Artifice | art exhibitions, scholarship, trends and news from around the web

My new favorite Super Bowl tradition

2011-02-06T14:42:00.000-08:00

Art bets!

Like last year, the Super Bowl contenders' home town museums have made a friendly wager over the outcome of the game. The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh has bet Renoir's Bathers with Crab that the Steelers will win Sunday. In return, The Milwaukee Art Museum has bet one of their star works, Caillebotte's Boating on the Yerres. As usual, my favorite part is the trash-talking going on between museum directors. I'll throw in my two-cents and say that being a Bears fan, I can't root for the Packers in good conscience, so go Steelers!

You can read more about the bets here.

Google Art Project launch

2011-02-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

Just a quick heads-up: Google launched its brand-new Art Project today. In collaboration with some of the world's premier museums (including the Frick Collection, MoMA and the Uffizi Gallery, among several others), you can take a Google Street View-style walk around parts of each museum, and select from a list of works available to view individually at high-res and with pretty sweet zoom capabilities.

You can check out Google Art Project at www.googleartproject.com

Of course, it's not perfect. Each museum only chose certain galleries to include, so the selection of works included is fairly limited. Also, some of the works seen in the "Street View" of the museum interiors are blurred out due to copyright issues. Hopefully some of these issues can be resolved and the project expanded to include more galleries and more museums, but you can certainly enjoy a digital walk through Versailles while you wait!

Paris Museum of Modern Art Heist

2010-05-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

Caught this story this morning: The Paris Museum of Modern Art was robbed last night by a single intruder, who removed 5 major works from their frames. He appears to have broken in by disabling the security system, cutting through a padlock and then entering through a broken window. The night guards apparently heard and saw nothing, because the man escaped with a million euros worth of stolen art:

-Le pigeon aux petits-pois, a Cubist oil painting by Pablo Picasso.

-La Pastorale, an oil painting by Henri Matisse.

-L'olivier pres de l'Estaque by Georges Braque.

-La femme a l'eventail by Amedeo Modigliani.

-Nature-mort aux chandeliers by Fernand Leger.

Experts say this may be one of the biggest art heists ever, given the combined value of the works and the prominence of the museum, one of the most well-attended art museums in Paris. However, the paintings are, as Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr (director of the Palais de Tokyo) observed, "un-sellable" because they are so high profile.

I'm particularly interested in the fact that the paintings were not cut from their frames, as in many art heists in which the thieves don't really understand the value of the works they're stealing. That the frames were carefully disassembled and the works removed without damage indicates that the heist was carried out by more art-savvy thieves. It will be interesting to see if (and where) these works turn up, though I hope they are returned to their rightful places on the walls of the Paris Museum of Modern Art.

UPDATE: Check out this articl e on The Economist, about the art black market, the problem of art crime, and the possible fates of the stolen works.

Death Becomes You

2010-05-11T11:42:00.001-07:00

I apologize in advance for this slightly morbid post, but there are a couple of fantastic exhibits around New York with slightly morbid subject matter:

First up, the Discovery Times Square Exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs is on view right now. The show features artifacts from the tombs King Tut and several other 18th dynasty pharaohs. It will also feature mobs of tourists and a $27.50 entry fee, so you might want to check out:

Tutankhamun's Funeral, which is on view in the Met's Egyptian galleries until September. This show focuses largely on the objects and artifacts associated with mummification and Egyptian funeral ritual, as well as photographs and other materials from the Museum's excavation of the Valley of the Kings.

If you can't get enough Ancient Egypt, check out the Brooklyn Museum's Mummy Chamber, which includes tomb artifacts, an incredible Book of the Dead manuscript and a few actual mummies.

The Rubin Museum presents Remember that You Will Die: Death Across Cultures until early August. The exhibit showcases art works all revolving around the themes of death and the afterlife, and focuses specifically on the European Christian and Tibetan Buddhist religious traditions. The show explores the iconography of the skeleton, among other topics, and illustrates commonalities and differences between the two faiths as they approach death and dying.

The new show at the Museum of Arts and Design, Dead or Alive, features modern and contemporary art and design fashioned from organic, once-living things. Although many of the pieces are created from flora and fauna, several use decidedly creepier materials like bones and insects. (My personal favorite is Billie Grace Lynn's Mad Cow Motorcycle)

Image: Death and the Knight, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1538 (University of Kansas, Spencer Museum of Art 1994.013)

Medieval Bones

2010-05-07T12:39:00.001-07:00

This isn't art related so much as it's just "cool medieval stuff," but hey, it's Friday!

Workers in Gloucester, England found the skeletons of two people laid side by side in the middle of digging up a road in the city . The County Council's archaeology service has determined that the skeletons, and the remains of a coffin found nearby, are medieval.

Originally thought to be Roman, the presence of the coffin remains indicates that the skeletons are probably medieval, possibly "from the time of St. Kyneburgh," said Paul Nichols of the Gloucester archaeology service. He said: "The site of St. Kyneburgh is recorded as being at the site of the south gate but there are no exact records to say where it is because it was demolished. We're now going to send the bones to a specialist for further investigation."

As an aside, St. Kyneburgh was a 7th century abbess (find out more about her life here) who founded the abbey in the village of Castor, near Peterborough.

Original article from the Gloucestershire County Council can be found here.

International Museum Day

2010-05-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

Museums that are members of The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) have announced that they will collectively take part in International Museum Day this May 18, 2010. In honor of this day, organized annually by the International Council of Museums, many of the institutions will offer free or reduced admission, plus other special programs.

This year's theme for International Museum Day is "Museums for social harmony." You can find a list of participating museums, and a handy outline of which museums are offering what discounts here. The list is pretty extensive, and covers all types of museums large and small, so if you've got some free time on a Tuesday, check it out!

Speaking of Picasso...

2010-04-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

Tatiana Khan, a Los Angeles art dealer, has plead guilty to federal charges alleging that she commissioned a fake Picasso and then sold it as an original.

Khan apparently paid an art restorer $1,000 to copy Picasso's 1902 pastel, Woman in the Blue Hat, then sold the piece for nearly 2 million dollars, claiming that it was an original. She will appear in federal court on felony charges of lying to the FBI and witness tampering. The maximum sentence for her crimes is 25 years in prison, though her plea agreement recommends only 21 months.

I wonder if the art restorer knew that she planned to sell the copy? What reputable art restorers take on copy work for their clients? Definitely an interesting case of art crime and intrigue.

A Profusion of Picasso

2010-04-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

If you like Picasso and live in New York, you are very lucky. Everyone seems to be putting on a Picasso show lately, the Met and MoMA dipping into their permanent collections to do so.

Currently on are two shows devoted exclusively to Picasso's prints. The Marlborough Gallery is showing Celebrating the Muse: Women in Picasso’s Prints From 1905-1968, featuring a parade of Picasso's wives and mistresses. The exhibition runs until May 1st at the gallery's location on 57th St. here in New York.

The Museum of Modern Art presents Picasso: Themes and Variations, an exhibit featuring works from the museum's permanent prints collection. The MoMA show has a wider scope, and presents prints dealing with many of Picasso's most famous themes. Check out the New York Times review of these shows here.

Later this month, the Met gets in on the Picasso action when it opens Picasso in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which presents everything by Picasso in the museums permanent collection, including everything from paintings to ceramics. This exhibition marks the first time all of these objects have been seen together; the Met's large number of Picasso holdings helps to illustrate his prolific artistic career while also providing an expansive look at his thematic interests, evolving techniques, and what the Met calls his "multi-sided genius."

Putting up Picasso shows seems like a no-brainer, especially for these museums that have access to huge numbers of Picasso works in their permanent collection. A marquee name and relatively straightforward content now at the beginning of summer (and the tourist season in New York) should make for extremely well-attended shows. Get your Picasso fix while you can!

Update: Holland Cotter of the New York Times calls the Met's Picasso collection "stodgy and almost bizarrely lopsided," mostly due to the Met's reluctance to acquire new art. Check out his review here.

Fine Art meets....Football?

2010-01-29T12:40:00.000-08:00

Seems as if friendly Superbowl wagers have moved beyond friends, family and co-workers and created a rivalry between city museums as well!

The New Orleans Museum of Art and the Indianapolis Museum of Art have each wagered a piece from their permanent collection--albeit temporarily. If the New Orleans Saints win, Indianapolis has agreed to send The Fifth Plague of Egypt, a landscape by J.M.W. Turner, for three months.

If the Indianapolis Colts crush the Saints (I have to stand by my fellow Midwesterners!), the NOMA will send Ideal View of Tivoli by Claude Lorrain.

The choice of the work to be wagered was the subject of some friendly trash-talking between the two museums' directors. It seems that when John Bullard, the director of NOMA offered a portrait by Auguste Renoir, IMA director Max Anderson called it "sentimental blancmange" by a "China painter," referring to Renoir's job painting fine china. Bullard retorted that NOMA didn't have any "farm scenes or portraits of football players" to send to the IMA.

At least if the Colts lose, the IMA still gets to send a "plague," of sorts, to New Orleans.

Art Accidents

2010-01-27T06:23:00.001-08:00

I'm sure everyone has heard about this already, but someone fell into a Picasso at the Met last week. This incident seems to have captured everyone's attention, though we can rest assured that the Met's conservation department will be able to fix the 6-inch tear without a problem. It's even expected to be back up in time for the Picasso show (one of many, many Picasso shows opening this year).

The Times posted a related article this morning that details other horrifying and cringe-worthy art-related accidents. I'm especially interested in the MoMA spokeswoman's comments that "incidents happen" but that there are "no incidents we can discuss in the press." Cryptic.

New Exhibition: Demons and Devotion

2010-01-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you all have your calendars marked already for the opening on Friday, January 22nd of Demons and Devotion: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves at the Morgan Library. This Dutch masterpiece, circa 1440, and its iconic Hell-mouth (which I've been seeing a lot lately) miniature is long overdue for an exhibition.

The Morgan's show will display the pages, which were cut out of the original manuscript in the 1850s, glued back together and sold as two separate books to two separate collectors, unbound. At the end of the exhibition in May, the Morgan's conservation staff will decide how to rebind the pages in a looser fashion for preservation and storage. The show will display 93 of the 157 illuminations, though a facsimile version will be available to view as well. (You can get your own, for the low low price of $15,000.) You can check out a digital facsimile for free on the Morgan's website, here.

The show will also include a selection of 18 additional manuscripts from Flanders, all contemporary to the Catherine of Cleves Hours. For a peek at some of the stylistic points the exhibition will cover, click here.

As usual, the Morgan has a series of lectures and gallery talks associated with the exhibit, all of which look extremely interesting. I'm hoping to catch "The Hours of Catherine of Cleves: What Makes a Dutch Masterpiece," a lecture by Dr. James Marrow on February 24th. A complete calendar of lectures and gallery talks can be found here .

