Thirty-seven years ago today, Diane Arbus committed suicide in her New York City apartment by ingesting barbiturates and then slitting her wrists. She was only 48. Most people are familiar with the famed photographer’s work, especially her photographs of “freaks,” but few know the stories behind those iconic images. So today, we’ll take a look at the people on the other side of Arbus’ lens.

1. Arbus’ “Identical twins, Roselle, N.J. 1967” has captured imaginations and inspired other creepy twin images, like the twins in The Shining. But the Wade twins are far from creepy; the Arbus photo is a bit of an anomaly. Their parents “thought it was the worst likeness of the twins [they’d] ever seen.” Arbus found the girls at a Knights of Columbus hall during a Christmas party for twins and triplets, though no one’s quite sure how the photographer knew about the event. Today, the image is the tenth most expensive photograph and the girls are still recognized, especially at Arbus exhibitions. Lucky for them, they own the original, which their dad remarks is “their 401(k).”

2. In “Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, NY, 1970,” Arbus captured Eddie Carmel crammed into his parents’ living room. Carmel was actually normal height all through his childhood. As a teen, though, he began to grow uncontrollably as a result of acromegaly. The condition, then incurable, was caused by a tumor that had developed on Carmel’s pituitary gland. He grew to be 8’9” and received some fame for his condition, starring in B-movies, putting out two 45 records, and appearing in the Ringling Brothers Circus as “The Tallest Man on Earth.” He died at age 36, only two years after Arbus took his photo.

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Today is the 81st birthday of American painter Alex Katz, another requested artist. Since Katz’s birthday is in the middle of the summer, his 1984 painting of two swimmers, “Milly and Sally,” is the perfect accompaniment to his “Feel Art Again” feature.

1. Once upon a time, Alex Katz was “living illegally” in New York City. Describing himself as “socially fugitive,” part of a group of people who “could lose our place at any time,” Katz didn’t bother voting at the time because he didn’t care to vote. At age 21, Katz decided to vote, but his mother knew he was only voting to find out how the voting machine worked, so she asked him to sell his vote to her for two dollars. Katz replied, “Yes.”

2. In interviews, Katz’s sense of style is mentioned almost as much as his artwork. His dad, a Russian “playboy,” instilled in him an appreciation for style at a young age. Katz later came to own seven zoot suits.

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In honor of his 126th birthday, and at the request of reader Corrine, today’s “Feel Art Again” post features Edward Hopper and his 1929 painting “Chop Suey,” one of his many scenes of city life.

1. Though he’s known for city scenes like “Chop Suey” and the famous “Nighthawks,” Edward Hopper’s first big break was with a watercolor of a seaside home. “The Mansard Roof” was painted in 1923, during his first summer in Gloucester, MA, and was bought for the Brooklyn Museum’s permanent collection for $100—a decent amount at the time. Although he continued to vacation by the sea, Hopper’s watercolor production had slowed by 1946; he explained his lack of watercolor production by saying, “I think it’s because the watercolors are done from nature and I don’t work from nature anymore.”

2. Thanks to commercial artwork—which he loathed—Hopper was able to afford three trips to Europe, all of which centered around Paris. Unlike other artists who visited Paris, though, Hopper didn’t get in with the “it” crowd. He remarked: “Whom did I meet? Nobody. I’d heard of Gertrude Stein, but I don’t remember having heard of Picasso at all… Paris had no great or immediate impact on me.” While there, though, he did develop an affinity for the work of Edgar Degas and Édouard Manet and a dislike for Paul Cézanne’s work.
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Last Saturday, “Feel Art Again” featured collaborative art projects from secrets on postcards to traveling sketchbooks. Today, we’re focusing on those collaborative art projects that decorate or beautify public areas.

New York City’s Urban Forest Project (2006) had 185 designers and artists, as well as 22 mentor/student pairs, create posters employing the idea or form of trees. The resulting posters were displayed throughout Times Square and were recycled into Jack Spade totebags and sold once the display was over. 186 posters are viewable, and downloadable as PDFs, on the project’s web site.

Deckchair Dreams is an ongoing project in its third year at London’s Royal Parks. This summer, 23 artists and celebrities designed deckchair canvases along the theme “The Rare and Wonderful Things of the Royal Parks.” The project aims to brighten the parks while also raising money, through the sale of the deckchairs, for the Royal Parks Foundation. The current canvases can be viewed and purchased on the project’s web site.

