Rare Portrait of 1920s Hermes Designer Offered by Bonhams

LONDON.- A portrait of François Roques, the first outside artistic advisor to the renowned Fashion House Hermès, will be offered in the Russian Sale on 8th June at Bonhams, New Bond Street. Painted by Marie Vassilieff in 1930, the portrait is estimated to sell for £50,000 – 80,000. During the 1920s François Roques produced designs for a huge range of Hermès items including leather cushions, stationery, belt buckles, hat trimmings, handbags and luggage. His craftsmanship was apparent in the simple, [...]

Art Basel Takes Major Step Toward Expansion in Asia, Buys Hong Kong International Art Fair

BASEL.- Art Basel announced that MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd. – a MCH Group company, and the organizer of Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach – has signed a purchase agreement with Asian Art Fairs Ltd, the owners of ART HK – Hong Kong International Art Fair. As of July 1, 2011, MCH Group will take a majority ownership stake in Asian Art Fairs Ltd. The entry of MCH Group in the Asian art market marks a significant step [...]

Sotheby’s to Sell Major Masterwork by Leading British Post-War Artist Francis Bacon

LONDON.- Sotheby’s announced that its forthcoming summer Contemporary Art Evening Auction will be led by Crouching Nude, an important masterwork by the renowned British artist Francis Bacon (est. £7-9 million / $10-15 million)* which has never before been offered at auction. The 1961 oil on canvas, which is one of Bacon’s large-scale paintings, measuring 198cm by 145cm, will be offered for sale on Wednesday, June 29, 2011. The appearance of this work on the market follows Sotheby’s unmatched track record**with [...]

Crystal Bridges Announces Endowment Gifts from Walton Family Foundation

BENTONVILLE, ARK.- The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announced three endowments from the Walton Family Foundation. “We are in the fortunate position of having a founding donor family that understands the need for stability and sustainability going forward, and therefore has worked with us to create the base endowments upon which we will build and grow,” Dr. Bacigalupi said. “These extraordinary gifts mean we are now able to turn to our community with confidence when we ask for its [...]

Gagosian Gallery Centers Exhibition on Recent Discovery of Painting by Arshile Gorky

NEW YORK, NY.- Gagosian Gallery presents an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Arshile Gorky. Centered on the recent discovery of Untitled (Pastoral), a painting from 1947 that has never before been exhibited, “1947” includes paintings and drawings executed by the artist during the last year of his life. Untitled (Pastoral) was found in 2010 during the reframing of the painting Pastoral from the same series. The former was set behind Pastoral on the same stretcher, and remained covered for [...]

Major Survey Exhibition of Artist Jésus Rafael Soto: 1955 to 2004 at Haunch of Venison

NEW YORK, NY.- Together with the Estate of Jésus Rafael Soto, Haunch of Venison presents a major survey exhibition of the Venezuelan artist (1923 – 2005) from May 6th to July 1st 2011. This is the first substantial exhibition of the artist in New York since his 1974 solo show at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York which later traveled to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC. Soto is recognized as one of the most important [...]

Musee Rodin in Paris Presents “Works in Progress, Rodin and the Ambassadors”

PARIS.- Musee Rodin presents “Works in Progress, Rodin and the Ambassadors” examines the way in which Rodin’s work is perceived and strives to show not only how his sculpture developed but also how it was and continues to be reinterpreted. The exhibition compares 100 or so works by Rodin (1840-1917) with about 30 post-1945, modern and contemporary works. The exhibition is on view May 6 through September 4, 2011. Jean Arp, Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miro, Jean Fautrier, Lucio Fontana, Jean [...]

BMW Guggenheim Lab to Launch in New York in August, will Then Travel Worldwide

NEW YORK, NY.- The BMW Guggenheim Lab is a mobile laboratory that will travel to nine major cities worldwide over six years. Led by international, interdisciplinary teams of emerging talents in the areas of urbanism, architecture, art, design, science, technology, education, and sustainability, the BMW Guggenheim Lab will address issues of contemporary urban life through programs and public discourse. Its goal is the exploration of new ideas, experimentation, and ultimately the creation of forward-thinking solutions for urban life. Over the [...]

Picasso Museum in Barcelona Opens Exhibition of Pablo Picasso as Lithographer

BARCELONA.- Shown in the Engraving Exhibition Rooms of the museum is a selection of lithographs by Picasso developed between 1945 and 1956, when the artist really developed his interest in this printmaking technique. As he usually did when exploring a technique, he used several kinds of plates – stone, zinc, transfer paper – and tried a variety of traditional media – grease pencil, pen, wash -as well as introducing new materials and radically transforming the old established practices of the [...]

British Artist Fiona Banner’s Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron at Galerie Barbara Thumm

BERLIN.- Fiona Banner’s practice centres on the problems and possibilities of language, both written and metaphorical. From her ‘wordscapes’ to her use of found and transformed military aircraft, Banner juxtaposes the brutal and the sensual, performing an almost complete cycle of intimacy, attraction and alienation. In this exhibition the artist alternates between the pathos of battle in her monumental sculptures, and the gentle humour of her works on paper, as she looks at how we mythologize ourselves and our history, [...]

Sculptures Created in Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s Bloch Lobby in Full View of Visitors

KANSAS CITY, MO.- Visitors to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art will get a rare look at art while it’s being created as part of the exhibition Roxy Paine: Scumaks and Dendroids, April 29 – Aug. 28 in Bloch Lobby. A sculpture-making machine designed by artist Roxy Paine melts plastic polyethylene beads with pigments and periodically extrudes them, creating unique, bulbous-shaped sculptures. The completed sculptures will be displayed on pedestals for the duration of the exhibition, which is called Roxy Paine: Scumaks [...]

New Exhibition Highlights through Art and Photography the History and Impact of Aviation

LOS ANGELES, CA.- The fantasies and realities of flight and space exploration, as depicted through art and photography in the West and around the world, went on display in the Autry National Center’s new Skydreamers exhibition. The great journey of discovery and its unifying impact on all of us as eyewitnesses unfolds through approximately 150 items, principally original high-quality photographs, as well as works on paper, paintings, posters, and memorabilia drawn primarily from the extensive collection of flight and space material [...]

Largest Public Art Project Installation by New York’s Acconci Studio Planned for Indianapoli

INDIANAPOLIS, IN.- As the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick races to finish its last legs of construction, its last and largest public art installation is announced. “Swarm Street” rendering by Acconci Studio Located inside the Virginia Avenue parking garage south of Maryland St., “Swarm Street” by Acconci Studio of New York (pronounced “Uh-KON-chee”), is an interactive light environment that the creators compare to swarms of fireflies. More than 1,000 LED-lights will be embedded below you [...]

Haunch of Venison Announces New Locations for Its Galleries in London and New York

LONDON.- Haunch of Venison London and Haunch of Venison New York announced that both galleries will move their respective locations. The London gallery will move back to its original location at Haunch of Venison Yard in September following an extensive renovation of the gallery while the New York gallery will move to 550 West 21st Street in Chelsea, leaving its current Rockefeller Center premises. Leading architect Annabelle Selldorf will redesign both spaces. Tom Wesselmann, Bedroom Painting #76, (1984-93). Oil on [...]