So you think you can write a thesis?

2010-01-14T08:10:00.001-08:00

Having just finished my own master's thesis, I'd like to share some of my tips for having a smooth and successful graduate thesis-writing experience. The word "thesis" strikes fear and apprehension into the hearts of even the most confident graduate students. The prospect of such a long and important research paper is daunting, but should be approached as you would any research paper. Take the process one step at a time, leave yourself plenty of time to complete the work, and don't stress yourself out!

Artifice's Thesis-Writing Tips:

1. Pick a topic. One way to go about this is to use a research paper you've already written for another class as a jump-off point. Otherwise, it's OK to start with a broad topic. Don't be afraid to work on something that you really want to, even if you haven't done any previous research. The more interesting you find your topic to begin with, the less of a chore your thesis will be several months into it. As you begin to read and research, you will get ideas for how you might be able to specify the topic, where the material is lacking, and how you might be able to approach the topic differently.

2. Start researching early. Even if you don't end up using the material in the final copy, it never hurts to have a background in related material. That way you can be extra-confident about making your point. Getting an early start also helps you to pace yourself and really learn about whatever it is you're researching.

3. Use the resources available to you wisely. Your university or college's library has a treasure trove of online research options you probably didn't know even existed. Take advantage of any research workshops your librarian might offer, chances are that even if you think you're an internet-search pro, you'll discover something you never even thought to look for. Ditto for any public libraries. Don't be afraid to ask the librarians for help, most of them are happy to point you in the right direction or give you an idea for a different research direction.

4. Read footnotes and bibliography religiously. Any book you pick up that has anything remotely related to your topic will also have an extensive bibliography that will help broaden or specify your search. Some of the best and most interesting nuggets are buried in footnotes (I actually discovered the manuscript that ended up being my thesis topic at the end of a half-page footnote!).

Don't ignore these effortless research opportunities, there's a whole list of interesting books just waiting for you to look at! This also helps you to build a comprehensive idea of "previous scholarship" on your topic, which will be a central portion of your thesis.

5. Get citation software. Get it, use it, love it. I use EndNote, and I've heard that RefWorks is also a great option. These were both available as free downloads from my college's library website, so make sure to see if your school has a similar offer before spending the dough. As you're researching, enter every book/article/website you look at, no exceptions. Not only will you build an impressive library of citations, but your library is then searchable by author, title, keyword, etc.

EndNote has a cite-while-you-write feature that makes moving the data into a word document really easy, and has a multitude of formatting options based on your citation preferences.

6. Cite early, cite often. My trick for taking notes is to put page numbers down right then and there. I've never had to go searching for a citation 4 months after the fact, and having page numbers available without the book handy (common for closed-stack libraries) made citations much easier.

When you start writing, start citing (just a little rhyming thesis-writing maxim). Even if you over-cite or end up cutting out or moving things around, if the citation is already there, cleaning them up is a breeze.

7. Start writing. Everyone works in a different order, but in a thesis-situation, an all-nighter, a pot of coffee, and frantic last-minute research won't cut it. I found that beginning to write as soon as I had an idea of what I wanted to say made the overall task much less daunting.

I first created a long outline of what I wanted to cover, and a rough idea of how I wanted to break up the information. Then I just started writing. From there, the more I wrote, the more the information sort of divided itself and logical breaks for chapters/sections were revealed. Don't worry about length, specific organization, or perfectly polished grammar to begin with, you will edit (over and over and over again) for these types of issues.

8. Communicate with your adviser. You should have a clear idea of what your adviser expects of you over the course of the thesis. Do they want to see your draft in pieces, or all at once? Will you set specific dates for when certain chapters should be finished? These are some issues that should be worked out with your adviser in the early stages of thesis-writing, so that both of you know exactly what to expect along the way.

9. Edit. edit. edit. Once you have a draft that you're happy with, it helps to enlist the help of your fellow grad students for editing. Not only will you get feedback from them regarding clarity and flow, but the more new sets of eyes as you can get on your grammar and sentence structure (we all have weird little writing quirks that we can't pick out and fix for ourselves!), the better.

I'd also recommend your college or university's writing center. Normally staffed by extremely helpful English grad students, even if you're convinced you're the greatest and most compelling writer to ever write a thesis, they can help you polish and clarify.

10. Be prepared for and open to criticism. Take your adviser's and editors' comments and suggestions seriously. Be prepared to go back to the library and re-research some areas of your thesis, or do some new research to supplement and clarify your main points.

If someone says they don't understand something you wrote, don't take it personally, it may just need to be reworded. No first draft (or even second, third or fourth) is perfect! Outside criticism and editing is what will make your thesis the best it can be in the end.

11. Don't forget the little things. Pay attention to instructions from your department or adviser regarding formatting, any images, type of paper, number of copies to be submitted, etc. It sounds mundane and obvious, but making sure that these little details are correct will eliminate possible headaches and make the process of submitting your final copy much smoother.

12. Be informed and submit confidently. Be aware of official deadlines and any final paperwork that should accompany the thesis. This might include an official approval form signed by your adviser or the department, a binding fee, or anything else your department requests. Make sure that you understand these requirements and have them prepared in advance.

Congratulations, you've just written a thesis!

The Lost World of Old Europe

2010-01-14T07:09:00.000-08:00

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, a relatively new department at New York University, has a really fascinating exhibition up at the moment of artifacts recovered from the Danube Valley. This "Old Europe" civilization of about 4,000 BC flourished before Egyptians even figured out what a pyramid was, but hasn't been given nearly any scholarly attention so far. This was actually the first time I'd ever even heard of such a civilization.

I haven't been to see the exhibition yet, but the ISAW has a brilliant online exhibition page that serves as a great introduction. It begins with some "burning questions" about the role of women and the practice of destroying their own homes while also introducing a few of the artifacts. There's also a preview of the exhibition catalog, as well as an object checklist that lists everything in the show. I'm particularly interested in the female clay figurines and the animal statuettes. More thoughts to come once I get in to see the show. If you've already been, what did you think?

The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley 5000-3500 BC runs through April 25th. Details and opening hours can be found here.

The new Sutton-Hoo?

2009-09-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

Cool early medieval news: An amateur treasure-hunter with a metal detector found a cache of Anglo-Saxon objects in England about two months ago. Consisting of about 1,500 objects from the 7th century, the hoard is being billed as the largest such treasure to ever be discovered. I'm most interested in the Christian objects, and it will be interesting to see what scholarship comes out of this (also, I can't believe anyone still uses the phrase "the Dark Ages" seriously).

Depressing art news: A Renee Magritte painting, Olympia, was recently stolen from a museum in Brussels.

A hilariously cliche-laden write-up about a discovery in a 17th century canvas by Poussin.

A telling interview with Thomas Campbell about his leadership style and what it means for the Met's exhibition schedule.

Met tidbits

2009-09-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

This made the front page of the NYT online edition this morning: The Metropolitan Museum's "Portrait of a Man" that had been displayed as by the workshop of Velazquez has been reattributed to the master himself, after a recent conservation.

Keith Christiansen, chairman of European paintings and the country's leading Velazquez scholar, Jonathan Brown, are in agreement about the attribution, which basically comes down to a few individual brushstrokes on the man's collar (art history at it's finest!). Debate continues over whether or not this work may be a self-portrait.

In other Met news, the museum announced that it will show fewer exhibitions of major loans, and will instead focus on changing the presentation of the permanent collection, which I think is what we're seeing now with these small, single-painting shows. I've got my money on a "Portrait of a Man" show in the upcoming months!

Art Links

2009-09-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hello dear readers, I apologize for my long blogging hiatus. I was in Paris researching some manuscripts for my thesis, started a new job, and time got away from me!

Here are a few art links and updates to hold you over for the upcoming holiday weekend:

-In today's Times, an update/analysis on how galleries are faring in the continuing bad economic situation. 57th St. galleries seem to be relocating to Chelsea, where some two dozen have vacated their spaces.

-The much buzzed-about show at the Met which is centered around Vermeer's Milkmaid opens next week, on September 10th. It will also feature the Met's complete collection of (5) Vermeers, along with a selection of Dutch works (which reminds me a lot of the show they put up a few years ago which featured the entire collection of Dutch paintings). I'm interested in the Met's strategy here. Considering the Michelangelo's first painting exhibition, the Vermeer show, and the upcoming show which features a single sculpture (attributed to Michelangelo), the Met seems to be trafficking in small-scale (but big publicity) Frick Collection-style shows. Low cost and high traffic, an interesting move for the Met. MoMA is doing something similar with their exhibition on Monet's waterlilies (which I'm sure will be so packed, it will hardly be the oasis MoMA claims it will be).

-For all of you medieval art dorks who've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the newly unbound Belles Heures of Jean de France at the Met, the show which was originally scheduled to open later this month has been pushed back to March. (Also opening in March is an interesting show on medieval tomb sculpture from Burgundy.)

-The Walters Art Museum has a neat-looking show on miniature books, which pulls from their permanent collection.

how do we "look" at art today?

2009-08-03T07:09:00.000-07:00

I just had to blog this article when I saw it this morning in the Times. Mainly because I spend a lot of time in museums, and one of my favorite things to do is watch other people look at art. Since the completion of the new Greek and Roman galleries at the Met, one of my favorite spots is the marble courtyard arranged around a fountain with a spectacular arrangement of Greek sculpture. Reactions range from shock regarding the statues' state of general undress to some people who took a picture of each other in front of literally every piece in the room.

I've often been struck by the urge to "collect" pictures of pictures. As if taking a picture of the Mona Lisa or Starry Night means that you earn some amount of invisible art points for having been to the museum it resides in, pushed your way to the front of the crowd, and snapped a badly-lit, off-center digital photograph of it.

What do you think? How do you look at art?

Art Links

2009-07-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

-First, the Louvre is launching an English version of their online database, Atlas, today. I think I'm probably going to spend the rest of the day just browsing the high-res images.

-The Courtauld Institute in London is considering some major cost-cutting strategies that will affect 3 of their image archives, almost cutting off access to them completely and ceasing to collect new items.

-The Hague's Gemeentemuseum is commencing their restoration plans for their collection of Mondrian paintings.

I just found my next degree program

2009-07-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

There's an article in the Times today about an association called the Association for Research into Crimes against Art that offers an MA in Art Crime. Is this the coolest thing ever? Yes.

The 9-month long program covers all aspects of art crime, from forgery to art theft, and is geared toward post-graduate students from all fields--lawyers, security professionals, students of art history, criminology, and conservation. All this, and the schooling takes place in Amelia, Italy, in Umbria, as if it could get any better.

Check out the ARCA's website for more information. Who's in?

Contemporary art meets reality TV

2009-07-21T06:55:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if this is going to be great, or if Bravo's finally taken reality competition shows to the limit: Bravo is producing a new TV show that's basically the Project Runway of the contemporary art world. 13 finalists from all over the country will compete for a gallery show, a cash prize, and a national museum tour.

