The British Library has digitized its full collection of Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebooks, allowing any viewer to browse the Renaissance master’s personal manuscripts and illustrations.  Covering many years of work, the notebooks include plans, sketches, shopping lists and schematics for unfinished projects and architectural innovations.  The self-taught artist and scientist had been a prolific note-maker during his lifetime, but never took pains to publish these works in a widely readable format.   (more…)

Anselm Kiefer, Die Ungeborenen (Installation View) via Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Exploring the origin and creation of life, Die Ungeborenen (“The Unborn”) is a new collection of canvases and sculptures by German artist Anselm Kiefer, currently on view at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac’s new Pantin location in Paris.

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A nanoscale study of paint chips from works by Pablo Picasso has strengthened historians’ claims that he may have been one of the first master painters to shift over from traditional oil paints to house paints.  Researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory and Art Institute of Chicago discovered levels of zinc oxide and iron in Picasso’s work that matched the levels of 1930’s household paint brand Ripolin.  “We have opened the nanoworld to culture heritage.” Says researcher Volker Rose . (more…)

A Miami pastor and art dealer has been arrested for attempting to sell several forged works attributed to British artist Damien Hirst.  Kevin Sutherland had approached Sotheby’s in December about selling one of Mr. Hirst’s “spin” paintings at auction, but when the auction house realized the work as forgery, it promptly contacted the New York Police Department.  Working undercover, officers arrested Sutherland after he attempted to sell them several more forged Hirsts in Gramercy Park Hotel last week. (more…)

Juergen Teller, Installation View, via The ICA

Juergen Teller leads a life that is far from the norm in fine art. Despite his ubiquitous gallery shows and openings, Teller also embraces the commercial world of photography; touring with rock stars and shooting celebrities around the globe. Regardless, the photographer has always been regarded as the ‘antithesis’ of what should constitute conventional Haute Couture photography.  In order to illustrate the artists distinctive and breathtaking style, the ICA in London is currently presenting a retrospective covering the broad expanse of Teller’s career, along with recent works that steer away from the limelight of his previous glossy campaigns and focus on more subdued topics such as portraiture of his family and friends.

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Eva Hesse, No Title (1965), via Hauser and Wirth

Eva Hesse’s 1965, on view at Hauser and Wirth in London, is a visual representation of a productive period in the late artist’s life.  Named after the formative year in which the pieces on view were created, it reflects the artist’s physical and mental states during this period, a time when she undertook a residency at Kettwig an der Ruhr, Germany.  Living in an abandoned textile factory, Hesse built a new style of working from the sewing machines, fabrics and other cast-off material in her space, simultaneously building a new artistic and personal awareness for herself in the process.

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Tracey Emin, Floating, (2012), via Galleria Lorcan O’Neill

Currently open in Rome, Galleria Lorcan O’Neill’s fourth presentation of Tracey Emin’s work is a mature, low-key, yet penetrating selection of the artist’s diverse practice, showcased in both of their spaces on Via Orti D’Aliberti.  Emin has recently been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), as well as a professor of drawing at the Royal Academy (RA) along with Fiona Rae, making them the first two women to be elected into the academy.  Given her entrance into these exclusive circles as an official representative of British culture, the Italian location of this show offers an interesting reevaluation of Emin’s art.
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Yayoi Kusama announced this week that she is ending her partnership with the Gagosian Gallery, and joining David Zwirner Gallery’s already formidable roster of artists.  The news comes after several months of speculation and rumors that Kusama would be breaking her ties with Gagosian. (more…)

Paul Klee, Comedians’ Handbill (1938), via Metropolitan Museum of Art

On view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through February 24, “Late Klee” presents a concentrated survey of the last fifteen years of Paul Klee’s life and career. The one-room exhibition consists largely of small-sized works on paper and cardboard, each representing a facet of the artist’s prolific oeuvre and wide-ranging interests. (more…)

Gagosian Gallery has just announced the death of Richard Artschwager, mere days after the closing of his retrospective exhibition at The Whitney Museum in New York City.  He was 89.  Artschwager’s unique path helped to define the perceptual and spatial explorations of conceptual and minimalist art while retaining the artist’s personal aesthetic.  Often utilizing objects from the everyday, he continually sought to explore the interaction between object and space, notably in his reworkings of chairs, pianos, and tables.   The artist’s work had been the subject of several major exhibitions worldwide, including shows at the Centre Pompidou, Deutsche Guggenheim, and the aforementioned Whitney Museum.  (more…)

Peter Saul, Francis Bacon Descending a Staircase (2012), via Mary Boone

Defying critical characterization and classification for the bulk of their careers, artists Jim Shaw and Peter Saul have continually pushed the art of figurative drawing in new directions.  Exploring the multi-generational impact of these two artists, curator Klaus Kertess has brought the two artists together at Mary Boone New York to exhibit a selection of their works on paper.  Bringing the subconscious to the forefront of the viewer’s attention, the artists’ show is packed with images of altered realities, presented in their trademark styles.

