The Most Expensive Sword in the World – $100 Million Samurai TachiPhotographing Paradox: Exclusive Interview with Dustin Ha – Part 1American Antiques Smash Records at Christie’s Totaling $9.3M – Joshua Johnson’s Art Sets World RecordTakeaways from a Record-Breaking Early Auction Season
Maurice Leloir’s Four Historical Scenes Sell for €128,600 at BonhamsJacob Jordaens’s Portrait of His Wife Sells for €154,200 at BonhamsRenaissance Portrait Attributed to Conrad Faber Sells for €295,000 at BonhamsJodi the Nanotyrannus Sells for US$47.3 Million at Sotheby’sQianlong Emperor’s Jewel-Encrusted Gold Ewer Sells for US$7.11 Million at Christie’sHockney’s €282,200 Print Leads Warhol and Banksy in €1.06 Million Bonhams SaleMV Agusta Sells for $1.3 Million, Setting an Italian Motorcycle Auction RecordEnigma Machine Sells for £203,600 at Bonhams: Inside the 1941 Cipher DeviceUzo Egonu’s Will Knowledge Safeguard Freedom I Sets Auction Record at £198,900Yusuf Grillo’s One Man Band Sets Artist Auction Record at £461,300Ben Enwonwu’s Anyanwu Sells for £602,100, Setting a Sculpture Record at BonhamsRare Gandhi Portrait Achieves £152,800, Tripling Its EstimateBanksy’s British Cool Mickey Snake Triumphs at Bonhams, Selling for £330,600Whistler’s First Portrait Commission Sells for Five Times Estimate, Fetching $495,000Bridget Riley Stuns Art World as Myrrh Soars to $2.36M at Bonhams

Exhibitions

Art exhibitions, gallery shows, and museum displays from around the world.

ANTOINETTE: Altar of Europa 3.0 – Art Museum in the Metaverse | INVITATION

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Avatar facing the curved glass exterior of ANTOINETTE's Altar of Europa 3.0 virtual museum.

The artist ANTOINETTE, together with her technology partner BizzTech, have created a photorealistic museum space of  unprecedented image quality in the Metaverse for the ALTAR of EUROPA. The ALTAR of EUROPA is a real existing, 100m2 drawing consisting of millions of individual pencil strokes created by ANTOINETTE during three years of work . The image density of this monumental work of art is an ideal example to demonstrate the power of the browser-based multi-polygon technology used. In the digital world, every detail of the drawing becomes visible and perspectives and sections can be explored that would not be accessible when visiting the physical exhibition. In this virtual space, museum visitors, regardless of their location, meet with their digital twins, their avatars. With their avatars and an integrated translation tool, visitors can communicate about what they see and what moves them, without being restricted by language barriers. 

JDL Unveils 40-Metre Mural ‘Icarus’ in Rome to Raise Awareness for Environment

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Aerial view of JDL's blue-and-turquoise Icarus mural across two tall end walls of the Corviale building in Rome.

Judith de Leeuw (JDL) – a well-known Dutch street artist who’s art appeared all over the world – has unveiled her imposing new 40-metre mural entitled “Icarus”, created for the Street Art for Rights Forum Festival on the north-east wall of the Corviale building in Rome, the famous “Serpentone”, one of the “most symbolic” walls in the capital. 

This new masterpiece – on one of the city’s largest walls – bears a reference to the myth of Icarus. Icarus is the man who, heedless of his own limitations, flew too close to the sun with wax wings and fell into the sea. A metaphor for a profit-blinded society that is heading for self-destruction, aiming to have the most today, heedless of the future. 

‘STREET ART FOR RIGHTS’ Concludes in Rome

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Detail of Fabio Petani’s mural in Rome, with an icy landscape above a desert inside an abstract hourglass.

In Rome, 17 murals dedicated to the UN 2030 Agenda spread the culture of sustainability through street art.

The recently completed last wall by the well-known street artist Fabio Petani officially concludes the 3rd edition of Street Art for Rights in Rome, the festival that narrates and spreads the culture of sustainability through street art, in the sign of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda.

Street Art for Rights has established itself as a reference point for street art in Italy with over 30 works realized in Rome in the suburbs of Corviale and Settecamini and in Lazio between Cassino, Fiumicino and Latina. A true open-air museum that offers all fans and not, especially during the Christmas holidays, to get to know a ‘New Rome’ unprecedented and little known.

Mexican Artist Said Dokins and UAE Master-Calligrapher Khalid Al Jallafis Display their Calligraphic Art at Guadalajara International Book Fair 2022

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Black calligraphic lettering on white paper, photographed at an angle.

This year, Guadalajara International Book Fair, the most outstanding meeting of the Spanish-language world, invited the UAE city of Sharjah as a guest of honor. It is the third largest of the seven Emirates and is considered to be the cultural capital of the Arab world by UNESCO.

