I'm sorry.... what?

"A canvas by beloved U.S. painter Norman Rockwell, discovered hidden behind a false wall earlier this year, has sold at auction for a record $15.4 million"

There are some many juicy things about this story that I don't know where to start...

But... for starters...

1. Rockwell himself apparently sold the work in question - the really famous painting titled "Breaking Home Ties" - himself to his friend, an illustrator and cartoonist named Don Trachte, for $900 bucks!



Original Rockwell "Breaking Home Ties"

2. For some reason Trachte then copied this painting and other works of art (including a Hopper) in his collection and then hid the originals behind a false wall in his studio while displaying the replicas as the originals!



Don Trachte's Copy of Rockwell's "Breaking Home Ties"

3. So then Trachte's sons sent their father's Rockwell copy (and what they believed to be the real painting) to the Norman Rockwell Museum. And "despite inconsistencies between the canvas and the Saturday Evening Post cover, it went on display in 2003."

More!!!!

"Trachte died in 2005, never having revealed his secret, but his sons had nagging suspicions about the authenticity of the canvas. This spring, after a renewed search of their father's studio, they discovered the false wall and the original canvases.

In addition to Breaking Home Ties and other Rockwell works, the Sotheby's event also saw the sale of Edward Hopper's Hotel Window for $26.8 million US.

The large-scale canvas, painted in 1955 and displayed at the Whitney Museum of American Art this summer, also set a new record high price for the artist's work."

Check out the fake wall (including a video clip of the whole discovery) and comparisons between the paintings here.

Here we go again

While driving to the DMV area in the wee hours of the morning, I heard this story on the radio.

Stephen Murmer is a Virginia teacher who also happens to be an artist who uses his ass to create artwork.

"Outside of class and under an alter ego, the self-proclaimed "butt-printing artist" creates floral and abstract art by plastering his posterior and genitals with paint and pressing them against canvas. His cheeky creations sell for hundreds of dollars."

Murmer's tuggish artwork has not been well-received by the Chesterfield County school officials, who have placed Murmer on administrative leave from his job at Monacan High School, even though Murmer has apparently tried to keep his teaching duties and artwork life separate from each other.

Read the story here.

Opportunity for Photographers

Deadline: January 21, 2007

DCist Exposed is a super cool photography exhibition organized by the fair Heather Goss over at DCist and it is going to be held at the Warehouse Gallery in DC next March.

Details and entry forms here - and it's free to enter!

Potomac House Almost Sold!

At (almost) last!

If you are a regular reader, then you know that since I moved in August, I've been trying to sell my house in Potomac, Maryland.

It has been fruitless, and although several offers have come in, none had pawned out and I've been shelling out around $5,000 a month for mortgage and utilities on an empty house - Bummer!

And so a short time ago I switched realtors, and reduced the house to make it irresistible, and put it on the market yesterday at a price that was around $275,000 lower than the original listing price of $875,000 (and that $875K price was already a price that was around $25,000 under the appraised price at the time).

And in less than 24 hours an offer has come in for the new listing price of $699, 900 and hopefully we can get a ratified contract in the next 24 hours! Meanwhile it's still for sale, in case someone wants to take a crack at it!

Details here.

This is how it is supposed to work - Part II

Yesterday I discussed my issues with the relative lack of interaction between DC area museum professionals and DC area artists and gallery, and submitted my theories as to why this interaction generally happens in nearly every other American city between their museum professionals and their art scenes, but does not happen on a regular basis in the DC area.

Today a couple of happy stories on some success stories, and the hope that more stories like this will continue to happen.

Jonathan Binstock and John Lehr

John Lehr is a very young Baltimore area photographer whose work came through the attention of Dr. Jonathan Binstock (Curator of Contemporary Art at the Corcoran) through the jurying process for the 2003 Trawick Prize.
Although Lehr was not selected as a prizewinner in that superb competition, his work caught the eye of Binstock, who became personally interested in the work of Lehr (represented in the DC area - I think - by Heineman-Myers) and when Jonathan co-curated the 48th Corcoran Biennial, he included Lehr's work in the show, one of several area artists that made an appearance at the exhibition.

Anne Collins Goodyear and Amy Lin

Last summer, Dr. Anne Collins Goodyear (who is the Assistant Curator of Prints & Drawings at the National Portrait Gallery) juried a show at Touchstone Gallery and selected one of DC area artist Amy Lin's pieces for the show.
The last December, she juried the All-Media Membership Show at the Art League Gallery in Old Town Alexandria and gave one of Lin's drawings an Honorable Mention.

Lin and Dr. Collins Goodyear met at the gallery reception for this show and Lin invited Anne to a group show that she was in at the Pierce School that month. Lin tells me that "not only did she want to come, [but also] she wanted to make an appointment so that she could see the work and talk to me about it at the same time!"

In January Anne and Amy (who is one of the DC area's hardest working artists and as far as I know still unrepresented) met at the Pierce School and Dr. Collins Goodyear looked at Lin's art and discussed it with the artist.

Then in May, Lin was offered a solo show at DCAC (opens this Friday at 7PM). Since Lin needed a curator for the DCAC show, and since she knew that Anne was interested and familiar with her work, she asked her to curate Lin's solo at DCAC and Dr. Collins Goodyear agreed to do it.

Several studio and gallery visits (as well as an essay about the show) later, they're hanging the show together on December 13 and the show opens on Friday, December 15 with a reception from 7-9PM and a curator's talk at 8pm.

Now this is a curator who is willing to spend part of her precious time working and looking in her own backyard and who exemplifies (above and beyond) the sort of interest that we would expect, once in a while, from our area curators as part of their job.

Dr. Collins Goodyear: WELL DONE!

Jada Pinkett Smith Gives $1 Million to Arts School

Jada Pinkett Smith has donated $1 million to her high school alma mater, the Baltimore School for the Arts. "It means a lot when you're a teacher and your most famous alumnus comes back to give a donation," said Donald Hicken, head of the school's theater department since its founding in 1980 and Pinkett Smith's former theater teacher. "It really says a lot to the community that the school matters in people's lives."

Read the whole story here. Bravo to Ms. Pinkett Smith!

Opportunities for Artists

Deadline: December 15, 2006 - Second Annual Works on Paper at Muse Gallery in Philly. Details and prospectus here.

Deadline: December 29, 2006 - The 2007 Bethesda International Photography Competition at Fraser Gallery in Bethesda. Details and prospectus here.

Deadline: January 12, 2007 - 3rd Annual National Painting Drawing & Printmaking Competition at Palm Beach Community College in Florida. Details and prospectus here.

Deadline: January 15, 2007 - Erotica 2007 at MOCA DC. Details and prospectus here.

Deadline: January 31, 2007 - Chinatown In/Flux 2009. An exhibition of site-specific art installations in Chinatown Philadelphia. Details and prospectus here.

Deadline: March 16, 2007 - Art on Paper at the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences in New Jersey. Details and prospectus here.

Deadline: March 30, 2007 - Art at VMRC at the Park Gables Gallery in Harrisonburg, VA. Details and prospectus here