| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Monday, December 23, 2019 |
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| | 'Sensual obsessive' fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro dies | |
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French designer Emanuel Ungaro poses on July 31, 1980 in Paris. French fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro, who described himself as a "sensual obsessive", has died in Paris at the age of 86, his family told AFP on December 22, 2019. Ungaro, who retired from fashion in 2004, died on December 21 after two years in a "weakened" state of health, a family member told AFP. He was born in southern France in 1933 to a family of Italian immigrants, and moved to Paris in 1956, where he was trained by Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga. Pierre GUILLAUD / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- French fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro, who described himself as a "sensual obsessive", has died in Paris at the age of 86, his family told AFP on Sunday. Ungaro, who retired from fashion in 2004, died on Saturday after two years in a "weakened" state of health, a family member said. He was born in Aix-en-Province in southern France in 1933 to a family of Italian immigrants, and moved at the tender age of 22 to Paris, where he was trained by Spanish couturier Cristobal Balenciaga before launching his own label nine years later. He quickly imposed his own colourful style on the world of fashion. "One should not wear a dress, one should live in it," said the man who regarded his life's work as a craft. Ungaro was the second of six children, his father a tailor. Ungaro would later say he had learned the basics from his father and from Balenciaga. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day An illustration by street artist Banksy is displayed in his Walled-Off hotel in the Israeli occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem on December 20, 2019. AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP
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 | | Christie's to offer Old Master & British drawings including works from the collection of Jean Bonna | | How to remember the Alamo: Battle site or burial ground? | | Another benefit of going to museums? You may live longer | 
Parmigianino, Daniel in the lions' den (detail). Red chalk, 3 ½ x 5 7/8 in. (9 x 15 cm). Estimate: $60,000-80,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2019.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies announces Old Master & British Drawings Including Works from the Collection of Jean Bonna will take place on January 28 in New York. The auction offers a wide variety of works on paper covering over five hundred years from approximately 1480 to the mid-19th Century. Comprised of 129 lots, with many fresh to the market works from distinguished collections, the auction presents an opportunity to acquire some of the most celebrated and dramatic images of western art, with estimates ranging from $2,000 to $800,000. Leading the sale are works by two great Venetian artists: Giovanni Battista Tiepolos rare Study for three donkeys from the collection of the late Brooke Astor (estimate: $250,000-350,000), and Canalettos exceptionally large View of the South front of Warwick Castle (estimate: $800,000-1,200,000). Additional highlights from the Italian section are masterpieces of the High Renaissance by Perugino, L ... More | | 
The Alamo was awarded world heritage status from UNESCO on July 5, 2015. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN.
by Jacey Fortin and Christine Hauser
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- The remains of three people were uncovered during excavation work at the Alamo in San Antonio, and the discovery has reignited longstanding disputes over how to tell the full history of one of the most fabled battle sites in the United States. The findings, announced by state officials on Dec. 13, came in the early stages of a major renovation of the former Spanish mission. Now, some San Antonio residents and members of Native American groups are calling for the project to be paused. The remains appeared to be the bodies of an infant, a young adult or teenager, and an adult. It was still unclear who they were and when they died. While excavation in pits where the remains were found had been halted, the renovation was still moving forward. But the $450 million project, which involves restoring the oldest buildings and repurposing ... More | | 
A person views Penitent Saint Jerome. Dmitry Kostyukov/The New York Times.
by Maria Cramer
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- Numerous studies have shown that art and music can help soothe chronic pain, stave off symptoms of dementia and Alzheimers disease, and accelerate brain development in young children. Now, there is evidence that simply being exposed to the arts may help people live longer. Researchers in London who followed thousands of people 50 and older for 14 years discovered that those who went to a museum or attended a concert just once or twice a year were 14% less likely to die during that period than those who didnt. The chances of living longer only went up the more frequently people engaged with the arts, according to the study, which was published this month in The BMJ, formerly The British Medical Journal. People who went to a museum or the theater once a month or even every few months had a 31% reduced risk of dying in that period, according to the study. ... More |
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| | Iman Issa's first solo exhibition at a Swiss art museum opens at Kunstmuseum St. Gallen | | Transformed by Mexico, six women broke barriers between art and design | | In praise of one woman's love affair with fashion | 
Iman Issa, Heritage Studies 1, 2015, Courtesy the artist; Rodeo, London/Piraeus und carlier | gebauer Berlin/Madrid, Photo: Sebastian Stadler.
