John Constable’s “The Lock” (1824) which sold for £22.4 million, within its £20-25 million estimate

John Constable‘s “The Lock” broke the artist’s record sale at an auction today at at Christie’s in London. The British painting from the Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection sold in its £20-25 million estimate at £22.4 million, earning a joint fourth place title on the list of most-expensive Old Masters.

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The Telegraph explores the work and influence of the Art Production Fund, led by Yvonne Force Villareal and Doreen Remen. “The key ingredients the duo bring to all their work are infectious enthusiasm and an innate understanding of both art and fashion.”

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The expected £25 million sale of John Constable‘s “The Lock” elicits protest in Spain, revealing a deep family rift and sparking criticism against the owner of the piece, the Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza.

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Herzog & de Meuron‘s converted oil tanks, located underneath the Tate Modern, to open as new three exhibition spaces on July 18, 2012. In a review of The Tanks, the Guardian comments that: “they have the confident geometry of things made not for appearances but for a substantial practical use, and their concrete surfaces have a raw force.”

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Hiroshi Sugimoto – Lightning Fields 167 (2009) – Pace Gallery Beijing

In the press release for his first solo show in China, multi-media artist Hiroshi Sugimoto states his motto as: “Warm the old to know the new,” referencing the outdated mode of Silver gellatin printing he used to create all of the works on view at Pace Gallery Beijing.  Culling from a wide range of his work over the past several decades, the show allows visitors to view Sugimoto’s wide body of work, united by his dedication to the nuanced but admittedly outdated medium of Silver gellatin.

Hiroshi Sugimoto – Manatee (1994) – Pace Gallery Beijing

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All photographs taken by Zoe Zabor for Art Observed

Situated on the active corner of Fifth Avenue and 60th Street, Paola Pivi‘s new installation of a 1977 Piper Seneca opened on June 20th, surprising onlookers with its unusual presence. The six-seater plane is to continuously rotate 360-degrees on its axis until August 26 in the Doris C. Freedman Plaza. Pivi’s “How I Roll” is the latest project of the Public Art Fund, an organization focused on facilitating public art projects in New York City since 1977.

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HWKN’s winning architecture project “Wendy” debuted today at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City. The spiky, nylon based structure “tests how far the boundaries of architecture can expand to create ecological and social effect…During the summer of 2012, Wendy will clean the air to an equivalent of taking 260 cars off the road.”

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Insurance company Lloyd’s of London is in court to recoup $660,000 paid out relating to a 2009 incident where a Manhattan art shipping company delivered Mark Rothko’s “Untitled 1948” to Christopher Rothko’s townhouse and allegedly dropped it, tearing a hole in the work.

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Greek collector Dakis Joannou discusses his view on art, a catalytic encounter with Jeff Koons in 1985, and the role of his Deste Foundation.

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Damien Hirst proposes a 67 foot sculpture of a naked pregnant woman wielding a sword for installation in Ilfracombe, Devon, 100 yards from his restaurant. If built, the sculpture would be taller than Antony Gormley’s ‘Angel of the North’.

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Claude Monet’s ‘Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat’, the only Monet held by the National Gallery of Ireland, was punched through by a man who was later arrested and found to have a history of art theft.

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Pace Gallery expands its global presence to 7 locations, taking a permanent space in London’s Mayfair alongside the Royal Academy. The space will encompass 9,000 square feet at 6 Burlington Gardens and will open with ‘Rothko/ Sugimoto: Dark Paintings and Seascapes.’

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