| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Monday, April 13, 2020 |
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| | Evolve or perish: Virus reshaping art auction market | |
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In this file photo Amedeo ModiglianiÂs 1917 painting, ÂNu Couché (Sur Le Côté Gauche) is displayed at right as "Tete de Femme (Lorette)," a 1916 painting by Henri Matisse, is auctioned at Sotheby's in New York on Monday night, May 14, 2018. Karsten Moran/The New York Times.
by James Pheby with Thomas Urbain in New York
LONDON (AFP).- The coronavirus pandemic poses a huge global challenge to auction houses large and small, but those that have embraced technology could prosper as nervous investors seek a safe haven, according to experts. Major London-based house Sotheby's has closed its London, Hong Kong, Dubai, Geneva, Milan, Paris and New York offices, throwing their marquee May auctions into doubt. Main rival Christie's, meanwhile, said it was "working swiftly" to reschedule postponed auctions. "It's a threat to all of us, but I do think we'll get through it," Giles Peppiatt, director for modern and contemporary African art at fellow London-based auction giant Bonhams, told AFP. Although no longer able to hold live auctions, the pandemic has accelerated the move to online sales. "We thank our stars that we have ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day In an effort to assist the many treasured but vulnerable museums and non-profit arts and historical institutions around the country during this difficult time, Eli Wilner & Company will award a non-profit institution with one fully-funded frame restoration grant. Submissions for the grant will be accepted through April 30th, 2020.In this image: A 19th Century portrait frame in the collection of the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, CT, before and after restoration by Eli Wilner & Company.
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 | | Eli Wilner & Company offers museums a fully-funded frame restoration grant opportunity | | Anne Frank's diary more relevant than ever, 75 years on | | Museum of Fine Arts Ghent offers a virtual tour of the exhibition Van Eyck. An Optical Revolution | 
A master finisher in Eli Wilner & Company's studio restores a frame for a painting by Wassily Kandinsky in the collection of Lynden Sculpture Garden in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
NEW YORK, NY.- In an effort to assist the many treasured but vulnerable museums and non-profit arts and historical institutions around the country during this difficult time, Eli Wilner & Company will award a non-profit institution with one fully-funded frame restoration grant. Submissions for the grant will be accepted through April 30th, 2020. The recipient institution will be announced later this spring. Due to the fact that many curatorial and conservation staff do not have physical access to their collections at this time, a very simple application process has been established. Here is the criteria: ● Entries should be emailed to: info@eliwilner.com ● Subject line of the email should read: [Name of Institution] frame restoration grant application ● At least one image of the frame and approximate sizes. ● A brief description (3-4 sentences) of why the frame is historically and culturally ... More | | 
A portrait of Anne Frank who died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Photo: Collections Anne Frank House, Amsterdam/AFP PHOTO.
by Danny Kemp
AMSTERDAM (AFP).- A lifetime ago, a Jewish girl confided in her diary as she spent two years in isolation from the outside world in a doomed attempt to escape mortal danger. Anne Frank, a teenager from Amsterdam, wrote of her hopes, fears and dreams as she and her family hid from the Nazis in a secret annexe behind a canal-side house. Seventy-five years ago this year, after their hiding place was discovered, Anne died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, aged 15. But the diary that her father published after World War II won a worldwide audience as a reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust, and remains more relevant than ever. "The most important part of the diary is that it offers some insight into what it means to be human," Ronald Leopold, ... More | | 
Jan van Eyck (Maaseik?, c. 1390 - Bruges, 1441), Portrait of a Man with a Blue Chaperon, c. 1428−1430. Oil on panel, 22 x 17 cm. Muzeul National Brukenthal, Sibiu (Romania).
GHENT.- Museum of Fine Arts Ghents exhibition Van Eyck. An Optical Revolution brings together more than half of the twenty surviving paintings and drawings by Jan van Eyck (ca 1390-1441). They are displayed along with works from his studio, copies of lost works by the Master and more than 100 masterpieces by his contemporaries including Fra Angelico, Paolo Uccello, Pisanello and Petrus Christus. Highlight of the exhibition is a once-in-a-life time opportunity to witness eight panels of the Ghent Altarpiece displayed together for the first time in a museum, in what is the largest exhibition that has ever been dedicated to Van Eyck. The core of the exhibition consists of eight exterior panels of the closed Ghent Altarpiece (1432) by Hubert and Jan van Eyck. Between 2012 and 2016, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK) restored these panels in the ... More |
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| | Massimo De Carlo launches Virtual Space: A new walkable and flexible immersive experience | | Hundreds of Decorative Arts & Design fans join Lyon & Turnbull's auction from comfort of homes | | Goodman Gallery digital programme brings 3D virtual gallery tours, and online exhibitions | 
Massimo De Carlo VSpace web version will be available on their website from the 14th of April.