ST. GALLEN.- The Egyptian artist Iman Issas (*1979, Cairo) sculptures and installations point to historical as well as current cultural heritagesfor instance, monuments and their social and political character. Based on existing memorials, artifacts, and instruments, the artist develops formally abstract sculptures, some of which include references to texts, which deliberately create links to historical artworks, cultural goods, and events. They do this without revealing their social and geographic origin or cultural contextwithout pointing to quotations and sources. Through formal reduction and abstraction, in her almost encyclopedically conceived spatial settings the artist focuses on the collective approach to art history, cultural history, and current events as well as the power of depiction. She translates historical and contemporary aspects into a new visual language with diverse levels of meaning. Iman Issa lives and works in Cairo and Berlin. Her works have been featured ... More | | 
Lola Ãlvarez Bravo. AnarquÃa arquitectónica en la ciudad de México (Architectural Anarchy in Mexico City), about 1954. Collection of González Rendón Family. © Center for Creative Photography. Photography by Rodrigo Chapa, courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
by Alexandra Lange
CHICAGO (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- They lived or worked in Mexico from the 1930s through the 1970s. Some were friends, some mentors, some colleagues. But all of their work, ranging from photography to furniture to weaving to sculpture, was transformed by their time there. The exhibition In a Cloud, in a Wall, in a Chair: Six Modernists in Mexico at Midcentury, simply but beautifully presented at the Art Institute of Chicagos Modern Wing, highlights the work of six women: Cuban-born Clara Porset, Mexican Lola Ãlvarez Bravo, German émigré Anni Albers, and Americans Ruth Asawa, Cynthia Sargent and Sheila Hicks (who at 85 is still actively working with fibers). Politics affected the geographic and artistic trajectories of all six, but they also influenced the curatorial decision to make ... More | | 
In a photo provided by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, piece on display in the exhibition "In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art via The New York Times.
by Vanessa Friedman
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- When fashion enters the hallowed halls of an art institution, as a rule, it begins to fall victim to museumitis: the need to justify its presence in the temple of high culture by focusing almost entirely on its craft or conception. This is understandable, but the result can often seem a bit arid; clothes, after all, were made for people, and it is people that animate them. To separate the life of a garment from actual life can also sap it of emotion, and meaning. Which is why viewing In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection, currently at the Anna Wintour Costume Center of the Metropolitan Museum of Art until May 17, is such a pleasure. Anyone expecting a series of historical looks from the usual suspects might think again. Featuring 80 pieces (clothing and accessories) from what the museum ... More |
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| | The future is trashion | | Follow every step of a major midcentury modern renovation | | Phillips announces highlights from the January Evening & Day Editions Auctions in London | 
A coat made out of a former DSNY promotional tent hangs in the Zero Waste Daniel Brooklyn store on Nov. 6, 2019. Vincent Tullo/The New York Times.
by Vanessa Friedman
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- The ragpicker of Brooklyn works out of a 750-square-foot storefront a few blocks east of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, down a mostly residential side street in Williamsburg, where Hasidim and hipsters mix. The ragpicker of Brooklyn sews in the back, behind a makeshift wall sprouting a riot of scraps. Under the pattern-cutting table there are bins of scraps of scraps, sorted by color (red and yellow and blue and black), and on one wall are shelves of Mason jars containing gumball-size scraps of scraps of scraps; up front are clothing rails and a dressing room canopied by a lavish waterfall of castoff cuttings that flows down onto the floor like a Gaudà sandcastle. The ragpicker of Brooklyn, whose name is Daniel Silverstein and whose nom de style is Zero Waste Daniel, looks like a fashion kid, which he is (or was). He is 30 and tends to dress all in black, with ... More | | 
Samantha and Justin Barnes at their weekend retreat in Weston, Conn., on Dec. 8, 2019. Their plan was to rescue and update the 1,747-square-foot home, and survive the process. Jane Beiles/The New York Times.
by Ronda Kaysen
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- When Justin and Samantha Barnes first saw the little midcentury pavilion in Weston, Connecticut, they knew it would make a fantastic weekend retreat. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom house with its wall of floor-to-ceiling glass doors was set on a wooded two-acre lot with views of a pond. The couple, who own an advertising agency and live in Midtown Manhattan, appreciated its architectural style. We fell in love with it, said Justin Barnes, 40. It resonated with who we are. Home renovations, however, are rarely simple. And the 1,747-square-foot house, listed for $795,500, was 70 years old and needed work. The original wooden windows and French doors were rotting and fitted with drafty, single-pane glass. The radiant heating beneath the concrete floor a cutting-edge ... More | | 
Andy Warhol, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, from Reigning Queens, 1985. Estimate £40,000 - 60,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.
