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

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• Koller Zurich Announces Their Autumn Auctions of 2,000 Lots
• The Texas Contemporary Art Fair Comes to Houston October 20th - 23rd
• The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center Shows an Exhibition of European Drawings
• The Ketterer Kunst Presents Pop Art Prints in Berlin
• Large-scale Solo Exhibition of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Work Opens in Germany
• The Moscow Museum of Modern Art Presents ~ "Necrorealism"
• The (e)merge Art Fair Brings New Artists & Galleries to Washington DC
• The Baltic's Comprehensive Exhibition of Works by Robert Breer ~ As A Tribute To His Life
• MoMA Wales Presents Traditional Welsh Idioms "No Hope Like a Canary"
• The National Academy Museum Reopening Features a Will Barnet Retrospective
• The Smithsonian American Art Museum ~ A Phenomenal Collection Of American Art In Washington D.C.
• Gagosian Gallery Presents Picasso and Marie-Therese: L'amour fou In NYC
• Tate Modern Announces "Arshile Gorky: A Major Retrospective"
• Kunstmuseum Basel shows Hannah Villiger Photographic Exhibition
• Schirn Kusthalle Opens Major Retrospective of the Work of Uwe Lausen
• "Passage To The Future" Contemporary Japanese Art On Show In Islamabad, Pakistan
• Greenfield Sacks Gallery Shows Legendary Los Angeles Artist Ed Moses
• JOHN LATHAM: 'TIME BASE AND THE UNIVERSE' at P. S. 1
• Shelburne Museum hosts a Major Mary Cassatt Exhibit
• This Week in Review in Art Knowledge News

