| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Thursday, April 9, 2020 |
| | | Skull fossils in cave show mix of human relatives roamed South Africa | |
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The two-million-year-old fossil was reconstructed from more than 150 individual fragments excavated in South Africa over a five-year period.
by Nicholas St. Fleur
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Nestled in South Africas Cradle of Humankind, the Drimolen paleocave is an amphitheater hosting the remains of ancient ancestors of humans. Most famous among the hominins found there are Orpheus and Eurydice, a pair of Paranthropus robustus unearthed in 1994 and named after the lovers from Greek mythology. They are just two of more than 160 fossilized specimens of our extinct early relatives dug up at the roofless cave. Now, archaeologists excavating the site have discovered even more remains that could transform our understanding of when and where our human ancestors and their relatives lived millions of years ago in this part of Africa. In Science on Thursday, they published a paper identifying the skullcap and teeth of another Paranthropus robustus, as well as the cranium of our direct ancestor, Homo erectus. Both specimens date to between 1.95 million and 2.04 million years ago. If confirmed, the findings would be the oldest known Paranthropus robustus, as well as the oldest ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day A man walks through the deserted Red Square, with St. Basil's Cathedral (L) and the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower (R) in the background, in Moscow on April 6, 2020, amid the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Alexander NEMENOV / AFP
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| | Kennedy Center drops furlough of musicians as they accept pay cuts | | Heritage Auctions sells one of Lou Gehrig's earliest game-used bats for more than $1 million | | Meet your meme lords |
A section of the Reach, designed by Steven Holl Architects, the Kennedy Centers first expansion in its nearly half-century history. Justin T. Gellerson/The New York Times.
by Julia Jacobs
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The National Symphony Orchestras musicians will be receiving pay cuts, but will not be furloughed, under a new deal worked out between their union and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where they perform. The Kennedy Center had planned to furlough the musicians for an undetermined time so as to address the financial shortfalls from the coronavirus pandemic, which has closed the performing arts center. The announcement had caused a political uproar, largely because the center had received $25 million in emergency funding as part of the recently enacted stimulus package. But in the agreement announced Tuesday with the D.C. Federation of Musicians, the orchestra ... More | |
1922-23 Lou Gehrig Game Used Sidewritten Bat, PSA/DNA GU 10.
DALLAS, TX.- A bat beloved by a promising young ballplayer named Lou Gehrig has sold for more than $1 million. Heritage Auctions completed the sale this week. The war stick, made by Hillerich & Bradsby, is one of the earliest known Gehrig sluggers to hit the market. It was originally available as part of Heritages Winter Platinum Night Sports Auction in late February. At auction the lumber didnt hit the reserve. But in the following days, an interested buyer emerged who began requesting additional information about the bat discussing its significance, said Chris Ivy, Heritages Director of Sports Auctions, and its history. It was that storied past that eventually sealed the deal at $1,025,000. Gehrig used this bat throughout the earliest days of his career while playing for the Columbia University ball club, the Hartford Senators, then the New York Yankees. His name is stamped on the side in block ... More | |
The web archiving team, led by Abbie Grotke, front, at the Library of Congress in Washington, March 4, 2020. Justin T. Gellerson/The New York Times.
by Steven Kurutz
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Future researchers can rest easy: Know Your Meme, Urban Dictionary, Creepypasta and Cute Overload have all been preserved by the Library of Congress. So has the band website for They Might Be Giants and the entire published output of The Toast, the humor site that shut down in 2016. And while the Library of Congress owns a rare print copy of the Gutenberg Bible, the web archive features the LOLCat Bible Translation Project, which rendered the bible in LOLspeak. For the past 20 years, a small team of archivists at the Library of Congress has been collecting the web, quietly and dutifully in its way. The initiative was born out of a desire to collect and preserve open-access materials from the web, especially U.S. government ... More |
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| | LAM museum acquires Tom Friedman's self-portrait in sugar cubes | | Philharmonic players, fired on misconduct grounds, are reinstated | | Anne Bass, arts patron and peerless gardener, dies at 78 |
Tom Friedman, Untitled (Self-Portrait), 1999. Sugar cubes and sugar, 121.9 x 43.2 x 25.4cm. Collection LAM museum.
