Disney-Britton

THE TELEGRAPH A drawing of Leonardo da Vinci  Like handwriting, drawing may become an extinct talent. From the first days of mankind, with charcoal and ochre on cave walls, to our own generation, with funny caricatures in exercise books or letters home, drawing has been co‑natural with humanity. Even Queen Victoria seems a far less rigid figure once one has seen her sketch from 1842 of her toddler daughter chubbily unclothed and attempting to climb into a bath as high as a wheelie-bin. Writing can create pictures, but it would be a disaster to lose the power of the pencil, which has an extra dimension on which it can literally draw. [ link ]

GQ STYLE MAGAZINE By Editors Unknown Ballad, 2016 COPENHAGEN---In our profile of L.A.-based painter Wes Lang from the fall issue of GQ Style, Lang notes that ninety percent of the time, “people have to meet me to get my pieces.” That’s true, but right now we’re in one of those ten-percent zones: The artist has just opened a show of new work at Eighteen Gallery in Copenhagen. Titled The Believer after the 1964 John Coltrane album, the show is made up of four brand-new large-scale paintings made this year at the artist’s Boyle Heights studio in L.A. Each painting gets its own wall in the gallery’s white cube, creating what Lang called, in a text message, “a meditation room.” [ link ]

ARTDAILY "Virgin with Child, St. John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalene" by Parigianino CALIFORNIA---The J. Paul Getty Museum announced today its intention to acquire Virgin with Child, St. John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalene (about 1530-40) by Parmigianino (Italian, 1503-1540), one of the most celebrated painters of the Italian Renaissance. Extremely well-preserved, the painting is a supreme example of the artist’s mature Mannerist style and represents sixteenth-century painting at its finest. The acquisition is subject to an export license being granted by the Arts Council England. The export application is being filed by the seller’s representative, Sotheby’s, on the Getty’s behalf. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Robin Pogrebin “Lot and His Daughters,” an early 17th-century oil work by Peter Paul Rubens, sold for $58 million in July. But such old master paintings rarely come up for auction. Credit via Christie's Old masters, new world. At a time when contemporary art is all the rage among collectors, viewers and donors, many experts are questioning whether old master artwork — once the most coveted — can stay relevant at auction houses, galleries and museums. An appreciation for old masters, experts say, also requires a deeper history of collecting and an educated eye. Christie’s, for example, trains its old master specialists for six to seven years, whereas its contemporary experts get three to four years. And new collectors tend to find contemporary art more accessible. In light of these developments, old masters have become a collecting opportunity. Printings and engravings can go for $4,000 to $5,000. [ link ]

BLOUIN | ARTINFO By Nicholas Forrest Anya Hindmarch (Sotheby’s) UNITED KINGDOM--- Sotheby’s has invited leading British fashion accessories designer Anya Hindmarch to guest-curate an auction of Contemporary Art in London on September 20. Highlights include Keith Haring’s vibrant and energetic “ Untitled ” 1982 (Estimate £200,000 – 300,000), Yayoi Kusama’s early work “ Sea at Sunset ” 1980 (Estimate £6,000 – 8,000), and Ai Weiwei’s “ Fairytale – 1001 Chairs ” 2007 (Estimate £8,000–12,000), to name a few. Anya Hindmarch is a passionate advocate of British arts and design. “I think what really drives a great art collector is passion, you’ve got to love it and the impulse has got to be authentic. I know when I see a beautiful piece or something that affects me I can’t not have it,” said Hindmarch in a statement. [ link ]

GQSTYLE MAGAZINE By Zach Baron Two panels of a five-panel jazz painting originally titled "The Greatest Album of All Time” CALIFORNIA--- Wes Lang spends most of his time in his studio, in Boyle Heights, 11,000 square feet amid a warren of low brick and cinder-block warehouses just east of Los Angeles's Arts District, quiet but for the commotion of trucks. He entertains visitors here frequently, with one rule: no photographs. In part, this is because Lang is a private person—“I'm impossible to find,” he says in his matter-of-fact way. “I really am. You can't get to me unless you know someone I know.” At the moment, Lang has four drawings, all in his manic, Cy-Twombly -by-way-of- Basquiat style, tacked up on the east wall—the one he's finishing now is a gift for a friend. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest &  Gregory Disney-Britton "A Little More Suffering From The Hand Of God" (2016) by Tom Torluemke. Watercolor The hand of God is a symbol of God’s guidance, instruction, and discipline. The more we recognize the hand of God, the better we will be able to follow His lead. Indiana-based artist Tom Torluemke has created a new watercolor that is a perfect reminder: " A Little More Suffering From The Hand Of God " (above). Did you know that there are 122 Bible verses about the "Hand Of God"? Well, quite a few of them are about authority and punishment, and in this case, it's not pretty.

