| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Tuesday, November 7, 2023 |
| | | Were these artworks looted? After seizures and lawsuits, some still debate | |
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In an undated image provided via Manhattan District Attorney, Russian Prisoner of War by Egon Schiele, another work being sought by Grünbaum heirs. Several museums and collectors have surrendered artworks by Egon Schiele to investigators who say they were looted but others are asserting that the evidence is inconclusive. (via Manhattan District Attorney via The New York Times)
by William D. Cohan
NEW YORK, NY.- For decades, several important museums and collectors ignored suggestions that the works they owned by Austrian master Egon Schiele had been stolen by the Nazis from a Viennese cabaret performer, Fritz Grünbaum. Instead, many embraced an alternative account told by a Swiss gallerist. He said that in 1956, 15 years after Grünbaums death in the Dachau concentration camp, he had come into possession of dozens of Grünbaums Schieles. The gallerist, Eberhard Kornfeld, said Grünbaums sister-in-law had approached him, looking to sell a bunch of the Schiele artworks. Kornfeld said he bought most of the 81 Grünbaum Schieles from her and put 65 of them up for sale, an event that eventually led to more sales and resales and caused the Grünbaum Schieles to end up in collections around the world. But a New York civil court ruling several years ago and, more recently, the findings of investigators working for the Manhattan district attorney have undermined the credibility of Kornfel ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Bundanon has unveiled its new exhibition season, Miwatj Yolŋu - Sunrise People, presenting important works by 13 senior and emerging Yolŋu artists from the Yirrkala Community in East Arnhem Land, open to the public in Bundanons award-winning Art Museum until 11 February 2024. Photo: Zan Wimberley.
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| Use of AI worries those who create covers for books | | 'Masterpieces' find new homes in Slotin Auction's Fall Self-Taught Sale | | The novel source for this space mystery? A novel. |
Michael Whelan, who has made a career painting aliens, dragons, robots and other fantastical creatures for book covers, at his home in Danbury, Conn., Sept. 24, 2023. (Frances F. Denny/The New York Times)
NEW YORK, NY.- The first time Michael Whelan was warned that robots were coming for his job was in the 1980s. He had just finished painting the cover for a mass-market paperback edition of Stephen Kings The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, a gritty portrait of the title character with the outline of a tower glimpsed through the haze behind him. The art director for the project told him to enjoy these cover-art gigs while he could, because soon they would all be done by computers. Whelan dismissed him at the time. When you can get a good digital file or photograph of a dragon, let me know, he recalled saying. For the next three decades, Whelan kept painting covers the old way on canvas, conjuring dragons, spaceships and, of course, robots for science fiction and fantasy giants including Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Brandon Sanderson. Over ... More | |
Howard Finsters 1902 Liberty Penny (1979), enamel paint on Masonite, is one of 16 works by the late Georgia preacher-turned-folk-artist that will go on the block during Slotin Auctions Fall Self-Taught Art Masterpiece Sale online on November 11-12.
BUFORD, GA.- With 712 lots, Slotin Auctions Fall Self-Taught Art Masterpiece Sale cuts a path wide and deep through the self-taught art field. There are museum-worthy examples by well-recognized artists including Adolph Wölfli, William Hawkins and Joseph Yoakum, soulful art chronicling the African-American experience in the Deep South by the likes of Sam Doyle and Clementine Hunter, artists representing the art brut movement in Europe and discoveries by living and deceased American makers receiving their first serious exposure. Some artists are heavily represented, such as longtime Slotin favorite Howard Finster (16 lots), the Georgia preacher who turned to artmaking with his ministry, Miami street artist Purvis Young (10), spirit-stoking painter Sister Gertrude Morgan of New Orleans (6) and Crescent City wood carver- ... More | |
A screenshot from the upcoming video game The Invincible, based on Stanislaw Lems 1964 science fiction novel. (Starward Industries/11 Bit Studios via The New York Times)
by Samuel Horti
NEW YORK, NY.- Humanitys first contact with tiny quasi-intelligent robots felt fresh and believable to video game producer Marek Markuszewski as he devoured The Invincible, Stanislaw Lems 1964 science fiction novel, in two evenings. Its precise descriptions of force fields and antimatter cannons seemed ready-made for the screen. This is great material for a major game, Markuszewski said he thought at the time, while he was working for the developer CD Projekt Red. Why hasnt anyone done it already? Although movies and TV shows frequently transplant from the page Oscar contenders this year include the adaptations Poor Things, American Fiction and The Zone of Interest it is rare for video games to directly draw from ... More |
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| Bonhams celebrates its first sale on the island of Ireland with the Irish Sale: Vision & Voice | | Five wounded as Russian missiles strike Odesa, damaging an art museum | | Bundanon unveils new exhibition season |
Portrait of Kit by Sir William Orpen, painted in 1912, The Irish News Collection. Estimate: 80,000-120,000. Photo: Bonhams.
