The New York Times reports on the recent x-ray investigations of Kazimir Malevich, and the racist joke uncovered as part of the work’s title in the bottom corner of the piece, and the work’s historical ties to the French avant-garde.  “It was believed that this work was done spontaneously, but the results of our investigation reveal that the process of its creation was complex and took a long time,” Irina Vakar, the Tretyakov Gallery’s chief researcher of the Russian avant-garde (more…)

Pablo Picasso, La Gommeuse (1901), all photos via Sotheby’s

The first week of sales is in the books in New York, as Sotheby’s concluded its Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale last night, following up on a somewhat lackluster sale the prior evening with a briskly paced sale and solid results that lost momentum in the late minutes of the event, ultimately selling 36 of 47 lots for a final tally of $306,712,000. (more…)

Marian Goodman Gallery, “Ellsworth Kelly,” installation view. All photography courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery unless otherwise noted.

Ellsworth Kelly‘s installation of four 2-panel paintings executed this year is on view at Galerie Marian Goodman in Paris until July 13, 2012. The show, as the gallery’s press release relates, is his first in Paris in 20 years, when his formative paintings made in his youthful residence in the city were exhibited at the Galeries Nationales du Jeu de Paume. This new work comprises four paintings, each consisting of a curved geometrical relief on a white panel, progressing on the ordered spectrum from red, yellow, blue, to green. Laconically hung a single panel to each of the four walls in the gallery, the paintings seem a further distillation of Kelly’s painterly system, a continuation of the experiments he first executed in Paris in his early years.

Marian Goodman Gallery, “Ellsworth Kelly,” installation view

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Kazimir Malevich, Rectangle and Circle (1915). Via ibiblio

Through a collaboration with the heirs of Kazimir Malevich, the Gagosian Gallery is displaying six of Malevich’s paintings as the centerpiece in their current show, ‘Malevich and the American Legacy.’ Surviving paintings by this trailblazer in geometric abstract art are a rarity, and it is uncommon to see them on display outside of a museum. ‘Malevich and the American Legacy’ affords viewers some intimacy with these influential paintings while displaying works by a sampling of the artists Malevich inspired, including Carl Andre, John Baldessari, Alexander Calder, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Agnes Martin, Barnett Newman, Ad Reinhardt, Ed Ruscha, Robert Ryman, Richard Serra, Frank Stella, James Turrell, and Cy Twombly.

More text and images after the jump…

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Kazimir Malevich, Untitled (1916) Image via Guggenheim Museum

‘The Geometry of Kandinsky and Malevich” is currently on view at the Guggenheim Museum, New York. The show, which includes only seven paintings, features the works of Russian artists Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935) and Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944). The small scale of the exhibition permits an intensely focused look at two of the pioneers of abstract art. Although all the work is presented in one room, the representative paintings of each artist are hung in distinctly separate areas. This spatial orientation refers to the fact that, although Kandinsky and Malevich were contemporaries, and explored similar formal concepts, they did so independently of one another.

Vasily Kandinsky, In the Black Square (June 1923) Image via Guggenheim Museum

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View of the exhibition Kazimir Malevich ‘Autobiography’ via Galerija Gregor Podnar

Kazimir Malevich’s ‘Autobiography’ is a documentary exhibition that traces the work of one of the most important artists of the 20th century until his death and after. We should not see the artifacts at this exhibition as works of art. Rather they are souvenirs, selected specimens of our collective memory.

-Walter Benjamin

Currently on view at the Galerija Gregor Podnar in Berlin is a show on Malevich’s art titled ‘Autobiography.’  However, it should be noted, that despite the press that the show has received that doesn’t seem to acknowledge the true nature of the exhibit, the works presented are only reproductions of Malevich’s Suprematist art.  They reveal the artist and his life and the way in which his art was perceived as a symbol of spiritual creativity as well as being material product for the art market. The exhibit is “several exhibits in one” as stated by a representative of the Berlin gallery. An artist, who does not wish to reveal his name, actually calls himself Malevich, and has traced Kazimir Malevich’s artistic path not only in reproducing his works, but also following his ideology.

Kazimir Malevich ‘Autobiography’ [Exhibition Page]
Kazimir Malevich ‘Autobiography’ [Artnet]
Artefacts of Malevich [Artslant]
Kazimir Malevich: Autobiography [Saatchi]

More text and pictures after the jump…

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Portrait of Ivan Klioune (1913) by Kazimir Malevich, via The Guardian

Currently on view at Tate Modern is a ground-breaking exhibition celebrating the centenary of the Futurist Movement.  Launched in 1909 by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti with the publication of the Manifesto of Futurism on the front page of the Paris newspaper Le Figaro, the Futurist Movement borrowed elements from Cubism and Divisionism in order to create a new style that broke free from tradition and expressed the energy and dynamism of modern life.

