| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Saturday, June 20, 2020 |
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| | Images of a stolen Van Gogh give experts hope it can be recovered | |
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In an undated handout image, the back of the stolen work, Van Goghs The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring. Experts said there are no published images of the back, suggesting the photograph was taken by the thieves. Handout via The New York Times.
AMSTERDAM (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The photographs look like the sort of images that kidnappers distribute with a ransom demand to establish that their victim is alive. A newspaperÂs front page is included and used as a time stamp to indicate that the images are recent. In this case, the subject isnÂt a kidnapping victim, but rather a Vincent van Gogh painting that was stolen from the Singer Laren Museum in the Netherlands in March. Arthur Brand, a private Dutch art crimes detective who is investigating the theft, said only that he received them from a Âsource in my network, without further elaboration. He posted them on his Twitter feed and shared them with a Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf. Brand suspects that the images were circulated in criminal circles in an effort to find a potential buyer. ÂThey are important because itÂs a proof of life, Brand said. ÂIn many ca ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day A mask-clad museum security guard stands by as a young visitor views artefacts at the Cyprus Museum in the capital Nicosia, on June 19, 2020. Cyprus says it has one of the lowest ratios of COVID-19 coronavirus cases per capita in Europe having tested around 12 percent of its population. The Republic of Cyprus has a total of 985 coronavirus cases and only 18 deaths. Iakovos Hatzistavrou / AFP
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 | | Microbes could 'help save Old Masters' and catch forgers | | Jean Dubuffet's Pourlèche Fiston to highlight Christie's sale | | Leonardo's 'quick eye' may be key to Mona Lisa's magnetism | 
Researchers said microbes clinging to the surface of paintings and sculptures can be used not only to help identify counterfeits, but they could also be crucial in halting the decay of some of the world's great cultural treasures. Photo: J. Craig Venter Institute.
by Fiachra Gibbons
PARIS (AFP).- Scientists said Thursday that microbes could be game changers in authenticating and preserving Old Master paintings and other art. A new US study could have far-reaching consequences for the $60 billion a year art market, in which provenance can be notoriously hazy and difficult to pin down. Researchers said microbes clinging to the surface of paintings and sculptures can be used not only to help identify counterfeits, but they could also be crucial in halting the decay of some of the world's great cultural treasures. The team from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) also raise the prospect of artists' DNA being used to seal the provenance of even centuries-old works. Microbiologist ... More | | 
Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985), Pourlèche Fiston, 1963. 114 x 146 cm. Estimate: 3,000,000-5,000,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.
PARIS.- Christies France will present Pourlèche Fiston by Jean Dubuffet in the Parisian section of ONE: a Global Sale of the 20th Century. An electrifying masterwork from 1963, the present work was gifted by the artist to Jacques Berne (1924-2007), a French poet, long-time friend and intellectual fellow, and it has remained within his family collection until now. Paul Nyzam, Senior specialist: It is a great honor to offer such a prime example of Jean Dubuffets Hourloupe series. Rare for its extraordinary chromatic range, Pourlèche fiston offers a kaleidoscopic celebration of color and is infused with the bustling energy and joie de vivre of the thriving post-War French capital. A vibrant testimony of Jean Dubuffet and Jacques Bernes beautiful friendship, the work will make its first ever appearance on the market. Dating from a pivotal moment in Jean Dubuffets career, Pourlèche fiston represents ... More | | 
Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, spouse of Francesco del Giocondo, La Joconde or Mona Lisa, Paris, Musée du Louvre, courtesy RMN-Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre) / Michel Urtado.
PARIS (AFP).- Scientists believe Leonardo da Vinci's super-fast eye may have helped him catch the enigmatic magic of Mona Lisa's smile. This superhuman trait, which top tennis and baseball players may also share, allowed the Renaissance master to capture accurately minute, fleeting expressions and even birds and dragonflies in flight. Art historians have long talked of Leonardo's "quick eye", but David S Thaler of Switzerland's University of Basel has tried to gauge it in a new study published Thursday alongside another paper showing how he gave his drawings and paintings uncanny emotional depth. Professor Thaler's research turns on how Leonardo's eye was so keen he managed to spot that the front and back wings of a dragonfly are out of synch -- a discovery which took slow-motion photography to prove four ... More |
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| | George Rodrigue's iconic pup breaks records at Modern & Contemporary Art Sale | | Rare first newspaper printing of The Star Spangled Banner achieves $325,000 | | Bob Dylan releases first original album in almost a decade | 
George Rodrigue (1944-2013), Blue Dog, 1996. Oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches. Sold for: $112,500.00.
