| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |    | Established in 1996 | Wednesday, June 14, 2023 |
| | Scalpel, forceps, bone drill: Modern medicine in ancient Rome | |
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A photo provided by Rusznák Gábor/ELTE of remains of the first-century man who was found accompanying the medical instruments. A 2,000-year-old collection of medical tools, recently unearthed in Hungary, offer insight into the practices of undaunted, much-maligned Roman doctors. (Rusznák Gábor/ELTE via The New York Times)
by Franz Lidz
NEW YORK, NY.- Doctors are generally held in high regard today, but Romans of the first century were skeptical, even scornful, of medical practitioners, many of whom ministered to ailments they did not understand. Poets especially ridiculed surgeons for being greedy, for taking sexual advantage of patients and, above all, for incompetence. In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder, an admiral and scholar who died in A.D. 79 while trying to rescue desperate villagers fleeing the debris of Mount Vesuvius, endeavored to speak out against the medical profession on behalf of the senate and Roman people and 600 years of Rome. Their fees were excessive, their remedies dubious, their squabbling insufferable. Physicians gain experience at our peril and conduct their experiments by means of our deaths, he wrote. The epitaph on more than one Roman tombstone read: A gang of doctors killed me. Medical remedies have improved since those times no more smashed sna ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Galerie Eva Presenhuber. Courtesy of Art Basel
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| Where are their heads? Hordes of ancient statues pose that puzzle | | 33 paired ink jet prints by Roni Horn's on view through September at Hauser & Wirth | | Phillips' June editions sale brings together works spanning the century | 
The bronze head of Septimius Severus, thought by some experts to be part of the Met statue, on display at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, May 2023. (Charlotte de la Fuente/The New York Times)
by Graham Bowley
NEW YORK, NY.- For many years, a Danish museum argued that its ancient head of Roman emperor Septimius Severus belonged to a bronze torso at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This sort of discovery is rare in the world of Greco-Roman statuary, where headless torsos and torso-less heads are, though ubiquitous, seldom reconnected. But the museum, the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, went so far as to arrange a loan so it could exhibit the head and body together in 1979 and even tried to buy the torso, without success. Matters grew more complicated, though, in February when the Met was forced to return the headless statue to Turkey after investigators determined it had been looted. Turkish officials said they plan to claim the head in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well. But a Danish museum official said in an interview that, contrary to its earlier belief, its 2,000-year-old head may ... More | | 
Roni Horn, HORN 120476-hires-1, Attention Torrid Zone Yellow Hope, 2022. Two ink jet prints on rag paper. Bleed images, floated edge-to-edge in frame. Edition of 12. © Roni Horn. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.
ZURICH.- Known for conceptually oriented work in diverse media, Roni Horn continues her exploration of identity and difference with the exhibition An Elusive Red Figure..., on view at Hauser & Wirth Zurich, Limmatstrasse. Opening this June during Zurich Art Weekend, Horn presents a new work titled: An elusive Red Figure darting about in the Venetian darkness; a red dwarf burning out beyond Saturn; a nasty gang of runts in red snowsuits acting out in a North American suburb; an attractive young Italian woman dressed in red is stalked by a lesbian serial killer; a village girl, the prettiest you can imagine, in a red velvet hood cut from the belly of a sleeping wolf .... (2022). An Elusive Red Figure... is a suite of 33 paired ink jet prints, presented across the second-floor gallery space. Following on from the 2021 work LOG (March 22, 2019 May 17, 2020), An Elusive Red Figure... ... More | | 
Jim Dine, The White Foot (B. 101), 2003. Monumental woodcut with acrylic hand-coloring and white acrylic footprint, on Somerset paper, with full margins. I. 63 3/4 x 48 in. (161.9 x 121.9 cm). S. 66 x 50 in. (167.6 x 127 cm). Signed, dated and numbered 7/12 in pencil (there were also 2 artist's proofs), co-published by Pace Editions, Inc., New York and Alan Cristea Gallery, London, framed.
