| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Sunday, December 24, 2023 |
| | | You need Felix the Cat? Early Popeye? Talk to the king of silent animation. | |
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Part of Tommy Jose Stathes library of roughly 4,000 reels of vintage cartoons, including clips of Felix the Cat and Popeye, in New York, Oct. 2, 2023. Stathes might have the largest collection of vintage animated films in the world stuffed into a storage unit in the Queens borough of New York. (Gabby Jones/The New York Times)
by Paige Darrah
NEW YORK, NY.- Guess you could say I hoard, Tommy José Stathes said as he maneuvered around the shelves of his storage unit. Large enough to accommodate a minivan, it was stuffed with thousands of film canisters stacked floor to ceiling, arranged by studio and labeled with Sharpie. Bray: Farmer Alfalfa Sees New York, one read. Another said: Fleischer: Adventures of Popeye (1935). Oh, he muttered absently as he paused before a tower of brass movie cans, what do we have here? Once a week, Stathes heads from his small studio apartment in Queens to his enormous collection of vintage cartoons: a celluloid library of about 4,000 reels, some of the prints more than 100 years old. It is certainly one of the largest collections of early animated films anywhere in the world and that accounts for the holdings of the Library of Congress, according to an archivist who does restoration there. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day The Museum for Art in Wood in Philadelphia is presenting a new exhibition, FLOE: A Climate of Risk | The Fictional Archaeology of Stephen Talasnik (FLOE), by world-renowned sculpture and installation artist Stephen Talasnik. Photo: John Carlano.
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| MoMA announces new digital art acquisitions, exhibitions, and artist collaborations | | 'Home Alone 2' fans can buy this four-story slice of movie history | | Mumbai Gallery Weekend is back from January 11th to 14th, 2024 |
Unsupervised Machine Hallucinations MoMA, 2022. Installation view, Refik Anadol: Unsupervised, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, November 19, 2022 October 29, 2023. Photo: Refik Anadol Studio.
NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of Modern Art announces an innovative slate of fall 2023winter 2024 acquisitions, exhibitions, and artist collaborations that encourage new thinking about human and machine intelligence, creativity, and the potential of art and technology to reshape our physical and digital worlds. Supported by a strong foundation of related research, commissions, publications, and exhibitions involving digital or computer- generated artincluding The Machine as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age (1968), Information (1970), Thinking Machines: Art and Design in the Computer Age, 19591989 (2017), New Order: Art and Technology in the Twenty-First Century (2019), Philippe Parrenos Echo (2019), Never Alone: Video Games and Other Interactive Design (2022), Signals: How Video Transformed the World (2023), recent collection ... More | |
The 19th-century brownstone at 51 W. 95th St. in New York that was mentioned in the 1992 movie Home Alone 2. (Vandenberg, The Townhouse Experts via The New York Times)
by Debra Kamin
NEW YORK, NY.- When Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) gets chased out of The Plaza in the 1992 film Home Alone 2, he heads across town to the Upper West Side, where his Uncle Rob has a brownstone at 51 W. 95th St. But Uncle Rob is out of town, the house is under construction and Kevin is, yet again, on his own to fend off bandits Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern). Three decades later, the renovation is apparently complete, because the four-story house is for sale in the real world for $6.7 million. Note to Home Alone 2 fans: The quintessential 19th-century brownstone never actually appeared on screen. Although much of the film was shot on location in New York City including scenes at Radio City Music Hall and the Empire Diner the ... More | |
Experimenter, Full moon night in Karaikal.
MUMBAI.- The eagerly anticipated event on Mumbai's art and culture calendar, The Mumbai Gallery Weekend, is set to return from January 11th to 14th, 2024, marking its 12th edition and ushering in the new year with a four-day extravaganza. This edition promises to be grander and more captivating than ever before. It's that time of the year when all galleries unite under one umbrella, spanning from Colaba to Juhu, covering the entire spectrum of prestigious and new galleries alike. The upcoming weekend will showcase an exciting line-up of 34 participating galleries and design venues from across Mumbai. Noteworthy additions this year include Akara Contemporary, Gallery XXL, Method Juhu, and Vida Heydari Contemporary. Some galleries have also relocated, such as Anupa Mehta Contemporary Art (from Lower Parel to Colaba) and TARQ (from Colaba to Fort). The weekend aims to captivate diverse audiences with a series of exhibitions spotlighting the finest art produced in India and ... More |
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| Casa Susanna photographs, documenting America's first trans network, go on view at the AGO | | A marriage of art and history | | The artists we lost in 2023, in their words |
Attributed to Andrea Susan. Carlene playing scrabble, Chevalier dÃon, Hunter, NY, 19551963.
