RARE COPY OF BATMAN NO.1 TO BE SOLD AT AUCTION

A LONGTIME ALASKA COMIC BOOK COLLECTOR IS SELLING ONE OF THE GEMS OF HIS VAST COLLECTION, A RARE COPY OF BATMAN NO.1 PUBLISHED 70 YEARS AGO. MIKE WHEAT OF FAIRBANKS HAS PUT THE 1940 COMIC BOOK ON THE AUCTION BLOCK THROUGH DALLAS-BASED HERITAGE AUCTION GALLERIES, WHERE IT'S EXPECTED TO FETCH MORE THAN $40,000. ONLINE BIDS ALREADY HAVE CLIMBED TO $35,000 FOR THE BOOK, BELIEVED TO BE ONE OF FEWER THAN 300 STILL IN EXISTENCE. ONLINE BIDS WILL COMPETE WITH A LIVE AUCTION SET FOR THURSDAY. THE SECOND AND FORTH BATMAN ISSUES ALSO WILL BE PART OF THURSDAY'S AUCTION. THEY ARE EXPECTED TO BRING MORE THAN $5,000 COMBINED. WHEAT A RETIRED CITY WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT OPERATOR, SAID HE CONSIDERS THE BATMAN COMICS AN INVESTMENT. HE SAID IT FEELS LIKE THE RIGHT TIME TO SELL. 'I JUST DECIDED IT'S TIME FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO HAVE IT', HE ADDED. THE BATMAN NO. 1 COMIC BOOK WAS DISCOVERED AFTER LOCAL BUSINESSMAN RON JAEGER BOUGHT AN OLD DRESSER AT A GARAGE SALE IN THE EARLY 1970s, THEN KEPT IT IN STORAGE FOR A FEW YEARS. WHEN JAEGER FINALLY BROUGHT IT OUT, HE NOTICED ONE OF THE DRAWERS DIDN'T SLIDE EASILY. THREE COMIC BOOKS AND A FEW OLD ISSUES OF THE FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER WERE TUCKED BENEATH THE DRAWER AND A QUARTER-INCH PIECE OF PLYWOOD. THE HAUL INCLUDED A COPY OF BATMAN NO. 1, SUPERMAN NO. 17 AND AN OLD ISSUE OF A RED RYDER WESTERN COMIC. WHEAT ALREADY HAD A REPUTATION AS AN AVID COMIC COLLECTOR IN 1974, AND JAEGER SOLD HIM THE COMIC FOR $300. THE AUCTION HOUSE HAS HANDLED MANY COPIES OF BATMAN NO. 1, BUT WHEAT'S COPY IS NOTABLE BECAUSE THE LOW HUMIDITY AND COOL TEMPERATURES IN FAIRBANKS HAVE KEPT THE PAPER IN EXCELLENT CONDITION SAID BARRY SANDOVAL, DIRECTOR OF COMIC AUCTIONS AND OPERATIONS AT HERITAGE. OLD COMICS WERE PRINTED ON CHEAP NEWSPRINT, BUT THE PAGES IN WHEAT'S COPY REMAIN WHITE AND CRISP.

CHRISTIE'S TO SELL LOUIS VUITTON COLLECTION

ON 28.SEPTEMBER CHRISTIE'S, LONDON, WILL BE OFFERING AN INCREDIBLE COLLECTION OF VINTAGE LOUIS VUITTON LUGGAGE DURING ITS INTERIORS: STYLE & SPIRIT SALE. OVER 20 ORIGINAL PIECES FROM THE FAMED LUXURY GOODS HOUSE DATING FROM THE LATE 19th CENTURY TO THE 1940s WILL GO ON THE BLOCK, INCLUDING PERFECTLY PATINATED SUITCASES, CABIN TRUNKS, SMALL TRUNKS, HAT BOXES AND VANITY CASES. EACH TIMELESSLY LUXURIOUS ITEM TELLS A DIFFERENT STORY, WITH MANY STILL SPORTING VINTAGE TRAVEL LABELS FROM TRIPS WITH THEIR ORIGINAL OWNERS ON STEAMSHIPS AND TO EXOTIC LOCALES, WHILE OTHERS FEATURE HAND-PAINTED MONOGRAMS. WITH AN INVITING ESTIMATE RANGE OF £400 FOR SMALLER CASES TO
£6,000 FOR THE STEAMER TRUNKS ALONG WITH FAVORABLE EXCHANGE RATES, THIS IS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO ADD TO OR BEGIN A VINTAGE LUGGAGE COLLECTION AND RECAPTURE THE GLAMOR OF A BYGONE ERA OF LUXURY.

