| The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Friday, December 2, 2016 |
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| | President-elect Donald Trump, politics on the mind at Art Basel Miami Beach | |
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A view of artwork during the Art Basel Miami Beach Vernissage at the Miami Beach Convention Center on December 1, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida. Mike Coppola/Getty Images/AFP.
by Leila Macor
MIAMI (AFP).- Politics and art have often gone hand in hand. At the Art Basel Miami Beach fair, the biggest and most anticipated of the year in North America, exhibitors certainly have Donald Trump on their minds. Several artists showing at the event, which opened Thursday, have taken on the Republican president-elect, his tough stance on immigration and even the white supremacists who support him -- backing he has nevertheless disavowed. "We are in a moment now of great political transformation and social change in America, and a number of works that have been created respond to that," said the fair's director Noah Horowitz. American artist Sam Durant has done two works that take on troubled race relations in the United States. One is a large red backlit sign with words in black vinyl letters that reads "End White Supremacy." The other, also backlit red with black letters, hangs behind a graffiti ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day A view of artwork during the Art Basel Miami Beach Vernissage at the Miami Beach Convention Center on December 1, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida. Mike Coppola/Getty Images/AFP
| Giant of African art Ousmane Sow dies at 81 | | Christie's offers a painting by Jean Dubuffet from the personal collection of Marina Picasso | | Helsinki nixes Guggenheim museum bid after six-year row | 
This file photo taken on October 22, 2000 shows Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow posing at the Sorbonne university in Paris. Ousmane Sow has died on December 1, 2016 in Dakar at the age of 81. JEAN-PIERRE MULLER / AFP.
DAKAR (AFP).- The Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow, one of the giants of African art, died Thursday in Dakar aged 81, his family told AFP. The artist was best known for his monumental sculptures of Nubian wrestlers inspired by the pictures taken in Sudan by the controversial German photographer Leni Riefenstahl. Sow's series of striking bronzes of muscular African men -- "The Maasai", "The Zulus" and "The Fulani" -- were widely exhibited in France and at the prestigious Documenta festival in Germany and the Venice Biennale. "The fact that his works were shown all over the world proved that he was a giant of culture. It is a real loss," said Senegal's Culture ... More | | 
Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985), Trime Burine Painted in May, 1961 (detail). Estimate: 2,000,000-3,000,000. © Christies Images Limited 2016.
PARIS.- In its traditional contemporary art evening sale, Christies will offer an important painting by Jean Dubuffet coming from the personal collection of Marina Picasso. This painting was realised in 1961, at the very beginning of the Paris Circus period. This is the year when Jean Dubuffet returns to Paris after seven years spent in the countryside of Vence. The artist will get back to a completely different city since it was in the middle of Trente Glorieuses. At that time, Paris was full of energy, people were thirsty for life, making new discoveries and enjoying the prosperous city. Jean Dubuffet, inspired by this new life, began a new series of vibrant paintings, going back to colour and the human figure. This would be Paris Circus, of which Trime Burine ... More | | 
Rendering A © Moreau Kusunoki / ArteFactoryLab.
HELSINKI (AFP).- Helsinki's city council buried Thursday a contested plan to build a museum bearing the name of the US-based Guggenheim Foundation, primarily due to the price tag. Opponents of the museum said one of the Finnish capital's best locations facing the presidential palace in the port would have been handed over to the "McDonald's of art", referring to the Guggenheim chain of museums in cities including New York, Bilbao and Venice. But supporters of the project argued the planned site was being used as a parking lot, and insisted the museum could have led to a tourism boom. After a marathon debate that lasted for several hours until the early hours of Thursday, 53 of the council's delegates voted against the museum and 32 in favour. Efforts to build a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki began back in 2011, but the project has ... More |
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| Austria's race against time to save anti-Nazi film | | Shanghai removes sculptures after UK artist's plagiarism claim | | Sotheby's to offer masterpiece by Norwegian artist Harald Sohlberg | 
Nikolaus Wostry, head of Film Collections of Filmmarchiv Austria, shows an old damaged film at Filmarchive Austria in Laxenburg. JOE KLAMAR / AFP.
