The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, December 18, 2021


 
La Belle Epoque Auction Gallery to make Manhattan premiere

Please join La Belle Epoque Auction Gallery at 71 8th Ave. in New York City for the opening in January. For further information call 212-362-1770 or visit: www.labelleepoque.com

NEW YORK, NY.- New York City is about to welcome a brand new, full-service auction house, as La Belle Epoque Auction Gallery sets to open its doors in January 2022, offering a friendly new auction experience to art and antique lovers, dealers, collectors, first time buyers and consigners. The new La Belle Epoque Auction Gallery, at their welcoming two-level, 5,000 square foot Meatpacking District/West Village location, will provide a more personal approach to both buying and selling. Boutique New York auction houses who were thriving in the market through the 1980’s and 1990’s seemed to fall by the wayside due to skyrocketing Manhattan rental prices and other issues. While smaller, high-quality auction houses in New York City seem to have all but disappeared in recent years, La Belle Epoque Auction Gallery hopes to fill that void. Their premiere auction will offer a range of hundreds of items including a Modernist Abstract Painting ... More


The Best Photos of the Day
Best Photos of the Day
Weaving Stories, a new exhibition exclusively at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, brings together more than 40 outstanding examples of textiles and garments from across Indonesia, as well as the Philippines and Malaysia, to consider how fabrics produced primarily by women, such as the ikats and batiks that have inspired global fashion for centuries, are woven not only into the daily lives but the cultural foundations of these communities.






LACMA acquires 60 new works to increase Black representation in the museum's collection   Not off the rack: This year's bespoke 'Nutcracker' at City Ballet   Museum Boijmans in Rotterdam appoints new curator


Amy Sherald, An Ocean Away, 2020, oil on canvas, 130 × 108 × 2 1/2 in., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, promised gift of Willow Bay and Bob Iger, © Amy Sherald, courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth, photo: Joseph Hyde.

LOS ANGELES, CA.- The board of trustees of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has approved the acquisition of 60 works to its permanent collection, as part of an ongoing effort to bolster Black representation in the museum’s holdings. New additions include works by Kwame Brathwaite, Jordan Casteel, Renee Cox, rafa esparza, Lauren Halsey, Isaac Julien, Clifford Prince King, Lezley Saar, Mickalene Thomas, Deborah Willis and Hank Willis Thomas, Tourmaline, Richard Wyatt Jr., and many more. Additional acquisition highlights include: Amy Sherald’s recent work, An Ocean Away (2020), a promised gift LACMA trustee Willow Bay and Robert Iger; Kehinde Wiley’s Yachinboaz Ben Yisrael II (2021), a promised gift of Rich Paul; and Ada Pinkston’s The Open Hand is Blessed ... More
 

Joseph Shrope and Happel work with Barbara Karinska’s original sketches to remake the costumes for the Party Girls in Act one of “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker,” for the New York City Ballet, Nov. 17, 2021. OK McCausland/The New York Times.

by Julia Jacobs


NEW YORK, NY.- When the costumers at New York City Ballet dug into storage to unearth “Nutcracker” costumes in September, they noticed something wrong with the silver bells that adorn the pink-and-green striped candy cane outfits: They were rusted. During the months that the city battled the worst waves of the coronavirus, Lincoln Center fell into disuse, and building management turned off the controlled air in the basement of David H. Koch Theater, where “Nutcracker” costumes are kept. City Ballet has been performing “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker” in roughly the same way using roughly the same costumes for more than 60 years. The Candy Cane costumes of today look ... More
 

Rosie Razzall. Photo: Jonathan Law.

ROTTERDAM.- After ten years at the Royal Collection with the famous drawings kept in Windsor Castle, curator Rosie Razzall will join the Boijmans in January. The London art historian is making an international transfer to Rotterdam, where she will look after Boijmans' world-renowned collection of drawings. Rosie Razzall (1986) starts on January 24th as the new curator of Drawings at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. She succeeds senior curator of Drawings and Prints Dr. Albert J. Elen, who retired in November. In her new position, Razzall will contribute to the research and display of the Rotterdam drawings collection. With 88,000 drawings and prints, the subcollection of works of art on paper is the largest in the museum, with masterpieces by Albrecht Dürer, Fra Bartolommeo, Pisanello, Michelangelo, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt van Rijn, Francesco Goya, Leonardo Da Vinci and many other prominent artists. Razzall w ... More


Walker Art Center opens an exhibition of works by David Hockney   Galloway Hoard yields another exciting discovery, the name of a Bishop Hyguald inscribed on rare rock crystal jar   Hindman's December fine art auctions realize over $4.2 million & set new records


