| The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Friday, May 5, 2017 |
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| | Spanish archaeologist sets out to catalogue all of Europe's prehistoric painted hands | |
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Archeologist Hipolito Collado checks his laptop prior to entering the Maltravieso Cave in the outskirts of Caceres, on February 17, 2017. Why did our ancestors or distant relatives paint hands in caves? Was it merely to make their mark, or part of a ritual to commune with spirits? In a bid to unlock some of these mysteries, Hipolito Collado, head of archeology for the government of the Extremadura region, has set out to catalogue all of Europe's prehistoric hand paintings, as part of an EU-funded project called Handpas. Marianne BARRIAUX / AFP.
by Marianne Barriaux
CÃCERES (AFP).- It's dark and surprisingly warm in a cave in western Spain that hides our most intimate connection to the prehistoric past -- hand silhouettes painted tens of thousands of years ago. Archaeologist Hipolito Collado and his team had not entered the Maltravieso Cave in the city of Caceres for close to a year to avoid damaging the 57 faded hands that adorn the walls, precious remnants of a far-flung piece of history we know little about. Why did our ancestors or distant relatives paint hands in caves? Was it merely to make their mark, or part of a ritual to commune with spirits? Do they tell us anything about the role of women during the Paleolithic era that ended some 10,000 years ago? And why are some fingers missing? In a bid to unlock some of these mysteries, Collado, head of archaeology for the government of the Extremadura region where Caceres is located, has set out to catalogue all of Europe's prehistoric painted hands. Crouching under low hanging rocks or abseiling down crags, he ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day The sixth edition of Frieze New York brings together more than 200 leading galleries from 31 countries, showcasing ambitious presentations and new commissions by today's most significant international artists from emerging talents to seminal and rediscovered 20th-century masters. In this image: Giosetta Fioroni, Tribute to Il Teatro Delle Mostre (1968/2017), Frieze Projects New York 2017. Photograph by Mark Blower. Courtesy of Mark Blower/Frieze.
| Scholten Japanese Art exhibits woodblock prints, paintings & drawings by Paul Binnie | | German painter, printmaker, and sculptor A.R. Penck dies at age 77 | | South African visual artist William Kentridge wins top Spanish arts prize | 
Paul Binnie, (Scottish, b. 1967), Behind the Hannya Mask (Ura Hannya).Jigsaw woodblock print with hand-colored tattoo and gold mica background.
NEW YORK, NY.- Scholten Japanese Art is participating in Contemporary Art Week 2017 with The Body Illustrated: Woodblock Prints, Paintings & Drawings by Paul Binnie, an exhibition inspired by the completion of Paul Binnies (b. 1962) beloved series A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo (Edo Zumi hyaku shoku) with a comprehensive exploration of the artists nude and tattoo subjects in a variety of media. This is Scholtens third exhibition dedicated to Binnies work, and the first in nearly seven years. Following the first two exhibitions, Echoes of Japan: The Woodblock Prints of Paul Binnie in the autumn of 2008 and Paul Binnie: Paintings to Prints and Back Again in the autumn of 2010, which together displayed Binnies paintings, prints, and print production materials, including beauty and landscape subjects, the current show features the recently completed A Hundred Shades of Ink ... More | | 
A.R. Penck. © The Flying Studios International.
NEW YORK, NY.- It is with great sadness that Michael Werner Gallery announces the death of Ralf Winkler, known as A.R. Penck. The artist, who was 77, died 2 May 2017 in Zürich. A.R. Penck was one of the most internationally celebrated artists to emerge from post-war Germany, known for his politically-charged, pictographic imagery. He was part of a generation of post-war German artists including Markus Lüpertz, Georg Baselitz and Jörg Immendorff and his influence can be seen in many contemporary artists working today. Born Ralf Winkler in Dresden in 1939, A.R. Penck displayed prodigious artistic talent from an early age. He lived in EastBerlin and upon being denied admission from the Association of Artists of the GDR was forced to develop his artistry independently. In 1968, he adopted the pseudonym A.R. Penck (a name chosen after the geologist and glacial research scientist Albrecht Penck) to counter persistent difficulties with East-German au ... More | | 
In this file photo South African artist William Kentridge poses at the piazza del Campidoglio on April 12, 2016 in Rome. ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP.