NEW YORK, NY.- Phillips June Edition Auction in New York will feature over 130 lots with a mixture of modern and contemporary works, rounding out the Editions season for the department. The public exhibition will take place at 432 Park Avenue starting 15 June, with the live auction commencing at 10am on 21 June. Highlights of the sale include a selection of 25 prints by Alexander Calder and contemporary works from Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Serra, Vija Celmins, Faith Ringgold, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and more. Kelly Troester and Cary Leibowitz, Deputy Chairmen and Co-Heads of Editions, said, We are delighted to close out the Spring season at Phillips, one of our most successful to date, with such a wonderful summertime selection in our June auction. From Henri Matisses Nude Sitting in a Floral Decorated Armchair ... More |
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| Focus on women: Family archive of author Charlotte Gilman Perkins brings $60,000 at Swann Galleries | | Mayfair's flag designs revealed by Bob & Roberta Smith RA to Launch Art in Mayfair 2023 | | Silvio Berlusconi, a showman who upended Italian politics and culture, dies at 86 | 
Perkins Gilman, Charlotte (1860-1935). Family Archive of Photographs and Letters.
NEW YORK, NY.- Swann Galleries third iteration of Focus on Women, an auction dedicated to the contributions of women to art, life, and society, brought $361,090, a total more than the presale estimate for the auction, with archives and literature among the leading items of the sale. The sale was led by a family archive of photographs and letters of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which included 45 photos of Gilman and a typed draft of the comedic play, A Pretty Idiot written by Gilman and Grace Ellery Channing among other items. The lot brought $60,000. Also related to Gilman was a family association set of The Forerunner, a complete run of seven volumes published from 1909 to 1916, which earned $22,500. Further archives of note included those once belonging to Fanny Stevenson, which documented her travels in the American West and Vailima in Samoa ($25,000); artist Mary Beth ... More | | 
Acclaimed British Artist Bob & Roberta Smith RA stands beneath his flag artwork designs entitled A puzzle 4U that fly above Bond Street, to mark the launch of Art in Mayfair for 2023, ahead of the RA Summer Exhibition.
LONDON.- Monday 12 June marked the launch of Art in Mayfair 2023, with Royal Academician Bob & Roberta Smith revealing his vibrant flag artwork designs entitled A puzzle 4U on Bond Street. These flags also fly above North Audley Street, South Audley Street and Duke Street for visitors to explore. Upon first look, the flag artworks present a jumble of letter forms or puzzle - arranged in different combinations, which leaves the public to try and decipher the meaning themselves. On the reverse side, walking back down the streets of Mayfair in the other direction, the slogan is revealed. Time to coincide with the 255th Summer Exhibition, Art in Mayfair sees the Royal Academy of Arts join forces with Bond Street from 12 June 9 July for their annual immersive showcase of art and culture. ... More | | 
Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the leader of the Forza Italia party, at a rally in Rome on Sept. 22, 2022. (Gianni Cipriano/The New York Times)
by Jason Horowitz and Rachel Donadio
ROME.- Silvio Berlusconi, the brash media mogul who revolutionized Italian television using privately owned channels to become the countrys most polarizing and prosecuted prime minister over multiple stints in office and an often scandalous quarter-century of political and cultural influence, died Monday at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan. He was 86. His death was confirmed in a statement by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with whom he was a coalition partner in the current Italian government. No cause of death was given, but he was hospitalized last week as part of his treatment for chronic leukemia and other ailments. To Italians, Berlusconi was constant entertainment both comic and tragic, with more than a touch of off-color material until ... More |
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| "Trembling Earth" by Edvard Munch now on view at The Clark Art Institute until this fall | | Rare Egyptian coffin comes to auction for the first time at Bonhams Antiquities sale | | Eleven Warhols lead array of American Pop at Bonhams Prints sale | 
Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1895. Lithograph on paper. Private collection, © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS.- The Clark Art Institute is currently presenting, until October 15th, Trembling Earth a special exhibition featuring the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944), who is best known for his vivid depictions of love, anxiety, and death. Raised in a strict religious household, one impacted by the early loss of his mother and sister, Munch once poetically stated "sickness, insanity, and death were the black angels that guarded my cradle." The artist has been understood as an isolated and melancholy figure, and his early years were indeed marked by struggle as he faced critical censure and battled addiction and mental illness. By his mid-thirties, after Munch sought natural cures and medical attention, he found emotional stability and commercial success at home and in Germany, where he lived for many years. When he returned to Norway for short stays, settling there permanently in 1909, Munch lived in a variety ... More | | 
An Egyptian painted wood anthropoid coffin for the lady Irtwrw, Third Intermediate Period-Late Period, circa 25th-26th Dynasty, circa 747-525 B.C.173cm high. Estimate: £80,000 120,000. Photo: Bonhams.