THE GUARDIAN A priest wearing a sacred thread performs a ritual during the festival INDIA---Photographer Navesh Chitrakar documents the Janai Purnima (sacred thread festival) at Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, Nepal. Hindus take baths and change their sacred threads, or Janai, for protection and purification during the festival. [ link ]

THE WASHINGTON POST By David Montgomery A portrait of Yarrow Mamout is on display at the National Portrait Gallery, on loan from the Peabody Room of the Georgetown branch of the D.C. Public Library. (Courtesy of Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, D.C. Public Library) WASHINGTON, DC---Born in about 1736, Yarrow Mamout was abducted from Guinea in West Africa and enslaved at about the age of 16. The Beall family freed him in 1796, when he was 60. He saved his money, bought land and lived in a log house at what is now 3324 Dent Place NW — the only property in the United States “known to have been owned and occupied by a slave brought from Africa.” Yarrow’s story stands for an aspect of slavery that is not well known: As many as a third of the Africans brought in chains to these shores were Muslims. “African Muslims fought in the war of 1812, the Civil War, the American Revolution,” Carey says. “They’ve been here and been present since before this country was a country.” [ link ]

THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT By Amanda Siebert Carolina de la Cajiga's "Aliya" CANADA---The work of local artist Carolina de la Cajiga has been selected to be part of a prestigious art exhibition highlighting contemporary Islamic works selected by a curator from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The fifth annual Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Islamic Art will showcase works inspired by Islamic art, literature, and architecture, and will feature work in a variety of mediums and styles. Carolina de la Cajiga is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is an amalgamation of photography, painting, sculpture, and new technology. [ link ]

ATLAS OBSCURA By Jack Goodman The entrance to the Bhaja caves in Maharashtra state, India. (All Photos Courtesy of David Efurd) INDIA---In the ancient world, architectural thinkers exploited the permanence of rock. Monks have lived in caves since the origins of Buddhism in northeastern India, around the 6th to 4th century B.C. According to early texts, rudimentary caves used as dwellings were transformed over time into spaces with clear elements of architectural design. These inspired the caves found in Maharashtra, which more clearly resemble the interiors of domestic and religious structures from, at the earliest, the 2nd century B.C. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Robin Pogrebin Steven Korff is surrounded by his collection of Japanese ceramics in his Brooklyn home. Credit Dave Sanders for The New York Times NEW YORK---Put your feet up on the coffee table, and you might knock over those pieces by Kakurezaki Ryuichi and Mori Togaku , or that vase by Matsui Kosei . Splash around in the upstairs bathtub, and you’re likely to spray water on the sculptures to your left or your right by some of Japan’s most influential 20th-century ceramic artists. This simple house in Flatbush, Brooklyn, is not only where Steven Korff and Marcia Van Wagner , a married couple, raised their two boys — now 18 and 21 — but where Mr. Korff keeps the more than 400 sculptural vases, bowls, sake cups and flasks that have quietly made him one of the leading collectors in contemporary Japanese ceramics. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Image by Guy Ben-Ner A zine about the Jewish High Holidays will be published this fall by Tamar Nachmany , writer and artist, and he is looking for submissions. Titled, "Yamim Noraim" the zine is about the Jewish High Holidays, the ten days starting with Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur. This period is also known as the "Days of Awe" (Yamim Noraim) or the Days of Repentance. According to Jewish Art Salon : "Submit drawings, paintings, photos, poetry, fiction, essays, propaganda, cartoons, beautiful Jewish texts, messed up Jewish texts, challenging Jewish texts with scribbles in the margins, or anything else to be published in a zine focused on and to be published during the Jewish high holy holidays this fall." For more info click here: http://yamimnoraim.tumblr.com .

