Tracey Emin’s ‘Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1996’ via The Independent

In an act that summons issues of appropriation of artistic works, the Chapman brothers, just before Tracey Emin’s White Cube show in London,  announce an unauthorized rebuild of Emin’s infamous tent which was destroyed by the same 2004 art storage warehouse fire that burned their work as well [The Independent]
Damien Hirst is looking for identical twins to sit in front of his spot paintings for 100 days in the Tate Modern [Boing Boing]
A Q&A with Michael Moses, co-creator of the Mei Moses Fine Art Index [Monocle]

Video from the opening of Museum Brandhorst in Munich via Vernissage TV

Video: The Museum Brandhorst, home of the Udo and Anette Brandhorst Collection, opens in Munich [Vernissage TV]
A couple volunteers to move their house into Miami MOCA for a Fritz Haeg work [Tuscaloosa News via Art in America]

Sanyu’s ‘Cat and Birds’ via Christie’s set a record at auction for Chinese oils

Hong Kong auctions small but strong [Bloomberg]
and in related, ART HK 09 successful despite market jitters and swine flu fears [Artforum]

Takeshi Murakami’s ‘The Emergence of God at the Reversal of Fate’ via SLAMXHYPE

A piece from Murakami that is 5 years in the making will be unveiled in Venice on the eve of the Biennale’s opening [Slamxhype]
Warhol authentication battle moves closer to trial [Art Newspaper]

Rendering of Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi via LA Times

Construction begins on Jean Nouvel’s Louvre Abu Dhabi, expected to be completed in 2012 or 2013 [LA Times]

Edouard Manet’s ‘The Bohemian’ at Louvre Abu Dhabi via NY Times

In related, Carol Vogel gives a preview of what is to be exhibited the Louvre Abu Dhabi [NY Times] 
and in further related, some of the works in the collection were bought in this spring’s Yves St. Laurent auction at Christie’s [Financial Times]

Kehinde Wiley’s ‘Jerry Valdes, After Titian’s (Tiziano Vecellio)’ via WSJ

Kehinde Wiley releases his first book of photographs [WallSreetJournal]
Indicted old masters dealer Larry Salander takes a job at an upstate NY gallery, selling his own paintings for $100 [Bloomberg]

Richard Serra, out-of-the-round X (1999). Album cover for Sunn O))), Monoliths & Dimensions (2009) via Frieze

Richard Serra’s work used for cover of SunnO)))’s new album Monoliths & Dimensions [Frieze]
and in related, Serra receives an honorary degree from alma mater Yale [AP]
and in further related, Yale is involved in a lawsuit over Van Gogh’s ‘The Night Café,’ allegedly stolen by the Soviet government in the 1920s [Hartford Courant via Art Market Monitor]

James Turrell’s ‘Unseen Blue’ at the James Turrell Museum via WSJ

A look at the newly-opened James Turrell Museum in Colomé, Argentina [WSJ]
A look at outsized artworks at this year’s Art Basel, featuring Sigmar Polke, Nan Goldin, Banks Violette and others [Artdaily]
and related, Frieze Art Fair announces it program for this October [Frieze]

Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective, the first comprehensive exhibition to feature the artist’s works in New York in 20 years opened to the public  May 20 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, to run through August 16, 2009. The retrospective, marking the 100th anniversary of Bacon’s birth, has brought together a highly impressive international curatorial team, including Gary Tinterow of the Met, Matthew Gale of Tate Modern and Chris Stephens of Tate Britain. The exhibition showcases some 65 paintings, amongst them a handful of never-before-seen gems from private collections, along with important archival materials, photographs and 65 personal items from Bacon’s London studio and estate, which served as the artist’s inspiration for some of the works in the show.

Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective [The Metropolitan Museum of Art]
Francis Bacon’s Provocative Works Featured in Major Retrospective Opening May 20 at Metropolitan Museum [Met Press Release]
Francis Bacon at Tate Britain – Sept. 4th 2008-Jan. 4 2009 [Tate]
Tragic Hero: A Majestic Francis Bacon Show [Time]
Francis Bacon’s Provocative Works Featured in Exhibition at Metropolitan Museum of Art [ArtDaily]
If Paintings Had Voices, Francis Bacon’s Would Shriek [NYTimes]
Sacred Monster [NYMagazine – Jerry Saltz]
Francis Bacon’s Horror Show [Economist – More Intelligent Life]
Francis Bacon (Hardcover) 2009, Matthew Gale, Chris Stephens [Amazon]

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Claes Oldenburg, “Ice Bag – Scale C” (1971) via NY Times

Currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is a retrospective of the work of artist Claes Oldenburg (b. 1929), whose highly productive career spans from the early 1960s to today. The exhibition is organized chronologically and consists of two parts:  the first, entitled “Claes Oldenburg: Early Drawings, Sculptures and Happening Films” traces the early developments of Oldenburg’s career in the 1960s and early ’70s, while the second, “Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen: The Music Room” focuses on Oldenburg’s thirty-three year collaboration with his wife Coosje van Bruggen, the art-critic and -historian who died of breast cancer in January.

