| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |    | Established in 1996 | Wednesday, February 16, 2022 |
| | A 2,700-year-old figurine revives a weighty mystery | |
|
|
A small bronze figurine retrieved from the Tollense River in Germany in 2020, one of 13 found there since 1840. The figurine may have been part of an early Scandinavian weight system, some archaeologists believe. Volker Minkus via The New York Times.
by Franz Lidz
NEW YORK, NY.- Two summers ago, while snorkeling in the marshy streams of the Tollense River on Germanys Baltic coast, a 51-year-old truck driver named Ronald Borgwardt made a startling discovery. Poking around in the peat, he picked up a 6-inch-tall bronze figurine with an egg-shaped head, looped arms, knobby breasts and a nose that would make an anteater envious. The statuette, sporting a belt and a neck ring, was only the second of its kind unearthed in Germany, though the 13th found near the Baltic Sea. The first turned up around 1840. All are similar in shape and proportion. The most recent statuette poses an archaeological riddle, said Thomas Terberger, an archaeologist and head of research at the Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage, in Germany. What was it, how did it get there and what was it used for? ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Artemis Gallery will hold its CLEARANCE | Ancient & Ethnographic Art Auction on Feb 17, 2022 9:00 AM GMT-6. Join them for their first clearance sale of the year featuring discounted pricing and many new items! Asian art, Classical antiquities from Egypt, Greece, Italy, and the Near East...plus Pre-Columbian, Tribal, Spanish Colonial, Fine Art, Fossils, more! In this image: Fine 7th C. Byzantine Gold Buckle w/ Nacre. Estimate $4,000 - $6,000.
|
|
|
| 
|
| Songtsam Luxury Boutique Hotel Group continues as presenting sponsor for Asia Week New York 2022 | | A 1,500-year-old riddle solved: Yes, it was a terra-cotta porta-potty | | National Gallery of Art acquires works by celebrated Cuban American artist Carmen Herrera | 
Songtsam Linka Lhasa.
NEW YORK, NY.- The Asia Week New York Association announced that the Songtsam Group, the luxury boutique hotel group located in the Chinese provinces of Tibet and Yunnan, continues as the Presenting Sponsor of Asia Week New York, which opens March 16th through the 25h in 2022. We are delighted that Songtsam is once again partnering with Asia Week New York, says chairman Dessa Goddard. Their appreciation for the many facets of Asian art and culture underscores our synergy and we are grateful for their enthusiastic support. We are very proud to be the Presenting Sponsor of Asia Week New York for a third year, said Florence Li, Songtsams Director of International Sales & Marketing. Baima Duoji, the Founder and Chairman of Songtsam Group, has always had a long-standing interest in Chinese, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art. With thirteen properties (twelve hotels and one glamping ... More | | 
A Roman chamber pot dating to the 5th century that was found near the Italian town of Gerace in Sicily, with the scale bar representing 10 centimeters, or about 4 inches. Roger Wilson via The New York Times.
by Nicholas Bakalar
NEW YORK, NY.- Archaeologists working at ancient Roman sites commonly find ceramics, but it is not always easy to know what these objects were used for. Wine storage? Food transportation? Tableware? Or were they purely decorative? Experts often disagree. But now a team of researchers working at a Roman site that dates from about A.D. 450-500 have definitive proof that one of the pots they found was a portable toilet. The terra-cotta pot, described Thursday in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, was found in the ruins of a villa near the Italian town of Gerace in Sicily. The pot is round with sloping sides, standing a foot high and 13 inches wide at the rim. The authors suggest ... More | | 
Carmen Herrera, Untitled Estructura (Yellow), 1966/2016. Acrylic and aluminum, 152.4 x 111.8 x 12.7 cm (60 x 44 x 5 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington. Purchased as the Gift of Glenstone Foundation and David M. Rubenstein © Carmen Herrera; Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
WASHINGTON, DC.- Carmen Herrera (19152022, Havana) was one of the leading practitioners of abstract art who emerged during the second half of the 20th century. Largely ignored for most of her life, Herrera is now widely recognized. Associated with non-representational, concrete abstraction in Europe, the United States, and Latin America, Herreras art contributed to the cross-pollination of modernist ideas. Combining crisp contours with contrasting chromatic planes, Herrera's works create movement, rhythm, and spatial tension across their surfaces. The National Gallery of Art has just acquired Herrera's painting Untitled (2013) and her sculptural relief Untitled ... More |
|
|
|
|
| Pedro Wirz opens an exhibition at Kunsthalle Basel | | "My Mechanical Sketchbook" - Barkley L. Hendricks & photography opens at the Rose Art Museum | | Ian McDonald, of the bands King Crimson and Foreigner, dies at 75 | 
Installation view, Pedro Wirz, Environmental Hangover, Kunsthalle Basel, 2022, view on Bicho Abstrato (Iara), 2022. Photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel.
