AO Art Observed™

Paul Cézanne, Card Players, Qatar, via Vanity Fair

The royal family of Qatar has just publicized its $250-$300 million purchase of Card Players by Paul Cézanne. The work is one in a series of five, but until now was the only one remaining in private collection. Previous owner, Greek shipping mogul George Embiricos, became receptive to the sale just prior to his death in 2011. Vanity Fair reports that William Acquavella and Larry Gagosian were outbid for Card Players, at comparable amounts rumored up to $220 million.  Even the low estimate of $250 million, factoring in exchange rate and tax fees, marks the highest sum in history ever paid for a single work of art in either auction or private sale by double.

Paul Cézanne, Card Players, Metropolitan Museum of Art, via New York Times

As the title indicates, the series depicts two low-brow card players in Aix-en-Provence. The peasants idealize an old world culture, nostalgic even to the middle-aged artist when he painted from his family’s country estate in the 1890s. At the time, Cézanne was working alone, and his isolation reflects in the sparing surfaces and minimal compositions of the varying card scenes. Only the subtlest of changes differentiate one painting from the next: most notably, the cards themselves change as the games progress, while the faces and suggestively sluggish interactions do not.

(more…)

Annette Schonholzer and Marc Spiegler, co-directors Art Basel 2011. All pictures by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

This year’s Art Basel has been a profitable one, and indicates the stability of the current market. With approximately $1.75 billion worth of artwork to buy, million dollar works sold fast this year. Yet while money is liberally dispensed, it is conservatively directed, suggestive of a post-Recession desire to spend without erring.  The high market is specified, but sale and aesthetic trends stay consistently upbeat.

Meyer Riegger Karlsruhe, Berlin

More text and images after the jump (more…)

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…

(more…)

Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait, 1963-64 (est. $20-30 million, realized $38.4 million). All images via Christies.com.

Christie’s nearly white-glove sale of of Post-War and Contemporary art on Wednesday night brought in more than twice as the equivalent sale at Sotheby’s on Tuesday evening. Sixty-three of sixty-five lots sold for a whopping $301.7 million, giving the sale a sell through rate of 95% by lot and 99% by value. The total beat the high presale estimate of $299 million despite the fact that a Rauschenberg combine estimated to fetch between $12-18 million was withdrawn from the sale. Wednesday night’s results were the best the auction house has seen for a Contemporary evening auction since May 2008 (that sale realized $331 million). Bidding went on for about two hours, approximately fifteen minutes of which was spent on a single lot. Two telephone bidders chased Andy Warhol‘s blue self-portrait, one on the phone with Brett Gorvy of Christie’s and the other with Philippe Segalot, formerly of Christie’s. The audience laughed as bidding escalated in $100,000 increments and cheered each time one contender took a bigger leap ahead. In the end Gorvy’s buyer was triumphant and paid $38.4 million for the four-part piece, which was estimated to fetch between $20-30 million. The sale was a record for a Warhol portrait (self or otherwise) at auction.

Mark Rothko, Untitled No. 17, 1961 (est. $18-22 million, realized $33.7 million)

More text and images after the jump…

(more…)

Roy Lichtenstein, Ohhh…Alright…, 1964 (est. not published, realized $42.6 million), via Christies.com

This week’s Contemporary Art sales in New York ended with a bang at Christie’s Contemporary Evening Sale on Wednesday night. Seventy-five lots offered brought in $272 million with a sell through rate of 93% by lot and 92% by value. As was the case earlier this week at the Phillips and Sotheby’s sales, Pop Art sold exceptionally well. Roy Lichtenstein‘s Ohhh…Alright… was the evening’s top lot and set the record for the artist when it sold to an anonymous bidder for $42.6 million – smashing the previous record of $16.3 million set at Christie’s in 2005.

AO Onsite photo by J. Mizrachi

More after the jump…

(more…)

Andy Warhol, Men in Her Life, 1962 (est. $40 million), via Phillipsdepury.com

The second week of major New York auctions begins with two evening sales at Phillips de Pury on Monday, November 8th, followed by the Sotheby’s sale on Tuesday and the Christie’s sale on Wednesday. Phillips will hold two back to back sales on Monday evening that will inaugurate the house’s new headquarters at 450 Park Avenue in New York City. The evening sale is preceded by the first of a new series of auctions titled Carte Blanche, wherein a guest artist, collector, or curator organizes the auction. This week’s Carte Blanche auction is the bigger of the two sales and is curated by Philippe Ségalot. It is comprised of 33 works expected to fetch at least $80 million. The Sotheby’s sale is composed of 55 lots expected to bring upwards of $132 million, while the 76 lots at Christie’s are expected to fetch upwards of $240 million.

