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spirit of tuscany
by: shane fredericks
Joan Altabe - Art & Architecture Critic
FAR Library › Columnists › Joan Altabe

Joan Altabe - Fine Art Registry® Columnist

Art & Architecture Critic

Joan Altabe is an award-winning art and architecture critic, currently writing for the "Bradenton Herald," a Knight-Ridder newspaper on the west coast of Florida. She is referenced in "Who’s Who in American Art."

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Article List


March 31, 2008:
A Sad Case of Beating the Chest A Sad Case of Beating the Chest: Open Letter to Artists
Have you heard this one? It almost sounds like a joke. The chalk drawings of a Florida figure artist were taken from view in a county library because they showed bared breasts too near the... Read More


March 1, 2008:
Copyright Infringement is Unlawful, Right? Copyright Infringement is Unlawful, Right?: Open Letter To Artists
The Boston Globe reports a Chicago attorney’s reaction to a Roy Lichtenstein exhibition of his signature blow-ups of newspaper comics. Mark Weissburg said he was surprised that the Pop artist had... Read More


February 20, 2008:
Can Bad People Make Good Art Can Bad People Make Good Art: Open Letter To Artists
An art show was cancelled recently on account of the character of the artist. Richard L. Pattenaude, president of the University of Southern Maine, cancelled the display of paintings by a prison... Read More


December 31, 2007:
Sheep Aren’t the Only Ones Getting Cloned Sheep Aren't the Only Ones Getting Cloned: Open Letter to Artists
Why don’t we just come out and call contemporary art what it is – a recycling. Painters and sculptors have been replicating themselves and each other for some years now. Its called post-modernism... Read More


December 12, 2007:
Art of the Past Art of the Past: Who Owns It?
Stolen Art: Close to 700,000 art objects that were illegally excavated and exported out of Italy have been recovered. Some say that looted treasure approaches four times that number. But no one k... Read More


November 7, 2007:
Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue? Who's Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue?: Truth in Art Series
Conflicts are a natural state of affairs. But some loose-lipped conservators in Holland have abused the privilege. In the spring of 1986, unknown Dutch realist Gerard Jan van Bladeren, armed with... Read More


October 12, 2007:
Look Past What You See and Look Again Look Past What You See and Look Again: Open Letter to Artists
This is about art that apes an established style but violates the content of the real thing. There ought to be a law. Andre Breton, founder of Surrealism, likened the style to firing a pistol blindly... Read More


October 5, 2007:
Keep On Keeping On, But Don’t Stray Too Far Keep On Keeping On, But Don't Stray Too Far: Open Letter to Artists
Two lessons in one here: the value of persistence, and painting abstractions that don’t lose touch with reality. Willem de Kooning, an illegal immigrant who became a leader of America’s modern ar... Read More


September 28, 2007:
Posthumous Bronze Casting Posthumous Bronze Casting: Truth in Art Series
Art scholars and museum officials have been bumping heads over Degas bronzes traveling the museum circuit. Scholars say the bronzes are not by Degas, but merely reproductions... Read More


September 28, 2007:
Are You Making Art or What? Are You Making Art or What?: Open Letter to Artists
Have you ever seen Swiss painter Hermann Alfred Sigg’s dark, abstract landscapes? They appear in your eyes like a still night. His renditions of land and sea slow the rush of time better than... Read More


September 14, 2007:
The Grove Dictionary of Art The Grove Dictionary of Art: Fine Art Registry® Investigates
The watchtowers of art history must let their heads drop against the steering wheel sometimes. How else to explain the factual errors in the 34-volume Grove Dictionary of Art – the touted... Read More


September 7, 2007:
Photography & Painting are Tied at the Hip Photography & Painting are Tied at the Hip: Open Letter to Artists
When you think of American photographers in history who made a difference, the names of Ansel Adams or Robert Mapplethorpe may come to mind. But the first American to spur change by... Read More


August 31, 2007:
When in Photoshop, Proceed with Caution When in Photoshop, Proceed with Caution: Open Letter to Artists
Back in ’98 when the advertising crowd put Whistler’s mother to work urging seniors to get on the Internet was when I began to worry. The celebrated portrait by James Abbott McNeill Whistler... Read More


August 24, 2007:
The Best Painter Ever The Best Painter Ever: Open Letter to Artists
From time to time, I’m asked to name the best artist in the state where I write art criticism — Florida — and I’m usually without a ready reply. But a show I saw the other day supplied an... Read More


August 13, 2007:
Urban Streets Are Tough to Paint Urban Streets Are Tough to Paint: Open Letter to Artists
If you don’t know them, you can get them wrong. If you haven’t lived them, you’re liable to render only their moods of impermanence and grimy blackness, their pasty light, their anemic color and... Read More


August 7, 2007:
Unhappy Artists Unhappy Artists: Open Letter to Artists
Is it possible that unhappy artists do better work? History seems to say so. Consider some Old Master malcontents: The monk Fra Fillipo Lippi painted sacred images with a worshipful grace but... Read More