For nine days, Sharjah Pavilion showcased the Arab culture and literature to Mexico through poetry and literature. There were many productive meetings as well as a variety of artistic and cultural events where writers, editors, researchers, artists, and spokespersons of Arab culture exchanges ideas, laying the foundations to better the relations between Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.  

Biennale MArteLive Announces Winners of 16 Art Disciplines and Establishes as Only Multidisciplinary Festival in Europe

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Biennale MArteLive 2022 collage featuring dancers, portrait artworks, digital figures and the event graphic.

Despite a global pandemic and a devastating war just a few kilometers from two of the project’s partner countries – Poland and Lithuania – the first European edition of the MArteLive Biennial finally comes to an end with the announcement of the winners in the 16 artistic disciplines in the competition.

This concludes the long path of scouting and selection of the 16 best European emerging talents discovered out of over 1100 entries from 47 countries including 27 members of the European Union and 20 neighboring countries because art has no borders and barriers but is open to all. 

The MArteLive Biennial is officially over, but the activities will continue! Next MArteLive Biennial scheduled for October 11-20, 2024.

“There is No Excuse for Violence” Art Exhibition in Turkey | Exclusive Photos

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Pain by Ayşe Kıran: a portrait of a bruised woman with dark paint across her mouth, displayed on an easel.

The first of our ‘Silent Screams’ painting exhibitions, with which we set out with nearly 40 painters and our slogan ‘There is No Excuse for Violence’ was held on November 1, 2022. During this event Prof. Dr. Mansur Beyazyürek’s held a conference on violence and art. Our aim is to stand in against psychological and physical violence against women, men, animals, young people, old people, doctors, health workers, teachers, lawyers, judges, police, and all living beings.

Our second exhibition will be opening on 11.11.2022 in BOF HOTELS BUSINESS, Istanbul, Umraniye, Turkey. It will be held until 19.11.2022. A percentage of the revenues from our exhibition will be donated by the artists to the victims of violence and those in need.

ORTHO Successfully Launches Fashion Metaverse – Designer Le Thanh Hoa Delivers Unique Show

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Cocoon No. 141: digital and runway models in black off-the-shoulder gowns with high-low hems.

Fashion-oriented metaverse platform ORTHO – a Vietnamese digital fashion house – has successfully launched its virtual world that combines high fashion and high-tech elements. On October 27, ORTHO and famous Vietnamese fashion designer Le Thanh Hoa (LTH) organized the first virtual runway fashion show to present his unique collection called AN, which translates as peace. In addition to the metaverse runway experience, he delivered a physical show in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.

The virtual show enjoyed tremendous success, attracting about 1,000 people who savored the fashion experience in the metaverse.

The physical show in Hanoi was attended by about 200 guests from the fashion industry. The presentation was filled with nostalgic, peaceful, yet not melancholic imagery.

Celebrated Nigerian artist Amarachi Okafor highlights Ecological Disaster

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Rounded sculpture by Amarachi Okafor densely covered with small beige elements, displayed outdoors on a white plinth.

Well-known for the powerful messages conveyed across various media, Nigerian-based artist Amarachi Okafor decided to tackle a large-scale ecological disaster created by countless small, discarded cigarette butts in her latest work.

Now that effort will be featured in an upcoming exhibition “Announcing beauty, mercy, kindness and love” a rare retrospective exhibition chronicling 20 years of practice by the critically acclaimed Nigerian artist and curator. The exhibition opened October 29 at the Lagos’ Red Door Gallery, and will be open until November 19, 2022.

Top 10 Micromosaics Through the Ages

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Detail of the Mosaic of the Deities, with mythological figures in geometric medallions.

Micromosaics were first made in Mesopotamia some six thousand years ago. In the late 18th century this long surviving technique became a decorative art and was often used in jewellery.

It has a large presence in Switzerland and GemGenève is on a mission to make it fashionable again. Which is why this autumn they dedicated an entire exhibition space to the Magnificent Art of Micromosaics!

From Switzerland to Italy, from Villa Boscéaz to the Gilbert Collection at the V&A Museum, from the Doves of Pliny to the The Dream of Karpa Koï bracelet by Maurizio Fioravanti, the exhibition “Micromosaics Through The Ages” offers visitors an overview of this lost art and expertise through unpretentious scenography.

The ‘Collòculi’ Exhibit by Internationally Recognized Artist and Filmmaker Annalaura di Luggo

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A person standing before Collòculi’s giant blue eye and recycled-aluminum surround.

Internationally recognized artist and filmmaker Annalaura di Luggo unveils “Collòculi” – her most artistic challenge!

“Collòculi” is an immersive, multimedia interactive work made in the shape of a Giant Eye from recycled aluminum. The symbolism of recycling is both suggestive of environmental rebirth as well as the deeper meaning of taking old thrown away emotions and creating new, more positive views through new eyes.

COLLÒCULI WE ARE ART by Annalaura di Luggo is currently on display at al National Archeological Museum of Naples MANN (Italy) until January 2023.