Reported by ArtDaily.org:

BARCELONA.- Stan Lauryssens presented his book Dali & I in Barcelona. In it he claims that 75% of the works made by the Catalonian artist are fakes. He also states that Dali had assistants paint his works of art. The book will be released in the United States on July 8.

Stan Lauryssens was born 1946 in Antwerp, Belgium. Lived for an extended period of time in Barcelona (1985-1992) and London (1992-1998). He now divides his time between Antwerp and London. As a journalist in the 70s and 80s, he travelled the world and interviewed Jack Higgins, Harold Robbins, Catherine Cookson, Konsalik, Thor Heyerdahl, Madame Charles de Gaulle and Andy Warhol, among many others, and had prolonged meetings with Hitler’s henchmen who survived the war: Karl Dönitz, Sir Oswald Mosley, Leni Riefenstahl, Adolf Eichmann’s family, Otto Günsche who acted as the ultimate Nazi undertaker and burned Hitler’s corpse. The author was Salvador Dalí’s only neighbour in the village of Cadaqués, Spain and wrote Dalí and I about his experiences with the surrealist painter. Room 9 Entertainment in Hollywood has bought film rights. His non-fiction books were serialised in The Mail on Sunday and are published in English, French, Italian and Polish and have gained cult status in Japan.

John Markoff reports for The New York Times:

“SAN FRANCISCO — Steven P. Jobs, chief executive of Apple, introduced a new cheaper iPhone model on Monday that navigates the Internet more quickly, expanded its distribution overseas and displayed a range of new applications and services in order to establish Apple as a major player in the cellphone industry.

Apple, the maker of consumer electronics and computer equipment, had set a goal of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008, which would establish it as one of the major smartphone makers in the less than two years since it began shipping the original iPhone. Apple has sold six million phones globally since its introduction.

Analysts said that Mr. Jobs, one of the world’s best product marketers, had largely accomplished what he set out to do and they welcomed the moves he outlined in a presentation before software developers on Monday.

“This is the phone that has changed phones forever,” Mr. Jobs said.”

Art Daily reports:

“SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- The new 63,000-square-foot, Daniel Libeskind-designed Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM), in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena cultural district celebrated its Grand Opening on Sunday, June 8, 2008. The ribbon cutting ceremony began at 10 AM, followed by a full day of activities for all ages. Visitors enjoyed admission-free access to the Museum from 11 AM – 5:30 PM.

Founded in 1984, the CJM has established a history of presenting exhibitions and education programs that explore contemporary perspectives on Jewish culture, history, art, and ideas. Embracing a range of disciplines and media, the CJM’s new enhanced exhibition program will include contemporary art projects, historic objects, film and music, scholarly interpretations, and diverse cultural perspectives that offer new entry points to experiencing Jewish culture. At the heart of the new facility is a large education center, which will allow the Museum to provide ongoing education programs in conjunction with its exhibitions for children, youth, adults, and seniors.”

Randy Kennedy reports for The New York Times:

“As letters go, they aren’t exactly the stuff of literature. One from 1959 asks that the recipient phone Con Edison and complain about an unusually high electric bill ($54.92). Another requests a shipment of beloved New York cigars because of apparent dissatisfaction with the options available in Europe. At least one, written from the Regina-Palast Hotel in Munich, Room 551, starts to provide a hint of the sender.

“Looks like the picture won’t be finished on time,” the letter explains. “It rains every day and we can’t find 2 midgets, so it looks like I’ll be here at least 2 more weeks.”

The letters, along with 210 vintage black-and-white photographic prints, were found in 2003 in a zebra-stripe trunk that was bought at a yard sale in Kentucky by two Indiana women who were on their way back from a camping trip. One of the women simply liked the look of the trunk, and when she found old clothes, yellowed papers and pictures inside, she thought about throwing the contents away.

But she took them instead to an Indianapolis rare-documents dealer. And this week the Indianapolis Museum of Art plans to announce that it has acquired a trove of work and correspondence by Weegee, the crepuscular, stogie-smoking New York photographer whose visceral pictures became a template not only for artists like Diane Arbus but also for much of the uncomfortably close tabloid imagery that exists today. The museum described the acquisition as a partial gift and partial purchase from the dealer.”

Art Knowledge News reports:

“LONDON - Comprising over 300 works by 19th – and 20th – century photographers, Street & Studio: An Urban History of Photography will present a fascinating history of photographic portraiture taken in cities around the world. Including work by Diane Arbus, Cecil Beaton, Brassaï, Walker Evans, Helen Levitt, Robert Mapplethorpe, Irving Penn, Cindy Sherman, Malick Sidibé, Wolfgang Tillmans and Weegee, among others, the exhibition will examine two contrasting sites of photographic practice: the street and the studio, bringing to light the dynamic interplay between these two very different forms of portraiture.

Street photography takes many forms. Its history was founded with the development of small and easily concealed cameras, offering the opportunity to catch subjects in informal, impromptu and even intimate moments. The exhibition will include Jacques-Henri Lartigue’s snap shots of the French bourgeoisie in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris and Arnold Genthe’s documentary photography of Chinatown in San Francisco.

