Marcel Broodthaers, Les Portes, 1969. Vacuum-formed plastic, hand painted, 192 x 178 cm. All images courtesy of Michael Werner Gallery.

Currently on view at Michael Werner Gallery is Marcel Broodthaers “Major Works.” The exhibition marks the second this fall of Belgian conceptual artist Broodthaers, who began his career as a poet before turning to visual art at age 40. Stemming from his roots in poetry, Broodthaers’ visual practice involved playful, provocative juxtapositions of word and image, poetry and object, language and art. His work is varied, dabbling in appropriations, film, image and text combinations, and mixed media installations he called decors.

The artist found inspiration in the Surrealists and American Pop artists, citing influence from Oldenburg, Segal, Mallarmé, and Magritte. Unfortunately, the artist’s career was tragically cut short when, a mere twelve years later, he succumbed to liver disease on his 52nd birthday. However, he leaves behind an astounding number of works, many of which have had a profound impact on future artists, including Richard Prince, Rachel Harrison, Philippe Parreno and Tino Sehgal.

Marcel Broodthaers, Dites Partout Que Je L’Ai Dit (Say Everywhere That I Have Said It), 1974. Parrot under bell jar, audiotape, 2 framed works. Variable dimensions.

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Andy Warhol, Coca-Cola [4] [Large Coca-Cola], 1962 (est. $20-25 million, realized $34.5 million), via Sothebys.com

Auction goers at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale on Tuesday night were offered glass bottles of Coca-Cola before entering the saleroom in honor of the auction’s featured lot – Andy Warhol‘s Coca-Cola [4] [Large Coca-Cola]. The painting sold for $35.4 million against a high presale estimate of $25 million and was, like the Warhol for sale at Phillips Monday night, the evening’s top lot. The Sotheby’s auction was comprised of 54 lots (not including a work by Felix Gonzales-Torres, which was withdrawn) that brought in $222.5 million against presale estimates of $151.8-214.5 million. The sale had a sell through rate of 90.7% by lot and 97.1% by value with 5 of 54 lots unsold.

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Felix Gonzales-Torres, Untitled (Portrait of Marcel Brient), 1992 (est. $4-6 million, realized $4.5 million), via Phillipsdepury.com

Phillips de Pury conducted its first auctions at 450 Park Avenue on Monday night to a packed house, kicking off a week of Contemporary Art sales in New York. The Carte Blanche auction, curated by Philippe Ségalot, was immediately followed by the Contemporary Art Evening Sale. The Carte Blanche auction carried a presale estimate of $77.5-104.8 million and realized $117 million, while the Contemporary Evening Sale brought in $20 million against a high presale estimate of $34.4 million.

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Robert Rauschenberg, Untitled (Runts), 2007 image courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

Currently on view at Gagosian Gallery’s large Chelsea space on West 21st street is the first major retrospective of Robert Rauschenberg‘s work since his death in 2008. The artist was represented by Pace Gallery for fifteen years until this past June, when Gagosian gained exclusive commercial representation of the artist’s estate. This exhibition is presented by Gagosian in collaboration with the Estate of Robert Rauschenberg, and is accompanied by a beautifully-illustrated catalogue with essays by art historians James Lawrence and John Young.

Robert Rauschenberg, Aen Floga (Combine Painting), 1962 image courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

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Andy Warhol, Men in Her Life, 1962 (est. $40 million), via Phillipsdepury.com

The second week of major New York auctions begins with two evening sales at Phillips de Pury on Monday, November 8th, followed by the Sotheby’s sale on Tuesday and the Christie’s sale on Wednesday. Phillips will hold two back to back sales on Monday evening that will inaugurate the house’s new headquarters at 450 Park Avenue in New York City. The evening sale is preceded by the first of a new series of auctions titled Carte Blanche, wherein a guest artist, collector, or curator organizes the auction. This week’s Carte Blanche auction is the bigger of the two sales and is curated by Philippe Ségalot. It is comprised of 33 works expected to fetch at least $80 million. The Sotheby’s sale is composed of 55 lots expected to bring upwards of $132 million, while the 76 lots at Christie’s are expected to fetch upwards of $240 million.

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12 People outside Ai Weiwei’s Shanghai Studio Playing Assassin, via Twitter.

