Iraq’s Artists Reflect Pain, Trauma of the War and Uncertainty

BAGHDAD (AP).- Iraq’s artists are using their work to try to process the turmoil since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and what they are producing shows a profound anger over their country’s traumas and uncertainty over its future. They have a lot to deal with: A change of regime, foreign occupation, an insurgency, sectarian massacres and, now, the prospect of a divided nation left by the Americans in the hands of unpopular politicians, unprepared security forces and a fragile democracy. The [...]

John Baddeley Appointed Managing Director of Bonhams Knigthsbridge

LONDON.- Bonhams announced the appointment and promotion of Jon Baddeley to the position of Managing Director, Knightsbridge – the busiest of the company’s UK and international salerooms. He takes on this new role with immediate effect. “Jon has an outstanding track record in the auction business. His career as both a dealer and auctioneer spans over 30 years,” says Matthew Girling, Chief Executive Officer, Bonhams UK & Europe. “His sound business acumen, specialist knowledge and proven ability to get the [...]

National Museum Wales Appoints David Anderson as New Director General

CARDIFF.- The National Museum Wales today announced the appointment of David Anderson, Director of Learning and Interpretation at the Victoria and Albert Museum, as Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’ new Director General. David Anderson was chosen from a selection of high calibre international candidates because of his deep understanding of the role of national museums and museum culture, his particular expertise of the role of education in museums, and the passion he demonstrated to take on the role. His [...]

Charles Martin Joins Bonhams as a Consultant in Kent & Sussex

LONDON.- This week Bonhams announced that Charles Martin will return to the company after some years, to work as a business getter and consultant in the South East, based at Sevenoaks. Matthew Girling, Bonhams CEO Europe and the Middle East, commenting on the appointment, says: “We are delighted to welcome Charlie Martin back to the Bonhams fold after 25 years away. He will add significantly to our strength in the South East of England where he has spent most of [...]

Allentown Art Museum Announces Election of New Chair, Vice Chair and Two Trustees

ALLENTOWN, PA.- The Board of Trustee s of the Allentown Art Museum recently elected Sanford T. Beldon Board Chair. A board member for eighteen years, he is returning to a position he held several years ago. “This is an exciting time,” said Beldon,” to be associated with the museum as it embarks on an expansion program that will substantially enhance its contributions to the Lehigh Valley community especially in the education areas.” Beldon retired as a senior vice president of [...]

Lynn Hershman Leeson Receives the 2010 d.velop Digital Art Award

BERLIN.- American artist and filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson has been awarded the 2010 d.velop digital art award [ddaa]. Given biannually by the Digital Art Museum [DAM], Berlin, Germany. This international prize honours an artist’s lifetime achievement in the field of new media. In addition to receiving a monetary award (20,000 Euro), Hershman Leeson will have a retrospective exhibition accompanied by a catalogue at the Kunsthalle Bremen in Germany. The [ddaa] is the most import prestigious lifetime award to be given [...]

Julian Cox Named Chief Curator of the de Young Museum

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- John E. Buchanan, Jr., Director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, announces the appointment of Julian Cox, one of the country’s leading authorities on photography as Founding Curator of Photography for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) and Chief Curator of the de Young Museum. In this role, Cox will oversee FAMSF’s department of photography, its collection of over 3,500 photographs and its program of acquisition, exhibition and scholarly endeavors. In addition, he [...]

Cooper review stance on art slammed as ‘madness’

Sydney, Australia.- In November 2007, Sydney financial planner Greg Nazvanov sold $600,000 worth of shares and with the proceeds began to buy Australian art. Mr Nazvanov, 40, now holds about 200 paintings, most of them indigenous works, which were independently valued in February at $3 million. While most equities investors have had 33 per cent wiped off their superannuation funds as the global financial crisis bit and bit again, Mr Nazvanov has seen his retirement savings multiply five times. Mr [...]

Top 101 Art Curators

Have you ever wondered which curators are the most highly regarded by artists? Seeking the answer to this question, we asked more than one hundred artists working internationally. More specifically, flashartonline asked that cadre of artists who are habitually included in Manifesta, the Venice Biennale, Documenta, the Whitney Biennial and so on — the same artists that typically show with the most high-profi le galleries. The survey was structured by country; flashartonline asked many artists from larger countries such as [...]

Utah Artist Arnold Friberg, Known for Washington Painting, Dies

SALT LAKE CITY (AP).- Arnold Friberg, a Utah artist best known for his painting of George Washington in prayer at Valley Forge, died Thursday, his family said. He was 96 Jayna Friberg-Cleamons said her father-in-law died at a Salt Lake City rehabilitation center following hip replacement surgery. Friberg, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also painted portraits of figures from the Book of Mormon. “He didn’t want to be known as Mormon artist,” Friberg-Cleamons told [...]

Toledo Museum of Art Names New Director Brian P. Kennedy to Lead Museum

TOLEDO, OH.- The Toledo Museum of Art announced today that Brian P. Kennedy, director of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, has accepted the position as the Museum’s ninth director with a start date of September 1. Board Chair Betsy Brady and George Chapman, head of the search committee, made the announcement this morning at the Museum. “The Museum conducted an international search for its next director. We were pleased to have an exemplary group of candidates presented [...]

Rudolf Leopold, Austrian Art Collector, Dies Today at 85

VIENNA (AP).- Rudolf Leopold, who assembled Austria’s largest private art collection, including works allegedly stolen by the Nazis, died Tuesday at the age of 85. Leopold died at a hospital in the Austrian capital after suffering multiple organ failure, said Klaus Pokorny, a spokesman for Vienna’s famous Leopold Museum. Leopold is credited with assembling the country’s largest and most important private art collection that includes more than 5,000 works by artists such as Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka. [...]

One of the Fathers of Modern Chinese Art, Wu Guanzhong, Dies at 90

BEIJING (AP).- Wu Guanzhong, known as one of the fathers of modern Chinese art for combining western and Chinese elements in black and white oil paintings, has died. He was 90. He died in Beijing on Friday. “He was an inspiration for many Chinese artists, even to this day and one of the most important forces in modern Chinese art,” Tan Ping, vice president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, said in an interview with the Associated [...]

SMU Names New Distinguished Endowed Chair in Art History

DALLAS, TX.- Following an international search, the Department of Art History at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts today announced the appointment of Dr. Roberto Tejada as the new Distinguished Endowed Chair in Art History, effective August 1. The new endowed senior position was made possible by a generous anonymous gift of $2 million, intended to help launch a new Ph.D. program in art history at SMU in the fall of 2011. It will be the first art history Ph.D. [...]

Joe Deal, Landscape Photographer and Educator, Dies at Age 62

TUCSON, AZ.- The Center for Creative Photography, which in 2009 became home to the Joe Deal Archive, reported Deal’s death on Friday, June 18, 2010. Joe Deal defined his artistic career with black‐and‐white photographs of the American landscape, which were both thoughtfully conceived and beautifully presented. One of ten photographers included in the renowned 1975 George Eastman House exhibition New Topographics: Photographs of a Man‐Altered Landscape, Deal’s photography helped define how artists presented the built environment through the lens. His [...]