Related links:
Exhibition page [Whitney Museum of American Art]
Exhibition page – Happenings Films [Whitney Museum of American Art]
A Low-Cost Show Reinflates a Big Bag [New York Times]
Going Softly into a Parallel Universe [New York Times]
Claes Oldenburg Artist Page [Art Observed]

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Installation view of Ernesto Neto’s ‘anthropodino’ via Park Avenue Armory

The Park Avenue Armory opened its first commissioned art installation, Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto’s ‘anthropodino,’ in the Wade Thompson Drill Hall last week. The installation is made largely of Lycra tulle, sewed onto a system of skeletal wooden frames. Hanging from a large canopy are numerous bags of spices: cloves, cumin, ginger, and others. The Park Avenue Armory aims to be a public urban art space like the Tate Modern Turbine Hall in London and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, and with its first commission has followed the trend of participatory art along the lines of Relational Aesthetics.  Though Ernesto Neto’s ‘anthropodino’ takes a more egalitarian and less academic approach to public art, with the current installation as a crowd pleaser.

Park Avenue Armory
Hey, Drill This! Park Avenue Armory Goes Sci-Fi [NY Times]
Into the Embrace of a Great Spicy, Gauzy Mother [NY Times]
Bones, Spice, Lycra Play in Neto’s Huge, Fantastic Installation [Bloomberg]
Art That Loves You Back: Ernesto Neto at the Park Avenue Armory. [C-Monster]
Ernesto Neto’s Inaugural Night at the Armory [Vanity Fair]

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Paola Pivi’s ‘Untitled (Donkey)’ at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 via Brown

As part of UBS Openings: The Long Weekend at Tate Modern in London, Italian artist Paola Pivi will present a performance on Monday. Called ‘1000,’ the piece involves 1000 people on the mezzanine bridge above the Turbine Hall screaming as loudly as possible. Many of those participating come from organizations such as Free Tibet and are screaming as a form of protest.  Still, others are likely to scream about nothing in particular, having very few directives from the artist. ‘1000’ takes place on Monday, May 25, 2009.

Art’s a scream at the Tate Modern [Times]
Screaming Pivi at the Tate [Artinfo]

Ben Lewis BBC reporter for ‘The Great Contemporary Art Bubble’ via The Age

A video player of the BBC documentary: ‘The Great Contemporary Art Bubble’ which, though scathing, gained extraordinary access to collectors such as Adam Lindemann, Aby Rosen and the Mugrabi’s.  Of note is that the documentary filmmaker Ben Lewis actually admits to being the source that leaked White Cube’s unsold inventory prior to the famous Damien Hirst Sotheby’s Auction of 2008 [BBC]

The Guggenheim Museum via Guggenheim.org

The Guggenheim Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary with an exhibition on Frank Lloyd Wright [NYTimes]
The Wall Street Journal calls a possible art price floor based on NY Spring auction activity being the “smallest in 5 years” [Wall Street Journal]
A lawsuit is filed against Christie’s over $3.2 million accepted bid alledgedly made after another accepted phone bid [Bloomberg]
On the austere outlook for recent art school graduates [Financial Times]

Supermarkets censor Manic Street Preachers album cover by Jenny Saville [BBC]
On Art in America owner Peter Brandt’s new exhibition space / festivities at his Greenwich estate [Art Forum]

A digital rendering of Karl Haendel’s ‘Scribble’ on 441 Broadway via NY Times

Art Production Fund sponsors a by-hand, massive “scribble” (on wall once used by Banksy) on Howard Street in Soho, New York [NY Times]
An article on the effect at auction of the duration of artists’ careers as well as how prolific they are [NYMag]
The Museum of Contemporary Art in LA cuts four exhibitions and 17 more jobs [LATimes]
The Fine Art Fund Group sets up to bid on 2 corporate art collections worth up to $65 million and holding works by Picasso and Cindy Sherman [Financial Times]

