| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |    | Established in 1996 | Wednesday, May 31, 2023 |
| | The mystery of the disappearing van Gogh | |
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The Shanghai apartment complex that is home to Liu Hailong, the man who paid the nearly $62 million bill for the van Gogh, on March 10, 2023. After âStill Life, Vase with Daisies and Poppiesâ by Vincent van Gogh sold at auction in November 2014, a movie producer claimed to be the owner. It later vanished from sight, with a trail leading to Caribbean tax havens and a jailed Chinese billionaire. (The New York Times)
by Michael Forsythe, Isabelle Qian, Muyi Xiao and Vivian Wang
NEW YORK, NY.- The bidding for Lot 17 started at $23 million. In the packed room at Sothebyâs in New York City, the price quickly climbed: $32 million, $42 million, $48 million. Then a new prospective buyer, calling from China, made it a contest between just two people. On the block that evening in November 2014 were works by impressionist painters and modernist sculptors that would make the auction the most successful yet in the firmâs history. But one painting drew particular attention: âStill Life, Vase with Daisies and Poppies,â completed by Vincent van Gogh weeks before his death. Pushing the price to almost $62 million, the Chinese caller prevailed. His offer was the highest for a van Gogh still life at auction. In the discreet world of high-end art, buyers often remain anonymous. But the winning bidder, a p ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day This summer, Tate St Ives presents the first major museum exhibition of the Casablanca Art School, whose revolutionary approach proposed a bold new visual culture following Moroccoâs independence in 1956. Casablanca Art School Installation View at Tate St Ives 2023 Photo Tate (Oliver Cowling)
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| Romance & Nature: Berkshire Museum displays collection from Hudson River School of Art | | Chiharu Shiota: Memory Under the Skin on view at Galerie Templon | | Yoshitomo Nara: All My Little Words now on view at the Albertina Modern | 
Installation view of Romance & Nature.
PITTSFIELD, MA.- Berkshire Museum offers a look into the deep history of the Hudson River School of Art with an exhibition featuring paintings from the Museums collection. Works by artists Thomas Hill, Edward Moran, John James Audubon, among many others will be displayed in the Museums second-floor gallery spaces. Romance & Nature will be on display from Saturday, June 3 through Sunday, October 1. Tours of the exhibition will be offered on Saturday, June 3 at 12 pm, 1 pm, and 2 pm advance registration is highly recommended. Tours are included with admission. Berkshire Museums Chief Curator, Jesse Kowalski, said this of the upcoming exhibition: The Berkshire Museum is proud to present Romance & Nature: Art of the Hudson River School, which features several paintings from the Museums collection by many of the movements leading artists. The Hudson River School romanticized the idea of Manifest Destiny ... More | | 
Chiharu Shiota, The Extended Line, 2023. Cordes, papier et bronze | Ropes, paper, bronze
Photo: Adrien Millot.
NEW YORK, NY.- Memory under the Skin by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota, now on at Galerie Templon, takes visitors on an enthralling journey exploring three spectacular site-specific installations and a series of new yarn sculptures. After a foundation degree in painting at Seika University in Kyoto, Chiharu Shiota chose to pursue her artistic studies in Berlin, turning her focus to performance. Her practice soon shifted towards site-specific installations and the creation of vast ephemeral environments. She delicately weaves knotted threads to create fantastical scenes combining a variety of salvaged objects: window frames, worn musical instruments, cardboard suitcases, rusty keys, books and old used clothes. Her increasingly ambitious installations, to be found in museums worldwide, have become her signature; one by one they ... More | | 
Yoshitomo Nara, Miss Margaret, 2016. Private Collection, United States of America © Yoshitomo Nara. Foto: Yoshitomo Nara.
