In this file photo taken on August 04, 2019 A general view shows the Tate Modern gallery on the southern bank of the River Thames in London on August 4, 2019 after it was put on lock down and evacuated after an incident involving a child falling from height and being airlifted to hospital. British teenager Jonty Bravery on December 6, 2019 pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a six-year-old French boy, who was thrown from the 10th floor viewing platform of London's Tate Modern art gallery. Daniel SORABJI / AFP.
by Sylvain Peuchmaurd
LONDON(AFP).- A British teenager on Friday pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a six-year-old French boy, who was thrown from the 10th floor viewing platform of London's Tate Modern art gallery. Jonty Bravery, 18, admitted the charge during a hearing at the Central Criminal Court. He was remanded in custody pending psychiatric reports and sentencing on February 17. The young boy suffered a broken spine, legs and arm in the attack, which happened in front of horrified visitors to the riverside contemporary art gallery on August 4. Bravery, who was 17 at the time of the attack, appeared in court via videolink and spoke only to confirm his name, adding that his nationality as "white British". Asked how he pleaded, he said: "I plead guilty. Guilty, yeah, correct." His lawyer, Philippa McAtasney, told the court her client had autistic spectrum disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and was likely to have a personality disorder. Prosecutor Emma Jones described the c ... More
Staff members at the Brooklyn Historical Society examining a 1643 deed in Brooklyn. Rachel Papo/The New York Times.
NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- Anthony Jansen van Salee, better known as Anthony the Turk, was one of the most colorful characters in New Amsterdam, the Dutch colony that later became New York City. The son of a Dutch pirate and a Moorish woman, he fought constant legal battles with his neighbors, one of whom denounced him as “a rascal and a horned beast.” In 1639, after an ill-advised feud with the religious leader of the fledgling settlement at the tip of Manhattan, he and his wife — a reputed prostitute known for her salty tongue (and her habit of measuring clients’ endowments with a broomstick) — were banished. Like others pushed out of Manhattan in later centuries, Anthony — considered the first known person of Muslim descent to settle in America — just moved across the East River and before long had secured a grant of nearly 200 acres of farmland near the wilds of Coney Island. And one afternoon last ... More
‘Leonardo da Vinci Rediscovered’ By Carmen C. Bambach (Yale University Press).
NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- A four-volume Leonardo da Vinci compilation, the writings of Jill Johnston, a seductive collection of Carlo Mollino’s photography and a deeply researched book about imbalances in MoMA’s permanent collection. The New York Times’ art critics have chosen a truly eclectic array of art books this year — books that kept surprising them with each turn of the page. Below, they share their thoughts about their selections, listed in no particular order. ‘Unspeakable Acts: Women, Art, And Sexual Violence In The 1970s’ By Nancy Princenthal (Thames & Hudson). This cogent, nuanced book — long in the works — focuses on the ways the rape of women has been depicted in the visual arts. For centuries, images of it were in the hands of male artists and often filtered through a scrim of mythology and religion. In the 1960s and ’70s, female artists — Yoko Ono, Ana Mendieta, Valie Export and Suzanne Lacy among them — laid claim to the ... More
A worker removes Arthur Sackler's name from a building at the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. Cody O'Loughlin/The New York Times.
BOSTON(NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- Tufts University removed the Sackler name from five facilities and programs Thursday over the family’s role in the opioid epidemic, a gesture aimed at distancing the institution from a pharmaceutical dynasty closely tied to the school for 40 years. The Sacklers’ company, Purdue Pharma, producer of prescription painkiller OxyContin, has been cast by prosecutors and plaintiffs as responsible for an addiction epidemic that has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans over the past two decades. A series of major cultural institutions, including the Tate, Britain’s National Portrait Gallery and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, announced this year that they would no longer take donations from the Sacklers. But Tufts is believed to be the first university to publicly remove the family’s name from its walls. Dr. Harris A. Berman, dean of the Tufts ... More
PARIS.-Artcurial’s Furniture and Works of Art sale on Monday 16th December at 7 pm and on Tuesday 17 December at 2 pm, will showcase more than 350 lots of French and European decorative arts. On Monday, December 16th at 7pm, a number of exceptional lots with distinguished provenances, alongside several private collections will be offered. The Orloff service, a milestone in Parisian silver history, commissioned by Empress Catherine II of Russia in 1770 will undoubtedly appeal to collectors. A selection of dishes and plates, covers (estimate: €80,000 - 120,000) and a pair of silver candlesticks estimated between €100, 000 and €150,000 will be offered for sale. A magnificent Louis XVI gilt bronze automaton mantel clock from the Rothschild’s collections at Mentmore in England, representative of the “goût Rothschild” a characteristically lavish, elegant and extravagant style associated with ... More
Moses is interested in pushing the physical properties of paint through chemical reactions, viscosity interference, and gravity dispersion to create elaborate compositions that mimic nature and its forces.
