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Decent Art is NOT cheap!

Jim — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:28:40 +0000

An art auction has taken place of impressionist and modern works and raised a record total of £152.5 million!

The sold piece which raised the most was one sold was one of Picasso’s Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto, at a staggering £34,761,250.

This piece came from the collection of Lord Lloyd-Webber and due to a dispute of ownership was dropped from a sale in New York over 4 years ago.

Although the dispute went back to the 1930’s it has now been settled and all claims to the painting have been withdrawn.

The monies made from this sale will all go towards a charity which promotes arts, culture and heritage, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation.

A blind photographer’s exhibition is to be a highlight of the arts festival in Edinburgh.

Jim — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:00:33 +0000

Rosita McKenzie, fifty six, from the city is to have her pictures of people from Edinburgh showcased in the Central Library on George IV Bridge as part of the Edinburgh Art Festival.
Rosita has been completely blind from the age of twelve, she homes in on “people’s personalities” to capture the right shot. The exhibition begins start on 12th August. Other highlights of the festival this year include the reopening of the City Art Centre following major refurbishment work, also an exhibition of pieces by the Stone Roses guitarist John Squire.

Heard and not seen art exhibition in Birmingham

Jim — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:47:29 +0000

The exhibition at Birmingham’s Museum and Art Gallery entitled

“The Heard and Not seen show”

is intended to break down cultural barriers. Visitors to the art exhibition will be asked to pose for photos wearing headscarves. It is supposed to encourage people to bring their own perspective to this culturally powerful piece of clothing. The exhibition is being funded by a Government initiative for anti-extremism. The exhibition arrives at a time when several European countries are debating whether or not to ban the headwear, with Barcelona becoming the latest largest city to prevent women from wearing burkas. The artists from Birmingham, Sandra Hall and Mitra Memarzia feel they can open up understanding by asking visitors to wear them.

Oldest painting in the world?

Jim — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:00:42 +0000

Artwork depicting giant extinct birds, on a rock in Northern Australia might be one of the oldest paintings to date. Scientists have advised the artwork, which understandably is smudged after thousands of years outside in the wilderness could be nearly 40,000 years old.
The rock art work was discovered in the Amhem Land Region, roughly two years ago, although archaeologists only made the first visit to the site last month. Arnhem Land is a large Aboriginal reserve, located in the secluded north-eastern corner of the Northern Territory, well known for its large quantity of ancient rock art.
The exact location of the painting is being kept secret due to the historical significance of the find. We have been advised that it is only accessible via helicopter.

LS Lowry painting which has rarely been seen, is displayed at the Walker Art Gallery

Laura — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 09:34:37 +0000

A painting by LS Lowry of the Waterloo Docks in Liverpool, which has rarely been seen, is now on display at the Walker Art Gallery. The artist, famous for his matchstick people produced the art work on a visit to the city in 1962.
LS Lowry was from Salford in Manchester travelled across Britain drawing and painting a variety of docks including, Glasgow, South Shields and Liverpool. Lowry painted a number of views around Liverpool. There is quite a bit of mystery surrounding the painting, as it is unclear which part of the Waterloo docks which opened in 1834 is depicted.

Banksy Artwork Mistakenly Painted Over By Council

Jim — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:16:10 +0000

A piece of street art by famous guerilla artist Banksy has been mistakenly painted over by a council-ordered anti-graffiti team in Melbourne Australia.

Tourists and local residents have been left annoyed by the removal of the priceless street art – a stencil of a parachuting rat – the last remaining piece of Banksy art in the city.

A typical tourist hotspot, people would go hunting around Melbourne just to see this specific piece of graffiti, but alas no more. Cleaners were under instruction to remove all unapproved graffiti in the area, but were unfortunately unaware of the significance of the Banksy piece.

Real life Da Vinci code

Laura — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 09:22:01 +0000

It’s like something out of The Da Vinci Code. Only this story is not a best selling novel, but a real life tale.

It involved an undercover policeman who alerted colleagues to a stolen Da Vinci painting using code and sparked a raid to recover it.

The policeman was posing as John Craig when he spotted the painting in the boardroom of a law office. He pretended that he was phoning the Duke of Buccleugh who owned the Madonna of the Yarnwinder painting when really he was speaking in code to police officers.

Marshall Ronald, a solicitor was standing with Craig at the time of the call and he is accused of trying to make £4.25 million from the return of the artwork.

Police raided the building and the painting, which was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in 2003 was recovered. All men involved denied trying to extort money.

All in the name of art

Laura — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:29:19 +0000

Are you prepared to get naked all in the name of art? Well, if the answer is yes, then Spencer Tunick needs you.

The artist is looking for 1000 people from Greater Manchester to take their clothes off and pose. And this isn’t the first time Tunick has done this. In fact, he has travelled the world taking photographs of masses of people naked.

The latest project is due to take place at The Lowry in Salford and will be one of the biggest ones Tunick has attempted.

Volunteers for the project can register their interest online at www.thelowry.com/tunick.

The big event is due to hit Manchester on May 1st and 2nd and the volunteers will be taken to eight locations across Manchester with the resulting photos being displayed at The Lowry later in the year.
Let’s just hope the weather warms up!

Art and sport unites

Jim — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:23:56 +0000

A project involving artists and Olympic hopefuls from Essex has been unveiled at Colchester United’s football ground.

The exhibition, called Journey to the Podium consists of paintings, animations, photography, film and sound.
The art reflects the personalities of the athletes and their own journeys to the podium. It will be displayed at the stadium until November, when it will be moved to Gibberd Gallery in Harlow.

The project is part of the Team Essex Ambassadors scheme which the Essex County Council is backing. They created a bried to create artworks that reflected the personalities of the athletes and the sports.

Re discovered Van Gogh goes on display

Jim — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:22:27 +0000

A brightly coloured painting with people wandering about outside a mill in Paris is not perhaps what you would imagine from a Van Gogh painting.

But according to experts at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum the painting of a windmill has now been identified as the work of Van Gogh. According to them, the painting was completed in 1886.

It was bought 35 years ago by Dirk Hannema who founded the Museum de Fundatie where the painting has now gone on display. At the time, he believed it was a Van Gogh, but was discredited.

It is only now that he has been proved right.