Disney-Britton

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEW YORK---During Holy Week of 1984, Edwina Sandys’ Christa was displayed in the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine as part of a small exhibition on the feminine divine. Conversations about the politics of identity have changed tremendously since the 1980s. In turn, the Cathedral is thrilled to display Christa once again, alongside works by 21 other contemporary artists including Kara Walker and  García Román , all exploring the language, symbolism, art, and ritual associated with the historic concept of the Christ image and the divine as manifested in every person—across all genders, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and abilities.

AUCTIONATA "Arrest of Christ," Copy after J. Bassano, Oil, 17/18th Century Shown is the moment in which the minions will arrest Christ, who was betrayed by the kiss of Judas. Below him, lying on the ground, Malchust, the servant of the high priest is depicted. To the right in the picture we can see Saint Peter, who cut Malchus’ right ear with the sword. The scene highlights the gentleness of Jesus, who healed the ear of his enemy shortly before his arrest. The blazing torches illuminate this nocturnal scene. Jacopo da Ponte was born in Bassano del Grappa. His father, Francesco da Ponte, was also a painter and influenced especially the style of the young Bassano. Bassano lived and worked at least temporarily in Venice. [ Contact ]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By Lee Lawrence Posthumous portrait of the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (1764), by Muhammad Rizavi Hindi. PHOTO: CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART NEW YORK---By the end of “Art and Stories From Mughal India” at the  Cleveland Museum of Art , we have seen history unfold, watched art evolve, gotten to know five emperors and sampled some of the stories they treasured. We also come away with the feeling that Sonya Quintanilla, CMA curator of Indian and Southeast Asian art, is as masterly a storyteller as the Mughal artists she showcases through 100 paintings, most once part of illustrated manuscripts or albums. Throughout, we spot the legacies of Persian and Indian traditions—among others, the latter’s dynamism and red-dominated palette; the former’s jewel tones and formalized conventions— along with the impact of European models. [ link ]

ARTDAILY A Cypriot Limestone Head of a Male Votary circa 500-450 B.C. 13 ⅞ in. (34.2 cm.) high. Estimate: $20,000-30,000. © Christie’s Images Limited 2016. On October 25, Christie's Antiquities sale will offer 24 works from the Property from The Toledo Museum of Art, sold to benefit the acquisitions fund. The collection features a selection of works from across ancient Greece, Rome, Near East, and Egypt with highlights including a Cypriot limestone head of a male votary to an Egyptian bronze cat. In addition, Christie’s Online Auction will offer additional 40 works from The Toledo Museum of Art from October 19-26. [ link ]

THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE COLORADO---A Christian graphic designer in the US has filed a federal lawsuit, in an attempt to avoid being forced to use her artistic talents to promote same-sex marriage. Under current Colorado state law, the designer must promote same-sex marriage in her workplace and is also forbidden from sharing her views in public. Lorie Smith is being supported in her case by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a religious liberty organisation. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Judith H. Dobryzynski Claude de France’s illuminated Book of Hours, which includes 39 miniatures, will be at the fair. Credit via Heribert Tenschert Antiquariat Bibermühle AG NEW YORK---For six days beginning on Oct. 21, visitors to the crenelated, fortresslike Park Avenue Armory will find its 19th-century interior transformed into a light, modern setting. Translucent scrims will obscure the dark-wood lobby and second-floor period rooms, which will open to the public for the first time since their recent restoration. Muted colors will turn the Drill Room into airy galleries. There’s a message in this metamorphosis, which was commissioned for the American debut of the European Fine Art Fair , known as Tefaf. With its careful vetting of objects on display, dating from antiquity to the present, the fair is considered the most prestigious art bazaar in the world. [ link ]

THE JAKARTA POST By Masajeng Rahmiasri Image inspired by Serat Centhini, a 12-volume work created by Pakubuwono V of the Surakarta kingdom and three court poets INDONESIA---The Borobudur Writers and Cultural Festival (BWCF) is set to return for the fifth time from Oct. 5 to 8 in Magelang and Yogyakarta, Central Java. This year, the event will feature scientific discussion about ancient scriptures that relate to eroticism and religiosity, specifically Serat Centhini , a 12-volume work created by Pakubuwono V of the Surakarta kingdom and three court poets. It will also offer other events, such as photo and painting exhibitions, workshops, arts performances and a discussion between writers and the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) with the aim of creating an Indonesian writers association. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS CALIFORNIA---Today color is appreciated primarily for its aesthetic qualities, but during the Middle Ages it was also recognized for its material, scientific, and mechanical properties. The manufacture of colored pigments and inks used for painting and writing was part of the science of alchemy, the chemical transformation of matter.  The Alchemy of Color in Medieval Manuscripts  will be on view October 11, 2016 –January 1, 2017 at the J. Paul Getty Museum .

