| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Tuesday, July 28, 2020 |
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| | Penn Museum to relocate skull collection of enslaved people | |
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In this file photo Tessa de Alarcon, a conservator, photographs sculptures for a digital archive at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia. Mark Makela/The New York Times.
by Johnny Diaz
PHILADELPHIA (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- A Philadelphia museum of archaeology and anthropology will move part of its collection of about 1,300 skulls, including those of enslaved people, to storage this month after students called for it to give the bones to descendants. The Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania announced on its website last week that it would relocate part of the collection to storage by the end of July. The collection of skulls was amassed by Samuel George Morton, a 19th-century physician who held broadly white supremacist views, the museum said. It added that his infamous research, although criticized by contemporary scholars and modern scientists, had contributed to long-standing racist beliefs. Jill DiSanto, a spokeswoman for the museum, said Monday that the collection was not on display in any galleries but had been kept in a private classroom. The museum also said that it was working toward repatriation or reburial of the crania of enslaved individuals from t ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Keith Haring's motto art is for everybody has been read, photographed and shared by thousands during recent months. Back in the 1980s, Harings idealism in believing art should reach as many people as possible was an inspiration for his drawing and painting. Today, his retrospective sets a new record as BOZAR's most visited exhibition ever! Since it opened on 6 December, more than 180,000 people have seen it. The top three is now completed by Michaël Borremans (144,000 visitors) and Frida Kahlo (118,000 visitors).
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 | | Japanese fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto dead at 76 | | Melania Trump will revamp White House Rose Garden | | Banksy to donate sale of artwork to Palestinian hospital | 
This file photo taken on June 12, 2015 shows Japanese designer Kansai Yamamoto waving to the audience after an event in Tokyo. Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP.
by Vanessa Friedman and Elizabeth Paton
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Kansai Yamamoto, the unapologetically flamboyant fashion designer whose love of color, unfettered imagination and exploration of genderless dressing caught the eye of David Bowie and helped define the look of his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, died in Japan on July 21. He was 76. The cause was leukemia, a statement on his office website confirmed. It did not say where in Japan he died. Kansai, as Yamamoto was generally known, was not as well-known as some of his more high-profile Japanese fashion contemporaries, including Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons. But it was Kansai who led the way for a generation of Japanese design talents to make their mark on the Western industry. In 1971, he was among the first Japanese designers to show in London a full decade before Kawakubo ... More | | 
The Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, as seen from the roof of the West Wing on Sunday, July 26, 2020, ahead of scheduled renovations. Doug Mills/The New York Times.
by Katie Rogers
WASHINGTON (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Melania Trump, the first lady, announced Monday a plan to renovate the White House Rose Garden, a signature showcase of power used by presidents for decades, as her husband enters a crucial stretch of his reelection effort. The project, which includes electrical upgrades for television appearances, a new walkway and new flowers and shrubs, is meant to be an act of expressing hope and optimism for the future, according to remarks that Trump delivered to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House on Monday morning. Our country has seen difficult times before, but the White House and the Rose Garden have always stood as a symbol of our strength, resilience and continuity. Trumps husband has not exactly focused on those principles during his many ... More | | 
Titled "Mediterranean Sea View 2017," the work is to be auctioned Tuesday at Sotheby's in London. Courtesy Sotheby's.
