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

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• The Munch Museum in Oslo Shows "Munch's Laboratory"
• Images from the Wales National Collections Are Made Available Online
• The Lanning Gallery Autumn Show Features Works by Randi Solin & Jonathan Harris
• Sigmar Polke's Complete Graphic Works Exhibited in Sao Paulo Brazil
• The Art Fair Company Presents the 18th Annual SOFA Chicago Show
• La Luz de Jesus Continues its 25th Anniversary Celebratory Show
• Evansville Museum of Art Commemorates Cities Association With the Ohio River
• The Holburne Museum Features Landscapes by Thomas Gainsborough
• Expanding Investment Options ~ Trading and Borrowing Against Fine Art
• An Open House of American Art at Private Dealers in New York
• Madrid’s Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza Presents A Retrospective Devoted to Jean-Léon Gérome
• Yeshiva University Museum features "I of the Storm: Michael Hafftka, Recent Work"
• Martine Chaisson Gallery Presents Photographer Herman Mhire "Altered States"
• The Oklahoma City Museum of Arts Shows New Deal Artworks From the Smithsonian Collection
• Indian and South East Asian Art Sale Announced at Sotheby's
• The Royal Ontario Museum shows 'Shanghai 1860-1949: Historical Photographs'
• Christie's Presents 14th Imperial Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art in Hong Kong
• The Great Kings of India to Hold Court at the Art Gallery of Ontario
• "Wanderlust" Drives Travel Photography Exhibition at FJJMA
• This Week in Review in Art Knowledge News

The Munch Museum in Oslo Shows "Munch's Laboratory" Posted: 31 Oct 2011 11:51 PM PDT Oslo, Norway  - The exhibition "Munch's Laboratory. The Path to the Aula" is the Munch Museum's contribution to the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the University of Oslo. The museum's project takes Edvard Munch and the 1911 celebrations as it's historical basis. The Chancellor of the University, Waldemar Christian Brøgger, had great ambitions following the dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905. These plans included a new festival hall (The "Aula") with monumental decorations. Munch was interested in the project, but in 1909 when the competition was announced, he was not among the invited artists. Nevertheless, he started some preliminary ideas and managed to position himself as a participant. The 1911 jury could not agree on a winner, but after a long and exciting process Munch eventually won the competition in 1914, and in 1916 he was able to install his experimental, expressionist monumental paintings in the Aula. "Munch's Laboratory. The Path to the Aula" will be on view at the Munch Museum through January 9th 2012. With time, the boldness of Munch's pictures has faded and today it's difficult to understand how radical and controversial they were at the time, or the important role they played in Norwegian cultural politics between 1909 and 1916. There was a great deal of prestige to the project, the first major public art commission after the dissolution of the union in 1905. Among both artists and art commentators, it was seen as a symbol of Norway's future as a "cultural nation". Through the long process Munch produced over 144 paintings on canvas, many in monumental size as well as a number of works on paper. In order to work on such a large scale Munch had to invent new, effective techniques. On his estate "Skrubben" at Kragerø he built a large outdoor studio to work. This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to look at Munch's technique and methods of working. Other artists of Munch's generation, such as Gustav Klimt, Puvis de Chavannes and Max Klinger also chose to work for institutions such as universities, museums, libraries, and also met the challenge of creating images understandable to a wider audience. We often have the opportunity to see these images as a part of an architectural environment, but it's rare to come close to an artist as he visualizes and develops ideas for a public decoration. This exhibition and catalogue presents as wide as possible Munch's sketches, drafts, new ideas, variations and alternative proposals to the Aula decorations. A large conservation project of the Aula sketches has been carried out in the museum parallell to the work with the exhibition. The Munch Museum opened its doors to the public in 1963, a hundred years after the artist's birth. The building was designed by the architects Gunnar Fougner and Einar Myklebust. The museum currently includes galleries, a children workshop, seminar rooms and an auditorium, as well as photographic and conservation studios, offices and a library. Central to the museum is the lecture hall, which is also used for exhibitions, concerts, theater performances and film screenings. The entrance hall also contains a well-stocked museum shop and a café. Edvard Munch's bequest to the City of Oslo comprised around 1,100 paintings, 15,500 prints covering 700 subjects, 4700 drawings and six sculptures. In addition, nearly 500 plates, 2,240 books, notebooks, documents, photographs, tools, supplies and furniture were included. Munch's extensive collection of letters was later bequeathed to the museum by his sister, Inger Munch, along with a significant number of original works, particularly from the 1880s. This and other gifts, has meant that the museum currently houses well over half of Munch's paintings and all his graphic designs. This puts the Munch Museum in a unique position internationally and provides an excellent basis for special exhibitions in the museum and extensive exhibition activities all over the world. The facilities are also used by researchers and students from home and abroad. There is a susbtantial; education Section working towards the museum's presentation of Munch's art to a wide audience. The section is responsible for teaching services for schools, guided tours, audio tours, movie promotion, website, documentary exhibition events in the museum, to name a few. The Conservation department consists of a studio for paper, and a studio for painting. The staff takes care of the museums' preservation work and perform technical research, conservation and restoration. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.munch.museum.no