VIENNA.- Yoshitomo Nara (b. 1959) is one of the best-known artists of his generation worldwide. Since the 1990s, he has attracted international attention with his so-called Angry Girls, heavily stylized images of girls with grim expressions, vampire fangs, and knives in their hands. With their childlike cuteness, the figures recall the aesthetics of comics and cartoons, ranging from snotty brats to naïve, sweet-looking characters. Behind what seems to be innocent or even cutesy creatures at first glance hides a punk attitudein a critical rather than in a destructive sense: these are strong little personalities who question things, rebel, and do not put up with anything; who defy the adult world and, somehow, their own growing up; who reveal their opinions and feelings with an honesty and authenticity that is unique to children, and who are allowed ... More |
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| 'Picasso: Untitled' 50 works to be retitled and re-signified by 50 artists | | L.A. museum exhibition celebrates Keith Haring's embrace of activism and community | | Now on view: Focused installation of Philip Guston's late works | 
Installation view. Picasso: Sin TÃtulo. La Casa Encendida: Estudio Perplejo. 50 years since the death of Picasso, 50 works by the artist, 50 artists who retitle and re-signify them. "Picasso almost never titled his works; his friends, agents and curators did it for him. Bernard Ruiz-Picasso.
MADRID.- Since May 19th, and until January 2024, the exhibition Picasso: Untitled at La Casa Encendida of Fundación Montemadrid is presenting fifty works from the artists last period (1963-1973). Of these, twelve had not been shown to the public until now and twenty-three are being displayed in Spain for the first time. All of them have a title and a new description, proposed by each of the fifty guest artists. This as Bernard Ruiz-Picasso tells us is in line with the practice of Picassos friends and associates during the artists own life. In this way, Picassos work is transformed, interrogated and re-signified through parallel histories that offer a radically contemporary perspective of the work of an artist who died fifty years ago in 2023. The new titles and descriptions, some produced through speculative processes and others through poetic or political interpretations, collectively construct a comp ... More | | 
Installation view of Keith Haring: Art Is for Everybody exhibition at The Broad, Los Angeles, May 27, 2023 October 8, 2023. Photo by Joshua White/JWPictures.com, courtesy of The Broad.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Broad opened a new special exhibition Keith Haring: Art Is for Everybody, on May 27th, which will continue until October 8, 2023. Organized by The Broad, this show will be the first ever museum exhibition in Los Angeles to present Harings expansive body of work and will feature over 120 artworks and archival materials. Known for his use of vibrant color, energetic linework and iconic characters like the barking dog and the radiant baby, Harings work continues to dissolve barriers between art and life and spread joy, all while being rooted in the creative spirit and mission of his subway drawings and renowned public murals: art is for everybody. Born in 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania, Haring moved to New York City in 1978 to study art. He quickly became a staple within the downtown New York arts community with the likes of artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scharf and Andy Warhol. Harings output ... More | | 
Philip Guston (American (born Canada), 19131980), Sleeping, 1977. Oil on canvas, 84 à 69 in. (213.4 à 175.3 cm) Promised Gift of Musa Guston Mayer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art © The Estate of Philip Guston, courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Photograph by Genevieve Hanson.
NEW YORK, NY.- Philip Guston: What Kind of Man Am I? celebrates the promised gift to The Met of 220 paintings and drawings from the artists daughter Musa Guston Mayer. The focused installation features eight works created during the last eleven years of Gustons life, the most prolific period of his artistic career. The works are: Pittore (1973), Pantheon (1973), Sleeping (1977), Riding Around (1969), The Palette (1975), Painters Hand (1979), and two untitled paintings from 1980. Max Hollein, The Mets Marina Kellen French Director, said, We are delighted to celebrate Musas extraordinary gift to The Met with this special installation, providing a glimpse into the many ways in which we will engage with the work of Philip Guston in the years ahead. By focusing on outstanding paintings from Gustons later career, the display highlights his unflagging ... More |
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| How the arts can benefit your mental health (no talent required) | | Peabody Essex Museum announces the launch of a TikTok Creator-in-Residence program | | How many giraffes are in the air we breathe? at Nottingham Contemporary | 
The notion that art can improve mental well-being is something many people intuitively understand but can lose sight of especially if we have become disconnected from the dancing, creative writing, drawing and singing we used to enjoy as children. (Keith Negley/The New York Times)
by Christina Caron
NEW YORK, NY.- When Dr. Frank Clark was in medical school studying to be a psychiatrist, he decided to write his first poem. All that chatter that is in my head, everything that Ive been feeling, I can now just put it on paper and my pen can do the talking, he said, recalling his thoughts at the time. Back then, he was struggling with depression and had been relying on a number of things to keep it at bay, including running, therapy, medication and his faith. I had to find something else to fill the void, he said. It turned out that poetry was the missing piece in his wellness puzzle. I saw an improvement in my mood, said Clark, who now sees patients in Greer, South Carolina. It gave me another outlet. The notion ... More | | 
The TikTok Creator-in-Residence program will enable the chosen creator to hone their skills, gain workplace experience, and build their portfolio. Courtesy Peabody Essex Museum.
