| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Tuesday, January 21, 2020 |
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| | Doubted Van Gogh self-portrait is real, say experts | |
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This video grab image shows senior researcher Louis van Tilborgh speaking of a self-portrait by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh on display at The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam on January 20, 2020, after it was declared as genuine. A gloomy self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh was declared genuine after decades of uncertainty, experts identifying it as the only work painted by the Dutch master while he suffered from psychosis. The "Self Portrait (1889)" -- which shows the artist giving a haunted sideways glance against a swirling blue and yellow background -- was confirmed as authentic by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Sara MAGNIETTE / AFP / AFPTV.
by Danny Kemp
AMSTERDAM (AFP).- A gloomy self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh was declared genuine on Monday after decades of uncertainty, experts identifying it as the only work painted by the Dutch master while he suffered from psychosis. The "Self Portrait (1889)" -- which shows the artist giving a haunted sideways glance against a swirling blue and yellow background -- was confirmed as authentic by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Questions were first raised about whether the painting -- owned by the National Gallery in Oslo, Norway -- was genuine as far back as 1970 but the Norwegian museum finally decided to end the doubts only in 2014, sending it to Dutch experts. Using X-ray analysis of the canvas, studies of the brushwork and references to letters to his brother Theo, experts established it was painted while Van Gogh was in an asylum in Saint-Remy in France in the late summer of 1889. "The self-portrait that is behind me has been doubted for a very long time," Louis van Tilborgh, senior researcher at th ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Archive documents and film scripts are displayed at the exhibition "Fellini 100 : Immortal Genius" celebrating late Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini in Castel Sismondo on January 20, 2020 in Rimini, northeastern Italy, honoring the filmmaker's memory through a major exhibition of film footage, photographs, archive documents, sets, props and costumes of many of his movies. In 2020, Fellini's hometown Rimini celebrates the centenary of his birth through the "Fellini 100" anniversary events, programmed by ItalyÂs Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs with the Luce Institute. ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP
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 | | The British Museum and the Art Loss Register help to return important Kushan sculpture to Afghanistan | | J. Paul Getty Museum granted export license to acquire 18th-century painting by Joseph Wright of Derby | | Fellini's birthplace Rimini marks centenary of maestro's birth | 
Important 2nd century limestone sculpture will go on temporary display before returning to Afghanistan.
LONDON.- The British Museum and the Art Loss Register have worked together to identify and preserve an Afghan limestone sculpture depicting humped bulls which was stolen from the National Museum of Afghanistan. The sculpture was illegally removed from the country and offered for sale through an online auction house in the UK. It was offered for sale in 2019 by Timeline Auctions but withdrawn after the Art Loss Register reported it to the Metropolitan Police Service (Art and Antiques Unit). Its provenance and stolen status was subsequently confirmed by the British Museum and National Museum of Afghanistan and the sculpture brought to the Museum for safekeeping. The National Museum of Afghanistan have kindly agreed to allow this important sculpture to be put on public display for the first-time outside Afghanistan and prior to its return and display in Kabul. The sculpture will be officially returned via the Embassy of the Islamic Republi ... More | | 
Two Boys with a Bladder, about 1769-70, by Joseph Wright of Derby. Courtesy J. Paul Getty Trust.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- The J. Paul Getty Museum announced today that the acquisition of Two Boys with a Bladder will proceed, following the granting of an export license by the Arts Council of England. We are very pleased that an export license for Two Boys with a Bladder by Joseph Wright of Derby has been granted. This important work has not been on public view since the 18th century and is therefore virtually unknown to scholars, said Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. We look forward to sharing this spectacular painting with our visitors and scholars in the context of our other 18th-century collections. Two Boys with a Bladder counts among Joseph Wright of Derbys most accomplished nocturnal subjects and reflects the experimental interest of artists and scientists of the Enlightenment. It joins two other works by the artist at the Getty. The recently rediscovered painting depicts two young boys, boldly lit by ... More | | 
The "Cake of Dreams", a 2 meters high reinterpretation of late Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini's favorite dessert: 'Zuppa inglese Fellini 100' by master pastry chef Roberto Rinaldini. Andreas SOLARO / AFP.
