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sexta-feira, 2 de janeiro de 2015

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DOWNINGTON, Pa. — Pook & Pook, Inc. will start 2015 with an Americana Auction taking place on Saturday, January 17th, 2015 at 10AM.

The auction begins with an exciting find from the studio of neoclassical sculptor Hiram


Federal musical clock, 19th century, has a presale estimate of $50,000 to $70,000. (Photo courtesy Pook & Pook, Inc.)

Powers. Powers, born in Vermont in 1805, studied sculpting as a young man and moved to Italy in his 30’s to have access to better materials, including marble, and better exposure to techniques that would further his art. The piece being offered at Pook & Pook is a carved marble bust of Proserpine, the goddess of springtime, nestled in a corsage of leaves.

The auction continues with dozens of pieces of fine art including four pieces by Richard Evett Bishop (American 1887-1975).Bishop, who is probably best known for his detailed oil paintings of birds in flight, was also an accomplished landscape artist. Two of the four pieces being offered are his “Canal Near New Hope” and “Landscape Near New Hope”. An oil on canvas landscape by Fern Isabel Coppedge (American 1883-1951), titled “Golden Screen”, is expected to bring $5,000-10,000. Ten paintings by Antonio Pietro Martino (American 1902-1988) are set to cross the block including a wonderful piece titled “September Regatta” ($1,500-2,500) picturing a crowd of sailboats eagerly trying to pass one another.

Two paintings by romanticist painter Ralph Albert Blakelock (American 1847-1919) are sure to catch the eye of several interested buyers. Blakelock led a tragic life. His inability to support his wife and nine children led to depression and him spending decades in a mental institution. Unfortunately, it was only after he was institutionalized that his work began to become valuable and noticed. Even more unfortunate is that his doctors thought his belief that he had become a famous painter was one of his delusions and they continued to keep him in the asylum. Blakelock continued to paint on cardboard using his own hair. He was eventually released and continued to paint until his death in 1919.
Pook & Pook is offering two landscapes by Blakelock, each estimated at $2,000-3,000. Nine pieces by Seymour Remenick (American 1923-1999) are being offered. The works offered range from still lifes to landscapes to coastal scenes. Two pieces by Aldro Thompson Hibbard (American 1886-1972) will be sold. Hibbard is a prominent plein air American painter who is best known for his Vermont scenes. One of the pieces being offered at auction is his “October Day Vermont”, which is estimated to bring $3,000-5,000. A Thomas Birch (American 1779-1851) oil on canvas, titled “Fairmount Park”, is expected to bring $5,000-10,000. A detailed bucolic landscape by Francis Daniel Devlan (American 1835-1870) is anticipated to fetch $4,000-8,000.

An unusual collection of pieces by Franklin Chenault Watkins (American 1894-1972) are also being offered. Watkins art ranges from delightful floral still lifes to the darker side of the art world. The eleven pieces offered lean more towards his darker work, with nudes cowering in corners and eyes painted all black. An exciting find amongst the fine art is an incredible portrait of Abraham Lincoln painted by George Henry Story (American 1835-1923). Lincoln sat for Story on several occasions. Story used his sketches from these sittings to paint multiple portraits of the 16th president. Several other artists have pieces featured in this sale. Visit www.pookandpook.com to see them all.

Decorative accessories are spattered throughout the rest of the auction including stoneware, redware, weathervanes, gameboards, porcelain, a utensil box, hooked rugs, quilts, coverlets, baskets, a canteen, a fat lamp, a sketchbook, samplers, carpets, a mirror, portraits, an engraving, toleware, fraktur, folk art, chalkware, metalware, andirons, decoys, a trunk, a bird spit, a doll house, candlesticks, walking sticks, silver, puzzle jugs, burl bowls, door knockers, etc.

