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• Our AKN Editor Tours The Groninger Museum In The Netherlands ~ Is Like A Visit To Disney World Themed With Fine Arts
• Claude Monet and Abstraction Opens at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid
• Major Pablo Picasso Exhibit Opens at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow
• ~ Babylove ~ by Shu Lea Cheang at the Chelsea Art Museum
• Groninger Museum premiers Large-scale Retrospective of Cuban Art and History
• MoMA ACQUIRES WORKS FROM THE COLLECTION OF EDWARD R. BROIDA
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art Acquires Six Prime Works
• Gallery HK to present Amy Cannady ~ 'Contemplations'
• Lyman Allyn Art Museum to host "Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul"
• SFMOMA Selects Snøhetta to Work on Museum Expansion and Design
• Prominent Dealers Bring Art World to Second Annual Dallas Art Fair
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art to feature Walker Evans’s Eclectic Picture Postcard Collection
• Neo-Expressionist Crucifixions by Panos Evangelopoulos
• Saint Louis Art Museum Acquires Important Painting by Edgar Degas
• This Week in Review in Art Knowledge News

Our AKN Editor Tours The Groninger Museum In The Netherlands ~ Is Like A Visit To Disney World Themed With Fine Arts Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:21 PM PST The Groninger Museum is a museum in Groningen in the north of The Netherlands. Perhaps not as famous as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, it is considered to be one of the best museums in The Netherlands. Opened in 1994 it became a highlight in the world of art, designed by the architects Philippe Starck, Alessandro Mendini and Coop Himmelb. The museum was built in a canal opposite the railway station and consists of three pavilions, one (the circular) made by Philippe Starck, one (the yellow tower) by Mendini himself and one (the deconstructivist part) by Coop Himmelb. The bridge connecting the station with the museum is a cycling and walking route to the inner city. The modern, futuristic and colourful style of the building is related to the Italian design style called Memphis. Mendini, originally a designer, was asked in 1987 by museum director Frans Haks to think up a new museum. Haks also insisted on sub-architects to make the pavilions. Haks wanted something extravagant. First American artist Frank Stella was approached for one of the pavilions but his plan turned out to be too expensive as he wanted to make his part completely out of Teflon. The museum was mainly paid for by the Gasunie. The company celebrated its 25th birthday and wanted to give the city of Groningen a present. Haks, wanting to move out of the old and insufficient museum building, suggested a new museum. Gasunie granted 25 million guilders for the project. The Groninger Museum also was one of the most important projects of alderman Ypke Gietema. It became his personal goal to get the museum at its present location, in spite of all the protests. During the preparations before building, protesters managed, in high court, to halt the building process for a year. They mainly protested against the modern and controversial design of the building. People feared their houses would not sell anymore with the museum nearby. In 1992 the building started. It was finished in 1994. People had to get used to the shapes and colours of the buildings. It is the home to various expositions of local, national and international works of art, most of them modern and abstract. The Groninger Museum often schedules special exhibits dedicated to world-famous artists. For instance, it has often showcased works by artists like John William Waterhouse. Many times, abstract art has also been displayed at the museum. Some of them controversial, like a photo exhibition of Andres Serrano, some more classical like the exhibition of the works of "Russian Rembrandt" Ilya Repin. To mark the reopening of the Museum, a large number of highlights from the Museum's own collection is being shown in an appealing set-up. The varying disciplines within the collection will all be on display. For example, there will be important items from Groningen art and cultural history, ranging from archaeological discoveries to attractive feats of portraiture. A selection from the substantial collection of oriental ceramics will also be presented, along with beautiful old paintings from the Dutch seventeenth century and the Hague School; this work comes from the Hofstede de Groot and the Veendorp collections. The Museum also displays paintings by De Ploeg in conjunction with examples of international Expressionism. Post-modern Italian furniture produced by Memphis is shown beside interesting pieces of present-day design and fashion. Contemporary art from the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and China, among others, will also be on display. These highlight are on view through March 6, 2011 in the Groninger Museum: the exhibition 'Highlights From The Museum's Own Collection'. The collection of the Groninger Museum holds: Modern Art (from 1950 until the present), Traditional Painting (from approx. 1500 to 1950), Archaeology and History of Groningen and an important collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain. These collections are exhibited in an extraordinary museum building, which was constructed in 1994. It was mainly designed by the Italian architect Alessandro Mendini, and he completed the task along with other famous designers and architects. The renovation could only be realized thanks to generous funding by the Beringer Hazewinkel Foundation. The other exhibition rooms, the entrance hall, the repository, the shop, the café-restaurant, the auditorium, the underwater café, the library, and the educational areas were designed by the main architect Alessandro Mendini. For many centuries, Groningen was an important city for silverware. Skilled silversmiths had a good market in this wealthy city and in the prosperous surrounding countryside. The exhibition presents beautiful silver objects that were made in Groningen from the late 16th century until well into the 20th century. Older silver has scarcely survived. Attractive brandy bowls, supper silver, beakers and coffee urns, candlesticks and teapots are all on display. There is even a silver Martinitoren (church spire). Groningen silver was different, beautiful and well maintained. Splendid engravings are also on show through May 29, 2011. The exhibition "Russia's Unknown Orient Orientalist Painting 1850-1920" recently opened and is on display through 8 May, 2011. Russia's Unknown Orient tells the story of Russia's art-historical bond with its southern neighbors: Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia and the Crimean peninsula. It was a bond that was characterized by a fascination for oriental traditions. The word 'Orientalism' has been in use since the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was a genre in painting which focused on themes such as the Middle East and North Africa. Many topics are covered in this exhibition, including allegories, travel impressions, everyday life in the Russian Orient and the biblical East. The exhibition presents more than a hundred works by Vasili Vereshchagin, Martiros Sarian, Vasili Polenov, Niko Pirosmanashvili, Aleksandr Volkov, A. Nikolaev, Pavel Kuznetsov, Evgenii Lanseray and others. In the past, the Groninger Museum has devoted several exhibitions to Russian art. In 2001 the Museum presented the extremely successful exhibition entitled Ilya Repin. Russia's Secret, which was followed by Russian Landscape (2003), Working for Diaghilev (2004) and Russian Fairytales, folk stories and legends (2007). ANNOUNCEMENT: Our Editor has been invited to visit Museums and cultural sites in mainland China, Korea, Vietnam. Myanmar, Thailand (Siam), Singapore, Bali and mainland Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, Japan, Mongolia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and now Germany. Because of the Editor's travel we will be posting many interesting articles from our archives, some of the BEST Articles and Art Images that appeared in your magazine during the past six plus (6+) years . . Enjoy.