VIENNA (AFP).- One of Austria's most important anti-Nazi films was thought lost for decades, until it was uncovered by chance last year. Now experts must race to keep from losing "The City Without Jews" again -- this time from decay. Shot and screened in Vienna in 1924, the silent film proved disturbingly prophetic in its dark depiction of anti-Semitism clutching the Austrian capital in the wake of World War I. Based on the eponymous bestseller by Austrian writer Hugo Bettauer, it tells the story of an anti-Semitic mayor who, reacting to rising social discontent, opts to expel all Jews. The decision leads the city to the brink of ruin as its economy declines and unemployment explodes. In the end, the law is repealed and the banished Jews are welcomed back. The black-and-white movie ... More | | 
A policeman walks past a covered sculpture - claimed by British artist Wendy Taylor to be a copy of the "Timepiece" in London. STR / AFP.
SHANGHAI (AFP).- Three sculptures in a Shanghai park have been dismantled by authorities after the British creator of London's "Timepiece" blasted one as plagiarising her work, in the latest example of copying in China. Wendy Taylor, whose 43-year-old sundial sculpture stands on the banks of the River Thames near London's Tower Bridge, told British news outlet The Independent that a holidaying art aficionado alerted her to the apparent replica. "At first I thought someone had done a clever Photoshop and changed the background, but then I looked more closely and thought, 'Oh my God no, this is a complete copy'," Taylor was quoted as saying in the report published Sunday. The Chinese version, by an unspecified artist, has stood in a park next to the Huangpu river, which ... More | | 
Harald Sohlberg, From Værvågen, The Fishermans Cottage, 1921 (detail). Estimate: £600,000-800,000. Photo: Sotheby's.
LONDON.- This December, Sothebys will offer one of the most evocative landscapes by Norwegian artist Harald Sohlberg ever to come to auction. In excellent condition and never seen on the market before, From Værvågen, The Fishermans Cottage marks the culmination on a grand scale of Sohlbergs aim to capture on canvas the reaction he experienced standing before the sublime scale of nature. Known and loved in Norway but rarely seen at international auction, the last time a Sohlberg of comparable importance came to the market was at Sothebys in 1999, achieving a record price for the artist. Estimated at £600,000-800,000, the painting is set to establish a new auction record for Sohlberg at Sothebys sale of 19th Century European Paintings in London on ... More |
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| Think like an explorer with new American Museum of Natural History app | | Books from Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez's library added to Harry Ransom Center collection | | Art Miami + CONTEXT Art Miami Open Strong with $1-million Sale in First 10-seconds | 
A wealth of new content, including animations, behind-the-scenes videos from collections and exhibition preparation, archival photos, audio, and quizzes have been added to engage visitors of all ages.
NEW YORK, NY.- The American Museum of Natural History launched Explorer, an updated app that lets visitors personalize their onsite experience using cutting-edge location-aware technology. The app, developed with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, enables visitors to think like an explorer by providing unique journeys through the Museums 45 permanent exhibition halls. With new features and content tailored to the multi-dimensional ways that people engage with information today, the app acts like a virtual curator, teaching visitors about the surprising facts and stories that underlie the wonder of the Museum. For nearly 150 years, the American Museum of Natural History has presented science, nature, and culture in ever-evolving ways that reflect how people discover, access, and interact with information, ... More | | 
Richard Avedon's "Evidence 1944-1994" (1994). Photos by Pete Smith. Courtesy Harry Ransom Center.
AUSTIN, TX.- The Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin has acquired books from Gabriel GarcÃa Márquezs library. The collection will reside alongside the authors literary archive, which the Ransom Center acquired in 2014. The selection of more than 180 books includes those that are inscribed, signed and sometimes annotated. This selection from the Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez library reveals expected and unexpected friendships and varied connections between the Nobel laureate and others. The collection includes books inscribed to GarcÃa Márquez and to his wife, Mercedes, by friends and prominent political and cultural figures such as Isabel Allende, Richard Avedon, Fidel Castro, Bill Clinton, J. M. Coetzee, Carlos Fuentes, Pablo Neruda, Toni Morrison and Mario Vargas Llosa, among others. Also within the library are a number of GarcÃa Márquezs own works with annotations by the author. I ... More | | 
Pablo Picasso (Malaga, 1881- Mougins, 1973), Portrait de Dora Maar, 1942. Oil and watercolour on paper laid on canvas, 11/01/1942 41 x 30 cm.
