| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |    | Established in 1996 | Wednesday, September 27, 2023 |
| | Ancient logs offer earliest example of human woodworking | |
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Researchers here unearthed logs that are nearly a half-million years old, the remnants of large wooden structures, drastically pushing back the historical record of structural woodworking. (Geoff Duller/Aberystwyth University via The New York Times)
by Carl Zimmer
NEW YORK, NY.- Nearly half a million years ago, humans in Africa were assembling wood into large structures, according to a study published Wednesday that describes notched and tapered logs buried under sand in Zambia. The discovery drastically pushes back the historical record of structural woodworking. Before, the oldest known examples of this craft were 9,000-year-old platforms on the edge of a British lake. Ancient wood products are extremely rare because the organic material typically degrades over thousands of years, said Annemieke Milks, an archaeologist at the University of Reading who was not involved in the new study, which appeared in the journal Nature. It almost never preserves, she said. Its not clear what early humans were building in Africa. Milks said that the new discovery suggested that they used wood not just for spears or digging sticks, but also for far more ambitious creations such as platforms or walkways. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Featuring more than 250 works - sculptures, paintings and objets dâart, as well as flms and music - ranging from Antiquity to the present day, the exhibition at the Louvre-Lens museum offers a journey through time and space, retracing the history of the most famous of these animals through their legends, their powers and their habitats.
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| Presidential portraits by Kehinde Wiley, this time from Africa | | A mystery species was discovered in trafficked Pangolin scales | | New exhibition at Louvre-Lens museum in France: "Fantastic Animals" opening today | 
Kehinde Wiley at the opening of his exhibition, A Maze of Power, featuring new portraits of African presidents, at Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, Sept. 25, 2023. (Julien Mignot/The New York Times)
by Dionne Searcey
NEW YORK, NY.- American artist Kehinde Wiley shot to fame in 2018 with his unconventional presidential portrait, at least as far as U.S. presidential portraiture goes: Barack Obama seated amid a brightly colored, flowery background. Now, Wiley is again breaking the mold with a series of portraits of 11 current and former African presidents in an exhibition that opened Monday in Paris. Congo President Félix Tshisekedi poses with the cityscape of Kinshasa peeking out between curtains in the background. Macky Sall, Senegals president, holds a large staff and stands along a rocky shore, the national flag draped behind him. Former Madagascar President Hery Rajaonarimampianina is on horseback. Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo wears brightly colored traditional clothing, exposing a bare shoulder. Im trying to look at the African presidency in images, because there is no tradition of it, Wiley says ... More | | 
Scales and parts of a previously unrecognized pangolin species, M. mysteria, discovered from seizures in Hong Kong. (Yien Mo via The New York Times)
by Darren Incorvaia
NEW YORK, NY.- The pangolin is an absurd animal, a mammal thats dressed up as a reptile with a coat of scales, sharp claws and sticky saliva. Wildlife experts often say they are the most trafficked mammals in the world as poachers target pangolins for their meat and their scales, which are used in traditional medicines. There are eight species, all under various levels of threat. Or, sorry, make that nine species. Researchers have determined that scales confiscated in Hong Kong in 2012 and 2013 and in Yunnan, China, in 2015 and 2019 belong to a previously unrecognized pangolin species that has yet to be formally described but is hiding in plain sight. The find was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The amount of data that was generated on the very limited sampling they have is exceptionally impressive, said Matthew Shirley, a conservation biologist at Florida International University and chair of the IUCN SSC Pangolin ... More | | 
Henry Fuseli RA (1741 - 1825), Thor battering the Midgard Serpent, 1790. Oil on canvas, 1330 mm x 946 mm. Collection of the Royal Academy of Arts.