Images from the Wales National Collections Are Made Available Online Posted: 31 Oct 2011 11:19 PM PDT Cardiff, Wales .-  A new project to curate and digitise historic photography from Wales' national collections has been made possible with the support of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, which is marking its 50th Birthday this year. Natural Images - Amgueddfa Cymru's new initiative, which begins in Autumn 2011, will involve transferring the finest examples from the Museum's extraordinary collection of around 500,000 photographs and historic items, into an accessible digital format. Items from the Museum's photography collection are currently spread across several disciplines from geology and botany to social and industrial history and more recently, art. Wales has a proud place in the history of photography and through Natural Images, the Museum will re-assess its place within the national collection, bringing together the diverse and extraordinary images to give an overview of this rich collection.

The Lanning Gallery Autumn Show Features Works by Randi Solin & Jonathan Harris Posted: 31 Oct 2011 10:40 PM PDT Sedona, Arizona.- The special autumn exhibition this year at Lanning Gallery features Randi Solin and Johnathan Harris and opens with an artists' reception during Sedona's "1st Friday Gallery Tour" event November 4, from 5-8 pm. The exhibition "Colorations" brings together Solin's hand-blown studio glass vessels with Harris's acrylic landscape paintings. "Colorations" will be on view at the gallery from November 4th through November 30th. The element of color that defines both artists' work is rich beyond measure.

Sigmar Polke's Complete Graphic Works Exhibited in Sao Paulo Brazil Posted: 31 Oct 2011 10:21 PM PDT SAO PAULO.- After organizing the special and prized exhibition German Contemporary Painting and inaugurating the international tour of Places, Strange and Quiet, a photo show by Wim Wenders, MASP\ creates and produces Sigmar Polke – Capitalist Realism and other illustrated histories, an exhibition with the complete series of graphic works (edition prints, 1963-2009) and other objects by the German visual artist, plus the series Day by Day (mixed media) which was a thrill in the 13th Art Biennial of São Paulo in 1975, when Polke received the first prize for painting. In the first international exhibition of the German artist Sigmar Polke after his death in June, 2010, at the age of 69, MASP presents the complete series of graphic works (edition prints) created by this visual artist between 1963 and 2009.

The Art Fair Company Presents the 18th Annual SOFA Chicago Show Posted: 31 Oct 2011 09:48 PM PDT Chicago, Illinois.- The Art Fair Company, based in Chicago, again presents two art fairs under one roof at Chicago's historic Navy Pier (600 E. Grand Avenue) from Friday, November 4th through Sunday, November 6th. For the second straight year, SOFA Chicago 2011, the critically acclaimed International Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair, will share the Pier's Festival Hall with The Intuit Show of Folk & Outsider Art. SOFA Chicago, now in its 18th year, enjoys the prestigious position of being the largest and longest continually running art fair in Chicago, a mainstay of the city's cultural and social calendar. The Chicago Sun-Times hails SOFA Chicago as "amazing," and Bradley Lincoln of Chicago Home + Garden raves, "This is one of my favorite art shows in Chicago – I guarantee you will see some flashy, jaw dropping works of…genius." The SOFA Chicago and Intuit Show's joint Opening Night Preview on Thursday, November 3rd will be open to the public from 7 – 9 p.m. with ticket purchase.

