ArtPourri

Blue Star Museums Program Launched – The second annual launch of Blue Star Museums has been announced.  This partnership with more than 1,300 museums across America offers free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families through Labor Day 2011.

New Park Section Open — The second section of New York City’s High Line, a highly successful public park built on an elevated railway (originally built in the 1930’s) has now opened to the public. The two-year-old High Line continually renews its public art programming.  New pieces this year include Julianne Swartz’s Digital Empathy, which delivers messages of empathy and love; Sarah Sze’s Behavior and Its Evidence, an elaborate sculpture that frames the pathways and allows visitors to enter and pass through the space it outlines; and the Trisha Brown Dance Company’s Roof Piece, a recreation of the seminal 1971 piece.

New Admission and More from The Met – The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC) has announced that effective July 1, for reasons of economic necessity, the price of museum admission will rise to a recommended $25 for adults, $17 for seniors and $12 for students.  This marks the first admissions increase in five years.—The Alexander McQueen:  Savage Beauty exhibition has been extended by one week to Aug. 7.  Tickets for special viewings on Mondays, when the Museum is closed to the public, are available. 

New Galleries Open – The Art Institute of Chicago’s superb collections of African art and Indian art of the Americas has returned to brand new galleries in the Museum’s lower Morton Wing.  This space presents an exciting range of forms and materials in a new light.  This world-class reinstallation includes special loans like the spider silk textile and video installations by filmmaker Susan Vogel.

—The newly designed European sculpture and decorative arts galleries in the North Pavilion at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA, are arranged according to period and theme, with different materials—including 2-D works of art—intermingled to visually and conceptually play off one another.  Each of the four galleries emphasizes a different type of collecting interest.

Auction News—Sotheby’s auction of American Paintings, Drawings & Sculpture brought $27.1 million and was led by George Bellows’ Dock Builders at $3.89 million.

—At Christie’s, Maxfield Parrish’s monumental North Wall Panel (1928) sold for $2.8 million.

—Bonhams & Butterfields’ Made in California auction brought more than $2.3 million, including a stellar result for Milkshake & Sandwiches by legendary artist Wayne Thiebaud at $1.07 million.

—Swann Galleries set an auction record for the work of Mary Nimmo Moran, wife of famous Hudson River School artist Thomas Moran. Long Island Landscape, an 1880 oil on panel, was her first painting to appear at auction and sold for $64,800.

Museum Changes Schedule-–The Brooklyn Museum has announced it will enhance its Thursdays @ 7 programming this fall to better meet the needs of visitors who work during the day.  However, effective July 1, the Museum will no longer remain open until 10 p.m. every Friday, as a result of the challenging economic climate.

Stamp News – The U.S. Postal Service has welcomed Gregory Peck to its celebrated Legends of Hollywood stamp series with the issuance of a new Forever stamp honoring the Academy Award-winning actor.  Designed by Phil Jordan, it captures the pensive and stalwart lawyer Atticus Finch, who Peck played in the Oscar-winning movie, To Kill a Mockingbird.  The stamp portrait is a still photograph from the film.  And the new Purple Heart with Ribbon Forever stamp honors the sacrifices of the men and women of the U. S. military.  It features a photo taken by Ira Wexler of the medal awarded during WWII to 1st Lt. Arthur J. Rubin (1917-1978).

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 21, No. 9 — July 2011