| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Thursday, November 22, 2018 |
| | | Fingerprints, thought to be those of Rembrandt, revealed on rare oil sketch | |
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Study of a Head of a Young Man, a little-known masterpiece, will be offered with an estimate in the region of £6 million. Courtesy Sotheby's.
LONDON.- Buried in the original layer of paint in the lower edge of the 17th-century oil sketch are two fingerprints - presumably those of the painting's creator - Rembrandt van Rijn. Pressed into wet paint, the prints, which are most certainly impressions of the artists thumb, had been hidden underneath overpaint and darkened varnish layers and were only recently discovered during technical examination and restoration. The distinguishing marks, while difficult to prove conclusively, are believed to be the only known fingerprints of the Dutch master. A highlight of Sothebys Old Masters Evening Sale on 5 December, Study of a Head of a Young Man, a little-known masterpiece, will be offered with an estimate in the region of £6 million. A touching portrayal of Christ, the work until recently hung in the artists house in Amsterdam and comes to the market for the first time in 60 years. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Cypriot director of the Byzantine museum Ioannis Eliades shows a centuries-old mosaic of Saint Mark at the Byzantine Museum in Nicosia on November 21, 2018. The centuries-old mosaic of Saint Mark has gone on display at a Cyprus museum that now hopes to reunite it with the 11 other apostles decades after it was looted in the island's Turkish-held north. The mosaic dating back more than 1,600 years was returned to the Mediterranean island this week after being tracked down by a Dutchman dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the art world". The mosaic was looted from the church of Panayia Kanakaria in northern Cyprus following the Turkish invasion in 1974. Iakovos Hatzistavrou / AFP
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| | | Macron advised to return looted African art treasures | | Lost portrait of Charles Dickens rediscovered in South Africa | | Christie's to offer masterworks from the Estate of Lila & Herman Shickman |
This file photo shows French art historian and professor Benedicte Savoy (R) and Senegalese economist and professor Felwine Sarr (L). ALAIN JOCARD / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- Experts appointed by President Emmanuel Macron will advise him on Friday to allow the return of thousands of African artworks held in French museums, a radical shift in policy which could put pressure on other former colonial powers. Calls have been growing in Africa for the restitution of their cultural treasures, but French law strictly forbids the government from ceding state property, even in well-documented cases of pillaging. But in a speech in Burkina Faso in November last year, Macron said "Africa's heritage cannot just be in European private collections and museums." He later asked French art historian Benedicte Savoy and Senegalese writer Felwine Sarr to study the matter, and they are to present Macron with their report on Friday. According to a copy seen by AFP, they recommend amending French law to allow the restitution of cultural works if bilateral accords are struck ... More | |
Margaret Gillies RWS (18031887), Portrait of Charles Dickens (18121870), courtesy Philip Mould & Company.
LONDON.- The lost portrait of Charles Dickens as an emerging literary star at the age of 31, officially lost for 174 years, has miraculously turned up in a box of trinkets in South Africa. Painted in late 1843 by Margaret Gillies (18031887) during the same weeks Dickens was writing A Christmas Carol, it was last seen in public in 1844 when exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The portrait has now returned to us in time for the 175th anniversary of Dickens Christmas masterpiece, first mentioned by the author in a letter dated to a day he was sitting for Gillies. This evening, the art dealers Philip Mould & Company, who formally re-identified the portrait, will unveil it after an interlude of over a century and a half. It will go on display in an exhibition, Charles Dickens: The Lost Portrait, opening tomorrow and running until 25th January 2019. Until now the portrait has been known only by a simplified black-and-white print, which has none of the brilliance ... More | |
Still life with flowers and fruit by Juan van der Hamen y León is poised to establish a new world auction record for the artist and for any Spanish 17th century still life. Estimate: $8,000,000-12,000,000. © Christies Images Limited 2018.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies announces Masterworks from the Estate of Lila & Herman Shickman, an important single owner sale of Old Master and 19th century European paintings from the private collection of one of the leading American dealers in the 20th century. Comprised of more than a dozen works, the auction will take place on May 2, 2019, after completing a global tour to Madrid, London, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Highlighting the collection is one of the most important Spanish still lifes remaining in private hands, Still life with flowers and fruit by Juan van der Hamen y León, which was last at auction in 1969 and is poised to establish a new world auction record for the artist and for any Spanish 17th century still life (estimate: $8,000,000-12,000,000). Another highlight featured in the Collection is Luis Meléndez's Still life with artichokes and tomatoes ... More |
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| | | Banksy the rebel on show in Milan | | Hermès collector Jamie Chua adds star power as guest auctioneer in Hermès vintage auction | | David Zwirner opens an exhibition of works dating from 1970 to 1978 by Gordon Matta-Clark |
A visitor attends a press preview of an exhibition of British street artist Banksy "The Art of Banksy" at the MUDEC, the Museum of Cultures in Milan on November 20, 2018. The exhibition runs through April 14, 2019. Miguel MEDINA / AFP.
