AO Art Observed™

Lawrence Salander, flanked by attorney, Charles Ross (left) and son, Jonah Salander. Image via NY Daily News

Yesterday, the beleaguered New York art dealer, Lawrence Salander, pleaded guilty to engineering a $120 million art investment scam that duped wealthy clients including tennis star John McEnroe and actor Robert De Niro and financial institutions like Bank of America.  The one-time co-owner and manager of Salander-O’Reilly Galleries LLC, admitted to an array of schemes, from selling shares of the same work of art to multiple owners to selling artwork and pocketing the proceeds.  Salander, who filed for bankruptcy in 2008, is expected to be sentenced to six to 18 years in prison and must pay $120 million in restitution to victims under a plea agreement. in which he pleaded guilty to 28 counts of grand larceny in state Supreme Court in New York.

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Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto, Pablo Picasso (1903)

Christie’s, London have announced that they will offer an important and highly celebrated masterpiece by Pablo Picasso in their evening auction of Impressionist and Modern Art in London on 23 June 2010. Painted in 1903, Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto, gained notoriety as the subject of a lengthy legal battle over how it came to be sold during the Nazis rise to power in Germany.  The painting had been consigned for sale at Christie’s in New York in November 2006 but was withdrawn from the auction at the request of the vendor, The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, after an 11th hour ownership challenge from German Professor, Julius Schoeps, based on the sale of the painting in the 1930s. In January this year, representatives of Mr. Schoeps announced they had reached a settlement agreement with the trustees of The Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation, relinquishing all claims of title to the painting. The painting was acquired at auction in New York in May 1995 for $29.2 million by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation - a charity founded by the celebrated composer in 1992 to promote arts, culture and heritage in Britain. On this occasion, Christie’s have valued the painting at £30 million to £40 million – potentially, a record-breaking price for the artist – and all proceeds will benefit The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation.

Related Links:
Record estimate for disputed Picasso painting [BBC News]
Christie’s to Offer a Famed Blue-Period Picasso [Art Info]
Lloyd Webber to Sell $60.9 Million Picasso Portrait for Charity [Bloomberg]
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Picasso set to raise £30m for charity [Telegraph.co.uk]
Lloyd Webber’s Picasso to be sold after Nazi row settled [AFP]
Picasso’s Absinthe Drinker set for auction [Times Online]
Andrew Lloyd Webber to auction £40m ‘Nazi’ Picasso [Daily Mail]
Lloyd Webber’s Picasso Finally Set for Auction [NY Times]
Picasso owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber sets record pre-sale estimate [Guardian.co.uk]

Last night, over 600 members of the New York art community rallied together at Sotheby’s for a silent auction in support of the ongoing effort by ‘Tools for Thought’ to help rebuild Haiti. Prominent figures in the art world were encouraged to sign and donate an object to be auctioned: inventory ranged from works of art to tools of the trade, also included were personally significant objects such as a skateboard that was donated by the artist Marilyn Minter. Among the most coveted items of the evening were works by Dan Colen, Roxy Paine and Aurel Schmidt. Guest were not only entertained by the bidding wars the ensued in the room and on the telephones, but were entranced by a beautiful set from the ‘Godmother of Punk,’ Patti Smith who also donated ‘My Horse in Namibia’ – a print featuring unique poetry by the singer (below).  Smith was not the only participating artist in attendance – amongst others Nate Lowman, Andrew Cramer, Aurel Schmidt, Andrew Levitas, Michael Clyde Johnson, Joe Bradley, Marco Perego, Kenny Scharf and Gordon Hull dotted the crowd.

Tools for Thought was formed in January 2010 by Diana Campbell and Julie Rgolia in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced.  Still growing, the foundation hopes to continue in uniting the art community in this same manner, one project or region at a time.

Purple Tree by Dustin Yellin

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School, 2008 Subodh Gupta [ All images via Hauser & Wirth unless otherwise noted]

Currently showing at Hauser & Wirth London, 15 Old Bond Street is “School,” a selection of most recent works by Subodh Gupta.  The show features forty five brass stools paired with stainless steel thali trays (traditional Indian trays with multiple compartments used for meals containing several dishes).