BASEL.- Standing at the entrance to Pedro Wirzs exhibition, the view is blocked. Obstructing ones line of sight is a giant spherical sculpture whose craggy surface is covered in asphalta petroleum by-product primarily known as material used for paving and roofing. Emerging from it like a serpents shed skin is a path of strewn clothing soaked in the once-liquid bitumen that was left to dry and harden in a shape roughly following the route of the BR-230, the Trans-Amazonian Highway. Inaugurated in the 1970s under Brazils military dictatorship, the circa 4,000 km-long highway runs through the middle of the worlds largest contiguous tropical forest and has, directly or indirectly, caused vast deforestation with immense ecological consequences. Further into the space, wall sculptures flaunt wild abstractions that upon closer inspection reveal themselves to be representations of flora and fauna. They are crafted from scraps of discarded blankets, towels, and other ... More | | 
Barkley L. Hendricks, John Wayne, 2015. Oil and acrylic on canvas. © Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks. © Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks. Courtesy of the artists estate and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
WALTHAM, MASS.- The Rose Art Museum presents My Mechanical Sketchbook Barkley L. Hendricks & Photography on view February 10July 24, 2022. The exhibition explores the significant and multifaceted role of the camera and the photographic image within Barkley L. Hendrickss artistic practice. Co-curated by Dr. Gannit Ankori, Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator, and Dr. Elyan J. Hill, Guest Curator of African and African Diaspora Art, My Mechanical Sketchbook displays never-before-seen works on paper, Polaroids, and photographsmany from a treasure trove discovered after the artists death in 2017. By displaying Hendrickss riveting photographs, Polaroids, and drawings alongside some of the artists well-known oil and acrylic paintings, we hope to shed new light on complex and fascinating aspects of his creative process, artistic versatility, and brilliant, all-enc ... More | | 
As a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter with King Crimson, he helped propel the progressive rock movement. He found more commercial success with Foreigner.
by Jim Farber
NEW YORK, NY.- Ian McDonald, a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter whose work with the British band King Crimson helped propel the progressive rock movement of the 1960s and 70s, and who went on to help found the immensely popular group Foreigner, died Feb. 9 at his home in New York City. He was 75. The cause was colon cancer, said his son, Maxwell, who is also a musician. Though McDonalds work with Foreigner reaped far greater financial rewards than his efforts with King Crimson his trio of albums with Foreigner sold a combined 17 million copies his earlier band far outdistanced them in creativity and influence. Their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King (1969), with its radical sound and structure, was a watershed work in the history of rock. It was the only release in the bands wide catalog in which ... More |
|
|
|
|
| San Antonio Museum of Art opens survey of acclaimed artist Wendy Red Star | | Thaddaeus Ropac London exhibits five major paintings made for documenta 7 by Emilio Vedova | | Städel Museum opens a solo exhibition of some 45 works by Andreas Mühe | 
Wendy Red Star, Group Portrait of Three Men, Kam-Ne-Butse (Blackfoot), EcheHas-Ka (Long Horse), and Te-Shu-Nzt (White Calf) from the series Diplomats of the Crow Nation, 1873 Crow Delegation, 2017. Pigment Print on Archival PhotoPaper, 17 x 25 in. (43.2 x 63.5 cm). Collection of the artist © Wendy Red Star.