TORONTO.- This winter, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Rencontres DArles present Casa Susanna, an exhibition of snapshots taken by members of the earliest known American crossdressing network, which operated in upstate New York from the mid-1950s through the end of the 1960s. Co-curated by Sophie Hackett, the AGOs curator of photography and Dr. Isabelle Bonnet, a photography historian and independent curator, this is the first museum exhibition dedicated to what are collectively known as the Casa Susanna photographs and features previously unseen images. These joyful snapshots provide insight into a historically significant crossdressing scene, allowing us to develop an understanding of this world and its connection to the lives of trans and crossdressing people today, says Sophie Hackett, AGO Curator of Photography. Looking at these snapshots, I am not only touched by their familial atmosphere and conviviality, but als ... More | |
The British filmmaker Steve McQueen and his wife, the Dutch journalist and historian Bianca Stigter, in Amsterdam on Dec. 12, 2023. (Jussi Puikkonen/The New York Times)
by Nina Siegal
AMSTERDAM.- When British filmmaker Steve McQueen was considering making a feature film about a free man who was captured and sold into slavery, his wife, Dutch journalist and historian Bianca Stigter, suggested he start with a true story. She found an 1853 memoir by a New York man who was kidnapped, sold and enslaved for 12 years in Louisiana, named Solomon Northup. McQueen was immediately intrigued. What was so interesting about it was that the script was there, he said last week, over lunch with Stigter in Amsterdam. I didnt have to invent a story. His resulting 2013 feature film, 12 Years a Slave, adapted from Northups memoir by John Ridley, won three Academy Awards, including best picture. For the couple, it was just one example of a kind of creative symbiosis that has ... More | |
The actor Angus Cloud in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2022. Cloud, who played the drug dealer Fezco on HBOs Euphoria, died on July 31, 2023 at his family home in Oakland, Calif. (Pat Martin/The New York Times)
by Gabe Cohn
NEW YORK, NY.- The many creative people who died this year built their wisdom over lives generously long or much too short, through times of peace and periods of conflict. Their ideas, perspectives and humanity helped shape our own: in language spoken, written or left unsaid; in notes hit, lines delivered, boundaries pushed. Here is a tribute to just some of them, in their voices. I never considered giving up on my dreams. You could say I had an invincible optimism. Tina Turner, musician, born 1939 Hang on to your fantasies, whatever they are and however dimly you may hear them, because thats what youre worth. David Del Tredici, composer, born 1937 Ever since I can remember, I have danced for the sheer ... More |
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| Tate Modern to stage Emily Kam Kngwarray exhibition in 2025 | | Items signed by Ronald Reagan, Woddy Guthrie and Albert Einstein headline online auction | | Arts Council Malta announces artist for national pavilion |
Emily Kam Kngwarray, Untitled (Alhalkere) 1989. © Estate of Emily Kam Kngwarray DACS 2023, All rights reserved.
LONDON.- Tate Modern today announced that it will stage a major solo exhibition dedicated to one of Australias greatest artists, Emily Kam Kngwarray. Opening in 2025 and organised in close collaboration with the National Gallery of Australia (NGA), this will be the first large-scale presentation of Kngwarrays work ever held in Europe, providing a rare opportunity for international audiences to learn more about this celebrated painter. Todays announcement coincides with the opening of the NGAs Kngwarray exhibition, running from 2 December 2023 to 28 April 2024. A senior Anmatyerr woman from the Utopia region of Australia (north-east of Mparntwe/Alice Springs), Emily Kam Kngwarray created works that encapsulated the experience and authority she gained throughout her extraordinary life and career. Her ritual, ceremonial and spiritual engagement with her homelands was translated into vibrant batik textiles and later into m ... More | |
Two-page autograph letter signed by the legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie to his Army friends in October 1945, discussing personal experience ballads that he had just written (est. $8,000-$9,000).
