Van Abbemuseum, Plug In #48 Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait

Douglas Gordon & Philippe Parreno, Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait, 2006. Palomar Pictures & Anna Lena Films.

EINDHOVEN.- Van Abbemuseum presents today Plug In #48 - Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait. The artists Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno highlight the popular subject of football in an entirely new way. World-famous football player Zinédine Zidane was followed by 17 synchronized cameras during a match. This video installation gives the spectator the sensation of 'moving alongside' Zidane throughout the entire game.

For the artists it was in many ways Zidane’s personality that made the portrait necessary. The elegance of his game and his charisma made the decision for the two artists slash football fans an obvious one.

The video made by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno is a unique collaboration of two artists in creating this portrait. Throughout the history of art, artist have painted portraits because it was the most direct way of depicting humanity. A portrait brings to life moments in time. Inspired by the film portraits made by Andy Warhol in the 1960’s, the artists chose film as their medium. “Photography and film correspond to the attempts in our time to depict the face of humanity on the scale of time. Our lives take place within a protocol of time. It was for this reason in particular that we chose to create a portrait using cameras instead of canvas or paper. While drawing and painting create two-dimensional works, a portrait on film inexorably becomes a multidimensional work. […] You see things in this film you never see on TV, like his hands, his gestures. That comes from painting techniques: watching out for gestures, moving fingers. These things offer us information about a person.” For Zidane, the portrait was a unique opportunity to have a game commemorated for all time. He is very satisfied with the result “I recognise myself, it’s really me, and that’s exactly what I live every Sunday. With more emotion in some parts and less in others. That’s it. All I hope now is that the film captivates the public the way it captivated me.”
The film was shot during a regular championship game between Spanish football club Real Madrid (for whom Zidane played at the time) and Villarreal F.C. in Madrid on 23 April 2005 at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. The length of the soccer match, 90 minutes, equals the length of the film. The music for the film was composed by Mogwai, the international rock band from Glasgow.

http://vanabbemuseum.nl/browse-all/?tx_vabdisplay_pi1[ptype]=18&tx_vabdisplay_pi1[project]=431&cHash=507a037fd1

Plug In #48
Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait

Zhang Xiaogang Is China’s Most-Valuable Artist

Zhang Xiaogang A Big Family,1995, Oil on canvas, 179 x 229 cm

Zhang Xiaogang
(Source Saatchi Gallery) http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/zhang_xiaogang.htm
Inspired by family photos from the Cultural Revolution period, as well as the European tradition of surrealism, Zhang Xiaogang’s paintings engage with the notion of identity within the Chinese culture of collectivism. Basing his work around the concept of ‘family’ –immediate, extended, and societal – Xiaogang’s portraits depict an endless genealogy of imagined forebears and progenitors, each unnervingly similar and distinguished by minute difference.
Often painted in black and white, Xiaogang’s portraits translate the language of photography into paint. Drawing from the generic quality of formal photo studio poses and greyscale palette, Xiaogang’s figures are nameless and timeless: a series of individual histories represented within the strict confines of formula. The occasional splotches of colour which interrupt his images create aberrant demarcations, reminiscent of birth marks, aged film, social stigma, or a lingering sense of the sitter’s self assertion.

Zhang Xiaogang Is China’s Most-Valuable Artist, Hurun Says

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Zhang Xiaogang, Yue Minjun and Zeng Fanzhi are the most-valuable living Chinese artists, based on the auction prices of their works, shows a ranking by China-based Hurun Report, which also lists the nation’s richest people.
Works by Zhang, known for his somber, gray-hued paintings of Chinese families, fetched a combined $44.1 million at art auctions last year, followed by Yue’s $30.5 million and Zeng’s $30.1 million, according to Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun’s Shanghai- based publisher. Works by the top 50 artists on Hurun’s list sold a combined $410 million at auction last year. Artists on the list averaged 57.5 years of age.
“Chinese collectors had begun to take an interest in contemporary art, which was until then mostly of interest to foreigners,” said Hoogewerf, in an e-mail.
Chinese contemporary art is broadly defined as works produced since the 1960s, and usually feature reflections and commentaries on the decade-long Cultural Revolution that seared the psyche of a generation of mainland Chinese.
Hoogewerf said demand for Chinese contemporary art grew slightly last year. Auction prices for this category rose in the first half and languished after the latest -- and worst -- round of credit crisis broke out in September.
In May, the most-expensive Chinese contemporary painting was sold at auction for the $9.7 million paid for Zeng’s “Mask Series 1996 No. 6” at Christie’s International’s Hong Kong sale.

Exhibition in the MET Museum: The Pictures Generation, 1974–1984

Exhibition in the MET Museum: The Pictures Generation, 1974–1984
April 21–August 2, 2009

This is the first major museum exhibition to focus exclusively on "The Pictures Generation." Born into the media culture of postwar America, this tightly knit group of New York-based artists created some of the most important and influential works of the late 20th century. Their overarching subject was how pictures of all kinds not only depict but also shape reality. Highly seductive photographs by Richard Prince and Cindy Sherman reveal the ways in which images from B movies and magazine advertisements determine much of our sense of who we are. Louise Lawler and Sherrie Levine examine how the myths and legends of modern art are inextricably tied to the institutions of the museum and art history. Also included are photographs by Laurie Simmons, James Casebere, James Welling, and Allan McCollum, as well as works in other media by Robert Longo, Troy Brauntuch, David Salle, Matt Mullican, Jack Goldstein, and Dara Birnbaum, among others.

Dutch Artist and singer Edie (Edie Art)

Dutch Artist and singer Edie (Edith Pijpers)
Friday night Feb 27th 5-9pm
Jackson Hall Gallery
446 West 36th [between 9th and 10th] NYC

www.EdieArt.com
www.ediemusic.blogspot.com


February 2009
Hello dear friends,
A few exciting things this month: This month, hopefully the last month of winter!!!! [ sooo ready for spring- my favorite], is the opening of my first two [wo]man show in NYC!
If you are in the NY area, drop by on Friday night Feb 27th 5-9pm [446 West 36th]
and celebrate with us!!!
Wine, cheese, art, friends..... :)
For more info on JAVA's beautiful art visit his site HERE