SAN ANTONIO, TX.- The San Antonio Museum of Art opened Wendy Red Star: A Scratch on the Earth, an expansive mid-career survey of acclaimed multi-media artist Wendy Red Star. With more than 40 works, produced between 2006 and 2019, the exhibition captures the incredible range of Red Stars practice, which embraces photography, sculpture, textile arts, mixed media installations, and performance. Raised on the Apsáalooke (Crow) reservation in Montana and an enrolled member of the tribe, Red Star leverages the formal qualities of her materials and media to explore her heritage and its relationships to mainstream American culture and historical narratives. The exhibition captures the spectrum of the artists creative output and engages audiences with new perspectives on Native history and experience. ... More | | 
Emilio Vedova, Rosso '83 - I, 1983. Acrylic paint, pastel and sand on canvas 265 x 200 cm (104.33 x 78.74 in) © Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova, Venice. Photo: Charles Duprat. Courtesy Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul.
LONDON.- Emilio Vedovas (19192006) first solo exhibition in the UK reunites his five monumental canvases from the landmark documenta 7 exhibition in 1982, curated by Rudi Fuchs. These paintings are being shown alongside a selection of important works from the 1980s, a period considered the pinnacle of the artists career. Presented in association with the Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova, this exhibition marks the fourth decade since his participation in documenta 7 in Kassel and the 40th Venice Biennale, held in the same year. By the 1980s, Vedova was widely regarded as one of the most influential abstract Italian artists of his time, having exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1947 and the legendary documenta exhibitions I, II and III (1955, 1959 and 1964) in Kassel. His invitation to exhibit once more in documenta 7 demonstrated his significance for the up-and-coming ... More | | 
Andreas Mühe, Biorobot IV II, 2020. From the series: Chernobyl. Chromogenic colour print, 140 à 110 cm. Andreas Mühe © Andreas Mühe, VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2022.
FRANKFURT.- Andreas Mühe is one of Germanys best-known artists. His photos revolve around sociological, historical, and political themes, which he stages in elaborately constructed, dramatically lit settings. From February 16 to June 19, 2022, the Städel Museum is presenting a solo exhibition of some 45 works by Mühe, among them better and lesser-known series from his oeuvre to date as well as the cycle Biorobots II (2021), here on view for the first time. In his works, he concerns himself with attribution to collective categories such as family, nationality, politics, and culture as constructs of a social order. His portraits of Angela Merkel are iconic: he accompanied the former federal chancellor on many of her travels and undertook an in-depth analysis of her poses. The degree to which these shots are characterized by a political pictorial language is evident in other photographs of Merkel featuring the artists mother as ... More |
|
|
|
|
| Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs and Patti Smith's lyrics blossom at Selby Gardens | | Christie's to offer important Buddhist paintings from the Collection of David and Nayda Utterberg | | SculptureCenter appoints Sohrab Mohebbi as Director | 
Robert Mapplethorpe, Orchid, 1987. Photogravure. 45 x 38-1/8 in. Courtesy of Graphicstudio, University of South Florida Collection and Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.
SARASOTA, FLA.- Marie Selby Botanical Gardens spotlights the creative practices of Robert Mapplethorpe, one of the most significant photographers of the 20th century, and legendary singer-songwriter and poet Patti Smith in an immersive and multisensory exhibition on view in the Gardens 15-acre Downtown Sarasota campus. Marking the sixth edition of Selby Gardens annual Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Series, which explores the work of major artists through the lens of their connection to nature, the exhibition presents a selection of Mapplethorpes iconic photographs of orchids, hyacinths, and irises, and Smiths poems on flowers and nature as well as her music, in dialogue with new horticultural installations inspired by the two artists work. On view from February 13 through June 26, 2022, Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith: Flowers, Poetry, and Light is curated by Dr. Carol Ockman, Selby Gardens ... More | | 
Anonymous (Late 13th Century), Amida Triad. Hanging scroll; ink, color, gold and silver on silk, 31⅞ x 16¾ in. Estimate: $400,000-500,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2022.
