| The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Wednesday, February 1, 2017 |
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| | Exhibition at Kunsthalle Bremen focuses on French printmaking in the age of Louis XIV | |
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Gérard Audran, Der Einzug Alexanders des GroÃen in Babylon, 1675, aus der vierteiligen Folge "Die Schlachten Alexanders des GroÃen", 16721678, nach einem Gemälde von Charles Le Brun. Radierung, Kupferstich, 74,4 x 93,7 cm © Kunsthalle Bremen Der Kunstverein in Bremen, Foto: Die Kulturgutscanner-Rosenau.
BREMEN.- This exhibition presents outstanding French prints from 1650 to 1715, an era in which the magnificence of Absolutism reached its climax. During the reign of Louis XIV, a principal task of the fine arts was to spread the glory and splendour of the Sun King as a statesman, general and patron far beyond the borders of his own country. Prints were especially suited to this purpose. They were easy to transport; they could be produced in great numbers; they were sold individually or sumptuously bound together, and they could unequivocally serve political aspriations. Engravings after paintings in the Kings collections, views of his palaces, and images of his military victories advanced them to highly respected prestige objects. In 1660, Louis XIV freed engravers from the restrictions of the guild system and elevated them to the rank of free artists. In 1663 they were allowed to enter the Royal Academy, which provided standardized training and thereby ensured an extraodinarily high leve ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Switzerland's Martina Hingis, participant of the WTA St Petersburg Ladies Trophy 2017 tennis tournament, visits Saint Petersburg's Faberge Museum on January 31, 2017. Olga MALTSEVA / AFP
| So bad, they're good: Madrid celebrates trash films | | Amateurs can hunt relics with modern 'Indiana Jones' | | Ex-owner of Hitler house sues Austria | 
People put into displays posters advertising trash movies in the entrance of a cinema. GERARD JULIEN / AFP.
MADRID (AFP).- You'd think the prospect of bad acting, a terrible script and rock-bottom directing would put movie buffs off. But if Madrid's CutreCon trash film festival is anything to go by -- you'd be wrong. Lured by such films as the musical "Nudist Colony of the Dead" and Bollywood's "Action Jackson", some 3,500 people turned up at the five-day event. They also came to see one of the holy grails of the bad film world: "Troll 2" -- with its rating of just six percent on review site Rotten Tomatoes, is considered one of the worst movies ever. CutreCon, which ended Sunday, is one of several festivals in Europe dedicated to films so bad they're good, many of which have been pulled from oblivion by the internet, at times earning them and their protagonists cult status. Nostalgia for the era of low-quality, VHS films, dissatisfaction with mainstream ... More | | 
A "citizen science" platform that space archaeologist Sarah Parcak wished for a year ago as part of a coveted TED prize went live at GlobalXplorer.org.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- A technology-wielding archeologist billed as a real-world "Indiana Jones" on Monday launched an online platform that lets anyone help discover archeological wonders and fight looting. A "citizen science" platform that space archaeologist Sarah Parcak wished for a year ago as part of a coveted TED prize went live at GlobalXplorer.org. "The worlds hidden heritage contains clues to humankind's collective resilience and creativity," Parcak said in a release. "With GlobalXplorer we are empowering a 21st century army of global explorers to discover and protect our shared history." A video of Parcak unveiling the wish was posted online Monday at www.ted.com. GlobalXplorer blends satellite imagery with pattern-hunting of a sort to make a game of spotting clues to the whereabouts ... More | | 
This file photo taken on April 17, 2015 shows a memorial stone outside the house where Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau Am Inn, Austria. JOE KLAMAR / AFP.
VIENNA (AFP).- The former owner of the house where Adolf Hitler was born has launched a legal battle against the Austrian government for expropriating the building, a court official said Tuesday. The state seized the dilapidated building in the northern town of Braunau in December after MPs approved an expropriation law specifically aimed at the controversial property. The move came after years of bitter wrangling with owner Gerlinde Pommer who had been renting the premises to the interior ministry since the 1970s and refused to sell them or carry out essential renovation works. The government said it had been necessary to force a decision on the issue to stop the building from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine. But Pommer has now launched proceedings against ... More |
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| "A Stitch in Time" debuts at The Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU | | Saatchi Gallery launches new exhibition space | | Anish Kapoor recreates seminal artwork in anti-Trump protest | 
Installation view.
