| Scientists at London's Natural History Museum seek to solve mystery of Piltdown Man | | Michelangelo's David-Apollo returns to the National Gallery of Art in Washington | | AXA Equitable donates Thomas Hart Benton's epic mural "America Today" to Met Museum | 
A century on, researchers are determined to find out who was responsible for Piltdown Man, the missing link that never was. AP Photo/Natural History Museum.
By: Jill Lawless, Associated Press
LONDON (AP).- It was an archaeological hoax that fooled scientists for decades. A century on, researchers are determined to find out who was responsible for Piltdown Man, the missing link that never was. In December 1912, it was announced that a lawyer and amateur archaeologist named Charles Dawson had made an astonishing discovery in a gravel pit in southern England — prehistoric remains, up to 1 million years old, that combined the skull of a human and the jaw of an ape. Piltdown Man — named for the village where the remains were found — set the scientific world ablaze. It was hailed as the missing evolutionary link between apes and humans, and proof that humans' enlarged brains had evolved earlier than had been supposed. It was 40 years before the find was definitively exposed as a hoax, and speculation ... More | | 
File photo of Michelangelo's "David-Apollo". AP Photo/Brandi Jade Thomas, File.
WASHINGTON, DC.- This morning at the National Gallery of Art, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata opens 2013—The Year of Italian Culture by unveiling Michelangelo's David-Apollo, which will be on view in the West Building's Italian galleries from December 13, 2012, through March 3, 2013. First displayed at the Gallery in 1949, this rare marble statue from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, is now among the renowned masterpieces—ranging from classical and Renaissance to baroque and contemporary—that Italy is bringing to some 70 U.S. museums and cultural institutions in 2013. The Gallery will also display The Dying Gaul (1st or 2nd century AD) from the Capitoline Museum, from October 2013 through February 2014, as part of The Dream of Rome, a project initiated by the mayor of Rome to exhibit timeless masterpieces in the United States from 2011 to 2014. 2013—The Year of Italian ... More | | 
Thomas Hart Benton, City Activities with Dancehall from America Today, 1930–31. Mural cycle consisting of ten panels. Egg tempera with oil glazing over Permalba on a gesso ground on linen mounted to wood panels with a honeycomb interior. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of AXA Equitable, 2012.
NEW YORK, NY.- American artist Thomas Hart Benton’s epic mural America Today—a sweeping panorama of American life, celebrating the promise of modern industry and technology and the accomplishments of working people in the boom years of the 1920s—has been donated by AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The announcement was made jointly yesterday by Thomas P. Campbell, the Museum’s Director and CEO, and Mark Pearson, AXA Equitable Chairman and CEO. Benton (1889–1975) created the ten-panel mural cycle in 1930–31 as a commission for the third-floor boardroom of the New School for Social Research in New York City. Referring to sketches he made during his travels ... More |
| Hans Christian Andersen's first fairy tale found in Denmark's national archives | | Mick Jagger love letters written to American singer Marsha Hunt sold at London auction | | Dallas Museum of Art's Razor by Gerald Murphy featured in U.S. Postal Services stamp collection | 
File photo of the first collection of fairy tales written by Hans Christian Andersen. AP Photo / POLFOTO, Joachim Adrian.
COPENHAGEN (AFP).- A Danish researcher has stumbled across the first fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen in Denmark's national archives. Entitled "The Tallow Candle", the tale tells the story of a candle that has difficulty finding its place in the world until a tinder box discovers its worth and lights its wick. National Archive director Mads Peter Christensen told the Politiken newspaper late Wednesday staff had been contacted by the researcher who disclosed the discovery. Lacking the polished standards of Andersen's later fairy tales, it is believed to have been written when he was a schoolboy. "This is a sensational discovery," Ejnar Stig Askgaard of the Odense City Museum and one of Denmark's leading Hans Christian Andersen experts told Politiken. "Partly because it must be seen as Andersen's first fairy tale, and partly because it shows that he was interested in the fairy tale as a young man, before his authorship began," he said. ... More | | 
American-born singer Marsha Hunt. AP Photo/Sotheby's/Courtsey of Justin de Villeneuve.
