AO Art Observed™

George Michael via TelegraphUK

At Frieze, George Michael and partner annouce plans for 10,000 sf Dallas space for $200 million in British contemporary art [FirstPost]
Emily Rauh Pulitzer gives $45 million for Harvard’s collection, as well as 31 works, incuding Picasso, Modigliani, and Giacometti valued at an additional $200 million [Boston Globe]
Jackie Wullschlager summarizes 20 years following Damien Hirst’s curated “Freeze” show of YBA ’s [FinancialTimes]
Two new London outposts for existing galleries: Yvon Lambert across from White Cube and Pilar Corrias in Rem Koolhaas-designed space in Fitzorivia [ArtReview.com]
A Fernando Botero video interview on his Circus series, and part two here [Vernissage]
In new Moscow Museum of Modern Art branch, Sotheby’s previews 50 20th-century works, including Bacon, Warhol and Picasso to be sold for estimated $200 to $300 million in New York in November [The Moscow Times] more on that, and Christie’s Moscow previews, here [NYTimes]

Self (1991) by Marc Quinn, via Culture Loves Us

The National Portrait Gallery, home to portraits of major British figures such as kings, queens, and prime ministers, has set its eyes on acquiring ‘Self,’ a sculptural self-portrait of Marc Quinn made from ten pints of his own frozen blood. Marc Quinn–one of the most celebrated of the YBAs (Young British Artists) along with Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin–has made three sculptures using his blood as the raw material since 1991, and has said that he plans on making similar sculptures every five years until he is unable to. The original ‘Self’ was acquired by advertising magnate Charles Saatchi for £13,000; White Cube Gallery is offering the NPG the most recent iteration (dating from 2006) for £350,000, with its open market value being quoted at £1.5 million. The Art Fund and several other sources have committed £150,000 to acquiring the work, leaving £200,000 which the NPG needs to raise by December 31st.

National Portrait Gallery criticised over purchase of Marc Quinn’s Blood Head [TimesUK]
National Portrait Gallery Raises Money for Self-Portrait Made From Frozen Blood [ArtInfo]
Museum needs £200,000 for Marc Quinn’s blood portrait [The Art Newspaper]

Previously:
Go See: ‘Statuephilia’ at The British Museum today through January 25th [ArtObserved]
Marc Quinn’s gigantic baby sculpture up for private auction by Sotheby’s [ArtObserved]

Damien Hirst - “The Kingdom” 2008 via The Wall Street Journal

The Art Newspaper has this weekend disclosed the extent of unsold inventory, over 200 works, that are held at Damien Hirst’s gallery in London, White Cube, run by Jay Jopling. The article illuminates a situation for the artist, one of the most successful in the world, but also one of the most prolific, in which his traditional market may be less able to absorb the works at the pace at which he is aiming to produce them. This evolving landscape has presumably led Hirst to explore, through the landmark and controversial upcoming September 15th Sotheby’s London sale, new sales portals and new pools of buyers. The Art Newspaper disclosure however, could perhaps have some ramifications for the Sotheby’s sale itself, as sophisticated buyers may take into account this newly exposed trove of similar work to that being auctioned, and simple supply and demand economics might as a result negatively affect pricing.

Revealed: the art Damien Hirst failed to sell [The Art Newspaper]
200 unsold Damien Hirst works looking for an owner at Sotheby’s [TimesOnlineUK]
Hirst’s Marketing End Run [Wall Street Journal]
Auction, Damien Hirst ‘New Inside My Head Forever’ [Sotheby's]
Several Lucrative Art Series To End, Says Damien Hirst [ArtObserved]
Update: Damien Hirst goes to Auction at Sotheby’s, September 15-16, 2008 [ArtObserved]
Hirst’s ‘Golden Calf’ could sell for $16-$24 million at Sotheby’s London [ArtObserved]

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Damien Hirst at the White Cube Gallery via Museum Lab

As previously covered by AO here Damien Hirst, is preparing for his Sotheby’s auction this September and has come out with a new formaldehyde suspended tiger shark, a cow with golden horns and hooves, a unicorn, in addition to spot paintings, and butterfly collages, among many other newly created works made specifically for the all-Hirst auction. The sale, entitled Beautiful in My Mind Forever, will be comprised of 223 lots, and is expected to raise somewhere between $100 million and $150 million over the two-day sale that takes place on September 15th and 16th. The Golden Calf alone is expected to sell at a high of $25 million. The sale is extremely notable as Hirst is circumventing his main dealers Larry Gagosian in New York and Jay Jopling of White Cube in London and going directly to auction. Though Jopling and Gagosian have ostensibly given their blessing, the auction reflects a potentially new paradigm in the the way art is sold.

