| | MKG in Hamburg Reappraises Art Nouveau with Exhibition of More than 180 Posters
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A young woman passes in front of a print by an unknown artist from 1913 at the 'Musem fuer Kunst und Gewerbe' (Musem of Art and Craft) in Hamburg, Germany, 18 May 2011. From 20 May until 28 August, the museum will host an exhibition of art nouveau prints. EPA/CHRISTIAN CHARISIUS.
HAMBURG.- On the occasion of the reappraisal of one of the most comprehensive collections of commercial art in the world, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg will show a selection of 180 works of the decades when picture production exploded – around 1900. The exhibition will be on view on May 20th and will run until August 28th 2011. From the late 19th Century the MKG accumulated a unique collection comprising more than 15000 sheets, among them posters, book covers, calendars sheets, postcards and letterheads. Among the 200 designers from Europe and the US represented, are leading artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Alfred Mucha, Henry van de Velde, and Peter Behrens. The artists used print especially to deal with contemporary topics, like sports, fashion, politics, engineering and the everyday and laid the foundations for corporate design, graphic design and an aesthetics of advertising – all of which are comm ... More |
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Sotheby's London Sees Strong Prices for Spanish, Orientalist, German, Austrian and Central European Works
Two Sotheby's porters adjust a painting by Paul Cesar Helleu entitled 'Madame at her Bureau in the Drawing Room of the Artist's Studio'. AP Photo/Alastair Grant.
LONDON.- Sotheby’s sale of 19th Century European Paintings in London today (which included works by Spanish, Orientalist, German, Austrian and Central European artists) brought a total of £5,403,625 ($6,190,388). German, Austrian and Central European Paintings: Notable highlights of this section of the sale were Polish artist Henryk Siemiradski’s By the Fountain (lot 29), which sold for £301,250 ($345,112) against an estimate of £250,000-350,000, and Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein’s Girl with a Drawing Instrument, the Countess Thekla Ludolf (lot 4) which brought £79,250 ($90,789), over the pre-sale high estimate of £70,000. The price achieved established a record for the artist at auction. The Orientalist section of the sale was led by Austrian-born Rudolf Ernst’s Leaving the Mosque (lot 67), a superbly conceived and finely observed panel in which the artist gives expression to his admiration for Musl ... More | | An Attempt to Smuggle Hundreds of Stolen Antiquities from Israel was Thwarted
A rare Roman lamp bearing an incised decoration of a seven-branched menorah. In the background – other clay lamps that were seized from the suspect. Israel Antiquities Authority – Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery.
ISRAEL.- The suspect, a retired university lecturer with a Ph. D in history from the United States, sold among other things, silver coins from the Second Temple period and 1,500 year old clay oil lamps. He planned on leaving the country with a handful of checks and cash totaling more than $20,000. During the past two weeks an extensive campaign was undertaken to prevent the illicit trafficking in antiquities excavated and plundered from archaeological sites. In an operation in Jerusalem conducted by the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery, an American tour guide was identified while selling antiquities to a group of American tourists he was leading in Israel. Inspectors from the Israel Antiquities Authority were present at one of the sales that took place in a hotel. Upon conclusion of the sale the suspect was detained, his room and belongings were searched and hundreds of ancient archaeological artifacts in ... More | | Most Complete Collection of Otto Dix's Prints Long-Term Loan to Pinakothek der Moderne
Otto Dix, Mondäne Dame, 1965, Farblithographie, 701 x 549 mm, Karsch 304 I A I-II-II, Probedruck,Doppeldruck-variante für den 1. Stein, Inv.-Nr. L 126…© VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2011.
MUNCHEN.- The Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München has managed to secure as a long-term loan to Munich what is likely to be the most complete collection of Otto Dix’s prints anywhere in the world, amassed over several decades. The Greek collector George Economou, who has long placed German 20th century art at the heart of his overall collection, recently acquired this private collection of Dix’s works containing 526 sheets. In February of this year Economou entrusted the collection to the care of the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München. As all sheets in George Economou’s collection have now been properly catalogued, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München would like to take the opportunity to present them officially to the press for the first time. The collector will be attending the presentation in person. A comprehensive exhibition of the collection is planned and is due to be accompanied by a symposium ... More |
Sotheby's Sets New Auction Record for American Indian Art with War Shirt that Sells for $2,658,500
Oglala Sioux Beaded and Fringed Hide War Shirt. Est. $250/250,000. Sold for: $2,658,500. Photo: Sotheby's.
NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s set a new record for a piece of American Indian Art at auction when an Oglala Sioux Beaded and Fringed Hide War Shirt which once belonged to the famous and celebrated Sioux Chief, Black Bird sold to an anonymous buyer for $2,658,500 (est. $250/350,000). The War Shirt led the sale which totaled $4,809,503. This was comfortably over the high estimate and the highest ever total for a various owner sale in this category (overall est. $2.8/4 million). Two determined telephone bidders battled for several minutes before auctioneer Hugh Hildesley brought the hammer down. In addition to the provenance, the shirt is made all the more remarkable by the existence of photographs showing it being worn by its original owner. Photographic documentation of an artifact as important as the Oglala Sioux Shirt is very rare. In this case though, sever ... More | | Records Set at Leslie Hindman's Sale of Contemporary, Modern, American and European Art
Pablo Picasso, Femme au Fauteuil No. 4, Sold for $103,700.
CHICAGO, IL.- Leslie Hindman Auctioneers’ Spring auction of Contemporary, Modern, American and European Art set records, realizing over $2.7 million, as a crowded salesroom, busy phone lines and aggressive internet bidding contributed to strong prices. Several highlights of the Modern and Contemporary session were from the collection of Milwaukee’s Bradley Family Foundation. Sir Terry Frost’s Orange and Blue Upright, achieved $67,100 against a presale estimate of $40,000-60,000, and a painting by Yannis Gaitis brought $51,240 against an estimate of $25,000-35,000. Auction records were set for other artists from the Bradley Foundation collection, including Luis Martinez-Pedro and Colleen Browning, which realized $34,160 and $21,960 respectively. Works by Chicago artists performed well. Ed Paschke’s Calypso Rojo brought $51,240, and Roger Brown’s Palenque with Early Risers sold for $46,360. Interes ... More | | Portrait of Bill and Melinda Gates Installed by the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
A portrait of Bill and Melinda Gates, created by artist Jon Friedman. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta.
WASHINGTON, DC.- The National Portrait Gallery has installed a portrait of Bill and Melinda Gates by Jon Friedman in the museum’s “Recent Acquisitions” exhibition. “I am thrilled to accept this commissioned painting of Bill and Melinda Gates into our collection,” said Martin Sullivan, director of the museum. “Jon Friedman created a compelling portrait that tells the story of their foundation’s work.” Bill Gates left Harvard as an undergraduate to write software for the earliest personal computers. His company, Microsoft, developed a computer operating system for wide-scale nontechnical use that spurred on the personal computer revolution begun in the 1980s. Microsoft remains a leader in the industry. Melinda French Gates has degrees in computer science, economics and business, and was employed by Microsoft. The couple created the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 with the mission ... More |
More than 45 Extraordinary Works by Austrian Artist Egon Schiele at Richard Nagy Ltd.
Egon Schiele, Woman with Homunculus, 1910.
LONDON.- More than forty-five extraordinary works by Austrian artist Egon Schiele, previously unseen in the UK, will be unveiled at Richard Nagy’s new gallery on Old Bond Street from 19 May – 30 June 2011. Much of the four thousand works Schiele produced during his short lifetime can only be seen in Vienna; at the Belvedere, the Albertina and the Leopold Museum, or New York, primarily at the Neue Galerie. While Schiele is recognised as one of the greatest draftsmen of the 20th Century, with watercolours making over $11 million at auction, his work is absent from museum collections in the United Kingdom and has been given little public attention in the past twenty years. In 1989, the Royal Academy of Arts staged the first and last museum exhibition in the country, Egon Schiele and his Time. Since then Schiele’s work has only made fleeting appearances in group shows, to which Nagy has loaned pieces. Focusing e ... More | | Modigiliani Portrait to Feature in Bonhams Impressionist & Modern Art Auction
Amedeo Modigliani. Portrait de femme. Estimate: £1.5-2.5 million. Photo: Bonhams.
LONDON.- Bonhams Impressionist & Modern Art auction on Tuesday 21st June will include an exciting selection of works by artists including Boudin, Modigliani, Chagall, Picasso, Renoir and Miro. The current highlight of the sale is Portrait de Femme by the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani which was painted circa 1917-1918. Modigliani is renowned for his portraits of women, and this is a fine example which comes to the market from the Grace Vogel Aldworth Trust. It is estimated to fetch £1.5-2.5 million. Nu, Etude pour ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ (1907) by Pablo Picasso is also expected to generate a lot of interest. The watercolour and gouache study is one of a number of works that Picasso created in preparation for his finished masterpiece, and is recognisable as the figure on the lower right of the final composition. The study manages to communicate the sense of violent ... More | | Rarely Seen 18th-Century Pastel Portraits on View in New Exhibition at Metropolitan Museum
Jean-Marc Nattier, Madame Joseph Nicolas Pancrace Royer (Louise Geneviève Le Blond), Ca. 1750. Pastel on paper, two sheets joined, laid down on canvas, 31 ¾ x 25 ¼ in. Private collection.
