| | Jeff Bezos Donates $10 Million to Create "Center for Innovation" at New Museum in Seattle
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Jeff Bezos, founder, CEO and chairman of Amazon.com, stands with one of the company's trademark door-desks at the company's Seattle headquarters. AP Photo/Andy Rogers.
SEATTLE, WA.- The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) today announced that it has received a generous gift of $10 million from Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive officer of Seattle-based Amazon.com. The grant will be used to establish the “Center for Innovation” at the new MOHAI opening in late fall of 2012 in the historic Naval Reserve Building (Armory) at Lake Union Park, a few blocks from the new Amazon.com campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood. Bezos’ contribution to MOHAI is the largest in the museum’s 59-year history. "Look at the disproportionate number of extraordinary organizations founded in Seattle – Microsoft, Costco, Boeing, Fred Hutch, PACCAR—even UPS was founded here. These companies and their innovations have had a big impact on Seattle, the country, and the world,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “There’s something about Seattl ... More |
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| New Series of Articles: How to Work with Art-Level Antique Oriental Rugs as Interior Design Center Pieces | | The Hunt for Hidden Gems Begins on the Series Premiere of "Buried Treasure" | | Detectives Seek Thieves Who Swiped Rembrandt Sketch from Lobby of a Seaside Hotel | 
For large rooms with high ceilings, choose deeper, contrasting colors that have “weight” and larger, more graphic designs.
OAKLAND, CA.- Jan David Winitz, president and founder of Claremont Rug Company, has spent more than three decades building a world-class inventory of 19th century, art-level Oriental rugs from the Second Golden Age of Persian Weaving. Over the years, he has advised clients regarding how to effectively decorate their homes with antique carpets and how to build private collections. Recently, he has begun to set down what he has learned into a series of articles that answers many of the questions that have been posed to him. In this narrative, the first in the series, he discusses the history of antique rug collecting and the integral role they play in the contemporary home. The article also provides a handy set of "rules of thumb" for selecting specific carpets for various applications in the home. More information about Claremont's 4000-rug inventory are available on the website (www.claremontrug.com), where more ... More | | 
Hosts Leigh and Leslie Keno (“Antiques Roadshow”) are modern-day treasure hunters.
NEW YORK, N.Y.- With every family comes a dream, and with every treasure a story. Hosts Leigh and Leslie Keno (“Antiques Roadshow”) are modern-day treasure hunters. These world-renowned antique experts and appraisers have helped people all over the U.S. sell more than $1 billion worth of collectibles. In the new unscripted series, the identical twin brothers will travel across the country helping ordinary people find treasures right in their own homes. Throughout the hour, the Kenos will show up at participants’ homes and immediately begin their hunt for the hidden gems. Leigh and Leslie will investigate items of interest using cutting-edge technology to determine authenticity, condition and – ultimately – worth. The series premiere of BURIED TREASURE airs Wednesday, Aug. 24 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Having been interested in beautiful and rare Americana for more than thirty years, twin brothers Leigh and Leslie Keno are considered foremost experts on ... More | | 
Los Angeles Sheriff lead detective Clarence Williams displays the recovered $250,000 quill pen Rembrandt drawing known as "The Judgment". AP Photo/Gus Ruelas.
By: Robert Jablon, Associated Press
MARINA DEL REY, CA (AP).- A Rembrandt sketch swiped from the lobby of a seaside hotel and found in a San Fernando Valley church is locked away as investigators worked to find the thieves who snatched the 350-year-old artwork. Investigators had several leads, were reviewing hotel surveillance video and were working on a sketch of the suspects, said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. The 11-by-6-inch pen-and-ink drawing worth $250,000 was found in an unlocked public area of an Encino church Monday evening after a caller recognized it from news accounts of its weekend theft, said Whitmore. It was snatched from an easel Saturday during a private art display inside a high-end hotel lobby. The drawing was verified as being the stolen piece early ... More |
| Since It Opened Four Weeks Ago, Museum of Liverpool has Welcomed 250,000 Visitors | | Israel Antiquities Authority Announces Restoration of the "Crown" in Damascus Gate | | Early American Militaria to Highlight Bonhams & Butterfields' Fall Arms and Armor Sale | 
The Museum features four main galleries and a number of smaller gallery spaces. Photo: © National Museums Liverpool.
