In the News

August 2011

Bruce Lee Items to be Sold at Hong Kong Auction

Hong Kong: Thirteen items belonging to the late Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee went under the hammer in a Hong Kong auction on August 6, 2011.

Items sold from his estate included a letter he wrote on March 25, 1966 (45 years ago) to a friend. Other items sold at the auction include a dark-blue fur-lined coat which was made around 1973 for Lee's film Game of Death, a membership card for his Kung Fu Institute, and a name card of Lee.

The sale is jointly organized by auction houses America's Kelleher Auctions and Phila China of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government said that it has planned to turn Lee's old home in the southern Chinese city, into a museum.

Lee died in Hong Kong on July 20, 1973 at the age of 32, after a serious reaction to medication.

(Image courtesy of Live Auctioneers.com Archive and Stephen Bennett Auctions.)

Morphy's Set to Auction Bob Levy Coin-Op Collection

Denver: Morphy's set will be transformed into an arcade of colsound as the central Pennsylvania company auctions the late Bob Levy's valued private collection of gambling and coin-op machines on September 3, 2011. The lifetime collection of 400 antique and vintage machines will be offered unpicked and in its entirety during the second session of Morphy's September 2 to September 3 Coin-Op, Antique Advertising and General Store sale, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com.

Bob Levy was a well-known connoisseur on coin-ops who bought and sold only the rarest and best examples. For years he based his antiques business “The Unique One” in a Pennsauken, N.J., showroom, but he had a global recognition and he has patrons from all over the world. He was the fountainhead of coin-op knowledge and such a presence in the hobby that collectors referred to him as simply “the slot machine guy.” In October of 2009, Levy joined the Morphy Auctions team to manage sales of gambling and coin-op machines.

New Collection of Andy Warhol Designs for iPhone, iPad and MacBook

New York: 'Incase' announced the second release of designs in the 'Incase' for Andy Warhol Collection. The latest collection release highlights Warhol's artistic range, featuring imagery from works in a variety of media including silkscreening (Elvis, Advertisements), film (Empire) and hand-drawing (Telephone, Do It Yourself Flowers). Iconic Warhol images turn Incase's signature protective cases and bags for iPhone, iPad and MacBook into functional pieces of art, a tribute to the great American artist's affinity for technology and its place in contemporary culture and the arts.

New for iPhone 4 is a series of Snap Cases adorned with a selection of Warhol artwork. A still image from Warhol's 1964 silent film Empire pays homage to one of the world's most recognizable skyscrapers and emblemizes the experimental film that spans more than eight hours in length.

A full range of products for MacBook, iPad 2 and iPhone 4 are treated with an Incase-exclusive collage of Warhol pieces from his advertisements series. A stunning Elvis portrait, a prime example of Warhol's early photographic silkscreen technique, is applied to cases for MacBook, iPad 2 and iPhone 4. Taken from a promotional poster for the film Flaming Star, Warhol's use of silver and black crystallizes Elvis' status as one of the most legendary stars of the silver screen and is a reflection of an ongoing celebrity and fame-driven theme present in some of Warhol's most regular works.

Fondation Cartier to Feature Beat Takeshi Kitano

Paris: Beat Takeshi Kitano is a multifaceted and prolific artist; Comedian and host of nine TV shows ranging from the highly comical to the very serious, he is one of the most popular entertainers in his own country. Abroad, Takeshi Kitano is a widely acclaimed author and actor, and has directed Sonatine (1993), Hana-Bi (1997, awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival) and Zatôichi (2003), among other masterpieces of contemporary film. His compelling work gives beautiful form to the expressions of violence, solitude and childlike playfulness. He also has a love of painting.

Beat Takeshi Kitano is currently creating Gosse de peintre, a site-specific exhibition for the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain that presents an unexpected and captivating world in which the magical memories of his childhood take center stage. Presenting paintings and video films, as well as astonishing objects and settings, whimsical and fantastic machines, Beat Takeshi Kitano invites the visitor to think, play, dream and join the show.

