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Dutch officials urge new look at claim on painting by Jewish heirs

Wassily Kandinsky, Bild mit Häusern, 1909. Collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam c/o Pictoright, Amsterdam 2004.

NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The mayor of Amsterdam has decided it is time to revisit the question of whether the city’s Stedelijk Museum should hold onto a 1909 painting by Wassily Kandinsky that had been part of a Jewish collection before it was obtained by the museum during World War II. The Dutch Restitutions Commission, a national panel that handles claims of Nazi looting, found in 2018 that the museum could hold onto the work, “Painting With Houses,” which has been claimed by the heirs of its former Jewish owners. The restitution panel’s decision was upheld by a Dutch court. But Amsterdam’s mayor, in a letter on Wednesday, suggested it would be appropriate for the restitution panel to reconsider the case of the painting, which has been in the museum’s collection since 1940. The fate of the painting has been closely watched, because it is one of several in which the restitution panel has balanced the interests of cultural institutions against those of people trying to recover art ... More


The Best Photos of the Day
Best Photos of the Day
Installation view, Haim Steinbach: 1991 - 1993, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, January 14 --- February 27, 2021; Photo: Pierre Le Hors. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.





Scrapped plans for London concert hall sour mood for U.K. musicians   The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents 'Hockney-Van Gogh: The Joy of Nature'   The Morgan celebrates esteemed collectors Richard and Mary Gray's remarkable collection of drawings


A concept rendering of the London Centre for Music. On Thursday, London officials announced that plans for the new hall had been scrapped. Diller Scofidio + Renfro via The New York Times.

by Alex Marshall


LONDON (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Back in 2017, London music fans had high hopes for a reinvigoration of the city’s classical music scene. That year, Simon Rattle, one of the world’s most acclaimed conductors, became the music director of the London Symphony Orchestra, and Diller Scofidio & Renfro, the architects behind the High Line in New York, were appointed to design a world-class 2,000-seat concert hall in the city. Now, the situation couldn’t be more different. On Thursday, just weeks after Rattle announced he would leave London in 2023 to take the reins at the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, London officials announced that plans for the new hall had been scrapped. Rattle had been the driving force behind the project. In a news release announcing the decision, the City of London Corp., the local ... More
 

Vincent van Gogh, Pine Trees at Sunset, December 1889, oil on canvas, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, the Netherlands.

HOUSTON, TX.- The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will examine the common ground between David Hockney (English, born 1937) and Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890) in Hockney-Van Gogh: The Joy of Nature. The exhibition reveals Van Gogh’s unmistakable influence on Hockney’s work through a collection of 57 carefully selected landscape paintings and drawings by the two artists. Inaugurated in 2019 by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Hockney Van Gogh: The Joy of Nature will be on view in Houston—the only U.S. venue—from Sunday, February 21, through Sunday, June 20, 2021. “This exhibition offers visitors an extraordinary opportunity to see these two visionary artists side-by-side,” said Gary Tinterow, MFAH Director, the Margaret Alkek Williams Chair. “We are delighted to collaborate with David Hockney and the Van Gogh Museum to bring these exceptional works to our audience in Houston.” “Hockney once asked, ... More
 

Edgar Degas (1834-1917). Study of Dancers, 1895-1900. Charcoal and pastel on pale-pink paper (discolored to tan). Gray Family Collection. Photography by Jamie Stukenberg, Professional Graphics Inc.

NEW YORK, NY.- The Morgan Library & Museum is presenting an exhibition celebrating the remarkable collection of drawings assembled by one of America’s foremost art dealers, Richard Gray, and his wife, the art historian Mary L. Gray. Encompassing works made in Europe and the United States between the fifteenth and the twenty-first century, the Gray Collection represents a stimulating survey of key aspects in the long and distinguished history of drawing. Conversations in Drawing: Seven Centuries of Art from the Gray Collection, on view February 19 through June 6, 2021, includes many outstanding works from the collection, which was amassed over the course of nearly fifty years. While there are many examples of sheets by established artists— Rubens, Boucher, Degas, Van Gogh, Seurat, Matisse, Picasso, and Hockney, among others—the Grays were more ... More