by Charles Onians
RIMINI (AFP).- Italian resort Rimini on Monday marked 100 years since the birth of director Federico Fellini, whose visual dreamscapes revolutionised cinema in a career spanning almost half a century. Dozens of events are being held around the world and in Italy this year to remember Fellini, considered one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. The winner of a record four best foreign language film Oscars, he is famed for films set in Rome such as "La Dolce Vita" (1960), and most of his films were shot in Cinecitta's Studio 5 outside the capital. But he set his 1973 masterpiece "Amarcord", a semi-autobiographical comedy about an adolescent boy growing up in 1930s fascist Italy, in the Adriatic resort of Rimini where he ... More |
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| | The last Empress of Vietnam's Lotus bowl stuns at auction selling for over $1.5 million | | Getty Research Institute acquires 52 Lebbeus Woods drawings and a Los Angeles sketchbook | | National Gallery of Australia founding Director James Mollison Ao passes away | 
In a stunning result, an exquisite 14th century Celadon Lotus Bowl from An Dinh Palace originating from the estate of the last Empress of Vietnam sold for $1,537.500 putting it at well over the original estimate.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- On Saturday, January 18, 2020, thousands of bidders from around the world bid in an extraordinary auction conducted by Brigitte Kruse and Kruse GWS Auctions. The Lunar Year Royal Family Auction brought astonishing results including record breaking final prices for century old royal artifacts from the last royal family of Vietnam. The world-record-breaking firm offered an extensive collection of some of the rarest artifacts ever offered at auction. The auction included 325 lots of prehistoric jades and magnificent porcelains that chronicled the Imperial Vietnamese Royal family history and pieces used for the Principle Palace Shrine. In a stunning result, an exquisite 14th century Celadon Lotus Bowl from An Dinh Palace originating from the estate of the last Empress of Vietnam sold for $1,537.500 putting it at well over the original estimate. The piece had been identified by a South Vietnam ... More | | 
Selection from the Los Angeles sketchbook, Lebbeus Woods, 19861988. Getty Research Institute, 2018.M.25. Gift of The Woods Edge Partnership. © Estate of Lebbeus Woods.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Getty Research Institute announced today that it has acquired a two-part collection of drawings and sketches by renowned architect Lebbeus Woods (American, 1940-2012). The Getty Research Institutes architectural holdings are especially strong in 20th-century avant-garde architects such as Lebbeus Woods. These distinctive examples of Woods unique vision will no doubt be inspiring to researchers working in our collections, said Mary Miller, director of the Getty Research Institute. We are grateful to the Getty Research Institute Council for supporting the acquisition of the Lebbeus Woods drawings. This two-part collection of drawings and sketches represents a powerful postwar critique of architecture and a radical reimagining of the urban environment. The materials will provide scholars and researchers valuable insight on a theoretical architect known for detailed renderings that serve as ... More | | 
Fred Williams James Mollison 1964-65, etching, engraving, flat biting and mezzotint, printed in black ink, from one copper plate, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Gift of Lyn Williams 2018. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, © Estate of Fred Williams.
CANBERRA.- The National Gallery of Australia notes with deep sadness the passing of the Gallerys founding director, James Mollison AO. From 1971, for nearly 20 years, Mr Mollison was the driving force behind the creation of the National Gallerys unrivalled, world-class collection with his bold acquisition policy ahead of the opening of the gallery in 1982. He inspired and provoked Australians with extraordinary art; from iconic Australian works such as Sidney Nolans Ned Kelly series and The Aboriginal Memorial 1987-88, to exceptional international acquisitions such as Jackson Pollocks Blue poles 1952 and Constantin Brancusis two Bird in space 1931-36 sculptures. National Gallery Director Nick Mitzevich said Mr Mollison was one of Australias greatest museum directors. His fearless risk taking inspired ... More |
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| | Exhibition showcases paintings by Zhang Enli that reflect on the progression to looser and freer brushwork | | Gagosian opens an exhibition of works by Richard Artschwager | | Queen join Queen Elizabeth on new British coin | 
The Strong Labourer, 2019. Oil on canvas, 220 x 180 cm / 86 5/8 x 70 7/8 in. Photo: Birdhead. © Zhang Enli. Courtesy the artist, Hauser & Wirth, and ShanghART Gallery.
ZURICH.- Hauser & Wirth is presenting an exhibition by Zhang Enli titled, New Paintings, on view from 17 January 29 February 2020. The presentation showcases a series of paintings that reflect on the artists progression to looser and freer brushwork, expressing his own emotive intuition. While these pieces are explorations of Zhang Enlis work in abstraction, many are anchored in figuration with descriptive titles. Zhang Enli emerged onto the art scene in the 1990s when he was most associated with symbolic, figurative paintings. Following this, he embarked on a series of quotidian objects treated sensitively and beautifully whether containers, wires or hoses these were imbued with their own personal stories, expressive of people in the associated utilities and desires they represented. From here the artists gaze turned to the outside world, urban dwellings and nature, ... More | | 
Exclamation Point (Yellow), 2001. Plastic bristles, mahogany, and latex, in 2 parts. Overall: 65 x 22 x 22 in 165.1 x 55.9 x 55.9 cm Edition of 3. © 2019 Richard Artschwager/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Rob McKeever Courtesy Gagosian.