MADRID (AFP).- South African visual artist William Kentridge, best known for his animated films of shape-shifting charcoal drawings, won on Thursday Spain's top arts prize, the Princess of Asturias award. The prize jury hailed Kentridge, 62, as "one of the most multifaceted innovative artists on the international scene" in its citation for the 50,000 euros ($57,000) award. His work "has expressed emotions and metaphors related to the history and reality of his country which nonetheless transcend the latter and raise essential questions regarding the human condition," it added. Born in Johannesburg in 1955, Kentridge's parents were both lawyers specialised in defending the victims of the apartheid white minority rule in South Africa. His roughly hewn animations, which he calls "drawings in motion" that he began sketching from charcoals in the 1980s, bring ... More |
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| Obama unveils presidential library designs | | Atelier Peter Zumthor presents the Fondation Beyeler's extension project | | Norman Rockwell study sets world record at Heritage | 
Former US President Barack Obama stands next to a map that shows the design of the Obama Presidential Center as Architect Dina Griffin (L) speaks about the progress of the center during a community event at the South Shore Cultural Center on May 3, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. The Obama Presidential Center will be constructed in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side Woodlawn neighborhood. Joshua LOTT / AFP.
CHICAGO (AFP).- Barack Obama on Wednesday unveiled the vision for his presidential library in Chicago, a modern, $500 million project he hopes will be a training ground for future leaders housed in the city that launched his career. Speaking on the city's south side near the center's future site, the former President Obama revealed drawings and a 3-D rendering of a three-structure complex with a public plaza and surrounding park land near the shores of Lake Michigan. The site is slated to be upwards of 225,000 square feet in size and house a library, museum and forum -- as well as classrooms, meeting spaces, a community garden and a recreational area. The goal was to "create an institution that will train the next ... More | | 
The extension project of the Fondation Beyeler by Atelier Peter Zumthor, House for Art, View from the Iselin-Weber Park Courtesy Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner.
BASEL.- On Thursday, May 4 2017, the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor presented the project for the extension to the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen/Basel. The extension will be constructed on the previously private land of the Iselin-Weber Park, which adjoins the Fondation Beyeler. A new public park will thus be created in the heart of Riehen. The Fondation Beyeler will thereby create a group of museum buildings that satisfies the needs of a visitor-friendly museum. The size of the parks will be doubled. In the 21st century, a museum is a place for human beings and no longer just for objects. It is a social space in which visitors can have experiences on their own or together with others. People come to a museum for education, entertainment, recreation, encounters and interaction. Together with general exhibition activities, the organization of cultural events and art education are some of the core functions of a visitor- ... More | | 
Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978), Study for Triple Self Portrait, 1960. Oil on photographic paper laid on panel, 11-1/2 x 9-1/4 inches. Sold for $1,332,500.
DALLAS, TX.- Norman Rockwells Study for Triple Self Portrait, an oil study for the artist's self-described 1960 Saturday Evening Post "masterpiece", sold for $1,332,500, a new world record for an oil study by the artist Wednesday during Heritage Auctions American Art Auction in Dallas. The record-setting Rockwell led a $4.5 million auction of diverse American art pieces that realized a 96 percent sell-through rate by value and saw spirited bidding across all Heritage Auctions bidding platforms. Other top lots include Birger Sandzéns powerful Creek at Twilight. Once relegated to a Milwaukee schools storage room, the masterwork soared to $516,500, well above its pre-sale estimate. Net proceeds of the work will be set aside to fund college scholarships for Washington High School graduates. Thomas Morans visually stunning Mountain Lion in Grand Canyon (Lair of the Mountain Lion) fetched $612,500. ... More |
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| Sotheby's to offer a rare and important work by Félix Vallotton | | Christie's announces highlights from its South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Sale | | David Zwirner exhibits major works by Los Angeles-based artist Llyn Foulkes | 
Félix Vallotton, La Néva, brume légère, 1913 (detail). Photo: Sotheby's.
ZURICH.- Sothebys announced the star lot of its Swiss Art / Swiss Made sale, to be held on 27 June: a rare and important work by Félix Vallotton, La Néva, brume légère, 1913. This superb landscape by the celebrated Swiss-French painter is one of a small group of works completed following his visit to Russia in 1913. Adding to its rarity, the painting boasts exceptional provenance: presented by Félix Vallottons brother Paul at the first exhibition dedicated to the artist, at the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery in Lausanne in 1914, it remained within close circles connected to the artist until it was acquired for a private collection in 1965. Thanks to the elements which make up its composition instantly recognisable as Félix Vallottons work as well as its exceptional quality and its history, this absolute masterpiece is a rare discovery for the auction market. The painting will be offered ... More | | 
Tyeb Mehta (1925-2009), Untitled (Woman on Rickshaw), 1994. Estimate: £1,500,000-2,000,000 / $1,900,000-2,500,000). © Christies Images Limited 2017.
