Dallas museum to exhibit renowned House of Alba art collection

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828), The Duchess of Alba in White, 1795. Oil on canvas. Colección Duques de Alba, Palacio de Liria, Madrid.

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828), The Duchess of Alba in White, 1795. Oil on canvas. Colección Duques de Alba, Palacio de Liria, Madrid.
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828), The Duchess of Alba in White, 1795. Oil on canvas. Colección Duques de Alba, Palacio de Liria, Madrid.
DALLAS (AP) – An internationally renowned art collection featuring more than 100 rare works will be displayed in Dallas next spring.

The collection will be featured at the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University and will mark the 50th anniversary of the museum’s opening and also the 100th anniversary of SMU.

The exhibition — “Treasures from the House of Alba: 500 Years of Art and Collecting” — will run from April to August and include paintings by Goya and Rubens, 16th century tapestries and 19th century furniture created for Napolean III.

The Dallas Morning News reports that selections also will include manuscripts, documents relating to Christopher Columbus, antiquities and sculptures.

Some of the artwork has been in the collection of the Alba family, which has ties to the Spanish monarchy, for five centuries.

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Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828), The Duchess of Alba in White, 1795. Oil on canvas. Colección Duques de Alba, Palacio de Liria, Madrid.
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828), The Duchess of Alba in White, 1795. Oil on canvas. Colección Duques de Alba, Palacio de Liria, Madrid.

Sale of rare Disney toys to benefit Maurice Sendak Foundation

Saalheimer & Strauss (made in Germany for British market) Mickey Mouse with Moving Mouth, tin, circa 1930, one of few known examples. Provenance: Maurice Sendak collection. Estimate: $20,000-$35,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s
Saalheimer & Strauss (made in Germany for British market) Mickey Mouse with Moving Mouth, tin, circa 1930, one of few known examples. Provenance: Maurice Sendak collection. Estimate: $20,000-$35,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s
Saalheimer & Strauss (made in Germany for British market) Mickey Mouse with Moving Mouth, tin, circa 1930, one of few known examples. Provenance: Maurice Sendak collection. Estimate: $20,000-$35,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s

YORK, Pa. – They shared the same birth year, became lifelong friends and lived happily ever after – that was the story of celebrated Where The Wild Things Are author/illustrator Maurice Sendak and cartoon icon Mickey Mouse. Both made their “debuts” in 1928. And almost as though they shared the same DNA, Sendak and his comical kindred spirit went on to entertain multiple generations of children.

In a book that accompanied the 2005 Jewish Museum of New York art exhibition titled Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak, the author is quoted as saying that Mickey Mouse was “a source of joy and pleasure while growing up.”

In later years, Sendak would create an inspiring work and leisure environment for himself that was filled with early Disney toys. Many of his most treasured pieces were acquired over a 40-year period from Hake’s auctions and through private purchases organized by the company’s founder, Ted Hake. An intuitive buyer, Sendak followed the golden rule of collecting: buy what you like – and Sendak liked Mickey Mouse toys.

Because of the long personal friendship and bond of trust that developed between Sendak and Hake, the author’s estate entrusted Hake’s with auctioning his prized toy collection. So far, two successive Hake’s auctions have featured Disney rarities with Sendak provenance. The third will take place July 15-17, and it includes two of the most elusive and desirable Mickey Mouse toys ever made.

Lot 1737, a 9-inch wind-up of a five-fingered Mickey, was made for the British market around 1930 by the German manufacturer Saalheimer & Strauss. When its built-in key is wound, the toy waddles side to side and the character’s mouth widens to flash a toothy smile. One of very few known examples, its auction estimate is $20,000-$35,000.

A similar price is expected for Lot 1738, a Mickey Mouse Double Slate Dancers crank toy made by Wilhelm Krauss. The German-made toy depicts a pair of smiling five-fingered Mickeys with loosely riveted arms and legs that render the illusion of dancing when the toy is activated.

