| | Sotheby's Presents Highlights from 19th Century European Art Auction in New York
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An employee of Sotheby's auction house in New York views paintings belonging to actress Demi Moore during a press preview October 27, 2010. The paintings, William Bouguereau's Frere et Soeur (L) and Alfred Stevens' Mere et ses enfants (R) will be offered for sale as part of Sotheby's auction of 19th century European art November 4 in New York. REUTERS/Mike Segar.
NEW YORK, NY.- On 4 November, Sotheby’s 19th Century European Art auction will feature select works by important and popular artists, schools and styles of the genre. The curated sale, consisting of 82 lots with a pre-sale estimate of $20/30 million*, contains eight works with high estimates at or above $1 million*, and will be exhibited in Sotheby’s New York galleries 29 October – 3 November, timed to coincide with Sotheby’s auctions of Impressionist & Modern Art. This exciting week at Sotheby’s promises visitors a full picture of the fine arts in Europe–in particular in Paris–in the nineteenth century. The Finding of Moses stands as one of Sir Lawrence Alma- Tadema’s greatest masterpieces (est. $3/5 million). In November 1902, the artist left London to travel to Egypt for the opening of the Aswan Dam as a guest of Sir John Aird, the renowned engineer and head of the project. In hi ... More |
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Landmark Exhibition of German Artist Hans Hartung's Late Paintings Opens at Cheim & Read
Hans Hartung (1904 - 1989), T1989-A4 1989. Acrylic on canvas, 71 x 56 inches. Photo: Courtesy Cheim & Read.
NEW YORK, NY.- Cheim & Read presents a landmark exhibition of Hans Hartung’s late paintings, dating from 1987–1989. This is the first showing of Hartung’s works in New York since his controversial 1975 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and focuses on the artistic output of his last years of life. The show will be accompanied by a full color catalogue with an essay by Joe Fyfe. Hans Hartung was born in Leipzig, Germany in 1904, but is often identified by his artistic activity in Paris and his involvement in the French Art Informel or Tachist movements. His life and work were greatly affected by the political and social upheavals in France and Germany during the Second World War; after fleeing his native Germany (he was considered a “degenerate” artist by the Gestapo) he fought with the French Foreign Legion and lost his right leg on the Alsatian front. His post-war paintings ... More | | Report from Cave Excavation Says Humans Mastered Tool Making 50,000 Earlier than Thought
A Still Bay bifacial point from Blombos Cave made on silcrete and finished by pressure flaking, mainly at the tip. AP Photo/Science.
By: Jon Herskovitz
CAPE TOWN (REUTERS).- A group of prehistoric people mastered a difficult and delicate process to sharpen stones into spears and knives at least 75,000 years ago, more than 50,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to a report. This technique, known as pressure flaking, allowed for the more precise shaping of stones to turn them into better weapons for hunting, a paper published on Thursday in the U.S. periodical Science said. "These points are very thin, sharp and narrow and possibly penetrated the bodies of animals better than that of other tools," said Paola Villa, a curator at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and a study co-author. The new findings show pressure flaking took ... More | | Städel Museum Opens "In Chronological Order: Städel Works of the 14th to 21st Centuries"
Deodato Orlandi (died Lucca 1331), St. John the Evangelist Mourning, about 1310-20. Mixed technique on poplar with canvas backing, 54.3 x 43.1 cm. Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main. Photo: Städel Museum - ARTOTHEK.
FRANKFURT.- The holdings of the Städel Museum comprise masterpieces of European art from the late Middle Ages to the present. The temporary closure of its galleries in the course of the redevelopment measures carried out in the old building as part of the Städel’s extension and of making the new building accessible via the old building offers the unique opportunity to show the museum’s familiar treasures in an entirely new context. The temporary presentation of the Städel’s collection under the title “In Chronological Order. Städel Works of the 14th to 21st Centuries” in the Exhibition Building abandons the usual separation according to regions and replaces it by a strictly chronological cross-country hanging. ... More |
 | Harry Blain and Former Sotheby's Vice Chairman Emmanuel Di Donna to Open New York Gallery
Former Sotheby's Worldwide vice chairman Emmanuel Di Donna will open a gallery in New York.
