Two Major Lenson Retrospectives Scheduled for 2012-2013
The Quick Center for the Arts and The Butler Institute to present retrospective one-man exhibitions
The Quick Center for the Arts at Saint Bonaventure University will present a major Lenson retrospective exhibition in the fall of 2012. The exhibition will then travel to the Trumbull, Ohio facility of the prestigious Butler Institute.
To make it all more exciting, one of America's most important artists - Gary T. Erbe - will be curating the show for the Butler and making the final selection of works.
This is thrilling news, another indication that America is more receptive than ever to the art produced by the figurative painters of the WPA.
Stay tuned for updates and news.
The Preservation of Lenson's Murals in Weequahic High School Has Begun!
In August of 2011, art conservator Andrew Bertolino installed protective Lucite panels over portions of Lenson's "Enlightenment of Man" murals in the lobby of Weequahic High School in Newark. This marked the first stage of what we hope will be a complete restoration of these murals to be completed during the next year.
Lenson's "Enlightenment of Man" murals, which are one of the most important installations of public art in New Jersey, were painted in 1939. They show the progress of art and thinking from the stone age through contemporary times.
The restoration is being underwritten largely by The Weequahic High School Alumni Association. But more funds are needed before these murals can be preserved and restored.
TO GET NEWS ABOUT THE MURALS OR TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARD RESTORATION COSTS, PLEASE FILL IN YOUR INFORMATION BELOW
Lenson Work on Display at Montclair Art Museum through November 11, 2011
Lenson's painting "He Who Remembers Another Remembers Himself" is now on display at the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, New Jersey, through November 11.
The work was selected by curator Gail Stavitsky for the Museum's show, "What Is Portraiture?"
If you find yourself in northern New Jersey, plan to stop by to see this wonderful show.
"The Beggar," 1931 work by Michael Lenson
Lenson's Painting of a Parisian Beggar Found in Tennessee (Not a Joke)
The painting you are looking at is something of an enigma. Painted in Paris in 1931, it somehow made its way to an art dealer in Nashville.
It is quite a painting - big, forceful, and disturbing. In many ways, it presages what the artist's social realist works would look like nearly a decade later.
As we said, puzzling. But the painting will be on display at the two Lenson retrospectives that are mentioned above, so perhaps you can see it for yourself and help solve the riddles. .
Lenson the Subject of Feature Article in DesignNJ Magazine
Michael Lenson was the subject of "Michael Lenson: Artist with a Purpose," a feature article written by art critic John Zeaman for DesignNJ Magazine's August/September 2011 issue.
The article, which traces Lenson's career from his work on the Works Progress Administration onward, does a fine job of placing his life within the context of artistic trends of the last century.
To quote from the article, "Michael Lenson continued to paint until his death in 1971. He always painted representationally, but his work was too imaginative and allegorical to be called realism. Toward the end of his life, his style was closer to surrealism. . . The paintings from the Sixties - not surprisingly, perhaps - seem chaotic and cacaphonous. There's a feeling of being under water."
Lenson to be Profiled in Upcoming Book from McGraw-Hill
Bestselling business author Debra A. Benton recently approached Michael Lenson's son Barry Lenson, and asked him to contribute an entry to her latest book, The Digital Executive. Barry did. His entry, "My Father's Digital Ever After," describes the positive contributions that this website has made toward building his father's reputation.
Benton's books are always lively, groundbreaking an highly perceptive. We never expected to be reading about Michael Lenson in a book about doing business in a digital world. But you know, the world is full of surprises.
Two Lenson Works Displayed through the U.S. State Department's Prestigious Art in Embassies Program
When Ian Kelly was recently appointed U.S. Ambassador to the U.S. Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, he and his wife Francesca began to select a group of American paintings that would form an exhibition in their embassy home in Vienna, Austria. They requested two Lenson works, which are currently on display. They are "Early Tuesday Morning" and "Portrait of an Artist." We're delighted that two Lenson paintings sere selected for inclusion in this prestigious State Department program.
Lenson Painting Joins the Collection of Jazz at Lincoln Center
"Jazz Combo," Soon to be Displayed at Jazz at Lincoln Center
"Jazz Combo," a late painting by Michael Lenson, is now on display just outside the performance space known as "Dizzy's Club Coca Cola" at Jazz at Lincoln Center! We are thrilled that this painting has found a home at one of the preeminent jazz venues in the world.
"Eternal Spring," Lenson Surrealist Canvas, Available through Franklin Riehlman Fine Art
"Eternal Spring"
This surrealist work, dating from the early 1950s, is currently being represented by Franklin Riehlman Fine Art in New York City. For information on this painting, and other Lensons that are currently being offered by this dealer, call (212) 879-2545 or visit the gallery website. at http://www.franklinriehlman.com
And Still More Lenson News . . .
Lenson Show a Resounding Success at the Jewish Museum of New Jersey in Newark
"Hard Times, Good Times: The Art of Michael Lenson," the recent Lenson show at the Jewish Museum of New Jersey, was a notable success from the day it opened until it closed its doors.
A steady flow of visitors learned about Lenson and his contributions to New Jersey and to Newark. Others were able to share stories of their own about the artist - about what it was like to study painting with him, or work on public art projects with him.
And there were three special events too. First among them was a two-person panel discussion about Michael Lenson, presented by Kate Ogden (notable New Jersey art historian) and Nick Taylor (author of the book American Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA). A second panel event brought together a group of young Newark muralists and other artists and administrators who are still about the business of installing public art in the city. Still a third event was a forum for discussion among Newark's black, Jewish, Afro-Jewish and other constituencies of that vibrant city.
For the last of these events, Michael Lenson's paining "In Memoriam," painted just after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., served as something of an emotional flashpoint.
There were other emotional moments too, such as the arrival of Barbara Crane Wigren, who visited a Lenson painting for which she had modeled in the late 1960's.
The exhibition served another purpose too - it added energy to the current efforts to restore Lenson's murals in the lobby of Weequahic High School in Newark. Please continue reading this page to learn more about the progress that is being made on that effort.
