Photo: Nude painting by Italian artist sells for $157m at New York auction

A nude paint that is the largest produced by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani sold for $157.2 million in New York on Monday night, becoming the fourth most expensive work of art sold at auction. 
Painted a century ago, Modigliani’s masterpiece “Nu couche (sur le cote gauche)” fetched the highest price in Sotheby’s history and was the star single lot in the May art auction season in New York. 

Modigliani follows Leonardo da Vinci and Pablo Picasso as the third highest-selling artist at auction. Monday’s sale failed to eclipse the $170.4 million paid for another Modigliani nude at Christie’s in 2015. Nearly 58 inches (147 centimeters) wide, the picture was the cover star of a recent retrospective at the Tate Modern gallery in London. 



Modigliani reinvented the nude for the modern era, and when his series of paintings were first exhibited in 1917, they were considered so shocking that police closed the show in Paris. Bidding was restrained, lasting three to four minutes and opening at $125 million before auctioneer Helena Newman brought the hammer down at $139 million. The final price includes a buyer’s premium.

The price chalks up a healthy profit for its seller, who acquired the picture in 2003 for $26.9 million. Modigliani completed 22 reclining nudes and 13 seated nudes between 1916 and 1919. Most of the former are found in museums, such as The Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.  Simon Shaw, co-head of impressionist and modern art at Sotheby’s, said the painting sold Monday, while rooted in tradition, reflected the changing status of women during World War I. 

“This is a nude of a very self-possessed, sexually confident woman who is not looking out from a distance. She’s absolutely meeting our gaze,” he told AFP prior to the sale.  Modigliani’s dealer Leopold Zborowski gave him a stipend of 15 francs a day and paid the models five francs to pose in a Paris apartment.

Dissapointed armed robbers chopped woman's arm

Dissapointed armed robbers chopped a woman's arm in disappointment of not finding anything valuable to steal from from this woman (in picture), it is by the Grace of God she is alive,
she shared this post on facebook telling friends to pray for her quick recovery..  Truly Nigerian is a bad place ( I say this because it's 2018 and look at what the country has turned into no progress the government cannot provide jobs for citizens and now the normal thing is robbery) may God help his children / us all..  I wish her quick recovery

Bernice Burgos flaunts major cleavage in skimpy white dress

Instagram celebrity and video vixen, Bernice Burgos, took to her page to flaunt her enviable curves and major cleavage in a white skimpy cut-out dress, which she rocked with silver heels.

Bernice, 38, who is rummored to be dating Migos rapper, Quavo, 26, is known for flaunting her curvaceous body.
view photo bellow >>

NYSC: Basic requirements for orientation camp

Following the uploading of call-up letters for the 2018 Batch A orientation course on the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Portal, a comprehensive list of essential things prospective corps members must take to camp have been highlighted here by our reporter.

Among the items are some life saving TIPS.

1. Authentic Student ID Card – (Original and photocopies)

2.Certificate /Statement of Result from your School (Original and 6 Photocopies) in addition if you are a Medical Doctor, Pharmacist or an Optometrist you will be expected to bring along original of your registration certificate with the Nigerian Medical Council, Pharmacist Board or Optometrist Registration Council and evidence of completion of housemanship or internship.

3. NYSC Call-up letter (Original and 6 photocopies)

4. Recent Passport Photograph – WHITE BACKGROUND (24 copies)



5. Compulsory medical certificate from a government or military hospital showing health status.

Going to camp with the above listed documents and items will get you through your registration at the orientation camp, up to the point of collection of mattress and your NYSC KIT.

The NYSC kit consists of: 2 round neck loosely fitted white T-shirts, 2 pair of white shorts, One NYSC crested vest, a pair of NYSC khaki (Jacket, Belt and trousers), a crested NYSC cap, a pair of Jungle boots, a pair of NYSC white tennis shoes.

However, here’s a list of 10 survival kits during the three weeks.

1. ROUND-NECKED WHITE T-SHIRTS : This is an essential outfit worn everyday in camp throughout your 3 weeks .

2. WHITE SHORTS: NYSC would give 2 pairs of shorts you may need extra 4pairs so as not to be stranded because you wouldn’t be able to wash daily.

3. PLAIN WHITE TENNIS SHOES/ WHITE SOCKS: It’s advisable you get one pair of rubber to save yourself from stress alongside leather tennis shoes.

4. CEREALS/PROVISIONS: Essential for those who would not like camp food with cup, plate, water bottle(useful on parade ground or long hours lectures)

5. TOILETRIES: antiseptics, insecticides, towel, sanitary pads, this is essential to keep you from infections and skin reactions.

6. MOSQUITO NET: Take along with a rope to tie it to your bunk to avoid malaria.

7. CASH: Atleast 25,000 with your ATM card ,there are lots of things that take up money in camp like food, charging of phones, e.t.c

8. WAIST POUCH: Very essential, it serves as your bank and locker for important items. Things like phones, money, ID card, keys, ATM cards e.t.c

9. TORCHLIGHT OR RECHARGEABLE LAMPS: In preparation for morning drills at 5am and at night after lights out.

10. PADLOCKS: please lock your boxes and bags to avoid regrets. People who lost things to theives due to carelessness

OTHERS: bed sheets, Pillow Cases,Pillow, Power bank, pain relief drugs, antibiotics etc.

Lady Lists Her Achievements At 20 As She Celebrates Her Birthday

Proud of her hardwork and how far she has come all by herself, A lady named Rita Ogbonna on Facebook has taken few minutes of her very busy time, to list out the things she has achieved at Just the age of 20, And its Immense, Good for her, See below!

