AO Art Observed™

Terence Koh at his Chinatown studio via BlackBook

Terence Koh’s “personal” fashion style [Blackbookmag]
15 years of Contemporary public art: Jeff Koons to Rachel Whiteread [New York Times]
Damien Hirst opening retail store next to Sotheby’s, London [Bloomberg]
More on Myra Hindly minor scandal [Guardian], previously covered here [AO]
Sotheby’s Australia fine art auction sold only 49% of its inventory [Art Market Monitor]
Hirst’s $100M Skull begins its world tour in…Amsterdam [NYSun]
Lucian Freud portrait model destroys £17M + painting [Dailymail]

Evil Is Banal, Dumas self-portrait, Marlene Dumas (1984) via New York Magazine

Faces of Marlene Dumas will come to New York [New York Magazine] -
The 7,500 square feet Devi Art Foundation, India’s first contemporary art museum [New York Times]
A highlight of some new shows in Chelsea for the Fall, starting Sept 4th [NYSun]
Sao Paulo heatedly debates when graffiti is considered urban art [NY Sun]
Francesco Clemente on Charlie Rose last week [Charlie Rose - Youtube]

Damien Hirst - “The Kingdom” 2008 via The Wall Street Journal

The Art Newspaper has this weekend disclosed the extent of unsold inventory, over 200 works, that are held at Damien Hirst’s gallery in London, White Cube, run by Jay Jopling. The article illuminates a situation for the artist, one of the most successful in the world, but also one of the most prolific, in which his traditional market may be less able to absorb the works at the pace at which he is aiming to produce them. This evolving landscape has presumably led Hirst to explore, through the landmark and controversial upcoming September 15th Sotheby’s London sale, new sales portals and new pools of buyers. The Art Newspaper disclosure however, could perhaps have some ramifications for the Sotheby’s sale itself, as sophisticated buyers may take into account this newly exposed trove of similar work to that being auctioned, and simple supply and demand economics might as a result negatively affect pricing.

Revealed: the art Damien Hirst failed to sell [The Art Newspaper]
200 unsold Damien Hirst works looking for an owner at Sotheby’s [TimesOnlineUK]
Hirst’s Marketing End Run [Wall Street Journal]
Auction, Damien Hirst ‘New Inside My Head Forever’ [Sotheby's]
Several Lucrative Art Series To End, Says Damien Hirst [ArtObserved]
Update: Damien Hirst goes to Auction at Sotheby’s, September 15-16, 2008 [ArtObserved]
Hirst’s ‘Golden Calf’ could sell for $16-$24 million at Sotheby’s London [ArtObserved]

(more…)

James Powderly, via freetibet2008

Street artist James Powderly detained in Bejing for laser projection of political artwork [ArtForum], with more on the incident here [Artinfo]
Undercover FBI agents in the US targeting increasingly shady art theft world [WallStreetJournal]
Cans Festival, a street art milestone, covered previously by AO here, will soon re-open in London [World'sBestEver]
Tribute exhibit for artist Blinky Palermo, “24 Colors - for Blinky” at Dia:Beacon [NYTimes]
A dark parody on the lucrative potential of a murdered Damien Hirst’s preserved body sold to wealthy Russians [ArtNet] and relative commentary in the New York Times [NYT]

Famed street artist Swoon and crew float junkyard utopia downstate to Deitch Studios in LIC [NYTimes]
Anthony Haden-Guest on the effect’s of global financial turmoil on corporate art sponsorship [Portfolio]
Assume Vivid Astro Focus installs colorful window display at the Modern restaurant at the MoMa [NYSun]
A critique of Sarah Thornton’s book, ‘Seven Days in the Art World’ (with Video) [Art Market Monitor]
Sotheby’s holds a preview for $120.8M of Damien Hirst’s direct auction works in New Delhi, India and the Hamptons [Bloomberg]

Brice Marden via the The New York Observer

Artist Brice Marden is redeveloping a hotel in the Caribean island of Nevis [NYObserver]
S&M self-portraiture coming to the Guggenheim with Catherine Opie retrospective [NYTimes TMagazine]
After 30 years, lawyer on trial for attempting to profit off stolen art, including a $29.3M Cezanne [Artinfo]
Fake American Apparel ads in Brooklyn reference Jeff Koons and perhaps Damien Hirst [AnimalNY]
Ed Ruscha’s open-air studio in Venice Beach, CA may become a city parking lot [NYTimes]
The 100% self made custom wardrobe of artist Mike Latham, of Art’s Corporation, features his signature barcode [NYSun]

Superstition, Damien Hirst, 2007 Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills via ABC News

In a video interview from July recently posted on Sotheby’s website, Damien Hirst casually revealed that several of his highest earning series would be coming to an end in 2008. These include his spin and butterfly paintings and conceptual medicine cabinets. Hirst also speculated that production of his dot paintings would significantly slow, and that his formaldehyde works of animals are growing numbered as well.