However, it is unclear exactly what format the show will take as far as challenges go. Will Bravo use a similar "quick-fire" challenge like on Top Chef? As Kennedy brilliantly asks: "Best postironic conceptual gambit in under a minute?" How will the show be received by "art world people"? So far, Simon de Pury of Phillips de Pury auction house has been revealed as a judge, and I'm really curious as to who else they're going to get. Will top galleries be represented? So many questions!

What do you guys think about the new art reality show?

Christie's Embraces the iPhone

2009-07-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

Christie's, ever at the forefront of online-auction technology, has developed an iPhone app that allows users to browse catalogs, zoom in for close-image analysis, and check sales results. You can also get directions to Christie's salerooms and decorate your iPhone with downloadable wallpapers.

For the truly serious Christie's enthusiast who's in it for much more than just a couple of Impressionist wallpapers, iPhone users can also use their camera function to submit items for appraisal, and eventually the app may have a live bidding function as well.

Users can already live-bid through the internet on Christie's Live, which offers real time video of the saleroom (which is fun just to watch sometimes, especially at big evening sales, more exciting than a courtroom drama!).

Check out Christie's On the Go page for an assortment of widgets, podcasts, an iGoogle auction calendar, and of course, the new iPhone app.

2009-07-10T07:32:00.000-07:00

In a total art-world turnaround, the Old Master paintings summer sales at both Christie's and Sotheby's did far better than expected, even beating out the dismal totals from the recent impressionist, modern, and contemporary sales.

Big-ticket items included a Willem Heda still life that went for 1.38 million pounds, a newly attributed Frans Hals, and Fra Bartolommeo's Madonna and Child. Could these auction results be evidence of a shift in popularity in favor of Old Master works and away from the modern and contemporary that's dominated the art scene of late? Given the current economic climate, collectors are increasingly careful with their purchases, and Old Masters tend to be a better, more solid investment than whatever is currently hot in the contemporary market.

Interestingly though, as Souren Melikian recently observed regarding the modern art sales, there seems to be a lack of quality art to go around at auctions lately, leading major houses to pad their catalogs. This last round of Old Masters included 19th century works and drawings. Apparently the rush to buy up the last of the "good art" is on.

(And for a little fun, check out these incredible modern "Old Masters")

St. Paul's Cathedral to Get Video Altarpieces

2009-07-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

St. Paul's Cathedral, built in the late 17th and early 18th centuries in London, is getting some very unique new altarpieces.

Multi-screen video installations by contemporary artist Bill Viola will be installed in the cathedral in 2011, and are expected to be a huge tourist draw, especially given that the Tate Modern is just across the river. The treasurer of the cathedral, Canon Warner, hopes that in the future St. Paul's will be able to host other contemporary art installations as well.

I'm interested in the progressive attitude and willingness to include new art in old places, but this feels more like a publicity stunt primarily to raise funds for the cathedral instead of an artistic statement. What do you think?

Oldest Christian Bible to be made available online

2009-07-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

In what is probably the coolest Bible-related news in recent memory, the remaining 800 pages of the 1600-year old Codex Sinaiticus will be put online:

LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - The surviving parts of the world's oldest Christian bible will be reunited online on Monday, generating excitement among biblical scholars still striving to unlock its mysteries.

The Codex Sinaiticus was hand written by four scribes in Greek on animal hide, known as vellum, in the mid-fourth century around the time of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great who embraced Christianity.

Not all of it has withstood the ravages of time, but the pages that have include the whole of the New Testament and the earliest surviving copy of the Gospels written at different times after Christ's death by four of the Apostles: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The bible's remaining 800 pages and fragments -- it was originally some 1400 pages long -- also contain half of a copy of the Old Testament. The other half has been lost.

"The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's greatest written treasures," said Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library.

"This 1600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the bible was transmitted from generation to generation," he said.

The texts include numerous revisions, additions and corrections made during its evolution down through the ages.

"The Codex ...is arguably the oldest large bound book to have survived," said McKendrick, pointing out that each page is 16 inches tall by 14 inches wide.

"Critically, it marks the definite triumph of bound codices over (papyrus) scrolls - a key watershed in how the Christian bible was regarded as a sacred text," he said.

FOUR-YEAR PROJECT

The ancient parchments, which appear almost translucent, are a collection of sections held by the British Library in London, the Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, Egypt, the National Library of Russia and Leipzig University Library in Germany.

Each institution owns different amounts of the manuscript, but the British Library, which digitised the delicate pages of the entire book in London, holds by far the most.

The four-year joint project, which began in 2005 with the aim of "virtually reunifying" and preserving the bible, as well as undertaking new research into its history, has shed new light on who made it and how it was produced.

Importantly, experts at the British Library say, the project has uncovered evidence that a fourth scribe - along with the three already recognised -- worked on the texts.

The assembly and transcription of the book includes previously unpublished pages of the Codex found in a blocked-off room at St. Catherine's Monastery, at the foot of Mount Moses, Sinai, in 1975, some of which are in a poor condition and have been difficult to study.

But there are still many unanswered questions about how the book came to be, said the British Library's Juan Garces, project manager of Greek manuscripts, who worked on the digitisation. For instance, where was it made? which religious order commissioned it? And how long did it take to produce?

"The limits on access to this manuscript previously have meant that people (academics) have tended to dip, so that they have seized on particular things" to advance theories, McKendrick told Reuters in an interview.

He said the website will enable research to be carried out in a holistic way for the first time, forcing top scholars to view their theories in context.

A good example, he said, was evidence advanced by some academics pointing to the theory that it could have been made in the ancient city of Cesarea in Israel.

"It is our hope this will provide the catalyst for new research and it is already creating great interest," Garces told Reuters.

The bible, which can be viewed online free from Monday, includes modern Greek translations and some sections translated into English.

The British Library is expecting massive interest from believers around the world as well as the academic community.

"When 25 percent of the images were made available online last July we had 3.5 million hits in the first day (a record), and it crashed the site," a spokesman said.

Breaking 4th Century Art News

2009-06-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

Archaeologists from the Vatican believe they have found the earliest-known portrait of St. Paul in the catacombs of St. Thecla, near St. Paul fuori-le-mura in Rome.

The portrait was discovered about two weeks ago, but has already been cleaned and restored (by lasers, no less) for its release to the public.

In related news, the Pope says that remains discovered in an eight-foot sarcophagus underneath St. Paul fuori-le-mura "seem to be" (or in Pope-speak, "definitely are") St. Paul's mortal relics., as popular Christian tradition holds. Carbon dating confirms that the bones date from the 2nd or 3rd century.

Art Links

2009-06-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

-A new show of paintings by modernist Belgian artist James Ensor in the creatively titled James Ensor at MoMA.

-A show of objects from the National Museum in Kabul, Afghanistan at the Met, which was previously at the National Gallery in Washington. Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures From the National Museum, Kabul is on through September.

-Sotheby's has done pretty well in the last few days, with solid modern and contemporary sales, with Picasso and Giacometti selling well at the modern sale and contemporary standbys Warhol and Calder selling well yesterday, though American art is not doing well at either house.

-LACMA, in a somewhat surprising but still totally predictable move, sold off their old master paintings at Sotheby's. I guess they didn't get the memo about older art being a consistently good investment.

-The new Acropolis Museum in Athens is awesome, which has sparked debate over who really owns the Elgin marbles, currently housed at the British Museum in London.

And now for some bad news

2009-06-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

The art world is still suffering, bad news this week includes:

-A disappointing Impressionist and modern art sale at Christie's London, which just barely cleared the $60 million low estimate. As Souren Melikian says: The hard lesson for auction houses is that scraping the barrel to fill a catalog no longer does the trick. To do well, you need real art and there is not much left of it.

-Contemporary art galleries in Chelsea (and pretty much all galleries in New York) are in trouble this summer, and there have already been several notable closings. The notoriously slow summer season combined with a huge recession in art buying make it survival of the fittest (and best-marketed).

-More and more exhibitions are being cut from museum schedules due to financial concerns, and in most cases, a lack of funding.

-The Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum announced last week that both major institutions will cut more staff. The Guggenheim will cut 25 positions, or about 8% of their full time staff, while the Met laid off 74 employees and offered 95 other employees retirement packages.

But let's end on a good note!

-Most of the documents, many dating back to the Middle Ages, have been recovered from the rubble of the Cologne Archives, which collapsed back in March. The catch is that everything has to be sorted and re-cataloged, and 15% of the materials are still missing.

-Art Basel did surprisingly well, partially due to lowered prices and partially owing to the fact that most rich art collectors are still rich.

Art Theft: Picasso Notebook

2009-06-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Recent Art Theft: Picasso Notebook stolen from the Picasso Museum in Paris 2 weeks ago

From the Art Loss Register:
A notebook of sketches by Pablo Picasso was stolen from the Picasso Museum in Paris between June 8-9, 2009. The notebook was taken from a locked case within the museum, and consists of 33 drawings in pencil that were made between 1917 and 1924. The notebook is valued at several million Euros.

Experts fear that the notebook may be broken up by the thieves in an attempt to maximize the value. However, the real value of the notebook is the historical documentation it preserves for scholars of the artist's work. Since the individual sketches are unsigned, there would be little market value if the notebook were divided.

The notebook is approximately 6 by 10 inches and has a distinctive shiny red cover, with the word "album" printed in gold on the cover.

The Art Loss Register also notes that Picasso is its number one most stolen artist. For more information, visit their website.

New Exhibition: It’s About Time: 244 Years at the Morris-Jumel Mansion

2009-06-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, when you think about New York, you forget the long and tumultuous history the city has. The history of a city is usually evident in its buildings, though buildings get torn down and built back up again in New York so often that a lot of that history gets erased. Not so at the Morris-Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights.

The 244-year old house was George Washington's headquarters during the doomed defense of New York in 1776 at the beginning of the Revolutionary War (I just learned all this from the excellent tome Gotham: A History of New York to 1898). The mansion now functions as a museum with fully restored interior and antique furnishings, and is part of The Historic House Trust of New York City.

The new show at the mansion, It's About Time: 244 Years at the Morris-Jumel Mansion, curated by education director Carol Ward, juxtaposes historical photographs from the house's history with work by modern photographers. The show provides a unique peek into New York's living, but often forgotten, past. Check out the write-up and excellent slide show in Times' CityRoom blog today.

For more information on The Historic House Trust, other historic houses in and around New York City, and the ongoing efforts to preserve and protect them, go here.

Art Meets Technology: Peter Greenaway

2009-06-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

I'm always interested to see how technology interacts with traditional art, so when the Times reported on Peter Greenaway's exhibit at the Venice Biennale, which is a digitized film-esque version of Veronese's masterpiece, The Wedding at Cana, I was interested.

