Whiteley picture sells for $1.1 million

A Brett Whiteley painting creep over the million-dollar mark at auction last night to become the first artwork to be sold for seven figures in Australia this year.

The late painter's large The Sunrise, Japanese: Good Morning! Just made the price to estimate of $1.1 million to $1.4 million set by auctioneer Menzies Art Brands and went to an undisclosed phone bidder for a hammer price of $1.1 million after moderate bidding at the Kensington auction.

There was keen interest in the sale amid signs that confidence has begun returning to a subdued art market that has had a distinct require of top-end works on offer this year.

The Sunrise, Japanese, painted in 1988, was part of a collection of paintings being sold by the millionaire Tasmanian mathematician and art collector David Walsh. It was finally bought for $764,500 (including buyer's premium) in September 2004.

Husain's art fetched $582,500 at Sotheby's

The highest price was achieved by V S Gaitonde's untitled, who was chased by four clients and sold to a telephone bidder for US $602,500.

The second highest price went to Tyeb Mehta for "And behind me Desolation," which goes for US $350,000 followed by Husain's painting.

"The sale, which exceed the pre-sale estimate and was 90.9 per cent sold by value, confirms the growing confidence in the Indian market. We saw international bidding and buying, mainly from private collectors, with a invigorated presence from our trade clients," said Zara Porter-Hill, Head of Indian and Southeast Asian Art at Sotheby.

The Art Auction House sold 70 per cent of their plenty at the Asian sale. Additionally, in all three of their 2009 sales over 50 per cent of the plenty sold reached prices above the high pre-sale estimate.

The buyers were mostly Indian and US private clients and one European.

The rising paintings of Roman Empire

The expansion of the Roman Empire two millennia ago fuel a boom in culture and art, explored in an upcoming exhibition here spotlighting painting from the past.

This period - from the empire's birth, with the arrival of Julius Caesar in 46 BC, through its growth into a vast colonial power - was a time of vigorous cultural development that laid the foundational groundwork for future generations of Western artists. Landscapes, still life’s, portraits, myth and religion are all depict in the paintings, which come in a variety of forms, from large-scale frescos to miniature paintings on wood, to stonework decorative patterns and complete friezes.

The paintings almost all come from prestigious institutions, including the British Museum in London, the Vatican Museum and the Louvre in Paris, where, say organizers, they are all too often overlooked among a wealth of other Ancient Roman treasures. This exhibition aims to restore appreciation for a few of these magnificent pieces, not only as generic representations of Ancient Roman art, but also as beautiful paintings in their own right.

Bangalore artist create paintings with charcoal and thread in minutes

Anjula Prem Kumar of Bangalore is no common artist. She creates wonderful and eye-catching paintings from thread and charcoal on canvas and with her fingers on sprinkled sand, within minutes.

Give her music of her choice and a little string of thread and charcoal, and Anjula is ready with a painting in three to four minutes.

The thread and charcoal, she says, help her speed up her work and also maintain the viewer’s interest especially during painting demonstrations.

"I thought when you want to complete a picture, if you prolong it for a long time people lose interest when they are seeing it. So I thought I could use thread which is still faster, that is the only reason I started with the thread, and that gives me a really good finish and I enjoy doing it with thread," said Anjula.

A new hidden layer establish on an old painting

A Brazilian art restorer has exposed a new layer hidden in a centuries-old painting of the Greek God of fertility Priapus, by French artist Nicolas Poussin - the deity's erect penis.
"They hid the phallus of Priapus. It's what we call adjustment for modesty, and it's not uncommon," said Regina Pinto Moreira, quoted in Tuesday's version of the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. She suspects the cover-up was completed in conservative Catholic Spain in the 18th century.

Moreira, who worked as a master art restorer at the Louvre in Paris for some 30 years, spent eight months alongside two French experts restore Poussin's large 1634-1638 painting "Hymenaios Disguised as a Woman During an Offering to Priapus."

Removing layers of dust, dirt and paint specks that accumulated over more than three centuries cost 150,000 euros (213,000 dollars). The artwork will be put on exhibit at Sao Paulo's grand Museo de Art (MASP) on September 8.

Giant Tangka paintings on display

Tangka painting has a long history in the Tibet Autonomous Region; first appear about 13-hundred years ago. Today, the ancient artistic traditions still fascinate people from home and abroad. This week in Beijing, a Tangka painting of extraordinary size was unveiled.

At the exhibition entitled the Ethnic Artistic Treasures of the Chinese Nation, a giant tangka painting measures 13-by-1.3-meters is astounding visitors. The work is an description of the life and teachings of Gautama Buddha, the founder of the Buddhist religion. In all, the painting contains a whole of 34 stories and more than two-thousand characters.

