‘Truth implies the good,’ by Cake, New York. Photo by Kelsey Savage. NEW YORK – Cake has new wheat pastings up on the intersection of Third Street and Bowery in the Lower East Side.
Parsons and Pratt educated, Cake is one of the new guard of classically trained artists who has taken street art far past the tagging of neighborhood kids done out of bravado and rebellion. Cake has said in the past that she finds the temporary aspect of street art liberating and, boy, does the public reap the benefits. Her delicate, mournful women are especially haunting when juxtaposed with dirty, grungy outdoor walls and the cement of the sidewalk.
Far from restricting herself to the outdoors, Cake has been displayed in galleries throughout the United States and has even been featured in the windows at Barney’s.
The new pieces were offered in conjunction with MaNY (Murals around New York), a group that produces outdoor murals and public art exhibitions throughout New York City; and FAB (Fourth Arts Block) a nonprofit organization that is devoted to establishing and advancing the East Fourth Street cultural district, between Second Avenue and Bowery. Keith Schweitzer curated the mural.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
‘Truth implies the good,’ by Cake, New York. Photo by Kelsey Savage.‘Truth implies the good,’ by Cake, New York. Photo by Kelsey Savage.‘Truth implies the good,’ by Cake, New York. Photo by Kelsey Savage.
A contemporary work by Richard Joseph Anuszkiewicz, titled Fenced, sold for $68,750 at a Fine Art Auction held May 12 by Rago Arts & Auction Center in Lambertville, N.J. Also, Julien Stanczak’s Unrestful Space realized $59,375; an untitled work by Raymond Pettibon brought $50,000; George William Sotter’s A Little House, Winter breezed to $53,125; Frederick Judd Waugh’s Seascape hammered for $43,750; and a pair of bronzes by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (Star and The Vine) made $22,500 and $13,750. Prices include a 25 percent buyer’s premium.
A slice of cake from the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, in its presentation tin and accompanied by printed wedding ceremony mementos, was auctioned by PFC Auctions on May 24 for £1,917 (approx. $2,970). Image courtesy of PFC Auctions.
GUERNSEY, Channel Islands (ACNI) – Britain’s Royal Family is seldom out of the spotlight, but with this being Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee Year, the interest in news and information about the Royals has intensified to unprecedented levels.
The global fascination for Her Majesty and future monarchs became quite apparent during the debut auction recently conducted by British antiques expert Paul Fraser. His new enterprise, PFC Auctions, launched operations with a May 24 online-only sale of antiques, art and investment-grade collectibles.
No dummy when it comes to reading the mood of the buying public, Fraser included a special section of royalty items in the auction. Among the more unusual entries was a slice of wedding cake from the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
The Fiona Cairns-designed fruit cake, which was wrapped in its original greaseproof paper, came in a 5.5 inch-long presentation tin with accompanying compliments slip from Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall.
Kylie Whitehead of PFC Auctions commented: “Here’s proof, if it were needed, of the power of the British Royal Family at auction. The cake offered a tantalizing glimpse, and taste, of arguably the most celebrated wedding of all time, which made it irresistible to bidders. What a superb start to the Jubilee celebrations.”
Accompanying the tinned cake was an original order of service from the ceremony at Westminster Abbey that was watched by 2.24 billion people around the world. Its 16 pages included vows, hymns, prayers and a blessing.
The posh slice of cake, with all accoutrements, was bid to £1,917 (approx. $2,970). Its authenticity was unimpeachable; whether or not it is still edible is quite another matter.
A slice of cake from the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, in its presentation tin and accompanied by printed wedding ceremony mementos, was auctioned by PFC Auctions on May 24 for £1,917 (approx. $2,970). Image courtesy of PFC Auctions.
Section of mosaic floor at synagogue in Hamat Tiberias, Israel. Photo by Bukvoed, April 26, 2011. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Vandals badly damaged a rare 1,600-year-old mosaic in the northern Israeli city of Tiberias that formed the floor of an ancient synagogue, smashing parts to rubble and scrawling graffiti, antiquity officials said Tuesday.
Experts suspect extremist Jews who object, sometimes violently, to excavations they claim involve ancient grave sites. There was no claim of responsibility. Police are investigating.
Guards found the damage on Tuesday morning, said archeologists involved in the site.
The mosaic, dating 400 years after the birth of Jesus, was one of the best preserved and beautiful of its period, according to archaeologists.
