ARTSnFOOD GIFT GUIDE 2015 + FOOD: Fluffy Eggnog

Bugle Alarm Clock MoMA $55 / $44 member Give yourself an old-fashioned wake-up call with this nostalgic alarm clock from 1906, which sounds like a telephone in an old Hollywood movie.  (Requires C-size battery, not included.)

Bugle Alarm Clock

MoMA $55 / $44 member

Give yourself an old-fashioned wake-up call with this nostalgic alarm clock from 1906, which sounds like a telephone in an old Hollywood movie. 

(Requires C-size battery, not included.)

ART
ARTSnFOOD
ANNUAL HOLIDAY
GIFT GUIDE
Issue #1 in a series
The holidays are 
filled with wishes!

Here is a start on our recommended gifts for 2015.

Picasso Sculpture Book 

MoMA $85 / $68 member

Published in conjunction with the first large-scale retrospective of Picasso's sculpture in the United States since The Museum of Modern Art's historic 1967 show, Picasso Sculpture is a sweeping survey of the artist's innovative and influential work in three dimensions. Over the course of his long career, Picasso devoted himself to sculpture wholeheartedly, if episodically, using both traditional and unconventional materials and techniques. He kept the majority of his sculptures in his private possession during his lifetime, and it was only in the late 1960s that the public became fully aware of this side of his oeuvre.

Picasso Sculpture presents approximately 150 sculptures—many of them captured in newly commissioned and multi-view photographs—alongside a selection of works on paper and photographs. Organized into chapters that correspond to distinct periods during which Picasso devoted himself to sculpture, the publication features an introduction by the exhibition curators as well as a richly illustrated chronology focusing on the sculptures included in the exhibition.

Spherovelo Rider 

MoMA $99 / $79.20 member

Designed for tots who have just learned the thrill of standing and walking, this foot-propelled vehicle helps accelerate a child’s motor development by simplifying the most challenging aspects of riding a bike in a stable design that is safe for early ambulators. Spherovelo glides along large spheres instead of wheels, allowing tykes to travel in any direction without resistance. Includes removable training wheels. Ages 10 to 24 mos.

Bonsai Forest Growing Kit
MoMA $50 / $40 member

Bring nature and tranquility to your life with this bonsai garden kit. These miniature trees were thought to be extinct until 1946 until when one was discovered growing in a rice field in central China. Appropriately named the "discovery tree," the bonsai symbolizes the bountiful surprises found in nature. You can cultivate your own grove of miniature trees with this easy-to-use indoor kit. While the seeds will sprout within a few weeks, just as full-sized trees take decades to reach their full height, it takes time and patience for your sprouts to mature into a fully grown forest. Trees pictured are approximately three years old.

Kit includes: dawn redwood tree and moss seed; recycled steel seedling training pots; seed starting wafers; growing medium; bonsai scissors; rake with spade; river stones; and directions. Kits assembled in Idaho, USA. Boxed. 3.25h x 9.5w x 9.5"d

Met Musuem: Charles Albert Lopez: 
The Sprinter Sculpture 
$995 / $895.50 member
Molded directly from the original, our sculpture reproduces a work by Charles Albert Lopez (American, b. Mexico, 1869–1906) now in the Museum's collection. The original sculpture by Lopez depicts a sprinter in a crouched position, his muscles tensed and face set in concentration, as he anticipates the start of a race. At the time the original sculpture was made, the crouching start had recently been introduced into track events. Lopez's The Sprinter was exhibited at the St. Louis fair, and a cast of the work was selected by the United States Navy to be used on a track trophy.

Met Musuem: 
Unicorn Pop-Up 
Advent Calendar  
$9.98 / $8.98 member (clearance)

This freestanding, pop-up Advent calendar from The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a captivating lead-in to Christmas. Underneath each of the twenty-four die-cut windows is a detail from the celebrated medieval tapestry The Unicorn in Captivity. On the reverse of each window is a brief description about the selected detail, from the mille fleur background to a butterfly and dragonfly to the irises and lilies. Filled with rich colors, religious symbolism, and remarkable detail, this Advent calendar evokes all the warmth and serenity of the Yuletide season.