LONDON.- A collection of letters sent by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger to his secret lover in the summer of 1969 sold for around $300,000 at a London auction on Wednesday, trumping their pre-sale estimate. Purchased by a private collector over the telephone, the letters sold for £187,250 (about $301,000 or 231,000 euros) at a Sotheby's auction, trumping their pre-sale estimate of £70,000 to £100,000. The letters were written to black American singer Marsha Hunt, aged 23 at the time, while Jagger was filming the movie "Ned Kelly" in Australia, and were presented as a window into a different side of the rock-and-roll legend. "We are delighted with the result of today’s sale which reflects the great significance of these letters, written at such a vivid moment in social and musical history," said Sotheby's books specialist Gabriel Heaton. "There has been enormous international interest in the letters, which depict Mick Jagger, not as the global superstar he is today, but ... More | | 
The “Modern Art in America” stamp collection commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 1913 Armory Show in New York and features work produced between 1913 and 1931.
DALLAS, TX.- The Dallas Museum of Art’s iconic 1924 Razor painting by Gerald Murphy is one of twelve works of art featured in a new “Modern Art in America” Forever® stamp collection produced by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The sheet of twelve adhesive stamps will be available through the USPS in early 2013. The “Modern Art in America” stamp collection commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 1913 Armory Show in New York and features work produced between 1913 and 1931. The 1913 Armory Show International Exhibition of Modern Art introduced modern art to America on a large scale, influencing American artists. The twelve works include Stuart Davis’s House and Street, Charles Demuth’s I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold, Aaron Douglas’s The Prodigal Son, Arthur Dove’s Fog Horns, Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, Marsden Hartley’s Painting, Numb ... More |
| Bowers Museum presents award winning costumes in "Cut! Costume and Cinema" | | Fine art, exquisite antiques from Southern Calif. estates highlight Don Presley's New Year's Auction | | Bonhams walks on Moon as illuminating space auction reaches the stars | 
The Duchess (2008), 18th Century. Keira Knightley as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Costume Design by Michael O’Connor. Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design.
SANTA ANA, CA.- Bowers Museum presents the major traveling exhibition CUT! Costume and the Cinema. Through 43 period costumes, created by and borrowed from the London costume house of Cosprop Ltd., the exhibition takes an in-depth look at the art of making costumes that set the scene and establish authenticity in period films. The films represented in the exhibition depict five centuries of history, drama, comedy, fantasy and adventure through period costumes worn by such famous film stars as Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Craig, Kate Winslet, Sandra Bullock, Uma Thurman, Angelica Huston and many others. In all, more than 30 actors will be represented from 27 films, including, Sherlock Holmes, Academy Award winner The Duchess and favorites Pirates of the Caribbean, Sense and ... More | | 
KPM porcelain plaque signed 'Wagner,' 9½ x 7 inches (sight). Don Presley Auction image.
ORANGE, CA.- Don Presley’s New Year’s Auction is unquestionably the most anticipated event of the year among those who follow the popular Southern California estate auctioneer’s sale calendar. While the caliber of merchandise to be offered will be everything his loyal clientele has come to expect, Presley said he is taking a slightly different approach than in the past for this year’s sale by scheduling an opening session on Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012 and a second session on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. “Each will be a full session containing some of the finest antiques and art we’ve ever had the privilege of offering to our customers, but with the Monday off in between, so everyone has plenty of time to prepare for their New Year’s Eve festivities,” said Presley. In all, more than 1,000 lots will cross the auction block. “As always, we have a great mix in this sale, most of which co ... More | | 
A Selenographia globe by British painter and portraitist John Russell that bidders drove to $242,500. Photo: Bonhams.
NEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams buzzed as enthusiastic bidders competed for pieces offered in the Illuminating Space: Images from a Private Virginian Collection auction. Sustained and palpable interest in the significant and often rare and unique telescopes, lunar and planetary globes, photographs, manuscripts, documents and prints from the past three centuries culminated in sales totaling $1,327,025. A giant 218-panel mosaic of NASA Lunar Orbiter IV photos of the near side of the Moon provided, when covered, a fortunate buyer the opportunity to “walk” on the Moon’s surface for $98,500. Constructed by Kodak for the US Information Agency in 1967, the 34 x 24’ compilation created what is probably the largest vintage photograph of the Moon in existence. Only two mosaics were produced. One was exhibited in a ... More |
| Leading Turkish auction house Antik A.S. to offer Osman Hamdi Bey's "A Girl Arranging a Vase of Flowers" | | The IVAM reviews the iconography of the American dream in the exhibition 'America, America' | | Michael Winner sale makes £1.1 million and new record for EH Shepard at Sotheby's | 
An Antik A.S. employee poses for photographers with " A Girl Arranging a Vase of Flowers " from 1883 by Osman Hamdi Bey at Antik A.S. in Istanbul. The artwork has an auction starting price of $1 million.
