TORONTO.- Today, the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival announced the full program for the 26th edition of the city-wide event launching in May, with some projects taking place later in 2022. The Festival features over 140 exhibitions by Canadian and international lens-based artists who will present an array of projects online and in museums, galleries, and public spaces across Toronto. Artists include Stephen Andrews, Claudia Andujar, Atong Atem, Raymond Boisjoly, Sandra Brewster, Sophie Calle, Jorian Charlton, Sunil Gupta, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Brendan George Ko, Meryl McMaster, Memory Work Collective, Tyler Mitchell, Gisela Motta & Leandro Lima, Aïda Muluneh, Shirin Neshat, Anastasia Samoylova, Jeff Thomas, Natalie Wood, and many more. Click here for further information on these artists’ exhibitions and installations. The Festival is free and open to the public, with some exceptions at major museums. CONTACT fosters cr ... More
Jean Siméon Chardin’s “Basket of Wild Strawberries,” painted in 1761. Photo: Artcurial.
by Laura Zornosa
NEW YORK, NY.- On a computer screen, the still life “Basket of Wild Strawberries” by 18th-century French painter Jean Siméon Chardin is quiet and unassuming. His talent in capturing the reflection of light off the rim of a water glass is muted in that setting. In person, though, it casts a spell. “It’s deceptively simple, and it’s absolutely captivating and it’s magical,” said Eric Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum, which bought the work at auction in France in March for more than $22 million. “The painting completely mesmerized me, and it mesmerizes almost anyone who sees it.” But now the Kimbell, whose successful bid for the work was first reported by the Art Newspaper of France, has to wait to see whether it can actually export the picture, which it purchased at the auction house Artcurial in Paris. The Louvre has requested that the artwork be ... More
A 14k Gold Swimmer Link Necklace, designed by Carey Boone Nelson.
NEW YORK, NY.- Just in time for Mother’s Day, Lark Mason Associates announced a sale of Fine Jewelry from New York Estates, which opens for bidding on Tuesday May 3rd through May 19th on iGavelAuctions.com. “This sale overflows with wonderful gifts for Mother’s Day,” says Lark Mason. “Their low estimates add to the allure of these beautiful treasures, making them accessible at all price points.” According to Mason, the sale includes gold jewelry from the estate of Carey Boone Nelson, a direct descendant of Daniel Boone. Ms. Nelson was a self-taught sculptor and jewelry designer who studied under the Prix de Rome winner, Arthur Lorenzani and John Hovennes at the Art Students League in New York and with John Terken of the National Sculpture Society. She was recognized for her accomplishments in the arts by the Salmagundi Club, The National Arts Club, the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club and was a member of the ... More
In an image provided by. Igor Viery, Lika Spivakovska, who closed her two art galleries in Kyiv, Ukraine, a week into the war. She converted damaged artworks into digitized NFTs that were exhibited and sold at Lighthouse, an NFT art gallery in Puerto Rico. Igor Viery via The New York Times.
by Eduardo Medina
NEW YORK, NY.- Lika Spivakovska closed her two art galleries in Kyiv, Ukraine, hours after Russia invaded her country and felt helpless as she traveled across Europe, seeking refuge with her two children. Artists stuck in Ukraine had been messaging her all week, saying that their home workshops and studios had been destroyed by attackers. Explosions in eastern Ukraine had damaged about 20 dedicated spaces for artists, leaving canvasses charred, paintings tattered and entire livelihoods lost, according to text messages sent to Spivakovska. “I am without studio, paints, canvasses and none of my own works,” one artist lamented in a message. “I felt so guilty,” said Spivakovska, ... More
A former kindergarten classroom at the abandoned former Soviet diplomatic housing complex in Warsaw on April 27, 2022. Maciek Nabrdalik/The New York Times.
