METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART TO PRESENT 'THE WORLD OF KHUBLAI KHAN'

A NEW EXHIBITION FEATURING MASSIVE STATUES, DRAGON-SHAPED ROOF RIDGE ORNAMENTS AND ART FROM THE YUAN DYNASTY GIVES VISITORS A GLIMPSE OF ANCIENT CHINA THAT FIRST WESTERNERS WOULD HAVE SEEN 700 YEARS AGO. 'THE WORLD OF KHUBLAI KHAN: CHINESE ART IN THE YUAN DYNASTY', AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART FEATURES 200 WORKS OF ART. MANY ARE BEING SHOWN OUTSIDE OF CHINA FOR THE FIRST TIME. IT FOCUSES ON AN ERA SPANNING THE BIRTH IN 1215 OF KHUBILAI KHAN, GENGHIS KHAN'S GRANDSON AND THE MONGOL FOUNDER OF THE YUAN DYNASTY, TO ITS FALL IN 1368. 'AS YOU ENTER THE GALLERIES, YOU'LL DISCOVER THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD OF KHUBILAI KHAN, IN A SENSE, AS MARCO POLO DID', SAID THOMAS CAMPBELL, THE DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM. KHUBILAI KHAN WAS THE EMPEROR WHO WELCOMED MARCO POLO TO CHINA IN 1275. THE SHOW, WHICH OPENS ON TUESDAY AND RUNS THROUGH 2.JANUARY, IS THE MUSEUM'S LARGEST EXHIBIT ABOUT ASIAN ART SINCE 'CHINA: DAWN OF A GOLDEN AGE' IN 2004. TWO 10 FOOT TALL, 8,000 POUND STATUES OF YUAN DYNASTY OFFICIALS WELCOME VISITORS TO THE EXHIBIT, WHICH INCLUDES PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES, GOLD AND SILVER, TAPESTRIES, CERAMICS AND RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR PIECES MEANT TO GIVE VISITORS A FLAVOR OF EVERYDAY LIFE. ALL OF THE PIECES ILLUSTRATE A TASTE IN ANCIENT CHINA FOR FINE ART, SUCH AS CERAMIC CONTAINERS FOR TRANSPORTING WINE AND ELABORATE JEWELRY. THE ECLECTIC STYLES REFLECT THE UNIFICATION OF CHINA UNDER THE YUAN DYNASTY, WHICH KHUBILAI KHAN FOUNDED IN 1271, AND THE INFLUX OF ARTISANS FROM ACROSS THE MONGOL EMPIRE. THE YUAN DYNASTY INCLUDED WHAT IS NOW MODERN DAY MONGOLIA, TIBET AND NORTHERN CHINA. ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING ELEMENTS OF THE EXHIBITION IS THE DEPICTION OF THE YUAN DYNASTY AS A RELIGIOUS MELTING POT TOLERANT OF DAOISTS, NESTORIAN CHRISTIANS FROM SYRIA, AND INDIAN TRADERS, WHO WERE ABLE TO BUILD HINDU TEMPLES.

