AO Art Observed™

Snow Scene at Argenteuil 1875 by Claude Monet (1840-1926) via Guardian

On view at Tate Britain: 18 masterpieces recently bequeathed to British National Gallery, including works by Degas, Freud, Monet, worth roughly $200,000,000 [GuardianUK]
The art/fashion, Vuitton/Richard Prince link in London [Bloomberg]
Mutualart.com’s Top Art Exhibitions for 2008 [Businessweek]
French art thief pleads guilty in botched $4.7M masterworks sale, indictment covered by AO here [NYSun] [AO]
2009 Turner Prize judges announced [TheArtNewspaper]
MOMA buys 3 Jasper Johns works for undisclosed sum (note: 2 years ago a Johns sold for $80M) [NYTimes]

Take Your Time at MoMA via NY Times

This weekend, the much- anticipated Olafur Eliasson exhibition, “Take Your Time,” opened in New York at both the Museum of Modern Art and its contemporary art outpost in Queens, P.S.1. The comprehensive survey of Eliasson’s work — his first retrospective in the United States– features sculpture, photographs, and installations described as “immersive environments.” The artist has also teamed up with the Public Art Fund to construct waterfalls that will be seen in the East River this summer.

Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson [MoMA]
Take Your Time at P.S.1 [P.S. 1]
Stand Still; A Spectacle Will Happen[NY Times]
Don’t Believe Your Eyes: Eliasson’s Illusion Act at MoMA, P.S.1 [Bloomberg]
In Brilliant Color [NY Sun]
Waterfalls as Art To Be Installed in East River[NY Sun]
Seeing Things[New Yorker]
Northern lights [Art in America]
MoMA and P.S.1 presents Take your time: Olafur Eliasson [Artipedia]
“Eliasson in the Hands of Viewers at MoMA” [NY Sun]
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Victoria Beckham by Juergen Teller via New York Times

Juergen Teller’s casual, quirky, highbrow photographs  [NYTimes]
Rothko’s kin petition to transfer his remains [NYTimes]
Book Review: Renzo Piano’s monopoly; “Piano effect” [archidose via C-Monster]
Matthew Barney honored by the National Arts Club [ NY Sun]
Indian contemporary art at Wolverhampton, UK [Financial Times]
Interview with Glenn Lowry, MOMA’s director [Timeout New York]

David Hockney via Telegraph.co.uk

Hockney donates largest piece to the Tate [Daily Telegraph]
France loans to buyers, supports art market, competes with China [Int. Herald Tribune]
Inside Beijing’s Booming Central Academy of Fine Arts [New York Times]
“The Bather,” one of Cézanne’s greatest works [Wall Street Journal]
French film producer/director Claude Berri’s Paris art gallery in Paris designed by Jean Nouvel [ArtInfo]
MOMA lunch announces new IMPei designed Museum of Islamic art [NYMag]

Anthony D’Offay via MSNBC

The British art dealer Anthony d’Offay has made one of the biggest arts sales in Britain for a reported fifth of their value. 725 works have been sold to the national collection, the Britain’s Tate and Scotland’s National Galleries on Wednesday.
British Art Dealer Anthony d’Offay Sells Major Collection [MSNBC]
More Modern Art for British museums [Telegraph.co.uk]
The Battle between the Tate and the MOMA [Guardian Unlimited]

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Cai Guo-Qiang: 1st Chinese born artist with Guggenheim retrospective [New York Times]
New five-year contract for Lowry at MOMA (Not the MET) [The New York Times]
Ordway Prize, America’s Turner, announced; Driskell Prize also announced [ArtInfo]
Co-Head of I-Banking at Morgan Stanley named to Tate Board [Bloomberg]
Economist: German Expressionism is back [Economist via C-Monster]
Waning art sales spells cancellation for fledgling Duesseldorf art fair [Bloomberg]
Madrid’s famed “art triangle” adds a new cultural center to it’s roster [The Canadian Press]

Vacant Lot adjacent to the MoMA where the five houses will be installed courtesy of the New York Times

Prefab houses—structures assembled largely off site and then delivered— have become the challenge trend at architectural schools and the Museum of Modern Art has commissioned five architects to confront the trial head on. Each architectural team approaches the structure differently, both conceptually and spatially, by addressing social and environmental needs through texture, materials, and efficiency. The exhibition, “Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling,” will open in July offering both tours of the structures as well as an extensive supplementary exhibit inside of the museum.

New York Times

“Athenian Moon Owl” by Joseph Beuys via Tate

More on Gagosian Opening Gallery in Rome [Artnet]
Even More on Gagosian in Rome [TAN]
Coverage of The Fanciest Sattelite Parties at Art Basel Miami Beach [NYT]
The Insider - Profile of Gallerist Melissa Bent [The Moment]
New MoMA Acquisitions Include Joseph Beuys Pieces [NYT]

via MoMA

Lucian Freud’s new show, The Painter’s Etchings, is opening this weekend at the MOMA. The show runs from December 16th until March 10th.

The Painter’s Etchings

Per Page Six:

“THE Art Basel convention in Miami this week has drawn planeloads of hard-partying New Yorkers. Tonight, Condé Nast and jeans company 7 for All Mankind co-host an event at the Ice House, while Cartier serves dinner at the Botanical Gardens and Jimmy Choo pours for the fashionistas at the Raleigh. Dennis Hopper will be at the Russia Miami exhibit organized by Jana Bullock and Hugo Boss. Tomorrow, Vanity Fair and MoMA hold a bash at the Shore Club, while Linda Evangelista hosts a dance party with Visionaire at the Florida Room. On Saturday, the event’s closing night, Russell Simmons and Allison Weiss Brady throw a benefit for the Rush Philanthropic Organization at Intermix, as Adidas stages a Y3 event in the design district. But the big invites for Saturday are the private dinner at Paul Wilmot’s home and the soiree for Julian Schnabel and Lou Reed’s flick “Berlin” at Set.”

Photos: Christian Coleman for ArtObserved
“Banksy Does New York,” the first New York gallery show for British-born street-artist Banksy, opened this Sunday, December 2nd, at Vanina Holasek Gallery on West 27th Street.

Just this October more than 50 Banksy works went to auction at Bonhams and Sotheyby’s, both in London. Nearly all the works sold for at least double (more…)