“Only two Double Slate Dancers are known to exist, and this marks the first time in our 47 years that Hake’s has ever been able to offer this fabulous toy in one of our auctions,” said Ted Hake.

To request a free printed catalog or for information on any item in the sale, call tollfree 866-404-9800; or 717-434-1600. Email: hakes@hakes.com.

Visit Hake’s website and view the catalog for the July 15-17 auction at www.hakes.com.

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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


Saalheimer & Strauss (made in Germany for British market) Mickey Mouse with Moving Mouth, tin, circa 1930, one of few known examples. Provenance: Maurice Sendak collection. Estimate: $20,000-$35,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s
Saalheimer & Strauss (made in Germany for British market) Mickey Mouse with Moving Mouth, tin, circa 1930, one of few known examples. Provenance: Maurice Sendak collection. Estimate: $20,000-$35,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s
Wilhelm Krauss (Germany) Mickey Mouse Double Slate Dancers, tin, one of two known. Provenance: Maurice Sendak collection. Estimate: $20,000-$35,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s
Wilhelm Krauss (Germany) Mickey Mouse Double Slate Dancers, tin, one of two known. Provenance: Maurice Sendak collection. Estimate: $20,000-$35,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s

New Aspen Art Museum projected to open on time this summer

The New Aspen Art Museum will be located at the cor­ner of South Spring Street and Hyman Avenue in down­town Aspen. Rendering cour­tesy of Shigeru Ban Architects and Shimahara Illustration.
The New Aspen Art Museum will be located at the cor­ner of South Spring Street and Hyman Avenue in down­town Aspen. Rendering cour­tesy of Shigeru Ban Architects and Shimahara Illustration.
The New Aspen Art Museum will be located at the cor­ner of South Spring Street and Hyman Avenue in down­town Aspen. Rendering cour­tesy of Shigeru Ban Architects and Shimahara Illustration.

ASPEN, Colo. – In 1979 the Aspen Art Museum opened its doors at the ren­o­vated Holy Cross Power Plant on the banks of the Roaring Fork River. For 33 years that facil­ity has served the mis­sion of the orga­ni­za­tion well, fos­ter­ing a pro­gram of art, dia­logue, and cre­ativ­ity that has grown into a major cul­tural insti­tu­tion serv­ing Aspen, the Roaring Fork Valley, the region, and the world.

The mete­oric growth of the museum in recent years has seen a 200% increase in bud­get, num­ber of stu­dents served, and annual vis­i­tors. A long-standing strate­gic goal for the AAM—the expan­sion of its facil­ity and relo­ca­tion to the down­town Aspen core—has become a neces­si­tated real­ity to meet the ongo­ing demand for ser­vices to the community.

With the unan­i­mous sup­port of the AAM Board of Trustees, the ini­tial fundrais­ing suc­cess, the iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of Shigeru Ban as design archi­tect, and the August 2011 acqui­si­tion of prop­erty at the cor­ner of Spring Street and Hyman Avenue in Aspen, the AAM com­menced con­struc­tion in fall 2012 of a build­ing appro­pri­ate for the pro­duc­tion, pre­sen­ta­tion, and expe­ri­ence of art. The New Aspen Art Museum is 100% pri­vately funded, and under the lead­er­ship of the AAM New Building Committee, will be com­pleted within bud­get and on time for the sum­mer of 2014.

The new 30,000 sq ft museum will feature 12,500 sq ft of gallery space. The museum is an affordable tourist destination, with free admision, education workshops, films, lectures and performances; as well as breathtaking rooftop views of Aspen Mountain.

Visit the museum online to monitor the building’s progress at www.aspenartmuseum.org.

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Met exhibition will focus on Victorian & Edwardian mourning attire

Courtesy of The Metroplitan Museum of Art
Courtesy of The Metroplitan Museum of Art
Courtesy of The Metroplitan Museum of Art

NEW YORK – Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire, The Costume Institute’s first fall exhibition in seven years, will be on view in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Anna Wintour Costume Center from October 21, 2014 through February 1, 2015. The exhibition will explore the aesthetic development and cultural implications of mourning fashions of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Approximately 30 ensembles, many of which are being exhibited for the first time, will reveal the impact of high-fashion standards on the sartorial dictates of bereavement rituals as they evolved over a century.

