| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |    | Established in 1996 | Sunday, February 4, 2024 |
| | Old-time modernity: Cycladic art at the Met | |
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Some of the 161 figures and vessels in white chiseled marble on display in the exhibition Cycladic Art: The Leonard N. Stern Collection on Loan From the Hellenic Republic, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on Jan. 25, 2024. A major collection of early Greek figures and vessels takes up long-term residence in New York a transformative event. (Amir Hamja/The New York Times)
by Roberta Smith
NEW YORK, NY.- New York City has added another jewel to its glittering cultural crown, and it takes up little more than one medium-size wall at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Youll find the wall in the Belfer Court, the first space on the right as you enter the Greek and Roman galleries from the Great Hall. Walk too fast and you may miss it. Slow down and prepare to be stunned by the largest display of ancient sculpture from the Greek islands known as the Cyclades ever seen in New York. It is titled Cycladic Art: The Leonard N. Stern Collection on Loan from the Hellenic Republic. Five large vitrines, usually three pairs of shelves each, cover the wall, their red felt interiors setting off the gleaming white chiseled marble of 120 figures and vessels. The shelves are dominated by around 70 small, spirited female figurines or idols, averaging around 16 inches in height and in one rare piece reaching more than 4 feet. These are the glory of Cycladic art, distinguished by their stylize ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day CUE Art Foundation presents worried notes, a solo exhibition by Keli Safia Maksud with mentorship from Abigail DeVille. In this image: Keli Safia Maksud, (our) making _ unmaking _ making _ unmaking, 2023. Embroidery and drawing on carbon paper, metal stud, metal tracks. Photo by Leo Ng
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| The home of Carter G. Woodson, the man behind Black History Month | | A fossilized tree that Dr. Seuss might have dreamed up | | Plan to resurface a pyramid in granite draws heated debate | 
An original typewriter at the rowhouse in Washington where Dr. Carter G. Woodson ran the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History on Jan. 23, 2024. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
by Anna Kodé
WASHINGTON, DC.- The origins of Black History Month can be traced back nearly 100 years to an unassuming, three-story brick row house in Washington. In 1922, Carter G. Woodson, known as the father of Black history, bought the home at 1538 Ninth St. for $8,000. The home served as the headquarters for the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (which is now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, or ASALH). It was where he ran the Associated Publishers, the publishing house focused on African American culture and history at a time when many other publishers wouldnt accept works on the topic. Its where The Journal of Negro History and The Negro History Bulletin were based, and its where he initiated the first Negro History Week the precursor to Black History Month in 1926. If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor ... More | | 
An undated photo provided by Matthew Stimson shows a fossilized tree, Sanfordiacaulis densifolia. (Matthew Stimson via The New York Times)
by Robin Catalano
NEW YORK, NY.- In the ancient prehistory of Earth, there is a chapter that waits to be told known as Romers gap. Researchers have identified a hiatus in the tetrapod fossil record between 360 million and 345 million years ago, after fish had begun to adapt to land and more than 80 million years before the first dinosaurs. While mysteries remain about evolutions experiments with living things during that 15 million-year gap, a fossilized tree described in a new paper offers greater insights to some of what was happening during this period in natures laboratory. Named Sanfordiacaulis densifolia, the tree had a 6-inch diameter with a nearly 10-foot-tall trunk composed not of wood, but of vascular plant material, like ferns. Its crown had more than 200 finely striated, compound leaves emanating from spiral-patterned branches that radiated 2 1/2 feet outward. Robert Gastaldo, a geology professor at Colby College in Maine who is an author of the study, which was published ... More | | 
Here is an image depicting the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three main Pyramids of Giza. Image created with ChatGPT.