NEW YORK, N Y.- Pastel quite suddenly became popular throughout Europe in the 18th century, so much so that, by 1750, some 2,500 artists and amateurs were working in pastel in Paris alone. Portraits in pastel were commissioned by all ranks of society, but most enthusiastically by the royal families, their courtiers, and the wealthy middle classes. Although pastel is a drawing material, 18th-century pastel portraits are often highly finished, quite large, brightly colored, and elaborately framed, evoking oil paintings, the medium to which they were invariably compared. The powdery pastel crayons are particularly suited to capturing the fleeting expressions that characterize the most life-like portraits. Pastel Portraits: Images of 18th-Century ... More |
Pirates: The Captain Kidd Story, a New Exhibition Sails into the Museum of London Docklands
Captain William Kidd 1645-1701 by Sir James Thornhill. © The Art Archive and Private Collection and Eileen Tweedy.
LONDON.- Pirates: The Captain Kidd Story, a new exhibition at the Museum of London Docklands, opens 20 May 2011. Focusing on the legendary privateer turned pirate, Captain Kidd, the exhibition reveals the surprising truth of how London’s corrupt political activities were entrenched in piracy. The launch date also coincides with the anniversary of Captain Kidd’s execution on 23 May 1701 in Wapping. From cannons and hidden treasure maps to female pirates and gibbet cages, the exhibition will explore the myths and mysteries surrounding common perceptions of pirates. 17th and 18th century English society will also be explored, looking at gruesome ritual executions and the greed and manipulation of the infamous East India Company. Tom Wareham, Curator of Maritime History at the Museum of London Docklands, said: “Pirates: The Captain Kidd Story will help people understand the close connection between the pir ... More | | Bonhams Spring Auctions Offer Snuff Bottles, Soapstone Figures & Chinese Works of Art
An extremely rare gold-ground ‘famille-rose’ enamelled copper ‘European-subject’ snuff bottle. Qianlong mark and of the period, palace workshops, Beijing, 1770–1779, 5.89cm high. Estimate: HK$3,500,000 - 7,000,000. Photo: Bonhams.
HONG KONG.- Following on from the extraordinary results of Part I and Part II, in which every snuff bottle from the celebrated Mary and George Bloch Collection of Chinese Snuff Bottles has sold, with world records broken in eleven different categories, Part III is eagerly awaited. Several great collections of snuff bottles were formed in the early 20th century in Asia, Europe and the USA. However, no collection formed in the modern era can rival that formed by the late George Bloch (1920-2009). It consists of 1720 bottles, purchased at auction and from leading international snuff bottle dealers from 1983 onwards. Extensively published and exhibited at the Hong Kong Museum of Art and British Museum, it is widely regarded as the highest quality collection of snuff bottles in private hands. The contents of this world famous collection span ... More | | Pre-Hispanic Cities Reproduced the Narration of the "Sacred Mountain" with Construction of Great Temples
Pyramid of the Niches in El Tajin, Veracruz. Photo: DMC INAH. M. MARAT.
MEXICO CITY.- The majestic pyramids of the Sun, in Teotihuacan, Estado de Mexico, of the Niches in El Tajin, Veracruz, and of the Inscriptions, in Palenque, Chiapas, are clear examples of the symbolic representation that Prehispanic peoples made of the “Sacred Mountain” myth, which refers to the beginning of time, when a creational couple joined forces to make a huge mountain emerge from the ocean. This was explained by Diana Magaloni, director of the National Museum of Anthropology (MNA) at the first of a conference series that complement the exhibition Six Ancient Cities of Mesoamerica. As an introduction to the myth that supported the Prehispanic world view, the restorer explained the beginning and planning of the 6 ancient cities of the exhibition – Monte Alban, Palenque, Teotihuacan, El Tajin, Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco -, which developed parting from a great temple in the shape of a mountain: the pyramid. “As synthetic and symbolic reflex of the orde ... More |
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 Princess Beatrice's Wedding Hat at $30K LONDON (AP).- Online auctioneer eBay says that bids for one of the wackiest pieces of royal wedding headgear have approached 18,400 pounds ($30,000.) Princess Beatrice's massive, ring-and-bow-shaped hat, turned heads at the wedding of her cousin Prince William last month and has since become an Internet sensation. The Philip Treacy creation has been compared to a toilet seat or a pretzel, and has been endlessly photoshopped to feature, for example, a cat crawling through it.