The Fleming Collection to Showcase John Burningham's Illustrations

London: A celebration of the rich and varied career of John Burningham, one of Britain's renowned and best-loved illustrators, is to be held at the Fleming Collection at 13 Berkeley Street, London W1 from September 13th to December 22nd. The retrospective exhibition, entitled John Burningham: An Illustrated Journey, will include illustrations, working drawings and previously unseen archive material. It will be accompanied by a new book about Burningham published by The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation, the charity that runs The Fleming Collection.

Burningham, who is both the author and illustrator of many children's books, did the illustrations for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Fleming, and produced a series of superb travel posters which will go on show in a simultaneous exhibition at The London Transport Museum. The first children's book written and illustrated by Burningham was Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers published in 1963. It was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration. Other books followed, including Mr Gumpy's Outing, for which Burningham won a second Greenaway Medal.

The artistic achievements of Burningham, who marked his 75th birthday earlier this year, have been unusual. He was recently nominated as a British entry for the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award presented by the International Board on Books for Young People. The success of Borka led to a commission to illustrate Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the only children's book written by Ian Fleming. Burningham made his own model of Chitty and suspended it from the ceiling using fishing line before taking photographs of it from every angle.

Postage Stamp Honours Artist Edward Hopper

Provincetown: A magnificent Cape Cod seascape painting by New York artist Edward Hopper is being honoured on a new postal stamp. The stamp is being unveiled at a first-day-of-issue ceremony in Provincetown. Hopper, who died in 1967, was a summer resident of nearby Truro. His oil painting The Long Leg (1935) is a sunlit seascape of a boat sailing against the wind in blue waters near the Long Point lighthouse at Provincetown. The Huntington Library in San Marino Calif possesses the work in their collection. Few American artists are influential as Edward Hopper, whose stunning, sunlit painting is the 10th entry in the American Treasures series. The work's title refers to sailing; a leg is one part of an alternating, zigzagging series of short and long tacks. This painting, from around 1930, shows Hopper's distinguishing use of light to isolate objects, and reflects his love of the sea as well as his interest in architecture. Many viewers sense loneliness and an unresolved tension in Hopper's paintings. The Long Leg portrays an appealing scene of leisure, yet there are no people visible in the boat or on land. This stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current first-class rate.

Museum of Karsten Klingbeil Treasures to be Offered at Two Auctions

Munich: The private museum of the famous Berlin sculptor, philanthropist and former construction mogul Karsten Klingbeil is going to be offered in two parts. The first auction will happen in December 2011 at Pierre Bergé & Associés in Brussels, the second half of the collection is going to be offered for bidding in June 2012 at Hermann Historica oHG in Munich. Those dates provide a unique opportunity to acquire a total number of 600 significant objects that have been collected over fifty years with lots of passion, commitment and expertise to accumulate this sensational collection. 40 complete suits of armour from the 15 th to the 17 th century, 120 helmets as well as pole arms, swords, daggers and shields from twelve centuries form the core of the collection. Since the legendary Hever Castle auction at Sotheby's, London, in 1983 this is going to be the most important private collection of antique arms and armours brought to market.

The illustrious names of the major owners and those of the prominent prepossessors from the 20 th century alone provide substantial material of historical interest. Among others the pieces of the collection have been manufactured for the armouries of famous characters such as the Electors of Saxony, the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg, Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau and members of the powerful Roman noble family Borghese. Equally noteworthy are the names of the collectors from whom Karsten Klingbeil acquired the armours and antique arms. No less than the publisher and media tycoon William Randolph Hearst, Lord Astor of Hever Castle and the Rutherfurd Stuyvesant Collection can be found among them.

