TEFAF Maastricht 2012

Since its beginning as The Pictura Fine Art Fair in 1975, TEFAF Maastricht has consistently earned its reputation and is nowadays considered the most prestigious antiques art fair in the world.

The 2012 edition will bring to its visitors genuine masterpieces spanning through several milenia, offered by more than 260 of the world's most prestigious art and antiques dealers from 18 countries.

Over 170 international experts in every field of art represented at the Fair, verify each and every object for quality, authenticity and condition, making TEFAF an opportunity for directors and curators of major museums, as well as for private collectors to acquire some of the finest pieces still in private hands.

TEFAF Maastricht 2012 will be divided in 9 sections: Paintings, Antiques, Modern, Manuscripts, Classical Antiquities, Haute Joaillerie, Design, Paper and Showcase, this last giving the opportunity to recently established galleries to participate in TEFAF Maastricht for one year and to gain experience of being part of an international fine art event.

On Friday morning of March 16, an Art Symposium will be held at the MECC Maastricht, Forum 100, where developments in the art market over the last 25 years will be discussed, as well as a look at its future.
A panel discussion about collecting for love or money, considerations on emotional value and art investment, and financial risks and rewards of investments in art, will also be covered in the symposium.

In 2012, TEFAF Maastricht arts and antiques fair celebrates its 25th anniversary.
A new entrance hall designed specially for the Fair's Silver Jubilee containing a stunning light installation will welcome its visitors and a series of initiatives are taking place during this year.
A special Silver Jubilee book is being produced for TEFAF 2012. This will include interviews with museum curators and private collectors who have bought works at the Fair, some of whom have never spoken publicly before, a history of TEFAF, a look behind the scenes of the Fair and great works of art sold at TEFAF.



TEFAF Maastricht 2012 can be visited from 16 to 25 March 2012, daily 11am - 7pm; Sunday 25 March 11am - 6pm. The regular admission fee is €55 per person (includes one catalogue)

A mobile guide application is available for Android and Apple phones.

SVA Arts Abroad 2012

The School of Visual Arts(SVA) in New York has launched its Arts Abroad calendar for 2012.

Arts Abroad is open to students 18 years or older, as well as college graduates and professionals, with some of the programmes having a prerequisite course work and/or portfolio requirements.

Taking place not only in Europe, namely France, Greece, Istanbul Italy, Rome and Spain, but also in Rincon (Puerto Rico) and Xangai, the programmes will cover artistic areas such as cinema, painting, photography, design, fashion and art history, depending on location.

To learn about fees, schedules and other important information, please refer to the SVA Arts Abroad website.

ARThood Selects competition "Great Promise"

The ARThood Selects competition "Great Promise" is open to all Arthood members (membership is free) who wish to give further exposure to their art.

Submited works must be the artist's concept and creation, available for sale and part of the artist's images in the ARThood Gallery Store. Additionally, participants must agree to the Official Rules.
Artists can only enter one work. There is no participation fee.

The selected artwork(s) will be featured on the ARThood home page as part of the "Great Promise" online exhibition and will be included in the "Great Promise" exhibition in New York City in Spring 2012, where a private reception to showcase and sell the artworks will take place.

A percentage of the proceeds will benefit The Watermill Center, a laboratory for performance founded by Robert Wilson as a unique environment for emerging and established artists from around the world to explore new ideas.

The deadline to enter the ARThood Selects "Great Promise" art contest is March 11, 2012.

According to the juror of the contest, Zev Eisenberg, the theme "Great Promise" does not place any restraints on the artist's creativity, thus permiting a free interpretation of the theme.

Zev Eisenberg is the former Director of Mallick Williams and Co. Gallery in New York and the Director of Strategic Marketing for ARThood.

Un Univers Intime - Paintings in the Frits Lugt Collection

The full scope of the Frits Lugt Collection - Fondation Custodia will be on dsplay for the first time at the Institut Néerlandais in Paris.

