Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was an artist whose work dealt with the myriad, quotidian problems of average people, but to understand his artwork the curators of the current retrospective of his work at the Whitney Museum, thankfully, have given us a glossary of key terms (and diagrams) to help us interpret the complicated answers to the large questions the artist addressed. In simple terms, they describe Fuller’s artistic motivation as “what an individual might do to help humanity,” with visual answers spanning such fields as architecture, the visual arts, literature, mathematics, and engineering.

Though he could be considered more of a conceptual thinker, a scientist, a mathematician, a scholar and a problem-solver than what we might normally think of as an artist, Buckminster Fuller was in fact all of these things, and his ability to translate these thoughts into physical form classified him as an artist. His works of art do not take traditional forms; to use traditional methods of categorizing art projects, his “drawings” in graphite on aging paper are plans for projects, his “sculptures” are cardboard, metal and multimedia models for constructions and the occasional finished structure, and his other work could be called “installation artwork.” The difficulty art historians may have in assigning names or descriptive terms to his projects, however, was not a problem for their creator. Fuller named his projects with complicated specificity using his own terms, such as “Geodesic Dome” or “Dymaxion Car” or “Dymaxion Air-Ocean World Map.”

Fuller’s projects, ranging from energy efficient cars, housing models (such as his 1945 Dymaxion Dwelling Machine), hospital designs and other solutions to problems of living and environmental use, held at their core his belief that we need better solutions to how we use and impact our environment and how we should more efficiently allocate its resources. His dome-like structure for the US Pavillion of the 1967 Expo in Montreal, for example, was a structure which required no internal supports yet was a stable and useful structure. It was built using the fewest possible materials to enclose the largest possible internal space. His Dymaxion Air-Ocean World Map, a map of the world cut into triangles and rectangles and reassembled to create a single landmass, addresses the issue of the humanity’s commonality and interconnectedness and questions the distribution of resources (the way in which we do it versus how it might otherwise be accomplished.) Fuller’s intuitive interest in sustainability and desire for us to live with the smallest possible footprint upon the earth translated into a man far ahead of his time. Or maybe we are all way behind ours…

Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe runs through September 21 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Avenue, New York City. The glossary is on the Whitney’s website.

Mathew Bench

I thought I would take a moment to point out the exceptional talent of a friend of mine, Dave Stine, who crafted the desk I work at every day. (The style is now called the Della Monica desk, in fact.)

Dave Stine Woodworking takes green, high-end custom furniture to the extreme, by personally selecting each tree, felling it, milling it, then choosing the right board for the right client. Every piece is absolutely singular and extraordinary. Each is a one-of-a-kind work of art, functional and beautiful. For those who want singular, green, live edge, furniture, Dave Stine Woodworking is exemplary. He works directly with each client to create for them an extraordinary piece of furniture that will last a lifetime.

Stine also lives and breathes the green ethos, by running his shop and home in an eco-friendly, sustainable manner (they run their vehicles on used vegetable oil, he stewards the land himself to ensure sustainability, he uses only dead or culled trees, they raise their own meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables, etc.).

To learn more please go to the Stine Woodworking website.

The MFA in Boston has some exquisite works currently on view, and they glow despite the major renovation project underway at the museum. The works make up three small exhibitions. In one rotunda is a collection of Modernist works by the big name American Modernists such as Arthur Dove, Georgia O’Keeffe, John Marin, Charles Sheeler and Stuart Davis, all of which are vibrant and beautiful. In another rotunda, there are some exceptional examples of European portraiture such as Van Gogh’s portrait of Madame Roulin (the portrait of her husband hangs in a nearby gallery.) The exhibit shows a variety of artists not normally grouped together making for a fun show. The third exhibition worth stopping to see is Winslow Homer: American Scenes displaying etchings and paintings from the MFA”S large Homer collection such as the surprisingly jarring The Lookout – All’s Well and Fog Warning. And, don’t forget to visit Copley’s Watson and the Shark, a MFA classic.

I had a pleaseant surprise at the Met this week when I entered the American Modernist rooms. I discovered that some of my favorite paintings of all time (and paintings I have been missing greatly) have recently been re-installed. Among the works are:

Edward Hopper, Lighthouse at Two Lights, 1929
Edward Hopper, Tables for Ladies, 1930
Edward Hopper, From Williamsburg Bridge, 1928
Grant Wood, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931
Thomas Hart Benton, July Hay, 1943
Marsden Hartley, Mt. Katahdin, Maine, #2, 1939-40

Another wonderful surprise was the Pietre Dure exhibit also currently on view. There are a pair of breathtakingly beautiful console tables with inlaid marble tops which stand out in what is an exquisite exhibition. The pieces, Alleghory of Water (with inlaid seashells and coral against a blue presumably underwater ground) and Alleghory of Air (butterflies, flowers and ribbons against a sky) were designed by Giuseppe Zocchi and crafted in Florence’s Galleria dei Lavori in the 1760s. The two pieces have been reunited from their current homes in Paris and Vienna for this exhibition and present an incredible opportunity to see the pair together.

At the Cape Cod Art Museum through September 7 is an exhibition of the watercolors of Elizabeth Pratt. Pratt’s work is among the pieces featured on my website and has been popular with friends and clients. The museum says of this exhibition:

“This nationally known and exhibited artist follows her imagination and explores the range of textures and uniques characteristics of the medium. Pratt believes, ‘It’s a game of spontaneous decisions. The paint always wins and I am glad to be on its team.’ ”

Now is your chance to see her work for yourself.