La Luz de Jesus Continues its 25th Anniversary Celebratory Show Posted: 31 Oct 2011 09:08 PM PDT Los Angeles, California.- "La Luz de Jesus 25", the milestone anniversary show and largest exhibition in the gallery's history, launches its second half during the first weekend of November. Following hard on the heels of October's spectacular Part One, Part Two features more than 120 artists including Shawn Barber, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Al Farrow, Chris Mars, Elizabeth McGrath, Jason Mecier, Mark Mothersbaugh, Marion Peck, The Pizz, Mark Ryden, Shag, Peter Shire, Joe Sorren, Mark Todd and Eric White. The exhibition opens of November 4th and will remain on view through November 28th. This exhibition is documented in the beautiful companion book, 'La Luz de Jesus 25: The Little Gallery That Could', featuring images of all the art in the show, a personal anecdote about Billy Shire and the gallery written by each artist, essays by gallery directors and a foreword by Shire.

Evansville Museum of Art Commemorates Cities Association With the Ohio River Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:48 PM PDT Evansville, Indiana.- In conjunction with the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science, the Evansville Town Hall is hosting a selection of historic photographs from the collection of the Willard Library, highlighting the city's relationship with the Ohio river. "Evansville on the Ohio" will be on view at the town hall from November 6th through February 12th 2012 in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the opening of the western waterways to steamboat travel by the historic journey of the boat New Orleans. "Evansville on the Ohio" recalls this historic event and to a larger extent, examines the City's relationship to the Ohio River. As a community that developed from the shores of the Ohio River, Evansville's history is inexorably tied to this waterway.