RAMALLAH (AFP).- British street artist Banksy is to donate the proceeds from the auction of one of his works, valued at over $1 million, to a Palestinian hospital, one of his collaborators told AFP on Monday. Titled "Mediterranean Sea View 2017," the work is to be auctioned Tuesday at Sotheby's in London, said Wissam Salsaa, director of the Walled Off Hotel which Banksy helped set up in 2017 in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The work comprises three oil paintings depicting views of raging seas and shoreline littered with orange life jackets and buoys, alluding "to the lives lost at sea during the European migrant 'crisis' of the 2010s", according to the description on the Sotheby's site. The work, which used to hang in the entry of the hotel, is valued at $1.5 million, according to Salsaa. All the proceeds will go to a hospital in Bethlehem to build an acute stroke unit and buy children's rehabilitation equipment, Sotheby's said. ... More |
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| | Five works on paper by Emma Amos acquired by National Gallery of Art | | Michael Jordan's historic 1984 "signing day" official Chicago Bulls rookie jersey heads to Julien's Auctions | | Social media sensation Getty Museum Challenge to be a book | 
Emma Amos, Gold Face Type, 1966, color screenprint, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Collectors Committee, 2019.164.2
WASHINGTON, DC.- The National Gallery of Art has recently acquired five works on paper (four prints and one collaged paper-pulp work) made from the 1960s to the early 2000s by the artist and activist Emma Amos (19372020). These works are examples of Amos's engagement with issues of feminism, racism, and power dynamics in imagery that does not always appear overtly political. Amos was the youngest and only female member of the important New York artist collective Spiral, which was formed in response to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Founded by Richard Mayhew, Romare Bearden, and Hale Woodruff, the collective served as a forum for African American artists to discuss their role in America's rapidly changing political and cultural landscape. They explored ideas such as whether "black art" can or should be definedissues that continue to be debated today. Amos went ... More | | 
Jordan held up this very jersey his very first official NBA Chicago Bulls game jersey at his first press conference as a member of the team.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- Juliens Auctions presents Icons & Idols: Sports, the world-record breaking auction house to the stars highly anticipated sports event, taking place Friday, December 4th, 2020, live in Beverly Hills and online at juliensauctions.com. The marquee highlight of the event is the historic rookie NBA official Chicago Bulls game jersey presented to Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships and won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award in each of those championships. The 14 time All-Star and five-time MVP legend was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPNs SportsCenturys distinguished 48-member panel and voted Best Athlete of All Time by Harris Poll. Jordan held up this very jersey his very first official NBA Chicago Bulls game jersey at his first press conference as a member of the t ... More | | 
Raphael, Sistine Madonna (detail), 1512; Re-creation: Allene Poole.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- Van Goghs Starry Night made out of spaghetti? Cat with a Pearl Earring? Frida Kahlo self-portraits with pets and toilet paper? In March 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic brought life as we knew it to a halt. Schools and businesses closed, and travel was restricted as countries issued shelter-in-place orders. Much of the world retreated to a solitary life at home. But during this time of uncertainty over 100,000 people, inspired by prompts from Getty and other museums, raided toy chests, repurposed pantry items, and enlisted family, roommates, and animals to re-create famous works of art at home. Abundantly illustrated, Off the Walls: Inspired Re-Creations of Iconic Artworks (Getty Publications, paperback, $14.00) is a celebration of these imaginative re-creations and a reminder of the power of art to unite and bring joy during troubled times. We are endlessly grateful for the Internets embrace of this challenge, say Annelisa Stephan, Assistant Director ... More |
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| | Picasso murals removed from Oslo building damaged by Breivik | | London Transport Museum launches appeal to help fund its future | | Public Art Fund launches the second installment of Art on the Grid | 
The mural The Fishermen by Pablo Picasso and the Norwegian artist Carl Nesja is scaffolded at the Y-block in the government quarter in Oslo on July 27, 2020. Lise Ã
serud / NTB Scanpix / AFP.
OSLO (AFP).- Despite protests, the removal of two murals designed by Pablo Picasso began on Monday from an Oslo government building damaged in right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik's 2011 attack, a project manager said. The "Y Block", a government building complex named for its shape, is scheduled to be demolished to make way for a new government complex buliding. The building suffered external damage from explosives that Breivik set before going on a shooting rampage, killing a combined 77 people. On its grey cement walls are two drawings by Picasso that were sandblasted by Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, who collaborated with the Spanish master painter. On the facade facing the street, "The Fishermen" depicts three men hauling their oversized catch onto their boat. In the lobby, "The Seagull" shows the bird, its wings spread wide, devouring a fish. ... More | | 
After months without visitors the Museum has lost £1.5m and is asking people to donate towards its future as it plans to reopen .
LONDON.- London Transport Museum, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, is asking people to donate towards its future as it plans to reopen in the Autumn. Since closing its doors in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Museum has lost £1.5m and counting. It costs £25,000 each day to open London Transport Museum and unlike national museums it does not receive regular central government funding. As a charity, the Museum raises 80 per cent of its income through ticket sales, its shop, venue hire and fundraising. But with no visitors or events for four months, the Museum is now asking its loyal visitors and the public to show their support and donate towards its future as it plans to reopen. Donations big or small will make a huge difference by helping the Museum to care for its world-leading collection, continue its family activities and deliver its vital skills and employability programmes for young ... More | | 
Work by Jordan Nassar.
