Archive for January, 2014

Detroit Institute of Arts Pledges $100 Million to Save Collection

Friday, January 31st, 2014

In what may be the final piece of the puzzle to rescue the Detroit Institute of Arts collection from a potential auction by the city, the museum has made the commitment to raise $100 million in additional funds over the next 20 years.  The donation would secure city pension funds, and in turn, hold the city to an agreement to transfer the legal title of ownership to the museum, effectively preserving it from any future sale.  “Clearly this is going to be a challenge,” COO Annmarie Erickson said. “It’s an enormous amount of money, but we’ve proven over and over again that we are good at raising money. We’ll have to balance this effort with our need to raise endowment dollars and operational funding. But given that this will help move the bankruptcy along quickly, that it will help the pensioners (and) ensure that the DIA collection is safeguarded for the public, we have compelling arguments to take to donors.” (more…)

Qatar Purchases Former Wildenstein Family Headquarters

Friday, January 31st, 2014

The government of Qatar has purchased the former East 64th Street gallery previously owned by the Wildenstein international art dealing family, with an estimated sale price of over $100 million.  “In many ways, it’s a little bit the soul of this company and the soul of this family, so seeing it go will be difficult,” dealer David Wildenstein said. (more…)

Denver and Seattle Art Museums Wager Works Over Superbowl Outcome

Friday, January 31st, 2014

In a particularly apropos wager, the city art museums for both Denver and Seattle have placed thematically-fitting artworks on the line over the result of this Sunday’s Super Bowl game between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks.  Denver has wagered one of Frederic Remington’s Bronco Buster statues, and Seattle will put forward Sound of Waves,” a 12-foot-wide drawing of a hawk by Japanese artist Tsuji Kako. (more…)

Frankfurt – Albrecht Dürer: “Dürer: His Art in Context” at the Städel Museum, through February 2nd 2014

Friday, January 31st, 2014


Albrecht Dürer, Bildnis der Mutter des Künstlers, Barbara Dürer, geb. Holper (1490) Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg Foto: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg

The Städel Museum in Frankfurt is currently presenting an exhibition of around 250 works focused on the art and influence of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, including 190 works by the artist himself, a massive project which required many loan negotiations with museums around the world. Dürer: His Art in Context gives an overview of the artist’s entire career, including 25 panel and canvas paintings, 80 drawings, and 80 prints and books. Also on display are works by some German, Italian, and Dutch artists who inspired Dürer, both contemporaries and those who worked before him, providing a context through which viewers can see the world of Dürer including Martin Schongauer, Hans Baldung Grien, Hans von Kulmbach, and Lucas van Leyden.


Albrecht Dürer, Melencolia I (Die Melancholie) (1514), Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main Foto: Städel Museum – ARTOTHEK

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New York Times Charts Martin Wong’s Patronage of Graffiti Artists

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

An article in the New York Times documents painter Martin Wong’s early contributions to the patronization and encouragement of New York Graffiti art, financially backing struggling artists and buying some of their works for his own personal collection.  The story comes as the Museum of the City of New York prepares to open a show on the artist’s early collection of street art pieces.  “He always thought those first pieces, in a fundamental way, were the legs of a major art movement,” artist Lee Quiñones said. (more…)

Sotheby’s Announces Stock Buyback Plan, Will Pay $300 Million in Special Dividend

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

Sotheby’s auction house has released its capital allocation report this morning, with the announcement that it will pay out $300 million in dividends, as well as initiate a $150 million stock buyback plan, responding to investor pressure to shore up ownership in the company’s stock.  The company also announced its intent to sell its York Avenue headquarters, and has indicated attempts to add additional debt-financing to its loan department.   (more…)

A Look Inside the Market for Nazi-Looted Art

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

ArtNews offers an inside look on the secret market for Nazi-looted artworks, an underground network of curators, dealers and collectors who maintained a market for looted works long after the war.  With little involvement from occupying American forces, former influential Nazi art officials quickly attained positions of prominence again after the war, often maintaining ties to collectors with little qualms in purchasing formerly confiscated works.   (more…)

AO On-Site: Private Preview of Ugo Rondinone’s 2050 5th Avenue Space with “Monochromes” by Wesley Martin Berg

Thursday, January 30th, 2014


2050 5th Avenue, via Art Observed

There’s something particularly fitting about the conversion of Harlem’s Mt. Moriah Church by artist Ugo Rondinone.  Long interested in conflations of the human and the spiritual through physical sculpture and architecture (particularly the artist’s ongoing Human Nature series of human rock sculptures installed last year at both Rockefeller Center and Gladstone Gallery), the space fuses its towering facade with both studio and exhibition space inside.  Last week, Rondinone opened his studio and gallery, still under construction, for a private tour, showcasing the artist’s impressive architectural project, and his new exhibition in the space, a series of monochrome paintings by artist Wesley Martin Berg.


