A portrait stashed in a bank crypt in Athens could be the last painting Vincent van Gogh produced, according to some art experts and collectors who are attempting to determine the legitimacy of the picture found among the assets of a Greek world war two resistance fighter.

The discovery of the work, along with a notebook of sketches also supposedly drawn by Van Gogh, has raised the vision of the post-impressionist artiste having painted a third portrait of his physician, Dr Gachet, perhaps only days before a spell of psychosis induced him to entrust suicide at the age of 37. For art historians it would add to the debate that has surrounded the famous painting by one of the fathers of modern art.

"A lot of interest has been expressed in the work from very big museums and auction houses," its owner, Doretta Peppa, said. "A well-known institution will soon make an announcement about its historical background that will leave no doubt it is an original work by Van Gogh."

Peppa said the portrait's colourful history began in France when the Nazis stole it from a Jewish family during the second world war. After Hitler's forces marched into Greece in April 1941 it was brought to Athens, an exhibition centre for looted treasures.

The Athenian writer claims it was "liberated" by her father, Meletis, a prominent figure in the partisan movement, during a raid on a German train in the waning days of the occupation in 1944.

The Berwick Public Library is featuring oil paintings by the late Hazel Lord all this month through June 30. Hazel's granddaughter, Sandy Guptill, has brought them to the library to show. people are invited to come enjoy the beautiful artwork.

The Berwick Library also presents the Spring Educational Workshop Series with Maggie McCauley. Last in the series is "The Art of Happiness" on June 3 at 6:30 p.m. Explore how to tap into pleasure and start living from true spirit. This program is free to all. No reservations are required.

Catch the Reading Bug, Saturday, June 28. The Children's Summer Reading Program Kickoff will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Register children for the reading program and enjoy crafts and activity. A meeting will be held Wednesday, May 28 at 6:30 p.m. for interested volunteers.

Those who would like to learn how to join or want to work on a knitting project are invited to join the Berwick Knifty Knitters. The group meets every Tuesday from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the library. Experienced knitters are there to help.

The library also has information about several different campground programs, including Camp Wildcat at UNH, College for Kids at York County Community College and Seaside Safari at the Seacoast Science Center. Copies are available on the bulletin board table at the front of the library.

Library hours are Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is closed Thursdays and Sundays. Children's Story Time is Friday at 10:30 a.m.

The library will be closed Monday, May 26 in respect of Memorial Day.

A Christie's auction house spokeswoman says a painting by British artist Lucian Freud has broken a global record for living artists by good-looking more than $33 million at a New York sale.

Spokeswoman Sara Fox says nameless buyer won Tuesday's bidding for Mr. Freud's "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping." The life-size 1995 portrayal depicts a nude woman sleeping on a worn-out sofa.

At more than $33.6 million, the price easily topped the $23.6 million record for living artists. It was set in November by Jeff Koons' "Hanging Heart" monument.

The 85-year-old Freud is the grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.

Tuesday's sale also included "Studies for Self portrayal," by British artist Francis Bacon. Ms. Fox says it sold for more than $28 million.

The prices include the auction house's commission, known as the buyer's payment.

The world was in shock when in 2001 the Talibans destroyed two ancient colossal Buddha statues in the Afghan region of Bamiyan. Behind those statues, there are caves decorated with precious paintings from 5th to 9th century A.D. The caves also suffered from Taliban destruction, as well as from a severe natural environment, but today they have become the source of a major discovery. Scientists have proved, thanks to experiments performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), that the paintings were made of oil, hundreds of years before the technique was “invented” in Europe. Results are published today in the peer-reviewed Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry.

In many European history and art books, oil painting is said to have started in the 15th century in Europe. But scientists from the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties in Tokyo (Japan), the Centre of Research and Restoration of the French Museums-CNRS (France), the Getty Conservation Institute (United States) and the ESRF have recently identified drying oils in some of the samples they studied from the Bamiyan caves. Painted in the mid-7th century A.D., the murals show scenes with Buddhas in vermilion robes sitting cross-legged amid palm leaves and mythical creatures. The scientists discovered that 12 out of the 50 caves were painted with oil painting technique, using perhaps walnut and poppy seed drying oils.