The Martin-Gropius-Bau to Present a Hokusai Retrospective

Berlin: The Martin-Gropius-Bau presents a major exposition featuring the works of Hokusai. Organized as part of a series of events to mark “150 Years of German-Japanese Friendship”, this time it is to be devoted to the world-famous Japanese artist Hokusai (1760-1849) in Germany. One of his best-known picture is the woodcut The Great Wave off Kanagawa from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (1826-33). Over 350 loans, which with few exceptions come from Japan, will be on display in the exhibition in Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau. NAGATA Seiji, the chief Japanese authority on Hokusai and his work, will be curating the exhibition, which will be on display exclusively in Berlin from August 26 through October 24, 2011.

Works from all periods of the artist's career, woodcuts and drawings, illustrated books, and paintings, will be shown. In 2000 Life Magazine ran a survey to find out who were the most significant artists in world history in which Hokusai came 17th, ahead of Pablo Picasso. The exhibition which covers the entire span of Hokusai's creative activity, extending over 70 years offers credible evidence of the genius of this great artist. Throughout his life he used over thirty pseudonyms. Today he is known to the world under just one of these names: Hokusai. His full name was Hokusai Katsushika.

Unique Items in Michaan's Estate Auction

Alameda, California: Michaan's August 7, 2011 Estate Auction featured more than 900 lots of property sourced from private collections, estates and institutions.

The Jeweliery Department showcased two beautiful necklaces with inventive design.
The Asian Art portion of this sale presented an attractive collection of decorative items. Worthy of mention were two ivory carvings of an emperor and empress ($4,000-$6,000).

A strong showing of decorative items was also seen from the Furniture and Decorative Arts Department.

Fine Art presented a diverse selection of art including artists like Gail Sherman Corbett (American), Joan Miro (Spanish), E Charles Lucas (French) and Owen Wilson (Irish). Particularly noteworthy was a watercolour from Russian artist Pyotr Petrovich Konchalovsky. Hay Harvest was being offered $4,000-$6,000.

American wood-turner Philip Moulthrop's ash leaf maple vessel was offered at an estimate of $3,000-$5,000. Along with the Moulthrop piece were over 60 lots of American Craft Movement and Native American vessels up for auction.

Philadelphia Museum Reveals Rembrandt's Vision of Christ

Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Musée du Louvre in Paris have organized Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus, an exhibition that unfolds this remarkable change through some 22 paintings, 17 drawings, and nine prints assembled from public and private collections in Europe and the United States. The exhibition opened on August 3 and will run till October 20, 2011.

The portrayal of biblical themes was a central fixation For Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-1669), the greatest painter, draftsman and printmaker of the Dutch Golden Age.

the exhibition includes a series of painted heads of Christ found in Rembrandt's home and studio, reunited for the first time, and the newly restored Supper at Emmaus (Musée du Louvre, 1648), a mid-career masterwork which has not been seen in the United States since 1936. The National Gallery in London will also send to the United States for the first time the major painting, Christ and the Woman Taken into Adultery (1644). In addition, many selected drawings that will be coming to Philadelphia have rarely been exhibited or loaned.

Early American Militaria to Highlight Bonhams & Butterfields' Fall Sale

San Francisco: Bonhams & Butterfields will showcase on November 14, 2011 its Antique Arms and Armor and Modern Sporting Guns sale in San Francisco that will feature a single-owner collection of more than 400 lots of American militaria, including military headgear, edged weapons etc, illustrating all facets of military life, from the Federal Period through the Civil War. Highlighting the auction will be a number of uniform ensembles from the early Federal Period and Civil War, as well as a historic, Paris-made Confederate artillery officer's frock coat of Lt. Col. Richard Snowden Andrews.

American military bits and pieces will be represented by a large group of militia and regular army waistbelts, cartridge boxes, cap boxes, shoulder belts knapsacks, Colt 1849 pocket revolvers, Colt single action army revolvers, 19th century American cartridge revolvers and a group of American and continental sporting guns, featuring a large group of bolt action and single shot rifles, haversacks and powder horns. The prosaic side of soldiering will also be represented by everyday items such as mess and shaving equipment, and even one lot of Civil War era tobacco.