Met Museum:  Louis C. Tiffany
Grapevine Double Old-Fashioned Glass 
$12/ $10.80 member

Drink differently! Our delightful glass is based on a stunning window panel by master decorative artist Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, 1848–1933). The window panel, now in the Museum’s collection of the American Wing, features jewel-like clusters of grapes on trailing vines silhouetted against a distant sky. The panel's textured glass lends a three- dimensional quality and a dazzling iridescence to the grapes. Our glass evokes the rich colors of the original piece. Glass. Hand wash only. 14 oz. 4 1/8''H; 3 1/4'' diam.

Met Museum:  The Three Graces Sculpture $195 / $175.50 member

Created in the second century A.D., the Museum's marble The Three Graces is a Roman copy of a Greek statue group from the second century B.C. These three young girls, linked in a dance-like pose, represent Aglaia (Beauty), Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Thalia (Abundance). Young, beautiful, and modest, they personify the graceful sensuousness of the female form; their closest connection is with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, whom they serve as handmaidens. This frieze-like composition in the Museum's collection is typical of classicizing art of the second and first century B.C. Our reduced-scale reproduction was created using a combination of three-dimensional imaging and traditional sculpture techniques.

Met Museum 
Rodin: 
Eternal Spring Sculpture 
$325 / $292.50 member

The marble carving of the Metropolitan Museum's Eternal Spring (1906–7) has a sensuous, veiled quality that creates an impressionistic play of light and shade on the surface, characteristic of the marbles of Rodin's later career. Based on Auguste Rodin's (French, 1840–1917) original, our exquisite reproduction of Eternal Spring was created with a combination of three-dimensional imaging and traditional sculpture techniques.

Met Museum: (Front) 
Gerhaert von Leiden: Medieval Standing Virgin and Child Sculpture

Met Museum: (Back) 
Gerhaert von Leiden: Medieval Standing Virgin and Child Sculpture 
$450 / $405 member

Nikolaus Gerhaert von Leiden (North Netherlandish, active in Strasbourg, 1460–73) was the finest and most influential sculptor in the third quarter of the fifteenth century, a pivotal period in the development of late Gothic sculpture in northern Europe. This Standing Virgin and Child (ca. 1470) in the Museum's collection is especially notable for its sense of drama, monumentality, and elegance. The rhythm and balance of the drapery folds are counterpoised by the linear details and textural contrasts; naturalistic elements include the delicate manner in which the Virgin holds the child’s chubby flesh. The statuette, which continues a long tradition of devotional works in boxwood, may have been commissioned by a member of the Viennese court. Our sculpture in hand-patinated bonded bronze is based on this splendid fifteenth-century original.

Met Musuem: 

Amedeo Modigliani: Reclining Nude Poster 

$24/$21.60 member

Amedeo Modigliani's (Italian, 1884–1920) exquisite Reclining Nude Poster (1918) is featured in our poster. Poster measures 30'' x 40''. 

Editor's Note: A "Reclining Nude" painting by Amedeo Modigliani fetched $170.4 million this fall at a Christie's auction in Manhattan, setting a world record for the artist and achieving the second highest price ever garnered for a work of art at auction.

Met Museum: 
Minoan Pendant-Disc Necklace 
$125 / $112.50 member

The inspiration for this unusual jewelry came from a rare, flat gold ornament from the Aigina Treasure, one of the most important groups of gold objects from the Greek Bronze Age. When the Treasure first came to the British Museum in the late 19th century, it was reported to have been found on the island of Aigina, yet its identification was a puzzle and its age greatly underestimated. Some five decades later, the Aigina Treasure was identified as being largely of Minoan Cretan workmanship and is now thought to have been made between about 1850 and 1550 BC.

