| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Saturday, August 1, 2020 |
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| | An artist having fun while waiting for catastrophe | |
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The artist Heather Phillipson in front of her statue, The End, which was unveiled in Trafalgar Square in London, on Thursday, July 30, 2020. Phillipsons works make viewers smile, but underneath their bright, over-the-top exteriors are dark, urgent messages. Tom Jamieson/The New York Times.
by Alex Marshall
LONDON (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The artist Heather Phillipsons latest work is a 31-foot statue of a dollop of whipped cream, with a fly on it. This one hasnt been easy. In March, the work was meant to be installed on an empty plinth in Trafalgar Square, the latest in a series of commissions that brings contemporary art to the central London plaza. But on the day the installation was scheduled to begin, Britain went into lockdown. Soon after, she was having conversations with the London city officials about whether the work could be installed during the pandemic at all. The works title, The End, didnt have the best connotations at a moment when thousands were dying. It started to feel like thered never be a good time, or a right time, for it to go up, Phillipson said in a recent interview at her East London studio. On Thursday, The End was finally unveiled. Phillipson said the work had been conceived in 2016, not long after Britain voted to leave the Eu ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day New objects are installed for the exhibition "Jewels! Shine" at the Russian court in Hermitage Amsterdam, a branch museum of the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on July 29, 2020. The jewelry was made by the famous jewelery houses Bolin and Faberge, court jewelers of the Russian imperial family, the Romanovs. Koen Van WEEL / ANP / AFP
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 | | National Endowment for the Humanities announces new grants | | 'The Commitments' and 'Evita' director Parker dies aged 76 | | Christie's Classic Art Evening Sale: Antiquity to 20th Century achieves $27,314,010 | 
In New York, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum received $200,000 for a forthcoming traveling exhibition. Alex Wroblewski/The New York Times.
by Lauren Messman
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The Amistad Research Centers holdings on African American history, a new biography of poet Robert Frost and a traveling exhibition commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are among the 238 recipients of new grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grants, which make up the final round of funding for the fiscal year, total $30 million, and will support humanities projects in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This year, two new international collaborative grants will support projects based in England and Germany. An additional $50 million was awarded to the national network of state and jurisdictional humanities councils for annual operating support. In a phone interview, the endowments chairman, Jon Parrish Peede, said that a number of the grants were for exhibitions or projects scheduled to open in ... More | | 
In this file photo taken on February 10, 2013 British film director Alan Parker poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the annual BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Opera House in London on February 10, 2013. Andrew COWIE / AFP.
by Dmitry Zaks
(AFP).- Alan Parker, who juggled genres and celebrated music with hits such as "Bugsy Malone", "The Commitments" and "Evita", died on Friday at the age of 76. The British director, whose films have won 10 Oscars and 10 Golden Globes, also explored US race relations with "Mississippi Burning" and chilled audiences with the film noir "Midnight Express". The US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences called Parker "an extraordinary talent". "His work entertained us, connected us, and gave us such a strong sense of time and place," it said in a tweet, calling him "a chameleon" for his ability to change with the times. Andrew Lloyd Webber called Parker "one of the few directors to truly understand musicals on screen". His family said he died "following a lengthy illness". The son of a north London house painter and dressmaker, ... More | | 
Burgundian Master, Portrait of a Man, realised £1,631,250. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.
