| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Thursday, February 11, 2021 |
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| | Closed nearly a year, empty museums in Los Angeles struggle | |
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Levitated Mass at Resnick North Lawn at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art by Michael Heizer on Dec. 12, 2020. While many museums around the country have resumed operations, those in Los Angeles remain an exception. They have been shut since March. Philip Cheung/The New York Times.
by Robin Pogrebin
LOS ANGELES (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Fulton Leroy Washington (known as Mr. Wash), who began to paint while serving time for a nonviolent drug offense, was looking forward to being part of the Hammer Museums biennial his first museum show before the pandemic forced the doors closed a few months before the exhibition was to open. I started having excitement build up, Washington said. Then disappointment set in. The show, Made in L.A. 2020, was installed in June and is still in place. But the public has not been allowed inside to see it. Los Angeles, where the coronavirus pandemic has been particularly severe, is the largest city in the nation whose museums have yet to reopen even temporarily since the pandemic struck last March. The prolonged closure is costing its museums millions of dollars a day in lost revenues and setting the city back at a crucial moment when an influx of artists and galleries and an expanding museum scene had prompted some to pronounce LA the co ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Winter of Discontent considers the current atmosphere of upheaval in relation to environmental, political, and economic forces. The group exhibition takes form as both a physical exhibition, presented in person at 303 Gallery, and as an expanded online Viewing Room, where it features additional contributions from gallery artists. Showing concurrently in the gallery's Project Room space is Hunters in the Snow, a selection of works curated by Fortnight Institute.
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| Musical instrument made from seashell found in an ancient French cave | | Germany extends virus shutdown until March 7 | | Christie's Paris offers a collection assembled over four decades by a major Parisian collector | 
A photo provided by Musée du Quai Branly, Jacques Chirac shows a conch from New Zealand and its mouthpiece made of a decorated bone tube. Musée du Quai Branly, Jacques Chirac via The New York Times.
by Katherine Kornei
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- In 1931, researchers working in southern France unearthed a large seashell at the entrance to a cave. Unremarkable at first glance, it languished for decades in the collections of a nearby natural history museum. Now, a team has reanalyzed the roughly foot-long conch shell using modern imaging technology. They concluded that the shell had been deliberately chipped and punctured to turn it into a musical instrument. Its an extremely rare example of a seashell horn from the Paleolithic period, the team concluded. And it still works a musician recently coaxed three notes from the 17,000-year-old shell. I needed a lot of air to maintain the sound, said Jean-Michel Court, who performed the demonstration and is also a musicologist at the University ... More | | 
A man walks along the snow-covered slabs at the The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin on, February 8, 2021. Odd ANDERSEN / AFP.
by Katherine Kornei
BERLIN (AFP).- Chancellor Angela Merkel's government agreed Wednesday to continue a partial lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic until at least March 7, even as Germans grow increasingly weary of the tough restrictions. Following crunch talks with the leaders of Germany's 16 states, Merkel said that the number of new Covid-19 infections in Europe's top economy was dropping after more than two months of shuttered schools and shops. "When we look at this development we can be quite satisfied," she told reporters. But she called on Germans to be patient as fears grow over more contagious virus variants first detected in Britain and South Africa. "We want to do everything in our power so that we don't end up riding an up-and-down wave of openings and closures," Merkel said, calling the period until mid-March "existential" ... More | | 
Gustave Caillebotte, Le Petit bras de la Seine près d'Argenteuil. Estimate: 800,000-1,200,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021.
PARIS.- Christie's will be offering an exceptional collection focusing on modern and post-war art assembled over four decades by a major Parisian collector on 30 March. This lover of Paris, the city that welcomed him as a teenager when he came from his home in north Africa, carefully selected works of the highest quality by major artists from the end of the 19th century to the 1950s. Throughout his quest, our collector has always had great appreciation for this city, which he says "welcomed those who had nothing, I owe it all". Maintaining a strong relationship with his works, which he considers to be his best companions, he has taken care of his collection, undertaking lengthy research into the history of each work, contemplating the compositions of the canvases for long hours. "Art is sacred, it is bigger than life, more beautiful". A man of great sensitivity and a true lover of art, he took great pleasure in sharing his admiration for a ... More |
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| Da Vinci's 'Last Supper' lifts souls with reopening | | Iraqi manuscript saved from jihadists presented to Pope | | Spanish graphic designer Alberto Corazon dies aged 79 | 
People walks across Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II commercial gallery in downtown Milan on February 6, 2021, as the Italian government eased anti-Covid restrictions in the Lombardy region, during the Covid-19 pandemic. MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP.
