Tax Blow To UK Art Market

Britain's 3 billion pound-a-year art market suffered a blow by the EU yesterday when a judge ruled that a higher rate of VAT must be paid on works imported into the United Kingdom to be auctioned. Although the ruling does not yet have the force of law, more than 70 per cent of such judgments are ratified within months by the court.
Buyers now pay 5 per cent VAT on both the hammer price and the auctioneer's commission, although this is waived if the work of art is immediately exported outside the EU after the sale. If the ruling becomes law, buyers will still pay 5 per cent VAT on the hammer price but will be liable for 17.5 per cent VAT on the auctioneer's commission - adding a fifth to the purchase price.
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Irish Art

Sinead O'Connor Nude Sold

A naked portrait of Sinead O'Connor was sold for 15,000 euros at an auction in Dublin. The portrait of O'Connor was originally destined to hang in a Dublin nightclub but was bought by the singer and then put up for sale.
The picture, called Strange Days, shows her as a reclining nude on a purple sheet, wearing only a necklace and stockings, with her face reflected in a mirror. The painting's creator is the well-known Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick.
Irish Art

Irish Artist Plans Iceberg Stunt

In a bizarre celebration of Belfast's industrial heritage, a Northern Ireland artist is planning to tow an iceberg to the city that built the Titanic. Rita Duffy, who says the iceberg would represent a dramatic piece of "performance art" as it slowly melted in Belfast Lough, is working on a feasibility study. "It can be done," she said. "We are thinking of coming down the old Viking journey from the north of Norway. It's totally possible."
Duffy says she is keeping the finale of her project a secret, but believes the iceberg could be a symbol of hope in a city scarred by decades of sectarian division.
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Irish Art

After New York - The River

While New York basks in the orange glow of "The Gates" in Central Park, some Colorado residents are idly wondering when the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude might turn their gaze back on them.
In the "artworks in progress" section of the artists' Web site, the only project listed besides "The Gates" is "Over the River," a plan to suspend several miles of shimmering fabric panels above a stretch of the Arkansas River in Colorado during a summer.
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Irish Art

Looking At Art

The late Richard Wollheim, one of the most profound British philosophers of art, regularly spent four hours in front of a single painting. He wrote: "I evolved a way of looking at paintings which was massively time-consuming and deeply rewarding. For I came to recognise that it often took the first hour or so in front of a painting for stray associations or motivated misperceptions to settle down, and it was only then, with the same amount of time or more to spend looking at it, that the picture could be relied upon to disclose itself as it was. I noticed that I became an object of suspicion to passers-by, and so did the picture that I was looking at."
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Irish Art

Pierre Huyghe's First Irish Show

French artist Pierre Huyghe is to exhibit for the first time in Ireland at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

Huyghe's work ranges across architecture, magazines, billboards, cinema, television and museum exhibits. His 2003 short film 'Streamside Day' deals with the relationship between past, present and future and looks at the issues of reality and fiction and identity. The exhibition runs from 23rd February - 15th May.
Irish Art

Polish Artist Murdered

Contemporary Polish painter Zdzislaw Beksinski was stabbed to death at his home in Warsaw. Beksinski's body had multiple stab wounds and there was no signs of forced entry or robbery. Beksinski's art progressed from realism to a more abstract style that often depicted glowing scenes of skeletons and other images evocative of apocalypse and death.

The hazy use of light in his paintings was indicative of the artists who influenced him - Swiss painter Boecklin and Turner. Considered one of Poland's top contemporary artists, Beksinski also enjoyed a large following among surrealism fans in countries like France, Japan and the United States.
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Irish Art

Paris Centre of Drawings Market

In March, Paris will become the focal point of the drawings market. The "Salon du Dessin" will be held, as in previous years, at the Palais de la Bourse. From 16-21 March 2005, thirty galleries (14 French and 16 international) will exhibit a selection of high-quality drawings dating from the 16th-20th century.
Such events as these and the wealth of its national market place France comfortably in first place for drawings sales. Thus in 2004, 12,500 works on paper changed hands in France, representing 26% of transactions worldwide in this segment.
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Irish Art

Dali Art Retrospective

Salvador Dali has always been compared with a formidable peer group, artists who mostly stayed the course, shoring up the arc of modern art through post impressionism, abstract expressionism and into pop art. But Dali, during his long life, was always auditioning for a new part. This striving is clear in this huge retrospective ending in Philadelphia May 15.

"Salvador Dali" is the first major retrospective of his work since his death in 1989 and the first in the United States in more than 60 years. Dali had faith only in himself. Like Dante, he was unafraid of walking through the more hellish corners of his mind.
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Irish Art

Love amongst the Kandinskys

Smart, sophisticated but lonely New Yorkers are not just going to the Guggenheim Museum for culture. Among the Kandinsky permanent collection they might just find a soul mate. New York singles have been turning up for special lonely heart tours of the city's landmark museum.
"It's a nice idea, to have dining and art together, and to meet people," said Christine Anderson, a 37 year old on one of the ArtDate nights. "And if not, at least you had a nice night," she added. The visits were initiated by Natasha Schlesinger, an art historian.
Irish Art

Eve's Breast Jails Artist

A muralist who painted an exposed breast on a biblical Eve was sentenced to 30 days in jail, two years probation and a $500 fine. His crime - violating a city sign ordinance. The US artist Ed Stross mural on the side of his studio - a variation on Michelangelo's Creation of Man - includes Eve's bare breast and the word "love."
On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan appealed the judge's sentence and asked that Stoss remain free until the case is reviewed. The ordinance itself could be unconstitutional.
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Irish Art

Lowry's Double Vision Art

The latest Lowry exhibition - Double Vision - takes an unusual shape. Pictures are displayed in pairs, inviting visitors to spot Lowry's visual obsessions and recurring themes. Double Vision also pairs Lowry's work with other artists who shared his choice of subject matter showing us that, far from being an eccentric, artistic loner, Lowry is firmly part of 20th century British art.

The most surprising juxtaposition is a book of 18th century line drawings of invented faces, intended to demonstrate personality types, placed next to Lowry's 'Office Heads' from the 1930s - both share the same grotesque interpretation of the human head, drawn with similar strong line.
The Lowry Museum, Manchester until end of the year.
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Irish Art

Irish Art Charity

The RHA charity art auction in Dublin raised over 270,000 euro in aid of victims of the tsunami disaster. A Blackshaw sold for 46,000 euro and a Teskey went for 26,000 euro.

Organisers commented on the overwhelming generosity of artists and collectors who donated work - 85% agreed to contribute 100% of the sale price to the cause. The art event had roughly 350 items for auction, representing the work of some 300 artists - a 'who's who' of Irish artists.
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Irish Art