Marc Jacobs channels Andy Warhol via Interview Magazine

Interview Magazine, founded by Warhol, dedicates this month to Warhol [Interview Magazine]
Bilbao Guggenheim makes a $156M expansion into the countryside, more here [Reuters] [NYTimes]
Tracey Emin’s 1st retrospective will be in Edinburgh [Times Online]
Steve McQueen, an artist working primarily in film, represent Britain at Venice Biennale [Guardian]
A major Goya was in the end painted by his pupil [Independent]
Victor Pinchuk and Carlos Slim Helu newly make Top 10 of top 200 art collectors [ArtNews]

Shallow, Malcolm McLaren via Rawartint

Creative Time has announced the U.S. premier of the video, Shallow, by Malcolm McLaren of the Sex Pistols. The video is a series of film clips taken from films of the 1960s, all of which contain the moments right before or after sex scenes. The film is going up on MTV’s huge outdoor HD screen the middle of Times Square between 44th and 45th Street. The film will be up through August and plays at the top of the hour, every hour. McLaren’s video is just one of Creative Time’s projects, others include David Byrne’s Playing the Building and Mike Nelson’s Psychic Vacuum.

At 44 1/2 Creative Time presents Malcolm McLaren [Creative Time]
Malcolm Mclaren’s ‘Shallow’ And Creative Time [Rawartint]
Porn-again Times Square [NYDaily]
Malcolm McLaren and MTV Bring “Artful Porn” To Times Square [Exclaim]
McLaren take porn to New York City [ContactMusic

Malcolm McLaren via NYDaily

“I’ve cut up pieces of old stag movies, slowed them way down, and set them to music,” the 62-year-old Malcolm McLaren tells NYDaily. “What you see is not people having sex but people about to have it. The old movies had a lot more foreplay. I was interested in the body language of nonactors, how they communicated their longing.”

Malcolm McLaren via Exclaim

The video is made up of 21 “musical paintings”, but was first shown at 1-20 gallery, in New York, with only 8. The full video had it’s first premier at Art 39 Basel, Switzerland, but now it is in a more fitting environment; playing above an area in New York that once was notorious for prostitution and peepshows.

Shallow, Malcolm McLaren via TheImagist

To get the full effect of the video, viewers can access the synched soundtrack to the film by calling the number on the screen.

Naked Portrait with Reflection, Lucian Freud (1980) via Artinfo

Christie’s held its Postwar and Contemporary Evening sale on Monday, June 30th, setting new records and selling 83% of the lots. The four largest sales came from Jeff Koons, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, and Andy Warhol. Other artists who were featured in the finely curated sale were Mark Rothko, Gerhard Richter, and Gilbert and George just to name a few. Out of the 48 lots that sold, 30 of them made over $1 million, and the total sale raised $172 million. This is Christie’s best result for a post-war and contemporary art sale in Europe.
Bacon Self-Portraits Fetch $34.5 Million at London Art Auction [Bloomberg]
Koons sculpture highlights record-breaking art sale [APF]
Koons record as London art sales draw to close [Reuters]
Christie’s London Bests Own Contemporary Record [Artinfo]
Record price for Koons sculpture [BBC]
Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art Sale [Christie's]
Bacon Triptych Sells for $34.4 Million in London [NYTimes]
Dead Artists Breathe Life Into Auctions [Wall Street Journal]
Koons’s ‘Balloon Flower’ sits in St. James Square before sale at Christie’s June 30th [Art Observed]

Lucian Freud, who set a new world record price for a work by a living artist with his painting, Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, when it sold for $33.6 million at Christies New York, has now sold another piece at the London sale last Monday. The Naked Portrait with Reflection has come in second for the highest price for any of his work, with a whopping $23.5 million. It was previously owned by a private American collector. (Pictured above)

Three Studies for a Self Portrait, Francis Bacon (1975) via Artinfo

The triptych, Three Studies for a Self Portrait, by Francis Bacon was the highest sale of the evening. It sold to an anonymous bidder for $34.5 million after being in a private French collection since it was painted in 1975.

Balloon Flower (Magenta), Jeff Koons (1995-2000) via BBC

This gigantic chromium stainless steel Balloon Flower has set a record for Jeff Koons; it fetched the highest price at auction for any of his work. At $25.8 million dollars, it exceeded the $23.5 million estimate. The piece was previously apart of the Rachofsky Collection in Texas, and was bought at auction by an anonymous telephone bidder.

