| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Thursday, June 6, 2019 |
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| | British art dealer unveils pioneering robot artist | |
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Gallery Director and inventor of Ai-Da the AI humanoid robot artist, Aidan Meller, (R) poses with Ai-Da during a launch event for its first solo exhibition in Oxford on June 5, 2019. Ai-Da the humanoid artist was unveiled to the media ahead of the public opening of an exhibition of the robot's first works. Ai-Da -- named after Ada Lovelace, the English mathematician and writer often called the world's first computer coder -- is able to draw creatively thanks to in-built artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Niklas HALLE'N / AFP.
by Joe Jackson
OXFORD (AFP).- Billed as "one of the most exciting artists of our time", Ai-Da differs from generations of past masters in one inescapable way: she is a robot. Ai-Da is the brainchild of Aidan Meller, who claims she is the world's first ultra-realistic humanoid artist, able to draw creatively thanks to in-built artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The 46-year-old art dealer unveiled Ai-Da -- dressed in a brown wig and period-style painter's blouse -- in Oxford on Wednesday, ahead of an exhibition of her first works opening next week in the English university city. "She is fully algorithmic... fully creative," Meller told reporters, standing alongside his creation. "She is not an expensive printer. We do not know what she's going to do," he insisted. As he spoke, an occasionally blinking Ai-Da, built with cameras for eyes and a robotic arm to draw with, worked on a sketch of him from behind a desk. Forty-five minutes later, a delicate express ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day A sculpture of Charles Darwin is displayed in front of an authentic Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton during a press preview of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural Historys newly reopened David H. Koch Hall of Fossils Deep Time exhibit June 4, 2019 in Washington, DC. More than 700 fossil specimens, including mammals, reptiles, plants and insects are on display in the hall, made possible by a $35 million gift from billionaire David Koch. Win McNamee/Getty Images/AFP
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 | | France ramps up bid to return stolen WW2 Jewish assets | | British visit Easter Island to discuss returning sacred monolith | | Gagosian opens an exhibition of Francis Bacon's double-figure paintings | 
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe speaks during a session of questions to the Government at the French National Assembly in Paris, on May 29, 2019. FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- The French government said on Wednesday it had launched a project to return cultural artefacts stolen from Jews in World War II. The new task force aims to "shed light on cultural assets of dubious origin held by public institutions", stolen between 1933 and 1945, the culture ministry said in a statement. Around 2,000 artefacts sent from Germany to France after the war are held in French museums under special status as their owners have not been identified. Their status also means they should never leave the country. Researchers will work alongside museums, libraries, archives and the Foreign office to "examine cases one by one, whether they are filed by victims' families or uncovered by the investigation", the statement said. France and Germany signed an agreement last month to improve cooperation on returning seized objects to their rightful owners. The move comes after Prime Minister Edouard Philippe pledge ... More | | 
An ancestor figure 'moai' known as Hoa Hakananai'a stands at the entrance to the Wellcome gallery in the British Museum in London on November 20, 2018. Adrian DENNIS / AFP.
SANTIAGO (AFP).- A team from the British Museum arrived Tuesday on Easter Island to meet with local Polynesian people seeking the return from London of one of the most spiritually important of the Chilean island's stone monoliths. Gaye Sculthorpe, curator of the museum's Oceania section, and Lissant Bolton, an anthropologist specializing in the Pacific region, traveled to the South Pacific island 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) from the coast of Chile. Its greatest tourist attraction are statues known as moai, which were sculpted from basalt more than 1,000 years ago. The British Museum has held one of them, called the Hoa Hakananai'a, for 150 years. The indigenous Rapa Nui people are now demanding its return, and have been in talks with the museum since last year. For them, the statue contains the spirit of their people. The monolith stands 2.4 metres (2.6 yards) tall and weighs four tonnes. Hoa Hakananai'a was taken without permissio ... More | | 
Francis Bacon, Two Figures with a Monkey, 1973. Oil on canvas, 78 x 58 1/8 in. 198 x 147.5 cm © The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved, DACS/Artimage 2019. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd. Courtesy Gagosian.