MILAN.- His identity is a mystery that adds to his allure, but a new exhibition in Italy dedicated to street artist Banksy looks beyond the feverish headlines to explore his works as vehicles for protest. The solo show, organised by the Museum of Cultures in Milan, is "the first on Banksy organised by a public museum -- apart from the one in Bristol put on by the artist, but that was a one-off performance," curator Gianni Mercurio said Tuesday. The Italian show was organised without Banksy's say-so and was "very difficult, it was like working with a ghost," he told AFP. Banksy's true identity has been a closely-guarded secret since the start of the 1990s. He is known to be British and comes from Bristol. He uploads photographs of his works onto his website, but never comments. "Banksy owes a lot of his success, or rather to his popularity ... More | |
Hermès, 2007, brand new rare shiny Lizard Vert Anis Birkin 25 witj Palladium hardware. Starting price: HK$150,000.
HONG KONG.- After breaking a world record for a Hermès Silver Mini Kelly in a recent auction, renowned auctioneer Spink, French fashion expert Brand Connection, and fashion doyen Jamie Chua join forces for Spinks second handbag sale this season, focused on rare Hermès classics. You are never fully dressed without a Statement Handbag says Jamie Chua, the worlds leading collector of Hermès handbags and guest auctioneer for this star-studded occasion. The Throwback Classic Handbag and Accessories Auction delivers Chuas exuberance to the Christmas season with rare Hermès collectables, inspired by a harmonious balance between old and new, to deliver a one-of-a-kind shopping experience for connoisseurs. The auction pays tribute to emblematic fashion icons in a return to the classics, with rare Hermès bags featured in shows such as Sex in the City, and designed in limited runs by fashion icons such ... More | |
Gordon Matta-Clark, Jacob's Ladder, 1977. Cibachrome print © The Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy The Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark and David Zwirner.
LONDON.- David Zwirner is presenting an exhibition of works dating from 1970 to 1978 by Gordon Matta-Clark (19431978). Marking the first solo presentation of his work at the London gallery, the exhibition includes key examples from the artists short but prolific career, including films, photographs, sculptures, and works on paper that illustrate his complex engagement with architecture and the many ways in which he reconfigured the spaces and materials of everyday life. A central figure of the downtown New York art scene in the 1970s, Matta-Clark pioneered a radical approach to art making that directly engaged the urban environment and the communities within it. Through his many projectsincluding large-scale architectural interventions in which he physically cut through buildings slated for demolitionMatta-Clark developed a singular and prodigious oeuvre that ... More |
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| | | 800 medieval manuscripts now online reveal a world of beauty and learning | | Art repatriation: colonial ghosts haunt Europe's museums | | The modern artists for whom the ancient Dutch bells toll |
Annunciation to the Shepherds, twelfth century psalter BL, MS Cotton Caligula A. vii/l, f.6v. Image: British Library.
LONDON.- A two-year project, drawing upon the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the British Library, has made 800 manuscripts from the period 700-1200 available online in full for the first time. The project includes a bilingual curated website, enabling learners and researchers around the world to explore the rich written and artistic legacy of medieval England and France as never before. The fully digitised manuscripts can be viewed on a website based on the BnFs Gallica White Label platform, which uses the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) standard and Mirador viewer to enable users to browse, magnify, annotate and compare manuscripts side by side in a virtual study environment: France-England: medieval manuscripts between 700 and 1200. The British Library has also developed an extensive curated website, aimed at a wide public audience, that showcases a selection of the manuscript highlights, and i ... More | |
This file photo shows Funerary crown of the Kingdom of Dahomey dating from 1860-1889, on May 18, 2018 at the Quai Branly Museum-Jacques Chirac in Paris. GERARD JULIEN / AFP.
PARIS (AFP).- The return of art and treasures taken from African countries during their colonisation by European powers is a recurring and controversial debate. A UNESCO convention against the export of illicit cultural goods adopted in 1970 called for the return of cultural property taken from a country but it did not address historic cases, including from the colonial era. With museums fearing they could be forced to return artefacts, former colonial powers have been slow to ratify the convention: France only did so 1997, Britain in 2002, Germany in 2007 and Belgium in 2009. As experts advise France to return thousands of African artworks held in its museums, here is an overview of plans and disputes over artefacts in Europe looted from former African colonies. In 2016 Benin demanded the repatriation of a part of its treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey. They include totems, sceptres and sacred doors from ... More | |
Polish carillon player Malgosia Fiebig poses for a picture below the bells of the Dom Tower (Domtoren) in Utrecht. JOHN THYS / AFP.