Expanded in the last two years, including an acquisition of nearly 60 oil sketches on paper from the bequest of Carlos van Hasselt (1929-2009), former director of the Fondation Custodia, the exhibition brings to the public a wealthy selection of 115 paintings, including masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age, together with Flemish, Italian, French and Danish paintings, from a collection created gradually, with great passion and discernment, over nearly a century.

Recognized by its the Dutch Golden Age paintings that included works from Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683), Jan van Ravesteyn (c. 1572-1657), Jan Lievens (1607-1674), Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634), Ambrosius Bosschaert the Younger (1609-1645), Nicolaes Maes (1634–1693 (buried)) and Jacob Vrel(active around 1654-1670), the Frits Lugt Collection spans a range of famous works by renowned artists such as the British Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828); Martinus Christian W. Rørbye (1803-1848), Johan Thomas Lundbye (1818-1848) and Vilhelm Kyhn (1819-1903) from Danmark; Jacques Linard (around 1600-1645) and Nicolas de Largillière (1656-1746)from France; and the Italian painters Francesco Guardi (1712-1792), Cristoforo Munari (1667-1720), Francesco Guardi (1712-1792) and the famous female artist Sophonisba Anguissola (around 1535-1625).

Visitors will also have the opportunity to view works from the Silver Age, as historians call the Dutch 18th century, that include landscapes and city views by artists such as Jan ten Compe (1713-1761) and Hendrik Pothoven (1725/28-1807), as well as works of the 19th century from Josephus Augustus Knip (1777-1847, (1844-1910) and Jozef Israëls (1824-1911), the last two protagonists of the Hague School caracterized by Dutch landscapes and interiors.
A reference must be made to George Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923), first affiliated to the Hague School, later settled in Amsterdam.
A painter and photographer, friend of Van Gogh, Breitner is one of the major Dutch artists at the close of the 19th century and certainly the most gifted.

The Flemish artists are well repesented through the Brueghel dynasty with works from Jan Brueghel the Elder, often known as the “Velvet” Brueghel (1568-1625) and Jan van Kessel the Elder (1626-1679), grandson of the “Velvet“ Brueghe, in a total of 25 paintings including from David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) and Pieter Lastman (1583 - 4 April 1633 (buried))

Also included and on display for the first time, are the recently acquired works from Eugène Isabey (1804-1886) and Achille Etna Michallon (1796-1822), the teacher of Corot.

In the last year and a half a great deal of attention has been devoted to the condition of the paintings in the collection and many of the works in exhibition as well as frames were cleaned and restored when necessary, which besides reassuring that the majority of the paintings are very well preserved, it also revealed a lot of information about technique.

Press visit: Wednesday 29 February from 12 pm to 2 pm
Public opening: Wednesday 29 February from 6 pm to 8.30 pm

"Un Univers intime" The Paintings of the Frits Lugt Collection, can be visited at the Institut Néerlandais, Paris, between 1st March and 27th May 2012 (Tuesdays to Sundays, from 1 pm to 7 pm).

Admission: Adults 6 €, Discount 4 €.

3rd Annual Nature & Wildlife Art Exhibition: Call for Artists

The St. Augustine Art Association, FL. has launched a call for entries regarding its 3rd Annual Nature & Wildlife Art Exhibition, with over $4000 in prizes.

This exhibition, open to all artists worldwide over the age of 18, seeks to explore nature in all of its forms, including the great outdoors, fauna and flora (i.e. landscapes, seascapes, floral, plant life, wild animals, marine life, birds, etc.)

Entrants may submit up to 3 original 2D or 3D pieces (consult specifications) created within the past 3 years and not exhibited in previous STAAA exhibits. Entries must be the original created piece of artwork, with the exception of photography and original printmaking. Other kinds of reproduction will be excluded.
Works that reference hunting or taxidermy will not be eligible.
Human elements cannot be present, except on the rare occasion where those human elements enhance the nature story.

The artist has to mail the completed and signed the entry form, together with the images (300dpi) on CD and the payment ($35/STAAA members, $45/non members) until March 2, 2012.

