Rafa Al Nasiri, passed away on Saturday, December 7, 2013 in Amman Jordan, where he was living in exile. He was 73. Born in Tikrit, Iraq, he studied art at the Institute of Fine Arts- Baghdad: 1956 -1959 (painting), the Central Academy of Fine Arts- Beijing: 1959 - 1963 (graphic art) and the Gravura- Lisbon (Scholarship from The Gulbenkian Foundation) 1967 - 1969. He attended The International Summer Academy in Salzburg 1974 and 1975, and The Print Center in London: 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1989.

Rafa Al Nasiri, the pioneer of Iraqi printmaking, dedicated himself to teaching painting, graphic art and design in Iraq, Jordan, and in Bahrain from 1964 to 2003, in addition to lecturing on art in different Arab and world capitals. He had numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world.

Last November 11, he had his last solo exhibition at Jordan National gallery of Fine Arts entitled “Rafa Al Nasiri: 50 years retrospective.” It was attended by hundreds of guests including family, friends and students, who flew to Jordan for the occasion. The opening reception was broadcast ‘live’ in the internet and viewed by more than 3,000 people from all over the world who could not be there physically join the celebration of the Iraqi master’s art life.

In January 2011, Al Nasiri visited Bahrain and conducted a print workshop at the Bahrain Contemporary Art Centre attended by invited professional and amateur Bahraini artists in cooperation with the Bahrain Art Society and the Bahrain Contemporary Art Centre.

Al Nasiri once again returned to Bahrain this year on February 2013 for a solo exhibition entitled “Being in the Moment.” Organized in collaboration with the Bahrain Cancer Society (BCS), the exhibition opened on February 4th- World Cancer Day- and was one of many events organized by the BCS as a means to bring attention to and generate funds for the cause.

Al Nasiri is a unique soul, a kind and thoughtful person and a great artist. He will be greatly missed by his friends in Bahrain. He is survived by his loving wife, May Muzaffar, an outstanding Iraqi art critic and poetess.

Celebrating the first anniversary of Rijksstudio, the Rijksmuseum today launched the Rijksstudio Award. The Rijksstudio Award will be presented to the winner of the Design Competition in spring 2014 to the person who creates the best design using Rijksstudio. Every conceivable form of art is allowed (design, fine art, applied art, photography, video), provided it is inspired by the Rijksmuseum collection. The award, which includes exhibiting the design, will be awarded by an international jury of designers, creatives and museum directors.

Taco Dibbits, Director Collections Rijksmuseum: The competition is open to everyone. You do not have to be a professional to enter. After all, Rijksstudio was created in the firm belief that the Rijksmuseum collection belongs to everyone and should be available for everyone.

110,000 Rijksstudios and 9 awards in one year

On 1 November, Rijksstudio is exactly one year old. In this first year, more than 110,000 Rijksstudios have been created. The Rijksmuseum is very proud of the fact that the website has won nine awards in its first year, both national and international, namely: Rijksmuseum Dutch Interactive Company of the Year (Dutch Interactive Awards); the Best Brand website 2013 (Dutch Interactive Awards); a Golden SpinAward 2013; 3 Awards at Museums and the Web Conference 2013; the Golden European Design Award 2013; the Dutch Design Award 2013; The New Institute / Virtueel Platform – Best Practice 2013.

Rijksstudio

On 1 November 2012, the Rijksmuseum launched Rijksstudio: for the museum world, an innovative digital application, which contains a large part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection that is available to everyone free of charge. There are thousands of familiar, unexpected and surprising images that can be zoomed in on down to the tiniest detail, and can be touched, liked and also used to come up with your own creation. Droog Design and Dutch Fashion Designer Alexander van Slobbe were the first to be inspired by the collection and come up with their own creation. Now, there are 150,000 high-resolution images available.

Rijksstudio was created by Fabrique and Q42 in collaboration with Irma Boom Office. The website was made possible with the generous support of BankGiro Loterij, the Netherlands’ cultural lottery.