MIAMI, FLA.- The Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU has commissioned a new dramatic work based on the museums current exhibition, Stitching History from the Holocaust. The new one act play is called A Stitch in Time, and is about the true story of Paul and Hedwig Hedy Strnad who tragically perished in the Holocaust after failed attempts in 1939 to secure a visa to flee to the U.S. from Prague. The young couple tried to escape the onslaught of the Nazis by sending sketches of Hedys clothing designs to prove she could earn a living in America with her talents, which was required at the time for immigration to the United States. Their attempts failed and they were denied a Visa, and they tragically perished in the Holocaust. This new commissioned work was written by Miami playwright Susan Westfall and will be directed by Michael Yawney, associate professor of theater at Florida International University. The accompanying exhibition, S ... More | | 
Tsuyoshi Maekawa, November 2016. Photograph by Viktor Bentley.
LONDON.- SALON at Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, London, has been created to present the work of leading international artists who have had limited exposure in the UK. This new venture directed by Philippa Adams, Senior Director of Saatchi Gallery, will work in collaboration with galleries and artists estates, in selling exhibitions. Lévy Gorvy will inaugurate SALON with an exhibition by Tsuyoshi Maekawa, opening on 24 February 2017. The presentation will include a selection of paintings by the artist from the 1950s and 60s, with important loans from Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp, conveying both the unique sensibility and remarkable energy of Gutais most productive period. Says Adams: SALON has been created because there are limited opportunities for international artists to show at major museums in the UK. Saatchi Gallery, which attracts more than 1.5 million ... More | | 
"Our silence makes us complicit with the politics of exclusion. We will not be silent."
LONDON.- Leading artist Anish Kapoor has reworked Joseph Beuys seminal work, I Like America and America Likes Me by changing the title to I Like America and America Doesnt Like Me as a protest against the horrors that are unfolding in Donald Trumps America. Referencing the poster that Joseph Beuys made for the work, Kapoor has altered the title and re-made it with his own self-portrait. He invites fellow artists and leading creative figures across the world to join him in this action and post their new versions on social media in protest. Anish Kapoor said "I call on fellow artists and citizens to disseminate their name and image using Joseph Beuys' seminal work of art as a focus for social change. Our silence makes us complicit with the politics of exclusion. We will not be silent." I Like America and America Likes Me was Joseph Beuys most celebrated performance work which ... More |
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| The Museum of the City of New York receives largest gift in its history | | Canada's most prestigious art and design school launches new identity | | National Portrait Gallery's collection of presidential portraits undergoes renovation | 
Children in the Core exhibition.
NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of the City of New York has received the largest gift in its 94-year history, a $10 million donation from The Thompson Family Foundation to the Museums endowment in support of educational activities related to New York at Its Core, the Museums groundbreaking permanent exhibition covering 400 years of New York City history. New York at Its Core, which opened on November 18, 2016, is the first-ever museum exhibition to present the sweeping 400-year history of New York from a striving Dutch village to todays Capital of the World a preeminent global city facing the future in a changing world. Five years in the making and developed with an advisory group of 17 of the countrys leading scholars and historians, the exhibition has been recognized as a major intellectual and cultural achievement for the Museum. New York at Its Core is an unparalleled educational ... More | | 
The new brand identity, designed by Camp Pacific, features vivid colours.
VANCOUVER.- Emily Carr University President + Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Ron Burnett, revealed the school's new visual identity today, in advance of the institution's move to a purpose-built campus in a few months. "Emily Carr University is setting out on a bold new future in a bold new building," said Burnett. "The new identity we're unveiling today expresses our current vitality and future aspirations, as our school ascends as one of the eminent educational institutions of art and design, not only in North America, but in the world." The new brand identity, designed by Camp Pacific, features vivid colours which curve around the university's name. Inspired by the painting palette of the university's namesake, artist Emily Carr, the colours layer and overlap, referencing the transformative and accretive process of learning. ... More | | 
Installation view. Photo: Paul Morigi 2015.
