| The
First Art Newspaper on the Net |
Established in 1996 |
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 |
| |
Archaeologists discover a sculpture representing a jaguar estimated to be 2,000 years old
|
|
|
|
The engraved sculpture, estimated to be about 2,000 years old, was found in a riverbed. Photo: Centro INAH Chiapas.
Translated by: Cristina Perez-Ayala
CHIAPAS.- A monolithic sculpture representing a jaguar lying down, weighing about a ton was discovered recently in the pre Hispanic site of Izapa, in the Soconusco region of Chiapas. The engraved sculpture, estimated to be about 2,000 years old, was found in a riverbed and because of its weight it was not taken out immediately, but until a few days ago. The maneuvers –made by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH – Conaculta)– needed to rescue the piece required more than seven hours. This is the 91st sculpture registered in the archaeological zone of Izapa, one of the pre Hispanic sites in Chiapas that holds the most quantity of discovered monuments –284 up to now–, between which are sculptures, altars, thrones and steles. Some of these monoliths are plain and others have engravings that have been classified by experts as extraordinary ... More |
| Neues Museum in Berlin show to mark centenary of Egypt's Queen Nefertiti find |
|
Museum scientists find three prehistoric tiny bugs in what is Earth's oldest bug trap |
|
U.S., international art collectors see 'best of best' trove as significant investment opportunity |
The famous 3,300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti on display at the Neues Museum. AP Photo/Markus Schreiber.
BERLIN (AP).- Berlin is to honor the centenary of the discovery of a famed bust of Egypt's Queen Nefertiti — one of the city's top tourist attractions — with an exhibition of works from the Amarna site where it was found. Neues Museum officials said Monday that the show, "In the Light of Amarna — 100 Years of the Find of Nefertiti" will open Dec. 6. That's the 100th anniversary of the day when a German excavator unearthed the 3,300-year old limestone bust of the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaton in southern Egypt. The show will include some 600 objects, many of which have been held in the Berlin museum's stores over the decades and which organizers hope will illustrate life in ancient Egypt. They include some 200 items being restored in time for the exhibition. There's also an excavator's diary, including a sketch of Nefertiti. Nefertiti herself will be at the center of the exhibition at the Neues Museum, home to the city's Egyptian collection, where the bust was first di ... More |
|
Photomicrographs of the two new species of ancient gall mites in 230-million-year-old amber droplets. AP Photo/A. Schmidt, University of Göttingen, Proceedings of the National Academy.
By: Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON (AP).- Scientists have found three well preserved ancient insects frozen in amber — and time — in what is Earth's oldest bug trap. The discoveries of amber-encased insects in Italy may sound like something out of "Jurassic Park" but these bugs are even older than that. They are about 230 million years old, which puts them in the Triassic time period, and about 100 million years older than what had been the previously known oldest critters trapped in fossilized tree resin, or amber. Gooey tree resin is like sap but without water and can't be diluted. Researchers painstakingly examined 70,000 droplets of amber found in northeastern Italy. Stuck in them were two microscopic mites and much of one fly. The mites are too small to be seen with the naked eye and the fly is a tad tinier than a fruit fly, researchers say. The disco- ... More |
|
Global art collectors have expressed intense interest in The Bostonian Collection of 19th century Oriental rugs, including this "best-of-the best" example of a Mostasham Kashan. Rugs in the Bostonian have provenance to their original purchase in the Near East in the 19th century.
OAKLAND, CA.- Jan David Winitz, an eminent art dealer who specializes in 19th century antique Oriental rugs, today reported “an intense interest” in The Bostonian Collection, a trove of important, art-level to museum-caliber Persian and Caucasian rugs assembled by a New England-based family and held over four generations. Winitz, president and founder of Claremont Rug Company, said “Over one-third of the Bostonian Collection carpets have been sold within the first few weeks since opening the exhibit. A common theme among the buyers is their appreciation for the ‘best of the best’ quality of these antique rugs.” Included in the Collection were 50 Persian, Caucasian and Turkish rugs woven 1800 to 1850 as well a significant number of early to mid-19th century examples of art/investment level Persian Motasham Kashan, Laver Kirman ... More |
| A higher love: The Getty Museum presents the art of devotion in the Middle Ages |
|
Sotheby's Contemporary Art Sale features works by Grotjahn, Guyton, Oehlen, Kusama and Thiebaud |
|
All at Sea: Works from the IMMA Collection at St Patrick's University Hospital |
Georges Trubert, The Annunciation to the Shepherds, about 1480-1490. Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment, 11.4 x 8.6 cm. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 48, fol. 54v
LOS ANGELES, CA.- Prayer, both personal and communal, was an integral aspect of life in Europe during the Middle Ages. The readings, rites, and prayers contained in medieval Christian devotional books were often accompanied by lavish decorations that were key in both fostering and expressing the religious zeal of the faithful. Drawn primarily from the Getty Museum’s permanent collection, The Art of Devotion in the Middle Ages, on display August 28, 2012–February 3, 2013, at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, features elaborately illuminated books executed in precious pigments and gold. These prayer books not only played an important role in everyday worship, but also served as material testaments to the piety of the books’ owners. "Christians in the Middle Ages often celebrated their beliefs with ... More |
|
Mark Grotjahn, Untitled (Blue Butterfly), 2001. Est. $350/450,000. Photo: Sotheby's.
