| The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Saturday, August 11, 2018 |
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| | British Museum identifies looted Iraqi antiquities, sends them home | |
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The eight objects were confiscated by British police in May 2003, a few months after the US-led invasion of Iraq, from a now defunct dealer in London who failed to provide any paperwork.
by Alice Ritchie
LONDON (AFP).- The British Museum said Thursday it is returning to Iraq a collection of looted antiquities up to 5,000 years old, after identifying the exact temple they came from in a unique piece of archaeological detective work. The eight objects were confiscated by British police in May 2003, a few months after the US-led invasion of Iraq, from a now defunct dealer in London who failed to provide any paperwork. Normally the detailed provenance of such items would be hard to establish, but three of them, fired clay cones, carried Sumerian inscriptions that gave a clue to their origins. In a remarkable coincidence, they were identical to cones found on a site in the ancient city of Girsu, now known as Tello, in southern Iraq, where the British Museum has been training Iraqi archaeologists since 2016. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day An Israeli archeologist shows a rare golden earring believed to be more than 2,000 years-old, discovered at the archeological site of the City of David in East Jerusalem near the walls of the old city on 8 August 2018. A Hellenistic-era golden earring, featuring ornamentation of an horned animal, was discovered in the Givati Parking Lot in the City of David National Park encircling the Old City walls. The discovery was made during archeological digs carried out by the Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University. The spectacular gold earring, shaped like a horned animal, dates back to the second or third century BCE, during the Hellenistic period. MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP
| artnet and the China Association of Auctioneers publish the Global Chinese Art Auction Market Report 2017 | | Indiana University and Uffizi Gallery unveil website featuring first set of 3D, digitized artifacts | | Paul Morrison turns portraiture on its head in new exhibition at Sheffield's Graves Gallery | 
In 2017, the demand for top-quality lots was stronger than ever, with 38 works selling for ¥100 million ($14.2 million) or more.
NEW YORK, NY.- artnet, in collaboration with the China Association of Auctioneers (CAA), released the sixth edition of its Global Chinese Art Auction Market Report on August 9, 2018. The report analyzes the 2017 Chinese auction market, providing transparency for a historically opaque marketplace. The collaboration between artnet and the CAA also offers the chance for both organizations to share their data, which artnet uses to improve its Price Databasefurther solidifying its position as the most accurate record of the auction market for Chinese art. The forthcoming edition of the report found that global auction sales of Chinese art and antiques totaled $7.1 billion in 2017. This represents a 7% year-over-year increase, despite an expectation for a stronger market rebound. In 2017, the demand for top-quality lots was stronger than ever, with ... More | | 
The Uffizi Digitization Project website currently contains over 300 digitized sculptures and fragments from the collection. Image courtesy of the Uffizi Gallery.
FLORENCE.- As a result of a collaboration between Indiana University and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, it's now possible to view some of the world's most admired ancient artifacts and sculptures in 3D without traveling overseas. A newly launched website, www.digitalsculpture-uffizi.org, was unveiled Tuesday in a ceremony at the historic Uffizi Gallery attended by IU Vice President for Research Fred H. Cate, as well as other IU faculty. The site currently contains over 300 digitized sculptures and fragments from the collection. The project was announced in 2016 at the Uffizi Gallery in a joint presentation by IU President Michael A. McRobbie and Uffizi Gallery Director Eike Schmidt. "As we accomplish the goals set forth in this unprecedented and enormously ambitious project, the unveiling of this new website marks a first major milestone in a collaboration ... More | | 
Michael Craig-Martin, Self-portrait (Purple). © Michael Craig-Martin. Courtesy of the artist and Gagosian.