Tang Teaching Museum receives expansive gift from Michael and Sirje Gold   Lindisfarne Gospels to go on display in the North East in 2022   Arturo Di Modica, sculptor of the Wall Street Charging Bull, dies


Jonathan Seliger, Idealized Self-Portrait, 2000, oil, alkyd, acrylic, modeling paste, varnish on canvas; lacquer, wax on bronze, 84 x 16 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches, Tang Teaching Museum collection, Gift of Michael O. Gold and Sirje Helder Gold on the occasion of the museum's 20th anniversary, 2020, 2020.22.14.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY.- The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College has received a gift of 24 contemporary artworks from the collection of Michael O. and Sirje Helder Gold. The gift includes works created in the 1990s and 2000s by a diverse group of leading and emerging artists, including Louise Bourgeois, Sean Duffy, Naomi Fisher, Iva Gueorguieva, Michelle Grabner, Carol Hepper, Steve Roden, Jonathan Seliger, Glen Seator, George Stoll, Beverly Semmes, and Barbara Takenaga. The Golds are prominent art collectors who have lived in New York City and Los Angeles, and are known for championing the work of younger artists. Many of the paintings, photographs, and sculptures included in their gift are by artists from the West Coast and ... More
 

Spine of Lindisfarne Gospels c. 700 (Cotton MS Nero D IV) © British Library Board.

LONDON.- The Lindisfarne Gospels, the most spectacular surviving manuscript from Anglo-Saxon England, will go on display in the North East on loan from the British Library in 2022. The manuscript will feature in a high profile exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, with a supporting exhibition at neighbouring Newcastle City Library with the aim of attracting visitors from across the North and beyond. To celebrate the Gospels going on display, venues across the North East will be invited to host supporting events and there will be an accompanying programme of activity for community groups and schools, as well as a high profile artist commission to reimagine the Gospels for a 21st century audience. The plan to display the Lindisfarne Gospels in Newcastle was co-ordinated by the North East Culture Partnership (NECP) and the British Library. Following a competitive process Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) in partnership with Newcastle C ... More
 

1990, New York - Arturo Di Modica and Charging Bull.

ROME (AFP).- Italian sculptor Arturo Di Modica, who created the famous "Charging Bull" statue which has become a symbol of New York's Wall Street, died overnight at the age of 80, Italian media reported Saturday. The artist, who died at his home in Vittoria in the south of the island of Sicily, "had been battling cancer for years and his condition had worsened in recent weeks," La Repubblica daily said on its website. Di Modica, who was born in Vittoria, shot to fame after illegally leaving his bronze 4.9 metre-long (16 feet), 3.2 tonne Charging Bull outside the New York Stock Exchange building in December 1989. When he and his friends turned up in a truck carrying the huge sculpture they found that the NYSE Christmas tree had been installed exactly where he had wanted to place the sculpture. They left the Charging Bull under the 40 foot (12 metre) tree. He had financed the bronze statue himself at a cost of $350,000 (290,000 euros). Di Modica had wanted to give something back to his adoptive city ... More


New book from Paul Holberton Publishing tells the fascinating story of Titian's Rape of Europa   The best and brightest urban artists from around the globe hit the streets at Heritage Auctions   Norissa Bailey to join Art Institute of Chicago as Senior Vice President People and Culture


This book accompanies the Gardner Museum exhibition Titian: Women, Myth, and Power, reuniting his poesie series in the United States for the first time.

LONDON.- Dubbed “a mighty poet” by American author Henry James, Titian remains one of the most celebrated painters in Western art. In Gilded Age America, Titian paintings became the peerless prizes of leading collectors and quickly rose to the top of Gardner’s wish list. In 1896, she landed his masterpiece, The Rape of Europa. It became the sole example of his celebrated cycle of poesie outside of Europe, inspired an entire gallery in her newly built museum, and contributed to England’s national debate over the loss of its art treasures. Nathaniel Silver, William and Lia Poorvu Curator of the Collection, tells the acquisition story behind The Rape of Europa (1562), one of the most influential and iconic Renaissance paintings in America. The purchase of Titian’s masterpiece from an English aristocrat marked the beginning of a new phase in ... More
 

Hebru Brantley (b. 1981), Blue FlyBoy from The Watch, 2013. Painted cast resin and steel, 64 x 20 x 20 inches.

