I love Hall Groat's work and this just made me think of my favorite dessert. Its 8" x 8" and bids begin at $100.00. Dylans in New York should be filled with his work for us adults who can't eat it all. If interested, here is the link
"My Life With Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Noel Coward & Picasso"
Art Daily: LONDON.- Veteran Australian actor Trader Faulkner, 81, has co-starred with many of the legendary actors of the 20th century - and for the next two weeks, he exclusively shares his extraordinary stories with listeners to the Litopia Daily podcast.
Son of a silent movie star, Trader was discovered by fellow Australian Peter Finch, and quickly whisked off to the London stage by renowned director Tyrone Guthrie. An overnight success, Trader quickly found himself playing on Broadway with Richard Burton, directed by his soon-to-be mentor and friend, Sir John Gielgud.
But the rise to fame wasn't all smooth. There is a bruising encounter with Noel Coward (who no-one ever got the better of), a run-in with Picasso and worst of all, a confrontation with Laurence Olivier - over Trader's girlfriend, actress Dorothy Tutin (and Vivian Leigh wasn't too pleased, either). Cast as a co-star in a film with British heartthrob Laurence Harvey, Trader's scenes are mostly left on the cutting room floor. Well, that's showbiz.
Trader Faulkner is a world-class raconteur who, at 81 years, is still very much at the top of his form. His insights and recollections are part of our cultural heritage, and shed a deeply personal light on many of the greatest stars of the age.
Litopia Daily is the world's largest podcast for writers, and is produced by Litopia Writers' Colony. Here is the link for the podcasts.
Award-winning drawing a slap at digital technology
IU grad created graphic by hand
By Diane Heilenman
dheilenman@courier-journal.com
John Passafiume of Louisville graduated last spring from Indiana University with a bachelor of fine arts degree. He also graduated with nine major awards and six exhibitions under his belt, all involving a clear tour de force, a 32-by-40-inch hand-drawn and lettered page that, at first blush, resembles a mechanically typeset page.
The black-and-white work, “(Process),” goes on view again Tuesday in New York City as one of the 215 winners in the Type Director's Club annual international competition, “TDC 55.”
Passafiume, who plans to move to New York later this year to explore freelance and design work, explained his drawing, which was an arduous three-month-long thesis project in 2007. He said he conceived the complex drawing as an antidote to the proliferation of imagery that has, under digital technological revolution, “inadvertently swallowed entire fields of creativity.
“Sign painters, calligraphers and other predominantly hand-reliant industries have been demolished for the sake of convenience and mass production. As an artist, I find this trend infuriating, as a citizen, disheartening.” It has unleashed a “torrent of ill-equipped practitioners” and “an everyone-is-a-designer mentality.”
His awards have included a Gold Cube — and the only student award — in the 87th Art Director's Club of New York Award; a best of show and a $20,000 scholarship at the 2008 Dallas Society of Visual Communications Student Show and a gold ADDY at the American Advertising Federation National Addy Awards in 2008.
The work has been on view in exhibitions in Argentina, Hong Kong and Chicago and will be in New York at The One Club, 21 E. 26th St., through Aug. 28. (212) 633-8943.
P Photo/Antonio Calanni (left)
© Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images (right)
Forbes: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.
The full story is a good read here.
A question, and a wonderful way to start a midsummer weekend, how do you thank an anonymous gifter? The answer is easy. You pay it forward.
I was recently the recipient of a lovely and timely gift. It didn't solve every problem, but it put everything in its proper place. We're all having tough times, but when one person does something to remind you that everything will be alright, then all things are possible. To that person, and sorry my friend, I know who you are, I can only say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'll never forget such kindness and pledge to further your generosity to the next person in need. Its what makes a hard days work worthwhile and I actually love it. So to all of us just trying, I say thank you with is video from Alanis Moristte.
Canada.com: "One of Canadian art's major auction partnerships has been scrapped after Toronto-based Ritchies admitted it missed a payment deadline for a number of clients who had consigned paintings for a multimillion-dollar joint Sotheby's-Ritchies sale in May.
Sotheby's Canada president David Silcox told Canwest News Service on Wednesday that failing to promptly pay consignors after a sale is a "cardinal sin" in the auction business and that Sotheby's moved quickly to end its seven-year association with Ritchies.
Ritchies president Stephen Ranger acknowledged in an interview that "there was a delay" in payments following the May 25 auction of Canadian art, but that "Ritchies has never reneged on paying a consignor — and we won't."
Ranger said it was his company that terminated the relationship.
He said it's now business as usual for Ritchies — including its current online auction of gold jewelry and its Seasonal Discovery sale set for July 27.
"Our relationship with Sotheby's is terminated, and we're going forward without them — as we had for the 30 years before we worked with them," Ranger said.
In a statement, Sotheby's said: "We have recently heard from a number of consignors and from Ritchies management that Ritchies has not yet paid them for the paintings that were sold."
Silcox emphasized that Sotheby's has had an auction-services agreement with Ritchies since 2002 but had "no ownership interest" in the company.
The statement also said Sotheby's has "voluntarily" offered to ensure payment to all consignors from the May auction, which was highlighted by the sale of two landscapes by Group of Seven master Lawren Harris for $175,000 and $100,000.
