Sculpture Center Opens--The Nasher Sculpture Center has opened in Dallas, TX, and features a new 54,000 sq. ft. building and a one and one-half-acre sculpture garden. It provides a public home for the presentation of the Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection and "places modern and contemporary sculpture at the center of attention."

Strong Art Market Indicated--Fall art auctions have shown a restored interest in the art market, with records set for many artists such as Calder, Leger, Moore, and Bontecou. Modigliani's Reclining Nude (1917) sold for over $26 million at Christie's, setting a record for the artist; Klimt's Villa at Attersee (1917) sold for over $29 million at Sotheby's; and an untitled Calder sculpture sold for $5.8 million, a record for the artist.

"Cat in the Hat" Featured--This holiday season through January 1, the U.S. Postal Service will provide "Cat in the Hat" postmarks on billions of letter mail pieces--to include a "Happy Holidays" greeting and a drawing of the cat. And the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of this literary classic, Dr. Seuss, (aka Theodor Seuss Geisel) will be honored with his own postal stamp beginning March 2, 2004.

NEA News--President Bush has presented medals to ten recipients of the 2003 National Medal of Arts, including Rafe Esquith, arts educator from Los Angeles, CA.--First Lady Laura Bush has presented the 2003 Coming Up Taller Awards to 18 nonprofit organizations from the U.S. and Mexico. The annual awards recognize outstanding work with underserved youth, and each organization receives $10,000.--The House-Senate conference committee has increased the budget of the NEA by nearly $7 million, which raises the budget for the nation's leading annual funder of the arts to $122.5 million and will be invested across all fifty states.

New Hours Announced--The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan has announced "Holiday Mondays." For the first time in 30 years, the Met will be open to the public this fall, winter and spring on major Monday holidays to include Dec. 29, Jan. 19, Feb. 16, and May 31.

Exhibitions

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI -- Christmas Around the World and Holiday Traditions will be presented through Jan. 4. The symbols of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are gathered together alongside the trees of Christian tradition, dressed in the authentic holiday finery of many countries. It's a world transformed with 300,000 lights, carriage rides, carolers, entertainers and children's activities. The holiday traditions of Greece have been added this year. (616) 957-1580, Toll-Free: 888-957-1580.

Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME -- A highlight of the restored L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Galleries is the new Winslow Homer Gallery, featuring paintings, watercolors and graphics by this beloved and acclaimed American artist. A collection of five pivotal oil paintings traces Homer's career from his early work through the last two and a half decades of his life; and these are augmented by four additional oils on long-term loan as well as a constantly rotating selection from the Museum's collection of 14 watercolors and nearly 400 prints and a watercolor box owned and used by Homer.

Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY -- Rockwell's Home for the Holidays features three original Saturday Evening Post cover tear sheets and includes many of the artist's most memorable and enduring holiday images, including the 1939 Santa Claus cover "Extra Good Boys and Girls." Through Dec. 28.

The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC -- Raphael to Monet European Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore features 58 masterpieces from one of the nation's most celebrated collections of European art. Included are works by Raphael, Bronzino, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Van Dyck, Bernini, Houdon, Millet, Ingres, Manet, Pissarro, Monet, Sisley and Degas, among others. Through Jan. 11.

National Academy of Design, New York, NY -- Challenging Tradition: Women of the Academy, 1826-2003 examines the role of women in the history of the Academy as well as women's role over the past two centuries in the American art world at large. Comprised of over 60 paintings, sculptures and works on paper, works are included by Bourgeois, Bishop, Cassatt, Frankenthaler, deKooning, Coffey, Schapiro and others. Through Jan. 4.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 14 No. 2 -- December 2003