More after the jump…

(more…)

Untitled, Maurizio Cattelan (2001) Estimate: $3–4 million Price Realized: $7.9 million

Last night, Sotheby’s confirmed the art market’s return to form as 50 of the 53 lots on offer sold at its Contemporary art sale.  Tallying $189,969,000 in sales, well over the house’s $162 million pre-sale estimate, 39 works fetched more than one million dollars, with two selling for more than $30 million, and seven making more than $5 million. Further to this, the sale achieved the two top lots achieved so far at New York’s Contemporary sales week, surpassing Christie’s sale of Jasper Johns Flag for $29 million on Tuesday night  – Andy Warhol’s Self-Portrait more than doubled its high estimate to sell for $32,562,500, and an Untitled Mark Rothko painting from 1961 soared over the high estimate to sell for $31,442,500.

Self Portrait, Andy Warhol (1986). Estimate: $10-15 million. Price Realized: $32,562,500

More images, text and related links after the jump….
(more…)

No. 30 by Mark Rothko on display at The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture. All images via The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture unless otherwise noted

On April 23, a first major retrospective of the American artist Mark Rothko (born Marcus Rothkowitz in Dvinsk, Russia,September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970) opened at The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia. Thirteen works of his later period on display at the Garage come from the collection of New York financier Erza Merkin. The exhibition was organized in collaboration with Pace Wildenstein Gallery, NY.

More text and images after the jump… (more…)

Mark Rothko, Black on Maroon, Mural, Section 3 (1959), from “The Seagram Murals” via ArtInfo

Mark Rothko’s beautiful work The Seagram Murals returns to Tate Liverpool after more than twenty years since it opened the museum in 1988. The entire ground floor gallery has been altered for the show – the walls being painted grey according to Rothko’s specification and mood lighting installed in order amplify the dramatic qualities of the piece, creating a complete emotive viewing experience.

(more…)

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]

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…..
(more…)

200 One Dollar Bills, Andy Warhol

Last night’s Postwar and Contemporary Sale at Sotheby’s, New York easily outmatched their rival Christie’s sale the night before with a total of $134,438,000 and only 2 lots unsold. While 59% of works sold over their pre-sale estimates, it was Andy Warhol‘s 200 One Dollar Bills, which sold for $43,762,500 over an estimate of $8-12million, that catapulted the total sales revenue way over the initial estimate of $67-97 million.

Violins, Violence, Silence, Bruce Nauman. Record for a neon by Nauman – $4,002,500

More text, images and related links after the jump…..
(more…)

Portrait of Geoff Dyer Talking, Francis Bacon (1966) at FIAC, Paris

If Frieze opened willing to court the unavoidable media speculation about sales or the lack of them: FIAC, and the exhibitors it houses this year, have in the early stages proved characteristically reticent. Not to mention laconic. At least on the surface. This morning there was little sign that much of Paris and beyond would descend on the Grand Palais and the Cour Carrée du Louvre at noon.

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…)

Jeff Koons’s giant rabbit at the Covent Garden in London via Hypebeast

A giant helium-filled Jeff Koons balloon made its UK debut on October 8th, the inflatable rabbit floated above central London, it will be displayed in Covent garden [The Independent]
Coinciding with the Frieze fair, the 10th Turbine Hall commission launches, Baldessari’s retrospective opening the same day, Hayward Gallery presents Ed Ruscha, Turner Prize coming up and many other shows and openings, turn London into the center of attention [Guardian UK]
Frieze art fair excites not merely the International art scene, but also the social diaries of those who like to mingle with the rich and famous [Guardian UK] the contemporary art event even has installations to turn its visitors into the subjects of the artwork. [The Independent] Only displaying works by contemporary living artists, Frieze has been considered 1-dimensional in the past. Frieze helps London take over the art world in October [The Independent]- but not without competition, as FIAC, the Parisian fair, is to begin next week and may steal the battle as art collectors in today’s economic climate are forced to pick which fairs they will be attending [The Wall Street Journal]

