Renata Cherlise’s recently released book, Black Archives: A Photographic Celebration of Black Life, makes clear that Black families have potent stories to tell. Cherlise says in a new Colossal Interview:

Spending time with these scenes of everyday life made me feel connected to my ancestors and inspired me to think about photography as a form of individual and collective history. I became interested in images of the Black experience that I had never seen in mainstream media or textbooks—pictures that capture the intimacy, beauty, and nuance of our everyday lives.

There are first dates, barbeques, trips to Paris, holidays. There is togetherness, laughter, love. These photos testify—through changing fashion, hairstyles, automobile models, photo types, and other markers of time—that Black families have always been part of history, and our stories, our celebrations, have always been an integral part of the historical record.

I spoke with Cherlise via e-mail about the origins of her love for family photos, her book project, and why she considers snapshots “the most authentic storytelling medium in the written and visual language.”

Read the interview. 

David and Stephen Hunter

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Interview: Renata Cherlise On Her ‘Black Archives’ Project, the Credibility of Candid Photos, and the Look of Black Joy appeared first on Colossal.

In part of the world’s first nationwide distribution of carbon credits, the government of Guyana announced Indigenous communities will receive millions as it signed off on a $750 million carbon credit sale to petroleum company Hess Corporation. The deal, however, has spurred a series of mixed feelings and major accusations.

Some climate experts and Indigenous leaders are raising serious questions over whether the carbon credit scheme accurately accounts for carbon emissions reductions and if communities were legally consulted before nearly all the forests in the country were put onto the carbon market.

“If you offset an emission with something which is not an emission reduction then you have no climate benefit,” Charlotte Streck, director at Climate Focus, told Mongabay.

Streck is part of a coalition of climate experts who warn that the methodology used in this program to calculate the carbon storage of forests and generate corresponding credits for entities seeking to compensate for (“offsetting”) their emissions is vastly overstated. “Hess, the global oil and gas company with oil exploration concessions in Guyana, now claims the credits help the company achieve its net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”

ART, the independent institution that issued the credits under its TREES framework, said in a statement that the process to develop the credits was rigorous, transparent, consultative, and an important means to provide climate funding for countries and Indigenous communities already protecting high-conservation-value forests.

This week, disagreements over the monumental carbon deal also reached a new height when an Indigenous human rights group, the Amerindian People’s Association (APA), filed a formal complaint to ART over Guyana’s carbon credit scheme for lack of consultation. This is contrary to the support for the carbon scheme by the National Toshaos’ Council (NTC), a representative body in the country for all toshaos (Indigenous village leaders) who are elected by their village councils.

“I think [this deal] means a lot because we only have 12% of the population, but we are getting 15% [of the money from the agreement],” said Derrick John, the NTC chair. “I don’t see any risk because the government won’t be taking back any resources, whether it’s our land or forests. So, we’re gaining from it.”

In total, Guyana will receive at least $750 million until 2030 from its deal with Hess. Of this, 15% is earmarked for Indigenous communities for Village Sustainability Plans, community-led investment plans on infrastructure, livelihood, environment and more. The first payment to communities, split in a series with more to come, is $22.5 million. Indigenous communities will also receive support through multi-community and national programs, including $13.3 million for the Indigenous land titling program.

The government announced that the country achieved net-zero carbon emissions last year through its vast swaths of Amazon Rainforest that serve as carbon sinks. Now, all the South American nation’s remaining forested areas are on the carbon market for companies to achieve their net-zero emissions and offsetting ambitions, Pradeepa Bholanath, senior director for climate and REDD+ at the Ministry of Natural Resources, told Mongabay.

Forests included in the carbon credits to be issued total 18 million hectares (44 million acres), including 2.2 million hectares (5.4 million acres) of currently titled Indigenous lands. Hess has purchased roughly a third of these credits.

Read more: Carbon offsets: A key tool for climate action, or a license to emit?

2 + 2 = 5?

Guyana has the world’s fastest-growing economy in large part due to massive offshore oil deposits discovered in recent years and the dramatic rise in oil prices. Hess has major interests in the country’s oil reserves, as does ExxonMobil, which indicated it may also consider purchasing carbon credits from the country. But the government has played down the dissonance between being a growing oil-producing nation and its emissions reduction goals, attributing it to its oil revenue that can be directed to the green economy and its vast, intact forests that capture and store carbon.

However, the problem for climate experts critiquing the credit scheme is that the country’s forests are in fact, intact.

The South American nation has some of the best-preserved forests in the world, with little history of deforestation. ART has placed it among a handful of countries, like neighboring Suriname and, in Africa, Gabon and the Republic of Congo, as states that enjoy high forest cover and low deforestation (HFLD).