WASHINGTON, DC.- The National Portrait Gallerys permanent exhibition Americas Presidents will undergo extensive renovations and reopen Sept. 22 with the Gilbert Stuarts Lansdowne portrait of President George Washington back on view after 18 months of careful conservation and analysis. In addition to refreshing the physical space of the presidential exhibition (improved graphics, lighting, paint, etc.), the Portrait Gallery is also enhancing the visitors experience through new labels, wall texts and the addition of interactive touch screens that will allow people to explore the context of each presidency and access other visual material. The Portrait Gallery will reinstall its Americas Presidents exhibition in four phases beginning in February. After a brief closure from Feb. 26 through March 23, a temporary exhibition will be installed in the west gallery on the second floor. The ... More |
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| UOVO, the fastest growing art storage and services company, opens third New York facility | | Rare 18th century pagoda form musical automaton clock soars to $998,250 at Fontaine's auction | | CNB Gallery opens a solo exhibition of new works by the Belgian/German artist Philipp Rudolf Humm | 
The newly renovated facility addresses the rapidly increasing demand for the company's high standard of collections care that is maximally efficient and cost-effective.
NEW YORK, NY.- UOVO, the premier provider of fine art storage and collections management services, announced the opening of UOVO:100 Bradley PKWY, the latest edition to its rapidly-growing portfolio of facilities. Located 17 miles north of Manhattan in Rockland County, the facility expands the range of high-caliber services and cost-effective storage options UOVO offers. UOVO caters to leading museums, nonprofit institutions, commercial galleries, and foundations, as well as individual collectors and artists. It also offers fashion houses archival storage for couture collections. Since launching in 2013, UOVO's footprint has grown to over 550,000 square feet; the company now serves over 600 clients. UOVO addresses needs ranging from temporary storage of a single painting, to the development ... More | | 
Exceedingly rare 18th century English-made pagoda form automaton musical clock, produced for the Chinese Qing Imperial Court ($998,250).
PITTSFIELD, MASS.- An exceedingly rare 18th century English-made pagoda form automaton musical clock, produced for the Chinese Qing Imperial Court, fell just shy of the $1 million mark when it sold for $998,250 (including buyers premium) at Fontaines Auction Gallerys Antiques and Fine Art Auction, held January 21st in the firms gallery at 1485 West Housatonic Street. The clock was magnificent: 50 inches tall (raised, on a large black wood block base). It weighed 100 pounds and had an engraved chessboard pattern brass top, with 5-inch painted metal dials on the front and both sides, and Roman hour numerals. The time movement triggered the automaton mechanism once every two hours, and the heavy bronze case had elegant color paste set jewels. As beautiful as the clock was physically, it was equally enchanting musically. It played two different tunes on ... More | | 
Philipp Rudolf Humm, London Gothic, 2016. Oil on canvas, 91 x 123 cm. © Philipp Rudolf Humm, courtesy CNB Gallery.
LONDON.- CNB Gallery presents Urban Portraits, a solo exhibition of new works by the Belgian/German artist, Philipp Rudolf Humm. The exhibition features three series of artworks: Being and Time, Plastic, and Moments, which showcase Humms narrative figurative paintings, described by Edward Lucie-Smith as Pop Expressionism. In Being and Time, Humm adopts iconic publicity images and art historical references to artists such as Manet, Preti, Goya and (Jacques -Louis) David, and then displaces and re-introduces these compositional schemas into contemporary environments and situations. Executed in oil, an historically-coded medium, Humm employs a palette that serves his subject matter, blending vivid, pop-like colour with rich, Italianate lustre. Plastic is a particularly autobiographical collection which engages with the long tradition of artists taking inspiration fo ... More |
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How to see Francis Picabia -- with MoMA curator Anne Umland
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 "Spectacular" Meyerhoff collection of Mucha sells 93% at Swann GalleriesNEW YORK, NY.- On Thursday, January 26, Swann Galleries opened their 2017 season with a landmark sale of Alphonse Mucha & Masters of Art Nouveau: The Harry C. Meyerhoff Collection, the largest private collection of works by the artist and his circle ever to come to auction. Of the over 200 posters, sketches and ephemera, more than half of which were by Mucha; many of the pieces were unique, previously unrecorded, or had never before appeared at auction. Swann President and Principal Auctioneer Nicholas D. Lowry, who is also the director of the Vintage Posters department, sold works to a packed room, with all bidding phones occupied. All but one of 136 offered works by Mucha found new homes, leading to a 93% sell-through rate for the entire sale. Mr. Lowry noted, By all metrics the auction was a huge success. It was the highest sell-through rate ... More 7 winning Super Bowl MVP collectibles NEW YORK, NY.