Thomas Krens To Step Down as Director Of The Guggenheim
William Mack, Chairman of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation said that Thomas Krens will step down as its director, a position he has held since 1988, later this year, once his successor has been found. Mr. Krens will continue with the Foundation as the Senior Advisor for International Affairs developing and overseeing all aspects of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, its largest and most complex project to date, and other designated special projects.
(view more...)

Bacon Sold For US$39.7M in Sotheby´s Record London Auction
Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Contemporary Art tonight achieved US$189,424,299, the highest total ever for any sale of Contemporary Art held in Europe, against a pre-sale estimate of £72,025,000-£102,855,000. Records were set for six artists.
(view more...)

Art Dealer Donates Collection Worth US$250M To UK
A new modern art collection, to be known as ARTIST ROOMS, has been established, it was announced today, created through one of the largest and most imaginative gifts of art ever made to museums in Britain. The gift has been made by Anthony d’Offay, with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF), The Art Fund and the Scottish and British Governments. ARTIST ROOMS will be jointly owned and managed by National Galleries of Scotland and Tate on behalf of the nation.
(view more...)

Museums Should Dispose Of 'Burden' Objects Says MA
A proposal by the Museums Association that British museums will be allowed to sell off items in their collections that are rarely displayed to the public is creating controversy in the U.K. The association has proposed the museums to get rid of items that are stored and not displayed to the public.
(view more...)

"The Gates" On HBO
Literally decades in the making, THE GATES chronicles the intricate process of completing the 7,503 saffron-colored gates and fabric panels used in "The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005." Directed by Antonio Ferrera, Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Matthew Prinzing, the documentary captures the soaring majesty of the project, along with its impact on thousands of amazed (and occasionally skeptical) witnesses who flocked to snowy Central Park to experience it over the course of 16 days, Feb. 12-27, 2005.
(view more...)

Portrait Of Heath Ledger Entered In Archibald Prize
A painting by artist Vincent Fantauzzo has been entered into the Archibald competition at The Art Gallery of NSW. The painting is a portrait of actor Heath Ledger just weeks before his death. In the portrait, Heath is surrounded by two "mind spirits" whispering into his ears while he looks exhausted and scared.
(view more...)

Company Donates Cuban Installation to AGO
Toronto-based largest corporate investor in Cuba, Sherritt International Corp., has donated a large installation piece by Havana artist Carlos Garaicoa to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. This will be the first Cuban artwork in the AGO´s collection. The installation will be on view to the public this year when the AGO reopens after the completion of its expansion designed by architect Frank Gehry.
(view more...)

Swiss Police Recover Two Stolen Masterpieces
Two Impressionist paintings stolen from a Zurich, Switzerland, art museum earlier this month have been recovered. Monet's "Poppy Field at Vetheuil" and Vincent van Gogh's "Blooming Chestnut Branches" oil paintings were in good condition, police said, and the search continued for the other two, a Cezanne and a Degas. A parking lot attendant at the Psychiatric University Hospital in Zurich found the paintings Monday afternoon in the back of an unlocked white Opel Omega car.
(view more...)

Finnish Police Confiscate Artwork For Child Pornography
Police in Helsinki, Finland, confiscated a work on display at the Kluuvi Gallery for being considered child pornography depicting young girls and boys. The artwork by artist Ulla Karttunen is a critic to child pornography instead of being a promoter of the abuse against children. A visitor to the exhibition complained about the artwork entitled "Saintly Women and Teen Babes".
(view more...)

Prince Charles Calls Building A Dustbin
The Prince of Wales has described the 21st-century Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall at the University of Essex's Colchester campus as looking like a dustbin. The prince was meeting paratroopers ahead of their deployment to Afghanistan from March, and was addressing members of the Colchester-based 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment and their families.
(view more...)

Gormley Chosen To Create Public Art At Rasmuson
British artist, Antony Gormley, has been chosen to create a public art piece for the expansion of the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center. The budget for the artist is US$350,000 and the museum´s committee expects a detailed proposal for his design by May 01. Gormley was chosen because his style is exciting enough to make a city landmark, and is in synch wirth the modernity of the new building design.
(view more...)

US$8M Basquiat Painting Found in NYC Warehouse
A painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat has been found in an Upper East Side (Manhattan, New York) warehouse. The US$8 million painting entitled "Hannibal" had been smuggled out of Brazil. It will be returned to the South American country. The last-known owner and Brazilian banker, Edemar Cid Ferreira is serving a 21-year sentence prison sentence on fraud charges. A Brazilian court seized his art collection to pay off his debts but the painting was already smuggled out of the country.
(view more...)

