Egyptian police have recovered four stolen statues, two of which were taken from Cairo’s Egyptian Museum, Ahram Online reported.
Two of the statues were among several items that went missing when rioters broke into the Egyptian Museum. The other two were apparently looted from somewhere else, perhaps an archaeological site. There were scattered incidents of looting from several museums and archaeological sites across the country during the January Revolution, and the extent of the thefts remains unclear.
The statues are all of bronze and depict important gods such as Osiris, god of the afterlife, pictured here in an image courtesy of user Rama via Wikimedia Commons. This is not one of the recovered statues.
The statues date to the Late Period, a period dating from 664 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. This era saw a final flowering of Egyptian art and religion before it went through a long period of domination and decline under Greeks and Roman rule. When the Roman Empire converted to Christianity, poor old gods like Osiris were slowly forgotten.
The thieves possessing the ancient art were arrested. Of the 54 objects missing from the museum, 23 have been recovered.
The famous Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, England, reopened in 2009 after a £61 million ($101 million) makeover. The redesigned space is more open and airy, with more natural light and windows between exhibitions. Floorspace was doubled in size and the exhibits were made more informative and user firendly. A museum worker explained to me that part of the plan was to make it so you can always see your way out. This is to combat museum fatique. Personally I’m a museum junkie and I don’t get museum fatigue, but it sounds like a good idea.
Despite three years of work and the high price tag, the Ashmolean’s famous Egyptian galleries got left behind. There was no money to redo them at the time but after collecting another £5 million ($8.3), the galleries are now shut and going through a major overhaul. The four old Egyptian galleries were crowded and poorly lit, and will now be redesigned along the lines of the rest of the musuem. They’ll also expand into a fifth gallery to give the collection more room.
The Ashmolean Museum has been collecting Egyptian artifacts since 1683, when it was founded as the oldest public museum in the world. Its displays tell the story of one of the world’s greatest civilizations from its prehistoric beginnings until it became part of the Greek and Roman empires. Its collection of predynatic artifacts is the best outside of Egypt and show how Egypt developed into a superpower.
The Egyptian galleries will reopen in November 2011 and Gadling plans to be there to cover it.
This video has been making the rounds on the internet for about two years, but every time I watch, it brings a smile to my face.
In 2009, São Paulo based musician Jarbas Agnelli came across a photo in a newspaper of birds perched on electric wires. His musical curiosity took over, and he decided to find out if the birds created some sort of melody based on their positions on the wires. Sure enough, a surprisingly well constructed melody emerged, and Agnelli posted the final result in this video.
Agnelli later gave a talk at TEDx São Paulo to discuss the piece and has been interviewed with the original photographer, Paulo Pinto, in the same newspaper that the photo first appeared.
Visitors to New York City this spring should be on the lookout for a new landmark: a giant yellow teddy bear, bronzed and 23 feet high. The 35,000 pound untitled (Lamp/Bear) sculpture was created by New York-based Swiss artist Urs Fischer, one of three made in 2005/2006. The button-eyed bear sits against a lamp, which turns on above the bear’s head to keep him lit at night.
The behemoth bear will be outside the Seagram Building at Park Avenue and 52nd Street in Manhattan from next week for five months. Christie’s will auction the bear in May and the private collector who owns the artwork has already turned down a $9 million offer. There is a possibility the sculpture could be bought by a private institution or museum, but don’t rule out New York as a buyer if the bear proves to be a tourism draw.
Armory week is always an exciting time for New York City’s art community. In addition to the main show that occurs on the city’s west side, there are seemingly countless smaller shows that have popped up all over Manhattan and in Brooklyn. If you’re looking for options … you’ve got ’em. Of course, serious collectors are drawn to the Armory, where you’ll find five- and six-figure pieces from established investment-grade artists who are represented by major galleries – household names for this world. If you’re looking for the next big name, however, the sort of artist whose work has yet to really soar, you need to check out the satellite shows.
Traditionally, Pulse has been among the must-see art fairs in Armory week, and for good reason. This time around, unfortunately, it didn’t measure up. Quite simply, Pulse lacked what its name asserts.
I walked into the pavilion on W 26th Street expecting to see edgy, interesting and engaging artwork, the sort of pieces that stop you, make you think and leave you with a broader perspective. I left the show a tad disappointed.
The greatest problem with Pulse was that few artists seemed to be taking any risks. Much of the fare was conventional, and it felt as though the artists (or, rather, the show’s decision-makers) were trying to play it safe. The exhibition appeared to be catering to a different audience, one that wasn’t willing to put its assumptions on the line. To those inviting a challenge, Pulse fell short.
Much of the work was devoid of expression. Artists either tried too hard to find the abstract – such as a video piece of feet and ankles walking through heavy mud – or they relied too much on shocking color. I haven’t seen so much pink and other bright colors since similarly hued ski jackets were in vogue in the early 1990s. And, the display of an empty wine bottle with “MUTE” printed on the label simply defines uninspired.
There were a few bright spots, though, particularly the exquisite layered video created by David Ellis. Nestled in the “Impulse” section of the fair, upstairs, the previous Pulse standout offered a time-lapse video that encompassed the creation of several pieces, all intricately and seamlessly linked together to create an ongoing narrative nearly 20 minutes long. Called “The Animals,” it provided an array of morphing geographic designs that occasionally stopped to show a (what I took to be) a walrus before continuing on to show further creations. The action didn’t stop, and the work reflected the vision necessary to be a true thought leader as an emerging artist.
Aside from Ellis, Pulse was on life support this year, and my fingers are crossed for something more engaging in 2012. If we learned anything from the art market bust of 2008 and 2009, it’s that we need fresh, original and interesting talent to engage collectors and the public.
Otherwise, art investment dollars will be funneled into the known quantities (a la Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol), driving up the price and creating a new bubble. We also learned that betting on the vapid creations of emerging artists who have “made it” – such as Damien Hirst – isn’t enough. The purpose of Pulse is to give the next wave of artistic geniuses a platform.
Now, we just need the next wave of artistic geniuses …
