| The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Tuesday, October 18, 2016 |
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| | New light shines on Sandro Botticelli masterpieces at Florence's Uffizi Gallery | |
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German director of the Uffzi Gallery Eike Schmidt gestures in front of the "The Birth of Venus" painted in 1485 by Italian painter Sandro Botticelli during a press preview for the reopening the rooms dedicated to Pollaiolo and Botticelli, at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, on October 17, 2016. The articulation of the space has been reorganized for to faciliate the visit thanks to a large donation by the "Friends of Florence Foundation". ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP.
FLORENCE (AFP).- Two of the most famous works of Sandro Botticelli, "Spring" and the "Birth of Venus", were unveiled in a new setting Monday following extensive renovation work at Florence's Uffizi Gallery. Rooms nine and 15, two of the most visited in a celebrated museum that pulls in two million guests per year, have been closed for enlargement and modernisation since July 2015. As well as the Botticelli masterpieces, the rooms are also home to major works by Pollaiolo, Hugo van der Goes and Domenico Ghirlandaio. All the works are now lit by natural light from above and the gallery's German director Eike Schmidt said visitors would now be able to spend more time contemplating them thanks to the new layout. "The paintings have been arranged in the new rooms ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day The Grand Palais in Paris held a roundtable discussion titled Hergé, art lover and artist. Hergé developed a passion for abstract art in the last period of his life, frequenting galleries, buying works and painting. From left to right. Jean Pierre Raynaud, Pat Andrea, Stéphane Janssen, the moderator Benoit Mouchart evoked this often misunderstood taste for abstraction during the roundtable discussion held on 12 October.
| Austria to tear down Hitler birth house | | Venezuelan donates 100 Latin American works to New York museum | | New Franco sculptures get egged in Barcelona | 
A man cycling past the house where Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau Am Inn, Austria. JOE KLAMAR / AFP.
VIENNA (AFP).- The house in Austria where Adolf Hitler was born is to be torn down to stop it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine, the government said Monday, after years of bitter legal wrangling with the current owner. "The Hitler house will be torn down. The foundations can remain but a new building will be erected. It will be used by either a charity or the local authorities," Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka told Austrian newspaper Die Presse. "In any case, there shall be no further connection with Adolf Hitler because otherwise the myth of the birth house will be upheld." He said the decision was based on the recommendations of a 13-member expert committee tasked with deciding what to do with the controversial building in the quaint northern town of Braunau am Inn. The government hopes this will bring to an end a difficult chapter regarding the large yellow corner house where Hitler was born on April 20, 1889. Although he only spent the first few weeks of his life at Number ... More | | 
Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and Glenn D. Lowry, Director, The Museum of Modern Art, stand next to Hélio Oiticica, (Brazilian, 19371980). Painting 9. 1959. Oil on canvas, 45 5/8 à 35″ (115.9 à 88.9 cm).
NEW YORK (AFP).- The Museum of Modern Art has acquired 102 pieces of Latin American art, thanks to a donation from Venezuelan-born collector Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, the New York museum said Monday. The artworks include paintings, sculptures and other pieces from Brazil, Venezuela and the Rio de la Plata region of Argentina and Uruguay. They were made between the 1940s and 1990s by 37 artists, 21 of whom are entering the museum for the first time. "The breadth of this gift is unprecedented," the museum said in a statement, without disclosing the financial value of the donation. "We are profoundly grateful to Patty Cisneros, whose longstanding and unwavering dedication to art and artists from Latin America continues to transform and expand our understanding and appreciation of that region's significant role in the history of modern and contemporary art," ... More | | 
The sculpture of Spanish late dictator Francisco Franco on a horse during its installation for a temporary exhibition titled "Franco, Victory, Republic, Impunity and Urban Space". JOSEP LAGO / AFP.
