| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Thursday, December 17, 2020 |
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| | 'Priceless' haul of over 27,000 artefacts seized in France | |
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A picture taken on December 14, 2020 shows Roman fibulas, part of 27.500 archeological items in Metz, eastern France, seized by customs officers and which were held by a man from France northeastern region Lorraine who tried to sell them in Belgium. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- French authorities have seized a "priceless" haul of over 27,000 archaeological artefacts ranging from Bronze Age bracelets to Roman coins that had been secretly amassed by a single person in the east of the country, customs said Wednesday. The seizure of the 27,400 objects was the result of a year-long investigation conducted by French customs, Belgian authorities and the French culture ministry. The hoarder, who has not been named and now faces a criminal probe, had built up the collection for personal and trading purposes, the French customs service said. He had amassed the collection himself using metal detectors as well as what appears to be a deep archaeological knowledge. The man had first aroused suspicion in 2019 when he told authorities he had found almost 15,000 Roman coins by chance on land he had acquired in Belgium. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day View of the Berlin palace which will house the Humboldt Forum and the TV tower (L), on December 15, 2020. The large scale museum project and new building, named after Alexander von Humboldt, aims to be a world centre for culture and will open digitally on December 16, 2020. John MACDOUGALL / AFP
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| Rebuilt Prussian palace, scarred by history, opens in Berlin | | Dutch court rejects bid to reclaim Kandinsky painting | | 5,000-year-old Great Pyramid artefact found in Scotland | 
The new Berlin Castle (Humboldt Forum) is seen on the sidelines of the opening press conference on December 16, 2020 in Berlin. Tobias Schwarz / AFP.
BERLIN (AFP).- A reconstructed Prussian palace will open in Berlin on Wednesday as a museum complex housing colonial artifacts, just as debate is gathering pace around the return of treasures plundered from abroad. The opening ceremony for the Humboldt Forum, which will house attractions including the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, will take place virtually due to restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Launched in 2013, the huge renovation project in central Berlin has been plagued by delays, controversy and spiralling costs -- much like the capital's ill-fated new international airport that opened in October. Critics have seized on the new building being home to a museum housing nearly 20,000 artifacts from Africa, Asia and Oceania, mostly from the former colonies. In an oblique reference to the controversy at a media presentation Wednesday, Berlin Mayor Michael ... More | | 
Wassily Kandinsky, Bild mit Häusern, 1909 (detail). Collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam c/o Pictoright, Amsterdam 2004.
THE HAGUE (AFP).- A Dutch court threw out a case on Wednesday brought by the heirs of a Jewish art collector to reclaim a painting by Wassily Kandinsky that was sold during World War II. Descendants of Amsterdam businessman and modern art aficionado Emmanuel Lewenstein went to court to get back Kandinsky's 1909 work "Painting with Houses". Their move came after the Dutch Restitutions Committee -- which rules in cases of artefacts looted during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands -- rejected their original claim in 2018. The heirs said the painting was sold under duress to Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum by Lewenstein's son Robert and his wife Irma Klein in October 1940, five months after the German invasion. However, the Amsterdam District court said on Wednesday that the painting remains the property of the Amsterdam municipality. "All claims by the family who demanded back the painting ... More | | 
Abeer Eladany with the box.
LONDON (AFP).- One of only three artefacts ever recovered from inside Egypt's Great Pyramid has been found in a misplaced cigar tin in a Scottish university collection, academics revealed on Wednesday. The fragment of cedar wood, which has been found to date back 5,000 years to the building of the pyramid at Giza, was first discovered in the late 19th century but had been missing for more than 70 years. A record discovered in 2001 appeared to show the fragment -- found alongside a ball and a bronze hook thought to be used for construction -- had been donated to the University of Aberdeen. But the trail ran cold and the ancient artefact disappeared almost without a trace until the end of last year when an assistant curator at the university, Abeer Eladany, originally from Egypt, made a chance discovery in its Asia collection. Knowing that a small cigar tin she found there bearing an old Egyptian flag did not belong with the other pieces, she cross-referenced it with other records. "It has been like ... More |
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| Georgia Museum of Art receives book awards | | Cookie Monster mural puzzles artist and enrages property owner | | Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales acquires two important 19th century French paintings | 
Exhibition catalogues "Material Georgia 1733 1900: Two Decades of Scholarship and Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi.
