DAILY ART FIX : Navigating Dürer’s Woodcuts for The Ship of Fools

Art world links which caught my eye…

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Attributed to Albrecht Dürer “Not Providing for Death” woodcut print (published in 1494)

Before Albrecht Dürer (May 21, 1471 – April 6, 1528) published his own illustrated works, he worked as a journeyman illustrator.

“The celebrated Nuremberg artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) spent part of his journeyman years, from 1492 to 1494, in Basel, working as a woodcut designer for some of the most eminent publishers of his time, including Johann Bergmann von Olpe, Johannes Amerbach, and Nicolaus Kessler. Basel, along with Strasbourg, Augsburg and Nuremberg, was a prosperous commercial town and a leading artistic and publishing center in the North of the Alps. Dürer’s journeyman experience here was crucial in his formation as a woodcut designer deeply engaged in the early publishing industry. The most important woodcut project that he was involved with during this time was the design of an extensive illustration cycle to accompany The Ship of Fools, the satirical verses composed in German by Sebastian Brant (1457-1521) and published by Bergmann von Olpe in 1494. This collection of moralizing stories was an instant best-seller; so much so that in that same year, five separate pirated editions appeared in Strasbourg, Augsburg, Nuremberg, and Reutingen. No doubt, its numerous whimsical woodcuts depicting various types of foolish and sinful human behavior contributed to its great success, as these illustrations were copied in all subsequent editions until the late sixteenth century. Nowadays, in general, about two-thirds of the 114 illustrations (counting 9 repeating ones) in the 1494 edition are attributed to the young Dürer, while the rest, which are found inferior in design and cutting, are ascribed to anonymous masters, such as the so-called Master of the Haintz Narr (named after the namesake scene in The Ship of Fools). A more conservative view, expressed by the art historian Erwin Panofsky in 1945, attributes only one-third of the illustrations to Dürer.”

Read the full article here: PUBLIC DOMAIN REVIEW – Navigating Dürer’s Woodcuts for The Ship of Fools

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DAILY ART FIX: The Art of Memes 40

Art world links which caught my eye…

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DAILY ART FIX: Art World Insiders On Their Favorite Art World Movies

Art world links which caught my eye…

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Shirley MacLaine and Paul Newman in What A Way To Go (1964)

A mix of documentaries and fictional films recommended by art industry honchos.

“Still, [New York Gallerist Jack] Shainman made sure to emphasize that his favorite depiction of art in a film can be found in What a Way to Go (1964), a comedy starring Shirley MacLaine. Paul Newman plays an avant-garde artist, Larry, who marries MacLaine’s character and makes conceptual work that literally kills him. ‘The humorous, accidental approach to the whims of the art market truly tickles me, and Shirley MacLaine is, as always, just phenomenal,’ he said.”

Read the full article here: ARTSY – Larry Gagosian, Marilyn Minter, and More on Their Favorite Art World Movies

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DAILY ART FIX: How 2026 will finally kill photorealism

Art world links which caught my eye…

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Real artist at work or AI approximation?

I’m not sure I agree with the premise of this article. Photorealist painting is a skilled process some artists enjoy doing, and photos have already been with us almost 200 years. I believe it there will always be a place for naturalistically rendered hand made artwork.

“Photorealism is the art world’s version of a magic trick. You’re meant to stand in front of the canvas and say, ‘Wait – that’s not a photo?’ At its core, it’s about using photographs as source material, then reproducing them in paint, pencil or other media with such obsessive precision that they read as high‑res photography from a distance. Read our list of the best examples of photorealism for inspiration.

“The movement arrived in the late 1960s and early 1970s, at a time when the art world was drunk on Abstract Expressionism and basking in the afterglow of Pop Art. While Pollock was flinging paint and Warhol was silk‑screening soup cans, artists like Chuck Close, Richard Estes and Ralph Goings decided to lean back into representation… but filtered through the cold eye of the camera lens.

“This grew largely out of the US, especially New York and California, with painters meticulously rebuilding street scenes, chrome‑heavy cars, diners and still lifes from photographs, often at much larger scales than the originals. Most art critics sneered, but the sheer technical prowess was undeniable.

