AO Art Observed™

Burst *008, a prefab by Douglas Gauthier and Jeremy Edmiston via MoMA

More on the prefabricated housing design exhibit at MoMA [Artinfo] and still more here [NYMag]
Sotheby’s accused of losing Italian Renaissance painting in $32M lawsuit [NYPost]
An editorial view on the merits of artists explaining their work [GuardianUK]
Following the controversy, the former Salander-O’Reilly gallery is now on sale for $75M [NYTimes]
Christie’s NY holding first contemporary design auction [Artinfo]
New laws restrict art-donation tax breaks [Wall Street Journal]
Art Collectors auction themselves off at SCOPE [Artinfo] also here [NYSun}

Anish Kapoor via Time

Time Magazine on Anish Kapoor [Time]
Tracey Emin’s controversial selections for Royal Academy include zebra bestiality, closeups of masturbation during menstruation, and barbed wire hula-hooping [The Daily Mail]
Separately, Hirst invited to join Royal Academy, and has yet to reply [[TimesUK]
Banksy friend/street artist Nick Walker to tag undisclosed British landmarks with laser [Artinfo]
Private art insurance premiums jump 30% year on year [Wall Street Journal]
Salander furniture/antique sale garners $1.6 million [Bloomberg]
The Met is closer to a new Director [New York Sun]
The Vatican begins a contemporary art initiative[the Independent]

Salander’s son Jonah tries to block a photographer via Portofolio

Salander ordered to cede control of finances by trustee [NY Times]
Update: Salander lists homes to pay creditors [Wall Street Journal]
Update: a Portfolio summary of the Salander fraud affair [Portofolio]
NYC officials cite graffiti’s rise in legitimacy as art as cause for recent surge [NY Post]
Moscow’s first foreigner-owned gallery [Artinfo]

John Baldessari, Carsten Holler, Nathalie Djurberg and Thomas Demand; Prada’s Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada; the curator Germano Celant;Francesco Vezzoli via the New York Times

Miuccia Prada as global patron of the arts [NY Times Magazine]
The expansion of South Korean art galleries in Chelsea [New York Sun]
Update: “Warhol’s Jews” the Sun reviews [New York Sun]
Salander profiled as a martyr of sorts for old masterworks [New York Mag]
On Artist Zhang Huan’s [Men's Vogue]
Hockney donates fifty works to Tate Britain [the Times.UK via ArtForum]
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster chosen for Turbine Hall [Guardian UK]
Sonnabend’s collection to be sold to pay taxes on $400 million estate [Crains]

“The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil” via Telegraph.co.uk

Follow up: Monet’s “The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil” sells for £20 million at Christie’s [Telegraph.co.uk]
Update: Make your own movie at Gondry Deitch Projects [New York Times]
Tracey Emin spends $8 million to save an art district in London [ArtForum via the Guardian.com]
Whitney Biennial’s busy schedule, starting next Thursday [New York Times]
A good overall summary on artist Paul McCarthy [LATimes via C-Monster]
Judge Denies Salander’s bankruptcy [Bloomberg]
Michael Ovitz may buy the Chelsea Art Museum Building for growing art collection [New York Post]

Repossessing artwork via New York Times

Why would a respected Manhattan gallery have to file for bankruptcy and break the trust of loyal customers? The Manhattan District Attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, is investigating Salander - O’Reilly Galleries LLC for breach of fiduciary responsibilities. The gallery did so by using consignment fees, to pay off his debt, instead of using revenue generated by the business. Galleries do not own all of the proceeds of the artworks that they sell. Instead, they act as holding companies and are obligated to set aside the consignor’s cut of the sale, until they receive it. The Upper East Side, gallery allegedly swindled consignors, artists and buyers out of approximately $40 million dollars in artworks.

Links:
Congoleum, Northwest Air, Adelphia, Dana: Bankruptcy (Update1) [Bloomberg]
Salander, Magnus, Movie Gallery, Plastech: Bankruptcy (Update1) [Bloomberg]
Art Dealer Files for Bankruptcy, Delaying Suits Against Him [New York Times]
Lawyers Suggest Process to Retrieve Art From Salander-O’Reilly [Bloomberg]
First Republic Says $40 Million in Default in Salander Art Fray [Bloomberg]
Big Dreams, Big Expenses: In a Lavish Town House, an Art Gallery in Trouble [New York Times]
First Republic Bank 2005 Annual Report [First Republic Bank]
The Salander Chronologies [ARTINFO]

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Kehinde Wiley’s St. Sebastian II (Columbus), 2006 via Columbus Museum of Art
Michael Jackson via MJsite

Michael Jackson planning collaboration with Kehinde Wiley?[PR Inside]
UK’s planned taxes on incoming art from non-domiciled residents could discourage wealthy donors and supporters [Financial Times]
London’s February auctions prove that despite shaky financial climate, demand is still high for Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary works [NYTimes]
Recap of Jeff Koons talk at the 92nd St. Y [Art Fag City]
Salander O’Reilly Gallery in NY goes bankrupt: Ownership of works held at gallery still yet to be determined [Bloomberg]
Ed Ruscha talks about new show “Ed Ruscha: Paintings” on view at Gagosian London [Gaurdian]
Banksy’s Kate Moss/ Marilyn Monroe portrait fetches $191,000 at Bonhams [Bloomberg]