Iconic Work by Richard Avedon and Vintage Edward Weston, Lead Fine Photographs Sale at Bonhams

NEW YORK, NY.- Fine Photography aficionados were drawn to Bonhams New York for the firm’s highly anticipated May 18th sale. Offering work spanning from the early 19th century to today, the sale featured images by such legendary photographers as Richard Avedon, Edward Weston, and Ansel Adams. The top lot proved to be Richard Avedon’s 1981 Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent. Exemplifying Avedon’s signature melding of art and beauty photography, this iconic piece has been much published, notably appearing in On [...]

Phillips de Pury & Company’s London Photographs Sale Totals 901,375 Pounds

LONDON.- Phillips de Pury & Company’s Photographs Sale totaled £901,375 / $1,288,065 selling 78% by value and 69% by lot. The Photographs department, European market leaders, sold a full range of exciting works from diverse genres and movements integral to 20th and 21st century photography which generated widespread interest with top results for blue chip photographers. “I am particularly thrilled with the result for the Mapplethorpe X, Y, Z Portfolios which has never been sold at auction before, as it [...]

Exhibition Set to Reveal a New Picasso for a New Time

LONDON.- A major exhibition bringing together over 150 works by Picasso from across the world will be presented at Tate Liverpool from 21 May to 30 August 2010. Picasso: Peace and Freedom will reveal a fascinating new insight into the artist’s life as a tireless political activist and campaigner for peace, challenging the widely-held view of the artist as creative genius, playboy and compulsive extrovert. This is the first exhibition to explore the post-War period of the artist’s life in [...]

Five Masterpieces Stolen in $123 Million Paris Museum of Modern Art Heist

PARIS.- A broken alarm system made it as easy as 1-2-3: A masked intruder clipped a padlock, smashed a window and stole a Picasso, a Matisse and three other masterpieces from a Paris museum Thursday — a $123 million haul that is one of the world’s biggest art heists. Offloading the artwork may prove a tougher task, however, with Interpol and collectors worldwide now on high alert. In what seemed like an art thief’s fantasy, the alarm system had been [...]

Van Gogh Museum and Kroller-Müller Museum Organise Van Gogh Exhibition in Japan

AMSTERDAM.- The Van Gogh Museum and the Kröller-Müller Museum are working together for the second time on an exhibition in Japan with works by Vincent van Gogh. The exhibition Van Gogh: The adventure of becoming an artist contains prominent works including The bedroom and The sower (Van Gogh Museum), Ravine and Portrait of Joseph-Michel Ginoux (Kröller-Müller Museum). The partners in this collaboration are the Tokyo Shimbun – Chunichi Shimbun newspapers and Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Inc. In 2005, the Van [...]

Sotheby’s to Sell Three of Pablo Picasso’s Greatest Prints

LONDON.- On Thursday, 16 September 2010, Sotheby’s will offer in its New Bond Street salerooms an exceptional Private European Collection of Prints. The collection consists of masterworks by Pablo Picasso, the most important and innovative printmaker of the Modern Period who has been credited with the creation of some of the most significant works in the medium’s five hundred year history. Together, the 57 lots are estimated to realise in excess of £2.5 million. Three of Picasso’s greatest prints will [...]

2010 Royal Institute of British Architects Award Winners Announced

LONDON.- The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 RIBA Awards. RIBA Awards for architectural excellence will be presented to 102 buildings in the UK and Europe (93 in the UK and nine in the rest of the EU). The award-winning buildings range from a small circular loop for bus drivers in London to the Neues Museum in Berlin, from a zero-carbon house to the energy substation for the 2012 Olympics. The [...]

Craig Ruddy’s Portrait of Warwick Thornton Wins Archibald People’s Choice

SYDNEY.- Sydney artist, Craig Ruddy has won the 2010 Archibald People’s Choice Prize for his portrait of writer/director Warwick Thornton. In 2004 Craig Ruddy was awarded both the Archibald Prize and the People’s Choice for Sydney and Melbourne exhibitions for his popular but contentious portrait of actor David Gulpilil. This year his subject is Aboriginal writer/director Warwick Thornton. Thornton won the Camera d’Or for Best Feature Film at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for Samson & Delilah. The movie – [...]

Images from the Khodorkovsky Trial Make U.S. Premier

NEW YORK, NY.- Following its well-received eight-month tour of Moscow, Brussels, London and Paris, Sketches of (in)justice: The Khodorkovsky Trial from Putin to Medvedev makes its US debut presenting more than forty works by twelve artists whose works reflect the Russian peoples’ mounting frustration with corruption and hope for a freer society governed by the rule of law. The exhibition, created through “Drawing the Court,” a contest organized in Moscow by Sergey Kuznetsov Content Group and the Andrei Sakharov Memorial [...]

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Announces Opening of New Wing on November 20

BOSTON, MA.- The highly anticipated wing for the Art of the Americas and Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Family Courtyard at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), will open to the public on Saturday, November 20. In celebration, the Museum is hosting a free Community Day to welcome visitors to see The New MFA. The wing and enclosed courtyard are the focal points of the Museum’s transformational expansion and renovation project, designed by internationally renowned architects Foster + Partners [...]

Hammer Museum Present New Sculptural Work by Architect Greg Lynn

LOS ANGELES, CA.- This summer, the Hammer Museum will present a new sculptural work by Los Angeles-based architect Greg Lynn. A fantastical attraction for visitors of all ages, Fountain will be located in the museum’s outdoor courtyard. The work is a functioning fountain made entirely out of found large plastic children’s toys that have been cut and reassembled in multiple layers, with water spouting from its top and pooling at its base. Constructed from more than seventy-five prefabricated plastic whale [...]

Yael Bartana Awarded the UK’s Largest Art Prize

CARDIFF.- The 4th Artes Mundi Prize for contemporary art of £40,000 was awarded to Yael Bartana from Israel at National Museum Cardiff on Wednesday 19 May. Artes Mundi 4 has demonstrated that artists of today can add new readings into global issues as well as particular country politics. Bartana was awarded the Prize for her work of the last five to eight years which has consistently stimulated thinking about the human condition and adds to our understanding of humanity. The [...]

Rare Tintin Artifacts to Go Under the Hammer at Piasa Auction House

PARIS (REUTERS).- Finding a safe investment in crisis times may be tough, but just a year before Hollywood takes Tintin to the big screen, collectors are vying for rare memorabilia of the cub Belgian cartoon hero at a Paris auction. The Tintin series — created by Georges Remi under his pen name Herge — has become one of the most popular comics in the world with translations in more than 50 languages and 200 million copies of the 24 books [...]

Mixed Media Paintings of Korean Artist Hyun Ju Park at Causey Contemporary

BROOKLYN, NY.- This May Causey Contemporary will present the mixed media paintings of Korean artist Hyun Ju Park in Out of Darkness…Light and Consequential Tea, a group exhibition of tea inspired stoneware. Consequential Tea will feature the stoneware of Joe Campbell, Dick Lehman, Kristin Muller, Takao Okazaki, and Shane Sellars. Both exhibitions will open on May 21 and be on view till June 14. An opening reception will be held at the gallery’s 92 Wythe Avenue location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn [...]

Lewis Chessmen Open Scottish Tour at National Museum of Scotland

EDINBURGH.- Over 30 chess pieces from the National Museums Scotland and British Museum are starting a tour at National Museum of Scotland on 21 May and will continue to further Scottish venues. A major study led by National Museums Scotland has cast new light on the story of the origins and uses of the iconic Lewis Chessmen. The Lewis Chessmen were found on Lewis in 1831. They are believed to have been made in Scandinavia and to date to the [...]