Category: art news

  • Updates on Detroit Bankruptcy and the fate of the DIA collection

    We’ve reported here on Detroit’s financial woes and subsequent argument centered on the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA)’s collection-as-liquid-asset. Two updates to this story include the judicial ruling on the city’s ability to file for bankruptcy and the “value” of the collection after an extensive evaluation by Christie’s. The latest DIA reports indicate wide support…

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  • British Library releases over a million images on Flickr

    Dubbing it “a million first steps,” the British Library announced they’ve posted over 1,000,000 images (1,019,991 to be precise) on their Flickr Commons account. As per the press release, these images are “for anyone to use, remix and repurpose. These images were taken from the pages of 17th, 18th and 19th century books digitised by Microsoft…

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  • When an artist’s creativity peaks

    In a recent paper published in Creativity Research Journal, economist P. H. Franses (Erasmus School of Economics, The Netherlands) studied “189 highest-priced works by as many modern art painters, comparing the moment of creation with their life span of these artists.” He concluded that this comparison shows each artist’s “optimal point in their lives” is…

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  • Newly restored & digitized Catacombs of Priscilla

    The Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome have been closed for a five-year restoration, but it was worth the wait. Most articles announcing the unveiling include a photo gallery/slide show showing details of the restoration. Better still: visit Catacombe di Priscilla in Google Maps, where you experience the site courtesy of Street View. The most discussed…

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  • Artists announced for Whitney Biennial 2014

    The three guest curators of the 2014 Whitney Biennial—Stuart Comer (Chief Curator of Media and Performance Art, MoMA), Anthony Elms (Associate Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia), and Michelle Grabner (Artist and Professor, Painting and Drawing Department, School of the Art Institute, Chicago)—have announced the artists who will participate in next year’s exhibition. Each curator…

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  • The price of art in perspective

    A Francis Bacon triptych (above – portraits of Lucien Freud) sold yesterday at auction for $142.4 million setting the record for art auction sales (it was estimated at $85 million).   The previous record was set last year for Edvard Munch’s The Scream, which went for $120 million.   You can watch a video of the Bacon…

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