Category: visual

“Scotland’s gallery bosses are in talks to buy one of the world’s most spectacular collections of modern art. Art chiefs are hoping to clinch famous works by leading figures such as Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst in a deal with London-based collector Anthony d’Offay. His £100m collection features more than 700 works that he has gathered during a 40-year career. Officials at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh and Glasgow City Council have been in joint talks with the art dealer in a bid to agree a deal. And a new gallery to rival London’s Tate Modern could be built in Edinburgh to house the collection.”

Scotland’s First Minister is personally involved in the d’Offay negotiations, but Scottish officials have warned that the media attention is jeopardizing a potential deal. The collector has made it known that he would like his art holdings to be housed in Scotland, but there are numerous logistical hurdles to be overcome, not the least of which is a lack of appropriate space in either Glasgow or Edinburgh to house the massive collection.

London and Beijing make an agreement for a big swap of archaeological treasures. “This could lead to one or more of China’s world-famous terracotta warriors going on show at the British Museum and to Chinese crowds having their first chance to see Egyptian mummies and cuneiform tablets from London. The directors of the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum, who are in China with Tony Blair, unveiled the exchange deals after two years of secret preparations.”

“In January, the U.K. will follow France and Germany in making sellers of art pay living artists a royalty, ranging from 120 euros ($149) to 12,500 euros. Art merchants must live with that, though they continue to lobby against such measures. They argue that they will be less competitive with the U.S. market, where the rule does not apply, and will be hurt by scheduled extensions to the resale rights, known in France as “droit de suite,” in 2010 to 2012.”

A woman has slashed a painting by Roy Lichtenstein in an Austrian museum. “Nudes in Mirror – which was insured for $6m (£3.2m) – was damaged but not destroyed in the incident. Police said a 35-year-old woman, from Munich, in Germany, pulled a knife from her bag and slashed it four times on Saturday afternoon. She was stopped by visitors and staff at the Kunsthaus Bregenz museum.”

A painting by JMW Turner has won a poll to find Britain’s Grreatest Painting. “The full title of Turner’s painting, completed in 1839, is “The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her Last Berth to be broken up, 1838″. The 98-gun ship Temeraire played a distinguished role in Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.”

In the wake of the bombings in London this summer, attendance at the city’s museums has dropped off considerably. “Overall the seven galleries recorded an average fall of 26% compared with the same week last year. Obviously this has a financial impact, in that less revenue is generated from exhibition tickets, shop sales and catering. The hope must be that numbers will pick up this month and begin returning to normal levels.”

A collection of modern Western art goes on display in Iran for the first time in 25 years. “The exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts includes works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Gauguin, and Warhol. Most of the 188 works were purchased to further Iran’s cultural activities by the wife of the late Shah. But the Shah’s fall saw the collection locked away by an Islamic government opposed to Western influence.

“The J. Paul Getty Trust, which has said it was fully cooperating with Italian authorities, did not disclose a series of letters and photographs that show its chief antiquities curator maintained close relationships with dealers suspected of selling art looted from Italy, according to documents and interviews.”