A combination of synchrotron techniques such as infrared micro-spectroscopy, micro X-ray fluorescence, micro X-ray absorption spectroscopy or micro X-ray diffraction was crucial for the outcome of the work. "On one hand, the paintings are arranged as superposition of multiple layers, which can be very thin. The micrometric beam provided by synchrotron sources was hence essential to analyze separately each of these layers. On the other hand, these paintings are made with inorganic pigments mixed in organic binders, so we needed different techniques to get the full picture" Marine Cotte, a research scientist at CNRS and an ESRF scientific collaborator explains.

The results showed a high diversity of pigments as well as binders and the scientists identified original ingredients and alteration compounds. Apart from oil-based paint layers, some of the layers were made of natural resins, proteins, gums, and, in some cases, a resinous, varnish-like layer. Protein-based material can indicate the use of hide glue or egg. Within the various pigments, the scientists found a high use of lead whites. These lead carbonates were often used, since Antiquity up to modern times, not only in paintings but also in cosmetics as face whiteners. “This is the earliest clear example of oil paintings in the world, although drying oils were already used by ancient Romans and Egyptians, but only as medicines and cosmetics”, explains Yoko Taniguchi, leader of the team.

The paintings are probably the work of artists who traveled on the Silk Road, the ancient trade route between China, across Central Asia's desert to the West. However, there are very few studies about this region. “Due to political reasons research on paintings in Central Asia is scarce. We were fortunate to get the opportunity from UNESCO, as a part of conservation project for the World Heritage site Bamiyan, to study these samples and we hope that future research may provide deeper understanding of the painting techniques along the Silk Road and the Eurasian area”, says Taniguchi.

The technique of painting in oils was developed in Asia as long as 800 years before it appeared in Europe, according to a new report in the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectroscopy. The research is based on an analysis of murals found inside caves at Bamian in Afghanistan.

"This is the earliest clear example of oil paintings in the world," said Yoko Taniguchi, a historian at Tokyo's National Research Institute for Cultural Properties and one of the authors of the report.

The binders and pigments used in the Bamian murals were identified using gas chromatographs at the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles and a variety of X-ray technologies at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France.

The synchrotron technology enabled researchers to study each layer in the paintings, identifying pigments and binders.

Reading through some of the blogs responding to the LA Times story I see that there is still some misunderstanding about the graffiti issue. I only oppose spray paint when it is used to cover over murals or other public art. That is called vandalism and that alone is the reason "we cannot coexist" as I was correctly quoted as saying in the Times.

It is the reason LA is no longer the mural capital. Once there were 2 - 3 thousand murals here and every one has been destroyed by spray paint. Either they were painted out because the vandalism became such a blight or they are still out there covered with spray paint and therefore just waiting to be coated over with beige paint.

Spray paint on murals has caused a slow redefinition of the exterior mural,once an oasis in Los Angeles. Now many people see murals as ugly when actually it is the vandalism that is ugly. I'm not against artists who use spray paint in their work. I used it myself during 1962-63, but every muralist I know is demoralized by all of their works being destroyed by the stuff.

Plano is home to a new congregation of Jews. The temple, Nishmat Am is located on the same block as a Mosque and across the street from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church at the northwest corner of Custer and Independence. The Mosque and the Church already have a history of mutual congeniality. It is a pleasure to be able to welcome this Temple to the neighborhood. The close proximity of these three houses of worship is an example of the multiethnic and inter-religious nature of the people of Plano. Plano is home to people from over fifty nations bringing their diverse cultures. Plano celebrates this diversity each winter with a huge multicultural celebration held on Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, in downtown Plano, as well as celebrations at various times throughout the year in the Plano Independent School District.

It is in this tradition that the temple of Nishmat Am is going to be receiving a visit from a very special "Welcome Wagon". The ten North Texas artists known as "Just Art", happen to work right across the street at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Faith Formation Center. Just Art artists decided to welcome the newcomers in the same spirit they were welcomed when they came to Plano to work. They have been guests of the Catholic church on two Saturdays a month for the past three years.

"Just Art" is a group of ten area artists from very diverse ethnic and religious traditions. They have members that are Jews, Catholics, Mormons, Methodists and Agnostics. They have roots in Israel, India, Columbia, Italy, New York, Utah, Wisconsin and Texas to name just a few places. They work together in harmony, while making the most of their differences to enhance their shared goals. Their works are parts of many national, and international, private and civic collections.

