Syracuse’s Marcel Breuer Digital Archive now available

Syracuse University Library has unveiled phase one of a new digital archive containing objects by and about architect and designer Marcel Breuer (1902-1981). The archive includes over 30,000 images of drawings, photographs, correspondence, and other materials created before 1955 and can be explored in its entirety or by project or name. For more information about reproduction and copyright, click here.

Another Italian museum facing budget woes

Although it opened only two years ago, with an awarding winning space, the Maxxi National Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome may be closing its doors due to lack of funds.

via the Guardian

Fisk University and the Stieglitz Collection: The final ruling

We’ve had a couple of updates in the last six months, but this week the final decision was announced: The Tennessee Supreme Court denied the application of the Tennessee Attorney General to hear an appeal of the decision of the Court of Appeals to permit Fisk’s Alfred C. Stieglitz Art Collection to be shared with the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art located in Arkansas. This means the university can move ahead with working out the logistics of the deal, which includes the museum paying $30 million for a half interest of the Collection.

For previous posts, click here.

Museum, facing budget cuts, begins burning works of art

To protest deep cuts in arts funding, Director Antonio Manfredi of the Casoria Contemporary Art Museum in Naples has begun burning works of art from the museum’s permanent collection. Manfredi plans a systematic destruction — three a week — of the museum’s holdings as its “1,000 artworks are headed for destruction anyway because of the government’s indifference.” The artists whose paintings were burned on Tuesday supported the action. Watch videos of each protest on la Repubblica.it here and here.

via Culture Monster and BBC

Century-old images of estates and gardens now available online

The Library of Congress announced a new set of digital images is now available from over 1,000 hand-colored glass lantern slides by Frances Benjamin Johnston, one of the first professional female photographers to achieve international prominence. The images, originally taken between 1895 to 1935 and used during her popular lectures, depict predominantly American gardens and historic homes.

Live: Damien Hirst (more likely assistants) at work

Two years ago it was Marina Abramović at MoMA. Now you can watch another artist at work: Damien Hirst, who has set up a live feed on his website with two views into his studio.

When to put a building to bed

There’s an interesting debate in the New York Times about when/if it’s okay to demolish buildings that may have aesthetic or historic significance.  The debate was sparked by a controversy over whether or not a government building with numerous structural flaws (at left)  in New York state could/should be torn down.   Those who argue to take it down point out the cost of maintaining and repairing it, and also note that it’s “ugly”.  Those who disagree argue that it’s a strong example of Brutalist architecture, by Paul Rudolph, and therefore of architectural significance.  The debate includes several voices of interest.

Ancient Borderlands conference April 13-14, 2012

The Ancient Borderlands Research Focus Group at UCSB has announced the Third Ancient Borderlands International Graduate Student Conference: Conflict, Consensus, and the Crossing of Boundaries in the Premodern World. The conference is scheduled for Friday, April 13 from 3:00-5:30 pm and Saturday, April 14 from 9:45 am-6:00 pm in the McCune Conference Room, HSSB 6020. Bradley Parker (Associate Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History and Archaeology, University of Utah) will give the keynote address. Click here to download the conference flyer.

Google Art just keeps on growing

Just over a year ago we reported on the Google Art Project, which at the time had around 1,000 works from 17 museums.   According to the Google blog there are now over 30,000 high resolution works, from museums all over the world.   They also have 360-degree panoramic views of gallery interiors, and a growing number of gigapixel images (photographed in super high resolution, allowing for extreme detail viewing).  In addition to expanding the holdings, Google has improved the search and access capabilities, allowing users to build personal galleries and register comments.

You can watch demo videos on the blog site, or go straight to Google Art Project here.