| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Wednesday, May 27, 2020 |
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| | How will we remember the pandemic? Museums are already beginning to decide | |
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Brighid Pulskamp on May 14, 2020, at her sewing machine in La Habra, Calif., where she creates her Navajo-inspired PPE masks to distribute on the reservation. Some will be in the Autry Museum collection. Adam Amengual/The New York Times.
by Adam Popescu
LOS ANGELES (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Six-year-old Franklin Wong captured the simple frustration of being a student in the Los Angeles Unified School District in mid-March, after his classes were canceled. He wrote in big blocky letters: ÂI did not go anywhere, and added an unhappy face in green and red crayon for his remote-learning assignment. This may be the first time a first grader's homework is headed to a permanent museum collection instead of a parentÂs refrigerator door, a novelty that underscores how far into uncharted waters curators are sailing. The Autry Museum of the American West, which recently acquired FranklinÂs diary, is among the growing contingent of museums, academic institutions and historical societies from here to Bozeman, Montana, and Washington, D.C., that have begun recording this moment of collective uncertainty in the countryÂs war against the coronavirus. ÂMuseums have a responsibility to meet history h ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day A man walks across the archeological site of Pompeii on May 26, 2020, as the country eases its lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. Italy's world-famous archeological site Pompeii reopened to the public on May 26, but with foreign tourists still prohibited from travel to Italy until June, the site that attracted just under 4 million visitors in 2019 is hoping that for now, Italian tourists can make up at least a fraction of the difference. Tiziana FABI / AFP
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 | | Britain's Turner Prize cancelled, 10 artists to share grants | | Ian Davenport's new paintings, directly referencing works by Pierre Bonnard, at Waddington Custot | | 3 Africans in Mexico City grave tell stories of slavery's toll | 
File photo of Oscar Murillo, Turner Prize 2019 Evening Reception. Photo: Stuart Wilson Getty Images.
LONDON (AFP).- London's Tate Museum on Tuesday cancelled this year's Turner Prize because of the coronavirus and said it will award £10,000 grants to 10 deserving British artists instead. Judges would have traditionally announced a short-list for the prestigious competition this month and revealed the winner -- and awarded an accompanying £25,000 ($30,800, 28,100 euro) prize -- in December. But Tate Britain said "the tight timetable for preparing the annual exhibition would not have been achievable under the present restrictions." "The decision was made to help support a larger selection of artists through this period of profound disruption and uncertainty," the museum said in a statement. The 10 joint winners will be selected at the end of June. Tate Britain Director Alex Farquharson said lockdowns aimed at fighting the spread of the virus were causing enormous stress for artists because most galleries have been closed for months. "We have decided to ... More | | 
Ian Davenport, Cobalt Blue and Brilliant Purple (After Bonnard), 2020, acrylic on aluminium on aluminium panel, 162.5 x 132 cm.
LONDON.- Waddington Custot launched New Work, an online platform debuting painting and sculpture by leading contemporary artists working today. The initiative begins with a series of dedicated solo exhibitions opening at intervals throughout the summer. A recently completed body of work by London-based artist Ian Davenport kicked off the programme. New Work: Ian Davenport features four 'Puddle Paintings', which continue the artist's celebrated exploration of colour. Central to Davenport's practice is his choice of palette and unconventional methods in his application of paint. The colour combinations in this series directly reference paintings by French artist Pierre Bonnard, which Davenport encountered at the 2019 exhibition 'Pierre Bonnard: The Colour of Memory' at Tate Modern. Working in particular response to 'Nude in the Bath', 1936, Davenport's paintings explore Bonnard's continually shifting colour palette, ... More | | 
In an undated photo from R. Barquera & N. Bernal , the skulls and modified teeth of three people taken from Africa and buried hundreds of years ago in a mass grave in Mexico City. R. Barquera & N. Bernal via The New York Times.
