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Calling all Jedi Younglings, Padawans, Knights, and Masters – board your starfighters and travel lightspeed ahead to the Discovery Science Center for an out-of-this-world experience.
Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination is on display for the last time in California at Discovery Science Center, from Nov. 18, 2011 through April 15, 2012.
This exhibit features over 100 Star Wars artifacts used in the making of all six movies, combines the fantasy technologies of the Star Wars movies with real world technologies, and has many videos and interactive hands-on displays that will take you to a galaxy not so far away.
As you walk through the doors of the exhibit, you are greeted by a familiar phrase: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away … ” and you can feel the power of the Force in the air. The room is like a museum filled with childhood memories of your favorite Star Wars artifacts. There are models of Luke’s Landspeeder, Sebulla’s Podracer, an Imperial Walker, X-Wing Fighter, Imperial Star Destroyer, the original Millennium Falcon used in the first movie, and so much more. Plus, there are costumes and props from the Star Wars movies.
A new McDonalds exhibit opened at the Castle Museum in Saginaw on Friday.
“It’s as American as apple pie and that’s one of the reasons we wanted this exhibit here,” said President and CEO of Castle Museum, Ken Santa.
Santa is thrilled to have an exhibit that’s all about McDonalds in his museum. Happy Meal Memories: A Celebration of Toys opened today, showcasing more than 200 Happy Meal toys dating back to 1982.
“You can see all of the Happy Meal toys and relate it to that year in your life. It’s a reflection of culture at that particular time,” Santa said.
Tony D’Anna owns and operates McDonalds restaurants in the Saginaw area. D’anna can’t think of a better place to have this exhibit.
“We love this area. We support it. And we want people to share in the excitement of what’s going on,” D’Anna said.
The McDonalds owner even had a Happy Meal memory of his own to share.
“Beanie Babies. That turned into so much excitement for people. They were just buying those Ty Beanie Babies. And that went on we brought those back a few times. And I’ll always remember that as a big excitement of Happy Meals,” D’Anna said.
There’s more to the exhibit than toys.
“We have paraphernalia and memorabilia from local McDonalds franchisees,” Santa said.
So if you want to remember a time when a few cents went a long way, or think back to when McDonalds still tried to keep track of how many people they served — or if you just want to relive some old memories, you’ll have your chance.
“Whether you’re an adult. Whether you’re a child. You can come in here and get a big smile on your face I guarantee it,” Santa said.
On Saturday, November 19, the American Natural History Museum in New York City will welcome a new special exhibit to its halls, titled “Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration.” Before you read any further, you should know this isn’t just any ordinary space exhibit.
Beyond Planet Earth isn’t a collection of relics from the space race and a history of America’s efforts to explore the vastness surrounding Earth. It’s got that, sure, but what the exhibit is really about is where we’re going: both in the near-term, and as far out as 500 years from now. More than that, it’s either the first — or certainly one of the few — major exhibits that presents space exploration as a global effort, and one that will become more international as humanity reaches out into the stars.
Beyond Planet Earth doesn’t brush NASA under the carpet by any means, but the exploration of space is a human endeavor, and one that’s adding new nations and corporations to its roster all the time. Read on to find out what you can expect to see beyond the cradle.
“Beyond Planet Earth” is curated by Dr. Michael Shara, an astrophysicist who spent 17 years at the Space Telescope Science Institute at John Hopkins (the folks who work with the Hubble Space Telescope), and now he’s a curator at the AMNH’s Department of Astrophysics, where he’s worked for 12 years. The idea of creating an exhibit that was more than just a list of NASA’s greatest hits was the goal of Dr. Shara and his team from the start. Private spaceflight companies, the Soviet space program, the wildest (yet possible) visions of humanity’s presence in space — it’s all in there.
Michelle Obama wore a white one-shoulder gown by young designer Jason Wu for a ball in 2009 to celebrate her husband’s inauguration. It is now part of a new display of first ladies’ debut dresses at the Smithsonian
Jacqueline Kennedy inaugural gown might well be one of the most memorable. She was careful to use American couturiers and her dress for the 1961 ball was made by Ethel Frankau of Bergdorf Custom Salon
Lady Bird Johnson wore a yellow satin gown and sable-trimmed coat by John Moore to the 1965 inaugural balls. The simple, timeless design was chosen with the Smithsonian display in mind
Andreas Gursky’s “Rhein II” sold for $4,338,500 at an auction of contemporary art at Christie’s auction house in New York on November 8, making it the most expensive photo sold at auction. This is the second time a Gursky print has held this distinction. His 2001 photo “99 Cent II Diptychon” sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $3,346,456 in 2007, and was only displaced in May 2011, when a 1981 Cindy Sherman self-portrait sold for $3,890,500 at Christie’s. The buyer of “Rhein II” is unknown.