The Holburne Museum Features Landscapes by Thomas Gainsborough Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:47 PM PDT Bath, UK.- The Holburne Museum is proud to show "Gainsborough's Landscapes: Themes and Variations", the first exhibition in fifty years devoted solely to his landscape paintings and  drawings, bringing together remarkable works from public and private collections, many of them little known and some not previously exhibited. Accompanying Gainsborough's Landscapes will be "The View From Here: New Landscape Photographs by Mark Edwards". Mark Edwards is one of the most intriguing and thoughtful landscape photographers working today. His work responds to the tradition of British landscape painting and is the prefect accompaniment. Both exhibitions are on view until January 8th 2012. "I am sick of portraits and wish very much to… walk off to some sweet Village where I can paint landskips and enjoy the fag End of Life in quietness & ease." Thomas Gainsborough. For Gainsborough, if portraiture was his business, landscape painting was his pleasure, and his landscape paintings and drawings reveal his mind at work, the extraordinary breadth of his invention and the dazzling quality of his technique. Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) sold relatively few of his landscape paintings, and none of his drawings, but he regarded them as his most important work. His paintings do not represent real views, but are creations 'of his own Brain', as he put it. A limited number of rural subjects exercised his imagination from one decade to the next, changing as he developed an increasingly energetic 'hand', or manner of painting, and becoming ever grander in conception. The exhibition includes some of his most famous and popular works including The Watering Place from the National Gallery (the most famous of all his landscape compositions in his life-time) and less well-known works such as the little-seen but ravishing Haymaking from Woburn. The paintings have been selected to represent six landscape themes; the remarkable drawings and prints show Gainsborough returning to these themes and demonstrate the longevity of each theme and the degree of experimentation that was involved in the search for the perfect composition. The evolution of Gainsborough's style is traced from early naturalistic landscapes in the Dutch manner, enlivened with small figures (pictured above), to grand scenery that is dramatically lit and obviously imaginary, such as the Romantic Landscape from the Royal Academy of Arts. In the Girl with Pigs, from the Castle Howard Collection, a rustic figure takes centre stage: fancy figures of this kind are, in Gainsborough's art, closely integrated with his landscape practice. At the same time as Gainsborough's Landscapes the Holburne Museum will show a small selection of contemporary landscape photographs by Mark Edwards. Mark Edwards has produced a complementary body of six large scale colour landscape prints of astonishing quality and detail. Edwards' huge colour prints mirror the scale of Gainsborough's paintings and reveal great respect for the painterly tradition, whilst bringing into question the standard by which we measure beauty. These works, made on an 8 x 10 inch view camera, invite comparison between approaches to the depiction of our landscape over time and through different media. One of the works Edwards has produced is a large transparency illuminated in a light box, as a contemporary response to the cinematic dimension to Gainsborough's work. Gainsborough constructed an early form of viewing box. He then painted his landscapes onto glass and lit them from behind using candles. He referred to them as 'transparent paintings'. These new images are centred on East Anglia and Bath, both areas associated with Gainsborough. Based in Norfolk, Edwards has always been conscious of the visual traditions of East Anglia and the paintings of both Gainsborough and Constable in particular. Mark uses a large format camera balanced on top of a tall ladder, much like the pioneering photographers of the nineteenth century, and visits places many times before photographing them. Edwards' work is most often suffused in a cloudless grey light, but in these new works the sky is far more painterly, with greater definition and colour. Edwards' work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and has been acquired by such collections as the V & A Museum and No 10 Downing Street, as well as numerous corporate and private collections. The Holburne Museum is one of Britain's outstanding small museums. Located in the historic city of Bath, it houses an important art collection formed by Sir William Holburne in nineteenth-century Bath which includes paintings, silver, sculpture, furniture and porcelain of both national and international significance. Artists represented in the collection include Gainsborough, Guardi, Stubbs, Ramsay and Zoffany. The heart of the present day Collection was formed by Sir Thomas William Holburne (1793-1874). As a second son, Thomas William (generally known as William) first pursued a naval career. He ultimately inherited the Baronetcy in 1820 following the death of his elder brother, Francis, at the Battle of Bayonne in 1814. In 1882 his collection of over 4,000 objects, pictures and books was bequeathed to the people of Bath by Holburne's sister, Mary Anne Barbara Holburne (1802-1882). From the start, it was intended to form "the nucleus of a Museum of Art for the city of Bath". Since the Museum opened to the public in 1893, a further 2,500 objects have been acquired. Some of the growth has consisted in filling gaps in the collection: the furniture, for instance, is almost entirely a post-Holburne addition. In some sections of the collection, however, where the original holdings were comprehensive, not much has been added since Holburne's day; this is true of the maiolica, silver and gems. In other sections, growth has taken place by building on what Sir William himself laid as sound if modest foundations. The group of early Meissen porcelain was enormously enriched by a bequest in 1963 from J. MacGregegor Duncan, one of the Trustees of the Museum during the war. A comprehensive collection of English eighteenth-century porcelain was bequeathed by another Trustee, James Calder in 1944. This complemented the existing collection of Chelsea, Derby and Worcester. Perhaps the most significant acquisitions have been pictures. These have greatly enriched the Museum's collection of British eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century paintings and miniatures. In 1955 the Museum received ten important pictures from the bequest of Ernest E. Cook, grandson of the travel entrepreneur Thomas Cook. This included works by Gainsborough, George Stubbs and J M W Turner. Fine mid-eighteenth century portraits of the Sargent family by Allan Ramsay came with the bequest of Sir Orme Sargent in 1962. With few exceptions, new acquisitions were and continue to be made only if in keeping with the character of the original Holburne collection, ensuring its continued coherence. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.holburne.org