MILAN (AFP).- The Milan monastery housing Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" has reopened its doors, bringing delight and solace to locals who for once can visit the masterpiece without booking weeks ahead. "After this terrible pandemic, it allows me to escape, it lifts my soul, and lets me feel emotions again," said Milan resident Alessandria Fabbri, 37, as she admired the world-famous mural. Painted on the refectory wall of the Dominican monastery inside Santa Maria delle Grazie, The Last Supper attracted more than 445,000 visitors in 2019, lured to Milan for the 500th anniversary of the death of the great Renaissance painter and inventor. That, of course, was before coronavirus struck last year, tourism ground to a halt and annual revenues of 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million) fell by 80 percent, according to the Cenavolo Vinciano Museum, ... More | | 
Pope Francis speaks from the window of the apostolic palace overlooking St. Peter's Squsre during the weekly Angelus prayer on February 7, 2021 in the Vatican, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP.
VATICAN CITY (AFP).- A sacred manuscript saved from Islamic State jihadists in the Christian town of Qaraqosh in Iraq was presented Wednesday to Pope Francis after being restored in Italy. The book, Sidra, written in the ancient language of Aramaic and dating to the 14th and 15th century, will soon be returned to Qaraqosh, one of the places the pope hopes to visit when he makes his historic trip to Iraq next month. Jihadists swept through Qaraqosh and the rest of the Nineveh Plain east of Mosul in 2014 -- and stayed until October 2016. They forced around 120,000 of Iraq's Christians to flee their homes, the biggest disaster to hit the minority community in its nearly 2,000-year history. The manuscript was one of the oldest books in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and was saved by local priests. It contains liturgical ... More | | 
Alberto Corazón exhibited at the IVAM in 2008 and donated to the museum 47 works.
MADRID (AFP).- Alberto Corazon, one of Spain's top graphic designers who was known for creating some of the nation's best-known logos, died in Madrid on Wednesday. He was 79. Also known for his painting and sculpture, Corazon played a transformative role in the world of Spanish design as the country shifted from dictatorship to democracy following the death of Francisco Franco in 1975. "A key figure in Spanish art and design, his immense creativity contributed to redrawing the image of our country during the transition," tweeted Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. "His infinite work will always be part of our history," he wrote, sending heartfelt condolences to Corazon's family and friends. Born in Madrid in 1942, Corazon began working as a designer in his early 20s, but later also branched out into industrial design. He was responsible for designing some of Spain's most recognisable logos, including that of the National Library, the National Theatre Company along ... More |
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| The Paramount Collection: Seven-figure U.S. coin offerings at Heritage Auctions | | Hindman Auctions' Palm Beach Fine Jewelry sale sees tremendous enthusiasm | | 1822 coin worth $5 million+ to be auctioned | 
1907 $20 Ultra High Relief, Normal Edge Lettering, PR68 NGC. JD-3, Low R.7.
DALLAS, TX.- On the heels of the successful FUN auctions, Heritage Auctions is proud to present a diversified selection of more than 24 American gold and silver coins, all from The Paramount Collection, which also contains the best selection of European numismatic rarities ever offered by Heritage. Bidding is now open for these 24 coins in U.S. Coin portion of the collection in Heritage's U.S. Coins Signature Auction, as part of the Long Beach Expo US Coins Signature Auction, which is scheduled for Feb. 18-21. The collection offers a stunning array of U.S. gold, all of which is encapsulated in NGC holders with special labels as having provenance from The Paramount Collection. Two vintage gold ultra-rarities will each sell for over $1 million. At center stage is a 1907 Extremely High Relief, Lettered Edge $20, NGC PF 68. More than two weeks before the auction, bidding has already exceeded $1.3 million for this exquisite example ... More | | 
Tony Duquette, multigem and coral brooch; price realized: $23,750.