ART SAN DIEGO, with presenting sponsor UBS Financial Services, closed the 5th Edition of the Fair last week reporting strong sales, record attendance, and a very enthusiastic guest response. Over the course of the four days nearly 14,000 collectors and art lovers attended. The four-day event kicked off with a VIP opening event that welcomed close to 3,000 collectors – the largest opening night to date.

ART SAN DIEGO 2013 also saw a record number of exhibitors with 80 galleries, Spotlight Artists, Art Labs, and a Launchpad Artist showing a variety of contemporary art and contemporary furniture. The 5th Edition showcased an international mix of exhibitors from France, Buenos Aires, Russia, Poland, Italy, Australia, Mexico, Japan, and numerous exhibitors from the United States.

Sales reports from participating galleries were outstanding: “We had over $50,000 in art sales during the first few days of the fair, and have several sales pending with collectors we met at the fair. It was a wonderful experience to be part of an event that celebrates the San Diego art community”, noted Alexander Salazar, owner of White Box Contemporary & Alexander Salazar Fine Art, San Diego.

ART SAN DIEGO continues to attract established collectors, as well as a new, younger generation of art lovers: “As a solo-artist, it was a terrific experience: I was able to meet so many potential buyers and speak to many other solo-artists and galleries. At the end, I sold six paintings at full price, and a seventh painting is on its way to Florence, Italy where I will be represented in the future by a gallery I met at the fair,” said Pete Garcia of Pelayo Studios.

This year’s theme, [ COLLIDE ] lived up to its name – with numerous fantastic creative collisions occurring at the fair. One attendee described it as a “living environment” of creativity. Highlights included an exhibition featuring the sculpture work of James Watts juxtaposed against a 50’ long mural by Japanese artist Shinichi Sugimoto “City of Gravity” - a stunning pairing; a large exhibition of rare, newly discovered photographs from Robert Mapplethorpe, THE AGENCY - 1983, his first fashion photography commission in NYC; and The Salon Project: paintings by Raul Guerrero featuring portraits of of John Baldessari, Robert Matheny and Erika Torri.

Performance highlights included a piece by performance artist Avery Lawrence entitled “Mowing the Lawn” – which became a media favorite during the week with front page stories in City Beat, Pacific San Diego and Riviera Magazine. Larry and Debby Kline’s “pop-up” vignettes created interactive opportunities for attendees to engage. The Art Lab designed by the New School of Architecture Students from the Alpha Rho Chi, and their dynamic and movable designs for the fair’s center lounge, was also a huge success. The Silent Disco event took on a life of its own with headset – wearing music lovers roaming the fair orchestrated by the music of DubLab.com choreographing flash mob scenes at random times throughout the evening. Art Talk with rock photography icon Henry Diltz attracted hundreds of rapt listeners.

ART SAN DIEGO would like to thank its sponsors: UBS Financial Services, San Diego County Acura Dealers, Robertson Taylor International Insurance Brokers, Inc., Willis Allen Real Estate, Bender & Gritz, KoBrand, Paddle8, ScanTech Graphics, ArtStrong Bags, Turon Travel, Ecor Noble Technologies, Malama Composites, Craters & Freighters, 3Doddler, W San Diego, Lafayette Hotel & Suites, Charles Koll Jewellers, Giuseppe Fine Catering, Stone Brewing Co., Gobie H20, Uber Transportation, Wilson-Wirth Design, American Society of Appraisers, Pro Heraldica USA, and Silent Storm Sound System.

“Our whole team at UBS is so appreciative to Ann and all those who made this year’s Art San Diego truly the best yet! This year, we worked with several non-profits to create an opportunity to expose kids in this community to more of the art and culture that exists throughout San Diego. The uniqueness of Art San Diego is its ability to bring together a variety of museums, collectors clubs, and other groups in San Diego, under one roof and connect us with art from around the world. We are so proud to be associated with Art San Diego,” said Chris Marsh, Managing Director, UBS Financial Services.

