| The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Monday, October 31, 2016 |
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| | Jesus's tomb opened by preservation experts for first time in centuries | |
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A Franciscan friar looks at the exposed the Tomb of Jesus, where his body is believed to have been laid, as part of conservation work done by a team of Greek team of preservation experts in Jerusalem on late on October 28, 2016. The experts from the National Technical University of Athens for cultural heritage preservation removed the marble slab stone that covered the original tomb since the last restoration of the edicule on 1810 by Greek architect Nikolaos Komnenos. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalems Old City is traditionally believed to be the site of Jesuss burial and attracts every year millions of pilgrims from all over the world. GALI TIBBON / AFP.
by Gali Tibbon
JERUSALEM (AFP).- Preservation experts have opened for the first time in at least two centuries what Christians believe is Jesus's tomb inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Some of the historic work was witnessed by AFP photographer Gali Tibbon who captured images of the site believed to contain the rock upon which Jesus was laid in around 33 AD as it was uncovered as part of ongoing restoration at the site. A marble slab covering the site, among the holiest in Christianity, was pulled back for three days as part of both restoration work and archaeological analysis, experts on the scene told AFP. It was the first time the marble had been removed since at least 1810, when the last restoration work took place following a fire, and possibly earlier, said Father Samuel Aghoyan, the church's Armenian superior. A painting of Jesus can be seen in the narrow area above where the marble slab was removed. Debris and material was found beneath the marble ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day The Städel Museum is presenting a comprehensive exhibition on one of the most outstanding draughtsmen in the history of French art - Antoine Watteau (1684-1721). The show in the Exhibition Gallery of the Department of Prints and Drawings brings together fifty drawings by Watteau, enhanced by six of his paintings and a small selection of drawings by contemporaries and successors. Photo: Städel Museum.
| Colourists lead Scottish Art Sale at Sotheby's London | | Actor Alain Delon to sell his valuable Bugatti bronzes | | Is Van Gogh's famous bed lurking in a Dutch attic? | 
Samuel John Peploe, Still Life with Tulips and Oranges. oil on canvas laid on board. Estimate £250,000-350,000. Photo: Sotheby's.
LONDON.- On 22 November in London, an exceptional group of paintings by the Scottish Colourists will lead Sothebys annual Scottish Art sale. The pioneering achievements of the Colourists changed the face of Scottish painting in the first half of the 20th century. Following extended sojourns in France, they took the ground-breaking developments in pictorial space and colour by artists such as Cézanne, Van Gogh and Matisse to forge their own path. A selection of interiors, still lifes and landscapes by these daring modernists will be offered alongside works that represent the painterly traditions of Scottish art in the 19th century and artists working today. The contents of this years 70-lot auction, which follows the success of last Novembers relaunched Scottish Art sale, will be on public exhibition at The Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh from 5 to 7 November, prior to viewing in ... More | | 
Rembrandt Bugatti, Deux grands léopards, 1913. Estimate: 500,000-700,000. © Christies Images Limited 2016.
PARIS.- On November 22th, Christies Paris will organise a thematic sale dedicated to Rembrandt Bugatti. This sale will commemorate the 100 years anniversary of the artists death and the new edition of Véronique Fromangers monography on the artist. The 17 lots offered in this sale will pay tribute to this remarkable artist, including exceptional pieces selected from the collection of Alain Delon. Véronique Fromanger: In celebration of the centenary of Rembrandt Bugatti (1884-1916) Christies Paris presents at auction seventeen of the artists sculptures. The subjects, in bronze and in marble, include several big cats, birds, a group of yaks, an elephant and three gazelles, a gasping deer, a resting dog, and three female figures all cast by one of the greatest founders of all time, Adrien Aurélien Hébrard. The present, unique assembly of collections, brought together by Christies, ... More | | 
Vincent van Gogh. The Bedroom, 1889. Oil on canvas (73.6 x 92.3 cm (29 x 36 5/8 in.). The Art Institute of Chicago, Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection.
