Art Free To Cancer Clinic

More than 30 acclaimed Northern Irish artists are donating their work to a new walk-in diagnostic cancer clinic at a top Ulster hospital. The clinic - at the City Hospital, Belfast - is part of a one million pound campaign by the Men Against Cancer (MAC) charity to establish Ireland's first specialised clinic for men's cancers. More than 40 works of art have been donated including paintings, prints and ceramic pieces by artists living and working in Northern Ireland.
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Irish Art

Art Gift To Guggenheim

A collection of postwar European and American art will be donated by the Schulhofs family to the Guggenheim Foundation in Venice. This will substantially strengthen the post-1945 holdings of paintings in what is already seen as the premier Italian museum for the artistic avant-gardes of the first half of the century. The collection of classic post-war Italian, European, and American art - when added to the Cubist, abstract, Surrealist, and early American Abstract Expressionist art and postwar art - extends the comprehensive reach of the Venice museum into the 70s and even the '80s. Works by New York School artists will represent the U.S - Color-field painting, Pop art, and Minimalism will be on view for the first time.
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Irish Art

Art Stakes Winners

How should we rank artists - by popularity maybe? That's what Artfacts.net, has tried in their system ranking 16,000 artists according to their recognition in the eyes of professionals (ie curators, gallery owners). In addition to a current rank, each artist gets a graph showing the ups and downs of his or her ranking over the last five years. Artfacts.net's list is calculated entirely by a machine. The ranking is based on a transparent set of equations and is recalculated by the Artfacts.net server on a daily basis. Picasso has been No. 1 in the database for the last five years followed by Warhol.

It's fun to compare artists' five-year graphs. Who could have guessed that 99 would be the lowest rank for Damien Hirst and the highest for Paul Cezanne? Or that Fernand Leger would share a graph curve with Paul McCarthy?
View the Top 100 Chart at www.artfacts.net/ranking/Page2_EN.php.
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Irish Art

Moscow Biennale

The fact that the Russians are about to stage their first biennale of contemporary art shows that they are conscious of the need to put Moscow back on the artistic map.
The first impression of existing galleries is the absence of new acquisitions proudly displayed, smart new restaurants and museum shops, and blockbuster exhibitions. Of the two main Moscow museums - the Tretyakov National Museum of Russian Art, and the Pushkin State Museum - the grandest, the Pushkin, appears at first sight the less prosperous. An imposing, neo-classical gallery, with a superb collection - notably of post-impressionists (Van Gogh's magnificent Prison Courtyard, Cezanne's Pierrot and Harlequin ) although its display conditions are not always ideal. The first Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art ends Feb 28. Lenin Museum, Moscow.
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Irish Art

The Art Of Africa

Africa Remix : Contemporary Art of a Continent is the largest exhibition of contemporary African art ever seen in Europe. Featuring more than 60 artists, the show includes painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, film and video, many created within the last five years.

Artists from 25 countries across the continent, from Algeria to Zimbabwe, are represented, as well as African artists now living in Europe and North America. The show includes a spectacular eight metres high 'cloth of gold' made from thousands of bottle tops by Ghanaian El Anatsui and an assemblage made from found materials by the Nigerian Dilomprizulike, known in Lagos as 'the junk man of Africa'. Africa Remix - Hayward Gallery, London. 10th Feb-17th Apr.
Irish Art

Louvre OK's Da Vinci Code Shoot

France has allowed the makers of the Hollywood film version of hit novel 'The Da Vinci Code' to shoot in the Louvre Museum - home of Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The film, to be directed by A Beautiful Mind's Ron Howard, is due to start filming at the Paris museum in May starring Tom Hanks in the lead role.
The Da Vinci Code is a thriller set in the art world and involving a conspiracy about the true identity of the Holy Grail It has sold more than 17 million copies around the world and become one of the publishing events of the last decade. The filming is likely to take place at night and on Tuesdays, when the museum is closed.
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Irish Art

Irish Art Supports Tsunami

A list has also been sent out of the artists partcipating in Dublin's tsunami-aid auction at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin. The viewing dates are: Saturday February 12 from 11.00am to 5.00pm Sunday February 13 12.00am to 5.00pm Monday February 14 11.00am to 7.00pm Tuesday February 15 11.00am to 4.00pm.).

