Bizarre Art Copyright Fiasco

In what may be the most bizarre copyright lawsuit of the year, a Colombian painter is being sued by two marketing firms for interfering with their efforts to sell reproductions of his work. The fracas started when artist Fernando Botero donated a number of his works to a Colombian museum, which turned around and sold the right to produce and market posters of several of the works. Angered by the move, Botero told several media outlets in Miami that the posters were "unauthorized and illegitimate," which the company producing the posters viewed as a deliberate effort to suppress sales.
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Irish Art

Art Funds Struggle

Art investment funds are struggling. "The fact is that, while a host of funds are currently jostling to find investors, few are succeeding. Most have scaled back their initial optimistic targets, and only one is actually up and running. It is a struggle to make the concept fit with financial institutions."
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Irish Art

Lost Da Vinci Found? Maybe...

Move over, Mona Lisa. If Carlo Pedretti's hunch is right, the world may soon have another Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece to admire. A stunningly beautiful painting called Mary Magdalene which the world-class art historian suspects may have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci together with one of his pupils will soon go on public view for the first time in more than half a century. The painting, measuring 58 cm by 45 cm, was believed to have been painted in 1515, four years before the master died. The painting has been in private collections for nearly all its recorded history in the past 100 years or so.
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Irish Art

Artist in Handcuff Horror

A schizophrenic artist who died after handcuffing himself to a tree after throwing away the key, may have tried to free himself, an inquest has heard. The skeleton of Richard Sumner - 47 when he went missing three years ago - was found in a remote area of Clocaenog Forest, Denbighshire. He had attempted to take his life in this manner before and in 1996 had taken four days to free himself. His skeleton was found by a woman who had become lost while walking her dog. A Home Office pathologist stated could have been there for a few days - if you handcuff yourself to a tree you would die fairly quickly but maybe not as quickly as you would like... The handcuffs attached to one arm indicated that Mr Sumner had attached himself to the tree and thrown the key to a point where he could not retrieve it but the position of the handcuffs and marks found on the tree indicated that Mr Sumner had probably changed his mind, but could not reach the key.
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Irish Art

Brit Art

From a queen made of plastic bits to a 9ft rag doll, the British Art Show is a vision of the future. For a resumé of what culture has been up to, the British Art Show should be your first recourse. This five-yearly survey of our nation’s rising talent presents an invaluable compendium of the contemporary. And of course, like any synopsis, it saves an awful lot of slog. This time, a pair of freelance curators, Andrea Schlieker and Alex Farquharson, have been putting in the footwork on our behalf. Over the past year or so they have consulted hundreds of curators, critics, writers and artists, trawling the regions for the names of rising stars.
But this week, at last, this vast stocktaking project finally comes to fruition. The sixth British Art Show will open at the Baltic in Gateshead on Saturday. The work of the 50-odd artists included should represent in some way the spirit of the times.
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Irish Art

Da Vinci Code Latest

Maurizio Seracini is what Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown calls an "art diagnostician", which is "not a bad description for someone who probes paintings with state-of-the-art-technology, often to advise museums, dealers and collectors on their restoration. One question raised by Mr Seracini's painstaking investigation is why Da Vinci wanted to include such a bloody scene in a nativity painting, and why he - or someone else - thought better of it.

But another question, and the one that will fascinate the Dan Brown fans, is what Da Vinci was up to on the other side of the painting in the last area of the panel to be fully rendered by Mr Seracini's technicians.
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Irish Art

Blind Artist Shows Work

The people flocked to see Bahraini artist Nasser Al Yousif's last art exhibition, which opened last night at the Albareh Art Gallery, Adliya. Around 30 limited edition linoleum prints are being showcased at the gallery under the theme More Than Meets the Eye. The accomplished painter lost his sight eight years ago, but continued working on linoleum etchings, a technique that he experimented with in the past. However, due to health complications, he is no longer able to work. The exhibition shows the last of his production, as well as some works produced through 1999-2002.
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Irish Art

Rembrandt Extradition

Four suspects arrested in connection with the recovery of a stolen painting by Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn will soon be extradited from Denmark to Sweden where they will be prosecuted. Two Iraqis, a Swede and a Gambian were arrested Thursday in a downtown Copenhagen hotel when trying to sell the painting that was stolen from Sweden's National Museum nearly five years ago. The Rembrandt, a self-portrait from 1630, is estimated to be worth US$42 million and was stolen from the museum in Stockholm by three armed robbers in December 2000, together with two other paintings by French painter Auguste Renoir. The painting, which Larsen said was unharmed, is expected to be returned to the National Museum.
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Irish Art

P.I's Hunt Artist's Killer

After a week without any progress in the investigation into the murder of Cape Town artist Luke Human, his brother has hired two groups of private investigators to find answers. He has also offered a "substantial reward" for any information leading to the arrest of the killer. Wayne Human, an art dealer who works from Thailand, returned to South Africa when he heard his brother had been killed. Artist Luke Human was tied up and beaten to death and his body dumped. His brother said he had lost confidence in the police coming up with his brother's killers. He said that he would not return to his business in Thailand until he had found closure on his brother's death and caught those responsible.
Irish Art

Student Wins Top Drawing Prize

A first year undergraduate BA art student from Wimbledon School of Art won first prize in the UK’s most prestigious drawing competition, the Jerwood Prize 2005.

Juliette Losq beat off competition from a shortlist of 71 selected artists to win the £5,000 first prize. Chair of judges Professor Stephen Farthing RA said: “This is the most extraordinary winner we could have ever hoped for. We chose the first prize winner and there was absolutely no doubt in any of the judges minds that we wanted this one.” Using a combination of ink and watercolour masking fluids the large-scale pen and ink drawing ‘We are the fiction of the vanished lives and buildings’ documents the derelict waterways of the capital whilst referencing the tradition of the Victorian etched print.
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Irish Art