Art
Sotheby’s to Host Auction Filled With Renaissance-Era Books
Sotheby's is gearing up to host an auction filled with Renaissance art and books worth up to $25m USD. Commencing in October, the sale includes publications and bindings from the collection of acclaimed American scholar, T. Kimball Brooker, who spent 60 years putting together one of the finest rare-book libraries in the world. Highlights of the sale include an early manuscript of Leonardo da Vinci's Treatise on Painting, which was copied and compiled by the Italian polymath's lifelong assistant, Francesco Melzi, around 1638 to 1641. The auction also includes nearly 1,000 editions from Venetian publisher Aldine Press, which were all printed between the 15th and 16th century. “This constitutes the largest collection of Aldines to grace the market in the modern era,” said Sotheby's book and m...
KAWS To Make Canadian Museum Debut at the Art Gallery of Ontario
KAWS is making its way to Canada this fall, marking the first time the work is debuted at a Canadian museum. Heading to Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), KAWS: FAMILY features artist Brian Donnelly's renowned larger-than-life sculptures and paintings of his iconic characters. The exhibition, which is curated by Julian Cox, AGO's Deputy Director and Chief Curator, features over 70 artworks from the artist's past two decades. The curation organizations the works in a series of encounters, with families of related pieces installed across the second level of the museum. Amongst these displayed will include the larger-than-life wood sculptures and augmented reality installations. Works in bronze, wood, on paper and canvas, plus toys and stainless steel will be exhibited. Adapting features...
Two German Tourists Vandalize Florence Vasari Corridor
Italy has faced multiple accounts of vandalism this year across some of its most hallowed sites. Back in June, a couple on holiday carved the words “Ivan + Hayley ‘23'” on one of the arches of the Roman Colosseum, while in that same month, an American tourist threw a e-scooter down the Spanish Steps, causing $26,000 USD in damage. Tourists are back at it again, as two German students defaced Florence's historic Vasari Corridor along the river Arno. The incident occurred earlier today at 5:20am (local time), when the two unnamed suspects, who were a part of 11 students staying in one of the city's Airbnb's, vandalized the 460-year-old corridor by spray-painting "DKS 1860" — which refers to the German football team, TSV 1860 Munich. While it is unclear, and highly unlikely, that the students...
U.S. Customs Returns Over 200 Ancient Treasures Back to Mexico
US customs agents have returned around 281 Mexican artifacts, including Olmec figurines and ceramics dating back to 900 BCE, in a handover ceremony that took place in Memphis, Texas. This event was attended by officials from the US Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigation, and Mexico's Ambassador Carlos Giralt-Cabrales, as per a report by Artnews.According to a press release provided by customs officials, these items were sent from Mexico in nine shipments between 2016 and 2021, destined for locations in California, South Carolina, and Florida. Among the items seized were Olmec sculptures, various body adornments, ritual figurines, as well as clay and stone earmuffs. The customs release mentioned that officers suspected these items to be cultural artifacts and subsequ...
Craig & Karl Present First Solo Exhibition in China
Craig Redman and Karl Maier, known simply as Craig & Karl, are an artist duo based in New York and London. Despite the nearly 3,500 miles that separates them, distance has never hampered their process of collaboration. In the past, this has translated into vibrant multi-floor installations at Siam Center in Bangkok, magazine covers for Billboard, and a portrait installation displayed at Manchester United's home stadium. Housed at K11 Art Foundation in Guangzhou, Inside Out is Craig & Karl's first solo exhibition in China and presents a series of thought-provoking works that expand on their cheerful vernacular. The title of the show alludes to the idea of the interiority and exteriority of our inner worlds and emotions. The artist duo approached this theme by creating a playground o...
MANJU Journal Celebrates the Works of Over 80 Ghanaian Artists in New Book
MANJU Journal is a Ghana-based pan-African digital platform and creative studio founded by cultural creator, Richmond Orland Mensah. The platform celebrates contemporary Africa and its diaspora by engaging in various creative outlets touching on fashion, photography and art. Recently, MANJU Journal unveiled a new art book that empowers a range of Ghanaian visual artists. The book entitled VOICES, GHANA’S ARTISTS IN THEIR OWN WORDS is slated to be published in September. As artist Derek Fordjour explains: “we are witnessing a generation of Africans that are the most connected that we have ever been at any point in history and there is a cultural revolution afoot, not just in contemporary art, literature and music, but also in entrepreneurship and technology.”The book encompasses over 80 exc...