SHEFFIELD.- The depiction of the head or face is one of the most compelling images in our visual language. This summer, Heads Roll, a new exhibition curated by artist Paul Morrison, presents a constellation of historical and contemporary perspectives to explore our preconceptions of this most familiar genre. Opening at Sheffields Graves Gallery on Saturday 11 August 2018, Heads Roll will feature work by over 60 nationally and internationally renowned artists, including Glenn Brown, Jessica Diamond, Gwen John, Klara Kristalova, Michael Craig-Martin, Ben Nicholson, Julian Opie, Rembrandt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Walter Sickert and more. Dating back to Ancient Egypt, portraiture has a long tradition as a record of status, power and achievement, and a reminder of those gone before. In the age of the selfie, the portrait has become ephemera, gone in the blink of an eye. Featuring a range of contemporary ... More |
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| $500K NEH grant will support Cincinnati Art Museum's re-envisioning of the art and architecture of the Near East | | First Silver Dollar of the Americas heading to auction | | U-M exhibition challenges traditional understanding of African arts and cultures | 
Hanna Wing Renovation Rendering.
CINCINNATI, OH.- A $500,000 Infrastructure and Capacity-Building Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will help the Cincinnati Art Museum renovate and reinstall its world-renowned collection of art and archaeological material from the ancient Near East. This grant will help fund a renovation and reinstallation project that includes a complete re-envisioning of the existing 2,800-square-foot gallery, known as the Hanna Wing. After additional fundraising is complete, the Cincinnati Art Museum project team led by Dr. Ainsley M. Cameron, Cincinnati Art Museums Curator of South Asian Art, Islamic Art & Antiquities, in partnership with the University of Cincinnati, Hebrew Union College, and the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati, will re-interpret and re-display this significant collection. Planned architectural changes include the addition of LED ... More | | 
Charles and Johanna "Early Series" Rincón 8 Reales ND (c. 1538) M-M AU50 NGC,
DALLAS, TX.- The legendary First "Dollar" of the Americas struck in 1538 and recovered from the shipwreck of the "Golden Fleece" may sell for $500,000 or more at Heritage Auctions Aug. 17 in Philadelphia. The finest example of just three known to exist, the historic silver coin was struck in Mexico City just three years after the Spanish Empire established its virreinato in the New World. "Spain was the first to colonize the Americas and the 1538 Carlos and Joanna 8 Reales represents its dominance in the world political order," said Cristiano Bierrenbach, Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President of International Numismatics. "Not only is this dollar famous among coin collectors, it truly is an important historic artifact from the 16th century and the development of the New World." This earliest of crown-sized coins were struck just two years after the ... More | | 
Artist unrecorded, Kongo peoples, Vili group, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Nkisi (power figure), ca. 1800, wood, tukula powder and kaolin. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Candis and Helmut Stern, 2005/1.180.
ANN ARBOR, MICH.- More than ever in the age of globalization, ideas fluidly cross geographic, generational, and cultural boundaries. "Beyond Borders: Global Africa," an exhibition that will open at the University of Michigan Museum of Art this month, seizes this moment by repositioning Africa and its artists at the center of complex cross-cultural exchange for centuries. Bringing together paintings, photographs, sculpture and installations created in Africa, Europe and the United States from the 19th to the 21st centuries, the exhibition features approximately 40 works of art drawn from UMMA's African art collection and from private and public holdings ... More |
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| Disinherited musician Jean-Michel Jarre scales up challenge over father's will | | German artists Heiner Thiel and Michael Post bring their own unique and playful minimalism to Santa Fe | | Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago announces three new appointments | 
In this file photo taken on April 23, 2018 French composer Jean-Michel Jarre poses during the opening night of the 2018 COLCOA (City of Lights, City of Angels) French Film Festival. VALERIE MACON / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- Electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre, who has mounted a legal challenge after being disinherited by his Hollywood composer father, said Friday he will take his case to the European Court of Human Rights. The decision to go to the ECHR comes after Jean-Michel lost his bid in a French court to overturn the will of Oscar-winning Maurice, who wrote the scores for "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia". "My sister Stefanie and I are taking our case to the European Court of Human Rights, over the failure to respect our familial rights and for excessive infringement of our legal security," the French artist wrote in Friday's edition of Le Parisien newspaper. Another giant of French music, Johnny Hallyday, also disinherited his children and they have became embroiled in a highly ... More | | 
Heiner Thiel, Untitled- wvz 04/18/670, 2018. Anodized aluminum, 26 3/8 x 22 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (67 x 57 x 14 cm).
