Displaying items by tag: fountain

A new fountain has been unveiled at Versailles for the first time in over 300 years. Made from 2,000 gilded glass orbs, Les Belles Dances (2015) by French sculptor Jean-Michel Othoniel is a permanent commissioned artwork designed to honor King Louis XIV.

Collaborating with landscape architect Louis Benech, Othoniel's design was influenced by the King's personal dance instruction book.

The North Carolina Museum of Art announces new works of art installed in the 164-acre Museum Park in spring 2015. The works include a bronze fountain sculpture by artist Tim Hawkinson, located in the Museum's Plaza; an interactive work by Maria Elena González, located throughout the Park; and billboards designed by students at three North Carolina universities, located along the Park trails.

The Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has acquired what is widely considered to be a masterpiece of 20th century art by Marcel Duchamp.

The newly-acquired work of art by Duchamp, “From or by Marcel Duchamp or Rrose Sélavy,” is a so-called “boîte” (box) containing 80 small-scale reproductions of the artist’s works. These range from his avant-garde paintings, such as the famous “Nude Descending a Staircase” that scandalized the New York art world at the Armory Show in 1913, to his provocative “ready-mades,” including the 1917 “Fountain,” an inverted urinal signed with the pseudonym “R. Mutt.”

A building that once housed the pharmacy of French King Louis XIV has recently brimmed with activity again—this time, involving blown-glass orbs, steel pipes and curious nozzles. Since January, the Paris-based sculptor Jean-Michel Othoniel has turned this vaulted chamber on the periphery of Versailles' grounds into his makeshift studio.

When the artist finishes installing the three resulting fountain-sculptures later this summer, they will become the  in the palace's gardens in more than 300 years.

Since 2008 Versailles, the lavish regal complex about 18 miles west of central Paris, has held temporary art exhibitions inside its 17th-century gilded ballrooms and manicured gardens. These shows have featured contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami. Mr. Othoniel's commission—part of the total renovation of a garden originally designed by the famed royal landscaper André Le Nôtre —is meant to stand the test of time.