Egungun vodun masqueraders
Benin, West Africa
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Bejing Water Park Dec 2011
Photograph by Matthew Niederhauser, Institute
December 2011
China—As if swimming in a fantasy aquarium, a school of decorative fish hovers inside Beijing’s renovated Water Cube. Where Olympic swimmers used to compete, visitors now frolic in a wave pool and on elaborate water-park rides.
Dedicated to my friends at Venue Arts
China—As if swimming in a fantasy aquarium, a school of decorative fish hovers inside Beijing’s renovated Water Cube. Where Olympic swimmers used to compete, visitors now frolic in a wave pool and on elaborate water-park rides.
Dedicated to my friends at Venue Arts
Islamic Garden
With permission of Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art
Purchase this print »
Cookjenshel.com
African Art Winter 2013
Bembe Figure
Late 19th century
Ex Coll. Everett Rassiga late 1950's
Ht. 9 1/4"
Tweeting on the Road and other Social Media
The schedule the next five months is pretty hectic by anyone's standards. I calculated all the miles and it seems that by the end of August I will have added another 18,000 miles by car or plane. It should be fun and challenging and I will be updating facebook, twitter, and pinterest, so I have listed all the pages below and I hope you follow me on this journey. Thanks JB
Find me on Pinterest - Search on Arttrak
You can reach me on Facebook by searching on Arttrak, Shango, or me by name.
You can find me on LinkedIn by searching on ArtTrak
Email me or follow me on twitter @arttrak
You can reach me on Facebook by searching on Arttrak, Shango, or me by name.
You can find me on LinkedIn by searching on ArtTrak
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
My Word Winter 2013
Auction News: Winter 2012
DALLAS, TX.- A unique and historic 1792
Half Disme realized $1.41 million dollars on Jan. 10 as part of Heritage Auctions' U.S. Coin Florida
United Numismatists (FUN) Signature® Auction in Orlando, FL. The price realized,
which includes 17.5% Buyer's Premium, is a record for a Half Disme.
The coin, previously owned by Floyd Starr, is graded Specimen-67 PCGS. It was the lead lot of the Heritage rare coin auction at FUN, which realized more than $44.9 million, and is among the best of all surviving examples of the issue.
The mintage of these coins is variously estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 coins, based on documentary evidence left by Thomas Jefferson, though only an estimated 250 or so of them survive to this day, and none of them in better shape than the coin sold by Heritage Auctions on Jan. 10 in Orlando.
The results join the more than $13.4 million realized by the Heritage Currency Auction at FUN, Jan. 9-14, in Orlando, and the more than $14 million Heritage realized at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, where the company held its Jan. 6-7 Ancient & World Coin Signature® Auction, making for a $72+ million week overall for Heritage, the world's third largest auction house.
"Quality material continues to show up on the market and collectors continue to respond, across all areas of numismatics," said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions. "This week in January normally sets the tone for the year and, if this is any indication of collector engagement, 2013 is going to be solid."
An 1803 $1 PR66 PCGS, one of just four known and also known as novodels to present-day collectors, realized $851,875 amongst spirited bidding, while an 1838-O Reeded Edge Half Dollar, PR64BM PCGS, among the most famous coins of all American coinage issues, was the subject of much collector buzz on its way to realizing $734,375.
Further highlights of Heritage's FUN auction include a 1792 Half Disme, MS64 PCGS, Ex: Liberty Collection, which realized $528,750, an 1880 $4 Flowing Hair, PR66 NGC — one of just 15-20 examples of this type of Stella known — brought $440,625 and a unique 1838 25C No Drapery PR63 PCGS, the Dupont-West PR63 Specimen, which proved quite popular with collectors to the tune of $381,975. artdaily.org http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=60306
The coin, previously owned by Floyd Starr, is graded Specimen-67 PCGS. It was the lead lot of the Heritage rare coin auction at FUN, which realized more than $44.9 million, and is among the best of all surviving examples of the issue.
The mintage of these coins is variously estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 coins, based on documentary evidence left by Thomas Jefferson, though only an estimated 250 or so of them survive to this day, and none of them in better shape than the coin sold by Heritage Auctions on Jan. 10 in Orlando.
The results join the more than $13.4 million realized by the Heritage Currency Auction at FUN, Jan. 9-14, in Orlando, and the more than $14 million Heritage realized at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, where the company held its Jan. 6-7 Ancient & World Coin Signature® Auction, making for a $72+ million week overall for Heritage, the world's third largest auction house.
"Quality material continues to show up on the market and collectors continue to respond, across all areas of numismatics," said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions. "This week in January normally sets the tone for the year and, if this is any indication of collector engagement, 2013 is going to be solid."
An 1803 $1 PR66 PCGS, one of just four known and also known as novodels to present-day collectors, realized $851,875 amongst spirited bidding, while an 1838-O Reeded Edge Half Dollar, PR64BM PCGS, among the most famous coins of all American coinage issues, was the subject of much collector buzz on its way to realizing $734,375.
Further highlights of Heritage's FUN auction include a 1792 Half Disme, MS64 PCGS, Ex: Liberty Collection, which realized $528,750, an 1880 $4 Flowing Hair, PR66 NGC — one of just 15-20 examples of this type of Stella known — brought $440,625 and a unique 1838 25C No Drapery PR63 PCGS, the Dupont-West PR63 Specimen, which proved quite popular with collectors to the tune of $381,975. artdaily.org http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=60306
###
LONDON -- "The violin played by the bandmaster of the Titanic
as the oceanliner sank has been unearthed, a British auction house said Friday. Survivors of the Titanic have said they remember the band, led by Wallace
Hartley, playing on deck even as passengers boarded lifeboats after the ship hit
an iceberg. Hartley's violin was believed lost in the 1912 disaster, but auctioneers
Henry Aldridge & Son say an instrument unearthed in 2006 and has undergone
rigorous testing and proven to be Hartley's. "It's been a long haul," said auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, explaining the find
had initially seemed "too good to be true." The auction house spent the past seven years and thousands of pounds
determining the water-stained violin's origins, consulting numerous experts
including government forensic scientists and Oxford University. The auction house said the rose wood instrument has two long cracks on its
body, but is "incredibly well-preserved" despite its age and exposure to the
sea. It estimated the violin is worth six figures. Hartley was one of the 1,517 people who perished when the Titanic struck an
iceberg 350 miles (565 kilometers) south of Newfoundland on April 15, 1912.
Some reports at the time suggested Hartley's corpse was found fully dressed
with his instrument strapped to his body, though there was also speculation the
violin floated off and was lost at sea.
Henry Aldridge and Son said it researched the violin's story with a Hartley biographer as the instrument underwent
forensic testing, uncovering documents that showed Hartley was found with a
large leather valise strapped to him and the violin inside.
The violin apparently was returned to Hartley's grieving fiancée, the auction
house said, and later ended up in the hands of the Salvation Army before being
given to a violin teacher and ultimately Henry Aldridge & Son. Testing by the U.K. Forensic Science Service showed corrosion deposits were
considered "compatible with immersion in sea water," while a silver expert
studied a plate on the violin's neck to determine if it fit the time profile.
Henry Aldridge & Son said the violin will go on public display at the end
of the month at Belfast City Hall, less than a mile from where Titanic was
built. " Associated Press
###
From the New York Times Archives
Why the Future Lies in Art Fairs
The annual European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht offers a striking contrast to the big-city auction circuit.
March 9, 2013, Saturday
For Maria Brito, a luxury lifestyle consultant, checking out the Armory art show is just a part of the job.
March 7, 2013, Thursday
Two United States attorneys traveled to Cambodia this week to see firsthand a temple tied to a 10th-century statue, whose ownership is under contention.
March 2, 2013, Saturday
A work by the graffiti artist Banksy that appeared on a wall in Haringey, a borough of London, was ripped out, appearing next in an art auction in Miami.
March 1, 2013, Friday
A work by the graffiti artist Banksy that appeared on a wall in Haringey, a borough of London, was ripped out, appearing next in an art auction in Miami.
March 1, 2013, Friday
A letter from Francis Crick to his son, Michael, two weeks after solving the DNA puzzle in 1953, is the first written description of the code and is being put up for auction.
