THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) -- Dutch officials unveiled Friday what they called “the largest Mondrian painting in the world” to celebrate the Netherlands’ best-known abstract artist, who helped found an influential art movement a century ago.The replica “painting” made from thin stick-on plastic sheets features Piet Mondrian’s famous design of straight black lines and striking red, yellow and blue blocks and has been displayed on the sides of the city hall in The Hague. “The Hague’s city counci

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Auguste Rodin’s sensuous piece “The Kiss” will, fittingly, form the core of an installation at Philadelphia’s Rodin Museum centered on the theme of passion to mark the 100th anniversary of the French sculptor’s death.“The Kiss,” in marble, portrays a couple forever locked in an amorous embrace. The new installation’s marble, bronze and plaster casts feature pairings including men and women, mothers and children, a woman clutching a dead lover -- and others that are playful, a

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor was named on Monday as this year's winner of the million-dollar Genesis Prize, awarded for commitment to Israel and Judaism, organizers said.British-Indian Kapoor “is one of the most influential and innovative artists of his generation,” they said in a statement.He won the prestigious Turner Prize in 1991 and was knighted in 2013. “Kapoor will use this award, and the global platform provided by the Genesis Prize, to raise awareness of the plight of ref

LONDON (AP) -- For a play that makes audience members contemplate their own mediocrity, “Amadeus” is quite the crowd-pleaser.Britain’s National Theatre has a sold-out hit with a revival of Peter Shaffer’s play about bad-boy genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his jealous rival Antonio Salieri, composer to the 18th-century Viennese court.The production, which mixes actors, opera singers and a 20-piece onstage orchestra, is being broadcast in movie theaters around the world Thursday as part of the

LONDON (AFP) - Britain’s prestigious Tate institution, which runs four of the country’s best known art galleries, announced Tuesday it would have its first female director with the appointment of Maria Balshaw.The 46-year-old will succeed Nicholas Serota in one of the most influential jobs in the country’s arts industry after transforming Manchester’s cultural landscape.“I am honored to be asked by the trustees of Tate to become the new director,” said Balshaw, who takes over on June 1.“Under Ni

MILAN (AP) - Restorers at Milan’s famous Brera Art Gallery have taken measures to protect the collection after its humidity control system failed during a “once-in-a-decade” dry, cold spell that moved through Milan last weekend, officials said.　 Donato Bramante’s “Christ at the Column” and a Bastiani piece were removed from their exhibit spaces for immediate stabilization and 40 other artworks were patched with protective Japanese rice paper to ensure their paint surfaces didn’t crack under the

Jun Joon-hyuk will join Britain's Royal Ballet in August, becoming the first Korean ballerino to become a member of the prestigious group of dancers, he said Wednesday."I officially got the offer from Kevin O'Hare, director of the ballet company on Tuesday afternoon (British local time)," the 19-year-old ballerino told Yonhap News Agency by telephone. "I'm still thrilled because it's something that I have dreamed of for a long time."He will join in late August, about a month after he graduates f

PARIS (AFP) -- France has deemed a newfound Leonardo da Vinci sketch to be a national treasure and now has 30 months to raise 15 million euros ($15.8 million) to purchase it, an auction house said Tuesday.The Renaissance master’s dreamily sensual sketch of Saint Sebastian was classified as a French national treasure on Dec. 29, Tajan auctioneers in Paris said during an unveiling of the work to the press.The French government has a “right of pre-emption” under which it has 30 months to purchase i

NEW YORK (AP) -- More than a decade before Philip Johnson designed his iconic Glass House, French designer and architect Pierre Chareau designed the Maison de Verre in 1932 in Paris. It featured one of the world’s first glass-brick exterior walls -- three stories high. Chareau’s work straddles industrial aesthetics and traditional fine craftsmanship, clean spare lines and playful 1920s whimsy. He made futuristic gadgets like folding staircases, a pivoting bidet and sliding walls. His furniture,

In the art exhibition “Dark Yellow,” actress Koo Hye-sun’s color of choice symbolized the contradictory nature of fearing what had once been a source of inspiration.“My favorite color used to be yellow, but my feeling toward it has changed with age. I used to think having a dream is only natural, but not anymore. ... After I’d grown up, the yellow started to take on a darker shade,” she said during a press preview. “The most terrifying thing in the world is to have a dream,” is the theme of the

MADRID (AFP) - Madrid’s Reina Sofia museum said Tuesday it would stage a major Pablo Picasso exhibition to mark the 80th anniversary of his famed “Guernica” painting, a universal symbol of the cruelty of war.“Pity and Terror in Picasso -- the Path to Guernica” will open on April 4 and last five months to celebrate the anniversary of the painting itself, as well as its arrival at the museum 25 years ago.“Close to 150 masterpieces by the artist will be on show, coming from the　(museum’s) collectio

Major arts venues offer shows that range from the avant-garde to the classical