Expanding Investment Options ~ Trading and Borrowing Against Fine Art Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:40 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The uncertainty in today's market has caused many investors to look outside the box. The stock market's volatility has had many investors looking elsewhere for investment options. Many grandfather companies that have been our staple, reliable investments have crumbled. This ongoing phenomenon had leveled the playing field for investments. Commodities that were not considered viable investment alternatives in our past are having a new lease on life. This is where art enters the playing field. Many of today's investment portfolios look more like this: stock, real estate, and, an Early American artist painting grandma gave me. Trade Market Options This is the first time that art has been viewed so prominently as a viable investment, like real estate. "Art now is seen as a definite asset class which is traded," Christie's international commercial director, Caroline Sayan states. "People are looking at their complete portfolios and thinking about how they can leverage what they have more effectively." (New York Sun Newspaper, "Borrowing With Fine Art as Collateral", by Katie Taylor, July 22, 2008.) In our recent economic standing, not only has art been competing with, but many times beating stock market turns. (www.artmarketblog.com, "Art and Capital- Art Banking, Art Loans and Art Finance" by Art Analyst, Nicholas Forrest) Some asset advisors even recommend to some of their clients spreading up to a tenth of one's assets in works of art. This may seem excessive, but a shrewd choice of a work of art can be a good and safe investment (Artmagazine Arcadja, "The Art Market: An Analysis of the Crisis" by Elena Lanzanova & Silvia Bosi, page 18-19). Now is the time to buy. There has been an increase in inventory available at public art auctions, in retail stores and private party sales in a market that usually cannot keep up with demand. There are values to be had in many categories of art, such as photography, art deco, early American works, and more. Another area we are seeing healthy increases in value are select big names and time-honored artists. In the art market today, the auction houses are becoming more accessible for medium wealth investors to purchase great masterpieces that may not have been accessible to the buyer in the past due to high price points and a lack of inventory. Proceed with caution, however. It is not easy for some to navigate through the auction houses and realize a good value that is for sale at a great price, so it is always a good idea to bring along someone who specializes in this field when looking into higher priced art investments. Art Loan Options Finding alternative ways to borrow money for working capital is on the rise. For some, art loans are the answer. "We are seeing increased activity in art financing transactions," says John Arena, Sr. VP at U.S. Trust. Art financing is available through companies that have established a niche market specializing in art loans. "The benefit to an owner of these works of art is that the borrower is allowed to keep possession of the collateral pieces and can display them where they wish after they are registered and appraised." Ms. Chu, Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance, states. To reduce the risk to the lender, the appraiser must be a USPAP certified (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) fine art appraiser. Lenders like Sotheby's and Christie's will usually advance 45%-60% of the appraised value of the art to the borrower. Interest rates on these types of loans range from 8% to as high as 18%. This form of financing can eliminate the significant transaction costs and taxes associated with the sale of works of art. Transaction costs can be as high as 30% of the value of the assets sold. The federal long-term capital gains tax of arts and antiques is 28% (versus 15% for stocks, bonds and real estate.) Adding state and local taxes, a sale can trigger a total tax bill of 40% or more on the gain, depending on the seller's domicile (consult your tax advisor). Utilizing a financing option is a viable alternative for those who find their assets heavily weighted in fine arts. To find out more about these options, go to www.emigrantbankfineart.com. Although there are negatives to this economic downturn, there are opportunities in the art world that are viable and more user friendly for the everyday investor. Looking into these can be beneficial if applied to the right situation and researched wisely.  / Article by Ruth Kleis

An Open House of American Art at Private Dealers in New York Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:39 PM PDT NEW YORK, NY.- Leading American Art dealers on the Upper East Side will open their doors for the Just Off Madison Spring Gallery Walk, on Wednesday, May 19, from 4–8pm. Coinciding with the American art auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's, Just Off Madison gives American art enthusiasts a chance to discover even more museum quality pieces while taking a leisurely stroll down Madison Avenue. The participating galleries offer a rich and diverse selection of American paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, from the nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century.

Madrid’s Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza Presents A Retrospective Devoted to Jean-Léon Gérome Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:38 PM PDT Madrid, Spain -  A major retrospective of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904) opened on 15th February 2011 at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, and can be seen until 22nd May 2011. Jean-Léon Gérôme was one of the most famous and commercially successful French painters of his day. In the course of his long career, he was the subject of bitter controversy and criticism, in particular for defending the genre conventions of the waning academic style painting, under attack by realists and impressionists. However, Gérôme not was so much an heir to the academic tradition as the creator of totally new pictorial worlds, based on iconographic subjects. Historical painting, painting stories, painting everything ~ that was Gérôme's great passion. He intrigued the public with historical values and constant interplay of genres, blended in an aesthetic of collage and rearrangement. His skill in creating images, in presenting an illusion of reality through artifice and subterfuge went hand in hand with perfectly finished paintings that were themselves, imperfect. As a very unorthodox academic painter, Gérôme knew how to represent history as a dramatic spectacle and, by creating particularly convincing images, could make the spectator an eyewitness to events ranging from classical antiquity to the latest news.