DALLAS, TX.- Fresh off a record-setting Banksy sale, a KAWS retrospective event and the groundbreaking DKE Toys Archive auction, Heritage Auctions goes big in the Urban art world by getting small. The Dallas-based house's March 11 Urban Art event features only 43 lots. Yet the upcoming auction is a best-of-the-best sale highlighting some of the finest works by many of the biggest and brightest names on the global contemporary-art landscape. Heritage Auctions in recent months has met the increased demand of contemporary-art collectors by expanding its offerings to include retrospective auctions and sales spotlighting single artists. As a result, Heritage has been able clear the canvas for these significant pieces by such singular futurists. Featured in this auction is Los Angeles' celebrated graffiti artist RETNA, fresh off his world-record sale at ... More
 

Norissa Bailey. Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.

CHICAGO, IL.- The Art Institute announced today that the museum has appointed Norissa Bailey as senior vice president, People and Culture. Bailey joins the Art Institute from Navy Pier, where she served as vice president, People and Culture, since 2019 and directed the human resources team since 2014. At Navy Pier, Bailey proved a thought leader, evolving organizational culture grounded in values of excellence, inclusion, integrity, and stewardship. She transformed the employee experience and made Navy Pier an employer of choice. Her focus included initiatives such as emphasizing leadership and management accountability through employee learning and development; promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion; and creating a rigorous and structured approach to talent management. Bailey also played a key role in activating an effective change management strategy during Navy Pier’s reorganization. In her previous role as director of human resources, B ... More


The Final Cut: The ASU Art Museum opens the first solo exhibition of José Clemente Orozco in Arizona   Esther Woerdehoff Gallery presents a new selection of works by the Spanish duo Albarrán Cabrera   Praz-Delavallade opens its first solo show of works by Maude Maris


José Clemente Orozco, “Siamese Friends,” 1946, Oil on paper, 14 ½ x 16 7/8 inches, image courtesy of the Orozco Family.

TEMPE, AZ.- The ASU Art Museum presents “José Clemente Orozco: The Final Cut” the first solo exhibition of this important artist in Arizona. José Clemente Orozco (1883–1949) was a pioneering artist who is known as one of Los Tres Grandes (The Three Greats) of Mexican 20th century art. “The Final Cut” focuses on Orozco’s later years and presents several artworks never before seen in the United States. The exhibition’s curator Julio César Morales worked in close collaboration with the Orozco family in Guadalajara, Mexico. “I have been working directly with the artist’s family for years,” said Morales, curator at ASU Art Museum, “and the exhibition considers the last five years of his life. This is a focus that no other exhibition on Orozco has ever presented.” Orozco was most well-known for his large, public murals, arguably the most complex of Los Tres Grandes, which prominently featured universal themes of the human experience and moderni ... More
 

Albarrán Cabrera, The Mouth of Krishna #807, 2020. Pigment print on gampi paper and gold leaf, 26 x 17 cm. Edition of 20 © Albarrán Cabrera, courtesy Galerie Esther Woerdehoff.

PARIS.- Used to travelling, Spanish duo Albarrán Cabrera has adapted its pace to the exceptional situation we are all facing. It is in the intimacy of the studio and the laboratory, in this cocoon of quietness and introspection, that they have found the inspiration they need. In return, they generously nourish their audience on social networks, publishing their photographs, but also sharing quotes and references, books, films, artworks, that open windows in this time of isolation and confinement to remind us that art and nature are wonderful consolations for troubled souls. Under the title "Very Subtle Light", the opening exhibition for 2021 at the Esther Woerdehoff Gallery presents a new selection of their works and reveals their latest research to the public. In addition to the precious printing technique that has established their reputation among world collectors - a pigment print on Japanese gampi paper and gold leaf - ... More
 

Maude Maris, Leporidé, 2021. Oil on canvas, 8 21/32 x 6 5/16 in (22 x 16 cm). Courtesy: Maude Maris & Praz-Delavallade Paris, Los Angeles. Photo: Rebecca Fanuele.