WILTON. CONN.- A draft of Ronald Reagans iconic Win One for the Gipper speech from 1981 with extensive handwritten notes; a two-page autograph letter signed by legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie to his Army friends discussing personal experience ballads that he had just written; and an Albert Einstein signed typed card exploring the physicists views on human nature are just a few of the highly collectible items up for bid in University Archives online-only auction slated for Wednesday, January 10th, 2024. The Rare Signed Manuscripts, Books, Photos & Relics auction will start promptly at 10:30 am Eastern time. All 407 lots in the catalog are up for viewing and bidding now on the University Archives website as well as the platforms Invaluable.com, Auctionzip.com and LiveAuctioneers.com. Telephone and absentee bids will also be accepted. Were ushering in the New Year with ... More | |
Matthew Attard, Eye-tracking study (I WILL FOLLOW THE SHIP), 2023. Eye-tracking drawing, 3D scan, Pen drawing, 29 x 42 cm © Matthew Attard and Galleria Michela Rizzo
VALLETTA.- Arts Council Malta announced that Maltese artist Matthew Attard shall be representing Malta at the prestigious 60th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia. This will be the first time that the national pavilion will be entrusted to a solo Maltese artist. The show, entitled I WILL FOLLOW THE SHIP, consists of a newly commissioned artwork weaving together cultural heritage and cutting-edge AI-driven technology and will be co-curated by Italian American curator Sara Dolfi Agostini and Maltese curator Elyse Tonna. The youngest team to ever represent Malta at the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, will present I WILL FOLLOW THE SHIP, a work that incorporates contemporary drawing, cultural heritage and digital technology, originating from Attards latest explorations into AI and ... More |
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| 36 hours in Joshua Tree National Park, California | | Beatles signatures and Bond film scripts sell for thousands at Ewbank's | | The Bilbao Fine Arts Museum exhibits works donated by Nicolás de Lekuona's family |
Rock carvings along the Barker Dam Trail in Joshua Tree National Park, Calif., Dec. 1, 2023. (Nate Abbott/The New York Times)
by Lucky Benson
NEW YORK, NY.- Joshua Tree National Park, 800,000 acres of Southern California desert populated with the crooked, spiky-leafed trees that give the park its name, is luring more people than ever. Today, the park 140 miles east of Los Angeles attracts twice as many visitors as it did a decade ago. Demand for short-term rentals in the nearby communities of Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms skyrocketed during the pandemic, raising housing prices and putting pressure on the delicate ecosystem, issues to be mindful of as you seek respite in the desert. Still, creative life continues to flourish amid this influx, and environmental initiatives have taken off: Visitors can support a new sanctuary for displaced mustangs. This is a vast place to unwind and stargaze, where there is ... More | |
James Bond: Diamonds Are Forever, United Artists (1971) Original script £5,460.
LONDON.- Beatles signatures showed just how enduring their value is at Ewbanks on December 14, when one full set of autographs sold for a premium-inclusive £7,800. They were written on a menu from a March 1965, B.O.A.C. (British Overseas Airways Corporation) flight. The menu had been specially made for the Beatles Bahamas Special, during the filming of Help! and was signed in person for the vendor who was a stewardess working in First Class on the flight from the Bahamas to JFK New York. From a year later was a BOAC Junior Jet Club Log Book signed to the inside page by John Lennon and Ringo Starr, with a date 31st March 1966. The vendor lived in Trinidad for some years. Her father was a pilot for BOAC and she and her brothers belonged to the Junior Pilots club. Every flight they took was recorded in their book. On the last journey home to London Ringo Starr and John Lennon were on board and they ... More | |
Nicolás de Lekuona, Máscara, s.d. Papel encolado. 21 x 13 cm. Donación de los herederos del artista en 2019.
