Gift of a Century: Petullo Collection to Milwaukee Art Museum

Milwaukee collector Anthony Petullo has made a gift to the Milwaukee Art Museum of over 200 pieces of self-taught art, making this institution the holder of the largest collection of this type of art in the United States. These wondrous works are in a show entitled "Accidental Genius" and they will be punctuated with lectures, films, and parties through May 6th.
As a guest in Mr. Petullo's home, I can attest to the magnificence of his vision and his collection. He has included in his gift, masters, such as Bill Traylor, Anna Zemanokova and Adolf Wolfli, as well as works, lesser known, but equally worthy of contemplation.
On Thursday, March 22, the Museum will host a discussion concerning what the meaning of and the problems are with the terms Self-taught, Naive and Outsider. Lisa Stone (curator at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago), Jane Kallir (co-director of Galerie St. Etienne, NYC) and Margaret Andrea ( curator of the exhibition) will be the panelists.

image by Carlo Zinelli

"Magic Place" a sample of what the future holds.....

Although her German agent decided to withdraw from the Outsider Art Fair, he faithfully delivered to me a cache of new and very exciting works by Alexandra Huber. New York fans, as well as anyone else who missed seeing her work at the February show, will not be disappointed with the quality of works selected.  The art is being photographed and will be posted soon on 

artbrut.com which is the address for the Beverly Kaye Gallery. Two larger mixed media pieces and ten of the 6" x 6" smalls will be added to the extensive portfolio of Huber works represented here. Alexandra remains one of Europe's top self-taught artists, and her current shows and catalogues will be listed when the new works are ready to go public. This little gem called "Magic Place" is a great example of what is to follow.