AO Art Observed™

Pablo Picasso,  Absinthe Drinker (1901), via Courtauld Gallery

The Courtauld Gallery is currently presenting Becoming Picasso, once again bringing together paintings from Picasso’s 1901 debut exhibition in Paris. The works in this exhibition offer a striking view of Picasso’s early work, and his transformation from his early work in the vocabularies made famous at the time by artists such as Van Gogh, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. That early Paris exhibition successfully launched Picasso’s career, and several of the works included in the original exhibition are now considered to be some of his first masterpieces. (more…)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will open its newly renovated European Galleries this Thursday, and the New Yorker’s Peter Schjeldahl has published a brief review of the new wing, praising its appointments and rehang.  ”I had an eerie sense, while surveying the results the other day, that here was a brand new major institution which, somehow, had plundered the holdings of the Met.”  He writes. (more…)

The future Pérez Art Museum Miami has received a large contribution from an anonymous donor, the museum announced this week.  The donation will see the museum getting $12 Million in cash, and $3 Million in art.  “I can say almost nothing about it except that I’m thrilled,” said Museum Director Thom Collins. (more…)

Online mega-retailer Amazon has outlined plans to launch Amazon Fine Art Gallery this summer, a new branch of its site that will allow users to purchase art directly from partnering galleries.  ”We have received overwhelming support from the galleries that have already joined the platform and we would love the opportunity to offer your gallery’s selection in the Amazon Art store.” says an email from Amazon to potential new galleries. (more…)

François Pinault, the Christie’s owner and art collector was recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal, highlighting the executive’s passion for contemporary art, and the current show of work by Rudolf Stingel at Pinault’s recently purchased Venetian palace the Palazzo Grassi.  ”He is a sponge. He is willing to learn all the time,” says Elena Geuna, the former director of Sotheby’s Europe. (more…)

Moving towards a sleeker, stripped-down brand identity, the Whitney Museum of American Art has unveiled its new logo and site design, making reference to the Whitney Museum’s new Chelsea location and its jagged architectural facade.  Designed by Experimental Jetset Studios, the museum is currently hosting a video documenting the process of creating the new identity on its website. (more…)

Called “Asia’s Andy Warhol” by Bloomberg TV, Takashi Murakami spoke with the publication this week, detailing his past collaborations with Louis Vuitton, and how these collaborations have hurt his current auction prices.  The artist also discusses a surprising dream collaboration: sci-fi director JJ Abrams, as well as his self-professed “addiction” to Instagram.  ”It’s just a hobby.”  He says. (more…)

Artist Ai Weiwei has just released “Dumbass,” a new music video from his new heavy metal project.  Detailing his 81 days in detention in 2011, the song and video are an attempt to recreate his trying ordeal in the Chinese penal system.  The first song from his album The Divine Comedy, “Dumbass” revisits his detention, which Ai says “was very hard, but I had to do it because that helped me to overcome the trauma.” (more…)

Looking forward to 2016, the Manifesta Arts Festival has announced the location of its 11th edition, taking place in the Swiss city of Zurich. “The Manifesta board appreciated the openness expressed in the Zurich Bid and the willingness to invite Manifesta to take a critical position. With full awareness that initiating a Manifesta Biennial involves unpredictable outcomes Zurich embraces the critical discourse including the opportunities and risks that it entails. That is why we are thrilled to be going to Zurich for Manifesta 11.”  Says Manifesta Director Hedwig Fijen. (more…)

Hong Kong Convention Center, via Art in America

Tomorrow, Art Basel Hong Kong will open its doors to the public, inaugurating the expansion of the company’s impressive range of art fairs into the Far East.  Situated at the Hong Kong Convention Center, the fair has brought collectors and galleries from the world over to the heart of this bustling metropolis, for a week of art sales, talks and special projects, all with a particular focus on the contemporary art world of the Asia-Pacific region.

Hong Kong’s Inflatable Rubber Duck, via CNN

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Chuck Close, Self-Portrait/ maquette, 1975  © 2013 Chuck Close courtesy of Pace Gallery

Eykyn Maclean is currently presenting the first exhibition to focus solely on Chuck Close’s photo maquettes, examining their relation to the artist’s large-scale painted portraits. Not only do the works in the Photo Maquettes series offer the viewer a better understanding of the technical aspects of Close’s paintings, but also offer an interesting probe into the delineations between the practices of painting and photography. (more…)

With the opening of the Chelsea Flower Show in London, British artist Marc Quinn has unveiled his large-scale bronze orchid sculpture, commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society.  The flower work took Quinn six months to complete, and is painted with 18 layers of color.  “Hopefully, the flowers and the sculpture blend. There is a sense of real nature and artificial nature, although having seen the transformation of this place from a muddy field it is not so clear what is real nature.”  Quinn said. (more…)

