Warhol Pursues Net Pirates

In the last two decades, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. has filed several lawsuits charging copyright infringement of Warhol's work, Felicia R. Lee writes in the New York Times. Yesterday, it announced the first of what it said it expected would be "a significant number" of lawsuits in the next year saying the Internet is being used for such pirating. "There are probably a dozen sites offering Warhol rip-offs," said Paul Hanly, a partner at the law firm which is pursuing the suit.
For the full story - click the title
Irish Art

Turdless in Venice

The inseparable and splendidly eccentric artist duo Gilbert and George have unveiled the 25 new works that make up the British contribution to the Venice Biennale - by far the most significant event in the international contemporary art world. The new works, called the Ginkgo Pictures, have already gained a major fan in the Tate, which yesterday announced the purchase of a monumental, 4 metre by 7 metre, piece entitled Fates, for which they paid up to £195,000.

The new series may be free from Gilbert and George's well used image repertory of turds, semen, blood, penises or pubic lice, but future visitors to Tate Modern need not be too disappointed: in Fates, the artists depict themselves flashing the V-sign. Gilbert and George are no fans of Tate Modern, which will host a retrospective of the artists' work in 2007. The pair once said that entering the former Bankside station was like "stepping into the Third Reich".
This year's Biennale - the 51st - has 73 countries participating, more than ever before, including China for the first time.
For the full story - click the title
Irish Art

£300,000 For Mystery Painting

The National Galleries of Scotland have paid more than £300,000 for a mystery painting created by an anonymous artist. Gallery chiefs described their purchase of the "outstanding" Portrait of a Man as a major coup, as no similar work exists in Scottish collections. The work has now been hung in the National Gallery on the Mound in Edinburgh.
However, art experts have admitted that they do not know who painted the picture, with the subject of the 500-year-old oil painting also remaining a mystery. But one curator claims that she is on the verge of discovering who the artist was. Dr Emilie Gordenker, a senior curator of early Netherlandish, Dutch and Flemish art at the galleries, believes she is close to identifying the painter.
For the full story - click the title
Irish Art

Nazi-Era Art Schiele Battle

What started out as a battle over a 1917 watercolor by Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele has escalated into a legal tug-of-war over artwork that may be worth more than $100 million. The dispute involves Sotheby's Holdings Inc., the world's largest auction house, Boston philanthropist David Bakalar, several prominent art dealers, and the heirs of a popular Viennese cabaret singer who died in a Nazi concentration camp.
The legal tussle started on March 21 when Bakalar filed a complaint in New York federal court against Leon Fischer and Milos Vavra, who claim to be the heirs of singer Fritz Grunbaum. Bakalar, 80, contends that Fischer and Vavra sabotaged his effort to sell the 1917 Schiele watercolor by claiming they were the rightful owners of 'Seated Woman with Bent Left Leg (Torso),' an erotic picture of a headless woman brushed on paper with opaque paint.
For the full story - click the title
Irish Art

Honey, I Ate The Degas

Over 100 years ago, Edgar Degas, crafted intricate sculptures from beeswax, lard, clay, and odds and ends such as cork, wood, wire, and rags. Now scientists have found that colonies of bacteria and fungi have been feasting on the work. The sculptures, depicting intimate scenes of women bathing and models of horses and dancers in action, are featured at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The works are kept in Plexiglas display containers which, conservators worry, may be offering a cozy home for the microbes.
For the full story - click the title
Irish Art

New Munch Discovery

A recently discovered painting by Norwegian expressionist master Edvard Munch was shown to the press on Friday and depicts a nude young girl facing three huge male faces. The painting, entitled Young girl and three male heads, was recently discovered under another of Munch's works, The Dead Mother, which was being restored at the Bremen Kunsthalle museum.

The newly uncovered work - which shows the profile of a young girl sitting in the dark next to three disproportionate heads - illustrates an adolescent's fears of the opposite sex as she enters puberty. The Bremen Kunsthalle has verified that it is by the impressionist master, who died at the age of 81 in 1944.
For the full story - click the title
Irish Art