Maria Baibakova via WWD

24-year old Russian Heiress Maria Baibakova is launching new contemporary shows in Moscow [WWD]
The Obama family redecorates the White House with works by Jasper Johns,Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg [Wall Street Journal]

Deitch Projects director Nicola Vassell in her Soho loft via NYMag

On the salon-like atmosphere at Deitch Projects director Nicola Vassell’s Soho, New York apartment [NYMag]
Steve McQueen has lunch with the FT, speaks on his film ‘Hunger’ and the Venice Biennial [Financial Times]

The Museum Brandhorst in Munich via Cubeme.com

Munich’s Brandhorst Museum opens, housing works by Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman, Damien Hirst and Gerhard Richter [The Art Newspaper]

A trip photo by Rita Ackermann in Marfa via Blackbook

Rita Ackermann documents her artist in residence in Marfa, home of Donald Judd’s Chianti Foundation [BlackBook]

101 Spring Street, the former home and studio of artist Donald Judd in Soho, New York

In related, the Judd Foundation will restore 101 Spring Street, a cast iron building that was the home and studio of artist Donald Judd. [ArtDaily]

The artist Dash Snow in his Bowery Studio via the Fashionisto

Artist Dash Snow profiled in Muse Magazine [Muse]
Nearly 11,000 people have applied to be part of Antony Gormley’s interactive sculpture on London’s Fourth Plinth, to run from July to October [Independent]
‘Sold Out,’ the original title for ‘The Warhol Effect,’ the Tate Modern’s autumn show featuring Hirst, Koons and Haring , was rumored to have been vetoed by one of the artists due to its double meaning [GuardianUK]
Damien Hirst is the Art Curator for ‘Boogie Woogie,’ a new fictional film on the inside of the art world [TimesUK]
And Hirst opens a show of his work in Prague [RadioPrague]

The Torment of Saint Anthony, reportedly by Michelangelo

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas purchases what it believes to be Michelangelo’s first painting, which he completed when he was 12 or 13 years old [DallasNews]
The Hermitage and the State Russian Museum are accused of tax evasion by the Federal Tax Police [The St. Petersburg Times] via ArtinAmerica

The Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing via ArtInfo

The 264,000 square foot Renzo Piano designed Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago opens, making the museum the second largest in the US [ChicagoTribune]
A £3 million, 2-ton Henry Moore sculpture stolen in 2005 was most likely melted down and sold for £1,500 worth of scrap metal [GuardianUK]
President Sarkozy will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the controversial Louvre in Abu Dhabi [ArtNewspaper]

Richard Prince’s ‘After Dark’ Tapestry on the Hong Kong Museum of Art via Wallpaper

Richard Prince covers the Hong Kong Museum of Art in pulp-fiction novel covers to commemorate the exhibition “Louis Vuitton : A Passion for Creation” [ArtDaily]
In related, with a 31% attendance increase and strong sales, the 2nd Hong Kong International Art Fair is deemed a success [HongKongArtFair]

The New home of Hauser and Wirth New York at 32 East 69th Street via ArtInfo

Gallerist David Zwirner will open a new gallery in Shigeru Ban’s Metal Shutter House on West 19th Street and, uptown, Hauser & Wirth New York (following last month’s debut of Swallow Street, its London exhibition space for emerging artists) will open an Annabelle Selldorf-designed space in the building that was formerly occupied by Zwirner and Wirth on 32 East 69th Street [ArtReview]
The Albion Gallery in London closes in bankruptcy [Artinfo]
Roughly 25 out of 388 galleries in Chelsea have closed but at least 10 new galleries have opened, with more are on the way [Crain’s]

“Out Span” Tony Cragg at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac. Photo Taken by Art Observed

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac is currently exhibiting a substantial collection of both sculptures and drawings by one of the most exciting sculptors of the moment, Tony Cragg.  The exhibition covers three floors of the gallery and includes new works in stone, bronze, stainless wood and polished stained steel.  In the drawing space, Cragg is presenting a series of recent drawings that highlight his quintessential ideas on how new forms can emerge from both figures and landscapes.  To coincide with the opening of this exhibition, Cragg’s Column will be installed in the Tuileries Gardens behind the Jeu de Paum Museum.