Amongst the 281 Irish artists are William Crozier, Basil Blackshaw, Barrie Cooke, Peter Collis, Colin Davidson, Felim Egan and Colin Watson. (Shown is example of Colin Davidson - not in show.) Full list at http://www.recirca.com/artnews/385.shtml
Irish Art

Art Dealer Gets 2 Years

Art dealer Robin Symes was jailed for two years for contempt of court. He disregarded court orders obtained against him in a bitterly fought legal action by the family of his late business partner. Rejecting psychiatric evidence that Symes was mentally confused and did not know what was going on, the judge said he had committed "deliberately orchestrated frauds" against the claimants.
Symes has been locked in a four year legal battle with the Greek family of his deceased partner, Christo Michailidis, over the multi-million pound art assets of their business - originally claiming that Michailidis was not a business partner.
Two years ago, he got a 12 month suspended sentence for lying about the true value of a statue which he claimed to have sold for three million less than its true value. Symes, whose London gallery was off Jermyn Street, lived with Michailidis for 30 years in a relationship which he claims was not sexual. His partner died after slipping on steps and banging his head while staying in Italy.
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Irish Art

David Shrank with Fear

Michelangelo's David is meant to be a representation in marble of the perfect male form. So why did his creator not make him - how would one say - a little better endowed? The modest dimensions of David's "pisello" are a running joke with Italians. Now we hear the scientific explanation - he was shrivelled by the threat of mortal danger. Michelangelo's intention was to depict David as he confronted Goliath. What the new study shows is that every anatomical detail - right down to the shaping of the muscles in his forehead - is consistent with the combined effects of fear, tension and aggression. One effect would be "a contraction of the reproductive organs".

A computer-assisted study of the 4.34 metre-high statue, in the Galleria dell'Accademia resulted in the scientists being "stupefied" by Michelangelo's physiological accuracy. The only mistake is at a point in the centre of David's back that is hollow and ought to be rounded. Michelangelo was aware of the error. He wrote at the time: "Mi manco matera" ("I lacked enough material"). Now we all know why he is rather less substantial in one area than might have been expected, just one great puzzle remains: why, since David was Jewish, did Michelangelo sculpt him uncircumcised?
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Irish Art

Catch Free Art Bus

Last chance to catch some of Birmingham's most exciting winter exhibitions this weekend, with the help of the free Art Bus service. The service will run from 11am-5pm linking The Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham, Ikon Gallery at Brindley Place and the RBSA Gallery in the Jewellery Quarter.
At the Barber, there's a final opportunity to enjoy the current major loan exhibition, Bartholomeus Breenbergh: Joseph distributing corn in Egypt, together with the accompanying exhibition Crossing Genres: Dutch Landscape and History Prints of the 17th Century. Both close on Sunday. For more info about the exhibitions, visit www.barber.org.uk, www.ikon-gallery.co.uk and www.rbsa.org.uk
Irish Art

Turner Art Prize Rival

The biggest arts prize in Wales is the 40,000 pound Artes Mundi prize. Set up to deliberately to rival the controversial Turner Prize it is bigger than the Turner in cash but not yet as visible. The prize received only nominal national press coverage.
The contest's theme of human form, human condition and humanity attracted 350 entrants from 60 different countries, with the shortlist including artists from Israel, South Africa and America. Among the works are cyborg figures made from silicon and based on Japanese Manga cartoons and a piece made from dust collected in Manhattan after the Twin Towers collapsed by Chinese artist Xu Bing - which went on to win the top award.
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Irish Art

Greatest Art Teacher

At the dawn of the 20th century, a revolutionary American art teacher inspired a group of women artists to break from tradition and create art that reflected their lives. Nearly a century later, a new exhibition at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art will bring together the vibrant and diverse art of this group of women artists.