THE HAGUE (AFP).- A bed first made famous by Vincent van Gogh's 1888 painting "The Bedroom", may today still be lurking in a home or attic in a small Dutch town, an art historian claimed on Sunday. Britain-based Van Gogh expert Martin Bailey said the bed on which Van Gogh slept while living in the scenic southern French city of Arles may have ended up in a home in Boxmeer in The Netherlands after World War II. Bailey based his belief on his discovery of a letter written in 1937 by Van Gogh's cousin, Vincent Willem, in which he said he still possessed the bed of his famous uncle, who committed suicide in 1890. "This was a key letter that showed that the bed had survived and had been taken to The Netherlands," Bailey told Dutch public broadcaster NOS. "This was a real surprise for me. That was (also) not known to Van Gogh scholars," said Bailey, who started off on an intriguing search ... More |
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| Tanya Bonakdar Gallery opens solo exhibition of new works by artist Ernesto Neto | | LACMA's sixth annual Art+Film Gala honors Robert Irwin and Kathryn Bigelow and raises more than $3.6M | | First major exhibition of James Ensor's work to be held in the UK in 20 years opens at the Royal Academy of Arts | 
Ernesto Neto, Installation view of The Serpents Energy Gave Birth To Humanity at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, October 29 December 17, 2016. Photographer: Jean Vong. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York.
NEW YORK, NY.- Tanya Bonakdar Gallery announces The Serpents Energy Gave Birth To Humanity, a solo exhibition of new works by internationally acclaimed artist Ernesto Neto, on view from October 29 through December 17, 2016. For his first gallery exhibition in New York since 2012, Neto presents a new body of finger-crocheted immersive sculptures, installations and wall works that fill both floors of the gallerys space, inviting the viewer into an all-encompassing sensorial experience. Emerging as a synthesis of Netos own decades-long practice and the artists recent collaborations with the Huni Kuin, an indigenous community from the Brazilian Amazon, The Serpents Energy Gave Birth To Humanity marks a major moment in Ernesto Netos practice, when formally rigorous questions intersect with notions of interactivity, connectivity and spirituality as ... More | | 
(L-R) Actress Salma Hayek, Giannina Facio Scott and CEO of Kering Francois-Henri Pinault attend the 2016 LACMA Art + Film Gala honoring Robert Irwin and Kathryn Bigelow presented by Gucci at LACMA on October 29, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for LACMA/AFP.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art hosted its sixth annual Art+Film Gala on Saturday, October 29, 2016, honoring pioneering Light and Space artist Robert Irwin and Academy Awardwinning filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow. Co-chaired by LACMA trustee Eva Chow and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, the evening brought together more than 550 distinguished guests from the art, film, fashion, and entertainment industries, among others. The evening raised more than $3.6 million, with proceeds supporting LACMAs film initiatives and future exhibitions, acquisitions, and programming. The 2016 Art+Film Gala was made possible through the generous support of Gucci, with Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele as Gala Host Committee Chair. Eva Chow, co-chair of the Art+Film Gala, said, This year we honor two legends. ... More | | 
James Ensor, Self-portrait with Flowered Hat, 1883. Oil on canvas, 76.5 x 61.5 cm. Mu.ZEE, Oostende. Photo MuZee © www.lukasweb.be - Art in Flanders vzw. Photography: Hugo Maertens / © DACS 2016.
