Louis Lozowick, Steel Valley, 1936, lithograph, 9 3/8 x 13 3/8 inches. Gift of Steven and Stephanie Wasser, 2017.74. Printed by George C. Miller, published by Associated American Artists.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.-The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State announced the opening of a third special exhibition for the summer, George Miller and American Lithography, which opened June 18. The exhibition is selected entirely from the museum’s expansive permanent collection and features thirty-eight prints by an impressive roster of artists who worked with master printer George Miller (1894-1965) to create some of their most memorable and recognizable works. “We are dedicated to bringing our audiences exhibitions that unearth new research and this is the first in-depth study of George Miller and his decades-long collaboration with American artists in nearly half a century,” said Erin M. Coe, Director of the Palmer Museum of Art. Organized and curated by Charles V. Hallman Senior Curator Patrick McGrady, George Miller and ... More
LONDON.- Painted during the winter of 1968, Pablo Picasso’s Homme et femme made the top price in the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale at Christie’s in London. The monumental composition, which articulates Picasso’s passion for painting and lust for life during the twilight years of his career, sold for £12,464,250 / $15,617,705 (including buyer’s premium), leading an auction that totalled £36,413,750 / $45,626,429. The auction opened with Egon Schiele’s Liegender Mädchenakt from 1909, a breakthrough year in the short yet eventful life of the artist. The painting, delicately rendered in watercolour, India ink and pencil, sold for £1,271,250, more than four times its high estimate. Homme à la pipe, a 1919 limestone sculpture by Henri Laurens, also cruised past its high estimate before selling for £1,691,250, ... More
Life of the Buddha illustrated in miniature paintings.
DUBLIN.-The Chester Beatty has opened an exhibition of Thai Buddhist manuscripts dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. The world-renowned collection of beautifully illustrated books provides a rare opportunity to explore the Buddhist tales depicted within. Presented as colourful illustrations alongside sacred texts, some of the most popular Buddhist stories within the books are the birth tales of the Buddha and the legend of the monk Phra Malai. Handsomely decorated folding books were used by monks as teaching aids and for chanting during religious ceremonies. Many were commissioned following the death of a relative and then donated to a temple. This earned religious merit for the donor as well as the deceased. The Buddha had many past lives, but stories of his last ten are particularly important in Thai culture. Known as jatakas, or ‘birth tales’, these stories tell of the Buddha’s moral evolution over countless incarn ... More
A highlight of Sotheby’s Modern & Post-War British Art Evening Sale, the painting was offered alongside beautiful examples by some of the century’s most significant artists. Courtesy Sotheby's.
LONDON.- This evening, in the midst of the Cricket World Cup fixtures, L.S. Lowry’s charming depiction of a backstreet cricket match in Salford from 1938 sold for £1,155,000 / $1,447,562. A wonderful example of Lowry at his very best, A Cricket Match made its first appearance on the market since it sold at Sotheby’s in June 1996 for £282,000. One of only a handful of occasions when the beloved British artist turned his hand to the sport, the rare work gives children the centre stage, as both enthusiastic players and spectators – a counterpoint to the burdensome life of the adults and their dilapidated surroundings. A highlight of Sotheby’s Modern & Post-War British Art Evening Sale, the painting was offered alongside beautiful examples by some of the century’s most significant ... More
In this file photo taken on November 4, 2018, Hans Ulrich Obrist (L) and Yana Peel attend the 2019 Breakthrough Prize at NASA Ames Research Center. Miikka Skaffari / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP.
