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News In Brief - Week Ending December 2 2007
By 24 Hour Museum Staff
26/11/2007
Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending December 2 2007.
30.11.2007 - Tate unveils a Christmas tree of Warplanes
Tate Britain has commissioned Fiona Banner to create its Christmas tree for 2007, which is on display until January 1 2008.
At around 30 feet high the traditional Nordic tree is the largest to be installed at Tate Britain. Banner has decorated it with 123 handmade kit models of all the world’s fighter planes that are currently in service, anywhere in the world.
The collection of diminutive models forms an ‘A to Z’ of military airplanes, yet bears no markings of nationality.
Evoking a sense of childlike wonderment, obsession and menace the objects are meant to be seductive and unsettling - alluding to their role as toys, symbols of power, technological marvels and to the brutality of war.
30.11.2007 - Leamington Spa Art gallery acquires Philip Sutton painting
A newly acquired work titled Magnificent! by artist Phillip Sutton (1928 - ) has gone on display at Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum.
The purchase of Magnificent! was made possible by a grant of £5,000 from The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity, £4,500 from the MLA V&A Purchase Grant Fund, and support from the Friends of Leamington Art Gallery.
Senior Curatorial Officer, Chloe Johnson said: "We are delighted to acquire such an excellent example of Sutton’s work for the collection at Leamington Spa."
Image: a photograph of a large gothic fronted building with towers
29.11.2007 - NHM Voted one of seven wonders of London
The Natural History Museum has been voted one of the seven wonders of London by Time Out magazine.
The London listings magazine describes the Museum as a stunning cathedral dedicated to the natural world, where botanists, zoologists, palaeontologists and mineralogists are constantly pushing the boundaries in their fields of work.
The article goes on to highlight the importance of the Museum's collections, which are among the largest and most comprehensive scientific collections in the world. Of great historical importance, the collections are essential for the work of scientists globally.
29.11.2007 - Blue Plaque for Mary Seacole, heroine of the Crimean war
Pioneering nurse and heroine of the Crimean war, Mary Seacole (1805 - 1881), has been (Thursday November 29 2007) commemorated with a Blue Plaque at 14 Soho Square, London, W1, where she lived briefly in the 1850s.
This address is the only known surviving residence of Seacole in London. While living on the upper floor of 14 Soho Square, Seacole began writing her autobiography, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, and it is thought that she was still living here at the time of its publication in July 1857.
Image: a photograph of a large glass fronted building
28.11.2007 - Directorial ins and outs at two of the UK’s top galleries
It's all change again at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead as Director Peter Doroshenko steps down from his post only two years after taking over from Stephen Snoddy.
Mr Doroshenko's departure comes after rumours of a dictatorial style of management and reports of a motion of no confidence from his staff in July 2007. There was also said to be some discord over curatorial decisions, most notably the staging of the populist Beryl Cook exhibition in early 2007.
The resignation also comes just weeks after an exhibition of photographs by American photographer Nan Goldin were taken off public display following the seizure by police of one of the images in a child pornography probe.
Although the Crown Prosecution Service decided it was not an indecent image, the owner of the photographs in the exhibition, Sir Elton John, requested the exhibition be pulled - only nine days into its run.
At the other end of the country The National Gallery in London has appointed Nicholas Penny as its new Director, following the surprise departure of his predecessor, Charles Saumarez Smith to the Royal Academy.
Penny comes from a post at Washington's National Gallery, but worked at the National from 1990 to 2002 as the Clore curator of Renaissance painting.
28.11.2007 - Courtauld Rubens not looted by Nazis, panel rules
The Spoliation Advisory Panel has ruled that three paintings by Sir Peter Paul Rubens in the possession of the Courtauld Institute were not lost to their original owner because of Nazi looting.
The panel has published a report concluding that the three works once owned by Dutch businessman Franz Koenigs were lost because of business/economic reasons.
He had given the paintings to the Lisser and Rosenkranz Bank in 1935 as collateral for a loan. In 1940, the bank went into liquidation because of the impending German invasion of the Netherlands, and called in the Koenigs’ loan. Koenigs chose not to discharge it, and the bank sold the paintings.
The paintings in question are St Gregory with Ss Maurus and Papianus and St Domitilla with Ss Nereus and Achilleus (1606-1607); The Conversion of St Paul (c1610-1612); and The Bounty of James I Triumphing over Avarice (c1632-1633). The Courtauld has welcomed the ruling.
Image: a painting showing three prancing and naked cherubs
27.11.2007 - Wallace Collection wins award for its Xanto catalogue
The Wallace Collection has won the prestigious AXA Art Newspaper Award for best catalogue, produced to accompany the exhibition Xanto:Pottery Painter, Poet, Man of the Italian Renaissance, held at the Wallace Collection earlier this year.
Xanto was the first ever monographic exhibition on a maiolica painter. Its beautifully illustrated catalogue by J V G Mallet, formerly Keeper in the Department of Ceramics and Glass in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the world authority on Xanto’s work, is an indispensable work for those with an interest in Italian Renaissance maiolica.
