Thieves stole art worth $70,000 from a Kelowna gallery in the early morning of Jan. 16. Eleven works were stolen from Gallery 421 in just three minutes, CBC News reported. Gallery co-owner Ken Moen told the CBC it was a “targeted” crime, as the thieves immediately ran to the most expensive works. They took two bronzes by Calgary artist Vilem Zach, as well as three sculptures by B.C. artist Michael Hermesh, three glass bowls by Alberta artist Jeff Holmwood and two soapstone carvings by B.C. artist Vance Theoret.
The National Gallery of Canada has issued an open invitation to the live-streamed edition of Night of Ideas. It will see leading figures in arts and culture come together with performers and artists for an evening of music, spoken word, performance, conversation and storytelling. “The dialogue will explore the future of the arts and culture from various points of view, and will look at how individuals and organizations are embracing this moment as an opportunity to create forward-looking ideas and solutions to the challenges we face, through a lens of diversity and inclusion,” the gallery says. It takes place Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. EST. Register on Zoom here.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has acquired what it calls a seminal work by James Ensor, The Rooftops of Ostend. Ensor, a leading figure of the Belgium avant-garde, spent most of his life in Ostend. He could observe the surrounding area from the windows of his studio under the rafters of the family home in the seaside city. The 1885 painting’s misty effects and tumult of colours demonstrate the influence English painter J.M.W. Turner. The acquisition adds to the four prints by Ensor already in the museum’s collection. “The acquisition of this superb painting by James Ensor, one of the most inventive and accomplished artists of his time, attests to our institution’s pre-eminent role in Canada in presenting creative high points in world art,” says Stéphane Aquin, the museum's director.
