Untitled, Willem de Kooning (1984) via Artinfo

Sold for about $5.6 million.
Estimate was $2.4 million – $4 million.

The Contemporary Art sale at Phillips de Pury and Company monday had some disappointing news to report when 34% of the lots went unsold. Even some of the top by Xang Xiagang and Paul McCarthy found themselves unable to sell. Damien Hirst, who sold 3 of his 4 works in the auction, managed to barely meet his estimate on the ones sold.

Contemporary Market Bruised but Resilient After London Sales [Artinfo]
Market news: London’s contemporary art sales [Telegraph]
McCarthy, Zhang Flop in Tepid London Contemporary-Art Auction [Bloomberg]
London Contemporary Week Lurches Into Action at Phillips [Artinfo]

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Image via Telegraph UK

Award-winning sculptor Antony Gormley will present his work “One And Other” in Trafalgar Square, London as he was recently chosen for the Fourth Plinth commission. His piece will occupy the Fourth Plinth for 100 consecutive days, for 24 hours, by members of the public who volunteered to stand for an hour. This will allow 2,400 people to participate in this piece.

Next on the Trafalgar Square plinth: the public [Times Online]
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London Mayor Offers to Be Living Artwork for Gormley [Bloomberg]
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Gormley’s human exhibit wins battle of Trafalgar [Independent]
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Antony Gormley will ask Trafalgar Square volunteers to climb plinth for art [Telegraph UK]
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Public art — literally — for London’s Trafalgar Square [AFP]
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Trafalgar Square: The People’s Plinth – A Portrait of our Time [Independent]

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Study for Head of George Dyer, Francis Bacon (1967) via NYTimes

Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Sale in London took place yesterday on July 1st and brought in an encouraging total of $188.8 million.  Francis Bacon’s painting of the profile of his lover and companion, George Dyer, was a highlight of the auction. This intimate portrait based on a photograph by John Deakin, was originally predicted to collect $15.5 million, but sold at a much higher $27.4 million to an anonymous collector. Although the sellers of the Bacon painting were kept anonymous, the New York Tims reported that experts speculate that it was sold by Ian and Mercedes Stouker, London Philanthropists.  Other impressive results of the sale achieved records for 11 different artists, and included the high profile sale of a Basquiat painting from seller U2, and an Andy Warhol from seller John McEnroe. The sold-out collection from the German industrialist, Walther Lauffs, which included work from Yves Klein, was another highlight of the show.

Sotheby’s July 2008 Contemporary Art Evening Sale Triumphs [Artdaily]
U2’s Jean-Michel Basquiat work on Sotheby’s block for $17.7M [Art Observed]
Bacon Stars, 10 Records Set at Sotheby’s; U2 Sell Art [Bloomberg]
Anish Kapoor sculpture attracts $3.87 mn at Sotheby’s sale [Economic Times]
Ten Works Set Records at Sotheby’s Contemporary Auctions [NYSun]
Sotheby’s contemporary art sale reaches £94.7 million [International Herald Tribune]
Contemporary Art Evening Auction Results [Sotheby’s]
Bacon Is Again a Top Draw at Auction [NYTimes]

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Your Dogs, 2008 via Maureen Paley

German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans has an exhibition at Maureen Paley gallery in London’s East End. His first solo exhibition in the UK since 2005, it offers new work as well as older, rarely viewed video. This exhibit is a combination of traditional photographs, photographic sculptures, photocopies and video. Two themes recurring throughout both floors of Tillmans’ work are the photograph as an object and the interaction of nature and man-made objects.

Wolfgang Tillmans, Maureen Paley Gallery [Maureen Paley]
Wolfgang Tillmans [ArtNews]
Wolfgang Tillmans at Maureen Paley [SHOWstudio]
Wolfgang Tillmans at Maureen Paley [Dazed Digital]
Wolfgang Tillmans – Maureen Paley Gallery [Photoicon]
Discover ‘Lighter’, the new solo exhibition from Wolfgang Tillmans [London is Free]

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New York City Waterfalls, Olafur Eliasson via NYTimes

Danish Artist, Olafur Eliasson has completed his $15.5 million New York City Waterfalls project. This sublime installation consists of four free-standing cataracts that have been transformed into 90 to 120 feet of falling water. The waterfalls started flowing yesterday, June 26th and will continue through October 13th.

