Help for Haiti

Today, let us focus our attention on Haiti.

The images show the devastating impact of the earthquake on buildings and the people.

Please consider donating your time or resources to relief efforts organized in your community.

Here's a place to begin investigating where you can donate funds.

Thank you.

African-American Art Auction, New York

Swann Auction Galleries in New York has announced the date of the African-American Art auction, Thursday, October 8, 2009. Among the 116 artworks for sale are prints is an etching by Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859 - 1937), Gateway in Tangier; photographs by Cornelius M. Battey (1873 - 1927); and sculpture by Augusta Savage and Elizabeth Catlett.

From the Swann Galleries website:

Sale 2189 Lot 7

CORNELIUS M. BATTEY (1873 - 1927)
W. E. B. Du Bois.

Silver print, 1918. 343x260 mm; 13 1/2x10 1/4 inches. With the artist's embossed stamp, "The Photographic Division, C.M. Battey, Instructor, Tuskegee Institute, Alabama," lower left....
Estimate $2,000-3,000

Basquiat's "Self-Portrait" Among Artworks in Billionaire Art Collection

As reported in the July 24, 2009 Forbes.com article: Top Billionaire Art Collectors, Jean-Michel Basquiat's "Self-Portrait," is among the art collection of billionaire, Philip Niarchos. The article reports that Mr. Niarchos's collection is worth at least $2 billion. His collection was acquired from the estate of his father, Stavros Niarchos, a shipping magnate, and is known to include masterpieces by Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso.