August 2017 Art News

"Wassily Kandinsky painted BILD MIT WEISSEN LINIEN in 1913—a year that is widely recognized as one of the most important in the development of modern art. During this year, Kandinsky created the most celebrated series of abstract paintings in the history of early 20th-century art. Bild mit weissen Linien, executed on a grand scale and in dazzling colours, is one of the most important paintings by Kandinsky from this crucial year and leads Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 21 June in London."

Credit: Sotheby's 

"MURNAU - LANDSCHAFT MIT GRÜNEM HAUS from 1909 represents the height of Wassily Kandinsky’s expressionist moment, shortly before the artist abandoned figuration entirely and brought full abstraction into the 20th century.This work reveals Kandinsky’s fascination with color and its power. It was acquired by the family of the present owner nearly a century ago and has never appeared at auction. MURNAU - LANDSCHAFT MIT GRÜNEM HAUS is a highlight of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 21 June in London."

Credit: Sotheby's 

"Old Master Paintings specialist Jonquil O’Reilly uses fashion to reveal the wider context of paintings. In her debut video, ‘The Costumist’ introduces Barbara Schwarz, wife of Matthäus Schwarz, a fascinating 16th-century personality who meticulously documented his favourite outfits in a ‘Trachtenbuch’ or costume book. Despite her exclusion, Christoph Amberger captured a portrait of the Augsburg society woman and her highly fashionable costume, a highlight of Sotheby’s upcoming Old Masters Evening sale on 5 July in London."

Credit: Sotheby's 

Coming to auction later this month at Christie’s in London is an early nineteenth-century walking stick that belonged to the Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott. Made of malacca, or East Indian rattan palm, this walking stick was given by Scott to the Scottish painter, William Allan in 1831, just a year before the author’s death.

Photographer Mathew Brady (1822-1896) is mostly remembered today for his Civil War images—wounded soldiers resting under trees, prisoners awaiting transportation, scores of dead combatants lying in bloody fields—and is considered one of the pioneers of photojournalism.

"Watch beautiful Old Master paintings come to life through amazing morphing animation. The portraits of rulers, reformers, gentlemen and fools, by artists including Lucas Cranach the Elder, Jacopo de’ Barbari and Jan Sanders van Hemessen, represent the full array of celebrity in early modern life. All are highlights of Sotheby’s Old Masters Evening Sale on 6 July in London."

Credit: Sotheby's

Japanese artist Takuji Hamanaka takes us inside his Brooklyn studio to explain why he adopted a centuries-old technique to create contemporary woodblock prints.

LACMA’s Artists on Art videos offer insights into works in the museum’s encyclopedic collection that have inspired and informed artists working today. Looking at art through their eyes, we hear directly from artists about works that intrigue them and have fed their own creativity.
 

Bonhams presents highlights from their 5 July 2017 auction. 

Heritage Auctions presents a vintage Casablanca poster.