Art Month

October is recognized as the official Art Month by many arts organizations.
Visit a local participating art materials retailer for special events and activities.

ArtPourri

Crime Alert Issued – The Los Angeles Police Department has issued a crime alert for stolen art.  Between Sept. 2 and 3 a burglar stole 10 silkscreen paintings of celebrity athletes by Andy Warhol from the home of Richard L. Weisman, a businessman and prominent collector. A $1 million reward is being offered for information leading to the recovery of the paintings.  Other Warhol originals exist for each of the images, but in different colors.  Access the Crime Alert Flyer at http://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/news_view/42824.

New Book Club – This month The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will launch the new online MFAH Book Club.  Designed for existing book clubs, this web-based reading program links works of literature to art at the museum.  The fall 2009 selections include The Private Lives of the Impressionists by Sue Roe and Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriet Scott Chessman.  Guided Book Club visits begin this month at the museum.  To participate in the club, go to www.mfah.org/bookclub.

Fall Auction Offerings – At Christies, the Prints and Multiples sale on Oct. 27-28 will feature a strong selection of works from renowned printmakers, including Picasso, MC Escher, Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns.  At Sotheby’s, On Nov. 4 the Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art will feature seven paintings from the Durand-Ruel Collection, including works by Renoir, Pissarro and Sisley.

USPS News – Thanksgiving Stamps — To commemorate the Thanksgiving holiday tradition of parades, the U.S. Postal Service has issued four stamps featuring iconic scenes: a lively marching band led by a flamboyant drum major, large colorful balloons shaped like favorite animals and characters, a lasso-twirling cowboy and delighted spectators gathered on the sidewalk to watch.  The stamps were designed by artist Paul Rogers of Pasadena, CA.

Painting Reattributed to Master – The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, has announced that a technical examination and cleaning of one of its paintings, formerly ascribed to the workshop of Velazquez, has revealed an autograph work by the great 17^th century Spanish master himself.  The picture entered the museum’s collection in 1949, and the rehabilitation of this picture now represents a major “new” acquisition for the Museum, which possesses the finest collection of works by the master in America.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 19 No. 12 — October 2009