LONDON.- Gagosian is presenting Live in Your Head: Richard Artschwagers Cabinet of Curiosities, an exhibition spanning the five decades of Artschwagers career, and his first in London since 2003. Live in Your Head was conceived specifically in response to the Davies Street gallery space, with its wide plate glass window giving on to a busy Mayfair thoroughfare. The installation will be visible from the street, its components arranged like objects in a Joseph Cornell box. It also recalls a sixteenth-century Wunderkammer, or cabinet of curiositya collection of specimens, relics, and other marvels that was displayed as a microcosm of its owners knowledge and experience. Artschwager studied science and mathematics at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York before and after serving as an intelligence officer in the Second World ... More | | 
Queen £5 Brilliant Uncirculated Coin - Hot space. Limited Edition 25,000.
LONDON (AFP).- Rockers Queen have become the first band to be celebrated on British coinage, joining Queen Elizabeth II on a new coin unveiled Monday by the Royal Mint. The iconic British group are hailed on a coin kicking off a Music Legends series being produced by the official mint. It features Queen Elizabeth on the obverse or "heads" side as usual joined by Queen on the reverse. The coin depicts the instruments played by lead singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon. It shows Mercury's Bechstein piano and his trademark microphone, May's homemade electric guitar, Taylor's bass drum featuring the band's logo and Deacon's Fender Precision bass guitar. The piano features three keys pressed down, representing notes from the melody of their 1975 landmark hit "Bohemian Rhapsody", when Mercury would cross hands to play a G and an F. "Here we have the first ever Queen and ... More |
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| | Almine Rech opens the first solo exhibition of Vaughn Spann with the gallery | | Lord Hall appointed Chair of the National Gallery's Board of Trustees | | Exhibition brings together nearly all of John Wilson's known preparatory works for his Mexico City mural from 1952 | 
Vaughn Spann, Beach Side, 2019. Oil paint, canvas on aluminum stretcher bars, 228.6 x 203.2 x 3.5 cm; 90 x 80 x 1 3/8 in 231.1 x 208.3 x 7.9 cm; 91 x 82 x 3 1/8 in (framed).
NEW YORK, NY.- Almine Rech is presenting the first solo exhibition of Vaughn Spann with the gallery. On this occasion, the artist presents a selection of new abstract and figurative paintings. The exhibition is on view through February 22, 2020. The common-sense theory of language is that it says what it means. Or that it means what it says. Perhaps theres a difference; perhaps not. Put simply, it comprises statements that are either true or false, and questions that help ascertain whether statements are true or false. Because truth, in the end, is what language is supposed to be about. The learned-sense theory of language is that it is a social construction, it changes according to who you are, with whom you are conversing and according to all the experiences they have accumulated, ... More | | 
Tony Hall ©BBC.
LONDON.- The Trustees of the National Gallery announced that Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE has been appointed by them as Chair of the Board. Lord Hall will take over as Chair from Sir John Kingman, who has been interim Chair since Hannah Rothschild stood down from the role in September 2019. Lord Hall, currently Director-General of the BBC and the former Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, has served on the Gallerys Board since November 2019. Speaking of his appointment, Tony said The National Gallery houses the greatest collection of paintings - not just in the UK - but the world. It is a hugely important cultural asset for the country and for the many people who visit from across the globe. I am proud to take on the role of its Chair. The National Gallery isnt just about serving those who already love art, but reaching a wider audience and future generations. The National ... More | | 
John Wilson, Negro Woman, study for The Incident, 1952. Oil on Masonite. Clark Atlanta University Art Collection, Atlanta Annuals. © Estate of John Wilson. Courtesy Clark Atlanta University Art Collection.
