| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Thursday, May 21, 2020 |
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| | Met museum in New York aims to open in mid-August after lockdown | |
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In this file photo taken on May 4, 2020 a man wearing a facemask walks past the Metropolitan Museum of Art "The Met" in New York City. New York's Metropolitan Museum plans to reopen in mid-August, "or maybe a few weeks later," with reduced hours and no tours to maintain social distancing, the museum said on May 19, 2020. Angela Weiss / AFP.
NEW YORK (AFP).- The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York said Tuesday it hopes to reopen in mid-August or a few weeks later with reduced visiting hours and no guided tours so as to encourage social distancing. Closed since March 13, this is the first major museum in the city to announce a date for reopening, even though Governor Andrew Cuomo has yet to say when the Big Apple will get back to business with an easing of coronavirus lockdown measures. His plan calls for a reopening in four phases in each region of New York state. Resuming cultural activities is allowed only in phase four. New York City has yet to be allowed to undertake even phase one. Besides the scaled-back visiting hours and lack of guided tours, the Met also said it will hold off from offering lectures or concerts until late 2020 so as to avoid large gatherings that could spread the coronavirus. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Queen Mathilde of Belgium and King Philippe - Filip of Belgium visit the permanent collection of the Old Masters Museum, part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, on May 19, 2020 in Brussels, as the country eases lockdown measures taken to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus. Daina LE LARDIC / Belga / AFP
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 | | An audience comes out of lockdown for Schubert and Mahler | | Hauser & Wirth opens an online exhibition featuring works by Arshile Gorky and Jack Whitten | | Authorities seek forfeiture of ancient Gilgamesh tablet from Hobby Lobby | 
Fewer than 200 audience members attend a concert featuring the baritone Gunther Groissböck and the pianist Alexandra Goloubitskaia at the State Theater of Hesse in Wiesbaden, Germany, which normally seats 1,000, May 18, 2020. Observing social distancing, a German theater cautiously restarted live concerts. Gordon Welters/The New York Times.
by Jack Ewing
WIESBADEN (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Normally, when a performer peers beyond bright stage lights into a darkened theater and sees every fourth seat occupied, its not a good sign. Is it because were no good? Günther Groissböck, an Austrian baritone, recalled thinking as he stepped before a sparse audience at the State Theater of Hesse here Monday evening. Is it because were unpopular? At least three empty seats separated every occupied one in the neo-Baroque auditorium, which normally holds 1,000 but accommodated fewer than 200 on Monday. This was by design, part of a hotly debated and potentially risky attempt to revive live performance as the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic ebbs in Europe. Wiesbadens ... More | | 
Jack Whitten (1939 - 2018), King's Wish (Martin Luther's Dream), 1968. Oil on canvas, 172.4 x 129.7 x 4.5 cm / 67 7/8 x 51 1/8 x 1 3/4 inches © Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth.
NEW YORK, NY.- Arshile Gorky and Jack Whitten, two consummate master artists of the 20th century, are shown together in this online exhibition. The presentation was inspired by Whitten himself, who paid tribute to Gorky in a speech he gave in 2017. Arshile Gorky was my first love in painting, he explained, it was Gorky who first excited my imagination. Whitten described the experience of looking at Gorkys work as, witnessing something that comes from the deep soul of an artist. Belonging to different generations, each artist developed a highly individual visual vocabulary within their oeuvre. Gorky played a pivotal role in the shift to abstraction that transformed 20th-century American art, bridging surrealism and abstract expressionism. By absorbing and reacting to the work of ancient and past masters, as well as contemporary artists, he asserted his own understanding and imagination; a traditionalist sensibility in an American vanguard context. Whitten made ... More | | 
In this file photo different versions of Bible are on display at Museum of the Bible November 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Federal prosecutors moved Monday to formally confiscate a rare cuneiform tablet that bears part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the worlds oldest works of literature, from a Bible-themed museum founded in part by the president of crafts retailer Hobby Lobby. The 3,600-year-old clay artifact, known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, originated in the area that is today Iraq and was imported illegally to the United States in the 2000s, the office of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York said. An international auction house sold the tablet in 2014 to Hobby Lobby for display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, according to a civil complaint filed by prosecutors seeking the artifacts forfeit. Despite inquiries from the retailer and the museum, the auction house withheld information about the tablets provenance, authorities said. The museum has cooperated with the investigation, prosecutors said. Charlotte Clay, a spokeswoman for the museum, ... More |
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| | Christie's announces online-only auction of Post-War and Contemporary art in Amsterdam | | Findings made by British Museum archaeologists and scientists reveal that bitumen has been identified for the first time | | Oscars may be postponed due to coronavirus: report | 
Miquel Barceló, Cap de Boc Marinat, 2005 (detail). stimate: 250,000-350,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.