Koller Zurich Announces Their Autumn Auctions of 2,000 Lots Posted: 17 Sep 2011 10:40 PM PDT Zurich.- Under the title "Assured and Timeless", the Koller auction house in Zurich has announced their Autumn auctions, which will be held between September 19th and 24th. Around 2000 lots will be offered for sale at over seven auctions at Koller Zurich. After the sensational results of the June sale of Swiss Art with around CHF 14 million and the final price of CHF 7.3 million for the portraits of two children by Albert Anker, the Swiss auction house enters the autumn season with an especially strong selection of works by the masters. One of the most important objects in September is an outstanding painting by the Antwerp master Frans Francken the younger. His remarkably detailed Old Testament scene of the "Feast of Belshazzar" from circa 1610, which 25 years later was also depicted by Rembrandt, will be offered with an estimate of CHF 700,000 / 900,000 on 23 September. The auction of Furniture and Decorations also promises a strong range of works in all areas, including for example a "Bureau Mécanique" from the collection of Eugène de Beauharnais, first son of the famous Josephine. The classic Dutch still life is represented with Jacob Marrel's "Bouquet of Flowers in a Clay Vase" (CHF 350,000 / 450,000) circa 1645 and the masterly floral still life with insects by Ambrosius Bosschaert the younger from 1631 (CHF 200,000 / 300,000). Lovers of the Dutch old masters will relish a work by the artist known as the Master of the Mansi Magdalene. His "Holy Family before a broad landscape" is estimated by Koller at a value of between CHF 220,000 and 280,000. From Italy comes the "Martyrdom of Saint Agatha" by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, with an estimate of CHF 50,000 / 70,000; the "Penitent  Magdalene" by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called il Guercino, with an estimate of CHF 150,000 / 200,000 and a splendid depiction of St Mark's Square in Venice with the Basilica by Francesco Guardi, which will be offered at between CHF 80,000 and CHF 120,000. Two important works by Carl Spitzweg will be offered for sale at the Auction of 19th Century Paintings: the oil painting "In the garden – the philosopher" made between 1850 and 1855 (CHF 100,000 / 150,000) and the thoroughly charming and almost touching "Bergmännchen" from 1845/50 (CHF 60,000 / 80,000). Russian art is represented, amongst others, by the work of Konstantin Ivanovic Gorbatoff, whose winter landscape will be offered with an estimate of CHF 80,000 / 120,000. At the Auction of Old Master Prints and Drawings the work of the great masters from the early 14th to the 19th centuries are represented. From a book illustrator from the Lake Constance area comes a page fragment from a liturgical book with scenes from the life of Saint Catherine of Alexandria with an estimate of CHF 40,000 / 60,000. From Albrecht Dürer comes a 1520 copper engraving depicting the Virgin with infant in swaddling at the attractive price of CHF 9,000 - CHF 14,000. Anne Louis Girodet-Trison created the pen drawing "Jesus blessing the children" which will be auctioned at an estimate of CHF 6,000 / 9,000. Finally, lovers of the gouache may acquire a work by Johann Ludwig Bleuler's circle, a depiction of the "Borromean Islands in Lago Maggiore" for CHF 3,000 - CHF 5,000. Two highlights of the Books Auction are the complete cycles "Los Proverbios" (CHF 7,000 / 10,000) and "Los Caprichos" (CHF 15,000 / 20,000) by the Spaniard Francisco de Goya, who had created religious frescoes, altarpieces, tapestry designs and countless portraits of the nobility, before he turned away from courtly life and addressed the political and social circumstances of the time. "Los Caprichos" is a cycle of 80 socially critical aquatint etchings produced between 1793 and 1799. It was a key work which made Goya's name and his art famous throughout Europe. The history of the Jewish war is the masterpiece of the Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, written in the years 75-79. This, together with the "Antiquitates Judaicae" written somewhat later, was published in March 1481 by Reynaldus de Nimwegen as an incunable in one volume. At the Books Auction this rare piece will be offered with an estimate of CHF 26,000 / 32,000. From the collection of the infamous Cardinal Richelieu comes Pliny's "Secundi historiae mundi libri XXXVII". This work, bound in leather and with Richelieu's supralibros, published in 1606, will be offered with an estimate of CHF 1,500 / 2,000. Bringing together sought-after works and their collectors is one of the strengths of the Furniture and Decorations Auction at Koller. Amongst the top objects is an Important Renaissance Cabinet with pietra dura inlays, with an estimate of CHF 180,000 / 280,000. With an estimate of CHF 250,000 / 450,000 comes a "Bureau mécanique" attributed to the Empire period master cabinet maker A. Régnier. This extremely rare item comes from the collection of Eugène de Beauharnais, son from the first marriage of the famous Joséphine, wife of the Emperor Napoleon.  Traditionally the Auction of Jewellery and Wristwatches comprises a large selection of signed modern jewellery as well as numerous old and antique gems and generally a large number of works in diamonds. Especially noteworthy are the lots from the mid 20th century. These outstanding pieces include a Diamond Wristwatch from the house of Kutchinsky with an estimate of CHF 25 000 to CHF 35 000; a Diamond Necklace at CHF 17,000 to CHF 27,000; a Ruby and Diamond Clip by Van Cleef & Arples with an estimate of CHF 23,000 / 33,000; an Onyx and Diamond Ring circa 1925 at CHF 25,000 to CHF 35,000; as well as a Sapphire and Diamond Brooch by Tiffany & Co for CHF 18,000 to CHF 28,000. Amongst the wristwatches comes a Frank Muller Gentleman's Wristwatch Chrono-Automatic for CHF 10,000 to CHF 15,000, as well as a Diamond Wristwatch by Louis Moinet for CHF 10,000 to CHF 15,000. Antique jewellery is represented with for example a Natural Pearl and Enamel Pendant or Brooch by René Boivin from circa 1890 for CHF 7,000 to CHF 10,000 and a Diamond-Aigrette/Brooch from 1880 for CHF 8,000 to CHF 14,000. A fine, 45-part Meissen Tea and Chocolate service from 1738/1740 with an estimate of CHF 60,000 / 80,000 and an exquisite Meissen Coffee Pot with merchant scenes attributed to Christian F. Herold at CHF 24,000 to CHF 28,000 are both amongst the highlights of the Porcelain Auction, together with the splendid "Augustus Rex" Vase with fire-breathing dragon and lavish flowers: this too is from the Meissen factory and will be offered at auction with an estimate of CHF 10,000 / 15,000. Highlights of the Silver Auction include two Covered Tureens with Bowls, fashioned circa 1808/1809 by the London master Paul Storr to be offered at an estimate of  CHF 8,000 / 12,000. Koller is the leading Swiss auction house and among the foremost auctioneers worldwide, Koller has been holding successful auctions for 50 years. Koller organizes over 60 auctions annually in more than 15 categories, including old master & 19th century paintings, prints and drawings; Swiss art, modern & contemporary art; furniture and decorative arts; jewelry; Asian art; art nouveau & art deco; books & autographs; tribal art, and wine. A family-owned company, Koller's name is synonymous with professional, personalized service and outstanding results. With seven representative offices worldwide from London to Shanghai, its membership in the worldwide auctioneers' alliance IA, International Auctioneers, and its widespread presence in international publications and the Internet, Koller offers all of the advantages of an international auction house combined with Swiss efficiency and dependability. Visit the auction house's website at ... http://www.kollerauktionen.ch

