| | Fairy Tales Still Exist! Austrian Authorities Reveal Find of Buried Centuries-Old Treasure
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A brooch that was among hundreds of pieces of ancient jewelry and other precious objects, that a man digging in his back yard stumbled upon. The officials say the trove consists of more than 200 rings, ornate belt buckles, gold-plated silver plates and other pieces, many encrusted with pearls, fossilized coral and other ornaments. They say the find is about 650 years old. "Fairy tales Still Exist," said the authority Friday, April 22, 2011, in a statement making the find public. AP Photo/ Bundesdenkmalamt/ Bettina Sidonie.
By: George Jahn, Associated Press
VIENNA (AP).- A man turning dirt in his back yard stumbled onto buried treasure — hundreds of pieces of centuries-old jewelry and other precious objects that Austrian authorities described Friday as a fairy-tale find. Austria's department in charge of national antiquities said the trove consists of more than 200 rings, brooches, ornate belt buckles, gold-plated silver plates and other pieces or fragments, many encrusted with pearls, fossilized coral and other ornaments. It says the objects are about 650 years old and are being evaluated for their provenance and worth. While not assigning a monetary value to the buried bling, the enthusiastic language from the normally staid Federal Office for Memorials reflected the significance it attached to the discovery. "Fairy tales still exist!" said its statement. "Private individual finds sensational treasure in garden." It described the ornaments as "one of the qualitatively most significant discoveries of medieval treasure in Au ... More |
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National Gallery of Art Acquires Works by Kerry James Marshall, Anne Truitt, and More
Anne Truitt, Knight’s Heritage, 1963, acrylic on wood. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Collectors Committee, 2011. Photo: Lee Ewing.
WASHINGTON, D.C.- The Collectors Committee of the National Gallery of Art recently made possible the acquisition of Great America (1994) by Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955)―the Gallery’s first painting by the midcareer African American artist―and Knight’s Heritage (1963), a breakthrough sculpture by Anne Truitt (1921–2004). A devoted student of the human figure and the history of art, especially the genres of portraiture and narrative, Marshall draws upon the experience of African Americans like himself to create imposing, contemporary history paintings. In Great America, he re-imagines a boat ride into the haunted tunnel of an amusement park as the Middle Passage of slaves from Africa to the New World. Truitt was committed to the expressive value of carefully chosen color and to the importance of compositional decisions regarding the division of the rectangle. Both are on full view ... More | | Major Piece of Central Polynesian Art, the Very Rare Ohly Figure, to Be Sold by Christie's
Ohly Figure. Central Polynesia. Estimate: €600.000-800.000. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2011.
PARIS.- Christie's African and Oceanic Art department announce the sale of a major piece of Central Polynesian art originating within the triangle formed by the Society, the Austral and the Cook Islands. The very rare Ohly figure is estimated between 600,000 and 800,000 euros. There is a small corpus of extant wood carvings from Central Polynesia which continue to be an intriguing enigma. We understand today that Polynesian figurative carving, in essence, are metaphors for human ancestry and origin. However, the precise island origins and meanings were rarely recorded or correctly noted in the nineteenth century. Many were destroyed. Therefore, a complete corpus remains elusive. A study of the traits of the Ohly figure place it closest in overall form to a figure labelled ‘The God Tangaroa, Tahiti, Polynesia’ in the Museum der Kulturen, Basel, Switzerland (Vc 1521). The arms carved free of the slightly distended b ... More | | Personal Letter from a 16-Year Old Marilyn Monroe Sells for $52,460 at Bonhams & Butterfields
Photograph Signed ("Elizabeth Taylor"), 8 by 10 inch silver prints, generally good. With Signed Card. Est. $2,500-3,500, sold for $4,270.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- Bonhams & Butterfields presented Manuscripts from the Estate of well known collectors and autograph dealers, Charles Williamson and Tucker Fleming, on April 20, 2011. The sale, simulcast between Los Angeles and New York, brought more than $1.53-million and featured an impressive collection of 600 lots highlighted by one-of-a-kind personal letters, documents, and photographs covering literature, art and film. Collected throughout their extraordinary 54 years together, the Estate features items related to Marlon Brando, Charlie Chaplin, George Cukor, William Faulkner, Ian Fleming, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Greta Garbo, Ava Gardner, Ernest Hemingway, Audrey Hepburn, Alfred Hitchcock, Vivien Leigh, Margaret Mitchell, Elizabeth Taylor, Rudolph Valentino and a 16 year-old Marilyn Monroe, among others. The top lot of the auction was an eight-page autograph letter from Marilyn Monroe, signed ... More |
 | Torn Pieces of Ancient Chinese Painting Reunited at Taiwan National Palace Museum
Detail of the main portion of "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" by revered Chinese landscape painter Huang Gongwang. AP Photo/Taiwan National Palace Museum.