NEW HAVEN, CONN.- In 1952, while studying at La Esmeralda, the national school of art in Mexico City, African American artist John Wilson (19222015) painted The Incident, a fresco mural of a racial-terror lynching at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan. Executed on an exterior wall at street level, the mural was intended to be temporary, but its commanding composition prompted renowned Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiroswho was then the head of Mexicos department for the protection and restoration of muralsto advocate for its preservation. Though the mural itself is no longer extant, Reckoning with The Incident: John Wilsons Studies for a Lynching Mural brings together nearly all of the known preparatory sketches and painted studies for the fresco, as well ... More |
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Francis Bacon Reveals the Inner Turmoil in His Art
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 DKUK commissions new video installation by Puck VerkadeLONDON.- Kara Chins work reflects on contemporary confusions. There is a lot to be confused about... consider implications of fast evolving technologies for the already increased fusion of reality and simulation; potential consequences of robotics and artificial intelligence for daily life; ethical conundrums, especially regarding food and horticulture; and how best to incorporate transhumanist and nonhuman perspectives into dominant ideologies. This coming together of technology, ecology and future narratives throws up a pluriad of imaginable outcomes. Are innovations and smart devices bringing us closer to a bright or rather more bleak future? Fictitious truths and modern myth making, these may sound like oxymorons to some, yet they present strategies to capture the spirit of these conundrums and their potential outcomes. Choosing to represent this through ... More OSL contemporary presents the second solo exhibition at the gallery by Bjarne BareOSLO.- OSL contemporary presents the second solo exhibition at the gallery by Bjarne Bare, titled 'Breathing, Together'. The show is comprised of twelve large scale colour photographs from the artists ongoing body of work, produced between 2017 and 2019. Bares work displays a thorough commitment to the photographic medium, drawing inspiration from traditional photography informed by a conceptual understanding of pictures and their broad potential as carriers of meaning. I dont pretend to know what is good or bad. I am not hopeful, but neither am I hopeless. This is not the beginning of a tweet by Greta Thunberg, but the philosopher Franco Bifo Berardi writing on phenomenology, and his attempt to develop a theory about the crucial change that digital connectivity has provoked to our senses. Technological advancements have eroded ... More Art Paris 2020: 22nd edition dedicated to the new French art scene and the Iberian PeninsulaPARIS.- Art Paris announces its 22nd edition as it returns to the Grand Palais from April 25, 2020. In the 20 years since its founding, Art Paris has established itself as Pariss major spring fair for modern and contemporary art. Bringing together more than 150 galleries from over 20 countries from the post-war to the contemporary period, Art Paris is a place for discovery, placing special emphasis on the European scene, whilst exploring the new horizons of international creative hubs, whether in Asia, Africa, the Middle East or Latin America. This year, the fair will showcase a two-fold Focus turning to both the French contemporary art scene and the emerging Iberian art hubs, specifically Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid and Porto. In parallel, the Solo Show sector will be dedicated to monographic exhibitions, while Promises pursues its support to young and emerging galleries. New p ... More Steidl publishes 'Martine Fougeron: Nicolas & Adrien. A World with Two Sons'NEW YORK, NY.- Nicolas & Adrien. A World with Two Sons is a series of intimate portraits of Martine Fougeron's two sons and their friends growing up in New York and France. Both tender and distanced, the book is a visual bildungsroman that delves into the intense present of her sons adolescent states of mind before they become independent adults. Nicolas et Adrien consists of two interconnected bodies of work, Teen Tribe (200510) and The Twenties (201018). Composed mostly of photos taken at Fougerons New York home and during summers in the South of France, Teen Tribe explores adolescence as a liminal state between childhood and adulthood, and follows the adolescents interior quest and development of character. The Twenties captures the period between adolescence and full adulthood, depicting her sons college ... More Wright Gallery at Texas A&M's College of Architecture presents "Notes from the Desert Aquarium"COLLEGE STATION, TX.- The Wright Gallery at the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University has announced its newest exhibition, Notes from the Desert Aquarium running January 21 through March 10. The exhibition features the work of two Texas artists, Carol Flueckiger and Robin Germany. Both teach in the Department of Art at Texas Tech University. Together, they make a powerful plea for awareness of climate change and a call for each individual to act accordingly. Flueckigers Solar Powered Paintings (cyanotypes) and Germanys large format photographic prints of the Gulf of Mexico tells a story about light and shadow, seen and unseen, submerged and sunburned. The exhibition includes digital prints, cyanotype processes, mixed media, paintings and book arts - each method employing photography. The final outcome of these ... More Ayyam Gallery presents a solo exhibition featuring Athier's latest body of workDUBAI.