LONDON.- For the 22nd time Christies London will set the stage for the annual South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art auction. The majority of the works to be offered are sourced from private collections and are fresh to the market these are works which have been acquired directly from either the artists or their galleries and are coming to auction for the first time. Led by a masterpiece by Tyeb Mehta, the London auction on 25 May will offer 68 works spanning from Bengal School masters Rabindranath and Abanindranath Tagore, to a body of work consisting of 54 individual works designed to be a set of playing cards; where each card is by a different artist from masters like Syed Haider Raza to young contemporary artists like Shilpa Gupta. This years sale will pay particular tribute to the Progressive ... More | | 
Llyn Foulkes, To Ub Iwerks (Portrait of Walt Disney), 1995. Mixed media, 25 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches (64.8 x 57.2 cm). Courtesy David Zwirner, New York.
NEW YORK, NY.- David Zwirner is presenting an exhibition of major works by Los Angeles-based artist Llyn Foulkes, on view at 533 West 19th Street in New York. Including exemplary works from 1964 to 2005, the exhibition comprises three series that define Foulkes's six-decade-long career: mountainous landscapes, "bloody head" portraits, and narrative tableaux. Foulkes's singular oeuvre has inhabited and excavated the remains of the American West and its attendant promise of freedom and prosperity. Probing a once wondrous frontier, now rendered a wasteland, Foulkes exposes the American Dream as co-opted by an increasingly commercialized, corporatized, and militarized society. The landscape of the American West features prominently throughout his works, signifying both the once-cherished myth and ... More |
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| Janet Borden, Inc. opens exhibition of contemporary photographs by S.B. Walker | | Pérez Art Museum Miami welcomes its one-millionth visitor | | Kofi Annan announces Richard Mosse as winner of Prix Pictet | 
S.B. Walker, Combing hair after swim, August, 2010.
NEW YORK, NY.- Janet Borden, Inc. presents an exhibition of contemporary photographs by S.B. Walker in conjunction with the publication of his book, Walden, (Heidelburg: Verlag Kehrer, 2017). This is S.B. Walker's debut with the gallery, and we are excited to present this exhibition. On the 200th anniversary of Henry David Thoreau's birth, S.B. Walker has commemorated the site. Much as Thoreau, the transcendentalist, valued nature and naturalism as the antidote for contemporary society, Walden enthusiasts continue to prize this particular park as a refuge. Walker's photographs illustrate the way this once pristine landscape is now viewed and used. Some parts are still scenic and tranquil, while other areas are funky and overrun. Yet the lure of Walden Pond endures, bringing people to swim, boat, hike, etc. A real appreciation of a place includes recognizing its foibles and its drawbacks without ... More | | 
To mark the occasion, the lucky one-millionth visitor, Anya Brjevskaia and her two-year-old son Alexandre Forbin, were welcomed by PAMM staff with confetti, balloons and celebration.
MIAMI, FLA.- Today, Pérez Art Museum Miami welcomed its one-millionth visitor since opening in its Herzog & de Meuron-designed building on December 2013. As Miamis flagship museum, PAMM serves a multicultural population in one of the fastest growing regions in the country. The museums diverse programming and special exhibitions have helped to draw visitors to Miami from across the globe. After just three years in our home on Biscayne Bay, we are very proud to reach this important milestone and acknowledge the publics continued support of our institution, said PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans. PAMM sits at a pivotal geographic location at the crossroads of the Americas. Our goal has always been to serve our diverse community by offering a place for people to come ... More | | 
Richard Mosse, Helliniko Olympic Arena (detail).
