| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Sunday, April 18, 2021 |
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| | Michelangelo's David gets a 3D-printed twin | |
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In this file photo a person takes a photo of Michelangelo's David, one of the world's most famous statues, after cleaning by Italian restorers from the "friends of Florence association" on February 29, 2016 at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, where the statue has been kept since 1873. ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP.
ROME (AFP).- Standing just as tall but weighing 10 times less, an exact replica of Michelangelo's statue of David created using 3D printers is covered with marble dust in a workshop in Florence. Italy has commissioned the copy of the Renaissance masterpiece, which lives in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence, to represent the country at the Dubai Expo 2021 starting in October. It was made by a team of technicians at Hexagon Italia, under the curatorship of the University of Florence, who produced a high-definition physical copy finished off by master restorers. There were major challenges, not least that the statue is huge, standing at 5.2 metres tall (17 feet). It is also one of the world's most famous sculptures, requiring close attention to detail. But unlike previous casts, the process has the benefit of being carried out without any risk of damage. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Italian piano craftsman Luigi Borgato poses in his workshop with the Doppio Borgato (Rear), an imposing assembly of two grand pianos on top of each other, with 37 pedals, in Borgo Veneto, near Padua on April 8, 2021. Italian craftsman Luigi Borgato grew his business into a prestigious brand capable of attracting buyers from all over the world, until the coronavirus pandemic abruptly put a halt to it all. MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP
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| The Espace Louis Vuitton Beijing opens an exhibition dedicated to works by Alberto Giacometti | | Exhibition brings together a selection of rare artist publications by Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hans Arp | | Prince Philip's car becomes Sri Lankan royal artefact | 
Alberto Giacometti, [Buste d'homme assis (Lotar III)], vers 1965, Bronze Susse Fondeur, fonte de 1968 E.A. I/II 65,5 x 28,2 x 35,5 cm. Courtesy of the Fondation Louis Vuitton. © Sucession Alberto Giacometti (Fondation Alberto et Annette Giacometti, Paris) © Adagp, Paris 2021.
BEIJING.- The Espace Louis Vuitton Beijing is presenting an exhibition dedicated to major artist Alberto Giacometti. This presentation has been produced in the framework of the Fondation Louis Vuittons « Hors-les-murs » programm, showcasing holdings of the Collection at the Espaces Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, Munich, Venice, Beijing, Seoul and Osaka, thus carrying out the Fondations intent to mount international projects and make them accessible to a broader public. Born in 1901 in Switzerland, Alberto Giacmetti moved to Paris (France) in 1922. He set his sights on the Montparnasse district, where he lived and worked until his death in 1966. Despite the almost instant recognition of his work, and the friendship he forged with several personalities such as André Breton, Georges Bataille, André Masson and Michel Leiris, Giacometti quickly turned away from surreal objects that made him famous to refocus on the model. ... More | | 
Hans Arp, Soleil recerclé (Around the Sun), 1966. Paris, Louis Broder (publ.) 16 coloured woodcuts on Japon nacre paper, 48.3 x 38.1 cm. Daniel Segmüller & Ruth Seiler Collection © Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin/Rolandswerth / 2021, ProLitteris, Zurich. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Jon Etter.
ZURICH.- In a special presentation at Hauser & Wirth Publishers HQ Zurich, Sophie Taeuber-Arp & Hans Arp: Cooperations Collaborations brings together a selection of rare artist publications by Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hans Arp from the collection of Daniel Segmüller and Ruth Seiler. The selected books and portfolios on view, made during the Dada movement onwards, celebrate artists coming together to forge new ideas in the face of challenging times. The collection features early examples of artistic collaboration in Dada Zurich with figures such as Tristan Tzara and Richard Huelsenbeck, as well as the work of celebrated modernist figures such as Max Ernst, Max Bill, Sonia Delaunay, and Alberto Magnelli. Original copies of Taeuber-Arps magazine Plastique/Plastic are also on view in the presentation, which coincides with the major travelling retrospective Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction at the ... More | | 
Galle Face Hotel chairman Sanjeev Gardiner (R) and his son Seshaan pose with the 1935 Standard Nine vintage car which is claimed to be owned and the first car of Prince Philip (not pictured) now acquired by the Gardiner family in Colombo on April 14, 2021. Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP.