The traditionalist in me usually is opposed to contemporary artists reusing the work of the masters and billing it as their own, but Greenaway takes a more thoughtful approach (did anyone see the Cezanne wrapped in bubblewrap at the Philadephia show? Now that really boils my blood). First, the piece is being exhibited in the Benedictine refectory on San Giorgio Maggiore, where Veronese's original hung previously. I appreciate the sensitivity to a measure of historical accuracy.

The Wedding at Cana digital project is also one of a series, the 3rd of 9 entitled simply Nine Classical Paintings Revisited. I appreciate the lack of pretention that so often accompanies reused classical art. (Previous work includes digitizations of Rembrandt's The Night Watch and Da Vinci's The Last Supper.)

Greenaway plans to work his digital magic on another Renaissance piece, Michelangelo's The Last Judgment as well as on Picasso's Guernica, a Pollock, some Monet and a Seurat. It makes me wonder if art historians will react differently when Renaissance art is repurposed versus when Impressionist or abstract art is reused. What about the "old masters" makes them untouchable in the minds of art historians?

Greenaway's digitization project is unique to me in that it doesn't disrupt the spirit or impact of the original, but rather enhances it in many ways. It's a way of using technology that doesn't interrupt the original, but manipulates it slightly in a way that is still true to the color and visual dynamism of the original but dazzles all the same.

If you need a hit of more traditional Veronese, check out the exhibiton website for the Rivals in Renaissance Venice show at the MFA in Boston (I'm dying to see it!)

New Feature: Museum Shop Madness

2009-06-19T08:25:00.001-07:00

As long as I can remember going to museums, I've loved the gift shops. Lately I've noticed museum gift shops stepping things up a bit and instead of being the random assortment of art-related key-chains, posters, and coasters at the end of a blockbuster exhibition (though of course, all those things are still available...who needs a coaster set of Monets?), they've become well, shops in their own right.

In this new feature, I'm just going to post things at online museum shops that happen to catch my eye, the wonderful, the weird, the colorful, and occasionally the useful. Enjoy!

First up, this fantastic Dual-Spout Chinese Porcelain-inspired teapot from the Met:

According to the item description: "Our teapot is based on an original made in China in the late 17th century containing two chambers, one for brewing tea and one for hot water; an ingenious and elegant form allowing a harmonious couple to enjoy different strengths of tea simultaneously." Cool. Buy it here.

Next, in the "slightly weird and creative" category, a book entitled When Pigasso Met Mootisse from the Morgan Library's store:

I think this is self-explanatory. Pick it up for the child in your life (or yourself, because you know you want it) here.

This next item, a carved wood necklace from the Art Institute of Chicago's store, is a piece of jewelry I'd actually wear, and very on-trend with this season's statement necklaces. As a bonus, it doesn't look too "museum-y" the way a lot of museum shop jewelry tends to:

Just think how amazing it would look with a plain t-shirt and a snappy blazer. It's even on sale for web orders only.

For the creative interior designer, MoMA's design shop always has a selection of weirdly beautiful things you never knew you even wanted, like this vaguely mushroom-cloud shaped Nesso Table Lamp:

Based on the lamp in MoMA's collection by Giancarlo Mattioli, if you ever wanted a lamp made from injection molded ABS thermoplastic, this is the lamp you've been looking for, if you've got an extra $375 ($337.50 for MoMA members) on hand.

Finally, if you really want to break the bank on a unique look for your living room, try the Gehry Easy Chair from the Philadelphia Museum of Art's store:

For a mere $730, you could own this. Or complete your living room set with matching molded sofa, bench, left, right and 3-sided twist cubes, an easy chair and a coffee table. Gehry-riffic!

So what do you think? Would you buy any of this stuff? What are your favorite museum gift shops?

Medieval Friday

2009-06-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

Medieval Fridays are the best kind of Fridays, right?

-The NYT review of Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages makes me want to go back and see it again.

-The must-see exhibit at the Morgan Library, Pages of Gold, consists entirely of "orphan" leaves--pages removed from their original manuscripts. The show looks at the market for and the individuals who collected such single leaves and (delightfully) ends with a few forgeries. The show covers not only medieval issues of illumination, but a glimpse of the unique medieval art market as well.

-St. Anthony Tormented by Demons, the so-called "first painting" of Michelangelo is now on display at the Met. The small exhibit is made up of the actual painting accompanied by the evidence for its authenticity. An interesting exercise in art historical analysis--now in exhibition form!

-Meanwhile, the Walters Art Museum has a show called Prayers in Code, which presents a selection of unusual Books of Hours and explores artistic patronage at the court of King Francis I (1494-1547). The exhibit centers around the unexpected relationship between images and text in Books of Hours at this time.

New Exhibition: Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages

2009-06-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I went to the Met to check out the new medieval show, Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages, and also caught a lecture on the topic of drawing the Middle Ages by Dr. Jonathan Alexander of the Institute of Fine Arts.

This show is one of the first of its kind to treat drawing as a separate and distinct art form in the Middle Ages. Installed in the special exhibition space in the drawings and prints department, the show features over 50 examples of medieval drawings, from line drawings done for early 9th and 10th century manuscripts similar to the Utrecht Psalter, to late 14th century pattern books, maps, and cosmological charts. Dr. Alexander spoke about the common conception of drawing as something of a lesser medium than painting, more preparatory than final, and what this show does to dispel that popular opinion.

One thing I found intriguing while looking at the various examples was the play between line and color, and the interaction of the two in extremely interesting ways. In several examples, line drawings are executed in various colored lines, creating masterful scenes evocative of fully colored manuscript miniatures, but with a special and different aesthetic. In some cases color is used to highlight only a few objects in a miniature, like the warriors shields in the example from the early 10th century Book of Maccabees from St. Gall (pictured above). In many cases, color and line work together to create extremely sophisticated compositions.

Other interesting objects include early maps, medical treatises, teaching scrolls, constellation charts and cosmological texts, genealogical charts, and of course the familiar psalters and Books of Hours (the lovely Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux are also included). Many of the books' pages will be turned periodically at the beginning of each month until the show closes in August, offering an ever-changing variety of images.

Overall the show offers a glimpse into a little-studied field, and presents objects from some of the most famous libraries (including the Vatican Library) around the world. Many of these texts will probably not be seen again soon in any exhibition, so I suggest you get to the Met and see them before they get locked away again, only to be seen by the most intrepid (and persistent) scholars of the book arts.

Quick note: The Met is doing a new thing where each exhibition has its own blog, where visitors can participate in the discussion. Check out the blog for the Pen and Parchment show here, where you can find information on the show, medieval drawing techniques, and read commentary from the show's curators.

Tim Burton at MoMA

2009-06-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

In what is possibly the coolest retrospective ever planned, Tim Burton will be featured at MoMA beginning November 22nd, later this year.

The show will feature, among other things, drawings, costumes, and puppets, mostly from his various film projects. It will also include "artifacts" from Burton's college film projects, early career, and unrealized projects. Best of all, the exhibition will be accompanied by a film series.

For other happenings at MoMA, check out this weirdly difficult to understand exhibition calendar.

The Ara Pacis Museum in Rome Vandalized

2009-06-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

Vandals defaced the outside of the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome with paint-filled balloons of red and green, creating an Italian flag of sorts on the white wall. The vandals also left a porcelain toilet and a few rolls of toilet paper next to the building, in a brilliantly simple comment on the building's design.

Designed by Richard Meier, and opened in Rome in 2006, the Ara Pacis Museum was built to house the Ara Pacis, or "Altar of Peace" commissioned by Emperor Augustus in 13 BC. The massive stone structure was rapidly deteriorating from exposure to the elements, and the new complex was built to protect it, though it's contemporary design has been the subject of much criticism.

I was just at the Ara Pacis Museum last week, and while it is a nice museum, sun-filled, with seating, serves its designated purpose of protecting the Ara Pacis (and is a fantastic air-conditioned respite from the sweltering Roman sun), it's totally out of sync with Rome as a city, and classical Roman architecture. It feels completely out of place, and doesn't really complement the Ara Pacis so much as it simply seems to rise out of the ground around it.

Any thoughts about the recent vandalism, or about the Ara Pacis Museum in general?

Met News

2009-05-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

-The Met has secured a loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam of Vermeer's Milkmaid for their fall show of Dutch art that will feature all 5 of the Vermeers from the Met's permanent collection, as well as other 17th century Dutch works.

-A very unique show on medieval drawings entitled Pen and Parchment: Drawing in the Middle Ages opens next week, June 2nd. I've been looking forward to this for months, so stay tuned for a review.

-Things to see now include the opening of the new American wing period rooms, and Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion at the Costume Institute if you just can't get enough of Kate Moss.

Angels and Demons and the End of Good Taste

2009-05-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

Everyone has to go over to my friend Jenn's blog Per Omnia Saecula to read her brilliant review/synopsis of Angels and Demons, which we saw together over the weekend. It is even funnier than the movie, which would be difficult, considering it's probably the best comedy of 2009.

Angels and Demons comes as the follow-up to The DaVinci Code, which taught us that most, if not all, Renaissance art contains some sort of symbolic code, and is more likely than not, connected to a shadowy secret society. If you just can't get enough, Dan Brown's next book The Lost Symbol (which already has a tentative movie release date of 2012) is available for pre-order on Amazon. According to his editor, Dan Brown's new book is "full of surprises." A different secret society? A new sultry, foreign, but ridiculously intelligent love interest? Which well-known Renaissance artist has Brown invented a shadowy past for this time?

Feel free to weigh in on Angels and Demons here!

Another Art History Mystery

2009-05-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, has just acquired a painting believed to be by a young Michelangelo.

The Torment of St. Anthony, an easel painting, was recently studied in-depth by Keith Christiansen of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He believes that the work is definitively by Michelangelo, and dates to 1487-88, making Michelangelo only 12 or 13 when he completed it.

The NYTimes article presents an interesting mix of opinions from experts who've seen the work from museums and auction houses around the world.

In other news:

-There was another less-than-spectacular Sotheby's sale last night, bringing in only $47 million in total.

-The Eiffel Tower turns 120 years old tomorrow.

Art Links

2009-05-08T13:26:00.000-07:00

Some art on this beautiful Friday, shall we?

-A review of the new shows up at the Whitney using parts of the permanent collection: Claes Oldenburg: Early Sculpture, Drawings, and Happenings Films and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen: The Music Room, both of which are up all summer.

-A really fantastic project to digitize ancient manuscripts. I'm such a huge fan of manuscript digitization, and this is the wave of the future, though maybe nothing can compare to seeing a several-hundred year old manuscript in person.

-Christie's has won this battle, but who will win the war? (Did anyone else love that Giacometti cat sculpture at Sotheby's as much as I do? I'm sad it didn't sell.)

-Also, Dolly Parton just got her Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. Honorary degrees are the way to do it, I'm thinking.