New Caixa Forum Cultural Centre Opens In Madrid
Madrid has a new museum on the famous "Paseo del Arte". Caixa Forum Cultural Centre opened yesterday at Paseo del Prado 36. The centre is blocks away from Madrid´s "art triangle": Museo del Prado, Reyna Sofia, and Thyssen-Bornemisza. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia opened the art centre in the company of Doña Cristina, the director of Caixa Juan Maria Nin, among many other guests to the royal party.
(view more...)

Art Installation Opens UN´s Human Trafficking Forum
British artist Emma Thompson opened a new art installation in Austria, depicting the terrifying ordeal of a woman sold into the sex trade. The "Journey Against Sex Trafficking" uses seven transport containers to illustrate the brutal and harrowing experiences of women sold into the sex trade. The "Journey" aims to show visitors the reality of human trafficking - a crime that happens every day, all around the world. The installation arrives in Vienna to coincide with the first-ever global forum on human trafficking, The Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking, which opens on Wednesday 13 th February at 10am.
(view more...)

Four Masterworks Stolen In Zurich
Two big robberies in less than a week. First the two Picasso´s stolen, and now, four paintings by 19th century masters worth US$164.2 million from a Zurich museum, the Buerhle Foundation. On Sunday, in one of the largest and most audacious art thefts of all time, robbers took four important paintings by Van Gogh, Monet, Degas and Cezanne. This is considered Switzerland´s biggest art theft ever.
(view more...)

Important Russian Galleries Merge
Two Russian galleries had a great idea to help Russian artists in a domestic and international level. Triumph Gallery and Yakut Gallery will merge their activities. The new entity will keep the name Triumph and occupy a 19th century mansion in central Moscow. Russia´s art is growing very fast in the last three years. New measures need to be adapted in order to keep growing.
(view more...)

Two Picasso Paintings Stolen From Swiss Exhibition
Two paintings by Pablo Picasso were stolen from an exhibition in Switzerland. The artworks which were on loan from Germany's Sprengel Museum in, are reportedly worth US$4.5 million dollars. The museum has announced it will reward anyone with any information that can help recover the paintings.
(view more...)

US Army Pilot Charged Of Selling Stolen Artifacts
U.S. Army helicopter pilot, Edward Earle Johnson, was charged in a federal court in Manhattan (New York) with selling 80 stolen Egyptian art objects. He earned about US$20,000 from the sale of the about 5,000 years-old objects to an American art dealer. Investigations concluded that the art pieces were stolen from the Ma´adi Museum (Cairo, Egypt) in September 2002.
(view more...)

Man Arrested For Selling Fake Art On eBay
California polica arrested Vincent Lopreto for selling art forgeries on eBay. Investigators estimated he made US$300,000 auctioning forgeries from artworks by English artist Damien Hirst such as "Opium," "LSD" and "Valium". Lopreto was allegedly selling the phony art for US$3,000 to US$5,000 apiece.
(view more...)

The World First Urban Art Sale Soars at Bonhams
In a packed saleroom, more than 500 people watched the World’s first Urban Art sale take place at Bonhams in New Bond Street. As bids were relayed to the auctioneer of the evening, Pippa Stockdale, buyers battled to buy works by this new group of avant-garde artists. Exciting, fresh, edgy and challenging, interest for works was fever-pitch throughout the sale with 99% of the work selling - a truly extraordinary phenomenon that the market has never seen before. Many works by artists were met with a round of applause during the sale and cheers and more applause continued at the close of the sale.
(view more...)

Picasso Sells for US$11.3 Million in London
A Pablo Picasso painting "Femme a Chapeau" fetched 5.7 million pounds at Christie´s International auction last night in London. The painting had been expected to sell for 2.5 to 3.5 million pounds. The Impressionist and Modern Sale was the first of a series of auctions at Christie´s and Sotheby´s that it is estimated to record 429 million pounds in February.
(view more...)

Smithsonian Awards Fellowships To 10 Artists
The Smithsonian Institution has awarded fellowships to 10 artists to conduct research at Smithsonian museums and research facilities as part of the Institution's Artist Research Fellowship Program. The 10 artists are Rachel Berwick (Hamden, Conn.); Abraham Cruz Villegas (Paris); Samuel Durant (Los Angeles); Elizabeth Huey (New York); Runa Islam (London); Marcia Kure (Williamstown, Mass.); Rodney McMillian (Los Angeles); Maggie Michael (Washington, D.C.); Douglas Ross (New York); and Dan Steinhilber (Washington, D.C.).
(view more...)

The Art Fund Prize Long List For 2008
These are the ten museum and gallery projects chosen by the judges to form the long list for 2008 The Art Fund Prize. Formerly known as the Gulbenkian Prize, the winner will be announced on 22 May at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London during Museum and Galleries Month 2008. Judges will visit all nominees in March, before drawing up a final shortlist of four in early April.
(view more...)