‘Winged Nike of Samothrace,’ parian marble, found in Samothrace in 1863. Image by Marie-Lan Nyguyen, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
PARIS (AFP) – The Louvre is preparing to restore one of its most iconic works, the “Winged Victory of Samothrace” (Winged Nike of Samothrace) statue depicting the Greek goddess Nike, the museum announced Monday.
A team of experts will oversee the $4-million restoration of the ancient Greek marble statue – one of the Paris art museum’s three best-known pieces, along with the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.
Repair work on the headless statue, which dates from between 220 B.C. and 185 B.C., is expected to take over a year to complete, though the work should be back on display in spring 2014.
Previously restored in 1934, this second touch-up entails cleaning up the statue and resolving a number of structural problems that were not addressed the first time, the museum said.
According to the Louvre, over 7 million museumgoers visit the statue every year.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
‘Winged Victory of Samothrace,’ parian marble, found on Samothrace in 1863. Image by Marie-Lan Nyguyen, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Emille Gruppe, ‘Gloucester Winter,’ sold for $10,800. Woodbury Auction image. WOODBURY, Conn. – Tom Schwenke’s Woodbury Auction conducted its annual Holiday Fine Estates Auction with a diverse offering of 515 lots of material on Dec. 9. LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.
Included were the estates of Julian Bach of New York City, Georgiana Ducas of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and numerous other estates and consignors. A standing room only crowd was present in the saleroom to compete for the fine art work, jewelry and decorative arts items. According to Schwenke, owner/auctioneer, the sale had more than 800 bidders competing online during the sale.
The highlight of the auction was the sale of two Emile Gruppe oil on canvas artworks. The paintings –Gloucester Winter and Afternoon Light Vermont – were both accompanied by the original invoices from Gruppe directly to the consignor’s family. They sold for $10,800 and $10,200, respectively.
An Italian pietra dura plaque of butterflies hammered for $2,829 after competition from multiple bidders in the room and online. A vintage, small Louis Vuitton steamer trunk with an original label sparked interest and ultimately went to a UK bidder for $7,380. Two lithographs by Thomas Hart Benton, In the Ozarks and The Music Lesson, were claimed by a phone bidder for $960 and $1,560.
Three Walter Matia bronze sculptures, all from the Ducas estate, were featured items in the sale. The sculpture of the eagle soared to $9,300. The red fox scampered away with $4,500, and the turkey trotted to a winning bidder for $1,501. A Venetian carved stylized monkey figure sold for $2,583 to an online bidder.
Consignments for the firm’s important spring Americana sale are being accepted through March 13. Phone inquiries should be directed to 203-266-0323 or email cathy musich cmusich@woodburyauction.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Aboriginal bark painting. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Davidson Auctions.
PARIS (AFP) – An exhibition of the largest collection of modern Aboriginal paintings to have gone on display outside of Australia has been a major hit with art lovers in Paris.
The exhibition, “The Sources of Aborigine Painting,” drew 133,716 visitors to the Quai Branly Museum in the space of just over three months, making it the fifth most popular exhibition the center has hosted.
“We are delighted with the reception it has had,” a museum spokesman said following the end of the exhibition’s run on Sunday.
He noted that the success was particularly impressive given that the collection was competing for attention with blockbuster collections of the works of Edward Hopper and Salvador Dali as well as the recently opened new wing of the Louvre dedicated to the Islamic Arts.
“It was up against stiff competition in Paris this autumn so it is particularly pleasing that this art, previously unseen and little known in Europe, should draw so many visitors,” the spokesman added.
The collection of more than 200 pieces was originally put together by the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
The Branly has ensured Aboriginal art will have a permanent and high-profile presence in Paris by commissioning Lena Nyadby to produce a 700-square-meter work to be displayed on a section of its roof.
The black and white work will be visible from different levels of the Eiffel Tower from June 6.
Nyadby has previously provided a mural for one of the museum’s external walls, which can be seen from the French capital’s Rue de l’Universite.
