Sotheby’s Russian Art Evening sale in London on Monday, November 26th, 2012 achieved £11,471,250 ($18,386,120), within its presale estimate. The sale saw sell-through rates of 89.3% by lot and 84.3% by value, with six new artist records. (more…)

Russian art sales got off to a rocky start in London on Sunday. MacDougall’s offered 45 lots but only sold nine in its Russian Art sale. Christie’s, however, fared somewhat better with £10.5 million – perhaps because of more realistic estimates. Just 68% of lots sold at the Christie’s sale.  £67.8 million worth of art was offered in total from all of the auction houses combined. (more…)

London auction houses will offer $108 million worth of Russian art this week. The number of Russian and former C.I.S. nationals residing in London is estimated to be around 500,000, and auction houses hope to capitalize on that market. (more…)

New Holland Island, via architettura.it

Adding to an assortment of yachts and football clubs, Roman Abramovich has purchased the entire New Holland Island in St. Petersburg. For nearly $400 million, island plans center around a museum complex – complete with hotels and shopping – to house a portion of the Russian oligarch’s extensive art collection. Among the collection are such high profile pieces as Francis Bacon‘s 1976 “Triptych” and Lucian Freud‘s 1995 “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping,” for which Abramovich paid record-setting prices at Sotheby’s New York and Christie’s, respectively, on an extravagant pair of back to back evenings in 2008.

More story after the jump…

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Important Russian Art at Sotheby’s via Artdaily

On June 9, at 7 p.m. the inaugural sale of Important Russian Art at Sotheby’s, London kicked off a much anticipated series of Russian- themed sales taking place at Christie’s, Bonhams and MacDougall Auction House – a unique enterprise specializing in Russian art exclusively.  The sale at Sotheby’s brought in £10.4 million ($15 million) , nearly meeting its £11.3 million ($16.3 million) high estimate.

More text and images after the jump…

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Eight Elvises, which sold for $100 million in a private deal last year via TheEconomist

—  The Economist has a downloadable special report on the art market, in it Sarah Thornton reports in an article on Warhol, in the wake of the sale of his work in the recent New York  contemporary auctions for $43.8 million, that in August 2008 Andy Warhol’s singular “Eight Elvises” was sold privately to an unknown buyer for $100 million [Economist]

– Close to $100M of Russian art aims to be sold for Russian Art Week in London, where the vast growth of wealth in Russia allows for repatriation of that country’s works [Bloomberg] more on this here [WallStreetJournal]

A discerning look into some of the less disclosed but nevertheless driving forces and relationships behind various high profile exhibitions [Financial Times]

to stay apprised of the latest relevant news of the art world read more…

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The James Turrell Museum of the Hess Art Collection in Argentina

James Turrell Museum of the Hess Art Collection opens its 18,000 sf space in Argentina, almost 8,000 sf above sea level [Reuters]
The Tate galleries issue over 400 video and audio lectures, talks, debates for free on iTunes [Apple]
A video look inside the studio of Jeff Koons [Tate]
Bruce Nauman in his studio, in anticipation of his representing the US in Venice [NYTimes]

Portrait of Nicholas Roerich via Reuters

Despite the above portrait of Nicholas Roerich by his son fetching $2.9M, close to 3x its high estimate of $1.1 million, sales of Russian art in New York by Sotheby’s and Christie’s clear an unsubstantial $27 million versus last year’s $64 million [Reuters]
Is the value of the work of Richard Prince particularly at risk in this recession? [Portfolio]
Angus Murray launches Castlestone’s $50M Modern Art Fund [Portfolio Advisor]

Damien Hirst with The Hours and the painting he created for their album cover via The GuardianUK

Win the £125,000 orignal painting Damien Hirst made for The Hours’ new album cover [GuardianUK]
MoMA sued by heirs of George Grosz over three works the artist left behind when fleeing Nazi Germany [NY Times]
In related, Austrian city of Linz may return $15 million Gustav Klimt to Holocaust victim [Bloomberg]

A shot of the scene sans Mona Lisa via Vanity Fair

A excerpt from a new book on the famous theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911 [Vanity Fair]
A summary of how dramatically US Museums have been hit by the economic slowdown [ArtNewspaper]
In directly related, a timeline of Museums and the recession [ArtInfo]
The “hottest” art exhibitions of summer 2009 according to Times UK [TimesUK]
London usurps New York as top auction location for 2008, bolstered mainly by Damien Hirst’s Sotheby’s sale [ArtInfo via ArtFagCity]
The low profile nature of private sales causes them to rise in popularity due to the impact of public failure of sales at auction [NYTimes]

