| The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Thursday, December 15, 2016 |
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| | Crimea treasures loaned to an Amsterdam museum must be returned to Ukraine | |
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A picture taken on August 21, 2014 shows artefacts on display during the exhibition 'Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea' at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam. A Dutch court ruled on December 14, 2016 that priceless Crimean art treasures loaned to an Amsterdam museum shortly before Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014 should go back to Ukraine. Four Crimean museums launched a joint legal bid in November 2014 to force the Allard Pierson Museum to return the historic collection of archeological artefacts, displayed in an exhibition titled: "The Crimea: Gold and Secrets from the Black Sea." Kiev also demanded their return, and the Dutch judges ruled "that the objects must go to Ukraine, the artefacts' country of origin and cultural heritage," Dutch news agency ANP said. Bart Maat / ANP / AFP.
by Jan Hennop
THE HAGUE (AFP).- A Dutch court ruled Wednesday that priceless Crimean art treasures loaned to an Amsterdam museum shortly before Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014 should go back to Ukraine. Four Crimean museums launched a joint legal bid in November 2014 to force the Allard Pierson Museum to return the historic collection of archaeological artefacts, displayed in an exhibition titled: "The Crimea: Gold and Secrets from the Black Sea." Kiev also demanded their return, and the Dutch judges ruled "that the objects must go to Ukraine, the artefacts' country of origin and cultural heritage," the court said in a statement posted online. "The claim by Crimean museums that the artefacts are Crimean heritage, or belong to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was not accepted by the judges, because neither are sovereign states," the Amsterdam regional court added. The judges however "made no ruling as to the rightful owner of the collection," saying it was a question for Ukrainian courts once the artefacts had b ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day A visitor looks at a painting by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) during the exhibition "Picasso. Erudite hand, wild eye" at the Cultural Centre La Moneda Palace in Santiago, on December 13, 2016. The exhibit is composed by 135 pieces that display the creative process of the Spanish artist chronologically, including the child genius, the revolution of Cubism, the return to classical painting, the horror of the Guernica bombing up to the development of ceramics. Martin BERNETTI / AFP
| Poland mulls buying Da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine" | | National Gallery of Denmark acquires important work by Caspar David Friedrich | | 18th-century Chinese imperial seal sells for 21 mn euros | 
Leonardo da Vinci, Lady with the Ermine, 148990 (detail). Oil on wood panel, 54 cm à 39 cm (21 in à 15 in). Czartoryski Museum, Kraków.
WARSAW (AFP).- Poland is planning to buy a private art collection, including Leonardo da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine", the culture ministry and local media said Wednesday. Painted at the end of the 15th century, "Lady with an Ermine", the most famous painting exhibited in Poland, is part of a two-century-old collection estimated to be worth two billion dollars (euros). Owned by the princely Czartoryski family, the collection is currently housed in the National Museum in Krakow, run by the Polish culture ministry. Deputy culture minister Jaroslaw Selin unveiled the plan on Tuesday as the Polish parliament discussed funding for cultural purchases. "The Polish state and thus the Polish nation will own one of the world's most valuable art collections, including this work, which many art historians deem superior to the 'Mona Lisa'," Selin said, quoted by the PAP agency. Princess ... More | | 
Caspar David Friedrich, After the Storm, 1817 (detail).
COPENHAGEN.- The National Gallery of Denmark has received a spectacular gift: a painting by one of the most important landscape artists ever to come out of Germany, Caspar David Friedrich. The acquisition is nothing short of marvellous, says SMK director Mikkel Bogh, and in fact the painting came into the museums hands through something of a coincidence. The SMK collections are now enriched by an important new work. Thanks to truly extraordinary support from the Augustinus Foundation, Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansens Foundation and the A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation, the museum has been able to acquire the painting After the Storm from 1817 by the German artist Caspar David Friedrich. Friedrich holds a special position within Romantic art and is considered the most important German painter of the first half of the nineteenth century. His landscapes are carried by a dual approach: a visionary outlook on nature and a meti ... More | | 
Decorated with stylised dragons, the symbol of imperial authority, the extremely rare stamp in red and beige nephrite jade comes from the Qianlong period (1736-1795).