August 1, 2007:
Doctors Need to Mind Their Business Doctors Need to Mind Their Business: Open Letter to Artists
A critic isn’t an artist’s favorite person. I get that. But this one isn’t their enemy, either. Today, I defend them against doctors. Case in pointlessness: Writing in this year’s Archives of... Read More


July 20, 2007:
Artists are Not Crazy, No Matter what They Say Artists are Not Crazy, No Matter what They Say: Open Letter to Artists
I’m tired of hearing people say that artists are out of their heads. How about you? Consider the artist most famous for being insane, Vincent Van Gogh. Remember Kirk Douglas’ raving-lunatic... Read More


July 15, 2007:
Once More with Feeling. Subtext is Spoiling the Picture Once More with Feeling. Subtext is Spoiling the Picture: Open Letter to Artists
Blame it on Freud. He loaded everything down with subtext. One look at Picasso’s Guernica – at the women, children and animals with heads flung back, eyes rolled back, mouths open in howls as bombs fall on their town... Read More


July 10, 2007:
Interpretation is Anyone’s Business Interpretation is Anyone's Business: Open Letter to Artists
You have to stop expecting me to see things the way you do. The ’50s film Rashomon – a tale of rape and murder through flashbacks of four witnesses, none of whom saw it the same way – is a demo... Read More


June 26, 2007:
Mistakes in Attribution Mistakes in Attribution: Truth in Art Series
The "experts" don’t always get it right. Consider the case of chemist Walter C. McCrone, a leading expert on art forgeries. In 1978, McCrone dated the Shroud of Turin – thought to be the burial... Read More


June 1, 2007:
Provenance and Connoisseurship Provenance and Connoisseurship: Truth in Art Series
The story of art forgery is as old as the Seven Hills of Rome. Michelangelo sculpted a Cupid, buried it in a Roman garden for that dug-up antiquity look and sold it for an inflated price. Why... Read More


May 17, 2007:
Transcending Time, Anyone? Transcending Time, Anyone?: Open Letter to Artists
This piece of history is enough to push your bottom lip forward. In 1514, when Persia was under siege from the Turks, the Shah Ishmael secreted away his favorite painter before going into battle... Read More


May 7, 2007:
Lose the Colors. Find New Worlds Lose the Colors. Find New Worlds: Open Letter to Artists
Anyone know Clyde Butcher’s photographs? No? OK, think Ansel Adams. Butcher is Florida’s Ansel Adams. I bring these two lens artists up because both work without color. And not only is the... Read More


May 1, 2007:
Change of Pace Change of Pace: Open Letter to Artists
Rather than rail at you this time out, consider this column a motivational chat exhorting you to keep on no matter who’s carping at your work, me included. When Henri Matisse left his law studies... Read More


April 27, 2007:
Where are the Social Realists? Where are the Social Realists?: Open Letter to Artists
If the art commonly seen these days is the sum of what artists are doing, I’m worried and you should be, too. Where are the Social Realists? Granted, the movement arose in the ‘30s, during... Read More


March 27, 2007:
Conceptual Art is a Crock! Conceptual Art is a Crock!: Open Letter to Artists
Conceptual art isn’t art. It’s an idea, often without image or object. Hans Haack conducted a poll on museum goers’ opinion of the Vietnam War. See? No art. You may as well write out the idea... Read More


March 20, 2007:
Still Lifes May be Still, but They’re not Lifeless Still Lifes May be Still, but They’re not Lifeless: Open Letter to Artists
Despite their long and varied history, still lifes don’t get enough respect. If you’re a painter of inanimate objects, this one’s for you. Probably the best time to paint commonplace items was... Read More


January 31, 2007:
Portraits - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Portraits - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Open Letter to Artists
Let’s get the bad out of the way. If you want to see really bad portrait painting, check out the likenesses by the Dutch in the 17th century. Most noticeable is their lack of imagination... Read More


January 18, 2007:
Aesthetics is Not a Foreign Word Aesthetics is Not a Foreign Word: Open Letter to Artists
Because FAR® is a website teeming with art makers and art lovers, it’s reasonable to ask what this thing is that we make and love. I get asked this question a lot. My answer starts with what... Read More


January 15, 2007:
Art for Health Art for Health: Open Letter to Artists
Researchers in Sweden say they’ve discovered that viewing and discussing art eases constipation. No joke. A recent Utne Reader reports that a group of 20 elderly art lovers who met once a week... Read More


December 29, 2006:
"Best" Lists "Best" Lists: Open Letter to Artists
You know those "Best" lists? They crop up every year - itemizations like Random House’s "100 Best English Language Novels" and the American Film Institute’s top 100 "Greatest Movies of All Time... Read More


