Picasso’s Blue Period 1901-04

Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period refers to a series of paintings in which the color blue dominates and which he painted between 1901 and 1904. The blue period is a marvelous expression of poetic subtlety and personal melancholy and contributes to the transition of Picasso’s style from classicism to abstract art. As one of the founders of modern abstract art, Pablo Picasso is generally associated with cubism and related styles which are predominantly abstract. It is therefore essential to realize that [...]

Arts Council chief warns against cuts in arts funding

Any future government – whether Conservative or Labour – must continue to fund the arts at current levels despite the bitter economic climate, the Arts Council chief urged today. “The arts ought to be a key part of any civilised government’s mission,” said Alan Davey, chief executive of Arts Council England, speaking at the Conservative arts conference, Culture is Right, in London. He added: “I hope any government would not return to a Mills-ian view of the most efficient creation [...]

Buying Art: Passion or Investment?

Since the dawn of time —once man felt secure and well fed— he has spent his time and financial resources on art. So it’s not surprising, therefore, that in the modern era, where  we are all immensely well fed and there is a growing disposable income among the middle classes in the Western world, that there should be a terrific increase in interest in art and art collecting. Indeed, there are now a number of investment funds dedicated to art. [...]

Recent Deaths in the Arts

All Art News recognizes the lives and achievements of the following artists, scholars, curators, photographers, collectors, architects, museum directors, and other professionals and important figures in the visual arts. Maurice Agis, a London-born sculptor and creator of Dreamspace, an inflatable, interactive sculpture that explores color, form, movement, light and sound, died on October 12, 2009, at the age of 77 Maryanne Amacher, a composer of site-specific sound installations that explore psychoacoustic properties, died on October 22, 2009. She was 66 [...]

Sotheby’s next big Impressionist and Modern Art sale

Sotheby’s next big Impressionist and Modern Art sale in New York next month is led by an evening sale which is estimated to fetch at least $117 million. 23 of the 68 works in that sale, including paintings by Monet, Degas, Picasso and Modigliani are described as coming from ’an Important European Collection.’ The most valuable is van Dongen’s ’Jeune Arabe’ (pictured), from 1910 which is estimated at $7 million to 10 million dollars. Altogether the works have a minimum [...]