LONDON.- Richard Mosse was this evening (Thursday 4 May 2017) announced as winner of the seventh Prix Pictet, Space, selected from a shortlist of twelve. Mosse was chosen for his series Heat Maps 2016-17. The prize, with a value of 100,000 Swiss Francs, is sponsored by Swiss wealth and asset managers, the Pictet Group. Kofi Annan, Honorary President of Prix Pictet, announced the prize at a reception for the opening of an exhibition of the work of the twelve shortlisted photographers at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, which opens to the public on 6 May and continues until 28 May 2017. Richard Mosses Heat Maps series documents refugee camps using a military grade thermal camera that can detect body heat from a distance of 30.3 km. The series focuses on the journey of migrants across Europe, the Middle East and north Africa. Mosse has used the camera to scan the sites, creating densely detailed panoramic ... More |
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George Stubbs: portrait of the horse Whistlejacket | National Gallery
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 James Cohan's first solo exhibition of new paintings by Amy Feldman on view in New YorkNEW YORK, NY.- James Cohan is presenting the gallerys first solo exhibition of new paintings by Brooklyn-based artist Amy Feldman. The exhibition is on view at James Cohans Lower East Side location from April 27 through June 4. Amy Feldman generates her grey-on-grey paintings at the electrifying junction of the gesturally performative and the humorous. These works are often massive in scale and embrace the strange, pulsing forms that captivate Feldman. As Feldman freely even eagerly admits, these paintings and her practice as a whole are intentionally risky. Feldmans paintings are the product of a fundamental duality between preparation and execution as she translates her initial drawings into exuberant forms. What appears as casual is carefully intentioned, yet the application of the paint itself is the work of an instant, creating paintings that are ... More Ink drawing signed by van Gogh realizes $12,000 at Woodshed Art AuctionsFRANKLIN, MASS.- A dark brown ink drawing on heavy wove paper attributed to the famous Dutch Master artist Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), titled Garden View of the Church at Auvers (1890), signed by van Gogh, sold for $12,000 in the premiere online-only fine art auction titled Prestige Signature Collection: Master Artworks, held on April 26th by Woodshed Art Auctions. The location in the drawing was positively identified as Garden View of the Church of Auvers, and the artwork dates from the last year of van Goghs life, said conservator/auctioneer Bruce Wood of Woodshed Art Auctions (formerly The Woodshed Gallery), based in Franklin, Mass. Without better paperwork, we had to call it an attribution, but theres little doubt it is authentic and probably should have gaveled for $100,000 or more. Van Gogh lived just three months in Auvers-sur-Oise, a small village ... More Art Cologne convinces with a stellar line-up of international galleriesCOLOGNE.- Art Cologne has once again impressively underscored its top position. Both exhibitors and participants are satisfied following the conclusion of Art Cologne 2017. 204 galleries from 28 countries travelled to Cologne this year and presented works by around 2,000 modern, postwar and contemporary artists to around 52,000 visitors. "In consideration of the Gallery Weekend, this year we consciously decided to dispense with the strongly attended Sunday in order to enable international collectors and those interested in art to visit both events. In this way we were able to achieve a considerable increase in quality in terms of visitors, to which our high quality and international gallery programme also contributed", explains Daniel Hug, Director of ART COLOGNE. ART COLOGNE also set new standards with cutting-edge and experimental art in the NEUMARKT section. ... More Exhibition at Nathalie Karg presents works by Jim DrainNEW YORK, NY.- Drains first New York City solo exhibition in a decade, Utopia Muscle, is named after author Junot Diazs call to locate optimism through new activism and empowerment, by strengthening our utopia muscles in the face of fear and anger towards our current chaotic national condition. While this is Drains most overtly political exhibition title to date, it peacefully dovetails with his ongoing interest in how individualized and labor-intensive effortsparticularly in performance, painting, collage, and sculpture can shape collective identity in a finished artwork. First recognized as a member of the now-defunct but cult classic Providence-based music, video, and art collective, Forcefield, Drain became a highly skilled knitter to regally decorate his persona, Gorgon Radeo, in woven, densely patternedattire that obscured his identity into an oblique character ... More Saudi artists seen 'pushing' boundariesRIYADH (AFP).- Artists in Saudi Arabia are pushing boundaries as the kingdom undergoes rapid change and tries to boost its cultural offerings, a Saudi artist who has exhibited worldwide told AFP. Conservative Islamic traditions run deep in the country which critics say lacks both an infrastructure for the arts, and the freedom of expression to allow art to flourish. But Ahmed Mater, 37, calls the kingdom's artists "brave", although he says they need to show still more confidence and receive greater support. "You know everything (is) changing now, life changing, artists pushing borders more and more", he told AFP on the sidelines of the UNESCO NGO Forum which ended Thursday in Riyadh. Under wide-ranging economic and social reforms that began last year, Saudi Arabia said it would develop a Royal Arts Complex, as well as a Media City. A new General Entertainment Authority ... More Exhibition of works by California Light and Space artists Helen Pashgian and Brian Wills opens at TOTAHNEW YORK, NY.