Over fifty lots of stoneware are scheduled to sell. A fun scrimshaw decorated panbone whale plaque depicting the ship Desdemona flanked by scenes of her crew harpooning is expected to fetch $1,500-2,500. Several beautiful weathervanes are sprinkled throughout the sale including a stunning sheet copper butterfly weathervane, late 19th


Pennsylvania or Southern painted poplar dower chest, ca. 1800, supported by bracket feet, measuring 25 inches high by 46 1/4 inches wide, may fetch between $8,000 and $12,000. (Photo courtesy Pook & Pook)

c., which is attributed to J. W. Fiske & Co., N.Y. and is expected to bring $4,000-8,000. A copper and zinc galloping horse and jockey weathervane, ca. 1890, is expected to bring $4,000-7,000. A fabulous swell-bodied copper rooster weathervane retains an old untouched verdigris surface reflected in its $8,000-12,000 estimate. A carved and painted folk art kangaroo, 19th c., still retains its original red and black spotted decoration. This particular piece is estimated at $5,000-10,000.

One of the most exciting lots coming up for auction is a 1912 Ford Model T Torpedo. The automobile has been deaccessioned from the Sandy Spring Museum in Sandy Spring, Maryland and is estimated at $10,000-15,000. Also exciting for all toy collectors is a German Noah’s Ark, late 19th c., which includes Noah, his wife, sixty-two animals, and the ark, and should bring $1,500-2,500.

A range of beautiful furniture is for sale. Examples include bucket benches, dining chairs, cupboards, a pier table, a secretary, blanket chests, tall case clocks, a daybed, a slant front desk, sideboards, a card table, drysinks, a valuables cabinet, a wall cupboard, chests of drawers, dressing tables, Windsor armchairs, tavern tables, dower chests, etc. An outstanding painted Pennsylvania or Southern painted poplar dower chest, ca. 1800, is expected to bring $8,000-12,000. The dower chest is decorated with tulips, birds, and hearts. A Queen Anne walnut tall chest, ca. 1760, from Chester County, Pennsylvania, is predicted to bring $6,000-9,000 with its raised panel sides and ogee bracket feet.

Possibly the most impressive piece of furniture in the entire auction is a Lancaster, Pennsylvania Federal mahogany musical tall case clock from 1815. The eleven bells in this magnificent clock play seven different tunes and the clock was purportedly made for Martin Schreiner’s personal use and descended directly in the family until it was purchased by the consignor. This important Lancaster clockmaker’s piece is estimated at $50,000-70,000.

In the upcoming sale, over fifty lots are from the Judson family collection of Philadelphia


Heriz carpet, ca. 1920, measuring 10’10” by 7’9″ may sell for between $2,000 and $3,000. (Photo courtesy Pook & Pook)

Tucker porcelain. These pieces are likely to be the last large lot sold by a descendant of Francis and Henrietta Judson. The Judsons amassed one of the most comprehensive private collections of Tucker porcelain in the United States.

Pook & Pook is also proud to offer sixty lots from the Estate of Fred L. & Doris M. Leas of East Berlin, Pennsylvania. Fred and Doris Leas were both born in the East Berlin, Pennsylvania. After their marriage in 1946, they settled in the same area where they lived and worked their entire lives. In the late 1960’s, Fred and Doris began what became a shared hobby of “collecting,” which started with old bottles. Some of these bottles were dug from dumping areas around their farm, while others were purchased at various estate and auction sales in the Adams County area. Their love of bottle collecting led to the collection of other various antique pieces collected throughout Adams and other nearby Pennsylvania counties.

By the early 1970’s, Fred and Doris decided it was time to scale down their farming operation and focus more of their time on the hobby they had come to mutually enjoy: antiquing. Fred and Doris operated a small shop which they appropriately called “Bottles and Old Stuff” to sell their ever-growing collection of treasures both large and small. The Leas family hopes their antiques will bring as much joy to a new family or collector as they did to the Leas family.

