| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Tuesday, December 21, 2021 |
| | | As Europe returns artifacts, Britain stays silent | |
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The Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum in London, Aug. 27, 2020. Greeces government says the sculptures, which have returned to public view, should be sent back to Athens, but the British government says their fate isnt its concern. Tom Jamieson/The New York Times.
by Alex Marshall
LONDON.- In 1984, Neil Kinnock, then leader of Britains opposition Labour Party, did something few politicians here have dared: He pledged to return the Parthenon Marbles. Those classical sculptures, often called the Elgin Marbles after the British aristocrat who removed them from the Parthenon in the early 1800s and brought them to London, were a moral issue, Kinnock told reporters during a visit to Athens, Greece. The Parthenon without the marbles is like a smile with a missing tooth, he said. Kinnocks comments made headlines at the time, but when he returned to London, he found that few in his party shared his views, let alone Conservative members of Margaret Thatchers government. He didnt push the idea. Most of his successors, including Tony Blair, insisted that the marbles should stay put in the British Museum, as one of its highlights. Last week, the sculptures returned to public view after a prolonged closure of the museums Greek gall ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Paris, 19 October 2021. Alexander Calder's magnificent "Flying Dragon" from 1975 has just landed in Paris, in time for the full moon. The sculpture looks different from every angle and is presented Place Vendôme till 20 March 2022 by Gagosian. Photo: Guillaume Levy-Lambert.
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| Utah Museum of Fine Arts acquires works by major Japanese American artist | | National Gallery of Art acquires significant Gordon Parks photograph | | V&A East Museum hits major milestone as it tops out in Stratford's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park |
Chiura Obata, "Upper Lyell Fork," woodcut. Purchased with funds from The William H. and Wilma T. Gibson Endowment, from the Permanent Collection of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT.- Thirty-five works by Chiura Obata, one of the most significant Japanese American artists of the twentieth century, are now in the permanent collection of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utahthanks to a generous gift from the Obata estate. Were very grateful to the Obata family for recognizing Utahns deep feelings for this incredible artist and for entrusting these wonderful objects to the UMFA, said Gretchen Dietrich, UMFA executive director. Were honored to be able to care for them so that Utahns can enjoy them for generations to come. We are thrilled that art lovers will have the opportunity to appreciate and study these works by our grandfather, said Kimi Hill of the Obata family. Because many of these artworks were created in Utah, we hope people will be inspired to learn the history of wartime incarceration and go visit the ... More | |
Gordon Parks, Self-Portrait, 1941. Gelatin silver print. Image/sheet: 50.4 x 40.8 cm (19 13/16 x 16 1/16 in.) mount: 70.2 x 55.3 cm (27 5/8 x 21 3/4 in.) National Gallery of Art, Washington. Purchased as the Gift of Alan and Marsha Paller, Laura Arrillaga Andreessen and Marc Andreessen via the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Raj and Indra Nooyi, Mitchell P. Rales, David M. Rubenstein, and Darren Walker in honor of Sharon Percy Rockefeller 2021.61.1
WASHINGTON, DC.- The National Gallery of Art has acquired one of Gordon Parkss (19122006) earliest and most important pictures, Self-Portrait (1941). One of two known existing vintage prints of this photograph, it was given to fellow artist Charles White (19181979) in 1942 and is inscribed in white ink, To my good friend and fine artist, best wishes Gordon Parks. The print remained in Whites home for the rest of his life and was passed down to his daughter, Jessica White (from whom this print was acquired) because of her longtime affinity for Parks and his work. The National Gallery has one of the most extensive research collections ... More | |
External render view of the new V&A East Museum at Stratford Waterfront, designed by ODonnell + Tuomey © ODonnell + Tuomey, Ninety90, 2018.