by Julia Halperin
NEW YORK, NY.- When Egyptian authorities released a video last week describing plans to resurface the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of Gizas three main pyramids, with the granite blocks that once clad part of its exterior, the initial reaction was swift and harsh. Some archaeologists criticized the idea. An online comment that was widely picked up by news organizations likened it to trying to straighten the Tower of Pisa. Others worried that covering the familiar limestone walls of the pyramid with new cladding would have the effect of turning the historic Giza plateau into an ersatz Disneyland. The initiative was announced by Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of Egypts Supreme Council of Antiquities, who called it the project of the century in a video posted Jan. 25 on social media. He has said the endeavor, led by a coalition of Egyptian and Japanese experts, would begin with at least a year of study and that an international team would then decide ... More |
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| From ballet to blackjack, a dance pioneer's amazing odyssey | | Come together: A historic gathering of Beatles signatures tops Heritage's Feb. 24 memorabilia event | | Heritage Auctions welcomes Sarahjane Blum as Director of Illustration Art | 
George Lee at the Four Queens Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, on Jan. 16, 2024. (Saeed Rahbaran/The New York Times)
by Siobhan Burke
NEW YORK, NY.- Among the blaring lights and all-hours amusements of downtown Las Vegas, in a sea of slot machines at the Four Queens Hotel and Casino, George Lee sits quietly at a blackjack table, dealing cards eight hours a day, five days a week, a job hes been doing for more than 40 years. Lee, 88, was most likely in his usual spot when filmmaker Jennifer Lin was sifting through old photos at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in 2022, wondering what had become of a dancer with a notable place in ballet history. Pictured in a publicity shot for the original production of George Balanchines The Nutcracker, in the role known as Tea, was a young Asian dancer identified as George Li. For Lin, a veteran newspaper ... More | | 
George Harrison Handwritten Letter to Astrid Kirchherr Plus Photo (1961, 1962).
DALLAS, TX.- The stories we invest in tend to have a beginning, middle and end, and as we follow a favorite narrative we take ownership of it. The story of the Beatles from their earliest performances in Liverpool and Hamburg to their sunset recording sessions at Abbey Road has inspired countless music lovers to study the bands trajectory from its humble beginnings to its colossal rise to its breakup. In the collecting world, the sought-after autographs of John, Paul, George and Ringo span the bands full decade and then some and help tell its entire tale, from the first days of the British Invasion to the bands post-breakup contracts promoting the Beatles music. On Feb. 24, Heritage presents a Beatles "Coming to America" 60th Anniversary Signature ® Auction that features significant autographs and signatures of the entire band that bookend an extraordinary trajectory starting with an encounter on their firs ... More | | 
Before joining Heritage, Blum was the co-owner of the Minneapolis, Minn.-based Grapefruit Moon Gallery, an innovative and leading player in the fields of Illustration Art and photography.
DALLAS, TX.- Heritage Auctions has hired Sarahjane Blum as Director of Illustration Art. Blum, who will work in Heritages New York office, has accumulated nearly 20 years of experience as an art dealer, cultural historian, curator, and writer and is an internationally acknowledged expert in the field. With her addition to the Fine Art team, Heritage is ideally positioned to expand its reach as the leading auction house for Golden Age, Mainstream Vintage, Sci-Fi, Pulp, Pin Up, Contemporary Illustration Art and beyond, says Todd Hignite, Heritages Executive Vice President. We are committed to the continued growth of the category and couldnt be more excited to be working with Sarahjane to achieve our goals. Weve all long admired her as one of the absolute top experts in ... More |
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| Albert K. Butzel, lawyer and protector of the Hudson, dies at 85 | | Mysterious shipwreck washes ashore in Newfoundland | | CUE Art Foundation presents worried notes, a solo exhibition by Keli Safia Maksud | 
Albert Butzel at his home in Manhattan on June 7, 2000. (Librado Romero/The New York Times)
by Sam Roberts
NEW YORK, NY.- Albert K. Butzel, an unflinching lawyer who, by defeating giant public works projects that endangered the environment, benefited millions of beleaguered New York City subway riders and untold numbers of striped bass returning to spawn in the Hudson River, died on Jan. 26 in Seattle. He was 85. He died after falling at an assisted living facility, where he was being treated for Parkinsons disease, his daughter Kyra Butzel said. As wispy and unprepossessing as he could be caustic and cavalier, Butzel was regarded as a shrewd legal tactician who was instrumental in blocking Westway, a $4 billion federally financed landfill and highway project, first proposed in 1971, that would have run along the Hudson River, from the Battery north to West 42nd Street. He also helped bury a plan by Consolidated Edison to embed the worlds largest pumped-storage ... More | | 
A wooden ship that recently washed ashore in Cape Ray Cove, near the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in Newfoundland, Canada. (Corey Purchase via The New York Times)
by Rebecca Carballo
NEW YORK, NY.- Ever since a shipwreck washed ashore in the remote Canadian coastal area of Cape Ray on the island of Newfoundland in late January, its been causing a stir in the small community of about 250 people. Residents have posed for pictures with parts of the wooden ship, which a local hunter spotted and which is believed to be from the 19th century. Theyve encouraged authorities to secure the structure. And theyve speculated on social media about its mysterious origins. The posts, on a community page on Facebook, caught the attention of a local photographer, Corey Purchase, who lives 15 minutes from the area. He used a drone to take aerial photos showing the scale of the vessel, which he estimated to be about 90 feet long. The drone put it into perspective for sure, he said. It was a pretty amazing find. ... More | | 
Keli Safia Maksud, Detail of (our) making _ unmaking _ making _ unmaking, presented as part of worried notes, 2024. Photo by Leo Ng.