LONDON.- Gagosian is presenting Couplings, an exhibition of Francis Bacons double-figure paintings. Bacons disturbing imageshis portrayals of friends and fellow artists, and the deformations and stylistic distortions of classical subjectsradically altered the genre of figurative painting in the twentieth century. In Bacons paintings, the human presence is evoked sometimes viscerally, at other times more fleetingly, in the form of a shadow or a blurred, watchful figure. In certain instances, the portrayal takes the form of a composite in which male and female bodily traits are transposed or fused. This selective exhibition explores a theme that preoccupied Bacon throughout his career: the relationship between two people, both physical and psychological. At the heart of the exhibition are two of the most uninhibited images that Bacon ever painted: Two Figures (1953) and Two Figures in the Grass (1954). These inter ... More |
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| | | Aznavour sculpture sells for $2.3 million | | Cooper Hewitt announces 20th class of National Design Award winners | | Maliavin's portrait of a young girl is top lot at Bonhams Russian Art Sale | 
Germaine Richier, La Tauromachie, Bronze à patine dorée, 116.5 x 52.5 x 96.5 cm. Conçue en 1953. Estimate: 1,500,000-2,500,000. Sold : 2,110,000. ©Christies Images Ltd, 2019.
PARIS (AFP).- A bronze sculpture of a bullfighter owned by the late singer Charles Aznavour has sold for 2.1 million euros ($2.3 million), Christie's said. The French crooner, one of the great singer-songwriters of the last century, was a passionate art collector. He amassed a large collection at his home in southeast France, where he died in the bath last October, aged 94. "La Tauromachie" by the French sculptor Germaine Richier shows a torero with a bull's head. It is one of series of 11 made by the pioneering woman artist, with others on display at the Guggenheim in Venice and Museum of Modern Art in Brussels. A second sculpture from Aznavour's collection by the French artist Cesar also went under the hammer for 72,000 euros in the ... More | | 
Susan Kare, Apple Macintosh Computer Icons (Cupertino, California, 19821984). Photo: Susan Kare.
NEW YORK, NY.- Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum today announced the 20th class of National Design Award winners, honored for design excellence and innovation in 11 categories, including the inaugural Emerging Designer Award. Established in 2000 as a project of the White House Millennium Council, the National Design Awards bring national recognition to the ways in which design enriches everyday life. In celebration of this milestone year, Target will offer free admission to all visitors of Cooper Hewitt during National Design Week, Oct. 1219, to make design accessible to all. Target will also sponsor a series of Cooper Hewitt programming broadening access to the vision and work of the countrys design leaders and inspiring people of all ages to engage ... More | | 
Portrait of a Young Girl in a Pink Dress by Philip Maliavin. Sold: £312,563. Photo: Bonhams.
LONDON.- A charming portrait by the Russian artist Philip Maliavin was top lot at Bonhams Russian Art sale in London today (Wednesday 5 June). Portrait of a Young Girl in a Pink Dress achieved an impressive £312,563. During the 1920s and 30s Maliavin travelled all over Europe and the USA fulfilling commissions from wealthy and aristocratic families. Stylistic evidence suggests that Portrait of a Young Girl in a Pink Dress was painted in the mid-late 1920s, and although the identity of the sitter is unknown, she is likely to have been a member of a European aristocratic family. Head of Bonhams Russian Department Daria Khristova said, Portrait of a Young Girl was a truly exceptional work by Maliavin and we are delighted to have achieved a robust price. Elsewhere in the sale, the group of diminutive lapidary carvings of animals by from ... More |
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| | | Major photo collection acquired by Art Gallery of Ontario | | Janet Borden, Inc. opens a new installation of work by Hanno Otten | | The Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München goes digital | 
Gaston Fabre, Coal Worker, around 1880. 16.8 x 22.86 cm printing out paper print.
TORONTO.- The Art Gallery of Ontario announced today that it has acquired The Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs, a singular collection of more than 3,500 historical images from 34 countries including Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad. One of the largest collections of such images, it brings to life the changing economies, environments and communities that emerged following the abolition of slavery across the region. The Collection includes nearly every photographic format available during the years 1840 to 1940, including prints, postcards, daguerreotypes, lantern slides, albums, and stereographs. This acquisition also continues the AGOs focus on building depth in its photography collection, which in recent years has included the purchase of more than 500 works by Diane Arbus, as well as a major collection of Polaroids of African- ... More | | 
Hanno Otten. Unnamed Blues.
