American artist Cy Twombly, a long-standing figure in modern art, has died in Rome at age 83 after a battle with cancer. Twombly is known for creating paintings that combined elements of drawing and writing with gestural abstraction. via LA Times
The BBC, in partnership with the Public Catalogue Foundation and public museums and collections, has launched the website Your Paintings, which “aims to show the entire UK national collection of oil paintings, the stories behind the paintings, and where to see them for real.” The site is searchable by artist last name and subject matter.…
We reported in December here and here that a dispute had developed over a collection of works by Pablo Picasso that had been discovered with the artist’s former electrician. The latest news is that seventy-one-year-old Pierre Le Guennec and his wife have been formally charged with stashing the 271 “stolen” Picasso artworks at their home.…
Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback eliminated all state funded arts programs this past weekend when he signed the state’s budget. In numbers, Kansas “nonprofit arts and culture organizations support 4,612 full-time equivalent jobs. Together they generate $95.1 million in household income to local residents and deliver $15.6 million in local and state government revenue.” What…
Whether or not a small easel painting in Tonawanda, NY is a Michelangelo preparatory painting for the Pietà is the basis for a very contentious discussion. Its current owner, Martin Kober, claims that it is the painting that Michelangelo gave to Vittoria Colonna, referenced in one of her letters. His claim has been dismissed by…
Artist Leonora Carrington has died in Mexico City at age 94. Born in Britain but working in Mexico City, Carrington was a central figure among Surrealist artists and writers. Save the date (January 29, 2012–May 6, 2012) for LACMA’s exhibition In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States, which…