Exhibition Detail: Tony Cragg [ArtSlant]
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac [Thaddaeus Ropac]
Tony Cragg [The Parisian]
Tony Cragg at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac-Paris [artalog]

“Still Life One”, Tony Cragg. Photo via ArtSlant

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Sailor (2007) by David Salle, via The Kestnergescellschaft

Currently at the Kestnergescellschaft in Hannover, Germany is “Distance from Nowhere” highlighting the works of American artist David Salle. Since the 1980’s, Salle’s work has been associated with artistic movements such as “Neo-Expressionism” and “Transavantgardia.” His work often defies art historical classifications and is continually characterized by an independent style.Seventeen large-scale paintings dating from 2007 to 2009 are exhibited in Germany for the first time with the addition of six older paintings executed between 1983 and 1998.

RELATED LINKS
Exhibition Page [Kestnergesellschaft]
David Salle: Distance from Nowhere at the Kestnergesellchaft [Artdaily]

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George Condo, ‘Father and Son’ at Luhring Augustine

The Musee Maillol, Paris presents the work of George Condo through August 17.  This exhibit, entitled ‘The Lost Civilization’, is part of a cycle of shows devoted to young American painters.  Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and George Condo emerged simultaneously on the New York art scene in the early ’80s; each has defined a new current within contemporary art.  This major exhibition presents over 100 works of George Condo, including his paintings, works on paper, and sculpture.

Relevant Links:
Influential Artist George Condo Exhibition Opens at Musee Maillol [Art Daily]
Musee Maillol

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Beatriz Milhanes at Fondation Cartier via WSJ

For her exhibition at the Fondation Cartier, Brazilian born artist Beatriz Milhanes presents a focused selection of large format acrylic paintings, chosen from her work of the past decade, as well as a monumental collage created especially for the show.  She was also commissioned to produce a monumental installation of the building’s glass facades.  Beatriz Milhanes emerged on the Brazilian art scene in the mid-1980s.  Her vibrant and colorful paintings intertwine colonial baroque, high modernism, and popular Brazilian art.  Her bold and bright installations play with natural light to compliment the architecture of Jean Nouvel and the surrounding garden.

Beatriz Milhanes, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain April 4th-June 21st [ArtSlant]
Beatriz Milhanes, Fondation Cartier [Artnews]
Events, Paris, Beatriz Milhanes [Abitare]
Pop Goes Paris [WSJ]

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Simon de Pury at the helm at the auction in front of the Philip Guston

Last night’s contemporary auction at Phillips de Pury fell short of its low estimate of $12.2 million, bringing in $7.7 million, with 12 of the 43 lots going unsold.  The sale’s highlight, an untitled Robert Gober sculpture of a Farina cereal box valued at $2.5-3.5 million, went unsold with only one bid at $1.6 million.  An untitled Anish Kapoor sculpture, estimated at $800, 000-1.2 million, also was met with no bids.  However, one of the auction highlights, Philip Guston’s painting, ‘Anxiety,’ was the highest selling lot, going for $1 million, just making its low estimate. John Baldessari’s painting, ‘Person with Pillow: Desire/Lust/Fate,’ sold for $290,500, missing its estimate of $300,000-400,000.  It had sold at Sotheby’s a year and a half ago for nearly double that amount.  Many artists however, such as Zeng Fanzhi, whose show just concluded at Acquavella Gallery in New York and was covered by Art Observed here did break auction records (work shown below), the details of which are after the jump.

Phillips Contemporary Auction Falls Short of Estimate [NY Times]
Phillips Limps to the Finish Line [Artinfo]

Zeng Fanzhi’s ‘Little Boy’ via Phillips de Pury sold for $446,500 against estimates of $250,000-300,000

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Chuck Close, Cindy (2006), jacquard tapestry, at PaceWildenstein

PaceWildenstein Gallery in Chelsea presents the latest Chuck Close exhibition, showing seven oil on canvas paintings in addition to tapestry portraits of Brad Pitt, Ellen Gallagher, Philip Glass, Lyle Ashton, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, Lorna Simpson, Zhang Huan, and two self-portraits.  An exhibition catalog with an introductory essay by curator Lilly Wei accompanies the show.

PaceWildenstein
Chuck Clise: Selected Paintings and Tapestries, 2005-2009
534 West 25th Street, New York
May 1 – June 20, 2009

RELATED LINKS
Exhibition Page [PaceWildenstein]
Chuck Close: Tapestries [Magnolia Editions]
Chuck Close Opening Thursday 4/30 [Magnolia Editions Blog]
Video: Chuck Close Tapestries at PaceWildenstein [Magnolia Editions Blog]
Chuck Close Artist Page [Art Observed]

Chuck Close, Self Portrait/Color (2007) Tapestry at PaceWildenstein

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Hernan Bas Mystery Bouf (or, the kingdom after the flood) (2009) at Lehmann Maupin.

