| Pablo Picasso Lovers Win Hearts at Christie's Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale
| | | | A Christie's employee poses with artist Pablo Picasso's artworks "Jeune fille endormie" (L) and "Femme assise, robe bleue" at Christie's Auction House in London. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor.
LONDON (REUTERS).- Portraits of three different lovers of 20th century master Pablo Picasso fetched the three highest prices at a London auction at Christie's on Tuesday, the first in a key series of art sales over the coming weeks. Top lot on the night at the impressionist and modern art evening sale was a depiction of Dora Maar, who became Picasso's lover and muse at the expense of Marie-Therese Walter. The 1939 work, which had been unseen in public since 1967, sold for 18.0 million pounds ($29.1 million), several times the pre-sale estimate of 4.0-8.0 million pounds. The second highest price paid on the night was for "Jeune fille endormie," a 1935 portrait of Walter that went under the hammer for 13.5 million pounds ($21.9 million). The painting, valued at 9.0-12.0 million pounds, was given to the University of Sydney in 2010 by an anonymous donor on the condition that it was sold and that the proceeds went to the univers ... More | | Sotheby's to Offer an Important Oil Study by Sir Anthony Van Dyck in Its Old Masters Sale
Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Study of a Bearded Man with Hands Raised, c. 1616, oil on canvas, 89 by 55.5 cm, Est. £200,000 300,000. Photo: Sotheby's.
LONDON.- Sothebys today announced that it will sell the oil study A Bearded Man with Hands Raised by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (estimated at £200,000-300,000) in its 6th July 2011 sale of Old Master and British Paintings. The work, depicting a bearded man with his torso uncovered, was painted when the great 17th Century Flemish artist was working in the studio of Pieter Paul Rubens c.1616, and Sothebys has identified the model as one whom Van Dyck used for a variety of sketches - some of which were used in completed paintings, including The Betrayal of Christ, located at Corsham Court. In the 2004 catalogue raisonné, the painting was known only from the old photograph depicting it prior to cleaning and restoration, and was included under Questionable Attributions. However, all scholars who have viewed the painting since it was consigned to Sotheby's agree that it is an autograph work ... More | | Mexican Archaeologists Find Ancient Staircase at Tlatelolco, May Confirm First Building
Entrance to the tunnel, Main Temple, Tlatelolco. Photo: DMC INAH/H. Montaño.
MEXICO CITY.- When looking for archaeological elements of the first constructive stage of Tlatelolco, to confirm a foundation date, researchers of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) found at Templo Mayor (Main Temple) a staircase that gave access to a shrine that dates from the earliest architectural stage, as well as a stuccoed floor, probably dated between 900 and 1200 of the Common Era. The finding may confirm the moment when the first building of Tlatelolco, the twin city of Tenochtitlan, was established, informed archaeologist Lucia Sanchez, director of the archaeological zone. According to ethno-historical sources such as official chronicles of Fray Diego de Duran and Padre Acosta, the foundation of Tlatelolco took place in 1337, while Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325. Other sources like Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca and Mapa de Sigüenza, report that Tlatelolco was created before or at the same tim ... More | | Caravaggio's St Augustine: Whitfield Fine Art Research the Discovery of Caravaggio's Original
The painting was obscured by a thick layer of discolored varnish. Photo: Courtesy Whitfield Fine Art.
