Museum of Portimão Awarded With The Council of Europe Museum Prize 2010

During a ceremony held in the Palais de Rohan (Strasbourg, France) on April 27th, 2010, Mevlüt Çavusoglu awarded the Museum of Portimão (Algarve, Portugal) with the Council of Europe Museum Prize 2010: a bronze statuette, “La femme aux beaux seins” by Joan Miró, which the museum will keep for a year, as well as a diploma and a cheque for 5,000 euros.

The museum was represented by its director, José Gameiro and by the Municipal Councillor for the cultural affairs in Portimão, Isabel Bica.

Located in a region of mass tourism, the Museum of Portimão offers an eductional programme to benefit the local community and has contributed since its foundation to the awareness of the cultural identity of the region.

Housed in former sardine canning factory on the estuary of the Arade river, its permanent exhibition, with particular relevance on the sardine canning industry, has reestablished Portimão's historical and cultural heritage.

The museum holds an extensive collection of items recovered from the Arade river during underwater archealogical projects, some of them belonging to civilizations dating back over three millenia.

The interaction between the man and the environment over a period of five millenia is also present in its perment exhibition.

Annually awarded since 1977 to museums that have significantly contributed to the understanding of European cultural heritage, the Council of Europe Museum Prize is determined by the Committee on Culture, Science and Education of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on the basis of a shortlist submited by a jury of the European Museum Forum, and forms part of the European Museum of the Year Awards.

The prize, which is accessible to the museums of the 49 countries of the European Cultural Convention has been recently attributed to the Zeeuws Museum in The Netherlands (2009), the Norway’s Svalbard Museum (2008) and to the Geneva’s International Museum of the Reformation (2007).

The AOP Open Awards 2010

Without any established categories or themes, the AOP Open provides the opportunity for professional and amateur photographers to enter a photography competition in equal terms.

Open to anyone worldwide, the 2010 AOP Open Awards is an annual competition that attracts near 1500 entries from professional photographers, amateurs, students and assistants, each one aiming for recognition and to have their works exhibited at the AOP Gallery.

Consisted by a panel of industry professionals, the judges will be publicly known in May and the judging will take place in June 2010.

The awards will be presented in August during the opening gala at the AOP Gallery in Shoreditch, East London and to the following categories: "Best in Show", "Public Choice" and "Judge's Choice", this one selected by each of the judges.

The selected images will be exhibited at the AOP gallery and showcased on the Awards website.

Those wishing to participate in this photography competition can enter online until the 16th of May 2010 and there's a £15 fee for each submited image.

Renoir - Tradition and Innovation - Osaka 2010

After the exhibition period at The National Art Center (Tokyo), approximately 80 works from the french impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, will be for viewing between the 17th of April and the 27th of June, 2010 at the National Museum of Art (Osaka).

With works courteously loanned from several collections from inside and outside of Japan, such as from the Musée d'Orsay (Paris), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), The National Gallery of Art (Washington) and The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (Massachusetts), the Renoir - Tradition and Innovation exhibition observes the progress of the artist from the outset of his career to his recognition as a portraitist, including his innovative experiments in art.

Advanced optical technology was used to carry out studies upon Renoir's technique, with the results being presented alongside the paintings.

Organized by The National Museum of Art (Osaka), The Yomiuri Shimbun and the Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, the exhibition had the special assistance of the Pola Museum of Art, Pola Art Foundation and was made possible with the generous contribution of sponsors.

Gian Bernini - The Art and Life of a Sculptor (Part One)

After the series of episodes about the italian artist Caravaggio, the readers of this blog will have the chance to get themselves familiarized with the art and life of one of the most famous sculptors of all times: Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Born in Naples, Italy, in the XVI century, Bernini possessed an unparalled skill to capture in marble the gist of a moment with dramatic and natural realism.
Through nine episodes, you'll see stone transformed into art.