Met Musuem Art: 
365 Days of Masterpieces 
Desk Calendar 2016 
$16.99 / $15.29 member
A different Met masterpiece greets you each day with this desktop design. Virtually every Museum department is represented, reflecting the enormous breadth and depth of the collection, to nurture you with a daily dose of art.

ART IS... Met Museum 
$16.95 / $15.95 member

ART IS... Practice

ART IS... Mastery

ART IS... Study

ART IS... Craft

ART IS... Symmetry

ART IS... Craft

ART IS... (etc)

With over 180 works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, ART IS... looks at art with short, concise observation, reflections, and reactions. Because there are no absolute explanations, readers are encouraged to observe, to debate, and to develop their own definitions of art.

This engaging book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers nearly two hundred illustrated definitions of art, all presented as simple, concise observations and reactions: a Da Vinci sketch is study; a Louis Comfort Tiffany vase is craft; a Nigerian mask is symmetry; a Van Gogh still life is composition; a Babylonian lion is fierce; a Duccio portrait is tender.

Reaching across time and form, from ancient statues to medieval tapestries to Baroque instruments to Impressionist paintings to contemporary costumes, the selected works represent the Metropolitan Museum's vast collection and are sure to inspire both novice and seasoned art lovers to create their own definitions of art.

Met Museum 
Egyptian Jackal Sculpture 
$25 / $22.50 member

Small and precious, this handmade tagua nut carving recalls jackal-shaped figures in the Met’s collection of ancient Egyptian art. Anubis, the god of mummification, is often represented as a jackal, while the jackal-headed deity Duamutef was one of the Four Sons of Horus and was under the protection of the goddess Neith. Tagua nut is the seed of a tropical tree; when carved, its smoothness is akin to that of ivory.

Met Footed Bowl $25

One of the most unusual—and favorite—objects in the Metropolitan Museum’s Egyptian Collection is a red-polished ware bowl with supports shaped like human feet. Although the human feet add a touch of levity to its appearance, they were not created solely as an element of humor. This ceramic form should most likely be read as the three-dimensional hieroglyph for the word “w’b,” meaning pure or clean. Our reproduction is a copy of a bowl from the Predynastic period (ca. 3750–3550) in Egypt. Terracotta. For decorative use only. 3 1/2''H; 5 1/4'' diam.

Met   Han Female Dancer Sculpture $395.00 / $355.50 member

The Museum's collection houses a ceramic figure of a female dancer from the Western Han period, which is made of earthenware accented with pigment. A quintessential example of early Chinese sculpture, this beautiful figure illustrates the artist's achievement in conveying a sense of motion in a still object. The sculptor imbued the dancer with life force by capturing a tension-filled instant in her movement when she throws one sleeve back, gently stoops, and flexes her knees. Based on this evocative work, our expressive reproduction was created with a combination of three-dimensional imaging and traditional sculpture techniques.

MORE GIFTS TO COME ! ! !

(Source: Museum Shops for MoMA and Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC)

FOOD
HOLIDAY
FLUFFY 
EGG NOG
PUNCH

Ingredients

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon

1 pint whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

4 egg whites*

Directions

In a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. 

Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. 

Add the milk, cream, and nutmeg and stir to combine.

Place the egg whites in a mixer and beat to soft peaks. 

With the mixer still running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Fold the egg whites into the mixture. (Incorporate 3 jiggers of bourbon - optional)

Chill and serve in a punch bowl.

(Source: Atkinson family cookbook, Ann's Egg Nog)

Until later,

Jack

ARTSnFOOD is an online magazine dedicated to providing artists and collectors around the world with highlights of current art exhibitions, and to encourage all readers to invest in and participate in "The Joy of Art"® and culture. All rights reserved. All Concepts, Original Art, Text & Photographs in this posting (which are not credited) are © Copyright 2015 Jack A. Atkinson under all International intellectual property and copyright laws. All gallery, event, museum, fair or festival photographs were taken with permission. Images © individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees.