Barack Obama ‘Hope’ poster, artwork by Shepard Fairey. Fair use of copyrighted image to illustrate the subject in question.
NEW YORK (AFP) – The artist who illegally used a copyrighted Associated Press photo in an iconic poster of Barack Obama during his 2008 election was sentenced Friday to 300 hours of community service for falsifying evidence.
The Manhattan federal court also ordered Shepard Fairey to pay a $25,000 fine. However, he escaped prison time demanded by prosecutors.
Fairey, 42, had pleaded guilty to manufacturing documents to support his claim that he had not stolen the AP image as the basis for his posters, which showed Obama gazing upward with the words “HOPE” or “PROGRESS” inscribed below.
After AP accused Fairey of copying the image for his hugely popular poster, the artist sued the news agency in 2009, asserting that he had not infringed copyright law and was working under the “fair use” doctrine.
He then concocted “multiple false and fraudulent documents” to back his position, federal prosecutors said. Later in the litigation he destroyed documents and attempted to cover up his actions.
AP president and CEO Gary Pruitt welcomed the end of the saga.
“After spending a great amount of time, energy and legal effort, all of us at The Associated Press are glad this matter is finally behind us,” he said in a statement.
“We hope this case will serve as a clear reminder to all of the importance of fair compensation for those who gather and produce original news content.”
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Barack Obama ‘Hope’ poster, artwork by Shepard Fairey. Fair use of copyrighted image to illustrate the subject in question.
Francisco Zuniga [1912-1928] bronze sculpture. Roland Antiques image. NEW YORK – Roland Antiques, New York City’s downtown auction house, is living up to its “fun and fashionable” reputation with its Sept. 15 auction offerings as diverse as a vintage British child’s pedal car to vintage designer clothing, furs and handbags by Gaultier, Gucci, Fendi and many others. A collection of antique swords and firearms are to be offered in this eclectic mix.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding. The 785-lot auction will begin at ll a.m. EDT.
Outstanding examples of modern art feature a large and important Zuniga bronze as well as five Claes Oldenburg lithographs. Other great examples in the sale include work signed by or attributed to Gaston Ugalde, Aathoth Franyo, Robert Glen, J.I. Bonheur, Antoniucci Voltigerio Volti, Walter Heath Williams and Clarence Frederick Underwood.
“We’re starting out the fall season with some great pieces and there are a few exciting estates coming to auction in subsequent sales here at Roland,” says founder Bill Roland.
There is a wide variety of 17th to 19th century English, French, Continental and American antiques, including an early Italian carved chest, George III mahogany armchair, English rosewood games table and partners’ desk.
Modern selections are plentiful and include a pair of chairs by William Spratling, selection of Eames chairs including a possible prototype and a pair of lounge chairs. There is a selection of Karl Springer furniture, French Art Deco, Swedish and American mid-century modern and much more, including an extensive Georg Jensen flatware service in the Bernadotte pattern.
The star of September’s sale might be the spectacular diamond engagement ring, weighing in at over two carats and accented by two baguette shaped diamonds in a stunning platinum setting. A Jaquet Droz 18k pocket watch, an 18k Universal Geneve ladies watch and many other lots of fine and costume jewelry complement the sale.
You never know what you might find at a Roland auction, but one thing remains consistent; Roland’s commitment to excellent customer service and building relationships to last a lifetime.
For details phone Roland Antiques at 212-260-2000.
Bob Hope presented this 14k gold watch to band leader Kay Kyser. Image courtesy Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. – A selection of clothing items from the personal wardrobe of Frank Sinatra is going up for auction by Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd., giving fans and collectors a chance to own an item belonging to an icon of a glamorous era. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding for the Sept. 13-15 auction.
The selection from his personal wardrobe, coming up for auction Saturday, Sept. 15, will be sold alongside other celebrity objects including a 14K gold watch that Bob Hope gifted to big-band leader Kay Kyser, and items from notable designers such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Tiffany & Co. It is all part of a three-day gallery auction being conducted by Little.
This is not the first time the public has had an opportunity to bid on items owned by the legendary singer and film actor. In 1995, Christie’s of New York sold a collection of Sinatra’s belongings for $2.07 million. And, since his death in 1998, items from his personal collection continue to sell at auction, including everything from his cars to his personal credit cards.
President and auctioneer Leland Little says, “We are excited and proud to continue this year’s success by presenting several excellent collections and choice fine and decorative arts in this fall cataloged auction. Over three days, we will open with 270 lots of rare and fine wine followed by regional art and anchored by over 750 lots of national and international level objects.”
For those unable to attend the auction, online bidding is available with the opportunity of following the sale via a live video and audio feed.
Other highlights from the three-day auction include fine jewelry, sterling silver, rare and fine wines, Oriental carpets, Meissen porcelain, Southern pottery, antique furniture, and American and international art.
For phone Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd. at 919-644-1243.
Bob Hope presented this 14k gold watch to band leader Kay Kyser. Image courtesy Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.
Chanel black leather tote bag. Image courtesy Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.
Diamond and enamel brooch from France. Image courtesy Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.
‘Chargers’ is stitched across the back and ‘Frank Sinatra’ on the breast of Old Blue Eyes’ wool jacket. Image courtesy Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales Ltd.
The largest kachina in this group is lot no. 153, a Hopi carved wood hemis kachina by White Bear Fredericks, 19 1/2 inches. Estimate: $500-$700. Skinner Inc. image. MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Skinner Inc. will conduct an auction of American Indian and tribal art on Friday, Sept. 14, in its Marlborough gallery. Highlights of the auction include a nice selection of pre-Columbian textile fragments, a large Southwest kachina collection, and an assortment of Eskimo and Northwest Coast material from the Bear Totem Store of Wrangell, Alaska.
LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding. The 420-lot auction will begin at noon EDT.
Complementing the pre-Columbian textiles on offer is a pre-Columbian Chancay multicolored fringed carrying bag decorated with vertical stripes and an abstract lizard design (lot 17, estimated between $500 and $700). An excellent assortment of tribal material is highlighted by a Shipibo pottery jar depicting a human face (lot 27, $300 to $500) and a Yoruba carved wood Gelede Society mask (lot 36, $250 to $350).
A collection of affordable Eskimo and Northwest Coast material from the famous Bear Totem Store will be on offer, including three carved wood totem poles (lot 262, $600 to $800). Walter Waters opened the Bear Totem Store after arriving in Alaska during the gold rush in 1898. During his travels, he established many contacts with Indian artists from whom he purchased material for his personal collection and later his store.
The Pueblo tribes made kachina dolls to teach young people their pantheon of gods. The September sale features dolls dating from the 1940s through the 1980s. Highlights include a polychrome carved wood kachina (lot 130, $200 to $250), four Hopi carved wood kachinas (lot 144, $400 to $600), and a Hopi carved wood Hemis Kachina by White Bear Fredericks (lot 153, $500 to $700).
Many fine Navajo and Pueblo textiles will be offered. Pieces of note include a traditional Navajo two-piece dress with variegated brown center and various shades of red and indigo (lot 289, $1,500 to $2,000) and a San Felipe buffalo dance shirt with beaded bag (lot 161, $600 to $800). A collection of 68 miniature pictorial textiles (lot 318, $1,000 to $1,500) is also on offer.
A fine assortment of American Indian jewelry will be offered, including a unique turquoise Navajo bracelet adorned with various stampwork and foliate designs with three oval turquoise settings (lot 175, $200 to $250) and a Southwest Spondylus shell inlaid necklace composed of heishi, coral, imitation coral, silver beads and freshwater pearls (lot 186, $300 to $400).
Southwest pottery is well represented at the sale. Notable lots include a 19th century Zuni bowl painted with classic curvilinear designs (lot 336, $800 to $1,200), three Southwest canteens (lot 340, $300 to $400), and a black-on-black bowl decorated with a classic serpent design and signed “Maria Popovi 1260” (lot 358, $600 to $800).