SALEM, MA.- The Peabody Essex Museum has announced the launch of a TikTok Creator-in-Residence program the first of its kind for any U.S. art museum. Now accepting applications for the summer of 2023, the program seeks to collaborate with current or recent graduates of New England area art schools to increase engagement with PEMs TikTok channel by producing creative videos that explore the museum's art and collections, events, and stories. "As an institution that readily embraces innovation and creativity in all of its forms, we are thrilled to launch our TikTok Creator-in-Residence program," said Dr. Kurt Steinberg, PEMs Chief Operating Officer and former President of Montserrat College of Art. "This program offers a singular opportunity for art school students to combine their love of art and culture with a valuable ... More | | 
Eva Kotatkova, Photo: ArthurPequin. This exhibition is curated by Nicole Yip and Amanda Spruyt.
NOTTINGHAM.- Eva KoťÃ¡tkovás installations, now on view at Nottingham Contemporary, invite us to enter a different kind of world one where social rules and hierarchies are critically reimagined. Combining sculptures, collages, costumes, texts and sound, her vast and playful scenographies centre the agency of the imagination. A giant bush is given voice; children befriend monsters; animals, plants, objects and people enjoy equal rights. For KoťÃ¡tková, the imagination is not about reverie. It is a critical tool to envision how the world could otherwise be, freed from the forms of oppression, inequality and violence that keep us captive within normative structures. Often activated through performance and storytelling, her installations present a cosmological worldview ruled by a different set of empathetic relations. KoťÃ¡tkovás exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary consists of an entirely new body of commi ... More |
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| Morphy's June Fine & Decorative Arts Auction offers ultimate in luxury and quality | | Guitar making as a life's work | | This town made Tina Turner. She made it famous. | 
Favrile glass vase by Tiffany Studios. Signed to the underside "LC Tiffany 1372N." Condition: Excellent, free of any cracks or chips.
DENVER, PA.- Stunning jewelry and watches, early Amphora pottery, and a spectacular array of 18 Tiffany Studios lamps are among the highlights of a shining selection of fine and decorative art to be auctioned by Morphys on June 7-8, 2023. Those who wish to bid remotely either before or during the 837-lot gallery event may do so by phone, absentee or live online via Morphy Live. Each piece in this sale from dazzling diamonds to fancifully-carved antique walking sticks has been examined, evaluated and cataloged by the appropriate expert from Morphys respected team of professionals. An experienced eye is especially important when the subject matter is as exquisite as the auctions top jewelry lot: an extremely rare mint/boxed Ulysse Nardin platinum, diamond and sapphire Royal Blue Mystery Tourbillon watch, Reference No. 799-93. This ... More | | 
Guitar maker Freeman Vines plays in his wheelchair, in his studio in Fountain, N.C., on April 25, 2023. (Sasha Arutyunova/The New York Times)
by Joshua Needelman
NEW YORK, NY.- Freeman Vines was chasing a sound. He couldnt remember where hed heard it, but it reverberated in his mind. His attempts to replicate it on mass-produced guitars were fruitless, so Vines took matters into his own hands: In 1958, he started to make guitars. I didnt care how the guitar looked. I didnt care what color the guitar was, Vines said in a 2020 documentary called Hanging Tree Guitars: the Art of Freeman Vines, produced by Music Maker Foundation, a nonprofit that supports Southern artists like Vines. I was looking for a tone. Vines, now 80, never did replicate the sound, but along the way he crafted dozens of unique guitars, using wood from barns, troughs and other unexpected and meaningful sources. ... More | | 
The Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church in Nutbush, Tenn., May 25, 2023. Nutbush, which singer Tina Turner immortalized in song, is mourning her death and reflecting on how she opened the community up to the world. (Whitten Sabbatini/The New York Times)
NUTBUSH, TENN.- Reaching Nutbush, a speck of a Tennessee town between Memphis and Nashville, requires exiting Interstate 40, just after the tourism billboard plastered with Tina Turners photo, passing the Tina Turner Museum and driving up the Tina Turner Highway, which leads to the towns sign declaring it the Birthplace of Tina Turner. Theres little doubt over Nutbushs claim to fame. The iconic singer did not come back often. Hardly ever, in truth. Years ago, when David Letterman asked her why on his talk show, she replied, Theres nothing to go back to, really. But after Turner died last week at her chateau in Switzerland, the residents of Nutbush found meaning as the repository of Tina Turners origin story, ... More |