To see all of the lots in this auction, go to www.pookandpook.com. The gallery exhibition will begin on January 10th. Online bidding is available on Bidsquare at www.bidsquare.com

fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.antiquetrader.com/antiques/antiques-americana/19th-century-federal-mahogany-musical-tall-case-clock-may-strike-70000

The year 2014 in archaeology By Dr Louise Iles University of York




It's been a fascinating year for ground-breaking archaeology around the globe, with cholera-stricken "vampires", armour made of bone, and the invention of trousers. Here's just a selection of what has made an impact this year. 

It's been a fantastic year for understanding one of the UK's most enigmatic monuments Continue reading the main story
Challenging climates

While world leaders were formulating an international response to modern climate change, archaeologists were discussing a serious shift in climate that happened 2,500 years ago.

Population collapse at the end of the European Bronze Age is thought to have been caused by rapid climate change. However, new research shows that the decline in population began over a century before climate change set in. Researchers now think that it was the increasing demand for iron towards the start of the Iron Age that was to blame, which undermined local economies and disrupted trade. Continue reading the main story
Sophisticated craftsmanship went into creating the gold objects found among the Anglo-Saxon Staffordshire Hoard Continue reading the main story
Inventive technologies

A new study of 325,000-year-old artefacts has forced archaeologists to re-think the development of very early technologies. A revolutionary stone tool technology called Levallois was thought to have been invented only in Africa, spreading through Europe and Asia as populations expanded. However, archaeologists looking at stone tools from a site in Armenia think that the specialised technology also developed independently there, highlighting the creativity of these early groups.

Another shrewd innovation has been uncovered during analysis of the Staffordshire hoard. Anglo Saxon goldsmiths used a sophisticated technique to remove copper and silver from the surfaces of gold objects, making them appear more "golden". Not only did this give the impression that the gold was more valuable than it was, the different colours of gold made the delicate filigree designs more striking. Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
Vampires, bone armour and early trousers

Some eye-catching odds and ends from the world of archaeology in 2014: Continue reading the main story
The sickle across the throat marks this individual out as a presumed vampire Continue reading the main story

Further light was shed on medieval skeletons from Poland whose manner of burial - with sickles across their necks, for example - suggest villagers feared they would rise again as vampires. The burials coincide with cholera outbreaks, hinting that they may be victims of the disease.
In September, researchers in Siberia reported finding a suit of armour made from animal bones which they believe could date to between 3,500 and 3,900 years ago. The experts believe the armour may have been manufactured for an elite warrior.
Two men whose remains were excavated from graves in western China were buried with the earliest known examples of trousers. With straight-fitting legs and a wide crotch, the Bronze Age slacks resemble those worn today for horse riding.
Ancient mariners

Links between seafaring nations of the southern hemisphere have been explored this year, with Tonga revealed to be at the centre of an extensive island empire from 1200 AD. Tonga interacted with far groups of islands via long-distance voyages, with stone tools traded over distances of up to 2,500km. Continue reading the main story
Discoveries like this early canoe from New Zealand shed light on the seafaring capabilities of the Polynesians Continue reading the main story


New genetics research shows just how far this seafaring prowess might have stretched. DNA analysis of Easter Islanders found that they had Native American ancestry as well as Polynesian and European genetic heritage. While the European ancestry dates from the 18th century, the American connection occurred 200-400 years earlier. It is likely that Polynesians made the challenging journey from Easter Island to the South American mainland and back - a round trip of almost 8000km. This might also explain how the sweet potato - native to South America - became established in Polynesia before European contact.

The discovery in New Zealand of a beautifully constructed 15th century canoe, plus details of the prevailing winds that helped them on their way, sheds more light on how Polynesians travelled so widely. Eyes will also be on the replica canoes that set sail on a worldwide voyage with no navigational equipment, to demonstrate the capacity of such vessels to traverse extreme distances over the oceans. Continue reading the main story
Physicists may have shed light on how the ancient Egyptians shifted such large stone blocks Continue reading the main story
Megastructures

In another attempt to replicate early engineering, a team of physicists have joined the quest to explain how ancient Egyptians pulled heavy stone blocks on sledges across the desert. They found a simple solution: wetting the sand in front of the sledges can halve the pulling force required - as can be seen in murals on the walls of a 4000-year-old tomb.