Carbon credits are generated from projects that aim to prevent the loss of existing carbon sinks, often forests. The number of credits made available (measured in metric tons of CO2) is thus dependent on how much of this carbon-sequestering capacity is saved from being lost.

But as intact forests within HFLD states aren’t under imminent threat of deforestation, the experts argue that HFLD credits don’t represent additional climate action or advertised emissions reductions.

“A high-quality carbon offset project must have an exclusive claim to its greenhouse gas reductions, meaning the reductions would not have happened without the project,” Robert Nasi and Pham Thu Thuy, senior forestry scientists at CIFOR-ICRAF, wrote in a Mongabay commentary about the latest controversies surrounding the carbon market. This is known as “additionality” because the emissions reductions, in this case the protection of forests, would not have happened without carbon offset credits. Typically, this means that the project prevents imminent deforestation from occurring.

Traditionally, carbon credits issued for REDD+ efforts (reducing emissions through deforestation and degradation) estimate emissions cuts by comparing historical levels of deforestation in a region with imminent deforestation. HFLD regions, however, allocate additional carbon credits that go beyond this baseline. By crediting and counting the protection of what already exists as carbon reductions, it jeopardizes the math on true global carbon emissions, reductions and meeting climate goals, critics say.

They therefore shouldn’t be eligible for carbon market finance, otherwise they can seriously undermine carbon markets, Streck told Mongabay.

The HFLD carbon crediting approach adds a 0.05% adjustment of the forest’s carbon stock into the calculation on top of the regular crediting calculation. The ART board argues that this adjustment is very conservative and is required to consider knock-on degradation and past removals associated with forest loss.

In Guyana’s case, about 84% of the 33.5 million jurisdictional ART credits issued between 2016 and 2020 result from this HFLD adjustment, the coalition of experts has calculated. “Without the HFLD adjustment, emissions reductions would have totaled 5.3 million [credits], based solely on avoided emissions for forests under more imminent threat.”

Hess is purchasing 37.5 million ART-issued credits (the total from 2016 to 2030), with each credit representing the equivalent of 1 metric ton of CO2 emissions. To date, Hess has bought $112.5 million worth of credits from the government.

A statement by the ART board argues the situation in and near these intact forests is changing rapidly as global demand for agricultural commodities, timber and infrastructure continues to drive forest loss and degradation. These forests are therefore in need of mechanisms to ensure their continued protection and it’s important to reward the historical performance of Indigenous communities in protecting and maintaining their HFLD status, the board said.

“Market solutions must urgently begin to incentivize action to protect forests without a significant history of deforestation,” the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Rainforest Foundation Norway and Re:wild said in a joint statement to Carbon Pulse on the controversy.

In line with the carbon scheme, Guyana will have to mitigate the drivers of deforestation and support the maintenance of low deforestation rates, including implementing forest monitoring systems and policies for improved forest governance.

Streck from Climate Focus said she agrees with the board that climate finance is needed to protect high-integrity forests and that there’s been an international failure in rewarding these regions. However, she said the problem arises when carbon market rules are bent to create that money.

“The integrity of carbon markets is a good that needs to be protected for this market to be solid,” she said. As a solution, projects should use a creditable, regional calculation that avoids financial and private sector incentives to inflate them. She noted the projects with higher confidence are reforestation credits by community reforestation and agroforestry projects.

Mongabay requested a comment from Hess, which responded with a December 2022 press release announcing the deal to purchase the credits from the Guyana government.

“It’s probably a little unpalatable that it’s an oil company buying the credits,” said Josh Lichtenstein, program manager at the NGO Rainforest Foundation US, which has been working in Guyana for the past 20 years and is a partner of the APA. “But the idea that there’s private sector funding going into this market, I think they [policymakers] all feel very positive.”

Lichtenstein told Mongabay that policymakers are pushing for more climate funding from voluntary carbon markets and the private sector because there’s not enough public finance to meet the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperatures below 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) of pre-industrial levels.

“The goal … is to combat the climate change effect without undermining the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities,” Lichtenstein said.

Read more: Forest carbon offsets are a tool, not a silver bullet (commentary)

Consulting the right Indigenous groups?

But Indigenous groups in Guyana are not all in agreement about whether their rights are being protected, sparking a tense disagreement between some of the country’s largest Indigenous bodies: the NTC, representing the country’s elected toshaos, and the APA, an Indigenous human rights organization. Even Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has waded into the disagreement, issuing a statement condemning the formal complaint letter by the APA about the carbon scheme and bringing into question the APA’s motives and representation of Indigenous peoples.