NEW YORK, NY.- London Contemporary Art dealer Harry Blain and former Sotheby's Worldwide vice chairman Emmanuel Di Donna have joined forces to open a secondary market gallery in New York. Called Blain|Di Donna, the new venture will focus on blue-chip Impressionist, Modern (I/M) and Contemporary Art works. Said Di Donna: “Now is the perfect time to start a business like this. The I/M and Contemporary markets in New York and Europe are more dynamic than ever, and of course the appetite for the very best works by the very best artists never diminishes.” As one of Sotheby's senior I/M specialists, Di Donna was involved in many landmark auctions in London and New York, including the sale of Kazimir Malevich's ‘Suprematist Composition’, which sold for $60m in 2008. After a highly successful seventeen year tenure Di Donna left the company in September 2010. He adds: “Being in partnership with Harry [Blain] is a wonderful opportunity. ... More | | Caravaggio-Inspired Dutch Masterpiece Acquired for Fitzwilliam Museum
Hendrik ter Brugghen, Young woman tuning a lute (1626-7). (detail).
LONDON.- The Art Fund has helped the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge enrich its world-class collection with a Caravaggio-inspired Dutch oil on canvas. Young woman tuning a lute (1626-7) by Hendrik ter Brugghen, is now on public display within the Fitzwilliam’s fine collection of Dutch paintings. The Art Fund gave £225,000 to make the acquisition possible, alongside the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund which gave £50,000. This is the Museum’s first acquisition of a work by ter Brugghen, one of the leading painters amongst the Utrecht followers of Caravaggio. It is one of only a handful of works by this artist in the UK. Ter Brugghen, who died at a young age, was an important innovator for later Dutch 17th century genre paintings. More recently he has been recognised as an unorthodox but significant influence on the work of artists such as Vermeer. The work was previously on loan to the Fitzwilliam but the purchase means that ... More | | Documentation and Artwork, 1972-1985 by Cuban-American Artist Ana Mendieta at Galerie Lelong
El Ixchell Negro, 1977. Lifetime color photograph mounted on board, 20 x 13 1/4 inches (50.8 x 33.7 cm) © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection. Courtesy Galerie Lelong , New York.
NEW YORK, NY.- Galerie Lelong presents its eighth exhibition of the work of Ana Mendieta, entitled “Ana Mendieta: Documentation and Artwork, 1972¬–1985,” which marks the 25th anniversary of the artist’s death at the age of 36. On view will be original photographs, slides and other materials from the artist’s archive that have never been exhibited, along with rarely seen photographs, drawings, sculpture and recently restored films. The exhibition will span Mendieta’s entire career, from her explorations as a student in Iowa in the early ‘70s to her works in the mid-‘80s made while living in Rome as an accomplished artist, and will examine a number of significant motifs that recur throughout her work including blood, fire, and concealment. Mendieta returned to these elements in a number of series and projects, each time considering a different ... More |
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Iwo Jima Mementos, a Faded Photograph and Child's Drawing, Bring Closure to Japanese Family
Former U.S. soldier fighting on Iwo Jima during the World War II, Franklin Hobbs, right, and Chie Takekawa, whose father was killed in the same battle, hold a framed drawing she drew. AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi.
By: Eric Talmadge, Associated Press
TOKYO (AP).- For decades, the faded photograph of a baby Japanese girl and a child's colorful drawing hung on a wall in the home of Franklin Hobbs III in America. As a 21-year-old U.S. soldier fighting on Iwo Jima, one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, Hobbs found them in the pocket of a fallen Japanese soldier and took them as a souvenir. Until recently, he tried not to think too much about the battle or the photo and drawing. Then, a few years ago, at his wife's suggestion, he decided to try to give them back. For the girl in the photo and her sister, they meant the world. Hobbs, now 86, returned to Japan this week for the first time since the war and met with one of the daughters whose life he changed by returning the items. Chie Takekawa had drawn the picture of an air raid drill that Hobbs found on her father — a man ... More | | Christie's Sales of Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art to Offer an Impressive Array of Rare and Important Works
An important and very rare yellow-ground famille rose vase Jiaqing iron-red six-character sealmark and of the period (1796-1820), 11 1/2 in. (28cm.) high. Estimate: HK$18,000,000–25,000,000. US$ 2,400,000–3,200,000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010.