To her Majesty, Gilbert and George (1973) via Christie’s

This photographic piece, To her Majesty, made by the duo Gilbert and George was sold by a private European collector for $3.8 million.
Another highlight of the show:

Nine Multicoloured Marilyns (Reversal Series), Andy Warhol (1928-1987) via Christie’s

Sold for just over $8 million.

Concetto Spaziale, Lucio Fontana (1964) via Christie’s

One of the pieces that didn’t fare as well as expected, but still drew a high bid was Lucio Fontana’s Concetto Spaziale from 1964. Bidding for this piece stopped at $12.5 million, which just under the requested estimate.

Untitled, Willem de Kooning (1984) via Artinfo

Sold for about $5.6 million.
Estimate was $2.4 million – $4 million.

The Contemporary Art sale at Phillips de Pury and Company monday had some disappointing news to report when 34% of the lots went unsold. Even some of the top by Xang Xiagang and Paul McCarthy found themselves unable to sell. Damien Hirst, who sold 3 of his 4 works in the auction, managed to barely meet his estimate on the ones sold.

Contemporary Market Bruised but Resilient After London Sales [Artinfo]
Market news: London’s contemporary art sales [Telegraph]
McCarthy, Zhang Flop in Tepid London Contemporary-Art Auction [Bloomberg]
London Contemporary Week Lurches Into Action at Phillips [Artinfo]

The Importance of Elsewhere — The Kingdom of Heaven, Damien Hirst (2006) via Artinfo

With the current economic environment, people seem to be more and more scrutinizing about the prices they should be paying for an art piece. “Because of recent falls in the Chinese stock market, there’s a lot of uncertainty among collectors in China,” said London-based Chinese contemporary-art dealer Peifen Sung.

Sold for just over $2.5 million.

Chairman Mao II, Zeng Fanzhi (1993) via Artinfo

Sold for $3.5 million

Award-winning sculptor Antony Gormley will present his work “One And Other” in Trafalgar Square, London as he was recently chosen for the Fourth Plinth commission. His piece will occupy the Fourth Plinth for 100 consecutive days, for 24 hours, by members of the public who volunteered to stand for an hour. This will allow 2,400 people to participate in this piece.

Next on the Trafalgar Square plinth: the public [Times Online]
London Mayor Offers to Be Living Artwork for Gormley [Bloomberg]
Gormley’s human exhibit wins battle of Trafalgar [Independent]
Antony Gormley will ask Trafalgar Square volunteers to climb plinth for art [Telegraph UK]
Public art — literally — for London’s Trafalgar Square [AFP]

Image via The Age

Antony Gormley said: “Through elevation onto the plinth and removal from common ground, the body becomes a metaphor, a symbol and allows us to reflect on the diversity, vulnerability and particularity of the individual in contemporary society.” The artist hopes to select a group that will represent the diversity of Britain. The piece will go on display in the Spring of 2009.

Study for Head of George Dyer, Francis Bacon (1967) via NYTimes

Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Sale in London took place yesterday on July 1st and brought in an encouraging total of $188.8 million.  Francis Bacon’s painting of the profile of his lover and companion, George Dyer, was a highlight of the auction. This intimate portrait based on a photograph by John Deakin, was originally predicted to collect $15.5 million, but sold at a much higher $27.4 million to an anonymous collector. Although the sellers of the Bacon painting were kept anonymous, the New York Tims reported that experts speculate that it was sold by Ian and Mercedes Stouker, London Philanthropists.  Other impressive results of the sale achieved records for 11 different artists, and included the high profile sale of a Basquiat painting from seller U2, and an Andy Warhol from seller John McEnroe. The sold-out collection from the German industrialist, Walther Lauffs, which included work from Yves Klein, was another highlight of the show.

