150 recent works by Chinese artist Xu Jiang in exhibition at the Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau

DRESDEN.- The exhibition has been jointly developed by the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, the National Art Museum of China and the China Academy of Art Hangzhou. With more than 150 paintings and works on paper as well as two monumental sculptures, the exhibit is Xu Jiang’s first large retrospective in Germany and is an integral part of the Chinese Year of Culture 2012. Sunflowers, those plants which adjust themselves towards the sun, form the central subject of the exhibition. In the eyes of the artist, they have become symbolic of an entire generation, the generation that grew up after the great wars of the 20th century and the Cultural Revolution. During this time, not only the Chinese history but also individual biographies were subject to unrelenting change.

The Beau Sancy: Historic diamond sold for $9.7 million at Sotheby's auction in Geneva

GENEVA (AP).- Marie de Medici wore it at her coronation as Queen Consort of Henry IV in France in 1610, and now the Beau Sancy diamond is a lavish accessory owned by an anonymous bidder who paid $9.7 million for it at Sotheby's auction. The spring auction season for jewelry and watches is upon Geneva, where elegant lakefront hotels fill with well-heeled buyers and bidders in a scene far removed from the debate over European austerity. Five bidders fueled the price on Tuesday at the Sotheby's sale for the Beau Sancy, a 34.98 carat diamond that had passed among the royal families in France, England, Prussia and the Netherlands. It was sold by the Royal House of Prussia, the line of descendants that once ruled Prussia. Another historical item, the Murat Tiara, sold for $3.87 million. The pearl-and-diamond tiara

Mexican novelist, essayist, and driving force in Latin America's novel-writing boom, Carlos Fuentes, dies

MEXICO CITY (AP).- Author Carlos Fuentes, who played a dominant role in Latin America's novel-writing boom by delving into the failed ideals of the Mexican revolution, died Tuesday in a Mexico City hospital. He was 83. Mexico's National Council for Culture for the Arts confirmed the death of Mexico's most celebrated novelist. The cause was not immediately known, said the culture official, who was not authorized to speak to the media. Mexican media reported Fuentes died at the Angeles del Pedregal hospital, where he was being treated for heart problems. The loss was immediately mourned worldwide via Twitter and across Mexican airwaves. A message on President Felipe Calderon's Twitter account said "I deeply lament the death of our beloved and admired Carlos Fuentes, a universal Mexican writer."

Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley at the Cantor Arts Center

STANFORD, CA.- “Central Nigeria Unmasked: Arts of the Benue River Valley” opens May 16 at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University. Presenting more than 150 objects drawn from international collections, the exhibition gives a comprehensive view of the arts from along the river that flows across the center of Nigeria, joining the great Niger River on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. “Central Nigeria Unmasked,” on view through October 14, 2012, reveals arts and cultures of diverse peoples who are far less known and studied than those of the majority populations in the country’s northern and southern regions. Organized in sections that unfold as a journey up the 650-mile-long Benue River, the exhibition presents artistic forms and styles associated with more than 25 ethnic groups. The objects on view embody meanings and purposes crucial to Benue Valley peoples as they confront and resolve life challe

Next flight of Tom Sachs' space program takes off at Park Avenue Armory in New York

NEW YORK, NY.- Park Avenue Armory and Creative Time have joined forces with artist Tom Sachs to launch the next flight of his SPACE PROGRAM with an unprecedented four-week mission to Mars, all within Park Avenue Armory’s soaring 55,000-square-foot drill hall. Following his 2007 mission to the moon, Sachs and his team take audiences to the further reaches of the solar system with an installation of dynamic and meticulously crafted sculptures. Using his signature bricolage technique, Sachs fashions aeronautical equipment and the world of another planet out of simple materials—foam-core, hot glue, plywood, and other standard materials that have been salvaged or are readily available from D.I.Y. catalogues. With painstaking detail, he creates elaborate spacecraft, exploratory vehicles, a Mission Control, launch platforms, and a Mars landscape, recasting the Wade Thompson Drill Hall as an immersive space odyssey at a

Architect Frank Gehry offers changes in Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial design in Washington

WASHINGTON (AP).- Architect Frank Gehry and his design team proposed changes Tuesday to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial planned for a site near the National Mall after hearing complaints from Ike's family for months. The family had said the design focuses too much on Eisenhower's humble Kansas roots, rather than his accomplishments. Members of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission held a public meeting to review changes and said they were nearing a resolution to seek final approval of Gehry's concept. Gehry has proposed a memorial park that would be framed with large metal tapestries showing a Kansas landscape to evoke Eisenhower's boyhood home in Abilene, Kan. At the center of the park, Gehry

Paintings fresh to market from private collections lead Bonhams South Asian Art Sale in London

