| The First Art Newspaper on the Net | Established in 1996 | Sunday, November 6, 2011 |
| | Spain's Prado Museum has the rare opportunity of hosting a large Hermitage exhibition
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People stand in front of a painting, entitled Composition VI (1913), by Russian artist Vassily Kandinsky, during the presentation of an exhibition, entitled The Hermitage at the Prado Museum, at the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain. The exhibition, comprised of about 180 artworks, will officially be inaugurated by Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia on 07 November. EPA/FERNANDO ALVARADO.
By: Harold Heckle, Associated Press
MADRID (AP).- Spain's Prado museum is hosting a large exhibition of European art lent by Russia's Hermitage, a rare opportunity to see such work outside the vast St. Petersburg museum. Two large paintings by Rembrandt, an imposing Caravaggio and a historic segment of early 20th-century art, an area in which the Hermitage's collection excels, are among the close to 180 items. Works by Spanish artists Diego Velazquez, Pablo Picasso and Diego de Rivera temporarily return home, flanked by famous pieces by Henri Matisse, Paul Cezanne and Wassily Kandinsky. Rare items that once belonged to Russia's czars and aristocracy include Faberge jewels and gold items dating from as early as the fifth century B.C. "There has never been such an exhibition, of and about the Hermitage, outside Russia," the Russian museum's director, Mikhail Piotrovsky, said by video link. ... More |
| Archaeologist from University of Nebraska has grisly theory for Holy Land mystery | | Major exhibition by German artist Andreas Gursky at Gagosian Gallery in New York | | LACMA presents a groundbreaking exhibition of Spanish colonial art and its pre-Columbian origins | 
An ancient structure of stone circles, in the Golan Heights. AP Photo/Albatross.
By: Matti Friedman, Associated Press
RUJM AL-HIRI (AP).- A newly proposed solution to an ancient enigma is reviving debate about the nature of a mysterious prehistoric site that some call the Holy Land's answer to Stonehenge. Some scholars believe the structure of concentric stone circles known as Rujm al-Hiri was an astrological temple or observatory, others a burial complex. The new theory proposed by archaeologist Rami Arav of the University of Nebraska links the structure to an ancient method of disposing of the dead. The site's name means "stone heap of the wild cats" in Arabic. In Hebrew it is known as Galgal Refaim, or the "wheel of ghosts." It was first noticed by scholars in 1968, a year after Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria, and despite its intriguing nature it has attracted few visitors. Unmarked, it lies an hour's hike from the nearest road, near old minefields, an abandoned military bunker and a few grazing cattle. Rujm al-Hiri's unremarkable appearance from the ground belies its striking ... More | | 
Andreas Gursky, Bangkok II, 2011. Chromogenic print, 120 7/8 x 93 3/8 inches (307 x 237 cm) © Andreas Gursky / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2011.
NEW YORK, NY.- Gagosian Gallery presents a major exhibition by Andreas Gursky.
At the 21st Street gallery, Gursky premieres Bangkok, a new series of large-scale works, in tandem with the majestic Oceans of 2010, which are being shown in New York for the first time. Just as history painters of previous centuries found their subjects in the realities of everyday life, Gursky finds inspiration in his own spontaneous visual experience and through reports of global phenomena in the daily media. The resulting pictures have a formal congruence deriving from a bold and edgy dialogue between photography and painting, empirical observation and artfulness, conceptual rigor and spontaneity, representation and abstraction. Gursky’s world view fuses the flux of life and nature with the stillness of metaphysical reflection. In the Oceans (2009-10), Gursky relinquished his position behind the camera to work with satellite images of ... More | | 
Turquoise Mask. Mexico, Aztec-Mixtec, c. 1325-1521. Wood, turquoise, jadeite, shell, mother-of-pearl, coral, 9 7/8 x 5 7/8 x 3 1/8 in. Museo Nazionale Preistorico-Etnografico "Luigi Pigorini", Florence.
LOS ANGELES.- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in partnership with the Instituto Nacional de AntropologÃa e Historia, Mexico, presents Contested Visions in the Spanish Colonial World, the first exhibition in the United States to examine the significance of indigenous peoples and cultures within the complex social and artistic landscape of colonial Latin America. On view from November 6, 2011 through January 29, 2012, the exhibition offers a comparative view of Mexico and Peru, the two principal viceroyalties of Spanish America, from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, and includes a selection of approximately 200 works of art, including paintings, sculptures, codices, manuscripts, queros (ceremonial drinking vessels), featherworks, and other extraordinary objects. “This exhibition, which brings together a remarkable group of artworks from Mexico and Peru (two areas which were much larger than the countries know ... More |
| Mel Bochner's thesaurus works on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington | | Expert says North Atlantic Treaty Organization raids spared Libyan antiquities | | MFA, Boston acquires works by African American artists from John Axelrod Collection | 
Mel Bochner, Sputter, 2010. Oil on canvas, 203.2 x 152.4 cm (80 x 60 in.) Courtesy of Hadley Martin Fisher Collection (HMF) © Mel Bochner 2011.
