| | Marc Chagall in Paris During the Early 20th Century at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
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A person views the exhibit, "Paris Through the Window: Marc Chagall and His Circle," including Chagall's painting, "Paris Through the Window," during a media preview at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia. The exhibit is scheduled to run from March 1 to July 10. AP Photo/Matt Rourke.
PHILADELPHIA, PA.- As a center of cosmopolitan culture and a symbol of modernity, Paris held a magnetic attraction for artists from Eastern Europe during the early decades of the 20th century. Most painters and sculptors settled around Montparnasse, which was sprinkled with cafes, and art galleries. It was here that Alexander Archipenko, Marc Chagall, Moïse Kisling, Jacques Lipchitz, Louis Marcoussis, Amedeo Modigliani, Chana Orloff, Jules Pascin, Margit Pogany, Chaim Soutine, and Ossip Zadkine established studios and discovered each other’s work. This exhibition will include around 40 paintings and sculptures by these émigrés, whose work was both imbued with the spirit of modernism and informed by their own cultural heritage. The exhibition will focus in particular on the paintings Chagall made between 1910 and 1920, including Half Past Three (The Poet), of 1911, one of the treasures of the Philadelphia Museum of Art ... More |
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People Flock to See Lost Letter from Martha Washington at History Museum in Concordia
File photo of a portrait of Martha Washington by Rembrandt Peale. AP Photo/Gerry Broome.
By: Kevin Murphy
KANSAS CITY (REUTERS).- Nearly 209 years after her death Martha Washington, the wife of the first U.S. president, is all the talk in Concordia, Kansas. People are flocking to a history museum in Concordia to see an apparently authentic Washington-written letter discovered in the bottom of a file cabinet drawer at the museum. More than 200 people, including several descendants of George and Martha Washington, attended an unveiling of the letter last Saturday. All this week, schools have brought students to see it at the Cloud County Historical Society Museum, said interim co-director Aline Luecke. "People can hardly believe a letter like this has lasted 200 years and it's here in Concordia, Kansas," Luecke said. "It's been a very favorable reaction." Concordia is a town of 5,700 people in north-central rural Kansas. The letter, postmarked Philadelphia and dated January 27, 1793 during Washington's presidency, was found in a clear plastic ... More | | SFMOMA Showcases Exhibition: Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change
Eadweard Muybridge, Boxing; open-hand. Plate 340, 1887 (detail); collotype; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- From February 26 through June 7, 2011, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) will showcase the first-ever retrospective examining all aspects of artist Eadweard Muybridge's pioneering photography. Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change brings together more than 300 objects created between 1857 and 1893, including Muybridge's only surviving zoopraxiscope—an apparatus he designed in 1879 to project motion pictures. Originally organized by Philip Brookman, Corcoran Gallery of Art chief curator and head of research, the San Francisco presentation is organized by SFMOMA Associate Curator of Photography Corey Keller. Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change includes numerous vintage photographs, albums, stereographs, lantern slides, glass negatives and positives, patent models, zoopraxiscope discs, proof prints, notes, books, and other ephemera. The works have been brought together fro ... More | | Archive of WW II Codebreaker Alan Turing Preserved by National Heritage Memorial Fund
File picture showing a four-rotor Enigma machine, right, once used by the crews of German U-boats in World War II. AP Photo/Alex Dorgan Ross.
By: Jill Lawless, Associated Press
LONDON (AP).- Papers relating to codebreaker and computer pioneer Alan Turing will go to a British museum after the National Heritage Memorial Fund stepped in to help buy them for the nation. The government-backed fund said Friday it had donated more than 200,000 pounds ($320,000) to a campaign to stop the notes and scientific papers from going to a private buyer. The fund's chair, Jenny Abramsky, said the collection would be a permanent memorial to "a true war hero." The documents were put up for auction by Christie's in November but did not sell. An online campaign to keep them in Britain raised 28,500 pounds from members of the public, and computer firm Google contributed $100,000. The papers will go to the Bletchley Park Museum northwest of London, which commemorates the famous World War II codebreaking center. One of the founders of modern computing, Turing worked ... More |
 | Artist Joel Shapiro Creates an Installation of New Works for the Museum Ludwig
Exhibition view, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 26 February - 25 September 2011. Foto: Lothar Schnepf © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2011.