BARCELONA (AFP).- The municipality of Barcelona on Monday unveiled a controversial exhibition on the late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, which was promptly met with a hail of eggs by angry opponents. The temporary exhibition, called "Franco, Victory, Republic, Impunity and Urban Space", features sculptures placed on Barcelona's streets more than 40 years after the death of the dictator, which began the country's transition to democracy. One sculpture depicts a headless Franco on horseback, another pays homage to the victory of his troops in the Spanish civil war. Both attracted anger and eggs within minutes of going on display, according to an AFP photographer. A Franco's victims' group held a silent protest during the presentation of the works, while Catalan separatists chanted "no fascists on our streets". But Barcelona deputy mayor Gerardo Pisarello said the ... More |
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| Dulwich presents first exhibition devoted to the Dutch Master Adriaen van de Velde | | A Surreal Legacy: Selected works of art from The Edward James Foundation to be offered at Christie's | | Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art celebrates generosity of Henry Bloch with new acquisition | 
Adriaen van de Velde, The Hut, 1671, Oil on canvas, 76 x 65 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
LONDON.- In collaboration with the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Dulwich Picture Gallery hosts the first-ever exhibition devoted to the painter and draughtsman Adriaen van de Velde (1636 - 1672), one of the finest landscape artists of the Dutch Golden Age. Over a career of less than two decades Van de Velde produced a varied body of paintings and drawings that earned him tremendous posthumous fame in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when he was one of the most sought-after names among collectors in Germany, France and England. Van de Velde was born in Amsterdam, the son and brother respectively of the marine painters Willem van de Velde the Elder and Willem van de Velde the Younger. Adriaen van de Velde, however, pursued an independent career as a landscape painter to focus on tranquil landscapes that depict both typically Dutch and Italianising views populated by figures in peaceful harmony with animals and the surrounding ... More | | 
Salvador Dalà and Edward James, Lobster Telephone, (white aphrodisiac), (1938, estimate: £150,000-250,000). © Christies Images Limited 2016.
LONDON.- Christies will present selected works of art from The Edward James Foundation on 15 December 2016 as part of Christies Classic Week. Iconic pieces that trace the development of Surrealism and reflect the tastes of the visionary patron of art and collector, Edward James, will be offered alongside a crosscategory selection of objects from West Dean House, collected by generations of successive owners. The sale will comprise approximately 200 lots and the proceeds will be used to support the Foundations long-term plan to enhance Edward James educational legacy including a permanent exhibition space and a transformation of how the Foundations archives are managed and used. James sold a number of works in the 1970s and early 1980s to benefit the Foundation and this sale continues a long-standing relationship between Christies and The Edward James ... More | | 
Piet Mondrian, Stammer Mill with Streaked Sky, 1905-1907 (detail). Oil on canvas. Unframed: 29 1/4 Ã 38 inches (74.3 Ã 96.52 cm). Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust through the George H. and Elizabeth O. Davis Fund.
KANSAS CITY, MO.- There is perhaps no more fitting tribute to a longtime museum patrons generosity than the acquisition of a seminal piece of art in his name. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City has acquired Piet Mondrians important formative painting Stammer Mill with Streaked Sky in honor of Henry W. Bloch, Chair Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the museum. The painting will join the recent gift of the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection, a transformative gift of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, in the newly designed Bloch Galleries, which open in Spring 2017. The acquisition was announced at the 50th anniversary dinner of the Society of Fellows at the Nelson-Atkins Saturday night. This is the perfect painting to honor Henrys extraordinarily generous gift, as it is both a work anchored in the Dutch ... More |
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| Masterworks of every genre in Heritage Auctions' November American Art sale | | eBay launches eBay Collective to provide a new, curated experience for interior designers and consumers | | Pablo Picasso's life spanning a period from 1906 to the beginning of the 1970s on view in Verona | 
Theodore Robinson (American, 1852-1896), Normandy Mother and Child (Marie Trognon and Baby), 1892. Oil on canvas, 22 x 18 inches. Estimate: $300,000 - $500,000.
DALLAS, TX.- Heritage Auctions' November 12 American Art auction offers a diverse grouping of 150 paintings, works on paper, and sculpture sourced from private collections nationwide. Highlights include Theodore Robinson's tour de force Normandy Mother and Child (Marie Trognon and Baby), 1892 (est. $300,000-$500,000). With provenance tracing directly back to the artist, and extensive exhibition history, Normandy Mother and Child (Marie Trognon and Baby), 1892 is a museum-quality masterwork by an artist widely considered to be one of American's greatest Impressionists. "We hand-curated this sale to offer the best of the best," said Aviva Lehmann, Director of American Art, New York. "We worked tirelessly to source stellar artworks from private collections across the country, and anticipate collectors will be ... More | | 
eBays brand is about helping every person find their version of perfect.
