| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Tuesday, March 16, 2021 |
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| | France to return Klimt painting to rightful heirs after Nazi-era sale | |
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Roselyne Bachelot, Frances Culture Minister, at an event to announce the restitution of Gustav Klimts Rosebushes Under the Trees, in Paris on Monday.
by Aurelien Breeden
PARIS (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- France will return the only painting by Gustav Klimt in its national collection to the heirs of Nora Stiasny, a Jewish woman who sold it under duress after the Nazis annexed Austria, Frances Culture minister announced Monday. The minister, Roselyne Bachelot, said it was difficult but necessary for France to part with Klimts Rosebushes Under the Trees, which she called a masterpiece. It is the completion of an act of justice, Bachelot said at a news conference in Paris, standing beside the early-20th-century painting, a lush, green canvas dotted with specks of floral color. Rosebushes Under the Trees, which currently resides at the Musée dOrsay in the city, was not part of the special inventory of looted artworks returned from Germany to France after World War II ended. Unlike those artworks, which are not fully part of Frances national collections, the Klimt painting, which was bought in 1980, is legally considered ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Austrian historian Roman Sandgruber holds a letter written by Alois Hitler to road maintenance official Josef Radlegger, in Linz, Austria, on March 03, 2021. Along with other new sources, the discovery of 31 letters have helped Sandgruber write the volume: "Hitler's Father: How The Son Became a Dictator" and bring new insights into the Nazi tyrant's upbringing. The letters were written by Alois Hitler to road maintenance official Josef Radlegger concerning his sale of a farmhouse in the village of Hafeld to Alois in 1895, six years after Adolf was born. ALEX HALADA / AFP
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| The Met Opera's musicians, unpaid since April, are struggling | | Online sales save art market: report | | Meadows Museum celebrates the 20th anniversary of its 66,000-square-foot building | 
Tanya Thompson, a carpenter who has worked at the Met for 15 years, outside the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, March 7, 2021. Amr Alfiky/The New York Times.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- As the months without a paycheck wore on, Joel Noyes, a 41-year-old cellist with the Metropolitan Opera, realized that in order to keep making his mortgage payments he would have to sell one of his most valuable possessions: his 19th-century Russian bow. He reluctantly switched back to the inferior one he had used as a child. Its kind of like if you were a race car driver and you drove Ferraris on the Formula One circuit, Noyes said, and suddenly you had to get on the track in a Toyota Camry. The Metropolitan Opera House has been dark for a year, and its musicians have gone unpaid for almost as long. The players in one of the finest orchestras in the world suddenly found themselves relying on unemployment benefits, scrambling for virtual teaching gigs, selling the tools of their trade and looking for cheaper housing. About 40% left the New York area. More than one-tenth retired. After the musicians had been furloughed for months, the Met ... More | | 
Artprice said the digital transformation of auctions amounted to a "revolution" in the way fine art is sold after lockdowns forced change on a slow-moving industry.
by Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere
PARIS (AFP).- A surprisingly rapid shift online helped cushion the art market from the worst ravages of the coronavirus pandemic although sales still fell by a fifth last year, an Artprice report said Monday. Artprice, the France-based leader in art market data, said the digital transformation of auctions amounted to a "revolution" in the way fine art is sold after lockdowns forced change on a slow-moving industry. "It's been a spectacular shift that has gone beyond expectations and despite the reluctance of certain auction houses," said its president Thierry Ehrmann. Digitisation has opened up auctions to a huge new customer base, particularly 30- and 40-year-olds, who rarely dabbled in the market previously. They are mostly after contemporary art, Ehrmann told AFP, which accounts for some 16 percent of sales. Online also means more global, with auction houses in Belgium or Sweden now able to easily tap clients in Singapore ... More | | 
Pere Vall (c. 1400c. 1422), Saints Benedict and Onuphrius, c. 1410. Tempera and gold on Softwood Panel, 35 x 26 3/8 in. (89 x 67 cm). Meadows Museum, SMU, Dallas. Museum purchase with funds generously provided by Richard and Luba Barrett, MM.2017.01. Photo by Kevin Todora.