The auction drew bids totalling $3.5 million.
"Sotheby's is of course extremely concerned to learn about this situation," the statement noted. "While Ritchies is the auctioneer of record and is contractually responsible for paying out all consignors to the auction, Sotheby's is communicating with each of those consignors of the May 25th sale that we are voluntarily ensuring that all payments due with respect to that sale will be honoured."
Payments by Ritchies to consignors had been due around July 8, Sotheby's said. Its collaboration deal with Ritchies expires on July 31, the statement added, and "Sotheby's does not intend to renew this agreement."
Despite their unexpected and apparently unfriendly parting of ways, Sotheby's and Ritchies have been key players during a remarkable run for the Canadian art market in recent years.
Among the highlights of their seven-year partnership was the $5.2-million sale in 2002 of Scene in the Northwest — Portrait by Paul Kane, an 1846 painting of Victorian-era scientist John Henry Lefroy.
The portrait — which by far garnered the highest price yet paid for a Canadian painting — was purchased by late media baron and art collector Kenneth Thomson.
Sotheby's-Ritchies auctions have produced seven other million-dollar sale prices for Canadian paintings, a key factor in the record-setting hot streak for the country's art sellers during this decade.
Before 2002, only four Canadian paintings had been sold for more than $1 million. Today, the million-dollar club for Canadian art includes more than 30 canvases.
Those sold by Sotheby's-Ritchies include five Harris paintings — Northern Painting 25 ($1 million), Nerke, Greenland ($2.1 million), Winter in the Northern Woods ($1.6 million), Algoma Hill ($1.4 million) and Figure With Rays of Light ($1.1 million) — as well as Tom Thomson's Pine Trees at Sunset ($2 million) and James Wilson Morrice's Effet de Neige ($1.7 million)."
Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 7/21/2009
Although Christie's can trace its roots to the 18th century, the seasoned auction house is offering up a serious dose of 21st technology with the launch of its very own iPhone application.
The company launched its version of the ubiquitous app on July 15, allowing users of both Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch to access Christie's online feature on-the-go. The feature enables users to preview all of the auction houses sales and lots, real-time sales results, zoom-in on lots of interest, email a lot to a friend, find a salesroom, submit images for appraisal, and download wallpaper images.
Developed in partnership with Kargo, the free application is available to the one million plus unique visitors Christie's website sees each month via www.christies.com/on-the-go/iphone, as well as through the iTunes App Store.
"The Christie's app ensures our existing and potential buyers are always in touch and informed of our latest offerings, no matter where they may be," says Christie's director of digital media, Michael O'Neal. "New advancements in mobile devices now allow for a very rich visual experience perfectly suited to viewing Christie's broad array of…fine art, jewels, decorative objects, furniture, and fine and rare wines."
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum Announces Exhibition Focusing on Sexual Desire and Death.
MADRID.- The close relationship between sexual desire and the death instinct – Eros and Thanatos – in the visual arts is the subject of this exhibition, whose title is taken from that of Georges Bataille’s book: Les larmes d’Eros. The exhibition also incorporates some of Bataille’s ideas on eroticism: the need for beauty, temptation as prohibition and transgression, and the parallels between the erotic and religious sacrifice. The exhibition focuses primarily on 19th-century European painting and sculpture, including the work of Canova, Ingres, Delacroix, Millais, Moreau and Rodin, but also looks back to earlier periods, in particular the Baroque with Rubens and Bernini. In addition it looks at later art, for example, the presence of 19th-century erotic themes in Surrealism and its wake. Figures and episodes derived from classical mythology and from the Judeo-Christian tradition make up this survey, which is organised into two principal sections: From Temptation to Sacrifice, which looks at the presence of death in erotic passion through themes such as the Birth of Venus, Eve and the Serpent, the Temptations of Saint Anthony, and the Kiss, and a second section entitled The Eternal Sleep, which analyses the subject of death and dying transformed into a trance similar to amorous ecstasy, present in themes such as Apollo and Hyacinth, Venus and Adonis, Mary Magdalen and the skull, and the “beautiful suicide victims”, Cleopatra and Ophelia.
July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Marc Dreier’s Manhattan apartment is still home to a half-eaten raspberry peach pie, a collection of Christian Liaigre furnishings and seven pairs of black Ermenegildo Zegna shoes, mostly size eight.
Today the convicted lawyer’s Midtown condominium was sold at auction for $8.2 million in New York, along with almost everything in it. Dreier paid $10.4 million for the unit in 2007. The buyer wasn’t disclosed.
The full story is a great read here.
I know, I know, that I've been quietly cheering the fall in prices for modern art, whose stratospheric values have plummeted in this recessionary atmosphere. While I loved seeing "Puppy," by Jeff Koons, outside Bilbao, I just never saw the intrinsic value in his pieces. That said, I have been a fan of Banksy, the anonymous, "graffiti" artist from the UK and was saddened to see this story from Bloomberg tonight.
