Category: visual

Prince Hans-Adam II, 59, the current head of the Liechtenstein dynasty, opens a new museum in Austria. “Does Vienna, already crowded with some 160 museums, need one more? The Liechtenstein Museum is different, not only because it can tap one of the world’s largest private collections, but also because it reflects the idiosyncrasies of generations of private collectors. Further, the museum, which opened in March, contains works by Raphael, Rubens, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, van Dyck and others.”

Last week’s London art sales signalled a shift in taste in the art markets, writes Carol Vogel. “Buyers’ appetites consistently moved from the 19th century toward classic modern and contemporary art. Prices soared for 20th-century masters like Egon Schiele, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Francis Bacon, while pretty, Impressionist canvases by household names like Renoir or Monet either didn’t sell or brought lower prices than auction house experts had predicted.”

The largest Buddha sculpture in the world is going on display outside Qongqing, China. “The sculpture is a copy of Afghanistan’s 1,500-year-old Bamiyan Buddha that was destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. China’s Ai Duo Group Company spent 16 months making the sculpture out of a giant piece of jade found in Myanmar. The 7-ton jade Buddha is nearly 2.6 metres high and 1.3 metres wide.”

Looking at art at Art Basel is fun, but the real payoff is elsewhere. “The fair may offer the chance to see an array of post-1900 artworks that would put virtually any gallery in the world to shame, but it is the intricate, courtly dance of a thousand discreet business deals that makes the event so gripping.”

“Years ago, mummy “unrollings” were acts of archaeological vandalism, conducted like dramatic performances in front of high-society fee-paying audiences. Now, by a fusion of advanced computer technology and state-of-the-art medical scanning techniques, we can sit in a darkened, air-conditioned “immersive theatre” in the British Museum, put on a pair of 3D glasses and penetrate a mummy’s secret layers, one by one, without destroying a fibre of bandage, without even opening the spectacular painted coffin case. Wood, linen, tissue, bone… we can slice through them all like forensic scientists, like pathologists. It’s quite a project.”

An artist who was sued by Mattel for using images of Barbie in his work, wins after the toy-maker sues for copyright infringement. “It’s enough to give corporations with brands they want to protect and expand pause to consider whether to simply reflexively unleash the hounds the minute they see somebody doing something that relates to their brand of which they don’t approve. It may send a signal that a ‘take no prisoner’ litigation strategy against the little guy has new risks for the plaintiff.”

A 15th Century fresco has been discovered on the ceiling of the Valencia Cathedral in Spain after art restorers became intrigued with pigeons flying through a hole in what turned out to be a false ceiling. “The fresco, which depicts four angels against a starry blue background, was painted by two Italians, Francesco Pagano and Paolo de San Leocadio, in the late 1400s.”

Across America, schools are making inventories of the artworks in their possession. “The steps come with a growing recognition that schools for decades have received valuable artwork that has not always been preserved or used well.”

“Israeli military police have interrogated five reserve soldiers who put on an art exhibition detailing their gratuitous harassment and abuse of Palestinians in the city of Hebron.”

This weekend the British Museum “unwrapped” a 2,800-year-old mummy by use of a high-tech scanner. “Using scanning technology developed by neurological researchers in a London hospital, the British Museum has recreated the kind of public ‘unrolling’ of a mummy that used to draw crowds in the 19th century. In those days irreversible damage was often caused to the remains inside and many mummies were discarded and lost forever.”