Art & Museums category, Page 17
Max Beckmann self-portrait sold at German auction for $20.7M
BERLIN — A self-portrait painted during World War II by German expressionist artist Max Beckmann sold Thursday in Berlin for 20 million euros ($20.7 million), a price that appears to be a record for an art auction in Germany. The buyer of Beckmann’s “Self-Portrait Yellow-Pink” at the Grisebach auction house...
Carnegie Museum of Art’s 2023 exhibit put focus on collection
For its 2023 slate of programs, the Carnegie Museum of Art will take inspiration from its long-running Carnegie International — now in its 58th iteration. “The program builds on the incredible momentum of the Carnegie International, which is part of the collecting legacy on which the museum was founded,” said...
Museums’ daring feat brings major Ukraine art show to Spain
MADRID — Against a backdrop of Russian bombardments, border closures and a nail-biting 3,500-kilometer (2,150-mile) truck journey across Europe, Spain’s Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum has teamed up with the National Art Museum of Ukraine to secretly bring dozens of 20th century Ukrainian avant-garde artworks to Madrid for a unique exhibition and...
Behind the Art: Fort Ligonier work depicts George Washington’s ‘friendly fire incident’
Among pivotal French and Indian War dates is Nov. 12, 1758, when a raiding party of French troops from Fort Duquesne and their Native American allies went to filch livestock from the Post at Loyalhanna, later rechristened Fort Ligonier. The raiders were chased off by about 500 Virginians under Col....
Area institutions offer deals, discounts on Museum Store Sunday
In between Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, there’s another opportunity to score some holiday gift deals. Museum Store Sunday is an annual event in which art, nature, culture, science and history institutions around the globe offer deals and discounts on their merchandise, including many items developed exclusively for those...
Behind the Art: Fort Ligonier namesake rendered by renowned portraitist
On the wall opposite the entrance to the Fort Ligonier art gallery is the painting of a white-wigged soldier on horseback, apparently in the thick of battle. “Most visitors naturally assume it’s George Washington,” said Julie Donovan, the fort’s director of marketing and public relations. But it’s not. Rather, it’s...
Out & About: Southwestern Pennsylvania arts council hosts 27th annual show
For the 27th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, juror Paula Burleigh said she chose “artworks that asked me to find unexpected delight in the ordinary.” Her choices included works in various media by 53 regional artists, revealed during a Nov. 12 opening reception...
Western Pa. arts, cultural organizations rebuild post-pandemic programs, audiences
During the covid-19 pandemic shutdowns, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust President and CEO Kevin McMahon frequently reassured colleagues that things would be OK. “Even in the darkest days of the pandemic, I said, ‘We’re resilient; we’re gonna make it through this,’ ” he said. “Of course, there were moments when I got...
New Mars exhibition opens at Carnegie Science Center
The fascination Earthlings have long held for the neighboring red planet of Mars is playing out in a big way with a new permanent, immersive exhibition at the Carnegie Science Center on Pittsburgh’s North Side. “Mars: The Next Giant Leap,” a $4.5 million project, opens Friday, and Science Center officials...
Reclaimed materials link past, present in Pittsburgh Botanic Garden exhibition
An exhibition juxtaposing long-unused industrial materials with new artworks opens Thursday in the welcome center of the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. “Patterns of Meaning,” by Pittsburgh artist Cory Bonnet, will be on display through Feb. 26 at the facility in Settlers Cabin Park in Oakdale. Bonnet’s exhibition derived inspiration from a...
Discovery of bronzes rewrites Italy’s Etruscan-Roman historyVideo
ROME — Italian authorities on Tuesday announced the extraordinary discovery of 2,000-year-old bronze statues in an ancient Tuscan thermal spring and said the find will “rewrite history” about the transition from the Etruscan civilization to the Roman Empire. The discovery, in the sacred baths of the San Casciano dei Bagni...
Greek museum displays 1st batch of artworks recouped from U.S.
ATHENS, Greece — It’s a first symbolic step in a homecoming that will long outlast the 10-year Odyssey of ancient myth. For decades, an important part of Greece’s cultural heritage sparkled only for the very few in a U.S. billionaire’s private collection, until a groundbreaking deal for its gradual return...