Beatrice has taken the joke in stride, featuring some of the most startling hat-inspired works on the eBay website. Money from the hat's sale is going to the UNICEF and Children in Crisis charities. She said she hoped whoever bought the hat would ... More Reforestation Research in Latin America Helps Build Better ForestsWASHINGTON, D.C.- A tropical forest is easy to cut down, but getting it back is another story. In a special issue of the journal Forest Ecology and Management, leading researchers at the Smithsonian in Panama and across Latin America offer new insights on reforestation based on 20 years of research. “Twenty years ago, we had almost no information about how to build a forest,” said Jefferson Hall, staff scientist at the Smithsonian and lead editor of the new special issue of Forest Ecology and Management. “People either planted one of four non-native species—teak, pine, eucalyptus or acacia—or they used a trial-and-error process with other species that was not always successful. Now we can be smart about which trees we plant at a given site, and we understand much more about what motivates land owners and rural farmers to put this know-how to work.” Forests keep water clean, control soil erosion, store ... More Houston Fine Art Fair Announces Preliminary Galleries for Inaugural FairHOUSTON, TX.- The prestigious starting line-up of galleries participating in the inaugural Houston Fine Art Fair, Sept. 15 – 18, 2011, was announced at a cocktail reception yesterday at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Over 150 art patrons, collectors and gallery supporters were on hand as the first wave of local, national and international galleries was unveiled by Hamptons Expo Group, the fair organizer. Approximately half of the estimated 80 galleries, who will be participating in September fair at Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center, were named. A diverse line-up of blue-chip and emerging artists will be represented by international galleries from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela; among them include Oscar Cruz Galeria, Sao Paulo, Brazil and Schuebbe Projects, Dusseldorf, Germany. US cities represented by particip ... More Moscow Museum of Modern Art Presents Irina Nakhova "Rooms"MOSCOW.- Moscow Museum of Modern Art presents Irina Nakhova - a special guest of the 4th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art - on view from May 19 through July 3, 2011. Irina Nakhova is considered to be an author of the first Russian “total installations”. Her artistic career is inherently linked to the Moscow Conceptualist circles. She has early recognized her mission as an artist. She has defined the existence of art as a vital necessity. “Only the bare-necessity approach to creating artworks made them living and full of not-for-consumption energy”, the artist says. This “maximalist approach” likens Nakhova’s art to the Russian avant-garde art of the 20 century. Artworks by Irina Nakhova are in the museum and private collections in France, Germany, UK, Italy, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, ... More Auctions America by RM Posts Over $6.75 Million at Debut Auburn Spring SaleAUBURN, IN.- Auctions America by RM continued its mission to rebuild the Auburn Auction Park over the weekend, hosting a successful debut Spring sale in Auburn, Indiana, May 12 – 15. Attracting collectors and enthusiasts from across the continent and as far away as Argentina, Belgium and Austria, the three-day Auburn Spring Collector Car Auction presented 424 automobiles and a select range of memorabilia, generating over $6.75 million in sales* with 66% of all lots sold. “We are delighted with the results and support received for our debut Auburn Spring sale, particularly from the local Auburn community who has been very welcoming to our team. Despite unseasonal weather conditions, the event was a great success with almost 10,000 enthusiasts visiting the park over the course of the weekend,” says Donnie Gould, President, Auctions America by RM. Goul ... More Australia Police Determining Owner of Buried Coins PERTH (AP).- Police are trying to determine who owns a treasure-trove of gold coins unearthed from a building site on Australia's southwest coast.Western Australia state police spokesman Gerry Cassidy said workers found the 400 British sovereigns last week while digging a ditch in the port city of Albany. They handed them to the property owner who is claiming ownership. Cassidy said Wednesday police are checking law books to determine whether the property owner or even a museum is entitled to keep the coins, dated 1800 — 26 years before Albany was settled by Europeans. "Police have got to work out exactly how they handle it," Cassidy said. He said an appraiser valued one of the coins at 16,000 Australian dollars ($17,000) but did not have an estimate for all of the coins. Brett Joins, chief executive of Wauters Enterprises, confi ... MoreBellevue Arts Museum Announces Search for Managing DirectorBELLEVUE, WA.- Bellevue Arts Museum, the Pacific Northwest's center for the exploration of art, craft and design, announce the search for a Managing Director. This newly created position will oversee all administrative functions of the Museum, including fundraising, communications, operations and finance, and work in close partnership with Director of Curatorial Affairs/Artistic Director Stefano Catalani. A search committee, comprised of board, staff and community members, has been formed and the search is scheduled to launch at the end of May. The announcement comes from both the Board of Trustees and Mark Crawford, who has served as BAM's Executive Director/CEO for nearly three years. The Managing Director will replace the Executive Director/CEO position, formalizing the dual leadership structure the Museum has ... More |
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