SAN JOSE, CA.- Today, eBay launched a new destination, eBay Collective, an elevated shopping experience to provide interior designers and consumers with curated inventory of furniture, antiques, contemporary design and fine art. The bespoke experience has been specifically developed for eBays 164 million active buyers looking for sought-after products from trusted dealers and galleries. Dealers featured on the destination have been invited by eBay, and they meet eBays criteria to ensure a high-quality shopping experience. eBays brand is about helping every person find their version of perfect. Following our launch of eBay Wine this spring, eBay Collective is another example of how were committed to providing our consumers with curated experiences that are complemented with unique inventory and increased scope of choices to shop from, said Jill Ramsey, eBays Vice President of Soft Goods. Whet ... More | | 
Pablo Picasso, Portrait dadolescent en pierrot 27 décembre 1922, Paris Gouache et aquarelle sur papier vergé, 11,8x10,5 cm. Musée national Picasso - Paris © Succession Picasso by SIAE 2016.
VERONA.- A work for every year of Pablo Picasso's life spanning a period from 1906 to the beginning of the 1970s: this is the great novelty of the major exhibition on view at AMO Arena Museo Opera, Verona. Years after the last Milanese retrospective devoted to the most eclectic artist of the 20th century, 91 works return to Italy for the first time. These include Seated Nude (from Les Demoiselles dAvignon, 1907), The Kiss (the small, agonizing canvas of 1931), The Weeping Woman and the Portrait of Marie-Thérèse both from 1937, to mention only some of the masterpieces on loan from the Musée national Picasso - Paris. Paintings, sculptures and graphic works recount the metamorphosis to which the artist subjected the representation of the human figure during his pre-Cubist, Cubist, Classical and Surrealist periods, right up to the postwar years. ... More |
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| Nobel panel gives up knockin' on Dylan's door | | Liverpool's landmark Liver Building up for sale | | A fall cornucopia of art treasures to be revealed during October Art Week | 
Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, gives a press conference to announce the laureate of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP.
STOCKHOLM.- The Swedish Academy says it has given up trying to reach Bob Dylan, days after it awarded him the Nobel Prize for Literature. "Right now we are doing nothing. I have called and sent emails to his closest collaborator and received very friendly replies. For now, that is certainly enough," the academy's permanent secretary, Sara Danius, told state radio SR on Monday. So far the American troubadour has responded with silence since he won the prize on Thursday. He gave a concert in Las Vegas that very night, but made no mention of the accolade. So -- as an early Dylan song may have put it -- how does it feel? "I am not at all worried," said Danius. "I think he will show up." Every December 10, Nobel prize winners are invited to Stockholm to receive their ... More | | 
The Royal Liver Building as it stands on the water front in Liverpool. PAUL ELLIS / AFP.
LONDON (AFP).- Liverpool's historic Royal Liver Building, a symbol of the city famous for The Beatles and its football club, is on sale for the first time, a property firm said Monday. The structure -- adorned with two statues of mythical Liver Birds that watch over the port city and its River Mersey and which feature on the Liverpool team's badge -- is expected to fetch about £40 million ($49 million, 44 million euros), sources said. Modelled on the Hellenistic temple at Baalbek in Lebanon, the century-old edifice is up for sale for the first time since its construction in 1911. "The Royal Liver Building is known worldwide and we expect the sale to attract strong interest from investors in the UK and around the globe," said Colin Thomasson at CBRE, the property group tasked with finding a buyer. Describing it as a "truly iconic symbol of Liverpool", he added that the sale "presents an extremely rare opportunity to ... More | | 
Sir Anthony VAN DYCK (Antwerp 1599 1641 London), The Madonna, Child and St. John, c. 1627-30. Oil on canvas, 147.5 x 112 cm. (58 x 44⅛ in.). Photo: Dickinson Roundell.
