Art News

NEW YORK, NY (AP).- A topless photo of filmmaker Roman Polanski and his wife, Sharon Tate, taken just months before her murder has sold at a New York City auction for just over $11,000. The black and white portrait by British photographer David Bailey shows the couple embracing. Christie’s says it was sold Monday to an unidentified private buyer. The presale estimate was $8,000 to $12,000. The 76-year-old Oscar-winning director is under house arrest in Switzerland. The United States wants him to face sentencing for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977. He fled the U.S. before being sentenced. His attorneys plan to argue before a California appeals court that the charges should be dismissed. Tate was killed in 1969 by followers of Charles Manson.

HOUSTON.- “Prendergast in Italy”, the first exhibition devoted entirely to the watercolors, monotypes, and oil paintings by the American modern artist Maurice Prendergast, will open at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston on February 14, 2010. Featuring more than 60 views of Venice, Rome, Siena, and Capri, “Prendergast in Italy” also includes the artist´s personal sketchbooks, letters, photographs, and guidebooks from his two trips to Italy, in 1898 and 1911. Prendergast was born and raised in Boston but developed his mature style during early trips abroad to France (1891-1895) and Italy (1989-1989). Renowned for his paintings full of joie de vivre, the view of Italy that Prendergast presents was informed by European trends filtered through the eyes of an American artist and tourist encountering Venice for the first time. This exhibition demonstrates the advances of abstract color and form that put Prendergast on the cutting edge of Am

PORTLAND, ME.- As an abstract painter, Maine artist Frederick Lynch (born 1935) uses a system of repeated geometries and mathematical divisions to create his art. “Division and Discovery: Recent Work by Frederick Lynch”, on view February 27 through May 16, 2010, will feature 30 works in a range of media including paintings, works on paper, wooden sculptures, and painted reliefs. Lynch’s paintings evoke the type of order and chaos found in patterns of nature-branching, veining of leaves, and molecular systems. He often begins a work by drawing a 120 degree line, and then continues to further divide the picture plane into hundreds of increasingly smaller shapes, each layered with variations in color, line, and scale. In Lynch’s recent work, he has dissected these vibrant, painted geometries, isolating them into individual units, or Segments as he terms them. Once distilled, the shapes are then magnified in drawings, gouaches, and wooden constructions. The exhibition pair

NEW YORK, NY (AP).- A new prize recognizing artists age 35 and under would provide the winner with $100,000 and help from mentors like Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, the prize’s creator announced Tuesday. The Future Generation Art Prize is the creation of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, whose namesake is a Ukrainian billionaire and art collector. Artists in the age group will apply online for the prize, which will be awarded every two years. A group of 100 art professionals from

NEW YORK, NY.- Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Frank Lloyd Wright–designed building, The Wright, New York City’s newest restaurant, opens to the public on December 11, in the famed museum. Named in honor of the great American architect, the intimate Upper East Side destination is located in an elegant and modern architectural space that is sure to dazzle trendsetters, fine diners, art lovers, and world travelers. Additionally, a site-specific sculpture by British artist Liam Gillick was commissioned for the space, creating a truly unique dining experience.

LONDON (REUTERS).- A Rembrandt painting unseen in public for nearly 40 years sold for a record 20.2 million pounds ($33.2 million) at auction in London on Tuesday, the highest ever paid at auction for the 17th century artist. Christie’s said that “Portrait of a man, half-length, with his arms akimbo”, painted in 1658, fetched the 4th highest-price paid at auction for any old masters painting. It was bought by an anonymous client bidding via telephone, Christie’s said. The record for a Rembrandt previously stood at 19.8 million pounds (then $29 million) in December 2000 for “Portrait of a lady aged 62.” The Rembrandt was the star lot in Christie’s auction of old masters and 19th century works, which have stood up relatively well during a financial downturn that has hit much of the rest of the world art market.