August 27, 2019
Jules Maidoff: An American Painter in Italy
A documentary on Jules Maidoff, co-directed by Natasha Maidoff and Jilann Spitzmiller; shot by Natasha Maidoff & Jilann Spitzmiller, edited by Jilann Spitzmiller. Shot on Hi-8 and Super-8.
© She Films 2002.
March 28, 2019
Tuscan American Association Awards 2019
Salone dei Cinquecento - Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
The Tuscan American Association, together with the City of Florence, organized a large institutional event for the attribution of the Tuscany-USA Award, given to two winners, one Tuscan and one American, who made a significant contribution to strengthening friendship ties and relations between Tuscany and the United States.
This year, Dott.ssa Chiara Azzari, Director of the Immunology Department of the Meyer Hospital, was honored both for her work as a doctor and researcher, as well as for her and her team's involvement with the Help the Children project to create a global information network among pediatric hospitals; and the painter and educator Jules Maidoff, founder and President Emeritus of SACI, Studio Arts College International, both as an artist and mentor and for the contribution of SACI in collaboration with various institutions of the local fabric.
The welcome greetings were by the Vice-Mayor of Florence Cristina Giachi, by the Consul General of the United States Consulate General in Florence Benjamin V. Wohlauer.
Jules Maidoff, Cristina Giachi, Maurizio Mancianti, Benjamin V. Wohlauer
Photo: Mauro Pocci. Copyright 2019 Aurora International Journal
Photo: Mauro Pocci. Copyright 2019 Aurora International Journal
Video by Serena Caponetti and Davide Aiello. Copyright Tuscan-American Association / taaonlus.org
TOSCANAWEBTV - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GMBwBEo1As
AURORA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL - https://bit.ly/2TBvHQ2
FABRIZIO BORGHINI - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aROaMQIzGcw
Courtesy/Source: Tuscan-American Association/taaonlus.org; Aurora International Journal
October 22, 2018
I always wondered why it's called "Fall", but here we are. I have been blessed with a very nice commission for two paintings which I will eventually share with you after they have been turned over to the new owner. The interest in my works demonstrated by people acquiring them is gratifying and I think I've been fortunate during my life to have my work collected internationally. The weather is beginning to change here in Italy and at my age that always brings inspiration because I see the seasons in a new way every year. Soon we will be adding a section of works completed in 2018 as it draws to a close... thanks for following my meanderings.
July 13, 2018
Summer is here and the long days provoke a mixture of feelings—mostly impatience but in spite of it all I am still trying to move forward in the studio. I am about to start two new paintings for a client and it is unusual for me to do a commission so we'll see how this evolves and what kind of works will result. For now I share with you a small detail from a painting I'm currently working on.
April 4, 2018
Spring is here, yet the sun is not.
I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of positive days to cheer up this old picture maker. I'm currently working on four paintings and my assistant is preparing five new canvases for me which I hope to share with you once there are images on them. Making art requires optimism and looking back I guess I'm mostly optimistic. We will be posting new paintings from this year soon so you can see what I've been up to.
January 26, 2018
2018!
Started off with low energy due to the flu but getting back into the studio now. New year and I am hopeful that the few works still unfinished can be resolved. The amount of time to finish a painting varies so much for me as I only stop when I feel I have met the suggestions, explored the ideas and found forms to speak as I wish. It is nice to be one's own boss, yet I am a hard taskmaster sometimes... AVANTI.
October 13, 2017
Almost November and watching Fall descend... Still whittling away at images and following the trail... I am creaking along with obstinate defiance and although not as buoyant as I once was, still painting... My contacts with my artist friends and SACI alums is rewarding and even amusing...
AVANTI towards the next challenge.
Eve and Adam
The Last Leap
July 9, 2017
Summer is here! In Florence where I live in Italy it has been a particularly hot June and now July is following suit. At the moment I have six paintings I am working on, all of which seem to have promise to me, but all of which are seriously challenging. Each is for me a series of discoveries and destructions and then rebuilding. Since so much of my work is based on the belief that each picture is a search for content while being sure that I have lots of things to speak about, the final content is only arrived at through a series of tough choices. (photo of works in progress below)
May 29, 2017
Spring has sprung and summer is coming. I found this photograph from a few years ago which I attach for your possible interest. I sometimes forget how blue my eyes are and I also forgot that I had that nice hat that I no longer seem to be able to find.