Sotheby’s July 2008 Contemporary Art Evening Sale Triumphs [Artdaily]
U2’s Jean-Michel Basquiat work on Sotheby’s block for $17.7M [Art Observed]
Bacon Stars, 10 Records Set at Sotheby’s; U2 Sell Art [Bloomberg]
Anish Kapoor sculpture attracts $3.87 mn at Sotheby’s sale [Economic Times]
Ten Works Set Records at Sotheby’s Contemporary Auctions [NYSun]
Sotheby’s contemporary art sale reaches £94.7 million [International Herald Tribune]
Contemporary Art Evening Auction Results [Sotheby's]
Bacon Is Again a Top Draw at Auction [NYTimes]

Untitled (Pecho/Oreja), Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982-83) via Artdaily

On Tuesday evening, the untitled Basquiat painting sold for $10.1 million to an anonymous European collector. The painting came from the private collection of the Irish rock band, U2, and therefore has received quite a bit of publicity.

Overseas Nurse, Richard Prince (2002) via Luxist

Richard Prince’s Overseas Nurse sold for $7.4 million, which was a bit under its low estimate of $7.9 million. This was not the only piece that was slightly under estimate. Another painting of Francis Bacon, Figure Turning, did not fare as well as Bacon’s George Dyer portrait. The bidding on the painting stopped at $15.4 million, which was well below Sotheby’s prediction of $19.8 million to $29.7 million. Rapture by Damien Hirst also just barely met it’s low estimate.

Rapture, Damien Hirst (2003) via BBC

This butterfly wing painting by Damien Hirst sold for $2.3 million.

RE 3, Yves Klien (1960) via Artnet

RE 3 by artist, Yves Klien was one of the successful sales from the Lauffs group collection, and sold for $6.3 million; its original estimate was $2.9 million to $3.9 million.

Visitor, Marlene Dumas (1995) via BBC

The oil painting of five women by Marlene Dumas sold for 2 times its high estimate, for $6.3 million. This was a record for the South African artist.

Angel of the North, Antony Gormley (1997) via Bloomberg

Antony Gormley’s, cast-iron, Angel of the North sold for $6.3 million.

Obviously happy with the results of the sale, Cheyenne Westphal, Chairman of Contemporary Art, Sotheby’s Europe said, “Once again, we are witnesses to a market that is driven by art lovers. Buyers have confidence in the artworks they are competing for, and have shown unprecedented determination to win the lots which they desire.”

Your Dogs, 2008 via Maureen Paley

German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans has an exhibition at Maureen Paley gallery in London’s East End. His first solo exhibition in the UK since 2005, it offers new work as well as older, rarely viewed video. This exhibit is a combination of traditional photographs, photographic sculptures, photocopies and video. Two themes recurring throughout both floors of Tillmans’ work are the photograph as an object and the interaction of nature and man-made objects.

Wolfgang Tillmans, Maureen Paley Gallery [Maureen Paley]
Wolfgang Tillmans [ArtNews]
Wolfgang Tillmans at Maureen Paley [SHOWstudio]
Wolfgang Tillmans at Maureen Paley [Dazed Digital]
Wolfgang Tillmans - Maureen Paley Gallery [Photoicon]
Discover ‘Lighter’, the new solo exhibition from Wolfgang Tillmans [London is Free]

photocopy (Barnaby), 1994 via Maureen Paley

Tillmans has been working with photocopies since the late 80’s and uses photographs as objects and abstracts them through the process of photocopying them, leaving many details of the originals to be desired. This creates room for unique interpretations by the viewers.

Die Schwärze, 2007 via Maureen Paley

In his new series Lighter, Tillmans creates sculptures from folding photographs. Never using a camera for this work, he considers these objects compositions. They have broken out of the two-dimensional world and become a part of the space they inhabit.

Lighter V , 2006 via Maureen Paley

Nature is again observed upstairs in a large multichannel video installation. Tillmans unites unseen footage from 1987, 1994 and 2003 with recent footage to create moving images with ambient sound. This piece reiterates the established relationships of similarities and differences between his pieces.

paper drop (star), 2006 via Maureen Paley

New York City Waterfalls, Olafur Eliasson via NYTimes

Danish Artist, Olafur Eliasson has completed his $15.5 million New York City Waterfalls project. This sublime installation consists of four free-standing cataracts that have been transformed into 90 to 120 feet of falling water. The waterfalls started flowing yesterday, June 26th and will continue through October 13th.

