Category: visual

Moscow’s 1200-bed Children’s Clinical Hospital has quietly become an international pioneer in the field of art therapy, simply by encouraging its young patients to engage their creativity, even as they struggle through batteries of tests and exhausting medical treatments. Now, a Russian foundation is displaying the art created by the young patients in a space normally reserved for “serious” art. “The artworks, which include elaborate beadwork, went on display at the Russian Abroad Foundation, a gleaming new library and research and cultural center that is the creation of Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn and was built with the backing of Moscow’s mayor.”

“In the city that perfected the skyscraper then repeated the formula endlessly, Foster is the European who has taken on the apparently impossible task of rescuing the high-rise from creative exhaustion. His just-completed new headquarters for the Hearst magazine empire, on Eighth Avenue, close to Central Park, succeeds in doing that, and deservedly is getting astonishingly enthusiastic coverage.”

Some of the Smithsonian’s museums suffer from a lack of physical prominence. What’s needed? A central exhibition facility, and Blake Gopnik nominates: “The Smithsonian’s glorious 1881 Arts and Industries Building, shuttered since early 2004 and neglected or underused for many years before. In architectural terms, it is one of the most important landmarks in Washington.”

While Italy is getting aggressive about demanding the return of artifacts it believes have been stolen, othe countries are pressing Italy to return objects it has taken. Ethiopia, for one, has some claims it would like to talk about…

Cincinnati Art Museum director Timothy Rub has been named director and chief executive officer of the Cleveland Museum of Art. “During his six years in Cincinnati, Rub oversaw the creation of the $10 million Cincinnati Wing, renovations of the courtyard and auditorium, reinstallation of the African and American art collections, and free general admission.”

Louisa Buck was a judge for this year’s Turner Prize. “Critics of the prize, such as the tedious Stuckists, say that it is an inside job. Well you wouldn’t ask someone who knows nothing about dogs to judge Crufts, would you? All I can say is that I had my eyes opened and my mind changed on several occasions.”

A new pamphlet purporting to lay out the four greatest skyscrapers in the world has included San Francisco’s TransAmerica Pyramid on its list. Bay Area architecture critics are stunned. “There’s nothing brilliant about concrete and steel piled high in ever-narrower amounts. Nor is ‘exquisite’ the word that best describes an ungainly triangle with ear-like elevator shafts sticking out on two sides. And hey, I’m just picking at architectural nits. When the Pyramid was proposed in 1969, critics recoiled at the whole idea — viewing it as a threat to the very integrity of the city they loved.”

Viktor Vekselberg, the Russian mining and oil billionaire is making the investment. “Mr Vekselberg’s new museums will display works drawn from his own holdings which include the Forbes Fabergé collection of Imperial eggs purchased from Sotheby’s in a private sale in 2004 for an undisclosed price which sources estimate at around $120 million. They will also show art belonging to other Russian collectors.”

“Two oil paintings purported to have been the work of Rembrandt have been shown to be fakes, the director of the museum where they are kept has said. The works were donated to the municipal museum in Faro, southern Portugal, in 1944 and were displayed for 25 years despite doubts over their authenticity. Tests have now shown the 17th Century Dutch master could not have painted them… because they used pigments not available until the 19th Century.”

“In 1988, with just $1,800, volunteers founded the Zullo Gallery in [Medfield, Massachusetts, outside of Boston.] The nonprofit space has remained on a shoestring budget ever since. But nearly 18 years and over 75 exhibitions later, Zullo is ready to take its biggest step yet. Plans are underway to create the Zullo Gallery Center for the Arts. In the works are expanded hours, year-round art classes for adults and children, more live music, special events ranging from film screenings to artist demonstrations, and an in-gallery cafe that will spill out onto a rooftop deck.”