LONDON.- Clementine Sinclair, Head of The Classic Art Evening sale commented: Clients
responded extremely positively to the new and innovative Classic Art Evening sale,
with bidders registered from 22 countries and buyers from 5 continents. There were
strong prices in every category. The top price in the sale was achieved by the powerful
and enigmatic portrait by Rubens, which sold for £3.9million. The recently
rediscovered relief sculpture of the Death of Lucretia Attributed to Antonio Lombardo
generated a huge amount of interest and was strongly competed for, realising more
than seven times the low estimate and setting a new record price for the artist at
auction at £3.7 million. The cover lot, a Renaissance portrait by a Burgundian Master with Walpole provenance, and the Almanac Book of Hours with its unique iconography,
both dating to the late 15th century, far exceeded their pre-sale estimates, with each
making four times its low estimate, underlining the demand for rare objects ... More |
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| | The Benjamin Ichinose Collection of Fine and Rare Wines, totaled $2,340,800 with 76 auction records | | Bob R. Simpson Part I Auction announced For September 17, 2020 | | Picasso mural torn from building after years of dispute | 
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti 1970. 1 jeroboam per lot. Estimate: $40,000-60,000. Price Realized: $75,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies New York Wine Departments single owner online-sale The Benjamin Ichinose Collection of Fine and Rare Wines, (July 16-31) totaled $2,340,800, the highest total ever achieved for an online wine sale at Christies, with 98% sold by lot, 100% sold by value, and 229% hammer above low estimate. There was global participation with registered bidders from 27 countries and 34% first-time registrants. Throughout the sale there were 76 world auction records set. The top lot of the sale was a jeroboam of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti 1970, which achieved $75,000. Notable results also included 6 bottles of de Vogüé, Cuvée Vieilles Vignes Musigny 1971, which realized $43,750 against a low estimate of $9,000; a bottle of Petrus 1961 that achieved over three times its low estimate selling for $18,750; a magnum of Château Mouton-Rothschild ... More | | 
1894-S Barber Dime, PR66.
DALLAS, TX.- Bob Simpson, the Texas energy executive and philanthropist, is as legendary in numismatic circles as the momentous United States coins he collects. And in coming months, Dallas-based Heritage Auctions will offer some of the greatest rarities found in Simpson's historic assemblage or anywhere else in the world. Simpson, whose collection is ranked by Professional Coin Grading Service as one of the best ever amassed, is deaccessioning selections from that collection beginning Sept. 17, 2020, and continuing into 2021. "Important Selections from The Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part I" will include some of the most significant U.S. coins spanning the 18th century to the 20th century. The first sale, and those to follow, will take place exclusively through Heritage Auctions, the world's leading numismatic dealer and auctioneer. "Like all collectors, I've put together sets and collections and sold coins along the way to refocus my collectin ... More | | 
The mural The Fishermen by Pablo Picasso and Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar is moved to a storage space internally in the Government Quarter. Orn E. BORGEN / NTB Scanpix / AFP.
by Thomas Rogers
OSLO (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Since the 1970s, Oslos modest government quarter has been dominated by a huge work of art: The Fishermen, a concrete mural by Pablo Picasso and Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar that overlooks the districts central square. The mural, on the wall of a government building known as Y-Block, has long been one of Norways most high-profile pieces of public art. That is, until now. To the outrage of preservationists, art-world figures and Nesjars daughter, the Norwegian authorities removed the work early Thursday as part of plans to demolish Y-Block, which was damaged in a 2011 terrorist attack. At noon Thursday, a crane placed The Fishermen onto two trucks which drove it away for storage. The buildings other ... More |
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| | Hindman continues to set auction records with fine art and design | | Questionnaire filled in by young Oscar Wilde to be auctioned at Sotheby's | | Museum der Moderne Salzburg exhibits drawings, watercolors, and paintings by Wilhelm Thöny | 
Jules Olitski, Ariel Dreamed, 1990 (detail). Acrylic on canvas, 34 3/4 x 43 1/2 inches. Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000. Price Realized: $57,500.
CHICAGO, IL.- Hindmans How Soon Is Now: Post War Art & Design auction was an outstanding success, exceeding the pre-sale estimate by more than $300,000 and selling 90% of the lots offered. The auction combined material from both the Fine Art and Modern Design departments, bringing together the top names in art and design from across the 20th century. Ultimately, the auction realized $738,531 with six lots breaking auction records and numerous others selling far beyond their presale expectations. This sale comprised a wonderful selection of art and design and we are very pleased with the results. We're proud of how we were able to blend works from highly sought-after artists with pieces by creators who are just beginning to get the recognition they deserve. We hope to continue this trend into the fall auction season with a number of important and exciting consignments ... More | | 
Sothebys to offer questionnaire filled in by the young writer on the cusp of stardom in 1877. Estimate £40,000-60,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.