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Every March for the past 12 years, artists, galleries, collectors, critics and curators from all over the world have made New York their destination during Armory week. Launching the week of cultural activities, Mayor Bloomberg predicted that 60,000 visitors are expected bring in around $44 million. The week’s main event, The Armory Show, opened its doors to a record number of VIP ticket holders yesterday morning reflecting a renewed optimism in the art market. This year, the show has expanded to include 285 dealers, up from 239 in 2009. Pier 94, at 12th Avenue and 55th Street, showcases 211 cutting-edge contemporary galleries, institutions and non-profit art organizations, a further 78 dealers specializing in Modern and Secondary market works at the adjacent Pier 92.

Jay Jopling shows a client around the White Cube booth, all photographs by Oskar Proctor for Art Observed

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Strange Attractors, Aki Sasmoto – all photographs by Oskar Proctor for Art Observed.

This week the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York opened its doors for the 75th edition if its defining exhibition: The Biennial. Simply titled, 2010, the show rejects an organizational theme and instead uses time as its marker in a matter-of-fact cross-section of American art today. The show is one of the smallest in the Biennial’s history – works by only 55 artists and collaborative teams are displayed on four floors of the museum’s ‘Breur Building’ in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. This year the entire third floor of the building has been taken dedicated video installation – first exhibited at the Biennial in 1975 – a sure sign that video work has now reached maturity, worthy of recognition as an independent art form. In addition, the museum’s fifth floor is devoted to artists in the Whitney’s permanent collection who have shown in past Biennials.

Francesco Bonami, Curator of Whitney Biennial 2010

Whitney Biennial 2010 – Interview with curator Francesco Bonami via VernissageTV

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Relief éponge or (RE 47 II),  Yves Klein Estimate: £5 – £7 million. Price Realized: £5,865,250. Image via Christie’s

Last night, Christie’s evening sale of post-war and Contemporary art in London totaled £39,149,500, exceeding the pre-sale estimate of £26,290,000 to £38,260,000. More than half of the lots offered sold above estimate, and in selling 9 works over  £1 million (16 over $1 million), the auction house easily surpassed the equivalent figure for all three of their auctions of Post-War and Contemporary art in London last year.  The evenings auction confirmed that not only has confidence returned to the art market but also that there is a real hunger from international collectors in this market – Europeans dominated the bidding, eventually accounting for 41% of the sales, 22% of works sold to Americans, 31 percent went to Britain. Four percent went to Asia. Particularly strong prices were realized for classic European artists including Yves Klein as well as Joana Vasconcelos and Alighiero Boetti, both of whose work established world record prices.The strong results at our international auctions during the second half of last year encouraged vendors who were previously resistant to consign works of art, and the increased supply of quality works fed a strong demand and led to competitive bidding.

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Untitled XIV, Willem de Kooning. Estimate: £2-3 million Price Realized: £4 million

Sotheby’s auction house worked its magic again last night at their London contemporary art evening sale that totaled £54.1 million – three times the total of the equivalent sale last year and comfortably higher than its pre-sale estimate of £32.2 – 45.1 million. Of the 77 lots on offer, fifteen sold for over a million pounds and only three failed to sell. Measured in financial numbers, this is the second most successful contemporary auction ever held at Sotheby’s. 21 new artist records were set, a large number but slightly dicieving given that nineteen of these were realized by Zero Group-era artists, many of whom have never appeared in the big evening auctions. Discussing the results, Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s Chairman of Contemporary Art Europe, said: “The outstanding sell-through rates, depth of bidding across the sale – particularly for Lenz – and strong prices we achieved this evening are a clear sign of renewed confidence in this market and build on the positive and strong results of our New York sale in November.

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Self-Portrait with a Black Eye, Lucian Freud. Estimate: Image via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s auction house will kick off this week’s major round of contemporary sales in New York with an 80 lot sale that is expected to realize in excess of £32 million on Wednesday, February 10. Christie’s expect to fetch at least £26,290,000 from 52 lots at their evening sale on Thursday, February 11. In November, Sotheby’s Postwar and Contemporary Sale in New York marked a major turning point in art market history when Andy Warhol’s 200 One Dollar Bills, sold for $43,762,500 over an estimate of $8-12million. The coming week could therefore be seen as an important one in establishing price-levels in a still relatively undetermined contemporary art market – the area most heavily effected by the global recession.  The many heavyweight pieces on offer this week undoubtedly reflect a confidence in sellers resulting from November’s impressive sale – the sales are spearheaded by important and rare works by Peter Doig, Yves Klein, Lucian Freud, Gerhard Richter, Chris Ofili, Neo Rauch and Martin Kippenberger. Contemporary week also falls in the wake of the incredible $104.3 million sale of Giacometti’s “L’homme qui marche I” (The Striding Man I) at Sotheby’s that set a new world record by becoming the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction. This week overall, Sotheby’s and Christie’s expect to bring in at least $365.3 million combined, $144.6 million in 2009, up from $332.5 million in February 2008.

