December 2018 Art News

These eight inspirational artists have found the motivation to create, every day, year after year, into their eighth decade or further, and are still inventing new ways to see the world.
A 1969 painting from The Haunted Mansion in New Orleans Square sparked a flurry of competitive bidding en route to claiming top-lot honors in Heritage Auctions’ Animation Art Auction Dec. 8-9 in Beverly Hills, California. With sell-through rates of 99.1 percent by value and 99.76 percent by lots sold, the sale totaled $1,956,296, making it Heritage Auctions’ most successful Heritage Auctions animation auction in the history of the company, and one of the biggest ever held.
Photographer Erik James Montgomery has a studio in a former fire station in the downtown area of what's often called America's most dangerous city, Camden, NJ. In addition to having a successful commercial and fine arts photography business, Montgomery has mentored at-risk youth for 30 years. He says the work saved him from his own self-destructive path. This is his inspiring story.
Opening at The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL on December 15, Magritte and Dali is a first-of-its-kind special exhibition dedicated to the world’s two most celebrated surrealists, Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali.
British ceramic artist Claire Partington’s site-specific installation Taking Tea is adding a new dimension to the Seattle Art Museum (SAM)’s popular Porcelain Room.
Are you looking closely? Visual educator Amy Herman explains how to use art to enhance your powers of perception and find connections where they may not be apparent. Learn the techniques Herman uses to train Navy SEALs, doctors and crime scene investigators to convert observable details into actionable knowledge with this insightful talk.
Long admired for her meticulous renderings of natural imagery, including ocean waves, desert floors and night skies, artist Vija Celmins has created paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints for more than five decades. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) presents the global debut of Vija Celmins: To Fix the Image in Memory—the first North American retrospective of the artist’s work in 25 years—on view at the museum from December 15, 2018, through March 31, 2019.
An embellished suitcase made by Nellie Two Bear Gates uses incredible traditional beadwork to show the changing way of life of the Lakota tribe.
Following years of research, the DMA presents Ida O’Keeffe: Escaping Georgia’s Shadow which reunites over 40 paintings, watercolors, prints, and drawings by the artist and is accompanied by a catalogue constituting the first publication devoted to the life and artwork of Ida Ten Eyck O’Keeffe (1889-1961).
The smallest, but perhaps most significant of the Card Players series, this painting exemplifies Cézanne's ability to transform the ordinary into the profound.