LONDON.- Wilde was in his early twenties when he contributed to the album of Mental Photographs in 1877. He was still at Oxford and yet to publish a book, but had already established a keen following. Signed grandiosely with his full name, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, here he answers thirty-nine personal questions recording a myriad of different preferences from his favourite colour, flower, season, tree and perfume, to gems, first names, painters, musicians, poets and more. Sothebys Dr Philip Errington said: Wildes responses sparkle with the authors characteristic ebullience and many are perfect Wildean epigrams. Knowing what we do about Wildes sharp wit and lofty world-view, his replies are exactly what one would expect to see from this bold intellectual young writer, still in his early twenties but already experiencing his first taste of fame. This ... More | | 
Wilhelm Thöny, Cover design for the Book of Dreams, c. 1920. Watercolor and brush in Indian ink on paper. Museum der Moderne Salzburg. Photo: Bettina Salomon.
SALZBURG.- An indefatigable socializer whose network extended far beyond Austrias borders, Wilhelm Thöny (Graz, AT, 1888New York, NY, US, 1949) nonetheless guarded his creative independence and built an oeuvre that does not align with any of the major tendencies of his time. The motifs of his art reflect the pervasive unease of the interwar years, whose apprehensions he rendered in works such as the sometimes grotesque, sometimes nightmarishly somber drawings he produced around 1920 for his unpublished Book of Dreams. Yet even in the direst circumstances he often also created serene landscapes and cityscapes, scenes from the life of society, or portraits of individuals he held in high regard. The alternation between idyllic relief and utter despondency that is characteristic of Thönys oeuvre is on especially moving ... More |
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| | Exhibition at The Scottish Gallery celebrates major female artists | | His film is a punk classic, but the credits now roll without him | | John Koch's Siesta achieves top lot at Bonhams American Art sale | 
Pat Douthwaite, Woman with a Reptile, oil on canvas, 125 x 100 cms.
EDINBURGH.- Women have always been integral to the institution of art but, despite this, many women artists have found opposition in the narrative of art history, facing difficulty in gaining recognition. Modern Masters Women at Edinburghs The Scottish Gallery seeks to look back as well as forward, celebrating major female artists throughout their history. The exhibition revisits some of the great names of the past and others less well known today and most importantly invites many leading current painters to participate. Over the last hundred years, the exhibition history at The Scottish Gallery has included all major female Scottish artists and many who made contributions in an era when sexism was routine. The art world was no exception to this gender bias and, often, women were regarded as models, mistresses and muses rather than candidates for the Academy. Christina Jansen, Managing Director of The Scottish Gallery, comments, ... More | | 
The director Amos Poe in New York, May 26, 2020. Daniel Arnold/The New York Times.
by Cara Buckley
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The film, raw and grainy and shot in black and white, is 54 minutes long. It opens with Patti Smith in silhouette, haloed by her raggedy hair, and the snarling opening lyrics to her anthemic song Gloria. Jesus died for somebodys sins but not mine. Made by Amos Poe and his good friend Ivan Kral, a guitarist for Smith, the film compiled footage of Richard Hell, Smith, Blondie, Talking Heads and the Ramones into a feature called The Blank Generation, named after one of Hells caterwauling songs. It premiered in 1976 at CBGB, where much of it was filmed, to a built-in appreciative crowd and later secured midnight screenings in cities like Cincinnati, San Francisco and Toronto. Although it never rose to cult status, the movie is nonetheless a classic in the punk pantheon, a signature No Wave film that ... More | | 
John Koch (1909-1978), Siesta. Oil on canvas. Painted in 1962. Price realized: $596,075 (estimate: $40,000-60,000). Photo: Bonhams.