Closer to home, it's been a fantastic year for understanding one of the UK's most enigmatic monuments. As well as the chance appearance of parch-marks that located some of Stonehenge's missing stones, 2014 saw the completion of an impressive survey to map the hidden landscape of the Salisbury plain. Stonehenge has long been known to be part of a wider complex of monuments, but the area still holds surprises, and this research provides a glimpse into just how intensively that landscape was used over a period of about 11,000 years.

Similar methods spectacularly revealed a hidden Medieval city at Old Sarum. Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
Megafauna, and not-so-mega-fauna

The origins of the relationship between us and our most faithful friend have also been in the spotlight this year, as archaeologists pushed back the earliest evidence for dog domestication.

Previously thought to have occurred 14,000 years ago, some now suggest - somewhat controversially - that the domestication process began much earlier, around 36,000 years ago. This might be the key to understanding the vast kill sites where hundreds of mammoths were slaughtered. The sudden success of hunting methods to kill such large numbers of megafauna could be linked to our emerging relationship with semi-domesticated wolves.

A separate study found that people were feeding these animals meat that they themselves didn't like. Whereas humans were mostly eating mammoth, the "dogs" were fed reindeer. The fact that they consumed no mammoth at all suggests that they were kept tied up, making them unable to scavenge for scraps. Continue reading the main story
This portrait of Richard III, owned by the Society of Antiquaries, is the earliest known depiction of the Plantagenet king Continue reading the main story
Teeth, ancient and modern

Archaeological teeth also hit the headlines, casting doubts on the health of our modern diets and lifestyles. The gums of Roman Britons were shown to have been healthier than modern-day adults' gums, probably because of the prevalence of smoking and diabetes in today's population.

The benefits of the "palaeodiet" were also called into question, with the revelation that hunter-gatherers also suffered tooth decay. Rotting teeth were thought to have only become a problem with the advent of agriculture, but new research exposed the cavity-filled teeth of hunter-gatherers from around 14,000 years ago.

Finally, analysis of Richard III's teeth has been able to pinpoint where he lived throughout his childhood. Growing up in the east of England, he moved west by the age of seven. Analysis of his bones also confirmed the kingly lifestyle of his later life, feasting on rich foods and - perhaps unsurprisingly - an increasing amount of wine.

fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30520025

In Photos: 8 Byzantine Empire Era Shipwrecks Excavated in Turkey



Archaeologists working at a site in Turkey called Yenikapi have unearthed 37 remarkably well-preserved shipwrecks. The shipwrecks date back to the time of the Byzantine Empire, and are found in the port of the ancient city Istanbul, then called Constantinople. Eight of the shipwrecks that date to the fifth to 11th centuries are now described in a new report [Full story: Byzantine Shipwrecks Shed Light on Shipbuilding History].

Here are photos of those shipwrecks:


The Yenikapi shipwreck called YK 14 was a 9th-century merchant ship, seen here under sprinklers in April 2007. Waterlogged archaeological wood can be severely damaged if it is allowed to dry and so it must be kept constantly wet during its excavation. (Photo courtesy of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University/M. Jones.)





The shipwreck that researchers call YK 23, shown in its original position, in December 2007. (Photo courtesy Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University/İlkay İvgin.)


Archaeologists from the Istanbul Archaeological Museums work to excavate the shipwreck called YK 24 in July 2007. (Photo courtesy Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University/M. Jones.)


Cemal Pulak, who is the project director at the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, examines deck beams from galley of the ship called YK 2 in April 2006. These beams were found near one end of the ship, and would have also functioned as rowers' benches. (Photo courtesy Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University/S. Matthews.)


The galley of the ship called YK 4 was split longitudinally shortly after it was excavated. The ship's bow is in the foreground of this photo, taken in October 2006. (Photo courtesy Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University/M. Jones.)


