2,500 at Assemblage.
Sputnik by Tony Duquette, c.1960, at Lamberty, 1st Dibs.
Primary Color Cubist Sculpture by Adolf Odorfer, 1971, $8,000 at design/one.
Biomorphic Bronze by Antoine Poncet, late‘50s, $12,800 at Sam Kaufman.
‘Minhir’ by Hans van De Bovenkamp, 2009, $16,000 at Lon Hamaekers.
Kostick Bronze Star, $160 at Abodeon.
Multicolor Acrylic Shapes by Vasa Mihich, $950-$1850 at Galere, 1st Dibs.
Primitive Style African Sculpture, $800 on eBay.
‘Small Boxes #4’ by Mike Wright at Williams McCall Gallery.
Reclaimed Wood Sculpture, $99.95 at Crate & Barrel.
Black Rib Cage in Porcelain By Celia Nkala for Perception Park.
African Fertility Figures, Sierra Leone, 20th c., $5,400 each at Wyeth.
‘The Alexander,’ Stabile, $75 at Nova68.
Wood ‘Ascension,’ by Autin Wright, 2011, bid $6,500 at Grounds for Sculpture.
Brass Salvador Orb Brass Bibelots on Marble, $225 at Jonathan Adler.
‘Some Cords are Feathers’ Bronze by Romolo del Deo.
‘Tangle’ in Chrome by Richard X. Zawitz, 1981, $35 at MoMA Store.

Leave a comment

Filed under . REGULAR FEATURES, Art, Get The Look, Home Accessories, Shopping

Montage: 45 Rooms with Sculptures (Plus My Own)


My husband and I have quite a bit of art—oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, pastels, photography—but not much in the way of sculpture. In fact, he said last week we should consider adding some to our collection. (OK!) We have a few pieces, which I’ve included photos of here, and at the end of the post. The above image (next to the Cynthia Packard) shows a little sculpture that my son made. (Most of you know I never gush about my kids, so indulge me this time.)

Boston sculptor/potter Steve Murphy has a daughter my sons’ age, so they’ve been treated to a special pottery-making sessions. Mercifully, Steve has the kids finish with a green glaze, so the clay  emerges from the kiln resembling patina-ed bronzes. My favorite is an abstract from the preschool years. (Subsequent years’ attempts at representational pieces were not quite so successful.) It’s been on our mantle for years, not out of misplaced maternal pride, but because I rather like it. (Aesthetics prevail around here.)

Here’s a shot of my bedroom bookshelf. (Excuse the low brow reading material.) The pieces aren’t exactly artfully arranged, but a few are quite special. Starting from the left:  black & white flower ‘Fusion Foto Bloc’ by Debbie Krim purchased at her SoWa studio; one of my most cherished works, a Romolo Del Deo bronze nude from Berta Walker Gallery in Provincetown, a holiday gift from my mother-in-law because I’ve always admired hers. Another gift from my mother-in-law, a miniature wooden Degas ballerina from the Met Museum gift shop. Her mother-in-law (my husband’s grandmother) gave it to her. She passed it down to me this past December. The two chairs prints I made a couple of summers ago after taking a class at Castle Hill. The small rock is a chunk of pyrite and the large rock on the right we found on a Truro beach. Finally, the outstretched ballerina on the right is a piece I’ve had for much of my life, passed down from my grandmother, who was an antiques dealer. It is bronze on a green marble base but don’t know anything else about it.

Now that you know plenty about my own collection, here are 45 more refined rooms with many spectacular sculptures, starting with a Dubuffet.

Designer Frederic Mechiche’s loft via Door 16
——–

Katie Lydon Interiors
———-

Trip Haenisch & Assoc. – Photographer Simon UptonElle Decor
———-

Kelly Behun   |   Kelly Wearstler, Metropolitan Home
———-

Photographer Pernille Kaalund
———-

Ashe + Leandro Architecture + Interior Design  |   unidentified
———-

via Desire to Inspire
———-

David Scott Interiors
———-

Designer Frederic Mechiche’s loft via Door 16
———-

Elle Decor
———-

The Selby
———-

Mercedes Perez de Castro
———-

Delphine Krakoff, Pamplemousse Design
———-

Photographer Warren Heath   |   Photographer Simon Watson
———-

James Harb Architects – Photographer William WaldronElle Decor

———-

Delphine Krakoff, Pamplemousse Design
———-

Geoffrey De Sousa Interior Design
———-

Photographer Stellan Herner   |   unidentified
———-

Photographer Pierre Jean Verger
———-

via The Brickhouse    |   Weitzman Halpern Design
———-

Jennifer Post Design – Architectural Digest
———

Eric Ceputis Design – Photographer Nathan KirkmanElle Magazine
———-

via The Brickhouse   |   Robert Passal Interior & Architectural DesignTraditional Home
———-

Hotel Particulier
———-

Kriste Michelini Interiors   |   Jennifer Post Design
———-

Luis Bustamante Arquitectura de Interiores
———-

Charles de Lisle Workshop    |   Marc Jacobs’ Paris apartment by Paul Fortune Design
———-

unidentified
———-

New York Spaces
———-

Wendy Blount, Blount Design
———-

Jennifer Post Design
———

Weitzman Halpern Design   |   David Scott Interiors

Kelly Behun
———-

Duane Modern Gallery   |    Adam Bram Straus Interior DesignLonny
———

A few other shots of sculptures in my own home:

Left: Chaim Gross sculpture, a gift from my in-laws, It is bronze on a wood base, and very heavy.
Right top: A wooden sculpture of a mother and two children that I bought at a gallery in Wellfleet on Cape Cod when my children were about those ages, and always wanted to be held. It’s dark-stained wood. I can look up the artist if anyone’s interested.
Right bottom: A close-up shot of my son’s abstract clay sculpture, circa 2005.

4 Comments

Filed under . REGULAR FEATURES, Art, Home Accessories, Montage, Rooms

ARTmonday: Maissa Toulet

I came across these glass dioramas by Parisian artist  Maïssa Toulet when I was sifting through Flickr photos for a story I was doing  The Inside Source about displaying white collections. I was immediately drawn into her quirky little worlds, in which mice wear suits, ducks have arms, and where Marie Antoinette finds her fate.

Toulet cites the assemblies of the American artist Joseph Cornell as her initial inspiration. She is drawn to the “eclectic jumble” of curiosity cabinets—the disturbing dimension, sometimes morbid, cabinets of curiosities, which accumulate stuffed animals, skeletons, and organs preserved in formaldehyde.

She views her pieces as miniature museums, and says that though nothing is classified with apparent logic, each object has a distinct place; none are interchangeable. Her most recent works are moving away from the concept of curio cabinets towards pieces that are self-contained stories.

I find them to be part science project, part crazy collector, part artistic effort; all intoxicating.

Ecographie
2007
=  =  =  =  =

A Rodent Trap
2007
=  =  =  =  =

Les Végétaux
2008
=  =  =  =  =

Oral Hygiene in Adults
2008
=  =  =  =  =

View
2008
=  =  =  =  =

The Autopsy of Marie-Antoinette
2011

=  =  =  =  =

The Menagerie
2011
=  =  =  =  =

Under the Sea
2007
=  =  =  =  =

Souvenirs of Youth
2011
=  =  =  =  =

Jeune fille, que vous faut-il pour le printemps?
2010

Leave a comment

Filed under . REGULAR FEATURES, Art, Art Monday