I'm headed to Philadelphia to see the Cezanne and Beyond show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I'll be back on Monday with some pictures and my official review!

The Lure of Van Gogh's Severed Ear

2009-05-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today in breaking art history news, two German historians who've spent a lot of time reviewing the police reports, say that the infamous story of Van Gogh severing his own ear after a fight with fellow artist Paul Gauguin is in fact, false.

The actual culprit? Gauguin himself. (GASP.)

The two historians, Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans, have published their theory in a book Van Gogh's Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence, basing their conclusion on "inconsistencies" in the evidence--Gauguin's personal accounts, Van Gogh's letters, and police reports.

Curators at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam are sticking to the original self-mutilation story, but I'm interested in why this debate has such a following in the first place. Does it really matter who cut off Van Gogh's ear and why? The myth of the artist as a slightly-mad creative genius still has currency in today's concepts of what makes great art so great. Why does "brilliant" so often go hand-in-hand with "troubl ed"?

What do you think? Would Van Gogh still be the post-Impressionist hero he is today if he hadn't had a reputation for being such a loose canon?

New Exhibition: Pen to Press, Paint to Print

2009-05-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to see a lovely little show at C.G. Boerner Gallery here in New York (23 E. 73rd St, between Madison and 5th Avenues) by visiting gallerist Sandra Hindman, of Les Enluminures.

Les Enluminures, which is based in Paris, are known for their medieval manuscript, in particular their richly illuminated Books of Hours. This exhibit, entitled Pen to Press, Paint to Print explores the transitional period of the late 15th through the 16th century when books went from being copied and decorated by hand to printed on the newly invented presses of Gutenberg. This topic unfortunately has not been given much attention, but this exhibit presents a fantastic selection of prayer books, Books of Hours, individual printed leaves produced by nuns, coffers (boxes) decorated with medieval prints on the inside, and 16th century woodblocks used to created printed Books of Hours.

One of the most interesting changes is the switch from books strictly in Latin to those written in a combination of Latin and the vernacular of the area for which the book was printed. For example, in Latin with Middle Dutch or High German additions.

Pen to Press, Paint to Print is open only until May 9th, but is open on Saturdays, 10am-6pm, so be sure to check it out. The exhibit is also accompanied by an illustrated, full-color catalogue of all the items presented in the show, with lots of unique and helpful (if you study Books of Hours!) information.

Art Links

2009-04-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I'm back with your Art Links this beautiful Friday:

-Those Hitler paintings that were up at auction recently sold for a lot more than people thought they would, coming in at around $143,000.

-I wish I was able to go to London to see this show at the Tate Britain, Van Dyck and Britain.

-This Leonardo mystery sounds like a case for Dan Brown! Oh wait, Gary Radke's work for the show Leonardo da Vinci: Hand of Genius actually sounds like art history at its finest. Dan Brown could learn something.

-An interesting interview with graffiti artist Sixeart.

-Depressing news: the dire market for academics gets even more dire.

Art Links

2009-04-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

I'll be on blog-hiatus for the next 2 weeks or so, as I'll be on a fabulous Australian vacation. Here are some links to tide you over:

-Some sad news today: in addition to the loss of human life in the recent earthquake in Abruzzo, Italy, it also caused "significant" damage to historic buildings and works of art. Among the damages include portions of medieval towns, Santa Maria di Collemaggio (Romanesque, but heavily restored in the 20th century), and parts of the National Museum of Abruzzo.

-Pack the Bronze Duckling, previously stolen from his installation behind Mrs. Mallard at a Boston public garden, has been recovered.

-Art Dubai is getting better, but selling less.

-The Newark Museum celebrates its 100th anniversary with a new exhibition featuring work by living artists acquired in the last 15 years called Unbounded: New Art for a New Century.

-John D. Rockefeller's bedroom furniture from his west 54th St. townhouse are being relocated to some even fancier digs.

-The Michelle Obama/Carla Bruni Sarkozy/omg-what-are-they-wearing-today analysis is getting serious. Ladies and gentlement, the end of "wife wear."

-In especially cool medieval news, experts are close to archiving and translating all 10,000 of the inscriptions on the walls of Al Hambra palace in Spain.

Art Links

2009-03-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

-Etruscan treasures in Dallas are on view at the Southern Methodist University Meadows Museum, and is supposedly the largest exhibition of Etruscan artifacts in the United States.

-The St. Louis Museum has Power and Glory: The Court Arts of China's Ming Dynasty on view through May 17th. Interestingly, the show is organized chronologically instead of thematically, which I think is a great way to view the arts of an entire dynasty.

-In case you were wondering, the stats on the most visited museums last year are out.

-A group of 13 paintings with questionable authenticity, supposedly by Adolf Hitler are scheduled to be auctioned at a British sale in April.

-And finally, is journalism (or more specifically, is photojournalism) art? Mannie Garcia's photo of President Obama, on which Shepard Fairey's iconic "Hope" poster is based, is on sale in a limited edition of 200 at a Chelsea gallery. J-art?

Art Links

2009-03-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

-Shamed Upper East Side art dealer, Larry Salander, has been indicted on charges including grand larceny and falsifying business records. His gallery, Salander-O’Reilly, was known for both American contemporary art and Old Masters.

-A group of late Picasso works are on sale at the Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea. I suppose it's to be expected from Picasso's biographer, John Richardson, but he psychoanalyzes the works in a way I'm not entirely, art historically comfortable with.

-Yale University filed a suit this week to assert its ownership of van Gogh's The Night Cafe, after the descendent of the previous owner decided that it was rightfully his.

Bata Shoe Museum brings shoe history to the internet masses

2009-03-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

I just stumbled across the Bata Shoe Museum's website devoted completely to online exhibitions. The special section, called All About Shoes, is broken down into several topics, all featuring a close look at a certain section of shoe history.

A number of the online shows trace the history of shoes within specific cultural contexts, like American Indian, Japanese, and Alaskan Coastal cultures. Other shows trace thematic issues, like shoes in wedding traditions from around the world, and my personal favorite Heights of Fashion: History of the Elevated Foot takes a look at the history of stilettos, from the very first platform shoes.

Each exhibit features fantastic digital examples of each shoe type that you can zoom in on, as well as a wealth of information...possibly more than you could ever want to know about shoes in history. My only criticism is that they included Blahnik, but left out Louboutin. In any case, the Bata Shoe Museum gets my applause for their efforts in adapting their material for the internet audience.

Art Links

2009-03-24T10:15:00.001-07:00

-The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine here in New York recently put two of their twelve Barberini tapestries on display for Easter. Tapestries depicting "The Crucifixion" and "Agony in the Garden" are being used during Easter season "as this art is intended," to help teach and visualize liturgical events to the congregation.

The article in the NYT has a great slide show and some tidbits about how the tapestry collection at St. John's is preserved.

-On the other end of the art spectrum, the WSJ has a review of Synthetic, a new show open at the Whitney that explores the use of synthetic art materials during the 1960s. As the critic, James Gardner, points out, the show is composed of only 18 works, but attempts to answer large questions of criticism and art history. The works analyze the question "Did synthetic materials lead to the rise of synthetic art?"

Being the medievalist I am, I can't answer that question, though this review sort of makes me want to go see the show and find out. Synthetic is open until April 19th.

Fisherman Catches Ancient Bronze Statue

2009-03-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

A feel-good story on a Monday afternoon:

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- A Greek fisherman must have been expecting a monster of a catch when he brought up his nets in the Aegean Sea last week.

Instead, Greek authorities say his haul was a section of a 2,200-year-old bronze statue of a horseman.

A Culture Ministry announcement said Monday the accidental find was made in waters between the eastern islands of Kos and Kalymnos. The fisherman handed over the corroded metal figure to authorities, who have started the cleaning process.

Dating to the late 2nd century B.C., the statue represented a male rider wearing ornate breast armor over a short tunic and armed with a sheathed sword. The trunk of the horseman and his raised right arm have survived.

Corny fishing metaphors aside, this is pretty cool.

Art Links

2009-03-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

-A new exhibition at the Met, Art of the Korean Renaissance, 1400-1600, is a synthesis of beauty, unfamiliarity, and intimacy in what Holland Cotter says "could be the new norm" for the Met's exhibitions in the coming months/years.

The Asian art wing at the Met is consistently one of the least-crowded in the entire museum, so I'm glad there's an interesting exhibition to draw some attention to it.

-Dirt on Delight: Impulses that Form Clay is on at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The show argues for ceramics as a serious art form that combines elements of sculpture and painting, and questions the so-called "art-craft" divide.

-Old master paintings are still a better investment than buying contemporary art. "Old Masters are better than buying gold nuggets if you’re looking for something that will retain value,” where contemporary prices have fluctuated wildly in the last few months.

Fall Fashion 2009: "Tudormania"

2009-03-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

I love when fashion looks to history for inspiration, and the Fall 2009 collections were full of references to 16th century Tudor England. Dolce & Gabbana, who always show unique, often irreverent and slightly costume-y pieces, was the leader in the Tudor-style trend in their D&G line this year.

Gianfranco Ferré and even Chanel got in on the Tudor action, with high-necked, ruffle-collar shirts, and fabrics like rich silks and brocades. Lacroix showed major jewels, with long gold necklaces piled over high-necked black dresses.

Interesting though, this revival of Henry VIII as a handsome, badass, savvy king with great style.

Art Links

2009-03-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

-Retrace the footsteps of the thieves involved in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist.

-...and what lingering effects the theft had on the museum.

-The Maastricht art fair, going on now in the Netherlands, one of the biggest shows in the world, seems to be doing respectably, despite the scary, scary recession.

-YSL portraits pulled from Andy Warhol show at the Grand Palais in Paris.

-A slide show of highlights from the Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese show at the MFA in Boston.

Plague Vampire Unearthed in Venice

2009-03-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

I had to post about this story because it involves two of my favorite things--plague and vampires.

Italian researchers believe they have unearthed the remains of a female "vampire" in a 16th century Venetian plague mass grave. The woman was buried with a brick in her mouth, a technique believed to stop vampires from "feasting on plague victims" after their death. This is the first forensic evidence researchers have that supports the medieval belief that it was actually vampires that were behind the spread of illnesses like the plague.

Like a lot of medieval supernatural beliefs, the superstition has a perfectly natural explanation. Medieval people believed vampires were behind the spread of pestilence due to their lack of understanding of the decomposition process: they uncovered recently deceased corpses to discover their hair still growing and (stop eating anything you might have in your hand here) blood coming from their mouths, and assumed these were sure signs of plague-related vampirism.

A more detailed article, with some interesting trivia about the "shroud-eaters" of yore appeared in the Times as well.

More photos of the excavation here. Happy Friday everyone!

Art Links

2009-03-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

-More bad news for the art industry: 2008 was the worst year for Sotheby's since 2003, budget cuts, pay cuts, and job cuts ensue.

