Category: visual

For years a Minneapolis woman guarded a trunk full of old photos taken before World War I without caring much what they were.  When she finally went searching for their history she was “rewarded with a family story that involves murder, prison, an earthquake, royalty, musicians and the photographer’s affair in Vienna with an Italian count.” – The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

“In March, Christie’s Auction House of New York City unloaded all of the 60 paintings created by artists that happen also to be elephants, including Sao (a former log-hauler in Thailand’s timber industry), whose work was likened by Yale art historian Mia Fineman to work of Paul Gauguin for its ‘broad, gentle, curvy brush strokes’ and ‘a depth and maturity.’ Fineman said she is writing a book on the three distinct regional styles of Thai elephant art.” – The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

When the Berlin Wall came down 11 years ago, artists from around the world quickly covered what was left of the eastern side with more than 100 paintings, creating “the world’s longest open-air gallery.” Now that most of the artwork has deteriorated, city officials want the remaining wall torn down. But the artists have banded together to lobby for its restoration: “It is symbolic that when the wall fell the artists could paint in the east. It is necessary for a new generation to see this history of the division of the city.” – ABC News (Reuters)

“For almost 30 years, 420 Broadway served as Soho’s capital of contemporary art, headquarters for Leo Castelli, Ileana Sonnabend, and John Weber, as well as a string of other important dealers.” But with most of the important dealers having folded their tents and headed to Chelsea, now the building “stands empty, with demolition crews tearing out the ghosts of exhibitions past to make way for luxury co-ops.” – Village Voice

At least 150 rare antiquarian books and artworks were stolen from the Japanese embassy in London, by the very man employed over the last three years to organize the valuable collection. Recovery will be difficult since the discovery came months after the collection had already been sold through auctions at Christie’s. – Japan Times

Until very recently, photography in Russia was regarded as a documentary exercise rather than an artform. Now the Hermitage has appointed its first curator of photography, and the daunting task of sorting through thousands of photos – just to see what’s there – begins. – Chicago Tribune

Washington’s Hirshhorn Museum picks a new chief curator –  Kerry Brougher, an American who is director of the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, England. – Washington Post

Who says parks have to be in beautiful idyllic places? Artist Julie Bargmann creates parks on land no one would ever call pretty – on the site of a befouled abandoned mine. “Its central feature will be a stream of acidic water that will percolate out of the mine and course down a limestone-lined canal into aerating basins and finally to a wetland for a final rinse.” – Time

The former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan is restoring Bukhara, a stop on the ancient ‘Silk Road’ trading route that became an Islamic center of learning. “Restorers desperately want to maintain the city’s vitality and avoid the mistakes that turned the historic center of Samarkand, a Silk Road city 150 miles to the east, into a gleaming, but lifeless museum piece.” – CNN

Usually London is not where the major action in Old Master paintings is to be found. But last week’s sales racked up record after record. – The Telegraph (UK)