ATHENS, GA.- The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia has received the 2020 Mary Ellen LoPresti Award for exhibition catalogues from the Southeast Chapter of the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA). The LoPresti Award normally goes to one scholarly publication and one exhibition catalogue, but two books from the museum tied for the latter award: Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi (published with the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art) and Material Georgia 1733 1900: Two Decades of Scholarship. Deborah Roberts: The Evolution of Mimi followed the exhibition on the same name, on view at Spelman College from January to May 2018. The book was the first major publication of Roberts work and features over 80 full-page and full-color illustrations of her art. The jury wrote that it was a beautiful, unique, and timely catalog. The design [by Fold Four] is an excep ... More | | 
A photo provided by artist Joshua Hawkins of the mural, in progress, that he says he was commissioned and paid to paint by an unknown man pretending to be Nate Comte, the buildings owner. Joshua Hawkins via The New York Times.
by Maria Cramer
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Joshua Hawkins said the request seemed pretty weird, but the dark-haired man who made it was offering cash and a lot of it. The man said his name was Nate, and he wanted Hawkins, a local artist, to paint an enormous Soviet-style mural of Cookie Monster the voracious, pastry-loving Sesame Street creature and three Russian words on a commercial building in Peoria, Illinois. When the job was done over Thanksgiving weekend, the man paid in full, and Hawkins, 33, proudly displayed the mural on his Facebook page. But Hawkins learned C can also be for Caper. Less than a week after the mural went up, Hawkins said he received a call from the real Nate Comte, who said he had never ... More | | 
Edouard Manet (1832-1883), Portrait of Monsieur Jules Dejouy, 1879. Signed E. Manet, indistinctly dated 1879 and dedicated à J. Dejouy (lower centre). Oil on canvas, 81 by 66 cm (31 7/8 by 26 ins). Courtesy Sotheby's.
CARDIFF.- Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales announced the acquisition of two important 19th-century French paintings. One of Edouard Manets most significant late portraits and a late landscape by Corot have both been allocated to the Museum after being accepted in lieu of tax. The Portrait of Monsieur Jules Dejouy was painted by Edouard Manet in 1879 and is an important addition to the small number of Manets portraits in British public collections. Its re-appearance after more than ninety years in the same private family collection is an exciting moment for all enthusiasts of 19th-century French art. Jules Dejouy (1815-1894) was a successful lawyer, appointed to the Imperial Court in France in 1849 and a member of the Conseil de l'Ordre. He was also Manets older cousin and an important figure in the artists ... More |
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| The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth announces acquisition of sculpture by Wangechi Mutu | | White Cube Hong Kong opens an exhibition of works by the late Greek artist Takis | | Art of watchmaking gets UNESCO heritage status | 
Wangechi Mutu, The Seated III, 2019. Bronze. 82 7/8 à 37 3/4 à 33 3/4 inches. Collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, The Friends of Art Endowment Fund and Museum purchase. © Wangechi Mutu. Image courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels. Photography by Joseph Coscia, Jr., Imaging, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
FORT WORTH, TX.- Director Marla Price announces the acquisition of a significant work by Wangechi Mutu, The Seated III, 2019. The large sculpture of a seated female figure entwined in bronze coils will become part of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worths permanent collection. The new work will be on view in one of the Moderns first-floor pavilion galleries beginning Saturday, December 19. Mutu was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, and now divides her time between there and Brooklyn. She created The Seated III as part of a four-sculpture commission for the façade of New York Citys Metropolitan Museum of Art for the exhibition The NewOnes, will free Us. The work and its mirror image, The Seated I, occupied niches facing Fifth Avenue, ... More | | 
Installation view. Takis at White Cube Hong Kong, 21 November 2020 - 27 February 2021 © the artist. Photo © White Cube / Kitmin Lee.
HONG KONG.- White Cube Hong Kong is presenting an exhibition of works by the late Greek artist Takis (19252019). Featuring sculptures drawn from a thirty-year period from the end of the 1960s to the 1990s it showcases the artists committed exploration of art and science. Takis carved out a new aesthetic territory, incorporating invisible forms of energy such as magnetic, acoustic or light waves as the fourth dimension of his work. Born in Athens, Takis (né Panagiotis Vassilakis) took art into realms that were previously considered the domain of physicists and engineers. Describing himself as an instinctive scientist, he harnessed foundational forces to generate the forms, movements and sounds of his static and kinetic works. Magnetism, including the bioelectromagnetics of the human brain, fascinated Takis and was a constant subject of study, not least when he was visiting researcher at the Massachusetts In ... More | | 
In this file photo taken on January 19, 2015 an employee of Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet checks a wristwatch during the opening day of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP.
