Author: Darko Topalski

HERFORD,
GERMANY.- In his
extensive farewell exhibition at
the Marta Herford Museum, founding director Jan Hoet presents a
multiplicity of artistic perspectives and aspects on the theme of loss of
control: “Loss of Control: Crossing the boundaries to art from Félicien Rops to
the present. Obsession, sexuality, madness and death – the continuing exchange
between art and life is the theme of the exhibition LOSS OF CONTROL.  After
an eight-year engagement as the inspirational founding director of the Marta
Herford museum, Jan Hoet is saying farewell with a show comprising over 400
works. All the pieces speak about the artistic search for authentic means of
expression above and beyond societal norms, and convey in unprecedented depth
the varying aspects of loss of control, boundary crossing, and madness.

SEDALIA,
MISSOURI—The
Daum Museum of Contemporary Art on the campus of State Fair Community
College will mount a mid-career retrospective for
artist Marc Leuthold Feb. 6 through April 25, 2010.The
artist will give a public lecture at 2 p.m. Feb. 6 in the Stauffacher Center for the Fine Arts on campus
followed by an opening reception until 4 p.m. in the museum. The
exhibition, Marc Leuthold, Sculpture,
1995-2010, surveys the artist’s signature ceramic sculpture produced during
the past 15 years. Museum Director Thomas Piché, Jr., curated the
exhibition, which is accompanied by an illustrated catalog.

LONDON.- This autumn Helly Nahmad Gallery presents
a retrospective exhibition by the acknowledged principal of the French
Impressionist school, Claude Monet. Taking in his diverse styles from
the 1870s as he explored a wide range of subjects in all seasons and all types
of weather in his commitment to painting in front of his motif, to the
archetypal scenes of summer sunlight on the Seine at Argenteuil and the rural
town of Vétheuil. This chronological survey touches on the artist’s
trips to London and Venice and the series works he embarked on at the turn of
the century; depicting the essential character of these great cities enveloped
by the most atmospheric effects of dense smog or luminous light.

NEW YORK, NY (AP).- Vermont farmer Wilson A.
Bentley was known as Snowflake Bentley for his pioneering 19th-century
photography of more than 5,000 jewel-like snowflakes — no two
alike. Bentley, also known as
The Snowflake Man, was fascinated with snowflakes, and his observations
and experimentation made him the first person to capture a single
snowflake with a camera. 26 of his images are for sale at
the four-day American Antiques Show presented by the American Folk Art
Museum in New York. Ten of the images are of snowflakes, which he called
snow crystals, and are priced at $4,800 each. The others show winter
scenes. 

NEW YORK,
NY.-In the early
1500s, Rome’s majesty was a distant memory: its marble temples and palaces had
been ransacked; its population was a fraction of what it had been in antiquity.
Yet, over the course of the next hundred years, the Eternal City would
experience an amazing rebirth, as a series of popes rebuilt and
revitalized Rome and its population doubled. At the center of this metamorphosis
was an unprecedented influx of artistic talent and creative exchange. Rome After Raphael is organized by
Rhoda Eitel-Porter, Charles W. Engelhard Curator and Department Head of Drawings
and Prints at The Morgan Library & Museum. On view through 9 May,
2010.

MELBOURNE, AU
–TheNational Gallery of Victoriapresents a major exhibition of the work
of internationally renowned sculptor Ron Mueck. Known for his
extraordinarily life-like creations, this exhibition features twelve sculptures
by Mueck including four new works. This is the largest and most
comprehensive Mueck exhibition ever to be held in Australia.Frances Lindsay, NGV Deputy
Director, said: “Since his dramatic entry onto the international art stage,
Mueck has continued to astound audiences with his realistic, figurative
sculptures and now occupies a unique and important place in the field of
international contemporary art.” Mueck’s
work is currently held in the collections of Art Gallery of NSW, National
Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, McClelland Gallery and
Queensland Art Gallery.

NEW YORK,
NY.-A new auction
record for American silver was set atSotheby’swhen a Silver Punch Bowl by Cornelius
Kierstede, made in New York between 1700 and 1710, sold for an astonishing
$5,906,500. With a pre-sale estimate of $400/800,000 auctioneer
David Redden opened the bidding at $275,000 and almost instantly a bid of
$500,000 was called out by Ian Irving of Ian Irving Ltd. As many as six
different bidders raised their paddles, but at around $3 million the battle was
reduced to two determined clients, an anonymous gentleman seated in the room and
New York dealer S.J. Shrubsole. The competition continued for several minutes
before the winning bid was cast by the anonymous purchaser in the room; bringing
the gavel down to rousing applause. The final price of $5.9 million is
more than seven times the previous record for American silver, and is the second
highest price ever paid for any piece of silver at auction.

VIENNA.- Albertina Museum
CARS presents works from the Daimler Collection, by
artists Andy Warhol, Robert Longo, Sylvie Fleury, and Vincent Szarek.
Common to all of the works is their examination of the history, the
types, or the design of the Mercedes-Benz car. The core of the
exhibit are the thirty-five silkscreen paintings of Andy Warhol’s (1928–1987)
series CARS, which employ eight selected types of Mercedes to document the
history of the automobile. This important late series by Warhol
remained unfinished and after around twenty years is being shown again complete.
Joining this series are drawings and airbrushed paintings by Robert Longo
(*1953). Videos by Sylvie Fleury (*1961) blend the myth of the legendary
Mercedes-Benz automobile with some of the most contemporary ideas from the art
and fashion worlds. Vincent Szarek (*1973) uses design elements from the
Mercedes-Benz SLR as the starting point for his group of sculptures, which were
digitally developed as a modern form of drawing, rendered with 3D programs. On view through 24 May,
2010.