In July 2022, all 170 elected toshaos engaged with the country’s 2030 low carbon strategy team, which included discussion on agreements like the Hess deal, said Bholanath from the ministry of natural resources.

“A resolution was passed, with no objection [by the NTC] which endorsed the [strategy] inclusive of all its elements,” she said.

Bholanath added there were consultations conducted with the government, private sector and civil society, including the APA and other Indigenous groups, on issuing and marketing carbon credits. There has also been broad support from across society for such a program, she told Mongabay.

“We are the legal representatives,” said the NTC’s John. “Our people democratically elected us in our office … the NTC have membership in all 200 and odd communities. We are directly linked to these communities through our membership.”

However, Laura George, governance and rights coordinator at the APA, said toshaos don’t have the authority to sign off on such a deal, and that therefore it can’t be said to have obtained the free, prior and informed consent of all villages in Guyana that didn’t properly engage on the deal. This authority falls under the Village General Meeting (VGM), she said, which is the highest decision-making forum of any community.

Guyana’s Amerindian Act doesn’t give the NTC any governance authority or any other authority to make decisions on behalf of Indigenous peoples and their lands, the APA said in its complaint letter sent to the ART secretariat last month. At most, its functions involve providing advice and guidance to the Ministry of Amerindian affairs, George said, disagreeing with the vice president’s interpretation of the act.

“Who decided that 15% of any royalties that we get from the carbon trade would be OK for us? Because we have not been consulted on it,” she said.

The letter requested the ART secretariat and board freeze and suspend the credits issued to Guyana that have not yet been purchased and to not issue more until the problems they raised have been addressed.

The ART secretariat told Mongabay that per its standard, this complaint process will not impact the credits already issued to the government of Guyana. However, as the agreement by the NTC is fundamental, if the NTC were to change its mind, the credits relating to Indigenous lands would be subtracted from the total carbon credits available.

Levi Sucre Romero, an Indigenous Bribri leader and co-chair of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), told Mongabay that he and other Indigenous leaders engaging with ART were also surprised to see the carbon credits launched in Guyana. He said they had a verbal agreement with representative at ART TREES to collaboratively build an additional layer to their standards to ensure the identification of Indigenous rights and full and effective participation of Indigenous peoples.

“They went off on their own to do certifications which then generates these kinds of problems like what happened in Guyana,” Sucre said. “And that’s exactly what we want to avoid.”

Aster Global, the auditor of the carbon credits issuing process, was not available for comment. But in an observation, the auditor said that endorsement by the NTC is a key aspect of the deal. The carbon credit deal meets all requirements of ART TREES without any qualifications or limiting conditions, it added.

Banner image: Spangled cotinga in Guyana. Image by Mathias Appel via Flickr (CC0 1.0).

Related listening from Mongabay’s podcast: We discuss what makes for successful mangrove restoration projects and the inclusion of Indigenous and local community rights in carbon offset schemes. Listen here:

Oil production or carbon neutrality? Why not both, Guyana says

FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.

Gallery opening in Rockport

ROCKPORT — Ken Knowles Fine Art, at 10A and 10C Main St., in Rockport has a new adjacent gallery space.

The Rockport Gallery features works by celebrated local artists, including John Terelak, Eric Tobin, Michele O’Neil, Ryan Davis, Mark Atkinson, Tim Kelly, Ken DeWaard and Chris Williams. The gallery opens this Saturday, April 29.

In the nearby courtyard, a large dragon sculpture by Williams has been installed. The gallery also will represent several nautical pieces among others by Williams.

Bank hosting art show, reception

BankGloucester is hosting a show of works by artist Sandra Kavanaugh now through June 16 in its lobby at 160 Main St. It is hosting a public opening this Saturday, April 29, from 10 a.m. to noon so the public may meet the artist, ask questions, and enjoy light refreshments while viewing the artwork.

Kavanaugh is an award-winning pastel artist, and a graduate of Massachusetts College of Art. She is a juried member of the Copley Society, North Shore Arts Association, Newburyport Art Association and the New Hampshire Art Association. She is a signature member of the Pastel Society of New Hampshire and is a juried associate member of the Pastel Society of America. She has recently achieved Master Circle status with the International Association of Pastel Artists.

“I love the coast in all weather and every season. Using pastels which are pigments in their purest form, I render the transparency of the cresting waves and the patterns of light and shadow. I want you to experience the power and beauty of the ocean and as you view this collection of paintings and feel that you are standing on the shoreline, hearing the crashing waves and feeling the salt spray on your face,” wrote Kavanaugh in an artist statement.