Moscow Art Fair Postponed, Russia's Rich cash strapped

Moscow Art Fair Postponed as Russia’s Rich Curb Purchases

Feb. 18 (Source Bloomberg, John Varoli) -- Art Moscow, one of Russia’s biggest contemporary-art fairs, has been postponed to September to tap a crowd headed for a larger exhibition, as falling oil prices and squeezed credit quell art purchases among the nation’s rich.
The 13th Annual Art Moscow will now be timed to coincide with the state-run Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, which starts Sept. 24, said organizer Expo Park Exhibition Projects Ltd. Art Moscow was originally planned to open May 14.
“By September, everyone will have gotten used to the new reality of the crisis,” said Vasily Bychkov, Expo Park’s general director. “Foreign galleries will be more willing to come to Art Moscow when they know it coincides with the Biennale, which attracts leading international curators and collectors.”
The New York benchmark crude-oil prices have fallen more than 40 percent the past six months, causing Russia’s economic growth to hover at near zero. Stock-market declines and the credit squeeze are also ailing the nation’s richest. According to Moscow’s Finans magazine, the number of Russian billionaires declined in the past six months from 101 to 49.
Expo Park’s decision comes a month after the Geneva-based Art Culture Studio canceled the Moscow World Fine Art Fair planned for the last week of May. Last year, it brought to Moscow about 1 billion euros ($1.26 billion) of art from 70 international galleries.
At the peak of crude-oil prices last year, Russia’s rich drove contemporary-art prices to records.

National Gallery Exhibition: Picasso: Challenging the Past

National Gallery Exhibition: Picasso: Challenging the Past
25 February – 7 June 2009

(Source National Gallery website)
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), arguably the most influential artist of the 20th century, pitted himself against the greatest Masters of European painting in a life-long artistic dialogue. ‘Picasso: Challenging the Past’ explores the ways he took up the artistic concerns of the painters of the past and made audacious responses of his own.
Picasso was a passionate student of the grand tradition of European painting. El Greco, Velázquez and Goya were of crucial importance to him, as were Rembrandt, Delacroix, Ingres, Manet and Cézanne. All of these artists are represented by major paintings at the National Gallery.
Displaying some 60 works by the artist, this exhibition invites visitors to re-explore the National Gallery’s permanent collection in light of Picasso’s fascination with the Old Masters.
The exhibition is organised thematically, showing how Picasso repeatedly returned to the great subjects of the European painting tradition, analysing them as his personal style developed in myriad directions. Sections include self portraits, the Spanish tradition of male portraiture, the female nude, still life, and the seated female figure

Who is your favourite modern artist?

Who is your favourite modern artist?
(From Times Online)
Welcome to The Times Top 200 Artists of the 20th Century to Now created in association with the Saatchi Gallery.
We asked you to nominate your favourite artists working since 1900 from a list including some of the most influential painters, sculptors, photographers, video and installation artists of the period. Nominations are now closed. Over 200 additional artists were nominated by readers of The Times and Saatchi Online visitors to add to the original shortlist of 600, and we now present the top 500 artists voted for. To cast your vote simply click on the VOTE button by each name. You may vote on as many artists as you wish, but only one vote per artist. You can find out more about each artist by clicking on each individual artist’s name. The top 500 artists are listed here in A to Z order. The top 200 artists will be announced in May 2009.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article5700435.ece

"Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art" at the Mori Art Museum

"Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art"
Thru Sunday, March 15

"Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art," a popular exhibition featuring 27 artists from India is being held until March 15. This exhibition introducing Indian contemporary art, which has been the center of worldwide attention since the 90's, is the largest ever to be held in Japan. The art works reflect the changes of lifestyles, problems, and dreams coming from the rapid economic growth and globalization, and brings light to the current situations in India today.
The exhibition is a virtual tour through present India, so "Chalo! India (Let's go to India!)

The largest exhibition of Indian contemporary art ever to be held in Japan
“Chalo” is Hindi for "Let's go." With the words "Chalo! India" (Let's go! India), we invite you to discover an explosion of creativity and vitality in Indian contemporary art. "Chalo! India" will take you on a journey through more than 100 works by 27 artists and artist groups from all over India. Encompassing a broad range of media, including painting, sculpture, photography and installation, this exhibition examines the latest movements in Indian contemporary art.
Details: http://www.mori.art.museum/english/contents/india/index.html

Record-breaking YSL art auction shrugs off crisis

Record-breaking YSL art auction shrugs off crisis

PARIS (Reuters) - The auction of Yves Saint Laurent's monumental art collection ended on Wednesday having broken a string of records, defied the Chinese government and raised more than 370 million euros ($470 million).
The late fashion designer's collection, built up over five decades with his partner Pierre Berge, had been described as one of the most important in private hands and the auction attracted interest from collectors and spectators all over the world.
The final total of 373.5 million euros broke estimates of 300 million euros but Berge, who is donating the proceeds to charity and medical research, said he was not surprised by the sale's success even in the worst global recession for decades.


YSL auction fetches record price
(01:49) Report Reuters Video

Feb 24 - An art collection by late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent defied the financial crisis, breaking world records by raising over 206 million euros, 262 million USD on its opening day.
The sale of two bronze sculptures in the YSL collection - originally looted 150 years ago by British and French troops - have been the subject of a Paris court case, after Chinese officials pleaded for them not to be auctioned by owner Pierre Berge, the former partner of late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

Tentoonstelling Gemeentemuseum: Liefde! Kunst! Passie! - Kunstenaarsparen

Alexej von Jawlensky (1864 - 1941) Mädchen mit Pfingstrosen / Meisje met pioenrozen, 1909 Olieverf op karton, op multiplex 101 x 75 cm

Tentoonstelling Gemeentemuseum: Liefde! Kunst! Passie! - Kunstenaarsparen

Kunstenaarsechtparen
Liefde! Kunst! Passie! Haags Gemeentemuseum
21 februari t/m 01 juni 2009 in het Gemeentemuseum.
Liefde, kunst en passie staan centraal in deze grote tentoonstelling met 17 beroemde kunstenaarsechtparen als Frida Kahlo en Diego Rivera, Camille Claudel en Auguste Rodin, Hans Arp en Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Robert en Sonia Delaunay, Wassily Kandinsky en Gabriele Münter, Natalia Gontscharowa en Michel Larionov, Lee Krasner en Jackson Pollock, Marianne von Werefkin en Alexej von Jawlensky, Niki de Saint-Phalle en Jean Tinguely. Aan de hand van kunstwerken, uit de periode vanaf eind negentiende eeuw tot midden twintigste eeuw, van over de hele wereld worden de persoonlijke en artistieke relaties van elk kunstenaarspaar zichtbaar gemaakt.
Topstukken uit hele wereld
Welke ideeën en patronen speelden een rol in de combinatie van kunst en leven voor elk paar, welke mogelijkheden dienden zich aan? Welke afhankelijkheden ontwikkelden zich tussen de partners en welke invloed heeft dit uiteindelijk gehad op hun artistieke productie? Aan de hand van museale topstukken van over de hele wereld worden de persoonlijke en artistieke relaties van elk kunstenaarspaar zichtbaar gemaakt.

