Eli Broad is profiled in Bloomberg this week, as the collector opens his new museum, and makes the case for L.A.’s new status as an art-world capital. “We’re really the contemporary-art capital of the world,” he says. “New York still is the commercial-art capital of the world — but a month doesn’t go by when one of their galleries doesn’t move to Los Angeles.” (more…)
Delays have caused the Broad Museum (currently under-construction in Los Angeles) to push back its scheduled opening date from late this year to early 2015, the New York Times reports. A honeycomb-style “veil” wrapping around the museum has caused some complications in construction, but also enables the museum to continue working on its downtown campus. “We expect to announce the opening date later this year,” said Broad Foundation Spokesperson Karen Denne. (more…)
Storming back from its brush with financial insolvency earlier this year, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has announced that it has raised over $50 Million in the past month, bringing its total endowment past $75 Million. The new contributions come from a number of prominent names, including new board member Bruce Karatz, Jeffrey Soros, and Eli Broad. “The level of support we have received is fantastic. There is a new energy and excitement about MOCA’s future and its leadership role in the art world,” says Eugenio Lopez, co-chair of the endowment campaign. (more…)
Steven Murphy, CEO of Christie’s, ranked No. 1 on Art + Auction’s Power 100 list, (which will be released today at a party at the Haven Lounge in Miami). Murphy has built the auction house’s online functionality and attracted new clients. Larry Gagosian, David Zwirner, Marc Glimcher, Christian Deydier, Eli Broad and Emmanuel Perrotin also ranked in the top ten.
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All photos by E. Damenia for ArtObserved
This past Sunday, The Brant Foundation Art Study Center held the opening party and preview for Nate Lowman: I wanted to be an artist but all I got was this lousy career. The exhibition features recent and new work including paintings, collage and sculpture. Also on view on the foundation lawn was the actual White Ford Bronco from OJ Simpson’s June 17, 1994 car chase, and Gang Gang Dance performed. Artists such as Scott Campbell, Adam McEwen, Richard Prince, Kalup Linzy, Kaws and Aaron Young were in attendance, as well as dealers, collectors and museum directors such as Eli Broad, Jeffrey Deitch, Larry Gagosian and the Mugrabi family.
The OJ Simpson White Bronco brought in for the event from Los Angeles
The New York Times reports on Jeffrey Deitch, highlighting that the controversy regarding the LA MOCA director is not one-sided. While Deitch entered direction of a museum in dire financial straits, he in fact has strengthened its online presence, has presented almost two dozen exhibitions – some groundbreaking – and has hosted successful celebrity fundraisers. However his critics assert that he has appealed to both the public and billionaire board member Eli Broad, while neglecting artists and curators, turning the museum into a “black hole”. (more…)
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles announced that Ari Emanuel, Hollywood power agent and broker, has been elected to its board. The museum also re-elected Maurice Marciano, art collector and founder of the Guess clothing brand. Mr. Emanuel is co-chief executive of the William Morris Endeavor agency and is involved with arts nonprofits, although he is not known to be an art collector. (more…)
LA MOCA’s beleaguerment continues as its main supporter, Eli Broad, misses two payments. At MOCA’s lowest endowment level of $5 million in 2008 Broad pledged $15 million, provided matching funds could be obtained. Broad has paid $6.25 million of the amount, and the endowment currently stands at $20 million. No matching has been made. In the last fiscal year, grants and contributions fell 21.5%, operating profit has declined and expenses rose 10.7% to $17.5 million at the museum.
Amidst the resignation of chief curator Paul Schimmel and artist-trustees Catherine Opie, Barbara Kruger, John Baldessari and Ed Ruscha,MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch responds to recent criticisms in an open letter and also an interview in which he rejects the notion of a more “celebrity-driven” exhibition program. “I believe that an art exhibition can be engaging, fun and deeply intellectually satisfying and serious,” Deitch said. “These are not contradictory concepts in art.”
John Baldessari resigns from the board of MOCA, Los Angeles after the museum’s ousting of chief curator Paul Schimmel, who came into philosophical disputes about the museum’s direction with major benefactor Eli Broad and director Jeffrey Deitch. Baldessari is the fifth trustee to resign since February.
In an Op-ed, Eli Broad, founding chairman and trustee of the MOCA board, provides insight on the past and current changes at MOCA, including the departure of top curator, Paul Schimmel, on the museum’s behalf, concluding that: “MOCA will thrive and will avoid the problems that are plaguing other institutions while increasing attendance and membership, continuing to offer world-class exhibitions, and exhibiting its collection.”
