| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Saturday, May 16, 2020 |
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| | Bulgaria find reveals 'earliest evidence' of Homo sapiens in Europe | |
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Bulgarian local guide Zhelyazko Velikov walks inside the Bacho Kiro Cave, near the city of Dryanovo, northern Bulgaria, on May 13, 2020. Scientists say a tooth and bone fragments discovered in the Bulgarian cave of Bacho Kiro have revealed the earliest proven presence of Homo sapiens -- or modern humans -- on the European continent. The finds from the cave in northern Bulgaria, were analysed by an international team of scientists and date back to the "period when Homo sapiens first arrived in Europe from the Middle East and lived alongside Neanderthals, which lasted between 5,000 and 10,000 years," Nikolay Sirakov, professor at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences' Archaeological Institute told AFP on May 12, 2020. NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV / AFP.
SOFIA (AFP).- Scientists say a tooth and bone fragments discovered in a Bulgarian cave have revealed the earliest proven presence of Homo sapiens -- or modern humans -- on the European continent. The finds from a cave in Bacho Kiro, northern Bulgaria, were analysed by an international team of scientists and date back to the "period when Homo sapiens first arrived in Europe from the Middle East and lived alongside Neanderthals, which lasted between 5,000 and 10,000 years," Nikolay Sirakov, professor at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences' Archaeological Institute told AFP on Tuesday. "Previously scientists estimated that these events took place between 38,000 and 42,000 years ago," said Sirakov, one of the leaders of the team which carried out the excavations. "We've now proved that they took place earlier," he added. The research into the findings was published this ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day arebyte Gallery are presenting Best Effort Network, a series of new and re-made works from 2013 - 2020 by 90's net art pioneer Olia Lialina. The exhibition comprises Summer (2013), Best Effort Network (2015/2020), and Hosted (2020). This exhibition will be Olia's first solo presentation in London. Spanning more than 25 years, Olia Lialina's work has made her an important voice in new media art and theory. Often gestural and illustrative, her works address the systematic nature of the Internet through manifestations of intimacy between hardware, software and human mediation. In addition to working solely, direct and ancillary collaborative efforts with other artists, websites and browsers are brought into play to reveal the complex networks of data flow.
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 | | Christie's announces a new global 20th century art sale - four cities one auction experience | | Making tracks: ancient footprints shed light on early humans | | Last-ditch bid to save Oslo building with Picasso murals | 
Zao Wou-Ki, 21.10.63, oil on canvas, painted in 1963 (detail). Estimate: In excess of US$10 million. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.
NEW YORK, NY.- On July 10, Christies will present ONE: A Global Sale of the 20th Century, a new auction event offering Impressionist and Modern, Post-War and Contemporary art and Design. Utilizing streaming technology, the first of its kind relay-style auction will take place in real time across the time zones from four of the art worlds major hubs: Hong Kong, Paris, London and New York. The sale will offer a range of exceptional works over four consecutive sessions led by principle auctioneers in each region, starting in Hong Kong. The new format aims to create an adaptable, inclusive and engaging selling platform to present important works of art to global bidders. Presented to both in-person and online audiences, the event will capture the excitement and drama of the gala evening sale, while offering access regionally and the accessibility of the online platform. The new auction will replace the New ... More | | 
The Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano captured a huge trove of ancient human footprints. Photo: Robert Clark, Nat Geo Image Collection.
TOKYO (AFP).- Thousands of years ago, a group of people took a walk in what is now Tanzania. The footprints they left behind are now offering insights into ancient human life. The group of more than 400 footprints was made sometime between 5,000 and 19,000 years ago at a site called Engare Sero, south of Tanzania's Lake Natron. It's the largest group of human footprints ever found in Africa, and offers a glimpse at what humans in the so-called Late Pleistocene period looked like, as well as how they may have gathered food. "Sites like Engare Sero form over very short time intervals, and so they capture snapshots in time of ancient humans moving across their landscapes," said Kevin Hatala, assistant professor of biology at Chatham University, who led the research. "Given the rarity and value of this variety of fossil evidence, part of what makes our discovery exciting is its magnitude, with over 400 footprints preserved ... More | | 
A picture taken on May 12, 2020 shows protest posters in front of a government-building adorned with Picasso murals in Oslo. Pierre-Henry DESHAYES / AFP.