In anticipation of the opening of its future home in downtown Manhattan in the spring of 2015, the Whitney Museum of American Art presents Whitney Stories, a video series and online publication that offers viewers a look behind the scenes at preparations for the new building through interviews with figures central to the project. New videos will be released regularly through spring 2015. These short films will profile artists, Whitney staff and trustees, and integral members of the construction team while highlighting aspects of the new Renzo Piano–designed building and tracking the transformation of the Museum. Matt Wolf, a New York–based filmmaker (Teenage, 2013), is directing the videos, which will be available at whitney.org/WhitneyStories, complemented by brief articles, interviews, and photo essays.

The Museum will release fifteen videos in total, each focusing on a person with a particular role in the project, and a unique connection to the Whitney. The videos will be filmed at the Museum’s current building, the new building construction site, and artists’ studios; offer insight into future programming and exhibition plans; and provide an overview of the institution during this exciting period through compelling personal narratives. The first video in the series, a profile of Carol Mancusi-Ungaro, the Whitney’s associate director for conservation and research, is available to view now (interested members of the press may preview additional videos upon request). Upcoming subjects include:

Donna De Salvo, chief curator and deputy director for programs; Carter E. Foster, Steven and Ann Ames Curator of Drawing; Larissa Gentile, building project manager; Renzo Piano, architect; Vincent Punch, assistant head guard; Adam D. Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Director; and Fred Wilson, artist and Whitney trustee.

The 15th edition of ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH, wich took place from 10th to 13th October 2013 in the Kongresshaus near the Zurich lake, has attracted more than 18.000 visitors. Already 2.800 visitors came to the vernissage on Thursday. The visitors numbers increase each year, by the vernissage as well as during the opening times of the art fair. Such a growth has a real influence on the sales performance. This good business and a public of quality had a favourable impact on the general atmosphere of this art fair.

The next edition of CONTEMPORARY ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH will take place on 16th – 19th October 2014, once more in the Kongresshaus of Zurich. Applications can already been submitted on www.art-zurich.com/application

CONTEMPORARY ART INTERNATIONAL ZURICH 2014
International Fair of Contemporary Art
16th-19th October 2014
Kongresshaus Zurich

LONDON. Following the private sale of two masterpieces ahead of this week’s auctions, Sotheby’s Russian Art week closed yesterday with over £24million* of sales.

- Propelled by new buyers, Sotheby’s achieved its highest total for Russian pictures in the last five years, with 37 pictures selling for over £100,000 and over half of the sold works achieving prices above their pre-sale high estimates.
- At Sotheby’s four Russian art auctions, Sotheby’s achieved a combined total of £19.5 million of sales. They were led by a pair of magnificent Imperial vases which sold for £2,210,500 to a collector who had never bought at Sotheby’s before.

Jo Vickery, Senior Director and Head of Russian Art said:

Paris – Sotheby’s is honoured to be associated with Monsieur Xavier Guerrand-Hermès in offering for auction part of his prestigious collection of Islamic Art in aid of the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace. Sotheby’s Paris auction, Focus on the Orient on November 18th 2013, will feature over 130 exquisite objects from this remarkable collection that showcase the richness of Islamic Art – including manuscripts, ceramics and metalware – spanning the 8th-19th centuries and originating from as far afield as Andalusia and India. This Paris sale follows Sotheby’s London Art of the Islamic World auction which featured 42 pieces from the collection and took place on October 9th 2013.

Xavier Guerrand-Hermès Collection Auction in Paris (November 8)

The Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace was launched in 1996 to support social transformation and ensure the world a lasting future. In the words of the Foundation’s President, Xavier Guerrand-Hermès: ‘The Foundation’s work is centred primarily on education and inter-religious dialogue. Whether in Doha or Vienna, I take part, and am permanently engaged, in inter-religious dialogue. I have always felt such dialogue can further world peace.’

