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.
National Museum in Taiwan showcases 70 Works of Art by Vincent Van Gogh
TAIPEI, TAIWAN – An exhibition entitled Van Gogh: the
Flaming Soul showcasing more than 70 drawings and 20 paintings by Vincent van
Gogh from the Kröller-Müller Museum’s collection opened at the National Museum
of History in Taipei (Taiwan) in December. In preparation, a delegation
from the Kröller-Müller Museum travelled to Taipei at the end of October to
discuss the various aspects of an exhibition of this scale with those involved.
Topics of discussion vary from transport, security, light and climate conditions
to the design of the rooms and the content and appearance of the accompanying
catalogue. The collection will be on display until March 28, 2010.
Marble Sarcophagus Relief Sells for $1.5 Million at Sotheby’s Antiquities Auction
NEW YORK, NY.- An ancient Roman marble relief panel
with Dionysiac decoration that was recently discovered to once have been in the
collection of French writer Émile Zola sold for $1,538,500 at Sotheby’s
Antiquities auction in New York. Six bidders competed for the piece which
eventually sold to an anonymous telephone bidder. It was the
highlight of the sale which totaled $5.8 million – well in excess of the
$2.3/3.5 million estimate, with 86% lots sold by lot and 96% by value.
Discussing the sale Richard Keresey and Florent Heintz of Sotheby’s Antiquities
Department said: “We are thrilled with the $1.5 million achieved today for the
Roman Sarcophagus relief. The piece boasts remarkable ownership history, having
belonged not only to Emile Zola but at times over the past 100 years to the
actress Cécile Sorel and Paul Reynaud the former French head of state. We are
able to trace unbroken provenance trace back over 500 years.”
The Powerhouse Museum presents The 80s with a Spectacular New Exhibition
SYDNEY, AU – The Powerhouse Museum is bringing
back the 80s with a spectacular exhibition opening on December 13 that will
reveal the good and the bad about the decade vividly remembered for its over the
top excess. The 80s are back will explore Australian life and popular
culture in the 1980s, remembering the styles, trends and subcultures, and how
they found expression in fashion, design, music, film and television.
Packed with entertaining experiences, familiar personalities, great
nostalgia, and perhaps just a few cringe-worthy moments, The 80s are back
exhibition will remind us all why the 80s was a decade not easily
forgotten.
The Cucci Cabinet ~ A Royal Gift ~ Sells for 4.5 Million Pounds at Christie’s
LONDON.- Combining superb Florentine pietre dure
plaques with opulent gilt bronze mounts, elaborate marquetry and beautifully
modelled figurative carving, this cabinet is a superb example of the magnificent
cabinets produced in Paris in the mid-17th century. Almost certainly
given to Queen Hedvig Eleonora of Sweden, or indeed commissioned by her, it is
one of only very few surviving cabinets executed at the Royal Gobelins workshops
in Paris. It illustrates the brilliance of the best Italian, French and Flemish
artists and craftsmen who had been drawn together at the Gobelins and
exemplifies the luxurious sophistication of early Baroque at the Royal courts of
Versailles and Stockholm.
Elvis Presley Exhibitions at The National Portrait Gallery in 2010
WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian’s National Portrait
Gallery will recognize the influence of the “King of Rock n’ Roll,” Elvis
Presley (1935–1977), on American life, history and culture with two
exhibitions in 2010. “One Life: Echoes of Elvis” opens on
Presley’s 75th birth anniversary and is a one-room exhibition devoted to
the evolution and influence of Presley’s image after his death.
The traveling exhibition, “Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred
Wertheimer,” shows a young musician just about to rise to fame.
Pennsylvania Police: Artist’s Son Steals $20 Million of Frank Frazetta Paintings
ALLENTOWN, PA (AP).- A Pennsylvania man used a
backhoe to break into a museum owned by his father — the pioneering fantasy
artist Frank Frazetta — in an attempt to steal 90 paintings valued at $20
million, police said Thursday. State police charged Alfonso Frank
Frazetta, 52, of Marshalls Creek, with theft, burglary and trespass after they
say he was caught loading the artwork into his trailer and SUV. The elder
Frazetta, 81, is renowned for his work on characters including Conan the
Barbarian, Tarzan and Vampirella. He was in Florida at the time of the
theft.
Famous Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei Transforms the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion
BARCELONA.- As of December 10 the Mies van der
Rohe Pavilion will be the object of an intervention that reflects on the use of
buildings and our concept of them as unique, unalterable spaces. The artist Ai
Weiwei, one of the leading – and most controversial – figures of Chinese
contemporary art, will fill the Pavilion pools with two elements that,
though very common in our everyday lives, are totally foreign to architectural
construction. He will replace the water of the two pools, one exterior and the
other interior, with milk and coffee, respectively. Visit : http://www.miesbcn.com/index.html
Francis Alys Awarded the BACA 2010 ~ Biennial Award for Contemporary Art
MAASTRICHT, NL – The jury, comprised of Enrico
Lunghi, Dirk Snauwaert and Alexander van Grevenstein, has decided unanimously to
award the BACA 2010 to Francis Alÿs (B – 1959). For over twenty years,
he has lived in Mexico City, and recently also in Casablanca. The BACA,
the Biennial Award for Contemporary Art, is intended as a tribute to an artist
for his or her adventurous oeuvre and visible influence on other (younger)
artists. The award ceremony and the opening will take place on Saturday
6 and Sunday 7 November 2010.
Wadsworth Atheneum to Feature Exhibition of its Modern American Works on Paper
HARTFORD, CT.- The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of
Art has organized the first major exhibition of its American works on paper from
the years 1910 to 1960. American Moderns on Paper: Masterworks from the
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art will include more than 100 exceptional
works from the museum’s permanent collection—including a
recently-acquired Georgia O’Keeffe pastel—providing a groundbreaking
new look at the diverse directions pursued by modern artists in America. The
exhibition will tell the story of the Wadsworth’s acquisition of works by
artists from Edward Hopper and Charles Demuth to Salvador Dali and Ellsworth
Kelly, and will reveal how the museum was at the forefront of introducing modern
art to America.