31.12.10

COHIBA COGNAC BY MARTELL


MARTELL KNOWN FOR PRODUCING HIGH END COGNACS HAS RELEASED IN COLLABORATION WITH CUBAN HABANOS CIGARS A COHIBA COGNAC. THE BLEND OF THE COGNAC IS MADE FROM 'GRANDE CHAMPAGNE', ONE OF THE FINEST EAU DE VIE IN FRANCE AND HAS BEEN AGED BETWEEN FORTY TO FIFTY YEARS IN UNIQUE OAK CASKS TO OBTAIN SOME OF THE WOOD'S EXQUISITE NOTES AND SPECIFIC AMBER HUES DURING THAT TIME. THE COGNAC COMES IN AN ELEGANT BOTTLE WITH A DISTINCT SILK-SCREEN PRINT AND A WOODEN BOX OF A TYPICAL CUBAN TOBACCO FIELD LANDSCAPE WHERE THE ENTIRE DESIGN OF THE ARTWORK CAN BE VIEWED.

30.12.10

TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART ACQUIRES NEW ARTWORK


THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART, OHIO, HAS PURCHASED THE DRAMATIC WORK IN GLASS ENTITLED 'IAGO'S MIRROR' BY ARTIST FRED WILSON. THE LARGE, ORNATE WORK IN BLACK MURANO GLASS HAS BEEN INSTALLED IN GALLERY 5 OF THE GLASS PAVILION®. 'FRED WILSON IS AN IMPORTANT ARTIST WHOSE WORKS CROSSES BOUNDARIES BETWEEN THE GLASS WORLD AND CONTEMPORARY ART', SAID TMA DIRECTOR BRIAN KENNEDY. 'ONE OF THE MUSEUM'S GOALS IS TO ACQUIRE WORKS OF ART OF SINGULAR MERIT BY DISTINGUISHED LIVING ARTISTS. 'IAGO'S MIRROR' IS A PERFECT FIT WITHIN OUR COMPREHENSIVE GLASS COLLECTION.'

CONTROVERSIAL MURALS DEPICTING SLAVERY TO BE REMOVED


MURALS OF SLAVES HARVESTING SUGAR CANE ON A GEORGIA PLANTATION AND PICKING AND GINNING COTTON ARE COMING OFF THE WALLS OF A STATE BUILDING ON THE ORDER OF A NEW AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER. THE MURALS ARE PART OF A COLLECTION OF EIGHT WORKS PAINTED BY GEORGE BEATTIE IN 1956 DEPICTING AN IDEALIZED VERSION OF GEORGIA FARMING, FROM THE CORN GROWN BY PREHISTORIC AMERICAN INDIANS TO A 20th CENTURY VETERINARY LAB. IN THE DEEP SOUTH, THE HISTORY IN BETWEEN INCLUDES THE FORCED USE OF SLAVE LABOR. 'I DON'T LIKE THOSE PAINTINGS', SAID REPUBLICAN GARY BLACK, THE NEWLY ELECTED AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER. 'THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE THEM.' SLAVERY WAS INDISPUTABLY PART OF 19th CENTURY FARMING IN GEORGIA. BY 1840, MORE THAN 280,000 SLAVES WERE LIVING IN THE STATE, MANY AS FIELD HANDS. JUST BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, SLAVES MADE UP ABOUT 40% OF THE STATE'S POPULATION. BEATTIE'S MURALS TELL PART OF THE STORY. IN ONE PAINTING, TWO WELL-DRESSED WHITE GENTLEMEN IN TOP HATS AND DRESS COATS LEISURELY INSPECT PROCESSED COTTON. THEY'RE FRAMED ON EITHER SIDE BY BLACK SLAVES DOING THE WORK OF COTTON FARMING. ON THE LEFT, A SLAVE HUNCHES OVER TO PICK COTTON BALLS BY HAND. TWO OTHER SLAVES ARE USING THE INFAMOUS WHITNEY GIN, INVENTED NEAR SAVANNAH, TO SEPARATE COTTON FIBER FROM SEEDS AS A WHITE OVERSEER WEIGHS COTTON BAGS BEHIND THEM. 'I THINK WE CAN DEPICT A BETTER PICTURE OF AGRICULTURE', BLACK SAID. BLACK SAID LESS CONTROVERSIAL MURALS, A SCENE AT A STATE FARMERS MARKET, FOR EXAMPLE, MAY FIND A NEW HOME IN A CONFERENCE ROOM OR ELSEWHERE IN THE BUILDING. FEW HAVE OPENLY PROTESTED THE MURALS, MAYBE BECAUSE THE AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT IS NOT HEAVILY VISITED. A FULL CENTURY AFTER THE CIVIL WAS, SOUTHERNERS STILL ARGUE OVER HOW TO HANDLE POTENT SYMBOLS OF SLAVERY AND SEGREGATION IN PUBLIC PLACE. IT'S NOTHING NEW. THE SAME YEAR BEATTIE FINISHED THE MURALS, STATE LAWMAKERS PUT THE CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG BACK INTO GEORGIA'S STATE FLAG TO PROTEST INTEGRATION. ONLY IN 2001 DID GOV ROY BARNES REPLACE IT, AND SOME SAY IT COST HIM THE ELECTION THE FOLLOWING YEAR. IN 1995, TWO YEARS BEFORE HE DIED, BEATTIE DEFENDED HIS MURALS IN A DEPARTMENT-SPONSORED ARTICLE THAT MENTIONED THE ART HAD SPURRED DEBATE AND CONCERN AMONG VISITORS AND EMPLOYEES. 'AS A HUMAN BEING, I AM VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED TO SLAVERY, AS ANYONE SHOULD BE', BEATTIE SAID, 'BUT IT WAS A SIGNIFICANT EPOCH IN OUR HISTORY; IT WOULD HAVE BEEN INACCURATE NOT TO INCLUDE THIS PERIOD.'