One of the most common collaborative public art projects entails the decoration of large, sculptured animals that are then placed throughout a city. Baltimore had crabs, Norfolk had mermaids, and CowParade and Buddy Bears were global. The animals are usually only a temporary installation, often followed by an auction to raise money for a charity or organization. In 2006, the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia had “AbZOOlutely,” the first time a city has used a whole “zoo” of animals instead of just one or two. Throughout the fall, 50 decorated animals were displayed throughout the area and served as a scavenger-hunt of sorts. AbZOOlutely culminated in an auction. The proceeds from the auction, the accompanying raffle, and sales of AbZOOlutely merchandise—nearly $80,000—benefited the community fund, preservation and beautification, and the Philadelphia Zoo. The project’s web site includes photos of the animals, results of the auction, and the map.

Of course, these lists of collaborative art projects have not been exhaustive. So let us know if there’s a cool one we missed, or what kind of animals inhabited your town.

“Feel Art Again” appears every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. You can e-mail us at feelartagain@gmail.com with suggestions of artists or details on current exhibitions.

At the request of reader Molly, today we’ll take a look at Robert Motherwell, the first abstract expressionist to be covered by “Feel Art Again” (unless you count DuanPen). The American painter, writer, and collagist was both the youngest and the most prolific of the original group of abstract expressionists.

1. Robert Motherwell’s paintings may not look very complex, but there is much more to them than what is noticeable upon first glance. With a B.A. in philosophy from Stanford, a year of doctorate philosophy work at Harvard, and art / art history studies at Columbia, Motherwell was an extremely well-educated artist, which is apparent in his works. Titles for paintings, drawings, and prints were inspired by James Joyce works; his Hollow Men series took its title from a T.S. Eliot poem; and his artist’s book A la pintura (To Painting) was a response to Spanish poet Rafael Alberti’s verses celebrating painting.

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At the request of readers Lauren, Nerak, and Katie, today we’ll take a look at Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920). This past Saturday was the 124th anniversary of Modigliani’s birth, so now is the perfect time to take a look back at the Italian painter’s legendary life and iconic artwork.

1. The birth of Amedeo Modigliani saved his family from ruin. At the time Modigliani was born, the fourth child to Flaminio and Eugenia, his father’s business was bankrupt and the family was in poverty. Just as Eugenia went into labor, bailiffs entered the home. Thanks to an old law, creditors weren’t allowed to seize the bed of a pregnant woman or a mother with a newborn child. So, the Modigliani family piled all their most valuable assets around and on top of Eugenia, saving as much as they could.

2. According to classmates, Modigliani excelled at painting nudes while studying under Guglielmo Micheli as a teen. He was often aggravated that “Women of beauty worth painting or sculpting, often seem encumbered by their clothes.” Later, he enrolled in the Scuola Libera di Nudo (Free School of Nude Studies) at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence to further pursue his interest. His first one-man show was closed within hours of its opening because Paris’ chief of police thought Modigliani’s nudes were scandalous. (Pictured above is Modigliani’s “Nude on a Blue Cushion.”)

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Usually when we think of art, we think of a painting, photograph, sculpture, etc., created by one person. However, collaborative art projects are becoming more and more common—after all, who hasn’t heard of PostSecret? Due to the current trend in collaborative art, today’s “Feel Art Again” post spotlights collaborative art projects.

PostSecret is the most well-known on-going collaborative art project, and probably the most international, too. It all started back in 2004, when a guy named Frank Warren distributed blank 4×6 inch postcards with instructions to depict a true, never-before-spoken secret on it and then mail it back to him. Originally created for an installation at Artomatic in D.C., the project has grown to include a blog with weekly postings of secrets, four books, a traveling exhibit, a discussion community, and videos. There are now also French, German, and Spanish PostSecret blogs. Anyone is welcome to mail in a secret, which has resulted in boxes full of secrets at Warren’s home.

In the spring of 2007, the Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, hosted the “We Are All Photographers Now!” exhibit, a look at the “rapid mutation of amateur photography in the digital age.” Like the title suggests, the exhibit invited digital photography submissions from around the globe. The photos were displayed “on screen,” with a random selection of 100 printed in high quality and displayed each week. A “chat module” was also a part of the experience, with informal talks, structured and unstructured debates, and round table discussion.