DALLAS, TX.- This year marks the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Meadows's 66,000-square-foot building, which is six times larger than the museums original space. Since its opening in 2001, the Meadows has become one of the most prominent university art museums in the country. It is internationally recognized for the quality of its collection of Spanish masterpieces by old masters to contemporary artists with one of the largest holdings of Spanish art outside of Spain. Artists represented include Velázquez, Ribera, El Greco, Murillo, Goya, Miró, Picasso and Dalí. Devotion to scholarship, innovative interpretation and prestigious partnerships with major art institutions and cultural organizations have made the Meadows a recognized champion of Spain's artistic achievements and an important international diplomatic partner. In celebration, the Meadows presents Building on the Boulevard: Celebrating 20 Years of ... More |
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| Banksy's cheeky parody of Demi Moore's iconic Vanity Fair cover to make auction debut | | The MCA and Tate announce new acquisitions | | LACMA will reopen its galleries to the public on April 1 | 
Banksy, Original Concept for Barely Legal Poster (After Demi Moore), 2006. Spray paint and emulsion on canvas, 213 by 123 cm. Estimate: £2-3 million. Courtesy Sotheby's.
LONDON.- Banksys brazen parody of Demi Moores iconic 1991 Vanity Fair cover is set to return to the spotlight this spring, when it makes its auction debut in Sothebys livestreamed marquee event on March 25 in London, in which the painting is estimated to sell for between £2-3 million. The sale comes just months after Sothebys set the second and third highest price for the artist at auction for Show me the Monet (£7.6 million / $9.9 million) and Forgive us our Trespassing (US$8.3 million). The two-metre-tall canvas was first unveiled in 2006 as the poster image for Banksys debut and breakthrough U.S. exhibition, which arguably cemented his status far beyond that of Bristolian graffiti-tagger. Titled Barely Legal, the self-proclaimed three-day vandalised warehouse extravaganza took place in an impoverished area of Los Angeles a city were glamour, wealth and celebrity is joined by an ... More | | 
John Mawurndjul, Buluwana, Female Ancestor, 1989, earth pigments on stringybark (Eucalyptus tetrodonta), Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Tate, with support from the Qantas Foundation in 2015, purchased 2020 © John Mawurndjul and licensed by Copyright Agency.
SYDNEY.- The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Tate have today announced the acquisition of six artworks by five artists, as part of the International Joint Acquisition Program for contemporary Australian art, bringing the total number of co-acquired works to 29. Since the inception of the program, 29 artworks by 21 artists have been acquired into the Collections of Tate and MCA, promoting Australian art globally and helping Australian artists reach new audiences. This ground-breaking acquisition program was made possible through a $2.75 million corporate gift from the Qantas Foundation in 2015. The new acquisitions include an early bark painting, Buluwana, Female Ancestor (1989) by Kuninjku artist John Mawurndjul AM; a recording of an early performance work, Jabiluka UO2 by Bonita Ely (1979); a single- ... More | | 
Visitors in Vera Lutter: Museum in the Camera, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, art © Vera Lutter, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- After more than a year of mandated closure as a result of COVID-19, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will reopen its galleries to the public on April 1, 2021, following the guidelines provided by L.A. County for museums. LACMA members will be welcomed for Member Previews on March 2630. To provide a safe environment for visitors and staff, LACMA has implemented new health and safety protocols and procedures in accordance with the guidelines provided by the L.A. County Department of Public Health. The new health and safety protocols include limited capacity (25% in red tier as required by the State), advance timed-entry online ticketing, required face mask wearing, mandatory online health screening and temperature check, a touchless visitor experience (including a new touchless check-in system and new sensor-based facility fixtures), enhanced and more frequent cleaning and sanitizing protocols, one-way paths through galleries, ... More |
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| British Museum announces Lampedusa Cross to tour UK for the first time on 10th anniversary of Syrian Revolution | | Two breathtaking bracelets take centre stage in Sotheby's Hong Kong Jewellery Auction | | Exhibition of mixed media paintings by Vivian Suter opens at Gladstone Gallery | 
The Lampedusa cross, Francesco Tuccio, 2015, wood © The Trustees of the British Museum.
LONDON.- A British Museum Spotlight Loan Crossings: community and refuge will tour the Lampedusa cross around the UK for the first time. Made from the remnants of a boat carrying refugees wrecked near the Italian island of Lampedusa, close to the coast of Tunisia, the cross carries poignant messages about kindness, community and the indifference faced by many refugees. Alongside the cross will be a display of twelve tiny boats from Syrian-born Issam Kourbajʼs series Dark Water, Burning World, made from repurposed bicycle mudguards tightly packed with burnt matches to represent the fragile vessels used by refugees to make their perilous voyages across the Mediterranean. Seeking to evoke the plight of Syrians, these were made by Kourbaj as a response to the ongoing tragedy in Syria. The boats have recently been nominated as the 101st Object in the British Museum and BBC Radio 4s A History of the World in 100 Objects ... More | | 
A Jadeite Bangle - The Circle of Happiness. A true treasure of nature weighing 277.673 carats. Courtesy Sotheby's.