Olafur Eliasson’s The New York City Waterfalls in New York [Artdaily]
Niagara’s New Rivals -For a Time, Anyway [Wall Street Journal]
The Falls Guy [NYMag]
Olafur Eliasson set to make a splash in Manhattan with waterfalls [Guardian UK]
Eliasson’s Waterfalls Make Instant Monuments for N.Y. Harbor [Bloomberg]
Cascades, Sing the City Energetic [NYTimes]
‘Waterfalls’ art installation to shower East River [NYDaily News]

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Chant 2, Bridget Riley (1967) via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s is holding its Contemporary Art Evening Auction on Tuesday, July 1st at its New Bond St. location in London. The sale’s highlights include works from Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, Bridget Riley, Andy Warhol and a number of other notable contemporary artists. The complete body of works for this sale will be on view at Sotheby’s New Bond St. galleries Monday, June 30 from 9am-7pm and Tuesday, July 1 from 9am-12noon.

Bridget Riley’s piece, Chant 2, a unique color painting which will be in the sale, was part of a show which won the artist the esteemed International Prize for Painting at the 34th Venice Biennale in 1968 .

Estimate: $4,000,000 – $6,000,000 (Pictured above)

London Contemporary Art Evening Auction [Sotheby’s]

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“Too Far Too Close”, Os Gemeos at Deitch Gallery via Art Observed

On June 28th, the doors opened at 18 Wooster St in New York to reveal the fantastical world of Os Gemeos. The twin brothers that make up Os Gemeos, Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, are having their second show at Deitch, called “Too Far Too Close”. The artist duo, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, has successfully altered the space into a colorful world filled with chimerical portraits, music, and scenes straight from the intimate minds of Os Gemeos.

Sharing a brain: Os Gemeos [GQ]
Os Gemeos: Too Far Too Close [Deitch]
Os Gemeos’s Homepage [Lost Art]
Bomb – It: International Graffiti Documentary [Bomb-It]
Os Gemeos “Too Far Too Close” [NYArtbeat]

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Paul McCarthy’s “Spinning Room” (2008) at the Whitney Museum of American Art via NYTimes

An exhibition of new and barely seen works from one of America’s most important artists, Paul McCarthy, is open at the Whitney Museum of American Art. McCarthy, who increased his notoriety when he transformed the Maccarone Gallery into a chocolate factory last November, now has “Central Symmetrical Rotation Movement Three Installations, Two Films” at the Whitney through October 12. The show was curated by Chrissie Iles and is designed by McCarthy, in part to address the viewer’s sense of perception.

Whitney to Present Paul McCarthy: Central Symmetrical Rotation Movement [Artdaily]
A Trip Through the Revolving Doors of Perception [NYTimes]
On View Now: Paul McCarthy [The Whitney]
Maccarone now officially home of Peter Paul Chocolates [ArtObserved]
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Louise Bourgeois via Artatien
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The iconic artist, Louise Bourgeois, is honored by the culmination two major events. Her exhibit at the Guggenheim in New York recently opened on June 27th. June 25th was the theatrical premier of “Louise Bourgeois:The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine”, a documentary about her life and work at the Film Forum.

New Louise Bourgeois Documentary Film to Premiere at New York’s Film Forum [Artdaily]
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Louise Bourgeois at the Guggenheim [The Art Newspaper]
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Portrait of a Haunted Artist Who Befriended Giant Spiders [NY Times]
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‘Louise Bourgeois’: An Intimate Look at a Provocateur [NYSun]
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The Guggenheim Museum: Louise Bourgeois [Guggenheim]
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Raw Materials of a Life, Revealed by Sculpture [NYTimes]
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Louise Bourgeios at the Guggenheim [NYTimes]
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`Cumuls,’ Dolls Recall Daddy Dearest in Louise Bourgeois Show [Bloomberg]
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For Your Distorted Pleasure: Louise Bourgeois [NYTimes]
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Bourgeois Looms Large at the Guggenheim [NY artbeat]

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Nine Multicolored Marilyns, Andy Warhol (1979-1986) via Phillips

Phillips de Pury & Company is holding it’s Contemporary Art Sale on June 29 and 30. The sale highlights works from Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paul McCarthy, and many other distinguished contemporary artists.

Phillips Contemporary Art Sale [Phillips]

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Balloon Flower (Magenta), Jeff Koons via flickr W10

Jeff Koons’ magenta colored Balloon Flower sits in St. James Square waiting to be sold on Monday, June 30th, at Christie’s London. From the series Celebration, the enormous flower was previously owned by the Rachofsky Collection in Texas. It has been deemed the highlight of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale, and is estimated to fetch $23.5 million.