MIAMI, FLA.- ArtMiami, Miamis longest running contemporary art fair, celebrated the opening of its 27th year with sister fair CONTEXT Art Miami, with crowds circled around the block on Tuesday, November 29th. The VIP Opening of the fairs showed art from more than 234 international exhibitors, 450 artists and 40 different countries. More than 10,500 of the most prestigious art collectors, connoisseurs and advisors attended the VIP previews to view works from Blue Chip and contemporary artists, contributing to a frenzy of sales made within the first hour, including most notably the $1-million-dollar sale of Josef Albers 1958 Oil on Masonite Desert Dusk (Study for Homage to the Square) by ARCHEUS/POST-MODERN gallery. Continuing throughout the evening, galleries including Simon Capstick-Dale, and Klein Sun reported five and six-figure transactions with ... More |
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| Quinn's Dec. 3 auction features second offering of tribal and ethnographic art from estate of Merton D. Simpson | | Harvard Art Museums receive million dollar gift to establish the Nam June Paik Fellowship | | Larry Gagosian and Jeffrey Deitch present "Desire" in the Miami Design District | 
Chihongo male mask, Angola, Chokwe, 20th century. $200-$400.
FALLS CHURCH, VA.- On Sunday, Dec. 3, Quinns Auction Galleries will present Part II of the personal collection and business inventory of the late Merton D. Simpson (1928-2013). This important one-day auction features Pre-Columbian, African/tribal, Oceanic, and other ethnographic art pieces, as well as paintings and fine art created by Simpson, an early member of the Spiral collective of African-American artists. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers. Among the top lots is a standing commemorative figure from the Bongo people of Sudan. Dating to the late 19th or early 20th century, the 58 ½ inch tall figure is expected to sell for $6,000-$8,000. A round wood mask with oval-shape eyes outlined in blue pigment comes from the Teke culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Teke. Also dating to just before or after the turn of the 20th century, it is estimated at $5,000-$10,000. Another fine piece, a ... More | | 
Nam June Paik, Cello Memory, 2002. One channel video installation with two 40 in. LCD monitors. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of the Hakuta Family, 2014.210. © Nam June Paik Estate. Photo: Harvard Art Museums; © President and Fellows of Harvard College.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS.- The Harvard Art Museums have received a $1 million gift from Harvard Business School alumnus Ken Hakuta (M.B.A. 77) to establish the Hakuta Family Endowment Fund, enabling the creation of the Nam June Paik Fellowship at the Harvard Art Museums. Hakuta is the nephew of major mid-20th-century artist Nam June Paik, a pioneer in video art. The two-year fellowship will expand knowledge about the artist, his work, and influences. The scholarship and research undertaken by Nam June Paik Fellows will examine Paiks pivotal contributions to the ideas and language of visual expression and how they profoundly influenced generations of artists worldwide, including Joseph Beuys and the Fluxus group, with whom the artist engaged deeply and whose work is strongly ... More | | 
Pablo Picasso, Femme Dans Un Rocking-Chair, 1956. Oil on canvas, 76 3/4 x 51 3/16 inches (195 x 130 cm) © 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy Gagosian.
MIAMI, FLA.- On the occasion of Art Basel Miami Beach, Jeffrey Deitch and Larry Gagosian are presenting "Desire," an exhibition curated by Diana Widmaier-Picasso, at the Moore Building in the Miami Design District. "Desire" explores modern and contemporary approaches to eroticism in art. One of the very earliest and most fundamental artistic themes, eroticism has served to reflect the social mores and cultural values of different civilizations. As the representation of eroticism has evolved in society, boundaries are tested, bringing to life artistic fantasies and unprecedented imagery. Eroticism reinvents itself with every subsequent generation. Today, for example, the promiscuous overexposure of nude bodies on the Internet and television has forever altered the very notion of erotic representation. Eroticism fuses together opposing and complementary concepts: form ... More |
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 Christie's New York announces highlights from its December sale of DesignNEW YORK, NY.- Christies announces the December sale of Design taking place on December 12, 2016, at Rockefeller Plaza. The compressive auction encompasses over 150 works across all major Design movements of the 20th-century. Leading the sale is Rembrandt Bugattis (1884-1916) Jeunesse, A Unique Sculpture, 1906, (estimate: $400,000600,000), created when the artist was 22 years old. The grand scale of this figure is unmatched in his oeuvre of rare female nudes and it embodies the natural nudity of the sitter perfectly capturing her youth. In 1925, Rembrandts brother, the noted auto maker, Ettore Bugatti acquired it from the A.A. Hébrard gallery. Represented in the sale are iconic works by renowned Post Modern designers, including Francois-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008), led by A Mouton de Laine Ottoman, 2012, (estimate: $100,000-150,000), and multiple examples ... More The Design Museum announces two new appointmentsLONDON.