Christina Erives, Watermelon Tile, 2020. Clay, 8.25 x 4".
BOSTON, MASS.-LaiSun Keane announced the first solo exhibition by Christina Erives with the gallery titled con o sin cebollas / with or without onions from September 10 to October 3, 2020. This exhibition will be held at the gallery's new space located at SoWa Art District 460C Harrison Ave Boston MA 02118. Erives is a LA based Mexican American artist working primarily in ceramic, which explores the narratives around food and the concept of contemporary womanhood. She graduated from California State University, Northridge with a BFA and MA and an MFA from Penn State University. She was a Visiting Artist Instructor at the University of Montana from 2019 to May 2020. She has exhibited in the USA and Mexico, and was Emerging Artist and awarded Victor Spinski Award at the National Council On Education for The Ceramics Arts in 2017. This exhibition is supported by an essay written by artist, writer, activist and regular contributor to ceramic magaz ... More
Auguste Herbin, Le Remorqueur (The Tugboat), 1907 (detail), oil on canvas, 52,5 x 63,5 cm, Kunstmuseum Den Haag – schenking Anema-Hartkamp.
THE HAGUE.- From yellow to pastel shades of purple and green, Le Remorqueur (The Tugboat) by the French artist Auguste Herbin (1882-1960) is an ode to colour. The work from 1907 is a gift to the Kunstmuseum from a private collector. It is now rare for Dutch museums to acquire works of classical modernism. We are therefore very proud to show how Le Remorqueur occupies a distinguished place in our collection by presenting it from 26 September till 13 December 2020 among works by Herbin’s contemporaries. Auguste Herbin made an important contribution to the development of French modernism in the early twentieth century. His early work was indebted to Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, but from 1906 he was inspired by the vivid, ‘wild’ use of colour of Henri Matisse and his fellow Fauves. With strong lines and large blocks of bright contrasting colours, Le ... More
This exceptional gem to be offered in a single-lot auction in Hong Kong on 5 October 2020. Courtesy Sotheby's.
HONG KONG.- This autumn, Sotheby’s will offer for sale one of the earth’s rarest and most coveted wonders – a highly important 102.39-carat D Colour Flawless Oval Diamond. Only seven D colour Internally Flawless or Flawless white diamonds over 100 carats have been sold at auction, making this the eighth. In an unprecedented move, the diamond will be offered ‘without reserve’, meaning that, the winning bid is the highest bid, regardless of its amount or the intrinsic value of the diamond itself. This approach marks the first time in auction history that a diamond of this calibre - or indeed any work of art or object of this importance and inherent value - has been offered this way. This 102.39-carat diamond will be offered in a stand-alone, single lot live auction on 5 October 2020, with bidding open online from 15 September. Perfect according to every critical criterion, this gem has achieved the highest rankings unde ... More
Agents refused to let her in until she covered up a low-cut dress. Photo: Twitter / @jeavnne.
PARIS(AFP).- The Musée d'Orsay art museum in Paris has apologised to a woman after agents refused to let her in until she covered up a low-cut dress. The incident prompted an outpouring of indignation on social media. In a Twitter post on Wednesday, the woman, identified as "To" with the handle @jeavnne, recounted how two female agents confronted her to say she would be denied entry unless she put on her jacket, despite the summer heat. "I asked them clearly, 'Why is the fact that I have a low neckline a problem?'... They didn't answer, they just insisted that rules are rules," she wrote in a letter, next to a picture of her in the dress. She also noted the irony of being shamed over her breasts at a museum that features a plethora of nude sculptures and paintings, including masterpieces by Edouard Manet and Gustave Courbet. After accepting to put on her jacket and being allowed inside, she saw ... More
Portrait of Sean Scully at MOMA. Photo: Raphy Sarkissian.