Company wins 4 ‘best of’ awards

HireClix, a recruitment marketing services company based at 3 Heratige Way in Gloucester, was recognized as “best company” in four categories of the 2022 Comparably Awards: CEOs for Women, Compensation, Perks & Benefits, and Company for Women.

“At HireClix, we pride ourselves on our ability to help companies build and showcase their employer brand, because we understand the importance of employer branding firsthand,” said Neil Costa, CEO and founder at HireClix, in a prepared statement. “One of our core values and guiding principles at HireClix is to ‘be a good human.’ Earning these award recognitions reaffirms our commitment to that principle, helping to enrich our brand and ensure our employees know they are welcome, cared for and valued.”

“As a female leader at HireClix, I am proud to work for a company that has not only received these recognitions as a best place to work for women, but also has a leadership team of 50% women,” said Kara Yarnot, VP of Strategic Consulting Services at HireClix. “We don’t just talk about supporting women, we have real policies and programs that ensure all women have the resources, tools and mentorship to help them advance their careers while feeling respected and appreciated for their contributions.”

Winners of the Comparably awards are determined based on employee responses to a series of 50-plus structured and comprehensive workplace questions in nearly 20 core culture categories. The criteria includes compensation, leadership, professional development, work-life balance, and perks and benefits. Comparably applies a proprietary algorithm to each award to determine the top-rated companies. All categories are segmented by company size (large or small/mid-size).

A pipe organ soars like a skyscraper-lined boulevard and a Steinway piano’s action mechanism transforms into a sun-speckled tunnel in atmospheric photographs by Charles Brooks (previously). His ongoing Architecture in Music series highlights the inner structures of renowned instruments, imbuing the interiors with airy light. Bringing the camera inside a variety of string, brass, keyboard, and woodwind instruments, he offers unique insight into rarely seen textures, details, and patinas. He angles the camera from a low viewpoint, mimicking the perspective of standing in a grand space and looking up at architectural details like columns or skylights.

Brooks has played cello for most of his life and for two decades, performed in orchestras around the world, fueling his curiosity about how instruments are made and who built or played them. Unless you’re a luthier, it’s unlikely you would ever see the inside of a violin, so the photographer wanted to highlight the precision and individuality of a wide variety of examples. Proffering glimpses of a range of interiors—where the real magic happens—Brooks highlights the volumes and components designed to allow sound to swell throughout meticulously assembled forms.

You can purchase prints of many of Brooks’ photographs on his website, and follow updates on Instagram.

“Charles Threress Double Bass c. 1860.”

“‘Siete Lunas’ Guitar by Roberto Hernandez”

“1995 Low C Prestige Bass Clarinet”

Left: “Lockey Hill Cello c. 1780.” Right: “The Exquisite Architecture of Steinway, Part 8,” Steinway Spirio R piano

“Pianola”

“Inside an Acoustic Guitar, Part 2”

“St. Marks Pipe Organ, Part 1”

“Hopf Violin c. 1880, Part 1”

“Taylor GS Mini Guitar”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Architectonic Photographs by Charles Brooks Illuminate the Atmospheric Interiors of Historic Instruments appeared first on Colossal.

QUINCY (WGEM) – You have a chance to show off the art you’ve been working on or collecting, in a non-juried art exhibit.

Quincy Art Center officials encourage you to submit art of any medium for the 100th Anniversary Exhibit.

Typically, the art center displays exhibits from students or host competitions.

Director of Engagement and Marketing, Kelsey Deters, said it’s important to create a community show to celebrate the anniversary to highlight the talents of all residents.

“I think it is really exciting to see someone who is, you know, in Kindergarten or first grade who’s taking their first art class and then you have someone who has an advanced degree in art and seeing kind of everything in between there, I think really shows the impact and the power of art in our community,” Deters said.

You can drop off your creations at the art center between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., May 3 to May 6.

An open reception to view the art will take place on May 27.

Copyright 2023 WGEM. All rights reserved.

Cynthia Rebolledo

Martin Chan/South China Morning Post via Getty Images

The global art market is undeniably a behemoth valued at $67.8 billion, according to the 2023 Art Basel and UBS global art market report. Sales increased 3% over the last year, bringing the market above pre-pandemic levels. That growth was driven by sales from the high end of the market, which have captured the public imagination. In truth, this high-priced art market works on a skewed supply and demand curve.

“The art market functions as a big consensus marketing machine,” Olav Velthuis, a University of Amsterdam professor who studies the sociology of the global art market, told Vox. “So what people do is look at quality signals.” These signals can include an artist’s exhibits in a museum, the collectors buying an artist’s work, and what a curator says about an artist. It’s word-of-mouth amplified.

