Decades ago, profit-driven business ventures such as McDonald's paved the way for international franchising – bringing the Big Mac to over 119 countries worldwide. In the late 1940's, the Guggenheim Foundation followed suit, paving the way for the international franchising of world class museums.
Continue Reading...Indiana Jones, quite possibly the most famous treasure-plundering, antiquity-hoarding fictional archeologist of our time, has a way of making the process of art reclamation or, depending on one's perspective, appropriation, look grand. Indy, usually covered with grime, soot, debris and a perfect layer of five-o-clock shadow, dodges boulders, bullets and brutes armed with bows and arrows as he swashbuckles through exotic locales in search of his next great treasure. Of course, real life is never as grand and, despite the ongoing presence of evildoers, intrepid seekers are usually stopped dead in their tracks by much less ominous forces than bullets or giant rocks.
Continue Reading...According to an old Roman proverb, "art has no enemy except ignorance." Common usage of the proverb frequently references non-conventional works of art that break with the status quo by challenging aesthetic and/or cultural norms, and are subsequently decried by the establishment. However, in light of recent high-profile court cases to recoup rare cultural icons from world class museums, the proverb takes on new meaning with respect to collectors of antiquities. Indeed, remaining ignorant with respect to a work's provenance can be a costly mistake (and a public relations nightmare) for museums, galleries, and collectors alike.
Continue Reading...The liaison between fashion and contemporary art has been continuously growing changing over the years. Painters, photographers, visual artists, illustrators, performers and creative artists, are commissioned by top luxury brands of fashion and trendy stylists to create new collections, to design their websites, to redesign the concept of their stores, to bring elements of innovation to their catwalks, showrooms and fashion show or to contribute to publications.
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