Mona Lisa May Not Be Who She’s Thought to Be; Startling New Discovery
Mona Lisa, the enigmatic portrait of a 16th century woman with a wry smile, may not be the person she was thought to be. ...
Keith Girard
Egon Schiele Paintings at Center of Lawsuit Over Plundered Nazi Art
Egan Schiele paintings are at the center of a legal dispute in Manhattan filed by the heirs of holocaust victim Fritz Grunbaum. The Nazis plundered his art and sent him to a concentration camp in 1938. But the two paintings have recently resurfaced and may be worth $5.5 million. Grunbaum’s heirs, Timothy Reif and David Fraenkel, filed the complaint this week in Manhattan Supreme Court to block a pending auction of the paintings....
Joaquín Torres-García, Avant-Garde Modernist, Gets MoMa Retrospective
Joaquín Torres-García, a towering figure in modern art, whose influence extended from South America to Europe, will get a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City this month. Drawings, paintings, objects, sculptures, and original artist notebooks will be featured, according to the museum. ...
George Reeves’ Superman Costume Sells for $216k at Movie Prop Auction
George Reeves’ Superman costume from his iconic 1950s era television show sold for more than $200,000 at a Hollywood memorabilia auction. It was topped only by a space ship model from the original 1977 “Star Wars” movie. The spaceship sold for a record $450,000, according to the auction house. Among other items fetching significant prices were Harrison Ford’s bull whip from his “Indiana Jones” movies. It sold for $204,000. ...
Art Museums Create Plan to Safe Harbor Art Objects Threatened by War
Art museums under the auspices of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) have created a plan to safeguard rare art and antiquities that are threatened with destruction in war zones. The move was prompted by attacks on ancient, historic sites in the Middle East. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City joined arts organizations around the world in February to universally condemn the destruction of priceless antiquities by Islamic extremists in the Iraq city of Mosul....
Van Gogh, Gauguin, Chagall Headline Rare Phillips Collection Show (photos!)
Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Marc Chagall, and their works will be combined in a new exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., bringing together works assembled by two noted Swiss collectors for the first and only time in the United States. The Phillips will exhibit more than 60 celebrated masterpieces by titans of the modern art movement. All were created during the mid-19th and 20th centuries....
Hamptons Stands for Heroes Honors Bob, Lee Woodruff Foundation
Bob Woodruff and wife Lee Woodruff hosted the Hamptons Stands for Heroes event to celebrate the work of The Bob Woodruff Foundation, which helps war veterans make a smooth transition when they return home. The event was held Friday (Aug. 28) at the home of Joan and George Hornig, Chief Operating Officer of Pine Bridge Investments and a co-founder of Wasserstein Perella & Company....
Tom Cruise Stunt Crazy in New Mission Impossible Rogue Nation Trailer (see!)
Tom Cruise, a master of movie stunts, showcases how he’ll take his game to the next level...
Andrew Wyeth Painting ‘Ice Storm’ Caught in Legal Tsunami Over Fraud
Andrew Wyeth’s bucolic painting “Ice Storm” is at the center of a legal dispute evolving out of a 20-year-old New York City art scandal perpetrated by disgraced art dealer David Ramus, who swindled clients out of millions of dollars. Among his victims is Reed Galin, a former TV news anchor, who was a life-long friend of Ramus and college roommate....
Jennifer Lawrence, Hunger Games Cast Has Final Reunion at Comic Con
Jennifer Lawrence was the center of attention at the Hunger Games panel at Comic Con in San Diego, but she had no problem sharing the spotlight with fellow cast members Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. It was their final reunion and it produced some poignant moments. “The Hunger Games’ cast has been filming together since 2011. Lawrence was picked for the role of Katniss Everdeen out of nearly 30 other actresses who auditioned for the role, including Hailee Steinfeld, Emma Roberts, Chloë Grace Moretz and Shailene Woodley....
Andy Warhol Waterfront Estate on the Market for Whopping $85M (pics)
Andy Warhol’s sprawling Hamptons estate has hit the market at a price that rivals some of his most famous pop art. Current owner Mickey Drexler, chief executive of J. Crew clothing brand, is asking $85 million. On any given weekend, Jerry Hall, Cheryl Tiegs, Liza Minnelli, Liz Taylor, John Lennon, John Phillips, Mick Jagger, Jackie Kennedy and her sister Lee Radziwill could be found idling on the beach....
Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol Expected to Drive Sotheby’s London Sale (video)
Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol are expected to be the stars of the latest auction of contemporary art in London, according to Sotheby’s, which will stage the sale, conservatively estimated to yield $328.9 million. Works by Keith Haring, Joseph Beuys, Tim Noble and Sue Webster will also be included in the July 1,2 auction....
Melissa Rivers Celebrates New Book About Mom in New York (photos!)
Melissa Rivers, daughter of the late Joan Rivers, was the quest of honor at an event hosted by Denise Albert and Melissa Musen Gerstein, better known as The Moms, to mark the publication of Melissa’s new book. “The Book of Joan: Tales of Mirth, Mischief, And Manipulation,” is a behind-the-scenes look at Melissa’s celebrated mother-daughter relationship....
Van Gogh Painting Kicks Off Spring Auctions in NYC with $66.3M Sale Price
Sotheby’s kicked off the Spring art auctions with the sale of a Van Gogh painting for $66.3 million, the highest price paid for a work by the Dutch artist since 1998, the auction house said. Claude Monet’s water lilies also sold for $54 million. The Impressionist and modern art sale Tuesday, saw Van Gogh’s “L’allée Des Alyscamps” go to a private collector in Asia after heated bidding with at least five other collectors. Van Gogh’s works have always been among the most collectible among Impressionist artists. ...
‘Woodstock Daddy’ Elliot Tiber is Back With New Book ‘After Woodstock’
Elliot Tiber is the exception to the old adage that there are no second acts in life. In fact, like a Shakespearian play, Tiber has gone through at least five acts. The best known is his role behind the iconic Woodstock Music and Art Festival in upstate New York. His latest as he turns 80, is a new book about his incredible life after the concert, titled aptly 'After Woodstock.'...
Keith Girard
Keith Girard has four decades of experience as an award-winning reporter, editor-in-chief, and senior media executive. Keith’s career began in Washington, D.C., where he was a reporter for The Washington Post and a contributing editor for Regardie's and Washingtonian magazines. He also worked as a writer/producer in CNN's Washington Bureau and has written one book on the U.S. Marines in the Gulf War.