Brooklyn Museum curator Emeritus of the Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands William C. Siegmann dies

BROOKLYN, N.Y.- William C. Siegmann, Curator Emeritus of the Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands at the Brooklyn Museum, passed away peacefully on November 29, 2011. Bill Siegmann had a long-standing and deeply personal connection to Liberia, which began with service in the Peace Corps in the late 1960s and continued throughout his life. He taught at Cuttington University, where he also founded the Africana Museum. Bill returned to Liberia to pursue research between 1974 and 1976, which was supported by [...]

Sotheby’s New York to offer four monumental bronze sculptures by Henri Matisse

NEW YORK, N.Y.- Over the course of the next year, Sotheby’s will be offering at auction a cast of each of Henri Matisse’s spectacular bas-relief nudes, known collectively as Les Nus de dos (The Backs). The unprecedented sale of the four monumental bronze sculptures will begin with Matisse’s first incarnation of the form, Nu de dos (1er état), on offer in the 2 November Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York (est. $20/30 million*). Conceived in 1908-09 at the culmination of [...]

MoMA presents first major retrospective devoted to the full scope of the career of Willem de Kooning

NEW YORK, N.Y.- The Museum of Modern Art presents the first major museum exhibition devoted to the full scope of the career of Willem de Kooning (American, b. the Netherlands, 1904–1997), widely considered to be among the most important and prolific artists of the 20th century, from September 18, 2011, to January 9, 2012. de Kooning: A Retrospective, which will be seen only at MoMA, provides an unparalleled opportunity to study the artist’s development over nearly seven decades, beginning with his early academic [...]

Brian Ulrich: Copia-Retail, Thrift, and Dark Stores, 2001-11 at the Cleveland Museum of Art

CLEVELAND, OH.- The Cleveland Museum of Art presents the first major museum exhibition of contemporary photographer Brian Ulrich’s work from a decade-long examination of the American consumer psyche in Copia—Retail, Thrift, and Dark Stores, 2001-11. From the Latin word for “plenty,” the artist’s Copia series explores economic, cultural and political implications of commercialism and American consumer culture. The exhibition, featuring almost 60 photographs, will be on view from August 27, 2011 to January 16, 2012 in the museum’s east wing photography galleries. [...]

Exhibition Offers Unprecedented Reassessment of Pivotal Moment in Henri Matisse’s Career

NEW YORK, NY.- Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917, a large-scale investigation into a pivotal moment in the career of Henri Matisse (1869–1954), presents an important reassessment of the artist’s work between 1913 and 1917, revealing this period to be one of the most significant chapters in Matisse’s evolution as an artist. On view from July 18 through October 11, 2010, at The Museum of Modern Art, the exhibition examines paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints made by the artist between his return [...]

Cantor Arts Center Showing Figure Drawings by Frank Lobdell

STANFORD, CA.- Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University is presenting “Frank Lobdell Figure Drawings,” through February 14, 2010, an exhibition of approximately 60 figure drawings in ink, pencil, crayon, and wash from the 1960s and 1970s. Works are on loan from the artist and private collections and from the Cantor Arts Center’s own collection. Frank Lobdell, “Figure Drawing No. 54″, 1972. (3.11.72). Ink, ink wash and gouache, 11-3/8 x 14-1/2 inches. Courtesy: The Artist and Hackett/Mill, San Francisco “From the [...]