| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Saturday, July 17, 2021 |
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| | When Rembrandt met an elephant | |
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A black chalk drawing by Rembrandt, most likely from 1641, at the Rembrandt House in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on July 1, 2021. An exhibition in Amsterdam explores the wandering life and untimely death of Hansken, an Asian elephant who became a spectacle in 17th-century Europe. Julia Gunther/The New York Times.
by Nina Siegal
AMSTERDAM (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- In Rembrandts 1638 etching Adam and Eve in Paradise, there are two symbols of good and evil. A dragon hovers over the couple as they contemplate the forbidden apple, representing the danger of temptation. And in the background, a little, rotund elephant romps in the sunlight, a sign of chastity and grace. The meaning of these symbols, while obscure today, would have been recognizable in 17th-century Europe. The dragon Rembrandt drew was a figment of his imagination. But the elephant looks surprisingly true to life. How did Rembrandt, who never traveled outside the Netherlands, know what an elephant looked like? The answer to this question comes in the form of an exhibition, Hansken, Rembrandts Elephant, at the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam. The exhibition, running through Aug. 29, tells the story of a female Asian elephant, taken to the Netherlands in the 17th century, who spent the rest of her life in Europe and became a popular and famous spe ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day One of the most innovative artists and designers of the 20th-century avant-garde, Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889 - 1943) challenged the borders between abstract art, design and craft. Tate Modernâs major exhibition is the first in the UK to trace Taeuber-Arpâs accomplished career as a painter, architect, teacher, writer, and designer of textiles, marionettes and interiors. Bringing together over 200 objects from collections across Europe and America, the exhibition shows how she blazed a new path for the development of abstraction.
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| Tate Modern opens first major exhibition in the UK to trace Sophie Taeuber-Arp's accomplished career | | Georgia Museum of Art debuts expanded contemporary collection | | Investors to be offered 'shares' in Picasso painting | 
Installation view.
LONDON.- One of the most innovative artists and designers of the 20th-century avant-garde, Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889-1943) challenged the borders between abstract art, design and craft. Tate Moderns major exhibition is the first in the UK to trace Taeuber-Arps accomplished career as a painter, architect, teacher, writer, and designer of textiles, marionettes and interiors. Bringing together over 200 objects from collections across Europe and America, the exhibition shows how she blazed a new path for the development of abstraction. After studying fine and applied arts in Munich, Sophie Taeuber-Arp began her career in Zurich, an international hub for the avant-garde during the First World War. She took classes at Rudolf von Labans influential school of dance, and met her lifelong partner, artist and poet Jean (Hans) Arp. She became a successful textile practitioner and teacher while simultaneously experimenting ... More | | 
Mika Tajima (American, b. 1975), At the Door, 2008. Silkscreen, woodcut, cotton rag, CNC Plexiglas, wood, paint, 30 7/8 à 22 inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; The John and Sara Shlesinger Collection. GMOA 2019.457. © Mika Tajima. Image courtesy the artist, Kayne Griffin Corcoran (Los Angeles), and Taro Nasu (Tokyo).
ATHENS, GA.- From July 17 to December 5, 2021, the Georgia Museum of Art will share modern works of art in the exhibition Neo-Abstraction: Celebrating a Gift of Contemporary Art from John and Sara Shlesinger. Neo-Abstraction highlights the resurgence of abstract art among contemporary artists, including an early spin painting by Damien Hirst and a photographic abstraction by Walead Beshty. Cutting-edge art like Sarah Bramans Coexist, a striking juxtaposition of commonplace objects, will be on view alongside more familiar approaches to abstraction, like Daniel Hesidences colorful canvases of humanoid figures ... More | | 
Sygnum, a digital asset bank, and Artemundi, an art investment pioneer, have partnered to tokenize Picassos Fillette au béret painting.
