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Thursday, 23 June 2016 11:53

On Thursday, June 23, the International Center for Photography reopened to the public in a new venue designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in Manhattan's trendy Nolita neighborhood. The inaugural exhibition, Public, Private, Secret, features 150 works by such luminaries as Garry Winogrand, Weegee, and Cindy Sherman. The institution has been closed since 2015.

Thursday, 23 June 2016 11:51

The Margaret Esherick House in Philadelphia has been awarded a Citation of Merit by Docomomo US—an organization dedicated to the documentation and conservation of the buildings, sites, and neighborhoods of the modern movement. The house, which was designed by the influential Modernist architect Louis Kahn between 1959 and 1962, underwent a thorough restoration led by its current owners, the architecture firm k YODER design, and interior designer Louise Cohen. Originally built for Margaret Esherick, a local bookseller, the home features a kitchen designed by her uncle, Wharton Esherick.

Wednesday, 22 June 2016 13:20

For the past decade, Rob and Jaap Thalen have been championing the myriad merits of pure silver. Once a ubiquitous material, silver fell by the wayside with the advent of stainless steel and aluminum. Intrigued by the medium's inherent purity, unique luster, and enduring nature, Rob and Jaap embarked on a mission to re-introduce fine silver to the world.

Wednesday, 22 June 2016 13:19

California’s Angel City Press recently released the book Los Angeles Central Library: A History of Its Art and Architecture. The tome, which was published a month ahead of the institution's ninetieth anniversary, features photographs detailing the library’s exquisite paintings, sculptures, murals, gardens, and décor. Built in 1923, the library was designed in the Mediterranean Revival style by the New York -based architect Bertram Goodhue.

Wednesday, 22 June 2016 13:18

The venerable Biennale des Antiquaires, which will take place in Paris in September, will feature thirty-five works drawn from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.  The non-selling exhibition will feature an array of eighteenth-century objects in porcelain, silver, and bronze, including a portrait of Louis XV made by the Sèvres porcelain factory. Launched in 1962 and held every two years, the Biennale des Antiquaires recently announced that it will switch to an annual schedule beginning in 2016.

Wednesday, 22 June 2016 13:07

On June 21, Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in London garnered approximately $151.9 million, surpassing the pre-sale estimate of $119-143 million. The top lot was Pablo Picasso’s Femme Assise, which netted $63.6 million—the seventh highest sum paid for a Picasso at auction. The Cubist masterpiece was followed by Amedeo Modigliani’s portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne, which realized $56.6 million.

Wednesday, 22 June 2016 13:06

London’s new and improved Tate Modern attracted a record 143,000 visitors during its opening weekend. The institution, which reopened to the public on Friday, June 17, underwent a major renovation and expansion helmed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron. The redesign, which included adding a new building dubbed The Switch House, increased the size of the museum by sixty percent. Tate Modern has a number of highly-anticipated exhibitions on deck, including a Georgia O’Keeffe retrospective that will open on July 6. 

Tuesday, 21 June 2016 14:16

1. Mickey Drexler unloads another NYC gem. Just last month, we reported that Mickey Drexler was selling his stylish TriBeCa residence. Now, the J. Crew CEO is unloading another stunner in the same neighborhood. The twenty-four-foot-wide, 9,000- square-foot Renaissance-style loft is located in a late-nineteenth century building designed by Hugh Getty for Samuel Crooks, a wholesale coffee and tea merchant. The building was used as a roasting plant before it went residential.

Tuesday, 21 June 2016 14:13

Early next year, Sotheby’s will start hosting sales of modern and contemporary African art in London. The new department will be helmed by Hannah O’Leary, who held the same position at Bonhams. Over the past few years, Western interest in African art has been on the rise, beckoning collectors and driving up the cost of works.

Tuesday, 21 June 2016 14:12

After four years of deliberation, it has been announced that Barcelona will move forward with plans for a Hermitage museum of its own. Slated to open in 2019, the institution will be designed by the architect  Íñigo Amézola from the Spanish firm, Ricardo Bofill, Taller de Arquitectura. The museum will exhibit works from Russia’s illustrious Hermitage Museum. The project is expected to cost upward of $47 million to realize.