Accepted artwork can be hand delivered to the St. Augustine Art Association Sun, Apr 22, 2-5pm or Mon, Apr 23, 12-4pm.
Shipped work must be delivered by Wed, Apr 18. A Pre-paid Return Shipping Label AND separate $40 handling check (besides the entry fee(s)) made payable to STAAA must be included with the
package. No packing peanuts are allowed and no glass on shipped artwork.

Selected artists will be contacted on the week of Week of Mar 19, 2012.

The PhotoFest Meet & Greet will take place on Wed, Apr 25, 6-8pm by invitation only(No awards presented) and the Exhibit Awards Dinner will happen on Sat, Apr 28, 5-9pm; Ticket info to be sent with acceptance notice.

Artwork Pick-up: Sun, May 27, 2-5pm
Unclaimed art will incur a $5/day storage fee.
Works cannot not be removed from the gallery before the end of the exhibit.

All artwork must be for sale. Sales will be handled by the STAAA, which will retain 40% of the selling price.
The gallery reserves the right to reproduce accepted artwork for promotional purposes.

Before submiting to St. Augustine Art Association's 3rd Annual Nature & Wildlife Art Exhibition, make sure that you read the participating rules and conditions carefully.

Major Rembrandt retrospective at The Cleveland Museum of Art

From February 19 through May 28, 2012, The Cleveland Museum of Art is showing two parallel exhibitions about the work of Rembrandt yan Rijn: "Rembrandt in America" and "Rembrandt Prints from The Morgan Library & Museum."

The close relation between both, offers the chance for the visitor to better apprehend the facets of Rembrandt, not only as an excellent painter but also as a skilled draughstman and printmaker.

The Rembrandt in America exhibition takes place at the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall and shows 30 works by Rembrandt, some of them autograph and others thought to be by the artist when they entered American collections but whose attributions can no longer be maintained, and over 20 works by other artists.

In 2006, several exhibitions worldwide celebrated the 400 years of Rembrandt's birth, nonetheless Rembrandt in America brings an indepth perspective about his career as a painter, as well as information about his studio, a broader network of adapters, followers, and copyists.

The public is invited to examine the gradual opinions and methods of scholars and collectors regarding what constituted an autograph Rembrandt painting over a period of more than a century, while at the same time earning skills in connoisseurship and opinions on authenticity thanks to the display of works in small groupings.

Rembrandt in America occurs at a time when scrutiny of “Rembrandt” versus “not Rembrandt” continues to trouble the discipline and affect the art market significantly. As the first major exhibition to take a broader look at the history of Rembrandt collecting and connoisseurship in America and namely in Cleveland, the show also addresses growing interest in the country’s collecting history.



The Cleveland Museum of Art owns four paintings associated with Rembrandt, two acquired in the early 20th century by the Cleveland collectors John L. Severance and Elisabeth Severance Prentiss and two others purchased by the museum in 1950 and 1967.
Each came to the museum attributed to Rembrandt, and all have subsequently been questioned to various degrees, with consensus yet to be reached.

The exhibition, well complemented by its accompanying catalogue, explores the often-controversial issues of collecting and connoisseurship, with a focus on individual paintings where these two related topics intersect.


Rembrandt in America is organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art, the North Carolina Museum of Art, where was on view between October 30, 2011 and January 22, 2012; Raleigh; and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, to where will travel from June 24 through September 16, 2012.



Showing a significant set of works from the Morgan Libray & Museum, considered the largest and finest collection of Rembrandt prints in USA holding nearly 500 impressions by the artist from circa 1626 to about 1661, during which time he executed some 290 plates, the Rembrandt Prints from The Morgan Library & Museum exhibition offers a broad overview about the artist's skills and creativity as printmaker.

Contrary to most of his predecessors, who sought to achieve a standardized representation of the printed image with little variation from impression to impression, Rembrandt was inclined to experiment. He would achieve an array of effects by varying the support and how the plate was inked, so that impressions from the same plate could differ noticeably.

The artist improvised as he worked on the plate, sometimes even changing the concept of the image, adding and subtracting lines, leaving traces of the previous work on the plate, while printing proofs at various stages of the work’s completion. He used different types of paper, and he also printed on vellum, as it is a non-absorbent support.
Rembrandt created tone not only by controlling the amount of ink left on the surface of the plate before printing, but by using drypoint as well, which produces broad, velvety lines. He also successfully integrated drypoint with etched and engraved work in one composition.