LENS.- Dragons, griffins, sphinxes, unicorns, phoenixes: present as early as Antiquity, fantastic animals inhabit the tiniest recesses of our contemporary world, from films and cartoons to everyday objects. By turns images of terror or admiration, expressions of our hidden unconscious and our anxieties, these often hybrid creatures contain within them a fundamental ambiguity. Who are they? Where do they come from? What do they mean? They share with real fauna the power to fascinate people. We confer on them a closeness to nature, a wildness mingled with wisdom. Yet these are no ordinary animals. They differ in their appearance. Gigantic, excessive and deformed, their bodies adopt the characteristics of several animals, such as a horses body with the wings of a bird or an eagle with a lions head. This extraordinary physiognomy is a reflection of their supernatural powers. Fantastic animals embody the elementary forces of nature: stormy waters and choleric gusts of wind, as well as ... More |
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| A tale of family intrigue and inheritance | | Sudden closure of Art Institutes leaves 1,700 students adrift | | Fondation Beyeler holding most comprehensive international show ever devoted to Georgian painter Niko Pirosmani | 
In an image provided by Richard Raczynski, Pierre Cardin and his great-nephew Louis Cardin-Edwards in the Cardin studio in Paris in 2013. The Pierre Cardin heirs are in an epic battle over the designers legacy. (Richard Raczynski via The New York Times)
by Dana Thomas
NEW YORK, NY.- French fashion designer Pierre Cardin liked to brag about all he had accomplished since he started his brand in 1950. When he welcomed a reporter into his studio at 27 Avenue de Marigny in 1999, he showed off big black-and-white photographs of his factory in France in the 1970s and pictures of him standing in Red Square with models in 1986; Cardin logo items produced by hundreds of licenses; and a catalog of his most famous futurist looks. All the couturiers were influenced by me, he said. Everyone knows Pierre Cardin. What he didnt like to talk about was what would become of his company after he was gone. Indeed, three months before Cardin died in December 2020, at 98, after a bout of COVID-19, he told a Paris Match reporter: After my death? I dont think about ... More | | 
The for-profit network of colleges is closing its final eight campuses several years after it shuttered most of them.
by Zachary Small
NEW YORK, NY.- Hundreds of students and faculty members were left stunned on Friday by the news that the Art Institutes, a system of for-profit colleges, would close its eight remaining campuses across the United States by the end of this month. The system had suffered from low enrollment since the coronavirus pandemic began. Previous challenges included a $95 million settlement after fraud allegations in 2015 and a loss of accreditation that led to the shuttering of nearly 20 other locations in 2018. When Hannah Grabhorn, 21, a sophomore studying games, art and design at the Art Institute of Atlanta, received an email on Friday that said her school was closing, she looked for more answers online. But every page on the schools website referred her back to the same notice. The email said that the Art Institutes do not anticipate any further communication. Grabhorn said she and her classmates were informed of the closure ... More | | 
Niko Pirosmani, Fisherman in a Red Shirt. Oil on oilcloth, 111 x 89.5 cm. The Collection of Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts of Georgia, Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi. © Infinitart Foundation.
RIEHEN.- As a highlight of the year, the Fondation Beyeler devotes an exhibition to the legendary Georgian painter Niko Pirosmani (18621918), as much an enigmatic free spirit as an influential precursor of modern art. Almost fanatically admired by art lovers and celebrated as a national treasure in his home country, Pirosmani is yet to be discovered by a wider Western European audience. Bringing together around 50 key works, the exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler is the most comprehensive international show ever devoted to Pirosmani. It is organised by the Fondation Beyeler in cooperation with the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk. Renowned contemporary artists Thea Djordjadze and Andro Wekua have been invited to offer their own contributions to the presentation of Pirosmanis works in Basel. Pirosmanis paintings transform the everyday into the exceptional. They ar ... More |
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| Phillips' Hong Kong fall sale presents exceptional works across 20th Century and Contemporary Art | | Canadiana & Historic Objects online-only auction planned for Saturday, October 7th by Miller & Miller | | Highlights from the Winter Art & Antiques Fair, Olympia 2023 | 
Sarah Cunningham, Lunar Phase, 2020. Oil on canvas.
HONG KONG.- Phillips is pleased to announce that their Hong Kong Sales of 20th Century & Contemporary Art are now available for viewing online. The Evening Sale will take place on 6 October, and the Day Sale will take place on 7 October at the companys new Asia Headquarters in the West Kowloon Cultural District. Featuring an exceptional group of Modern works by 20th Century Chinese masters, alongside lots by Post-War, Contemporary and Ultra-Contemporary artists, the sales represent a great depth of cross-category offerings to cater to the diversifying taste of todays collectors. The public exhibition of the works will open on 28 September and will be on view through 6 October. Jonathan Crockett, Chairman, Asia, Phillips, said, Our carefully assembled Hong Kong Fall Auctions of 20th Century & Contemporary Art bring some of the rarest works from each artists oeuvre to the fore and continue to spotlight ... More | | 
Collinson flask: Important cobalt-washed flask with incised work on both panels by the English-born Canadian artisan William Collinson (1830-1890), incised in a cursive script (est. CA$25,000-$35,000).
