Tyrone Siu/Reuters
A deflated rubber duck by Dutch conceptual artist Florentijn Hofman floats on Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour, with the island skyline looming at the background, May 14, 2013. The 16.5-meter-high inflatable sculpture, which made its first public appearance in the territory on May 2, will be shown at the Ocean Terminal for a month. The Rubber Duck was deflated after some of its parts broke.
Shammi Mehra/AFP/Getty Images
An Indian Hindu devotee falls on burning coal while holding her daughter during a coal run at the Maa Maariamma Mela in Jalandhar on May 12, 2013. The devotees run on fire after fasting for 7 days to prove their devotions. The mother and daughter were both injured.
New York forensic accountant Joan Lipton always thought of her father's cousin, Belle Burke, as her "exotic, bohemian" relative.
A prominent translator, editor and writer, the now 84-year-old Burke used to live in Paris and Venice; had famous friends including author Norman Mailer and art collector Peggy Guggenheim; and had a Greenwich Village apartment adorned with beaded curtains and tokens from the City of Lights, including a poodle named Ebonite and paintings.
Lipton knew the art on Burke's walls was from someone she once knew, but it wasn't until a few months ago she found out they were done by late Montreal abstract artist Jean-Paul Riopelle, and that he gave them to Burke when she was his mistress in Paris in the 1950s.
Eight of Burke's Riopelle pieces are now up for sale through Heffel Fine Art Auction House's spring 2013 event, being held on Wednesday in Vancouver.
Sans titre
ink and gouache on paper,
signed and dated 1955
Sans titre
oil on canvas, circa 1954-1955
"I gather, from what she's told me, that he was married and had two young daughters and they started a relationship, and I think it was a very tempestuous one," Lipton said in a recent telephone interview.
"They were together for several years. He wanted to marry her and she tells me that she refused."
Lipton said it was the early '50s when New Jersey-born Burke (nee Notkin), a French and literature major, went to Paris to live and study.
She worked as a translator and editor and met Riopelle at a party during a productive period in his career, when he was wed to dancer Francoise l'Esperance.
They had an affair for several years, and Riopelle was said to be smitten.
Burke, however, wanted to end the romance for quite a while and returned to New York to get away from his marital pleas and work for then-senator Jacob Javits.
Still, Riopelle persisted, visiting her there and writing her numerous letters.
He also showered her with oil paintings, watercolours and a sketchbook containing 19 smaller watercolours (17 of which will be in Heffel's sale).
Belle Burke, the former mistress of artist Jean-Paul Riopelle, is shown in an undated photo.
Sans titre
watercolour and ink on paper on board, circa 1955
signed
Sans titre
oil on canvas, circa 1954
Sans titre
watercolour and ink on paper, circa 1953
signed
Lipton said she wanted to sell the pieces through Heffel because she "really liked the idea of having these works sold in Canada."
"I felt that that was just sort of poetic justice, and I know that he has a daughter who has created a catalogue raisonné and I just thought it was the proper thing to do."
Other Riopelle works Burke is selling include two untitled oils on canvas: One is expected to fetch $100,000 to $150,000, and the other has a pre-sale estimate of $80,000 to $120,000.
Story by Victoria Ahearn/The Canadian Press
AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano/Handout
American musician and artist Patti Smith, right, is greeted by Pope Francis at the end of his weekly general audience, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 10, 2013. Smith told the media afterwards that she found the new pontiff "very interesting" and "liked him a lot." In her current exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Smith has a pair of Pope Benedict XV’s slippers on display, which she acquired in a sale at a monastery. She wanted them because he was often referred to as “the pope of peace” ahead going into the First World War.
Treasures dating back 400 years were recently recovered from the Tortugas shipwreck, in the Straits of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. The site, called the "Tortugas" excavation, was first discovered back in 1965. The galleon Buen Jesus y Nuestra Senora del Rosario, of the Tierra Firme treasure fleet, was sailing back to Spain after collecting colonial treasures back in 1622. It was struck down by a fierce hurricane off the southwest tip of Florida, about 400 miles from the Florida Keys. Photos courtesy of Odyssey Marine Exploration, via Reuters.
Five Mexico City and Peruvian silver coins
A selection of the 27 gold bars recovered
A Spanish olive jar being recovered using the limpet suction device
Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters
A boy smeared with colours reacts as another boy pours water on him during Holi celebrations in the southern Indian city of Chennai March 27, 2013. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, heralds the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over India.
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© NAOMI HARRIS
The Sikh Motorcycle Club of Vancouver, B.C. The club formed during the fight to win the right to wear turbans while motorcycling in B.C.
See more of Naomi's photos here.
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Former Olympic swimmer Casey Legler is taking the modelling world by storm as the first female to sign a contract with a major agency for only male modelling work.
© Ryan McGinley/Ford Modelling
Casey Legler on the front of her first her model card.
© Photo Cass Bird
© Ryan McGuinley
© Michael Donovan/thelicensingproject.com
AFP PHOTO TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
Casey Legler from France reacts after finishing last in heat 4 of the women's 50m freestyle qualifying round of the Olympic swimming event at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 26, 1996.
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REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic
Masai wait to cast ballot papers outside a polling station during the presidential and parliamentary elections near town of Magadis, Nairobi March 4, 2013.
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The World Photography Organization revealed the shortlists for the Professional, Open and Youth categories of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards.
Over 122,000 entries from 170 countries – the highest number of submissions to date - the judges have selected a shortlist of photographs that stood out beyond all others for their impressive high quality, originality and modern appeal. Topics ranged from haunting shots of the Syrian conflict to the Obama presidential campaign; an intimate study of cinema- goers in Kabul to quirky and witty shots of the animal kingdom.
Bringing together the very best international contemporary photography, the shortlist offers a unique insight into 2012 through the eyes of some of the world’s best emerging and established photography talents. Photographers returning to the awards include: Javier Arcenillas (Spain); Robin Hammond (New Zealand) and Paolo Pellegrin (Italy). Exciting up-and-coming photographers new to the awards include Ed Kashi (USA) and Andrea Gjestvang (Norway).
The work of all the shortlisted photographers will be exhibited at Somerset House, London, from 26 April – 12 May as part of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition. The images will also be published in the 2013 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards book.
The Open and Youth category winners will be announced on 19 March.
Professional category winners and the coveted L’Iris D’Or/ Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year title will be announced at a gala ceremony in London on 25 April. The L’Iris D’Or winner will receive $25,000 (USD) and the Open Photographer of the Year will receive $5,000 (USD). All winners, including category winners, will receive the latest digital imaging equipment from Sony.
Here are some of my favourites from the Nature and Wildlife category befitting The Daily Beast.
White-handed Tree Frog
© Hudson Garcia, Brazil, Finalist, Nature & Wildlife, Sony World Photography Awards
Running for Life
© Frederick van Heerden, South Africa, Shortlist, Nature & Wildlife, Open Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
Don't Leave Me Alone
©Hoang Hiep Nguyen, Vietnam, Shortlist, Nature & Wildlife, Open Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
O Flamingo
© Ricardo Venerando, Brazil, Shortlist, Nature & Wildlife, Open Competition 2013 Sony World Photography Awards
White-handed Tree Frog 4
© Hudson Garcia, Brazil, Finalist, Nature & Wildlife, Sony World Photography Awards