The Economist reviews art collector and businessman, Eli Broad‘s new book ‘The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking.’ “His personality comes through clearly enough, though one can quibble over whether his choice of ‘unreasonable’ to describe it is exactly right. Mr. Broad means it in the same way George Bernard Shaw did, when he said that the unreasonable man ‘persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends upon the unreasonable man.'”
‪‬Top collector Eli Broad publishes new book, “The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking,” a 165-page text on business and art
‪‬Suspected financial turmoil related to illegal endowment raiding begets turnover at MOCA, with the chief operating officer, fundraising director and a trustee chairman leaving the museum within the last three months, each remaining in the posts less than a year. Jeffrey Deitch, MOCA’s director since 2010, is reportedly struggling to fix the endowment issues that ended in 2008. The current fiscal year has a projected deficit until its closing on June 30th. [AO Newslink]
‪‬A breakdown of major art philanthropy, including: $200 million in foundation work by the Broad family, $70 million to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond from Arthur and Margaret Glasgow, $30 million to the Miami Art Museum and an arts complex at Columbia University in New York [AO Newslink]
Iwan Wirth at Hauser and Wirth
Art Observed is on site this week for Art Basel 42, the world’s largest contemporary art fair. Art Observed was on site for the VIP vernissage of the main fair. Officially the fair opens Wednesday, with a duration of 5 days from June 15th to the 19th. Roughly $1.75 billion of artwork is reportedly for sale by 300 galleries from 35 countries at the fair this year. Initial energy from the fair can be gauged to be very brisk with many gallerists reporting healthy buying activity. Already mega-collectors such as Eli Broad and Dasha Zhukova, girlfriend and partner of Billionaire collector Roman Abramovich were spotted at the fair as was actor Will Ferrell. Bloomberg reported that a 1969 Mark Rothko abstract was sold by L&M Arts for over $5 million. More coverage of events from Art Observed will follow this week.
more images after the jump…
‘The Broad’ rendering, all photos via Los Angeles Times
77 year-old LA based billionaire art collector Eli Broad has unveiled the design for his new museum in downtown Los Angeles. Officially named The Broad Foundation, it will be known as the Broad. Designed by New Yorked-based architects Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, the museum’s three stories will house Broad’s collection of over 2000 contemporary works, including Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Cindy Sherman. The sunny top floor will be known as the ‘gallery’, while the 1st and 2nd floors have been dubbed the ‘vault.’ Estimated at $130 million, completion is scheduled for 2013.
More text and images after the jump…
New MOCA Director, Jeffrey Deitch. Via LATimes
More on MOCA’s new director, Jeffrey Deitch, who brings his more business-oriented background to the Museum in LA: [Bloomberg] Deitch’s contract with the museum has certain safeguards against conflicts of interest that might arise from his foot in the business world– among the new rules, Deitch must notify the museum’s board of anything he adds to or sells from his collection. [LATimes]
Eli Broad and his Broad Art Foundation reveal that they are considering 3 different Westside locations on which to build and endow a museum for his art collection. The third site was recently revealed as being a ten-acre parcel on the campus of West LA College in Culver City. [LA Times]
Works by Picasso and Henri Rousseau have been stolen from a private villa in the South of France, marking the country’s second major art robbery in that week– (work by impressionist painter Edgar Degas was stolen from the Cantini Museum in Marseilles only days before). [FT]
To stay apprised of the latest relevant news of the art world…
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Tacita Dean’s Christmas tree, ‘Weihnachtsbaum‘ at Tate Britain via Zimbio
The Tate has been embracing the Christmas spirit this week with a series of headlining seasonal happenings. The Tate Christmas Tree 2009, “Weihnachtsbaum” designed by Tacita Dean, shocked critics by actually appearing “Christmassy”[Bloomberg] This weekend, Tate Modern’s vast Turbine Hall was taken over by Rob Pruitt‘s festive ‘Flea Market’ – originally held at Gavin Brown’s Passerby gallery in New York in the late 1990s, this event was programmed to coincide with the Tate Modern exhibition Pop Life: Art in a Material World, in which Pruitt also appears [POP Magazine]
Italian police have seized works of art belonging to Carlisto Tanzi – founder of the Italian firm Parmalat who collapsed in a massive fraud scandal in 2003. The 19 paintings and drawings, included works by Picasso, Monet and Van Gogh, and is estimated to be worth more than 100million euros [BBC News]
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Antony Gormley’s Event Horizon that will appear in New York’s Madison Square Park in March 2010 via ArtInfo
Antony Gormley has announced plans to install 31 nude sculptures cast from his own body in and around Madison Square Park in Manhattan’s Flatiron District beginning March 26 [NY Times]
to stay apprised of the latest relevant news of the art world read more…..