It is difficult to place a value on art, yet in auction after auction, many do. Sometimes for reasons having almost nothing to do with the artwork itself. Art can be a valuable investment for the rich, a strategy to diversify their portfolio. Buyers can purchase work from a gallery at a relatively low price and sell it for much more down the road.

There is no better example of this than the 1973 Scull sale, where Robert C. Scull, a New York taxi magnate, sold his 50 best abstract expressionist and pop art paintings at Sotheby Parke Bernet. The auction put post-war and contemporary art on the market, introducing the world to now-household names like Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns.

Scull’s collection sold for multiple times what he paid for the works driven by smart marketing and publicity. A Cy Twombly piece he purchased for $750 went for $40,000, for example. Since then, the market has gone into overdrive, selling artworks for prices many of us will never see in a lifetime.

Nevertheless, great works aren’t just Eurocentric pieces prized by a select cadre of specialists—influential art is created daily by artists with something to say. Look beyond auction houses and peruse local galleries and neighborhood art fairs. Purchasing straight from the maker is also an excellent option that returns profits into an artist’s pockets.

While you ponder your next art purchase, Singulart researched the most expensive paintings ever sold and highlighted 10 of the past decade from 10 different artists. Only confirmed sales from open auctions and private sales were considered. Data was collected from several sources, including Masterworks and The Art Wolf. Court records, articles, auction house archives, and official documents were also reviewed.

‘Nu couche (sur le cote gauche)’ by Amedeo Modigliani

ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images

– Selling price: $170.4 million
– Inflation-adjusted price: $199.5 million
– Painted in: 1917-1918
– Sold in: 2015

Amedeo Modigliani’s “Nu couché (sur le côté gauche),” a sprawling oil on canvas nude, is the largest work in a series of 22 modern nudes in repose and shows the entire female figure. The ever-controversial piece was acquired by Shanghai billionaire couple Liu Yiqian and his wife Wang Wei, who purchased it for their Long Museum. The sale became the second-highest price ever paid at auction.

According to Christie’s, the piece caused outrage when the Galerie Berthe Weill in Paris exhibited it in 1917. Police called the painting “an offense against public morals” and demanded the gallery remove the artwork. Even in the 1950s, the New York postal office decided against featuring it on a postcard.

‘Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’)’ by Pablo Picasso

JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

– Selling price: $179.4 million
– Inflation-adjusted price: $209.7 million
– Painted in: 1955
– Sold in: 2015

Pablo Picasso’s vibrant “Les Femmes d’Alger (Version “O”)” sold for a world auction record at Christie’s for any work of art. According to auction details, Picasso’s masterpiece was property from a distinguished fine art gallery in Paris that Victor and Sally Ganz, known Picasso connoisseurs acquired.

The sale smashed the artwork’s previous sales price of $31,902,500. The oil on canvas painting displays Picasso’s signature cubism and vibrant color at the forefront and is said to be a lament to Matisse, his friend, and great artistic rival. It’s part of Picasso’s series on the Delacroix ‘femmes’ that consisted of 100 studies on paper and 15 paintings.

‘Wasserschlangen II’ by Gustav Klimt

JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images

– Selling price: $187 million
– Inflation-adjusted price: $222.6 million
– Painted in: 1907
– Sold in: 2013

Controversy shrouds Klimt’s highly detailed “Wasserschlangen II” or “Water Serpents II.” The oil painting, depicting intertwined nude enigmatic female imagery and a red serpent flowing horizontally, had been seized by Nazis from the painting’s original owners––the Steiner family––in Austria.

Gustav Ucicky, a filmmaker and director through many Austrian cinematic eras, from silent movies to Nazi propaganda films, acquired “Wasserschlangen II” along with other Klimt pieces and left the collection to his third wife.

It’s said Ucicky is the illegitimate son of Klimt, and his widow Ursula Ucicky sold the painting through consignment with Sotheby’s in 2012, with the Steiner heirs supposedly receiving half of the selling price. Art dealer Yves Bouvier purchased the painting and sold the piece to Russian oligarch Dmitri Rybolovlev. The two and Sotheby’s have been in ongoing court battles over fraudulent inflated art deals, including the Klimt masterpiece and Sotheby’s involvement.

‘The Standard Bearer’ by Rembrandt

Nacho Calonge // Getty Images

– Selling price: $197.9 million
– Inflation-adjusted price: $197.9 million
– Painted in: 1636
– Sold in: 2021

Long held by the Rothschild family, Rembrandt’s “The Standard Bearer” was purchased by the Dutch government with the support of the Rijksmuseum and the Rembrandt Association. According to the Rijksmuseum, the painting was owned by private collectors, including England’s King George IV and the Rothschild family, who acquired the piece in 1844.