David Hockney "Green Pool with Diving Board and Shadow (Paper Pool 3)" 1978 Colored and pressed paper pulp Edition of 15 Variations 50 x 32" © David Hockney / Tyler Graphics Ltd.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN.- First gaining attention in the 1960s Pop era with his brightly colored portraits and landscapes, David Hockney (UK, b. 1937) has remained a constant presence in contemporary art, revisiting and reinterpreting favorite themes over six decades through experimentation with a range of mediums, from painting and printmaking to theater set design and, more recently, digital media. Hockney is now considered not only one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century but also a key contributor to the art of Los Angeles, one of his adopted homes. Drawn from the Walker’s substantial holdings of works by Hockney—including paintings, prints, drawings, and theatrical works—David Hockney: People, Places & Things will be on view at the Walker December 18, 2021–August 21, 2022. The exhibition is divided into several sections, beginning with a selection of ... More
 

Rock crystal jar from the Galloway Hoard, unwrapped prior to final cleaning. Photo: Neil Hanna.

EDINBURGH.- A rare rock crystal jar found wrapped in textiles as part of the Galloway Hoard has been conserved, revealing a Latin inscription written in gold. The inscription says the jar was made for a bishop named Hyguald. Most of the Galloway Hoard is currently on display at Kirkcudbright Galleries (until 10 July 2022) in a National Museums Scotland touring exhibition supported by the Scottish Government. However, some material which was wrapped in extremely fragile, rarely surviving textiles, is undergoing careful conservation and meticulous research behind the scenes as part of a three-year, £1million Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project led by National Museums Scotland in partnership with the University of Glasgow. When first removed as a bundle the jar could be only partially glimpsed through its textile wrapping. 3D X-ray imaging produced in partnership with the British Museum allowed the object to be investigated within ... More
 

C. Wyeth, When Drake Saw for the First Time the Waters of the South Sea, 1906N. Price Realized: $275,000.

CHICAGO, IL.- This week, Hindman Auctions achieved more than $4.2 million across three days of Fine Art auctions. Across the December 13th American and European Art, the December 14th Post War & Contemporary Art and the December 15th Prints & Multiples auctions, bidders from 32 countries and 42 states participated. Works by artists such as N.C. Wyeth, Orville Bulman, Gladys Nilsson, Larry Poons, Friedel Dzubas, Lois Dodd, Albrecht Dürer and Julie Mehretu saw extraordinary engagement. Eager competition was demonstrated for the thoughtfully composed selection of more than 300 works. Collections that had particularly enthusiastic bidding included property from the Trusts of Barbara V. and William K. Wamelink (Gates Mills, Ohio), the Collection of Susan Larsen, the Collections of Webster University (St. Louis, Missouri) sold to benefit the student experience at Webster University, and ... More



Textiles/garments from island Southeast Asia highlight women/identity   Taymour Grahne Projects opens an online solo exhibition of works by Christina Lucia Giuffrida   New exhibition at Phoenix Art Museum explores the whimsical world of 1960s paper fashion


Woman’s shoulder cloth (tengkuluak), approx. 1800–1900. Indonesia; West Sumatra, Minangkabau people. Cotton with metal-wrapped threads. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Gift of M. Glenn Vinson and Claire Vinson, photo © Don Tuttle.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Lying along the trade routes between India and China, island Southeast Asia has been a crossroads for merchants, pilgrims, and travelers from many parts of the world. Weaving Stories, a new exhibition exclusively at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, brings together more than 40 outstanding examples of textiles and garments from across Indonesia, as well as the Philippines and Malaysia, to consider how fabrics produced primarily by women, such as the ikats and batiks that have inspired global fashion for centuries, are woven not only into the daily lives but the cultural foundations of these communities. At the same time, the exhibition shows how hand-made and naturally dyed textiles provide a platform for self-expression and social meaning for women, both as artistic innovators and as vital ... More
 

Christina Lucia Giuffrida, Joy (Ft. Green Chairs), 2021. Gouache on paper stretched over panel, 25.5 x 20.3 cm. / 10 x 8 in.

