Richard Serra’s Equal Parallel: Guernica-Bengasi, 1986, returned to El Museo Nacional Centro de Art Reina Sofia, Madrid via Art Daily

Missing Sculptures by Richard Serra are replaced at El Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia [ArtDaily]
How Art Capital Group is providing liquidity backed by significant fine art [The New York Times]
A new book on the world’s largest unsolved art theft, the Gardner Museum Heist [Wall Street Journal]
A new Julian Schnabel-designed steak house back room? [NYMag]
The Moscow Art Fair has been postponed [Bloomberg]

A still from the Marcel Dzama video via Pitchfork

Animated Marcel Dzama for NASA’s video [TheWorldsBestEver]
The Prado’s conclusion that Colossus is not a Goya is brought into question [Wall Street Journal]
How the Brooklyn Museum’s Shelly Bernstein expands the institutions presence via internet outreach [New York Observer]
Francis Bacon, and a new exhbition in the unlikely city of his death [New York Times]
An agreement reached with further clarifies the collection boundaries between the UK’s National Gallery and the Tate [Guardian UK]

Assume Vivid Astro focus via the TheMoment

Assume Vivid Astro focus collaborates with the New York Times [TheMoment]
The last days of Soho’s Guild and Greyshkul gallery [New York Times]
A detailed new report on the growing impact of China, Russia, India and the Middle East in the global art market [ArtDaily]
How the fall of the art boom is useful to trim the movement of blockbuster art to the only fleetingly interested masses [Newsweek]
Mega dealer David Nahmad on the market’s rise and fall: “It’s almost a fraud. I would never advise my clients to buy contemporary art.” [IndependentUK]

Lucian Freud has painted a wine label for Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2006 [Forbes]
Sotheby’s reports $2.8 billion in sales in 2008 [ArtDaily]
UK Government cuts VAT taxes after court rules that video and light art is sculpture in a case involving Dan Flavin and Bill Viola works imported by Haunch of Venison [The Art Newspaper]
How the Whitney recently benefited from the weakness of the corporate system [NYTimes]
The Times UK and Saatchi Gallery begin a top 200 artist survey with results to be announced in May [TimesUK]

Image via Daily Telegraph

The three day auction of hundreds of art and furniture collected by the late legendary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his longtime partner Pierre Bergé kicked off today at 1PM EST. The auction which many have called the “Sale of the Century” is being held at the Grand Palais in Paris under the guidance of Christie’s auction house. The auction includes six separate sales over three days and contains masterpieces by Picasso, Mondrian, Matisse along with several other Art Deco pieces, bronzes, enamels and antiques. The first item sold was a small Italian landscape by Degas for which Berges had said he had a “special affection” for. It was bought for 380,000 euros (485,000 dollars). Proceeds from the sale will go to two charitable foundations set up by Saint Laurent and Bergé. Another early highlighted item sold was a wooden sculpture by Constantin Brancusi which sold for 29.2 million euros (37.2 million dollars) which was a a record for the artist’s work at auction. For up to date results from the auction, visit Christie’s results as they happen.

Christie’s Fine Art Auctions
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Pierre Bergé on Yves Saint Laurent, his auction house and the sale of the century [Art Info]
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Brancusi Sculpture Fetches Record 29.2 Million Euros [Bloomberg]
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Saint-Laurent Collection Livens Up A Sluggish Auction Market [Arts Journal]
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Treasury of Style [ArtNet]
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Inside Yves Saint Laurent’s Art Collection [Forbes]
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Treasures, after a fashion [Financial Times]
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The Last Collection [New York Times]
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The Art World’s Last Hurrah? [Wall Street Journal]
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BMW Art Car designed by Frank Stella

First commissioned by the company and racecar driver Herve Poulain in 1975 and completed by the likes of Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, and Alexander Calder, BMW’s art cars have toured the world and featured in exhibitions in the most renowned museums and public spaces worldwide. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art currently hosting four of the sixteen cars as an installation through February 25th, including Warhol’s Black and White Disaster, Stella’s Getty Tomb, Lichtenstein’s Cold Shoulder, and Rauschenberg’s print, Booster.

They will be on display as an installation at the BP Grand Entrance, an admission-free area, and will also feature rare, behind-the-scenes footage of Frank Stella and Robert Rauschenberg discussing their inspirations and influences in creating their cars, Warhol building his car, and Herve Poulain, the racer and initiator of the Art Car Project.