February 26, 2013, Tuesday
MORE ON ART AUCTIONS AND: Genetics and Heredity, Letters, Auctions, Salk Institute, Crick, Francis H C, DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid), Christie's
How one auction house got them right and another did not.
February 16, 2013, Saturday
Cambodia has asked that Jane A. Levine, who sits on a State Department panel on cultural property issues, recuse herself because her employer, Sotheby’s, is named in a lawsuit over an ancient Khmer statue it seeks to sell.
February 16, 2013, Saturday
MORE ON ART AUCTIONS AND: Archaeology, Levine, Jane A, Conflicts of Interest, State Department, Cambodia, Cultural Property Advisory Committee, Antiques, Sotheby's, Art, Looting
Cambodia has asked that Jane A. Levine, who sits on a State Department panel on cultural property issues, recuse herself because her employer, Sotheby’s, is named in a lawsuit over an ancient Khmer statue it seeks to sell.
February 16, 2013, Saturday
More than 140 vintage photographs by Edward Steichen are being donated to museums in New York, Los Angeles and Evanston, Ill.; the Queens Museum is undergoing a $68 million renovation.
February 15, 2013, Friday
We’re Related. So?
These four scions figure real estate is in their genes, but none assumed that taking the reins of a family business was a career endgame.
Tiny Piano, Grand Romance
Pianist Michael Feinstein tests out a piano from 'Casablanca,' to be auctioned at Sotheby's.
Pre-Columbian - New Discoveries Winter 2013
Archaeologists find large sculpture of Huehuetéotl, God of Fire, atop the
Pyramid of the Sun
"The most surprising thing is that many of these settlements are a long way from rivers, and are located in rainforest areas that extremely sparsely populated today," says Per Stenborg from the Department of Historical Studies, who led the Swedish part of the archaeological investigations in the area over the summer.
Traditionally archaeologists have thought that these inland areas were sparsely populated also before the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries. One reason for this assumption is that the soils found in the inland generally is quite infertile; another reason is that access to water is poor during dry periods as these areas are situated at long distances from the major watercourses. It has therefore been something of a mystery that the earliest historical account; from Spaniard Francisco de Orellana's journey along the River Amazon in 1541-42, depicted the Amazon as a densely populated region with what the Spanish described as "towns," situated not only along the river itself, but also in the inland.
New Discoveries Could Change Previous Ideas
The current archaeological project in the Santarém area could well change our ideas about the pre-Columbian Amazon. The archaeologists have come across areas of very fertile soil scattered around the otherwise infertile land. These soils, known as "Terra Preta do Indio," or "Amazonian Dark Earth," are not natural, but have been created by humans (that is, they are "anthrosols").
"Just as importantly, we found round depressions in the landscape, some as big as a hundred metres in diameter, by several of the larger settlements," says Stenborg. "These could be the remains of water reservoirs, built to secure water supply during dry periods."
It is therefore possible that the information from de Orellana's journey will be backed up by new archaeological findings, and that the Amerindian populations in this part of the Amazon had developed techniques to overcome the environmental limitations of the Amazonian inlands.
Archaeological Rescue Efforts Are Urgent
The archaeological sites in the Santarém area are rich in artefacts, particularly ceramics. A large and generally unstudied collection of material from the area is held by the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg. Collected in the 1920s by the Germano-Brazilian researcher Curt Unkel Nimuendajú, the material ended up in the Museum of Ethnography in Gothenburg and is essential for increasing our knowledge of the pre-Columbian Amazon. Brazilian researchers are therefore interested in joint projects, where new field studies are combined with research into the contents of the Museum of World Culture's collections from the same area.
"The Santarém area is presently experiencing intensive exploitation of various forms, including expansion of mechanized agriculture and road construction," says Dr. Denise Schaan at Universidade Federal do Pará. "This means that the area's ancient remains are being rapidly destroyed and archaeological rescue efforts are therefore extremely urgent."
"Our work here is a race against time in order to obtain archaeological field data enabling us to save information about the pre-Columbian societies that once existed in this area, before the archaeological record has been irretrievably lost as a result of the present development," states Brazilian archaeologist Márcio Amaral-Lima at Fundação de Amparo e Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa, in Santarém.
The archaeological investigation forms part of a wider project led by the University of Gothenburg's Per Stenborg, PhD. The project is being carried out in collaboration with Brazilian archaeologists Denise Schaan (Universidade Federal do Pará) and Marcio Amaral-Lima (Fundação de Amparo e Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa, Laboratório de Arqueologia Curt Nimuendaju, Santarém), and is funded by grants from the Stiftelsen för Humanistisk Forskning, the Royal Swedish Society of Sciences and Letters in Gothenburg, Rådman och Fru Ernst Collianders Stiftelse, Stiftelsen Otto och Charlotte Mannheimers fond, and the universities in Pará and Gothenburg."
MEXICO CITY.- Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology
and History (INAH - Conaculta) found, at the peak of Pyramid of the Sun, the
biggest Huehueteotl (Old God or God of Fire) sculpture in Teotihuacan, Estado de
Mexico; they also found two complete green stone stelae and a fragment of
another one, which must have decorated the temple that crowned this construction
1,500 years ago.
Archaeologist Alejandro Sarabia whom, together with his colleague, PhD Saburo Sagiyuma from the Provincial University of Aichi (Japan), has been developing since 2005 the Pyramid of the Sun Project, informed that the pieces where found inside a well that possibly dates back to the end of the V century or the beginning of the VI century of our era.
The temple, which existed at the peak of the pyramid, was destroyed by Teotihuacan’s people during this period, but some architectonic elements –much like the stelae– where left in place. Sarabia and his team consider that the well was excavated in pre Hispanic times in order to recover the main offering of the construction. This was an act that demystified the construction; also, ancient Teotihuacans spread the main offering in other public buildings of the ancient city.
Archaeologist Nelly Zoe Nuñez Rendon, another investigator of the Pyramid of the Sun Project, who is responsible for the excavations at the top of the construction, said that the excavations’ initial objective was to locate the last movement of the bodies.
This spectacular discovery, together with the 1906 finding of a brazier and various sculptural symbols from the sacred ceremony of New Fire above the semi platform, could indicate that the Pyramid of the Sun was a scenario for cults dedicated to fire and the end of calendar cycles.
All the stelea are smooth. The first one –2.56 meters [8.38 feet] long and 955 kilos [2105.41 pounds] (the biggest green stone monolith of the 20 that have been registered in Teotiuacan)–, was found 4.30 meters deep; the second one –1.40 meters [4.59 feet] long and 300 kilos [661.3 pounds]–, was discovered in the first week of last December, close to the end of the 2012 season of exploration.
Said season of archaeological exploration, carried out from June to December 2012, was performed in order to clear doubts about the construction system and the actual date of the great pyramid which measures 214.6 meters [704.06 feet], 215.2 meters [706.03 feet], 215.7 meters [707.67 feet] and 210.5 meters [690.61 feet] at the base in the north, east, south and west sides respectively.
It’s worth mentioning that between 2008 and 2010, using a 116 meters [380.57 feet] long tunnel –excavated between 1919 and 1931–, INAH investigators located, with strategic wells, three previous structures to the Pyramid of the Sun, and two rich material deposits, one of these being the consecration offering of the building that dates back to the end of the I century of the beginning of the II.
“In this space –detailed archaeologist Alejandro Sarabia– they registered over 200 thousand materials: shells, snail shells, slate (the biggest ones in Teotihuacan) and pyrite discs, eleven Tlaloc pots, a green stone mask, 40 gray obsidian objects (projectile tips, knives and anthropomorphic figurines), the osseous remains of a jaguar, a dog and an eagle. Basically, this was what a dedication offering was composed of.”
The 2012 season of the project was also focused on other spaces of the pyramid, such as its base, close to the northeastern corner, to define the place of contact between the construction plaza and the wall that surrounds the building. Also, they excavated two small stairs from the first body, the point of this being to find evidence of the original decoration, which they did, in the form of a sculpture, remains of a slope and its original board, all of which came from the V century of our era. " artdaily.org http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=60734
Archaeologist Alejandro Sarabia whom, together with his colleague, PhD Saburo Sagiyuma from the Provincial University of Aichi (Japan), has been developing since 2005 the Pyramid of the Sun Project, informed that the pieces where found inside a well that possibly dates back to the end of the V century or the beginning of the VI century of our era.