ZURICH (AFP).- A Picasso painting is to be sold in tokenised form, allowing investors to buy "shares" in the work, Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum announced Thursday. Sygnum joined forces with Artemundi, a fund specialising in art investments, to offer the shares in Picasso's 1964 work "Fillette au Beret". "This marks the first time the ownership rights in a Picasso, or any artwork, are being broadcast onto the public blockchain by a regulated bank, enabling investors to purchase and trade 'shares' in the artwork called Art Security Tokens (ASTs)," Sygnum said. The value of the work, which measures 65 by 54 centimetres (29 by 24 inches), is estimated at four million Swiss francs (3.6 million euros, $4.2 million), the Zurich bank said in a statement. As on stock exchanges, investors will be able to buy and sell shares in the painting on a secondary market ... More |
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| New volume explores the life and work of Spanish sculptor Luisa Roldán | | Eiffel Tower reopens after nine-month Covid closure | | Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photographer killed in Afghanistan | 
Luisa Roldán. Catherine Hall-van den Elsen. 144 pages, 7½ x 9¾ inches. Illustrations: 81 colour and 7 b&w illustrations. ISBN: 978-1-60606-732-1. £30/$40. Publication date: September 7, 2021.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- Luisa Roldán, also known as La Roldana, was a highly accomplished and sought after Spanish Baroque artist. She was known for her exquisitely crafted and painted wood and terracotta sculptures and served as the court sculptor to two Spanish kings. Despite her success and acclaim, the work of La Roldana has been largely forgotten by modern art history. Luisa Roldán (Getty Publications, $40.00) is an accessibly written monograph, suitable for art lovers of all backgrounds. This gorgeously illustrated book presents a long overdue exploration of Roldáns oeuvre, while situating her work in the prevalent historical and social dynamics of her milieu. This volume places Roldán and her work alongside some of her peers, including Velázquez, Murillo, and Zurburán. This context reveals how talented and admired La Roldana was, as well as what life was like for this trailblazing artist of seventeenth-century Spain. ... More | | 
In this file photo taken on August 03, 2018 tourists use umbrellas to shelter from the sun as they walk at Esplanade du Trocadero in front of The Eiffel Tower in Paris. ALAIN JOCARD / AFP.
(AFP).- The Eiffel Tower reopened to visitors on Friday after nine months of shutdown caused by the Covid pandemic, the landmark's longest closure since World War II. The lifts of the "Iron Lady" again whisked tourists to its 300-metre (1,000-foot) summit and its majestic views of the French capital as a marching band played. "It's a gift to be here -- We really love Paris," said Ila, who came from Hamburg, Germany, and waited more than two hours with her daughter Helena to be among the first to the top. "Tourism is coming back to Paris and we can again share the happiness, with visitors from around the world, of this monument and Paris," said Jean-Francois Martins, head of the tower's operating company. Daily capacity is set to be restricted to 13,000 people, about half of the normal level, in order to respect social distancing. And from Wednesday next week, visitors will need to show either proof of vaccination or a negative test, in line with recent government-imposed ... More | | 
An art teacher gives finishing touches to a painting of Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui as a tribute outside an art school in Mumbai on July 16, 2021, after the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer with the Reuters news agency was killed covering fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban near a border crossing with Pakistan, the media outlet reported, citing an army commander. Indranil MUKHERJEE / AFP.
KABUL (AFP).- A Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer with Reuters news agency was killed Friday covering fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban near a border crossing with Pakistan, the media outlet reported, citing an army commander. Afghan forces were fighting to retake Spin Boldak when Danish Siddiqui and a senior officer were killed in Taliban crossfire, the commander told Reuters. The agency reported Siddiqui, an Indian national, had been embedded with Afghan special forces in the former Taliban bastion of Kandahar this week. "We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region," Reuters president Michael Friedenberg and editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni said in ... More |
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| Japan forest lights up in digital art show | | 2021 summer exhibition at Kunsthaus Bregenz is dedicated to Anri Sala | | Picture of the past: Postcard king captured Mali before war | 
Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well, Flying Beyond Borders.
TOKYO (AFP).- A cascading waterfall made entirely of light pours onto a rock while azalea trees are illuminated in a glowing ripple at a digital art show in a Japanese forest. Light installations featuring blooming flowers, giant koi carp and traditional calligraphy come to life after dark, creating an otherworldly ambiance at the exhibition that fuses nature and tech. The show in the mountains of Kyushu in southern Japan is the latest offering from art collective teamLab. The group are internationally renowned for their mesmerising displays combining projections, sound and carefully designed spaces. "Sometimes, people think digital art and nature are completely against each other," Takashi Kudo, a member of teamLab, told AFP at a media preview. "But at the same time, we think digital and nature are quite easy to merge, because our 'paint' is light. "So we don't destroy the nature ... More | | 
Anri Sala. Photo: © Wolfgang Stahr.