Tuesday, 21 June 2016 14:11

The New York City Parks Department has announced that the Astor Park Cube will be reinstalled in August. The iconic public sculpture has been in storage for nearly two years as Astor Place has undergone a major redevelopment. The work, which is formally known as Alamo, was created in 1967 by Bernard (Tony) Rosenthal. While off public view, the sculpture has been restored and repainted.

Tuesday, 21 June 2016 14:10

On Wednesday, June 22, Christie’s New York will auction an assortment of treasures once owned by the late comedienne, Joan Rivers. The collection includes fine jewelry by Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry Winston, Bulgari, Buccellati, and Cartier, as well as paintings, drawings, furniture, clothing, and an array of important works by Fabergé. The auction house will host a second sale online on June 23. Rivers passed away in 2014 follow a botched medical procedure.

Monday, 20 June 2016 13:38

On June 6, the magnificent Ritz Paris reopened following a four-year, $220-million refurbishment. Established in 1898 by the Swiss businessman César Ritz, the legendary hotel is known for its quintessential Parisian elegance and roster of famous guests. Located on the stunning Place Vendôme in the city’s First Arrondissement, the Ritz Paris has welcomed such luminaries as Marcel Proust, Maria Callas, Coco Chanel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway.

Monday, 20 June 2016 13:37

The U.S. attorney’s office has announced that nine men have been named in a federal indictment relating to a string of jewelry heists. Between August 2015 and April 2016, the men, who were part of an elaborate robbery scheme, made off with $6 million worth of luxury watches, including pieces by Rolex and Audemars Piguet. The suspects targeted high-end jewelry stores in southern California.

Monday, 20 June 2016 13:36

Two months after the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that it would be taking cost-cutting measures to help quell a growing deficit, three of its top employees have stepped down from their posts. The museum’s chief digital officer, senior vice president for marketing and external relations, and head of design will all be leaving the institution. The Met aims to have its budget sorted out in the next twenty-four months.

Monday, 20 June 2016 13:35

Nearly fifty years after its conception, Christo’s Floating Piers has opened to the public. Located on Italy’s Lake Iseo, the monumental installation connects the village of Sulzano with nearby islands via a floating walkway wrapped in marigold nylon. Christo is best known for his large-scale environmental artworks. Working with his late wife, Jeanne-Claude, Christo has wrapped Paris’ oldest bridge, the Pont Neuf, in 450,000 square feet of gold material and surrounded eleven islands in Florida’s Biscayne Bay with pink fabric.

Monday, 20 June 2016 13:35

The Museum of Modern Art’s contemporary offshoot, MoMA PS1, is commemorating its fortieth anniversary with a year-long celebration. The festivities kicked off this past weekend with the launch of two new exhibitions and an open house. Future events include a show spotlighting works from the museum’s archives in 2017.

Friday, 17 June 2016 12:21

Six miles off the coasts of southern New Hampshire and Maine, Appledore is the largest island in the Atlantic archipelago known as the Isles of Shoals. Childe Hassam (1859–1935), the foremost American impressionist of his generation, spent the three decades between 1886 and 1916 exploring Appledore. It was here that Hassam found a reliable and welcome retreat from urbanity as well as ongoing creative stimulation that inspired him to produce artistically new responses to beloved and familiar subject matter.

Friday, 17 June 2016 12:20

The glass collector and scholar, James K. Asselstine, has spent the past nine years restoring the Dorflinger glass factory in northern Pennsylvania. Asselstine has turned the company’s remaining buildings into a museum, which opens to the public on July 2. The Dorflinger Factory Museum features cut-glass masterpieces made by the company during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.

Friday, 17 June 2016 12:19

Last month, it was revealed that a settlement had been reached in the ongoing tug-of-war between billionaire collector Leon Black and the Qatari royal family over Pablo Picasso’s Bust of a Woman. On Wednesday, June 15, It was disclosed that the sculpture, which depicts Picasso’s mistress and muse Marie-Therese Walter, will go to Black. The work is worth around $106 million.

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