Poulain first approached BMW in 1975 with the idea of using his car as a canvas. A few months later, the race car driver and BMW commissioned Alexander Calder to create the first car. The most recent cars were done by David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, and Oliafur Eliasson, with a seventeenth under consideration by the German carmaker. The company uses a panel of prestigious judges culled from all over the art world to select the artists who will conceive and paint the cars.

Following their stint in Los Angeles, the Art Cars will be on display in New York at Grand Central station starting March 24th, and will continue to make pit stops through 2010.

BMW Art Cars [LACMA]
Four wheel art appreciation [W Magazine]
Art that moves [Telegraph UK]
BMWs and Beyond [ArtInfo]
LACMA Hosts Four BMW Art Cars by Warhol, Stella, Lichtenstein, and Rauschenberg [ArtDaily]
Snippets of footage of the artists creating and discussing the cars [MetaCafe]

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Lisa Yuskavage’s second solo show with David Zwirner Gallery opened on February 19th in Chelsea, the first of three Zwirner openings over the next two weeks.  Yuskavage, a graduate of Yale’s illustrious MFA program, is a certified art star: she’s been profiled in mainstream press like Vanity Fair and W, and her work is collected by the likes of Charles Saatchi and Jean-Pierre Lehmann. In addition to her current solo exhibition at David Zwirner, Lisa Yuskavage is part of two group shows in early 2009: “Diana and Actaeon: The Forbidden Glimpse of the Naked Body” at the Stiftung Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany and “Paint Made Flesh” at the The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN.

The World’s Best Ever: Lisa Yuskavage at David Zwirner
Exhibition page: Solo show by Lisa Yuskavage
Profile: Lisa Yuskavage at David Zwirner Lisa Yuskavage
Previously on ArtObserved: AO Roundup: 2008 Frieze Art Fair, Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips London Auctions Lisa Yuskavage New P

Lisa Yuskavage New Paintings at David Zwirner
533 West 19th Street, New York, NY
Open Tues – Sat, 10am to 6pm

more after the jump… (more…)

Francesco Vezzoli’s ‘Greed’ via Gagosian

The opening night of Francesco Vezzoli’s ‘GREED’ at Gagosian Gallery in Rome on February 6th was a timely spectacle marking the end of an era of excess and decadence. Vezzoli is well known (and well criticized at times) for his use of celebrities in his work, and ‘Greed’ is no exception. The exhibition centers around a faux perfume, called Greed, and features a 60-second commercial directed by Roman Polanski and starring Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams, and a serious of needlework ‘endorsements’ by several female artists (and art world hangers-on) such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Leonor Fini.  At the opening, appearances were made by the elite of the art and fashion worlds, including Miuccia Prada and Dasha Zhukova.

GREED, A New Fragrance by Francesco Vezzoli [Gagosian]
Francesco Vezzoli interview [Artinfo]
Roman Polanski interviewed by Francesco Vezzoli [Interview]
Eau de Hype: Francesco Vezzoli’s “Greed” at Gagosian in Rome. [C-Monster]
Francesco Vezzoli’s Eau de Faux [NYTimes]
The Smell of Success [Kempt]
‘Greed’ by Francesco Vezzoli, Rome [Wallpaper]
Rrose Sélavy’s Baby [ArtForum]

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Work No. 660, 2007 via Hauser & Wirth.

On display now at Hauser & Wirth is a collection of new and recent work by conceptual artist Martin Creed. The works were created using simple materials such as paint, boxes, masking tape, and human excrement. Typical of all of Creed’s work it is the materials that inspire and determine the final product.  Several new paintings are on display all mirroring each other in that they are all composed of a single color and consist of horizontal brush-marks. The paintings are intended to be a visual homage to the different brush sizes Creed uses and is clearly displayed as the brush-marks decrease in width as they climb the page.  Also included is a sculpture made of cardboard boxes that similarly explores size, and a short film that  reflects Creed’s interest in producing that shows a woman defecating in an empty room.

Press Release [Hauser & Wirth]

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A work from Red Rag to a Bull from the website

When Damien Hirst sued a 16-year-old street artist over copyright infringement late last year, demanding the boy pay him £200 for profits made on collages that incorporated an image of Hirst’s diamond and platinum skull ‘For the Love of God,’ a bit of an uproar followed.  Hirst, who has made an estimated £500 million from sales of his art work, was seen as a bully, and moreover perhaps, as a hypocrite, given that Hirst himself has taken ideas from other artists, notably the claim by former Hirst friend and artist John LeKay, whose crystal-studded skulls done in the 90s bear resemblance to ‘For the Love of God.’

