Kate Moss robbed of £80K Banksy portrait

London, May 21 (ANI): Super model Kate Moss has been robbed of a Banksy portrait worth 80,000 pounds along with other valuable artworks.

Moss, her partner Jamie Hince and mother Linda, were asleep when the burglars broke into the house.

It is believed that the robbery occurred around 4am on Thursday and the robbers may have escaped following disturbances when Moss or Hince woke up.

The police have arrested a 24-year-old man and are questioning him.

“Camden Police are investigating a burglary at Greville Road, NW6, from approximately 4.20am on Thursday, May 20,” The Telegraph quoted a police spokesman as saying.

“A 24-year-old man was arrested in connection with it and inquiries are ongoing,” he added.

Moss recently spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on works by Banksy, the guerrilla artist, including a 12ft by 18ft mural of herself and several celebrity friends which she reportedly commissioned at a cost of 150,000 pounds. (ANI)

Beckhams ‘proud owners of love-themed artworks worth £30m’

London, May 15 (ANI): David and Victoria Beckham have amassed a huge collection of “love-themed” art paintings and sculptures worth a whopping 30 million pounds in their various homes.

The couple’s homes in London, Milan and LA adorn artworks by Damien Hirst, Sam Taylor Wood, Banksy and other artists.

“Victoria is a mover and shaker in much more up market circles nowadays and likes being a ‘collector’,” the Mirror quoted a source as saying.

“She is even in talks with a museum to showcase some of their pieces.

“All their pieces are love tokens – presents given from David or Victoria to the other one for birthdays, Christmases, anniversaries and other special occasions.

“One of the works includes a Hirst bull’s heart enshrined in silver with scalpels exploding from it whilst another, given from David to Victoria for Christmas, is an Emin-designed strip of neon lights spelled out to read ”Forever yours,’” added the source. (ANI)

Actor Robbie Coltrane’s painting set to fetch £4k

London, May 10 (ANI): Robbie Coltrane of Harry Potter fame is set to put up his painting of a train for auction.

The work is expected to fetch 4,000 pounds when it goes under the hammer at a Glasgow auction this week, reports the Scotsman.

Coltrane completed the painting after receiving commission while studying at Glasgow School of Art in the 1970s.

This was before he shot to fame with ‘Harry Potter’ where he played ‘Hagrid’ and criminal psychologist ‘Fitz’ in the television series ‘Cracker’.

The painting is the first one to be put up by the actor for auction.

McTear”s Scottish Contemporary Art Auction will showcase other artworks on Wednesday including 58 drawings by the Glaswegian artist Gerard Burns. (ANI)

Music lovers at Big Chill Fest to bare-all for ‘nude landscape’!

London, Apr 1 (ANI): Music lovers heading to the Big Chill Festival this year are being encouraged to strip off.

While Massive Attack and MIA are to headline the festival, artist Spencer Tunick has been commissioned to create a new living masterpiece during the weekend – and is urging volunteers to take part in a mass disrobing.

On stage, R”n”B star Kelis will join the festival, which will be held from August 5 to 8 against the backdrop of Eastnor Castle Deer Park in Herefordshire.

Tunick’s “nude landscapes” will be his first installation at a European music festival.

Volunteers will be instructed to arrive at a specific time and shed their clothing.

Organisers have said that participants” nudity will be handled with “respect and sensitivity”.

Tunick, whose work has been staged in Dublin, New York, Barcelona and at the Sydney Opera House, enlists ordinary members of the public in his projects, putting them at the heart of his artwork.

“For me to be able to create one of my artworks in such a beautiful landscape is a real privilege. I”ve never carried out an installation at a European music festival before. I”m looking forward to doing a fantastical work, celebrating the body at play and interacting with such a unique setting,” the Mirror quoted him as saying. (ANI)

Ex-carer sues painter’s daughter over artworks

A former carer who was taken to court for having watercolours by the late South Australian painter Mervyn Smith is suing the man’s daughter.

Lilya Flaks, 56, was acquitted last year of illegally taking 28 artworks from the prolific painter before his death in 1994.

Ms Flaks argued Smith gave her the paintings when she was his nurse almost 20 years ago.

Ms Flaks is now suing the man’s daughter Michelle Smith for the paintings to be returned.