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Mel Bochner's renowned innovations in conceptual art come to life in the words he paints on canvas. On view at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, from November 6, 2011, through April 8, 2012, In the Tower: Mel Bochner presents 43 thesaurus-inspired works from the last 45 years, including many new and unseen works from his studio. The exhibition provides a compelling view of Bochner's early and recent work—of the young as well as the mature artist. In the Tower: Mel Bochner is the latest installment of the Gallery's series of exhibitions devoted to contemporary art, and the first to be devoted to the work of a living artist. "Bochner's thesaurus works force us to look at and think about the words we use; they are portraits of how we speak," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "We are grateful to Mel for parting with so many drawings and paintings to make this exhibition possible ... More | | 
View of the archeological site of the ancient Roman town of Leptis Magna. EPA/CIRO FUSCO.
By: Frances D'Emilio, Associated Press
ROME (AP).- Libya's famed ancient Roman sites, including the sprawling seaside ruins of Leptis Magna, were spared damage by NATO during the recent airstrikes, says a London-based Libyan archaeologist. Hafed Walda, a research fellow at Kings College, said Friday that he wants to "say thank you to NATO for achieving precision strikes" during its campaign to protect civilians from late dictator Moammar Gadhafi's regime Libya boasts many ancient Roman structures, along with a wealth of ancient artifacts in its major museum in the capital Tripoli and in other museums countrywide. During the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq's major museum in Baghdad was looted. Fears were raised on the outbreak of violence in Libya that a similar fate may befall its antiquities and ancient ruins. Walda, speaking at the American Academy in Rome at a conference on saving cultural heritage in crisis areas, said he had visited sites in the country's west in late September, and all had "so fa ... More | | 
Eldzier Cortor, Still Life: Past Revisited, 1973. Oil on canvas. The John Axelrod Collection Frank B. Bemis Fund and Charles H. Bayley Fund © Eldzier Cortor; Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
BOSTON, MA.- Sixty-seven works by African American artists have recently been acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), from collector John Axelrod, an MFA Honorary Overseer and long-time supporter of the Museum. The purchase has enhanced the MFA’s American holdings, transforming it into one of the leading repositories for paintings and sculpture by African American artists. The Museum’s collection will now include works by almost every major African American artist working during the past century and a half. Seven of the works are now displayed in the Art of the Americas Wing, in time for its one-year anniversary this month. This acquisition furthers the Museum’s commitment to showcasing the great multicultural artistry found throughout the Americas. It was made possible with the support of Axelrod and the MFA’s Frank B. Bemis Fund and Charles H. Bayley ... More |
| Capitain Petzel shows drawings that Amy Sillman makes with her little finger on an iPhone screen | | United States authorities seize painting from Florida's Mary Brogan Museum of Art & Science | | Posters for London 2012 Olympic Games by leading British artists unveiled | 
Amy Sillman, White Slot, 2011, oil on canvas, 51.25 x 44.875 inches, Photo: John Berens, © Amy Sillman, Courtesy Capitain Petzel, Berlin.
BERLIN.- Gisela Capitain and Friedrich Petzel present the first solo exhibition by Amy Sillman at Capitain Petzel. Amy Sillman‘s newest work includes high and low, fast and slow, large and small, and ranges across mediums, from large-scale oil paintings to a 7-minute digital animation and several hundred inkjet prints made from stills of the animation. Sillman foregrounds the materiality of painting and its formal, psychological, and conceptual dimensions. She constructs her work in a physical way — through gesture, color, and drawing-based procedures — imbuing it with questions of feminism, performativity, and humor. In this show, as always, she is intensively engaged with drawing and its corporeality: drawings that she makes with her little finger on an iPhone screen, and the drawing process inherent to large-scale paintings which she makes using brushes, rags, scrapers and giant oil crayons. Her work is ... More | | 
Chucha Barber, Chief Financial Officer of the of the Mary Brogan Museum, discusses the status of the painting "Christ Carrying the Cross Dragged by Rogue". AP Photo/Steve Cannon.
