Tuesday, February 27, 2007

The Desert Louvre?

The Louvre intends to lend its name and its art to a museum venture in Abu Dhabi, drawing harsh criticism from other museums. The fear is that art and national treasures will become commercialized and that the Louvre is being run like a corporation seeking to maximize profits rather than museum.

The full story from Bloomberg

The Munch Theft a Diversion?

The theft of Edvard Munch's iconic, The Scream, shocked the world, not only because of the paintings stolen, not only for its boldness, but also for its apparent ineptness. The robbers had planned the crime well, but when they arrived at the Munch Museum, they had to be shown where the two paintings were.

Now, years later, after the painting has been recovered, after long months of police work, authorities are wondering if the theft was a glaring crime meant to draw attention to the real crime.

The full story from The Guardian

Friday, February 16, 2007

300

If you haven't seen this preview yet, you will be blown away. I suggest trying the Hi-def version, but any of them will have the desired effect.

300 is a new film based on a graphic novel by the same artist who inspired Sin City, Frank Miller. It tells the story of 300 Spartans who withstood a million Persians.

300 Website
Trailers

Monday, February 05, 2007

Analysis Cast Doubt on 3 Pollocks

A Harvard study analyzed the pigments in three disputed paintings attributed to Jackson Pollock and found that there are serious issues with the paintings in question. The study found that the pigment in one of the paintings wasn't available until 1996 and the pigment in another was only available after 1971. Pollock died in 1956.

Full Story

Rijksmuseum Reopening Delayed

The reopening of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, home to many of the most famous works by Rembrandt and many other Dutch artists has been delayed to 2010.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Amsterdam's renowned Rijksmuseum, home to some of the most famous works by Rembrandt and other Dutch masters and which is undergoing restoration, will not reopen until 2010, two years later than planned.

Delays had arisen due to the need for extra building permits after some initial designs had been modified, the Dutch culture ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Full Story

Friday, February 02, 2007

Klimt In Demand

Until a few decades ago, Gustav Klimt was relatively ignored by the art establishment. Now his paintings are among the most expensive ever sold. How did the Viennese painter’s prices rise so high so fast?
by Eileen Kinsella

When Ronald Lauder, the cosmetics heir, art collector, Neue Galerie cofounder, and chairman emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art, shelled out a reported $135 million for Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) last June, many observers were shocked not only by the amount paid—one of the highest known prices for a single painting to date—but also by the name of the artist it was paid for.

How, they wondered, did a work by Klimt, who was largely ignored by the art establishment just a few decades ago, suddenly vault more than four times to a previous auction record of $29.1 million? How did he surpass even Picasso, whose $104.2 million Blue Period Boy with a Pipe (1905)—still a much discussed market milestone two years after the fact—officially holds the slot for the most expensive painting sold at public auction?

Full Story