| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |    | Established in 1996 | Friday, March 4, 2022 |
| | One year after Beeple, the NFT has changed artists. Has it changed art? | |
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Kevin and Jennifer McCoy with Quantum Leap, a recent digital image offered for sale as an NFT, projected in their home studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Feb. 15, 2022. When Kevin created one of the first NFTs, it was to help guarantee digital artists an income. Victor Llorente/The New York Times.
by Blake Gopnik
NEW YORK, NY.- Around 1425, Florentine artist Masaccio painted the first major works in one-point perspective. That revolutionized what artists could do ever after. In Paris in 1839, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre demonstrated his new photographic invention. It changed the nature of visual representation, and museum walls havent been the same since. On March 11, 2021, all of one year ago, Mike Winkelmann, whose nom dartiste is Beeple, sold a collage of computer illustrations for $69 million simply because that collage came attached to a digital certificate called an NFT. That colossal price launched a mad scramble among creators of all kinds illustrators, musicians, photographers, even a few veteran avant-gardists to join the NFT gold rush. In the 12 months since, something like $44 billion has been spent on about 6 million NFTs, usually issued to certify digital creations but sometimes for physical objects like paintings and sculptures. But did this vast tsunami of NFT ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Over the past few years, Sayre Gomez has developed a body of work that amounts to a cognitive mapping of late America as seen through the cultural and topographic specificity of Southern California's urban sprawl. As seems fitting, this inquiry has recently taken a ghoulish turn. Halloween City follows in the mode of sometimes deceptive hyperrealism that Gomez pioneered in X-Scapes (2019) and Apocalypse Porn (2021), his most recent previous exhibitions at François Ghebaly.
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| Russian oligarch steps down as Guggenheim trustee | | Christie's presents photographs from the Richard Gere Collection | | The Sir Michael Caine Collection sale is 100% sold at Bonhams in London | 
Guggenheim Museum. Photo: David M. Heald © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.
NEW YORK, NY.- For 20 years, Vladimir O. Potanin, one of Russias richest men, has been a key supporter of the Guggenheim Museum, serving as a trustee and major benefactor while his foundation sponsored exhibitions, including the current show in New York about Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky. But the museum said Wednesday that Potanin was stepping down as one of its trustees, a position he has held since 2002. It gave no reason for the decision, but the museums statement referenced the war in Ukraine, and Potanin has been closely associated with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Vladimir Potanin has advised the Board of Trustees of his decision to step down as Trustee effective immediately, the Guggenheim said in a statement. The Guggenheim accepts this decision and thanks Mr. Potanin for his service to the Museum and his support of exhibition, conservation and educational programs. The Guggenheim strongly condemns the Russian ... More | | 
Richard Avdeon, (19232004), Bob Dylan, Folk Singer, New York City, 1963. Gelatin silver print, printed 1967 image: 19 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (49.5 x 39.3 cm.) $40,000-60,000.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christie's will present Photographs from the Richard Gere Collection, an online sale of photographs from the collection of the esteemed actor taking place from 23 March 7 April 2022. The 156-lot sale offers works spanning the entire history of the medium, including 19th century masters Gustave Le Gray and Carleton Watkins, to recognized early 20th century figures such as Edward Weston, Tina Modotti and Alfred Stieglitz, through notable contemporary icons of today including Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, Irving Penn, Sally Mann, Robert Mapplethorpe and Herb Ritts. Many of the works were acquired directly from the artists, many of whom Mr. Gere counted among his close friends. The sale carries a low estimate of nearly $2 million. According to Richard Gere, These photographs arrived in my life because I felt something for them. They ... More | | 
Portrait of Sir Michael Caine by John Bratby (1928-1992). Signed and dated 1977 top left. Sold for £31,500. (Estimate: £2,000-3,000). Photo: Bonhams.
LONDON.- Sir Michael Caine: The Personal Collection sale was 100% sold on Wednesday 2 March at Bonhams New Bond Street, London. The top lot was Sir Michael Caines Rolex wristwatch, which sold for £125,250 a new auction world record for that particular model. The watch had a pre-sale estimate of £8,000-12,000. The 183-lot sale made a total of £847,000, against a presale estimate of £314,000. Charlie Thomas, Bonhams Director of House Sales and Iconic Collections, said: Sir Michael Caine is a cinema legend. It has been an incredible honour to be entrusted with his personal collection, and it is no wonder it inspired such passionate bidding in this blockbuster sale. Few film actors have been at the top of their game for as long as Sir Michael Caine. For six decades, he has lent presence and distinction to every role he has undertaken from the era-defining Alfie to classic films such as Get Carter, Zulu and Educatin ... More |
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| Kate MacGarry opens an exhibition of works by Bernard Piffaretti | | Major survey of paintings by Bridget Riley opens at Yale Center for British Art | | Putin's maestro, and the limits of cultural exchange in wartime | 
Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Kate MacGarry. Photo: Angus Mill.