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The Magnificent Jewels of Anne Eisenhower
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 Club Ebony, a historic blues venue tied to B.B. King, rises againNEW YORK, NY.- Club Ebony, a famed blues venue in Indianola, Mississippi, that was part of the chitlin circuit a loose network of Black-owned clubs and venues in segregated American cities has hosted hundreds of memorable moments. Bobby Rush, an 89-year-old blues singer, recalled one of his favorites in a recent interview: a scene from B.B. Kings 2014 homecoming concert. As King was meandering through an extended take on Bill Withers Aint No Sunshine, he noticed Rush had dozed off. Ladies and gentlemen, he began, according to Rush. I got my best friend in the house. Im playing this music. And hes laying over there asleep on me. The audience cackled, and Rush joined King onstage with his harmonica to cap his friends final performance there, ending a tradition of annual concerts that began in 1980. King passed away ... More  A provocative satirist left a pervasive legacy, influencing African writingNEW YORK, NY.- Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina was many things in his short, frenetic life: memoirist and roving essayist, trailblazing editor and publisher, agitator and activist. After winning the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2002, he used his prize money to finance a new literary journal, Kwani? (So what? in Nairobi slang), helping to promote a generation of Kenyan and African writers. His 2005 essay in the British literary journal Granta, How to Write About Africa, eviscerated timeworn Western tropes about Africa and African writing. African characters should be colorful, exotic, larger than life but empty inside, he wrote, adding, Animals, on the other hand, must be treated as well-rounded, complex characters. African literature would never be the same. Wainaina, who died in 2019 at age 48, became an outsize ... More  Museum of the African Diaspora receives largest individual gift ever in 18-year historySAN FRANCISCO, CA.- With a major gift from SF philanthropists Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock and recent funding from the California Natural Resources Agencys Museum Grants Program, San Franciscos Museum of the African Diaspora significantly advances its vision to become the leading contemporary art museum dedicated to the art and artists of the African Diaspora. The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco announces two recent gifts and grants that radically advance its current work and vision to become the nations leading contemporary art museum dedicated to promoting and celebrating art from across the African Diaspora. A $1.5 million leadership gift from long-time San Francisco residents and philanthropists Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock ensures that MoADs critically-acclaimed and uniquely diverse exhibitions, ... More  Charles Arnoldi: Rock, Paper, Scissors on view at Charlotte Jackson Fine ArtSANTA FE, NM.- Dont hold your arms stiff and tight against your sides. As you walk through Charles Arnoldis exhibition of new work, Rock, Paper, Scissors, now on view at Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, let yourself move freely. Let yourself feel the movement. You are a three-dimensional body in space. Yes, your eyes will soak up the lines, the intricate patterning overlap of Arnoldis latest explorations of Stick Paintings. You will see the rich patinas of copper and iron paint on examples of new Chainsaw pieces. And you will search for the ways that lines, cracks, texture and shadows interact on his puzzle-like stacked sculptural forms. But Arnoldis medium is more than visual, more than paint or metal, than sticks, wood, or foam. Arnoldi works with space. And more properly with movement through space. Arnoldi has never been one to let himself be pigeonholed ... More  John Moran Auctioneers' Modern & Contemporary Fine Art sale, Tuesday, June 13thLOS ANGELES, CA.- As we approach the second half of 2023, John Moran Auctioneers will present their bi-annual Modern & Contemporary Fine Art sale, Tuesday, June 13th at 12:00pm PDT. This auction features works by many important arts of the 20th and 21st centuries, including paintings, prints and multiples, photography, and sculpture by Alice Baber, Jacques Lipschitz, Karl Benjamin, Joan Miró, Damien Hirst, Mary Lovelace ONeal, Herb Ritts, among others. This sale will also feature a capsule collection of works from the estate of the esteemed New York gallerist, Howard Wise, including important works by Charmion von Wiegand, Takis, Nam June Paik, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Peter Hujar. Howard Wise (1903-1989) was an important American art patron and gallerist who left an indelible mark on the American art scene. After beginning his career ... More  UOVO, leading storage and services provider for art expands to Southern CaliforniaNEW YORK, NY.