Robin Rosenberg Fine Art, Author at Robin Rosenberg Fine Art

Fashion Photography

A “Snapshot” of the Fashion Icons

The nights are getting chilly and the leaves have begun to turn red, signaling the start of the fall season which coincides with the launch of Paris Fashion week. The anticipation of the most dazzling designer shows across the pond has inspired us to highlight some of our favourite fashion photography artworks. The genesis for fashion photography may have been clothes, but today, we recognize the artistry behind each shot and the ability to tell a story, evoke a mood, or promote a lifestyle.

Over the years, the genre has evolved in many ways, resulting in a plethora of images that are designed to provoke the viewer’s attention. Admire the sinewy grace of model Dovima as she poses fearlessly amidst a group of circus elephants for example. Or perhaps the intricate way in which the architectural detailing of the wall panel complements the elaborate ruffles of the Christian Dior gown in Patrick Demarchelier’s image. And before you ask, no, Ormond Gigli’s Girls in the Windows (1960) is not photoshopped! The artist intentionally and strategically coordinated these women to stand in the windows of a condemned building to realize his dream photo. How’s that for taking risks?!

Richard Avedon, Dovima with Elephants, 1955, 14 x 11 inches, Ed. of 100

Patrick Demarchelier, Christian Dior Haute Couture, Spring/Summer 2011, 2011, 20 x 24 inches, Ed. of 8

Ormond Gigli, Girls in the Windows, 1960, 16 x 16 inches, Ed. of 100

Fashion photography has empowered artists to push boundaries, both artistically as well as ideologically – often turning conventional beauty and gender norms on their heads. Take, for instance, Helmut Newton’s Rue Aubriot, which uprooted all preconceived notions of femininity with the model’s tailored suit, sleek hairstyle, and cigarette.

Helmut Newton, Rue Aubriot, 1975, 16 x 22 inches

In one of its 2014 articles, The New York Times proclaimed fashion photography as the “artworld’s rising star.” Artistic images of glamour, beauty, and sartorial expression have been gaining momentum over the years, enticing more collectors, and making their way to major art spaces, no longer buried in the pages of fashion magazines.

Through its daring innovation, fashion photography has garnered the respect of museums worldwide and has become a highly collectable genre. If you are interested in any of these iconic shots or would like to start your own photography collection, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

Mario Testino, Sienna Miller, Rome, American Vogue, 2007, 53 1/10 x 70 9/10 inches, Ed. of 3

Steven Meisel, Naomi Campbell, Vogue Italia, 1992, 20 x 24 inches, Ed. of 7

Nick Knight, Susie Smoking, Susie Bick for Yohji Yamamoto, 1988, 30 x 23 7/8 inches, Ed. of 3

Pamela Hanson, Patti Sylvia, Joseph Campaign, 1987, 24 x 30 inches, Ed. of 5

Tim Walker, Pearlescent Xiao Wen, Shoreditch, London, 2011, 25 1/5 x 19 7/10 inches, Ed. of 10

Horst P. Horst, Around the Clock, 1987, 20 x 16 inchesLillian Bassman, Barbara Mullen Blowing Kiss, 1950, 40 1/5 x 29 9/10 inches, Ed. of 25

Art for Kids!

For nurseries, playrooms & more!

The artworld is often assumed to be reserved for sophisticated, wealthy, and highbrow elites. This stereotypical notion could not be further from the truth. Art can be enjoyed by all, especially a key demographic not usually considered when it comes to the field–kiddos!

Of course, children love to get their hands messy in their artistic creations, but there is also great value in subjecting kids to art displayed in galleries, museums, and even in home environments. Interacting with artwork has a slew of benefits for younger viewers as it engages their senses, sparks creativity, fosters critical thinking, and has been linked to language development.

This back–to–school season has inspired us to compile some of our current favourite artworks, from Takashi Murakami’s multicolored flowers that depict joy and innocence to Hunt Slonem’s iconic paintings of animals. We believe these pieces would be especially appealing to a younger crowd and would work perfectly in a nursery, a kid’s bedroom, or a playroom.