Xavier Guerrand-Hermès is the grandson of Emile Hermès, an honorary member of Oxford University, and Treasurer of the organization Religions for Peace. He explains his discovery of Islamic civilization as follows: ‘My residence in Morocco enabled me to come into contact first with Moroccan, then Islamic Art, whose quality and complexity were a revelation to me. Islamic Art made me realize how art and spirituality can be combined using an alphabet.’

The 42 lots from the collection that were auctioned in London on October 9 include two late 14th/early 15th century tiles from Central Asia (Timurid Dynasty) – one monumental (£84.100), the other with calligraphic decoration (£92.500); and a Mughal miniature (c.1595) portraying dignitaries supervising the construction of a palace wall (£18.750). The remaining selection of pieces to be offered for sale from the collection, to be offered in Paris on November 18, features a selection of pages from the Koran, including a large 11^th century folio from Seljuk Persia (est. €5,000-8,000) and a 10th century folio from North Africa or the Near East (est. €5,000-7,000).

The collection also includes a selection of medieval Persian ceramics – notably a small, early 13th century blue and white jug, fully intact (est. €5,000-8,000) and an early 13th century bowl with palm-leaf patterning (est. €7,000-10,000). Ottoman Turkey is represented by a late 16th century Iznik dish with symmetrical decoration (est. €5,000-7,000) and an Iznik tile panel from around 1575 (est. €8,000-12,000).

A series of miniatures illustrating the art of Safavid Iran includes a page from an early 17th century Shahnama (Book of Kings) showing Qaydafa in conversation with Iskandar (est. €3,000-5,000). Indian works include a late 18th century Deccan miniature with Emperor Aurangzeb (est. €5,000-7,000); and two Mughol folios (c.1620) from the Gulistan of Sa’di (est. €4,000-6,000).

Regards sur l’Orient Orientalist Pictures & Sculpture, Islamic Art
French Private Collection devoted to Ottoman Turkey

The sale Focus on the Orient features a string of works by artists who worked in the Maghreb. Highlights include Adolescents in a Tree, an audacious composition by Etienne Dinet, who loved depicting Algerian children and teenagers at play (est. €300,000-500,000). Meanwhile Jacques Majorelle’s Guedra Dancers evokes the synthetic style of Gauguin and the Nabis (est. €60,000-80,000), while cool morning light illuminates two paintings by Jules- Charles-Clément Taupin: Terraces in Bou Saâda (est. €15,000-20,000) and Call of the Muezzin in Bou Saâda (est. €25,000-35,000). Works by Georges Washington, Guillaume-Charles Brun, Paul-Elie Dubois, Emile Deckers and Henri-Jean Pontoy complete the ensemble.

Orientalist sculpture is represented by around fifteen cold-painted Vienna bronzes by Franz Bergman (est. €4,000-12,000); a bronze bust by Charles Cordier entitled Mauresque d’Alger Chanting (est. €15,000- 20,000); and terracotta works by Friedrich Goldscheider (estimates between €2,000-7,000).

Islamic Art of varied provenance includes an ensemble of Ilkhanid works from Persia, led by a rare 14th century juz’ (section) from the Koran (est. €20,000- 30,000) and a group of Fars gold- and silver-inlaid brass basins (est. €4,000- 6,000 apiece).

The handsome array of items from Ottoman Turkey that concludes the sale will delight connoisseurs. It features a number of important silver items, notably a rare, spherical Karlik cooler (est. €15,000-20,000) and a ewer with basin and soapstand (est. €10,000-15,000) dating from the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II (1876- 1909).

There are also two Views of Constantinople by François-Léon Prieur-Bardin and a spectacular, 19th century French Portrait of a Young Lady in Ottoman Costume (est. €60,000-80,000).

