Tadasky (Tadasuke Kuwayama) was born in Nagoya, Japan, 1935. He came to the United States on a scholarship to study at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI in 1961. Tadasky's first stop was New York where he decided to stay. Tadasky transferred his scholarship to the Art Students League and the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York, then a locus of study for Japanese immigrants. Tadasky's primary body of work, begun in the early 1960s, features compositions of concentric circles that trigger optical color interaction and explore sensory stimulation. They are highly calculated and precisely created, consisting of thin, pulsating, vibrantly colored lines that seem to whirl and radiate outward from the center. Tadasky uses a special wheel adapted from a traditional Japanese technique that allows him to paint each ring perfectly. Philip Johnson was among Tadasky's earliest supporters, purchasing a painting in 1964 and introducing Tadasky's work to fellow architects and curators. A painting by Tadasky appeared in the December 11, 1964 edition of Life magazine in an article titled "Op Art: A dizzying fascinating style of painting." The Museum of Modern Art purchased the featured work, A-101, 1964, as well as B-171, 1964 for its permanent collection. Other early museum collectors were the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Albright-Knox Gallery (purchased 2 works), the Houston Museum of Fine Arts (purchased by James J. Sweeney), and the Phoenix Art Center. Private collectors include Harry Abrams, Seymour Knox, Frederick Weisman, David Rockefeller, and James Michener.

'B-119'
Acrylic on canvas
15 x 15 inches
1964
Tadasky (Tadasuke Kuwayama)
(b.1935, Japan, lived NYC)

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Belgian artist René Magritte, 1898-1967, is one of the most popular artists of the Surrealist movement. He is famous for his compositions in which he depicts familiar figures, objects, locations and circumstances in a surreal, puzzling and often humorous way. Unlike other Surrealists, Magritte wasn't obsessed with Freud, the subconscious or the interpretation of dreams. He preferred to challenge the viewer and provoke questions with his meticulously executed paintings that deceive our eyes and toy with everyday reality. He rarely explained his work however. Magritte always preferred to leave it up to the viewers to decide what the work was about. In this painting a male figure is sleeping in a wooden construction. If it wasn't open on one side you would think it was a casket. The rectangular construction rests on several cabinet legs and is situated in a desert landscape. If this wasn't surreal enough, a massive rock can be seen closer to the horizon. The stone and wooden objects are perfectly aligned above each other in the composition. Despite the rock being further away in the distance, it seems to float above the sleeping man.

Magritte
The Cape of Storms,
1964
oil on canvas
Royal Museum of Fine Arts
Antwerp.

#renemagritte #thecapeofstorms #painting #oil #canvas #dated1964 #royalmuseumoffinearts #antwerp #modernart #surrealism #surrealistart #surrealistpainting

Chicago’s collection of public art was initiated on August 15, 1967, when Mayor Richard J. Daley dedicated an untitled sculpture commonly known as “The Picasso” in Chicago’s new Civic Center (now the Richard J. Daley Center). Just four years earlier, architect William Hartmann of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill had approached Pablo Picasso with the commission. The artist accepted and crafted two steel maquettes; he kept one in his studio and gave the other to the architect to use in planning. The sculpture’s presence inspired private and public investment in more works for the cityscape over the years, including recent additions in nearby Millennium Park.

Maquette for Richard J. Daley Center Sculpture
1964
Pablo Picasso
Spanish, active France, 1881–1973

#sculpture #maquette #picasso #pablopicasso #picassosculpture #iron #oneoftwo #dated1964 #modernart #art #modernsculpture