A 14th century Madonna and Child sold by the Brooklyn Museum through Christie’s for $75,000 in Oct., 2020. Bitter debate has ensued as museum leaders around the country discuss whether to permanently embrace a pandemic-spurred policy that allows the sale of art to cover some operating costs. Christie’s Images Ltd. via The New York Times.
by Robin Pogrebin and Zachary Small
NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- It started as a stopgap measure to respond to the pandemic, a temporary two-year loosening of an Association of Art Museum Directors’ policy that has long prohibited U.S. institutions from selling art from their collections to help pay the bills. But more and more museums are taking advantage of the policy, and the association began discussing making it permanent — an idea that, depending on which institution you talk to, either makes perfect sense or undermines the very rationale for their existence. The debate has grown heated in recent weeks, pitting museum against museum and forcing the association — which serves as the industry’s referee and moral watchdog — to postpone talks about extending the change indefinitely. “We need to take time to reconsider,” Thomas Campbell, the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, said in an email. “The decisions we make now will impact the museum industry for decades.” The long-standing pol ... More
Beeple, Everydays – The First 5000 Days, NFT, 21,069 pixels x 21,069 pixels (316,939,910 bytes).
MUMBAI(AFP).- An Indian-born blockchain entrepreneur has revealed himself as the mystery buyer who paid a record $69.3 million for a digital artwork last week, describing his purchase as a shot fired for racial equality. Programmer Vignesh Sundaresan, who is based in Singapore, said in a blog post Thursday that he had purchased the most expensive digital artwork ever sold to "show Indians and people of color that they too could be patrons" of the arts. Around 22 million viewers tuned in to Christies.com on March 11 for the final moments of a bidding process that saw Sundaresan -- under the pseudonym Metakovan -- win the rights to digital artist Beeple's "Everydays: The First 5000 Days". Bidding for the virtual collage of 5,000 images -- the first purely digital NFT- ... More
Seven works purchased at auction since the year 2000 were resold during the time period of analysis.
NEW YORK, NY.- On March 23rd, Christie’s Hong Kong will offer a single lot sale, shining the spotlight on Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Warrior, having touted the 1982 painting as potentially the most expensive Western artwork to be sold at auction in Asia. With this highly publicized sale approaching, ARTBnk examined Basquiat’s sale results from Sotheby’s, Christie's, and Phillips that took place from June through December 2020 in order to breakdown recent performance across the low, middle, and high value segments of the market. At the end of March 2020 the ARTBnk Value algorithm was adjusted based on a number of broad based economic indicators. This resulted in ARTBnk Values in aggregate being reduced by 20% from values prior to the pandemic. As the chart illustrates below, sa ... More
Hyacinthe Rigaud, Portrait of Louis XIV aged 63.
PARIS(AFP).- A museum dedicated to the history of Paris denied Friday that it is dropping the use of Roman numerals for the names of kings and emperors, which had caused uproar in Italy. Amid concern that Louis XIV had suddenly been renamed Louis 14, the Carnavalet Museum took to social media to calm nerves. "Roman numerals have not been abandoned. They are used for the names of kings and emperors on nearly 3,000 signs," tweeted Paris-Musees, which runs the Carnavalet in the Marais district of the city. Parts of the Italian press had worked themselves up over the perceived "cultural catastrophe" of the decision to eschew their beloved numerals at the museum. But Paris-Musees explained that this was only for around 170 monarch-related signposts aimed at simplifying things for certain ... More
FLORENCE(AFP).- With Italy's museums once again closed, French street artist JR has provided an art-starved public in Florence with a museum opening -- literally. "La Ferita" (The Wound), the artist's latest work, is a black and white mural depicting a gaping hole cut into the side of Florence's Palazzo Strozzi, known for its contemporary art exhibits. Beyond the rubble, the viewer glimpses some of the Renaissance city's best-known works inside the exposed galleries -- Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" and the twisting marble bodies of Giambologna's "Rape of the Sabine Women". "It's a message that's coming at a moment when we need an opening to the museums," JR told AFP on Friday as the work was unveiled, adding that the public art might bring some relief "before the real museums open." The artist is known for plastering huge, black-and-white photographs -- usually faces of unknown people in close-up -- on the sides of buildings and walls in locales as diverse as the West Bank, the ... More
The comedian Carl Reiner. Carl Reiner Collection/National Comedy Center via The New York Times.