DALLAS, TX.- A Blue Dog, an Orange Drink, a Leprechaun and a Yoke-Winged Man helped push Heritage Auctions Modern & Contemporary Art event past the $2.6 million mark Thursday. Almost 680 bidders worldwide participated in the sale, most through Heritages website and app. So many styles and mediums invited so many national and international bidders, Heritage Auctions Vice President of Modern & Contemporary Art Frank Hettig said, and that led to what we saw today: great results. One of the sales biggest surprises occurred early on, when it came time for George Rodrigues beloved dog Tiffany to go hunting for a new owner. After a vigorous round of bidding, involving clients both online and on the phone, Rodrigues 14-by-11-inch Blue Dog, painted in 1996, sold for $112,500 more than nine times its pre-auction estimate and a world record for a Blue Dog of that size. It was also the highest price Her ... More | | 
This first newspaper printing of what would become the national anthem was published in the Baltimore Patriot and Evening Advertiser on 20 September 1814. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies reported that the first dated printing of The Star-Spangled Banner achieved a total of $325,000 on Christies online sale platform. This rare newspaper printing was the first to appear at auction and was available for online bidding from June 2-18, 2020, as part of The Open Book: Fine Travel, Americana, Literature and History in Print and Manuscript auction during the Classic Week series of sales. The sale set a world auction record for a nineteenth-century newspaper. Peter Klarnet, Senior Specialist, Books & Manuscripts remarks This extremely rare issue of The Baltimore Patriot & Evening Advertiser is one of three copies confirmed in existencetwo of which are held by the American Antiquarian Society. Were thrilled with the result of the sale of this duplicate issue from the Societys extensive holdings, ... More | | 
In this file photo taken on July 22, 2012 Bob Dylan performs on stage during the 21st edition of the Vieilles Charrues music festival in Carhaix-Plouguer, western France. Fred TANNEAU / AFP.
by Peter Hutchison
NEW YORK (AFP).- US folk and rock legend Bob Dylan released his first album of original songs in eight years on Friday with the ten-track "Rough and Rowdy Ways." Dylan's 39th studio album, which comes 58 years after his first, features a 17-minute ballad about the assassination of John F Kennedy, as well as a tribute to American electric bluesman Jimmy Reed. "Rough and Rowdy Ways" is the Nobel winner's first collection of new material since "Tempest" in 2012, although he has released a number of cover albums in the interim. It sees Dylan mix gritty blues with folksy storytelling, his signature raspy voice delivering lyrics that switch between bleakly haunting and darkly humorous. At times he sounds warm, at other times scathing. In the album's ... More |
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| | Spain's 'Shadow of the Wind' author Ruiz Zafon dead at 55 | | Dee Dee Ramone Fender Precision Bass and Prince's Purple Rain Yamaha DX7 synthesizer sold at auction | | YouTube hit with discrimination suit by black video artists | 
In this file photo taken on November 17, 2016 Spanish novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafon poses during the presentation of his book El laberinto de los espiritus (The spirits' maze) at the Expiatory Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Barcelona. Leading Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafon, who scored an international hit with his Barcelona-based mystery "The Shadow of the Wind", has died, his publishing house said on June 19, 2020. He was 55. PAU BARRENA / AFP.
BARCELONA (AFP).- Leading Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafon, who scored an international hit with his Barcelona-based mystery "The Shadow of the Wind", died on Friday, his publishing house said. He was 55. "Today Carlos Ruiz Zafon has died, one of the best contemporary novelists. We will remember you forever, Carlos!" Planeta publishing house wrote on Twitter. In a statement, Planeta said Ruis Zafon had died at his Los Angeles home after battling cancer. "He will live on among us through his books," it added. Written in 2001, "The Shadow of the Wind" was his best-known work and one of the most successful Spanish novels of recent decades. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hailed Ruiz Zafon's work and expressed sorrow ... More | | 
The bass was one of three white Precision basses used by Dee Dee onstage between 1979 and mid-1982 when new basses were purchased.