PARIS.-Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac announced that Sean Scully is joining the gallery, with the first exhibition of his new work to take place in the Paris Marais gallery in the spring of 2021. The gallery will represent the artist in Europe, alongside Kerlin Gallery, Dublin and Kewenig Galerie, Berlin. The gallery is generally predicated on the art of people who make things, as opposed to artists who appropriate. This includes Georg Baselitz and Anselm Kiefer, both great painters. So, naturally, this is where I belong. — Sean Scully Sean Scully has made an outstanding contribution to painting and sculpture. He bridges Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism through his renewal of painting as a poetic and metaphorical expression of nature. His physical architectural structures are filled with a profound emotional spirit and vital energy, reflecting his trust in the intrinsic power of material. — Thaddaeus Ropac Born in Dublin in 1945, Sea ... More
LONDON(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The coronavirus pandemic has reduced sales at commercial galleries specializing in modern and contemporary art by an average of 36% during the first half of 2020, according to a report published Wednesday by Art Basel and UBS. Based on responses from 795 galleries representing 60 different national markets, the report, called “The Impact of COVID-19 on the Gallery Sector” and written by cultural economist Clare McAndrew, is the first major survey of how the pandemic has affected the world’s art dealers. Last year, global sales of art and antiques were estimated to have reached $64.1 billion, with dealers accounting for 58% of those sales, according to an earlier Art Basel and UBS annual analysis. “This is big and global and across the board,” McAndrew said in a phone interview. The challenge has been “much bigger” than the last financial crisis, she added. “Sales will eventually recover, but I’m worried about the effect on employment,” ... More
U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds up a booklet on remembering 9/11 as she speaks during a news conference September 10, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP.
by Catherine Triomphe
NEW YORK(AFP).- With crime on the rise, shops and apartments increasingly vacant and homeless people on the sidewalks, New York on Friday will mark the 19th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and a bitter fight with the White House. The city will hold its annual ceremony in memory of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the bloodiest terrorist attack in US history, punctuated by a minute's silence at the exact moments that Al-Qaeda jihadists crashed two hijacked airplanes into the World Trade Center towers. Instead of reading out the roll call of the dead, this year the families of victims have recorded themselves. But they will still be present at the "Ground Zero" memorial. The site museum will also open for ... More
Diana Rigg in the title role of "Phedre" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Majestic Theater in New York on Jan. 5, 1999. Sara Krulwich/New York Times Photo.
by Anita Gates
NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Diana Rigg, the British actress who enthralled London and New York theater audiences with her performances in classic roles for more than a half-century but remained best known as the quintessential new woman of the 1960s — sexy, confident, witty and karate-adept — on the television series “The Avengers,” died Thursday at her home in London. She was 82. Her daughter, Rachael Stirling, said in a statement that the cause was cancer. Rigg had late-career success in a recurring role, from 2013 to 2016, as the outspoken and demanding Lady Olenna Tyrell on HBO’s acclaimed series “Game of Thrones.” “I wonder if you’re the worst person I ever met,” Lady Olenna once said to her nemesis Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). “At a certain age, it’s hard to recall.” But Rigg’s first and biggest taste of stardom came in 1965, when, as a 26-year-old veteran of the Royal Shakespeare ... More
Paleontologists of the National Institute of Anthropology work on the preservation of the skeletons of mammoths found during a recent excavation, at the Santa Lucia Military Base in the Municipality of Zumpango, Mexico, on September 8, 2020. RODRIGO ARANGUA / AFP.
