The First Art Newspaper on the Net   Established in 1996 Saturday, February 13, 2021
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Lucy Lacoste Gallery opens a solo exhibition of new works by Paul S. Briggs

Briggs’ forte is bringing issues of the modern Black experience to life through his sculpture.

CONCORD, MASS.- Lucy Lacoste Gallery is presenting a solo exhibition of new works by the Massachusetts artist Paul S. Briggs, Intuitive Responses: Poetic Justice in Clay February 13- March 13, 2021. The center piece of this exhibition will be six sculptures, each inspired by a specific poem written by a noted Black poet. These poets include Lucille Clifton, Sonia Sanchez, Langston Hughes, Harryette Mullen, Maya Angelou and Audre Lorde. A sculpture inspired by Amanda Gorman and her inauguration poem is in the making and may be ready for the opening. There will be a poetry reading connected to this exhibition, with Black performers of the spoken word reading each poem, after which the artist will discuss the correlating sculpture. Briggs’ forte is bringing issues of the modern Black experience to life through his sculpture. He has written in depth on matters of race and social justice. An artist, professor, philosopher and former pastor, ... More


The Best Photos of the Day
Best Photos of the Day
Brian Rochefort: Perhaps an Asteroid Hit on view at Massimo De Carlo, Milan/Belgioioso, 05.02.2021 > 21.03.2021. Installation Views by Roberto Marossi. Courtesy: Massimo De Carlo.






Jubilant Canadians head to reopened Montreal fine arts museum   Museums bet on paid virtual tours during pandemic but will they catch on?   Reynolda House Museum of American Art announces promised gifts by Georgia O'Keeffe and Romare Bearden


A guest visits the Jean-Paul Riopelle exhibit, which was was extended due to the various closures in Montreal amid the coronavirus pandemic, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal, Canada, on February 11, 2021. Andrej Ivanov / AFP.

by Anne-Sophie Thill


MONTREAL (AFP).- Pandemic-weary Montrealers rejoiced as a local fine arts museum reopened Thursday after being shuttered for months, telling AFP it "feels so good" to get some cultural exposure again. "Our first visitor!" exclaims museum director Stephane Aquin, greeting Sylvie Sills at the entrance of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The 57-year-old visitor says she feels "really moved to be back at the museum" after a "too long" absence. The city's museums and galleries were forced to close on October 1, along with bars, restaurants, cinemas and libraries as coronavirus cases shot up. As of Thursday, Quebec reported more than 273,000 coronavirus cases, or about a third of the Canadian total, and more than 10,000 deaths. The museum, which usually ... More
 

A visitor wearing a facemask looks at paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 'The Met' in New York City on February 9, 2021. Angela Weiss / AFP.

by Thomas Urbain


NEW YORK (AFP).- Take a guided tour of Elvis Presley's home from your sofa or marvel at old masters' paintings in The Met without visiting New York: museums, forced to adapt by the pandemic, are now offering paid virtual tours -- but how big a source of income will they become? Interactive walks, video games and podcasts are some of the numerous free innovations museums have launched to try to mitigate the effects of closures and a slump in visitors caused by coronavirus. But more and more institutions are now pushing paid options also. Presley's home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, has been offering two-hour-long tours by guide Angie Marchese for $100 a head since January. Some 300 people, the maximum capacity, signed up for each of the first two virtual tours in which they hear anecdotes about Presley, see objects he owned and can ask questions ... More
 

Romare Bearden, Alto Composite, 1974, Promised Gift of Barbara B. Millhouse. © 2021 Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

WINSTON-SALEM, NC.- Reynolda’s founding director, Barbara Babcock Millhouse, has promised a gift of three works of art to Reynolda House Museum of American Art— Georgia O’Keeffe’s Cedar Tree with Lavender Hills and Romare Bearden’s Alto Composite and Moonlight Express. Reynolda House has committed to improving the way its collection reflects the community by diversifying its offerings through works created by women and artists of color. The museum is soliciting gifts and creating a designated fund for new acquisitions, recognizing that the collection could become a more accurate mirror of the nation’s past and a broader and deeper celebration of its diversity. This initiative honors the collecting legacy of Barbara Millhouse, which has been characterized by a high degree of selectivity and a bold embrace of diverse perspectives in American art. O’Keeffe, one of the most significant artists ... More


Was Stonehenge a 'secondhand' monument?   The Chrysler Museum of Art showcases the impact of Spanish art and culture on American painters   Private library containing rare books by authors, artists donated to Library of Congress