This is the general tragedy of this nation. Everything has to be dealt with by police. It is like you use an axe to do all the housework because this is the only tool you have. –Ai Weiwei, via NPR

Ai Weiwei, one of China’s most internationally-visible and politically-engaged artists, was reportedly placed under house arrest Friday by police in Beijing. According to Ai and media outlets in dialogue with him, the detainment is an effort by authorities to prevent a party the artist scheduled for Sunday night at his studio in Shanghai, in protest of government orders received earlier this year to demolish the space.

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Artist Ai Weiwei, via The Guardian.

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Tony Oursler, Studio View, 2010. Courtesy of Lehmann Maupin Gallery

Art Observed attended last month’s opening of Tony Oursler’s exhibition Peak, presented by Lehmann Maupin Gallery in New York. The show is comprised of all new works by Oursler, and continues his long standing examination of technology’s interaction with the human psyche. In Peak, the artist focuses in particular on the increasingly-central importance of computers to human existence, and the relationships that manifest within these virtual platforms. Each of the bizzare microcosmic scenes Oursler has created communicates emotions that are central to this connection, such as obsession, escapism, isolation, and sexual fetish.

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Photo Courtesy of Bismarck Phillips Communications & Media

Last night at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann was announced as the winner of the 2010 Hugo Boss Prize. In addition to receiving $100,ooo for his achievements, Feldmann will also have his work displayed in a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim, from May 20th to September 5th, 2011. Though the prize is regularly awarded to young emerging artists, critics could not ignore his recent contributions to the contemporary art, and at age 69 made Feldmann the oldest individual to ever receive it. The six person jury considered five other artists before reaching their decision. The Hugo Boss Prize was established in 1996 and has been given out biennially since then.

Hans Peter Feldmann with the Hugo Boss Prize, photo Courtesy of Bismarck Phillips Communications & Media

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All images via Lever House Collection, © Taryn Simon.

Taryn Simon’s “Contraband,” curated by Richard D. Marshall, consists of 1,075 photographs taken at U.S. Customs and the U.S. Postal Service International Mail Facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport.  Simon personally remained on-site at JFK from November 16, 2009 through November 20, 2009, photographing all items detained from travelers entering the country and from packages entering the US from overseas.

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Henri Matisse, Nu de dos, 4 état (Back IV), conceived c. 1930 and cast 1978 (est. $25-35 million, realized $48.8 million), via Christies.com

Wednesday evening’s Impressionist & Modern auction at Christie’s in New York featured 84 lots (not including lot 27, which was withdrawn) that were expected to fetch between $198-286.6 million. The sale realized a total of $231.4 million and had a sell through rate of 80% by lot and 88% by value. Like the Sotheby’s sale  on Tuesday night, a handful of the top lots found buyers after enthusiastic bidding while the majority of lots were sold within or below presale estimates, or were bought in.

Still, the aggressive bidding that set two artists’ records was largely unexpected. Perhaps garnering the most post auction attention,  the sale of Matisse’s Nu de dos, 4 état (Back IV), an impressively sized bronze sculpture of a woman’s back, went to Larry Gagosian–on behalf of an anonymous client–for $48.8 million. Similarly, Violon et guitare, a 1913 painting by Juan Gris, generously outperformed its $18-25 million estimate, fetching $28.6 million from a European collector. Though the top buyers identities remain unknown, sources such as the New York Times have speculated the involvement of hedge fund billionaire and collector Steven A. Cohen, who was present at the event and has bought through Larry Gagosian in the past.

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The room fills at Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Evening Sale in New York, via Art Observed

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Amedeo Modigliani, Nu Assis Sur un Divan (La Belle Romaine), 1917 (est. $40 million, realized $68.9 million), via Sothebys.com

The fall auction season in New York kicked off on Tuesday evening with Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern sale. The 61-lot auction carried a presale estimate of $195-266 million and realized $227,561,000. Just four lots accounted for more than half of the evening’s earnings, while 15 lots were bought in. Amedeo Modigliani‘s Nu Assis Sur un Divan (La Belle Romaine) was the top lot, bringing in a staggering $68.9 million and setting the record for a work by the artist at auction.

Aristide Maillol, Torse de L’Action Enchainée, 1861-1944, at auction (est. $500-$700 thousand, realized 2.9 million), via Art Observed

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Tina Barney, Players, 2010. Image Courtesy of Janet Borden.

