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Recent News on Artdaily.org
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The Essence of Colour: The Art of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark opens at the Arken
SKOVVEJ.- On 28th January 2012 Arken opens the doors to the exhibition The Essence of Colour – The Art of Queen Margrethe II. This is the biggest exhibition hitherto of the Queen‟s art, where the public can follow her artistic development over the past 35 years. Over 130 acrylic paintings, water-colours and découpages are presented – including a series of brand new works that have never before been shown to the public. “The exhibition offers unique insight into the artist Margrethe II. We meet an open, vulnerable, searching human being who is able to convert her reflections on the fundamental existential conditions of human life into simple, lucid art,” says the director of ARKEN, Christian Gether, of The Essence of Colour. In 1969 the Queen read Tolkien‟s epic fantasy, which inspired among other things the series of water-colours Landscapes for Lost Legends. Since then, nature has been a central
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Frank Lloyd Wright archival reproductions now available at 1000Museums.com
SCOTTSDALE, AZ.- The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation announced a new licensing agreement with 1000Museums, the premier provider of archival reproductions from museums around the world. Now, with the help of print-on-demand technology, never-before-printed selections from the Foundation’s Archives will be available to admirers of Wright’s work. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives is the most complete collection of materials related to a single artist housed under one roof anywhere in the world. Wright’s work ranged from residences designed in the Prairie style in the late 19th century, to modern works including Fallingwater, the Usonian Homes, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City in the late 50s. “At 1000Museums, our goal is to make art accessible, and we are thrilled to be able to bring a full spectrum of work from the Frank Lloyd Foundation Archive online,” says
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First known Roman brothel token to have been discovered in London on display at the Museum of London
LONDON.- The token or spintria, depicts a man and a woman having sex on one face, and has the Roman numerals XIIII (14) on the other. The lady appears to be lying on a couch on her front and a male figure is positioned behind her. The item was hit upon by a mudlarker on the Thames foreshore near Putney Bridge, whilst searching with a metal detector. It was then declared to the Museum of London under the Portable Antiquities Scheme (external website). The spintria is roughly the size of a 10 pence piece and may even be the only such token ever found in Britain. Caroline McDonald, Museum of London Curator, said: “This is the perfect archaeological object. It’s sexy and provocative in the best sense of the word. The lot of a Roman sex slave was not a happy one and objects like this can help the Museum of London provoke debates about issues that are relevant to the modern city and its visitors. Museums should e
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Zapotec kiln used 1,000 years ago discovered in Oaxaca by Mexican archaeologists from INAH
OAXACA.- A kiln used by Zapotec ancestors to create ceramic pieces more than 1,300 years ago, confirms the long tradition of pottery in Oaxaca. The Prehispanic kiln was recently discovered at Atzompa Archaeological Site, which will be opened to the public this year. This kiln presents a good conservation state, better than those found at Monte Alban, being the best conserved found to present. The kiln allows linking Prehispanic pottery tradition to the current handicraft activity at Santa Maria Atzompa community, acknowledging identification of contemporary society with the ancestors. This was announced by the archaeologist Jaime Vera, from the National Institute of Anthropology (INAH-Conaculta), responsible of excavations at the site, who mentioned that the kiln was buried under a stucco floor of the platform known as Casa de los Altares (House of the Altars). “Preliminarily, it was assumed that it might date from
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Ambitious new work by American artist Doug Wheeler on view at David Zwirner
NEW YORK, NY.- David Zwirner presents an ambitious new work by American artist Doug Wheeler (b. 1939), whose large-scale installations have rarely been seen in the United States. Built within the gallery’s 519 West 19th Street space, Wheeler’s SA MI 75 DZ NY 12 (2012) explores the materiality of light while emphasizing the viewer’s physical experience of infinite space. The exhibition marks the first presentation of an “infinity environment” by the artist in New York. As a pioneer of the so-called “Light and Space” movement that flourished in Southern California in the 1960s and 1970s, Wheeler’s prolific and groundbreaking
