‪‬David Hockney technically tops Britain’s annual Giving List (in terms of ratio of worth) by donating £78.1m in paintings and £730,000 in cash to his David Hockney Foundation, 2.3 times his net worth of £34m, while Richard Branson gave the highest numerical amount of £358m
Paul Cezanne, Jouer de cartes (1892–96). Image courtesy of Christie’s.
Last night’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale at Christie’s began this season’s auctions in New York. Christie’s overall sales totaled $117 million—well over their low estimate of $90.5 million. According to Christie’s, they achieved a sell-through rate of 96% by value and 90% by lot. In a post-auction press conference, Christie’s Head of the Department, Brooke Lampley, said that the results were exactly what they had expected, given that they had tailored their sale to match what the market was looking for.
View of the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale at Christie’s. Photo by Aubrey Roemer for Art Observed.
Jonathan Meese, Mona Lisa (2006-2007). All images via the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.
German-born multimedia artist Jonathan Meese is showing a new series of his politically and philosophically radical work at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Seeking “maximum precision” Meese offers a graphically reduced but highly alert perspective; mythology, history, characters, symbols, and figures all exist within an exploded sociological determinism. The artist has been producing these approximately 100 large scale lithographs since 2003, based largely on Meese’s desire to work fast, and display his morbid, melted lexicon quickly.
‪‬Picasso’s ‘Femme assise dans un fauteuil’ to be auctioned at Sotheby’s tomorrow night for $20–30m involved in lawsuit for more than $7.5m: after paying late owner Theodore J. Forstmann $7.5m in 2009, American International Insurance Co. is suing Acquavella Gallery for physical damage to the painting
Edvard Munch’s The Scream (1895). Photo by Aubrey Roemer for Art Observed.
Today marks the beginning of a two week flurry of art sales in the New York auction houses. This week is focused entirely on Impressionist and Modern Art, with next week centered on Post War and Contemporary Art. Chances are that you have already been bombarded with the numerous and impressive highlights that both houses have to offer, as the many of the lots from both houses are iconic, impressive, and will quite possibly break world records left and right.
‪‬The 2012 Turner Prize nominees have been announced: Spartacus Chetwynd, Luke Fowler, Paul Noble, and Elizabeth Price. The £25,000 prize is awarded annually to a British artist under age 50, with the four artists showing at Tate Britain each fall.
Marlene Dumas, Gravita (2012). All images courtesy of Fondazione Stelline.
This spring at the Fondazione Stelline in Milan, Marlene Dumas celebrates the Christian season’s Resurrection by examining what came before: the crucifixion. Sorte, Dumas’ exhibition, consists of 22 works—15 of them new—plus an additional 15 historical drawings and watercolors. Per the exhibition’s press release, “[Dumas’] Milan exhibition will portray some of the themes most dear to the artist: the crucifixion, famous people linked to dramatic events, and those ‘people in extreme suffering’ who represent the humanity that is the focus of her painting.”
Installation view
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