New Arrivals: Erté

Andrew Weiss Gallery is very excited to present a new collection of work by Russian-born French artist Romain de Tirtoff, or more commonly known as Erté.  Andrew Weiss Gallery has recently acquired over 40 different unique fashion illustrations created by Erté in the 20th century.  Each piece is unique and full of vibrant colors that pop right off the paper. These eye-catching paintings are windows into old Hollywood fashion and film.

Erté was a vastly diverse artist who excelled in an array of fields including fashion, jewelry, graphic arts, costume, and set design for film, theatre, opera, and interior decor.  Erté designed over 200 covers for the popular magazine, Harper's Bazaar, as well as many others including Illustrated London News, Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, and Vogue.

 This particular group of pieces were the private collection of Helene Martini, also known as the Empress or the Countess.  Martini was known for her involvement with the Parisian cabarets and owned 10 cabarets all over the city including Folies Bergere and Folies Pigalle.  Her and Erté were great friends and he left this collection to her after he passed. A few years ago Helene Martini decided to put the whole collection up for auction.

 

Upcoming Event: Bergamot Station Arts Center EXPO-SÉ


Bergamot Station Arts Center EXPO-SÉ Saturday, May 21st from 10 am - 7 pm 

Join us as we welcome the Expo to Bergamot Station Arts Center! The Bergamot Station EXPO-SÉ is an open house event on Saturday, May 21st celebrating the opening of the Expo Line in Santa Monica. Now's the perfect time to take the train to visit us at Bergamot Station! Just hop on the new Expo line and get off at the 26th Street/Bergamot Station stop. 

This is a FREE family friendly event! There are no tickets necessary to gain admission. 
The Metro is offering FREE train rides for the entire opening weekend. The City of Santa Monica is additionally offering FREE Big Blue Bus rides and Breeze Bike sharing! Remember: PARKING is extremely LIMITED at Bergamot Station, so this is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of our city's new public transportation system! 
Bergamot Station is an internationally renowned creative arts complex, boasting over 30 galleries and creative businesses. Come enjoy a thriving arts community, now a convenient stop along the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Expo Line. 

Special Events: 
11am: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Opening the Expo Line at Bergamot Station, with Councilmember Kevin McKeown and the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce 
11am: Ruth Bachofner Gallery: Artist Talk with Margaret Lizzari 
1-4pm: Laura Korman Gallery: Opening reception "CENDRILLON" with artist in attendance, Cara Barer 
1:30pm: Stuart Ashman - President of the Museum of Latin American Art in conjunction with Lois Lambert Gallery's exhibit, STRAIGHT FROM CUBA: A WOMAN'S PERSPECTIVE 
12-3pm: dnj Gallery: "When did it stop being fun?" exhibition, artist Pamela Mayers-Schoenberg in attendance 
4-7pm: TAG Gallery: Opening Reception for artists Vicky Hoffman, Tom Wheeler, & Joe Pinkelman, + Group Show, "In Transit" 5pm: Leslie Sacks Gallery: Opening reception of Minjung Kim 
7pm: Venice Symphony Orchestra: Performance at Bergamot Café 
8pm: City Garage Theater: "Othello/Desdemona" performance 

All Day Events (10am-4pm): 
bG Gallery: Matt Elson "Infinity Boxes" on view; Thomas Whittaker Kidd exhibit walk-throughs, free transport portraiture 
Building Bridges: Preview Reception with Lucie Foundation and a presentation of International platform artists 
FOOD: Bergamot Café and Grilled Cheese food truck and cookies courtesy of Ingo's Tasty Diner/The Misfit 
MUSIC: Kathy Leonardo's band to travel on the Expo Line and around Bergamot; the Jazz Trio band in People's Park Robert 
Berman GalleryPreview of Santa Monica Auctions Live Public Art Auction 
Richard Heller Gallery: Paco Pomet: New paintings from Granada, Spain 
Rose Gallery: Presentation of vintage historic images of cable cars, railroads, and trains
Schomburg Gallery: New York Film Academy exhibition with photographers in attendanceSkidmore Contemporary Art: Artist talks with Bradley Hankey, Mark Allen, Courtney Murphy, Nina Jun, Brighton Smith 
TREATS: Frozen Yogurt cart

Now on View: Picasso Ceramics

Andrew Weiss Gallery is now showing a collection of ceramics by Pablo Picasso. Picasso, an undisputed Master of 20th Century Art, is best known for his large scale paintings and impressive body of graphic work.  What is lesser known about Picasso is his collaboration with Madoura Pottery, run by the Ramie family in Vallauris, that spanned over 25 years.

