| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Thursday, June 24, 2021 |
| | | Rembrandt's damaged masterpiece is whole again, with AI's help | |
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Robert Erdmann, senior scientist at the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam, June 22, 2021. Sections of The Night Watch were cut off in the 18th century and lost. Now, Erdmann and other scientists are using new technology that lets viewers imagine how the original work might have looked. Ilvy Njiokiktjien/The New York Times.
by Nina Siegal
AMSTERDAM (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Rembrandts The Night Watch has been a national icon in the Netherlands ever since it was painted in 1642, but even that didnt protect it. In 1715, the monumental canvas was cut down on all four sides to fit onto a wall between two doors in Amsterdams Town Hall. The snipped pieces were lost. Since the 19th century, the trimmed painting has been housed in the Rijksmuseum, where it is displayed as the museums centerpiece, at the focal point of its Gallery of Honor. Now, from Wednesday for the first time in more than three centuries it will be possible for the public to see the painting nearly as it was intended, said the museums director, Taco Dibbits. Using new high-tech methods, including scanning technologies and artificial intelligence, the museum has reconstructed those severed parts and hung them next to the original, to give an idea of The Night Watch as Rembrandt intended it. The cutdown painting is ab ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day A general view of an apartment building at Vienna's suburb Seestadt, Austria, on June 8, 2021. Women may hold up half the sky, but when it comes to designing the public spaces and buildings in which they live, their voices have too often been silenced. A visionary project in Vienna aims to turn that notion on its head, with a suburb in the Austrian capital, Seestadt, designed by and for women. From brighter street lights to broader pavements that make room for pushchairs, female architects and designers are driving the change. JOE KLAMAR / AFP
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| In the West the looted bronzes are museum pieces. In Nigeria 'they are our ancestors.' | | National Gallery of Canada unveils new brand image rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing and being | | Iowa workshop whose pipe organs shook the world burns to the ground |
The artist Derek Jombo rolls a painting of his mother at his studio in Benin City, Nigeria, May 26, 2021. Tom Saater/The New York Times.
by Ruth Maclean and Alex Marshall
BENIN CITY (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The young artist flipped through grainy photographs of delicate ivory masks of Queen Idia, seeking inspiration for her own painting of the legendary warrior queen. The masks were made around 500 years ago by a carvers guild just around the corner from the studio where the artist, Osaru Obaseki, worked. Five of these ancient masks are known to exist. But Obaseki has never seen one. None are in Africa, let alone in Benin City, her hometown in southern Nigeria. One of the most exquisite is in a display case in a basement of the British Museum in London. Another is in the Africa gallery in New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Art. These and more than 3,000 other works and perhaps thousands more as well were stolen by invading British soldiers in 1897, and are now treasured pieces in the collections of some of the most important museums in the United States and Europe. For years, ... More | |
The National Gallery of Canadas new visual identity is centred on a word that emerged from a conversation with Algonquin Elders from the unceded territory upon which the Gallery is located.
OTTAWA.- Inviting, alive, open, dimensionalwords that define the new core principles of the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and underpin its new brand image, publicly unveiled today. Comprised of a new digitally animated logo and new corporate colours, the national museums new visual identity reflects the strategic behavioural changes that the Gallery has set out to embody and that are integral to its mission. The National Gallery of Canadas new visual identity is centred on a word that emerged from a conversation with Algonquin Elders from the unceded territory upon which the Gallery is located. It was crucial for us to develop a new brand rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing and being, said Dr. Sasha Suda, Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada. Our new visual identity is inspired by the Anishinaabemowin word Ankosé, which means Everything is connected. This powerful word invites us to find hope and joy in difference and encourages us to seek ... More | |
An instrument the Dobson Pipe Organ Builder built for Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, on May 12, 2006. Ryan Donnell/The New York Times.
by Ann Hinga Klein
LAKE CITY (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Randall Wolff was working in a backroom at Dobson Pipe Organ Builders earlier this month, fashioning parts for an instrument bound for an Anglican church in Australia, when he caught a whiff of smoke. Seeing flames licking in from the next room, and aware of how flammable the kiln-dried wood used in their organs was, he grabbed a fire extinguisher. But he could not douse the flames in time. Dobson, a Western Iowa business that got its start in 1974 making organs for churches around the Midwest and then grew in reputation its majestic pipe organs resonate at Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, in the 13th-century Merton College Chapel in Oxford, England, and at St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York City was reduced to smoldering rubble in the June 15 fire. A lot of the tools we use are specialty tools that we had made over the years for specific purposes, Wolff, 61, a woodworker ... More |
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| Ancient sculptures prompt Germany to reckon with colonial past | | Centre Pompidou gifted 921 works from Bruno Decharme's collection of outsider art | | Significant collection of photographs from Stephen G. Stein given to National Gallery of Art |
Foyer of the Ethnological Museum. Photo: wikipedia.org / Julius1990.