ZURICH (AFP).- The craftmanship of Swiss and French mechanical watchmaking on Wednesday won UNESCO intangible heritage status, casting the spotlight on an art practised for centuries in the Jura mountain region straddling the two countries. Inclusion on the prestigious global list highlights "a living and emblematic tradition in the French-Swiss Jura Arc," the Swiss cultural ministry said in a statement. The craftmanship getting the UNESCO nod sits at a "crossroads of science, art and technology," the UN agency said. UNESCO annually announces a list of cultural artefacts that encapsulate the spirit and heritage of their countries. Switzerland and France had last year presented a joint application for their centuries-old cross-border watchmaking craft to be included on the list. Their listing covers the skills ... More |
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| Twelve new paintings by Sadie Benning on view at kaufmann repetto | | New York City cultural groups awarded more than $47 million in grants | | Flipping the script: China school reforms spark Mongolian writing revival | 
Sadie Benning, Untitled, Blow Up 36, 2020 (detail).
MILAN.- In film and photography, the director uses the camera lens as an eye for the viewer, delivering and withholding information in order to shape a particular narrative. Sadie Benning, who is renown for their early video work of the 1990s, understands the language of the moving image and calls upon the techniques enacted in Michaelangelo Antonionis eponymous 1966 film, Blow Up, a film centered around themes of perception and ambiguity. In this iconic film based on a Julio Cortuzar short story), a photographer unveils curious discoveries while reviewing negatives in the darkroom. The act of looking closely or blowing up the image, reveals clues to a potential crime and ultimately compels the protagonist to question what reality is. Bennings second exhibition with kaufmann repetto, Blow Ups features a series of twelve new paintings derived from portions of zoomed-in photographs that Benning took whi ... More | | 
The stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, Sept. 14, 2020. Victor Llorente/The New York Times.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- In a year filled with layoffs and budget cuts, New York Citys cultural institutions got some good news Tuesday: The Department of Cultural Affairs announced that it would award $47.1 million in its newest round of grants, which this year will go to more than 1,000 of the citys nonprofit organizations. The grants include $12.6 million in new investments, nearly $10 million of which is designated for coronavirus pandemic relief and arts education initiatives. Funding will increase over the prior year for grantees, including larger increases for smaller organizations, the department said. The allotment includes a $3 million increase for 621 organizations in low-income neighborhoods and those most affected by the pandemic, and $2 million for five local arts councils that will distribute the funds to individual ... More | | 
This photo taken on Novemver 3, 2020 shows calligrapher Ganzorig Gulguu, who earned money by selling his calligraphy art work mainly to Inner Mongolia, writing Mongolian scripts at his home in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. Byambasuren BYAMBA-OCHIR / AFP.
by Khaliun Bayartsogt
ULAANBAATAR (AFP).- In a classroom in Mongolia's capital, students pass over the Soviet-era Cyrillic alphabet they grew up with and turn their copybooks sideways to practice the traditional, vertical Mongolian script that dates back to the empire of Genghis Khan. Teacher Batbileg Lkhagvabaatar leads the class, tracing lines of the flowing, dotted characters on a whiteboard and explaining grammar rules to the group of young men and women and a smattering of children. They are among a growing number inspired to learn the ancient letters after protests by their kinsfolk in China's Inner Mongolia region ... More |
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 Chadwick Boseman tipped for posthumous glory with 'Ma Rainey' swansongLOS ANGELES (AFP).- Four months after his death shocked the world, trailblazing US actor Chadwick Boseman makes his heartbreaking, hotly Oscar-tipped final film appearance in 1920s blues drama "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." The "Black Panther" star portrays a feisty, irreverent horn player struggling to make himself heard in a Chicago music world riddled with racism and exploitation, in the August Wilson play adaptation out Friday on Netflix. Boseman's role as the piece's tragic hero takes on added poignancy by his death at age 43 this August from colon cancer -- a diagnosis he never publicly discussed, or even shared with his co-stars during production. Viola Davis, who plays the real-life "Mother of the Blues" Ma Rainey, has described her co-star's role as "one of the greatest -- if not the greatest -- role for an African-American actor in history," ... More  "Bid for The Louvre" totals 2,365,000 euros after 15 days of biddingPARIS.- The Louvre Museum, Christie's and Drouot announced the results of the charity sale "Bid for The Louvre" which totaled 2,365,000 /£2,119,176 /$2,835,458 Top 5 lots of the sale: the work of Pierre Soulages, the custom-made watch "Les Cabinotiers" from Vacheron Constantin, The Rose of the Louvre by Jean-Michel Othoniel, the lot proposed by the Maison Cartier and the Joconde Mania experience. The works of art generously donated by contemporary artists close to the museum, exclusive experiences in the heart of the palace and the customizations and unique moments proposed by the museum's partners and patrons have attracted numerous bidders from 24 different countries. The funds raised during this unique sale will be entirely devoted to projects in support of the musée du Louvre, and will finance in ... More  An EP, a book and some paints: Ringo Starr's long and winding self-quarantineNEW YORK (AFP).