This rare collection gives viewers a taste of Picasso's diverse and fluent artistic skills with any medium.  Picasso's imagination, wit, and humor become apparent in this collection of pottery.  

Picasso became very interested in manipulating the shape of a ceramic to encompass his subject matter and design.  A vase became the female form and a round plate was transformed into a human face in Picasso's hands. Most of the ceramics are made of earthenware clay which means that they were fired at the lowest level causing the clay to be coarser and softer that other ceramics.  This type of clay can be made impervious to liquids by the use of glaze. 

These works are now on view at our Bergamot station gallery. Please email info@andrewweiss.com or call 310-246-9333 for further information about this collection.

 

      

      

 

Upcoming Event: Bergamot Station Spring Fling

Bergamot Station Spring Fling!
Saturday, March 19 from 12-4



Andrew Weiss Gallery is proud to present the Bergamot Station Spring Fling event! Come join in us in celebrating the start of Spring with over 40 different galleries and creative businesses. There will be live music, food vendors, and special events.
This is a FREE family event! So come and enjoy the fun with all of your friends and family.

SPECIAL EVENTS AND VENDORS:
Official Bombay Sapphire sponsored event
Bergamot Cafe (A3): Festive fare and live music
Apollo Espresso and Shave Ice Truck
Border Grill Gourmet Food Truck
Live music from the Venice Symphony Orchestra (1:30 PM at the Bergamot Cafe)
Argentine Tango instruction Ilona Glinarsky

Hope to you see you there! And don't forget to stop by Andrew Weiss Gallery!

The Cool School in Barcelona

THE COOL SCHOOL IN BARCELONA

RARE PRINT WORKS BY LA’S MOST INFLUENTIAL GROUP OF ARTISTS:

Peter Alexander, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Laddie John Dill, Craig Kauffman, Eric Orr,

and Ed Moses

Opening: Saturday, October 24, 2015 from 6:00-8:00pm
On view through December 5, 2015

 Billy Al Bengston, BAB 1, 1988, original etching, hand signed and numbered

Billy Al Bengston, BAB 1, 1988, original etching, 30x22 in., hand signed and numbered 

(SANTA MONICA, CA)--Andrew Weiss Gallery is pleased to announce The Cool School in Barcelona: Rare Handmade Print Works by LA’s Most Influential Group of Artists.

Polígrafa Obra Gràfica were innovators with their short-term residency program.  In 1988 and 1989 Poligrafa invited eight prominent California-based artists--Billy Al Bengston, Peter Alexander, Larry Bell, Laddie John Dill, Criag Kauffman, Ed Moses, Eric Orr and Ed Ruscha--to each spend two weeks in Barcelona and create handmade prints based on their experiences and impressions of the city.  Most of this trailblazing group of California Light and Space and Pop artists, who worked in mediums ranging from sculpture to painting and installations, received their first introduction to printmaking at this time.

Peter Alexander, Hallelujah II, 1988, original lithograph, 22 x 30 in., hand signed and numbered

 

The majority of the works created during these artist residencies were then archived for nearly 30 years by Poligrafa, and rediscovered and reintroduced exclusively by Andrew Weiss Gallery.

Gallerist Andrew Weiss brings the rare print works of these renowned California artists to his light-filled gallery space in Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station, close to the studios still in practice by many of these Venice and Santa Monica-based artists. On view will be more than 50 works highlighting Los Angeles’s first and most significant post-war artists, who continue to lead and influence today’s contemporary art world.  The hand numbered, limited edition etchings and lithographs on woven paper are each hand signed and dated by the artist.

 Eric Orr, Catalonian Nine, 1989, original embossed etching, 30 x 22 in. hand signed and numbered

Barcelona-based fine art printmaker Polígrafa Obra Gráfica was launched in 1964 by Manuel de Muga and has published editions featuring over 300 leading artists since then. After the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, and at the end of Spain’s 36-year fascist regime, Poligrafa was widely credited for bringing new art and artists into the country, injecting a breeze of freshness and modernity to Spain’s moribund cultural atmosphere. Their artists have always been chosen by a criteria of rigor and ambition. Polígrafa published editions by artists who are today recognized as among the foremost of their time, such as Joan Miró, Francis Bacon, Max Ernst, John Cage, Alex Katz, Rufino Tamayo, and Francisco Toledo.