De vele werken in de tentoonstelling geven tevens een kunsthistorisch tijdsbeeld van de eerste helft van de twintigste eeuw. De bezoeker krijgt topstukken te zien ondermeer uit het Duitse expressionisme (Kandinsky en Münter, Von Jawlensky en Von Werefkin), Nederlands expressionisme (Else Berg en Mommie Schwarz, Karin van Leyden-Kluth en Ernst van Leyden, Armand Bouten en Hanny Korevaar), Russisch rayonisme (Gontsjarova en Larionov), orfisme (Sonia en Robert Delaunay), dadaïsme (Hans en Sophie Arp), Amerikaans abstract expressionisme (Lee Krasner en Jackson Pollock) als ook het Europese abstraction lyrique (Hans Hartung en Anna-Eva Bergman). Naast schilderijen zijn er ook meubels (van Ray en Charles Eames), installaties en sculpturen – waaronder de beroemde Kus van Auguste Rodin.

The Boom Is Over. Long Live the Art!

Damien Hirst’s “Golden Calf” sold for $18.6 million last year, but the art climate has changed.

Arts / Art & Design
The Boom Is Over. Long Live the Art! (New York Times Permalink)
By HOLLAND COTTER Published: February 15, 2009
Memories of recessions past suggest that a financial scouring can be good for American art.

Annie Leibovitz . A Photographer’s Life . 1990 - 2005 in C/O Berlin

Photographer Annie Leibovitz from the U.S. poses in front of her picture 'Monument Valley' at the C/O gallery in Berlin, February 20, 2009. The gallery hosts her exhibition 'A Photographer's Life 1990-2005' from February 21 until May 24 in the German capital. (Source Reuters/Tobias Schwarz)

Exhibition: C/O Berlin, Annie Leibovitz . A Photographer’s Life . 1990 - 2005
21.02. to 24.05.09

C/O Berlin presents “A Photographer’s Life” as first and only venue in Germany. The exhibition comprises a total of 200 photographs, many of them large-format works and monochrome landscapes, as well as a number of private family photos and small format black and white portraits.
A family album, a comprehensive exhibition, and a personal diary – Annie Leibovitz’s photographs from her private life and professional work merge seamlessly into a chronicle of the events, official commissions, and personal stories of the last fifteen years.
Annie Leibovitz, born in 1949 in Westport, Connecticut, USA, is one of the most important and influential portrait photographers worldwide. Covering both applied and artistic photography, the scope of her work is extremely broad. Along with her portraits, her photo documentaries and advertising campaigns for numerous American companies have achieved high acclaim. She attained international prominence in 1980, when she photographed John Lennon naked in bed with Yoko Ono – hours before his death. Leibovitz lives in the USA.

Venice creates a Renaissance garden

Venice creates a Renaissance garden
(00:38) Rough Cut Reuters Video
Feb 15 - Venice turned its centrepiece St Mark's Square into a Renaissance garden on Sunday (February 15) for this year's carnival.
The ten days of carnival will try to recreate the opulence of the 1700's, a decadent time during which Venice's elite spent fortunes on parties and gambling, allowing their military and commercial empire to decay until Napoleon conquered the city in 1797.
The festival signals the start of Venice's tourist season.

The silver dollar award of 2007, Joao Viegas, Faro, Portugal for his painting "the surfers"

The surfers, 162 x 180 cm, prijs €1.500,-

The silver dollar award of 2007, an annual token of appreciation sponsored by the wish tree foundation was given to Joao Viegas, Faro, Portugal for his painting "the surfers".

Viegas' masterpiece was also choosen by the audience as most remarkable painting of 2007.
The painting shows a deep commitment to creating art by the artist, the vulnerability of the human being confronted with nature could not be expressed in a more delicate way an assistant conservator of the Hague museum quoted. Please have a look at the painting yourself:

Joao Viegas Blog

golgata, joa viegas, 182 x 160 cm price € 2.100,-
This painting is donated to the Wish Tree Foundation

Het nieuwe Scheringa Museum voor Realisme in Opmeer

Het nieuwe Scheringa Museum zal in januari 2010 worden geopend.

In de Noord-Hollandse polder wordt het nieuwe Scheringa Museum gebouwd. Het museum, dat een verzameling realistische kunst omvat, wordt gebouwd in het Noord-Hollandse plaatsje Opmeer. Dat is enige kilometers van de plek waar het huidige museum, in een voormalige huishoudschool, staat.
Het museum is te klein geworden voor de collectie, die inmiddels ruim 1200 werken omvat. Eigenaar Dirk Scheringa vult de verzameling aan met gemiddeld twee kunstwerken per maand.
Het nieuwe museum biedt meer ruimte (ruim 10.000 m2). Uitgangspunt bij het ontwerp van Herman Zeinstra van Dok Architecten was dat in alle museumzalen het daglicht kon toetreden. Vanuit het zogeheten collectiehuis kan de bezoeker de beeldentuin in wandelen, waar werken van Fernando Botero en René Magritte te zien zijn.
Het huidige museum, dat sinds 1997 bestaat, blijft open en organiseert tijdelijke tentoonstellingen tot aan de verhuizing naar het nieuwe gebouw. Het museum trekt bijna 45.000 bezoekers per jaar. (Bron ANP, Architectenweb)

Nieuwbouw Scheringa Museum voor Realisme, Webcam - Tussen 8:00 en 16:00 uur elke 30 minuten een nieuwe foto.

3d animatie, nieuwbouw Scheringa Museum

The High - End Art Market - A Second Tulip Mania

A Second Tulip Mania

The prices of contemporary art works have risen to astonishing levels in recent years. Insiders say it’s because we have been living through a golden age of art. Nonsense, argue Ben Lewis and Jonathan Ford, it is a classic investment bubble
Ben Lewis - Jonathan Ford
(Source Forbes.com, Prospect Magazine)
The bubble in contemporary art is about to pop. It has exhibited all the classic features of the South Sea bubble of 1720 or the tulip madness of the 1630s. It has been the bubble of bubbles—balancing precariously on top of other now-burst bubbles in credit, housing and commodities—and inflating more dramatically than all of them. While British house prices took six years to double at the start of this century, contemporary art managed it in just one, 2006-07. (Over the same period, old masters went up by just 7.6 per cent and British 17th to 19th century watercolours actually lost value.) Contemporary art in the emerging economies did even better. The value of its sales in China increased by 983 per cent in one year (2005-06). In Russia they rose 2,365 per cent in five years (2000-05), while its stock market increased by "only" about 300 per cent.