The Texas Contemporary Art Fair Comes to Houston October 20th - 23rd Posted: 17 Sep 2011 10:39 PM PDT Houston, TX.- artMRKT Productions, a newly formed Brooklyn-based organizer of modern and contemporary art fairs, has announced Houston as the host city for its inaugural Texas Contemporary Art Fair, taking place between October 20th and  23rd at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Texas Contemporary will present 50 contemporary art dealers from around the world, including a section showcasing special projects and pieces that focus on energy and sustainability by Texas-based artists featured in solo booths. Texas Contemporary's opening night preview will be held Thursday, October 20 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., with a VIP preview party following. Proceeds from all opening night ticket purchases will be donated to the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. The Texas Contemporary fair will continue through October 23.

The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center Shows an Exhibition of European Drawings Posted: 17 Sep 2011 10:29 PM PDT POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.- The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College will present an exhibition of the finest early collection of European drawings in the United States this fall from September 16 through December 11. On Friday, September 16, at 6pm in Taylor Hall (room 203), William Breazeale, Curator of the Crocker Art Museum, will deliver a lecture entitled "Fragonard on the Frontier: The Crocker Collection of Old Master Drawings." This will be followed by an opening reception at the Art Center. Previously the exhibition was seen at both the Crocker Art Museum (Sacramento, CA) and the Portland (OR) Art Museum, however this is its only East Coast presentation.

The Ketterer Kunst Presents Pop Art Prints in Berlin Posted: 17 Sep 2011 10:28 PM PDT Berlin.- The Ketterer Kunst is pleased to present "Pop Art in Berlin: It Doesn't Always Have to be Warhol" on view at the gallery through October 9th. Andy Warhol is both the epitomy and an icon of pop art. However, it doesn't always have to be Warhol, this exhibition demonstrates just that. With prices ranging between € 50 and € 10.000, the more than 60 original prints on display are affordable for all those who are interested in Pop Art. What is considered Pop Art today has its origins in both the USA and England in the 1950's. It was Jasper Johns who made an artwork consisting of two bronze beer cans in 1959, three years before Andy Warhol came up wit the famous Campbell soup tins, and in the series of prints named "Reaper", Richard Hamilton decomposed a lawn mower into its parts as early as in 1949.

Large-scale Solo Exhibition of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Work Opens in Germany Posted: 17 Sep 2011 10:20 PM PDT CHEMNITZ, GERMANY - The Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz is presenting the large-scale exhibition PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR. Like Painted Silk from 18 September 2011 to 8 January 2012. The exhibition aims to cast an altogether new light on the great Impressionist painter. In addition to masterpieces from private collections and from European museums such as the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, the National Museum of Stockholm and the Belvedere in Vienna, the show will also include the rich stock of prints by Renoir from the Saarland Museum in Saarbrücken. This unique exhibition of more than 90 paintings and prints will be shown exclusively in Chemnitz, indeed it is the first solo exhibition of Renoir's works on the territory of the new federal German states.

The Moscow Museum of Modern Art Presents ~ "Necrorealism" Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:53 PM PDT Moscow.- The Moscow Museum of Modern Art is pleased to present "Necrorealism", on view at the museum from September 23rd through October 30th. Necrorealism emerged in the early 1980s in Leningrad, founded by Evgeny Yufit, artist and independent film director. Necrorealism overturned the established Soviet concept of death as the only possible heroic 'death in the name of Motherland'. Necrorealism was born as a social protest, full of absurdity and black humor, and based on forensic medicine textbooks. The main aesthetic theme of Necrorealism is the condition of man standing on the verge of death and demonstrating some pathology. The artists tried to represent the unthinkable – death itself. The very title contained a paradox: necro, which means death, and realism pointing to life.

