Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

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Art News Archive

Houston Museum of Natural Science doomsday exhibit to demystify Maya calendar Houston Museum of Natural Science doomsday exhibit to demystify Maya calendar

October 28, 2012 by   - Filed under Antiques & Archaeology


HOUSTON (AP).- Some might prepare for the end of the world by checking off items on their bucket list. But at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, curators are launching an exhibit designed to demystify the Maya and debunk the myth that the ancient culture predicted doomsday on Dec. 21, 2012. Visitors will walk darkened halls lined with pottery, jade carvings and black-and-white rubbings of jungle monuments, all tied in some way to the sophisticated Maya calendar. They’ll sit in replicas of large, mural-filled buildings that still grace the jungles of Mexico.... [Full Article]

Hiroshi Sugimoto’s “Revolution” publicly displayed for the first time at Museum Brandhorst Hiroshi Sugimoto’s “Revolution” publicly displayed for the first time at Museum Brandhorst

October 28, 2012 by   - Filed under Photography


MUNICH.- Hiroshi Sugimoto is one of the best-known photographic artists of our time. His celebrated international reputation is based on his photography, although in recent years he has become engaged with other genres: architecture, furniture, objects, and fashion all play an increasingly important role in his work. It is primarily his photography however, that important museums from all over the world have collected and displayed. Sugimoto’s unique accomplishments in his genre contradict the medium’s conventional tasks – to record reality as precisely as possible.... [Full Article]

Rare Gustav Klimt monograph sets auction record at Swann Galleries Rare Gustav Klimt monograph sets auction record at Swann Galleries

October 27, 2012 by   - Filed under Art Market


NEW YORK, NY.- The star lot in Swann Galleries’ October 11 auction of Art, Press & Illustrated Books was Das Werk von Gustav Klimt, Einleitende Worte: Hermann Bahr, Peter Altenberg, a stunning volume containing 50 plates in the original case designed by Julius Dratva, Vienna and Leipzig, 1918—it is the only monograph of Klimt’s work published in his lifetime. This beautiful and scarce book sold for an auction record price of $144,000*. Also setting a record was Lucien of Samosata’s Die Hetaerengespraeche, illustrated with erotic pencil and ink studies by... [Full Article]

Sotheby’s London to sell Portrait of Kate Perugini, Daughter of Charles Dickens, by Sir John Everett Millais Sotheby’s London to sell Portrait of Kate Perugini, Daughter of Charles Dickens, by Sir John Everett Millais

October 27, 2012 by   - Filed under Art Market


LONDON.- Portrait of Kate Perugini, Daughter of Charles Dickens by Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896) is to be offered for sale at Sotheby’s in the bicentennial year of the author’s death. The famous and innovative portrait will headline the Victorian works in the company’s auction of British & Irish Art in London on Tuesday, 13 November, 2012. Estimated at £150,000-200,000, the painting comes to the market from the Estate of Katherine Mellon, and following its inclusion in the touring V&A exhibition ‘The Cult of Beauty’ in San Francisco. The painting... [Full Article]

Exhibition of new works by the inimitable American artist Red Grooms opens at Marlborough Exhibition of new works by the inimitable American artist Red Grooms opens at Marlborough

October 27, 2012 by   - Filed under Art Events & Exhibitions


NEW YORK, NY.- Marlborough Gallery announced an exhibition of new works by the inimitable American artist Red Grooms. The exhibition, entitled Torn from the Pages, opened October 24 and continues through December 1, 2012. Since Ruckus Manhattan, his first widely acclaimed exhibition at Marlborough in 1976, Grooms has staked his claim as one of America’s most original, inventive, and popular artists. In this exhibition he turns his creativity towards other established artists, making them his subjects. The exhibition comprises 24 small mixed media constructions that... [Full Article]

Dallas Museum of Art discovers George Inness painting “In the Woods” in the Collection Dallas Museum of Art discovers George Inness painting “In the Woods” in the Collection

October 27, 2012 by   - Filed under Featured, Museums & Galleries


DALLAS, TX.- The Dallas Museum of Art announced today the reattribution of a painting to the artist George Inness, widely admired as one of America’s greatest landscape painters. The work of art has been in the Museum’s collection for eighty years, entering in 1931 as part of a bequest by Cecil A. Keating. At the time of the painting’s acquisition, the unsigned work carried the title of In the Woods and was believed to be by the hand of Asher B. Durand, a leading figure of the first generation of the Hudson River school painters in the mid-19th century. George... [Full Article]

Archaeologists in Guatemala excavate Mayan ruler’s tomb built between 700 and 400 B.C. Archaeologists in Guatemala excavate Mayan ruler’s tomb built between 700 and 400 B.C.

