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Bavarian National Museum opens an exhibition of works by Johannes Brus, Kevin Clark and Kilian Saueressig

Kilian Saueressig and Laetitia Hahn.

MUNICH.- Three artists – three approaches – one theme: the portrait. Over the centuries, this pictorial genre underwent countless changes and reinvented itself again and again. The exhibition "Portraire" brings together three current examples of mixed forms of painting and photography. Presented are artists whose style, approach and life path could hardly be more different: Johannes Brus, Kevin Clarke and Kilian Saueressig. The greatest leap in development of the genre of portraiture was experienced with the invention of photography. From the beginning, the portrait was the camera's favorite subject. Nevertheless, contrary to fears at the time, the increasing spread of the new technology did not mean the end of painting. Rather, the competitive situation ensured that painting revolutionized itself and became the counterpoint of the hyperrealistic reproduction of the world. It moved further and further away from the natural representation. Later, photography also began to move away fro ... More


The Best Photos of the Day
Best Photos of the Day
A view shows creations past a poster of the movie "Gilda" during the exhibition "CineMode par Jean-Paul" by French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier at the French Cinematheque in Paris on September 30, 2021. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP






Hindman sets new world auction record for Andrew Clemens sand bottle   Sotheby's reframes November marquee sales in New York & adds new contemporary evening auction: The Now   A big Hollywood premiere that was a long time coming


A Rare and Important Andrew Clemens Portrait Sand Bottle. Price Realized: $956,000.

CINCINNATI, OH.- On September 30, Hindman Auctions realized over $2.1 million in its American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts Auction. The sale set a new world auction record for an Andrew Clemens sand bottle, which shattered its presale estimate and sold for $956,000. Offered with an estimate of $100,000-150,000, the sand bottle received heated bidding activity with 64 bids being placed over a six-minute period from $70,000 to the final sale price. Property from the Collection of Dr. James Dawson, (Manchester, Kentucky), the Dean Lower Estate (Lanark, Illinois) and the Estate of Paul Thomas Griffith (Dayton, Ohio) saw fantastic bidding engagement and led to Hindman’s most successful American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts auction. With over 1,000 bidders participating and 39 ... More
 

Alexander Calder, Untitled, 1949. Courtesy Sotheby's.

NEW YORK, NY.- In 1959 and 1970 respectively, Sotheby’s held its first standalone sales of ‘Impressionist and Modern Art’ and ‘Contemporary Art’. Both sales – or rather sale categories – spoke to their time in terms of both content and approach. Now, in lockstep with a changing art world and a new approach to collecting, Sotheby’s is reframing both the content and the nomenclature of its Marquee November and May New York sales, with the introduction, starting this fall, of a ‘Modern’ Evening Auction, a ‘Contemporary’ Evening Auction, and an entirely new sale, ‘The Now’ Evening Auction, showcasing some of the most celebrated and promising talent on the art scene today. “One of the most exciting aspects of working with today’s collectors is not only their enormous passion but also the tremendous fluidity of their approach: their drive to identify the visual dialogues bet ... More
 

Bill Kramer, director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, in one of the museum’s exhibits in Los Angeles, Sept. 14, 2021. Rozette Rago/The New York Times.

by Adam Nagourney


NEW YORK, NY.- Two years ago, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures had all the trappings of a full-fledged Hollywood disaster in the making. It was over budget and behind schedule. Amid the delays and a contentious debate about the museum’s mission and purpose, it parted ways with its founding director, and the museum board reached across the country to bring back its former fundraising chief, Bill Kramer, to rescue a project that now threatened to tarnish an already beleaguered Academy. Then the pandemic hit. Last week, the Academy Museum arrived with the kind of pomp and celebrity that only Hollywood can muster. Yes, ... More



Nationalmuseum acquires furniture by Uno Åhrén   Farnsworth Art Museum announces gift of art: Louise Nevelson's Atmosphere and Environment II   San Antonio's challenge: Balancing growth with heritage


Table and tall floor screen by Uno Åhrén. Photo: Viktor Fordell/Nationalmuseum.