LONDON.- Last week the V&A marked the topping out of its new V&A East museum building one of two V&A East sites currently under construction in Stratfords Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with the shell of the building reaching its full height. Designed by ODonnell + Tuomey and constructed by MACE, the 7,000 square metre V&A East Museum tops out at 42.5 metres high, following completion of the installation of its intricate steel frame. The V&A East Museum will open in 2025 on the Stratford Waterfront, alongside new buildings for the BBC, London College of Fashion, Sadlers Wells and UCL, as part of East Bank, the Mayor of Londons vibrant new arts, innovation and education district, and a legacy of the London 2012 Games. Since breaking ground in August 2019, construction on the five-storey V&A East Museum building has continued almost uninterrupted, despite the inevitable disruption caused ... More |
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| Works by Childe Hassam, Andrew Wyeth, and more on view in Norton Museum exhibition | | 'Design for All: from Prisunic to Monoprix, a French Adventure' on view at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs | | LaiSun Keane opens an exhibition featuring three emerging artists |
Childe Hassam, Wainscott Links, 1907 (detail). Oil on canvas. Canvas: 23 ½ x 29 in. (59.7 x 73.7 cm) Frame: 33 1/8 x 39 x 3 in. (84.1 x 99.1 x 7.6 cm) Gift of Doris and Shouky Shaheen, 2020.58.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.- The Norton Museum of Art opened From Hassam to Wyeth: Gifts from Doris and Shouky Shaheen (December 10, 2021 May 1, 2022), featuring major oil and watercolors from American artists in the late 19th- to mid 20th-centuries, gifted to the Norton in 2020. The exhibition is the first in a series highlighting private collections that opened at the Norton this winter, illustrating the depth of its community of art collectors. The works from the Shaheen gift are being shown alongside the Norton's exhibition, Jane Peterson: Impressions of Light and Water (December 18, 2021 June 12, 2022). With the works already on view in the museum's American galleries, these shows demonstrate the museum's deep holdings of American Impressionist painting. "From Hassam to Wyeth celebrates the remarkable generosity ... More | |
Vincent Darré, Bee Lamp, 2021. Glass, Metal. Photo © Eugénia Sierko / Monoprix.
PARIS.- The Musée des Arts Décoratifs celebrates the history of obtainable design with the exhibition Design for All: from Prisunic to Monoprix, a French Adventure from December 2nd, 2021, until May 15th, 2022. With more than 500 works furniture, objets and advertising posters Design for All retraces the creative and committed history of these two important French department stores who offered high style designs at affordable prices, summed up in the popular French slogan, beauty at the price of ugly. The exhibition highlights collaborations initiated by Prisunic in the 1960s, and continued by Monoprix, with iconic designers such as Terence Conran, Marc Held, Constance Guisset, Ionna Vautrin and India Mahdavi, while showcasing works by some of the most creative graphic designers, photographers, stylists and illustrators of their day including Roman Cieslewicz and Alexis Mabille. Architect and designer ... More | |
Raymond Hwang, Cake of Broken Dreams, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 16 in.
BOSTON, MASS.- LaiSun Keane is presenting a three-person exhibition titled In Close Proximity featuring emerging artists Anna Berghuis, Kyra Gregory and Raymond Hwang on view from December 9, 2021 to January 23, 2022. The artists in this exhibition bring their unique and dynamic takes as young millennials navigating life and the effects of the global pandemic. Responding to isolation during the pandemic, Anna Berghuis started her FaceTime Series painting digital versions of subjects she communicated on FaceTime. Painted mainly in 2020 and in her childhood bedroom, her FaceTime portraits are studies of non-curated visages, providing contrasting takes on hyper-stylized and superficial facades bombarding us everyday via social media and on the TV screen. Kyra Gregory turns their focus on domesticity and the interiors. Their subjects are flatmates and friends sharing tight living spaces, having breakfast ... More |
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| Arts groups bet big on holiday programming. Will children come? | | Exhibition reveals a remarkable story about California history and Indigenous communities | | A $550 million Springsteen deal? It's glory days for catalog sales. |
A video about sharks at an exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Dec. 10, 2021. An Rong Xu/The New York Times.
by Matt Stevens
NEW YORK, NY.- I havent been to the Met in years, Mattea Volpe, who is 10 years old, recalled bemoaning on her ride to the opera house. I was exaggerating, but then I was like, Wait, I actually havent! No children had. When she took her red velvet seat last week, Mattea became one of the first children under 12 allowed back inside the Metropolitan Opera House since the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to close in March 2020. When the Met reopened this September, its strict vaccine mandate kept young children away, since they were not yet eligible for shots. Now they are, and fully vaccinated children are being welcomed back not a moment too soon for a company that had decided to bet heavily on child-friendly operas this holiday season. The Met, whose family holiday presentations have grown in popularity in recent years, is presenting two this season. To build on the success of its popular abridged ... More | |
Installation view of Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo, de Young, San Francisco, 2021. Photograph by Randy Dodson, © Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco announced the exclusive West Coast presentation of Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo. The exhibition steps into the 18701880s, a period when white settlers continued to claim and mine lands in California and the West that had been inhabited by Indigenous populations for thousands of years. During this time, landscape painter Jules Tavernier journeyed across the United States, portraying the ceremonies and gatherings he witnessed in the Indigenous homelands and the awe-inspiring beauty of the contested landscapes. Through his compositions and the accounts of Native art historians and cultural practitioners, the exhibition broadens perspectives on the West and highlights the resilience of Indigenous populations. Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo is a timely exhibition that brings alternative perspectives to narratives that have dominated the interpretation ... More | |
Bruce Springsteen performs in New York, Oct. 20, 2021. Krista Schlueter/The New York Times.
