Prado Museum Rediscovers Paintings from Its Collection with Opening of New Galleries

MADRID.- The Prado Museum opens its new galleries dedicated to Medieval and Renaissance Spanish paintings. This new development plan of reorganization and expansion of collections has been given the name, “The Collection: The other extension”, is yet another important phase of it, the one that completes the presentation of the collections installed on the ground floor of the Villanueva building. With the public opening of these rooms, the Prado significantly expands the display of Spanish painting in its collection from [...]

Nolan’s Ned Kelly Masterpiece Breaks Australia’s Auction Record

SYDNEY.- “First Class Marksman” broke the Australian auction record for a painting on Thursday at Menzies Art Brands, when it sold for AUD $5.4 million dollars ($4.9 million). “The painting was put to auction on 25 March at Sydney, with an estimated auction price of $3 million to $5 million,” said Mr Rod Menzies, Chairman of Menzies Art Brands. “We were thrilled to be entrusted with the sale of this important iconic work, which we believed would set a new [...]

MoMA’s 2010 Party in the Garden to Honor Ronald and Jo Carole Lauder

NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of Modern Art‘s Party in the Garden, a benefit event to be held on May 25, will honor Ronald and Jo Carole Lauder, in recognition of their philanthropic endeavors and contributions to the cultural community. Co-chairs for this year’s event include Debra and Leon Black, Paula and James Crown, Agnes Gund, Mimi Haas, Jill and Peter Kraus, Jane Lauder, Ninah and Michael Lynne, and Aerin and Eric Zinterhofer. Honorary Co-Chairs are Marie-Josée Kravis and Jerry [...]

Guggenheim Exhibition Explores Memory, Trauma and Return to the Past

NEW YORK, NY.- Much of contemporary photography and video seems haunted by the past, by the history of art, by apparitions that are reanimated in reproductive mediums, live performance, and the virtual world. By using dated, passé, or quasi-extinct stylistic devices, subject matter, and technologies, such art embodies a longing for an otherwise unrecuperable past. From March 26 to September 6, 2010, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance, an exhibition that documents this obsession, examining myriad ways [...]

Ian Johnson’s ‘TimeScale’ on View at Gooden Gallery in London

LONDON.- ‘TimeScale’ continues Ian Johnson’s inquiry into the conceptual and physical implications of man’s impact on the urban and natural landscape and ways that this can be configured intuitively. It consists of inter-related sculptures, drawings and assemblages that interlace attributes of the elemental with various concepts of organization and categorization common to man’s need to understand his own history and development. Cultural anthropologists studying cultural diversity, collect data on the impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural [...]

South African Art Sale Exceeds Expectations at Bonhams

LONDON.- South African Art continued its march onto the world stage as a newly appreciated art form and investment at Bonhams seventh sale of South African Art in London today (24.3.10). Out of a total of 135 works by 42 artists 82% sold making a total of £2.6m (R28.5m) achieved by this sale, the seventh South African Art Sale in five years at Bonhams. Works by Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, Gerard Sekoto and Maggie Laubser all beat their pre sale estimates. [...]

Sotheby’s to Sell Newly Discovered Ottoman Ivory and Turquoise-Inlaid Box

LONDON.- Sotheby’s announced that on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 in its biannual Arts of the Islamic World Auction, it will present for sale an unrecorded and hitherto lost early-16th century Ottoman ivory and turquoise-inlaid box set with rubies. This unique treasure, crafted by Persian goldsmiths working for the Ottoman court for a high-ranking courtly figure, is believed to have been made to contain scales to measure the weight of gemstones and was not known to exist until its recent rediscovery. [...]

Commission Unveils Design Concept for National Eisenhower Memorial

WASHINGTON, DC.- The Eisenhower Memorial Commission has unanimously selected the preferred design concept created by world-renowned architect Frank O. Gehry. The Eisenhower Memorial will be the first presidential memorial of the 21st century, and only the seventh in U.S. history. In selecting the preferred concept alternative, the Commissioners considered not only aesthetic and thematic issues, but also the impact on historic resources, the impact on the environment, and the estimated construction costs. David Eisenhower, President Eisenhower’s grandson and a member [...]

VMFA Appoints Geza von Habsburg as Guest Curator of Faberge Collection

RICHMOND, VA.- The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has appointed Dr. Geza von Habsburg as guest curator of its Lillian Thomas Pratt Collection of Russian Imperial Jewels by Peter Carl Fabergé. Von Habsburg is an internationally known author and authority on Fabergé. He has been curator and organizer for a number of Fabergé exhibitions in the United States and abroad, among them “Fabergé, Jeweler to the Tsars” (1986-87) at Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung in Munich, Germany, and “Fabergé in America,” which [...]

Modigliani Drawing Brings $84,000 at Swann Galleries’ Auction

NEW YORK, NY.- The top lot at Swann Galleries’ March 9 auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings was Amedeo Modigliani’s pencil drawing of Beatrice Hastings, circa 1915, which brought $84,000. The portrait of the political activist and literary figure, which was once in the celebrated collection of Joseph L Shulman, had a presale estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. Another featured drawing in the auction was Tamara de Lempicka’s Portrait de Femme, pencil on illustration board, 1934, which [...]

National Gallery of Canada Realigns Its Organization

OTTAWA.- After an in-depth review of its operations, The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) has instituted an organizational realignment designed to increase overall effectiveness in delivering its national mandate and to bring spending in line with its financial resources. Internal divisions have been streamlined and amalgamated to maximize efficiency and simplify operations. Collections, Research and Education are now being integrated under the leadership of the Deputy Director and Chief Curator. Most revenue generating activities including Visitor Services, Membership and Annual [...]

Chinesca Culture Offering Found in Tepic

MEXICO CITY.- A funerary offering of Chinesca culture integrated by 8 ceramic pieces created between 200 BC and 400 AD was found in Tepic municipality, at Nayarit Mexican state. This is the first conjunct of Chinesca objects located in their original place in all Western Mexico. Six anthropomorphic figures and 2 vessels were found; based on the way they were placed, a reduced space in a half-moon shape, it can be deduced it was part of a shaft tomb. For [...]

Stolen Henry Moore Sculpture Found in Toronto

NEW YORK.- A Henry Moore bronze sculpture stolen from a New York City gallery in 2001 has been recovered. The $80,000 abstract sculpture of a reclining figure was found at Miriam Shiell (SHEEL) Fine Art in Toronto on Wednesday. Shiell says a man brought it in last week and she searched the Art Loss Register. The recovery came days after a Paul Klee (KLAY) painting was found in a Montreal art gallery. The executive director of the London-based Art Loss [...]

Major Works by Maxfield Parrish to Highlight Christie’s Sale

NEW YORK, NY.- As a highlight of its Important American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture auction on May 20 in New York, Christie’s announced it will offer the most significant collection of paintings and illustrations by the beloved American artist Maxfield Parrish ever to be offered at auction. Major works from all periods of Parrish’s long career as an illustrator and painter are represented within the group, including Daybreak, Parrish’s most celebrated painting. The complete collection of twelve paintings and illustrations [...]

Qatar Museums Authority Unveils Jean Nouvel Design for New Museum

NEW YORK, NY.- Marking the next stage of its program to develop Qatar into a hub of culture and communications for the Gulf region and the world, the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) has announced its plans for the new National Museum of Qatar, as expressed in a striking and evocative design by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel. Embodying the pride and traditions of Qatar’s people while offering international visitors a dialogue about rapid change and modernization, the National Museum of [...]