Tangka, or Tibetan Buddhist story painting, is an attractive element of the Tibet culture. Tangka paintings are formed on rolls of silk or satin and depict Tibetan anecdotes or folk customs and images of the Buddha. It's an art handed down over a thousand years, and is listed as a division of China's Cultural Heritage. It features strict composition and detailed depiction. Besides Buddhist themes, Tangka paintings also a customs, feature history, and legendary figures of Tibet.

Painting the city walls with colourful and attractive themes

Film posters and ugly graffiti bother you? It is all about to change as city roads will undergo a makeover with vibrant colors and themes. The BBMP’s initiative to add color and make the walls in the city look more lively and attractive has just begun.

Individuals and companies have already come forward to help the Palike build this initiative a success.

After initiate the project of painting the city walls with colourful themes, ideas and educative material, the Palike is now approaching five-star hotels and IT companies to come forward and continue this spree.

The BBMP has earmarked the idea of painting city walls with colourful motifs and designs on selected roads and locality. Pictures of murals, animals, folk art and designs inspired from the nature would be painted on these walls.

According to BBMP sources, the first phase of this project will different artists from the city and opportunity to make the roadside walls their canvas.

Plein air paintings in idaho

Plein-air painting, which is painting in the open air, is a admired activity in Idaho because the surroundings offered by the state's beautiful topography lend themselves to be captured by artists. For the sixth year, the Plein Air Painters of Idaho will flock to south of Stanley, Redfish Lake, for the Redfish Plein Air Paint-Out on Tuesday, Aug. 31, through Friday, Sept. 4. A reception and show will be held at Redfish Lake cottage on Thursday, Sept. 3, and will feature works for sale.
Redfish Lake as well as the surrounding Stanley Basin, Sawtooth Valley and Salmon River, suggest spectacular mountain scenery that painters will capture throughout the week.

Ketchum artist Deanna Shrell is a Redfish Plein Air Paint-Out regular and part of the Plein Air Painters of Idaho. She was recognized for "Best Landscape" in the sixth annual Art Museum of Eastern Idaho displays "Idaho Paints Idaho" earlier this year.

Realism art in painting

Realist art adopts the approach of portraying subjects in as straightforward manner as possible, without idealizing them and without follow the rules of formal theory. Realism first appeared in art of the 18th century, however, the great Realist era was the mid-19th century, as artists becomes disillusioned with the Salon system and the influence of the Academies.

What kind of differences are there between the realistic and the classical painting?

1) Figuratively, the classical image is music based on notation; the realistic Painting is music without notation knowledge.

2) Technique. Everything in the classical Painting is finishing stage by stage in accordance with laws which were not invented by the author. The realistic Painting is created in one layer, "alla prima." There can be several layers but only because the author does not have time to complete the picture "in the wet".

3) Plot. In the classical Painting the plot is constructing in accordance with the classical composition laws. The realistic Painting school does borrow something from the classical school but there is no composition law as such: there are as many laws as there are in realistic artists.

Ancient Egyptian painting techniques

Ancient Egyptian paintings survive due to the tremendously dry climate. The ancient Egyptians created paintings to make the afterlife of the deceased a enjoyable place. As a result, beautiful paintings were created. The themes included journey through the afterworld or their defensive deities introducing the deceased to the gods of the underworld. Some examples of such paintings are paintings of warriors and Osiris. Some tomb paintings explain activities that the deceased were involved in when they were alive and wished to carry on doing for eternity.

Egyptian paintings are painted in such a technique to show a profile view and a side view of the animal or person. For example, the painting to the accurate shows the head from a profile view and the body from a frontal view. Their main colors were red, black, blue, gold, and green.

Finger painting way into world record

Thousands of children are probable to descend on Belfast Zoo on Thursday, all eager to get their hands dirty.

Hope that they will be able to paint their way into the Guinness Book of World Records with the world's largest finger painting.

To succeed their canvas has to be bigger than the present record holder, a 2,000 square metre painting made in Austria in 2007.

The record attempt is being staged by NICMA - the Childminding Association as one part of its 25th anniversary celebrations.

Two thousand canvasses will be painted then sewn jointly. Depicting a house, NICMA hope it will symbolize the home-based care offered by childminders.

Michael Jackson portrait fetched $1 million

A Michael Jackson portrait by Andy Warhol fetched more than $1 million at an East Hampton in New York gallery, according to one of the gallery’s owners.

Vered Gallery sold the 1984 painting to a “speculator,” said Janet Lehr and a gallery partner. She declined to recognize the buyer, specify how much he paid or whom he bought it from.

On May 13, the similar painting sold for $278,500 at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.

Lehr said she expects the man who bought it from the gallery to dispatch it back to the gallery to resell.

Results of light paintings

Light painting by moving the camera is also called camera painting, is the antithesis of traditional photography. At night, or in a dark room, the camera could be taken off the tripod and used like a paintbrush. An example is using the night sky as the canvas, the camera as the brush and cityscapes (among other light sources) as the palette. Putting energy into moving the camera by stroking lights, creating patterns and laying down backgrounds can create abstract artistic images. Also known as "Camera Toss."

Making a light painting does not necessarily need to be done in a dark room or at night. Sometimes using artificial light, like LEDs and mobile phones, or through the limited sunlight beaming in a curtained room makes a shadowing effect. Using a mirror creates a double image, which adds up to a more inspired result.

Vermeer’s painting in New York

The painting will be exposed as part of an exhibition on the 17th-century Dutch artist at The Metropolitan Museum of Art next month.

The Milkmaid, dating from 1658, shows a milkmaid in a blue and yellow color dress pouring milk from a jug into a bowl.

The painting is being loaned to the New York gallery on next month by Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. It was final seen in the US at the 1939 World's Fair, in New York.

Five other works by Vermeer from the galleries own collection will also go on display, as well as works by other Dutch painters.

Along with Rembrandt and Frans Hals, Vermeer is considering as one of the greatest Dutch artists, however only 36 of his paintings survive today. The exhibition opens on September 10 and runs until November 29.

Matte painting

A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to make the illusion of an environment that would otherwise be too expensive to build or visit. Previously, matte painters and film technicians have used various techniques to combine a matte-painted image with live-action footage. At its best, depending on the skill levels of the artists and technicians, the effects is “seamless” and create environments that would otherwise be impossible to film.

Traditional matte paintings were still in utilize, but more frequently in conjunction with digital compositing. Paint has now been superseded by digital images formed using photo references, 3-D models, and drawing tablets. Matte painters combine their digitally matte painted textures within computer-generated 3-D environments, allowing for 3-D camera movement. Speedier computer processing times continue to modify and expand matte painting technologies and techniques.

Paintings renew power

Hyderabad:A painting and essay writing competition for schoolchildren was held at the Jawahar Bal Bhavan in Public Gardens on august 11th to create awareness among them about renewable energy sources.

More than 300 students from 100 schools in the city participated in the competition organized together by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Non-Conventional Energy Development Corporation of AP (NEDCAP) and Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA).

The winners will be awarded prizes by Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy on August 20, the birthday of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, which is celebrated each year as ‘Renewable Energy Day’.

Mona Lisa smile on after Russian teacup attack

An "unhinged" Russian woman threw a teacup at the world's most famous painting, Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," but it emerges unscathed due to its bullet-proof glass cover, the Louvre museum said on Tuesday.

"The young women take a cup out of her bag and throw it over the heads of other people who were looking at the painting. The cup cracked on the bullet-proof glass which was a little bit scratched," a spokesman said.

The Louvre, the biggest art museum in the world, has thousands of paintings, but most of the millions of guests a year make a bee-line for the Mona Lisa, known in France as La Joconde.
The 500-year-old painting was stolen in 1911 from the Louvre but was returned two years later after an Italian was under arrest for its theft.

It was doused with acid by a vandal in 1956 and later the same year a Bolivian injured it again by throwing a rock at it.

StraightForward paintings of ordinary American peoples

'Painting the People," an exhibition of American art created mainly in the first half of the 20th century, could eagerly be titled "Painting for People." It's a show that generate good feelings about art, about humanity, and even, to a degree, about American culture.

These 44 paintings, on view at the James A. Michener Art Museum, address for antimodernism. They're nativist not only in subject matter, in the way they portray ordinary peoples, but also in their reliance on the belief that, after the hugely influential Armory show in 1913, some American artists rejected Europe as a basis of inspiration.

"Painting the People" is, for the most part, narrative, realist, and uncomplicated. The images that don't need to be deconstructed or puzzled out. They're paintings "for people" in the sense that specialized knowledge or art experience isn't necessary to enjoy them.

Michael Jackson painting, last sold for $2.1 million in 1990

The owner of a long-hidden painting of Michael Jackson, reputed to be the only portrait he ever posed for, say they are trying to sell it amid the renewed interest after his death. The painting, last sold in 1990 for $2.1 million, was brought out of storage at New Jersey warehouse recently and put on exhibit in a Harlem car showroom.

The 50-by-40-inch painting, called “The Book,” was done in 1990 by an Australian artist, Brett-Livingstone Strong, who was a good friend of Mr. Jackson and shared his taste for slightly fantastical style of life and dress.

The painting is owned by two toy inventors, Marty Abrams and John Gentilly, who established the painting in 1992 from a Japanese businessman who had bought it to make good on a debt he owed the inventors.

Currently, the painting is being displayed at the Dancy-Power Automotive at Lenox Avenue and West 129th in Harlem, selected in part because it is owned by a friend of Mr. Abrams and also because it is near the Apollo Theater, where the Jackson 5 won an amateur night competition in 1967.