The (e)merge Art Fair Brings New Artists & Galleries to Washington DC Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:44 PM PDT Washington, DC.- (e)merge, a new, vetted art fair focused on emerging artists and galleries with emerging art, will take place between September 22nd and September 25th at the Capitol Skyline Hotel in Washington, DC. (e)merge will feature international galleries and nonprofits along with artist, curator and collector panel discussions, tours, and performances. Artists currently without gallery representation have the opportunity to exhibit their vetted works at no charge throughout the hotel grounds and in the hotel itself. The (e)merge art fair will take place within blocks of the National Mall, home to internationally renowned cultural institutions including the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and many Smithsonian museums. "Washington, DC is a natural base for this art fair," said Helen Allen, one of the Fair's three organizers. "The city's museums are among the world's best and most visited, and it has a vibrant artist and gallery scene."

The Baltic's Comprehensive Exhibition of Works by Robert Breer ~ As A Tribute To His Life Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:33 PM PDT Gateshead, UK.- The Baltic Centre is currently showing "Robert Breer" in its Level 3 and Level 4 Galleries. This major exhibition of American artist Robert Breer brings together his paintings, ground-breaking films and radical sculptures from the last 60 years. Considered one of the most influential animator/film-makers in history, this is the artist's most comprehensive exhibition to date. Sadly, Robert Breer died on Saturday August 13th at the age of 85, and did not live to see this exhibition close. "Robert Breer" remains on view at the Baltic, and then travels to the Tinguely Museum in Basel where it will be on display from October 26th through January 29th 2012.

MoMA Wales Presents Traditional Welsh Idioms "No Hope Like a Canary" Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:18 PM PDT Machynlleth, Wales.- The Museum of Modern Art, Wales is proud to present "Dim Gobath Caneri (No Hope Like a Canary"), an exhibition of works inspired by traditional Welsh idioms by poet Mike Jenkins and artist Michalel Gustavius Payne, on view at the museum until October 29th. Thanks to a grant from the Arts Council of Wales Michael Gustavius Payne (or Gus as he's known in Merthyr) and poet Mike Jenkins have produced "Dim Gobaith Caneri"using ideas inspired by traditional Welsh idioms and phrases to explore themes relevant to Wales and the world today, in a modern context. Payne explained that "the idea of using the Dim Gobaith Caneri idiom as a theme was intended initially to be working title, but as things moved onward, it seemed to become even more relevant as ideas became distilled and the points binding both our contributions became more and more apparent".

The National Academy Museum Reopening Features a Will Barnet Retrospective Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:17 PM PDT New York City.- The National Academy Museum reopens to the public after major refurbishment on September 16th. Amongst an array of new exhibitions, the museum will be showing the first New York retrospective of Will Barnet's work. "Will Barnet at 100" will explore the dialogue between figuration and abstraction that has defined Barnet's remarkable 80-year career. A painter, printmaker and teacher who has worked largely outside the various schools of Modernism, Barnet has made significant and unique contributions to American art in the realms of both abstraction and figuration. Will Barnet at 100 will feature approximately 45 works from private and museum collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The Montclair Art Museum, and the Neuberger Museum of Art. "Will Barnet at 100" will be on view at the museum from September 16th through December 31st. Born in 1911 in Beverly, Massachusetts, Barnet knew by the age of ten that he wanted to be an artist. As a student he studied with Philip Leslie Hale at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and viewed first-hand John Singer Sargent at work on the murals of the Boston Public Library. In 1930 Barnet studied at the Art Students League of New York, with Stuart Davis, beginning his long association with the school. Here he concentrated on painting as well as printmaking, and in 1936 he became the official printer for the Art Students League. There, he later instructed students in the graphic arts at the school and taught alongside the likes of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Robert Beverly Hale and Richard Pousette-Dart. Barnet continued his love of teaching with positions at the Cooper Union, at Yale University, and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Barnet's works, while remaining universal, reference his own personal history complete with images of his wife, his daughter and their family pets. As James Thomas Flexner wrote, Barnet's work "makes us experience the interplay between the personal and the universal." While remaining representational, the simple elegance of the figures and their flat surfaces reflect his exploration with abstraction. He was a key figure in the New York movement called Indian Space Painting, artists who based their abstract and semi-abstract work on Native American art. For many years he pursued abstraction in painting, then a fashionable trend in the USA. His later work returned to figurative painting. He is probably best known for his enigmatic portraits of family, made from the 1970s onwards, notable the Silent Seasons series. However, his earlier works maintain an edginess and brooding contemplation that is even more remarkable when compared with the more placid and pretty works which followed his second marriage. His works have entered virtually every major public collection in the United States, including, the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He has been the subject of over eighty solo exhibitions held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of American Art of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the National Academy of Design Museum, the National Museum of American Art, Montclair Art Museum,and the Boca Raton Museum of Art among others. Barnet has been the recipient of numerous awards including the first Artist's Lifetime Achievement Award Medal given on the occasion of the National Academy of Design's 175th anniversary, the College Art Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art's Lippincott Prize, and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters' Childe Hassam Prize. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Design, The Century Association, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Barnet has defined an artistic career that, in the words of Robert Doty, "has always gone beyond the limitations of modern art because his work affirms a faith in life." Founded in 1825, the National Academy is the only institution of its kind that integrates a museum, art school, and association of artists and architects dedicated to creating and preserving a living history of American Art. Modeled after the Royal Academy in London, the National Academy was founded with the simple yet powerful mission to "promote the fine arts in America through instruction and exhibition." For the very first time in this country, an arts institution was conceived with artists and architects at its core. Today, with its museum, art school, and association of artists and architects – the National Academicians – the Academy sees its original mission realized through a contemporary lens. It is a continually evolving testament to the transformative power of art, an institution that sheds light on over 7,000 great works, a thriving forum for education, intergenerational dialogue and debate, and a source of vibrant exhibitions. The National Academy is an organization where tradition is celebrated and new visionaries embraced, connecting the past, present, and future of American art. Funded by generous bequests from Eleanor D. Popper, a former student of the School, and author Geoffrey Wagner in memory of his wife, Colleen Browning Wagner, an American realist painter and National Academician (NA), the National Academy's newly renovated spaces open September 2011. The renovation will revitalize the Academy's entrance on Fifth Avenue, include new student and faculty galleries, enhance the second and fourth floor galleries and expand the public assembly space. Visit the academy's website at ... http://www.nationalacademy.org

