| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Saturday, October 26, 2019 |
| | | Leonardo, Hand and Mind, shines at the Louvre | |
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A person views "Saint John the Baptist" by Leonardo Da Vinci, part of the retrospective on the life and work of Da Vinci, at the Louvre in Paris, Oct. 20, 2019. The survey, honoring the 500th anniversary of his death, opens on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. Dmitry Kostyukov/The New York Times.
by Holland Cotter
PARIS (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- To judge by the marketing hullabaloo, the Leonardo da Vinci retrospective that opens here Thursday at the Louvre should be the visual equivalent of a 21-gun salute and a trumpet-and-trombone choir. Blockbusters plastered all over it, and rightly so. Timed-ticket sales for its one-stop run are moving right along. But the marvelous show you actually see, honoring the 500th anniversary of Leonardos death, is, tonally, some other thing: quieter, slower, better. Its a succession of major painterly melodies set among ink-drawn pre-echoes and reverbs. Its a confluence of presences and absences art thats there and some thats not both equally potent. And its a biographical vapor trail of a talent who has been used as a romantic model of what a great artist should be large-gestured, face-to-the-sunrise but who largely departed from that ideal, who identified himself above all as a science wonk, who spent as much time writing a ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Visitors walk through the archaeological site of Herculaneum in Ercolano, near Naples, on October 23, 2019. ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP
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| | Out of obscurity: art masterpieces rediscovered | | Rare Renaissance masterpiece found in French kitchen goes on sale | | New technique reveals lost splendours of Herculaneum art |
Workers carry a painting believed by some experts to be Caravaggio's "Judith Beheading Holofernes" for its public presentation at the Drouot auction house in Paris on June 14, 2019 before it goes under the hammer on June 27 in Toulouse, the city where it was discovered five years ago. FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- A 13th-century painting by the Italian master Cimabue that goes on auction Sunday, after being discovered in an ordinary home in France, is among a handful of surprising discoveries that have thrilled the art world. The Renaissance painter's "Christ Mocked" had been hanging in the elderly woman's kitchen. She had it valued thinking it was just an old religious icon. Here are three similar astonishing finds. A painting thought to be a lost masterpiece by the Renaissance artist Caravaggio was found under an old mattress in the attic of a house in the French city of Toulouse in 2014. "Judith and Holofernes", dated to 1606, depicts a biblical scene of the beautiful Jewish widow Judith beheading a sleeping Assyrian general. The house owners discovered it while investigating a leak in the ceiling. After examining the piece for months, Eric Turquin, an art expert in Paris, authenticated the work as a ... More | |
This file photo taken on September 23, 2019, shows a painting entitled "the Mocking of Christ" by the late 13th century Florentine artist Cenni di Pepo also known as Cimabue. Philippe LOPEZ / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- An early Renaissance painting by the Italian master Cimabue goes under the hammer Sunday, a few weeks after the rare artwork was found hanging in an unsuspecting elderly Frenchwoman's kitchen. "Christ Mocked," by the 13th-century artist also known as Cenni di Pepo, has been valued at four to six million euros ($4.4 to $6.7 million) for what could be France's biggest art sale of the year. Art experts at Turquin in Paris used infrared reflectology to confirm that the tiny unsigned work, just 26 by 20 centimetres (10 by 8 inches), is part of a larger diptych from 1280, when Cimabue painted eight scenes of the passion and crucifixion of Christ. Only two other elements of the diptych are known to exist: "The Flagellation of Christ" at the Frick in New York, and "The Virgin and Child with Two Angels" at the National Gallery in London. The "Virgin" was valued at 6.5 million pounds ($8.3 million) when it was given to the museum in 2000 in lieu of inheritance taxes by a British aristocrat who f ... More | |
A specialist works on a house's wall restoration at the archaeological site of Herculaneum in Ercolano, near Naples, on October 23, 2019. ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP.