by Nicholas St. Fleur
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The three skulls were unlike hundreds of others in the 16th-century mass grave uncovered at the San José de los Naturales Royal Hospital in Mexico City. Their front teeth were filed decoratively, perhaps as a ritual custom, unlike those of los naturales, the indigenous people who made up the majority of bodies at the colonial burial site. Archaeologists concluded the three individuals were most likely enslaved Africans, but they needed more evidence to be certain. Now, researchers have extracted genetic information from the individuals teeth, confirming they were Africans, perhaps among the earliest to be stolen from their homeland and brought to the Americas. We studied their whole skeletons, and we ... More |
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| | Simon Lee Gallery opens an online exhibition of works by German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann | | Sotheby's Hong Kong EYE/EAST almost doubles pre-sale estimate | | Italy's Pompeii reopens its ruins to public | 
Hans-Peter Feldmann, Two Sisters by Shadow (Zwei Schwestern von Schadow). Painted plaster, 56 x 29 x 20 cm (22 1/8 x 11 3/8 x 7 7/8 in.) Courtesy: © Hans-Peter Feldmann.
LONDON.- Simon Lee Gallery is presenting an online exhibition of works by German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann. Since the 1960s, Düsseldorf-based Feldmann has amassed a prolific collection of photography, painting, postcards, knick-knacks and everyday ephemera. With the majority of his work untitled and undated, he gives away as little empirical information as possible to his audience, instead encouraging an unbiased viewing experience, unbound by context. With surprising humour and subtle intervention, Feldmann systematically reconstructs existing images and objects to reflect on representation and the construction of ideologies. In doing so, he challenges the boundaries of high-art and disrupts long-held assertions ... More | | 
An Extremely Rare 'Snowflake-Blue' Incense Burner Mark and Period of Xuande Sells for HK$4,375,000 / US$564,200. Courtesy Sotheby's.
HONG KONG.- Sotheby's Hong Kong EYE/EAST concluded last Friday with a total of HK$33,788,250 / US$4,357,333, nearly doubling the pre-sale estimate. The cross-category sale was led by An Extremely Rare 'SnowflakeBlue' Incense Burner, Mark and Period of Xuande, which achieved HK$4,375,000 / US$564,200, over five times its presale estimate. Two artist records were set for Chloe Hos Midnight Blooms (HK$325,000/ US$41,912) and Chen Yingjies Breaking - Loong Series II (HK$93,750/ US$12,090). Nicolas Chow, Chairman, Sothebys Asia, International Head and Chairman, Chinese Works of Art, comments, The success of EYE/EAST reflects a healthy appetite for quality works. Even without in-room bidding, we were encouraged to witness enthusiastic bidding around the world, with particularly ... More | | 
A visitor walks across the archeological site of Pompeii on May 26, 2020. Tiziana FABI / AFP.
POMPEII (AFP).- Italy's world-famous archaeological site Pompeii reopened to the public on Tuesday as the country's coronavirus lockdown lifted -- though guides outnumbered tourists at the ancient Roman city. The exceptionally-preserved remains of the city covered in volcanic ash by the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago in 79 A.D. are usually the country's second-most visited site after the Colosseum in Rome. But on Tuesday, many of its most important ruins, like its stone Amphitheatre or Temple of Apollo, lay hauntingly empty. With foreign tourists still prohibited from travel to Italy until June, the site that attracted just under four million visitors in 2019 is hoping that for now, Italian tourists can make up at least a fraction of the difference. One, Antonio DiGiuseppe, said he came every year to visit the ruins. He that being at Pompeii without ... More |
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| | Quebec comes to rescue of struggling Cirque du Soleil | | Christie's announces The Edited Collections Online Sales May-June 2020 | | Asterix creator who died from virus leaves drawings to hospitals | 
In this file Canadian circus troop "Cirque du Soleil" performs in their acrobatic performance on ice titled CRYSTAL on January 15, 2020 at Arena Riga, Latvia. Gints Ivuskans / AFP.
MONTREAL (AFP).- The Quebec government on Tuesday offered a conditional loan of US$200 million to Cirque du Soleil, the world's most famous circus troupe, which is struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic. "I am announcing today that the executive council has granted financial assistance of up to $200 million for the revival of the circus," said Quebec's economy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon. He noted that an agreement in principle between the province and Cirque's current shareholders -- American investment group TPG Capital and China's Fosun Group, as well as the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) -- had been reached. Under the agreement, Cirque du Soleil's headquarters will stay in Montreal, and Quebec can potentially buy out the participating shares from the Chinese and American groups. ... More | | 
Bouke de Vries, Tang dynasty. Camel and mixed media. Estimate: £5,000-8,000.