LISSE.- The LAM has purchased an important sculpture by American artist Tom Friedman (1965): a self-portrait comprising thousands of sugar cubes. "We've been drooling over this sculpture for many years. It's a distinctive work by one of today's most esteemed American artists and a perfect fit for the LAM's collection," explains museum director Sietske van Zanten. For now, the work can be viewed online. "It will eventually be given a place of honour in the museum," says Van Zanten. There stands the artist, both lifelike and surreal, in a relaxed pose, hands in pockets and looking nonchalantly to one side. Sugar-white, with a jagged outline from the cubes, its as if he's somehow blurred on tv. There are small piles of sugar on the plinth. Made of sugar describes the fragility of this artwork perfectly. The American Tom Friedman often uses commonplace materials. Whether its polystyrene, cardboard, his ... More | |
Jaap van Zweden leads the New York Philharmonic at David Geffen Hall in New York, Dec. 5, 2019. Karsten Moran/The New York Times.
by Zachary Woolfe
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The New York Philharmonic has been forced by an arbitrator to reinstate two players it fired over allegations of unspecified sexual misconduct, the orchestra said Monday night. The Philharmonic dismissed the players its principal oboist, Liang Wang, and associate principal trumpet, Matthew Muckey in September 2018. Both men denied wrongdoing, and the players union filed a grievance challenging their dismissals. The case was heard by an independent arbitrator, who found that the players had been terminated without just cause and should be reinstated. We are profoundly disappointed by the arbitrators decision, the Philharmonic said in a statement, adding: While we obviously disagree with the arbitrator and stand by our original actions and decisions ... More | |
Anne Bass with Sokvannara Sar, a dancer she discovered in Cambodia, in New York on March 4, 2010. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Anne Hendricks Bass, the arts patron who helped raise the profile of ballet in the United States, harking back to an era when art was viewed as a vehicle for beauty and moral uplift, died on April 1 at her home in Manhattan. She was 78. Julian Lethbridge, her longtime partner, said the cause was ovarian cancer. Bass was well-established in Fort Worth, Texas, before she made her name in New York City, and her style as a patron was entirely her own. In contrast to boastful Texans with their McRanches or status-hungry New Yorkers in pursuit of donor plaques, Bass was reticent and aloof. Slender with pale blue eyes, she armored herself with an apparent indifference to the less gracious aspects of life, which included her much-publicized divorce from oilman Sid Bass in the 1980s. She saved her energy for her interests, especially gardening and architecture, which she pursed ... More |
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| | Artist shortlist for BMW Art Journey announced | | Richart Ruddie on his art collection | | Cannes and Venice film festivals rule out going virtual |
Leelee Chan, artist represented by Capsule, Shanghai. (04/2020).
BASEL.- Art Basel and BMW present the 2020 artist shortlist for the BMW Art Journey, a joint initiative recognizing and supporting emerging artists worldwide. Like a mobile studio, the BMW Art Journey can take artists almost anywhere in the world to develop new ideas and envision new creative projects. As this year's Art Basel show in Hong Kong had to be cancelled due to the outbreak and spread of the new coronavirus, Covid-19, the jury conducted its selection process online. Artists and their galleries were invited to submit digital applications, including a short video by the artists explaining their work and process. For the first time, eligible participants included not only artists from the Discoveries sector of the 2020 show, but more generally artists presented by participating galleries founded less than ten years ago. The international jury chose the following shortlist: Leelee Chan:
Born in 1984; lives and works in ... More | |
