News Articles Library Event Photos Contact Search


Home - AFAnews
Wednesday, 28 September 2016 21:24

George Lucas continues the search for a location for his Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, most recently giving up on Chicago’s lakefront in June because of lawsuits from Friends of the Park. Museum locations have long been a challenge, and their role in cities is changing.

Wednesday, 28 September 2016 21:18

85 works by Spanish artist Joan Mir estimated at $39 million will remain in the country after the Portuguese government proposed their sale to foreign buyers. The paintings came under state ownership in 2008 when the government nationalized the failed bank BNP that had built up the collection. If the government decides to sell some of the works, they must remain in the city of Porto. The paintings will go on display at the Serralves Museum through January 28, 2017.

Wednesday, 28 September 2016 21:16

Though fewer in number than The Met originally anticipated, thirty-four people have been laid off at the museum in continued efforts to meet budget objectives. This is on top of the fifty staff members who took buyouts in July. While The Met remains committed to its core mission, the museum expects to reduce the number of annual exhibitions from fifty-five to approximately forty.

Wednesday, 28 September 2016 19:03

Only one of 36 surviving works by Vermeer, the “Music Lesson” (1660-1662) was last in The Netherlands in 1996 as part of a traveling exhibition. It returns to its homeland in the exhibition “At Home in Holland: Vermeer and his Contemporaries from the British Royal Collection,” which opens on Thursday, September 29th.

Wednesday, 28 September 2016 00:42

After eight years at the helm of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Wim Pijbes became the new Museum Voorlinden’s general director. Three weeks after the private museum opened, which houses the modern and contemporary art collection of chemicals magnate joop van Caldenborgh, Pijbes stepped down.

Wednesday, 28 September 2016 00:32

Islamic extremist Ahmad al-Faqi al Mahdi has been sentenced by the international criminal court in The Hague for ordering the razing of nine mausoleums and the 15th-century Sidi Yahia mosque in the ancient city of Timbuktu. This is the first time the ICC has heard a case about the demolition of cultural heritage.

Wednesday, 28 September 2016 00:18

Jeff Koons’ “Coloring Book,” a colorful 18-foot-tall mirror-polished stainless steel sculpture of a piglet, isn’t exactly what Sacramento Kings fans expected to see outside their new sports arena.

Tuesday, 27 September 2016 23:44

Devoted largely to musical instruments that play automatically, the collection dates from the 18th to the early twentieth century. Housed in a former church, visitors can actually play the larger baroque street organs, which bellow their thunderous sound, explore the collection, which includes a device once referred to the eighth manmade wonder of the world (the Phonoliszt Violina), visit the technology room, and so much more.

Tuesday, 27 September 2016 23:09

After its first comprehensive renovation, the gallery housing Harvard Museum’s historic glass flower collection has reopened, being largely unchanged since the 1920s. The 4,200 flora, all made entirely of glass, were crafted between 1887 and 1936 by a father-and-son team from Dresden.

Tuesday, 27 September 2016 02:09

What does artist David Hockney think about what makes a masterpiece, how great artists of the past have approached their craft, and a number of other topics relevant to art history? You’ll have your chance to find out with the publication of his book, coauthored with art critic Martin Gayford, “A History of Pictures: From the Cave to the Computer,” available on October 18th.

Tuesday, 27 September 2016 02:07

After decades in the making, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture opened to the public during a three-day celebration this past weekend, which included a dedication on Saturday by President Obama. The museum’s opening in the last months of the Obama administration, as the national grapples anew with racial inequalities, resonated with many. With lines snaking along the mall, on Sunday, opening hours stretched from 7 a.m. to midnight. The building was packed throughout and visitors wore buttons proclaiming, “I was there!” In a sentiment shared by many, one attendee noted, “It was definitely a life-changing experience, being here, to see a tangible representation of our history in American history.”

Tuesday, 27 September 2016 01:58

When Fidel Castro and Che Guevara discussed thier desire to educate the people in a show of power for the revolutionthe Escuelas Nacionales de Arte (National Art Schools) was born. Housing an art school that reflected the new socialist Cuba of the 1960s, the school was built with local materials and Catalan vaults throughout, repudiating Western-style International Modernism. Unfortunately, such “exoticism” fell out of favor and the buildings fell into neglect. Though the buildings have been put on the World Monument Fund watch list since 2000, their future remains uncertain, complicated by the challenges of tourism and investment pressures that jeopardize the character of Cuba.

Tuesday, 27 September 2016 01:54

Artist and architect Anish Kapoor has collaborated with developers to create the “blackest black” pigment, which he now owns exclusively. Comprised of microscopic stems of color that trap nearly 97% of the light, the pigment is the blackest material in the universe other than a black hole. Says Kapoor, “It’s literally as if you could disappear into it.” The pigment, which was being developed for military use, is attractive to Kapoor because of his interest in working with “void forms,” and the pigment is entirely non-reflective. Critics and other artists question Kapoor’s right to this darkest of blacks.

Monday, 26 September 2016 23:59

It took the sleuthing of BBC1’s “Fake or Fortune” presenter Bendor Grosvenor, also an art historian, to realize that a painting owned by a museum in Wales for 150 years, and identified as a copy, was actually an original work by the 17th-century Flemish master Jacob Jordaens. The clue was in the frame.

Friday, 23 September 2016 19:41

The Great Wall in China, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, is the subject of much discontent after news has spread of botched restoration of a section dating back 700 years. This previously unrestored five-mile stretch, among its most beautiful, has had its towers knocked down and its wall paved over with a mixture of materials, now resembling a smoothed-over bike path.

Friday, 23 September 2016 19:40

In 2013, looters entered the Mallawi Museum in Minia, Egypt, shot staff and a security guard, and absconded with or vandalized 1,000 objects from the collection. Information on the missing artifacts was distributed and in the ensuing years nearly all of the items have been returned. To aid in protecting the collections from future assaults, the museum has spent £864,000 in renovations, which include modern display cases, improved lighting, and security.

Friday, 23 September 2016 19:38

The allure of fast cars and sleek lines will continue to attract enthusiasts, but the high-end consumer spending on classic vehicles may be waning. Indicators suggest that while the average auction prices were up last year, the overall volume of sales is falling, stoking fears of consumer spending in the luxury market may be softening.

Friday, 23 September 2016 18:22

Following an undercover sting operation at the Metropolitan Fine Arts and Antiques store in New York City on September 22, three antiques dealers were arrested for selling ivory works of art without a license. This is the result of a 2014 law passed in the state to limit the ivory trade. The 126 objects will be destroyed.

 

Friday, 23 September 2016 17:22

When a gallery receives an infusion of $42.5 million, naturally the donor is recognized. In the instance of the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, New York, this comes in the form of a name change—to the Albright-Knox-Gundlach Art Museum. Investor and art collector Jeffrey Gundlach, who has provided the funds in the form of a challenge grant, credits the Albright-Knox with “ . . . opening his eyes and mind to the endless possibilities of art . . . “

 

Friday, 23 September 2016 04:04

As part of a trilogy of special exhibits to mark Her Majesty’s 90th birthday year, visitors to Windsor Castle are now able to view “Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen’s Wardrobe.” Among the attire on view in the Semi-State Apartments are evening gowns worn during State Visits and tours. The colors and decorative elements of the ensembles, created by notable designers, often include subtle messaging to compliment host countries. Some of The Queen’s childhood and celebratory outfits are also on display.

Events