ARTDAILY Brian Sewell in 2012 seated below "Saint Jerome" by Matthias Stomer which sold at auction this week of $473,405 Taking place at Christie’s on September 27, 2016, Brian Sewell: Critic & Collector saw spirited bidding in an exceptionally crowded saleroom with attendance from collectors, friends and admirers of the renowned art critic, award-winning journalist and author, and former specialist at Christie’s. The auction achieved $4,852,483 for over 200 lots that reflected the personal tastes of Brian Sewell, selling 90% by lot. The results demonstrated international appreciation for the passion Sewell had for collecting throughout his life with registered bidders from 32 countries across 4 continents. Saint Jerome , a painting bought at auction by Sewell who recognized it to be by the Flemish painter Matthias Stomer , doubled its low estimate to sell online for $473,405. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Gregory Disney-Britton stands beside his newly acquired print Christ of Gala (Crucifixion) by Salvador Dali on Japon paper with Embossed Signature, 1981 HC 60/75 This week, we acquired both a print of  Salvador Dali's   Christ of Gala (Crucifixion)  and a poster of   William G. Wallace's 3: 16 from   our church, LifeJourney Church in Indianapolis .  Collecting prints is a great opportunity to acquire works by modern masters, at lower costs. An original print is much different from a poster since it is taken from a matrix that the artist works on. A poster is generally a photo-mechanical reproduction of a work of art. So, our new print is not an original like  Dali's Crucifixion , an oil on canvas painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art , but the reward of owning a print by a favorite master is still pretty wonderful.

THE JESUS QUESTION By Victoria Emily Jones Anthony Falbo (b. Michigan), Gethsemane (The Hour is Near) , 2006. Oil on canvas. Luke is the only one of the Gospel writers to mention that in response to Jesus’s pained pleas in Gethsemane, an angel came down to strengthen him. American artist Anthony Falbo renders this moment of heavenly condescension in his painting Gethsemane (The Hour is Near).  Falbo chose to depict three angels instead of just the one that Luke mentions. This multiplicity creates a stronger sense of protective presence: the more angels around him, the tighter the seal. I’ve never seen an angel portrayed as having such sensitivity toward, such commitment to, his charge. In response to Jesus’s prayers in Gethsemane, the Father does not remove the cup of suffering from him, as he asks, but he does give him the strength to drink it. [ link ]

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS By Suzanne Chessler Jeffrey Bussell’s sculpture Babi Yar MICHIGAN--- Jeffrey Bussell learned home repairs from his dad, an engineer, while growing up in Southfield. Although moving away from engineering and into law, Bussell maintained a set of tools to fix household problems at his own home in Farmington Hills. It wasn’t necessarily beauty that attracted him — artistically expressed ideas also caught his eye. Babi Yar has been accepted by this year’s ArtPrize , the artistic display and competition held through Oct. 9 in Grand Rapids. Bussell’s three-dimensional work, a large disintegrating Star of David made of people-shaped wooden pegs, memorializes the 1941 massacre of nearly 34,000 Jews in the Ukraine ravine known as Babi Yar. [ link ]

TEMPO.CO Patung Budha Tidur Maha Vihara MAjapahit INDONESIA---The number of tourists visiting the huge reclining Buddha statue in Trowulan, Mojokerto, East Java, reaches 1,000 visitors every weekend. Initially, the statue was built for Buddhist for religious activities. However, as time went by, the statue now becomes a tourist destination with good potentials. The history of the statue began with reclusion done by a Buddhist monk named Viriyanadi Mahatera. In his reclusion, the monk received a guidance to build a Buddhist temple. In 2001, it was recorded by the Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI) as the biggest Buddha statue in Indonesia. It is also the third biggest Buddha statue in South East Asia. [ link ]