ISTANBUL.- Artam Antik A.S., the leading Turkish auction house, will offer exceptional paintings by the most important Turkish masters. The auction will take place on December 16, 2012 at the Swissotel the Bosphorus and will present selected 225 lots. The cover lot highlight being offered in the sale is titled “A Girl Arranging a Vase of Flowers”, a spectacular canvas by Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910), the most important and most popular Turkish artist. Oil on canvas, 47 x 25 cm, signed and dated 1883, the magnificent Osman Hamdi Bey painting has a starting price of 1,000,000 USD. Not only the strong provenance and the attractive theme but also the painting is one of the most well known Turkish paintings, it is an icon for Turkish painting history. This remarkable canvas will be on sale for the first time in 100 years and it has been seen lastly in 1957 at an ... More | | 
Lee Friedlander, New York City, 1974 (detail).
VALENCIA.- Since its transformation into an irrefutably dominant power after the Second World War, the lifestyle model and cultural production of the United States have sporadically been both the object of fascination and of profound rejection amongst the various circles of Western Intelligentsia. At the end of the 19th century and, to a large degree, due to the circulation of new illustrated magazines and journals, Europeans expectantly embraced the transformation undertaken by cities such as Chicago and New York, characterized by their modern urban planning, yet above all by the construction of their colossal steel skyscrapers and extraordinary engineering projects. These new metropolises, and more specifically, their human agglomerations, bridges and skyscrapers were the first link in the creation of a new iconography whose heroism and utopian nature would fertilize the reflections and meditations of the majority of Europe's artistic avant-garde throughout the 20th century. ... More | | 
E.H. Shepherd's "Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin." Photo: Sotheby's.
LONDON.- This afternoon’s sale, The Art of Illustration, the Collection of Michael Winner, the finest single-owner collection of original book illustrations ever offered at auction, realised a total of 1,127,296. The top lot of the sale was E H Shepard’s original ink drawing Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump… which realised £139,250. It is the first depiction of Winnie-the-Pooh with Christopher Robin from the first of AA Milne’s story books. The work was offered alongside illustrations from Beatrix Potter, Edmund Dulac, Kay Nielsen and Arthur Rackham. The renowned film director, who built up his collection over more than 30 years recalled: “It was many years ago that I went into an old bookshop in the Charing Cross Road; there I saw two paintings by Arthur Rackham which I found utterly memorable. They had a quality which was unique. From then on I ... More |
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 RM Auctions secures upcoming sale of Texas' distinguished Don Davis Collection BLENHEIM, ON.- Fresh on the heels of its highly successful sale of John Staluppi’s Cars of Dreams Museum earlier this month, RM Auctions announced the addition of the respected Don Davis Collection to its growing 2013 calendar of events. Scheduled April 27 in Fort Worth, Texas, the single-day auction represents the second single-vendor sale confirmed for RM’s 2013 auction schedule, reaffirming the company’s reputation as the specialist for private and estate collection sales. The Don Davis Collection is the result of numerous decades of dedicated acquisition by lifelong enthusiast and successful businessman, Don Davis. Driven by the ‘thrill of the chase’ and an exceptional eye for quality, honed by years of business in the automotive industry, Davis built the collection by handpicking a diverse assortment of automotive rarities, the best he could find, in a slew of desirable genres. From ... More The Wolfsonian-FIU receives $5 million to increase access to collection MIAMI BEACH, FL.- The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded a $5 million grant to The Wolfsonian–Florida International University to support programs that will provide greater public access to the museum’s collection of art and design, especially by enhancing its online offerings and reach. The grant, announced Dec. 3 at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, is part of $23 million in new funding that the Knight Foundation has awarded to support the arts in South Florida. The Wolfsonian will receive its Knight Foundation grant over a five-year period. That support will go towards realizing a major component of the museum’s five-year plan, namely creating one of the world’s most important online resources of visual and material culture. The Wolfsonian will make a large part of its collection—hundreds of thousands of images and records—accessible to anyone ... More Dictionaries define success at Bonhams NEW YORK, NY.