-The Met cuts even more jobs, spanning all departments.

-Alexander McQueen's ab-so-lutely brilliant show at Paris Fashion Week. The slide show that accompanies this NYT article is especially good.

-It seems that the British Museum is in trouble again regarding illegally excavated artifacts. This time the subject is a bronze Chinese drum stand from 770-476 BC, now owned by the Shanghai Museum.

Intrigue and Art Theft

2009-03-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

Paintings that were stolen in 1987 from the Noortman Gallery in Maastricht were recovered after the thieves tried to sell the works (including Renoir, van de Velde, Brueghel the Younger, and Pissarro) back to the insurance company that paid the original settlement. Many of the works were badly damaged from being folded. Where is the respect, people? Can you even imagine contemplating folding a Renoir?

I'm noticing a trend in art theft: they only get caught because they do something really dumb, like hang the stolen paintings in their apartment, or try to sell them back to the insurance company.

The St. John's Bible, continued

2009-03-06T12:55:00.000-08:00

I posted recently about the St. John's Bible, a manuscript currently on view at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. It's in the process of being completed by a group of modern-day monks using medieval calligraphy methods, but with modern touches, like that it's completely in English instead of Latin. I sort of had no idea what to expect from it, image-wise, so I'd like to share a few pictures of it. It's a rather brilliant synthesis of medieval illumination traditions and modern aesthetics.

MoMA Website Redesign

2009-03-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

I thought the old MoMA website was actually pretty good, all the information was there, it was [relatively] easy to find, so I was a little surprised to learn that they were totally re-doing it.

I've been clicking around it for a little while, and while the design is flashier, there are more animations, slide shows, and the overall look is smoother, I think they complicated it a little bit.

The first thing I noticed was on the navigation bar (at the bottom of the screen, even though there's another one at the top), you can pick "a perspective" and the box next to it will suggest the appropriate links, for example, if my perspective is "filmgoer" I get links to show times and what movies are playing, and if my perspective is "student" I get links to what resources are available at MoMA. Some other interesting additions are links to the MoMA Flickr group (though, surprisingly, the Met did it first), and if you register with the website, you can save a library of your favorite works from the collection.

Overall, the navigation is more complicated so the appearance of the site has an edgier look, but at the expense of actually finding the information you're looking for. There's a lot going on, and it could use a few organizational tweaks, but overall, bravo MoMA for making a real effort on the internet. Visit the new site and let me know what you think!

Art Reviews

2009-03-06T10:17:00.001-08:00

A couple of links to reviews you might be interested in:

-First, a trip to the dark side of the moon with Cezanne and Beyond, which is also on my to-see list.

-The Armory Show in New York is on now, and is being watched as the traditional barometer of the art market.

Art Links

2009-03-05T06:45:00.000-08:00

-The controversial issue of the two Chinese bronze sculptures in the YSL sale has been further complicated by the Chinese buyer, Cai Mingchao, who won the two lots, but is now refusing to pay for them, insisting that they should be returned to China without charge.

-The Metropolitan Opera has put its Chagall murals up as part of the collateral on an existing loan, despite the large murals being "New York treasures."

-Evolutionary science, naturalism, and art are the focus of a new exhibition at the Yale Center for British Art. Just one example of the great niche shows that university art museums are so good at. Endless Forms is on through May 3rd.

-The Museum of Modern Art will unveil a total reconstruction of their official website on Friday. It sounds pretty cool, check back here Friday for my official review.

-Jeff Koons has been commissioned by LACMA to create a 25-million dollar sculpture of a life-size train dangling from a crane. I will withhold my judgment.

-Royalty checks become the focus for some art detective work.

Exhibition Round-Up

2009-03-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

A quick list of everything I want to see that's on right now:

-At the Met, Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution, even though French bronzes aren't exactly the most show-stopping of artworks.

-This looks awesome: Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice at the MFA in Boston. Who doesn't love a good Renaissance rivalry?

-The slightly space-age sounding Cezanne and Beyond as well as Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

-The early works of Guercino at the Istituto Italiana di Cultura right here on the Upper East Side.

-At the Frick Collection, Masterpieces of European Painting from the Norton Simon Museum.

-At the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Wall Stories: Children's Wallpaper and Books.

-And finally, at the Museum of the City of New York, Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity.

Art Links

2009-02-27T09:38:00.000-08:00

-The Met recently acquired Jacopo Bassano's last known work, "The Baptism of Christ," for their Renaissance collection, as well as a 16th century bronze oil lamp by sculptor Andrea Riccio.

-The only museum not firing people, but hiring them is the up and coming Hammer Museum, notable for its work on contemporary art, which gained a few new upper level curators recently.

-A harrowing tale of art theft, identity change, and "collecting" came to light after several stolen works were recovered a Las Vegas home. Tip: if you're going to steal art from galleries, it's probably not a good idea to then hang them up in your house.

New Exhibition: The Pre-Raphaelites

2009-02-27T06:42:00.000-08:00

The Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden will open the first ever major show on the Pre-Raphaelites, a group of 19th century English artists. The show features over 200 works, opened February 26th, and is on view until May 24th, if you find yourself in Stockholm.

The Pre-Raphaelites sought to revive a style of art prior to Raphael, drawing much of their inspiration from medieval and Renaissance art, their style characterized by intense emotion, historical scenes, stylization of beauty and the body, and sense of decoration.

I've always thought that the Pre-Raphaelites were widely not taken seriously by art historians and museums, their work largely relegated to dorm room posters, so it's interesting to see a major exhibition on them. Any opinions here?

More bad recession-related museum news

2009-02-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

Following the Philadelphia Museum and the Met's staff cut news, several other museums are following suit:

-The Walters Art Museum announced today that it will cut staff, freeze pay, cancel an exhibition partnered with the Musee d'Orsay next year, and reduce the number of major exhibitions per year from 3 to 2.

-The High Museum in Atlanta, Georgia will fire 7 percent of its staff, institute a hiring freeze, and cut salaries for existing employees, including the Director and director-level positions.

The Walters and the High are certainly the newest entries in an ever-growing list. A summary of the cuts that have been made across the board at small and large museums alike across the country was published in the Art Newspaper last month.

Vindication for Wannabe Arcaeologists Everywhere

2009-02-26T07:49:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned, I wanted to be an archaeologist for a long time as a child, which naturally means I spent a lot of time in my backyard digging, hoping I'd find a dinosaur or something.

Vindication for me and other child-archaeologists came today when a cache of Stone Age tools, estimated to be about 13,000 years old, were discovered in a suburban Colorado backyard. The tools are cutting implements (with enough blood residue on them to identify the animals they killed) that were buried by the hunters.

The only let-down of this story is that it wasn't the homeowner's 7 year old kid that found them, but a landscaper hired to dig a fishpond.

Art Links

2009-02-25T10:22:00.000-08:00

-Following yesterday's news that the Met might be cutting staff, the Philadelphia Museum of Art announced today that a mixture of 30 positions (some currently filled, others vacant that will now not be filled) will be cut. No curators are being let go (though they will take a pay cut)...yet.

-An Art Deco armchair by Eileen Gray became the became the most expensive piece of 20th century furniture ever at the Yves Saint Laurent sale, the top bid at 21.9 million euro.

-A little fun, because I think fashion is art, and the fashion was fantastic at the Academy Awards on Sunday night. Here are a couple of slide shows with the highlights. I would kill for SJP's Dior gown.

Art Links

2009-02-24T07:37:00.000-08:00

-A new show at the Guggenheim, The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860-1989, deals with American artists' dialogue with Asian aesthetics. The show is on now through April 19th.

-The YSL sale at Christie's this week performed up to expectations, and just might be the thing to save the art world from the scary, scary recession.

-An interesting new exhibition about Nazi propaganda, State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda, is opening at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. The review of the show in the New York Times is a great introduction to the show, which will be on view through 2011.

-Not even the Met is impervious to the recession, announcing today the closure of 15 of its satellite shops. The Met will also institute a hiring freeze and start looking into the possibility of a "head-count reduction."

-An interesting look into the financial side of the art world in this article about Art Capital, in today's NYT.

-Iraq's refurbished National Museum re-opens with a fresh coat of paint, though with many of its treasures still lost to the looting that occurred with 2003's American invasion.

New Leonardo portrait discovered?

2009-02-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

A new alleged self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci has been recently discovered by medieval historian Nicola Barbatelli in the archives of a wealthy southern Italian family at Acerenza.

The oil portrait, which would be only the second known self-portrait by da Vinci (the other being a red chalk drawing at the Biblioteca Reale in Turin), was originally though to be a portrait of Galileo. Barbatelli thinks that there are some later additions and some repainting in the work and that "it's date and provenance still have to be established with certainty," but the work will still be exhibited at a show about da Vinci later this month.

I have to say, I'm very skeptical about this. Barbatelli seems to base most of his "discovery" (of an already known painting, I might add) on extremely subjective criteria, saying that "the posture, the sytle and technique were reminiscent of the portrait of Leonardo in the Uffizi." While stylistic analysis is in many cases a necessary evil in determining an attribution, significant futher tests and expertise is needed here. Renaissance artists were skilled copyists, and simply "reminiscent" won't cut it when trying to prove this was actually by da Vinci's own hand. Barbatelli's jump to attribute this painting to such an iconic artist as da Vinci, considering the rarity of self-portraits by the artist, seems like quite a jump.

It will be interesting to see what reaction this gets from art historians and da Vinci experts, and if this yields a closer stylistic analysis, more specific dating, and some concrete evidence of da Vinci's connections to southern Italy. I'll keep my eyes peeled for future developments.

The Curious Case of the Kaaba Key

2009-02-23T10:37:00.000-08:00

Sotheby's canceled the record £9.2m sale of a 12th century iron Kaaba key (originally sold in April of 2008) after the key's authenticity was disputed. Art historians at the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Oxford were consulted in the matter, their expertise eventually resulting the annulment of the sale.
The Art Newspaper reports that only 17 medieval Kaaba keys are known to exist (though there are 58 that exist total, from any period), and because of their extreme rarity, the likelihood that the Sotheby's key was a fake was extremely high. Indeed, there were many doubts regarding the key's authenticity leading up to the sale. The key was the most expensive Islamic work ever to be sold at auction.

Art history is sort of like detective work, isn't it? It gets especially exciting when 18 million hangs in the balance.

New Exhibition: Medievalism, Fashion's Romance with the Middle Ages

2009-02-21T10:12:00.001-08:00

I love the idea for this exhibition because it brings together two of my very favorite things: fashion and the middle ages.

The Kelly Ellman Fashion Design Gallery and Orme Lewis Gallery at the Phoenix Museum of Art will open the show Medievalism: Fashion's Romance with the Middle Ages on February 21st. The show will feature over 40 ensembles as well as accessories and books that evoke the textures and lines of the medieval, or "Gothic" style associated with the Middle Ages.