Lehmann Maupin’s Chrystie Street location on the Lower East Side of Manhattan presents a new body of work by contemporary Miami-based painter Hernan Bas. This exhibition, entitled The Dance of the Machine Gun & other forms of unpopular expression after the “Futurist Manifesto” by Italian poet F.T. Marinetti, is his first solo show in four years and coincides with the artist’s retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum, taken from the Rubell Collection of Miami.

Lehmann Maupin
–>
Hernan Bas: The Dance of the Machine Gun & other forms of unpopular expression
–>
201 Chrystie Street, New York
–>
April 23 – July 10, 2009

RELATED LINKS
–>
Exhibition Page [Lehmann Maupin]
–>
The Beginning and the End: Hernan Bas at Lehmann Maupin N.Y.C. [C-Monster]
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Hernan Bas at Lehmann Maupin Tomorrow Night! [Supreme Being]
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Hernan Bas at Lehmann Maupin [The World’s Best Ever]
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Hernan Bas: The Dance of the Machine Gun & other forms of unpopular expression [Whitewall]
–>
Go See: Hernan Bas at the Brooklyn Museum New York [Art Observed]
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Video: Hernan Bas at Lehmann Maupin [NewArtTV]

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Installation view of new works by Hernan Bas at Lehmann Maupin Gallery.

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Philip Guston’s ‘Anxiety’ via Phillips de Pury, estimated to sell for $1-1.5 million.

The last of the post-war and contemporary art auctions takes places tonight at Phillips de Pury & Company in New York.  Pre-sale estimates are $12.2-17 million for 43 lots. Highlights include a late Philip Guston painting, a sculpture of a Farina cereal box by Robert Gober, estimated at $2.5-3.5 million, and an Anish Kapoor sculpture, estimated at $800,000-1,200,000.  AO will be on site to cover the auction, starting at 7pm tonight.

Phillips de Pury & Company
–>
New York Contemporary Art Part I Sale
–>
Thursday, May 14, 2009, 7pm
–>
450 West 15th St
–>
New York, NY

Phillips de Pury & Company
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Phillips de Pury & Company Announces the Highlights from its Forthcoming New York Contemporary Art Part I Sale [Artdaily]

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Willem de Kooning’s ‘Woman’ via Christie’s sold for $3.7 million, more than doubling its high estimate of $1.8 million.

Again, Christie’s bested Sotheby’s in this week’s Post-War and Contemporary Art auctions after Sotheby’s failed to meet its low estimate, covered here by AO.  Last night’s sale in New York resulted in a total of $93.7 million, falling within the higher end of the pre-sale estimates of $71-104 million. Only 5 of the 54 lots went unsold, with 30 selling for more than $1 million.  After a night of lively bidding, Christie’s co-head of post-war and contemporary art, Amy Cappellazzo joked that, “It felt like a year ago.” Last year’s sale brought in $348.2 million, with a number of works selling in the double digits. This year, estimates were far more conservative for the chastened market, with the highest-selling lot, David Hockney’s ‘Beverly Hills Housewife,’ going for $7.9 million, setting a new record for the artist. The portrait of the late Betty Freeman was one of 20 in the sale coming out of the Betty Freeman Collection, another factor contributing to last night’s success.

–>
David Hockney’s ‘Beverly Hills Housewife’ via Christie’s sold for $7.9 million, falling within estimates of $6-10 million and setting a new record at auction for the artist.

New World Auction Records set for Hockney, Oldenburg, Wheeler, and Smith at Christie’s [Artdaily]
–>
At an Upbeat Christie’s Auction, Some Record Prices [NY Times]
–>
NY auctions end with solid contemporary art result [Reuters]
–>
Christie’s Auction Beats Estimate, Boosts Confidence [Bloomberg]
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Betty Freeman Portrait Fetches $7.9 Million in N.Y. Auction [Bloomberg]
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Christie’s Contemporary “Gets It Right” [Artinfo]
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Christie’s Auction Rekindles Art Optimism [WSJ]

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‘Mass mind (steel version) by Eva Rothschild via Artdaily

Irish artist Eva Rothschild will create a sculpture for the Tate Britain Duveens Commission 2009.  The planned single work will span the whole of the Duveen Galleries, over 200 feet long. Speaking of the commission, Rothschild said, “I’m hoping to create something that will agitate the architecture of the Duveens Galleries, tangling with your perception of the space.” The neo-classical galleries will provide an engaging background for the artist, whose works are typicaly geometric, light, and spare.  Last year’s Duveens Commission was Martin Creed’s ‘Work No. 850,’ where runners ran as fast as they could through the galleries every thirty seconds. Rothschild’s work will be on view at Tate Britain June 29 – November 29, 2009.