“In the present era, while some amazing photoreal 3D portraits are being made, that appeal seems to have well and truly run its course. Current AI image generators already produce portraits, cityscapes and still lifes with the kind of reflections, depth of field and lens artefacts that were once the preserve of the photorealists. That technical “wow”, the thing that carried a lot of photorealism’s prestige, is now available as a default filter.

“In short, AI is doing to photorealism roughly what photography did to 19th-century salon painting: casually outperforming it on its home turf and for a fraction of the effort. Suddenly, the laborious, handmade copy starts to look less like transcendence and more like a very slow and pointless cosplay of software.”

Read the full article here: CREATIVE BLOQ – How 2026 will finally kill photorealism

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DAILY ART FIX: Beautiful Art – Eugene Von Bruenchenhein “Dwellers of the Sea” 1962

Art world links which caught my eye…

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Eugene Von Bruenchenhein “Dwellers of the Sea” oil on paperboard 17 1/2 ” x 28 1/2″ (1962)

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DAILY ART FIX: Meticulously Sculpted Books Explore the Inner Workings of Information

Art world links which caught my eye…

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Brian Dettmer “The New American” hardcover book, acrylic varnish, 6.75″ x 4.125″ x 1.875″ (2021)

Carving unwanted used books into elaborate 3D sculptures.

“While some genres have fallen out of widespread use in our digital age, such as encyclopedia sets, what happens to them after they’re no longer needed is an ongoing sustainability challenge. For artists like Brian Dettmer, an out-of-date reference book isn’t a useless item but a trove of imagery and formal possibilities.

“In the artist’s solo exhibition, In·Formation at Riverside Arts Center, work made over the past few years explores collage and sculpture through the medium of books. From cut-up elements interwoven into wall reliefs to freestanding forms made from carving directly into thick tomes, Dettmer highlights the afterlife of hardcover publications like dictionaries, atlases, guides, and other reference titles. He often meticulously splices elements together to create layered, stacked, and diorama-stuffed assemblages.

“”There is a randomness to what is revealed, followed by the thoughtfulness of what should remain,’ the gallery says. ‘With each incision, Dettmer strips away layers to expose previously hidden texts and images, often editing the material and assembling it with his own vernacular that suggests new information.’ What the artist chooses to reveal, conceal, or even redact—such as the titles on the spines of selected copies used in ‘Great Houses of Gardening Corners,’ for example—nods to our increasingly tenuous relationship with how information is conveyed to us.”

Read the full article here: THIS IS COLOSSAL – Meticulously Sculpted Books by Brian Dettmer Explore the Inner Workings of Information

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DAILY ART FIX: Sweet Jesus—Trump auctions off a Christ painting made in ten minutes

Art world links which caught my eye…

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Vanessa Horabuena’s New Year’s Eve Painting of Jesus

THE ART NEWSPAPER needs to up their anti-Trump game, if they want to stay in the good graces of our cultural elites.

In their rush to cover an art event that President Donald Trump presented on New Year’s Eve, the unnamed writer did not manage to work in any references to fascist, felon, racist, threat to democracy, walls closing is, wheels coming off, Putin puppet, or any other of the straw man slurs that seem to be part of the Associated Press Stylebook when discussing anything to do with Orange Man Bad.

“Donald Trump made waves (of course) on New Year’s Eve when he auctioned off a freshly painted portrait of Jesus Christ for $2.75m. The US President hosted a gala ringing in the new year at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, featuring a charity auction attended by luminaries such as the former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“In a bid to raise cash for a local children’s hospital, Trump asked the artist Vanessa Horabuena to paint a picture live in front of the assembled revellers. Horabuena tackled the large black canvas with a paintbrush as a band launched into a slow rendition of Hallelujah, reports The Guardian. ‘Draw something really special. I don’t know what it is, but draw something really special,’ he said (the result was the rather makeshift Christ which sold to an unnamed couple).