While the premise of the show seems somewhat romantic at first glance, it will also treat the history of the revival of Gothic style in the mid-19th century, and how the medieval aesthetic affects today's fashion and media as well.

Murals based on the 15th-century Unicorn tapestries in the collection of the Musée National du Moyen Age, Paris, and a painted stained glass window created by set designer Michael Sims will provide the appropriately medieval backdrop for the show.

Are university art museums taken for granted?

2009-02-20T19:32:00.000-08:00

In light of the controversy stirred up over at Brandeis University, Holland Cotter writes a fantastic piece in today's New York Times that analyzes the integral role that small university art museums play in the larger world of "fabulous" art exhibitions at public institutions.

Cotter points out that though the exhibitions featured at university museums are not as glamorous as the big-budget shows at public museums, they often cover topics that would not be palatable to a general public audience. In doing so, they actually provide an important service to both the academic and artistic worlds.

I agree with Cotter on most of the article, but in my experience, university art museums are not often taken seriously as legitimate venues for important exhibitions, small as they might be. I was always impressed by the shows put on by my alma mater, NYU's Grey Art Gallery, which (true to form) always featured shows on obscure artists and topics. However, I was hard-pressed to find another art history major, let alone a student of another discipline who had been to the Grey. I'm curious to know what your experience has been with university museums? Do they matter? Are they given the credit that is due?

New Exhibition: From Hestia’s Sacred Fire to Christ’s Eternal Light

2009-02-20T06:56:00.000-08:00

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon will show an exhibition of ancient and medieval lamps beginning March 14 and running through May 17.

Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to get to make it to Salem, Oregon, but this is an interesting idea for a show that involves the oft-forgotten decorative arts (or "material culture") of ancient and medieval society.

The show will feature about 84 oil lamps, some functional and some with mythological and religious relief scenes, all from the Bogue Collection at Portland State University. The lamps represent a wide range of materials and cultures, dated from as early as 3,000 BCE and continuing through the medieval period.

Zed the Mammoth from La Brea

2009-02-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

When I was just a wee child, my ultimate career goal was to be an archaeologist because I was a huge dinosaur geek.

I'm still sort of a dinosaur geek, which is why I'm posting this, even though it's not totally art-related. Researchers from the Page Museum, while digging in an underground parking garage of LACMA (see? art-related.) found a mammoth skeleton in 2007 that they've named Zed, who is complete save for one missing leg. They've recently started excavating his bones.

They also found the skeleton and the skull of a prehistoric American lion, bones of wolves, saber-tooth cats, ground sloths (which are the coolest of all North American megafauna), bison, and a bunch of late Pleistocene era insects, plants, and sea creatures.

New Exhibition: Heaven on Earth: Manuscript Illuminations from the National Gallery of Art

2009-02-19T07:20:00.000-08:00

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is showing examples from their collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the upcoming exhibition, Heaven on Earth.

The exhibition will feature about 50 decorated leaves and four bound volumes from the museum's permanent collection, primarily drawn from the religious texts in the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection and from all over western Europe, including some examples from less-common manuscript producing areas like Austria and Bohemia. The show covers manuscripts from the 12th to the 16th century. (Opens March 1, 2009 until August 2, 2009)

The National Gallery also has an interesting show on Dutch cityscapes on now through May 3rd, and a show on the intriguing Judith Leyster opening in June.

Art Links (and a Castle!)

2009-02-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

- Questionable art history at the Prado surrounding the recent attribution of The Colossus, previously attributed to Goya, to an assistant of his named Asencio Julia. A report explaining the reasons for the demotion of the Colossus has recently been released by the curator of 18th century paintings at the Prado, Manuela Mena.
Principal among these reasons are an x-ray scan of the painting reveals the initials "A.J." in the corner and evidence of pentimenti in the underpainting. These reasons being not all that convincing, we are left with the question of "stylistic evidence," that oh-so-slippery, and ultimately 100% subjective, method of attribution. Any Goya specialists out there willing to hazard an opinion on this?

-Not news, exactly, but a great little article about Pieter Bruegel the Elder's masterpiece, "The Triumph of Death." The painting, "not for the squeamish," is one of my favorite pieces of art in the whole world and a masterful rendering of the idea that death is inevitable, following a long medieval tradition of such themes.
I do disagree with the author of the article here, Mr. Woodward, when he says that his secular reading of the painting as a "nightmarish icon" that seems to anticipate the horrors of wars that came after it isn't "responsible art history." There is something to be said about a painting that speaks to audiences through time and isn't only applicable to its specific historical moment.

-For your reading pleasure, a short piece about a medieval Crusader castle, the Crac des Chevaliers, in Syria. A rather grand piece of architecture that brilliantly encapsulates the give and take between Western Crusaders and their Eastern foes (which, interestingly enough, this article doesn't mention that Muslim armies eventually captured the Crac and drove the Hospitallers out in a spectacular defeat, simply that the Mamelukes "took" the fortress). The Crac really highlights a lot of the issues surrounding the idea of a specifically "Crusader" art while also being just an incredible piece of architecture.
Some parting words from one of the Crac's lintel inscriptions: "Grace, wisdom and beauty you may enjoy, but beware pride, which alone can tarnish all the rest."

Art Links (and a Watermill!)

2009-02-16T08:30:00.001-08:00

-China agrees to lend art from its National Palace Museum to Taiwan's National Palace Museum in Taipei next fall for an exhibition that will bring together a part of China's imperial collection. The disagreement between the two countries, whether or not China's claim to full ownership of the imperial collection is valid, will not be addressed.

-An interesting article in the Times about the flagging contemporary art market, a short history of the market's relationship to art schools, and an innovative (?) suggestion to open up the now very narrow curriculum in studio-based programs. Should art schools institute a more interdisciplinary approach? Would it change the landscape of the contemporary art market?

-Archaeologists are unearthing a 12th century watermill at Greenwich Wharf in England. Timbers are currently being excavated and sent in for conservation.

New Exhibition: The St. John's Bible

2009-02-16T06:50:00.000-08:00

Opening at the Walters Art Museum, an exhibition featuring the "10-year effort to create the first handwritten, illuminated Bible to be commissioned by a Benedictine monastery since the advent of the printing press."

The project was launched 9 years ago by monks from St. John's Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota, using medieval illumination methods like quills made from turkey, swan and goose feathers, and natural paints and inks, all on calfskin vellum, though the text is from the New Revised Standard version of the Bible, and in modern English. Interestingly, the images are also inspired by modern circumstances and events. The modern manuscript will be displayed along with medieval manuscripts from the Walters's collection. More information about the exhibit can be found here.

The Saint John's Bible: a Modern Vision through Medieval Methods is on through May 24, 2009.

Art Links (and a Mummy!)

2009-02-13T08:27:00.000-08:00

-A very insightful review from Roberta Smith of the new exhibition at Chicago's Art Institute, Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety and Myth. "I may not be creative, but at least I’m not crazy." (Van Gogh, I'm looking at you!)

-Greece's plan to unveil the new Acropolis museum, opening about 5 years behind schedule after disagreements with the British Museum and an impromptu excavation of artifacts from a large swath of early Christian Athens.

-German art happenings, featuring an exhibition of German expressionist works at the Deutsches Historisches Museum, the clash of Western and non-Western art at Zurich's Museum Rietberg, and a collection of contemporary German art at Die Pinakothek in Munich.

-Buzz about the upcoming Yves Saint Laurent sale at Christie's Paris. I've taken a look at the copious catalogs that accompany this sale, and it's quite spectacular (Christie's provides complete eCatalogues online). Check out some of the sale highlights on the Christie's website. I'm partial to the Juan Gris cubist works and Fernand Leger's Composition, in the factory, 1918, though the sale will also include an impressive collection of Old Master paintings and decorative arts as well.

-Not quite art-related, but a new mummy from Luxor, Egypt underwent a high-tech CT scan without even having to be removed from her [rather beautifully painted] coffin. Science!

New Exhibition: Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art

2009-02-13T07:15:00.001-08:00

If you're around Nashville's Frist Center for the Visual Arts, check out the new exhibition there, Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. It looks pretty spectacular, with objects ranging from Early Medieval, to Byzantine, to the arts of medieval Italy and Germany.

The Frist Center will also sponsor a ton of programs related to the exhibit, including lectures by curators, gallery talks, and workshops on illuminated manuscripts.

Press release:
NASHVILLE, TENN.—(Jan. 23, 2009)—The Frist Center for the Visual Arts will open Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art Friday, Feb. 13, 2009. The traveling exhibition provides an extraordinary opportunity to see more than 100 rare works of art from the Middle Ages. The wide array of objects includes ivories, enamels, metalwork, jewelry, sculptures, paintings and illuminated manuscripts produced in Europe and the Mediterranean basin. The Cleveland Museum of Art (Ohio) possesses one of the finest collections of Early Christian, Byzantine, and European Medieval art in the United States. Medieval Treasures will be on view through Sunday, June 7, 2009.

“Every object in Medieval Treasures is exquisite and is indicative of the extraordinary quality of the collection assembled by the Cleveland Museum of Art throughout the course of the past century,” says Trinita Kennedy, associate curator at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. “The exhibition takes us back to a time and place when religious faith inspired artists to create objects of awe-inspiring beauty.”

Early Christian and Byzantine Treasures: Art and Empire
The exhibition begins with a group of rare early Christian sculptures. Marble statuettes of Christ as the Good Shepherd and the Old Testament prophet Jonah most likely date to 280–90, that is, several decades before Constantine the Great declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in 330. These sculptures eloquently express Christian beliefs in salvation and resurrection. Visitors will also see the Octagonal Pendant, one of the finest pieces of gold jewelry to survive from the reign of Constantine. Its center is mounted with a double solidus (gold coin) representing Constantine crowned as emperor. Important examples of Byzantine art will be on view, such as The Icon of the Virgin and Child (second half of the 10th or early 11th century), one of the most superb ivories to survive the Middle Byzantine period.

The exhibition features an entire gallery dedicated to the personal and portable art of the Migration period (approximately 300 to 900). In addition to silver, gold and bronze jewelry studded with garnets and pearls, there is a rare Celtic head made of sandstone intended for ritual veneration.

Early Medieval Treasures: Splendor and Devotion
During the 9th century, the Christianization of Celtic and Germanic tribes resulted in an increased demand for churches, monasteries, liturgical objects and illuminated manuscripts throughout Europe, but especially in Germany.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for its objects from the Guelph Treasure, one of the most important church treasuries to have survived from medieval Germany. The museum acquired these sacred objects in 1930. Included in the exhibition is one of the earliest and most sumptuous works from the treasure, the Portable Altar of Countess Gertrude, ca. 1045. Made of gold, cloisonné enamel, gems, pearls, oak and other materials, the altar is a masterpiece of early medieval goldsmith work.

