Elizabeth Peyton, Sea (Kristian) (2016), via Sadie Coles

Presenting a new body of paintings, including both landscapes and portraiture from her travels and experiences, Elizabeth Peyton opens a new body of work at Sadie Coles HQ in London, filling the gallery’s Davies Street location with her uniquely delicate watercolors, pencil drawings and oil compositions.  The show is Peyton’s seventh with the gallery in nearly twenty years, and marks a continuation of her recent practice and stylistic diversity.    (more…)

Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu Couché sells at Christie’s, via Rae Wang for Art Observed

Dashing through a 34-lot auction in style, Christie’s has entered the November auction week in impressive style, bringing a flurry of sales during its curated “The Artist’s Muse” auction tonight that saw several world records fall, and achieved an impressive tally of over $491 million for the evening, especially considering the 10 lots that failed to sell.

Amedeo Modigliani, Nu Couché (1917-18), via Christie’s (more…)

An unnamed collector has come forward, claiming that he has found an upper section of Gustave Courbet’s immediately recognizable nude, “Origin of the World.”  The new segment depicts the subject’s head and sholders, complimenting the notorious section of the work primarily depicting her genitalia, that now hangs at the Musée D’Orsay.  The new section has been confirmed by leading Courbet expert Jean-Jacques Fernier, who says that he is “convinced” that the works are two parts of the whole. (more…)