March 31, 2011
Filed under: Art Sales — Alan @ 2:04 am
The British Arts Council is under fire on several counts, but the suggestion that a substantial portion of the Council’s art collection should be sold off to private collectors and investors has met with special outrage. The proposed sale would include works by Sarah Lucas, Damian Hurst and Anish Kapoor, whose sculptures are currently on special exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery. Some of Kapoor’s works on exhibit are owned by the Arts Council.
The Council was created in 1946 for the purpose of buying art work to be loaned to galleries and museums. There are about 7,500 art works in the collection at present, and until now none have ever been sold. The Council argues that selling off art work is not “a sensible solution” to the ongoing financial problem.
MP’s on the parliamentary select committee on culture have sharply criticized what they call the Council’s wasteful spending and poor leadership. They cited the infamous Public gallery in West Bromwich, built with public funds at a cost of more than £52 million, which was in receivership long before it even opened. A Council spokesperson said that was old news and had no relation to present circumstances.
The Committee’s report also recommends that the Council cut its administrative costs in half, on top of the 30% budget cut imposed last year. This would necessarily involve shutting down a lot of smaller art organisations. However according to committee chairman John Whittingdale, the report also offers suggestions on how these bodies could raise funds from other sources and manage their money better.
In other criticisms, MP’s pointed to the high level of funding for the council, noting an increase of 150% from 1998 to 2010. They expressed mistrust of the council’s administrative decisions, suggesting that it’s spending money in the wrong places and/or ineffectively, and makes a poor replacement for its predecessor, the Museums, Archives and Libraries Council.
Public reaction to the committee report is certainly varied. On one side there’s the cry that England’s art, culture and heritage is about to be sacrificed to the government’s financial quandary. On the other side is the cry that the Arts Council is squandering public money and spending too much on itself and its pet projects.
Pretty much regardless of public opinion at this point, the word on public funding allocations is due out on Wednesday, and it is already clear that about half of the 1,300 grant applications will be denied.
March 26, 2011
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 1:26 am
Maastricht in the Netherlands should not just be remembered for boring EU treaties, it should also be remembered for art, if the European Art Fair is anything to go by. Around £2 billion of arts is on display there until Sunday next.
There was a champagne and oyster reception for ten thousand guests at the fair, many of whom arrived by private jet at the city airport. The fair is considered to be the best in Europe and includes anything from rare and almost priceless antiquities to the very finest in modern art.
An anonymous Russian collector spent nearly six hundred thousand pounds on a tapestry of red and gold bottle tops by El Anatsui, a Ghanian artist, which goes to prove that recycling does pay, after all, in a big way. The same collector also paid 750,000 euros for a Eugene Printz art deco table.
In the antiquities section was a seven thousand year old small marble figurine of a woman, made in Greece. This was for sale by Rupert Wace, a London art dealer and was priced slightly out of reach of some of us, at over one million euros.
The answer to the age-old question ‘What does a Roman urn?’ was finally provided, as a two thousand year old marble urn from Rome sold again for over one million years (£875,000 to you and me). The dealer was also Rupert Wace, although he will have been slightly disappointed that it didn’t make the original asking price of 1.2 million euros.
Still, this was an improvement on the original sale price of £7,000 in a Christie’s auction last year. Previously the urn had been treated as a table lamp and had had a hole drilled in it to take an electric cable. It was something of a surprise when it fetched over £400,000 at the Christie’s auction.
March 22, 2011
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 7:07 pm
Terry Duffy’s imposing cross at St Martin-in-the Fields is meant to stir up public discussion over aggressors and their victims throughout today’s world. From April 9 – 22 Duffy’s controversial artwork, which is touring from Liverpool to Jerusalem, is viewable at St Martin-in-the Fields. The purpose for its exhibition here is part of a two week public encouragement to come face to face with conflict today throughout the world.
The artist said, “I hope to wake people up from their slumber with my work and have them stare face to face with the suffering of our modern world. My work is an exclamation that it has to stop and it is an impetus for all of us to push for both peace and reconciliation.”
Many speakers will give their own testimonies of personal violence and suffering, over a period of nine days in church. Then April 17, Sunday, Mike Wooldridge, BBC world affairs correspondent, will host a serious discussion Witnesses of Conflict, along with Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times, and Channel 4′s Lindsey Hilsum. They will discuss the implications of reporting on violence in the world and how it has shaped their personal values and lives.
