Our plan: a couple of quick museum visits and a fair amount of relaxation, reading and restaurants, but, plans go awry as there is much, much more going on in the Berkshires than James Taylor at Tanglewood. First of all, the Berkshires really are beautiful—mountainous on a human and green scale, lovely lakes and picturesque […]

In the early 1980s, I was a roving, punk clubbing twenty-something and a nascent print salesman for the Hennegan Company with a sidelong interest in art , though with little knowledge of it. Through a friend, the wonderful graphic designer, Chuck Byrne of Colophon I (and Hennegan) was given the opportunity to produce the printing […]

The quick road trip to Columbus just became even more worthwhile. The new addition to the Columbus Museum of Art is beautifully done with light filled spaces, clean lines, high white walls, wood floors and floor to ceiling windows at either end of the cantilevered gallery spaces. The New York firm of TodWilliamsBillieTsien were the […]

The Bois de Boulogne is a large Park on the outskirts of central Paris. It is a serene, green space with ponds and paths and playgrounds and now, an astounding Frank Gehry designed private museum. It was commissioned by Bernard Arnault, Chairman of LVMH, the luxury goods conglomerate and owner of Louis Vuitton to, in […]

From LGA, cab to the Bowery via the Williamsburg bridge (that much I’ve learned), the 6 train to 51st, walk to D. Wigmore Gallery in the Crown Building on 5th Avenue at 57th to see the 1960’s Op Art of Tadasky, eye wobbling crazy candy in a serene and classic mid-town gallery, then a short […]

Mark Patsfall started the Clay Street Press in 1981 as a printer of small edition art prints produced in a variety of media—etching, screen printing, lithography and woodcut. Clay Street has worked with published artists from the region, nationally and internationally. Most recently Clay Street has been engaged in printing Jay Bolotin’s latest portfolio of […]

The day after I called Cal to set up a time to visit his studio and home, I ran into him at the opening of the Taft Museum’s excellent FotoFocus show, “Paris Night and Day”. He handed me an eyeball. OK, it was cheap plastic with red capillaries and round like a marble. Unintended though […]

by Kevin Ott The sulfur smell of the marsh, the waves of the Atlantic rolling up onto the surrounding beach communities, afternoon rain showers, the funky smell of the historic downtown streets on a hot, humid day…oh, and the restaurants, and of course, Spoleto. There is much to recommend in a visit to the Low […]

by Kevin Ott Midway through my exploration of BLDG, the Covington based branding/art studio/creative think tank/gallery, Jay Becker said “It all starts with the art”. I was trying to grasp ahold of the many tentacles that BLDG seems to be, and this statement described the head of the octopus. When you walk into BLDG on […]

by Kevin Ott Iris BookCafe and Gallery is an uncluttered but homey café/gallery on upper Main Street. Main between Central Parkway and Liberty has retained its DYI vibe, the bars, restaurants, cafes and retail still feeling a bit less polished than its more 3CDC-ish neighbor, Vine Street. Both are great, but Main Street and places […]

by Kevin Ott Although this is not a proper “show” of Selden’s work, there are 5 paintings displayed at the Eisele Gallery, more than one can usually find in one location by this respected Cincinnati artist and favorite student of Frank Duvenek. First the gallery: Eisele Gallery specializes in 19th and 20th Century paintings (and […]

The Teacher and His Student: Johann Schmitt and Frank Duvenek: A Look at Their Church Murals By Kevin Ott In 1859 Johann Schmitt painted the murals inside the Church of the Immaculata in Mt. Adams. Fifty years later, in 1909, Frank Duvenek painted his 3 murals in St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in […]

GEORGE WESLEY BELLOWS at the Columbus Museum of Art  By Kevin Ott     Columbus Ohio’s favorite son of the art world, George Wesley Bellows (1881-1925), has returned to his hometown museum, the Columbus Museum of Art, for a compact but enjoyable and educational show. Bellows was, and is, a titan of American early 20th […]

LETTER FROM CORTONA, ITALY By Kevin Ott   Cortona is a walled Etruscan hill town 1 ½ hours southeast of Florence by auto, mostly via the white-knuckling auto-strada. A bit less of a tourist destination than some other Tuscan towns—smaller than Siena, maybe less charming and trampled than San Gimignano—its nearly carless, cobbled steep and […]

A Look at 21C: Boutique Museum Hotel By Kevin Ott   It would be hard to argue that downtown Cincinnati was not in need of a hip boutique hotel. 21C does much more than just fill this void: it adds a refreshing approach to exhibiting contemporary art in a welcoming setting in the heart of […]

FINDLAY STREET PROJECT SPACE: Solway’s Laboratory Offshoot By Kevin Ott Fifty years in the art business have not made the Solways, Carl or Michael, too satisfied with their status as the region’s premier modern/contemporary gallery. Recently they announced the opening of Findlay Street Project Space, a separate gallery located on the first floor of Solway’s […]

A Letter from Mt. Adams:   Far from being out of town, where these “letters from” are supposed to be, Mt. Adams is as close to town as one can be in Cincinnati. And yet for us, it was our way of leaving Cincinnati without leaving Cincinnati. Most of my life, excepting 7 years, has […]

LETTER FROM: New York: March 7th to 10th By Kevin Ott My flight arrives on time, the cab line is short and traffic is thin, so my arrival at the Gramercy Park Hotel is before noon, allowing for a quick lunch of Alphabet Soup and Grilled Cheese at the Terrace Restaurant, where the walls are […]

AMERICAN HISTORICAL PRINT COLLECTORS SOCIETY: 38TH ANNUAL MEETING IN CINCINNATI By Kevin Ott The American Historical Print Collectors Society (AHPCS) will hold its 38th Annual Meeting in Cincinnati May 15th-18th. This august group of 450 collectors, dealers and curators was formed to “encourage collection, preservation, study of original historical American prints that are 100 or […]

GORDON BAER at the Kennedy Heights Art Center Kevin Ott In his storied career, Gordon Baer has photographed the Beatles, Pete Rose, Larry Flynt and numerous other recognizable, iconic subjects. But, it is Baer’s photographs of the unknowns that are the heart of his great body of work. The Kennedy Heights Art Center is displaying […]

PAUL WOLVEN at the Greenwich House Gallery by Kevin Ott Dawn or dusk, abstract or realist, defined and indefinite: Paul Wolven’s oil paintings are worth seeing, their blurry edges and mood evoking palette urging the viewer to resolve these diverse directions. Wolven is a Cincinnati painter and his scenes are Cincinnati scenes. But, often, the […]

The CAM: Time For A Dedicated Print Gallery? ~ Kevin Ott The Cincinnati Art Museum is nearing completion of the former Art Academy building which will house the Mary Schiff Library, offices and other spaces, including a beautiful terrace with outstanding views. Most importantly, this will result in an increase of 15,000 square feet or […]

  “Saint Preaching”  Jorge Ingles  1475-1500  Oil and Tempera on panel By Kevin Ott If you start your Cincinnati Art Museum trip by heading up the stairs off the lobby and go right and then proceed through the first large room, you will come to a smaller room that contains several great religious paintings, mostly […]

13 MOST BEAUTIFUL: DEAN & BRITTA by Kevin Ott Dean and Britta and their band brought their live show, “13 Most Beautiful…Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests” to the Emery Theater, Friday, December 9th. In conjunction with the CAC’s FotoFocus show of Andy Warhol’s photography, the musically accompanied screen tests demonstrated the remarkable results of […]