Israel Antiquities Authority Announces Restoration of the “Crown” in Damascus Gate

JERUSALEM.- For hundreds of years, when visitors arrived in Jerusalem and entered the city by way of Damascus Gate – the largest and most magnificent of Jerusalem’s gates – they glanced up and saw the large ‘crown’ that the sultan Suleiman the Magnificent built atop the gate in 1538 CE. But in 1967 the gate sustained serious damage and the crown was destroyed during the fighting in the Six Day War. Now, theJerusalem Development Authority, in cooperation with the Israel Antiquities [...]

Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art Announces Final List of Participants

MOSCOW.- The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Russia’s most prestigious contemporary art event, has finalized its selection of participants, now totalling 64 artists and 16 art groups from 33 countries. The title for the Biennale, “Rewriting Worlds”, proclaims that art is a sphere where new things are unceasingly generated, and contemporary artists rewrite the world as it exists around them by conveying new ideas and viewpoints in their artistic work. Peter Weibel believes that the exhibition’s main goal is “to demonstrate different [...]

Jonathan Ferrara Gallery Presents New Photographs and Video Works by Generic Art Solutions

NEW ORLEANS, LA.- Jonathan Ferrara Gallery presents Anarcadia, New Photographs, Video Works and Perfomances by Generic Art Solutions (G.A.S.) in their first solo exhibition at the gallery. The exhibition opened on August 6, 2011 in conjunction with Whitney White Linen Night, the annual New Orleans Arts District event that draws over 40,000 people to Julia Street. With “Anarcadia”, the art duo Generic Art Solutions (G.A.S.) aimed to stir things up a bit at the hot but typically docile White Linen Night this [...]

Oscar Winner Whoopi Goldberg to Offer Selections from Her Personal Collection at Heritage Auctions

DALLAS, TX.- Selections from the Personal Collection of Whoopi Goldberg, acclaimed Oscar-winning actress and comedian, will highlight Heritage Auctions‘ Sept. 27 Estate Auction, at the company’s Design District annex at 1518 Slocum Street. This will include more than 70 pieces from Whoopi’s cherished collection of pottery, porcelain, art deco and a variety of whimsical pieces she has gathered over the years. “I think of this as the evolution of interests,” said Ms. Goldberg. “It’s time to clear space for the next chapter [...]

Detectives Seek Thieves Who Swiped Rembrandt Sketch from Lobby of a Seaside Hotel

MARINA DEL REY, CA (AP).- A Rembrandt sketch swiped from the lobby of a seaside hotel and found in a San Fernando Valley church is locked away as investigators worked to find the thieves who snatched the 350-year-old artwork. Investigators had several leads, were reviewing hotel surveillance video and were working on a sketch of the suspects, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore. The 11-by-6-inch pen-and-ink drawing worth $250,000 was found in an unlocked public area of an Encino [...]

MoMA’s Annual Photography Series Highlights Six Emerging Contemporary Artists

NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of Modern Art announces the 26th annual New Photography exhibition, running September 27, 2011, through January 16, 2012, in The Robert and Joyce Menschel Gallery. This year, the exhibition expands to feature six artists—Zhang Dali, Moyra Davey, George Georgiou, Deana Lawson, Doug Rickard, and Viviane Sassen. These artists, hailing from Canada, China, England, Holland, and the United States, exemplify the diversity and international scope of contemporary photographic work. New Photography 2011 is organized by Dan Leers, The [...]

Los Angeles Modern Auctions to Present Exhibition During Pacific Standard Time

LOS ANGELES, CA.- As a participating gallery of Pacific Standard Time, an initiative of The Getty, Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) presents Collecting in Los Angeles 1945-1980, a three week exhibit that explores an ideal Pacific Standard Time collector of art, Mr. Richard Dorso, at the height of his collecting from 1945 – 1980. The three week exhibit will conclude with an auction of Mr. Dorso’s entire collection on October 9, 2011. Born in San Francisco in 1909, Richard Dorso, an active participant [...]