The other speakers are:
• Artist Terry Duffy, who will talk about why he painted the cross and its journey (Monday 11 April)
• Revd Richard Carter, a priest who faced the kidnapping and murder of seven members of his community while they were working for peace in the Solomon Islands (Tuesday 12 April)
• Bobby Baker, an artist and author who has struggled with the pain and fear of mental illness (Wednesday 13 April)
• Lucy Kralj, a nurse and counsellor who has been working for many years with survivors of torture and gross human rights violations.(Thursday 14 April)
• Major John Catto, a British soldier who has served operationally in both Iraq and Afghanistan (Friday 15 April)
• Dr Swee Ang, an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon who for 28 years has been involved in providing medical aid for Palestinians both in Lebanon and Gaza. (Monday 18 April)
• Simon Western, an academic, leadership consultant and father bereaved by his son’s homicide (Tuesday 19 April)
• Sheila Cassidy, a doctor and author, imprisoned and tortured in Chile, who now works as a palliative care physician. (Wednesday 20 April)
Revd Richard Carter, priest at St Martin-in-the-Fields and organiser of the program:
• “We should remember the cross was an instrument of torture, and the brutality which crucifixion represents is still with us. If we really want to bring peace and healing to our world, we have to look directly into the face of violence and hear the story of the victim. Duffy’s artwork and these speakers together call us to confront the reality of suffering in our world and inspire us to bring hope and justice so that the unacceptable agony of the cross can become the beginning of transformation and change.”
March 19, 2011
Filed under: Uncategorized — Alan @ 4:31 pm
Art truly is for the people and anyone can create art, as a display from patients in secure wards and prison inmates in Liverpool proves. Art by Offenders and Secure Patients, displayed in the Contemporary Urban Centre, is a first for Liverpool and probably for a lot of other places, too. Exhibits, which include creative writing, music, paintings and sculpture, were selected from last year’s Koestler Awards entries.
Arthur Koestler, a writer who became a political prisoner, began the awards in 1962. Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, Tim Robertson of the Koestler Trust said that the awards scheme helped prisoners and offenders in general to communicate using the means of art. He added that the arts required discipline and that offenders had failed in taking account of the impact of their actions on others. Art made people look at the impact it had on others.
He went on to say that art was about communicating, coming to terms with emotions and turning them into something constructive. Judges gave positive feedback to entrants. Inmates from Thorn Cross Young Offenders Institution, Cheshire, are writing poetry based on the works on display, which will also feature alongside. The artwork will be for sale and the profits will be shared equally with the artists.
The deadline for entries to the 2011 Koestler Awards is fast approaching, 8 April 2011, and the Trust is looking for volunteers to help with processing their usual number of over 5,000 applications. Visit their website, www.koestlertrust.org.uk, for details.
March 18, 2011
Filed under: Art Sales — Alan @ 4:44 pm
In a report published last Monday, Britain’s position as the second largest art and antiques auction market has been superseded by China. Writing for the European Fine Art Foundation, whose annual art and antiques fair will open in Maastricht this week, economist Clare McAndrew reported that auction sales in China rose to nearly 6 billion Euros which accounted for 23 % of the world market in 2010, a huge growth which hardly featured in any report 5 years ago.
The UK has fallen to 3rd place with 22%, a drop of 5% since 2006, while USA continues to lead with 34%. The Government has been warned by the British Art Market Federation that the proposed artist resale royalty tax (Droit de Suite), which is due for implementation next year, on the sale of all works by European artists who died up to 70 years ago, i.e. Bacon, Picasso including the biggest money earners, could further reduce market share by diverting trade away from the UK.
This would negatively influence the cultural economy of Britain. The report does not provide any statistics which prove that the Droit de Suite, already in effect in the UK on the works of living European artists, has had any impact on the art trade here.
Brian Adam Douglas, an American street artist, has opened his first UK exhibition at the Black Rat Press Shoreditch, East London and has enjoyed a total sell out with his return to the standard framed picture style.
March 10, 2011
Filed under: Art Sales — Alan @ 7:33 am
The painting by Pablo Picasso that last year broke all records for the price paid for a single work of art is to be displayed in public in the UK. Nude, green leaves and bust is being loaned to the Tate Modern by its owner, who remains anonymous. Sir Nicholas Serota, the director of the Tate, is understandably delighted at being able to display such an iconic painting. Picasso created this masterpiece one day in 1932, and it is part of a sequence of paintings depicting his love at time – Marie Theres Walter.