The temple, which existed at the peak of the pyramid, was destroyed by Teotihuacan’s people during this period, but some architectonic elements –much like the stelae– where left in place. Sarabia and his team consider that the well was excavated in pre Hispanic times in order to recover the main offering of the construction. This was an act that demystified the construction; also, ancient Teotihuacans spread the main offering in other public buildings of the ancient city.
Archaeologist Nelly Zoe Nuñez Rendon, another investigator of the Pyramid of the Sun Project, who is responsible for the excavations at the top of the construction, said that the excavations’ initial objective was to locate the last movement of the bodies.
This spectacular discovery, together with the 1906 finding of a brazier and various sculptural symbols from the sacred ceremony of New Fire above the semi platform, could indicate that the Pyramid of the Sun was a scenario for cults dedicated to fire and the end of calendar cycles.
All the stelea are smooth. The first one –2.56 meters [8.38 feet] long and 955 kilos [2105.41 pounds] (the biggest green stone monolith of the 20 that have been registered in Teotiuacan)–, was found 4.30 meters deep; the second one –1.40 meters [4.59 feet] long and 300 kilos [661.3 pounds]–, was discovered in the first week of last December, close to the end of the 2012 season of exploration.
Said season of archaeological exploration, carried out from June to December 2012, was performed in order to clear doubts about the construction system and the actual date of the great pyramid which measures 214.6 meters [704.06 feet], 215.2 meters [706.03 feet], 215.7 meters [707.67 feet] and 210.5 meters [690.61 feet] at the base in the north, east, south and west sides respectively.
It’s worth mentioning that between 2008 and 2010, using a 116 meters [380.57 feet] long tunnel –excavated between 1919 and 1931–, INAH investigators located, with strategic wells, three previous structures to the Pyramid of the Sun, and two rich material deposits, one of these being the consecration offering of the building that dates back to the end of the I century of the beginning of the II.
“In this space –detailed archaeologist Alejandro Sarabia– they registered over 200 thousand materials: shells, snail shells, slate (the biggest ones in Teotihuacan) and pyrite discs, eleven Tlaloc pots, a green stone mask, 40 gray obsidian objects (projectile tips, knives and anthropomorphic figurines), the osseous remains of a jaguar, a dog and an eagle. Basically, this was what a dedication offering was composed of.”
The 2012 season of the project was also focused on other spaces of the pyramid, such as its base, close to the northeastern corner, to define the place of contact between the construction plaza and the wall that surrounds the building. Also, they excavated two small stairs from the first body, the point of this being to find evidence of the original decoration, which they did, in the form of a sculpture, remains of a slope and its original board, all of which came from the V century of our era. " artdaily.org http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=60734
###
TEPIC, NAYARIT.- "Archaeologists from the National Institute of
Anthropology and History (INAH-Conaculta) recently found a complex panel of
petroglyphs that must have been carved between 850 and 1350 AD (some of which
are over 1,000 years old), in a site called “Cantil de las animas” [Soul Ledge]
near the town of Jesus Maria Cortes in Tepic, Nayarit.
The bas-relief symbolic representations, which are attributed to ancient groups of the Aztlan culture, were located in a practically new archaeological zone of the region –Nayarit’s mountainous zone of the southern high plateau–, and they cover a surface of about 4 meters (13.12 feet) long and 2 meters (6.56 feet) wide, which is facing south.
The symbolic content of the representations –detailed archaeologist Manuel Garduño Ambriz from INAH Center in Nayarit–, seems to divide the petroglyph panel composition in two parts.
“In the eastern half we found designs related to fertility-fecundity: rain clouds, sectioned snail shells, and feminine vulvae; in the western half, we found cranium profiles whose front point to the east, precisely towards the sunrise.”
The petroglyph iconography, said Mauricio Garduño, is linked to the pictorial tradition to the ancient groups of the Aztlan Culture, who, during 850 – 900 AD to 1350 AD, were settled primarily in the lower coastal regions of the north of Nayarit and south of Sinaloa, being this their nuclear zone.
Archaeologist Mauricio Garduño also pointed out that within the group of petroglyphs of “Cantil de las animas” it’s also possible to recognize two distinct pictorial styles of Aztlan’s iconography, the one with realistic or figurative representations of curved design, and schematic designs, that are distinguished by their rigid angular lines.
Another important aspect that must be investigated (in regard to the petroglyphs), is to determine if it was also used as an astronomical indicator since the vertical level in which these designs are oriented is over an east-west axis.
“Eventually, it will be necessary to make archeological and astronomical observations to determine the precise date at which the sun passes through this place, and to determine the function of this site in the annual ritual cycle and in the cultural interaction sphere of Aztlan, between the communities in the mountain range and the high plateau”.
Mauricio Garduño believes that the archaeological investigations in Nayarit should be studied more thoroughly to determine if the the symbolic regionalization of space has a link to patterns of settlement. However, we must recognize the contributions of ethnologists, who, since the XIX century, have been studying the indigenous communities in the cultural region called Gran Nayar.
The petroglyph panel discovered in “Cantil de las animas” is also relevant because it is located in an almost unknown area to the region’s archaeology.
Investigator Mauricio Garduño added that since the archaeological rescue works that took place in the 90’s, in the basin of the Santiago and Huaynamota rivers, there hadn’t been any systematic exploration labors in valleys and hill lands nearby.
Othon Yaroslav Quiroga, delegate of INAH in Nayarit announced that it will be necessary to implement a program to (archaeologically speaking) recognize, register and investigate the high plateau valleys. The objective will be to design concrete strategies in favor of protecting the archaeological patrimony of the region.
In the next few months they will officially register “Cantil de las animas” in the Directory of Public Registry of Monuments and Archaeological Zones of INAH. They will also proceed to detail all the designs, which will allow the integral interpretation of these. " artdaily.org
The bas-relief symbolic representations, which are attributed to ancient groups of the Aztlan culture, were located in a practically new archaeological zone of the region –Nayarit’s mountainous zone of the southern high plateau–, and they cover a surface of about 4 meters (13.12 feet) long and 2 meters (6.56 feet) wide, which is facing south.
The symbolic content of the representations –detailed archaeologist Manuel Garduño Ambriz from INAH Center in Nayarit–, seems to divide the petroglyph panel composition in two parts.
“In the eastern half we found designs related to fertility-fecundity: rain clouds, sectioned snail shells, and feminine vulvae; in the western half, we found cranium profiles whose front point to the east, precisely towards the sunrise.”
The petroglyph iconography, said Mauricio Garduño, is linked to the pictorial tradition to the ancient groups of the Aztlan Culture, who, during 850 – 900 AD to 1350 AD, were settled primarily in the lower coastal regions of the north of Nayarit and south of Sinaloa, being this their nuclear zone.
Archaeologist Mauricio Garduño also pointed out that within the group of petroglyphs of “Cantil de las animas” it’s also possible to recognize two distinct pictorial styles of Aztlan’s iconography, the one with realistic or figurative representations of curved design, and schematic designs, that are distinguished by their rigid angular lines.
Another important aspect that must be investigated (in regard to the petroglyphs), is to determine if it was also used as an astronomical indicator since the vertical level in which these designs are oriented is over an east-west axis.
“Eventually, it will be necessary to make archeological and astronomical observations to determine the precise date at which the sun passes through this place, and to determine the function of this site in the annual ritual cycle and in the cultural interaction sphere of Aztlan, between the communities in the mountain range and the high plateau”.
Mauricio Garduño believes that the archaeological investigations in Nayarit should be studied more thoroughly to determine if the the symbolic regionalization of space has a link to patterns of settlement. However, we must recognize the contributions of ethnologists, who, since the XIX century, have been studying the indigenous communities in the cultural region called Gran Nayar.
The petroglyph panel discovered in “Cantil de las animas” is also relevant because it is located in an almost unknown area to the region’s archaeology.
Investigator Mauricio Garduño added that since the archaeological rescue works that took place in the 90’s, in the basin of the Santiago and Huaynamota rivers, there hadn’t been any systematic exploration labors in valleys and hill lands nearby.
Othon Yaroslav Quiroga, delegate of INAH in Nayarit announced that it will be necessary to implement a program to (archaeologically speaking) recognize, register and investigate the high plateau valleys. The objective will be to design concrete strategies in favor of protecting the archaeological patrimony of the region.
