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LONDON.- In October 2008, the Saatchi Gallery re-opened in the 70,000 sq. ft. Duke of York’s HQ building on King’s Road in the heart of London. With free admission to all shows, the Saatchi Gallery aims to bring contemporary art to the widest audience possible. Its first three shows, “The Revolution Continues: New Art from China”, “Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East”, and “Abstract America: New Painting and Sculpture”, have attracted over one million visitors to date. On January 29 the Saatchi Gallery will open with “The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today”,

DALLAS, TX.- The Dallas Museum of Art will present a rich and comprehensive look at African visual culture through “The Arts of Africa”, the first catalogue dedicated to exploring the Museum’s collection of nearly 2,000 objects—acclaimed as one of the top five of its kind in the United States. Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the collection, which began with a gift of more than 200 objects from DMA benefactors Eugene and Margaret McDermott, the catalogue draws from both historical sources and contemporary research to examine over 100 figures, masks, and other works of art that represent

TEL AVIV.- The Government of Italy has agreed to the loan of “Caravaggio’s Rest on the Flight into Egypt”, c. 1597 from the Doria Pamphilj Gallery in Rome to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art for one fortnight. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), better known as “Caravaggio”, is one of the greatest painters of all times, and may be termed “the founder of Baroque” due to his innovative style, combining extreme chiaroscuro, figures flickering in the dark, stark realism and dramatic diagonal compositions. Surprisingly, this was all achieved by a man who

BROOKLYN, NY.- Kiki Smith: Sojourn, a major site-specific installation that explores the ideas of creative inspiration and the cycle of life in relation to women artists, will be on view February 5 through September 12, 2010, in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. The exhibition will draw from a variety of work by Kiki Smith in a range of media including cast objects, unique sculpture, and works on paper. The artist will also incorporate her work into two of the Brooklyn Museum‘s eighteenth-century period rooms in the nearby Decorative Arts galleries. Inspired, in part, by an important eighteenth-century New England needlework, Prudence Punderson’s “The First, Second and Last Scenes of Mortality” (Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford), Smith focuses on a variety of universal experiences, from the milestones of birth and death to the quotidian, such as the daily chores of domestic life. She also analyzes

CHICAGO, IL.- For millions of years they survived, living in temperate climates and on the wind-swept lands of the frozen north – great beasts weighing as much as eight tons and bearing tusks up to 16 feet long. “Mammoths and Mastodonts” were wonderfully successful creatures of the Ice Age. They were a source of food and artistic inspiration for ancient peoples who lived in Europe, Asia, and North America. But despite their size and ability to adapt to different habitats, these early cousins of the elephant eventually went extinct – leaving us an abundant fossil record. “Mammoths and Mastodonts: Titans of the Ice Age”, an exploration of these fascinating creatures, premiers at Chicago’s Field Museum March 5 and runs through September 6, 2010, before embarking on a four-year tour of 10 venues in North America and overseas. The exhibition is geared for all ages and is an experience the whole family will enjoy. S

ROME (AP).- Italian police have broken up a ring of looters who raided tombs for ancient artifacts and exported them illegally to countries including the United States, officials said Friday. During more than a year of investigations, authorities recovered nearly 1,700 statues, vases and other artifacts dating from pre-Roman times to the heyday of the empire. Police flagged 19 people for possible investigation by prosecutors. The artifacts were mainly dug out from tombs in the areas around Naples and Venice and included a bronze bust of the emperor Augustus, customs police in Rome said.

CHICAGO, IL.- For millions of years they survived, living in temperate climates and on the wind-swept lands of the frozen north – great beasts weighing as much as eight tons and bearing tusks up to 16 feet long. Mammoths and mastodons were wonderfully successful creatures of the Ice Age. They were a source of food and artistic inspiration for ancient peoples who lived in Europe, Asia, and North America. But despite their size and ability to adapt to different habitats, these early cousins of the elephant eventually went extinct – leaving us an abundant fossil record. Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age, an exploration of these fascinating creatures, premiers at Chicago’s Field Museum March 5 and runs through September 6, 2010, before embarking on a four-year tour of 10 venues in North America and overseas. The exhibition is geared for all ages and is an experience the whole family will enjoy. Star of

PORTLAND, PR.- The skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex will make its museum debut at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry along the banks of the Willamette River. Museum President Nancy Stueber said the fossilized bones of a 40-foot-long predator dinosaur that weighed 7.5 tons and lived 66 million years ago will be on display beginning Dec. 17 through the end of summer 2010. Scientists haven’t settled on whether the animal was male or female, Stueber said. Known as Samson, the fossil was dug up in the 1990s in South Dakota. It has been in private hands since then, most recently purchased this fall by an anonymous buyer after a failed Las Vegas auction. It is among three T. rex skeletons with more than half the bones remaining, and its skull is well preserved, the museum said in a statement. A similar T. rex fossil sold for $8.3 million in 1997 and is now housed at the Field Museum in Chicago. That dinosaur, named Sue, is 42 feet

LONDON.- Independent charity The Art Fund today announces that it will be leading a public campaign to save an unparalleled hoard of treasures, dating from Anglo-Saxon times, for the West Midlands. Members of the public can now donate to save the Staffordshire Hoard via www.artfund.org/hoard Comprising in excess 1,500 items, mostly gold and some decorated with precious stones, the Staffordshire Hoard has been valued at almost £3.3million – making it the most valuable treasure find ever recorded. Experts say that due to the high quality of craftsmanship displayed on the items, it is possible that they may have originally been made for royal ownership. They say the find will rewrite the history of the so-called ‘dark ages’. Through its public campaign, The Art Fund aims to raise the sum required for the treasures to be acquired jointly by Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Tren