Free Republic

Hollywood’s unions are “steadfastly” opposing an amendment to a bill pending in Congress that would slash funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities by 15%. The coalition of 12 unions, representing half a million industry workers and artists, includes SAG-AFTRA, the DGA, IATSE, the American Federation of Musicians, Actors’ Equity and the WGA East. The opposition is being spearheaded by the Department of Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, through which many of the unions are affiliated. Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-WI) offered the amendment to next year’s Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill. “The...

An art gallery in Portland, Oregon, removed a window drawing that depicts President Donald Trump being beheaded ISIS style. The horrific image shows a man whose face is concealed holding Trump’s head with one hand. In the other hand, he is holding a knife to the throat of Trump, who is bleeding profusely from his nose as well as his slashed neck. The image has the words ‘F*** TRUMP’ underneath it. The cartoon Trump is seen wearing a pin of a burning American flag on his lapel. The founder of One Grand Gallery in the Northwest city told KPTV-TV that...

​Exploring the impact of World War One on British, German and French art Marking the 100 years since the end of World War One, Aftermath: Art in the Wake of World War One looks at how artists responded to the physical and psychological scars left on Europe. Art was used in many ways in the tumultuous period after the end of the war, from documenting its destructive impact, to the building of public memorials and as a social critique. This fascinating and moving exhibition shows how artists reacted to memories of war in many ways. George Grosz and Otto Dix...

It might be decades since the Cultural Revolution, but Gao has never quite been able to leave his past behind. He still feels haunted by what he imagines as the more egalitarian and democratic country that China could have become, had it not been sent off-course by the political violence of the 20th century. Among his most famous works is “Miss Mao”, a series of sculptures of the eponymous Communist leader with a Pinocchio-nose and pert breasts, a reference to the party’s uncanny “reproductive” abilities, says Gao. “Even though Mao has died...the Mao era is not over yet. The systems...

Illuminated Medieval Manuscripts from the 8th thru 12th Centuries (700-1199) Music: Alla Venetiana - Joan Ambrosio Dalza. Heth Sold ein meisken garn om win - Josquin Desprei. The Silver Swan - Orlando Gibbons.

A 24-hour celebration that showcases local artists turned into the Wild West early Sunday morning amidst a fight inside a warehouse. At least one person was killed and numerous others were injured in a shootout that happened at the Art All Night celebration in the Roebling Market section of the city. “When we got here around 2:30, it didn’t look like we were coming to Art All Night,” city resident Franco Roberts said. “It looked like we were outside of a Philadelphia club after the bar closes and people who don’t want to leave are standing around their cars smoking...

The art of Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874-1951) from 1896 to 1919, shown to the music of Scott Joplin (The Entertainer; The Easy Winners). Leyendecker was the face of Saturday Evening Post before Norman Rockwell. He created the marketing image of "The Arrow Man" for Arrow Shirts.

Egyptian Fayum Portraits of the Ptolemaic Period - 332-30 BC. To music from Michael Atherton's album "Ankh - The Sound of Ancient Egypt." The Ptolemaic Kingdom was founded by Ptolemy and ended with the death of Cleopatra VII and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. Fayum portraits were painted on wooden panels and mounted into the bands of cloth of a mummy so that they showed over the face area. They were either done in encaustic (wax) or in tempera. There have been around 900 portraits found, often still retaining their bright colors.

dated Mar 29, 2015 BOSTON – The FBI has positively identified the two robbers who in 1990 committed the largest art heist in history, stealing over $500 million worth of masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum here. One of them is a local ex-con who was free only because his lawyer, now Secretary of State John Kerry, was able to get his first-degree murder conviction overturned in 1982. “We got justice,” Kerry told a reporter in 2009 of his work for the notorious hoodlum, “and I’ll go to my grave proud that we did.” Multiple law-enforcement sources here have...

Artists in Chula Vista, California, who painted a school mural depicting an Aztec warrior carrying the severed head of President Donald Trump on a spear have decided to change the mural after a storm of protest. The mural also depicted the warrior holding a human heart — presumably, that of the president. The image recalls well-documented rituals of human sacrifice among the Aztecs, who are also thought to have eaten their victims. The mural was painted several days ago and then immediately covered up after local news reporters learned of it. Artist Sasha Andrade Mercado posted images of the mural...