The Smithsonian American Art Museum ~ A Phenomenal Collection Of American Art In Washington D.C. Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:08 PM PDT The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum complex and research organization, comprising 19 museums and nine research centers. The Smithsonian American Art Museum, begun in 1829, is the first federal art collection and is dedicated to the collection and display of American Art (art produced by American artists or in America by others). The museum began with gifts from private collections and art organizations established in the nation's capital before the founding of the Smithsonian in 1846. The museum has grown steadily to become a center for the study, enjoyment, and preservation of America's cultural heritage. Today the collection consists of artworks in all media, spanning more than 300 years of artistic achievement. The collection began modestly in 1829 when a Washingtonian named John Varden set out to form a permanent museum for the nation with his collection of European art. At first, the art was placed in a room he added to his own house near the U.S. Capitol. In 1841, Varden's collection was displayed in the newly constructed Patent Office Building (coincidentally, the museum's home today). The establishment of the Smithsonian in 1846 eclipsed the prestige of the institute, which later disbanded. By 1858, many items in the Smithsonian Art Collection on view at the Patent Office Building were moved a few blocks to the newly completed Smithsonian Castle. The remainder of the collection followed in 1862. But a destructive fire there in 1865 increased the Smithsonian's reluctance to build cultural collections. For the rest of the century, most of the artwork was placed on loan to the Library of Congress and to the Corcoran Gallery of Art. A turning point in the history of the collection came in 1906. That year the probated will of Harriet Lane Johnston, an art collector and niece of President James Buchanan, forced an important decision in a federal court: the recognition that the Smithsonian's collection formed a "National Gallery of Art." Coined during a national art-collecting boom, the official name soon attracted major gifts. Highly prized were diverse artworks owned by John Gellatly and American impressionist paintings and Barbizon landscapes collected by William T. Evans. Plans to build a permanent home for the museum on the National Mall came and went, among them a prize-winning modernist structure that shocked federal officials. The competition had been organized after Andrew Mellon gave his European-focused art collection to the nation in 1937 with the stipulation that his new museum be called the "National Gallery of Art" in emulation of the National Gallery of Art in London. To comply with Mellon's wishes for a National Gallery of Art to house his European collection, the Smithsonian museum known as the National Gallery of Art for the previous thirty-one years was renamed the National Collection of Fine Arts in 1937. It was given a new mission based on New Deal idealism: to promote the work of living artists and to build a national audience. The interest in historic preservation after World War II ultimately was responsible for giving the first Smithsonian art museum a new home and preserving an architectural treasure. In 1957, a bill was introduced in Congress to tear down the elegant Patent Office Building to make way for a parking lot. Deteriorated but still one of the purest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the nation, the structure was saved when Congress turned the building over to the Smithsonian. In 1968, after an extensive interior renovation, the museum opened to the public. In 1972, the Renwick Gallery opened to the public as a branch museum featuring American crafts. In 1980, the museum's name was changed to the National Museum of American Art as part of a Smithsonian initiative to standardize the names of its many museums and to reflect the national scope of the collections. Since then, the museum has focused its energy on acquiring and promoting the work of artists in the United States exclusively. Twenty years later, the museum proposed that it be called the Smithsonian American Art Museum as an easy-to-remember name and a straightforward presentation of its mission. Congress approved this change in October 2000. The Smithsonian American Art Museum's main building, a dazzling showcase for American art and portraiture, is a National Historic Landmark and is considered one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. Several important early American architects were involved in the original design of the building, including Robert Mills and Thomas U. Walter. Begun in 1836 and completed in 1868, it is one of the oldest public buildings constructed in early Washington. The Smithsonian American Art Museum's branch for craft and decorative arts, the Renwick Gallery, is close to the White House in the heart of historic federal Washington. Its Second Empire-style building, also a National Historic Landmark, was designed by architect James Renwick Jr. in 1859 and completed in 1874. In the 1990s, the Smithsonian embarked on a plan to restore the main building, and to create innovative new public facilities. The recent renovation (2000-2006) revealed the full magnificence of the building's exceptional architectural features, such as the porticos modeled after the Parthenon in Athens, a curving double staircase, colonnades, vaulted galleries, large windows, and skylights as long as a city block. Full circulation on all three floors for the public has been restored. Extraordinary effort was made to use new preservation technologies to restore the historic fabric of the building and re-use historic materials. Two innovative and bold new public spaces are open to museum visitors: the Lunder Conservation Center and the Luce Foundation Center for American Art. In addition, the Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium and the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard are major enhancements that make this a destination museum for the 21st century. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is one of the nation's leading centers for the study of American art. The museum offers academic opportunities for scholars at the graduate level and above, research opportunities for visiting scholars, and professional museum training for college seniors and graduate students. The museum also produces 'American Art', a peer-reviewed periodical on the arts in America, organizes scholarly symposia, and sponsors several annual publication prize awards. The museum's specialized art databases of a half million records and its extensive photograph archives further research efforts in the field. Education staff and docents welcome students and teachers at both venues, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the nation's first collection of American art and one of the world's largest and most inclusive collections of art made in the United States, is an unparalleled record of the American experience. The collection captures the aspirations, character, and imagination of the American people across more than three centuries. These artworks reveal America's rich artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today. In recent years, the museum has strengthened its commitment to contemporary art, and in particular media arts. All regions, cultures, and traditions in this country are represented in the museum's collections, research resources, exhibitions, and public programs. Colonial portraiture, nineteenth-century landscape, American impressionism, twentieth-century realism and abstraction, New Deal projects, sculpture, photography, prints and drawings, contemporary crafts, African American art, Latino art, and folk art are all featured in the collection. More than 7,000 artists are represented in the collection, including major masters such as John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, Helen Frankenthaler, Christo, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Lee Friedlander, Nam June Paik, Jackson Pollock, Martin Puryear, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein. The museum has been a leader in identifying significant aspects of American visual culture and actively collecting and exhibiting works of art before many other major public collections. The museum has the largest collection of 'New Deal' art and the finest collections of contemporary craft, American impressionist paintings and masterpieces from the Gilded Age. Other pioneering collections include historic and contemporary folk art; work by African American and Latino artists; photography from its origins in the nineteenth century to contemporary works; images of western expansion; and realist art from the first half of the twentieth century. The Renwick Gallery, a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, features one of the finest collections of American craft in the United States. Its collections, exhibition program, and publications highlight the best craft objects and decorative arts from the nineteenth century to the present. The museum's Luce Foundation Center for American Art, a study center and visible art storage facility, displays more than 3,300 artworks from the museum's permanent collection in a three-story skylight space. The highlight of the temporary exhibitions currently on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum is "Alexis Rockman: A Fable for Tomorrow" until May 8th 2011. Alexis Rockman has been depicting the natural world with virtuosity and wit for more than two decades. He was one of the first contemporary artists to build his career around exploring environmental al issues, from evolutionary biology and genetic engineering to deforestation and climate change. Rockman has garnered attention for embracing these issues, as well as for the epic quality of his projects, including several monumentally scaled canvases. His work expresses deep concerns about the world's fragile ecosystems and the tension between nature and culture, which are communicated through vivid, even apocalyptic, imagery. Rockman achieves his vision through a synthesis of fantasy and empirical fact, using sources as varied as natural history, botanical illustrations, museum dioramas, science fiction films, realist art traditions dating back to the Renaissance, and firsthand field study. Alexis Rockman: A fable for Tomorrow is the first major survey of the artist's work and features 47 paintings and works on paper from private and public collections. The title of the exhibition is taken from the opening chapter of Rachel Carson's influential 1962 book Silent Spring. In it, Carson combines two seemingly incompatible literary genres, mythic narrative and factual reportage. Rockman approaches his paintings with a similar intent. The exhibition traces Rockman's artistic development from the mid-1980s to the present. Highlights include "Evolution" (1992), his first mural-sized painting, and "Manifest Destiny" (2003-2004), an ambitious large-scale work commissioned by the Brooklyn Museum of Art. An accompanying book has been produced, co-published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and London-based D Giles Ltd. In addition to the Rockman retrospective, 3 rotating exhibitions feature exhibits from the main collection. "Close to Home: Photographers and Their Families" until July 24th 2011 presents photographs made during the past three decades by both established and emerging artists. It features thirty-two color and black-and-white photographs from the permanent collection. "Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image" takes stock of the cutting-edge tools and materials used by video artists during the past forty years and features key artworks from the history of video art alongside works by the latest generation of artists. The "Grand Salon Installation: Paintings from the Smithsonian American Art Museum" at the Renwick Gallery is an installation of seventy paintings from the collection showing the development of American art from the 1840s to the 1930s. The Smithsonian American Art Museum displays its collections and presents special exhibitions in two locations in Washington, D.C. Its main building is located at the heart of a vibrant downtown cultural district, while its branch museum for contemporary craft and decorative arts, the Renwick Gallery, is located nine blocks west, near the White House. Before you visit, please take a moment to look over our Gallery Guidelines so you know what to expect. If you are looking for a quiet place to work or to check your e-mail, free public wireless Internet access (Wi-Fi) is available in the Luce Foundation Center. Please note: the Kogod Courtyard and the Courtyard Cafe are temporarily closed due to construction. If your time is limited, stop by the Information Desk for a self-guided tour brochure, Ten Highlights, which includes the innovative Luce Foundation Center for American Art and the Lunder Conservation Center, or take advantage of one of the daily docent-led tours of the collection. Don't forget, American Art's main building is open every evening until 7 p.m. so you can visit your favorite painting before going to dinner or heading home. Education staff and docents welcome students and teachers to "our space" at two venues, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery. At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, interactive tours yield lively exchanges about our collection as windows on American history. At the Renwick Gallery, students handle and explore unique craft objects by contemporary artists to learn about process, material, and technique. A variety of programs are offered in the center, including themed scavenger hunts for children, a weekly sketching workshop, Art + Coffee tours and a variety of interactive games. Ten award-winning interactive computer kiosks share information about every object on display and include discussions of each artwork, artist biographies, audio interviews, still images, and nearly seventy videos created exclusively for the Luce Center. Audio tours with more than 180 stops can be accessed through a cell phone, iTunes, or free MP3 players available at the Center's information desk. Visit The Smithsonian American Art Museum at : www.americanart.si