by Amal Jayasinghe
COLOMBO (AFP).- An almost 90-year-old car that once belonged to Britain's late Prince Philip is now the centrepiece of a seaside museum in Sri Lanka. The Duke of Edinburgh, whose funeral will be on Saturday, was a car aficionado who bought the 1935 Standard Nine for 12 pounds when he was based in Colombo with the British Navy in 1940. "When he came back in the early 1950s, he came and saw the car," said Sanjeev Gardiner, who has kept the vehicle at his Galle Face Hotel in Colombo. "When he saw the car he said, 'I hope the brakes work. They didnt work then.'" According to Gardiner, the prince acknowledged that the Standard was the first car he bought. He also became a patron of the Standard Motor Car club. Gardiner's hotel, one of the oldest in the former British colony, has built a museum around the silver and black sedan, ... More |
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| ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus urges reforms to pay songwriters their due | | Landmarks, the public art program of The University of Texas at Austin, announces major New acquisition by Simone Leigh | | The Amon Carter Museum opens the first comprehensive survey of contemporary photographer An-My Lê | 
In this file photo taken on January 20, 2016 Bjorn Ulvaeus, a member of Swedish disco group ABBA attends the opening of "Mamma Mia! The party". JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP.
by Maggy Donaldson
NEW YORK (AFP).- The Covid-19 pandemic's rampage through the music world has laid bare the industry's flaws, shining a bright light on "the plight of songwriters," says ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus. The renowned artist behind the disco pop group's megahits like "Dancing Queen" and "Mamma Mia" co-wrote a report released Saturday entitled "Rebalancing The Song Economy," which urges revamping pricing structures to ensure fairness for writers behind the music. Ulvaeus, 75, became president of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) -- a Paris-headquartered rights network representing some four million creators and publishers across the arts -- last year, as the spread of coronavirus began ... More | | 
Simone Leigh Sentinel IV, 2020 Bronze 128 x 25 x 15 inches Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.
AUSTIN, TX.- Landmarks announced today the acquisition of Sentinel IV, a sculpture by New-York based artist Simone Leigh. Cast in bronze and standing more than ten feet tall, Sentinel IV honors Black womanhood. The work is Landmarks fifth purchase and the first by a Black woman. It joins Landmarks collection of nearly fifty modern and contemporary works, building on the programs commitment to represent artists who reflect its diverse audiences. Simone Leigh and UT Austin professor Dr. Cherise Smith will lead a university-wide conversation for students and faculty prior to the opening. Separately, a public celebration will be hosted by Landmarks with a virtual Q&A led by Dr. Stephanie Sparling Williams and the artist for its unveiling on July 15, 2021. Leigh creates enigmatic sculptures that are concerned with the empowerment of Black women, often drawing inspiration from vernacular objects of the African ... More | | 
An-My Le in her New York studio, Feb. 7, 2020. From war enactors to Americas southern border, the artist blurs boundaries between directing and documenting. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times.
FORT WORTH, TX.- The Amon Carter Museum of American Art will present the first comprehensive survey of the work of Vietnamese-American photographer An-My Lê (b. 1960), on view April 18 through August 8, 2021. Featuring photographs from a selection of the artists five major bodies of work, the nationally touring An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain draws connections across Lês career and provides unprecedented insight into her subtle, evocative images that draw on the classical landscape tradition to explore the complexity of American history and conflict. Celebrated photographer Lê has spent nearly 25 years exploring the edges of war and recording these landscapes of conflict in beautiful, classically composed photographs. Born in Saigon in the midst of the Vietnam War, Lê vividly remembers the sights, ... More |
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| Furniture capturing George Nakashima's appreciation of nature coming to Heritage Auctions | | Exhibition features a dozen new paintings and a site-responsive wall drawing by Keltie Ferris | | Alan Vega left a robust vault. The excavation begins with a new album. | 
A Cross-Legged Extending Dining Table, 1960. Estimate: $15,000-25,000.