by Ben Sisario
NEW YORK, NY.- In 1972, a struggling New Jersey musician hustled into Manhattan for an audition at Columbia Records, using an acoustic guitar borrowed from his former drummer. I had to haul it Midnight Cowboy-style over my shoulder on the bus and through the streets of the city, the rocker, Bruce Springsteen, later recalled in his memoirs. Half a century later, he can afford plenty of guitars. Last week Sony, which now owns Columbia, announced that it acquired Springsteens entire body of work his recordings and his songwriting catalog for what two people briefed on the deal said was about $550 million. The price, which may be the richest ever paid for the work of a single musician, caused jaws to drop throughout the music industry. But it was only the latest mega-transaction in a year in which many prominent artists catalogs have been sold, fetching eye-popping prices. The catalog market was already bubbling a year ago when Bob Dylan sold his songwrit ... More |
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| Christie's announces new business initiative in China | | Galerie Karsten Greve presents an exhibition of works by Leiko Ikemura | | Alex Chinneck unveils giant new optical sculpture in Brighton |
Render view： A close-up of Christies new Shanghai home.
SHANGHAI.- Following the monumental Radiance: The Basquiat Show in Shanghai and record-breaking autumn sales in Hong Kong, Christie's announced a new business initiative in China the relocation of its Shanghai office and art space to BUND ONE, No. 1 East Zhongshan Road in spring 2022. In line with Christies history of anchoring our offices and galleries in the heart of major global cities such as London, New York, Hong Kong, and Paris, our new Shanghai office is located in a century-old historical building with a premium location in the heart of Shanghais art and culture scene, situated in the alluring and iconic Bund district. Completed in 1916, BUND ONE was the tallest building on the Bund at the time. Featuring an architectural style combining Baroque and Modernist, BUND ONE is now a new cultural landmark in Shanghai housing multiple art spaces. Once in residence, Christies will interact more closely with neighbori ... More | |
Leiko Ikemura, Usagi Kannon, 2012 - 2017. Bronze, patiniert, Ed. 5/5 + 2 AP. 98 x 44 x 37 cm © Leiko Ikemura. Courtesy Galerie Karsten Greve Köln, Paris, St. Moritz.
COLOGNE.- Galerie Karsten Greve is presenting Leiko Ikemura a.ï.r.e in Cologne. The collaboration between Leiko Ikemura and Galerie Karsten Greve began in 1987 with a solo show in the gallery's former Cologne exhibition space in Wallrafplatz. Since then, this exceptional artist's distinctive oeuvre which features painting, sculpture, drawing as well as photography, has consistently been presented at all gallery locations Cologne, Paris, formerly Milan, and, since 1999, St. Moritz in twenty solo exhibitions to date and regular accrochages. The current exhibition marks a new phase in Leiko Ikemura's artistic work. Around twenty paintings from the past eight years, ten watercolors created in 2018, and photographic works from 2020 are on display. The focus of the exhibition, both in form and content, is on overcoming ... More | |
Alex Chinneck, A spring in your step. Phtoto: Marc Wilmot.
