NEWS

New Museum Devoted To Jean Arp Built By Richard Meier
A new museum devoted to the work of Dadaist artists Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp was inaugurated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The US$36 million museum is located in a new building by architect Richard Meier, by the Rhine River, near Bonn. It will house more than 400 Arp works bought for some US$7 million by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and more than 200 others on long-term loan from a foundation.
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Mass MoCA Will Dismantle Unfinished Exhibition
After winning the right in court to show a costly and unfinished installation, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art decided to dismantle the work without opening it to the public. In the next five weeks, the museum will remove what was going to be Swiss artist Christoph Buchel´s first major American exhibition. Buchel’s work, "Training Ground for Democracy," was being installed in a football-sized building at MassMoCA.
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Hirst´s Artwork Suffers Leak In Oslo Museum
Another work by British artist Damien Hirst, is being repair inmediately. The Museum of Modern Art in Oslo (Norway), was forced to return to Hirst his installation of a bisected cow and calf for repairs after the tank of formaldehyde they were in, sprang a leak. The 1995 Turner Prize winning "Mother and Child Divided" was sent to the artist´s studio for emergency repairs. Gunnar Kvaran, the museum's director, said the damage was caused by a flaw in the glass, and some formaldehyde was lost.
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Canadian Artist Ken Danby Dies
The art world has lost one of the best realist artists. Ken Danby has died at the age of 67 while canoeing in Algonquin Park, Canada with his wife Gillian Danby and close friends. Ontario provincial police say Danby collapsed while canoeing on North Tea Lake. The canoe party summoned for help and an air ambulance arrived and lowered two paramedics to the remote location, but they were unable to revive him. With help from rescue teams from Canadian Forces Base Trenton, the artist’s body was flown to North Bay General Hospital.
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New Gallery for Modern and Contemporary Photography At The Met
The Metropolitan Museum will inaugurate the Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography on September 25, 2007, establishing for the first time a gallery dedicated exclusively to photography created since 1960. With high ceilings, clean detailing, and approximately 2,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Menschel Hall is designed specifically to accommodate the large-scale photographs that are an increasingly important part of contemporary art and the Museum's permanent collection.
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Artist Donates Artwork To Works Of Heart Auction Against Aids
Raleigh-based abstract expressionist Jason Craighead has donated a new painting entitled "Structure 17" to Works of Heart, the Triangle area's art auction against aids, which will held Saturday, October 13 at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. He presented the 40" x 50" painting (mixed media on canvas) to the auction's organizers during the official "Kick Off Party for Artists and Sponsors" held September 9 at Enoteca Vin on Glenwood South.
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Anonymous Donor Gives US$5 Million To BMA
An anonymous donor has given the Baltimore Museum of Art, US$5 million to endow the position of its top executive. With this money, the Museum expects to attract talented leaders. Museum Director, Doreen Bolger receives US$228,000 funded by the museum´s annual operating revenues. She will receive a gift to honor her 10th anniversary as director.
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Russian Billionaire Buys Entire Collection Before Sotheby´s Auction Starts
An unusual move made by the Russian government was brilliant. The art collection of famed cellist Mstislav Rostropovich will be returned to Russia after a politically connected billionaire paid more than 25% above the estimated price in an auction. This effort made by the Russian government, shows how some countries want their prized artworks returned to their homelands.
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Cardinal Used Nazi Term Refering To Art
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, has generate a lot of controversy all over Germany by calling some modern art "degenerate", a word used by the Nazis to justify their destruction of thousands of paintings, books and films and the persecution of anyone promoting modern art forms.
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Historic Buildings Victims Of Acropolis Museum
Two historical buildings in central Athens will be demolished to improve the view for a new museum. This decree was signed by Greece´s Culture Minister, George Voulgarakis. Protests didn´t take long to rise from conservationists that will go to court to stop this. Greece's archaeological council in July agreed that the two buildings could be demolished to improve the visual continuity between the new museum and the ancient Greek ruins of the Parthenon.
