| The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Friday, May 12, 2017 |
 |
| | Venice's 57th International Art Exhibition is a tonic for global woes | |
|
|
Phyllida Barlow, British Pavilion, Venice, 2017. Photo: Ruth Clark © British Council. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. by Kelly Velasquez with Ella Ide in Rome. Phyllida Barlow?s British Council commission is at the Biennale Arte 2017 from 13 May to 26 November. www.britishcouncil.org/venicebiennale.
VENICE (AFP).- Weary of the modern-day "global disorder" of politics and conflicts? The 57th Biennale art festival promises to lift the spirits of those frazzled by everything from Brexit to global warming. "Viva Arte Viva", which opens Saturday in Venice, is "a passionate outcry for art" in a world "full of conflicts and shocks", curator Christine Macel said ahead of the opening. Macel, chief curator of the Pompidou Center in Paris, has brought together 120 artists from 50 countries -- with the emphasis on rediscovering great artists who may have been overlooked, rather than blowing the trumpets of rising stars. "The Biennale challenge is to give as global a picture as possible of the artistic situation" across the world, she told AFP. Among those exhibiting are pioneering US fiber artist Sheila Hicks, West German-born American Kiki Smith and Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, the man behind the vast sun at Britain's Tate Modern in 2003 and the New York waterfalls in 2008. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day A Yemeni student looks at a millenia-old mummy displayed at Sanaa University, in the Yemeni capital on May 10, 2017. Yemen's war has claimed thousands of lives and pushed millions to the brink of famine -- and now the conflict threatens the fate of a collection of millennia-old mummies. With electricity intermittent at best and the country's ports under de facto blockade, experts are fighting to preserve the 12 cadavers in the face of heat, humidity and a dearth of preservative chemicals. Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP
| Egon Schiele and Vincent van Gogh to star in Christie's London Impressionist & Modern Art Evening ale | | Brigitte Kowanz and Erwin Wurm exhibit at the Austrian pavilion in Venice | | Rare Meissen figure at risk of leaving the UK | 
Vincent van Gogh, Le moissonneur (daprès Millet) detail, oil on canvas, 17 x 9 5/8 in. (43.3 x 24.3 cm.). Painted in 1889. Estimate: £12,500,000-16,500,000. © Christies Images Limited 2017.
LONDON.- Leading highlights by Egon Schiele and Vincent van Gogh are now on display at Christies New York until 17 May 2017 ahead of Londons Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in June. Schieles Einzelne Häuser (Häuser mit Bergen) (1915, estimate: £20,000,000-30,000,000) was painted in the middle of the First World War and exemplifies the artists visionary understanding of landscape, which he used as an allegory of human emotion. Van Goghs Le Moissonneur (daprès Millet) (1889, estimate: £12,500,000-16,500,000), was painted in 1889, the same year that he left Arles and admitted himself into an asylum. The auction will take place on 27 June 2017 as part of 20th Century at Christies, a series of sales that take place from 17 to 30 June 2017. The works will tour to Hong Kong from 25 to 29 May 2017 and will be on view in London from 17 to 27 June 2017. Egon Schiele: Schiele created ... More | | 
Erwin Wurm, Stand quiet and look out over the Mediterranean Sea, 2016 2017. Performative One Minute Sculpture. Beitrag Ãsterreich-Pavillon / Contribution Austrian Pavillon. Truck, Mixed Media, H 874 x B 240 x L 274 cm | H 344 x B 94 1/2 x L 107 3/4 in. Unique. Photo: Studio Erwin Wurm. Copyright: Bildrecht, Vienna 2017.
VENICE.- Christa Steinle, Commissioner of the Austrian Pavilion in 2017, is presenting Brigitte Kowanz and Erwin Wurm, two artistic positions who focus on examining and refining the concept of sculpture in the international art discourse. With their oeuvres, Brigitte Kowanz and Erwin Wurm who have both received the Grand Austrian State Prize for their extraordinary work operate at the intersection between sculpture and architecture. Both react to changes in our perception and experience of space brought about over the past two hundred years by machines, media and new materials. Although the most famous phase of Wurms work is known as performative sculpture and Brigitte Kowanzs works as light installations, thus causing them to appear to be worlds apart in terms of designation, ... More | | 
A Meissen Böttger stoneware figure from the Commedia dellarte.