With the reopening of The Costume Institute space in May as the Anna Wintour Costume Center, the department returns to mounting two special exhibitions a year, to again include a fall show, in addition to the major spring exhibition. This is the first fall exhibition The Costume Institute has organized since blog.mode: addressing fashion in 2007.

“The predominantly black palette of mourning dramatizes the evolution of period silhouettes and the increasing absorption of fashion ideals into this most codified of etiquettes,” said Harold Koda, Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute, who is curating the exhibition with Jessica Regan, Assistant Curator. “The veiled widow could elicit sympathy as well as predatory male advances. As a woman of sexual experience without marital constraints, she was often imagined as a potential threat to the social order.”

Exhibition Overview:

The thematic exhibition will be organized chronologically and feature mourning dress from 1815 to 1915, primarily from The Costume Institute’s collection. The calendar of bereavement’s evolution and cultural implications will be illuminated through women’s clothing and accessories, showing the progression of appropriate fabrics from mourning crape to corded silks, and the later introduction of color with shades of gray and mauve.

“Elaborate standards of mourning set by royalty spread across class lines via fashion magazines,” said Ms. Regan, “and the prescribed clothing was readily available for purchase through mourning ‘warehouses’ that proliferated in European and American cities by mid-century.”

The Anna Wintour Costume Center’s Carl and Iris Barrel Apfel Gallery will orient visitors to the exhibition with fashion plates, jewelry, and accessories. The main Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Gallery will illustrate the evolution of mourning wear through high fashion silhouettes and will include mourning gowns worn by Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra. Examples of restrained simplicity will be shown alongside those with ostentatious ornamentation. The predominantly black clothes will be set off against a stark white background and amplified with historic photographs and daguerreotypes.

The Museum’s website will feature information on the exhibition and related programs. Follow us on Facebook.com/metmuseum, Instagram.com/metmuseum, and Twitter.com/metmuseum. To join the conversation about the exhibition use #DeathBecomesHer on Instagram and Twitter.

Visit the Met’s website at www.metmuseum.org .

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Rare 13th century Knights Templar archive to be auctioned July 17

From an archive to be auctioned on July 17 in London, 28 charters pertaining to the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitallers. Est. £40,000-60,000

From an archive to be auctioned on July 17 in London, 28 charters pertaining to the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitallers. Est. £40,000-60,000

From an archive to be auctioned on July 17 in London, 28 charters pertaining to the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitallers. Est. £40,000-60,000

LONDON – A significant archive of 28 charters and deeds granting gifts of land and property in West Yorkshire to the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitallers is being auctioned at Dreweatts and Bloomsbury Auctions’ Antiquarian Books sale on Thursday, July 17, 2014. LiveAuctioneers will provide the Internet live-bidding services for the event.

Simon Luterbacher, Director of Manuscripts & English Literature at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions said: “Documents relating to the Knights Templar are extremely rare and highly sought after; an archive of this size and quality has not been seen in auction for over 50 years, and likely won’t be again.”

The Knights Templar was a Christian military order founded after the first crusade by Hugo de Payens and Bernard of Clairvaulx to defend pilgrims travelling between Europe and the Holy Land. The order was established in England during the reign of Henry II and quickly gained a large estate throughout several counties, and Yorkshire in particular.

They enjoyed patronage under several kings, especially Richard I, King John and Henry III and were noted for their financial dealings. The order became a favored charity throughout Christendom when they were officially endorsed by the Catholic Church around 1129; they grew in membership and power.

With their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, Templar Knights were the most skilled and feared fighting units of the Crusades. Once the Holy Land was lost and rumours of the secret initiation ceremony began to circulate and created mistrust, the order was suppressed by order of Philip IV of France in 1307, and later, in England in 1308.

The Knights Hospitallers, or the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, now the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, was a parallel organization founded in 1099 by The Blessed Gerard Thom to help sick pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land.