In the next few months they will officially register “Cantil de las animas” in the Directory of Public Registry of Monuments and Archaeological Zones of INAH. They will also proceed to detail all the designs, which will allow the integral interpretation of these. " artdaily.org
###
Recently while I was researching the large Amazon Basin Marajo olla in the Barbier Mueller collection in Paris, I found this article which I thought might be of interest. JB
Pre-Columbian Societies in Amazon May Have Been Much Larger and More Advanced Than Thought
Oct. 25, 2010 — "The pre-Columbian Indian societies that once lived in the Amazon rainforests may have been much larger and more advanced than researchers previously realized. Together with Brazilian colleagues, archaeologists from the University of Gothenburg have found the remains of approximately 90 settlements in an area South of the city of Santarém, in the Brazilian part of the Amazon.
Traditionally archaeologists have thought that these inland areas were sparsely populated also before the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries. One reason for this assumption is that the soils found in the inland generally is quite infertile; another reason is that access to water is poor during dry periods as these areas are situated at long distances from the major watercourses. It has therefore been something of a mystery that the earliest historical account; from Spaniard Francisco de Orellana's journey along the River Amazon in 1541-42, depicted the Amazon as a densely populated region with what the Spanish described as "towns," situated not only along the river itself, but also in the inland.
The current archaeological project in the Santarém area could well change our ideas about the pre-Columbian Amazon. The archaeologists have come across areas of very fertile soil scattered around the otherwise infertile land. These soils, known as "Terra Preta do Indio," or "Amazonian Dark Earth," are not natural, but have been created by humans (that is, they are "anthrosols").
"Just as importantly, we found round depressions in the landscape, some as big as a hundred metres in diameter, by several of the larger settlements," says Stenborg. "These could be the remains of water reservoirs, built to secure water supply during dry periods."
It is therefore possible that the information from de Orellana's journey will be backed up by new archaeological findings, and that the Amerindian populations in this part of the Amazon had developed techniques to overcome the environmental limitations of the Amazonian inlands.
Archaeological Rescue Efforts Are Urgent
The archaeological sites in the Santarém area are rich in artefacts, particularly ceramics. A large and generally unstudied collection of material from the area is held by the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg. Collected in the 1920s by the Germano-Brazilian researcher Curt Unkel Nimuendajú, the material ended up in the Museum of Ethnography in Gothenburg and is essential for increasing our knowledge of the pre-Columbian Amazon. Brazilian researchers are therefore interested in joint projects, where new field studies are combined with research into the contents of the Museum of World Culture's collections from the same area.
"The Santarém area is presently experiencing intensive exploitation of various forms, including expansion of mechanized agriculture and road construction," says Dr. Denise Schaan at Universidade Federal do Pará. "This means that the area's ancient remains are being rapidly destroyed and archaeological rescue efforts are therefore extremely urgent."
"Our work here is a race against time in order to obtain archaeological field data enabling us to save information about the pre-Columbian societies that once existed in this area, before the archaeological record has been irretrievably lost as a result of the present development," states Brazilian archaeologist Márcio Amaral-Lima at Fundação de Amparo e Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa, in Santarém.
The archaeological investigation forms part of a wider project led by the University of Gothenburg's Per Stenborg, PhD. The project is being carried out in collaboration with Brazilian archaeologists Denise Schaan (Universidade Federal do Pará) and Marcio Amaral-Lima (Fundação de Amparo e Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa, Laboratório de Arqueologia Curt Nimuendaju, Santarém), and is funded by grants from the Stiftelsen för Humanistisk Forskning, the Royal Swedish Society of Sciences and Letters in Gothenburg, Rådman och Fru Ernst Collianders Stiftelse, Stiftelsen Otto och Charlotte Mannheimers fond, and the universities in Pará and Gothenburg."
Museums - Winter 2012
NEW YORK, NY.- Attendance at The
Metropolitan Museum of Art’s acclaimed New Galleries for the Art of the Arab
Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia topped the one-million
mark on January 18, 2013.
Metropolitan Museum, New York: "In the 14 months since their grand reopening on November 1, 2011, the galleries have attracted an average of 2,550 people per day. This number represents approximately 14% of the total attendance in the Metropolitan’s main building during the same time period.
Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, commented: “In its role as a global museum, the Met strives to present the very best examples of art from all cultures and all periods of history. From May 2003, the Museum worked on the reinstallation of its galleries for the art of the Islamic world, aware of the meaning and power of these collections in our modern world. Since these galleries reopened in their new configuration just over a year ago, we have been truly gratified by the exceptional interest that our visitors—both local and international—have taken in this newly conceived presentation of Islamic art.”
More than 1,200 works from the renowned collection of the Museum’s Department of Islamic Art—one of the most comprehensive gatherings of this material in the world—are on view in the completely renovated, expanded, and reinstalled suite of 15 galleries, a project that took eight years to complete. The organization of the galleries by geographical area emphasizes the rich diversity of the Islamic world, over a span of 1,300 years, by underscoring the many distinct cultures within the fold.
The new galleries are featured on the Museum’s website.
To celebrate the milestone moment, a catalogue of the collections was presented to the one-millionth visitor in the galleries by Sheila Canby, the Patti Cadby Birch Curator in Charge of the Department of Islamic Art, and Navina Najat Haidar, Curator and Coordinator of the new galleries. The ceremony took place in the Patti Cadby Birch Court, a space that was inspired by Moroccan late medieval design and built by artisans from Fez. Flowers were scattered in a fountain in the Court, and musicians played Arabic music. " Metmuseum.org
Metropolitan Museum, New York: "In the 14 months since their grand reopening on November 1, 2011, the galleries have attracted an average of 2,550 people per day. This number represents approximately 14% of the total attendance in the Metropolitan’s main building during the same time period.
Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, commented: “In its role as a global museum, the Met strives to present the very best examples of art from all cultures and all periods of history. From May 2003, the Museum worked on the reinstallation of its galleries for the art of the Islamic world, aware of the meaning and power of these collections in our modern world. Since these galleries reopened in their new configuration just over a year ago, we have been truly gratified by the exceptional interest that our visitors—both local and international—have taken in this newly conceived presentation of Islamic art.”
More than 1,200 works from the renowned collection of the Museum’s Department of Islamic Art—one of the most comprehensive gatherings of this material in the world—are on view in the completely renovated, expanded, and reinstalled suite of 15 galleries, a project that took eight years to complete. The organization of the galleries by geographical area emphasizes the rich diversity of the Islamic world, over a span of 1,300 years, by underscoring the many distinct cultures within the fold.
The new galleries are featured on the Museum’s website.
To celebrate the milestone moment, a catalogue of the collections was presented to the one-millionth visitor in the galleries by Sheila Canby, the Patti Cadby Birch Curator in Charge of the Department of Islamic Art, and Navina Najat Haidar, Curator and Coordinator of the new galleries. The ceremony took place in the Patti Cadby Birch Court, a space that was inspired by Moroccan late medieval design and built by artisans from Fez. Flowers were scattered in a fountain in the Court, and musicians played Arabic music. " Metmuseum.org
###
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio: "The
Columbus Museum of Art presented conceptual plans for its new wing to the
City of Columbus Downtown Commission this morning. The addition of the wing, the
third phase of the Museum’s Art Matters renovation and expansion project, will
begin in late Spring of this year. The $37.6 million project encompasses major
renovations to the Ross Wing and lobby area the Museum added in 1974 and the
construction of a new wing. These changes will result in a unique meeting and
special event complex, as well as new Gallery spaces to showcase the Museum’s
permanent collection and expanded space for high-profile traveling exhibitions.
“This is a defining moment for the Museum,” said Nannette V. Maciejunes, CMA’s Executive Director. “Moving forward with this project allows us to fulfill our promise to the community of continuing to create great art experiences for everyone. The Museum’s growth is a reflection of our community’s vision for the arts and culture in Columbus and the priority each of our donors places on supporting a thriving arts community.”