LONDON.- Phillips announced highlights from the Evening & Day Editions auctions in London, taking place on 23 January 2020. Leading the Evening Sale is one of the most important graphic works of the 20th century, Pablo Picassos La Minotauromachie: the most valuable edition ever offered by Phillips. Further highlights include iconic portraits and motifs by Andy Warhol, rare and innovative prints by David Hockney and unique works by Gerhard Richter and Daniel Buren. Comprised of 255 works and showcasing a strong selection of editions by Modern and Contemporary masters, the Day Sale will be held on 23 January at 1pm (lots 71 - 255), immediately followed by the Evening Sale at 6pm (lots 1-70), which will start with Picassos La Minotauromachie. Rebecca Tooby-Desmond, Head of Sale for Editions, said, We are excited to begin 2020 bolstered by the success of our global auctions throughout 2019, which achieved our ... More |
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| | The hunt for a new roof extends to Britain | | Super-rare early hand-drawn Hawaiian school atlas sells for 20 times its estimate at auction in New York | | Sotheby's leads all international auction houses in Asia for the fourth consecutive year | 
The dining room at Westbury House in Old Westbury, on New York's Long Island, on Dec. 5, 2019. Stefano Ukmar/The New York Times.
by John Freeman Gill
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- Nobody ever said New York was a movable feast, but one rich family did its best to make it one a century ago by packing up an entire, sumptuous Fifth Avenue dining room and reassembling it in the country. In 1927, shortly before the demolition of steel magnate Henry Phipps marble Renaissance mansion at 87th Street, his eldest son, John S. Phipps, salvaged its dining rooms ceiling and paneling and brought them under the roof of his grand home in Old Westbury, a colony of millionaires on Long Island. That dining room now featuring a family portrait by John Singer Sargent has been a major attraction ever since in the Georgian Revival manse on the Phipps estate, which has been open to the public as Old Westbury Gardens since 1959. But the English slate roof that ... More | | 
The geography and map book, a rare early survivor in the Hawaiian language, has eight engraved maps with original hand colouring in outline and shows maps of the world with brief text and geographical questions for the students.
NEW YORK, NY.- An early book of maps of Hawaii has sold for 20 times its estimate at auction to take $68,750. Dating to 1840, He Mau Palapala Aina A Me Na Niele No Ka Hoikehonua. No Na Kamalii, which translates as Maps and Geography for Children, topped the sale at Swann Auction Galleries in New York on December 17, when an extraordinarily rare, colourful and detailed Nuremburg chronicle of world history dating to 1493 sold for $62,500. The geography and map book, a rare early survivor in the Hawaiian language, has eight engraved maps with original hand colouring in outline and shows maps of the world with brief text and geographical questions for the students. It was created for pupils at Lahainaluna Seminary, a school on the island of Maui, where the mission was founded in 1823 and classes began in thatched ... More | | 
2019 auction sales total HK$7.35 billion / US$936 million. Courtesy Sotheby's.