Rebecca Ingram and Michael Jones trace the planking of the ship called YK 11 onto clear plastic film, in October 2008. (Photo courtesy Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University/S. Matthews.)


Archaeologists from the Istanbul Archaeological Museums excavate shipwreck called YK 14 in April 2007. (Photo courtesy Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University/M. Jones.)


Pulak oversees the removal of a plank from galley YK 2 in August 2006. (Photo courtesy Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University/R. Piercy.)


Workers map out the parts of the seventh-century shipwreck called YK 11, in June 2008. (Photo courtesy Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University /R. Ingram.)

fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.livescience.com/49273-photos-byzantine-empire-era-shipwrecks.html

Russian gold and enamel cufflinks may rise to $30K during Jan. 12 sale



WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – South Florida’s winter antiques and auction season is known as a time of year when all eyes in the trade focus on Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches (AGOPB) and its first auction event of the year. To welcome 2015, AGOPB will host a Monday, January 12 evening sale comprising 350 lots of exquisite antiques, decorative art and paintings from some of the region’s most elegant estates.

The auction’s centerpiece is the Estate of Robert Gottfried, Hi Mount Road, Palm Beach. Robert Gottfried is the son of Martha Gottfried, who,


Circa-1885 French industrial lighthouse clock with sterling silver weathervane, oscillating pendulum designed by Guilmet, movement stamped ‘GLT Paris’ and ‘Vincenti,’ 25¼ inches high. Est. $10,000-$15,000. AGOPB image

for decades, owned the most prominent real estate firm on the island. The Gottfied mansion was magnificently appointed with antiques in the French and Italian taste, many of large scale.

Also featured in the auction are a superb collection of 18th/19th-century Italian and French furniture and antiques acquired over many years by J. Abbott of Ibis Isle, Palm Beach; and a small collection of very fine Faberge items from a Russian-born lady who lives in Delray Beach, Florida. Some of the Faberge in the latter collection was held privately for 50 years and therefore would be entirely new to the current marketplace. European bronzes and clocks from the Estate of Irving Karlbach, Boynton Beach, Florida, and a fine collection of Chinese and Tibetan jades and objets d’art combine to add a crowning note of excellence to the auction’s 350-lot selection.

Lot 265, a rare, 19th-century Tibetan jeweled votive plaque, is the largest and most accomplished work of Asian art in the January 12 auction. Consigned locally by a gentleman whose family has retained the plaque for more than half a century, the precious religious object displays exquisite filigree work and a design set with hundreds of semiprecious stones (coral, turquoise, lapis) enhancing images of Vishnu and Immortals with demons and dragons. The plaque is mounted in a heavy, chased copper support frame.


Faberge gold, diamond and guilloche enamel tie pin overlaid with Imperial Eagle with diamond, 1908-1917, .56 standard. Workmaster: Henrik Wigstrom. Bears 1613-1913 dates to represent 300th anniversary of Russian Imperial rule. Est. $10,000-$15,000. AGOPB image

“The workmanship on this piece is simply amazing,” said Brian Kogan, president of AGOPB. “This kind of Tibetan artwork is exceedingly rare, and similar examples are difficult to locate, either in museums or collections.” It is estimated at $40,000-$60,000. Another Asian artwork of particularly fine quality is Lot 263, a carved white jade boulder depicting the goddess Guanyin seated inside a shrine. Estimate: $30,000-$40,000.

The aforementioned collection of rare and important Faberge jewelry and other objets de vertu was brought to the United States in the 1970s, when the consignor emigrated from her native Russia. The Faberge pieces include two pieces by workmaster Henrik Wigstrom (1908-1917): Lot 210, a gold and guilloche enamel lozenge brooch centered with a round diamond point estimated at $15,000-$20,000; and Lot 126, a unique tie pin commemorating 300 years of Russian Imperialism. The pin bears the double-eagle crest and the dates 1619-1919 and is estimated at $10,000-$15,000. Lot 211, a Faberge silver and enamel Icon of the Mother and Child, St. Petersburg, dated 1895, by workmaster Anders Michelsson, is entered with an estimate of $20,000-$30,000.