AMSTERDAM.- Christies Post-War and Contemporary Art Amsterdam auction will move to an online-only platform, taking place from 2 to 18 June 2020. Reflecting the breadth of works offered in the highly successful live sale, the new format will offer a survey of contemporary sculpture over the last 60 years, ranging from Shinkichi Tajiri to Yayoi Kusama and from Tony Cragg and Ulrich Rückriem to Isa Genzken. An early pre-war painting by Ernst Wilhelm Nay will be presented alongside works by A. R. Penck, Günther Förg, Arnulf Rainer and Anselm Kiefer to form a focused group of German and Austrian artists. Dutch artists are represented by Rob van Koningsbruggen, Carel Visser, Henk Visch and Bram Bogart. Further highlights include Cap de Boc Marinat (2005, estimate: 250,000-350,000), a monumental painting by Miquel Barceló and Untitled (2000, ... More | | 
Black paint in palette.
LONDON.- Findings made by British Museum archaeologists and scientists published today in Scientific Reports reveal that bitumen has been identified for the first time in ancient Nubia. Samples analysed from Amara West, now in modern day Sudan, provide evidence of the use of bitumen from the Dead Sea in Nubia during the 19th and 20th Dynasties (c.12501080 BC). This discovery expands our understanding of the practice of funerary rituals using black liquids, as this new research provides an example of the use of this ritual far from the centre of power in Egypt, and in a tomb with both Egyptian and Nubian elements. A combination of archaeological and scientific research uncovered two different uses for bitumen at Amara West. The bitumen was found in two different forms, ground and mixed with gum to make a black paint, and in a ritual liquid made from a mixture of organic products. Bitumen is a dense, highly vi ... More | | 
In this file photo taken on February 8, 2020 an Oscars statue is displayed on the red carpet area on the eve of the 92nd Oscars ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. Next year's Oscars could be postponed due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus in Hollywood, trade publication Variety reported on May 19, 2020. Mark RALSTON / AFP.
LOS ANGELES (AFP).- Next year's Oscars could be postponed due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus in Hollywood, trade publication Variety reported Tuesday. The movie industry's biggest night is currently scheduled for February 28. But with theaters shuttered, blockbusters delayed and productions halted, the prize-giving Academy has already been forced to make significant rules changes. One of multiple anonymous sources told Variety it was now "likely" the ceremony itself will be postponed. No formal proposals or detailed discussions have yet taken place over moving the event, or potential new dates, the report said. The Academy of Motion ... More |
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| | Christie's announces 'Out of Office: Art that Transports' | | Matthew Marks presents first ever online exhibition of works by Robert Gober | | Christie's presents an online private selling exhibition of American Illustration Art | 
Hubert Robert, Paris 1733-1808 and another hand, A mountainous landscape with ramparts and buildings of an Italian village. Estimate: £30,000 - 50,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.
LONDON.- Christies announces Out of Office: Art that Transports, a themed sale encompassing 46 lots ranging from £1,000 to £30,000 across a selection of paintings dating from the 16th Century through to the 20th Century. In a time before mass public transport, when the world moved at a slower pace and personal horizons were necessarily closer to home, art was a means for people to explore the vastness of the world from their own homes without ever leaving. Out of Office: Art that Transports allows us, in our newly restricted world, to continue the voyages of artists. Christies invites you to take a journey which transports you from England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Greece, India, Lebanon, Hawaii and the Arctic ... More | | 
Death Mask, 2008. Plaster, watercolor, graphite, 10 x 6 1/4 x 7 inches, 25 x 16 x 18 cm.