Unrecognized work by Leonardo Da Vinci via Antiques Trade Gazette

A drawing sold at auction for $19,000 in the late 1990s is now attracting attention for its authorship, if by Leonardo Da Vinci, a theory that recent research strongly suggests, the work could be worth as much as $147 million [Bloomberg]
The Wapping Project in London, often compared to Tate Modern, is expanding with the opening of the Wapping Project Bankside- a new gallery reminiscent of a New York loft to feature film, video and photography almost “a stone’s throw” from Tate [The Moment]
The Whitney Museum of American Art’s plans for a second Renzo Piana location have advanced [The New York Times]

To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week … (more…)

The show is comprised of works by 63 artists, with some pieces showing publicly for the first time. The sweeping comprehensiveness of the exhibition allows for a juxtaposition of artists rarely seen. Paintings by Claude Monet accompany those by Cy Twombly and Paul Signac. Cubist Georges Braque brings the cartoons of Jean Dubufett into sharper relief. Included are Paul Cézanne and Abstract Expressionists Mark Rothko and Sam Francis, in an exhibition that shows even the pop art of Andy Warhol and the Surrealist paintings of Salvador Dalí.

Ferdinand Hodler, “le Grammont,” at Fondation l’Hermitage. Image courtesy of the museum.

Yves Klein, “ANT 20,” at Fondation l’Hermitage. Image courtesy of the museum.

Initially founded in 1984 with the Bugnion Family collection, Fondation l’Hermitage now boasts over 600 works, shown in rotation along with its temporary exhibitions. The Fondation is also home to a collection of 12th-19th century Chinese porcelain, donated by the Vergottis Foundation and on permanent display in its underground space.

René Magritte, “La Ruse Symétrique,” at Fondation l’Hermitage. Image courtesy of the museum.

Paul Klee, “Felsenlandschaft,” at Fondation l’Hermitage. Image courtesy of the museum.

Edgar Degas, “Danseuses (Danseuses au repos),” at Fondation l’Hermitage. Image courtesy of the museum.

- R. Fogel

Eli Broad via Los Angeles Times

Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad for a while unwilling to shed details on his plan of building a new museum, speaks about its possible location in Beverly Hills and progress [Los Angeles Times]
A portrait and history of art-hotels, some of which today offer accommodations with works by artists such as Damien Hirst or Cy Twombly [Guardian]

Neo Rauch via Incident

Neo Rauch resigns as professor of painting at Leipzig School and is having is first solo show in London as part of “Leipzig week” [Art Review]
“Art in Empty Spaces” a program funded by Arts Council England’s grants, believes art can play a role in economic regeneration, hence helps artists transform vacant spaces into artistic ones [Art Daily]
Highly curated Hong Kong Sotheby’s sales will include works from Contemporary Chinese art, modern Chinese ink paintings and others and are estimated at $100 million [Auction Publicity]

Miuccia Prada and Germano Celant- an Italian curator and the director of her art initiatives via Photobucket

On Miuccia Prada’s significant art patronage, with her Milan Gallery exhibiting works of internationally acclaimed artists and discovering the unknown ones [This is London via Art Market Monitor]
Elizabeth Andrews- a Tate employee has lost her legal battle after having claimed her health has been made poor by the temperature in the gallery [BBC]

Computer rendering of new plan by for Parrish Art Museum via New York Times

In deference to today’s economy, the Parrish Art Museum’s upcoming Southampton home is to be a cheaper architectural alternative [New York Times]
Whitney is the latest major museum affected by recession to lay off staff members [Crain's New York]
An insight into loaning artwork for exhibitions: the bureaucracy, negotiation and trust that go into the process of enabling art travel [Guardian]
Los Angeles Times publishes an open letter from Martin Scorsese addressing LACMA and their decision to stop the weekend film program- a tradition that goes back 40 years [Los Angeles Times]

Pablo Picasso, Les Deux Femmes Nues via Auction Publicity

A detailed review of Christie’s bi-annual sale to be held in September, including works by Ernst, Picasso, Warhol among others [Auction Publicity]
12 artists’ plans from a pool of over 2,000 proposals will have a chance to be realized in London, the competition is currently down to 59 [Art Daily]
Works by Kandinsky- inspired Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and The Blue Rider in Performance are commissioned by Guggenheim to show during the Vasily Kandinsky exhibit [Guggenheim]