High Gothic Treasures: Court and Cloister
Throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, powerful and wealthy monasteries emerged as Europe’s preeminent centers of artistic production and display. A selection of reliquaries, crosses, and large-scale sculptures in the exhibition were made for monasteries located in France and Germany. Major monasteries formed workshops of their own and created lavish manuscripts and illuminations using gold and other fine materials.

Late Medieval Treasures: Toward a New Expression
The exhibition concludes with four galleries filled with exquisite works from late medieval France, Burgundy, Italy, and Germany. French artisans (ca. 1130–1300) created illuminated books of hours, ivory reliefs and metalwork suited to the royal court’s need for extraordinarily refined luxury goods.

The dukes of Burgundy (1364–1477) sought to enhance their status with displays of wealth and taste, and became brilliant patrons of art. The exhibition features three alabaster sculptures of mourners, made between 1406 and 1410, for the tomb of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy—one of the most celebrated funerary monuments of the Middle Ages. Also on view is a magnificent Table Fountain (ca. 1320–40), an object of great ingenuity intended to entertain the dinner guests of the Burgundian dukes.

The great mercantile centers of medieval Italy—namely, Siena, Florence, Bologna and Venice—were home to brilliant craftsmen who produced gold ground panel paintings and sculpted reliefs of the Madonna and Child and the saints. Most extraordinary is a large altarpiece from a Franciscan church that survives intact—one of only a few now in the United States.

The sculptors of late medieval Germany brought woodcarving to a high degree of sophistication,
and the Cleveland Museum of Art possesses one of the largest collections of their work outside Europe. Examples in the exhibition range from a nearly life-sized Saint John Resting on the Bosom of Christ of polychrome oak by an anonymous artist to a small-scale mourning Virgin made of pear wood by Viet Stoss.

Fashion and Costumes: Current Shows at FIT

2009-02-12T06:48:00.001-08:00

One my favorite things in life is fashion. Logically, it spills over into an academic interest in costume history, and in New York, one of the best places to go and learn about it is the Museum at FIT. FIT puts on creative, modern exhibitions and has lots of seminars, conferences, and lectures that are for the most part, open to the public.

Currently on (and ending February 21st!) is Dark Glamour, which looks at fashion's role in creating the Gothic aesthetic. It features some great clothes, creative display, and a fantastic illustrated catalog. The show is curated by Dr. Valerie Steele, who can always be counted on for an interesting fashion experience.

The new exhibition, on now until June 16, 2009 is Seduction, which "examines the complex relationship between seduction and clothing, presenting a visual history of sexuality, moral standards, and social norms–-all observed through the prism of fashion." I haven't yet been to see it, but if the show's website is any indication, I'll enjoy it immensely. This show features historical fashion as well as modern clothes, and traces changing attitudes toward the female body in connection with seduction and fashion. Colleen Hill curates.

This weekend, the Museum at FIT has a special symposium on "Subculture and Style," and having been to some of their programs in the past, the speakers and presentations are always quite good. Here's the info:

Fashion Symposium
Subculture and Style
Friday, February 13, and Saturday, February 14, 2009
Morris W. and Fannie B. Haft Auditorium
Marvin Feldman Center (C building, 2nd floor)

In conjunction with the Gothic: Dark Glamour exhibition, the museum's seventh annual fashion symposium features designers, musicians, photographers, authors, and curators who will discuss fashion and subcultural style. Prices, registration, and speaker information are all available here.

Check out the museum's website for more information on location and opening hours, and some great online exhibitions for those of you not in New York!

The Louvre Tries Something Revolutionary?

2009-02-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

Just happened upon this article about the Louvre's upcoming exhibition, "The Funeral of the Mona Lisa," which features the work of contemporary artist Yan Pei-Ming. The Louvre will hang Pei-Ming's version of the Mona Lisa, which features a gray Mona Lisa surrounded by skulls. Other works of Yan Pei-Ming's will also be hung in proximity to da Vinci's original.

The Louvre calls the exhibit "part of the Louvre's efforts to bring contemporary art face to face with the masterpieces of old." You might recall an installation of Jeff Koons's work at Versailles, which sparked quite a controversy. I'm surprised at the Louvre's willingness to probably incite outrage among traditionalists, and around what is probably the most famous painting in its collection. It is certainly not the fist time the Mona Lisa has been used as an inspiration for modern art, but putting what Yan Pei-Ming calls both an "homage and a funeral" for the Mona Lisa in such proximity to the original, inviting comparison, interpretation, analysis, and discussion of the Renaissance masterpiece as it relates to contemporary art practice is another thing altogether.

If any of you happen to be in Paris, at the Louvre, I'd love to know what the general reaction is to the exhibit. I'll keep my eyes peeled for further news, and be sure to post it here. My guess is that there will be an official protest, but that it certainly won't dampen the popularity of the Mona Lisa among regular tourist visitors.

Morning Art Links

2009-02-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

- An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about contemporary artist Elizabeth Peyton's work. A retrospective of her portraits is moving to the Walter Art Center in Minneapolis (opens Feb. 14th), having just finished a run at the New Museum here in New York. I find Peyton's work to be some of the most interesting paintings that have been done in recent years, probably because she works in a traditional genre, but "reinvents" it in a way that appeals to modern audiences.

- Also in the Wall Street Journal, a snapshot of recent contemporary art auction results. The past few months have been some of the most tumultuous the major auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's have experienced in recent memory, as both houses have had heavy job cuts, and disappointing sales all around. Highlights for the upcoming contemporary sale at Christie's this week include standbys like Koons, Murakami, and Bacon, though at somewhat more conservative estimates. Interesting that though the industry has suffered, impressionist and modern sales continue to perform respectably.

-An exhibition at the Walters Art Museum features nine manuscripts of the Old French poem, the Roman de la Rose, one of the most popular and influential texts of courtly love in the Middle Ages. The manuscripts are also displayed with some of the Walters' medieval ivories, many of which pick up on the same courtly love themes. What a great medieval Valentine's Day activity!

miniature from a manuscript of the
Roman de la Rose in the Bodleian Library

Ancient Art Gets a Facelift: Palazzo Massimo

2009-02-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

Art news that's not medieval, but interesting nonetheless. An article in today's New York Times reports on the new "people-friendly" campaign that the National Museum of Rome has begun at the Palazzo Massimo.

The Palazzo's ancient art collection is being redisplayed, with new lighting, some new objects, and wine tastings for the adults, and art workshops for the kids. An interesting turn of events for the staid Italian museums of the past, whose attitude was to let the art speak for itself, no marketing involved. What do you think of this new (dare we say American?) attitude toward making the arts more "available" to their audience?

Original NYT article in the Globespotters section.

Medieval art à la carte: Digital Gutenberg Bible

2009-02-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

More manuscript-related news from the Morgan:

The Morgan announced today that it will take steps to create a digital version of one of its three Gutenberg Bibles. The Gutenberg Bible's 1,026 pages will be a welcome addition to the Morgan's already impressive collection of completely digitized manuscripts, available for free via their library search engine.

I really have to applaud the Morgan's efforts at digitization of their collections. Not only is the collection of manuscripts an invaluable resource, but taking steps to digitize the manuscripts and make them available online in their entirety shows the people at the Morgan really get it. There's nothing like seeing a several-hundred-year-old manuscript in person, but this helps make manuscripts easily available to a much wider audience. Let's hope other libraries follow their lead!

For those of you who are interested, La Bibliothèque nationale de France also has digital copies of many of their manuscripts, but if you don't speak French, their online catalog, Mandragore, is a bit hard to navigate.

More information on the digitization of the Gutenberg Bible from the NY Times.

Medieval art à la carte: "Protecting the Word"

2009-02-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

Medieval art à la carte is a column of sorts I occasionally write for my dear friend Jenn's medieval blog Per Omnia Saecula. They're re-posted here in case you're interested!

Today's exhibit focus is on the Morgan Library in New York, and their show "Protecting the Word: Bookbindings of the Morgan," on now through March 29th. Though the show includes the Morgan's entire collection of bookbindings, including nineteenth and twentieth century examples as well as an English Restoration-era Roger Bartlett mosaic binding, the real superstars are the medieval jeweled covers of the Lindau Gospels.

According to the Morgan's website, the Lindau Gospels were acquired in 1901, and are today one of the most famous examples of Carolingian manuscripts in the world. The inside of the manuscript is gorgeous, decorated in brilliant jewel tones and gold-leafed letters (almost all of the Morgan's manuscripts are digitized on their website, you can go page through it if you'd like!).

The covers, though, are the showstoppers. It is unknown if the covers were intended specifically for the Lindau Gospel manuscript, and it is thought that the lower cover is somewhat earlier and from a different workshop than the upper cover. The use of champlevé enamel technique and more delicate, insular-style knotwork seem to indicate a different style and different region than the upper cover, though still a quite spectacular display of technique.

The upper cover is attributed to the court school of Charles the Bald, the grandson of Charlemagne, and who notably and actively tried to cultivate his grandfather's authority through artistic means. Charles the Bald is known for having used such forms as the equestrian statue, Roman and classical spolia, and richly detailed metalwork to reference both classical power and the esteem of Charlemagne's reign. This cover is an especially striking example of the skill of Carolingian metalworkers, whose repouseé work was unparalleled in the 9th century medieval world. It is encrusted with semiprecious stones and features a Crucifixion scene with several mourners, all excuted in gold repouseé.

The Lindau Gospels and their covers are part of the Morgan's permanent collection and are usually on display somewhere in the library, but if you're in or near New York, this show is a must-see. (more information on the Morgan's website, here)

An Introduction

2009-02-09T08:22:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone, all three or four of you, and to my (hopefully) future readers:

I decided to start this blog basically because I like reading about art as much as I like studying it, and there aren't a whole lot of arts blogs on the internet that run the gamut of art, from ancient to Renaissance, to modern, to contemporary. Living in New York provides me with endless opportunities to see and form opinions about everything from small gallery shows to huge blockbuster exhibitions at the Met, but no one to tell! Which is where the blog comes in.

I intend for this to be sort of an amalgamation of everything arts-related, which includes but is definitely not limited to: exhibition reviews, recent scholarship, discoveries, museum news, fashion and costume history, and maybe some interesting trivia. My concentration and first art-love in life is medieval, so I may be unfairly biased toward happenings in the medieval world. The only type of art you may find this blog lacking is recent artwork. I'm personally not such a huge fan, as most of you probably know, of contemporary art. In the interest of completeness and inclusiveness, if anything groundbreaking happens in the world of contemporary art, I'll certainly post it, but I thought I should be honest about my biases up front.

I'm currently in the midst of writing my master's thesis, and beginning to organize myself for applying to Ph.D programs, so some of the content here may also concern practical advice for the humanities graduate student, analysis of the fine art of personal statements and how much your math GRE scores really matter. That said, if you have any suggestions or comments on what you'd like to see here, feel free to e-mail me!