“The Living and the Dead” is a collaborative show of over 50 artists, including Amy Yao, Brian Belott, Anicka Yi, Uri Aran, George Condo, Justin Matherly, Haim Steinback, and dozens of others. The art is an almost bewildering mix of styles and mediums, ranging from wooden statues to fishing poles, giant ice cubes, elastic, and deep-fried q-tips. The show opened last night at Gavin Brown`s Enterprises, and runs from July 1st – Aug. 7th.
Still from Cory Arcangel’s ‘Drei Klavierstücke, op. 11′ via Team Gallery
Team Gallery’s current exhibition is a group show of three video artists from the gallery’s roster: Cory Arcangel, Guillaume Pinard, and Jon Routson. It follows a similar three-person show of abstract work by its artists in January. The exhibition includes a number of video pieces, in both large and small formats, as well as a sound piece by Routson and two prints by Arcangel in his Photoshop series – a similar print was in the New Museum’s triennial, Younger Than Jesus.
After weeks of negotiation with the Attorney General’s office, J. Ezra Merkin has agreed to sell an art collection appraised by Christie’s at $310 million. After taxes and other fees — the New York Times reports that Merkin was paying $60,000 a month on insurance, and owed $42 million to previous owners as well as $19.3 million on a loan used to purchase the artwork — profits from the sale amount to $191 million, to be frozen in escrow pending the outcome of the Attorney General’s suit against the suspected Bernie Madoff feeder.
John Baldessari, ‘Raised Eyebrows/Furrowed Foreheads: Airplane (Concorde),’ 2009. Via ArtNet.
Currently showing at the Greta Meert Gallery in Brussels are seven pieces from the latest series by American artist John Baldessari. The selection represents a continuation of previous series, in which Baldessari explored fragmented body parts, abstraction of facial expressions and the relationship between separate parts and the whole. His former series, which came under the titles of ‘Noses & Ears, Etc.’, ‘Arms & Legs (Specif. Elbows & Knees)’, Etc, and ‘Prima Facie, Etc.’, in addition to his work at large, has emphasized the symbiotic relationship between painting and photography. In effect, Baldessari, who has shown in more than 200 solo and 900 group exhibitions in the United States and Europe, has been credited for having helped to establish photography as a more established artistic medium.
Popeye, part of the new Jeff Koons exhibition at the Serpentine by the same name.
Jeff Koons’s first major exhibition in a public gallery in England opens tomorrow. The show at the Serpentine features works drawn from public and private holdings, and some new works on display for the first time. The “Popeye Series” “creates a world beyond taste,” appropriation art at its finest. The extraordinary and the mundane are put side by side: Popeye and and Olive Oyl are embedded in multi-layered paint. Garbage cans and chairs, chains and even the occasional inflatable, are put to use in the sculptures of the “Popeye Series.”
Peter Doig’s ‘Night Playground’ sold for £3 million, beating estimates of £1.5-2 million, via Artinfo
Rounding out the summer auctions, Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale took in £19.1 million, coming in around the lower end of estimates of £17.4-24 million. 35 out of 40 lots sold, with rates of 88% by lot and 86% by value. The top selling lot was a large Peter Doig painting, ‘Night Painting,’ which sold for £3 million, quite above estimates of £1.5-2 million. According to the NY Times, collector François Pinault was overheard calling the sale “solid” and “serious.” Though the total value realized represents a 78% drop from last year, the high sell-through rate, consistent among the fine art auctions this season, shows that the market has settled enough for the auction houses to accurately gauge what buyers want.
Through July 11, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin is showing works by the late sculptor Duane Hanson. The exhibition, titled “Illusions Perdues (Lost Illusions),” is comprised of hyper-realistic depictions of lost souls, and loneliness, or taken literally, illusions of the lost.
Ed Ruscha’s ‘That Was Then This Is Now’ sold for £713,250, falling between estimates of £600,000-800,000, via Phillips de Pury
Phillips de Pury’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale realized £5.1 million last night, missing its low estimate of £5.4 million. With a much smaller and deeply discounted offering compared to last year’s sale, Phillips sold 30 out of 39 lots for a 77% sold-by-lot rate, beating last year’s rate of 66%. However, this year’s totals represent a 79% decrease in value as last year’s sale brought in £24.5 million. Conservative estimates helped, with many lots selling above their estimates. The highest selling lot was Ed Ruscha’s fittingly titled ‘That Was Then This Is Now,’ going for £713,250, including buyer’s premium, putting it in the middle of estimates of £600,000-800,000.
