Displaying items by tag: silver

An unknown thief or group of thieves stole Pablo Picasso's "Visage aux Mains (Face with Hands)" (1956) from the Amsterdam-based Leslie Smith Gallery's booth at Art Miami, the "Miami Herald" reports. The work is a 16.5 inch in diameter silver plate and is believed to have been snatched sometime after 10:30pm on Thursday night. Police have classified the heist as grand theft.

Gallery owner David Smith discovered that the plate was missing from its holder upon arriving to Art Miami on Friday morning around 10:45am.

A Renaissance silver-gilt and enamel salt cellar, bequeathed by collector Michael Wellby to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, has been identified as Nazi loot. It will thus be returned to the descendants of its pre-WWII owner.

The intricate piece is one of the 500 silverware items—believed to be worth in excess of £10 million—donated to the museum in 2012 by Wellby, a former friend of Professor Timothy Wilson, the museum's Keeper of Western Art.

Scottish officials announced on Monday that an amateur metal-detector scavenger literally struck gold, finding a large Viking treasure hoard dating to the 9th and 10th century, "Art Daily" has reported.

The haul was discovered in Dumfriesshire, southwest Scotland and included over 100 unique artifacts including jewelry such as silver ingots, brooches, armbands, and gold objects of Irish origin. A silver Christian cross and a silver Carolingian pot from Germany was also found.

On September 11, 2014, the 27th annual Biennale des Antiquaires will open to the public. The prestigious show, which is held at the Grand Palais in Paris, is celebrated for its elegant atmosphere, blue chip offerings, and elite guest list. A VIP preview was held on Wednesday, September 10, 2014, offering select patrons a sneak peek of the show’s treasure-trove of rare antiques, fine art, jewelry, silver, porcelain, and contemporary design.

This year’s Versailles-themed Biennale was designed by the celebrated French interior decorator Jacques Grange. A chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur, Grange recreated the royal gardens of Versailles under the Grand Palais’ iconic glass dome.

First, there was light. Then, a night sky filled with stars and a luminescent moon. Soon after? Art.

Since ancient times, communities have used art to relay stories and make sense of the world around them — particularly when interpreting the heavens and giving form to perceived deities ruling the forces of nature.

A new exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, "African Cosmos: Stellar Arts," showcases 40 rare objects in gold, silver, bronze, stone, beads and wood that collectively illustrate the history of African cultural astronomy, from ancient Egypt to the present day.

In the third iteration of its Platform series, the Parrish Art Museum presents artist Maya Lin, whose ecologically inspired works exist at the intersection of art, architecture, and environmental science. Platform: Maya Lin, opening July 4 and continuing through October 13, 2014, reveals the artist's exploration of how humans experience and impact the landscape. It will be on view during the Parrish Art Museum's annual gala, the Midsummer Party, on July 12, 2014.

Platform: Maya Lin features Lin's Pin River-Sandy (2013), a massive geographical installation depicting the boundaries of Hurricane Sandy's flood plain, composed of thousands of straight pins. Installed on the east wall of the Norman and Liliane Peck/Peter Jay Sharp Foundation Gallery, the work has a span of 12 feet (112 5/8 x 144 x 1 1?2 inches). Lin's three marble sculptures, Arctic Circle (2013), Latitude New York City (2013), and Equator (2014), representing the typographies at each of these positions on the globe, are installed in concentric rings in the center of the gallery floor. Three new, recycled silver works, Accabonac Harbor (Long Island Triptych), 2014, Georgica Pond (Long Island Triptych), 2014, and Mecox Bay (Long Island Triptych), 2014, are particularly relevant to the location of the Museum on Long Island's East End, and are installed on the wall opposite Pin River-Sandy.

From the Village to Vogue: The Modernist Jewelry of Art Smith features 26 pieces including silver and gold jewelry created by African American artist, Art Smith, as well as select pieces by his contemporaries. Inspired by surrealism, biomorphism, and primitivism, Smith was one of the leading modernist jewelers of the mid-twentieth century. His work is dynamic in both size and form.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Director Gary Tinterow announced an unprecedented exhibition: Houghton Hall: Portrait of an English Country House, which will be on view at the Museum from June 22 to September 21, 2014. The exhibition marks the first time the renowned collection of the marquesses of Cholmondeley, housed at Houghton Hall, the family estate in Norfolk, will travel outside of England.

The house and much of its collection were built in the early 1700s by Sir Robert Walpole—England's first prime minister and the ancestor of the current marquess. Renowned as one of the finest Palladian houses and one of the most extensive art collections in Britain, Houghton became notorious when Sir Robert's collection of Old Master paintings was sold by his grandson to Catherine the Great, in 1779. But the house and all of its furnishings, considered to comprise William Kent's Georgian masterpiece, remained intact; Walpole's descendants added considerably to the collection of paintings. From great family portraits by William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds and John Singer Sargent, to exquisite examples of Sèvres porcelain, rare pieces of R. J. & S. Garrard silver and unique furniture by William Kent, the exhibition vividly evokes the fascinating story of art, history and politics through the collections of this aristocratic English family over three centuries.

Sicily’s regional government has set a travel ban on 23 of its most important artworks, including a painting by Caravaggio, ancient Greek sculptures, and a rare collection of Hellenistic silver.

The ban was put into effect due to growing concern that Sicily’s most treasured holdings spend too much time outside of the country, causing their own museums to suffer. Officials also stated that loans to foreign museums “have not produced benefits” for Sicily and have not occurred under “conditions of reciprocity with the borrowing institutions.” By keeping the works in Sicily, officials hope to draw more tourists to the island.

The culturally rich island of Sicily has its own regional government, which operates individually within the Italian system. Sicily’s new policies differ substantially from Italy’s more flexible lending practices.   

The fourth annual Dallas International Art, Antique & Jewelry Show will kick off with an opening night preview party on Thursday, November 7 at the Dallas Market Hall. Each year, collectors, curators and art lovers from across the globe flock to the high-profile event to browse the selection of furniture, silver, fine art, antiquities, porcelain, manuscripts, Americana, jewelry, textiles and more.

This year’s show will include a Designer Showcase featuring room vignettes created by five leading local interior designers. In addition, guests of the Dallas International Art, Antique & Jewelry Show will be able to take exclusive tours of the show floor with Miller Gaffney, founder of Miller Gaffney Art Advisory and one of the stars of PBS’ hit series Market Warriors.  

The Dallas International Art, Antique & Jewelry Show, which is organized by the Palm Beach Show Group, will take place through Monday, November 11.