Art sales are experiencing an upward trend in spite of the recession. Auction house executives in New York have recently found that pieces which aren't actually that valuable are in fact selling for more than they ever have before. For modern and Impressionistic art is becoming increasingly scattered throughout the world or locked up in museums; and apparently it has nothing whatsoever to do with the recession! Some of the not-worth-THAT-much pieces were jokes or sketches done somewhat haphazardly by renowned artists like Duchamp and Pissarro. Join discussion...

The exhibit "In the Forest of Fontainebleu: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet" displays images from the late 19th century of Fontainebleu forest, the haunt of many Parisian artists looking to create en plein air. This exhibit at the National Gallery of Art contains 100 images: sketches, photographs, and paintings of many media. The article explores how these images of woods may not be groundbreaking, having been absorbed into the collective artistic consciousness and spat back out in motel room prints and Disney movies, but they show how artists began to branch out and evolve their work in a natural setting. Join discussion...

This Friday, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is presenting a new exhibition 40 of some of the best Impressionist paintings from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. The exhibition will be called "Landscapes from the Land of Impressionism, and will include paintings like Monet's "The Doge's Palace at Venice," and Childe Hassam's "Poppies on the Isles of Shoals." The artists are pretty much half American and half French. These paintings are basically a loan from the Brooklyn Museum of Art- one of the oldest art museums in the country. Old art made new. Join discussion...

"Russian Art Show Hangs in the Balance" is about the cancellation of the Royal Academy of Art's exhibition of French and Russian art that was suppose to open in January in London. It was halted by the Russian government, which owns most of the work, on claims that the British had not done enough legally to ensure that the work would be return after the show. The British hold to the position that they did everything that they needed too, and claim that the Russians are simply trying to pull art and culture into the political struggle between the two countries. Britain and Russia's political relations have been strained ever since a former KGB agent was poisoned in London last year. This is just the most recent disagreement. Join discussion...