by Andrew Higgins
WARSAW.- Soviet diplomats moved out of the hulking Warsaw housing compound more than 30 years ago. But some Russians stayed behind, sheltering until the early 2000s behind a fence topped with barbed wire from a city that, with the collapse of their empire, had suddenly become hostile territory — and an important intelligence target. A moldering, Russian pulp fiction paperback left behind inside the now derelict property, perhaps provides a clue to the preoccupations of the Russians who lived in the compound that was notorious since its heyday in the 1980s as a nest of spies: “Game on a Foreign Field.” “It was always called Spyville and yes, many of these guys were spies,” the mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, said. Fed up by Russia’s refusal to relinquish the property despite court rulings that it no longer had ... More
Auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s will no longer need to be licensed as part of a sweeping package designed to promote a business-friendly climate.
by Graham Bowley and Robin Pogrebin
NEW YORK, NY.- New York City has eliminated the regulations it had tailored to govern the auction industry, an abrupt reversal in policy that is part of a sweeping effort to improve conditions for businesses after the economic damage brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Conceived to help small businesses by cutting red tape and reducing penalties, the changes will also have the effect of easing restrictions on major companies like Sotheby’s and Christie’s, which sell billions of dollars of art and other items each year. The regulations had been enacted over decades to increase oversight of an art industry long viewed as opaque — with buyers and sellers often shielded from public view — and chiefly required that certain information was disclosed, such as whether an auction house had a financial ... More
NEW YORK, NY.- The legendary Ann & Gordon Getty Collection will be sold at Christie’s through a series of landmark auctions beginning October 2022. A symphonic tour-de-force of masterpieces drawn meticulously from history’s most esteemed collections and from one of America’s most storied interiors, The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection stands alone in its quality, rarity and beauty. Nearly 1,500 superlative works of decorative and fine arts will be offered by Christie’s from the couple’s San Francisco residence. Continuing the Gettys’ lifelong commitment to philanthropic causes, proceeds from the sales this October, which are expected to achieve as much as $180 million, will benefit the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation for the Arts, devoted to the support of arts and science organizations. Designated beneficiaries will include leading California-based organizations with whom the Gettys have had a longstanding ... More
The interior of the German Synagogue, whose ceiling is in danger of collapsing, in Venice, Italy, April 21, 2022. Gus Powell/The New York Times.
by Robin Pogrebin
VENICE.- Walking into the Jewish Ghetto in Venice, Italy, in the Cannaregio section of this watery city, you would not know that there are five ornate synagogues nestled behind the walls of the nondescript tenements that date back to the 16th century. The temples were built on the top floor — according to Jewish law, synagogues should be the tallest structures in a given area — and had to be hidden because Jews were not allowed to pray openly. Those houses of worship were a lifeline for the estimated 5,000 Jews who lived in the ghetto at its most populous — a place to gather, celebrate rites of passage, take refuge from a world that didn’t want them. These days, the number of Jews in Venice has dwindled to 450, and the synagogues have fallen into disrepair. But an effort is underway to rejuvenate the three ... More
Dots Obsession by Yayoi Kusama (b.1929). Photo: Bonhams.
NEW YORK, NY.- Coming to Bonhams New York this May will be a series of three sales from the Fine Art departments: Impressionist & Modern Art on May 18, Post-War & Contemporary Art on May 19, and American Art on May 26. This series will feature a collection of works from the best artists in their respective categories including Martin Wong, Yayoi Kusama, Gabriele Münter, René Magritte, Milton Avery, and Fairfield Porter. Bonhams kicks off its May series of Fine Art sales with Impressionist & Modern Art on May 18 in New York. Highlighting the sale is an oil painting, Friedhoftor (Murnau), by German expressionist painter Gabriele Münter (1877-1962), estimated at $250,000 - 350,000. One of the pioneering artists of the Der Blaue Reiter movement, Münter played a significant part in the emergence of Germany's avant-garde and is one of the key female figures within art history discourse. Painted in 1908 at the height of her career, the work ... More
Andy Warhol's Self Portrait 1986, Est. 15,000,000 - 20,000,000. Courtesy Sotheby's.