HONG KONG.- This April, Sothebys Hong Kong will present for sale two breathtaking bracelets, each representing in their very own way the pinnacle of bracelet design. The first is a diamond and rock crystal bracelet combining the legendary artistry and craftmanship of Cartier with a phenomenal 63.66-carat pear-shaped internally flawless white diamond (est. HK$40,000,000-65,000,000 / US$5,160,000-8,390,000), the second, a sensational jadeite bracelet weighing 277.673 carats and described by the SSEF laboratory as a true treasure of nature (estimate upon request). The Magnificent Jewels sale, which will take place on 20 April, is also distinguished by a wide range of signed jewellery, comprising half of the total offered lots. Celebrating craftsmanship, iconic designs, and treasures of the nature, the sale will present an impressive jewellery selection from the houses of Boucheron, Bulgari, Cartier, Chanel, ... More | | 
Vivian Suter, Untitled, Undated. Mixed media on canvas, 92 1/8 x 68 1/2 inches (234 x 174 cm) © Vivian Suter. Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels; Gaga, Mexico City and Los Angeles; Karma International, Zürich and Los Angeles; and Proyectos Ultravioleta, Guatemala City.
BRUSSELS.- Gladstone Gallery is presenting Vivian Suter: Wolfs Hour, an exhibition of mixed media paintings from more than thirty years of the artists career. This show is Suters second presentation with Gladstone Gallery, and her first in Belgium. Expanding the artists investigation of using the painted medium to create surreal, immersive environments, Suter employs the gallerys classic architecture to transpose elements of her tropical studio onto the urban setting of this Belgian townhouse. The walls, ceiling, stairwell, and floor all find activation through the unique installation of unstretched canvases that simultaneously highlight and conceal the rectilinear components of the exhibition space. While conceived and created as unique, individual works, each painting on view ... More |
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| Toledo Museum of Art adds works of art to its collection | | Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Week totals $98,323,250 | | Amplifier launches #Vaccinated, global public art campaign to spread accurate COVID-19 vaccine information | 
Carleton Emmons Watkins (American, 1829-1916), Grizzly Giant, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite, c. 1865-66, unmounted Albumen print, 12 1/8 x 8 1/16 in. Photo credit: Chris Ridgway, Toledo Museum of Art.
TOLEDO, OH.- The Toledo Museum of Art has added a 21st-century painting by contemporary artist Xiaoze Xie, a Venetian/Ottoman circa 17th-century footed bowl with gold mounts and leather case, and a group of 19th- and 20th-century American and European photographs to its storied collection. The works expand and enhance TMAs holdings in these areas and diversify the conversations the Museum can foster throughout its galleries and programming. These remarkable and distinctive works of art embody TMAs ongoing commitment to collecting outstanding objects that speak to a range of histories, cultures and experiences, said Adam M. Levine, the Museums Edward Drummond and Florence Scott Libbey director and CEO. We are grateful to the benefactors Spencer and Prudy Stone, Driek and Michael Zirinsky, and the previous generosity ... More | | 
Gerhard Richter (B. 1932), Frau mit kind (Woman with Child). Frequency modulated offset print in colors, on white cardboard, 2005, signed and dated in pencil, numbered 20/32 (there were also eight in Roman numerals). Image: 51 x 43 ¼ in. Sheet: 60 ¾ x 51 1/8 in. Price realized: $93,750. © Christie's Images Ltd 2021.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies kicked off the week of Post-War and Contemporary Art Sales in New York with a live Post-War to Present auction, which totaled $23,087,875, selling 86% by lot, 92% by value and 123% hammer over low estimate. The top lot of the sale was Keith Harings Untitled, which achieved $3,000,000, followed by Matthew Wongs Luminous Night, which achieved $2,190,000, more than double its high estimate. The sale saw four new artist records set for Derrick Adams, Elaine de Kooning, Lucas Samaras and Jammie Holmes. Exceptional prices were also achieved by Emily Mae Smith, Salman Toor, Henry Taylor and Ruth Asawa among others. Christies Contemporary Edition sale totaled $1,679,875, selling 85% ... More | | 
Steffan Sanguinetti, Vaccinated.