Pennsylvania walnut miniature tall case clock, Hy (Henry) Bower, F. (Feste) Swome, early 19th century. Top lot of the sale: $31,625. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image. SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. – Good things came in small packages at Stephenson’s Jan. 1 auction in suburban Philadelphia. An early 19th-century Henry Bower “dwarf” clock standing only 50 inches tall rang in the New Year in fine style, leading prices realized with a buoyant selling price of $31,625. All prices quoted include 15% buyer’s premium.
The diminutive walnut clock sourced from an estate in Pennsylvania’s Poconos region gave indications early on that it might be a sizzler on auction day.
“You can tell a lot by what goes on during the preview,” said Cindy Stephenson, owner of Stephenson’s Auctioneers. “All of the top clock people were here looking at it. One expert spent half an hour inspecting it. Another customer pulled out an old clock book that explained the meaning of ‘Feste Swome,’ which was written on the clock. Feste Swome is Pennsylvania German for ‘Falkner Swamp’ and refers to the location in Douglass Township, Pennsylvania, where Henry Bower manufactured his clocks.”
The winning bidder, an antique dealer and clock collector, called Cindy Stephenson a few days after the auction and told her he was having a gear made for the clock to ensure it would be in perfect running order going forward.
“He was very happy with the clock. He told me he had sold a few other dwarf clocks over the years, but never one by that particular maker,” Stephenson said.
The clock had passed by descent to the estate from which it came, but no other information was known about its ownership history. Its desirability was validated on auction day, however, when 11 phone lines were required to accommodate all phone bidders. “Every phone line in the house was occupied, including all of our personal cell phones,” said Stephenson.
The other big story of the day was an old and well-provenanced collection of ivory and jade that had come to Stephenson’s from a Montgomery County residence. Its contents attracted many bidders in the gallery, online through LiveAuctioneers.com and on the phones.
A pair of circa-1890-1920 Chinese carved ivory figural urns decorated with relief village scenes and foo dogs had formerly been in the collection of Oliver Smalley of Epsom, England. Estimated at $2,000-$4,000, the matched duo sold online for $6,490.
A beautiful 19th-century Japanese ivory and shibayama table screen encrusted with mother of pearl and decorated with tinted-ivory relief figures of people running in the rain and huddling in a shelter was bid to an above-estimate price of $7,475. Other Asian highlights included a carved white jade Buddha, $5,605 to a LiveAuctioneers bidder; and a celadon jade figure of an official with a scepter, $5,750.
“Our buyers were very pleased with the Asian selection we offered. The pieces were just fabulous. And the consignor was so pleased with the results, he’s also going to consign his furniture. We’re certainly looking forward to that,” said Stephenson.
Of the antique silver offered in the sale, a circa-1814 George III inkstand with winged paw feet, hallmarked for Rebecca Emes and Edward Barnard, London, more than doubled expectations at $1,725. It sold to a buyer in the gallery.
The top jewelry lot was a man’s hand-made 18K gold ring with a bezel-set center diamond weighing approximately 2.0 carats, surrounded by 58 round champagne and white diamonds. It surpassed presale expectations, selling via LiveAuctioneers for $5,015.
An Alexander John Drysdale (American/New Orleans, 1875-1934) Louisiana bayou landscape artwork has returned to familiar surroundings after selling to a Louisiana phone bidder for a within-estimate price of $2,300. “The buyer was very pleased, and so were we. It’s always nice to see regional art returning to its place of origin,” said Stephenson.
Stephenson’s has a full slate of auctions planned for the first quarter of 2013. For additional information, call Cindy Stephenson at 215-322-6182 or e-mail info@stephensonsauction.com. Online: www.stephensonsauction.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog for Stephenson’s New Year’s Day Auction, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Pennsylvania walnut miniature tall case clock, Hy (Henry) Bower, F. (Feste) Swome, early 19th century. Top lot of the sale: $31,625. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.
Pair of Chinese carved ivory figural covered urns decorated with figural village scenes, foo dogs, circa 1890-1920, ex collection of Oliver Smalley, Epsom, England; $6,490. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.