LONDON.- A strong selection of works by major South Asian artists, seen for the first time on the market, heads Bonhams annual summer sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian art on 7th June in New Bond Street, London. The sale includes works by well-known Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan artists such as M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza, Jamini Roy, Rabindranath Tagore, Avinash Chandra, F.N. Souza , B. Prabha, George Keyt, Sadequain, Jamil Naqsh and A. R. Chughtai sourced from private collections in Europe and the USA. The highlight of the sale is the serene work by one of India’s foremost modern artists Jehangir Sabavala, Vespers I (�100,000-150,000). Illustrated on the cover of his monograph by Ranjit Hoskote, The Crucible of Painting: The Art of Jehangir Sabavala, Vespers I is one of Sabavala’s most important works, representing a key

Renaissance-era rooms in Augsburg's Fuggerhouse conserved by World Monuments Fund

AUGSBURG.- At an inauguration ceremony today, two historic rooms of the Fuggerhouse in Augsburg, Germany, were reopened to the public to mark the completion of extensive conservation work. The mayor of Augsburg, donors to the project, and representatives of the Denkmalamt of Bavaria were present. The conservation of these two Renaissance masterpieces was sponsored by World Monuments Fund (WMF) and the Messerschmitt Foundation, Freistaat Bayern Entsch�digungsfond, Bayerische Landesstiftung, Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz, Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung, Bezirk Schwaben, and Mr. and Mrs. S. Schlaifer. WMF supported the conservation of the Muse Room and other partners funded work on the Zodiac Room. The Fuggerhouse in Augsburg was the home of several

Some of the greatest royal dinner services ever to grace a table head Bonhams sale of European ceramics

LONDON.- Most people needing a dinner service might pop down to John Lewis, Harvey Nicks or Marks and Spencer and if they are really pushing the boat out may go to Harrods. Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Lithuania did things differently. He commissioned Meissen to produce some of the most lavish and sophisticated dinner services ever made. Today largely split up and distributed world wide, every plate or cup from these famous dinner services causes excitement when they appears on the market for sale. Some of these items, known as white gold in their heyday were stored in what was called the Japanese Palace in Dresden that Augustus built to house his finest porcelain. Bonhams sale of a European private collection of Meissen porcelain on 23rd May in London offers an opportunity to observe what a collector with a particularly fine eye for the best Meissen porcelain managed to assemble. Lot 39 is a M

Comprehensive exhibition of works by the German-American artist Jerry Zeniuk opens in Munich

MUNICH.- The Staatsgalerie Moderne Kunst in the Glaspalast Augsburg, a branch of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, is staging a comprehensive exhibition of works by the German-American artist Jerry Zeniuk. The exhibition, drawn up in close cooperation with the artist himself, examines all of Zeniuk’s artistic phases from the 1970s to the present day. From the very outset, it has been Zeniuk’s aim to avoid making statements in his work and to free himself in his painting from all illustrative, narrative and psychologically related moments. Instead, he concentrates primarily on features inherent to painting: the properties of colours and the purely visual sensation they cause. He converts colours and shapes into dynamic pictorial structures which open up subtle perceptual spaces in the mind of the viewer. In the course of Zeniuk’s career that stretches over more than forty years, this interplay between col

Huntington acquires Renaissance sculpture attributed to Giovan Angelo del Maino

SAN MARINO, CA.- At the annual meeting of its Art Collectors’ Council, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens enriched its European art collection with the acquisition of St. George and the Dragon (ca. 1522�–27), a well-preserved, expertly carved polychrome and gilt wood sculpture newly attributed to master sculptor of the Italian Renaissance, Giovan Angelo del Maino (ca. 1470–ca. 1536). Also acquired at the meeting on May 5 was a French Barbizon School painting, Sunshine and Shadow (ca. 1830–1840), by Constant Troyon (1810–1865). Catherine Hess, chief curator of European art at The Huntington and specialist in European sculpture, identified del Maino as the maker of the previously unattributed St. George and the Dragon in consultation with colleague Giancarlo Gentilini, a leading scholar of early Italian sculpture based at Perugia University in Italy, followed by her researc

From Florida's Gold Coast to the Hamptons Gold Coast: Inaugural Art Southampton presented by Art Miami

SOUTHAMPTON, NY.- Florida’s bustling art scene will soon make a major impression in the Hamptons, with one of the world’s premi�re art fairs bringing an unparalleled array of the world’s finest contemporary art to one of the world’s greatest artists communities, The Hamptons. For over three centuries, renowned artists - from 19th Century Plein Air painter William Merritt Chase to the 20th Century moderns Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein to their 21st Century counterparts Cindy Sherman, April Gornik, Eric Fischl - have all called the East End home. Art Miami, the longest running contemporary art fair and anchor fair to the city of Miami is largely credited with making South Florida, a destination for collectors of world-class art works in every medium. How appropriate that such a world class art fair, renowned internationally for the highest caliber of contemporary and modern art should launch its newest art fair in the fable