The masterpiece depicts Rembrandt as dressed in the grand outfit of standard bearers. These militiamen were at the front line in 17th-century wars and played a crucial role in the Eighty Years’ War, which eventually birthed the independent Netherlands. As such, the painting harkens back to the country’s birth story.

The work is a precursor to Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch.” After a tour of 12 museums in 12 provinces in the Netherlands, the historic painting will permanently enter the Rijksmuseum collection in Amsterdam. The tour concludes in May 2023.

‘No. 20 (Yellow Expanse)’ by Mark Rothko

Ben Martin // Getty Images

– Selling price: $200 million
– Inflation-adjusted price: $233.2 million
– Painted in: 1953
– Sold in: 2014

At 10 feet tall and 15 feet wide, Rothko’s luminous ‘No. 20 (Yellow Expanse)’ was sold via a private sale. The abstract piece belonged to Rachel Lambert “Bunny” Mellon, an American horticulturist, philanthropist, art collector, and wife of philanthropist Paul Mellon.

Mellon is responsible for helping Jackie Kennedy, a close friend, redesign the famous White House Rose Garden. Mellon had long championed Rothko and even purchased unstretched pieces from the artist’s studio floor. According to Sotheby’s, who helped facilitate the private sale, Mellon owned nine large-scale paintings from Rothko’s estate.

‘Number 17A’ by Jackson Pollock

Tony Vaccaro // Getty Images

– Selling price: $200 million
– Inflation-adjusted price: $233.3 million
– Painted in: 1948
– Sold in: 2015

Jackson Pollock’s improvisational and abstract flinging techniques became known as his “drip paintings.” Pollock’s recognizable fluid expressionism comes through in his “Number 17A,” an oil painting on fiberboard canvas.

In 1949, “Number 17A” was one of three paintings featured in a Life magazine article, “Jackson Pollock: Is He the Greatest Living Painter in the United States?” Pollock is now regarded as among the 20th century’s great artists. “Number 17A” was sold in a private sale by the David Geffen Foundation to hedge fund investor and Citadel founder Kenneth C. Griffin.

‘Nafea faa Ipoipo? (When Will You Marry?)’ by Paul Gauguin

DANI POZO/AFP via Getty Images

– Selling price: $210 million
– Inflation-adjusted price: $247.2 million
– Painted in: 1892
– Sold in: 2015

“Nafea faa Ipoipo? (When Will You Marry?)” was included in Gauguin’s Paris exhibition of 1893 at Galerie Durand-Ruel, listed for the extraordinary price of 1,500 francs––but it did not sell. However, that didn’t hurt its prospects in the 21st century when it sold for millions in 2015.

The painting shows two Tahitian women, one dressed in a colorful wraparound skirt with a flower in her hair, turning away from another woman dressed in a missionary-style dress. Some believe the painting alludes to the changes happening on Tahitian lands under French rule.

This first visit to Tahiti resulted in some 60 canvases of Tahitian life, 37 of which were eventually exhibited in Paris. Gauguin died in 1903 at the age of 54 from a morphine overdose. Rudolf Staechelin, a former Sotheby’s executive, sold the painting from his family trust of impressionist and post-impressionist works in a private sale. A lawsuit followed the deal, stating the oil painting sold in 2014 for $90 million less than originally reported.

‘Orange Marilyn’ by Andy Warhol

Martin Chan/South China Morning Post via Getty Images

– Selling price: $225 million
– Inflation-adjusted price: $248 million
– Painted in: 1964
– Sold in: 2018

Andy Warhol’s pop art often embraced celebrity culture, best exemplified by Marilyn Monroe as his muse for his iconic “Orange Marilyn.” The piece is modeled after a publicity image of Monroe from the 1953 film “Niagara.”

According to Christie’s, Warhol began his Marilyn series soon after Monroe died in Los Angeles at 36 years old. In using Monroe’s image, Warhol embraced her as a true media product. Warhol eventually produced 12 single images of Marilyn informally titled according to flavor: “Cherry Marilyn,” “Grape Marilyn,” and “Mint Marilyn,” among them. “Orange Marilyn” silkscreen sold privately to art collector and financier Kenneth C. Griffin.

‘Interchange’ by Willem de Kooning

Robert R. McElroy // Getty Images

– Selling price: $300 million
– Inflation-adjusted price: $350.4 million
– Painted in: 1955
– Sold in: 2015

Willem de Kooning sold his abstract expressionist on canvas, “Interchange,” in 1955 for $4,000. Kooning’s oil painting features quick gestural marks with emphatic light and color depicting a landscape. Eventually, the David Geffen Foundation sold “Interchange” to Kenneth C. Griffin in a private sale that included Andy Warhol’s “Number 17A.”