BREGENZ.- The 2021 summer exhibition is dedicated to Anri Sala. Originally planned for 2020, the exhibition has been postponed for a year. It is taking place concurrently with the Bregenz Festival, which Kunsthaus Bregenz is collaborating with in staging the world premiere of the opera Wind by Alexander Moosbrugger in 2021, as well as hosting festival concerts. Musical phenomena play a major role in Anri Salas work. His transformative, time-based works develop from a dense network of relations between sound, image, and architecture. A recurring medium in the exhibition is film. In contrast to conventional cinema, Sala does not employ a strict narrative or even actors, it is rather musical pieces that become the real protagonists in the works. The cinematic results from the musical and not, as is customary, vice versa, enabling visitors to immerse themselves in a both visual and acoustic experience of the space. Kunsthaus Bregen ... More | | 
Malian photographer Django Cissé, 76, known as the initiator of the postcard in Mali, looks through some of his postcards in his home in Bamako on June 26, 2021. NICOLAS REMENE / AFP.
by Amaury Hauchard
BAMAKO (AFP).- He may be one of Mali's most popular photographers, endowed with an eye for spectacular landscapes or a slice of life, whose images were then printed on postcards that sold by the thousand. To the public who snapped up his pictures, Diango Cisse's name remains almost unknown, although professional photographers and historians of the Sahel nation's past bow deeply to his skills. Today, in his house in the capital Bamako, the frail 76-year-old plays down his achievements. "I am not a photographer," he insists. Formerly a high school art teacher, Cisse started taking pictures in 1973 after he purchased a camera from one of his students. "At first, it was the monuments of Bamako: ... More |
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| Christie's opens new exhibitions in Aspen and Southampton | | A queen of 19th-century opera gets new attention | | Legal feud over Sex Pistols' song rights begins in UK court | 
Richard Prince (b. 1949), Untitled (Cowboy). Ektacolor print, 24 x 20 in. (61 x 50.9 cm.) Executed in 1988. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies announces the second selling exhibition for its Summer 2021 Aspen residency, OUT WEST (July 17-28). Christies latest private selling exhibition, OUT WEST, encapsulates the progression of various narratives and visions of the American West as reflected in 20th and 21st Century artwork. Works by major artists across various disciplines are represented in the exhibition, from Thomas Hart Benton, to Richard Misrach, and Wayne Thiebaud, all uniquely inspired by the American West. Paying homage to Aspen and the surrounding region, OUT WEST features works by artists who worked in, were inspired by, and depicted the American West. From Ed Ruscha mountain paintings to Richard Princes cowboys, OUT WEST brings together a group of artists connected by their love of western imagery and landscape. The private selling exhibition will take place this summer in a pop-up gallery space nestled at the base of Aspen Mountain ... More | | 
The list of people among Pauline Viardots social network. Viardot, born 200 years ago this weekend, was a famous singer, as well as a composer whose music is being salvaged from obscurity. MS Mus 264 (367)/Houghton Library, Harvard University via The New York Times.
by Hilary Poriss
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Toward the end of her life, opera diva Pauline Viardot took stock of her vast social network. She wrote a three-page, multicolumn list of everyone she had ever met, worked with or loved. She ended up with more than 300 names, a whos-who of 19th-century icons: composers such as Rossini, Liszt and Schumann; novelists such as George Sand, Victor Hugo and Ivan Turgenev, her lover; and Giuseppe Mazzini and Napoleon III. Viardot entertained many of them at the weekly salons she held at her home in Paris. Classical musicians have rarely connected so widely with important figures of the day; the closest American parallel might be Leonard Bernstein, who hobnobbed with presidents ... More | | 
The band's former guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook are suing singer John Lydon.