PARIS (AFP).- An 18th-century Chinese imperial seal sold for a record 21 million euros in Paris on Wednesday -- more than 20 times its estimate, the Drouot auction house told AFP. Decorated with stylised dragons, the symbol of imperial authority, the extremely rare stamp in red and beige nephrite jade comes from the Qianlong period (1736-1795). It was snapped up by an unnamed Chinese collector after a furious bidding battle between would-be telephone buyers and those in the salesroom. The previous record for a seal had been set in 2011 when one was bought for 161 million yuan, around 14 million euros ($15 million). The Chinese imperial seal, remarkable for being "very red, almost blood" red according to Asian art expert Alice Jossaume, had been expected to sell for between 800,000 and one million euros. It belonged to the ... More |
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| Auction record set for Norwegian artist Harald Sohlberg | | The National Portrait Gallery acquires first major work by Chuck Close to enter a British collection | | Christie's announces changes to the company governance | 
Harald Sohlberg, From Værvågen, The Fishermans Cottage, 1921 (detail). Estimate: £600,000-800,000. Photo: Sotheby's.
LONDON.- Today at Sothebys in London, a new auction record for Norwegian artist Harald Sohlberg was set when From Værvågen, The Fishermans Cottage sold for £1,208,750 (12.9 million NOK), double its pre-sale estimate (£600,000-800,000). The evocative landscape marks the culmination on a grand scale of Sohlbergs aim to capture on canvas his experience standing before the sublime scale of nature. Known and loved in Norway but rarely seen at international auction, the last time a Sohlberg of comparable importance came to the market was at Sothebys in 1999, achieving a then-record price for the artist of £535,000. This 'once in a generation' masterpiece led Sothebys sale of 19th Century European Paintings. Claude Piening, Head of 19th Century European Paintings, Sothebys London, said: From Værvågen is a powerful fusion of Romanticism and ... More | | 
Sandy Nairne by Chuck Close, 2016. © Chuck Close/National Portrait Gallery, London
LONDON.- The National Portrait Gallery has unveiled a large portrait of its former Director Sandy Nairne by Chuck Close, it was announced today, Wed 14 Dec 2016. It is the first portrait by Close to be acquired by the Gallery and the first major work by the American artist to enter a British public collection. Renowned for the large-scale, photo-based portraits he has produced since the 1960s, Chuck Close has created a six-foot tall watercolour print portrait of Sandy Nairne, based on a unique large format colour Polaroid photograph that was taken in John Reuters 20x24 Studio in New York. Close has donated the portrait to the Gallery. While in keeping with the tradition of commissioning a portrait of their retiring Director, the Gallerys Trustees approved the choice of this artist of international standing, suggested by Sandy Nairne and the Gallerys Contemporary Curator, Sarah Howgate. Most ... More | | 
Patricia Barbizet & Guillaume Cerutti. Christie's London, 14 December 2016. © Christies 2016.
LONDON.- Christies announces changes to the company governance structure effective 1st January 2017. On the recommendation of Patricia Barbizet and with the full support of the Pinault family, the Board has appointed Guillaume Cerutti as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Pinault assumes the role of Chairman of the Board and Mme. Barbizet is appointed Vice Chairman. Patricia Barbizet commented: As we conclude a successful year, the time is right to adapt our structure and further enhance the tremendous work we have done to make the company more efficient, creative and collaborative. I believe Guillaumes experience and deep knowledge of the art world will bring Christies one more step forward. Christies is a key asset for its shareholder. Alongside Mr. Pinault, as CEO of Artemis, I will remain closely involved as we continue to expand Christies global reach and introduce more best-in-class services for today ... More |
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| Sotheby's expands advisory services to include artists, artist estates and foundations | | Polaroid photos make a comeback | | Carnegie Museum of Art acquires major painting by Kerry James Marshall | 
Christy MacLear CEO of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation will join Sothebys and lead the initiative.
