Double Self Exhibition by Christine Gendre-Bergere

Printmaker and artist Christine Gendre-Bergere is currently exhibiting Double self (in French Double je) in honor of the 340th anniversary of Rembrandt's death. Her exhibition at Galerie La Hune Brenner in Paris includes nine intaglio prints based on a series of Rembrandt's self portraits from 1630 to 1658.

Her Rembrandt portfolio includes some citations (below) from the 17th century philosopher Baruch de Spinoza from his Short Treatise on God, Man and His Well-Being. Spinoza alludes to the body and soul as the "double self." Christine said she included both men because Rembrandt had supposedly painted a portrait of Spinoza (David Playing Harp in Front of Saul) during their lifetime. although no one knows if they actually met, they both confronted the ongoing financial, religious, social, and political powers, reflecting similar beliefs. They chose to live their lives in their own way.

Why philosophers have confused mind with corporeal things
Here the only requirement is that everyone should attend to his perceptions as accurately as possible, so that he may distinguish what is clear from what is obscure.

Whence it clearly follows that the natural love which prompts everything to preserve its body cannot have any other origin than in the Idea or the « objective » essance of such body which is in the thinking attribute.

Now we shall presuppose here, as something already demonstrated, that extension contains no other modes than the motion and rest, and that every particular material thing is nothing else than a certain proportion of motion and rest, so much so indeed that, even if extension contained nothing else except motion only and rest only, then no particular thing could be shown or exist in the whole of extension ; the human body therefore, is nothing else than a certain proportion of motion and rest.

The followikng prints are 38 cm x 56 cm, with plate size 30 cm x 20 cm. They were printed in an edition of ten on 300 g. Magnani Pescia paper.

Christine Gendre-Bergere. R. 1630(a), 2009.
Etching and mezzotint.

Christine Gendre-Bergere. R. 1630(b), 2009.
Etching, mezzotint and soft ground, 2 plates, 2 colors.

Christine Gendre-Bergere. R. 1639(a), 2009.
Etching and mezzotint, 2 plates, 2 colors.

Christine Gendre-Bergere. R. 1639(b), 2009.
Etching, soft ground and direct bite, 3 plates, 2 colors.

Christine Gendre-Bergere. R. 1651(a), 2009.
Etching, 2 plates, 2 colors.

Christine Gendre-Bergere. R. 1651(b), 2009.
Etching, soft ground and direct bite, 2 plates, 2 colors.

Christine Gendre-Bergere. R. 1658(a), 2009.
Etching, 2 plates, 2 colors.

Christine Gendre-Bergere. R. 1658(b), 2009.
Etching, soft ground and direct bite, 2 plates, 2 colors.

Christine Gendre-Bergere. R. 1658(fin), 2009.
Etching, soft ground and direct bite, 2 plates, 2 colors.

Art Institute of Chicago, Modern Wing, Part 2

View of the Modern Wing from across
the street at Millenium Park

This blog is a continuation of my visit to the Art Institute of Chicago's new Modern Wing. On the second floor of the Modern Wing, you will find Contemporary Art from 1945 to 1960 (although there are some items created after 1960), Contemporary Art After 1960, and Design and Architecture.

Contemporary Art 1945-1960, A Sampling

Jasper Johns. Corpse and Mirror II, 1974-75.
Oil on linen (four panels), with painted frame.

Willem de Kooning. Head #3, 1973. Bronze.

Cy Twombly. The First Part of the Return from
Parnassus, 1961. Oil paint, lead pencil,
wax crayon, and colored pencil on canvas.

Robert Rauschenberg. Lincoln, 1958. Printed paper
and stamped metal, with oil paint, fiber-tipped pen,
and silkscreen ink on fabric.

Franz Kline. Painting, 1952. Oil on canvas.

Mark Rothko. Untitled (Painting), 1953-54.
Oil on canvas.

Alexander Calder. Streetcar, 1951. Painted steel,
brass, and wire.