LONDON.- British artist Alex Chinneck unveiled his most complex and ambitious sculpture to date at Circus Street in Brighton on 20 December. Titled, A Spring in your step, the new site-specific artwork takes the form of a spiral staircase spectacularly springing apart in three directions across the facade of a building in Circus Street, a new neighbourhood developed by regeneration specialist U+I in Brighton. Made from galvanised steel, and reaching 25 metres overhead, the surreal sculpture occupies the full height of a key architectural elevation at the heart of the square in Circus Street, creating a bold backdrop for this new event space. The artwork was conceived in direct response to the location and seeks to contribute to the energetic creative atmosphere envisaged for it. A Spring in your step transforms an ordinary staircase into an extraordinary sculpture. Following the form of a spiral ... More |
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Curator's Introduction | Poussin and the Dance | National Gallery
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| More News |
Helsinki celebrates culture and design in 2022
HELSINKI.- Support for events and the arts are markers of strong civil society. Events and culture can restore wellbeing, trust and a sense of unity amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Dynamic event and cultural sectors of society are in line with the Helsinki City Strategy and elements of general wellbeing in Helsinki. On these principles, Helsinki celebrates culture and design in 2022. The year 2022 will strengthen the domestic and international position of Helsinki as a city of compelling events and notable cultural venues. Several new first-rate venues will open doors in the city. New cultural policies and grants will create conditions for a wide range of leisure activities. Helsinki was the World Design Capital of 2012. Today, 10 years later, the outcomes of the design year are seen everywhere in the city. They include various services provided by the city government, ... More
Solo exhibition of work by Shezad Dawood opens at the Fogo Island Gallery
JOE BATTS ARM .- The Fogo Island Gallery presents Between Land & Sea, a solo exhibition of work by London-based artist Shezad Dawood featuring textile-based paintings, video, and a 1970s hand-made fishing net reworked by the artist. Materially and culturally specific to Fogo Island, the works emerge from Dawoods time spent in residence with Fogo Island Arts and through conversations with local craft practitioners, fishers, and other community members. The resulting pieces integrate histories of economic and social processes, land use, and our evolving relationship to the sea. Between Land & Sea is accompanied by a series of public programs happening in March and April 2022, featuring invited interdisciplinary speakers in conversation. Combining local, experiential knowledge and current academic research, the programs will ... More
Louisiana Art & Science Museum receives $168,833 federal grant from IMLS for "Healthy Aging with LASM"
BATON ROUGE, LA.- The Louisiana Art & Science Museum recently received a $168,833 federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for Healthy Aging with LASM. This three-year arts and wellness program will serve senior adults in our eleven-parish capitol region through a variety of in-person and virtual activities. This program will be delivered in partnership with the Capital Area Agency on Aging, the Baton Rouge General Arts in Medicine Program, and Dr. Rebecca Bartlett. Senior adults are facing unprecedented levels of isolation, stress, and health risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stated Nita Mitchell, LASMs Director of Education. To serve this vulnerable and sometimes overlooked population, our staff will collaborate with experts in the field of art and medical science as well as community partners. This ... More
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art acquires rare collection of early American daguerreotypes
KANSAS CITY, MO.- The Henry Fitz Jr. Archive of Photographic History, an extremely rare group of early daguerreotypes and related material from the family of pioneering practitioner Henry Fitz, was purchased at auction in Cincinnati on November 15. It includes what is believed to be one of the earliest daguerreotype portraits made in the U.S., as well as two paintings and other early photographic works. Since the transformative gift of the Hallmark Photographic Collection in 2005, the Nelson-Atkins has become a leader in the study and exhibition of photography, said Julián Zugazagoitia, Menefee D. and Mary Louise Blackwell CEO & Director of the Nelson-Atkins. This acquisition demonstrates the museums commitment to representing the history of photography both as it is developing today and in its earliest formations. The archive includes 23 daguerreotypes ... More
GOST Books to publish HOT DAMN! by Chloe Sells in January 2022
LONDON.- Chloe Sells worked as a personal assistant for American writer and journalist Hunter S. Thompson from 2003 until his death in 2005. This new book combines Sells photographs of Hunters homedocumenting the interior, his possessions and handwritten noteswith landscape of Aspen, Colorado, and her recollections of her time spent working with him. Some of Sells hand-printed photographs have been overlaid with traditional marbling techniques, to create a psychedelic ride through the home of one of the most brilliant writers of our time. 'Officially, I was a personal assistant. Unofficially, I did anything and everything that needed doing. One night, Hunter beckoned me to his chair in the kitchen and said, So, you say youre a photographer. Well, Taschen is doing a book of my photographs, followed by a mocking Ha, Ha. I ... More
Carlos MarÃn, a member of Il Divo, dies at 53
NEW YORK, NY.- Carlos MarÃn, a Spanish singer and a member of Il Divo, the hit multinational quartet, died in Manchester, England, on Sunday, according to the musical group and local news media reports. He was 53. It is with heavy hearts that we are letting you know that our friend and partner, Carlos MarÃn, has passed away, Il Divo wrote in a post on Twitter on Sunday. He will be missed by his friends, family and fans. There will never be another voice or spirit like Carlos, Il Divo added. We will miss our dear friend. The musical group did not specify a cause of death. He was admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital in Manchester on Dec. 8, where he was intubated and put in an induced coma, according to a report on Spanish television. MarÃn had already had COVID-19 last year. After suffering the disease, he expressed in a video ... More
'The Music Man' once had a disabled character. Then he was erased.
