September 2010

Explore the Apollo archive

Look back over two vibrant years of Apollo: browse every issue from January 2006 to the present day.

Reinstallation of LACMA wins Curator Award
The reinstallation of LACMA's permanent collection of modern art has earnt its curator, Stephanie Barron, recognition from the Association of Art Museum Curators' Awards. Other recipients were Anne Umlandm from the Museum of Modern Art, Norman Kleeblat at the Jewish Museum, and Charlotte Eyerman at the St. Louis Art Museum.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts appoints new head of decorative arts
MIA have announced the appointment of Eike D. Schmidt as the new ‘James Ford Bell Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture’ and head of the ‘Department of Decorative Arts, Textiles & Sculpture’. He will start later this year, having come from Sotheby’s, London, where he has been the Director of the European Sculpture and Works of Art Department. Previously he has worked at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, Italy.

Calder Prize winner announced
The $50,000 Calder Prize winner is Argentinean artist Tomas Saraceno. The artist will be awarded the prize at the opening of the Venice Biennale.

Art syndicate hopes to snare £40million bargain
A group of investors led by Philip Hoffman, under the name of The Fine Art Fund Group, is looking to take advantage of the worldwide decline in art prices. They are believed to be bidding on two corporate collections, one belonging to a major manufacturer, the other to a Spanish bank. The works in these collections include a Picasso and a series of Cindy Sherman photographs.

Mystery of stolen Moore solved
Hertfordshire police have finally solved the theft of 'Reclining Figure' from the Henry Moore Foundation in December 2005. They believe that the sculpture was stolen by a ‘group of travellers’ from Essex who cut up the sculpture, worth £3 million, and sold it on as scrap metal for as little as £1,500. The police say that theft of public sculptures in the UK is up 500% in the last three years.

Michelle Obama opens new Met wing, stresses importance of the arts
At the opening of the Metropolitan’s new American Wing Galleries in New York, Michelle Obama said that the arts weren’t just nice, but that they 'define who we are as a people' and said that she and the President are dedicated to ensuring 'that all children have access to great works of art'.

Re-calibrating contemporary values in NY: a May auction summary
In New York, figures for May show that the volume and price levels of contemporary art at auction have dropped significantly, and that bidding was especially thin for items over $1 million. Sotheby’s offered 48 works on 5 May, which fetched $40.1m (£29.3m). This was the smallest New York contemporary auction since May 2003, down 87 per cent on last year. Christie’s offered 54 works on 6 May, estimated to fetch $71.5m-$104.5m total, the sale totalled $80.9m (£57.8m). The equivalent sale a year ago brought $294m (£158m). At Phillips du Pury on 14 May, the sale struggled to bring half of its $12.2m-17m estimate, with 12 of the 43 lots unsold.

Jenny Saville cover-art banned, proves art retains shock value
The original painting by Jenny Saville for the cover of the Manic Street Preachers’ latest album will be covered by a plain slip when displayed in the top four UK supermarkets. 'Stare' (2005), a young girl with a birthmark on one side of her face in Saville’s trademark pigmented flesh style, was deemed 'inappropriate' by supermarket heads.

   Previous Back to Muse   Next 

ShareThis  |   Print this article  |   Subscription offers  |   Comments (2)