Regardless of their age, creating a space for your children to grow plays a significant role in their comfort and independence, and adding artwork to that space is one way to open up a whole world of fun, imagination, and exploration.

Enjoy these fun pieces and please contact us if any artists are of interest.

Takashi Murakami

Mr. Brainwash

Michael Craig Martin

Beau Dunn

Donald Baechler

Tom Slaughter

Hunt Slonem

Alexander Calder

Montreal Mural Festival 2021

A Celebration of Creativity and the Democratization of Urban Art

As the Montreal MURAL Festival comes to a close, we would like to take a moment to celebrate this event and the artists it supports.

Montreal’s MURAL Festival is an annual event celebrating the international urban art community featuring live art, music, exhibitions, and artist talks. This year’s event, which ran from August 12 to 22, was the ninth edition of the festival, and has yet again transformed the cultural landscape of the city. As MURAL comes and goes each year, artist works from previous years intermingle with new works, creating a rich tapestry of styles and themes. Old with new, architecture with art, mundane with extraordinary: urban art allows for the intersection of all.

Graffiti Alley, tribute to Alex Scaner

MURAL transforms Saint Laurent Boulevard into an open-air museum, with large-scale displays of urban murals and installations. A forgotten alley becomes an explosion of colour in an homage to Montreal graffiti artist, Alex Scaner, who recently passed away at the young age of 36. An empty parking lot becomes a space to observe Inti’s character “Kusillo,” as well as Hsix’s proud figure with fist held high, and finally DENIAL’s poignant “Sorry is not enough” Black Lives Matter piece. Brilliantly coloured bricks enter into dialogue with dull pipes, faded store banners, and cracked sidewalks as these artists make their mark on the metropolis.

Inti, 2014

Though the festival has ended, the art remains! We invite you to consult this interactive map to learn more about the murals and to take a gander to admire the newest additions. If you have a passion for graffiti or street art, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

Hsix, 2016

Denial, 2019

Buff Monster, 2016

Five Eight, 2016

Andy Warhol: The Pioneer of Pop!

The Iconic Artist Behind the Unforgettable Movement That Challenged the Traditional Approach to Art

Andy Warhol, Marilyn series

August 6^th marks the late Andy Warhol’s birthday, one of the most widely known artists who played an instrumental role in the emergence and enduring success of the Pop art movement. We are taking this opportunity to delve into what Pop is all about, as it remains one of the most recognizable and relevant modernist artistic styles.

Originating in the 1950s and peaking in the 60s, Pop was largely characterized as a revolt against traditional approaches to art. Artists relinquished classical artistic themes such as mythology, morality and history in favour of quotidian subject matter, turning to Hollywood films, advertisements, product packaging, music and comic books for sources of inspiration. Much to the dismay of art critics of the time, these artists boldly blurred the lines between low and high art, elevating elements of popular culture to the level of fine art.

Andy Warhol, Soup Can Series

Warhol’s oeuvre epitomizes Pop’s unprecedented exaltation of the everyday. Think of his soup can series, coke can bottles, Brillo boxes, advertisement illustrations and, most famously, his portraits of celebrity icons including Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.

Andy Warhol, Life Savers, 1985, Screenprint, 38 x 38 inches, Edition of 190

Pop art was largely fueled by a democratic objective. Warhol, along with other key members of the movement including Tom Wesselmann, Roy Lichtenstein and James Rosenquist, sought to overcome the artworld’s highbrow atmosphere of exclusivity and, instead, created art that resonated with the masses. While today, it is commonplace to witness elements of popular culture incorporated into artwork, it is crucial to recognize how revolutionary this concept was at the time. These artists truly paved the way for future artists to embrace creative liberties.

Roy Lichtenstein, Crying Girl, 1963, Lithograph, 18 x 24 inches, unknown edition

Tom Wesselmann, Blonde Vivienne, 1988-89, Screenprint, 56 x 57 inches, Edition of 100

Pop art continues to live on today and has evolved into what is called Neo-Pop, a contemporary variation of the movement that includes the likes of Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama and Takashi Murakami.