A phone camera photo of Ai Weiwei posted on Twitter of police in his hotel’s hallways via Trunc

Ai Weiwei among those experiencing problems with the Chinese authorities for attempting to testify on a trial against a civil rights advocate [The New York Times]
The Independent attributes the recent higher sales of works by Old Masters versus contemporary artists in Christie’s and Sotheby’s to the recession [Independent]

Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol via BBC

Andy Warhol Painting of Michael Jackson commissioned by Times magazine dates back to 1984 and is being auctioned at a starting bid of $800,000 in Vered Gallery in LA [Los Angeles Times]
Mysterious art dealer receives $26.5 million for enabling the transaction of Rothko sale for a self-proclaimed victim of Bernard Madoff’s scheme [Bloomberg]
Yet another Gagosian Gallery will open, this time in Greece, 3 Merlin Street in Athens will now house the gallery with its inaugural show titled “Leaving Paphos Ringed With Waves” [Lindsay Pollock via Culture Monster]

Food Fight staged by Duke Riley on the reflecting pool in Queens on Thursday via The New York Times

“Those About to Die Salute You” an unscripted art event organized by Duke Riley took place in Queens on Thursday night [The New York Times] more here [New York Magazine]
Antony Gormley’s fourth plinth art project had a nude man as a participant, but he was asked to cover up in order to avoid arrest [Guardian]
Géricault’s “The Raft of the Medusa” examined in its sculptural, architectural and historical influences by Spiegelman [The Wall Street Journal]
25 Year old Kate Levant’s art is shown at Zach Feuer Gallery in New York, after Yale dean refuses to showcase her idea of Red cross conducting a Blood Drive inside the gallery space [New York Magazine]

Ezra Merkin, via Guardian UK.

After weeks of negotiation with the Attorney General’s office, J. Ezra Merkin has agreed to sell an art collection appraised by Christie’s at $310 million.  After taxes and other fees — the New York Times reports that Merkin was paying $60,000 a month on insurance, and owed $42 million to previous owners as well as $19.3 million on a loan used to purchase the artwork — profits from the sale amount to $191 million, to be frozen in escrow pending the outcome of the Attorney General’s suit against the suspected Bernie Madoff feeder.

Related links:
Statement from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on the Sale of J. Ezra Merkin’s Collection
Merkin Reaches Accord with Cuomo on Art Sale [New York Times]
Madoff, Merkin, and the Murals [Wall Street Journal: The Wealth Report]
Merkin Selling Art Frozen in Lawsuit for $310 Million [Bloomberg]
Andrew Cuomo Unveils Deal to Sell Art Collection of Ezra Merkin, Bernie Madoff’s Associate [New York Post]

(more…)

Huang Yongping's Sixty-Year Cycle Chariot sold for double the high estimate of $194,00, setting a new auction record for the artist, via Artdaily

Contemporary Asian Art Sale at Sotheby’s Hong Kong brings in $8.5 million USD, well wthin expectations with over half of the lots above estimate [Artdaily] more here [Bloomberg] and here [AuctionPublicity] and here [Economist] and here [Artinfo]
and finally more here [China Daily via ArtPatrol]
And in related: The Getty acquires 9 contemporary Chinese photographs for $100,000, boosting its Asian collection despite a tighter budget [Bloomberg]

Takashi Murakami will soon debut a new collaborative collection with Louis Vuitton [HypeBeast]
New York financier/art collector Ezra Merkin charged with $2.4 bilion fraud, the proceeds of which were used to fill his apartment with $91 million worth of art including Mark Rothko works from his collection, one of the largest in the world for the artist [Guardian UK]

Terence Koh via Glob

Kate Moss by Damien Hirst on the cover of Tar Art Magazine, Via New York Times

Kate Moss by Damien Hirst is the new cover of Tar Magazine (anagram for “art”) [NY Times]
Art funds launched in 2008, such as the London-based Art Trading Fund, are shelved due to failure to raise required funds [ArtNewspaper]
Art:21, Art in Twenty-First Century is now available for free on Hulu [Hulu]

"G8" by Andrei Molodkin via Financial Times

Russian Artist Andrea Molodkin, previously cited by AO here, prepares for Venice Biennale [Financial Times]
Jeff Koons is speaking at Strand Books tonight at 7:00-8:30 in New York [Via FAD]
New York Old Masters dealer Lawrence Salander is indicted and pleads guilty in $88 million charge [Bloomberg]