Even these numbers understate the incredible tulip-like increases in the value of the hottest artists. The Chinese painter Zhang Xiaogang saw his work appreciate 6,000 times, from $1,000 to $6m (1999-2008); work by the American artist Richard Prince went up 60 to 80 times (2003-2008). The German painter Anselm Reyle was unknown in 2003; you could have picked up one of his stripe paintings for €14,000. Now he has a studio with 60 assistants turning them out for about €200,000 each. Any figures for the whole contemporary art market are guesswork, though Christie's chief executive, Ed Dolman, recently estimated that it had grown in value from $4bn a year to somewhere between $20-30bn in the past eight years.

But this bubble is now deflating. Sotheby's share price has lost three quarters of its value over the past year, sinking from its peak of $57 in October 2007 to $9 in early November—close to its 1980s low of $8. The latest round of contemporary art auctions in London has gone badly. In October, the Phillips de Pury sale made only £5m—a quarter of the minimum estimate; at Christie's almost half the lots didn't sell; and an air of denial hung over the Frieze art fair like a fog. Upmarket dealers Matthew Marks and Iwan Wirth claimed to have clinched many big deals, but the reality was surely different. A leading New York gallerist was said to have sold very little and a well-known German dealer not a single work.

Some dealers have blamed the poor quality of the works in the London sales. "Just wait for New York in mid-November," one said, "and you'll see the art market is still doing well." But New York has been no better. This should have come as no real surprise. If you consider the market as a purely financial enterprise, rather than one in which aesthetic quality has any bearing, then the boom in contemporary art has the hallmarks of a classic investment bubble.

In his book, Manias, Panics, and Crashes, Charles Kindleberger observed that manias typically start with a "displacement" that excites speculative interest. It may come from a new object of investment or from the increased profitability of existing investments. It is followed by positive feedback as rising prices encourage less experienced investors to enter the market. Then, as the mania gets a grip, speculation becomes more diffuse and spreads to other types of asset. Fresh assets are created at an ever faster rate to take advantage of the euphoria and investors try to increase their gains by borrowing to buy assets or using derivatives. Credit ultimately becomes overextended, swindling and fraud proliferate, and the mania ends in panic as investors seek to liquidate their positions.

The art market has adhered spookily to Kindleberger's model. By 2004 it was clear that a boom in contemporary art was well underway ("The price of art," Ben Lewis, Prospect, October 2004.) At the Armory show, New York's trendsetting contemporary art fair, dealers sold $43m worth of art in four days, nearly twice as much as the previous year. There were huge price rises at auction, too. A 1996 sculpture of a stuffed horse hanging from a ceiling, Ballad of Trotsky, by the fashionable and witty Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, sold for $2m at auction in May 2002. It had increased in value tenfold in two years. Gerhard Richter's paintings quadrupled in value between 2000 and 2004. Even then, buyers were paying $1m to $3m for a work by Hirst, Warhol, Basquiat or Koons. Those sums now seem quaint—last year a Koons went for $23m, a Hirst for $20m and a Basquiat for $15m.

World Press Photo 2008 Anthony Suau (USA) wins premier award

World Press Photo 2008 Anthony Suau (USA) wins premier award
The international jury of the 52nd annual World Press Photo Contest have selected a black-and-white image by American photographer Anthony Suau as World Press Photo of the Year 2008.
The picture shows an armed officer of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department moving through a home in Cleveland, Ohio, following eviction as a result of mortgage foreclosure. Officers have to ensure that the house is clear of weapons, and that the residents have moved out. The winning photograph, taken in March 2008, is part of a story commissioned by Time magazine. The story as a whole won Second Prize in the Daily Life category of the contest

The winning Photo is Copyright Protected, it's on the website.

Botero mezcla el horror de Abu Ghraib con la magia del circo

Botero mezcla el horror de Abu Ghraib con la magia del circo - Jubii TV

La Casa de las Artes de Vigo acoge hasta el 1 de febrero la exposición 'Fernando Botero. Abu Ghraib-El circo'. La muestra se compone de un total de 95 obras en las que contrapone "la fiesta y el aspecto lúdico" del circo a "la pesadilla, el horror y la destrucción" de las torturas en la prisión de Abu Ghraib, en Iraq. Esta exposición consta de dos series: la del circo, integrada por 25 pinturas y 24 dibujos; y la de Abu Ghraib, formada por 24 pinturas y 22 dibujos de este artista colombiano. La muestra, que ya ha visitado países como EEUU, Grecia, Alemania o Italia, podrá contemplarse por primera vez en el norte de España, tras haber estado expuesta en el Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM). Según explicó en rueda de prensa el propio Fernando Botero, la creación de los cuadros de la serie Circus.

Upcoming Exhibitions: The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) In & Out of Amsterdam | 1960-1975

Upcoming Exhibitions: The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) In & Out of Amsterdam | 1960-1975
Special Exhibitions Gallery, third floor, and The Paul J. Sachs Prints and Illustrated Books Gallery, second floor
July 19—October 5, 2009
Press Preview: July 14, 2009, 10:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m.

This exhibition examines approximately 120 works by artists of different nationalities relating to travel and the city of Amsterdam, which was the nexus of intense art activities in the 1960s and 1970s, when artists converged there from elsewhere in Europe and from the United States. Hanne Darboven, Gilbert & George, Charlotte Posenenske, Allen Ruppersberg, and Lawrence Weiner, among others, spent considerable amounts of time in Amsterdam and often produced works in direct relation to the city. Reciprocally, some of the most influential Dutch artists traveled extensively abroad before establishing themselves in Amsterdam: Jan Dibbets studied in London, while Ger van Elk trained in Los Angeles, where he paradoxically met his fellow countryman Bas Jan Ader. Finally, the Suriname-born Stanley Brouwn, arguably one of the most important figures of European conceptual art, came to Amsterdam as a young adult, where he developed work that plays with the idea of dimensions and distances and prefigures a number of conceptual-based art practices. Because cross-influences between Dutch and American art scenes were so abundant, it is impossible to understand the historical significance of these artists without acknowledging their new mobility. Because of this, prints, bulletins, posters, mail art, artists’ books, and ephemera took on an unprecedented role. The exhibition will also include drawings, installations, wall drawings, films, and video pieces. Organized by Christophe Cherix, Curator, Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, The Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea in the Brooklyn Museum,

Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848–1894). Oarsman in a Top Hat, 1877–78. Oil on canvas, 35 7/16 x 46 1/16 in. (90 x 117 cm). Private collection March 27–July 5, 2009

Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea in the Brooklyn Museum,
March 27–July 5, 2009

As a participant in the landmark retrospective exhibition that introduced Gustave Caillebotte to the American public in 1976–77, the Brooklyn Museum is proud to present Gustave Caillebotte: Impressionist Paintings from Paris to the Sea, the first major showing of the artist’s oeuvre in New York in over thirty years. In addition to the well-known Parisian cityscapes that have traditionally marked him as the “Urban Impressionist,” Caillebotte painted scenes of outdoor life away from the city on the coast of Normandy and in the villages of Yerres and Petit Gennevilliers, where he and his family maintained estates. The approximately forty paintings included in this focused thematic exhibition reveal Caillebotte’s extraordinary passion for subjects in which water plays a central role—as an enigmatic, magical element reflecting its surroundings, as an essential atmospheric ingredient, and as a scene for sporting activities.As a passionate rower and yachtsman, Caillebotte approached his motifs with the trained eyes and hand of an accomplished engineer and sportsman. The exhibition will also include drawings as well as models and sketches for the construction of Caillebotte’s sailboats.

Brooklyn Museum Exhibitions: Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Brooklyn Museum
Exhibitions: Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, actually composed of 118 splendid woodblock landscape and genre scenes of mid-nineteenth-century Tokyo, is one of the greatest achievements of Japanese art. In order to protect these very special prints, the Museum can only physically display them periodically, but they are presented here in this ongoing online exhibition. The series, reproduced online in its entirety, contains many of Hiroshige's best loved and most extraordinary prints. It is a celebration of the style and world of Japan's finest cultural flowering at the end of the shogunate.

$30 Million Lucian Freud

New Art Record: $30 Million Lucian Freud
The price of living artists' work is soaring and billionaires are buying.

Hugo Boss Prize.

On November 13, 2008, Emily Jacir (b. 1970, Palestine) was awarded the seventh biennial Hugo Boss Prize, which was established in 1996 by Hugo Boss and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to recognize and support significant achievement in contemporary art.
Combining the role of archivist, activist, and poet, Jacir creates poignant works of art that are at once intensely personal and deeply political. Her work often addresses the circumstances of the Palestinian territories and its residents, but also highlights universal concepts of exile and the negotiation of tenuous borders as she focuses on the mundane details of everyday life as well as momentous historical events.
February 6–April 15, 2009

Hugo Boss Prize. The biennial HUGO BOSS PRIZE is administered by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and is juried by a distinguished international panel of museum directors, curators, and critics. According to the HUGO BOSS PRIZE criteria, the award is given to an artist whose work represents a significant development in contemporary art. The prize sets no restrictions in terms of age, gender, race, nationality, or media, and the nominations may include young, emerging artists as well as established individuals whose public recognition may be long overdue. The prize carries with it an award of $50,000.
"It has been over a decade since the Guggenheim entered into this collaboration with HUGO BOSS to administer the prize that bears its name," said Lisa Dennison. "Since its inception, the HUGO BOSS PRIZE has become one of the premier juried prizes of the contemporary art world. Perhaps its greatest reward is giving the Guggenheim the opportunity to identify, exhibit, collect, and honor the work of extraordinarily talented artists who are actively redefining cultural and intellectual boundaries around the world."

ART MADRID SERÁ LA FERIA CON MAYOR REPRESENTACIÓN AUTONÓMICA

ART MADRID SERÁ LA FERIA CON MAYOR REPRESENTACIÓN AUTONÓMICA, CON LA PRESENCIA DE GALERIAS DE 15 COMUNIDADES.
Los nuevos programas Young Art y Art Show darán cabida al arte joven.
Art Madrid se mantiene como la segunda feria de arte contemporáneo más importante de España por el número de galerías participantes.
Art Madrid 09 se celebrará del 12 al 16 de febrero de 2009, en el Pabellón de Cristal de la casa de Campo de Madrid.



Art Madrid Press Releases (only in Spanish) PDF Download


Grotere kaart weergeven

Hoogtepunten uit de collectie van het Stedelijk Museum

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Er is niet zoveel te doen in/bij het Stedelijk Museum, de eindeloze verbouwing, de zorg over de sponsorgelden, het teruglopende bezoek en de Bouwkeet activiteiten eisen blijkbaar alle aandacht, energie en creativiteit op. Het Stedelijk is helaas nog steeds in de stad op tour.
Maar er is nog een interessante tentoonstelling van de Hoogtepunten.

Avant-gardes ’20 / ’60
Hoogtepunten uit de collectie van het Stedelijk Museum
26 juni t/m 23 augustus 2009
Groot overzicht van de avant-gardes uit de jaren ‘20 en ‘60 van de vorige eeuw – twee scharnierpunten in de geschiedenis. In de jaren ´20 waren het late kubisme, het surrealisme, Bauhaus, De Stijl en het Russisch constructivisme een begrip. Veertig jaar later vonden belangrijke ontwikkelingen in Amerika plaats, waar stromingen ontstonden als pop art, minimal art en conceptual art. Amsterdam vervulde na de Tweede Wereldoorlog een brugfunctie: veel Amerikaanse kunstenaars kregen hier hun eerste tentoonstellingen.

Galleries, Musea, Art Institutes & Site Specific exhibitions in Amsterdam

Galleries, Musea, Art Institutes & Site Specific exhibitions in Amsterdam
Stichting AKKA, Amsterdam Tentoonstellingsagenda; een tweemaandelijks overzicht van de exposities in Amsterdamse galeries, musea en andere beeldende kunstinstellingen. De agenda is gratis verkrijgbaar bij de deelnemers en bij diverse culturele instellingen als theaters, muziekpodia e.d. De tentoonstellingsagenda staat ook op het internet. Het adres: http://www.akka.nl/akka/akka_nl.htm

AKKA Exhibitions Amsterdam in PDF (in Dutch)
http://www.akka.nl/agenda/2009/0304/download/AKKA20090304.pdf

All the openings day by day

Download AKKA agenda to your iCal (OSX)
Only the openings + info will be put into your iCal agenda
http://www.akka.nl/agenda/2009/0102/ical.html

Wobbe Alkema in het Groninger Museum, 12 maart t/m 14 juni 2009

Wobbe Alkema, Compositie met verticale, 1924, Olieverf op doek, 56 x 56 cm

Wobbe Alkema. Het absolute, het heldere

Van 12 maart t/m 14 juni 2009 presenteert het Groninger Museum vrijwel het gehele vroegere werk van Alkema, waaronder schilderijen en grafiek. Daarnaast is er werk te zien van kunstenaars van De Stijl en van Ploegcollega’s Werkman en Van der Zee. De meeste bevestiging voor zijn kunstenaarsschap vond Alkema in België, bij de kunstenaars
Josef Peeters en Felix de Boeck. Ook van hen is werk te zien.