In conjunction with this exhibition, the gallery will also be screening The Cool School: The Story of Ferus Art Gallery, a documentary film by Morgan Neville that focuses on the seminal Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, which between 1957 and 1966 solidified the careers of a band of young and rebellious artists including Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Craig Kauffman, Moses, and Ed Ruscha.


The Cool School  In Barcelona: Rare Print Works by LA’s Most Influential Group of Artists is on view from October 24, 2015 until December 5, 2015.

August 18, 2015


Marilyn Monroe: 17 Years - The Making of a Legend

NEVER BEFORE SEEN ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS FROM ORIGINAL TRANSPARENCIES OF MARILYN MONROE DEBUTS ON THE WEST COAST
MARILYN MONROE: THE MAKING OF A LEGEND
Opening: July 25th, 2015 from 6:00-9:00 pm
On view through September 5, 2015
 
(SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA)—Andrew Weiss Gallery is pleased to present Marilyn Monroe: The Making of a Legend, opening Saturday, July 25, 2015 from 6:00-9:00 pm.  The gallery holds the world's largest archive of Marilyn Monroe original photography and this exhibition showcases works by 7 renowned photographers spanning the icon's brief 17 year career--from her very first professional assignment in 1945 with William Carroll, to the last photographs taken of Monroe in 1962 by George Barris. The exhibition also highlights incredible works by Milton Greene, seen for the first time in 2015 and making their West Coast debut after being locked away and unpublished for over 50 years until Andrew Weiss Gallery acquired the rights.    
 
Milton Greene first encountered Marilyn Monroe on assignment for Look magazine in 1953. When the 26 year old Greene sent her proofs from their first sitting, “She responded with two dozen roses and called to say they were the most beautiful pictures she had ever seen.”  Greene became Monroe’s confidante and mentor. Together they formed Marilyn Monroe Productions, which resulted in "Bus Stop" and "The Prince and the Showgirl."  
 
The exhibition captures a wide variety of moments in the life of Marilyn Monroe, from the undiscovered young woman to the Hollywood icon she became. Along with works by George Barris, Milton Greene, and William Carroll, the exhibition includes photographs by Kashio Aoki, a Pan Am steward who took photos on board of Monroe and her newlywed husband Joe DiMaggio as well as stunning works by Andre de Dienes, Bert Stern, and Lazlo Willinger.
 
Chilly Wind by George Barris was featured on the cover of Argonaut.
Alongside the historic photographs of Marilyn Monroe, with his Historical Fiction works, photographer Tyler Shields creates his own narrative of the impact of the passing of Marilyn Monroe, featuring several of today’s rising and established stars such as Abigail Breslin, Nathan Fillion, Natalie Alyn Lind, Grant Gustin, and Danielle Panabaker.
 
Andrew Weiss on the photographers in the exhibition and their relationships to Marilyn Monroe, in chronological order:
 
William Carroll
Carroll was the first photographer to pay Norma Jeane Mortenson (Marilyn Monroe) for modeling. He was creating a display card to promote his business and he liked her wholesome girl next-door manner. He picked her up at her apartment in West Los Angeles and drove up PCH to Castle Rock, where they spent the day shooting. She brought her own clothes and did her own makeup and hair. She was paid $20, which is the equivalent of about $250 today.
 
Andres de Dienes
On August 2, 1945 Norma Jeane Mortenson (Marilyn Monroe) signed with the Bluebook Modeling Agency in Los Angeles and within a year had 33 covers in her portfolio. Andres was already a well-known photographer. He called the agency looking for a model for figure studies and while Norma Jeane didn’t commit, since this was practically considered pornography at this time, she did agree to meet with de Dienes. They had instant chemistry and although she was married, took off with de Dienes on a road trip for a month. It was not too long after that she started her transformation into Marilyn. They met up again in New York in 1946 as she was beginning her film career and she asked him to photograph her. They went to Tobey Beach on Long Island and the beach was packed until suddenly storm clouds gathered, looking like a rain storm was coming. In minutes, the beach was deserted. They waited it out, the sun came back, and they had the beach to themselves where they proceeded to shoot.
 
Lazlo Willinger
Lazlo Willinger photographed Marilyn in 1948. This was when the studio executives started investing in her looks; lightening her hair, having her hairline raised, her bite corrected and teeth whitened. Willinger was a premiere Hollywood glamour photographer. 

 
Milton Greene
Milton Greene and Marilyn Monroe had a wonderful working relationship as well as deep friendship. They started a production company together in 1955 after Greene’s attorneys found loopholes in her contract with 20th Century Fox where she felt she was being exploited. She spent a great amount of time at the home of the Greene family in Connecticut, and the first photographic session between the two took place March 28, 1953. 
 Along with other eminent photographers such as Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, and Norman Parkinson, Milton Greene is credited for bringing fashion photography into the realm of fine art.
 