BROOKLYN, NY.- Janet Borden, Inc. announced 13 Colors, a new installation of work by Hanno Otten. This extraordinary installation is a new development of Otten's work, based on his Farbenlehre, Colorblocks, and Lichtbilder series. Pure vivid color is Ottens language. In these photographs, Otten literally dissects color photography and uses the individual elements to create unique images. Lush bands of color hang from the wall in this installation, surrounding the room in a wild physical cacophony. Ottens new work continues to explore the abstract, with new approaches and refinements. Once again he manipulates color and light to create a modern palette of vivid hues. As in his earlier work, Otten insists on the primacy of color, forgoing any literal or narrative interpretation. His work builds on the color studies of earlier artists whose interest in color perception paved the way for his projects. In this ... More | | 
The Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München brings a substantial piece of Bavarias cultural heritage onto the international stage.
MUNICH.- The Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München is now welcoming visitors online! The Munich museums latest initiative involves am online study room, accessible via its homepage, that allows the general public to call up and explore the collections vast holdings from anywhere in the world. With the projects launch, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München brings a substantial piece of Bavarias cultural heritage onto the international stage, joining the ranks of other world-class collections of works on paper with strong online presences. The program was made possible by the generous support of the Stiftung Pinakothek der Moderne and the Bavarian State Ministry for Science, Research, and the Arts. This undertaking will not only help make the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung and its extensive collection of first-rate ... More |
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| | | Appointment of a new Director for Royal Museums Greenwich | | Donald Sultan's first U.K retrospective opens at Huxley-Parlour Gallery | | Perrotin Tokyo exhibits works by Lee Mingwei | 
Paddy has had a successful career serving as Chief Executive Officer of one of the largest international shipping companies in the world, Euronav since 2000. © Susanna Hakuba.
GREENWICH.- Sir Charles Dunstone, Chair of Royal Museums Greenwich Trustees, announced the appointment of Paddy Rodgers as Director, Royal Museums Greenwich in succession to Kevin Fewster. Paddy takes up the new post in August 2019. Paddy has had a successful career serving as Chief Executive Officer of one of the largest international shipping companies in the world, Euronav since 2000. Having qualified as a solicitor he relocated to Hong Kong where he first worked in shipping. In his nearly 20 years as CEO he has seen Euronav grow significantly; he is steeped in the contemporary maritime world and has taken a keen interest in safety, quality and the environment during his tenure. Paddy also has a passion for history, art and literature and is a Life Patron of the Museum. In 2018 he ran a half marathon to raise funds for the refurbishment of the Altazimuth ... More | | 
Golden Flower, 23 October, 1998, Yellow latex and gold leaf on paper, 60 x 48 inches © the artist, Courtesy Huxley-Parlour Gallery.
LONDON.- The acclaimed American figurative painter Donald Sultan is receiving his first U.K retrospective at Huxley-Parlour Gallery, London. Arranged over two floors, the exhibition is comprised of 17 works produced between 1977 and 2019 and features three canvasses from his seminal Disaster Paintings series. Sultan has not shown in London in 10 years, so this exhibition is timely, providing an opportunity to re-evaluate his work and position him within the canon of post-war Contemporary Art. Sultan is best known for his large-scale paintings produced using a range of industrial and non-art materials, including tar, latex and rubber, and for his graphic and restrained investigations of form. The exhibition seeks to reassert Sultans status as a pivotal figure in the reinvention of painting that occurred in New York in the 1980s, and also in the reestablishment of figuration in contemporary painting. The exhibition includes ... More | | 
View of the exhibition The Tourist at Perrotin Tokyo. Photo: Kei Okano © Courtesy of the artist & Perrotin.