DALLAS, TX.- To George Nakashima, furniture was a medium to express what he termed, "the Soul of the Tree." Beginning in the 1940s, Nakashima channeled his experience as a traveler, architect and craftsman into creating a studio that would make furniture and objects in a manner fitting to his beliefs. Countless have visited that studio, in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and Nakashima's furniture remains among the best created by his generation of artists and designers. Nakashima's philosophy will be on full display in a half a dozen lots by the artist that will be offered in Heritage Auctions' Design Auction April 27. "George Nakashima was a master woodworker, designer and furniture maker who forged his own path in the creation of his studio," Heritage Auctions Design Director Brent Lewis said. "His work, and that made under the care of his daughter, Mira, represents more than its functionality and aesthetic beauty. Nakashima ... More | | 
Keltie Ferris, Landscape, 2020-2021. Oil and watercolor on canvas in the artist's frame. Canvas: 80 by 60 in. 203.2 by 152.4 cm. Framed: 83 by 63 in. 210.8 by 160 cm.
NEW YORK, NY.- Mitchell-Innes & Nash is presenting its fifth solo presentation of work by Keltie Ferris. FEEEEELING features a dozen new large-scale paintings and a site-responsive wall drawing, a first for the artist. The exhibition is on view from April 16May 29. Over the past fifteen years, Ferris has developed his exuberant and complex approach to abstract painting using a variety of methods including spray gun, dry pigment and hand-painted fields. The new paintings in FEEEEELING belong to a few distinct stylistic groups, each an evolution from Ferriss previous work. Four paintings in the exhibition are tightly-worked, grisaille compositions. Rhythmic, gestural marks whirl from edge-to-edge, punctuated by linear smudges and erasures. The overall effect is that of a vibrating body of water contained by brightly colored wood frames. Expanding ... More | | 
This file photo taken on March 5, 2004 shows US singer Alan Vega. FRANK PERRY / AFP.
by Rob Tannenbaum
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- In 1978, the adversarial New York duo Suicide played a show in Boston, opening for the Cars, local heroes whod crossed over into pop success. Suicide performed a set of assaultive and static electronic music, and the unhappy audience demonstrated its distaste by throwing ashtrays, some of which hit singer Alan Vega. But Vega and his bandmate, Martin Rev, had recently finished European tours opening for the Clash and Elvis Costello during which they caused a literal riot in Belgium. (It was later documented on a live recording, 23 Minutes Over Brussels, named for the length of Suicides set before the gendarmes were summoned.) The day after the Boston gig, a local radio DJ whod seen it interviewed Vega and asked how it had gone. Well, we beat the hell out of them, Vega replied, laughing happily. Liz Lamere, Vegas ... More |
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| A history book's worth of legendary American artists comes to Heritage Auctions May 7 | | Yi Gallery exhibits a collection of biomorphic site-specific installations and drawings by Leah Harper | | Exhibition presents works that convey humanity's relationship with nature | 
Joseph Christian Leyendecker (American, 1874-1951), Beat-up Boy, Football Hero, The Saturday Evening Post cover, November 21, 1914. Oil on canvas, 30 x 21 inches. Estimate: $150,000 - $250,000.
