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.