LONDON (AFP).- A legal battle between members of the ground-breaking 1970s punk band the Sex Pistols over use of the group's songs in a drama series about their lives began in London's High Court on Thursday. The band's former guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook are suing singer John Lydon -- known to the world as the Sex Pistols' sneering, ginger-haired frontman Johnny Rotten -- for the use of the group's back catalogue in the show. The six-part series, "Pistol", which is being developed by Disney and directed by Oscar-winning British director Danny Boyle, has reignited longstanding feuds among surviving members of the band, which formed in 1975 and formally disbanded three years later. Though their time playing together was short-lived, with the exception of a series of sporadic reunions, the band had a huge impact on popular music over the succeeding decades, reinventing rock in their own indignant punk image with songs ... More |
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ThankYouX and Hans Zimmer NFT 'Sound of Color' | July 2021
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| More News |
 RISD Museum announces new exhibition: 'Any distance between us'PROVIDENCE, RI.- The RISD Museum announces Any distance between us, curated by Stephen Truax and Dominic Molon. The exhibition will open on July 17, 2021, and run through March 13, 2022. Any distance between us explores the power and significance of intimate relationships in works of contemporary art. Almost all of the thirty-five participating artists identify as queer and/or people of color. The exhibitions forty artworks, made from 1954 to 2021, are drawn from active artists' studios, private collections, and from the RISD Museums permanent collection.Together, they reflect a profound cultural and political shift over the last seventy-five years in representations of sexual orientation, gender identification, class, and race. Any distance between us draws poetic connections between works from disparate media (including paintings, ... More  Arc de Triomphe set for Christo wrap makeoverPARIS (AFP).- Work began Friday on wrapping the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in silvery-blue fabric as a posthumous tribute to the artist Christo, who had dreamt of the project for decades. Bulgarian-born Christo, a longtime Paris resident, had plans for sheathing the imposing war memorial at the top of the Champs-Elysees while renting an apartment near it in the 1960s. But despite completing other major public works during his lifetime, including wrapping Paris' oldest bridge in 1985 and the German parliament in 1995, the Arc de Triomphe project never materialised before his death in 2020. The completion of his vision -- and that of his co-designer and wife, Jeanne-Claude -- will be overseen by his nephew Vladimir Javacheff in coordination with the Pompidou museum and French authorities. But financing is coming through the sale of Christo's studies, drawings ... More  Wellcome Collection presents a season of free exhibitions exploring the complex theme of happinessLONDON.- Wellcome Collection launched On Happiness, a season of free events, activities and two exhibitions - Joy and Tranquillity - which bring together voices from across the cultural, scientific and spiritual fields to reflect on the elusive subject of happiness. In this period of great instability, escalating infectious diseases, ecological concerns and rising levels of anxiety and depression worldwide, Wellcome Collection examines the ways in which people find resilience, hope and even joy at times of duress. In response to seismic political and social upheavals On Happiness asks; how might we rebuild happiness for our current times? From serenity to ecstasy, awe to comfort, happiness encompasses many different feelings, and has perplexed scholars for centuries. There has long been debate around the role of emotions, where they come ... More  Thomas Jefferson patriotic handwritten letter sold for $68,750 at auction BOSTON, MASS.- A letter written by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson sold for $68,750, according to Boston-based RR Auction. The one-page handwritten letter signed as president, signed "Th: Jefferson," dated August 19, 1805. Handwritten letter from Monticello to General John Stark, in part: "I have lately learnt through the channel of the newspapers, and learnt with great pleasure, that you are still in life, & enjoy health & spirits. The victories of Bennington, the first link in that chain of successes which issued in the surrender at Saratoga, are still fresh in the memory of every American." Remembered as the 'Hero of Bennington' for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777, Stark led a group of New England militiamen in the defeat of a detachment of General John Burgoyne's army. The victory was a major strategic ... More  Christie's anounces 'A Parisian pied-à-terre curated by Hubert de Givenchy' PARIS.- On 14 September, Christie's will host the collection sale of a major international collector which was assembled over many years under the direction and curation of Hubert de Givenchy, and features exceptional works of art that they collected together. Estimated at between 4 and 6 million euros, this cross-category collection of nearly 270 lots includes masterpieces by the greatest Parisian cabinetmakers of the 18th century, combined with major artists of the 20th century, such as François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne. Lionel Gosset, Director of Collections: "The choice of furniture and decorative works of art combined in a successful marriage between the 18th and 20th centuries reflect Hubert de Givenchy's signature, synonymous of the great taste of lélégance à la française that has captivated so many people across the Atlantic. Several ... More  Online exhibition explores diverse, vibrant stories behind some of America's best fiber artistsBOSTON, MASS.