For some projects, the many participants come together to create one work of art. That’s the concept behind BOOK (2003-2004) and SKETCHTRAVEL (2006-2008). For BOOK, a sketchbook was shared for 36 weeks among 4 artists, two in Brooklyn and two in Belfast. Participants would receive the book on a Wednesday and send it back out the following Monday, creating a spread relating to the previous one over the course of those 5 days. At the project’s completion, the book had traveled more than 60,000 miles. The book was exhibited in Belfast and now reproductions of both the book and individual spreads are available for purchase.

SKETCHTRAVEL was a similar concept as BOOK, but on a grander scale, with 50 artists contributing to the sketchbook. The project operates on a “1 artist = 1 page” basis, with one major rule: no postmail. The sketchbook must be passed in person, by hand, from one artist to the next. The SKETCHTRAVEL site includes scans of the artwork as well as photos (some of which are very creative) of the hand-offs.

Next Saturday, we’ll take a look at collaborative installation art all around the world. In the meantime, we want to hear from you: Have you ever participated in collaborative art? Or do you know of any great projects that we haven’t mentioned.

“Feel Art Again” appears every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. You can e-mail us at feelartagain@gmail.com with suggestions of artists or details on current exhibitions.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s “The Librarian” is a favorite of readers Tanner and Sue, who wanted to know a little more about the man who created such an unusual portrait. While most of you are familiar with his work, you probably don’t know much about the man himself. So, in honor of the 415th anniversary of his death tomorrow, an Arcimboldo education:

1. While some of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s capricci, or “fancy pieces,” are colorful and humorous, others can be downright frightening, leading some critics to wonder if Arcimboldo may have been a bit deranged. The paintings, in which everyday objects are arranged to create a portrait, were all the rage in the 16th century, though, so it’s more likely Arcimboldo was just catering to the Renaissance fascination with puzzles and all things bizarre.

2. The royalty was quite fond of Arcimboldo’s work. In 1562, Arcimboldo became court portraitist to Maximilian II in Vienna. Later, he served as court portraitist in Prague to Rudolf II, Maximilian’s son. And King Augustus of Saxony was so taken by Arcimboldo’s “The Four Seasons” that he commissioned a personalized copy, with his own monarchic symbols worked into the design.
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A few months ago, reader Bob requested a post on Gilbert Stuart (baptized Gilbert Stewart). Since tomorrow is the 180th anniversary of his death and Friday was Independence Day, the time is right to feature this American artist best known for his iconic portraits of George Washington.

1. Although Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) was a patriot, his family were loyalists who fled to Nova Scotia at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Surprisingly, Stuart headed to England around the same time, in 1775, where he was taken into the studio of Benjamin West, history painter to King George III. Stuart remained in England for 23 years and then moved on to Ireland for several years.

2. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Stuart was the go-to portraitist for high society and politicians. His portraits of more than 1,000 people include portraits of the first 6 U.S. presidents, many of which are now reproduced in history textbooks. George Washington sat for Stuart on three occasions: the first produced the Vaughan type portraits (left), known today only through replicas; the second produced “The Athanaeum” (middle), which was never completed; and the final produced the famed “Lansdowne Portrait” (right).

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In honor of tomorrow, I thought it fitting that today we take a look back at the great American artists we’ve featured on “Feel Art Again.”

Thomas Eakins depicted Philadelphia landmarks in his first rowing painting, “The Champion Single Sculls” (Max Schmitt in a Single Scull).

John Trumbull’s “Surrender of Lord Cornwallis” celebrated the end of the Revolutionary War, though not very accurately.

Mary Cassatt, who painted “The Child’s Bath,” was the only American to exhibit with the original Impressionists and the namesake for a World War II Liberty ship.

Asher Durand, founder of the New York Drawing Association and the artist of “The Beeches,” was the American equivalent of the British landscape artist John Constable.

Abbott Thayer’s “A Virgin” took inspiration from the Sherman Monument, a winged female figure leading the Union commander into battle.

Charles Peale was a great American patriot who is best known for his six portraits of George Washington, including Washington’s first ever portrait and the famous “Washington at Princeton” (above).

Dale Chihuly, who created the “Seaform Pavilion,” attended America’s first glassblowing program, was named the first National Living Treasure, and was the subject of the first HDTV broadcast in America.

Maxfield Parrish’s “Daybreak,” which features his own daughter and the granddaughter of William Jennings Bryan, is the most reproduced painting in American history.

Georgia O’Keeffe, famous for flower paintings like “Light Iris,” could trace her roots back to Edward Fuller, who was one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact.

“Feel Art Again” appears every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (though we’ll be taking a holiday break this Saturday).