LONDON.- Bernard Piffarettis paintings are characterised by the vertical division of a central brushstroke, a technique which creates distinctly individual compositions all the while bonding each and every painting in his oeuvre. However, for his second solo exhibition at Kate MacGarry, Ridgeline, Piffaretti presents a series of paintings which are aligned on not just one but two axes, vertically and horizontally, conceptually and physically. The aligned lower edge of each painting forms a continuous contour around the gallery, reminding the viewer to consider each of Piffarettis works as part of a whole. His dedication to the consistency of a format gives his practice in its entirety a discernible identity, total connection and the boundaries to explore the nuances of a visual language. The paintings cannot be perceived without the awareness that there are others. This method of display however gives emphasis to the displa ... More | | 
Bridget Riley, Blaze 4, 1964. Synthetic emulsion on board. Bridget Riley Collection © 2022 Bridget Riley, All rights reserved.
NEW HAVEN, CONN.- The Yale Center for British Art is presenting Bridget Riley: Perceptual Abstraction from March 3 through July 24, 2022. Born in London in 1931, Riley is among the most important and influential painters in Britain and the world. Over the course of her seven-decades-long career she has enjoyed a continuing dialogue with museums, galleries, critics, and collectors in the United States. This major survey traces Rileys oeuvre from the 1960s through the present by featuring over fifty works that were selected by the artist in collaboration with the YCBA. It has been a privilege to develop this survey with Bridget Riley and to see her paintings and drawings through her eyes. She points out things that we may overlook and invites us to experience her art in new ways. All the works in this exhibition were selected by Riley. It is truly her show, said ... More | | 
Protesters of Russias aggression in Ukraine held a demonstration outside the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Jan. 29, 2015. Richard Perry/The New York Times.
NEW YORK, NY.- A conductor, perceived to be aligned with the opposition in wartime, pushed from his podium in disgrace. Another, two decades later, offered a prestigious position, only to withdraw under pressure after protests of his ties to a despised foreign regime. The first, Karl Muck, a German-Swiss maestro, led the Boston Symphony Orchestra until he was arrested and interned, in what is now widely viewed as a shameful example of anti-German hysteria at the start of World War I. The profound musical legacy of the second Wilhelm Furtwängler, who never joined the Nazi Party but was essentially its court conductor, dooming his appointment to the New York Philharmonic still struggles to emerge from his association with Hitler. How will we think of Valery Gergiev a century from now? One of the worlds leading conductors, ... More |
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| Anna Netrebko, Russian diva, is out at the Metropolitan Opera | | Christie's Jewels announces global sales for March 2022 | | Andrew Jones Auctions announces online-only signature Design for the Home and Garden Auction | 
Anna Netrebko performs in Act II of "Turandot" for the Metropolitan Opera's New Year's Eve gala, in New York, Dec. 31, 2019. Caitlin Ochs/The New York Times.
NEW YORK, NY.- Anna Netrebko, the superstar Russian soprano, will no longer appear at the Metropolitan Opera this season or next after failing to comply with the companys demand that she distance herself from President Vladimir Putin of Russia as he wages war on Ukraine. The end of Netrebkos engagements, which the Met announced Thursday, came after the opera company, citing Russias invasion of Ukraine, said it would no longer hire artists who support Putin. While Netrebko has in recent days issued statements critical of the war, she has remained silent on the Russian president, whose reelection she has in the past endorsed. It is a great artistic loss for the Met and for opera, Peter Gelb, the companys general manager, said in a statement. Anna is one of the greatest singers in Met history, but with Putin killing innocent victims in Ukraine there was no way forward. Netrebko did not immediately respond to a request for comment through ... More | | 
Collana in Oro, Zaffiri e Rubino, MARINA B. Current Bid (1 Bid) EUR 10,000. Estimate: EUR 10,000 - EUR 15,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2022.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies Jewels announces global sales calendar and announcements for March 2022 spanning three online auctions across Milan, Hong Kong and New York. The global sales will collectively feature notable jewels, including a significant selection of rare and precious gemstones, colorless diamonds, colored diamonds, as well as signed jewels by iconic houses including Buccellati, Bulgari, Cartier, JAR, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels and many more. Additionally, Christies Jewels is pleased to announce the appointment of Eleanor Walper, who joins as Associate Vice President, Specialist at Christies Los Angeles, where she started her career in 2014. Prior to returning to Christies, Eleanor was a specialist at another international auction house where she focused on securing notable jewelry consignments across the West Coast region. At Christies, Eleanor will be responsible for client development on the West ... More | | 
Diminutive George I/II burr elm 'mulberry' serpentine chest of drawers, second quarter 18th century, 31 ½ inches tall by 31 ½ inches wide (est. $10,000-$15,000).
