Art Knowledge News - Keeping You in Touch with the World of Art...

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• Our AKN Editor Tours The Thorvaldsens Museum ~ Denmark's Oldest Museum Building
• Morgan Library & Museum opens Major Exhibition of 18th Century French Drawings
• The Elms Lesters Painting Rooms to exhibit "The Adam and Ron Show"
• 100 Year Homage to Frida Kahlo at Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes
• Lithographs by Pablo O'Higgins at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts
• Russian Art Sales Expected to Reach $81 Million for Auction Houses in London
• The Art Gallery of New South Wales opens "Grand Weekend"
• Sotheby's to Offer Painting that Sparked Years of Debate and Controversy
• Zoopsia ~ New Works by Tim Hawkinson at the Getty Center
• Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) premieres 'Filmmaker in Focus ~ Ferzan Ozpetek'
• The FEMSA Collection, a Continental Vision at NHCC
• The Norton Simon Museum opens Exhibition of Portrait Prints by Rembrandt
• Sun Xun at Hammer Museum
• Sotheby's NYC to sell Masterpieces by Puerto Rican Painters
• Lecture at Clark Explores Fragonard's Drawings
• Art Knowledge News Presents "This Week In Review"

Our AKN Editor Tours The Thorvaldsens Museum ~ Denmark's Oldest Museum Building Posted: 08 Dec 2010 07:13 PM PST Thorvaldsens Museum is Denmark's oldest and also most extraordinary museum building. It is situated in the centre of Copenhagen. The museum opened on September 18, 1848. It houses nearly all of the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen's original models for the sculptures he created for numerous European countries. The collections at Thorvaldsen's Museum consist of Thorvaldsen's own sculptures and his extensive collections of contemporary art of his time, of antique Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman objects, of other artists' sculptures, his own medals, letters, books, personal objects etc. The collections at Thorvaldsens Museum have for the most part been collected by Thorvaldsen himself. Every work and object in the collections has an inventory number, which begins with a letter followed by a number. The online catalogue of Thorvaldsen's collections is under construction and not all works and objects are searchable as yet. The museum building is very characteristic with its strong colours, the unusual façade with its large gates and sloping lines around all gates and windows. On the roof the goddess of victory, Victoria, drives her four-in-hand and expresses the fame, which Thorvaldsen achieved in both his time and today. Inside the Museum the colours are equally strong both on the lavishly decorated ceilings, in the patterns of the floors and in the colours of the walls. And the light is fantastic in the Museum when it falls through the windows set high up and gives shape and shadow to the sculptures and reliefs. Thorvaldsens Museum was built from 1839 to 1848, next to Christiansborg Palace, occupied by a building housing the royal coaches and wagons. Parts of the old palace building are still inside the walls of the Museum. The Museum's architect was the young Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll (1800 – 1856), who had stayed in Rome in the 1830s and was familiar with Thorvaldsen and his sculptures. Bindesbøll drew several fantastic projects for the museum while in Rome, but in the end the result was instead a complete conversion of the existing wagon building. The Christ hall and the entrance hall were, however, newly erected. The museum remains Bindesbøll's most famous building as his career as a working architect was to last a mere 18 years during which he became architect to the State and, in his final year, professor at the Royal Academy. He was the first and finest architect of the young democracy of 1849. The exterior part of the museum, facing the canal, has frescos depicting the return of Thorvaldsen from Rome in 1838. After the death of this renowned artist he was buried in the inner courtyard of the Thorvaldsen Museum in September 1848. Website: _ www.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk/ Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) is one of Denmark's best known sculptural artists. For more than 40 years he lived in Rome where he became one of the most important European representatives of Neo-Classicist sculptural art. Thorvaldsen was born in Copenhagen on November 19th, 1770, to poor parents. His father was a carver and immigrant from Iceland. The young Bertel entered the Art Academy in Copenhagen age 11 recognized as an unusually bright talent and was educated there as a sculptor until 1793. In 1796 he got the opportunity of traveling to Rome as the Academy's scholar for three years to be further schooled. He stayed in Rome, received numerous commissions and became one of Europe's best known sculptors. The sculpture, which laid the foundation of Thorvaldsen's fame, was Jason with the golden fleece from 1803. Contemporaries saw the sculpture as no less than an image of the ideal future for human kind. Art and life was to be inspired by Roman and Greek Antiquities, called Neo-Classicism. Rome was the cultural centre of Europe and attracted art interested people who could afford his works in marble or bronze. Thorvaldsen gradually had many employees and no less than five studios in Rome, and his works were placed all over Europe. It says much about Thorvaldsen's fame that he received the commission to make the monument to Pius VII in the principal cathedral of the Catholic Church in the Vatican.The aged pontiff Pope Pius VII sits on his throne with his tiara on his head. He is holding out his hand in blessing while looking straight towards us. On the other hand, the allegorical female figure on the right representing Divine Wisdom, is looking emotionally up to Heaven, while the woman on the left, Divine Power is looking down, thoughtfully engrossed in the book, the Bible, which she is holding. Sitting at the centre, the Pope thus becomes the balanced conveyor of a message consisting of equal parts of Christian sentiment and Christian wisdom. During a whole lifetime Thorvaldsen created more than 550 sculptures, reliefs and portrait busts and in his will bequeathed a large collection of his works - as well as collected works of other artists to the city of Copenhagen in 1830. In 1839 the city began building a museum - appropriately designed in the neoclassical style - to house the aging sculptor's valuable collection. Among his most famous works are the sculptures with motifs from Classical mythology, Venus, Mercury, Ganymede, Hebe, Cupid and Psyche. To this comes a number of monumental sculptures of historical persons, e.g. Pope Pius VII (a grave monument in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome) and the equestrian statue of Jozef Poniatowski (Warsaw). Thorvaldsen also carried out large orders for Denmark; most famous of these are the statues of Christ and the Apostles (in Vor Frue Kirke – Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen). Thorvaldsen's museum collection includes the original plaster models of his sculptures, the original design sketches, and many original pieces of his artwork, including his "Self Portrait" (1839). It also houses a huge collection of some 4500 documents and letters from, to and about the world-famous sculptor. Now the letters are being published in their original languages, Danish, German, Italian, French etc. in a user-friendly work of reference. At the same time they are being provided with explanatory commentaries, illustrations, registers, search tools, reference articles etc. The Thorvaldsen Museum is today one of the most visited sites in Copenhagen with an outstanding collection of his sculptures and Danish art from the Golden Age 1800-1850. On the representation of the Three Graces, Pausanias wrote . . "Who it was who first represented the Graces naked, whether in sculpture or in painting, I could not discover. During the earlier period, certainly, sculptors and painters alike represented them draped. At Smyrna, for instance, in the sanctuary of the Nemeses, above the images have been dedicated Graces of gold, the work of Bupalus; and in the Music Hall in the same city there is a portrait of a Grace, painted by Apelles. At Pergamus likewise, in the chamber of Attalus, are other images of Graces made by Bupalus; and near what is called the Pythium there is a portrait of Graces, painted by Pythagoras the Parian. Socrates too, son of Sophroniscus, made images of Graces for the Athenians, which are before the entrance to the Acropolis. All these are alike draped; but later artists, I do not know the reason, have changed the way of portraying them. Certainly to-day sculptors and painters represent Graces naked." The Charities are depicted together with several other mythological figures in Sandro Botticelli's painting "Primavera" among other artistic depictions, they are the subject of famous sculptures by Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen. ( Graces and Amor, by Bertel Thorvaldsen 1817-18, in Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen) 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 and now Denmark. 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.