The exhibition highlights the work of key Futurists such a Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini as well as works by other major artists such as Braque, Malevich and Duchamp.

New Worlds: Futurism at Tate Modern [The Guardian]
Review: Futurism Falls Flat at Tate Modern [The Guardian]
Closet Thinker: Fashion goes back to the Futurists [The Telegraph]
Celebrating Futurism at the Tate Modern [Fadwebsite]
Futurism at the Tate Modern: A Glimpse into Tomorrow’s Whirl [The Telegraph]
Tate Modern: Futurism [The Art Newspaper]
Tate Modern Marks Futurism Centenary with new show [Reuters]
Tate Modern Show brings pivotal Futurist art works together for first time [This is London]
Tate Modern Presents Today First Large-Scale Showing of Futurism in Britain in Thirty Years [Artdaily]
The Futurists’ Futile Chase After Motion [NY Times]
‘Futurism’ at Tate Modern [FT]
Secret Bansky Show Opens Tomorrow [Artinfo]
Bansky back in Bristol for biggest British Exhibition [The Telegraph]

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“Study for self portrait” (1964) by Francis Bacon was valued at $40 million but was a no sale at Christie’s last Wednesday, via Artnet

The New York Times called it: “easily the worst two weeks of high-end Impressionist, modern and contemporary art auctions in more than a decade” and though gravity of this statement belies some successful sales in the November auctions, in the end there seems to be little question that the art auction landscape has shifted to become a buyer’s market.

The November auctions from Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips lasted roughly two weeks with approximately a 2/3 sell rate and 143 of the 399 offerings failing to sell. The sales would total under $1 billion, well below their combined minimum estimate for the sales of $1.7 billion. Sotheby’s and Christie’s brought in roughly $728.9 million for the Impressionist, modern and contemporary art primary sales which is down $1.6 billion from November, 2007 and $1.3 billion from November, 2006.

The summary points seem to be, in part, that there were some indisputable failures of the unsold works such as Roy Lichtenstein’s Half Face With Collar, seen below, from Sotheby’s Tuesday evening auction (estimated at $15 million to $20 million) and the Bacon self-portrait, seen above, at Christie’s on Wednesday (estimated at $40 million). The Bacon failing to sell was for many a symbol of the current market situation in that it stood in sharp contrast to the Sotheby’s May sale of the Francis Bacon triptych for $86.2 million to Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich (when it thus became the most expensive contemporary artwork sold at auction).

However, there were still some records and strong showings with works such as the Malevich, seen below, at $60 million (at estimate), which was a record for a Russian painting, and Munch’s Love and Pain aka “Vampire,” seen below, for $38.1 million above its $30 million estimate (both on Monday the 3rd at Sotheby’s) and a Juan Gris, seen below, at an artist record of $20.8 million, also above its estimate of $12 million to $18 million, at Christie’s auction on Thursday the 6th. Nonetheless, most works sold in the low range, or below estimate, or not at all with works by artists that show up infrequently performing generally better and works that show up more often at auctions, such as the Warhols and Hirsts, faring poorly.

Also of note in summarizing the November auctions was the Monday the 3rd Sotheby’s success of the big name financiers Henry Kravis of KKR who sold Edgar Degas’s “Dancer in Repose” for $33 million and former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld selling 16 Modern and Impressionist drawings for $13.5 million against estimates of $15 million to $20 million, but clearing a reported $20 million guarantee nonetheless from the house.

All this leads to the final recurring news point of the auctions: the painful result of over-market guarantees by the major houses. The applicable guarantees were set in pre-bust summer headier times, but when in place during the November sales they would cost the auction companies losses in the many tens of millions. In two weeks of sales the auction houses guaranteed 80 artworks worth $405.8 million but sold only 60, for a combined total of $342.3 million and an estimated loss of $63.6 million (according to the Wall Street Journal’s calculations). Sotheby’s publicly reported that guarantees were responsible for a $28.2 million loss at its contemporary art auctions last week which adds up to total losses from Sotheby’s from guarantees of roughly $52 million this fall. Bill Ruprecht of Sotheby’s said of the guarantee drubbing: “We’re preparing for a different market. We are out of the guarantee business at least for a while.”