Andy Warhol Mick Jagger. Dual signed by Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol this is the very last edition ever made numbered 250/250.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.- Good art comes with a great story. In my growing collection many of the pieces come with a good story or a pattern. In a short period of just 3 years Ive started to grow an art collection that includes Picasso, Andy Warhol, Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, Alec Monopoly, David Yarrow, and many more up and coming artists or just pieces that Ive been attracted to for one reason or another. Its an honor to be able to share with Art Daily some of the masterworks that Im lucky enough to be able to look at on a daily basis. If youre attending Art Basel or Frieze youll notice one thing about the majority of the buyers of fine art are not millennials. As one of my art dealers says the smart young art enthusiasts purchase art because they know both the long term value and the joy of being able to look at a Picasso while youre having dinner. As both a long term ... More | |
French mayor of Cannes David Lisnard walks in the streets of the French Riviera city of Cannes, southern France, on April 08, 2020. VALERY HACHE / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- Fresh doubts were hanging over the coronavirus-hit Cannes film festival Wednesday after its director said holding it online would go against its "soul". The world's biggest film festival has already been postponed until the end of June because of the virus. Thierry Fremaux said it would tear the heart out of the festival to go virtual, after the world's biggest animation festival at Annecy, also in France, said on Tuesday that it was looking at going online on June 15. Cannes main rival, the Venice film festival, which happens in September, also said it was strongly against such a move to get around restrictions imposed by the pandemic. "Films by Wes Anderson or Paul Verhoeven on a computer?" Fremaux said, hinting that the festival was to premiere Anderson's starry comedy "French Dispatch" as well as Verhoeven's "Benedetta", about the erotic visions of a ... More |
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| | Los Angeles' Abell Auction Company goes online-only during pandemic | | Artists and celebrities join with Bonhams Online Blue Auction to offer artworks and special experiences | | Fire at rebuilt Kaiser's palace in Berlin |
Assorted Judith Leiber and Jewelry.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- Abell Auction Co., Los Angeles original and 104-year-old auction house, announces its transition to a live online-only auction format in April 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is temporarily closing its gallery doors to in-person buyers and utilizing online bidding platforms to help honor its commitment to keeping every employee on payroll during Californias stay at home order. Prior to auction, buyers may view an online catalogue or request a virtual preview of featured items via a private video conference with an Abell auctioneer. Prior to the current health crisis, Abell was distinguished as one of the only remaining auction houses in the nation to host live weekly auctions drawing up to 300 in-person buyers to its gallery every Thursday. Having survived the Spanish flu epidemic, World Wars I and II, and even the Great Depression, it was forced to close only once before in company history. Af ... More | |
Sara Pope, Decadence (Pink) signed (on the reverse) coil on gesso covered wood panel. Photo: Bonhams.
LONDON.- Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Julian Opie and the Connor Brothers are amongst artists to donate work and, in the case of Grayson Perry, a studio visit to Bonhams not-for-profit digital auction in aid of the NHS Charities Covid-19 Urgent Appeal. The auction will be hosted at bonhams.com and run for three weeks from Wednesday 8th April until Wednesday 29th April. Bids can be made by going to [email protected] or calling us on +44 (0) 20 7447 7447. All lots will be available to view online at bonhams.com/theblueauction. Among the generous donations are: Grayson Perry, who has offered a visit to his studio. Antony Gormley R.A. A work on paper, FOLD I, 2018, signed, titled and dated. Anish Kapoor has donated two etchings, Omo, (2019) and Glow (2018). The estate of Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) has contributed Untitled, from 'Buñuel Suite'. Screenprint and etching, 1996, signed, dated ... More | |
A fire truck is seen near the passageway on the ground floor of the new building of the Berlin City Palace after a fire broke out at the construction site in Berlin on April 8, 2020. John MACDOUGALL / AFP.