Tate Britain Duveens Commission: Eva Rothschild [Tate]
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Tate Britain to get 200ft mega-sculpture [Telegraph]
–>
Artist Eva Rothschild takes on annual Tate display [Reuters]

Martin Kippenberger’s ‘Untitled’ via Sotheby’s sold for $4.1 million, falling within estimates of $3.5-4.5 million and setting a new record at auction for the artist.

Sotheby’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale resulted in another disappointment for the beleaguered auction house following last week’s thin Impressionist and Modern Art sales. Total sales were estimated at $51.8-72.4 million for 49 lots, but the total came up short at $47 million, with 9 lots failing to sell. However, the auction is not viewed as disastrous, considering Sotheby’s put very little money up front, and the star of the show, a Jeff Koons sculpture from his ‘Celebration’ series, did manage to sell, unlike at last week’s auction.  However, ‘Baroque Egg With Bow (Turquoise/Magenta)’ fell short of its $6 million low-estimate, selling for $5.4 million to Larry Gagosian.  The piece was put up by hedge fund manager Daniel S. Loeb, who originally bought it from Gagosian in 2004 for what is believed to be around $3 million.

While the dollar amounts were nothing compared to a year ago, the auction did sell 81.2% of its lots, with 78.1% of total value realized. Still, the auction comes on the heels of Sotheby’s 1st quarterly earnings report, posting a loss of $66.7 million with the market looking tepid for some time to come.

Sotheby’s Sale Fails to Meet Low Expectations [WSJ]
In ‘a Recalibrated Market,’ Auction Buyers Take Over [NY Times]
Bidders respond to lower prices for contemporary art [Reuters]
Sotheby’s Contemporary Sale Solid but Subdued [ArtInfo]
Loeb Sells Koons Egg for $5.5 Million at Sotheby’s in New York [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s Tax Benefit Offsets Average Daily Loss of $1 Million [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s shares tumble after weak auction [Crain’sNewYork]
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Lesende (1994) by Gerhard Richter, via The National Portrait Gallery

Gerhard Richter Portraits currently at the National Gallery in London is the first major exhibition devoted to one of the greatest living painters. The selection of works date from the 1960s to the present including important early black and white paintings made by looking at magazine photographs, private snapshots, and a special installation of his renowned series 48 Portraits featuring images of modern culture heroes such as Wilde, Mann, Kafka, and Stravinsky.

RELATED LINKS
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Exhibition Page[National Portrait Gallery]
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Murdered Aunt, Ghostly Nude Star in Gerhard Richter Exhibit [Bloomberg]
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Photos and Fantasy: Gerhard Richter’s Portraits[The Independent]
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Groundbreaking Exhibition of Portraits by Gerhard Richter opens at the National Portrait Gallery UK [Artdaily]
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The Painted Illusions of Gerhard Richter [The Guardian]
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Faces from an Abstract Life [FT]
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Jeff Koons’s ‘Baroque Egg with Bow (Turquiose/Magenta)’ via NY Times goes on sale at Sotheby’s with estimates between $6-8 million

The spring Post-War and Contemporary Art auctions take place this week in New York at Sotheby’s tonight, Christie’s tomorrow night, and Phillips de Pury on Thursday night. Last week’s Impressionist and Modern Art auctions, covered by AO here, and also here, brought in far less than a year ago, but considering the economic climate were viewed as middling successes (aside from Sotheby’s spectacular Picasso and Giacometti flops).  However, the contemporary sales will be more of a litmus test for a chastened market.  After years of record-setting sales, this year all three auction houses have reined in the estimates, no longer providing the guarantees to sellers that burned them last fall.