ONTARIO.- Four original paintings by acclaimed Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis (1903-1980), an extremely rare cobalt-washed stoneware flask from the 1850s by William Collinson, and an equally rare beaver pint fruit jar attributed to the Sydenham Glass Factory (Wallaceburg, Ontario) are a few of the expected top lots in Miller & Miller Auctions, Ltd.s online-only Canadiana & Historic Objects auction scheduled for Saturday, October 7th. The 342-lot auction, beginning promptly at 9 am Eastern time, features a well-rounded offering of fresh-to-the-market Canadiana, folk art, pottery, textiles and more from some of the best collections in the country, with material dating from the 19th-20th centuries. Canadian art ranges from the traditional work of J.J. Kenyon and Homer Watson to the great folk art of Maud Lewis. The October ... More | | 
Ken Howard Obe, RA, PNEAC., White Roses in a Vase. Oil on canvas board. Signed. Exhibitor: Haynes Fine Art.
LONDON.- Held annually, the Winter Art & Antiques Fair is a showcase of the finest art and antique dealers, offering a wide choice of high-quality objects from around the world. Positioned just as the nights are getting darker and thoughts are turning to Christmas, the 32nd edition of the Olympia Fair returns from 30 October to 5 November. Established and knowledgeable dealers present authentic pieces from ancient to contemporary including classic and 20th-century jewellery, Art Deco, glass, mirrors, silver, furniture, and all periods of art, Asian objects and much more. The Fair embraces the durability and sustainability that art and antiques embody. Prices start at under £100 and heading well over £100,000 for rare, museum-quality pieces. To ensure quality and authenticity, each piece for sale is vetted by a specialist expert committee enabling all buyers, at any level, to buy with confidence. Art makes up a good proportion of ... More |
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| 'The Red Sun is High, the Blue Low' by Gray Wielebinski is now on view at Institute of Contemporary Arts | | National Gallery of Art acquires work by Freddy RodrÃguez | | Bonhams Scotland appoints Sarah Fergusson as Senior Specialisr in Watches | 
Gray Wielebinski, The End #1, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 91.4 x 61 cm. Image: Courtesy of Hales Gallery. Copyright: Gray Wielebinski.
LONDON.- ICA London is presenting the first solo institutional exhibition of cross-disciplinary artist Gray Wielebinski (b. 1991 Dallas, TX, USA; based in London and L.A.). The exhibition features all new site-specific work across painting, sculpture, installation and sound addressing the complex state of individual agency today, specifically, anxieties underpinning apocalypticism, simulation and the systems that mediate our behaviour. Expanding Wielebinskis exploration of the boundaries of private and public spaces, with references spanning sci-fi, Cold War legacies and games, the exhibition transforms the ICA into an investigation of constructed worlds within worlds. In doing so, Wielebinski responds to the ICA neighbours on The Mall: Buckingham Palace, St. Jamess Park, and the Admiralty Citadel. The exhibitions ... More | | 
Freddy RodrÃguez, Casabe y Cruz II, 1991. Acrylic, sawdust, and glass on canvas, diameter: 121.92 cm (48 in.) National Gallery of Art, Washington, Avalon Fund 2022.135.1
WASHINGTON, DC.- Celebrated for his hard-edged abstract and expressionistic paintings, Freddy RodrÃguez (19452022) explored Caribbean and Latinx history, often focusing on the Dominican Republics Indigenous and colonial past, as well as its history of enslavement, turbulent contemporary events, and the immigration of Dominicans to the United States. The National Gallery of Art has acquired its second work by the artist. Casabe y Cruz II (1991) comes from a larger series created amid mounting celebrations in the United States and around the world to commemorate the 1992 quincentenary of Christopher Columbuss so-called discovery of the Americas. Casabe y Cruz II examines the spiritual conquest of the Americas and the imposition of European culture and Christianity ... More | | 
Sarah Fergusson, Bonhams Senior Specialist, Watches. Photo: Bonhams.