- While winning a Super Bowl is the ultimate prize in the National Football League, being named the most valuable player of the championship game is a ticket to sports immortality. Of the 44 players who have won the award in a half-century of Super Bowls, 19 have already been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. While it is unlikely that most fans would ever meet one of these elite football stars in person, its entirely possible for them to acquire an item associated with their heroes playing careers. Just keep in mind that as collectibles go, actual Super Bowl MVP mementos are in another league altogether. If and when such iconic items appear at auction, theres no shortage of serious bidders and the prices are sure to be steep. Here are seven MVPs and seven football collectibles related to their careers: Super Bowl rings, ... More Artist Graham Fink uses-eye tracker to draw portraits live using his eyesLONDON.- Stone Souls explores the psychological phenomenon of pareidoliathe perception of a visual or auditory pattern where there is none. Often associated with religious or intellectual epiphany, pareidolia is credited with helping ancient civilizations to negotiate an unintelligible world through the interpretation of signs where there was merely chaos. We have since become predisposed to interpret abstract shapes and formations and to conclude stories from their fragmented clues something that artistic movements such as Cubism and Abstraction understood implicitly. For Fink, the phenomenon has become uniquely associated with his practice, which is intensely process-oriented. His work evokes the discovery of familiar shapes and renderings by viewers - even where none were originally intended by the artist. Fink draws on variations found in the ... More Record breaking Wall Street numbers spark Arturo Di Modica buying trend at Capo auctionNEW YORK, NY.- The history making week on Wall Street last week sparked a buying frenzy on Italian artist Arturo Di Modicas (Italian, b. 1941) bronze sculptures at Capo Auction Fine Art and Antiques here in New York. Of course, Di Modica created the iconic life-size Charging Bull standing in Bowling Green Park in the Financial District downtown and has become a symbol of Wall Street. The artists bronze 6 X 6 X 4 foot Cavallo (Horse) bronze 1981-1986. Vanity plaque included. Provenance: Purchased directly from the artist early 2000s, Private Collection, New York, sold to a prominent horse farm in Wellington, Florida for $16, 800, at Capo Auctions January 28th auction, while Di Modicas Head of the Charging Bull, New York 1989, Signed and dated. Dimensions 5 x 4 x 2.8 feet, Provenance: Acquired by present owner from the collection of Refreddo ... More Who says brown furniture is dead? says auctioneer as chest of drawers sells for £42,000 at auctionSTANSTED MOUNTFITCHET.- Sworders of Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex have proved that brown furniture can still be the star at auction as they took £42,000 for a chest of drawers on January 31. The 4ft 3in high walnut secretaire chest of drawers designed by furniture maker Ernest Gimson around the turn of the 20th century had been expected to make no more than £12,000, but soared to its eventual price thanks to a bidding war. And the following lot, a similar sized but fairly plain cedar linen press also by Gimson, went massively over its £3000-5000 estimate to sell at £22,000. Prices for many of the other lots in the 20th Century Decorative Art and Design sale also took big prices. Sworders director John Black is delighted that his auction has shown that brown furniture can still do extremely well and prove an excellent investment if you know what to look for. ... More PHOTOFAIRS attracts key collectors and curators to their inaugural US edition in San FranciscoSAN FRANCISCO, CA.- PHOTOFAIRS drew 11,000 visitors, collectors, and curators to their inaugural opening at Fort Masons Festival Pavilion, situated on the San Francisco Bay, overlooking the Marin Headlands. Complementing the Bay Areas already strong photographic legacy, PHOTOFAIRS | San Franciscos international selection of galleries and artists, representing 14 countries and 22 cities worldwide, created an atmosphere of strong sales and lively conversations throughout the 4-day event amongst visitors to the Bay Areas only fair exclusively focused on the photographic arts. Drawing on the international reach of the majority of participating galleries, PHOTOFAIRS boutique curation brought together vintage and blue-chip works alongside cutting-edge contemporary photography, creating an excellent environment in which to discover and ... More Exhibition of new paintings by Keith Milow opens at Dadiani Fine ArtLONDON.