- The Design Museum, which opened in its new home in Kensington on 24 November, has announced two new appointments. Lord Mandelson is appointed as the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He will replace current Chairman, Luqman Arnold in March 2017. Alice Black, Deputy Director of the museum, will become Co-Director with Deyan Sudjic. Chairman Luqman Arnold said: The Trustees are delighted to announce these appointments. Peter Mandelsons wide experience of both the political and business worlds together with his passion for design will be of enormous benefit to the museum. Alice Black has been an outstanding Deputy Director with particular responsibility for the delivery of this building project on time and on budget. The Design Museum is in a secure position with an exciting future. Lord Mandelson said: To take over as chair ... More Art Basel announces Philipp Kaiser as the new curator of Art Basel's Public sector in Miami BeachMIAMI, FLA.- Commencing with the 2017 edition, Philipp Kaiser, independent curator and critic, will curate the Public sector of Art Basel in Miami Beach, succeeding Nicholas Baume, Director and Chief Curator of Public Art Fund, New York, who curated the sector from 2013 to 2016. Situated in Miami Beach's Collins Park, the Public sector each year presents site-specific sculptures and performances by both established and emerging artists from across the globe. Philipp Kaiser is an independent curator and critic, who has previously served as the Director of the Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2012-2014); Senior Curator and Curator at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2007-2012); and Head of Contemporary Art at Kunstmuseum Basel / Museum für Gegenwartskunst (2002-2007). Swiss-born and Los Angeles-based, Kaiser has curated numerous ... More UN adds yoga's Indian philosophy to heritage listADDIS ABABA (AFP).- The ancient Indian philosophy behind yoga, the mind-body discipline now practised the world over, on Thursday joined UNESCO's list of "intangible" world heritage. The discipline was added to the prestigious list in recognition of its influence on Indian society, "from health and medicine to education and the arts", the World Heritage Committee said in a statement. "Designed to help individuals build self-realisation, ease any suffering they may be experiencing and allow for a state of liberation, (yoga) is practised by the young and old without discriminating against gender, class or religion," UNESCO added in a tweet. The list of "intangible" cultural treasures was created 10 years ago, mainly to increase awareness about them, while UNESCO also sometimes offers financial or technical support to countries struggling to protect them. On Wednesday, the ... More Irina Korina's first solo exhibition in London opens at GRADLONDON.- GRAD is collaborating with Irina Korina to present her first solo exhibition in London Destined to be Happy. The Moscow-based artist will be taking over the gallery and will transform the space into an immersive environment by creating a site-specific audio-visual installation. Building on her training as a set-designer and exploring multiple social discrepancies between intrinsic and extrinsic well-being, Korina has created six sculptural characters ranging from Love to Rainbow that are placed in the unconventional, even hostile, habitat. The audience will experience the macabre reality of Korinas greyscale domain, punctuated with characters whose emotional relatability is laid bare for scrutiny. What were once symbols of comfort have been stripped of their warmth, forcing the participants to confront their own socio-political complacency. Juxtaposing concepts ... More Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions to offer books and prints from "The North American Indian"LONDON.- Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions will be offering the books and photogravure prints from Edward Sheriff Curtis' anthropological masterpiece, The North American Indian as part of their Books, Photographs and Other Works on Paper sale on 15th of December 2016 (1:30pm). This ethnographical survey by photographer and chronicler, Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) remains one of the most significant and powerful insights into the world of the indigenous peoples of North America. The sale this December, which will take place at Bloomsbury House, 24 Maddox Street, London, will include volumes one to thirteen of the twenty volume series alongside a large number of the original accompanying portfolio plates. Many of the portfolio plates, which carry attractive estimates ranging from £300 to £1,800, will be offered as separate lots, ... More Michael Hall appointed Editor of The Burlington Magazine LONDON.