December 29, 2006:
Goodbye History, Hello Hallmark Goodbye History, Hello Hallmark: Open Letter to Artists
Marketable art these days seems to come in three categories: sofa art, also known as furniture store art (the kind that accessorizes living rooms), tourist art (the kind hawked in resort towns... Read More


December 29, 2006:
Irregular-shaped Paintings Irregular-shaped Paintings: Open Letter to Artists
Shaped canvases, the kind that Frank Stella is famed for, where are they? You’d think that 21st century art, known for liberating art from confining canons, would have more shaped canvases to... Read More


November 27, 2006:
For Better or Worse For Better or Worse: Open Letter to Artists
Artists should be required to read the comic strip "For Better or For Worse." While Fine Art regurgitates styles, cartoonist Lynn Johnston moves people the way Rembrandt did with his "Girl... Read More


November 19, 2006:
Artist’s Intent Artist's Intent: Open Letter to Artists
As a newspaper critic, I don’t answer reader complaints when they’re written for "Letters to the Editor." After all, they’re not sent to me. Besides, everyone’s entitled to sound off. I hold off... Read More


October 30, 2006:
Shock Art Shock Art: Open Letter to Artists
In case you think of art critics having the confidence level of Great Whites, this is me chewing over an area of concern: Shock art, my tag for exhibits that can make you stagger back, chilled at... Read More


October 23, 2006:
Computer Art Computer Art: Open Letter to Artists
Attention computer artists. You may need seat belts for this one. It’s liable to be a bumpy ride. I’m one of those critics with a blind spot for computer art. In the beginning, electronic... Read More


October 19, 2006:
Change of Heart Change of Heart: Open Letter to Artists
Do critics ever change their minds? Should they? Art News magazine ran a story in the ‘90s about critics who do an about-face, suggesting that those who don’t aren’t facing up to a fact of lif... Read More


October 12, 2006:
Pop Art Poppycock Pop Art Poppycock: Open Letter to Artists
If your style is Pop art, reset your relays. Pop art is a dagger writhing under fine art’s work-shirt, striking like a serpent – invisibly. Pop was OK in the ’60s, when it burst onto the art... Read More


October 5, 2006:
Abstraction vs. Realism Abstraction vs. Realism: Open Letter to Artists
There’s no such thing as the right style. The ongoing argument between Abstract art and realism prompts this letter to you today. The argument started over one hundred years ago in a Victorian... Read More


October 1, 2006:
Overselling Yourself Overselling Yourself: Open Letter to Artists
You might call this cautionary tale “How Not To Talk To An Art Critic.” About a decade ago, I was interviewing the poet Allen Ginsberg and was quickly turned off by his conversation. No, it... Read More


September 11, 2006:
If You Paint Landscapes, This One’s for You If You Paint Landscapes, This One’s for You: Open Letter To Artists
Are you good at it? Do you describe the Great Outdoors in ways that invite others to feel it? Maybe because it’s so hot in my Florida location that "The Hunters in the Snow" by 16th-centur... Read More


August 26, 2006:
Edna Hibel: Open Letter To Artists
There are too many Edna Hibels in the world. Here’s hoping you’re not one of them. Edna Hibel is a merchandising package, a bad painter with her own museum (Jupiter, FL) and her own ... Read More


August 11, 2006:
Press Release Hype: Open Letter To Artists
Check your press releases for hype, please. To this critic, at least, it’s just gray scud on the page. Exhibit literature for an artist in a Florida gallery – we’ll call him John Smith - is a... Read More


August 1, 2006:
The Art Critic's Role: Open Letter To Artists
The popularity of Dan Brown’s thoroughly panned The Da Vinci Code and the equally berated movie suggests that critics may be the new dinosaurs – on the way to extinction. ... Read More


July 25, 2006:
Limited Edition Prints: Open Letter To Artists
A crime against the art world is going unnoticed. There are no guns implicated. No slam-slam of bullets can be heard. But as far as I’m concerned, those involved are crooks.... Read More


July 15, 2006:
Hacks in the Art World: Open Letter To Artists
There are a lot of hacks in the art world. If you’re one, find another line of work. You’re killing us. Let’s define terms. I’m not talking about pictures of pussycats with yarn balls that fill s... Read More


June 30, 2006:
Gender-Specific Art Shows: Open Letter To Artists
If you’re a woman artist and participate in woman art shows, this message may hit like a wild wind blowing litter in your face: gender-specific... Read More


June 15, 2006:
Nudes: Open Letter To Artists
Nudes. There are good ones and those of the second kind. Pretty pictures with nothing to say - the second kind - look so practiced, so... Read More


May 31, 2006:
Impressionists: Open Letter to Artists
If I were one of the French Impressionists of the 19th century, I’d be indignant. They were rule-breakers. They revolted... Read More


April 25, 2006:
Open Letter To Artists (From An Art Critic)
I’m an art critic by trade – that dreaded breed known for dissing and dicing and otherwise turning your self-esteem precarious. So you’re going... Read More


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