Koons Dallas ‘Flower’ may fetch $23.5 Million at Christie’s London June 30th [artobserved]
Jeff Koons Sculpture May Fetch 12 Million Pounds at Christie’s [Bloomberg]
Win One, Lose One for Dallas Museum [NYTimes]

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Cy Twombly, Quattro Stagioni: Autunno, (1993-5) via Tate Modern

From June 19 – September 14, the Tate Modern presents the first solo retrospecitve of Cy Twombly in 15 years.  Twombly, an abstract expressionist painter, is regarded as one of the most influential artists of our time.

Cy Twombly at Tate UK [Tate Modern]
Cy Twombly at Tate Modern, London [Gagosian Gallery]
Cy Twombly – Cycles and Seasons [Digital Arts]
Tate Unites London, New York Versions Of Cy Twombly’s Great Painting Cycle [HulIQ]
Cy Twombly is the only graffiti artist I care about [Guardian UK]

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Lee Bontecou, Composition (1965) via Hauser & Wirth Gallery

The collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs, one of Europe’s most important private collections of 20th century post war art, will be on exhibit at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Zürich through July 26. The focus of the Lauff’s collection was new and ground breaking contemporary art.  Their collection contains key American and European artistic currents in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Selections from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs [ArtNet]
Selections from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs [re-title.com]
VIDEO: Selections from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs/Hauser&Wirth, Zurich [Vernissage]

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A Christie’s worker takes a closer look at Monet’s Le basin aux nymphaes via yahoo

At Christie’s auction yesterday Monet’s water-lily painting, Le basin aux nymphaes, sold to an anonymous collector for $80.5 million, well over the estimated $35 to $47 million. This is a record breaking sale for the artist, and a tell tale sign that there is some life in many sectors of the art market. The other big sale of the evening was Degas’, Danseuses a la barre, which sold for $26.5 million.

A Monet Sets a Record: $80.4 Million [NYTimes]
Monet fetches record $80.5m [FinancialTimes]
Christie’s in London Sells Monet Masterpiece for $ 80.5 Million A Record for the Artist [artdaily]
Monet record smashed as art market boom goes on [Forbes]
$80M A Whole Lot of Monet [NYPost]
A lot of Monet as Christie’s sells waterlilies for record £41 million [Times Online UK]
Monet record smashed as art market boom goes on [Guardian UK]
In London, Will Moderns Move? [NYSun]
AO Preview: Christie’s London Impressionist and Modern Art [ArtObserved]

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Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh (1889) via Artdaily

Van Gogh’s Cypresses and The Starry Night exhibited now at Yale [artdaily]
Haunch of Venison, a Christie’s-owned-gallery, causes some rebuke in the system [NY Mag]
Update: The Sun Reviews Byrne ‘playing the building’ and Burden at Rockefeller Center [NYSun]
A Summer gallery line-up for Paris [Bloomberg]
Time lapse video from Cans Street Art Festival in London, covered by AO here [Wooster Collective via WorldsBestEver]
Sotheby’s selling (post-cubism) Italian Futurism as the next big trend? [Economist]

A visitor looks at Rembrandt Laughing at the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam via daylife

The Rembrandt self-portrait, once thought to be a knockoff, has recently been confirmed by the Rembrandt Research Project to be authentic. Rembrandt Laughing was originally estimated to be worth $3,100 but sold for $4.5 million in an English auction house last October.  The painting’s current estimated value is $30,000,000 to $40,000,000.

Rembrandt confirmed a genuine item [Bloomberg]
A Rembrandt, Really [NYTimes]
The Rembrandt House Museum Presents Today “Rembrandt Laughing” in Amsterdam [Artdaily]
‘Rembrandt Laughing’ is self-portrait [Chicago Tribune]

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Untitled 1992 via Greenberg Van Doren Gallery

Through June 27th, Greenberg Van Doren Gallery in New York is showing the works of Richard Diebenkorn in a solo exhibition  entitled “Ocean Park Monotypes & Drawings”. The title of the exhibition refers to the area of Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California where he worked and was highly influenced by his surrounding landscapes.  He began the  “Ocean Park” series of over 140 paintings and drawings in 1967, which later became some of his best known works. The exhibition includes his paintings, works on paper, and edition prints.

Richard Diebenkorn [Greenberg Van Doren Gallery]
Richard Diebenkorn, “Ocean Park Monotypes & Drawings.” [Time out]

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Le bassin aux nympheas, Claude Monet (1919) via Christie’s

Christie’s London will conduct its Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale this Tuesday, June 24.  The sale will feature work from artists such headliners as Monet, Degas, Giacometti, Goncharova, Bonnard, Picasso, as well as many other notables. Viewing of the works on the block will continue until the day of the show.

