Rachel Whiteread, Yellow Edge (2007-2008), via Art Observed

Continuing its slow but steady expansion around the globe, Gagosian Gallery has inaugurated a new exhibition space in downtown San Francisco, opening a spacious and beautifully lit gallery on Howard Street, just across from the recently re-opened SFMoMA.  Taking the opportunity to flex its roster in its new home, the gallery has curated a strong exhibition, Plane.Site, taking intersections of form, practice and material across a variety of artists from the gallery’s expansive representation. (more…)

Roy Lichtenstein, Entablature (1975), via Quincy Childs for Art Observed

The Entablatures represent my response to Minimalism and the art of Donald Judd and Kenneth Noland. It’s my way of saying that the Greeks did repeated motifs very early on, and I am showing, in a humorous way, that Minimalism has a long history … It was essentially a way of making a Minimalist painting that has a Classical reference. – Roy Lichtenstein

Sometimes a show strikes a perfect balance between surprise and expectation, even more so when the works selected coincide so effortlessly that the artists seem presented anew. Castelli Gallery’s show, Donald Judd, Roy Lichtenstein, Kenneth Noland: A Dialogue, does exactly that.  Taking inspiration from a quote by Roy Lichtenstein on his Entablature paintings, the show examined each artist’s work at the intersections of the architectural and the purely aesthetic, the functional and the pictorial. (more…)

Cy Twombly, Untitled (New York City) (1968), via Sotheby’s

Tonight Sotheby’s has logged its response to Christie’s moderate outing last evening, as the auction house’s Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale saw steady, albeit occasionally slow proceedings, bringing a final sales tally of $294,850,000 with 13 of the 57 lots offered going unsold. (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…)

Christie’s has announced another of its highlight lots for its November auctions in New York, this time pointing to Roy Lichtenstein’s Nurse, from 1964.  “He’s completely concentrated the image, taken away the words,” says Brett Gorvy. “There’s fear in her face — you’re not quite sure what the narrative is. You bring your own narrative.” (more…)

Two paintings, including a classic Roy Lichtenstein held at the Sam Simon Foundation, an organization established by Simpsons co-founder.  The pair of works are valued at $400,000.   (more…)

Joyce Pensato, Mouse Mask (2015), all images courtesy Petzel Gallery

To advertise her fourth solo show at Petzel Gallery, Joyce Pensato released a short video, a brashly black and white, slapstick affair, set to classic ragtime piano tunes.  In it, superhero Batman is knocked upside the head and shipped off to the exhibition, while Pensato, playing the gun moll in round-framed dark sunglasses, imitates her dumbly-smiling cartoon portraits. The video perfectly encapsulates Castaway, a new series of black and white cartoon portraits, erasure-paintings and drawings, both large-scale and small-scale, in addition to digital c-prints of the artist’s studio space. (more…)

Roy Lichtenstein’s The Ring (Engagement) will be one of the top prizes at Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Sale this May in New York, the Wall Street Journal reports, with initial estimates placing the work’s sale price at about $50 million.  That figure nearly matches Lichtenstein’s $56.1 million record set in 2013.  “I think it’s so sexy how he takes this quiet moment of a proposal and turns it into an exciting crash,” says Chicago plastics magnate Stefan Edlis, the work’s current owner. “Clearly, the woman accepted.” (more…)

Roy Lichtenstein, Woman Drying Her Hair (1980), Courtesy Gagosian Paris

On view at Gagosian Paris is an exhibition exploring the work of Roy Lichtenstein, who remained the motifs and stylistic tropes of Expressionism motifs using his signature primary colors and flat geometry, a style he had slowly developed and refined during the 1960’s and early 1970’s.

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Dealer Larry Gagosian and collector Jan Cowles have reportedly settled their disagreement over the 1964 Roy Lichtenstein work Girl in Mirror.  The news was broken by Wall Street Journal reporter Kelly Crow on her Twitter account this morning.  A full report has yet to be released, so the details of the settlement has yet to be released. (more…)

Roy Lichtenstein, Whaam! (1963), via Tate Modern

Blazing a path through the world of contemporary and avant-garde art, Roy Lichtenstein stands as a giant of post-war painting, sculpture and conceptual art.  Celebrating the artist’s position at the vanguard of 20th century art, the Tate Modern is hosting a massive retrospective of the artist’s work, the first of its kind since the artist’s death in 1997.

Roy Lichtenstein, Sea Shore (1964), via The Guardian

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The Tate Modern has announced that it will screen Roy Lichtenstein’s only film work, titled Three Landscapes, as part of the artist’s upcoming retrospective, opening next month.  Filmed at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, the film was part of an ambitious project for Lichtenstein in the early 1970’s, but was quickly abandoned after the completion of one film.  “When he finished the project, in a way he lost interest. What fascinated him was his painting. It was the first time and the last time he used film.”  Says co-curator Iria Candela. (more…)

Sean Kelly Gallery, Los Carpinteros, Kosmaj Toy (2012).

All images by A.M. Ekstrand for ArtObserved, on location at Art Basel Miami Beach Fair.

Art Basel returned once again in Miami Beach this past week for the 11th annual Art Basel Miami Beach Fair. Featuring over 300 galleries representing 36 countries around the world, the show has exhibited marked growth from last year’s event, with well over 2,000 artists flocking to exhibit at what has become the internationally-renowned closing party for the world art market each year.  It is of course always an irony that tens of thousands will fly down for the events and parties, with many of them never visiting the vast aggregation of what it said to be roughly $1.5 billion worth of art in one (large) room, a collection that few museums in the world could compete with.   Below is a selection of some of the works we thought to be notable from the fair.