A look inside Rome’s MAXXI designed by Zaha Hadid via c-monster

A preview of the MAXXI in Rome, $108 million art museum designed by Zaha Hadid [c-monster]
Adam Lindemann, financier, collector and author of Collecting Contemporary launches a new book from Taschen: Collecting Design [ArtInfo]

Flash Art’s current cover featuring a portrait of Barack Obama by Marlene Dumas via Art Fag City

Marlene Dumas’s portrait of Barack Obama is the cover of Flash Art [Art Fag City]
Madonna’s art collection is estimated at £80 million pounds [TimesUK]

A selection from the site via The World’s Best Ever

A timeline of modern & contemporary art artists by movement, school, style, period, theme & art prize [The-artists.org via The World's Best Ever]
Richard Serra to receive honorary degree from Pratt Institute at its 120th Commencement on May 18th [MediaBistro]

Interview with photographer Nan Goldin on why she is auctioning some of the curiosities she has collected [TelegraphUK]
SFMOMA announces plans for a future expansion, doubling gallery space [SF Chronicle]

A preview of SANAA’s design for the 2009 Serpentine Pavillion via Architect’s Journal

SANAA, the Japanese architectual duo behind the New Museum, release first glimpse of design for the 2009 Serpentine Pavilion [Architect's Journal]
Jim Dine donates 40 drawings influenced by Greek and Roman sculpture to the Morgan Library [Artinfo]

Picasso Portrait seen here at the home of Julian Schnabel highlights Christie's Impressionist Sale [via artinfo

Storm Clouds: Sunset with a Pink Sky (1833) by JMW Turner, via Tate Britain

Currently exhibited at the Tate Britain are works by Mark Rothko (1903-1970) and JMW Turner (1775-1851), two of the world’s most influential painters displayed side by side for the first time.  The paintings are part of BP British Art Displays which exhibit a unique array of works from the Tate Collection. Visitors have the opportunity to go between the mediative ambiance of six works of Rothko’s Seagram Murals to the display of Turner works from the 1966 MOMA exhibition which includes experimental watercolors such as A Pink Sky above Sea (c.1822) and Storm Clouds: Sunset with a Pink Sky (1833). Such dreamy, loose, and immersive works demonstrate the great affinity between the two painters.

Press Release
BP British Art Displays: Turner/ Rothko [Artdaily]
Rothko and Turner receive joint billing at Tate for first time [The Telegraph]
The works of two influential painters, JMW and Rothko, are being brought together in an exhibition to show the artists’ similarities [BBC]
Turner/ Rothko at Tate Britain [Timeout London]

(more…)

Installation view of Rothko’s ‘Seagram Murals’ via MSNBC

Tate Liverpool exhibits Rothko’s Seagram Murals after a 20-year absence [Artdaily]
Rochelle Steiner, under whose tenure Olafur Eliasson’s “New York City Waterfalls” was sponsored, leaves the Public Art Fund [NY Times] and in related, Sotheby’s CEO takes big paycuts in the wake of the market downturn [Bloomberg]

Alex James, bassist of Blur via The Mirror

Blur’s Alex James to judge Charles Saatchi’s art-star reality TV show [The Mirror]
Jonathan Jones on how consumerism spawned Warhol and Pop art and thus the shallowness of contemporary art [Guardian]
Vanity Fair’s imagined conversations overheard at a MoMA party [VanityFair]
A new show at Paris’s Musee d’Art Moderne acknowledges how Italian Surrealist Giorgio de Chirico sold backdated copies of his own work [Bloomberg]

Patti Smith via The Art Newspaper

Patti Smith, whose Polaroids are showing at Robert Miller gallery, on her early career as an artist and why she feels Jeff Koons’s work is “just litter upon the earth” [The Art Newspaper]

Andy Warhol’s BMW Art Car via W Magazine

The BMW Art Car series by artists such as Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg to appear at New York’s Grand Central Terminal starting March 24 [W Magazine]
Chinese art dealer who sabotaged Christie’s sale of bronzes during the Yves Saint Laurent sale weeps at his shattered credibility [Bloomberg]

Steve McQueen modeling for T Magazine

A brief profile of Turner prize winning film artist Steve McQueen’s fashion aesthetic [The Moment]
The Las Vegas Sun does a post-mortem on the Las Vegas Art Museum, which closed last month [Las Vegas sun via ArtsJournal]