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Light installations by artist Rosaline de Thelin.

Currently on exhibit in London is the Kinetica Art Fair, the UK’s only fair dedicated to kinetic art, which mixes science and engineering  together in a modern mirage of moving and glowing artworks, some of which react to human movement and sound. The kinetic art exhibition, which includes wonders such as robots and holographic light beings, is designed to question the perceived boundaries between different disciplines through the use of light, robotics, sound and electronics. More than 150 artists are exhibiting at the event, which is organized by the Kinetica Museum. Over 30 galleries and other organizations are participating in the fair. Artists involved in the show include Paul Friedlander, Ivan Black, Paul Friedlander, Paul Beckett, Bálint Bolygó, Nik Ramage, Roseline de Thelin, Ben Parry, Rachel Garrard and many others.

Art Observed video coverage featuring artists, in order, Rachel Garrard, Vincent Leclerc, Interactive Agents, Rosaline de Thelin, Andras Mengyan, Vyacheslav Koleychuk, Lilyan Lin, Peter Logan, Paul Friedlander, Tom Wilkinson, Balint Bolygo and Squid Soup.

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Auctioneer Henry Wyndam sells L’Homme qui marche I by Alberto Giacometti. Estimate: £8-12 million Price Realized: $104,327,006. Image via Associated Press

A bronze sculpture, entitled L’Homme qui marche I, by Alberto Giacometti became the most expensive work ever sold at auction this evening when it realized $104,327,006 at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in London. In an interesting turn of events, Giacometti’s sculpture represents the recession from beginning to end – it was being auctioned as an asset of the failed bank Dresdner Bank and the remarkable price undoubtedly signals a resurgence in the art market. In total, the 39-lot sale realised $233,622,228.37 – the highest total ever reached for a sale in London. While 8 lots went unsold, an impressive 17 pieces sailed past the £1 million mark including three works that individually realized more than £10 million – in reflection of these enormous sales Melanie Clore, Co-Chairman, Impressionist & Modern Art, Sotheby’s Worldwide, stated: “We are thrilled to have sold these great works this evening and that they have been recognized for the masterpieces that they are.  The competition which generated these exceptional results demonstrates the continued quest for quality that compels today’s collectors.”

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L’Homme qui marche I, Alberto Giacometti. Estimate: £8-12 million Price Realized: $104,327,006 via Sotheby’s

Tonight, Alberto Giacometti’s L’homme qui marche I fetched $104,327,006 at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale in London – making it the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction. The bronze sculpture exceeded the previous record of $104.1 million that was set at Sotheby’s in May 2004 by Pablo Picasso’s Garçon à la Pipe.  10 bidders, mostly on telephone, fought a fast and furious battle over a period of eight minutes – the eventual winner was an anonymous client on the telephone with Philip Hook, Senior European Director of Impressionist & Modern Art at the auction house. Sotheby’s had expected the sculpture to bring-in between $19.2 million and $28.8 million. The work was being sold by Dresdner Bank in Germany, which acquired it in 1980.

The sale is still in progress – more details will follow shortly.

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Tête de femme (Jacqueline), Pablo Picasso. Estimate $4,845,000 – $6,460,000 Price Realized:$12,887,348. Image via Christie’s

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale and the auction of Art of the Surreal took place last night in London and fetched $122,167,093, over a pre-sale estimate of $87 – $124million.  The sale illustrated a buoyant market in reflection of last year’s equivalent sale that raised $101 million as buyers and sellers held back in the financial crisis. Another observation is the continuing appetite for important works of art – most specifically large, colorful works fresh to the market from long-established private collections. Competitive bidding for 4 works by important artists Picasso, Kees van Dongen and Natalia Gontcharova pushed prices over £5 million – in total 21 lots realize over £1 million, compared to 26 at both last year’s major London sales combined. Despite recent musings on buyers in China’s ascendant economy who are displaying a new appetite for 20th Century Art, Thomas Seydoux, Christie’s international head of Impressionist and modern art, was most surprised by the amount of bidding from Russian and former Eastern Bloc buyers who dominated the action on the telephone – only 2% of lots were sold to Asian buyers in relation to 25% UK, 48% Europe and 25% Americas.