- Michael Hall appointed Editor of The Burlington Magazine it was announced today (1 December 2016). Michael Hall will take up his new position on 2 May 2017. He succeeds Frances Spalding C.B.E., who left in August 2016. Michael Hall was editor of Apollo from 2004 to 2010, during which time he oversaw the editorial transformation of the magazine. A former architectural editor and deputy editor of Country Life, he is an art historian who is known in particular for his work on the Gothic revival. His book George Frederick Bodley and the Later Gothic Revival in Britain and Americawas awarded the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion by the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain for the best book of architectural history published in 2014. Since leaving Apollohe has been a freelance author and editor , writing, among other books, Treasures of the Portland ... More Colombo Art Biennale "Conceiving Space" opens in Sri LankaCOLOMBO.- The Colombo Art Biennale is the largest and most significant contemporary art manifestation in Sri Lanka. Established in 2009, CAB showcases contemporary art with an emphasis on Sri Lanka and the South Asian region. The theme for CAB 2016, curated by Alnoor Mitha, is Conceiving Space, seeks to open up a paradigm of seeing, providing possibilities for creative production that engage with explorations of diverse senses of space. The Biennale will bring together 45 International & Local artists including: Mithu Sen (Delhi), Pushpamala N (Bangalore), Reena Kallat (Delhi), Faiza Butt (UK/Pakistan), Naiza Khan (UK/Pakistan), Ghada Khungi (Bahrain), Cristina Rodrigues (Portugal), Ruby Chisthi (US), Rajni Perera (Sri Lanka/Canada), Saskia Pintelon (Sri Lanka/Belgium), Priyantha Udagedara (Sri Lanka), Tracy Holsinger (Sri Lanka), Venuri ... More Apollo 15 drill Chuck used on the Moon to be auctionedBOSTON, MASS.- Commander Dave Scotts drill chuck used on the lunar surface during his three historic moonwalks of the Apollo 15 mission will be auctioned by Boston-based RR Auction. The Apollo Lunar Surface Drill was necessary for two basic experiments: the Heat Flow Experiment, and the deep drill core; both of which required the successful operation of the drill chuck. The scientific objective of the deep core drill was to obtain a 10-foot core of lunar materials for analysis of thermal properties and stratigraphic composition of the upper surface of the Moon, states Scott in a letter that accompanies the sale. The drill was used to insert a deep core tube into the surface near the probes of the Heat Flow Experiment, to collect lunar material from the surface down to a depth of ten feet. Towards the end of the missions first moonwalk, Scotts initial attempt to drill ... More The Museum of Art and Design at Miami Dade College presents "Sunkoo Yuh: Grafted Stories"MIAMI, FLA.- The Museum of Art and Design at Miami Dade College presents Grafted Stories, a solo exhibition by Korean-born artist Sunkoo Yuh The exhibition includes a selection of large-scale ceramic sculpture, porcelain tiles, and works on paper created during the last twelve years. It offers an opportunity for visitors to experience lushly glazed, totem-like porcelain sculptures that respond to a bewildering, multicultural, diaspora existence, and evoke the artists personal history, aspects of cultural integration, and spiritual discovery that creates order out of chaos. My work as an artist, Yuh says, is to transform the images from my mind into tangible ceramic sculptures. The sculptures are sometimes monumental and then again sometimes small. My ceramic sculpture not only expresses physical realities, but psychological realities at the same time. The sculpture also reflects ... More Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art names Director of Development BILOXI, MS.- The Ohr-OKeefe Museum of Art has named Harry Joachim as its Director of Development. According to Kevin OBrien, Executive Director of the museum, Joachims appointment takes effect immediately. He will be charged with bolstering memberships, admissions and special events for the museum. He will also be responsible for identifying and securing charitable gifts and donations for the beachfront museum. A native of Biloxi, Joachim earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Mississippi. After a successful tenure in the family real estate brokerage, he served as the Executive Director of the National Association of Master Appraisers and Managing Director of the National Association of Real Estate Appraisers. In addition, he was Associate Dean of the Lincoln Graduate Center which, at the time, was the largest proprietary real estate ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, French painter Georges Seurat was born December 02, 1859. Georges-Pierre Seurat (2 December 1859 - 29 March 1891) was a French Post-Impressionist painter and draftsman. He is noted for his innovative use of drawing media and for devising a technique of painting known as pointillism. His large-scale work A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884-1886), Seurat's most famous painting, altered the direction of modern art by initiating Neo-impressionism, and is one of the icons of 19th century painting. In this image: A staff member holds the artwork titled 'La Tour Eiffel' (The Eiffel Tower) by French painter Georges Seurat at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, 01 February 2010.
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