Empire State Building Cries Foul Over Proposed Rival Nearby

NEW YORK (AP).- Look at Manhattan from afar, and the first thing you notice is the Empire State Building, spiking like a needle above the carpet of skyscrapers that coats Manhattan from tip to tip. Now it’s got some competition — a proposal for a nearby glass office tower that would rise almost as high and alter the iconic skyline. The tower would spoil the famous view of the 102-story skyscraper for millions of tourists, the Empire State Building’s owner, [...]

Anne Noble: At the End of the Earth Opens at Stills Gallery in Sydney

SYDNEY.- At the End of the Earth continues Anne Noble’s fascination with the continent of Antarctica. White Lanterns showed at Stills Gallery in May 2006. This work depicted the surreal way the Antarctic was portrayed in museums and research centres around the world and tapped into our fascination with this vast place. At the End of the Earth takes a similarly oblique approach in its refusal to romanticise the landscape, by focussing on manmade interventions into the pristine terrain. The [...]

Pomeranian State Museum to Open Exhibition by Three Masters of German Romanticism

GREIFSWALD.- Their fathers were said to be appalled by their sons´ decision to become artists. But the three young men, dreaming of a new way to express art, were determined to implement their plans. Ultimately their parents gave way. Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), son of a candle-maker and soap-boiler from Greifswald, Philipp Otto Runge (1777-1810), born to a family of shipbuilders, and Friedrich August von Klinkowstrom (1778-1835), descendant of a Prussian officer in Ludwigsburg, would later become the most important [...]

LA Unveils $578M School, Costliest in the Nation, Fine Art Murals Included

LOS ANGELES (AP).- Next month’s opening of the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools will be auspicious for a reason other than its both storied and infamous history as the former Ambassador Hotel, where the Democratic presidential contender was assassinated in 1968. With an eye-popping price tag of $578 million, it will mark the inauguration of the nation’s most expensive public school ever. The K-12 complex to house 4,200 students has raised eyebrows across the country as the creme de la [...]

European Masterpieces Opening Soon at the Royal Academy of Arts

LONDON.- This September the Royal Academy of Arts will present an exhibition of works which will showcase the breadth and wealth of one of the finest collections in Central Europe. The exhibition will feature over 200 works and will include paintings, drawings and sculpture from the early Renaissance to the twentieth century. Selected works by artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, El Greco, Rubens, Goya, Manet, Monet, Schiele, Gauguin and Picasso will be on display, many of which have not [...]

New Exhibition of African Art at the Dallas Museum of Art

DALLAS, TX.- The Dallas Museum of Art will present a significant look at African visual culture through African Masks: The Art of Disguise, a new exhibition of approximately seventy works of art exploring the highly developed and enduring art of the African mask and revealing their timeless beauty, function, and meaning. Centered on the DMA’s distinguished collection of African art, acclaimed as one of the top five of its kind in the United States and which has set precedents since [...]

Resounding Success at this Year’s Art Nocturne Knocke

KNOKKE-HEIST.- This year’s 35th edition of the prestigious art and antiques fair Art Nocturne Knocke was a resounding success. No fewer than 11,950 art and antiques lovers flocked to the fair at the Belgian coastal resort of Knokke last week. Antiques dealers and most art galleries did good business and the public were exceedingly enthusiastic about the offered art works and their presentation. The fair included the beautiful ‘La Chaumière Sous Les Arbres’ (‘The cottage under the trees’) by Van [...]

Chinati Foundation Names Dr. Thomas Kellein as Director

MARFA, TX.- The Chinati Foundation announced the appointment of Dr. Thomas Kellein as its next director. An accomplished art historian, curator, and museum director, Dr. Kellein, who will assume his duties in January 2011, succeeds Dr. Marianne Stockebrand, who earlier this year announced her retirement after serving as the museum’s director since 1994. Dr. Stockebrand will assume the role of Director Emeritus. Founded by artist Donald Judd in 1986, the Chinati Foundation is located in Marfa, Texas on 340 acres [...]

Park Avenue Armory Welcomes Yoshitomo Nara + YNG for Open Studio

NEW YORK, NY.- Park Avenue Armory, in collaboration with Asia Society Museum, will host an open studio with Yoshitomo Nara and his collaborative team, YNG. In the Armory’s soaring 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall, Nara and YNG will reconstruct the large-scale installation work Home, which will include a display of Nara’s drawings and other objects. Nara will also establish a temporary studio adjacent to the drill hall, to create new drawings and other works while the team works on the [...]

VIP Art Fair: The First Art Fair to Launch in January Exclusively Online

NEW YORK, NY.- VIP Art Fair, the first art fair to mobilize the collective force of the world’s leading contemporary art galleries with the unlimited reach of the Internet, announces its inaugural fair taking place exclusively online for one week only, January 22-30, 2011, at www.vipartfair.com. An unprecedented event, VIP Art Fair gives contemporary art collectors access to artworks by critically acclaimed artists and the ability to connect one-on-one with internationally renowned dealers—from anywhere in the world and without leaving [...]

Faulty Alarms Blamed for Van Gogh Theft at Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Egypt

CAIRO (AP).- None of the alarms and only seven out of 43 surveillance cameras were working at a Cairo museum where a Vincent van Gogh painting was stolen, Egypt’s top prosecutor said Sunday. Thieves made off with the canvas, known by the titles of “Poppy Flowers” and “Vase with Flowers,” on Saturday from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital. Prosecutor general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud told Egypt’s state news agency Sunday that the thieves used a box cutter to remove [...]

Japanese Art Dealers Association Announces Asia Week Exhibitions

NEW YORK, NY.- A robust panorama of traditional Japanese fine arts will be on view at the galleries of six leading dealers this Fall, including rarely seen 12th century Kyozo, or mirrors bearing drawings of gods, imperial screens once part of the furnishings of Edo Castle, and strikingly modern works from the Taisho Period (1912-26). Sebastian Izzard LLC will feature a selection of paintings, woodblock prints, and illustrated books in their annual exhibition of fine ukiyo-e to be held during [...]

Group Exhibition of 8 Korean Media Artists to Open at Gallery Hyundai

SEOUL.- Gallery Hyundai presents “Powerhouse”, a group exhibition of 8 Korean media artists. The show offers glimpses into the unique world of Korean contemporary artists who are representing the present status of Korean media art recognized both in and out of Korea . From the founder of video art Nam June Paik up to Park, Hyun-Ki, who combined technology and oriental ideology, to internationally known Korean media artists like Beom Kim, Joonho Jeon, Kyungwon MOON, Uram Choe, Junebum Park, Yongseok [...]

James McNeill Whistler Prints on View at the University of Michigan

ANN ARBOR, MI.- The University of Michigan Museum of Art will present the prints of noted American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) in a comprehensive special exhibition entitled On Beauty and the Everyday: The Prints of James McNeill Whistler, on view August 21 through November 28, 2010. This major exhibition will feature more than 100 works of art from UMMA’s rare and important Whistler collection, which covers the artist’s entire career in Europe, ranging from his student days and exposure [...]

The Morgan to Show Black-and-White Drawings by Roy Lichtenstein

NEW YORK, NY.- Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997) has long been considered one of the key figures in the development of Pop Art. His signature brightly colored paintings are cornerstones of museum collections the world over. His subject matter drawn from visual fragments of popular culture is emblematic of an entire movement. An extraordinary new exhibition organized by The Morgan Library & Museum, opening September 24, presents an important series of large-scale, black-and-white works as a group for the first time and [...]