Olafur Eliasson’s The New York City Waterfalls in New York [Artdaily]
Niagara’s New Rivals -For a Time, Anyway [Wall Street Journal]
The Falls Guy [NYMag]
Olafur Eliasson set to make a splash in Manhattan with waterfalls [Guardian UK]
Eliasson’s Waterfalls Make Instant Monuments for N.Y. Harbor [Bloomberg]
Cascades, Sing the City Energetic [NYTimes]
‘Waterfalls’ art installation to shower East River [NYDaily News]

New York City Waterfalls, Olafur Eliasson via NYTimes

Olafur Eliasson, who works out of his Berlin studio, used a team of over 30 architects, engineers, and builders to assist with the construction of his man-made waterfalls. The New York City Waterfalls are a large project even for Eliasson, who is known for his affinity for working on a massive scale. When the waterfalls are turned on, there will be approximately 12 stories of cascading water at the four locations around New York Harbor: at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, off the shore from Governors Island, at Pier 35 near the Manhattan Bridge, and off the Brooklyn Promenade.

Construction of the NYC Waterfall project by Olafur Eliasson via Inhabitat

The waterfalls were designed to fuse with the pre-existing urban landscape and become incorporated into the movement and flow of the city. The Wall Street Journal quotes Eliasson as saying,”People like to think that public space is neutral and open to all. Actually, it is subject to commercial interests, to the intentions of power elites. Public space is what’s left when everything else has been privatized. We need to create it, we need to nurture it. I didn’t dump down the waterfalls from the moon. I tried to integrate them with the city in a productive way”

Artist, Olafur Eliasson, in front of the Brooklyn Bridge via Yahoo

The Public Art Fund along with other public and private organizations funded the $15.5 million project in collaboration with the city. The Public Art Fund works with artist to create otherwise impossible public art installations, such as Chris Burden’s What My Dad Gave Me.

NYC Waterfall Project by Olafur Eliasson via Inhabitat

]]> http://artobserved.com/olafur-eliassons-waterfalls-up-and-on/feed/ http://artobserved.com/sothebys-london-contemporary-art-evening-auction-july-1-preview/ http://artobserved.com/sothebys-london-contemporary-art-evening-auction-july-1-preview/#comments Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:16:21 +0000 Sam http://artobserved.com/?p=2104

Chant 2, Bridget Riley (1967) via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s is holding its Contemporary Art Evening Auction on Tuesday, July 1st at its New Bond St. location in London. The sale’s highlights include works from Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, Bridget Riley, Andy Warhol and a number of other notable contemporary artists. The complete body of works for this sale will be on view at Sotheby’s New Bond St. galleries Monday, June 30 from 9am-7pm and Tuesday, July 1 from 9am-12noon.

Bridget Riley’s piece, Chant 2, a unique color painting which will be in the sale, was part of a show which won the artist the esteemed International Prize for Painting at the 34th Venice Biennale in 1968 .

Estimate: $4,000,000 - $6,000,000 (Pictured above)

London Contemporary Art Evening Auction [Sotheby's]

Featured Works:

Study for Head of George Dyer, Francis Bacon (1967) via Sotheby’s

Estimate: Upon Request

DOB Flower, Takashi Murakami (2000) via Sotheby’s

Estimate: $1,000,000 - $1,400,000

Overseas Nurse, Richard Prince (2002) via Sotheby’s

Estimate: $8,000,000 - $12,000,000

Untitled, Anish Kapoor (2003) via Sotheby’s

Estimate: $2,000,000 - $3,000,000

Yorkshire Terriers, Jeff Koons (1991) via Sotheby’s

Estimate: $1,500,000 - $2,000,000

“Too Far Too Close”, Os Gemeos at Deitch Gallery via Art Observed

On June 28th, the doors opened at 18 Wooster St in New York to reveal the fantastical world of Os Gemeos. The twin brothers that make up Os Gemeos, Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, are having their second show at Deitch, called “Too Far Too Close”. The artist duo, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, has successfully altered the space into a colorful world filled with chimerical portraits, music, and scenes straight from the intimate minds of Os Gemeos.

Sharing a brain: Os Gemeos [GQ]
Os Gemeos: Too Far Too Close [Deitch]
Os Gemeos’s Homepage [Lost Art]
Bomb - It: International Graffiti Documentary [Bomb-It]
Os Gemeos “Too Far Too Close” [NYArtbeat]

“Too Far Too Close”, Os Gemeos at Deitch Gallery via Art Observed

The colorful paintings, sculptures, and installations at the exhibit invite the viewers to become engaged visually, aurally, and tactilely. On the ground floor, the walls are covered with portraits of a variety of different yellow figures, as if someone had put together an album of all the people that exist within the day-to-day lives, interactions, and dreams of the two artists.

Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, the artists that make up Os Gemeos (Portuguese for “The Twins”) via Art Observed

Juanita Lanzo and Jeffrey Deitch via Art Observed

Another wall of the gallery incorporates a collage of doors, shelves, and found objects into their signature style of imagery. Again, the yellow faces peer at you from all directions, and are often found in the most unexpected and inconspicuous places. The work exhibits playful surprises and demonstrates the artists meticulous attention to detail .

“Too Far Too Close”, Os Gemeos at Deitch Gallery via Art Observed

Gavin Thomas and Erik Floss (Fuse Gallery) via Art Observed

The exhibit also includes two large wooden heads that face each another in silent dialogue. One of the heads spews bubbles over the crowd and houses a psychedelic, mirrored interior space beneath it. The other, fashioned like a modern day Trojan horse, beckons viewers to “Take Me Home Tonight” on the scrolling LCD screen, and invites them to lounge in the red shag carriage it sits upon.

Artist Brad Kahlhamer and Artist Rachel Garrard via Art Observed

“Too Far Too Close”, Os Gemeos at Deitch Gallery via Art Observed

Music and sound are a common theme throughout this exhibit. There are speakers within the psychedelic pyramid under one of the big heads, a small record player in the back corner, and a chorus of painted amplifiers on the upper level. One can help create the soundtrack of this exhibit by playing on the piano that has been set up to control the amplifiers. The result is a cacophony of voices, beats, and sounds that pour out of the “choir”.

Attendees play with the installation at “Too Far Too Close”, Os Gemeos at Deitch Gallery via Art Observed

The show was well attended, and attracted a mix of young and old. As Deitch once said about Os Gemeos’s work, ”An art intellectual, an art historian can appreciate their work, but a kid on the street can, too.”

Artist Flavia Mamtovam and curator Olimpia Piccolomini via Art Observed

Os Gemeos have starred in the video Bomb-It, a global graffiti documentary featuring the top street and graffiti artists from 5 different continents, and have exhibited in galleries and museums across the globe.

Adrienne Anemone and Claudia Secor-Watkins via Art Observed

“Too Far Too Close”, Os Gemeos at Deitch Gallery via Art Observed

Artist Otavio Pandolfo, Arnaldo, and Coyo via Art Observed

Reginald Pean via Art Observed

Kosuke Fugitaka and Aneta Glinkowska from NY Art Beat via Art Observed

“Too Far Too Close”, Os Gemeos at Deitch Gallery via Art Observed

Performer Adrian Saich and Marcus Cummins via Art Observed

An exhibition of new and barely seen works from one of America’s most important artists, Paul McCarthy, is open at the Whitney Museum of American Art. McCarthy, who increased his notoriety when he transformed the Maccarone Gallery into a chocolate factory last November, now has “Central Symmetrical Rotation Movement Three Installations, Two Films” at the Whitney through October 12. The show was curated by Chrissie Iles and is designed by McCarthy, in part to address the viewer’s sense of perception.

Whitney to Present Paul McCarthy: Central Symmetrical Rotation Movement [Artdaily]
A Trip Through the Revolving Doors of Perception [NYTimes]
On View Now: Paul McCarthy [The Whitney]
Maccarone now officially home of Peter Paul Chocolates [ArtObserved]


Spinning Camera, Walking, Paul McCarthy (1971) via Artdaily
Spinning Room, although conceived in 1971, was finally brought into existence especially for this exhibition. The exhibit takes live images of the people inside the exhibition space and projects them onto double sided screens, which are then reflected by the mirrored walls. The experience is manipulated further with flashing overhead lights, and alteration of the live images.

Paul McCarthy via Artfacts
Other pieces on view include the never before seen installation, Mad House, which involves a rotating chair within a spinning room. Another installation, Bang Bang Room, continues to confront one’s sense of space with its constant slamming doors and walls that move in and out.

Spinning Camera, Walking, Paul McCarthy (1971) via VMagazine
Two recently uncovered films made by McCarthy, Couple (1966) and Spinning Camera, Walking (1971) are also on display. Again, his use of chaotic movement in both of these films has been said to visually disorient the viewer.