According to Vanity Fair, both paintings were displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago, where Griffin was a trustee, then quietly moved to the Norton Museum of Art in Florida.

‘Salvator Mundi’ by Leonardo da Vinci

TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images

– Selling price: $450.3 million
– Inflation-adjusted price: $507.4 million
– Painted in: 1490-1519
– Sold in: 2017

According to the “Salvator Mundi” provenance, the emotive oil on canvas was commissioned by King Louis XII of France and his wife, Anne of Brittany, following the conquest of Milan and Genoa sometime after 1500. From there, the story of this “male Mona Lisa” painting gets murky.

Da Vinci’s masterpiece depicts a half-length figure of Christ as the savior of the world, facing the viewer and holding a crystal orb in his left hand as he raises his right in benediction. “Salvator Mundi” was traced around 1900, when it was positioned as a work of a lesser hand, Bernardino Luini.

The painting was part of an estate sale in 2005 in New Orleans, where dealer and art historian Dr. Robert Simon and his associate Alexander Parish purchased it for just $1,175. Conservator Dianne Dwyer Modestini restored the piece—some say excessively—from 2005 to 2017.

In 2013, art dealer Yves Bouvier purchased the painting for $83 million and resold the piece to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev for $127.5 million in less than 48 hours. Rybolovlev then put it up for sale at Christie’s––and sold it to an anonymous buyer.

Some speculate its secretive buyer could be the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who may have the painting sequestered on a superyacht, away from public view. Two documentaries, “The Lost Leonardo” and ” The Saviour for Sale,” examine the painting’s strange story.

This story originally appeared on Singulart and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.

HIGH POINT, N.C., April 27, 2023 – The High Point Market is a fast-paced environment with thousands of home furnishings experts from across the globe in attendance. High Point University students worked alongside industry leaders from April 22-26 at the spring High Point Market to gain life skills in the furniture, interior design and sales sectors.

Erica Wingo, a 2007 HPU graduate who now is senior vice president of merchandising and marketing for Baker Furniture, described the professionalism of HPU students who work in the showroom as impressive.

“Their energy and enthusiasm is extremely welcomed and appreciated,” said Wingo. “When we started this partnership with HPU a few years ago, it brought a different dynamic to our showroom that we were missing. Everybody has responded so well to it. The students have opportunities to connect with our clients. It’s a fun place to work. It’s a fun place to be.”

Working his second market at the Baker Interiors Group showroom and finding this level of support during his college career has been incredible, said Michael J. Lee, a junior biology major and healthcare management minor from Toms River, New Jersey.

“To be able to see someone take such care for us as students and welcome us into their space and their careers is enlightening,” said Lee. “The connections I have established at Baker rivel any opportunity I have gotten anywhere else because it’s individuals who are not coming just from the Triad or North Carolina. It’s individuals who are worldwide. They’re investing not only in the brand but the people who are behind it. It’s the people who make the difference.”

William Lyon, a 2013 HPU graduate who is now the principal interior designer at William Lyon Designs in Stamford, Connecticut, took time during his High Point Market visit to speak with a class of design students on campus. He described how working as an intern in the Lillian August showroom led toward becoming a senior designer and his career as a sole proprietor.

“I had a lot of job opportunities through market,” said Lyon. “I really gained all the knowledge I could working with Lillian August and clients, making a network for myself with other designers. Really that’s how it all began.”

This is the third time Fiona Walsh, a junior interior design major from Alexandria, Virginia, has worked at the furniture market for Loloi. She has worked in the showroom during the High Point Market since spring 2022. The market is held each spring and fall.

“It’s really nice to come back and get closer with all the people because now I know them much better than I did the first time,” said Walsh. “I’ve learned a lot about helping customers and trying to point them in the right direction. Even if I’m not the one who can always help them, I’ve learned how to put them in touch with the right person. I’ve met a lot of people who are from either Washington, D.C. or northern Virginia. That’s a lot of fun to meet people who are from where I live and see they are coming to High Point. I can make contacts with them and get in touch when I’m looking for internships.”

Maddie Kiessling, a junior interior design major from Fredrick, Maryland, worked as a sales assistant for A.R.T. Home Furnishings and Jonathan Charles Fine Furniture.

“By working in a showroom I’ve learned a lot about sales, which I’m interested in although it’s different from interior design,” said Kiessling. “I met many very intelligent designers, and they also offered me internship experiences. It’s a great way to have connections in a quick manner and to be in the place you love as a designer. I also love the way that people can create furniture and have their own line. It interests me to have my own brand as well. I love meeting everyone. Being in a professional setting definitely sets me up for interviews and jobs.”