28.12.10

KUNSTHAUS MUSEUM PRESENTS PICASSO EXHIBITION


IN SEPTEMBER 1932, ALREADY A WORLD-FAMOUS ARTIST, PABLO PICASSO DROVE FROM PARIS TO ZURICH FOR THE OPENING OF A MEGA-EXHIBITION OF HIS WORKS THAT WAS TO MARK A TURNING POINT IN WESTERN CULTURAL HISTORY. ALTHOUGH HE CURATED THE EXHIBITS HIMSELF AT A LUXURY LAKESIDE HOTEL NEARBY FOR TWO DAYS, HOBNOBBING WITH ART CONNOISSEURS AND CRITICS, HE MYSTERIOUSLY NEVER WENT TO SEE THE SHOW AT THE CITY'S KUNSTHAUS MUSEUM. THIS AUTUMN, AND TO CELEBRATE ITS OWN CENTENARY, THE KUNSTHAUS HAS RECREATED THE LANDMARK EXHIBITION, OR SOMETHING UNDER HALF OF IT, AND IT HAS BEEN PULLING IN THE CROWDS. FOR THE ORIGINAL, THE THEN ALREADY 51 YEAR OLD PICASSO CHOSE THE 229 WORKS HIMSELF, PAINTINGS, LITHOGRAPHS AND A HANDFUL OF BRONZE SCULPTURES, TO BE DISPLAYED. 'IN EFFECT', SAYS TOBIA BEZZOLA WHO PUT TOGETHER THE NEW SHOW, 'HE CURATED THIS ONE TOO.' AT A TIME WHEN CONTEMPORARY ART WAS NORMALLY DISPLAYED IN PRIVATE AND COMMERCIAL GALLERIES, THE 1932 EXHIBITION WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST RETROSPECTIVE OF A LIVING ARTIST TO BE PUT ON IN A MUSEUM, CULTURAL HISTORIANS SAY. COVERING THE SPANISH-BORN PICASSO'S OUTPUT FROM 1899, WHEN HE WAS AN 18 YEAR OLD PRODIGY IN BARCELONA, THROUGH THE PINK, BLUE, CUBIST, CONSTRUCTIVIST AND SEMI-SURREALIST PERIODS THAT FOLLOWED WHEN HE MOVED TO PARIS AT THE TURN OF THE 20th CENTURY, IT SET A TREND THAT SWEPT THE ART WORLD AFTER WORLD WAR II AND STILL DOMINATES IT. WITH ITS CATALOGS, IN CHEAP AND EXPENSIVE VERSIONS, ITS POSTERS AND PRESS RELEASES, THE FIRST KUNSTHAUS SHOW WAS A PROTOTYPE OF THE ART BLOCKBUSTERS THAT BOOST REVENUES FOR MAJOR AND MINOR MUSEUM AROUND THE WORLD TODAY. NOT THAT IT BROUGHT MUCH CASH IN THEN, A TIME OF DEEP ECONOMIC WOES AS THE WORLD MOVED INTO THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE 1930s, DESPITE, FOR THE TIME, AN IMPRESSIVE TOTAL OF 32,000 VISITORS DURING THE TWO MONTHS IT WAS ON. A REFLECTION OF THE CASH-STRAPPED AGE WAS THAT NONE OF THE CANVASES WHICH PICASSO OFFERED FOR SALE AS THE KUNSTHAUS WERE BOUGHT EXCEPT ONE, BY THE MUSEUM ITSELF. THAT CUBIST WORK, 'GUITAR ON A GUERIDON' OF 1915, IS ONE OF THE CENTRAL PIECES AT THE NEW SHOW, WHICH OPENED ON 15.OCTOBER, CLOSES ON 30.JANUARY AND HAS ALREADY HOSTED 250,000 VISITORS.

