French engineer, Pierre Konowaloff, has filed a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Museum of Art, claiming his rightful ownership of a Cezanne painting that the museum holds in its private collection. Konowaloff states that the painting was stolen from his great-grandfather in 1918 by Lenin’s Bolshevik army after they raided his house and looted his extensive art collection. Konowaloff’s attorney argues, “This goes to the heart of how these highly respected institutions acquire what they have and what responsibilities they have in getting them.” In response, the MOMA issued a statement defending its ownership of the painting and claims that “this lawsuit is totally without merit”. Konowaloff also has a similar lawsuit against Yale University for ownership of Vincent van Gogh’s “The Night Café”.
On November 4th, Michael David will premier his new series “Tondos, Night Skies and Silence” with the monumental nine foot red tondo encaustic entitled: “All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.”
The inspiration for the title was drawn from a Pete Townsend record that references early Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef spaghetti westerns—with a “wink” to the current immigration controversy in Arizona and a nod to the color “Chinese Red” of the painting. For David, this marks a return to his early controversial and politically charged abstractions, the “Symbol Paintings.” This fusion of the inherent political subtext of Neo-Constructivism and freedom expressed in the pure beauty of the painted surface, truly speaks to the complex and troubled times in which we live.
