Melissa Bent and Mirabelle Marden via Style.com

Interview with Melissa Bent, Mirabelle Marden, founders of Rivington Arms [Style.com]
Former Guggenheim director Krens looking for other New York projects[Bloomberg]
Emmanuel Perrotin’s review “La Louvre – Paris” exhibition by Gelitin [The Moment]
Ralph Rugoff’s blunt critique of Damien Hirst’s “decorative” £50m skull [The Independent]
Hirst work sells for 500 times €380 paid for it last year [The Independent]
A Rare Richard Prince Interview [Dejour Magazine via Raw art weblog]

Mark Rothko via Kunsthalle München

Mark Rothko, the influential American painter known for his large abstract paintings consisting of blocks of color, currently has a retrospective at the Kunsthalle in Munich. The exhibition at offers an extensive look at the entire oeuvre of the Russian-born artist, with over 100 paintings and drawings on view.

Exhibition Information[Kunsthalle]
Mark Rothko biography [National Gallery]

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Baldessari installation at Pepe Cobo via artnews.org

Galería Pepe Cobo in Madrid is currently showing recent work from the series Arms & Legs (Specif. Elbows & Knees), etc., Part II by American artist John Baldessari. The exhibit is a group of over-painted photographic prints to which three-dimensional collage elements are added, featuring detached human body parts in cool primary colors.

Official Website [baldessari.org]
Exhibition information [Pepe Cobo]

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Willem de Kooning, ‘Untitled XV’ 1986 via bloomberg

The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), in Maastricht, South Netherlands, started off its festivities with a twist on Thursday, March 6th. The fair, which has been an annual event for over 30 years, was robbed at its VIP reception, which attracted 10,000 major collectors, before even opening to the public this year.

Collectors Forum [Hamilton FitzJames]
Million dollar diamond necklace stolen during Dutch art fair [Europe World News]
Maastricht Art Fair, Pollock sells for $8 Million [The New York Times]
TEFAF: Antiquities, Old Masters and Furniture sell [Telegraph]
Willem de Kooning’s painting sells for 5 million [Bloomberg]
Maastricht Fair Offers $1 Billion of Artworks to Collectors [Bloomberg]
TEFAF Sales Rise [ARTINFO]
Fair opens with a twist [ARTINFO]
Deutsche Bank sponsors 30 year old tradition in 2008 [Bloomberg]
TEFAF Roundup [Bloomberg]
Major collectors, dealers and artists [Wall Street Journal]

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The CaxiaForum [BigFishJavi]

A striking addition to its already thriving art scene, a new contemporary art museum designed by superstar Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron has opened in Madrid. The CaxiaForum is located in the heart of the cultural district, very near the Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza musuems.

Madrid museum opens as an ‘urban magnet’ [artnewspaper]
–>CaxiaForum Madrid [Official website]

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Firmament at White Cube via antonygormley.com

Antony Gormley’s solo exhibition at White Cube Mason’s Yard is comprised of two installations, “Firmament” a sculpture made of 1,770 steel rods welded together in a giant structure depicting the human form, and “Lost Horizon,” 32 life-sized solid iron copies of Gormley’s body adorning the floor, walls and ceiling of one room in the gallery.

Antony Gormley: Firmament [White Cube]
Official website [antonygormley.com]
Guardian interview [Guardian UK]

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Rembrandt self-portrait via the New York Times

Last for sale Rembrandt self-portrait is at Maastricht Art Fair [NY Times]
Update: Review of Jeff Wall at the Marian Goodman Gallery [NY Sun]
Warhol, Emin to have solo exhibitions at Hayward Gallery, London [Bloomberg]
Chris Burden, next public art piece at Rockefeller Center [artinfo]
“Biba,” at Coningsby Gallery, London: Kate Moss buys, notables attend [The Moment]

Richard Prince Video Interview via VBS TV (Click for link)

VBS Tv’s series Art Talk, has a four part session with Richard Prince detailing his studio located in Rensselaerville, NY. The videos show Prince’s personal collection, local inspirations, and studio/hunting lodge. Additionally he opines on his methodology, what makes art successful or unsuccessful, and the public’s opinion of art in general.