DALLAS, TX.- Heritage Auctions announced one of the most thoughtful, comprehensive and bountiful American art events in recent memory. The catalog for the May 7 American Art Signature Auction reads like a syllabus, a history and a love letter to the men and women who have defined and defied the American landscape for centuries, among them such names as Norman Rockwell, Albert Bierstadt, Andrew Wyeth, Thomas Moran, Thomas Hart Benton, Grandma Moses. The more than 190 works available in the auction offer a journey across myriad landscapes and experiences, through time and space, from roiling seas to snowy plains, from the playful to the poignant. Here one will find the makers of mountains and seasides, the masters of magazine illustration, the visual storytellers who reflect ... More | | 
Leah Harper, Colony 3, 2021.
BROOKLYN, NY.- Yi Gallery is presenting Mitosis, a collection of biomorphic site-specific installations and drawings by Brooklyn-based artist Leah Harper. This new body of work will be on view from April 10-May 15 at 56 Bogart Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The exhibition centers around a sculptural cluster of oblong glowing orbs constructed of resin-coated fabric and wire. Its accompanied by miniature porcelain figures of similar forms that served as the shows primary inspiration. The delicate creatures, as Harper calls them, dot twelve small shelves in arrested motion, mirrored by two-dimensional representations in gouache. All are connected by a common theme of soft, rounded organic shapes that evoke the ephemeral and almost alien life of the sea. Harpers sculptures mimic marine organisms and ecosystems, with forms grouped together in small reef-like colonies or traversing the built environment in migratory patterns. ... More | | 
Iain Baxter& (born in 1936), Animal Preserve One of a Kind, 2007, glass canning jar, distilled water, stuffed toy, 19.5 cm (h.), 11 cm (diam.). MMFA, gift of Aaron Milrad in memory of Bella and Joseph Milrad.
MONTREAL.- Ecological issues are of crucial importance in our era of climate upheaval, and it is only natural for contemporary artists to take up these topics in their practice and thinking. Presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the exhibition Ecologies: A Song for Our Planet includes installations, videos, sculptures, paintings, drawings and photographs that convey humanitys relationship with nature. The nearly 90 works, which are being exhibited in rotation, mostly come from the MMFAs collection and include recent acquisitions by Jocelyne Alloucherie, Shuvinai Ashoona, Olafur Eliasson, Charles Gagnon, Lorraine Gilbert, Jessica Houston, Isabelle Hayeur, Alec Lawson Tuckatuck, Lisette Lemieux, Monique Mongeau, Marie-Jeanne Musiol, Peter Qumaluk ... More |
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Karl Bodmer: North American Portraits | Insider Insights
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 'In the Heights' will premiere at the Tribeca FestivalNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The Tribeca Festival announced Friday that it will open its 2021 edition this summer with the world premiere of In the Heights, the eagerly anticipated movie musical conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The event adds a high-profile piece of arts programming to the statewide effort to bring the arts back after an entire year was upended by the coronavirus pandemic. The premiere will be held at the United Palace theater in the Washington Heights neighborhood, where Mirandas New York tale takes place. And for the first time in the festivals 20-year history, organizers say their opening-night selection will be screened simultaneously across all five boroughs in multiple open-air venues, meaning that New Yorkers in every pocket of the city will be able to enjoy the film in a setting that poses relatively low ... More  Livin' on a prayer: Champion Pakistan Koran reader in full voiceISLAMABAD (AFP).- To master the art of Koran recitation, 21-year-old Hassan Ali Kasi had to follow a strict regime of yoga, hours of rehearsing vocal scales -- and a total ban on biryani. His dedication is paying off, and he was recently named champion of an international online qari competition hosted by Afghanistan, where he was up against men from 25 other countries. Revered in Pakistan, qaris are professional reciters of the Koran, called upon to lead prayers at mosques and also to teach the Muslim holy book to students. They are in particularly high demand during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting currently being observed around the world. "It was a job of the prophets," Ali Kasi told AFP in the capital, Islamabad. "One of the very first elements of preaching was recitation. It is as old as Islam." Qaris require perfect Arabic pronunciation, ... More  Oscar-nominated songs to be performed from LA museum roof -- and IcelandLOS ANGELES (AFP).