Vancouver

‘High art’ may be another reason to move gallery

Vancouver Art Gallery volunteer tells public meeting that ‘there’s dope wafting through the air’ at current location.  Globe and Mail, July 10, 2010

Vancouver Art Gallery takes new-building proposal to public forums

The Vancouver Art Gallery is hosting two public-information sessions next week about its drive for a new building at a new location. The facility says it is looking to both answer questions from the community, as well as gauge feedback.  The Georgia Straight, July 2, 2010

Alliance for Arts and Culture Arts Summit 2010 panel tackles arts infrastructure

B.C. lacks the infrastructure needed to support the many activities of artists and arts groups, says a prominent developer and Vancouver Art Gallery Foundation chair.  “The appreciation for culture seems to have increased a lot faster than the infrastructure has,” said Michael Audain, chair of Polygon Homes.  The Georgia Straight, July 2, 2010

Douglas Coupland pops up in Gastown
He's part of a new show of modern artists reimagining Emily Carr at the Vancouver Art Gallery. He recently unveiled a very cool sculpture, Digital Orca.  Next up: Doug Coupland's own "pop-up" Roots store.  It opened Thursday at 36 Powell St. in Gastown, across the street from the Hotel Europe. It'll be up until the end of July, then vanish into the night.  Vancouver Sun, July 10, 2010

Victoria

Emily Carr, out of ‘the broom closet’

Sixty-five years after her death, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria gives the artist a worthy hometown showcase.  Globe and Mail, July 10, 2010

Carr show features rarely seen early work

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria celebrates the art and life of Emily Carr, with the opening of a new semi-permanent exhibition called Emily Carr: On the Edge of Nowhere (now on display).  Victoria Times Colonist, July 3, 2010

San Francisco

deYoung Museum Gets A New Chief Curator

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco have appointed Julian Cox founding director of photography and chief curator of the de Young Museum. He begins working in San Francisco in September.  San Francisco Chronicle, July 9, 2010

Los Angeles

Getty Buys Turner’s ‘Modern Rome’ For $44.9 Million

J. M. W. Turner’s “Modern Rome — Campo Vaccino” (1839) was bought by the J. Paul Getty Museum at a Sotheby’s auction in London on Wednesday evening for $44.9 million.   New York Times, July 8, 2010

New York

Art’s big missed chance

A new reality show blows the opportunity to really engage the barbarians

One hopes this TV art show, laudable for its earnestness, erroneous in its sense of modern art, will make a new appliance voodoo graveyard by reaching through the glass of all the thousands of TV sets, and seizing us with a simple question: “What do you think art is?” Or, more urgently, “Help us!”  Globe and Mail, July 5, 2010

A Fresh Look at Lichtenstein at the Morgan

The Morgan Library & Museum continues its embrace of the 20th and 21st century with a show of drawings by Roy Lichtenstein.   New York Times, July 8, 2010

New Haven, Connecticut

Velazquez Turns Up In Storage At Yale

John Marciari, a former junior curator at Yale, believes 'The Education of the Virgin' should be attributed to Velazquez.  Los Angeles Times, July 7, 2010

Waltham, Massachusetts

Brandeis To Lease Its Art
"Debt-plagued Brandeis University has signed a contract with famed auction house Sotheby's to lease rather than sell off works from its $350 million art collection. The move comes as the school tries to repair damage to its blemished reputation with the hiring of a new president, Frederick M. Lawrence, whose appointment was announced Thursday." Boston Herald, July 10, 2010

London

Canadian buys rare Wolfe portrait at auction

Painting of general who defeated French at Plains of Abraham never been owned by a Canadian before

The last privately owned portrait of James Wolfe, the British military general who conquered the French on the Plains of Abraham, is now in Canadian hands.  Globe and Mail, July 10, 2010  

Beaverbrook family puts it house up for sale: report

Britain’s The Art Newspaper says money needed for fight in Canada over art collection.  Globe and Mail, July 8, 2010

Saatchi to Donate His Gallery and Art to Britain

Charles Saatchi has announced that upon his retirement he would donate his gallery and more than 200 artworks to the British government.  New York Times, July 1, 2010

UK Collectors Build Their Own Museums
"Collectors are bulk-buying so many contemporary works that their various mansions are inadequate to house them all. But rather than leave extensive surpluses unseen in storage, they are choosing to share their hoards with the public. As the ultimate status symbol for the super-rich, the private museums even have a new label - 'ego-seums'." The Observer (UK) July 11, 2010

Rome

Rome Splurges On Splashy New Architecture As Ancient Monuments Molder

Collapses this spring at a couple of ancient sites here caused weary archaeologists to warn, yet again, about other imminent calamities threatening Rome’s precarious architectural birthright.  New York Times, July 7, 2010

Moscow

A judge in Moscow could send two prominent art curators to jail tomorrow as a 14-month trial that has provoked fears of rising intolerance and attempts at censorship in Russia comes to an end.

Prosecutors charged Yuri Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeyev with fomenting ethnic and religious hatred and "insulting human dignity" for organising an exhibition in 2007 titled Forbidden Art.  The Guardian, July 11, 2010

Russian curators convicted of inciting hatred CBC, July 12, 2010

South Africa

Artists From Around the World Add Own Touch to the World Cup

Organizers of the exhibit 2010 Fine Art are using the World Cup as a chance to try to raise the profile of South African artists and generate interest from abroad in contemporary African art.   New York Times, July 11, 2010

Painting Of A Dead Mandela Draws Controversy

"The painting by local artist Yuill Damaso depicts South Africa's first black president's dead body on an operating table, undergoing an autopsy as prominent South African political figures look on. The work, which is on display in an upmarket Johannesburg shopping centre, has drawn outrage from South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC)." Yahoo! (AFP) July 11, 2010

Beijing

Wu Guanzhong, Chinese Artist, Dies at 90

Wu Guanzhong, a master of modern Chinese painting, died Friday in Beijing.  New York Times, June 28, 2010  

Cheryl Siegel | Librarian | Vancouver Art Gallery | 750 Hornby St. | Vancouver, BC | V6Z 2H7 | 604-662-4709  | fax 604-682-1086 | www.vanartgallery.bc.ca