A new way of seeing and sharing art on mobile devices from the Museo del Prado

MADRID.- The Museo del Prado and Madpixel today presented Second Canvas Museo del Prado, an app that combines knowledge of the Museum with interactive capacity in order to expand the experience of the Prado, either in preparation for a visit, out of curiosity or cultural interests or as an educational tool. Second Canvas Museo del Prado includes 14 of the Museum’s masterpieces and the chance to buy the Prado’s Mona Lisa “in-app”. For the first time it will be possible to see [...]

President Obama visits Rijksmuseum in first ever visit by a serving US President to the museum

AMSTERDAM.- On the occasion of his official visit to the Netherlands for the Nuclear Security Summit on 24 and 25 March, President Obama of the United States visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam today, the first ever visit by a serving US President to the museum. He is pictured here with the museum’s General Director, Wim Pijbes, in the Gallery of Honour in front of Rembrandt’s celebrated painting, ‘The Night Watch’, one of the greatest treasures of the collection. Wim Pijbes has given the [...]

Amon Carter, DMA, and Nasher Sculpture Center bring their masterpieces onto the Google Art Project

DALLAS, TX.- The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Nasher Sculpture Center announced that together these three North Texas museums are adding more than a combined 1,700 high-resolution works of art to the Google Art Project. The Art Project allows online visitors to explore the museums’ paintings, sculptures, and other objects virtually. Highlights from the 1,200 images submitted by the Amon Carter showcase work by some of the greatest names in American art, such [...]

A major gift of Chinese antiquities given to the Bruce Museum by Fred and Jane Brooks

GREENWICH, CONN.- The Bruce Museum of Greenwich Connecticut announced the gift of six Tang Dynasty ceramics from the collection of Fred and Jane Brooks of Greenwich. This generous gift and the promise of additional donations from the collection establish the Bruce as an important center for the collecting and study of Chinese antiquities. Highlights of the gift include a dramatically animated, tri-color glazed ceramic Lokapala, or worldly protector, one of the deities who rule the directions of space according to Hinduism and [...]

Six major art institutions across the United States acquire seminal Robert Rauschenberg works

NEW YORK, NY.- The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation today announced that six major museums across the United States have acquired nine works by artist Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) through the foundation’s Gift/Purchase Program. This one-time program was designed to expand public access to and awareness of the artist’s work by offering museums a rare opportunity to acquire artworks from the foundation’s holdings through equal parts gift and purchase. “When Rauschenberg’s work transferred to the foundation, we committed ourselves to ensuring the broadest access possible [...]

McNay Art Museum in San Antonio adds early Cubist painting by Albert Gleizes to collection

SAN ANTONIO, TX.- The McNay Art Museum announced a rare and important addition to the museum’s notable collection of French paintings. Portrait of Madame H. M. Barzun by Albert Gleizes (1881-1953), now on view, is a bequest of Jacques Barzun. A Cubist work, the portrait dates to 1911, the year before Gleizes and fellow artist Jean Metzinger published Du Cubisme, the first major treatise on Cubism. Depicted in the portrait is Anne-Rose, wife of diplomat and writer Henri-Martin Barzun. With Albert Gleizes [...]

Historic donation to the Moderna Museet by publisher Gerard Bonnier’s widow

STOCKHOLM.- The Moderna Museet has announced that the collection has received a magnificent donation of modern classics. The gift was made in accordance with Elisabeth “Peggy” Bonnier’s last will and comprises eight works: paintings by Jean Fautrier, Juan Gris, Paul Klee and Pablo Picasso, and sculptures by Henri Laurens and Jean Fautrier. Daniel Birnbaum, director of the Moderna Museet, emphasises the significance of this bequest: “These works would be sensational for any international museum. Art like this is practically impossible to buy [...]