The houses are truly hurting and only great established works are selling. I understand that and agree with it. However, modern works must continue and with that thought I send out my sympathy to Banksy, who I know will continue to create no matter what. That said folks, you might consider making a purchase of his work while prices are so low. I'm just saying....and remember I'm a mere amateur.
Only with. I just want to say that I love the blog "What is James Wearing." I don't know whether to fall off my chair in squeals of laughter, but if I do, I'm applauding from the floor. It's just a bit of genius and fun that we all need. And I want him at my dinner party, but I'm sure he's booked for weeks to come. James you made my day. The white speedo avec shades had me totally howling. Cheer's Homer.
Giuseppe Zocchi (1711-1767), `View of the Tiber looking towards the Castel Sant'Angelo, with Saint Peter's in the distance
Of course it's always the British who have these painting hanging around.
From Art Daily:LONDON.- A painting by Giuseppe Zocchi (1711-1767), estimated to sell for £150,000-250,00 in Bonhams sale of Old Master Paintings on 8th July, made a world record price for the artist at £1.3m.
Titled `View of the Tiber looking towards the Castel Sant'Angelo, with Saint Peter's in the distance’, the painting was previously thought to have been painted by Locatelli, until a sketch by Zocchi exactly matching the painting came to light, revealing the true origins of the work.
It was acquired around 1949 by the present owner's parents. Formerly it hung at Inglewood House, Devon, and came to the current owner by descent.
Charles Lanning, Bonhams Regional Director in Devon says: “The painting turned up as the result of a valuation I did at a small cottage in the South Hams. The client knew it was a valuable picture but it was attributed to the wrong artist. The client had no idea what its auction value would be.”
Apollo 11 chart fetches astronomical price
Star navigation aid for lunar surface sold at auction for $218,000
The Associated Press
updated 9:11 p.m. ET, Thurs., July 16, 2009
NEW YORK - A navigational chart used by Apollo 11 astronauts has become the unexpected star of an auction in New York City marking the 40th anniversary of man's first lunar landing.
Bonhams New York said that the lunar surface star chart sold Thursday for an astronomical $218,000. The tool, with a 9-inch (23-centimeter) diameter, had been expected to bring in $70,000 to $90,000.
The device consists of two plastic discs riveted together. The lower disc shows Earth, the sun, planets and star patterns against a black background. The upper disc is a semi-transparent overlay that could be turned to calculate position.
The historic mission of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin began exactly 40 years earlier, on July 16, 1969, and came to a climax on July 20 with the moon landing. In a letter accompanying the sale item, Aldrin wrote that "this star chart was the single most critical navigational device we used while on the moon."
Among the expected highlights of the auction were three checklists from the landing's descent. Signed by Aldrin, the lot had been estimated to fetch $125,000 to $175,000. But the checklists failed to sell.
The sale contained about 350 items from a variety of space missions.
As some of my readers have discovered by now, I work at the Kellogg Collection in Washington, DC. I have watched over the past few weeks as some very nice furniture stores after the next seem to be closing their doors unable to ride out this unrelenting recession.
I'm a lucky guy to work for such a great company. We small band of talented people put together a shopping experience that brings in people from all over the country, asking why there's not a Kellogg Collection in their town. Suffice it to say, The Kellogg is a metropolitan Washington DC tradition with five stores. Those being in DC on Wisconsin Avenue,Bethesda, McLean, Richmond and Baltimore. Its our business plan. It works, and we're here to stay!
Every year we have a big Clearance Sale, though normally not in DC. This year we decided to hold the event at our flagship store and starting tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. the store will be bursting with wonderful mid-summer deals that I know will have our loyal clientele searching out some wonderful buys. Readers of Homer know how much I like a good deal! And yea..besides being that hard working salesman on the floor, I write press releases. Keep an eye out in tomorrow's Washington Post Home section about the sale.
Since only discerning, tasteful and elegant people take a moment to read this blog I thought I'd give you a heads up on what to find this coming week should you be near by and can stop in. Although if you want to call the store, ask for Homer and I can email you pics of objects you might be looking for. At any rate let me just say the best deal of the sale are a bunch of 3 x 5 needlepoint rugs that can look so perfect in a bedroom or cozy nook. Handmade in China..I know..the Portuguese have been priced out of the market, but still they'd make a beautiful and a wonderful Xmas gift. Normally around $1,000.00 they will be on sale for $299.00. Additionally there are great deals on numerous designer fabric club chairs, ottomans, painted furniture, lamps, mirrors, etc.
I took a few pics of the store this afternoon, very amateur and static, but it is what it is, as we were getting ready for tomorrow and hope you take a look. My favorite piece?? That black marble coffee table. Its high which I love and just the right size. Don't quote me on this bit I think its around $400.00. If I only wasn't saving for another item!
Now remember these pictures are of the store put together for the clearance sale. It looks mightily different the rest of the year.At any rate should you read this and come by please say hello. Cheer's Homer.
I'm such a fan of Hall Groat's work and this piece,"Thomas' English Muffin with PBJ" shows what I've had for breakfast for so many years. Though to be truthful, I just like peanut butter on my Thomas'.
Just posted today this 8" x 10" oil's bids just start at $100.00. Perfect for the well appointed kitchen. Here is the link if your interested.
