ARTTalk - ArtPourri - The Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum will celebrate significant achievements in the design world with its annual National Design Awards

Design Winners—The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum will celebrate significant achievements in the design world with its annual National Design Awards when 2006 finalists and winners are honored at a gala dinner on Oct. 18. Awards honor individuals in all areas of design as well as patrons and supporters. Among the 11 recipients is architect Paolo Soleri for lifetime achievement.

New Museum Planned—Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates in the Arabian Gulf, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the New York-based Guggenheim Foundation to establish a world-class museum devoted to modern and contemporary art. To be called the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the museum will be designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry and will form its own major collection of contemporary art as well as exhibit masterworks from the Guggenheim’s global collections.

Letters Acquired—The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has recently acquired a remarkable group of 55 letters written by Vincent van Gogh to the Dutch artist Anthon van Rappard. This exchange of views, accompanied by some beautiful sketches, is crucial to the understanding of van Gogh’s early artistic development. After being concealed for 60 years, the letters were offered to the Museum by their former owner.

Auction Notes--At Sotheby’s, David Hockney’s painting The Splash realized a world record price of over $5 million and Modigliani’s 1919 portrait of his mistress sold for $30.1 million; and at Christies, Francis Bacon’s triptych, Three Studies for a Self-Portrait, sold for over $7 million, setting a record; and a work previously thought lost in World War II by Egon Schiele went for $21.6 million. Last but not least, at a sale of a collection of Andy Warhol memorabilia, the artist’s trademark wig sold for $10,800.

Washington, D. C. – The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has reopened after an extensive renovation. There are eight temporary exhibitions now on view as well as six permanent exhibitions. See http://www.npg.si.edu/ for details.

Pacific Palisades, CA – The Getty Villa – The Colors of Clay: Special Techniques in Athenian Vases brings together approximately 100 vases produced in Athens during the Archaic and Classical periods, exemplifying the use of special decorative techniques. Through Sept. 4.

Minneapolis, MN – Minneapolis Institute of Arts – The Surreal Calder is the premiere exhibition in the new Target Wing. It consists of 70 works, including 13 paintings and objects by artists other than Calder to put him back in the midst of Surrealism. The MIA’s new 113,000 sq. ft. wing and 49,000 sq. ft. of building renovation add 34 galleries and nearly forty percent new exhibition space. Through Sept. 17.

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