LONDON.- The Commedia dellarte figure is at risk of being exported from the UK unless a buyer can be found to match the asking price of £270,000. Meissen is renowned across Europe as being the first true hard-paste porcelain factory in 18th century Europe. The rare, fragile and translucent porcelain imported from China and Japan was a source of wonder to kings, princes and aristocrats across Europe at the time, with many attempting to replicate these efforts. The production of hard-paste porcelain was preceded by the creation of a very fine high-fired earthenware. This stoneware figure is an outstanding example, which demonstrates the cutting-edge technology of the time. It is one of an extremely rare group of models after the Italian Commedia dellarte theatre, for which the factory at Meissen subsequently became famous. The item was formerly owned by Emma Budge, a prominent Jewish art collector whose collection was sold at the Graupe Auction House in Berlin in 1937 following her de ... More |
|
| Jackie Kennedy Cartier Tank up for auction at Christie's | | Fondazione Prada presents "The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied" | | George Benson guitar collection debuts at Heritage Auctions | 
The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Cartier Tank. © Christies Images Limited 2017.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies New York Watches announced The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Cartier Tank as a sale highlight of its June 21st Rare Watches and American Icons New York sale. Originally given to Jackie from her brother-in-law Prince Stanislaw Stas Radziwill in 1963, she wore this Cartier Tank for decades, which can be seen on her wrist in many iconic photos. (Estimate: $60,000 $120,000). The watch features the engraving: "Stas to Jackie 23 Feb. 63 2:05 am to 9:35 pm. The times refer to the start and stop times of the famous 50-Mile Hike in Palm Beach in 1963. In the June 21st NY auction, the watch will also be accompanied by an original painting that Jackie made in 1963 as a gift for Stas Radziwill celebrating the hike with the dedication February 23, 1963 2:05 am to 9:35 pm / Jackie to Stas with love and admiration. The 50-mile hike became a short-lived fad in early 1963 after President ... More | | 
View of the exhibition The boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied. Fondazione Prada, Venice 13 May 2017 - 26 November 2017 Photo Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti Courtesy Fondazione Prada.
VENICE.- From 13 May to 26 November 2017, Fondazione Prada presents in its Venetian venue The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied., a transmedia exhibition project, the result of an ongoing, in-depth exchange between writer and filmmaker Alexander Kluge, artist Thomas Demand, stage and costume designer Anna Viebrock and curator Udo Kittelmann. The exhibition unfolds on three storeys of the 18th century palazzo the ground floor and the two main ones and includes photographic and film works by Demand and Kluge, spatial settings by Anna Viebrock as well as loans from private and public collections. The long process which led to the realization of this project is not only the result of discussions and exchanges between the authors involved in it, but also the outcome of a misunderstanding. The sharing ... More | | 
1980 D'Aquisto Sunburst Excel Archtop Electric Guitar, Serial #1144.
DALLAS, TX.- The privately-owned collection of legendary jazz guitarist and songwriter George Benson including his rare, 1980 D'Aquisto Sunburst Excel Archtop Electric Guitar, estimated to sell for $60,000 highlights more than 300 lots in Heritage Auctions' Vintage Guitars and Musical Instruments auction May 25 in Dallas. The auction also features historical instruments from the private collection of jazz great Al Valenti. 'The Benson collection is world renowned for its quality and rarity,' said Michael Gutierrez, Consignment Director for Heritage Auctions. 'Benson has his 10 Grammys and own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and he earned them by playing some of these iconic instruments.' The nine-piece Benson Collection includes his 1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman Orange Semi-Hollow Body electric guitar given to him by Atkins himself (est. $7,000) to his rare, ... More |
|
| Post-War, Contemporary and French design lead Phillips' New York auction | | First ever showing of photos by Vik Muniz inspired by old master paintings on view in Venice | | High Museum appoints Kevin W. Tuck as Chief Curator | 
Gio Ponti and Piero Fornasetti, Rare "Madrepore" dining table and set of four armchairs, circa 1950. Estimate: $120,000-180,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.
NEW YORK, NY.- Phillips announced highlights from the upcoming auction of Design in New York, which will take place on 6 June at 1pm and include such masters as Pierre Chareau, Jean Royère, Ron Arad, Shiro Kuramata, Gio Ponti, and Piero Fornasetti. Comprised of over 160 lots, the sale is expected to realize in excess of $4 million and will be anchored by a strong selection of French Art Deco, French and Italian and Post-War, and Contemporary works. Leading the sale is Ron Arads Oh, the Farmer and the Cowman Should be Friends, which was executed in 2009, a tremendously significant year in the designers career. It was then that his first major work of free standing architecture, the Holon Design Museum, was nearing completion, and he was also the subject of a powerful retrospective ... More | | 
Allegorical Scene after Dosso Dossi, © Vik Muniz (2017). Courtesy Ben Brown Fine Arts, London.
