MELBOURNE.- The Premier, John Brumby, presented an iconic Australian artwork, Sidney Nolan’s Kelly with Horse to the National Gallery of Victoria to mark next year’s 150th birthday celebrations. Mr Brumby said Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly paintings were a significant part of Australia’s cultural history. “They are also arguably some of the most sought-after paintings by Australian galleries,” Mr Brumby said. “The NGV does not currently own any Ned Kelly paintings by Nolan, and Kelly with Horse will be a spectacular and important addition to our stunning collection. “Our government has gifted this painting to the people of Victoria to mark the 150th anniversary of the NGV, a significant milestone in the state’s cultural history. “At the Gallery, it can be enjoyed by thousands of Victorians and visitors. Last year over 765,000 people walked through NGV Australia’s doors.”
Canadian and U.S. Photographers Compete for 2010 Grange Prize
TORONTO.- Four leading-edge photographers, two Canadian and two American, will have the opportunity to win the $50,000 Grange Prize, presented by Aeroplan and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Each year, The Grange Prize partners with one international art institution in an effort to recognize the best in Canadian and international photography — and 2010’s partner is the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) at Columbia College Chicago. A joint panel of curatorial experts will meet to review the work of photographic artists from Canada and the U.S., narrowing the shortlist to four. Both the AGO and the MoCP will mount exhibitions of the shortlisted artists’ works this fall, and members of the public will vote onsite or online to determine the winner, who will be announced November 2, 2010 at a special event hosted by Aeroplan and the
Exhibition of New Works by Shirazeh Houshiary at Lehmann Maupin
NEW YORK, NY.- Lehmann Maupin presents Light Darkness, an exhibition of new works by Shirazeh Houshiary, on view 29 April – 19 June 2010. Her fifth exhibition at Lehmann Maupin features paintings, drawings, sculpture and video animation. Each of the works in Light Darkness oscillate and metamorphose constantly, revealing the true nature of the world which is not permanent or concrete, but illusive and changing. Fascinated by repetition dissolving into unfamiliarity, Houshiary constructs her paintings from repeated words, resulting in kinetic, luminous surfaces. “These paintings are very contemplative and encourage the viewer to look within. Here synchronicity is the point of connection between the inner and outer event” Houshiary says of this new body of work. These undulating surfaces created by
MoMA Announces Exhibition of New Architectures of Social Engagement
NEW YORK, NY.- Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement, a major exhibition organized by The Museum of Modern Art, will explore contemporary architecture as a powerful means for improving social conditions, focusing on 11 noteworthy built or under-construction projects in underserved communities around the world. The exhibition will be on view from October 3, 2010, through January 3, 2011. Concentrating on a group of architects who confront inequality by using the tools of design, Small Scale, Big Change will examine the ways these architects engage with local, social, economic, and political circumstances to develop positive architectural interventions that begin with an understanding of and deference to a community. Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement is organized by Andres Lepik, Curator, and Margot Weller, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and
Manhattan Mogul Elie Hirschfeld Acquires Important Painting by Francoise Gilot
NEW YORK, NY (PRNEWSWIRE.COM.- Manhattan real estate tycoon and President of Hirschfeld Properties, LLC, Elie Hirschfeld publically announces the acquisition of “Gingko Trees in Central Park” (2002-2004, Oil on Canvas), an original painting by Francoise Gilot (born 1921). “‘Gingko Trees in Central Park’ holds great meaning to me because it depicts a special New York City scene and reminds me of the large ginkgo tree in the backyard of my parents’ home,” said Elie Hirschfeld. “I am honored to have purchased this painting and own a small part of such a great history. Ms. Gilot is an inspiration to all, both as an artist and as a person. Through this acquisition, it was a pleasure getting to know Ms. Gilot and I look forward to our ongoing friendship.” In addition to her famous life associations and significant books
Boston’s MFA Uses Dassault’s 3D Tech to Study Pyramids
