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Dressing for winter activities, sports or vacations is enhanced by using the 'layered' look. The placing, for example, of jackets over sweaters that cover other clothing helps to prevent heat from escaping the body.

Look closely. Not all charities deserve your generosity. Heart-tugging pictures of babies born to drug-addicted and H.I.V.-infected mothers helped NewYork's venerable Hale House raise more than $9 million in the […]

Smart ways to get rid of the stuff of life. Death, divorce and debt are the usual suspects. They are the most common reasons most of us start making lists […]

Despite the falling dollar, steady prices may be this summer's silver lining. Last summer, the dollar was so strong that renting a farm-house in Italy or a villa in France […]

All family estate plans should allow for potential disabilities: unknown needs in unknown times. As New York City lawyer Martin Shenkman emphasizes, "Every single will and trust should have a […]

SOUTH AFRICA The most talked about new safari camp in southern Africa is Royal Malewane, which sits on an exclusive, 30,000-acre private game reserve just west of Kruger National Park. […]

TEXAS Most people returning from a spa vow to improve their exercise routines. But three years ago, Kit Detering left a California fitness retreat determined to open a better one. […]

The article focuses on wood art. Bob Bohlen of Andover, Massachusetts has a collection of 250 wood sculptures in his home and this resulted from his vision a decade ago. Bob wanted to showcase a collection of wood art, so he asked curators of modern and contemporary art to give him a list of names who are best in the field. He offered them financial support but came up with a challenge of abandoning traditional forms. Bob's short-term objectives for the collection are also discussed.

The article discusses the artistic importance of Japanese bamboo baskets. Japanese basketry has evolved from functional fishing, farming and household items made by ordinary craftspeople to a highly sophisticated sculptural art form exhibited in museums and coveted by collectors. This material has gained international status as a medium for art in a large part due to the efforts of Los Angeles-based art collector Lloyd E. Cotsen.

The article provides information on the heights that Chinese artists have reached in the global market. It reports on how China gained this status in the late 1970's when art schools reopened and artists in the People's Republic were suddenly exposed to all the latest trends in Western art. It states that Chinese Art academies and universities now offer courses in all media, old (sculpture, painting, calligraphy) and new (photography, film, video).

The article focuses on the expertise of interior designer Ellie Cullman. Cullman is collector of Asian art, American folk art and 19th- and 20th-century American paintings by artists such as Martin Johnson Heade, William Michael Harnett, Milton Avery, Adolph Gottlieb, Edward Hopper and Helen Frankenthaler. Majority of her clients are fine-art and antiques collectors. Cullman frequents museums to mine them for insights she can translate into designs.

The article focuses on the growth of interest for American folk art in the U.S. in 2006. According to the author, the country's art which was usually relegated to a second-class status in the art world are now being appreciated as a unique American art form. This development was attributed by the author to the American Folk Art Museum who played a key role in spotlighting various American art works and objects.

The article focuses on the business conditions of the market in Chinese Export porcelain. According to Michael Cohen of Cohen & Cohen, a British firm specializing in Chinese Export porcelain, U.S. collectors are buying only the very best they can afford. Information about the features and prices of English armorial porcelain is also discussed.

The article presents information related to various artists and on how Indian paintings are entertaining the U.S. market. An artist Atul Dodiya is one of the famous Indian painter whose work can be considered mainstream. According to an artist, contemporary Indian artists are concerned with what is relevant to them and interested in issues in which they convey their work.

The article presents information related to art collectors Henry W. Bloch and Marion H. Bloch and on their collections. Their collection is the result of three decades of extensive consultation with expert curators and scholars. According to Richard Brettell, a major scholar of Impressionism at the University of Texas at Dallas, their collections of paintings are in good condition.

The article presents information on the New York's Spring Asia Week. The Week is the focal point for significant Asian art auctions, gallery shows, exhibitions, lectures and most importantly, conversations with dealers and specialists. Spring Asia Week has two bookends: the downtown Arts of Pacific Asia New York show (March 30-April 2) and the International Asian Art Fair (March 31-April 5). Christie's will hold three major sales on March 28, 29 and 30 For Japanese and Korean art, Chinese works of art and Indian and Southeast Asian Art, respectively.

The article presents news briefs related to the art world. A survey of 100 Top Collectors in America was conducted which has selected a group of individuals on the basis of their dynamic, original and public-spirited methods they have developed to share their passion for great art and antiques. The most comprehensive collection of 17th-century Dutch drawings in private hands today has been built by George Abrams, a painter and his late wife, Maida. Keith Achepohl, Printmaker, Professor and artist, has assembled a collection of African pottery that displays the full range and artistry of African ceramics.

