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Carnegie Museum's Nativity scene is a Baroque work of art
Post Gazette / December 23rd, 2009
In 18th-century Naples, setting up the annual Christmas Nativity became a devotion with production values. The Neapolitan presepio has since found fans far from its native Italy. Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art has one of the most complete presepi in the world, with almost 100 human and ...
Bid on a piece of New York history, Tavern On The Green auction planned
Luxist / December 23rd, 2009
Famed Central Park restaurant Tavern on the Green, with its six elaborate dining rooms and 10 miles of white Christmas lights wrapping trees out front, will sadly twinkle no longer. Est. in 1934, the landmark is closing its doors on Dec. 31, when its operating license expires. January 13-14, ...
Sotheby's to auction Chinese export from the collection of Elinor Gordon
artdaily / December 22nd, 2009
On Jan. 23., Sotheby’s will offer over 280 lots of Chinese export porcelain and China Trade paintings from the private collection of esteemed dealer Elinor Gordon (1918-2009), who exhibited at the Winter Antiques Show since 1955. Highlights of the sale include an orange Fitzhugh platter (est. ...
Paintings from RBS collection may be sold
Wall Street Journal / December 22nd, 2009
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is considering selling parts of its estimated GBP15 million art collection, when the art market improves, as pressure mounts on state-owned banks to dispose of non-core assets. The collection of the bank, which is majority-owned by the U.K. government, comprises ...
A stunning Victorian for sale near Philadelphia Art Museum
Luxist / December 22nd, 2009
Listed at $5.5 million, a beautiful 1890s townhouse in Philadelphia's Art Museum area offers a fusion of 19th century craftsmanship and 21st century comfort and sophistication. The 12,456-square-foot Victorian single-family home has been restored in a way that celebrates its architecture, ...
The Second Annual American Art Fair delights buyers
Antiques and the Arts / December 22nd, 2009
The National Academy Museum & School of Fine Arts, housed in a Beaux-Arts mansion in Manhattan, was the setting for the American Art Fair, Nov. 30-Dec. 2, which attracted major collectors and museum curators. Exhibitors donated a part of sale proceeds to the museum, and showed many works by ...
Drawn from the Ringling's vaults, collection traces its 120-year history
Herald Tribune / December 21st, 2009
Curator Virginia Brilliant theorizes that John Ringling bought a collection of more than 300 medieval and Renaissance art from the Vanderbilt family in 1927 for one thing: a 15th-century painting by Florentine artist Piero di Cosimo that depicts the building of a structure that looks surprisingly ...
Top auction lots of 2009
Bloomberg / December 21st, 2009
Collectors responded to the financial crisis by selecting the best 20th-century classics, Old Masters, wine and jewelry at international auctions. They shunned investment in some contemporary art as prices dropped by half and sales fell 75 percent. Notable pieces of modern furniture soared such ...
Birth of the baroque
Guardian / December 21st, 2009
Four hundred years ago, Caravaggio stopped off in Naples and an art movement took off. Jonathan Jones writes about how painterly excess and sentiment live on in the modern Christmas. Today's nativity scenes with a baby Jesus in a crib, the presepi, belong to the baroque art movement, born in ...
Las Vegas tycoon is secret buyer of $33 million Rembrandt
Times Online / December 21st, 2009
The mystery telephone bidder who paid a record $33m (£20m) at Christie's in London for a Rembrandt painting--described as one of the Dutch artist’s greatest masterpieces--was named yesterday as Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas casino owner. Wynn, 67, who once accidentally put his elbow through a $139 ...
Rediscovered $10-million dollar map that changed view of the world
Bloomberg / December 20th, 2009
In 2001, the Library of Congress paid $10 million for a rare map made in 1507 by Martin Waldseemueller. What makes it so unusual? The map bestows the name America on the New World. Though Waldseemueller made 1,000 copies, all were lost until 1901 when a Jesuit teacher, Father Joseph Fischer, ...
Nelson-Atkins Museum opens new American Indian galleries
St. Louis Post-Dispatch / December 20th, 2009
New, 6,100 sq. ft. American Indian galleries have thrust Kansas City's Nelson-Atkins Museum into the forefront of all museums that exhibit such art, not only because of the prime real estate and $8 million spent on architectural design. The galleries also are exceptional for the ...
Alice in Wonderland book realizes $115,000
DNA / December 20th, 2009
A rare edition of Alice in Wonderland given to the real Alice has fetched $115,000 at an auction. Written by Lewis Carroll, the copy belonged to 10-year-old Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired the character of Alice. The seller was American football star and children's book collector Pat ...
Greenwich Antique Show offers booths of wonder
Greenwich Citizen / December 20th, 2009
More than 1,300 people strolled through a rich array of decorative arts recently at the 52nd annual Greenwich Antique Show. Westport, Connecticut, dealer George Subkoff displayed a fierce Penobscot Indian wooden ceremonial club that a customer was to claim for $4,800. Sales were 'good' ...
Best exhibitions of 2009
Art Info / December 17th, 2009
The International Association of Art Critics (AICA) announced the winners of its 26th annual awards. Among the winners in 13 categories: “Picasso: Mosqueteros” at NYC's Gagosian Gallery; “Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures,” organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; “James Ensor,” ...
Be Dazzled by Cartier: The history of a legendary bijoutier on exhibit
San Francisco Gate / December 17th, 2009
Opening Saturday at The San Francisco Legion of Honor, "Cartier and America" features some of the most striking examples of Cartier's 'Mystery Clock,' innovative pieces valued by collectors. In 1913 industrialist J.P. Morgan became the first American to buy one. Also on view, lavish jewels, from ...
Cultural Evolution: Las Vegas unveils art for the masses
Las Vegas Sun / December 17th, 2009
MGM Mirage and Dubai World-owned CityCenter, the new $8.5-billion gamble on a 67-acre residential, hotel, retail and entertainment campus in Las Vegas, may reel in visitors with artwork by the likes of Frank Stella, Henry Moore, and Maya Lin. The $40 million modern art collection, which has ...
Before cowboys became cliché
Wall Street Journal / December 17th, 2009
Given the enthusiasm that Americans have for art celebrating our nation's cultural past, it's surprising that art of the American West has often been held in low esteem. Our approach to all but the work of sculptor Frederic Remington is usually cautious to the point of disdain. The Denver Art ...
Forbes' Susan Adams on collecting trends
Forbes / December 16th, 2009
2010: More art will sell online, the market will be driven by non-American buyers, and prices for Post-War and contemporary art will inch back up as sellers return with top-notch examples. With the bellwether fall auctions in New York performing well---although not at 2007 levels---art prices in ...
Piqued prince pulled his treasures from Royal Academy show
Times Online / December 16th, 2009
One of the biggest art exhibitions planned for next year has collapsed because of a row between a European prince and the U.K's HM Revenue & Customs. Masterpieces by Rubens and Van Dyck were among the treasures from the royal family of Liechtenstein’s collection, which were expected to draw ...