- In its new online exhibition, Fiber Stories, the Society of Arts + Crafts digs deep into the connection between personal storytelling and craft. Fiber Stories highlights the full spectrum of fiber crafts, showcasing more than 45 national artists with a breadth of experience and styles in basketry, weaving, felting, knitting and quilting. Several artists apply classic fiber art techniques to unexpected materials. Fiber Stories debuted on the SA+Cs "Fiber Stories" page July 16th, 2021 and runs through August 29, 2021. Part of SA+Cs rotating online showcase spotlighting multi-discipline craft exhibitions with retail, entertainment and educational experiences, Fiber Stories features weekly events with artists sharing stories that offer an in-depth look at their work, their practices, and their world views. Events include exclusive artist interviews, behind-the-scenes demon ... More  Robotics and artificial Intelligence featured in new exhibition at Die Neue Sammlung - The Design MuseumMUNICH.- With Sami Haddadin[1] one of the worldwide leading researchers, innovators and eminent authority in the field of robotics and artificial Intelligence (AI) continues the series of contemporary design positions in the Paternoster Hall, to which Die Neue Sammlung The Design Museum has been inviting international protagonists of design every year since 2015. Robotics and artificial intelligence are current topics that pose great hopes but also challenges to our times and society in the era of digital transformation. In the field of design, too, we can expect innumerable new tasks to arise in the formation of processes and products. Sami Haddadin and his team have devised an exhibition for Die Neue Sammlung that in four chapters illustrates the emergence, present, and future of robotics and AI, enabling visitors to experience them. Chapter I ... More  Marcel Vidal's first solo exhibition at Kerlin Gallery opens in DublinDUBLIN.- Kerlin Gallery opened Stuck on dawn, Marcel Vidals first solo exhibition at the gallery. Celebrated for his diverse practice and immersive sculptural installations, 'Stuck on dawn' 'brings together three series of work in Marcel Vidal's first exhibition dedicated exclusively to painting. Quietly disarming and unsettling us with an ominous beauty, Vidals paintings are marked by their refined and restrained brushwork, layering oil on linen with delicacy and precision and by their minimal, cropped compositions. These works explore unknown, uncertain spaces with Vidals characteristic use of dramatic colour, light and shadow. They invite our curiosity, offering glimpses of their diverse subjects; canopies of dense banana tree foliage, the stretched acrylic skin of tents and the dark shadowy images from distant moon landings. In the exhibition 'Stuck ... More  For U.K. bands, touring Europe is now a highway to Brexit hellLONDON (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- When the British rock band Two Door Cinema Club began playing shows across Europe a decade ago, the groups three members would jump in a van, throw their instruments in the back and drive from their then-hometown, Belfast, Northern Ireland, to sweaty clubs in Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris. We did that hundreds of times, bassist Kevin Baird said recently by phone. Everything was at a moments notice." Now, its not so simple for Two Door Cinema Club or any British act to tour Europe. On July 9, the band headlined the Cruïlla music festival in Barcelona, Spain, playing to an audience of 25,000 screaming fans. But because of Britains 2020 departure from the European Union, known as Brexit, the band spent weeks beforehand applying for visas and immersing themselves in complicated new rules ... More  Exhibition by Carrie Mae Weems opens at Logan Center ExhibitionsCHICAGO, IL.- Logan Center Exhibitions at the University of Chicago is presenting Carrie Mae Weems: A Land of Broken Dreams in partnership with the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago as part of the multi-site exhibition Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change, and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40. On view July 17December 12, 2021, Carrie Mae Weems: A Land of Broken Dreams features an array of media and objectsphotography, video, texts, bric-a-brac, and furniturethrough which Weems reimagines the Black Panther Partys programs for young people in Chicago during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the main gallery, visitors are invited to browse, sit, and explore a classroom setting replete with desks, chairs, books, a blackboard, View-Masters, and posters of historic Black leaders. A smaller gallery, designed ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
Music of the â80s 
Modern Gothic: The Inventive Furniture of Kimbel and Cabus, 1863â82 
British Art Show 9 
Sporting Fashion: Outdoor Girls 1800 to 1960
Flashback On a day like today, German-American painter and caricaturist Lyonel Feininger was born July 17, 1871. Lyonel Charles Feininger (July 17, 1871 - January 13, 1956) was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist. In this image: Hellmut Seemann president of the foundation "Weimarer Klassik", right, talks with William Timken, US ambassador to Germany, left, about drawings of artist Lyonel Feininger after the opening of the "Feininger" exhibition at the Bauhaus museum in Weimar, eastern Germany, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2006.
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