LONDON.- Massimo De Carlo announced the opening of a new space, its fifth globally: Massimo De Carlo Virtual Space (later referred as VSpace). On the 14th of April 2020 at 5pm CET they will inaugurate the first exhibition conceived for this new gallery with works by John Armleder and Rob Pruitt. Massimo De Carlo Virtual Space is the first virtual space of its kind in the art world: constructed with the newest technologies, VSpace is a complete immersive walkable experience that any viewer can enjoy through their website or through your Oculus glasses hardware. Moreover, because of its digital identity, the VSpace is completely flexible and adaptable to any exhibition scenario: it is the first space that depends upon the works of art, and not vice versa. Massimo De Carlo said, The history of my gallery reflects an innovative spirit in adventuring in unprecedented, historically charged, distinctive spaces globally. With our new Vir ... More | | 
Sir George James Frampton (1860-1928) patinated bronze, Peter Pan, signed and dated 1911. Sold for: £35,000.
EDINBURGH.- Lyon & Turnbull held a remarkably successful sale of 19th and 20th century works of art on April 1 the firms first using the live online format. Although held behind closed doors in Edinburgh, the sale titled Decorative Arts: Design from 1860 attracted close to 1400 registered bidders across three online bidding platforms achieving a sale total of £570,000* and an excellent selling rate of 83%. With only occasional short breaks from the rostrum, Managing Director Gavin Strang sold 600 lots solo for a heroic 12 hours. Respecting current rules of social distancing, he was alone in the saleroom, fielding bids via video-conferencing software from three online platforms and phones operated by staff from home. Billing and payments will also be handled from home offices. "It was certainly the longest time I have ever spent in the rostrum, but it ... More | | 
Shirin Neshat, Jenasis Greer, from Land of Dreams series, 2019. C-print & ink. Work: 182.9 x 121.9 cm. STD 1/5. Edition of 5.
LONDON.- Goodman Gallery opened its virtual doors across their locations in South Africa and the United Kingdom to bring you enhanced digital programming replete with enriched experiences of gallery exhibitions, weekly bespoke online viewing rooms, Instagram LIVE takeovers and an online film festival. First, Goodman Gallery invites you to explore their new digital platform, where they are launching two exhibitions curated for dynamic online viewing: A Golden Spike takes its cue from the powerful knock-on effect of reduced travel emissions on the environment while over a quarter of the world population lives in lockdown. The exhibition challenges the idea that nature can be taken for granted and treated as a mere backdrop to our lives. It features important work by the 2020 Hasselblad Prize winner Alfredo Jaar alongside award-winning artist Kapwani Kiwanga ... More |
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| | Art To Stop Covid19: Charity auction to support healthcare staff in Italy | | Ronald Lewis, preserver of New Orleans African American culture, dies at 68 | | Traditional Japanese seal system hampers telework for some | 
Sinon Keenleyside, Worn out, 2013. Courtesy L'artista and Blindarte.
ROME.- Gallerists, artists, collectors, professionals from the art world joined together for Art To Stop Covid19 a charity auction to support the medical staff on the front lines in the fight against Coronavirus. Gallerists Memmo Grilli and Edoardo Osculati with the collaboration of Mariuccia Casadio, conceived this online charity auction. The proceeds will be entirely donated to support the healthcare staff of the Lombardy Region and Pascale Institute of Naples: The charity auction is open for the whole period of the emergency. Collectors such as Andrea Zegna, Ernesto Esposito, Gregory Papdimitriou, the artists Jacopo Benassi, Mimmo Jodice, David Casini, Flavio Favelli, Roberto Coda Zabetta, the gallerists Antonio Colombo, Associazione Continua Continua San Gimignano, Poggiali Gallery, Otto Zoo Gallery, Francesca Minini Gallery, Federica Schiavo Gallery, Galleria Raffaella Cortese, have already donated a work, and more will be added on the website of the ... More | | 
The House Of Dance And Feathers:: A Museum By Ronald W Lewis Paperback.