"Thoroughly Modern: The 'New Women' Art Students of Robert Henri" will open at the Museum of Art on Feb. 25, 2005 and will be on view through Aug. 27, 2005. This first-ever exhibition of the women art students of Robert Henri - widely regarded as the most important American art teacher of the era - will include paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture by 31 women artists who studied under Henri from the 1890s through the 1920s.
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Irish Art

Wheeling And Not Art Dealing

The lawsuit between The Project (who has a Los Angeles gallery) and Lehmann boils down to this: Lehmann gave the gallery $75,000 as a loan/investment. In return, the gallery was suppose to give him first right of refusal on artworks shown at the gallery at a 30% discount until that total equalled $100,000.
Unfortunately, Lehmann feels that this deal was violated because the Project allegedly didn't give him opportunities to buy paintings from an artist who is on the serious rise. He's suing for a million.
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Irish Art

Art Prices Record

The art market has lived through the stock-market crash in 2000, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the 2003 Iraq War. The impact on art sales has been dramatic. Whereas 16,000 fine-art sales were catalogued in 2000 , there were fewer than 10,000 in 2004.
Given the economic context, art pricesshould fall. This is what happened in 1991, when demand contracted. However, the key art market players - auctioneers, dealers and galleries - have adopted a new approach. They carefully filtered supply by rigorously selecting art for sale to stop a free fall in prices. Now, strong demand, plus scarcity in supply has spurred prices (+18% in 2004 in the US). Today, prices are back to 1990 record highs.
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Irish Art

French Out For Chinese

Some 47 Impressionist masterpieces will have their Hong Kong debut in an upcoming exhibition. As part of "The Year of France in China", the internationally acclaimed works of art will be shown in hong Kong for the first time.
They include Manet, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Cezanne and others - all on loan from the prestigious Musee d'Orsay and other French national collections.
"Impressionism: Treasures from the National Collection of France" at the Hong Kong Museum of Art - Feb 5 to Apr 10.
Irish Art

Lowry Art Rising In Price

A collection of work by the artist L. S. Lowry will go on sale at an arts fair in Birmingham. The 13 pieces - valued at half a million pounds - are believed to be the largest Lowry collection ever seen at an antiques fair in Britain.

Among the works for sale are industrial drawings and an oil painting of children valued at 250,000 pounds. Lowry, from Salford, Greater Manchester, is best known for his work showing stick figures against industrial backgrounds.
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Irish Art

Aussie Taxman v Artists

Arts campaigners in Australia are celebrating a win over the taxman - eight years of lobbying have paid off. The Australian Taxation Office has formally recognised professional artists, meaning they can claim tax deductions for materials. The ruling, which could affect at least 80,000 professional artists, would have implications for insurance and benefits such as social security. But how and why did it take so long?
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Irish Art

Pig Art Robbery In Canada

A Canadian art museum in Toronto's financial district - normally the home to stock market bulls and bears - wants its pig back.
The Design Exchange hung out banners reading "Missing: Have You Seen Our Pig?", offering a reward for the return of a nattily dressed, vintage piggy bank stolen from an exhibit. The piggy bank is from the 1950s and was on loan from a private collector who has owned it since childhood. The museum wants it returned - no questions asked - so it can eventually be returned to its owner.
The missing pink plastic pig was described as being dressed in a set of blue suspenders with a red hat and tie.
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Irish Art

Edinburgh Art Fans Go Ape

It features a chimpanzee astronaut made of household waste, a giant garden shed made of wood and latex and a photograph of a rather unusual coffee table. This is just a sample of the more than 150 pieces of contemporary art which are set to go on show in a major exhibition at two city galleries. And the show could see the artists follow in the footsteps of Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin in becoming household names across the UK.
The ShowCASe exhibition features more than 150 works belonging to the Contemporary Art Society, and will be exhibited at the Talbot Rice Gallery and the City Art Centre over the next two months. The work has been collected by the organisation - which previously championed artists such as Hirst, Francis Bacon and David Hockney - over the last four years and this will be the first time the pieces have been shown together. At the end of the Edinburgh show, the pieces will be given to exhibitions across Britain. From Jan 22 - Mar 12.
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Irish Art

