THE PLANK AUGUST 6, 2009
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In the 1940s, painter John Heliker produced several portraits and sketches of Merce Cunningham, the celebrated dancer and choreographer. These images are exquisite and have never before been released. Click here to view a slideshow of the exclusive artwork, all courtesy of the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation. And click here to read a wonderful essay by Jed Perl that helps to put the work in context.
4 comments
Thank you, Elise, for posting these wonderful depictions of Merce Cunningham. They rather resemble early Picasso. Mr. Cunningham was born in Centralia, in my home state of Washington. The world suffered an awful loss at the death of Mr. Cunningham.
- liberal reformer
August 6, 2009 at 2:08am
Hmm...
What's the difference between a portrait of an artist as a young man and a portrait of a young man as an artist?
Sorry, I go back and forth with my daughter [who teaches art at a local community college] about folks who discuss art like chemists discuss the Periodic Table. She doesn't do that, however. Like Andy Warhol, she recognizes the self referential tautologies artists must invest in sooner or later when they evaluate art or respond to those who evaluate their's.
Someone once said that art is the least untrue lie. And the layers of irony there speak volumes.
george
- iambiguous
August 6, 2009 at 6:15am
liberal reformer said:
"Thank you, Elise, for posting these wonderful depictions of Merce Cunningham. They rather resemble early Picasso."
They do, don't they, LR, in his cubist period.
I had never heard of the painter John Heliker and I am grateful to TNR for introducing me to his work.
- J. Dyer
August 6, 2009 at 10:13am
I had never heard of him either, jackson and am also grateful to TNR for the introduction.
- liberal reformer
August 6, 2009 at 12:08pm