Enter Red Rag to a Bull, an artist collective including Jamie Reid, who made the cover for the Sex Pistol’s album ‘God Save the Queen,’ James Cauty, who, when in the band KLF, burned £1 million, and Tracey Emin’s former boyfriend Billy Childish. Through their website, the collective has launched a campaign to get back at Hirst by selling limited edition works that lampoon Hirst’s work and name, as well copyright laws. By buying these works, ‘you can now save this Street Urchin from certain death and help him get back the 200 quid that this Hirst allegedly nicked off him.’

Red Rag to a Bull
Artists declare war on ‘bully’ Damien Hirst [The First Post]
God save the Damien Hirst rip-off industry! [The Independent]
Artists flout copyright law to attack Damien Hirst [Telegraph]

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Encased — 5 Rows (6 Spalding Scottie Pippen Basketballs, 6 Spalding Shaq Attaq Basketballs, 6 Wilson Supershot Basketballs, 6 Wilson Supershot Basketballs, 6 Franklin 6034 Soccerballs) (1993) by Jeff Koons. Lot unsold. Estimate range: £1,800,000 to 2,200,000.

Phillips de Pury & Co. raised a total of £4.2 million at their February 12th auction of contemporary art, with 35 of 53 lots selling. The entire sale was expected to realize £6.8 million – £9.3 million.  The higher priced lots were shunned in favor of those with estimates under £500,000.

The highest priced lot was Martin Kippenberger’s Portrait of Paul Schreber (Designed by Himself), which sold for £432,000, at the low end of its presale estimate of £400,000 to £600,000. The 8-foot high oil, lacquer and silicone is an abstract portrait of Paul Schreber, an early 20th century German judge who suffered several nervous breakdowns, and was the subject of a seminal clinical psychology paper by Sigmund Freud. The portrait is based on a sketch in Schreber’s autobiography, where he draws what he imagines his brain to look like: one healthy side and one ill side. Dan Colen’s Untitled (Going, Going, Go. . .), of a candle whose smoke spells out the painting’s title, sold for £92,500, more than double the high estimate. This sale also set a new auction record for the artist.

Zeng Fanzhi’s Huang Jiguang, from 2006, sold for £360,000 against pre-sale estimates of £200,000 to £250,000. The 11 foot wide depicts a Chinese war hero from the Korean War, who is famous for having sacrificed himself in a crucial battle. Mixing historicity and myth with an abstract landscape as background, Fanzhi is one of China’s foremost contemporary artists and is known for his Mask series.

A Jeff Koons sculptural installation featuring a glass-encased vitrine stocked with various basketballs and soccer balls failed to sell. It was the only lot priced higher than £1 million, and failed to generate a single bid despite being the cover lot by a prominent name.

The auction results were unimpressive on the whole, reflecting the general sense of ambivalent malaise that still plagues the art market. The consensus among many dealers and collectors is that it is a buyer’s market, and many sellers have not adjusted their pricing expectations to reflect the ongoing correction–until this mismatch is corrected, there will continue to be anemic auction results.

Auction Page: Phillips de Pury Contemporary Art Evening Sale
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Koons Work Snubbed for Cheaper Art in London as Bargains Sought [Bloomberg]
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Phillips Sale Misses the Mark [ArtInfo]
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ART MARKET WATCH: £4.2 million at Phillips London [Artnet]
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Phillips de Pury & Company’s London Contemporary Art Sale Results Confirm Market Demand for Quality Works [ArtDaily]

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Antony Gormley photographed at White Cube last year, via the Independent

New Antony Gormley sculpture unveiled in Oxford city centre, atop Exeter College [BBC]
6 Vice video interviews with artist Vito Acconci [VBS]
KAWS interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning News [The World’s Best Ever]
Sarah Lucas and Oliver Garbay produce a provocative 750 page alphabet book [Times UK]

For the Love of Gold by Eugenio Merino, via Supertouch

Damien Hirst suicide sculpture ‘For the love of Gold’ causes a stir at Madrid art fair [Supertouch]
Rita Ackermann’s 10-year old daughter opens first solo art show at Half Gallery in NYC [The Moment]
ArtTactic Survey indicates declining confidence in Chinese contemporary artists and value of their works [Bloomberg]
Park Avenue Armory launches commission within by its Drill Hall, Ernesto Neto will be the first [ArtDaily]

A JR work last year at the Tate Modern via the Worlds Best Ever

A profile of JR, a street artist of ambitious scale, hailed as ‘hippest street artist since Banksy’ and, who is according to Sotheby’s Contemporary head is currently “unbelievably hot” [Times UK]
The Economist examines the quirks of the contemporary art market under the current economic conditions [Economist]
The Journal recaps the London Auctions [Wall Street Journal]
The New York Times examines the effect of recessions and price corrections on the quality of art [NYTimes]

Monkeys (Ladder) (2003) by Jeff Koons. Sold for £1.38 million ($2 million) against estimates of £1.4 million to £2 million.

