January 2011

Works of Lichtenstein, Warhol Stolen
New York: Police are investigating the theft of a collection of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol artworks from the home of Robert Romanoff, the president of the New Jersey-based Nebraska Meat Corp.

The New York Police Department released images of the art, hoping someone might help solve the crime by recognizing works like the well-known Lichtenstein print called Thinking Nude.

Another Lichtenstein print Moonscape, the Carl Fudge oil painting Live Cat, the Warhol prints The Truck and Superman, and a set of eight signed Warhol prints from 1986 called Camouflage are also missing. They're among the artist's last works before his death the following year. Lichtenstein, who died in 1997, created Thinking Nude in 1994 one of 40 limited-edition works that are part of his Nudes series based on comic-book illustrations. A similar print recently sold for about $85,000 at Christie's, according to the auction house's website.

Warhol's Superman print is part of his 1980s Myths series featuring fictional characters with mass-cultural appeal, including Mickey Mouse and Uncle Sam.

Authorities estimate the five-story apartment was burglarized when the owner and art collector Romanoff was away. The culprits made off with surveillance video footage that might have caught them in the act. Police say the thief drilled a hole through the wall of a hallway sometime between November 24 and 28, 2010. Authorities estimate the artworks, along with stolen Cartier and Rolex watches and other jewelry are worth about $750,000.



Delhi plans for conversion of old power station
Delhi: The Indian capital, Delhi, is going to convert a 33-year-old decommissioned power station, Indraprastha, into an art gallery modelled on London's Tate Modern. The plan has been approved by Delhi municipal authorities.

The cost of the project is presently "fluid", a municipal planning official told, but could run up to $110 million. The Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation said that the conversion would last three to five years; depending on how long it takes to dismantle the coal plant and make the 59.1-acre site safe. The site will also be used for offices and will be connected to the city's new metro, currently in its third phase of expansion. Solar panels will provide power, and other energy-conserving measures, such as a roof garden, are planned to reduce emissions from the new complex in one of the most polluted cities in the world.

Though it is difficult to anticipate how much of this plan New Delhi will be able to realize, yet despite all the complications the city seems eager to undertake this major building initiative.





Tagore's notes to echo in Goa
Panaji: Temple bells and compositions by Rabindranath Tagore will echo within the walls of a beautifully restored 450 year old chapel, a Christian place of worship in Goa from February 4 to 6, 2011.

The ninth Monte Hill Music Festival, organised annually by the Goa-based Portuguese cultural institute Fundacao Oriente and hosted within the restored precincts of the Our Lady of Mount, Old Goa, will also feature musicians and singers from Belgium, Portugal, Britain and several other parts of the country.

'It's a one of a kind festival. We will have a performance called 'Temple bells', a Bharatnatyam and Odissi tandem dance performance by Raul and Mitali D'Souza from Mumbai and a Belgian artiste playing some compositions of the great Rabindranath Tagore at the chapel,' Eduardo Carvalho, delegate director of the Fundacao Oriente, told reporters Tuesday. 'Over the years, the Monte hill festival has become a much awaited event in Goa for music lovers,' he said.





Disney's Mickey Mouse Paintings Recovered
Rye, New York: After 17 years two valuable Walt Disney Company watercolors, showing Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice in the 1940 film “Fantasia” have been recovered after they went missing from the International Museum of Cartoon Art in Rye, New York.

On October 30, 2010 an antiques dealer in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., who bought them from someone who had got hold on them in a sale of unwanted items from a storage facility in Florida, brought them to the notice of the police. The police said the dealer researched the watercolors' history and realized they were stolen. Rye Brook Police Chief Gregory Austin said they were valued at $60,000 to $80,000 at the time of the theft.

The International Museum of Cartoon Art was founded as the Museum of Cartoon Art by cartoonist Mort Walker in 1974. The Museum was created to accumulate, preserve and exhibit original works of cartoon art from all over the world. In 1992, the museum was relocated from New York to Boca Raton, Florida, where. Its new facility opened to the public in March of 1996. Its collection at present consists of about 160,000 pieces of artwork, together with original animation art, newspaper strips, comic book art, editorial, gag, sports cartoons, book and magazine illustrations.