LIVERPOOL.- More than 250,000 people have visited the Museum of Liverpool since it opened four weeks ago, equivalent to the capacities of Anfield or Goodison Park 5 to 6 times over and more than half the population of the city as a whole. Crowds have flocked to the new Museum with an average of 8,300 people a day through the doors. The Museum which is free entry opened on 19 July and tells the story of the city and its people. Museum bosses had predicted 78,000 visitors in the first month of opening, but the response from the public has been three times that. Janet Dugdale, Director of the Museum of Liverpool said: ”The visitor figures are staggering. We are thrilled with the success of the new Museum. To get a quarter of a million people through the doors in the first month is fantastic. There is a real buzz of excitement in the Museum and it’s so nice to see so many people enjoying themselves. ... More | | 
People walk through Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to Jerusalem's Old City. EPA/OLIVER WEIKEN.
JERUSALEM.- For hundreds of years, when visitors arrived in Jerusalem and entered the city by way of Damascus Gate – the largest and most magnificent of Jerusalem’s gates – they glanced up and saw the large ‘crown’ that the sultan Suleiman the Magnificent built atop the gate in 1538 CE. But in 1967 the gate sustained serious damage and the crown was destroyed during the fighting in the Six Day War. Now, the Jerusalem Development Authority, in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities Authority and with funding provided by the Prime Minister’s Office, is concluding a comprehensive project of rehabilitating Damascus Gate, during which the gate was cleaned of the effects from the ravages of time and its ornamentation was restored, including the magnificent ‘crown’ at the top of the gate. When workers of the Conservation Department of the Israel Antiquit ... More | | 
A Massachusetts militia officer's bell-crowned shako by John E. Baker of Boston, circa 1840. Est. $3,000-5,000. Courtesy of Bonhams & Butterfields.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Bonhams & Butterfields is proud to announce that its November 14, 2011 Antique Arms and Armor and Modern Sporting Guns sale in San Francisco will feature a single-owner collection of more than 400 lots of American militaria, including military headgear, uniforms, edged weapons, firearms and accoutrements, illustrating all facets of military life, from the Federal Period through the Civil War. Highlighting the auction will be a number of uniform ensembles from the early Federal Period and Civil War, as well as a historic, Paris-made Confederate artillery officer's frock coat of Lt. Col. Richard Snowden Andrews. The sale will also feature more than 30 examples of rare headgear, many from the prestigious William H. Guthman Collection, including early Federal period dragoon helmets, elegant bell-topped shakos of the 1820s and 1830s, kepis and Hardee hats of the Civil War and elegant chapeau-de-bras ... More |
| MoMA's Annual Photography Series Highlights Six Emerging Contemporary Artists | | Oscar Winner Whoopi Goldberg to Offer Selections from Her Personal Collection at Heritage Auctions | | Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art Announces Final List of Participants | 
Viviane Sassen (Dutch, born 1972). Parasomnia, 2010. Chromogenic color print, 39 3/8 x 31 1/2" (100 x 80 cm) Courtesy of the artist, Stevenson Gallery, Motive Gallery. © 2011 Viviane Sassen.
NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of Modern Art announces the 26th annual New Photography exhibition, running September 27, 2011, through January 16, 2012, in The Robert and Joyce Menschel Gallery. This year, the exhibition expands to feature six artists—Zhang Dali, Moyra Davey, George Georgiou, Deana Lawson, Doug Rickard, and Viviane Sassen. These artists, hailing from Canada, China, England, Holland, and the United States, exemplify the diversity and international scope of contemporary photographic work. New Photography 2011 is organized by Dan Leers, The Beaumont and Nancy Newhall Curatorial Fellow, Department of Photography, The Museum of Modern Art. "Whether using an appropriative practice like Zhang Dali, analog forms of communication like Moyra Davey, the documentary approach of George Georgiou, conventions of portraiture like Deana ... More | | 
File photo of Whoopi Goldberg arriving at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala in New York. AP Photo/Evan Agostini.
DALLAS, TX.- Selections from the Personal Collection of Whoopi Goldberg, acclaimed Oscar-winning actress and comedian, will highlight Heritage Auctions' Sept. 27 Estate Auction, at the company's Design District annex at 1518 Slocum Street. This will include more than 70 pieces from Whoopi's cherished collection of pottery, porcelain, art deco and a variety of whimsical pieces she has gathered over the years. "I think of this as the evolution of interests," said Ms. Goldberg. "It's time to clear space for the next chapter of my ever changing tastes. I hope the new owners will enjoy these pieces as much as I have." While Ms. Goldberg has enjoyed her superstar status as hostess to some of the most interesting minds and unique characters in the world today she has also quietly and intelligently scoured auctions, antique shows and flea markets over the years to assemble her impressive assortment of tableware and accessories. ... More | | 
Jeppe Hein, Spiral Labyrinth I, 2006. Dimensions: 200 x 512 x 428 cm, material: high polished mirror plate, aludibond, metal frame. Courtesy: Johann König, Berlin.
