Downtown Norfolk Council has partnered with Norfolk Tour Company to offer free monthly walking tours of the NEON District April through October. The tours explore the District that now has more than 87 pieces of public art and a multitude of local businesses that make up the neighborhood fabric. Art installations include murals, statues and … Continue reading
Tag Archives: art
Basquiat painting fetches record $110.5M at New York auction
NEW YORK (AP) — A 1982 artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for a record $110.5 million at Sotheby’s auction of contemporary art Thursday night. Sotheby’s said the sale of “Untitled” was an auction record for the artist. It also set a record price for an American artist at auction. The painting’s graffiti-like typography depicts a … Continue reading
Album with rare 1860s Harriet Tubman photo sells for $161K
NEW YORK (AP) — An album containing a rare photograph of 19th century abolitionist and Underground Railroad hero Harriet Tubman was sold Thursday at a New York City auction for $161,000 — far exceeding presale estimates. Swann Galleries said the circa late 1860s image and other items in the album sold for a hammer price … Continue reading
Fritz Koenig, sculptor whose art withstood 9/11 attack, dies
BERLIN (AP) — Fritz Koenig, a German sculptor whose work “The Sphere” became a symbol of resilience after the 9/11 attacks in New York, has died. He was 92. Koenig, a well-known artist thanks to his distinctive large statues and sculptures, created the ball-shaped bronze over a four-year period starting in 1967. Originally called “Grosse … Continue reading
AP Exclusive: Unusual Magritte could hit $17.5M at auction
LONDON (AP) — One of the largest paintings by Surrealist master Rene Magritte could set a record for the artist when it is goes up for sale with an estimated price of 14 million pounds ($17.5 million). Christie’s auction house told The Associated Press Monday that it will offer “La Corde Sensible” (“Heartstrings”) in London … Continue reading
Monet, modern classics headline art shows at German museum
POTSDAM, Germany (AP) — Some of Claude Monet’s famous water lily paintings are among the impressionist and modern art works that went on show Thursday at a faithfully reconstructed 18th century town house in Potsdam, just outside Berlin. The Barberini Museum is the brainchild of Hasso Plattner, a co-founder of software company SAP. Plattner initiated … Continue reading
5 stolen Golden Age paintings returned to Dutch museum
AMSTERDAM (AP) — Five Dutch Golden Age paintings that were among a trove of art stolen from a Dutch museum more than a decade ago have been returned after being recovered in Ukraine earlier this year. Now the Westfries Museum in the northern town of Hoorn is crowd-funding to pay to restore the paintings, which … Continue reading
In Haiti, cradle of rich visual heritage is being reinvented
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Youvensky Despeignes used to spend hours a day at home drawing pencil-and-ink abstractions on cheap notebook paper, his aspirations as a painter frustrated by a lack of opportunities in Haiti where a rich artistic heritage has suffered decades of decline. But the 22-year-old is now a scholarship student at the Centre … Continue reading
Long-forgotten Edmund Tarbell painting restored
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An oil painting by American impressionist Edmund C. Tarbell that was rolled up and forgotten for more than a century has been restored just in time to be included in a large retrospective of the artist’s work. “Woman With an Oar and a Gentleman” joined the exhibit at the Discover Portsmouth … Continue reading
Florence exhibits examine the art-fashion dynamic
FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Italy’s Renaissance capital, Florence, is reclaiming its centuries-old role as an incubator of the interplay between fashion and art. The new director of the Uffizi gallery has announced plans to transform the Costume Gallery at Pitti Palace, which is also under his control, into a full-fledged fashion museum, while the Ferragamo … Continue reading
Tony Barrow dies; Beatles publicist coined ‘Fab Four’ phrase
LONDON (AP) — Tony Barrow, the British publicist who coined the phrase “Fab Four” to describe the early Beatles, has died. Barrow, 80, died in a Lancaster hospital on Saturday following a lengthy illness, his son Mike Barrow said Tuesday, May 17. Former Beatle Paul McCartney said Barrow “was a lovely guy who helped us … Continue reading
Haiti artists forge int’l reputation with art made of junk
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Amid a maze of car repair shops in Haiti’s gritty capital, Andre Eugene pitches a shredded tire he found atop a towering sculpture he built out of rusty engine parts, bed springs and other cast-off junk. “This is what I do: I work with the garbage of the world,” says Eugene, … Continue reading
Canadian artist transforms into comic characters online