Wobbe Alkema (1900-1984) is een opvallende kunstenaar, die vrijwel geheel zelfstandig een eigen, abstracte schilderkunst ontwikkelde. In de jaren twintig was hij binnen de kunstenaarsgroep De Ploeg een eenling omdat hij zich afsloot voor het expressionisme. Inspiratie vond hij bij andere constructivisten in Nederland en België. Na bijna vijftien jaar niet geschilderd te hebben, hervatte Alkema na de oorlog zijn werk. Weliswaar was dit latere werk minder absoluut, het bleef van een buitengewone eigenheid. Ook uit deze periode zal werk te zien zijn.

Zijn contacten met Josef Peeters en Felix de Boeck zijn voor de ontwikkeling van zijn werk van grote betekenis geweest. Het abstracte werk van Alkema uit de jaren twintig is van een uitzonderlijk niveau. Met schijnbaar simpele ingrediënten weet hij een eindeloze variatie te bereiken. In deze variaties zocht Alkema naar harmonie en geluk. Alkema was een ernstige persoonlijkheid, die met grote vasthoudendheid zijn weg heeft gezocht in de kunst.

Groninger Museum, Museumeiland 1, 9711 ME Groningen‎


Grotere kaart weergeven

Fake Art Auctions on Luxury Cruises

Park West sued by customers
Plaintiffs demand refunds for “fake” works as gallery dismisses “smear campaign”

Note: This is a developing story and we check for more indepth news about this scandal. (February 7th 2009, this is an important story because potentially the market could get flooded with fake art prints and etchings in the near future and for years to come.)

(Source The Art Newspaper)
MICHIGAN. Park West Gallery, which says it sells 300,000 works annually and earns more than $300m in annual art sales revenue, including through auctions on 85 cruise ships, has been sued by ten customers seeking refunds.
According to the complaint, filed in state court in Oakland County, Michigan, on 23 December, the gallery has refused to refund hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchase prices allegedly collectively paid by the plaintiffs for works by Dalí, Rembrandt and others. The art “was later found by experts to either be fake or have forged signatures, or to be heavily overpriced and misrepresented as bargains and investments”, the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Kaufman Payton & Chapa of Farmington Hills, Michigan, said in a statement on 8 January.
Park West, which is based in Southfield, Michigan, and is headed by Albert Scaglione, dismisses the allegations as false and malicious, and says that the suit is meritless.

“Over the past 40 years, Park West Gallery has served more than 1.2 million satisfied customers,” the gallery said in a statement on 9 January. “We stand behind the authenticity of everything we sell.” The gallery said the lawsuit was “organised to advance the business interests” of an organisation, Fine Art Registry, which Park West sued for defamation in Florida and Michigan in April 2008, citing material on the FAR website that is critical of the gallery. FAR’s assertions are “baseless,” says Rodger Young, the gallery’s lawyer in Southfield, Michigan.
...
In the Michigan case, the ten plaintiffs allege that they paid amounts ranging from $7,000 to over $400,000 to Park West to buy one or more works represented to be by Goya, Marc Chagall, Dürer, Tomasz Rut and other artists, purportedly including etchings by Rembrandt and lithographs by Salvador Dalí. The transactions included purchases at cruise ship auctions and at Park West’s Michigan gallery, the allegations say. The plaintiffs say that they received certificates of authenticity and in a number of cases appraisals, and were also told in a number of cases that the art would go up in value over time. Instead, the complaint alleges, much of it is “worthless”, purportedly including in one case “images removed from an art magazine” and in other cases “digital prints which were nothing more than glorified posters”. The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs are not sophisticated art buyers, and relied on the representations the gallery made to them.

Divine Comedy? Divine Tragedy? Or Divine Farce?
The Great Park West Dali Half Million Dollar Swindle. A Short Summary.

A short summary of a full length documentary in which experts examine a set of Salvador Dali Divine Comedy prints, sold by Park West to two London based lawyers, for over half a million dollars. Examination of the prints show them to be genuine Dali woodblock prints BUT each with a FORGED Dali signature. The prints without the signatures would be worth about $10,000. The prints with genuine Dali signatures would be worth $30-50,000. The prints as they are, with forged signatures, are worth nothing. The video shows how Park West and Royal Caribbean International swindled Sharon Day and Julian Howard out of over half a million dollars. But the story is not over.


Park West Gallery under fire in lawsuit

Art Rotterdam, de kunstbeurs voor hedendaagse kunst.

Art Rotterdam, de kunstbeurs voor hedendaagse kunst. Volkskrant-recensent Rutger Pontzen peilt in hoeverre de economische crisis van invloed is op de kunstmarkt. Hij ziet: veel gemiddelde kunst, veel kitsch, veel camp. Als het maar verhandelbaar is. (4 februari 2009)



Link als de video niet werkt (meestal): http://www.vk.tv/cultuur/article1143585.ece/Art_Rotterdam_verkeert_ook_de_kunstmarkt_in_crisis

Chelsea International Fine Art Competition

Chelsea International Fine Art Competition
Awards valued at a total of $38,000 will include exhibition at Agora Gallery, annual Internet exposure on Art-Mine.com, publicity in ARTisSpectrum magazine and cash awards.
Agora Gallery located in Chelsea New York, the hub of the international art scene has been the sponsor of international fine art competitions for the last 24 years.


The Chelsea International Fine Art Competition is a renowned juried art contest that has been juried by prominent museum curators and art experts.
“Carving a space for new talent is very much at the core of our business,” says Agora Gallery Director Angela Di Bello who has vast experience on the art circuit.
Juror selected artists will gain exposure by exhibiting their work in the famed Chelsea Art Gallery District and their work will be promoted both online and in print. Our fine art contests are juried by influential voices in the New York art world;
The 2009 competition will be juried by Mr. Ira Goldberg, Executive Director, The Art Students League of New York.
In the spirit of an ongoing commitment to giving back to the community we live and work in Agora Gallery will donate 25% of its proceeds from the sale of artwork from the art competition exhibition to the non-profit organization Art Start (www.art-start.org) Through its innovative programs, Art Start brings together art, artists and children in need throughout the New York Metropolitan Area.