Following last week’s encouraging results, Christie’s post-war and contemporary auctions could only be described as lacklustre, while not entirely disheartening.

The auction realized a total of £8,392,750, or $12,085,560, with 79% of lots being sold. While still somewhat robust, it pales in comparison to last week’s figures which tended to be in the 90% range. 48% of the 29 lots were sold above their estimates, with one work of auctioned for over £1 million. European buyers put in a strong showing, comprising 66% of auction participants, with the remainder breaking down as follows: 4% UK, 27% Americas and 4% Asia.

Jeff Koons’ playful Monkeys (Ladder) was the highest priced lot, pulling in £1.38 million ($2 million) against estimates of  £1.4 million to  £2 million–just barely falling short of the lower estimate.  The oil on canvas piece forms a part of the artist’s Popeye series, and was offered for auction for the first time during the evening sale.

Two of the highest profile lots on auction failed to sell. A lot by Francis Bacon, Man in Blue IV, went unsold–considered by the auction house and several dealers who were present as “perhaps too academic.” The sitter is an unknown man who Bacon is thought to have had an affair with at the Imperial Hotel in Henley-upon-Thames, where the painter resided for some time.  His features are obscured and more attention is given to his clothing, posture and form. The  lot was expected to sell for between £4 million and £6 million, which would have made it the priciest lot on sale.

Mark Rothko’s lot also went unsold. Green, Blue, Green on Blue, from 1968, was expected to bring in between £2.5 million and £3.5 million, and would have been the second highest priced lot after Bacon’s.

Christie’s Sale Total Halves; $12.2 Million Rothko, Bacon Fail [Bloomberg]
Francis Bacon portrait fails to sell at auction [Telegraph UK]
Christie’s Auction of Post-War and Contemporary Art Realises $12.1 Million [ArtDaily]
The Golden Rain Dries Up at Christie’s [ArtInfo]

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Painting (1954) by Philip Guston, via Artnet

Philip Guston 1954-1958 at L&M Arts in New York features a select group of seven paintings from this exceptional period in the artist’s career. The exhibit captures a moment of growth and discovery in Guston’s career. The artist’s fascination with gestural brush strokes and marks of color that seem to float within the picture frame constitute a delicate balancing act between composition and expression.  Such a new style of painting was a formative development at the time and led Guston to become one of the renowned first generation Abstract Expressionists.  The show also includes loans from the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and other private collections.

Exhibition Page: Philip Guston: 1954-1958
Philip Guston: 1954-1959 [Artnet]
“Philip Guston: 1954-1958” at L&M Arts[Reuters]

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Akt (Nude) (1952) by Joseph Beuys, via Hauser & Wirth

Joseph Beuys’s early works on paper from the collection of Helga and Walter Lauffs are currently on display at Hauser & Wirth in London. The works date from the 1950s, a period of crisis and introspection yet necessary for Beuys’s growth as an artist he later said.  Beuys produced the drawings in solitude drawing continuously in order to create a new language for art with both human and spiritual qualities.  Made with various mediums, the drawings are at once delicate and strong.  The works explore a new form of organic depiction that would serve as a basis for future sculptural creations.

Exhibition Page: Joseph Beuys’ Early Works on Paper
Joseph Beuys [Artnews.org]
Joseph Beuys Early Works on Paper [Artnet]
Joseph Beuys at Hauser & Wirth [Timeout London]

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Still from Bill Viola’s ‘Transfigurations’ via Haunch of Venison

Haunch of Venison is now showing video artist Bill Viola’s first solo exhibition in Berlin in six years. The show runs in conjunction with the 59th Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale. Two of Viola’s early films, ‘Hatsu-Yume (First Dream)’ and ‘The Passing’ will be screened in the gallery’s main space as part of the Berlinale in the beginning of February. The exhibition ‘Installations’ on view now presents a number of video and sound installations, including ‘The Messenger,’ first commissioned for London’s Durham Cathedral in 1996, and new works from the “Transfigurations’ series, the first of which, ‘Ocean Without a Shore,’ was created for the 2007 Venice Biennale.