by Steven Kurutz
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Ronald W. Lewis, whose colorful museum in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans preserved the performance traditions and rich street culture of its African American population, died March 20 in that city. He was 68. The cause was the coronavirus, said Brent Taylor, a nephew. Lewis had bypass surgery last year and had been well until he contracted the virus in early March. He died at Ochsner Hospital. The House of Dance and Feathers, as Lewis named his cultural institution, was an astonishing treasure-trove of local history focused on the Lower 9th Ward and the Mardi Gras Indians, who dress in feathers, bangles and dazzling, hand-sewn costumes as they dance through the citys black neighborhoods on special occasions. (The group dates to the 1800s, formed by African Americans to pay tribute to the Native Americans who had ... More | | 
In this file photo taken on March 13, 2004, a consumer chooses a "Hanko" or personal seal in Tokyo. TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP.
by Natsuko Fukue
TOKYO (AFP).- Some Japanese office workers are facing a small, but insurmountable hurdle to staying home under the state of emergency declared in parts of the country over the virus: personal signature stamps. A reliance on paper filing systems in parts of Japan's business world is forcing employees to go into work to put their unique seal on documents. To do this they use tiny traditional stamps known as hanko or inkan -- tools that date back centuries, but are still popular nationwide. Usually cylindrical with a surface no larger than a fingernail, the tiny stamps are used with red ink to sign contracts, approve proposals and verify who has viewed what. "I need to physically be in the office because I need to submit paper documents and stamp them," Mizuho, who works at an IT firm in Tokyo, told AFP. Even though ... More |
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| | Steidl publishes 'Chris Killip: The Station' | | Major, never performed Sir John Tavener work discovered by Grange Park Opera, Surrey | | Don't box them in. Their dancing belongs to the world. | 
Chris Killip: The Station. 200 pages, 11.5 x 15 in. / 36.4 x 28.8 cm. Hardback / Clothbound. US$ 85.00 / 75.00. ISBN 978-3-95829-616-9
NEW YORK, NY.- The Station was a dedicated performance and rehearsal space established by The Gateshead Music Collective after their previous venue was threatened with closure. The Collective, together with community and youth workers, lobbied Gateshead Council and with help from the Councils Library Services, successfully applied to The Princes Trust for funding to buy equipment and to refurbish the space. In 1985 I was photographing nightlife venues in Newcastle when someone told me about The Station in Gateshead. I was amazed by the energy and feel of the place. It was totally different; run for and by the people who went there. I stopped going to other venues to photograph there on Saturday nights. Nobody ever asked me where I was from or even who I was. A thirty-nine year-old with ... More | | 
Sir David Pountney by Emli Bendixen.
SURREY.- Grange Park Opera, Surrey, has discovered a major work by a major composer. Sir John Tavener (19442013), who was the one of the most acclaimed British composers of the post-war years, completed his final opera Krishna in 2005. For 14 years it has remained in manuscript form and has never been staged. Until now. Krishna will be performed for the first time ever in June 2024 at Grange Park Operas Theatre in the Woods. It will be directed by opera-giant Sir David Pountney. HRH The Prince of Wales had a long friendship with Sir John Tavener and supported the commission of The Beautiful Names in 2007. Sir John once explained what they had in common: "We share views on the importance of all religious traditions." The opera, Krishna, focuses on the cycle of Krishnas life which is portrayed in 15 vignettes. The text of this two-and-a-half-hour work is Taveners own, expounding a Blakean philosophy that in any ... More | | 
Heather Lang, left, and Ebony Williams, dancers in the Broadway play Jagged Little Pill, onstage in New York, March 6, 2020. Maridelis Morales Rosado/The New York Times.