Sotheby’s is offering 49 lots, with total estimates of $52–72.2 million, compared to the $362 million it brought in last spring. Highlights include an untitled painting by Martin Kippenberger of a fat man with balloons and Jeff Koons’s ‘Baroque Egg with Bow (Turquiose/Magenta),’ part of the artist’s ‘Celebration’ series, which includes ‘Hanging Heart,’ a sculpture that set the record for a living artist at auction in the fall of 2007. While ‘Hanging Heart’ sold for $23.6 million, ‘Baroque Egg with Bow (Turquiose/Magenta)’is expected to sell for $6-8 million.  Christie’s is offering 54 lots, with total estimates of $71.5–104.5 million.  On the catalog cover is Jean-Michel Basquiat’s ‘Mater,’ a rare occurrence of a female figure within Basquiat’s oeuvre, expected to sell for $5-7 million. A number of works from the collection of Betty Freeman are also up for auction, including David Hockney’s portrait of the philanthropist in her home, ‘Beverly Hills Housewife,’ estimated to go for $6-10 million.  Lastly, Phillips de Pury & Company is offering 43 lots, with estimates of $12.2–17 million. Highlights from that sale include a Robert Gober sculpture of a Farina cereal box, estimated at $2.5-3.5 million, and a late, figurative painting by Philip Guston, estimated at $1-1.5 million.

The sales also include a number of Minimalist works by artists such as Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol Lewitt, and Agnes Martin.  Many experts view these works as under-priced, and present more in museum collections than private collections.  This round of sales sees fewer works by the Pop artists that made headlines in the boom times like Warhol and Rauschenberg.

Rare and Spectacular Master Works Highlight Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Art Sale [Artdaily]
Little Warhols [NY Mag]
Phillips de Pury & Company Announces the Highlights from its Forthcoming New York Contemporary Art Part I Sale [Artdaily]
The art market: Skinny sales and demoted billionaires [Financial Times]
Jeff Koons’s rabbit: market news [Telegraph]
The Art Market Is Back? Now That’s Surrealism [WSJ]
Sotheby’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale [Sotheby’s]
Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale [Christie’s]
Phillips de Pury Contemporary Art Part I Sale [Phillips de Pury]

Untitled (City of Glass) (2009) by Robert Longo, via Metro Pictures

Currently on view at Metro Pictures in New York is Robert Longo’s “Surrendering the Absolutes.’  The exhibit features a group of Longo’s signature large-scale charcoal drawings where subjects are linked by atmospheric sensations of light and abstract forms. In these works Longo focuses on the shifts of perception that an image evokes.

Press Release [Metro Pictures]
Robert Longo: Surrendering the Absolutes [New York Art Beat]
Robert Longo [DailyServing]            

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Preview of Takashi Murakami’s animated short ‘Superflat First Love’ for Louis Vuitton via Hypebeast

In 2003, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and Marc Jacob collaborated on a new multicolor monogram for Louis Vuitton, resulting in a runaway hit.  Murakami made an animated short for the line, ‘Superflat Monogram.’ In the fall of 2007, ‘©Murakami’ opened at LAMOCA, complete with a Louis Vuitton store in the museum, to the ire of museum purists. The show later traveled to the Brooklyn Museum. Murakami has partnered with Louis Vuitton for a new line, called ‘Multicolore Spring Palette,’ and made a new video for this line, too, titled ‘Superflat First Love.’ The five-minute video is currently available in Japan as a mobile download, but a preview has been uploaded to YouTube and can be seen above.

View of the Louis Vuitton store in Omotesando, Japan via aarting

Louis Vuitton Animation – SUPERFLAT FIRST LOVE Premiering Soon!! [Kaikai Kiki]
Superflat First Love – Takashi Murakami For Louis Vuitton [High Snobiety]
Takashi Murakami | Superflat First Love [Hypebeast]
Louis Vuitton Superflat First Love – Takashi Murakami [Weekly Drop]
LOUIS VUITTON x TAKASHI MURAKAMI “MULTICOLOR SPRING PALLET” STORE DESIGN [aarting]
Greater Tokyo [Hint Mag]

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Opening Banks Violette’s “Not Yet Titled” at Team Gallery. Photo by Art Observed.

From May 7th until June 20th, Team Gallery presents new work by artist Banks Violette. Last night, a crowd -among which fellow artists Dash Snow and Matthew Barney– gathered at Team Gallery and Grand Street to take a first look at the work. The exhibition consists of drawings of graphite on paper and one sculpture.   The iconography in the works is wide-ranging, but all revolve around transformation, death, faith and redemption.  In one piece, Violette has taken the portrait of Bela Lugosi  – the renowned Count Dracula in the 1931 film Dracula who later fell into obscurity – and depicted him as a Christ figure, thus blending evil and the benign.  Violette’s drawing is hard edged, yet he succeeds in rendering his works with an air of ghostly vagueness. The works derive their power from a sense of the unclear and unreal.