Please feel free to contact us with any of your Pop art requests!

Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog, 2008, Broad Contemporary Art Museum, Los Angeles

Looking At Language

Text-Based Art

Language is a powerful tool – one that has been employed by many artists. The presence of text in the history of visual culture dates back centuries, however, many modern and contemporary artists have worked to shift its peripheral position to the forefront, many even creating artworks with subject matter solely dedicated to text. The written word has been adopted in the arts in versatile ways, often used as a vehicle to relay subversive messages imbued in socio-political activism, as well as in more light-hearted and humorous instances of clever wordplay. In whatever form it takes, text-based art adds a unique element to visual contemplation, forcing viewers to take a pause, read and reflect.

Have a look at some of our favourite text-based artists and please contact us for any inquiries.

Richard Prince

Mel Bochner

Robert Cottingham

John Giorno Photo by Eric Piasecki

Glen Ligon

Ed Ruscha

Jenny Holzer

For more text-based art, check out the following artists!:

Christopher Wool
Barbara Kruger
David Shrigley
Robert Indiana
Tracey Emin
John Baldessari
Harland Miller
Jean Michel Basquiat
Mr. Brainwash
Deborah Kass
Juan Plensa

Mel Bocher

National Indigenous Peoples Day

Celebrating Contemporary Indigenous Artists.

June 21^st marks National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada, an opportunity to recognize various talented Indigenous artists across the country. Beyond traditional forms of artistry such as totem poles, elaborate masks, and textile work typically associated with First Nations culture, there is also a vast network of notable artists of Indigenous ancestry operating within the mainstream contemporary art scene. While highly personal in terms of style and expression, these artists’ works are nevertheless informed by their shared heritage. As the recent discovery of mass burial sites at residential schools demonstrates, the traumatic Indigenous experience is not merely a distant memory crystallized in the past but permeates the present. It is no surprise that Indigenous artistry is heavily imbued with themes of socio-political critique, cultural appropriation, and identity politics.

Nadia Myre, Indian Act, 1999-2002, Stroud cloth and glass beads

Nadia Myre is a visual artist of Algonquin heritage living in Montreal whose work explores her tumultuous cultural history. She is well-known for her subversive artwork entitled, Indian Act, a three-year project in which the artist enlisted over 200 people to help her painstakingly bead over the 56 pages of the federal government’s 1876 Indian Act – a document that painfully reminds us of the discriminatory erasure of Indigenous culture. The artist frequently employs the traditional medium of beading in her artistic endeavors, often mixing the ancestral craft with modern photographic technology.

Nadia Myre, Meditations on Black: Philosophical, 2012, Digital archival print on rag paper, 44 x 44 inches

Brian Jungen is another Indigenous artist of Cree ancestry whose use of medium is central to his oeuvre. He employs ordinary objects of everyday life and manipulates them to create masterfully intricate works that initiate a complex dialogue between traditional Indigenous motifs and mainstream global consumer culture. For instance, in his series, Prototypes of New Understanding, the artist deconstructed Nike Air Jordan sneakers to create ceremonial masks reminiscent of those used within Pacific Northwest tribes.

Brian Jungen, Prototype for New Understanding #23, 2005, Nike air jordans and human hair, 19 x 20 inches

Arguably one of the most well-known contemporary Indigenous artists is Toronto-based Cree artist, Kent Monkman, who has recently been commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to create two large artworks, both of which align with the artist’s general aim of upending conventional historical narratives of European settlers. The paintings feature Monkman’s recurring gender-fluid alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, who dons rainbow-coloured earrings and stilettos and who is celebrated as a character signaling a reversal of the colonial gaze.

Kent Monkman, Welcoming the Newcomers, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 132 x 264 inches, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

These artists represent only a few of the contemporary Indigenous artists celebrated in the artworld. If you are interested in these artists or would like to learn more, please contact us.

Black and White Art

Recent Installations

Classic, powerful, graphic, sharp, and sophisticated. These are some of the adjectives that come to mind when we think of black and white art devoid of colour. Take a look at some of our recent installations and client acquisitions that capture some fabulous monochrome moments.