BERLIN (AFP).- Fire broke out Wednesday at the central Berlin site where the German imperial family's palace is being reconstructed, injuring one and sending black smoke pouring into the sky. The fire broke out outside the building in two tar kettles, causing a propane gas cylinder to explode before around 80 firefighters extinguished the blaze. "Pictures of fire above the entrance to the palace sent shivers down all our spines," junior minister for culture Monika Gruetters said in a statement. One worker was slightly hurt by smoke inhalation, firefighters said. "Everything is under control again," the emergency responders posted on Twitter. The Humboldt Forum, a museum slated to open in the rebuilt palace in autumn, said work on the building would not be slowed by Wednesday's upset. Standing on the same site since ... More |
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"Director's Cut - Bierstadt" from BMA Education
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Columbus Museum of Art and Greater Columbus Arts Council announce 2020 Artist Resident
COLUMBUS, OH.- Memphis, Tennessee-based artist Johnathan Payne was selected for the first Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Residency, one of two new programs created by the Columbus Museum of Art and the Greater Columbus Arts Council (Arts Council) to support African American professional visual artists and honor the legacy of the beloved Columbus artist. Payne was selected out of 50 applications from 24 states. The Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson Residency is nationally focused and provides an African American professional visual artist residing in the United States the opportunity to live and work in Robinsons soon-to-be-restored home, and to devote dedicated time to creating art within Robinsons home studio. In 2020, the 90-day residency is currently planned to begin in late summer or early fall and will include a $2,500 ... More
The Other Art Fair, introduces 'Online Studios' to spotlight artists across the globe
SANTA MONICA, CA.- The Other Art Fair presents Online Studios, a new digital art experience created in partnership with global online art gallery Saatchi Art. Debuting Wednesday, April 8, Online Studios gives art lovers around the world the opportunity to discover and buy artwork from The Other Art Fairs 800+ exhibiting independent artists. Over the course of 4 weeks, Online Studios will roll out city-specific features in line with the original Spring Fair schedule. The Other Art Fair and Saatchi Art are united by a shared mission to help audiences discover artwhether in person or onlineand support independent emerging artists around the world. With the postponement of its Spring fairs, The Other Art Fair sought alternative ways to support the independent artist community during this difficult time, leading to the creation of Online Studios. ... More
Top French fashion brands start making free masks
PARIS (AFP).- Louis Vuitton is converting five of its French worshops to make masks for frontline health workers, the luxury brand said Wednesday. Its chairman Michael Burke praised employees who had volunteered to make the non-surgical masks with France hit -- like several other countries -- by shortages of protective facing coverings. He said hundreds of thousands of masks would be produced in the workshops which usually turn out designer clothes and luxury leather goods. Dior, which is also owned by LVMH, the world's biggest luxury goods group, has been making masks since the end of last month for hospital staff. It said that seamstresses who usually work on couture creations had volunteered to go back to its ateliers in Redon in Brittany in western France, which has been closed since France when into lockdown on March 17. "In an ... More
Broadway will remain closed at least until June, and probably longer
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Broadway will remain closed for at least another two months, industry leaders said Wednesday, as they formally acknowledged what has been widely known: that their initial target of reopening in mid-April has become impossible because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Broadway League, a trade association representing producers and theater owners, said the 41 Broadway houses would remain shuttered at least through June 7. But industry leaders widely expect the theaters to remain closed longer many say that a best-case scenario is reopening following the July 4 weekend and that it is possible that the industry will not reopen until after Labor Day. Were hopeful that the restrictions will be lifted by June 7, said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League. If theyre not, ... More
Bagri Foundation launches Open Call in response to COVID-19
LONDON.- The Bagri Foundation announced the launch of an open call for At Home in the World, a new series of £1,000 online commissions, established in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Comprised of five categories Visual Art, Film, Sound, Lectures & Courses and the Written Word it invites Asian artists, writers, musicians, curators, filmmakers, researchers and academics to create online works that will be presented across the Foundations digital platforms. Says Alka Bagri, Trustee, Bagri Foundation: I feel more than ever that art and culture are a key component of how we will get through this very difficult period. At Home in the World is one way in which we hope to offer assistance and to release a wellspring of creativity that can be experienced digitally. The Foundation would particularly like to see applications from those who have been ... More
The Walters Prize 2020: Nominees announced for New Zealand's foremost contemporary art prize