THE WASHINGTON POST By Julie Zauzmer The new stamp, courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service WASHINGTON, DC---It took petitions from everyone from schoolchildren to members of Congress, and 12 years of waiting. Soon, a long-hoped-for goal will be a stickum-backed reality of less than a square inch: a new postage stamp recognizing the holiday of Diwali. The stamp, announced by the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday, will be the first stamp honoring the Hindu religion, joining U.S. postage that has marked Christian, Jewish and Muslim holidays in the past. What’s the value of an old-fashioned stamp in a society that uses less and less snail mail? “Stamps are miniature pieces of art that reflect the American experience,” Mark Saunders at the U.S. Postal Service said. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Hanuman sets fire to Lanka with his tail, Ravi Varma Press, Bombay and Lonavla, India Chromolithograph, Early 1900s UNITED KINGDOM---One of the most popular Hindu gods is Hanuman the Monkey , in some tales described as a manifestation of Shiva. Revered for his bravery, strength, loyalty and dedication to justice, Hanuman’s heroic exploits are told in the great Hindu epic Ramayana, in which he is depicted as a warrior fighting for King Rama against the evil demon king Ravana. He is also mentioned in several other texts. Some scholars believe that Hanuman mythology might be the origin of the Chinese Monkey King story. " Monkey Tales: Apes and Monkeys in Asian Art " is on exhibit at the   Ashmolean Museum through October 30, 2016.

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Claudia Barbieri One of about 200 liturgical objects and vestments on display. Credit Jean-Michel Othoniel/Othoniel 2016, via ARS, New York, via ADAGP, Paris. FRANCE---A year after unveiling his “dancing fountains” in the newly reimagined Water Theater Grove at Versailles, the French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel is finishing another piece of spectacular theatricality, this time in the southwestern French town of Angoulême. In the remains of a former bell tower and an adjoining deconsecrated chapel in the cathedral of Saint Pierre, Mr. Othoniel has created what he describes as a totally immersive artwork, a three-room grotto in blue, gold and silver that serves as a showcase for about 200 liturgical objects and vestments from the cathedral’s past. [ link ]

ARTDAILY Lucas van Leyden, The Last Judgement (1526-27). Collection Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden. Photo: Olivier Middendorp. NETHERLANDS---For the coming two years the Rijksmuseum’ s Gallery of Honour is hosting ' The Last Judgement ' (1526-27), the sixteenth-century work of genius by Lucas van Leyden . Over the last 450 years the altarpiece has left Leiden for brief periods only twice, which makes its temporary relocation to Amsterdam a historic event. The triptych is without doubt the jewel in the crown of Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden, which is scheduled to close its doors this autumn for a large-scale renovation and extension project. 'The Last Judgement' is on show in the Rijksmuseum’s Gallery of Honour from 23 August. [ link ]

ARTDAILY Albrecht Dürer, Heiliger Eustachius, 1501 (detail). Kupferstich, 358 x 260 mm. Kunsthalle Bremen – Der Kunstverein in Bremen, Kupferstichkabinett / Photo: Karen Blindow. GERMANY---The Kunsthalle Bremen was able to acquire a work sold more than a hundred years ago by the museum. The well-preserved copperplate engraving of “Saint Eustace” (1501) by Albrecht Dürer is the artist’s largest copperplate engraving, measuring 35.8 x 26 cm, it. During his lifetime, the artist viewed it as his unsurpassed masterpiece and proof of his skills as an engraver. The engraving shows a scene from the “Legenda aurea” by Jacobus de Voragine (1228–1298). A stag with a crucifix between its antlers appeared to the Roman general Placidus (first century A.D., later Saint Eustace). [ link ]

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR By Madeline Buckley INDIANA---Last year, the Indiana American Civil Liberties Union feared the state's religious freedom law could be used to discriminate against gay and lesbian Hoosiers. Now, the organization is using it in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Muslim inmate. The ACLU is suing the Boone County Sheriff's office, accusing the jail staff of refusing to serve a halal diet to Gannon Thomas. Filed on Wednesday, the lawsuit alleges that the staff violated Thomas' First Amendment rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, as well as his rights under Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act . But this is the type of lawsuit, some experts say, that uses the law as it was intended: to protect religious minorities from discrimination. [ link ]

