Vancouver

The Modern Women at the Vancouver Art Gallery: Masters depict female form in 19th-century France

“Altogether, there are 97 drawings in pastel, charcoal and coloured pencils from artists including Paul Gauguin, Camille Pissarro and Georges Seurat” in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s exhibition The Modern Woman. “Many of the drawings have never been shown outside of Paris. Because of French rules protecting the country’s artistic heritage, the drawings will likely not be shown again for several years. The show at the VAG is also unique in that it isn’t travelling anywhere: after it closes in early September, all the works return to the Musee d’Orsay…” Vancouver Sun, June 2, 2010

'Modern' drawings now classics

“The drawings span a period from the 1852 coronation of Napleon III to the turn of the century, and together portray the anxiety and melancholy of a society in transition. Women had new freedom to go unescorted in public, as massive urban renewal allowed social classes to mix as never before on the boulevards, in the Paris Opera and in the new cafes.” The Province, June 3, 2010

Vancouver city councillors reluctant to grant Vancouver Art Gallery's relocation wish

“A Straight survey of Vancouver city council members shows that none are prepared at this point to turn over a city-owned downtown block to the Vancouver Art Gallery for its sole use.” Georgia Straight, June 3, 2010

Vancouver's brave new architecture

“This city’s history…had these emphatic moments of real accomplishment that could be measured against anything that was happening anywhere in the world, and certainly in North America,” Macdonald says. Compared with these successes, he suggests, the post-Expo period of Vancouver architecture has been “more pedestrian” on a building-by-building basis.   Georgia Straight, June 2, 2010

Edifice: Exploring Art, Archives, and Architecture puts Vancouver's old buildings in a new light.

“From Gothic-looking gargoyles, neoclassical cornices, and art deco ornamentation to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe–style façades of steel and glass, the architectural character and details of these “edifices” contribute to the sense of our city’s history, recent and long-past.” Georgia Straight, June 2, 2010

Hank Bull steps down from Centre A

“Hank Bull has announced he's stepping down as executive director of Centre A. In a letter of resignation to his board, Bull said his reasons were both personal and professional.” Georgia Straight, June 2, 2010

Burnaby

The Things We Do group show explores transgression and hybridity.

“Talking hands, copulating frogs, a pile of white bananas: all contribute to an unexpected little group show at Simon Fraser University Gallery.” Georgia Straight, June 1, 2010

Richmond, BC

Indian contemporary art finds universal themes

“A Richmond exhibition of contemporary art from India aptly demonstrates the ability of the visual arts to transcend cultural borders, using a visual language that is universally accessible.”  Vancouver Sun, June 3, 2010

Toronto

The Wordy Projectors

“Ideas of projection--whether cinematic and psychological-- get a compelling art treatment in the work of Daniel Barrow. Now, with a new book, a Toronto exhibition at the Art Gallery of York University and New York performances on the go, the Winnipeg-born, Montreal-based artist talks to Leah Sandals about drawing, drama and the unexpected divine.” National Post, June 3, 2010

Auction of Canadian art nets $7.35M

A Canadian Red Ensign and works by famous Canadian artists went under the gavel at the Sotheby’s auction Wednesday night at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. CBC News, June 3, 2010

New York

Japanese architect had 'decided not to die'

Arakawa, who has died aged 73, was an artist, designer and architect who believed that he could live forever by challenging "comfortable" interaction with the world.” National Post, June 3, 2010

MoMA to Offer Peek Inside Vault

"On Wednesday the museum announced a major new exhibition, 'Abstract Expressionist New York,' which will include 300 works by 30 artists in the fields of painting, sculpture and photography. Most important, virtually all of the art, created from the 1940s to the '60s, will come from the museum's own collection." Wall Street Journal, June 3, 2010

Philadelphia

It takes a sleuth

"My career in art crime had begun the first month I reported for duty in Philadelphia, when the sculpture that inspired the Impressionist movement was stolen from the Rodin Museum on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway." Then came "a spot in a coveted year-long art history class at the Barnes Foundation in Merion. Some 42 art-crime investigations would follow...." Philadelphia Inquirer, June 3, 2010

Princeton, NJ

Italy Focuses on a Princeton Curator in an Antiquities Investigation

 "According to a 14-page legal notice from the public prosecutor's office in Rome, J. Michael Padgett, 56, antiquities curator at the Princeton University Museum of Art, is a focus of a criminal investigation of 'the illegal export and laundering' of Italian archaeological objects. Also named in the case are a former New York antiquities dealer, Edoardo Almagià, 59, and two other co-defendants.” New York Times, June 3, 2010

London

Meteorologists track down Monet as he painted London bridges in smog

“Historians have differed on where precisely the artist was when he painted Charing Cross and Waterloo bridges in the smog.” The Guardian (UK), June 3, 2010

Cape Town

Perfect pitch: Cape Town's Green Point stadium

“Cape Town's stunning Green Point stadium is the jewel in South Africa's World Cup crown. Will it be a sure-fire winner – or an expensive own goal?” The Guardian (UK), May 31, 2010