SOTHEBY'S TO SELL FORBES COLLECTION OF VINTAGE TOYS

THE FORBES COLLECTION OF MINIATURE VINTAGE TOYS SOLDIERS AND BOATS, FROM KINGS AND QUEENS TO LUXURY OCEAN LINERS AND WARSHIPS, IS GOING ON THE AUCTION BLOCK IN DECEMBER. THE CHARMING COLLECTIBLES HAVE BEEN ON VIEW FOR 25 YEARS IN A SERIES OF DIORAMAS AND VIGNETTES IN THE LOBBY OF THE FORBES MAGAZINE FIFTH AVENUE HEADQUARTERS IN GREENWICH VILLAGE. TOTALING 7,500 PIECES CRAFTED FROM THE 1870s THROUGH THE 1950s, THEY WILL BE SOLD IN 250 LOTS ON 17.DECEMBER AT SOTHEBY'S. THEY ARE EXPECTED TO BRING AN ESTIMATED $3 MILLION TO $5 MILLION. AMONG THE HIGHLIGHTS IS A 37 INCH LONG REPLICA OF THE CUNARD LINE'S LUSITANIA OCEAN LINER COMPLETE WITH TWO LEAD SEAMEN, A SEATED PASSENGER AND FIVE PAIRS OF LIFEBOATS. THE MAGAZINE'S LATE PUBLISHER, MALCOLM FORBES, PAID $28,600 FOR IT AT A SOTHEBY'S AUCTION IN 1983. AT THE UPCOMING AUCTION, THE VINTAGE TOY IS ESTIMATED TO BRING $100,000 TO $200,000. A CAST-IRON FRENCH GAS-POWERED ARMORED GUNBOAT WITH ZINC AND BRONZE DETAILS IS THE LARGEST TOY IN THE COLLECTION. FORTY SEVEN INCHES LONG, IT IS A REPLICA OF A 19th CENTURY BATTLESHIP AND THE ONLY KNOWN EXAMPLE OF ITS KIND, SOTHEBY'S TOLD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IN ANNOUNCING THE SALE. IT COULD BRING $200,000 TO $300,000. COMPANY VICE-PRESIDENT ROBERT FORBES SAID HE AND HIS BROTHERS DECIDED TO PART WITH THE COLLECTION TO GIVE 'OTHERS A CHANCE TO OWN THEM, COLLECT THEM, AND MAYBE EVEN WIND THEM UP ON A POND OR TWO AND WATCH THEM GO.' THE FAMILY AUCTIONED A SELECTION OF THE TINY TOYS FOUR YEARS AFTER FORBES' DEATH IN 1990, BRINGING A TOTAL OF $393,415 AT SOTHEBY'S. WHAT'S LEFT, INCLUDING INCH-HIGH AZTECS AND CONQUISTADORS, INDIANS SURROUNDED BY A STAGECOACH AND FOX HUNTERS, IS BEING SOLD IN DECEMBER.

SOTHEBY'S OPENS RETAIL WINE SHOP

SOTHEBY'S HAS SOLD WINE AT AUCTION FOR MANY YEARS BUT NOW IT HAS RECENTLY OPENED A RETAIL STORE. THE AUCTION HOUSE BOUGHT OUT AULDEN CELLARS, THE RETAIL WINE STORE ON THE GROUND LEVEL FLOOR OF ITS HEADQUARTERS AT 1334 YORK AVENUE ON MANHATTAN'S UPPER EAST SIDE. THE NEW STORE WAS DESIGNED BY DEANNA KUHLMANN-LEAVITT OF KUHLMANN LEAVITT INC, AND OFFERS A WIDE RANGE OF WINE FROM $13.95 TO $40,000 PER BOTTLE. WHEN SOTHEBY'S FIRST STARTED WINE AUCTIONS IN NEW YORK IN 1994, STATE LAW REQUIRED AUCTION HOUSES TO PARTNER WITH A STORE THAT HAD HELD A STATE LIQUOR LICENSE FOR 10 YEARS. DECANTER REPORTS THAT SOTHEBY'S FIRST PARTNERED WITH SHERRY-LEHNAMM. WHEN THAT RELATIONSHIP ENDED IN LATE 1999, SOTHEBY'S FOUND ANOTHER LICENSEE AND THE RESULTING STORE WAS NAMED AULDEN CELLARS. TEH ONLINE STORE CAN SHIP AROUND HALF OF TEH US. THERTE ARE PLANS TO EXPAND THE CONCEPT TO OTHER LOCATIONS IF TEH SOTHEBY'S WINE SHOP IS A SUCCESS.