HONG KONG.- Kevin Ching, CEO of Sothebys Asia, comments: Sothebys emerges yet again as the definitive market leader for the fourth consecutive year in Asia, outpacing our competitors on many fronts. Fuelling our success is our adamant devotion to quality, constant innovation, and the unparalleled expertise of our specialists, which helped us fully leverage the sustained strength and potential of this region. Our outstanding results in 2019 positions us ever more strongly in propelling our business and the wider art market forward in 2020. Patti Wong, Chairman, Sothebys Asia, says: A real standout for me is the record high sales of Modern and Contemporary Asian Art as well as Western works here in Asia, together with Asian clients' significant contribution in Sotheby's global salerooms, bagging 9 out of the top 20 works we sold in 2019. These remarkable results speak for our industry-leading ... More |
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This Orangutan Baby House Moves to a New Location
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| | More News |
 Andy Harper's first show at Nancy Toomey Fine Art opens in San FranciscoSAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Nancy Toomey Fine Art opened an exhibition of works by Andy Harper entitled What remains to be said, on view from December 18, 2019, to January 25, 2020. The gallery is located inside San Francisco's Minnesota Street Project, 1275 Minnesota Street. The public is invited to the exhibition reception on Saturday, January 11, from 5pm to 7pm. British artist Andy Harper, best known for his lush paintings full of depth and detail, has more to say in his What remains to be said exhibition. Every feature of Harper's distinctive body of work is apparent here: the complex interplay of color and gesture are executed with exuberance and bravura. Layers of rapidly applied linseed oil washes are quickly manipulated into compositions that appear both familiar and strange in equal measure. Harper's marks and smears alternate with botanical, ... More Brooklyn Public Library names Mary Mattingly as the Katowitz Radin Artist in Residence for 2020BROOKLYN, NY.- Brooklyn Public Library announced Stars Down to Earth, an exhibition weaving the wonders of the cosmos together with urgent questions around habitable futures on earth, featuring works by artists Mary Mattingly and Dario Robleto. BPL also announces Mary Mattingly as the Librarys Katowitz Radin Artist in Residence for 2020. Instituted in 2014, the annual residency supports emerging and established artists to meaningfully engage with BPLs collections, programs, and services as a way to expand their art making practice. Pairing two artists who are deeply engaged in inter-disciplinary work as citizen scientists, artist ambassadors, and ethicists, Stars Down to Earth juxtaposes Mattinglys living sculpture and nature morte photographs of the mining and gas industry with Robletos intricate sculptures comprised of carefully researched ... More New Orleans Museum of Art announces retirement of Gail Asprodites, appointment of Doug HarrellNEW ORLEANS, LA.- Gail Asprodites, the Deputy Director for Finance and Administration at the New Orleans Museum of Art, has retired after 13 years of service. Gail approached her position with dedication, an entrepreneurial spirit and an abundance of good humor, said Susan Taylor, NOMAs Montine McDaniel Freeman Director. I cannot underscore enough how much she has contributed to NOMAs transformative work over the course of her tenure. A graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana and a Certified Public Accountant, Asprodites served a Project Manager with Postlethwaite and Netterville prior to her arrival at NOMA in April of 2006. Initially serving in the role of Comptroller, Asprodites quickly became an invaluable member of the post-Hurricane Katrina recovery team, assuming the role of Assistant Director. Asprodites was ... More Gallé glass, maritime art and luxury timepieces highlight Michaan's first auction of 2020 ALAMEDA, CA.- Michaans monthly Gallery Auction is an event for all: serious collectors and casual browsers, investors and bargain hunters alike. Each auction features property from fine estates and collections, appraised and catalogued by Michaans specialists. The diversity and quality of the auction property are the only common factors from month to month; each sale brings entirely new delights and discoveries. On January 11, Michaans bidders will vie for heirloom jewels, fine art and exemplary furnishings and decorations. Art glass, designer bags, fine art photographs and luxury timepieces are just a few of the treasures in store. The live auction event is augmented by online bidding and phone bidding. The old mine-cut diamond is a prize sought by every fine jeweler, notes Michaans specialist and GIA gemologist Elise Coronado ... More Tai Kwun launches heritage exhibition "Let's Do Lunch", featuring lunch culture in CentralHONG KONG.- Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts launched Lets Do Lunch today, a new heritage exhibition that narrates the trend-setting lunchtime scene in Central and takes an in-depth look at how the districts one-of-a-kind lunch culture forges unique social connections. Curated by Tai Kwun Heritage, with support from design partner ADO Design, editorial partner Alex Lai, illustrator Sandy Wang, and a group of veteran food journalists as research writers, Lets Do Lunch runs from 20 December 2019 to 8 February 2020. Lets Do Lunch sheds light on the life of workers in Central outside their workplace, exploring the lunchtime habits as a window to understanding the socio-economic development of the Central community over the decades. Observing the districts diverse network of culinary conventions and institutions, the exhibition presents a kaleidoscopic ... More Arts rich curriculum must be lasting legacy for McQueen's Year 3 projectLONDON.