 Rita Ogbonna

TYPES OF THERAPEUTIC GROUPS

Group therapy is a popular mode of therapy for both therapists and clients. Group therapy is a highly effective form of psychotherapy that is based on interdependence and interaction among the group members who mutually disclose personal material (Laski & Riva, 2006). While group therapy is sometimes used alone, it is also commonly integrated into a comprehensive treatment plan that may also include individual psychotherapy. Some of the common therapeutic groups that may be used either on their own or in conjunction with other forms of treatment include:

Self help groups

These groups are organised and led by clients or ex-clients who have learned ways of overcoming or adjusting to their difficulties. The group members benefit from such experience, while also benefiting from the opportunity to talk about their own problems, express their feelings and provide mutual support. Two examples of self-help groups include; self-help groups for alcohol dependence or self-help groups for parents with handicapped children, etc.

Medication groups

These groups have been used for the treatment of, for example, recurrent depression and bipolar disorder. The emphasis is on compliance with prescribed medication. The goals include increasing the client’s knowledge about their medication, increasing compliance, educating about the disorder, decreasing their isolation and helping them to express their feelings in a nonjudgmental environment.

Interpersonal group therapy

This approach was developed from the work of Yalom (1985; Yalon & Leszcz, 2005). Treatment is focused on the problems of current relationships and examines the ways in which these problems are reflected in the group. The past is discussed only to make sense of the present problems. The treatment is divided into three stages.

First stage: In this stage it is typical of group members to try and depend on the therapist, seeking expert advice about their problems and about the way they should behave in the group. In this first stage some members may leave the group due to anxiety or the perception that group therapy may not be useful to their problems.

Second stage: The remaining members begin to know each other better. They discuss their problems and try to seek answers to their problems. During this period maximum change can be expected. The therapist encourages members to examine current problems and relationships.

Third Stage: The group in this stage can become dominated by the residual problems of the members who have made the least progress and show most dependency. These residual problems are discussed before ending the group.

Encounter groups

In encounter groups the interaction between members is made more intense and rapid in the hope that this will lead to greater change. The encounter can be intensified through entirely verbal means, like using challenging language, or it can include appropriate forms of touching or hugging between the participants. Sometimes the experience is further intensified by prolonging the group session for a whole day or even longer. Care needs to be taken in deciding the suitability of clients for this type of group therapy approach.

Psychodrama

In psychodrama, the group enacts events from the life of members in scenes reflecting either current relationships or those of the family in which the person grew up. This approach can provoke strong feelings in the person represented through the dramatic enactment. The drama is followed by discussion. The drama can also focus on problems that all participants share, for example, how to deal with authority.

THIS IS FOR MEN ONLY. WOMEN SHOULD NOT READ THIS.

.
By Bola Adewara
Follow me @bolaadewara
.
.
In these few years I have spent on this terrestrial divide, I have seen how life treats men, especially in their old ages.

I have seen men work, labour, sweat throughout their youthful lives on their wives and children and I have also seen how they end up. My brother, as you are working hard to train your children and to make your wife proud, don't forget to have something for yourself for your old age. May you not be begging your children to eat in your old age. Remember, women can be jumping from one son's house to another daughter's house. Not so for men.

Can I tell you a truth? You are a stranger in that family you call yours today. That house you struggled to build is not yours. Its for your wife and the children! Seriously!

A friend sent me a story recently. Let me quote him here: "My grandfather told me that a married man is like a tractor that builds a road, does it very nicely but when the road is completed, they bring a low loader and carry the tractor away, claiming it will spoil the road! That tractor is never allowed to step on the road it built!



"Same is the case of we married men. We deny ourselves, get loans, wear used clothes, etc, to see our children through high schools, universities, etc because we believe that the only gift we can give them is quality education. When they are old enough, the fathers often become dispensable. The attention of the children shift to their mothers. May be these mothers poison their minds against their fathers, who knows? You hear a typical mother use languages like ...
"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gone to school.
"I sold all my gold, trinkets, wrappers to send you to school.
"Your father was only interested in alcohol and women while I suffered to pay your fees!"
(Now the tractor that built the road is being carried away!)

"Once the child starts working, father could have retired. When he come visiting his parents, the poor father is given N5k in front of the mother, while the mother pulls him to the kitchen to collect 50 times what father got... and the father doesn't know what mother got!

"Once the child drives off, the father is told to bring money from his pittance to buy this and that, buy sugar to prepare Lipton unless he wants to drink sugarless tea! These are some of the reasons men die early!

"A mother flies abroad to visit her children or go do Omugor while the father sits at home, buying and eating bread and ewa agonyin every morning! Six months, the mother is abroad doing Omugor. She comes back home fresh to meet father licking palm oil in ewa agonyin!"

I warn you, my brother. Nature does not smile on old men who did not cater for their old ages when they were young.

Build your own house where you will live in your old age.
Build businesses that will feed you in your old age.
Create conveniences that will engage you in your old age.
Build friendship and goodwill that will serve you in your old age.
Right now, start to be relevant in your Mosque/Church, community so you could be reckoned with in your old age.

* Old age could be very lonely and agonising for men who did not plan for it.
* May you not become a liability on your children in your old age.
* May your children not wish you an early death when they can't manage you again in your old age.
An old age without penny in your pocket is a slow, agonising death sentence!

Be warned now...!