Tina Barney’s latest show, Players, at Janet Borden features the elegant, highly detailed, large-format photographs for which the artist is best known.  The exhibition also marks the release of a book by the same name in which Barney closely examines instances of performance and theatricality.

The show addresses Barney’s long-standing engagement with the portrayal of upper-class American and European families and their dwellings, questioning the role of environment and visual signifiers associated with wealth.  Players depicts an expanded visual vocabulary emphasizing subject matter ranging from fashion, popular actors, circus performers, and the artist’s family and personal friends.  The work examines an intersection between public and private domains, resulting in a more casual-yet-editorializing style that is simultaneously revealing and perpetually curious.

Tina Barney, Players, 2010. Image Courtesy of Janet Borden.

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Francesca DiMattio, Marie Antoinette

The New Art Dealers Alliance held its inaugural NADA Artist Ball this past Sunday, October 31st at Eventi Hotel in Chelsea. The event naturally followed a Halloween theme, with inventive costume ideas abounding among the crowd of creative guests. According to NADA’s website, the gala was put on to “celebrate the artists that make our industry possible.” Proceeds from the event, which also featured a selection of live music and performances, benefit the organization’s growing public and educational programs. Patrick Meagher attended the festivities and captured some highlights on film for Art Observed; a full on-site photo collection follows the jump.

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Neckface, “Into darkness”, Crowd oustide on Halloween night at OHWOW Gallery, 2010. Via Michael C. Hsiung

With “Into Darkness,” Neck Face imparts many layers of his wonderful psyche upon the OHWOW audience, including takes on violence, music, optimism and addiction. His acerbic, Pettibon-esque drawings remain engaging, as always, and are the highlight of the show. An intelligent coupling of this series with a selection of collage and large, text-based paintings with his imagery provided a balanced presentation of his work at the Los Angeles venue’s installation. OHWOW’s sophisticated and discerning curatorial decisions transcend the chaos-over-saturation possible in the undertaking of this Halloween debut.

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John Baldessari, The Overlap Series: Jogger (with Cosmic Event), 2000- 2001 Image © John BaldessariLos Angeles comes to New York with “Pure Beauty,” a survey of work by conceptual Californian artist John Baldessari. With a career spanning over five decades and a body of work composed of nearly every media, Baldessari pioneered many of the tropes associated with conceptual art today.  In “Pure Beauty,” established themes of language and seriality intersect with Baldessari’s interest in cinema, pedagogy and the culture of LA.

John Baldessari, God Nose, 1965 Image © John Baldessari (more…)

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Exit Art Founders Papo Colo and Jeanette Ingberman at Exit Art, 578 Broadway, Manhattan, 1986. Courtesy of Exit Art

Exit Art’s Alternative Histories attempts to assess the inception and development of “alternative” art spaces in New York since the 1960s. The show presents various forms of documentary and archival material drawn from more than 130 organizations and collective experiences which have, from this establishment’s perspective, shaped  the cultural topography of the city over the past 50 years, informing and inspiring generations of artists and practitioners.

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All installation views courtesy Exit Art

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Marina Abramović, Portrait with white lamb. 2010. Courtesy the artist, Marco Anelli and Lisson Gallery.

Currently on view at Lisson Gallery London is an exhibition of new and retrospective works by Marina Abramović. The installation showcases videos, photographs, and sculpture, divided in two parts between galleries across the street from one another. In one, her seminal Rhythm series is mounted in its entirety for the first time; in the other, Abramović’s new series Back to Simplicity makes its debut.

Back to Simplicity reveals a somewhat softer side of Abramović: exhausted from her recent 90-day performance at the MoMA New York, the artist returned to nature to renew her energy. Shot in upstate New York, where Abramović intends to open an institute for the preservation of performance art, the recent images are a far cry from the challenging, violent, and provocative work for which Abramović is known. Instead of pills, guns, or other tools of violence, the artist’s new companion is the lamb. As a symbol of innocence, this creature carries with it a gentler, more vulnerable air.

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Marina Abramović. Video still from Confession. 2010. Image courtesy the artist and Lisson Gallery.