Guggenheim $77m Donor Quits

The Guggenheim Museum has lost its biggest benefactor. Citing "differences in direction," It's chairman, Peter B. Lewis, who has gifted it $77 million - nearly four times more as any other board member - has quit.
Mr. Lewis said that he wished the museum would "concentrate more on New York and less on being scattered all over the world." Thomas Krens, the Guggenheim's maverick director's vision is for pushing a global network of Guggenheim museums. New board members will be expected to make up for Mr. Lewis's loss. After 9/11, Guggenheim suffered 60% attendance loss and revenue halved. It dismissed 20% of its staff. Both are now returning to what they had been.
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Irish Art

Nero's Buried Art

When the infamous emperor Nero fell from power in A.D. 68, his successors decided no personal trace of his reign should remain. They covered with debris the giant and sumptuous Golden House that he built on a hill in central Rome.
This week Rome unveiled a mosaic from the remains - more than 9 by 6 feet - showing naked men harvesting grapes and making wine. South of the Colosseum, a house was discovered beneath a church which features a painting of a Christ-like figure, arms extended.
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Irish Art

Court OK's Barnes Art Move

A court recently ruled that the renowned Barnes Foundation art collection could - in defiance of its founder's will - move to a new Center City home near the intersection of 20th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Barnes was an avid collector of then-contemporary artwork, including pieces by Picasso, Matisse and Cezanne. The museum has limited its fee to gain entry and the numbers who may see the art until now.
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Irish Art

Jumbo Art Attack

If you just happen to be passing the Maesa Elephant Nursery on Fang highway just north of Chiang Mai in Thailand on February 19th, do pop in on the Guinness Book World Record attempt for the largest - and probably the most expensive - elephant painting ever.
An Elephant's ability to paint is accepted by many, but when it comes to realism, pachyderm art seems a little difficult to believe. The theme of painting will be "winter breeze, sea of mist and the charm of Lanna." There will be eight "senior elephants" working on this attempt to make it into the Guinness book.
Irish Art

$500,000 Art Clearout

Nassau investigators said an 81-year-old woman, whom they refused to identify, had hundreds of art and antiques items worth over $500,000 cleared out of her home by the health care aide hired to take care of her. The worker was charged with grand larceny.
The care worker took the collection piece by piece over a three-month period. She even rolled a 200-pound, solid bronze statue of two interlocked nymphs down the stairs. She then sold many of the items at flea markets and second-hand stores and posted others on eBay.
Irish Art

Dench Portrait Unveiled

She's played Queen Victoria, Iris Murdoch and Bond's irascible boss, M. - but Dame Judi Dench's latest role is as a "wealthy housewife" in a portrait just unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery.

Alessandro Raho imagined the Oscar-winner as a character in a film when he accepted the commission. "In my mind I cast her as a wealthy housewife who shops at Jaeger and drives a Mercedes. That was her role in my imaginary film." Dame Judi saw the result for the first time last night, left, and declared herself "thrilled and flattered" the gallery had commissioned the picture.
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Irish Art

The Louvre Taketh Away

About 200 artists and teachers gathered outside the Paris Louvre to protest the decision by the world's most-visited museum to strip them of free entry. Backed by 22 unions, they waved flags and handed out leaflets to tourists. Since September, artists, teachers and students no longer have free entry to the Louvre, the world's largest art museum and home to masterpieces including Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
What particularly irked many of the protesters is that employees of the companies that sponsor the Louvre, such as oil company Total SA and bank Credit Lyonnais were given the right to free entry at the same time as theirs was taken away.
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Irish Art

Impressionists Weak in New York

The January 19th sale of impressionist and modern art at Sotheby's New York is unfortunately dominated by the tacky, derivative works of Jean Dufy, but a few of them, not in the style of Raoul Dufy, show Jean as a quietly talented painter.
The sale as a whole is downmarket and downpriced. Pretty French pictures by the likes of Camoin, Gleizes, Lebasue, Loiseau, Luce, Montezin, Sidaner and Valtat are on offer. There are two fine busts by Jacob Epstein and a nice little pen drawing by Toulouse-Lautrec and a bronze hand by Rodin.
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Irish Art

Picasso On CostCo Website

It may look like a doodle, but the art dealer who is offering it on Costco's Web site says it's an original Picasso, signed and dated by the artist. The crayon on paper drawing of a face, priced at $39,999.99, went up on the site on Jan 12 and is still listed. The drawing is signed and dated Nov. 29, 1970. It is authenticated through a handwritten and signed declaration by Picasso's daughter, Maya, on a photograph of the drawing.