ARTDAILY Levitation of Mary Magdalene, miniature from the choir book of King Louis XII and Queen Anne de Bretagne, France, Paris, ca. 1498. The Morgan Library & Museum. NEW YORK--- The Morgan Library & Museum announced the addition of a number of important objects to its renowned collections. The works highlight a particularly robust period of acquisitions by the museum and range from a rare fifteenth-century illumination from the choir book of King Louis XII to a drawing by Renoir, a book by SaintExupéry, a group of unpublished Henry James letters, one of the first photographs of Mayan architecture, and a 2015 watercolor by Stanley Whitney. [ link ]

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR By Amy Bartner, amy.bartner@indystar.com The church will begin services here in January. It started hosting monthly gatherings on Aug. 11. INDIANA--- Traders Point Christian Church has bought the historic former Jehovah's Witness assembly hall Downtown for $2.7 million using a gift from a "generous person" in the congregation. The 35,452-square-foot building at 1201 N. Delaware St. is the third location and second auxiliary location for the Whitestown megachurch. Earlier this year, Traders Point launched a Carmel location, and 750 people regularly attend services there. The historic neoclassical revival building with Tuscan pillars was designed by Chicago architect Spencer Solon Beman for the Second Church of Christ Scientists . It sold the building to the Baptist Church in 1968, which then sold it to Jehovah's Witnesses in 1978. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS A Little More Suffering From The Hand Of God, 2016) by Tom Torluemke ILLINOIS--- Tom Torleumke's new book, "SYMPTOMS" will be released at an opening exhibition (both titled, "Symptoms") with a selection of the original drawings on Friday, August 26, 2016 at Firecat Projects, 2124 N. Damen Avenue Chicago, IL, from 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS "Little Church" by Orville Bulman (American, 1904-1978)   NEW YORK---Christie’s launches Live with Art sale, a series of auctions on August 23 and 24 in New York City. This auction includes everything from botany-themed porcelain to baroque birds and lemons,  as well religious art such as " Saint Paul " by Flaminio Torri (Bologna 1620-1661 Modena) and " Little Church " by Orville Bulman.   Flaminio Torri , a native of Bologna, first studied under Giacomo Cavedoni (1577-1660) and then worked as a pupil of Simone Cantarini (1612-1648), whose workshop he took over upon the latter's death in 1648. Orville Bulman , a self-taught artist from Grand Rapids and Palm Beach, found his artistic inspiration in the African-American populations of the south and the Caribbean islands, especially Haiti.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory Disney-Britton Leigh Guldig's "Derailed" illustration for the Underground Railroad When it comes to Christianity, the Underground Railroad is America's moral compass. While few used it , most of us today project ourselves as heroes in the story---blacks with the courage to escape, and whites with the courage to help. In her review of the new book, the " Underground Railroad ,"  Kathryn Schulz wrote that it "provides us with moral comfort." We wondered what could be more comforting than Leigh Guldig's railroad that lifts up to the sky? Since its appearance in The New Yorker , however, the illustration has been the subject of some spirited debate.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Ernest Disney-Britton Kids love Underground Railroad stories, and most also believe that they would have been part of it. Today there is almost universal belief that American slavery was evil but also that the Underground Railroad was God's hand at work. In that spirit, I bought the new book titled "Underground Railroad" by  Colson Whitehead , Oprah's book club pick. It's a work of fiction but like most books on this subject it prompts an important question, especially for Christians: If I lived in America during the 1800s, would I have supported the status quo of slavery; been a quiet bystander; or would I have fought against it?

SLANT MAGAZINE By Oleg Ivanov Movie poster An American production, this stop-motion animated film is set in a fantastical vision of medieval Japan, forming part of a rich history of combining occidental and Japanese literary and theatrical traditions in order to look at both cultures anew. Kubo and the Two Strings employs a Japanese setting to show American (and other foreign) audiences a different way of conceptualizing death, mourning, and memory. In presenting a metaphysical conception of the afterlife inspired by Shinto and Buddhist traditions, the film offers a powerful metaphor for the manner in which we carry the memories of our departed inside ourselves, one that both complements and provides a compelling alternative to Judeo-Christian beliefs on the subject. [ link ]

