Christie’s in Hong Kong announces Asian 20th Century and Contemporary art sales

HONG KONG.- This autumn, leading global auction house Christie’s will mark another significant milestone in the auctions of Asian 20th century & contemporary art. Previously sold in a separate category, Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art will be integrated into the Asian 20th century & contemporary art sale, enjoying a new level of international exposure when placed alongside the art from China, India, Japan and Korea. This integration – a first for any international auction house – completes the consolidation of contemporary and [...]

Rijksmuseum installs innovative LED lights that bring out the best of “Night Watch”

AMSTERDAM (AP).- Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” may need a different nickname after the painting was put under new lighting on Wednesday that makes it look like a day scene. The change at the national Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is startling, as characters once barely visible or relegated to the background now stand out in vivid color. The 1642 painting was commissioned for one of Amsterdam’s citizen militias and is officially titled “The Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch,” the two [...]

Most comprehensive retrospective of the work of Robert Breer at Museum Tinguely in Basel

BASEL.- The solo exhibition on the American painter, filmmaker and sculptor Robert Breer is the most comprehensive retrospective of his work to date. Organized in close collaboration with the artist, the exhibition will be the first to bring Breer’s work in all media together for several decades, revealing him to be as vital today as he was in the 1950s. A full-length catalogue will be published in German and English editions to accompany the exhibition, which was mounted in cooperation with [...]

Photographer John Jansheski creates a home in Miami for unconventional artists

MIAMI, FL.- When one hears the word “artist,” most imagine an easel cradling a canvas with the artist hunched over their masterpiece with dazzling flair and intensity as their unique interpretation of their muse unfolds before the eyes of the world in the form of a magnificent creation; otherwise known as a “work of art.” If you consider this to be the conventional interpretation of the word “artist,” Miami, FL based photographer John Jansheski challenges this notion, successfully blending the gaps [...]

Paintings from El Greco to Rippl-Ronai on view at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest

BUDAPEST.- Marcell Jánoshalmi Nemes (1866-1930) was one of the most significant art collectors in early twentieth-century Hungary, as well as one of its most contradictory figures, whose extensive activities as both an art patron and collector became legendary during his own lifetime. In the course of his career he donated numerous valuable works to the Museum of Fine Arts, including El Greco’s The Penitent Mary Magdalene and Ádám Mányoki’s Portrait of Ferenc Rákóczi, the latter being regarded as a national relic in [...]

Doyle New York to auction Old Master, Modern and Contemporary prints in November

NEW YORK, N.Y.- Doyle New York will offer a fine selection of prints in the Old Master, Modern and Contemporary Prints auction on November 7, 2011 at 1pm. Old Master Prints feature Albrecht Durer, Christ Before Caiaphas, engraving, 1512 (est. $3,000-5,000); Rembrandt van Rijn, The Tribute Money, etching, circa 1635 (est. $6,000-8,000); and The Angel Departing from the Family of Tobias, etching, 1641 (est. $7,000-10,000). European Prints feature Paul Klee, Der Seiltanzer, color lithograph, 1923 (est. $20,000-30,000); Henri Matisse, Danseuse au Tabouret, [...]

Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga presents MA.R.S. by photographer Thomas Ruff

MALAGA.- The Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga presents ma.r.s., by Thomas Ruff, a leading name in photography and contemporary art and one of the most prominent members of the German School since the 1980s. The exhibition, curated by Fernando Francés, features a range of images of the universe that depict apparently distant places but ones within reach of the spectator, which is the conceptual thread of the exhibition. The origins of the images are of secondary importance due to the way that [...]

Gil Elvgren dominates in $3.725+ million Illustration Art event at Heritage Auctions as Fire Belle brings

NEW YORK, N.Y.- Gil Elvgren remains the unchallenged champion of American Pin-Up Art, as evidenced by the $191,200 price realized for his 1956 Fire Belle (Always Ready), one of the master’s greatest works, in Heritage Auctions‘ Oct. 22 Illustration Art Signature(r) Auction, and by the fact that fully six of the Top 10 lots in the auction featured his revered name. All prices include 19.5% Buyer’s Premium. Bidding across the board was spirited in the auction, as 1,192 bidders vied for 903 [...]

Smithsonian American Art Museum names Tiarna Doherty new Chief Conservator

WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian American Art Museum welcomes Tiarna Doherty as its new chief conservator. Doherty will be responsible for overseeing the staff and programming at the Lunder Conservation Center. She begins work Nov. 7. “It is my pleasure to welcome Tiarna Doherty to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where her superb experience and intellect will bring creative new energy to the program,” said Elizabeth Broun, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Doherty comes to the [...]

Abu Dhabi developer vows to open Louvre Museum branch designed by Jean Nouvel in late 2013

DUBAI (AP).- The Abu Dhabi developer building a vast cultural district in the Emirati capital said Monday a branch of the famed Louvre museum will open there in late 2013, despite questions about the timetable for another part of the project. The Tourism Development and Investment Co. told The Associated Press that a branch of the Parisian art institution will be the first museum to open in the Saadiyat Island cultural district, a year behind schedule. Plans originally called for a [...]

New York man’s possible 16th-century Michelangelo painting goes on display in Rome

BUFFALO (AP).- A possible 16th-century Michelangelo painting that hung for years in a local family’s home is being displayed in Rome as part of an exhibit of Renaissance art, a development its owner calls a major milestone as he works to have it accepted by the art world. Scholars disagree on whether “La Pieta With Two Angels” was painted by Michelangelo or by one of his collaborators. For now, the 19-by-25-inch work is described as “Michelangelesque” in a show sponsored by [...]

Sotheby’s Paris announces it will be devoting a whole day to Books & Manuscripts auction in November

PARIS.- Sotheby’s Paris will be devoting a whole day to Books and Manuscripts on 9 November 2011, staging two sales: the first devoted to Books & Manuscripts, Including the Library of a Connoisseur: History of Ideas, Science & Letters (2:30pm); the second (6:30pm) to a Collection of Precious Books from a Connoisseur’s Library. The first sale begins with a collection of 70 emblematic books about the history of science and ideas. All embody a discovery in, or new contribution to, the field [...]

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art opens first major FCB Cadell retrospective

EDINBURGH.- This autumn the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art launched the first in an annual series of exhibitions devoted to the Scottish Colourists. The Scottish Colourist Series: FCB Cadell is the first major retrospective of his work to be held in a public gallery in almost seventy years and brings together almost 80 paintings, from collections across the UK, many of which have rarely, if ever, been shown in public before. Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell (1883-1937) is one of the four artists [...]

Christie’s Middle East sale hopes to encourage a new, younger group of buyers

DUBAI.- The new sale format to be introduced to Christie’s Middle East sales this October includes works by Sohrab Sepehri, Farhad Moshiri, Louay Kayyali, Paul Guiragossian, Mahmoud Said and Charles Hossein Zenderoudi alongside works, often by these same artists, estimated from $2,000 in the new part II sale. Together, the sales to be held on October 25th and 26th comprising 46 lots in part I and 155 lots in part II, are expected to realize between $6.5 and $9 million. It is anticipated [...]

Wallraf-Richartz-Museum celebrates sesquicentennial with exhibition of hidden treasures

COLOGNE.- 150 years ago the collection of Ferdinand Franz Wallraf found a home in its first museum building. Since then it has been divided up, diminished, added to, and moved around a number of times. Like many other museums around the world, the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud has a problem: it can only put a relatively small proportion of its treasures on display at any one time. Even today, about three-quarters of the paintings ‘enjoy’ a Sleeping Beauty existence in the depository, a [...]