SANTA FE, NM.- How much do you see? On a street, on a trail, in a museum, a market, a gallery? Sensory input crashes in through our eyes, our ears, vibrating against our skin, and by in large, what we see is outline, narrative. The minimum essential to assess and proceed through our daily lives. The details suffer; the connections between things; the patterns that might whisper some hidden meaning into our lives. With an exhibition of work like The Colorful Side of Things, viewers are offered a unique opportunity to reengage with their senses and reinvigorate perception. In a third collaborative exhibition at Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, German artists Heiner Thiel and Michael Post bring their own unique and playful minimalism to Santa Fe. It is the simplest things that create an aperture through which we are able to recognize complexity. Thiel and Post do this by stripping down to certain essential artistic principles and ideas in order t ... More | | 
Naomi Beckwith is the MCA's Manilow Senior Curator, where her exhibition and writing projects focus on the impact of identity and multidisciplinary practices on shaping contemporary art. Photo: Maria Ponce.
CHICAGO, IL.- Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pritzker Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, announced the recent staff promotions of Naomi Beckwith to Manilow Senior Curator and Marissa Reyes to Dr. Robert N. Mayer Director of Learning and Public Programs, and the new appointment of Helen Yi as the Director of Retail Experience, concluding a comprehensive national search. Grynsztejn says, "I am thrilled to announce that we have recently filled three impactful senior positions at the MCA with strong female voices. Naomi Beckwith and Marissa Reyes have already forged incredibly accomplished careers at the MCA. Naomi is a leading voice in the curatorial field with highly acclaimed and groundbreaking exhibitions such as the recent Howardena Pindell show, and is recognized as a prominent scholar in the field. ... More |
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| Bulgaria's famed all-female folk choir back with a modern twist | | Items from two chapters of the Telephone Pioneers of America Museum ring the bell with bidders | | Survey of Wilbur Niewald's career opens at Nelson-Atkins | 
This picture taken on June 12, 2018 shows Bulgaria's Grammy-winning folk choir "The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices" singers preparing backstage for their concert in Varna. Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP.
VARNA (AFP).- Thirty years ago an all-female folk choir set up in Bulgaria became the darling of Western audiences with its tradition-steeped a cappella singing, before the fall of communism threatened its survival. With fans like George Harrison, David Bowie and Kate Bush, The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices ensemble conquered the international charts during the Cold War at a time when world music was beginning to gain popularity. Now the Grammy-winning choir from Sofia is back, with their embroidered blouses and floral hair styles plus a contemporary twist, having teamed up with Australian-born Lisa Gerrard of the music group, Dead Can Dance. The choir's new album -- its first studio production in two decades -- in collaboration with Gerrard was released in May in Bulgaria and deemed by Rolling Stone magazine's online edition as among the "10 New Albums to Stream Now". Gerrard said her task on the ... More | | 
Rare circa 1876 Bell Butter Stamp magneto telephone originally installed at the residence of Malvina K. Wetmore in Newport, Rhode Island in 1891 ($27,500).
CRANSTON, RI.- An original model of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watsons very first telephone from 1881 sold for $40,000 and a rare circa 1876 Bell Butter Stamp magneto telephone originally installed at a residence in Newport, Rhode Island in 1891 brought $27,500 at an historical telephone auction held August 4th by Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers in Cranston. The auction was held online and in Bruneau & Co.s gallery at 63 Fourth Avenue. Featured were items from two regional chapters of the Telephone Pioneers of America Museum: the William J. Denver chapter #20 museum in Providence, R.I., and the Excelsior Chapter #98 in Buffalo. N.Y. A live-only pre-sale event at 10 am Eastern was followed by the main cataloged auction at 11. The metal-and-wood Bell and Watson prototype phone was accompanied by original 1881 patent paperwork and a tag with Watsons hand-written name and the date August 2, 1881. The Bell Butter Stamp magneto ... More | | 
E. G. Schempf, American (born 1948). Wilbur Niewald, 2009. Chromogenic print, Image: 10 7/8 x 16 inches, Sheet: 16 1/8 x 20 1/4 inches. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of the artist, 2010.28.
