| The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Friday, July 6, 2018 |
| | | Thieves steal ancient arrow poison from Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in the Netherlands | |
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Rijksmuseum Boerhaave is the Netherlands treasure chamber of science and medicine.
THE HAGUE (AFP).- Dutch police were on Thursday hunting for thieves who stole a museum safe containing a potentially deadly poison used by South American tribes to lace their arrows for hunting. The thieves broke into an outbuilding of the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in the eastern town of Leiden early on Wednesday and stole the refrigerator-sized, free-standing safe in which the ancient vial holding the poison was being stored. "It's a poison called curare, which is used in South America on arrows to kill animals," Amito Haarhuis, director of what is the national Dutch museum of science and medicine, told AFP. "It was offered to us recently as part of a collection, but we decided we didn't want to have it. So we locked it in the safe and we are going to have it destroyed safely," he said. The poison is quite dried out and looks like a small "black sugar cube" contained in an ancient glass pot with a red lid, and a label saying "Curare". In a warning to the public, police said it was "very toxic and can be fa ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Michael Eastman's large-scale color photographs of Havana on view at the Sheldon Museum of Art explore the decline of the majestic architecture of Cuba's capital. Through Eastman's strong sense of color and elaborate compositional rigor, these images transport the viewer to the streets and interiors of a decaying urban landscape resonant with the stories and echoes of the city's inhabitants and culture.
| Michael Eastman's color photographs of the architecture of Havana on view at the Sheldon Museum of Art | | France, UK in Bayeux Tapestry conservation push | | Rubens, Canova and Turner lead $100 million sale week in London |
Eastmans strong sense of color and compositional rigor transport the viewer to the streets and interiors of Havana.
LINCOLN, NE.- Nineteen of Michael Eastman's enveloping color photographs of the majestic architecture of Havana are on view at Sheldon Museum of Art through July 29. Eastmans strong sense of color and compositional rigor transport the viewer to the streets and interiors of a decaying urban landscape resonant with the stories and echoes of the citys inhabitants and culture. Every artist, I think, finds a place that they respond to in a way that they dont respond to in any other place, Eastman explained in an interview with Vicki Goldberg in 2011. And Cuba was that for me--the pathos, the sadness, the beauty, the architecture, the color. Shortly after graduation from college in 1969, Eastman borrowed a friend's camera and embraced the medium of photography for its ... More | |
Photo taken on October 2, 1990 in Bayeux shows a book written by Sylvette Lemagnen, curator at the Normandy museum, representing a scene of the Bayeux tapestry and a manuscript dated of 1476 describing the tapestry's scenes. Mychele DANIAU / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- French and British experts will work together on preserving the Bayeux Tapestry ahead of a possible cross-Channel loan of the fragile 11th-century treasure, France said Thursday. Britain announced in January that France would lend it the tapestry in 2022 following a surprise offer by President Emmanuel Macron, but experts had since warned of major conservation problems. France's culture ministry announced Thursday that experts from both sides would work on a new "scientific and technical" project to conserve the tapestry, but a date for the "possible loan" was conspicuously absent. The deal will also seek to "showcase" ... More | |
Harry Dalmeny fielding bids. Courtesy Sotheby's.
LONDON.- This weeks sales concluded today with a combined total of £77.7 million / $102.6 million, with strong results across Old Master and British paintings and drawings, decorative arts, sculptures and antiquities spanning over two millennia. Total up 70% on last December. Participants spanning four continents, with buying from Asia, Russia and Latin America. 77.3% of lots sold. More than half of the lots achieved prices above top estimates. 10 auction records for Paolo Veneziano, Gillis Claeissens, Hans Baldung (called Grien), a work attributed to Albrecht Dürer, a single portrait by Rubens (in GBP), oil on copper by Clara Peeters (in GBP), Pieter Coecke van Aelst the Elder, Lorenzo di Bicci, Liberale da Verona, Vicente Carducho. Fresh-to-the-market works: almost half of the lots offered in the Evening sale had not appeared on the market for over ... More |
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| Met Museum sets new attendance record with more than 7.35 million visitors | | Claude Lanzmann, director of Holocaust film 'Shoah', dies at 92 | | Tate St Ives wins £100,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year 2018 |
In this file photo taken on March 18, 2016 a visitor views artwork at The Met Breuer, an expansion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. SPENCER PLATT / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP.