MOSCOW.- The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Russia’s most prestigious contemporary art event, has finalized its selection of participants, now totalling 64 artists and 16 art groups from 33 countries. The title for the Biennale, “Rewriting Worlds”, proclaims that art is a sphere where new things are unceasingly generated, and contemporary artists rewrite the world as it exists around them by conveying new ideas and viewpoints in their artistic work. Peter Weibel believes that the exhibition’s main goal is “to demonstrate different levels of artistic thought — technological, political and psychological.” The main project will be located at two venues — the ARTPLAY Design Center, and the TSUM Art Foundation, both in central Moscow. There will also be 6 special guests, as well as 69 special projects and parallel programs at different venues. In addition, the Biennale expands ... More |
| Mariana Cook Examines One of Man's Earliest and Most Enduring Methods of Defining Territories | | Moby Dick: The Fastest Motorcycle of the 1920s to Be Auctioned at Bonhams' Sale in Staffordshire | | Jonathan Ferrara Gallery Presents New Photographs and Video Works by Generic Art Solutions | 
Mariana Cook, Window and Walls, Machu Picchu, Peru, 4 March 2005.
NEW YORK, N.Y.- A new photography book Stone Walls: Personal Boundaries (Damiani, $50, 192 pages, ISBN 978-88-6208-169-6) by artist Mariana Cook examines in stunning detail one of man’s earliest and most enduring methods of defining territories – the stone wall. Sculptural and practical, majestic and humble, the dry stone walls showcased in the book capture a fundamental relationship between human beings and the landscape. The book will be published October 1, 2011. Stone Walls: Personal Boundaries was conceived by Mariana Cook, the last protégé of Ansel Adams, at her home on Martha’s Vineyard on the day before Thanksgiving in 2002. After 56 cows strayed through a crumbling section of the stone wall she shares with her neighbor, Cook studied the tumbled wall and was struck by its beauty. With that inspiration, Cook spent eight years traveling to farms, towns, and temples in Peru, Great Britain, Ireland, the Mediterranean, New England, and Kentucky in pursuit of d ... More | | 
Hailed in its day as ‘the fastest privately owned machine in the world suitable for road use’, this motorcycle is expected to prove very popular with bidders. Photo: Bonhams.
STAFFORD.- Bonhams are returning to the International Motorcycle Show in Staffordshire on 16th October 2011 with another exceptional line-up of motorcycles. The star of the auction is the 1929 Brough Superior SS100 known as Moby Dick, the fastest motorcycle of the 1920s, which has attracted a pre-sale estimate of £240,000 - £280,000. Hailed in its day as ‘the fastest privately owned machine in the world suitable for road use’, this motorcycle is expected to prove very popular with bidders. Tested by Motor Cycling magazine in 1931, ‘Moby Dick’ achieved a top speed of 106mph, a staggering achievement at a time when very few road vehicles of any sort were capable of reaching three-figure speeds. Further tuning of the modified 1,142cc v-twin engine later raised that figure to 115mph in top (third) gear, with 109mph achievable in second. Sold but later repurchased by the vendor’s family ... More | | 
With "Anarcadia", the art duo Generic Art Solutions (G.A.S.) stirred things up a bit at the hot but typically docile White Linen Night.