PARIS.- For the title of her first solo show at Praz-Delavallade, Maude Maris has chosen Hieromancy, a reference to the ancient practice of divination using offerings to the gods, in particular studying the entrails of sacrificed animals. The exhibition that bears this rare, contextualised term is comprised of around one dozen paintings of figures suffering from rosacea, their abnormally flushed complexions shot through with pink, red and burgundy. Each blends, more often than not, into a cool, blurry blue background. Right from the start of her career some fifteen years ago, Maris implemented a precise ritual involving painted objects - one to which she has always remained true – and yet this series marks a departure. It is as if the images have established a mysteriously connection to the occult world, one which unsettles notions of scale, disturbs perception and disrupts dominion. As far as dimensions ... More




Why Churchill Gave His Only Wartime Landscape to F. D. Roosevelt



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Heritage Auctions records more than $873 million in total 2020 sales
DALLAS, TX.- Heritage Auctions, the largest auction house founded in the United States, reported $873,117,274 in total 2020 sales the firm announced Friday, Feb. 19. Total sales at auction surpassed $638 million. More than $504 million (nearly 79 percent) of the firm's worldwide auction volume alone was purchased via internet bidding in 2020, a new record. A significant portion of Heritage's 2020 private sales, which exceeded $235 million, also occurred online. "Given all of the headwinds we faced last year, from cancelled events and travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic to adjustments to our operations necessary to keep our staff and clients safe, we are extremely proud of our accomplishments in 2020," said Steve Ivy, Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Auctions. "We thank our consignors and bidders, in addition to our entire ... More

British Library appoints Dr Xerxes Mazda as Head of Collections and Curation
LONDON.- The British Library announced the appointment of Dr Xerxes Mazda as Head of Collections and Curation. He will take up his new role at the Library on 12 April 2021. Dr Mazda joins the Library from National Museums Scotland where he is Director of Collections. His varied career in the cultural sector has spanned major institutions in the UK and internationally, including the Science Museum, British Museum and Canada’s Royal Ontario Museum. Dr Mazda said, “I am very excited to be joining the British Library and look forward to working alongside colleagues to ensure its extraordinarily rich and diverse collections are accessible and engaging for audiences throughout the UK and beyond.” A member of the Museums Association, Dr Mazda joined National Museums Scotland in 2015 as a member of the Executive Team, contributing to the ... More

Ora-Ora presents Liu Qi and Pan Wenxun in double exhibition 'Winter Romance'
HONG KONG.- Ora-Ora is presenting Winter Romance, a double exhibition by contemporary artists Liu Qi and Pan Wenxun. The exhibition, on view from 21 January to 6 March, kick starts the gallery’s programming for the New Year presenting positivity and passion with Romanticism. The Romantic movement, also known as the Romantic Style and Romanticism, is a literary period spanning roughly from 1790–1850 and characterized by a celebration of nature and the common man, a focus on individual experience, an idealization of women, and an embrace of isolation and melancholy. This period dominated Western literature and arts in the late 18th century, and highlighted the link between art and romance. Philosopher and historian Isaiah Berlin discussed the roots of Romanticism in a speech he drafted, saying: "I think we can be absolutely ... More

Exhibition explores the solitary experience in the context of the post-pandemic world
LONDON.- Danysz Gallery is presenting an online exhibition Anonymities. The presentation is first in a series of online exhibitions and explores the solitary experience in the context of the post-pandemic world. Bringing together 5 artists working across photography, sculpture, and mixed media, this group show aims to explore the newly adopted lexicons – e.g. ‘bubbles’ no longer standing for something ephemeral, but rather related to self-isolation and close tight groups. Bursting a bubble no longer seems like a playful act; it adopts sober meaning. The exhibition is a commentary on the universal experience of dealing with modern technology, as well as being a fitting expression of this past year. The definition of our life-space is characterized by the over-presence of phone and computer screens. The social interaction became ... More

Crocodile Cradle launches at PEER London
LONDON.- Crocodile Cradle, a new exhibition on three platforms launched today, 20 February at PEER. It consists of a text collage on the gallery's glass façade; a filmed performance online (also accessible via a QR code on the gallery windows), and a book, to be published this summer. While the gallery doors remain closed during current government restrictions, artist Simon Moretti has invited 53 artists including Fiona Banner aka The Vanity Press, Tacita Dean, Liam Gillick, Lubaina Himid, Christian Marclay and Cerith Wyn Evans to supply a text that they have written or found for this collaborative project. The artists' texts have been brought to life with a reading by actor Alastair Mackenzie; a 38-minute-film of his one-take performance will be viewable on smartphones via the QR code in the gallery windows and also online ... More