NEW YORK, NY.- Matthew Marks Gallery presents Robert Gober: Sculpture, Photographs, and Works on Paper 19762019, an online survey featuring twenty works spanning four decades that focuses on some of the artists most iconic motifs. The show constitutes the gallery's first digital exhibition, and is now open to the public at MatthewMarks.com. Since the 1970s Robert Gober has been exploring sexuality, politics, religion, and the natural world in meticulously handcrafted work. Early in his career The New York Times described his sculptures as minimal forms with maximum content. In Gobers art even the most seemingly commonplace object a shoe, an armchair, a bag of cat litter contains multiple meanings and implications. The foundation of his practice is the physical act of making, which for Gober can entail learning a new craft, sourcing materials and knowledge, and enduring long periods of trial and err ... More | | 
N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), The Prospector, oil on canvas laid down on board, 39 x 27 1/4 in. Painted in 1912. © Christie's Images Ltd 2020.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies announces an online private selling exhibition The Art of the Cover, featuring Americas most-loved illustration artists, will take place 20 May through 19 June. Comprised of 23 lots, highlights include works by Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, J.C. Leyendecker, George Hughes and Joseph Kernan, among others. Prices range from below $100,000 to over $5 million, and a virtual gallery experience features audio from specialists on key paintings. The Art of the Cover explores how illustration artists created a visual narrative of modern American life in the first decades of the 20th Century, reflecting the spirit of their times and establishing traditions and idioms that last to this day. Before television and the internet dominated news and entertainment, popular culture in the United States propagated largely through illustrated magazines. Through their craftsmanship and storytelling, ... More |
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| | Andréhn-Schiptjenko, Paris reopens with 'Tony Matelli: Abandon' | | A timely tale accompanies the watch belonging to the Surgeon General who guided U.S. through 1918 pandemic | | MacDougall's to offer an exceptional collection of Russian art of a European gentleman | 
Tony Matelli, Weed 517, 2020. Painted bronze, 28 x 10 x 12 in. (71.1 x 25.4 x 30.5 cm).
PARIS.- Andréhn-Schiptjenko is presenting Abandon, Tony Matellis first exhibition at the Paris venue, and his seventh with the gallery. This is the first time Abandon is presented in a gallery context. The Weed sculptures are, now for the past 20 years, an ongoing series of unique works made of hand-painted bronze. The very first Weed was made in 1995 and was among the first works made when the artist arrived in NYC. The series was first shown in a museum context in the exhibition To Be Real curated by Toby Kamps at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco (1997). Each work depicts in minute detail and in original scale exactly what their title implies a weed. Intended to be experienced as such first and as art second, they function beyond institutional critique and act as metaphors for general classifications of value, hierarchy and worthiness. Weeds are sturdy, never welcome and always present, surviving, ... More | | 
Patek Philippe, very fine & historically important minute repeating split seconds chronograph with register presented by the citizens of San Francisco to Surgeon General Rupert Blue, circa 1908. Imaged by Heritage Auctions.
DALLAS, TX.- Perhaps the name inscribed on the inner dust cover of the Patek Philippe in Heritage Auctions June 9 Timepieces Auction Rupert Blue does not ring a bell. But that is only because the good doctor sought neither fame nor fortune. He was, instead, a public servant who tried only to save millions of lives when plagues threatened to devour cities and a deadly virus swept across this country. A century ago, when the United States was in the grips of another merciless pandemic, Blue served as Surgeon General. And what he said then reverberates in every caution uttered now: The disease now spreading over this country is highly catching, he warned time and again, and may invade your community and attack you and your family unless you are very careful. In the midst of the Spanish ... More | | 
Konstantin Somov, A Young Lady and a Student. Estimate: £200,000300,000.
