NEWS

"A Cavalier" Makes FBI Most Wanted List
The FBI announced an addition to its Top Ten Art Crimes list. "A Cavalier" was stolen on June 10, 2007, from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The self-portrait, by Dutch Master Frans Van Mieris (1635-1681), was stolen while the gallery was open for public viewing. The piece is in oil on wood panel and measures 16 x 20 centimeters, or approximately 6 ½ x 8 inches.
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CowParade Invades Istanbul
From August 01 – October 31, 2007 Istanbul is hosting the world’s biggest public art event, when life-size fiber-glass cows, colorfully painted and decorated by artists, celebrities and members of the public will adorn the streets, high profile buildings and shopping malls from Nisantasi to Maslak.
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The Stirling Prize Shortlist Was Announced
A striking concert hall in Portugal, a modern pavilion in Windsor Great Park, the reconstruction of London’s Young Vic Theatre and the redevelopment of Dresden Station are among the six buildings which have made it on to this year’s Royal Institute of British Architects shortlist for The RIBA Stirling Prize in association with The Architects’ Journal. The £20,000 prize is awarded to the architects of the building that has made the greatest contribution to British architecture in the past year.
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"300 Years Of Art In America" Arrives To Moscu
Dennis Hopper and Jeremy Irons opened the largest ever exhibition of American art in Moscow. "Art in America: Three Hundred Years of Innovation", is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of American art to travel to Russia and is on view at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. The opening was yesterday and will run until September 9, 2007. The presentation of this landmark exhibition, which premiered earlier this year in Beijing and Shanghai, is presented under the patronage of Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State of the United States of America and Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, in commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States.
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Aboriginal Masterpiece Sets New Art Record
Ron Radford AM, Director of the National Gallery of Australia, announced today that the Gallery was successful at last night’s Sotheby’s sale in securing Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri’s major painting "Warlugulong" 1977. The painting was sold for A$2.4 million (1 million pounds) at an auction of aboriginal art in Australia's southern city of Melbourne.
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Truck On Fire Destroys Valuable NZ Art
Thirty five paintings were destroyed in a courier truck fire in Queenstown, New Zealand. The valuable paintings were being moved to Dunedin after an exhibition in Invercargill. It is not clear which paintings had been destroyed as art dealer Milford House hasn´t conffirm which ones were in the truck. This "accident" happened on July 10 but it was until today that details were revealed.
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Mock Gold Bar By Paul Insect Is Discovered
A man has claimed a £1,000 mock gold bar left in a London street by artist Paul Insect. Insect created 100 gold-plated bars with a bite mark taken out of them to suggest greed and put all but one on show at Lazarides Gallery in Soho. Michael Barry decided to find out more about Paul Insect´s fake bullion project.
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Woman Arrested For Kissing Painting
A Cambodian-born French woman was arrested for criminal damage after leaving a kiss on a painting by the American artist Cy Twombly. Her lipstick was impregnated in the immaculate white canvas. The untitled work is part of an exhibition dedicated to Twombly in the southern French city of Avignon.
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Possible Titian, Possible Worth Millions
Two London dealers buid tens of thousands of pounds for a dirt-encrusted portrait valued at £300 to £500. Buyers at Gilding´s in Leicestershire were surprised because one of the dealers believes the portrait is a misattributed work by Renaissance master Titian and it is worth more than £5 million. The previous owner had no idea of the value of the painting, which had hung for 33 years on a wall at her Leicestershire home.
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Artwork Owner Sues Warhol Foundation For US$20 Million
Joe Simon-Whelan, owner of a disputed Warhol self-portrait, is suing the estate of Andy Warhol for US$20 million, accusing them of manipulating the market for the artist´s works for decades. Simon-Whelan´s silkscreen picture of Warhol was twice turned down by the artist´s official authenticators. He claims they have rejected as many works as possible to create scarcity in the market.
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Partnership For The Ordway Prize
Creative Link for the Arts (formerly the Penny McCall Foundation) and the New Museum of Contemporary Art announced today that Creative Link has chosen to partner with the New Museum of Contemporary Art to serve as the official host of The Ordway Prize, one of the largest international biennial awards for a mid-career artist and a mid-career arts writer and/or curator who have made important contributions to the field of contemporary art. Beginning in December 2007, The Ordway Prize, produced by Creative Link for the Arts, will be hosted by the New Museum.
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Damien Hirst´s Shark Will Be Display At The MET
The best-known of contemporary British artist Damien Hirst's conceptual tank pieces, "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" (which features a 13-foot tiger shark in a glass tank of formaldehyde) will go on view in the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing for modern and contemporary art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Labor Day weekend (by August 29, 2007). The work will be on a three-year loan from its owner, Steven A. Cohen.
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Life As A Legend: Marilyn Monroe
From pin-ups and on-set photographs to pop art and contemporary paintings, "Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe" explores the many sides of one of America's most famous and intriguing cultural icons. Marilyn Monroe, the glamorous screen legend who appeared in 30 films during her career, not only caught the attention of photographers during the 1950s but has continued to serve as a muse to artists throughout the decades since her death in 1962.
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Italy Threatens The J. Paul Getty Museum
Italy sent the J. Paul Getty Museum a proposal to resolve a dispute over allegedly looted antiquities and threatened the museum with sanctions if a deal is not reached by the end of this month. Italy´s culture minister, Francesco Rutelli, said he is giving an ultimatum to solve this through dialogue and agreement. There are no specific details about the new proposal.
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Netherlands Sells 1,000 Art Treasures On eBay
The decision of the Institute Collection Netherlands (ICN) to sell one thousand paintings, statues and objects from the Dutch national art collection and five other museums, through online auction site eBay has upset many artists in the country. Some objects have already been put online. An average of 50 per week will be featured until October.
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Brittany Ferries Will Display More Art On Board
Leading maritime carrier on the Western and Central Channel, Brittany Ferries, is entering the art world. The company has arranged for 200 original works of art on board to be display on their flagship, Pont Aven, and is offering audio-guides with a commentary to help passengers discover the background to each piece.
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UNESCO, Interpol And ICOM Against Illicit Traffic Of Cultural Objects On Internet
The Degas painting was a fake, so was the Klimt, but the South American artifacts and fossils and the 7,000 coins for sale on internet sites were absolutely genuine. Selling them, however, was considered as illicit traffic of cultural property and they were seized.
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Exhibition In Mexico Will Reveal Secrets Of Kahlo and Rivera
Tomorrow is the opening of "Treasures of La Casa Azul, Frida and Diego" that will be showing letters and photos belonging to Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. This will be the first time the exhibition takes place in Mexico City. The exhibition coincides with the 100th anniversary of Kahlo's birth and 50th anniversary of Rivera's death.
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Widow Of France´s Georges Pompidou Dies
Claude Pompidou died on Tuesday in Paris, France according to her foundation. The widow of former president Georges Pompidou was 94 years old. The cause of death is uncertain. President Georges Pompidou died in office on April 2, 1974. France´s new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said he met Claude few days after his May 06 election and called her "a very great lady" who "brought honour to our country".
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France Is Planning To Make Museums Free
Free access will be tested in France at a sampling of museums in Paris and other towns. France´s prime minister, Francois Fillon, did not name any museums yet but he is willing to make art more accessible and noted that other European nations have made museums free.
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Christie´s Will Not Auction Letter From Gandhi
Christie´s Auction House has called off Tuesday´s auction of a seven-page handwritten manuscript by Mahatma Gandhi. The manuscript was written by its owner and the Indian government will acquire it from him. Gandhi wrote the letter 19 days before his assassination in Delhi, which calls for tolerance towards Muslims.
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