Ivory and shibayama table screen encrusted with mother of pearl and tinted ivory, figurines in rain and shelter, signed on one panel, Japan, 19th century, $7,475. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.
George III glass and silver inkstand, winged paw feet, engraved on back ‘Dame SJ Paston-Cooper,’ circa 1814, hallmarked for Rebecca Emes and Edward Barnard, London, $1,725. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.
Man’s handmade 18K gold and diamond ring; center bezel-set stone approx. 2.0 carats; additional 58 round champagne and white diamonds, weight 40.4 grams/26.0 dwt, $5,015. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.
A. (Alexander) J. (John) Drysdale, pastel on paper, Louisiana bayou landscape, signed, $2,300. Stephenson’s Auctioneers image.
Photographic portrait of Gustav Klimt, 1914, by Josef Anton Trčka. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
VIENNA (AFP) – Special events marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of painter Gustav Klimt helped Vienna enjoy a record year for tourism in 2012, with overnight stays rising 7.5 percent, the Austrian capital’s tourism board said on Monday.
“I would like to give Gustav Klimt a kiss,” tourism chief Norbert Kettner said, in reference to the Austrian artist’s most famous painting.
“All museums and cultural institutions with Klimt works deserve special thanks.”
In total, 5.6 million people visited Vienna, 7.2 percent more than in 2011, accounting for 12.3 million overnight stays. Kettner said he expects “moderate” growth in 2013.
Hotels were also expected to have earned more than 500 million euros ($665 million) for the first time, helped by a 22-percent rise in Russian visitors and a 40-percent jump from China.
Born in 1862, Klimt was a key figure of Vienna’s art scene during its heyday as a cultural and intellectual hub, bustling with the likes of Sigmund Freud, Adolf Loos, Egon Schiele and Otto Wagner.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Photographic portrait of Gustav Klimt, 1914, by Josef Anton Trčka. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
National Palace Museum, Taiwan. Image by Peellden. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) – China has agreed to lend art exhibits for a major joint exhibition in Taipei, the head of Taiwan’s top museum said Sunday, as the two former rivals push ahead with detente.
Feng Ming-chu, director of Taipei’s National Palace Museum, will fly to Beijing on Monday, the first such trip since 2009 when the chiefs of the museum and of Beijing’s Palace Museum made landmark exchange visits.
Feng will meet her Chinese counterpart Shan Jixiang to discuss the loan of more than 30 artifacts from the museum, also known as the Forbidden City, for the exhibition in Taipei in October.
“The Palace Museum in Beijing has agreed to our proposal for loaning artifacts,” she told AFP.
The exhibition, which will also include some items from the Taipei museum, features the artistic tastes of Qianlong (1735-1796), an emperor in China’s last dynasty Qing.
“Hopefully the cooperation between the two museums will be further enhanced through the visit, following the 2009 ice-breaking exchange of visits by the curators of the two sides,” Feng said.
The 2009 visits resulted in the loan of 37 works from the Chinese museum to the Taiwanese museum later that year.
It was the first joint exhibition by the two museums, highlighting warming relations between China and Taiwan which have been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949.
But the Taipei museum still has no plans to lend its artifacts, which were originally shipped from China, fearing they would not be returned, Feng said.
The Taipei museum boasts more than 655,000 Chinese artifacts spanning 7,000 years from the prehistoric Neolithic period to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1911.
They were removed from the Beijing museum in the 1930s by China’s Nationalist government to prevent them falling into the hands of invading Japanese troops.
The collection was transported to Taiwan by the Nationalists more than 60 years ago after they were defeated by Chinese communist forces and fled the mainland.
Ties have improved markedly since 2008 when Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party came to power on a platform of strengthening trade and tourism links.
He was re-elected last year for a second and last four-year term.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
National Palace Museum, Taiwan. Image by Peellden. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
An artist rendering of the State Library Archive Museum under construction in Juneau, Alaska. Image courtesy State Library Archive Museum.
