ArtPourri

Laureates Named – The Japan Art Association has announced the recipients of the 22^nd Praemium Imperiale, the international prize for outstanding achievement in the arts.  Enrico Castellani (Italy) won for painting, Rebecca Horn (Germany) won for sculpture, and Toyo Ito (Japan) won for architecture.  Five awards of 15 million yen (approx. $169,000) each are given annually in fields that are not covered by Nobel Prizes.

Auction News – Phillips de Pury & Company’s London Contemporary Art Sales totaled $14.1 million.  World records were set for Aaron Young, Sterling Ruby, David Hockney and Dana Schutz.  – At Swann Galleries, Fernand Leger’s Cirque, the artist’s master graphic work containing 34 color lithographs and 29 B/W lithographs as well as 22 illustrations, 1950, sold for $28,800. – At Sotheby’s the sale of selected works from the distinguished Neuberger Berman and Lehman Brothers Corporate Art Collections brought $12.3 million, reaching the high estimate.  Seventeen auction records were set for artists.

Prize Winners Announced – More than 1,700 artists participated at 192 different venues in ArtPrize 2010.  Twenty-one countries and 44 states were represented.  A public vote determined the top ten winners.  Michigan artist Chris Laporte won the top prize of $250,000 for his pencil drawing Calvary, American Officers, 1921.

Milestone Reached – Artist Howard Brodie has died at age 94 in California.  A newspaper, magazine, television and combat artist, Brodie covered WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War and was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in WWII.

Artist Honored – Kara Walker, best known for iconic cut-paper silhouettes that address such highly charged themes as race, gender, sexuality and repression, was honored this month at the 8^th Annual Women in the Arts luncheon at the Brooklyn Museum.  She has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions and been the recipient of many awards.

NEA News – The National Endowment for the Arts recently celebrated its 45^th birthday.  On this occasion they offered a compendium of statistics, some of which follow:  Total dollar amount of NEA grants awarded to nonprofit organizations in 45-year history:  $4 billion; economic activity generated by the nonprofit arts sector each year:  $166 billion; most common full-time arts profession:  graphic designer; rank of education as a primary influence on arts participation:  #1.  www.nea.gov.

Stamp News – Decorating with evergreens during the winter holiday season is a popular and appealing tradition.  The Postal Service joins in the winter celebrations by issuing Holiday Evergreens, beautiful new stamps that feature close-up views of the foliage and cones of four different conifers:  ponderosa pine, eastern red cedar, blue spruce and balsam fir.  The artist, the late Ned Seidler, was a gifted painter of nature subjects who frequently used cuttings from his own yard when painting flora.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 21, No. 1 — November 2010