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British Art Dealer Arrested
Customs authorities in London arrested a British art dealer in connection with the illegal export of paintings valued at more than US$34 million including a Dutch masterpiece. The dealer manipulated documents then submitted to the government agency responsible for providing export licenses for paintings.
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St Louis Art Museum Buys US$10 Million Degas
The Saint Louis Art Museum announced it has purchased "The Milliners," a late-19th century painting by French artist Edgar Degas, for about US$10 million. The painting is the first oil painting by Degas the museum has purchased, which the museum said fills in a major gap in its collection. It already holds two pastels, three drawings, nine prints and two sculptures by Degas.
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Retrospective Exhibition Of Richard Meier
The Louise T Blouin Institute will celebrate the upcoming retrospective exhibition of "Richard Meier: Art and Architecture". The solo exhibition presents Meier's extraordinary versatility as artist, designer and architect and comprises an overview of Meier's outstanding international architectural creations together with an exploration of his sculpture, collages, drawings, photographs, furniture and product design over 45 years.
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"Butter Love", Art Or Pornography?
A sculpture is generating a lot of controversy in New Zealand. Artist Stuart Shepheard said his sculpture, "Butter Love" is art and not pornography. The statue depicts two people having sex. The show is taking place at Wintec´s RAMP Gallery for the next three weeks. The sculpture represents what was then taboo regarding sex. The butter represents the fatness and fertility of the land in Waikato.
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Bonhams Hired Specialists From Christie's Car Department
Bonhams announced that Christie’s two most senior motoring directors and one of its most respected motoring consultants will join Bonhams’ Global Motor Car Department on November 1st 2007. Having just held their sale at Monterey during California’s Pebble Beach Concours last month, the Head of Christie’s International Car Dept, Rupert Banner, and Philip Kantor, Head of Christie’s European Car Department, will join the Bonhams team on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Looted Horse Head To Be Auctioned By Sotheby´s
Sotheby´s will auction a rare bronze horse's head plundered by British and French troops from Beijing's old Summer Palace will be put on sale next month in an auction likely to fetch US$10 million and stir nationalist feelings in China. The statue is one of 12 bronze heads of zodiac animals which graced a water-clock fountain in the old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, which was destroyed by the British and the French in 1860.
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Petrie Donating US$5 Million To Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum today that Denver resident Tom Petrie will donate US$5 million dollars to endow the Museum’s Institute of Western American Art. Additionally, he has agreed to a long-term loan of pieces from his comprehensive collection of works by Western artist Charles M. Russell for display at the Museum. In recognition both of this generous gift and Mr. Petrie’s long-time commitment to Western art and the Denver Art Museum, the Museum is proud to announce a new name for the Museum’s Western art initiative: "The Petrie Institute of Western American Art."
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9 Projects Win Prestigious Aga Khan Award For Architecture
A public square in Beirut, a skyscraper in Singapore and a renovated ancient city in Yemen are among the nine winners of the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, which celebrate the mundane to the magnificent around the globe. The nine winning projects will share the US$500,000 award given once every three years by the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of agencies that seek to improve living conditions in poor countries.
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BBC Scotland Donates Art Collection To Glasgow Museums
BBC Scotland has donated its entire collection of contemporary Scottish art to Glasgow´s museums. The collection includes works by Peter Howson, Elspeth Lamb, Ken Currie, among others; and is valued in £100,000. The artworks were displayed at the BBC´s former Queen Margaret Drive headquarters.
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Francis Bacon Artwork To Be Auctioned By Christie´s London
Christie´s London will auction "Study from the Human Body, Man Turning on the Light" by artist Francis Bacon on October 14. Bacon gave this painting to London´s Royal College of Art in return for rent. The artwork is expected to fetch US$18.2 million. "Study from Innocent X" has the record auction price for a Bacon artwork with US$52.6 million at Sotheby´s in New York earlier this year.
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