For those of you who follow Instagram (@maidoffjules) you probably have noticed I am posting fairly frequently paintings while they are in progress and the responses from people are both amusing and informative. Everyone seems to see different things, especially in the beginning and for those of you who know my process it is a game kind of like hide and seek.
You probably have heard me discuss process before or my views but my guiding line has always been to find ways that my personal experience has some universal interest. I am convinced that only I will see the things I see in my paintings but do hope that some of the people looking at them have reactions appropriate to my intentions and are following my road to discovery.
April 24, 2017
T.S. Eliot wrote that "April is the cruelest month"
and for me it has not been an easy one as I had an operation (which went well) but the month has been complicated. During the time in the hospital and just afterwards I did some drawings,
a few of which I have included below.
February 7, 2017
American collectors Megan and Eric Edwards have acquired an old picture of mine from 1976, and I am pleased to reproduce it below as it was based on my experiences seeing wandering circuses in small towns here in Italy back in the old days.
As those of you who know my work are aware, I have frequently visited the areas of make-believe that we have invented in order to transfer ideas. I have done pictures of actors, performers, card players, and people masquerading for as long as I can remember. I think I have been exploring the various ways people have devised in order to convince or perhaps deceive others. It is sometimes innocent and sometimes malevolent; figuring out which is which is part of the human game.
December 21, 2016
It is almost Christmas and soon we will be in the next year. As I look back over this past year, I am pleased to think I have produced a few good works and my archive of paintings, drawings, and prints is now at a good point. I keep receiving information from people asking about my pictures that they own. I always ask them first to send me a good photograph and any other information they may have because it all helps with the archiving job. If you or someone you know has one of my pictures, please get in touch at: julesmaidoff@gmail.com. I have recently been asked to exhibit in Malta by the city of Valletta in a very prestigious setting and although it is very tempting, at my age it is a bit daunting. I will decide in the next month or so whether to go forward. I send my warmest greetings to those who know me for a very good upcoming year as well as to those who I do not know.
November 7, 2016
November and 50 years since the great flood in Florence and the autumn is in full swing. For those of you who know it, the Arno these days is not the tame stream you saw when here. I have been working on six or seven pictures for the past few months and managed to finish a few, one or two of which I rather like. Below is a reproduction of a picture which was recently acquired by local people and I reproduce it because I do think it was a wise choice on their part. The whole idea of who buys what is something that intrigues me and I do not know if my fellow artists in looking back over their dispersed works have similar reactions. As often as I am pleased to review a work, I have the opposite sensation and wonder why I thought the painting was any good. As I used to say to my students, all artists, even those who have works represented in the great museums, sometimes did pretty bad pictures. I guess I say that and feel that in order to console myself!
October 10, 2016
Summer over, Fall starting
I decided to put up a photograph that I took in 1957 on the Amalfi Coast of a religious procession. I share it since this and many other photographs I took back then as a 23 year old provided much inspiration. I had been fortunate enough to have had the Fulbright take me to Italy and was deluged with images that impacted much of my work in that year. I did not actually make a painting based on this photo, yet living in a country where costumes, celebrations, decorations, and the thousands of years of ways of designing and elaborating their lives was totally new to this person from the Bronx. I'm currently trying to find more of these photographs which some people have suggested that I might either exhibit or put into a small book.
August 4, 2016
Welcome to my new website!
I hope that you will find this new version useful and more accessible than the last. The range of work on the site gives you the possibility to see my work since the mid 1950’s. I think they reflect my ongoing endeavor to speak about life in a thoughtful and sometimes provocative manner. The new site enables you to ask me questions and open a dialogue about any thoughts you may have. I thank you for coming to visit my visual history!
2016
note that my email contact is:
julesmaidoff@gmail.com
2015
July and off to Sicily
After the Jon and Jules show in Porto in June I go to Siracusa to exhibit at the Vivaio Cuba hosted by Pieter di Paola.