Since It Opened Four Weeks Ago, Museum of Liverpool has Welcomed 250,000 Visitor

LIVERPOOL.- More than 250,000 people have visited the Museum of Liverpool since it opened four weeks ago, equivalent to the capacities of Anfield or Goodison Park 5 to 6 times over and more than half the population of the city as a whole. Crowds have flocked to the new Museum with an average of 8,300 people a day through the doors. The Museum which is free entry opened on 19 July and tells the story of the city and its people. Museum bosses [...]

Jeff Bezos Donates $10 Million to Create “Center for Innovation” at New Museum in Seattle

SEATTLE, WA.- The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) today announced that it has received a generous gift of $10 million from Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive officer of Seattle-based Amazon.com. The grant will be used to establish the “Center for Innovation” at the new MOHAI opening in late fall of 2012 in the historic Naval Reserve Building (Armory) at Lake Union Park, a few blocks from the new Amazon.com campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood. Bezos’ contribution to MOHAI [...]

Hapsburg Imperial Treasures Go on Display in Cambridge with Lost Royal Masterpiece

CAMBRIDGE.- Never before seen together in the UK, on 16 August 2011 the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge will be opening an extraordinary exhibition of precious decorative arts – the treasures of the Hapsburg emperors. Now joining this remarkable exhibition is a lost Royal masterpiece by the greatest of all the hardstone engravers of the Renaissance period, Giovanni Ambrogio Miseroni. Splendour & Power: Imperial Treasures from Vienna displays a glittering selection of beautifully crafted cameos, jewellery, vessels and other objects made from gems, precious [...]

Art San Diego’s Art Labs to Feature 19 Projects by More than 150 Artists Throughout San Diego

SAN DIEGO, CA.- Art Labs place art in the urban context and encourage participation by the general public. These combined events feature 19 projects by more than 150 artists, creating an opportunity to showcase the diversity of San Diego’s artistic community down to Tijuana. 2011 ART LABS have been curated by Susan Myrland. An RFP was put out in February asking local artists to create projects that “speak to the qualities that make San Diego unique.” Particular interest was given to projects [...]

Bruce Munro’s First One-Man Show: ‘Light!’ Announced at Longwood Gardens

KENNETT SQUARE, PA.- Longwood Gardens, one of the world’s great display gardens, has commissioned UK light artist Bruce Munro to present a debut, garden-wide exhibition, LIGHT!, in the summer of 2012. This is Munro’s first garden installation in the US and will showcase never-before-seen views of Longwood at night. LIGHT! will feature seven large-scale outdoor installations, two installations within Longwood’s grand 4-acre Conservatory, and a small collection of illuminated sculptures in Longwood’s historic Music Room. “Longwood Gardens is thrilled to host [...]

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Acquires Key Work by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh

EDINBURGH.- The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is delighted to announce the acquisition of The Mysterious Garden (1911) by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1865-1933). This stunning work is a superb addition to the Gallery’s holding of early twentieth-century Scottish art. The acquisition has been made in celebration of the Gallery’s 50th anniversary which took place in 2010. The Mysterious Garden was purchased for £230,000 from the Fine Art Society, London with substantial assistance of £115,000 from the Art Fund, the national fundraising charity [...]

A Selection of Murals Made by Diego Rivera During the 1930s to Be Shown at MoM

NEW YORK, N.Y.- For the exhibition Diego Rivera: Murals for The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA will reunite five “portable murals”-freestanding frescoes with bold images commemorating events in Mexican history-that were made for a monographic exhibition of the artist’s work at the Museum in 1931. On view from November 13, 2011, to May 14, 2012, the exhibition will also feature three eight-foot working drawings, a prototype “portable mural” made in 1930, as well as smaller working drawings, watercolors, and prints by Rivera. [...]

National Gallery of Victoria Acquires Newly Discovered Renaissance Masterpiece

MELBOURNE.- The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) today announced that in its 150th year it had acquired a highly important masterpiece by Correggio, one of the most influential figures of the Italian High Renaissance. Director Gerard Vaughan unveiled the painting, which has just arrived from London. The newly discovered work, titled Madonna and Child with the infant Saint John the Baptist was painted by Antonio Allegri, called Correggio, circa 1514‐1515. This rare Correggio is a magnificent example of early 16th century Northern [...]