Art in China, Billboards, Bonheur, Brancusi & Beardsley

IN THE NEWS:

- Could Chinese collectors be the new driving force in the art & antiques marketplace? "Prices for antiques in China have risen sharply over the past five years and now galleries all over the world over are waiting for the nation's cashed-up collectors to spread the wealth overseas." The Story at The Independent

- If you're trying to solve history's most expensive art theft and all the leads have dried up, how do you find new ones? Why, you rent a billboard, silly!! "Rembrandt’s “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee,’’ one of 13 artworks stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 20 years ago this week, has been plastered on billboards in Massachusetts as part of a campaign by the FBI to solicit the public’s help in solving the world’s biggest art heist." The Boston Globe Story

- Junior Achievement takes an odd turn: "William John Scott is a freshman at Drew University. He studies political science. He plays defense on the lacrosse team. He describes himself on Facebook as a night person who likes to party. But federal prosecutors say he is something else: a busy archives thief who stole famous letters written by a founder of the United Methodist Church and world leaders, including Abraham Lincoln and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek." The Story at the New York Times

ARTS ALMANAC:

March 16, 1665: Giuseppe Crespi, Italian Baroque painter, known as "Lo Spagnuolo" (the Spanish One), famous for his genre paintings, was born.

1822 – Rosa Bonheur, one of the most popular French 'animaliere' painters and sculptors, was born.

1898 – Aubrey Beardsley, British artist and illustrator, best known for his highly stylized erotically-themed illustrations, died at age 25.

1957 – Constantin Brancusi, Romanian sculptor, who was one f the foremost figures of the modern sculpture movement, died.

IN OUR STORE:

“China, Dawn of a Golden Age, 200-750 A.D.”

By James C.Y. Watt.

Published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art / Yale University Press in 2004.

“This book is a comprehensive survey of the Han to the Tang Periods (200–750 AD), when political upheaval and the massive migration of nomadic peoples changed China's religion and art. Three hundred recent archaeological finds including Buddhist sculptures, glass, and precious metal objects, are explored within the context of this period in Chinese history.”

$35.

see more illustrations here