Stonehenge, the still-mysterious circle of stones and burial mounds just outside Salisbury, England, on June 15, 2015. Andrew Testa/The New York Times.

by Franz Lidz


NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Fans of the 1984 heavy metal mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” will remember the scene in which the band commissions a stage set that’s a replica of Stonehenge, the Neolithic ruin in Wiltshire, England. Alas, a careless set of measurements results in the musicians playing alongside a model that stands an underwhelming 18 inches high rather than 18 feet tall, a failure showcased on tour and, wincingly, accentuated by the dancing dwarfs enlisted to make the prop appear larger. Thirty-seven years later it turns out that the film’s boulder gag contains a pebble of historical truth. On Friday a team of archaeologists reported in the journal Antiquity that they had unearthed a stone circle in Pembrokeshire, Wales, part of which they believe was dismantled, hauled 175 miles to Salisbury Plain and reassembled as ... More
 

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (Spanish, 1863-1923), Hall of the Ambassadors, Alhambra, Granada, 1909. Oil on canvas. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

NORFOLK, VA.- This winter, the Chrysler Museum of Art transports art lovers to the 19th and early 20th centuries and highlights the impact of Spanish art and culture on American painters with Americans in Spain: Painting and Travel, 1820-1920. Co-organized by the Chrysler Museum of Art and Milwaukee Art Museum, the show is on view at the Chrysler in Norfolk, Virginia, Feb. 12-May 16, 2021. Visitors to the Milwaukee Art Museum can enjoy the exhibition June 11-Oct. 3, 2021. Americans in Spain explores a pivotal moment in the 19th and early 20th centuries when American artists and their European counterparts flocked to Spain to capture its scenic charms and customs. The first major exhibition to present this important aspect of American art to a wide audience, it brings together more than 100 artworks, including paintings from the 17th-20th centuries, photographs, prints and travel guides. It showcases works by American artists Mary Cassatt, William ... More
 

Pochoir renderings of Joan Miro’s “Constellations” accompany commentary by surrealist poet Andre Breton. 1959. Aramont Library collection. Library of Congress, Rare Books and Special Collections Division.

WASHINGTON, DC.- The Library of Congress has acquired the Aramont Library, a collection of rare books from some of the most prolific authors and artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. The gift by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous marks the first time the Aramont Library has been made available to the public. To enhance the Aramont collection’s accessibility to the general public, the donor also gave the Library of Congress a $1 million endowment to fund virtual public programming beginning in 2021. Library curators will present a number of virtual events to highlight and discuss the significance of such publications on the broader history of the book and modern book production. “The Aramont Library is a monument to Western creativity in art and literature over the last two centuries. Every book in the collection strikes a perfect balance between book design, illustration ... More


Minneapolis Institute of Art acquires complete archive of works created by Highpoint Editions   First auction of artists of the WPA at Swann establishes four records   The Neuberger Museum of Art announces recent acquisitions


Jim Hodges, of Summer, 2016. From “Seasons”. Sugar-lift aquatint, spit-bite aquatint, drypoint (scribes, sandpaper), scraping, burnishing, woodcut in dark blue on Gampi paper, screenprint in light blue, and color digital pigment print on Gampi paper with cutouts; edition of 28, plus 6 artist’s proofs, 34 × 24 in. (86.36 × 60.96 cm) (image); 41 × 30 1/2 in. (104.14 × 77.47 cm) (sheet) Highpoint Editions Archive, The Friends of Bruce B. Dayton Acquisition Fund and the Christina N. and Swan J. Turnblad Memorial Fund 2020.85.53.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN.- The Minneapolis Institute of Art today announced it has acquired the complete archive of works by Highpoint Editions, the publishing arm of Highpoint Center for Printmaking (HP), a nonprofit printmaking art center established in 2001 in Minneapolis. The 20-year archive comprises 310 published prints and multiples, plus 700 items of ancillary production material from 40 artists, including Carlos Amorales, Julie Buffalohead, Willie Cole, Sarah Crowner, Jim Hodges, Julie Mehretu, Todd Norsten, Chloe Piene, David Rathman, Do ... More
 

John Vachon, a select group of 38 vintage photographs, silver prints, circa 1937-42. Sold for $37,500, a record for the grouping.