LONDON.- The Royal Academy of Arts is presenting the first major exhibition of James Ensors (1860-1949) work to be held in the UK in twenty years. One of Belgiums most prominent modernist artists, Ensor was widely considered to be an important precursor of Expressionism. Intrigue: James Ensor by Luc Tuymans brings together some 70 paintings, drawings and prints by the artist, the vast majority of which have been drawn from major Belgian collections. The exhibition has been curated by the renowned contemporary painter and one of Belgiums foremost artists, Luc Tuymans, who brings a fresh perspective to the selection and presentation of Ensors work. A highly skilled draughtsman and painter, Ensor had a deep appreciation of the poetic possibilities of light and a lifelong devotion to the inherent creativity of the mind. His eclectic visual language drew upon a wealth of subjects from the traditional to the fantasti ... More |
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| New Italy quake sows terror, flattens historic basilica | | SFMOMA opens first retrospective of Bruce Conner's work | | Warhol's famed 'Jackie, 1964' leads Contemporary Art Auction at Bonhams | 
A picture shows a damaged wall outside the historic center of Norcia on October 30, 2016 after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake. FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / AFP.
NORCIA (AFP).- Italy's most powerful earthquake in 36 years stuck the country's mountainous centre Sunday, panicking shell-shocked residents for the third time in two months and flattening a world famous 600-year-old basilica. Remarkably, there were no reports of anyone dying as a result of the 6.6 magnitude quake, the head of the national civil protection agency said in an update on the impact. "As far as people are concerned, the situation is positive but many buildings are in a critical state in historic centres and there are problems with electricity and water supplies," Fabrizio Curcio told reporters. The quake struck at 7:40 am (0640 GMT) near the small mountain town of Norcia, unleashing a shock felt in the capital Rome and even in Venice, 300 kilometres (200 miles) away. It was Italy's biggest quake since a 6.9-magnitude one struck the south of the country in ... More | | 
Bruce Conner. CHILD. 1959-50. Wax, nylon, cloth, metal, twine, and high chair. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Philip Johnson. © 2016 Bruce Conner / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Digital image © 2016 The Museum of Modern Art. Photo: John Wronn.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art announces its presentation of Bruce Conner: Its All True, the first comprehensive retrospective of the seminal American artist and influential Bay Area figure, on view from October 29, 2016 through January 22, 2017. Organized by SFMOMA, the exhibition brings together more than 250 objects in mediums including film and video, painting, assemblage, drawing, prints, photography, photograms and performance, representing Conners intensely productive and polymathic career. The often radical shifts in direction of Conners artistic practice, the parallel interest in experimental films and material objects, the playful and often irreverent approach to conventions ... More | | 
Andy Warhol, Jackie, 1964. © 2016 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
NEW YORK, NY.- The narrative of Andy Warhols significant Death and Disaster series was escalated by the masterful achievement of Jackie, 1964, which headlines the Post-War & Contemporary Art auction on Nov. 15 at Bonhams New York. Painted the year following President John F. Kennedys tragic and widely-broadcasted assassination, Warhols Jackie (estimate U.S. $600,000-800,000) explores contemporary celebrity culture and the media frenzy surrounding the events of November 1963. Warhol collated images of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy taken by media following her husbands death, selecting photographs to use with his signature silkscreen technique. The artist created more than 300 portraits of the First Lady in different formats, echoing the mass publication of images following Kennedys funeral service. Today, iterations of the Jackie series reside in the permanent ... More |
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| MoMA celebrates the vast contribution of Robert B. Menschel to the museum's photography collection | | Ruiz-Healy Art opens exhibition of art rooted in the socio-political experience of the U.S /Mexico border | | Blockbuster collection hits the public market at Heffel Fall 2016 Live Auction offered on November 23 | 
Berenice Abbott. George Washington Bridge, Riverside Drive and West 179th Street, Manhattan. January 17, 1936. Gelatin silver print, 9 9/16 x 7 5/8″ (24.3 x 19.3 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Promised gift of Robert B. Menschel. © 2016 Berenice Abbott/Commerce Graphics.