Trailer for ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’ via Entertainment Weekly

Soon to open in New York, an art world outsider chronicles his relationship with an art world insider in the film ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’ [Entertainment Weekly]
Susan Moore looks at the recent emergence of a homegrown art scene in the United Arab Emirates [Financial Times]

Collectors Stephanie Seymour and Peter Brant via Artnet

Art in America and Interview Magazine owner Peter Brant opens his private collection to the public, by appointment only, at the Brant Foundation Art Study Center [NY Times]
How the former CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland was unable to secure an immense 16,000 piece art collection obtained during a takeover of ABN Amro as that bank’s CEO deftly transferred ownership to a foundation before the merger [TimesUK]
Turner Prize winning sculptor Antony Gormley announces first public art installation for Scotland [TheScotsman]

Laura Hoptman, Massimiliano Gioni and Lauren Cornell, curators at the New Museum of Contemporary Art via NY Times

A preview of the New Museum’s inaugural triennial, “The Generational: Younger Than Jesus” [NY Times]
Hans Ulrich Obrist’s book “The Conversation Series” includes interviews with artist such as Wolfgang Tillmans and Gilbert and George [ArtInfo]

A peek at Pierogi Gallery’s new annex, the Boiler via NY Times

Williamsburg’s Pierogi Gallery opens new annex, The Boiler [NY Times]
Chelsea galleries, including Andrea Rosen, Barbara Gladstone, Mary Boone and Matthew Marks, to show work at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, Cuba [The Art Newspaper]

Anish Kapoor’s ‘Temenos’ via AnishKapoor

Construction begins on first of five of Anish Kapoor outdoor sculptures in the UK: the ‘world’s biggest art project’ [DesignWeek]

Portrait of Pope Benedict XIV by Pierre Subleyras via NY Mag

Old masters prove to be a bellwether in the market downturn [Financial Times] as such, The Metropolitan Museum acquires a Renaissance portrait of Pope Benedict XIV for nearly $1 million amidst financial woes [NY Mag] and this painting also is featured here in a separate video discussion on the resilience of old master paintings [Sotheby's]

Monkeys (Ladder) (2003) by Jeff Koons. Sold for £1.38 million ($2 million) against estimates of £1.4 million to £2 million.

Following last week’s encouraging results, Christie’s post-war and contemporary auctions could only be described as lacklustre, while not entirely disheartening.

The auction realized a total of £8,392,750, or $12,085,560, with 79% of lots being sold. While still somewhat robust, it pales in comparison to last week’s figures which tended to be in the 90% range. 48% of the 29 lots were sold above their estimates, with one work of auctioned for over £1 million. European buyers put in a strong showing, comprising 66% of auction participants, with the remainder breaking down as follows: 4% UK, 27% Americas and 4% Asia.

Jeff Koons’ playful Monkeys (Ladder) was the highest priced lot, pulling in £1.38 million ($2 million) against estimates of  £1.4 million to  £2 million–just barely falling short of the lower estimate.  The oil on canvas piece forms a part of the artist’s Popeye series, and was offered for auction for the first time during the evening sale.

Two of the highest profile lots on auction failed to sell. A lot by Francis Bacon, Man in Blue IV, went unsold–considered by the auction house and several dealers who were present as “perhaps too academic.” The sitter is an unknown man who Bacon is thought to have had an affair with at the Imperial Hotel in Henley-upon-Thames, where the painter resided for some time.  His features are obscured and more attention is given to his clothing, posture and form. The  lot was expected to sell for between £4 million and £6 million, which would have made it the priciest lot on sale.

Mark Rothko’s lot also went unsold. Green, Blue, Green on Blue, from 1968, was expected to bring in between £2.5 million and £3.5 million, and would have been the second highest priced lot after Bacon’s.

