The Clarke Art Institute – New, Old & Bold

There isn’t much out there in the museum world quite like The Clark Art Institute. Incredible art holdings? Check. World class art research library and teaching programs which churn out the best and brightest into the museum/curatorial world? Check. Conservation studio which both teaches and restores at the highest level? Check. Sterling and Francine Clark’s vision and generosity have expanded to beyond what they might have imagined, while remaining true to a core mission which remains firmly intact.

Etched in Stone – A Story Begins…

Dia Beacon – Overdue Bucket List Item…Checked!

Allow me to get the door…

This past Friday had all the hallmarks of a slow day at the gallery…cold, windy, gray. And while enjoying an early diner breakfast with an art dealer colleague, who also happened to be handing me a check for a nice sale, we compared notes on our day ahead. He had a few auctions in the Hudson valley to preview. And one was in Beacon. And second later my mind hatched a brilliant plan: “Beacon. Dia. Hooky. Now.” Moments later we are off to one of America’s cool art places (Dia Beacon), and a long-overdue bucket list item for myself. The rest of this blog is going to be purposely visual. And I’m pleased to report: Dia. Beacon. CHECK!

Easton Pribble Retrospective Extended – An Update

Every once in a while something special comes along that remind us just how satisfying and exciting some of the moments we experience in our little corner of the art world can be.

An Artist, A Teacher, A Museum – And a Great Cause.

Every so often our days as gallery owners are extra exciting. Such as when we become the exclusive representatives of an artist’s estate, which is owned by a museum, and is being sold to benefit the museum’s art acquisition fund. On September 12, 2015 we will hold a gala opening for the exhibition “Easton Pribble (1917-2003) – A Retrospective”. The works in the exhibition represent a lifetime of creative striving by a beloved artist and teacher for more than four decades at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute’s school of art. Upon his death in 2003, the MWPAI received the artist’s estate with instructions to sell the work to benefit the Museum of Art’s Art Acquisition Fund. And now, for the first time ever, that material is being offered for sale…by Caldwell Gallery Hudson.

“My work has been eclectic because I love the contradictions in the world around me, and the richness of those experiences.” Easton Pribble

MASS MoCA Magnificence – A Summer Detour

Usually, the shortest distance between two points is also the fastest. Unless a special place like MASS MoCA stands in the way. And that was the case yesterday, when I woke up in the North Central Vermont mountains needing to find my way to Hudson, NY so I could open our gallery for our usual Thursday to Sunday hours. I would be traveling with my just turned 15 years old son, and I had told him our “purposeful detour” to North Adams, MA would be a worthy detour. By the time we were driving away after nearly 3 hours of “MASS MoCArifique” immersion, having feasted our eyes in both the vast as well as intimate spaces of one of America’s superb museum experiences, he heartily agreed. And for this blog post, I’m going to leave it at that, allowing the captioned visuals below to tell the rest of the story. I’m not too big on dispensing advice, but if you’ve never been to MASS MoCA might I suggest you create your own detour soon. You won’t be disappointed!

We arrive. Greeted by blue sky, bricks, and shiny letters.

Anniversary Reflections – 42 / 30 / 1

Sitting at my desk in our gallery in Hudson, NY on a sunny Friday, another in a string of lovely late Spring days ticks away outside. Recently, the numbers 42, 30, and 1 come to mind as they represent respectively, the number of years since our firm was founded by my parents (1973), since I joined the gallery (1985), and since the opening of our first retail gallery here in historic Hudson a year ago. Reflecting on the passage of time for me can either result in feelings of “Boy, that seems so long ago” or “Wow, that went by in the blink of an eye.” Today’s reflections provide a bit of both.

My view as I reflect on various anniversaries…

From Scratch – The Birth of a Gallery

I started hearing the buzz about the Historic city of Hudson, NY, around two years ago. A good friend and gallery owner kept mentioning it whenever we spoke. And last fall, while traveling together for a show in Winnetka, IL, he kept beating Hudson’s drum – louder! In the meantime, publications like the New York Times, Elle Decor, New York Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal were banging their own “Hudson drums”. So I finally agreed to do a scouting trip last Fall, and the magic of the place found its way into my imagination. It took a while to find a suitable gallery space, but lightning struck quickly in late March, when a two story space in an old cigar factory became available.

Day 1. A car, a ladder, a gallery to be.