NEW YORK, NY.- During New Yorks annual Asian Art Week in March 2022, Christies will present Enlightenment and Serenity: Important Buddhist Paintings from the Collection of David and Nayda Utterberg as part of the Japanese and Korean Art Including the Collection of David and Nayda Utterberg sale on 22 March 2022. Twenty lots from this prestigious collection will be included in the single owner section of the sale. A selection of highlights from the collection will be on view in Tokyo between 16 to 18 February, followed by an exhibit at Christies Seoul between 23 to 25 February, prior to an exhibit of the full sale as part of Christies New York Asian Art Week preview from 18 to 21 March. David and Nayda Utterberg were attracted to Asian art from the start. They formed a substantial collection of Buddhist painting and sculpture, as well as: ink painting, woodblock-printed Buddhist material, medieval Japanese ceramics, some la ... More | | 
Sohrab Mohebbi joins SculptureCenter from the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA, where he serves as the Kathe and Jim Patrinos Curator of the 58th Carnegie International, opening in September 2022. Photo: Sabrina Santiago.
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY.- SculptureCenter announced the appointment of Sohrab Mohebbi to the position of Director. Mohebbi joins SculptureCenter from the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA, where he serves as the Kathe and Jim Patrinos Curator of the 58th Carnegie International, opening in September 2022. Mohebbi has also served as SculptureCenters Curator-at-Large since 2020, and as Curator between 2018 and 2020. Mohebbi will continue his work on the Carnegie International through October 2022 while beginning his new role at SculptureCenter in March 2022. SculptureCenter Board Chair Carol Bove said, We look forward to working with Sohrab to achieve a dynamic vision for SculptureCenter that we saw emerging in his curatorial work with our institution. He brings an energy, perspective, and deep understanding of global cultural movements ... More |
|
Richard Misrach's Icarus Suite
|
|
|
| More News |
 The Warhol promotes Nicole Dezelon to Director of Learning and Public EngagementPITTSBURGH, PA.- The Andy Warhol Museum has promoted Nicole Dezelon to director of learning and public engagement. Dezelon assumed her new role at The Warhol on January 12, 2022. "I look forward to furthering The Warhol's position as a responsive, interactive and transformative 21st century museum as we reach new audiences locally, nationally and internationally," said Dezelon, "and I believe our pivot to online learning and digital engagement has established a strong foundation to help us achieve these goals." Previously The Warhols associate director of learning, Dezelon has spearheaded the museums innovative school partnerships, digital engagement initiatives and professional development programs. Dezelon has authored hundreds of pages of online content, from lesson plans to blog posts, as well as articles and multimedia ... More  Isabel Torres, actress known for 'Veneno' on HBO Max, dies at 52NEW YORK, NY.- Isabel Torres, the Spanish actress best known for playing transgender singer and television personality Cristina Ortiz RodrÃguez in the HBO Max series Veneno, died Friday. She was 52. Torres family confirmed her death in a statement on her official Instagram account. The statement did not specify a cause or say where she died. In recent years, Torres had documented her treatments for lung cancer on Instagram. In November, she shared a video in which she said she had been told she had only about two months to live. Lets see if I get over it, she said. And if not, she added, what are we going to do? Life is like that. She said the video would be her last, though she continued to post photographs for several weeks. Torres had acted sporadically since the mid-1990s before she found her largest audience in 2020 ... More  New-York Historical Society and CUNY TV launch educational video series in anticipation of Presidents' DayNEW YORK, NY.