The J. Paul Getty Museum Observes Day Without Art

LOS ANGELES, CA.- The J. Paul Getty Museum’s 20th annual observance of “Day Without Art”, a day when the international arts community pauses to remember and respond to the AIDS crisis and its impact on cultural life, will take place on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 (World AIDS Day). In commemoration of the day, the Getty will shroud the sculpture “Air” by Aristide Maillol, part of the Fran and Ray Stark collection of outdoor sculptures, on the Arrival Plaza steps at [...]

Sculptor Norman Mooney Places “Windseeds” at Devos Estate

BROOKLYN, NY.- Causey Contemporary announced that sculptor Norman Mooney permanently placed his newest sculpture, Windseeds at the Richard and Helen DeVos estate in Michigan. The piece which consists of three separate eight food diameter cast aluminum isohedrons is the second in a new scluptural direction for Mooney. The first cast aluminum sculpture in this style entitled Star 1 appeared at his two person exhibition, “Falling Short of Knowing” in New York in the autumn of 2008. Wind Seeds themselves were [...]

Sotheby’s to Sell “The Old Dealer” by Charles Spencelayh-Artist’s Masterpiece

LONDON.- Sotheby’s sale of Victorian and Edwardian Art on Thursday, December 17, 2009 will bring together some 100 works by leading artists of the era and is expected to raise in excess of £4.2 million. Among the categories of works to be offered will be a strong contingent of classical, mythological, genre, landscape and fairy pictures. The sale will include a quintessential work by Charles Spencelayh (1865-1958). Considered his masterpiece, The Old Dealer (The Old Curiosty Shop) was immensely popular [...]

National Trust and Royal Academy of Arts Collaborate on New Public Art Commission

LONDON.- The Royal Academy of Arts and the National Trust today announced a major new public art commission to go on display on the façade of the Royal Academy’s 6 Burlington Gardens as part of the forthcoming exhibition GSK Contemporary, Earth: Art of a changing world, which opens on 3 December 2009. The commission represents the first collaboration between these two major cultural organisations and, at the end of the London exhibition in 2010, the work will tour selected National [...]

Fine Portrait by York’s Most Famous Artist Bought by York Art Gallery

YORK- One of the finest portraits ever painted by York ’s most famous artist has been purchased by York Art Gallery. William Etty’s ambitious Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball was commissioned in 1833 by MP Charles Watkin Williams–Wynn and depicts two of the patron’s five daughters. It is one of only a handful of society portraits painted by the artist. The acquisition was made possible thanks to the generosity of Friends of York Art Gallery – which gave £44,000, [...]

New Tour at Frank Lloyd Wright Synagogue in Pennsylvania

ELIKINS PARK, PA (AP).-Did you hear the one about the rabbi and the architect? Few people have. Which is why the members of Beth Sholom — who worship in the only synagogue designed by Frank Lloyd Wright — are stepping forward to tell the story of how their landmark spiritual home was built. Described as a symbolic Mount Sinai made of concrete, steel and glass, the iconic building somehow never received the attention of more famous Wright designs like Fallingwater [...]

Cai Guo-Qiang Hangs Out at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum

TAIPEI.- The Taipei Fine Arts Museum presents a retrospective exhibition for the artist called “indispensable to this world” by The New York Times. Cai Guo-Qiang has left his mark on various cities and countries, from Fujian to Shanghai, from China to Japan, and from New York to the world. His work expresses a kind of metaphysical thinking derived from Eastern philosophy and modern cosmology. Known worldwide for his gunpowder-based works and large-scale installations, Cai became the first Chinese artist to [...]

Bonhams to Sell “White Gold: One of the Finest Collections of Meissen in the World”

LONDON.- The preferred gifts of kings, Meissen porcelain, from many of the noble houses of Europe, will be sold at Bonhams on November 25 2009 when the first part of the Hoffmeister Collection is auctioned. The world-famous Hoffmeister Collection was assembled over the last 40 years by two German brothers who have a passion for this rare 18th-century porcelain. Considered one of the finest collections of Meissen in the world, for the past ten years it has been on view [...]

Huntington and LACMA Jointly Purchase Iconic Art Nouveau Chair

SAN MARINO, CA.- The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced today the joint purchase of an iconic chair designed by groundbreaking English architect, graphic artist, and craftsman Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1851–1942). One of only five chairs in the set known to exist, the Huntington/LACMA piece is one of only two in the United States and will go on view in the Design Reform movement rooms of the Huntington Art Gallery [...]

Clark Art Institute Acquires Great Barbizon School Painting by Rousseau

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA.- The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute has announced the acquisition of a major nineteenth-century landscape painting by Pierre Étienne Théodore Rousseau. The acquisition brings to the public one of the greatest Barbizon School paintings, Farm in the Landes (House of the Garde), which until now has been held in private collections and has not been widely exhibited since 1946. “The painting is a moving testament to Rousseau’s abiding love for rural life and unadorned nature,” said Richard [...]

Sotheby’s Sale of American Paintings to be Held in December

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s auction of American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture on 3 December 2009 will offer collectors a rich array of works by American artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. The auction includes a number of major paintings and sculptures almost entirely unknown to the market, many of which have been in private collections for the last several decades. Works from the sale will be exhibited at Sotheby’s New York galleries beginning November 28. Featured on the cover [...]

Google Chief Eric Schmidt Announces Documentation of Iraqi Museum Treasures

BAGHDAD (AP).- Google is documenting Iraq’s national museum and will post photographs of its ancient treasures on the Internet early next year, Google chief Eric Schmidt announced Tuesday. The museum was ransacked in the chaotic aftermath of Saddam Hussein’s ouster in April 2003, and only reopened to visitors early this year. Schmidt, who toured the museum with U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill on Tuesday, said it was important for the world to see Iraq’s rich heritage and contribution to world culture. [...]

Getty Museum Opens Exhibition Featuring J. Paul Getty’s Antiquities

LOS ANGELES, CA.- Celebrating 70 years of collecting, Collector’s Choice: J. Paul Getty and His Antiquities, on view from November 18, 2009–February 8, 2010, at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, presents seldom-seen works of art that captured J. Paul Getty’s eye and inspired the creation of a museum modeled on an ancient Roman villa. Favored objects and personal memorabilia illuminate Mr. Getty’s taste, his engagement with noted connoisseurs, and his profound love of the classical Mediterranean [...]

Artist Jeanne-Claude, Who Co-Created ‘The Gates’ with Husband Christo, Dies at Age 74

NEW YORK, NY (AP).- Artist Jeanne-Claude, who created the 2005 Central Park installation “The Gates” and other large scale “wrapping” projects around the globe with her husband Christo, has died. She was 74. Jeanne-Claude died Wednesday night at a New York hospital from complications of a brain aneurysm, her family said in an e-mail statement. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he spoke with Christo on Thursday morning and offered condolences on behalf of all New Yorkers. The two artists met in [...]

Top 10 Craziest & Most Original Artworks

Rotating Wall Art Richard Wilson, one of Britain’s best known sculptures is drawing inspiration for the world of construction and engineering with his latest art called Turning the Place Over. The art is a section cut out from a building and rotates itself on a pivot with a cost of £450,000. It is described as one of the most daring piece of public art ever commissioned in the UK. It will be launched on June 20th 2007 and will run [...]