Visitors pour creativity into aluminum castings during Westmoreland Museum event
Heather Humbert reproduced a sycamore leaf, J. D. Peterson carved an image of a hummingbird and Karen Shade embellished the first initial of her granddaughter’s name. The women were among Sunday visitors to Greensburg’s Westmoreland Museum of American Art who saw their creations captured as one-pound squares of textured cast...
Carnegie Museum’s ‘Welcome This Winter’ programs aim to brighten winter gloom
Let’s face it — winter in Pittsburgh is a little gloomy. The Carnegie Museum of Art aims to be a bright spot in the midst of that with its “Welcome This Winter” slate of programming. “The winter is always challenging in Pittsburgh. It gets dark, we struggle with not getting...
Behind the Art: Fort Ligonier portrait depicts young George Washington
Visitors often don’t recognize the portrait of George Washington in the art gallery at Fort Ligonier. They expect to find an image of the elder statesman, like the many created by early American portraitist Gilbert Stuart. What they find instead is a depiction of the young Col. Washington, who spent...
Westmoreland Museum author talk explores Pittsburgh artist John Kane
It seems fitting that two people long involved in the artistic and cultural life of Pittsburgh should tell the story of Pittsburgh artist John Kane. Authors Maxwell King and Louise “Lulu” Lippincott will discuss “American Workman: The Life and Art of John Kane,” their book about the self-taught, early 20th-century...
Protester glues his head to ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ paintingVideo
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Climate activists targeted Johannes Vermeer’s masterpiece “Girl with a Pearl Earring” with glue and liquid on Thursday but one of the world’s most iconic paintings was not damaged in the latest of such publicity-seeking stunts. A video posted on Twitter showed one man pouring a can...
Hanna’s Town adds trick-or-treating on Family Day, spices tours with Celtic lore
Western Pennsylvania frontier history and Halloween traditions and lore will combine for a fascinating and fun seasonal brew of activities this weekend at Historic Hanna’s Town. A new trick-or-treating opportunity joins numerous returning features during the re-created 18th-century village’s annual Fall Family Day, set for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m....
Carnegie Science Center to open new Mars exhibition
The Carnegie Science Center is opening what it’s referring to as the most ambitious new experience built since the museum opened in 1991 — a $4.48 million exhibition called “Mars: The Next Giant Leap.” The Mars exhibit will open to Carnegie Museum members Friday, Nov. 18 with the public grand...
French iconic painter of black Pierre Soulages dead at 102
PARIS — French painter Pierre Soulages, an icon of post-World War II European abstract art famed for his use of black, has died, according to the Soulages Museum in his hometown of Rodez. He was 102. Soulages became highly influential for his reflections of black, which he called “noir-lumiere,” or...
No nails in this 18th century Windsor-style chair
One thing is missing from a Windsor-style chair that is on display at the Westmoreland Historical Society’s education center. “This is really very primitive. There’s no nails,” said Joanna T. Moyar, collections manager. The wooden chair, made in the late 18th century, is connected to Fort Walthour in North Huntingdon...
19th century James Butler furniture part of Penn’s Woods exhibit
Two wooden pieces of furniture created by James Butler bear dates — 1875 and 1899. Butler, who at the time lived on Spring Street in Ludwick before it became part of Greensburg, may have used the items in his home and had no intuition they’d be considered works of art...
Out & About: The Westmoreland’s new exhibitions explore meaning of ‘American’
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art has a historic first with the simultaneous opening of three exhibits exploring the meaning of the word “American” in the museum’s title. At a Saturday evening preview for members and special guests, Chief Curator Jeremiah William McCarthy said, “It’s really not just a word...
UK: Climate protesters throw soup on Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’
LONDON — Climate protesters threw soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in London’s National Gallery on Friday to protest fossil fuel extraction, but caused no damage to the glass-covered painting. The group Just Stop Oil, which wants the British government to halt new oil and gas projects, said activists dumped...
Sistine Chapel large-scale photo exhibit coming to Ross Park Mall
Michelangelo’s frescoes on the ceiling of Vatican City’s Sistine Chapel are regarded as one of the major accomplishments not only of Western art, but of all Western civilization. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to make a trip to Rome to see them in person. “Travel is expensive, travel can be...