Sotheby’s Says It Lost $10.6 Million More From Art Guarantees [Bloomberg]
In Faltering Economy, Auction Houses Crash Back to Earth [NYTimes]
Making Sales Look Stronger [Wall Street Journal]
Call This One ‘Crisis With a Pipe’ [Wall Street Journal]
Art boom over as auctions fail to bring home Bacon [TimesUK]
Art makes loss but Fuld is still an old master [TimesUK]
Art sales: The week that brought the boom to an end [GuardianUK]
Unsuccessful Auctions OK With Shafrazi [NY Mag]

Previously by ArtObserved:
AO November Auction Roundup 4 of 5: Phillips de Pury’s Contemporary Art Sale, New York, Thursday, November 13th, Results “brutal” but Phillip’s clear due to lack of Guarantees

AO November Auction Roundup 3 of 5: Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art, New York, Wednesday, November 12th: Basquiat’s “Boxer” sells while the Bacon does not, “The market is adjusting down”

AO November Auction Roundup 2 of 5 (AO On-Site): Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale, New York, Tuesday, November 11th: Sotheby’s crushed by guarantees, Eli Broad: “It’s a half-price sale”

AO November Auction Roundup 1 of 5: Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art, New York, Thursday November 6th: “Obviously, prices have changed”

AO Auction Results: Christie’s “The Modern Age,” the Alice Lawrence and Hillman family collections sell for less than 50% of estimate as Rothko and Manet headliners are pulled

AO Auction Results: Sotheby’s New York Impressionist and Modern Art, despite select notable sales, overall results were poor

more images after the jump…

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Kazimir Malevich’s 1916 painting Suprematist Composition sold for $60 million via International Herald Tribune.

The results of the Sotheby’s New York Impressionist and Modern Art auction Monday night were overall dissapointing, despite some noteworthy lot results of works by Malevich, Degas and Munch. Fears of an art-market meltdown have been fueled by recent lukewarm results at London’s Frieze art fair and the abrupt pulling from the auction of the 1909 Picasso that was expected to sell for over $30 million. While the Sotheby’s evening total on Monday stood at 45 works sold for $223.8 million, it was well below its initial estimates of $337 million to $476 million, which were set over the summer before the financial crisis. The sale was the lowest for an Impressionist evening sale at Sotheby’s since May 2001. David Norman, an executive vice-president at Sotheby’s was quoted by the Guardian as saying “Anyone would expect people to be more circumspect in this environment. We’re selling in a very uncertain world.”

Auction Season Opens With Little Enthusiasm [NY Times]
Art Market `Corrects’ as Lots Go Unsold at Sotheby’s [Bloomberg]
Three Big Lots Pace Respectable Showing at Sotheby’s [ArtInfo]
New York sales hit record highs amid signs that the art market is dropping [Guardian UK]
Work by Kazimir Malevich sold for record $60 million [International Herald Tribune]
Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist Composition Sets Record at Sotheby’s Sale [Art Daily]
Opening of Fall Art-Auction Season Marked by Crappy Sales, Great Deals [NYMag]
Flat result at NY season’s first art auction [Reuters]
Munch artwork fetches record $38m [BBC]

more results and pictures after the jump…

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Danseuse au Repos, the 1879 painting by Edgar Degas is a highlight of this evening’s Sotheby’s auction though it remains to be seen if it will sell for its estimated $40 million, via NY Times

After extremely high sales in May which tallied $1.56 billion, and then more recently lackluster sales in London which missed low estimates by up to $40 million, as covered by Art Observed here, the art world is up for a major test in the next two weeks as Sotheby’s and Christie’s begin tonight selling contemporary, impressionist, and modern works that add up to high estimates of $1.76 billion, including a work by the Russian Kazimir Malevich (“Suprematist Composition” 1916, a $60 million geometric work) and a $40 million self-portrait by Francis Bacon and other works from high profile financiers Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. co-founder Henry Kravis and Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Officer Fuld.

Despite Pablo Picasso’s 1909 painting ‘Arlequin’ (which was estimated at $30 million) being pulled before the Sotheby’s auction recently, this evening’s Sotheby’s impressionist and modern art sale is slated to tally about $320 million and includes 71 lots including “Danseuse au repos” by French Impressionist Edgard Degas which is expected to go for $40 million (pictured above).