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United Kingdom's tallest building "The Shard" designed by Renzo Piano adds drama to London's sky
LONDON (AP).- Passengers stepping out of London Bridge tube station cannot help but crane their necks to gaze at the jagged tower under construction: The Shard is the tallest building in the European Union and looks like a slice of glass balanced on the edge of the financial district. When the tower opens next year, visitors to the observation deck will see helicopters fly by at eye level and take in the metropolis all the way to the distant north Downs Hills. The structure designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano dwarfs nearby landmarks like Tower Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral across the Thames. The ambitious project speaks of now faded boom times: 1.5 billion pound ($2.34 billion) price tag, fancy restaurants, corporate office space,
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Over 80 exceptional Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque objects on view at Blumka Gallery
NEW YORK, NY.- Anthony Blumka of Blumka Gallery in New York and Florian Eitle-Böhler of the Starnberg, Germany-based Kunsthandlung Julius Böhler announce that Collecting Treasures of the Past VII,an exhibition of exceptional Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque objects, opened on Thursday, January 26 through Friday, February 10, 2012 at Blumka Gallery, 209 East 72nd Street in New York. This exhibit coincides with Old Masters Week. With over 80 rare and historically significant objects on view, Blumka and Eitle-Böhler present Pluto and Proserpina, by Matthias Steinl, an Imperial Court sculptor in Vienna (1643/44-1727) and one of the greatest ivory carvers of all time. "We consider Pluto and Proserpina to be the most important Baroque ivory to enter the market in the past 50 years," said Anthony Blumka. According to Blumka, there are only six or seven pieces by this artist in existence, and this e
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Former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's gifts up for sale at Artmark auction house
BUCHAREST (AP).- What did they give the dictator who had everything? An African leopardskin or a silver dove — a novel offering from the former Shah of Iran — are just two examples of gifts received by Nicolae Ceausescu that will be auctioned off Thursday, on what would have been the late Romanian leader's 94th birthday. The auction which is billed "the Golden Age" is a reference to the final years of Ceausescu's rule, when Communist Party officials painted a rosy picture of life in Romania, while, in reality, people struggled with food shortages, power outages and the dreaded Securitate secret police which kept tabs on the population of 23 million with an army of 760,000 informers. Ceausescu, known as "the
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Financing in place for the Städel extension wing and refurbishment of the old building
FRANKFURT.- A month before the opening of the Städel extension wing for contemporary art, and after the reopening of the refurbished old building in late 2011, the financing of the entire project is now in place. The “Städelscher Museums-Verein” added the finishing touches today when it handed over a check for three million euros. One half (around 26 million euros) of the approx. 52-million euro project (34 million for the extension, 18 million for refurbishing the old building) was financed through the unprecedented support of companies, foundations, and by private donations by members of the public, and the other matched by public funding. As part of the “Frankfurt baut das neue Städel“ (Frankfurt is building the new Städel) campaign launched by the Museum, over the last two-and-a-half years there were numerous events in support of the largest extension (in terms of construction and content) in the
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Frieze New York 2012: Inaugural Frieze Projects program by eight artists announced
NEW YORK, NY.- Frieze announced the artists that have been commissioned to produce unique works as part of the inaugural Frieze Projects program for Frieze New York. The fair will be located in the unique setting of Randall’s Island Park, overlooking the East River. The eight artists that will participate in Frieze Projects New York are: John Ahearn, Uri Aran, Latifa Echakhch, Joel Kyack, Rick Moody, Virginia Overton, Tim Rollins and K.O.S. and Ulla von Brandenburg. The Frieze Projects program is realized annually at Frieze New York and is curated this year by Cecilia Alemani. The majority of the commissioned projects are situated outdoors and are located throughout Randall’s Island. Artists have been invited to react to the exceptional environment of Frieze New York and to create special