Yeshiva University Museum features "I of the Storm: Michael Hafftka, Recent Work" Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:37 PM PDT New York City -  After more than 30 years of portraying the human figure with a neo-expressionist style, Michael Hafftka turns to his Jewish heritage for subject matter and inspiration in his new exhibition, "I of the Storm: Michael Hafftka, Recent Work," at the Yeshiva University Museum. Frequently compared to the painters Soutine, Goya and Rouault, Hafftka here makes use of mystical images, biblical themes and the Hebrew alphabet in watercolors and oils.  The exhibition runs through August 30, 2009. Gallery Talk: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 1:00 pm

Martine Chaisson Gallery Presents Photographer Herman Mhire "Altered States" Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:36 PM PDT NEW ORLEANS, LA.- Martine Chaisson Gallery presents photographer Herman Mhire's first exhibition at the gallery. Titled Altered States, the Lafayette-based photographer presents an extraordinary series of surreal, large-scale portraits of Louisiana artists that explore ideas of portraiture, the photographic medium, and psychology. The exhibition runs through April 23rd, 2011. With each portrait, Mhire concocts a world rich with references of his art historical predecessors, yet a vision uniquely his own. "My passion lies in creating images I've never seen before," says Mhire. "I transform photographic portraits into provocative and often disturbing hyperfaces that invite the viewer to search for clues about the altered states of my fictional characters."

The Oklahoma City Museum of Arts Shows New Deal Artworks From the Smithsonian Collection Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:35 PM PDT Oklahoma City.- The Oklahoma City Museum, of Arts presents "1934: A New Deal for Artists" from May 26th to August 21st. The exhibiton celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Public Works of Art Project by drawing on the Smithsonian American Art Museum's unparalleled collection of vibrant paintings created for the program. The 56 paintings in the exhibition are a lasting visual record of America at a specific moment in time. George Gurney, deputy chief curator, organized the exhibition with Ann Prentice Wagner, independent curator. Federal officials in the 1930s understood how essential art was to sustaining America's spirit. During the depths of the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration created the Public Works of Art Project, which lasted only six months from mid-December 1933 to June 1934. The purpose of the program was to alleviate the distress of professional, unemployed American artists by paying them to produce artwork that could be used to embellish public buildings. The program was administered under the Treasury Department by art professionals in 16 different regions of the country. Artists from across the United States who participated in the program were encouraged to depict "the American Scene," but they were allowed to interpret this idea freely. They painted regional, recognizable subjects ranging from portraits to cityscapes and images of city life to landscapes and depictions of rural life that reminded the public of quintessential American values such as hard work, community, and optimism. These artworks, which were displayed in schools, libraries, post offices, museums, and government buildings, vividly capture the realities and ideals of Depression-era America. The exhibition is arranged into eight sections: "American People," "City Life," "Labor," "Industry," "Leisure," "The City," "The Country," and "Nature." Works from 13 of the 16 regions established by the Advisory Committee to the Treasury on Fine Arts are represented in the exhibition. The Public Works of Art Project employed artists from across the country including Ilya Bolotowsky, Lily Furedi, and Max Arthur Cohn in New York City; Harry Gottlieb and Douglass Crockwell in upstate New York; Herman Maril in Maryland; Gale Stockwell in Missouri; E. Dewey Albinson in Minnesota; E. Martin Hennings in New Mexico; and Millard Sheets in California. Ross Dickinson paints the confrontation between man and nature in his painting of southern California, Valley Farms (1934). He contrasts the verdant green, irrigated valley with the dry, reddish-brown hills, recalling the appeal of fertile California for many Midwestern farmers escaping the hopelessness of the Dust Bowl. Several artists chose to depict American ingenuity. Stadium lighting was still rare when Morris Kantor painted Baseball at Night (1934), which depicts a game at the Clarkstown Country Club's Sports Centre in West Nyack, N.Y. Ray Strong's panoramic Golden Gate Bridge (1934) pays homage to the engineering feats required to build the iconic San Francisco structure. Old Pennsylvania Farm in Winter (1934) by Arthur E. Cederquist features a prominent row of poles providing telephone service and possibly electricity, a rare modern amenity in rural America. The program was open to artists who were denied other opportunities, such as African Americans and Asian Americans. African American artists like Earle Richardson, who painted Employment of Negroes in Agriculture (1934), were welcomed, but only about 10 such artists were employed by the project. Richardson, who was a native New Yorker, chose to set his painting of quietly dignified workers in the South to make a broad statement about race. In the Seattle area, where Kenjiro Nomura lived, many Japanese Americans made a living as farmers, but they were subject to laws that prevented foreigners from owning land and other prejudices. Nomura's painting The Farm (1934) depicts a darker view of rural life with threatening clouds on the horizon. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art serves over 125,000 visitors annually from all fifty states and over thirty foreign countries and hosts special exhibitions drawn from throughout the world. The Museum's collection covers a period of five centuries with strengths in American and European art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and includes a comprehensive collection of glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. The Museum's Noble Theater is the region's premiere repertoire cinema, screening the finest international, independent, and classic films. Amenities include the Museum School, which offers classes for students of all ages as well as fall, winter, and summer art camps for youths; a teacher resource center; the Museum Store, Roof Terrace, and the Museum Cafe, whose cuisine is complemented by a full-service bar complete with cocktails, specialty coffees, and afternoon tea. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.okcmoa.com