by Dave Itzkoff
NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- When Carl Reiner died in June, he left a hole in the comedy firmament that no performer, writer or director will be able to fill. Reiner, who would have turned 99 on March 20, also left behind a trove of documents, artifacts and personal memorabilia, working on TV programs like “Your Show of Shows” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and films like “Oh, God!” and “The Jerk.” Now this personal archive will live on: his family is donating it to the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York, so that current fans and future generations can appreciate the breadth of his accomplishments. “It’s a lot there,” said Rob Reiner, the actor and filmmaker who is Carl Reiner’s oldest child. “We’re talking about an 80-year career. He lived to 98 and he started when he was in his late ... More
Movie-lover and businesswoman Kristina Sermuksnyte-Alesiuniene gestures as she talks in a hotel room where she watched a festival film, during the Vilnius International Film Festival “Kino Pavasaris” in the Hotel PACAI in Vilnius. PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP.
by Vaidotas Beniusis
VILNIUS(AFP).- With Lithuania's cinemas still shut due to the pandemic, local movie-lovers will be able to enjoy a cherished film festival in a novel way -- from the comfort of a hotel room. Organisers of the International Vilnius Film Festival, which began this week, are inviting residents of the capital to check into one of its hotels to watch the films beamed to their rooms. "The pandemic took a toll on mental health and people need entertainment. It also gives some support to the hard-hit hotel industry," festival CEO Algirdas Ramaska told AFP. "Some 200 rooms were booked in hotels for an opening night and they are almost sold out for weekends,", he said, before greeting guests in dinner jackets and ... More
Charles Venable, then director and chief executive of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Jan. 16, 2019. Venable resigned on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, after apologizing for an insensitive job posting. Lyndon French/The New York Times.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.- Newfields’ Board of Trustees announced today an action plan that will focus Newfields on becoming an empathetic, multicultural and anti-racist institution. Over the past 30 days, Newfields’ leadership and outside experts have listened to staff, volunteers, docents and community, including local artists. The resulting plan represents a set of initial actions, and a deep commitment to continue listening and bringing in new ideas. The action plan includes the establishment of a $20-million endowment, the proceeds of which will be dedicated to the works of marginalized artists; more diversity on the Board of Trustees; organization-wide DEIA training; as well as a series of new programming, community partnerships and free membership offerings to bring Newfields to a wider, more diverse, audience. To read the action plan in full and learn more ... More
NEW YORK, NY.- Immersion, the exhibition of fifteen new Tonal Paintings by Isaac Aden focuses on the formal and sensational qualities of Aden’s most recent additions to his newest series of paintings. Specifically, the exhibition examines the subtle transition of color values, essentially gradients of saturation and desaturation of each color across groups of 6 to 9 paintings as well as within each painting with the subtle shifts between the limited palette of colors: red, blue and yellow. Like the rest of the related Vespers and Auroras series—the subject and title of the artist’s exhibition at the gallery in the fall of 2020—they are painted wet on wet to allow for gentle atmospheric blending of colors on a grey ground. However, all of the paintings in the current presentation are of uniform size measuring 60 x 48 inches (the previous solo exhibition had the same size canvases as well as larger and diptych canvases in vertical and horizontal orientations). Pushing the current gr ... More
Installation view: Matthew Lutz-Kinoy. Window to The Clouds; Salon Berlin, Museum Frieder Burda. Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, An opening of the field, 2020. Wool. Courtesy of the artist; Lombardy Capriccio, 2020. Acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 150×255 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM. São Paulo, New York and Brussels; Photo: Thomas Bruns.
BERLIN.- On view from March 19 – June 5, 2021 at Salon Berlin, the Berlin-based project and exhibition space of the internationally renowned Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Window to The Clouds presents Paris-based artist Matthew Lutz-Kinoy’s first institutional solo presentation in Germany. Mirroring Salon Berlin’s engagement for diverse potentialities in contemporary artistic creation, Lutz-Kinoy embraces the full dimensionality of the exhibition space as he conceives an immersive and sensorial environment for visitors, that sheds light on his deeply spatial approach to painting, rooted in the body and performance. Comprised of recent paintings, ceramics and a site-specific sculpture, the exhibition imagines a series of contemporary landscapes as ... More
PRISHTINA.-Manifesta, the European Nomadic Biennial, originated in the early 1990s in response to the political, economic, and social change following the end of the Cold War and the subsequent steps towards European integration. Manifesta has developed into a platform for dialogue between art and society by inviting the cultural, artistic and urban community to produce new creative experiences with, and for, the context in which it takes place. Manifesta rethinks the relations between culture and society investigating and catalysing positive social change in Europe through contemporary culture in a continuous dialogue with the social sphere of a specific place. The preparations for the 14th edition of Manifesta are in full swing in Kosovo. Despite the current restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the biennial has started to work as both a think tank and a local facilitator, to create alternative models for crucial ... More
A photo provided by S M Suza Uddin, via Artolution, Mohammed Nur with his coronavirus-themed artwork at the Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh, Aug. 4, 2020. S M Suza Uddin, via Artolution via The New York Times.
