Travis Simpkins

Monday, October 13, 2014

Research: Worcester Art Museum "Then and Now" by Travis Simpkins. Update #14

These "Then and Now" photos place focus on the long-unchanged 3rd Floor American Decorative Arts Gallery at the Worcester Art Museum. Sincere hope and precognitive intuition leads me to believe that this area may receive some much-needed curatorial attention in the not-too-distant future. It is a semi-prime space, filled with wondrous objects, and likely wouldn't require a complete overhaul… just a modest and thoughtful rearrangement.

-The first photo, from 1910, shows a wide-ranging line of paintings across the west wall… from 18th Century British to early-20th Century American (from William Hogarth to Frank Benson). It looks as though there might be an older Dutch portrait displayed as well. Some of the 8 upholstered benches are still in use, over 100 years later, spread out on the Renaissance Court balcony and in the European Galleries. The same spot today finds the viewer encircled by Revere Silver and facing a framed view of Whistler's mistress, "Arrangement in Black and Brown (The Fur Jacket)".
-The second composition shows the difference between natural and artificial light in the room, with the photos being both before and after the perimeter skylight was removed in 2005. The angle varies slightly, because a display case of lovely Native American basketry was added to the wall behind the camera sometime after 2004.

-The sketch depicts a Rococo-style silver coffee pot from the masterful and elegant "Paine Service", created by Paul Revere in 1773. The set was commissioned by Dr. William Paine of Worcester as a gift for his new bride, Lois Orne.

3rd Floor (West Gallery). Worcester Art Museum. by Travis Simpkins

Decorative Arts. Worcester Art Museum. by Travis Simpkins

Paul Revere Coffee Pot. Worcester Art Museum. by Travis Simpkins

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933): Fay Wray and an Artistic Morgue

Artfully directed by Michael Curtiz, Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) was one of the last films to utilize the two-color (red and blue) technicolor process. The macabre story focuses on a talented sculptor of wax figures who is disfigured in a fire and can no longer sculpt, so he resorts to stealing corpses and dipping them in wax to create his new displays. The cast is great, including Fay Wray, Lionel Atwill, Glenda Farrell and Frank McHugh. The story was re-filmed twenty years later as House of Wax, starring Vincent Price.

: Mystery of the Wax Museum

Fay Wray: Mystery of the Wax Museum

: Mystery of the Wax Museum

Fay Wray: Mystery of the Wax Museum

: Mystery of the Wax Museum

Saturday, October 11, 2014

F for Fake (1973): Orson Welles and Art Forgery

F for Fake (1973)

Brief Review by Travis Simpkins

Written and directed by Orson Welles, F for Fake (1973) was his final completed film. The pseudo-documentary focuses on the nature of forgeries and illusions. A unique effort, it has been described as a "Film Essay." The movie features noted Art forger Elmyr de Hory, who claimed to have hundreds of his work unwittingly hanging in museums, and specialized in faking the works of Matisse, Picasso and Modigliani. Howard Hughes hoax biographer Clifford Irving appears as well. Orson Welles, himself famous for the radio "War of the Worlds" broadcast hoax, serves as an excellent guide. Oja Kodar, Welles' sexy girlfriend, appears in her own fake vignette involving Pablo Picasso. Joseph Cotten appears briefly as well.