Gagosian Gallery Presents Picasso and Marie-Therese: L'amour fou In NYC Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:07 PM PDT NEW YORK, NY.- Following the critical and popular success of Picasso: Mosqueteros in New York in 2009 and Picasso: The Mediterranean Years in London in 2010, Gagosian Gallery presents the next chapter in an ongoing exploration of Picasso's principal themes. Picasso and Marie-Thérèse: L'amour fou brings together the paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints inspired by one of Picasso's most ideal models and enduring passions. The exhibition is curated by the eminent Picasso biographer, John Richardson, together with Marie-Thérèse's granddaughter, art historian Diana Widmaier Picasso, who is currently preparing a catalogue raisonné of Picasso's sculptures. The exhibition is on view from April 14 through June 25, 2011.

Tate Modern Announces "Arshile Gorky: A Major Retrospective" Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:06 PM PDT LONDON.- Tate Modern will present the first major retrospective of Arshile Gorky (c.1904-1948) to be seen in Europe for twenty years. Celebrating one of the most powerful and poetic American artists of his generation, "Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective" will examine the extraordinary contribution of this seminal figure in Abstract Expressionism. The exhibition will span Gorky's 25 year career and offer the opportunity to see this complex and moving body of work as a whole. It will include more than 150 paintings and works on paper, many of which have not been shown in public previously. On view from 10 Februay through 3 May, 2010.