JEWISH LINK NEW JERSEY By Jill Kirsch A dour farming couple holds a lulav and etrog in what we can only call Sukkot Gothic. Imagine you have 13 guests coming for Shabbat, and your cholent burns. Does Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” come to mind? It did for West Orange resident Esty Frankel-Fersel , author of the witty and ironic “Converted Masters.” In her elegant coffee table book, Frankel-Fersel “converts” classic art masterpieces into Jewish counterparts. Imagine Claude Monet’s “Water Lily Pond” as a location for tashlich. Norman Rockwell’s “The Gossips” was hilariously transformed into “The Shidduch Background Check.” [ link ]

CLEVELAND JEWISH NEWS By Becky Raspe "Adam" (1992) by Archie Rand OHIO---Sixty paintings that portray pivotal moments in the Hebrew Bible revamped in a fresh and modern comic book style are on display at the Galleries at CSU in downtown Cleveland. “Sixty Paintings from the Bible,” a series of canvasses by artist Archie Rand, can be viewed through Oct. 8. The series has not been displayed together for 25 years.  [ link ]

ARTDAILY A Taste of Paradise, 2013 Chris Antemann in collaboration with MEISSEN® Courtesy of MEISSEN® NEW YORK---[Through] February 5, 2017, the Museum of Arts and Design presents "Chris Antemann: Forbidden Fruit," an installation of 21 porcelain sculptures resulting from the collaboration between Oregon-based artist Chris Antemann and the renowned MEISSEN Porcelain Manufactory in Germany. Inspired by eighteenth-century porcelain figurines and decorative art, and using the Garden of Eden as her metaphor, Antemann has created a contemporary interpretation of the eighteenth-century banqueting craze, posing scantily clad male and female figures in intimate and playful vignettes of seduction. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Ernest  &  Gregory Disney-Britton "Saint Jerome" by Matthias Stomer (1600-1652) Paintings by Old Masters, like Matthias Stomer (1600-1652), represent a euphoric nostalgia for a time when art was in balance with faith. It's an imagined time when family, politics, and entertainments were also at peace. That is not today's world. Conflict is today's normal: divorce, distrust, and even the day dedicated to God is now dominated by the NFL. Christian lives are not at peace. Some collectors, however, do create homes reflecting spiritual peace. This kind of collecting is how we see Brian Sewell's art collection, including his "Saint Jerome" (above), going up for auction this week . It's a collection that both arouses excitement over creative exuberance and appeals to a faith, balanced aesthetic for visual art. It's art to inspire peace. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Holland Cotter This Jewish wedding ring from the 14th century will be part of the “Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven” exhibition at the Met that opens on Sept. 26. Credit B. Stefan/Thüringisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie NEW YORK---Arrows of desire: Jerusalem has been aiming them at the hearts of pilgrims, tourists and potentates for thousands of years. And the complex sensations the stings can deliver — exhilarating, devastating — is what the Metropolitan Museum of Art captures in “Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven.” The show, which opens on Monday, is in classic Met epic mode: 200 objects from some 60 international collections (several in the Middle East) and a time frame in the past, with perspectives from the present through short, conversational interviews with Jerusalem historians and citizens. [ link ]

HI-FRUCTOSE MAGAZINE By Margot Buermann Seven Deadly Sins is modeled after a triptych by Memling titled “Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation”. The work depicts an erotic nude staring at her reflection in a handheld mirror, flanked by images of Death and Hell. New York-based artist Amy Hill puts her contemporary spin on the work of 15th century painter Hans Memling in her series of oil paintings titled "Seven Deadly Sins." Hill is known for adapting the styles of early Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting and placing historical subjects within modern day settings. "Seven Deadly Sins" is modeled after a triptych by Memling titled Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation . The work depicts an erotic nude staring at her reflection in a handheld mirror, flanked by images of Death and Hell. [ link ]

ARTDAILY Jan de Bray, (1627 - Haarlem - 1697), The Penitent Magdalene. Oil on panel;72.6 x 56.2cm. Signed and dated, lower center on crucifix: JDBray/167(?)/25 Courtesy, Otto Naumann Ltd. NEW YORK---Fifteen of the city's preeminent galleries-all clustered on the Upper East Side-are hosting simultaneous opening-night receptions to kick off the first edition of October Art Week , October 20 to 26. The gallery receptions, open to the public and comfortably walkable from one another, are being held to expand upon the buzz and excitement generated by the opening of TEFAF in New York City. Taking place at the Park Avenue Armory, TEFAF, the world's premier art fair, will bring together the treasures of nearly 100 dealers from around the globe, showcasing outstanding examples of fine art, design, furniture, jewelry and more. [ link ]