Bill Viola at Haunch of Venison
Artist’s Page
Viola’s Video Altarpieces to Grace St. Paul’s [Bloomberg]
Nightclubbers Meet Collectors at Berlin Warehouses’ Art Parties [Bloomberg]
Legal Drama [Frieze]

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On Kawara One Million Years volunteers reading passage at David Zwirner Gallery via Interview Magazine

On display now at David Zwirner is a new presentation of Japanese conceptual artist On Kawara’s work in progress, One Million Years (Past and Future). The work serves to document the passage of time and lists all of the annual individual dates from 998,031 BC to 1,001,995 AD in a 20-volume collection of hard-bound books. The work is divided into two parts. The first half, which Kawara begin in 1979, One Million Years (Past) contains the years 998,031 BC to 1969 AD. The half is subtitled “For all those who have lived and died.” The later half of the project entitled One Million Years (Future) contains the years 1969 AD to 1,001,995 AD and was completed in 1998. The work is subtitled “For the last one.” The piece is presented both in text and as audio. In addition to the text presentation of the work Kawara embarked on an audio recording of the work in 1993. The audio recording continues within the David Zwirner Gallery inside a recording booth that houses readers of the work and a sound technician. Volunteers recite the consecutive dates during hour-long sessions.  Males read the odd numbers and females read the even numbers.  The intent is to record, edit, and package CDs of the work on site.  Previous recordings sold for $1,000 per CD box set.

On Kawara One Million Years Press Release [David Zwirner]
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On Kawara One Million Years [Chelsea Art Galleries]
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On Kawara: David Zwirner Gallery, New York [International Contemporary Art Magazine via BNET]
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Reeling In the Years [NewYorkMag]
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My Brief Career in Conceptual Art [W Magazine]
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On to a Million [Interview Magazine]

 
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The New Museum – which is to soon launch its new Triennial via WorldArchitectureNews

The New Museum announces its list of  fifty artists for “The Generational” aka “Younger than Jesus” [ArtDaily]
Sam Taylor-Wood on herself, rats, and her newest work [GuardianUK]
After this week’s auctions, the FT declares the art auction market still has a pulse [Financial Times]
A thoughtful look into Elizabeth Peyton’s enigmatic portraits [Wall Street Journal]

Shepard Fairey via LATaco

Shepard Fairey encounters copyright issues concerning his iconic campaign imagery [BBC] and, separately, is arrested in Boston for outstanding tagging violations while en route to DJ the opening party for his exhibit [Boston Globe]
Though Gladstone Gallery’s pension was on the list of Madoff clients, funds were pulled before major losses were sustained [Bloomberg]
A few of the lady’s at Christie’s stay optimistic amidst the new austerity [NYTimes]

Stacked (1988) by Jeff Koons; Sold for £2,841,250 ($4,136,939) against estimates of £2,200,000 - £3,200,000 ($3,215,434 – $4,676,995). Image via Artnet.

Sotheby’s contemporary art evening sale concluded this week’s auctions on a high note, as 25 of 27 lots by Lucio Fontana, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, among others, were sold to collectors taking advantage of the art market’s price correction. The auction attracted relatively brisk bidding on several of the lots on offer, with over 200 clients registering to participate in the auction.

The sale realized a total of £17,879,250 ($25,785,250), solidly within the estimate of £16.5-23.1 million, selling 92.6% by lot–one of the highest ever achieved for a February contemporary art auction at Sotheby’s–and 90.7% by value. 24% of buyers were from the US, with 48% European, 12% Middle East, and 16% Asian being the breakdown for the remainder.

The lot featured on the catalogue cover, Concetto Spaziale by Lucio Fontana, was the highest priced lot, although it sold for £4.4 million ($6.4 million), or 12% below its £5 million ($7.3 million) low estimate. The painting is part of the 22-piece Venezia series, conceived and executed in 1961 by Fontana, widely considered to be Italy’s foremost post-war artist. While the lot was bought below the low estimate, it still set a record for a painting from the Venezia series. It was bought directly from the artist shortly after its execution and resided in a private collection for over 45 years, never shown in public during that period.