- Bonhams December 4 auction of the Dictionary Collection of Thomas Malin Rodgers had strong results from start to finish, realizing sales over $1.1 million. A spring-like day in New York sparked lively bidding that ricocheted between the collectors in the saleroom to bidders on the phone and live online. “The phenomenal success of this auction pays testament to Tom Rodgers’ great vision and collecting acumen. The tremendous breadth of Rodgers’ dictionary library was well-known amongst bibliophiles, but today everyone came to realize what exceptional rarities and high-spots he assembled. Unique manuscripts in particular saw nearly relentless bidding,” states Christina Geiger, Bonhams Director of Fine Books and Manuscripts for New York. The earliest such manuscript was a Coptic glossary, written on vellum in Egypt in the 6th or 7th century, and selling for $80,500 (against ... More Top results for Dali, Signac and Anker at Koller Zurich ZURICH.- Koller Zurich saw strong results at the auction of Modern and Swiss Art on 7 December thanks to bidding from around the world. A scene with fishermen by Salvador Dalí went to a private collection for CHF 4.4 million. Paul Signac’s “Château Gaillard” from 1921 was sold for CHF 4.16 million, also to a private buyer. Albert Anker remains the lead runner of the Swiss artists, with a result of CHF 3.4 million for the work “Boy writing” from 1875. “We are both proud and pleased to have demonstrated once again that the best international art can be sold at auction for top prices here in Zurich”, says auctioneer Cyril Koller. The work “Landscape near Port Lligat with familiar angels and fishermen” , an oil on canvas produced in 1950 after Dalì’s return to Spain, was a key component in the renowned collection of the New York advertising pioneer Albert D. Lasker and his ... More Sotheby's announces first ever selling exhibition of contemporary art from central Asia and the Caucasus LONDON.- Sotheby's announces ‘At The Crossroads’, the first ever selling exhibition of Contemporary Art from Central Asia and the Caucasus. This pioneering exhibition, which encompasses art from the mountains of Caucasus to Kazakhstan’s steppe and the Chinese borders, will take place at Sotheby’s New Bond Street premises in London from Monday, March 4th until Tuesday, March 12th 2013. ‘At The Crossroads’ will include around 50 contemporary artworks in various media by artists from across Central Asia and the Caucasus, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The exhibition will showcase non-conformist as well as socialist-realist art from the 1960s, right the way through to emerging contemporary practices. Commenting on this pioneering initiative, Jo Vickery, Senior Director and Head of Sotheby’s Russian Art Department ... More Musical clock once owned by Egypt's King Farouk sells for £385,250 LONDON.- An intricately decorated musical clock once owned by King Farouk, the penultimate King of Egypt, sold after a long tussle for an above estimate £385,250 (estimate £150,000 to £250,000) at Bonhams Fine Clocks sale on 12th December at New Bond Street. The auction attracted a large audience of animated bidders who pushed the whole sale total to £1.5m with nearly 87 per cent of lots sold. This rare and ornately decorated silver-mounted musical table clock was still accompanied by its original signed and dated key. The exquisitely designed clock has been in the same family for at least fifty years and has not been seen on the auction market since 1954. Prior to the current owner, the clock would have formed part of the King’s impressive collection of highly decorative European watches, clocks and snuff boxes. Farouk was the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, ... More Far from the Shire, a Hobbit house in Pennsylvania country By: Joann Loviglio, Associated Press
CHESTER COUNTY (AP).- Worlds away from the Shire, a stone cottage tucked into the Pennsylvania countryside would make Bilbo Baggins feel like he was back home with his Hobbit friends in Middle-earth. Nestled in a part of Chester County dotted with picturesque barns and rolling fields surprisingly close to Philadelphia, this Hobbit house belongs to a lifelong fan of author J.R.R. Tolkien who wanted a worthy — and private — repository for the rare books and Tolkien-inspired memorabilia he has collected in 30 years of travel in the U.S. and abroad. The 600-square foot building is a short walk from his main house, on a flat stone path and through an English-style garden. "We wanted a single structure, a relaxing place that was diminutive in scale, for the ... More |
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