Kashio Aoki
Aoki was a steward aboard the Pan American flight the newlywed Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio were flying for a combination honeymoon and promotion for the Japanese baseball season. When they were leaving, there had been so many photographers and the press hounding them they refused to cooperate with anyone, leaving 250 photographers standing outside at the airport. On board the place was Aoki, who asked a favor, if he could take their photographs with his personal camera. They allowed him to do so, DiMaggio begrudgingly, and the roll of film sat undeveloped for almost 50 years. 

 
Bert Stern
Their infamous photoshoot at the Bel Air Hotel. There is a very entertaining story in Bert Stern’s book about his trip out to LA to shoot Marilyn for Vogue. Suffice to say the room was stocked with her favorite red wine and champagne and only accessories for wardrobe.  Marilyn went from clothed to nude in the course of the entire evening and the shots are some of the most amazing ever. Unfortunately Vogue didn’t agree, and they had to reshoot the entire session, this time with hair, make-up and wardrobe people. These photos were taken 6 weeks before her death. 

 
George Barris
George Barris was an experienced photojournalist hired by Cosmopolitan to shoot and interview Marilyn after her dismissal from “Something’s Gotta Give.” He pitched the idea of a book so she could tell her side of the story and she was very excited about a new start. The photos were relaxed and beautiful, taken at the Hollywood Hills home of Tim Leimert and at the beach in Santa Monica, CA. These photos were taken two weeks before her death.
 
Tyler Shields
Tyler Shields is a Los Angeles-based photographer known for his provocative and sometimes controversial work. Shields was born in 1982 in Jacksonville, Florida. He began his photography career there in 2003 and published his first book just two years later. Tyler Shields has had over twenty solo exhibitions worldwide.
 
Please email info@andrewweiss.com for all Bob Dylan inquiries.
June 16, 2015


Historical Fiction by Tyler Shields

 “HISTORICAL FICTION” DEBUT AT ANDREW WEISS GALLERY

(SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA)—Andrew Weiss Gallery is pleased to present Historical Fiction, an exhibition of new works by Los Angeles-based photographer Tyler Shields. Historical Fiction was photographed in locations across the United States over a period of twelve months through early 2015. These large-scale color-saturated and black and white photographs, each limited to editions of 3, are the artist’s powerful interpretations of iconic moments and individual reactions to 1960s American political and pop culture history including the first men on the moon, the disbanding of The Beatles, the Golden Age of air travel, racial violence, and the deaths of James Dean, John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Marilyn Monroe. The 23 photographs are a collective of jarring imagery that intend to provoke reaction. The series also includes a four-minute video installation featuring Nathan Fillion and Christa B. Allen called Man on the Moon. Historical Fiction reflects on the complicated, controversial, and emotional times of one of the most influential eras in modern history in ways that have never been seen before.  The series will be on view at Andrew Weiss Gallery from May 19, 2015 until June 27, 2015.  

 

About Historical Fiction Tyler Shields says, “No matter what age you are and no matter where you were, tragic moments in history such as 9/11, JFK, and Martin Luther King, Jr. impact us.  Other moments may influence us in a different way and can have a lasting effect, like first time you travel in an airplane, are inspired by art, see a magic trick, or fall in love.” Shields continues, “With Historical Fiction, I have tried to create a narrative of history frozen in time, as if each image were part of a book where the first and last 100 pages have been torn out, and the story is for you to decipher.  What happened before and what happened after is only up to the imagination of the viewer, and it's that viewer that can envision themselves in many of these moments.”

 

A second phase of the exhibition, a series within the series of works inspired by Marilyn Monroe, will open just before the anniversary of her birthday on Saturday, May 30, 2015.

 

About Tyler Shields

 Tyler Shields is an American photographer known for his provocative and sometimes controversial work. Shields was born in 1982 in Jacksonville, Florida. He began his photography career there in 2003 and published his first book just two years later. Tyler Shields has had over twenty solo exhibitions worldwide including Imitate Modern, London, England; Miller Gallery, Cincinnati, OH; Samuel Lynne Gallery, Dallas, TX; Guy Hepner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; and Andrew Weiss Gallery, Santa Monica, CA. Shields has published three books and has a fourth on the way for 2016. Tyler Shields lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

 Please email info@andrewweiss.com for all Bob Dylan inquiries