Humans are transforming Earth’s natural landscapes so dramatically that as many as one million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, posing a dire threat to ecosystems that people all over the world depend on for their survival, a sweeping new United Nations assessment has concluded. The 1,500-page report, compiled by hundreds of international experts and based on thousands of scientific studies, is the most exhaustive look yet at the decline in biodiversity across the globe and the dangers that creates for human civilization. A summary of its findings, which was approved by representatives from the United States and 131 other countries, was released May 6th, 2019 in Paris.
I M Pei, the architect behind buildings including the glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris, has died aged 102. Tributes have been pouring in, remembering him for a lifetime of designing iconic structures worldwide. Pei's designs are renowned for their emphasis on precision geometry, plain surfaces and natural light. He carried on working well into old age, creating one of his most famous masterpieces - the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar - in his 80s.
William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s “La Jeunesse de Bacchus” (The Youth of Bacchus), a joyful scene of mythological frolic, measures a whopping 20 feet long and nearly 11 feet high, and it was the biggest canvas he ever painted. The 1884 work, with an estimate of $25 million to $35 million, will be a marquee offering at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on May 14, 2019 in New York. It will also rank as one of the largest pre-Modern works offered in the history of Sotheby’s, sure to garner attention just for that fact, but also because it’s by a beloved 19th-century French painter who has a sterling sales record and legions of fans among museumgoers.
Canadian artist Calvin Nicholls creates amazingly beautiful sculptures using sheets of paper. "Calvin has been creating his paper sculptures since 1986 from his studio north of Toronto Ontario, Canada.This particular series is appropriately titled, "Paper Zoo." To make the art, he starts by observing real-life animals and their movements.