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Swann Galleries in New York announces February auction of African-American fine art
NEW YORK, NY.- On Thursday, February 16, Swann Galleries will conduct their annual winter auction of African-American Fine Art, with highlights ranging from important 19th century landscape paintings to prints by celebrated contemporary artists. In all, there are more than 160 works by prominent black artists. The lot with the highest pre-sale estimate is a significant Charles White drawing—the first from the artist’s famous J’Accuse! series to come to auction—J’Accuse! No. 10 (Negro Woman), charcoal on paper, 1966. A powerful depiction of African-American women, it was the cover illustration for a 1966 issue of Ebony magazine (estimate: $150,000 to $200,000). Also among the sale’s top lots is the first William T. Williams painting to appear at auction, a large 1971 acrylic on canvas titled Eastern Star, which is an excellent example of the artist’s unique abstract
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Artist John Miller transforms Metro Pictures into a bizarre yet familiar public space
NEW YORK, NY.- John Miller elaborates on many of the tropes he has masterfully cultivated throughout his thirty-plus year career in “Suburban Past Time,” his latest exhibition at Metro Pictures. Through artificial rocks and plants ranging in scale from massive to ordinary, wallpaper, store-bought and handmade decorative elements, Miller transforms the gallery into a bizarre yet familiar public space. The works included in the exhibition are a continuation of the artist’s ongoing sociological investigation into so-called middlebrow culture, which focus on artifice in Western consumer societies. To evoke a sense of the generic, Miller pastes two vector print wallpapers depicting exterior views of nondescript plattenbauten, or apartment blocks, in Berlin and a beach resort on the working class tourist island of Mallorca, Spain. With the wallpapers are two carpets spelling “NO,” filing cabine
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J.M.W. Turner painting selld for £217,250 in Bonhams 19th century paintings sale
LONDON.- A beautiful watercolour of Kirkby Lonsdale Churchyard by Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (1775-1851), that had not been seen at auction since 1884, sold yesterday (Wednesday 25th January 2012) for £217,250 as part of the 19th Century Paintings sale at Bonhams, 101 New Bond Street, London. The sale total was £1,871,925. Turner painted the lyrical English landscape of the River Lune from the churchyard of St Mary’s Church in Kirkby Lonsdale, with a group of children playing in the foreground. A view admired by the influential critic and artist John Ruskin (1819-1900) who wrote, “whatever moorland hill, and sweet river, and English forest foliage can be seen at their best is gathered there; and chiefly seen from the steep bank which falls to the stream side from the upper part of the town itself. ...I do not know in all my own country, still less in France or Italy, a place more
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O'Hara's Gallery auction at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers achieves over $1.5 million
CHICAGO, IL.- Proving once again that global demand for the best and most unique property is as strong as ever, the sale of property from O’Hara’s Gallery realized $1,539,060 at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on January 22-24. The extraordinary results of the sale were largely due to strong online activity, with an average of nearly 800 bidders each day. The highlight of the sale was a Chinese carved hardwood opium bed with inset marble panels that sold to a bidder in Hong Kong for $53,680 after much competitive bidding. Fine European furniture also realized exceptional prices. A suite of French giltwood parlor furniture decorated with Vernis Martin lacquer work sold for $23,180, and an impressive pair of Empire gilt bronze thirty-six-light chandeliers brought $21,960. Prices throughout the sale were outstanding for Sèvres-style porcelain and Continental champlevé items, many of which doubled and tripled their es
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Unweave the Rainbow: A Contemporary group show opens at Scream Gallery