NEW YORK, NY.- When the inaugural edition of October Art Week opens on October 20, sixteen of the Upper East Sides premier art galleries will be celebrating with special openings. Within an area from East 63rd Street to East 81st Street, art lovers will have the chance to stroll from gallery to gallery, casting their eyes on topnotch Old Master, American and Impressionist paintings, as well as rare sculpture and manuscripts and books. Here is a guide to some of the outstanding highlights that the 16 galleries want art lovers to focus special attention on: Andrew Butterfield Fine Arts, specialists in European art, chiefly Renaissance and Baroque sculpture (exhibiting at Dickinson Roundell, Inc.) will unveil a rare marble sculpture, Bust of the Savior by Gian Lorenzo and Pietro Bernini, circa ... More |
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Specialist Etienne de Sallon on Jean-Paul Riopelle
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 Frankfurt fair shakes up book world with art, tech gadgetsFRANKFURT (AFP).- There will still be more books than you could ever read, but visitors to this week's Frankfurt Book Fair will also be invited to don virtual reality goggles, visit an interactive classroom and discover 3D-printed art as publishers plug into new technology. Organisers of the world's largest publishing event say the focus on art and technology is a logical next step as the creative industries become ever more connected. The fair, which opens on Wednesday and is expected to draw some 275,000 visitors, has always been about "content -- regardless of its format", the event's vice-president Holger Volland told AFP. Among the main draws at the five-day gathering will be virtual reality experiences, with several exhibitors unveiling projects that plunge visitors into a world that until then only existed on the page. Taiwanese artist Jimmy Liao's picture book, "All of My ... More Rodolphe Janssen exhibits works by Emily Mae SmithBRUSSELS.- In Christopher Priests 1995 novel The Prestige, scientist Nikola Tesla enters the plot and builds a machine that is intended to enable physical teleportation for use in the stage act of a magician. The machine is flawed, and merely creates a duplicate of the original item or person. Emily Mae Smiths Tesla Girls could have been these creatures, these inventions that duplicate an actual state of being within a parallel universe. All visual wit and dark humor, the artist expands her practice of dystopian portraits by integrating feminist theories about corporeality, on a futuristic and nearly sci-fi background. The same way Tesla would create a new person with familiar attributes but a blank history; Smith renders the female body as a blank surface for new inscriptions to be written. She envisions the womans body in general as a site of cultural and pictorial ... More Beyond Bling: Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibits jewelry from the Lois Boardman CollectionLOS ANGELES, CA.- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is presenting Beyond Bling: Jewelry from the Lois Boardman Collection, showcasing for the first time selected works from the Lois Boardman collection of international contemporary studio jewelry, recently donated to LACMA. The collection comprises over 300 pieces that represent the full spectrum of unconventional jewelry-making in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and has immediately vaulted LACMAs contemporary jewelry holdings to the top ranks in the country. The jewelers in the collection have followed the lead of earlier makers who defied conventions by creating innovative designs and using non-precious materials to make works prized for their artistic rather than monetary value. They continue to push the boundaries of their field, making jewelry that is distinguished by its personal and ... More Red Grooms captures the essence of Memphis in a commission for the Brooks Museum MEMPHIS, TENN.- Red Grooms touches on geography, economics, race, and the arts in Memphis on My Mind, a commission for the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art that was unveiled in Red Grooms: Traveling Correspondent, part of the museums centennial celebration. Grooms (b. 1937), a Nashville native who moved to New York City in 1957, is a fascinating figure in post-World War II American art. He relies both on personal investigation and research to develop the ideas that he transforms into heartfelt, perceptive, and engaging works of art. In 2014, Grooms and his wife, Lysiane Luong Grooms, spent four days in Memphis visiting artist-created environments, museums, casinos, and neighborhoods with museum staff, author and filmmaker Robert Gordon, and raconteur Tad Pierson. They documented their sojourn through sketches and photographs. In the painted ... More Kristin A. Swain to retire as Executive Director of The Rockwell MuseumCORNING, NY.- The longtime executive director of The Rockwell Museum has announced her plans to retire. Kristin A. Swain, who has shepherded The Rockwell through two major reinventions, is in her 14th year as Executive Director and has been involved with The Rockwell for the entire 40 year history of the institution. Furthermore, Swains tenure ends on a high note after just completing a reinvention project including a broadened mission statement, the Smithsonian Affiliation status, reimagined galleries and a diverse fundraising program that supports The Rockwells growing arts in education programs. Swain said the timing of her announcement was made to ensure that the succession-planning process will be deliberate and seamless until the proper person is found, and that a smooth transition follows. The Rockwells Board of Trustees has spent the last several ... More Galerie Patrick Seguin presents Jean Prouvé's Bouqueval School in the Tuileries GardenPARIS.