OREGON, Ill. (AP) - Perhaps it was fitting that when he died in his studio home in Chicago, sculptor Lorado Taft was creating a memorial piece commissioned to be placed on a grave. It was to depict a man young, with face and arms upraised and be called Aspiration.

But that final piece was never finished. All that was thought to remain of Aspiration was an old photograph that shows a working plaster model in the center of Taft's studio at the time of his death, in 1936.

That is, until now.

Before he embarked on the full-size version of Aspiration, Taft created a 14 1/2-inch version. Unlike the plaster model that is thought to have since disintegrated, his minor version was cast permanently in bronze. Now, after changing hands several times, a pair of keen eyes and a winning online bid on eBay have ensured that his final bronze piece will become a permanent part of the Taft legacy in the town of Oregon.

Aspiration, the miniature, arrived in town recently and will probably be on display soon in the Eagle's Nest Colony Art Collection of the Oregon Public Library. The collection is named for he colony that Taft created and mentored in the woods of what is now the Lorado Taft Field Campus of Northern Illinois University on the western banks of the Rock River north of Oregon.

Lynn Allyn Young, the founder of Chicago-based Artistic License Limited, found Aspiration for auction on eBay. Young, who once presented a photo lecture on Taft and is writing a book on his work, contacted Betty Croft of Oregon, who helped to buy the statue.

The final bid, according to the Web site, was $2,275.

"It is truly a rare find and a treasure," Croft said.

It was made to be a sketch model for a 10-foot marble memorial statue for the grave of Emmons McCormick Blaine Jr., who died of pneumonia in 1918 at the age of 28

Blaine was the grandson of Cyrus McCormick, who founded a company in Chicago that would become International Harvester Co.

Taft historians assume that the larger piece was destroyed, but the small statue probably was given to Blaine's mother and disposed of by trustees of her estate after she died in 1954.

The statue showed up in 1955 in a Chicago antique shop, where it was bought by Thomas McDonough and his wife. They made inquiries to art experts and people who had known Taft to confirm that it was an original piece.

Mary Webster, who had been Taft's assistant and secretary, knew of the piece and that it had been cast in bronze by Gorham Foundries, but she had not seen it again.

Oregon Library Board President Terry Schuster said he was pleased with the addition to the library's collection.

"It's a perfect fit for this community," he said. "With our ties to art and to Lorado Taft, to actually have the last piece he worked on is priceless."

With his Eternal Indian towering down over the Rock River valley, his stony vision of Civil War soldiers gracing the lawn of the Ogle County Courthouse, and playful fountains still delighting children in Mix Park, Taft made a mark on Oregon that has endured more than 70 years after his death.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-06-30-09 0303EDT

OSLO (AP) - A Norwegian court has convicted a man of involvement in the 2004 theft of Edvard Munch masterpieces The Scream and Madonna.

The Oslo Court of Appeals sentenced Bjoren Hoen to two and a half years in prison.

Prosecutors say Hoen did not participate in the heist but helped obtain the vehicle that the thieves used when stealing the paintings from an Oslo museum.

He had previously been convicted in the case, but Norway's Supreme Court ordered a retrial, saying testimony may have been tainted.

Hoen told judges Monday he was unsure whether he would appeal the new verdict.

Two other men have been imprisoned and ordered to pay restoration costs for the paintings, which had to undergo repairs after they were recovered in 2006.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-06-29-09 0907EDT

CINCINNATI (AP) - The Ford Motor Co. says it has found more than 100 original paintings by Cincinnati artist Charley Harper while cleaning out its vaults.

About 50 of the paintings are being prepared for an exhibit next month in suburban Montgomery.

Harper had a long career creating wildlife illustrations that appeared on calendars, dinnerware, toys and in travel articles in magazines distributed by the automaker.

Ford located the paintings in a company vault in Dearborn, Mich., while trying to downsize its art collection earlier this year.

Harper's son, 56-year-old Brett Harper of Lebanon, Ohio, says he had never seen the paintings until a Ford art consultant told him about the find.

Charley Harper contributed close to 500 pieces to Ford Times from 1948 to 1982. The designer Todd Oldham wrote of Harper, "Charley's inspired yet accurate color sense is undeniable, and when combined with the precision he exacts on rendering only the most important details, one is always left with a sense of awe."
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Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer,
http://www.enquirer.com

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-06-29-09 0801EDT

PROCTOR, Vt. (AP) - A Proctor, Vt., church is auctioning a Jessie Wilcox Smith painting three months after the sale of a different painting by the artist owned by the town's library was invalidated.