ALASKA DISPATCH NEWS By Cal Thomas Movie poster for Ben Hur, which opened in theaters nationwide on August 19, 2016 HOLLYWOOD---Since Mel Gibson's 2004 blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ" grossed more than $600 million worldwide, Hollywood has slowly begun to look at faith-based movies as a way to fatten their bottom lines and reach a demographic they have mostly ignored for decades. Perhaps the boldest move in this genre is the remake of a classic, " Ben-Hur ." The 1959 film starring Charlton Heston won 11 Oscars, including best picture, best director (William Wyler) and best actor (Heston). It too was a remake of a 1925 silent film version adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel "Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ." This remake has the golden touch of the husband-wife team of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (producers of the highly rated "The Bible" series for the History Channel). [ link ]

ART NEWSPAPER By Rob Sharp Tipu Sultan’s Dream Book (khwabnama, 1785–98). © The British Library Board UNITED KINGDOM---An 18th-century "dream diary" by a sultan in what is now present-day southern India is to go on public display for the first time in October. The volume, part of the British Library's Persian manuscripts collection, will be shown at the Ashmolean Museum , Oxford, as part of its forthcoming exhibition, Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural—the first major British show exploring the place of the supernatural in Islamic art. The exhibition will tackle subjects including divination, horoscopes and the use of omens, through more than 100 objects from the 12th to 20th centuries. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Urhobo artist, Mask, 1800–10. Wood, pigment, metal, 69.2 × 26.7 × 15.2 cm. Promised Museum Acquisition from the Holly and David Ross Collection . NEW JERSEY---How ritual additions to the surfaces of African sculptures alter an object’s appearance and power over time is the focus of a fascinating new exhibition at the Princeton University Art Museum . These surface accumulations—such as layers of organic materials that have cultural and spiritual value, or encrustations that reveal the additions made by multiple hands—offer insight into the history and life of the object. Surfaces Seen and Unseen: African Art at Princeton presents some 20 exceptional works of African art from the Princeton University Art Museum, including newly acquired works from the Holly and David Ross Collection as well as gifts and loans from important private collections.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Crowned Buddha, Tibet, 15th–16th centuries. Mercury gilding, copper alloy, and turquoise. Newark Museum, Purchase 1920 Shelton Collection, 20.454 TENNESSEE---A 15th-century Tibetan crowned Buddha statue will be on display as part of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts' 2017 exhibition lineup. Tibet, Japan, and Korea all practice a form of esoteric or “secret” Buddhism. Called Vajrayana Buddhism, this form utilizes works of art that reveal a complex array of both human and divine figures. This exhibition showcases superlative works from the Newark Museum’s first-rate collection and will make its first appearance at the Frist Center, introducing a general audience to the dazzling aesthetics of Buddhist art and providing a basic understanding of these objects’ function within Buddhist practice.

ALEX AND ANI By Brendan Cunha Photo of Romero Britto by Sergey Bermeniev With the Olympic Games in full swing, we’re getting super excited about our upcoming collection in partnership with Brazil-native, Romero Britto . His colorful style and positive mission inspired us to bring to life something both his fans and ours will truly love. We had the privilege of chatting with the accomplished artist and here’s what he had to say: ALEX AND ANI (AA): The mission of your art closely aligns with the mission of our jewelry. What do you love most about empowering and inspiring others? Romero Britto (RB): My everyday hope is that people feel happy when they see my art. AA: Where do you find inspiration for your art? RB: I find inspiration everyday. I find inspiration when I travel and meet new people. AA: What role does color play in your art? RB: To me, bright colors evoke feelings of joy and happiness. My favorite color is yellow, the color of the sun and life. Did you know t...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Images left to right: Saint Serapion prior to restoration; an x-radiograph image; Saint Serapion post-restoration CONNECTICUT---In 2015 the Wadsworth Atheneum began an extensive restoration treatment of Francisco de Zurbarán’s Saint Serapion (1628). With its restoration now complete, this 17th century masterpiece fittingly hangs in the museum’s newly renovated and reinstalled European art galleries. Painted in the visually dramatic Tenebrist tradition for the monastery of the Shod Mercedarians in Seville, Saint Serapion is a monumental work that contemplates themes of sacrifice, death and redemption, and is considered one of Zurbarán’s masterpieces.