by Yussel Gonzalez
ZUMPANGO(AFP).- Archaeologists in hard hats and face masks carefully remove earth from around enormous bones at the site of Mexico City's new airport, where construction work has uncovered a huge trove of mammoth skeletons. The remains of dozens of the extinct giants and other prehistoric creatures have been found in Zumpango on the northern edge of the capital, which sits on an ancient lake bed. "More than 100 individual mammoths, individual camels, horses, bison, fish, birds, antelopes and rodents have already been recovered," said army captain Jesus Cantoral, who heads the excavation team. In total remains have been found at 194 spots across the site since the first discoveries were made in October last year during work on a fuel terminal, he told AFP. Most ... More
NEW YORK, NY.-Kasmin is presenting an exhibition of works by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, curated by designer Brian McCarthy and on view at Kasmin's 297 Tenth Avenue location. The show brings together over 20 sculptures that highlight the beauty, elegance, and unparalleled craftsmanship of Les Lalanne. The exhibition emphasizes the artists' kinship with the natural world, demonstrating their surrealist philosophy and mirroring the verdant gardens of their studio and home in Ury, France. Carefully selected, the sculptures presented here are signature works by Claude Lalanne, including her Banc Crocodile (2014) cast carefully from crocodile hide, her Choupatte (2014) with its iconic long chicken legs emerging beneath a large turquoise cabbage, and her Ginkgo table and chairs (2018/1996/2009). Also included are several unique Miroirs with tendril vines scrolling down their sides and leaves sprouting from their corners. Claude's Miroirs w ... More
LONDON.- London Editions presents three online-only sales dedicated to prints, multiples and editions tracing artistic production from modern to contemporary artists, all of which are open for bidding from 10 September 2020. Prints & Multiples: Modern to Pop (10-22 September 2020) will showcase classic modern and pop prints. Amongst the Modern highlights are prints by Pablo Picasso, including the lithograph Grand tête de femme au chapeau (1962, estimate: £40,000-60,000), a rare impression of La toilette de la mère (1905, estimate: £50,000-70,000), and Femme au Fauteuil No. 4 (1948, estimate: £50,000-70,000). A Private European collection of early prints by Joan Miró features several surrealist rarities including La Baigneuse (1938, estimate: £10,000-12,000). The Post-war and Pop prints are led by Andy Warhol’s Queen Elizabeth II (Royal Edition) (1985, estimate: £100,000-150,000) which is presented alongside Bora ... More
PALO ALTO, CA.-Pace Gallery is presenting Harmony of the Spheres, an exhibition bringing together three new LED works by Leo Villareal alongside eight single-panel pieces from his Instance series (2018), on view August 25 – October 10, 2020. This presentation, Villareal’s first at Pace in Palo Alto, continues his longstanding relationship with the Bay Area. Highlights of Villareal’s projects in the area include the recently unveiled thirty foot sculpture Buckyball (2019), the centerpiece of the entrance plaza at the new Rafael Viñoly-designed Stanford Hospital, and his renowned large-scale installation The Bay Lights (2013), a temporary commission which became a permanent, site-specific installation on western span of the San-Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 2016 and has since become a staple of the San Francisco-Oakland cityscape. For his exhibition at Pace, Villareal presents a series of LED panels which draws upon ... More
Sandbags line a stone wall to mitigate flood water damage to a structure in the ancient royal city at the archaeological site of Meroe, in the Sudanese al-Bajrawia area in the River Nile State, 200Km north of the capital, on September 9, 2020. ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP.
KHARTOUM(AFP).- Rising Nile floodwaters are threatening to swamp an ancient archaeological site in Sudan, after some of the highest ever recorded river levels, archaeologists said Monday. Teams have set up sandbag walls and are pumping out water to prevent damage at the ruins of Al-Bajrawiya, once a royal city of the two-millenia-old Meroitic empire, said Marc Maillot, head of the French Archaeological Unit in the Sudan Antiquities Service. "The floods had never affected the site before," Maillot said. The area includes the famous Meroe pyramids, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Farmers along the fertile banks of the Nile, the world's longest river, depend on its annual floods. But water levels have risen much further than usual this year. "The situation is currently under control, but if the level of the Nile continues to rise, ... More
Quote I would like, in my arbitrary way, to bring one nearer to the actual human being. FrancisBacon