LONDON.- MacDougalls live auction, 30 May 2020, offers an Exceptional Collection of Russian Art of a European Gentleman, plus other properties. The 200 lot auction, including both classic and contemporary works, will be held in the traditional format of phone, commission, and online bidding, but without in-room bidding and public exhibition due to Coronavirus restrictions. Director William MacDougall explained: We've had enough disruptions to our lives as it is. At least an auction can be held in a way with which collectors are all accustomed. The sale includes masterpieces by classic 19th and 20th century Russian artists such as Shishkin, Korovin, Sudeikin, Annenkov, Vereshchagin, Khrutsky, Falk, Somov, Brodsky and many others. Key contemporary artists are represented by such names as Koshlyakov, Nemukhin, Plavinsky, Chuikov, Sitnikov, and Pepperstein. Many paintings ... More |
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Arshile Gorky & Jack Whitten
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 Harvard Art Museums announce new tours of Painting Edo exhibition on Google Arts & CultureCAMBRIDGE, MASS.- The Harvard Art Museums launched a collection of online tours of the special exhibition Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection; the series is made possible through the museums partnership with the Google Cultural Institute and is available on the Google Arts & Culture platform. The four short, immersive tours showcase stunning examples of hanging scrolls, folding screens, sliding doors, fan paintings, and woodblock-printed books in the exhibition, all of which have been generously promised to the museums by Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg. The tours are organized into four sections: Part One provides an overview of the exhibition, including an introductory video with co-curator Rachel Saunders; Part Two visits the Floating World of Edos licensed pleasure quarters and explores the graphically rich paintings ... More Fine & Important Jewelry Auction achieves top results for Hindman AuctionsCHICAGO, IL.- Hindmans May 14th Fine and Important Jewelry Auction realized over $1.8 million in 330 lots. The sale was held remotely, bringing together telephone and online bidders from across the globe. The sale offered jewelry sourced from numerous estates and collections from across the country. Pieces by well-known, trusted houses such as Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Tiffany & Co. achieved strong results overall. Signed, wearable pieces of jewelry were in high demand, and brought top prices. Pieces by Van Cleef & Arpels sold especially well with the Diamond and Sapphire Feuilles Bracelet and Brooch (lots 139 & 139A), the Amethyst and Pink Sapphire Hawaii Convertible Set (lot 137) and the Ruby and Diamond Earclips (lot 42), each exceeding their high estimates. The auctions top lot, an oval brilliant cut diamond weighing 10.17 carats, realized $137,500 ... More Christie's, Mark Seliger and RAD partner to raise funds for COVID-19 charitiesNEW YORK, NY.- Christies, Mark Seliger Studio, and RAD (Red Carpet Advocacy) are thrilled to announce a new joint fundraising and advocacy campaign, RADArt4Aid, a dedicated global auction to benefit multiple COVID-19 relief organizations. Award-winning American photographer Mark Seliger, known for iconic portraits of politicians, musicians, actors and celebrities featured on the covers of Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, is kindly contributing limited-edition prints from his own archives to a special philanthropic auction at Christies, with the goal of raising as much money as possible for charity during these unprecedented times. RAD is producing the campaign and driving advocacy for the benefitting charities. The auction will feature 25 of Seligers most-celebrated portraits, including: Jennifer Aniston, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, Laura Dern, ... More Higher Pictures opens an online-only exhibition of works by Daniel TemkinNEW YORK, NY.- Higher Pictures presents its first gallery exhibition by Daniel Temkin; this show opens in an online-only format, a first for the gallery. Temkin joins Higher Pictures exhibition program of artistsincluding Rudie Berkhout, Joshua Citerella, Jessica Eaton, Aspen Mays, Sheila Pinkel, and Kate Steciw, among many otherswhose work is characterized by the dissection of the image-making apparatus as a means of confronting human fallibility and the irrational nature of human systems. Temkin situates digital photography in the history of computer art. His work emphasizes the machinic processes of the medium that are not always visible, and their strangeness when exposed. Where Sol LeWitt posited that the conceptual artist should follow an irrational idea absolutely, Temkin finds that our own irrationality colors even the simplest logical processes ... More Satiricle ceramic works presented street-side from local artist Jennifer McCandlessESSEX, CONN.