KANSAS CITY, MO.- Wilbur Niewalds decades-long career as an artist is celebrated at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City with the exhibition In the Studio. The native Kansas Citians classically beautiful landscapes of Loose Park and the West Bottoms have been shown at New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Nelson-Atkins; his works are included in numerous public and private collections. In the Studio with Wilbur Niewald captures the scope of Niewalds career, from abstract to representational. I have a great admiration for Wilburs remarkable longevity, said Julián Zugazagoitia, Menefee D. and Mary Louise Blackwell CEO & Director of the Nelson-Atkins. From his early paintings to today, his work remains fresh, vital, and relevant. In the Studio allows visitors a glimpse into the process of this enduring artist. The exhibition encompasses paintings from the ... More |
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Infinite reflections in a kinetic environment | HOW TO SEE "Hide & Seek" by Dream the Combine
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 Debut exhibition of Brooklyn-based painter Emily Furr on view at Sargent's DaughtersNEW YORK, NY.- Sargents Daughters is presenting Mother Lode, the debut exhibition of Brooklyn-based painter Emily Furr. The term Mother Lode can refer to a both a principal vein of ore, and a rich source, both of which conjure something valuable. Furrs work references the feminine archetype, which she seeks to restore by working against the current phallocentric age and issuing in a new yonic era. If a phallic signifier points to action, explosion, and fortitude, a yonic signifier points to the subconscious, the sublime, and the cosmic void. A phallus points outward, a yonis inward. If the phallic is physical, the yonic is celestial. It is a portal into the dark unknown. The paintings are small but impactful. Oil paint is slathered on with thick maneuvers, yet is controlled and detailed in its execution. Compositions are tight with objects bouncing off the edges as a way ... More Gallery FUMI opens pop-up exhibition at 'The Supermarket' in Porto CervoPORTO CERVO.- Gallery FUMI is presenting a Pop-Up exhibition in Porto Cervo, celebrating the gallery's longstanding relationship with the Sardinian destination. The show is being held at The Supermarket, a four storey concept space that encapsulates the cutting-edge nature of contemporary design and high-end retail in the exclusive Promenade du Port location. Set against the spectacular backdrop of the seaside scenery, the show marks a significant first time collaboration with Athens-based design studio Voukenas Petrides. Driven by the desire to test the limits of form and function, the works in the exhibition, belonging to their new Gypsum series (2018), are striking in their compositional minimalism, informed by the designers' fascination with architecture, materiality and space. The selection is further punctuated by an ambitious suite ... More Latvian National Museum of Art opens exhibition of works by Li BondRIGA.- From 10 August to 16 September 2018, the Creative Studio of the ARSENĀLS Exhibition Hall of the Latvian National Museum of Art in Riga (Torņa iela 1, 2nd floor) is showing Li Bonds personal exhibition Season 2 Episodes. Li Bonds project Season 2 Episodes marks the beginning of a new cycle of creative work. Last year, iauliai Art Gallery hosted the artists solo exhibition, titled Season 1 Episodes, which was a look back at the previous results. For me, it is possible to see similarities between the artists work over a period of time and a TV series, whose composition consists of seemingly unrelated episodes which are interwoven by a certain style. Furthermore, it is only possible to grasp the inner dynamics of the plot after seeing all of the episodes, explains the author. The exhibition presents a multimedia installation, whose nucleus ... More Cartoonist and graphic novelist Art Spiegelman to receive the 2018 Edward MacDowell MedalPETERBOROUGH, NH.- The MacDowell Colony will award cartoonist Art Spiegelman its 59th Edward MacDowell Medal during a free public event on Sunday, August 12 at The MacDowell Colonys campus in New Hampshire. As one of the nations leading contemporary arts organizations, MacDowell has awarded the prestigious medal annually since 1960 to an artist who has made an outstanding contribution to American culture. Spiegelmans comics are best known for their shifting graphic styles, their formal complexity, and controversial content. His graphic novel Maus was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, bringing comic books out of the toy closet and onto the literature shelves. Seeking to encompass communities and practices that reflect the vibrant and restless diversity of MacDowell Fellows and the kinds of art they make, in recent years the MacDowell ... More Six original tattoo flash art sheets attributed to Charlie Wagner and Sam O'Reilly bring a combined $41,375INDIANAPOLIS, IND.