NEW YORK, NY.- Sothebys announceg the appointment of Christy MacLear, CEO of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, to expand the Companys advisory business and provide planning services and manage projects for artists, artist estates and foundations. As Vice Chairman of the Fine Arts Division, Christy will also work with Allan Schwartzman to build out Sothebys advisory services more broadly. Based in New York, Christy will join Sothebys in January 2017. "We are extremely pleased with the development of our advisory services business both in terms of impact with new and existing clients as well as for Sotheby's shareholders," said Tad Smith Sothebys CEO. Innovation, growth, and service are at the heart of our advisory management team's mission. Expanding into advisory services for artists and artist endowed ... More | | 
A photo illustration view of an old Polaroid Camera and some instant films are seen on December 12, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. VALERIE MACON / AFP.
CLEVELAND (AFP).- At a photography studio in Cleveland, instructor Nicole Follen is trying to convince her students to step back in time and technology -- to the age of the humble Polaroid. She wants the students to create something they can touch and feel -- perhaps even something that gasp -- isn't perfect. So, she guides her class in how to transform digital photos taken on their smartphones into Polaroid-style instant photos that hark back to the bygone analog era. "You go from something so digital to having a mark in your photography," Follen said. "You have to work for it." Once upon a time, before digital cameras, people trying to capture moments on film only had the clunky box cameras that spit out square photos with wide white borders that you needed to shake to develop. ... More | | 
Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Gallery), 2016, Acrylic on PVC panel, 60 ½ x 48 ½ in., Carnegie Museum of Art, The Henry L. Hillman Fund, 2016.52.
PITTSBURGH, PA.- Lynn Zelevansky, The Henry J. Heinz II Director at Carnegie Museum of Art, announced today the major acquisition of a new painting by Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Gallery) (2016). Marshall, one of the greatest living painters in America today, is best known for his decades-long commitment to reinserting the black figure into the canon of Western art history. This acquisition represents an important development in CMOAs relationship with the artist. For the 1999 Carnegie International, Marshall produced RYTHM MASTR, a multipart comic strip published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that was used to paper over display case windows at the museum. At the time, Marshalls work did not enter the collection, so this acquisition fills a gap in CMOAs holdings, while ... More |
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| Christine Buhl Andersen appointed new Director of Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek | | Ballet great Baryshnikov steps into Nijinsky's shoes | | 2016, the beginning of the end of a rock era | 
Christine Buhl Andersen is currently of Director of KÃS - The Danish Museum of Art in the Public Space. Photo: Ana Cecilia Gonzalez.
COPENHAGEN.- The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Board of Directors has appointed Christine Buhl Andersen as Director of the Glyptotek in Copenhagen. Christine Buhl Andersen will take up the post of Museum Director on 1st March 2017 and will thus leave the post of Director of KÃS The Danish Museum of Art in the Public Space. Karsten Ohrt, Chairman of the Board of Directors: In Christine Buhl Andersen the Glyptotek will be gaining a visionary and experienced director who can add extra momentum to the positive development which the museum is currently undergoing. Christine has displayed initiative and innovative thinking, not least in her impressive revitalising of the museum in Køge. She is absolutely the right person to combine a strong academic profile with popular appeal. In other words Christine is the ideal candidate for the Glyptotek and the Board looks forward to a fruitful working relationship. ... More | | 
This file photo taken on December 08, 2016 shows Latvia-born, Russian and US dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov posing for portraits in Paris. MARTIN BUREAU / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- Dream castings don't come much better than Mikhail Baryshnikov playing Vaslav Nijinsky -- one great ballet dancer playing another. Baryshnikov, now 68, is the star of "Letter to a Man", a one-person theatre show by the acclaimed American director Robert Wilson which follows Nijinsky's slide into insanity. The Russian dance genius, who had revolutionised ballet with his choregraphy for Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" while he was still in his early twenties, went slowly mad after his former lover, the impresario Serge Diaghilev, cut him lose. Diaghilev had bedded Nijinsky and made him the leading man of his legendary company the Ballets Russes after spotting the 19-year-old prodigy at the Mariinsky theatre in St Petersburg in 1908. Now more than a century later, Wilson has dramatised Nijinsky's searing and scandalous diaries, in which he excoriated Diaghilev. It is, as ... More | | 
This file photo taken on October 11, 2009 shows US singer Prince performing at the Grand Palais in Paris. BERTRAND GUAY / AFP.