- UOVO, the leading storage and services provider for art, fashion and wine, is pleased to announce its expansion to Southern California with the acquisition of Orange County Fine Art Storage and Display Art Services. OCFAS has been serving Orange County and the surrounding Los Angeles, San Diego and Palm Desert communities with fine art storage and logistics since its founding in 2009. The acquisition furthers UOVOs commitment to widen its reach in key markets and is part of a larger move to provide comprehensive coverage to clients along the West Coast. The announcement follows UOVOs acquisition of Ship Art International in San Francisco in 2021, adding to its growth in California. The addition of OCFAS to UOVOs portfolio will allow seamless service throughout Southern California, a vital hub for collectors, ... More  Amsterdam gallery presents 'UNUSUAL': pushing the boundaries of photographyAMSTERDAM.- Kahmann Gallery has announced its upcoming exhibition, 'UNUSUAL.' The show features four exceptional artists whose work transcends conventional boundaries of photography, exploring new dimensions and pushing the limits of the medium. With a captivating blend of senior expertise and fresh perspectives, this exhibition promises to challenge perceptions. The 'UNUSUAL' exhibition reflects the Amsterdam Gallery's commitment to presenting art that pushes artistic boundaries. The selected artistsSchilte & Portielje, Luuk de Haan, Nora Papp, and Asha Swillenseach bring their unique vision and artistic approach, resulting in a versatile and surprising show. Schilte & Portielje, indispensable and appreciated artist in the field, infuse their works with a sense of mystery and surrealism. Their use of light and shadow creates a dreamlike ... More  Michaan's June auctions offers 5 auction days with treasures from all over the world ALAMEDA, CA.- In June, Michaans will conduct four auctions. Starting the month off with our Annex Auction from June 12th through June14th. Followed by our Gallery Auction on Friday, June 16th. Monday, June 19th start with our Modern Auction at 10 a.m. featuring heavily sought after names like Motherwell, Mapplethorpe, Eames, Knoll and Nakashima. This auction will be followed by our Fine Asian Art Auction highlighting an Important Horizontal Landscape Hand Scroll, attributed to Jing Hao, Ninth Century (born 850-) " Autumn Evening on Mount Chu," "Shiqu Baoji" Seal Mark. June is featuring Ira Yeager | Town & Country properties from the artists homes and studio. This is a unique and eclectic collection that will be included in our June 16th Gallery Auction and our June 12th 14th Annex auction. Including pieces of furniture at that are adorned ... More  'The Casablanca Art School Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde 1962-1987' opens at Tate St IvesST IVES.- This summer, Tate St Ives presents the first major museum exhibition of the Casablanca Art School, whose revolutionary approach proposed a bold new visual culture following Moroccos independence in 1956. Reflecting a new social awareness, artist-professors including Farid Belkahia, Mohammed Chabâa and Mohamed Melehi transformed this institution by encouraging artistic experiments, looking beyond western academic traditions and drawing on existing local culture. This exhibition will explore how the teachers and students of the Casablanca Art School combined traditional Berber skills, materials and visual languages with modernist influences from Europe and North America, creating a space to reimagine ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
Gabriele Münter 
TARWUK 
Awol Erizku 
Leo Villareal
Flashback On a day like today, American artist Ellsworth Kelly was born May 31, 1923. Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 - December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color Field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, color and form, similar to the work of John McLaughlin and Kenneth Noland. Kelly often employed bright colors. He lived and worked in Spencertown, New York. In this image: A woman walks past the work 'White Relief with Black III' by the artist Ellsworth Kelly during a press conference at the Haus der Kunst (House of Arts) in Munich.
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