NEW YORK, NY.- The exhibition The Shape of Things: Photographs from Robert B. Menschel presents a compact history of photography, from its inception to the early 21st century, in 100 images. On view from October 29, 2016, through May 7, 2017, the exhibition is drawn entirely from the 504 photographs that have entered The Museum of Modern Arts collection over the past 40 years with the support of longtime Museum trustee Robert B. Menschel. It includes a notable selection of works from his personal collection that were given in 2016 and are being shown here for the first time. The Shape of Things is organized by Quentin Bajac, the Joel and Anne Ehrenkranz Chief Curator of Photography, with Katerina Stathopoulou, Curatorial ... More | | 
Cesar Martinez, Bato Con Yellow and Black Shirt (detail). Acrylic on muslin, 44 x 44".
SAN ANTONIO, TX.- In a time when the upcoming elections have border policies at the forefront of the agenda, Ruiz-Healy Art has organized an exhibition of contemporary art rooted in the socio-political experience of the U.S /Mexico border. RHA is presenting Perennial Boundaries, an exhibition showcasing the artwork of Margarita Cabrera, César MartÃnez, Fernando Andrade, and Michael Menchaca. Perennial Boundaries examines the infinite thread that a manmade confine such as a geographical divide creates. The works included in this show provide the viewers with insights into the interests and concerns that have guided the creative impulses of these artists in their careers. Each artist is working in a unique and individualistic practice informed by their personal experiences from living on either side of the border. This exhibition is an eclectic mix of homage and critical discussions of living in la ... More | | 
Gustave Caillebotte, Iris bleus, jardin du Petit Gennevilliers. Est. $600,000 800,000.
TORONTO.- Heffel Fine Art Auction House presents its fall 2016 live auction collection. More than 200 museum-quality works will be offered on November 23, 2016, at the historic Design Exchange in Toronto, in what will be a monumental night for the Canadian art market. With the highest dollar-value presale estimates for a Canadian art auction to date, the works will be presented in four sessions and are expected to achieve between $22 million and $32 million. (All prices are in Canadian dollars and according to conservative estimates.) The long-established and highly anticipated sessions of Post-War & Contemporary Art and Fine Canadian Art will draw collectors from around the world. Significant artists who have become staples at Heffels live auctions will be featured with major works, including Lawren Harris and the Group of Seven, Emily Carr and Jean Paul Riopelle. Lawren Harriss Mountain Forms hits the auction block ... More |
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Conservation in Action: Preserving Nirvana
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 Joan Miro's masterpiece Personnages Oiseaux mural reinstalled at at Wichita State University WICHITA, KS.- Joan Miró created only one large glass-and-marble mosaic public artwork in his lifetime. From 19782011, Personnages Oiseaux (Bird People) filled the street-facing brick wall of the Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University (Kansas). The toll of time and weather on this monumental artwork necessitated removal of the structure and a $2.2 million campaign to fund its restoration. For the past five years, Personnages Oiseaux has undergone extensive structural rebuilding and cleaning by Russell-Marti Conservation Services, Inc. The unique nature of the mural required the conservation team to develop and implement new methods and practices specifically for this work, preserving its integrity and staying true to the artist's original intent. The lengthy conservation project is now complete and Personnages Oiseaux once again welcomes ... More Sean Kelly opens a one-person exhibition of new work by Jose DávilaNEW YORK, NY.- Sean Kelly announces Stones Dont Move, a one-person exhibition of new work by Jose Dávila. This is Dávilas second exhibition with the gallery. In Stones Dont Move, Dávila occupies each of the gallerys three exhibition spaces with a powerful presentation of his signature photographic cutouts, sculptures, and paintings. Expanding upon his career-long investigation into how the modernist movement continues to be interpreted, appropriated, and reinvented, the work on view will address the tenets of architecture, art history, and physical geometry, whilst demonstrating the extensive range of Dávilas practice. In the front gallery, a selection of mobiles in various colors and sizes have been suspended from the ceiling at different heights, creating an immersive kinetic installation. The works, part of Dávilas ongoing series entitled Homage to the ... More Berlin based artist/photographer Andrea Grützner's first US solo exhibition opens at Julie Saul GalleryNEW YORK, NY.