LONDON.- Christies programme of online-only sales continues to evolve with a further series of auctions that place an increased emphasis on the dialogue that exists between objects and artwork, artists and makers. Presented within engaging themes, each auction provides collectors with an opportunity to continue their exploration of the world through art and artefacts that transcend the limits of a category or a defined moment in history. These range from a sale that traces the development of portraiture as a genre to a survey of art that transports the viewer to a different time and place. An online selling exhibition titled Art to Wear will provide insight into artists who have created jewellery portable artworks that adorn the body of the wearer [now live until 10 June]. Out of Office: Art That Transports [now live until 10 June] provides a selection of work to transcend the viewer from the current home ... More | | 
In this file photo taken on October 12, 2015 French cartoonist and author Albert Uderzo takes part in a press conference in Paris for the release of the Asterix album "Le Papyrus de Cesar" (Caesar's Papyrus). Bertrand GUAY / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- Four original drawings by the creator of Asterix the Gaul sold Tuesday for nearly 400,000 euros to benefit Paris hospitals. Albert Uderzo, who invented the plucky hero who gleefully took on Roman legions, died from heart failure linked to the coronavirus in March at the age of 92. His widow Ada said the charity auction was a way of thanking "our new heroes who have resisted the invader," a reference to the virus that has killed more than 28,000 people in France. The four original cartoons sold for 390,000 euros ($426,000), the auction house Artcurial told AFP. Uderzo co-created Asterix with scriptwriter Rene Goscinny and kept the epic going after his friend's untimely death in 1977. He went on to create an entire gallery of characters beloved of children and adults across the world. The ... More |
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| | Mexican filmmaker Cuaron backs domestic workers over pay | | Kröller-Müller Museum reopens on 1 June | | Classic car auctions upended by coronavirus | 
In this file photo taken on November 02, 2019 Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron arrives for the 2019 LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles. Jean-Baptiste LACROIX / AFP.
MEXICO CITY (AFP).- Oscar-winning Mexican film director Alfonso Cuaron on Tuesday backed calls to ensure thousands of domestic workers laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be paid. "It is our responsibility as employers to pay their wages in this time of uncertainty," said Cuaron, who won the best director Oscar at the 2019 Academy Awards for "Roma." "The objective of this campaign is to remember how important it is to take care of those who care for us and the respect that the workers deserve," the 58-year-old filmmaker said. Cuaron, whose film cast a spotlight on Latin America's domestic workers, threw his weight behind a campaign by the Center for Support and Training for Domestic Employees, CACEH. The majority of Mexico's 2.3 million domestic employees live a precarious existence from day to day and have no social security, the organization said. "Thousands of these workers ... More | | 
Ewerdt Hilgemann, Hanging cube, 2020. Stainless steel, 66 à 66 à 66 cm (diameter ca. 100 cm). Lent by Ewerdt Hilgemann. Collection of the artist /© Ewerdt Hilgemann. Photo: Marjon Gemmeke.
OTTERLO.- The Kröller-Müller Museum will reopen to the public on 1 June at 12.00 oclock. Lisette Pelsers, director of the Kröller-Müller: We are delighted to be able to receive our visitors again. We want to offer them a safe, but also enjoyable and relaxed visit. The peace and space of our sculpture garden and the beautiful surrounding nature will certainly help! In order to limit the number of visitors in the museum at the same time, tickets are only available via the museums website. You can book a time for the start of your visit. Online ticket sales will start on Friday 29 May. Additional measures have also been taken in the museum. For example, a maximum number of visitors per room has been established and there is a fixed walking route, which takes you through the exhibitions and the entire collection. Hygiene measures have been taken for both the visitors and the museum staff. The exhibitions Not in so many words ... More | | 
The headquarters for Bring a Trailer, in San Francisco, Feb. 10, 2020. Kenny Hurtado/The New York Times.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- After collapsing last year, auctions for collector vehicles started 2020 on a roll, ringing up more than $300 million in sales at events in January in Scottsdale, Arizona, and in March on Amelia Island in Florida. Indeed, last month the collector car website BringaTrailer.com recorded more than $26 million in sales, up by some 64% over 2019. Forty cars went for more than six figures, including a customized 1952 Jaguar roadster originally owned by actor Clark Gable that sold for $276,000. He bought the car in 1952 for a sticker price that just topped $4,000. Little more than a month after the Amelia Island auction, however, and with the coronavirus bringing the economy to a standstill, organizers of the Pebble Beach Concours dElegance in Carmel, California, announced they were canceling the event for only the second time in its 70-year history. It has become increasingly unclear whether or not gatherings of our size will be allowed in August, said Sandra Button, chairw ... More |
