Artfixdaily Blog Network

Twenty works by leading American artists such as Thomas Cole, George Inness, Alfred Maurer, Jane Peterson, Thomas B. Pope and Anthony Thieme, are on loan from the private collection of John and Jean Wilkinson to the Appleton Museum of Art. The exhibit, which runs through July 25, illustrates art movements from the Hudson River School of the 19th century to early 20th century modernism. Also, on view through May 30 is "Florida Journeys: African-American Artists From The Sunshine State" with nearly 40 artworks by some of Florida’s finest African-American artists such as ...

INTERPOL, the international police agency, issued a global alert on May 22 with images of five paintings which were stolen from the Modern Art Museum in Paris last Thursday. The move inidcates that French authorities suspect the paintings may have left the country, possibly through an organized crime network. The 188 INTERPOL member countries, as well as cultural and institutional bodies, were provided with information to help aid in the investigation. A burglar entered the museum undetected, evading a security system and three armed guards on duty overnight on May 20. “These ...

 Egypt's outspoken crusader for cultural objects, Dr. Zahi Hawass, has been demanding the repatriation of Egyptian antiquities from museums worldwide. At the same time, he has endorsed two touring exhibitions of Egypt's most prized ancient treasures. On June 25, Dr. Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egypt, will be a special guest of the Denver Art Museum. VIP ticket holders to the museum's gala "Flappers and Pharoahs," a fundraising event for 'Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs,' will be able to hear Dr. ...

A book hand-made by Pop artist Andy Warhol as a gift for a young girl will be published for the first time this fall. Rizzoli is releasing a fascimile edition of the one-of-the-kind "Making Money." Originally created by Warhol in 1981, the book features a series of his exuberant freehand drawings. An appealing "flipbook" quality emerges as the images slowly build from abstract renditions to the artist's familiar dollar sign. The backstory is another draw. The gift-book was for Berkeley Reinhold, then a pre-teen and daughter of Warhol's close friend, diamond ...

A 19th-century Hudson River School painter showcased in a high-tech platform has been named as one of the Honorees in the Arts category in the 14th Annual Webby Awards.  Official Honoree Explore Thomas Cole (http://www.explorethomascole.org/) was among 8,000 entries competing for the distinction. Fewer than 15% of entered websites are recognized with a Webby, the award given for an outstanding caliber of work in website design. Part of the site's appeal is certainly the beauty and functionality present in the comprehensive Virtual Gallery of Cole's work. Filter the gallery by ...

Former Christie's specialist Richard Aste has been named as the new Curator of European Art at the Brooklyn Museum. Currently, he is Associate Curator at Museo de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and working on the reinstallation of thirteen permanent collection galleries. Aste has organized several European art exhibitions there including Masterpieces of Spanish Painting from the Prado and The Journey to Impressionism. He co-curated The Age of Rodin and Masterpieces of European Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce. Prior to the position in Ponce, Peru-born Aste was a specialist at ...

Space-consuming stacks of deteriorating catalogs and steady streams of researchers looking for information are two reasons for art museum libraries to innovate with Web solutions. Four leading New York City institutions are addressing these issues of collection preservation and information dissemination with the development of a new online research destination: nyarc.org. Founded in 2006, the New York Art Resources Consortium (NYARC) consists of The Brooklyn Museum, The Frick Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art. Their website provides news on the ...

Candy may be the art world's answer to the recession blues. Sweet and palatable images abounded at last week's Los Angeles Art Show: Wayne Theibaud's ice cream cones, Jean Wells' giant chocolate Kiss and pink cupcake sculptures, and gummi bears expertly captured in oil by Jeanne Vadeboncouer. Beyond the theme of edible delights, a wide range of art styles, from California impressionists to New York abstract expressionists, Arts and Crafts-era prints to cutting-edge video installations, gave the Fine Art Dealers Association's (FADA) 15th annual show breadth. This year, ...

Art book publisher PHAIDON has knocked prices down 25% from selected titles for a limited time. For art reference libraries, there is Salon to Biennial, Exhibitions that Made Art History, Volume 1: 1863-1959, the first book in a two-volume set that chronicles influential group exhibitions, beginning with the first Salon des Refusés in Paris of 1863 and concluding with the multi-locational international exhibition 'The New American Painting', organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1958–59. Also, the sale includes pleasurable reads such as "The American ...

The top three fall art events, garnering the greatest number of views by ARTFIXdaily readers, were listed in the Calendar section from September 1 to December 31, 2009: 1. Chelsea Antiques Fair. Held twice annually, this five-year-old London antiques show takes place in the 17th-century style Old Town Hall on King's Road. About 35 exhibitors, including many BADA and LAPADA members, are focused on educating the collector; there is an extra emphasis on encouraging new collectors at this relaxed venue. The 2010 dates are: March 17-21, Sept. 22-26. 2. Identity Theft: How a Cropsey became a ...