HONG KONG.- Christie’s Hong Kong Fall sales of Important Ceramics and Works of Art will take place on December 1 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. With three important single-owner sales and numerous important collections presented during this day-long series, collectors will be treated to a wide range of unique objects across multiple categories. Together these auctions offer approximately 400 works of ceramics, glass, lacquer, bamboo, Imperial furnishings, Buddhist art, cloisonné and jade carvings with a combined estimate in excess of HK$555 million (US$71 million). Among the many renowned single-owner collections presented this season is For Imperial Appreciation: Fine Chinese Ceramics from the Greenwald Collection, a superb private collection featuring exquisite Ming and Qing Imperial porcelains. Gerald Greenwald ... More | | Oakland Museum of California Acquires Historic "All of Us or None" Poster Collection
All Of Us Or None Collection, Oakland Museum of California.
OAKLAND, CA.- The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) announced the acquisition of the renowned All Of Us Or None poster collection. Representing one of the most significant social movement collections in existence today, the acquisition of 23,500 posters documenting all streams of progressive activity---covering the 1960s poster renaissance that began in San Francisco, and including almost every political movement in the U.S. between the 1960s and the1990s---reinforces OMCA's dedication to telling the dynamic, multi-perspective story of California. Notable content featured in the poster collection includes: the Vietnam War, the Black Panther Party, the AIDS epidemic, the fight against nuclear power, campaigns to save the whales, veganism, bicycle power---including Critical Mass in San Francisco---and solidarity with Nicaragua, El Salvador, and South Africa to name a few. The collection features work by artists of wide ... More |
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Two 150-Year-Old Civil War Dolls Get X-Rayed at VCU Medical Center for Signs of Smuggling
A Civil War-era doll dubbed Nina lays on an imaging table. AP Photo/Steve Helber.
By: Steve Szkotak, Associated Press
RICHMOND (AP).- Two Civil War-era dolls thought to have been used to smuggle medicine past Union blockades were X-rayed Wednesday, disclosing hollowed papier-mache heads that once could have contained quinine or morphine for wounded or malaria-stricken Confederate troops. The 150-year-old dolls, dubbed Nina and Lucy Ann, were likely packed with the drugs and shipped from Europe in the hope that Union troops would not inspect toys when looking for contraband, a museum official said. Nina and Lucy Ann were taken to VCU Medical Center from their home next door, The Museum of the Confederacy, to see if the contours inside their craniums and upper bodies were roomy enough to carry the medicines. The conclusion: yes. The next step could be forensic testing for any traces of the drugs. The dolls were given to the museum by donors ... More | | Baltimore Nuns Auctioning Famous Baseball Card to Raise Money for Diocese
One of the most sought-after baseball cards in history -- a century-old card showing Pittsburgh shortstop Honus Wagner. EPA/HERITAGE AUCTIONS.
DALLAS, TX.- The School Sisters of Notre Dame in Baltimore are about to receive a little divine love from the Holy Grail of Baseball Cards. A newly discovered T206 Honus Wagner card, left to the convent by the brother of a member of the order when he passed away, will be auctioned off on Nov. 4 in Dallas as part of Heritage Auctions’ Signature Sports Memorabilia event. The card is estimated to bring $100,000+. “The proceeds from the sale of this card will go to benefit the work of the School Sisters of Notre Dame all over the world, in about 35 countries,” said Sister Virginia Muller, Treasurer for the Baltimore convent. “Wherever the need is, we will share it.” New T206 Wagner cards turn up about as often as bottles of 1921 Dom Perignon, Action Comics #1 or a diamond as big as your fist. Nonetheless, this example turned up in mid-summer 2010 when the card, which belonged to the blood brother of a member o ... More | | Kunsthaus Zürich Embarks on Ambitious Restoration Project on the Work of Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti, Composition cubist’, around 1927. Modeled plaster. Kunsthaus Zürich, Alberto Giacometti Foundation © 2010 ProLitteris, Zurich.