Lot 209 consists of a pair of extremely attractive gold, diamond and guilloche blue enamel cufflinks, 1908-1917, by workmaster Anton Kuzmichev. “While not a Faberge design, the quality and execution are simply exceptional. These cufflinks are going to catch the eyes of jewelry connoisseurs,” Kogan predicted.

The Estate of Robert Gottfried includes a broad selection of antiques and furnishings from the family’s Hi Mount Road mansion, including English, Italian, French, and large-scale custom furniture, bronzes, marble statuary, pedestals, carpets, lamps and


Russian gold, diamond and guilloche blue enamel cufflinks, 1908-1917, .56 standard. Maker: Anton Kuzmichev. Est. $15,000-$20,000. AGOPB image

paintings. “Those who have had the great privilege of visiting the Gottfried mansion may recall being greeted by (Lot 45) a pair of 20th-century blackamoors on rockery bases, each holding a seven-light candelabrum. Each figure stands 78 inches high, and together they are estimated at $1,500-$2,000,” said Kogan.

The sale includes several particularly fascinating clocks, notably Lot 206, a circa-1885 French industrial lighthouse clock. Designed by Guilmet, a well-known maker of mystery clocks, the circa-1885 timekeeper stands 25½ inches high has has a movement stamped “GLT, Paris” and “Vincenti.” It has a rare oscillating vertical torsion pendulum and a case of silver and gilt metal “brickwork.” It is expected to reach $10,000-$15,000 at auction.

Lot 169 is a very large Tiffany & Co. white Carrera marble and ormolu lyre clock, standing 26½ inches high, with a crystal paste stone chapter ring. Estimate: $8,000-$10,000. Lot 83 is a copy of a Willard lighthouse clock, probably from the early 20th century, that was made as a presentation piece for the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey. The clock has been owned by the consignor’s father since the 1930s and is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.

The auction will include a great variety of paintings and prints well-recognized and widely collected artists such as Emile Vernon, Le Pho, Salvador Dali, Andre Gisson, Marcel Dyf, Edmund Adler, Avinash Chandra, Filippo Indoni, Gustave Courtois, Francisco Zuniga, Paul Pascal and Louis Fabien. The list continues with Cherry J. Huldah, Norman Rockwell, Pascal Leroy, Eduardo Morales, Sadegh Tabrizi, Alfred Munnings, Henry Stull, Emil Adam, William Paskell, George Howell Gay, Robert Phillip, Bernard Karfiol and Johann Ridinger.

Top paintings include Lot 222, Emile Vernon’s (French, 1872-1919) signed oil-on-canvas titled “Lady Tennis Players,” est. $12,000-$18,000; and Le Pho’s (Vietnamese, 1907-2001) signed oil-on-canvas with calligraphy titled “Girl with Vase of Flowers,” est. $20,000-$30,000.

Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches’ Monday, Jan. 12, 2015 Major Winter Estates Auction will be held at the company’s 7,000-sq-ft Mediterranean-style gallery located in the historic Gatsby Building, 1609 S. Dixie Hwy., #5, West Palm Beach, FL 33401, one-half block from the Norton Museum of Art. Start time: 6 p.m. Eastern, with a live audio/video stream available to view online. Preview 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday Jan. 8, 9 and 10; as well as 10 to 6 p.m. on auction day. The gallery is closed on Sundays.