New Louise Bourgeois Documentary Film to Premiere at New York’s Film Forum [Artdaily]
Louise Bourgeois at the Guggenheim [The Art Newspaper]
Portrait of a Haunted Artist Who Befriended Giant Spiders [NY Times]
‘Louise Bourgeois’: An Intimate Look at a Provocateur [NYSun]
The Guggenheim Museum: Louise Bourgeois [Guggenheim]
Raw Materials of a Life, Revealed by Sculpture [NYTimes]
Louise Bourgeios at the Guggenheim [NYTimes]
`Cumuls,’ Dolls Recall Daddy Dearest in Louise Bourgeois Show [Bloomberg]
For Your Distorted Pleasure: Louise Bourgeois [NYTimes]
Bourgeois Looms Large at the Guggenheim [NY artbeat]

Untitled, Louise Bourgeois (2003) via NYTimes

Deeply influenced by her traumatic childhood, Bourgeois has produced copious amounts of work that is not only extremely personal, but also engaging through its raw emotion and symbolic references.She has never stopped at one medium, but instead has worked with paint, fabric, marble, plastics, wood, bronze, and found objects. She has taken part in a plethora of significant art movements throughout her career, and during that time, produced many drawings, paintings, sculptures, installations, and performance pieces.

Spider Couple, Louise Bourgeois (2003) via NYTimes

The Guggenheim exhibit, simply titled “Louise Bourgeois”, spans throughout the entire Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda. Within the Rotunda hangs Untitled (2004) piece that suspends two spiraling, aluminum, cocoon shaped objects above the viewer’s head. The exhibit, which goes through September 28th, also features a pair of her recognizable bronze spiders, in addition to many other equally powerful pieces.

A still from “Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine” via Artdaily

The documentary film, “Louise Bourgeois:The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine”, is a portrait of the artist and her intriguing life works. Bourgeois has been acknowledged as one of the most influential artists of our time, and this film strives to show the persona behind her art. The film was produced and directed by Amei Wallach and Marion Cajori.

The Destruction of the Father, Louise Bourgeois (1974) via NYTimes

View the movie trailer for “Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine” via youtube
>
Louise Bourgeois via Telegraph
In 1982, Louise Bourgeois became the first woman to be celebrated by a retrospective at the MoMA, and now at the age of 96, is clearly one of the most significant artists, gender notwithstanding, alive today.

Lair, Louise Bourgeois (1963) via NYTimes

Nine Multicolored Marilyns, Andy Warhol (1979-1986) via Phillips

Phillips de Pury & Company is holding it’s Contemporary Art Sale on June 29 and 30. The sale highlights works from Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paul McCarthy, and many other distinguished contemporary artists.

Phillips Contemporary Art Sale [Phillips]

Highlights of the show:

Nine Multicolored Marilyns, Andy Warhol

Estimate: $3,500,000 - $4,400,000 (Pictured above)

Untitled, Willem de Kooning (1984) via Phillips

Estimate: $2,300,000 - $3,900,000

Chairman Mao II, Zeng Fanzhi (1993) via Phillips

Estimate; $3,100,000 - $4,700,000

Patti Smith IV, Franz Gertsch (1979) via Phillips

Estimate: $2,300,000 - $3,100,000

The Importance of Elsewhere, Damien Hirst (2006) via Phillips

Estimate: $2,300,000 - $3,900,000

Untitled, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982) via Phillips

Estimate: $1,500,000 - $2,300,000

Bunk House, Paul McCarthy (1996) via Phillips

Estimate: $2,300,000 - $3,100,000

Balloon Flower (Magenta), Jeff Koons via flickr W10

Jeff Koons’ magenta colored Balloon Flower sits in St. James Square waiting to be sold on Monday, June 30th, at Christie’s London. From the series Celebration, the enormous flower was previously owned by the Rachofsky Collection in Texas. It has been deemed the highlight of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale, and is estimated to fetch $23.5 million.

Koons Dallas ‘Flower’ may fetch $23.5 Million at Christie’s London June 30th [artobserved]
Jeff Koons Sculpture May Fetch 12 Million Pounds at Christie’s [Bloomberg]
Win One, Lose One for Dallas Museum [NYTimes]

Balloon Flower (Magenta), Jeff Koons via flickr W10

Jeff Koons was interviewed in his studio by the International Co-Head of Christie’s to talk exclusively about his Balloon Flower (Magenta) from the Celebration series.