by Femke Colborne
BERLIN (AFP).- With their wide eyes, intricate head coverings and elaborate armour, the Benin bronzes are among the most prized possessions of Berlin's Ethnological Museum. But the 16th-18th century metal plaques and sculptures that once decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin may never see the light of day in a German museum again. After years of negotiations, Germany announced in April that it will begin returning the bronzes, looted during the colonial era, to what is now Nigeria from next year. The move is one of a series of recent steps by Germany towards atoning for crimes committed in the colonial era, including the official recognition in May that it committed genocide in Namibia. "I believe that all parts of society are becoming more aware now that Germany has a colonial history, too," said Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK), which runs the Berlin museum. "Awareness ... More | |
Antoine Rabany dit Le Zouave (1844 1919), Sculpture Barbu Müller, fin 19e, début 20e. Sculpture de pierre de granit, 40 x 16 x 14 cm © Centre Pompidou. Photo: © César Decharme.
PARIS.- The National Museum of Modern Art has been enriched by the exceptional acquisition of 921 artworks by 242 artists from Bruno Decharmes collection of outsider art. Presented at the second acquisitions commission which met on 2 June last, the donation consists of works from the plastic arts (374 works), graphic arts (540 works) and photography (7 works). For Bernard Blistène, Director of the National Museum of Modern Art: " This exceptional donation endows the Museum collection with a new and unexpected dimension. To be able to constitute such an ensemble today is unimaginable, given the rareness of the works offered to us by Bruno and Barbara Decharme. These works are in resonance with Dubuffets very rich ensemble of works, present in the collection; and of course with the works in the Cordier Donation, which account for most of the works of outsider art in the museum; naturally with André Bretons studio and ... More | |
Bill Brandt, After the Celebration, 1934. Gelatin silver print, image/sheet: 36.2 x 29.21 cm (14 1/4 x 11 1/2 in.) National Gallery of Art, Washington. Gift of Stephen G. Stein 2021.5.6
WASHINGTON, DC.- The National Gallery of Art announced today that Stephen G. Stein has given the museum a superb collection of 161 photographs that includes some of the most admired artists in the history of photography. He has also pledged two works by Romare Bearden and Andrew LaMar Hopkins. These works66 of which were previously promised to the National Gallerysignificantly enhance the museums photography collection and are distinguished by the quality, importance, and rarity of the prints. Stephen Steins generosity has been instrumental in expanding and enriching our renowned department of photographs. We are incredibly grateful to him and his dedication to the nations art collection. These pictures will be seen, studied, and enjoyed by many, said Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art. One highlight from the notable 19th-century photographs in Steins gift is Gustave Le Grays Tron ... More |
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| Nationalmuseum acquires Mary Cassatt painting | | Oolite Arts announces 2021 acquisition of original works from seven Miami-based artists | | Unanimous vote is final step toward removing Roosevelt statue |
Mary Cassatt, Portrait of the Artists Sister Lydia (detail). Preliminary study for The Cup of Tea. Oil on canvas. Photo: Studio Sebert and Beaussant Lefevre.
STOCKHOLM.- Nationalmuseum has recently acquired an oil painting by Mary Cassatt, the American-French artist, who was one of three notable female members of the male-dominated Impressionist group. The purchase is Nationalmuseums first acquisition of an Impressionist painting for over 50 years. The painting by Mary Cassatt (18441926) is most probably a standalone preliminary study for The Cup of Tea, a painting from 187980 now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It depicts Cassatts elder sister Lydia, to whom she was very close. The model is portrayed drinking tea, apparently unaware that she is being observed. The painting once belonged to Ambroise Vollard, a well-known art dealer, and has a strong resemblance with works of Impressionists like Manet and Degas. However, the colour palette is blonder, with contrasting complementary colours and a more proficiently sketchlike technique. ... More | |
Nicolas Lobo, Napalm stone (bronzer verson #1). Napalm, play-dough, terrazzo, spray bronzer, 20 x 20 x 72 in.