SEATTLE, WA.- The nonprofit art lab Amplifier and The Vaccine Confidence Project & Team Halo, a coalition of scientists and public health officials, announce a new Global Open Call for Art, #Vaccinated, in support of the urgent and rapidly developing COVID-19 vaccination efforts happening around the world. With guidance from top public health officials, the organizations will select artworks to be part of a widespread public art campaign, launching on March 16, 2021, that harnesses the power of visual art and science-based storytelling to encourage vaccination, educate the general public, and combat the common misconceptions around the COVID-19 vaccines. V for Vaccinated is a global call to arms, ensuring that critical COVID-19 vaccine information reaches populations across the world as quickly as possible, empowering people to feel confident in their decisions to get vaccinated. Over the course of five weeks, Amplifier and partners will reveal new artworks on an ongoing bas ... More |
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How to Start a Vintage Film Poster Collection
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 Ralph Ellison-inspired exhibition examines violent histories in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and AmericaTULSA, OK.- This spring and summer, Philbrook Museum of Art presents From the Limitations of Now, a major museum-wide exhibition that explores how art can serve as a tool to re-examine our past, honoring those who challenge racial violence across America, and envision change in the countrys future. For the first time in Philbrooks history, the exhibition spans the museums Helmerich and historic Villa galleries, juxtaposing contemporary art with objects in Philbrooks permanent collection from the Renaissance to the 21st century. Bringing together work by local artists and an intergenerational group of artists who have never before shown in Oklahoma, the exhibition is on view from March 14September 5, 2021. The exhibitions title and arguments are inspired by a speech that renowned Oklahoma author Ralph Ellison delivered in ... More  The David Roche Foundation opens 'Captain Cook & the Art of Memorabilia'ADELAIDE.- The first of Captain Cooks voyages to the Pacific (17681771) was momentous for not only would he chart the east coast of Australia, but also irrevocably change the course of history of this ancient country and its First Nations peoples. Both an extraordinary navigator and harbinger of the colonisation of Australia, Cook was acknowledged as a contested symbol of our Nation during the 250th commemoration of his arrival. A new exhibition at the David Roche Foundation, Captain Cook & the Art of Memorabilia brings together ninety objects and art from both private and public collections from the period of three voyages, memorabilia related to Cook, and contemporary responses to the man by First Nations artists Christian Thompson, Gordon Bennett, Daniel Boyd and artist Ben Quilty. Warwick Thornton of the Kaytej Nation, ... More  National Building Museum announces Aileen Fuchs as new Executive DirectorWASHINGTON, DC.- The National Building Museum announced that Aileen Fuchs has been selected by the Board of Trustees as its new President and Executive Director. Currently the President and CEO of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, Fuchs will be the fifth director of the Museum, which last year celebrated the 40th anniversary of its creation by Congress. Her appointment comes at an opportune time in the institutions history, as it reopens this spring with powerful exhibitions, a new Visitor Center, and plans for an exciting program of summer installations. Fuchs has led the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, on Staten Island, New York, since July 2017. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of Exhibits & Programs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, and the associate curator and content manager ... More  Furniture by George Nakashima headlines Ahlers & Ogletree auctionATLANTA, GA.- A collection of five furniture pieces by the renowned American woodworker George Nakashima (1905-1990), a polished bronze sculpture on a Lucite base by Arnaldo Pomodoro (Italian, b. 1926), and a 19th century Regency-style mahogany library table are just a few of the expected top lots in Ahlers & Ogletrees two-day, two-session Spring Fine Estates & Collections auction scheduled for March 27th and 28th, starting at 10 am Eastern time both days. More than 1,000 quality lots will come up for bid across the two days. The event will be held online-only, through LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and Bidsquare.com. Phone and absentee bids will also be accepted. Gallery previews will be held March 22nd-26th, from 10-5; masks and social distancing required. To book a virtual preview appointment, call ... More  Pace Gallery opens an exhibition that brings together 45 photographs by David Goldblatt NEW YORK, NY.- Pace Gallery is presenting David Goldblatt: Strange Instrument, an exhibition that brings together 45 photographs documenting South Africawhere Goldblatt was born in 1930 and lived until his death in 2018at the height of apartheid, between the early 1960s and the end of the 1980s. Curated by artist and activist Zanele Muholi, who was Goldblatts friend and mentee, the exhibition offers a deeply personal meditation on the brutality and humanity that Goldblatt captured in his strikingly beautiful images of everyday lives under conditions of profound injustice. Strange Instrumenton view February 26 March 27, 2021marks the first time that Muholi has engaged with Goldblatts work since his passing in 2018. Taking an expansive and affective approach to their mentors body of work, the exhibition presents a portrait of ... More  Bonhams appoints Leslie Wright as Chairman North AmericaNEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams has appointed Leslie Wright as Chairman, North America, overseeing Fine Arts, Luxury Lifestyle