Columbus-based architecture firm DesignGroup, has refined and will implement the master plan designed by the New York City firm of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects for its new wing. The design team members have been led by award-winning architect Michael Bongiorno, a graduate of the prestigious Pratt Institute School of Architecture. Recognized for the talent, experience, and innovation applied to successful local and regional urban projects, Bongiorno specializes in the design of civic facilities, cultural destinations, and residential mixed-use communities. His recent projects include the Grange Insurance Audubon Center, the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center of Worthington, the Columbus West Family Health Center, and Goodwill Columbus’ Headquarters.
The first phase of the capital portion of CMA’s Art Matters endowment and capital campaign was the renovation and repurposing of Beaton Hall. The building now houses 85 percent of the Museum staff, thereby expanding public space in the Museum. The project was completed in September, 2009, on time and on budget.
The second phase was the renovation of the Museum’s historic Broad Street building, now named the Elizabeth M. and Richard M. Ross Building, which was unveiled to the public January 1, 2011. The project, which was also completed on time and on budget, included: the transformation Derby Court by raising the floor to improve accessibility, installing a luminous skylight, and improving acoustics; reimagining the entire first floor as a Center for Creativity; renovating, installing new seating, and improving acoustics in the auditorium; and performing upgrades to make the building more accessible for all visitors.
In June, 2012, the Columbus Museum of Art, in partnership with the City of Columbus and Columbus Recreation and Parks, opened its new West Garden. The garden, designed by MSI Design, an award-winning planning, urban design, landscape architecture and entertainment design firm with offices in Ohio, Florida and California, is a gateway entry experience to the Museum and includes an ADA accessible walkway from the street to the entrance. The garden will provide a safe drop-off point for school and group tours and will be the sole ADA accessible entrance to the Museum during the renovation of the Museum’s 1970s addition and construction of its new wing. The garden is free and accessible to the general public during regular Museum hours." Artdaily.org
“This is a defining moment for the Museum,” said Nannette V. Maciejunes, CMA’s Executive Director. “Moving forward with this project allows us to fulfill our promise to the community of continuing to create great art experiences for everyone. The Museum’s growth is a reflection of our community’s vision for the arts and culture in Columbus and the priority each of our donors places on supporting a thriving arts community.”
Columbus-based architecture firm DesignGroup, has refined and will implement the master plan designed by the New York City firm of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects for its new wing. The design team members have been led by award-winning architect Michael Bongiorno, a graduate of the prestigious Pratt Institute School of Architecture. Recognized for the talent, experience, and innovation applied to successful local and regional urban projects, Bongiorno specializes in the design of civic facilities, cultural destinations, and residential mixed-use communities. His recent projects include the Grange Insurance Audubon Center, the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center of Worthington, the Columbus West Family Health Center, and Goodwill Columbus’ Headquarters.
The first phase of the capital portion of CMA’s Art Matters endowment and capital campaign was the renovation and repurposing of Beaton Hall. The building now houses 85 percent of the Museum staff, thereby expanding public space in the Museum. The project was completed in September, 2009, on time and on budget.
The second phase was the renovation of the Museum’s historic Broad Street building, now named the Elizabeth M. and Richard M. Ross Building, which was unveiled to the public January 1, 2011. The project, which was also completed on time and on budget, included: the transformation Derby Court by raising the floor to improve accessibility, installing a luminous skylight, and improving acoustics; reimagining the entire first floor as a Center for Creativity; renovating, installing new seating, and improving acoustics in the auditorium; and performing upgrades to make the building more accessible for all visitors.
In June, 2012, the Columbus Museum of Art, in partnership with the City of Columbus and Columbus Recreation and Parks, opened its new West Garden. The garden, designed by MSI Design, an award-winning planning, urban design, landscape architecture and entertainment design firm with offices in Ohio, Florida and California, is a gateway entry experience to the Museum and includes an ADA accessible walkway from the street to the entrance. The garden will provide a safe drop-off point for school and group tours and will be the sole ADA accessible entrance to the Museum during the renovation of the Museum’s 1970s addition and construction of its new wing. The garden is free and accessible to the general public during regular Museum hours." Artdaily.org
###
Art museum purists often rebel when electronic equipment is installed in galleries or various other didactic materila covers the walls. But it is here and the Cleveland Museum with its new building installation is looking to the future. The art experience can be enhanced but museum leaders must have the sensitivity to find that balance where the toys don't obscure the art. Many institutions are failing and most patrons don't even know they are being short-changed.
CLEVELAND, OH.- On January 21, 2013, the Cleveland Museum of Art
opens Gallery One, a unique, interactive gallery that blends art, technology and
interpretation to inspire visitors to explore the museum’s renowned collections.
This revolutionary space features the largest multi-touch screen in the United
States, which displays images of over 3,500 objects from the museum’s
world-renowned permanent collection. This 40-foot Collection Wall allows
visitors to shape their own tours of the museum and to discover the full breadth
of the collections on view throughout the museum’s galleries.
Throughout the space, original works of art and digital interactives engage visitors in new ways, putting curiosity, imagination and creativity at the heart of their museum experience. Innovative user-interface design and cutting-edge hardware developed exclusively for Gallery One break new ground in art museum interpretation, design and technology.
“Gallery One offers an unparalleled experience for visitors of all ages,” said David Franklin, Sarah S. and Alexander M. Cutler Director. “The space connects art and people, art and ideas, and people with people. We’re thrilled to share this new space with the Northeast Ohio community, for both first-time and repeat visitors, and we are especially proud to lead the way internationally in using technology to enhance and customize the art museum experience.”
Visitors to Gallery One will discover new ways of interpreting the museum’s distinguished collection through a variety of hands-on and technology-based activities. Works of art from the permanent collection on view in the gallery, include masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin, Viktor Schreckengost, Giovanni Panini and Chuck Close. Games encourage visitors to see themselves in the collection, matching their faces to works of art or striking the poses of sculptures. In addition, touchscreen interactives and the museum’s new ArtLens iPad application allow visitors to explore how works of art were made, where they came from and why they were produced. At every turn, technology is used to bring visitors back to works of art and to open multiple perspectives on the collection.
“It’s very important to us that visitors interact with real objects, rather than digital reproductions,” said David Franklin. “We want visitors to look closely at original art works and to make personal connections to what they are seeing.”
“Technology is a vital tool for supporting visitor engagement with the collection,” adds C. Griffith Mann, Deputy Director and Chief Curator. “Putting the art experience first required an unprecedented partnership between the museum’s curatorial, design, education and technology staff.”
Comprised of three major areas, Gallery One offers something for visitors of all ages and levels of comfort with art. Studio Play is a bright and colorful space that offers the museum’s youngest visitors and their families a chance to play and learn about art. Highlights of this portion of Gallery One include: Line and Shape, a multi-touch, microtile wall on which visitors can draw lines that are matched to works of art in the collection; a shadow-puppet theater where silhouettes of objects can be used as “actors” in plays; mobile- and sculpture-building stations where visitors can create their own interpretations of modern sculptures by Calder and Lipchitz; and a sorting and matching game featuring works from the permanent collection. This space is designed to encourage visitors of all ages to become active participants in their museum experience.
In the main gallery space, visitors have an opportunity to learn about the collection and to develop ways of looking at art that are both fun and educational. The gallery is comprised of fourteen themed groups of works from the museum’s collection, six of which have “lens” stations. The “lens” stations comprise 46” multi-touch screens that offer additional contextual information and dynamic, interactive activities that allow visitors to create experiences and share them with others through links to social media. Another unique feature of the space is the Beacon, an introductory, dynamic screen that displays real-time results of visitors’ activities in the space, such as favorite objects, tours and activities.
One of the most unique and innovative aspects of Gallery One is the Collection Wall, a 40-foot, interactive, microtile wall featuring works of art from the permanent collection that rotates by theme and type, such as time period, materials and techniques, as well as curated views of the collection.
“The Collection Wall is a fulcrum between Gallery One and the permanent collection galleries,” said Caroline Goeser, Director of Education and Interpretation. “It displays the collection in a way that is constantly changing and evolving. You have a chance to see it differently depending on the perspective or theme that’s shown.”
The largest multi-touch screen in the United States, the Collection Wall utilizes innovative technology to allow visitors to browse these works of art on the Wall, facilitating discovery and dialogue with other visitors. The Collection Wall can also serve as an orientation experience, allowing visitors to download existing tours or curate their own tours to take out into the galleries on iPads. The Collection Wall, as well as the other interactive in the gallery, illustrates the museum’s long-term investment in technology to enhance visitor access to factual and interpretative information about the permanent collection.