THE BALTIMORE SUN By Jonathan Pitts Iconographer Dionysios Bouloubassis, is painting a cherub that will be part ofthe dome at the St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church. Bouloubassis is working on a multi-year mural-sized icons project at the church. MARYLAND---As Dionysios Bouloubassis picks up his paint brush at Saint Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church early one morning, the large canvas before him is blank but for the outlines of an angel he has sketched in pencil. If all goes as planned, Bouloubassis will leave the interior of the year-old church covered in icons — mural-sized renderings of Christ, the saints, angels and other religious images that have been part of the Orthodox Christian worship tradition for more than 1,200 years. [ link ]

CHRISTIE'S Brian Sewell in 1966 with Andrea Sacchi's The Madonna and Child with Saints Ignatius of Loyola .  Brian Sewell: Critic & Collector , the sale devoted to the renowned art critic, award-winning journalist and author, will take place at Christie’s in London on 27 September 2016. Brian Sewell (1931-2015), the renowned and controversial art critic, award-winning journalist and author, worked at Christie’s as a picture expert between 1958 and 1967, having graduated in Art History at the Courtauld Institute. Acquired over many decades, approximately 200 lots from his collection, including important Old Master Paintings and Drawings and 19th and 20th-Century British Art, will be offered in Brian Sewell: Critic & Collector at Christie’s in London on 27 September 2016. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Nina Siegal Rembrandt’s work on the sense of touch. Credit The Leiden Collection, New York NETHERLANDS -- For the first time, the four paintings still known to exist from Rembrandt’s series depicting the five senses are being displayed together. The works, completed when he was still in his teens, are presented in the exhibition “ Sensation: Rembrandt’s First Paintings ,” on view at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, until Nov. 27. Created from 1624 to 1625, while Rembrandt was living there, these early paintings fit into a tradition of northern European genre painting. They sometimes play on the double meaning of the word for the sense that each depicts. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Artist: Peter W. Gray NEW YORK---The 2016 CARAVAN exhibition of Art, "The Key" uses the world’s most ancient symbol of harmony and pluralism, the Egyptian Ankh (known as the “Key of Life”) as the canvas for a contemporary message of hope for a harmonious, peaceful and tolerant world. It showcases the work of 40 premier and emerging Egyptian, Middle Eastern and Western contemporary artists using a modern 3D fiberglass portrayal of the Ankh (an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph that read “life”) as a means of engendering harmony and peace among people of different cultural heritages and faith backgrounds. The Riverside Church in New York: "The Key" (September 22 - November 6, 2016); 490 Riverside Drive, New York, NY; (212) 870-6700; trcnyc.org

ARTNET NEWS By Rain Embuscado Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Courtesy Getty Images. Divorce is messy business, and in the case of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt , who have, to the disappointment of many, hit their fork in the road, the event is nothing short of an operation. Though the couple has kept their collecting habits private, research firm Wealth-X estimated Pitt’s art collection to be worth $25 million. In light of their decision, artnet News is taking a look at the art they’ve collected, and enjoyed, during their partnership. From works by street artists like Banksy and Dom Pattinson , to traditional sensations like Ed Ruscha and Richard Serra . [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS  Guido Cagnacci (1601–1663) The Repentant Magdalene , ca. 1660−63 Oil on canvas 90 1/4 x 104 3/4 inches Norton Simon Art Foundation, Pasadena, California NEW YORK -- Guido Cagnacci was one of the most eccentric painters of seventeenth-century Italy, infamous for his unconventional art and lifestyle. His works, mostly religious in subject, are known for their unabashed, often unsettling eroticism, and his biography is no less intriguing. This October, the Frick will present Cagnacci’s ambitious Repentant Magdalene , considered a masterpiece of seventeenth-century Italian art, and a work that has not been seen outside California since its acquisition by the Norton Simon Museum almost thirty-five years ago.

