CREATIVE WORK by ceramist/sculptor Larry Elsner will be spotlighted in two galleries during January.
The first exhibition, featuring Elsner's wooden sculptures, opens Jan. 9 at the Caine Gallery, NEH Museum of Art, Utah State University. The artist will present a gallery talk at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 17. The exhibition remains at the gallery through Feb. 18.The second show will be on display at the Old Town Gallery in Park City from Jan. 13-30. It will include ceramic sculpture from Elsner's cat series. The ceramist/
sculptor said his show might also include "a few horses, some wooden cats that I'm working on at home and a vessel or two as well."
Elsner, a faculty member at USU, enjoys the variety of working in both ceramics and wood. "The techniques are different, but the goal of creating the form is the same," he said. "I enjoy going back and forth. It's a release to me."
-With the prices of paintings by big-name artists soaring, the art world is plagued with fraud and theft.
-Investigation has uncovered the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars of fake prints and other phony artworks by Hanson Galleries, a chain of California art galleries. They had sold at least 22,000 fraudulent prints attributed to famous artists, primarily Dali.
-Also in California, two prominent Beverly Hills art dealers conspired to distribute fraudulent artworks amounting to millions of dollars. Lee Sonnier and Frank De Marigny sold numerous forged works of art, including a copy of a Renoir painting called "A Young Girl With Daisies."
-Jean Fabris, a French art historian, accused Sotheby's auction house of putting fake Utrillos up for auction. Sotheby's refuted the statement by stating that it would not be offering these works if it "was not confident of their attribution to Utrillo."
Sotheby's added that the claims were inconceivable and that Fabris had never seen the paintings he had denounced.
-Last month, thieves cleaned out art treasures worth up to $20 million from the Cote d'Azur home of Pablo Picasso's granddaughter Marina. Among the dozen works taken were several Picassos and a painting by Pieter Breughel.
-Also in November, more than 200 Japanese miniature art objects were stolen from the Japanese Art Museum in Haifa, Israel. Included in the theft were small sculptures, lacquered boxes, writing utensils and examples of metal work. The art objects were valued at $300,000.
In Arnhem, Netherlands, two Dutch men smashed a window of the Kroeller Mueller Museum on Dec. 12, 1988, and stole three paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, including an early version of the famous "Potato Eaters." Since that time, all three paintings have been recovered and the men sentenced to five-year prison terms.
-Posters from around the world will be on exhibit the Collett Art Gallery at Weber State College from Jan. 4-26. The show consists of 40 award-winning contemporary posters from 15 countries.
Among the American designers represented in this exhibition are Seymour Chwast, April Greiman and Brad Holland. Adding to the multiplicity of design will be posters from Turkey, West Germany, Israel, Italy, France, Japan and other countries.
Guest curator of this exhibition is Mark Biddle, instructor of visual communications at Weber State College. On Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m., exhibition co-director Robert Coonts will present a lecture, followed by a reception and auction of the exhibition posters. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, call 626-6762.
-The Salt Lake Art Center has just announced a ZCMI Charity Night on Jan. 20 from 7-10 p.m. For a $5 donation, participants will be admitted to the center to enjoy an evening of shopping, food, fun and a chance to win one of 50 valuable prizes at ZCMI. For tickets or more information, call Carol Biddle or Tonya Todd at 328-4201.
-Lectures, workshops, classes, etc.
Wednesday, Jan. 3 - The Salt Lake Art Center will offer 11 different courses during its 1990 winter quarter. The classes will begin the week of Jan. 3 and continue through March 16. Classes include drawing, painting, ceramics and photography. For more information, call 328-4201 or stop by the Salt Lake Art Center, 20 S. West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101. Advanced registration is recommended, but not required.
Jan. 15 marks the beginning of winter classes at the Kimball Art Center, Park City. Watercolor taught by Jim Schnirel will be offered on Monday mornings. Evening classes in watercolor, stained glass and photography will begin Jan. 17; and ceramics on the evening of Jan. 18. For more information, call 649-8882.
Jan. 17, 4:30, NEH Museum of Art, Utah State University - Gallery talk by sculptor Larry Elsner.
By Richard P. Christenson