The Winners of World Press Cartoon 2010

A caricature of Vladimir Putin, by the argentinian Gabriel Ippóliti and published in the Ámbito Financeiro of Buenos Aires when the russian Prime Minister announced the restart of the russian militaty program, has conquered the Grand Prix of the World Press Cartoon 2010.

Ippóliti's work was distinguished with the 1st prize of Caricature, one of the three categories of the event.

In the same category, the 2nd place went to Vaclav Teichmann, from Czech Republic with the work "Steve Jobs" and the 3rd place was attributed to the australian David Rowe with "Karzai".

The Editorial Cartoon category saw the first prize conquered by the work "Yes we can", by the mexican cartoonist Boligán, while 2nd and 3rd places went respectively to Jarbas with "Destruição de Florestas" (Destruction of Forests) and to Cau Gomez with "Google...", both from Brazil.

In the Humour category, the winner was the iranian Hassan Karimzadeh with "Controversy", while the 2nd place was conquered by the brasilian Dalcio with the work "Guerra" (War).

The malagasy artist POV won the 3rd place in this category with the work "Christmas", published in a newspaper of the Republic of Mauritius.

This is the first time that an african artist wins a prize in the World Press Cartoon.

The ceremony took place this April 16th, at the Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval, in Sintra (Portugal) and the 400 selected works are now being exhibited at the Museu de Arte Moderna (Museum of Modern Art), between April 17th and July 4th, also in Sintra.

World Press Cartoon - Sintra 2010

With the winners ceremony taking place today, April 16th, at the Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval, in Sintra(Portugal), the 6th edition of the World Press Cartoon brings to the public the best works published in newspapers and magazines during the year of 2009, in the areas of editorial cartoon, caricature and humour.
The exhibition of nearly 400 works will take place between April 17th and July 4th at the Museu de Arte Moderna (Museum of Modern Art - Berardo Collection) in Sintra, from Tuesday through Sunday, between 10h00 and 18h00, including holidays, with the exception of May 1st.
The admission is free.
Following its previous editions, the World Press Cartoon 2010 restates its compromise of promoting the cartoon and recognizing the talent of the best artists, as well as the freedom of expression.
The winners coming from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Iran, Republic of Mauritius, Mexico and Czech Republic, were selected between 429 authors of 77 countries, who submited a total of 878 published works.

EMPAC 2010 onedotzero_adventures in motion

From April 30 to May 02, 2010, EMPAC (experimental media + performing arts center) will host the onedotzero_adventures in motion festival.
Located in Troy (NY), the event will include instalations, live performances, educational projects and screening programs.
During the three week residency that precedes the festival, the international visual label AntiVJ is creating a live painting project to be featured in a live audiovisual show for the opening, as well as an installation to be presented over the weekend.
AntiVJ has been acclaimed for using 3D mapping and "live painting" to transform architectural structures
The opening night will also feature dj-ing and the producer, songwriter and dj Diplo, who will exhibit his latest feature film "Favela on blast".
Rensselaer students will collaborate on projects that will be presented during the festival, under the guidance of AntiVJ and onedotzero, including the first stateside installment of cascade and visitors will also have the chance to watch back-to-back screenings of onedotzero's latest compilation programs at EMPAC's theatre.
Showcasing the latest developments in digital and interactive design, the onedotzero_adventures in motion festival will be curated by Kathleen Forde.

EMPAC: onedotzero_adventures in motion festival from http://vimeo.com/empac on Vimeo.

Newsletter Subscriber Wins Original Painting

Subscribing to The Art Inquirer's newsletter is simple and will keep you up to date with the latest and most relevant art news, giving you the option to read or listen.
The service is free of spam and the newsletter layout is easy to follow.
Every month, one of the susbscribers wins a free original painting, which usually is a postcard-sized watercolour, but can also be another medium.
April's winner of an original watercolour has been chosen and already contacted, as well as a substitute winner.
The winner will have to claim the prize until April 20, 2010, after which will lose the right to it.

