Artsy Ferret

Louise Bourgeois, renowned sculptor died Monday at the age of 98. She died at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, New York after suffering a heart attack.

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(Picasso, The Actor, image via Yahoo)

Pablo Picasso’s painting, The Actor, was damaged when a New York woman, attending an art class, allegedly lost her balance, tripped and fell onto the painting, and ripped the lower right hand corner. One wonders how someone looses her balance and falls onto a painting. Usually security who is bored out of their minds is always telling you not to stand so close to the painting. Do some people not respect the velvet rope? Perhaps not. So this woman who ever she is, is a complete moron. Artsy is just saying it out loud. How does one loose their balance and immediately grab onto the painting hanging on the wall? Out of all the things you can grab onto you decide, hey I’m gonna grab onto this $130 million dollar painting in a musuem to break my fall. If she had any brains she would have just fell and sued the Met. No she insisted on grabbing the painting. Good job klutz. Read the rest of this entry »

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(image via ArtInfo)

Edward Munch’s art seems to be a hot commodity in Norway these days. Thieves smashed the window of Nyborgs Kunst gallery and stole the lithograph called History.

Oslo art dealer Pascal Nyborg states the hand painted lithograph is worth millions. Other dealers have valued the work at $355,000 (2 million kroner). Previously at auction in 2001 it was sold for 200,000 kroner ($35,000)

Previously in 2001, armed gunmen stole 2 of Munch’s pieces from the Munch Museum. They were eventually captured and incarcerated. Police hope the similar result in this case.

Police claim to have found the getaway vehicle abandoned in the city. They currently have no leads.

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Image via Guardian

The Louvre began construction on its new Islamic art wing. Dubbed “the Veil”, it is described by its designers as a glass Muslim headscarf in the heart of Paris. Italian designer Mario Bellini described it as “a headscarf blowing in the wind.”  The €86 million ($133 million) will open in 2010, creating 3,000 square metres of gallery space. The “veil” will float above the ground, covering 2 floors. President Nicolas Sarkozy and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a major donor for the project, took part in Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony.  This is one of the most daring projects the Louvre has done since I.M. Pei’s giant glass pyramid 20 years ago. This project hopes to create a dialogue between the French and the Arab countries, in hopes of a better understanding of their diverse cultures. France has outlawed the headscarf and other religious symbols in public schools, as they believe religion is a private matter and should be be displayed publicly. 

Louvre Gets a Major Hit of Islam [artsjournal]

Culture: Louvre draws a veil over artistic neglect with bold new Islamic wing [guardian]

France: Louvre to Add Islamic Art [NY Times]

Sarkozy lauds Islam at Louvre ceremony with Saudi prince [AFP]

Louvre breaks ground on new Islamic Arts gallery [Daily Star]

Prince funds Louvre Islamic wing [BBC]
First stone laid for Louvre’s Islamic art gallery [Associated Press]

Louvre Gets Islamic Art Wing [IslamOnline]

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Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ (or, The Kiss of Judas)  was stolen from the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art in the Ukraine. Police stated the thieves entered through the window, by removing the glass pane rather than smashing it. By doing so, they did not trigger the alarm, and were able to steal the painting. They escaped through the museum’s roof. The museum had been urged to update their alarm system but did not due to financial reasons. 

Another version of the painting hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.

Caravaggio Stolen From Odessa Museum [artinfo]

Ukraine laments theft of a Caravaggio from museum [Reuters]

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Image believed to be of Banksy via MailOnline

Banksy’s identity is revealed! *gasp* [MailOnline] and he’s middle class! *gasp* and went to public school! *gasp*

Jeff Koons to exhibit work in Versailles [artinfo] old world meets contemporary, but are the french and the water fountains able to compete with a balloon dog?

Graffiti illegal and shocks Japan [Reuters] - trains and commuting come to a screeching halt when someone sprayed “Hack” on a train. 

Kayakers rescued near NYC waterfalls exhibit [Newsday] why is anyone kayaking near it in the first place? Its art, not a petting zoo.

£15m public art project revealed [Northern Echo] - those crazy brits. Toting to the be the world’s biggest public art project, which aims to build a series of huge sculptures across the region create towering structures in each of the five boroughs of the Tees Valley area, including Darlington, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool, and Redcar and Cleveland.

Vincent van Gogh musical [Tracing Vincent] I really can’t make this stuff up. 

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Jeff Koons, Balloon Flower (Magenta) (1995-200) via Jeff Koons

Della Robbia’s St. Michael Crashes to Floor at Met [Bloomberg] 15th-century Italian relief sculpture was damaged when it fell from its mounting on a wall. Ouchies. It fell jelly side up, so the damage wasn’t horrid.

Win One, Lose One for Dallas Museum [NY Times] Jeff Koon’s balloon flower leaves TX. Awe…

Maya Lin at Storm King [NY Times] - the young artist who designed the Vietnam Memorial in DC, has a show which is her first major earthwork to be created in the Northeast. Not bad for a girl who defended her work in front of congress.

Charlie Chaplain in Spain [Art Daily] first large exhibit dedicated to Chaplain’s Images. You see him as a man, an actor, a public figure, a human being and how his character came to be.

Guggenheim to open branch in Biblo Spain [NY TImes] and soon they will take over the world!

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Image via Wired

Animator’s Crazy Creatures Inhabit Natural History Museum Show [wired] cartoon network will always be more fun than the museum. It just is!

Dubai ’shape-shifting skyscraper’ unveiled [CNN] a first ever dynamic, rotating building. See the video 

Photographers add new dimensions to Still Life [Boston Globe] its not just fruit and flowers anymore. Now its half eaten cake! 

Frieze Projects 2008 Announced [NY Arts] Go Cory! Nuff said!

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Creation of Adam via Wired.com

ASCII artists come out to judge ASCII contest [wired.com] Yes ASCII is an art form. Yes art is subjective. If you see the entries you will be amazed…

First Ever Eco-Friendly Art Print Series [PR Web] Is this possible? Is everything trendy and green now?

Image via Netzapping

Reactive Sparks art installation makes heavy traffic a beautiful thing [Markus Lerner] yes it reacts to the volume of passing vehicles, turning those readings into wave-like visualizations that undulate across the face of the towers.

Inanimate Alice, digital, interactive book, not from the library [art daily] this isn’t your library book. This is a interactive digital story, with sounds, music, and visuals. Not a game, but not yet a book. You decide.

Waterfalls’ art installation to shower East River [Daily News] the waterfalls are coming! 

Jeff Koons joins Gucci to judge movies in Venice [Variety] no balloon dogs this time. 

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Top:  Picasso, Minotaur, Drinker and Women Bottom: The Artist and His model via newser

Tracy Emin’s Royal Academy Show [Mail Daily]  its got close ups of menstruation, barb wire hula hooping, zebra bestiality and that’s just to start! Now why is everyone getting upset?

Two Picasso Prints Stolen From Sao Paulo’s Pinacoteca Museum [Bloomberg] - someone’s got sticky fingers in Brazil. The 2nd heist of the Spanish master’s art in 6 months. The Artist and His model and Minotaur, Drinker and Women were taken. 

Untitled (Pecho/Oreja) by Jean-Michel Basquiat being sold by U2 [ArtDaily] - Sothbey’s got their hands on this piece and are hoping to get 6 million for it. 

 
Vatican looks to Modern Artists for Divine inspiration [Independent UK] - yeah but they won’t let ‘Angels & Demons’ film anywhere near them. Kinda hippocritical.

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