Chinese prehistoric traditional painting

Traditional Chinese painting dates back to the Neolithic period about 6,000 years ago. The excavated colored pottery with painted human faces, fish, deer and frogs indicates that the Chinese began painting as far back as the Neolithic period. Over the centuries, the growth of Chinese painting unavoidably reflected the change of time and social conditions.

In its earliest stage, Chinese prehistoric paintings were closely associated to other primitive crafts, such as pottery, bronzeware, carved jade and lacquer.

Following the introduction of Buddhism to China during the first century from India, and the carvings on grottoes and temple building that ensue, the art of painting religious murals slowly gained prominence.

China plunged into a situation of divided states from the third to the sixth century, where incessant wars and succession of dynasties sharpened the thinking of Chinese artists which, in turn, promoted the development of art. Grotto murals, stone carvings, wall murals in tomb chambers, brick carvings and lacquer paintings flourished in a period deemed very important to the development of traditional Chinese painting.

Paint Off in Mill Valley draws excited crowd

Painter Deanne Kraus is applying paint to her canvas which has been positioned on--of all things-- the ground.

It is quite windy as we stand in the middle of the Book Depot plaza on Saturday afternoon, surrounded by artists, easels and onlookers. Thirty-five artists are all challenging in the 19th annual Mill Valley Art Commission Paint Off.

The Paint Off pits artist against artist, as they quickly create their masterpiece in the allotted four-hour time limit. The artists just set up their easel at 10:30 a.m., and work in their favorite standard--oil, acrylic, pastel or watercolor--to capture the downtown scene until 2:30 p.m. when time is called.

After the artists are asked to put down their brushes, the public gets to stroll around and mark their "People's Choice" for the most excellent painting. Then, the artists choose their favorites for "Artists Choice" for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. There is also the "Jack Beck Choice", given by the guy--Jack Beck--who formed the Paint off competition in 1990.

Iran exhibit Zarshenas paintings in Amol

Iran's northern city of Amol has mounted an exhibition of artistic creation by the veteran Iranian painter Fariborz Zarshenas.

The weeklong event display 40 paintings created by Zarshenas during his 40-year artistic career.

“The paintings are figurative, practical and abstract representations of natural scenes and parental figures,” Fariborz Zarshenas told Mehr News Agency.

Known as one of the most renowned painters of Iran and the northern Mazandaran Province, Zarshenas has also planned the first exhibition of street painting for children and young adults in Amol.

Chennai: Wider canvas for wall paintings plan

Following an encouraging good response from residents to wall paintings on a small stretch of Anna Salai at Nandanam, as part of its city beautification plan, the Chennai Corporation has proposed to extend the project to the other parts of the city. The colorful paintings depict the State’s rich cultural heritage.

The civic body planned to replicate the paintings in subways and flyovers, once the ban on wall posters and graffiti in subways and flyovers comes into effect on August 1.

A senior Corporation official of the Saidapet zone said that they had been receiving good response from the public. The perimeter of the golf course at Nandanam has given a wider canvas to showcase the rich heritage of the State.

The variety of images there included a painting of the golf sport, which was done on request. To add color, the civic body has installed figurines showcasing the State’s martial and folk arts in eight places in the city, including Sterling Road, Gemini Flyover, Valluvar Kottam and near Connemara Library.

Painting exhibition to marks Mother Teresa's 100th year

A painting exhibition to mark 100 years of Mother Teresa was opened by Archbishop Bernard Moras in Bangalore, India.

Mother Teresa, born on 27 August in the year 1910. In 1979, she was award the Nobel Prize for Peace.

The exhibition was organized by Renaissance Gallery and will showcase the art of acclaimed Indian painter Ritu Singh. The event began on July 21 and will end on July 25.

Ritu Singh is said to be an ardent admirer of Mother Teresa and has also earlier received an invitation by the Vatican to attend the beatification ceremony of the humanitarian icon.

Opening the exhibition, Archbishop Moras hailed the paintings and also expressed appreciation to Ritu Singh for communicates her love for Mother Teresa through her God-given talent.

While many of the paintings have appeared on BBC, some even were seen in the document films on Mother Teresa aired at Cannes.

Enjoy with healthy painting

Today, we can enjoy all the benefits of updating the interior paint of our houses without the need to endure the onslaught of toxic petrochemicals. No-VOC paints are each bit as colorful, durable and easy to use as their VOC-filled counterparts. Nearly every paint manufacturer makes its own line of no- and/or low-VOC paints from which to prefer. In almost each and every case, the line has any color imaginable and, if the right product is chosen, the paint can be applied in two coats or fewer.

Today, there are also wide selections of natural-based paints obtainable. These paints are made from a large variety of raw, natural ingredients such as milk, soybeans, citrus peels, corn, beeswax and clay. These paints naturally have few or no VOCs, but often require more experience to apply effectively.

