AO Art Observed™

“Concetto spaziale, La fine di Dio” by Lucio Fontana via Christie’s

Highest-valued sale Christie’s has yet to auction during Frieze Art week will be a Lucio Fontana egg-shaped canvas estimated at $21.8 million [Bloomberg]
LACMA announces $55 million gift directed toward new pavilion amongst other endeavors from POM Wonderful and Fiji water owners [ArtDaily]
Street artist Kaws, now at Emmanuel Perrotin in Miami (as covered by AO here), collaborates on shoes with Marc Jacobs [TheWorldsBestEver]
An interview with Catherine Opie, whose work can now be seen at the Guggenheim [Artforum]
Ukrainian (not Russian, as cited in linked article) steel oligarch Victor Pinchuk announces Director for his new Kiev museum and that he was in fact a major buyer at Hirst’s Sotheby’s auction [ArtInfo]

Maison Tropical via The New York Times

Jean Prouvé’s Maison Tropicale to Art Basel Miami [The Art Newspaper]
Met buys Delacroix in honor of retiring director Montebello [New York Times]
LACMA spends $12 million on more land [Los Angeles Times via ArtForum]
81 artists are selected for international Biennial in New Orleans [ArtForum]
Capital’s influence on Chinese contemporary art [GuardianUK via c-monster]
Rome’s growing contemporary art scene [New York Times]

Works by Ellsworth Kelly and Roy Lichtenstein at LACMA via The New York Times

Update: Eli Broad’s penchant for collecting in depth [The New York Sun]
Update: The Innovative Design and Architecture of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum in Los Angeles [The New York Times]
Update: Nicolai Ouroussoff’s Architectural Critique of LACMA [The New York Times]
Update: FT Review’s LACMA: “The world’s youngest great museum” [The Financial Times]
Update: Review of Poussin at the Metropolitan Museum of Art [The New York Sun]
Update: Poussin and Nature: Arcadian Visions [The New York Times]
Update: $42.5 million of benefit’s sale for The Red Auction event [The New York Sun]

Broad Contemporary Art Museum via LACMA

Eli Broad created a paradox at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art by donating a building and then loaning the artwork. The Broad Foundation gave $56 million for the construction of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, on LACMA grounds.

Eli Broad’s Museum Opens With Jeff Glitter, Dark Andy: Review [Bloomberg]
To Have and Give Not [New York Times]
Broad Collections’ artists on view at BCAM [The Broad Art Foundation]
Transforming the LACMA [LACMA]

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Los Angeles County Museum Via Bloomberg

Review: Eli Broad gives $50mm, loans his foundation’s and personal collections to LACMA [Bloomberg]
Jeff Koons chats with Katy Siegel at 92nd Street Y Exhibition [Art Fag City]
Julian Schnabel claims he will “bring peace to Israel” in June [New York Mag]
Ad agency accuses Tracey Emin of plagiarizing Antony Gromley’s E.ON 2007 campaign [Art Fag City]
New Award for Top Swiss Contemporary Art, courtesy of Julius Bär Foundation [Swiss Info]
ARCO8, 27th Madrid International Contemporary Art Fair, opens today [Art Daily]

Tagged Murakami Billboard via Boing Boing

Murakami Billboard in Los Angeles tagged [Art Fag City] and subsequently kept by Murakami [Boing Boing]
Russian Art Prices continue to grow [FT]
London Auctions buoyed by Expressionists [NYSun]
Detailed Summary of LACMA and Eli Broad Controversy [NYT]
NYC Evening Museum Party Schedule [NYT]
Gagosian maintains Schnabel Oscar plans despite writers strike [NY Observer]
Proenza Schouler inspirated by Donald Judd on MARFA, Texas trip [Style]
Richter’s “Zwei Liebespaare” sells for £7.3M, exceeds expectations [Christies]
Art forced out of Britain by Tax Laws: 40% of work’s value [Times Online UK]
Auction houses are increasingly financiers versus exchange agents[Economist]

Bruce Nauman via Donald Young Gallery

Bruce Nauman to Represent the US at 2009 Venice Biennale [The New York Times]
Dwindling Confidence in the Contemporary Art Market [Bloomberg]
Feds Raid California Museums, including LACMA, for Smuggling Looted Antiquities [The New York Times]
Barry “Twist” McGee’s First Solo Show in UK Show [The World's Best Ever]
Recession Drags Art Prices? [Bloomberg]
Katy Grannan’s Portraits in Two New York Galleries [NY Sun]
Update: Samsung Slush Fund Art Found [Yonhap News]
Sotheby’s and Christie’s February Impressionist and Modern art Sale Predicted to Total $200M [NY Sun]

“The Faun” Formerly attributed to Gauguin, via MAN

Art Basel Party Coverage [Style]
Miami Dispatch: The Weekend at Art Basel [Vogue]
Jeff Koons to Exhibit at Palace of Versailles Next September [Bloomberg]
Gauguin Sculpture at Art Institute of Chicago a Fake [MAN]
LACMA Receives Huge Gift of Modern Works [LA Times via MAN]