Photos when I am back...
April 2014
Already April
I note that it is moving towards May and my 81st Birthday!
I am working more in the studio and am trying to push limits and trick myself into new avenues. Wet paint, transferred textures and reviewing some old pictures. 6 new canvases to cover in the next month........maybe.
December 2013
Here we are at the end of 2013
I have been ending up the year by doing a series of Black Painted Drawings on paper and perhaps will show some here. Some of you have asked about acquiring my work, email me for information. julesmaidoff@gmail.com
Here it is, Video of me talking about "Dancing at Poe Park" during the Aperitivo on September 28th at the Castello. Watch me ramble on in Bronxese and Italian
2013
Aperitivo al Castello di Gabbiano with Jules Maidoff on September 28th
starting at 6 PM a chance to exchange ideas with the artist in front of his paintings in the Castello, a kind of closing of the exhibition.
2013
The Video of the Opening of 80th Birthday show is now on youtube.
this and a few other brief epics are there.
Exhibit on through October 1st at this lovely and historic Chianti Castle
2013
MAY 4th at Castello di Gabbiano
MOSTRA/FESTA my 80th Birthday and exhibit and all are invited to be there at 6pm. Paintings most of which are of the last decade!
Preview photo at left.
2013
MARCH IN ZURICH
Gallery Holber March 14th - April 20, 2013
The new home in Switzerland of Manuel and Josef's outstanding gallery.
2013
COMING UP MAY 4, 2013
I am most pleased to announce that I will indeed have the exhibit/party on May 4th at the;
Castello Gabbiano in the Chianti
December 2012
December
As we go towards the end of the year I am considering how to celebrate my 80th Birthday next May...
Perhaps an exhibit/celebration in a castle!
November 2012
November and almost Winter
So it seems that I can only write in this color!
The past months have been active and included my painting
"The Last Race". I refound my love of texture, 'materia' and while laying up transparent glazes over thick paint discovered some new thoughts and unlocked some images that intrigue me.
October 2012
OCTOBER already
So the Summer went and I have been in the studio again this Fall re seeing pictures that I either will destroy or complete. I have around a dozen under review, that is reviewing what to do to take them from interesting to good or to destroy them.
Yes, I do destroy some of my paintings.
I go to Zurich next week to explore exhibiting there with Manuela Holber and look forward to seeing her and Josef and Zurich.
June 2012
It is already June 2012
Just trying to get more more ideas out of my head and onto the surfaces. Images many and soon will publish them 2012!
January 2012
The Arthobler Gallery in Porto on January 21, 2012
I just opened my exhibition in January in Porto as announced below and it was as always a great pleasure for me to see the large crowd that the Artholber Gallery attracts. Please do go to see it if you are there.
Another One person Exhibit in one of the nicest cities in Europe with the serious and smart gallerists Manuela and Josef You are all invited to be there for the opening! I will also be doing a workshop with the wonderful Matrix Etching Center thanks to Julia Pintao and her wild and wonderful women!
September 2011
Fall is here and September half gone.
The summer was the country studio cleaning and sorting and then Sicily which filled the mind and eye!
Back in the studio as I schedule my next exhibit in Porto with Artholber and Galeria Esteta and perhaps a workshop with the wonderful women of Matrix. Plans are for a big exhibit with Sergio Traquandi sponsored by the city of San Giovanni Valdarno in the Spring.
thanks, Jules
2011
Exhibition Florence
' H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y '
an exhibit celebrating my wife Mary's Birthday
gallery la corte - opening february 18th till March 3rd
paintings and drawings about our shared life
2010
News for 2011
Lisbon Gallery Artholber on 20 January I open an exhibit of 14 recent paintings! All my Portugese friends, collectors and even those from elsewhere are invited, I will be there! Firenze Galleria La Corte opens February 15 with works on Linen and Paper some of those are my 'impulsive' images.
2010
THE BIG NEWS IS THAT ON NOVEMBER 18, 2010
THE INAUGURATION OF THE
" PALAZZO JULES MAIDOFF FOR THE VISUAL ARTS"
will be held in Florence at Via Sant' Egidio 14 and all are invited to the celebration which will include an exhibit of some of my work and a series of guest speakers as well as a concert of Baroque music...............I would love to see my old friends from my life in art...............................................!