By: Annie Huang, Associated Press
TAIPEI, TAIWAN (AP).- Two pieces of a torn 660-year-old Chinese painting held by Taiwan and mainland China will be reunited for the first time in centuries at an exhibit at Taiwan's national museum, in a sign of warming ties between the rivals. The main portion of "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" by revered Chinese landscape painter Huang Gongwang has been stored in Taipei's Palace Museum since 1949, when the two sides separated during a civil war. The other part of the 20-foot-long (6-meter-long) painting will be shipped from China's Zhejiang Provincial Museum for an exhibition opening June 2, Palace Museum Director Chou Kung-shin said Friday. The 40-day exhibition ... More | | "Beautiful Darling": Documentary Focuses on One of the Stars of Andy Warhol's Factory
Transgender pioneer Candy Darling. Photo: Peter Beard.
NEW YORK, NY.- Corinth Releasing presents the U.S. theatrical premiere and nationwide theatrical distribution of "Beautiful Darling". After its World Premiere at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival, and its U.S. Premiere in New York City at the prestigious New Directors/New Films, the film has continued to win accolades from audiences and critics at dozens of festivals and museum screenings around the world. It has also garnered first place wins at the 2010 Chicago International Festival and the Montenegro International Documentary Festival. Recapturing the excitement of a long lost New York City, "Darling" tells the story of transgender pioneer Candy Darling, a star in the constellation that was Andy Warhol’s Factory. Born James Slattery in suburban Long Island in 1944, by the mid-sixties Jimmy had become Candy, a gorgeous blond actress and throwback to Hollywood's golden age. This persona won her starring roles in tw ... More | | The Myth of Narcissus in Surrealist and Contemporary Art at the Fruitmarket Gallery
Salvador Dalí painting Metamorphosis of Narcissus, c. 1936-37. Vintage photograph, 6.3 x 6 cm. Work lent by the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation.
EDINBURGH.- Narcissus Reflected is the latest in The Fruitmarket Gallery's series of group exhibitions made by invited scholars, writers and artists. Its prime mover and chief curator is David Lomas, an academic and exhibition-maker known for his work in the fields of surrealism and contemporary art. Artists in the exhibition include: Cecil Beaton, Bill Brandt, Claude Cahun, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dalí, Charles Henri Ford, Florence Henri, Jess, Yayoi Kusama, George Minne, Pierre Molinier, George Platt Lynes, Willard Maas, Paul Nash and Pipilotti Rist. The exhibition is on view from Apri 22 through June 26, 2011. Narcissus Reflected explores both Narcissus and narcissism. Narcissus is the beautiful youth from Greek mythology, turned by the gods into a narcissus flower as punishment for his self ... More |
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Indianapolis Museum of Art Exhibition to Examine Material Culture Through Luxurious Textiles
Church vestment (chasuble), Italy. Back, 1700s; velvet, about 1475; orphreys, 1500-1550; silk velvet and silk and metallic threads; length: 45 1/2 inches (115.6 cm). The Orville A. and Elma D. Wilkinson Fund. 74.114.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN.- From court dress to couture, the objects in Material World, on view from April 22 to February 5, 2012 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, features extravagant ornamentation of textiles and personal adornment from cultures around the world while highlighting the significance of textiles in displaying wealth, status and power. The exhibition showcases items adorned with luxurious materials including gold and metallic threads, beads, shells, mirrors, semi-precious stones, bones, fur and feathers, ranging from a Buddhist bone apron to Dior and Chanel couture pieces, spanning several centuries to the present day. “Material ... More | | Smithsonian's National Museum of American History Highlights Civil War Nurses
Amanda Akin, April 1863. (detail).
WASHINGTON, D.C..- In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History opened a special display titled “‘So Much Need of Service’—The Diary of a Civil War Nurse,” telling the story of Civil War nurse Amanda Akin. On loan from the National Library of Medicine, the display includes Akin’s personal diary and the published account of her experience as a nurse in the book, The Lady Nurse of Ward E. “So Much Need of Service” is on view in the Albert H. Small Documents Gallery April 22 until July 31. The exhibit has a companion website and a mobile map application for visitors to find Civil War sites in Washington, D.C. In April 1863, Akin traveled from her home in Quaker Hill, N.Y., to serv ... More | | Previously Unseen Portraits of Susan Boyle and Tony Blair Go on Display at National Portrait Gallery
Susan Boyle, 2010 by John Swannell. ©John Swannell / camera press.
