The “Andy Monument,” formerly located in New York City’s Union Square, began its journey on Tuesday to its next stop, the Houston Contemporary Arts Museum. The artwork, made by Rob Pruitt and commissioned by the Public Arts Fund had been positioned in front of a former Warhol studio location.
Andy Warhol – Marlon (1966) to be auctioned November 14, 2012 by Christie’s in New York City
Representatives at The Andy Warhol Foundation for Arts have announced today that the organization will donate or sell its remaining collection of works by Andy Warhol over the coming years and will become solely a funding source for non-profit arts groups. Although the Foundation does not reputedly possess “big-name” paintings by the artist, such as the instantly recognizable Campbell’s Soup Cans (1966), it holds a selection of previously unseen pieces, like a Jacqueline Kennedy collage from the 1960s. The sales are expected to bring in about $100 million, and will be conducted with Christie’s auction house.
Andy Warhol – Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962), MoMA
Campbell’s Soup will unveil a special edition of Andy Warhol labels on their condensed tomato soup starting this Sunday. The 1.2 million cans, which will be sold at Target, will include famous quotes such as “In the future, everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes” on each of the four color schemes. Surprisingly, the soup company initially considered taking legal action when Warhol began to use their likeness, but started to embrace his paintings when by 1964, it was clear that they had become a phenomenon.
Rob Pruitt’s chrome statue of Andy Warhol, which has been in Union Square since March of last year, will be traveling to Texas where it will be displayed in front of the Contemporary Art Museum Houston beginning next month, through the end of the year.
Darryl Kelly, a cleanup man from New York City, when asked to clean out reclusive artist Harry Shunk’s apartment back in 2006, inadvertently found works by Christo to Andy Warhol after the Lichtenstein foundation had taken the rest. Mr. Kelly intends to auction the works off this fall.
NPR takes a trip to a humble Pennsylvania cemetery to visit the grave of Andy Warhol on what would have been his 84th birthday.
Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Olympic Rings (1985)
During the 1980’s, the personnages of both Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat loomed large in the New York art world. Warhol as one of its most visible older guard, and Basquiat as one of its prominent, up-and-coming stars. But the two were also friends, and it was in this context that Basquiat and Warhol collaborated on a number of paintings that would end up being some of the last of their lives. Blending Basquiat’s striking, often visceral approach with Warhol’s measured explorations of pop culture iconography, these pieces offered a marked commentary on both the style and subjects exhibited.
The New York Magazine examines Yayoi Kusama‘s position in the art world after a 40 year stint in a mental hospital. The Japanese artist voices her opinions on her mental illness, her youth, and her old contemporaries, including Andy Warhol, stating that “he lived near me and appropriated my ideas, only he was too late because I have already realized them. We don’t hear his name now so much in Japan.”
The MET to open a major exhibition surveying Andy Warhol‘s influence on contemporary art, featuring work by Robert Gober, Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman, and others, in September 2012.
Yves Klein, Le Rose du bleu (RE 22) (1960)
This week in London, the focus will shift towards Contemporary Art, for the second consecutive week of summer auctions. According to the Telegraph, these contemporary sales hold the highest pre-sale estimates ever offered by the London houses. Total sales expected from Sotheby’s range from £57.51 – 82.48 million, while Christie’s are in excess of £120 million. Last week’s Impressionist and Modern Sales were more subdued than the record breaking auctions held in New York this past May. Based upon these record pre-sale estimates, there may be similar hopes for this week’s round of sales.
‪‬19 contemporary high-value works, including ‘Flowers’ by Andy Warhol, have been stolen from a Detroit collector in the Corktown neighborhood of the city
‪‬Rob Pruitt‘s life-size sculpture of Andy Warhol to remain at Union Square through the summer, the installment’s second extension due to popular demand
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s, Untitled (1981). Image courtesy of Phillips de Pury.
The Contemporary Art Evening Sale at Phillips de Pury marked the last auction of the May season in New York. At the start, the salesroom was filled with lively energy among the crowd, with collectors mingling, including a Mugrabi brother. This show came after a record breaking fortnight of auctions and fairs within the art world. Coming down to the final sale, it was apparent that the buying was beginning to slow. Still, Phillips de Pury achieved a solid total sale of $86.8 million, which fell within their anticipated estimate of $75–110 million.
Before the Contemporary Evening Sale begins. Photo By Aubrey Roemer for Art Observed.
Sotheby’s staff preparing for the sale. Photos on site for Art Observed by Aubrey Roemer unless otherwise noted.