YAHOO NEWS By Adek Berry Tribe chief Eli Mabel (C) holds mummified remains of his ancestor, Agat Mamete Mabel, in the village of Wogi, in Wamena, the long-isolated home of the Dani tribe high in the Papuan central highlands (AFP Photo/Adek Berry) INDONESIA---Cradling the centuries-old remains of his mummified ancestor, tribe leader Eli Mabel lays bare an ancient tradition that has all but vanished among the Dani people in the Papuan central highlands. The tiny, blackened, shrunken figure he carries was Agat Mamete Mabel, the chieftain that ruled over this remote village in Indonesian Papua some 250 years ago. Honoured upon death with a custom reserved only for important elders and local heroes among the Dani people -- he was embalmed and preserved with smoke and animal oil. Christian missionaries and Muslim preachers encouraged the tribespeople to bury the corpses, and the tradition has faded as the centuries drifted by. But Mabel is determined to retain the ancient rites and rit...

NEW JERSEY STAGE Princeton University Art Museum’s new exhibit, the demon Dhumraksha leads his army to attack Hanuman, ca. 1705, Kulu, India. NEW JERSEY---One of the most significant collections of South Asian painting outside of India will be on view in a monumental exhibition of narrative art at the Princeton University Art Museum. Encompassing more than 90 paintings representing the major narratives, regions and styles of South Asian art from the 16th through the 19th century, " Epic Tales from India: Paintings from The San Diego Museum of Art" will be on view from Nov. 19, 2016, through Feb. 5, 2017. [ link ]

THE NEW YORKER By Kathryn Schulz Stories of the Underground Railroad provide the possibility of moral comfort in a profoundly uncomfortable past. Illustration by Leigh Guldig The Underground Railroad entered our collective imagination in the eighteen-forties, and it has since been a mainstay of both national history and local lore. But in the past decade or so it has surged into “the popular literature of this nation”—and the popular everything else, too. This year alone has seen the publication of two major Railroad novels, including Oprah’s first book-club selection in more than a year, Colson Whitehead’s “ The Underground Railroad ” (Doubleday). Among his other concerns in this book, Whitehead wants to know what does: how the Underground Railroad really worked, and at what cost, and for whom. The great virtue of a figurative railroad is that, when someone needs it—and someone always needs it—we don’t have to build it. We are it, if we choose. [ link ]

ARTDAILY William Blake. Blake’s Illustrations of Dante. Plate 1: “The Circle of the Lustful: Paolo and Francesca” US: 1954 Large folio, fine, clear uniform impression on hand-made paper with no watermark, inscribed in pencil by Lessing Rosenwald. CALIFORNIA---Widely considered to be one of the greatest contributors to the Western world of literature and art, William Blake’s lifetime of otherworldly work was motivated by mystic visions and spiritual revelations. Creating hundreds of artworks -- from engraved illustrations and illuminated books to original writings and watercolors -- his deeply unique style remains endlessly enigmatic and highly sought after. Favored by an eclectic groups of fans and collectors, Blake remains one of the only seminal Romantic artists whose work is still occasionally available to collect. After 50 years in the booktrade and 43 years operating John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller , longtime rare book dealer, John Windle, will launch his retrospective of...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Ernest  &  Gregory Disney-Britton 500-year-old Albrecht Dürer engraving found in French flea market The burning question at Alpha Omega Arts this week is where will Albrecht Dürer's work appear next? Last month, we announced exhibits of his prints at the Seattle Art Museum and The Hyde Collection in New York. And this week, we shared that his “ Mary Crowned by an Angel ” (above), engraved in 1520, was discovered at a flea market in France. So, who is this Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), and why is his work so highly prized? Dürer was a painter and printmaker whose reputation for high-quality woodcut prints was already well established when he was only in his twenties. Today museums and individual collectors continue to prize his work for the vision and intensity. So, instead of wondering where Albrecht Dürer will appear next, head out to your local museum and maybe you will discover him yourself.

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Jason Farago “Krishna Steals the Clothing of the Gopis (Cow Maidens),” around 1640, attributed to an artist known as the Early Master at the Court of Mandi. Credit Kronos Collections, The Metropolitan Museum of Art NEW YORK---It is the colors that awe most in Hindu painting of the 16th to 19th centuries: the saturated reds, the lambent golds, or the milky blues of Krishna’s skin and the sky at twilight. They are as vivid as ever in “ Divine Pleasures ,” a handsome and uncommon show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which features nearly 100 watercolor and ink paintings from northern India. Illustrations of the Ramayana and other holy texts, portraits of rajahs with horses and elephants, and love scenes both spiritual and erotic plot the development of Indian aristocratic taste over three tumultuous centuries. But the color gleams throughout, alive with otherworldly devotion. [ link ]