BOSTON, MA.- Dassault Systèmes, a world leader in 3D software solutions and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), one of the world’s most important encyclopedic art museums, today announced that they will join forces in a strategic innovation partnership to bring the power of industrial and experiential 3D to the domain of archaeology. The Giza Archives Project is a digital initiative, housed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It is supervised by Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian, the MFA’s Giza Archives Director and Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology at Harvard University. The Project aims to “assemble and link” the world’s archaeological information on the Egyptian Pyramids at the Giza Plateau. In the last decade, it has digitized historic expedition photographs, excavation diaries and field notebooks, maps,
Flush Collectors Ready to Spend Again at Auctions of Rare Art
NEW YORK, (REUTERS).- Fueled by international collectors and Wall Street investors reaping soaring profits, the beaten-down art market appears poised for a remarkable comeback after an 18-month stumble. Rare buying opportunities to buy works by such modern masters as Jasper Johns and Mark Rothko will spur stiff competition and hefty spending by deep-pocketed collectors at the critical spring sales hosted by auction powerhouses Sotheby’s and Christie’s, art experts predict. “You’re going to see records set,” said Baird Ryan, managing director of the private financial and consulting services firm Art Capital Group. “I think we’re going to be surprised by buyers’ excitement,” he said. “The international money exists, and there has been a secular recovery in the U.S., particularly in capital markets. Wall Street has had a really good year.” Top hedge
Kresge Goes for the “Bold” with New Summer Exhibition
EAST LANSING, MI.- Kresge Art Museum at Michigan State University presents the summer exhibition EyePoppers: Big & Bold from the Kresge Art Museum Collection, featuring 31 large scale paintings and sculpture from the museum collection. The exhibition is on view May 1 through July 30, 2010. The family-friendly opening reception on Sunday, May 2, 2010, 3-5 p.m., coincides with the Lansing area First Sunday Gallery Walk. Guests tall and small are welcome to enjoy snacks, refreshments and eye popping crafts.
This exhibition celebrates art of the past half-century: Pure abstraction, Op and Geometric art, and Color Field paintings. Acquired through gifts and acquisitions over the fifty-year history of the Kresge Art Museum , they follow the major stylistic trends during this time. Op art by Bridget Riley and others play with the viewer’s perception of space and line while colorful sculpture by Alexander
Dutch Queen Beatrix Inaugurates Newly Renovated and Enlarged Villa Vauban in Luxembourg
LUXEMBOURG.- For its reopening, the newly renovated and enlarged Villa Vauban exhibits in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam a prestigious selection of 80 paintings from both the Luxembourgish and the Dutch collection: those from the Villa Vauban, the origins of which go back to Jean-Pierre Pescatore, comprising i.a. works by David Teniers the Younger, Jan Steen and Gérard Dou, as well as selected paintings from the Rijksmuseum collection with works from Frans Hals, Paulus Potter, Govaert Flinck, Jan van Goyen and Jacob van Ruisdael. Engravings from the collections of the Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal round out the exhibition. Furthermore, the tight bonds between Luxembourg and the Netherlands during the 19th century are illustrated by documents from the Koninklijk Huisarchief of The Hague. The new museum was designed to reflect the specificity of its collection of paintings originally acquired by wealthy private c
Susan Wides Explores NYC and Its Environs in Exhibition at Kim Foster Gallery
NEW YORK, NY.- Kim Foster Gallery presents Art & Entertainment, Susan Wides’ sixth solo show at the gallery. With this new work, Wides builds upon over ten years of exploring New York City and its environs through the facets of shift/tilt techniques. Whether it is the curving opulence of the Metropolitan Opera, or the dizzying colors at Times Square’s Toys R’ Us, Wides’ lens gives us a swooping tour of New York’s spaces for the public and privileged in works that are both recognizable and disorienting. In this new body of large-scale pigmented ink prints created in the first few months of 2010, Wides continues to explore the way physical phenomena are experienced by the senses and imagination through intuitive insight, states of awareness and visual thinking – manifestations that exist only in fleeting perception and which only her camera is capable of reproducing. Her photographs portray a cradled interiority of New Yo