For those who have great chemical sensitivities it may be necessary to test several different brands or types of no-VOC paints because each manufacturer uses different binders, solvents and additives to achieve a top quality no-VOC paint. Because of these variations, one may react more favorably with one brand or type verses another depending on the exact sensitivity. It is sensible for you to elicit the assistance of a trained professional who is very familiar with several different lines and types of paint and who has the skill and expertise to choose and apply the paints properly.

Sequence of madonnas in Raphael paintings

Raphael painted a succession of Madonnas that took the Renaissance world by storm. It is believed their composition was influenced by the workings of Leonardo da Vinci, whom he met when he moved to Florence. Let’s take a look at the little Cowper Madonna its soft and gentle contours and perfection of balance. It has frequently been noted to resemble some of Leonardo’s paintings of the subject.

Madonna of the Chair was painted more than ten years later, but also reflects the sweetness and harmony that are identified with Raphael’s style, although we can definitely see delicate changes in the facial composition. This exacting work is considered the most popular of all Raphael’s Madonnas and was probably painted for Pope Leo X, or a member of the powerful Medici family.

Creativity, Experience makes painting beautiful

Creativity, the energy of life, flows through all of us, but we learn to label it something special, unusual, requiring rarified glorified skills, harnessed to precise rules and regulations. We begin to believe that creativity is for those with talent; its goal, to produce something perfects enough to be called “art.” We basically define the term talent by an ordinary person’s inability to have it. Everyone has a longing to create. That desire is itself the essence of creativity.

The painting of process can be your vehicle for exploration. Through painting, you can give yourself more experience with this forgotten passion. When you put yourself in front of a piece of blank paper, you can express your willingness to explore. Can you imagine painting something risky - a strong color, a body, an image you dislike? The risk might shake you up, but its part of an exhilarating ride. Soon, the ride becomes more important than the end. The adventure is so exciting that you want to keep exploring, taking risks, again and again.

Process painting is a easy and simple for direct way to experience your unique creative voice. The satisfaction you can find in connecting with that voice will keep you returning to the process again and again, to continue your own creative journey.

Florentine painting in 15th century

In Florentine male portraits painted during the approximate period 1440-1490, the man generally appears in three quarter view, strong, virile, taking up nearly the entire canvas space.

Now, looking at female portraits from the same position and time period, today's viewer will note first of all that the woman is in profile. Her gazes, instead of turned outward toward the world, and is averted. Her facial look is docile and simplistic. There is no emotion or feeling in the still quiet face.

Interestingly, this trend has received very few attentions by art historians. Basically, Florentine female portraiture during 1440-1490 was little more than an idealization of the female condition, as determined solely by the masculine contingent of the day.

Development trends of environmental paint

With growing concerns over health and environmental protection, market demand for environmental paint is on the increase. The so-called "green paint" refers to energy saving, low conservative materials such as water-based paint, high solid content paint, powder paint and radiation curable paint and so on. Certain kinds of paint are picking up to develop into the preferable coasting material for a variety of products like Solid solvent-borne paint, Water-based paint, Dust paint, Liquid solvent-free paint.

- Solid solvent-borne paint: High-solids solvent is in order to meet the increasingly stringent environmental protection necessities.

- Water-based paint: The vast popular of water is different from the characteristics of organic solvents in its non-toxic odorless and non-flammable form.

- Dust paint: Paint dust is a more superior paint. Paint dust theory is absolute zero VOC paint, and with their unique advantages, in the future, dust coating paint may become one of the most significant development directions.

- Liquid solvent-free paint: There are two kinds of organic solvent-free liquid paint, such as the energy beam curing type.

Materials used for water color paintings

Water color painting is the medium in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in water soluble vehicles.

Materials:

• colorant, normally pigment (an insoluble inorganic compound or metal oxide crystal, or an organic dye fused to an insoluble metal oxide crystal);

• binder, the material that holds the pigment in suspension and fixes the pigment to the painting surface;

• additives, substances that change the viscosity, hiding, durability or color of the pigment and vehicle mixture; and

• Solvent, the substance used to thin or dilute the paint for application and that evaporate when the paint hardens or dries.

The traditional and most ordinary support for watercolor paintings is paper; other supports include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, vellum or leather, wood, fabric, and canvas. A brush consists of three types: the tuft, the ferrule and the handle. A watercolor paper comes in three basic finishes: hot pressed, cold press, and rough.

Watercolor artist Fran Fink's show runs through July

Fran Fink, living in Michigan. She started painting seriously when she was 30 years old. When she moved to Florida 11 years ago, however, she decided to move to watercolors.

Fink, who has been painting for more than 40 years, has a one-woman explain at the Englewood Art Center's Mitchell Gallery. The show runs through the end of this month.

Fink grew up in Saginaw and later she moved to Flint. She began taking art classes at the Flint Institute of Art, where she was learned some of the basic techniques of working in oils. For example, she is now starting to include some of the fine brush strokes that once characterized her oil paintings into her watercolors.