MIAMI, FLA.- Oolite Arts announced today the return of its Acquisitions program. As part of this years program, seven-Miami based artists were selected to have their work displayed at Oolite Arts new campus in the City of Miami when it opens in 2023, and then donated to museums across the country and internationally. The novel program was launched last year by Oolites Board of Directors in an effort to ensure that more Miami artists are represented in major collections, in turn helping to advance their careers. Our Acquisitions program comes at a pivotal turning point for Miami, which in recent years has experienced a dramatic cultural arts shift, said Dennis Scholl, president and CEO of Oolite Arts. To be able to see more works by Miami-based artists in museums around the globe will be an incredible achievement for our city and art community. Were excited to amplify these local artists work on a nationa ... More | |
A statue of Theodore Roosevelt in front of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, June 19, 2020. Caitlin Ochs/The New York Times.
by Laura Zornosa
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- After more than a year of talk, its official: The Theodore Roosevelt statue in front of the American Museum of Natural History is coming down. The New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously at a public meeting Monday to relocate the statue by long-term loan to a cultural institution dedicated to the life and legacy of the former president. (No institution has been designated yet, and discussions about its ultimate destination are ongoing.) The vote follows years of protest and adverse public reaction over the statue as a symbol of colonialism, largely because of the Native American and African men who are depicted flanking Roosevelt on a horse. Those objections led the museum in June 2020 to propose removing the statue. New York City, which owns the building and ... More |
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| Phillips announces further highlights ahead of the London Design Auction | | Photographs of Mike Jagger, David Bowie, Robert Plant and Elton John due to be sold at auction next month | | Ben Elwes Fine Art to present a previously-unknown bust attributed to Margaret Foley |
Carlo Scarpa, Rare prototype vase, circa 1940. Estimate £40,000 - 60,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.
LONDON.- Phillips announced further highlights ahead of the London Design auction on 30 June. Leading highlights include incredibly rare Mid-Century and Post-War Italian Design from Piero Fornasetti, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa, Studio BBPR, Pietro Chiesa, and Fontana Arte, among others, as well as important pieces of Art Deco and Contemporary design. Comprising 170 lots, included in this sale are two major highlights which were announced earlier this year; Jean Dunands Les Palmiers Smoking Room, and a never-before-seen group of Jean Royère works from a Private Family Collection. The full catalogue for the auction is now online and the exhibition will go on view on 23 June at Phillips London galleries on Berkeley Square and will remain open for viewing until the auction on 30 June at 2pm. Domenico Raimondo, Senior Director, Head of Department, Europe and Senior International Specialist, said This June we are delighted to ... More | |
Led Zeppelin sets were always more challenging as the lighting was terrible - dark and evil. Nonetheless he took some epoch-defining images of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant including those from the Physical Graffiti Tour (March 27, 1975).
STANDSTED MOUNTFITCHET.- Original photographs of Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Robert Plant and Elton John performing in their pomp come for sale at Sworders next month. The Design sale on July 14 includes a cache of prints taken by music photographer Ed Finnell at legendary gigs held in Los Angeles in the 1970s. Born in LA in 1956, Ed Finnell became interested in photography at the age of 10 or 11 years old, his subject matter turning to rock and roll in the late 1960s. He attended his first concerts in 1972, and thereafter shot every major band that came through his city. At the Pirate Sound Rehearsal Space in Hollywood, he met many performers, some of them choosing to use his work in promotional materials or hiring him for official tour shoots. In addition to publication in countless books, magazines and tour ... More | |
The Carrera marble bust 72 x 48 cm (28.3 x 19 in) depicting Jessie White Mario (1832-1906) circa 1867-68 - "An honor to her sex and to Britains great name" (W. P. Garrison in The Nation, 1906) is now attributed to the American sculptor Margaret Foley (c. 1827-1877).