The first painting titled Curly Locks sold in April for almost $100,000 but the sale was invalidated after it was discovered the painting was taken from the library and sold without permission by former town librarian Mary Brough.

In a twist of fate, Union Church Pastor Russ Gates recognized the similarities of Curly Locks in news accounts to a painting owned by the church - Around the Ring of Roses.

Smith created the paintings around 1914 for a Mother Goose book.

The auction will be conducted by Sotheby's auction house in December.
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Information from: Rutland Herald, http://www.rutlandherald.com/

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-ES-06-27-09 1530EDT

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Peter Hearsey of the Automotive Fine Arts Society has been selected to create the official poster artwork for the 2009 Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance presented by Rolex. The 12th annual drive will take place Aug. 13, 2009, and trace portions of historic 17-Mile Drive and other thrilling coastal roadways.

Hearsey's painting honors the talents of legendary coachbuilder Zagato by featuring a 1965 Alfa Romeo TZ2 Competition FIA GT Berlinetta. It will be on display during the AFAS art exhibit at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance® on Aug. 16, 2009, on the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links®.

"I was surprised but thrilled to be chosen as a Pebble Beach artist," said Hearsey. "The Tour d'Elegance has become a favorite gathering each year prior to the Concours. As an auto racing enthusiast, I've always enjoyed watching these elegant classic cars in motion, navigating the spectacular turns in and around the peninsula."

In his poster, Hearsey focuses on one of the most famous mid-century Zagato creations, a red 1965 Alfa Romeo TZ2 Competition FIA GT Berlinetta.  Hearsey captures the racecar speeding along the Pebble Beach coast, with another racer in the distance struggling to keep up. The background includes a blue California sky, sailboats and a trio of the Monterey Peninsula's signature cypress trees.

Like many pioneering coachbuilders, Ugo Zagato applied construction and engineering techniques from the aircraft industry following World War I to fuel the growing demand for automobiles. But few did it with as much flair and attention to detail as Zagato. Many of the Italian's most famous cars were built during the mid 1960s and into the '70s, when automotive power and performance reached levels once believed impossible.

"This particular Zagato race car was a fitting centerpiece for the poster," added Hearsey. "The Alfa Romeo TZ2 featured the stylish but functional lines that made Zagato one of the most accomplished designers of his time. And the setting pulls the entire piece together. I chose it because the scene includes so many identifiable aspects of the area that make the Tour such an exciting, memorable event."

After growing up in London and studying at Kingston-upon-Hull College of Art from 1960-1964, Hearsey enjoyed a successful creative career at a large advertising agency and later as a freelance illustrator. In 1977, he moved to the Isle of Man, where the island's rich motor sports heritage inspired him to paint full time and specialize in automobiles.  

A master impressionist, Hearsey is known worldwide for his ability to move seamlessly from the earliest decades of motoring to current Formula One cars. His attention to detail combined with his exploration of color and tone give his work a distinctive and personal quality. Hearsey has been a member of the AFAS since 1993. His many awards include four "Awards of Excellence" from the Meadowbrook Hall Concours and four AFAS "Athena Awards of Excellence" at Pebble Beach.  

He has been commissioned by Ford Motor Company, Rolls-Royce and the Indianapolis Hall of Fame Museum, among others. Hearsey has also created the official poster for Lord March for the famed Goodwood Festival of Speed since the event's inception in 1993.

For more information about Peter Hearsey and his artwork, visit www.peterhearsey.com.

About the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance:

First conducted in 1950, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance has grown to be the world's premier celebration of the automobile. Only the rarest and most beautiful cars are invited to appear on the famed 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links, and connoisseurs of art and style flock to see these masterpieces.

Charitable donations raised by the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance now total over $12 million. Related events include the Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance^TM presented by Rolex, Pebble Beach RetroAuto^TM, and the Pebble Beach® Auction. Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance, and Pebble Beach RetroAuto are trademarks, service marks and trade dress of Pebble Beach Company. All rights reserved.

About the Automotive Fine Arts Society:

AFAS was established in 1983 by a group of artists who are acknowledged by critics to be among the best in their field. Members work in many diverse mediums including oil, watercolors, acrylics, wood, gouache, pen & ink, clay and metal. AFAS participates in select shows across the country including the Pebble Beach Concours d´Elegance and the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. Information about AFAS is available at www.autoartgallery.com

DALLAS (AP) - A new exhibit of works by Mexican artist Diego Rivera looks at his portraits from the several years in Paris when he focused on cubism.