by Pierre-Henry Deshayes
OSLO (AFP).- Face masks are rare and social distances vary but the human chain spreads out, braving the risk of infection, as activists in Oslo make a last-ditch bid to save a building adorned with artwork designed by Spanish master painter Pablo Picasso. Damaged in rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik's July 2011 attacks, the "Y Block", a government building complex named for its shape and completed in 1969, is due to be demolished any day now. On its grey cement walls are two Picasso drawings, sandblasted by Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, who collaborated with the Spaniard. On the facade facing the street, "The Fishermen" depicts three men hauling their oversized catch on board their boat. In the lobby, "The Seagull" shows the bird, its wings spread wide, devouring a fish. Etched in the Spanish painter's ... More |
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| | The National Gallery is now on the nation's streets | | This atlas of art and memory is a wonder of the modern world | | Virus permitting, Bolshoi hopes for September curtain-up | 
Vincent Van Gogh, Sunflowers (detail), 1888.
LONDON.- The National Gallery has teamed up with digital outdoor screen provider, Ocean Outdoor, to bring some of the most famous and uplifting works of art out from behind the Gallerys temporarily closed doors to thousands of people the length and breadth of the UK. In a time when museums and galleries are closed to help contain the spread of coronavirus, opportunities to stand and enjoy the benefits of immersing yourself in a painting are limited. Ocean Outdoor and the National Gallery are working together to bring great art to the streets in locations including: Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Southampton. Ocean Outdoor has kindly offered its huge digital sites to the National Gallery free for the next two weeks in order to display images of seven of the Gallerys most iconic paintings: Van Goghs Sunflowers (1888) and A Wheatfield, with Cypresses ... More | | 
Aby Warburg, Naples, May 1929, Photo: The Warburg Institute.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- For most of us, its natural to look at many pictures at the same time. We do it every day via internet searches and digital pinup boards even refrigerator doors have become ad hoc photo albums. But viewing fine art pictures in this nonlinear way, with no accompanying text and outside of a museum, was radical 100 years ago. This is partly what makes Aby Warburgs Bilderatlas Mnemosyne (Mnemosyne Atlas, in English), an encyclopedic collection of almost 1,000 images, so significant. Warburg, a German art historian and cultural theorist, worked on the atlas from 1925 until his death in 1929. To make it, he took reproductions of artworks and images of coins, celestial maps, calendars and genealogical tables, as well as advertisements posters and postage stamps, and pinned them to wooden boards covered with black ... More | | 
Director general of the Bolshoi Theatre Vladimir Urin attends an AFP interview at the theatre in Moscow on May 15, 2020. Yuri KADOBNOV / AFP.
by Anna Malpas
MOSCOW (AFP).- The legendary Bolshoi Theatre, whose dancers and singers are currently under virus lockdown, hopes to hold its first performances in September, the general director Vladimir Urin told AFP on Friday. Under his "optimistic scenario," rehearsals will begin in late July, allowing performers enough time to limber up their skills, Urin said. "I very much hope that in mid-September we will open the season." Nevertheless, Urin stressed the Bolshoi will not be able to open until Russia's last virus restrictions are lifted, while the country has the second-highest number in the world of COVID-19 infections, with 262,843 cases. Even if audiences could socially distance and wear masks, those on stage cannot, he pointed out. "A musical ... More |
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| | The Lawrence Miller Collection highlighted by books signed by presidents up for auction | | Sotheby's online sales top $100M with record-setting $13.7M Contemporary Art Online Day Auction | | Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt opens retrospective exhibition of Frank Walter's work | 
John F. Kennedy Signed Book: 'As We Remember Joe'. Now At: $2310. Estimate: $8,000+
BOSTON, MASS.- RR Auction presents The Lawrence Miller Collection with online bidding Friday, May 15 through May 21. Dr. Lawrence E. Miller, an orthopedic surgeon and psychiatrist for more than 60 years, began collecting autographs in 1960 by writing to "the people that changed the world." In his quest for confirmation of political perspectives and historical relevance, Dr. Miller sought out and personally met many US presidents, foreign heads of state, and other famous dignitaries who gladly signed his books. As his collection grew over the decades, he shared his long-time passion for reading and studying history with his family and friends. Dr. Miller routinely spoke to his four children and eleven grandchildren of the rich history and majesty of America as a way to ensure the passage of a legacy that highlighted his thirst for learning. This specially curated sale features more than 500 lots from Dr. Miller's collection, highlighted ... More | | 
Brice Marden, Window Study No. 4, 1985. Sold for $1.1 million. Courtesy Sothebys.