VENICE.- Vik Munizs latest project has been specially created for the Palazzo Cini Gallery as a homage to masterpieces in the Cini Collection The 2017 exhibition season at the Palazzo Cini Gallery at San Vio got underway with a contemporary art show. From 21 April to 24 July, the second-floor rooms hosts Afterglow: Pictures of Ruins, an exhibition by the renowned photographer Vik Muniz. A homage to Venice that grew out of discussions with the curator Luca Massimo Barbero, the Director of the Institute of Art History at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, the show includes some new photos inspired by great artists in the Cini Collection, such as Francesco Guardi, Dosso Dossi and Canaletto, a series dedicated to Piranesis Carceri dinvenzione and a very striking glass sculpture. Having made some interesting discoveries on several visits to the exhibition Rediscovered Masterpieces from the Vittorio Cini Collection, installed ... More | | 
Tucker most recently served as the founding director of the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement currently under development in St. Petersburg, Fla.
ATLANTA, GA.- The High Museum of Art today announced the appointment of Kevin W. Tucker as chief curator. Tucker brings more than two decades of curatorial and museum leadership experience to the High, where he will direct its curatorial program and oversee installation, interpretation, research and development of the permanent collection. In addition, he will work with the executive staff and across curatorial departments to develop plans for a reinstallation of the permanent collection galleries in 2018 and to organize an ambitious schedule of special exhibitions. Tucker will join the High on June 1, 2017. As an institution, we are committed to growing and strengthening our collection and deepening our connection to the community through compelling and diverse exhibitions, installations and programming. Kevins proven accomplishments and extensive ... More |
|
| Andorran Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia features works by Eve Ariza | | ¡Ãnete! Join Us!, a work by Jordi Colomer presented at the Spanish Pavilion | | More than 100 works by Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken added to Dutch public collections | 
Murmuri is a reflection on universal language.
VENICE.- The artist selected to represent the Principality of Andorra is Eve Ariza. Born in France in 1973, she perfected her mastery of ceramics in Limoges (France). Through ceramics and activist events, Ariza's works are a constant meditation on the evolution of human communication. Her installation, Murmuri, is a reflection on universal language, an in-depth study of changes in material and the origins of form and sound. She works on reproducing the bowl as a container of truth and a sensory experience through its natural resonance. She purposely tears its base to reveal a mouth-like shape, thus transforming its essence and dismissing its conventional use. The project carries on the artist's battle against bla, the concept of overconsumption and overfeeding on images and sounds as tangibly the sole foundation of today's society. The installation becomes a sensory experience as each bowl reveals its own natural resonance. Liberated from the burden of any explicit narrative content ... More | | 
Official opening of the 2015 Spanish Pavilion, courtesy Claudio Franzini.
VENICE.- Artist Jordi Colomer and curator Manuel Segade are representing Spain at the 57th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. ¡Ãnete! Join Us! invites visitors to become participants in an exploration of nomadism and collective agency. Transhumance, wanderings, journeyings, strayings, displacement: these themes are key to ¡Ãnete! Join Us!, whose reference point is rooted in urban utopias that use movement as part of a radical rethinking of social imagination. Marking a return to his early sculptural and theatrical interest, Jordi Colomers exhibition at Pavilion of Spain is conceived as an installation of installations. Precarious sculptures and transitory architectures form a theatre within the pavilion, encompassing its audience as they walk through the space and turning them into actors, mobilising the space with their presence. The installations offer a path via several video narratives; a ... More | | 
The collection of the Stedelijk Museum, which already boasted over 300 photographs by the celebrated Dutch photographer, now welcomes the addition of 122 photographs.