LONDON.- A rare Egyptian painted wood coffin will come to auction for the first time at Bonhams Antiquities Sale on Thursday 6 July 2023. The elaborately-decorated coffin for the lady Irtwrw, circa 747-525 B.C has an estimate of £80,000 120,000. Death and the afterlife held particular meaning for the ancient Egyptians and complex funeral preparations and rites were observed to ensure the transition of the deceased from earthly existence to immortality. This impressive piece, intricately painted and inscribed, depicts scenes of the lady Irtwrws journey into the afterlife. In the rituals for burial ceremonies, spells were cast, and gods invoked, to guarantee her eternal life. The deceased is named only once on the coffin in a scene showing her lying on a funeral bed, while being tended by the jackal headed god of mummification, Anubis. Osiris, the god of the underworld is depicted, along with his wife Isis and the four sons of Horu ... More | | 
Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987), One plate from Ladies and Gentlemen. Screenprint in colours, 1975, 1114 x 732mm. Estimate: 8,000 - 12,000. Photo: Bonhams.
LONDON.- Famous images by Andy Warhol are amongst the highlights of Bonhams Prints and Multiples on Tuesday 27 June at Bonhams New Bond Street. Leading the selection is Chanel, from Ads, a screenprint in colours from 1985, which has an estimate of £80,000-120,000. The screenprint master, Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was obsessed with the proliferation of images, especially those of famous faces and of advertising imagery. The sale includes 11 prints by Warhol, including Oyster Stew, from Campbell's Soup II (estimate: £25,000-35,000), Electric Chair (estimate: £8,000-12,000), and two separate versions of Mick Jagger, from Mick Jagger Portfolio (estimated £60,000-80,000, and £40,000-60,000). The strong section of American Pop prints also features Crying Girl by Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997). Featuring his signature comic style imagery, the print has an estimate of £30,000 - 50,000. Carolin von Massenbach, Head of ... More |
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| David Byrne's 'Here Lies Love' reaches deal with Broadway musicians | | Life is More Important Than Art: That's Why Art is Important now on view at Whitechapel Gallery | | Specially curated exhibition on work of John Constable now on view at The Gallery at The Arc | 
Conrad Ricamora in Here Lies Love, in New York, April 30, 2014. After the musicians union raised objections to the shows plans to use recorded music instead of a live band, the show agreed to use 12 musicians. (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)
by Michael Paulson
NEW YORK, NY.- Here Lies Love, the David Byrne musical scheduled to start previews on Broadway next week, has bowed to objections by a labor union and agreed that 12 musicians will be part of the production. The producers of the musical, which is a dance-club-like show about Imelda Marcos, and the union, Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, announced the agreement Friday. On behalf of our entire cast, company and creative team, we have reached an agreement with Musicians Union Local 802, per the collective bargaining agreement, the producers of the musical said in a statement. We look forward to welcoming audiences to experience the revolutionary musical experience ... More | | 
William Cobbing, Written in Water, 2022. Courtesy the artist.
LONDON.- Taking inspiration from African American writer and novelist James Baldwin (b.1924, USA d.1987, France), who observed that life is more important than art
and yet that is why art is important, Whitechapel Gallery presents a free three-month programme of collaborations with artists, performers and thinkers to examine the interface between art and everyday life, and connections between local and global concerns at a time of uncertainty and change. Visitors are invited to find meaning and create poetic, playful and reflective connections as they explore works by artists including Rana Begum (b. 1977, Bangladesh), William Cobbing (b. 1974, UK), Sarah Dobai, (b.1965, UK), Susan Hiller (b. 1940, USA - d. 2019, UK), Matthew Krishanu (b. 1980, UK), Jerome (b. 1991, UK), Janette Parris (b. 1962, UK), John Smith (b. 1952, UK), Alia Syed (b. 1964, UK), Mitra Tabrizian (b. 1954, Iran), Mark Wallinger ... More | | 
John Constable, Rainstorm over the Sea,ca. 1824-1828.© Royal Academy of Arts, London; photographer: John Hammond.