NEW YORK, NY.- On 21 September 2012 in New York, Sotheby’s Contemporary Art auction will include works of art by some of the most celebrated artists from the post-war period through today including Wade Guyton, Charline von Heyl, Enoc Perez and Yayoi Kusama. Among the 381 lots, estimates range from $5,000 to $300,000, ideal for both experienced and new collectors to discover emerging artists as well as find gems by well-established masters. All of the works go on view on Friday, 14 September at Sotheby’s York Avenue headquarters. Among the highlights of the sale is Wayne Thiebaud’s 1962 Deviled Eggs (est. $250/350,000). The Sacramento-based painter burst onto the New York art scene in the early 1960s with his sumptuous paintings of delectable sweets, cakes, pies, hamburgers, roast beef, and as in this painting, deviled eggs. Each still life was presented as a celebration of the assortment of foods consumed by t ... More |
|
John Bellany, Avail, 1997 (detail). Oil on canvas, 193 x 172 cm. Collection Irish Museum of Modern Art.
DUBLIN.- All at Sea, an exhibition developed in partnership with the Art Committee at St Patrick’s University Hospital and the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s National Programme, opens to the public at the Art Gallery at St Patrick’s University Hospital, Dublin 8, on Thursday 30 August 2012. The Art Gallery at St Patrick’s University Hospital was opened in February 2011. It had been developed over the previous two years by the members of the Art Committee at SPUH. The purpose in developing the gallery was to facilitate the appreciation of visual art by the SPUH community, its staff, service users and visitors. Many great Irish artists have suffered from mental health and addiction problems during their lives, and yet they have risen above their difficulties to produce engaging, expressive and uplifting visual art that has enriched those who view it. The gallery has hosted exhibitions from leading Irish artists and ... More |
| The University of Michigan Museum of Art opens three new shows for its fall exhibition schedule |
|
Mexico restores Church of San Lorenzo for its 13th Venice Architecture Biennale pavilion |
|
Art San Diego 2012 returns for 4th edition presenting a "new art city" in Balboa Park |
Bell (kunda), Kongo peoples. Probably late 19th century. Wood. Private collection, Courtesy of Donald Morris Gallery, Inc. Photo: R. H. Hensleigh.
ANN ARBOR, MICH.- The University of Michigan Museum of Art opened its fall schedule of exhibitions with three shows. The exhibitions feature a Seoul-based collaborative, African art and an exhibition by Danish artist Jesper Just. The Seoul-based art collaborative, YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES (YHCHI) is known for innovative video works that exist at the nexus of visual art and digital literature. Blurring the boundaries between media, technologies, and cultural histories, YHCHI has gained international acclaim for their "net art" productions—mostly black-and-white videos of quickly flashing capitalized text in a generic font with synchronized music. This exhibition will present a newly commissioned piece by UMMA, which will be added to the artists' website, yhchang.com. African Art and the Shape of Time explores how African art gives material form to diverse concepts of tempo- ... More |
|
Old Church of San Lorenzo, Venice. Detail of the altar. Photo: Emanuele Basso - Greenspin.
VENICE.- Mexico came to an agreement with the Venice Comune to restore the Church of San Lorenzo and use it as Mexico's home for the city's art and architecture biennales over the next nine years. In doing so, Mexico is not only making a commitment to putting on show the best creations of its artists and architects but also contributing to restoring Venice's built heritage. On this occasion the spectacular space of the Church of San Lorenzo is not yet in a safe condition to allow visitors, so they are invited to view the future setting for the Mexican headquarters and for exhibiting contemporary architecture 'from the entrance'. 'Culture Under Construction' is the motto of the architecture exhibition, in response to the theme of the 13th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Common Ground. The selection of projects, curated by Miquel Adrià, brings together the most recent interventions in Mexican architectural heritage with proposals that house cultural c ... More |
|
Organizers have moved the fair off Labor Day weekend, where it was held the past three years.