NEW YORK, NY.- CUE Art Foundation presents worried notes, a solo exhibition by Keli Safia Maksud with mentorship from Abigail DeVille. The exhibition, now open at CUEs gallery space (137 W. 25th Street), will remain on view until March 16, 2024. Attendance during gallery hours (WedSat, 126 pm) is free; no reservations are required. worried notes builds upon artist Keli Safia Maksuds ongoing interest in the formation of national identity, particularly in relation to post-colonial African statehood. Through sound, sculpture, installation, text, printmaking, and embroidery, Maksud explores notions of replication and standardization as enduring influences of colonialism and as processes that continue to shape individual and collective understandings of self. Utilizing diagrammatic systems of notation as a starting point, worried notes examines inherited identities, cultural memory, and received histories. A ... More |
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| Ithra opens Saudi Arabia's first Etel Adnan retrospective exhibition | | Young filmmaker lives his 'Fairy Tale' at Sundance | | Minneapolis artists' shanty village melts away amid climate chaos | 
Etel Adnan Between East and West, Ithra Center, 2024.
DHAHRAN.- The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture opened Etel Adnan, Between East and West, a major retrospective exhibition showcasing the works of Lebanese-American poet, artist, and philosopher Etel Adnan. One of the most renowned contemporary artists from the region, this is the first solo exhibition of Adnan's work in Saudi Arabia, running from 1 February - 30 June 2024. Curated by Dr. Sébastien Delot, formerly Director of LaM (Lille Métropole Musée dart moderne, dart contemporain et dart brut), the exhibition presents Etel Adnan's creative journey across all periods and mediums of her remarkably diverse career. Thanks to loans from significant international institutions from Sharjah Art Foundation, Sfeir-Semler Gallery and Sursock Museum as well as private collectors, Ithras Etel Adnan, Between East and West ... More | | 
Sean Wang, a first-time director, shares congratulations with one of the cast members of his film, Didi, at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Jan. 19, 2024. (Joel Barhamand/The New York Times)
by Nicole Sperling
PARK CITY, UTAH.- I feel like Im in a fairy tale, Sean Wang told the sold-out crowd gathered at the Ray Theater in Park City last month for his Sundance Film Festival debut. Wang, a 29-year-old filmmaker, was dressed in a black suit and white Vans (a nod to his skateboarding roots). He grabbed his chest in a show of how fast his heart was beating as he introduced his film, Dìdi. It is a coming-of-age story about an angsty, insecure 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy trying to find his place in the world. Im just going to take a few seconds to take this all in, he said before snapping a photograph of the audience. The warm crowd included Wangs family ... More | | 
Visitors view Close Knit Pavilion at the Art Shanty Projects on frozen Lake Harriet in Minneapolis on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (Jenn Ackerman/The New York Times)
by Patricia Leigh Brown
MINNEAPOLIS, MN.- Its not every art installation that instructs visitors to take small steps like a penguin. Then again, theres nothing quite like the Art Shanty Projects, in which intrepid Minnesota artists in insulated jumpsuits and ice cleats annually re-create traditional ice fishing huts, called shanties, in their own eccentric style on a frozen lake in Minneapolis. The structures they dream up such as a Hot Box Disco Inferno wrapped in space blankets, with a pulsating LED floor draw thousands of visitors to a temporary public space resembling Burning Man on ice. This year, it was thin ice. The idea that 19 artists shanties would rise on Lake Harriet Bde Unma in the Dakota ... More |
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Thom Browne, Michael Kors & Jason Wu on CFDA, American Design and the AMC Jumpsuit | Sotheby's
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| More News |
 Looking to watch movies and make friends? Join the club.NEW YORK, NY.- At Heart of Gold, a cozy bar in Queens, a mad scientist recently brought to life a corpse that went on a blood-drenched rampage. But the people nursing their beers there didnt call the authorities. They cheered. Thats because the undead were marauding on a screen, set up at the front of the bar, that was illuminated by Re-Animator, Stuart Gordons 1985 horror-science fiction splatterfest. The occasion was a Monday night gathering of the Astoria Horror Club, which meets regularly to watch scary movies over hot dogs, mulled wine and other anything-but-popcorn concessions. Before the film, Tom Herrmann and Madeleine Koestner, the clubs co-founders, introduced Re-Animator with a trigger warning about a sexual assault scene and a reminder to generously tip the staff. About 35 people watched the movie seated, ... More  Franco Fasoli, Timm Blandin, and Jean Bosphore present 'Ordinary Perspectives' at MAGMA GalleryBOLOGNA.