NEW YORK (AFP).- The year 2016 began with David Bowie releasing one of the most acclaimed albums of his vast career, a sign of new creative energy from the rock legend. Two days later, he was dead, from an undisclosed battle with cancer. Three months after that, another pop icon, Prince -- who had covered Bowie's classic "Heroes" at one of his final concerts -- also died, succumbing to an accidental overdose of painkillers despite his outward signs of vigor. By late 2016, Leonard Cohen put out an album ominously entitled "You Want It Darker" -- and the storied songwriter and poet, who spent his life reflecting on spirituality and mortality, passed away within weeks. The past year -- so momentous on the political front -- also marks a symbolic turning point for rock, with a generation of musical elders starting to exit the stage. The year culminated with another milestone -- the Nobel Committee ... More |
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Art Minute: The Strangest Fruit 9 with Vincent Valdez
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 Rio gets UNESCO world heritage statusRIO DE JANEIRO (AFP).- Rio de Janeiro, nicknamed the Marvelous City, officially entered the UN's list of world heritage sites Tuesday in recognition of its soaring granite cliffs, urban rainforest and beaches. The UN cultural body, UNESCO, highlighted the "extraordinary fusion" of man-made and natural beauty in certifying Rio on the world heritage list during a ceremony held at the Christ the Redeemer statue. That blend has "created an urban landscape perceived to be of great beauty by many writers and travelers and one that has shaped the culture of the city," the UN said. Rio got a big tourism boost during the 2014 football World Cup and this August's Olympic Games. However, persistent high crime, last year's Zika epidemic, and political instability have hurt the city's image. The UNESCO status was announced in 2012, but only became official after the Brazilian ... More Artcurial's Design sale totals $5 millionPARIS.- On the evening of Tuesday 29th November under the gavel of Hervé Poulain, Artcurial organised its second Design sale of the semester presenting the collection of an American, passionate about French design (Collecting on the wild side.) The day before Artcurial paid tribute to Scandinavian Design. The two sections totalled a grand 5 535 620 / 5 867 757 $ with 85 % of the lots sold. Collecting on the wild side almost doubled its estimation with 91% lots sold and gathered 4 489 990 / 4 759 389 $. The biggest names of French design, particularly from the 1950s can be seen across the 82 pieces of furniture. Highlights amongst the French Masters include Jean Royère who dominated the sale with his velvet red mohair, polar bear sofa and pair of armchairs. (lot 17), totaling 1 171 600 / 1 241 896 $ including premium. The duo Le Corbusier & Pierre Jeanneret with ... More 'Birdman' director to put migrant boat 'tomb' on showROME (AFP).- Academy award-winning director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is planning to put on public show a boat which sank off Libya killing up to 900 people, Italy's La Repubblica reported Wednesday. The Mexican, of "Birdman" (2014) and "The Revenant" (2015) fame, wants to transport the blue migrant vessel -- now empty of its cargo of death -- from Sicily to Milan, and display it in front of the city's Gothic cathedral. The director hopes to put it on show by March 24, to coincide with a visit by Pope Francis, a fierce defender of migrant rights. Inarritu plans to use the northern Italian city as a launchpad for exhibiting the boat in sites around the world, the daily said. The heavily overcrowded vessel capsized in pitch darkness on April 18-19, 2015 after running into a freighter that was racing to its aid. It was the Mediterranean's worst disaster since World War II. ... More Kalfayan Galleries opens exhibition of watercolours by Martha JungwirthATHENS, GA.- Kalfayan Galleries (11 Haritos Street, Kolonaki, Athens) in collaboration with Galerie Krinzinger (Vienna) present the solo exhibition of the internationally acclaimed artist Martha Jungwirth, with selected watercolours from the series Paros (2015) created on and inspired by the well-known Greek island. The exhibition was conceived by Antonia Rahofer. The opening will take place on Thursday, 15th of December, 19.00 21.00. Martha Jungwirths works reflect the intimate, indissoluble link between travelling and watercolour painting. Thus the term Malfluchten [painting escapes] has often been used to define the interconnection of the artists desire to travel and to paint. Over the last years Jungwirth has travelled repeatedly to the United States, to Israel, Morocco, Egypt and Oman, to Mexico and Guatemala, and several times to Bali as ... More i8 Gallery opens exhibition of works by ElÃn HansdóttirREYKJAVIK.