Saturday, September 12, 2009

Major Andy Warhol collection stolen in Los Angeles‏

Between September 2 & 3, 2009, a home was burglarized along Angelo Drive in West L.A. owned by businessman Richard L. Weisman. The property taken included a multi-million dollar collection of (11) 40" x 40" original artworks by Andy Warhol. Ten of the artworks depicted famous athletes and were made between 1977-79. A Warhol portrait of Mr. Weisman was also taken.

A reward of $1 million has been offered for information leading to the recovery of the art. Contact the LAPD Art Theft Detail: Detectives Hrycyk or Sommer at (213) 485-2524 or (877) 529-3855.

You can view the stolen art here.

Weiss at Nevin Kelly

Ellyn Weiss' new work, titled "Dark Matter" will be shown at the Nevin Kelly Gallery from September 17 - October 17. I am told that it's all made of tar!

Opening reception, Thursday, September 17, 6 - 9 pm. Nevin's new space is right at the Columbia Heights metro.

Keeping a lid on cynicism and irony

... approach the art of seeing... in the spirit of an amateur... in the original sense of the word, as a lover, someone who does something for the love of it, wholeheartedly. The best amateur has the skills of a professional but true professionals stay amateurs at heart, keeping a lid on the cynicism and irony that can pass for sophistication in some circles. Skepticism is useful, and for critics, necessary. But in The Dehumanization of Art, in a section aptly titled "Doomed to Irony," the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset laments how our aversion to pathos and dependence on irony "imparts to modern art a monotony that must exasperate patience itself."

Michael Kimmelman
The Accidental Masterpiece