All remote forms of bidding will be available, including absentee, phone and live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers (liveauctioneers.com) or Invaluable (invaluable.com). For information on any item in the auction, call 561-805-7115 or email company partners Leslie Baker at leslie@agopb.com or Brian Kogan at brian@agopb.com. Visit AGOPB online at www.agopb.com

fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.antiquetrader.com/antiques/russian-gold-enamel-cufflinks-may-rise-30k-jan-12-sale

Washington University's Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum to survey work of Island Press

ST. LOUIS, MO.- Since its formation in 1978, Island Press has evolved from a traditional contract print shop — producing high quality editions in standard media and formats — into a uniquely collaborative and educational enterprise known for complex, large-scale works by a range of nationally and internationally renowned artists.






In January, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis will explore that evolution with Island Press: Three Decades of Printmaking.

Curated by Karen K. Butler, assistant curator of the Kemper Art Museum, the exhibition will survey more than two dozen works highlighting the press’ history of technical innovation, artistic experimentation and student participation.

Housed within WUSTL’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Island Press was established by Peter Marcus, now professor emeritus of printmaking.

Originally called the Washington University Collaborative Printmaking Workshop, the press takes its name from a massively oversized etching press — 60 inches wide by 120 inches long — that Marcus built in the early 1990s with St. Louis machinist Warren Sauer, a design they dubbed “The Island Press.”

Though university-affiliated presses typically exist as independent entities separate from the academic structure, Marcus sought to integrate press operations with the school’s teaching mission, allowing students to assist visiting artists and the master printer at all stages of creation and production.

Joan Hall, currently the Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art, who became director of the press in 1999, would expand Marcus’ original aims by involving students in new areas of production, such as fabricating handmade paper and assembling three-dimensional collage elements.

During the press’ first decade, artists such as Peter Dean, Rafael Ferrer, Joyce Kozloff, Roy Lichtenstein and David Nash largely engaged traditional printmaking techniques, such as lithography, etching and occasionally monotype, in ways that reflected the period’s dominant trends, such as expressionist painting and identity politics.

Notably, Lichtenstein’s Study of Hands (1981) combined two techniques, lithography and silkscreen, that were not usually joined together — an innovative practice that in many ways prefigured the experimental and multidisciplinary approach that would become increasingly characteristic of the press.

In the 1990s, artists including Michael Berkhemer and Joyce Scott created works of dramatic size and scale while exploring the use of nontraditional methods and materials, such as mixed media, handmade paper and appropriated imagery. At the same time, prints by Sue Coe, Annette Lemieux, Juan Sanchez and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith investigated questions of race, identity and political engagement.

In her provocative Trademark (1992), Hung Liu highlighted the historical repression of women as well as the complex legacy of economic and cultural exchange between East and West by juxtaposing an historical photo of six Chinese prostitutes with a Western-style painting of a woman from the Chinese Imperial Court.

Over the last 10 years, Island Press has continued to produce large-scale, mixed-media works of striking technical and conceptual complexity. Chris Duncan’s vivid Everything All at Once (2009) employed 339 separate printing plates in 25 different colors — a labor-intensive assembly accomplished only with the help of student printmakers.

Works by Chakaia Booker, Squeak Carnwath and T. L. Solein combine a range of techniques — from etching, collagraph and monotype to chine collé and digital photography — to create dense, atmospheric surfaces.

Meanwhile, Tom Friedman’s Vanishing Point (2006), though titled for a traditional pictorial device used to create the impression of depth, offers a somewhat ambiguous meditation on the history of artistic practice. Does this image of Friedman’s scattered, receding possessions, mourn, reclaim or mock Renaissance conventions?

Most recently, Ann Hamilton, the inaugural Arthur L. and Sheila Prensky Visiting Artist at Island Press, has worked with students and master printer Tom Reed to create a site-specific installation. The ongoing, as-yet-untitled work encompasses experiments with cast paper, newsprint, carbon paper, letterpress, laser cut printing, digital printing and photolithography, as well as more traditional forms such as etching and engraving. Like many of Hamilton’s installations, the piece is both collaborative and interactive, exploring the intersection of language, visual image and physical gesture.
 
fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://artdaily.com/index_iphone.asp?int_new=75373&int_sec=2
 
 

Vast 5,000 year-old underground city discovered in Turkey's Cappadocia region



A 5,000 year-old underground city thought to be the largest in the world has been discovered in central Turkey.