NEW YORK, NY.- The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that it welcomed more than 7.35 million visitors to its three locationsThe Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Cloisters, and The Met Breuerin the fiscal year that ended on June 30 (FY18). It is the highest fiscal year attendance in the Museum's recorded history and is due in large part to the record-breaking attendance for Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer, which was on view from November 13, 2017 through February 12, 2018 and brought in 702,516 visitors. The exhibition is now the 10th most attended show in the Museum's history. The Museum also announced that it brought in over $250 million in philanthropic gifts, Membership contributions, and government support, the highest amount in recent years. ... More | |
In this file photo taken on March 4, 1967 French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (R), French writer Simone de Beauvoir and film director Claude Lanzmann (L), visit the Pyramids in Egypt. AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- French filmmaker and writer Claude Lanzmann, whose landmark 1985 documentary "Shoah" revealed the horrors of the Holocaust over nine hours of chilling eyewitness accounts, died in Paris on Thursday aged 92. "Claude Lanzmann died at his home. He had been very, very weak for several days" following a recent hospitalisation for fatigue, a spokeswoman for his publishing house Gallimard told AFP. Lanzmann had worked constantly since the 1972 release of his first film, "Israel, Why", often taking chapters of his own life as inspiration. Last year, he presented at the Cannes film festival "Napalm", about his brief but intense romance with a North Korean nurse in 1958. And his last film, "The Four Sisters", about four Holocaust survivors, was released in French cinemas just this week. But it was the 1985 ... More | |
Jamie Fobert Architects, Tate St Ives, Cornwall © Hufton+Crow.
(LONDON).- This evening (5 July 2018), Tate St Ives was announced as Art Fund Museum of the Year 2018, the largest and most prestigious museum prize in the world. Anne Barlow, Director of Tate St Ives, was presented with the £100,000 prize by artist Isaac Julien and the worlds best teacher Andria Zafirakou at an award ceremony at the V&A, London. The winner was chosen from five finalists: Brooklands Museum (Weybridge),Ferens Art Gallery(Hull), Glasgow Womens Library, The Postal Museum(London) and Tate St Ives (Cornwall). Each of the other finalist museums received a £10,000 prize in recognition of their achievements. Among the 400 guests at the dinner hosted by Stephen Deuchar, director, Art Fund were: Artists: Ron Arad, David Batchelor, Mat Collishaw, Michael Craig-Martin, Roger Hiorns, Gary Hume, Chantal Joffe, Isaac Julien, Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell, Lawrence Lek, Peter Liversidge, Junko ... More |
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| Otto Naumann to join Sotheby's Old Masters Division | | Erwin Wurm's first large-scale exhibition in Budapest opens at Ludwig Museum | | Karen R. Lawrence named President of The Huntington |
An eminent and widely respected dealer, collector and scholar, Mr. Naumann sold the inventory of his eponymous New York gallery at Sothebys earlier this year. Courtesy Sotheby's.
NEW YORK, NY.- Sothebys announced the appointment of Otto Naumann as a Senior Vice President and Client Development Director in its Old Master Paintings Division. An eminent and widely respected dealer, collector and scholar, Mr. Naumann sold the inventory of his eponymous New York gallery at Sothebys earlier this year. When asked at the time what life would hold thereafter, he indicated that though this chapter in career was coming to a close, his passion for the art world and for Old Masters in particular - was not yet spent. In his new role at Sothebys, which he assumes at the end of the summer, he will play a key role across all aspects of the global division seeking out great works, valuing collections, applying his knowledge and expertise, and helping conceive and execute ... More | |
In Wurms conception, sculpture is not a solitary thing, an end in itself, but the product of a creative process, an appropriately chosen and frozen moment, a creative act that can be executed by anyone who knows the idea.
