News

May 23, 2014

National Gallery of Art receives 62 rare works from Mellon family

Featured on washingtonpost.com
 
A 62-piece collection of rare works, some unseen for decades — paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet and Winslow Homer, and oil sketches by Georges Seurat — have been added to the National Gallery of Art.
 
The works are part of a 110-piece bequest by the late philanthropist Paul Mellon.
May 22, 2014

Cleveland Art sells recycled antique art in Hollywood to likes of Steven Spielberg, Gwyneth Paltrow

Featured on newsnet5.com
 
Ohio - As a school boy, Jason Wein began collecting old bicycles and lawn mowers, and just about anything else with an interesting shape. Bringing them home, Wein said he would often see something that others did not, changing metal into works of art.
 
Recycling long before it became vogue.
 
Turning an obsession with collecting what many might consider junk, Wein chuckles now.
May 22, 2014

Gardner art heist masterpieces have been sighted, FBI agent says

Featured on foxnews.com
 
The FBI agent in charge of the investigation into the theft of $500 million worth of masterpieces from a Boston museum nearly a quarter century ago says the bureau has confirmed sightings of the missing artwork from credible sources.
 
MyFoxBoston.com first reported that FBI Special Agent Geoff Kelly, who lead the international investigation for more than 10 years, says the trail for the missing artwork has not grown cold.
 
"We believe that over certain periods of time, this artwork
May 21, 2014

Western State Hospital patients find therapeutical value in art

Featured on thenewstribune.com
 
The discussion before opening an art and poetry room at Western State Hospital centered on the self-esteem it would bring contributors and the encouragement it might offer other patients.
 
It was a conversation touched with the reality of living and working in a state psychiatric hospital.
 
“Ceramics could be used as a weapon, and we wouldn’t want someone picking up a bowl and hitting someone else on the head,” said Sascha Schaudies, a hospital art instructor.
 
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May 20, 2014

The Metropolitan Museum of Art makes 400,000 iconic works available for download

Featured on theverge.com
 
If you've ever wanted to wallpaper your living room with the work of the old masters, now's your chance. The Metropolitan Museum of Art this month released an astounding 394,000 high-resolution images to the public.
May 19, 2014

Art Makes a Move Online

Featured on nytimes.com
 
The art market — like just about every other realm of commercial life — is being transformed by the Internet. But how much is the digital revolution actually translating into more online purchases?
 
In 2013, global online art sales reached $1.57 billion, according to a report published last month by the London-based insurer Hiscox.
May 19, 2014

The cave digger: Hewing art from the very landscape

Featured on cbsnews.com
 
It seems artistic inspiration can be found throughout the New Mexico landscape -- and maybe even beneath it, as our Lee Cowan has discovered:
 
In the high desert of northern New Mexico, if you listen carefully, you might just hear something more than the wind.
May 16, 2014

The National Gallery of Art uncovers the true relationship between impressionists Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas (and it wasn’t romantic)

Featured on washingtonpost.com
 
When the National Gallery of Art underwent renovations a few years ago, curator Kimberly Jones took down a painting by Mary Cassatt. The 1878 masterpiece, “Little Girl in a Blue Armchair,” was looking “a little dingy,” Jones recalls. After some preliminary tests, conservators removed a layer of yellowing varnish, and the painting came alive.
 
“We uncovered the most glorious, sumptuous paint surface you can imagine. It’s absolutely spectacular, rich and lush and vibrant,” Jones says.
May 15, 2014

Art Museum rolling out its dramatic Gehry expansion

Featured on philly.com
 
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is preparing to publicly exhibit for the first time its plans for the largest renovation and construction project in its history, one that will transform the grand, beloved, cramped building into what officials believe will be a surprisingly spacious, airy, and light-filled vessel to display some of the world's greatest art.
 
Should all go as envisioned, virtually no changes will be visible from outside the building, aside from staircase enclosures mandated by the city's fire
May 15, 2014

Photographer Turns Skin Condition Into Art

Featured on abcnews.go.com
 
A Brooklyn-based photographer is turning the lens on herself to transform a rare skin disorder into art.
 
Ariana Page Russell has dermatographia, a condition that causes her skin to swell into puffy red welts with the slightest scratch.
 
It’s “not debilitating or life threatening, but can be quite uncomfortable and embarrassing,” Russell writes on her blog, Skin Tome, where she shares stories, art and photography inspired by sensitive skin.
May 13, 2014

Fighting Urban Blight with Art

Philadelphia combats blight along Amtrak's Northeast rail corridor with art installation by Katharina Grosse
 
Featured on online.wsj.com
 
One hardly thinks of the folks at Amtrak as modern-day Medicis, but the government-subsidized company aspires to be more than just a passenger rail line.
May 13, 2014

Pensions vs. Art in Detroit’s Bankruptcy

Featured on dealbook.nytimes.com
 
The objection deadline has arrived for Detroit’s reorganization plan. And it seems likely that the “art deal” will be the focus of many objections, especially from bondholders.
 
The art deal involves an $816 million cash infusion into Detroit’s pensions in exchange for transferring title to the works in the Detroit Institute of Arts, using $370 million from a group of foundations, $350 million from the state and the museum’s own money.
May 12, 2014

Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky NAP Shines in New Space

For their Seventh Annual NAP exhibit and awards reception, Lexington Mayor, Jim Gray and LexArts CEO, Jim Clark, were both in attendance to honor the artists in their communities. Artists included Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government and LexArts employees, volunteers and their immediate family members.
May 12, 2014

Lincoln Libraries Showcase Incredible Talents of their Community

First time coordinator Alma Cerretta organized the Eighth Annual Exhibit of The National Arts Program® for the City of Lincoln and Lincoln Public School Employees and their family members. Alma was committed to producing a wonderful show and the 100 pieces of art collected were proudly displayed throughout the Eiseley, Gere, Walt and the Bennett Martin Branch Libraries.
May 12, 2014

One Collector's Plan To Save Realistic Art Was Anything But Abstract

Featured on npr.org
 
Plenty of collectors want to donate artworks to museums, but the museums don't always welcome them with open arms. "We say 'no thanks' 19 times out of 20," says Betsy Broun, director at the American Art Museum. Sometimes the works aren't museum-quality, other times they don't fit with the museums' philosophy.
 
But in 1986, representatives from the Sara Roby Foundation called the Smithsonian with an offer it couldn't refuse: paintings by Edward Hopper, Raphael Soyer, Reginald Marsh and many more.