Just Art artists will be gifting Temple Nishmat Am a multi paneled work of art that shows their varied visions and techniques, expressing a single theme. This artwork centers on lighting the "Shabbat" candles- the ceremonial that takes place every Friday night in Jewish homes all over the world. Shabbat, the Hebrew word for Satuday, the day of rest is an _expression of unity, family, tradition, honor, and respect for ones faith and forefathers. The work of art celebrates this tradition with images common to the ceremonial Friday night meal. The artists chose candles, Challah bread and a wine goblet to express their understanding and respect of the traditions of Shabbat.

The style of each of these fifteen 12" x 12" canvases is as varied as the artists that created them. The art works range from classically representational art to abstract paintings. The small artworks are made using oil or acrylic paints. The canvases, while all are the same 12" by 12" dimensions, vary from 1 inch to 2 1/2" in depth giving the art work a more three dimensional look. The fifteen canvases will be bolted together to form an overall abstract form as they spread across the wall at the Temple.

Just Art will present the work to Rabbi Cohen and members of the congregation. The artists will be present to discuss their art work at the reception.

If you have never seen the art work of Bert Monroy then you need to check out his website and especially his digital painting Damen. I had the pleasure to attend one of his classes prior to the unveiling of Damen and was just awed by the complexity in its creation.

Keep in mind that this is not photography, this is digital painting. The painting took him over 2000 hours to create, is 40 x 120 inches (3.33 ft x 10 ft) in size, spread across almost 50 Photoshop files, had 15,000 layers, and weighed in at 1.7 GB after it was flattened. Talk about having some file management skills.

Photoshop Studio with Bert Monroy - Digital Painting was written to inspire others to look at Photoshop in a different way, to approach the tools from ways that are different than are outlined in the manual - in the ways that are different than most people use Photoshop.

Keep in mind that Photoshop Studio with Bert Monroy - Digital Painting is not for beginners. Monroy deals with rather complex issues such as Calculations and Layers Styles. These are pretty creative techniques and you have to be fairly confident in your skills. That is not to say you have to be an expert to use these techniques, but rather you have to know your layers from your channels and your paths from your pixels.

Photoshop Studio with Bert Monroy - Digital Painting is both a book about the artist and how he came to create the work that he has produced, as well as a technique book about using Photoshop to create digital art. The main book is 312 pages and contains 10 chapters. There are also five bonus chapters via PDF that you can get online when you register your book as well as the sample images that you can work with from Chapter 10 tutorials.

Chapter 1, "The Workflow," discusses the thought process that goes through creating a digital painting. In this chapter, Monroy explains his workflow from getting his reference material to the planning of composition. Chapter 2, "Lights and Shadows" gets into some of the concepts of lights and shadows that are used as components to give an image its character.

Chapters 3 through 9 each focus on a specific painting. They are presented in the order in which they were created. In these chapters, he goes in to the how and why of what he does. Throughout the book you are given insight into the growth of the artist beginning with the work "Oakland", in which he began using a new Mac G4 Tower that gave him more power to build better images because he could now create bigger files.

As you traverse through the paintings you learn about techniques as well. Some of the things you will learn to do is to build a stone wall, create neon signs, create rust, show fading reflections, adding grime, create a manhole cover, and many, many other things. These all take you to his latest release "Lunch in Tiburon." For his final image, he then explores his complex work, Damen.

Chapter 10 features tutorials. Now that you have seen what he has done in his many works, it is now your turn to try your hand. This chapter contains a series of tutorials that you can follow. In fact when you register your book, you can download the PSD files to work with. Some are simple and some are complex. All of them are designed to let you explore many of the techniques he has highlighted in the book.

The five additional chapters that contain 116 additional pages are online and in the form of tutorials that cover brushes, channels, filters, layers, and pen tool patterns. These are effectively like getting personal instruction from the artist himself. Remember I made mention of him having some file management skills? His 35 page layers PDF will show you how he manages to reuse items for the creation of new work.

I was glad to see Photoshop Studio with Bert Monroy - Digital Painting being released. I know that the author has had previous books published; in fact he is credited with being a part of the very first Photoshop book when the product was first released, but the prior ones were for previous versions of the software and are currently out of print.

I have been a big fan of his work, and as such I am a big fan of his book. So I recommend that you go off and take a look at his website, and if you are comfortable working in Photoshop, then I highly recommend this book. Even if you are not as comfortable with Photoshop, perhaps just reading the book will inspire you.