APOLLO MAGAZINE By Simon Grant Valeria Napoleone photographed in her London home in February 2015, with works by Julie Verhoeven , Berta Fischer and May Hands Alma Haser Valeria Napoleone is taking me on a tour of her contemporary art collection in her large ground-floor Kensington apartment. Napoleone is well known for having spent the last 18 years collecting work only by women artists; the walls, floors, and ceilings of her home are packed with examples from several recent generations. The obvious question is why collect only women artists? In New York in the early 1990s, the dominant art conversations were still circulating around the work of grand male conceptual artists... But it was also during a period when women artists like Cindy Sherman , Barbara Kruger , Liza Lou , and the Guerrilla Girls were transforming the artistic landscape of New York. [ link ]

ARTDAILY The Borghese- Windsor Cabinet, Rome, about 1620. Cabinet: 178 cm high (including statuette) x 126 cm wide x 54 cm deep, Stand: 84 cm high x 153.5 cm wide x 65.5 cm deep. Ebony; statuettes in gilded bronze and silver; hard stones include lapis lazuli, jaspers, agates, carnelians, amethyst; ebony and ivory (removed) for the central niche. Photo Courtesy of Sotheby’s Paris. CALIFORNIA - The J. Paul Getty Museum announced today the acquisition at auction of the Borghese-Windsor cabinet, a magnificent work of furniture, sculpture and stone inlay (pietre dure) made in Rome about 1620 for Pope Paul V and later acquired by King George IV of England. “The Borghese-Windsor cabinet is one of the finest examples of Italian pietre dure cabinets known,” said Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The ornate cabinet is one of the most significant pietre dure pieces of furniture produced in Rome in the early 17th century. At about six feet tall, the cabinet is architectural...

THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER By Steven Litt A detail of Kara Walker's "Easter Parade in the Old Country,'' on view in the exhibition "The Ecstasy of St. Kara" at the Cleveland Museum of Art, through Saturday, Dec. 31. OHIO -- The Cleveland Museum of Art has no official position on the Black Lives Matter movement. But the museum's new show on the work of Kara Walker , which opens today, highlights connections the acclaimed American artist sees between religion, slavery, martyrdom and the use of lethal force by police, which has inspired protests nationwide, including in Cleveland. Walker became fascinated by the depiction of martyrs and saints alongside actual physical relics, which caused in her "a slippery sensation of revulsion and realness" that made her consider "whether we must carry the rotting bodies of the fallen through the streets."[ link ]

ARTH701SUM13 Originally posted August 25, 2013 The cross is historically symbolic. And these six images are clearly saying something about the people of today's cultures. I was on Facebook and came across this photography posted on Ilgar Burdani page (https://www.facebook.com/ilgar.burdani). With three thousand plus likes, I had to check out the significance of each image. In history the cross has been a symbol of endearment, but rather that of death. In this particular artwork, the artist is not referencing a savior dying for the world, but rather those in society killing the innocent knowingly. [ link ]

NEW GEORGIANA ENCYCLOPEDIA By Laura Diaz Suppliant (date unknown) by Ben Smith is part of Georgia's State Art Collection. Print (woodcut), 56 1/4 x 41 inches GEORGIA--- Ben Smith , an Atlanta-based artist best known for creating massive woodblock prints, was born in 1941. The subjects of his work are often shamans, wizards, and other ceremonial figures, dressed in lavish robes or antique suits of armor, interacting with mythological creatures. Smith teaches at both the Chastain Arts Center and the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta. His woodblock prints Enlightened Figure, Prophet (1964), and Suppliant (date unknown) are part of Georgia's State Art Collection . [ link ]

SOTHEBY'S Roger Keverne and Miranda Clarke A legend in the world of Chinese jades, ceramics and works of art, Roger Keverne is also famed for his spirited energy and delightful stories. Ahead of Sotheby's 5 October sale of his private collection in Hong Kong, Mr Keverne recalls the extraordinary people, deals and objects that mark his 50 years in the trade. The fruits of fifty years of collecting, each of the 93 lots in the sale is endowed with its own unique story, encapsulating the eclectic taste, expertise and indefatigability of this distinguished London-based art dealer. With a broad focus on works of art in particular, Roger Keverne is internationally recognised for his deep knowledge of jade. [ link ]

APOLLO MAGAZINE By Gavin Stamp Le Familistère de Guise, probably designed by Jean-Baptiste André Godin (1817–88) and built between 1859 and 1884. Photo: Chalmeau ‘Utopian’ has been applied to the very many attempts at creating an ideal harmonious society that have been proposed and, occasionally, tried over the last five centuries, from Robert Owen’s attempt at industrial harmony in New Lanark to the Shaker communities in the United States. French philosopher (1772–1837) Charles Fourier's ideal community or Phalanx was intended to consist of precisely 1,620 people living and working in a large palatial building, vaguely modelled on Versailles but with covered street galleries, where the many facilities offered (and a controversial system of free love) could be enjoyed. There is no other site like this in Europe: a place to consider the very idea of Utopia, where it is possible to see the future as it was – and find that it worked. [ link ]