UTRECHT (AFP).- When a musical legend dies, a tribute can often be heard ringing out from the most unexpected of places: the tallest church tower in the Netherlands. Days after French crooner Charles Aznavour's death last month, the strains of his 1963 hit "For me, formidable" could be heard from the Domtoren (Dom Tower) in the central student city of Utrecht. An alert passer-by recorded the unusual ringing of the bells and posted the clip on Twitter. It soon went viral, shared by countless Aznavour fans around the world. Behind the unique musical send-off was Malgosia Fiebig, who, high up in the centuries-old tower, perched between the bells of an organ-like instrument called a carillon, was doing what she has done for other popular artists on their death. Whitney Houston, Prince, David Bowie and even Swedish superstar DJ Avicii all received similar musical nods from 43-year-old Fiebig, the Domtoren's first woman carillonneur in more than three ... More |
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| | | Exhibition at Galerie Guido W. Baudach demonstrates complex aspects of contemporary sculpture | | Metropolitan Museum of Art to renovate its Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Galleries | | Marianne Boesky Gallery now representing Jennifer Bartlett in partnership with Paula Cooper Gallery |
Markus Selg, Archaic Revival Series: Dream Stele (Thutmose IV) fractal simulation, male, 2018. UV-print on cellulose Polyester and aluminium dibond, 188 x 40 x 40 cm. Courtesy the artist & Courtesy Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin. Photo: Roman März.
BERLIN.- Galerie Guido W. Baudach is presenting the group show Manifestations . On the basis of selected works by different artists of the gallery the show demonstrates complex aspects of contemporary sculpture which are put up for discussion. Sculptures are first of all three-dimensional objects made by human hands with ideational intention. Corresponding artifacts from the Neolithic period are the oldest known artworks. Through all periods, sculpture represents one of the most central artistic disciplines. In the early 20th Century sculpture was expanded by a completely new branch: the Readymade , which is not shaped or made by the artist himself but is introduced into the context of art as a found object. Since then, artists use found objects, so-called objets trouvés , naturally as sculpting ... More | |
Americas Galleries Looking South, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image by wHY.
NEW YORK, NY.- The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that, nearly 50 years after the founding of its curatorial department devoted to the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, it is embarking on a plan to completely renovate its Michael C. Rockefeller Wing. The galleries40,000 square feet on the Museum's south sidewill be overhauled and reimagined to reintroduce each of the three major world traditions represented in the department's collection, displaying them as discrete elements in an overarching wing that is in dialogue with the Museum's collections as a whole. The Met has selected architect Kulapat Yantrasast from the firm wHY for the $70 million project. Renovation will begin in late 2020 and be completed in 2023. "By ushering artistic traditions of three-quarters of the globe into The Met, the building of the Rockefeller Wing helped define us as an encyclopedic fine arts museum. Its expansive and ... More | |
Jennifer Bartlett. Courtesy of the artist, Paula Cooper Gallery, and Marianne Boesky Gallery. Photo: 2018 Jennifer Bartlett Trust. © 2018 Takaaki Matsumoto.