Village art league celebrates 20th anniversary with summer painting festival

Twenty years ago, The Villages Art League started out in the arts and craft room at Paradise Recreation Center with a small number of people. Now, the art leagues meet Mondays at Saddlebrook Recreation Center, Thursdays at Mulberry Grove Recreation Center, and Saturdays at Paradise Recreation Center.

The art league soon decided it required to display the works of its artists, so the group held an event at La Hacienda Center. Finally, the artists took over all of the rooms in the building, which led to the Artists’ Showcase, which is held the Saturday after Thanksgiving in the banquet rooms at Savannah Center.

Then, three years ago, the idea of adding an art show during the summer came up. Festivalgoer’s can enter to succeed several door prizes, and they can take part in a few chance drawings. Several artists have donated their works to be given away as prizes, including international artists Tom Jones and Yolanda Mayhall.

Michael Jackson Painting has to Be Auctioned

With the pass of time, things come to an end, but it's the remembrance that remains; indeed hard to fade away. With the demise of the king of pop, Michael Jackson, millions should have shed their tears. And now, his ardent fans, are trying their most excellent to preserve every kind of memorabilia that the artist had.

The latest to this is the Michael Jackson's painting formed by King of Pop Art Andy Warhol in 1984. The painting has been below the hammer at the Vered Gallery of East Hampton. The picture depicts a smiling King of Pop in his red military uniform from his hit album 'Thriller'.

Ruth Vered, who owns the gallery, said that the 30-by-26-inch, synthetic polymer painting on canvas could be expected to fetch millions of dollars at the auction, which ends on July 12.

Christie’s Auction Sells $32.7 Million of Art as marketplace shrink

A London auction ended with the sale of 20.3 million pounds ($32.7 million) of art last night as the market for traditional paintings continuous to shrink.

Christie’s International’s first evening auction of its new category of Old Masters & 19th Century Art open a week of tests of demand. Today, its rival Sotheby’s starts selling 200 artworks belongs to Barbara Piasecka Johnson, that may make at least 5.7 million pounds.

The two most extremely valued paintings in the auction were both expected to fetch between 2 million pounds and 3 million pounds. Both sold for below-estimate hammer prices of 1.9 million pounds, equate to 2.2 million pounds with fees.

As ever, 17th century Dutch paintings that were new to the market and in unrestored condition were in demand.

Estimated at 300,000 pounds to 500,000 pounds, the painting had lain undamaged in a European private collection for more than 60 years.

Natural Painting stolen in Florida, recovered in New Hampshire

Even though the painting was worth up to $20,000 by a few estimates, John McCulloch was offering the one-of-a-kind Douglas Van Howd work for $1,000 on the Web site Craigslist, police said.

Police learned that the painting, "Nuyakuk Falls Rainbow" by wildlife artist Douglas Van Howd, was taken from a house in Lauderdale by the Sea, Fla. They received a tip that the personality with the painting was living Salem.

Investigators said a detective posed as an art buyer and negotiated a price with John McCulloch, 25, who was finally taken into custody.

Announcing street painting winners

TEMECULA - Winners of the ninth annual Temecula Street Painting festival and the second annual Ralph Love Plein Air Art Festival, held in Old Town last weekend, has been announced.

In the street painting competition, Best of Show honors went to Jesus Gutierrez of Murrieta for his "Aztec" painting. Gutierrez wins same honor in 2006. He has received a $500 prize and will be invited back to the 2010 festival as the featured artist.

The 2009 People's Choice Award went to Lee Rupp of Wildomar for his "Fly Girl," a painting of a pin-up girl.

Taking the Best of Show/Purchase Award in the plain air festival was Temecula artist Shawn McKelvey for his work "Old & New." Artists in this contest painted scenes of Old Town Temecula.

Painting award winners confirm promise, surprise

An exhibit of the work of the eight finalists in the annual Bethesda Painting Awards competition is on display at the Fraser Gallery in Bethesda through July 4. The winners of the liberal awards, funded by the Trawick Foundation, were announced at the opening earlier this month.

As in the past, the competition was open to artists of all levels from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Of the record 240-plus submissions received, 38 were selected as semi-finalists. The jurors included John Winslow, painter and Catholic University emeritus professor, whose proclivities are fairly evident in the assortment of finalists. The extra two jurors, also painting professors, were Patrice Kehoe, University of Maryland, and Ruth Bolduan, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Perhaps most interesting about the consequences of the judging is the relative homogeneity of the selections, with one glaring exception. On one hand is a group of abstract works, all of them connecting linear patterning and layering of forms. The rest are realists, apart from for the top prize winner, Camilo Sanin, who works in a style that might be called Neo-Color Field. Sanin's striped paintings are evocative of the work of 1960s Washington Color Field painters Gene Davis and Howard Mehring, but on a much smaller scale.