Punched-up, high-keyed, near-neon---the vivid tints employed by two painters, both of whom dabbled in unreal Fauvist colors reminiscent of Matisse and his contemporaries, are separated by a near-century but share a similarly memorable approach to landscape painting. Contemporary artist Robin Gowen (b. 1957) grew up in New Hampshire and Nigeria. She now paints the American West in a wide spectrum of colors: sometimes subtle shades of lavender and green, with simple chiaroscuro; other times deep magenta juxtaposed with mustard yellow, in wide, thick brushtrokes that nearly jump from the ...

Belgian billionaire Albert Frere, 83, hopes to sell 3,000 bottles of Bordeaux and Champagne from his private cellar  on Sept. 23 at Sotheby's London. Auction proceeds are earmarked for a charitable foundation named in honor of his son who died a decade ago in a car accident. Frere aims to raise as much as 983,480 pounds ($1.6 million) to benefit the Charles-Albert Frere Foundation, which supports disadvantaged children and adults. According to Sotheby's London-based wine director James Reed, prices for Champagne and French wine dropped 20% last November and December as global ...

A horde of top-notch American and European paintings and decorative arts goes to the auction block in the middle of Maine from August 25 to 28. Auctioneer James D. Julia, Inc., has returned this popular end-of-summer sale to their new state-of-the-art facilities in Fairfield, Maine, after conducting the sale off-site for twenty-one years. Among the Session II stand-outs, within this 2,200-lot sale, is an extraordinary, mid-career work by George Inness (1825-1894), famed as an American tonalist painter. Titled “The Villa Borghese, Rome, 1871,” the Italian landscape depicts over ...

ARTFIXdaily is compiling a comprehensive Fall 2009-Winter 2010 Events Calendar of international exhibitions, auctions, and shows. Museums, galleries, auction houses, historic sites, art fairs, artists, and art institutions are invited to send calendar listings for inclusion. Simply send us the event title, date, location, contact name, phone number or e-mail, an image, and URL. E-mail your Arts Event to info@artfixdaily.com. Art world professionals may also contribute press releases to our ArtWire marketing service. E-mail the press release as a Word doc along with up to three images and ...

As much a museum as it is an authentic Colonial tavern, Connecticut's Griswold Inn famously houses the largest privately-owned collection of paintings by Antonio Jacobsen (1850-1921), America's most prolific marine artist.   Since 1776, travelers have clamored here to dine, sleep, and sing sea shanties. The current owners, the Paul family, have extended the art collection and lately, added a wine bar which has kindled its own audience. New York magazine toasted the inn's cozy Tap Room, clad in maritime antiques: "It just may be the best drinking room anywhere in ...

Even while the state of California is in an economic tailspin, prices for art by California impressionists (dead ones) are soaring to new heights. A masterwork titled "Roses" by early 20th-century impressionist Franz Bischoff inspired heated bidding in Los Angeles on August 3. The 1912 oil on canvas was the top lot in Bonhams & Butterfields' sale of California and American Paintings and Sculpture which featured many fresh-to-the-market works, with several paintings reaching six-figures. "Roses" (est. $600,000-$800,000) garnered $798,000, the highest price ever ...

The most viewed blogs, events, and news releases running on the BETA version of ARTFIXdaily, from June 1 to August 15, 2009, featured intruiging lawsuits, exciting decoy auctions, and noteworthy contemporary artists. Top three blog posts: 1. Brooke Astor's Favorite Painting at Heart of Trial 2. Elmer Crowell Decoys Star on Cable News 3. Shock 'n' Awe; Chris Jordan's Green Theme Mega-Art Most popular events: 1. Susan Van Campen: Watercolors exhibition at Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York 2. Copley Fine Art Auctions' The Sporting Sale 2009 3. Art-40-Basel, the ...

The massive Brimfield antiques fair, held three times yearly in rural western Massachusetts, attracts nearly 130,000 visitors over the course of one week. It's perhaps the largest outdoor antiques show in the world, covering 23 fields, and hosting 6,000 exhibitors of antiques, art, collectibles, and bric-a-brac. A Rhode Island man says he found a treasure in the July show. He claims to have unearthed a portrait depicting renowned American Impressionist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), painted circa 1900 by Anders Zorn (1860-1920). The picture caught his eye at Brimfield's Heart of ...

Last week media mogul Oprah Winfrey was sued for a mind-boggling $1 trillion by a poet who alleges she plagarized his work. She isn't the only high-profile author or publishing entity caught up in hairy legal skirmishes. An artist and a wine expert are also behind separate ongoing lawsuits against book publishers. Sicilian-born artist Arturo Di Modica, who sculpted the iconic Wall Street bull, is suing the author and publisher of a new book about the collapse of the investment banking firm Lehman Brothers. A photo of "Charging Bull" graces the dust jacket of “A Colossal ...