LONDON.- A previously-unknown bust of a remarkable female Victorian activist, journalist, war correspondent, nurse, and a supporter and biographer of Garibaldi - Jessie White Mario (1832-1906) - attributed to the American sculptor Margaret Foley (c. 1827-1877), has been discovered by London art dealers Ben Elwes Fine Art. The work goes on public view for the first time when offered for sale at London Art Week, 2-16 July. As well as supporting Garibaldi and Italian Unification, Jessie White Mario, who was born in Hampshire, England in 1832, protested against poverty and slavery, and made a stand for womens rights in education: she applied to study medicine but was rejected by fourteen schools in London on the grounds of her sex. She wrote, in no single case ... More |
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Bound for Versailles: Investigating the Jayne Wrightsman Bookbindings Collection
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Christopher Myers now represented by James Cohan
NEW YORK, NY.- James Cohan announced its representation of Brooklyn-based multimedia artist Christopher Myers. The artist will make his debut with the gallery at the inaugural edition of Friezes No.9 Cork Street initiative in October of this year, presenting an ambitious solo exhibition of new work in Mayfair, London. James Cohan will present a solo exhibition of Myerss work at its Tribeca location in February 2022. Christopher Myers is an artist and writer whose work across disciplines is rooted in storytelling. Myers delves into the past to build narratives that speak to the slippages between history and mythology. His diverse practice spans textiles, performance, film, and sculptural objects, often created in collaboration with artisans from around the globe. He has worked with traditional shadow puppet makers in Jogjakarta, silversmiths in Khartoum, conceptual video artists in Ho Chi Minh City, ... More
Valentina Liernur's first exhibition in Asia opens at Simon Lee Gallery
HONG KONG.- Simon Lee Gallery opened an exhibition of new paintings by the Argentinian artist Valentina Liernur. The exhibition is the artists debut show with the gallery and marks the first time her work has been presented in Asia. Liernurs practice is rooted in an ongoing exploration of the ways in which material can be rendered in the pursuit of painting. Often working in groups of work defined by a single medium, Liernur considers the physical qualities and mark-making capacity of oil paint on canvas in the same way she engages with less conventional materials such as denim and gabardine in other series. Shifting between abstraction and figuration, and often encouraging tensions and slippages to emerge between these modes of painting, Liernur seeks to manipulate and enhance the materiality of her chosen medium, embedding each work with a distinct, visceral quality. For ... More
The Crocker Art Museum appoints Rachel Gotlieb, Ph.D. as the first Ruth Rippon Curator of Ceramics
SACRAMENTO, CA.- The Crocker Art Museum announced Rachel Gotlieb, Ph.D., as the first Ruth Rippon Curator of Ceramics. The Crockers international ceramics collection is one of the largest in the United States and includes works dating from prehistoric to contemporary periods. Gotlieb, a leading ceramics specialist, will oversee acquisitions, exhibitions, and scholarship, and help bring the collection to even greater prominence nationally and internationally. Gotlieb's role is a new position established through the generosity of Anne and Malcolm McHenry in honor of Ruth Rippon (b. 1927, Sacramento, CA), the influential Sacramento State Professor who has long been integral in shaping the Northern California ceramics tradition. The Sacramento region has long played an important role in the development of ceramic arts and especially today as clay has emerged as one of the most ... More
Historic Blakesley Hall opens in time for the summer holidays
BIRMINGHAM.- Blakesley Hall, the picture-perfect timber-framed Tudor house situated just a few miles from the centre of Birmingham, will reopen to visitors on 21 July in time for the summer holidays. Tickets are on sale now. The beautiful Elizabethan house - one of Birminghams oldest and most historically significant buildings was built over 430 years ago and now people will be able to visit for the first time since it shut when the pandemic hit in March 2020. Cared for by Birmingham Museums Trust, visitors can step back in time to discover what life was like for one of Birminghams leading merchant families in 1590 when Elizabeth I was on the throne and Shakespeare was writing his plays. Nestled in a quiet Birmingham street and surrounded by rows of semi-detached suburban homes, a tour of Blakesley Hall gives a unique insight into the lifestyle of a wealthy Tudor family. Visitors ... More
Christie's first sale of The Roger Federer Collection totals US$ 1,853,149
LONDON.- The Live Auction, the first of two sales of The Roger Federer Collection - Sold to Benefit The RF Foundation, raised £1,329,375 and will support the valuable work carried out by The Roger Federer Foundation, whose mission is to empower vulnerable children with the provision of early education in both Switzerland and Africa. Further to these 20 lots, fans and sports memorabilia collectors across the world have until 13/14 July to place bids on the remaining 300 lots in The Online Auction, spanning the full career to date of Roger Federer. The Live Auction on 23 June welcomed enthusiastic bidders and buyers from across all continents, with 61% of new registrants to Christies from around the world. 84% of lots exceeded their high estimate. The sale quadrupled its low overall estimate. The auction, taken by Christies Global President, Jussi Pylkkänen, was led by ... More
London orchestra's 'miracle' trip to France despite Covid, Brexit