BUDAPEST.- What turns an object, especially an object of utility, into a sculpture? How does a giant cardboard box become an overcoat, and what is the role of the spectator in the process of turning an object into a sculpture? Seeking answers to such questions, the works of world-famous Austrian artist Erwin Wurm refuse to satisfy expectations regarding the genre, as their creator attempts to fundamentally reshape the general approach to sculpture. Wurms first large-scale exhibition in Budapest features a comprehensive selection of his conceptually distinct series of sculptures and creations. Besides his photo- and video-based works, his transmogrified furniture-sculptures, clothing and performative sculptures, but ... More | |
Karen R. Lawrence. Photo: Stefan Radtke.
SAN MARINO, CA.- Karen R. Lawrence, former president of Sarah Lawrence College, has been named president of The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, The Huntingtons Board of Trustees announced today, following an extensive international search. Lawrence, who steps into the role Sept. 1, is The Huntingtons ninth president. She joins The Huntington following 10 years as president at Sarah Lawrence, a small, highly regarded liberal arts college in Yonkers, NY. Her tenure at Sarah Lawrence began just before the recession of 2008-9; she is credited with weathering that crisis with sound management and unflagging resolve, moving the institution into a period of strong growth and performance as well as increased student body diversity. Karens combination of qualities her collaborative leadership style, unflappable nature, and strong scholarly background convinced the ... More |
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| The Hepworth Wakefield announces plans for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2017 £100,000 prize money | | 'Anish Kapoor: Works, Thoughts, Experiences' opens at Serralves Contemporary Art Museum | | Anger over charity auction of night in Mandela's cell |
Half of the prize money will go towards acquiring a new sculpture by leading contemporary artist Helen Marten.
WAKEFIELD.- Today The Hepworth Wakefield announces that it will use its £100,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year 2017 prize money to acquire a significant contemporary sculpture for Wakefields art collection and contribute to the transformation of the wider site immediately around the museum. Half of the prize money will go towards acquiring a new sculpture by leading contemporary artist Helen Marten, who has an important place in the gallerys history after winning the inaugural Hepworth Prize for Sculpture in 2016. Marten went on to win The Turner Prize in the same year. The success of the Hepworth Prize was an integral part of the Art Fund judges decision to award The Hepworth Wakefield Museum of the Year. A new work by Marten will be acquired for the Wakefield Permanent Art Collection an impressive compendium of modern and contemporary British art continuing the legacy established by Wakefield ... More | |
Curated by Suzanne Cotter, this will be the first solo exhibition in Portugal dedicated to the oeuvre of Anish Kapoor.
PORTO.- On July 6, 2018, The Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art will present the Great Annual Exhibition in the Park, a major exhibition of works by Anish Kapoor (Bombay, India, 1954), one of the worlds leading contemporary artists. The exhibition, organised with the collaboration of the "la Caixa" Foundation, will initially feature four large-scale works distributed around Serralves Park, accompanied by presentation in Serralves Museum of 70 architectural models and a sculpture, conceived over the last forty years. Curated by Suzanne Cotter, this will be the first solo exhibition in Portugal dedicated to the oeuvre of Anish Kapoor. From works such as Sky Mirror to the dramatic carving of the landscape itself, Kapoor's oeuvre acquires the mythical qualities and symbolic relations of the landscape. By uniting the earth and the sky, the horizon and the dark interior, ... More | |
In this file photo taken on December 13, 2013 a candle burns in the former cell of Nelson Mandela. Rodger BOSCH / AFP.