RUSSELL STIGALL, Juneau Empire
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The first few shovelfuls dug from of the State Library Archive Museum project were placed in a box inside the State Museum. Not to preserve for posterity – though they may be – but to bid adieu to the rain outside and break ground under the warm lights and artifacts of Juneau’s and the state’s Willoughby icon.
Dozens of spectators listened to a line-up of dignitaries give their blessings to the project. Mayor Merrill Sanford, Transportation Commissioner Pat Kemp, Education Commissioner Mike Hanley and Ron Inouye of the Alaska Historical Society spoke at the event.
Phyllis DeMuth represented the 1967 Committee that built the current museum to break official ground for the new library, archive and museum. She was joined at the handle of the gold shovel by Inouye.
Although founded in 1900, the state museum and archive did not find a home for public viewing until 1920 when it moved into Juneau’s Arctic Brotherhood Building. The current building was funded with a local 1 percent sales tax in 1967 in honor of the 100-year anniversary of Alaska’s purchase from Russia.
“It really isn’t about a building,” Mike Hanley commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development said. “It is about our heritage. It’s about preservation. It’s about being about to share that with not just our generation but generations to come.”
The new SLAM building will double the museum exhibition space and triple the collection storage of the state’s current facility, Hanley said – all while using no more energy, he said.
Hanley said the new facility is “a huge building that can operate at the same operating costs as we have now.”
Plans for the building show 118,000 square feet of new construction with more than 90 parking spaces, 61 of which are located in the facility’s basement.
“The way things are moving,” Hanley said, “I look forward to having the opportunity to do this next year when we have something to see.”
During much of the lead-up to the groundbreaking project, designers believed they would have to order certain window treatments from overseas, Kemp said. He announced at the ceremony that the contract was awarded to Bucher Glass from Fairbanks. The company is opening a new facility with 16-20 employees to handle the order, he said.
Recently appointed Commissioner of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Kemp spoke on behalf of his agency, a stakeholder in SLAM.
DOT worked closely with the Department of Education, governor’s office, Alaska legislators and others to bring the project to this stage, Kemp said.
The state has already secured a contractor under a new type of contract called COGC, Kemp said. He said PCL Constructors Inc. of Anchorage has been brought on board build it.
Kemp said the project enjoys broad support.
“The governor fully supports the project, the Legislature supports the project,” Kemp said. “I hope we’ll be turning on the light for the public in a few years.”
Sen. Dennis Egan was in attendance. He said he was impressed with the celebration’s turnout and said Juneau and the state should be proud of the project.
“It is a facility we can all treasure,” Egan said.
Mayor Sanford reminisced some during his address to the crowd about the time he’s spent in the state library over the last four decades. However, during an interview after the ceremony, Sanford let his mind go way back.
It is important for us to be doing this and preserving this. Had Juneau started preserving its history early on, Sanford said, “we could have had a whole mine up on the hillside that could have been a tourist attraction let alone our own attraction. We could have saved more stuff than what we have today and appreciated what our ancestors did for us.”
The museum, library and archive will be a place where researchers and students can learn about the “quilted blanket” of the state’s past all under one roof, Sanford said.
Construction is ongoing.
Recently, Goldbelt Corp.’s waterfront lot has recently become home to contractor facilities and an excavator has made Gold Creek safer for pedestrians with culverts and ground cover at the SLAM site.
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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
An artist rendering of the State Library Archive Museum under construction in Juneau, Alaska. Image courtesy State Library Archive Museum.
Iconic bentwood armchair designed by Alvar Aalto (Finnish, 1898-1976), manufactured in 1932. To be offered at auction Jan. 29 by Sworders in England with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. Estimate: £5,000 to £7,000. Sworders image. ESSEX, England – A classic chair by one of the leading modernist designers of the 20th century will soon be offered for sale at auction. Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers based in Stansted Mountfitchet, England, are selling a chair by the Finnish designer Alvar Aalto (Finnish, 1898-1976) at their Decorative Art and Design Sale on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding.
