First solo exhibition by German artist David Jablonowski opens at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art

GATESHEAD.- BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art presents Tools and Orientations, the first solo exhibition by German artist David Jablonowski (born Bochum, Germany in 1982) in a public gallery in the UK. Jablonowski’s work investigates the history and potential of communication in visual culture. His sculptures, videos and installations explore cultural aesthetics, display systems and information transfer, from calligraphic manuscripts to TV advertising and the World Wide Web. Jablonowski is interested in the representation of language and how our different information technologies transmit [...]

Nothin’ but Working: Phill Niblock, a Retrospective opens at Musée de l’Elysée

LAUSANNE.- Phill Niblock has produced, for over more than fifty years, a multidisciplinary work. His “Intermedia Art” features a combination of minimalist music, conceptual art, structural cinema, systematic or even political art, and strives to transform our perception and experience of time. Upon a proposal by Circuit, the photographs, films, installations and all his recorded music are brought together for the first time in a retrospective exhibition dedicated to Phill Niblock’s entire artistic endeavour. This exhibition by Mathieu Copeland is presented [...]

Art at the Heart: Chagall’s flowers for Valentine’s Day at Bonhams

LONDON.- Two charming flower paintings, perfect for Valentine’s Day gifts will be among the highlights of Bonhams Impressionist & Modern Art sale on Tuesday 5th February at New Bond Street, London. Lasting longer than a bunch of fresh flowers, Marc Chagall’s ‘Petit bouquet’ (estimated £8,000 – 12,000) and Reuven Rubin’s ‘Delphinium’ (estimated £40,000 – 60,000) make ideal presents for loved-ones. Flowers have long been a symbol of beauty, romance and innocence as well as a reminder of the fragility of life. They were [...]

Bonhams New York showcases superb Meiji craftmanship in Fine Japanese Works of Art Sale

NEW YORK, NY.- The March 19 auction of Fine Japanese Works of Art at Bonhams will feature an assortment of notable Meiji period highlights, emphasizing the high quality materials and excellent craftsmanship collectors seek. During the Meiji period – the late 19th century – the rise of cultural exchange between East and West resulted in a distinctive style of decorative arts that today appeals to a broad range of collectors. An impressive selection of cloisonné enamels, as well as gorgeous lacquer works, striking [...]

Strong results for Property from the Estate of Giancarlo Baroni lead off Sotheby’s Old Masters Week sales

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s 2013 Old Masters Week sales in New York began with the two-day sale of Property from the Estate of Giancarlo Baroni, which brought a strong total of $13,859,634, above pre-sale expectations of $8.4 – 12.1 million. Bidders from around the globe filled the salesroom and participated by phone and via the internet, actively pursuing works from the renowned Old Master connoisseur, collector and dealer’s collection, which ranged from 15th century gold ground paintings to works by El Greco, [...]

Romanian suspect ‘saw Matisse and Gauguin paintings stolen in Dutch heist’ says lawyer

BUCHAREST (AFP).- A former Romanian model, charged in connection with the October theft of seven masterpieces from a Dutch museum, admitted he saw two of the paintings after they were taken, his lawyer told AFP Wednesday. But more than three months after the spectacular heist, the whereabouts of all the paintings are still unknown. “My client saw the two paintings when another person tried to sell them to a potential buyer, Constantin Dinescu,” Catalin Dancu said after his client, Petre Condrat, [...]

Christie’s announces landmark online-only auction series to benefit the Andy Warhol Foundation

NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s iannounced details about Andy Warhol @ Christie’s, the first online-only sale in its long-term partnership with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. For one week, from Tuesday, February 26 through Tuesday, March 5, collectors around the world will have the opportunity to log in and bid online for 125 paintings, drawings, photographs and prints by Pop Art’s reigning superstar, Andy Warhol. The first of the online-only Warhol sales will feature works representing a wide array of [...]

Sotheby’s dedicated Surrealist Art Evening Sale to be highlighted by works by Dalí, Magritte and Miró

LONDON.- Sotheby’s London today announces that its dedicated Surrealist Art Evening Sale on Tuesday 5th February 2013 will present exceptional works including one of Salvador Dalí’s most accomplished portraits, Portrait of Mrs Harrison Williams (est. £1.5-2 million), René Magritte’s arresting painting Les Belles Relations (est. £2-3 million) and Joan Miró’s Le fermier et son épouse (est. £5.5-7.5 million), among others. Sam Valette, Sotheby’s Senior Director and Senior International Specialist, Impressionist & Modern Art, London, said: “Following the numerous record prices achieved for [...]