LONDON.- The Caravaggio of St Augustine, exhibited for the first time in the current exhibition in Ottawa, Caravaggio & His Followers in Rome, is a rediscovery from the collection made by the artists patrons Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani and his brother Marchese Vincenzo. A label tucked in the back of the stretcher revealed the name of the heir to the collection in the nineteenth century, and its subject, dimensions and description correspond with the work first listed by Vincenzo Giustiniani in the inventory drawn up by him in 1638 shortly before his death. Cleaning has revealed Caravaggios characteristic technique in many comparisons with works done in Rome around the turn of the 16th/17th century, including his habit of leaving he ground showing through in parts, alterations to the profiles of the figures, and adjustments made necessary by the optical observations he worked from, detail by detail. The painting was obscured by a thick layer of discolored varnish, ... More | British Library, Google in Deal to Digitize Books Published between 1700 and 1870
A reading room at the British Library in London. AP Photo/Matt Dunham. By: Jill Lawless, Associated Press
LONDON (AP).- A treatise on a stuffed hippopotamus, an 18th-century English primer for Danish sailors and a description of the first engine-driven submarine are among 250,000 books to be made available online in a deal between Google and the British Library. The agreement, announced Monday, will let Internet users read, search, download and copy thousands of texts published between 1700 and 1870. It is a small step toward the library's goal of making the bulk of its 14 million books and 1 million periodicals available in digital form by 2020. "So far we have only been able to digitize quite a small fraction of the global collection," said the library's chief executive, Lynne Brindley. "There is a long way to go." The deal marks another step in Google's effort to make digital copies of the world's estimated 130 million books. The company, based in ... More | | Kunsthalle Offers a Fascinating Dialogue between Modernism and Present-Day Art
Salvador Dali's sculpture 'Objet scatologique a fonctionnement symbolique' is shown at the art exhibition 'Le surrealisme c'est moi' at Kunsthalle museum. REUTERS/Herwig Prammer.
VIENNA.- Eccentric, madman, or genius? Both with his oeuvre and his provocative manner, Salvador Dalí (19041989) abandoned the boundaries between art and life, originality and commercialism as nearly no other twentieth century artist did. He gave form to his visions of Surrealism, the aesthetic fusion of dream and reality, which manifests itself in delusions, states of fever and intoxication or delirium, in almost all media of art, but also in the way he presented himself. Translating the principles of his so called paranoiac critical method and being recognized all over the world with such motifs as the melting clock, the burning giraffe, or endlessly vast landscapes steeped in cool sunshine, Dalí not only ranks among the most famous painters. He was also one of the first artists who devoted himself to design, cinema, and the sphere of mass media and pursued marketing ... More | | St Paul's Completes £40 Million Restoration Project and Celebrates 300th Anniversary
The sun shines on St Paul's Cathedral in London. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth.
LONDON.- In June 2011, one of the largest and most impressive restoration projects ever undertaken in the UK is formally completed. The St Pauls Cathedral programme of cleaning and repair has cost £40m, taken 15 years, and is the first time in its history that the building has been comprehensively restored inside and out. The culmination of the cleaning project coincides with the tercentenary of St Pauls Cathedral being declared complete by Parliament. Since the project of cleaning and repair commenced, the exterior and interior of the cathedral have been beautifully restored. Once blackened and damaged, the west front now rises majestically at the top of Ludgate Hill. The interior of the cathedral has been transformed by state of the art conservation techniques and the light that now floods the space highlights the Portland stone used in the cathedrals construction and brings mosaics, carvings and sculptu ... More | Original Emancipation Proclamation Displayed at The Henry Ford Museum in Michigan
The original Emancipation Proclamation. AP Photo/Evan Vucci.
DEARBORN, MI.- In a special two-day, once-in-a-lifetime event, The Henry Ford is displaying the original Emancipation Proclamation in the Discovering the Civil War exhibit on display in Henry Ford Museum. The museum will remain open around the clock until 6 a.m., June 22. This scheduled appearance marks the first time since 1948 that the Emancipation Proclamation was last displayed in Michigan. Admission to this public showing in Henry Ford Museum from June 20-22 is free. It is truly both an honor and privilege to be able to have this precious document on display for everyone to view, said Patricia E. Mooradian, president of The Henry Ford. This is one of our most treasured pieces of American history and Henry Ford Museum, with our With Liberty and Justice For All exhibition just steps away, provides the perfect setting for this emotionally-stirring event. For this special viewing, The ... More | | Recently Discovered Masterpiece of Islamic Art to Go on View at the Pergamon Museum
The priceless ewer now forms part of the group of loans from the de Unger family that will be on view for many years in the Museum of Islamic Art. © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Sammlung Edmund de Unger. Photo: Andy Smart.