- Dadiani Fine Art presents IT, IT, IT, IT., an exhibition of new paintings by the celebrated British painter, sculptor and printmaker, Keith Milow. From the late 1960s through the 1970s, alongside contemporaries such as Richard Long, Gilbert & George, Michael Craig-Martin, Barry Flanagan, David Tremlett, Art & Language and Derek Jarman, Keith Milow helped to shape a critical point of British art history, and this exhibition is a rare and long overdue opportunity to see the works of a central member of Britains artistic avant-garde. The works in IT, IT, IT, IT., all executed over the last three years, are a striking continuation of Milows fascination with architecture and the illusory effect of artistic materials (in the 1970s, among other innovations, he established the technique of combing paint onto paper and canvas). These themes and approachesincluding the abstract, ... More Svenja Deininger presents a new body of work comprising more than 40 paintings at Vienna's SecessionVIENNA.- Svenja Deininger regards painting as a process: she does not consider her pictures, on which she often works over long periods of time, to be self-contained entities. The process of creating an image rather serves to stimulate reflection and acts as a mental continuation of a form or composition the imagining of the future picture and how it is located in a spatial context are thus essential elements of the artistic process. As if working on a text the artist elaborates and polishes the syntax of her art. She considers her works to be parts of a system that require their interrelations to be analysed whenever they encounter one another. She alternates large and small format pictures and by means of combining and positioning them in a space she creates a tension, which, together with her range of shapes, results in a Deiningerian idiom. For her show Echo of a Mirror ... More "In Their Footsteps: Deborah Pierce Bonnell Paints Weir Farm" opens at the Greenwich Historical SocietyCOS COB, CONN.- The Greenwich Historical Society will present In Their Footsteps - Deborah Pierce Bonnell Paints Weir Farm at the Storehouse Gallery Museum Shop from February 1 through 28, 2017. The exhibition will feature works painted by Bonnell as a 2016 artist-in-residence at Weir Farm. Bonnell first became interested in American Impressionism as a docent at Bush-Holley Historic Site, where she studied and lectured on Cos Cob art colony history. Artist J. Alden Weir painted in Cos Cob and later settled with his family at Weir Farm, in Branchville (Wilton) CT, his home for thirty-plus years. Now a National Historic Site, Weir Farm was a setting, like Cos Cob, that American Impressionists loved and painted frequently. Weir's circle of friends, noted American artists John Twachtman, Childe Hassam, John Singer Sargent and Albert Pinkham Ryder, often visited and drew ... More Scottish island pays fiery tribute to Viking pastLERWICK (AFP).- On a remote Scottish island, a longship was being prepared Tuesday for immolation by a squad of vikings in one of the most dramatic fire festivals in the world. "Up Hella Aa" takes place every January in Lerwick on the Shetland Islands, which lie in the middle of the North Sea around 400 miles from Edinburgh. The Shetlands are closer Norway than mainland Scotland and their residents are fiercely proud of their Norse heritage. Some 60 vikings will parade on Tuesday through Lerwick, Shetland's biggest settlement, trailed by around 1,000 torchbearers known as "guizers" -- dressed in eclectic costumes, from superheroes to pop bands -- who will end their procession by throwing their torches into the replica longship. Every year, an experienced viking is appointed to lead the parade and becomes known as Guizer Jarl, from the old norse word for "chief". ... More MFA Boston awards 2017 Maud Morgan Prize to artist Annette LemieuxBOSTON, MASS.- The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, announced today that Boston-based Annette Lemieux (born 1957) is the recipient of its 2017 Maud Morgan Prize, which honors a Massachusetts woman artist who has demonstrated creativity and vision, and who has made significant contributions to the contemporary arts landscape. Ranging from painting to photography to found-object assemblage, Lemieuxs conceptual works confront urgent subjects such as the horror of war, the nature of time, the elusive truth of memory and the relationship between personal experience and cultural history. Currently a Senior Lecturer on Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University, she has influenced younger generations of artists as a teacher for more than 20 years. The Museum has collected Lemieuxs works since the late 1980s, cultivating a sustained belief in ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, was born February 01, 1963. Takashi Murakami is an internationally prolific contemporary Japanese artist. He works in fine arts media - such as painting and sculpture - as well as what is conventionally considered commercial media - fashion, merchandise, and animation - and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts. He coined the term superflat, which describes both the aesthetic characteristics of the Japanese artistic tradition and the nature of post-war Japanese culture and society. Superflat is also used as a moniker to describe Murakami's own artistic style and that of other Japanese artists he has influenced. In this image: Japanese artist Takashi Murakami poses for photographers in front of his sculpture entitled "Oval Buddha", at the Versailles Palace gardens, west of Paris, Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010.
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