NEW YORK, NY.- Today, Public Art Fund unveiled the second installment of artworks as a part of Art on the Grid. These 40 newly commissioned artworks follow the June 29 launch of works by ten artists that remain on view on 100 JCDecaux bus shelters and across the LinkNYC network. The total of 50 artworks on 500+ platforms citywide are now on view through September 20, 2020. The exhibition was conceived in the spring of 2020 in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and as the parallel epidemic of systemic racism came into sharp and painful focus. Both crises set the backdrop for the exhibition of 50 New York-based, emerging artistsmany of whom are working in public space for the first time. Creating new work that reflects on their experience during this tumultuous time, the artists drew on varying aspects of life in New York City over the past few months: ongoing protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement; personal experien ... More |
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| | In Granada, dancing carefully, respectfully and with an audience | | Classic Shaker sewing table stitches up a big win at Morphy's $3.2M Fine & Decorative Arts Auction | | Iconic French cinema shuts for August as audiences plummet | 
Cristina Casa and Toby William Mallitt of CompañÃa Nacional de Danza, dance at the Generalife Theater in Granada, Spain, July 21, 2020. Laura Leon/The New York Times.
by Marina Harss
GRANADA (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- When the CompañÃa Nacional de Danza took the stage at the Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada in southern Spain on Wednesday, it was in many ways like any other dance performance: A couple performed a touching Bournonville pas de deux; an ensemble of 21 dancers wearing loose, pale gray costumes premiered a new work, set to music by Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, a 19th-century Spanish musical prodigy. The dancers moved with silken ease. The audience applauded. But the fact that the dancing occurred amid a pandemic, in a country that has suffered greatly and continues to suffer from the effects of COVID-19, made the situation extraordinary. It was the culmination of months of careful planning, involving the development of protocols, testing and a careful, minutely orchestrated return to the studio. All performances at the festival, ... More | | 
Circa-1840 Shaker dropleaf sewing table composed of butternut, cherry, pine and possibly basswood. Probably from the Shaker community of Hancock, Massachusetts; attributed to family elder David Terry. Attracted 69 bids and sold for $98,400 against an estimate of $5,000-$10,000.
DENVER, PA.- The spotlight may have been shining on a stellar array of art glass, jewelry and watches at Morphys July 14-15 Fine & Decorative Arts Auction, but it was an unlikely dark horse a circa-1840 Shaker sewing table that stitched up the top price at the $3.2 million sale in central Pennsylvania. An unapologetically simple form, the seven-drawer drop-leaf table of mixed woods likely came from the Shaker community at Hancock, Massachusetts. It was attributed to Elder David Terry, who is known to have crafted similar tables. However, there was some speculation amongst experts that it might have come from the boys workshop at Hancock. A published example (Shaker Furniture: The Craftsmanship of an American Communal Sect by Andrews & Andrews, 1937, Yale Press), the table was entered in the sale with a $5,000-$10,000 estimate, but aggressive bidding sent it soaring to $98,400. Fifty-four exquisite Tif ... More | | 
This file photo taken on January 11, 2018 shows the exterior of the Grand Rex film theatre in Paris. PHILIPPE LOPEZ / AFP.