The article focuses on the work of Asian ceramists. Asian clay artists are discovering their own voices, redefining ceramics and pioneering new levels of invention. Vigor, originality and breaking of boundaries are so evident in their works that they are rapidly being praised by curators and collectors alike. In fact, now is an excellent time to consider buying contemporary pieces by Japanese, Korean and Chinese ceramists. Ceramist Kuroda Taizo's minimalist porcelain vessels are unglazed, tenderly reflecting light and revealing shadows. Works of this caliber, collected by major museums both here and in Japan, tend to range from $1,200 to $7,000.

The article profiles art collector Barry Friedman. Like so many collectors, Friedman started with four-leaf clovers, coins, stamps, marbles and Indian head pennies. By 1973, he became a dealer of Pre-Raphaelite paintings by such artists as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Sir Edward Burne-Jones and the Belgian Symbolist Fernand Khnopff. The Pre-Raphaelite spirit, however, is fully evident in the painted ceiling of his living room, which has been restored with the romantic, sensuous imagery of late 19th-century cherubs. In the past 20 years, Friedman has organized several landmark shows of photography, glass, early 20th-century avant-garde paintings, works on paper, sculpture and contemporary furniture.

This article reports on art donations to museums. Charitable giving is an art in itself. Museums count on donations, and donors count on a tax deduction. It should be simple. It was an ideal arrangement. In deciding where to give, the donor needs an awareness of the market. Typically, donors have relationships with museum curators who perhaps have assisted with the formation of their collections or, at the very least, offered some advice about a piece at auction. About 45 years ago, art appraisal practices were so fraudulent that the U.S. government was seriously considering eliminating tax deductions for art. Had that happened, museums would have lost their major source for acquisitions.

The article presents information on the artistic skills of some Japanese artisans. Kishi Eiko and Kondo Takahiro are highly praised ceramic artists who live in Kyoto. Yoichi Ohira, who divides his time between Tokyo and Venice, is an acknowledged master of glass. Though the works of these three artists are radically different, they share some basics. Even a glimpse of their pots, vessels and sculptural forms evokes the same response — a jolt of recognition, a "wow" factor that you are witnessing works of incomparable originality, beauty and subtlety. INSET: Kishi, Kondo and Ohira at a Glance.

The article focuses on visual arts community of San Antonio, Texas. The city boasts a rich collection of compelling works— paintings, sculpture, prints, digitally altered photography— by both emerging and well-established artists. The San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) is an encyclopedic museum with a wide range of exhibits from classical antiquities to post-World War 11 paintings. As yet, SAMA has no apparent strong commitment to collecting contemporary art, although it has a collection of works by San Antonio artists donated by Linda Pace, the founder of ArtPace.

The article reports that collector Philip Schiller's daring collection of American social commentary art provides a visual history of 20th-century issues. Schiller's collection documents the sufferings and struggles of farmers, factory workers, the unemployed, union organizers, miners and political protesters. It was this strong imagery and the works' painterly qualities, rather than the social concerns, that drew Schiller to them. Conventionally figurative and representational, Schiller's collection remained out of public view until the mid-1990's, although some academics and a few museum curators did know about it.

The article presents information on ceramic artwork. Ceramic artwork has come of age, especially in the blue-chip world of fine art. Prices also demonstrate a new stature for this genre. Contemporary clay artists are working in an astounding variety of ways, both conventional and non-conventional, referencing styles from the past and at the same time, defying them. Viewers respond to the many layers of ideas involved with the interplay of two and three dimensions. And for the most part, the artists have conjured up bewildering forms and shapes--often highly decorative and enigmatic--that are new to the ceramic world.

The article discusses ways for determining authentic Chinese furniture. Purchasing authentic Chinese furniture is like driving at night without the lights on--proceed with extreme caution. Before 1980, most of the Chinese furniture available was not made to deceive. Copies and fakes were often assembled from various aprons, legs and seat rails, among other pieces. Although they may have been old, they did not originally belong together. Incorporating old pieces into new furniture gradually gave way to reproductions--fakes whose goal was to pass as the real thing. To meet the growing demand for Chinese furniture, talented fabricators have been recently turning out fakes with the form, joinery and even patina of top-quality pieces.