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The Royal College of Art Secret Postcard fundraiser via The Guardian
-The Royal College of Art’s Secret 2009 event has 2,500 postcards for sale for £40, made by artists including Anish Kapoor, Grayson Perry and Yoko Ono. Though buyers don’t know who the artist is until after they buy. [Times UK]
-Penelope Curtis has been appointed director of Tate Britain, the first woman to hold a directorship at Tate. [Guardian]
-Tracey Emin opens a new exhibition in New York, that, while popular, comes nowhere near the levels of sales or attendance she normal receives in Britain. [NY Times]
An artist’s rendering of Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Cirkelbroen’ bridge to be built in Copenhagen via Artinfo
-Olafur Eliasson has designed a bridge to be completed by 2012 in Copenhagen’s harbor. Called ‘Brikelbroen,’ the bridge is comprised of five circles that take pedestrians on a winding path rather than straight across. [Artinfo]
To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week… (more…)
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Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘Trophy Wife,’ depicting Stephanie Seymour, currently going through a messy divorce from Peter Brant, who owns the piece
-Recent court filings in the divorce of Peter Brant and Stephanie Seymour reveal disputes over nearly 50 works by Andy Warhol, as well as works by Richard Prince, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Julian Schnabel, and a bust of Seymour made by Maurizio Cattelan [Vanity Fair]
-And in related, Udo Fritz-Hermann Brandhorst, an heir to Germany’s Henkel AG & Co. fortune, settled out of court a dispute with his former mistress over two works by Damien Hirst [Bloomberg]
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Allison Schulnik’s music video for Grizzly Bear’s ‘Ready, Able’
– Painter Allison Schulnik’s claymation music video for Grizzly Bear’s ‘Ready, Able’ via The Flog
-Tracey Emin reading her new book of poems “Those Who Suffer Love” and “Strangeland” at University Settlement as part of Performa 09 [Supreme Being]
-Also related, a round-up of Performa 09 includes a “Pasta Sauna” based on the Futurist Manifesto, Tacita Dean, William Kentridge, Merce Cunningham and more [Financial Times]
To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week…
Ron, Will Cotton via Artnet
-Eric Fischl, Chie Fueki, Hilary Harkness, Will Cotton, Francesco Clemente, Peter Halley and Barbara Kruger are all a part of the long list of artists who have created, dedicated and portrayed Ron Warren in their works; Mary Boone’s assistant he has always played an understated yet influential role leading to a Mary Boone Gallery exhibition in his honor [The New York Times]
-The 2009 edition of the Power 100 by ArtReview is released with Hans Ulrich Obrist taking the first place and the list showcasing some changes in the influences and forces of the art world; the top ten include dealers and artists as Larry Gagosian, Francois Pinault, Eli Broad and Bruce Nauman [ArtReview]
-In related, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, the director of Serpentine Gallery, just voted to be the art world’s most powerful figure by the Power 100, gives an idea of how busy his week gets [The Independent]
-A $310 million collection of Mark Rothko paintings to be shown next spring in artist’s first Moscow solo exhibition at Dasha Zkukova’s Garage Center for Contemporary Culture [Bloomberg]
To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week… (more…)
Marc Quinn’s Blood Head Self-Portrait displayed in a refrigeration unit at The National Gallery in London via Guardian
Titian, Diana and Acteaon via Artdaily
In related, Titian’s Diana and Acteaon, one of the six large-scale mythologies inspired by Ovid, acquired by The National Gallery in London, is to be displayed at Trafalgar Square [Artdaily]
Three paintings attributed to Adolf Hitler were sold at Weidler’s auction house in Germany for an accumulative price of $60,000 to three phone bidders [The New York Times]
The Museo National del Prado’s is exhibiting 2 Sorolla paintings of the Fanjul family that were illegally confiscated by the Cuban government which may cast the museum’s directors legal bind [Reuters]
A private European collector helps settle a 7-Year discord between the Swedish Moderna Museet and heirs of a Jewish businessman over a Nazi-looted Nolde painting and in related, Dutch Museums will return 13 artworks lost during Nazi occupation to heirs of Jewish collectors [Bloomberg]
Velázquez, Portrait of a Man via The New York Times