Welcome to the 24th Chelsea International Fine Art Competition
Online Entry Form


Entry Deadline - March 10, 2009

Kunstbeeld op Art Rotterdam

Kunstbeeld op Art Rotterdam

Laatste nieuws en foto's op Kunstbeeld.nl
Kunstbeeld doet live verslag van Art Rotterdam, via Kunstbeeld.nl. Hier vindt u bijvoorbeeld het laatste nieuws over de illy prize 2009, een interview met Carlo Bach, art director van Illy en een uitgebreid fotoverslag.
Zie: www.kunstbeeld.nl

Van 5 t/m 8 februari a.s. wordt in Rotterdam de tiende editie van Art Rotterdam georganiseerd, één van de meest levendige beurzen voor hedendaagse kunst in Europa. De beurs, die plaatsvindt in de Rotterdamse cruise terminal, is dé plek om de laatste ontwikkelingen in de beeldende kunst te volgen en aanstormend talent te ontdekken. Ook Kunstbeeld is met een stand aanwezig op Art Rotterdam.

Art Rotterdam, 5 t/m 8 feb. 2009, Cruise Terminal, Rotterdam, www.artrotterdam.nl

The auction of the Yves Saint Laurent's Art Collection at Christie's Paris is an important indicator for the Art Market in 2009-2010

The auction of the Yves Saint Laurent's Art Collection at Christie's Paris is an important indicator for the Art Market in 2009-2010

Christie's labeled the auction the "sale of the century", although it's a bit early in the 21 Century and the effects of the current economic crisis are just beginning to show up.
We collected some articles about the collection and the auction because we are convinced about the importance of this Auction for the Art Market and the general development of the prices for Contemporary Art.

"Les Coucous, Tapis Bleu et Rose," is part of an ensemble of works in the collection by Henri Matisse. Painted in 1911, it is estimated to sell for $16 million to $23 million.

Inside Yves Saint Laurent's Art Collection
(Forbes.com)
At an unprecedented auction in Paris, a Matisse masterpiece stands out in a sale that could fetch $390 million.
When iconic designer Yves Saint Laurent died of brain cancer in June last year at the age of 71, he left behind a rich fashion legacy: He popularized the women's pantsuit, see-through blouses and the safari jacket. But he also left behind one of the world's greatest art collections.
Assembled over 50 years with his lover and business partner Pierre Bergé, the 700-plus works will go on the block Feb. 23 in a three-day auction that art-world aficionados are referring to as the sale of the century. The collection spans a range of styles and eras, including old master paintings and drawings, rare works by impressionist greats, African art and more. Christie's International, which is running the sale at Paris' Grand Palais, is estimating a total take as high as $390 million.
Proceeds from the sale will go to two charitable foundations set up by Saint Laurent and Bergé.
Since the financial markets started collapsing in the fall, auctions have struggled, and auction houses have limited the number of lots for sale.

PARIS: Less than four months after the death of the French couturier Yves Saint Laurent, his longtime partner and companion Pierre Bergé announced in September that he intended to sell the art collection that they had compiled over 50 years together. The three-day sale by Christie's France in collaboration with Pierre Bergé & Associés, Bergé's own auction house, will start here Feb. 23.
Labeled the "sale of the century" by Christie's, it will include over 700 lots with an estimated total value of €200 million to €300 million, or $255 million to $380 million.

China lawyers to sue Christie's over Yves Saint Laurent auction: report
(International Herald Tribune)
Chinese lawyers will sue auction giant Christie's over the sale of relics owned by the late Yves Saint Laurent which they say were stolen from a looted Beijing palace, according to state press.
The lawyers are hoping that French courts will stop the auction house from selling two bronze animal heads at a February sale in Paris and order the return of the relics to China, the Beijing Times reported.
"The lawsuit will be placed before a French court in accordance with international law," Liu Yang, one of 67 Chinese lawyers working on the case, told the paper.
"We are demanding that the auction house stop the sale and order the owner of the stolen items to return them."
The relics currently belong to the Yves Saint Laurent Foundation and were being put up for auction by the late fashion magnate's partner Pierre Berge, the paper said.

Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge Collection slated for Feb. 23-25 auction
http://acn.liveauctioneers.com/index.php/auctions/upcoming-auctions/373-yves-saint-laurent-and-pierre-berge-collection-slated-for-feb-23-25-auction-in-paris

Pierre Bergé 23-25 February 2008, Christie Auction
PARIS - Christie's is honored to announce the sale of the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé Collection, which will take place in Paris on Feb. 23, 24 and 25, 2009 at the Grand Palais, Paris, in association with the Pierre Bergé & Associates auctioneers.
The works of art in the respective apartments of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé at the rue de Babylone and the rue Bonaparte, were brought together to become one of the most important collections ever to come onto the art market. A reflection of 50 years of passionate and detailed search for rare and unique pieces, this
shared collection is a truly moving exhibition of their shared eye. It is one of the most sumptuous private collections of our time, a French paragon of quality and taste, consisting of masterpieces of Modern Art, Art Deco, European furniture and works of art, antiquities, Old Master and 19th-century paintings and drawings. The more than 700 works are expected to realize between $270 million and $404 million.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE COLLECTION YVES SAINT LAURENT and PIERRE BERGE CHRISTIE’S 23-25 February 2009, the PDF download from Christie's PressCenter
http://www.christies.com/presscenter/pdf/09262008/112357.pdf

Christie's Press Releases
http://www.christies.com/about/press-center/index.aspx

Possible scam from a guy who calls himself Craig Hill about Toulouse 2009 Contemporary art

Possible scam from a guy named Craig Hill about Toulouse 2009 Contemporary art.

We received this mail today, it raised our suspicions. We checked in Google and found some posts on the WetCanvas Forum see this thread: http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=544806

This Craig Hill is using a gmail account. There is nothing to find about the Toulouse 2009 Contemporary art, Scripture Art and Photography Exhibition on the Internet.

