This file picture taken on September 7, 2013 shows the harbour of ancient Herculaneum (Ercolano), the city destroyed by the Mount Vesuvius volcano's eruption in 79 b.c., during a night tour called "Herculaneum, Buried Stories". Precious scrolls blackened by the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano in AD 79 may become readable again, thanks to 21st century technology, scientists said on January 20, 2015. Hundreds of papyrus scrolls believed to have been authored by Greek philosophers were found in the Roman town of Herculaneum, which was hit in the same eruption that destroyed the town of Pompeii. AFP PHOTO / MARIO LAPORTA.
By: Richard Ingham
PARIS(AFP).- Precious scrolls blackened by the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano in AD 79 may become readable again, thanks to 21st century technology, scientists said on Tuesday. Hundreds of papyrus scrolls believed to have been authored by Greek philosophers were found in the Roman town of Herculaneum, which was hit in the same eruption that destroyed the town of Pompeii. Whereas Pompeii was buried under a thick layer of ash, nearby Herculaneum met a somewhat different fate -- it was exposed to a roiling blast of volcanic gas. The furnace-like heat burned its citizens alive and turned the writings into pitch-black, brittle rolls. The carbonised manuscripts, part of the only library to have survived from the classical world, were found 260 years ago in the ruins of a huge villa believed to have been owned by a wealthy Roman statesman, Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus. Now stored at the National Library of Naples, they are so fragile that the slightest touch can cause them to crumble. Adding to the probl ... More
Eugène Delacroix, Portrait of Charles de Verninac, ca. 1826. Oil on canvas, 24 ¼ x 19 7/8 in. (61.6 x 50.5 cm). FAMSF, museum purchase, Roscoe and Margaret Oakes Income Fund, 2014.80.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.-The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco announced the acquisition of the Portrait of Charles de Verninac, by Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863). This is the first painting by the artist to enter the Museums’ collection, which strengthens the institution’s holdings of French Romantic paintings of the early nineteenth century. “The Legion of Honor is one of the great repositories of French art in the United States,” said Colin B. Bailey, director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. “Delacroix’s arresting portrait is an important addition to our collections; it is a work that had great personal significance for the artist and it is an outstanding example of French Romanticism.” Delacroix was one of the foremost practitioners of Romanticism, and was best known for his imposing and dramatic compositions. ... More
Chema Madoz, Untitled, 2014. 196 x 23.6 in. Silver printing on Ilford paper. Ed. 15.
MADRID.-Galería Elvira González announces the coming exhibition of Chema Madoz, opening January 22nd. The exhibition -- the photographer’s first at the gallery -- consists of 35 photographs taken between 2012 and 2014. These new black-and-white images continue the artist’s signature method of creating poetic and surprising visual metaphors out of everyday objects. The exhibition will remain on view until March 14th. Long-established on the international art scene, Madoz was awarded Spain’s National Photography Award in 2000, and he was featured in one of the outstanding shows in the 2014 edition of Les Rencontres d’Arles (France), Europe’s leading international photography festival. Chema Madoz (Madrid, 1958) began his professional career in 1990, having completed his studies at the Centro de Enseñanza de la Imagen in Madrid. His first solo show took place in 1985 at the Real Sociedad Fotográfica in Madrid, an ... More
Helge Achenbach, a German art consultant, sits at the regional courthouse in Essen, western Germany. AFP PHOTO / DPA / INA FASSBENDER.
BERLIN(AFP).- A German court Tuesday ordered an art dealer to pay more than 19 million euros ($22 million) in damages to one of the country's richest families over the sales of paintings and vintage cars. Helge Achenbach, 62, had added spurious charges during the sale to the late Berthold Albrecht, heir to the Aldi Nord supermarket empire, the court in the western city of Duesseldorf said. Albrecht paid around 97 million euros in total for 21 artworks and 11 vintage cars -- some 19.3 million euros too much, the court found in its ruling on a civil claim. Spiegel Online reported in December that the art consultant's contested deals included paintings by Pablo Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein and Gerhard Richter, while the vintage cars were Ferraris, Bentleys and Jaguars. The two men had agreed on a five-percent commission for the purchase of paintings and sculptures and three percent of the net purchase price ... More
A pair of gilt-bronze mounted Meissen porcelain pot-pourri vases, the porcelain circa 1748-1752, the mounts Louis XV. Estimate: 120,000 EUR - 180,000 EUR. Photo: Sotheby’s/ArtDigital Studio.