Claude Monet and Abstraction Opens at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:17 PM PST MADRID.- The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and Fundación Caja Madrid are presenting the exhibition Monet and Abstraction. It offers a survey of the work of the great French Impressionist painter from an innovative perspective and one never previously employed in the context of a temporary exhibition of this scale and importance, namely the artist's relationship with the development of abstraction in the second half of the 20th century. On exhibition 23 February through 30 May, 2010.

Major Pablo Picasso Exhibit Opens at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:15 PM PST MOSCOW, (REUTERS).- Russia's influence on Pablo Picasso was celebrated at a new Moscow exhibit on the Spanish painter, sculptor and co-founder of the Cubism movement. Picasso paintings of bulging-eyed women and sculptures bearing his trademark triangular noses feature in a 240-piece collection of works by one of most prolific and dominant artists of the 20th century. The largest Picasso exhibit on Russian soil in over 50 years opened on Friday and it was the Russian influence on Picasso -- by way of his Russian wife and access to her world -- that excited those in the marble halls of Moscow's Pushkin Museum near the Kremlin, which is housing the exhibit.

~ Babylove ~ by Shu Lea Cheang at the Chelsea Art Museum Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:14 PM PST New York City - The Chelsea Art Museum, Home of the Miotte Foundation, is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibition called, Baby Love, developed by celebrated Taiwanese artist, Shu Lea Cheang. The exhibition runs from December 1, 2006 to January 13, 2007.

Groninger Museum premiers Large-scale Retrospective of Cuban Art and History Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:12 PM PST GRONINGER, NL  - From 17 May to 20 September 2009, the Groninger Museum will present a large-scale retrospective exhibition of the development in the art and history of Cuba from 1868 to today. Work of more than one hundred Cuban artists, including Wifredo Lam, Marcelo Pogolotti, Juan Bautista Valdés, Antonio Fernández Reboiro, Domingo Ramos, Esteban Chartrand, Eladio Rivadulla Martínez and Joaquín Blez, will be on show. The many paintings, photos, installations, video and graphics present a picture of Cuban culture.

MoMA ACQUIRES WORKS FROM THE COLLECTION OF EDWARD R. BROIDA Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:10 PM PST New York CITY - The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA has acquired 174 works of art as a gift from the renowned contemporary collection of Edward R. Broida, MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry announced. The fractional and promised gift highlights an international array of 38 artists through 108 paintings and sculptures, 54 drawings, and 12 prints, dating from the 1970s through the present. Among the exceptional works in the collection are the groups of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints by Philip Guston, Vija Celmins, and Christopher Wilmarth, artists whom Mr. Broida collected in depth. The 36 works by Guston (American, born Canada, 1913-1980), comprising 12 paintings, 16 drawings and eight prints, provide a sweeping overview of his oeuvre from 1938 to 1980, but concentrates in particular on the bold narrative style Guston developed in the last decade of his life.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art Acquires Six Prime Works Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:07 PM PST LOS ANGELES, CA.- This weekend was the museum's 25th annual Collectors Committee event, in which a group of generous donors pool their resources to purchase works for LACMA's collection. Curators from nearly every department present artworks they'd like to see added to the permanent collection, giving short presentations on the objects' background and also temporarily installing the works in one of our galleries. After careful consideration, the Collectors Committee members—there were about 160 this year—come together for a gala dinner and vote on which artworks to acquire. The voting is over when the pool of funds is exhausted.

