News
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08/01/2011
The Afro-Peruvian folk singer Susana Baca has been named minister of culture in Peru for the new populist government of President Ollanta Humala, who took office last week.
from the New York Times: "Ms. Baca, whose CD “Lamento Negro” won a Latin Grammy award in 2002, is the first black Peruvian to be named a cabinet minister in that country since it gained its independence from Spain in 1821, and she provides another example of a recent South American trend to put artists in charge of government cultural policy. Previously, for example, the pop singer-songwriter Gilberto Gil served as culture minister in Brazil, and the actress-director Paulina Urrutia in Chile."
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08/01/2011
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will return nineteen artifacts to Egypt next week.
from the Associated Press: "Nineteen artifacts taken from the tomb of the famed boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun will be returned to Egypt next week after more than half a century at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Egypt's antiquities authority said Saturday. The trove includes a miniature bronze dog and a sphinx-shaped bracelet ornament, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement. The move, scheduled for Tuesday, is the result of an agreement between the two institutions last year to return the objects to Egypt."
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07/29/2011
The Crystal Bridges Museum of Art will offer free admission to all thanks to a $20-million grant from Wal-Mart.
from Arkansas Business: "Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art on Thursday announced that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was giving the Bentonville museum a $20 million grant to cover admission fees for all visitors. The grant is intended to make admission to the museum free in perpetuity. A $10 admission fee for adults had been under consideration before the grant announcement, the museum said."
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07/28/2011
London's National Gallery and The Louvre in Paris have announced plans to unite both versions of Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin Of The Rocks.
From the BBC: "The Louvre is to lend its version to the London gallery where it will be displayed as part of a new exhibition. In return, the gallery will lend the French institution its cartoon called The Virgin And Child With Saint Anne And John The Baptist...The Louvre's director Henri Loyrette said the 'exceptional collaboration' between the two galleries will provide the 'historical juxtaposition long desired by art historians.'"
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07/28/2011
A Polish painting has been returned to Warsaw after 67 years on the missing list.
from the The Guardian: "A valuable 19th century Polish painting missing since the second world war has been returned to Poland after being removed from auction in Germany. Aleksander Gierymski's Jewish Woman Selling Oranges was unveiled in Poland on Wednesday by culture minister Bogdan Zdrojewski, who said the return came after many months of negotiations with lawyers representing a German who had possessed it for more than 30 years."
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07/27/2011
The owner of an art store was arrested and charged with smuggling and conspiracy for illegally importing and selling African elephant ivory.
from CNN: "Federal agents seized approximately 1 ton of ivory from Victor Gordon's African art store–one of the largest government seizures of ivory on record...Gordon allegedly paid a co-conspirator to travel to Africa to buy raw elephant ivory, according to the 10-count felony indictment against him. He provided his co-conspirators with pictures of ivory carvings and asked that the ivory be designed by African carvers according to his designs, court documents said. Gordon also asked that the ivory be dyed to give it an antique, older look."
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07/27/2011
A long-planned exhibition of nearly 70 pieces of Buddhist art from Pakistan will finally open after political intrigue in Pakistan and a breakdown in American-Pakistani relations delayed it for six months.
from the New York Times: "Anti-Americanism, which soared in the aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden, helped put the show in jeopardy, said Melissa Chiu, the director of Asia Society Museum...The obstacles became so intense that at times the exhibition, devoted to the splendors of the ancient Buddhist civilization of Gandhara that flourished in northern Pakistan 2,000 years ago, almost foundered. Ms. Chiu said her argument to Pakistani authorities — that showing the antiquities in New York could help counterbalance the image of Pakistan as the world’s most dangerous place — was a tough sell."
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07/26/2011
Portland Institute of Contemporary Art appoints Angela Mattox Artistic Director.
from ARTFORUM: "The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in Oregon today appointed Angela Mattox, former curator of performing arts at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, artistic director, effective September 1. “We are happy to welcome Angela to PICA and to Portland. She is a respected peer with a stellar reputation in the field and among artists,” said Victoria Frey, PICA’s executive director. In her eight years at YBCA, Mattox emphasized the Center’s performing arts program, placing an international emphasis on experimental practice, cross-cultural exchange, and interdisciplinary work."
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07/26/2011
Gilbert 'Magu' Lujan, a pioneer of the Chicano art movement that took root in the social and cultural upheavals of the 1960s and '70s, died at 70.
from the Los Angeles Times: "Gilbert “Magú” Luján, a painter, muralist and sculptor whose whimsical, slyly humorous artworks, which frequently evoked a rollicking, mythical view of Mexican American life, graced museum walls, the Hollywood & Vine subway station and other public places, died Sunday...Magú, as he was universally known, was among the first U.S. artists of Mexican descent to establish an international career. The Pomona resident had been battling cancer for several years, according to a number of friends and colleagues who confirmed the news of his death."
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07/25/2011
A new Mougins Museum of Classical Art to be founded in the French town where Picasso lived out his last dozen years.
from the Guardian: The Mougins Museum of Classical Art opens in a town "where the likes of Picabia, Cocteau, Man Ray and Leger used to visit." The museum houses the private collection of investment manager Christian Levett, and will include art spanning from ancient times, to Picasso, to Damien Hirst.
