May 31 – July 27, 2008
The Cape Cod Museum of Art
Dennis, MA 02638
Opening Reception and Book Signing 5 – 7 pm Saturday, May 31st with film screening at 4:30 pm: Hans Hofmann (1950) by Sam Feinstein
The Sam Feinstein retrospective at the Cape Cod Museum of Art will reveal the seventy-year trajectory of Feinstein’s development from realism through expressionism, cubist-expressionism, Hofmann-influenced abstraction to Feinstein’s own unique language of color-forms—luminous and life-enhancing—in his monumental, mature abstract paintings.
Slide Lectures – The Sam Feinstein Retrospective
May 31 – July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 5th, 3pm:
Rembrandt, Inspiration for Abstraction: The Art of Sam Feinstein
As a young artist, Sam Feinstein was widely known in the Philadelphia area for his portraits and etchings that were reminiscent of the work of Rembrandt. Ultimately, however, Feinstein was drawn toward abstraction and spent the last fifty years of his life creating radiant, richly colored abstract paintings, while he continued to call Rembrandt his hero. The outer look of paintings may change, but their inner spirit and the means by which this is conveyed have much in common. This slide talk explores the influence of Rembrandt on Feinstein’s painting, and the dynamic relationship between the work of these two artists.
Thursday, June 19th, 11 am:
“Abstract Expressionism” and the Art of Sam Feinstein
The paintings of NYC/Cape artist Sam Feinstein are often referred to as abstract expressionist—and more precisely, second-generation, gestural abstraction—but Feinstein himself had questions about this terminology and its implications. This slide talk will focus on the legacy of the abstract expressionists and their relationship to the art of Sam Feinstein. An open discussion will follow the talk.
Lecturer:
Patricia Stark Feinstein is an independent curator, painter, teacher of art and art history for over 20 years, and co-teacher for 18 years with her husband Sam Feinstein of art workshops in Toronto , Canada . She is also the author of the monograph on the art of Feinstein published in May, 2008. Ms. Stark Feinstein has lectured at the museum since 1998 and is currently director of the Feinstein Project at CCMA and guest curator of the Feinstein retrospective exhibition.
Films for the Sam Feinstein Retrospective
May 31 – July 27, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 4:30 pm:
Thursday, July 24, 6pm:
Hans Hofmann [1950]
by Sam Feinstein, narration co-written by Hofmann
The 30 minute documentary titled Hans Hofmann was created as a collaboration between Hofmann and artist/director/producer Sam Feinstein during the summers of 1950-51 in Provincetown . Together they wrote the narration while the filming, editing and final production was completed as a solo venture by Feinstein. The focus of the film is on the philosophy and principles of art as conveyed by Hofmann in his classes and writings, and as made evident in the process of his own painting. A ten minute sequence in the film shows Hofmann painting The Window, a work now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Thursday, July 24, 6pm:
Sam Feinstein at the Metropolitan Museum [1999]
slide talk at the premier screening of Hans Hofmann
This film, produced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York following the premier screening of the film Hans Hofmann in 1999, documents the slide talk given by Sam Feinstein at the museum. Pictures taken in Hofmann’s studio in 1950 are shown and described by Feinstein in relation to the film. Feinstein studied with Hofmann from 1949 until 1952 and was asked by Hofmann to continue teaching the classes when Hofmann retired in 1957. In this film, Feinstein shows other Hofmann paintings and adds further insights about the contribution Hofmann made to art through his painting and teaching.
Sunday, June 15, 1pm:
Sam Feinstein at Scargo [1986]
a film produced by Paul Fitzgerald
An interview with Sam Feinstein in front of his paintings
This film was produced by Cape resident Paul Fitzgerald with the cooperation of Harry Holl during Sam Feinstein’s exhibition of paintings at the Scargo Stoneware Pottery twenty years ago. In the film, Feinstein refers to various paintings on view as he responds to questions posed by Holl and Fitzgerald, and as Fitzgerald states: “Sam’s use of words was as great as his use of paint.” The film illuminates the art of abstraction as exemplified and expressed by Feinstein, an academically trained artist and teacher who painted and taught for seventy years prior to his death in 2003.
[This film may also be seen in the gallery during the retrospective.]