Landscape painting auctioned in Beijing for record $12.3 mln in china

BEIJING, June 28 (Xinhua) - A record auction price of 84 million yuan (about 12.3 million U.S. dollars) was achieved for a unique Chinese painting in Beijing.

The landscape painting by Zhu Da, also known as Bada Shanren (1626-1705), sells to a private buyer at the Council Auction held on Friday.

The previous record was put in 2007 when The Red Cliff Handscroll by the Ming Dynasty painter Qiu Ying (1494-1552) was sold for 79.52 million yuan.

A famous freehand brushwork painter and calligrapher, Zhu Da was born into the majestic family of the dynasty. He retires to the mountains when the dynasty fell in 1644.

His early paintings included albums of flowers and rocks, accompanied by poems and signed under a range of obscure names. Later he used to paint birds and fish to signal distress, painting lotuses with broken stems, and ink landscapes.

M.F.Husain painting sells for Rs 3.1 cr at Christie's

London (PTI): A 1960 painting by M F Husain fetched a whopping Rs 3.1 crore at Christie's South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art sale here which saw 76 lots of famous artists going under the hammer for Rs 18.98 crore.

Pakistani artist Rashid Rana's "Red Carpet" has got the second highest price of Rs 1.3 crore at the auction which took place on June 10, the organisers said. Ram Kumar's "Untitled (Benares)" paint sold for Rs 1.04 crore.

The "Ragamala Series", oil work on canvas, features visual interpretation of Indian musical modes. The series capture Husain's continuous fascination with 'rasa' or aesthetic rapture.
The inter-disciplinary nature of music, dance, sculpture, painting and film provided enormous inspiration to M.F.Husain at that time (1950s and 60s) and his "Ragamala Series" embodies the masterful usage of his most recognisable pictorial elements.

Husain's other works "The Preacher at Mecca" fetched 250, 121pounds (Rs 9.5 million) and "Untitled (Horses)" Rs 5.7 million.

Franz Marc painting fetched 6.2 million dollars

London - The oil paintings Springende Pferde by German expressionist artist Franz Marc fetched 6.2 million dollars At Christie's auction house Tuesday. The price exceeded the lowest estimation of 4.9 million dollars and grazed just under the maximum estimate of 6.5 million dollars.

Marc is one of the main important painters of the 20th century and was a co-founder of Munich's 'Blaue Reiter' artist circle that included Wassily Kandinsky and August Macke. His painting of the three leap horses was made in 1910. He was draft into the German army after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and was killed in 1916 during the Battle of Verdun.

Also sold at the auction was Claude Monet's Au Parc Monceau from 1878, for 10.4 million dollars - well beyond the maximum hope of 7.4 million dollars.

Man's duck paintings won second place in competition

Dan Speidel, 25, of Elyria Township, he likes to paint and hunt. By combine his two avocations, he has won second place in the Ohio Wetlands Habitat Stamp Design Competition sponsored by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Speidel's 16-inch-by-21-inch acrylic paintings of two bufflehead ducks in flight over Lake Erie show the Lorain Lighthouse in the background. Tim Daniel, public information officer for ODNR, said the judges praised the particulars of Lake Erie, the positions of the birds and the way they were portrayed in Speidel's painting. The first-place honor in the competition is the use of the winning artwork on the $15 waterfowl hunting stamp issued just before hunting season begins in September, Daniel said. Speidel's entry was one of 24 paintings entered by artists from 12 states, Daniel said. First place wins by Jeffrey Hoff, a North Dakota resident whose painting shows two ruddy ducks in the water.

This is the third time Speidel has enter the Ohio Wetlands habitat Stamp Design Competition, and the second place award is the highest he has earned.

Three Paintings peak the Million Dollar Mark at Heffel's $11.3 Million Spring Auction

Heffel Fine Art Auction House set a new record sale cost tonight when a rare Emily Carr painting sold for $2,164,500 in the second session of Heffel’s Live Spring Auction. Wind in the Treetops, 36-1/2 x 21-1/4 inch oil on canvas, circa 1936-1939, is from the majority sought-after period in Carr’s career – the mature period of the 1930s. Heffel Fine Art Auction House has already sold two Carr paintings for more than $1-million and is the only auction house to reach that price point for her works. This ranks as the fourth main priced painting in Canadian history.

Tonight’s sale result of $11.3-million was well past the $6 - $9-million presale calculate for Heffel’s two sessions. The Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art, which commenced at 4 p.m. PST, had sales totaling $4.7-million. The second session of Fine Canadian Art began at 7 p.m. PST and had a sales entire of $6.6-million. Both sessions were held before a crowd of 300 people at Vancouver’s new Convention Centre overlooking Coal Harbor.

Mecca painting won young artist $40,000

A 26-year-old Victorian artist has been taken out a $40,000 national prize for his artwork depicting thousands of bowing Muslims at the annual Mecca pilgrimage.