NEW YORK, NY.- As the market readies itself for the biggest season it has ever seen, Sotheby’s now unveils the full contents of its major New York auction series. Carrying a combined high estimate in excess of $1 billion—on a par with last November’s record-breaking season – the sale series will present nearly 800 lots across six sales. The historic May sale of works from The Macklowe Collection will feature 30 artworks by Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Sigmar Polke, Willem de Kooning, and many others, which together are estimated to sell in the region of $200 million. Highlights include: • A monumental Self-Portrait by Andy Warhol, one of his final works (estimate $15/20 million) • An important & previously unseen Mark Rothko from 1960 (estimate $35/50 Million) • Gerhard Richter’s spectacular large-scale Seestück (Seascape) (estimate $25/35 Million) Featuring masterworks by the most renowned and c ... More
Worn during both the “The Hand of God” & “Goal of the Century” goals –two of the most iconic moments in football history – The shirt was offered at auction for the first time, in a dedicated online sale at Sotheby's. Courtesy Sotheby's.
LONDON.- On 22 June 1986, a 25-year-old Diego Maradona made history in what is now one of the world’s most famous football matches – the Argentina v England quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup. Maradona scored two of the most extraordinary, and notorious, goals in the sport. Argentina would go on to win the cup, and this day cemented Maradona’s name permanently in the chronicle of the sport – with many to this day considering him the greatest to ever play the beautiful game. Today, the shirt worn for “The Hand of God” and the “Goal of the Century”*, which many consider to be the greatest individual goal of all time, sold at auction for £7,142,500 / $9,284,536 – marking a new auction record for any item of sports memorabilia**. The shirt came from the collection of English midfielder Steve Hodge – who had unintentionally flicked the ball to Maradona on the “The Hand ... More
NEW YORK, NY.-Christie’s announces The Light of Africa Diamond (estimate: $11,000,000-18,000,000), which will lead the New York Magnificent Jewels sale on 8 June, as part of Christie’s Luxury Week. The Light of Africa is a D-color, Flawless, emerald-cut diamond of 103.49 carats, with excellent polish and symmetry. It also belongs to the rare Type IIa category, which make up less than 2% of all diamonds, making this one of the most rare and valuable diamonds. Graded by the Gemological Institute of America, The Light of Africa is accompanied by a report from the GIA remarking its classification as the pinnacle of the diamond pyramid. The diamond was cut from a 299.3 carat rough, unearthed from The Cullinan Diamond Mine owned by Petra Diamonds. This important gemstone was mined, cut and polished in South Africa. The Cullinan Diamond Mine has produced some of the most historic and sensational diamonds including the Great Star of Africa and ... More
Jared Whipple with one of hundreds of paintings by the artist Francis Hines that were found in a dumpster in 2017. Jared Whipple via The New York Times.
by Amanda Holpuch
NEW YORK, NY.- The gauze-wrapped building towered over New York City's East Village like a bandaged wound. It was May 1979 and the artist, Francis Hines, had covered an abandoned five-story tenement with 3,500 yards of white fabric, loosely sealing inside the littered drug needles and crumbled walls. At the time, a friend of Hines said, the soft, billowing installation brought “life, beauty and possibility” to the East Village, then an emblem of civic neglect. Hines earned a pinch of critical acclaim for wrapping this and other New York City structures, including the Washington Arch, in fabric, before he disappeared from the art world. He died in 2016 at 96. His work was rediscovered a year later by Jared Whipple, a Connecticut man who found hundreds of Hines' paintings in a dumpster and who has since made it his mission to get Hines the attention he thinks the artist ... More
Quote I mix colors with my brains, sir. John Opie
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'For Colored Girls' to close on Broadway, reflecting tough season NEW YORK, NY.- A much-praised revival of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf,” Ntozake Shange’s classic choreopoem, will close later this month after struggling to find an audience during a tumultuous Broadway season. The show’s producers said Tuesday that the final performance would be May 22, just a month after opening and three months earlier than planned. The closing reflects the challenges of this unusual Broadway season — the first since the pandemic shutdown — when tourism remains down, coronavirus cases are a constant complication, and a large number of shows opened at the same time, making it difficult for any one of them to break out. “For Colored Girls” won strong reviews — in The New York Times, critic Laura Collins-Hughes deemed it “thrilling and ... More