Ms Flaks has claimed in Adelaide Magistrates Court that police took the paintings from her in March 2008 and without her consent or knowledge and gave them to Ms Smith.

It was told Ms Smith was given the works, valued at about $25,000, by police because there was nowhere else to store them.

She is also suing the Police Commissioner for damages of $10,000 but is not seeking the cost of the paintings from either defendant.

Michael Jackson Opus will pop with unseen lyrics, pictures

London, Aug 28 (ANI): An official book documenting Michael Jackson’s life may soon be out, and it will include some of his own artworks starting right from his childhood days.

Michael Jackson Opus will have an image of the legend in his classic pose with his hand held up figuring in the foreground.

He had drawn and signed on the image while he was still a student at Walton Elementary School, in California.

Also, a 1971 picture showing troops taking a hill, backed up by blazing aircraft, which was drawn by the legend to protest against the Vietnam War, when he was just 13 years old, will also be found in the book.lan to publish the 400-page tome was on even before the King of Pop died of an alleged heart attack in on June 25.

Another sketch of a boy’s face drawn by Jackson during his stay at the Lord Byron hotel in Rome while on his 1988 tour has also been found.

He reportedly told friends back then: “Look at the eyes, look at the eyes,” and signed it “Boyhood M.J. 88 Italy,” reports Timesonline.com.

Also included is his own photograph taken in Minneapolis in May 1988, which he had framed and hung in his games room in his Neverland ranch.

It was apparently one of his favourite performance photographs.

A note dedicated to a Parisian artist whom he had commissioned may be printed too.

It goes: “I know the creator will go, but his work survives, that is why, to escape death I attempt to bind my soul to my work. Dedication, Will, Belief creates all things, Believe. MJ.”

The Michael Jackson Opus will be handbound in leather in a silk clamshell case.

Karl Fowler, chief executive of Opus Media Group, which is producing the book said: “Our researchers are hard at work as we speak looking at so much rich and varied material from Michael Jackson’s life and career, with photographs, art, letters and drawings such as this one.

“We know there are lyrics and notes on songs that he wrote that have never been seen before.” (ANI)

Jeff Koons unveils his works on cartoon character Popeye in London

London, Jul 1 (ANI): American artist Jeff Koons will be holding a major solo show featuring work from his Popeye series in London.

The work will go on public display at the Serpentine Gallery from July 2, and the focus will be on his paintings of iconic cartoon character Popeye, as well as inflatable beach and bath toys, including a giant lobster.

The Serpentine Gallery said that it was the first major exhibition of the artist’s work in a public gallery in England. oons said that he wanted visitors to engage with the works, and feel that “their history, their culture is perfect”.

Popeye and Olive Oyl are central to the series, with many of the pieces on loan from both public and private collections.

The exhibition also includes dolphins, a paddling pool, monkeys and lobsters, which at first glance, look like inflatable toys, but the objects are cast in aluminium and their surfaces are painted.

“Working with everyday objects, it’s about people and the acceptance of others,” the BBC quoted Koons as saying.

“I watched Popeye when I was younger… I always see a little bit of my father in Popeye,” he said.

Koons began his Popeye series in 2002, and compares his “inflatables” to life.

“In our own life we’re inflatable. We exhale and it’s a simple death,” he said.

“They’re (the artworks) in a state of being optimistic. Maybe art is the spinach,” he added. (ANI)

Indebted Jacko spent #4m on statues of Peter Pan, kids, claims ex-lawyer

London, May 26 (ANI): Michael Jackson splurged almost 4 million pounds on statues of Peter Pan and kids while being laden with debts, claims his former lawyer.

Raymone Bain is suing the King of Pop for 33 million pounds claiming her share for deals brokered for the singer between 2003 and 2006.

According to papers filed at the District Court for the US District of Columbia, the Thriller hitmaker filled his Neverland ranch with life-size bronze statues of kids playing on slides or dancing while holding hands.

And he was alleged to have funded the artworks from the 16 million pounds he received for “personal expenses” after putting his half of the ATV Music Publishing company to Sony for sale in 2006.

“The magnitude of his spending is legendary as he has earned and dissipated several fortunes,” the Sun quoted court documents filed by Bain as saying.

