Bloomberg takes a look at the difficulties behind financing large-scale art projects, including the issues often facing galleries when it comes to selling the completed pieces, focusing the study on artist Alice Aycock’s public installation on Park Ave.  “It’s a long-term financial investment,” says Aycock’s gallerist, Thomas Schulte. “One work by Aycock cost $350,000 alone in production costs, and took over a year to make, and in that particular case we needed another year to sell it.” (more…)

An article in the Wall Street Journal this week notes the details and contractual clauses that accompany sales at the higher end of the art market, often in an attempt to prevent speculation.  “I don’t want to see my clients gambling at auction,” says gallerist Renato Danese. “What if the work doesn’t sell, or sells below the low estimate? That will hurt the artist in terms of current and future sales, and it will hurt my clients.”  (more…)

The Telegraph takes a look at the focus on post-war Italian art spanning much of the market in London this, including upcoming auctions focusing on the Arte Povera and related movements, as well as a handful of selling exhibitions.   (more…)

In a conversation with the Wall Street Journal, art dealer Marian Goodman discusses her new London gallery, set to open October 14th with an show of recent works by Gerhard Richter, whom she represents. The article describes Goodman’s expansion into the area as a “defensive move designed to protect territory she’s staked out over decades” against potential poachers such as David Zwirner and Hauser & Wirth, both of which have galleries in the neighborhood.  In addition to Richter, this “territory” includes artists such as Steve McQueen, John Baldessari, and William Kentridge, an impressive dossier that is testament to Goodman’s reputation as both a good judge of talent and a loyal agent.  (more…)

The NADA Art Fair has announced its list of exhibitors for the 2014 edition of the fair in New York, returning to Basketball City on Pier 36 in Manhattan, and running concurrently with the Frieze New York Art Fair this May.  The list of over 80 galleries includes The Hole, Invisible-Exports, Marlborough Chelsea, and more. (more…)

The Guardian reports on the rising rent and low return on investment in the rapidly developing London neighborhoods of St. James and Mayfair, and the impacts the growth in high-end construction is having on the long-standing galleries of the area.  The story centers around Cork Street, where a number of storied London galleries are located.  “I am an angry old man,” says gallerist Leslie Waddington of the 80-year old gallery Waddington Custot. “Cork Street has been built up over the years and relies on a mix of different galleries. We are the victims of a kind of commercial fascism, where those making decisions based on profit feel they are unaccountable.” (more…)

The New Art Dealer’s Alliance has announced the exhibitors list for this year’s edition of the fair, held concurrently with Art Basel Miami Beach.  This year’s fair features a group of 80 galleries, with a high number of spaces from NADA’s home city of New York, including Feature Inc. and Zach Feuer, among many others.  The fair will also feature a special exhibition section from 11 galleries worldwide, including Rob Tuffnell in London, SculptureCenter in New York, and XYZ Collective in Tokyo. (more…)

The Exhibitor List for the 2013 Edition of the Art Basel Miami Beach art fair has been announced, featuring a list of 258 galleries from 31 countries around the world.  The fair has also announced a number of new programming choices for this year’s fair, including the announcement of New York’s Public Art Fund Director Nicholas Baume as the lead curator for the fair’s “Public” section. Art Basel Miami Beach Opens on December 8th. (more…)

The New York Times reports on the impacts of a globalized art market, and the near constant travel to China, Southeast Asia, Europe and elsewhere to cater to any number of growing markets.  With the massive increase in art fairs from 4 major events during the 1970’s to today’s 180 fairs worldwide, gallerists are feeling the pressure to be everywhere at once, a feeling that many feel detracts from the act of buying or selling works of art.  “Fairs are beneath the dignity of art,” says Arne Glimcher of Pace. “To stand there in a booth and hawk your wares — it is just not how you sell art.” (more…)

After the monumental damages to New York’s art world caused last year by Superstorm Sandy, which some estimate between $200 and $300 million, Art Insurance firms are feeling the pressure to adjust their policies.  Many firms are subtly adjusting their underwriting agreements, taking into account newly redrawn flood maps and the risks of subterranean storage as part of policy coverage as factors in the coverage of high-value artworks.  “Sandy was a wake-up call,” says Christiane Fischer, president and CEO of AXA Art Insurance. “People are much more aware of how much New York is in the path of hurricanes.”  (more…)

London’s Mayfair district, traditionally known for its boutique shops and high-end British art galleries, is seeing a number of American dealers moving in, The New York Times reports.  Gagosian, Pace, David Zwirner and more have opened spaces in the area, seeking to provide an even greater global offering for potential artists and customers in a vibrant market.  “We’re all chasing the same artists,” says Marc Glimcher, president of Pace. “But the intensity of interest in art in London is long-lasting. You can get 10 reviews in 10 different newspapers. And besides the new collectors and galleries, there is a very vibrant museum community.” (more…)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will open its newly renovated European Galleries this Thursday, and the New Yorker’s Peter Schjeldahl has published a brief review of the new wing, praising its appointments and rehang.  “I had an eerie sense, while surveying the results the other day, that here was a brand new major institution which, somehow, had plundered the holdings of the Met.”  He writes. (more…)

Online mega-retailer Amazon has outlined plans to launch Amazon Fine Art Gallery this summer, a new branch of its site that will allow users to purchase art directly from partnering galleries.  “We have received overwhelming support from the galleries that have already joined the platform and we would love the opportunity to offer your gallery’s selection in the Amazon Art store.” says an email from Amazon to potential new galleries. (more…)

The rapidly skyrocketing rent prices in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood is driving out many of the galleries that brought the area to prominence a few years earlier.  The neighborhood’s rapid growth has attracted a number of high-profile clients that have caused fierce competition over much higher rent prices, and middle-sized galleries are feeling the pinch.  “The mid-range galleries are going to just vanish from Chelsea,” says gallerist Magdalena Sawon of Postmasters Gallery, effectively eliminating “anything radical or experimental.”   (more…)

Walead Beshty, Installation View: PROCESSCOLOR FIELD (2011)   via Regen Projects

Currently at Regen Projects are new color field photographs by Los Angeles based artist, Walead Beshty.  This marks Beshty’s first show at Regen Projects, and it transitions between themes of history, formality and structure.  The gallery is dense with Beshty’s large-scale photographs, which speak to photographic process and its potential to present as sculpture,  environment and painterly object.

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Ben Jones, Facemaker (2011), via The Hole

Currently showing at Royal/T is the show “Facemaker” curated by Kathy Grayson, of The Hole Gallery in New York City.  Located in Culver City, the Royal/T Gallery is a melange of café, shop, and compartmental art exhibition spaces. The 10,000-square-foot area holds a multitude of pieces from the show “Facemaker,” which explores the conceptualization of a face through the eyes of many different artists.  The show includes work from famous names as Shepard Fairey, Takashi Murakami, and Aurel Schmidt, as well as that of new and emerging artists.

Installation view of “Facemaker” featuring Shepard Fairey at Royal/T, photography by Rebecca Leib

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