A dancer's farewell, not as choreographed NEW YORK, NY.- When Abi Stafford Lillo took her final curtsy this past fall after more than two decades at New York City Ballet, it looked like a typical dancer retirement, with colleagues handing her bouquets as the audience applauded wildly. But her smile that afternoon masked what had become a bitter dispute behind the scenes between the ballerina and the company. Lillo, 40, said she decided to leave because she felt she had been sidelined since her estranged brother, Jonathan Stafford, became City Ballet’s artistic director. Then, she said, she was cut from the opening night cast of her final ballet, “Russian Seasons,” by its choreographer, Alexei Ratmansky. He told her in a text that “the men were struggling” to partner her — which she considered “body shaming,” she said. City Ballet officials countered that Lillo had been offered ... More
Young Japanese Pop artists gather at Bonhams May Contemporary Art Sale HONG KONG.- When pop art landed in Japan, where the kawaii culture originated as a cult and developed into a mainstream aesthetic, it found itself a cuter identity: one of innocence and fantasy dressed in loveable vibrant pastel colours – the Kawaii Pop. Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami have a firm grip on the kawaii pop crown, and are the pioneers who successfully exported it to the global contemporary art scene. Not only that, they have also inspired a younger generation of Kawaii Pop artists who push new boundaries of this genre. These young artists, such as Ayako Rokkaku, Aya Takano, Hikari Shimoda, and Takeru Amano, are among the names whose works will be showcased at Bonhams Modern and Contemporary Art Sale in Hong Kong on 26 May 2022. Ayako Rokkaku, excitedly considered as ‘the new Nara’ by many ... More
Irving Rosenthal, low-profile force on the Beat scene, dies at 91 NEW YORK, NY.- Irving Rosenthal wasn’t famous like the Beat figures he associated with — Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and others. But he was an integral part of their scene. In fact, he propelled it forward at a crucial time. In the late 1950s, Rosenthal was a graduate student at the University of Chicago and editor of its affiliated journal, Chicago Review. He and his poetry editor, Paul Carroll, were fond of the Beat writers who had emerged on the West Coast and elsewhere and began publishing them. The spring 1958 issue featured Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Ginsberg, Kerouac and others who had been making an impression on the San Francisco poetry scene, as well as an excerpt from Burroughs’ shocking (but not yet published) novel “Naked Lunch.” Another “Naked Lunch” excerpt appeared ... More
Christie's to offer twelve jewels by JAR from the Estate of Ann Getty NEW YORK, NY.-Christie’s announced Twelve Jewels by JAR from the Estate of Ann Getty to be offered as a leading highlight of the Magnificent Jewels live auction on 8 June at Christie’s New York. Ann Getty’s striking group of jewels by JAR is one of the largest and most important private collections of works by the visionary designer, Joel Arthur Rosenthal to appear at auction. The group is expected to achieve in the region of $1.5 million. Prior to the sale, select objects will travel to Geneva and Hong Kong, followed by an exhibit at Christie’s New York in June. Daphne Lingon, Head of Jewelry, Christie’s Americas, commented: “Ann Getty was a trained scientist whose personal collection of JAR reflected her innate curiosity and impeccable taste for jewelry that was both beautifully-crafted and evoked memories of her family and research ... More
Modern lovers: Picassomania at Bonhams London LONDON.- He was one of the most celebrated and influential artists of the 20th century. He was also one of the most productive. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) lived an extraordinary life, and created even more extraordinary art. From prints to ceramics, works on paper to photographs, Picassomania returns to Bonhams New Bond Street on Wednesday 18 May, celebrating the full scope of the artist’s expansive oeuvre. Leading the sale will be Visage en forme d'Horloge, a sliver repoussé plate, conceived in 1956 and executed in silver by François and Pierre Hugo. It has an estimate of £30,000 - 50,000. Amongst the other highlights of the sale is a selection of Picasso ceramics, including Femme, 1955, (estimate of £8,000-12,000), and a photograph of Picasso alongside the photographer Cecil ... More