NEW YORK, NY.- The July 29 sale of American Art was led by strong prices for works across all genres and the top lot was John Kochs Siesta painted in 1962, which realized $596,075. The sale realized $2,271,765, exceeding its pre-sale high estimate, and was 84% sold by lot, 96% by value. Jennifer Jacobsen, Bonhams Director of American Art, commented: We are thrilled with the success of our most recent sale of American Art. We saw competitive bidding across all of the genres offered in the category, demonstrating collectors demand for quality works and the strength of the current market. We are honored to have achieved such a strong price for John Kochs elegant, beautifully painted work Siesta, which is now his second highest price at auction and a near miss of his world auction record. Siesta depicts the complexities of the male-female relationship in the ... More |
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Süleyman the Magnificent, 1987 | From the Vaults
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| | More News |
 The Baltimore Museum of Art appoints six new members to its board of trusteesBALTIMORE, MD.- The Baltimore Museum of Art announced today the addition of six new trustees to its board. They include Denise Galambos, Lisa Harris Jones, Elizabeth Hurwitz, Sherrilyn Ifill, Stuart O. Simms, and James D. Thornton. The new trustees join Clair Zamoiski Segal, the BMAs Board Chair, Christopher Bedford, the Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director, and 40 other active trustees in leading the BMA and ensuring its long-term success. The Board of Trustees is responsible for the governance and oversight of the museum and fostering ongoing support for the BMAs ambitious mission and vision. Our new trustees bring incredible vision and expertise from across the fields of art, philanthropy, law, and business. I know that their commitment to excellence and to the strength of The Baltimore Museum of Art will help ensure our ... More Fashion and Textile Museum announces reopening datesLONDON.- Founded in 2003 by iconic British designer Dame Zandra Rhodes, recent closures have been the longest in the Fashion and Textile Museums 17-year history. Now, with an updated exhibition programme, and with extensive safe visiting measures in place, the Fashion and Textile Museum announced its reopening on Wednesday 5 August 2020. Open for less than 5 weeks after its initial launch in February 2020, the Fashion and Textile Museum has extended their current exhibition, Out of the Blue: Fifty Years of Designers Guild, until 21 February 2021. Celebrating the work of influential design company Designers Guild, Out of the Blue unravels founder Tricia Guilds unique and creative approach to colour, pattern and texture. 2021s Spring/Summer exhibition, 12 March 15 August 2021, will be Chintz: Cotton in Bloom; an engaging ... More The Black Book Club takes it to the next levelNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- I want people to think radically, said Noname, the 28-year-old rapper, in a phone interview this month from her home in Los Angeles. She is outspoken, especially on Twitter, about dismantling patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism, but over the last year she has also been opening peoples minds through a more analog medium. It started in July 2019, when she posted a photo of Jackson Rising: The Struggle for Economic Democracy and Black Self-Determination in Jackson, Mississippi, a collection of essays about the movement to develop cooperative economic practices in the capital of Americas poorest state. Later, another Twitter user replied with a photo of the book and suggested that they become pen pals and swap notes. Thus began the Noname Book Club, a reading group focused ... More Paris ballet's 'little rats' stay focused as world spinsPARIS (AFP).- The world might feel like it is falling apart but that is no excuse for slacking at the Paris Opera Ballet School. Teacher Wilfried Romoli barks out orders to his final year boys at what is arguably the world's best ballet school, and certainly its oldest having been founded by the "Sun King" Louis XIV -- no mean dancer himself. They are about to face fantastically tough tests that might determine the rest of their careers. The stakes could not be higher. The annual competitive examination is the holy grail for final-year boarders at the school in Nanterre, just west of the French capital. For the very best, there is the possibility of a place in the Paris Opera's corps de ballet. But even for the creme de la creme, there can be disappointment. Some years none are taken on, depending on the ballet's needs. With the coronavirus pandemic following a marathon ... More New opening date for The Box, the UK's biggest new museumPLYMOUTH.