NEW YORK, NY.- Sothebys first ever Contemporary Art Day Auction Online concluded yesterday, totaling $13.7 million the highest total ever for an online sale at Sothebys and more than double the previous record. The sale marks more than $100 million total in global online sales at Sothebys in 2020, nearly 5 times the total for online sales during the same period in 2019. The auction saw competitive bidding, with international bidding across 35 countries and 29% of all buyers new to Sothebys. Nicole Schloss, Co-Head of Sothebys Day Auctions of Contemporary Art in New York, commented: We are thrilled with the results of our first ever Online Day sale of Contemporary Art, which was a major test of the market for online sales at this value level, and was resoundingly successful. To set a new record for an online sale as Sothebys is a testament to the strength of market at all levels right now and th ... More | | 
Frank Walter, Untitled, o. J., Photo: Axel Schneider.
FRANKFURT.- There is no typical Frank Walter. His range as a painter is extensive and unfettered. His perspective is all his own. His oeuvre seems to stand in opposition to the permanent ascriptions he was subjected to throughout his lifetime, with respect to race and nation. His cosmological paintings have a transcendental glow, his abstract works are systematic, the individuality of his figurative painting is captivating, and his landscapes gain strength through their clear abstractions. All his works exhibit an unusual degree of clarity and directness. This sense of focus in his works, which also comes from their small size, offer us a way of approaching them directly. The complexity of Walters subject matter is matched by the great variety of his materials. He created works on wood, Masonite, cardboard, paper, linoleum, and the backs of photographs, and he painted and drew with oil paint, tempera, watercolor, crayon, pencil, shellac, and glitter. When he ... More |
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| | Austria gives go-ahead for cultural events to restart | | Philip Guston's lampoon of Sprio Agnew offered at Bonhams Modern and Contemporary Art sale | | Major contemporary artists join digital public art campaign in support of essential workers | 
Mannequins are placed at a table of a bar in Vienna, Austria to help customers keep the social distancing rules on May 15, 2020 as Austria reopened all cafes and restaurants taking a further step towards ending lockdown measures brought in to tackle the new coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. JOE KLAMAR / AFP.
VIENNA (AFP).- Austria's government said Friday it would allow cultural events for up to 100 spectators from the end of the month as the country continues emerging from its coronavirus lockdown. The government had come under criticism for failing to present a plan for reopening the country's vital cultural sector with its top culture official, Ulrike Lunacek, resigning on Friday. Shortly after Lunacek's resignation, Health Minister Rudolf Anschober announced in a hastily convened press conference that events seating up to 100 people would be allowed from May 29. The number of spectators permitted will go up to 250 people from July 1, when cinemas will also be able to reopen. From August 1, events for up to 500 people will be allowed, Anschober added. Larger scale events of ... More | | 
Philip Guston, Untitled, pen on paper, signed and dedicated, c.1971 Estimate: $25,000 - 35,000. Photo: Bonhams.
NEW YORK, NY.- Richard Nixons tempestuous first term as President of the United States (1968-72) caused despair among Americas artistic community. In the summer of 1971, close friends, novelist Philip Roth and abstract expressionist-turned-existential painter Philip Guston, put their despondency to creative use. Roth wrote the satirical Our Gang and, inspired by his friends work and conversation, Guston produced his famous series of cartoons excoriating Nixon and his cronies. A work from that time lampooning Nixons Vice President Spiro T Agnew as a set of golf clubs will be offered at Bonhams Modern and Contemporary Art sale which runs online from 13-27 May. Guston dedicated and gave the drawing to Barbara Sproul, who was romantically involved with Roth at the time. It is estimated at $25,000-35,000. Hawkish on Americas involvement in Vietnam, popular with conservatives and loathed by ... More | | 
Public service announcement by Nekisha Durrett. Photo: Maria Baranova.