MIAMI, FLA.- Andy Moses grew up in Los Angeles, California and attended California Institute of Arts from 1979 to 1982, where he was immersed in a rigorous program in conceptual art. He initially focused on film and performance, studying under artists such as Michael Asher, John Baldessari, and Barbara Kruger, but quickly selected painting as his chosen area of study. Moving to NYC after obtaining his degree in 1982, Moses worked for Pat Steir, while simultaneously developing his own distinctive style of organic abstraction. Moses’ work oscillates between nonrepresentational abstraction and imagery inspired by the natural world. The notion of suggestiveness is important to Moses’ work since each composition invites the viewer to interpret it. There is no correct or incorrect reading, this open-endedness or what Moses likes to call “interconnectedness” is one of the main points of his body of work. Moses’ new form of abstraction, with its unleashing ... More
McGraw comes to CAMH from Kansas City, Missouri, where he has served as Partner of el dorado, inc., an innovative cross-disciplinary design firm, where he provided executive leadership and strategy for ambitious curatorial initiatives in the public realm.
HOUSTON, TX.- The Board of Trustees at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston announced today the appointment of Hesse McGraw as Director, becoming the tenth director in CAMH’s illustrious 71-year history. McGraw comes to CAMH with a nearly twenty-year career in contemporary art, holding numerous leadership and curatorial roles both domestic and international. At CAMH, McGraw will oversee all aspects of the non-collecting institution’s wide-ranging artistic and educational programs, fundraising, and day-to-day operations—while providing leadership to a staff of more than 50. McGraw will bring a new vision that will explore and expand the Museum’s role as a forum and source for audiences to engage with contemporary art. “I could not be more pleased that Hesse McGraw will be coming to Houston to serve as the new Director of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston,” said Dillon Kyle, Chair ... More
Stephen Cleobury leads a rehearsal of the renowned King’s College Choir in Cambridge, England, on Nov. 29, 2018. Tom Jamieson/The New York Times.
by Neil Genzlinger
NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- Stephen Cleobury, who for 37 years was music director at King’s College, Cambridge — which among other things meant he led one of the most beloved holiday musical events on the planet, the Christmas Eve performance by the college’s celebrated choir — died on Nov. 22 in York, England. He was 70. Robin Tyson, his manager and a former choir member, said the cause was cancer. Cleobury, who had stepped down from his post just this past September, was a well-regarded organist when he was named to the King’s College position in 1982. In addition to leading the Choir of King’s College, he oversaw assorted other choral groups and from 1995 to 2007 was chief conductor of the BBC Singers, the noted chamber choir. But he was most often in the news in connection with the ... More
Handwritten letter to Arthur Miller from his brother Kermit, announcing his latest job as a traveling salesman, January 13, 1935. Arthur Miller Papers, Harry Ransom Center.
AUSTIN, TX.- The complete archive of Arthur Miller, one of America’s most acclaimed playwrights, is now available for teaching and research use at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin. “With the opening of the Arthur Miller papers, the Harry Ransom Center becomes the essential destination for the study of the life and work of this giant of the American theatre,” said Stephen Enniss, director of the Ransom Center. “My colleagues and I look forward to supporting the work of students and scholars who will study this archive for new insight for generations to come.” Arthur Miller (1915–2005) established the collection with two donations of his early manuscripts in 1961 and 1962, including drafts of “All My Sons,” “Death of a Salesman,” “The Crucible” and other early plays. The archive expanded significantly with the acquisition of his remaining ... More
Italian feather artisan Gianni Bracciani poses with some of his creations. MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP.
by Céline Cornu
SANTO STEFANO TICINO(AFP).- Feathers have adorned the most glamorous of fashionistas throughout history, from Marie Antoinette to Lady Gaga, and one Italian octogenarian continues to fuel the fantasy. "Feathers, for me, are my passion," said 89-year-old Gianni Bracciani, who comes every day to his workshop in Santo Stefano Ticino, about 30 km (19 miles) west of Milan, to dream up new uses for the colourful, wispy plumes. Bracciani has no intention of retiring after a lifetime in the fashion industry where feathers have played a starring role. A-listers and renegades have embraced his creations, designed in collaboration with the world's top fashion houses and donned by the likes of Angelina Jolie, Celine Dion, Naomi Campbell and Jennifer Lopez. Feathers are a family affair for the artisan, who works today with his daughter Emanuela, 51, and nine ... More
Kwakwaka’wakw artist, Transformation mask, 1870. Wood, paint, and string; 15 x 12 x 24-1/2 in. Denver Art Museum: Native Arts acquisition fund.