ERCOLANO (AFP).- One of the best preserved Roman houses at Herculaneum reopened on Wednesday after more than 30 years, its exquisite paintings brought back to life thanks to a revolutionary new technique. The three-storey House of the Bicentenary is perhaps the most beautiful noble house so far excavated from under the pyroclastic flow that entombed Herculaneum in the devastating 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius that also destroyed nearby Pompeii. Although much smaller than its better known neighbour outside the southern Italian city Naples, Herculaneum was a wealthier town with more exquisite architecture, much of which is still to be uncovered. Herculaneum was buried under at least 15 metres (almost 50 foot) of rock, much more than the around four metres of ash at Pompeii, which for years made Herculaneum less attractive to looters and archaeologists alike. The Bicentenary house, which also features stunning mosaics, gets its name from the fact that it was re-discovered ... More |
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| | Truly bright and memorable: Jan de Beer's Renaissance altarpieces on view at The Barber Institute | | Bugging out: UK museum names blind beetle after Greta Thunberg | | Ingo Maurer, designer known as a poet of light, dies at 87 |
Jan de Beer, Adoration of the Magi, c.1504-09. Oil on panel, 109 x 85 x 10 (approx) cm. Courtesy of Private collection, UK.
BIRMINGHAM.- Famous in his lifetime and for several generations after his death for his stylish and elegant paintings, Antwerps Jan de Beer (c. 1475 1527/28) created spectacular altarpieces that appealed to churches at home and abroad, copyists, patrons and collectors. However, his star subsequently waned, and by the end of the 19th century he was virtually unknown. This autumns major exhibition at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Truly Bright and Memorable, seeks to restore de Beers reputation not just as one of the Low Countries greatest painters, but as one of the most talented European artists of the Renaissance. The Barber Institute, based at the University of Birmingham, has developed a reputation for reappraising less well-known aspects of the work of key artists and shining a light on those who are not household names by presenting new, high- ... More | |
Nelloptodes gretae, which is less than 1mm long and has no eyes or wings, belongs to the Ptiliidae family of beetles which includes some of the smallest insects in the world.
LONDON (AFP).- Britain's Natural History Museum on Friday named a tiny, blind and wingless beetle after climate activist Greta Thunberg. The honey-coloured insect, measuring less than one millimetre, was discovered in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in the 1960s. But it apparently remained nameless until the venerable London museum's scientific associate Michael Darby stepped in. "I am immensely impressed with the work of this young campaigner and wanted to acknowledge her outstanding contribution in raising awareness of environmental issues," Darby said. Sweden's Thunberg, still only 16, has injected a burst of energy into the climate change movement since launching her first school strikes one year ago. She has also become a global pop culture icon. Earlier this month, British superstar DJ Fatboy Slim ... More | |
The lighting designer Ingo Maurer on Nov. 20, 1998, with two of the many artful lamps he created. Maurer, a German lighting designer who was Promethean in his delivery of illumination fashioning lamps out of shattered crockery, scribbled memos, holograms, tea strainers and incandescent bulbs with feathered wings died on Monday, Oct. 21, 2019, in a hospital in Munich. He was 87. Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- Ingo Maurer, a German lighting designer who was Promethean in his delivery of illumination fashioning lamps out of shattered crockery, scribbled memos, holograms, tea strainers and incandescent bulbs with feathered wings died Monday in Munich. He was 87. His death, at a hospital, was announced by his company, Ingo Maurer GmbH, which said the cause was complications from a surgical procedure. Maurer had a wonky fascination with technology that took nothing away from his reputation as a poet of light, as he was often described. His first lamp, designed ... More |
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| | Major British Library exhibition on Buddhism spans 20 countries over 2,000 years and more than 120 items | | The Morgan provides a rare chance to see John Singer Sargent's overlooked charcoal portraits | | Restored to former glory, Russia tsars' home to reopen in summer |
Manuscript fragment, part of a rare Yōgavacara meditation manual found in the Theravāda tradition, 18th century. © British Library Board.
LONDON.- Buddhism (25 October 2019 23 February 2020) is a major exhibition, spanning 20 countries over 2000 years, exploring the roots, philosophy and contemporary relevance of one of the worlds major religions, from its beginnings in north India in the 6th century BCE, to having over 500 million followers across the world today. Sacred scriptures written on tree bark, palm leaves, gold plates, illuminated texts and silk scrolls of major sutras demonstrate Buddhisms pivotal role in developing writing and printing techniques to transmit ideas and educate people across Asia. Exploring the three main schools of Buddhism Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana the British Librarys largest ever display of Buddhist collection items highlights the theory, practice and art of Buddhism, examines the enduring iconography of the Buddha and considers what it means to be Buddhist today. ... More | |
John Singer Sargent (18561925), Sybil Sassoon. 1912, Charcoal. Private Collection, Photography by Christopher Calnan.