NEW YORK, NY.- Many know Meredith Willsons 1957 Broadway musical, The Music Man, as a light comedy centered on a cheeky scam artist who pretends to be a musician and sells the idea of starting a boys band to a small town in Iowa. The show is being revived on Broadway starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, and will begin performances this month. But several newly recognized drafts of the musical, written between 1954-57, show that originally, the story focused more on the towns persecution of a boy in a wheelchair carrying a much more serious message than the final draft. At the time, children with disabilities were routinely institutionalized in horrid conditions and denied an education. In the version that debuted in 1957, the only character that doesnt fall for the scheme is Marian Paroo, a well-read single woman who has a shy ... More
World Auction Gallery will ring in the New Year with a 535-lot auction
EAST MEADOW, NY.- World Auction Gallery will ring in the New Year with a major, 535-lot auction on Sunday, January 2nd, led by a large collection of items by Yaacov Agam (Israeli, b. 1928) from a private collection; the largest collection of Judaica items, including silver, bronzes and more; and exceptional paintings by noted and listed American, Chinese and European artists. Also offered will be wonderful enameled Russian silver and Buccellati silver pieces; European porcelain, including Meissen and KPM; and Chinese and Japanese items. The auction will start promptly at 10 am Eastern time. Previews will be held December 28th thru January 1st, from 10 am to 4 pm by appointment only. To schedule a gallery appointment you may call 516-307-8180. Pieces in the Yaacov Agam collection include an Agamograph lithograph titled Festival #5, fully ... More
Galeri 77 hosts third solo exhibition of works by Mesut Karakış
ISTANBUL.- Galeri 77 is hosting Mesut Karakış third solo exhibition titled Layers and Grooves to be held within the gallery between December 16th and January 16th. Deviating from all other abstract works with his technique and color works and producing exceptionally successful works on this path, the artist takes the relationship between forms, spots and colors beyond the borders of the canvas by gravitating towards a more direct form in his paintings. Mesut Karakış has found an innovative way in the field of abstract painting. His treatment of paint and color as well as his painting method is unique. Without a brush or any other traditional tool, he creates appealing works that propel the concept of abstraction by truly revealing the power of color. While his early oeuvre was characterized by organic deformation and lyrical expressions, he later ... More
Mudam Luxembourg presents an installation of works by Isamu Noguchi and Danh Vo
LUXEMBOURG.- Continuing the programme of exhibitions specifically conceived for the unique architectural context of the Henry J. and Erna D. Leir Pavilion, Mudam Luxembourg Musée dArt Moderne Grand-Duc Jean presents an installation that instigates a dialogue between the work of Isamu Noguchi (b. 1904, Los Angeles; d. 1988, New York), a major figure in modern art, and that of the contemporary artist Danh Vo (b. 1975, Bà Rịa, Vietnam), who is a leading figure within his generation. This new installation conceived by Vo further develops a body of work created for the 2018 exhibitions in the M+ Pavilion in Hong Kong (Noguchi for Danh Vo: Counterpoint) and the SMK - National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen (Danh Vo. Take My Breath Away). It includes an installation of Noguchis iconic Akari lamps and a new mineral and plant- based ... More
No 'Hamilton' until after Christmas, as virus upends the performing arts
NEW YORK, NY.- The Broadway production of Hamilton canceled all performances until after Christmas as a spike in coronavirus cases batters the performing arts throughout North America as well as in London. The cancellations, prompted by positive coronavirus tests among cast or crew members, come at the worst possible time for many productions, because the holiday season is typically the most lucrative time of year. On Saturday and Sunday, about one-third of Broadway shows canceled their performances. And there were multiple COVID-prompted cancellations off-Broadway, as well as in Chicago, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles and other cities. Hamilton, a sold-out juggernaut that had been the top-grossing show on Broadway, cited breakthrough COVID-19 cases in its company as the reason for the cancellation. The show has been ... More
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PhotoGalleries
Cassi Namoda
Anke Eilergerhard
Jeffrey Smart
Light & Space
Flashback On a day like today, Italian painter Masaccio was born December 21, 1401. Masaccio (Italian: December 21, 1401 - summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, Masaccio was the best painter of his generation because of his skill at imitating nature, recreating lifelike figures and movements as well as a convincing sense of three-dimensionality. Masaccio died at twenty-six and little is known about the exact circumstances of his death. In this image: San Giovenale Triptych (1422).
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