DENVER, CO.-The Denver Art Museum team has completed the installation of its monumental Haida poles, marking the beginning of art installations for a redesigned and reinstalled Northwest Coast and Alaska Native gallery. The reimagined space will be among the first art galleries to reopen to the public in the initial phase of the renovated Lanny and Sharon Martin Building on June 6, 2020. The DAM’s beloved Haida poles, frequently misattributed as “totem” poles, were the first items installed in the new space. Featured in the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, the largest is called the Land Otter Pole, and tells the story of a man who narrowly escaped capture by land otters after his canoe capsized. This pole was carved by Dwight Wallace in 1870. The museum collaborated with descendants of the Wallace family in November 2019 to celebrate the placement of the poles in ... More
Fabian Peake, Black Cam, 2017–2018, Sperrholz, Acrylfarbe, 227 x 103 x 35 cm, Courtesy of the artist.
LUCERNE.- The eponymous swift flits around the corner of a terraced house in London. The objects the bird might see out of the corner of his eye provide inspiration for Fabian Peake. His art draws on public space: unpretentious street furniture consisting of utility poles, signage and advertising hoardings, dust bins or manhole lids all flow into Fabian Peake’s formal cosmos. This artist is interested, both formally and haptically, in what is around him, but also in craftsmanship. He therefore repeatedly appropriates new insights and techniques. For his textile objects recalling the making of trousers or jackets, he learnt tailoring, with all the refinements necessary to sew a suit. And for his latest wooden object, made this year for the exhibition, he came to grips with boat building. Again and again, Fabian Peake combines abstract forms and objects in his painting and drawing. Their colours, the clarity of their forms, his engagement with the everyday and his aesthetic ... More
After seven years as Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Solveig Øvstebø will step down in February 2020.
OSLO.- Founded in 1993, the Astrup Fearnley Museet is one of Scandinavia´s most notable museums for contemporary art. The museum holds the extensive Astrup Fearnley Collection, which includes significant works by artists such as Matthew Barney, Paul Chan, Trisha Donnelly, Ida Ekblad, Matias Faldbakken, Félix González-Torres, Rachel Harrison, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Glenn Ligon, Bjarne Melgaard, Julie Mehretu, Richard Prince and Cindy Sherman. The museum presents changing exhibitions that both draw on the collection and new commissions by artists from all over the world. Øvstebø will start in her new role as the museum´s Executive Director and Chief Curator in May of 2020. She follows Gunnar B. Kvaran who has led the museum since 2001. “We are proud and thrilled to welcome Solveig Øvstebø as our new Director,” the President of the board at the ... More
Quote He paints with tinted steam. Constable on Turner
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1960 Daimler Dart sells for £36,800 at H&H Classics Auction Online December 4th LONDON.- This beautiful Daimler SP250 Dart sold for £36,800 at H&H Classics Auction Online. The stunning car had undergone a comprehensive restoration from the ground up and was offered with an ultra rare factory hardtop. It had been estimated to sell for £30,000 to £36,000. It was sent to Ian Nuthall of IN Racing for a complete shake down and correction where necessary of all work carried out including four-wheel alignment/optiflex geometry check and adjustment. A small fortune has been spent bringing it up to ‘concours’ condition. Another remarkable car in this sale, the 1976 Citroen Indecision designed by Andy Saunders sold for £17,250. If you want a car that is really special and different there is just one man to go to the in the UK, Andy Saunders, who produced this extraordinary vehicle based on a Citroen CX donor. Built in 1984 by Andy Saunders. ... More
Vittorio Grigolo, star tenor, fired for 'inappropriate' behavior (NYT NEWS SERVICE ).- Vittorio Grigolo, one of opera’s star tenors, was dismissed by the Metropolitan Opera on Thursday after he was fired by the Royal Opera in London, which found that he had engaged in “inappropriate and aggressive behavior” during a recent company tour of Japan. The Royal Opera said that an independent investigation of the incident, which occurred in September in Tokyo, concluded that Grigolo’s “inappropriate and aggressive behavior at the curtain call and afterward fell below the standards we expect of our staff and performers.” The Royal removed him from his upcoming performances with the company, and the Met, which had suspended him after the incident, quickly followed suit. Grigolo preempted the announcement of his dismissal with a post on Instagram. “I recognize that my personality can be very exuberant at times, ... More