LONDON.- Previously unreleased portraits of singer Susan Boyle, former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and art historian and museum director Sir Roy Strong, form part of a new display at the National Portrait Gallery. The display highlights 16 portraits recently acquired for the Gallery’s Collection by acclaimed photographer John Swannell. The portraits on display range from previously unseen photographs taken in the last year, to portraits taken at the start of his career in the early 1970s. The display, Now and Then: Photographs by John Swannell, runs from 22 April until 31 December 2011 in Room 38a of the Gallery. The photographs of Boyle and Blair are both unpublished images from Swannell’s photo shoots for their respective recent ... More |
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New York's $30 Million MoMath Museum Aims to Add to Mathematics Appreciation
A girl plays with a display at a math exhibit at the Museum of Nature & Science at Fair Park in Dallas. AP Photo/LM Otero.
By: Ula Ilnytzky, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP).- Mathematics. It's a subject that can elicit groans and exclamations of "boring." But Glen Whitney, a former hedge-fund quantitative analyst, is betting he can change that with a formula that looks like this: math (equals) discovery (equals) beauty (equals) fun. Whitney is planning to open the only museum in the United States dedicated to mathematics. MoMath, which will center on the wonders of mathematics and its connections with art, science and finance, is scheduled to open in New York City sometime in 2012, with the help of a $2 million grant from Google. There are many great math teachers in the United States, but the subject's joy of discovery is lost to the "tyranny of the curriculum and the almost treadmill of standardized testing," Whitney said. ... More | | Controversial Statue of Ancient Philosopher Confucius Vanishes from Tiananmen Square
A combination picture shows a Confucius statue outside the National Museum of China and a security officer standing guard near a fence after the removal of the Confucius statue. REUTERS/Stringer (top) and Jason Lee (bottom).
BEIJING (REUTERS).- A large statue of ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, controversially erected outside a Communist Party museum in central Beijing, has quietly been removed from its plinth following an online uproar about its location. The 9.5-meter (30 foot), 17-tonne statue had pride of place in front of the north gate of the recently renovated National Museum Of China, just off Tiananmen Square and not far from the gaze of Chairman Mao's famous portrait over the Forbidden City. Some Chinese had complained that it was insulting of the Communist Party to so honor Confucius, having vilified him during the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s and never apologized for it. Others said the Party had no right to appropriate Confucius and his ideals. Some even ... More | | Treasures from the Wine Cellar of Sir David Frost to Be Sold at Christie's in June
English School, late 18th century, King George III; and Queen Charlotte, handcoloured mezzotints. Estimate: £400-800. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2011.
LONDON.- Christie’s is pleased to be offering a selection of wines from the collection of Sir David and Lady Carina Frost from the Chelsea home where they have lived for thirty years. The collection will be sold as part of the Fine & Rare Wines sale, to be held at Christie’s King Street on 9 June 2011, and is expected to fetch between £80,000 and £120,000. The sale follows Sir David and Lady Carina’s move to an historical Grade II listed Georgian house which was reconstructed in the late 60’s under the guidance of both Sir Hugh Casson, President of the Royal Academy, and Philip Jebb, architect to the National Trust. Further items from the private home of Sir David and Lady Carina will be offered in the Interiors sale on 7 June 2011 at Christie’s South Kensington, including furniture, Old Master paintings, objects and works of art. “My education in wine was really initiated at Gonville ... More |
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 Archaeologist Believes Evolution Of Human 'Super-Brain' Tied to Development Of Bipedalism, Tool-MakingBOULDER, CO.- Scientists seeking to understand the origin of the human mind may want to look to honeybees - not ancestral apes - for at least some of the answers, according to a University of Colorado Boulder archaeologist. CU-Boulder Research Associate John Hoffecker said there is abundant fossil and archaeological evidence for the evolution of the human mind, including its unique power to create a potentially infinite variety of thoughts expressed in the form of sentences, art and technologies. He attributes the evolving power of the mind to the formation of what he calls the "super-brain," or collective mind, an event that took place in Africa no later than 75,000 years ago. An internationally known archaeologist who has worked at sites in Europe and the Arctic, Hoffecker said the formation of the super-brain was a consequence of a rare ability to share complex thoughts among individual brains. Among other creatures ... More MoMA Extends Museum Hours During Summer Months 7/1-9/3NEW YORK, NY .