Fine Art Shippers New York is happy to present the latest fine art news featuring top stories and breaking news from around the globe. So what’s happened in the past few weeks in the amazing world of art?
Andy Warhol star-studded exhibition in Toronto
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the annual Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF Bell Lightbox has presented the unique “Andy Warhol: Stars of the Silver Screen” exhibition that gives the opportunity to see a variety of screen prints, drawings, and posters, as well as photographs, video and TV works, and even some costume pieces of Hollywood stars that Warhol amassed over his lifetime. The godfather of Pop Art began to collect this collection in the 1930s in his hometown of Pittsburgh. As told by the artist himself, being a big fan of Hollywood, he was fond of “collecting photographs of celebrities.” In this way, the “Andy Warhol: Stars of the Silver Screen” exhibition is truly a great chance for Hollywood and art lovers to see the artist’s rare works depicting Marilyn Monroe, Bill Murray, Jane Fonda, Greta Garbo, Sylvester Stallone (1980 photo), Arnold Schwarzenegger showing off his impressive arm muscles (1977 photo), as well as other stars. The exhibition runs until 24 January 2016.
2016 Hugo Boss Prize shortlist
The Hugo Boss Prize is a prestigious biennial award administered by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and sponsored by the famous Hugo Boss that is presented to one of the modern artists whose work is among the most innovative and influential of his time. Among the previous winners are Paul Chan, Danh Vo, and Tasita Dean. The Guggenheim Museum has already published the 2016 Hugo Boss Prize shortlist. It includes Anicka Yi (born in 1971, South Korea), Tania Bruguera (born in 1968, Cuba), Ralph Lemon (born in 1952, USA), Laura Owens (born in 1970, USA), Mark Leckey (born in 1964, Great Britain), and Wael Shawky (born in 1971, Egypt). The award ceremony will take place next fall. Let us remind you that the Hugo Boss Prize includes $100,000 and a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum.
MoMa returns Kirchner’s painting to rightful owners
The New York Museum of Modern Art is going to return Ernst Kirchner’s landscape painting to the heirs of the German art collector Max Fischer. Moreover, this work, which is known in the MoMA’s collection as “Sand Hills in Engadine,” has been renamed “Sand Hills (By Grunau)” after it was discovered that the location depicting on the painting had been misidentified. In response to inquiries by Max Fischer’s heirs, the museum conducted scale research of the painting’s history that was complicated by the fact that this work had been renamed twice. It is interesting that identifying the correct subject of Ernst Kirchner’s painting helped the early 20th-century postcard depicting the Muggel hills in Grunau, a southeastern suburb of Berlin. As it turned out, in 1926, “Sand Hills (By Grunau)” was inherited by Max Fischer and his brother Ernst from their parents, Rosy and Ludwig Fischer. However, in 1935, the family lost a good part of their inheritance when they fled Germany. In this way, Max Fischer’s heirs are very grateful to the MoMA for the return of this important work by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.
Lucian Freud’s family has donated the personal archive of the artist
The National Portrait Gallery in London has received Lucian Freud’s drawings, sketchbooks, and letters from the artist’s heirs. This is the way the family has avoided £2.9 million ($4.5 million) inheritance tax. The gallery plans to make this archive that has never been exhibited before publicly available. The unique collection contains 47 sketchbooks with Freud’s works from the mid-1940s to the artist’s death in 2011. They include drafts and beginnings of famous portraits such as that of Arnold Abraham Goodman, Lord Goodman, who was the greatest negotiator of the age. What’s more, the archive contains a collection of personal letters and 162 childhood drawings made by Freud before his family fled Nazi Germany in 1933. In early summer 2016, the National Portrait Gallery is going to demonstrate some of these works that will help understand Lucian Freud’s portraits and paintings from their own collection. The exhibition will also include a series of photographs by David Dawson, Bruce Bernard, Cecil Beaton, and others.
Heirs seek the return of Egon Schiele’s works
Restitution of the Nazi-looted artworks remains a hot topic in the world of art. This time, heirs of Jewish art collector Fritz Grunbaum hope to return a pair of watercolors created by Egon Schiele, a famous Austrian painter and Jewish Holocaust victim. This case received much attention when a Manhattan judge blocked Richard Nagy, an art dealer based in London, from transporting or selling Schiele’s works. However, the dealer has declared that the paintings are not subject to restitution. It’s interesting that these works, “Woman Hiding her Face” (1912) and “Woman in a Black Pinafore” (1911), were put up for sale at Richard Nagy’s booth during the New York Salon of Art + Design fair that took place on 12 – 16 November, but didn’t find their buyer. Presumably, these Egon Schiele’s paintings were part of Fritz Grunbaum’s art collection of more than 400 masterpieces looted by the Nazis. A hearing is scheduled for 1 December in Manhattan.
Rubens House has received a recently discovered portrait by Van Dyck
The acquisitions policy employed by the Rubens House located in Antwerp has brought another surprise. Now the gallery visitors can admire the recently discovered work by Anthony Van Dyck entitled “Sketch of One of The Magistrates of Brussels.” This 400-year-old painting has a very interesting story that started in 2013 with Father Jamie MacLeod of Derbyshire, England. The fact is that he took a painting bought for only £400 (€500) to the popular BBC’s TV program “Antiques Roadshow.” As a result, the work was unveiled as a ‘genuine’ Anthony Van Dyck. After restoration, it was examined by the expert and estimated at £500,000 that has made this sketch the most valuable work of art ever discovered in the history of the BBC’s “Antiques Roadshow.” Van Dyck’s masterpiece was sold by Father Jamie MacLeod to the private collector, and the proceeds were used to restore the church’s bells. This story ends with the coincidental meeting between the director of the Rubens House and the painting’s present owner and the long-term loan of this amazing work. The “Sketch of One of The Magistrates of Brussels” is a preparatory sketch for the group portrait of Brussels aldermen destroyed during the French bombardment of the Belgian capital in 1695. A general preparatory sketch and four designs depicting “The Magistrates of Brussels” are all that remains of that portrait. One of them is now on view in the Rubens House, two others belong to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and the last one is in a private art collection.
Here is the latest fine art news from around the globe. Stay with us to learn more and do not forget that at Fine Art Shippers, we are always ready to help you with the local and international transportation of any of your precious artworks, including large sculptures and fragile items. All kinds of packing and crating services, as well as storage services, are also available at very attractive prices. Call us for any help!