Mystery Canvas of Obama

Wednesday, 4^th February 2009

In L.A., Even Renaissance Paintings Go Into Rehab (Los Angeles, US, LA Times)

After a stint in the Getty Museum's conservation labs, Francisco de Zurbarán's 1633 Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose "is even more astounding than before: Surface textures emerged from beneath varnish, slight compositional alterations made the display of fruits and vessels more weighty, newly revealed details directed the eye in surprising ways, spatial relations were brought into a new light.

Los Angeles Times

Degas Sculpture Breaks Record As Other Lots Go Unsold (London, UK, Bloomberg)

A Degas sculpture last night fetched a record 13.3 million pounds ($19.2 million), while other high- value works were rejected, at the first international auction- house test of the art market in 2009. ... This month's evening auctions of contemporary art at Sotheby's and Christie's International are estimated by the auction houses to fetch at least 31.6 million pounds, which is a decline of 78 percent.

Bloomberg

A Young Obama On Canvas, Or Just A Look-Alike? (Los Angeles, US, LA Times)

It is believed that Adams died about 10 years ago, leaving behind works that were sold off by relatives. How and when he might have met Obama remains frustratingly unknown for the oil painting's new owners. Obama aides said they were unable to run down the story of the portrait and added that it was "not likely" that Obama would have time to address it.

Los Angeles Times

NYPD Nabs Poster Boy, Unless It Isn't Him (New York, The New York Times, US)

While most other street or graffiti artists concentrate on adding their own imagery, illegally, to parts of the subway system, Poster Boy, a kind of anti-consumerist Zorro with a razor blade, a sense of humor and a talent for collage, has made his outlaw presence known all over the city by cutting and pasting the images that are already there in the form of ads.

The New York Times