Clark Art Institute presents Mark Dion installation at the Explorers Club in Manhattan

NEW YORK, NY.- The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute presents a new installation by artist Mark Dion, Phantoms of the Clark Expedition, reflecting on the history of exploration and on an expedition to North China that the Institute’s founder Sterling Clark undertook in 1908. On view May 9 to August 3, 2012, the installation consists of a series of dioramas and sculptures representing objects and specimens that would have been used or collected during expeditions that occurred in that era. The installation is being presented at The Explorers Club at 46 East 70th Street in New York. The Clark commissioned Dion to create the new work as part of the Institute’s commemoration of the centennial of the 1912 publication of Through Sh�n-kan: The Account of the Clark Expedition in North China, 1908–9, written by Sterling

Indianapolis Museum of Art features new installation of works by Alyson Shotz in Efroymson Pavilion Series

INDIANAPOLIS, IND.- The Indianapolis Museum of Art announced that artist Alyson Shotz has created a new installation of her works for the IMA’s Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion series. In response to the site, Shotz adapted her sculpture Geometry of Light, and display it in conjunction with her animation Fluid State and a series of large-scale stills captured from the animation. Alyson Shotz: Fluid State will be on display until January 6, 2013 and marks the first time the entrance pavilion combines multiple artworks by an artist. Shotz creates sculptures and installations that explore the basic elements of the physical world—light, gravity and space—through the use of commonplace and industrial materials such as piano wire, glass beads, straight pins and mirrors. Geometry of Light is Shotz’s response to the question: “What would it look like to see light stopped in time?” The work

Curator Carol Robbins retires after 47 years of service at the Dallas Museum of Art

DALLAS, TX.- Carol Robbins, The Ellen and Harry S. Parker III Curator of the Arts of the Americas and the Pacific, is retiring after forty-seven years of service to the Dallas Museum of Art. In appreciation of her nearly fifty years of Museum work, and of her renowned curatorial expertise in ethnographic textiles, Robbins has been appointed Curator Emerita. Carol Robbins joined the Museum in 1965 as the Secretary to the Director under Merrill Rueppel. She became a curatorial assistant in 1970, and subsequently served on staff within the DMA’s curatorial department, including the positions of Curator of Textiles and Curator of New World and Pacific Cultures, through her appointment as The Ellen and Harry S. Parker III Curator of the Arts of the Americas and the Pacific in 2006. She has been responsible for the Museum’s collections of ancient American and Indonesian

Honda shows robotics for easy and hands-free ride

By: Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP).- Look, no hands. Scooting about on what looks like a floating car seat is no sweat for anyone with Honda's new hands-free robotics technology. Swaying your body from side to side is all you need to do to turn, rotate full circle and zip around on the Uni-Cub. The Uni-Cub has one main wheel, while a tiny wheel at the back helps for circular moves. Reporters got a test ride on the machine Tuesday. It takes some getting used to but responds smoothly and quietly. Lean forward to go straight, to the left to go left. If all fails to stop, just put your foot down. Uni-Cub will be on display at a Tokyo science museum. There are no plans yet for a commercial product.

Book of Jenness Cortez paintings awarded Outstanding Book of the Year Gold Medal

TRAVERSE CITY, MI.- “Homage to the Creative Spirit: The Paintings of Jenness Cortez” by Baylor University art historian Karen Rechnitzer Pope (AMI Publishers) has been named recipient of the 2012 Independent Publishers “Outstanding Book of the Year” award. According to Jim Barnes, Independent Publishers’ awards director, the Cortez book, winner of the gold medal for most original book concept, exhibits “the courage and creativity necessary to take chances, break new ground, and bring about change––not only to the world of publishing––but to our society. The masterful realist paintings by Jenness Cortez and insightful commentary by Karen Rechnitzer Pope, represent the most heartfelt, unique, outspoken and experimental literary and creative achievement among our 5,023 entries.” Robert Yassin, Executive Director of the Palos Verdes Art Center calls Jenness

First Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles illustration brings $71,700 at Heritage Auctions

DALLAS, TX.- The first-ever full artwork of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird – the illustration that launched one of the most successful character franchises in history – sold for $71,700 on Friday, May 11, at Heritage Auctions in Dallas as part of a Vintage Comics & Comic Art Auction. It sold to an anonymous buyer. The drawing was consigned by Turtles Co-Creator Kevin Eastman, who drew it with Laird one night in late November, 1983. Eastman has designated an undisclosed percentage of profits from the auction proceeds to benefit The Hero Initiative, a non-profit he is active with that provides a financial safety net for comic artists and writers. “What an incredibly exciting week this has been! The Turtles have been blessed with the best fans on the planet, so I chose this event to make available personal historical TMNT items for those really hardcore

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