- Julie Saul Gallery announces Berlin based artist/photographer Andrea Grützners first US solo exhibition. Working with the analog process, and assorted mirrors and gels, Grützner creates straight color photgraphs that are at the same time abstract and representational, ambiguous and descriptive. The title and subject of the exhibition, Erbgericht (Guesthouse), is a specific traditional village guesthouse in the eastern part of Germany. Grützner grew up near an Erbgericht in the village of Polenz, east of Dresden. One family has owned this specific guesthouse for five generations since 1889. She tells of the big old house, full of nooks and crannies, whose corners and and objects have the memories of generations attached to them. Its a collage of material built over generations. Erbgericht continues the abstract language of László Moholy-Nagy and ... More Tunisia looks to branch out into wine tourismGROMBALIA (AFP).- Although Tunisia's tourism industry seems to be going through an unending chill, Mohamed Ben Sheikh is convinced there are good days ahead thanks to the nation's vineyards. Standing on a hillside on his land, he says, "Our country is rich in local produce." Among these assets, the ancient culture of winemaking is undergoing something of a revival in this overwhelmingly Muslim-majority country which has a reputation of being one of the most liberal in the Arab world. For decades, Tunisia has relied heavily on tourism but almost exclusively targeting beachgoers and sun worshippers. But the instability that followed its 2011 Arab Spring uprising has sparked a major crisis, forcing the north African country to rethink its strategy. And one of the possibilities is attracting wine enthusiasts. "Wine is a premium product which relates to both land and ... More Vibrant new body of work by Ali Silverstein on view at Albertz BendaNEW YORK, NY.- Albertz Benda is presenting Ali Silverstein: To Put on the Edge, a Table, the Los Angeles-based artists first solo show in New York, on view in the project space from October 27 through December 17, 2016. For her inaugural exhibition at the gallery, Silverstein shows a vibrant new body of work that stems from her practice of gesture and reponse. Silverstein explores impulse and desire through a continuous process of painting, cutting, and layering canvas. Each work is the product of a session or a happening - a constant push and pull between control and freedom, hyperawareness and automatism. Reacting to the necessity of the moment, Silversteins work recalls the spirit of abstract expressionism and action painting. Silverstein has been mining the world of BDSM, utilizing the power dynamics of domination and submission in her creative process. Using ... More Life imitates cinema in Mexico City's Day of the Dead paradeMEXICO CITY (AFP).- Thousands thronged downtown Mexico City on Saturday for a "traditional" indigenous procession held for the first time this year, inspired by a hit Hollywood movie. The Paseo de Reforma, this capital city's grand boulevard, was filled with revellers -- some local, some tourists -- taking part in the procession inspired by the opening scene of the 2015 James Bond movie "Spectre." In Spectre, the British agent played by Daniel Craig goes after a bad guy through a parade featuring giant skeletons floating among people dancing with their faces painted as skulls. Saturday's parade -- staged by city elders inspired by the movie -- started at the Angel of Independence monument and ended at the historic Zocalo square. The procession tried to recreate the props and wardrobe from the movie, with thousands of volunteers dressed in skull and skeleton costumes, ... More Important Bradford City Fire Disaster policeman's medals up for auctionLONDON.- This November will see a wonderful piece of history come to Spinks auction room. On the 24th November 2016, a Yorkshire Chief Inspectors Queens Gallantry Medal awarded for outstanding courage and bravery in saving lives during the Bradford City Fire Disaster, the worst fire disaster in football history is to be sold at auction in London. Together with his Q.G.M., the British Empire Medal for Gallantry and Police Long Service Medal awarded to Chief Inspector T. Slocombe are going under the hammer with medal auctioneers, Spink & Son. Slocombe assisted in the initial evacuation of Bradford Citys Valley Parade Ground, 11th May 1985, after the main grandstand had set alight, during which he helped trapped supporters