Dan Graham’s first U.S. retrospective is currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The artist’s work has been highly influential since the 1960’s. He has close personal and professional ties with Sol LeWitt, Dan Flavin and Mel Bochner and as of yet his work has been seldom collected or recognized in the U.S. The show features a comprehensive sampling of his body of work in media including installation, text pieces, performance and site specific sculpture. At the core of his work, Graham is investigating public and private cultural systems and the extent to which his playful, often comic, interference can alter the way individuals relate to their surroundings, themselves and others.
Gerhard Richter, Cow, part of an exhibition of the artist’s work at MKM. via the Albertina.
Until August 23, Museum Küeppersmühle is exhibiting 80 paintings by legendary German artist Gerhard Richter. Comprised of works drawn from private collections Burda, Ströher, Böckman, and the artist’s own, ”Paintings from Private Collections” is an exploration of colors, of their uses and limitations. Works included span much of the artist’s career, from the early 60’s to 2007.
Andy Warhol, ‘Silver Liz,’ 1963. Employing the mass-media technique of screen-printing, Warhol created 13 portraits of Elizabeth Taylor at the height of her fame. Via Corcoran.
Currently showing at the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais is a selection from the thousand or so portraits that Andy Warhol painted in 1962 and onwards. During that time, Warhol produced commissioned portraits of film and rock stars, fashion designers, artists, politicians and more obscure personalities using his signature technique–silkscreens, reproduced serially. A pioneer of the Pop Art movement, his use of image repetition was seen as a commentary on the nature of consumer society and mass culture, and his focus on personalities contributed to a revival of portraiture at large. As the artist prophetically put, “All my portraits have to be the same size, so they’ll all fit together and make one big painting called Portraits of Society. That’s a good idea, isn’t it? Maybe the Metropolitan Museum would want it someday.”
Portrait of Ivan Klioune (1913) by Kazimir Malevich, via The Guardian
Currently on view at Tate Modern is a ground-breaking exhibition celebrating the centenary of the Futurist Movement. Launched in 1909 by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti with the publication of the Manifesto of Futurism on the front page of the Paris newspaper Le Figaro, the Futurist Movement borrowed elements from Cubism and Divisionism in order to create a new style that broke free from tradition and expressed the energy and dynamism of modern life.
The exhibition highlights the work of key Futurists such a Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini as well as works by other major artists such as Braque, Malevich and Duchamp.
Andy Warhol’s ‘Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Brown (Tunafish Disaster)’ sold for £3.7 million against estimates of £3.5-4.5 million, via Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale in London yesterday realized £25.5 million, near the top of its estimates of £19.8-27.4, with one of the highest ever sell-through rates as only 3 of the 40 lots went unsold. The pared down sale is only a quarter of the value of last June’s sale, but along with solid results at Christie’s and Sotheby’s Impressionist sales earlier this week and brisk sales at Art Basel two weeks ago, the art market appears to have hit its bottom and has started to stabilize. However, the highest selling lot was Andy Warhol’s ‘Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Brown (Tunafish Disaster),’ selling for just £3.7 million, at the low end of estimates of £3.5-4.5 million, nowhere near the blockbuster prices of a year ago.
A retrospective of Cy Twombly’s work is currently showing, for the first time in Austria, at Museum Moderner Kunst [MUMOK]. On view until October 11, the exhibition includes 200 pieces, ranging in medium from photography to painting, sculpture to drawing, as well as graphic works. The exhibition, curated by Achim Hochdorfer, features works drawn mostly from private holdings.