“I have always enjoyed flowers. Since taking art lessons as a child, I have had flowers in my work. I always like the sense that a flower just displays itself. The viewer always finds grace in a flower. Flowers are a symbol that life goes forward” says Koons, quoted in M. Codognato & E. Geuna via Christie’s

View the video of the interview here via Christie’s

Cy Twombly, Quattro Stagioni: Autunno, (1993-5) via Tate Modern

From June 19 - September 14, the Tate Modern presents the first solo retrospecitve of Cy Twombly in 15 years.  Twombly, an abstract expressionist painter, is regarded as one of the most influential artists of our time.

Cy Twombly at Tate UK [Tate Modern]
Cy Twombly at Tate Modern, London [Gagosian Gallery]
Cy Twombly – Cycles and Seasons [Digital Arts]
Tate Unites London, New York Versions Of Cy Twombly’s Great Painting Cycle [HulIQ]
Cy Twombly is the only graffiti artist I care about [Guardian UK]

Twombly, Muses (1963) via ArtNet

This show provides an overview of his work from the 1950’s to the present. He is well known for his large scale calligraphic graffiti style paintings, primarily using the colors tan, grey, or off white colors. He is known for blurring the line between drawing and painting.  Many of his paintings suggest of years and years of graffiti on the bathroom wall or someone practicing their cursive writing on a blackboard.

Twombly, Leda and The Swan (1962) via ArteAbstract

This show will also showcase the Four Seasons 1994-1995 from the Tate Collection, and the Four Seasons 1993-1994 from the MOMA. The Four Seasons also known as Quattro Stagioni are based on the cycle of the four seasons with Italian titles, Primavera, Estate, Autunno and Inverno.

Nicholas Serota, Director of the Tate said, “To be able to see these two great painting cycles together for the first time since they were parted in Twombly’s studio will create a moment of huge impact.  Uniting them will form the heart of the exhibition. We are very grateful to MoMA for helping to make this possible.”

Twombly, The Four Seasons Summer via Moma

Lee Bontecou, Composition (1965) via Hauser & Wirth Gallery

The collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs, one of Europe’s most important private collections of 20th century post war art, will be on exhibit at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Zürich through July 26. The focus of the Lauff’s collection was new and ground breaking contemporary art.  Their collection contains key American and European artistic currents in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Selections from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs [ArtNet]
Selections from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs [re-title.com]
VIDEO: Selections from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs/Hauser&Wirth, Zurich [Vernissage]

Richard Serra, White Neon Belt (1967) via Hauser & Wirth

In the late 1960’s industrialist Walthter Lauff and his wife Helga began collecting and creating a comprehensive collection of contemporary art. The collection on exhibit contains more than 40 works by Joseph Beuys, Mel Bochner, Lee Bontecou, Christo, Joseph Cornell, Hanne Darboven, Jan Dibbets, Lucio Fontana, Eva Hesse, On Kawara, Yves Klein, Joseph Kosuth, Jannis Kounellis, Sol LeWitt, Piero Manzoni, John McCracken, Mario Merz, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Louise Nevelson, Claes Oldenburg, Giulio Paolini, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Dieter Roth, Fred Sandback, Richard Serra, Richard Tuttle, Cy Twombly, Günther Uecker, Tom Wesselmann and Douglas Wheeler.

Cy Twombly, The Castle (1958) via Hauser & Wirth

A Christie’s worker takes a closer look at Monet’s Le basin aux nymphaes via yahoo

At Christie’s auction yesterday Monet’s water-lily painting, Le basin aux nymphaes, sold to an anonymous collector for $80.5 million, well over the estimated $35 to $47 million. This is a record breaking sale for the artist, and a tell tale sign that there is some life in many sectors of the art market. The other big sale of the evening was Degas’, Danseuses a la barre, which sold for $26.5 million.