A fine selection of Southwest basketry includes an Apache basket olla (lot 379, $400 to $600), a Pima coiled basketry bowl with a concentric three-point design (lot 376, $400 to $600), and a Cherokee storage basket by Rowena Bradley (lot 371, $500 to $700). The basket includes the original certificate from the Indian Arts and Crafts Board.
The largest kachina in this group is lot no. 153, a Hopi carved wood hemis kachina by White Bear Fredericks, 19 1/2 inches. Estimate: $500-$700. Skinner Inc. image.
Three polychrome carved wood totem poles, 27 1/2 inches high. Provenance: The Bear Totem Store. Estimate:$600-$800. Skinner Inc. image.
Unusual Navajo turquoise bracelet, with a Navajo hogan done in relief, various stamp work and foliate designs, with three oval turquoise settings, stamped on the inside ‘H. Boyd, Sterling.’ Estimate: $200-$250. Skinner Inc. image.
Traditional Navajo two-piece dress with variegated brown center, and various shades of red, and indigo stripes. Estimate: $1,500-$2,000. Skinner Inc. image.
Yoruba carved wood Gelede Society mask, 18 inches high. Estimate: $250-$350. Skinner Inc. image.
Skeleton of tyrannosaurus bataar. Heritage Auctions image.
NEW YORK (AP) – A federal judge expressed surprise Wednesday that a dinosaur skeleton seized by the U.S. government is a composite of several ancient creatures, calling it a “kind of Frankenstein model of a dinosaur.”
U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel said it seemed much more needs to be learned about the 70 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton, known as Ty, before it can be carted off to Mongolia, where the U.S. government says it originated and belongs.
With the judge’s approval, U.S. agents swooped into a storage facility in June and snatched the fossil after the government insisted it was a rare specimen that could only have originated in Mongolia. The fossil’s seizure seemed urgent after it was sold by Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions for $1.05 million.
Attorney Michael McCullough argued the skeleton should be returned to Gainesville, Fla., fossils dealer Eric Prokopi, who says he assembled dinosaur pieces that were worth only tens of thousands of dollars into a nearly intact skeleton worth much more.
The judge said he thought the skeleton represented one dinosaur. McCullough told him only 37 percent of the skeleton came from one specimen, with an equal amount of the finished product coming from at least one other dinosaur and possibly many.
“Now I’m finding out it’s kind of a Frankenstein model of a dinosaur, based on several creatures,” the judge said.
It also was revealed that dinosaur pieces were brought into the United States in four shipments, not one, as had been described in papers filed by the government.
The U.S. government has said the dinosaur had to have been taken from Mongolia and must be returned. McCullough argued that much of the skeleton might have originated in other countries and that the government had not sufficiently shown why it must be sent to Mongolia.
A prosecutor said it was highly unlikely that the bones originated outside Mongolia and that they are subject to forfeiture whether they originated with one dinosaur or many.
Through a quirk of law, the U.S. government was forced to sue the dinosaur itself so that it could seize it, a fact that did not get past the judge.
“I’m not going to claim I have dinosaur arrests presented to me with any frequency,” he said.
Although the dinosaur was not in court Wednesday, the judge left open the possibility that it would be brought in if the case goes to trial.
In describing its size, a prosecutor said it would be possible to fit two similar size dinosaurs in the jury box.
The judge replied: “I don’t think we’ll have a skeleton in the jury box, but we might have it in the courtroom.”
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Skeleton of tyrannosaurus bataar. Heritage Auctions image.
Monument Rocks in western Kansas. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
ULYSSES, Kan. (AP) – Bidding for the ranch that holds the historic Monument Rocks chalk formations has reached $8.5 million.
Bidding for the 12,900-acre Pyramid Ranch in Gove County was scheduled to end Aug. 28 but was extended for two weeks. The auction includes mineral rights.
The ranch contains the Monument Rocks, which are a National Natural Monument. It also includes fossil finds, two graves of U.S. Calvary soldiers and was territorial marker and spiritual site for Native Americans.
The Hays Daily News reports that as bidding resumed Tuesday, the top bid was $8.5 million – more than double the top bid from a week ago.
Mark Faulkner of Ulysses, Kans., who is overseeing the telephone auction, said six people were bidding on the land but two dropped out.