NEW YORK, NY.- John Singer Sargent (18561925) was one of the greatest portrait artists of his time. While he is best known for his powerful paintings, he largely ceased painting portraits in 1907 and turned instead to charcoal drawings to satisfy portrait commissions. These drawn portraits represent a substantial, yet often overlooked, part of his practice, and demonstrate the same sense of immediacy, psychological insight, and mastery of chiaroscuro that animate Sargents sitters on canvas. The Morgan Library & Museum is presenting the first major exhibition to explore these expressive portraits in charcoal, John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal, on view from October 4, 2019, through January 12, 2020. Recognizing the sheer scale of Sargents achievement as a portrait draftsman, this exhibition comprises over fifty drawings, including important international ... More | |
A picture taken on October 24, 2019 shows restoration works ongoing at the Alexander Palace at the Tsarskoye Selo palace museum in Pushkin outside Saint Petersburg. OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP.
SAINT PETERSBURG.- Russia's Alexander Palace, the last home of Emperor Nicholas II before he and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks, will reopen to the public next summer after million-dollar renovations, officials said Friday. The palace, considered one of the best works of the Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi, was built in the late 18th century for the future Emperor Alexander I and became the permanent residence of the last Russian tsar in 1905. The palace, located on the outskirts of the former imperial capital Saint Petersburg, has been under renovation since 2012 and was completely closed to the public three years later. The first eight rooms will reopen after the makeover next June or July, a spokeswoman for the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum, which oversees the vast neo-Classical edifice, told AFP. The renovations have so far ... More |
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| | New York's race to build monuments runs into friction on the ground | | France reopens disputed ancient tomb in Jerusalem | | Exhibition presents the largest collection of Lina Bo Bardi furniture ever gathered in one place |
Artist Vinnie Bagwell, who ultimately got the commission for her proposed statue, "Victory Beyond Sims, for a site in Central Park when community residents preferred her idea over the choice of New York's Cultural Affairs Department, at her studio in Yonkers, Oct. 19, 2019. Josefina Santos/The New York Times.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- A vote this month over one of New York Citys new, more inclusive monuments became so combative with audience members shouting How dare you! that the acclaimed artist who won the commission walked away from the job. And many Catholics were incensed when City Hall omitted Mother Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants, from the first group of women to be honored by the new statues, with actor Chazz Palminteri calling the mayors wife a racist. A planned Central Park monument to womens suffrage, featuring Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, was criticized for excluding black women. So ... More | |
Ultra-Orthodox Jews walk at the Tombs of the Kings, a 2,000-year-old archaeological gem in the heart of Jerusalem owned by France, as it reopens for the public for a second time in six months, on October 24, 2019. MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP.
JERUSALEM (AFP).- An ancient tomb in Jerusalem prized for its archaeological and religious importance was reopened for visits Thursday by France, which owns it, after a dispute over access scuttled an earlier attempt. The site known as the Tomb of the Kings in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem can now be visited during set hours twice per week, but visitors must pre-register online and pay a 10-shekel fee ($3, 2.50 euros), the French consulate said. Around 30 people -- the most allowed at one time due to the sensitivity of the site -- visited when the gates opened on Thursday morning, mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews who wanted to pray inside. Around a dozen other ultra-Orthodox danced and prayed outside the gates while they ... More | |
Installation view. Photo: Ruy Texteira, courtesy: Nilufar Gallery, Milan.