Morgan Library & Museum opens Major Exhibition of 18th Century French Drawings Posted: 08 Dec 2010 07:11 PM PST NEW YORK, NY.- Few eras in French history witnessed the same degree of radical social and political changes as those of the eighteenth century. The efflorescence of the ancient régime and its eventual downfall provide the backdrop to a period of remarkable artistic vitality and variety that subtly chronicled the many changes taking place in France. It is this dynamic period in French art history that is the subject of Rococo and Revolution: Eighteenth-Century French Drawings. On view from October 2, 2009, through January 3, 2010, the show features more than eighty exceptional drawings almost exclusively from the Morgan's renowned holdings from this era. Artists represented in the exhibition include Antoine Watteau, Jacques-Louis David, François Boucher, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Claude Gillot, Nicolas Lancret, Hubert Robert, Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, Anne-Louis Girodet, and Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, among others.

The Elms Lesters Painting Rooms to exhibit "The Adam and Ron Show" Posted: 08 Dec 2010 07:08 PM PST LONDON - The Elms Lesters Painting Rooms will present The Adam and Ron Show, on view May 2-31, 2008. When Adam Neate was still an unknown artist leaving his painted cardboard works out on the street, he wrote to Ron English in New York to say how much he admired his work. For the first time, The Adam and Ron Show brings together these two urban art painters, both masters of their own style, in a major heavyweight show at the Elms Lesters Painting Rooms.