Opening Banks Violette’s “Not Yet Titled” at Team Gallery. Photo by Art Observed.

Violette Banks: Not Yet Titled
Team Gallery
83 Grand Street, New York
May 7th, 2009 – June 20th, 2009

RELATED LINKS
Exhibition Page [Team Gallery]
The ghost of goth art [GQ]
Master of the Dark Arts (2005 article) [New York Times]
Death Becomes Him [Art Review]
Banks Violette: Kryptologo Cryptologist [Spike Art Quarterly]
Kill to get the money [i-D]
Banks Violette by Neville Wakefield, Banks Violette and Stephen O’Malley [Amazon]
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Pablo Picasso’s ‘Femme au Chapeau,’ via Christie’s, sold by Julian Schnabel, went for $7.7 million, slightly under the estimate of $8-12 million

Last night’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale at Christie’s fared better than Sotheby’s auction on Tuesday covered here by AO, with 38 of the 48 lots selling, realizing 94% of potential value, bringing in a total of $102.7 million, falling within estimates of $86.7-125.2 million. Highlights include two late Picasso paintings and a Giacometti sculpture, in contrast to the pricey Picasso and Giacometti works offered by Sotheby’s which failed to sell. Picasso’s ‘Mousquetaire aÌ€ la Pipe,’ offered by Madoff victim Jerome Fisher, was the highest selling lot at $14.6 million, falling between estimates of $12-18 million. Julian Schnabel sold his own Picasso, ‘Femme au Chapeau,’ to recover debts due to construction costs at his West Village townhouse. The painting sold for $7.7 million, just shy of its low estimate of $8 million. The Giacometti sculpture, ‘Buste de Diego (Stele III)’ sold for $7.7 million, surpassing its high estimate of $6.5 million.

Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale [Christie’s]
Picassos Sell at Christie’s Auction, After Faltering at Sotheby’s [NY Times]
Christie’s Bests Sotheby’s With $102.7 Million Sale [WSJ]
Works by Picasso and Giacometti Lead Christie’s Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art [Artdaily]
Madoff Victim Sells Picasso for $14.6 Million at Christie’s [Bloomberg]

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David Zwirner via Art Info

An interview with power gallerist David Zwirner [WSJ] and more here [WSJ]
Jerry Saltz on the controversial Adel Abdessemed video of animals killing animals on display at David Zwirner [NYMag]
The Turner Prize Shortlist is announced [ArtDaily]
ArtPrize out of Grand Rapids, Michigan will award nearly $1/2 million to its winners [ArtPrize]
Art Basel announces eight works for its public art projects [ArtDaily]
A walk through Peter Brant’s new contemporary exhibition space in Greenwich, complete with a Jeff Koons sighting [NewYorker]

An annotated view of Roxy Paine’s ‘Maelstrom’ at the Met’s Roof Garden [NYMagazine]

A self portrait of Vincent Van Gogh

Book asserts that Paul Gauguin and his sword were the cause of Van Gogh’s lost ear[NYTimes] and more here’ [TelegraphUK]

A self-portrait of Paul Gauguin

And a refute of the assertion here [Bloomberg] and another non-believer here [GuardianUK]

Art Collector Nicolas Berggruen

Nicolas Berggruen to open private museum in Berlin [ArtNewspaper]
The Getty Museum will cut 205 people from its work force [NYTimes]
Sotheby’s cuts its dividends and plans to cut more jobs [Bloomberg]
Art + Auction publisher Louise T. Blouin MacBain cuts executive salaries [NYPost]

A work by Nam June Paik via  albrightknox.org

The Smithsonian receives the complete Nam June Paik archives [ArtInfo]

‘Burn, Baby, Burn’ by Roberto Matta

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has acquired a 10′ x 30′ work by Roberto Matta [CultureMonster]

JR in Brazil

JR shows up in Brazil with more installations [WoosterCollective]
California Judge dismisses suit against MOCA regarding Takashi Murakami prints [LATimes]
NYTimes has an article on the resurgence of private sales amidst high profile failures at auctions [NYTimes]
New York Magazine on opportunities to be had in the art world [NYMag]
And an anonymous forecast on artists by their contemporaries [NYMag]
Impressionist works and their value [Economist]