As with the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitallers had a military function and gained large estates in the twelfth century. In the 1140s the Order was granted ten acres of land in Clerkenwell, which became their headquarters and of which the gateway still remains and is now the museum of the Order in England. After the fall of the kingdom of Jerusalem, the order moved its headquarters, briefly to Cyprus, then until 1522 to Rhodes, and finally, Malta.

Ten of the 28 are charters and deeds of gifts to the Knights Templar of Temple Newsam comprising:

Richard de Rihil [Ryhill], of c. 20 acres in South Crossland, land in Waderode (land on the river Calder), one and a half acres by the moor near Adam le Venur with rights of burning, building and fencing (3 deeds); Lady Alina, widow, of Crossland, daughter of Philip de Rihill, of half a house or toft, which Elias, son of Adam le Venur held and the right to take wood for building and burning within the boundaries of Crossland, as well as pannage for their pigs within the boundaries of the donors woods and others.

Seventeen of the 28 are charters and deeds of gifts to the Knights Hospitallers of the preceptory of Newland comprising:

Alan, son of Simon de Wately, of all Hardinge Rode and land in Colresle; Robert de Weteley [Whitley or Wheatley], of a third part of the land his uncle gave in Whitley; Matilda of Stanforham of 3s which Jordan, son of Matthew pays from the rent of Flackton [Flockton]; Elias, son of Haswi of Heton [Kirkheaton], of land in Heton; William, son of Michael of Brethwisel, of land in Brethwisel; Adam, son of Robert de Notton, of land between the stream and castle of Almanbira [Almondbury]and others.

The final deed is by Adam, son of Adam de Byrkeg de Cumberward to Peter of Colriselay, granting the land and messuage of the Hospital of Jerusalem in Crossland.

The sale will be held on Wednesday, July 17, 2014. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.


ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


From an archive to be auctioned on July 17 in London, 28 charters pertaining to the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitallers. Est. £40,000-60,000

From an archive to be auctioned on July 17 in London, 28 charters pertaining to the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitallers. Est. £40,000-60,000

Nyet! Russia bans swear words in art, films

The official flag of the former Soviet Union, in use from 1923 until 1980 (last variant version)

The official flag of the former Soviet Union, in use from 1923 until 1980 (last variant version)
The official flag of the former Soviet Union, in use from 1923 until 1980 (last variant version)
MOSCOW (AFP) – A hugely controversial Russian law banning curse words in films, theater, the media and arts came into force on Tuesday, part of a Kremlin-backed drive to play up traditional values and root out swearing.

The legislation, wich was signed off by President Vladimir Putin in May, imposes hefty fines on offenders — up to 2,500 rubles ($72) for individuals and up to 50,000 rubles ($1,460) for businesses.

Movies featuring obscenities will not be issued a distribution license, while traders will now be obliged to warn consumers about swear words.

The legislation does not spell out what constitutes profanity but the law is widely seen to be targeting Russia’s hugely potent lingua franca of obscenities known as “mat.”

While critics say the targeted swear words are highly offensive to the Russian ear and their use should be curtailed, supporters say “mat” is an artform and can be instrumental in helping express extreme human conditions like pain or anger.

Many ridiculed the legislation, saying efforts to outlaw what essentially is an inalienable part of Russia’s culture will fail.

Some of Russia’s best-loved poets including Mikhail Lermontov and Alexander Pushkin are known for using swear words in their works.

Art-house director Andrei Zvyagintsev’s movie “Leviathan,” which won critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival in May, is among films that now face an uncertain future in Russia over their use of swear words.

Since returning to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012, Putin has sought to rally support from his middle-aged supporters and strengthen ties between society and the Orthodox Church.

The ban is the latest in a series of measures that seek to play up conservatives values and promote Russia as an antithesis to the West.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


The official flag of the former Soviet Union, in use from 1923 until 1980 (last variant version)
The official flag of the former Soviet Union, in use from 1923 until 1980 (last variant version)