NEW YORK, NY.- The Artists of the WPA were on display in Swann Galleries’ Thursday, February 4 auction. The multi-departmental sale was headed by Harold Porcher, the house’s director of Modern and Post-War Art, and featured paintings, prints, photographs, posters and related ephemera by artists whose careers were sustained by the Works Progress Administration and other agencies of the New Deal. The sale was led by a selection of 38 vintage silver prints spanning 1932 to 42 by John Vachon, a record for the grouping, at $37,500. Vachon began his work for the Farm Security Administration as an assistant messenger. As his interest in photography grew, he began to make his own photographs and accompanied Arthur Rothstein on one of his assignments; in 1938 Vachon would have his first solo assignment for the FSA in Nebraska. Additional photography ... More
 

Many of these works will be on view in an exhibition of Recent Acquisitions planned for summer 2021.

PURCHASE, NY.- Tracy Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., Director of the Neuberger Museum of Art, announced today the recent acquisitions that have been added to the museum’s collection. The objects range from drawings and paintings to screen and photographic prints and from mixed media works to sculpture. Among the new acquisitions are works by Louisa Chase, Engels the Artist, Cleve Gray, Ignacio Iturria, Alfredo Jaar, Lilla LoCurto & Bill Outcault, Margot Lovejoy, Allison Miller, Reuben Nakian, Joseph Stapleton, Jessica Stockholder, Fan Lee Warren, and Sophie von Hellermann. “Collecting, supporting, and encouraging the work of living artists—especially those by artists we feature in our exhibitions—reflects the philosophy of our founding patron, Roy R. Neuberger,” said Dr. Fitzpatrick. “We are so pleased to be able to steward these objects as part of the Neuberger’s collection to ensure that they are enjoyed for years to com ... More


Contemporary Arts Museum Houston announces plans to reopen with new look inside and out   Casey Kaplan opens an exhibition of drawings by Jonathan Gardner   The Currier Museum purchases historic Chandler House


Photo of CAMH by Leonid Furmansky.

HOUSTON, TX.- Contemporary Arts Museum Houston will reopen its doors to the public at noon on Thursday, February 18, 2021, following a closure since March 16, 2020, due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. During this prolonged closure, CAMH has not only redesigned the exterior plaza at the intersection of Montrose and Bissonnet, but guests will be welcomed into a completely restored and renovated Brown Foundation Gallery as well. To ensure the health and well-being of its visitors and following the City of Houston’s guidance, the Museum will operate at a reduced visitor capacity and has implemented several new safety protocols. All staff and visitors will be required to wear face masks, follow physical distancing measures, and pass a non-invasive temperature screening to gain entry into the Museum. For more information on CAMH’s reopening policies and new hours of operations, please visit camh.org/visit. “Our incredible staff has been wo ... More
 

Jonathan Gardner, The Bathhouse, 2020. Graphite on paper. Paper size: 20.125 x 18.125” / 51.12 x 46.04cm. Framed: 22 x 20”/ 55.88 x 50.8cm. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York. Photography: Jason Wyche.

NEW YORK, NY.- Casey Kaplan is presenting “Jonathan Gardner: Drawings,” a presentation of seven recent graphite works on paper, launched this week and accessible via the gallery's Online Viewing Room, simultaneously exhibited at the gallery in the newly expanded viewing rooms through March 6, 2021. Gardner’s (b. 1982, Lexington, KY) painting and drawing practice consists of imagined tableaus anchored by modern art histories, heavily influenced by the European Surrealists (1920-1950) and the Chicago Imagists (1966-1971). In this new series of works on paper, Gardner manipulates form using peculiar framing devices with collage techniques to transform quotidian leisurely pursuits into illusory worlds. Beginning with preparatory drawings, Gardner ... More
 

The main floor of the house preserves impressive stained glass windows, original wallpaper, and fine wood carving.

MANCHESTER, NH.- The Currier Museum of Art announced that it has completed the purchase of the George Byron Chandler House, an architectural treasure from the late 19th century that sits across the street from the museum. “The Chandler House is one of the most beautiful Victorian houses in New Hampshire but has been almost unknown,” said Stephen Duprey, president of the museum’s board of trustees. “We can now begin the challenging job of restoring the house so that it can be enjoyed by the community.” The Currier Museum worked closely with the City of Manchester and a dedicated community of supporters who want to see the Chandler House restored to its original glory. The city’s Planning and Community Development Department facilitated the subdivision of the property and the necessary permits. “I am thrilled that this historically and ... More




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Art projects by Kiki Smith, Cai Guo-Qiang and 13 other artists featured in Illuminate Coral Gables
CORAL GABLES, FLA.- The City of Coral Gables is turning on the lights. Illuminate Coral Gables, a new public art initiative focusing on the intentional use of light and technology to transform public art by day into magical and mysterious work at night, will be on view Feb. 12 – Mar. 14, 2021. Curated by Lance Fung with Catherine Cathers, Jennifer Easton, and Rosie Gordon-Wallace, ICG, has been created for specific outdoor locations throughout Coral Gables. ICG’s eight projects include video projections, sculpture, and art installations by a stellar group of local, national, and international artists including Kiki Smith and Cai Guo-Qiang. Seven of the artworks are new site-specific commissions. ICG will be on view Wednesdays through Sundays from 6-10 pm. ICG is a project of the Coral Gables Community Foundation. Blue Night, sponsored by ... More