- He kept the beat for one of the world's most iconic bands, has fronted his supergroup for three decades, is a two-time rock hall-of-famer -- and at 80, Ringo Starr is as energetic as ever. The pandemic has stalled his normally packed touring schedule, but the former Beatle is set to release a quarantine-developed EP as well as a photo memoir about his All Starr Band, which comes out Wednesday. In 1989, fresh out of rehab, Starr started the band, one of history's longest running live touring groups that has featured a wide array of music luminaries. Its first edition featured blues star Dr. John, Joe Walsh of the Eagles, and Nils Lofgren and Clarence Clemons, who played with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. "I had recently cleaned up my act, but now I needed to find some way to get that act back out on the road," Starr said. ... More  Andrea Acosta and Ruth Evans selected for Bauhaus ResidencyDESSAU.- Andrea Acosta and Ruth Evans will live and work within the context of the Residency programme in the Masters Houses in Dessau in 2021. They were selected from over 500 applicants in an open call process for the Bauhaus Residency of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and the GfZK (Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig). Their artistic experience is characterised by very specific approaches and precision in dealing with material and its historical levels. During their stay in Dessau, unusual hybrids will be created on the occasion of the Foundations annual theme of Infrastructure, involving visitors and citizens of Dessau-RoÃlau in the works and their process of creation. The results and work processes will be presented at Gropius House. Andrea Acosta was born in Bogotá (Colombia) and currently lives and works in Berlin. ... More  Fondation Louis Vuitton presents French painter Jean Claracq's first solo exhibition in a museumPARIS.- Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris is presenting French painter Jean Claracq (born 1991, France), for his first solo exhibition in a museum. Since childhood, Jean Claracq has been fascinated with the history of art, drawing inspiration from mediaeval illumination to photography via Renaissance painting. Characterized by their miniature size, Jean Claracqs paintings draw both on the history of Western art (from the Middle Ages to the 18th century) and on new media and social networks (Instagram, Facebook). Despite their small sizes, his compositions teem with detail and offer multiple stories that bring together different temporalities and places. The artist develops poetic worlds through previously completed compositions in the form of a digital collage which are rich in detail and offer multiple narratives. Favoring contemporary iconography, his works ... More  Exhibition at Tate Liverpool brings together new and existing work by Aliza NisenbaumLIVERPOOL.- This winter Tate Liverpool presents the first institutional solo exhibition in Europe by NY-based artist Aliza Nisenbaum (b. 1977, Mexico). Bringing together new and existing work, the exhibition runs from 15 December 2020 to 27 June 2021. At its centre is a new commission of portraits of people from Liverpool who have been key workers during the COVID-19 crisis, consisting of two new large-scale group portraits and eleven individual portrait works on paper. Influenced by the Mexican mural movement and its depiction of social history, Nisenbaum creates paintings that often focus on different members of a community and with the current global health crisis in mind will focus on NHS staff from Merseyside hospitals for her new commission. The people depicted in the paintings sat for their portraits in August ... More  Joslyn Art Museum publishes new survey of European collectionOMAHA, NEB.- Joslyn Art Museum announces a new catalogue dedicated to its renowned European collection. European Paintings and Sculpture from Joslyn Art Museum is the first publication to reexamine the Museums permanent collection in over three decades, marking a significant milestone for the institution and drawing well-deserved attention to the artworks in its care. This new, richly illustrated volume presents 100 artworks from the collection, dating from the late thirteenth century to the early twentieth century and representing many of the most important artists, schools, and styles of European art history. Noted scholars and specialists in the field examine these works while considering artist biography, practice and technique, and cultural and historical contexts. Joslyn Art Museum executive director and CEO, Jack Becker, Ph.D., offers a foreword. ... More  New Philbrook curator position honors late directorTULSA, OKLA.- Marcia Manhart (1943-2020) was a beloved and long-tenured director of Philbrook, serving the institution for 40 years before retiring in 2003. Before her passing in March of this year, The Judith and Jean Pape Adams Foundation created an endowment supporting a new curatorial position in her honor. Susan Green, most recently Philbrook's Associate Curator of Special Collections, Archives, and Research, is the inaugural Marcia Manhart Endowed Associate Curator of Contemporary Art & Design. "We are honored to recognize and celebrate the legacy of long-time Philbrook Director Marcia Manhart through the support of this new, and critically important curatorial position," said Philbrook President and CEO Scott Stulen. "Susan Green's deep knowledge and reverence of Philbrook's history, love of our local arts community and ... More  The Oklahoma City Museum of Art names two new curatorsOKLAHOMA CITY, OK.