Lately we see an increase of (different) scam attempts so we place this scam also on our Spam-Boycot site on this page: http://www.spam-boycot.com/html/crooks_and_creeps.html

Dear Artist/Photographer, I am delighted to inform you that you are invited to participate in Toulouse 2009 Contemporary art, Scripture Art and Photography Exhibition, which is to take place here in Toulouse, France. As Artist/creative photographer, you are entitled to a preparation grant of 500 Euro. The exhibition is slated to hold on the 11th to 15th of June 2009 and sponsored by the Government of the state of Toulouse in conjunction with some corporate bodies. You are expected to come along with some of your work and be ready to explain every motive and inspiration behind every of your work to all who will be interested in your work. You also have the opportunity of showcasing and selling your work and ideas to interested buyers around the world at the exhibition. If you will be available for the exhibition forward to us your Full Names, Residential Address, and Telephone Number. Note that the information supplied will undergo a serious scrutiny before approval can be given for the grant to be issued to you. Our sponsors will be responsible for your transportation expenses; we will also provide exhibition application fee, accommodation and feeding during the one-week exhibition. A guaranteed sum of 5000 Euro courtesies the state of Toulouse will be given to you immediately after the one-week exhibition. You have the right to accept or decline this invitation. Yours Sincerely, Craig Hill

Scope New York 2009, 4. March 2009 until 8. March 2009

Scope New York 2009
4. March 2009 until 8. March 2009

NEW YORK- Building on Miami's overwhelming success, SCOPE launches its 2009 season with its flagship fair, SCOPE New York 09. SNY09, an invitation only edition of SCOPE art fairs, proudly returns to Manhattan's most famous cultural icon, Lincoln Center, with a glass facade pavilion situated in Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park, at the corner of 62nd Street and 10th Avenue. SCOPE New York is just blocks from the Armory Show and serviced daily by VIP Zipcars, shuttles and pedicabs.
Last year's fair featured galleries from four continents and 20 countries, including China, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, UK, Spain, and Canada. SCOPE New York 2009's 50 invitees will uphold its unique tradition of solo and thematic group shows presented alongside museum-quality programming, collector tours, screenings, and special events. The fair opens to Press, SCOPE and Armory VIPs on Wednesday, March 3, 3-9pm with the FirstView benefit, a $100 charitable donation for all non-VIP cardholders.


Location Lincoln Center Damrosch Park 62nd Street and Amsterdam (10th Avenue) New York, NY 10023

Part of China's famed terra-cotta army is coming to the U.S. for a traveling exhibit over the next two years

Part of China's famed terra-cotta army is coming to the U.S. for a traveling exhibit over the next two years

Visit nationalgeographic.com/terracottawarriors to plan your trip 2,200 years back in time. The web site features video, images, and all the details you need to plan your visit to this stunning exhibition

Soldiers. Charioteers. Archers. Musicians. Generals. Acrobats. Nearly 2,000 years ago, thousands of life-size clay figures were buried in massive underground pits to accompany China's first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, into the afterlife. Their discovery outside the city of Xi'an in 1974 is one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.
Now, you can stand face-to-face with these terra cotta warriors. In November 2009, National Geographic Museum will host Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor, an exhibition featuring treasures from the tomb complex including 15 life-size figures, weapons, armor, coins, and more. Don't miss this chance to see the largest collection of significant artifacts from China ever to travel to the United States.

April 29, 2008—Part of China's famed terra-cotta army is coming to the U.S. for a traveling exhibit over the next two years. VIDEO

Download Teachers Resources (PDF)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/terracottawarriors/assets/TC_Teachers_Guide_ALL.pdf

Dutch Cityscapes Exhibition Premieres to U.S. Audiences at the National Gallery of Art

Jan van der Heyden (Dutch, 1637 - 1712), The Keizersgracht and the Westerkerk in Amsterdam, c. 1667-1670; oil on panel; overall: 54 x 63 cm (21 1/4 x 24 13/16 in.). Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo

Dutch Cityscapes Exhibition Premieres to U.S. Audiences at the National Gallery of Art
February 1–May 3, 2009, Washington D.C.

The exhibition coincides with the 400th anniversary of the Dutch exploration and settlement of the Hudson River Valley. Henry Hudson 400 Year, Amsterdam - New York website: http://www.henryhudson400.com/home.php

(Note: Usually we do not use this blog for, Classical, Old Dutch or Flemish and Figuarative Art and Paintings but the other blog, Kunstjaar, Art news and Exhibitions, Realism and Figurative Paintins http://kunstjaar.wordpress.com/ But this exhibition is of a particular importance for historians, architecture and art students.)

In the 17th century a new genre of painting—the cityscape—emerged, fostered by the booming economy of the Dutch Republic and its affluent urbanites. Images of towns and cities became expressions of enormous civic pride.

Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague.
Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague, October 11, 2008–January 11, 2009; National Gallery of Art, February 1–May 3, 2009
http://www.mauritshuis.nl/
http://www.nga.gov/

(From ArtDaily. org Newspaper)
The booming economy of the Dutch Republic fostered a new genre of painting in the 17th century—the cityscape. Images of towns and cities expressed the enormous civic pride of the era. Some 40 Dutch master artists are represented in the exhibition, including Gerrit Berckheyde, Aelbert Cuyp, Carel Fabritius, Jan van Goyen, Jan van der Heyden, Pieter de Hooch, Jacob van Ruisdael, Pieter Saenredam, and Jan Steen. A standout is Van Goyen's 15-foot-long View of The Hague from the Southeast (c. 1650–1651), which he painted for the town hall. Other cities depicted in the exhibition include Amsterdam, Haarlem, Delft, Dordrecht, Hoorn, Middleburg, Utrecht, Nijmegen, and Rhenen.
Holland was by far the most urbanized region of the 17 provinces of the Netherlands, evident in the many proud cityscapes of the largest and most prosperous cities: The Hague, the center of government; Amsterdam, the economic capital; Delft, with its intimate courtyards; and Haarlem, with its dynamic textile center situated near the dunes on the North Sea. The residents of Haarlem were particularly proud of their massive church St. Bavo, which even today defines the central market square. Native son Gerrit Berckheyde painted the church and the market numerous times, but St. Bavokerk in Haarlem (1666) is his most extraordinary depiction of the church. It fills the entire panel, with a remarkably accurate rendering of architectural details.
Amsterdam was the fastest-growing city in the Netherlands, becoming a port and trading center of international stature during this period. In 1652 Amsterdam's town hall, which was painted by Pieter Saenredam, burned in a spectacular fire that was recorded by many artists, including Jan Beerstraten. A new town hall (the present Palace on Dam Square), completed in 1665, was considered the eighth wonder of the world. In 1667Jan van der Heyden painted the town hall from an extreme angle, creating the sensation of the viewer looking up at this enormous structure.