PARIS.-Sotheby’s announced the auction, on 18 March in Paris, of the private collection of the Dillée family, a renowned Parisian dynasty of specialists and collectors of furniture and works of art. Consisting of 450 lots, the sale will be divided into two sessions, including French decorative arts from the 17th to the 19th centuries, Old Master paintings and drawings, bronzes, scientific objects and Antique arms. Mario Tavella, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe and Chairman Private Collections, said: “Our auction house is deeply honoured to be entrusted once again with the sale of an iconic collection of works of art, which, in this instance, has been carefully selected by the expert eyes of three generations of the Dillée family. Their Cabinet d’Expertise has seen some of the most beautiful objects go through its doors before being passed onto collectors, auction houses and institutions. We are hoping that ... More
Made up of 56 pages contained in a simple notebook bought from a stationers in Cambridge, UK, it is almost certainly the only extensive autograph manuscript by Turing in existence, and has never been seen in public. Photo: Bonhams.
NEW YORK, NY.- A key handwritten scientific document by Alan Turing in which he works on the foundations of mathematical notation and computer science is to be sold at Bonhams Fine Books & Manuscripts sale in New York on 13 April. The manuscript is expected to sell for at least seven figures and a portion of the proceeds from Bonhams and the vendor will be donated to charity. Made up of 56 pages contained in a simple notebook bought from a stationers in Cambridge, UK, it is almost certainly the only extensive autograph manuscript by Turing in existence, and has never been seen in public. From internal evidence, it dates from 1942 when he was working at Bletchley Park to break the German Enigma Code, and provides remarkable insight into the thought process of a genius. As he writes in his distinctive hand: “The ... More
The performance was called "Exorcising the Devil, Desecrating the Mausoleum".
MOSCOW(AFP).- Two Russian performance artists were jailed for 10 days on Tuesday after throwing holy water at the Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square and shouting, "Rise up and leave!" The men were sentenced to 10 days in police cells for petty hooliganism after the protest they carried out on Monday, an Orthodox holiday, a member of their art group, Irina Dumitskaya told AFP. "Ten days for basically just pouring water," she said. "When it rains, it pours on the mausoleum too." The performance was called "Exorcising the Devil, Desecrating the Mausoleum", she said. The two men, Oleg Basov, a dance teacher, and Yevgeny Avilov, a computer programmer, are members of an anti-establishment art group called Blue Rider, Dumitskaya said. In a video of the performance posted on YouTube, the two young men are shown carrying five-litre bottles of holy water marked with a cross from a church across the square. They move barriers in front of the mausoleum and throw the water at ... More
LONDON.- Wot no Bike is a series of new paintings by artist, musician, and biker Paul Simonon presented at London’s ICA. In these oils on canvas, Simonon depicts his own personal effects that include biker paraphernalia such as jackets, boots, helmets, and gloves, alongside his packets of cigarettes and books. The paintings are as much self-portraits as they are still lifes. By rendering possessions that he uses on an almost everyday basis, Simonon transmutes Wot no Bike into a visual diary in paint. A painter all of his life, it is as the bass guitar player with punk band, The Clash, that London-based Simonon (b.1955) came to prominence in the late 1970s. This lifelong passion for art and art history was first inspired as a child by his artist father whose studio he spent large amounts of time at, often sleeping there. It was here, surrounded by art books and pictures pinned to the wall, that he first encountered the works of 19thand 20t ... More
William Wendt, The Old Coast Road (detail). Oil on canvas, 30 x 36in., overall: 35 1/2 x 41in. Painted in 1916. Estimate: $400,000 - 600,000. Photo: Bonhams.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- An iconic oil painting by William Wendt titled "The Old Coast Road," circa 1916 (est. $400,000-600,000), stands out as the flagship amongst several significant works on offer in Bonhams' auction of California & Western Paintings & Sculpture on April 28 in Los Angeles, simulcast in San Francisco. The painting graces the cover of the best known book on California Impressionism titled “Plein Air Painters of California: The Southland” by Ruth Westphal. It is arguably the best known California painting in private hands. Plein-air works of note in the auction also include “At Annondale (Wildflowers near Pasadena)” by Guy Rose (est. $150,000-250,000); an exceptionally large canvas by Edgar Payne entitled “Surging Sea” (est. $150,000-250,000); and William Wendt's "Misty Morning, Santa Ana Canyon," 1928 (est. $60,000-80,000). ... More
Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center by Kengo Kuma & Associates. Photo by Takeshi YAMAGISHI.
