Fine Art

Visitor Services Associate Sacha Baumann talks with two visitors about Mark Bradford's 2006 work Scorched Earth.

Arts

Avant Guard: At LA's Broad Museum, A New Approach To Protecting Art

2:09pm February 23, 2016

by Susan Stamberg

Contemporary art isn't easy, and the new museum's creators wanted first-time visitors to feel welcome. So The Broad's guards act as friendly ambassadors — ready to engage with visitors about the art.

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A picture of Meret Oppenheim's September 1935 design notes for the prototype of her brass and ocelot fur bracelet. Pablo Picasso's comment about the bracelet may have inspired Oppenheim to wrap a teacup, saucer and spoon in fur as well.

Arts

'Luncheon In Fur': The Surrealist Teacup That Stirred The Art World

4:39pm February 09, 2016

by Nina Martyris

In 1936, the surrealist Meret Oppenheim wrapped a teacup, saucer and spoon in fur. In the age of Freud, a gastro-sexual interpretation was inescapable. Even today, the work triggers intense reactions.

The work of Saudi artist Njoud Alanbari focuses on issues surrounding female education.

A New Generation Of Saudi Artists Pushes The Boundaries

8:28am February 06, 2016

by Deborah Amos

Daring visual artists, whose edgy work challenges religious and political taboos, have become a critical voice in the conservative kingdom — where open calls for reform are a criminal offense.

Art World Captivated By 'Fake Rothko' Trial

6:30pm February 03, 2016

The chairman of Sotheby's is suing a gallery that sold him a fake Mark Rothko painting. That trial is underway in Manhattan. Mary Louise Kelly talks to Noah Charney, author of The Art of Forgery.

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Arts

Portraits Of LA's Female Artists Send A Powerful Message: 'You Are Here'

5:45am February 01, 2016

by Susan Stamberg

Rebecca Campbell's portrait series documents the female artists who go unnoticed or underrepresented. "I made it so that they didn't disappear," she says.

"Market Symphony" is a new audio installation at the National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. The exhibition layers sound from a market in Lagos, Nigeria. The speakers are installed on enamelware trays which are often used in markets.

Arts

Symphony Of The City: Nigerian Artist Draws Songs From The Bustling Market

5:06pm January 31, 2016

by NPR Staff

Emeka Ogboh's exhibition, "Market Symphony," brings listeners the rich sounds of a Lagos market. "There are stories in the soundscape," he tells NPR's Michel Martin. "There are stories from the city."

Walter Martin Remembers Art History Class With 'Arts + Leisure'

4:06pm January 31, 2016

by Dustin DeSoto

The Walkmen musician has gone solo with his new record. It's a song cycle inspired what Martin calls his "shaky grasp of college art history."

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Pope Francis (L) welcomes Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for their private audience on January 26, 2016, at the Vatican.

World News

What Might Rouhani Have Missed When Rome Boxed Up The Nudes?

8:24am January 30, 2016

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon wonders if Iranian President Hassan Rouhani might have appreciated a moment to gaze at the many works of art in Rome's Capitoline Museum, rather than seen the naked statues boxed up.

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The Knoedler & Company art gallery, shown here in 2010, had been in business since before the Civil War. The gallery permanently closed its doors in 2011.

Art Forgery Trial Asks: Were Dealers Duped, Or Did They Turn A Blind Eye?

8:23am January 30, 2016

by Joel Rose

In 2011, New York City's oldest gallery was accused of selling paintings it now admits were forgeries. Plaintiffs say the gallery overlooked glaring problems with the paintings' backstories.

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Before it moved to the Museum of Fine Arts, Frida Kahlo's Dos Mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia) belonged to the family of American industrialist Jackson Cole Phillips, who purchased it from Kahlo in 1929.

Arts

Boston Museum Acquires First Painting Frida Kahlo Ever Sold

6:26pm January 28, 2016

by Andrea Shea

Kahlo painted Dos Mujeres (Salvadora y Herminia) in 1928 and sold it in 1929. Conservators at the Museum of Fine Arts say the maids in the portrait may have cared for Kahlo after a violent car crash.

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