By: Gary Fineout, Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE (AP).- U.S. authorities on Friday seized a nearly 500-year-old Italian painting that has been on display at a Florida museum, saying it was stolen by the Nazis from a Jewish family during World War II and should be returned to the family's heirs. U.S. Attorney Pamela Marsh announced Friday that the federal government will hold onto the painting until a federal judge can determine the rightful owners. The Baroque painting was one of 50 lent to the Mary Brogan Museum of Art & Science in Tallahassee by a Milan museum for an exhibit that closed earlier this year. Federal authorities took custody of the painting after three museum employees wearing white gloves took it down from the wall and placed it in a custom-made padded crate. The painting, "Christ ... More | | 
British artist Tracey Emin with her official 2012 Olympic poster during an unveiling at the Tate Britain. EPA/ANDY RAIN.
By: Cassandra Vinograd, Associated Press
LONDON (AP).- A nude Paralympic cyclist, an abstract take on Big Ben and two birds kissing. Olympic officials on Friday unveiled the posters for the London 2012 games, which highlight 12 different takes on how to celebrate the Olympic and Paralympic games. Leading British artists including the controversial Tracey Emin and Turner Prize-winner Martin Creed designed the posters, joining a tradition that dates back to 1912 and has showcased the works of others such as Andy Warhol and David Hockney. Emin, whose most famous works include a recreation of her disheveled bed — complete with soiled clothing and empty vodka bottles — and an appliqued tent entitled "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With," described her poster as a "love letter" to the Paralympic games and its athletes. The image features two kissing birds ... More |
| For Maurizio Cattelan: All, the Guggenheim Museum creates its first mobile app | | Jewish Museum pays hommage to documentary photographers from New York's Photo League | | San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibition delves into issues of same-sex marriage | 
Installation view: Maurizio Cattelan: All, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Photo: David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
NEW YORK, NY.- For the first time, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has produced a mobile app to accompany an exhibition. The app Maurizio Cattelan: All accompanies the major exhibition of the same name, on view at the Guggenheim from November 4, 2011, to January 22, 2012. The interactive, multiplatform app, developed with a technology platform enabled by Toura, offers both museum visitors and users off-site an enhanced experience of the exhibition that includes dramatic views of the Guggenheim installation, texts about the works, and video commentary by many of the artist’s key collaborators. Join filmmaker John Waters as he introduces the app and its sections, which feature exhibition curator Nancy Spector, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, who examines Cattelan’s oeuvre; exhibition engineers and artwork conservators as they tell the story of how the extraordinary instal ... More | | 
A 1948 gelatin silver print taken by Ruth Orkin named "Boy Jumping into Hudson River".By: Ellen Freilich. REUTERS/The Jewish Museum.
By: Ellen Freilich
NEW YORK (REUTERS).- Compelling portraits of everyday life drawn from the streets of New York City form the heart of a new exhibit that opened on Friday at The Jewish Museum. "The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League, 1936-1951," recognizes the role that the League played in the evolution of the documentary photograph, The organization of young, idealistic photographers saw documentary photography as both an art form and a way to argue for social justice. "The documentary photograph changed as a result of the really great teaching that distinguished the League in the form of (photographer) Sid Grossman who pushed his students to discover the meaning of their work, but also their relationship to it," said Mason Klein, curator at The Jewish Museum. "That helped their work become more ... More | | 
Nicole Eisenman, Celeste and Ulrika, 2010; ink, enamel, and gesso on paper; 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (64.8 x 49.5 cm); courtesy the artist;, Leo Koenig Gallery, New York; and Susanne Vielmetter Projects, Los Angeles; © Nicole Eisenman; photo: Don Ross.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- From November 5, 2011, through February 20, 2012, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art presents The Air We Breathe, a thematic exhibition that brings together commissioned work by 30 contemporary visual artists and eight poets who, for this project, explore issues surrounding the cause to legalize same-sex marriage from various perspectives. The Air We Breathe—its title drawn from a Langston Hughes poem—is organized by SFMOMA Assistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture Apsara DiQunizio, and the exhibition is accompanied by a large-format illustrated book project featuring a commissioned essay by Eileen Myles that responds directly to the artist contributions. Additional texts by Martha Nussbaum, Frank Rich, and DiQuinzio provide context and background on the topic. ... More |
