Art market given a boost

Sunday, January 25, 2009

The Institute of Contemporary Art Announces Andrew Witkin as the ... (Boston, MA, US)
Boston artist Andrew Witkin is the winner of the 2008 James and Audrey Foster Prize, the Institute of Contemporary Art announced. This biennial award recognizing a Boston-area artist of exceptional promise includes a $25,000 prize and an opportunity for the finalists to present their work in an exhibition at the ICA.
Art Daily - Eastport,Maine,USA

Outlaws at the Art Museum (and Not for a Heist) (New York)
In 2005, the British artist Banksy -- then on the verge of becoming probably the world's most famous street artist -- walked into the Museum of Modern Art and three other New York museums done up in a beige raincoat and fake beard, looking more like a subway flasher than a "quality vandal," as he called himself.
New York Times - United States

Happening today (Los Angeles, CA, US)
Art LA 2009 Santa Monica's Barker Hangar is the hub of contemporary art, with 60 international and Los Angeles-based galleries showing and selling their progressive pieces. Barker Hangar, 3021 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. today, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun. $15 per day, $25 for a three-day pass. (800) 952-7646; www.artfairsinc.com/artla.
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA

Medieval works of art set to find new favour (Trends)
A feature of past recessions has been a retreat from the contemporary to traditional markets, where good purchases hold value, and there are indications of this now. This trend, if it develops, might counteract the resistance that many British collectors seem to show to medieval works of art, especially from Northern Europe.
Times Online - UK

Rooms with a view: £125m art collection tours UK (United Kingdom)
Ambitious plans to get contemporary art to all corners of the UK were unveiled yesterday with a scheme that would see the films of Bill Viola going to Stromness, the flowers and nudes of Robert Mapplethorpe travelling to Sheffield and the radicalism of Joseph Beuys spending the summer at Bexhill on Sea.The works are part of art dealer Anthony d'Offay's collection that was sold to the nation for £28m - as opposed to the £125m it was probably worth - last year.
guardian.co.uk - UK

Pushing film's frontiers to Venice (Canada)
Mark Lewis, who will represent Canada at the Venice Biennale, is inspired by "modest modernism". Austerity and modesty are buzzwords already circulating to describe the prospects of this year's Venice Biennale as the art market hunkers down in recession mode. This hardly makes the 53rd International Art Exhibition, from June 7 to Nov. 22, seem particularly tourist-friendly, even if a record-setting 300,000 visitors were on hand two years back.
Toronto Star - Ontario, Canada

The Princeton Packet > News > PRINCETON: Princeton University ... (US)
James Steward, a skilled arts administrator and a specialist in 18th- and 19th-century European art and culture, has been selected as director of the Princeton University Art Museum. Mr. Steward, director of the Museum of Art and a faculty member at the University of Michigan since 1998, will begin his work at Princeton in late April. "James Steward is a distinguished scholar, a gifted manager and a proven leader in the museum world," said Princeton Provost Christopher Eisgruber, to whom he will report.
Central Jersey

The New South Ferry Terminal: See It Split, See It Change (Manhattan, New York)
Sometime by the end of the month the public will get its first view of See It Split, See It Change. A 250 foot-long curved wall of fused glass panels and mosaics by Doug and Mike Starn, it snakes along the new South Ferry subway station. It's a stunner, and an unusually engaging piece for a city that already takes public art seriously. At first See It Split, See It Change seems simply bold and graphic, a striking backdrop for your dash to the 1 train.
Cool Hunting - New York,NY,USA

Museum directors from across the country are coming to San Diego ... (San Diego, US)
Bad economic times can be the stuff of a good meeting for America's museum directors. "It can be a lonely job," says Derrick Cartwright, the director of the San Diego Museum of Art. "And being among other directors can provide professional and emotional support." In an economic crisis, this kind of support can be even more welcome. And Cartwright is not alone in this reasoning, while considering the importance of the semi-annual get-together of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) - coming to San Diego for the first time in 10 years.
San Diego Union Tribune - San Diego,CA,USA

Seen for the very first time: Faltering art market given a boost (London, UK)
For 90 years this exquisite and rare work by the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani has graced the home of one wealthy family. The image of two young girls was painted in the south of France in 1918 as the artist avoided the ravages of the end of the First World War. Now, for the first time, it is to go under the hammer. Purchased from the artist by the collector Jonas Netter, who helped to established Modigliani's reputation, the work - one of only five double portraits the artist created - has been the heirloom of a single family for nearly a century.
Independent - London,England,UK