- The five songs nominated at this year's Oscars will be performed from the top of the Academy's gleaming new film museum -- and a tiny fishing town in Iceland -- as producers aim to shake up the format of the pandemic-hit ceremony. "Hamilton" star Leslie Odom Jr will be among those performing from the roof terrace of Los Angeles' still-unopened Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which has been in development for years but, like the Oscars, saw its launch delayed due to Covid-19. His song "Speak Now" from civil rights drama "One Night in Miami" will form part of a special Oscars pre-show -- as will the ballad "Husavik" from the Will Ferrell comedy "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga," performed from the Icelandic port of the same name. "We've come up with some serious pre-game and post-game action ... More  Joye Hummel, first woman to write Wonder Woman, dies at 97NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Joye Hummel Murchison Kelly was the first woman to write scripts for the Wonder Woman comic-book franchise, but hardly anyone was aware of that for almost 70 years. Then Jill Lepore tracked her down while writing her 2014 book, The Secret History of Wonder Woman, and suddenly Hummel was a cause célèbre in the fan universe. The late-life acclaim mystified her a bit. She was amazed that people made such a big deal over it, her son Robb Murchison said in a phone interview. Shed say, Its just a comic book. She kind of played it down. She was 19 and known as Joye Hummel in March 1944, when she went to work for William Moulton Marston, a psychologist who had created Wonder Woman three years earlier and found himself with a product that was in such demand that he couldnt keep up. At ... More  Movies survived 2020. The Oscars diversified. There's more to do.NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- There was a moment last summer, right around the time that Palm Springs arrived on Hulu, where if you were thinking about whether the Academy Awards would happen in 2021, you might have wondered if this rinse-and-repeat romantic comedy might be the sort of thing that could wind up a best picture nominee. There are 9,000 eligible Oscar voters, none of whom is me, but Palm Springs had a seriousness of purpose and an undercurrent of rage two people meet at a wedding; then, thanks to a time-space wormhole, keep meeting at that same wedding that I found seductive. And given the rinse-and-repeating weve been doing all these months: predictive. It was a Metaphor of Its Moment. Director Max Barbakow and screenwriter Andy Siara understood how to merge a funny leading man (Andy ... More  Taymour Grahne Projects opens a solo exhibition by LA-based artist Gabriella SanchezLONDON.- Taymour Grahne Projects is presenting 'Rough Renderings of Sharp Images', a solo exhibition by LA-based artist Gabriella Sanchez (b. 1988). Gabriella Sanchez is a multidisciplinary artist, whose practice is largely influenced by her background in graphic design. The elements of typography, text, form and color play a central role in her visual vocabulary, referencing artists who also utilize script in their work. Such examples are John Baldessari, Bruce Nauman and the collaborative works by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, all of which have largely shaped Sanchezs artistic identity. However, Gabriella takes a whole new approach to show how the (art) world contextualizes artists who use the same 'language', but come from different backgrounds. Each of the aesthetic choices encountered in Gabriella's work, whether it is the ... More  Hermès Birkins and Kellys among highlights bursting with spring color at Heritage AuctionsDALLAS, TX.- Amid a burst of color reflective of blooming spring flowers everywhere, Heritage Auctions' Luxury Accessories Auction May 2 will offer a trove of extraordinary handbags for collectors of all tastes. "This auction is one of the prettiest sales I have ever curated at Heritage Auctions," Heritage Luxury Accessories Director Diane D'Amato said. "Spring auctions tend to reach people who want a choice of brightly colored options, and that may be even more true this year. This sale offers a range of extraordinary bags, with color bright enough to match the exceptional craftsmanship that went in to them." An Hermès 30cm Matte White Himalayan Niloticus Crocodile Birkin Bag with Palladium Hardware (estimate: $75,000-80,000) is the most expensive and iconic bag offered by the Parisian company. The bag's extraordinary coloration ... More  Blue-gray diamond ring could Ffetch $350K at Heritage AuctionsDALLAS, TX.