Rembrandt’s prints cover a wide range of subjects, including Old and New Testament narratives, landscapes, portraits and self-portraits, nudes, and scenes from daily life as it was common in his time. He sometimes returned to the same theme, allowing for a comparison of a subject executed decades apart, illustrating his artistic development and experimental advances.

The Rembrandt Prints from The Morgan Library & Museum exhibition is a collaboration between the Morgan Library & Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Future Generation Art Prize 2012

Entries are open for those who wish to participate in the second edition of the Future Generation Art Prize, founded by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

The press conference took place last February 6 and counted with the presence of its founder and chairman of the board, the Ukrainian billionaire, philanthropist and art collector Viktor Pinchuk; Eckhard Schneider, General Director at the PinchukArtCentre; Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Nicholas Serota, Director of the Tate Museum; Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, both Mentor Artists since the first edition of the Future Generation Art Prize; Cinthia Marcelle from Brazil, Winner of the Future Generation Art Prize 2010.

Open to all young artists worldwide aged between 18 and 35, this biennial Prize provides considerable means to permit the development of an artistic career for the winner, as well as supporting other selected participating artists.

The submission can be made either individually or in group as one participant, being possible for those who are part of a group to also enter individually, but only once for each.

All works of art, regardless of category and media will be accepted within the size limitations as outlined in the EntryForm. Obviously the artist should be keep his/her creativity within the bounderies of good sense and avoid submiting offensive works. It goes without saying that the submited art should be the artist's or group of artists own concept and creation.
The artist will be responsible for providing with due time, the necessary instructions regarding the eventual assembly of works and installation, two months before the opening of the Prize Exhibition but in any event not later than August 30, 2012.

The organizers of the Future Generation Art Prize 2012 will cover all costs of crating, for which the participant agrees to pass all dimensions and
specifications of the artwork(s), transportation and customs formalities when shipping artworks to/from Kiev for exhibition in accordance with separate agreements with the participant, as well as the insurance of the artwork(s) nail-to-nail according to the value given by the participant for the complete period of the loan. The artist will be responsible for providing all the required information for customs formalities and agrees to sign any relevant separate contracts required for customs clearance during transportation to the Prize Exhibition according to all applicable laws.

Submissions can be made online between 6 February and 6 May 2012, until 4:00 PM (CET).

A shortlist of twenty artists will be announced in June 2012 and the exhibition of their works will take place at the PinchukArtCentre between October 2012 and January 2013. These artists will participate by showing the existing artworks they highlighted in their applications and may, if agreed with the Organizers, also create new works specifically for the Prize Exhibition.

The winner of the national PinchukArtCentre Prize will also participate, bringing the
maximum number of artists in the Prize Exhibition to 21.

In December 2012, will take place the Future Generation Art Prize 2012 Award Ceremony, where the winning artist or collective artists will be awarded with a prize split into US$60,000 in cash and US$ 40,000 to invest in the production of new work.

The jury will also award up to five "Special Prizes" to support young talents. The
Special Prizes will not be bound to a financial award but rather serve above all to support the further development of the artists in the form of residences in different art contexts. At the Organizers sole discretion up to a total of US$ 20,000 can be invested for about five Special Prizes.

The Future Generation Art Prize was announced for the first time in December 2009 by Viktor Pinchuk at the Gramercy Park hotel in New York.

Samuel Aranda is the winner of the World Press Photo of the Year 2011

The Catalan photojournalist Samuel Aranda is the winner of the World Press Photo of the Year 2011.

The international jury of the 55th annual World Press Photo Contest, consisted by a group of 19 internationally recognized professionals in the field of photojournalism and documentary photography, selected Samuel Aranda's photo from 101,254 pictures submited by 5,247 professional press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers from 124 countries.

Samuel Aranda's photo is part of his "Yemen, Fighting for Change" series and was taken on 15 October 2011 while he was working in Yemen on assignment for the New York Times.
The photo shows a woman holding her wounded son in her arms, inside a mosque used as a field hospital by demonstrators against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, during clashes in Sanaa.