LONDON.- Andrew Jones Auctions will offer a strong selection of fine art, along with antiques and design from antiquity through the 21st century, in an online-only signature Design for the Home and Garden auction scheduled for Sunday, March 27th, beginning promptly at 10 am Pacific time. Nearly 300 top-quality lots will be offered to the highest bidder. Significant and varied private collections and estates will provide a rich selection for discerning buyers. A private Hancock Park collection features an extraordinary suite of seven epic allegorical paintings by the acclaimed French trained American muralist Edwin Howland Blashfield (N.Y., 1848-1946) including Hospitality, circa 1915, expected to hit $8,000-$12,000. Blashfields career took off with his work in the dome of the Manufacturer's and Liberal Arts building at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, which elicited commissions from the likes ... More |
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| Cecilia Biagini's fourth show with Ruiz-Healy Art opens in New York | | Blue Star Contemporary debuts three new exhibitions | | Rebirth: A 99 Projects exhibition curated by Lee Sharrock opens in London | 
Cecilia Biagini, Interpolation on Yellow, 2021, Acrylic on linen, wood, wire, 24 x 20 in, 60.96 x 50.8 cm
NEW YORK, NY.- Ruiz-Healy Art announces Cecilia Biagini: Detour. This is Biagini's fourth show with the gallery and her first solo show at Ruiz-Healy Art in New York. Cecilia Biagini: Detour presents a selection of different modes of Biagini's approach to abstraction such as mobile works and wood sculptures that relate to her first installation Montaña, 1998 at Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, to her ongoing series of intersecting organic forms painted in bright colors, a series she started developing in 2017. Also featured is a new group of paintings in which abstraction is taken to the most minimal synthesis of color and form. Biagini's works in Detour veer from the traditional formulae associated with South American abstraction. The color palettes, materials, and designs deviate from what would be the norm. It is as if after having developed an abstract vocabulary of her ... More | | 
Artwork by Jimmy James Canales. Courtesy of the artist.
SAN ANTONIO, TX.- Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonios first and longest-running contemporary art nonprofit, debuts three new exhibitions during San Antonios Contemporary Art Month. The solo exhibitions feature installations by Jimmy James Canales, Megan Harrison, and Justin Korverthree past participants of BSCs three-month Berlin Residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Germany. While in residence, the artists are given a studio and living space, as well as access to workshops, exhibition opportunities, and studio visits with international curators. Canales installation uses play to investigate ideas of standardizations of body, form, shape, and ultimate humans. He builds a space that references both physical and virtual games. From board games to video games and arcades to sports fields and playgrounds, he sites his figures in game-inspired ... More | | 
Installation view.
