London Irish Art Exhibition January 2015 to be officially opened by Minister Jimmy Deenihan

“I look forward to launching the exhibition. The promotion of Irish culture through the work of Irish visual artists will form a very important part of my Diaspora Strategy which is due to be launched early in the New Year”

 – Minister for Diaspora, Jimmy Deenihan T.D.

London Calling for Irish Artists and Poets ahead of Exhibition

THE organisers of the next London Irish Art exhibition have issued a call out for Irish visual artists (painting, mixed media, sculpture) and Irish poets living in Britain.

London Irish Art organiser’s Martin Davis (Sol Art Gallery) and Patrick Keegan (Solo Arte) will take over 3,000 square feet of space in the historic Central Hall Westminster next year to showcase the best of Irish visual and literary artists, giving them the chance to promote and showcase their work to the public.

The exhibition will take place from January 14-17, opened by Minister for Diaspora, Jimmy Deenihan.

Winners for the art competition will be granted as £2,000 prize, while winners of the poetry competition will be published in a limited edition book.

“As London holds the largest Irish Diaspora in the world, this exhibition endeavours to represent an ongoing dialogue between these two countries.

“Striving to build ties and cultural relations with the Irish art scene in Britain, this event is organised to provide artists with cross border exposure,” explains Martin Davis.

The exhibition will also present works by the celebrated Irish artist Louis Le Brocquy, as well as Francis O’Toole and renowned Irish sculptors John Behan and Aidan Harte, and Dingle painter Liam O’Neill.

London-based Irish artists will be represented by Aisling Conroy, Kevin McAleenan and Niall Leavy.

A total of 50 per cent of the artists participating will be sourced from the Irish Diaspora living in Britain.

Artists and poets should email info@solart.ie for details. Deadline for submissions is November 30 

"Business Art is the step that comes after Art”, Andy Warhol

The unprecedented development of the art market over the past few years has resulted in the ‘financialisation’ of the art market. Art is now seen not only as an object of pleasure, however, also as a new alternative asset class with interesting business opportunities.

Meanwhile, the globalisation of culture has lead art organisations and cultural related companies to confront a number of strategic issues critical to reaching their goals.

Such developments make the need for specialised services to support them apparent.

Deloitte Art & Finance

MADERSON commands strong price at recent Whytes art auction

Forged Marc Chagall Painting

When British collector Martin Lang submitted one of his paintings to a French committee, he was hoping to find out if it was an authentic work by Marc Chagall.

But not only did the Chagall Committee declare the painting a forgery, it said Lang's painting should be burned under strict French laws that protect artists' works.

Lang, 63, said Monday he was frustrated with the decision but he still hopes the painting will be returned to him.

Describing his shock at the ruling, Lang said: "It was just total disbelief that they would want to destroy it."

"I'm not attacking the committee — I just want them to please reconsider. They could just mark it unoriginal and send it back," he told The Associated Press.

The businessman bought the watercolour of a reclining nude woman for £100,000 (about $182,900 Cdn) in 1992, believing it to be an authentic Chagall dating from around 1909 to 1910.

Lang's son recently called in experts from a BBC show about forgeries to determine if it was real. According to the BBC, the painting surfaced in Russia after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union and was offered to Lang at a fraction of its value.

The painting was eventually sent to the Chagall Committee in Paris for a final ruling. The committee — run by the Russian-born artist's grandchildren to protect his legacy — ruled it was a fake and said it would be destroyed under French law.

• The Current: Why art forgeries are commanding top level security

Lang said he did not understand why art collectors like him should be punished for forgeries.

"It seems to be dissuading honest people from coming forward to have their art verified. It seems to be the wrong way of doing it," said Lang, a property developer from the northern city of Leeds.

The Chagall Committee declined to discuss the case Monday.

CBC News

Spanish Art Trade

The Spanish art trade is breathing a huge sigh of relief after the government decided last week to slash sales tax on works of art to 10 per cent, down from the previous punishing rate of 21 per cent, introduced in 2012. The welcome news comes three weeks ahead of the opening of Arco, the country’s leading art fair.

The cut was welcomed by Arco director Carlos Urroz: “The 21 per cent tax was terribly hard for Spanish galleries, and it sapped confidence among buyers,” he said. “We hope this change will [give] collectors the will to spend again.”

Spanish deputy prime minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaria said the government had recognised that the previous rate was a “brake on the competitiveness of the Spanish art market” – with the equivalent tax standing at 10 per cent in France, 6 per cent in Belgium and 7 per cent in Germany.

Georgina Adams FT