ARTDAILY View-Master Reel (details, clockwise from left): Ganden Monastery, Pixabay | Samye Monastery, The British Library, Add.Or.3017, folio 3 | Jokhang Temple, Antoine Taveneaux, 2008 | Samye Monastery, The Newark Museum, Purchase 1920 | Potala Palace, Antoine Taveneaux, 2010 | Potala Palace, The British Library, WD1216 | Tashilhunpo Monastery, Pixabay NEW YORK---This fall, Rubin Museum of Art visitors will experience Tibet’s most renowned architectural sites through historical and contemporary eyes in the exhibition “Monumental Lhasa: Fortress, Palace, Temple.” Images of monuments and sacred sites like the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, and Taj Mahal act as powerful representations of place, and “Monumental Lhasa” is the first exhibition to explore this kind of visual representation in Tibet, featuring drawings, paintings, and photographs of landmarks created primarily by Tibetans and Westerners since the 18th century. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Ernest  &  Gregory Disney-Britton Calm and Stars. Oil painting by Yongsung Kim. Image courtesy of Foundation Arts It is easy to get lost in  Yongsung Kim's  "Calm and Stars" on display last month in Utah --the effervescent colors and the cosmic light washing over and around the figure of Jesus. There is an authenticity to his work that is neither sentimental or somber. Born in Korea, Kim is a self-taught artist who began as a cartoonist before having a God dream where he was asked, “What are you doing with the gifts I’ve given you?” It was an instant conversion, and today he paints Christian images of magnificent light. At Alpha Omega Arts , we have a strong attraction to the authenticity of self-taught artists and their expressions of light and decoration. Are your walls in need of a conversion? Yongsung Kim's paintings of light may be just for you.

GIZMODO By Andrew Liszewski It’s not cool when a giant corporation uses unfair business practices to dominate a market, but other monopolies aren’t so bad. It’s surprisingly enjoyable to use a Monopoly to your advantage when playing the classic board game, particularly when the board features the vibrant bold artwork of Romero Britto . Each set  costs $669 , so you’ll need to let every player know that tossing the game board into the air in a fit of rage is totally unacceptable, no matter how much rent they end up owing you. Unfortunately it doesn’t ship to Australia, so you’ll have to get an American or Canadian friend to help you out if you want to get your hands on it. [ link ]

ARTDAILY In this image: M.F. Husain, India's most famous artist finishes off a canvas he painted together with Shah Rukh Khan, right, one of India's biggest movie stars, Maqbool Fida Husain (17 September 1915 - 9 June 2011) commonly known as MF Husain , was an Indian painter. Husain was associated with Indian modernism in the 1940s. A dashing, highly eccentric figure who dressed in impeccably tailored suits, he went barefoot and brandished an extra-long paintbrush as a slim cane. He never maintained a studio but he spread his canvases out on the floor of whatever hotel room he happened to be staying in and paying for damages when he checked out. [ link ]

CHRISTIE'S By Leiko Coyle, Specialist A gilt bronze figure of Vasudhara. Nepal, 13th century. 6 ½ in (16.6 cm) high. Estimated $150,000-200,000 but r ealized $21,250 on 13 September 2016 at Christie’s in New York, Rockefeller Plaza There is tremendous iconographic variation in the field of Himalayan sculpture: from wrathful guardian deities to serene portraits of historical teachers and depictions of animal-headed dancing goddesses. These revered images were generally commissioned by wealthy patrons and the monasteries or temples they supported. Although a number of Himalayan bronzes depict Buddhist iconography, many represent Hindu deities. Get to know the rich and varied pantheon of gods and goddesses to discover if there is a particular deity that resonates with you. Do you want a wrathful protector or a goddess of abundance? [ link ]

S[EDITION] Civilization (Hell and Heaven) Civilization (Hell and Heaven) is the first still image released from the Megaplex series by Marco Brambilla . The high-resolution digital edition produced exclusively for Sedition derives from Civilization (Megaplex) , a video work from the series. In the Megaplex triptych, Brambilla collages imagery from movies, using an elaborate visual language to create new symbolic relationships which comment on capitalist culture. The work both celebrates and satirizes the Hollywood blockbuster version of human history as epic entertainment, while the Bosch -like attention to detail presents myriad micro-narratives which are both familiar and unfamiliar. [ link ]