 A work by Wesley Martin Berg, via Art Observed (more…)

JR Installs Photographic Flooring at New York City Ballet

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

Street artist JR has unveiled his recent collaboration with the New York City Ballet, an expansive vinyl photograph of 80 dancers installed on the floor of the Koch Theatre’s marble promenade.  The image, twisted to look like an enormous eye, is best viewed from higher up, in the cheaper seats of the theatre, and acts as something of an equalizing project for the space.  “Now you’re inviting everyone to come up there,” the artist said. “And I like that, that it breaks boundaries — that anyone should be on any floor, it doesn’t matter.” (more…)

Keith Sonnier Interviewed in NYT Magazine

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

Pioneering light artist Keith Sonnier is interviewed in a recent edition of the New York Times Magazine, discussing his show of early works at Pace gallery, and his years working in Los Angeles.  “Flavin called us Dada homosexuals,” Sonnier says. “We were all in the same shows, the only real difference is that they used hard materials and ours were soft.” (more…)

Jasper Johns Forgery Trial Concludes with Guilty Plea

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

The proceedings over the alleged forgery of Jasper Johns‘ 1960 work Flag has ended with a guilty plea by Brian Ramnarine, the Queens foundry owner who admitted to copying the artist’s work and attempting to sell it for $11 million.  Ramnarine’s admission of guilt means he will not challenge any sentence of 10 years or less in prison, but could spend an additional 20 years for admitting to additional sculpture frauds after his arrest. (more…)

Car Bomb Sustains Major Damages to Cairo Museums

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

A car bomb explosion in Cairo has caused major damages to the collections of the Islamic Museum of Art and the Egyptian National Library and Archives, destroying ancient artifacts and artworks from all eras of the country’s history.  “Until now I cannot move freely inside the museum to continue my inspection tour due to safety reasons, as the ceilings are still on the verge of collapsing,” says Egypt’s antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim. (more…)

Britain Places Export Ban on £14 Million Poussin

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

The British Government has placed an export ban on The Infant Moses trampling Pharaoh’s Crown, a 17th century painting by Nicolas Poussin which was originally purchased for £14 million by a private collector as part of a sale to raise funds for the renovation of Woburn Abbey.  “It would be a terrible shame if this dramatic work by Poussin was to be moved abroad permanently,” says Cultural Minister Ed Vaizey. “I hope that a UK buyer can be found and that the painting remains here in the UK where it can be enjoyed by the British public.” (more…)

Amsterdam – “Kazimir Malevich and the Russian Avant-Garde” at the Stedelijk Museum Through February 2nd, 2014

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014


Kazimir Malevich, Mystic Suprematism (red cross on black circle) (1920-1922), via New York Times

Kazimir Malevich’s impact on the early-Twentieth century Russian avant-garde is difficult to ignore.  Pushing forward the “new art,” he pioneered early minimalist practices and pushed the rupture of modernist art almost simultaneously with the Cubist deconstructions happening further west.  But it was Malevich that ultimately took these same processes to new abstractions, and perhaps what could be considered their limit, rendering pure geometric forms in contrasting, minimal explorations of color and space, ultimately developing the language that would come to define much of Twentieth century fine art.


Kazimir Malevich And The Russian Avant-Garde (Installation View), Via Stedelijk Museum Photo: Gert Jan van Rooij (more…)

George Condo’s Rare Instrument Collection Spotlighted in WSJ

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

The Wall Street Journal has published a feature article on artist George Condo’s collection of rare and custom stringed instruments, which the artist has ordered to his own specifications.  The artist, who studied music theory at the University of Massachusetts, is an avid musician and collector.  “I don’t want to simply collect instruments and not know how to play them,” Condo says. “It’s a great way to take my mind off the here and now—all the aspects of what goes on in the art world.” (more…)

New York – Wade Guyton at Petzel Gallery Through February 22nd, 2014

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014


Wade Guyton, (Installation View), via Art Observed

Seven years have passed since Wade Guyton exhibited a solo show at New York’s Petzel Gallery, an expanse of time that has seen the artist capping a mid-career retrospective at The Whitney Museum, and entering the upper echelons of the American art canon.  Whether intentionally or not, Guyton’s exhibition of new works manages to address the passage of time and his increased status in the international art world through a minimalist series of linen prints, created using the same files from his last show at the gallery.