- Two former OKCMOA employees Dr. Bryn Schockmel and Catherine Shotick have been named curators at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Schockmel previously worked at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Harvard Art Museums and the Clark Art Institute. Shoticks previous experience includes working for the Richard H. Driehaus Museum in Chicago. Schockmel was a research fellow at OKCMOA from fall 2019 through summer 2020. She will focus on the Museums collection of European art and works on paper. Shotick served the Museum as an assistant curator from 2013 to 2016. She will concentrate on 19th and 20th century American and modern art. We offer a warm welcome back to Bryn and Catherine, said Michael J. Anderson, Ph.D., OKCMOA president and CEO. Bryns impressive ... More  The Courtauld to reopen after major modernisation projectLONDON.- One of the UKs greatest art collections will have a magnificent new setting when The Courtauld, one of the worlds leading centres for the study of art history, research and conservation, opens its historic central London gallery in late 2021. The reopening follows a major transformation to restore its grandeur and create state-of-the-art facilities, which is supported by £9.5 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and generous donations from foundations, individuals and other supporters. In addition to the funding made possible by National Lottery players, who raise £30 million every week for good causes in the UK, The Courtauld would particularly like to thank the philanthropists Sir Leonard and Lady Blavatnik, and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, for their lead donation of £10 million to Courtauld Connects. The Blavatnik Fine ... More  Aboriginal group urges mining 'reset' after ancient site destroyedPARIS (AFP).- Aboriginal landowners have called for a "reset" in Australia's lucrative mining sector after an inquiry pilloried Rio Tinto for blowing up a 46,000-year-old heritage site to expand an iron ore mine. Rio sparked outrage after destroying caves, known as rock shelters, at Juukan Gorge in Australia's ore-rich Pilbara region in May -- against the wishes of the Indigenous Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people of Western Australia. An Australian parliamentary inquiry recommended late Wednesday that the Anglo-Australian mining giant pay restitution to the PKKP, rebuild the destroyed site and commit to a permanent moratorium on mining in the area. The preliminary report also recommended that all mining companies operating in Western Australia review agreements with Indigenous traditional landowners and halt any planned destruction ... More  Gone but never forgotten in a quiltNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Peggie Hartwell, a fourth-generation quilter from South Carolina, has found it hard to return to her needlework since she completed Ode to George Floyd, in which she renders Floyds face in subtle brown batiks, and an image of his mother barely visible behind a grove of trees. I had to talk to him, get to know him, the 81-year-old quilter said of the process. I pick up a piece of fabric and see his face. Hartwells Ode to George Floyd is featured in We Are the Story, one of a series of quilt exhibitions at seven sites throughout the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, presented by the Textile Center and the national Women of Color Quilters Network. The first exhibition, Gone but Never Forgotten: Remembering Those Lost to Police Brutality, is on view at the Textile Center in Minneapolis, by appointment and ... More  UNESCO lists couscous as intangible world heritageRABAT (AFP).- Couscous, the Berber dish beloved across northern Africa's Maghreb region and beyond, Wednesday joined the UN list of the world's intangible cultural heritage. The countries that submitted the listing to UNESCO -- Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania -- may have their differences, but their common love of the grain staple runs deep. "Couscous, present at every social or cultural event, is at once ordinary and special," their joint presentation argued. "Ordinary because of the frequency of its use in a family setting, and special because of the unifying and propitiatory role it plays at convivial community occasions at which food is shared." Bland by itself, couscous is served with meat or fish, spicey stews, chickpeas and vegetables in a mouth-watering variety of dishes. Moroccan restaurant owner Hicham Hazzoum was among ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
Anne Truitt Sound 
Islamic Metalwork 
Klaas Rommelaere 
Helen Muspratt
Flashback On a day like today, American painter and illustrator Paul Cadmus was born December 17, 1904. Paul Cadmus (December 17, 1904 - December 12, 1999) was an American artist. He is best known for his egg tempera paintings of gritty social interactions in urban settings. He also produced many highly finished drawings of single nude male figures. His paintings combine elements of eroticism and social critique in a style often called magic realism. In this image: The Fleet's In!, 1934 (cropped view).
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