This article presents information about dreaming stories. Australian Aboriginal art sheds its ethnographic stereotype to take on the fine art market. Just a decade ago, Australian Aboriginal art was dubbed" ethnic" and relegated to anthropology. Organizers of the Cologne Art Fair created an ugly controversy in 1994 when they initially refused to show contemporary Aboriginal paintings because they were considered" folk" rather than" authentic" art. No longer considered tribal art, Betz can now sell exceptionally fine works by artists like Kathleen Petyarre in the $10,000 to $40,000 range, which are typical prices for contemporary works by Aboriginal artists in museums and private collections.

Lists the top ten United States cities and towns to live in as of 2001. Greenwich, Connecticut; Presidio/Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California; Lake Forest, Illinois; Palm Beach, Florida; Rancho Santa Fe, California; Highland Park, Dallas, Texas; Old Bel-Air, California; Others.

Lists the top five world cities to live in if you are wealthy. The West End of London, England; Paris, France; Florence, Italy; Bridle Path, Toronto; Darling Point, Sydney, Australia.

An interview with art collector Nasser David Khalili is presented. Khalili believes that being an art collector means acquiring art, conserving it and exhibiting the art and sharing it with others. Though an Iranian, he collected Islamic pieces and never associated religion and politics with art. To him, art is universal and he would not sacrifice the beauty of sharing art because of religion and politics. He was drawn to Islamic art because he believed it was the most diverse and beautiful art in the world.

The article focuses on the collection of James Ross, an eminent African art collector and long-time donor and trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Although he is interested in how the piece was used in worship or ritual, that is secondary to the aesthetic enjoyment he derives from the art object. He is fascinated with the spiritual power that objects continue to project, even when they are removed from the original environment. His collection features reliquary figures in wood, terra cotta, metal and ivory from West and Central Africa.

The article focuses on collector Judy Witt's antiques collection. Witt has built up on her treasures to ornate her apartment in New York City. Witt relies on the curatorial advice of interior designer David Scott for adding on to her disparate works of art, which include Indian deities from the fourth and fifth centuries, and mid 19th-century Venetian vases. Scott takes care of the research work as he maintains close associations with curators, auction houses and antiques dealers.

The article presents some suggestions of various interior designers on art placement. According to a designer, watercolors, pastels, photographs and works on paper are fragile and should be hung away from direct sunlight. Many designers state that artwork should be placed at eye-level, roughly 57 to 62 inches from the floor to the center of the painting.

This article focuses on matters related to surrealism in the art world. One can consider the sagging, soft sculptures of Claes Oldenburg or the "Cremaster Cycle" of Matthew Barney, to name just two contemporary artists whose works reverberate with Surrealist ideas. Even before the arrival of such European artists as Max Ernst, André Masson and Yves Tanguy, who took refuge in the United States during World War II, Surrealism was a factor in the art world. Eminent collectors and gallery owners Peggy Guggenheim and Julien Levy also played a major role in helping the center of Surrealism shift from Paris to New York and farther afield to Chicago, Dallas, California and the Southwest.

This article presents information about art with altitude. For or a long time, the art of the Himalayas has been sidelined. It has not been given the same respect and appreciation as mainstream art or even a home of its own despite its self-evident and rewarding beauty. Perhaps the opening of the Rubin Museum of Art (RMA) in New York's Chelsea neighborhood will start to change all that. RMA's permanent collection consists of about 1,500 exceedingly valuable and rare works collected by art collectors Donald and Shelley Rubin, along with other gifts and contributions. She explains that the Himalayas and surrounding regions sweep in a huge arc across Asia, encompassing western China, Tibet, northern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and beyond.

The academically trained John Lefelhocz is just one of many artists shaking the foundations of traditional quilting. Working freely with fabric and found objects, his efforts fall within the broad category of art quilts, which characteristically rely on cloth as well as new and unusual materials like vinyl, canvas, organza and Mylar, and a broad range of innovative techniques that go beyond hand-stitching, appliqué and embroidery. Most studio and contemporary quilt artists are formally trained. And as the distinctions between craft and art become increasingly blurred, their works are gaining widespread recognition.

This article focuses on Byzantium: Faith and Power, a landmark exhibition on view through July 4, 2004 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The great paradox of Byzantium: Faith and Power is that during the time span it covers, the recaptured Byzantine Empire and its capital, Constantinople, were in tatters economically and politically, embattled by northern European invaders in the West and Turks in the East. The exhibition includes Byzantine icons painted on panels— an important art form during the period the show covers.