STOCKHOLM.- Nationalmuseum has recently acquired a table and a tall floor screen from a pewter furniture set designed by the architect Uno Åhrén. These exclusive, custom-made furnishings embody tradition and a vision of the future at the same time. The pieces are the largest and most spectacular ever produced by Svenskt Tenn and can now be seen in the Scandinavian Design & USA exhibition opening on 14 October. In the summer of 1928, the Swedish architect and designer Uno Åhrén (1897–1977) was commissioned to design a set of dining room furniture for Mrs Isabelle Mann Clow of Lake Forest, Illinois, in the Chicago suburbs. That year, she had visited Europe to buy furnishings for her exclusive new home designed by the architect David Adler in a classicizing style. Her shopping list included a glass dining table from Lalique in Paris, but after visiting Svenskt Tenn in Stockholm she changed her mind. She instead commissioned Uno Åhrén to ... More
 

Louise Nevelson, Atmosphere and Environment II, 1966, Painted aluminum, Gift of Ms. Rosalind Avnet Lazarus, 2020.

ROCKLAND, ME.- The Farnsworth Art Museum announced the recent acquisition of a work by American artist Louise Nevelson. The 96 x 50 x 26 ½ inch sculpture, Atmosphere and Environment II, created in 1966 in painted aluminum, is a gift to the collection by Ms. Rosalind Avnet Lazarus. Atmosphere and Environment II is currently on view to the public in the museum’s Micah Gallery, where it is displayed alongside three other works by the artist. The Farnsworth, in Rockland, Maine, has one of the world’s largest public collections of works by Louise Nevelson. “This beautiful sculpture is a key addition to our museum’s collection,” commented Farnsworth Director Christopher Brownawell. “Though the Farnsworth already has an extensive collection of works by Louise Nevelson, this is the first of her large-scale metal sculptures to come to her home-town museum. We are very grateful to Ms. Lazarus for this generous gift, a ... More
 

A builder works on a University of Texas at San Antonio construction site, with the Frost Tower in the distance, Sept. 20, 2021. Christopher Lee/The New York Times.

by Patrick Sisson


NEW YORK, NY.- When the 23-story Frost Tower opened in downtown San Antonio in 2019, the eight-sided pinwheel of glass represented a resurgent decade of downtown development. It was the city’s first new office tower in three decades. For Randy Smith, chief executive of Weston Urban, one of the developers behind the project, it was the beginning of a new wave of activity. Now that the offices have arrived downtown, a new flood of residents comes next. One of the firm’s next big projects, a 32-story brick residential tower a few blocks away, is breaking ground this year. “The Frost Tower is this great big visible symbol of a new era of downtown,” Smith said. “And the residential tower will be the same thing.” But community advocates are pushing back against some of this growth, saying the new office and apartment towers ... More


Christie's Modern British & Irish Art Evening Sale is now online for browsing   Taymour Grahne Projects to open third London space │ The Artist Room   Meadows Museum mourns the loss of Director Mark A. Roglán


Samuel John Peploe, R.S.A. (1871-1935), Flowers and Fruit. Oil on canvas 24 x 20 in. Painted circa 1920. Estimate: GBP 500,000 - GBP 700,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021.

LONDON.- Christie’s Modern British & Irish Art Evening Sale, taking place on 20 October 2021, is a key auction in the 20th / 21st Century October season, which encompasses sales in both London and Paris. The auction will be led by Sir Winston Churchill’s The Bridge at Aix-en-Provence, which was gifted to the Swiss paint manufacturer, Willy Sax, who supplied Churchill with his artistic materials. Two sculptures by Elisabeth Frink; Lying Down Horse II (1985, £300,000-500,000) and Barking Dog (1981, estimate: £100,000-150,000), commissioned by Kirk and Anne Douglas, will highlight the Evening and Day Sales respectively. A group of three paintings by Samuel John Peploe, including Flowers and Fruits (circa 1920, estimate: £500,000-700,000), are being offered in the year that marks the 150th anniversary of the artist’s birth in Edinburgh. L.S. Lowry’s The Mill, Early Morning (1961, estimate: ... More
 

Taymour Grahne Projects is a London-based contemporary art gallery providing a space to discover emerging, mid-career, and historically overlooked artists.

LONDON.- Taymour Grahne Projects announced the opening of its third London gallery space ‘The Artist Room’ – launching with Night Fever, a solo exhibition by London-based artist Minyoung Kim opening on Oct. 23 from 3-5 PM. Located in a gem-sized building at 52 Lonsdale Road, in the heart of Notting Hill, ‘The Artist Room’ is down the road from the gallery’s current Notting Hill space (located at 1 Lonsdale Road, W11). The new space, an extension of the programming offered by Taymour Grahne Projects, will be dedicated to exhibiting solo, focused presentations from contemporary artists who work across a variety of mediums, including ceramics, drawings, installations, as well as paintings. The exhibitions at ‘The Artist Room’ will be augmented by an online component to each show, creating a hybrid online/IRL exhibition space. The line-up of first year exhibitions includes respective solo shows by: US ... More
 

A native of Madrid, Dr. Roglán joined the Meadows Museum as interim curator and adjunct assistant professor of art history in August 2001. Photo: Tamytha Cameron.

DALLAS, TX.- Today the Meadows Museum, SMU, announced the loss of its director, Dr. Mark A. Roglán (age 50), to cancer. The announcement comes on the heels of his 20th anniversary with the institution, the leading center in the United States for exhibition, research and education in the arts and culture of Spain, which he had led as director since 2006. Under his leadership the museum tripled attendance; developed a major program of international exhibitions; created meaningful fellowships; produced insightful publications; constructed a new sculpture garden and outdoor spaces; made major acquisitions nearly doubling the collection; developed engaging and accessible educational programs; established strategic alliances with major museums worldwide; and raised millions of dollars in funding, most recently gifts totaling $6 million to establish a research institute. A native of Madrid, Dr. Roglán ... More


Heritage Auctions solidifies status as worldwide leader for illustration art with $2.1 million auction   The Grolier Club presents 'Treasures from the Hispanic Society Library'   A tech-savvy Holocaust memorial in Ukraine draws critics and crowds


Gil Elvgren (American, 1914-1980), A Weighty Problem, calendar illustration, 1960. Oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches. Sold on Oct 4, 2021 for: $87,500.

DALLAS, TX.- On Oct. 4, Heritage Auctions’ Illustration Art Signature® Auction realized $2.18 million, toplined by the world-record sale of a Marlon Brando painting made for Apocalypse Now by The Father of the Modern Movie Poster. With 1,664 bidders participating in Monday’s auction, the timing certainly could not have been better: This week’s extraordinary event served as a prelude to the auction house’s upcoming American Art Signature® Auction, which takes place Nov. 5 and features among its wide-ranging offerings some of the most important pieces by several of the world’s most renowned artists, among them Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker and Maurice Sendak. Heritage Auctions already holds world records for Leyendecker and Frank Frazetta, not to mention virtually every other artist ever to work in the fields of science fiction, pulp, fantasy, movie poster and pin-up art. Monday’s sale, which saw an astonishing 97.1% se ... More
 

Letters Patent of Nobility of Petitioner Francisco de Hermosa, Resident of San Lorenzo de Parrilla (Sobrecarta de una carta ejecutoria de hidalguía a pedimento de Francisco de Hermosa, vecino de San Lorenzo de Parrilla), Granada, 1604. Manuscript on parchment / Binding. New York, The Hispanic Society of America, Ejecutorias Gr 1604.

NEW YORK, NY.- The Grolier Club shines a spotlight on the impressive holdings of New York’s Hispanic Society & Library in the exhibition Treasures from the Hispanic Society Library. On view from September 29 – December 18, 2021, the presentation is open to visitors in person as well as virtually. Drawing on the unparalleled collections in the Hispanic Society, this exhibition of more than one hundred manuscripts and books presents an exceptional vision of the history and culture of Spain and the Americas. Many items are new to the public since much of this material has never been shown outside of the Hispanic Society. New York has not seen a major exhibition of Spanish manuscript and printed material since Tesoros de España, an exhibition held at the New York Public Library in 1985. ... More
 

A woman in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021, looks at an installation that displays wartime German photographs of the Babyn Yar massacre site in the spots from which the pictures were taken. Brendan Hoffman/The New York Times.

by Maria Varenikova and Andrew E. Kramer


KYIV.- An advertisement on the Ukrainian-language version of Tinder, the online dating platform, offered a not-so-romantic experience. “Touch the tragedy of Babyn Yar,” the ad suggested, urging users to learn more about one of the largest mass shootings of Jews in World War II, at a site in Kyiv. The pitch was hardly an outlier. As Ukraine this week marks the 80th anniversary of the massacre at Babyn Yar, web-savvy advertising, modern art installations and audience-grabbing techniques like online gaming have become an integral part of a well-funded effort to update Holocaust commemoration. The tech-heavy approach has drawn criticism from traditionalists, who say it dishonors the solemnity of the topic. The Nazis shot tens of thousands of Jews, Roma, Ukrainian and Russian prisoners ... More