“The Collection Wall powerfully demonstrates how cutting-edge technology can inspire our visitors to engage with our collection in playful and original ways never before seen on this scale,” said Jane Alexander, Director of Information Management and Technology Services. “This space, unique among art museums internationally, will help make the Cleveland Museum of Art a destination museum.”
In concert with the opening of Gallery One, the museum has also created ArtLens, a multi-dimensional app for iPads. Utilizing image recognition software, visitors can scan two-dimensional objects in Gallery One and throughout the museum’s galleries to access up to 9 hours of additional multimedia content, including audio tour segments, videos and additional contextual information. Indoor triangulation-location technology also allows visitors to orient themselves in the galleries and find works of art with additional interpretive content throughout their visit.
Additionally, visitors will have an opportunity to dock their iPad, or one borrowed from the museum, at the Collection Wall. Visitors who use the Collection Wall to browse the collection can save their favorites to their iPad. These saved objects can then be combined into a customized tour, so visitors can direct their exploration of the collections on view in the museum’s permanent collection galleries. Curated tours by the museum’s director and staff as well as other visitors can also be found on the app.
“ArtLens allows the visitor to take the experience of Gallery One out in to the other areas of the museum,” said Caroline Goeser. “It brings in many voices and traditions from different cultures, as well as giving visitors a chance to see demonstrations of art making techniques by local artists. The content is layered so visitors can choose what interests them and discover new ways of looking at and interpreting the object. Their experience is guided by their own sense of curiosity and discovery.”
The museum partnered with several other companies to complete the project, including Local Projects (media design and development), Gallagher and Associates (design and development), Zenith (AV Integration), Piction (CMS/DAM development), Earprint Productions (app content development), and Navizon (way-finding).
Throughout the space, original works of art and digital interactives engage visitors in new ways, putting curiosity, imagination and creativity at the heart of their museum experience. Innovative user-interface design and cutting-edge hardware developed exclusively for Gallery One break new ground in art museum interpretation, design and technology.
“Gallery One offers an unparalleled experience for visitors of all ages,” said David Franklin, Sarah S. and Alexander M. Cutler Director. “The space connects art and people, art and ideas, and people with people. We’re thrilled to share this new space with the Northeast Ohio community, for both first-time and repeat visitors, and we are especially proud to lead the way internationally in using technology to enhance and customize the art museum experience.”
Visitors to Gallery One will discover new ways of interpreting the museum’s distinguished collection through a variety of hands-on and technology-based activities. Works of art from the permanent collection on view in the gallery, include masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin, Viktor Schreckengost, Giovanni Panini and Chuck Close. Games encourage visitors to see themselves in the collection, matching their faces to works of art or striking the poses of sculptures. In addition, touchscreen interactives and the museum’s new ArtLens iPad application allow visitors to explore how works of art were made, where they came from and why they were produced. At every turn, technology is used to bring visitors back to works of art and to open multiple perspectives on the collection.
“It’s very important to us that visitors interact with real objects, rather than digital reproductions,” said David Franklin. “We want visitors to look closely at original art works and to make personal connections to what they are seeing.”
“Technology is a vital tool for supporting visitor engagement with the collection,” adds C. Griffith Mann, Deputy Director and Chief Curator. “Putting the art experience first required an unprecedented partnership between the museum’s curatorial, design, education and technology staff.”
Comprised of three major areas, Gallery One offers something for visitors of all ages and levels of comfort with art. Studio Play is a bright and colorful space that offers the museum’s youngest visitors and their families a chance to play and learn about art. Highlights of this portion of Gallery One include: Line and Shape, a multi-touch, microtile wall on which visitors can draw lines that are matched to works of art in the collection; a shadow-puppet theater where silhouettes of objects can be used as “actors” in plays; mobile- and sculpture-building stations where visitors can create their own interpretations of modern sculptures by Calder and Lipchitz; and a sorting and matching game featuring works from the permanent collection. This space is designed to encourage visitors of all ages to become active participants in their museum experience.
In the main gallery space, visitors have an opportunity to learn about the collection and to develop ways of looking at art that are both fun and educational. The gallery is comprised of fourteen themed groups of works from the museum’s collection, six of which have “lens” stations. The “lens” stations comprise 46” multi-touch screens that offer additional contextual information and dynamic, interactive activities that allow visitors to create experiences and share them with others through links to social media. Another unique feature of the space is the Beacon, an introductory, dynamic screen that displays real-time results of visitors’ activities in the space, such as favorite objects, tours and activities.
One of the most unique and innovative aspects of Gallery One is the Collection Wall, a 40-foot, interactive, microtile wall featuring works of art from the permanent collection that rotates by theme and type, such as time period, materials and techniques, as well as curated views of the collection.
“The Collection Wall is a fulcrum between Gallery One and the permanent collection galleries,” said Caroline Goeser, Director of Education and Interpretation. “It displays the collection in a way that is constantly changing and evolving. You have a chance to see it differently depending on the perspective or theme that’s shown.”
The largest multi-touch screen in the United States, the Collection Wall utilizes innovative technology to allow visitors to browse these works of art on the Wall, facilitating discovery and dialogue with other visitors. The Collection Wall can also serve as an orientation experience, allowing visitors to download existing tours or curate their own tours to take out into the galleries on iPads. The Collection Wall, as well as the other interactive in the gallery, illustrates the museum’s long-term investment in technology to enhance visitor access to factual and interpretative information about the permanent collection.
“The Collection Wall powerfully demonstrates how cutting-edge technology can inspire our visitors to engage with our collection in playful and original ways never before seen on this scale,” said Jane Alexander, Director of Information Management and Technology Services. “This space, unique among art museums internationally, will help make the Cleveland Museum of Art a destination museum.”
In concert with the opening of Gallery One, the museum has also created ArtLens, a multi-dimensional app for iPads. Utilizing image recognition software, visitors can scan two-dimensional objects in Gallery One and throughout the museum’s galleries to access up to 9 hours of additional multimedia content, including audio tour segments, videos and additional contextual information. Indoor triangulation-location technology also allows visitors to orient themselves in the galleries and find works of art with additional interpretive content throughout their visit.
Additionally, visitors will have an opportunity to dock their iPad, or one borrowed from the museum, at the Collection Wall. Visitors who use the Collection Wall to browse the collection can save their favorites to their iPad. These saved objects can then be combined into a customized tour, so visitors can direct their exploration of the collections on view in the museum’s permanent collection galleries. Curated tours by the museum’s director and staff as well as other visitors can also be found on the app.
“ArtLens allows the visitor to take the experience of Gallery One out in to the other areas of the museum,” said Caroline Goeser. “It brings in many voices and traditions from different cultures, as well as giving visitors a chance to see demonstrations of art making techniques by local artists. The content is layered so visitors can choose what interests them and discover new ways of looking at and interpreting the object. Their experience is guided by their own sense of curiosity and discovery.”
The museum partnered with several other companies to complete the project, including Local Projects (media design and development), Gallagher and Associates (design and development), Zenith (AV Integration), Piction (CMS/DAM development), Earprint Productions (app content development), and Navizon (way-finding).
###
LONDON.- "The British Museum has acquired a digital copy of the Trust
for African Rock Art (TARA) photographic archive to ensure that this important
collection is preserved and made widely available, thanks to generous support
from the Arcadia Fund. The 25,000 digital photographs of rock art sites from
across Africa will be catalogued and made accessible through the British
Museum’s online collection catalogue, drawing on documentation from TARA staff
and archaeological and anthropological research. The Museum will digitise its
own African pictorial collection of 19th and 20th century photographs alongside
the TARA images to support the integration of this archive.
The Museum’s African pictorial collection contains nearly 15,000 photographs that range from negatives, gel photos, glass plates, prints, and most recently, digital photographs. These are used for research, exhibitions, training, community outreach, museum partnership programmes and publications. Pictures in this collection are from throughout the African continent and embody the early stages of the medium up to the present day. Subjects include daily life, art, portraiture, official government photographs, natural landscapes and pictures from pre-colonial, colonial and independent Africa. The collection also holds film, video and audio recordings from various time periods and regions.