Dealer Jim Tutwiler of Orlando, says collectors can find bargains when they buy from Costco because its markup is just one-tenth that of traditional galleries. He's been selling art through Costco for the past decade. The discount retailing giant may be better known for bulk chicken and cases of soda, but the Costco.com site features an eclectic mix of items, from caskets to computers, saunas to sports equipment. This is the second and most expensive crayon drawing by Pablo Picasso that Tutwiler has offered through the company.
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Irish Art

Art Styles of Picabia

Francis Picabia was one of the most exciting painters of the first half of the 20th century and is an enduring influence on artists working today. He adopted many different artistic styles throughout his career, including Cubism, Futurism and Dada, continually exploring the new visual language of modernism being developed at the time.

A selection of 14 paintings by Francis Picabia (1879-1953) from the late 1940s and early 1950s, including some never seen before in the UK, borrowed from collections across Europe. Until 6th Feb at Camden Arts Centre.
Irish Art

"Uncertain" Sins in Dublin

'Uncertain Sins' - irish art by Charlie Whisker - is at the Solomon Gallery, Dublin. Whisker is originally from Northern Ireland but is now based in Dublin. His art often refers to his experience of living through the conflicts in Northern Ireland, in particular his witnessing of the sectarian murder of an 18-year-old neighbour. Many of the still lifes contain motifs such as a half-burnt match, anti-depressant pills and bottles of alcohol, which reflect the trauma and grief of the experiences endured by the community in Northern Ireland.
Irish Art

Irish Art at IMMA

A series of exhibitions by leading Irish and international artists, including Jasper Johns, Laurie Anderson, Dorothy Cross and Tony O'Malley; special shows to celebrate the work of the White Stag Group and to mark 50 years of collecting by the Contemporary Irish Art Society, and the publication of a full colour catalogue of the IMMA collection are all part of an exciting and wide ranging programme for 2005 at the Irish Museum of Modern Art announced by the Minister for Arts John O'Donoghue, TD.
Irish and Irish based artists will have a particularly strong presence in 2005. The first large-scale survey of the internationally-acclaimed Irish artist Dorothy Cross will open on 25 May comprising sculpture, installation, performance, photography and film, it will review her work from the 1980s to date. This will be followed on 26 October by a major retrospective of the work of the much loved Irish painter Tony O'Malley, now recognised as one of the leading Irish artists of his time, who died in 2003.
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Irish Art

Turks At The Royal Academy

'Turks', the new blockbuster exhibition at the Royal Academy, brings together 350 treasures, from calligraphy to ceramics, to reveal 1,000 years of the Turkic people from AD600. The works have come from 11 countries and 37 lenders, including the Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Louvre and the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
The Royal Academy, which has been forced to tighten its belt to balance budgets, has much riding on the exhibition. Advance ticket sales have been brisk and sponsors have raised nearly 800,000 pounds - the most successful campaign in the academy's history. Ends April 12th.
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Irish Art

Old Bones - New Art

Inspiration struck Tom Newbold at his doctor's office when he noticed that an X-ray of a kidney he saw in a catalogue resembled abstract art. He is now on his ninth art show in Newport, USA.
"I wanted to do something creative, and I wanted to do it in a creative way," said Newbold, a University of Cincinnati engineering professor who creates art from discarded Xray film - sheets of Xray film and colored film are fastened to light boxes. The results are sometimes whimsical, sometimes vaguely creepy - some of the most striking images come from Xrays that were developed improperly.
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Irish Art

Tsunami Child Victims Art

Sri Lanka is the first tsunami affected country to organise an event to bring solace to the minds of tsunami child victims. A childrens art exhibition by tsunami victims in Colombo and suburbs had a huge response from foreign and local donors and demand for paintings was very high.
According to the thousands of comments made in the visitors book by both foreign and local invitees they are eager to help these children. Around 800 paintings by tsunami victimised children were on display.