EDINBURGH.- Bonhams has appointed Sarah Fergusson as their Senior Specialist in Watches. As part of the Scotland team, Fergusson will be located at Bonhams newly launched Scottish Headquarters and Saleroom in Melville Crescent, New Town. The role will also cover the North of England as well as contribute to Bonhams international watch auctions. Bonhams Watches department holds 13 auctions a year in London, Hong Kong, Paris and online, with offices and representatives in 22 countries. Sarah Fergusson, Bonhams Senior Watch Specialist commented, I am thrilled to join Bonhams Scotland at such an exciting time. Bonhams Watches department are the UK market leader for watches at auction, setting record prices for timepieces. I greatly look forward to building on this success and expanding the opportunities for our Scottish clients. Fergusson has be ... More |
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Sound Bath In Another World: The Transcendental Painting Group, 1938-1945
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 Rare Friedrich Engels letter revealing his profound economic insights to be auctionedLOS ANGELES, CA.- A remarkably scarce letter signed by the eminent philosopher Friedrich Engels which offers a profound glimpse into his sophisticated economic theories and personal correspondence is set to go under the hammer at Nate D Sanders Auctions on September 28, 2023. Bidding begins at $160,000. This historic letter was composed on March 19, 1895, less than five months before Engels' passing, and is addressed to the journalist Carl Hirsch, the former editor of the influential social-democratic publication "The Lantern." In this meticulously preserved four-page letter, Engels engaged in a critical dialogue with Hirsch regarding a series of articles published in the "Sozialpolitisches Centralblatt" in 1894-95. Hirsch had sought Engels' invaluable insights for a planned second edition of his work, and the resulting letter provides ... More  Tolarno Galleries opens an exhibition of works by Tim JohnsonMELBOURNE.- Counterculture comprises small- and medium-scale works which derive their imagery from subjects of longstanding interest to Johnson, including blues music, Tibetan Buddhism and UFOs. The idea of a counterculture was something I grew up with, says Johnson, who was born in Sydney in 1947 and gravitated towards conceptual concerns early on as an artist. It was about standing outside the existing system and creating a new culture that was empathetic, peaceful and creative. As it turns out, many of the things I make art about are like this alternative, non-Eurocentric, initially underground or obscure but eventually widespread. Johnsons knowledge of, and affection for, early Blues is apparent in a grid depicting 25 legends of the genre, each delicately painted on a 10 x 10cm canvas. ... More  Ellen de Bruijne Projects now representing: Clara AmaralAMSTERDAM.- Ellen de Bruijne Projects announced the representation of Clara Amaral. Clara Amaral is an artist working with writing, performance, printed matter and publishing. She is based in Amsterdam. Her interdisciplinary practice questions what it means to be a reader, to be a writer, aiming to expand existing modes of reading, writing and publishing. Central to her practice is the investigation of publishing modalities and the performative aspect of language. In January 2021 Clara initiated misted.cc, an online platform: A book of sorts. Every new moon an artist, writer, graphic designer or curator, contributes a text. Throughout the month the contribution vanishes in direct relation to the number of visitors, leaving, eventually, an empty website until the next contribution is published. ... More  The Bruce Museum presents: 'Connecticut Modern: Art, Design, and the Avant-Garde, 1930-1960'GREENWICH, CT.- The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT is now exhibiting Connecticut Modern: Art, Design, and the Avant-Garde, 1930-1960. This groundbreaking exhibition features exceptional painting and sculpture by renowned artists of the 20th century, who for three decades transformed the State of Connecticut into a true international center of innovation in the arts. In 1933, sculptor Alexander Calder moved from Paris to Roxbury, Connecticut precipitating a mass migration of transplanted Parisian artists to the Nutmeg State. Soon painter Yves Tanguy and his wife, painter Kay Sage, settled in Woodbury, sculptor David Hare lived near the Calders in Roxbury and Rose and André Masson moved to New Preston. Significant artists of the Magic Realist mode lived and worked in Connecticut including Peter Blume, Pavel Tchelithchew, ... More  Avant-garde publishing house Something Else Press featured in exhibition at Museo Reina SofÃaMADRID.