Wade Guyton (detail), via Art Observed (more…)

Miami – Ai Weiwei: “According to What” at Perez Art Museum Through March 16th, 2014

Monday, January 27th, 2014


Ai Weiwei, Stacked (2002), Installation view Pérez Art Museum Miami Photo credit: Daniel Azoulay photography

The doors of Miami’s newly completed Perez Art Museum opened this past December with a landmark exhibition of works by Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, the first major international retrospective of the artist’s work.  Charting the artist’s signature blend of irreverence, scale, architectural techniques and sculptural conceptualism, the exhibition is a remarkable introduction to Ai’s challenging and oftentimes difficult work, drawing on political aggression and irony to open dialogues on contemporary politics around the world.


An Ai Weiwei Zodiac Head outside the PAMM, via Art Observed

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Detroit Institute of Arts Will Not Be Forced into a Second Valuation of its Collection

Sunday, January 26th, 2014

A federal bankruptcy court judge has ruled that the Detroit Institute of Arts cannot be forced to undergo a full valuation of its collection, following pressure from city creditors for a second estimate.  The collection, valued between $452 million and $866 million, seems to have some space to maneuver moving forward, especially given judge Steven W. Rhodes’s statement that he took quite seriously the opinion of Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s when he said that the “art collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts is held by the City of Detroit in charitable trust for the people of Michigan, and no piece in the collection may thus be sold, conveyed, or transferred to satisfy city debts or obligations.”

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Hedge Fund Managers Make a Play for Control of Art Market

Sunday, January 26th, 2014

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal points to the immense influence currently held by hedge fund managers in the global art market.  With managers like Daniel Loeb shaking up the corporate structure at Sotheby’s, and a growing number of hedge-fund billionaires entering the auction market, the high-price works of the art world have become something of bargaining chips in a major equity game.  “The rest of us are just sitting on the sidelines,” says Len Riggio, founder of Barnes & Noble. “I go to auctions now and feel like a witness—I watch, shake my head, and go home.” (more…)

New York – Stan Douglas: “Luanda-Kinshasa” at David Zwirner Through February 22nd 2014

Sunday, January 26th, 2014


Stan Douglas, Luanda-Kinshasa (Installation view), all images courtesy David Zwirmer

Currently on view at David Zwirmer’s 533 West 19th Street location is the debut of a new film by Stan Douglas entitled Luanda-Kinhshasa, featuring a reconstruction of the famed Columbia 30th Street studio, where some of the most iconic recordings of the twentieth century were originally produced. The film will be on view at the gallery through February 22, 2014.

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Sotheby’s to Sell Three Works Recovered from Nazis During World War II

Saturday, January 25th, 2014

A Sotheby’s New York auction this coming Thursday will feature three works recovered by the famous “Monuments Men” after Nazi confiscation during World War II.  The works by Apollonio di Giovanni, Jean-Baptiste Pater and Francesco Guardi are expected to sell between $150,000 and $500,000, and bear rare markings from their Nazi owners.  “The front is an artwork, and the back is an artifact,” says Lucian Simmons, of Sotheby’s restitution department. (more…)

Martin Creed Interviewed in New York Times

Saturday, January 25th, 2014

Artist Martin Creed is profiled in the New York Times, previewing the artist’s upcoming career retrospective at the Hayward Gallery in London, and discussing his unique take on conceptions of the word “art.”  “I would not disagree with me not being an artist, because I don’t know what art is,” Creed states. “I’m just making a painting or a sculpture or whatever it may be. I’m not making art, because art would seem to me to be in the eye of the beholder.” (more…)

Wall Street Journal Interviews Olympia Scarry and Neville Wakefield on “Their Favorite Things”

Saturday, January 25th, 2014

Olympia Scarry and Neville Wakefield, the artist and curator currently presenting the well-received Elevation 1049 show in Gstaad, Switzerland are featured in the Wall Street Journal, showcasing a few of their favorite objects and pieces of art, including an enormous hunk of gum Scarry made several years ago for a piece, and a concrete-filled whoopee cushion made by Dan Colen.  “It’s actually filled with concrete, so it’s a joke that never lands.” Wakefield says. (more…)

WSJ Profiles Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Museum Design Practice

Saturday, January 25th, 2014

Artist Hiroshi Sugimoto’s budding practice as an architect is profiled in a recent article by The Wall Street Journal, noting the artist’s published guide to museum architecture, his work renovating and constructing spaces, and his newly conceived Odawara Art Foundation museum, part of which juts out from a cliff to view the Pacific Ocean, and tactfully incorporates its surroundings into its design.  “This is related to memories of ancient culture of the human civilization,” says Sugimoto. (more…)