THE WASHINGTON POST By Michelle Boorstein Christ The Redeemer is seen during sunrise in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil August 2, 2016. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay BRAZIL---The 125-foot, concrete statue on a mountain overlooking Rio couldn’t appear more straightforward: It’s a giant Jesus with His arms outstretched. “Christ the Redeemer” — or “Cristo Redentor” — rises almost a half-mile into the Rio sky, and is perhaps the most recognizable Christian image in Latin America. According to the BBC, the original idea for a monument to Christ came from a group of Brazilians who, “in the wake of World War I, feared an advancing tide of Godlessness. Church and state had been separated when Brazil became a republic at the end of the previous century, and they saw the statue as a way of reclaiming Rio — then Brazil’s capital city — for Christianity.”[ link ]

ARTSY.COM By Charlotte Jansen Sigalit Landau, Salt Crystal Bride Gown III, 2014. Image courtesy of the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London. Photo by Studio Sigalit Landau. UNITED KINGDOM---As a child, Sigalit Landau grew up gazing out over the jagged hills of the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea and the distant skyline of Jordan beyond. The lake’s incomparable beauty entranced the prominent Israeli artist, who has returned to it throughout her career, as a metaphor and as a medium. Landau’s latest project, Salt Bride (2016), now on view at Marlborough Contemporary, London , sees her return to the Dead Sea’s waters once again. For her more recent salt-dipped sculptures, Landau harnesses the Dead Sea’s salt to act as a catalyst, mutating objects including a violin, children’s shoes, a dreamcatcher, and a noose. [ link ]

THE JAPAN TIMES By C. D. Liddell Tiziano Vecellio's 'The Annunciation' (c.?1563-65); Giovanni Bellini's 'The Virgin and Child (The Madonna of the Red Cherubs)' (1485-90) | GALLERIA DELL'ACCADEMIA JAPAN---Each part of Italy has its own character, but Venice has always been something special and unique. It projected power far across the Mediterranean and ran a large commercial empire that brought it into close contact both with northern Europe and parts of Asia. Not surprisingly, this difference is reflected in its cultural and artistic traditions, something that can be seen at “ Venetian Renaissance Painting: From the Galleria Dell’Accademia, Venice ,” the exhibition now on at the National Art Center , Tokyo. [ link ]

THE DAILY SABBAH By Addis Ababa Essa is a diploma holder in graphic art from the capital's Entoto School, formerly Teferi Mekonnen School, established by and named after Ethiopia's last emperor. ETHIOPIA---Artist Essa Tadele's calligraphic subjects lie on top of intricately designed graphic motifs. Lines express the longevity of things, swirl and swing to express movement and there are objects-stars, moon shapes, fish and all sorts of everyday items. Deity names in all shapes, sizes and positioning mark his canvasses which are presented in neat frames. Essa himself sits on a mat in his small, but warmly decorated Addis Ababa home, contemplating one of his mixtures of calligraphy and graphic art. Forging an Ethiopian version of Muslim art, the young father-of-two converted to Islam four years ago and is bringing a new tradition to the predominately Christian country. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Crowned Buddha, Tibet, 15th–16th centuries. Mercury gilding, copper alloy, and turquoise. Newark Museum, Purchase 1920 Shelton Collection, 20.454 TENNESSEE---A 15th-century Tibetan crowned Buddha statue will be on display as part of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts' 2017 exhibition lineup. Tibet, Japan, and Korea all practice a form of esoteric or “secret” Buddhism. Called Vajrayana Buddhism, this form utilizes works of art that reveal a complex array of both human and divine figures. This exhibition showcases superlative works from the Newark Museum’s first-rate collection and will make its first appearance at the Frist Center, introducing a general audience to the dazzling aesthetics of Buddhist art and providing a basic understanding of these objects’ function within Buddhist practice.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Artist: Andrea della Robbia (Italian, 1435–1525) Date: ca. 1475 Culture: Italian, Florence Medium: Glazed terracotta Dimensions: confirmed: 64 3/4 in., 920 lb.  MASSACHUSETTS---Powerful expressions of faith, hope and love are manifested in brilliant colors that characterize the Della Robbia glazed terracotta sculptures from the Renaissance, explored in an exhibition organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence is the first major exhibition in the US dedicated to Della Robbia sculptures, which have endured for more than 500 years. Florentine sculptor Luca della Robbia (1399/1400–1482) invented the groundbreaking glazing technique in the 15th century, and the exhibition showcases 46 works of art by his family and associated workshops.