DUBLIN.- Bonhams will celebrate its first sale held on the island of Ireland with The Irish Sale: Vision & Voice. The auction will be on view at City Assembly House, Dublin from 24-28 November with the online sale live for bidding from 17-28 November 2023. Kieran O Boyle, Head of Bonhams Ireland & Northern Ireland, commented, Bonhams will be celebrating those whose vision and voice shaped the cultural and artistic identity of Ireland through Irish art, culture, design, and history. This sale offers an exciting and rich selection of works, not least the remarkable Irish News Collection. Featuring over 30 works, The Irish News Collection will lead the sale. Formed over 40 years by the late Jim Fitzpatrick, former owner of The Irish News, Irelands largest selling morning newspaper, the collection features Irish art from the 19th century to the modern day. Among the highlights ... More | |
Soldiers with the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces in the Zaporizhzhia region in southeast Ukraine on Sunday, May 1, 2022. (Lynsey Addario/The New York Times)
by Matthew Mpoke Bigg
NEW YORK, NY.- A day after Ukraine damaged a Russian naval vessel in an airstrike on Crimea, Russia hit the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa with missiles and drones, injuring five people and damaging an art museum founded in the 19th century, local and military authorities said Monday. In another setback, Ukraines 128th Mountain Assault Brigade provided a death toll for a Russian strike on a Ukrainian medal ceremony Friday, saying in a post on Telegram that it had lost 19 soldiers in the attack. The ceremony was being held in a village near the front lines in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said Sunday that criminal proceedings were underway over the attack, apparently against Ukrainian ... More | |
Sunrise People Installion view. Photo: Zan Wimberley.
SHOALHAVEN, NSW.- Bundanon has unveiled its new exhibition season, Miwatj Yolŋu - Sunrise People, presenting important works by 13 senior and emerging Yolŋu artists from the Yirrkala Community in East Arnhem Land, open to the public in Bundanons award-winning Art Museum until 11 February 2024. During January 2024, the exhibition will be a key regional destination for Sydney Festival, attracting audiences from the city and across the state to experience the exhibition and public programs throughout the Festival season. Curated in collaboration with Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka Art Centre and The Mulka Project, Miwatj Yolŋu Sunrise People explores storytelling, ecology and materiality in the works of Yolŋu artists. Like Bundanons location in the Shoalhaven, Yirrkala is a place where fresh and saltwater meet, and its lands and waterways inform diverse creative practices. This new exhibition brings to light the centr ... More |
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| What the Golden Gate is (finally) doing about suicides | | Pace opens an exhibition of new paintings by artist and musician Brice Guilbert | | Five decades of Claude Viallat's work on view at Templon Brussels |
Pedestrians on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on Oct. 30, 2023. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- It was May 27, 1937, the opening day for a stunning new suspension bridge across a gap in the California coastline known as the Golden Gate. Before cars were allowed on the crossing, an estimated 200,000 people celebrated between the bridges 4-foot-high rails, more than 200 feet above the water. Doris Madden, 11, was there with her parents. It was one of her favorite days of her childhood, a story she told until the end of her life. About 78 years later, in 2015, Maddens 15-year-old grandson, Jesse Madden-Fong, was dropped off at his high school in San Francisco. Jesse did not go to class. An hour later, he was on the Golden Gate Bridge, walking alone. The family was told that Jesse had shrugged off his backpack and went over the rail. He left no explanation, no clues, for why he had jumped. ... More | |
Installation view, "Brice Guilbert: Ti brulé " Nov 3 Dec 7, 2023, Pace Gallery, Hong Kong. Photo: Cow Lau, courtesy Pace Gallery.