JOHANNESBURG (AFP).- A charity that planned to auction a night in Nelson Mandela's prison cell was locked in a bitter dispute on Thursday with the museum that maintains the historic site. The annual CEO Sleepout initiative, which raises money for various charities, said on Wednesday that the highest bidder would spend a night in Mandela's cell on Robben Island, where he spent much of his 27-year incarceration. South Africa's first democratically elected president was kept on the prison island, off the coast of Cape Town, along with other anti-apartheid political prisoners. But curators at the Robben island museum condemned the event on Thursday and denied having any prior knowledge of the proposed sleepout in Mandela's cell until learning about it through the media. "As Robben Island museum, we strongly condemn this auction. We are saddened ... More |
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Cube Gallery opens exhibition of works by Anna Masters
LONDON.- This summer Anna Masters' latest artworks brighten the prestigious 45 Park Lane Hotel, London. The Suspended Animation exhibition of romantic, intricate and ethereal pieces is the centrepiece of a charismatic show organised by Cube Gallery and Ackerman Studios. Anna Masters' Suspended Animations incorporate wall-based pieces, three-dimensional works and site-specific installations. Creating complex and incredibly delicate compositions of natural and found materials, Anna's work is characterised by the way the materials appear to float mid-air, creating a sense of an enexplicable moment, frozen in time. The materials she employs - predominantly natural, found or recycled items - expose Anna's love of forms and attraction to detail. Though often organic i ... More
Beijing eyes UNESCO status for Mao tomb, Tiananmen Square
BEIJING (AFP).- Beijing wants to have Mao Zedong's Mausoleum and Tiananmen Square, powerful and controversial symbols of Chinese communist might, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, official media reported on Thursday. The Chinese capital wants to apply for 14 sites in total to receive UNESCO World Heritage status by 2035, the state-run Global Times quoted city official Shu Xiaofeng as saying. The 14 sites are located along the city's ancient Central Axis which runs north-south though Beijing and covers nearly two-thirds of the old city area. Among the sites is the colossal Mausoleum, built after the 1976 death of Mao, who founded the communist regime and whose political and economic campaigns caused the death of millions of Chinese after he seized power in 1949. Thousands of people still file past the tomb every day to pay their respects. ... More
Sadie Coles HQ exhibits works by Daniel Sinsel at Simone Subal Gallery for CONDO New York 2018
NEW YORK, NY.- For CONDO New York 2018, Daniel Sinsel presents a group of new paintings that extend his long-term interests in space, volume, illusion and eroticism. Embracing a range of materials, he turns these themes into lenses through which to examine the medium of painting. Marked by trompe loeil illusion and technical precision, each of Sinsels paintings articulates the idea of the canvas as both an encompassing plane and material surface as the formal parameter and physical essence of the work, probing its constraints and radically moving beyond traditional conceptions of its limits. In one painting, the frayed edges of the support serve simultaneously to frame the work and to extend it beyond the confines of the canvas, heightening the sense of movement and free play found within the central composition. In this, handfuls of leaves ... More
Rare portrait of Sir Francis Drake top lot at Bonhams
LONDON.- A portrait of Sir Francis Drake sold for £356,750 at Bonhams Old Masters Sale in London yesterday (4 July). The extremely rare work was by an unknown artist from the Anglo-Dutch SchooI. The portrait had recently been on exhibition at Buckland Abbey, Drake's former home and now a National Trust property. It is believed to be possibly one of the earliest known portraits of Drake which displays his early social ambition. Bonhams Head of Old Masters, Andrew McKenzie, said: Drake is a national hero. The story of his exploits is known not only in this country but all over the world and it was a privilege to offer a painting of such historical importance. Other highlights included: James, 20th Earl of Kildare and his wife Emily Mary in the grounds of Carton, by Arthur Devis, sold for £230,750 (estimate: £80,000-100,000. The painting ... More
M+ opens its first interdisciplinary exhibition to explore Southeast Asia
HONG KONG.- M+, Hong Kongs museum of twentieth and twenty-first-century visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District, announces In Search of Southeast Asia through the M+ Collections, which is be presented at the M+ Pavilion from 22 June until 30 September 2018. This ambitious and tightly curated exhibition includes seventy works by twenty-eight artists, architects, and designers from nine Southeast Asian countries, plus Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and the United States. The exhibition is the museums first to address a particular geography, in this case Southeast Asia. Exploring the historical and cultural complexities of the region through an interdisciplinary lens and a transnational framework employed by M+ for its curatorial approach, the exhibition gives special attention to layered conditions of place. While topographic, ... More