- Six early American original tattoo flash art sheets attributed to Charlie Wagner and Sam OReilly an astounding representation of American history, folk and outsider art sold for a combined $41,375 at an auction held July 28th by Ripley Auctions, online and in the firms Indianapolis gallery, located at 2764 East 55th Place. The top sheet finished at $11,250. The six sheets were found in the bottom of a trunk in the attic of an 84-year-old career Marine Corps officer. The trunk had been in storage for over 40 years. It also held other rare items, including a 1584 hand-colored map engraving of Tuscany, Italy, which was also in the auction. All six of the sheets carried estimates of $3,000-$4,000 each. As our auctioneer had predicted, bidding increased as the lots progressed, said Kristen Hein of Ripley Auctions. The first lot, lot 153, ... More Heritage Auctions' Comics Department breaks weekly auction record for third time this yearDALLAS, TX.- For the third time this year, the comics department at Heritage Auctions set a new record when its August 5 Sunday Internet Comics, Animation & Art Auction racked up $466,512.20 in total sales. The previous mark was $422,238.16, which surpassed the standard of $418,044 that had stood for exactly one week. "Our bidders know that missing a week could mean missing something really good, as even $10,000 single lots are not a rarity in these auctions anymore," Heritage Auctions Comics Director of Operations Barry Sandoval said. "We average 800 lots per week, there are no minimum bids or reserves, and most of the material is from fresh-to-the-market personal collections." The 936-lot auction was led by Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel, 1962) CGC VG- 3.5 Cream to off-white pages, which brought $20,400. Other top lots included: · Dick Dillin and Dick ... More Fotohof brings together five artistic positions that examine political crises as long-term phenomenaSALZBURG.- The history of photography is not least a history of the way political crises and global conflicts have been depicted. The photographic image was long regarded as a dependable document of reality and therefore more than suited to analysing historical processes. While we now lack the certainty we once had about the objectivity of photography, its images today play a different role when it comes to dealing with complex issues affecting society. The exhibition entitled In the Still of the Night brings together five artistic positions that examine political crises and conflicts as long-term, multi-layered phenomena. The intrusion of political interests into our private lives and the relationship between power and the individual are the linking elements in an exploration of the complexity of the reality that surrounds us. The before and the after, crisis ... More Compton Verney announces six new guest curators for its Women's Library projectCOMPTON VERNEY.- Following its successful pilot in 2017, this summer Warwickshires Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park is again welcoming six guest curators who have nominated books for its reimagined Womens Library. Unsilencing the Library is, in part, a detective story, an installation, and a celebration of what reading can do and what women have achieved. Succeeding last years guest curatorial team - which included actor and UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and cultural critic Margo Jefferson and pupils from the nearby Kineton High School are Dr Ozak Esu, IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year (based at Cundells in Birmingham), Oxford-based celebrity chef and food activist Sophie Grigson, Professor Fiona Sampson, author of the highly-acclaimed In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, German-Belgian painter Hans Memling died August 11, 1494. Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 - 11 August 1494) was a German painter who moved to Flanders and worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. In this image: Hans Memling (Flemish, ca. 1440?1494), The Triptych of Jan Crabbe, ca. 1467-70. Oil on panel. Center panel: Image courtesy of Pinacoteca Civica di Palazzo Chiericati, Vicenza. Left and right panels: © The Morgan Library & Museum, Photography by Graham S.
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