The winner of the World Press Photo of the Year 2011, will receive the award during the Awards Ceremony in Amsterdam on Saturday, 21 April 2012. The award also carries a cash prize of €10,000. In addition, Canon will offer a Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera and lens kit to Aranda.

Samuel Aranda was born in 1979 in Santa Coloma de Gramanet, Barcelona.
At the age of 19 he started as a photojournalist for El País and El Periódico de Catalunya. He is represented by Corbis Images.

Samuel was interviewed by the Portuguese journalist Ricardo Oliveira Duarte from TSF.

ARCOmadrid 2012

The ARCOmadrid 2012 International Contemporary Art Fair can be visited until tomorow at the Halls 8 & 10 of the Feria de Madrid.

Organized by IFEMA, this 31st edition will show the works from near 3000 artists represented by over 200 participating galleries. Besides the general programme, ARCOmadrid 2012 includes “Featured Artist”, an initiative reflecting the quality of ARCOmadrid as a space for discovering new artists, and "Solo Objects", presenting twelve large-scale projects, sculptures and installations, shown in three of the fair's spaces.

Netherlands is this year's guest country, with 14 galleries selected by the curator Xander Karskens, head of the international contemporary art collection of the Hallen Museum, Haarlem, and supported by the Mondriaan Fund and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Spain.

In partnership with curators Cauê Alves (Brazil), Sonia Becce (Argentina), Patrick Charpenel (Mexico), Alexia Dumani (Costa Rica), Manuela Moscoso (Colombia/Ecuador) and José Ignacio Roca (Colombia), ARCOmadrid will bring to visitors, the creations of 23 young Latin American artists from 11 countries, included in its Solo Projects: Focus Latin America.
This project has the collaboration of AECID, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation.

Once again, awards will be attributed as a recognition for the effort of contributing to the development of artistic activities, be it as an artist, collector or patron.

Other points worth mentioning are the meetings between European and Latin American museums, several parallel artistic activities in the city of Madrid and a special international buyers programme to encourage the acquisition of art.

ARCOmadrid 2012 includes a wide range of prices, from a couple of hundreds of Euro to several million, like a painting from 1982 by Francis Bacon, priced at US$15 million (more than €11 million).

The fair can be visited until this Sunday 19th (12 noon - 8 pm).

Pena National Palace is open for works

Contrary to what is many times usual, the responsibles of the Pena National Palace (Palácio Nacional da Pena) in Sintra, Portugal, have decided to choose the time of the year when the visits are less and start important restorations while being open to the public.

This praiseworthy initiative has received positive comments from a curious public who can assist to the restoration of art, furniture, of the building itself, and talk directly with the experts who are executing the work. This way, visitors can have a better idea how the conservation of important patrimony takes placed and how certain pieces are restored.

The project is consisted by a total of six works of restoration:

The restore of the famous domes with gilded tiles, one of the most emblematic symbols of the palace, with its increasing moon referring to the "Monte da Lua" (Mount of the Moon) and to the Moorish exoticism.

Avoiding its deslocation and eventual damages is a good reason for the restoration of the furniture of the Grand Hall (Salão Nobre), where visitors can observe the restore workshop in loco.
The furniture was acquired by D. Fernando to the Casa Barbosa e Costa, Lisbon, in 1867, quite possibly already thinking about the future marriage with his second wife, the Countess of Edla.

The famous Neomanueline style window, inspired by the one in the Christ Convent (Convento de Cristo) in Tomar, will have its wooden frames restored. It's one of the most important elements of the palace, since it materializes the revivalism of the 19th century.

Work will also be done on the mural painting of the Calabash stair (escada das Cabaças). The painting which is in bad state of conservation due to condensation, will be cleaned, released from fungos and carefuly restored to its original look as best as possible.
This stair would grant access to the New Palace (Palácio Novo) and to the Grand Hall (Salão Nobre) without the need for the guests to pass through the residential area of the royal family.

