Several works by painter Francis Bacon have been discovered on the backs of amateur paintings, and are expected to sell for at least £100,000 at auction next month.  The works, which bear similar elements to Bacon’s “Pope” paintings, were found on the back of several works by Guildford painter Lewis Todd.  Both artists had been given supplies by Cambridge’s Heffer Gallery, but it is uncertain how Bacon’s canvases ended up at the gallery.   (more…)

DIS Image Studio at Suzanne Geiss Company (Installation View), via Daniel Creahan for ArtObserved

The stock photo library has a long and complex history in the world of photography.  Pioneered as a money-saving convenience for commercial advertisements and small publications, the stock photograph has had countless ups and downs as both financial godsend and ironic fetish object as its demand in the world of commercial photography fluctuates.  Examining this intriguing commercial industry and its artistic implications, DIS Magazine is currently hosting the DIS Image Studio at Suzanne Geiss Company in New York.

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Late art historian and collector Denis Mahon has left 57 works, valued at over £100 million, to the British nation, including many works by Italian masters Guercino, Guido Reni and Luca Giordano, under one condition: Britain must never sell them or charge admission for their viewing.  Mr. Mahon reportedly built his collection without paying more than £2,000 for most of his works, and was adamant on their public accessibility.  If these conditions are not met, public arts institution The Art Fund is legally able to take them back; an attempt to “keep up the pressure for governments to do the right thing by museums and galleries” says Art Fund Chief Executive Stephen Deuchar. (more…)

Christie’s announced this week that it will be increasing its buyer’s premium for the first time since 2008.  The increase changes the percentages and value cutoffs for each premium amount to 25% for the first $75,000, 20% on any sale between $75,001 and $1.5 million, and 12% for any sale over that amount.  There has been no response in price increases from the other auction houses, but a spokesman for Sotheby’s was quoted as saying the company was: “studying the matter and haven’t taken any decisions.” (more…)

Artist Kehinde Wiley recently spoke with The Economist about a new series of his immediately recognizable portraits, made during his travels in Israel.  Part of his World Stage series, the new works explore new facets of the complex mesh of ethnic identities and personal politics at play in the Middle Eastern state.  “Mostly I worked with friends of friends,” Mr Wiley says. “I wanted to work with males, ages 18 to 35, who in some way were dealing with or challenging the anxiety and narcissism of youth-entertainment culture.” (more…)

In his largest U.S. exhibition to date, Los Angeles-based artist Paul McCarthy will present a re-imagining of Snow White at the Park Avenue Armory this summer as part of the institution’s 2013 season.  The season also includes a staging of Marina Abramovic’s opera, and a performance of Stockhausen’s “Licht,” with a moonscape designed by Rirkrit Tiravanija.  According to Rebecca Robertson, the armory’s president and executive producer, the varied calendar of works is intended to “blur the line between high art and popular culture” and “ask tough questions about the world in which we live.” (more…)

China is currently considering legislation that would guarantee artists royalty payments anytime their art is resold at auction.  These rights to a percentage of an artist’s resale price, referred to as “droit de suite” rights, are part of a new copyright law proposal that would bring China closer to European copyright standards, and is already causing fierce debate in the Chinese art market.  “Droit de suite may stifle the development of the market,” wrote Ji Tao, an auction industry expert at China Culture Daily, but: “From the point of view of the artists and authors, droit de suite is a good thing, because every transaction means gains.” (more…)

Song Dong, Facing the Wall (1999), via PACE Gallery

On view at both of Pace Gallery’s New York exhibition spaces is an exhibition of work by Chinese artist Song Dong, compiling the artist’s recent work from dOCUMENTA 13 and the Kiev Biennial, as well as older work.

Song Dong, Doing Nothing Mountains (2011-2012), via PACE Gallery (more…)

#AIWW: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei, a new play detailing the arrest and detainment of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in April of 2011, will open this year in London.  Based on conversations between the artist and author Barnaby Martin following Ai’s release in June of 2011, the show will depict the series of events leading up to and during his detainment.  “Weiwei is a natural raconteur and although he was still deeply traumatised by his experience inside, he went back through the experiences of his detention and recounted, in his inimitable English, the most incredible and bizarre story I have ever heard,” says Martin. (more…)

The French government has validated claims to seven works of art taken from Jewish owners during World War II, and has promised to return them.  The works include Henri Matisse’s  Le Mur Rose, de l’Hôpital d’Ajaccio, and will be returned to Tom Seldorff, the 82-year old grandson of original owner Richard Neumann.  This is incredibly rare. It’s the largest number of paintings we’ve been able to give back to Jewish families in over a decade,” said Bruno Saunier of the National Museums Agency. (more…)

An interior by French post-impressionist Henri Le Sidaner has been discovered in an office of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania School District.  The work, which was purchased in 1933 and donated to the school system, has been considered missing for 80 years, and is valued at $500k.  “It was really great it turned up and we know where it is now,” said Louise Lippincott, curator for fine arts at Carnegie Museum of Art.