NEW ORLEANS, LA.- Jonathan Ferrara Gallery presents Anarcadia, New Photographs, Video Works and Perfomances by Generic Art Solutions (G.A.S.) in their first solo exhibition at the gallery. The exhibition opened on August 6, 2011 in conjunction with Whitney White Linen Night, the annual New Orleans Arts District event that draws over 40,000 people to Julia Street. With "Anarcadia", the art duo Generic Art Solutions (G.A.S.) aimed to stir things up a bit at the hot but typically docile White Linen Night this year. With a mix of photography, video, "silkscreen painting" and an interactive performance on opening night, G.A.S. provided the necessary elements for a thought-provoking (and crowd inciting) demonstration with the help of willing members of the art-going public. There was an assortment of "protest signs" in the gallery with different slogans printed on them for those in the masses wishing to make a stat ... More |
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 Postal Stamp Honors Hollywood Director John Huston LOS ANGELES, CA.- Legendary Hollywood film director John Huston is being honored with a postage stamp. The U.S. Postal Service says the Oscar-winning director of 1948's "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" says the stamp will be issued next year. The art on the stamp is inspired by the 1941 movie "The Maltese Falcon." It depicts Humphrey Bogart holding the statue of the falcon. Huston's credits also include the Academy Award nominated films "The Asphalt Jungle" (1950),"Moulin Rouge" (1952) and "Prizzi's Honor" (1985). The stamp is part of a four-stamp Great Film Directors series. The Postal Service announced earlier this month that John Ford and Frank Capra are other directors depicted in the series. The remaining director and the date of issue will be announced later. ... More Los Angeles Modern Auctions to Present Exhibition During Pacific Standard Time LOS ANGELES, CA.- As a participating gallery of Pacific Standard Time, an initiative of The Getty, Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) presents Collecting in Los Angeles 1945-1980, a three week exhibit that explores an ideal Pacific Standard Time collector of art, Mr. Richard Dorso, at the height of his collecting from 1945 – 1980. The three week exhibit will conclude with an auction of Mr. Dorso’s entire collection on October 9, 2011. Born in San Francisco in 1909, Richard Dorso, an active participant and witness to the explosion of the post World War II Los Angeles art scene, compiled a unique collection of art of the period. His collection is comprised of over 400 works from Los Angeles art galleries, publishers, and artists’ studios, all linked through the discerning eye of one collector. Highlight works include two John Baldessari paintings from 1967 - 1968, purchased from the landmark Molly Barnes gallery sho ... More The Affordable Art Fair to Land in Los Angeles in January 2012 LOS ANGELES, CA.- Chosen for its vibrancy, allure, and burgeoning art scene, Los Angeles will soon play host to the Affordable Art Fair, an event that seamlessly fuses art, quality, education, and entertainment. Founded twelve years ago by Will Ramsay, the Affordable Art Fair is an unrivaled international phenomenon; with fairs held annually in ten locations around the world. Presenting contemporary art priced from $100 - $10,000, with three quarters of the work under $5,000, the Affordable Art Fair will present original, contemporary works to entice the entire L.A. community. After the NYC debut in 2001, the Affordable Art Fair has been limited to an east coast audience; however, in 2012, Angelenos will be able to experience the fun and unparalleled art fair for the first time—right in the ir own city. The Los Angeles art community epitomizes what the Affordable Art Fair brand is all about: a uniq ... MoreSmithsonian Scientists Discover the Most Primitive Living Eel, Creating a New SpeciesWASHINGTON, DC.- Scientists at the Smithsonian and partnering organizations have discovered a remarkably primitive eel in a fringing reef off the coast of the Republic of Palau. This fish exhibits many primitive anatomical features unknown in the other 19 families and more than 800 species of living eels, resulting in its classification as a new species belonging to a new genus and family. The team’s research is published online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Aug. 17. Many of the physical features of this new genus and species of eel, Protoanguilla palau, reflect its relationship to the 19 families of Anguiliformes (true eels) currently living. Other, more primitive physical traits, such as a second upper jaw bone (premaxilla) and fewer than 90 vertebrae, have only been found in fossil forms from the Cretaceous period (140 million to 65 million years ago). Still other traits, such as a full set of bony toothed ... More Dutch Museums May Sell Treasures to Make Ends MeetBy: Archana Ramanujam
ROTTERDAM (REUTERS).- Rotterdam's Wereldmuseum plans to sell its African and American treasures to cover funding shortfalls made more likely by the economic crisis in Europe and a planned cut in state subsidies to the arts starting in 2013. It is one of several Dutch museums under pressure to raise money from the public purse, and ideas being explored have ranged from "adopting" star exhibits to opening a hotel on the premises. "We are going to sell the entire Africa collection and the Americas collection, and will only keep the top pieces in the rest of our collection so we can focus on Asian art," said Stanley Bremer, director at Wereldmuseum. "The money we raise we will put in the bank," he told Reuters. "If you are alert to the situation in Europe, you can see there could be a problem in five or six years' time. So either we can sit back or we can make a plan and our plan is to raise money to be ... More Asia's Wealthy Park Cash in Cars, Homes, Art and WineSINGAPORE (REUTERS).- Adrian Tan owns two Mercedes sedans and is looking to buy a third car. The 36-year-old financial trader was shopping with his wife on a Singapore street lined with luxury car dealerships and said he may stick with Mercedes or go for an Audi or a BMW. In Singapore, those cars don't come cheap, selling for upwards of $150,000 with taxes thrown in, but Tan said he was being relatively frugal. "The younger ones who have more disposable income and are doing so much better than before, their willingness to spend dwarfs me all the time. I have peers in their 20s buying high-end Porsches, Lamborghinis and so on." It's a trend being repeated across much of the region despite sluggish markets and worries about a double-dip recession. Demand is booming in Asia for luxury cars, upmarket properties, art and jewelry, driven by a seismic shift in wealth from West to East. In their latest annual wealth report, Capgemini/Merrill Lynch said the number of Asian high net-worth ... More |
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