TOKYO.- Lee Mingwei is an artist whose practice dwells in the intimacy of human exchange. Sculpting scenarios through agreed protocols, the artist honours coalescence between foreignness and intimacy. His practice conjures a space of conviviality and reciprocity, it heightens the interactions that take place between people, often within a scaffolding of daily life such as having a conversation while mending (The Mending Project), dreaming in a shared space (The Sleeping Project), or singing a song for someone (Sonic Blossom). The artist then distils these exchanges into considered environments for others to experience. A certain formality of exchange orchestrates enough space for unpredictability and for new and potent insights to occur. Lee enjoyed six summers as a child as an apprentice to a Chan Buddhist monk in the mountains of Taiwan. Here he learned about abstraction, Song Dynasty poetry, generosity, and the power of silence. He ... More |
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America On Stage - The Maquettes
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 Women stars of studio pottery at Bonhams Decorative Arts saleLONDON.- Bonhams Decorative Arts sale at the Knightsbridge saleroom in London on Wednesday 19 June offers a strong selection of works by women studio potters, some long-established and others with growing reputations. A number of pieces were made especially for the sale. For many years Bonhams has led the way in encouraging up-and-coming studio potters to offer their work at auction. Kitty Shepherd and the Irish artist Grainne Watts have produced pieces specifically for this sale, and Ursula Morley-Smith, who rarely consigns her work to auction, is also taking part. Pieces include: Bindu: A Stoneware and Ming Porcelain Work executed in 2019 by Grainne Watts. Estimate: £4,000-5,000 Beetle (Cydianirus ornatus): A Large Slipware Vase, by Kitty Shepherd executed 2019. Estimate: £1,500-2,000 Butter Fly Mouth Form, circa 2017 by ... More Leonardo Drew's City in the Grass on view at Madison Square ParkNEW YORK, NY.- Madison Square Park Conservancy has commissioned Leonardo Drew to create a monumental new public art project for the Park on view this spring. Marking the Conservancys 38th commissioned exhibition and the artists most ambitious work to date, City in the Grass presents a topographical view of an abstract cityscape atop a patterned panorama. Building on the artists signature techniques of assemblage and additive collage, the installation extends over 100 feet long with a richly textured surface that invites visitor engagement. City in the Grass is on view from June 3, 2019, through December 15, 2019. In this teeming urban space, Leonardo Drew's goal has been to bring people close in to his work, to study the swells and folds of his cityscape, and to locate a personal place within the purposeful voids in the work, said Brooke Kamin Rapaport, ... More Two rare Patek Philippe Ref 2499s lead Sotheby's $11 million auction of Important Watches in New YorkNEW YORK, NY.- Daryn Schnipper, Chairman of Sothebys International Watch Division, and Sam Hines, Worldwide Head of Watches at Sothebys, commented: Fresh to market timepieces of great quality and condition carried yesterdays auction, which continue to increase in both value and demand over time. From Nautilus sport watches by Patek Philippe to contemporary Rolex wristwatches and an exceptional Cartier comet clock, our top prices demonstrate desire for a diversity of material across our market. Overall, yesterdays results mark a 36% increase over our most recent sale in New York, with an average sold lot value that is 43% higher in comparison. Nate Borgelt, Head of Sale for Sothebys Watch Department in New York, said: The heart of yesterdays sale was the exceptional estate collection, assembled by a discerning and prescient Midwest ... More Michel Rein Paris opens an exhibition of works by Christian HidakaPARIS.- Michel Rein Paris is presenting Christian Hidakas 7th exhibition at the gallery, following Players (2017), Marabout (2017, Brussels), The Fool (2015), Souvenir (2012), Red Desert (2011) and Balanced Rock (2010). « Christian Hidaka explores the pictorial space from all its angles, without concerning himself with dogmas, navigating with disconcerting ease from one cultural era to the next. The praxis of this London-based artist of Japanese origin in fact conveys a geographical and geometric offcentredness, in which the vanishing lines inherited from the Italian Renaissance overlap with the oblique perspectives of classical oriental art. At Galerie Michel Rein, Hidaka delivers a treatise on hybrid perspective, open to other directions and the many different possibilities offered by a broadened and transversal conception of painting. The picture (and by extension ... More Hit Paris Tutankhamun show gets extended runPARIS (AFP).- A blockbuster Tutankhamun show in Paris has been extended for a week with more than 800,000 people already buying tickets for the exhibition. More than 1.2 million are expected to flock to "Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh", which has been described as as a "once in a generation" show about the young Egyptian monarch. Organisers said opening hours have also been extended from 9 am to 9 pm at the giant la Villette venue in the north of the French capital. The galleries will remain open until 2 am on June 15 for "The Night of Tutankhamun", which will feature traditional musicians and guest speakers. The show, which will transfer to the Saatchi Gallery in London in November, will now run in Paris until September 22. The Egyptian Ministry for Antiquities -- which is taking a share of the proceeds of the show -- said this is the largest ... More Charles Loupot reaches new heights in Swann Graphic Design saleNEW YORK, NY.