ARTS PROFESSIONAL UNITED KINGDOM--- Arts Council England is forging ahead with plans to impose a standardised system for measuring artistic quality on its NPOs, despite a lukewarm sector response and warnings that this will require a “quantum change” in organisational attitudes to data. An independent evaluation of the scheme has found arts organisations to be sceptical about the value of a standardised approach to measuring quality, and to have serious concerns about the administrative burden associated with it. Organisations across all artforms will be “required to use a specified system to complete an agreed number of evaluations each year and support each other by providing peer reviews”. This will be mandatory for NPOs receiving more than £250k a year in regular funding, while those funded below this level will be encouraged and supported to use it. [ link ]

APOLLO MAGAZINE By Emma Crichton-Miller Rembrandt. Image courtesy Phaidon We forget, in our image-laden era, just how recent a phenomenon art books are, with their true-colour reproductions of both old and contemporary works of art. We also forget just how essential they are, not just for the pleasure of the general public, but as a source of inspiration for artists and to encourage new generations of collectors and art historians. One key factor in this progress was the founding of Phaidon Press in 1923. Last year Phaidon embarked on a major project to produce a new series of ‘ Phaidon Classics ’, inspired by those originals. Bright colour edging differentiates the volumes: 2015 saw the publication of Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Raphael; this year, Botticelli, Vermeer and Renoir have followed. While no longer eminently affordable ( the volumes are $150 each ), they will not break the bank. [ link ]

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR By Alex Weilhammer, Arts Council of Indianapolis Fellow (Photo: Provided by Nancy Murray) INDIANA---For 16 years, Nancy Murray — an Adrian Dominican nun and the sister of comedic actor Bill Murray — has traveled worldwide to perform her play St. Catherine of Siena: A Woman for Our Times. This weekend, she will share her art at Marian University Theatre . Murray will present the role of the 14th-century Italian Dominican teenager known for her constant service to the needy and sick and her fervent letter-writing, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Murray has enjoyed acting and production since she was a theater major at Barry University in the mid-1960s. The IndyStar had a moment to speak with Murray about her rendition of the play and what she calls her "migrant ministry."[ link ]

CENTER FOR ONLINE EDUCATION Many schools today are cutting back or eliminating their art programs due to budget constraints. It is estimated that by the end of this year, more than 25% of public high schools will have completely dismantled them. Numerous studies done over the past decade have demonstrated the amazing benefits of such an integral education facet. Students who don’t have access to art classes may not only miss out on a key creative outlet, but might also face greater difficulty mastering core subjects, higher dropout rates and more disciplinary problems. You don’t have to take our word for it — you can read the studies yourself. [ link ]

STANDARD JOURNAL By Don Sparhawk "The Trumpet Shall Sound" J. Kirk Richards UTAH---A new art show opening next week in Rexburg will feature paintings of angels and heavenly messengers from the Bible. J. Kirk Richards , of Woodland Hills, Utah, has been working on the show for the past year and is including many of his newest paintings. The show will open Sept. 16 and run through Oct. 13 in the Jacob Spori Art Gallery at Brigham Young University-Idaho. He describes his religious artwork as a “modern abstracted reinterpretation of classical themes.” He added, “I don’t think people should take my images as literal and the way it looked.” [ link ]

ARTDAILY Main characters of the 1808 revelry depicted in the “Pilgrimage of San Isidro”painting by Francisco de Goya of 1820-1824. Napoleon Bonaparte is the central figure. Photo: Mariano Candial. SPAIN---In Chapter 1 , Antonio Muñoz-Casayús discovers the likeness of Napoleon Bonaparte in "The Pilgrimage of San Isidro". The painting is one of 14 +1(*) "Black Paintings" he painted in a farm house outside Madrid just before he exiles himself to France. The farm house is a grand “Time Capsule” containing works of art with hidden messages that are only now revealing themselves to the world! Goya caricaturized these personalities in order to hide their true identities from the authorities of the time and to avoid prison or forced exile. This is the second of a series of articles prepared by the researcher, Antonio Muñoz-Casayús related to his discoveries and observations of Francisco De Goya’s painting, “ The Pilgrimage of San Isidro ”. [ link ]