New, multi-channel sound installation by Shilpa Gupta on view at YARAT Contemporary Art Space
BAYIL.- YARAT Contemporary Art Space announces a solo exhibition by internationally renowned Indian artist Shilpa Gupta, opening on 6th July 2018. The exhibition takes its departure point from the central piece: a new, large-scale multi-channel sound installation which gives voice to 100 poets who have been jailed over the centuries for their writing or political alignments. Exhibited alongside other new drawings and sculptures, the works highlight the fragility and vulnerability of our right to freedom of expression today. Running across the entire first floor gallery space, 100 microphones are suspended above 100 metal rods, each piercing a page inscribed with a verse of poetry. In turn, a single microphone plays these verses, echoed by a chorus of the other 99. Lasting over an hour, the sound piece alternates between English, Spanish, ... More
Leading Scottish and international artists sell art from car boots, bikes and skateboards
GLASGOW.- The full list has been unveiled of over 100 Scottish and international contemporary artists taking part in this weekends Art Car Boot Sale in Glasgow. The line-up (see below) includes half a dozen Turner Prize nominees and 2007 winner Mark Wallinger as well as other high-profile artists. Among them is Eve Fowler from Los Angeles who has just had her first major European exhibition at DCA in Dundee and is described as one of the most significant artists of her generation. There are also a multitude of Glasgow artists such as Toby Paterson (pictured) who is well known for his precise and colourful screenprints, painting and work in the public realm. Like other artists Paterson sees the sale as an opportunity to sell editions and connect directly with the public. Despite its creativity the visual arts in Scotland are facing a multitude of challenges and ... More
China Guardian Spring Auctions 2018 conclude in Beijing with remarkable results
HONG KONG.- China Guardian Spring Auctions 2018 concluded in Beijing on 22 June with remarkable results. 42 sales over 5 days brought a total of RMB 2.036 billion / US$ 318.13 million*. 8 white glove sales were recorded and 2 lots soared over RMB 100 million / US$ 15.62 million. Such results mark the trust and support of old and new clients for the 25-year-old Beijing-based auction house and are received as a signs of a robust and healthy art market. Ms. Hu Yanyan, Director and President of China Guardian Auctions Co. Ltd, says, The results of our Spring Sales indicate that the art market is robust and healthy. We saw changes in the market structure, with new buyers coming in and snapping up high-value lots with great enthusiasm while existing buyers remain active. Our offerings of both mainstream and niche collecting categories all fared well. In particular ... More
A 'Japanese tip': the origami art left by diners
KAMEOKA (AFP).- Yuki Tatsumi was waiting tables at an izakaya pub in Japan's Kyoto when something on the table caught his eye -- a chopstick wrapper folded and fiddled into an abstract shape. It was the catalyst for a collection that now includes some 15,000 pieces of found "origami art" made by customers folding the paper sleeves that cover chopsticks at Japanese restaurants. "The very first one I found just looked like a bit of junk," 27-year-old Tatsumi admitted, but it made him think. "What if this is a message for me from customers? Cleaning tables suddenly became something fun, just by thinking about it that way." Tipping at restaurants is not standard in Japan, but Tatsumi came to see the little folded paper pieces left behind by customers as a "Japanese tip", and started watching out for different types. He soon found there was a huge variety in the ... More
Nelson's Victory Watch for the Battle of Trafalgar sells for $425,523 at Sotheby's London
LONDON.- Yesterday, in London, a watch used by the great British hero, Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson to orchestrate the Royal Navys victory at the Battle of Trafalgar sold for £322,000 ($425,523) in Sothebys Treasures sale. Now mounted in a gilt-brass carriage clock case, this pocket watch was carried by Nelson during his final battle and retrieved from his wounded body before he died. Nelson was using the latest technology of his time: this stopwatch was made by Josiah Emery, one of the most innovative watchmakers of the 18th century. Daryn Schnipper, Chairman of Sothebys International Watch Division, said: The perfect timing of the British assault at the Battle of Trafalgar was key in the historic victory of the Royal Navy so it was a real privilege to offer the watch that Nelson most likely used to establish the timing for this decisive battle.Never in a battle ... More
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Flashback On a day like today, Belarusian-French painter Marc Chagall was born July 06, 1887. Marc Zakharovich Chagall (6 July [O.S. 24 June] 1887 - 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist of Belarusian Jewish origin. An early modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in virtually every artistic format, including painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramic, tapestries and fine art prints. In this image: Marc Chagall, Paradise, 1961. Oil on hardboard. H: 43.5 cm, W: 58 cm. Musée National Marc Chagall, Nice © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Marc Chagall) / Gérard Blot / ADAGP, Paris - SACK, Seoul, 2018
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