A Monet Sets a Record: $80.4 Million [NYTimes]
Monet fetches record $80.5m [FinancialTimes]
Christie’s in London Sells Monet Masterpiece for $ 80.5 Million A Record for the Artist [artdaily]
Monet record smashed as art market boom goes on [Forbes]
$80M A Whole Lot of Monet [NYPost]
A lot of Monet as Christie’s sells waterlilies for record £41 million [Times Online UK]
Monet record smashed as art market boom goes on [Guardian UK]
In London, Will Moderns Move? [NYSun]
AO Preview: Christie’s London Impressionist and Modern Art [ArtObserved]

Le bassin aux nympheas at Christie’s in London via artdaily

Le bassin aux nympheas is one of four from the water-lily series completed by Claude Monet in 1919. The painting had not been publicly exhibited for over 35 years, which added to the excitement surrounding its reveal. The Monet was apart of the sold out collection of J. Irwin, the deceased chairman of Cummins Engine Company, and Xenia S. Miller. Their collection was undeniably a high point of the auction; it also included a Picasso called La Carafe.

Le bassin aux nympheas at Christie’s in London via NYTimes

Danseuses a la barre at Christie’s auction house in London via yahoo

The success of the sale yesterday goes to show that despite the struggling global economy, the art market continues to flourish. Both the Monet and the Degas collected well over their estimated price, but on the other hand, the lower valued art struggled to meet their mark. This can be attributed to an increase in high-end spending within the top tier of collectors, but a lack of smaller collectors to buy up the lower priced art.

Christie’s worker poses with Monet’s Le basin aux nymphaes via yahoo

Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh (1889) via Artdaily

Van Gogh’s Cypresses and The Starry Night exhibited now at Yale [artdaily]
Haunch of Venison, a Christie’s-owned-gallery, causes some rebuke in the system [NY Mag]
Update: The Sun Reviews Byrne ‘playing the building’ and Burden at Rockefeller Center [NYSun]
A Summer gallery line-up for Paris [Bloomberg]
Time lapse video from Cans Street Art Festival in London, covered by AO here [Wooster Collective via WorldsBestEver]
Sotheby’s selling (post-cubism) Italian Futurism as the next big trend? [Economist]

A visitor looks at Rembrandt Laughing at the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam via daylife

The Rembrandt self-portrait, once thought to be a knockoff, has recently been confirmed by the Rembrandt Research Project to be authentic. Rembrandt Laughing was originally estimated to be worth $3,100 but sold for $4.5 million in an English auction house last October.  The painting’s current estimated value is $30,000,000 to $40,000,000.

Rembrandt confirmed a genuine item [Bloomberg]
A Rembrandt, Really [NYTimes]
The Rembrandt House Museum Presents Today “Rembrandt Laughing” in Amsterdam [Artdaily]
‘Rembrandt Laughing’ is self-portrait [Chicago Tribune]

Rembrandt Laughing, Rembrandt (c. 1628) via dailymail

The painting’s value skyrocketed after Ernst can de Wetering of the Rembrandt Research Project determined its true origin. A statement from the RRP’s website reports, “It has now been established on a range of stylistic and technical grounds that this is an authentic early work by Rembrandt dating from around 1628.”

A visitor views Rembrandt Laughing at Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam via artdaily

Before its discovery, Rembrandt Laughing hung quietly in the possession of an English family for more than 100 years. Now that’s the truth is out, it is being displayed in the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam until June 29th.

Untitled 1992 via Greenberg Van Doren Gallery

Through June 27th, Greenberg Van Doren Gallery in New York is showing the works of Richard Diebenkorn in a solo exhibition  entitled “Ocean Park Monotypes & Drawings”. The title of the exhibition refers to the area of Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California where he worked and was highly influenced by his surrounding landscapes.  He began the  “Ocean Park” series of over 140 paintings and drawings in 1967, which later became some of his best known works. The exhibition includes his paintings, works on paper, and edition prints.

Richard Diebenkorn [Greenberg Van Doren Gallery]
Richard Diebenkorn, “Ocean Park Monotypes & Drawings.” [Time out]

IV 1988 via Greenberg Van Doren Gallery

The exhibition also includes different types of works, such as black and white monotypes, a set of colour monotypes from 1988, and a group of paintings on paper.

The artist was born in Portland.  In 1940, Diebenkorn enrolled in Stanford University and after graduating worked in such diverse locations as New York City, Woodstock, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Urbana, Illinois, and Berkeley, but he is known mainly as a West coast artist.  During this period, the artist developed is own style of abstract painting.  Diebenkorn remains one of the most significant of the abstract expressionists.

Untitled 1971 via Greenberg Van Doren Gallery