COCTEAU AND PICASSO ARTWORKS MAKE OVER £500,000

A COLLECTION OF DRAWINGS, PASTELS AND CERAMICS BY THE FRENCH POET, FILMMAKER, PLAYWRIGHT AND NOVELIST, JEAN COCTEAU, BROUGHT TOGETHER BY THE LATE BUSINESS TYCOON AND FOUNDER OF GUCCI TIMEPIECES, SEVERIN WUNDERMAN, MADE A REMARKABLE £430,000 RECENTLY AT BONHAM'S, KNIGHTSBRIDGE, WITH 90% SOLD BY VALUE. JUST AN EARLIER, A SELECTION OF PRINTS, CERAMICS AND SILVER BY THE ARTISTIC MASTER OF THE 20th CENTURY, PABLO PICASSO, FETCHED A TOTAL OF £220,812, WITH 85% SOLD BY VALUE. COCTEAU MET PICASSO IN 1915 AND THE PAIR REMAINED CLOSE FRIENDS FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS. THEIR ARTISTIC RELATIONSHIP CAN BE CHARACTERIZED BY TWO COMMENTS: ACCORDING TO ARNAUD, PICASSO WAS 'FOREVER AT THE HEART OF COCTEAU'S CREATIVE PANTHEON', WHILE PICASSO WAS ONCE HEARD TO COMMENT THAT 'COCTEAU IS THE TAIL OF MY COMET'. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SALE WERE TWO SILVER PLATES THAT HE CREATED IN THE MID 1950s. JOUEUR DE FLUTE ET CAVALIER FETCHED £21,600 AND DORMEUR SOLD FOR £19,200. THE HIGHEST SELLING CERAMIC WAS A PLATTER ENTITLED TETE DE CHEVRE DE PROFIL WHICH SOLD FOR £12,000 AND THE TOP SELLING PRINT WAS LE CAVALIER, WHICH FETCHED £6,240. THE BEST-SELLER IN THE COCTEAU SALE WAS JEUNE FILLE DE MILLY WHICH WAS PAINTED AT THE HOUSE BOUGHT WITH JEAN MARAIS IN MILLY-LA-FORET IN 1947. IT SOLD FOR £48,000 AGAINST A PRE-SALE ESTIMATE OF £8,000 TO £12,000. ALTHOUGH FAMOUS FOR HIS FILMS (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ORPHEUS), NOVELS (LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES) AND PLAYS (LA BEL INDIFFERENT), COCTEAU ALSO PRODUCED THOUSANDS OF ARTWORKS IN HIS LIFETIME, IN PART BECAUSE HE FOUND ART THERAPEUTIC. WORKING IN A VARIETY OF MEDIUMS, FROM CERAMICS TO OILS AND PASTELS, HE COMMENTED: 'ART IS NOT A PASTIME BUT A PRIESTHOOD.' USING A RANGE OF CELEBRITY FRIENDS AS SUBJECTS, FROM ARTISTS AND WRITERS, SUCH AS PICASSO, JEAN HUGO AND GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE, TO STARS OF THE THEATRICAL WORLDS INCLUDING DIAGHILEV, JOSEPHINE BAKER AND EDITH PIAF, HIS IRONIC CARICATURES GIVE A SNAPSHOT OF THE BEST OF THE EARLY 20th CENTURY ARTISTIC OUTPUT THAT REVOLVED AROUND COCTEAU AND HIS CIRCLE. THEY ALSO PROVIDED AMUSEMENT TO MANY, INCLUDING COCO CHANEL WHO SUGGESTED HE TURN HIS HAND TO FASHION DESIGN. WUNDERMAN WAS HIS BIGGEST FAN AND IS CONSIDERED TO HAVE BEEN THE WORLD'S LARGEST COLLECTOR OF WORKS BY JEAN COCTEAU. HE KEPT THE MAJORITY IN HIS COTE D'AZUR CHATEAU WHICH INCLUDED A SUITE IN WHICH THE ENTIRE SITTING AREA AND BEDROOM WERE COVERED FROM FLOOR TO CEILING IN THE ARTIST'S DRAWINGS. PROCEEDS FROM THE JEAN COCTEAU SALE GO TO THE SEVERIN WUNDERMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION, A CHARITY THAT SUPPORTS RESEARCH INTO INCURABLE DISEASES.

PALAZZO STROZZU TO PRESENT BRONZINO EXHIBITION

AGNOLO DI COSIMO, KNOWN AS BRONZINO (1503-1572), WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST ARTISTS IN THE HISTORY OF ITALIAN PAINTING. COURT ARTIST TO COSIMO I DE' MEDICI, HIS WORK EMBODIED THE SOPHISTICATION OF THE MANNERISM STYLE. 'BRONZINO, ARTIST AND POET AT THE COURT OF THE MEDICI', ON VIEW AT THE PALAZZO STROZZU IN FLORENCE FROM 24.SEPTEMBER THROUGH TO 23.JANUARY, WILL BE THE VERY FIRST EXHIBITION DEVOTED TO HIS PAINTED WORK. BRONZONI CONVEYED THE ELEGANCE OF THE MEDICI COURT IN HIS WORK WITH THE 'NATURALNESS' AND, AT THE SAME TIME, AUSTERE BEAUTY. FLORENCE IS THE PERFECT SETTING FOR THE MONOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION ON BRONZONI. THE SON OF A BUTCHER, NOT ONLY WAS HE BORN AND DIED HERE, THE CITY HOUSES SOME OF HIS GREATEST MASTERPIECES, PARTICULARLY IN THE UFFIZI BUT ALSO IN OTHER MUSEUMS AND CHURCHES. THE LANDMARK EXHIBITION, WITH LOANS FROM THE WORLD'S MOST IMPORTANT MUSEUMS, PRESENTS 63 WORKS ATTRIBUTED TO BRONZONI, AND 10 TO BRONZONI AND HIS WORKSHOP, ALONG WITH OTHERS BY HIS MASTER PONTORMO, WITH WHOM HE HAD CLOSE TIES THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE. BRONZONI'S PAINTINGS, WITH THEIR SCULPTURAL DEFINITION, WILL BE SHOWN ALONGSIDE SCULPTURES BY SUCH 16th CENTURY MASTERS AS BENVENUTO CELLINI, TRIBOLO, BACCIO BANDENELLI AND PIERINO DA VINCI, WHO WERE FRIENDS AND WITH WHOM HE EXCHANGED SONNETS. THE EXHIBITION CONCLUDES WITH A NUMBER OF WORKS BY ALESSANDRO ALLORI, HIS FAVORITE PUPIL.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT www.palazzostrozzi.org