- i8 Gallery announces the opening of ElÃn Hansdóttirs exhibition, Simulacra, that runs from 15 December 2016 4 February 2017. This will be her second show at i8 gallery. In Simulacra, artist ElÃn Hansdóttir radically alters the gallery space and then returns it to its original state with only photographs serving as evidence. When viewers enter the gallery they see nine nearly identical photographs depicting a prosaic scene - a bouquet of flowers. Upon closer inspection, however, the scene becomes strange, as the flowers are depicted hovering in the center of the gallery where the buildings support column is located, literally defying gravity and logic. And as viewers scan one photograph after another the flowers seem to devolve from a state of bloom to death, as if the deterioration within a Dutch still painting has been divided into cells for a stopmotion animation ... More Pinakothek der Moderne opens exhibition of industrial landscapes by Albert Renger-PatzschMUNICH.- In the years 19271935, Albert Renger-Patzsch, one of the most important photographers of the New Objectivity school, took a comprehensive series of photographs in the Ruhr area depicting the outskirts of towns, landscapes of spoil pits, country roads, backyards and suburban houses, allotments and coal mines. The result is the only body of work by Renger-Patzsch that was not commissioned. With reserved emotionality and clear compositions, the photographs mark a significant position in the landscape genre that was, for instance, seldom found in painting at that time. Now this group of Ruhr landscapes, taken from the collection of the Ann and Jürgen Wilde Foundation, is being presented to the public for the first time. The comprehensive exhibition includes 83 photographs from the Ruhr series, accompanied by documents and archival materials illustrating ... More Currier Museum of Art to receive $15,000 grant for NH artist exhibitionMANCHESTER, NH.- The Currier Museum of Art has been awarded a $15,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the upcoming exhibition, Soo Sunny Park: BioLath. The exhibition will be on view at the Museum from February 25 through August 6, 2017. The Art Works category focuses on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts and the strengthening of communities through the arts. The arts are for all of us, and by supporting organizations such as the Currier Museum of Art, the National Endowment for the Arts is providing more opportunities for the public to engage with the arts, said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. Whether in a theater, a town square, a museum or a hospital, the arts are ... More Koller's Modern, Contemporary & Swiss Art auctions realise 98% by valueZURICH.- Kollers end-of-the year auctions saw strong prices realised for works by Keith Haring, Ai Weiwei & Banksy, a work by Albert Anker sold for over one million, and excellent results for the recently created Photographs and Watches departments, including a rare Patek Philippe wristwatch sold for nearly half a million. Keith Harings Red, Yellow & Blue #22, given by the artist to Austrian songwriter, poet and actor André Heller on the occasion of his sons birth , sold for above its presale estimate at CHF 408 500 (lot 3477). A beautifully crafted pierced sphere by Chinese conceptual artist and dissident Ai Weiwei (lot 3486) fetched CHF 228 500. The series of prints and ceramics by Picasso enjoyed unbridled success, for example the wonderful Danaé linoleum cut from 1962 which realized CHF 66 500 (lot 3659). Louise Bourgeois virtually unique print Girl with Hair changed hand ... More CalArts selects Ravi Rajan as the 4th President of the institutionLOS ANGELES, CA.- Ravi S. Rajan, the Dean of the School of the Arts at Purchase College, State University of New York, has been selected as the fourth President of the California Institute of the Arts, the schools Board of Trustees announced Tuesday. Rajan will begin his tenure June 1, 2017, and his selection was officially announced to the CalArts community late Tuesday following a unanimous board vote. CalArts is a beacon in the higher ed and arts community that has left an indelible mark on the artists who are forging the future monuments of culture and society, said Rajan. Ive known and experienced the amazing work of CalArtss faculty and alumni for decades, and have marveled at the innovation and transformation that has occurred under President Lavines leadership. Im humbled by this opportunity, excited to be a part of this great community, and look ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, French engineer and architect Gustave Eiffel was born December 15, 1832. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel né Bönickhausen (December 15, 1832 - December 27, 1923) was a French structural engineer from the Ãcole Centrale Paris, an architect, an entrepreneur and a specialist of metallic structures. He is acclaimed for designing the world-famous Eiffel Tower, built 1887-1889 for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, France. Notable among his other works is the armature for the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, United States.
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