PALM BEACH, FLA.- Hindmans February 9th Palm Beach Fine Jewelry auction realized over $540,000 in 116 lots with international bidders showing fantastic engagement on a range of bold and eye-catching jewelry. The auction included stunning diamond pieces and a range of bright statement jewelry from renowned designers such as Tony Duquette, Christopher Walling, Nicholas Varney, de Grisogono, Evelyn Clothier, Angela Pintaldi, and more. We were thrilled to see the outstanding results of this years Palm Beach Fine Jewelry auction, said Sally Klarr, Hindmans Senior Specialist and Director of Jewelry & Timepieces. We were pleased to have had the opportunity to sell works by such iconic designers, and were delighted with the incredibly high engagement and the enthusiasm with which bidders responded to this distinct selection of jewelry. Nicholas Varneys jewelry received ... More | | 
There are only three known specimens of the 1822 half eagle.
COSTA MESA, CA.- Stacks Bowers Galleries will present at public auction the finest known 1822 half eagle, the D. Brent Pogue Collection coin. It is a legendary American treasure, the only example in private hands of what is acknowledged as the key to a collection of American gold coins. This exceptional coin will be featured in the firms March 23-26, 2021 auction in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are only three known specimens of the 1822 half eagle. Certified as AU-50 by PCGS, the Pogue coin is the finest of the three. As for opportunities to purchase an example of this date, they are just as rare. There have been only two occasions in American numismatic history in which an 1822 half eagle has sold at auction! They were: In 1906 at the H.P. Smith Collection Sale. In 1982 at our sale of the Louis E. Eliasberg Gold Coin Collection Sale. A notable offering took place sometime before 1941, the year that B. Max Mehl showca ... More |
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| Jay-Z and Foo Fighters are nominated for the Rock Hall of Fame | | The V&A shares over 1.2m objects as it revolutionises digital access to its collections | | Victoria Miro announces representation of Ali Banisadr | 
Foo Fighters, from left: Taylor Hawkins (above), Rami Jaffee, Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett in Los Angeles, Jan. 13, 2021. Magdalena Wosinska/The New York Times.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Foo Fighters, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Iron Maiden and Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti are all first-time nominees for the 36th annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the hall announced on Wednesday. They lead a group of 16 nominees, including several who have received nods at least twice before: Devo, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine and Todd Rundgren. After many complaints that the halls hundreds of inductees over the years have been overwhelmingly white and male, this years ballot is its most diverse yet. Seven of the 16 nominees are female acts, and nine feature artists of color. Women on the ballot include the Go-Gos and Dionne Warwick both receiving their first nods along with ... More | | 
The Great Bed of Ware, 1590-1760 © Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
LONDON.- The V&A is launching Explore the Collections, a new digital platform that enables everyone from around the world to search, explore and discover over 1.2m objects from the museums collections. This new online experience forms a key part of the V&As goal to revolutionise access to national collections, which will culminate in our new collections and research centre at V&A East an entirely new cultural experience and the first of its kind in the UK. For the first time, Explore the Collections brings together data, stories, images and content about the museums vast and fascinating collection in one place. With a completely redesigned user experience, it provides a new, fluid and story-led approach, where audiences can search for specific objects or allow the site to recommend content based on their interests. Tim Reeve, Deputy Director & COO at the V&A ... More | | 
Ali Banisadr, The Prophet, 2020 (detail). Oil on Linen, 168 x 224 cm, 66 x 88 in.