THIEVES TRY TO SELL STOLEN ARTWORK AT SCRAPYARD


POLICE HAVE RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION 34 OF THE 35 WORKS OF ART THAT WERE STOLEN FROM A TRUCK THREE WEEKS AGO IN GETAFE (MADRID) AND WHICH ARE WORTH MORE THAN $4 MILLION. THE SAME SOURCES ACKNOWLEDGED THAT, FOR NOW, THEY FAILED TO APPREHEND THE PERPETRATORS OF THE ROBBERY. THE VEHICLE, WHOSE KEYS WERE KEPT IN THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT, WAS ABANDONED IN ALCORCON TO CONFUSE OFFICIALS. ALTHOUGH IT WAS INITIALLY THOUGHT THAT THE WORKS OF ART WERE STOLEN ON REQUEST AND THAT THEY MAY HAVE ALREADY HAVE HAD A BUYER, WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME THE INVESTIGATION TOOK A TURN AFTER IT EMERGED THAT A SCULPTURE BY CHILLIDA HAD ENDED UP IN A JUNKYARD. THE STARTLING REVELATION SHOWS THAT THE THIEVES (THREE MASKED MEN WHO DID NOT EVEN BOTHER TO SWITCH OFF THE ALARMS) WERE MET WITH A COMMODITY THEY DID NOT EXPECT AND DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO WITH IT. ACCORDING TO THE INITIAL INVESTIGATION, THE THIEVES TRANSFERRED THE WORKS TO A VAN AFTER LEAVING THE TRUCK. THE INVESTIGATING OFFICERS INITIALLY FOUND A WORK BY CHILLIDA, THE THIEVES HAD SOLD IT AT A JUNKYARD IN MADRID FOR $50. THE LEAD ALLOWED THEM TO FIND 33 OF THE STOLEN ARTWORKS IN A VAN. ALL THE STOLEN MATERIAL IS IN GOOD CONDITION AND MOST OF WERE PROTECTED IN THEIR ORIGINAL PACKAGING. ONLY ONE OF THE BOXES WAS RECOVERED BROKEN. THE OWNER OF THE JUAN GRIS GALLERY, THE FINAL DESTINATION OF THE STOLEN ART, ACKNOWLEDGED THE 'UNEXPECTED' NEWS. DAVID FERNANDEZ BRASO CONFESSED THAT 'HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE' TO RECOVER THE WORKS AND THAT IT WAS 'A ROBBERY DONE BY PROFESSIONALS'. IT HAS BEEN SHOWN THAT IT WAS QUITE THE OPPOSITE.

TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART RETURNS NEREID SWEETMEAT STAND TO HEIRS


FOLLOWING A US IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT'S (ICE) HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS (HSI) INVESTIGATION, THE UNITED STATES HAS ENTERED INTO A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART, OHIO, THAT PROVIDES FOR THE RETURN TO A ROYAL FAMILY IN GERMANY OF THE 'NEREID SWEETMEAT STAND', A FAMED SWAN SERVICE COLLECTION'S CENTERPIECE. DURING WORLD WAR II, WHILE ON LOAN TO THE DRESDEN MUSEUM FROM THE FAMILY OF THE FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF SAXONY, THE 'NEREID SWEETMEAT STAND' WAS STOLEN FROM A CASTLE WHERE IT WAS HIDDEN. THE PORCELAIN PIECE, VALUED AT MORE THAN $1 MILLION, WAS RECENTLY LOCATED AT THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART, WHICH HAS AGREED TO RETURN IT TO THE HEIRS OF THE FORMER PRIME MINISTER. IN 1737, COUNT HEINRICH VON BRUEHL, THE PRIME MINSTER OF SAXONY AND THE FOUNDING PATRON OF THE MEISSEN PORCELAIN FACTORY, ORDERED THE FACTORY'S CHIEF MODELER TO CREATE A ROYAL DINNER SERVICE. THE RESULT, FOUR YEARS IN THE MAKING, WAS THE SWAN SERVICE, A SERVICE FOR 100 COMPRISING 2,200 PIECES. THE NEREID SWEETMEAT STAND, PART OF THE CENTERPIECE ARRANGEMENT, IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MASTERPIECES OF THE COLLECTION. IN AUGUST 1920, THE DRESDEN MUSEUM RECEIVED 25 PIECES FROM THE SWAN SERVICE, INCLUDING THE NEREID STAND, ON PERMANENT LOAN FROM THE VON BRUEHL FAMILY. THESE PIECES AND 12 OTHERS FROM THE SWAN SERVICE DONATED TO THE MUSEUM AFTER 1920, WERE HIDDEN AT THE REICHSTAEDT CASTLE IN GERMANY DURING WORLD WAR II. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAR, THE BOXES WERE FOUND OPENED WITH THE NEREID STAND AND SEVERAL OTHER PIECES MISSING. IN 1955, THE STAND WAS PURCHASED FROM A EUROPEAN ART DEALER, SUBSEQUENTLY IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES, AND SOLD TO THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART. RECENTLY, THE STAND WAS DETERMINED TO BE THE STOLEN NEREID SWEETMEAT STAND AFTER BEING EXAMINED BY STAFF FROM THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART, THE DRESDEN MUSEUM, THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART AND SPECIAL AGENTS FROM ICE AND HSI.

POLICE SEARCH FOR STOLEN NEW YORK ART COLLECTION


AUTHORITIES ARE RAMPING UP THEIR EFFORT TO SOLVE A MANHATTAN MYSTERY: WHO DRILLED A HOLE INTO THE HOME OF A BEEF FORTUNE HEIR AND STOLE A COLLECTION OF ICONIC ARTWORKS BY ROY LICHTENSTEIN AND ANDY WARHOL. THE THIEVES ALSO MADE OFF WITH SURVEILLANCE VIDEO FOOTAGE THAT MIGHT HAVE CAUGHT THEM IN THE ACT. THE NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT RELEASED IMAGES OF THE ART, HOPING SOMEONE MIGHT HELP SOLVE LAST MONTH'S CRIME IN THE TRENDY MEATPACKING DISTRICT BY RECOGNIZING WORKS LIKE THE WELL-KNOWN LICHTENSTEIN PRINT CALLED 'THINKING NUDE'. AUTHORITIES ESTIMATE THE FIVE-STORY APARTMENT WAS BURGLARIZED SOMETIME DURING THANKSGIVING WEEK, WHEN THE OWNER AND ART COLLECTOR ROBERT ROMANOFF WAS AWAY. ALSO TAKEN FROM THE BUILDING WAS A LICHTENSTEIN PRINT CALLED 'MOONSCAPE', THE CARL FUDGE OIL PAINTING 'LIVE CAT', THE WARHOL PRINTS 'THE TRUCK' AND 'SUPERMAN', AND A SET OF EIGHT SIGNED WARHOL PRINTS FROM 1968 CALLED 'CAMOUFLAGE'. THEY'RE AMONG THE ARTIST'S LAST WORKS BEFORE HIS DEATH THE FOLLOWING YEAR. AUTHORITIES ESTIMATE THE ARTWORKS, PLUS A STOLEN CARTIER AND ROLEX WATCHES AND OTHER JEWELRY, ARE WORTH OVER $750,000. THE ROMANOFF HOME IS IN A NEIGHBORHOOD FILLED WITH OLD WAREHOUSES AND MEATPACKING COMPANIES NOW TURNED INTO RETAIL AND LIVING SPACE, RESTAURANTS AND BOUTIQUES. POLICE SAY THE THIEF DRILLED A HOLE THROUGH THE WALL OF A HALLWAY SOMETIME BETWEEN 24-28.NOVEMBER. LICHTENSTEIN, WHO DIED IN 1997, CREATED 'THINKING NUDE' IN 1994, ONE OF 40 ILLUSTRATED EDITION WORKS THAT ARE PART OF HIS 'NUDES' SERIES BASED ON COMIC-BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS. A SIMILAR PRINT RECENTLY SOLD FOR $85,000 AT CHRISTIE'S, ACCORDING TO THE AUCTION HOUSE'S WEBSITE. WARHOL'S 'SUPERMAN' PRINT IS PART OF HIS 1980s 'MYTHS' SERIES FEATURING FICTIONAL CHARACTERS WITH MASS-CULTURAL APPEAL, INCLUDING MICKEY MOUSE AND UNCLE SAM.