“Rhein II,” a signed chromogenic print in an edition of six, is digitally retouched to show the banks of Germany’s Rhine River as bare stretches of green. Prior to the sale, the auction house estimated that the print would sell for between $2,5 million and $3.5 million. According to Christie’s, other prints in the edition are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, Munich’s Pinakothek der Modern, and the Glenstone Collection in Potomac, Maryland.
Like most of Gursky’s works, “Rhein II” is big: 143 inches by 73 inches. It’s also face-mounted to Plexiglas, a process that some collectors have feared could cause conservation issues, such as warping or deterioration of the image, depending on the chemicals used during mounting.
According to the Guardian newspaper, Gursky considers the bleak landscapes one of his favorite photos. “For me it is an allegorical picture about the meaning of life and how things are.”
Some reporters and critics were more skeptical. In a post titled “Here’s the world’s most expensive (and boring?) photo,” a writer at the Seattle Post Intelligencer joked, “One can only assume the collector really likes stripes of green and gray.”
Colin Gleadell reviews London’s Asian art sales, and a record-breaking sale of photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson.
By Colin Gleadell
A little jostling is going on between Bonhams and Christie’s as to who did best in London’s Asian art sales. Christie’s claims pole position for Chinese antiques with £28 million, which is incontestable. But Bonhams gets the higher figure for the week at £31 million by virtue of a record £4.6 million million sale of Japanese art. Bonhams also claimed the top price of the week with a £9 million Chinese vase, but Christie’s might claim the biggest surprise. In its South Kensington sale, a tiny ivory stamp with a carved lion handle, described as 19th or 20th century, had been bought by a British collector in Hong Kong in the 1940’s, and was estimated at £3,000. Imagine the owner’s face when it sold for £646,000. The figures must be satisfying for Bonhams’ Asian art head, Colin Sheaf, who left Christie’s to work for Phillips (before it became Bonhams) over ten years ago. When he did, Christie’s staff were said to have thrown darts at a picture of him in their office. Maybe they are doing that again now. Overall, though, some steam has gone out of the Chinese market as many of the higher valued lots went unsold.
New York did not set the only photography records last week. In a Christie’s sale in Paris, a selection of 100 works by Henri Cartier-Bresson were offered from the Cartier-Bresson Foundation, and one sold for 433,000 Euros. The photographer was famously uninterested in exploiting the art market, and never made editions of his prints. Instead, he signed the ones he wanted people to have. The others, he said, were never meant for sale and should be valueless.
Two early works by Francis Bacon were withdrawn from Sotheby’s sale in New York last week as they had been denied an export license by the British government due to their national cultural importance. Dating from c.1935, they are early views of interiors made when Bacon was making a living as an interior decorator. Tate is hoping to include one of them in its exhibition about the influence of Picasso on British art next year. Curiously, both had been on the market before in the last ten years had a UK institution wished to buy them.
One-Night Charity Event to Be Held at College for Creative Studies on Saturday, Nov. 19
DETROIT, Nov. 14, 2011 — /PRNewswire/ — Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. will be serving as the title sponsor of the “Toyota Love Is Art Project” on Saturday, Nov. 19. This one-night charitable art exhibit is designed to promote human rights and equality.
That evening, at the College for Creative Studies’ A. Alfred Taubman Center, curators Angel Antonio Ojeda and Jeremy Brown will present 20 abstract paintings by 20 local couples carrying a powerful message of love’s ability to transcend all forms of discrimination, varying from race to gender to sexual orientation. The Love Is Art program is in the midst of a 12-city tour across the United States, with stops scheduled in cities such as New York, Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
The “Toyota Love Is Art Project” will feature strolling hors d’oeuvres and a bar. A number of Toyota vehicles will also be on display as well as stunning JBL audio equipment designs available during a silent auction.
The event runs from 7 p.m. till 11 p.m., with the silent auction open from 7 p.m. till 9 p.m. All guests must be at least 21 years old to enter, and there is a $10 admission fee, with all proceeds going directly to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Founded in 1980, the HRC is committed to highlighting existing inequities and defeating all forms of discrimination, while educating the public about equality issues, especially those affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender American communities.
Required attire at this event is cocktail chic. Valet parking is available. The College for Creative Studies’ A. Alfred Taubman Center is located at 485 W. Milwaukee Street, Detroit. For more information about CCS, visit www.collegeforcreativestudies.edu.