SYDNEY.- Five renowned Australian and international architectural practices have been selected for Stage 2 of the Sydney Modern Project design competition. The Sydney Modern Project will significantly expand the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ contribution to the culture, social life and economy of Sydney, Australia’s leading global city. Gallery Director Dr Michael Brand said each of the five selected practices had the potential to deliver an exceptional design for the Gallery. 'Our vision is for an inspirational design open to all the possibilities for art – a museum for the 21st century that will excite and engage audiences locally, nationally and internationally.’ 'Each of the five selected practices demonstrated insight and sensitivity to place and a diversity of approach to creating built forms. I am confident the winner will create something quite extraordinary for Sydney,’ Dr Brand said. The shortlis ... More
Helen Suzman. Photo courtesy of Isaac and Jessie Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research at the University of Cape Town.
DALLAS, TX.- A traveling graphic panel exhibition showcasing the formidable career of South African anti-apartheid and human rights activist Helen Suzman (1917-2009) will be on display at SMU Meadows School of the Arts from January 20 to February 20, 2015 in the Bob Hope Lobby of the Owen Arts Center. “Helen Suzman: Fighter for Human Rights” tells the story of Suzman’s rise as the leading Member of Parliament to oppose apartheid legislation during 36 years of public service. Meticulously selected photographs, personal letters, speeches, political cartoons and news articles convey the tremendous strength she demonstrated while facing constant animosity, anti-Semitism and intimidation from other South African Parliamentarians, colleagues and citizens. Suzman served in the South African Parliament for 36 years (1953-89), including a 13-year period (1961-73) as the governing body’s only member of the Progressive ... More
NEW YORK, NY.- Richard Armstrong, Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, today announced that London-based curator, critic, and editor Sara Raza has been selected for the third curatorial residency of the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative . In her role as the future Guggenheim UBS MAP Curator, Middle East and North Africa, Ms. Raza will join June Yap (South and Southeast Asia), Pablo León de la Barra (Latin America) and Guggenheim staff in realizing this multiyear program, which supports contemporary art, artists, education, and professional exchange in three of the world’s most diverse and dynamic regions. Building on MAP’s legacy of supporting research and scholarship, Sara Raza will be the third regional curator to accept a two-year residency with the Guggenheim Museum. She will work closely with the Guggenheim’s curatorial ... More
Joachim Brohm, Untitled II (house on legs). Archiv Pigmentdruck auf Fine Art Papier montiert auf Alu-Dibond, 2015. 110 x 92 cm.
DUSSELDORF.-Beck & Eggeling presents an exhibition of current works by Joachim Brohm on the occasion of the 'Duesseldorf Photo Weekend 2015'. The exhibition opening will take place on Wednesday 21st January 2015 from 7 pm in the gallery on Bilker Straße 4-6 in Düsseldorf. An artist talk between Joachim Brohm and Heribert C. Ottersbach entitled 'Wechselworte' will provide a deeper insight into the works by this artist. The exhibition 'Not a House' will show a variety of new and individual photographs created since 2012. They do not relate to a particular thematic or serial context. The subjects of these photographs are buildings, places and things which in time or space derive from different sources but which we often come across in everyday life. Through his specific selection of subjects, his compositional precision and muted colours which in their restraint remind one of the subtle grading of the colour grey in black ... More
Quote Religious paintings are the cathecism of the ignorant. James Cardinal Gibbons
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Image of iconic East London brewing company to sell at Bonhams LONDON.- A depiction of an historic East London brewing company, by 19th century Worcestershire painter Thomas Woodward, is to go under the hammer in the Gentleman’s Library Sale, on the 27th and 28th of February at Bonhams Knightsbridge. Hodgson's Brewery, executed in 1823, is an oil on canvas work that carries a pre-sale estimate of £6,000-8,000. London’s famed East End has been home to a number of major breweries over the years, one of which was the Bow Brewery, bought by George Hodgson in 1752 and situated near the banks of the Thames, opposite the present-day location of the O2 Arena (aka Millenium Dome). Originally Hodgson specialised in making a beer called porter, a dark and heavy bitter which was sold primarily to local pubs and residents, as it was the favourite drink of working men in the East End at the time. A relatively small operation at first, things really ... More