by Patricia Leigh Brown
NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Before he fled Myanmar in 2017, a witness to unspeakable horrors in his Rohingya village, Mohammed Nur would produce art in hiding, drawing on napkins and trash with bits of charcoal. Art, poetry readings and a university education were among many aspects of life that were not allowed for Rohingya Muslims like himself. As his village was set ablaze, part of a campaign of mass slaughter, rape and arson by the Myanmar military and mobs from the country’s Buddhist majority, Nur, then 22, escaped with five family members, leaving behind “burning people,” including his beloved uncle. By day, they concealed ... More
Three videos are being shown in Gallery 32: Dérive Veneziane (2015), Guadiana (2017) and Finisterre (2017).
BILBAO.- The projects by Antoni Muntadas (Barcelona, 1942) include multimedia installations, photographs, publications, performances and urban interventions, and they represent one of the most important contributions to international conceptual art practices. The artist is also a touchstone in the use of video and the new technologies in Spanish art from the early 1970s. His oeuvre addresses topics related to politics, social issues and communication, always with one foot in anthropology, sociology and cultural history. In The Empty City, Bilbao and its current urban plan, as well as its historical context, are the point of departure for a broader inquiry into public space and architecture. Curated by Guadalupe Echevarria, the outcome is a project comprised of several components, as is common in Muntadas’ works. ... More
Quote Art that is not in the present will never be. Pablo Picasso
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The rare 1937 prototype for Action Comics No. 1 takes flight at Heritage Auction in April DALLAS, TX.- One of three known copies of the most important comics book in the medium's history serves as the centerpiece of Heritage Auction's April 1-4 Comics & Comic Art Signature event: an ashcan copy of Action Comics No. 1 from 1937. It's also the best-known copy in existence. And until now, it has never been for sale to the public. It's not hyperbole to say this is the mock-up that changed history, the prototype that shaped an industry. After all, this is the very book to feature the words "Action Comics" and the logo still used by DC Comics 84 years after this exemplar was made. The artwork, by The Shadow and pre-Batman Detective Comics illustrator Craig Flessel, may look unfamiliar; this blade-wielding ghoul, rejected for the cover of Detective No. 2, is no car-tossing Superman, after all. But the template had been set; the die, forever cast. ... More
Heritage Auctions' first Sports Monthly showcase scores $3.3 million DALLAS, TX.-Heritage Auctions' inaugural Sports Monthly Showcase Auction realized $3.3 million upon closing early Friday morning. This sale was the first of its kind in the nearly 20-year history of Heritage Auctions’ Sports Category — fewer than 400 lots in a sale that featured only material already graded and/or authenticated by a leading third-party service when consigned. It ran for two weeks, from opening to extended bidding, to better shrink the window between consignment, auction and payment. And unlike most of Heritage's sports auctions, it was done without a catalog. And yet, like Heritage's record-setting catalog auctions, here, too, new highs were reached. Like when Mickey Mantle's iconic 1952 Topps card, graded a far-from-mint condition PSA 3, realized $162,000, more than five times its original estimate. Or when one of the 1910 Ty ... More
Wright announces highlights included in its 'Danese: A Private Collection' sale CHICAGO, IL.- On March 26th, Wright will present the first auction dedicated to the influential designs of the Italian firm, Danese. The collection, from a single owner and acquired mostly at the time of production, is encyclopedic in scope capturing not only the pioneering vision of the collector, but also the incredible depth and breadth of the legendary firm’s production. The Italian firm Danese stands as one of the most influential companies in the history of design. Founded in 1957 by Bruno Danese and Jacqueline Vodoz, it was conceived to connect culture and industry and to bring art into the everyday. According to the company’s manifesto, their story “is a narration of material culture, suggested functions, discreet pedagogies and practical beauty.” With an emphasis on quality craftsmanship, forms born out of function and materiality, and details that are always essential, D ... More
Kehrer Verlag publishes Richard Gosnold's 'It Starts With Silence' NEW YORK, NY.-It Starts With Silence is a poignant story, in which the artist takes the reader on a deeply personal journey, a search for understanding and solace. It depicts his struggle to see beauty in the world, whilst knowing that he is powerless to help his wife and daughter. Richard Gosnold and his wife were told, at twenty weeks’ gestation,that their expected baby was fatally ill. If the baby survived birth, she would suffer terrible pain, until she stopped breathing. Abortion was illegal in Northern Ireland, so Denise was forced to carry the dying foetus and wait for the inevitable. Employing photography, texts and ephemera, Gosnold powerfully communicates the complexities of his emotions, while reflecting upon state sanctioned violence, forced birth, baby loss and lack of access to compassionate healthcare. It Starts With Silence was shortlisted for the Unseen Dummy A ... More