- A spectacular Fancy Blue-Gray Diamond, Diamond, Platinum Ring could bring $350,000 or more when it crosses the block in Heritage Auctions' Spring Fine Jewelry Auction May 3. "Blue diamonds are very, very rare," said Jill Burgum, Senior Director of Fine Jewelry at Heritage Auctions. "The color is impacted by the presence of boron in the lattice of the stone, which is formed extremely deep within the earth's surface. It is rare to mine a blue diamond, let alone one with such distinct color, and this is a breathtaking example." The ring features a pear-shaped fancy blue-gray diamond weighing 1.38 carats nestled between pear-shaped diamonds weighing a combined 1.41 carats, all set in platinum. "Not only is the blue-gray diamond absolutely magnificent, but the stones on each side are D color, internally flawless," Burgum said. "For ... More  Kayne Griffin presents a project with New York-based artist Mika TajimaLOS ANGELES, CA.- Kayne Griffin is presenting Pranayama (Monolith, F, Rose Quartz), a project with New York-based artist Mika Tajima presented in the gallerys courtyard. The Pranayama series is a group of sculptures carved from solid materials that have been punctured by bronze nozzles cast from actual Jacuzzi jets in a diagram of bodily pressure points, connoting a release of energy and the potential for output and flow. Pranayama refers to breathing exercises which control the flow of prana or life energy. While other works from the Pranayama series have involved intricate forms deeply carved into wood or marble, this latest monolithic work is crafted from Rose Quartz; this will be the first time Tajima uses this material. Rose Quartz was selected as a material for its physical properties and ability to transform bodily energy, generate electricity, and ... More  Oscars producers lift the lid on nearly 'impossible' ceremony LOS ANGELES (AFP).- A "teeny-tiny" red carpet, no invitations for Hollywood's most powerful moguls, and a "central" role for masks -- next weekend's in-person Oscars are taking no risks when it comes to Covid-19, but the event still would have been "impossible" to hold just weeks earlier, producers said Saturday. The 93rd Academy Awards will mark the first time Tinseltown's finest have assembled in over a year, for a three-hour show that co-producer Steven Soderbergh said is "not going to be like anything that's been done before." The delayed April 25 ceremony takes place barely a week after California opened vaccinations to all over-16s, with infection rates plummeting after a massive winter surge ripped through the state. Movie theaters are even reopening. Asked by AFP about the impact of the show's two-month postponement, ... More  Sterling Associates' April 21 auction features fine art & jewelry from New Jersey estatesNORWOOD, NJ.- Sterling Associates, Bergen County, New Jerseys foremost estate specialists, will conduct this years edition of their popular Spring Fine Art and Antiques Auction on Wednesday, April 21, exclusively through LiveAuctioneers. The sales 223 lots include more than 100 artworks, a sizable selection of Chinese decorative art and accessories, and fine jewelry and luxury watches. The main consignments have come directly from estates in Englewood and Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The extensive fine art category features dozens of high-quality portraits and several artworks by artists with impressive auction records, including Antonio Barone (American, 1889-1971), whose past sales have on occasion landed in the $25,000-$40,000 range. His charming 42- by 76-inch oil portrait of young girl with a Chinese doll, leaning against ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
Sophie Taeuber-Arp & Hans Arp: Cooperations â Collaborations 
Future Retrieval 
Clarice Beckett 
Kim Tschang-Yeul
Flashback On a day like today, German sculptor Otto Piene was born April 18, 1928. Otto Piene (18 April 1928 - 17 July 2014) was a German artist specializing in kinetic and technology-based art. He lived and worked in Düsseldorf; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Groton, Massachusetts. In this image: MIT List Visual Arts Center exhibition "Otto Piene: Lichtballett." October 21, 2011 - December 31, 2011.
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