BOSTON, MASS.- Dee Dee Ramone's Fender Precision Bass sold for $93,438, according to Boston-based RR Auction. The cream-colored American made Fender instrument, dating from 1975, with nickel tuning pegs, clear caulking to the periphery of the pick-guard, and adhesive remnants to neck plate. The bass was one of three white Precision basses used by Dee Dee onstage between 1979 and mid-1982 when new basses were purchased. Upon purchase in 1979, all three basses had their original black pick-guards removed and replaced with red ones. The Ramones guitar tech replaced and caulked the pick-guards to prevent the electronics shorting out from Dee Dee's profuse sweating during performances. The bass was Dee Dee's primary number one instrument and was later used for demo submissions, and recording until 1989. "Dee Dee Ramone helped define the look and sound for countless generations of punk and hard rock musicians," ... More | | 
In this file photo taken on November 21, 2019 the YouTube logo is seen at the entrance to the Google offices in Los Angeles, California. Robyn Beck / AFP.
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP).- A lawsuit filed this week in federal court accuses YouTube of discriminating against African American video makers and viewers by factoring in race when it comes to filtering or monetizing content. The suit filed in a courthouse in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose on Tuesday seeks class action status and names as defendants the leading video sharing platform and its parent companies Google and Alphabet. "Under the pretext of finding that videos violate some vague, ambiguous, and non- specific video content rule, defendants use computer driven racial, identity and viewpoint profiling and filtering tools to restrict, censor, and denigrate" blacks, the suit argued. YouTube uses metadata and other ":signals" from videos to make decisions about filtering content or placing money-making advertising based on race, according to the suit. "Defendants continue to knowingly, intentionally, and systematically block, demonetize, ... More |
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| | Flamenco clubs plead for help as iconic Madrid locale shuts | | Paris Ritz sells off its silver... and ashtrays | | The Portland Museum of Art promotes Shalini Le Gall to Chief Curator | 
Casa Patas owner Martin Guerrero speaks during an interview with AFP in Madrid on June 15, 2020. JAVIER SORIANO / AFP.
by Diego Urdaneta
MADRID (AFP).- After 32 years, the curtain has finally fallen at Madrid's Casa Patas flamenco club, its vibrant shows silenced by the epidemic which has dealt a dramatic blow to Spain's flamenco 'tablaos'. Hugely popular with tourists, these flamenco clubs say the pandemic has put them "at risk of extinction" and are urgently seeking government help to ensure their survival. "If they don't help us, the flamenco tablaos will disappear," warned Federico Escudero, head of ANTFES which represents around 100 clubs across Spain that employ 3,400 people and have been shuttered since mid-March. With the epidemic now well under control and Spain's economy slowly picking up steam, ANTFES says the very future of these clubs -- which provide work for "90 percent of flamenco artists" -- is at stake. Added to the UN's list of intangible ... More | | 
This file photograph taken on January 11, 2018, shows part of the facade of The Ritz Paris Hotel in Paris. Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- Historic silver, crystal and ashtrays from the Paris Ritz hotel are to go under the hammer in the French capital in a three-day sale starting Sunday. The mythic hotel on Place Vendome was a favourite of such icons as actress Audrey Hepburn, fashion designer Coco Chanel -- who spent part of World War II tucked up there with her lover, a German spy -- and the American writer Ernest Hemingway, who "liberated" its bar when the Allies retook the city. More than 1,500 lots from bed linen to bathrobes and ashtrays from the Ritz Club, which are estimated to go between 100 and 150 euros ($168) apiece, will be sold off by the auction house Artcurial from Sunday to Tuesday. Two years ago some of the hotel's historic furniture was sold off for 7.2 million euros -- seven times the estimate -- after a major refurbishment of the hotel. Bidders from 53 countries competed for the pieces, many of which dated from its earliest era ... More | | 
Le Gall has a Ph.D. in Art History from Northwestern University, specializing in 19th-century European art.