- The New-York Historical Society and CUNY TV commemorate Presidents Day with a dynamic new educational video series, Opening the Oval with David M. Rubenstein: Understanding American Power. Presented in a distinctive pop-art, comic-book style that is engaging and accessible for students from middle school through college, Opening the Oval explores the history of American power through the lens of the presidency. Consisting of five episodes, each one approximately 8-10 minutes long, Opening the Oval features commentary from host David Rubenstein and experts in the field such as author Elaine Weiss, historian Michael Beschloss, filmmaker Ken Burns, and journalist Jia Lynn Yang, who illuminate the many ways that the role of the presidency has shifted to reflect political and cultural changes in the country at large. The series premiered ... More  Arnolfini features an exhibition of new photographic work by artist Polly BradenBRISTOL.- Arnolfini is presenting Holding the Baby, an exhibition of new photographic work by artist Polly Braden, creating an intimate, participatory portrait of the strength and resilience of single parent families with the challenges they face. Originally created by Museum of the Home, London (and curated by Sinéad McCarthy), this final instalment of the series (following shows in London and Liverpool) brings Bradens poignant photography to Bristol. Exploring just some of the many stories captured along the way, the Bristol version includes participants from the city, transforming national politics into a local concern. Inspired by a United Nations report by poverty expert Philip Alston in 2019, which stated that single parents have been hardest hit by austerity measures in the UK, Braden has been working with a number of single parents over the last two ... More  Hauser & Wirth Zurich exhibits the newly discovered painting by Arshile GorkyZURICH.- Hauser & Wirth Zurich, Bahnhofstrasse 1 is presenting the newly discovered painting by Arshile Gorky, displayed for the first time in Europe in the artists first solo exhibition in Zürich. The newly discovered work, a painting on canvas designated as Untitled (Virginia Summer) (1946-47), is a brand-new addition to the artists oeuvre. Wrapped atop by The Limit (1947), a well-known painting on paper, Untitled (Virginia Summer) (1946-47) was attached to the same, original stretcher Gorky used when the painting left his studio in 1947 and is as rich and vibrant as when it was first created. This exhibition presents both paintings side-by-side as well as a selection of works on paper directly related to the recently discovered composition. Prior to its presentation at Hauser & Wirth Zurich, Bahnhofstrasse 1, Beyond The Limit was shown at Hauser & Wirth New York, 22nd S ... More  Bruneau & Co. announces highlights included in the Winter Comic, TCG & Toy AuctionCRANSTON, RI.- Anyone who doubts the soaring popularity of Magic: The Gathering trading cards needs to look no further than Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers upcoming Winter Comic, TCG (Trading Card Games) & Toy auction slated for Saturday, February 26th, starting promptly at 10 am Eastern. The top five lots all MTG cards have a combined high estimate of $135,000. This is certainly going to be an extravaganza for Magic: The Gathering collectors, predicted Travis Landry, a Bruneau & Co. auctioneer and the firms Director of Pop Culture This is one of the best collections to surface in a long time. Its also a first in a very long time that comics do not dominate the catalog. I cant wait to see how many new bidders are attracted to the auction. The sale, packed with 427 lots curated from across the country, will be held online as well as in Bruneau & Co.s gallery located at 63 Fourth ... More  Christie's presents The Surrealist World of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs & Melvin JacobsNEW YORK, NY.- This May, Christies will present The Surrealist World of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs & Melvin Jacobs. This collection, born from personal bonds with artists and a deep love of art, includes an incredible selection of fine art, photography, jewelry, posters and ephemera. Many of the works were created from moments of spontaneous inspiration and creative collaboration, truly embodying the spirit of the Dada and Surrealist movements. The collection will be offered in a live single-owner sale in May at Rockefeller Center, with subsequent works to be sold in a dedicated online sale. In total, the sales are estimated to realize in excess of $20 million. The sales top lot is Man Rays iconic Le Violon dIngres. Estimated at $5,000,000 7,000,000, it carries the highest estimate of any single photograph in auction history. Marc ... More  Bond mania continues as 007 posters, books and golden guns sell for £123,000 at Ewbank'sLONDON.