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Kirche in Cassone (Church in Cassone), Gustav Klimt via Sotheby’s

Masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt and Henri Matisse that have been unseen for decades will go under the hammer this week at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London at the first major European auctions of 2010. The appearance of many top-quality, ‘lost’ works marks a distinct change in the attitude of sellers who have been encouraged to put their prized works on the market by the recent success of Impressionist and Modern Art sales – most notable is Sotheby’s November Impressionist and Modern sale in New York that exceeded all expectations when it realized $182m over a high-end estimate of $163m. The sales kick-off with Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale on February 2 that will offer 86 lots with a total pre-sale value of £56,505,000 to £80,805,000. The sale is led by works by Kees van Dongen, Natalia Goncharova, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art on Wednesday, February 3 is smaller with only 39 lots but the target of £102million is considerably higher. This high estimate is excelled by three works from Gustave Klimt, Alberto Giacometti and Paul Cézanne that are individually estimated to realize more than £10 million – the auction house sold three works for that price across all categories all last year.

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Diana and Callisto, Gaetano Gandolfi. Estimate: $800,000 – $1,200,000. Price Realized: $4,114,500

After the success of London’s ‘Old Master Week’ that took place in December 2009, expectations were high for the Old Master auctions that took place this week at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in New York. While perhaps not as rousing as the sales in London, the Old Master auctions in New York marked the first opportunity to verify suspicions that buyers were returning to the art market with confidence. Christie’s two days of sales included the two-part auction of Old Master & 19th Century Paintings, Drawings & Watercolors on Wednesday and a special private collection sale, A Cabinet of Curiosities: Selections from the Peter Tillou Collections on Thursday, achieved a combined total of $40,858,500. While these auctions were successful, the auction that led the week was Thursday’s sale of Important Old Master Paintings and Sculpture at Sotheby’s, which brought $61,599,250 – twelve lots sold for more than $1 million, and almost 60% of the works sold brought prices above the high estimate.

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The first Art Los Angeles Contemporary annual international contemporary art fair kicked off last night at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California. Open through January 31^st,  the fair presents 55+ galleries from around the world, with an emphasis on leading Los Angeles based galleries. The fair’s opening reception presented a playground for art patrons, designers, musicians, actors and architects alike in an appropriate closing to Los Angeles’ January Arts Month. While some Angelenos remain skeptical of another Art Fair, a critique set off in domino effect by the LA Times’ announcement of the fair, Curator Helen Varola arranged a diverse series of speakers and panels, in addition to securing an eclectic group of galleries and artists from around the world. Highlights included Los Angeles galleries such as David Kordansky, Kim Light / Light Box, Blum & Poe and Honor Frasier, as well as spaces with international arms, such as Peres Projects, and Crisp, and New York favorite Gavin Brown’s Enterprise.

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La Belle Ferronnière, Follower of Leonardo da Vinci – probably before 1750

Dubbed as “an historic event for the art market,” Christie’s Old Master & 19th Century Art sale in London in December realized £68,380,250 – the highest ever total for an Old Masters auction. Following this ground- breaking success, expectations are high as Christie’s kick-off ‘Old Master Week’ in New York today, January 27, with their two-part sale of Old Master & 19th Century Paintings, Drawings, and Watercolors. This sale will present over 320 works from Lucas Cranach the Elder, Jan Brueghel II, Thomas Gainsborough, Gaetano Gandolfi, Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, and Samuel Palmer, among others. Total sales are expected to achieve in excess of $48 million. Sotheby’s “Important Old Master Paintings and Sculpture” auction will take place on Thursday, January 28 and is dominated by a Rembrandt portrait of a young woman from 1632 estimated at $8m-$12m, along with the controversial painting linked to Leonardo da Vinci - ‘La Belle Ferronnière.’

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