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Forrest Fenn, art dealer who enticed thousands to hunt for hidden treasure, dies at 90 NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Forrest Fenn, an eccentric New Mexico art dealer who enticed thousands to search for hidden treasure after he announced in a 2010 book that he had stashed a bronze chest filled with gold nuggets, diamonds and other jewels somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, died Monday at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was 90. Fenn’s death was confirmed by a grandson, Shiloh Old. Fenn appeared to have died of natural causes, according to the Santa Fe Police Department. Fenn died just three months after he said someone had finally found the cache of gold nuggets, sapphires, diamonds, pre-Columbian artifacts and other riches that he had hidden in the mountains. He had estimated the treasure to be worth $2 million. “It was under a canopy of stars in the lush, forested vegetation of the Rocky Mountains and ... More
The Met names Abraham Thomas as new curator NEW YORK, NY.-The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today the appointment of Abraham Thomas as Daniel Brodsky Curator of Modern Architecture, Design, and Decorative Arts in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art. In this newly established position, Thomas will be responsible for the broad fields of modern architecture, design, and decorative arts, which are now brought together in one role. Thomas will work with the department's curators—as well as colleagues with expertise in field of design arts across the Museum, including the American Wing, Drawings and Prints, European Sculpture and Decorative Art, and The Costume Institute, among others—to build and interpret The Met's collection. "We are pleased to welcome Abraham to the curatorial faculty of the Museum," said Max Hollein, Director of The Met. "He brings with him vast and varied ... More
Foam opens the first museum exhibition of Alec Soth's new series AMSTERDAM.- Magnum photographer Alec Soth (1969) has become known as the chronicler of life at the American margins of the United States. He made a name as a photographer with his 2004 series Sleeping by the Mississippi, encountering unusual and often overlooked places and people as he travelled along the river banks. A major retrospective in 2015 was followed by a period of seclusion and introspection, during which Soth did not travel and barely photographed. His most recent project, I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating, is the result of this personal search, and marks a departure from Soth’s earlier work. The photographer slowed down his work process and turned the lens inward. Foam presents the first museum exhibition of his new series, consisting of portraits of remarkable people in their habitat, and still-lifes ... More
Film star 1927 Ford Model T truck for sale with H&H Classics LONDON.- Still covered in the mud of the Oscar winning ‘1917’ film set this old trouper is for sale with H&H Classics on September 16th Auction Online for an estimate of £17,000 to £19,000. The charming old Model T has also appeared in the hit TV series Peaky Blinders. Currently based in Somerset where it can be viewed, it is a rare in right-hand drive, coil ignition and electric start vehicle. This really is one of those instances where the vehicle’s provenance adds hugely to its interest. First registered in Hampshire on 15th June 1927 (or so its ‘OT 5319’ number plate would imply), this rare right-hand drive Ford Model TT has formed part of a large private collection for the last seven years. Used for a variety of film and TV work during that time it has appeared in the smash hit TV series ‘Peaky Blinders’ and more recently in the Oscar winning blockbuster ‘1917’. Indeed, the Truck has not be ... More
'Impossible objects' that reveal a hidden power NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Tucked into a small gallery in the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh is a plexiglass cube filled with computer parts. It’s about 16 inches on each side, reminiscent of a Donald Judd box, updated for the digital era. It’s also an open Wi-Fi hot spot to which you can link your phone. But before your phone connects to the internet, it routes traffic through the Tor Project’s network, which anonymizes your phone, location and activity. Once you connect, you can move through the museum totally untraced. This sculpture, titled “Autonomy Cube,” is the kind of object for which Trevor Paglen, 45, has become known, as one of the foremost artists drawing attention to the power and ubiquity of surveillance technology. “It’s part of a series that I think about as impossible objects,” he said of his latest work in a recent phone interview. ... More
14a opens an exhibition of recent works by Rachel Rossin HAMBURG.-14a presents The Sentinel (tears, tears), an exhibition of recent works by Rachel Rossin, on view September 4 – October 15, 2020. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. A sentinel generally calls to mind a mythological figure, a lookout equally menacing and paternal. They are protectors that can steer a person away from disaster, sounding an alarm of imminent catastrophe. In ecology, sentinel species are organisms, often animals and plants, used to detect risks to human health and the environment by providing an advanced warning of danger. The most familiar example of a sentinel species serving as a nonhuman proxy is the canary bird. Canaries are particularly sensitive to changes in their ecosystem, which is why coal miners used to bring caged canaries down into the mines with them (the proverbial ‘canary ... More