Hirst's Diamond Skull in Hong Kong
Hong Kong: An infant's skull, cast in platinum and pavé set with pink and white diamonds, created by the British artist Damien Hirst, formed the centrepiece of Gagosian's inaugural exhibition, “Forgotten Promises”, at its new Hong Kong space from 18th January to 19th March, 2011.

Damien Hirst had earlier created a human skull, titled “For the love of God”, covered with 8,601 white diamonds. It is a skull, which have radiocarbon analysis dated between 1720 and 1810 and belonging to a man, completely covered with white diamonds. The establishment was evaluated to € 100 million, the highest figure so far for a contemporary work. At the center, also stands a large gemstone 50 carats. To apply each gem it took 18 months to Hirst's work and the artist has applied each gemstone in hand after covering the skull with platinum.



Art Asia Pacific show is taking place at San Francisco
San Francisco: 15th Annual Art Asia Pacific show is going to take place at historic Fort Mason Center, San Francisco from February 3, 2011. To celebrate the advent of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which is a year of the rabbit, an image of a wily rabbit by Chao Shao-an has been kept on the catalogue cover. More than 70 art dealers will be showcasing their intriguing Asian art including sculpture, furniture, paintings, ceramics, antiques and contemporary art. It is estimated that more than 10,000 museum quality antique and contemporary pieces from Mainland and Pacific Asia will be available at the 3 day festival. Last year Art Asia Pacific show was a huge success with a count of over 86,000 visitors, who participated in different public programs.



Indian Contemporary Art at Switzerland
Davos, Switzerland: The Intuitive-Logic Revisited, a major exhibition of Indian Contemporary Art was launched by Osian's Collection on January 26 and continued till January 30, 2011, at The World Economic Forum, Davos. It was an interesting show displaying a varied range of works by contemporary artists, each unique in its own way.

This is the first time that Indian art was provided this unique global platform to promote its contemporary art, its history and aesthetics. Some of the prominent artists who featured in the show are: Amit Ambalal, Jyothi Basu, Bharti Kher, Altaf Mohammedi, Gulam M Sheikh,  Meera Mukherjee, Mrinalini Mukherjee, Arpana Caur, Sudhir Patwardhan,Amitava Das, Anju Dodiya, Surendran Nair, Shibu Natesan, Ved Nayar, Baiju Parthan, Atul Dodiya, C. Douglas, GopiKrishna, G. R. Iranna, Gieve Patel et al.



Kentridge at Kolkata
Kolkata: One of the world's most revered contemporary artists, William Kentridge has come to India for the first time to attend Seagull Foundation for the Arts: Events February, 2011. Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre is displaying a varied range of the artist's work titled William Kentridge: An Exhibition of Etchings, Prints, and Films, from January 29, 2011, to February 28, 2011.

The South African artist's work tracks a personal route across the fraught legacy of apartheid and colonialism through an innovative use of charcoal drawing, prints, collages, stop animation, film and theatre. He has worked in theatre, initially as set designer and actor, and, more recently, as a director. Throughout his career he has moved between film, drawing and stage, yet his primary focus remains drawing, and he sees his theatre and film work as an extension of it. In 1999, he was awarded the Carnegie Medal. In 2002, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Art from the Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art in Baltimore.

On February 3, 2011 in conversation: William Kentridge and Rosalind C. Morris will be organised at Max Mueller Bhavan. Again, on February 22, 2011Poetry Slam will be organised at Seagull Bookstore.



Three European countries to host Iran's 2011 International Fajr Visual Arts Festival
Tehran: The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts director, Mahmoud Shaloui announced that Iran, Syria and Lebanon will be joined by Italy, Austria and the Netherlands in hosting the Visual Arts Festival, Iranian exhibition centers in Venice and Rotterdam will exhibit the selected works along with Iranian cultural offices in Austria, Lebanon and Syria for one month starting on February 5, 2011.

The third edition of the festival, which begins from February 1, 2011, will display works in the categories of painting, calligraphy, pottery and ceramics, miniature, photography, as well as posters and cartoons. According to the festival secretary Abbas Mirhashemi, around 5,000 artists will participate with 20,000 works and compete in different national sections.

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Iranian Artists Forum, Niavaran Cultural and Historical Complex, Saba Cultural and Artistic Institute, and Tehran's Palestine Museum of Contemporary Art, will host the this year's festival in the Iranian capital along with art centers in 20 provinces across the country.