The bentwood-frame chair called “Paimio” is named after the town in southwestern Finland for which Aalto designed a tuberculosis sanatorium and all its furnishings. The angle of the back of this armchair, which was used in the patients’ lounge, was intended to help sitters breathe more easily.
The chair is thought to be one of the first examples of this design and dates back to 1932. Although this is now a familiar style of chair, this particular example is likely to attract the attention of collectors and museums as being a prime example of design from the vanguard era of 20th-century modernism.
Sworders’ director, John Black, said: “What’s exceptional about this piece is that even today it looks incredibly modern, but is in fact 80 years old. Back in 1932, this would have been an absolute statement piece of furniture, and that’s what makes it so attractive even today.’
“Aalto’s iconic style continues to influence mass-made production items that are still very popular – a sure sign of a good quality design,” Black continued.
The consignor of the Alvar Aalto chair purchased the iconic furnishing through eBay. He suspected it to be one of Aalto’s classic pieces, and his find was confirmed by experts at Sworders. It’s now being auctioned with a presale estimate of £5,000 to £7,000.
The sale also includes designs by Dame Lucie Rie, arguably the greatest British female potter of the 20th century. Rie was one of the leading post-World War II potters who looked to Japan for inspiration and revolutionized British studio pottery. Her iconic studio has been recreated as an exhibit in the Ceramics Gallery of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Three Rie-designed bowls and a vase are being sold with guide prices between £200 and £1,000.
The Decorative Art and Design Sale will be held at Sworders on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Iconic bentwood armchair designed by Alvar Aalto (Finnish, 1898-1976), manufactured in 1932. To be offered at auction Jan. 29 by Sworders in England with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. Estimate: £5,000 to £7,000. Sworders image.
Closeup view of Alvar Aalto bentwood armchair. Sworders image.
The Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Mich. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – The Gerald R. Ford Library at the University of Michigan is taking steps to make its collections available for all visitors, even virtual ones.
The university has announced that Michael Barera is the nation’s first Wikipedian-in-residence at a presidential library. The School of Information master’s student is interning at the presidential library to help bring its collections to life online.
Exhibit specialist Bettina Cousineau said the goal is to reach out to “the broadest possible audience” and make the “content accessible to everyone, everywhere.”
Similar positions have been held at other museums and libraries, but this is the first time a presidential library has hosted one. Information available online will include articles about legislation, actions and notable events during Ford’s presidency.
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Online:
WikiProject Gerald Ford: http://bit.ly/10F85NH
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Mich. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
This Le Sidaner painting, ‘The White Garden at Twilight,’ is in the collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons.
PITTSBURGH (AP) – At first it just seemed like a nice little painting of a doorway bathed in gentle light, destined to hang on a school administrator’s wall.
But then art experts realized it was a painting by French impressionist Henri Le Sidaner that’s been missing for 80 years.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports Thursday that the Pittsburgh Public Schools are now considering selling the painting at auction, because it may be worth $500,000. It’s titled Interior and measures 40 by 32 inches.
The Friends of Art – a Pittsburgh nonprofit that acquires art and donates it to the school district to inspire students – bought the painting after it was displayed in the 1933 Carnegie International art exhibition.
“It was really great it turned up and we know where it is now,” said Louise “Lulu” Lippincott, curator for fine arts at Carnegie Museum of Art. “There are all these really neat treasures buried all over Pittsburgh.”
Officials don’t know how it was overlooked for so long but say a sale could provide significant help to the district’s art education program.
“Our district is not at a point right now where we have a lot of extra funding to restore and repair and maintain the artwork we presently have in our schools,” said Angela Abadilla, senior program officer for arts education in Pittsburgh Public Schools.
The painting is estimated to be worth $400,000 to $600,000, Abadilla said, but “we are hoping it’s going to fetch much more.”
A major reason the administration is willing to part with Interior is because Le Sidaner is French and most of the artists in the collection are from the Pittsburgh region. Officials also say the valuable painting would not be safe to display in a school.
The school board will vote on the recommendation to sell on Jan. 23.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
This Le Sidaner painting, ‘The White Garden at Twilight,’ is in the collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons.