LONDON.- Curator and writer Lee Sharrock has teamed up with Frances Casey, director of new West London Gallery 99 Projects on Rebirth. This group exhibition features some of the UKs most exciting upcoming contemporary artists, juxtaposed with more established artists to provoke a visual dialogue with the theme of Rebirth. The exhibition runs from Friday 4th to Sunday 27th March and features paintings, prints, photography, sculpture and ceramics. Several of the featured artists have been featured in Lee Sharrocks FAD Magazine column The Upcoming: https://fadmagazine.com/category/featured-content/the-upcoming Over two years have passed since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which time we were confined to our homes due to lockdowns, prompting a reevaluation of the things that really matter, and a rediscovery and renewed appreciation of the healing power of ... More |
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Artist Portrait: Votan Ik // Activist Graphics from LACMA
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| More News |
 Contemporary Tibetan Art opens at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art CenterPOUGHKEEPSIE, NY.- Vassar Colleges Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center will present the exhibition Beyond the Threshold: Contemporary Tibetan Art, on view March 5 through July 31, 2022, in the Loebs Asian Gallery. Beyond the Threshold, guest curated by Dr. Ariana Maki, Associate Director of the Tibet Center and Bhutan Initiative at the University of Virginia, draws together thirteen works from ten Tibetan artists, including a number of its pioneers. Among the major themes explored in these wide-ranging works are the impacts of globalization and commercialism on Tibetan culture, the creation and inhabitation of virtual worlds, self-representation and the questioning of identities, interconnectedness, and pushing back against expectations collectively imposed upon Tibetans as subjects of the outsider gaze. Currently based in Australia, China, France, ... More  DakhaBrakha, a band from Kyiv, saw a war comingNEW YORK, NY.- For years, the Ukrainian band DakhaBrakha has ended its shows chanting, Stop Putin! No war! What they had protested has now come to pass. DakhaBrakha, based in Kyiv, has long served as ambassadors for Ukrainian music and culture, at once preserving and transforming them. The group gives the polyphonic harmonies of Ukrainian traditional songs a contemporary, internationalist makeover, using African, Australian, Arabic, Indian and Russian instrumentation alongside punk, scatting, hip-hop, trance and dance influences. Their appearance has always been equally striking, especially for the three women in the quartet: towering fur hats, long matching dresses and wildly colorful Iris Apfel-style jewelry. DhakhaBrakha often sings about love, heartbreak or the seasons, but as stand-in for bigger things sometimes political ... More  Cécile McLorin Salvant's album tackles a newer archive: Her ownNEW YORK, NY.- Since her arrival on the jazz scene about a dozen years ago, Cécile McLorin Salvant has made a practice of shining a black light on the unsavory history of American popular song. She sings standards, show tunes and old novelties in a taut, flinty, elusively beautiful voice, erring toward material with difficult lyrics and tough places in history. Salvant wins over her audiences by tweaking them slightly: daring them to go there with her not just into the archive, but toward the darkness of the past. Today, youre as likely to hear jazzs most decorated vocalist singing a tune such as You Bring Out the Savage in Me (a Valaida Snow vehicle from the mid-1930s that Salvant has called so racist and perfect and hilarious) or Burt Bacharachs Wives and Lovers (sample lyric: Wives should always be lovers, too / Run to his arms the moment he comes ... More  Ruby City to open solo exhibition of Arturo HerreraSAN ANTONIO, TX.- Ruby City will present an exhibition devoted to the colorful, abstract works of Berlin-based artist Arturo Herrera beginning March 3, 2022. Arturo Herrera: Constructed Collage will feature more than 20 artworks from Ruby Citys permanent collection, including several recent acquisitions on view for the first time. Celebrating Herreras expansive practice, the show will feature works ranging in date from 1998 to 2019, including collage, a cut felt wall-hanging, drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and an offsite wall painting. The exhibition, curated by Elyse Gonzales, director of Ruby City, is the first to examine the enduring importance of collage through the artists ongoing use and expansive conception of the medium. Constructed Collage demonstrates how this art form continues to shape all facets of the artists practice. ... More  Doran Ross Research Archive and Library donated to the Getty Research InstituteLOS ANGELES, CA.- The Getty Research Institute has acquired the research archive and extensive library of leading Ghanaian arts scholar and former director of the Fowler Museum at UCLA, Doran H. Ross (19472020). The collection was donated by Rosss partner, Betsy D. Quick. Doran Ross was a pre-eminent scholar, a prolific curator and author, and a beloved teacher and mentor to many, said Mary Miller, director of the Getty Research Institute. It will be our honor to make his extensive archive available to researchers. His library collection adds important works on West African art and culture and will expand the Getty Librarys significant international holdings. The donation comprises a scholars library and research archive ... More  Her Majesty's lost Royal vase sells at auction for double its estimateLONDON.