until the heat caused his tunic to catch fire and it had to be removed. The blaze engulfed the stand within minutes and Slocombe had ... More Rarely seen Prellers form part of remarkable trove going under the hammerJOHANNESBURG.- A career-spanning selection of paintings made by Alexis Preller between 1935 and 1975, some held in major collections and many unseen for decades, will go under the hammer at Strauss & Cos forthcoming auction in Johannesburg. What an array of ways of working! enthused Professor Karel Nel, a respected artist and noted Preller expert, during a recent lecture on Preller. The lecture, which was hosted by Strauss & Co, offered an insight into the biographical context and outstanding aesthetic attributes of the ten Preller lots on offer. The lots, which have a combined high estimate value of R18 770 000, affirm Prellers canonical status. Preller, along with Walter Battiss, helped shift the pendulum of South African art from Cape Town to Johannesburg, says Nel. The two artists however differed greatly in style and technique. Influenced by Picasso, ... More Solo exhibition of works by Ezra Johnson on view at Arts+LeisureNEW YORK, NY.- Arts+Leisure is presenting Ezra Johnsons new solo exhibition, Angry Sea. For this exhibition, Johnson has created an animation representing the brain in a state of anger, displayed alongside several small-scale paintings. Accompanying the exhibition is a full-color, limited edition artists book, available for sale. Over the course of his career, Johnson has refined his characteristic approach to the medium of animation, developing a practice in which hundreds, even thousands, of painted cells merge to create a fantastical, dreamlike world that is both ethereal and suggestive yet viscerally physical. His work undermines the linearity traditionally associated with animationeverything is in constant flux, and the intense materiality and expressiveness of his technique carries a narrative of its own. Angry Sea functions as an analogy for an irritated human brain, and ... More Art & Space Gallery presents the work of Munich artist Katharina LehmannMUNICH.- The Art & Space Gallery announces the opening of the exhibition with the works and first installations Black Cubes Solos of the talented Munich artist Katharina Lehmann. For her installation Black Cubes Solos, textures and ornaments from nature act as source of inspiration for the artist Katharina Lehmann. With the space that is occupied by seven black cubes, the artist conveys the idea of the connection and interaction of all items, way and even individuals as part of a system, a microcosm. By choosing minimalist means of expression, she is yet giving importance to the most delicate nuances. From a distance, the observer only sees large, black, even, square surfaces, but the closer he gets, the more complex these objects become. The surface on the one hand endless and chaotic, on the other hand as perfect as nature itself is made of miles of ... More Survey of nearly 70 drawings from over two decades by Jonathan Meese on view at David Nolan GalleryNEW YORK, NY.- David Nolan Gallery announces DR. TRANS-FORM-ERZ, a survey of nearly 70 drawings from over two decades by Jonathan Meese. On view from October 27 through December 17, the exhibition marks his first collaboration with the gallery and his first solo presentation in New York since 2011. A fully illustrated catalogue co-published by David Nolan Gallery and Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, with an essay by Pamela Kort, accompanies the exhibition. Meeses work includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, and performances but also extends to writing, stage design, and directing within the field of theater and opera. His practice addresses certain uneasy aspects of German political history and seeks to adopt ideological symbols and empty them of meaning. The subjects of his work have included Richard Wagners three act opera Parsifal, ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, American architect Richard Morris Hunt was born October 31, 1827. Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 - July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and a preeminent figure in the history of American architecture. Hunt was, according to design critic Paul Goldberger writing in The New York Times, "American architecture's first, and in many ways its greatest, statesman." [1] Aside from Hunt's sculpting of the face of New York City, including designs for the facade and Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and many Fifth Avenue mansions lost to the wrecking ball, [2] Hunt founded both the American Institute of Architects and the Municipal Art Society. In this image: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue facade designed by Richard Morris Hunt.
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