- Melanie Carr Gallery is presenting Scenes from the Apocalypse, featuring ceramic works by local artist Jennifer McCandless. This series uses humor and satirical narratives to challenge the viewers perspectives on constructions of identity and societal norms. Scenes from the Apocalypse is on view street-side now through May 31, 2020. Given the circumstances of our time, MCG reconfigured the space to an intimate street-side viewing gallery. While the gallery remains closed to the public, you can view artwork on foot or by car with precaution. All work on view is accessible 24 hours a day. Owner/Director of Melanie Carr Gallery said: Thank you to everyone who has provided amazing digital content it is necessary and inspiring but there is no replacement to viewing, or living with, actual artwork in the physical world. I am pleased to present ... More Nevada Art Museum invests in Judy ChicagoSAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Jessica Silverman Gallery announced the acquisition of Judy Chicagos extensive earthwork archive, titled Dry Ice, Smoke, and Fireworks, to the Nevada Museum of Art, a non-profit founded in 1931. The Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art is an internationally recognized research center that supports the practice, study, and awareness of creative interactions between people and their natural, built, and virtual environments. The Center is home to archive collections from more than 1,000 artists and organizations, including Walter De Maria, Michael Heizer, Trevor Paglen the Center for Land Use Interpretation and Burning Man. The Museum will debut the Chicago archive with On Fire: Judy Chicagos Atmospheres Archive, an exhibition opening fall 2021. The show will serve as the key backdrop for the Museums Art + ... More Para Site opens international group show Garden of Six SeasonsHONG KONG.- Para Site presents Garden of Six Seasons, a group show exploring the traditions of image-and object-making through the communities long relegated to the sidelines of modern and contemporary cultural production. Identity, cultural hegemonies and the politics of material examined through the work of 40 international artists, serve as the starting point for the thematic moorings of the Kathmandu Triennale 2077, set to take place from 4 December 2020 - 9 January 2021. Talking about the curatorial process of the exhibition, Cosmin Costinas says- This exhibition was conceived with the help of our artist colleagues in Kathmandu, as a precursor to the Kathmandu Triennale, which we symbolically removed from the ill-fated Gregorian calendar year of 2020 and restored in the ancestral indigenous Nepali system of counting the time. In ... More Daylight Books publishes 'American Psyche: The Unlit Cave' by George ElsasserNEW YORK, NY.- The underlying narrative behind American Psyche: The Unlit Cave, an unsettling and prescient new monograph by George Elsasser (Daylight, June 2020), is the photographer's exploration of the anxious state of the collective American Consciousness in the era of Trump. American Psyche combines artful abstract imagery with urban landscapes and street photography made in the United States from 2005 to 2019. Together, these photographs serve as visual metaphors mirroring the artist's feelings about racism in America, the current moment, and our inability to live up to American ideals. In his twenties, Elsasser was deeply affected by Carl Jung and his concepts of synchronicity and the unconscious. His story ultimately points a way towards clarity and healing. In his afterword, Elsasser explains, "For this book, terms such ... More Rothko Chapel reopening to take place September 12/13HOUSTON, TX.- The Rothko Chapel, one of the worlds most celebrated sacred spaces, will reopen in September, after undergoing a comprehensive restoration as part of the first phase of Opening Spaces, a $30-million master plan for its campus. The Rothko Chapel closed in March of 2019 to allow for this much-needed restoration project that will more closely align the building with the original vision of Mark Rothko and John and Dominique de Menil, the Chapels founders. The restoration is just one part of the holistic Opening Spaces plan that will allow the Chapel to better fulfill its dual mission: to offer a space for ecumenical and interfaith celebration and contemplation, as well as to foster community engagement on critical social issues. The overall project enhances the visitor experience in the Chapel and on its grounds, while the expanded campus provides ... More Gold centerbowl once given to Queen Elizabeth II's grandparents boosts Heritage saleDALLAS, TX.- The Rattray & Co. 9K gold Center Bowl presented to Queen Elizabeth IIs grandparents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore on their golden wedding anniversary, sold for $60,000 to lead Heritage Auctions Fine Silver & Objects of Fine Vertu Auction May 5 in Dallas, Texas to $834,988 in total sales. The result topped the pre-auction estimate of $618,000 by more than 35%. The auction drew higher-than-expected presale inquiries, with early bidding on 85% of the lots leading up to the auction. With so much presale interest, it was staggering to see the pace continue on auction day with many new bidders vying for lots, bringing the sell-through rates to 99.1% by value and 95.6% by lot. A Gem-Set, Enameled Silver-Mounted Rock Crystal Figural Tazza, circa 1880 by the famed Viennese Gold and Silversmith Hermann Ratzersdorfer, ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, French painter Henri Rousseau was born May 21, 1844. Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (May 21, 1844 - September 2, 1910) was a French post-impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier (the customs officer), a humorous description of his occupation as a toll and tax collector. He started painting seriously in his early forties; by age 49, he retired from his job to work on his art full-time. In this image: Henri Rousseau, known as The Douanier Rousseau (1844-1910) Le Rêve [The Dream], 1910, oil on canvas, 204.5 x 298.5 cm New York, The Museum of Modern Art, gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 252.1954 © 2016. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art, New York / Scala, Florence.
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