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Friday, 12 August 2016 10:12

Tate Britain has acquired a portrait of Frederick Howard, the Fifth Earl of Carlisle, by the eighteenth century painter, Joshua Reynolds. The work, which has descended in the Howard family, has always hung in Castle Howard—a sprawling estate in Yorkshire. The British government accepted the painting in lieu of a £4.7 million inheritance tax. The portrait will remain at Castle Howard and will make occasional appearances at Tate Britain.

Friday, 12 August 2016 10:11

A monumental exhibition dedicated to Caravaggio’s influence on his contemporaries and followers, including Orazio Gentileschi, Valentin de Boulogne, and Gerrit van Honthorst, will open in the UK next year. The show, which will go on view at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin and the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, will present forty-nine works culled from museums, stately homes, castles, churches, and private collections across Great Britain and Ireland.

Thursday, 11 August 2016 11:48

Designing a small space is never easy, but add a large collection of antiques and the process becomes even trickier. For such a project, a designer with a keen eye and a knack for editing is essential. Luckily for an etiquette expert and writer with a new 700 square-foot apartment on New York’s Upper West Side and a bounty of family heirlooms, he already had just the designer in his Rolodex—his old friend John Douglas Eason. Following a brief renovation, Eason was brought in to give the interiors a fresh, yet collected look.

Thursday, 11 August 2016 11:47

Archaeologists have uncovered a mosaic floor dating back to the fourth century in Cyprus. The exquisitely detailed scene depicts a chariot race at the hippodrome in ancient Rome. Few such scenes exist in the world and this particular mosaic is the only one of its kind in Cyprus. While the floor was discovered in 1938, dedicated digs did not start until eighty years later. Researchers suspect that the mosaic was part of a villa belonging to a wealthy individual or nobleman when Cyprus was under Roman rule.

Thursday, 11 August 2016 11:46

Norman Rockwell’s son and granddaughter have launched a petition asking the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to stop promoting and selling the biography American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell. The controversial tome by Deborah Solomon was published in 2013. The museum currently has no plans to respond to the Rockwells’ plea.

Thursday, 11 August 2016 11:46

Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, the sixth Duke of Westminster, passed away earlier this week, leaving behind one of the most important Old Master collections in the UK. The Grosvenor fine art collection includes works by Diego Velazquez, George Stubbs, and Rembrandt, and is believed to be housed in Eaton Hall—the family’s country home, near Liverpool. Works from the collection, which will be inherited by Grosvenor’s only son, regularly go on view at the Grosvenor Museum in nearby Chester.

Thursday, 11 August 2016 11:44

Banff—one of Canada’s most popular resort towns—will rebuild a pavilion designed by the legendary twentieth century architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. The Prairie Style Banff Park Pavilion was damaged by a flood in 1939 and later demolished. The  Banff City Council recently granted the Frank Lloyd Wright Revival Initiative permission to rebuild the 1913 structure. The organization now needs to come up with the funds required to bring the project to fruition.

Wednesday, 10 August 2016 11:46

Simple Gifts: Shaker at the Met, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
On view through June 25, 2017

This exquisite exhibition highlights the Met’s collection of Shaker furniture and textiles, most of which came from Faith and Edward Deming Andrews—pioneering collectors and scholars of Shaker culture who were responsible for garnering widespread interest in Shaker design and antiques during the twentieth century. Renowned for its simplicity and functionality, Shaker design stemmed from its makers’ religious beliefs and customs.

Wednesday, 10 August 2016 11:46

Sotheby’s announced that its earnings and revenue exceeded expectations during the company’s last quarter. In spite of the dipping global art market, Sotheby’s reported revenue of $298.7 million, surpassing its $291 million forecast. The promising results led to a surge in shares that reached as high as 22 percent. Last month, China’s Taikang Life acquired a 13.5% stake in the company, making the insurer the auction house’s largest shareholder.

Wednesday, 10 August 2016 11:44

A fire broke out on the roof of a historic building owned by the art collector/real estate mogul, Aby Rosen. The structure, once known as the Germania Bank Building, sustained minimal damage. Rosen acquired the building at 190 Bowery from photographer Jay Maisel in 2014 for $55 million. He is in the process of restoring the landmark building and converting it into a high-end office space.