Shai Baitel announced Artistic Director of Modern Art Museum Shanghai
SHANGHAI.- The Modern Art Museum Shanghai announced Shai Baitel as its inaugural Artistic Director. The newly opened state of the art museum located at the heart of Shanghai’s cultural mile along the Huangpu River is a premier institution for contemporary art with a global and multidisciplinary approach. MAM contributes to the education, knowledge and enjoyment of art through its exhibitions, artistic collaborations, events, and festivals from all over the world. The expertly renovated and redesigned coal bunker is the largest contemporary art museum in Shanghai, measuring over 7,000 square meters. It sits at the heart of the dynamic MAM Riverbank cultural zone, stretching 1.2 kilometres along the Huangpu River just south of the Pudong Central Business District. MAM Riverbank boasts not only the museum, but an outdoor sculpture park, and ... More

The Kunstmuseum and the Kunsthalle in Bremerhaven announce new Director
BREMERHAVEN.- On February 1, 2021, Stefanie Kleefeld assumed the newly created position of director of the Kunstverein Bremerhaven von 1886 e.V. In her new position, she will simultaneously be the director of the Kunstmuseum and the Kunsthalle Bremerhaven. Stefanie Kleefeld prevailed among 38 candidates in an international job posting. From 2012, Stefanie Kleefeld was the director of the Halle für Kunst Lüneburg, which was last year awarded the ADKV-ART COLOGNE Prize for Art Associations for its “top-level program of solo and group exhibitions.” Kleefeld first directed the Halle für Kunst in dual leadership with Válerie Knoll, and was then solely responsible for the venue from 2015 onward. She shaped the Halle für Kunst with an experimental and very personal exhibition practice, realizing thematic exhibition series such as “Fantasie“ ... More

The pandemic emptied Europe's cities. What will bring people back?
LONDON (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- When the coronavirus exploded across Europe in March, it realigned city life, shifting office workers to their homes, shuttering the hospitality sector and reshuffling life for millions. Unshackled from offices — many for the first time in their working lives — city dwellers throughout Europe began to leave, some to avoid the virus but others to escape cramped and pricey apartments and to connect more with the natural world. Now, nearly a year after the first lockdowns and with months more of restrictions looming, the easy assumption that most of the COVID-19 exiles would naturally return once the virus was tamed is being questioned. In the reverse of the old song, the question now is not how you keep them down on the farm, but how you dissuade them from moving there for good. For city planners and urban design ... More

Monolith in Turkey is revealed to be government stunt
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- A mysterious metal slab that appeared in southeastern Turkey last week, then quietly disappeared, turned out to be a government publicity stunt to promote Turkey’s new space program. The monolith, which stood about 10 feet tall, was discovered in a rural area of the province of Sanliurfa on Friday, then vanished without explanation four days later. It was inscribed with a cryptic message in the Gokturk alphabet, an ancient Turkic language: “Look at the sky, see the moon.” During a televised address Tuesday, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced an ambitious new space program for the country, including missions to the moon. An image of the monolith was projected behind him. Turkey’s 10-year vision for space, Erdogan said, was driven by a “famous slogan.” “I announce to the whole world ... More

It could be the most diverse Oscars ever, but the problem isn't solved
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Three years ago, Natalie Portman presented the best director category at the Golden Globes with a sting in her voice. “Here are the all-male nominees,” she said. This year, for the very first time, a majority of the directors in that category are women. It was announced last week that Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”), Regina King (“One Night in Miami”) and Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”) will vie for the best director Globe alongside David Fincher (“Mank”) and Aaron Sorkin (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”), and those same filmmakers may well hear their names again when the Oscar nominations are read March 15. In a category that has historically overlooked female directors, this feels like progress. After all, only five women have ever been nominated for the best director Oscar, and if Zhao, ... More

