“The Tipu Sultan Collection” Headlines Sotheby’s Arts of the Islamic World Sale

LONDON.- On Wednesday, 14 April, 2010 Sotheby’s bi-annual Arts of the Islamic World Sale in London will present an exceptional array of fine and rare works of art that span from the rise of Islam in the 7th century through to the 19th century. The auction, which will also feature important examples of ancient manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork, weaponry, textiles, ceramics and paintings from North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, Islamic Spain and South Asia, is estimated to realise in excess [...]

Extraordinarily Rich Survey of Surrealist Photography at Fotomuseum Winterthur

ZURICH.- From February 27 to May 24, 2010, the Fotomuseum Winterthur is presenting the exhibition The Subversion of Images – Surrealism, Photography, and Film, an extraordinarily rich survey of Surrealist photography. The exhibition comprises over 400 photographs, films, and documents: from very famous photographs by Man Ray, Hans Bellmer, Claude Cahun, Raoul Ubac, Jacques-André Boiffard, and Maurice Tabard to unknown pictures, to magazine publications, artist’s books, advertisements, to fascinating “raw, found documents”, to photo booth photographs, and group portraits of [...]

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Expands Reach with Archive, Library

CLEVELAND, OH (AP).- There’s always been room at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for the exciting, most popular relics, like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” jacket and John Lennon’s Sgt. Pepper uniform. But most of the not-so-flashy mementos were tucked away in storage. Visitors will get a chance to see those hidden artifacts beginning later this year, when the museum opens its library and archives in a recently completed high-tech building it shares with Cuyahoga Community College’s creative [...]

Now Showing on Art in the Loop’s ARTwall: Forever People by Ascot J. Smith

KANSAS CITY, MO.- Art in the Loop is pleased to announce the newest art commission for the ARTwall, Forever People by artist, Ascot J. Smith. The ARTwall is a custom designed billboard structure that exhibits super-sized contemporary art at 13th and Grand Streets in downtown Kansas City. Forever People by Ascot Smith is set in the year 2200. A nameless couple sends recorded messages into the past hoping to prevent a dystopian future. However, the two begin to use the [...]

Decorative Objects & Park & Garden Ornaments to be Auctioned at Sotheby’s

PARIS.- On 31 March & 1 April in Paris Sotheby’s will offer for sale an ensemble of 600 historic sculptures and interior/exterior decorative objects (statues, fireplaces, garden furniture, park and garden ornaments) from Origines – specialists in France’s architectural heritage from the Gothic period to the 20th century. Origines are based in Le Four-à-Chaux, a former 18th century industrial building in Richebourg, west of Paris, and cater to an increasingly international clientele. The ensemble showcases the magnificent materials – stone, [...]

American and European Works at Swann Galleries’ Auction of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings

New York. – On Tuesday, March 9 Swann Galleries offer a large selection of 19th & 20th Century Prints & Drawings at auction. The two-session sale is divided into sections devoted to 19th century prints and drawings, American works, and modern European prints and drawings. The auction opens with more than 170 lots of 19th century prints and drawings. Highlights of these include Camille Pissarro’s Femme à la Barrière, etching, 1889 ($10,000 to $15,000); Édouard Vuillard’s La Cousinière, color lithograph, [...]

Sculpted Pictures: Innovative Photography Sculptures

It could be said that the goal of modern art is to surprise viewers and force them to stretch their understanding of “art.” By using completely new methods and/or materials, artists cause us to reevaluate our expectations. That’s exactly what Korean artist Osang Gwon does with his sculptures. They are completely unlike what you’d expect from a sculpture, yet they are as expressive and beautiful as more traditional sculptures. Gwon’s sculptures aren’t chiseled from marble or cast in metal; they [...]

LACMA Presents 150 Years of American Masterpieces

LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765–1915, a major exhibition highlighting the variety and strength of American artistic achievement during an epochal century and a half, from the colonial era through the period leading to World War I. American Stories—the first survey of American narrative painting in more than thirty-five years—features over seventy works, including loans from leading museums and private collections, as well as key works from [...]

Exhibition Features Artists Who Have Revolted Against Aesthetic Orthodoxies

MINNEAPOLIS, MN.- Now-legendary figures as well as younger artists who have revolted against the aesthetic orthodoxies of their times are featured in the Walker Art Center exhibition Abstract Resistance on view February 27–May 23. Nearly 40 works ranging from the 1950s to a brand-new commission do not conform to a single theme, but are united in challenging what is expected of art, from the way it looks to the role it plays in society at large. The exhibition considers “resistance” [...]

Rupert Shrive Gives New Meaning to the Word ‘Portrait’ at Morton Metropolis

LONDON.- Rupert Shrive will give new meaning to the word ‘portrait’ at his show at Morton Metropolis, London’s most talked about gallery in the West End. In an insightful interview with Michael Peppiatt, biographer of Francis Bacon and author of a forthcoming book on Alberto Giacometti, the art historian describes the works as “Very tender, sensitive things, as if you’re peeling back the skin of appearance to show the strangeness of a human face and the head beneath.” But it [...]

“Matisse to Malevich: Pioneers of Modern Art from the Hermitage” Opens this Week

AMSTERDAM.- Outstanding works by Matisse, Picasso, Van Dongen, De Vlaminck, Derain and many other contemporaries of theirs will be seen in a magnificent display from 6 March 2010 to 17 September 2010 at the Hermitage Amsterdam in the exhibition Matisse to Malevich. Pioneers of modern art from the Hermitage. For this exhibition about 75 paintings have been selected from the Hermitage St.- Petersburg, which has one of the world’s finest collections of French painting of the early twentieth century. Apart [...]

Thomas Wrede to Show Works from Manhattan Series at Henn Gallery

MUNICH.- To start off a cooperation between Henn Gallery, Munich and Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art, Düsseldorf, the German photographer Thomas Wrede (*1963) will show works from his series Manhattan Picture Worlds. The Vernissage will be on Thursday, 4th March, 7 p.m. at Henn Gallery, Augustenstrasse 54 in Munich, with introductory words by Dr. Inka Graeve Ingelmann, Head of Department Photography and New Media, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich. Wrede has photographed oversized advertisements in the centre of New York [...]

Greek Police Arrest Two Men with Valuable Antiquities

THESSALONIKI.- Greek police arrested two men trying to sell several artifacts, including a bronze sculpture of emperor Alexander the Great from the 4th century B.C., for which the asking price was euro7 million ($9.5 million), authorities said Sunday. Police identified the suspects as a 48-year-old Thessaloniki businessman and a 51-year-old farmer, but did not provide their names. The men were arrested Saturday morning near the town of Kavala, east of Thessaloniki, police said. Police searched their car and found a [...]

New Works by the Danish-Icelandic Artist Olafur Eliasson at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

NEW YORK, NY.- Tanya Bonakdar Gallery presents an exhibition of new works by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson (B. 1967). Eliasson’s sixth solo show at the gallery continues his exploration of and experimentation with modes of perception and the experience of space and time. Focusing on movement, color, and light – and the interplay between the three phenomena – the exhibition involves the viewer in a collaborative creative process. Throughout his career, Eliasson has challenged the notion of the artwork [...]

Exhibition Highlights the Exceptional Beauty of Platinum Photography

PHILADELPHIA, PA.- A cornerstone of photographic practice during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the platinum print is revered by photographers and viewers alike as one of the most beautiful forms of photography, with subtle and lustrous shades that range from the deepest blacks to the most delicate whites. The Philadelphia Museum of Art will present an exhibition of more than 50 works from the late 19th century to the present, showcasing outstanding prints largely drawn from the Museum’s [...]