June 2010
June is here and I have been painting some on wood and others on linen and the themes keep appearing again... One about my turning 77 years old and others about generations... Questions about the future and the importance of artmaking in a time of great confusion. I have re entered some old panel paintings of modest size and pushed to near conclusion another 6 pictures.
March 2010
March a surprise as I fight colds and surfaces and try to focus on where my work is taking me.
Please do let me know about your viewing the site and remember that I am seeking to locate missing drawing books and paintings around the world. My work is all over and I do not know where many of them are, help if you have information. email me at; julesmaidoff@gmail.com
January 2010
January is almost over and I am catching up on this site! I have begun to add some work from the past year and my most recent 'impulsive' experiments. I have been working on many pieces on Fabriano paper which are more skewed than usual. Marks and color drawn most freely and which I have found more suggestive and less narrative dominated. It is letting go and calling on all the years of looking at my work to be applied to the clues I find. They leave more room for the viewer to decide and to participate. My trials of these on friends and gallerists seem to support my attempts.
September 2009
A request!
I have been spending the summer cataloging my work and although I have most of my work in photographs a great many are out in the world and I request that anyone who has works by me in their collection to contact me so that I can complete the task. I ask that you contact me and if possible send a photo plus the title and the dimensions.
April 2009
Recent Drawings
On 25 April 2009 I present 25 drawings at Imprunetta hosted by Santo and Allyson Volpe.
2008
Museum Exhibit !!!!!!
I was honored with a large retrospective exhibit here in Florence at the Museo Marino Marini.
2008
September 12th til October 25th 2008
his is a show mainly of work from the past 15 years and contained 70 paintings. The exhibit was curated by Giuliano Serafini and a text by him and Cristina Acidini are part of a new catalog documenting work not reproduced in my prior catalogs.
If you wish more info or an electronic invitation contact me at;
julesmaidoff@gmail.com
2007
I am most honored to have had the chance to exhibit in this prestigious space, the Museum which is the permanent home of the largest collection of Marino Marini's work. It was a challenge to present my own work in proximity to one of the most expressive artists of the 20th century.
February 17, 2007
I seem to have not updated this text in a long time and if by any chance anyone wanted to know more about what i have been doing it must have been frustrating! I am in the process of preparing for 3 exhibits right now, Laussane in March, Oporto in October at the Foundation Arvore and with Julia Pintao at her Galeria Esteta where I will also do a workshop for her etching group. As the years pass the work of preparing for these events is ever more a serious enterprise. One which is part of being an artist yet ever more a burden. I am also finally close to the publishing of the book of interviews that I gave to Laura Castro and will be published in Italy by Angelo Pontocorboli. When this project is finalized I will announce it here for the possible interest of you who come to visit the site.
December 4, 2005
As I say below I have started a Series of Digital Impressions of some of the pictures I will not sell for various reasons. I call the series Midoff's Maidoffs and will be opening a show in Orvieto December 18th with a few of the pieces together with the originals. It is a chance for me to share the images with people for modest prices and makes me feel more generous, or at least less anal! If you want to have more info about prices and images write me at julmar@dada.it Writing as of October 2005. Just closed the exhibit in San Gimignano and today sent off 19 pictures to open November 8th in Milano at the Galleria Ciovasso, Corso Garibaldi 34. I have put in 2 experimental digital Impressions on Fabriano Paper which I call "Maidoff's Maidoffs. The idea was suggested to me by the Photographer Jill Furnakovsky who asked why I refused to sell certain works. I do want to share them and she convinced me to try these slightly reduced versions of the originals of which I will print an edition limited to 10. The first two are "The Embrace" and "Fear of Flying". They are pictures made in the 1970's and which hang in my home. Now some others may have these versions which printed with archivial standards. In December and in January of 2006 I will be exhibiting in Orvieto at the Galleria Zerotre. It was good to know Steven Music of the Galleria Albero Celeste who is now one of my adopted nephews in art. His creative and generous vision of the role of the gallerist is a model and indeed a rare one.
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