Ten Museums in Running for £100,000 “Museum of the Year” Art Fund Prize 2011

LONDON.- The long list of ten museums that are in the running for the UK’s largest arts prize – the Art Fund Prize 2011 – will be revealed on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. The long list of museums competing for the ‘Museum of the Year’ accolade has been selected by an independent panel of judges, chaired this year by broadcaster and former cabinet minister Michael Portillo. The Art Fund Prize 2011 rewards excellence and innovation in museums and galleries in [...]

The Mauritshuis Acquires Unique Painting by Jan Steen from a Private Collection

THE HAGUE.- The Mauritshuis has acquired the exceptional history painting, Moses and Pharaoh’s Crown by Jan Steen (1626-1679), from a private collection. The museum already owns a superb collection of fourteen paintings by Steen, including undisputed highlights such as Girl Eating Oysters and ‘As the Old Sing, So Twitter The Young’. Until now, however, a history painting by Steen was lacking, so Moses and Pharaoh’s Crown represents a very welcome addition to the Mauritshuis’s collection. The skilfully painted canvas depicts [...]

Second Annual Collectors Evening Secures Six New Acquisitions for the High

ATLANTA, GA.- The High Museum of Art hosted its second annual Collectors Evening on Friday, January 28. Participants voted to secure four new acquisitions for the Museum: Vik Muniz’s “Leda and the Swan, after Leonardo da Vinci” (2009); an African “Elephant Headress” (19th century); Spencer Finch’s “Bright Star (Sirius)” (2010); and Auguste-Jean-Baptiste Vinchon’s “Portrait of Nency Destouches” (1829). Additionally, after the formal voting, an attendee offered up four Delta Air Lines worldwide business-class tickets for bidding. The money raised through [...]

Art Institute of Chicago Announces Significant Acquisition of Seminal Kazimir Malevich Painting

CHICAGO, IL.- The Art Institute of Chicago announces one of the most significant acquisitions in its history: Kazimir Malevich’s Painterly Realism of a Football Player–Color Masses in the 4th Dimension (1915). Joining such works as Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte–1884, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, El Greco’s Assumption of the Virgin, Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street; Rainy Day, and Henri Matisse’s Bathers by a River , Malevich’s masterpiece is the first work of Russian Suprematism to enter the museum’s collection [...]

Plate Painted by Pablo Picasso Donated to Ransom Center by Photojournalist Duncan

AUSTIN, TX.- The Harry Ransom Center, a humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin, has received a plate painted by Pablo Picasso from David Douglas Duncan, a photojournalist whose archive resides at the Ransom Center. Duncan donated the plate in honor of his friendship with Stanley Marcus, who suggested that Duncan donate his archive to the Ransom Center in 1996. The archive includes more than 36,000 prints, 87,000 negatives and 21,000 transparencies, in addition to [...]

Perot Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas Receives $25 Million Gift from The Rees-Jones Foundation

DALLAS.- Calling it an investment that will deliver world-class educational experiences and entertainment to millions for decades to come, Museum of Nature & Science leaders announced a second major gift in two years from The Rees-Jones Foundation that brings its total contribution to $25 million – and pushes the Museum’s fundraising efforts past the $150-million mark. To commemorate this significant show of support for the $185-million Perot Museum of Nature & Science, Museum leaders will name two major halls in its [...]

Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne Acquires Charlie Chaplin Photographic Archive

LAUSANNE.- The Musée de l’Elysée announced a major event: the arrival of the Chaplin Photographic Archive, a large collection consisting of approximately 10,000 photographs documenting the whole career of Charlie Chaplin. “I am thrilled that the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne will take care of my father’s archive. My siblings and myself totally trust that the museum will preserve this heritage which is so dear to us.” – Joséphine Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin Sam Stourdze, director of the Elysee [...]