AMSTERDAM.- The work of Ed van der Elsken (1925-1990) once more in the spotlight with a major retrospective at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam now entering its final week reinforces its presence in two Dutch public collections thanks to a generous gift, and acquisitions. The collection of the Stedelijk Museum, which already boasted over 300 photographs by the celebrated Dutch photographer, now welcomes the addition of 122 photographs: 61 gifted by the Ed van der Elsken Estate, augmented by the acquisition of 61 works, made possible by the Mondrian Fund. Beatrix Ruf, director of the Stedelijk Museum: We are delighted by this gift and by the opportunity to acquire such a large series of works. This is an important addition to our collection that, so far, had mainly focused on Ed van der Elskens early photographs from his days in Paris, and his world-famous ... More |
|
href=' href='
"We The People" at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg
| More News |
 Bonhams appoints Sung-Hee Kim as Head of Press and Public Relations U.S.NEW YORK, NY.- The international auction house, Bonhams, announces the appointment of Sung-Hee Kim as Head of Press and Public Relations U.S. with immediate effect. Based in New York, Sung-Hee will be responsible for raising Bonhams profile in the U.S and leading and developing media campaigns for the company, departments, and specialists. She will supervise the U.S communications team as part of Bonhams international communications network. A Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Boston University, Sung-Hee joins Bonhams from Christies where, during over a 10-year career, she was an Associate Vice President and Senior Public Relations Manager. Bonhams Global Director of Communications, Lucinda Bredin, said, I am delighted to welcome Sung-Hee to the key positon of Head of Press and PR in America. Her long experience of managing ... More University of Michigan Museum of Art presents works rooted in performative action ANN ARBOR, MICH.- Drawn from the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection in Istanbul, Turkey, two complementary selections of works rooted in performative action are on view at the University of Michigan Museum of Art through July 2017. On view April 22‒July 30, is Wavefunction, Subsculpture 9 (2007), a kinetic sculpture and interactive installation by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer playing on the work of mid-20th-century American designers Charles and Ray Eames. It accompanies the exhibition Moving Image: Performance, on view through July 24, 2017, comprising a compilation of four videos by artists Elena Kovylina, Kalliopi Lemos, Roman Signer, and Universal Everything that investigates the relationship between the video camera and the action it records. The exhibition reveals how these artists use dynamic technologiesincluding digitized images and video ... More Order of Surrender from the 1916 Rising offered at Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts SaleLONDON.- A typed Order of Surrender from the 1916 Rising, signed by the leader of the rebellion, Patrick Pearse, is to be offered at Bonhams Fine Books, Atlases, Manuscripts and Photographs sale in London on 14 June. It is estimated at £80,000-100,000. The Order of Surrender is one of the most significant documents in Irish 20th century history. It ended the abortive attempt in April 1916 by Irish Nationalists in Dublin to overthrow British rule in Ireland, and establish an independent Irish State. The nationalist uprising, which broke out on 24 April, Easter Monday, under the overall leadership of Pearse, was met by the British authorities with uncompromising and overwhelming force. On Saturday 29 April, after six days of bitter fighting, Pearse, offered unconditional surrender in order to prevent further bloodshed. A schoolteacher by profession, Pearse was also leader ... More ÇIN by Cevdet Erek on view in the Pavilion of Turkey at the 57th International Art ExhibitionVENICE.- ÃIN, a new work by Cevdet Erek, is now on view in the Pavilion of Turkey at the 57th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia. Organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the Pavilion of Turkey is located at Sale dArmi, Arsenale, one of the main exhibition venues of La Biennale di Venezia. The installation can be seen until 26 November 2017. A site-specific installation, ÃIN uses architecture and sound to explore poetic and political imaginings. Its title has been imagined as a sound signal that foretells the work. An onomatopoeic word in Turkish, ÃIN imitates a specific percussive sound, similar to the ding in English, and is also a root from which two words are derived: reverberation (the prolongation of a sound after it occurs, defined by characteristics of the space it is in) and tinnitus (ringing in the ears due to acoustical trauma or other ... More Catherine Payling, MBE, named director of Waverly Rare BooksFALLS CHURCH, VA.- Quinns Auction Galleries Executive Vice President Matthew Quinn today announced the appointment of Catherine Payling, MBE, to the position of director of Waverly Rare Books, a Quinns subsidiary. Paylings 25-year career in creative and nonprofit industries includes 15 years as curator/director of Keats House Museum in Rome and two years as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. A native of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Payling earned both an undergraduate and masters degree from Oxford University, with a major in English literature and language. Her post-university association with the arts began with a two-year stint as curator of printed books and manuscripts with the National Maritime Museum in London. Also a chartered accountant with British and international credentials, Payling worked from 1988 ... More Tiancheng International announces Jewellery and Jadeite Spring Auction 2017HONG KONG.