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY ACQUIRES ISABELLA BLOW PORTRAIT

A CACOPHONY OF STUFFED ANIMALS DRAMATICALLY SPOT-LIT ONTO A WALL TO FORM A PORTRAIT SILHOUETTE OF THE LATE FASHION ICON ISABELLA BLOW HAS BEEN ACQUIRED BY THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY. THE UNUSUAL PORTRAIT MADE OF 15 TAXIDERMY ANIMALS (INCLUDING BIRDS, A RAT AND A SNAKE), WOOD AND FAKE MOSS, TOGETHER WITH A HEEL FROM ONE OF BLOW'S OWN MANOLO BLAHNIK SHOES AND HER TRADEMARK LIPSTICK, IS A VIVID COMBINATION OF SCULPTURE, INSTALLATION AND LIGHT PROJECTION. IN THE RESULTING SILHOUETTE OF A HEAD, ISABELLA BLOW APPEARS TO BE WEARING ONE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY HATS DESIGNED FOR HER BY PHILLIP TREACY, WHICH OFTEN FEATURED TAXIDERMY. THE ARTISTS WERE FASCINATED BY WHAT THEY SAW AS BLOW'S GOTHIC QUALITY AND CHOSE TO DEPICT HER HEAD AS THOUGH ON A STAKE, INCORPORATING A RAVEN AND THE SPECIES OF RAT ASSOCIATED WITH THE BLACK DEATH. THE WORK HAS BEEN DONATED TO THE GALLERY BY THE ESTATE OF ISABELLA BLOW, WHO DIED IN 2007, AND THE ARTISTS TIM NOBLE AND SUE WEBSTER WHO CREATED IT FROM LIFE ON 2002. THE RESULT OF THEIR FRIENDSHIP WITH BLOW, THIS IS THE ONLY PORTRAIT BY THE ARTISTS OF A PERSON OTHER THAN THEMSELVES. AS A JOURNALIST, STYLIST AND MUSE, ISABELLA BLOW (1958-2007) WAS A LEADING FIGURE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH FASHION IN THE 1990s AND 2000s. SHE IS CREDITED WITH DISCOVERING AND PROMOTING THE CAREERS OF IMPORTANT BRITISH DESIGNERS INCLUDING ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, HUSSEIN CHALAYAN, THE WORLD'S LEADING MILLINER PHILIP TREACY, AND THE PHOTOGRAPHER JUERGEN TELLER.

HARRODS TO SELL HIGHLAND PARK 50 YEAR

ORKNEY'S MYTHIC DISTILLERY IS RELEASING THEIR OLDEST AND MOST PRESTIGIOUS DRAM, CHRISTENED, THE HIGHLAND PARK 50 YEAR OLD, WHICH WILL BE AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY FROM HARRODS, KNIGHTSBRIDGE, TILL THE END OF OCTOBER. THE HIGHLAND PARK 50 YEAR IS A VATTING OF FIVE REFILL OAK CASKS DISTILLED IN 1960. THE SINGLE MALT APPEALS TO TE WHISKEY ENTHUSIAST WITH ITS NATURAL MAHOGANY COLOUR, RICH AND SPICY TANNINS, AND MUSCOVADO SUGAR FLAVORS. THE FINE MALT RESIDES IN A 750cl BOTTLE DESIGNED SPECIALLY BY RENOWNED JEWELRY FIRM MAEVE GILLIES OF MAEVONA, NEW YORK. THE EXQUISITE BOTTLE IS HANDCRAFTED FROM STERLING SILVER. THE HIGHLAND PARK 50 YEAR OLD IS A LIMITED EDITION, RESTRICTED TO 275 EXCLUSIVE BOTTLES, WITH A PRICE OF £10,500.