TAXISPALAIS Kunsthalle opens last chapter of a trilogy on everyday practices INNSBRUCK.- The act of laughing occurs in liminal situations. It both emerges from and generates them. Disrupting the order of the known, laughing can lead established structures into anarchic crises and evoke subversion. Laughing is physical, psychological and social. Oscillating between contradictions, it veers from one state of being to another. In this, laughing functions through uncannily merging opposites. It is communicative while also interrupting communication. An expression of loss of control, laughing is at the same time a way to reassert control over an unsettled situation. Pleasurable and disturbing, laughing both results from emotions and triggers strong emotions. Laughing sets in when language dries up. Its definition slips away from the definite. In a manner similar to contemporary art, laughing attempts to free itself from the social rules and conventions that are the ... More
Patrick Church and Paddle8 announces storefront I Look For You In Everything NEW YORK.-Paddle8, the leading cultural e-commerce platform, announces an exclusive online storefront in collaboration with British multimedia artist Patrick Church. Patrick Church: I Look For You in Everything will be live for three months featuring three monthly drops of handbags, ceramics and rugs designed by Church and sold exclusively on Paddle8. I Look For You in Everytying will launch worldwide on December 6 on Paddle8 and will be marked by a launch event at The Surf Lodge during Art Basel Miami Beach. “At Paddle8 we’re proud of our collaborative work with artists, and this storefront is a fantastic, energized representation of that,” states Paddle8 CEO Valentine Ukovski. “Patrick is a chameleon and a visionary with a fantastic following, and these pieces are so coveted and personal.” “I’m fascinated by designing and creating items that are lived ... More
Works by Franz Richard Unterberger, Zhang Daqian, and Patek Philippe among the headline auction at Clars OAKLAND, CA.- Fine Art, extraordinary timepieces, dazzling jewelry and important Asian art will take center stage at Clars December 15th sale. The investment level property to be presented comes from prominent California estates as well as museums, private institutions and special collections. Austrian painter Franz Richard Unterberger (1838–1902), one of the most important artists of the 19th century, gained his renown as a master of creating romantic landscapes. He is best known for his scenic paintings of Italy and Clars presents San Barnaba, Venezia, his oil on canvas depicting the canals of Venice. This work comes to the sale from a private UK collection and will be offered for $40,000 - $60,000. Emil Nolde (German, 1867-1956) was one of the first Expressionist painters and member of Die Brucke. His watercolor on tissue titled Sunset, will be offered for $12,000 – ... More
John Gerrard's black smoke installation goes on show in Madrid to coincide with COP25 VIENNA.-Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary and the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of Spain, presents artist John Gerrard’s Western Flag (Spindletop, Texas) 2017 in the courtyard of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. The work be on show until 13 December 2019 coinciding with the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid. Originally commissioned to commemorate Earth Day, Western Flag (Spindletop, Texas) 2017 releases a constant stream of black smoke into the sky. The smoke is a marker for pollution, exhaust, CO2 emissions, and other volatile gaseous particles entering the earth’s atmospheric cover. It stands for everything that is fuelled by fossil organisms that contain energy originating in ancient photosynthesis stored in the earth’s crust: first coal, then petroleum and natural ... More
Silver Spitfire back in Britain after round-the-world trip LONDON(AFP).- An original Spitfire plane landed back in Britain on Thursday after successfully completing a first-ever attempt to fly the iconic World War II fighter around the globe. The gleaming silver aircraft touched down on the grass runway at Goodwood Aerodrome outside Chichester, exactly four months after it took off on August 5. The restored 76-year-old plane, which flew in World War II, visited 24 countries on its epic journey westwards around the world, clocking up more than 23,300 miles (37,500 kilometres). The aircraft has been de-militarised, stripped of its guns and paintwork, revealing the shining, silvery aluminium underneath. British aviators Matt Jones, 46, and Steve Brooks, 58, took turns at the controls over 74 legs. Jones flew the final one-hour, 57-minute journey from Lelystad in the Netherlands back to the Silver Spitfire's home hangar. The fighter, registration code G-IRTY, did ... More