- Tiancheng International Jewellery and Jadeite Spring Preview will be held from 27 May to 3 Jun (10am to 6pm), and the Auction will be held on 4 Jun 2017 (Sunday, 1pm) at 30/F Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong. This spring, Tiancheng International will present over 230 lots of coveted jewellery and jadeite pieces totalling nearly HK$228 million／US$30 million. Mr. Stewart Young, Director of Tiancheng Internationals Jewellery Department, remarks, As the auction market recovers, we at Tiancheng International continue to honour the tradition of striving tirelessly to source from all corners of the earth jewels of exceptional quality, and offering a wealth of options for our discerning clients. Apart from rare and magnificent jewels, this season we are pleased to offer a selection of charming antique pieces, ranging from an Amber Necklace ... More Ben Brown Fine Arts opens the first solo exhibition of paintings by Jan Worst in Hong Kong.HONG KONG.- Ben Brown Fine Arts is presenting the first solo exhibition of paintings by Jan Worst in Hong Kong. Ben Brown Fine Arts most recently exhibited Worsts work in 2010 at the London gallery. A meticulous and methodical painter, Worst typically produces four large-scale paintings a year. We proudly bring together a selection of works painted over the last 20 years, exemplifying Worsts dedication to a serial depiction of subject matter, deft painterly skill and highly charged and provocative imagery. Worsts paintings portray stately and lavish interiors, focusing on ornamental details such as the tapestries, gilded mouldings, glittering chandeliers, antiquities, elaborate table settings and imposing libraries of these historic, presumably European, grand homes. Incongruously confined within each dimly lit interior is a young womanwhose likeness ... More K11 Art Foundation at the Venice Biennale: Liang Yuanwei, Behind the CurtainVENICE.- The K11 Art Foundation is presenting Behind the Curtain, a new exhibition of work by Liang Yuanwei, one of Chinas influential names in contemporary art. The show runs simultaneously with the 57th Biennale di Venezia and is curated by Loï c Le Gall, Assistant Curator at Centre Pompidou. Liang Yuanwei represented China in the 54th Biennale di Venezia in 2011. The title of the exhibition, Behind the Curtain, alludes to the operatic traditions of both China and Europe, a stage curtain often being a work of art in its own right but also revealing a reality behind it. Behind the Curtain is an homage to Venice and the Teatro La Fenice, as well as the carnival during which participants wander masked throughout the city. For the artist, the curtain also serves as a paradigm, a representation of the world, a way of looking at things. In the Peking opera where the decor is immutable, ... More Breathtaking augmented reality art installation on view in VeniceVENICE.- Spark+ Art announces Ascension, a breathtaking augmented reality art installation by Richard Humann premieres during the 2017 Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy, in conjunction with the European Cultural Centre and the GAA Foundation. Richard Humann creates an alternate universe within our own universe in his location-based augmented reality (AR) multimedia installation, Ascension. The work consists of twelve imaginary constellations suspended in the sky over the magical city of Venice, and can be viewed using an augmented reality app, Membit, on a smart phone or tablet. The constellations that we recognize today are based on a 2,000-year-old mythology derived from the ancient Greeks. Their heroes, villains, mortals, and gods ascended into the sky for all eternity. Inspired by the seminal work of comparative mythology, The Hero with a Thousand Faces ... More Paul Benney exhibits "Speaking in Tongues" during the 2017 Venice BiennaleVENICE.- Albany Arts Communications announced that Paul Benneys monumental installation, Speaking in Tongues, is to be exhibited during this 2017 Venice Art Biennale, opening on May 13, 2017. The 12ft by 8ft painting will be sited at the 16th century San Gallo Church, just north of St Marks Square, and is the centrepiece of an installation that includes sound and other smaller works in oil by the artist. Curated by James Putnam and Flora Fairbairn, this is the first time Speaking in Tongues has been shown outside of the UK.While a secular work, it draws on the story of the Pentecost in the New Testament, in which the twelve apostles encounter the Holy Spirit and then begin speaking in tongues. Modifying and updating this, Benney has painted twelve contemporaries of various ethnicities and religious backgrounds, with the aim of capturing a collective ... More New Museum announces the promotion of Margot Norton to CuratorNEW YORK, NY.- Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director, and Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director, announced today that Margot Norton has been named Curator at the New Museum. Norton joined the Museum in 2011 as Assistant Curator, and in the past six years has worked on a number of remarkable exhibitions, curating and co-curating presentations by Judith Bernstein, Pia Camil, Sarah Charlesworth, Roberto Cuoghi, Ragnar Kjartansson, Chris Ofili, Goshka Macuga, Laure Prouvost, Pipilotti Rist, Anri Sala, and Erika Vogt. She was named Associate Curator in 2015. Most recently, Norton curated the exhibition Kaari Upson: Good thing you are not alone, which is on view through September 10, 2017. As a key member of the New Museum curatorial team, Norton has helped shape the Museums exhibition program and has played an important ... More |
|
href='
Flashback On a day like today, German artist Joseph Beuys was born May 12, 1921. KREFELD, GERMANY.- Joseph Beuys was a German performance artist, sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art. His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism, social philosophy and anthroposophy; it culminates in his "extended definition of art" and the idea of social sculpture as a gesamtkunstwerk, for which he claimed a creative, participatory role in shaping society and politics. His career was characterized by passionate, even acrimonious public debate, but he is now regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. In this image: Offset poster for Beuys' 1974 US lecture-series "Energy Plan for the Western Man", organised by Ronald Feldman Gallery - Courtesy Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York.
|
|
|