MARTINI GOLD BY DOLCE & GABBANA

ITALIAN LUXURY DESIGNERS DOLCE & GABBANA HAVE RECENTLY TEAMED UP WITH BACARDI'S VERMOUTH BRAND MARTINI TO LAUNCH THEIR MARTINI GOLD BY DOLCE & GABBANA. THE NEW STUNNING NEW CREATION IS DRESSED IN A LAVISH GOLD BOTTLE IN A BLACK CASE. SWIDE.COM REPORTS THAT THE MARTINI GOLD VERMOUTH IS A REFINED BLEND OF 'BERGAMOT FROM CLABRIA, LEMONS FROM SICILY AS WELL AS ORANGES, SPANISH SAFFRON, MYRRH FROM ETHIOPIA, GINGER FROM INDIA AND CUBEBE PEPPER FROM INDONESIA'.

SOULAGES TILE MURAL TO BE REINSTALLED

PIERRE SOULAGES, AN INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED ARTIST OF FRENCH ORIGIN, WHOSE WORKS WERE RECENTLY EXHIBITED IN A RETROSPECTIVE AT THE POMPIDOU CENTRE IN PARIS. IN 1968, SOULAGES CREATED A SITE-SPECIFIC TILE MURAL COMMISSIONED BY THE OWNERS OF ONE OLIVER PLAZA, AN OFFICE BUILDING IN PITTSBURGH. IN THE SPRING OF 2009, THE OLIVER BUILDING WAS SOLD AND THE NEW OWNERS PLANNED TO REMOVE THE 14 x 20 FOOT MURAL, COMPOSED OF 294 INDIVIDUAL, HAND-FORMED CERAMIC TILES. THE MASTERWORK, UNVEILED IN MAY OF 1968, WAS OFFERED TO MUSEUMS AND ORGANIZATIONS, BUT NONE WERE WILLING TO UNDERTAKE THE DIFFICULT REMOVAL OF THE WORK. THE DIRECTOR AND BOARD OF THE BUTLER INSTITUTE ACCEPTED THE WORK AS A GIFT FROM THE NEW OWNERS OF THE OLIVER BUILDING, AND REMOVED THE DELICATE TILE MURAL IN AN EXTENSIVE TEN-DAY PERIOD IN JULY 2009. THE EXTRAORDINARY WORK (NOW UNDERGOING FINE ART CONSERVATION) WILL BE REINSTALLED IN A GLASS-FRONTED ROOM, CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR THE MASSIVE PIECE. DESIGNED BY BART GILMORE OF CORTLAND, OHIO, THE 'SOULAGES GALLERY' WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AT THE INSTITUTE'S TRUMBULL BRANCH, LOCATED IN HOWLAND TOWNSHIP, OHIO. THE SOULAGES MURAL, TITLED '14 MAY, 1968', WILL BE FEATURED IN THE NEW GALLERY, AND WILL BE ACCESSIBLE FOR PUBLIC VIEWING NIGHT AND DAY, FREE OF CHARGE.