Seawood - Irish Art

'Seawood' - new art by Christopher Banahan - Hallward Gallery, Dublin is on the theme of children caught in a moment of contemplation, freeze framed in a timeless state, Another unusual twist in this show is that the painter turns the focus on himself, revealing intimate portraits of his face and hands.

The exhibition also continues the theme of reworking popular old masters paintings with an installation of Leonardo da Vinci 'Lady in Ermine' (face detail). Each portrait in this installation is painted on a different colour ground to give a different tonal mood therefore making each one unique with subtle changes of expression in the interpretation. The reworking of such famous images in repetition reveals more about the interpreter than the original artist or muse, and questions the symbiotic nature of viewing. Ends 27th January.
Irish Art

Saatchi Shark For MoMA

Damien Hirst's tiger shark suspended in formaldehyde has been sold by gallery owner and art magnate Charles Saatchi to an anonymous American collector. It will be donated to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where it will reside alongside other landmark works by Picasso and Van Gogh.
The sale is a blow to Tate Modern, which turned down a Saatchi offer to donate his entire 200 million pound collection - including the shark. Saatchi bought the shark for 50,000 and sold it for 7 million. It sparked the Brit Art movement, including the Emin unmade bed and the Ofili elephant dung portrait of the Virgin Mary. New York banned a Hirst work ten years ago. Health officials warned his rotting cow and bull would 'prompt vomiting among visitors'.
Irish Art

Evening Art Highlights

Two portraits by the artist Lucian Freud are major highlights of Christie's Evening Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art. As paintings by the artist are so rarely seen on the art auction market, Christies double offering of Red Haired Man on a Chair and Naked Portrait depicting the pregnant British supermodel Kate Moss, is exceptional - the latter could reach over 3 million pounds.

Mark Rothko 'Untitled' - painted in 1952 - is another major highlight showing his mature and distinctive style of a large rectangular expanse of colour with softly uneven edges, giving a hazy, pulsating and almost floating quality. Christies, London 9 February 2005
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Irish Art

New Art Masters For Govt

The walls of Government offices are usually adorned with traditional oil paintings and portraits. However, pictures of empty carrier bags and mud smeared on paper could now appear alongside works by Gainsborough and Hogarth. They are among more than 50 works of art that have been bought by the Government Art Collection (GAC) in the past two years to hang in Whitehall offices and British embassies around the world.
The new purchases, estimated to be worth about 400,000 pounds, also feature work by young British artists Gavin Turk, Chris Ofili and Grayson Perry, a transvestite potter and former Turner Prize winner with a penchant for pornographic imagery. Among the works most likely to raise eyebrows is a set of prints featuring plastic bags from grocery stores and a chip shop.
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Irish Art

The Art Of Eating

The most striking feature of The Modern restaurant at MoMA is its simple glass front door to the street. The entry from West 53rd street - letting diners pull up a leather chair without first paying museum admission - sets it apart from most dining rooms in art museums and cultural spaces.
The elegant establishment inside features a wall-length wine rack holding 2,210 whites and reds, a 46-foot-long curved marble bar with a rough surface, and exotic dishes, such as Arctic char tartare with daikon and trout caviar.
"I love the idea of eating in an art museum," said a visitor who was dining at the Bar Room last week. "You can fill your soul, then fill your stomach. The circle is complete."
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Irish Art

St Ives Art Evolution

This exhibition of paintings highlights abstract concepts in relation to the natural world, a subject which preoccupied Wilhelmina Barns-Graham for more than three decades of her art career. Born in Fife, Scotland, in 1912, Barns-Graham travelled and studied in Europe during the late 1930s before arriving in St Ives in 1940.