LONDON(AFP).- The head of London's Serpentine Galleries, Yana Peel, resigned on Tuesday following a newspaper report about her links to a controversial Israeli spyware firm. The board of trustees of the contemporary art galleries announced "with a mix of gratitude and regret" that it has accepted Peel's resignation, adding that she would be "sorely missed". In a separate statement carried by The Guardian newspaper, Peel referenced a "concerted lobbying campaign against my husband's recent investment". The Guardian reported last week that Yana Peel co-owns NSO Group, a spyware company based in the Israeli seaside high-tech hub of Herzliya, near Tel Aviv. It has faced questions over its Pegasus software, which can reportedly switch on a target's cell phone camera and microphone, and access data on it, effectively turning the phone into a pocket ... More
LONDON.-Gagosian is presenting Ed Ruscha: Eilshemius & Me, an exhibition of works by Ed Ruscha and Louis Michel Eilshemius (1864–1941). In 2017, Ruscha began Spied Upon Scene, a series depicting majestic mountainscapes that resemble the idyllic ranges of travel books, postcards, adventure movies, or the Paramount Pictures logo. The series descends from his earlier Mountain Paintings, in which inscrutable phrases, laid over the mountain images, become a wry and physical presence in the landscape. The mountains of Spied Upon Scene, however, are partially restricted from view, visible only through oval-shaped lenses or window grids. Like the Mountain Paintings, they seem to refer to the nineteenth-century tradition of the American Sublime; in fact, their lineage includes an obscure American painter from the turn of the century, Louis Michel Eilshemius, whose use of painted frames became an influence on Ruscha’s own approach. In the l ... More
NEW YORK, NY.- Over the past four decades, Robert Therrien (1947-2019) cultivated an expansive vernacular of forms drawn from memory and the everyday. Seemingly simple subjects-including snowmen, bows, and oilcans-acquire multiple levels of reference and association, while outsized sculptures of stacks of plates, tables and chairs, and beards shift between the ordinary and the surreal. The repetitive perfecting of chosen motifs is central to his work, imbuing objects and images with intentionality and a latent sense of the unattainable. Born in Chicago, Therrien emerged on the burgeoning Los Angeles art scene in the late 1970s after completing graduate school at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, ... More
Dimitri Hegemann, founder of the Tresor and lender of the door walks through the former door of Berlin's legendary techno club Tresor at the Humboldt Forum on June 18, 2019. John MACDOUGALL / AFP.
BERLIN(AFP).- The giant metal entrance door to a legendary techno club in post-Wall Berlin moved into a museum Tuesday as a symbol of the city's rebirth after its Cold War division. The rusty portal to the original Tresor nightclub became the first object for a display about the city at a museum still under construction. The door's journey mirrors Berlin's own turbulent 20th century history. It once sealed the massive bank safe rooms of the pre-war Jewish-owned department store Wertheim, whose family proprietors were stripped of their assets by the Nazis and either sent to the camps or forced into exile. The elegant shopping centre was demolished in Allied bombing during World War II but the heavy metal door survived nearly unscathed. It languished for decades in the no-man's land at the highly militarised border. But after the Wall fell in 1989, dozens of the city's abandoned industrial spaces, particularly ... More
LIVERPOOL.-Tate Liverpool presents the first major exhibition in the UK of American artist Keith Haring (1958–1990). Keith Haring, 14 June – 10 November 2019, brings together more than 85 works exploring a broad range of the artist’s practice including large-scale drawings and paintings, most of which have never been seen in the UK. Haring was a unique presence in 1980s New York, playing a key role in his generation’s counterculture and creating an immediately recognisable style. Best known for his iconic motifs, such as barking dogs, crawling babies and flying saucers, Haring’s work was politically charged and motivated by activism. As an openly gay man, Haring’s work as an AIDS activist and educator remains his most essential legacy. Elsewhere, he responded to equally critical and relevant issues, contributing to nuclear disarmament campaigns, creating a famed Crack is Wack mural, and designing anti-apartheid pos ... More
Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), Side Chair, ca. 1891–93. Primavera and American ash, varicolored wood and metal micro-mosaic marquetry, glass balls in brass claw feet, 35 1/4 x 18 1/4 x 18 1/2 in. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
SAN MARINO, CA.- The Art Collectors' Council of The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens funded the purchase of several notable American works at its annual meeting last month, signaling a commitment to grow and diversify The Huntington's holdings of works by modern and contemporary artists while continuing to build its collection of historical art. The Huntington acquired a group of 32 colorful etchings made between 2005 and 2014 by four artists—Louisiana Bendolph, Mary Lee Bendolph, Loretta Bennett, and Loretta Pettway—who are part of the Gee's Bend group of quilters. Also acquired was a collage, Blue Monday (1969), made by celebrated African American artist Romare Bearden at the height of his career. Two paintings (1910-1916) from the seminal Weehawken Sequence by John ... More
John Moore (b. 1941), Vacationland, 2019. Oil on canvas, 45 x 36 in.