Another important project consists in the recovery of the trompe l'oeil mural located in the living room of the royal family, which had been covered since 1991, when part of the dome's coating fell partially.

In the chapel of the Palace takes place the restore of the rosewood window and of its stained glass, as well as the restoration of the tiles surrounding it.
A light and resistant structure will frame the stained glass, after which the window will be replaced. The stained glass were made in Nuremberga (1841) and depict the figures of D. Manuel I and Vasco da Gama, attesting the liasion of D. Fernando II with the more emblematic past of Portugal.
The image of S. Jorge and Nossa Senhora da Pen(h)a conclude the reference to the foundation of the Pena National Palace or Pena Palace as it is commonly known.

These projects gather the experts of the Parques de Sintra and the Instituto dos Museus e Conservação (Museums and Conservation Insitute), while the complexity of some works requires the partneship with some universities, namely the restoration of the stained glass in the chapel, which includes the support of the Conservation and Restore Department of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

BP Portrait Award 2012

The call for entries to the BP Portrait Award 2012 closes on the 13th of this month.

Open to everyone 18 years of age or over on 1 January 2012, this prestigious annual competition sponsored by BP, seeks to encourage artists to develop their skills and creativity in portraiture.

The First Prize winner will receive a cash award of £25,000, plus, at the judges’ discretion, a commission worth £4,000, to be agreed between the National Portrait Gallery and the artist.

A Second Prize of £8,000, a Third Prize of £6,000, a BP Travel Award 2010 worth £5,000 and the BP Young Artist Award in the value of £5,000, will be attributed.

All entrants aged between 18 and 30 as of January 2012, will automatically be considered for both the BP Young Artist Award and the BP Portrait Award, but an individual cannot win both.

Entrants can register online or by regular post, however since the deadline is February 13, entering online is the best option.
The entry fee for this competition is £34

Read the rules carefuly before submiting the entry form, namely which media and supports can be used and sizes.

Now in its thirty-third year, the BP Portrait Award 2012 exhibition will run at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 21 June to 23 September 2012.

"The Card Players" by Paul Cézanne sets the highest price paid for a work of art

According to sources, the transaction took place in 2011, but only last week it was revealed that the royal family of Qatar acquired Cézanne's painting "The Card Players" for the sum of €190 million (£158 million, $250 million), setting a new world record for a work of art in both auction and direct sales, beating the previous record of €106.4 million (£88.7  million, $141 million) paid for Jackson Pollock’s “No 5, 1948” sold by David Geffen in 2006. The highest at auction belong to "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" by Pablo Picasso sold at Christie's, New York, for $106,4 million ($95 million without commissions and taxes) in 2011 to an anonymous buyer.

"The Card Players" had been in the hands of the Greek shipping magnate George Embiricos, who shortly before his death last winter, began manifesting his desire to sell it.
During the last decades he had received several generous offers, but only close to his death the painting would be finally sold to the highest bidder, the royal family of Qatar.
It has been rumored that art dealers Larry Gagosian and William Acquavella offered upward of $220 million for the painting.

With the recent purchases of Mark Rothko’s “White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)” and Damien Hirst’s pill cabinet “Lullaby Spring,” Qatar is demonstrating its power to become one of the leading cultural centers in the world.
The name of Qatari king's daughter Sheikha Al Mayassa has been citted as having an important role in this subject.

A list of the most expensive paintings can be found here.

Antoni Tàpies passed away at the age of 88

Born in Barcelona, 13 December 1923, Antoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquess of Tàpies, was son of lawyer Josep Tàpies i Mestre, and María Puig i Guerra, Antoni Tàpies studied law during 3 years, but from 1943 onwards he starts devoting himself to painting.

In 1948, Tàpies helps co-found the first Post-War Movement in Spain known as Dau al Set, headed by its founder the poet Joan Brossa and connected to the Surrealist and Dadaist Movements.

Tàpies held his first solo exhibition in 1950, at Galeries Laietanes (Barcelona) and participated in the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh. That same year, the French government awarded Tàpies a scholarship that enabled him to spend a year in Paris.
His work would be ardently promoted in Europe and beyond by the influential French critic and curator Michel Tapié.

