Early Childe Hassam Work Ushers in Summer at Bonhams New York

NEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams‘ highly anticipated New York sale of American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculptures will take place on May 26th. Consisting of just over 100 lots the meticulously selected catalogue is comprised of 19th and 20th centuries paintings from the Hudson River, Impressionist, and Regionalist schools as well as several works from noteworthy collections. Amongst the most sought after lots will be the cover lot, an 1891 painting by Childe Hassam (American, 1859-1935). Titled Woman with a Parasol in [...]

Lyons Wier Gallery Opens Exhibitions by Amanda Besl and Jazz-minh Moore

NEW YORK, NY.- Amanda Besl’s most recent body of work entitled “Riding Lessons” straddles the strong bond between adolescent girls and their equine obsessions. Her subjects are at the cusp of adulthood and precariously place themselves between adolescence and burgeoning self-awareness. Besl’s work examines these seemingly simple narratives with playful yet menacing undertones. The ability to control an animal ten times her size using only her legs, weight, hands, and voice is a powerful bonding experience for a teenager, whose [...]

Israel Museum Inaugurates Its Renewed Campus on July 26

JERUSALEM.- The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, inaugurates its renewed 20-acre campus, featuring new galleries, orientation facilities, and public spaces, on July 26, 2010. The multi-year expansion and renewal project was designed to enhance visitor experience of the Museum’s art, archeology, architecture, and surrounding landscape, in complement to the original architecture and design of the campus. Led by James Carpenter Design Associates of New York and Efrat-Kowalsky Architects of Tel Aviv, the $100-million project also includes the comprehensive renovation and reconfiguration of [...]

Six Hundred Museums Offer Military Families Free Admission

WASHINGTON (AP).- More than 600 USA museums  are offering free admission to military families all summer in a new partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The list includes some of the nation’s premier art museums, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as science centers, children’s museums and other sites in all 50 states. The program, called Blue Star Museums, is being announced Monday in San Diego, where 14 museums [...]

Exhibition Showcases Recent Work by Artists Living in the New York Area

NEW YORK, NY.- Greater New York, the third iteration of the quinquennial exhibition organized by MoMA PS1 and The Museum of Modern Art, showcasing some 68 artists and collectives living and working in the metropolitan New York area, opened at MoMA PS1 and runs through October 18, 2010. The 2010 exhibition not only presents recent work made within the past five years, but also fosters a productive workshop where artists are invited to experiment with new ideas within MoMA PS1’s [...]

Unique Works and Scarce Multiples Highlight Swann Galleries’ Auction

NEW YORK, NY.- Outstanding examples of American paintings and drawings, and scarce prints and three-dimensional contemporary artworks will be offered on Tuesday, June 8, at Swann Galleries’ two-part auction of American Art & Contemporary Art. The morning session of American Art offers more than 190 unique works by notable artists working in the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the many desirable oil paintings are Edward Mitchell Bannister’s Landscape, 1883 ($8,000 to $12,000); a selection of works by David Burliuk, including [...]

Mosaic Art NOW 2010: Great Art, Inspiring Artists, Provocative Thinking

WAKEFIELD, MA.- Bill Buckingham, Nancie Mills Pipgras and Michael Welch, Editors of Mosaic Art NOW (MAN) have announced the release of the 2010 edition of the magazine. The 106-page, high quality, full color magazine is designed to promote the international understanding and appreciation of contemporary mosaics. The highlight of this year’s MAN is the Exhibition in Print, an international, juried exhibition curated by Scott Shields, PhD., Chief Curator of the Crocker Art Museum of Sacramento, California. Said Buckingham, “Our hope [...]

German Foreign Minister: Nefertiti Bust Should Stay in Berlin

CAIRO (AP).- Germany’s foreign minister says the 3,300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti that has been in a Berlin museum for decades is in Germany legally and could break if moved to Egypt. Egypt’s antiquities chief had said he will formally demand the return of the bust of the 14th century B.C. monarch because it was taken out of Egypt with fraudulent documents in the early 20th century. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Saturday the case is still open but [...]

57 Ancient Tombs with Mummies Unearthed by Archeologists in Egypt

CAIRO (AP).- Archeologists have unearthed 57 ancient Egyptian tombs, most of which hold an ornately painted wooden sarcophagus with a mummy inside, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said Sunday. The oldest tombs date back to around 2750 B.C. during the period of Egypt’s first and second dynasties, the council said in a statement. Twelve of the tombs belong to the 18th dynasty which ruled Egypt during the second millennium B.C. The discovery throws new light on Egypt’s ancient religions, the [...]

Sotheby’s to Sell One of the Most Iconic Works of Art by Bharti Kher

LONDON.- Sotheby’s announced that it will offer for sale Bharti Kher’s celebrated sculpture The Skin Speaks a Language not its Own, one of the most iconic and most talked-about works of art by a contemporary Indian artist and the masterpiece of the leading female artist of her generation. Awe-inspiring in its scale, detail and beauty, this life-sized female Indian elephant, will be offered in Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction on Monday, June 28, 2010. The work appears at auction for [...]

Lewis Carroll Photos of Favorite Model for Sale at Bonhams

LONDON.- Three photographs of Alexandra Rhoda “Xie” Kitchin, one of Lewis Carroll’s favourite models, are being auctioned at Bonhams Book sale on 8 June. Alexandra was the daughter of the Dean of Durham who, for 15 years, also held a theological position at the University of Oxford where Carroll, a fellow of Christ Church, lectured in maths. The three photos, captioned by Carroll himself, show Alexandra in Danish and Oriental costumes. A keen photographer, Carroll considered these to be among [...]

Kelly Smith Brings Strong Editorial Skills to Museum as Associate Director of Communications

BIRMINGHAM, AL.- The Birmingham Museum of Art welcomes Kelly Margaret Smith as associate director of communications. Smith, formerly an editor at Southern Progress Corporation, joined the Museum staff on May 5, 2010. “Part of our mission is to grow the presence of the Museum in the community,” said Nick Patterson, director of communications at the Birmingham Museum of Art. The communications department manages public relations and marketing as well as communications for membership and special events. “Kelly will help us [...]

New York City Seeks Developer for Jazz Museum in Harlem

NEW YORK, NY (AP).- New York City is seeking a developer to build a new home for the National Jazz Museum in Harlem at a city-owned lot across the street from the Apollo Theater. The 10,000-square-foot site also will house the ImageNation Sol Cinema, an art house movie theater. The city’s Economic Development Corp. on Monday issued a request for proposals seeking a developer for the project. The site was the former home of Mart 125, a market where vendors [...]

‘Dropouts’ Cartoonist Howard Post Dies in New Jersey at 83

LEONIA, NJ (AP).- A cartoonist whose syndicated comic strip “The Dropouts” ran in more than 100 newspapers during the 1970s has died in New Jersey. Howard Post was 83. Post died Friday at a care facility in Hackensack and was buried Monday. His daughter Andee Post says he’d recently been hospitalized with kidney failure. Post’s comic strip ran from 1968 to 1982. It followed the misadventures of a pair of castaways and other inhabitants of a desert island. Andee Post [...]

Royal Institute of British Architects International Awards Winners Announced

LONDON.- The UK Pavilion at the World Expo 2010 Shanghai by Thomas Heatherwick Studios, Timberyard Social Housing in Dublin by O’Donnell & Tuomey and the Anchorage Museum in Alaska by David Chipperfield Architects are the three contenders for the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) prestigious RIBA Lubetkin Prize for the best international building by an RIBA member. The RIBA Lubetkin Prize will be presented on the 29 June 2010 at the RIBA in London and is supported by UK [...]