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Names Harry Philbrick as Director of Museum

PHILADELPHIA, PA .- The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) announced that Harry Philbrick has been named The Edna S. Tuttleman Director of the Academy Museum , effective March 1, 2011. Since 1996, Harry Philbrick has been the Director of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Under his leadership at The Aldrich Museum, attendance tripled and the quality of the programs increased dramatically. Philbrick successfully spearheaded a $9 million capital campaign and a major museum campus expansion [...]

New Salvador Dali Museum is the Centerpiece of Arts-Filled Tampa Bay Area

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (AP).- Dali, Chihuly and Degas? It’s possible to see all three in one weekend in the Tampa Bay area — and still have time to savor the beach. The opening of the new Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg this January is the latest in a string of splashy arts venues on Florida’s west coast. The $33 million Tampa Museum of Art — soon to host a Degas show — opened in February of 2010. And the [...]

National Gallery of Art to Remove and Reinstall East Building Facade Veneer through 2014

WASHINGTON, DC.- The planned removal and reinstallation of the marble veneer of the 33-year-old East Building of the The National Gallery of Art will begin in early March 2011; the project is expected to be completed by spring 2014. While the East Building will remain open to the public during the entire period, the project will necessitate the following developments: · The north parking lane of Madison Drive between 3rd and 4thStreets NW will be closed to all vehicles, effective [...]

The Wallace Collection Announces the Appointment of Dr. Christoph Vogtherr as New Director

LONDON.- The Chairman, Sir John Ritblat, and the Trustees of the Wallace Collection announced the appointment of Dr. Christoph Vogtherr as the next Director of the Collection upon the retirement of Dame Rosalind Savill DBE next October 2011. ‘Having run a fully international competition, it is very satisfying to find the right balance of scholarship and leadership from within the Wallace Collection itself, and that the appointment of Dr Vogtherr has the wholehearted endorsement of the Board of Trustees’ says Sir [...]

Salvador Dalí Museum Opens in New State of the Art Building in Florida

ST. PETERSBURG (AP).- For a few hours Tuesday, this Florida city was transformed into a Surrealist canvas in honor of Salvador Dali, the genre’s master. A man wearing a large snail hat led a parade of drummers, who were followed by a phalanx of pirates past shimmering water and vibrant palm trees. Wild green parakeets fluttered in the air. Spanish royalty was on hand, as were several mayors, dozens of reporters and hundreds of art lovers. A number of people [...]

St. Petersburg (USA) open a museum dedicated to Salvador Dali

The Ship. Salvador Dali, 1942-1943. The Salvador Dalí Museum, St Petersburg, Fl, USA. Figueres (Girona), Jan. 7 .- The city of St. Petersburg, Florida (USA), will open next Tuesday  11, a museum of over 6,000 square meters dedicated to Salvador Dali. Taking advantage of the opening of the new  Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, the city of Figueres is twinned with this city of Florida, announced today the  catalan consistory. This new museum, the second largest in the world [...]

Birmingham Museum of Art Celebrates 60 Years with New Guide to the Collection

BIRMINGHAM, AL.- In conjunction with the start of the Birmingham Museum of Art’s 60th year, the BMA is releasing a new collection handbook. Birmingham Museum of Art: Guide to the Collection, published by D Giles Limited, is a richly illustrated souvenir to an encyclopedic collection. The 272-page catalog is an outstanding survey of four hundred centuries of art from one of America’s leading regional museums. “I am often asked ‘what’s next?’ meaning what’s the next big exhibition coming to the [...]

Collector Jane Batten Donates Nine American Masterpieces to the Chrysler Museum of Art

NORFOLK, VA.- In addition to his extraordinary success as a businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist, the late Frank Batten, Sr. was also a distinguished art collector. Now, thanks to the generosity of Jane Batten, nine works from the Batten Collection have been placed on long-term loan to the Chrysler as promised gifts to the Museum. This winter the museum will present these American masterpieces by Winslow Homer, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Hart Benton, William Glackens, and Edward Redfield, and others in [...]