Artist creates portrait of King of Pop out of cans of pop

By now, hundreds of thousands of viewers have seen Jeff Koons’ ”Michael Jackson and Bubbles,” the gilded porcelain life-size sculpture of the King of Pop and his beloved chimpanzee that has been on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Broad Contemporary Art Museum since it opened more than two years ago.

Now comes Michael Jackson without bubbles, thanks to Sunland artist Seaton Brown, who has created a 144-square-foot portrait of the King of Pop out of 1,680 empty soda pop cans — the contents, bubbles included, having gone down the drain because, as the artist tells Culture Monster, “I don’t really drink soda.”

Caravaggio painting found

Ukrainian and German police have recovered a painting by 17th century Italian artist

"Taking of Christ" -Caravaggio

stolen from a Ukrainian museum, the Interfax news agency quoted Ukraine’s interior minister as saying on Tuesday.

The painting, called the “Taking of Christ,” or the “Kiss of Judas,” and considered the most valuable piece of art in Ukraine, was stolen from a museum in the Black Sea port of Odessa in 2008 in what officials described as a “cultural catastrophe.”

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.

Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies

still from "Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies"

“Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies” is filled with celebrated talking heads,including Martin Scorsese, who produced the film with Mr. Glimcher and Robert

Greenhut; artists like Julian Schnabel, Chuck Close, Eric Fischl and Lucas Samaras; and the video performance artist Robert Whitman (the most articulate), discussing the relationship of movies to the artists’ work.

Directed by Arne Glimcher; narrated by Martin Scorsese; director of photography, Petr Hlinomaz; edited by Sabine Krayenbühl; produced by Mr. Glimcher, Mr. Scorsese and Robert Greenhut; released by Arthouse Films. At the Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 1 hour 2 minutes. This film is not rated.

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.

Dennis Hopper-on collecting art

Dennis Hopper - lover of art

I found this wonderful video of Dennis Hopper talking about the art that inspires him.  He gives a tour around his home explaining why he loves art, how he got into collecting art, and how surrounded by great contemporary art energizes him.

“I think that probably I collect things I wish I had made.”

“I started collecting in the ’50s, so for a lot of people who were going to the beach, going to tennis, and going to the mountain skiing, I was a gallery buff.”

“My idea of collecting is not going and buying bankable names, but buying people I believe really are contributing something to my artistic life.”

Art thieves steal from Kate Moss’s home

Thieves broke into supermodel Kate Moss’s home and stole three valuable artworks including an £80,000 portrait by Banksy.

It is thought that Moss, 36, her partner Jamie Hince, and her 59-year-old mother Linda were asleep in the house when the burglars struck.

Detectives believe they may have made their escape after being disturbed when either Moss, or Kills guitarist Hince, 42, woke up.

A 24-year-old man was arrested nearby in connection with the burglary and inquiries are ongoing, police said.

Spielberg’s film “Tintin” brings rise in Hergé Art

With the anticipated Stephen Spielberg Tintin film, illustrator Hergé is in demand.

Fans of Tintin, the Belgian comic-book boy detective, should flock to Paris or check out the website of Piasa auctioneers, which has assembled 230 items – original drawings, plates, first editions, rare objects and documents – for the “Hergé Sale” on Saturday.

Botticelli’s Venus and Mars -high on drugs

"Venus and Mars" Botticelli

The lovers in one of the National Gallery’s most famous paintings may be depicted experiencing the effects of a hallucinogenic drug, according to an art expert.

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.