Friday, 4th September 2009
1:02pm
1. Picasso seized in Iraq probably a fake:
Art authorities have called into question the authenticity of the alleged Picasso painting recovered recently by Iraqi police in South Baghdad. The painting (The Naked Woman) was supposedly looted by the Iraq army during the invasion of Kuwait in 1991. However, the presence of ‘Louvre’ stamps on the back of the painting (the museum denies ever having sold a Picasso) leaves its authenticity in doubt.
Artforum article
BBC article
2. Mexican art organisations in trouble:
The art institutions of Mexico...
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5:54pm
With the lights dimmed and the walls dividing each section painted in soft warm hues, the ‘Gardens and Cosmos’ exhibition provides a tranquil, almost spiritual, haven from the bright and bustling British Museum. While the first part of the exhibition depicts the maharaja at leisure in his palace, the show transitions expertly into a visual exploration of the mysteries of the universe.
Each ‘hallway’ is separated from the others by dividers, creating small spaces intimate enough for the visitor to indulge in the pieces. The miniature size of most of the watercolour illustrations requires that the visitor come nose-to-glass in...
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11:04am
1. Eli Broad has confirmed rumours about his new museum, stating that it will be located on one or two sections of the Gateway, near the corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards. He also said that although Beverly Hills is the first choice for the proposed museum, the Beverly Hills site is not finalised and the museum could be constructed in Santa Monica or elsewhere.
- LA Times article
2. A Russian woman, furious about having recently been turned down for French citizenship, hurled a teacup at Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Fortunately for...
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5:07pm
As a former geologist who had a brief flirtation with film, Danish artist Per Kirkeby manages to be avant-garde without overly shocking the world. Energy, scientific curiosity and childlike enthusiasm are manifested through wide-sweeping brushstrokes that struggle to be confined to the canvas borders.
Consisting of 10 rooms, the exhibition's initial rooms are anti-climactic after the elaborate description at the entrance. However, the works are comprehensive, ranging from collages to watercolour sketches, bronze sculptures to large-scale oil paintings.
Kirkeby clearly had a diverse background - geology, Experimental Art School, theatre and film, critical writings, exotic travels - which influenced...
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5:49pm
1. Jeffrey du Vallier d’Aragon Aranita, founder of the Museum of Contemporary Art China in Hong Kong, left the country shortly after the new museum opened last autumn, leaving behind massive debts. Art experts at the time of the museum’s opening were sceptical that Mr. Aranita could obtain funding for even one museum, but MoCA China was opened in October 2008, only to be closed in January 2009. On the pretext of requiring heart surgery and other medical treatment, Mr. Aranita fled to Hawaii, leaving debts of more than HK$2m (£154,196) that he has refused to settle. He has cut...
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Now in its 30th year, the London Park Lane Arms Fair returns with its annual array of fine arms and armoury. Elsewhere in the capital, impressive surveys of Freud, Hirst and mid-century British art can be found.
George Gilbert Scott described the dome as ‘the noblest of all forms’, and it appears as a powerful symbol in secular and religious architecture throughout history. On the island of Malta, however, the craze for dome-building reached astonishing heights.
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