Successful auction sales calm jittery art market [Financial Times]
‘Rediscovered’ art fetches £4.4m [ BBC]
Koons, Fontana Works Sell in Smaller London Art Sale [Bloomberg]
A Svelte Sale Yields Positive Results at Sotheby’s [ArtInfo]
Sotheby’s February 2009 Contemporary Art Evening Sale Achieves $25,785,250 [Art Daily]

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Untitled from the Like Everyday Series (2000-2001) by Shirin Ghadirian, via The Saatchi Gallery

The Saatchi Gallery’s new show “Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East” showcases work completed by more than 20 contemporary artists from the region, including from Iran, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and Algeria.  Avant-garde painting, sculpture and installations from emerging Middle Eastern artists adorn the space of the Chelsea gallery.  The works exhibited are hard hitting and graphic yet aim to touch upon the sensitive subjects of the region including the horrors of conflicts in the past and present exploring suppressed sensuality and the examination of a woman’s place in the Muslim world.

Exhibition Page: Unveiled: New Art From the Middle East
Saatchi and Middle Eastern Art [FT]
Saatchi Show Unveils Vibrant Middle Eastern Arts Scene [Reuters]
Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East at the Saatchi Gallery [The Telegraph]
In Pictures: Middle Eastern Art [BBC]
Art Review: The veil is Lifted on Hidden Talent [Timeout London]

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Hermitos Children by Spartacus Chetwynd via Art Daily.

This week the Tate Modern has unveiled its 2009 Triennial, Altermodern. The museum’s fourth Triennial highlights fewer British artists than previous exhibitions and has instead aimed its efforts at highlighting a new movement in art. The exhibition is curated by Nicolas Bourriaud who defined the “Relational Esthetics” art movement and is now using the Tate’s Triennial as a showcase for his most recently conceived movement: Altermodernism. The exhibition which comes with a manifesto in tow declares foremost that Postmodernism is dead.  In its place is a new movement defined by ever-increasing globalization and the heightened communication, travel and migration that is the result.  As Bourriaud explains “If early Modernism is characterised as a broadly Western cultural phenomenon, and Postmodernism was shaped by multiculturalism, origins and identity, Altermodern is expressed in the language of global culture.” In short today’s artists are now starting from a globalized state of culture where the origins of  any one person have become increasingly similar to the origins of any other given person.

Altermodern is a swarm of drawings, sculptures, videos, photographs, slide shows, installations, soundtracks, documentaries, and performances. Many works included are several mediums at once as the pieces tend to be a collage of related matter as opposed to a single defined piece; reflecting the idea of Altermodern as complex fusion of ideas and influences. The artists producing these pieces are mostly thirty-somethings that live or work in Britain, though keeping with the globalized theme of the show a  notable number are identified as ‘passers-by.’ Along with up and coming artists such as Tris Vonna-Michell and Ruth Ewan the exhibit includes some bigger names who have been shortlisted for the Turner Prize including Bill Nelson and Darren Almond.

Altermodern Tate Triennial [Tate]
Altermodern: Tate Triennial 2009 at Tate Modern [Times Online]
Altermodern, Tate Triennial 2009, review [Telegraph]
Tate Triennial 2009 Interview With Curator Nicolas Bourriaud [Frieze]
New sensation: The next generation of Young British Artists [Independent UK]
Altermodern: Tate Triennial 2009 Presents Some of the Best New Contemporary Art in Britain [Art Daily]
Art in search of a label [Financial Times]

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Dans la prairie (1876) by Claude Monet; Sold for  £11,241,250 ($16,104,942), against estimates of around  £15 million. Image via Artnet.

“It was a great sale and brought back a lot of confidence to the market.” Leon Benrimon, in remarks to ArtInfo.

Christie’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art, held February 4th, has been hailed by some as a confidence-building event which demonstrated that there is some vitality left in the art market, while others give credit for the auctions ostensible success to high quality pieces (often being auctioned for the first time in decades), along with low estimates and low expectations. The auction realized a total of £63.4 million or $91.2 million, well within its range of £58.8 million to £86 million. In the course of the evening, 39 of 47 lots were sold, with 4 lots sold for over £5 million, 16 for over £1 million, and 25 for over $1 million.  According to Christie’s, 54% of the works were bought by European bidders, 26%  from the U.S., 18% from the U.K. and 2 percent from Asia.