Willem de Kooning. Excavation, 1950. Oil on canvas.

Jackson Pollock. Greyed Rainbow, 1953.
Oil on linen.

David Smith. Beach Scene, 1949. Steel.

Contemporary Art From 1960, A Sampling

Ed Paschke. Mid American, 1969.
Oil on canvas.

Roy Lichtenstein. Mirror in Six Panels, 1971.
Oil and magna on canvas.

Andy Warhol. Self-Portrait, Self-Portrait, 1966.
Acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen.

David Hockney. American Collectors Fred and
Marcia Weisman), 1968. Acrylic on canvas.

Frank Stella. De la nada vida a la nada muerte,
1965. Emulsion with metallic paint on canvas.

Gerhard Richter. Ice (Eis) I, 2, 3, 4, 1989.
Oil on canvas.

Jim Nutt. Da Creepy Lady, 1970.
Acrylic on Plexiglas, enamel on wood frame.

Ellsworth Kelly. Black and White, 1960-61.
Oil on canvas.

Pier Paolo Calzolari. Untitled, 1969.
Tobacco leaves, neon, and lead.

Richard Serra. Weights and Measures, 1987.
Hot-rolled steel.

Eva Hesse. Untitled, 1969. Fiberglass
and polyester resin over cloth-covered
metal wire with metal grommets.

Sherrie Levine. After Egon Schiele, 1982.
Seven gelatin silver and eleven chromogenic prints.

Lucian Freud. Sunny Morning—Eight Legs, 1997.
Oil on canvas.

Lari Pittman. The Senseless Cycle, Tender and
Benign, Bring Great Comfort, 1988.
Acrylic and wood on panel.

Art Institute of Chicago, Modern Wing

I finally had a chance to visit the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago. Here's a sampling of art on the third floor where they have European Modern Art from 1900 to 1950.

Henry Moore. Maquette for UNESCO
Reclining Figure, 1957. Bronze.

Pablo Picasso. Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler,
1910. Oil on canvas.

Constantin Brancusi. Suffering, 1907. Bronze.

Henry Matisse. Bathers by a River, 1909-10,
1913, 1916-17. Oil on canvas.

Constantin Brancusi. Sleeping Muse, 1910. Bronze.

Raymond Duchamp-Villon. Horse, 1914. Bronze.

Henri Rousseau. The Waterfall,1910. Oil on canvas.

Henri Matisse. The Serf, 1900-04. Bronze.

Vasily Kandinsky. Painting with Green Center,
1913. Oil on canvas.

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. Stags,1914. Veined alabaster.

Wilhelm Lehmbruck. Bust of Kneeling Girl, 1911.
Cast stone.

Paul Klee. In the Magic Mirror, 1934.
Oil on canvas, on board.

Oskar Schlemmer. Abstract Figure,1921.
Bronze and nickel.

Henri Matisse. Lemons on a Pewter Plate,1926.
Oil on canvas.

Henri Matisse. Seated Nude,1925-29. Bronze.

Henry Moore. Figure,1937. Marble.

Man Ray. Chess Set, 1927. Brass, silver, and gold.

Rene Magritte. On the Threshold of Liberty, 1937.
Oil on canvas.

Victor Brauner. Acolo, 1949. Encaustic and collage
on paper on board.

Rene Magritte. The Tune and Also the Words, 1964.
Gouache and graphite on paper.

Alberto Giacometti. Walking Man II, 1960. Bronze.
Tall Figure, 1947. Bronze.

View from the second floor of the new wing.

View on the ground floor of the new wing
facing north towards Millennium Park.

View after exiting the new wing towards Millenium
Park. A bridge connects the park with the museum.

Another view of the bridge looking west

The new wing (left) was added to the existing
museum. Trains travel below the museum.

More photos of the Modern Wing and Millennium Park to come.


Photo Credit: All photos by Amy A. Rudberg, unless otherwise indicated.