BROADWAY WORLD Valentin de Boulogne (French, Coulommiers-en-Brie 1591-1632 Rome). Samson, 1630-31. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund. NEW YORK---The greatest French follower of Caravaggio (1571-1610), Valentin de Boulogne (1591-1632) was also one of the outstanding artists in 17th-century Europe. In the years following Caravaggio's death, he emerged as one of the most original protagonists of the new, naturalistic painting. Valentin de Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio will be the first monographic exhibition devoted to this artist who is little known because his career was short-lived-he died at age 41-and his works are so rare. Around 60 paintings by Valentin survive, and this exhibition will bring together 45 of them, with works coming from Rome, Vienna, Munich, Madrid, London, and Paris. Exceptionally, the Musée du Louvre, which possesses the most important and extensive body of Valentin's works, will lend all of its paintings by the arti...

THE GUARDIAN By AFP Berlin FRANCE---An art collector has donated a lost work by the German artist Albrecht Dürer to a Stuttgart museum after discovering it in a French flea market being sold for just a few euros.The copperplate engraving, Maria Crowned by an Angel , was made in 1520 and remained in very good condition, said Anette Frankenberger, an expert at the Staatsgalerie art museum. Dürer was born in 1471 in Nuremberg, southern Germany. He travelled through Italy in his 20s and quickly established a reputation as one of the greatest Renaissance artists. [ link ]

THE CALGARY HERALD By Chris Nelson 10,000 Buddhas CANADA---A two-year labour of love, devotion and faith is ending in triumph for a Calgary Buddhist Monastery. Tirelessly organized by Heng Syun, a female monk at the downtown place of worship, the journey to hand-produce 10,000 exquisite Buddha statues came to fruition. The remarkable feat has become a worldwide effort as supporters across the globe sponsored and dedicated the Buddha statues, which come in three sizes and are laboriously produced on site and by hand. Once the new floor of the Avatamsaka Monastery is officially opened – likely in the summer of next year – the 10,000 Buddhas will line the walls of the planned new hall of worship. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Ernest  &  Gregory Disney-Britton "The Garden of Earthly Delights" (1490 - 1510) by Hieronymous Bosch. Collection of Museo del Prado Describing the work of Hieronymous Bosch , an art historian was recorded saying, "It's always Hell... and a little bit of heaven." In the new documentary, " Touched by the Devil ," we're given insights into both the worlds of the artist and of today's keepers of his works. Born 500 years ago on August 9, 1516, the 15th-century Dutch painter was honored this past year at the Noordbrabants Museum in the Netherlands with the largest retrospective of his work ever. Known for his altarpieces, Bosch's most famous work is probably " The Garden of Earthly Delights ," (above) which has inspired other artists for generations.

THE OAKLAND PRESS  By  Kimberly Winston It is hard to walk into a grocery store, drugstore, gas station or gift shop without seeing a display of adult coloring books. The trend has since expanded — “niched out,” in publishing-speak. The niching out of religion-themed books has gone beyond Christian coloring books to minority religions. “ Buddhist Art Coloring Book 2 ” by Robert Beer offers 50 detailed images of gods, goddesses, Buddhas and bodhisattvas — enlightened beings — from Tibetan Buddhism. Each subject gets a single page facing a full page of small motifs drawn from Tibetan textiles and art. A bonus section offers biographies of each figure. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Hettie Juddah Salt Crystal Bride Gown VI, 2014 by Sigalit Landau UNITED KINGDOM---Though she grew up partly in London and Philadelphia, the Jerusalem-born artist Sigalit Landau feels a particular, powerful connection to the Dead Sea. When conceiving “Salt Bride,” Landau drew inspiration from “The Dybbuk”: S. Ansky’s 1916 drama of star-crossed love and exorcism rooted in Jewish folklore. Betrothed to the son of a wealthy family, a young Hasidic woman, Leah, becomes possessed by the spirit of her dead lover. It’s a story infused with “black magic and Kabbalistic content,” Landau explains. “It’s a side of Judaism that is more romantic and mystic.” [ link ]