Solo exhibition of photographs by Boston-based artist Pelle Cass opens at Abigail Ogilvy Gallery
BOSTON, MASS.- Abigail Ogilvy Gallery is presenting Crowded Fields, a solo exhibition of photographs by Boston-based artist Pelle Cass. This exhibition features work from two recent series in which the artist combines thousands of images to form one dynamic composition of a sporting event. Working in opposition to traditional sports photography, Pelle Cass aims to capture not the emotion of a moment, but the chaos and physicality of the entire game, evoking a Baroque-like sense of movement and angle in his compositions. Armed with a digital camera and Photoshop skills, Cass sets out to create compositions that redefine our notion of what “street photography” can encompass. Though we see many of these defining elements in Cass’s work - the unscripted, unposed, authentic moments in time - Cass aims to break away from the practice ... More

One-of-a-kind map from Battle at Goliad to be offered at Heritage Auctions
DALLAS, TX.- The only known map of Col. James Fannin's troops at the Battle of Goliad and a pair of Delft tobacco jars given to Franklin Delano Roosevelt could bring $100,000 each in Heritage Auctions' Americana & Political Auction Feb. 27-28. One of the earliest and most important contemporary printed records of the Texas Revolution, unseen since 1966, also could reach six figures. Fort Defiance: 1836 Joseph Chadwick Map of Col. James Fannin's Defenses at the Historic Site of the Battle of Goliad (estimate: $100,000+) was drawn by Fannin's adjutant, Joseph Chadwick and sent to Chadwick's mother shortly before the pair died. The story of the Texas Revolution became the stuff of legend, and the tragic massacre of Col. Fannin and some 400 of his men at Goliad was, along with the fall of the Alamo, one of the seminal events which ... More

Works by Indian artists Purkhu of Kangra, Badri Narayan included in Neue Auctions' Feb. 20 sale
BEACHWOOD, OH.- A small collection of paintings attributed to the Indian artist Purkhu of Kangra (active circa 1780-1820), two paintings by the Indian artist Badri Narayan (1929-2013), and a 17th century Shah-nameh (or Book of Kings, Iran’s central literary work) are all part of Neue Auctions’ online-only fine art and antiques auction planned for Saturday, February 20th. The sale – nicknamed A Neue Year Auction – will begin promptly at 11 am Eastern time and features 323 lots of paintings, sculptures, decorative objects, fine furniture, Persian carpets and the auction’s headliner: the very fine paintings from India. Internet bidding will be facilitated by Liveauctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Bidsquare.com. Phone and absentee bids are accepted. “The collection of paintings by Purkhu is already causing quite a stir with collectors and ... More

Brandywine River Museum of Art closing to undergo facility renovations
CHADDS FORD, PA.- Beginning February 15, the Brandywine River Museum of Art will be closing to the public to undergo facility renovations to its second and third floors. Upgrades include a complete refurbishment of the restrooms, making them fully ADA accessible, as well as switching their current location with the second floor Strawbridge Gallery. Opening into the Museum’s central atrium, the reimagined Gallery will improve circulation within the Museum building and enhance the visitor experience. Additionally, new state-of-the-art lighting, HVAC and fire suppression systems will be installed. The Museum will be reopening to the public in June with its new special exhibition, Ralston Crawford: Air & Space & War. During its time of closure, the Museum will continue to offer a full slate of virtual programming through its “Brandywine at Home” ... More

GAVLAK announces representation of April Bey
LOS ANGELES, CA.- GAVLAK announced the representation of Los Angeles-based artist April Bey. The gallery’s guiding mission of promoting works by women and LGBTQ artists is enhanced and enriched through its amplification of Bey’s vision. April Bey’s (Bahamian/American) work delivers audacious critiques of the mainstreaming and monetization of radical politics via a diverse range of media. Moving deftly between painting, printmaking, collage, video, intimately scaled artist’s books and immersive installations, Bey wittily skewers pop culture’s sacred cows. Icons and anti-heroes of both American and Bahamian culture populate the bold and bright environs of her compositions, allowing for ambiguity in our assessments of their impact and legacies. Bey’s incorporation of mass-produced objects and reproductive media including printmaking ... More


PhotoGalleries

Mental Escapology, St. Moritz

TIM VAN LAERE GALLERY

Madelynn Green

Patrick Angus


Flashback
On a day like today, American painter and academic Grant Wood was born
February 13, 1891. Grant DeVolson Wood (February 13, 1891 - February 12, 1942) was an American painter best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, particularly American Gothic, an iconic painting of the 20th century. In this image: Grant Wood (1891 - 1942), American Gothic, 1930. Oil on composition board, 30 3/4 x 25 3/4 in. (78 x 65.3 cm). Art Institute of Chicago; Friends of American Art Collection 1930.934. © Figge Art Museum, successors to the Estate of Nan Wood Graham/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photograph courtesy Art Institute of Chicago/Art Resource, NY.

  
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