The TARA collection will be presented through the British Museum’s Collection Online and will form one of the most complete searchable databases on African rock art worldwide. Africa’s rock painting tradition is believed to date back at least 50,000 years while abstract engravings in the Cape, South Africa have been dated to 77,000 years of age.
Today only a handful of isolated cultures still engage in rock art and a few sites are still used for rituals, such as fertility and rainmaking, showing that it is still a living form of expression. TARA’s work over the last 30 years has created one of the best and most extensive photographic surveys of African rock art. Highlights from this collection include images of sites across the Fezzan of Southwest Libya, with dates ranging from 10,000 BC to 100 AD. These include sites in the Messak Sattafet as well as in the Acacus Mountains, (part of the Tadrart-Acacus trans-frontier UNESCO World Heritage site) and depict a wide range of subjects, such as hippopotami, men in chariots and hunting scenes. There is a survey of South African sites showing the different styles and subject matters of the Khoi, San and other groups from thousands of years ago to the recent past day. The collection also includes engravings and graffiti by European settlers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In east Africa, the TARA archive contains geometric paintings and engravings by Twa forager-hunters as well as paintings of livestock, shields and clan markings made by Maasai and Samburu pastoralists in rock shelters. In addition to these depictions there are images of rock gongs, rocks with natural resonance once used for communication and divination.
As rock art can be susceptible to destruction by natural and man-made events, and, in most cases, is fairly inaccessible geographically, this project will allow a greater access to rock art images and research for both academic and general audiences. By integrating these images with existing African collections, the British Museum is able to offer new insights into the techniques and tools used, the subjects represented and the people that made them.
The project will take five years and involve research by Museum staff and on-going collaboration with TARA, as well as involving African communities. Through the incorporation of this collection into the British Museum’s online database, people across the world will be able to both use and contribute to the archive and its documentation. Partnership between TARA and the Museum will help preserve and disseminate this important collection and establish it as a major academic resource. By combining a wide range of research from the Museum, TARA’s international network and colleagues in Africa, the archive will capture and preserve knowledge about rock art for future generations. " Artdail.org
The Museum’s African pictorial collection contains nearly 15,000 photographs that range from negatives, gel photos, glass plates, prints, and most recently, digital photographs. These are used for research, exhibitions, training, community outreach, museum partnership programmes and publications. Pictures in this collection are from throughout the African continent and embody the early stages of the medium up to the present day. Subjects include daily life, art, portraiture, official government photographs, natural landscapes and pictures from pre-colonial, colonial and independent Africa. The collection also holds film, video and audio recordings from various time periods and regions.
The TARA collection will be presented through the British Museum’s Collection Online and will form one of the most complete searchable databases on African rock art worldwide. Africa’s rock painting tradition is believed to date back at least 50,000 years while abstract engravings in the Cape, South Africa have been dated to 77,000 years of age.
Today only a handful of isolated cultures still engage in rock art and a few sites are still used for rituals, such as fertility and rainmaking, showing that it is still a living form of expression. TARA’s work over the last 30 years has created one of the best and most extensive photographic surveys of African rock art. Highlights from this collection include images of sites across the Fezzan of Southwest Libya, with dates ranging from 10,000 BC to 100 AD. These include sites in the Messak Sattafet as well as in the Acacus Mountains, (part of the Tadrart-Acacus trans-frontier UNESCO World Heritage site) and depict a wide range of subjects, such as hippopotami, men in chariots and hunting scenes. There is a survey of South African sites showing the different styles and subject matters of the Khoi, San and other groups from thousands of years ago to the recent past day. The collection also includes engravings and graffiti by European settlers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In east Africa, the TARA archive contains geometric paintings and engravings by Twa forager-hunters as well as paintings of livestock, shields and clan markings made by Maasai and Samburu pastoralists in rock shelters. In addition to these depictions there are images of rock gongs, rocks with natural resonance once used for communication and divination.
As rock art can be susceptible to destruction by natural and man-made events, and, in most cases, is fairly inaccessible geographically, this project will allow a greater access to rock art images and research for both academic and general audiences. By integrating these images with existing African collections, the British Museum is able to offer new insights into the techniques and tools used, the subjects represented and the people that made them.
The project will take five years and involve research by Museum staff and on-going collaboration with TARA, as well as involving African communities. Through the incorporation of this collection into the British Museum’s online database, people across the world will be able to both use and contribute to the archive and its documentation. Partnership between TARA and the Museum will help preserve and disseminate this important collection and establish it as a major academic resource. By combining a wide range of research from the Museum, TARA’s international network and colleagues in Africa, the archive will capture and preserve knowledge about rock art for future generations. " Artdail.org
Governments and Art - Winter 2013
I generally am in favor of the government staying out of my business as much as possible. Consequently, I have mixed feelings about the story below. However, quite frankly I have not quite figured out why it's not a great idea. In Dallas new museum director Max Anderson just made paid admissions a historical footnote. That too seems like a great idea if you can find creative ways to keep your bottom line healthy. Thinking creatively is usually a good thing, but it will be interesting to
follow up on this story in Brazil.
BRASILIA (AFP).- Despite the economic crisis, Brazil announced Thursday it planned to give workers here a 50-real ($25) monthly stipend for cultural expenses like movies, books or museums.
"In all developed countries, culture plays a key role in the economy," Culture Minister Marta Suplicy said in an interview on national television.
She recalled that popular former
president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva created "Bolsa Familia" (Family Grant), the
program of conditional cash transfers to the poor which his successor, President
Dilma Rousseff, expanded.
"Now we are creating food for the soul; Why would the poor not be able to access culture?" the minister said.
Suplicy said the new incentive, approved by Congress and endorsed by Rousseff late last month, is expected to be introduced some time this year.
"The money will be put in the hands of the worker who will decide how to spend it, by going to the movies, to the theater, to an exhibition or the museum," she explained.
Other possible uses include purchases of books, music or DVDs.
The "Culture Stipend" will be paid through an electronic card, with employers deciding whether to extend the benefit to workers earning up to five times the minimum wages (up to $1,700 a month.)
Employers will cover 90 percent of the cost of the stipend but can then deduct the amount from their income tax. Workers will pay the remaining 10 percent, but can opt out if they choose to do so.
"There are many Brazilians, 17 million, who today earn up to five minimum wages, which could potentially means an injection of $3.5 billion in the cultural sector," Suplicy said in an editorial published in the Folha de Sao Paulo this week. artdaily.org http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=60265
follow up on this story in Brazil.
BRASILIA (AFP).- Despite the economic crisis, Brazil announced Thursday it planned to give workers here a 50-real ($25) monthly stipend for cultural expenses like movies, books or museums.
"In all developed countries, culture plays a key role in the economy," Culture Minister Marta Suplicy said in an interview on national television.
 |
| Contemporary Art Museum, Rio de Janeiro |
"Now we are creating food for the soul; Why would the poor not be able to access culture?" the minister said.
Suplicy said the new incentive, approved by Congress and endorsed by Rousseff late last month, is expected to be introduced some time this year.
"The money will be put in the hands of the worker who will decide how to spend it, by going to the movies, to the theater, to an exhibition or the museum," she explained.
Other possible uses include purchases of books, music or DVDs.
The "Culture Stipend" will be paid through an electronic card, with employers deciding whether to extend the benefit to workers earning up to five times the minimum wages (up to $1,700 a month.)
Employers will cover 90 percent of the cost of the stipend but can then deduct the amount from their income tax. Workers will pay the remaining 10 percent, but can opt out if they choose to do so.
"There are many Brazilians, 17 million, who today earn up to five minimum wages, which could potentially means an injection of $3.5 billion in the cultural sector," Suplicy said in an editorial published in the Folha de Sao Paulo this week. artdaily.org http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=60265
###
Monday, March 18, 2013
Paris and Back 2013
John Lunsford and I walked everywhere; and, fortunately, the weather held permitting us to do this. While were busy from morning to night there was much to see and learn in this beautiful city.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Art Market Winter 2013
HELVOIRT (BLOOMBERG).- A Picasso painting was among early sales as Ronald Lauder, Kanye West and Sheikh Saud al Thani were among VIPs browsing the world’s biggest art and antiques fair.