After restoration and cleaning of “Portrait of a Man” in MET’s collection, the author of the painting attributed to Vélazquez’ workshop is confirmed to be Vélazquez himself [The New York Times]
Phillips de Pury auction house, known for its focus on contemporary art, is adding 18 new sales for the upcoming year and a half [The Wall Street Journal]
As the market fluctuates, art collectors seize opportunities of investment, yet the auction market based on no identical units, making calculated predictions almost impossible, turn investing into gambling [NYTimes]
The Glyndebourne Opera House, England to sell a painting by the Italian Old Master, Domenichino; estimated at $16.5 million [Bloomberg]
Bill Viola declines an invitation to participate in a culture summit, organized by Pope Benedict XVI in an attempt to reconcile spirituality and artistic expression, supposedly due to the artist’s disagreement with policies put forth by the Vatican and the Catholic Church [Artnet]
Six of the missing works by Andy Warhol via Telegraph
$1million is being offered for a lead to locating the “Athletes” series by Andy Warhol from Richard Weisman’s collection that has been stolen from the collector’s Los Angeles residence [Telegraph]
Pencils from an installation by Damien Hirst were stolen by a 17-year old artist named Cartrain [The Independent] who had been stripped of his artwork for incorporating Damien Hirst’s ideas into his collages [ArtObserved]
“You can be immortalized in an artwork” says Damien Hirst in his search for a numerous sets of identical twins to literally become part of his artwork at Tate Modern [Guardian]
Charles Saatchi with his wife Nigella Lawson via The Independent
“My Name is Charles Saatchi and I am an Artoholic”, a book written by Charles Saatchi, who almost never gives interviews, is released without a loud PR campaign and is written in a format of potential interviewer’s questions and answers [Guardian UK]
Aleksandra Mir’s installation at Collective gallery in Edinburgh consists of rows of a limited edition cookbook titled “The How Not to Cookbook: Lessons Learned the Hard Way” [The Moment]
German police uncover a thousand fake Giacometti bronzes in the possession of a man who tried to sell them as originals [Art Market Monitor]
An editorial on the state of galleries dictated by the financial market provides an encompassing snapshot of what a gallery represents in the art-world and how it is likely to function in the current economic condition [NYTimes]
Bruce Nauman’s skywriting fittingly reads “Leave The Land Alone” via Los Angeles Times
On September 12 in Pasadena, artist Bruce Nauman realized his skywriting project, reading Leave the Land Alone, after a 40 year wait [Los Angeles Times]
Frédéric Mitterrand’s appointment to the post of French minister of culture is well received by most for his extensive previous background and involvement in the world of art and culture [The Art Newspaper]
London’s Outset Contemporary Art Fund brings artwork to a fair to be seen publicly and then purchased by the Tate [Bloomberg]
The story of Tony Shafrazi, art terrorist and later gallerist [Artnet]
A view of Sol LeWitt’s unveiled mural at 59th street via Gothamist
Sol LeWitt’s mural, comprised of 250 porcelain tiles, is installed at Columbus Circle subway station in Manhattan[Lindsay Pollock]
Run by oligarch Viktor Pinchuk, the PinchukArtCenter in Kiev announces a new art Prize and the shortlisted 20 nominees [ArtReview]
Gagosian’s plan for a gallery in Paris’ prestigious 8th arrondissement promises to gain instant success by providing access to Picasso’s work [Bloomberg]
In related, Gagosian is to open a bookstore on Madison avenue in Manhattan selling books, catalogues, magazines and Jeff Koons puppy vase that come in an edition of 3,000 [Art fag City]
UBS, a global financial services firm, is to close its gallery in Manhattan in an attempt to cut back on costs [Artinfo]
A photograph of Emmanuel Perrotin via The Selby
The Selby visits Emmanuel Perrotin at his gallery in Paris [The Selby]
Research shows that visitors to museums housing modern art are likely to respond emotionally, while those viewing ancient artworks are more prompt to describing their experiences in more cognitive terms [Miller McCune via Artinfo]
“The Art of the Steal”, a documentary film by Don Argott, explores the Barnes Foundation, a Post-Impressionist and early Modern art collection [The New York Times]
John Currin interviewed by Glenn O’Brien speaks about art, the art market and shares personal stories [Interview Magazine]