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Aspasia Zaimis, niece of Greek Shipping Magnate Basil Goulandris, is pursuing a lawsuit to recover a selection of paintings from her uncle’s estate, including works by Van Gogh, Renoir, and Monet.  Her current investigation has already turned up a long paper trail of documents that have raised suspicions about the ownership of the works, and has also resulted in a criminal investigation of her late aunt Elise Goulandris’s philanthropic organization.  “I am determined to find the paintings which were in the Gstaad home before my aunt’s death,” Zaimis said. “I believe with all my heart that the paintings were part of my inheritance.” (more…)

A fresh series of tests on a Swiss-held portrait of the Mona Lisa has bolstered claims that it is in fact an earlier version of the famous portrait by Leonardo Da Vinci.  The “Isleworth Mona Lisa” was recently examined by experts of Da Vinci’s sacred geometry techniques, and also underwent a series of carbon dating tests, both of which supported evidence of the work being an earlier version of the immediately recognizable painting.   “When we add these new findings to the wealth of scientific and physical studies we already have, I believe anyone will find the evidence of a Leonardo attribution overwhelming,” said David Feldman, vice-president of the Mona Lisa Foundation. (more…)

Financier and art collector Richard Hollander has donated a large block of photographs by the prominent photographer Edward Steichen to a trio of U.S. museums, ensuring that the artist’s work will be available to the public across the United States.  The photographs were purchased at directly from Steichen’s estate, and will be given to the Whitney Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Block Museum in Chicago.  “I’ve gotten the bug,” Hollander said. “Now I want to share my vision.” (more…)

David Salle/ Francis Picabia (Installation View), via Galerie Thaddeus Ropac

Currently on view at Galerie Thaddeus Ropac’s Marais location in Paris is a trans-Atlantic exhibition, featuring the works of David Salle and Francis Picabia, and focusing on a dialogue between the US-born Salle’s contemporary paintings and the French surrealism of Picabia. (more…)

The New York Times reviews The Cooper Union‘s current struggle to find solutions to their financial deficits.  While the famed art-educational institution has not charged tuition for over one hundred years, current budgetary issues have forced the school to re-evaluate its position.  Now, as a decision on charging undergraduate tuition nears, faculty, students and alumni are immersed in a fervent debate over the school’s future.  “There will be some tough decisions,” says president Jamshed Bharucha said. “There have to be. Because the model that has been in place cannot be sustained.” (more…)

Massimiliano Gioni, the 39-year old director of special exhibitions at the New Museum in New York, sat down with the Wall Street Journal recently to discuss his upcoming position as the youngest curator for the Venice Biennale in one hundred years, his history of innovative exhibitions, and his inclusive take on conceptual and contemporary art.  “We need to remind ourselves that contemporary art is first of all a form of conceptual gymnastics, in which we learn to coexist with what we don’t understand,” he says. (more…)

Claes Oldenburg, Pastry Case (1961-62), via Guggenheum Bilbao

Guggenheim Bilbao is currently exhibiting work by legendary American pop artist Claes Oldenburg (born 1929), focusing on the sculpture, performance and installation artist’s early work from the 1960s.  Pulling from the conceptually dense and thematically broad practice of his formative years, this is the largest show of work ever exhibited from this period in Oldenburg’s life.

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The auction room at Christie’s, via Christie’s

With the conclusion of Contemporary Art Auction Week yesterday in London, dealers, collectors and artists headed home, having seen well over $200 million exchanged during what many are calling a particularly successful season.  This year, Asian, Russian, and other international collectors continued to make their presence known, including a number of first- time bidders who swooped in one some of the more highly valued works available.  (more…)

Keith Sonnier, Lit Circle Blue with Etched Glass (1968), via Mary Boone Gallery

Mary Boone’s Chelsea gallery is currently glowing with Keith Sonnier’s early fluorescent works from 1968 – 1970, on view through February 23. Along with Bruce Nauman, Eva Hesse, and Donald Judd, Sonnier’s approach to spatial and aesthetic considerations  radically changed the conceptions of sculpture, embracing experimentation with unconventional materials and approaches to presentation.  The works on view at Mary Boone mark the period in which Sonnier first began working with neon light tubes, using them as a method to explore everyday materials, and to examine the impact that light makes on the surrounding environment.

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Sotheby’s is being sued by a past seller for damages over a work they allegedly misattributed.  The Cardsharps, attributed by the auction house to a “follower of Caravaggio,” was sold for £42,000, and later identified as an authentic Caravaggio by its purchaser, scholar Denis Mahon, increasing its value to an estimated £10 million.  The claimant, Lancelot William Thwaytes, seeks unspecified damages, interests and costs for the value of the painting above its original selling price, but Sotheby’s is standing by their attribution.  “Our view is also supported by the market, which gave its verdict on this painting when it set the price at £50,400. ”  The company said in a statement. (more…)

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has accepted the invitation to design the Serpentine Gallery’s 2013 summer pavilion in Kensington Gardens, London.  His 350 square meter design, a steel lattice-work “cloud,” was selected from a competitive pool of designs, and makes him the youngest architect to accept this invitation at 41.  “We are thrilled to be working with one of the most fascinating architects in the world today. Sou Fujimoto has designed a structure that will enthral everyone that encounters it throughout the summer.”   Said Serpentine Director Julia Peyton-Jones and Co-Director Hans Ulrich Obrist in a statement. (more…)

Fire at Pratt Institute, via Brooklyn News 12

A brutal, four-alarm fire broke out in the main building of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn on of the major arts schools in New York City, late last night, causing a partial collapse of the building’s roof, and massive damage to its structure and facade. (more…)

James Franco, Gay Town (2012), via Peres Projects

Peres Projects located in Berlin is presenting a month-long, solo exhibition by American actor, filmmaker, writer and artist James Franco from Saturday February 9th, titled GAY TOWN.

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