- Ewbanks have taken a bumper £123,000 in the latest of their specialist James Bond 007 auctions, well above hopes. Top price was the premium-inclusive £20,000 for what is seen as the Holy Grail of James Bond Collecting: a limited edition Official Attaché Case Replica from the second 007 film From Russia With Love. Released by S.D. Studios and numbered No. 008 of 100, it contains two hidden daggers with working ejection mechanism, magnetic talcum powder container, concealed gold Sovereigns (10 on each strap), rounds of ammunition (plastic replica and deactivated) concealed in hidden brass tubes, a replica of a bug detector in its leather case issued by TV Models, original SD Studios folder containing mission paperwork and operating instructions, and an AR-7 Replica BB Rifle. The designers took all the measurements from the original ... More  Milestone Auctions' Winter Antique Toy Spectacular settles just under $500K, with hot competition for Marx prototypesWILLOUGHBY, OH.- Theres no great mystery as to why vintage toys are so popular with collectors. Theyre colorful, theyre fun, and they invariably prompt the comment so familiar to auctioneers and toy dealers: Wow! I had one of those when I was a kid! One of Milestone Auctions specialties is antique and vintage toys, and the nostalgia factor that drives todays prices for clean, crisp vintage toys is something they witness at each of their sales, including their January 29 Winter Antique Toy Spectacular that took in just under half a million dollars. Business partners Miles King and Chris Sammet were elated with the excellent auction results in virtually all toy categories. There was strong competition for the rare Marx prototypes, ... More  Treasures from the Trethewey collection set to sparkle at John Nicholson's on March 1LONDON.- On March 1, the sale of the Trewethey collection at John Nicholsons in Fernhurst marks the culmination of three generations of involvement in auctions and antiques of one family. Henry Trethewey founded Trethewey and Sons Auctioneers of Plymouth in the 19th century, passing down his interest in antiques and chattels through the family to his grandson Derrick, born in 1922. When Derrick was only four, his father died from the effects of gas exposure during the First World War, which led to Derrick suffering an impoverished childhood. Education proved his salvation and he attended Hilsborough school where he was successful in Science and Mathematics, before going on to join the navy as an engineering cadet aged 15. He fought throughout the Second World War in the Mediterranean on Destroyers fighting to get the supply convoys ... More  Glasgow Life confirms reopening of The People's PalaceGLASGOW.- Glasgow Life, the charity which delivers culture and sport in the city, has today (Tuesday) confirmed the reopening date for The Peoples Palace. Set in historic Glasgow Green, the iconic Peoples Palace, home to collections documenting Glasgows social history from 1750 to the present day, will reopen at 10am on Wednesday 23 February. The museum will be open full-time, seven days a week, for the first time in the wake of the pandemic. Through a wealth of historic artefacts, objects, photographs, prints and film The Peoples Palace provides a record of how Glaswegians lived, worked and played in years gone by; hosting the stories and memories of the people of our great city. Councillor David McDonald, Chair of Glasgow Life and Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: "The People's Palace is one of Glasgows ... More |
|
PhotoGalleries 
Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo 
Life Between Islands 
Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution 
'In-Between'
Flashback On a day like today, American painter and sculptor Kenneth Price was born February 16, 1935. Kenneth Price (February 16, 1935 - February 24, 2012) was an American artist who uncovered the surprising possibilities of ceramics as sculpture. He is best known for his abstract shapes constructed from fired clay. Typically, they are not glazed, but intricately painted with multiple layers of bright acrylic paint and then sanded down to reveal the colors beneath. In this image: Ken Price, Bubbles, 1995. Acrylic on fired ceramic, 55.9 x 74.9 x 55.9 cm / 22 x 29 1/2 x 22 in. © Estate of Ken Price, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. Photo: Fredrik Nilsen.
|
|
|
|
© 1996 - 2021