Israeli jazz virtuoso Avishai Cohen jives against pandemic JERUSALEM(AFP).- Israeli jazz trumpeter Avishai Cohen has played since he was eight, honed his skills on the New York club circuit, then took a four-year break from it all to practice yoga and meditation in India. A master of improvisation whose style has earned him comparisons to Miles Davis, Cohen this week pulled off another surprise -- defying the coronavirus to stage the Jerusalem Jazz Festival. "It's very moving to see the artists and the public come together, and it's not to be taken for granted in these times of pandemic," said Cohen, the festival's artistic director. To stage the event despite the Covid-19 crisis, Cohen moved it out of the halls of the Israel Museum and into its sculpture garden, where musicians and fans could maintain social distancing. The concert kicked off Tuesday just as 40 Israeli cities and districts went back into partial ... More
Von Bartha announces representation of Bernar Venet, Barbara Stauffacher Solomon and Claudia Wieser BASEL.-Von Bartha announced representation of Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Bernar Venet, and Claudia Wieser in Switzerland. Works by Solomon and Wieser feature in the gallery’s 50th anniversary group exhibition, The Backward Glance can be a Glimpse into the Future, on view until 7 November 2020. Von Bartha will present a solo exhibition of work by Venet at its Basel space, 21 November 2020 – 20 February 2021. Additionally, Venet will inaugurate von Bartha Insight, an off-site concept at the new Volkshaus Basel Hotel in the autumn. Stefan von Bartha, Director said: "I am delighted to welcome these three diverse artists to our gallery during our 50th anniversary year. Barbara, or ‘Bobbie’ as she is widely known, is a real unexpected discovery and I had an instant love for her work. After seeing the fantastic documentary ... More
Ronald Harwood, Oscar-winning screenwriter, is dead at 85 NEW YORK(NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Ronald Harwood, a British author, playwright and screenwriter who earned three Oscar nominations and won for best adapted screenplay in 2003 for “The Pianist,” died Tuesday at his home in Sussex, England. He was 85. His agent, Judy Daish, confirmed his death to the BBC but did not specify a cause. Harwood was one of Britain’s leading playwrights in the latter half of the 20th century. His plays included “The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold,” adapted from a novel by Evelyn Waugh; “After the Lions,” about French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt; and, perhaps most notably, “The Dresser,” which opened on Broadway in 1981 and received a Tony nomination for best play the next year. Like many of Harwood’s works, “The Dresser” explored the world of performers and the theater. It centers on an aging, tyrannical ... More
Sealed Pokémon box set sells for world-record $198,000 at Heritage Auctions DALLAS, TX.- A rare sealed Pokémon booster set broke a world record Thursday when it sold for $198,000 Thursday, Sept. 10, in Heritage Auctions' Comics & Comic Art Auction. The Pokémon First Edition Base Set Sealed Booster Box (Wizards of the Coast, 1999) soared well past its pre-auction estimate of $80,000+ during the advance bidding before the auction’s live bidding even began. “Sets like this one, especially in such extraordinary condition and sealed in shrinkwrap, have become undeniable rarities,” said Jesus Garcia, Assistant Comics & Comic Art Operations Supervisor at Heritage Auctions. “The previous record, of $78,000, at Heritage Auctions was set in was set in February 2019. To see this result, more than doubling the previous mark, just shows the popularity and demand for these cards show no sign of slowing down.” The first ... More
Heritage Auctions sells Frank Frazetta's influential 1970 painting The Princess of Mars for $1.2 million DALLAS, TX.- Frank Frazetta’s The Princess of Mars, one of the most identifiable and influential pieces of the artists’ storied career, sold Thursday for $1.2 million. It was a remarkable and thrilling kick-off to Heritage Auctions’ four-day Comics & Comic Art event, which runs Sept. 10-13. The first session alone realized $3,899,940 – in the span of an hour. Frazetta’s Princess wasn’t alone in smashing pre-auction expectations during the event’s first session. Lee Elias’ now-iconic artwork adorning the cover of Chamber of Chills No. 19, published in 1953, sold for $174,000 after a spirited round of bidding. That was almost twice its original estimate. And Page 9 from Journey Into Mystery No. 112 sold for $120,000 – no surprise, given the artists involved (the legendary Jack Kirby and his longtime inker Chic Stone) and the characters (Hulk and Thor). ... More
On a day like today, American painter Thomas Hill was born
April 11, 1829. Thomas Hill (September 11, 1829 - June 30, 1908) was an English-born American artist of the 19th century. He produced many fine paintings of the Californian landscape, in particular of the Yosemite Valley, as well as the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In this image: Thomas Hill - Indian by a Lake in a Majestic California Landscape. Photo: Bonhams, Los Angeles, 20 Apr 2010, lot 17.
