Major Eugene von Guérard retrospective opens at the Queensland Art Gallery

BRISBANE.- A major retrospective of the work of Eugene von Guérard (1811–1901), one of Australia’s most renowned colonial landscape painters, is being shown at the Queensland Art Gallery through 4 March 2012. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said ‘Eugene von Guérard: Nature Revealed’ features over 65 works from throughout the Austrian-born artist’s 50-year career, including many of his iconic landscapes and several sketches. ‘Eugene von Guérard is arguably Australia’s most important colonial landscape painter. His works are remarkable in their detail and [...]

Major retrospective of the work of Eugene Von Guerard opens at the Queensland Art Gallery

SOUTH BRISBANE.- A major retrospective of the work of Eugene von Guérard (1811–1901), one of Australia’s most renowned colonial landscape painters, opened at the Queensland Art Gallery through 4 March 2012. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said ‘Eugene von Guérard: Nature Revealed’ featured over 65 works from throughout the Austrian-born artist’s 50-year career, including many of his iconic landscapes and several sketches. ‘Eugene von Guérard is arguably Australia’s most important colonial landscape painter. His works are remarkable in their detail and greatly [...]

Greece: Authorities say Couple who had Peter Paul Rubens stolen work were ‘amateurs’

ATHENS (AP).- A leading Greek art expert has described two suspects who received a stolen 17th century artwork and were then arrested when they left the museum label on the back as “amateurs.” The painting — one of several versions of “The Calydonian Boar Hunt” by Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens — was stolen in Belgium a decade ago and recovered in Athens in a Sept. 1 police raid. A cameraman records at the National Gallery a stolen 17th-century Pieter Paul [...]

Temporary art commissions launched in celebration of new Auckland Art Gallery

AUCKLAND.- Three commissioned contemporary artworks will be launched on 19 August as the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki prepares to deliver New Zealand’s largest visual arts experience. Large-scale sculptural works by Choi Jeong Hwa of South Korea, Jeppe Hein of Denmark and New Zealander Kate Newby are bound to become firm public favourites when the newly restored and expanded Gallery opens to the public on 3 September. Art Gallery Director Chris Saines is thrilled with the result of the commissions. “Choi Jeong [...]

Former Salander-O’Reilly Galleries Director Leigh Morse to Pay Restitution for Fraud

NEW YORK, NY (REUTERS).- Former art gallery director Leigh Morse escaped a lengthy prison term at her sentencing in a Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday but will owe $1.65 million in restitution for defrauding her clients. Morse will serve an intermittent sentence, spending weekends in confinement for four months, and be on probation for five years. The punishment capped a trial that saw actor Robert DeNiro testify against her. Morse, 55, was found guilty in April of selling more than 80 [...]

Robert De Niro Testifies in Gallery Owner Lawrence Salander-Related Art Fraud Trial

NEW YORK (AP).- It’s a role that moviegoers might not know Robert De Niro plays: overseeing his painter father’s estate. The Academy Award-winning actor served as a star witness Friday in an art-fraud trial, testifying against a former gallery director accused of selling some of the late Robert De Niro Sr.’s works without paying his family its share. Seeming as self-assured on the witness stand as his characters are on screen, De Niro told jurors about his family’s dealings with [...]

Ground-Breaking Exhibition of Contemporary 21st Century International Art at GoMA

QUEENSLAND.- An ambitious and ground-breaking exhibition of contemporary international art from the first decade of the twenty-first century is present at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) from December 18, 2010 to April 25, 2011. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said ‘21st Century: Art in the First Decade’ would showcase over 180 works by more than 110 senior and emerging artists from over 40 countries, with most of the work from the Gallery’s own expanding collection.’ ‘The Queensland Art [...]

Colour and Modernism by Vida Lahey at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane

BRISBANE.- Vibrant floral watercolours and depictions of Brisbane in the first half of the 20th Century are the focus of an exhibition of work by Vida Lahey (1882-1968) showing at the The Queensland Art Gallery from October 16 to February 13, 2011. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said ‘Vida Lahey: Colour and Modernism’ featured 44 works painted between 1912 to 1965 by one of Queensland’s best loved artists. ‘Lahey made a major contribution to art in Australia with her [...]

Simryn Gill: Gathering Opens at Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane

BRISBANE.- A solo exhibition of key works from the past five years by leading Sydney-based Malaysian artist Simryn Gill opened at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art until October 17. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said ‘Simryn Gill: Gathering’ included major works created since 2005, as well as photographs, collections, books and jewellery made from paper and found objects. ‘We are thrilled that Queensland audiences will have an opportunity to engage with Gill’s multi-disciplinary practice that questions ideas about place [...]

Premier of Queensland’s National New Media Art Award Winner Announced

BRISBANE.- Victorian artists Isobel Knowles and Van Sowerwine were announced as the winners of the Premier of Queensland’s National New Media Art Award in 2010. Premier and Arts Minister Anna Bligh presented Knowles and Sowerwine with the $75,000 prize at a special event held at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said Knowles and Sowerwine were among the seven finalists short-listed for this prestigious national art award, the most significant prize for new media in [...]

Valentino Retrospective Showing Exclusively in Brisbane

BRISBANE.- A major retrospective exhibition of the House of Valentino is being shown exclusively at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Brisbane from August 7 until November 14, 2010. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said ‘Valentino, Retrospective: Past/Present/Future’ incorporated a stunning array of Valentino Garavani’s haute couture designs from the late 1950s through to his final collection in January 2008, as well as recent creations by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli – appointed in October 2008 Creative [...]

Ron Mueck Exhibition Opens at Gallery of Modern Art

BRISBANE.- The largest ever Australian exhibition of life-like sculptures by major contemporary artist Ron Mueck opens at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, from tomorrow. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said the exhibition of 12 hyperrealistic sculptures, most of human figures, would be on display until August 1. ‘Queensland audiences will be captivated by Mueck’s moving and poignant sculptures drawn from Australian and international collections. Sometimes colossal, and at other times miniature, the works resonate with deep emotion,’ Mr [...]

Nominees for New Zealand Award for Contemporary Art Announced

AUCKLAND.- The $50,000 Walters Prize is awarded for an outstanding work of contemporary New Zealand art produced and exhibited during the past two years. Previous winners were Yvonne Todd for Asthma and Eczema (2002), et al. for restricted access (2004), Francis Upritchard for Doomed, Doomed, All Doomed (2006) and Peter Robinson for ACK (2008). Named in honour of the late New Zealand artist Gordon Walters, the prize was established in 2002 by founding benefactors and principal donors Erika and Robin [...]

Vancouver Art Gallery Takes to the Streets with Three Major Installations

VANCOUVER, BC.- The Vancouver Art Gallery will play a central role in enlivening Vancouver ’s downtown streets during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games with three major public art installations in the city’s most prominent locations. Using the exuberant floral patterns of Taiwanese fabric, Taipei-based artist Michael Lin will cover the Gallery’s entire northern façade with a massive hand-painted mural. The southern side of the Gallery will be transformed into an outdoor theatre presenting a continuous flow of video-based [...]

6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art Opens in Australia

BRISBANE, AU – Spectacular large-scale installations and compelling site-specific and performance works feature in ‘The 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT6), which opens December 5th. APT6 shows at the Gallery of Modern Art and Queensland Art Gallery, in Brisbane, until April 5, 2010. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said APT6 was the most ambitious Triennial exhibition yet, in physical scale and geographic scope and included cinema programs, public programs and Kids’ APT. ‘The Queensland Government has been [...]