HONG KONG.- Pace is presenting Brice Guilbert: Ti brulé, an exhibition of new paintings by artist and musician Brice Guilbert, at its Hong Kong gallery from November 3 to December 7. Named for a song on Guilberts latest album Sin Jo, the exhibition includes seven large-scale paintings and one small-scale composition. The exhibitions title, Ti brulé, translates to little burnt from Réunion Creole, referencing the volcanic site of Le Grand Brûlé at the foot of the active Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Guilberts presentation in Hong Kong begins with the seven large-scale works and conclude with a small-scale painting that evokes the shows title. All works in the show are titled Fournez, named for the local pronunciation of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion Island, where the artist was raised from age two to 14. For thes ... More | |
Claude Viallat, Sans titre n°256 (detail), 2011, acrylique sur bâche brune acrylic on brown tarpaulin, 233 x 240 cm 91 3/4 x 94 1/2 inches, Photo: Tanguy Beurdeley.
BRUSSELS.- Claude Viallats season is nothing if not colourful: after the Quelques Pas de Côté / A Couple of Sidesteps show at the Templon Brussels space which recently ended, Galerie Templon is holding a new exhibition tracing five decades of the artists work in the French capital, running in parallel to the major retrospective of his art at Carré dArt in Nîmes. In contrast to the Belgian exhibition featuring twenty recent works, the Paris show is presenting a carefully curated selection of ten key pieces, all created between 1966 and 2023. Multi-coloured, striped and flowered fabrics hang on the gallery walls, lighting up the space with a palette of subtle hues: pistachio, pine green, lemon yellow, ultramarine and terracotta. On their surface we can see the artists signature small bone shape emerging, painted there almost ... More |
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| Behind the gates of a private world for only the wealthiest New Yorkers | | MACRO - Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome presents "Alexander Brodsky: Depth of field" | | Power and fantasy unite at Dutch national museum Paleis Het Loo |
Beds at Remedy Place, which calls itself the worlds first social wellness club, in Manhattan on Dec. 20, 2022. (Emon Hassan/The New York Times)
by Eliza Shapiro
NEW YORK, NY.- Its a great time to be rich in New York City. Everyday life is increasingly unaffordable for most New Yorkers, but a new class of private, members-only and concierge services is emerging as a kind of gated community within the city. Ultraexclusive clubs, laundry specialists, on-demand helicopter rides and services that allow users to bid hundreds of dollars for a restaurant reservation are transforming how those with lots of disposable income eat dinner, work out, see the doctor, look after their children, walk their dogs and get around all without really having to interact with hoi polloi. It all adds up to a city where the adages about New Yorkers of all backgrounds living and working shoulder to shoulder might now come with an asterisk. ... More | |
Detail. Courtesy the artist. Ph. Michela Pedranti DSL Studio.
ROME.- Alexander Brodsky (Moscow, 1955) is a Russian artist-architect, member of the so called Moscow school of Paper Architecture. Brodskys work is often referred to as an architecture of the imagination, combining a historicist approach with fantasy and the realities of Soviet and post-Soviet urban planning. From the very beginning, Brodsky has been interested in depthof ideas, of vision, of field. For his first institutional exhibition in Italy, the artist has transformed the space into a landscape which reflects the imaginative environments that characterize his paper architecture, coiling the boundaries between private and public, as well as material pasts, presents and futures. Brodsky presents tables and a panel made entirely of transparent containers, some of which conceal small objects. The walls host a series of roll drawings and etchings. Some of these ... More | |
Installation view. Photo: Paleis Het Loo.