Ashley Harris assumes executive position at Mana Culture MIAMI, FLA.- Visionary entrepreneur Moishe Mana’s Mana Common announced the addition of Ashley Harris and Ana Garcia to the executive team of Mana Culture, its arts, entertainment, and cultural enrichment division. In their new roles, they will lead the charge in fostering arts and culture ecosystems through accessible and socially-driven resources and programming. “We have always made significant investments in cultural enrichment and the arts, which are an integral part of the Mana Common formula,” said Moishe Mana, CEO of Mana Common. “Ashley and Ana share in our understanding of the critical role that art and culture perform in the creation of sustainable creative communities. These incredible women combine a wealth of experience with impressive track records for executing at the highest level in their field. We are lucky ... More
Met Opera's music director decries musicians' unpaid furlough NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Urging the Metropolitan Opera to compensate its artists “appropriately,” the company’s music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, sent a letter to leaders at the Met on Thursday saying that the many months its orchestra and chorus had gone without pay during the pandemic had become “increasingly unacceptable.” He sent the letter as the Met’s musicians were scheduled to receive their first partial paychecks since they were furloughed in April. Before this week, they had been the last major ensemble in the country without a deal for at least some pay during the pandemic. In addressing the players’ nearly yearlong furlough — and hinting at the tough negotiations ahead, in which the Met is seeking long-term pay cuts from its unionized employees — Nézet-Séguin was doing something rare for a music director: ... More
Let's make the future that the 'New World' Symphony predicted NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The last live performance I attended before the lockdown last year featured excerpts from Nkeiru Okoye’s gripping 2014 opera “Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom.” The score takes listeners on a journey through Black musical styles, including spirituals, jazz, blues and gospel. “I am Moses, the liberator,” Harriet proclaims in her final aria, pistol in hand, as she urges an exhausted man to continue running toward freedom. “You keep on going or die.” With its themes of survival and deliverance, Okoye’s work would make a fitting grand opening for an opera company’s post-pandemic relaunch. But the American classical music industry has too often chosen familiarity and homogeneity over the liberating power of diverse voices. To help break this inertia, we must confront a work that has left indelible ... More
'A perfect world' around every miniature bend BERLIN(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Last spring, the managers at Märklin, the 162-year-old maker of model trains in Germany, were surprised by something unexpected in the sales reports. “We started to notice a serious uptick in orders,” said Florian Sieber, a director at Märklin. The jump continued into summer — a further surprise, he said, because that is “when people don’t usually buy indoor train sets.” But buy they did. In November, Märklin’s monthly orders were up 70% over the previous year. The company’s video introducing its new trains and accessories, posted in January, has been viewed more than 165,000 times. Along with baking and jigsaw puzzles earlier in the pandemic, model trains are among the passions being rediscovered while people are cooped up indoors. Several companies that make trains are reporting jumps in sales. For ... More
March Madness brings vibrant art and energy to Indianapolis INDIANAPOLIS(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- It was a city full of color. Masked people in lightweight jackets strolled around Monument Circle here last weekend, the light breeze tossing women’s ponytails. Strains of lilting flute music piped over the loudspeakers dueled with “Party in the U.S.A.” from the storefront of South Bend Chocolate Co. Water from the Soldiers and Sailors Monument fountain rushed in the background. And, around a city that a year ago saw empty streets and was very much shuttered, nearly 50 pieces of vibrant art and poetry installations filled formerly vacant windows and the Indianapolis International Airport. The Arts Council of Indianapolis recruited nearly 600 Indiana-based artists and creative professionals to install outdoor art downtown as part of a free three-week cultural festival, “Swish,” that is running in conjunction ... More
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On a day like today, British painter Patrick Heron died
July 20, 1999. Patrick Heron CBE (30 January 1920 - 20 March 1999) was a British abstract and figurative artist, writer, and polemicist, who lived in Zennor, Cornwall. In this image: Patrick Heron's painting "Nude in Wicker".
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