Art Talk (VBS TV)

Christopher Williams “Linhof Technika V fabricated in Munich, Germany. Salon Studio Stand fabricated in Florence, Italy. Dual cable release. Prontor shutter. Symars lens 150mmm/f 5.6 Schneider kreuznach. Sinar fresnel lens placed with black tape on the ground glass. (Yellow) Dirk Sharper Studio, Berlin, June 19, 2007, 2008 C-Print Framed: 33 3/4 x 29 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches 85.7 x 74.3 x 3.8 cm Matte Window: 17 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches 44.5 x 34.9 cm Print: 20 x 16 inches 50.8 x 40.6 cm” Courtesy David Zwirner, New York

Christopher Williams’ solo exhibition, “For Example: Dix-Huit Leçons Sur La Société Industrielle (Revision 7),” is currently on view at David Zwirner Gallery. The artist makes a concerted effort to remove himself from all actions that usual define a photographers relationship to his subject.
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“Jesus” by George Condo via Luhring Augustine via Bloomberg

In “Christ: The Subjective Nature of Objective Representation,” George Condo depicts God, Jesus and the two thieves, Dismas and Gestas, who were crucified next to Jesus, in four large-scale painting. Condo’s style, which quotes old masters, cubism, surrealism and cartoons, focuses here on religious iconography and its implications.

Christ: The Subjective Nature of Objective Representation [Luhring Augustine]
George Condo Biography [Luhring Augustine]

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Gustav Klimnt, Beethoven Frieze via secession.at

Klimpt’s historic ‘Beethoven Frieze’ to be reconstructed at Tate Liverpool [NY Times]
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Old master stolen by Stasi (East German secret police) valued at $2 million [Bloomberg]
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The architectural intelligence of the New Museum [Financial Times]
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Update: Goat farm video, other favorites, at Whitney Biennial [Bloomberg]
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Brooklyn and Manhattan street art gains fans, collectors [NY Times]
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A case against art for Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth [Financial Times]
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Gagosian’s Uptown Gallery Expands, with a new director (former Picasso biographer) [Art Info]
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The nominal three (to William of Ockham), 1963 [telegraph uk]

Zwirner & Wirth is re-staging a seminal exhibition of Dan Flavin’s fluorescent light sculptures which first took place in 1964 at Green Gallery in New York. The show marked the first time his work was entirely composed of fluorescent lights– a practice which would characterize him for the rest of his career, making him commonly regarded as one of the most influential artists of the late 20th century.

Exhibition information [Zwirner and Wirth]
Biography of Dan Flavin [NGA]
More [The New York Times]

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Opening of the Whitney Biennial

The 2008 Whitney Biennial opened last night to throngs of people. It was curated this year by Shamim Momin and Henriette Huldisch and reverted back to the Biennial’s original mission to create a time capsule out of a far reaching art world that, as Adam Weinberg says, “… is, essentially, out of control.”

Whitney Biennial 2008
Opening of the Whitney Biennial [New York Times]
Whitney Opening [NewsDay]
The Launch of the Whitney [ArtInfo]
Biennial 2008 [New York Times]
Newslinks 03.03.08 [ArtObserved]
Round-Up: Whitney Biennial opens in New York [ArtObserved]

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Alec Wildenstein via Telegraph

Obituary for Alec Wildenstein, of major art world dynasty[Independent UK]
Update: D’Offay wants ‘iconic’ gallery to house £125 million gift [The Scotsman via ArtForum]
In Brooklyn, DUMBO’s most controlling real estate family keeps 1,000 artists and arts organization in the neighborhood [The New York Times]
De Kooning sells for $5 million at the European Fine Art Fair [Bloomberg]
Bill Ruprecht continues to navigate Sotheby’s through uncertain times [Economist]
Future of Metropolitan and Guggenheim is controlled by same exec search firm [NYSun]
‘Gallery condos’ as artist and dealer space for sale in Chelsea [ChelseaNow]
Jeff Koons studio visit is auctioned off, for charity [c-monster], [charitybuzz]

Jean-Michel Othoniel “Diary of Happiness” (detail) 2008 via Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin

Jean-Michel Othoniel’s solo exhibition opens tonight, March 8th at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Miami. The French artist has constructed a huge installation measuring 7 by 15 feet. The piece makes evident the passage of time and the collective contemporary experience within and without it.

Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin [Galerie Perrotin]

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Francis Bacon portrait being auctioned via Sotheby’s via sgallery.net

The evening sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips de Pury & Co. this February raised the most money ever for a series of contemporary sales. However, a report issued by an art market firm on Thursday indicated that the majority of items sold at the low end of their estimates, meaning that the enormous sales numbers may be masking a more disappointing trend.

Sotheby’s sets auction record with sale of Bacon nude [ArtObserved]
Sotheby’s stock down 7% after report is issued [Bloomberg]
Art Report say 60% of February sales lots missed estimate [Bloomberg]
February auction activity roundup [ArtObserved]
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“Animal Estates” by Fritz Haeg via the New York Times

The 2008 Whitney Biennial opened this Thursday at the Whitney Museum of American Art, to usual fanfare and anticipation. The exhibition will take place from March 6 until June 1, 2008 and will host eighty-one artists, selected to tell us ‘where American art stands today.’ The Biennial was founded in 1932 and has evolved into the most important survey of the state of contemporary art in the United States.
Whitney Biennial 2008 [Whitney]
Interactive installation view with audio commentary [ New York Times]
Opening of the Whitney Biennial 2008 [New York Sun]
Whitney and Park Avenue Armory Collaboration [City Guide NY]
By-the-numbers: New York, Los Angeles well-represented [artinfo]
Opening night photos: artists, curators and friends [ArtForum]
Whitney Biennial opens with ‘casual idealism’ [New York Sun]
Mood of Biennial reflects ‘slowness’ in art economy [New York Times ]
Going prices for seven most talked-about artists [Portfolio]
Best of show and worst of show [artfagcity]
Podcast: Portraits of past biennial participants [Whitney]
Most represented dealers in the show[Portfolio]
Some say witty, some say ingratiating [culturegrrl]
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Virgine by Francesco Clemente via Galeria Javier Lopez

The work of Francesco Clemente is on view at Galeria Javier Lopez, Madrid through March 27. In this exhibition, a selection from his series New York Muses, the artist brings his musical, lyrical, slightly melancholy style of playing with time and space to the women walking the streets of New York City.

Galeria Javier Lopez
Francesco Clemente [Gagosian Gallery]
Biography of Francesco Clemente [Guggenheim]

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Bruce Nauman “My Name as Thought it Were Written on the Surface of the Moon” 1968 via Guardian

For its newest exhibition, the Barbican Centre in London will reopen its art gallery as the Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art. Fictional martian curators picked works by 115 earthling artists including Joseph Beuys, Maurizio Cattelan, Damien Hirst, Bruce Nauman and Andy Warhol.

Barbican reopens as Martian Museum [Times Online]
Martian Museum of Art Exhibition [Guardian]
Martian Museum Art [Independent]
Barbican Website [Barbican]
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Pieces by artist Robert Rauschenberg via USA today

Artist Rauschenberg sues over sale of discarded art [USA Today]
World’s largest art fair opens March 7th in Dutch city of Maastricht [Bloomberg]
Chinese art claims new presence in volatile market [The New York Sun]
Iranian artist hits new record in million-dollar sale at Dubai auction [Bloomberg]
Jeffrey Weiss ends brief stint as Dia Art Foundation Director [The New York Times]

Marquise Casati by Man Ray via Tate Modern

The exhibition “Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia”, featuring the three artists often cited as responsible for launching Dadaism through their exhibitions in New York, is on view at the Tate Modern until May 26. 

Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia and Man Ray at the Tate Modern [Times Online]
Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia at Tate Modern [24 hour Museum]
Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia’s show at the Tate Modern [AFP]
Tate Modern [Tate Modern]

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“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]

Leonardo’s Annunciation via the Art Newspaper

For the first year, a survey has been made regarding the attendance figures in the museums for the year 2007. Unsurprisingly, the Musée the Louvre comes first with 8.3 million visitors in 2007. Of note is that the Tokyo National Museum had the highest daily average last year (regarding “Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation”) for any exhibition since the survey began in 1997.

After the jump, the Top 10 museums attendance in 2007… (more…)

“Chuck Close” self-portrait via The State Hermitage Museum

From February 29 until April 13, the State Hermitage Museum in St.Petersburg presents the Chuck Close’s most recent series of portraits, created between 2005 and 2007. The show has been organized jointly with the London-based gallery White Cube.

Chuck Close at the Hermitage Museum [Bloomberg]
Chuck Close: seven portraits [State Hermitage Museum]
Chuck Close [White Cube]

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