- Swann Galleries auction of Graphic Design on May 23 offered a selection of vintage posters by important designers from the twentieth century, boasting auction debuts and five auction records. Charles Loupots luxury advertisements from the early twentieth century led the sale. Highlights included a 1926 poster for the French automobile company Peugeot which earned an auction record at $37,500, and Wanneroil / Huile du bon Chauffer, 1926, a first at auction that garnered $22,500. Also of note was a 1930 ad for Twining Tea, which sold for $20,000. Additional auction records included Edmond Mauruss lively circa 1930s poster for Chrysler ($13,750); Clotilde et Alexandre Sakharoff, 1921, an Art Deco advertisement by George Barbier ($17,500); Ferdinand Ludwig Grafs 1908 secessionist poster Kaiser Jubilaeums ... More Caroline Maddox joins the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art as Director of Advancement and StrategyHARTFORD, CONN.- The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art today announced that after an extensive search, Caroline Maddox has been appointed as the Director of Advancement and Strategy. Isaacson Miller, known for recruiting exceptional leaders for many premiere cultural organizations, led the search. In her new capacity as Director of Advancement and Strategy, Caroline Maddox will lead the Wadsworths development efforts including a team of seven, serve as a key member of the senior management team, and guide the museums forthcoming strategic fundraising programs. Maddox officially starts her role at the Wadsworth on July 15, 2019. As the Wadsworth enters a critical phase of elevated programming and intense strategic planning, Carolines talent, enthusiastic demeanor, and innovative approach to philanthropy will strengthen the museum ... More Julian Barnes wins French prize for first love novelPARIS (AFP).- British writer Julian Barnes was awarded France's Jean d'Ormesson prize Wednesday for his novel, "The Only Story", a powerful meditation on the wounds a first love can leave. "First love fixes a life forever: this much I have discovered over the years," Barnes, the most Francophile of English novelists, wrote in the book. "It may overshadow subsequent loves; on the other hand, it can make them easier, better. Though sometimes, first love cauterises the heart, and all any searcher will find thereafter is scar tissue," added Barnes, who lost his wife the literary agent Pat Kavanagh in 2008. "The Only Story" returns to the theme of Barnes' debut novel, "Metroland", recounting the passion of a 19-year-old living in the London suburbs for an older and married tennis partner, Susan. The novel was hailed by Heloise d'Ormesson, the daughter of the late ... More J. Paul Getty Trust Board of Trustees elects Dr. David L. Lee as ChairLOS ANGELES, CA.- The Board of Trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust today announced it has elected Dr. David L. Lee as its next chair of the Board. We are delighted that Dr. Lee will lead the Getty Board of Trustees as we embark on many exciting initiatives, said Getty President James Cuno. Dr. Lees involvement with the international community, his experience in higher education and philanthropy, and his strong financial acumen has served the Getty well. We look forward to his leadership. Lee was appointed to the Getty Board of Trustees in 2009. Lee will serve a four-year term as chair of the 15-member group that includes leaders in art, education, and business who volunteer their time and expertise on behalf of the Getty. Through its extensive research, conservation, exhibition and education programs, the Gettys work has made ... More Exhibition of new paintings on velvet by Mel Bochner opens at Simon Lee GalleryLONDON.- Simon Lee Gallery is presenting an exhibition of new paintings on velvet by American artist Mel Bochner. This is the artists third solo exhibition with the gallery. For nearly 60 years Bochners intellectual and material analysis of painting, photography and sculpture has yielded ground-breaking works that explore the intersection of linguistic and visual representation. As a leading figure within the conceptual and post-minimal art movements of the 1960s, he experimented in complicating the relationship between image and language. Bochners father was a sign-painter by trade and so from an early age the artist developed an interest in the function of painting and its potential as a method of linguistic communication. Words and language as both subject and medium form the backbone of a practice fundamentally concerned with a continual ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, French painter Yves Klein died June 06, 1962. Yves Klein (28 April 1928 - 6 June 1962) was a French artist considered an important figure in post-war European art. He was a leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany. Klein was a pioneer in the development of performance art, and is seen as an inspiration to and as a forerunner of minimal art, as well as pop art. In this image: Yves Klein, "Untitled Fire-Color Painting (FC 1)," 1961. Private Collection. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy Yves Klein Archives.
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