and Collectibles. Leslie joined the company in 1994. She single-handedly built the US Trust and Estates team from ground up and has been a key factor for establishing its high reputation among the estate planning community both in the US and internationally. She has been involved in the consignment of many of the major estates Bonhams has sold, including the Silverman Museum Collection and the Estate of Onnalee Doheny. In November 2020, another of Wrights consignments, Einige Spitzen (Several Points) by the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky sold for $3,270,313 at Bonhams Impressionist and Modern Art Sale in New York. In 2008, Wright assumed responsibility for Bonhams West Coast team where the region has ... More  'Mank' leads Oscars nominations in record year for womenNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Mank, David Finchers black-and-white meditation on old Hollywood, received 10 Academy Award nominations Monday, leading a diverse set of films and filmmakers after a year in which the movie industry was transformed by the pandemic and the Oscar season was pushed back two months. The Netflix-produced film was nominated in the best picture, director, actor and supporting actress categories. Voters recognized a number of films in multiple categories, with six nominations each going to The Trial of the Chicago 7, Sound of Metal, Nomadland, Minari, Judas and the Black Messiah and The Father. All of those films were nominated for best picture, along with Promising Young Woman. For the first time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated two women for best ... More  Music world taps 'NFT' digital goldrushPARIS (AFP).- "NFT" is quickly becoming the acronym of 2021, offering a new way to sell digital art online, and music stars including Kings of Leon and Grimes have been quick to jump on the bandwagon. For many, it remains a baffling concept, but a NFT ("non-fungible token" -- pronounced "nifty") essentially offers collectors proof that they "own" a digital artwork by logging that ownership on the blockchain, the online database that underpins cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. In no time, it has taken the art world by storm. Just last week, a collage by digital artist Beeple was sold at auction for $69.3 million, reportedly the third highest-ever sale for a living artist in any medium. Many see an opportunity to monetise digital art of all kinds, offering wealthy collectors the bragging rights to ultimate ownership, even if the work can be endlessly copied. ... More  Hong Kong protest film screening pulled after media attacksHONG KONG (AFP).- An award-winning documentary about Hong Kong's massive pro-democracy protests was pulled hours before its first commercial screening on Monday after days of criticism from a pro-Beijing's newspaper. "Inside the Red Brick Wall", which documents a violent standoff between police and protesters on a university campus in 2019, was due to debut in a newly opened commercial cinema in Hong Kong on Monday evening. But the Hong Kong Film Critics Society said it was cancelling the screening. The sudden announcement illustrates the fear caused by a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong last year, stifling street protests but also filtering down into the city's once vibrant arts scene. Wen Wei Po, a prominent Beijing mouthpiece newspaper in Hong Kong, ran multiple articles condemning the screening ... More  Carmel Quinn, Irish singer and storyteller, dies at 95NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Carmel Quinn, a blue-eyed, flame-haired Irish singer and storyteller who packed Carnegie Hall on St. Patricks Day for a quarter-century and regaled her audiences with tunes and tales from the Old Country, died on March 6 at her home in Leonia, New Jersey. She was 95. The cause was pneumonia, her family said. Quinn, who was born and raised in Dublin, came to the United States in 1954 and won an audition on Arthur Godfreys Talent Scouts the next year. Those auditions were famous for their rigor: Others who passed them included Pat Boone, Tony Bennett and Connie Francis; those who flunked included Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. Quinn became a regular on another Godfrey television show, Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, for six years while rotating through other popular variety shows ... More  Flory Jagoda, keeper of Sephardic music tradition, dies at 97NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- To Flory Jagoda, the language, rhythms and joys of the Sephardic Jewish music she sang and wrote connected her to her beloved nona her grandmother who lived in the small mountain village of Vlasenica in the former Yugoslavia. I think all the feeling that I have for the Sephardic culture, for stories, for song its really a gift from her to me that I will have for the rest of my life, Jagoda said in an oral history interview for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1995. They were songs of home and family, of love and Hanukkah, many of them in the diasporic language Ladino, a form of Castilian Spanish mixed with Hebrew, Arabic and Turkish spoken by the Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492. Some eventually settled in Vlasenica, where Jagoda ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
Mental Escapology, St. Moritz 
TIM VAN LAERE GALLERY 
Madelynn Green 
Patrick Angus
Flashback On a day like today, Romanian-French artist Constantin Brâncuși died March 16, 1957. Constantin Brâncuși (February 19, 1876 - March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered a pioneer of modernism, one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century, Brâncuși is called the patriarch of modern sculpture. In this image: The 1911 gilded bronze sculpture "Prometheus" by Constantin Brancusi is displayed during a preview of "Brancusi Serra" at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
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