by Jean-François Guyot / Fiachra Gibbons
PARIS (AFP).- One of France's most iconic cinemas is to shut its doors for the month of August because so few people want to risk seeing movies on the big screen. Managers at the enormous Grand Rex in the centre of Paris -- which remained open throughout World War II -- said Monday Hollywood studios were also to blame for holding back the release of so many of its summer blockbusters. The Federation of French Cinemas said Monday the double whammy was crippling the industry as they demanded state aid to help them through the crisis. "Between the drop in admissions (because of the coronavirus) and the lack of fresh American films that traditionally are a big summer draw, we have decided to close our doors from August 3," the Grand Rex's manager Alexandre Hellmann told AFP. "We will lose less money by closing than by staying open with this depressing box office," he added. With 2,700 seats, the seven-screen Grand Rex's largest theatre ... More |
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How Thomas Molesworth's Furniture Captured the Spirit of the American West
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 Observatory House on Edinburgh's Calton Hill to be revived for artist retreat and public hireEDINBURGH.- Collective, the centre for contemporary art on Calton Hill which recently re-opened after a four-month closure due to the Coronavirus pandemic, today announces its plans to bring back into use a significant building on its historic site. Observatory House, which forms one corner of the City Observatory site redeveloped by Collective in 2018, is a residential house dating back to the 18th century and was formerly occupied by resident astronomers. Previously renovated and offered as a holiday let by the Vivat Trust until 2015, Collective now plans to upgrade the house and divide it into two apartments available as lets separately or together for larger groups. As well as being available to hire, Observatory House will host artists visiting Collective as part of its programme of international art commissions from artists who have never shown their ... More Turkish philanthropist Kavala seen as threat by ErdoganISTANBUL (AFP).- Osman Kavala, imprisoned in Turkey for nearly three years without ever being convicted of a crime, is a philanthropist and businessman who supporters say has tirelessly used his wealth to help society. The 62-year-old marked 1,000 days behind bars on Monday, prompting a fresh round of support on social media under the hashtag #FreeOsmanKavala. Little-known to the public before his arrest, he has become a symbol of what critics say is a crackdown on civil society under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, especially in the wake of a failed coup in 2016. Initially, Kavala was accused of fomenting the so-called Gezi Park protests in 2013, but when he was acquitted on those charges in February, he was immediately re-arrested over claims he was involved in the coup. He is now accused of seeking to overthrow the constitutional order ... More Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum appoints new Chief Development OfficerBOSTON, MASS.- The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum announced Rebecca Ehrhardt has joined as the Museums new Chief Development Officer, effective July 2020. Over the last eleven years, Ehrhardt has served as Senior Director of Development, Director of Individual Giving, and Major Gifts Officer for the Peabody Essex Museum. Among many other responsibilities, Ehrhardt developed and implemented principal and major gifts strategies for the PEMs $650 million campaign. Rebecca brings exceptional Development experience, collaborative spirit, deep knowledge of the arts and museum sector, and personal commitment to the core values that we have articulated in our strategic plan, said Peggy Fogelman, Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Gardner Museum. Were fortunate and excited to have Rebecca join our leadership team ... More Formula One makes way for drive-in cinema in MexicoMEXICO CITY (AFP).- After the disappointment of seeing the Mexican Formula One Grand Prix canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Mexico City government has turned its F1 track into a drive-in cinema. On a rainy Sunday, dozens of people drove up to Turn Four of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, which has been temporarily converted into the Autocinema Mixhuca. The cinema allows movie goers to maintain social distancing while enjoying exclusively Mexican films. Juan Manuel Bedwell, a veteran accountant, left home isolation to go back to a drive-in cinema for the first time in four decades, to watch the 2013 Mexican film "The Last Call," a comedy based on "Caligula," a play by Frenchman Albert Camus. But instead of taking his girlfriend, this time Bedwell was accompanied by three children and three grandchildren. ... More Debutants and Americans dominate Booker Prize longlistLONDON (AFP).- Eight debut novelists came up against veterans Hilary Mantel and Tsitsi Dangarembga when Britain unveiled a US-dominated longlist of finalists Tuesday for its revered Booker Prize. One of the world's most celebrated literary competitions tore up the rule book last year by splitting the fiction award between Canada's Margaret Atwood and Anglo-Nigerian author Bernardine Evaristo. It courted controversy on this occasion by pitting nine Americans or dual-US citizens against just three Britons and Zimbabwe's Dangarembga. "There are voices from minorities often unheard, stories that are fresh, bold and absorbing," judges' panel chair Margaret Busby said. "Unplanned, our final selection encompasses both seasoned favourites and debut talents -- a truly satisfying outcome." The title of best work of English-language fiction published ... More LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History sale at Swann August 13NEW YORK, NY.