Our daily round-up of news from the art world
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Acquires ‘Landmark’ Picasso | Bottle and Glass on a Table, an extremely rare collage created by Picasso in 1912, has been acquired by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. The work is one of Picasso’s first collages, and marks the artist’s earliest use of stencilled lettering – something of a career landmark. The collage had previously been housed in a private collection in Sweden until it was acquired at auction by the museum earlier this year. Edinburgh’s Cubism enthusiasts will no doubt be raising a dram.
Canaletto Seized in WWII to be Sold in Restitution Deal | A Canaletto painting seized from its Jewish owners by France’s wartime Vichy authorities is to be sold at Christie’s, reports the New York Times. The sale is a compromise between the descendants of the Jaffé family, from whom it was seized, and the work’s current owner, who bought it in good faith in 1985. The profits from the sale, which is expected to fetch over $90,000, will be split between both parties.
Lost Fabergé Egg ‘Surprise’ Discovered in Royal Collection | A small automated elephant that was once concealed as a ‘surprise’ in a Fabergé Egg commissioned by Tsar Alexander III has been discovered in the collection of Great Britain’s Royal Family. Most Fabergé eggs commissioned by the Romanov family included such extras, many of which have disappeared since the Revolutions of 1917. For 80 years, it was thought lost until discovered by the Royal Collection’s senior curator, Caroline de Guitaut. Art-historical coup or elaborate clockwork toy? The jury is out.
Street Art Gallery Planned for Liverpool | A gallery dedicated to street art could well be set up in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle district, reports the Liverpool Echo. City planners have been asked to approve plans for the space, in which developers hope to include some of Banksy’s most famous works – including his Liverpool Rat, a local landmark stencilled on the side of a pub. The gallery will be the first major institution devoted to ‘urban art’. Whether or not there’s any value to exhibiting graffiti indoors is a moot point.
Haroon Mirza Wins Calder Prize | British artist Haroon Mirza has been awarded the $50,000 Calder Prize, an award created to support artists influenced by the late sculptor to whom it owes its name, reports The Art Newspaper. Mirza’s immersive work may not resemble Calder’s much, but many contemporary art enthusiasts will see him as a deserving victor.
Landscape Photographer of the Year Announced | Nature lovers rejoice. Andy Farrer has one the annual Landscape Photographer of the Year award for his wintry image of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, reports the Independent. The award, worth £10,000, and winning photographs in all categories will be exhibited in London.