Inspired both by international abstract trends and by her subsequent association with Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and the post-war painters and makers of the Penwith Society, Barns-Graham embarked on a career spanning 64 years.
The exhibition reveals the evolution of her ideas and distinctive paintings and drawings in the St Ives context, including new art made prior to her death in January 2004. Tate, St Ives 22 January - 2 May
Irish Art

Art And The Human Sculpture

Tate Sculpture - a major exhibition of post-war British sculpture - is the latest in a series of Tate Partnerships. On display are 20 art works majoring on the human form. Internationally renowned masters such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth show alongside contemporary artists such as Sarah Lucas, Ron Mueck and Antony Gormley. The exhibition will also include video sculpture by British artists, Gilbert and George and photography by Keith Arnatt.
There is a wide range of media of differing scale - from a monumental bronze sculpture by Moore, to more intimate pieces made from unconventional, contemporary materials. In the Moore creation, King and Queen, the artist combines naturalistic elements such as hands and feet with more abstracted features, such as the head. Millennium Galleries, Sheffield - 22nd January - 17 April
Irish Art

Life, Art And De Kooning

One of the most controversial exhibitions ever at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - Willem de Kooning: The Late Paintings, the 1980s - tracked de Kooning's work into the years during he had begun to slide into dementia. Debate about the integrity of de Kooning's late pictures continues, with high stakes for collectors who paid the mid-six-figure prices contrived by de Kooning's representatives.

De Kooning left an estate valued at many millions of dollars, but only after age 60 did he enjoy sporadic freedom from money worries. Well after people thought him set for life, his biographers show, he was sometimes nearly too broke to eat. He once said: "The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all of your time."
Younger artists who dream of finding the formula for creative or market success will learn from "De Kooning" how unpredictably every creative life unfolds.
"De Kooning: An American Master." Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan. Our favourite read of 2005 so far.
Irish Art

Whitney Biennial Curators Chosen

Two European curators - Chrissie Iles, who is English, and Philippe Vergne, who is French - have been chosen to organize the 2006 Whitney Biennial, possibly Americas most influential survey of contemporary American art.
Iles is a curator at the Whitney, and Vergne the senior curator of visual arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. In September he was named director of the new Francois Pinault Foundation for Contemporary Art in Paris, opening in late 2007.
Irish Art

Sills Art Visible Again

Sill was in the circle that included abstract expressionist de Kooning and color field painter Barnett Newman. He had little formal education, artistic or otherwise. He painted luminous abstracts in a strong, simple and clear manner, without affectation or artifice. His images often consist of floating clouds, scaffolds or jigsaw patterns of phosphorescent color, saturated with tangy, tropical harmonies of citron, lime, peach, cinnabar and turquoise. Arrayed on a wall, they almost seem to emit light - punching the eye with a spicy jolt of chromatic pleasure.

Sills life had a fairy-tale quality. He was the son of North Carolina sharecroppers. While working as a liquor-store deliveryman in New York's Greenwich Village, he met an married a wealthy artist, collector and socialite. His works are collected by more than 25 museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The first posthumous exhibition is being held in Cleveland, USA at Corcoran Fine Arts. More than anything, it shows that Sills' work is worthy of greater attention. While his paintings have been widely collected, they haven't been visible in decades.
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Irish Art

Art Gallery Sued for 65 million

An artist renowned worldwide who is also a Harvard educated lawyer is about to become a toxic problem for the Hayward Gallery in London. Iqbal Geoffrey, the Anglo-Pakistani painter whose works are admired by, among others, the director of the Tate, Sir Nicholas Serota, has launched a 65 million pound claim against the Hayward.
Geoffrey says the gallery lost or damaged 300 of his works. He claims that its alleged failure to protect his work, or offer a suitable apology, is typical of the way the British art establishment treats foreign artists and is seeking to sue under the Human Rights Act on the grounds that he has been racially discriminated against.
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Irish Art

Art Nomination Shock

He only made his professional art debut in 2003. Now, Dumfries-born Donald Urquhart's place on the shortlist for the prestigious Beck's Futures Award - the art worlds most lucrative art prize - seems miraculous. His distinctive, often satirical ink works manage to subvert and blend Victoriana and Walt Disney cartoons with popular cultural icons, Goya, homo-eroticism, Nazis and Mary Poppins. While that description may elicit a knee-jerk reaction of tabloid outrage, Urquhart's sincere proposal that earned him the Beck's Futures nomination should quell any accusations of flippancy.
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Irish Art