Damien Hirst: An Interview with Tim Marlow [Sotheby's]
Damien Hirst Says He’ll End High-earning Series [Artinfo]
Hirst Will Stop Making Spin, Butterfly Paintings, Drug Cabinets [Bloomberg]

(more…)

Jessica Joffe at the 15th Annual Watermill Summer Benefit via Park Ave Peerage

Fashion dazzle at Robert Wilson’s annual Watermill benefit [Park Avenue Peerage] more boldfaced names here [NYMag] and swanky goings on here [Papermag] and here [Artnet] and here [Art Forum]
A Private Contemporary Art collection in a eerie WWII Berlin bunker [Bloomberg] also coverd here [NYSun] and by Art Observed previously here [AO]
Damien Hirst’s controversial, straight-to-auction sale at Sotheby’s, previously covered by AO here,  will be followed by more of his works for sale amongst others, again directly, in October [Sotheby's] [AO] [Bloomberg] more here [NY Sun]
London: Tickets are now available for Frieze Art Fair 2008’s Frieze Projects and Frieze [Frieze Art Fair 2008] Tokyo: Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki announces GEISAI #11 [Artipedia] 8/6
Indian contemporary art is on the rise [How to Spend It, FT]
An Economist’s qualitative approach to works by great masters [NYT]

Hirst and McLaren via the Daily News

Damien Hirst buys vintage clothing by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren, which turns out to be fake and more here [NY Daily News] [Vogue]
Parisian show of works without owners, once collected for Hitler’s super-museum [Bloomberg]
Beijing’s Dashanzi arts district is booming [NYTimes]
Review of Harvard economist-written “best book on the economics of the contemporary art market” [Portfolio]
Jackie Wullschlager on Communist artist Fernand Léger: Picasso’s “tubist” [Financial Times]

Damien Hirst at the White Cube Gallery via Museum Lab

As previously covered by AO here Damien Hirst, is preparing for his Sotheby’s auction this September and has come out with a new formaldehyde suspended tiger shark, a cow with golden horns and hooves, a unicorn, in addition to spot paintings, and butterfly collages, among many other newly created works made specifically for the all-Hirst auction. The sale, entitled Beautiful in My Mind Forever, will be comprised of 223 lots, and is expected to raise somewhere between $100 million and $150 million over the two-day sale that takes place on September 15th and 16th. The Golden Calf alone is expected to sell at a high of $25 million. The sale is extremely notable as Hirst is circumventing his main dealers Larry Gagosian in New York and Jay Jopling of White Cube in London and going directly to auction. Though Jopling and Gagosian have ostensibly given their blessing, the auction reflects a potentially new paradigm in the the way art is sold.

Golden calf, bull’s heart, a new shark: Hirst’s latest works may fetch £65m [Guardian]
Damien Hirst brings £65m of his wares to market [Times Online]
Artist Hirst Jumps the Shark, Cuts Out [NYPost]
Hirst auction expected to raise £65m [Financial Times]
Hirst Still Playing Elaborate Joke On Hedge Fund Community [Dealbreaker]
Damien Hirst auction expected to fetch £65 million and Art sales: Bullish Hirst Rattles the Market [Telegraph]
Damien Hirst is Rewriting the Rules of the Market [The Art Newspaper]
Damien Hirst: Beautiful Inside My Head Forever [Sotheby's]
Hirst auction expected to fetch 65 million pounds [APF]
Hirst’s ‘Golden Calf’ could sell for $16-$24 million at Sotheby’s London [ArtObserved]

(more…)