GHENT.- In this exhibition, Design Museum Gent tells the story of one of the strongest women in 20th-century architecture. As well as being an architect, the Italian-Brazilian Lina Bo Bardi was a writer, set designer, illustrator and furniture designer. That final aspect of her life, often ignored until now, is the main focus of this exhibition. Lina Bo Bardi Giancarlo Palanti. Studio dArte Palma 1948-1951 is a tribute to the Italian-Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi. The exhibition presents the largest collection of Bo Bardi furniture ever gathered in one place and focuses on the furniture created in the context of the Studio dArte Palma, which was founded by Lina Bo Bardi and the Italian architect Giancarlo Palanti. It was only during research for the exhibition, in close consultation with the Instituto Bardi/Casa de Vidro, that it became clear exactly what role Palanti had played in designing the furniture. Some o ... More |
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What Does Art History Smell Like? | Christie's
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Exhibition traces Mark Twain's 1867 voyage to the Mediterranean
NEW YORK, NY.- New-York Historical Society celebrates the 150th anniversary of one of the best-selling travelogues of all time with Mark Twain and the Holy Land, on view October 25, 2019 February 2, 2020. This new exhibition traces the legendary American humorist's 1867 voyage to the Mediterranean and his subsequent 1869 bookThe Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims Progressthrough original documents, photographs, artwork, and costumes, as well as an interactive media experience. Organized by New-York Historical in partnership with the Shapell Manuscript Foundation, it is curated by Michael Ryan, vice president and director of the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, and Cristian Petru Panaite, associate curator of exhibitions. Setting sail from New York for a great adventure abroad, Mark Twain captured the feelings and ... More
The Clay Art Center names Emily Peck as new Executive Director
PORT CHESTER, NY.- The Clay Art Center Board of Directors welcomed Emily Peck as its new Executive Director. She succeeds Interim Executive Director Cora Greenberg. Emilys unique experience at the intersection of nonprofit, business and the arts, will help build upon Clay Art Centers six decades as a nationally recognized non-profit for the advancement and practice of ceramic arts, while strategically guiding us forward. We are thrilled to have Emily joining us and I have full confidence in the leadership she will provide as we continue to grow. Carol Chevlowe, President, Board of Directors, Clay Art Center. Ms. Peck was previously the Vice President of Private Sector Initiatives at Americans for the Arts where she provided research and resources to the arts, business and foundation communities to support them in forming stronger partnerships ... More
"Atlas" brings to life a parallel world that is deceptively similar to our own
STOCKHOLM.- It all started with an obituary. One day, Aris Fioretos discovered that an archivist at the National Board of Health had died at a very old age, leaving no kin. He wouldnt have given Iris Frost another thought if her name had not been similar to that of a minor character in his first novel. Out of curiosity, he contacted the newspaper and obtained the phone number of the person who had submitted the obituary. When they met, real life proved stranger than fiction. Not only had the deceased read his novels about how the brain, genitals and heart informed the view of mankind that emerged in the early-20th century, but had also commented on them. In Atlas, published in a richly illustrated edition by Norstedts this autumn, these medical history notes are presented in an edited version, highlighting characters that are far less fictional than Fioretos ... More
Haus der Kunst presents a new commission by Theaster Gates
MUNICH.- The work of the American artist Theaster Gates (*1973) builds a bridge between art and life, fascinating viewers with evocative spatial constellations that make visible the network of relationships between stereotypical forms of representation and the power structures that underpin them. By incorporating a multifaceted practice that unites sculpture, installation, film, performance, improvisation, musical composition and public action, Gates transforms spaces into places of artistic and cultural intervention, and thus into potential platforms for political and social change. For the sixth iteration of Haus der Kunsts series Der Ãffentlichkeit - Von den Freunden Haus der Kunst, Theaster Gates has created the expansive Black Chapel. This multipartite installation directly responds to the architecture of Haus der Kunsts 800-square-meter Middle Hall, exposing ... More
Kerlin Gallery opens an exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Eoin Mc Hugh
DUBLIN.- Kerlin Gallery is presenting Loje, jelo, laso, an exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Eoin Mc Hugh. Abstraction takes on a newfound importance in this body of work, as Mc Hugh seeks to explore new visual and verbal languages. Pure colour undulates and pulsates in a new series of oil paintings. Light dissolves line and forms coalesce without border. Research and source material are largely bypassed in favour of experimentation and direct expression through paint, colour and form. Nevertheless, the canvases are painstakingly crafted, owing more to the delicacy of Vermeer than to gestural abstraction. Small, glistening and pearlescent, the paintings come in and out of focus, teasing the eye as it searches for meaning. The paintings are accompanied by over 100 notebook drawings made during and in response to therapy ... More
Explore four millennia of Spanish and Latin American art at the Cincinnati Art Museum