Dans la prairie, by Claude Monet, was the highest priced lot of the night despite falling below its expected range.  The painting, which was exhibited for the first time at 1877’s seminal Impressionist Exhibition, sold for £11.2 million, or $16.1 million–while the range for the painting was unpublished, it is thought to be somewhere in the £15 million range. Dans la prairie‘s subject is Monet’s wife, Camille, reading in a meadow in Argenteuil, a few kilometers north of Paris. It was bought in a single telephone bid made by Anika Guntrum, a Paris-based Christie’s specialist, on behalf of an anonymous buyer.

Monet oil tests art market [GuardianUK]
Monet Painting of Wife Sells for 11.2 Million Pounds [Bloomberg]
Monet painting sells for £11.2 million, £4 million below estimate [Telegraph UK]
Monet, Modigliani, Low Estimates Boost Christie’s London Sale [Bloomberg]
Impressionist and Modern sale nets £63.42 million at Christie’s [IHT]
Christie’s “Brings Back Confidence” [ArtInfo]
Claude Monet’s Dans la Prairie Sells for $16,164,918 at Christie’s Auction of Impressionist and Modern Art [ArtDaily]

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Christian Marclay, Untitled, 1987 via Art Daily.

Sonic Youth etc. : Sensational Fix is on display now at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. The exhibition explores the collaborative works of the historic experimental band Sonic Youth and the artists, filmmakers, designers, and musicians they have worked with since their formation in 1981. The exhibition illustrates the history of the New York City band through records, posters, T-shirts, instruments, and photographs which serve to encourage the audience to consider the division between “high” and “popular” art. The works themselves, much like the music of Sonic Youth, document an alternative coming of age including teenage rebellion, restlessness of youth, the search for fame, identity, gender roles, sexuality, and religion. The show features the work of notables Jenny Holzer, Raymond Pettibon, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, and Jeff Wall, among others., and will conclude with a sold-out Sonic Youth performance on April 24, 2009. Sonic Youth etc. : Sensational Fix has previously been displayed at LiFe in Saint-Nazaire, France and the Museion Bozen in Italy, and will move to Malmö Konsthall in Sweden, and the Centro Huarte de Arte Contemporaneo in Spain following its current stay in Düsseldorf.

Press Release [Kunsthalle Düsseldorf]
Sonic Youth etc. : Sensational Fix [Sonic Youth Media]
Sonic Youth etc. : Sensational Fix [Art News]
Sonic Youth etc. : Sensational Fix at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf [Art Daily]
Fountain of Sonic Youth [Hint Mag] (more…)

Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans (1879-1881) by Edgar Degas, sold for £13,257,250, ($18,993,194) above the high end of its range (£12,000,000 / $18,129,626). Image via Sotheby’s.

Following mixed results at last week’s Old Masters auctions, the art market was looking closely at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale for further clues on how the rest of the year might unfold.  The auction generated £32,564,300, selling 22 of 29 lots or 75.9% of what was offered.  Several records were set, and 40% of the lots exceeded the high end of expectations.  While there were some very notable successes, 67.7% of lots were sold by value, with the final result well below the pre-sale estimate range of £40,620,000-£55,680,000

The star of the night was indisputably the Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, a sculpture by Edgar Degas previously owned by Sir John Madejski, a British sports entrepreneur and philanthropist,  news of its sale previously covered by Art Observed here. The sculpture was sold to an unnamed Asian collector for £13.25 million or almost $19 million. The final price was above the £12 million high end of its estimate range, setting a record for a Degas sculpture and ultimately becoming the top price of the night. Petite Danseuse, one of a series of 28 bronze and fabric sculptures made several years after the artist’s death in 1917, made a tidy profit for Madejski, who bought it for £5 million for it in 2004. “Petite danseuse de quatorze ans is the most important sculpture by Edgar Degas and it is undoubtedly one of the most iconic sculptures of the Impressionist period,” commented Helena Newman, Vice Chairman, Impressionist & Modern Art, Sotheby’s Worldwide. “The recordbreaking price achieved for this exceptional sculpture tonight is a testament to the strength of the market for rare works of exceptional quality.”

Another high value lot that sold above its expectations was Joan Miro’s Femmes et Oiseaux dans la Nuit, which sold for £2 million ($3 million). Bought by David Nahmad on behalf an anonymous telephone bidder, the painting sold for two times the high end of its range.