Gallery HK to present Amy Cannady ~ 'Contemplations' Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:04 PM PST Chicago, IL - Gallery KH is pleased to present AMY CANNADY: CONTEMPLATIONS, opening April 24 through May 30, 2009. An opening night cocktail reception with the artist is scheduled for Friday, April 24, 2009, 5-8PM. The artist will host a gallery talk the following day, April 25, 2009 at 1PM.

Lyman Allyn Art Museum to host "Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul" Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:03 PM PST New London, CT - Lyman Allyn Art Museum announces a new exhibition, Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul, opening September 12, 2009 and on view through February 21, 2010.   Lyman Allyn Art Museum's partner, the Hispanic Alliance of New London, has provided support for this exhibition with its coordinating programs and events. Cuban culture has been characterized as an ajiaco or a rich stew consisting of a vast array of ingredients.   It is this synthesis that is the essence of Cuban art and the subject of Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul.   The exhibition seeks to interpret the diverse social dimensions of Cuban art in a global context through the exploration of its relationship with African, Asian, European, and indigenous influences and belief systems.

SFMOMA Selects Snøhetta to Work on Museum Expansion and Design Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:01 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) has selected the architecture firm Snøhetta to be its partner in developing an expansion that enhances the museum's services to the community and its educational, social, and economic role in the city. The decision follows a comprehensive international search and two-year planning process to address the enormous growth of SFMOMA's collections and of audience demand for programming since the museum's move to its current building in 1995. Initial design concepts for the project—Snøhetta's first building on the West Coast of the United States—will be unveiled in the spring of 2011. The current project budget of $480 million includes $250 million for the expansion and $230 million for SFMOMA's endowment to ensure the museum's long-term success.

Prominent Dealers Bring Art World to Second Annual Dallas Art Fair Posted: 11 Jan 2011 07:59 PM PST DALLAS, TX.- The second annual Dallas Art Fair presented by Veuve Clicquot will return to the city on Friday, February 5 through Sunday, February 7, 2010. A preview Gala will be held on Thursday evening, February 4, benefiting Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. From mid-morning to early evening over the three days of the fair, visitors may visit and purchase art from renowned art dealers and experts from across the United States and Great Britain. Celebrating modern and contemporary art, the 2010 Dallas Art Fair will showcase paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints and photographs from post war artists represented by more than 50 prominent art dealers.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art to feature Walker Evans’s Eclectic Picture Postcard Collection Posted: 11 Jan 2011 07:58 PM PST New York City - Nine thousand picture postcards amassed by American photographer Walker Evans (1903–1975) are among the fascinating works in The Walker Evans Archive, acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1994. Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard, to be presented at the Museum from February 3 through May 25, 2009, will be a dynamic installation of hundreds of these postcards from Evans's collection, which he built and refined over the course of 60 years.

Neo-Expressionist Crucifixions by Panos Evangelopoulos Posted: 11 Jan 2011 07:55 PM PST   New York City - Religious iconography persists as a subject that gives rise to innovative contemporary interpretations, as seen in the slashingly energetic neo-expressionist crucifixions of Panos Evangelopoulos, in "Odyssey Within: An Exhibition of Fine Art From Italy and Greece" on view at Agora Gallery, 530 West 25th Street, from December 14, 2007 to January 3, 2008. (Reception Thursday, December 20, from 6 to 8 PM.)

Saint Louis Art Museum Acquires Important Painting by Edgar Degas Posted: 11 Jan 2011 07:53 PM PST   Saint Louis, MO - The Saint Louis Art Museum has purchased The Milliners (Les Modistes), an important painting by the French artist Edgar Degas. Painted in about 1898 as part of a series the artist launched at the height of Impressionism, the work bridges the 19th and 20th centuries. The Milliners, which is pioneering in its bold use of color, complements the great strengths of the Museum's collection of Impressionist and early 20th-century art.

This Week in Review in Art Knowledge News Posted: 11 Jan 2011 07:52 PM PST This is a new feature for the subscribers and visitors to Art Knowledge News (AKN), that will enable you to see "thumbnail descriptions" of the last ninety (90) articles and art images that we published. This will allow you to visit any article that you may have missed ; or re-visit any article or image of particular interest. Every day the article "thumbnail images" will change. For you to see the entire last ninety images just click : here . When opened that also will allow you to change the language from English to anyone of 54 other languages, by clicking your language choice on the upper left corner of our Home Page.  You can share any article we publish with the eleven (11) social websites we offer like Twitter, Flicker, Linkedin, Facebook, etc. by one click on the image shown at the end of each opened article.  Last, but not least, you can email or print any entire article by using an icon visible to the right side of an article's headline.

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