APELDOORN.- A throne is not just a piece of furniture: it is a symbol of special power and elevation. Besides representing royal or divine authority, a throne represents wisdom, justice and stability. From the opulent to the subdued, from classical to contemporary, from actual to fantasized, the exhibition Power of the Throne offers an insight into the meaning and evolution of this unique and loaded piece of furniture. From the glorious chairs of kings and queens to the seats of leaders and fairy tale characters, Power of the Throne will question what makes a chair a throne?, what does it mean for the person sitting on it? and what influence do the people close to the throne have?. The exhibition sheds light on the contemporary relevance of thrones in the realm of the theater of power and how things can also go wrong. Autocratic regimes with 'strong leaders skillfully adopt ancient symbolism of the throne to underscore ... More |
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How Pablo Picasso Views Beauty in Femme à la Montre | Expert Voices | Sotheby's
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60 years on: JFK's diary among Kennedy memorabilia up for auction this week
BOSTON, MASS.- RR Auction announced its November Fine Autographs and Artifacts auction. This auction offers a diverse selection spanning politics, history, and culture, providing a unique opportunity to acquire pieces of great historical significance. As we commemorate the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's tragic passing, this auction features a special section dedicated to JFK's presidency and his early career. One of the standout pieces is an insightful and historic diary penned by John F. Kennedy during the summer of 1945. This remarkable diary comprises 61 pages, including 12 handwritten and 49 typed pages, offering an intimate glimpse into the experiences of the young JFK in his role as a special correspondent for Hearst Newspapers. The diary takes us on a journey, from his attendance at the opening ... More
Poland's art world awaits a culture war counteroffensive
NEW YORK, NY.- Just weeks after becoming Polands culture minister, in 2015, Piotr Glinski began a yearslong effort to shift his countrys cultural life toward the political right. He ousted liberal museum directors, replacing them with conservatives. He created new institutions to celebrate traditional culture and nationalist heroes. And along with other lawmakers from his party, Law and Justice, he launched broadsides against movies, plays and pop stars that criticized the Catholic Church or the governments policies on issues including immigration. Many artists and cultural leaders opposed Glinskis actions, and there were protests throughout his term, including outside Polands National Museum after a leader he had appointed removed sexually suggestive artworks from the walls. Pawel Sztarbowski, the deputy director at the Powszechny Theater, in Warsaw, Poland, said that Glinski had ... More
Zdenek Macal, conductor with an international reach, dies at 87
NEW YORK, NY.- Zdenek Macal, a Czech-born conductor who drew a distinctively rich and full sound from orchestras in several countries, including the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, where his tenure is regarded by musicians and administrators as something of a golden age, died Oct. 25 in Prague. He was 87. The orchestra announced his death. With the New Jersey Symphony, where he was music director from 1992 to 2003, Macal was especially known for his robust performances of works by his compatriots Antonin Dvorak and Josef Suk, and by late-romantic composers such as Gustav Mahler and Sergei Rachmaninoff. But his career was international: He shuttled between Europe and the United States and conducted the worlds great orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony ... More
Halls Fine Art offer sculpture from landmark series by leading Irish artist with hopes of £25,000-30,000
SHREWSBURY.- A close friend and colleague of the sculptor Henry Moore, the leading Irish artist F.E. McWilliam CBE RA (1909-92) abandoned a career as a painter to become one of the most important sculptors of his generation. Now a Bronze from his celebrated The Women of Belfast series comes to auction at Halls on December 6 with an estimate of £25,000-30,000. The sculpture, number XI form the series, is a fine example of McWilliams Surrealist style, exploring the relationship between objects and people and the spaces around them, and depicts a woman in contorted pose almost as though dancing and full of kinetic energy. Produced in an edition of five, with this example numbered 3/5, it forms part of the landmark series that McWilliam created in response to the Abercorn Tea Room bombing in Belfast on March 4, ... More
Maggi Hambling joins Pearl Lam Galleries
HONG KONG.- Pearl Lam Galleries announced the representation of acclaimed British artist Maggi Hambling in Asia. Maggi Hambling is a celebrated contemporary painter and sculptor whose work continues to challenge and seduce. Hamblings work was the subject of two major retrospective museum shows in China in 2019, first at CAFA, Beijing and then at the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou. Her work is held in major collections throughout the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and, in the UK, the British Museum, Tate and the National Portrait Gallery. Pearl Lam Galleries will present a painting from Hamblings celebrated Wall of Water series during West Bund Art & Design in November. Works from the Wall of Water series have been exhibited at the National Gallery, London; The Hermitage, ... More
Ernst, Picabia and Renoir lead two modernist sales in New York this November