LONDON.- Taymour Grahne Projects is presenting Diesel and Dust, an online solo exhibition by NY-based Australian artist Christina Lucia Giuffrida. An ode to pure joy, amidst a world on fire, 'Diesel and Dust' captures a vivid fantasia, weaved together with equal parts nostalgia and dreams of the future. The show’s title is taken from the iconic Australian album ‘Diesel and Dust’ released in 1987 by Midnight Oil. Indeed, this album is the soundtrack to a particular brand of 80s/90s Australiana nostalgia. Yet, rather than dwelling dangerously in yesteryear, these paintings attempt to bring all that makes me tender about the past into a freshly imagined future. Creating a life outside of the country of your childhood is a particular experience that leaves memories of home vulnerable to romanticism. With this tendency in mind, this body of work was created with total abandon. Each painting gives birth to the next in the studi ... More
 

The Paper Dress, Dress, Placemats and Napkins, late 1960s. Printed, 93% cellulose, 7% Nylon. Collection of Phoenix Art Museum, Promised gift of Kelly Ellman. Image © Phoenix Art Museum.

PHOENIX, AZ.- This winter, Arizona audiences will have the opportunity to explore paper garments from one of fashion’s most experimental and whimsical eras in Generation Paper: Fast Fashion of the 1960s at Phoenix Art Museum. Featuring work from 1966 through 1968 by designers and manufacturers such as Mars of Asheville, Scott Paper Company, The Disposables, Sterling Paper Fashions, Hallmark Inc., and others,the exhibition showcases more than 80 rare garments and accessories, including dresses, bikinis, skirts, hats, jumpsuits, rompers, beach cover-ups, and accessories made from paper, plastic, laminate, and other nonwoven textiles. Generation Paper will be on view from December 18, 2021 through July 17, 2022 in the Museum’s Ellman and Harnett galleries and highlights a special component of the Museum’s fashion-design collection. “We are delighted ... More


Jenkins Johnson Gallery announces representation of Lola Flash   Muzeum Susch opens the first museum retrospective of Colombian artist Feliza Bursztyn   Sept. 11 Memorial leader is departing in 2022


Agnes, SALT Series. Courtesy of Lola Flash.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Jenkins Johnson Gallery announced representation of photographer Lola Flash. Lola Flash recently penned a powerful article in the New York Times, was featured in NPR, and is also being honored by the LGBTQ+ arts organization Queer|Art with an award for sustained achievement. Flash works primarily in portraiture with a 4x5 film camera, engaging those who are often deemed invisible. Her practice is firmly rooted in social justice advocacy around sexual, racial, and cultural difference. Working at the forefront of genderqueer visual politics for more than three decades, Lola Flash's work challenges stereotypes and gender, sexual and racial preconceptions. In the 1980's she was very involved in HIV/AIDS awareness efforts, appearing with several other couples in a PSA poster calling out bigotry and complacency. She is an activist and a member of ACT UP as well as ART+. She reflects on the crisis of the 80's and 90's in her A ... More
 

Feliza Bursztyn, Sin titulo [Untitled], 1981. Courtesy Estate Feliza Bursztyn. Photo by Ernesto Monsalve.

SUSCH.- Feliza Bursztyn: Welding Madness is the first museum retrospective of Colombian artist Feliza Bursztyn (1933 Bogota, Colombia–1982, Paris, France) to be presented outside her home country. Bringing together approximately 50 sculptures, films, installations, and archival material, most of which are shown for the first time in Europe, this ambitious, career-spanning survey at Muzeum Susch positions Bursztyn as one of Latin America’s most important sculptors of the 20th century. A pioneer in kinetic sculpture, Feliza Bursztyn created wrecked metal sculptures with ghostlike yet comical humanoid traits that addressed the social effects caused by the aggressive modernization of Colombian society. Composed of industrial junk, often motor-animated, these works perform a theater of dystopian industrial hybrids. Bursztyn’s immersive installations are characterized by their disconcerting mechanical sound produced by the fren ... More
 

Alice Greenwald, the president of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, in New York on June 21, 2021. Vincent Tullo/The New York Times.

by Zachary Small


NEW YORK, NY.- Alice Greenwald, 69, president and CEO of the Sept. 11 memorial in lower Manhattan, announced on Thursday that she expects to leave the institution in 2022, after 16 years there. In 2006, Greenwald became director of the museum, which honors victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and contextualizes the traumatic events of that day. Previously, she oversaw programs at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. She entered the role in New York wearing a hard hat and holding an olive branch: Ground zero was still a construction site, and plans of two cultural organizations for the premises had fallen through when outspoken 9/11 family groups denounced them. Greenwald navigated the anger of those early years. More recently, she was criticized by some historians for what they called the museum’s narrow ... More