Diego Rivera: The Cubist Portraits, 1913-1917 opened on June 21, 2009, at Southern Methodist University's Meadows Museum. The exhibit, which runs through Sept. 20, features 31 of Rivera's works, with several being exhibited publicly for the first time.

The exhibit explores Rivera's experimentation with the style of art that uses geometric forms while he was in Europe, before he became much more famous for his signature murals and his marriage to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

"Almost all of the cubist portraits that he did are together here," said Mark Roglan, director of the Meadows Museum.

Rivera, born in Mexico in 1886, worked in Europe from 1907 to 1921, mostly in Spain and France. Abandoning cubism in 1917 after physically assaulting an art critic who disparaged the style, Rivera returned to Mexico in 1921 and began his work on murals by the mid-20s. Rivera died at the age of 70 in 1957.

The cubist portraits Rivera started painting in his late 20s reveal his loved ones and friends at the time. Those featured include artist Angelina Beloff and the child she had with Rivera, Russian novelist Ilya Ehrenburg and Mexican writer Martin Luis Guzman.

Many of the portraits reflect Rivera's friendships with those in the Russian emigre community during that time, said Sylvia Navarrette, the independent Mexican scholar who curated the exhibit organized by the Meadows Museum.

"It's like a visual diary of the community of refugees," Navarrette said.

The exhibit, which includes text describing the works in both English and Spanish, also shows viewers how Rivera's cubist works progressed.

"He was exploring cubism and almost goes to abstraction," Roglan said.

One man who was sketched by Rivera as a teen and whose mother was a friend of the painter said he always remembers the charm of the physically imposing Rivera - who stood over 6 feet tall and weighed around 300 pounds.

"He was very big and he had an enormous character," said Carlos Phillips, now director of Mexico's Dolores Olmedo Museum, which is named after his mother and features works by Kahlo and Rivera. "He had a way with women that you can't believe it."

The exhibit also showcases works from friends of Rivera along with commentary on them from Rivera's autobiography. Rivera, who came somewhat late to cubism, said that from the beginning, he accepted Pablo Picasso's mastery. "I readily proclaimed myself Picasso's disciple,'' he wrote.

"I have always been proud that Picasso was not only my teacher, but my very dear and close friend," he said.

Navarrette said that by exploring Rivera's cubist period, viewers will see another part of the artist's career.

"It's like a very curious aspect of his career," she said.

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On the Net: www.meadowsmuseumdallas.org

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WS-06-19-09 1536EDT

LOS ANGELES - A crowning achievement of Frank Lloyd Wright's textile-block design, the Ennis House is the largest and boldest execution of this iconic architectural style. The home is being jointly offered for $15 million by Hilton & Hyland and Dilbeck Realtors in Los Angeles, with international marketing services provided by
Christie's Great Estates.

"The Ennis House was the last of four homes my grand¬father designed in this style," said Eric Lloyd Wright. "The home is a culmination of sorts, imbued with his ambition and confidence."

Perfectly sited on a hill with wraparound views of the city of Los Angeles, the Mayan-inspired estate is being meticulously restored by the Ennis House Foundation. The foundation recently completed a major stabilization project after the house was placed on "most endangered" lists by both the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the World Monuments Fund.

As a result of the extensive efforts made thus far to save this spectacular piece of history, the Ennis House stabilization project won preservation awards from the Los Angeles Conservancy and the California Preservation Foundation. The Ennis House Foundation now seeks a private buyer to complete the restoration due to the challenges in sustaining long-term financial support for architectural philanthropy.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - At the Northwest Arkansas Council's annual meeting held June 17, 2009, Alice Walton, chairman of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Board of Trustees, revealed that Autumn Landscape (1862), a painting by Hudson River School artist Thomas Moran (1837-1926), is now in the museum's permanent collection. 

Walton made the announcement as part of a presentation updating the council on the museum's progress and economic impact to the region. Formerly owned by the Harvey and Bernice Jones Trust, Autumn Landscape was acquired by Bernice Jones in 1960 at Barack's Antique Auction for her husband Harvey's office at Jones Truck Lines in Springdale, Arkansas. The artwork hung in Harvey's office until the company was sold in 1980 and it was moved to their home. It remained there until Bernice's death.