Viewing

Tuesday 12 November, 10am-6pm

Wednesday 13 November, 10am-6pm

Thursday 14 November, 10am-6pm

Friday 15 November, 10am-6pm

Saturday 16 November, 10am-6pm

Monday 18 November, 10am-noon (by appointment)

* Estimates do not include buyer’s premium

Parousia features an important group of rarely exhibited Sarmento pieces from the late 1970s. Though these works are pivotal in the artist’s oeuvre, they have seldom been seen in public due to damage sustained during a fire in August of 1981 at Galeria Nacional de Belém, where some of these pieces were stored. Under the supervision of the artist, three of these works were reconstructed for the exhibition. The fully-illustrated catalogue accompanying Parousia contains an introductory text by Bruno Marchand as well as an interview with the artist.

NEW YORK, NY. Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director of the New Museum, announced today that the institution is launching an incubator for art, technology, and design that will be a first for the museum field. Opening in summer 2014 in the Museum’s adjacent building at 231 Bowery, this new not-for-profit initiative will create a hybrid educational and professional workspace—a dynamic 24/7 center where more than sixty start-up and creative entrepreneurs will form a vibrant interdisciplinary community geared toward collaboration and innovation. Amplifying the New Museum’s mission to explore new art and new ideas, the incubator was conceived by Phillips and the Museum’s Deputy Director Karen Wong, and is the latest in a series of programs developed by the institution to challenge the boundaries and expand the relevance of museum practice in the twenty-first century.

Members will be selected by the incubator’s Director and a staff committee through a competitive application process (to be announced in early 2014) and will pay a monthly membership fee in exchange for workspace, support services, and a full complement of programs. Additionally, artists, thought leaders, and engineers will be invited for special guest residencies and will participate in activities providing further opportunities for collaboration. The incubator’s community will be supported by a robust schedule of weekly educational classes and workshops, seminars and presentations, and professional and mentorship events. The New Museum will leverage its Board and staff expertise, as well as its extensive network of affiliations to provide special development opportunities for incubator members. New Museum Trustee David Heller will chair a special advisory board. Members will also have the opportunity to share their work with each other and the public, fostering far-ranging dialogues and information exchange.

Lisa Phillips commented,

Studio-X, part of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) and an ongoing partner of the New Museum, will be an anchor member of the incubator. Studio-X is a distinguished lab with global locations that focuses on independent research by professors and postgraduate students.

New Museum programs such as IDEAS CITY and the Digital Archive project will be a critical part of the incubator community. The New Museum’s affiliate organization Rhizome will also support the incubator through its expertise and leadership in contemporary art engaged with technology.

The cultural incubator will be located next door to the Museum’s SANAA-designed building in a nineteenth-century structure that once was home and studio to such artists as James Rosenquist and Tom Wesselmann. It will offer eleven thousand square feet of shared workspace, informal gathering spaces, conference rooms, screening rooms, studio space, and other amenities. The facility will be designed by SO-IL architects (Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu) in collaboration with Gensler. SO-IL has received international recognition for their design of the Frieze New York Art Fair tent and Idenburg was the project architect for SANAA’s New Museum design. Gensler has also been a long-time collaborator of the New Museum as architect of record for the SANAA building and other projects.

New Museum Deputy Director Karen Wong stated,

Support 

The incubator at 231 Bowery is made possible by the generous support of the New Museum Board of Trustees. Public support for this project has been provided by the City of New York through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York City Council. The Ford Foundation has provided major support for the artist residencies at the incubator.

About the New Museum

Founded in 1977, the New Museum is a center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists from around the world. From its beginnings as a one-room office on Hudson Street to the inauguration of its first freestanding building on the Bowery designed by SANAA in 2007, the New Museum continues to be a place of experimentation and a hub of new art and new ideas.

The New Museum has a long history of incubating ideas, programs, and artworks demonstrated in such successful initiatives as IDEAS CITY, Museum as Hub, Rhizome’s Seven on Seven Conference, and the Generational Triennial. The Museum continues to be a leader at the intersection of art and technology. It was the first museum to create a dedicated space for digital art projects in 2000 (Media Z Lounge), which subsequently led to bringing on Rhizome as an affiliate organization in 2003. Former Rhizome Director, Lauren Cornell, is now organizing the 2015 New Museum Generational Triennial with groundbreaking media artist Ryan Trecartin.