Emily Carr exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario

Emily Carr, Indian Church, 1929, oil on canvas. Bequest of Charles S. Band, Toronto, 1970.© 2006 Art Gallery of Ontario

I don't know if there's much more one can say about the Canadian artist Emily Carr. Yet, the Art Gallery of Ontario is giving it the old college try in their current exhibition, Emily Carr: New Perspectives on a Canadian Icon. I've always enjoyed Carr's work - such as the example above - and I hope that the exhibit is well-received.

Great comic strip by Cox & Forkum

While Art de Triomphe is not a political blog, I couldn't resist adding Cox and Forum's cartoon of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent trip to Syria. I think they covered the essence of her controversial visit very well.

Edward Gorey coming to a theatre near you

A story written and illustrated by the late, legendary Edward Gorey is coming to the big screen. Gorey's "The Doubtful Guest" is being developed by Walden Media - creator of the 2006 film The Chronicles of Narnia - Fox 2000 and the Jim Henson Company.

If this move adaptation is done well, it should be a sleeper hit. Gorey's work and art was dark, but it was always amusing. And no discussion about Gorey is complete unless you mention his fantastic animation on the PBS Mystery series.

If you want to look at some of Gorey's work, Salon has an excellent archived link here.

Look, up in the sky. It's...hmm, where's the guy in the cape?

A good piece by Brad Mackay in the Toronto Star about the lack of diversity in mainstream comic book companies like Marvel and DC.

According to Mackay, "the Marvel universe contains more than 5,000 characters, yet even a generous count reveals that only 100 or so of these are black – less than two per cent of their fictional population." This is not unique in the DC universe, either. Yet, as comic book sales decrease rapidly, comic book companies continue to rely on the true and tried formula of using the mainly white superheroes that made them successful and profitable, including Spider-Man and Superman.

Should this policy change? I think so.

While I don't support forced political and economic policies such as affirmative action (I judge people on their merit, not on their race, religion or gender), I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with increasing the number of visible minority superheroes. Society is changing, and I think that the comics should follow suit. And besides creating a more diverse universe for superhero characters, it will surely attract a whole new audience and increase profits for comic book companies.

The formula for keeping comic books alive and kicking seems fairly obvious. It's up to companies such as Marvel and DC to make a choice: Either diversify your comic universes or face the possibility of oblivion.

Artscholar.org

I have been meaning to discuss this topic on Art de Triomphe for some time now.

Last year, I discovered a website called Artscholar.org, "a website of revisonist history." The editor is Simon Abrahams, who has written a few long pieces on some of the Old Masters and French Impressionists and an unpublished book on art. (He also has a blog, Art Sight, but it hasn't been updated since July 21, 2006.)

Abrahams' claim to fame is that he claims to have discovered that Michelangelo's portrait of Dante forms a large section of the altar of the Sistine Chapel. Click on the button "Closer Look" in the video if you want to see a sketch of Dante's figure.

Is it true? To be fair, the whole story has a Da Vinci Code feel to it, and there's no way to escape this. I've looked at the video a couple of times, and I'll admit I'm not 100% sure about his theory. Yes, there appears to be a mild outline of Dante...but whether Michelangelo intended this or not is open to debate. It might just be a fluke.

But whether you agree or not, it's worth taking a look at Abrahams' site. He has some interesting scholarly articles on Michelangelo and Edouard Manet, and some unique observations, too. See what you think.

Art quotes for the art lover in all of us

I found some great quotes on art on this website.

My five favourite ones are as follows:

1) Art is lies that tell the truth. Pablo Picasso

2) It is art that makes life, makes interest, makes importance...and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of its process. Henry James

3) Art is like a shipwreck...it's everyman for himself. Marcel Duchamp

4) It would be a mistake to ascribe this creative power to an inborn talent. In art, the genius creator is not just a gifted being, but a person who has succeeded in arranging for their appointed end, a complex of activities, of which the work is the outcome. The artist begins with a vision -- a creative operation requiring an effort. Creativity takes courage. Henri Matisse

5) The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions which have been hidden by the answers. James Baldwin

And I certainly can't argue with this statement:

You can never do too much drawing. Tintoretto (Jacopo Comin)

Which ones are your favourites? Let me know in the Comment section.

Terry Teachout and second-rate art

A link to Terry Teachout's column on second-rate art (mentioned here) can be found on the Wall Street Journal website here. Word of warning: it's behind a subscriber wall.