It's every art gallery's worst nightmare: given the ability of forgers down the centuries, what if some of those priceless works of art hanging on the walls are... not real? A state-owned French art museum has discovered that more than half of its collection consists of worthless fakes and experts fear that other public galleries may also be stuffed with forgeries. An art historian raised the alarm after noticing that paintings attributed to Etienne Terrus showed buildings that were only constructed after the artist’s death in 1922. Experts confirmed that 82 of the 140 works displayed at the Terrus museum in...

Amherst Saxophone Quartet, Lukas Foss's Saxophone Quartet, Introduction and Canon. This will definitely NOT be for everyone. But if you enjoy modern art, it might be. And if the music doesn't work for you, try muting it and enjoying a 5 min Art History course in Early 20th Century Artists: Picasso, Goncharova, Braque, Metzinger, Gris, Malevich, Leger, Picabia, Boccioni, Gleizes, Kandinsky, Delaunay and Mondrian.

Offended by a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad etched in marble inside the U.S. Supreme Court chamber, a coalition of Muslim organizations is quietly pushing to have the artwork sandblasted into propriety. A petition signed by 16 groups across the country has asked that the larger-than-life frieze of great lawgivers be altered "in the spirit of religious tolerance and pluralism" because Islamic tradition discourages artistic renderings of people, and showing the face of Muhammad is considered particularly offensive. The Supreme Court refused to comment publicly on the controversy, but coalition spokesman Nihad Awad said there already has been one "fruitful"...

Beyoncé and Jay-Z have taught their daughter, Blue Ivy, the importance of investing in art. On Saturday night, the 6-year-old made several bids on art while sitting between her mega-star parents at the Wearable Art Gala in Los Angeles. The second annual event, put on by Tina Knowles and husband Richard Lawson, benefits the WACO Theater Center. During the swanky event, little Blue Ivy, who was wearing a matching gold dress like her mother, bid $17,000 on an acyclic painting of Sidney Poitier, reports Vanity Fair. Excited to make another bid, she lifted her paddle again raising the bar to...

Palo Alto Wants to Tear Down a Giant Computer-Egg Sculpture—But the Artist Says It Violates Her RightsAdriana Varella asserts that her work is protected under VARA.The Visual Artists Rights Act, known as VARA, could be set for another key test later this month, if the city of Palo Alto, California moves ahead with plans to remove a public artwork. Digital DNA, a large egg-shaped sculpture made of computer keyboards, has been situated in a downtown plaza since 2005. But after 13 years and numerous costly repairs, the city now says the work is prone to damage and is too expensive...

Look around you. The world is full of empty canvases. Everywhere you turn are empty walls where beautiful pieces of art could be, but often these spaces are overlooked in favor of boring blank nothingness. But fortunately for us there are artists out there who are determined to transform our world into the vibrant public art gallery that it deserves to be. Take a look at these before and after pictures of spectacular street art to see what we mean. Compiled by Bored Panda, the gallery below serves to remind us of what our towns and cities could look like...

The scion of one of America’s most successful business dynasties talks art and philanthropy“Mr Rockefeller has just taken his seat,” the woman at The Modern’s front desk tells me, but when I arrive at the table, it is empty. As I look around for the great-grandson of the man thought to be America’s first billionaire, I notice only five tables are full. Please use the sharing tools found via the email icon at the top of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may...

<p>KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia has apologised after a government ad in Chinese-language newspapers featuring a picture of a barking rooster to mark the Year of the Dog sparked a flood of mockery.</p> <p>The full-page advert by the domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism ministry showed a rooster emitting the word "wang", used to represent a dog's bark in Mandarin.</p>

RUSH: Brian, throw this on the switcher. Social media is having the greatest time with the portraits of Barack Hussein O and Michelle (My Belle) O. And I just want to show you one example. The Obama portrait interestingly is getting more heat than the Michelle portrait because of the “what is it” factor. What are these two trying to do? It’s obvious these two portraits are not gonna look like any other portrait anywhere, and that’s probably one of the objectives. But I think there are other components here. What we’ve just flashed up on the Dittocam is one...

Bocca Baciata (Lips That Have Been Kissed) |1859 | Dante Gabriel Rossetti (English, 1828–1882)