LONDON.- Victoria Miro announced the representation of Ali Banisadr. The Brooklyn-based artist, acclaimed for his urgent, ravishing paintings that deftly combine elements of figuration and abstraction within a signature language, will present new work as part of the gallerys forthcoming online group exhibition themed around the colour blue (from 24 February). A solo exhibition will take place at the gallery in 2022. The first major monograph on the artist is published by Rizzoli in May 2021. A painter of epic vistas and dazzling intricacies, Ali Banisadr creates complex, turbulent worlds whose syncopated rhythms corral a multitude of references from art history as well as allusions to our own turbulent times. In any single, expansive canvas one might sense the crystalline detail of the Persian miniature tradition, the muscular brushwork of Abstract Expressionism, the ... More |
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The Artist Project: Alexis Rockman
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| More News |
 The Oak Project announces a new partnership with Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the University of DerbyWAKEFIELD.- The Oak Project has today announced a pioneering partnership with Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the University of Derby. The Oak Project is a programme that explores our relationship with the natural world and builds connection to nature through arts, culture and creativity. This initiative aims to inspire and motivate public action for nature and climate in up to almost half a million people through its first year of programming. The Oak Project will launch its first artist commission, to be hosted at YSP, in late Spring 2021. The Oak Project has been developed in response to recent psychological research1, which demonstrates that art can play an important role in motivating people to take action to protect the environment by building a sense of connection to nature. The Oak Project is a partnership between Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), ... More  Montclair Art Museum opens "Fragile Freedoms: Maggie Meiners Revisits Rockwell"MONTCLAIR, NJ.- Fragile Freedoms: Maggie Meiners Revisits Rockwell, a new thought-provoking photography exhibition at Montclair Art Museum, reimagines the iconic work of early to mid-century painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell through the lens of modern America. With stunningly vivid detail, Meinerss carefully constructed photographs turn nostalgia on its head and rework Rockwells familiar imagery to address contemporary issues including racism, sexuality, gender roles, and the impact of technology. In our current environment of social and political unrest, a global pandemic and renewed activism, MAMs new installations, and supporting discussions, programs, and banners, are particularly relevant and will engage visitors in new ways. The hope is that it will encourage new dialog in the community about how to protect our fragile freedoms ... More  1953 Jaguar XK120 for sale with H&H ClassicsLONDON.- There are some cars that just speak to the heart if you are British and a car enthusiast and this white 1953 Jaguar XK120 is certainly among those. Many who know what they are on about consider it the greatest car Jaguar ever designed. It was converted from a fixed-head coupe to an open two- seater and restored in the early 1990s. Proof that it is a much loved car comes with the logbook which shows that it has been in its current family ownership since 1968, some six decades. This example of the marque is a UK home market special equipment version. It has matching chassis and engine numbers. James McWilliam of H&H Classics, who sourced the car, says: Whoever buys this stunning Jaguar will know that they own one of the best survivors of its kind and a classic part of British automotive history. It is no exaggeration to say that this ... More  Dying breed: Tunisian crafts smoking pipes from briar woodTABARKA (AFP).- Bent over a century-old machine, Tunisia's sole artisan pipe-maker Anis Bouchnak carves smoking pipes from native briar wood, a craft passed down by his grandfather and father. "I am proud to be the only pipe-maker in Tunisia," said the craftsman, his hands roughened from his trade. "But frankly, I would have liked to have competition, because this would have motivated me to progress." The Bouchnak family workshop was established half a century ago in Tabarka, a northwestern tourist town nestled in verdant hills that plunge towards the Mediterranean. In 1968, Anis's grandfather Chedly Bouchnak travelled to Switzerland and brought back a rasp, a drill and other woodworking tools to transform briar wood into smoking pipes. But French pipe-makers refused to teach him their craft. Determined, Chedly spied through the window of a workshop i ... More  Qualia Contemporary Art opens a solo exhibition by Chinese-American artist Stella ZhangPALO ALTO, CA.- Qualia Contemporary Art is presenting Internal Landscape, a solo exhibition by Chinese-American artist, Stella Zhang, featuring paintings, mixed media works and installation. The artist continues her ten-year exploration of the body with new works that act as a meditation on Zhangs acute awareness of the internal and external body and how it not only carries consciousness, but intuition. Internal Landscape is open to the public from Feb. 11, 2021 through April 2, 2021. The gallery will be hosting a Zoom opening celebration on Feb. 13, at 7:30 pm PST. RSVP is required*. The exhibiting works in Internal Landscape were created while the artist was in quarantine for the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many, home became Zhangs refuge and in her solitude, she began to notice the quiet tension that exists between the physical ... More  What comes before Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy'?NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Manfred Honeck is one of todays leading Beethoven conductors. As music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, he has created notably exciting recordings of the Third, Fifth and Seventh Symphonies. Now