NEW YORK, NY.-Hirschl & Adler is presenting its summer exhibition, Reinventing the Real. Featuring over 20 paintings by American artists, Reinventing the Real explores personal visions of reality in 20th and 21st-century American life. With the end of the Victorian era and the ascendancy of the machine age, and with the dark clouds of two world wars and countless international conflicts threatening on the horizon, 20th-century artists actively searched for ways to represent a society confronted with an uncertain future. As their desire to reproduce the human experience unfolded, subject matter transitioned from the ideal to the commonplace to offer fresh observations of everyday life. Looser lines, experimental forms, and shifts in color came to define the era. In this incessantly changing world, the need to create an art accessible to the masses has persisted. This yearning still emboldens 21st-century artists working in America’s co ... More
PARIS.-Christie’s’ Books department announced the sale of the collection: Paul Destribats, Bibliothèque des avant-gardes in partnership with the experts Jean-Baptiste de Proyart and Claude Oterelo. This remarkable collection of books and manuscripts was jealously preserved for sixty years – only a few researchers and close friends had access to it. Some books were regularly lent to institutions. The Bibliothèque des avant-gardes comprises 6,000 books, leaflets and manifestos and ephemera from the 20th century. The first three sales, constituting the part 1, include more than 600 lots dating from the 1910s to 1945. They will take place on the 3, 4 and 5 July at Christie’s Paris. The entire collection will be sold at Christie’s in three sessions, spread over a year, from July 2019 to July 2020. Jean-Baptiste de Proyart, expert of the sale: “Paul Destribats created his collection as an avant-garde’s antholo ... More
Installation work is continuing at Aberdeen Art Gallery in the build-up to the November 2 opening.
ABERDEEN.-Aberdeen Art Gallery will re-open to the public on Saturday 2 November, it was announced today. The date will mark the completion of a redevelopment project which has brought the most significant investment since it first opened in 1885. Aberdeen Art Gallery is home to one of the finest collections in the UK, including works by important Scottish artists, designers and makers such as Henry Raeburn, Joan Eardley, Samuel Peploe, Rachel McLean, Bill Gibb and James Cromar Watt, as well as nationally and internationally-acclaimed artists including Barbara Hepworth, Francis Bacon, Tracey Emin and Claude Monet. A key element of Aberdeen City Council’s City Centre Masterplan, the project is transforming the Art Gallery, Cowdray Hall and Remembrance Hall into a major cultural attraction which is expected to attract around 250,000 visits annually - making it one of Scotland’s most-visited galleries. Since work began in 2015, the Scho ... More
Quote I am unable to make a servile copy of nature. Henri Matisse
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Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, announces new appointments and curatorial promotions BOSTON, MASS.- Matthew Teitelbaum, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, announced today two new appointments and three promotions. Christopher Atkins has been named as the inaugural Van Otterloo-Weatherbie Director of the Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA), an innovative center for scholarship on Dutch and Flemish art of the early modern period, which will launch in 2020 in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the Museum’s founding. Ethan Lasser has been appointed as the Chair, Art of the Americas, to oversee the MFA’s world-class collection of paintings, sculpture and decorative arts created throughout North, Central and South America over a span of 3,000 years. Both will report directly to Teitelbaum. Additionally, the Museum has promoted Kristen Gresh to Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh Senior ... More