BERLIN.- The discovery of this intricately crafted rock crystal ewer recently caused a sensation on the British art market. The priceless object first made a stir in the press for being a 'sleeper', after being originally priced between ₤100 to ₤200 and mistaken by a smaller auction house for a French claret jug. At that initial auction it went on to fetch some ₤220,000. Evidently among the bidders that day were a few Islamic art experts, who rightly recognized the ewer's true worth as an exceptionally rare and valuable rock crystal vessel from Egypt. The Fatimid dynasty ruled Egypt a thousand years ago. They founded the city of Cairo in 969 and were renowned for their fine craftsmanship. Rock crystal items were sold as ... More | | Research Shows One of Vincent van Gogh's Self-Portraits is in Fact His Brother Theo
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Portrait of Theo van Gogh, 1887. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM.- Was Vincent van Gogh first and foremost an impulsive genius? How well have Van Goghs colours withstood the ravages of time? And did Van Gogh make a painting of his brother Theo after all? To start with the case of Vincent/Theo, according to prevailing opinion, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) never painted his brother Theo, his confidant and staunchest ally. But the two brothers looked quite similar. Now, the Van Gogh Museums senior research Louis van Tilborgh is convinced that one of the many self-portraits by Vincent van Gogh is in fact a portrait of his brother Theo. This conclusion is based on a number of striking differences between Theos en Vincents features. Theos portrait, made in 1887, shows a man with shaved cheeks. Theos beard is not red like Vincents, but more ochre. On top of that, this mans ear has a fine rounded s ... More | The Autry Surveys the Significance of Bonanza by Displaying Iconic Ponderosa Map
Upon David Dortort's passing in 2010, his family generously donated the map to the Autry.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- Now on display in the Autry National Centers Imagination Gallery is the famous hand-drawn Ponderosa Ranch map that was seen by millions of people around the world during the opening sequence of the popular television series Bonanza. A true piece of Western history, the map of the Ponderosa, the rambling Nevada ranch that was the setting for Bonanza, remained in the collection of series creator David Dortort for many years. Upon his passing in 2010, the Dortort family generously donated the map to the Autry. It now joins the rest of the David Dortort Archive which is also part of the Autrys collection and includes such items as correspondence, draft and final scripts, audience rating records, awards, photographs, periodicals, and reference books. The archive documents the history and influence of Western television and adds to the Autrys significant popular culture collections. This July m ... More | | Urban Scrawl: Graffiti and Street Art in Special Sale Presented by artnet Auctions
CRASH (John Matos), Love to Bits, 1994. Paintings, Acrylic, Enamel, on canvas. 20 x 16 in. Estimate US $5,000 - $7,000.
NEW YORK, NY.- artnet Auctions announced the launch of its new sale, entitled Urban Scrawl: Graffiti and Street Art. This special sale features paintings, collages, prints, and sculpture that outline the origins of the Graffiti movement in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s and that trace those developments to todays current Street Art phenomenon. Many of the Graffiti and street artists for sale were celebrated just last month in Jeffrey Deitchs triumphant Art in the Streets exhibition at the Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. The survey of early Graffiti Art for sale on artnet Auctions features artworks from some of the most influential artists of the 20th century, including Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat. Highlighting the sale is a phenomenal Untitled sculpture by Keith Haring of a contorted break-dancer (Est. US$200,000 ... More | | Brooklyn Museum Withdraws from Spring 2012 Presentation of "Art in the Streets" Exhibition
The artist Banksy and students from City of Angels School created "Stained Window" for Art In The Streets. AP Photo/Reed Saxon.