This auction will be followed by Christie’s $153 million high estimate November 5th sale which includes works from the estates of the widows, Rita Hillman and Alice Lawrence, and then a November 6th sale, comprised of art from various owners, estimated to total up to $344 million. Sotheby’s November 11th sale of contemporary art could total up to $281.6 million and features works by John Currin, Richard Prince, and Yves Klein. Following that is Christie’s November 12th sale with a high estimate of $321.7 million, featuring Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich’s Jean-Michel Basquiat painting of a boxer at an estimate of $12 million.

On Auctions Overall:
Big Prices, Big Risks at Fall Art Auctions [NY Times]
NY art auctions under microscope amid financial crisis [AFP]
Art world dreading declines at upcoming key NY sales [Reuters]
Kravis, Fuld Brace for N.Y. Auctions as Collectors Lower Prices [Bloomberg]
Falling under the hammer [Financial Times]
It’s not a pretty picture Christie’s, Sotheby’s may be on the hook [New York Post]
Art sales face acid test in midst of credit crunch [Financial Times]
Exceptional Work by Francis Bacon Leads Christie’s New York Post-War & Contemporary Art Sale [ArtDaily]
Things Are Cold, Clammy at City Auction Houses [NYObserver]

From ArtObserved:
Metallica’s drummer to sell Basquiat painting at Christie’s New York, November 12th auction; ‘Boxer’ to be displayed during Frieze Art Fair in London [ArtObserved]
Sotheby’s hopes to smash Russian art at auction record with $60 million sale of Malevich painting in New York on November 3rd [ArtObserved]

On withdrawn Picasso:
Picasso work withdrawn from Sotheby’s sale [Reuters]
Picasso painting pulled from sale [BBC News]
Picasso Work Is Withdrawn From Sotheby’s Sale [NY Times]
Sotheby’s Withdraws Picasso’s Arlequin From Impressionist and Modern Art Sale [Art Daily]
Picasso Withdrawn From Sotheby’s Imp-Mod Sale [Artinfo]
Picasso painting withdrawn from Sotheby’s auction [Associated Press]

Auction Information:
Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale – Sotheby’s November 3 [Sotheby’s]
Christie’s Impressionist/Modern Evening Sale November 5th [Christie’s]

more pictures from the Sotheby’s Sale and other auctions after the jump…

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Suprematist Composition (1916) by Kazimir Malevich, via Art Daily

Despite the ongoing deterioration of global stock markets, including, at the time of this article, a 61% decline in the Russian Stock Market since May, Sotheby’s is confident that it will break the $20.9 million record set for  the sale of Russian art at auction by Kandinsky set in 1990.  ‘Suprematist Composition,’ composed by Kazimir Malevich in 1916, is widely considered a masterpiece of early 20th century avant garde art–Sotheby’s calls it “one of the greatest modern paintings ever offered for sale.” It is expected to fetch $60 million dollars when it goes on sale at the Impressionist and Modern Art auction on November 3rd.  The piece goes on sale after Malevich’s heirs recouped it from the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Sotheby’s optimism in the face of recent subpar auction performances [AO] is due to what they say is the unprecedented quality of the work and the historical importance of the artist, who has recently risen in profile to the ranks shared by Picasso, Pollock, Chagall and other marquee 20th century artists.  Sotheby’s is also counting on the interest of Russia’s billionaire art collectors, who have had a major impact on art markets this decade, paying record prices and avidly acquiring trophy works by the likes of Damien Hirst as well as Russian artists. The results of Sotheby’s prediction remains to be seen and some of the factors that will affect the outcome certainly have developed for the worse, as Bloomberg estimates that Russia’s billionaires have lost close to $230 billion of their net worth in the recent Russian stock market’s decline.

Sotheby’s: Suprematist Composition (1916), Lot #6, Impressionist and Modern Art Fall Sale [Sotheby’s]
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“Suprematism” by Kazimir Malevich, plus selection of artwork [Artchive]
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Sotheby’s expect Malevich to smash Russian record [Reuters]
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Heirs to Auction Russian Painter’s Work [New York Times]
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Malevich Painting May Fetch More Than $60 Million [Bloomberg]
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Restituted Malevich to Be Sold at Sotheby’s [ArtInfo]
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Sotheby’s To Auction One of the Greatest Modern Paintings Ever Offered for Sale [ArtDaily]
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Sotheby’s predicts Russian Malevich masterpiece to fetch a record-smashing £33million [Daily Mail]
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Abramovich, Deripaska, Oligarchs Lose $230 Billion [Bloomberg]

a history of the current painting and how it came to auction after the jump…

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