Sculpture from “Art for the Masses”, Yue Minjun via Supertouchart

KAWS does a Yue Minjun figurine [Supertouchart]
Are commodity-rich buyers propping up the market for trophy art? [CNN]
Damien Hirst’s rumored collaboration with ultra-pricey cell phone brand Vertu [FashionWeekDaily]
Applications for an MA degree in art business see a strong increase [Financial Times]
Damien Hirst, other bold-faced names keep it swanky at Annabel’s in London for Richard Prince at Serpentine Gallery [The Independent]

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]

(more…)

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]

(more…)

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]

(more…)

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]

(more…)

Damien Hirst, The Golden Calf via artdaily

Sotheby’s in London has recently announced that Damien Hirst will be auctioning off a number of newly created works at the sale: ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’ on September 15 and 16. The highlight of the sale is Hirst’s Golden Calf, which is an 18-carat gold encrusted bull submerged in a tank of formadehyde, is expected to sell for $16 to $24 million. This Sotheby’s sale is comprised exclusively of works made by Damien Hirst during the past two years.

Hirst’s Golden Calf Is Pricey Per Pound [NYTimes]
The Golden Calf by Damien Hirst Headlines Groundbreaking Auction of Work by Artist [artdaily]
Damien Hirst to Auction Own Works at Sotheby’s [artinfo]
Damien Hirst to sell £12 million ‘Golden Calf’ artwork at auction [TIMESOnline UK]
Dropping the Other Calf [TIME]
Hirst to Offer `Golden Calf’ for 12 Million Pounds at Sotheby’s [Bloomberg]

(more…)

Dakis Joannou’s Jeff Koons-designed yacht ‘Guilty’ via Artforum

Art luminaries gather on collector Dakis Joannou’s Jeff Koons-designed yacht in Greece [artforum]
Study: number of US artists tripled since 70’s to 2 million with $34,800 average income [artinfo]
A profile of contemporary German collector Falckenberg and his 2,000 works [Bloomberg]
Early Hirst painting disgarded to thrift shop by mistake [The Independent]
The NYTimes reviews Lichtenstein at Gagosian uptown NY [NYTimes]
New Museum announces 1st US Elizabeth Peyton survey show [New Museum]
Market uncertainty, Christie’s competition cited in 12% quarterly profit drop for Sotheby’s [the Art Newspaper]

Anish Kapoor via Time

Time Magazine on Anish Kapoor [Time]
Tracey Emin’s controversial selections for Royal Academy include zebra bestiality, closeups of masturbation during menstruation, and barbed wire hula-hooping [The Daily Mail]
Separately, Hirst invited to join Royal Academy, and has yet to reply [[TimesUK]
Banksy friend/street artist Nick Walker to tag undisclosed British landmarks with laser [Artinfo]
Private art insurance premiums jump 30% year on year [Wall Street Journal]
Salander furniture/antique sale garners $1.6 million [Bloomberg]
The Met is closer to a new Director [New York Sun]
The Vatican begins a contemporary art initiative[the Independent]

Olafur Eliassion courtesy of NY Mag

The technics of Olafur Eliasson’s upcoming falls project [NY Mag]
Christie’s, Sothebys assert no collusion in recently dual increase in premiums [ArtInfo]
Toxic leak risk leads to armed guards of Hirst’s lamb at LACMA [LA Times]
Banksy contemporary Nick Walker sells $1.5M of street Art in London [Bloomberg]
Clemente works at the Gallery Met at Lincoln Center [New York Times]
$21M record sale of Latin American art at Sotheby’s [ArtDaily]

Charles Saatchi via ArteSpain

Charles Saatchi, the influential British art dealer and advertising magnate, has signed a deal with The Art Trading Fund to advise contemporary art purchases in the Western market, as well as the emerging markets of China, India and the Middle East. Saatchi will garner more corporate patrons for his gallery and will receive a percentage of profits on pieces of art that go through his hands; the fund is hoping he “will bring global expertise to our plans to enter new markets.”

Hegde Funds gets tips on hottest artists [Bloomberg]
Art For Money’s Sake [Portfolio]
Saatchi to Advise Art Fund on Deals [New York Times]
Saatchi Signs Deal with Art Trading Fund [Artinfo]
Charles Saatchi will advise fine art hedge fund [Wall Street Journal]
World’s First Regulated Art Hedge Fund [Financial News]
Charles Saatchi [Wikipedia]
(more…)