SAN DIEGO, CA.- Art San Diego 2012 returns with the 4th Edition of the Fair September 6–9, 2012. Last year’s fair generated record attendance with over 8,000 collectors, curators, museum directors and art enthusiasts. Strong sales were reported by galleries and the event received extraordinary media attention. Art San Diego has become one of the largest attended and most anticipated cultural events in San Diego. Located in scenic Balboa Park, the 38,000 Balboa Park Activity Center was designed by award-winning architect Rob Wellington Quigley. Beautiful landscaping, public art and spacious outdoor plazas at the north and south end of the building provide excellent sites for the fourth edition of ART SAN DIEGO. The Balboa Park Activity Center is conveniently accessible to downtown, major freeways and offers ample free parking. The building is located in walking distance to 26 major museums. Our location allows us ... More |
|
| Georgia Museum of Art exhibits "The South in Black and White: The Graphic Works of James E. Routh Jr." |
|
Stephenson's Antiques & Decorative Arts sale brings the best of Mid-Atlantic estates to the auction block |
|
Poster Auctions International to offer some of the best American lithography of the past 150 years |
James E. Routh Jr. (American, b. 1918), Rabbit Hunter, 1940. Lithograph on paper, ed. 14, 13 5/16 x 9 inches (image). Collection of the artist.
ATHENS, GA.- The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia is exhibiting more than 30 graphic works by James E. Routh Jr. from Aug. 25 to Oct. 21, 2012. This exhibition, organized by GMOA and originally on view at the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum in Atlanta, features prints and paintings Routh created while traveling throughout the South during the Great Depression. Organized by Laura Valeri, associate curator of European art at GMOA, this show features scenes depicting rural Georgia dominated by the cotton industry. Reflecting Routh’s feelings on the degradation of the landscape, his works on paper focus on the damaged and eroded land resulting from years of over-cultivation as well as the impoverished state of the South. “Routh’s depiction of the state of the land shows it as it was in the 1930s and 1940s,” said Valeri. “It causes the viewer to ... More |
|
Georges Robin oil-on-canvas landscape ‘Hiver a Bougival,’ Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.
SOUTHAMPTON, PA.- Many regard the tri-state area surrounding Philadelphia as the tenderloin for antiques and fine art in the Mid-Atlantic region. The pedigreed furniture, paintings, jewelry and silver so frequently found in homes from Philadelphia’s Main Line to suburban New Jersey and Maryland are sought after from coast to coast. For this reason, Stephenson’s Auctioneers’ annual September Antiques & Decorative Arts Auction is an event that unfailingly attracts a large and loyal following. Scheduled this year for Friday, Sept. 7, Stephenson’s fall sale will feature approximately 600 lots of quality antiques, artworks and vintage collectibles from private residences and collections sourced in and around Greater Philadelphia. The selling will begin with 100 smalls and decorative objects, including crystal and glass; china, pottery and porcelains. A striking highlight of the opening section is a N ... More |
|
Nearly 200 original circus posters primarily from the turn of the 20th century will be offered.