The article features Joe Price who collects only Japanese Edo-period (1615-1868) art. In the late 1960s, in a book of the Imperial Collection in Tokyo, Price discovered Ito Jakuchu, a painter whose works he admired. Jakuchu, who did not just depict nature but improved it by personifying the animals and giving them almost human identities, is the dominant painter in Price's collection. "Birds, Animals and Flowering Plants, "a pair of 200-year-old six-panel folding screen paintings is an outstanding Jakuchu painting according to the article.

The article features Jane Katcher and her collection of American Folk Art. The collection is made up of 300 primarily utilitarian works and reveals and documents how people lived, courted, married and maintained friendships in post-Revolutionary America. Katcher says that "sincerity in the material, an openness and innocence" is what unified the collection. The portrait "Comfort Starr Mygatt and Lucy Mygatt" by John Brewster, Jr. in 1799 is one of the outstanding works in the collection. Katcher is drawn to family portraits and friendship memorabilia.

The article discusses the demands for antique garden ornaments among American collectors, following the European tradition of decorating gardens with antique rarities. According to Barbara Israel, the most expensive ornament is the Coade stone, which is clay-based, high-grade durable, and can withstand severe weather. Its price in auction ranges from $50,000 to $75,000. She added that fine antique statuary made in marble, stone, lead, or bronze has high price ranging from $10,000 to $15,000.

The article focuses on the progress in Israeli decorative arts. Several unknown Israeli artists featured at Collect, last January's international fair devoted to the decorative arts at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England. Some 18 artists, living and working in Israel, are gaining considerable acclaim internationally after first exhibiting at the International Exposition of Sculpture Objects and Functional Art (SOFA), Chicago, Illinois, in 2003 and 2004. A third group of artists working in glass, ceramics, fiber and jewelry will be at the now-familiar Association of Israel's Decorative Arts Booth One at SOFA Chicago 2005. Until that first SOFA show, Israeli craft artists had a low profile in their own country as so few galleries there show decorative arts.

The article focuses on the excavations of various items in China. This groundbreaking exhibition, which runs through January 23, is one of the largest to come out of mainland China. These tell the story of China following the fall of the Han dynasty to the reunification of the country under Tang dynasty. Jade, bronze, gold, silver, metal, stone and wood artifacts as well as the rarest of textiles reveal the powerful influences of the Roman and Byzantine worlds that filtered though Central Asia. An example of cross-cultural interchange is a sixth-century ceramic jar with three handles, excavated from a Buddhist site, whose form is derived from GrecoRoman amphoras.

This article presents information about a review of complex culture and erotic riches. It is now on view at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., through February 6, 2004 and will be shown at the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, April 3 to September 4, 2004. The exhibition presents some of the finest examples of Islamic decorative art never before seen in this country. The subject is enormously complex, but this show gives an outstanding overview of the richness of the decorative arts— glass, metal, wood, textiles, calligraphy and ceramics, among others— that emerged from lands under Islamic rule from roughly the ninth through the 18th centuries.

With a degree in anthropology from Yale and a post-graduate interest in West African kinship and social structure, Raymond E. Senuk collected his way into becoming a leading authority on the weaving styles of the Guatemalan Mayans. Senuk became captivated by the indigenous Mayan culture in 1977, during his first trip to Guatemala to do anthropological fieldwork. A few years later, he and wife Judith L. Gibbons began annual visits to Guatemala, where they traveled to rural villages, chasing down the most spectacular artistic weavings they could find. As Senuk's passion for Guatemalan textiles led him to dealers and auctions, word spread about the collection he was building.

Interpretation more than acquisition is a guiding principle of Julie and Edmund Lewis, collectors of Japanese lacquerware and Asian Buddhist sculpture. The Lewises are dedicated to the highest standards of scholarly research. What attracted the couple to Japanese art was its relatively cleanliness, sparse and abstract imagery, and asymmetrical composition. Most of the collection reflects their predilection for Zen, yet the couple has a 14th-century rarity, a Taima mandala, a painting with gold-leaf on silk with a Buddha in the center surrounded by an entire universe of images, each with a special meaning.

Saundra Lane's collection of 20th-century American photography and paintings is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant worldwide. But it is the work of Charles Sheeler, a giant of 20th-century photography and a founder of American Modernism, that takes pride of place in her collection. When Lane passed away, her husband, William H. Lane, acquired his entire photographic estate in an attempt to preserve his lifetime of work. The Lanes recognized the genius in his silent landscapes and powerful images.