It was in May 2010 that this seminal work of art entered the record books, selling at New York auction house Christie’s for £66m, $106.5m. Previous to this sale, it had been in the same hands since 1951, when collectors Sidney and Frances Brody bought it for a mere $19,800. During their entire ownership it was only shown publicly once, to mark Picasso’s 80th birthday in 1961.
He painted Nude, green leaves and bust at the height of the passionate affair he enjoyed with Ms Walter, who was just a young girl of 17 when Picasso first met her in 1927. He apparently accosted her coming out of a Paris metro station and grabbed her arm, declaring who he was and his intentions towards her. The liaison lasted for 8 years until Picasso met Dora Maar in 1935, and swapped his affections. The painting clearly depicts the submissiveness of the subject, giving it almost as many critics as fans.
There has been endless supposition as to who the actual owner is, and the story that the owner is British has gained credence with it being displayed at the Tate. The New York Times suggested at the time that one bidder had been Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea FC.
March 3, 2011
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 12:24 pm
UK Artists of skill are encouraged to sign up for a competition put on by a well-respected Midlands home, but also backed by a well-known auction house of fine art.
The Weston Park Granary Art Gallery, which lies on the border at Staffordshire Shropshire, host world leaders and royalty. But this time they have cooperated with the Halls to create the Fine Art Open Competition.
£2,000 will go to the winner, in addition to their artwork going on display in the Weston Granary Art Gallery in mid-summer. That is the national award, but the regional award is £500, which will be granted to those artists who hail from the Staffordshire and Shropshire area.
A third ‘junior’ category is open to budding artists under the age of 18 with the chance to win a selection of fine art equipment.
The recent sponsorship strengthens the auction house’s partnership with Weston Park as Halls will continue to hold regular fine art advisory days at the stately home. Experts are available throughout these events to give visitors free appraisals on fine and decorative art, jewellery and collectibles.
Gareth Williams, curator to the Weston Park Foundation said: “Weston Park is an educational charity and we are passionate about fostering and encouraging talented artists. We feel this open competition will provide an ideal platform to promote the country’s emerging artists.
“We are delighted that Halls has committed to supporting the Fine Art Open Competition and look forward to welcoming both national and regional submissions.”
The Halls Fine Art Open Competition will be displayed in the Granary Art Gallery throughout August 2011. Artists may submit up to five works of art for a registration cost of £15.
Weston Park’s Granary Art Gallery was opened in a restored granary building in 2009. It has rapidly established a reputation for its changing catalogue of selling exhibitions by acclaimed artists from the around the country as well as displaying historical artefacts and paintings, on loan from private collections.
For further information on the Halls Fine Art Open competition and to download the registration form visit www.weston-park.com/hallsopen
March 2, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 9:21 am
Thanks to a £30,000 ‘grant for the arts award’ from Arts Council England, the South London Art Map, a guide to art south of the river, will be launched tomorrow.
Large institutes such as South London Gallery and Tate Modern are partnering with small unknown studios and galleries as part of the project. The map, and expansion of the Deptford Art Map will cover an area from Greenwich to Bankside and be available printed or online.
Coordinated late openings will be detailed on the last Friday of every month as well as having over 90 galleries listed with locations and the SLAM Last Fridays will be similar to the Whitechapel Gallery’s Time Out First Thursdays.
Friday 25 February launches the first of the late openings and of the project with doors being opened in participating galleries from 6:30 to 8pm. A limited number of badges designed by Hew Locke, who was commissioned by the Tate Modern, will be available at the venues.
During the launch evening, screening artist Emily Candela’s film Open Space will be screened by contemporary art initiative Café Gallery Project. Through the introduction of a family panel, the gallery aims to open up its organization and that is documented in the 10 minute short film.
South London Art Tours is also run be South London Art Map and is based around Bankside, Peckham and Deptford, the three areas detailed in the map and visitors led by local artists and curators will be led to galleries and meet gallery owners and artists along the route.
The production of contemporary art is perfect for South London because of the presence of art colleges, history and a vibrant area says Julia Alvarez the director of South London Art Map adding that South London is full of galleries of all types and that with the history of the area makes for a great location.