Saatchi-online’s billboard partnership with Clearchannel via ArtDaily

Clearchannel partners with Saatchi’s to promote through its billboards Saatchi-online’s commission-free online art sales [ArtDaily]
In related, The 10 winners of the Guardian/Saatchi art competition are announced [Guardian UK]
The world’s largest art prize, decided by vote, launches in Grand Rapids, Michigan [artprize.org]
The Park Avenue Armory in New York announces an annual commission for it’s Drill Hall, on May 14th its inaugural exhibition will be Ernesto Neto [ParkAvenueArmory]
Christie’s auction house creates a specific unit to divest of corporate art works [Crain’sNY]
On its 5th anniversary, the UK’s Art Council Initiative interest free loan program has supported a total of £10.5 million worth of arts purchases involving 12,500 people [Artscouncil]

Damien Hirst’s custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle via Motorcycle News

Damien Hirst creates a custom Harley Davidson for charity [Motorcycle News]
Lawsuit alleges fraud from Louis Vuitton in Murakami 2007-08 LA MOCA exhibition due to prints being merely “factory leftovers from handbag production” [LATimes]
In related, Murakami protege Mr. collaborates on a Lucien Pellat-Finet clothing collection [Hypebeast]
Following the National Portrait Gallery in London announcing its shortlist of three artists for the 2009 BP Portrait Award, an in-depth article on craft [IndependentUK]
Vacant retail locations as exhibition space in London [GuardianUK]

Image via Art Daily

The fifth annual Moscow World Fine Art Fair has drawn attention and the bank accounts of buyers from around the world. Travelers from Kyoto, New York, and Paris came to take advantage of Russia’s new exploding luxury goods market. There are 56 fine and decorative art vendors and 20 jewelry vendors who enjoyed brisk sales. There is €1 billion euros ( $1.6 billion dollars) worth of art at the fair. A highlight of the fair is Spanish artist José-María Cano’s oversized Wall Street Journal style illustrations of leading Russian personalities. The fair runs from May 28 – June 2nd.

Moscow World Fine Art Fair
Moscow Fair Brings Luxuries to Nouveau Riche [Art Info]
International Dealers Have $1.6 Billion of Art on Offer at the Moscow World Fine Art Fair [Art Daily]
A new Powerhouse for Moscow’s new rich [NY Sun]

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A Fabergé silver via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s two-day sale of Russian Art from the 19th and 20th century in New York totaled $46,449,401. The two-day auction (April 15 & 16) had very good indicators for a big sucess. The positive result demonstrates that rich Russians and Ukrainians are willing to pay top dollar for artworks of their country. About 69% of the 191 pre-World War II lots were sold and six paintings fetched more than $1 million each. Most buyers were Russian, Ukrainians, as well as U.S.

Russian Art via Sotheby’s [Rian]
Auctions at Sotheby’s [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s [Sotheby’s]
Auction’s record at Sotheby’s [Rian]

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‘The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory,’

J.M.W. Turner, 1806-8, via Tate

Tate sends 100 Turners to Moscow despite frigid diplomatic relations [ArtForum]
Update: French art market eclipsed by China [Financial Times]
Jasper Johns: Most successful artist ever? [New York Sun]
Russian artist Anna Mikhalchuk disapeared in Berlin [Artdaily]
View of Olafur Eliasson sculpture in Munich [contemporist via C-Monster]
Update: Interview of Whitney chief curator on Biennial’s process [Wall Street Journal]
Warhol’s Upper East Side townhouse for $5.99M  [New York Times]

A piece offered at the auction via Phillips de Pury & Company

A major sale of Russian contemporary artworks will be sold in London on February 28 by Phillips de Pury & Company. The auction represents works largely of ‘unofficial artists’ of the Soviet period. The sale will benefit children with AIDS.

Phillips de Pury
Phillips de Pury, video of the auction collection [Phillips de Pury]
Auctions in London [New York Sun]

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Yayoi Kusama via T-Magazine

An interview with “dot” artist,Yayoi Kusama [T Magazine]
Louis Vuitton’s boutique controversy at Brooklyn’s Murakami Show [Arts Journal]
On “looted” Russian & French Paintings at Royal Academy of Art [NY Times]
Update: Critique of Jasper John’s recent show [Financial Times]
Wealthy eclipsing public funding for commissioning new works? [Financial Times]

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]

Royal Academy of Art via The Guardian

After months of litigations and negotiations, the French and Russian masterpieces have arrived at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Russian officials canceled the exhibit around Christmas due to their the threat of seizure. Despite the this hurdle, the 120 French and Russian pieces finally arrived in at the Royal Academy. This is one of the largest Russian loans to England in history.

More pictures below….

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Schandra Singh’s Lazy River via the Saatchi Gallery

Indian Art at Saatchi in London [The Saatchi Gallery]
Hedging with Art in Uncertain Markets [The Wall Street Journal]
Most Hyped Art Sales of 2007 [Bornrich.org]
UK gets the Go Ahead from Russia’s Royal Academy of Art [BBC]

Eli Broad via Forbes

Eli Broad Renegs on LACMA [New York Times]
On Russian to London Capital Flows to Contemporary Art [Financial Times]
On Bonhams First Middle Eastern Art Auction [Bloomberg]
2007 Review of Bidding Prices at Art Auction [Financial Times]
The Nahmad’s Trade – Art as a Security [Forbes]