Kunstmuseum Basel shows Hannah Villiger Photographic Exhibition Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:05 PM PDT   Basel, Switzerland - Hannah Villiger described herself as a sculptor throughout her life, and until the late '70s she produced 3-dimensional works. In 1980, she began to concentrate almost exclusively on the medium of photography. She repeatedly photographed herself, her Polaroid camera sometimes very close, groping along her naked body, and sometimes only as far away as her outstretched arm would allow. This generated fragmentary image details of single body parts or parts folded into each other, which were turned, reflected, enlarged many times, and mounted on aluminum sheets as color or black and white photographs. Overexposure, blurring of focus, and extreme light/dark or color contrast often gave rise to a high degree of abstraction, as did the act of turning individual photographs and arranging them side by side or in a multi-part block prints.

Schirn Kusthalle Opens Major Retrospective of the Work of Uwe Lausen Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:04 PM PDT FRANKFURT.- Uwe Lausen's work ranks among the most powerful, yet hitherto still little-known positions of figurative painting in Germany in the 1960s. On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of his death in 2010, the Schirn devotes a major retrospective to the self-taught artist who took his own life. Within only nine years, Lausen produced an artistic oeuvre characterized by rapid thrusts of development, convincingly translating the influence of Pop Art from England and America setting in from 1964 on into a very personal language in keeping with the times. Lausen was not concerned with depicting the trite world of consumerism, but with unsparingly exposing human and sociopolitical dramas. Criticizing the social constraints of his time in a desperately aggressive manner, which manifested itself in his works' cool realism, Lausen anticipated tendencies that would become evident in the German Autumn of 1977. On exhibition through 13 June, 2010.

"Passage To The Future" Contemporary Japanese Art On Show In Islamabad, Pakistan Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:03 PM PDT Islamabad, Pakistan (The International News).- Amidst anxiety and concerns regarding the massive earthquake disaster hitting Japan and its continuing after-effects the exhibition titled 'Passage to the Future: Art from a New Generation in Japan,' was inaugurated at the National Art Gallery on Wednesday 16th March 2011. As a part of 'Japan Week' celebration offering a diverse exhibit of Japanese contemporary art, the exhibition is jointly organised by Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation in collaboration with Pakistan National Council of the Arts, Pakistan-Japan Cultural Association, Islamabad, and the MEXT Alumni Association of Pakistan.

Greenfield Sacks Gallery Shows Legendary Los Angeles Artist Ed Moses Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:02 PM PDT SANTA MONICA, CA.- In a career spanning five decades, legendary Los Angeles artist Ed Moses has been an inventive and prolific leader in abstract painting. Moses, born 1926 in Long Beach, studied at UCLA, receiving B.A. and M.A. degrees. He has remained in the Los Angeles area much of his life and is one of the city's outstanding abstract artists. In the course of his career he has explored many styles, and relentlessly pursues the process of painting. His work ranges from compositions featuring repeated decorative patterns, to large fields of flowing color or to hard-edged geometric designs. Color is not used to describe objects, but rather to establish pure aesthetic experience. The exhibition is on view at Greenfield Sacks Gallery through June 5, 2010.

JOHN LATHAM: 'TIME BASE AND THE UNIVERSE' at P. S. 1 Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:01 PM PDT Long Island City, NY - P.S.1 proudly presents Time Base and the Universe, an exhibition of approximately thirty works by the late British artist John Latham (1921-2006).  Conceived with the artist prior to his death in January 2006, the show surveys the major stages of his career, spanning over fifty years.  Time Base and the Universe is on view in the second floor Main Gallery from October 29, 2006 through January 8, 2007.

Shelburne Museum hosts a Major Mary Cassatt Exhibit Posted: 17 Sep 2011 09:00 PM PDT SHELBURNE, VT - Mary Cassatt: Friends and Family features more than 60 works by Cassatt and Edgar Degas, many of which are on loan from private collections and museums including, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Cassatt's signature monumental mother-and-child works figure prominently in the exhibit. Little known family portraits and Cassatt's personal correspondence add fresh insight into the artist's world.

This Week in Review in Art Knowledge News Posted: 17 Sep 2011 08:59 PM PDT 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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