Art Bytes: Picturing Life & Death



More News

Julius Scott, groundbreaking author of 'The Common Wind,' dies at 66
NEW YORK, NY.- Julius Scott, who became something of a cult figure among scholars for his groundbreaking dissertation on the 18th-century Haitian slave revolt, which he completed as a graduate student but was rejected by mainstream publishers for three decades, died Dec. 6 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was 66. His death was confirmed by his partner, Elisha Renne, professor emerita in the department of Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan. She said he had diabetes and had been hospitalized with other health problems several times since mid-November. The story behind the long-awaited publishing success of Scott’s “The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution” turned out to be strikingly similar to the theme of the book, which began as his doctoral thesis at Duke University in 1986. Inspired ... More

Ultra-rare 1882 $1,000 gold certificate coming to Heritage Auctions
DALLAS, TX.- One of just four examples of a rare 1882 Gold Certificate, only two of which are available to the public, could bring $500,000 or more when it crosses the block in Heritage Auctions’ FUN Currency Signature® Auction - Orlando FUN January 5-7. The other two examples of the Fr. 1218g $1,000 1882 Gold Certificate PCGS Extremely Fine 40 are in the holdings of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Smithsonian Institution. “This note represents an extraordinary opportunity for collectors of U.S. banknotes,” Heritage Auctions Numismatics Vice President Dustin Johnston said. “Only two examples of this Lyons-Treat signed note are known in collector hands, and the one offered in this auction is by far the nicer of the two.” This $1,000 Gold last appeared at auction in 2018 and realized $576,000, a sum that very well could be exceeded in ... More

Deluxe-bound 'Gone With the Wind' shooting script sells for $22,688 at auction
BOSTON, MASS.- A Gone With the Wind shooting script presented to Leslie Howard by David O. Selznick sold for $22,688 according to Boston-based RR Auction. The front cover and spine are beautifully gilt-stamped, "Gone With the Wind, Screen Play," with the recipient's name stamped at the bottom right of the front cover, "Leslie Howard." Perfectly signed and inscribed on the first free end page in fountain pen, "For Leslie—with the fond (but probably futile) hope that he'll finally read it! David S., Xmas, 1939.” When Gone With the Wind finished filming, and each person finished their respective employment as production progressed, David O. Selznick collected and destroyed the shooting scripts for reasons of secrecy. Following the film's Atlanta premiere on December 15, 1939—just in time for Christmas—Selznick personally inscribed and signed specially ... More

For this theater leader, a mission that goes beyond the stage
SARASOTA, FLA.- Last month, an audience of about 100 sat around the thrust stage of the Westcoast Black Theater Troupe’s 205-seat theater. It wasn’t a bad turnout for a weekday, especially since many of this city’s culture-loving snowbirds had yet to make the seasonal migration south and worries about the coronavirus persisted. From the stage, Nate Jacobs, 62, the theater’s founder and artistic director, introduced the evening’s entertainment, “Eubie!,” with preacher-like bravado. “The theme of this season is ‘Rise,’ ” he said, a reference to a Maya Angelou poem of perseverance. “And tonight, we celebrate tenacity and resilience.” He had reason to be cheerful: Until October, his theater had been shuttered because of the pandemic. It closed in March 2020, shortly after opening its newly renovated complex near this city’s historic Black Newtown neighborhood. ... More

Oriol Bohigas, groundbreaking Spanish architect, dies at 95
MADRID.- Oriol Bohigas, a Spanish architect and urban planner who helped turn Barcelona, his home city, into one of the main tourism destinations of the Mediterranean, died Nov. 30 at his home there. He was 95. His death was confirmed by his son Josep Bohigas, who said that his father had had Parkinson’s disease for several years. Working for Barcelona’s city government, Oriol Bohigas was one of the masterminds of the city’s overhaul in preparation for the 1992 Olympic Games, particularly the transformation of its seafront, which had become a derelict industrial area. In partnership with two other architects, Bohigas designed a new yachting port, which hosted the Olympic sailing competitions, as well as a public park and a village to house the athletes, known as the Vila Olimpica. The city rehabilitated almost 3 miles of the seafront ... More

Detroit Institute of Arts presents works by Detroit artist and educator Shirley Woodson
DETROIT, MICH.- The Detroit Institute of Arts presents a selection of paintings by renowned artist Shirley Woodson in the exhibition Shirley Woodson: Shield of the Nile Reflections. On display December 18, 2021 through June 12, 2022, this exhibition features 11 paintings from Woodson’s Shield of the Nile series. Through these paintings, she portrays the river Nile as a metaphor for Africa to symbolize the changing, historical, spiritual, and cultural significance of this body of water. This exhibition is free with museum admission, which is always free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. This exhibition takes visitors through Woodson’s use of figuration and abstraction—two contrasting styles of art. The paintings are comprised of vibrant hues depicting humans appearing alongside detailed renderings of shields, horses, fish, shells, ... More