NEW YORK, NY.- Times Square Arts, For Freedoms and Poster House announced the second phase of their now multi-city campaign, which is on view on digital displays throughout all five boroughs of New York City and on JCDecaux screens in Boston and Chicago. Each artwork acknowledges the continued service of essential workers. Starting today, phase two of the campaign features artworks by major contemporary artists Alixa Garcia, Carrie Mae Weems, Christine Sun Kim, Christine Wong Yap, Duke Riley, Jenny Holzer, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, G.O.N.G. with Mel Chin, Nekisha Durrett, Paula Crown, Pedro Reyes, and Xaviera Simmons. These artists join the graphic designers organized by Poster House and PRINT, whose work has been on view since the campaigns launch in April, including Ola Baldych, Seymour Chwast, Pablo Delcan, Matt Dorfman, Milton Glaser, Jessica Hische, Joe Hollier, Mirko Ilić, Maira Kalman, Ross MacDonald, Bobby Martin ... More |
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Exhibition Tour---Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara
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| | More News |
 Machu Picchu to reopen with free admission to PeruviansLIMA (AFP).- Peru will allow some locals free admission to Machu Picchu and other archeological sites in a bid to kickstart its tourist industry, the government said Tuesday. The South American country's trade and tourism ministry said the move would help boost the sector, which is expected to lose $4 billion this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. "To reactivate tourist activity, which has been affected by the spread of COVID-19, we must adapt to new forms of tourism," the ministry said. Entry to 55 archaelogical sites, as well as 22 reserves and national parks in the Amazon rainforest region, will be free to public service employees, children and pensioners between July and December. Peru's government is due to ease a nine-week long quarantine on May 24. More than 1.5 million tourists, mostly from aboard, visited the 15th century stone citadel of Machu ... More Neue Auctions' internet-only pandemic relief auction will directly benefit dealers affected by the COVID-19 BEACHWOOD, OH.- Neue Auctions has scheduled a Pandemic Relief Auction for Saturday, May 30th, at 11 am Eastern time, in an effort to support local antiques and fine arts dealers in and around the Cleveland area. The online auction will consist of many "old new-stock" antiques, decorative art, fine art and jewelry, all consigned by local northeast Ohio dealers. Many shops have had to close and many shows have been cancelled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Cynthia Maciejewski of Neue Auctions. We have a reduced seller rate for these dealers, so bidders can rest assured that any participation in this sale will directly impact these dealers who will realize a greater portion of proceeds from each lot purchased. In addition, one of Neues bidding platforms Liveauctioneers.com will donate 80 percent of proceeds ... More Civil War-used revolver could top $50k at Heritage AuctionsDALLAS, TX.- An extremely rare .44-caliber revolver used in the Civil War could bring $50,000 or more in Heritage Auctions Arms & Armor, Civil War & Militaria Auction June 7 in Dallas, Texas. J.H. Dance & Bros. Confederate Percussion Single Action Revolver with History of Use by Horace G. Young, 5th Texas Cavalry (estimate: $50,000+) was given by Young shortly after the Civil War ended to a recipient whose family held on to it for more than 140 years. The rarity of the weapon can be traced to its low production numbers: it is believed Dance & Bros. produced no more than 500 guns, with just 275-350 in this .44-caliber configuration. Young enlisted in Capt. Willis Lang's Lancer Corps, which was incorporated as Company B of the 5th Texas Cavalry, in 1861. He served with the regiment through the New Mexico campaign before returning to Texas to defend ... More Joyce Linker appointed Chair of Contemporary Jewish MuseumSAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The Contemporary Jewish Museum announced the appointment of Joyce Linker as Chair of the Board of Trustees. Linker will begin in her new position, a one-year term, on July 1, 2020. The longestÂconsecutively serving Trustee, Linker joined the Board in 1987, which marked the beginning of her long and remarkable history with The CJMincluding her pivotal role in founding The Museum in 1984. Linker served as Chair once before from 1994-1995, when she stewarded negotiations with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency at a key moment in the procurement of a new home for The Museum. She was also Co-chair of the Building Committee that selected renowned architect Daniel Libeskind to design The CJMs award-winning building on Mission St., and served on the Search Committee that hired ... More The show's delayed, but they're still keeping 'company'NEW BRAUNFELS, TX (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The revival of Company was in previews and 10 days from opening when Broadway shut down. And opening night was meant to be especially special, timed to the 90th birthday of the musicals composer, Stephen Sondheim. Soon after, the shows director, Marianne Elliott, returned to her husband and producing partner, Nick Sidi, and their daughter in London, while one of its stars, Patti LuPone, headed to the Connecticut home she shares with her husband, Matthew Johnston, and their son. Prompted by The New York Times, they agreed to share their email exchanges during those first weeks, a conversation that touched on plans for the show and for Elliott & Harper, its production company (optimistic); their respective nations leaders (pessimistic); a former colleagues health (worrisome); and ... More National Museums Northern Ireland launches new Florence Nightingale exhibition digitallyHOLYWOOD.