Center for Jewish History in New York City announces gigapixel image on Google Art Project

NEW YORK, NY.- The Center for Jewish History in New York City, one of the world’s foremost centers for the intellectual and cultural exploration of the modern Jewish experience, announced it will upload a work of art to Google’s gigapixel program on Google Art Project. With super high resolution, Google’s program offers viewers the unique opportunity to zoom in and explore each brushstroke. The image chosen by the Center is Marcel Janco’s Arab Café In Ramallah, an oil painting from 1956. Janco, [...]

The Speed Art Museum unveils a hidden treasure in their permanent collection

LOUISVILLE, KY.- During the expansion of the Museum the Speed‘s curatorial staff has been busier than ever working with conservators across the country to assess the condition of the Museum’s collection and to oversee repairs to any damage wrought by time. Through this conservation process came about a unique discovery to a Paul Klee piece that has the Museum buzzing with excitement. In 1998, the Speed received a generous bequest of artworks from the collection of long-time museum supporters Major General Dillman [...]

Works of art to be sold at Christie’s New York to support the California Institute of Arts

NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s will partner with the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) this spring with the sale of 35 works of art, including pieces by John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha, Walead Beshty and Tony Oursler, which will be auctioned during the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale on May 14th. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the CalArts School of Art, supporting student artists by providing enhanced creative space and financial support. “Christie’s is honored to partner with Calarts, the [...]

Duchess of Cambridge views Van Dyck self-portrait as appeal reaches £3.5 million

LONDON.- The National Portrait Gallery has released a photograph of its patron HRH The Duchess of Cambridge being shown the Van Dyck Self-portrait it is campaigning with the Art Fund to save for the nation. The Duchess was given a private view of the portrait, on display at the Gallery, with director Sandy Nairne, during The Portrait Gala on the 11 February. As the Government export bar has been extended to allow a further five months of fundraising to prevent the [...]

Edward Burtynsky donates 34 works to the Vancouver Art Gallery’s permanent collection

VANCOUVER, BC.- The Vancouver Art Gallery announced the addition of 34 photographs by world renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky to its permanent collection. Through the tremendous generosity of Burtynsky who personally donated the 34 works, the Gallery now houses 44 photographs by the artist, all of which will be featured in the upcoming exhibition A Terrible Beauty: Edward Burtynsky at the Vancouver Art Gallery from March 1 to May 26, 2014. “We would like to express our gratitude to Edward Burtynsky for [...]

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announces acquisition of iconic Jeff Koons sculpture

BENTONVILLE, ARK.- Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announces the acquisition of Hanging Heart (Gold/Magenta), a monumental sculpture by internationally recognized artist Jeff Koons, which was installed in the museum this week, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The bright gold heart, which measures some 9 1/2 feet wide, surmounted by an enormous magenta stainless steel “ribbon,” in now suspended from the ribbed ceiling of one of the museum’s eponymous glass-walled bridges. Hanging Heart (Gold/Magenta) is a massive, high chromium mirror-polished stainless [...]

Art Basel launches new publication to celebrate landmark year capturing the vibrancy of its three shows

BASEL.- Following a landmark year during which Art Basel went truly global, Art Basel publishes a new book capturing the vibrancy of its three shows, by looking at the galleries, events and places that shape the artworld today. Published by JRP|Ringier, ‘Art Basel | Year 44′ embodies a year in the artworld as seen through the eyes of Art Basel. Alongside profiles spotlighting all participating galleries, longer interviews with individual gallerists give further insights into their histories and the diversity of the international [...]

Corning Museum of Glass acquires monumental work by Liza Lou

CORNING, NY.- The Corning Museum of Glass has acquired Continuous Mile, an ambitious large-scale sculpture by contemporary artist Liza Lou (American, b. 1969), to be installed in the Museum’s North Wing contemporary galleries, which will open in late 2014. Continuous Mile (2006–08) is a monumental sculpture composed of 4.5 million, glossy, black glass beads woven onto a mile-long cotton rope that is coiled and stacked. Standing about 3 feet high and stretching nearly 5 feet in diameter, the sculpture took Lou two [...]