Indian and South East Asian Art Sale Announced at Sotheby's Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:34 PM PDT NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby's sale of Indian and South East Asian Art in New York on 24 March 2010 features a well curated selection of Indian, Himalayan and South East Asian works of art. A strong selection of Indian miniatures as well as modern and contemporary paintings are also included in the 184 lot sale that is estimated to fetch $5/7.3 million; the auction will be on exhibition at Sotheby's from this Friday, 19 March. Leading the modern paintings in the sale is an Untitled work by Manjit Bawa. The canvas is one of the largest paintings produced by the artist and the most important work by him ever to appear at auction (est. $200/300,000).

The Royal Ontario Museum shows 'Shanghai 1860-1949: Historical Photographs' Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:33 PM PDT   Toronto, ON - At The Royal Ontario Museum the exhibition Shanghai 1860-1949  presents eighty historical photographs that document Shanghai's architecture, inhabitants and way of life in the hundred years up to 1949. Shanghai's current incarnation as China's most modern and booming metropolis is not the first time it has held that position: in the late 19th and early 20th century, western and Chinese entrepreneurs flocked to the city, making Shanghai China's commercial and financial hub. This period of rapid growth is shown in beautiful albumen prints, panoramic vistas and candid shots, made possible by recent gifts from Joey and Toby Tanenbaum and family albums from Jacob Way and Amelia Gertrud Way-Evans.

Christie's Presents 14th Imperial Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art in Hong Kong Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:32 PM PDT HONG KONG.- The 14th Hong Kong sale of Imperial Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on Monday 31 May 2010 illustrates the depth of Christie's experience and longstanding commitment to this rich and vibrant area of Asian Art. Demand is strong for the finest, rarest and most beautiful works in this category and Christie's is proud to present a sophisticated sale tailored to the specific tastes of the world's most discerning collectors. Long established connections with institutions and owners of private collections in Europe and America enable Christie's to source exemplary works, many of which are offered at auction for the first time and are only available from the West. Spanning the Western Zhou period (c.1100-771BC) to the early 20th century, this auction features over 250 lots: from gilt bronzes, Buddhist art, Imperial ceramics, jade and carpets, to textiles and palace furnishings. Leading the sale is a magnificent imperial early Ming gilt-bronze figure of Amitayus, Xuande incised six-character mark and of the period (1403-1425) (estimate on request), which is one of the most important examples ever to be offered at auction. With estimates ranging from HK$30,000/US$4,000 to in excess of HK$30million/US$3.9 million, the sale is expected to realise in the region of HK$400 million/US$51.8 million.

The Great Kings of India to Hold Court at the Art Gallery of Ontario Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:31 PM PDT TORONTO.- This fall the Art Gallery of Ontario opens its doors to the magnificent world of India's great kings. Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts, organized in collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, will make its sole Canadian stop at the AGO, with a members-only preview starting November 17 and public viewing from November 20, 2010 to February 27, 2011. The exhibition features over 200 opulent objects, including paintings, tapestry, thrones, weapons, and jewels, most on view in North America for the first time.