AUCKLAND.- Amid its temporary closure due to Covid-19, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki announced today the nominees for the Walters Prize 2020. The Walters Prize is Aotearoa New Zealands most significant contemporary art award. Established in 2002, this year will be the tenth iteration of the Walters Prize, which was conceived as a platform to foreground excellence in the visual arts. The jury for this years prize met in February to select the four nominated artworks. These artworks are selected for their outstanding contributions to contemporary art in New Zealand in the preceding two-year period. The selected artworks are: AKA, 2019, by the all-women, Māori art collective, Mata Aho. First exhibited in Ãbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu Continuel, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 8 November 20195 April 2020. A Body That ... More
'The Joy of Art: How to Look at, Appreciate, and Talk about Art' published today by Allworth Press
NEW YORK, NY.- Written by a practicing artist, this book decodes and maps the basic elements of visual art, leading the reader to a greater understanding and appreciation. Not an art history lesson per se, this illustrated guide is rather a tool kit to make the study of art and a visit to the museum truly rewarding. An entertaining and informative read, The Joy of Art offers the reader: A working art vocabulary to help you identify and explain what youre looking at Answers to many of the questions you may have about visual art in general A summary of the basic criteria to consider when looking at art Highlights of the primary art genres and an introduction to the artists who pursued them Many visual examples of aesthetic considerations and practices Interesting facts about your favorite artists and clues to why they made the choices they did ... More
A voice in French literature: Her own
PARIS (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- On a recent afternoon, by phone from her home in the suburbs, French writer Annie Ernaux was describing her living room. Im sitting in my old armchair. There is a south-facing bow window, so I can see the sky, some clouds, and a tree, to the left, she said, picking out details with the ease of a master memoirist. Its a very silent place. Even more so at the moment. France had just entered a strict coronavirus lockdown, and Ernaux, 79, couldnt meet in person for an interview. Yet it was easy to imagine what she and her home might be like from her intensely personal books: She has poured a lifetime of images into them. Since the 1970s, Ernaux has carved out a special place in the French literary pantheon for her ability not just to excavate individual memories but to show the subtle ways they interact with the collective ... More
The Obie Awards go online. The money saved goes to artists.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The Obie Awards, an annual ceremony honoring the best New York theater work performed off- and off-off-Broadway, will go virtual this year, forced online by the coronavirus pandemic that has caused the cancellation of in-person gatherings. Thats not much of a surprise almost all performing arts events this spring have been scuttled for public health reasons. But heres a twist: The awards organizers will give the money that would have been spent on an in-person event to artists whose plays could not be staged because of the outbreak. The judges felt very strongly that we needed to honor the great work that occurred, and to pay homage to what had not, said Heather Hitchens, the president of the American Theater Wing, which presents the Obies with The Village Voice. The virtual ceremony ... More
Mélanie Deveault named head of the MMFA's Education and Wellness division
MONTREAL.- The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts welcomed Mélanie Deveault back to its team, this time as Director of Education and Wellness. Succeeding Thomas Bastien, she will oversee the development of the Museum's cultural, educational community and art therapy programs aimed at fostering wellness, inclusion and togetherness through art. As Educational Projects Developer at the MMFA from 2014 to 2018, she piloted the digital platform EducArt, in collaboration with teachers from Quebec's 17 administrative regions. The innovative learning tool enables students throughout the province to delve deeper into a wide variety of academic subjects and social issues taught in class by means of 350 artworks from the Museum's collection. EducArt notably won the 2018 Prize for Excellence, Category 2, presented by the Société des musées du Québec. ... More
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao launches the digital initiative #GuggenheimBilbaoLive
BILBAO.- Although temporarily closed to visitors due to the recent developments with COVID-19, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao launches #GuggenheimBilbaoLive, a digital initiative which will regularly offer to the public, through both the Museums website and social media, new content that will focus on the Museums current and past exhibitions, and other lesser-known aspects of its operations. Created to accompany, inspire, and help make confinement more manageable, #GuggenheimBilbaoLive will offer a selection of videos created by members of the Guggenheim Bilbao team. The new virtual content will be published throughout this closure period and will feature senior members of the team discussing their experiences and views. These team members include the Director General and in-house curators, as well as other significant people ... More
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PhotoGalleries
Franz Klainsek
Niclas Riepshoff
Charles Atlas
Viktor Wynd
Flashback On a day like today, English photographer Eadweard Muybridge was born April 09, 1830. Eadweard Muybridge (9 April 1830 - 8 May 1904, born Edward James Muggeridge) was an English photographer important for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the first name Eadweard as the original Anglo-Saxon form of Edward, and the surname Muybridge believing it to be similarly archaic. In this image: Eadweard Muybridge, Contemplation Rock, Glacier Point (1385) 1872. Collection of California Historical Society
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