PORTLAND, ME.- The Portland Museum of Art announced the promotion of Shalini Le Gall to Chief Curator, Susan Donnell and Harry W. Konkel Curator of European Art, and Director of Academic Engagement. Le Gall will conceive and develop exhibitions, gallery installations, and programs that will enhance community engagement, access to the PMA collection, and the range of exhibitions the museum can present. Le Gall joined the PMA in early 2020 as the Susan Donnell and Harry W. Konkel Curator of European Art and Director of Academic Engagement after five years at the Colby College Museum of Art, where she worked as the Linde Family Foundation Curator of Academic Programs. In her additional role as Chief Curator, we look forward to Shalini leveraging her experience at Colby to create more opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching and learning, community outreach, and art-based social impact, as well find ... More |
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The Jagged Drama of Clyfford StillÂs Paintings
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| | More News |
 Note to dancers: 'Drop your self-consciousness' and get into itNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The choreographer Alonzo King has reached a point where he has no choice: He does what he does. You keep pushing out beauty, you keep pushing out truth, he said in a phone interview. Of course, its a challenge. This is a dark time, but its also a time of incredible possibility. Can you believe the world? Can you believe it? It hasnt stopped this veteran dance artist from working. He has created an idyllic, almost mystical video dance the first in a series of five that seems to transcend the barrier of the screen. King, the artistic director of Lines Ballet, a San Francisco company now in its 38th year, has spent a career delving into the connective power of dance and nature. Even with their moments of startling beauty, his ballets are never ornamental. Part 1 of the video series, There Is No Standing Still, is otherworldly ... More For classical music, spring was the season of solosNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- At a time when days can feel longer than months, a reminder: Spring has come and gone. When that season began, on March 20, the coronavirus pandemic had just brought much of the world to a standstill. In the months that have followed, classical music an industry more precarious than its moneyed veneer lets on has been devastated. In this country, live performances probably wont return before next year, at the earliest. Some institutions have continued to pay their musicians, but indefinite furloughs have become the norm. Freelance artists are suffering most. With the arrival of summer, bits of prelockdown life are returning. Restaurants are open for more than just takeout. You can get a haircut. And while American theaters remain dark, some European ones are beginning to offer live music to houses ... More 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Alien' star Ian Holm dies aged 88LONDON (AFP).- Oscar-nominated British actor Ian Holm, famed for his roles in Hollywood blockbusters "Lord of the Rings" and "Alien", died on Friday aged 88, his agent said. Nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal as the coach Sam Mussabini in the 1981 award-winning film "Chariots of Fire" -- which also saw him earn his second BAFTA and best supporting actor award at the Cannes Film Festival -- Holm appeared in a host of top international films. He played the main antagonist Ash in the first "Alien" movie, and featured in "The Madness of King George" and "The Aviator". Holm suffered with a Parkinson's related illness, his agency said in a statement. "It is with great sadness we can confirm that the actor Sir Ian Holm CBE passed away this morning at the age of 88," said the statement. "He died peacefully in hospital with his family and carer." US actress ... More Dealers of NAADAA come together to launch first Online Art & Antiques Fair NEW YORK, NY.- The National Antique & Art Dealers Association of America announced their inaugural online Antique Fair which will launch at 12pm EST on Wednesday, June 24th and will remain open 24 hours a day through Wednesday, July 8th. For 65 years, we have been presenting exhibitions, conferences and lectures to both specialists and the general public, and we are excited to have the opportunity to partner with InCollect in hosting and bringing to life our first digital program, states James McConnaughy, President, NAADAA. Click the link attached here to be directed to the online exhibition. There will be over 300 works on view spanning many categories, including but not limited to fine art, sculpture, jewelry, wallpaper, and illuminated manuscripts, many of which are being shown for the first time online. On view will be featured ... More Cities want to remove toxic monuments. But who will take them?NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The furor over the death of George Floyd has reignited demands to remove dozens of statues and monuments around the country that glorify Confederate generals, advocates for slavery, defenders of segregation and others whose racial views or conduct are now widely reviled. That has left a lingering question: What to do with them once they come down? Officials have removed 106 Confederate symbols since 2015, when a white supremacist gunman killed nine black worshippers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, according to Lecia Brooks, outreach director at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Of those 106 symbols, 64 were monuments, and just four of those were relocated. The vast majority of removed monuments too large for most museums to accommodate end ... More Seeking Shakespeare in the Park this summer? Turn on your radio.NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The coronavirus pandemic this year prompted the Public Theater to cancel its annual Free Shakespeare in the Park festival it just didnt seem possible to protect the health of either the audience or the cast. But the theater, reluctant to completely let go of a beloved summer staple it has sustained for nearly six decades, has decided to embrace an even older theatrical tradition: the radio play. The theater said Thursday that it has been working with WNYC to record Shakespeares Richard II as a four-part serial broadcast that will be aired July 13-16 and will also be available as a podcast. The radio production, directed by Saheem Ali, will feature much of the same cast that had been scheduled to perform in Central Park, starring André Holland (Moonlight) in the title role and now including Phylicia Rashad ... More National Museum of Women in the Arts launches new websiteWASHINGTON, DC.