COLOGNE.- American sculptor Joel Shapiro (b. 1941) created an installation of new and preexisting works for the Museum Ludwig's large sky-lighted gallery, interweaving the pieces into a new structure in the space. He will arrange free-hanging, colored wooden beams according to a sophisticated plan, shaping a new sense for space and the possibilities of sculpture. Shapiro's works, which freely float from barely visible wires between the ceiling and the floor, appear to move in space and thereby transform the gallery itself into a sculpture as immense as it is airy. The picture varies with each step, as borders, dimensions, and colors change. The artist toys both with perception and the construction of space, while his works are not exclusively tied to this one room. Despite all his connections to modernist and minimalist traditions, he produces surprising (work)-constellations and totally new spatial perceptions. When de ... More | | Neighbors Bid to Save 'Oliver Twist' Workhouse that Inspired Charles Dickens
A woman walks by a house in central London where author Charles Dickens lived. AP Photo/Sang Tan.
By: Jill Lawless, Associated Press
LONDON (AP).- It's a battered brick building behind a high wall in London — austere, overlooked and slated for demolition. Look closer, and it's linked to one of Britain's greatest authors as well as to a shameful period in the nation's social history. Two centuries ago this neglected London edifice was a workhouse, where the city's destitute labored for rations of gruel. Their plight inspired social reformers — including a neighbor, Charles Dickens, who likely used the building as inspiration for his novel "Oliver Twist." Advocates hope the newly discovered link to the novelist will help them win their uphill battle to save the building from developers who plan to tear it down and build new apartments and a local lawmaker who has branded it an ugly relic of an inhuman institution. "We wouldn't think of demolishing Georgian stately homes, squares and terraces where the upper class lived," said ... More | | United States Government Returns Stolen Trove of Historic Archive Documents to Russia
U.S. Ambassador John Beyrle hosted a ceremony celebrating the return by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to Russia of 21 historical documents. AP Photo/ Misha Japaridze.
By: Nataliya Vasilyeva, Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP).- A trove of historic archive documents dating back to Catherine the Great that were stolen after the Soviet breakup were returned to Russia by the U.S. on Friday. The 21 documents include decrees issued by historical figures such as Czar Nicholas II and Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov. Among them are a top secret paper on the reconstruction of Russian military airfields in the 1930s; and Catherine the Great's decree to divide command of forces in Poland during the 18th century partitions of the country. U.S. Ambassador John Beyrle said the return of the documents is "just one part of our efforts to broaden and deepen the relationship between our two countries overall." Russian officials alerted Washington about the documents when they appeared ... More |
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A New iPhone App, Which Recognizes Art, Set to Transform the Art Fair Experience
No more scribbled notes on postcards and flyers: after exploring the art fairs with the Collectrium iPhone app, the collector can leave with a browsable list of his/her favorite artworks at the fairs.
NEW YORK, NY.- From Thursday, March 3, to Sunday, March 6, 2011, iPhone-toting visitors to Pulse, SCOPE, VOLTA NY, Fountain, and Moving Image will experience the New York art fairs in a new way thanks to a "next-gen" mobile technology that recognizes artworks. The art fair visitor equipped with the Collectrium mobile app will be able to point her iPhone at any registered artwork exhibited at the fair and: • instantly receive extensive information on the artist and the piece; • add the artwork to "My Collection" favorites; • share with friends via Facebook, Twitter and email; • contact the gallery about the artwork. So, now, no more scribbled notes on postcards and flyers: after exploring the art fairs with the Collectrium iPhone app, the collector can leave with a browsable list of her favorite artworks at the fairs, complete with detailed information on each work, artist, and exhibiting gallery. Even if the collector snaps an unidentified artwork, she can e ... More | | Exhibition of the Work of Thornton Dial Premieres at the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Thornton Dial, Don't Matter How Raggly the Flag, It Still Got To Tie Us Together,
2003. (detail)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN.- The most extensive exhibition ever mounted of Thornton Dial’s painting and sculpture premiered at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, on view from February 25, 2011, to May 15, 2011. Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial highlights the artist’s significant contribution to the field of American art and show how Dial’s work speaks to the most pressing issues of our time—including the War in Iraq, 9/11, and social issues like racism and homelessness. The exhibition presents 70 of Dial’s large-scale paintings, drawings and found-object sculptures spanning twenty years of his artistic career—including 25 works on view for the first time. Thornton Dial’s work draws inspiration from the rich expressive traditions of the black South. With no formal art education, Dial developed a truly distinctive and original style. Influenced by African American yard shows, Dial’s work inco ... More | | Cincinnati Art Museum Celebrates The Amazing American Circus Poster in Exhibition
Barnum & Bailey Greastest Show on Earth: Charles 1st, The Marvelous Chimpanzee, 1910, color lithograph poster. Cincinnati Art Museum, Gift of the Strobridge Lithographing Company 1965.861
CINCINNATI, OH.- Dashing daredevils, soaring trapeze artists, comic clowns – all make a grand appearance at the Cincinnati Art Museum in the spring. The Amazing American Circus Poster includes rare and unique examples from the Cincinnati Art Museum’s own collection, shown for the first time. The exhibition is on view from February 26 through July 10, 2011. On display in a fantasy gallery reminiscent of the “Big Top” are eighty circus posters created between 1879 and 1938, along with photographs and circus ephemera. The exhibition pays tribute to the internationally acclaimed Cincinnati-based Strobridge Lithographing Company, which created and printed the posters and was the leading printer for the major circuses of the time. The posters designed by the firm’s artists were unrivaled for their brilliant color, print quality, and graphic description of the acts and action. They give us a deta ... More |
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Hundreds of Egyptian College Students Rally at Iconic Pyramids for Return of Tourists
An Egyptian man rides his camel as he looks for tourists next to Giza Pyramids after re-opening for tourism. AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti.
