A Masterpiece from the Museo Archeologico Regionale di Agrigento Goes on View at the Getty Villa

LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Agrigento Youth, one of the masterpieces of the Museo Archeologico Regionale di Agrigento in southwestern Sicily, goes on view today at the Getty Villa in a gallery devoted to images of athletes and athletic competition (Gallery 211). On loan to the Getty Museum through April 19, 2011, the figure is a rare example of an early classical marble statue called a kouros, or idealized nude young man. To the ancient Greeks, sculptures such as these represented [...]

Caravaggio-Inspired Dutch Masterpiece Acquired for Fitzwilliam Museum

LONDON.- The Art Fund has helped the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge enrich its world-class collection with a Caravaggio-inspired Dutch oil on canvas. Young woman tuning a lute (1626-7) by Hendrik ter Brugghen, is now on public display within the Fitzwilliam’s fine collection of Dutch paintings. The Art Fund gave £225,000 to make the acquisition possible, alongside the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund which gave £50,000. Hendrik ter Brugghen, Young woman tuning a lute (1626-7) This is the Museum’s first acquisition of a [...]

FBI Seizes a Forgery of Andrew Wyeth’s Painting “Snow Birds” from an Auction House

NEW YORK, NY.- David C Weiss, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced today the seizure of a fraudulent Andrew Wyeth painting from a New York auction house, and the seizure of Mesopotamian antiquities from a California antiquities dealer. The seizures resulted from two separate investigations. Forged Andrew Wyeth Painting Seized In July of this year, the United States Attorney’s Office, the FBI Wilmington Resident Agency, and the FBI Art Crime Team seized a forgery of Andrew Wyeth’s [...]

Harry Blain and Former Sotheby’s Vice Chairman Emmanuel Di Donna to Open New York Gallery

NEW YORK, NY.- London Contemporary Art dealer Harry Blain and former Sotheby’s Worldwide vice chairman Emmanuel Di Donna have joined forces to open a secondary market gallery in New York. Called Blain|Di Donna, the new venture will focus on blue-chip Impressionist, Modern (I/M) and Contemporary Art works. Said Di Donna: “Now is the perfect time to start a business like this. The I/M and Contemporary markets in New York and Europe are more dynamic than ever, and of course the [...]

SFMOMA Presents Major U.S. Retrospective of Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) presents Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century, on view from October 30, 2010, to January 30, 2011. The first large-scale retrospective of the artist’s work to be presented in the U.S. in more than three decades, The Modern Century features some 300 prints from Cartier-Bresson’s professional career from 1929 to 1989, with an emphasis on the years 1932 to 1973. The exhibition explores a fresh understanding of the artist, with a full [...]

Special Exhibition Reconsiders John La Farge’s Contributions to American Art in Centenary Year of Artist’s Death

NEW HAVEN, CT.- In August of 1890, John La Farge (1835–1910) and his friend the renowned historian Henry Adams (1838–1918) embarked on a journey to the islands of the South Pacific—Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti, Rarotonga, Fiji, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)—that would keep them away from home for more than a year. John La Farge’s Second Paradise: Voyages in the South Seas, 1890–1891 showcases almost 70 pieces from this trip, including sketchbooks, paintings, and watercolors, some executed on site, [...]

Rudy Giuliani’s New York City Hall Portrait, Painted by Everett Raymond Kinstler, is Unveiled

NEW YORK (AP).- Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani returned to City Hall on Tuesday for the unveiling of his official portrait, which shows him in a dark pinstripe suit as a tribute to his beloved New York Yankees.  The painting, which captured Giuliani’s trademark toothy grin and dimples, joins a collection of more than 100 portraits in the nearly 200-year-old City Hall. The portraits include U.S. presidents, New York governors and 44 other New York City mayors.  Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani looks [...]