Auction results: Sotheby’s
Auction results: Artnet
Auction Record Price For Edgar Degas Sculpture Headlines Sotheby’s Sale Of Impressionist Art [ArtDaily]
Degas Sculpture Makes Record in First Art-Market Test of 2009 [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s Sale Shows Reassuring Signs of Market Life [ArtInfo]

Previously on ArtObserved:
DEGAS’S ‘LITTLE DANCER’ STEPS OUT INTO THE MARKET [Jan 12]

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Pablo Picasso’s Boy Leading a Horse” (1905 to 1906)  via the MoMA

Guggenheim and MoMA keep two works by Picasso after settlement with heirs alleging works were sold under Nazi duress [Bloomberg]
The austerity of Christie’s and Sotheby’s during leaner times in the art market [NYimes]
In related, how major London galleries are cutting staff and shuttering spaces [TheArtNewspaper]

Railcars and rooftops bear JR’s imagery in Kibera, Kenya via WoosterCollective

Street artist JR wheatpastes his art on 2,000 square meters of rooftops and railcars in a Kenyan slum [WoosterCollective]
On the practice of hypothecating fine art as collateral for loans [Financial Times]

Damien Hirst’s “Human skull in space” (oil on canvas), cover art for the 150th anniversary edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species – via the The GuardianUK

Damien Hirst does cover design for the 150 year anniversary of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species [GuardianUK]
The rise of Nicola Vassell, from gallerina to Director at Deitch Projects in New York [NYTimes]

The Colossus, historically attributed to Goya, via Reuters

Chief conservator of the Prado announces that their Colossus was probably created by Goya’s apprentice [Reuters]
The Dallas Museum of Art is in acquisition mode [Artdaily]
A profile of artist Walton Ford, creator of dramatic naturalist canvases [NewYorker via C-Monster]

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Installation view of  “Panagiota: Conversation #1, Variation 1” (left) and “Panagiota: Conversation #1, Variation 2,” (right) (both 2006-7), on display at Evan Penny exhibition at Sperone Westwater. Image via Sperone Westwater.

Sperone Westwater will be exhibiting works by South African born, Toronto-based sculptor Evan Penny through February 14th, 2009. Penny is renowned for his sculptures crafted from silicone, hair, aluminum and pigment that are both photorealistic and stretched, skewed and otherwise manipulated beyond the ‘real’ human form.

The sculptor’s newest show features 10 pieces and marks the first time he incorporates time-based photography, introducing time and motion as considerations in his works. Two sculptures, “Panagiota: Conversation #1, Variation 2″ and “Panagiota: Conversation #1, Variation 1,” both from 2008, reflect his exploration of these formal elements. The basis of the sculptures are photographs of Penny’s friend Panagiota engaging him in conversation–instead of sculpting a bust based on each individual photograph, they are instead melded and portrayed in a single bust, enabling us to visualize the subject moving through time and space.

This is the artist’s second solo show at Sperone Westwater, who also represents the artist in the United States.  A full color catalogue with an essay by Kenneth Silver, Professor of Modern Art at New York University, accompanies this exhibition.

Exhibition Page : Evan Penny at Sperone Westwater
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Press Release : Evan Penny at Sperone Westwater
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Gallery Page : Sperone Westwater
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Picks: Evan Penny at Sperone Westwater [ArtForum]

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Diana and Actaeon (1556-1559), by Titian, via The Guardian.

Titian’s masterpiece painting Diana and Acteon (1556-1559) has finally been secured. The five-month campaign to raise £50 million has succeeded.  The National Galleries of Scotland and London’s National Gallery made a joint effort to raise the funds.  The Scottish government pledged £2.5 million, £.4 million came from public donations, and £2.5 million came from the National Galleries in London. The rest of the money came from the National Heritage Memorial Fund which gave £10 million; the Monument Trust which pledged £2 million; £.6 million came from the National Galleries of Scotland and £1 million was taken from the Art Fund.  Such a joint venture outweighs the previous fundraising record of £22 million in 2004 for Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks.

The fundraising campaign had the backing of 40 leading contemporary artists such as Lucien Freud, David Hockney, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, and Antony Gormley.

Museum page: National Galleries of Scotland
Funds Secured for Titian Painting [BBC]
UK Buys Titian Diana Painting for 50 million Pounds [Bloomberg]
Titian’s Diana and Actaeon Saved for Nation as Art Galleries Hit £50 million Target [TimesUK]
Artists Jubilant as £50 million Titian Saved for Nation [The Independent]
Titian’s Diana and Actaeon Saved for the Nation [The Guardian]
Is Titian’s Diana and Actaeon worth £50 million? Definitely [The Telegraph]
National UK Galleries mobilize to secure Titian masterworks [ArtObserved]

More detail on the story after the jump…

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