BILBAO.- The museum is displaying a set of personal effects, printed materials, notebooks and sketchbooks, along with two oil paintings on cardboard and letters signed by the painter, photographer and designer Nicolás de Lekuona (Ordizia, Gipuzkoa, 1913Fruiz, Bizkaia, 1937). This important document collection was bequeathed to the museum in 2019 through the donation by the artist's family and is now being partly displayed, accompanied by a selection of works that were acquired by the museum in 2019sixteen photographs and two photomontagesand in 2022ten drawings of architecture and design. The museum also conserves two iconic paintings from Lekuonas oeuvre: Painting (c.1936) and Portrait of Beatriz Lekuona (1935), which were acquired in 1981 and 1982, respectively. It has also been a pioneer in recognising the artist ... More |
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How To Identify Saints in Old Master Paintings | Sotheby's
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Sofia Boutella kicks her way to a leading role in 'Rebel Moon'
NEW YORK, NY.- Sofia Boutella knows what its like to lose a home. Born and raised in Algeria, Boutella was 10 when she and her family fled to Paris after Algeria descended into civil war. Now 41, she drew on that formative experience for Zack Snyders sci-fi epic Rebel Moon Part One: A Child of Fire as Kora, a mysterious woman who has been uprooted from her former life and must create a new one in a village on a distant moon. Like Kora, Boutella understands what such a journey takes from you and what it gives in return. There is something that happens when you remove yourself from your country of origin that is very powerful, Boutella said. I dont feel a sense of belonging to a territory. But at the same time, I feel such a strong sense of being part of this earth and a connection to it as a whole. Before turning to acting, Boutella ... More
10th Duhok International Film Festival winners announced
DUHOK.- The winners of the competition categories of World Cinema and Kurdish Cinema in the 10th edition of Duhok International Film Festival have been announced. According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international cinema journalist, The closing ceremony of the 10th round of Duhok Film Festival was held at Duhok University's Congregation Hall, in the city of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, attended by Duhok governor Dr. Ali Tatar, Duhok Film Festival president Amir Ali Mohammed Tahir, the festival's artistic director Shawkat Amin Korki, the jury members of the competition categories World Cinema and Kurdish Cinema, a number of filmmakers as well as cinema lovers. The winners in each section were announced and the Golden Leaf and Silver Leaf statues, plaques of appreciation, and the cash prizes ... More
Han Nefkens Foundation announces the first recipient of the new South Asian Video Art Production Grant
LONDON.- Han Nefkens Foundation announced Shahana Rajani (b.1987, Pakistan) as the first recipient of the new South Asian Video Art Production Grant in collaboration with Prameya Art Foundation, Delhi, India and in partnership with Nottingham Contemporary, UK; Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, UAE; Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT), Japan; Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA), Belgium and Para Site (Hong Kong). The Han Nefkens Foundation South Asian Video Art Production Grant is directed at artists living in South Asia and aims to be a tool for increasing contemporary artistic production in the video art field. Shahana Rajani will receive $15,000 for the production of a new work for which she will have 9 months to complete. The new work will be presented by all the partner institutions ... More
Skyhorse expands its footprint in conservative publishing
NEW YORK, NY.- Skyhorse Publishing, which has built a reputation for taking on books other houses consider too controversial to publish, has signed a deal to buy Regnery Publishing, a conservative press that has published politicians and media personalities including former President Donald Trump, Sen. Rand Paul and Ann Coulter. Tony Lyons, president and publisher of Skyhorse, said the addition of Regnery bolstered his aim of publishing across the political spectrum. Id like Skyhorse to be the preeminent free speech publishing company that publishes on all sides, so I think this is a great combination, he said. Regnery is the best-known conservative publishing company in America, and I think we can do things for them that they werent able to do for themselves. Skyhorse, although much smaller than the countrys biggest ... More
At City Ballet, history is made with two Black dewdrops
NEW YORK, NY.- The pressure was on. India Bradley, making her debut as Dewdrop in George Balanchines The Nutcracker, exited the stage after her first entrance and knew that something had to shift. The spotlight was brighter than she had imagined. She couldnt see a thing. I was like, get it together, Bradley, 25, said in an interview at Lincoln Center. Open your eyes. Open your shoulders. And dont do weird stuff. I swear it was Mr. Mitchell. It felt like Mr. Mitchell was screaming at me. Arthur Mitchell, the first Black principal of New York City Ballet who went on to be a founder of Dance Theater of Harlem, was in her head and that was a good thing. Bradley was a first, too: the first Black Dewdrop, and she had four more entrances to go. Dewdrop, who leads the Waltz of the Flowers, has five entrances altogether short bursts of ravishing, ... More
The world has finally caught up to Colman Domingo