The subterranean settlement was discovered in the Nevşehir province of Turkey’s Central Anatolia region, in the historical area of Cappadocia.

Cappadocia is famous in archaeological circles for its large number of underground settlement.

But the site, located around the Nevşehir hill fort near the city of Kayseri, appears to dwarf all other finds to date.

Hasan Ünver, the mayor of the city on those outskirts the discovery was found, said other underground cities were nothing more than a “kitchen” compared to the newly uncovered settlement.

Mehmet Ergün Turan, the head of Turkey’s housing development administration, said the discovery was made during the groundwork for a housing project meant to develop the area.





Derinkuyu underground city, to the south of Nevşehir city “It is not a known underground city. Tunnel passages of seven kilometers are being discussed. We stopped the construction we were planning to do on these areas when an underground city was discovered,” Mr Turan told Turkish publication Hurriyet Daily News.

The agency has already spent 90 million Turkish liras (£25m) on the development project, but the organisation’s head said he did not see the money spent as a loss due to the magnitude of the historical discovery.

The upper reaches of the city were first spotted last year but it was not until now that the size of the discovery became apparent. The organisation has so far taken 44 historical objects under preservation from the site.



Cappadocia's characteristic volcanic rock landscape lends itself to underground cities The area has been officially registered with Turkey’s Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board and no further building work will be done.

The Cappadocia region, once a Roman province, is fertile ground for underground cities because of its soft volcanic rock which is easy to carve.

Nevşehir province’s most renown underground settlement is Derinkuyu, a multi-level city large enough to house many thousands of people and their livestock. It lies within an hour’s drive south of the new discovery.



The town of Nevşehir, on whose outskirts the new underground city was discovered Derinkuyu, believed to date to the 8th century BC, was most recently inhabited by Christians until 1923 when they were expelled during a population exchange with Greece.

fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/vast-5000-yearold-underground-city-discovered-in-turkeys-cappadocia-region-9951911.html

10 Favorite Urban Art Exhibitions of 2014




As the year draws to a close, and as part of our continuous effort to bring you only the best of 2014, today we are taking another look back at the urban art exhibitions that made our jaws drop in the year behind us. It was an exciting and unprecedented year for street and urban art which saw continued and steady rise in all categories throughout the year. When we consider all the great things that had happened in urban art galleries worldwide in 2014, we can only look forward to the exciting things ahead of us in 2015. So join us as we go through our yearly recap list of ten favorite urban art shows we saw in 2014. It was an extremely tough competition, with many of the greatest urban art names that didn’t make it on the list.


fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.widewalls.ch/10-favorite-urban-art-exhibitions-of-2014/make-it-last-forever/








Agostino Iacurci - Small Wheel Big Wheel



Banksy - The Unauthorised Retrospective


Muralist Paints Majestic Eagle on a Berlin Building



A striking new mural by artist DALeast is now gracing the facade of Berlin’s Urban Nation building. The piece depicts earth-toned line art that forms the shape of a majestic eagle’s head against a black backdrop. Lines contouring the back of the eagle’s head begin to fade and dissolve into a flock of birds flying toward the edge of the frame. The most arresting feature of the painting is the eagle’s piercing gaze directed from cold, yellow eyes at the street below.








The public-art masterpiece was installed as part of PM6, an art campaign sponsored by New York City’s Jonathan Levine Gallery. Other artists filled the building that DALeast decorated with their own individual indoor pieces.

The muralist who uses the pseudonym DALeast was born in China and operates out of Cape Town, South Africa. He expressed interest in painting beginning at age two and dropped out of a fine arts program to join a Chinese graffiti troupe. Since then, he seems to have found his calling. “The teacher hated me because I wasn’t doing what I had to do in the class,” he says, “but they could always find me on the streets painting walls.”
 fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://denlart.com/?p=21602