- TOTAH is presenting Transient, an exhibition of California Light and Space artists Helen Pashgian and Brian Wills, which opened May 3rd, 2017. Both Pashgian, pioneer of the original Light and Space movement, and Wills, of its next generation, traffic in obsessive experimentation with the conditions of vision. Seeking patterns of line and color, depth and motion, transparency and opacity, reflection and refraction, their true medium is light itself. Transient slices across physics and neuroscience, optics and vision; requiring of the viewer to navigate the tension between the eye, the brain and the body. Space is arguably incalculable without Light - oscillating between wave and particle - but most certainly indiscernible without movement, with which we travel around and through a work of art and take possession of it as our own. Pashgian ... More Blue-chip Surrealists come to Mallams OXFORD.- In the summer of 1936, the International Surrealist Exhibition came to London. André Breton, poet and author of the Manifeste du surréalisme, gave the opening address to a crowd of over 2000. Performance artist Sheila Legge stood in Trafalgar Square obscuring her head with a flower arrangement while Salvador Dali came close to suffocation delivering a lecture in a deep-sea diving costume. His slides were, of course, shown upside down. A taste of that day - when British art changed forever - comes to Mallams next month. Part of a sale of Modern British and Post-War art on May 26 the Oxford saleroom will offer an array of work by 20th century artists who sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind. Estimates range from £100-10,000. International heavyweights Alexander Calder (1898-1976) and Salvador Dali - both ... More Petzel Gallery opens solo exhibition by Joyce Pensato of six "eyes" paintingsNEW YORK, NY.- Petzel Gallery announces Make My Day, a solo exhibition by Joyce Pensato of six eyes paintings from the year 2000 and 2001 that the artist made in Paris. This is her fifth solo show with the gallery and her first at its Upper East Side location. Over the course of her career, Pensato has returned time and again to the motif of eyes as a way to step back from the literalness of the full cartoon character face and refocus on expressive abstraction inherent in the circularity of a characters eyes. Although sometimes the origin of the eye motif can be known through its title, such as Felix or Donald, it is the disembodiment of the eyes from the face that interests the artist, as it frees up the picture plane allowing for either singular or multiple interpretations on one panel. In the multiple iterations, as seen in this body of work, instead of one character, many ... More Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths opens at the British LibraryLONDON.- As part of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths, shines new light on the unprecedented and world-changing events of the period, focusing on the experiences of ordinary Russians living through extraordinary times. The exhibition tells the incredible story of the Revolution through posters, letters, photographs, banners, weapons, items of uniform, recordings and film: from a luxury souvenir album of the Tsars coronation to propaganda wallpaper hand-painted by women factory workers. Exhibition highlights include: 1st edition of Communist Manifesto, published in London in 1848 Nicholas II Coronation Album from 1896 Russo-Japanese War cartoon posters Photographic images and caricatures of Rasputin Leg irons from a Siberian prison camp ... More New Europeana collaboration opens up access to a million fashion objectsTHE HAGUE.- Fashions curators, academics, students and enthusiasts can now discover and explore more than a million fashion images contributed by nearly 40 museums and fashion brand archives from 13 European countries on the Europeana platform. Europeana Fashion brings together an incredible wealth of content including historical clothing and accessories, contemporary designs, catwalk photographs, drawings, sketches, catalogues and videos from museums and archives across Europe, and provides a range of exciting new features for users to explore them. The Europeana Fashion collection launches on the Europeana platform with new galleries curating the collection by themes, such as fashion illustrations, sportswear, prints, or Haute Couture, and highlights by fashion experts. Fashion lovers are invited to tailor the content themselves: they can now access ... More Controversial Russian artist Pavlensky 'wins asylum in France'PARIS (AFP).- Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky, who once memorably nailed his scrotum to Red Square to denounce state power, has won political asylum in France, his lawyer told AFP on Thursday. He fled with his wife and two children to France in January after he and his partner Oksana Shalygina were accused of sexual assault -- allegations he denies. "The artist and his wife have obtained the status of political refugee," the lawyer, Dominique Beyreuther Minkov, told AFP. The French office dealing with refugee requests declined comment, saying that it never communicated on its decisions. The 33-year-old artist also declined to comment. Pavlensky has gained a reputation for challenging Russian restrictions on political freedoms in radical, often painful performances that have won international acclaim. ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky died May 05, 1900. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was a Russian painter of Armenian descent living and working in Crimea, most famous for his seascapes, which constitute more than half of his paintings. His technique and imagination in depicting the shimmering play of light on the waves and seafoam is especially admired, and gives his seascapes a romantic yet realistic quality that echoes the work of English watercolorist J. M. W. Turner and Russian painter Sylvester Shchedrin. In this image: Landing at Subashi.
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