- Ayyam Gallery presents Nothing is Certain, Everything is Melting, and thats Okay, a solo exhibition featuring Athiers latest body of work. In a departure from the geometric forms and bold colours that have become a trademark of the British Iraqi painter, this current series created in and of his studio in an industrial suburb of Paris, explore the changing state between order and disorder: attempting to capture compositions that balance and eventually melt harmoniously in their state of transition. This shift can be seen as Athiers expression of surrender towards uncertainty. The new works incorporate a play between the real and the surreal, the two-dimensional, and the three dimensional. Making colour and light subjects as well as aesthetic devices. Nothing is Certain, Everything is Melting, and thats Okay, explores space through carefully curated ... More Thomas Rehbein Galerie exhibits presents new works by Joelle DuboisCOLOGNE.- After participating at Art Cologne's New Positions in 2019 Joelle Dubois presents new works that illuminate the downsides of digital culture with irony and pragmatism in her first solo exhibition at Thomas Rehbein Galerie. The dazzling scenes of a society that reflects itself in the latent narcissistic self-portrayals of others revolve around sexuality, loneliness and self-reflection. Dubois' paintings stylistically refer to both pop and media culture, as well as Japanese Shunga - erotic woodcuts that emerged between the 17th and 19th centuries. With its glass touchscreen the technical artefact called Smartphone, is the perfect permeable digital membrane between public and private space. The constant connectivity of social media is increasingly blurring that line. The constantly multiplying apps on the home screen generally promise social contacts, interpersonal ... More Sprovieri opens an exhibition of works by Art & LanguageLONDON.- Sprovieri is presenting Picassos Guernica in the Style of Jackson Pollock (Essay II), the second collaboration with Art & Language, who is represented by the Lisson Gallery. Picassos Guernica in the Style of Jackson Pollock (Essay II), 1980-2019, is a large rectangular work on paper, where the powerful and dramatic painting by Picasso Guernica is disguised as a Pollock-like painting. The work was not produced by means of the literal use of Pollocks well known technique. It is rather a drawing in which drips and spatters are represented or depicted. The drawing is made with Indian ink on 114 sheets of Teslin, printed with essays and texts written by the artists themselves between 1980 and 2016. Portrait of V.I. Lenin is the title of the first of these essays - published in the magazine Artforum in 1980 - which explores the topics of realism, representation ... More Melissa McGill's recent Venice-based public art project Red Regatta on view at TOTAHNEW YORK, NY.- TOTAH is presenting RED REGATTA: riflessi, born out of Melissa McGills recent Venice-based public art project Red Regatta. McGills photographs are on view through March 1st, 2020. This is the artist's first solo exhibition with the gallery. Over the years Melissa McGill has developed a profound personal relationship with the city of Venice. Having lived there in the early 90s, she has continued to be engaged with the city, returning often for inspiration, research, friendships, and artistic collaboration. A celebration of Venice's maritime culture and history, her 2019 project, Red Regatta, aimed at raising awareness around the threats that face Venices fragile ecosystem. These threats are only exacerbated by the impact of cruise ships, motor boats, rising sea levels, and a shrinking local population. As a series of four site-specific ... More Jimmy Heath, 93, jazz saxophonist and composer, is deadNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- Jimmy Heath, a tenor saxophonist whose sharp and lively compositions became part of the midcentury jazz canon and who found new prominence in middle age as a co-leader of a popular band with his two brothers died Sunday in Loganville, Georgia. He was 93. His grandson Fa Mtume confirmed his death. Heaths saxophone sound was spare but playful, with a beaming tone that exuded both joy and command. But his reputation rested equally on his abilities as a composer and arranger for large ensembles, interpolating bebops crosshatched rhythms and extended improvisations into fulsome tapestries. He was a teenager touring the Midwestern dance circuit with the Nat Towles Orchestra in the 1940s when he became enamored with arranging. At first he could hardly read music, but he proved a quick study. ... More Carbon 12 opens an exhibition of works by Olaf BreuningDUBAI.- For Olaf Breunings third solo exhibition with Carbon 12, Brainwashed by Nature, Breuning unveils new, conceptual paintings that venture back to nature, and the pressing environmental concerns we face today. Our human race, no longer truly living in the present but in the past and future, have constantly paid a blind eye to the consequences of our actions - until recent years. By using elements found within nature to discuss nature itself, Breuning's rough landscapes incorporate the usage of woodcut slices to explore the foreseeable circumstances of mankinds detrimental actions. The return to a simpler, more primitive state of production contrasts faster, more industrialized methods of creating art. This mirrors a perspective Olaf Breuning may want us to consider: that leaner, meaner, and more technologically advanced do not necessarily ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, Fahion designer Christian Dior wa born January 21, 1905. Christian Dior (21 January 1905 - 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior, which is now owned by Groupe Arnault. His fashion houses are now all around the world. This file picture taken on July 3, 2017 shows a man adjusting a dress prior to the opening of the Dior exhibition that celebrates the seventieth anniversary of the Christian Dior fashion house, at the Museum of Decorative Arts (Musee des Arts Decoratifs) in Paris. 708 000 people visited the exhibition dedicated to Christian Dior from July 5, 2017 to January 7, 2018 in Paris. ALAIN JOCARD / AFP.
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