It includes, for the first time in English translation, a full transcription of Xanto’s sequence of 44 sonnets addressed to Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, and another first, a comprehensive list of works by or attributed to Xanto.
A catalogue produced by the Wordsworth Trust was ranked equal third with those from the British Museum and British Library.
27.11.2007 - Worthing Library needs public help to preserve rare photo archive
Staff at Worthing Library are desperately seeking volunteers to help preserve and catalogue a vast new collection of unique and historic photographs.
The County Library Service have acquired 116,000 images dating back to the late 19th century, including rare photos of Worthing during the Second World War and images of surrounding towns and villages from the 1880s to 1945.
Interviews of volunteers will take place, by appointment, on Monday December 10. Anyone interested should contact Martin Hayes, County Local Studies Librarian at Worthing Library on 01903-704811 or email at martin.hayes@westsussex.gov.uk
Image: a photo of a family using sailing ship models
26.11.2007 - National Maritime Museum wins gold
The National Maritime Museum Cornwall has won a gold award as Tourist Attraction of the Year at the 2007 Cornwall Tourism Awards.
At an award ceremony on Thursday November 22, the Falmouth-based museum joined other gold category winners in receiving a stunning glass trophy for their outstanding achievements in the tourism sector.
“Winning this award underlines the fact that we’re not a stuffy old museum but a place that is constantly changing and that appeals to all age groups," said Museum Director, Jonathan Griffin. "It is wonderful to have this recognised by others in tourism."
Mr Griffin praised the efforts of staff, volunteers and trustees and pledeged to work harder in 2008. Early next year the museum is opening a major new exhibition called Under the Sea and plans are already under way for a busy summer, with the Tall Ships Race coming to Falmouth in September.
26.11.2007 - Blue plaque for theatre architect Frank Matcham
The legendary theatre architect Frank Matcham (1854 - 1920) was commemorated on November 22 2007 with an English Heritage blue plaque at 10 Haslemere Road, London, N8, where he lived for nine years, from 1895 to 1904.
Matcham was responsible for designing and building some of the most celebrated theatres in Britain, including the internationally famous London Coliseum (1904) and Palladium (1910), and the lavish Grand Theatre (1894) and Tower Ballroom (1899) in Blackpool.
Although he never qualified as an architect and was snubbed by some in his profession during his lifetime, the lively genius of his work is nowadays widely recognised.
26.11.2007 – Your memories wanted by The Beacon
Did you work in Whitehaven hospital when it was in the castle? Were you a Cumberland Wrestler? Did your family take in a wartime evacuee? The Beacon in Whitehaven, Cumbria, is looking for memories of local life to kickstart a new oral history project in the community.
If you would like to submit your stories for recording and to be preserved for future generations, contact Michelle Kelly or Averil Dawson at the Beacon on 01946 592303, or email thebeacon@copelandbc.gov.uk.
Image: a painting of a woman in a room with a cat
26.11.2007 - Paula Woof wins Derby City Open
The overall winner of the 2007 Derby City Open, the annual art competition at Derby Museums, has been announced as Paula Woof from the West Midlands, with her oil painting ‘When’. She will be given a solo show at the Museum in 2009.
In the meantime the Derby City Open exhibition runs at both Derby Museum and Art Gallery and The Silk Mill from December 1 2007 until January 20 2008.
The competition attracts entries by artists from all over the region and nearly 600 three-dimensional and two-dimensional entries were received this year.
The Tregoning Gallery Award of £300 went to Angelo Murphy’s ‘Head Study,’ a charcoal and pastel drawing. Angelo is a Nottingham based artist.
John E Wright printers gave a prize of £250 of artists materials to Nick Hedderly for his oil painting ‘Night Theme – Derby’. Nottingham based artist Nick is a previous winner of Derby City Open.
This year visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite piece of work in The People’s Choice Award. The winner of this will be announced on January 7 2008.
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National Portrait Gallery Acquires Tudor Double Portrait
Sheffield Metal Master Wins Museum's Inaugural Design Award
DCMS Launches Consultation Into The Future Of World Heritage Sites
A Selection Of Festive Fairs - Fun Days and Exhibitions
Royal Society Announces Plans For 350th Anniversary
Art Website ArtisanCam Wins Coveted Children's BAFTA
Former Floorboards Of Founding Father Franklin Facilitate Funny Four
Mark Leckey Wins The 2008 Turner Prize And Scoops £25,000
Library Thief Update: Sentencing Adjourned Until January 16, 2009
Fund Aims To Realise Long-Standing Campaign For Cardiff City Museum
Culture Secretary Slaps Export Ban On George I Chandelier
Shakespeare's Globe Costumes Go On Show In Nottingham
Britglyph Art Campaign Uses Web To Make Mass Geoglyph
Inaugural Awards Ceremony Honours UK Arts Philanthropists
Rare Silver Cup Commemorating Coronation Of Charles II Is Saved For The Nation
London Fire Brigade Museum Escapes Closure - For Now
Another Busy Year For Archaeology On Orkney In 2008
Severndroog Castle To Be Restored Thanks To Lottery Grant
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