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'I Have to Stay at Home' - An Auction for Lockdown
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 Major new public artwork by Stefan Brüggemann unveiled in FolkestoneFOLKESTONE.- Artist Stefan Brüggemann has unveiled OK (untitled action), a new public artwork in Folkestone. For this major installation, the frontage of a four-storey building in the towns Creative Quarter has been gilded with gold leaf with the word OK scrawled over it in black spray paint at large scale. The artwork, commissioned by local not-for-profit arts organisation HOP Projects for its headquarters, has been created during lockdown as a response to the current situation and is typical of Brüggemanns often-ironic work. Gold leaf, historically reserved for artworks intended to convey spiritual or indeed economic power, is used by Brüggemann as a canvas for an unceremonious and immediate form of expression: graffiti. The word OK is written using thick lashings of paint in a gestural process that leaves the excess dripping down in black lines ... More Spring auction of 18th & 19th glass & lighting produces strong resultsMT. CRAWFORD, VA.- The Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates spring auction of 18th & 19th glass & lighting was held on May 19 & 20 at the firms Mt. Crawford, VA gallery. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the sale was conducted with remote bidding only, in the same manner as the firms March and April auctions. Company president and senior auctioneer Jeffrey S. Evans noted, We offered five different ways to bid in this auction and competition was intense across all platforms. Prices overall were some of the strongest we have seen in many years. In some instances results were at or above pre-recession levels! The auction featured part one of the collection of the late Alexander Hierholzer (Holt) and Harry Saunders, Philadelphia, PA: the Duane Sand collection, Eureka Springs, AR; the cup plate collection of the late Dolores J. Bowler, Ayer, MA; the collection of Lynne ... More 'Kind of Blue' jazz drummer Jimmy Cobb dies: US mediaNEW YORK (AFP).- Jimmy Cobb, the drummer on Miles Davis's 1959 jazz classic "Kind of Blue" -- revered by critics as one of the greatest albums of all time -- has died aged 91, US media reported Monday. His wife Eleana Cobb said the musician died on Sunday of lung cancer at home in Manhattan, according to broadcaster NPR and other outlets. "He was a very special and unusual person -- a gifted musician with natural talent, like an athlete," she told the New York Daily News. Cobb had been the last surviving member of the sextet who recorded "Kind of Blue" over two days in a converted church in New York. Led by Davis at the height of his career on his crisp and soulful trumpet, the group included saxophone legends John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, and bassist Paul Chambers. In a 2009 interview with AFP, Cobb ... More Unsung heroes of Dunkirk evacuation revealed on 80th anniversary LONDON.- From an underwater telephone line, an inspiring Vice Admiral and a dedicated Wren to a hot cup of cocoa, English Heritage is today (26 May) calling on the public to recognise the unsung heroes of the Miracle of Dunkirk when exactly 80 years ago an operation controlled from Dover Castle in Kent rescued 338,226 soldiers from the jaws of defeat in France. To mark the anniversary, the charity hosts an online event on Twitter (@EnglishHeritage), recreating the tension and unfolding events of the evacuation day-by-day from 26 May 4 June. Still regarded as one of the most successful rescue missions in history, the operation codenamed Dynamo brings forth visions of lines of men on the beaches of France and Belgium and the ships that came to their aid. It is often overlooked that behind the frontline were a group of men and women who, there but for the grace o ... More Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli says he had coronavirusROME (AFP).- Renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli said Tuesday he had caught the novel coronavirus but was now recovered, describing the experience as "a nightmare". Bocelli, who has been blind since age 12, raised spirits in Italy during the pandemic, which has killed nearly 33,000 people, by singing alone in Milan's Duomo on April 12. That was just over a month after the 61-year-old had tested positive for the virus. "It was a tragedy, my whole family was contaminated," he told journalists at a hospital in Pisa where he had gone with his wife to donate their plasma for COVID-19 research. The blood plasma will be used by scientists hoping to develop treatments. "We all had a fever -- though thankfully not high ones -- with sneezing and coughing," Bocelli said. "I had to cancel many concerts... It was like living a nightmare because I felt like I was no longer ... More Ketterer Kunst announces charity auction 'PIN. Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne e.V.'MUNICH.- Everything is different this year, but the eagerly-awaited annual charity auction PIN. Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne e.V. in November 2020 will definitely take place. The motto is Now More Than Ever. The Entire Life is Art. and it could hardly be more fitting. We did not only conceive a whole new concept for our 18th charity auction and were able to win a new partner. We will also clearly expand the longstanding commitment of our association, says Dorothée Wahl, chairwoman of PIN. Artists, galleries and collectors form a closely knit network with the museums, we want to live up to this with our new concept for the benefit of all. This is going to be the first time in our long history that consignors can have their substantial share in the auction result if they wish. Helping PIN. means helping others and yourself. PIN. has been a patron ... More DRAF announce commissions programme to offer opportunities for artists during global pandemicLONDON.- David Roberts Art Foundation announced a new commission development programme and six artists who have been selected for this new opportunity. In these extraordinary times, DRAF believes it is more vital than ever that those who can must continue to create opportunities for artists, at all stages in their careers, to make new work. The commission development programme is for artists whose practice includes live performance. This is an opportunity to commission and pay artists during a period when so many projects, fees and residencies have been cancelled or postponed. Each artist will receive a £3000 fee - which is more than industry standard - and with associated production budgets also to follow. As performance in particular relies on social engagement and people coming together DRAF wants to support artists working in ... More The U.S. is getting shorter, as mapmakers race to keep upNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Height is height, right? Look at a Manhattan skyscraper, or the Washington Monument, or a mountain peak in California, and you imagine that it will be the same height tomorrow as it is today. But across the United States, the heights of structures, landmarks, valleys, hills and just about everything else are about to change, at least with regard to average sea level. Most will get shorter. Parts of the Pacific Northwest will shrink by as much as 5 feet, and parts of Alaska by 6 1/2, according to Juliana P. Blackwell, director of the National Geodetic Survey. Seattle will be 4.3 feet lower than it is now. Thats because height is only height compared to a reference point and geodesists, who calculate the Earths shape, size, gravitational field and orientation in space over time, are redefining the reference point, or vertical ... More Mourners gather for funeral of Guinean singer Mory KanteCONAKRY (AFP).- Hundreds of people gathered to mourn the death of Guinean singer Mory Kante in his native country's capital Conakry on Tuesday, to the sound of keening and traditional musical laments. Kante, who helped introduce African music to a world audience in the 1980s, died in Conakry on Friday after at age 70 after succumbing to untreated health problems. Restrictions related to the global coronavirus pandemic had prevented him from travelling abroad to seek medical help. Born into a celebrated family of "griots" -- traditional singer-poets -- Kante is best known for his dance song "Yeke Yeke," which was a huge hit in Africa before becoming a No. 1 in several European countries in 1988. At a pre-burial ceremony on the grounds of a Conakry hospital on Tuesday, two women collapsed in tears as the musician's coffin, which was draped in the Guinean ... More The Art Gallery of South Australia appoints to new Board membersADELAIDE.- The Art Gallery of South Australia today announces the appointment of two new Board members, Cara Kirkwood and Jason Karas, both long-time supporters of the Gallery. In Caras appointment, AGSA welcomes its first Aboriginal person to join its Board in the Gallerys history. A national advocate and influencer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, art and culture, Kirkwood is a Mandandanji, Bidjara and Mithaka woman who has worked in important leadership roles around the country as an expert in Indigenous culture and policy. Currently a member of AGSAs Tarnanthi Advisory Committee, Kirkwood has previously delivered highly successful events including working as a Project Manager for Tarnanthi in 2017. Her appointment to the Board expands her role to provide Aboriginal leadership to AGSA more broadly. Kirkwood ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, French painter Georges Rouault was born May 27, 1871. Georges Henri Rouault (27 May 1871, Paris - 13 February 1958) was a French painter, draughtsman, and printer, whose work is often associated with Fauvism and Expressionism. In this image: Georges Rouault (French 1871-1958), Tristes Os, 1934. Color etching and aquatint wove paper, 12 1/4" x 7 7/8"Â. SUAC 1975.22.08.
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