NEW YORK, NY.- Marianne Boesky Gallery announces representation of acclaimed artist Jennifer Bartlett, in partnership with Paula Cooper Gallery. To mark the new collaboration, the two galleries will present mixed-media installations by Bartlett at Art Basel Miami Beach in December, with Marianne Boesky showing Boats (1987) and Paula Cooper featuring Beaver: Man Carrying Thing (1989). In both works, Bartlett unites her monumental paintings with steel sculptural forms, extending the imagery held within the two-dimensional space into the third dimension and, in doing so, inviting the viewer to step into and become part of the scene. A solo exhibition of Bartletts work is also slated for Marianne Boeskys primary location in Chelsea at 509 W. 24th Street in fall 2019. Bartlett first came to prominence with the large-scale installation, Rhapsody, which was shown at Paula Cooper Gallery ... More |
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John F. Simon Jr. Interacts with Unfolding Object, His Pioneering Web-Based Artwork
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Nationalmuseum Sweden acquires painting by Hubert Robert
STOCKHOLM.- Nationalmuseum recently acquired a small painting by Hubert Robert that shows a view of the park in Méréville, probably executed in 1786-87. Robert has primarily become known for his picturesque vedute of Rome, often composed of a fantasized conglomeration of various famous ruins and monuments. His work as a garden designer is less known. The newly acquired painting was created in connection with the work Hubert Robert carried out in the park at Méréville for the wealthy banker, the Marquis Jean-Joseph de Laborde. The French artist Hubert Robert (1733-1808), also known as "Robert des ruines, is primarily associated with his magnificent and picturesque views of Rome, where he lived for more than a decade starting in 1754. Upon his return to Paris in 1765, he was already a big name and continued to create fantasy ... More
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Museum of Art acquires Richard Long sculpture
UTICA, NY.- The Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Museum of Art announces the acquisition of Richard Longs Half Moon, 2015, an impressive sculpture of red slate that was quarried in eastern New York State. Long (British, born 1945) is a pioneer of the Land Art movement from the 1960s, when artists questioned the commodification of their work and created ephemeral projects with unusual materials, including time which can be governed by the sun or moon or geology. Long said the subject of his art is where my human characteristics meet the natural forces and patterns of the world. Half Moon resembles a rough-hewn or mountainous terrain, as seen from above. The half-circle is a typical shape for Long, who juxtaposes organic, irregular stones within a geometric shape to unite nature and reason. Richard Long is a pioneering artist who has redefined ... More
First major exhibition devoted to Don Freeman opens at the Museum of the City of New York
NEW YORK, NY.- A City for Corduroy: Don Freemans New York, on view at the Museum of the City of New York from November 21, 2018, through June 23, 2019, is the first major exhibition devoted to Freemans work as a chronicler of New York City life. Freeman is best known as the author and illustrator of Corduroy, listed by the National Education Association as one of the top 100 childrens books of all time. But before he ever illustrated a childrens book, Freeman spent more than 20 years depicting New York City and its residents. Don Freeman was the quintessential New Yorker. After arriving in New York as a young man, he became enchanted with the city and captured the spirit and human drama of it in his illustrations, posters, and childrens books, said Whitney W. Donhauser, Ronay Menschel Director and President of the Museum of the City ... More
Jon King joins Leslie Hindman Auctioneers as Senior Consultant for Southeast Region
CHICAGO, IL.- Leslie Hindman Auctioneers announced that Jon King joins the firm as Senior Consultant for the Southeast region. He has extensive auction experience as both an appraiser and in business development for the New York, California and Florida markets. Mr. King began his career in the early 1980s at Sothebys in Los Angeles and New York. Selected to participate in an intensive year-long management program, he was trained in every aspect of the auction business and within a multitude of collecting categories. This instilled a unique knowledge and understanding of objects as a true generalist. As such, Mr. King can review furniture, decorative arts, fine art, clocks, watches and collectibles, a rarity in the appraisal world. While maintaining his position as an appraiser, Mr. King later ventured into the world of auction house management. ... More
Thao Nguyen Phan wins the Han Nefkens Foundation - Loop Barcelona Video Art Award 2018
BARCELONA.- Thao Nguyen Phan is the winner of the Han Nefkens Foundation - Loop Barcelona Video Art Award 2018, in collaboration with the Fundació Joan Miró. Thao Nguyen Phans wins the Han Nefkens Foundation - Loop Barcelona Video Art Award for her heterogeneous and powerful works, which have a uniquely poetic and beautiful form of storytelling. Established by the Han Nefkens Foundation in collaboration with Loop Barcelona in 2018, the annual award aims to increase contemporary artistic production in the video art field by supporting artists of Asian origin or nationality. Thao Nguyen Phan (1987, Vietnam) has unanimously been chosen as the winner of the Han Nefkens Foundation - LOOP Barcelona Video Art Award 2018 in collaboration with the Fundació Joan Miró. Promising young artist Thao Nguyen Phan has a strong ... More
Museo del Prado announces restoration of its Annunciation by Fra Angelico