Linda Wolk-Simon named Director and Chief Curator of Fairfield University's Bellarmine Museum of Art FAIRFIELD, CONN.- Lynn Babington, Ph.D., RN, Fairfield University’s senior vice president for academic affairs, announces Linda Wolk-Simon, Ph.D., a veteran curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as the new director of the Bellarmine Museum, Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery and University curator. The appointment is effective on February 2, 2015. Wolk-Simon was selected at the conclusion of a thorough national search conducted by the Arts Consulting Group. Dr. Wolk-Simon comes to Fairfield after 25 years at the gold standard of museums, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where, from 1986 to 2011 she served in many posts, including curator, Department of Drawings and Prints. Prior to that she was the assistant curator of the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan, a diverse collection of paintings, sculpture, textiles, glass, ceramics and old master drawings. While at ... More
Columbus Museum of Art announces retirement of Chief Curator Dominique H. Vasseur COLUMBUS, OH.-The Columbus Museum of Art today announced that Dominique H. Vasseur, Director of Curatorial Administration and Chief Curator, will retire on January 30. Vasseur joined CMA in 2005 as Curator of European Art. During his tenure with CMA, Vasseur co-organized the immensely popular In Monet’s Garden: The Lure of Giverny, which broke Museum attendance records. He also organized Caravaggio: Behold the Man! The exhibition offered a rare opportunity to view the work of the Italian Baroque painter. Ecce Homo (Behold the Man), a stunning work painted by Caravaggio around 1605, was the centerpiece of the exhibition which was shown exclusively at CMA. The exhibition was part of the Columbus Bicentennial celebration and honored the sister city relationship between Columbus, Ohio and Genoa, Italy. Its artistic excellence was recognized with ... More
Fleming Museum of Art reopens with exhibition of photographs by H. A. Durfee, Jr. BURLINGTON, VT.- On Tuesday, January 20, the Fleming Museum of Art reopened for its Winter/Spring 2015 season with an exhibition featuring the mid-century photography of Europe by Burlington physician H.A. Durfee, Jr. who spent a long career in obstetrics and gynecology at Mary Fletcher Hospital, later Fletcher Allen Health Care, in Burlington, Vermont, where he delivered a notable percentage of Burlington’s current residents. In the early 1950s, prior to beginning his career in Vermont, Dr. Durfee practiced medicine at the U.S. Army Airbase in Wiesbaden, Germany. He and his wife Elizabeth took advantage of the assignment, traveling to London, Paris, Venice, and the German countryside when they could find the time. On these travels, Dr. Durfee took with him two German cameras: a Rolleiflex and Rolleicord. Between 1951 and 1953, he took over 600 black-and-white images, ... More
Sherman Gallery exhibition features drawings by New York-based artist David X. Levine BOSTON, MASS.- The Beatles are Dull and Ordinary is a ten-year journey through the expressive and vibrant large-scale colored pencil drawings of New York-based artist David X. Levine. Levine’s drawings are spiritually subtle: slow to build, emerging through the lenses of pop culture and postmodernism. Stirring the mind, they thrive with shape, composition, and above all, vivid color. Beginning as a poet in the 1980s, by 1990 Levine morphed into a visual artist. With his poetry informing his visual art with subtlety, sensitivity and lyricism. Often taking his practice to physical extremes, Levine’s vivid, labor-intensive colored pencil drawings range in scale from the intimate to the monumental (10” to 10’). Incorporating abstract forms and patterns as well as collage relating to popular and high culture, Levine creates an illusory formal vocabulary that inhabits lushly optical spaces, generating rich associations that ... More
Ryerson Image Centre plays with ideas of glamour and female representation in two exhibitions TORONTO, ON.-The Ryerson Image Centre plays with ideas of glamour and female representation in two exhibitions on view January – April 2015. Burn with Desire: Photography and Glamour offers a sweeping yet considered view of photography’s role in defining glamour since the 1920s. Approaching female identity from a different angle, Anti-Glamour: Portraits of Women seeks to challenge stereotypes, while claiming an alternative presence for women in the public sphere. From Edward Steichen’s iconic portrait of silent film star Gloria Swanson (1924) to Annie Leibovitz’s influential gatefold covers for Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood issue (1995-2014), Burn with Desire: Photography and Glamour explores how photography has shaped notions of glamour, sensuality and femininity in Western culture. Drawing on prints from the RIC’s Black Star Collection of photoreportage, as well as ... More