LEARNING LIFTOFF By Lauren Martin Where have the arts in education gone? Over the past several years we’ve all seen the trend of schools cutting the arts from their curriculum. Music, art, theater—gone for so many. There’s no doubt that the arts are fun for kids. Diving into those finger paints and making a beautiful picture to hang on the fridge is awesome. Acting in a play is exhilarating. But the arts also help kids develop on many fundamental levels. Is your student looking to become more involved in the arts? Not only do K12 online public schools offer their students art and music courses, K12 has individual art classes for purchase. For more information on K12 and our programs that encourage student involvement in the arts, you can contact our enrollment team at (877) 895-1754 or elect to receive a free info kit.[ link ]

THE CREATOR'S PROJECT By Taylor Lindsey The Hand of God. Oil painting by Yongsung Kim. Image courtesy of Foundation Arts UTAH---Traditional images of Jesus Christ tend to come off on the somber side. On the flipside, contemporary art leaps in a different direction when reimagining the Christ—it gets creative, political, and sometimes outright anti-orthodox.... But Yongsung Kim is trying for a different approach. Indeed, the Korean artist is taking on the steep challenge of changing how the world pictures the crucified religious leader. Each painting shows the religious figurehead reveling in light, or offering it (sometimes directly to the viewer). Recently, the artist flew to Utah for a Q&A as part of a collaboration with Foundation Arts . Over 150 people filled the gallery at the University Mall in Orem as Kim spoke about the creative process behind his paintings. [ link ]

THE HINDUSTAN TIMES  By Badri Chatterjee The dancing Ganesha is the god of the arts INDIA---With the help of artist Vasudeo Kamat h, the president of Bombay Arts Society who has created images of the deity in several paintings, HT looks at some of Ganesha’s contemporary avatars. “Every artist, from their early days, has always drawn an image of Ganesha as it has the basic form and it gives the artist the confidence that they can make the image,” Kamath said. “The visual form created right in the beginning is the real inspiration. In iconography, there are other gods such as Hanuman, Garuda, Narasimha and Tumbaru, but none of them has the kind of beauty Ganesha does.” [ link ]

CHRISTIE'S Marcus Flack with two of the couple's scholar rocks. NEW YORK---‘It’s alchemy,’ Marcus Flacks says of collecting Chinese art and classical furniture. As renowned dealers, collectors and experts, Flacks and his wife Debby consider themselves ‘grateful custodians’ of the masterpieces that have entered their Hampstead home. The Flacks’ philosophy of collecting is simple. ‘You only really know how important a piece of Chinese furniture is in a room when you take it out,’ Marcus says. ‘It brings an integrity to the room, without shouting, “Look at me, I’m gold”, or “Look at me, I’m carved”. It says, “This is a real room”.’ The Flacks Family Collection: A Very Personal Selection will be held on 16 September as part of Asian Art Week at Christie’s New York. [ link ]

EDUCATION WEEK By By Jay P. Greene, Brian Kisida, Cari A. Bogulski, Anne Kraybill, Collin Hitt, & Daniel H. Bowen Though the arts receive relatively little attention from policymakers and school leaders, exposing young people to art and culture can have a big impact on their development. The problem is that almost no one is bothering to study and document the extent to which the arts and culture can affect students. Instead, policymakers, researchers, and schools are typically focused on what is regularly and easily measured: math and reading achievement. This leads defenders of the arts to attempt to connect the arts to improved math and reading scores—a claim for which there is almost no rigorous evidence. Other arts advocates believe that the benefits cannot and need not be measured. But the important effects of art and cultural experiences on students can be rigorously measured. [ link ]

ARTLYST Bill Viola's Mother Mary & Child. Bill Viola said: “Mary is a universal female figure present in nearly all spiritual and religious traditions.” UNITED KINGDOM---The second permanent large-scale video installation created for St Paul’s Cathedral by the internationally acclaimed artist Bill Viola , has been inaugurated in the North Quire Aisle of the cathedral to coincide with the Feast of Mary. " Mary " and " The Martyrs " are the first moving-image artworks to be installed in a cathedral in Britain on a long-term basis. Mary has roots in both Eastern and Western art and spiritual traditions. Bill Viola said: “Mary is a universal female figure present in nearly all spiritual and religious traditions. She maintains an infinite capacity to absorb and relieve the pain and suffering of all who come to her. She is the personification of the feminine principle, related to ideas of creativity, procreation, inner strength, love, and compassion.” [...