Cape Ann Museum pays tribute to local pandemic victims with new COVID-19 Memorial
GLOUCESTER, MASS.- Nearly one year ago, the coronavirus pandemic forced the state to shut down and declare a state of emergency. To commemorate the community’s profound loss, the Cape Ann Museum is creating a temporary art installation to pay tribute to those who died from the deadly virus including 35 people in Gloucester, 55 people from Cape Ann, and more than 2,000 people from Essex County. The COVID-19 Memorial will be dedicated at CAM Green during a virtual online ceremony on March 10 and will be open to the public through March 14. In partnership with the City of Gloucester and LuminArtz, the Cape Ann Museum COVID-19 Memorial is comprised of three parts: a video art installation from LuminArtz, the Cape Ann Cairns Memorial, and the Gloucester Memorial Quilt. These interconnected projects seek to humanize the unfathomably ... More

U-Roy, whose 'toasting' transformed Jamaican music, dies at 78
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- U-Roy, who helped transform Jamaican music by expanding the role of DJ into someone who didn’t just introduce records but added a layer of vocal and verbal improvisation to them, a performance that was known as toasting and that anticipated rap, died on Wednesday in Kingston, Jamaica. He was 78. His label, Trojan Records, posted news of his death, in a hospital, but did not give a cause. U-Roy, whose real name was Ewart Beckford, wasn’t the first toaster, but he expanded the possibilities of the form with his lyricism and sense of rhythm. Just as important, he took it from the open-air street parties, where it was born, into the recording studio. “I’m the first man who put DJ rap on wax, you know,” he told The Daily Yomiuri of Tokyo in 2006, when he toured Japan. In 1970, his singles “Wake the Town,” “Rule ... More

St. John's University opens two art exhibitions about 2020's unprecedented challenges
QUEENS, NY.- St. John’s University’s Dr. M.T. Geoffrey Yeh Art Gallery announced the opening of two new art exhibitions about the historic challenges of the year 2020: Azikiwe Mohammed: 11439 - 39202 and Unprecedented: Posters from a World on Pause. Azikiwe Mohammed: 11439 - 39202 on view at the Yeh Art Gallery from Feb. 10 - April 25 and Unprecedented: Posters from a World on Pause is an online exhibition on view at www.sjuartgallery.org from Feb. 1 - March 30. 11439 - 39202 is the first exhibition to focus on Mohammed’s fiber art, presenting a new series of large-scale quilted and embroidered works. Produced on the occasion of this exhibition, the works are inspired by stories from Queens residents during 2020, as well as Mohammed’s own excursions through Queens. Through fiber art, this exhibition looks at the larger underlying ... More

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao exhibits three recent works by Alex Reynolds
BILBAO.- The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is presenting Alex Reynolds. There is a Law, There is a Hand, There is a Song, the first exhibition of 2021 in the Film & Video gallery, a space that the Museum reserves for key works in video art, film, and the artistic languages associated with the moving image. This time, three recent works by Alex Reynolds (b. 1978, Bilbao) are being featured. Reynolds is known for her constant exploration of our modes of relation and affection, especially in their manifestations through cinematic language. The work The Hand that Sings (2021), recently co-produced by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, is being shown in an international premiere in the main gallery as part of this exhibition. Created by Reynolds in collaboration with Swedish choreographer Alma Södeberg, The Hand that Sings builds a web of connecting ... More


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Mental Escapology, St. Moritz

TIM VAN LAERE GALLERY

Madelynn Green

Patrick Angus


Flashback
On a day like today, French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy was born
February 21, 1927. Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (21 February 1927 - 10 March 2018) was a French fashion designer who founded the house of Givenchy in 1952. He was famous for having designed much of the personal and professional wardrobe of Audrey Hepburn and clothing for Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1970. His partner was Philippe Venet. In this image: French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy poses at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, on November 23, 2016 during a retrospective of the designer's work at the exhibition To Audrey With Love. Bart Maat / ANP / AFP.

  
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