by Gia Kourlas
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- As chorus members of Jagged Little Pill on Broadway, Heather Lang and Ebony Williams didnt qualify for private dressing rooms. That news was disconcerting, at least to me. Although the musical like everything else is on hiatus because of the outbreak of the coronavirus, its worth knowing that they were two of the shows shining stars, delivering sophisticated dance eight times a week. Dance is the orphan art, Lang said before a performance in February. Were in the ensemble even though were featured. And some of what we do is just as hard as the principals. In a show as physical as Jagged Little Pill, directed by Diane ... More |
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Living Apart Together: Bruce Yonemoto
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 Latvian National Museum of Art presents virtual exhibition from its video art collectionRIGA.- The Latvian National Museum of Art wishes to continue to reach out to its esteemed public and adapts its exhibition format to the conditions of the COVID-19 crisis. From 6 April to 31 May 2020, the visitors to the homepage of the LNMA, will have the opportunity to see an anti-public exhibition from the video art collection far away from the museums halls, each in their own homes, on their personal display. For the very first time almost the entire collection of video art of the Latvian National Museum of Art (LNMA), assembled over the last five years, is shown together. The viewers will see a small yet outstanding selection video works by Sarmīte Māliņa and Kristaps Kalns, Kārlis Vītols, Ieva Epnere, Ēriks Apaļais, Kris Salmanis, Kristaps Epners, Miķelis Fiers, Maija Kureva, Katrīna Neiburga, and Krista Dzudzilo. Several works demonstrate a certain trend w ... More Bach in my heart, and my heart in his handsNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- When physician and writer Lewis Thomas died, in 1993, his New York Times obituary called him the poet-philosopher of medicine. And of science in general, it might have added. In one essay, he wrote about a prospective attempt at contact with whatever living creatures might inhabit interstellar reaches. What should we try to communicate? I would vote for Bach, Thomas wrote, all of Bach, streamed out into space, over and over again. We would be bragging, of course, but it is surely excusable for us to put the best possible face on at the beginning of such an acquaintance. We can tell the harder truths later. I would vote for Bach, too especially at this time of hard truths. His music, like that of others but more than most, can edify, elevate and inspire in its intelligence, its endless inventiveness and its understated ... More The Bass moblizes its virtual Instagram gallery to present video works from the collectionMIAMI, FLA.- The Bass Museum of Art is presenting a selection of video works from the museums collection titled Montages: The Full Cut, 1999-2015, a collection of eight films by artist Tracey Moffatt and her long-time collaborator Gary Hillberg. Shown for the first time in the digital sphere, The Bass is exhibiting the works in its virtual gallery space called The Bass2 (@TheBassSquared). Exclusively via Instagram, @TheBassSquared began in 2019 thanks to a grant from the Knight Foundation in an effort to make more digital art accessible online. The films boldly survey the nature of representation and genres of cinema. Created over a sixteen-year period, Montages deconstruct stereotypes within Hollywood films and television, creating new narratives and character conventions. With their quick, sometimes jarring transitions, the films create highly ... More West Dean College launches short course tutor series by its arts and crafts expertsCHICHESTER.- The face-to-face teaching may be suspended but the learning continues. West Dean College of Arts and Conservation has introduced a series of bite-size master tips, studio insights and mini tutorials from the Colleges expert line-up of Short Course Tutors on YouTube and across the Colleges social media channels. Tutorials include Jake Spicer on drawing a charcoal self-portrait using your reflection as the subject and with our suggestion that you challenge friends and family to draw themselves via live video call (or share the results via live call) for a great way to tackle social isolation. You can get into the garden and draw and paint the tulips with Botanical Artist Sandrine Maugy. Cas Holmes demonstrates how to make mixed media collages to fill your sketch book with colour and inspiration, Photographer Tim Savage offers ... More New South Wales artists sought for Sydney Metro artSYDNEY.- Artists across the State are being called upon to submit expressions of interest to design new public artworks that will greet passengers when the 10 stations on the T3 Bankstown Line from Marrickville to Bankstown are upgraded to metro standards as part of Sydney Metro City & Southwest. Create NSW in partnership with Sydney Metro will select 10 artists (or artist groups) for 10 separate paid commissions of up to $25,000 each that will be realised as semi-transparent artworks, embedded in glass panels across the upgraded stations. Minister for the Arts and Aboriginal Affairs Don Harwin praised the project for both its timing and the opportunity to reflect and celebrate the diverse communities along the Bankstown Line, including a focus on First Nations artists for Canterbury and Punchbowl stations. Given the current circumstances, this is an opportune ... More Rizzoli publishes a visual autobiography of counterculture/street artist/entrepreneur Craig Costello AKA KRNEW YORK, NY.- Craig Costello, aka KR, grew up in Queens, New York, where graffiti was part of the landscape and a symbol of the city. While living in San Francisco, he quickly garnered attention when his signature KR tag popped up throughout the city. As he became one of the more prominent figures on the streets on NYC and San Francisco, he began to hone his craft by creating better tools launching his own line of homemade markers and mops, combining his moniker KR with the word INK. In KRINK: Graffiti, Art, and Invention, Costello has compiled a visual memoir: from his early days of the '80s and '90s and launch with the hip New York City retailer Alife, which put his brand on the map, to his evolution as an artist and high-fashion collaborator. The book showcases Costellos seminal style and his extensive body of work, including site specific installations ... More The Parrish Art Museum offers workshops direct from the artist's studio WATER MILL, NY.