Wednesday, 10 August 2016 11:43

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Florida, has received $5.8 million worth of art from longtime trustee Maria Cox and her late husband, Donald. The gift includes works by Frank Stella, Keith Haring, Jasper Johns, and Joan Mitchell. In celebration of the transformative bequest, the museum will mount the exhibition Breaking Ground: The Donald and Maria Cox Collection in September.

Wednesday, 10 August 2016 11:41

London’s Victoria & Albert Museum has acquired a rare ceramic bowl by the influential post-war potter, Hans Coper. The work, which dates back to the 1950s, was in danger of being exported, but the V&A was able to secure the piece thanks to a successful fundraising campaign. The bowl was acquired in memory of Annabel Freyberg, the former arts editor of the Evening Standard, who passed away in 2013. The V&A is home to twelve other Coper works.

Tuesday, 09 August 2016 11:14

1. Las Hamacas by Juan Montoya Design

This tropical retreat by Juan Montoya manages to be both vibrant and beautifully serene. The sprawling beachfront home features dazzling hues (hello, lemon yellow bedroom) as well as subdued tones that recall the residence’s sandy surroundings. The home—a haven for relaxation—features plenty of lounge-worthy seating throughout as well as exquisite natural materials, including black palm wood and bamboo.

Tuesday, 09 August 2016 11:13

Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation will host a conference on Henri Matisse this fall. Held October 13-15, the event will bring the world’s foremost Matisse scholars to the institution, where the artist’s lasting legacy will be discussed via a robust program of lectures and panels. Speakers will include art historians Helene Ivanoff and Claudine Grammont, who penned the book Matisse in the Barnes Foundation. The Barnes Foundation houses one of the most comprehensive Matisse collections in the world.

Tuesday, 09 August 2016 11:12

Curatorial staff at the National Gallery in London recently discovered scratches on two sixteenth-century paintings in  its collection. The marks, which are believed to have been caused by fingernails or a ring, were described as minor. However, the mysterious nature of how they appeared has raised concerns about recent changes to the institution’s security program. Last year, a private security company was brought in to guard the museum’s illustrious collection—a cost-cutting measure that continues to draw ire.

Tuesday, 09 August 2016 11:11

A monumental exhibition dedicated to the British artist, Francis Bacon, will open at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao on September 30. The show, Francis Bacon: From Picasso to Velazquez, is based on an exhibition that was on view at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco earlier this summer. In addition to the works from the Grimaldi show, the Guggenheim exhibition will feature paintings by numerous Spanish masters, including Pablo Picasso, El Greco, and Diego Velazquez, who influenced Bacon’s career.

Tuesday, 09 August 2016 11:10

The Milwaukee Art Museum will move its art library and archives to a historic mansion known as the Judge Jason Downer House. Designed by the architect Edward Townsend Mix in 1874, the Victorian Gothic style structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum’s library, which turned 100 this year, includes nearly 27,000 volumes and 60,000 art catalogues, as well as journals, institutional archives, and magazines.

Monday, 08 August 2016 12:06

1. Ava Gardner hosted Frank Sinatra at this mid-century stunner.

This secluded mid-century residence was once home to the silver screen siren, Ava Gardner. Designed by the celebrated California architect, Edward Fickett, in 1959, the home is set on a double lot in Los Angeles’ sought-after Hollywood Dell neighborhood. Gardner often hosted swanky soirees at the residence, which attracted Hollywood’s finest, including the actress’ ex-husband, Frank Sinatra.

Monday, 08 August 2016 12:05

The Greenwich Historical Society will undergo a $13.5 million renovation that will involve combining its three lots into one and turning a historic, two-story home into a visitor center. The Historical Society aims to bring the complex back to the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, when American Impressionism flourished. Childe Hassam, one of the best known artists of the period, even painted the home that will become the Historical Society’s visitor center.

Monday, 08 August 2016 12:05

Researchers in Australia have revealed a hidden portrait under Edgar Degas’ Portrait of a Woman thanks to powerful X-rays used to examine the work’s many layers. Experts believe that the portrait depicts Emma Dobigny—one of Degas’ most popular muses. Researchers have known about the hidden portrait for years, but conventional X-rays were not strong enough to expose the work’s details.

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