Helly Nahmad Gallery, Mark Rothko No. 1 (1957) and Alexander Calder, installation view

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Roy Lichtenstein, Oh, Jeff… I love you, too… but.., 1964, courtesy Tate Modern

The Tate Modern is holding a retrospective of work by master of Pop Art, Roy Lichtenstein, which consists of 127 works and runs through May 2013. The exhibition, the first major one since the artist’s death in 1997,  is said to attract more visitors than Damien Hirst’s 2012 show that brought people from all over the world through the doors of the Tate.

Lichtenstein was born in 1923 and passed away in 1997; he was considered to be the founder of Pop Art along with other preeminent artists such as Andy Warhol. His signature comic-book-inspired works that are brought to life with Ben-Day dots were the beginning of art based on popular culture. Images adopted from the media were rearranged and juxtaposed with unrelated material to relate to contemporary life.

Image: Roy Lichtenstein, Whaam!  (1963), via Tate Modern

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Maria Gutierrez and Gabriel Orozco

All photos by C. Daleli for ArtObserved

The 2012 Guggenheim International Gala took place Thursday, November 8th in celebration of Picasso: Black and White organized by Carmen Giménez. Guests were able to view artworks for the upcoming benefit auction at Sotheby’s on November 13-14th with lots by Gabriel Orozco, Georg Baselitz, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Prince, and James Turrell, among others. Funds raised at the gala and auction are in support of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.

Atmosphere

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A catalogue of mishaps in art handling has been released, with victims ranging from Poussin to Roy Lichtenstein damaged. One example is Roy Lichtenstein’s early famous painting Whaam!, which was defaced by a visitor disposing their chewing gum on the painting’s surface. Tate Britain, which suffered the vandalism against a £50 million Rothko, is now planning an exhibition called Art Under Attack. (more…)

A Roy Lichtenstein painting, missing for 42 years has been returned to its owner by Federal authorities.  Barbara Castelli’s late husband, Leo Castelli, had purchased the painting in the 1960s for $750; it is now valued at $4 million. The piece was sent to be cleaned in 1971 and remained there unnoticed until the restorer’s widow said the the employee who had kept track of the painting asked her to find a buyer for him. She found a buyer in Colombia, not knowing it was stolen. When the buyer contacted the Lichtenstein Foundation to authenticate the work, the Foundation contacted Castelli, who alerted the FBI. (more…)

A missing Roy Lichtenstein painting, estimated at $4 million, was discovered in a Manhattan warehouse. ‘Electric Cord’ was last seen 42 years ago when its owner, Leo Castelli, sent the piece out to be professionally cleaned.

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Yves Klein, Le Rose du bleu (RE 22) (1960)

This week in London, the focus will shift towards Contemporary Art, for the second consecutive week of  summer auctions. According to the Telegraph, these contemporary sales hold the highest pre-sale estimates ever offered by the London houses. Total sales expected from Sotheby’s range from £57.51 – 82.48 million, while Christie’s are in excess of £120 million. Last week’s Impressionist and Modern Sales were more subdued than the record breaking auctions held in New York this past May. Based upon these record pre-sale estimates, there may be similar hopes for this week’s round of sales.

Yves Klein, Rélief éponge bleu (RE 51) (1959)

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‬The Tate has revealed its 2013 program, which will include exhibitions of LS Lowry at Tate Britain, Marc Chagall in Liverpool, and a major Roy Lichtenstein at retrospective at The Tate Modern as well as shows of Gary Hume and Paul Klee.

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Sotheby’s staff preparing for the sale. Photos on site for Art Observed by Aubrey Roemer unless otherwise noted.

After Tuesday night’s multi-record breaking sale at Christie’s, last night’s Contemporary Evening Sale at Sotheby’s seemed to hold a somewhat lower energy, possibly a result of the second consecutive week of auctions and fairs wearing on the collectors. Yet the sale totaled $266 million—within Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate of $215–300 million—a number considerably higher than last May’s Contemporary Evening Sale total of $128 million. Seven of the artworks sold at more than $10 million, and there was an overall sell-through rate of 80.7%. In a post-sale press conference, Sotheby’s Head of Contemporary Art, Alex Rotter, commented “the market is very healthy with active bidding.”

Tobias Meyer giving a press talk about the sale. (more…)

Andy Warhol,  Double Elvis [Feris Type] (1963)

On the heels of a tireless and groundbreaking week in the New York art world, the fervor continues with the major auction houses hosting their Contemporary Art Sales—beginning tonight at Christie’s. Last week’s Impressionist and Modern Art Sales saw unforeseen prices and several world records set, namely the near $120 million paid for Edvard Munch‘s The Scream. In tandem with both the Frieze Art Fair and NADA Art Fairs’ inaugural New York editions—both held this past weekend—the Contemporary Sales possess an auspicious platform this season. The strength of last week’s sales proves the collectors’ attention to the trophy market, with many big ticket and highly recognizable works on the block this week.

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‪‬Internal email communications from Gagosian Gallery come forth during lawsuit involving the sale of a Lichtenstein by the Cowles family [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Sotheby’s to sell some 50 works owned by the late Theodore J. Forstmann in New York throughout May, valued at $75 million and including pieces by Picasso, Miró, Lichtenstein, and Soutine [AO Newslink]

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