- A Victorian Royal presentation vase and horseracing trophy, known as Her Majestys vase, that was recently found after being lost for over 177 years, has sold for double its estimate at auction! The vase was last seen when it was presented in 1845 at the Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall races, as a gift from Her Majesty the Queen, to the owner of the winning horse. It then descended through the family of the owner of the winning horse, Sir John Barker-Mill, 1st Baronet (1803-1860) and its significance had been unknown by subsequent generations, as the vase and stand had become separated from each other. The vase was rediscovered in the family home, having been used as a wine cooler amongst other things, but the stand was only recently discovered in an outbuilding, discarded with other items, which is when the family reunited ... More  Detroit Institute of Arts adds six photographs by Metro Detroiters works to permanent collectionDETROIT, MICH.- As part of the Detroit Institute of Arts commitment to expand the collection with diverse works, the museum has acquired six photographs by Black photographers from Metro Detroit. These photographs are currently on view in the exhibition The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion in the New Gazes - Detroit section, which was co-curated by BreAnn White and DIA Curator of Photography, Nancy Barr. The six photographers all have established reputations in the Detroit community and beyond. Together, they bring greater visibility to Black culture and history as inspired by Detroiters. Photography is a way to see the world through others eyes, says Barr. These photographs bring new stories and fresh perspectives to our collection by a talented group of young Black photographers. The works include: Born and raised ... More  A new endowment at the Fralin Museum of Art at UVA provides funding for acquisitions and care for collectionsCHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.- The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia announces the establishment of The Ruth C. Cross Endowment for Acquisitions and Collections Care. The $1 million endowment is created by the late museum donorss family. The Fralin Museum of Arts longstanding patron, volunteer and friend, Ruth Cunningham Cross passed away in 2021. A lifelong learner, Ruth and her second husband Robert (Bob) Dougherty Cross moved their academic life to UVA in 1972. She and Bob lived in Pavilion VI and were popular residents on the Lawn. Ruth often recounted hosting Lawn students for breakfast at their pavilion. Ruths numerous contributions to the Charlottesville community started at the ... More  What happens when a 'heritage act' wants more than playing the hits?NEW YORK, NY.- When Tears for Fears released their album Everybody Loves a Happy Ending in 2004, the English pop duos future, or lack thereof, seemed clear. I thought that was the last hurrah, singer-guitarist Roland Orzabal said on a recent video call from a house he owns in Los Angeles. I thought it was a beautiful way of putting a full-stop at the end of the sentence. Tears for Fears had experienced a remarkably successful run in the 1980s, highlighted by worldwide hits including Shout, Head Over Heels, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, and Sowing the Seeds of Love. The group had already endured a nasty breakup in the early 90s, after which Orzabal carried on under the Tears for Fears banner while his erstwhile bandmate, singer-guitarist Curt Smith, made solo albums, both to diminished returns, before they patched up their differences. ... More  Bruce Silverstein Gallery opens an exhibition of photographs from 1955 to today by Adger CowansNEW YORK, NY.- Bruce Silverstein Gallery is presenting Adger Cowans: Footsteps, an exhibition of the artists photographs from 1955 to today. Featuring over thirty vintage and modern prints, Footsteps is the artists first solo New York gallery exhibition since 1985. Adger Cowans (b. 1936), has experimented with a myriad of mediums over his artistic career, ranging from fine art photography to abstract expressionist painting. His photographs exemplify the attentiveness of a curious onlooker with great affection for the visual offerings of the world; a quality that would define his works throughout his career. His work has recently received critical attention having been featured in the ground-breaking exhibition Working Together: The Photographers of the Kamoinge Workshop. The traveling exhibition, curated by Sarah Eckhardt, opened ... More  Springfield Art Museum receives $5 million lead gift to capital campaign projectSPRINGFIELD, MO.- The Springfield Art Museum announced today that it has received a $5 million lead gift to its 2028 Campaign from The Sunderland Foundation of Overland Park, Kansas. In 2018, during the Museums 90th Anniversary year, a master plan was devised that would expand the Museums education, exhibition, lobby, administrative, and community spaces, activate the amphitheater and auditorium, mitigate flood risk, and create sculpture, biking, and hiking trails that connect the Citys oldest cultural institution with other areas of the city, including the new Grant Avenue Parkway project. The Springfield Art Museums vision is expansive and invigorating for Southwest Missouri, said Kent Sunderland, chairman of The Sunderland Foundation. We can trace both our family and business roots back to Springfield ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
The Wild Game 
Murillo: Picturing the Prodigal Son 
The 8 X Jeff Koons 
Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo
Flashback On a day like today, German painter Franz Marc died March 04, 1916. Franz Marc (8 February, 1880 - 4 March, 1916) was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of the German Expressionist movement. He was a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a journal whose name later became synonymous with the circle of artists collaborating in it.
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