After Tuesday night’s multi-record breaking sale at Christie’s, last night’s Contemporary Evening Sale at Sotheby’s seemed to hold a somewhat lower energy, possibly a result of the second consecutive week of auctions and fairs wearing on the collectors. Yet the sale totaled $266 million—within Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate of $215–300 million—a number considerably higher than last May’s Contemporary Evening Sale total of $128 million. Seven of the artworks sold at more than $10 million, and there was an overall sell-through rate of 80.7%. In a post-sale press conference, Sotheby’s Head of Contemporary Art, Alex Rotter, commented “the market is very healthy with active bidding.”
Tobias Meyer giving a press talk about the sale. (more…)
Andy Warhol, Double Elvis [Feris Type] (1963)
On the heels of a tireless and groundbreaking week in the New York art world, the fervor continues with the major auction houses hosting their Contemporary Art Sales—beginning tonight at Christie’s. Last week’s Impressionist and Modern Art Sales saw unforeseen prices and several world records set, namely the near $120 million paid for Edvard Munch‘s The Scream. In tandem with both the Frieze Art Fair and NADA Art Fairs’ inaugural New York editions—both held this past weekend—the Contemporary Sales possess an auspicious platform this season. The strength of last week’s sales proves the collectors’ attention to the trophy market, with many big ticket and highly recognizable works on the block this week.
‪‬Glenn O’Brien discusses art, music, TV, politics, Andy Warhol and Basquiat in an interview with Open Ceremony; on his show TV PARTY, “I was rebellious but not angry”
Sturtevant. Photo by Loren Muzzey. All images courtesy the artist and Moderna Museet unless otherwise noted.
For half a century, Sturtevant has built her practice on the citation of other artists’ works. Challenging authorship through acts of appropriation long before it was made popular by the likes of Sherrie Levine and Richard Prince, Sturtevant made her artistic debut in 1965, when she presented a roomful of Warhol silkscreen flowers at a gallery mere months after the originals had been created. Although largely overlooked until recent years, Sturtevant won a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at last year’s Venice Biennale. Her latest exhibition, Image over Image, opened March 17th at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Showcasing 30 works, 4 of which are the artist’s “originals,” the exhibition fosters a sort of wall label guessing-game. As visitors travel from room to room they are confronted with familiar works from modernist art history—a Jasper Johns here, a Duchamp there. Among other artists cited in this exhibition are Joseph Beuys, Keith Haring, Félix González-Torres, John Waters, and Paul McCarthy.
‪‬British tourist Andy Fields may have bought a 1930s signed sketch of American actor Rudy Vallee by a juvenile bed-ridden Andy Warhol for $5 from an unidentified man in Las Vegas who claimed his aunt once babysat the artist, value estimated at £1.3 million if authenticated [AO Newslink]
‪‬The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation aims to grow endowment from $18 million to $350m over the next fifteen years through the sale of art and real estate, possibly surpassing the Andy Warhol Foundation while hoping to contribute to an artist-generated grant landscape with “a dedication to exploration and more risk-taking commissions” [AO Newslink]
David Altmejd, The University 1 (2004). Images courtesy The Brant Foundation Art Study Center / Farzad Owrang.
For sculptor and installation artist David Altmejd, structure continues to play an integral role to the exhibition layout as well as the conceptual art itself. Currently on view at The Brant Foundation in Greenwich, Connecticut, the chronological and aesthetic diversity of the showcase lends itself to many labels, potentially defined as a small-scale retrospective or a massive installation. Altmejd explained on a tour of the exhibition that he intensively sought the corporeal as cognitive—the use of the human body as an artistic commentary.
‪‬Sotheby’s to auction Andy Warhol’s ‘Double Elvis [Ferus Type]’ for estimated $30–50 million at May Contemporary sale in New York, the work will be on view in LA next week [AO Newslink]
All photos by Art Observed by Aubrey Roemer
The “Third and a half” Brucennial opened last night in New York City, the 2012 edition titled, “Harderer. Betterer. Fasterer. Strongerer.” At 159 Bleecker Street, the high-ceilinged art-filled space reached its capacity of 15,000—with a line around the block—shortly after opening its doors at 6 PM. Organized by the anonymous Bruce High Quality Foundation and Vito Schnabel, a large main room, balcony, and basement, were covered with paintings, sculptures, video-works, and other installations by artists both established and less so. Running the gamut from friends of the Bruces to a Damien Hirst spot painting, exhibiting artists of note include Mike Kelley, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Sigmar Polke, Julian Schnabel, Anselm Reyle, Francesco Clemente, Aurel Schmidt, Dan Colen, David Salle, George Condo, Rashid Johnson, Dash Snow, Terence Koh, Richard Prince, Joseph Beuys, Scott Campbell, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Tom Sachs, Andy Warhol (collaboration), and Dustin Yellin.