Top 10 Fine Art News of 2010
Fine Art's Highlights of the Year
By Susan Kendzulak, About.com Guide
It's that time of year to look back on what's happened and reflect on the top 10 fine art stories from around the world that made the headlines for this dynamic year of 2010.
1. Haiti's earthquake and a painting, photo © John Moore/Getty Images
The devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12 destroyed lives and homes, and buried art collections.
Yet out of the chaos, survivors found strength in their creativity and an outpouring of art emerged from the rubble.
2. Van Gogh's Poppy Flowers Stolen from Museum
Van Gogh’s painting titled Poppy Flowers, valued at $50m, was stolen from the Mahmud Khalil Modern Art Museum, in Cairo on August 21, 2010 and is still not recovered.
3. International Art Biennials Bloomed Around the World
Art biennials and triennials are usually noteworthy events garnering tons of international press and drumming up local business.
And there were plenty of these mega-exhibitions in cities around the world in 2010: Gwangju, São Paulo, Sydney, APT 6 in Brisbane, Berlin, Liverpool, Taipei, Manifesta 8 and Site Santa Fe.
4. Tino Sehgal at the Guggenheim
Tino Sehgal’s ephemeral and interactive art work at the Guggenheim in February made headlines.
In This Progress, actors engaged with the museum audience in an unscripted conversation about progress, and in effect, created a hyper-awareness of the boundary between fine art and real life.
Ephemerality aside, according to the NY Times review by Holland Cotter, Sehgal’s non-material works sell up to six figures.
5. Maurizio Cattelan's Public Monument in Carrara Marble
Maurizio Cattelan’s controversial 4-meter high Carrara marble sculpture of a right hand giving the middle finger salute was installed in front of the Italian Stock Exchange in Milan.
6. Marina Abramović's "The Artist Is Present" at NY’s MOMA
The survey of live performances by Marina Abramović at her show titled The Artist Is Present at NY’s MOMA in the spring received a ton of press showing that the public is hungry for performance art.
7. Youtube Videos at the Guggenheim
A curated exhibition of selected Youtube videos at the Guggenheim Museum was a revolutionary premise, but just a passable display.
8. Ai Wei-Wei's Sunflower Seeds Installation at Tate Modern
Artist Ai Wei-Wei's metaphoric installation of porcelain sunflower seeds at the Tate Modern, unfortunately needed to be closed to foot traffic due to the toxic dust it emitted.
9. Carnegie Mellon's Conflict Kitchen
A group of artists from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, opened the provocative eatery, Conflict Kitchen in early June, serving up the national cuisines of the US’s adversaries.
Perhaps tasting Iranian food may lead to some curiosity and understanding about the culture.
10. Fall Art Auctions Show Art Market Is Strong and Healthy
The year ended on a positive note as all the big auction houses did brisk business in the fall art auctions, showing that the recession of a few years back is fading into the past and that the art market is strong and healthy.
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