It featured illustrated zodiac signs and the traditional symbolism of a fourth-century synagogue: ritual candelabras and palm fronds. The synagogue’s ruins, including its ancient mosaic floor, were in a fenced-off area of a national park in Tiberias, next to the Sea of Galilee.
It listed the names of the synagogue’s chief patrons in ancient Hebrew, Latin and Greek.
Israel Antiquities Authority deputy director Uzi Dahari said a fringe group of ultra-Orthodox Jews were suspected of causing the damage, much of it irreversible. Dahari said the graffiti scrawled across parts of the archaeological site and previous threats against the Antiquities Authority suggested they were the perpetrators.
Photographs issued by the Antiquities Authority showed parts of the mosaic floor reduced to gray chunks of rubble. Other photographs showed blue spray paint scrawled over the mosaic, covering ancient Hebrew and Greek letters spelled out in blue, red and beige tiles. Graffiti was also scrawled along rock walls beside the mosaic. Perpetrators also punched a hole in the mosaic between two candelabras.
“On every grave, a site,” one neatly written Hebrew slogan said.
Dahari and other archaeologists said it referred to constant accusations by a tiny Jewish hard-line group that the Antiquities Authority was digging up Jewish graves. Disturbing Jewish graves is a deeply offensive act for devout Jews.
Archeologists said they have found similar graffiti on other sites. The Hebrew word for “site” is also shorthand for an archaeological site, as in English.
An archaeologist who frequently works in the Galilee area, Gilad Kinamon, said ultra-Orthodox Jews frequently turned up to his sites to demonstrate against his work.
“It was the best of Jewish art of its time, of the late Roman and early Byzantine period,” said Dahari. They … destroyed what was in front of them without thinking,” he said.
# # #
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Section of mosaic floor at synagogue in Hamat Tiberias, Israel. Photo by Bukvoed, April 26, 2011. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
One of the most famous shipwrecks in Greek waters was discovered by sponge divers in 1901 off the island of Antikythera. Many scholars believe the ship, which dated from the 2nd quarter of the 1st century BC, was carrying loot taken under command of Roman General Sulla and bound for Italy. One of the artifacts retrieved from the shipwreck was a bronze head of a philosopher, which is in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Photo by B. Foley, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Two Roman-era shipwrecks have been found in deep water off a western Greek island, challenging the conventional theory that ancient shipmasters stuck to coastal routes rather than risking the open sea, an official said Tuesday.
Greece’s culture ministry said the two third-century wrecks were discovered earlier this month during a survey of an area where a Greek-Italian gas pipeline is to be sunk. They lay between 1.2 and 1.4 kilometers (0.7-0.9 miles) deep in the sea between Corfu and Italy.
That would place them among the deepest known ancient wrecks in the Mediterranean, apart from remains found in 1999 of an older vessel some 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) deep off Cyprus.
Angeliki Simossi, head of Greece’s underwater antiquities department, said sunken ancient ships are generally found 30-40 meters (100-130 feet) deep.
Most scholars believe that ancient traders were unwilling to veer far offshore, unlike warships which were unburdened by ballast and cargo.
“There are many Roman shipwrecks, but these are in deep waters. They were not sailing close to the coast,” Simossi said.
“The conventional theory was that, as these were small vessels up to 25 meters (80 feet) long, they did not have the capacity to navigate far from the coast, so that if there was a wreck they would be close enough to the coast to save the crew,” she said.
U.S. archaeologist Brendan Foley, who was not involved in the project, said a series of ancient wrecks located far from land over the past 15 years has forced experts to reconsider the coast-hugging theory.
“The Ministry of Culture’s latest discoveries are crucial hard data showing the actual patterns of ancient seafaring and commerce,” said Foley, a deep water archaeology expert at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
Jeffrey Royal, director of the Key West, Florida, based RPM Nautical Foundation, said that in many cases — as when winds threatened to push ships onto rocks — ancient mariners made a conscious effort to avoid coastal waters.
Royal, whose foundation has carried out a series of Mediterranean underwater projects, said the depth of such finds is immaterial from an archaeological standpoint.
“In antiquity ships didn’t sail around with depth finders and keep track of how deep they were,” he said. “It was more how far they were on the surface in relation to land. After 30 meters of depth the boat’s safe, so if it’s 30 meters (100 feet) or 3,000 meters it’s a little irrelevant.”
The remains were located during an investigation that covered 200 square kilometers (77 square miles) of seabed off the islands of Corfu and Paxoi.