- On the occasion of the FIAC, Galerie Patrick Seguin presents the Bouqueval School in the Tuileries Garden from October 18th to 24th. After making temporary and demountable houses for war victims in Lorraine at the end of World War II, the Ateliers Jean Prouvé committed to the French governments reconstruction program, involving not only housing, but also infrastructure, notably schools. Prouvé saw prefabrication as the optimal technical and economic solution to the postwar situation. He perfected a system he had patented in 1939 and then improved during the War, featuring a metal skeleton using axial portal frames, combined with various modular facade panels. This construction principle was Prouvés response to the Ministry of Educations 1949 competition for «a mass-producible one-room rural school with teacher accommodations.» The specifications ... More University of Virginia faculty and staff use 3-D printing to take a fresh look at ancient artCHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.- One of the University of Virginias latest 3-D printing projects began as a thank-you gift. Greg Lewis, at the time a fourth-year student double-majoring in mechanical engineering and classics, enjoyed associate professor Tyler Jo Smiths 2014 art history class so much that he decided to make Smith a thank-you gift. Combining his interests in art and engineering, he used UVAs Rapid Prototyping Lab to create a miniature, 3-D-printed vase mimicking the ancient Greek vases he studied in class. Smith loved the gift and it gave her an idea. What if she and Lewis teamed up to create exact replicas of ancient Greek vases and teach students about 3-D printing in the process? I wanted to create scale replicas, so that students could pass them around the classroom and have a chance to handle them, Smith said. Over the past year, Smith ... More Tibet's thangkas find new fans across ChinaBEIJING.- Her eyes riveted to the canvas, Wulan meticulously applies colour to an image of the Buddha, using pigments made of crushed pearls, turquoise and agate. The 34-year-old is one of dozens of students at a school in Lhasa learning the medieval Tibetan art of "thangka" -- minutely detailed paintings depicting Buddhist deities or symbols, usually on cotton canvas or silk scrolls. But she is not Tibetan. Ethnically Mongol, she moved 2,500 kilometres (1,600 miles) to embark on seven years of studies. Beijing's forces took over Tibet in 1951 and the Communist government reviles the exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, but the region's traditional religious art is now increasingly being embraced by outsiders -- including from China's Han ethnic majority -- as both buyers and producers. "Thangkas are captivating a growing number of people," said Wulan. "Traditional ... More Spencer Finch's second solo exhibition with Jaames Cohan on view in New YorkNEW YORK, NY.- James Cohan is presenting My business is circumference, Spencer Finchs second solo exhibition with the gallery. The exhibition will be on view through November 26 at the gallerys Chelsea location. Spencer Finch has devoted his career to exploring the mysteries of perception and the natural world, embracing the transcendence of quiet moments a breeze through the window or the play of headlights on his studio walls at night, sublime in their transience and subtlety. Finch uses precise instruments such as light meters and anemometers as well as his own crooked perception to re-create these experiences in varied media. He employs a scientific approach to emphasize rather than refute the importance of subjectivity. Natural phenomena may be methodically measured, but our individual experiences always diverge. The works in this exhibition, which ... More Malcolm S. Forbes Estate offers group of JFK hand-written and autographed speeches, doodlesDALLAS, TX.- A rare and important letter written and signed by then presidential candidate William Henry Harrison in 1840 defending his conduct at the Battle of the Thames (est. $25,000) highlights Heritage Auctions' offering of nearly 100 lots from the estate of Malcolm S. Forbes. The comprehensive collection of hand-written speeches, doodles and addresses by John F. Kennedy and Theodore Roosevelt among others will cross the block Oct. 19 in Dallas. "In the pantheon of skilled collectors, few stand out like Mr. Malcolm S. Forbes," said Sandra Palomino, Director of Historical Manuscripts at Heritage Auctions. "His unbound curiosity combined with his scholarly view of American history made his collection one of the most important." The two-page Harrison letter is a standout piece as the candidate defended himself against allegations that he was absent during the ... More MAGMA gallery exhibits works by three international artists BOLOGNA.- MAGMA gallery announced the opening of the exhibition Mimesis. In the Aristotelian aesthetics, the term mimesis refers to the imitation of the ideal form of reality, in which the artists operate becomes like the workings of nature. From there origins of the curatorial intuition that led to conceive this exhibition. Artistic elective affinities, communicating vessels of the present that lead three international artists to dialogue within the spaces of MAGMA gallery, wondering with their own styles on the changing perceptual relationship between man and nature, and between nature and art. Roberto Ciredz, among the most interesting artists of the new generation of Italian Urban Art, realized for the occasion a site-specific installation located in the main hall, to further testify the experimental research of the gallery. The figures that he represents are inspired by the earth, ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, Flemish painter Jacob Jordaens died October 18, 1678. Jacob Jordaens (19 May 1593 - 18 October 1678) was one of three Flemish Baroque painters, along with Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, to bring prestige to the Antwerp school of painting. Unlike those contemporaries he never traveled abroad to study Italian painting, and his career is marked by an indifference to their intellectual and courtly aspirations. In fact, except for a few short trips to locations in the Low Countries, he remained in Antwerp his entire life. As well as being a successful painter, he was a prominent designer of tapestries. Like Rubens, Jordaens painted altarpieces, mythological, and allegorical scenes, and after 1640 - the year Rubens died - he was the most important painter in Antwerp for large-scale commissions and the status of his patrons increased in general.
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