Be Still my heart

"Decades ago, when a husband and wife moved into their new home, a friend gave them a painting by the man's former college professor.

Fast-forward 40 or 50 odd years and the oil painting, still in the same family, is appraised during an "Antiques Roadshow" stop in Palm Springs, Calif., for a cool half-million bucks - the most valuable object ever discovered in the show's history."

Read all about it here.

MFA Auction at Penn

From what I am told, the annual MFA auction at Penn is a hot ticket in town and usually sells out.

As I've often advised, student artwork is a great way to get started collecting art and this auction is a great a good place to start, although it is also attended by a lot of savvy collectors.

It takes place this coming Friday, Nov. 21st to benefit the 2009 MFA thesis exhibition.

Again... there you will find one of the nation's best venues to get some good original artwork on your walls and finally get rid of those college posters (and if you are a gallerist, a terrific opportunity to scope out some new talent).

The auction is from 5:30-9 PM at the University's Meyerson Gallery. Work from over 40 artists will be available including work by Terry Atkins, Jane Irish, Doug Martenson, Eileen Neff, Nigel Rolfe, Judith Shea, and Jackie Tileston.

The art being offered includes drawings, paintings, ceramics, prints, sculptures, and photographs. There will also be gift certificates from Philadelphia restaurants and businesses. Everything is affordably priced with some items starting as low as $10. Appetizers, beer, and wine will be served and DJs will provide music through out the evening. Free and open to the public.

For more information check out this blog or contact the Graduate Department of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania at 215-898-8374.

The gallery is at 210 S. 34th St. at Walnut. For building locations on Penn's campus, please consult the online maps here.

The Palin Hoax

This story in the New York Times got me to thinking...

"It was among the juicier post-election recriminations: Fox News Channel quoted an unnamed McCain campaign figure as saying that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent.

Who would say such a thing? On Monday the answer popped up on a blog and popped out of the mouth of David Shuster, an MSNBC anchor. “Turns out it was Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, who has come forward today to identify himself as the source of the leaks,” Mr. Shuster said.

Trouble is, Martin Eisenstadt doesn’t exist. His blog does, but it’s a put-on. The think tank where he is a senior fellow — the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy — is just a Web site. The TV clips of him on YouTube are fakes.

And the claim of credit for the Africa anecdote is just the latest ruse by Eisenstadt, who turns out to be a very elaborate hoax that has been going on for months. MSNBC, which quickly corrected the mistake, has plenty of company in being taken in by an Eisenstadt hoax, including The New Republic and The Los Angeles Times."

Are there more hoaxes out there in other realms of information? - of that I am pretty sure, but my focus is the visual arts and thus my question to myself is: could such a hoax be executed in the fine arts?

I don't think so, and the reason that I don't think so is because unlike the need to demonize our political opponents that exist in places like Fox and MSNBC, the fine arts world is sort of a self-licking ice cream where 95% of the people who pay attention to it and want a lick at the ice cream are somehow involved in the art world itself, and very few are interested "outsiders," who are the ones needed to consume such a hoax and spread it eagerly.

And I'm not sure if the people who write about art lack the very basic "check the story" and "check it again" mentality of the political press, always frothing at the mouth to report something negative about the other side.

And of course, news outlets generally could give a rat's ass about the fine arts unless it involves some sort of scandal, sex, censure or shock.

Mmmm...

New Art Scam

This is a scam... posted exactly as received, with all the grammar errors which usually characterize this sort of scam...

From: kevinstokes12345@rocketmail.com
Date: Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Subject: Artists File Online: Your artworks
To:

**This following message was sent to you by a person who found your artwork on Artists Space's Artists File Online website. www.artistsspace.org/artistsfile Please report any problems or concerns regarding this email to artfile@artistsspace.org

My name is kevin, I am an individual art agent and interior decorator from Glasgow, scotland. I got an order for the supply of some artworks from a group of client, and when i came across your portfolio on your site, while searching for good artworks, I found some of them to interest me and fit what i am looking for, and I intend to market these items to my client and also negotiate a price that will include your price (i.e your selling price) and a mark-up as a profit for my effort.
Payment will be made directly to you at the price i am selling and i will expect you to ship after payment clears and send me my commission /margin afterwards.
My client prefers to make payment using a credit card as this is much easier and cost effective for an international transaction thus will provide you directly their credit card for payment.
Please let me know if you do commission work and if you accept master card payment after which I will let you know the items we are interested in, and we can proceed with the order.
I am looking forward to a long term working relationship beyond this order.I am sorry I do not have a website yet but it should be ready soon however you can always contact me if you have any question and I would get back to you as soon as possible.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Best Regards.
kevin Stokes
kevinstokes12345@rocketmail.com

Delete this email if you get it or email Kevin back and tell him to go fuck himself.

Lauren Sherman on the new art fairs

Forbes' Lauren Sherman has an interesting article on the "other" art fairs at Miami and elsewhere.

Gallerists are holding their breath at Miami; I know now of four dealers in DC and Philly who have pulled out of the fairs in Miami because of economic fears.

On the other hand, I have been told that SOFA Chicago, after a dreadful start, ended up being surprisingly good for many galleries.

Read the Sherman report here.

Artists Websites: Priscilla de Lima

Greater DC area photographer Priscilla de Lima-Ledesma has been "assembling photos, video, art installations internationally since 1997," and her works focuses on social realism.

Visit her website here and her blog here.

Working and Surviving as an Artist Seminar

When: Wednesday November 19, 2008 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Working and Surviving as an Artist: Establishing and Maintaining Professional Relationships: The seminar will examine strategies and practices needed to work and survive as a visual artist. The seminar panelists: June Linowitz, artist and founder of ArtSeen, Inc; Ellyn Weiss, artist and curator; and Claudia Rousseau, PhD, art historian and critic.

The panelists will draw on their professional visual arts experiences as artists, curators, gallery directors, art historians and art critics to provide valuable strategies for conducting business in the visual arts world. Susie Leong, Director of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County's Public Arts Trust will serve as moderator for the seminar.

This seminar is the first in a series on working as a visual artist. Reception & Tour 6:00 - 6:45pm Join them for a reception with light fare, open gallery, Cafritz Art Center tour and viewing of the Cafritz Art Center exhibition American Psyche, curated by the Brooklyn Arts Alliance and sponsored by Pyramid Atlantic and Montgomery College's Takoma Park/Silver Spring Visual Arts Department.

At the Lecture Hall of The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Art Center, 930 King Street, Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus of Montgomery College.

Registration is required. Advanced registration $20. Day of registration, $25.

Please visit www.creativemoco.com for more information, or contact Mark Puryear at 301-565-3805, or mark.puryear@creativemoco.com