If any of these artworks or artists are of interest, please contact us.

Tom Wesselmann

David Hockney

Gregory Siff

Terry O’Neill

Donald Sultan

Food in Art

Good Enough to Eat!

Wayne Thiebaud, Display Rows, 1990, lithograph, 22.5 x 28.5 inches, edition of 60

Food has been a common motif in art for centuries. Both essential for our livelihood and a source of great pleasure, it is no surprise that food and feasting have remained staple themes spanning all artistic mediums. May 11th marks “Eat What You Want Day”, so we are taking this as an opportunity to highlight some of our current favourite culinary delights depicted in artwork. So, feast your eyes on these scrumptious masterpieces!

If any of these artworks or artists are of interest, please contact us.

John Baldessari, ADAM WASN’T INTO IT, 2018, 10 color screenprint, 33 x 28 inches, edition of 50

Lucy Sparrow, Nil by Mouth at 32, 2016, mixed media, 23 x 23 inches, edition of 20

Gary Komarin, Cake Stacked, 2000, monotype, 43.5 x 34 inches

Andy Warhol, Space Fruit: Still Life (Apples), 1979, screenprint, 30 x 40 inches

Vik Muniz, National Gallery of Art (The Peppermint Bottle, Cezanne), Repro, 2018, digital C-Print, 40 x 50.25 inches, Edition of 6

Miles Aldridge, Crazy Rich Asians #1, 2013, chromogenic print, various sizes available

Chloe Wise, You’re like Versailles, you never move, 2018, oil on canvas, 60 x 48 inches

Happy April Fool’s Day!

Can the Artworld Take a Joke?

Maurizio Cattelan, Comedian, for sale from Perrotin at Art Basel Miami Beach, 2019

For centuries, April Fool’s Day has been celebrated on the first day of the month, a frivolous, unofficial holiday filled with practical jokes and pranks. During these heavy times, we could all use some lightheartedness, so we are taking this opportunity to highlight memorable pranks that have been played on the art world.

Some may recall the fake glasses incident that occurred at the San Francisco MoMA in 2016. Puzzled by some of the overly simplistic conceptual art pieces they encountered, two teenagers strategically placed a pair of eyeglasses underneath a wall placard in the hopes of duping visitors. Within minutes, bystanders stopped to ponder the glasses and take photos, treating them as if they were a bona fide artwork in the museum’s exhibition.

Glasses placed on the floor at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2016

While this case was a harmless teenage scheme, pranks have also been enacted by high profile artists. Most famously, Banksy orchestrated the destruction of one of his artworks during a live Sotheby’s auction that occurred in London in 2018. Immediately after the hammer pounded to solidify the sale of a Bansky painting for 1.4 million dollars, an alarm sounded and the artwork’s bottom half slid through an automatic shredder the artist himself concealed within its frame. This shocked the audience members as well as the auction house staff. The buyer ultimately decided to keep the partially destroyed artwork, whose titled officially changed from Girl with Balloon to Love in the Bin.

The most recent prank to send shockwaves throughout the art world was the infamous banana incident at Art Basel in Miami two years ago. The public became both bewildered and utterly fascinated by Maurizio Cattelan’s artwork showcased at the fair entitled, Comedian, which featured a ripe banana duct taped to the wall. Unbeknownst to the artist, performance artist David Datuna casually approached the artwork, grabbed the fruit off the wall and proceeded to eat it. This stunt elicited even more attention around the controversial piece. It is worth noting that three editions of this conceptual artwork sold, the first two selling at $120,000 before the price was raised to $150,000.

While certainly entertaining, these art pranks are not merely fatuous instances of harmless fun, as these spectacles catapulted these artworks into the canon of art history, potentially increasing their value significantly.

Banksy, Love is in the Bin, aerosol paint and acrylic paint on canvas, 40 x 31 inches, 2018 (originally Girl with Balloon, 2006)

3D Art

The art world is complex, capricious and often difficult to navigate. It can, therefore, be particularly daunting when inheriting an artwork or an entire collection without proper knowledge of the myriad divesting…

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