PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A little more than two decades after a Calder museum was first proposed for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the long-dormant idea has blossomed again, funding has materialized, and backers say that, by spring 2021, construction should get underway between 21st and 22nd Streets across from the Barnes Foundation and the Rodin Museum.
SAN MARINO, Calif. (AP) – An 18-month restoration of Thomas Gainsborough’s “The Blue Boy” has been completed and the circa-1770 painting will go back on display next month at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in Southern California.
NEW YORK – The Met announced Thursday the acquisition of the monumental sculptural relief Two Horses (2019) by American artist Charles Ray (b. 1953). Two Horses is now on view at The Met in gallery 918 of the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing.
The 10-by-14-foot granite relief by the acclaimed artist portrays two horses in profile, one fully articulated and a second figure behind it that is partially seen, evoking a ghost-like presence. The Met also announced that it will present an exhibition of the artist’s work in late 2021.
BERKELEY, Calif. – On Thursday, March 5, PBA Galleries will conduct a sale of nearly 450 lots featuring the Robert Enteen collection of photography’s first 100 years: 1839-1939, an internationally significant private collection of early photography. Complementing the early photography collection is a comprehensive collection of the works of Patti Smith, poet and comrade in arms to Robert Mapplethorpe, and punk rocker. Offerings include studio and bootleg vinyl records, broadsides, zines, poetry chapbooks and ephemera. Rounding out the sale is a collection of works on Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, magic, and the occult, with rare books in all fields. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers.
NEW YORK – Jasper52 will conduct an online auction of nearly 100 lots of Viking, ancient and medieval jewelry on Wednesday, March 4. The jewelry dates back to the 8th-15th centuries when the Vikings sailed the sea and roamed the land. Included are rings, sorcerer’s amulets and pendants that hold symbolic meaning in their shapes, often embodying the great strength of Viking warriors who bore them. Bid absentee or live online exclusively through LiveAuctioneers.
OAKLAND, Calif. – Sculpture and fine art, 20th century design and the oceanic and tribal collection of Richard I.M. Kelton of Marina Del Rey, Calif., were the star performers at Clars’ Feb. 23 auction. Realizing prices far beyond their estimates, this sale presented investment level works from private estates and museums that drew bidders from around the world. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.
NEW YORK – A work by Jill Mulleady will be the tenth in the ongoing series of public art installations that have been presented since 2015 by the Whitney and High Line Art on the façade of 95 Horatio Street. The 2019 painting, We Wither Time into a Coil of Fright—reproduced as a 17 x 29-foot vinyl print—will go on view on March 2 on the southwest corner of Gansevoort and Washington Streets, located directly across from the Whitney and the High Line.
NEW YORK – Legend has it that Brian Donnelly (b. 1974-) first scrawled “K A W S” on Jersey City, N.J., rooftops, in the line of vision of his high school classroom. He not only liked its look—how the letters linked together—but eventually adopted this as his personal moniker.
CHICAGO – Joel Oppenheimer Gallery will present an exhibition titled “Temple of Flora by Dr. Robert John Thornton,” which includes 33 original engravings. The show will run from April 24 to June 30.
DALLAS – The gun Wyatt Earp used to kill “Curly Bill” Brocius soared to $375,000 to claim top-lot honors in Heritage Auctions’ Americana & Political Auction Feb. 22-23. The prized firearm helped boost the total return for the sale to $2,355,133.