- The Museum of Modern Art will be extending its hours from July 1 through September 3, keeping the museum open until 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (with the exception of Saturday, July 9) evenings, and opening its doors from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays (July 5 through August 30), a day the Museum is usually closed, providing the public with more opportunities to enjoy the Museum's renowned collection and special exhibitions. Also this summer, live music performances return to MoMA's Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden in July and August. For MoMA Nights in July and August, MoMA is open until 8:30 p.m. every Thursday, with live music presented in two sets, at 5:30 and 7:00 p.m., in the Sculpture Garden (weather permitting). MoMA Nights concerts are free with Museum admission and feature an international and innovative selection of live music. ... More SING! Mladen Stilinović Retrospective at the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary ArtBUDAPEST.- Mladen Stilinović (1947, Belgrade) starting his career in the early seventies, is one of the most significant representatives of Central European neo-avant-garde art. The retrospective show in Ludwig Museum is his first exhibition of such large scale in Hungary as well as in the region, presenting his most important installations, collages, photographs, artist’s books, films, paintings and objects. Most of his films are shown in an exhibition for the first time. Throughout his diversified work, Stilinović explores ideological signs and their social aspects. His works criticise the language of politics, the institutional hierarchy within art, and the role of money and labour in society using the devices of irony, paradox and manipulation. From 1975 he was member of The Group of Six Artists with his brother and friends, whose outside exhibitions-actions were an occasion for talk about art with a pu ... More Phillips de Pury & Company Announces Strong Results from the Inaugural NY Evening Editions Sale NEW YORK, NY.- Phillips de Pury & Company’s Evening Editions sale at 450 Park Avenue, comprising 78 lots, sold 82% by value and 76% by lot totaling $3,639,350 (including premium). Phillips de Pury & Company opens New York’s spring print season with strong results showcasing the continued success of the Modern and Contemporary Editions department. “Our first evening sale at 450 Park Avenue, New York drew a standing room only crowd and record prices for iconic works. We were especially pleased with the strong results of our top three lots. We are most proud to bring Editions to the forefront in an evening sale context and happy that collectors from all mediums participated in the sale.” Worldwide Directors, Kelly Troester & Cary Leibowitz. Records continued throughout the sale with works by Baldessari, Dubuffet, Johns, Katz, LeWitt, Picasso, Warhol and other not ... MoreAlex J. Taylor Receives Second Annual Terra Foundation for American Art International Essay PrizeWASHINGTON, D.C.- Alex J. Taylor has been awarded the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s 2011 Terra Foundation for American Art International Essay Prize. Taylor’s winning essay “Unstable Motives: Propaganda, Politics and the Late Work of Alexander Calder” focuses on Calder’s late-career mobiles and stabiles, made from the 1950s until his death in 1976, and explores the contradictory ideologies that Calder’s abstraction could serve. The essay will be published in the Spring 2012 issue of the museum’s journal American Art (vol. 26, no. 1). Taylor is the second winner of the $500 prize, which recognizes excellent research and writing by a scholar in the field of American art history based outside the United States. The annual award, established in 2009, supports essays that advance the understanding of historical American art a ... More Norton Simon Museum Presents Where Art Meets Science: Ancient Sculpture from the Hindu-Buddhist WorldPASADENA, CA.- The Norton Simon Museum presents Where Art Meets Science: Ancient Sculpture from the Hindu-Buddhist World, a small exhibition that examines the connoisseurship and conservation involved in identifying and preserving ancient Asian sculpture. A collaboration between the Museum’s assistant curator, Melody Rod-ari, and its conservator, John Griswold, the exhibition features nine works primarily of Cambodian origin from the Norton Simon collections. Before ancient objects enter a museum collection, they often travel great distances and endure periods of use, disuse, loss and rediscovery. Over the course of time, they may serve varying functions to vastly different communities of people. Their original meanings and the evidence of their intended use can become lost or obscured. Where Art Meets Science explores how the trained eye and scholarship of the art historian together with the scientific evidence gai ... More Puerto Rico Painter Jose Torres Martino Dies at 94 By: Danica Coto, Associated Press
SAN JUAN (AP).- Jose Antonio Torres Martino, a Puerto Rican painter and writer who helped create and expand art and journalism institutions on the U.S. island, died Friday. He was 94. Torres died at Pavia Hospital in San Juan after a prolonged illness, said Margarita Fernandez Zavala, a close friend and an art professor at the University of Puerto Rico in Bayamon. She said she wasn't sure about the specific illness. Torres was born in 1916 in Puerto Rico's second largest city, Ponce, whose setting on the island's southern coast inspired one of his more famous abstract paintings. His voice was well-known to Puerto Ricans from the 1940s through the 1980s, Fernandez said. "He was one of the pioneers of radio and television on the island," she said. "He was a man of elegant words." But Torres was a private man who did not seek the spotlight, she added. "He was soft and sweet and tender," Fernandez said. "Everyone sought his opinion, something that ... More |
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