Judy Chicago: Making Change



More News

Jazz and opera come together in 'Fire Shut Up in My Bones'
NEW YORK, NY.- “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” which opened the Metropolitan Opera’s season last week, was a milestone: the company’s first work by a Black composer. The music, by Terence Blanchard — a jazz trumpeter also known for his scores for Spike Lee films — has earned praise from both classical and jazz critics. The New York Times’ chief classical critic Anthony Tommasini described “a compositional voice dominated by lushly chromatic and modal harmonic writing, spiked with jagged rhythms and tart dissonance.” Jazz writer Nate Chinen wrote for NPR that “the smooth deployment of extended jazz harmony, often in breathing, fleeting passages, marks the piece as modern — as does the work of a rhythm section nestled within the orchestra.” The Times sent two more critics to the second performance Friday. Seth Colter Walls, based ... More

The future of movies collides with the past at the New York Film Festival
NEW YORK, NY.- For almost six decades, the New York Film Festival has offered a glimpse of the movie future. That has certainly been true this year, with the Lincoln Center screening rooms populated and a busy season of streaming and theatrical releases ahead. Over two autumn weeks — the 59th edition of the festival runs through Sunday — New York cinephiles are treated to a series of sneak previews, early chances to see films that will make their way into the wider world over the next few months. Part of the function of the event is to spark word-of-mouth and media coverage, to tease the Oscar race and handicap the art house box office, and to see what people are inclined to argue about. Will it be the lurid provocations of Julia Ducournau’s “Titane”? The widescreen Western psychodrama of Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog”? The ... More

Roberto Roena, salsa percussionist and bandleader, dies at 81
NEW YORK, NY.- Roberto Roena, a dancer who became a bongo player who then became a bandleader, along the way establishing himself as a leading figure in salsa and some of its best-known bands, died Sept. 23 in Puerto Rico. He was 81. Andrés Waldemar, a singer in Roena’s orchestra, announced his death on social media but did not specify a cause. Local news reports said he died at a hospital in Carolina, outside San Juan. Roena was best known as the founder of Roberto Roena y Su Apollo Sound, which released a string of well-regarded albums in the 1970s, salsa’s heyday. He was also a member of the Fania All-Stars, a group formed about the same time to showcase stars of the Fania record label, which was often described as the Motown of salsa. Onstage Roena was a whirlwind, dancing out front while banging a cowbell when ... More

Debby King, 71, backstage aide known as 'soul of Carnegie Hall,' dies
NEW YORK, NY.- Paparazzi, fans and police officers filled the street outside Carnegie Hall in New York City one fall day in 1987, waiting for Frank Sinatra to arrive for a show. Inside, a backstage attendant named Debby King was on edge, worried about Sinatra’s reputation for being difficult. As Carnegie Hall’s artist liaison, King worked one of the more rarefied jobs in New York showbiz. Like a one-night personal assistant, she was responsible for taking care of the maestros, soloists and artists who performed there, and she doted on everyone, whether Itzhak Perlman or Sting, Audra McDonald or André Previn. When Sinatra arrived, his limousine inching through the crowd, King went to fetch him. He lowered his car window. “You can’t sing from the limo,” she said. “Do you plan on coming out?” “I’m coming out,” he said. He stepped ... More

The Warhol adds Scott Mory to advisory board
PITTSBURGH, PA.- The Andy Warhol Museum has added Scott Mory to The Warhol advisory board effective September 2021. Mory is Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) vice president for university advancement where he is responsible for overseeing the university’s overall advancement efforts and for building partnerships with all of the university’s philanthropic and volunteer communities, including university alumni, parents and friends, charitable foundations and corporate donors. Prior to joining CMU, Mory served as associate senior vice president and campaign director at the University of Southern California (USC). Prior to USC, Mory served as assistant vice president for alumni relations and annual giving at George Washington University, where he was also an adjunct professor in the university’s law school. His previous professional ... More