Exhibition at Hauser & Wirth takes a look at a pivotal year in Eva Hesse’s career: 1965

LONDON.- In 1964, Eva Hesse and her husband Tom Doyle were invited by the industrialist Friedrich Arnhard Scheidt to a residency in Kettwig an der Ruhr, Germany. The following fifteen months marked a significant transformation in Hesse’s practice. ‘Eva Hesse 1965’ brings together key drawings, paintings and reliefs from this short, yet pivotal period where the artist was able to re-think her approach to colour, materials and her two-dimensional practice, and begin moving towards sculpture, preparing herself for the momentous strides [...]

Hayward Gallery’s Light Show features a series of compelling and dramatic experiences

LONDON.- Light Show (30 January – 28 April 2013) is the first survey of light based art in the UK and brings together the most visually stimulating artworks created in recent years, with rare works not seen for decades and re-created especially for Hayward Gallery. Featuring a series of compelling and dramatic experiences, Light Show engages the viewer in mesmerising illuminated environments over the two extensive floors of the Hayward Gallery. Twenty-five sensory installations and sculptures by major international artists from the [...]

Monterey Museum of Art hosts exhibition of works by prominent printmaker Beth Van Hoesen

MONTEREY, CA.- The Monterey Museum of Art presents a new exhibition of works by San Francisco Bay area artist Beth Van Hoesen (1926–2010). Beth Van Hoesen will be on view February 1-May 19, 2013 at the Monterey Museum of Art-Pacific Street, 559 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA 93940. www.montereyart.org Beth Van Hoesen earned recognition as a major figure in twentieth century printmaker by having mastered drawing and printmaking. Demonstrating a prolific and a keen eye for detail, Van Hoesen’s renderings of animals, portraits, [...]

Gilles Caron’s first major retrospective opens at Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne

LAUSANNE.- Visual memory of an epoch, Gilles Caron (1939-1970) has chronicled the greatest contemporary conflicts through his images (Six-Day War, Vietnam War, Biafra and Northern Ireland conflicts, May 68, Prague Spring…), a commitment that eventually cost him his life while on assignment in Cambodia. Called up as a parachutist to serve in the Algerian War, Caron became a witness of to the brutality inflicted to civilians. Through photojournalism, he sought to cross to the other side in order to contribute to [...]

Sotheby’s New York to offer the Amaya Collection of Modern & Contemporary Indian art

NEW YORK, NY.- On 19 March 2013, Sotheby’s will present the Amaya Collection, the first international Evening Sale of Indian Art and the first single-owner sale in this category to be held at Sotheby’s in more than a decade. Consigned by esteemed collector and author, Amrita Jhaveri, the collection comprises important Modern & Contemporary Indian Art produced during the second half of the 20th Century through to the early 21st. The sale offers some of the finest examples from the oeuvres of key [...]

Charity furious as Musee d’Orsay visitors turn up nose at poor family that smelled

PARIS (AFP).- France’s culture minister has demanded an explanation from the Musee d’Orsay after a family visiting as guests of an anti-poverty group were asked to leave because snooty fellow visitors complained that they smelled. ATD-Quart Monde, who had treated the hard-up couple and their 12-year-old child to a tour of the museum on Saturday, described the family’s ejection from the celebrated museum as blatant discrimination. “It shows what the poorest people have to put up with on a daily basis,” [...]

Detroit Institute of Arts acquires Murano glass chandelier sculpture by Fred Wilson

DETROIT, MICH.- The Detroit Institute of Arts has acquired To Die Upon a Kiss, a spectacular Murano glass sculpture in the form of a chandelier by artist Fred Wilson. It will be on view beginning Feb. 5. To Die Upon a Kiss is monumental in size—approximately 6’ x 6’—and will hang from the ceiling in one of the DIA’s contemporary galleries. It is based on 17th-century Venetian glass lighting fixtures seen in palaces and homes along the Grand Canal. The title, To [...]