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 Arte Essenziale: Sculptures and large-scale installations by eight international contemporary artists FRANKFURT.- The exhibition “Arte Essenziale” presents sculptures and large-scale installations by eight international contemporary artists from Italy, Great Britain, Georgia, and the US. All artists were commissioned by the Italian Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia to produce new works for the exhibition. They explore the potential and characteristics of the materials employed as well as address philosophical concepts concerning the relationship between material, space, and time. “Arte Essenziale” was first shown at the Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia and subsequently will be presented at the Frankfurter Kunstverein from November 4, 2011 to January 1, 2012. The Italian philosopher Federico Ferrari’s thoughts on the essential in art serve as the exhibition’s conceptual framework: “Arte Essenziale” attests to the need to identify at the end of the postmodern era a gesture of a new be ... More Paintings & Watercolours by David Jones at National Museum Cardiff CARDIFF.- David Jones occupies a unique place in twentieth-century British art, and is often called the greatest painter-poet since William Blake. A selection of work from Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’ outstanding collection of works by the artist David Jones (1985-1974): Paintings and Watercolours are on display at National Museum Cardiff from 5 November 2011 – 4 March 2012. Amgueddfa Cymru has the principal public collection of Jones’s work, but as he worked primarily in watercolour, these pictures are not on permanent display due to the fragile nature of watercolours. This exhibition focuses on his work in this medium, and will be followed by another (March - July) which examines Jones’ engravings, book illustrations, and inscriptions. Like William Blake, David Jones was a Londoner, born at Brockley, in north Kent. However he was the son of a Welsh father and an English mother, and ... More Exhibition of surrealist and magic realist paintings at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery NEW YORK, N.Y.- Michael Rosenfeld Gallery presents Otherworldliness, an exhibition of surrealist and magic realist paintings on view from November 5 to December 23, 2011. Through paintings by eighteen American artists — including Eldzier Cortor, Alfonso Ossorio, Hughie Lee-Smith, DorotheaTanning, Pavel Tchelitchew, and George Tooker — the exhibition reveals the continuities between the two styles as well as differences that enable them to be understood as distinct tracks in the trajectory of American modernism. Surrealism and magic realism emerged in the early part of the last century and share a drive to convey the immaterial and intangible — feelings, unconscious stirrings, invisible worlds. As their names suggest, both styles were well aware of the limits of realist representation, particularly when faced with the task of portraying the trauma of the 1930s and 1940s. But while surrealists explored t ... More Getty Museum presents Narrative Interventions in Photography LOS ANGELES, CA.- Narrative Interventions in Photography, at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, October 25, 2011–March 11, 2012, presents three contemporary artists whose work explores the concept of narrative, the subjectivity of storytelling, and the revision of history. Instead of recounting a straightforward story, artists Eileen Cowin, Carrie Mae Weems and Simryn Gill each use a combination of text and imagery to create works that play with the notion that narratives can be implied, real, or rewritten. Narrative Interventions in Photography includes 34 objects primarily drawn from the Getty’s collection, including several recent gifts and acquisitions, along with a few select loans from local collections. The exhibition contains images that are intimate and shocking, puzzling and poignant. Each artist expresses a new narrative by altering literary objects in their works, either by mutilating books, i ... More First U.S. show of Cuban artist Vincench at ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries MIAMI, FL.- ArtSpace/Virginia Miller Galleries of Coral Gables, which has introduced historically significant artists and art movements to this region and the nation since 1974, will make art history again on Friday, Nov. 4th with the first solo exhibition in the United States of Cuban artist José Angel Vincench. The Havana-based artist, who has held one-person exhibitions in Canada, Ecuador, the Republic of Cameroon, Switzerland, and leading galleries in Cuba, along with participating in five dozen group shows in leading galleries in North and South America and Europe, will exhibit more than 150 new paintings and wall-mounted installations of canvas and paper “shopping bags” shaped into letters from his two new series, Dissident and Exile. Fourteen of the four-foot Dissident paintings, each in a different language, will be in “Vincench vs Vincench: A Dissident Dialogue from Cuba.” Vincench superim ... More Amon Carter presents dynamic visions of city and sea in John Marin: Modernism at Midcentury FORT WORTH, TX.- On November 5, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents the work of one of America’s foremost modernists, John Marin (1870–1953), in the special exhibition John Marin: Modernism at Midcentury. On view from November 5, 2011, through January 8, 2012, the exhibition covers the last 20 years of Marin’s career, from 1933 until his death in 1953. With more than 60 paintings, this is the first in-depth examination of Marin’s work in over 20 years. Admission is free. Among the most widely acclaimed artists of the early 20th century, Marin was consistently praised by critics for his distinctive approach to modernism, the bold originality and the authentic “Americaness” of his work. Writing in 1932, The New Yorker literary critic Lewis Mumford considered Marin “the most significant and poignant and accomplished landscape painter of his generation in America.” Roughly ... More |
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