Sixty Works from the DMA Collection and Important Local Collectors Presented in a Dynamic New Context

DALLAS, TX.- This exhibition marks a return to celebrating the rich holdings that form the acclaimed collection of modern and contemporary art at the The Dallas Museum of Art. Re-seeing the Contemporary, which also includes important loans from local collections, features surprising works, such as Steve Wolfe’s Untitled (Piano Music for Erik Satie), alongside more familiar icons such as Jackson Pollock’s Cathedral. Others on view include John Chamberlain’s Dancing Duke and Alan Saret’s Deep Forest Green Dispersion, two dramatic works of metal [...]

Sotheby’s Auction of 19th Century European Art to Include Important Works by Giovanni Boldini

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s 4 November auction of 19th Century European Art in New York will feature three works by the prominent Italian painter Giovanni Boldini. This offering comes just after the close of the important exhibition Giovanni Boldini in Impressionist Paris, which opened at the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara in 2009 and traveled to the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts in early 2010. This exhibition represented the first major show of the artist’s work outside of [...]

Kunsthaus Zürich to Stage 15 Exhibitions in 2011 Season, Nahmad Family Collection is a Highlight

ZURICH.- The 2011 programme at the Kunsthaus Zürich is the most exciting yet. News of one highlight has already leaked out: the prestigious private collection of the Nahmad family is to receive its world premiere in Zurich. There will be a retrospective of the work of Franz Gertsch, one of the most important contemporary Swiss artists. Full of fascinating insights, ‘The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture’ transfers to the Kunsthaus Zürich from the Museum of Modern Art New York. There is a revival [...]

Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale in NY Expected to Exceed $240 Million

NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s will present one of the greatest rosters of master works in a single auction. The Post-War and Contemporary Evening sale, which will take place in New York on November 10, 2010, comprises seminal works by the foremost artists of the period including acclaimed masterpieces by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons and Rothko, as well as one of the finest examples from Gerhard Richter’s revered Candle Paintings Series. In addition to such masterpieces, Christie’s has been [...]

Colour and Modernism by Vida Lahey at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane

BRISBANE.- Vibrant floral watercolours and depictions of Brisbane in the first half of the 20th Century are the focus of an exhibition of work by Vida Lahey (1882-1968) showing at the The Queensland Art Gallery from October 16 to February 13, 2011. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said ‘Vida Lahey: Colour and Modernism’ featured 44 works painted between 1912 to 1965 by one of Queensland’s best loved artists. ‘Lahey made a major contribution to art in Australia with her [...]

Exhibition Explores Both the Celebrity of, and the Woman Behind, One of the World’s Most Recognizable Icons

PITTSBURGH, PA.- The Andy Warhol Museum presents its latest special exhibition, Marilyn Monroe: Life as a Legend. Employing a dynamic range of artists and media, Marilyn Monroe: Life as a Legend visually explores both the celebrity of, and the woman behind, one of the world’s most recognizable icons. This exhibition is intended not only for those who appreciate the arts and diversity in media and style, but also for the ultimate Marilyn fan. Life as a Legend is on view [...]

Tate Archive Celebrates its 40th Anniversary with Display and Over Forty Pledged Gifts to the Collection

LONDON.- Tate Archive will celebrate its 40th anniversary this week with a fascinating new display, 40 Degrees of Separation, featuring forty items from the Tate Archive Collection, all of them interconnected in sequence. From Kenneth Clark’s notebook when he was making the epic Civilisation for the BBC to Keith Vaughan’s suicide note, and from Jake Chapman’s schoolboy essay on his favourite painters to a loving letter from Constable to his wife, this rich diversity of material reveals undiscovered gems which [...]

Vancouver Art Gallery Permanent Collection Reaches Important Milestone, Now Over 10,000 Works

VANCOUVER.- The Vancouver Art Gallery has passed a major milestone, as its permanent collection now exceeds 10,000 items. As part of its recent annual review, the Gallery announced that 178 artworks were acquired through purchase and donation in the last fiscal year, bringing the total number of works held in trust for the people of British Columbia to 10,004. Major contemporary and historical acquisitions build on the strength of the Gallery’s collection, renowned for its excellence in art produced in [...]