“’To me, she’s one of the greatest…. She can paint, slowly, a beautiful portrait for the White House, or she can paint the most incredible painting in literally 10 minutes,’ he said in a video of the event broadcast on Newsmax. Trump added that his new year’s resolution was a wish for ‘peace on Earth’ (welcome to 2026).”

Some positive details accidently emerge in the piece. It’s revealed Trump was raising money for charity, and that his New Year’s resolution was for world peace: something he has done more to bring about than any other world leader. Eight major conflicts deescalated so far, and another pending, with the Russia/Ukraine resolution being delayed by European and intelligence community meddling.

Sure, the article refers to Trump making waves, which no one can deny. And art establishment “Christianity is icky” dogma plays into calling the rapidly created portrait of our Lord and Savior “makeshift.” I’d like to see any Postmodern garbage art star like Jeff Koons or Tracey Emin produce a painting of that quality in any amount of time.

I wish this more neutral coverage was going to be the new normal, but I doubt it. Our cultural institutions are captured by a combination of Marxist globalist ideology and “Big Store” fraud and money laundering. Trump’s goal to Make America Great Again is an existential threat to their corrupt status quo.

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I don’t fundraise off of my blog. I don’t ask for Patreon or Paypal donations. If you’d like to support the Remodern mission, buy a book. Or a painting

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DAILY ART FIX: Pablo Picasso’s “New Year”

Art world links which caught my eye…

Happy New Year 2026! The Golden Age is happening!

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Pablo Picasso “New Year” (1953)

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DAILY ART FIX: Wes Anderson Recreates Joseph Cornell’s Utopia Parkway Studio in Paris

Art world links which caught my eye…

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Replica: Joseph Cornell’s Basement Studio Recreated in a Gallery Window in Paris

American assemblage artist Joseph Cornell never went to Paris. But now, thanks to filmmaker Wes Anderson, a recreation of Cornell’s meticulous studio is on display in that city.

“In his lifetime, Joseph Cornell’s studio was a top destination for many in the art world. But not all were invited to the basement of his modest Dutch Colonial home on Utopia Parkway in Flushing, Queens. The painfully shy recluse extended the offer to very few—mainly women, who might furnish their male counterparts with a book and a seat at the kitchen table to wile away the time. But now, anyone can visit. Not the actual studio, of course, but a painstaking replica titled ‘The House on Utopia Parkway: Joseph Cornell’s Studio Re-Created by Wes Anderson,’ which is the brainchild of curator Jasper Sharp and the filmmaker and will occupy the storefront windows at Gagosian in Paris through March 14.

“’He said let’s recreate the workshop and all of his tools and his table and his furniture,’ Sharp recalls Anderson suggesting. ‘So, that’s what we’ve done. We loved the idea of doing it on street level, a storefront, and creating an exhibition that we never open the door to. It’s entirely consumed on the street.’

“A famous hoarder, Cornell spent his days scouring secondhand stores, flea markets and other venues, choosing objects that caught his eye and storing them away for future use. The basement was more like a workshop than your average artist studio, packed to the rafters with items that might look like junk to anyone else, but to Cornell were sweet morsels which, when paired properly in one of his glass-fronted shadowboxes, conjured magic. Much like the artist’s own assemblages, the Gagosian installation paints a portrait of one of modern art’s most enigmatic figures.”

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Joseph Cornell “Untitled (Hotel Eden)”

Read the full article here: OBSERVER – Wes Anderson Recreates Joseph Cornell’s Utopia Parkway Studio in Paris

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DAILY ART FIX: When Brigitte Bardot met Pablo Picasso (1956)

Art world links which caught my eye…

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Brigitte Bardot and Pablo Picasso, 1956

RIP to Brigitte (September 28, 1934 – December 28, 2025) and Pablo ( October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973). Both reached 91 years old.

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I don’t fundraise off of my blog. I don’t ask for Patreon or Paypal donations. If you’d like to support the Remodern mission, buy a book. Or a painting

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My wife Michele Bledsoe has written her own inspirational book, Painting, Passion and the Art of Life.

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