- The second annual offering of a specializes sale of LGBTQ+ Art, Material Culture & History is set to come across the block at Swann Galleries on August 13. The auction will feature fine art and ephemera from notable figures across genres including artists, writers and activists. Ephemera from the downtown New York scene from the 1960s through the 1990s forms a cornerstone of the sale, which had initially been scheduled for June but was postponed to August as a result of New York Citys PAUSE. A portion of the will benefit NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. The auction begins with items from nineteenth century literary figures, including Oscar Wilde autographs, one an autograph quotation: The secret of life is in Art, signed and dated May 1882 ($4,000-6,000), and a circa 1867-69 albumen print of Walt Whitman by William ... More Chinese porcelain plaque finishes at $96,250 in Bruneau & Co. auctionCRANSTON, RI.- Several weeks before Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers online-only Antiques & Fine Art auction on Thursday, July 23rd, a seller strolled into the gallery on a walk-in appraisal Tuesday holding what appeared to be a nice Chinese Qing Dynasty porcelain famille rose plaque with calligraphy. Bruneau slid it into the sale, assigning it a modest estimate of $2,000-$4,000. All that changed once the bidding began. When lot 268 opened on my computer screen it was already up to $24,000, said Travis Landry, a Bruneau & Co. auctioneer and the firms Director of Pop Culture. I knew I had a determined bidder and he ended up taking it home for $96,250, including buyers premium. The best part is, it was a walk-in. You never know whats out there. Turns out, the Republic Period porcelain and enamel famille rose plaque was exceptionally well painted ... More National Gallery of Art appoints Sheila McDaniel as AdministratorWASHINGTON, DC.- The National Gallery of Art announced today the appointment of Sheila McDaniel as administrator. The Gallery's administrator oversees the divisions of administrative support, architecture and capital improvement, facilities, horticulture, personnel, procurement, and security, which comprise more than one-third of the museum's staff. Since 2004, McDaniel has been the deputy director of finance and operations at The Studio Museum in Harlem. When she begins her tenure on September 14, she will become the Gallery's seventh administrator since the museum was founded in 1937 and will succeed Darrell Willson, who retired on July 3. "The evolving leadership team of the National Gallery of Art is immeasurably strengthened with the appointment of Sheila McDaniel as administrator. Sheila is a leader who combines a down-to-earth manner ... More ICA Miami expands research department and renames to Knight Foundation Art + Research CenterMIAMI, FLA.- The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami today announced the expansion of its Art + Research Center, South Floridas only museum-based research department, and its renaming to the Knight Foundation Art + Research Center (A+RC) . The departments new name commemorates a $2 million grant to ICA Miami from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in 2018. The grant supports an in-progress five-year strategic plan to expand the A+RCs scope and establish the future of the department through a range of major initiatives, including the creation of a new digital education platform to encourage exchange and collaboration among scholars, cultural theorists, students, and artists; the launch of a new academic partnership; and the debut of additional public programming. In conjunction with the growth of the department, ... More Public appeal for stories, portraits and ideas to be displayed alongside the national collectionEDINBURGH.- People across Scotland and beyond are being asked to submit stories, portraits and ideas about the future as part of a new display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. They will be shown alongside five striking examples of portraiture from the national collection in a display titled You Are Here | 2020: Stories, Portraits, Visions. This display will explore the issues Scotland faces in 2020 by providing a platform for people to reflect on a year, which has seen the most unprecedented times in a generation. People can respond to one or more of the three categories: stories, portraits and visions. The first, 2020 Stories is looking for a story about this year in 100 words or less which could be positive or negative, prose or poetry. The second, 2020 Portraits is a portrait that encapsulates something about this year. From the joyful to the tragic ... More |
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PhotoGalleries Keith Haring's motto art is for everybody has been read, photographed and shared by thousands during recent months. Back in the 1980s, Harings idealism in believing art should reach as many people as possible was an inspiration for his drawing and painting. Today, his retrospective sets a new record as BOZAR's most visited exhibition ever! Since it opened on 6 December, more than 180,000 people have seen it. The top three is now completed by Michaël Borremans (144,000 visitors) and Frida Kahlo (118,000 visitors).
Flashback On a day like today, French painter Marcel Duchamp was born July 28, 1887. Marcel Duchamp (28 July 1887 - 2 October 1968) was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art. He advised modern art collectors, such as Peggy Guggenheim and other prominent figures, thereby helping to shape the tastes of Western art during this period. In this image: Marcel Duchamp's wanted poster is seen as part of the exhibit, "Inventing Marcel Duchamp:The Dynamics of Portrature," at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, on Tuesday, March 24, 2009.
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