L'INCONNUE Gallery moving to New York in spring 2010 NEW YORK, NY.- Montreal-based gallery, L’INCONNUE (pronounced Lan-co-nu) will be relocating and opening a 600 square-foot space in New York City’s Chinatown. Founded in 2016 by Leila Greiche, the gallery’s program has focused on championing the work of some 30 contemporary emerging and established artists including Melanie Ebenhoch, Maia Ruth Lee, Anne Low, Alex Morrison, Emily Ludwig Shaffer, Alison Yip, and Thea Yabut. Leila Greiche says, “ The art world is a niche market and community therefor e I believe there is more opportunity to cultivate an audience and program in N ew York which will expedite the advancement of the gallery in the most optimal setting. I also look forward to bringing the knowledge I gained from the Canadian art community to this new venture. ” The gallery’s inaugural exhibition will display the work of Canadian-based ... More
Prayer Chicago by James Webb brings people together at Winnipeg Art Gallery WINNIPEG.- The Winnipeg Art Gallery is hosting the Canadian debut of James Webb’s internationally acclaimed sound installation, Prayer (Chicago). The exhibition is now on view and runs until May 2020. By deliberately gathering prayers from a variety of neighborhoods and spiritual practices, the artist aims to join people together. The WAG is presenting the Chicago version of Prayer with the collaboration of many faiths, including Indigenous, Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Pagan. Prayer is an ongoing project, remade around the world since its first presentation in Webb’s home city of Cape Town in 2000, five years after his country ended its practice of apartheid. Until May 2020, the WAG welcomes the Chicago version of Prayer, the 10th and largest to date, as well as the first in North America. The work consists of recordings ... More
COP25 arrives at IFEMA with a large exhibition of Michael Pinsky 'Pollution pods' MADRID.- A spectacular exhibition now presides over the circular courtyard of the Feria de Madrid site, from today until the end of the World Climate Summit COP25. It symbolises the predicament of major cities with high pollution rates. Visitors to COP25 will thus be able to experience the air in the regions being simulated by the 'Pollution pods’ under the banner of climate awareness. The levels of pollution in cities such as New Delhi, London, Sao Paulo and Beijing will be recreated through a series of interconnected geodesic domes forming a ring. It is a laboratory simulation that emulates, through artificial aromas and scents, the particles of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide and the carbon monoxide present in the air of the cities with the greatest population, industry and vehicle density. The experience enables the visitor to pass through increasingly polluted ... More
2019 recipients of the Nancy Graves Grant for Visual Artists announced NEW YORK, NY.-The Nancy Graves Foundation announces the recipients of its annual Nancy Graves Grant for Visual Artists. Established by the artist, the Nancy Graves Grant for Visual Artists supports artists wishing to work in a technique, medium or discipline that is different from the one for which they are primarily recognized. Ron Bechet, based in New Orleans, LA, is known for his large black and white charcoal murals and installations that reference transformation, place and ancestry. He plans to cast large sculptures using the lost wax technique. Dylan Hausthor, based on Peaks Island, ME, is known for his documentary filmmaking and photography. He plans to build a large wooden sculptural structure as a site for experimental narrative performance projects. Anna Hepler, based in Greenfield, MA, is known for her immersive installations and suspended ... More
SAAG opens new exhibitions by Laurie Kang and Delcy Morelos LETHBRIDGE.-The Southern Alberta Art Gallery announces its presentation of two exhibitions this fall: Laurie Kang's Eidetic Tides and Delcy Morelos' Mother's Surface. The exhibitions are on view December 7, 2019 through February 16, 2020. Delcy Morelos grew up in Córdoba, one of the areas most impacted by armed confrontations over land and resources in the late twentieth century in Colombia. This exposure to strife and violence has been channeled into her work in a variety of ways, including an exigent exploration of different hues of red, ranging from the palest blush to the darkest brown. In recent installations, Morelos has worked with soil, soliciting its material properties, blended colours, richness and potency as fertile matter. The use of soil also signifies a return to the roots, to understand soil as one extensive organism that we ... More
Paul Rudolph and the Dynamic Genius of The Walker Guest House
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On a day like today, Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini was born
December 07, 1598. Gian Lorenzo Bernini (also spelled Gianlorenzo or Giovanni Lorenzo) (Naples, 7 December 1598 - Rome, 28 November 1680) was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect. In addition he painted, wrote plays, and designed metalwork and stage sets. In this image: After a long restauration, the head of the Medusa by Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini was displayed in Rome, on Wednesday 22 November 2006. The sculpture was exhibited in the Capitol museum in Rome until January. The work of restoration emphasized the lights and the shadows on the sculpture