Jackson Slattery's work, titled Our Plastic Everything Is Broken, beat more than 200 entries won the Metro Art Gallery Award. The award is the expensive prize for Australian painters under 35.

Slattery says he was enthused by a magazine image of pilgrims facing Mecca in prayer. A $10,000 people's selection prize was awarded to 30-year-old Victoria Reichelt from Brisbane for her self portrait - A Stack of Books Crowded in a Bookshelf.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, who made the announcement today, welcomed the judge’s decisions.

Slattery also won the people's selection prize in 2008.

White Paintings 2007-09 at Sara Nightingale Gallery, Shelter Island NY June 20-July 9, 2009 - Eric Dever

Announce a exhibition of 23 new paintings by Eric Dever, in Sara Nightingale's new gallery space reopened in May 2009.

Painting itself is the subject of Eric Dever's current project, spanning two years and 94 paintings. In his investigation of titanium and zinc white oil paint on canvas, burlap, and linen, the exclusive use of white has more to do with a focus on paint properties and supports and is less about color. This is a progression from Dever's earlier color based work before exhibited by Sara Nightingale Gallery in 2005.

Each piece is constructing with one or two brushes or knives. Supports are exposed as the negative space between multiple strokes or through the paint itself. Dever was introduced to Robert Ryman's monochrome painting as an NYU graduate student of Marcia Hafif; both were powerful artists of the Radical Painting Group formed in the late 70's.

Whether applied in stacked or alternating strokes, concentric circles, or randomly placed marks with second tries and adjustments, qualities related with current 'Provisional Painting' (Raphael Rubenstein AiA May'09), these paintings are part of a continuum. They are active and nonchalant.

China's top political advisor visits demonstrate of Chinese painting master's works

China's top political consultant Jia Qinglin visited a show of paintings by Li Keran (1907-1989), one of the best-known Chinese artists.

Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and also a part of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, was accompanied by Politburo affiliate and Beijing's Party chief Liu Qi and CPPCC National Committee's secretary-general Qian Yunlu.

All the works on display at the exhibition, in the Beijing Fine Art Academy, are aid from Li's family members including his widow Zou Peizhu.

The exhibits contain 108 Chinese paintings and 13 water and color paintings by the artist. And these are only part of the family's contributions to the Municipal Government of Beijing.

Li, a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, east China, began studying the traditional Chinese paintings at 13. He is also known as a great master in painting mountains and water.

The magic of kishangarh painting and its inspiration

Kishangarh art is simply concerned with the realities of life; above all, with passionate love service, conceived as the symbol of all combination. Rajput art creates a magic world where all men are heroic, passionate and shy, all women are beautiful, beast both wild and tame are friends of man and trees and flowers are conscious of the footsteps of the bridegroom as he passes by. This magic world is not unreal or fanciful, but a world of imagination and eternity, observable to all who do not refuse to see with the transfiguring eyes of love.

By the middle of thirteenth century Islam was firmly recognized in India and during this time forward Sufism influenced Hinduism greatly. The Sufi position of union with God through devotional love was seen a mirror reflection and complementary to the devotion of Krishna in Vaishnavite division of Hinduism. Vedantic idea of Oneness found its admiration in the Supreme Oneness of Allah and Islam's teachings.

According to Chaitanya, God or Krishna who is the symbol of God on earth is the lover and the soul of man is his bride represented by Radha, For describing the stages of Radha's love for Krishna, the similarity of human love was adapted. Such paintings were, at first sight, easy to understand. Although they alternated between two methods of expression - the first a style of savage distortion, the second a style of the softest grace--each manner enlivened the ordinary subject.

Best way to express our paintings

Basically, Painting is a expression applied to the deliberate application of paint to a surface, whether for decoration and protection of that surface, or in order to create an image upon that surface. Paint can be used to express color, emotions and a distortion of realism, and so that is what it tends to be used for. The best way to do this is to focus on rising one area of painting at a time. For example, when dealing with color, experiment purely with squares of color, to note the crash that one color has upon another. If experimenting with tone restricts your palette to just white, black, and the shades of grey that can be mixed with them. In doing this you will slowly build an understanding of the elements that make up painting. This is a good way to have fun with nature, learn a paint and express your creativity.

Yale Sued over Van Gogh Painting held by Soviets

A successor of the onetime owner of a famed Van Gogh painting has sued Yale University in an effort to reclaim the artwork from the Ivy League school.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn., Pierre Konowaloff alleged that the university should have known the painting - "The Night Café" - has been confiscated from his great-grandfather, a Russian industrialist and aristocrat, Ivan Morozov, during the Communist takeover of Russia in the early 1900s.

The 1888 painting was consequently sold by the Soviet government to a European gallery. Stephen Carlton Clark, a Yale alumnus, bought the paintings from a gallery in New York in the early 1930s and bequeathed it to Yale in 1961.