From Indiana to the World: In Conversation with Cooper on Art, Inspiration and the Internet
It was a little under a year ago that Andrew Cooper – the American artist who goes by the mononym Cooper – held his first-ever exhibition at Maddox Gallery's Westbourne Grove location in London, a sell-out success that helped the artist to establish a global fanbase and secured him buyers from Asia to Europe. This summer the Indiana-native made his way to the picture-perfect town of Gstaad, Switzerland – a playground for the rich and famous – for his second solo show, Wild Life. Indeed, it's been quite the wild ride for the artist since breaking onto the scene last November, and Cooper's second outing did not disappoint: on the opening night of the exhibition, he walked back to his hotel while almost all of his works headed to new homes.Perhaps somewhat ironically, Cooper's Wild Life build...
Now’s Your Chance to Own a Public Share of Banksy’s ‘Valentine’s Day Mascara’ Mural
Banksy's Valentine’s Day Mascara mural is being sold back to the public. Not in an auction setting, however, but rather through a fractional ownership platform where potential bidders can pay $153 USD per share. The mural depicts a 1950s-style housewife who has a black eye and a missing tooth, as she sweeps up a man (only present by his shoes wailing in the air) into an open chest freezer, as a commentary on domestic violence. The freezer the artwork stood by has been removed twice since its creation. First, by the Thanet Council and the second time by London's Red Eight Galleries, who is now brokering the sale of the mural with the owner of the Margate townhouse which it is displayed on. “Realistically, we are looking to achieve between £1m GBP and £1.5m GBP,” said Red Eight Galleries CEO...
‘Don’t Disturb’ Fátima de Juan, She’s ‘Blooming’ at L21 Gallery
Rising Spanish artist Fátima de Juan has unveiled her latest series of paintings with frequent collaborator, L21. Housed at the gallery's Barcelona location, Don't Disturb Me, I'm Blooming casts visitors down a rabbit hole-themed exhibition, where surreal pop-induced humans and animals populate the largely blue and green walls of the space. Known by her artist alias, XENA, Fátima's spray-painted aesthetic is informed by her early days graffiting across the Balearic island of Mallorca. Female empowerment is central to her aesthetic, as the artist depicts women-warriors who are juxtaposed against ninja blades, alligators, dinosaurs and maces. In a past interview with Hypeart, Fátima told us she seeks to conflate "naivety, strength, fantasy, and sensuality with the rough, tender, and the exot...
Cj Hendry’s Treasure Hunt Had Fans Sort Through Thousands of Inflatable ‘Crowns’
Phillips recently launched Dropshop, a digital platform in partnership with contemporary artists, collaborators, and influential brands. This platform is billed to be the first of its kind in the global auction industry, directly partnering with working artists, challenging traditional primary and secondary market dynamics. Phillips collaborates closely with partners throughout the entire process, from concept to promotion, offering limited-edition art and objects for a limited time through an "buy now" e-commerce model. These exclusive offerings are unique to Phillips' Dropshop, and once they're sold out, they're gone.As the only global auction house specializing in 20th Century and Contemporary art, design, and luxury items, Dropshop will offer a groundbreaking, art collecting experience...
Orlando Museum of Art Sues Former Director for Staging Fake Basquiat Exhibition
The Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) is suing its former director Aaron De Groft for his role in promoting a show filled with fake Jean-Michel Basquiat paintings. Heroes and Monsters opened in February of 2022 and closed in roughly four months time, after the FBI raided OMA's galleries, finding 25 fake Basquiat artworks. The institution promptly fired De Groft and hired a task force to help alleviate the damage caused to OMA's reputation, along with investigating any and all parties who assisted in the faux-exhibition. According to the OMA lawsuit, the institution seeks to “hold responsible the people the museum believes knowingly misrepresented the works’ authenticity and provenance." Heroes and Monsters was initially promoted as a show featuring a suite of "lost" works that Basquiat had creat...
Shohei Ochiai Holds His Largest Solo Exhibition to Date
Artist Shohei Ochiai, known for his nostalgic and youth-like paintings is set to hold his largest solo exhibition to date titled "This is OCHIAI SHOHEI." The event is set to run from August 26 to September 23 at the Tokyo-based gallery YUKIKOMIZUTANI.The artist, born in 1988, attended and graduated from Tama Art University, majoring in product design and working as a comedian prior to becoming a full-time artist. It wasn't until 2018 that he began to pursue painting full-time, with themes of nostalgia being the works he's become most well-known for.These works include items like early gaming systems, Pokémon playing cards, sneakers like the Jordan 1 Chicago, snacks like Oreos and much more. He doesn't just paint these works as is or in a photorealistic way, instead, Ochiai's style is more ...