A Greek oceanographic vessel using side-scan radar and robot submarines took footage of scattered cargo — storage jars, or amphorae, used to carry foodstuffs and wine — cooking utensils for the crew, anchors, ballast stones and what could be remains of the wooden ships.
The team also raised samples of pottery and a marble vase.
The one ship was carrying the kind of amphorae produced in north Africa, and Simossi said it might have sailed from there and headed for Greece after a stop in Italy.
Foley said deep wrecks are very important because they are almost always more intact than those found in shallow water.
“So they contain far more archaeological and historical information than other sites,” he said in an email. “As a result, the deep sea floor of the Mediterranean is the world’s greatest repository for information about the earliest civilizations.”
The discovery comes amid Greece’s acute financial crisis, which has also taken a toll on funding for archaeology.
Simossi said her department, which monitors a vast area rich in ancient wrecks and sunken settlements, had its staff reduced by half because of non-renewed contracts and retirees who were not replaced.
“There were 89 of us and there are 45 left,” she said. “We are fighting tooth and claw to keep afloat.”
# # #
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
One of the most famous shipwrecks in Greek waters was discovered by sponge divers in 1901 off the island of Antikythera. Many scholars believe the ship, which dated from the 2nd quarter of the 1st century BC, was carrying loot taken under command of Roman General Sulla and bound for Italy. One of the artifacts retrieved from the shipwreck was a bronze head of a philosopher, which is in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Photo by B. Foley, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Malcolm X waiting for a press conference to begin on March 26, 1964. Photo by Marion S. Trikosko. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-01274.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The son of Malcolm X’s biographer is asking Syracuse University to hand over a letter in which the slain activist writes about his shifting views on race relations, claiming his family is the rightful owner.
Malcolm X wrote to Alex Haley, his collaborator for “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” from Saudi Arabia in April 1964, about ten months before he was gunned down at a New York City hotel ballroom. The publisher of the autobiography later gave the letter to Syracuse University as part of a larger cache of papers to be used by researchers.
But Haley’s son, William Haley, said the publisher never had legal title to the letter and could not give it away. His lawyer said Tuesday he plans to make a legal demand this week for the letter, which he believes is worth at least $650,000.
“The history is important for us as a family, the legacy,” William Haley said. Haley said he was acting on behalf of himself and his two sisters. Haley said it’s possible the family would decide to sell the letter, but that would be a group decision.
Alex Haley died in 1992.
“So much of African-American history gets lost and is sometimes not in the place where we prefer it to be,” Haley said.
Malcolm X’s letter, written after a pilgrimage to Mecca, addresses the recent time he spent with Muslims “whose skin was the whitest of white.”
“In fact, what I have seen and experienced on this pilgrimage has forced me to ‘re arrange’ much of my thought patterns, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions,” he wrote.
The letter was sent to publisher Grove Press for inclusion in the autobiography, which was first published in 1965. Grove included the letter in files it gave to Syracuse University in 1969.
Sean M. Quimby, senior director of the university’s Special Collections Research Center, said it has documentation from Grove that shows Syracuse owns the transferred archive. He said the school’s ownership had never been challenged before in 43 years and he has not seen any evidence that the letter was lent, instead of given, to Grove.
“Our library and our special collections are publicly available to anyone, and there is a greater good served,” Quimby added.
Haley’s attorney, Gregory J. Reed of Detroit, said Haley passed along the letter to Grove only so it could be included in the autobiography and that Grove never had legal title.
Haley said he is acting now because he only found out about details of the letter recently after talking to Reed, who collects Malcolm X material.
# # #
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Malcolm X waiting for a press conference to begin on March 26, 1964. Photo by Marion S. Trikosko. U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsc-01274.
Walt Disney launched his career in Kansas City, Mo., his hometown. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Clars Auction Gallery.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A group that has worked for 15 years to turn Walt Disney’s first professional animation studio into an interactive historical site and museum is launching a final fundraising push amid talk of expanding its vision for the building in central Kansas City.
The group has raised and spent nearly $1 million and hopes to raise $2 million to restore the studio, called Laugh-O-Gram, where Disney began his animation career in 1922.
“There is an important question people raise: Why is this taking so long?” said Butch Rigby, chairman of the group Thank You Walt Disney Inc. “The answer: It’s just a slow fundraising process.
“But perseverance is important. Walt Disney wanted to build Disneyland for a long time, but he never gave up. And we will not give up on saving this important part of our history.”