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Kay Pike stands in front of a giant mirror, dabs her brush into paint and touches it to her skin. She’ll repeat the motion thousands of times over the next 12 hours as she transforms from a willowy blond artist to dark-haired Superman for viewers following along online. Twice a week, … Continue reading
US museum returns 10th century Khmer statue to Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia on Monday welcomed home a 10th-century Khmer statue that was looted during the country’s civil war before spending the past three decades at an American museum. The sandstone Torso of Rama statue, which stands 62 inches (157 centimeters) high and is missing its head, arms and feet, was formally … Continue reading
Norfolk State partners with Chrysler Museum to celebrate Moses Grandy
by Malik Glaspie Norfolk State’s Fine Arts Program has collaborated with the Chrysler Museum of Art to unveil the Moses Grandy exhibition. The exhibition was held at the Chrysler Museum on Saturday, Feb. 27. The artwork in the exhibition was inspired by an early 1800s relationship between an enslaved waterman from the Dismal Swamp and … Continue reading
VCU graduate Robert Caldwell is a master of wildlife art
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Robert Louis Caldwell sat still for a moment, a look of quiet contemplation masking the mischievous smile that was to come. He’d been asked about the choice of subjects for the illustrations and paintings that have made him one of the most successful artists in his field. His body of work … Continue reading
NYC’s Museum of Modern Art unveils revised expansion plan
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s Museum of Modern Art has unveiled a revised expansion plan. MoMa announced a preliminary design two years ago. The new plan was made public Tuesday. The work will add about 50,000 square feet of exhibition space, enhance galleries and replace a 1939 staircase that was removed. A plan … Continue reading
Russell Crowe takes in Giorgio Armani fashion from front row
MILAN (AP) — Two human reactions to turbulent times emerged as fashion concepts during Milan Fashion Week, which wrapped up its five-day run on Tuesday, Jan. 19: cocooning and militarization. On one end of the spectrum, designers offered men myriad forms of comfort for next fall and winter, including soft-cut jackets; enveloping cashmere, vicuna and … Continue reading
Art program gives Boston’s homeless a place to create
BOSTON (AP) — In an elegant church in one of Boston’s most chic shopping districts, homeless people from across the city gather once a week to express themselves in ways not possible when living on the streets. As winter approaches, attendance at Common Art increases, and as many as 100 homeless and low-income people paint, … Continue reading
Austrian painter Ernst Fuchs dies at 85
VIENNA (AP) — Austrian painter Ernst Fuchs, whose works combined a love of color and texture with clear lines, mysticism and religious themes, died Monday at 85. Primarily known for his vivid paintings, Fuchs was also an internationally recognized sculptor, stage designer and print maker, composer and poet. Tillmann Fuchs, the artist’s son, confirmed his … Continue reading
Chicago City Council approves Lucas Museum proposal
CHICAGO (AP) — The force — of Chicago’s City Council, at least — is with George Lucas, as aldermen voted Wednesday to allow the “Star Wars’ filmmaker to build his $400 million museum along the shores of Lake Michigan. With no discussion, the council cast the widely expected vote in favor of allowing Lucas to … Continue reading
Artworks from Sting’s London home up for auction
LONDON (AP) — Sting and his wife Trudie Styler are putting some of their extensive modern art collection — and a piano — up for sale. The auction at Christie’s in London will include drawings and prints by Gustav Klimt and Rene Magritte, Pablo Picasso’s lithograph “Le Corsage a Carreaux (“The Checkered Blouse”) and Henri … Continue reading
Maya Angelou’s art collection sells for nearly $1.3 million
NEW YORK (AP) — The art collection of celebrated writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou sold for nearly $1.3 million on Tuesday. A painted story quilt that hung in Angelou’s Harlem home and was commissioned by Oprah Winfrey for Angelou’s 61st birthday brought $461,000 at the Swann Galleries sale. “Maya’s Quilt of Life” by … Continue reading
Maya Angelou’s art collection sells for nearly $1.3 million
NEW YORK (AP) — The art collection of celebrated writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou sold for nearly $1.3 million on Tuesday. A painted story quilt that hung in Angelou’s Harlem home and was commissioned by Oprah Winfrey for Angelou’s 61st birthday brought $461,000 at the Swann Galleries sale. “Maya’s Quilt of Life” by … Continue reading
Officials working to financially save museum in Virginia
LEESBURG, Va. (AP) — They have until December. Just four months to try to save the little-known Virginia museum that has housed and promoted the history of confederates and Native Americans, politicians and unsung Virginians. A little more than 120 days for supporters of the Loudoun Museum to try to preserve the exhibits that for … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 