NGV opens kids exhibition: The Gecko and the Mermaid: Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu and Her Sister
MELBOURNE.- NGV kids presents an all-ages exhibition, The Gecko and the Mermaid: Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu and Her Sister, which celebrates the vibrant culture and community of the Yolŋu people through the work of two pioneering artists and sisters. The exhibition introduces young audiences to Yolŋu art, culture and language and provides an opportunity for children and families to learn more about and engage with the rich culture from North-East Arnhem Land - known to be one of the oldest living cultures on this planet. Known for their vibrant artworks and arresting depictions of their personal stories, Ms N Yunupiŋu and her sister Eunice Djerrkŋu Yunupiŋu are each award-winning artists in their own right. In the exhibition, Ms N Yunupiŋu’s work focuses on the land, depicting creatures including geckos, turtles, and lizards, as well as incorporating intricate and abst ... More

Matt's Gallery's new exhibition space at Nine Elms will open to the public on 25 March
LONDON.- The new gallery and performance space, located between the U.S Embassy building and the newly opened Nine Elms station, opening to the public on 25 March 2022, has been designed in close collaboration with architects Manalo & White. The custom-built spaces will provide greater opportunity for artists to create bold, site-specific works before revealing them to the public. Matt’s Gallery offers artists a studio environment where the exchange of ideas is intended to nurture experimentation, allowing the artist the time needed to develop projects and take chances. The 7,000 square foot space at Nine Elms will open in two phases, the first of which will include the unveiling of a double-height gallery, a performance and events space, Matt’s Gallery’s offices, space for books and editions, and a publicly accessible home for Matt’s Gallery’s library and archive ... More

What shouldn't change about classical music
NEW YORK, NY.- For more than three decades as a critic, I’ve shared my passion for classical music. I’ve also expressed frustrations with the field. Of all the performing arts, mine has been the most conservative, the most stuck in a core repertory of works from the distant past. Major orchestras and opera companies must make fostering relationships with living composers a top priority and work harder to empower female and minority artists. Institutions need to find more effective ways to connect with their diverse communities. If this means modifying — even tossing out — old models for presenting music, like the increasingly obsolete subscription series format that’s routine at most orchestras, so be it. Yet, especially after 18 perilous months when this art form seemed in danger of disappearing altogether, I love it more than ever. I want to protect ... More

In his films, big roles go to passersby and professionals alike
NEW YORK, NY.- The leading man in “Red Rocket” made his name as a comic rapper and an MTV video jockey. His character’s wife is played by a longtime theater actress with almost no film experience. And the supporting players include the ex-proprietor of a New Orleans bar and a downsized refinery worker. One woman won a role after her car broke down and she needed a jump. For the film’s director, Sean Baker, this unconventional approach to casting is nothing new. His custom of blending actors with different experience levels dates to the 2004 ultra-low-budget feature “Take Out,” in which the star, Charles Jang, who had studied acting, was surrounded by nonprofessionals. The practice continued through “The Florida Project” (2017), which examined poverty in the shadow of Disney World and garnered an Oscar nomination for Willem Dafoe. But Dafoe ... More

See the real live man who grew up in a carnival
NEW YORK, NY.- An old-time Ferris wheel, fully lit, turns against a sinister sky. The ride is part of a traveling carnival, seemingly set up in the middle of nowhere, and a storm is coming in the form of Stan Carlisle. Is he man or beast? Come closer and find out. As the sideshow barker shouts, his voice competing with rollicking carousel music, “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” This is “Nightmare Alley,” a lavish noir thriller from Guillermo del Toro that arrives in theaters on Dec. 17. Bradley Cooper plays the insatiable Stan, by turns damaged drifter, aw-shucks country boy, conniving killer, society charlatan, fast-disintegrating alcoholic and primal scream. The carnival cast includes Willem Dafoe as Clem, that rasping sideshow proprietor; Rooney Mara as sweet-hearted runaway Molly, who performs as the high-voltage Electrified Girl; and Toni Collette as the weary ... More


PhotoGalleries

Jeffrey Smart

Light & Space

Antonis Pittas

Liz West


Flashback
On a day like today, Italian sculptor and painter Mimmo Paladino was born
December 18, 1948. Paladino was born in Paduli, Campania, on December 18, 1948, but grew up and trained in Benevento. He now lives in Rome and Milan, but still has a studio in the little town near Benevento. In this image: Mimmo Paladino, Mattinate (Puglia Suite) No. 7, 2011. Watercolour with collage. Paper and image 58.0 x 77.0 cm.

  
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