“Mr Jackson’s pattern has been to spend to the brink of insolvency and then borrow against his assets to further feed his spending. His unbridled spending would give any other individual a moment of pause,” it was added.

It was further alleged: “Mr Jackson exhibited and continues to exhibit impulsive and irresponsible spending habits without regard to the financial limits of his earnings.”

Most of the statues have now been placed under the hammer to raise money for the star. (ANI)

Hitler’s ‘self-portrait’ may be a fake

London, May 10 (ANI): A self-portrait by Adolf Hitler, which sold at an auction for 10,000 pounds – ten times its reserve price, is now being denounced as fake.

When the painting, signed “A. Hitler 1910″, was sold amid much fanfare last month, the auctioneer’s historical documents expert boasted about the amount of interest that it had received.

However, the same “expert” now admitted that the painting might be a fake after Mandrake pointed out to him that it was, in fact, likely to be a painting of Clapper Bridge on Dartmoor, reports The Telegraph.

“It’s impossible to know exactly if they are genuine,” says Richard Westwood-Brookes, of Mullocks auction house, which sold the picture along with 12 other watercolours that it claimed were by the Nazi leader.

“It’s like if someone gave you a piece of wood and said ‘this is from the Battle of Trafalgar’, you wouldn’t be able to tell 100 per cent if it was. You can never be entirely sure.

“Nobody came forward despite a huge amount of publicity before the sale to say that the paintings were fake,” he added.

Historian David Irving, who initially denounced the “Hitler Diaries” that were published by The Sunday Times in 1983 as forgeries, says he “hopes the buyer has a money-back guarantee”.

He says: “I warned all concerned that the paintings are all fakes. I have handled perhaps a score of genuine Hitler artworks, usually sold by the people, close friends, to whom Hitler had given them. They were all catalogued at one time.” (ANI)

Picasso’s painting, Giacometti sculpture fail to sell at auction

London, May 7 (ANI): An auction in New York witnessed a sheer lack of buyers for a painting by Picasso and a Giacometti sculpture, despite the fact that they had been expected to fetch up to 16million pounds each.

The two items that failed to sell at auction were Picasso’s The Daughter Of The Artist At Two-and-a-half Years With A Boat, and Giacometti’s The Cat.

However, Sotheby’s auction house insists that bidding stopped short of the artworks’ reserve prices.

A spokesman for the company said that 29 of the 36 artworks on offer sold for a total of 40million pounds, well below their 79million pounds estimate.

According to reports, the global financial crisis has adversely affected sales at the auctions of expensive artworks in recent months, and that fewer items are being put up for sale as compared to this time last year.

The most robust bidding at Tuesday’s sale was for an abstract painting by Piet Mondrian called Composition in Black and White, With Double Lines.

It sold for more than 6million pounds, about twice its pre-sale estimate, reports the BBC.

Another Picasso work, the 1971 painting A Woman With A Hat, will be offered for sale on Wednesday at rival auction house Christie’s. The painting is estimated to be worth between 4-5.3million pounds. (ANI)

South Asian artists display their best works in Dhaka

Dhaka, April 17 (IANS) ‘Who are we… we are us,’ says the caption to a painting by Anoma Wijewardene, a Sri Lankan painter who is among the South Asian artists displaying their best works at an exhibition here.

The 15-day exhibition of 25 leading artists from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations was inaugurated at the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, New Age newspaper said Friday.

Indian High Commission, Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the academy have jointly organised the exhibition.

Indian High Commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty was present at the opening.

Visitors to the gallery were welcomed with artist Murtaja Baseer’s acrylic painting titled Unity.

His art defines the strength of SAARC in the form of a girl wearing a crown embedded with national flowers of the SAARC countries.

Indian artist Anupum Sen has produced Deity, another acrylic piece at the exhibition which represents divinity in human.

Painters from India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have worked together in the spirit of friendship, trust and understanding, the newspaper said.

The artworks produced at the exhibition are outcomes of a camp organised at Jaisalmer in India Jan 14-23, 2007.

Information minister Abul Kalam Azad, while inaugurating the event, said: ‘This exhibition will strengthen the cultural bonds of the SAARC region and we are proud to host the show.’