Following the media-frenzy associated with the Michael Jackson auction that never happenend, Los Angeles-based Julien's Auctions once again offers up a dazzling celebrity cache. Fine and decorative arts from award-winning star Barbra Streisand’s New York, Beverly Hills, and Malibu residences will be auctioned on October 17 and 18 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Proceeds will benefit Streisand's humanitarian foundation. The 400-lot selection features 19th-century American furnishings, Art Deco fixtures, Oriental rugs, Native American baskets, and Barbra's personal ...

Graphic artist Alan Claude grew up in the shadow of a lighthouse, literally. On the shores of Biarritz, France, he and his older brother played day-long under a towering lighthouse while their mother worked. When the internet age allowed Claude to move his career to Maine, lighthouses again figured largely in his experience. He and his wife were married at sunrise at the diminutive Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde. This memorable event, as well as the inspiration of a coastline spotted with lighthouses, provoked Claude to create a series of bold illustrations of Maine’s most ...

Once dubbed the "Crystal Palace," The Arcade in Cleveland, Ohio, was an architectural tour-de-force when the massive skylit structure first opened in 1890. Modeled after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuell II in Milan, Italy, this shopping mall is visually breathtaking in any century. John D. Rockefeller was one of the oringinal investors in this early American indoor mall. The Arcade, designed by John M. Eisenmann and George H. Smith, epitomized the elegant, modern shopping experience. Thanks to a $60 million restoration begun in 1999, visitors can enjoy The Arcade more than a ...

Dense pine groves, rugged boulders, and fields of poppies. Ocean-fronted lodges with sweeping sea views. A romantic village and secluded sunbathing. Sound like the backdrop of a classic film? These rustic elements were the muse of legendary director Ingmar Bergman, who immortalized the serene Baltic island of Fårö, off the coast of Gotland, Sweden, in a number of his most memorable films. Bergman first visited Fårö in 1960 while scouting out a location to shoot "Through a Glass Darkly." Immediately, he was struck by the singular natural beauty of this ...

Frank Lloyd Wright's bold, textile-block Ennis House in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles is for sale with an asking price of $15 million. An eclectic incarnation of the world-renowned architect's work, the Mayan-inspired house was built for men's clothing magnate Charles Ennis and his wife Mabel in 1924. Wright created four textile-block houses in Los Angeles County between 1923 and 1926. Ennis House is the grandest of them all, encompassing more than 20,000 16-inch by 16-inch concrete blocks in 6,000-square feet at the edge of the Santa Monica Mountains. Listed by the ...

After media mogul Oprah Winfrey paid an astonishing $52 million in 2001 for an estate that caught her eye, the affluent enclave of Montecito in Santa Barbara County, 90 miles north of Los Angeles, continued to experience skyrocketing home values. Some real estate experts suggest that Oprah's Georgian-style residence, on about 45 acres, might have been a good buy at that sum. The property was appraised in 2008 for $85 million, reflecting an average 18% increase in that neighborhood's home values since 2000, but may have taken a dip with the recent housing market slide. (In 2008, the ...

With the dog days of summer looming, the ArtfixDaily staff has compiled a list of favorite flicks to watch on balmy nights. Our selection was based on the sheer entertainment value of these art-related movies. Documentaries are not heavily represented in favor of light-hearted fare chosen for those in need of some serious seasonal unwinding. One newly released documentary not to miss this summer: Herb and Dorothy, an entertaining portrait of an unlikely pair of collectors, a retired postal worker and retired librarian, who amassed a world-class collection of conceptual art. TOP SIX PICKS: 1. ...

Listen (link below) to Frank Goss of Santa Barbara’s Sullivan Goss Gallery tell of his discovery of a previously unknown Edward Potthast (American, 1857-1927) painting featuring a Spanish Colonial-era California landmark. Potthast is beloved for his impressionist East Coast beach scenes, often depicting children playing on beaches, but California scenes such as this are quite rare for the New York-based artist. The 20 by 24 oil depicting Santa Barbara’s historic mission required a bit of research by the gallery. Historic photographs pointed to ...

(February 12, 2009) In a live Ustream webcast on February 11, faculty and alumni from Brandeis University hosted an emotional town meeting about the future of their Waltham, Massachusetts, institution’s 48-year-old Rose Art Museum. The self-described financially-flailing university started the new year with a Board of Trustees decision to raise funds through the closing of the musuem, an important New England repsository of  post-war artwork. Facing an uncertain future is a collection of about 7,000  modern and contemporary works of art—from Picasso to Warhol---valued ...

(ArtfixDaily.com – Los Angeles) Hearts reigned supreme at the Los Angeles Art Show a near month before Valentine’s Day. The woeful economy kept the mood at this annual art fair sedate. Yet, a little hopefulness prevailed, perhaps spilled over from President Obama’s inauguration the day before. The Opening Gala on January 21, 2009, saw a strong gate and a least a few cheerful “red dots,” including a giant Jim Dine golden-hued heart painting (priced $175,000 at Jonathan Novak). In a move from its previous venue at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar, the show ...