Collection of Rare Film Stills Presented by Arts of the Earth

New Delhi: Arts of The Earth, presented Historical Moments, a collection of rare film stills and film posters by eminent Indian directors like Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor and others in New Delhi. The show started on August 1 and continued till August 30, 2011. Some of posters which were displayed were Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Jalsaghar (The Music Room) and Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players), films of Raj Kapoor like Barsaat, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Muzaffar Ali's Umrao Jaan and others.

Signature Art Prize Makes an Entry into India

Singapore: The Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) Foundation Signature Art Prize, returns this year with 130 artworks from 24 countries and territories vying for the Grand Prize of SGD 45,000. This year for the first time India is also included for nomination.

The 130 works were selected by 31 independent art professionals and curators. The Prize amount to a total of SGD 85,000 cash awards, comprising one Grand Prize, three Jurors' Prizes and one People's Choice Award.

India is represented by five nominated artworks created by Atul Bhalla, Prabhavathi, Meppayil, Ravi Shah, Sheba Chhachhi and Shreyas Karle. The artworks were nominated by the country's two leading art professionals, Suman Gopinath and Pooja Sood.

Other established practitioners as well as emerging talents nominated this year include Daniel Crooks (Australia), Makoto Aida (Japan), Jane Lee (Singapore) and others.

Five judges will shortlist the 15 finalist artworks. The jury panel comprises: Fumio Nanjo, Gregor Muir, Hendro Wijanto, Ranjit Hoskote and Tan Boon Hui.

The 15 shortlisted finalists will be announced by 1 October 2011. An exhibition of the finalist artworks will open at SAM on 11 November 2011 and votes for the People's Choice Award can also be cast in person at the exhibition. The Grand Prize, Jurors' Prize and People's Choice Award winners will be announced at the Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation Signature Art Prize Awards Dinner on 18 November 2011.

NY design firm wins Saint Petersburg island project

Saint Petersburg, Russia: A New York-based architectural firm was awarded a prestigious contract today from billionaire Roman Abramovich to design an island in Russia's imperial capital Saint Petersburg.

The WORKac firm was announced the winner in a private tender organized by the Millhouse investment firm of the billionaire businessman that oversees the design of the New Holland project.

The 7.6-hectare (18.7-acre) New Holland island comprises prime land in the heart of Saint Petersburg. The island is cut off by the city's rivers and canals.

New Holland Development gave no time frame of when the project may be completed or the costs involved.

WORKac has been involved in various projects around New York City and in 2009 was honored at the White House as Finalist for a National Design Award.

The island was created in the 18th century through the construction of two canals and gains it name from its resemblance to areas in the similarly canal-filled Netherlands city of Amsterdam.

The Museum of the Moving Image Opens "Jim Henson's Fantastic World"

New York City: The Museum of the Moving Image will present Jim Henson's Fantastic World, on view through January 16, 2012. Jim Henson's Fantastic World celebrates the internationally known creative genius Jim Henson, whose work encompassed film, television, and puppetry. The exhibition features over 120 artifacts, including drawings, storyboards, and props, all of which illustrate Henson's unlimited creativity and countless accomplishments. Fifteen iconic puppets, including Miss Piggy and others are on view, along with photographs of Henson and his collaborators at work and excerpts from his early projects and experimental films.

The exhibition features artifacts from Henson's best-known projects, The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie and its sequels, Fraggle Rock, and Sesame Street, in addition to materials from Sam and Friends, an early show he created in the 1950s, and his pioneering television commercial work in the 1960s. Jim Henson's Fantastic World was organized by The Jim Henson Legacy and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in cooperation with the Henson family, The Jim Henson Company, The Muppets Studio, LLC, and Sesame Workshop.

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