NEW YORK, NY.- Colman Domingo was at an Equinox gym in New York when his agent called. A rush of hope overtook him: After a week spent auditioning for eight film and television roles, finally he was about to get something. This was in 2014, which Domingo experienced as a year of incredible highs and dangerously low lows. He had just come off a successful, soul-enriching transfer of the stage musical The Scottsboro Boys in London, but upon returning to New York, he felt quickly cut down to size. Despite his Tony nomination for the Kander and Ebb musical, Domingo was stuck auditioning for under-fives, screen roles that had little more to offer than a line or two. Still, he felt backed into a corner, praying that one of them would hit. The most promising was a callback for HBOs Prohibition-era drama Boardwalk Empire: To audition ... More
Explaining the South on Instagram, one custom at a time
LAUREL, MISS.- If you had a certain kind of upbringing in the South, you likely know the strict hierarchy that dictates who brings the potato salad and cornbread to a covered-dish supper and who is responsible for the paper plates. There is a good chance you know the difference between moseying and meandering, just as you understand that a prayer request can be a genuine call for divine assistance on someones behalf and a loophole for relaying gossip without, technically speaking, engaging in it. But not everyone can have that sort of home training, bless their hearts. Thats where Landon Bryant comes in. He has covered all of this and plenty more in his daily videos posted on social media on the customs and mannerisms he learned growing up in small-town Mississippi. The Lord laid it on my heart, and we all need to lift her ... More
Tate Liverpool appoints Gilbert-Ash as main contractor for gallery transformation
LIVERPOOL.- Tate Liverpool announced Gilbert-Ash as the main contractor for a major reimagining of the landmark gallery on Royal Albert Dock. This £29.75 million redevelopment will transform one of the UKs most important spaces for modern and contemporary art. Designed by 6a architects, the plans have recently been granted planning permission and listed building consent. This year Gilbert-Ash completed work on the National Portrait Gallery in London and previously worked on the Stirling Prize winning Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. They have also acted as the main contractor for other celebrated cultural capital projects, including Battersea Arts Centre and Bristol Old Vic. Their heritage portfolio includes the refurbishment and restoration of the Grade II-listed City of London Freemens School and the refurbishment ... More
France's president condemns 'Manhunt' against Gérard Depardieu
PARIS.- President Emmanuel Macron of France this week condemned what he called a manhunt targeting Gérard Depardieu, the embattled French actor whose worldwide fame has been tarnished in recent years by allegations of sexual harassment and assault. Macrons comments, which prompted swift criticism, came after a documentary that aired in France this month showed the actor making crude sexual and sexist comments during a 2018 trip to North Korea. Depardieu, 74, has faced renewed scrutiny in the wake of the documentary, including new accusations of sexual assault, the stripping of several international honors and the removal of a likeness of him from the Musée Grévin, a Paris wax museum. He has denied any wrongdoing. Rima Abdul Malak, Frances culture minister, said she was disgusted by Depardieus comments ... More
Artpace secures $350,000 grant from the City of San Antonio and Bexar County for rooftop renovation project
SAN ANTONIO, TX.- Artpace San Antonio announced the approval of a $350,000 grant from the City of San Antonio and Bexar County. This grant, through the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ), will enable Artpace to embark on a $1.6 million rooftop renovation project, transforming its space into a vibrant, eco-friendly, and dynamic public cultural hub. The funds are committed to Artpaces rooftop renovation, which is set to begin in the spring of 2024. The highlight of the project includes the installation of a shade structure designed by Lake Flato Architects and equipped with solar panels to harness renewable energy. This sustainability feature aligns with Artpace's commitment to environmental ... More
Outland announces acquisition of Ian Cheng's "3FACE" by The Whitney Museum of American Art
NEW YORK, NY.- Outland announced that Ian Chengs groundbreaking adaptive digital artwork 3FACE has been acquired by the Whitney Museum of American Art, marking the artists third placement in the canon-defining institutions permanent collection. This acquisition, made possible by a generous donation from Outland, follows the Museum of Modern Arts acquisition of 3FACE in October 2023. This marks the second major institution to recognize the historic significance of this work, not only in the landscape of contemporary art, but also within a longer tradition of new media explorations in the art history canon. As a pioneering simulation-based artwork, 3FACE finds a welcome home amongst the Whitney Museums collection which historically has included innovative, boundary-pushing experimentations in new media. 3FACE is Chengs ... More
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PhotoGalleries
Gabriele Münter
TARWUK
Awol Erizku
Leo Villareal
Flashback On a day like today, American painter Ad Reinhardt was born December 24, 1913. Adolph Frederick "Ad" Reinhardt (December 24, 1913 - August 30, 1967) was an abstract painter active in New York beginning in the 1930s and continuing through the 1960s. He was a member of the American Abstract Artists and was a part of the movement centered on the Betty Parsons Gallery that became known as abstract expressionism. In this image: View of the exhibition Hard to Picture: A Tribute to Ad Reinhardt, 17.06.2017 â 21.01.2018, Mudam Luxembourg © Estate of Ad Reinhardt; courtesy of David Zwirner, New York/London. Photo: Rémi Villaggi/ Mudam Luxembourg.
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