100 Year Homage to Frida Kahlo at Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes Posted: 08 Dec 2010 07:06 PM PST MEXICO CITY - The Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes opened last night the largest Frida Kahlo exhibition titled Frida Kahlo 1907 ~2007. National Homage, on view through August 19, 2007. This exhibition is part of the celebration for the centennial of Frida Kahlo's birth in 1907. In January 1940, for example, she was a participant (with Rivera) in the International Exhibition of Surrealism held in Mexico City. Later, she was to be vehement in her denials that she had ever been a true Surrealist. 'They thought I was a Surrealist,' she said, 'but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.' She is one of the greatest representatives of Mexican culture. The exhibition is a recognition of the importance of Frida's work and what she gave to art.

Lithographs by Pablo O'Higgins at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts Posted: 08 Dec 2010 07:03 PM PST SALT LAKE CITY, UT.- The Utah Museum of Fine Arts presents Pablo O'Higgins: Works on Paper, an exhibition of lithographs by an artist who — though virtually unknown in his home state of Utah — is widely celebrated throughout Mexico. Born in Salt Lake City in 1904, Paul Higgins studied under acclaimed local artists, James T. Harwood and LeConte Stewart at East High School. By the age of twenty, the gifted art student had moved to Mexico City, changed his name to Pablo Esteban O'Higgins, and secured a position as a mural assistant for the famed Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera. On view through 19 September, 2010.

Russian Art Sales Expected to Reach $81 Million for Auction Houses in London Posted: 08 Dec 2010 07:02 PM PST LONDON (REUTERS.- Auction houses are banking on a recovery at next week's series of big Russian art sales in London, at which they expect to show that the market dominated by new money is through the worst of the recession. With most at stake are Sotheby's and Russian specialist MacDougall's, who together offer works worth between 27 and 39 million pounds ($45-64 million). Christie's the world's largest auction house, has pre-sale estimates of 6.5-9.3 million pounds. The figures are sharply down on a year ago, reflecting how financial turmoil and falling stock and property values have hit super-wealthy collectors from Russia and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union and deterred owners from selling their best pieces.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales opens "Grand Weekend" Posted: 08 Dec 2010 07:00 PM PST SYDNEY.- The Art Gallery of New South Wales Grand Courts, home to Rubens, Van Gogh, Monet, Pissarro, Cezanne, Hogarth, Delacroix, Leighton, Constable, Gainsborough and Australian artists, Roberts, Streeton, McCubbin, Lambert, Bunny, Phillips Fox, Gruner and Ashton, will re-open to the public in 'grand' style on the Gallery's open weekend (September 12 & 13) with more than 50 free events. Some of the most significant and iconic paintings in the world hang permanently on the walls of the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the thirteen grand old courts. These rooms were the very first rooms of the gallery to be built in 1897 in typically grand Victorian style and scale.

Sotheby's to Offer Painting that Sparked Years of Debate and Controversy Posted: 08 Dec 2010 06:57 PM PST NEW YORK, NY.- On 28 January 2010, Sotheby's New York will offer a painting that has been at the center of one of the art world's most heated debates for over eighty years: Portrait of a Woman, called "La Belle Ferronnière" by a follower of Leonardo da Vinci (est. $300/500,000). Depicting a lady in three-quarters profile, the portrait is another version of a composition in the Louvre, now believed to be by either Leonardo or one of his pupils, depicting Lucrezia Crivelli, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. Since the widely publicized 1929 slander trial of the art world's foremost international expert, Sir Joseph Duveen, "La Belle Ferronnière's" attribution has been fiercely contested, raising questions of connoisseurship, authenticity, and the role of science in art history in the 21st Century. The picture's intricate story has fascinated readers for decades; the trial was closely followed by 'Time and New York Times' readers in the 1920s and is today the subject of a recently published book, 'The American Leonardo: A Tale of Obsession, Art and Money', written by John Brewer. After decades out of public view, La Belle Ferronnière will be exhibited at Sotheby's Los Angeles office on 13 January and at Sotheby's New York galleries beginning 23 January 2010.