- The Box museum in Plymouth announced new opening dates for Autumn 2020. Having postponed its original May 2020 opening date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Box will now open to the public on Tuesday 29th September 4 months later than originally planned. Safe social distancing measures will be in place at all of The Boxs buildings, with visitors being asked to book in advance. The Box staff have been working remotely on the launch of the new museum since March 2020, while contractors returned to the site in June to ensure the fit out works are completed by September. The Box is a recovery beacon and a significant part of Plymouths Resurgam programme, as one of the transformational projects that will symbolise recovery and set the direction for positive change in the local economy and life in the city as we move through ... More Von Bartha opens Claudia Wieser's first solo show at the gallery's S-chanf spaceS-CHANF.- Von Bartha is presenting Berlin-based artist Claudia Wiesers first solo show at the gallerys S-chanf space, 1 August - 12 September 2020. Taken from the first complete edition of Shakespeare's plays (1623), the exhibition title, Comedies, Histories and Tragedies, alludes to the stage-like setting of the exhibition, as well as evoking the full range of human experience. In light of current global events, Wieser invites self-reflection and a consideration of the comedies, tragedies and histories that humanity endures. For this exhibition, the artist combines a range of new works including pedestals, sculptures, wallpapers, and drawings. Whilst Comedies, Histories and Tragedies centres in the cube-shaped main gallery space, as an introduction to the show a series of new drawings by Wieser are being exhibited around the exterior of the cube. Within ... More Modern Art Oxford announces first digital participatory projectOXFORD.- Modern Art Oxford presents Breathworks, a new digital art project responding to personal and collective relationships with breathing. Conceived before COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protests filled our digital airwaves, Breathworks initiates responsive public storytelling to explore the overlooked importance of our breath in relation to physical, mental and digital wellbeing. Launching a new body of audience-centred digital programming for the gallery, this inaugural online commission is led by artist, atmospheric researcher and digital designer, Lucy Sabin. Of the project, Lucy says: I believe that breathing is a fundamentally creative act a dance even; with every breath, we sustain and recreate our worlds while expressing profound yet ineffable emotions. Inviting wide-ranging creative contributions from the public, as well ... More Dobby Dobson, versatile Jamaican singer and songwriter, dies at 78NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Dobby Dobson, a Jamaican singer and songwriter who had numerous hits most notably the 1967 ballad Im a Loving Pauper, which both became his signature song and gave him his nickname died July 21 in Coral Springs, Florida. He was 78. His half sister Yasmin Morais said he died, in a hospital, of complications of the novel coronavirus. Dobson was quite a significant figure in the evolution of Jamaican popular music, David Katz, author of Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae (2003), said in a phone interview. Although Dobson was best known for sentimental ballads and cover songs, Katz said, If you scratch the surface, you find a diverse output. His early success was in a duo with singer Chuck Josephs; as Chuck and Dobby, they recorded for major producers like Duke Reid ... More Ahlers & Ogletree has two major estate auctions planned for fallATLANTA, GA.- Ahlers & Ogletree has two major auctions lined up for fall. The first is the sale of items from the Atlanta estate known as White Oaks, featuring decorative arts from high-end retailers and world-class auctions slated for September 12th and 13th. Then, an Autumn Fine Estates Auction, boasting items from prominent estates and collections, will be held Oct. 24-25. Both auctions will be held live in the Ahlers & Ogletree gallery at 700 Miami Circle in Atlanta, and online via the bidding platforms LiveAuctioneers.com, Bidsquare.com and Invaluable.com. The White Oaks estate is bursting with fine decorative arts from names like Steuben, Baccarat, Hermes, Christofle, Tiffany & Company, Lalique, Ralph Lauren Collection, Buccellati, Moser, Fornasetti and others; as well as fine antiques from the Doris Duke Collection, acquired from ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, American installation artist Jason Rhoades died  August 01, 2006. Jason Rhoades (July 9, 1965 - August 1, 2006) was an installation artist who enjoyed critical acclaim, if not widespread public recognition, at the time of his death, and who was eulogized by some critics as one of the most significant artists of his generation. Better known in Europe, where he exhibited regularly for the last twelve years of his life, Rhoades was recently celebrated for his combination dinner party/exhibitions that feature violet neon signs with African, Caribbean, Creole and hip-hop slang for the female genitalia. His work remains part of the permanent collection in the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, where he was a part of exhibit "Beg Borrow and Steal" at the time of his death. In this image: Jason Rhoades, Installation view, 'Perfect World', Deichtorhallen , Hamburg, Germany , 1999. © The Estate of Jason Rhoades. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth and David Zwirner, New York. Photo: Jens Rathmann.
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