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Information from: The Hays Daily News, http://www.hdnews.net
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-09-06-12 1219GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Monument Rocks in western Kansas. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Pre-Columbian chupicuaro female, Guanajuato Valley in southern Mexico, circa 300-100 B.C. Ex-Southeby’s. Estimate: $8,000-$10,000. Antiquities Saleroom.com image. BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – On Friday, Sept.14, Antiquities-Saleroom.com, a fully-owned subsidiary of Artemis Gallery Ancient Art, will offer more than 240 lots from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Italy, the Near East, Fast East, as well as pre-Columbian art from the Ancient Americas (Mexico, Central and South America). This one-day live auction will be hosted online exclusively on the LiveAuctioneers.com bidding platform. Bidders can choose to bid live on the day of the sale or leave absentee bids anytime up until the day before bidding begins.
“All items offered for sale in this auction have been legally acquired and are legal to sell, and are guaranteed authentic/as described. We believe an antiquity will find its correct price in the market almost every time if it is offered with the assurance that it is authentic, legal to purchase and meets the timeline qualifications for UNESCO and various national treaties,” said Teresa Dodge, managing director. “What’s more, everything Antiquities Salerooms offers for sale is a true piece of ancient art that is guaranteed as described or your money back.”
The first part of Antiquities-Saleroom’s Sept. 14 auction is devoted to the more classical side of antiquities and includes a nice mix of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Luristan and Chinese objects. Among the highlights offered for sale is a huge Egyptian Faience Wedjat Eye from 11th-seventh century B.C. that carries an impressive provenance and was once sold by Bonham’s. Also available is an Egyptian bronze oxyrhynchus fish dating to Late Period, 26th-30th dynasties (circa 664-342 B.C.), last sold by Christie’s in 1997. Additional Egyptian bronzes include an Osiris statue amulet and a bronze snake sarcophagus.
There is a fine selection of Imperial Roman items that will be offered including a pair of Roman bronze square door plates from the second century A.D. and a amazing size 9 finger ring featuring an agate portrait of Dionysus dating to the second century A.D. Additionally, there are offerings of Greek Attic pottery from Athens’ Classic Era (525-450 B.C.), as well as several desirable Chinese pottery examples from the Han, Tang and Ming dynasties. Most notable is a nearly 2-foot-tall statue of a 17th-18th century Japanese standing figure of Shomen Kongo.
The second part of the Antiquities-Saleroom’s live auction features a wide variety of authentic pre-Columbian and tribal art. The selection of art from the ancient Americas includes ceramics from West Mexico, the Mayan Territories and most of the major cultures of Peru, Costa Rica and Panama, plus many examples in stone and metalwork, including effigies made of gold. Pre-Columbian highlights include a large Aztec obsidian ceremonial blade from 1400 A.D., a phenomenal pre-Columbian Vera Cruz stone serpent scepter dating to 400-600 A.D., and an incredible Quimbaya gold group featuring a solid gold mask and three nose rings.
In the Native American Art section, there is a nice selection of authentic pieces including a native American Plains hide shield, an Acoma Pueblo polychrome water jar and a Sioux beaded baby’s bonnet, 1880s.
For questions on any item in the sale, call Teresa Dodge, managing director, at 720-890-7700 or e-mail her directly at antiquitiessaleroom@gmail.com.
The New Orleans Museum of Art was established in 1911. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The New Orleans Museum of Art says it is closed because water from soil saturated by Hurricane Isaac is seeping into the basement, administrative offices and other areas.
Seepage into the basement of the century-old building was a major hurdle in its recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The Times-Picayune reports that events in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden are continuing. The sculpture garden re-opened Sept. 1.
A statement from the museum says it has maintained climate control in the building, but cannot open it to the public to maintain proper conditions during work to assess and fix the damage.
NOMA representatives have said that no artworks were damaged by Isaac or the resultant below-ground leaks. No reopening date has been issued.
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Information from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.nola.com
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-09-06-12 1131GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The New Orleans Museum of Art was established in 1911. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.
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