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Takashi Murakami, Oval Buddha 2010, Chateau de Versailles, via Luxuo–>

Controversy over the Takashi Murakami exhibition at Versailles continued this past week as Prince Sixte Henri de Bourbon-Parm, descendant of King Louis XIV, filed a court order to suspend showing of the manga inspired contemporary pieces in the royal apartments. According the the Independent, the French aristocrat has taken the action out of “respect of the château and of his ancestors” and opposes the display because it has degraded “supreme good French taste.”  He joins the voices of the over 12,000 opponents who have signed petitions to remove Murakami’s playful works since the show was announced at the beginning of this past summer.

Prince Sixte-Henri de Bourbon-Parme, via tvhl.info.com–>

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Amedeo Modigliani, Nu Assis Sur un Divan (La Belle Romaine), 1917 (est. $40 million), via Sothebys.com

Sotheby’s and Christie’s will both hold Impressionist and Modern sales in New York during the first week of November. Sotheby’s will offer 61 lots during the Evening Sale on November 2nd, with Christie’s Evening Sale following on the 3rd. The latter is comprised of 85 lots, and is expected to bring at least $200 million.

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Nate Lowman, Stay in School, 2010, photo by Art Observed

AO was onsite at Nate Lowman’s installation “Stay in School” at 80WSE Windows. Located on the east side of Washington Square park, “Stay in School” features three windows each with paired images either mounted on or exposed from within sheetrock walls that Lowman contructed. As the title indicates, the exhibition addresses issues of youth and education, appropriate for an area that receives among the highest student foot traffic in New York City.

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Grand Palais FIAC 2010, all photos by Tiphaine Popesco for Art Observed

Events at the Grand Palais and Cour Caree du Louvre concluded Sunday afternoon as FIAC 2010 came to a close in Paris. Looking back on what happened in the city’s biggest week for contemporary art, the fair seems to capture many of the same trends that marked the hesitant atmosphere of the Frieze art fair in London. The fair unofficially opened last Tuesday, October 19th, to an ever growing VIP preview audience that this year numbered over 20,000.

Robust early sales at well established galleries suggested that dealers would enjoy even greater success than was seen in London in the same week, several high price tagged items, including Anish Kapoor’s $2.4 million Slug and Takashi Murakami’s $1.6 million Kiki, remained unclaimed well into this weekend. Even the French government toned down its own purchasing, as the cultural ministry spent $280,000 on eight works this year, down from 24 works for roughly twice as much last year. The market certainly isn’t dead but lavish spending akin to the 2007 boom hasn’t made an aggressive comeback.

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At Gagosian, photo by Tiphaine Popesco

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Gregory Crewdson, Untitled (08), 2009. © Gregory Crewdson. All images of courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

Sanctuary, the Gregory Crewdson exhibition currently on view at Gagosian Gallery’s Madison Avenue branch, further develops the artist’s on-going investigation into the realm of staged photography. With this new body of work, Crewdson addresses questions of format and color, presenting a series of black and white images that offer an intimate entry point into his visual journey through Italy.

Gregory Crewdson, Untitled (06), 2009. © Gregory Crewdson.

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Roy Lichtenstein, Reflections: Sunday Morning, 1989. Image © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

The Pop-art of Roy Lichtenstein has garnered a great deal of attention this fall, with three monographic shows currently taking place in New York City. Reflections represents one third of this trio, presented at Mitchell-Innes & Nash gallery. As the title suggests, the twelve paintings featured are connected through themes of mirrors, reflection, and doubling. Also included are a number of preparatory drawings, which provide important insight into the development of these stylized, vivid depictions of fragmented figures and forms.

Roy Lichtenstein, Reflections: Nurse, 1988. Image © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

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Matthew Day Jackson, The Way We Were, 2010. All photos by Tiphaine Popesco for Art Observed unless otherwise noted

While pension strikes increasingly paralyze all other aspects of life in Paris, the activities at FIAC have seemingly managed to go on unbothered. Two days into the fair, visitors have already lauded this year’s success. According to ArtInfo, a new physical layout of the venue  has dramatically improved the experience. Surly other changes, namely the headlining debuts of Gagosian and the Rosenblum Collection, as well as healthy sales at such galleries as Hauser & Wirth, Thaddeus Ropac, Blum and Poe, and David Zwirner have fueled this sentiment. Details on sales and the first in a series of two comprehensive photo sets follow the jump.

Jean Michel Othoniel and Emmanuel Perrotin

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