October 27, 2012 by   - Filed under Antiques & Archaeology


GUATEMALA CITY (AP).- Archaeologists announced Thursday they have uncovered the tomb of a very early Mayan ruler, complete with rich jade jewelry and decoration. Experts said the find at Guatemala’s Tak’alik Ab’aj temple site could help shed light on the formative years of the Mayan culture. Government archaeologist Miguel Orrego said carbon-dating indicates the tomb was built between 700 and 400 B.C., several hundred years before the Mayan culture reached its height. He said it was the oldest tomb found so far at Tak’alik Ab’aj, a site... [Full Article]

“David Hockney: A Bigger Picture” at Museum Ludwig features more than 150 works “David Hockney: A Bigger Picture” at Museum Ludwig features more than 150 works

October 26, 2012 by   - Filed under Art Events & Exhibitions, Featured


COLOGNE.- David Hockney’s swimming pool paintings are among the most popular images of the 1960s. He attained world fame as a flamboyant figure of “swinging London” and as a chronicler of the cool California way of life. His oeuvre also encompasses perceptive portraits, virtuoso still lifes, and landscapes, as well as photo collages, stage sets, and the smart handling of art-historical phenomena. Over the decades, all this has earned him a place among the world’s leading contemporary artists. Hockney’s multifaceted work always remains fresh and never ceases... [Full Article]

French record for René Magritte with the sale of “La Grande Table” for $6.6 million French record for René Magritte with the sale of “La Grande Table” for $6.6 million

October 25, 2012 by   - Filed under Art Market, Featured


PARIS.- The sale of the Zaira & Marsel Mis Collection at Sotheby’s France attracted a packed saleroom, with 30 phone lines a-crackle with bids from around the world. Oliver Barker, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe and the renowned director of Sotheby’s contemporary art sales in London, was wielding the gavel in Paris for the first time. Thomas Bompard, Head of the Impressionist & Modern Art Department at Sotheby’s France, declared afterwards that ‘We are naturally delighted that Zaira and Marsel Mis were so handsomely rewarded for assembling such... [Full Article]

“1934: A New Deal for Artists” exhibition opens at the New York State Museum in Albany “1934: A New Deal for Artists” exhibition opens at the New York State Museum in Albany

October 25, 2012 by   - Filed under Art Events & Exhibitions


ALBANY, NY.- A new exhibition — 1934: A New Deal for Artists — opened at the New York State Museum on October 19 showcasing paintings created against the backdrop of the Great Depression with the support of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), the first federal government program to support the arts nationally. Open until Jan. 20, 2013 in West Gallery, 1934: A New Deal for Artists is organized and circulated by the Smithsonian American Art Museum with support from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Endowment Fund and the Smithsonian Council for American Art.... [Full Article]

What is the grotesque in art? Museo Picasso Málaga takes a close look at the subject What is the grotesque in art? Museo Picasso Málaga takes a close look at the subject

October 25, 2012 by   - Filed under Art Events & Exhibitions, Featured


MALAGA.- Artworks and literary works from all over Europe and America have been gathered together for The Grotesque Factor, an exhibition that has been devised as a journey through the complex areas of what is known, in terms of art and aesthetic taste, as the grotesque. The exhibition confronts the semantic and cultural ambiguity of the object examined in it and accepts its heterogeneous nature, in which disdain and piety, laughter and grief, empathy and derision, tenderness and fright, abruptly come together. Ultimately, it both rejects and embraces what we are. The... [Full Article]

Sotheby’s exhibits highlights in Moscow from its forthcoming New York and London sales Sotheby’s exhibits highlights in Moscow from its forthcoming New York and London sales

October 25, 2012 by   - Filed under Art Events & Exhibitions, Featured


MOSCOW.- Sotheby’s is exhibiting 28 important and rare highlights from its forthcoming November auctions of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York and Russian Art in London, at the State Historical Museum in Moscow on the 24th and 25th October, 2012. Combined, the works are estimated at in excess of $31 million which represents among the highest value exhibitions staged by the Sotheby’s in Moscow. The exhibition – led by a Russian Icon commemorating an Imperial ‘miracle’ and Pablo Picasso’s portrait of Marie-Thérèse – Femme à la Fenêtre –... [Full Article]

Bank of America Merrill Lynch art conservation project helps restore 20 works of art across globe Bank of America Merrill Lynch art conservation project helps restore 20 works of art across globe

February 2, 2012 by   - Filed under Museums & Galleries


LONDON.- At an event at London’s Courtauld Gallery last night (31 January), Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced this year’s conservation funding recipients through its unique Art Conservation Project. This year, participating institutions span the globe from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), to Asia, Australia, Latin America and the United States. The Art Conservation Project will see the restoration of 20 art works and artifacts with important cultural and historical value from 19 countries. The 2012 award selections for EMEA include one of Leonardo... [Full Article]

Christie’s 2011 sales total US$5.7 billion; significant increase in private sales and via online Christie’s 2011 sales total US$5.7 billion; significant increase in private sales and via online

February 2, 2012 by   - Filed under Art Market


LONDON.- Christie’s announces 2011 sales of £3.6 billion / US$5.7 billion, up 9% by £ (14% by US$) compared with 2010 (figures include buyer’s premium). This includes private sales of £502 million / US$808.6 million, an increase of 44% by £ (50% by US$) on 2010. “Christie’s ability to curate and offer sales of art to a growing audience has led to continued demand across geographies, collecting categories and at all levels. This is a very encouraging set of results”, said Steven P. Murphy, Chief Executive Officer, Christie’s. “While we are seeing... [Full Article]

Restored Rubens masterpiece goes back on public view at The Courtauld Gallery Restored Rubens masterpiece goes back on public view at The Courtauld Gallery

February 2, 2012 by   - Filed under Art Events & Exhibitions


LONDON.- The newly-conserved masterpiece Cain Slaying Abel by Sir Peter Paul Rubens went back on public display at The Courtauld Gallery, today. The magnificent painting, widely considered to be one of the most important in the Gallery’s world-class collection of works by Rubens, has been restored as part of the Bank of America Art Conservation Project which was launched in 2010. The Flemish master Rubens (1577-1640) was one of the most exciting and explosive artistic talents of early modern Europe . His energetic compositions, such as Cain Slaying Abel, greatly... [Full Article]