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07/22/2011
Building work on an ambitious Frank Gehry-designed cultural centre in Arles will be delayed for at least six months following concerns over its effect on the French city’s heritage.
from The Art Newspaper: "[Arles' heritage] includes archaeological sites and views immortalized in paintings by artists such as Van Gogh and Gauguin. Work on “Luma/Parc des Ateliers” was expected to start in June but the project is now being revised after two out of five building permit applications were rejected by the French National Commission for Historical Sites and Monuments. The complex, which is to include exhibition spaces, a study archive, workshops, and a library, has two striking towers clad in aluminum foam, a materia that resembles Swiss cheese, as its centerpiece. But plans submitted gave the heritage commission cause for concern. The commission ruled that Gehry's towers would obscure the view of the bell tower of the medieval Church of Saint Honoratus in the Alyscamps and that their foundations would disturb the underground Roman-Gallo Sarcophagi."
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07/21/2011
Connie Wolf, the director of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, to become director of the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford.
from the Stanford University News Center: "Connie Wolf, director and CEO of San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum, was a galvanizing force in bringing a national profile to a little-known institution. Now she'll have a chance to bring the same record of drive and innovation to the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford when she becomes the new director on Jan. 1, 2012. She follows Thomas K. Seligman, who became the center's first full-time director in 1991. Seligman, who will continue research and teaching at Stanford, called Wolf "a terrific choice" and said he "is very pleased she will be taking Cantor to its next chapter."
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07/21/2011
Zahi Hawass has been reappointed as Egypt's antiquities minister — after having been replaced on Sunday.
from ARTINFO: "Last spring he also survived a firing and re-hiring, despite his ties to ousted president Hosni Mubarak. This time, however, he may only last as long as it takes to find an acceptable replacement. Hawass said that prime minister Essam Sharaf had asked him to continue in his post as antiquities minister. On Sunday, Abdel Fattah El-Banna was appointed as his replacement but was forced to resign the next day after antiquities staff said he lacked the proper credentials."
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07/21/2011
The attempted sale of a stolen painting believed to be a Modigliani supplied a vital clue in the arrest of the last major Yugoslav war crimes fugitive.
from Reuters: "Desperate for cash after years on the run, Goran Hadzic tried to sell a stolen painting believed to be a Modigliani and supplied the vital clue for capturing the last major Yugoslav war crimes fugitive. Serbia's president announced the arrest of Hadzic, a Croatian Serb wartime leader indicted for crimes against humanity during the 1991-95 Croatian war, on Wednesday...There is also a fair chance that the painting, which was apparently exhibited in Belgrade in the mid-2000s, was a fake, said a law enforcement agent who had investigated stolen art works."
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07/20/2011
Applications for the 2011 William H. Johnson Prize are now available online with an August 15, 2011 due date for all applications.
From the William H. Johnson Foundation: "The 2011 William H. Johnson Prize is 25,000 USD and the winner will be announced later in the year. The William H. Johnson Foundation for the Arts is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that seeks to encourage African American artists early in their careers through its annual award, The William H. Johnson Prize. Early career African American artists who work in painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, installation and/or new genre are eligible to apply."
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07/19/2011
Southern Exposure is now accepting applications for Round V of the Alternative Exposure Grants Program.
from Alternative Exposure: "With major support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Alternative Exposure offers direct support to Bay Area based unincorporated groups, burgeoning art and gathering spaces, publications, websites, collectives, events, and projects that fall outside the traditional frameworks of support. In the four years since launching Alternative Exposure, SoEx has awarded $220,000 in direct funds to 69 Bay Area projects.The deadline for the 2011 Round V of Alternative Exposure is Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 6 pm."
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07/18/2011
A 17th-century painting by Nicolas Poussin was vandalized at the National Gallery in London after a 57-year-old man reportedly sprayed it with red paint.
from the Guardian: "'The Adoration of the Golden Calf', completed by the French classicist in 1634, along with a smaller painting on the adjacent wall in the Poussin Room, was attacked at around 5pm. Witnesses reported seeing a man spraying the paintings with a canister as security guards rushed over before detaining him in the room and contacting police. Five officers later came to arrest the man, who is thought to be French."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/17/poussin-attack-national-gallery
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07/18/2011
Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s antiquities minister, who has been under fire for his ties to the Mubarak regime, will lose his job in a cabinet reshuffle intended to appease the protesters in Tahrir Square.
from the New York Times: "The full details of the cabinet changes have not yet been confirmed. Mr. Hawass’s pending departure was reported by an Egyptian newspaper, Youm7, and Mr. Hawass confirmed the report’s accuracy. Youm7 quoted him as saying that protesters outside his office tried to beat him as he left on Sunday."
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07/15/2011
Banksy pink gorilla graffiti was mistakenly whitewashed over in Bristol.
from the BBC: "The gorilla in a pink mask on the wall of the ex-North Bristol Social Club, in Eastville, had been a familiar landmark in the area for more than 10 years. But the building has recently been turned into a Muslim cultural centre. New owner Saeed Ahmed assumed it was a regular piece of graffiti and had it painted over. 'I thought it was worthless,' he said. He added: 'I didn't know it was valuable and that's why I painted over it. I really am sorry if people are upset.' Mr Ahmed said he was willing to explore options to see if the whitewash can be removed and the painting restored."
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07/14/2011
Alleged Picasso thief had $500,000 worth of stolen artwork in his apartment, including another Picasso.
from the Huffington Post: "Police in Hoboken, N.J., raided the home of Mark Lugo this week after receiving information from San Francisco authorities. Officers found a Picasso drawing worth $350,000 that had been reported stolen from a New York hotel, among other pieces. Lugo is being held in a San Francisco jail in the July 5 theft of a 1965 Picasso drawing called "Tete de Femme" from the Weinstein Gallery."