Christie’s Sale Total Halves; $12.2 Million Rothko, Bacon Fail [Bloomberg]
Francis Bacon portrait fails to sell at auction [Telegraph UK]
Christie’s Auction of Post-War and Contemporary Art Realises $12.1 Million [ArtDaily]
The Golden Rain Dries Up at Christie’s [ArtInfo]

(more…)

Erasmus portrait purported to be by Holbein the Younger, via The Art News

Experts speculate that new portrait of Erasmus is by Holbein the Younger [ArtInfo]
Art auction houses have always been touted as the most transparent transactions in the system, but they are  far more complex and secretive, and in recent years, much more is at stake [Financial Times]
Review of critic Michael Fried’s latest book: Why Photography Matters… [Artforum]

Shepard Fairey’s ‘Hope’ portrait of Barack Obama, via AP

Smithsonian acquires Shepard Fairey’s ‘Hope’ portrait of Obama [ArtInfo]
White Cube’s Jay Jopling’s rise to power and the current pressure from a failing market, gossip tabloids [The Times UK]

Brad Pitt portrait in daguerreotype by Chuck Close, via W Magazine

Chuck Close’s daguerreotype portrait of Brad Pitt is W Magazine’s new cover [W Magazine]
The Vatican aims to exhibit art in a ‘national pavilion’ during the Venice Biennale as a counbterpoint to “blasphemous” modern art [Times UK]

Black on Maroon (1959) by Mark Rothko, part of the Seagram mural series, via Tate Modern; studies for the Seagram series are owned by Ezra Merkin, who lost billions to Bernie Madoff ‘s investment scheme.

Assailed Madoff victim has 12 Rothkos; collectors salivate [Bloomberg]
The Art Newspaper explores the changing emerging art markets of China, and Russia here, and India here [Art Newspaper]

Richard Serra via Time

The Economist is long on Richard Serra: “slow-burning Mr Serra will be one of the artists whose work will continue to shine long after he is gone” [TheEconomist]
The defensive financial strategies art auction houses take during a market downturn [The Art Newspaper] and in related, financing for fine art is correspondingly receding [Portfolio]
A look inside the highly specialized art storage business [Financial Times]
The Tate Modern may have accidentally hung 2 Rothko’s sideways [TimesUK]

The Pollock in question via terisfind.com

Highly controversial supposed Jackson Pollock drip painting is for sale for $50 million in Toronto [CBC]
London’s Colony Room, favored bar of Lucian Freud and Damien Hirst, may close [TimesUK]
50 to 75 Modern and Contemporary German works of art including some by Rosemarie Trockel, Georg Baselitz and Candida Höfer donated to the Busch-Reisinger Museum at Harvard [Artdaily]
Yvonne Force Villareal, sets up an APFlab (“Art Production Fund”) on Wooster street in Soho, New York [NYTimes]

Rene Magritte's "L'Empire des lumiéres" (1947) via Christie's

On Wednesday November 5th, Christie’s conducted its sale of the estates of two separate widows (the Alice Lawrence and Hillman family collections) bearing similar works of mostly late 19th and early to mid-20th century pieces, in an auction thus titled “The Modern Age.” These auctions included works by headliners such as Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, Mark Rothko, Fernand Léger, Edouard Manet, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Amedeo Modigliani, Giorgio De Chirico and René Magritte. The event followed the latest Sotheby’s auction for Impressionist and Modern art on Monday (as covered by AO here) which disappointedly totaled $223.8 million against the $338 million low estimate. Additionally, the Modern Age sale corresponded to a particularly steep post-presidential race drop in the public equity markets in which the Dow plunged 486 points.

The auction results were no surprise considering the current tepid environment in the art market: The two collections listed 58 lots, of which 17 did not sell, for a total sale of $47 million, which was less than half of its $104 million low estimate. Christie’s said 51% of buyers were American and 29% European. Though Surrealist lots by Magritte (see image above) and De Chirico (see below) did well, of the lots that were brought in were the most expensive of the sale, notably, Manet’s “Fillette sur un banc/Girl on a Bench,” a 1880 portrait of a girl with a wide-brim hat estimated at $12-18 million (see image below), and Rothko’s “No. 43 (Mauve),” estimated at $20-30 million. Other works by Cézanne, Renoir, and de Kooning also failed to sell.

Bleak Night at Christie’s, in Both Sales and Prices [NY Times]
Art-Market Rout Persists: Rothko Snubbed at Auction [Bloomberg]
Buyers Cool to Private-Collection Art at Christies [Reuters]
Market Forces Bring Fire-Sale Prices for Christie’s “Modern Age” [Art Info]
The Modern Age: Property from the Hillman Family Collection [Art Daily]
Christie’s Wan and Woeful Night [CultureGrrl]
Christie’s Website

more auction results, quotes and images after the jump…

(more…)