WINCHESTER.- Constable: The Dark Side, a selection of iconic masterpieces by the profound Romantic painter, John Constable, including Weymouth Bay (1816) and A sluice, perhaps on the Stour watercolour (1830-6) are on display at The Gallery at The Arc since Friday 26 May to Wednesday until 16 August in the brand-new exhibition. This new and unique exhibition from Hampshire Cultural Trust is curated by art historian Nicola Moorby and explores Constables on-going obsession with the contrast between light and dark in nature and the way he placed that at the heart of his exploration of landscape. I live by shadows, to me shadows are realities, wrote John Constable. If hed had a motto, it was the Latin phrase that appears within his print publication, English Landscape Scenery, Ut umbra sic vita - Life is as a shadow. As an artist, Constable has a reputation for being ... More |
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Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Pearlman Foundation
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 'Eat, Pray, Love' author pulls new book set in RussiaNEW YORK, NY.- Bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert on Monday said she had indefinitely delayed the publication of her upcoming book after she was criticized online for writing a novel set in Russia. The move comes as publishers and institutions struggle with how to handle Russian art and literature as the war in Ukraine rages on. The uproar that drove Gilberts decision to pull her novel, which is set in 20th century Siberia, suggests that the debate has broadened to include the question of how the country should be represented in fiction. I have received an enormous, massive outpouring of reactions and responses from my Ukrainian readers, Gilbert said in a video posted on Instagram, expressing anger, sorrow, disappointment and pain about the fact that I would choose to release a book into the world right now any book, no matter what the subject of it is that is ... More  'It's about the art form': Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana turns 40NEW YORK, NY.- In the hothouse atmosphere of flamenco dance, where passionate display of the self is prized, divas abound. But Carlota Santana isnt one of them. Im not a fantastic flamenco dancer, she said recently. I know that, and I think other people know that, too. And yet she has accomplished something worth showing off: She has kept a flamenco company going in the United States for 40 years. Such longevity is extremely unusual, but so is Santanas approach. Although her name is part of her companys, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, its no accident that flamenco comes first. She isnt the star performer. She isnt the choreographer either. Its about the art form, she said. That self-effacing focus can be a little confusing. Because Santana no longer performs and never choreographed, her company has long lacked the clear identity ... More  Sun, sea and books make this festival an enticing destinationTREASURE BEACH, JAMAICA.- The sun was shining, the waves were lapping against the shore, and the crowds were filing into a giant tent for the first sessions of the day at the Calabash International Literary Festival, on Jamaicas low-key southern coast last month. It was a Saturday morning, and a wonder that people were awake at all many, including writers, were up until the wee hours at the reggae concert next door, which capped the opening nights literary programs. Private tents dotted the beach behind the stage, where some festivalgoers had slept. Jamaicas poet laureate, Olive Senior, embraced old friends at the entrance to the grounds, making plans to catch up soon. Meanwhile, busloads arrived from the capital and other points across the island, bringing attendees to this festival during the last weekend of May. By 10 a.m., more than a thousand ... More  Contemporary photography from the Middle East on water, rivers and the shifting ecological landscapeWASHINGTON, DC .- The Middle East Institute Arts and Culture Center, in partnership with Tribe Photo Magazine, is opening of the photography exhibit, A River Flows Downstream, on Wednesday, June 14, 2023 from 6-8pm at the MEI Art Gallery at 1763 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Curated by Roï Saade, the exhibit features eight participating artists from the Middle East who explore the theme of water and rivers in the Middle East and the impact of the climate crisis and geopolitics on these diminishing resources. The exhibit explores the concept of a journey along the river into the disparate world of ecosystems in different space and time. Along the journey, artists invite audiences to engage with the shifting ecological and cultural landscapes that they photograph, and the impact that water - in its scarcity or abundance - has had ... More  La radicalité à l'oeuvre 1959-1984 an exhibition of group works at Galeria MayoralPARIS.- La radicalité à l'oeuvre: 1959-1984, Group show with a selection of works by Antoni Tà pies, Jean Dubuffet, Joan Miró, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Manolo Millares, and Eduardo Chillida now on view until July 29th, 2023 at Galeria Mayoral. Excerpt from the text What is a rebel? by Bea Espejo, Barcelona-based journalist, art historian and art critic who regularly contributes to the Spanish newspaper El PaÃs. What is a rebel ? Text by Bea Espejo. Rebellion sweeps through the art of the last century like an attack of lumbago. Its like a lumbar puncture that brings down any dominant discourse that attempts to take a stand. A motor of creativity, an attitude, a way of looking at the world. Starting with the first avant-gardes its intensity comes and goes according to the movement which triggers it. With the incorporation of the machine Futurism quickly ... More  Museum of the Home and Tate jointly acquire Rebecca Solomon's painting 'A Young Teacher'LONDON.