Pablo Picasso’s ‘Homme à l’épée’ sold for £7 million, falling squarely within estimates of £6-8 million, via Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale last night in London yielded fairly strong results, due mainly to a slimmed down offering of high quality works. The 27 lot sale realized £33.5 million, towards the higher end of estimates of £26.8-37.3 million, with only 4 lots going unsold and a sold-by-lot rate of 85.2% and a sold-by-value rate of 90.8%. Despite trouble finding sellers, choosing lots carefully paid off for Sotheby’s with spirited bidding throughout the auction. The sale’s big star, Picasso’s ‘Homme à l’épée,’ sold for £7 million against estimates of £6-8 million. Another late Picasso painting, ‘Nu debout,’ was the second-highest lot, selling for £4.3 million, above estimates of £3-4 million.
Claude Monet’s ‘Au Parc Monceau’ sold for £6.3 million, well above its high estimate of £4.5 million, via Christie’s
Yesterday’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale at Christie’s in London realized £37.2 million, falling shy of estimates of £37.8-51.7 million, including buyer’s premium. 30 of the 44 lots offered sold, with a rate of 68% sold by lot and 84% by value. The highlight of the sale was Monet’s ‘Au Parc Monceau,’ which sold for £6.3 million, far above its high estimate of £4.5 million. Joan Miró’s ‘Peinture (Femme se poudrant)’ also attracted spirited bidding, selling for just under £4 million, against estimates of £2.2-2.8 million. The star lot, a Picasso Musketeer painting, ‘Man with sword,’ sold for £5.8 million, in the lower end of estimates of £5-7 million. Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale takes places tonight in London.
Damien Hirst’s Saint Bartholomew, Exquisite Pain, currently showing at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Show. via Pinchuk Art Centre.
The Royal Academy of Arts, in collaboration with the BBC, has opened its 241st summer exhibition, showing until August 16. The show is coordinated by Royal Academicians Ann Christopher, Eileen Cooper, and Will Alsop, and sponsored by Insight Investment. The Summer Exhibition seeks to encompass a range of works, in all media, by both well-known and emerging artists. Included are works of photography, sculpture and architecture, printmaking, film, and painting. This year’s theme, “Making Space,” reflects the inclusive spirit of the exhibition, which the Times has called “the art world’s annual jumble sale.”
Corrida In Ronda No. 5, by Eric Fischl. Courtesy of the artist.
The Jablonka Galerie’s current exhibition features paintings by Eric Fischl. The show is comprised of new works by the artist which are centered around a particular type of bull-fighting. The so-called Corrida paintings are showing through July 15.The series focuses on the Corrida goyesca de Ronda, the tradition of the bull fight in the Andalusian city of Ronda. Since its inception in 1954 with founder Antonio Ordoñez, the Corrida fills the city every year with color. Fischl has captured this celebration in his paintings, which will be hosted by galleries in New York and in Málagua following their current showing at the Jablonka Galerie in Berlin.
Currently showing at Matthew Marks Gallery are 13 paintings by British artist Gary Hume. Known for emerging onto the London art scene in the 1990’s with his ‘door paintings,’ Hume’s latest work evokes the rural environment of his studio space; an old barn in the Catskills of upstate New York, where all pieces were completed. While representational paintings of hospital doors were found in Hume’s earlier work, his current show includes barn doors, along with images of blackbirds, roses and daisies, “all things he sees from his window.”
Pablo Picasso’s ‘Homme à l’épée’ estimated to sell between £5-7 million via Christie’s
The summer auction season starts next week with the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sales in London at Christie’s on Tuesday, June 23, and at Sotheby’s the following evening. Both sales feature a late Picasso painting,part of his Muskateers series, painted by the artist on successive days and both titled ‘Man with a sword.’ The Sotheby’s Picasso is estimated to sell between £6-8 million and the Christie’s Picasso is estimated between £5-7 million. Both auction houses each offered a Muskateer painting in the spring auctions, with one failing to meet its reserve and the other selling for $14.6 million. This era of Picasso’s works has been enjoying a wave of popularity after Gagosian Gallery’s ‘Mosqueteros’ exhibition (as covered by AO here) earlier this spring gaining record attendance, as well as two major museum shows in Paris and London focusing on the artist’s late career. The Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sales take place on Thursday, June 25 at Sotheby’s, Monday, June 29 at Phillips de Pury, and Tuesday, June 30 at Christie’s. Though healthy sales at Art Basel last weekend have boosted confidence in the market, this season’s estimates are down over 70% from last year.
