The Wall Street Journal recently reported on current trends in the art market. Several dead artists continue to sell at record-breaking prices, while the value of many artists both living and dead dropped for elusive reasons. Art collectors apparently feel confident about Renoir, Monet, Dali, Warhol and Picasso (whose “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” sold…
Neal Gabler has a very interesting essay in the LA Times today about communal culture in art – from collage and Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes to music and film sampling, and the fine line between collaboration/sharing and appropriation. He fears the loss and intangibility of authorship, while recognizing the seemingly limitless freedom allowed through new…
We reported earlier of Bravo TV’s call for participants for a new, art-themed reality show. It now seems the show has come to fruition. Work of Art: The Next Great Artist will premiere Wednesday, June 9 with 14 aspiring artists competing for the grand prize of a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum and $100,000.
Louise Bourgeois has died in New York at the fabulous age of 98. Global recognition came late to her – despite an enormous output she wasn’t widely known until the 1982 retrospective at NY MOMA. Through her diverse and prolific body of work she was known for working through emotional and physical pain, including the…
Paintings depicting scenes from the life of Imam Hussein (grandson of the Prophet Muhammad) are on display at a mosque in a Shiite area of Sadr City, Iraq. Under Saddam Hussein such displays were forbidden, but a gradual increase in religious freedom has resulted in the approval and acceptance of these paintings. A total of…
This video on YouTube of Mark Ryden painting “Incarnation” in 4:27 minutes is really fascinating, and useful as an illustration of the process of painting. Read more about Mark Ryden and his work here.