This Friday, the group will sponsor a benefit juried art show and a visit from Bret Iwan, the official voice of Mickey Mouse. It is also holding an open design competition for the new space, The Kansas City Star reported.
If the Disney group can raise even more money, it plans to put a working animation and digital media studio on the second floor of the building.
“We’re in talks now,” Rigby said. “But it’s more than just a dream.”
Jeremy Knoll, one of two Kansas City architects who helped Thank You Walt Disney Inc. develop a plan for the building, said that studio, to be called the Mid-America Center for Digital Storytelling, could bring in more donations.
“The program they are working on would provide digital animation training to Kansas City with a focus on creating jobs here, some of which are currently outsourced overseas,” Knoll said.
The Laugh-O-Gram was the launching pad for teams of talented animators who followed Disney to Hollywood, some of whom helped found the animation departments of MGM and Warner Bros. and launch the careers of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
It’s also said to be the place where a tame rodent sitting on Disney’s desk inspired him to draw Mickey Mouse.
The vacant building is decorated with drawings by students from the Kansas City Art Institute and covered by contributions from cartoonists from around the country—including Mort Walker (“Beetle Bailey”), Cathy Guisewite (“Cathy”) and Jim Davis (“Garfield”).
The group takes credit for taking the building off the city’s demolition list, removing rubble, replacing much of the exterior masonry and brick, installing new concrete floors, new framing, a new steel structure and a new roof.
The U.S. Green Building Council’s Central Plains Chapter is helping to raise money and ensure that the renovation uses the latest in energy-efficient technology.
Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-05-29-12 0533GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Walt Disney launched his career in Kansas City, Mo., his hometown. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Clars Auction Gallery.
Luis Estevez’s interpretation of the dress featured in John Singer Sargent’s painting ‘Madame X.’ Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions. BEVERLY, Mass. – Kaminski Auctions will conduct a vintage and couture auction Thursday, June 7, at 6 p.m. EDT at the company’s gallery, 117 Elliott St. (Route 62). LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
A cocktail hour is planned prior to the auction beginning at 5 p.m.
The highlight of the sale is an iconic Luis Estévez gown, an exact replica of the dress featured in the John Singer Sargent painting Madame X. American-born Madame Pierre Gautreau posed for Sargent’s famous painting, which caused a scandal at the time. In 1960 Dina Merrill posed in a replica of the same gown designed by Luis Estévez for fashion photographer Milton H. Greene for Life magazine.
The article read: “Milton Greene’s classic shot features the American actress and Post Cereal heiress Dina Merrill regally attired in Cuban-born, American fashion designer Luis Estévez’s low-cut black crepe tribute to the famous Sargent painting. Originally published in Life magazine in 1960.”
The prosperity of the 1950s in America saw the rise of the American fashion industry, and Estévez was a pillar of that new foundation. His name was synonymous with designers like Mainbocher, Pauline Trigere, Arnold Scaasi and Norman Norell.
Estévez began designing under his own name in 1955. A year later, after marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco, actress Grace Kelly chose a design by Estévez for her first royal portrait. In 1968 the designer moved to Southern California and was a favorite of Hollywood’s royalty, and designed gowns for Nancy Regan and Betty Ford.
Kate La Chance, Kaminski’s vintage clothing specialist has put together a unique and diverse collection spanning 1950s styles, 1970s retro shift dresses, Bodin knits for vintage collectors to contemporary designer clothing. Designer labels such as Chanel, Gianfranco Ferre, Christian Dior and Ferragamo are included in the sale, as well as costume jewelry, handbags, shoes and hats.
For more information go to to www.kaminskiauctions.com or call 978-927-2223.
Luis Estevez’s interpretation of the dress featured in John Singer Sargent’s painting ‘Madame X.’ Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Ceil Chapman cocktail dress, coral color silk with gold metallic stitching in leaf design, coral colored silk lining, double v-neck front and back, rushing on bodice, 15-inch bust x 12-inch waist x 38 inches long. Chapman started her own business in 1940, costumed the musical ‘South Pacific’ and specialized in cocktail dresses. Estimate: $200-$300. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Chanel suit, wool, black with pining detail and satin trim, size 2. Worn once. Estimate: $700-$900. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Christian Dior New York sleeveless dress with pleated skirt, cropped jacket and scarf, all matching red and black plaid wool with black satin lining inside body of dress and jacket, matching black belt, zipper closure at back of dress, button closure on jacket, women’s size 8. Owner worked for Christian Dior New York 1959-1962 as receptionist and in-house model, purchased 1960/1961. Estimate: $200-$300. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Chanel ‘bird cage’ shoes, beige and tan, size 7 1/2, in original box. Estimate: $300-$400. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Three ensembles consisting of a day dress by Plaza South, approximately size 10; skirt set with sweater vest, button-down shirt and matching belt, Bodin Knits, size 12; and a two-piece skirt and blouse ensemble with matching green belt, by Personal, size 12. Estimate: $250-$450. Image courtesy Kaminski Auctions.