Anna Hankins, a junior interior design major from Lynchburg, Virginia, worked as a sales intern at the Universal Furniture showroom.

“Sales interns at Universal give showroom tours to designers and brick-and-mortar retailers who come into the showroom,” said Hankins. “We assist sales reps and provide answers to questions about product and services.

“This is my fifth time working High Point Market,” she said. “I have absolutely loved the practical experience it gives me, along with networking opportunities. Just one way of how working the market has helped me so far is exemplified in the amazing internship I gained last summer. I worked with Moore & Giles Leather, which was an opportunity I had because of connections I made through working at market. It was incredibly valuable for my design experience, confidence and knowledge. Now, because of High Point University and its adjacency to the furniture market, I have big brand names in the industry on my resume, and many contacts in my back pocket for recommendations.”

Sabine Blattner, a senior interior design major from Mooresville, North Carolina, spent her time at High Point Market taking photos and videos of Shayla Copas, a designer who is based in Little Rock, Arkansas, and founded Shayla Copas Interiors in 1997.

“I learned how to cater interior design services to a variety of people and gained valuable insight into the daily life of a designer,” said Blattner. “I had the opportunity to meet many accomplished individuals and receive advice on how to get started. Having knowledge of different avenues, I can take as a designer and techniques I can use to attract clients will help me in my career.”

Baker Furniture would like to hire Lee after his graduation, Wingo said, although he’s considering his options.

“I never say never though,” said Lee. “I am open to everything. Baker truly ensures that their student employees are fulfilled in their duties here. They’re incorporating everything the students are learning in the classroom and bringing it front facing with the customers for that all-immersive experience.”

German-Pakistani artist Jasmin Siddiqui, who works as Hera and was half of the street art duo known as Herakut, brings a new series of scavengers to Corey Helford Gallery this month in tHERApy room 2. The solo show extends a body of work Hera presented in 2021, similarly depicting a large-eyed young woman donning the heads of wildlife. Defined by the artist’s graffiti style with drips, splatters, and sweeping spray-painted marks, the portraits connect adolescent wonder, innocence, and naivety to the broader human condition. “Each note I write and share with the world is actually a message addressed to that inner child, the vulnerable part that needs that extra encouragement, that talk of hope, of magic, and a little bit of escapism,” she says.

Having first picked up a can of spray paint 23 years ago, Hera considers these works a reflection of her evolution as an artist and person, saying:

If you will, you could see each piece as a therapy session, where the therapist would be Hera wielding brush and spray paint, and the patient would be Jasmin, the woman underneath the animal metaphor hats and masks. Describing my artwork that way makes it seem as if I had never stopped working in a duo.

tHERApy room 2, which also contains the artist’s new superhero sculptures, is on view through May 27 in Los Angeles. You can find more on Instagram.

“A Brain That Rarely Forgets Needs a Heart That Readily Forgives,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.5 x 31.5 inches

“There’s Great Kinship Among the Outcasts,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 31.5 x 31.5 inches

Detail of “The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.4 x 39.4 inches

“Reading Together Was Like Sharing an Imaginary Friend,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.5 x 31.5 inches

Left: “Never Be King Just for Yourself,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 47.2 x 31.5 inches. Right: “Thoughts Are Free,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 63 x 47.25 inches

“Year After Year Magic and Nature Conferred About the Uncertain Future of Humans and Always Ended Up Granting Them More Time,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.25 x 39.25 inches

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Hera’s Poetic Portraits of Childlike Scavengers Foster Therapeutic Interactions Between Artist and Self appeared first on Colossal.

Yu’s inspiration stems from his first weeks at Bentley. Exploring Boston, he came upon the two giant foo dog statues that flank the entrance to Chinatown.  

“I instantly felt a sense of comfort,” says Yu, who was born in Taiwan and raised in the Philippines. “As soon as I got back to my dorm, I began sketching my own foos. I wanted to replicate that sense of home and create something tangible I could take with me.”    

Today, the alumnus also produces electronic/house/hip-hop music with fellow members of the LA-based trio Torsades and creates paintings that have found homes with NBA player Andre Drummond, Grammy-winning musician Post Malone and other notables. And that’s all while working full time as a business analyst for a marketing technology firm.   

“I need something to exercise the analytical part of my brain,” he says, adding that the job’s focus on marketing trends helps him “think strategically about ways to monetize my art.”  

Yu hopes that his artwork, like foo dogs, can be a conduit for goodwill and harmony. “At the end of the day, you need to build a  community, you need to be connected to people. You need to take time to understand other people’s stories.”