Influenced by Paul Klee and Joan Miró, he stated essentialy a self-taught surrealist painter. However he would become an informal artist, working in a style known as pintura matèrica, in which non artistic materials are incorporated into the paintings, also known as matière painting, or Art Informel. His work is associated with both Tachisme and Abstract Expressionism.

On 9 April 2010, Tàpies was raised into the Spanish nobility by King Juan Carlos I with the hereditary title of Marquess of Tàpies.

The Fundació Tàpies, in Barcelona, is a museum dedicated to the life and work of the artist. He is represented by The Pace Gallery in New York.

Antoni Tàpies i Puig passed away today 6 January 2012. He was 88 years old.

These are sad news for the arts in particularly for the Iberian Peninsula, after yesterday's death of the Portuguese artist Fernando Lanhas, also aged 88.

Fernando Lanhas died at the age of 88

© Alfredo Cunha/Global Imagens

The Portuguese painter and architect Fernando Resende da Silva Magalhães Lanhas, died today in the city of Oporto. He was 88 years old.

Born in Oporto in 1923, he studied architecture at the Escola de Belas-Artes do Porto (Fine Arts School of Oporto), where still during his stay he organized some of the Independet Exhibitions (Exposições Independentes) shown in Oporto and other major cities in the country.

Fernando Lanhas was considered the introducer of geometric abstractionism in Portugal. In 1945 he starts exhibiting some of his abstracts, a tendence that would determine the future Independent Exhibitions. He would even give a technical designation to his paintings: "O10-50" e "O42-69."

As and architect, he was responsible for the remodelling of the museums of Paços de Ferreira, Paredes, Figueira da Foz, and of the military museum of Oporto.

He also worked in the fields of astronomy, anthropology and ethnography. He was appointed director of the Museu de Etnografia do Porto (Ethnography Museum of Oporto).

In November 29, 2005, he was awarded the Honoris Causa by the Faculdade de Belas Artes do Porto.

Fernando Lanhas was a coleague of Júlio Pomar, Manuel Pereira da Silva and Nadir Afonso. His work is represented in the famous tapestries of Portalegre.

Fernando Lanhas. In Infopédia [Em linha]. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003-2012. [Consult. 2012-02-05].

VIP Art Fair 2012: VIP 2.0 Contemporary Art

The second edition of VIP Art Fair is taking place between February 3 (8h00 AM Est) and February 8 (11:59 PM Est).

After a first start in 2011 that wasn't free of some glitches, the new VIP 2.0 Contemporary Art gathers again some of the most prominent art galleries in the world, including: Alexander and Bonin, James Cohan, Stephen Friedman, Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Max Hetzler and David Zwirner.

This virtual gallery project enables art lovers and collectors to directly engage with brick and mortar galleries worldwide and view the works of some of the most famous artists, as well as those of emerging ones who's work has been selected by experts.

Other events are already programmed for the course of 2012.

Oldest copy of Mona Lisa found in El Prado

It's no news that the famous portrait by Leonardo da Vinci has always been involved in mistery and has been object of some of the most finical conjectures and theories, namely during the last couple of years. Also with the latest technological developments, important conclusions have been draw.

But a new discover announced this Wednesday by the Museo del Prado has hit the art world like a bomb: The oldest known copy of Mona Lisa - it's not like the usual copies completed during all these centuries, it's a copy accomplished at the same time that the original one and quite probably painted aside by one of Da Vinci students, either Andrea Salai or Francesco Melzi.

Mentioned in the catalogue of Museo del Prado, the painting that for several years stood in the museum's archives, thought to be painted by a Dutch painter because the experts thought that it was painted on oak (a wood not used by Florentine painters), was afteral painted on walnut.
Moreover, after the cleaning and consequent removing of a dark background thought to be added in the 18th century, a Tuscan landscape was revealed.



Measuring 77cm X 53cm (the original measures 76cm X 57cm), this recently discovery is one of the most important ones in the last decades and will soon be exhibited in the Museo del Prado, after which will be traveling to the Louvre where it will be shown to the public side by side with Leonardo's Mona Lisa.