NEW YORK, NY.- Impressionist & Modern Art and Surrealism: Beyond Reality, two marquee sales during 20th/21st Century Week at Bonhams, take place in New York on November 15. Impressionist & Modern Art leads with an important early work by Francis Picabia, and Surrealism: Beyond Reality is highlighted by a Max Ernst painting created at the height of his artistic expression. While he is now recognized for his major contributions to the Dada and Surrealism movements, Francis Picabia (1879-1953) first gained critical acclaim for his Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. His masterpiece, L'église de Montigny, effet d'automne (1908) estimated at $300,000 500,000, headlines the Impressionist & Modern Art sale. The painting was universally praised, exquisitely drawing from the Divisionist method of Paul Signac and the landscape ... More
Monica de Miranda is the winner of the first edition of EXPOSED Grant for Contemporary Photography
TURIN.- With the work Deep Green and Tide Series: The Island, Mónica de Miranda (Porto, 1976) wins the first edition of EXPOSED Grant for Contemporary Photography, the call for project on invitation aimed at international artists and organized by EXPOSED. Torino Foto Festival, the new international photography festival of Turin. The award ceremony took place today, Saturday, November 4th, 2023 at the Gallerie d'Italia in Turin as part of EXPOSED PRELUDE, the calendar of events dedicated to photography lovers made in collaboration with Turin art institutions on the occasion of Artissima. EXPOSED PRELUDE is an approach path to the first edition of the Festival called New Landscapes - Nuovi Paesaggi that will take place from May 2nd to June 2nd, 2024, under the Art Direction by Menno Liauw and Salvatore ... More
Wakehurst celebrates 10 years of Glow Wild
HAYWARDS HEATH.- Marking a milestone 10 years, Glow Wild lights up Kews wild botanic garden, bringing festive magic and wonder to the South East with 10 new installations and myriad hand-crafted lanterns. Celebrated as a must-do Christmas experience, the 2023 edition of the winter lantern trail marks a decade of mesmerising memories and community spirit. This years theme invites visitors to reflect on the awe-inspiring moments in the natural world from epic examples of wildlife to delicate details of plants and fungi. In true Glow Wild tradition, over 1000 lanterns are handmade by local volunteers and community groups, with the tenth anniversary mile- long trail also boasting eight brand new bespoke installations from leading artists. This year offers a new interactive experience with Wakehursts Starkeeper from Long ... More
The Schirn presents the first comprehensive exhibition in Germany of John Akomfrah's installations
FRANKFURT.- John Akomfrah (b. 1957) creates thoughtful video works of haunting audiovisual intensity. He tells of the radical changes and crises of the present and past on characteristic large-format screens. From November 9, 2023 to January 28, 2024, the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is presenting for the first time a comprehensive overview of the artists work in Germany, featuring a selection of three major multichannel installations from recent years: The Unfinished Conversation (2012), Vertigo Sea (2015), and Akomfrahs new work, Becoming Wind (2023). A co-founder of the influential London-based Black Audio Film Collective (established in 1982), Akomfrahs work interweaves newly shot film sequences with archival material to create multilayered, at times associative collages, frequently in the form of simultaneous narrative structures. ... More
Celebrating literature that 'Brings the World Close'
NEW YORK, NY.- Words Without Borders, one of the few magazines in the world dedicated to literature in translation, is turning 20 at a fraught time: Around the world, wars are raging. Writers are being jailed, dissident voices silenced and books banned. As the magazines staff considered its anniversary celebrations a virtual gala on Nov. 2, following a live one on Oct. 25 one question was pressing: How do you find words, let alone celebrate them, when bombs are dropping? The answer, said Karen M. Phillips, the magazines executive editor and publisher, was right there, baked into their mission to gather and celebrate international literature, and in doing so, strengthen the connection between readers and writers around the world. Given the current political climate, the need for such conversations has never been ... More
Laufey's old-time pop is smooth. Its relationship to jazz is spikier.
NEW YORK, NY.- About 20 minutes into her set at Town Hall Wednesday night the first of two sold-out shows at the midtown Manhattan theater nostalgic TikTok star Laufey put down her hollow-body electric guitar. With her hands free, she started singing Dreamer, the barbershop-pop tune that opens her second album, Bewitched. As she moved across the stage, she struck a new pose for each line: bending forward at the waist, as if to share a morsel of gossip; leg straight, hip bent; head turned sideways, as if mid-sigh. The act of posing is a key component in the Laufey equation. So is the big sigh. If you are one of the millions who have fallen for Laufey (pronounced LAY-vay) in the past 12 months, you are probably online enough to consume a good deal of your music through 15-second video clips; young enough to feel powerfully ... More
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PhotoGalleries
Gabriele Münter
TARWUK
Awol Erizku
Leo Villareal
Flashback On a day like today, Spanish painter Francisco Zurbarán was baptized November 07, 1598. Francisco de Zurbarán (baptized November 7, 1598; died August 27, 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname Spanish Caravaggio, owing to the forceful, realistic use of chiaroscuro in which he excelled. In this image: A visitor looks at Pablo Picasso's 1911-1912 oil on canvas "Homme a la guitare", left, next to Francisco de Zurbaran's 1630-1634 oil on canvas "Saint-Francois d'Assise dans sa tombe" exhibited at the Grand Palais museum in Paris, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008.
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