NEW YORK, NY.- On Thursday, September 6, Poster Auctions International will offer over 550 examples of the best American lithography of the past 150 years. This unprecedented collection of images will be on view, free and open to the public, from Friday, August 25 through Wednesday, September 5. The single largest section in the auction is dedicated to nearly 200 original circus posters primarily from the turn of the 20th century. Barnum & Bailey, Ringling Brothers, Forepaugh, Sells, Sparks, Hagenbeck-Wallace, and the Christy Brothers are plentifully represented, as are various specialty acts ranging from football-playing elephants to Gargantua the infamous gorilla. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show and numerous other traveling & carnival attractions are also on view. The afternoon session focuses on American products & services, the star of which is the exceedingly rare Campbell’s Soup tin sign from ca. 1905. Other notable items ... More |
| More News |
 Major Rafael Soriano paintings donated to Smithsonian American Art Museum
MIAMI, FL.- This summer two major paintings by Cuban master Rafael Soriano were given to the Smithsonian American Art Museum for its permanent collection. These two works, Un Lugar Distante (A Distant Place) (1972) and Candor de la Alborada (Candor of Dawn) (1994), represent significant moments in Soriano’s artistic production. “Rafael Soriano has been called one of the major Latin American artists of his generation, and one of the premier painters of Cuba,” said Milagros Soriano, who donated the celebrated canvases to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “So it was fitting that his artwork be represented at our country’s leading art institution.” “These important paintings by Rafael Soriano are excellent additions to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection,” said Dr. E. Carmen Ramos, curator of Latino art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. ... More Hyde Collection's Picasso travels to German museum for 1912 retrospective
GLENS FALLS, NY.- The Hyde Collection’s painting Boy Holding a Blue Vase (1905) by Pablo Picasso will be presented in the centennial retrospective exhibition, 1912 – Mission Moderne, at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany from August 31 through December 30, 2012. In 1912, Cologne hosted the International Art Exhibition of the “Sonderbund” (a special association of West German Art Lovers and Artists) whose primary aim was to provide “an overview of the state of the latest movement in painting.” The organizers succeeded in staging the most important exhibition of the pioneers of modern art to be held at that time, and The Hyde’s Boy Holding Blue Vase was installed in the spacious Picasso hall, a gallery dedicated to this major modern artist. The 1912 International Art Exhibition made a significant contribution to the modern movement in Germany and beyond. ... More Museum of Fine Arts, Boston presents first survey of Ori Gersht's career
BOSTON, MASS.- Painterly photographs and evocative films that push boundaries with the latest technologies will be the focus of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, exhibition, Ori Gersht: History Repeating, the first comprehensive survey of Ori Gersht’s career. The innovative artist (b. 1967) is known for seductive and surprising works that forge a connection between past and present—drawing upon the history of art and politics, as well as his memories of childhood in conflict-ridden Israel. More than 30 works will be featured in the exhibition, on view from August 28, 2012, through January 6, 2013 in the Henry and Lois Foster Gallery. Among the 25 works by Gersht will be 17 photographs and eight moving-image pieces made by the London-based artist since 1998, including a new film that responds to a work of art from the MFA’s classical holdings. Additionally, Gersht has selected six works ... More The Abraaj Capital Art Prize turns five - ACAP 2013 winners announced
DUBAI.- The Abraaj Capital Art Prize announced today the winning artists for its fifth edition, bringing the total number of winners awarded the prize to 21. The Abraaj Capital Art Prize is awarded annually to five artists on the basis of proposals for new artworks, which become permanent additions to the Abraaj Capital Art Collection following their unveiling at Art Dubai. Abraaj Capital, a leading private equity manager investing in global growth markets, launched the Abraaj Capital Art Prize in 2008 to foster and reward artistic development in the region. The winners have a strong exhibition history regionally and internationally, and have shown works in recent editions of Art Dubai and the Sharjah Biennial. The prize affords winners the opportunity of developing ambitious projects which without the granted funds would not have been possible. The winning artists announced by ... More New works by April Wood on view at the Austin Museum of Art
AUSTIN, TX.- April Wood is a metalsmith artist working with the complex relationship between food and the body. Wood is interested in the ritual process of eating and the tools societies use to feed one another. For the artist, eating is a form of consumption, which can span a range of emotions, from pleasurable to horrific, from overindulgent to controlling. In this way Wood’s larger discussion on food’s often contradictory role in the contemporary society relates to the Collections Selections theme of excess. Her Feeding the Hunger sculptures become activated performances when placed in a person’s mouth. Wood mixes her strong interest in women’s craft tradition with “masculine” materials such as copper, silver, bronze and steel. Her sculptures resemble a variety of objects: the horns from a late nineteenth century Victorla, or an abstracted flower, with petals made of metal and sheep ... More Childhood home of Muhammad Ali up for sale in Kentucky
By: Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press
LOUISVILLE (AP).- A big piece of Louisville history is up for sale: the house where boxing great Muhammad Ali spent his boyhood. Owner Steve Stephenson said Monday he's asking $50,000 for the small white house with a sagging front porch overhang. The house is situated along a tree-lined western Louisville neighborhood made up of mostly neat, modest homes. A sign in front of the house says it is for sale by owner. Stephenson declined to provide further details. The house is assessed at $23,260, according to the Jefferson County Property Value Administrator's website. In front of the one-story home is a state historical marker recognizing the residence as Ali's boyhood home, when he was known as Cassius Clay. The marker says Ali lived in the mostly ... More |
|
|
|
|
|
|