In anticipation of his new shows at Matthew Marks, Mnuchin Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art, artist Ellsworth Kelly is profiled in the Wall Street Journal, covering his work, his life, and his creative process at 90 years old.  ”I think one of the things that is great about being 90, he only feels his body. His sense of wonder, wanting to create more are still there.” Says his partner, Jack Shear. (more…)

A new book focusing on the life of Joseph Beuys is seeking to debunk the artist’s revered position in the German art canon, profiling him as intimately connected with past Nazis and Nazi sympathizers, as well as a devotee of some of the racially charged teachings of Rudolf Steiner.  Some of Beuys’ friends and co-workers have already responded: “”Beuys was a great artist” says filmmaker Oscar Roehler, “the greatest we had. But he was a big jester who made fools of people, and judging him politically would be to whittle him down.”  (more…)

Online auction site Paddle8 has moved to acquire a 3% share in art sales database and auction site Artnet.  The stake previously belonged to Redline Capital Management, which attempted a takeover of Artnet last year. ”We see a lot of strength in Artnet, and feel that the two businesses are complementary,” says Paddle8 co-founder, Aditya Julka.  “Paddle8 will benefit from Artnet’s price database and listings business, contributing to a winning formula in leading the online auction space. This is not a takeover but rather a move towards collaboration in the future.”  (more…)

MOCA has announced that will begin airing a video series, titled “The Art of Punk,” looking at the roots of some of punk rock’s most iconic logos and artwork.  Created by Bryan Ray Turcote and Bo Bushnell, the series features interviews with a number of musicians and artists, including Jello Biafra, Henry Rollins, Raymond Pettibone, and Winston Smith.  The series will debut on June 11th, with an episode on Black Flag. (more…)

Donald Judd at LACMA (Installation View), courtesy of LACMA

On view alongside LACMA’s permanent modern and contemporary collection is a peripheral gallery highlighting a selection of works by artist Donald Judd. Focusing on several of various mediums, the brief show revisits Judd’s focus on simplified geometric forms and the space created around his simple objects.

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In a recent magazine interview with Vanity Fair, YBA veteran Tracey Emin has called out critics for judging her work much more harshly than her male counterparts.  She also discussed Roman Standard, her recent project for Petrosino Square in New York that placed a single bird on top of a 13 foot pole. “What I’m saying through the piece is that strength isn’t always about being big.”  She says. (more…)

Indian artist Subodh Gupta – Art Observed sat down with the Financial Times recently to discuss his new show at Hauser and Wirth , his youth in India, and his utilization of everyday materials. “I am always good in an unconventional space. The material tells a story. If it is broken, it comes from the reality of life.”
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Following the week’s record-setting contemporary art auctions, CNBC analysts weighed in on the current setting of the contemporary art market, criticizing the easy classification of the market as a bubble set to burst, and noting the ongoing theme of art market commentary asserting a link between money laundering and the increasing speculation on the art market. (more…)

In a drive to recover billions of dollars in assets pillaged by the Qaddafi family in Libya, the UK government and Interpol have confirmed that they will work to seize and return art to its rightful owners.  The family’s assets, frozen shortly after Muamar Qaddafii initiated a crackdown on protestors in 2011, are thought to total around $168 billion, including art collections used to hide ill-gotten funds.  “Art was probably bought through other organisations not affiliated with the regime or through investment groups,” says Libyan embassy spokesperson Ghazi Gheblawi. “It is something that should be investigated.” (more…)

Anish Kapoor spoke with The Guardian this week in the run-up to his new show of work, Kapoor in Berlin at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in the German capital, speaking about the countries’ support of the arts, and its stark contrast to Great Britain.  ”In Germany, it seems that the intellectual and aesthetic life are to be celebrated and are seen as part of a real and good education, whereas in Britain, traditionally – certainly since the Enlightenment – we’ve been afraid of anything intellectual, aesthetic, visual.” (more…)

Out of Memory (Installation View), courtesy of Marianne Boesky Gallery

Marianne Boesky Gallery is currently hosting a group exhibition titled Out of Memory, curated by Eleanor Cayre and including works by artists: AIDS-3D, Cory Arcangel, Nicolas Deshayes, Aleksandra Domanovic, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Louis Eisner, Roe Ethridge, Matias Faldbakken, Guyton/Walker, Yngve Holen, Alex Israel, Rashid Johnson, Josh Kline, Mark Leckey and many more, exploring ideas of production and presentation in a post-digital society.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art is about to open its newest commission for its rooftop garden, a spattered-red work by Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi that plays on the images of blood, and leads a series of works currently on view across New York that play with similarly violent imagery.  Responding to bombings in Lahore and Boston, the artist intended the works to provide a moment of reflection, playing against the pristine backdrop of Central Park. (more…)