Moran's Postwar & Contemporary Art + Design Sale is full of modern marvels
MONROVIA, CA.- John Moran Auctioneer’s Postwar & Contemporary Art + Design Sale is dynamic in every way! The sale will offer an Apple-1 computer in this sale alongside notable modern furniture by makers like Philips and Kelvin LaVerne, Hans Wegner, Peter Hvidt, and Erik Kirkegaard for Hong Stoiefabrik. Several works from California Enamellist June Schwarcz will also be presented, as well as a plethora of fine art including A-lister offerings by Man Ray, Miro, Picasso, Robert Motherwell, Nan Goldin, Rita McBride, Lara Schnitger, and Parker Ito. There are many stars in this sale but the one that shines brightest is the Apple-1 computer heading to block with a $400,000-600,000 estimate. The year 2021 marks the 45th birthday for Apple. The world’s largest technology company is currently valued in the trillion-dollar range, and it all began ... More

A master of mixing and matching movies gets a citywide tribute
NEW YORK, NY.- Inside every movie buff lives a film critic. Inside every critic lives a film programmer. And inside every programmer’s heart is a place for Amos Vogel. Vogel was America’s seminal film programmer, and so it is fitting that for his centenary he is the subject of a citywide tribute at the New York Film Festival and moving to other theaters later in the season. His New York Times obituary from 2012 begins with the blunt statement that he “exerted an influence on the history of film that few other non-filmmakers can claim.” In 1947, he and his wife, Marcia Vogel, founded Cinema 16, the most important membership film society in U.S. history; after its demise, he directed the New York Film Festival for the first five years of its existence. After being forced out or resigning (accounts vary), Vogel wrote a book, “Film as a Subversive Art,” an ... More

Will 3D printing change sneaker culture?
NEW YORK, NY.- Heron Preston’s mind has been blown a few times in the past two years while in the process of designing a single shoe. Once was when a young engineer named Cornelius Schmitt sent him a WhatsApp message saying he had just figured out how to 3D print socklike material for a shoe. “I’m going to remember that forever,” said Preston, a designer who brought streetwear to high fashion in the 2010s with his collective Been Trill. This week, Preston and Schmitt’s shoe was finally released. Sort of. Printed in Germany by Schmitt’s company Zellerfeld, the sneakers are cushiony and sort of reptilian — although actually avian, as Preston notes below. They became available Tuesday, via a charity raffle on StockX to benefit Global March, a nonprofit focused on ending child labor. A raffle ticket costs $10, and there will be only ... More

The Neon Museum receives famed Planet Hollywood sign
LAS VEGAS, NEV.- The Neon Museum recently acquired the famed Planet Hollywood Restaurant sign that originally rotated upon an iconic column pedestal in A picture containing tree, sky, outdoor, building Description automatically generatedfront of the Caesars Palace Forum Shops and Colosseum. Donated by Planet Hollywood International/Earl Enterprises, the sign is currently being assessed for conservation and display plans. “Similar to the Hard Rock Café guitar, the Planet Hollywood sign is iconic given the popularity of its venue and sheer size,” said Aaron Berger, The Neon Museum Executive Director. “Planet Hollywood was a destination for celebrities, tourists, and locals to see and be seen. I am excited to hear the stories of those who attended its legendary opening and ate at the celebrated restaurant.” “Acquiring the Planet ... More

Finalists announced for this year's National Book Awards
NEW YORK, NY.- A food memoir that examines a mother’s schizophrenia. A novel about an author’s book tour, and about growing up as a Black boy in the rural South. Poetry honoring migrants who drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande. These are some of the 25 finalists for the National Book Awards, which the National Book Foundation announced on Tuesday. In “Tastes Like War: A Memoir,” by Grace M. Cho, the author cooks her grandmother’s recipes while exploring her mother’s illness, and how war, colonialism and xenophobia live on in the body. Other nonfiction nominees include “Covered With Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America,” by Nicole Eustace, which examines the 1722 murder case of an Indigenous hunter, and “A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance,” whose author, the ... More


PhotoGalleries

Ho Kan: Geometric Calligraphy

Alison Elizabeth Taylor

Tacita Dean

Met Gala 2021


Flashback
On a day like today, American photographer Irving Penn died
October 07, 2009. Irving Penn (June 16, 1917 - October 7, 2009) was an American photographer most known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at Vogue magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Issey Miyake, and Clinique. His work has been exhibited internationally, and continues to inform the art of photography even after his death. In this image: A collector, left, makes a comment as a Christie's auction house worker holds Irving Penn's classic image of Jean Patchet that appeared in Vogue magazine's cover in 1950, during a presentation in London, Friday May 13, 2005.

  
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