LONDON.- Scream presents ‘Unweave the Rainbow’, its second annual curated exhibition of emerging artists. The sequel to last January’s ‘States of Reverie’, ‘Unweave the Rainbow’ features young artists from the USA, UK, China and Poland, each with a unique style, who have in common a psychedelic, other worldy or surreal sensibility. The exhibition title is inspired by John Keats’ 19th Century poem ‘Lamia’, an allegory for man’s attempt to separate emotions and sensuality from reason, this poem inspired the selection of artists in ‘Unweave the Rainbow’. The practice of each artist featured in this exhibition demonstrates tension between dream and reality, imagination and reason. Several of the artists work in 2 or 3 dimensions, for example Caroline Jane Harris who creates otherworldly handcut monochrome photographs, Jen Stark whose psychedelic paper sculptu
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Joel Sternfeld's Campagna Romana on view for the first time in Germany at the Buchmann Galerie
BERLIN.- The Buchmann Galerie announces the exhibition Campagna Romana by the American photographer Joel Sternfeld (b. 1944). The focus will be the eponymous group of works, which Joel Sternfeld has been working on in the Roman periphery since the early 1990s; it is being shown in Germany for the first time. The works in Campagna Romana frequently allude to the ruins of ancient Roman aqueducts, villas, and tombs. In some cases, the subjects are the same ones that fascinated Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin in the seventeenth century, Piranesi a hundred years later, and Thomas Cole in the nineteenth century. Joel Sternfeld juxtaposes the relics of a powerful civilization of the past with the buildings and debris of our day. He also shows how the ruins of monumental Roman buildings have been assimilated as components of a cultural landscape that has evolved over hundreds of years. Whereas the paintings
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Liz Taylor-owned Dutch master sells for $2M in New York City
NEW YORK (AP).- A 17th-century portrait that once hung in the living room of Elizabeth Taylor's Bel Air home — and was only recently reattributed to the Dutch master Frans Hals — sold at auction Wednesday for $2 million. "Portrait of a Man," painted in the early 1630s, went to a buyer bidding by phone at Christie's sale of Old Masters. Its presale estimate had been $700,000 to $1 million. A Hals scholar, Seymour Slive, had listed the painting as a "doubtful" work by the Dutch artist in a 1974 catalog, judging by a black and white photo of the work. After Taylor hung it in her California home in the 1950s, "It academically fell off the radar," said Nicholas Hall, head of Christie's Old Master paintings. But last summer, Christie's and Pieter Biesboer, the retired curator of Old Master paintings at the Frans Hals Museum in Holland, confirmed the work was by Hals. "From 20 yards away one could tell that it was an utterly authentic
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Galería Pilar Serra opens Pablo Genovés' first individual show at the gallery
MADRID.- Following "Precipitados" (Precipitates), Pablo Genovés’ first individual show in the Galería Pilar Serra, now presents Cronología del ruido (Noise Chronology), an exhibition in which he returns to his particular process of re-signification of symbolic spaces of western culture from the combination of media and signs, and his liking for contrast and the unexpected. “Is renovation possible when catastrophe rises up before us as the natural and eternal state of things? In the images of Pablo Genovés, destruction transgresses the laws of time and establishes its own chronology. The symbols and fictions of our culture apparently succumb in the face of the irruption of the untameable: mechanical natures, monumental in their disproportion and now out of all control. But hiding behind this aggression is a secret pact of compromise. The pre-existing and its end are offered each aware of the other, in
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Guggenheim selects new site for BMW Guggenheim Lab Berlin
NEW YORK, NY.- Following careful consideration, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has selected a new site for the BMW Guggenheim Lab Berlin, the combination think tank, public forum, and community center that will operate in Berlin from May 24 to July 29, 2012, as part of a nine-city, six-year tour. Berlin is the second stop for the Lab, following its successful inaugural run in New York City last fall. The new site is in Kreuzberg, a Berlin neighborhood known for its engagement with social action and public art, and is centrally located on an expansive lot at the corner of Cuvrystrasse and Schlesische Strasse, along the River Spree. Visible from Berlinʼs landmark Oberbaumbrücke Bridge, the site is accessible from the Schlesisches Tor U-Bahn Station. The 8,400-square-meter lot will be able to accommodate a broad range of free public programming currently being developed by the Berlin Lab Team. While
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