- The National Museum of Women in the Arts has launched a redesigned website at nmwa.org. The culmination of an 11-month project developed in collaboration with the creative agency Purple Rock Scissors and in consultation with accessibility experts at Prime Access Consulting, the site features simplified, intuitive navigation and contemporary design that provides a strong digital platform for the museums art, artists and advocacy. NMWAs advocacy for women in the arts is woven throughout the new site. Statistics that lay bare the art worlds gender disparities appear in engaging infographics. Pages on NMWAs advocacy initiatives, including the international #5WomenArtists campaign; Women to Watch exhibition series; and Women, Arts, and Social Change public programs, are enhanced by embedded social media ... More Christie's Post-War and Contemporary online-sale series totals $6.6 millionNEW YORK, NY.- With three consecutive sales, Vice (May 12 - May 27), Virtue (May 29 - June 12) and Mark Seliger: Art for Aid (May 28 - June 17), the Vice | Virtue sale series was organized thematically to offer works of art that touch upon our collective reality during these disrupted times. Together, these sales realized $6,633,600. Vice (May 12-27), a feel-good sale about the human inclination towards hedonistic escapism, totaled $2,216,100. The top three lots were Andy Warhol, Work Boots (Positive) which sold for $435,000, against a low estimate of $250,000; Fernando Botero, Standing Woman, which realized $350,000; and KAWS, KAWSBOB (OPEN MOUTH), PACKAGE PRINTING SERIES, which realized $300,000, against a low estimate of $100,000. Virtue (May 29 June 12), which explored goodness, reverie, color and fantasy, and focused ... More The Rubin Museum launches participatory installation "The Lotus Effect"NEW YORK, NY.- Today the Rubin Museum of Art launched a new participatory installation, The Lotus Effect, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lotuses take root in murky waters and burst into beautiful bloom above the surface. For The Lotus Effect, the Rubin invites members of the public to fold a lotus flower and dedicate their origami creation to someone or something that has helped them overcome a challenging time. When the Rubin reopens, people can contribute their folded piece to an installation in the Museum that will serve as a community-built symbol of gratitude and powerful reminder that collectively we can emerge from difficult moments. The Lotus Effect uses art-making as a tool to connect people to each other in order to inspire hope and resilience, and to remind individuals that even in impossible circumstances, change ... More Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center cancel fall performancesNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- With coronavirus cases sharply down in New York City, residents are preparing to return to dining outdoors and visiting hair salons as soon as next week. But as reopening continues this summer and fall, the citys major classical music institutions will be silent. On Thursday, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center announced they would cancel their fall seasons. Coming on the heels of similar announcements from the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic, the decisions make clear that there will be few, if any, large-scale performances before 2021 in one of the worlds musical centers. This was a very difficult decision for us to make, Clive Gillinson, Carnegies executive and artistic director, said in a statement. However, the safety of Carnegie Halls artists, audiences and staff is paramount. Lincoln ... More New Museum presents "Bedtime Stories": A digital project initiated by Maurizio CattelanNEW YORK, NY.- As part of its series of new digital initiatives, the New Museum is presenting Bedtime Stories," a project initiated by the artist Maurizio Cattelan. Inviting friends and other artists and performers he admires to keep us company, Cattelan imagined Bedtime Stories as a way of staying together during these days of isolation. Each participant has been asked to read a selection from their favorite booka sentence, passage, chapter, or moreto be shared with the New Museums online audiences. Some chose to read existing works, others to read their own writings, still others to create impromptu performances. Whether drawn from memory, imagination, or cherished volumes kept close at hand, the recordings by artists were captured quickly in an unfiltered fashion on phones or laptops in their homes or studios around the world. The ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, German painter Kurt Schwitters was born June 20, 1887. Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 - 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design, typography, and what came to be known as installation art. He is most famous for his collages, called Merz Pictures. In this image: Kurt Schwitters, Mz 302, Linden, 1921. Collage on paper, 7 1/8 x 5 5/8 in. Private collection. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.
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