- MAGMA gallery is presenting 'Ordinary Perspectives', with artists Franco Fasoli (Argentina, 1981), Timm Blandin (France, 1987) and Jean Bosphore (France, 1995), from 2 February to 30 March 2024. The different narratives of Fasoli, Blandin and Bosphore interact in a three-way conversation in which figurative art is the chosen medium; messages that use the power and appeal of strong, bold, sometimes contrasting colours to convey equally defined world views. On one hand, Bosphores artistic production, convey a dystopian, futuristic vision of the world, an investigation of humanity and at the same time a critique of contemporary society; the same line of complaint is also present in the work of Fasoli, who puts into art the confrontation-clash - between different cultures, the contradictions that societies carry within themselves, as well as leading ... More  Documentary download: 3 celebrity portraits worth your timeNEW YORK, NY.- Pop open the documentaries section of your friendly local streaming service, and a bevy of movies about celebrities will greet you. Rockers, politicians, artists, authors, athletes increasingly everyone youve heard of has a documentary, and probably served as a producer on it, too. The appeal of such films is obvious: If you like someone already, you get to hear them talk about themselves. If you know you should like someone, then youve got a quick introduction to set you on your way to fandom. Thats the appeal of two documentaries released this week, The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix) and Dario Argento Panico (Shudder). The first is a lighthearted look at the recording of We Are the World, full of archival footage from the actual recording in 1985 and reminiscences by figures like Bruce Springsteen and Lionel ... More  'The Connector,' a show that asks: Should news feel true or be true?NEW YORK, NY.- Director Daisy Prince had a flash of inspiration for a new show nearly 20 years ago: She wanted to explore the fallout from a string of partially or entirely fabricated news articles (by writers such as Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair). The show would be set at a New York City magazine with a storied history a publication much like The New Yorker. Also, it would be a musical. I had become somewhat fixated on all these falsified news stories these larger questions about fact, truth and story, said Prince, who directed Jason Robert Browns The Last Five Years and Songs for a New World. She jotted the thought down in her great big notebook of ideas. But by the time she finally returned to it, around 2010, she was certain she had missed out. I thought by the time we were going to be able to tell this story, it would no longer be ... More  Review: In 'Jonah,' trust nothing and no oneNEW YORK, NY.- Roundabout Theater Companys website tells you right up front that the title character of Jonah, Rachel Bonds slip-slidey, stunning new play, is not all he seems. And if you click on the link to the productions content advisory, self-harm, suicide and physical abuse are among the topics it flags. All of that can leave a theatergoer in a state of wariness which, it turns out, is a great way to watch this play: trusting nothing, unsure where reality lies, guard firmly raised against any kind of charm. Mind you, Jonah will charm you anyway, and make you laugh. So will Jonah, the adorable day student (or is he?) whom Ana, our teenage heroine, meets at her boarding school (or does she?). Who and what is illusory here? The notes I took during the show are filled with skepticism like that about my own perceptions, even as Danya ... More  Review: At City Ballet, Tiler Peck lets the music show the wayNEW YORK, NY.- There is a special bond between a dancer and a piece of music. A dancer can ascend to a state beyond surface prettiness to one of true, embodied grace. If music has the ability to set a dancer free, how can a dancer instilled with innate musicality translate those sensations to other bodies, to other minds? For her first choreographic act at New York City Ballet, Tiler Peck, a longtime principal, has chosen her music, by Francis Poulenc, wisely: It is as sparkling as her dance, Concerto for Two Pianos, which had its debut Thursday at the David H. Koch Theater. In a long exhalation, she sets her dancers free. There is a resilience that lives within grace, and Peck shows this too, in a later moment of her three-act ballet. Two of her featured dancers, India Bradley and Emma Von Enck, enter from either side of the stage. Each ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
Gabriele Münter 
TARWUK 
Awol Erizku 
Leo Villareal
Flashback On a day like today, French painter and sculptor Fernand Léger was born February 04, 1881. Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (February 4, 1881 - August 17, 1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style. His boldly simplified treatment of modern subject matter has caused him to be regarded as a forerunner of pop art. In this image: Fernand Leger, Deux femmes tenant des fleurs, 1954. Oil on canvas, 21 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches.
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