- Museum of the Home and Tate have worked together to bid for, and hold joint ownership of, Rebecca Solomons A Young Teacher. Solomons iconic painting will be held equally by both organisations. Following the acquisition, A Young Teacher will first go to Tate Britain to be displayed this summer in their newly opened Pre-Raphaelite room. From late 2024 it will travel to the Museum of the Home to be displayed there. A Young Teacher is a fascinating, beautiful and important painting, embodying themes of inequality in gender, race, religion, wealth and education in mid-19th century London. At first it seems to be a simple image of a child reading with her sister and a maid. The picture becomes more poignant when we consider that it was painted by a Jewish woman, one of the best-known female artists of her generation and that it depicts a working-class woman of mixed-race heritage. ... More  Osvaldo Licini: Rebellious Angel now on view at Estorick Collection of Modern Italian ArtLONDON.- The first exhibition dedicated to the work of Osvaldo Licini (1894-1958) in the UK opens at the Estorick Collection this summer. An idiosyncratic yet key figure of 20th century Italian art, Licini participated in the Futurist movement before establishing himself as a figurative painter of portraits and landscapes. During the1930s he adopted a geometric abstract style then, during the Second World War, changed his approach once again, going on to produce highly imaginative works animated by fantastical characters. This show explores every phase of Licinis career and presents a large number of the artists masterpieces, including key loans from Milans renowned Augusto and Francesca Giovanardi Collection. Licini was born in Monte Vidon Corrado, in the Marche region of Italy. In 1908 he enrolled at Bolognas Academy of Fine Arts where ... More  Exhibition showcasing Salvador Dalí's rarely seen drawings opens in FloridaST. PETERSBURG, FLA.- Experience the rare opportunity to see Salvador DalÃs fragile works on paper, highlighting the artists creative process throughout the many phases of his career in Where Ideas Come From: DalÃs Drawings, on view until Oct. 22 at The Dalà Museum. The exhibition chronicles the movement of the renowned Surrealists imagination through more than 100 pencil, pen, charcoal, watercolor and gouache works, many of which have been secured in the Museums vault for more than three decades and likely will not be displayed again for many years to come. Where Ideas Come From also marks the debut of two recent Surrealist acquisitions by The DalÃ: Drawing for Bacchanale, Ludwig II of Bavaria (1939), a ballet-inspired portrait of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and Untitled (Paranoiac Face) (c. 1935), a frontispiece dedicated to Paul Ãluard from DalÃs book C ... More  Unscripted or not, the Tonys were mostly predictableNEW YORK, NY.- No writers names crawled up the screen at the end of Sunday nights telecast of the Tony Awards, and though the writers might not like to hear it, their absence made little difference. The names of the shows producers and director were the same as always, and in television as in the theater, they call the game. Naturally, the strike by the Writers Guild of America against film and television conglomerates including Paramount, which presented the event on its various platforms had no effect on what was produced on Broadway during the 2022-23 season honored by these Tonys, nor on who won. Mostly those things bore out the predictions, and many peoples predilections, too. Kimberly Akimbo, the sweet, intimate, tragicomic nerdical by Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire, won the most musical prizes, including ... More  What's a podcast doing at a film festival?NEW YORK, NY.- When Winnie and Alex Kemp submitted their first original fiction podcast The Imperfection to the 2021 Tribeca Festival, they set their expectations near the curb. The couple, co-founders of the podcast studio Wolf at the Door, believed in the project. Making the nine-episode series a surrealist caper about two impaired friends whose psychiatrist goes missing had been a nearly yearlong labor of love, but early signals from the market had been humbling. An agent the couple hired to find distribution for the show had come back empty-handed, and emails to 200 journalists generated just one reply a rejection. At the Tribeca Festival, which dropped the word film from its name that year and expanded its focus on video games, virtual reality, music and audio, The Imperfection received a warmer reception. It was among the inaugural slate ... More  Bonhams appoints Katie Kennedy as new Head of Bonhams Geneva officeGENEVA.- Bonhams announced the appointment of Katie Kennedy as the new head of the Geneva office. Katie starts in her post with immediate effect. The appointment of Katie marks the companys continued growth in Europe after the successful establishment of our regional office in Geneva in 2013. Katie has an MA Hons from Edinburgh University in French and History of Art, an MA from Sorbonne Paris IV in Contemporary Art and studied at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. She also holds a post-graduate diploma in Neuroscience from Kings College London. Katie Kennedy brings with her 15 years of experience on the international art market having worked for auction houses such as Christies, Phillips and as Director for Europe at Marianne Boesky Gallery. She ran a private art advisory for several years working with major European private ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
Gabriele Münter 
TARWUK 
Awol Erizku 
Leo Villareal
Flashback On a day like today, American-French painter Mary Cassatt died June 14, 1926. Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 - June 14, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania (Now part of Pittsburgh's North Side), but lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists. In this image: Mary Cassatt (1845-1926), Mother and Two Children, 1906. Oil on canvas.
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