he and the orchestra, founded 125 years ago this month, are releasing their interpretation of the mighty Ninth. What makes Honecks approach so stimulating in this most standard of repertoire is the sense that he has rethought each bar of the music. He took David Allen through the turbulent opening minutes of the Ninth Symphonys finale before the baritone exclaims O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! (Oh friends, not these sounds!) and announces the famous choral Ode to Joy. Here are edited excerpts from Honeck's comments during the conversation. When we are listening to the fourth ... More  Create a digital commonplace bookNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Creating a commonplace book is somewhat like marking your favorite lines in a novel with the Amazon Kindle highlights feature except your personal one-stop knowledge repository can also include song lyrics, movie dialogue, poems, recipes, podcast transcripts, and any inspiring bits you find in your reading and listening. The commonplace book is not a new concept: Copying down your favorite lines from other peoples works into your own annotated notebook was a standard exercise in Renaissance Europe, and the idea can be traced to the Roman era. But here in the modern world of digital connectivity, you dont have to keep everything in one physical location. With the right app, you can use your smartphone, tablet or computer to collect and sync up new content for your ... More  Working in TV, Jen Silverman wrote a novel. About theater.NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Theater only feels like an accomplishment if youre part of the cult, a character in Jen Silvermans new novel, We Play Ourselves, says. The rest of the world thinks were all wasting our best years. The books flailing heroine, Cass, an emerging playwright, flees New York after a disastrous opening night. At loose ends in Los Angeles, she drifts toward an unscrupulous filmmaker and the teenage girls in her orbit. Like much of Silvermans writing, the book balances what Silvermans colleague, the showrunner Lauren Morelli, praised as a razor-sharp absurdism alongside a deep reverence for humanity. Silverman (The Moors, Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties) started the novel in 2018, having temporarily moved to Los Angeles for a stint in Morellis Tales of the City writers room. Most ... More  Irish Museum of Modern Art announce new partnership at The Dean Arts StudioDUBLIN.- IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art), The Dean Dublin and Press Up Hospitality Group announced today (Wednesday 10 February 2021), a new creative partnership at the Dean Arts Studio. The Dean Arts Studio is a new, multi-disciplinary hub located on Harcourt Street in the heart of Dublin city centre. It is a practical response to the contraction of accessible, affordable city workspaces for artists of all disciplines, due in part to the loss of cultural spaces through development. Both established and emerging practitioners across visual arts, literature, photography, sound, music and more will begin to take up residency this year. The Studio will be fully funded by The Dean Dublin and Press Up Hospitality Group, and the fourteen studios and office spaces will be gifted to artists, cultural institutions and arts organisations. IMMA ... More  MoCA Westport announces the acquisition of a new permanent human rights teaching exhibitionWESTPORT, CONN.- MoCA Westport (formerly the Westport Arts Center) announced that When Caged Birds Sing, a Human Rights Teaching exhibition created by esteemed Westport, CT-based artist Ann Weiner, has been acquired for its permanent collection. Weiner is a long-time resident of Westport, CT who has had a tremendous impact on the artistic community through her works of art, writings, teaching and philanthropy. She has participated in numerous solo exhibitions and group exhibitions throughout her career. The exhibition will be on view at MoCA Westport every 3-5 years and loaned to other museums and university museums in between. When Caged Birds Sing features eight life-size sculptures representing current womens rights activists who suffered and survived abuse because of their gender, and who continue to advocate for the rights of others at risk. The title ... More  Pandemic-hit Oscars to be broadcast from 'multiple locations'LOS ANGELES (AFP).- This year's Oscars will be broadcast live and "in-person" from multiple locations, the Academy said Wednesday, as details of Hollywood's pandemic-delayed big night finally begin to take shape. The Academy Awards in recent decades have taken place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, but with the United States' second largest city still under Covid-19 restrictions, the ceremony is "adapting to the requirements of the pandemic," said a spokesperson. "To create the in-person show our global audience wants to see... the ceremony will broadcast live from multiple locations, including the landmark Dolby Theatre," they said in a statement to AFP. The 93rd Academy Awards will be "an Oscars like none other, while prioritizing the public health and safety of all those who will participate," the spokesperson added. No further new ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
Mental Escapology, St. Moritz 
TIM VAN LAERE GALLERY 
Madelynn Green 
Patrick Angus
Flashback On a day like today, English photographer Henry Fox Talbot, was born February 11, 1800. William Henry Fox Talbot (11 February 1800 - 17 September 1877) was a British scientist, inventor and photography pioneer who invented the salted paper and calotype processes, precursors to photographic processes of the later 19th and 20th centuries. His work in the 1840s on photomechanical reproduction led to the creation of the photoglyphic engraving process, the precursor to photogravure. In this image: William Henry Fox Talbot, Rev. Calvert Richard Jones, "The Fruit Sellers," before December 13, 1845, salted paper print from a calotype negative, H: 6 11/16 x W: 8 1/4 in. image, Gift of the William Talbott Hillman Foundation.
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