Portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl, 1917-18
© Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

(Say, this portrait is unfinished. How come? Click on the image!)

See more Wordless Wednesdays on About

Lucas, Kansas is holding The Great Toilet Seat Art Show and Silent Auction to raise funds to construct a public restroom. Now, before anyone says anything snarky like "We're not in Kansas, Toto," or "Art doesn't happen east of the Hudson River," I want to point out that this will be no ordinary public restroom. And Lucas is a pretty darned cool little town. With a population of well under 500, it still manages to boast the Grassroots Art Center, the description-defying Garden of Eden and sculptor Eric Abraham's Flying Pig Studio and Gallery, where the seat art is on display.

But, the public restrooms? A proposed work of art! It's to be called "Bowl Plaza," the facilities will be shaped like toilet tanks and a walkway will resemble a big runaway roll of toilet paper unfurling across the floor. It sounds marvelously eccentric, doesn't it? I want to help publicize this worthy cause (and hope you will do the same) for two reasons. First, because I salute artistic ambitions of every stripe. Second, because I, too, live in a little town. We have few jobs, and few prospects for more jobs but, by gum, we are proud of the art we produce and we do want you all to come see it. Lucas is trying to do a Field of Dreams thing, and I, personally, would drive out of my way to gaze at Bowl Plaza a lot faster than I'd head to a giant ball of twine. Prosperous art lovers everywhere: I very sincerely invite you to bid generously on a toilet seat.

Fans of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will want to know that their eight-year window of opportunity to see the gigantic Sol LeWitt wall drawings in the Museum's five story atrium are coming to a close. Officials announced on Thursday, July 22 that the drawings will be deinstalled Wednesday, September 17, 2008. "Deinstalled," in this case, appears to mean painted over in order to make way for two new installations from the traveling Martin Puryear retrospective, on view from November 8, 2008 to January 25, 2009: Some Tales (1975-78) and Ladder for Booker T. Washington (1996).

And after the Puryears have moved on? Artist Kerry James Marshall, the first recipient of SFMOMA’s new Atrium Commission, will be creating two large-scale (28-by-32–foot) history paintings featuring Mount Vernon and Monticello, as part of Marshall's continuing dedication to the themes of racial identity, urban experience, and the Civil Rights movement. LeWitt fans, don't you despair. Sol left detailed instructions on how to recreate these particular pieces and two preparatory drawings here and here. Now, all you'll need are some acrylic paints. (And a couple of really, really big walls.)

Image credit:

Sol LeWitt (American, 1928-2007)
(Left) Wall Drawing #935: Color bands in four directions and (Right) Wall Drawing #936: Color arcs in four directions, 2000
Acrylic
Dimensions variable
Purchased through a gift of Phyllis Wattis in honor of Gary Garrels, Elise S. Haas Chief Curator and Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 1993-2000
Collection San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
© 2008 The LeWitt Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Photo: Ben Blackwell

The FBI is asking for your help. Long story short: William M.V. Kingsland, a Manhattan collector, died in 2006. He left no will and had no heirs, so his property reverted to the City of New York. The New York City Public Administrator hired two auction houses to catalog and sell Kingsland's art collection. While Christie's (one of the houses) was researching provenances, a big problem emerged: some of the pieces had been reported as stolen in the 1960s and 70s.

This discovery quite naturally (1) brought any thought of sales to a screeching halt and (2) got the FBI involved. The Art Theft Program now needs all available sets of eyes to peruse the gallery of Kingsland's collection and help identify the works' rightful owners. Keep in mind that these works had been tucked away for upwards of 40 years--you might be looking at something your late Great-aunt or local art museum "lost" decades ago.

Please help spread the word on this crowd-sourcing project. And, as it says at the bottom of the press release:

"If you have information on the provenance, acquisition, or ownership of any work of art from the Kingsland collection shown here—or if you want to make a claim—please contact Agent Wynne at (718) 286-7302 or by e-mail at James.Wynne@ic.fbi.gov."

Image credit:

Childe Hassam (American, 1859-1935)
Mill Site and Old Tidal Dam, Cos Cob, 1902
Oil on canvas
24 x 26 in. (61 x 66 cm)
William Kingsland Collection
Image courtesy Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Art Theft Program