“Offering of the Angels: Old Master Paintings and Tapestries from the Uffizi Gallery” Features Art From Renaissance and Baroque Periods
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, Nov 14, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — “Offering of the Angels: Old Master Paintings and Tapestries from the Uffizi Gallery” makes its American debut at the Museum of Art|Fort Lauderdale, Nova Southeastern University November 19, 2011 through April 8, 2012. The historic exhibition comes to the United States through the efforts of the Amici degli Uffizi, established in 1993 by concerned Florentines following a terrorist bombing which damaged the Gallery and some of its artworks. Among the exhibition’s restored paintings is Madonna and Child (ca. 1466-67) by Sandro Botticelli.
The oldest masterpiece in the exhibition is by Lorenzo Monaco circa 1395-1400. Other artists featured are Parmigianino, Alessandro Allori and Luca Giordano. The works portray scenes from the Old Testament, as well as events from Christ’s life, tying together a theme of forgiveness.
Executive Director of Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale Irvin Lippman says, “‘Offering of the Angels’ brings to the United States old master paintings and tapestries that are rarely, if ever, seen in this hemisphere. We welcome the generosity of the Uffizi Gallery in allowing these treasures to travel here. These works reflect, in their fullest expression, the high points of artistic achievement of Western civilization.”
The Uffizi Gallery is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world which houses one of the great collections of art — many of which were originally owned or commissioned by the Medici family.
The exhibition travels to the James A. Michener Art Museum in Bucks County, Pennsylvania (April 20, 2012 - August 10, 2012), the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin (August 18, 2012 - November 25, 2012), and the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia (December 7, 2012 - March 31, 2013).
For tickets, contact: moagroupsales@moafl.org.
Despite the jitters on the stock market throughout the week, the Contemporary series generated an hammer total of $624m (£410.5m) including day sales, well above the $346.3m (£227.8m) from the rather disjointed Impressionist & Modern sales the week before.
Sotheby’s evening sale on November 9 took place after a fall of almost 400 points on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with the company’s own share price down by around four per cent across the day’s trading.
Nevertheless, the sale made $228m (£182.9m) against a $192m-271m pre-sale estimate – the highest total at Sotheby’s for a Contemporary art auction since May 2008.
The selling rate ran at 85 per cent (62 of the 73 lots found buyers), but the main contributing factor to the sale’s success was the performance of the group of four paintings by the American abstract expressionist Clyfford Still.
They came from the estate of the artist’s wife Patricia and were being sold to help endow the new Clyfford Still Museum in Denver. The top taker was the large oil on canvas 1949-A-No.1, which was chased by five bidders and made a record $55m (£36.2m). Only Bacon, Warhol and Rothko have made more at auction in the Contemporary sector.
Estimated at $25m-35m and generating a round of applause in the saleroom, it was knocked down to an anonymous phone bidder and underbid by New York dealer Chris Eykyn.
Clyfford Still is not an artist who appears regularly at auction and before this sale the highest price was the $19m (£10.5m) seen for 1947-R-no.1, which sold at Christie’s New York in November 2006.
This figure was also eclipsed at Sotheby’s by 1947-Y-No.2, which made $28m (£18.4m) to a different phone bidder against a $15m-20m estimate, while the later PH-1033 from 1976 made $17.5m (£11.5m) and the smaller PH-351 added another $1.05m (£690,790).
Mexico City, Nov 11, 2011 (EFE via COMTEX) — Two paintings by Mexican painter and muralist Diego Rivera sold here at auction Friday for 9.6 million pesos ($709,000).
The pieces were part of a sale at the Morton auction house of 194 works by Latin American artists.
The Rivera painting knocked down for the highest price was the “Tehuana” portrait that the famed muralist created in 1929. It went for $406,000.
The second priciest was “Portrait of a Spanish Woman with Mantilla,” painted in 1908 after the artist went on a study trip to Spain, which sold for $302,000, while the other Rivera work, the watercolor “Sailor,” brought in $37,000.
Works by David Alfaro Siqueiros, another of Mexico’s great 20th-century muralists, also sparked some of the highest bidding: “Peasant and Slave” (1930) went for $88,700, “Bouquet of Flowers” (1962) for $47,000, and “Unfinished Self-Portrait” (1921) sold for $33,000.
Seldom seen at auction in Mexico are works by Maria Izquierdo, the first Mexican painter to exhibit her works outside the country - at New York’s Art Center in 1930 - since most are in the hands of private collectors and foreigners.
For that reason the bidding for her painting Friday, a self-portrait dated 1940, was one of the most hotly contested and was finally knocked down for $133,000, considerably more than expected.
Morton has held this auction of Latin American art twice a year for the last three years, in May and November.
Despite the massive attendance at Thursday night’s auction, not all the paintings on the block found buyers.
As the manager of the auction house, Luis C. Lopez Morton, told Efe several days ago, this is Mexico’s most important art auction and the most noteworthy in the world of Latin American art. EFE