ZURICH.- In 2006, after decades languishing in external warehouses, the vast majority of Alberto Giacometti’s plasters were relocated to Zurich. Technical and art-historical evaluation of the fragile works can now begin, an expensive and labour-intensive undertaking due to conclude in 2014. The Alberto Giacometti Foundation, based at the Kunsthaus Zürich, has at its disposal the most significant collection of work by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966), who came to international fame through the slender statuary of his late phase. Many of Giacometti’s sculptures, paintings and drawings are on display at the Kunsthaus, and are to receive more space when the extension is completed in 2015. In preparation for that day, a four-year evaluation and restoration project has now been initiated, focusing on the 80 plasters that were relocated to Zurich in 2006, 40 years after the artist’s death, from a Paris ... More |
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Records Tumble for Some of the Most Seminal Works in English Literature at Sotheby's Today
LONDON.- Records for some of the most seminal works in English literature tumbled today at Sotheby’s in London . In the first of a series of sales from “The Library of an English Bibliophile” - one of the finest collections of first edition books assembled in recent times - competition was fierce for fine copies of the greats, many of them inscribed by the authors to people who played a major part in their lives and their oeuvre. Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Jane Austen’s Price and Prejudice, Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein… These and many others (Brighton Rock, Tess of the D’Urbervilles and The Maltese Falcon among them) today realised the highest prices ever made by those works at auction. The sale realised £3,160,257 (US$4,997,659) – comfortably above the top estimate for the sale (£2,185,500-2,943,500), which was 90.4% sold by va ... More
Danish Artist Awarded The Balnaves Foundation Sculpture Prize of $60,000 at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2010
SURRY HILLS.- Danish artist Keld Moseholm was announced today as the recipient of The Balnaves Foundation Sculpture Prize of $60,000, the main prize at Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2010 and the most generous sculpture prize in NSW The prize was awarded to Moseholm for his work mirroring 1995 at the launch of the 14th annual Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi in Mark's Park today by Hamish Balnaves, General Manager of The Balnaves Foundation. Moseholm is the second recipient of The Balnaves Foundation Sculpture Prize, after 91-year old artist May Barrie won the inaugural award at last year's Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi. "A worthy winner" said Hamish Balnaves. "It is obvious that the quality in this year's exhibition is very high. We are happy to fund this prize and be part of this great exhibition". Keld Moseholm was delighted with the win. Still in shock from the news he said "This is a complete surprise to me. I am very honoure ... More
Armenian Archeologists: 5,900-Year-Old Skirt Found
YEREVAN (AP).- An Armenian archaeologist says that scientists have discovered a skirt that could be 5,900-year-old. Pavel Avetisian, the head of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography in Yerevan, said a fragment of skirt made of reed was found during recent digging in the Areni-1 cave in southeastern Armenia. Avetisian told Tuesday's news conference in the Armenian capital that the find could be one of the world's oldest piece of reed clothing. Earlier excavation in the same location has produced what researchers believe is a 5,500-year-old shoe, making it the oldest piece of leather footwear known to researchers. Boris Gasparian, an Armenian archaeologist who worked jointly with U.S. and Irish scientists at the site, said they also found a mummified goat that could be 5,900-year-old, or more than 1,000 years older than the mummified animals found in Egypt. ... More
German Vending Machines Sell Miniature Art in Boxes
By: Michelle Martin
BERLIN (REUTERS).- An artist who wanted to make art more accessible has installed vending machines across Germany offering unique art miniatures in small boxes. Lars Kaiser, a 35-year-old artist from Potsdam, said he came up with the novel idea to give art lovers the chance to buy the inexpensive art samples from vending machines around the clock. He has installed about 100 of the uniquely decorated art vending machines in public buildings, bars and on exterior walls throughout Germany. The refurbished vending machines once sold cigarettes, chewing gum or condoms in the 1960s and 1970s. "We wanted to get art into places that don't have anything to do with art so that it would become a part of everyday life," Kaiser told Reuters. The one-off sculptures, collages and paintings fit into small boxes which the machines sell. They have been created by about 140 professional artists. The vending machines are also pieces of art themselves in a wide array of colors a ... More
Mandela Objects to Sale of His Artwork at Auction
LONDON (AP).- A London auction house has sold artwork said to be by Nelson Mandela despite objections from Mandela's lawyer. The lawyer, Bally Chuene, said in a statement that Mandela "strongly disassociates himself" from the auction, and the artwork is the subject of a legal dispute in South Africa. Mandela and his former lawyer are at odds over whether proceeds from sales of Mandela prints are going to charity, as intended. Bonhams, which put two prints on sale Wednesday, said both were by Mandela. It said the sale of such prints was authorized by the Mandela Trust. The auctioneers said that, while proceeds from some Mandela prints go to the trust, there are no restrictions on their onward sale. One of the prints sold for 4,800 pounds ($7,567); the other did not sell. ... More
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