CINCINNATI, OH.- Treasures of the Spanish World explores the visual cultures of Spain and Latin America across 4,000 years, through some of the finest artworks from the Iberian Peninsula and Spanish America. The exhibition, organized in partnership with the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, is being presented at the Cincinnati Art Museum from October 25, 2019January 19, 2020. From Copper Age ceramics, medieval metalwork, Renaissance sculpture and portraits by Velázquez and Goya, to Mexican featherwork mosaics, Colombian lacquerware, rare early maps of the Americas and the light-suffused paintings of Sorolla at the turn of the twentieth century, these artworks manifest the richly layered cultures of Spain under Roman, Islamic and Christian rule and the Spanish influence in the Americas. The Hispanic Society Museum & Library, widely ... More
Lady Lever Art Gallery features 35 posthumous prints of the famous cut-outs made by Henri Matisse
LIVERPOOL.- This autumn, an exhibition by Henri Matisse (1869-1954), one of the 20th-centurys most influential artists, is on view at the Lady Lever Art Gallery as part of Wirral Year of Culture. Matisse: Drawing with Scissors features 35 posthumous prints of the famous cut-outs that the artist produced in the last four years of his life when confined to his bed, including many of his iconic images, such as The Snail (pictured) and the Blue Nudes. Celebrated for their extraordinary richness and luminosity of colour, Matisses vibrant cut-outs were the final triumph of his career. Matisse: Drawing with Scissors is a Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition from the Southbank Centre. Kate ODonoghue, Curatorial Trainee at National Museums Liverpool, said: Henri Matisse is a world-famous artist and this exhibition includes many of his iconic images, such as The Snail ... More
Vietnam artist known for land rights, death row work briefly detained
HANOI (AFP).- A Vietnamese artist who exhibited controversial works on land rights issues and death row inmates said he was briefly detained in the communist state intolerant of dissidence of any kind. Thinh Nguyen was picked up outside his Hanoi home by several men who were not in uniform, along with one uniformed officer, and was driven to back to his house, which doubles as his studio. The police forced their way in to the space and took him into custody at a nearby station for several hours, he told AFP after his release. "They asked many questions concerning my work," said Thinh, who has produced art and films about social issues in Vietnam. "I told them what they did today was not right, not in accordance with laws and I need my lawyer, and I refused to talk further," he said. Thinh was bundled into a car but said the officers did not have an ... More
30 years on, Berlin Wall comes back to life with VR
BERLIN (AFP).- A packed bus approaches Checkpoint Charlie, the Cold War's most famous border crossing, as grim-faced East German guards whisper among themselves about whether to hold you for questioning. After a few heart-stopping minutes, you and your fellow passengers are free to pass into the smog, soot and shadowy intrigue of 1980s East Berlin. Even 30 years after the fall of the Wall, time travel is not yet possible. But a German startup using virtual reality technology is offering history buffs what it calls the next best thing. "Our idea was that if we can't take you back in time yet, let's try to create the perfect illusion of it," TimeRide founder Jonas Rothe, 33, told AFP. "This isn't a museum and we don't want to be. We want to let you lose yourself in the feeling of being a participant in history." TimeRide Berlin opened in late August ... More
Record breaking year for museums and galleries in England
LONDON.- Almost 50 million people visited DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries last year, the highest number since records began more than 15 years ago, new figures published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) reveal. DCMS-sponsored museums make up seven of the top 10 most popular free visitor attractions in the UK, and the British Museum, the Tate Modern, the Natural History Museum and V&A were in the top 10 most popular art museums in the world in 2018. Overall, visitor numbers at the 15 DCMS-sponsored museums and galleries saw a 5.5 per cent increase in 2018/19 compared to the previous year. The figures also reveal that around half of all visitors were from overseas, confirming the important role that our museums and galleries play in attracting international tourists. Arts Minister Helen Whately ... More
National Portrait Gallery announces winners of the 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition
WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonians National Portrait Gallery has announced artist Hugo Crosthwaite as the first-prize winner of the fifth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Crosthwaite is the first Latinx artist to receive this prestigious award since the national competition was founded in 2006. His prize-winning stop-motion drawing animation, A Portrait of Berenice Sarmiento Chávez (2018), recounts a womans journey from Tijuana, Mexico, to the United States in pursuit of the American dream. It will be on view in the exhibition The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today, which features nearly 50 portraits by the finalists of the 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Held every three years, the competition encourages artists living and working in the U.S. to submit works that challenge the definition of portraiture. This years competition ... More
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Shirin Neshat
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Moving to Mars
Flashback On a day like today, British painter William Hogarth died October 26, 1764. William Hogarth (10 November 1697 - 26 October 1764) was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects". Knowledge of his work is so pervasive that satirical political illustrations in this style are often referred to as "Hogarthian.". In this image: A visitor looks at a William Hogarth painting 'David Garrick as Richard III', on display at Tate Britain art gallery in London, Monday, Feb. 5, 2007.
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