BROOKLYN, NY.- The Brooklyn Museum has canceled the spring 2012 presentation of Art in the Streets, the first major United States museum exhibition of the history of graffiti and street art. Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, where it is currently on view at The Geffen Contemporary through August 8, 2011, the exhibition had been scheduled at the Brooklyn Museum from March 30 through July 8, 2012. "This is an exhibition about which we were tremendously enthusiastic, and which would follow appropriately in the path of our Basquiat and graffiti exhibitions in 2005 and 2006, respectively. It is with regret, therefore, that the cancellation became necessary due to the current financial climate. As with most arts organizations throughout the country, we have had to make several difficult choices since the beginning of the economic downturn ... More | More News | Impressive Prices at Bonhams Impressionist & Modern Art SaleLONDON.- Bonhams Impressionist & Modern Art sale on Tuesday 21st June saw an exciting selection of works by artists including Modigliani, Chagall, Picasso, Renoir and Miro make a total of £3,571,440, with 94% sold by lot and 99% sold by value. The top selling lot was Portrait de Femme by the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani which fetched £1,812,000. Modigliani is renowned for his portraits of women they have been described as the works by which the artist has earned his place in the history of art, and this fine example was fought over by several bidders both in the room and on the telephone. Two works in the sale by Pablo Picasso also achieved good prices - Tête de matador made £216,000 while Femme nue assise fetched £204,000. And Joan Mirós works proved popular with bidders too Tête sold for £120,000 and Femme made £90,000. Other results include Candido Portinari Flores (£108,000), Marc Chagal ... More "Scooters: Size Doesn't Always Matter" Opens at the Petersen Automotive MuseumLOS ANGELES, CA.- The Petersen Automotive Museums latest exhibition Scooters: Size Doesnt Always Matter takes museum visitors through a fascinating chronological tour of motor scooter development beginning with the simple Autoped of the mid-1910s to the alternative power vehicles of today. Over 90 vehicles are on display in this colorful and quirky exhibit of miniscule motoring. The exhibition runs through May 28, 2012. Smaller, more affordable, and easier to maneuver than motorcycles, motor scooters offer an efficient and stylish means to run quick errands and travel short distances. Scooters shows how this genre of motor bike has evolved from simple tube frames with motors to the sophisticated, comfortable, aerodynamic vehicles of today. The exhibit also illustrates how scooters have been adapted to business and industrial uses, how they have been utilized by the movie and television industry, and how Southern ... More Power by BMW: Bonhams Teams Up with BMW Museum for Sale at Munich HeadquartersLONDON.- Bonhams European Motoring Department announced the addition of a new single marque motoring auction to their European calendar, entitled Power by BMW. The auction will incorporate all that is great about the BMW brand, from Motor Cars and Motorcycles produced or powered by BMW to a selection of BMW related Automobilia. It will be held during the first weekend in October and will be the first BMW only event since the successful 100% sold sale by Bonhams of the Willy Neutkens Collection of BMW Motorcycles at the BMW Museum in Munich in 2009. The BMW brand is synonymous with motorsport, from the innovative BMW 328s that dominated their class pre-war, to the CSL Batmobiles that fought off strong competition in the golden age of Saloon car racing, and the Le Mans winning BMW powered McLaren F1s. The same can be said for motorcycles with the legendary Georg Meier riding a works ... More Stradivarius Violin Sold for $16 Million for Japan Relief TOKYO (AP).- A Japanese music foundation has sold a renowned Stradivarius violin for $16 million at a London auction to raise money for tsunami disaster relief. The nonprofit Nippon Foundation said Tuesday the proceeds from selling the nearly 300-year-old violin known as the Lady Blunt will go to relief projects in northern Japan. The group's music affiliate owned the violin made in 1721 and hardly used. The new owner was not identified. Foundation spokesman Hideo Fukuda said the group plans to use the proceeds to support and promote traditional arts in the region. The March 11 earthquake and tsunami left more than 23,000 people dead or missing in northeastern Japan and destroyed hundreds of homes, offices and factories. ... More Library of Congress to Get Rare Map of Flat WorldFARGO (AP).- An Oregon man has given the Library of Congress a rare and unusual gift: a 120-year-old map supporting the theory that the Earth is flat. Don Homuth, of Salem, Ore., says the map was given to him by his eighth-grade teacher. It was created by Orlando Ferguson of Hot Springs, S.D. Homuth used to live in Fargo and was a North Dakota state senator. Library of Congress spokesman Robert Morris told The Forum newspaper that officials checked more than 75 maps before confirming the design was one-of-a-kind. He says the only other known copy of the map is in the Pioneer Museum in Hot Springs. ... More 18th-Century Cannons Retrieved from BalticWARSAW (AP).- Polish explorers have retrieved three 18th-century cannons from ship wrecks resting on the Baltic Sea bottom. Iwona Pomian, an expert at the Main Sea Museum in Gdansk, said Monday the three Swedish cannons bear the minting date of 1771 and were found in the remains of a commercial and a navy ship resting over 130 feet (40 meters) below. She says they were among more than 40 cannons and some cargo found in the wreckage. Pomian says it will take experts at the museum up to four years to clean the cannons and do preservation work before they can be put on display. ... More |
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