Louise Bourgeois – art legend dies

Louise Bourgeois – a legendary painter and sculptor

Bourgois was well known for her abstract, often controversial pieces of artwork that would inspire many other artists (especially young women).

Her sculptures were often made of metal, wood or rubber and would often use an emotionally agressive theme. Underlying all of her work, however, was the idea that the fragile human body had a need for nurture and care in a dangerous world.

Her most popular works include “Nature Study” (1984) and “Fillette” (1968).

Louise Bourgeois, the grande dame of contemporary artists best known for her sculpture and disquieting symbolism, died Monday May 31, 2010 of a heart attack at a hospital in Manhattan. She was 98.

Top Billionaire Art Collectors

Punta della Dogana in Venice

Despite one of the worst art market slumps in years, these individuals all have collections worth $700 million or more.

Suffering from one of its worst years in recent memory, the art world got a boost in June when French billionaire François Pinault opened his new modern art museum, the Punta della Dogana, in Venice’s former customs house at the entrance of the Grand Canal. In what some called the “Dogana effect,” the opening was also seen as having helped boost attendance at Art Basel, the respected contemporary art fair in Switzerland later that month. While sales for the toned-down fair are hard to come by, a record crowd of 61,000, including billionaires Mitchell Rales, Eli Broad and Roman Abramovich showed up at the event.

Lost Church painting is found!

"Evening on the Sea" Church

Cleaning of the 19th-century work revealed the clue that cracked the case.  Church’s seascape, Evening on the Sea (1877), had been exhibited at the Century Association in New York in March 1878, and at the National Academy of Design the following month. At the time, the work’s current whereabouts were unknown.

Hold Your Horses! 25 Paintings to Rock With

Hold Your Horses! SJB scene

How a rock band restaged art-history classics for a music video that went viral

As Salome carries his head on a silver platter, John the Baptist opens his eyes and sings a merry little melody to the camera.  That scene—enacted by members of the French-American indie pop band Hold Your Horses!—helped turn the music video for their song “70 Million” into a viral hit on the Internet, viewed nearly 300,000 times within two weeks of its being posted on the Web site Vimeo.

Europe’s volcano flight chaos plays havoc with show shipments

the eruption of iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano

Paintings and people stranded; Art Chicago may be down on dealers

Disruption to flights is likely to impact on art shipments up until late April and possibly into early May, affecting exhibitions and the trade. Flights in north-west Europe were banned from 15 April following the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Although air traffic had partially resumed as we went to press, this could be interrupted by further volcanic ash clouds. Even after the airports fully reopen, logistical problems and shortage of seats will take some days to resolve.

The Van Gogh exhibition at London’s Royal Academy was one of the first shows to be hit, in terms of returning pictures following its closure on 18 April. The blockbuster, which attracted just over 400,000 visitors, included works from 24 European lenders and 22 from North America. Although the impact in terms of short-term delays on artworks being returned was “considerable”, an Academy spokeswoman said that “the adaptation and flexibility of everyone has been extremely impressive”.

Museum of London reopens modern galleries

Museum of London

The Museum of London opens its modern galleries on 28 May, following a £20.5m refurbishment. These cover the period from the Great Fire of 1666 to the present. It is the largest development since the museum opened at the Barbican in 1976.

The modern galleries, which closed three years ago, are on the lower level of the museum. The collection covering the 1789-1914 period was redisplayed in 2000, but the remainder dated back to 1976.