"Wanderlust" Drives Travel Photography Exhibition at FJJMA Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:30 PM PDT NORMAN, OKLA. – Author John Steinbeck, in his 1962 book Travels with Charley: In Search of America, said Americans were defined by " a burning desire to go, to move, to get under way, anyplace, away from any here … nearly every American hungers to move." Wanderlust: Travel and American Photography examines the role American highways and interstates have played in the migratory desires of the American people. The new exhibition opens at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art (FJJMA), Friday, June 5, with a special public opening reception at 7 p.m. The opening reception is preceded by a guest lecture at 6 p.m. by Eugene B. Adkins Curator Mark White. Both are free and open to museum association members and the public. The exhibition runs through Sept. 12. "Since the early 20th century, travel has been an important part of the American experience, especially the sightseeing trips synonymous with summer vacations," said White. "The photographs in this exhibition explore on various levels the links between travel and American identity." In the early 20th century, most existing U.S. roads had been constructed along old game, market and pioneer trails. Thanks to the Lincoln Highway Association in 1913 and the 1925 Federal Aid Highway Act, more than 200 auto trails were created, standardized and designated, such as Route 1 from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Fla. or Route 66, from Chicago to Los Angeles. The growing highway infrastructure helped photographer Berenice Abbott to explore and photograph communities outside of her home in New York City. In 1935, Abbott and critic Elizabeth McCausland planned a book, America. The 48 States., that would document the Great Depression and the efforts of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal to remedy poverty. In 1954, Abbott arrived in Florida in August, where she took numerous photographs of the various tourist destinations. She was appalled by the commercialism, especially in Daytona Beach, but felt that photographs such as Daytona Beach, Daytona, Florida (1954) accurately expressed the interests of the American people. After a brief stay, she left for Fort Kent, Maine, and took numerous photographs along the way, including the ubiquitous antique shops that bordered the highway. Two years later, President Dwight D. Eisenhower enhanced the highway infrastructure with the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways to facilitate commerce and travel, as well as an efficient military response in case of a national emergency. The expansion of the highways and interstates increased tourism substantially. Roadside became a site of chance occurrences, unexpected narratives and what French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson called "things which are continually vanishing." It was with this in mind that Victor Landweber compiled the 1981 portfolio, American Roads. Containing the work of 21 photographers, American Roads is an exploration of both the highways and their culture. Both American Roads and Abbott's Route 1 series suggest a desire to leave home, explore and discover the unfamiliar, but travel can also be a return and rediscovery of the past. This was the initial motivation behind Dennis Stock's James Dean: A Memorial Portfolio, originally shot in 1955 but printed later. The pair visited Dean's hometown of Fairmount, Ind. and to New York City, where the latter had studied at the Actors Studio and performed on Broadway. The photo essay of Dean's homecoming was intended, Stock explained, "to reveal the environments that affected and shaped the unique character of James Byron Dean." The two visited the farm of Dean's uncle, Marcus Winslow, where the actor had grown up, and where he posed proudly yet somewhat awkwardly with one of the hogs. Ironically, he also posed in a coffin seven months before he was buried in Fairmount, following his fatal car accident in Cholame, Calif. But Dean had realized "that he could never really go home again," and they left for New York City and the premiere of East of Eden. Stock created memorable images of Dean wandering the city alone, most notably in Times Square on a rainy day. The portfolio helped create Dean's public identity as the quintessential loner, a role for which he would become famous to posterity. For Dean, travel was a means of escape from both the present and the past. Although Dean's wanderlust was informed by desires different from those of Abbott, the photographers of American Roads, or even those of Steinbeck, a restlessness and hunger to move urged him to take to the road. Travel, for whatever reason, has become a prominent characteristic of American life, and, as Steinbeck believed, is fundamental to the identity of the nation. The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is located in the OU Arts District on the corner of Elm Avenue and Boyd Street, at 555 Elm Ave., on the OU Norman campus. Admission to the museum is free to all OU students with a current student ID and all museum association members, $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children 6 to 17 years of age, $2 for OU faculty/staff, and free for children 5 and under. The museum is closed on Mondays and admission is free on Tuesdays. The museum's Web site is www.ou.edu/fjjma . Information and accommodations on the basis of disability are available by calling (405) 325-4938. Construction on a new wing is under way, but the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is open and fully functional with exhibitions and programming throughout the entire construction process.

This Week in Review in Art Knowledge News Posted: 31 Oct 2011 08:30 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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