Louis Vuitton soft-sided luggage bag, ‘Manufactured by the French Co. USA under special license’ to Saks Fifth Avenue, circa 1960s, 22 inches high x 28 1/2 inches wide x 9 inches deep. Some surface wear at corners. Estimate: $200-$400.
24-inch-tall Guanyin sculpture of Xinjiang walnut wood, likely from the Silk Road, Qing Dynasty, 1760-1840. Asian Antiques & Art Gallery image.
HADLEY, Mass. – Chinese historical objects are featured in an unreserved online auction this Thursday, May 31 through LiveAuctioneers.com. Three hundred diverse lots of quality antiques will be offered in this first Chinese-only event to benefit the nonprofit World Peace Foundation of Hadley, Mass. All lots have been vetted by experts and are fully guaranteed to be as described.
It is no secret that Chinese collectors are aggressively reacquiring their cultural heritage that was dispersed around the world after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Due to the popularity of Sun Yat-Sen in the USA, many Americans traveled to China during his Republican period and brought back great treasures. Some of those are to be found at this auction event.
The experts putting together the May 31 auction have been to Asia many times in recent years, studying at universities and a variety of local and national museums, buying hundreds of books, and observing what has been coming on the market – both the authentic and the newly produced – at the many outdoor weekend exhibitions major Chinese cities now sponsor.
Therefore, the primary benefits of this online-only auction are authenticity and careful descriptions of condition. Also, obscure places where fine ceramics were produced are described, with a nice group of celadons from Nanning (far south China) being featured. Long considered a backwater, Nanning was visited by only a few connoisseurs. Even fewer assembled a meaningful collection of ceramics from that region.
Other great Chinese ceramics come from a Connecticut donation to the charity, while a diverse sampling of fine wood and bronze sculptures, jades, jewelry, early bronze money, tribal silver and Tibetan artifacts can also be found at the evening auction this Thursday.
Many authentic artifacts can be found with starting prices under $100 and no reserves will be used throughout the sale. Credit cards will be accepted, and the foundation will ship overseas when payment has cleared.
For additional information, contact Robert by calling 413-582-0032. Absentee bids may be left online through LiveAuctioneers.com until the sale commences at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on May 31. Competitive Internet bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com throughout the live sale.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
The first Confederate national flag with 7 stars (March 4, 1861 – May 21, 1861). Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
RICHMOND, Va. – “The Confederate Flags of 1861: From Secession To War” is the topic of a program to be presented by former associate editor of Blue and Gray Magazine and well-known flag expert Greg Biggs. The program takes place Saturday, June 13, 6:30-8:30 p.m. EDT at the Museum of the Confederacy.
From the fall of 1860 through November 1861, the Southern states created a number of banners to reflect their feelings and thoughts on the issues of the day. Often using old Revolutionary War symbols, the flags made in this time were some of the most diverse that would be created during the war. State flags came into use as well as distinctive company level colors as those units were raised. New regiments carried a variety of flags that become more standardized when the Confederate States of America created its first national flag. That banner often caused some identity confusion on the battlefield so the desire to create a “war flag” led to the adoption of the first specific battle flag for a confederate army.
Cost is $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers. Guests will also be treated to tours of the museum’s flag vault. Hors d’oeuvres and spirits will be provided. Register online at www.moc.org or contact Will Glasco at 855-649-1861 ext. 143 or email at wglasco@moc.org.
The Museum of the Confederacy is a private, nonprofit educational institution. The museum and White House are located in downtown Richmond in the historic Court End neighborhood, in addition to its new location in Appomattox. The museum owns the world’s largest collection of artifacts and documents related to the Confederate States of America. The museum is at 1201 E. Clay St.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The first Confederate national flag with 7 stars (March 4, 1861 – May 21, 1861). Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
