Socialist Realism’s Russian Renaissance
Champions of Socialist Realism are seeking to restore it to what they see as its rightful place in Russian art history. But even as it attracts billionaire collectors and appears in prominent exhibitions, some ask whether the official style of Stalin can overcome its past
It was one of the most heralded openings of… Continue reading
That Little Lost Boy in Red, Back With His Family
Goya and the Altamira Family The sons of the Count and Countess of Altamira, from left: Vicente, Manuel and Juan, who was painted by a collaborator of Goya’s, in this show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Credit From left, private collection; the Jules Bache Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Cleveland Museum of Art… Continue reading
Long live Art and Architecture
The Swiss collector Maja Hoffmann’s Luma Foundation has given €100m to establish an ambitious cultural project in Arles
An aerial view of the future Luma Arles. Photo: Gehry Partners, LLP
The foundation stones were laid last weekend in Arles for an Arts Resource Centre designed by the Canadian-born, Californian-based architect Frank Gehry, which will… Continue reading
Norwegian Museum to Return Matisse Looted From French Art Dealer by the Nazis
A museum in Norway co-founded by the Olympic skating champion Sonja Henie has agreed to return one of its signature works, a portrait by Matisse, to the New York family of a prewar Paris art dealer after determining the painting was stolen by the Nazis.
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter: 2013 Succession H. Matisse/Artists Rights Society (ARS),… Continue reading
Turkey turns blind eye to plunder, says Syria
Red-Listed Syrian objects ranging from pre-history to the Ottoman period
Syria has accused Turkey of turning a blind eye to the systematic looting of the country’s cultural heritage. Illicit digging at archaeological sites is “fierce”, antiquities stores have been raided by armed gangs, and foreigners, from Turkey in particular, are smuggling hundreds… Continue reading
Art Auctions Without the Attitude
Sold! From left, at Capo Auction: Joel Kramer with an alabaster sculpture of a Native American; Jenine Linder with a painting by Ernest Nathaniel Townsend; and Henry Radziulis with a work by Max Heichele. Credit Piotr Redlinski for The New York Times
EILEEN OGLE of Brooklyn comes so often to shop at Hutter Auction… Continue reading
The British roots of the Monuments Men
While George Clooney’s film offers a Hollywood view of the true story to save Europe’s art treasure, few know about the very British brand of hero who helped pave the way for the Allied armies’ art detectives
Sir Leonard Woolley (right) with T.E. Lawrence at the excavation of Carchemish, around 1912-13
With the release of… Continue reading
The man whose ‘real Chagall’ could now be burnt as a fake
Leeds man hoped a BBC art show would verify his painting, but now France plans to destroy it
The painting, Nude 1909-10, attributed to Marc Chagall, on Fake or Fortune with (l-r) Philip Mould, Bendor Grosvenor and Fiona Bruce. Photograph: BBC/Glenn Dearing
When a Yorkshire businessman bought a reclining nude attributed to Marc… Continue reading
8 Painters on Painting
At a time of revolution in digital technologies, when making extraordinary images has never been technically easier, painting persists. Jennifer Higgie asked eight artists to share their thoughts on the whys and wherefores of figurative painting
Ellen Altfest, Armpit, 2011, oil on canvas, 21 × 18 cm. Courtesy: the artist and White Cube,… Continue reading