New York art collector Lio Malca presents a large-scale exhibition by Kenny Scharf IBIZA.-La Nave Salinas, the cultural space located in Ibiza inaugurated by art collector Lio Malca with the purpose of bringing the island closer to international contemporary art and introducing Ibiza to the international art circuit, presents this summer a great exhibition dedicated to one of the most famous North American contemporary artist: Kenny Scharf. Conceived as a multicultural exhibition space and, as of 2019 as a foundation for the dissemination of contemporary art, each year La Nave Salinas presents an exhibition dedicated to the most influential artists of our times. The building is a massive stone structure at the edge of the sea of 700 square meters and 15 meters high, built in 1941 to store the salt harvested in the ponds integrated into the Natural Park of Ses Salines. In 2019, for its fifth anniversary, Kenny Scharf presents his first solo exhibition ... More
Flower Power at the PalaisPopulaire BERLIN.- From June 20 to October 28, 2019, the exhibition summer of love: art, fashion, and rock and roll brings an entire generation’s attitude towards life to Berlin and builds a bridge to the present. Many who were there glorify the time as a never-ending party. However, it was not only love, peace, and happiness that made the 1960s a decade of radical upheaval, but also the Vietnam War, student protests, and Warsaw Pact troops marching into Czechoslovakia. The peace and environmental movement, feminism and, sexual liberation—rights and freedoms that are taken for granted today—had their origins back then. And the starting point was the West Coast of the USA. In 1967, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to San Francisco to celebrate the Summer of Love. Those who weren’t there, now have the opportunity to immerse themselves in this ... More
photo basel 2019: Show report BASEL.- For its 5th edition photo basel announced that galleries have reported strong sales, with 90% selling works. This includes newcomers such as Grob Gallery and Atlas Gallery, alongside returning galleries including Bildhalle, Kahmann Gallery and Ibasho Gallery. photo basel is especially pleased to have successfully expanded the fair to take place on two floors of the Volkshaus and are happy to announce the fair will return to both floors next year. This year has once again proven to be a real success with strong sales and outstanding booths. Seeing a mixture of returning and new exhibitors, it was great to see that the expansion of the fair to the top floor allowed the participating galleries room for considered curation to create engaging spaces. --Sven Eisenhut, Director of photo basel The fair continues to retain strong ties with many Swiss and international ... More
'Moon Rock Hunter' on quest to track down Apollo gifts HOUSTON(AFP).- After Neil Armstrong took a "giant leap for mankind" on the Moon nearly 50 years ago and collected rocks and soil along the way, Richard Nixon presented lunar souvenirs to every nation -- 135, at the time. Dozens of the "goodwill" moon rocks -- some only the size of a grain of rice, others as big as a marble -- have since gone missing, and Joseph Gutheinz Jr is on a mission to find them. The 63-year-old retired NASA special agent is the "Moon Rock Hunter." "Some people go rock hunting," Gutheinz said in an interview with AFP at his law office in a Houston suburb decorated with awards from NASA and the US military. "I go Apollo-era rock hunting." Gutheinz's quixotic quest to track down missing moon fragments intersects with the coups, wars, assassinations and other political turmoil of the past half-century. "The Libyan moon rocks? ... More
UAE gift helps French palace reopen 'forgotten theatre' FONTAINEBLEAU(AFP).- An exquisite 19th-century French theatre outside Paris that fell into disuse for one and half centuries has been restored with the help of a 10 million euro donation from oil-rich Abu Dhabi. The Napoleon III theatre at Fontainebleau Palace south of Paris was built between 1853 and 1856 under the reign of the nephew of emperor Napoleon I. It opened in 1857 but was used only a dozen times, which has helped preserve its gilded adornments, before being abandoned in 1870 after the fall of Napoleon III. But during a state visit to France in 2007, Sheikh Khalifa, ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, was reportedly entranced by the abandoned theatre and offered 10 million euros ($11.2 million) on the spot for its restoration. After a project that has lasted 12 years the theatre is now being reopened. An ... More
