During its 30 years in business, well-known artists and cultural heavyweights designed over 65 menu covers for New York City restaurant Chanterelle. Now owners David and Karen Waltuck have put dozens of menus from their archives up for sale to help pay off creditors. Visit their website to scoop up one by Cy Twombly for $3,000; Robert Rauschenberg for $1,000; and Marcel Marceau for $400. But hurry — two by Kiki Smith have already sold for $3,000 a pop.

View some arty menus — including a few that are really cool, but not for sale — after the jump.

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1. Watch President Obama sing “Lift Every Voice And Sing” alongside Smokey Robinson at the White House Civil Rights Concert; PBS airs the entire concert tonight at 8 p.m. [via HuffPo]
2. Despite controversy, more than 1,200 works from Polaroid‘s corporate collection, including works by Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, and Robert Mapplethorpe, will go up for auction June 21 and 22 at Sotheby’s in New York. [via Bloomberg]
3. Blogger has suddenly shut down several MP3 blogs (including Pop Tarts Suck Toasted) with little explanation. [via Pop Candy]
4. Molly Shannon is joining the cast of Glee as a pill-popping badminton coach and Sue Slyvester’s arch nemesis. [via EW]
5. This will either be amazing or horrible: Alicia Silverstone plans to reunite with Clueless director Amy Heckerling for a vampire romantic comedy called Vamps. [via /film]

Rosy-cheeked, nostalgic, kitschy, clichéd: our feelings on Norman Rockwell are manifold. Though Rockwell’s depictions of America evoke a certain warm feeling for yesteryear, they are more akin to propagandistic advertisements than high art. It’s worth noting, however, that Rockwell referred to himself as an illustrator, not an artist — a fact that dovetails with his use of photography in creating his iconic images. NPR has a fascinating look at the process behind the lens; peep side-by-side comparisons plus other photorealist picks after the jump.

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Robert Redford, Ed Ruscha, and Salman Rushdie were among the honorees at last week’s 2009 National Arts Awards, presented by Americans for the Arts — the same organization that benefits from the sales of Shepard Fairey and Jennifer Gross’ new publication, Art for Obama.

The award’s ceremony, which was held at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York, was attended by an all-star group of artists, art patrons, politicians, museum directors, gallerists, and celebrities. Among the glamorous crowd were Chuck Close, Jeff Koons, Shirin Neshat, Eli Broad, Vera Wang, Caroline Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Weinberg, Thelma Golden, Lisa Phillips, Larry Gagosian, Tony Shafrazi, Dennis Hopper, and Kerry Washington. Buoyed by an Obama White House, award presenters and recipients relished the social, economic, and diplomatic roles the arts can now play.

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Neo Rauch, Ettape. David Zwirner, New York and Galerie Eigen + Art, Berlin/Leipzig

As Venice settles down to a calmer flow of visitors to the Biennale throughout the summer, the art-world caravan has journeyed to Switzerland for the 40th edition of the world’s most prestigious fair, Art Basel. Collectors stormed the booths of their favorite galleries at the preview, making quick acquisitions of high quality modern and contemporary art.

More than 300 international galleries are showing work in a variety of media by more than 2,500 artists. With the exception of the sections of the fair offering emerging art and experimental projects, most dealers have been cautious to bring the best work by known artists — a strategy that is already paying off. Read More »

The centerpiece of his exhibition Paraxena in the Greek Pavilion in Venice, Lucas Samaras’ video installation Ecdysiast and Viewers is a curious work of art. Continuing his fascination with narcissism and voyeurism, the 5½-minute presents 24 iMovie films of individuals recorded as they respond to the iMovie film Ecdysiast (a term supposedly coined by H.L. Mencken to describe Gypsy Rose Lee) that shows a distorted view of Samaras stripping. Read More »