Golden calf, bull’s heart, a new shark: Hirst’s latest works may fetch £65m [Guardian]
Damien Hirst brings £65m of his wares to market [Times Online]
Artist Hirst Jumps the Shark, Cuts Out [NYPost]
Hirst auction expected to raise £65m [Financial Times]
Hirst Still Playing Elaborate Joke On Hedge Fund Community [Dealbreaker]
Damien Hirst auction expected to fetch £65 million and Art sales: Bullish Hirst Rattles the Market [Telegraph]
Damien Hirst is Rewriting the Rules of the Market [The Art Newspaper]
Damien Hirst: Beautiful Inside My Head Forever [Sotheby's]
Hirst auction expected to fetch 65 million pounds [APF]
Hirst’s ‘Golden Calf’ could sell for $16-$24 million at Sotheby’s London [ArtObserved]

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Jake (left) and Dinos Chapman with their work Fucking Hell 2008 via The Independent

From May 30th to July 12th the news collection from the Chapman brothers, If Hitler Had Been a Hippy How Happy Would We Be will be on display at the White Cube Gallery in Mason’s Yard London.  The show includes a remake of the Chapmans’ original piece Hell entitled F****** Hell and the defacement of watercolors created by the hand of Hitler and a series of classic oil portraits.

White Cube Gallery
The Chapmans journey to Hell and back [Times Online]
Hitler gets Chapman treatment as Hell rises from the ashes [Guardian UK]
Jake and Dinos Chapman go to work on ‘abject’ Hitler art [Times Online]
Chapman brothers’ Hell back from the flames [Telegraph UK]
Chapman Brothers Draw on Hitler [Artinfo]

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Barnaby Furnas, Poe (2008) via White Cube

White Cube Hoxton Square, London, presents “You Dig the Tunnel, I ll Hide the Soil” an exhibition celebrating the legacy, influence, and iconic status of American writer Edgar Allan Poe. Some artists featured are Jake & Dinos Chapman, Douglas Gorden, Marcus Harvey, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Anselm Kiefer, Mike Nelson, Cindy Sherman and many more.

White Cube
“Preview: Animal Magic, Eleven Fine Art, London” [The Independent]

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Awake via White Cube

From April 23 until May 24, White Cube gallery in London will feature Gregory Crewdson’s exhibition of photographs. Crewdson’s pictures are related to the lives of families in small towns of America . His shots are not always a rosy picture of the “American Dream”.

White Cube gallery
Gregory Crewdson: what dark secrets does this picture hold?

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Martin Creed; Brass & Chrome in front; Multi-Colored Neon in back; Hauser & Wirth

Commentary and Photos by Faith-Ann Young

In the 1950s, neon represented the light of the American Dream- a technological innovation that emblazoned a company or brands’ success and riches into the starry skies. In the 1980’s art world, neon signs were omnipresent, signifying cool kitsch. At this year’s Armory Show in NYC, neon was back and bold- flashing flamboyantly in at least seventeen exhibitions- whether in traditional form or L.E.D. However today’s neon, rather than to flaunt the obvious (like typical commercial signage), most artists employed these glow rays to reveal the hidden, secret or censored. (more…)

A part of the Chapman brothers’ ‘Family Collection’ via The Independent

Six years after Charles Saatchi acquired the “Chapman Family Collection”, the Tate Gallery is about to acquire the wooden figures for an unknown price. “The Chapman family collection” was first exhibit at the White Cube in 2002. At this time, the dealer and collector, acquired them for the average price of $2 million.

Jake & Dinos Chapman [White cube]
Tate buys Saatchi’s “Chapman Collection” [ArtInfo]
Jake and Dinos Chapman’s sculpture acquired by the Tate Gallery [The Independent]
Tate acquires Chapman Family Collection [First Post]

Marc Quinn via White Cube

London’s White Cube Gallery is hosting  Marc Quinn’s new exhibition called “Evolution”. Quinn’s latest offering returns to physical forms in a series of monumental sculptures of human fetuses in different stages of gestation. The show runs from the 25th of January to February 23rd.

In town last night: Marc Quinn at White Cube [The First Post]
Quinn’s Sculptures at White Cube [The Independant]
White Cube [White cube Gallery]

Darren Almond via Times Online

White Cube Hoxton Square is hosting Darren Almonds newest exhibit, Moons of the Iapetus Ocean. The exhibit opened on January 18th. Almond uses the moonlight and long exposure to transform his photographs from night to day. This collection includes photographs of mostly the British Isles but also Tibet.

Moons of the Iapetus Ocean [White Cube]
Moonlight and Technical Brilliance [Times Online]

China’s Contemporary Art Museum via Art Newspaper

China’s first contemporary art museum backed by Belgian, Guy Ullens - [Art Newspaper]
Best Upcoming Art Shows of 2008 - [Times Online UK]
Mamontova Gallery in Russin debuts - [Bloomberg]
Jeff Wall Show opens simultaneously in White Cube London, Guggenheim in Berlin - [Financial Times]
UBS to display corporate Stash in Tokyo in ‘08 - [Bloomberg]
Picasso Stolen from Sao Paulo Art Museum - [ArtDaily]