Guild Hall welcomes Kristin Eberstadt as Director of Philanthropy EAST HAMPTON, NY.- Kristin Eberstadt has officially joined the Guild Hall team as Director of Philanthropy. She began her career in advertising at Saatchi & Saatchi in Japan before moving her focus toward education. After classroom teaching and mentoring, Eberstadt became involved with East Hampton’s Ross School where she helped transform the student body and fiscal landscape as Director of Admissions, Executive Director, and Director of Institutional Advancement. Under her leadership, Ross School reached record enrollment and the largest number of boarding students in New York from more than 27 countries. She last served as Director of Admissions at WeGrow, The We Company’s conscious entrepreneurial school in NYC. Eberstadt has lived in nine countries, is fluent in multiple languages, and is passionate about supporting the arts ... More
The World Illustration Awards 2019 category winners announced LONDON.-The Association of Illustrators, in partnership with the Directory of Illustration, announced the 16 category winners of the prestigious World Illustration Awards 2019. An independent jury of 24 industry professionals and commissioners including Jim Stoddart, Art Director of Penguin Press, London, Connie Lam, Executive Director, Hong Kong Arts Centre and Leyla Reynolds, Art Director, gal-dem, judged over 3,600 submissions from 68 countries in eight categories to select a shortlist of 200 entries, from which the category winners have been chosen. Kirstie Johnstone, Creative Production Partner and Board Director of AMV BBDO said: "The best thing about judging awards is the opportunity to discover new artists. Being able to see work and talent that I might otherwise not have the chance to see in illustration is my absolute favourite." Each of the eight ... More
Exhibition brings together works created by Robert Mapplethorpe in New York City between 1978 and 1984 MADRID.-Galería Elvira González is presenting Robert Mapplethorpe - Still Lifes, the third exhibition at the gallery dedicated to the American artist. In collaboration with The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, this presents, through a wide selection of works, Mapplethorpe's vision of inanimate and everyday objects that make up his still lifes. This exhibition brings together works created by the artist in New York City between 1978 and 1984. Mapplethorpe attended the Pratt Institute of Art at a time marked by artistic currents such as body art, minimal and conceptual art, which made use of photography detached from its formal or aesthetic side. This period was also characterized by a strong return of painting, in which the use of the photographic medium was notably reduced. When Mapplethorpe evolved from collage and began to use his Polaroid ... More
Exhibition at Jeu de Paume offers a sweeping overview of Sally Mann's career PARIS.- For more than forty years, Sally Mann (born 1951) has been taking hauntingly beautiful, experimental photographs that explore the essential themes of existence: memory, desire, mortality, family, and nature's overwhelming indifference towards mankind. What gives unity to this vast corpus of portraits, still lifes, landscapes and miscellaneous studies is that it is the product of one place, the southern United States. Sally Mann was born in Lexington, Virginia, deep in the area of the United States known as the South. She has often written and spoken about what it means to live in the South; drawing on her deep love for that area and a profound awareness of its complex historical heritage, she explores bold, thought-provoking questions – about history, identity, race and religion – that go beyond geographical and national boundaries. This exhibition is the first ... More
A royal family Rolex watch Sells for over $300,000 LOS ANGELES, CA.-Kruse GWS Auctions, the world renowned auction house known for its record-breaking sales has sold a one-of-a-kind Rolex 32.00ctw VVS1-VVS2 E-F Diamond and 18K Yellow Gold watch custom made for a Royal Family for $307,500. The auction took place Saturday, June 15, 2019 in Los Angeles. The sale of the Rolex watch was one of the many outstanding outcomes of this weekend’s auction featuring fine jewelry, Vietnamese royal family artifacts, iconic fashion designer accessories and master timepieces. The magnificent timepiece was custom made by Rolex for a member of the royal family and is of museum quality. It was encrusted with approximately 32.00ctw genuine diamonds and features a pave diamond dial surrounded by a bezel lined with baguette cut diamonds, which also line the center of the bracelet around the entire length ... More
Transamerica/n: Nicki Lucio
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Flashback
On a day like today, American painter Lee Krasner died