By: Peter Prengaman, Associated Press
CAIRO (AP).- As hundreds of Egyptian college students rallied at the iconic pyramids of Giza Friday to promote tourism, camel guide Salah Shabani stood to the side and looked on with sadness. It's been two weeks since a popular uprising forced President Hosni Mubarak from power, but there has been no return of the crowds of foreigners who come to gaze at the pyramids and get their picture on a camel. "I used to make 600 Egyptian pounds ($102) a week, or more," said Shabani, 23, who has given visitors rides on his camel, Oscar, since he was a teenager. "Now there is nothing. There are no tourists." Shabani, who married two months ago, said he worries he won't be able to support his wife and has doubts about having children. He said he didn't regret the uprising — many Egyptians are still savoring a victory that has captured the attention of people around the world and sparked similar protests across the Middle East — but the reality that it could have negative conseque ... More | | Genetic Tests by Department of Agriculture Show Fire Ants in Asia Came from the United States
Colony-founding queen of the invasive fire ant species Solenopsis invicta. AP Photo/Kenneth G. Ross, Science.
By: Randolph E. Schmid, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON (AP).- Even as the United States battles the spread of fire ants within its borders, this country is serving as the jumping-off point for the pest to invade other nations. The aggressive, stinging ants arrived from South America and got a foothold in the United States in the 1930s, gradually spreading across the South. Now, researchers say, the United States has become the springboard in the last 20 years for the ants to invade such distant locations as China, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. Genetic tests on fire ants in the newly invaded countries found they came from the United States, rather than South America, an international team of researchers reports in Friday's edition of the journal Science. The genetic profile of all these ants is closer to fire ants in the U.S., explained Marina Ascunce of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. "I thought that at least one of the populations in the newly invaded areas would have come from S ... More | | Abstract Sculptor Roy Gussow,Who Liived and Worked in Long Island City, Dies at 92
For decades he was represented by the Grace Borgenicht Gallery and more recently by the Neuhoff Gallery.
By: Olga Gussow-Hauptman, Mimi Gussow and Jill Gussow
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY.- Artist Roy Gussow was born in Brooklyn NY, Nov. 12th 1918. He wanted to be a farmer and went to Farmingdale State College, where discouraged by the repetition and lack of creativity of agricultural work, he changed his program and graduated with a degree in Ornamental Horticulture. He was in business in Albany NY when he was drafted into the army. After basic training he went on tour with a bond-raising show in which he demonstrated his ability to take apart and reassemble fire arms blindfolded. His regiment followed the US troops in England and France repairing broken fire arms. During his years in France he became friendly with the painter George Kachergis an army buddy, who convinced Gussow to explore his artistic talents. Thanks to the GI bill, Gussow was able to go to college again and he entered the Institute of Design in Chicago where Lazlo Moholy-Nagy and Alexander Archipenko were his most influential teachers. He became Archipenko’s assistant ... More |
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 Smithsonian and MIT Partner to Turn Kids into Scientific InvestigatorsWASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian Institution and MIT announced the April 4 launch of VANISHED, an 8-week online/offline environmental disaster mystery game for middle-school children, meant to inspire engagement and problem solving through science. Developed and curated by MIT’s Education Arcade and the Smithsonian, VANISHED is a first-of-its-kind experience where participants become investigators racing to solve puzzles and other online challenges, visit museums and collect samples from their neighborhoods to help unlock the secrets of the game. Players can only discover the truth about the environmental disaster by using real scientific methods and knowledge to unravel the game’s secrets. To navigate through the mystery game’s challenges, participants will meetSmithsonian scientists from such diverse disciplines as paleobiology, volcanology, forensic anthropology and entomology, as well as ... More Artist Sues Kevin Costner to Force Sculpture SaleDEADWOOD, S.D. (AP).- An artist who created a bronze sculpture for Kevin Costner is suing the actor to force him to sell the work of art. Peggy Detmers says she spent more than six years creating the sculpture of 14 bison and three American Indian hunters for a resort Costner had planned to open in South Dakota's Black Hills. The Rapid City Journal says Detmers values the sculpture at $2.2 million. Costner says he still wants to build the resort he planned 20 years ago. Meanwhile, he spent $6 million to build a visitors' center and create a display site for the sculpture. Detmers says she wasn't properly consulted in that project. Costner filmed much of his Academy Award-winning movie "Dances with Wolves" in South Dakota and later bought a casino there. ... More Barnum Museum Repair Project to Cost Up to $17 MillionBRIDGEPORT (AP).