Jim Shaw, Dream Drawing (1996), via Mary Boone

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The sale of Berthe Morisot’s Après le déjeuner for £6,985,250 at Christie’s Modern Art Auction this week has set a new record for female painters.  The record highlights a major difference in market value between male and female painters, with top sales for male artists far beyond that sales range.  While institutions like the Museum of Modern Art have pushed for more equitable status for female artists, some speculate that monied interests have still not caught up in appreciation of contemporary female artists. (more…)

An unnamed collector has come forward, claiming that he has found an upper section of Gustave Courbet’s immediately recognizable nude, “Origin of the World.”  The new segment depicts the subject’s head and sholders, complimenting the notorious section of the work primarily depicting her genitalia, that now hangs at the Musée D’Orsay.  The new section has been confirmed by leading Courbet expert Jean-Jacques Fernier, who says that he is “convinced” that the works are two parts of the whole. (more…)

Beginning their eight night run at Tate Modern last night, German electronic museum pioneers Kraftwerk played their debut album Autobahn to a crowd of 1,250 in the museum’s Turbine Hall.  Mirroring their run of shows at New York’s Museum of Modern Art last year, the band will play one of their eight full length albums each night, closing on February 14th with their last album, Tour de France.  “I saw them three-and-a-half years ago at the Manchester Velodrome and now that the whole show is in 3D and with surround sound, it’s incredible. It’s amazing that 40 years into their career, they’re still relevant,” said Andy McCluskey of electronic act Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark. (more…)

Eugène Delacroix’s iconic work “Liberty Leading the People” has been defaced by a vandal at the Louvre Museum in Lens, Northern France.  The famous work was vandalized near closing time on Thursday evening by a woman described by prosecutors as “unstable.”  The museum has already sent restoration experts to examine that damage, and has stated that the work should be “easily cleaned.” (more…)

Fabio Viale, Stargate (Installation View), via Sperone Westwater

Exploring the intricate interrelations between object, environment, product and creator, Italian sculptor Fabio Viale creates staggeringly lifelike marble busts of the the everyday, paying homage to the vast heritage of Italian sculpture while inviting a range of interpretations and correlations between his works.  For his first solo show at New York’s Sperone Westwater gallery, titled Stargate, the artist is exhibiting a selection of recent works that juxtaposes the classic medium against the often banal detritus of contemporary society, in turn exploring the values afforded to each.

Fabio Viale, Souvenir Pieta (2006), via Daniel Creahan for ArtObserved

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Berlin’s annual Gallery Weekend has just announced its lineup of participating galleries.  The event will feautre a number of major Berlin galleries, including Sprüth-Magers, Konrad Fischer and Max Hetzler, as well as a number of newcomers, including Plan B and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler.  Gallery Weekend Berlin will run from April 26th to April 28th. (more…)

Artist Mark Wallinger has just completed work on his installation in the London Underground, cited as the largest ever art commission, for the 150-year anniversary of the British transportation system.  Titled Labyrinth, The work involves 270 unique mazes, each installed in a station in the London Underground system.  “It’s about the everyday, but on such a vast scale of moving people about.  That almost in itself is a colossal, almost mythical sort of function.” (more…)

Michelangelo’s unfinished sculpture, La Pietà Rondanini, is being temporarily installed in a Milanese prison while its original home undergoes some much-needed renovations.  The work’s temporary home at Carcere di San Vittore has raised both criticism and praise from art historians, and is being applauded by foreign prison officials.  “It is welcome to see an example of high culture being moved into a prison. There is a long tradition of art projects aiding the journey of long-term prisoners as they serve their sentence.”  Says Andrew Nelson, of the Howard League for Penal Reform. (more…)

Jim Shaw, Untitled (US Presidents), 2006, Courtesy of the artist and BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead

The Baltic Centre in Gateshead is currently holding the first-ever retrospective of works by American Jim Shaw outside the United States. Including over one hundred works in a variety of media, from video and sculpture to paintings and installations, the show explores Shaw’s ongoing examination of American life, and his unique set of aesthetic signifiers at play throughout his career.

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Pablo Picasso, Femme Assise Près D’Une Fenêtre, via Sotheby’s

Last night, Sotheby’s London hosted the first of the spring’s Modern Art auctions, with a number of works quickly soaring to high prices while others struggled to meet their estimates, most notably the centerpiece of the auction, Pablo Picasso’s “Femme Assise Près d’une Fenêtre.” (more…)

Citing poor profit margins, Sotheby’s Canada branch has announced that it will be exiting the live auction market, and focusing on private sales through their Toronto office.  This leaves the Canadian art auction market dominated by only two companies: Joyner Waddington’s and Heffel Fine Art.  “Private sales is the growth area of this business; it’s not the auction part that’s profitable,” said Sotheby’s Canada president David Silcox. (more…)

Neo Rauch, Chor, 2011, All images courtesy Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz

Displayed in the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz Museum am Theaterplatz in Chemnitz, Germany will be large-format paintings by the internationally acclaimed artist Neo Rauch, from the years 2002-2012. Initially, 4 paintings will be presented, including the work SAL (2010) and 3 from 2012: Hohe Zeit (“High Time”), Der böse Kranke (“The Angry Invalid”) and Die Abwägung (“The Assessment”).

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Elad Lassry, Russian Blue (2012), via White Cube

Transforming White Cube Gallery’s Hong Kong space into an an erratic mix of color and space, Elad Lassry has created a paradoxical challenge to viewer’s 2^nd and 3^rd dimensional perceptions.  Framed cats with piercing aquamarine eyes dot the room, gazing out at toys guarded by a luminous pink shielding. In another frame, viewers are presented with a tantalizing pair of raw steaks — the blood, emphasized by the disturbingly deep red background, but withheld from reach by its frame. Almost all the images observed in the gallery however, are flat: 2D photographs which are given depth only by the prisons they are situated in.

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