Didier Nolet’s recent paintings at the Struve Gallery, 309 W. Superior St., show the artist working in various formats with a wider range of brushstrokes than ever.
The 22 paintings are all landscapes, though there is no monotony, as the artist has invented rural scenes viewed from unconventional perspectives at times of day that have allowed a maximum play of light and color.
Some canvases are unusually tall or long, and there’s one large tondo presenting the landscape in a circular format. These have permitted, in turn, evocations of Chinese scroll painting, striking juxtapositions of warm and cool color, and a soft rendering new to the artist.
In the most recent pieces, Nolet has painted with a loose, feathery stroke that recalls the semiabstraction of Claude Monet’s “Nympheas” paintings. Hard, flat detail has here given way to freer and thicker patches that vibrate with light quite differently.
The artist also has produced his first nocturnal scene on a large scale, enlivening its narrow range of color with newly found textural shimmer. (Through March 12.)
– One of North America’s most famous collections of early 20th Century decorative arts, formed by singer Barbra Streisand, will be auctioned on March 3 and 4 at Christie’s, 502 Park Ave., New York. The collection includes works of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods by such masters as Louis Majorelle, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Emile Galle, Jacques Lipchitz and Tamara de Lempicka. For catalogs, call 800-395-6300.
– Artist Ed Paschke has designed the 15th anniversary poster for the Chicago International Art Exposition, to be held in May at Navy Pier.
– The Museum of Contemporary Art will this year have its spring benefit at the May 4 opening of “Art 1994 Chicago: The New Pier Show,” the exposition organized in a tent at Cityfront Center by Thomas Blackman Associates Inc. More than 130 galleries will participate in the five-day run of the fair.
– Henri-Dominique Marchal, curator of the National Museum of African and Oceanic Arts in Paris, will give a slide lecture (in French) on “The African Arts Through a French Public Collection: The Example of the Museum of African and Oceanic Arts” at 6:45 p.m. Friday at the Alliance Francaise of Chicago, 810 N. Dearborn St. Admission is $5. For reservations, call 312-337-1070.
– Sculptor and performance artist Stuart Sherman will present his “18th Spectacle (Spaghetti Works),” a new tabletop performance using common objects in unusual contexts, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Randolph Street Gallery, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave. Admission is $10, $6 for students.
Sherman also will conduct an “Object Manipulations” workshop from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at the gallery. The fee is $30, $20 for students. Reservations are recommended. Call 312-666-7737.
– “The Paintbrush Ball,” the fourth annual benefit for the Marwen Foundation, a not-for-profit organization providing free art education to children in Chicago, will be held from 6:30 p.m. to midnight in Wacker Hall of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 151 E. Wacker Drive. Tickets are $85.
– Filmmaker Yvonne Rainer will give a free lecture on her work at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Arts Club of Chicago, 109 E. Ontario St. For reservations, call 312-787-3997.
– Leon Marinakos, honorary cultural attache of the Consulate General of Greece, will speak on “Resonances: Spaces and Images of Byzantine Mystras” at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Fullerton Auditorium of the Art Institute of Chicago, Michigan Avenue at Adams Street. Free admission.