Studio portrait photography, which was developed in the 19th century to create more formal portraits, offered the photographer a suitable vehicle for complex technical manoeuvres. It allowed the sitter the chance to compose and present themselves to the world with the associated props and backdrops, as in Samuel Fosso’s self portraits and Baron de Meyer’s fashion photography of famous artists.”

From Art Daily.org:

“NEW YORK.- Bill Wood’s business was photography—and he produced tens of thousands of images over the course of his career. The variety of subjects and situations he captured provide an in-depth photographic record of life in a post-World War II American city just hitting its stride.

In addition to his business clients, Wood was hired by individuals to provide portraits of loved ones and lasting records of the benchmarks in their lives: anniversaries, baptisms, family reunions, holidays, parties, recitals, and weddings. The citizens of Fort Worth commissioned him to record their participation in and support of the many local civic, social, and charitable organizations. We see the city’s movers and shakers celebrating their traditions, politics, faith, and largesse at functions ranging from luncheons and cocktail parties to award ceremonies and fundraisers.” 

From ArtDaily.org:
PARIS.- In 1839, when the daguerrotype appeared in France, the Englishman William Fox Talbot invented a technique destined to have a great future as it used the principle of the negative and printing on paper. He named his invention a calotype, “the beautiful image”. Whereas France gave the world the daguerrotype, and made it freely available, Fox Talbot took out a patent on his calotype. So in Britain the daguerrotype became the tool for both amateur and commercial photography throughout the following decade. The calotype however was regarded as a cultured gentleman’s pursuit – an activity for the leisured classes.

Chosen for their aesthetic and historical qualities, the majority of these photographs have never been shown since the mid nineteenth century. Fox Talbot, Roger Fenton, Benjamin Brecknell and Turner are well known, but several photographers, like William Collie and Arthur James Melhuish, are presented in France for the first time. As a counterpoint to the exhibition The French Daguerrotype (Musée d’Orsay and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003), The art of the English calotype highlights a different conception of the new medium of photography and an alternative technical, aesthetic and economic principle.

Daryl Lang reports for PDN Online: 

“Among the many print ads honored by the Clio Awards were Ogilvy & Mather’s Mattel Matchbox campaign, shot by Kajetan Kandler, and Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore’s Wonderbra ads, shot by Allan Myles.

The Clio Festival, which wrapped up Saturday in Miami, handed out seven Grand Clios, though none for a print ad that featured photography.

In the print category, ten ads were honored with Gold Clios. Here are the ones that involved original photography:

• DDB, Johannesburg, “Pants” for Energizer Lithium Batteries. Creative Director: Gareth Lessing. Art Director: Julie Maunder. (No photographer credited.)





• DDB Germany, Berlin, “Golf”/”Gold Variant”/”Touran” for Volkswagen Park Distance Control. Creative Directors:Bert Peulecke, Stefan Schulte. Art Directors: Gen Sadakane, Tim Stübane. Photographer: David Cuenca.





• DDB London, London, “Menswear” for Harvey Nichols. Creative Director: Adam Tucker. Art Directors: Grant Parker, Joanna Wenley. Photographers: Wayne Parker, Beate Sonnenberg.





• JWT, Mumbai, “Twins” for Reynolds Permanent Marker / GM Pens International.
  Creative Directors: Agnello Dias, Nandita Chalam. Art Director: Vijay Solanki. Photographer: Avadhut Hembade. Illustrator: Deepak Jadhav.





• Ogilvy & Mather Frankfurt, Frankfurt/Main, “Young Drivers” for Mattel Matchbox.
  Creative Director: Christian Mommertz. Art Directors: Stefan Lenz, Marco Weber. Photographer: Kajetan Kandler. (This campaign won two gold Clios, once as a series and once for an individual ad.)





• Saatchi & Saatchi, Singapore, “Lounge” for Wonderbra. Art Director: Joel Clement, Lydia Lim. Photographer: Allan Myles.”

By Joe Holley of the Washington Post:

“Flip Schulke, 77, a photographer whose arresting images of the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr. became icons of an era, died May 15 of congestive heart failure at Columbia Hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Mr. Schulke also shot memorable photographs of the boxer Muhammad Ali, pre-Castro Cuba and Fidel Castro, eight presidents and the early astronauts.

He was one of the first photographers allowed inside the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. His photo of the stacked boxes at the window where Lee Harvey Oswald presumably shot the president was one of the defining images of the tragedy.

Mr. Schulke’s work appeared in Time, Newsweek, National Geographic, Look, Sports Illustrated and numerous other publications, as well as in seven books, three of which documented his coverage of the civil rights movement.”

Pitchfork’s Amanda Petrusich interviews Scarlett Johansson:

“Scarlett Johansson’s debut LP– Anywhere I Lay My Head, a collection of 10 Tom Waits covers and one original cut– is a weird, druggy homage to the Louisiana bayou, produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek and featuring guest performances by Nick Zinner and David Bowie. Pitchfork spoke to Johansson about road trips, being taken seriously as a singer, and her decision to tackle one of the most iconic vocalists of the past half-century.”