- The Parrish Art Museum continues Live from the Studio, a new series of free live-stream art workshops, with morning classes on upcoming Wednesdays at 11am featuring two artists whose work is in the Museums collection. On April 15, painter Eric Dever will lead a workshop on Methods and Materials of Painting; on April 22, photographer and textile artist Laurie Lambrecht will explore photo-weaving to connect in the time of separation. The classes are open to all participants, adults and families, at any skill level. "Our first live-stream workshop, with Barbara Thomas, attracted more than 70 enthusiastic participants and many shared their work with us on Instagram, said Cara Conklin-Wingfield, Parrish Education Director. Our teaching artists are generously volunteering their time to bring art to the Parrish community, and the response ... More Manchester Museum uploads engaging digital content onto a mobile site MANCHESTER.- Connection and inspiration is needed during challenging times like these. Manchester Museum is a social space loved by many and very much missed by its visitors, as the museum is currently closed due to COVID-19. The need for some awe and wonder in difficult times is something museum staff has been thinking about and they wanted to continue to offer access to exhibitions, learning resources and volunteering opportunities, for all ages. To address this the museum has curated Manchester Museum in Quarantine, uploading some of its most engaging digital content onto a mobile site so everyone can explore and enjoy the museum in their own homes. The purpose of the site is to help entertain, educate and spark joy and wonder until the museum reopens. Esme Ward, Director of Manchester Museum said: Manchester Museum aims ... More Daylight Books publishes 'Family Resemblance' by Eric MuellerNEW YORK, NY.- Family Resemblance is a multi-year photo project that documents and celebrates people who are genetically related and bear a strong resemblance to each other. As an adopted person, photographer Eric Mueller always wondered what it would be like to look like someone else. At age forty-five, Mueller received a photograph of his birth mother in the mail, which was the first time he ever saw a biological relative; he was stunned by how much he resembled her. "Seeing myself in another person's face was a lightning bolt so powerful it divided my life into everything that happened before that moment from everything that happened after." The momentous experience of seeing his biological mother triggered Mueller's idea to photograph family members with shared physical characteristics. Over the course of three years, Mueller photographed ... More 500 years ago, this port linked east to west. Its fate was to fade away.MALACCA (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- About the fastest-moving force these days in the old Portuguese settlement of Malacca is the sweat trickling down the torsos of the underemployed. In the stifling heat its always hot in Malacca a group of such shirtless men were sprawled under the shade of a tree, hoping to catch the slightest sea breeze, but the winds werent cooperating. A few nearby dinghies had no oars, but it didnt matter. The fish werent biting anyway. This place wasnt always so lethargic. In fact, in the 16th century, this port on the strategic Malacca Strait was positioned at the fulcrum of the world, linking the Pacific and Indian oceans at the height of the global spice trade. Centuries before Asian fusion became a culinary trope, Malacca developed its own intricately multicultural heritage, influenced by the crowds of Chinese, Arabs, ... More Broadway benefit for pandemic assistance sunk by labor disputeNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- An effort to raise money for entertainment workers hurt by the coronavirus pandemic has collapsed because of a dispute between a major charity and a labor union representing musicians. The charity, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, had planned an online fundraiser Monday at which it would stream a concert, recorded in November, that celebrated the 25th anniversary of Disney on Broadway. The concert, backed by 15 musicians, was also a fundraiser, which brought in $570,426 for Broadway Cares. Two major labor unions, Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, agreed to allow the streaming of the concert without fees, but the American Federation of Musicians, which has been focused on winning greater compensation for streamed content, did not. Members of the American Federation ... More Silent streets for water festival in Myanmar lockdownYANGON (AFP).- Myanmars New Year festival of Thingyan is the countrys biggest public holiday -- normally a week of nation-wide celebration and water-fights, with soaked revellers partying late into the night. But this year, in an echo of cancelled Easter celebrations elsewhere in the world, the countrys commercial hub Yangon is locked down, with residents confined indoors because of the coronavirus. Food delivery bicycles and rickshaws have commandeered the citys usually traffic-choked streets after the government ordered people to stay home unless for essential food and healthcare needs. By Sunday Myanmar officially had just 38 confirmed cases -- including three deaths -- but many fear the low number of tests mean the real figures are likely many times higher. Images from last years holiday show a different city, hoses drenching cheering ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, English painter Thomas Lawrence was born April 13, 1769. Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA FRS (13 April 1769 - 7 January 1830) was a leading English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. In this image: Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769  1830) Portrait of the Hon. Emily Mary Lamb (1787-1869), 1803. ©The National Gallery.
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