- A Connecticut museum celebrating flamboyant showman P.T. Barnum will need to raise up to $17 million to renovate and repair its historic building damaged by a tornado last year. Officials said Friday that repairs will cost $6 million or $7 million. But overhauling exhibition space and fixing other areas in the Bridgeport building are expected to raise the cost to between $15 million and $17 million. The project is expected to take more than two years. Built in the 1890s, the building is owned by the city of Bridgeport and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been closed since Jan. 2 to assess damage and preserve the prized collection. The rare tornado caused structural damage and scattered debris when it swept through Bridgeport last June. ... More National Portrait Gallery to Present Portrait of Pitcher Pedro MartinezWASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has recently acquired a painting of Pedro Martinez; this is the first image of the Major League Baseball pitcher in the collection. The museum will install the portrait March 25 in the exhibition “Recent Acquisitions.” Born in the Dominican Republic and an American citizen since 2006, Martinez was impressive in his debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers in September 1992. He will always be remembered for the seven-year period when he established, in the words of baseball commentator Peter Gammons, “the most dominant stretch of any pitcher in baseball history.” He is an eight-time All Star and a three-time Cy Young Award winner (1997, 1999 and 2000). He has pitched for five teams in his career, most recently with the Philadelphia Phillies. In addition, Martinez was a member of the World Series-winning Red Sox in 2004. “We ... More Candid Cameras Give a Chance to See Wildlife as a Scientist DoesWASHINGTON, DC.- Researching animals in the wild can be challenging, especially if it involves a rare or elusive species like the giant panda or the clouded leopard. To remedy this, scientists rely heavily on camera traps—automated cameras with motion sensors. Left to photograph what passes in front of them, the cameras record the diversity and very often the behavior of animals around the world. The Smithsonian has brought together more than 202,000 wildlife photos from seven projects conducted by Smithsonian researchers and their colleagues into one searchable website, siwild.si.edu. The new website allows the public to see exactly what scientists see in their research—photos of wildlife captured at close range, from the head-on stare of a jaguar in Peru to inside the mouth of a giant panda in China. “This site provides the public a glimpse of what the scientist sees when surveying remote places,” said Will ... More Old Coca Cola Sign Causes Flap in San FranciscoSAN FRANCISCO (AP).- A restored Coca Cola sign decorating the side of a San Francisco house that may date back to the 1930s has set off a surprising spat among neighborhood residents and city officials. The city says the bright red painted sign on the side of Richard Modolo's home violates anti-billboard laws and must come down. City Supervisor David Campos, who represents the Bernal Heights neighborhood, said he's received passionate e-mails from people on both sides of the debate. Some are concerned that the sign promotes a sugary drink, sending a dangerous message to students at a nearby elementary school. "We're trying to fight childhood obesity," Campos said. "We don't want to promote kids drinking Coca-Cola." But Campos said he's considering introducing legislation that would create a special "historic sign district" to preserve the 15-by-7-foot sign. Modolo said he discovered it in 1991 when he removed asbestos siding from his home, which was a grocery store years ago. A ... MoreThe Role of Dreams in Creativity, Prophecy and Consciousness to be Explored in a Series of Dialogues at the Rubin MuseumNEW YORK, NY.- The Rubin Museum's acclaimed BRAINWAVE series is back for its fourth season, with a new focus on the relationship between dreams and creativity, prophecy and consciousness. A number of dialogues between writers and scientists involved in the study of the mind will explore the connection between storytelling and vivid dreaming. Kicking off this set of talks is prize-winning writer Nathan Englander and neuroscientist Amir Raz, who will delve into the power of suggestion in dreams on February 27. Subsequent conversations include writer Amy Tan with clinical psychologist Deidre Barrett on dream-induced creative leaps; writer Siri Hustvedt with neuropsychiatrist Jaak Panksepp on the nature of sleep; and legal thriller writer Scott Turow and neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga explore how justice and retribution are processed in the brain. The BRAINWAVE series seeks to explore a broad range of questions surrounding the ... More |
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