MADRID.- A generous contribution of 150,000 ($171,000) to the Museo del Prado, made equally by Friends of Florence and American Friends of the Prado Museum, will go towards restoring The Annunciation by Fra Angelico and other works not held at the Prado Museum to be included in a major exhibition slated for the coming year, Fra Angelico and the Rise of the Florentine Renaissance. The exhibition is part of the Prados Bicentenary celebration in 2019. Miguel Falomir, Director of the Museo del Prado, Simonetta Brandolini dAdda, President of Friends of Florence, and Christina Simmons, Executive Director of American Friends of the Prado Museum, signed a partnership agreement last Wednesday at the Prado in Madrid, Spain. On view from May 28September 15, 2019, the exhibition of some 40 pieces is curated by Carl Brandon Strehlke, ... More
After years of silence, music fills streets of Iraq's Mosul
MOSUL (AFP).- For centuries, it was a magnet for artists across the region and churned out Iraq's best musicians -- but recent years saw Mosul suffer a devastating musical purge. For three years until last summer, the sprawling northern city was under the brutal rule of the Islamic State group. In imposing a city-wide ban on playing or even listening to music, the jihadists smashed and torched instruments. "It was impossible to bring my instrument with me whenever I left the house," said city resident Fadel al-Badri, who hid his precious violin from the rampaging fighters. Foreshadowing IS' repression, the 2000s saw Al-Qaeda and other groups impose an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam in several districts of the city. But with Mosul freed from the grip of IS in July 2017, Iraq's second city is embarking on a musical comeback. "After the liberation, songs are back where they tr ... More
Holiday treasures at Sotheby's New York: Unwrap magnificent jewels this December
NEW YORK, NY.- Just in time for the holidays, Sothebys Magnificent Jewels sale is set to take place on 4 December. Leading the sale is a rare and mesmerizing pear-shaped 10.62-carat Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond, estimated at $20/30 million. In addition to diamonds and gemstones of the very highest quality, the event will showcase signed jewels with extraordinary provenance, headlined by the collections of Barbara Sinatra, Margaretta Happy Rockefeller, and several distinguished private collections. Open to the public on 30 November, the sale will be presented alongside Sothebys exhibitions of Important Watches and Lady Blue Eyes: Property of Barbara and Frank Sinatra. Over the centuries, blue diamonds have evoked more mystery and enchantment than those of any other color, eliciting a passion among collectors that can lead to obsession for one ... More
Christie's Watches New York announces an evening of exceptional watches
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies New York announces An Evening of Exceptional Watches on Thursday, December 6th. The auction offers a carefully curated selection of 160 distinct lots that are predominately fresh-to-market and in mint condition, with estimates up to $1,000,000. Highlights include modern, vintage and sport watches from Blancpain, Breitling, Cartier, Heuer, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Omega, Patek Phillipe, Rolex, Tornek Rayville, F.P. Journe and more. The December sale features a selection of rare Rolex models in exceptional condition led by An Extremely Fine, Rare and Attractive 18K Gold Automatic Triple Calendar Wristwatch with Star Dial and Moon Phases, Rolex Ref. 6062, circa 1952 (estimate: $1,000,000-2,000,000). This superlative 6062 Stelline or Star Dial was introduced in 1950 and produced for only 10 years. This impressive watch, nicknamed ... More
Guggenheim restores seminal web artwork by John F. Simon Jr.
NEW YORK, NY.- Through Conserving Computer-Based Art (CCBA), a research and treatment initiative to preserve software and computer-based artworks in the museums permanent collection, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has completed the restoration of Unfolding Object (2002) by John F. Simon Jr. (b. 1963, Shreveport, Louisiana). Originally commissioned by the Guggenheim, Unfolding Object is one of three seminal web artworks in the collection, including Brandon (199899) by Shu Lea Cheang, which was restored by the CCBA in 2017, and net.flag (2002) by Mark Napier. Unfolding Object enables visitors from across the globe to create their own individual artwork online by unfolding the pages of a virtual objecta two-dimensional rectangular formclick by click, creating a new, multifaceted shape. Users may also see traces ... More
Modern & Post-War British Art at Sotheby's London brings $14.3 million
LONDON.- Sothebys Autumn sales of Modern and Post-War British Art on 20 21 November brought a total of £11,114,375 / $14,259,743, with a robust sell-through rate of 80% overall and 93% in the Evening Sale, and half of the lots exceeding their high-estimates. The auction was led by Henry Moores maquette for the seminal Family Group, a perfect expression of the sculptors lifelong obsession with the universal motif of parenthood. Appearing at auction for the first time, having previously been in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York and art dealer Jeffrey Loria, it now emerged from an important Japanese private collection to sell for £1,450,000 / $1,860,350. A further highlight of the Evening Sale was William Roberts highly sought-after The Joke, a vivid depiction of the heady Bohemian London nightlife in the 1920s, ... More
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Flashback On a day like today, Mexican architect Luis Barragán died November 22, 1988. Luis Ramiro Barragán MorfÃn (March 9, 1902 - November 22, 1988) was a Mexican architect and engineer. His work has influenced contemporary architects visually and conceptually. Barragán's buildings are frequently visited by international students and professors of architecture. He studied as an engineer in his home town, while undertaking the entirety of additional coursework to obtain the title of architect. In this image: Casa Gilardi.
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