Dolly Parton voted into Rock Hall alongside Eminem and Lionel Richie NEW YORK, NY.- Despite a last-minute plea to “respectfully bow out” of consideration for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, country singer Dolly Parton made it in anyway, joining a musically diverse array of inductees for 2022 that also includes Eminem, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, Eurythmics, Duran Duran and Pat Benatar. The honorees — voted on by more than 1,000 artists, historians and music industry professionals — “each had a profound impact on the sound of youth culture and helped change the course of rock ’n’ roll,” John Sykes, chairman of the Rock Hall, said in a statement. Parton, 76, had said in March that she was “extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated” but did not feel that she had “earned that right” to be recognized as a rock artist at the expense of others. Ballots, however, had already ... More
Inside the Met Gala after-parties NEW YORK, NY.- Marc Jacobs was by the bar vaping something cinnamon flavored. Justin Theroux was in the corner wearing a sleeveless T-shirt. A DJ was playing Black Sheep’s “The Choice Is Yours.” It was around 1 a.m. at the Boom Boom Room at the Standard hotel, and if the customary after-party for the Met Gala was less starry than it had been in previous years, that was because the main event itself had been, too (there was no Rihanna, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga or Madonna). Also, until a few years ago, few parties competed with the Boom Boom Room. This year, there were rival events hosted by Instagram, LaQuan Smith, Tom Ford, Naomi Campbell, Cara Delevingne and the Blond. So a lot of people grabbed a champagne flute, took a few photos, ate some french fries and bounced to the next thing. This ... More
'Wish You Were Here' review: The saga of female friendship NEW YORK, NY.- The five Iranian women of “Wish You Were Here,” which opened Tuesday night at Playwrights Horizons, joke about sex and their bodies. They file one another’s toenails and lick their cheeks with a disarming degree of comfort. And they show off their psychic connections by playing rounds of “What am I thinking?” Yet these friends can also be vicious, mocking one another with the targeted hits of a loved one who knows where to stick the knife. Playwright Sanaz Toossi drops in on this group in 10 scenes — one for almost every year from 1978 to 1991, a period encompassing the Islamic Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War and the country’s steps toward economic stability. Pushing that upheaval somewhat awkwardly to the background, Toossi focuses instead on the women and how their relationships to one another — and ... More
Carnegie Hall will host concert in support of Ukraine NEW YORK, NY.- Carnegie Hall said Tuesday that it would host a concert in support of Ukraine later this month to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people, express opposition to the Russian invasion and raise relief funds. The benefit, “Concert for Ukraine,” is to take place at 8 p.m. May 23 and will feature more than a dozen artists and ensembles, including Russian-born pianist Evgeny Kissin, violinist Itzhak Perlman, jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant and singer Michael Feinstein. The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York, an amateur ensemble that specializes in secular and sacred music from Ukraine, will also perform. “Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it has been heartbreaking to witness the devastation that has been wrought there over the last two months,” Clive Gillinson, Carnegie’s executive and artistic director, ... More
A sister and brother choose repertoire by feeling and listening NEW YORK, NY.- Are Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason those rarest of things: young superstars who might actually live up to their hype? It certainly appears that way. The pair are two of seven British brothers and sisters, all musicians, who shot to fame when Sheku Kanneh-Mason, a cellist, won the BBC Young Musician Award in 2016. Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s exposure in particular has been extravagant since his star turn in the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018. But listen to more than the breathless reporting of their streaming numbers, and you find musicians who, while still in the early stages of their careers, already have serious, distinctive things to say. Sheku Kanneh-Mason, 23, made his New York Philharmonic debut in November, playing Dvorak’s Cello Concerto, a performance that revealed him to be a “charismatic ... More
Ferdinand Hodler and Mark Rothko: A Passion for the Italian RenaissanceNiklaus Manuel Güdel
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On a day like today, Russian painter and architect Viktor Hartmann was born
October 05, 1834. Viktor Alexandrovich Hartmann (5 May 1834, Saint Petersburg - 4 August 1873, Kireyevo near Moscow) was a Russian architect and painter. He was associated with the Abramtsevo Colony, purchased and preserved beginning in 1870 by Savva Mamontov, and the Russian Revival. In this image: The Paris Catacombs
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