- Museo Reina SofÃa is opening an exhibition of work by artist and publisher Dick Higgins. On view from September 27th to January 22nd, 2024, the exhibition brings together the most complete archive of the publishing house's activities: books, newsletters, pamphlets, promotional objects, ephemeral material, music and videos aimed at disseminating concepts, ideas and creative experiments by composers, dancers, writers and artists. It will feature works by artists from different generations and backgrounds such as Higgins himself, Gertrude Stein, John Cage, Robert Filliou, George Brecht or Tomas Schmit. The exhibition Call it something else: Something Else Press, Inc. (1963-1974) focuses on the books, projects, and activities of Dick Higginss publishing house Something Else Press, as well as on his theoretical notion ... More  James Hart Dyke's exhibition 'Mont Blanc : The Summit Paintings' opening at Cromwell PlaceLONDON.- In July 2022, James Hart Dyke (b.1966) climbed Mont Blanc via its rarely attempted north face in order to paint from the summit at sunset. As the leading mountain painter of his generation, Hart Dyke was accompanied by a retinue of guides, a cameraman and climbers as he ascended the Grands Mulets Route. This is a variation of the original one, lancien passage, taken by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel Paccard in 1786 on the historic first ascent of Mont Blanc. James Hart Dykes objective was to re-enact and emulate as closely as possible the conditions under which the legendary French painter of the Alps, Gabriel Loppé (1825-1913) made his pair of summit paintings at sunset in August 1873. Thanks to a weather window and judicious planning, James was able to spend nearly two hours on the summit from 8.15 pm to past ... More  Hollywood's focus turns to actors after writers agree to dealNEW YORK, NY.- Hollywoods actors are back in the spotlight. With screenwriters reaching a tentative agreement with the major entertainment studios on a new labor deal on Sunday night, one big obstacle stands in the way of the film and TV industry roaring back to life: ending the strike with tens of thousands of actors. The two sides have not spoken in more than two months, and no talks are scheduled. Leaders of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the actors union, have indicated a willingness to negotiate, but the studios made a strategic decision in early August to focus on reaching a detente with the writers first. A big reason was the rhetoric of Fran Drescher, the president of the actors union, who made one fiery speech after another following the strike, including one in which she denounced studio ... More  Rare £5 from the Bank of England's branch in Leeds is expected to fetch £16,000 at auctionLONDON.- An exceptionally rare Bank of England £5 note that was issued in Leeds is expected to fetch £12,000-£16,000 when offered in a sale of British and Irish Banknotes at Noonans on Thursday, October 12, 2023. Dated July 12, 1900, it is signed by Horace G. Bowen who was Chief Cashier at the Bank of England from 1893 to 1902. As Andrew Pattison, Head of Banknote Department at Noonans commented: This is a great note. Very few Bowen notes are in private hands especially from this exceptionally rare Leeds branch. The York hand stamp shows part of the journey of the note, issued in Leeds and paid into a bank at some point in York. He continued: This note was sold by Sir David Kirch as part of his collection a decade ago when it was sold to the current owner, who is a major collector of notes from all over the ... More  Heavy metal, on pointe, in 'Black Sabbath: The Ballet'NEW YORK, NY.- On a recent afternoon, 18 members of Birmingham Royal Ballet spun, pirouetted and leaped across a rehearsal room, with all the grace and skill associated with classical dance. Yet the music blaring out of the sound system wasnt by Tchaikovsky or Ravel. It was by Black Sabbath. When the dancers finished the sequence to the Ozzy Osbourne-fronted bands pounding track Iron Man, Pontus Lidberg, the lead choreographer for the companys new production, Black Sabbath: The Ballet, nodded approvingly. Then he decided he needed movement more suited to the aggressive music. Shall we try a stage dive? he said. In 2020, Birmingham Royal Ballet based in Englands second most populous, but often overlooked, city grabbed the British dance worlds attention when it appointed Cuban ballet star Carlos Acosta as its artistic director. Now, Acosta ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
Gabriele Münter 
TARWUK 
Awol Erizku 
Leo Villareal
Flashback On a day like today, Cambodian photographer and journalist Dith Pran was born September 27, 1942. Dith Pran (27 September 1942 - 30 March 2008) was a Cambodian photojournalist. He was a refugee and survivor of the Cambodian genocide and the subject of the film The Killing Fields (1984). When Cambodians were forced to work in labour camps, Dith had to endure four years of starvation and torture before Vietnam overthrew the Khmer Rouge in December 1978. He coined the phrase "killing fields" to refer to the clusters of corpses and skeletal remains of victims he encountered during his 40-mile (60 km) escape. His three brothers and one sister were killed in Cambodia.
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