- In the week that marked the bicentennial anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the pioneer credited as the founder of modern nursing, a new digital exhibition has been launched by National Museums NI and the Florence Nightingale Foundation to highlight the contribution that nursing and midwifery has made to life in Northern Ireland. Florence Nightingale Nursing and Midwifery 200 Years was originally set to open at the Ulster Museum in March before social distancing measures were introduced. Its launch as a digital exhibition coincides with the 200th year anniversary of Florence Nightingales birth (May 12) and International Year of the Nurse and Midwife 2020. The special exhibition explores the vital work of nurses and midwives through two centuries of nursing, covering themes such as nursing in wartime, nursing during The Troubles, and ... More NADA announces new digital art fair initiative FAIR, to take place May 20-June 21, 2020NEW YORK, NY.- The New Art Dealers Alliance, the definitive non-profit arts organization dedicated to the cultivation, support, and advancement of new voices in contemporary art, is announced FAIR, built in partnership with Artlogic. FAIR is a new art fair initiative designed to be entirely online, function cooperatively, and act as a benefit for NADAs community of galleries, nonprofits and artists. Taking place May 20June 21, 2020, FAIR will directly support 119 NADA Gallery Members and 80 other galleries that have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, totaling nearly 200 galleries around the world. FAIR is NADAs response to the current situation, in line with our commitment to supporting a global community of galleries and artists, said NADA Executive Director Heather Hubbs. While many of these art spaces have been temporarily ... More Steven Lee Hansen named Dean at Munson-Williams School of ArtUTICA, NY.- Steven Lee Hansen of Edmond, Okla, has been named Dean of the School of Art at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. He is currently Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Design, University of Central Oklahoma. From 1987 to 2017, he chaired the Department of Visual Art, Communication and Design at Andrews University, Mich. In his new position, Hansen will serve as the chief administrative officer of the Munson-Williams School of Art division, comprised of PrattMWP College of Art and Design and the Community Arts Education Program. PrattMWP is an extension campus of Pratt Institute, providing freshman and sophomore instruction in fine arts, communications design, photography, and art and design education since 2000. The Community Arts Education program offers noncredit professional art instruction to children, teens, ... More Jane Lombard Gallery exhibits 'Alma' by Nina YuenNEW YORK, NY.- Jane Lombard Gallery is presenting Alma by Nina Yuen, featured in conjunction with their current viewing room In Celebration of the Natural World. With most major cities worldwide still adhering to stay-at-home orders, the concept of ones environment has stretched to include interior spaces; the inside of our homes, apartments and studios have become our natural worlds. Re-defining boundaries and space in the midst of pandemic isolation creates a platform for personal introspection, one that can be welcome for some, and detrimental for others. Alma explores the effects of this social partitioning, focusing on physical and emotional isolation, virtual communal dependency, the mourning of human interaction and the subsequent existential dread that follows in tow. The details of the script for Alma were modeled from data that the artist ... More The Shed's new digital commission addresses mourning in the time of COVID-19NEW YORK, NY.- In Passing Notes, musicians Troy Anthony and Jerome Ellis create a virtual sanctuary on the Zoom digital platform in which the public is invited to participate in a collaborative ritual loosely based on the seven stages of grief. The two have composed original music and text, collaborating as if passing notes to each other at school. For one evening only, on Sunday, May 17 at 6 pm ET, the artists will open a space for participants to honor the healers in our communities, address the racialized and gendered injustices exposed by the coronavirus, mourn those who have died during the COVID-19 crisis, and celebrate new habits, practices, and relationships that have been born during this time. Passing Notes is the third installment of Up Close, The Sheds digital commissioning program. The concept arose out of a conversation between ... More A 92-year-old piano teacher won't let students miss Bach in the pandemicNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- For more than 50 years, Cornelia Vertenstein, 92, has taught piano lessons from her home in Denver. Every week, through all those years, a parade of children came to her door, books in hand. They practiced for an hour at the Chickering & Sons piano that Vertenstein and her former husband, both Holocaust survivors from Romania, bought for $600 in 1965, two years after landing in the United States. And when the children left, at least the little ones, Vertenstein gave them a sticker for encouragement. They gave her a hug. The coronavirus has put an end to those visits. But Vertenstein would not let it put an end to the lessons. And she certainly would not let it cancel spring recitals. I believe strongly in continuity, Vertenstein said. My students learn to be persistent in what they are doing. I try to teach them not only ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, Polish-American painter Tamara de Lempicka was born May 16, 1898. Tamara Lempicka (born Maria Górska; 16 May 1898 - 18 March 1980), also known as Tamara de Lempicka, was a Polish painter active in the 1920s and 1930s, who spent her working life in France and the United States. She is best known for her polished Art-Deco portraits of aristocrats and the wealthy, and for her highly stylized paintings of nudes. In this image: A man stands beside the painting "M. Tadeusz Lempicki" during the exhibition of works of art made by Tamara de Lempicka which opened at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City.
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