Griffith Frank - Unusual Way

LEONARD NIMOY'S 'SECRET SELVES' ON SHOW AT MASS MOCA

INSPIRED BY ARISTOPHANES' THEORY THAT HUMANS WERE ONCE DOUBLE-SIDED CREATURES WITH TWO HEADS AND MULTIPLE LIMBS BEFORE ZEUS CLEAVED MAN IN TWO AND LEFT HIM FOREVER STRUGGLING TO BE WHOLE AGAIN, LEONARD NIMOY'S PHOTOGRAPHS REVEAL HIS SUBJECTS' OTHER HALF. SHOT IN NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS, IN 2007, THE SERIES WILL BE EXHIBITED FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SUMMER, OPENING AT MASS MOCA ON 31.JULY. FOR 'SECRET SELVES' NIMOY RECRUITED VOLUNTEERS TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED, POSED AND DRESSED AS THEIR TRUE OR IMAGINED SECRET SELVES. FROM THE POPULAR ROCK STAR AND SUPERMAN TO THE MORE UNEXPECTED WIZARD AND WOOD NYMPH, THESE OFF-LINE AVATARS OFFER AN INTIMATE, SOMETIMES HUMOROUS, AND OFTEN PROFOUND NEW LOOK AT THE RESIDENTS OF NORTHAMPTON WHILE TAPPING INTO A SHARED SENSE OF INNER YEARNING AND FANTASY. THE EXHIBITION PRESENTS A COMPELLING PERSPECTIVE ON THE COMPLEX STRUCTURE OF IDENTITY AS WELL AS AN INTIMATE LOOK AT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PORTRAIT SUBJECT AND PHOTOGRAPHER.
LEONARD NIMOY WAS BORN IN BOSTON, MASS, IN 1931. AFTER A STINT IN THE ARMY, NIMOY WORKED IN FEATURE FILMS, TELEVISION AND THEATER APPEARING IN MANY OF THE WELL-KNOWN TV SERIES OF THE PERIOD. HOWEVER, IT WAS NIMOY'S ENORMOUS SUCCESS AS MR SPOCK IN THE SCIENCE FICTION SERIES, STAR TREK, WHICH GAINED HIM WORLDWIDE RECOGNITION. THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE NIMOY HAS BEEN ENGAGED WITH PHOTOGRAPHY AS BOTH STUDENT AND PRACTITIONER. IN THE 1970s HE STUDIED UNDER THE INFLUENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHER ROBERT HEINECKEN AT UCLA. IN 1973 NIMOY HAD HIS FIRST SHOW AT A GALLERY. THAT SAME YEAR HIS BOOK OF POEMS AND PHOTOGRAPHS, YOU AND I WAS PUBLISHED, AND BY 1977 HE RECORDED FOR THE DOT LABEL AND EARNED A MASTERS DEGREE IN EDUCATION. NIMOY AND HIS WIFE, SUSAN BAY NIMOY, HAVE CONTRIBUTED TOWARD A VARIETY OF CAUSES INCLUDING THE RENOVATION AND EXPANSION OF GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY IN LOS ANGELES AND THE THALIA THEATER IN NEW YORK CITY. A NEW LECTURE HALL AT THE OBSERVATORY, THE LEONARD NIMOY EVENT HORIZON, HAS BEEN NAMED IN HIS HONOR AND THE THEATER IN NEW YORK IS NOW NAMED THE LEONARD NIMOY THALIA.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.massmoca.org

VIRGIN MARY STATUE CLAD IN LOUIS VUITTON

THE DEVIL MAY WELL WEAR PRADA, BUT AT THE RECENT BIENNIAL EXHIBITION OF SACRED ART IN ITALY, A STATUE OF THE VIRGIN MARY IS CLAD IN UNIQUE LOUIS VUITTON ROBES. THE VEIL WHICH TRADITIONALLY COVERS THE VIRGIN'S HEAD BEARS THE ICONIC FRENCH LUXURY BRAND'S TRADEMARK 'LV' LOGO IN GOLDEN LETTERS. FRANCESCO DE MOLFETTA SAID HE CREATED THE CONTROVERSIAL WORK TO 'DENOUNCE A SOCIETY BASED ON THE CULT OF APPEARANCE THROUGH THE USE OF A BRAND THAT REPRESENTS THE SEARCH FOR EPHEMERAL HAPPINESS.' 'THIS NEW WAY OF INTERPRETING SACRED ART IS ALONG THE LINES OF THE FAMOUS WORK PRESENTED IN 1999 IN VENICE BY MAURIZIO CATTELAN THAT SHOWED A WAX ICON DEPICTING POPE JOHN II BEING CRUSHED BY A METEOR', THE CURATOR OF THE BIENNIAL GIUSEPPE BACCI TOLD IL CENTRO. 'IT IS A WAY TO HIT THE VISITORS' UNCONSCIOUS', HE ADDED. THE BIENNIAL IS HELD AT ISOLA DEL GRAN SASSO IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF ABRUZZO.