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale [Christie’s]

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Le bassin aux nympheas by Monet via BBC News

Rarely seen Monet is up for auction at Christie’s [BBC]
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Berlin as a new artistic and cultural capital of Europe? [NYTimes]
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Jeff Koons joins Gucci jury for Venice film festival in September [Variety]
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The ‘Artek Pavilion,’ sold as an art piece by Sotheby’s, can be used as display space for collectors[NYSun]
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“Louise Bourgeois: the Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine” showing at New York’s Film Forum [Film Forum]
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16 Young British Artists reunite in London for “Freeze 20”[ArtInfo]

Zang Huan via Pace Wildenstein

Through July 25, Chelsea’s Pace Wildenstein is showing Chinese artist, Zhang Huan. The exhibition Zhang Huan: Blessings will take place at the two Wildenstein galleries in Chelsea.  The artist lived in New York for eight years before moving back to Shangai in 2006.  The works are notable if not only for their ambitious scale.

That’s a Nice Piece of Ash [New York Observer]
Zhang Huan: Blessings [Pace Wildenstein]

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Image via NY Mag

The Whitney Museum wil exhibit Robert Mapplethorpe’s Polaroids until September 7.  Curated by Sylvia Wolf, “Polaroids: Robert Mapplethorpe” presents a selection of photographs not usually associated with this artist. This more spontaneous body of work is a combination of portraits, still lifes and erotica and shows links to his later, more recognizable stylized images.  These instant photographs work as a view into the photographic growth of the artist between the years of 1970 and 1975, as well as a testament to the full dynamic of this soon-to-be unavailable medium.

Spontaneity was the message [NY Times]
Shoot to thrill [New Yorker]
Polaroids: Mapplethorpe [Whitney Museum]
Whitney Museum of American Art to Present Polaroids: by Robert Mapplethorpe [ArtDaily]
Robert Mapplethorpe’s Polaroids [The Art Newspaper] (more…)

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Marlene Dumas fromThe New York Times

Marlene Dumas, most expensive living woman artist at auction (until recently exceeded by Bourgeois) coming to MOMA in December [NYTimes Mag]
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How the proliferation of private museums affects the buyer/dealer system [The Independent]
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A reduced-size Antony Gormley ‘Angel of the North’ a Bacon, a Basquiat, a Richter coming on the block at Sotheby’s [Artinfo]
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Profile of Lauren Cornell, director of New Museum website: Rhizome [TimeoutNY]
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Herzog & de Meuron to design new museum of modern art in Calcutta [The Arts Newspaper]
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The art works Jeff Koons collects [NYTimes]
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Update: New York Mag covers the Shafrazi show,[NYMag] covered by AO here [AO]
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FT’s Jackie Wullschlager reviews Royal Academy Exhibition in London [Financial Times]

Goya, Grande hazana! Con muertos via ArtNet

Through August 1, the Peter Blum Gallery in New York presents Goya’s print series “The Disasters of War”, a portrait of cruelty, aggression, atrocities, and man’s inhumanity towards his fellow man.  Violent, gore filled, and graphic in nature, Goya depicts Spain’s War of Independence against Napoleon.

Desastres de la Guerra [Peter Blum Gallery]
Francisco de Goya [NY Times]
Francisco de Goya: Los Desastres de la Guerra (The Disasters of War) [ArtNet]
Goya Does Gore at Peter Blum [Village Voice]
Francisco de Goya: Los Desastres de la Guerra (The Disasters of War) [Art Log]
Francisco de Goya [NY Artbeat]

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Damien Hirst, The Golden Calf via artdaily

Sotheby’s in London has recently announced that Damien Hirst will be auctioning off a number of newly created works at the sale: ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’ on September 15 and 16. The highlight of the sale is Hirst’s Golden Calf, which is an 18-carat gold encrusted bull submerged in a tank of formadehyde, is expected to sell for $16 to $24 million. This Sotheby’s sale is comprised exclusively of works made by Damien Hirst during the past two years.

Hirst’s Golden Calf Is Pricey Per Pound [NYTimes]
The Golden Calf by Damien Hirst Headlines Groundbreaking Auction of Work by Artist [artdaily]
Damien Hirst to Auction Own Works at Sotheby’s [artinfo]
Damien Hirst to sell £12 million ‘Golden Calf’ artwork at auction [TIMESOnline UK]
Dropping the Other Calf [TIME]
Hirst to Offer `Golden Calf’ for 12 Million Pounds at Sotheby’s [Bloomberg]

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