Exhibition of bronze sculptures by the late artist Stephen De Staebler at Dolby Chadwick Gallery

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Dolby Chadwick Gallery announces an exhibition of bronze sculptures by the late artist Stephen De Staebler (March 1933 – May 2011). Made during the last two years of De Staebler’s life, the sculptures featured in this exhibition are indicative of the aesthetic themes and concerns that run throughout this accomplished artist’s oeuvre. Having worked primarily in clay for the first part of his career, De Staebler began experimenting with bronze during the late 1970s. Rather than viewing the two [...]

German born artist Esther Kläs opens first exhibition “Nobody Home” at Peter Blum Gallery

NEW YORK, N.Y.- Peter Blum announces the exhibition Esther Kläs: Nobody Home which opened on November 17th at Peter Blum Chelsea, 526 West 29th Street, New York. This is Esther Kläs’ first exhibition with the gallery. For her first solo show in New York, the German born artist exhibits a group of work that specify the strength and independence of sculpture. The title of the exhibition, Nobody Home, evokes the notion of autonomy – a place for an indefinable species with a [...]

China’s stone workshops silenced by European crisis

DANGCHENG (REUTERS).- Mournful ancient Roman lovers, a boy Mozart and half a dozen angels lie in weeds behind the padlocked gates of an abandoned sculpture workshop in Dangcheng town, victims of economic waves rippling across the world to this corner of northern China. Dangcheng applied the traditional stone-carving skills of this rocky part of Hebei province to boom as an exporter of ornate statues, busts, reliefs and fountains to Europe and North America. Now the town is struggling with the deep [...]

Getty Museum acquires rare sculpture by the accomplished Master of the Harburger Altar

LONDON.- The Getty Museum announced that it made a successful bid at auction for an extraordinary rare sculpture of St. John the Baptist carved in limewood by the accomplished Master of the Harburger Altar in about 1515. The piece was purchased at Sotheby’s in London on December 6, 2011. A sculpture of Saint John the Baptist, carved in limewood by the accomplished Master of the Harburger Altar in about 1515 The sculpture, nearly 60 inches tall, depicts St. John the Baptist standing on [...]

Work by Eva Rothschild is first contemporary art acquisition for the Hepworth Wakefield

WAKEFIELD.- The Hepworth Wakefield announces its first art contemporary art acquisition. Purchased through the Contemporary Art Society’s Acquisitions Scheme and with the support of the Art Fund, Wandering Palm, 2011 by Eva Rothschild, is the first work to be acquired for the Wakefield Council’s permanent art collection since it opened in May 2011. Wandering Palm was one of a number of new works created by the artist for the inaugural exhibition, Hot Touch, at The Hepworth Wakefield. The explicit use of casting processes [...]

Artist named for $1M sculpture commission at GOMA 5th birthday party

BRISBANE.- Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has kicked off 5th birthday celebrations for theGallery of Modern Art by announcing the winner of a $1 million sculpture commission and unveiling a model of the new art work. The Premier also marked the occasion by opening the children’s exhibition ‘we miss you magic land,’ by Perth artists Pip and Pop. “It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since GoMA opened its doors here in Brisbane,” Ms Bligh said. “Since then more than 3.8 [...]

LACMA acquires two life-size allegorical sculptures by Baroque master Giovanni Baratta

LOS ANGELES, CA.- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has acquired two life-size allegorical figure statues by the late Florentine Baroque master, Giovanni Baratta (1640–1747). The rediscovery of these sculptures, Wealth and Prudence, has been recognized as a major contribution to the study of early eighteenth-century Florentine art. The works are generous gifts to the museum by long-time benefactor, The Ahmanson Foundation, which has contributed extensively to the development of LACMA’s collection of European Painting and Sculpture over the last forty [...]

United States exclusive: Bernini’s Medusa at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The Musei Capitolini in Rome are lending San Francisco one of their greatest treasures, the Baroque masterpiece The Medusa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, one of history’s finest sculptors and a leading figure in 17th-century Italian art and architecture. This loan is part of The Dream of Rome, a project initiated by the mayor of Rome to exhibit timeless masterpieces in the United States from 2011 through 2013. The Medusa represents the inaugural object loaned as part of a joint venture [...]