The rating service Moody’s estimates the current financial troubles and hence auction market distress to persist and drops Sotheby’s corporate credit rating by one level [Bloomberg]
Kara Walker’s participation in Whitney’s Biennial is manifested in an email correspondence with the organizer of the show documenting the artist’s refusal to participate in the Biennial [Artnet]
Centquatre art space in Paris via The Daily Undertaker
A site of the Municipal Funeral Services in Paris is now turned into an arts center providing the capital’s northern reaches an art initiative it has been lacking [Financial Times]
A survey of artistic practice based on technology and its move towards the usage of the Internet as means of expression [The New York Times]
Thomas Campbell, director of Met, shares his plans for the museum in an interview with The Art Newspaper [The Art Newspaper]
American artist Greg Wyatt’s 22-thousand-pound bronze sculpture “Two Rivers” is being transported to Piazza della Signoria in Florence, “the soul of the world of sculpture,” where it is to become the first American displayed at that location [Bloomberg]
An interview with the billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad, who spoke about democratization of art and educational reforms [The Wall Street Journal]
Exhibition View, Chapman Brothers faux show Good News! at Orel Art. Via Times Online
British Art Brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman’s fake identities, art movement, and exhibition as Russian artists is on view after a quiet opening [TimesUK]
Gallery owners reveal the difficulties of running their business in times of the economic crisis [Forbes], yet some of L.A.’s resilient galleries find opportunities in the crisis: such as reduced rent [Los Angeles Times]
Wassily Kandinsky’s ‘Dramatic and Mild,’ estimated to sell between $6-8 million at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Fall Auction via ArtDaily
Part of the Arthur Sackler Collection is to be auctioned this fall by Sotheby’s, including a rare Kandinsky painting [ArtDaily]
Christie’s sales fell 35% in the first half of the year, though the auction house accounts for 61% of all global auction sales [Bloomberg] and a breakdown of Christie’s first half results [Art Market Monitor]
Cindy Sherman’s self-portait for Vogue
Cindy Sherman takes a self-portrait for Vogue in couture, parodying the magazine’s many domestic fashion spreads [Vogue via Economist]
Basquiat Reeboks via Solediction
Reebok releases a line of high tops featuring the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat [Solediction]
A charity auction in September to raise funds for orphans in Africa will featureworks by prominent YBAs such as Tracey Emin and Antony Gormley, as well as David Bowie, while also including work by South African artists like Marlene Dumas as well as emerging artists [Independent]
The bike Damien Hirst designed for Lance Armstrong to ride in the last stage of the Tour de France via Daily Mail
PETA outraged over Damien Hirst’s use of dead butterfly wings on Lance Armstrong’s bike [Daily Mail]
Richard Prince buys a townhouse on the Upper East Side for $11.5 million [NY Observer]
The pop-up Lola Gallery opens in Southampton [Vanity Fair]
Bill Viola’s ‘Ocean Without a Shore,’ which premiered at the church of San Gallo at the 2007 Venice Biennale via FAD
Bill Viola has been commissioned to create two altarpieces for permanent display in St Paul’s Cathedralin London [FAD]
A new program offers a master’s degree in international art crime [NY Times]
Chelsea art dealers predict that the presence of the High Line will kill the art scene there [Artnet]
Billionaire art collector Eli Broad via Forbes
Forbes names the top ten billionaire art collectors, including François Pinault, Eli Broad, and David Geffen [Forbes]
In related, Vice Chairman of Forbes, Christopher “Kip” Forbes, selling 36 works through private transactions [Bloomberg]
In further related, a growing number of collectors prefer private transactions, the publicity can come after the deal is made [Bloomberg]
Carsten Höller at the Double Club, Via Guardian
Carsten Höller’s Double Club “modern day Studio 54” moving to Paris from London [Guardian]
As visitors wait in line for up to 3 hours, the Banksy show in Bristol extends its visiting hours into the evening [Evening Standard]
Will Cotton’s studio via Whitewall
A look inside Will Cotton’s studio [Whitewall]
Tracey Emin tells in her interview the difficulties she had to face: from tapeworm to family troubles [Times Online]
An interview with Eric Fischl on 9/11 and bull fighting in his Soho studio [Artnet]
An almost conclusively thorough article on Dash Snow [NY Times]
