Fantasy Artist Frank Frazetta, 82, Dies in Florida

PHILADELPHIA.- Pioneering fantasy artist Frank Frazetta has died in a Fort Myers, Fla., hospital. He was 82. Manager Rob Pistella says Frazetta died Monday morning, a day after suffering a stroke. He says Frazetta had been out to dinner with his daughters Sunday before falling ill. Frazetta is renowned for his sci-fi and fantasy art. He created covers and illustrations for more than 150 books and comic books, including Conan the Barbarian and Tarzan. His daughter, Heidi Frazetta Grabin, says [...]

Johnny McIntosh Appointed Chief Financial Officer at Birmingham Museum of Art

BIRMINGHAM, AL.- The Birmingham Museum of Art welcomes a new chief financial officer. Johnny McIntosh, former president and chief operating officer of the successful Southern Living at Home direct sales business, assumed responsibility for business and financial operations at the Museum on April 26. “The Museum has been looking for someone with the financial skills and experience to help us build an overall stronger organization,” said Gail Andrews, director of the Birmingham Museum of Art. “Johnny’s expertise in budgeting, forecasting [...]

Photography Expert Michael G. Wilson Becomes an Art Fund Trustee

LONDON.- The Art Fund welcomed photography expert, Michael G Wilson, as a new trustee. Michael, an expert on 19th century photography and renowned film producer, has lectured on photography and film at universities worldwide. Michael G Wilson said: “I am delighted to become a trustee of the Art Fund. The organisation does a tremendous job engaging national and regional interest in the arts and ensuring public access to great art collections through its tireless campaigning and funding.” Michael opened the [...]

Deborah Wye to Retire as Chief Curator of Prints and Illustrated Books at MoMA

NEW YORK, NY.- Deborah Wye, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Chief Curator of Prints and Illustrated Books at The Museum of Modern Art, will retire from that position effective September 1, 2010, it was announced today by MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry. She will continue her relationship with the Museum in a consultative role, initially undertaking the final volume of a catalogue raisonné on the prints of Louise Bourgeois, which form an archive in MoMA’s collection. One of the foremost experts [...]

New Orleans Museum of Art Names Susan M. Taylor New Museum Director

NEW ORLEANS, LA.- The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) announces the appointment of Susan M. Taylor as Director Designate. She will officially become the Museum’s sixth director on September 1, 2010. Taylor will succeed E. John Bullard, who will retire as one of America’s longest-serving museum directors. Bullard will remain on staff as Director Emeritus to aid Taylor in the transition and will continue to work on NOMA’s centennial celebrations throughout 2011. “As NOMA commemorates a century of art, [...]

Karola Kraus is the New Director of the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig

VIENNA.- As of October 1, 2010 Karola Kraus, present head of the Staatlichen Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, will take up her position as the new director of Vienna’s Museum of Modern Art and successor to Edelbert Köb. Federal Minister Claudia Schmied appointed this well-connected and experienced managerial figure from the international art scene in order to give the MUMOK new impetus. “Since it was founded the Museum of Modern Art has been dedicated to the contemporary art and culture of the time. [...]

The Glasgow School of Art Announces New Chairman of the Board of Governors

GLASGOW.- The Glasgow School of Art announced the appointment of Philip Rodney, Partner and Chairman of Burness Solicitors, as the new Chairman of its Board of Governors. He will succeed leading international businessman Professor Nick Kuenssberg OBE, who stands down as Chairman in June 2010 after nine years. Philip Rodney is one of Scotland’s leading lawyers. Specialising in media and entertainment law, product liability and dispute resolution, he brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and networks in a number of [...]

Christoph Schlingensief to Design German Pavilion Artist for Venice Biennial

FRANKFURT AM MAIN.- Christoph Schlingensief has accepted the invitation by the Commissioner of the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennial 2011, Dr. Susanne Gaensheimer, Director of MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt/Main. Christoph Schlingensief is currently busy with rehearsals in Berlin for his VIA INTOLLERANZA II project, which takes as its starting point the action opera “Intolleranza 1960” by Italian composer Luigi Nono and which Schlingensief considers a research project accompanying his project for an opera village in Burkina Faso [...]

Jennifer Flay Appointed General Director of FIAC Art Fair

PARIS.- Following the appointment of Martin Bethenod as Director of Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana – François Pinault Foundation in Venice, Reed Expositions France, organisers of the FIAC art fair in Paris, have appointed Jennifer Flay as General Director of FIAC, effective as of June 7th, 2010. As FIAC’s Artistic Director since 2004, Jennifer Flay formed with Martin Bethenod the partnership which has restructured, repositioned and re-energized FIAC with unanimously acclaimed success. She will now be directing FIAC with [...]

Martin Bethenod Named Director of Palazzo Grassi-Punta della Dogana

VENICE.- François Pinault, President of Palazzo Grassi SpA, has appointed Martin Bethenod as the new Director of Palazzo Grassi SpA in charge of Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice. Martin Bethenod will take up the position on the 1st June 2010. Martin Bethenod, 44, has been General Director of FIAC (The International Contemporary Art Fair) in Paris, for 6 years since 2004. Before this he was in charge of the Visual Arts Department at the French Ministry of [...]

Columbus Museum of Art Announces Pivotal Gift by Soter Family

COLUMBUS, OH.- The Columbus Museum of Art announces the establishment of the William and Sarah Ross Soter Endowed Curator of Photography. The first endowed position in CMA history, this pivotal gift builds upon the Soter and Ross families’ commitment to photography. The Soters’ pledge of $1.5 million to the Art Matters endowment and capital campaign enables the Museum to present special exhibitions of photography, support original scholarship related to the medium, and provide educational and other programs for generations to [...]

Academy Art Museum Announces Appointment of Erik H. Neil as Director

EASTON, MD.- The Academy Art Museum of Easton Maryland announced that Erik H. Neil PhD of New York City has been selected from more than 150 candidates to be the next Director of the Museum. Mr. Neil is an accomplished museum professional who began his career as Director of the Newcomb Art Gallery of Tulane University; he was also an adjunct professor in the History of Art at Tulane. More recently he was the Executive Director of the Heckscher Museum [...]

Lourdes Fernández, Resigns as Head of IFEMA”s ARCOmadrid

MADRID.- Lourdes Fernández has submitted her resignation as head of IFEMA International Fair of Contemporary Art. Thus ending a career of four editions (2007-2010) in which she has led ARCOmadrid. In her resignation letter she has alleged differences in the development of the project. IFEMA respects the decision made by Lourdes Fernández, which appreciates her contribution to ARCOmadrid, and reiterates its wish to continue working with the industry to define the best model of the fair to meet the challenges [...]

Israeli Artist Avigdor Arikha Dies at 81 on Thursday in Paris

PARIS.- Israeli artist Avigdor Arikha, who learned the power of art as a boy during the Holocaust when he sketched scenes from a concentration camp onto salvaged scraps of paper, has died in Paris. He was 81. Romanian-born Arikha, a painter, draftsman and printmaker, went on to become one of Israel’s most important contemporary artists, imbuing his portraits and scenes of daily life — a red umbrella against a wall, an overflowing bookshelf, a jumble of bottles in a cabinet [...]

Michael Darling is Named New Chief Curator of MCA Chicago

CHICAGO, IL.- Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pritzker Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago, announced today that Michael Darling has been appointed the new James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator, concluding a comprehensive international search. Darling is currently the Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) and plans to assume his new responsibilities at the MCA on July 12, 2010. “Michael Darling is the perfect creative leader to evolve the MCA as [...]