Zoopsia ~ New Works by Tim Hawkinson at the Getty Center Posted: 08 Dec 2010 06:54 PM PST LOS ANGELES, CA - Contemporary art will be a major part of the J. Paul Getty Museum's program of exhibitions this spring with the presentation of Zoopsia: New Works by Tim Hawkinson, March 6 – September 9, 2007 at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Center.  Hawkinson's newly commissioned work will be on view in a special gallery on the Terrace Level of the West Pavilion, adjacent to the Museum's new galleries for photographs.  At the same time, the artist's monumental Überorgan will make its West Coast debut in the Museum's Entrance Hall.  The Zoopsia will be comprised of four interrelated objects involving zoological forms: a photographic collage Octopus, an ink wash painting Dragon, and two sculptures Bat and Leviathon. They have been installed in a single space of approximately 750 square feet.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) premieres 'Filmmaker in Focus ~ Ferzan Ozpetek' Posted: 08 Dec 2010 06:53 PM PST   NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of Modern Art, in association with Cinecittà Holding, presents the New York premiere of Ferzan Ozpetek's most recent film, Un giorno perfetto (A Perfect Day) (2008), as one of the features of Filmmaker in Focus: Ferzan Ozpetek, a seven-film exhibition of one of the most successful contemporary Italian filmmakers. The premiere of A Perfect Day on Friday, December 5, at 6:00 p.m., will be introduced by actress Isabella Ferrari, and followed by a Q&A with Ozpetek (b. 1959, Istanbul) and Laura Delli Colli, film critic and author of a monograph that will be released in conjunction with the exhibition, titled Ferzan Ozpetek: Eyes Wide Open, edited by Mondadori.

The FEMSA Collection, a Continental Vision at NHCC Posted: 08 Dec 2010 06:50 PM PST Albuquerque, NM - The National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) announces the opening of the traveling exhibition Colección FEMSA, una mirada continental.  Dr. Karen Cordero, Exhibition Curator and Professor in the Art History Department of the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City; and Lic. Rosa María Rodríguez Garza, FEMSA's Cultural Programs Coordinator, present this major exhibition. The exhibition will remain on view through Sunday, August 13, 2006.

The Norton Simon Museum opens Exhibition of Portrait Prints by Rembrandt Posted: 08 Dec 2010 06:49 PM PST PASADENA, CA.- The Norton Simon Museum presents The Familiar Face: Portrait Prints by Rembrandt, an exhibition of 15 etchings by Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669). Rembrandt's prominence as a painter of portraits, particularly those of the merchants and burghers of Amsterdam, is well known. But the artist's etched prints also have a place and purpose in recording the visages of his contemporaries. A skilled, innovative printmaker, Rembrandt embraced etching as a means of expression and experimentation. The artworks in The Familiar Face illustrate the artist's keen power of observation as well as his gift for drama and humor. On view 4 December through 22 March, 2010.

Sun Xun at Hammer Museum Posted: 08 Dec 2010 06:46 PM PST LOS ANGELES - Sun Xun, a Chinese artist born in 1980 and living in Hangzhou, creates animations that combine hand-drawn renderings and traditional materials with new media. He studied printmaking at the China Academy of Fine Arts, but a burgeoning interest in moving images led him to found his own animation studio in 2006. To create his meticulous animations, Sun Xun produces a multitude of drawings that incorporate text within the image. On view at the Hammer Museum through 12 October, 2008.

Sotheby's NYC to sell Masterpieces by Puerto Rican Painters Posted: 08 Dec 2010 06:44 PM PST   NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby's fall sales will feature two rare masterpieces by Puerto Rico's most acclaimed eighteenth- and nineteenth-century artists, José Campeche y Jordan (1751-1809) and Francisco Oller y Cestero (1833-1917). On the afternoon of November 12, Sotheby's London will offer Oller's epic painting La Batalla de Treviño (Est.$340 / 380,000) as part of The Spanish Sale, and on the evening of November 18, Sotheby's New York, as part of the Latin American Art Sale, will offer a fine example of one of Campeche's most beloved religious subjects, La Virgen de la Merced (Est. $150 / 200,000).

Lecture at Clark Explores Fragonard's Drawings Posted: 08 Dec 2010 06:38 PM PST   WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - One of the artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard's many talents was as a book illustrator, and one of his great achievements was a series of drawings presumably meant for an ambitious project that never made it fully to fruition: a luxury edition of Jean de la Fontaine's Contes et Nouvelles en Vers. The lecture, "Fragonard and the Fable," by Mark Ledbury, associate director of the Clark's Research and Academic Programs, on Sunday, November 18, at 2 pm, explores this project and Fragonard's astonishing drawings for it, and more widely Fragonard's talent as an illustrator of fables and tales.

Art Knowledge News Presents "This Week In Review" Posted: 08 Dec 2010 06:37 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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