ARThood Selects - Curated Competition 2010

Created with the objective of bringing together the creative community, permitting members to showcase their works and interact with each other, ARThood is hosting its first curated competition.

With the theme "Nomadic", where artists are requested to interpretate the constant change of ideas evoked by today's globalized media, Arthood Selects is open to the website members.

Artists can participate in this curated competition with an original artwork that is part of their portfolio at ARThood and of their own conception.

There are no mentioned restrictions to the medium.

Artworks will be judged by former contemporary curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Founder and Director of Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), Shamim M. Momin.

The selected images will be featured on the website's home page and included in the ARThood Exhibitions online space, with a complementary text by Shamin M. Momin.

Deadline is May 3, 2010 and there's no participation fee.

The Little Mermaid Leaves Denmark to Visit Expo 2010 Shanghai China

Based upon Hans Christian Andersen's tale, where a sea king's mermaid daughter who falls in love with a prince must wait 300 years to become human, the bronze statue created by Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen has left the Copenhgen's harbour for the Expo 2010 Shanghai China.
This is the first time that the statue leaves the harbour since it's unveiling in 1913.
Scheduled to be placed about a week before the opening on May 1, the statue will be the Danish pavilion's highlight at Shangai's World Expo.
Due to the obvious security reasons, the Little Mermaid's itineray is being kept secret.

SFMOMA's Rooftop Garden iPhone + iPad Tour

Opened to the public on May 10, 2009, the Rooftop Garden was conceived as a multifunctional space to complement the museum's structure and enhance its possibilities.

Connecting to the museum's fifth-floor galeries via a glass-enclosed bridge, the Rooftop Garden of the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art (SFMOMA) includes two open-air spaces with a glass pavilion, providing views of the sculptures in the museum's collection and of the city's skyline.

Thanks to the continuous developments to provide a rewarding experience and interaction with the museum, a tour that permits to explore this space from all angles is available for iPad and iPhone users.

Included on this tour are comments about the sculptures, an interview with the architects, plan drawings of the Rooftop Garden and the museum's Director Neal Benezra talking about the finished garden.

Subscribe and Win this Watercolour

On April 10th 2010, another subscriber of this blog's newsletter will be chosen as the winner of the monthly giveaway, which in this case is an original postcard-size watercolour.

Since 2008 that The Art Inquirer offers an original work of art every month (there was a minor interruption period).

To be entitled to participate, you only need to subscribe to the free newsletter, which will guarantee that you'll be one of the first to know about interesting art related news and relevant information for artists and art collectors.

The subscription service, through Feedblitz, can be found at the right column of this blog.

Please also refer to this article to know more about the participating conditions.

Also don't forget that if you use Project Wonderful to advertise your business, The Art Inquirer is offering a 12 month subscription to the American Artist magazine to one of its advertising partners.

Moreover the followers of this blog as well as its subscribers have a special 10% at Hushcolours - Fine Art.

Henri Matisse's "Bouquet for July 14, 1919" up for Auction at Sotheby's N.Y.

AFP/Sotheby's/HO

With an estimated value of between 18 and 25 million dollars, according to Emmanuel Di Donna, head of the Impressionist sales office at Sotheby's New York, the painting "
Bouquet for July 14, 1919" by the french impressionist Henri Matisse will be presented for auction on May 5, 2010 at the Sotheby's N.Y.

Measuring 116cm by 89cm (45.5 by 35 inch) the painting, celebrating Henri Matisse's joy at France's first Bastille Day after World War I, was presented to his dealers Berheim-Jeune briefly after its completion and it remained in their family collection until it was sold at an auction in France to an european private collector in 1982 for 1.3 million dollars, setting a record for a Matisse at the time, later surpassed by "Les Coucous Tapis et Rose" (1911) sold for 35.9 million Euro ($46.4 million), the highest value paid for a work by the artist at auction.

Before the auction in New York, the painting will be shown in Hong Kong and London.