The U.S. businessman, musician and Qatari prince were in the Netherlands to see 4 billion euros ($5.2 billion) of museum- quality artworks and jewelry. Pablo Picasso’s 1964 oil-on-canvas “Homme au Chapeau” was bought by a European collector for $8 million from the New York-based dealer Christophe van de Weghe, one of 265 exhibitors at the European Fine Art Fair, Tefaf.
The 10-day annual event in a conference center on the outskirts of Maastricht displays items ranging from antiquity to the 21st century. The fair, facing competition from last year’s inaugural Frieze Masters in London, has updated its design. Visitors observed that participating dealers have made an extra effort to show exceptional pieces -- with prices to match.
“The quality is very strong this year,” the London-based art adviser Joe Friedman said in an interview. “The price levels are quite high, which reflects the confidence of the dealers who have bought things from auctions and of the private collectors who are selling works with them on consignment.”
Scott Schaefer, senior curator of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum, was spotted at the preview, along with curators from the Louvre, Frick and Huntington museums, and the Chateau de Versailles.
“I like the vibe,” said West, pointing to an 18th-century Tibetan painting of a multi-armed deity on the booth of London- based Rossi & Rossi.
Private Collection
The dealer is also showing an 11-headed painted and gilded Avalokiteshvara, dating from about 1400, that has been kept in a European private collection for more than 40 years. Priced at 6 million euros, it had yet to find a buyer during the early hours of the fair.
Montreal-based Landau Fine Art is quoting $25 million for the 1915 Modigliani painting “Bride and Groom.”
New York-dealer Otto Naumann is asking $14 million for a recently discovered Velasquez head-and-shoulders portrait of a bearded man. A 16th-century Jan Mostaert painting, “Landscape With an Episode From the Conquest of America,” is thought to be one of the earliest depictions of the New World and has the same price tag from London-based dealer Dickinson.
Daniel Katz, also from London, is asking 7 million pounds for an Egyptian stone sculpture of the goddess Isis that he bought for 3.7 million pounds at Christie’s International, London, in October. The price was a record for an ancient Egyptian work of art sold at auction.
Marble Chloe
Though none of these high-value trophies found buyers during the early hours of the preview, Katz sold a 19th-century Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux marble sculpture of Daphnis and Chloe to an undisclosed U.S. museum for $3 million.
The Mauritshuis of the Hague was also among museum buyers, paying 750,000 pounds for the 1592 Paul Bril painting on copper, “Saint Jerome Praying in a Rocky Landscape,” priced at about 1 million pounds from London-based Johnny Van Haeften. The dealer acquired the painting for 505,250 pounds at Christie’s in December.
Van Haeften also sold the early 17-century Jacob Jordaens canvas “The Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa,” priced at $6.5 million. He paid 2.1 million pounds for it last year.
“The Old Master galleries will do deals,” said Philip Hoffman, director of the London-based Fine Art Fund. “Some of the starting prices are high this year and made me slightly gulp. It’s a matter of negotiation.”
Gagosian Returns
While the core of Tefaf remains, as always, Old Masters, the fair bolstered its modern and contemporary section by welcoming back Gagosian, the world’s biggest commercial gallery network, which last exhibited in 2006.
The New York-based dealership never discusses sales or prices. Its small 2012 Howard Hodgkin painting, “Trompe l’oeil” was identified by dealers as attracting an early red dot.
Works of that size by the veteran British painter are currently valued at about $400,000, dealers said.
Belgium-based Axel Vervoordt was among the exhibitors reporting strong early sales. The dealer, who shows his eclectic stock in a castle near Antwerp, sold the black-and-red 1961 abstract “Chizosei Shomenko” by the Japanese painter Kazuo Shiraga to a Swiss collector for 1.2 million euros.
Shiraga is a member of the postwar Gutai group, the subject of a show at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Another Swiss collector paid 1.7 million euros for ancient Greek marble torso of Venus.
Price Point
Other exhibitors said buyers were more cautious at the preview than in previous years and trade was hesitant in items valued at less than $200,000.
“Life is difficult at the moment for people,” said the Brussels-based Asian art specialist Gisele Croes, who is offering for sale museum-quality early Chinese bronzes.
“The market is still rebuilding,” Friedman said. “Before the downturn, it was a frenzy. If you stopped to think about a piece it was too late. Now buyers are taking their time.”
The international art market contracted by 7 percent in 2012, according to a report published at Tefaf today.
Combined auction and dealer sales declined to 43 billion euros from 46.4 billion euros in the previous year, according to the European Fine Art Foundation. The market is just below the level it was in 2006, it said.
Sales in the Chinese art market, the world’s biggest in 2011, declined 24 percent to 10.6 billion euros in 2012. The U.S. regained its premier position with sales of 14.2 billion euros, a five percent increase. Sales in the European Union fell 3 percent to 15.8 billion euros
CHINESE ART SALES FALL BY 24 PER CENT AS THE UNITED STATES REGAINS ITS STATUS AS THE WORLD’S BIGGEST MARKET Google +0 20 4 1 0
The new TEFAF Art Market Report
The report has been compiled by Dr Clare McAndrew, a cultural economist specialising in the fine and decorative art market and founder of Arts Economics. It has been commissioned by The European Fine Art Foundation, organisers of The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) , which opens to the public in the Dutch city of Maastricht on Friday (15 March) and continues until 24 March at the MECC (Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre). TEFAF Maastricht, the world’s leading event of its kind, is renowned for its commitment to excellence, expertise and elegance. It is the Fair that defines excellence in art.
In 2011 China became the world’s principal market for art and antiques for the first time with sales soaring to 30% of the global total but slipped back dramatically in 2012. The TEFAF Art Market Report says: “The Chinese art market began to decelerate for the first time in three years with aggregate sales values dropping by 24% to €10.6 billion, reverting to second place behind the US in terms of global market share. The main reasons for the deceleration in growth were both demand factors (including a slowdown in economic growth and continuing liquidity constraints) and a reduced amount of high quality, high priced works coming onto the market. Many art funds and other speculative investors also reduced their participation in the market during the year.”
The report has also undertaken the first-ever in-depth study of the art market in Brazil, one of the world’s key emerging economies. Sales in the Brazilian art market in 2012 were an estimated €455 million, about 1% of the global total. Brazil’s principal significance has been through the buying power of its growing number of wealthy collectors. But restrictive tax and import regulations remain a major stumbling block to the international development of the Brazilian art market.
The principal findings of the report are:
■ Slowing economic growth and continuing uncertainty in the global economy filtered down to the art market in 2012 with global sales contracting by 7% from €46.4 to €43 billion.
■ A key factor in the decline was a slowdown in the Chinese market. Auction sales in China, the main engine of growth, dropped by 30% in 2012.
■ However the decline in China was counterbalanced by an increase of 5% in US sales figures to €14.2 billion.
■ The global reshuffle of art market share continued in 2012 with the US regaining its premier position with 33% (up 4% on 2011) while China dropped to 25% (down 5%). The United Kingdom remained third with 23% (up 1%) .
■ Economic and political uncertainties have produced volatility in many asset markets with a flight to safe blue-chip stocks and low risk assets. A similar picture has emerged for art with the strongest performances recorded by well-known artists at the top end of the market.
■ Post-War and Contemporary Art was the largest fine art sector of the market with a 43% share by value. It performed strongly, increasing auction sales by 5% to almost €4.5 billion, its highest ever recorded level.
■ The Modern Art sector was the second largest with a 30% share of the fine art auction market but, after peaking at €3.8 billion in 2011, auction sales dropped by 17% to €3.2 billion in 2012.
■ Sales in the private retail and dealer sector dropped by 4% to an estimated total of €22.2 billion. Like auctions, segments of the market fared differently with the lower end of the market recording the weakest performance.
■ The volume of transactions in the global art market in 2012 decreased by just under 4% to 35.5 million. This was down by nearly 30% on the pre-recession boom year of 2007.
Dr McAndrew will present the findings of her report at the second TEFAF Art Symposium on Friday 15 March. The 2013 event entitled Rising stars in the art world. Emerging markets and top performing artists will take place from 10.00 to 11.45 hrs in room 2.1 of the MECC (Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre). For more information and registration please see www.tefafartnews.com .
Copies of the report at €20 each excluding postage, can be ordered through the TEFAF website www.tefaf.com.
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