"Bernice did not know it was a Moran when she purchased it - she just liked it and thought it would look good in Harvey's office," said Joel Carver, president of the Jones Trust Board of Trustees. "Harvey and Bernice wanted the painting to stay in northwest Arkansas where the people of the communities they called home could enjoy it."

BRISTOL, ENGLAND (AP) - Elusive graffiti artist Banksy, who made his name tagging walls and bridges, took his work indoors Friday as he unveiled his biggest-ever exhibition in his hometown's museum.

Banksy installed over 100 pieces, including over 70 new works, at the City Museum and Art Gallery in Bristol after swearing museum staff to secrecy over the project. Outlandish pieces fill the museum's three floors, including a burned out ice-cream van with a giant dripping cone and portable toilets stacked to look like Stonehenge.

Banksy, who refuses to reveal his real name, began his career in Bristol spray-painting local buildings. His works are now coveted, with stars like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie among his admirers.

PARIS (AP) - A red notebook of 33 pencil drawings by Pablo Picasso stolen from the Paris museum bearing his name will be hard for thieves to sell, France's culture minister said Wednesday.

The theft was discovered Tuesday morning by an employee of the Picasso Museum. The notebook had been kept in a second-floor glass display case that can only be opened with a special instrument.

"It's difficult to sell, a notebook of pencil sketches made in the 1920s," Culture Minister Christine Albanel said. "Even the Picasso family said it has a scientific value" - unlike a painting.

"It seems bizarre, to say the least," she added.

NEW YORK (AP) - Some of the most charming views of Venice can be found this summer in New York at the Frick Collection.

The museum is displaying a set of 12 etchings and three pastels of that Italian city by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, who was a contemporary of museum founder Henry Clay Frick and one of the industrialist's favorite artists.

The 15 works on paper do not offer the typical, tourist's eye view of Venetian landmarks. Instead, they depict quiet streets and backwaters, revealing the daily life of the city's working classes.

"I have learned to know a Venice in Venice that others seem never to have perceived," Whistler wrote to his patrons in London.

If this statement suggests that Whistler had an exalted opinion of himself, well, he did. The American-born artist who spent most of his life abroad was at the center of the intellectual debate raging at the time - the latter half of the 19th century - about the purpose of art.

Although he was influenced by earlier masters such as Rembrandt, van Dyck and Gainsborough, Whistler firmly embraced the avant-garde Aesthetic movement, sharing in its credo of "art for art's sake." There was no need for art to have a moral or educational purpose, he believed. All art had to be was beautiful.

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) - Norman Rockwell's first cover for The Saturday Evening Post was of a sour-faced adolescent strolling his infant sibling in a baby carriage as two boys in baseball uniforms make mocking gestures.

But the frivolous image from May 1916 soon gave way to weightier subjects.

He marked the financial turmoil of the Great Depression with a portrait of a crowd huddled around a "Stock Exchange Quotations" sign. Images in later years of a wounded World War II veteran, President John F. Kennedy and a young black girl integrating a school showed a growing artistic interest in politics, war, civil liberties and other issues of the time.

A new exhibit at the National Museum of American Illustration traces Rockwell's career over six decades, showing how he evolved from an artist fond of painting dogs, children, seniors and other sentimental subjects into a social commentator keen on documenting the world around him.

VENICE, Italy (AP) - No comment on the crash of the contemporary art market was more cutting than the joint exhibit of the Nordic and Danish pavilions at the 53rd Venice Biennale: a mock-up of adjacent homes of wealthy collectors, now up for sale.

The crash of a decadent era has taken its toll: a body floats face down in a pool outside as real estate agents (docents) lead potential buyers (art aficionados) on a tour of the two properties, the creation of 24 international artists curated by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset.

Still, there was debate about the extent to which the world financial crisis has or has not permeated this edition of the Venice Biennale, the oldest and arguably most influential of the world's contemporary art fairs, which opened on Sunday and closes Nov. 22. Many had the impression there were fewer critics and fewer dealers coming to scope out new talent.

"There seems to be less of the irrationally exuberant parties that there were year ago. And the art seems to be more earnest and harsh," said David Resnicow, a New York-based art consultant. "I think it is a different mood."

Aaron Betsky, director of the Cincinnati Museum of Art who was also curator of the Biennale's architecture show last year, said he didn't see the crisis reflected in the art itself "other than a reference here or there."