Nicaraguan poet laments betrayal of a revolution MANAGUA(AFP).- On the eve of his 90th birthday, storied Nicaraguan poet and priest Ernesto Cardenal laments what he calls the betrayal of the Sandinista revolution by President Daniel Ortega. Ordained a Catholic priest in 1965, Cardenal left a mainly farming community he founded on the Solentiname Islands to join Sandinista rebels fighting against the Somoza family regime, which had ruled the country for nearly half a century. "It was a beautiful revolution. But what happened is that it was betrayed," said Cardenal, who turns 90 on Tuesday, in an interview at the Nicaraguan Writers Center in Managua. "There is now the family dictatorship of Daniel Ortega. That's not what we fought for." Cardenal insisted he does not regret having supported the revolution, but minces no words when it comes to Ortega, who first came to power with the Sandinista National Liberation Front in the 1979 ... More
CAB Art Centre opens exhibition featuring the work of Belgian artist Saskia Pintelon BRUSSELS.- Saskia Pintelon is a Belgian artist. She completed her art training in Sint-Lukas (Ghent) during the swinging sixties but soon swapped the student city for exotic Sri Lanka, where she still lives and works. She went there in search of identity, a personal quest that has resulted in countless paintings, drawings, collages, texts, sketchbooks and words. Her work is poised between the continuous Western desire for progress and the timeless Eastern mastery of existence. A chronological overview of Saskia’s work is virtually impossible because every day for many decades, she has stubbornly sought answers to questions relating to the intrinsic meaning of life. Insights into her entire oeuvre slowly reveal themselves in successive periods of the artist’s life. For example, there is a series about found identity card photos, a series with ‘diseases’, newspaper clippings assembled together, a rat bite ... More
An inviting hand: Calligrapher to the fashion world PARIS(AFP).- His hand is steady and sure as it delicately traces the contours of the biggest names in the world of style: the celebrities, the magazine editors, the clients. Nicolas Ouchenir is a calligrapher, a member of a rarified profession whose ink appears on the must-have invitations of Europe's fashion shows. He may not personally meet all the VIPs attending the catwalk parades. But his personalised flourish to them, deliberately evoking the elegance of times past is carried close in their hands, in handbags, in tailored breast pockets. With Paris Fashion Week about to kick off on Wednesday, Ouchenir is being kept busy. The phone rings incessantly in his office with the fashion houses' press and publicity people calling to reserve his service -- most at the last minute. "You have to react fast," says the 36-year-old, who is dressed in jeans and a white shirt, and sat behind a desk upon ... More
Bonniers Konsthall introduces free admission to all exhibitions STOCKHOLM.- To further promote contemporary art, Bonniers Konsthall is introducing free admission to all exhibitions when reopening its doors on February 4th 2015. Since its launch in 2006, Bonniers Konsthall has exhibited the most recent art to a broad public. The driving concept has been to work to increase the general public’s interest in contemporary art. In order to make the art space even more accessible, Bonniers Konsthall has opted to offer free admission from February 4th, when this spring’s large-scale exhibition – City Walks – opens. By offering free admission, we hope that even more of the general public finds their way to our exhibitions and ventures into the world of contemporary art. Free admission enables visitors to return time and again to the same exhibition and to experience art at their own pace. In order to make the art space that much more accessible to the public, ... More
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On a day like today, fashion designer Christian Dior was born
September 21, 1905. Christian Dior (21 January 1905 - 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior, which is now owned by Groupe Arnault. His fashion houses are now all around the world. This file picture taken on July 3, 2017 shows a man adjusting a dress prior to the opening of the Dior exhibition that celebrates the seventieth anniversary of the Christian Dior fashion house, at the Museum of Decorative Arts (Musee des Arts Decoratifs) in Paris. 708 000 people visited the exhibition dedicated to Christian Dior from July 5, 2017 to January 7, 2018 in Paris.