- Tate today, together with the Plus Tate network of museums and galleries, called on the new Government to ensure that all children have access to visual art through an arts-rich curriculum. It insisted visual art must be a core part of the national curriculum in primary and secondary schools in England and urged that additional funding for the arts premium be implemented as a matter of urgency. The enthusiasm at Tate Britain for Steve McQueens Year 3 project, attracting visits from over 600 schoolchildren daily, shows the appetite of young children to engage with art. If the decline in secondary school provision continues, many of these children may have little opportunity to take art when they enter Key Stage 3. Tate has pledged to do all it can to support schools involved in the Year 3 project 1,504 schools in all to provide an arts- ... More Bilbao Fine Arts Museum exhibits a work by the designer Rei KawakuboBILBAO.- As part of The Guest Work programme, sponsored by the Banco Santander Foundation, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum is exhibiting a creation from the autumn-winter 2016 collection of the Japanese prêt-à -porter brand Comme des Garçons, which was founded and is led by the designer Rei Kawakubo. The piece is part of the collection of the Palais Galliera (Fashion Museum of Paris). This is the first time in the 18 years the museum has been offering The Guest Work that a fashion creation is being presented. In the 61 previous editions, the public has primarily been shown paintings, as well as sculptures, works on paper, tapestries, archaeological pieces, installations and even a performance. However, fashion exhibitions at the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum have just a few yet noteworthy forerunners in the shows Balenciaga. Designing ... More Foam opens the first solo museum exhibition of French artist Solène GänAMSTERDAM.- Foam presents the first solo museum exhibition of the French artist Solène Gün (1996). Her project Turunç is a series portraying the everyday life of young men of Turkish descent in the suburbs of Paris and Berlin. Herself of mixed French, Turkish and Kurdish ancestry, Gün seeks to capture their social environment. Her photographs document the hope, fraternity and solidarity that unites them as a community, despite the boredom, the violence and the despair they are confronted with. Solène Gün transcribes this tension into a visual language, in which intimate close-ups alternate with averted faces and anonymous facades. She focuses on symbolic details, such as a necklace, a prayer rug or the silhouette of a brotherly handshake, collectively becoming a sign system referencing these young mens roots. Through her poetic images, Gün ... More Abbey Simon, masterly pianist, dies at 99NEW YORK (AFP).- Abbey Simon, an American pianist celebrated for a style that harked back to an earlier, golden age of keyboard prowess, died Wednesday at his home in Geneva. He was 99. His death was announced by his son, Jonathan. Simon, who had appeared on concert stages around the world since the early 1940s, was often called a pianists pianist greatly admired by musicians and critics if not strictly a household name. Known in particular for his interpretations of romantic literature, he was lauded for the fleetness of his fingers, the lightness of his tone and the thoughtfulness of his interpretations. Poetry, musicianship and technique have characterized Abbey Simons piano playing since his debut nine years ago, Ross Parmenter wrote in The New York Times in 1949, reviewing a concert by Simon of Bach, Brahms, Chopin ... More Star Wars and comic books rule the day at Bruneau & Co. auctionCRANSTON, RI.- Star Wars collectibles and rare vintage comic books dominated the list of top lots at Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers Winter Comic Book & Toy auction extravaganza held December 14th, online and in the Cranston gallery at 63 Fourth Avenue. It was the last big sale of the year for Bruneau & Co., which will hit the ground running in 2020 with a January 4th auction. The Winter Comic Book & Toy auction was a collaborative effort between Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers, Altered Reality Entertainment and Travis Landry, Bruneau & Co.s Director of Pop Culture, who said, The day was strong overall and great stuff sold well. Star Wars proved to be a highly coveted topic of the day with nearly everything exceeding expectations and estimates. Since its inception, Bruneau & Co. has partnered with Altered Reality Entertainment (the parent ... More Johanna Lindsey, best-selling romance novelist, dies at 67NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- Johanna Lindsey, whose best-selling romance novels told stories of unbridled passion, revenge, submission and abductions among aristocrats, debutantes, pirates and fearless heroines, died on Oct. 27 in Nashua, New Hampshire. She was 67. The cause was complications of treatment for Stage 4 lung cancer, her son Alfred said. The family was too devastated by her death to announce it earlier, he said. Lindsey wrote her first novel on a whim and turned out nearly 60 more. Her most recent, Temptations Darling, published in July, told of a countess plans to have her daughter marry an arrogant rogue in 19th-century England. Her books sold at least 60 million copies, according to her publisher, Simon & Schuster, and she ranked among the leading romance writers of her era, most notably Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught, ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, Armenian-Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh was born December 23, 1908. Yousuf Karsh, CC (December 23, 1908 - July 13, 2002) was an Armenian-Canadian photographer best known for his portraits of notable individuals. He has been described as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century. In this image: Yousuf Karsh, Ford of Canada (surgeons), 1951.
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