Back to September 2008 ARTnews Retrospective  

100 Years Ago

Mr. William M. Chase, who returned from Europe recently, has, at the request of the Italian government, presented to the Uffizi Palace in Florence, a portrait of himself, painted by his own hand.

One feature of the remarkable collection of paintings and statuary in the palace is the assemblage of portraits of masters of paintings as they saw themselves. Mr. Chase is the second American artist to receive the honor of an invitation to contribute to the gallery, the first having been John S. Sargent. The collections were for centuries under the patronage of the Medici family and were finally bequeathed to the State.”
—“Mr. Chase Honored,” September 12, 1908

75 Years Ago

The recent innovation of the Museum of Modern Art in bringing two Zapotec urns and their Rivera Portfolio to a show window in one of the busiest corners of New York’s financial district, represents a new departure in museum policy . . . .

The museum states that . . . “art of high quality should be brought to . . . business people, who often do not have time to visit museums.” This . . . constitutes an almost revolutionary rejection of the old self satisfied museum attitude, with its inevitable smugness.
—“Show Window Art,” September 16, 1933

50 Years Ago

The thousands who stream daily through the traveling exhibition of paintings by Sir Winston Churchill attest to the prestige of this most famous of living amateurs.

Sir Winston is a zestful painter, whose exuberance overrides his gropings in draftsmanship and techniques. He does not venture into . . . contemporary art. . . . He takes joy in the conventional and the picturesque which he revitalizes with health and personality. His approach may not be of the moment, but he is not old fashioned in that he gives spirit and vitality to what he does.
—“Sir Winston Churchill, vacation painter,” by Aaron Berkman, September 1958

25 Years Ago

The 1980s, a time to “do it,” a time to “get it talked about”—especially, perhaps, in the midst of an art world once again attracting money and the media. In the East Village, it is also a time to take chances—to get your work shown, though you may be young and unproven, or even to open a new gallery. Many of the East Village dealers, in fact, are artists themselves who originally opened their galleries to show the work of their friends.
—“Art in ‘Alphabetland’: The ABC’s (and D’s) of the Exploding East Village Scene,” by David Hershkovits, September 1983