Rodin’s Head of Pierre de Wissant fetched HK$ 64,900,000 at Tiancheng International Auctioneer Ltd.

HONG KONG.- Tiancheng International Auctioneer Limited held its inaugural auction in Hong Kong. The star lot of the sale, Monumental Head of Pierre de Wissant by Auguste Rodin, fetched HK$ 64,900,000 (US$8,327,254). The bronze head sculpture in colossal form was sold to an Asian private collector over the phone after intense bidding, the sold price is over three times of the pre-sale low estimate of 20 million Hong Kong dollars. “We are happy with the sale result today,” said Ingrid Lam, CEO [...]

Paula Cooper Gallery presents new works by American artist Mark di Suvero

NEW YORK. N.Y.- The Paula Cooper Gallery presents new works, including a painting and a monumental steel sculpture, by the preeminent American artist Mark di Suvero, at its 534 West 21st Street space. Mark di Suvero continues to test the limits of large-scale sculpture, engaging space through seemingly weightless compositions of colossal steel beams, torqued metal and kinetic elements. The never-before-seen Paula’s Pleasure, a soaring construction measuring approximately twenty feet in height, is an assemblage of intersecting I-beams tied around a central steel [...]

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art shows three large, striking works by Ai Weiwei

HUMLEBAEK.- Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, as planned, opened an exhibition dedicated to Ai Weiwei with a number of the Chinese artist’s works from the years 2003-2010 – despite the authorities’ detention and isolation of the artist for several months earlier in the year. Ai Weiwei (b. 1957) has to a rare degree alternated in his practice between traditional physical artworks, conceptual projects, social activities, design and architecture. This has given his oeuvre the character of a compass that registers the [...]

Group exhibition with sculptures beyond the conventional at Galerie Michael Janssen

BERLIN.- Galerie Michael Janssen is presenting …there is a crack in everything, a group exhibition with sculptures and objects by artists whose practices refer to, expand or go beyond the conventional notion of sculpture and its parameters. On view are works by Vanessa Billy, Valentin Carron, Liz Larner, Dan Peterman and Joris Van de Moortel. Viewers customarily use volume, density and mass to make their initial judgments about what an object or sculpture might be and where it is situated; both in [...]

Royal Academy of Arts presents new environmental sculpture installation by John Maine RA

LONDON.- The Royal Academy of Arts presents After Cosmati, a new environmental sculpture installation by John Maine RA. Maine is best known for making large outdoor sculptures in stone which form relationships with and are inspired by the surrounding landscape. Maine’s extensive travels have informed his sculpture and he has created monumental installations over the world. Maine’s new work for this exhibition highlights his current interest in creating a sense of an expansive space within a contained area. Maine’s work utilises simple forms [...]

Pangolin London presents figurative sculptures by British artist Anthony Abrahams

LONDON.- In a time where vitality focuses primarily on youth, Anthony Abrahams’ sculptures are the perfect antidote to ageism as both a celebration of the human spirit and the body in all its forms. Pangolin London presents an exhibition of works of life affirming warmth and beauty with the first London solo show of Anthony Abrahams for over ten years. Encompassing a selection of works from the past two decades, this exhibition is testament to Abrahams’ unique artistic talent. Born in London in [...]

Yorkshire Sculpture Park brings structure by Aeneas Wilder crashing systematically to the floor

WAKEFIELD.- Yorkshire Sculpture Park presented the first major UK installation by international artist Aeneas Wilder. Wilder uses uniform lengths of wood, without fixing materials, to make freestanding and increasingly complex, awe-inspiring structures. Conceived especially for Longside Gallery, Untitled #155 commands the vast space, creating an apparently solid structure that is also extremely fragile. Wilder both references and challenges ideas about architecture by providing an enclosed, seemingly safe space for visitors to inhabit, but one which is unstable and liable to collapse. Wilder’s [...]