PARIS (AFP).- Simon Rattle, music director of the London Symphony Orchestra, considers it "a miracle" they are headed to France for their first international shows since the pandemic, though Brexit still poses a long-term threat. The logistics of moving nearly 100 musicians and all their instruments for a four-week residency at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in southern France were tricky at the best of times. In the middle of a pandemic, with ever-changing rules on foreign travel and quarantines, they became fiendishly complex. "I think the Aix festival, who have been one of the boldest and bravest of any of the summer festivals, was tearing out what remained of their hair in the last weeks," Rattle told AFP. He was speaking ahead of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO)'s departure for the festival, which runs from June 30 to July 25. It took a flurry of diplomatic activity ... More
UK festivals face Covid crisis without support say MPs
LONDON (AFP).- Britain's music festivals face a fight for survival without further government support in the pandemic, lawmakers warned on Wednesday, as summer events are cancelled or reduced because of Covid restrictions. The parliamentary Public Accounts Committee said in a report into government funding for the cultural sector during the pandemic that festivals and freelancers faced "devastating consequences to their survival". MPs praised the allocation of a £1.57 billion ($2.1-billion, 1.8-billion-euro) Culture Recovery Fund in July last year. But they said festivals faced a "survival threat" unless a government-backed insurance scheme for cancelled events could be set up. "Festivals are making difficult decisions about whether to risk their survival by going ahead this summer, but the (culture) department has not modelled the cost of underwriting festival indemnity ... More
US comics legend Chris Ware wins top Angouleme prize
ANGOULÃME (AFP).- Graphic novelist Chris Ware was awarded one of the industry's top prizes Wednesday, the Grand Prix of Angouleme, for his work documenting the quiet dramas of suburban American life. The uncontested king of the genre in the US, the 53-year-old was all but guaranteed to one day win the French award, which celebrates an entire career, having been runner-up for the past three years. France is one of the most avid comic-consuming nations in the world, and the Angouleme International Comics Festival is widely seen as the industry's most illustrious event. Normally held in January, it was postponed this year due to the pandemic, but with restrictions still in place for a few more weeks in France, the festival was unable to go ahead physically. So Ware, author of the classic "Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth" based on his own Midwestern upbringing, was forced to ... More
Musical chairs? Swapping seats could reduce orchestra aerosols.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- If musical instruments were people, trumpets would be super spreaders. When a trumpeter blows into the mouthpiece, tiny respiratory droplets, known as aerosols, travel out of the musicians mouth, whiz through the brass tubing and spray into the air. During a deadly pandemic, when a musician might unwittingly be exhaling an infectious virus, that poses a potential problem for orchestras. And the trumpet is not the only musical health hazard. Wind instruments are like machines to aerosolize respiratory droplets, said Tony Saad, a chemical engineer and expert in computational fluid dynamics at the University of Utah. A simple but radical change rearranging the musicians could significantly reduce the aerosol buildup on stage, Saad and his colleagues reported in a new study, which was published in Science Advances on Wednesday. The ... More
Storefronts turned stages for 'Seven Deadly Sins'
NEW YORK.- On a balmy weekday afternoon in Manhattans Meatpacking district, a small crowd gathered around a storefront window where a neon-lit pole dancer in purple platform stilettos performed an alluring routine. Passersby stopped to gawk at the silent spectacle. Some took out their camera phones. There was no way for them to know that this was a rehearsal of a short play called Lust, or that soon the dancer would be performing it nine times a night. On the sidewalk, the director Moisés Kaufman sat in a bistro chair, surrounded by members of his Tectonic Theater Project. Through their headsets they heard what the pedestrians could not: pulsing music and the characters narrated thoughts. Across the street, sleek installations in other vacant storefronts a grave site, a dominatrixs dungeon were also sets for plays, one about greed, the other wrath. And that open storage ... More
Galerie Gmurzynska presents Ahn Duong: "La Tentation d'Exister. There is always Champagne in the Fridge"
ZURICH.- Galerie Gmurzynska is presenting La Tentation dExister. There is always Champagne in the Fridge, Anh Duongs first solo show in Switzerland and her inaugural show with the gallery. Featuring more than 20 oil paintings dating from 1989 to today, the exhibition explores the questions of self and identity in the 21st century. Captivating and voyeuristic, Duong's portraits and self-portraits are both revealing and mysterious as if watching something about to unfold. The viewer enters private moments in intimate spaces, the paintings capture a specific mood or time in the life of the artist and yet we are left to ponder/wonder what that moment or chapter may have been. The exaggerated eyes transfix our gaze, and we feel captured, pierced, exposed, as nude as ... More
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PhotoGalleries
Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now
Richard Estes
JR: Chronicles
WOOD WORKS: Raw, Cut, Carved, Covered
Flashback On a day like today, American painter Stuart Davis died June 24, 1964. Stuart Davis (December 7, 1892 - June 24, 1964), was an early American modernist painter. He was well known for his jazz-influenced, proto-pop art paintings of the 1940s and 1950s, bold, brash, and colorful, as well as his Ashcan School pictures in the early years of the 20th century. © Estate of Stuart Davis/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.
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