Dealer Virginia Dwan, who earned a reputation for her ongoing support and collection of a number of pioneering “Land Art” works during the 1960’s and 70’s, has pledged the donation of 250 works from her collection to The National Gallery in Washington.  Among the works donated are Marcel Duchamp’s iconic recreation of the Mona Lisa with a mustache drawn on, and Michael Heizer’s Double Negative, a monumental piece in the Nevada desert.  “I want the collection to have the largest audience of people possible, not just art world types who have a to-do list.”  Dwan commented. (more…)

A pre-war bank building in Shanghai has become the home of Bank, an arts exhibition space owned by cultural promoters Mabsociety.  “In the past, we were curating for other institutions and doing some pop-up exhibitions,” founder Mathieu Borysevicz says. “We think of ourselves as ‘post-gallery’.” (more…)

Current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been named the next chairman of the Serpentine Gallery in London, assuming the post once his mayoral term ends this year.  Bloomberg previously served on the board for the London gallery, which is open to the public, and will assume the post at the start of 2014. (more…)

In an effort to lure new buyers to his oceanfront Miami property, developer Eduardo Costantini has purchased a pair of sculptures by Jeff Koons for $14 million.  Ballerina, and Pluto and Prosperina will be placed outside of the Oceana Bal Harbour condos, at opposite ends of a breezeway.  “Miami is becoming truly a metropolis, and Jeff Koons is a representation of that, with the visibility that he has, and the quality of his art,” Mr. Costantini says. “You have like, citizens of the world, who travel a lot, and have more than two residences, but they have the sensitivity to appreciate good things, good quality.” (more…)

As Christie’s concludes its first auction in mainland China, The Economist has released an article forecasting a rocky road ahead for foreign auction houses entering China’s already competitive market.  With 70 auction houses already operating inside the country, high taxes and rampant concerns over counterfeiting and rigged auctions, the way will not be easy for major international companies looking to cash in on China’s growing market. (more…)

Christie’s November 12th auction in New York will feature a classic Gerhard Richter, on sale from the collection of musician Eric Clapton.  Abstraktes Bild (809-1), which was painted in 1994, is estimated to sell between $20 and $25 million.  “Richter is certainly the greatest abstract painter working today, Abstraktes Bild (809-1) is remarkable for the illusion of space that develops, ironically, out of his incidental process: an accumulation of spontaneous, reactive gestures of adding, moving, and subtracting paint,” says Christie’s Post-War Chairman Brett Gorvy. (more…)

The Financial Times reports on the growing trend for artists seeking large live-work spaces in New York.  Profiling the live-in studios of Vik Muniz, Cai Guo-Qiang and Lawrence Weiner, the article traces the appeal of working from home, especially as Muniz notes: “no matter how you succeed in your career, you will always be nostalgic for the time when your working table and your bed were next to each other.” (more…)

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has released a series of specially designed skateboard decks for The Sk8room.  Featuring shots of some of the artist’s work (including his iconic sunflower seeds work), overlaid with text from the artist. The set of three decks follows in the wake of other Sk8room Collaborations with Damien Hirst and Banksy.   (more…)

Dealer Victoria Miro is profiled in the Financial Times this weekend, discussing the opening of her second gallery space in London, her impressive stable of artists including Chris Ofili, Grayson Perry, Peter Doig, Conrad Shawcross, Elmgreen & Dragset, and Yayoi Kusama, and the changing nature of the art market.  “It affects production: it doesn’t suit all artists.”  Miro says. “Work is probably not as precious as it was. We are in a quick world. The collector base is moving. There’s a time element – you can go to an art fair and see so much in a few hours. I really regret that people don’t spend the time to look at things.” (more…)

Robert Ryman, Untitled (2010), Photo: Bill Jacobson, Courtesy of the Pace Gallery

The work of American artist Robert Ryman (b. 1930, Nashville, Tennessee), is at once rigorous and experimental, playing with the possibilities of material, scale, brushstroke, and installation itself.  He is most commonly identified with the movements of monochrome painting, minimalism, and conceptual art, and frequently explores the classical distinctions between sculpture and painting, as well as concerns with themes of perception, context, and enforced limitations.  Since the 1950s, Ryman has focused on the conceptual nature of his work, exploring the varieties found in primarily white paint on square surfaces. Preferring to be known as a “realist” rather than a minimalist, his work presents compositions at face value, prompting an examination of the optical and material properties of the painting discipline. (more…)

Thomas Houseago, Sleeping Boy I (2012), courtesy Sasha Patkin for Art Observed

In the first ever large-scale presentation of the work of artist Thomas Houseago, Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, New York, presents “As I Went Out One Morning” – a unique exhibition combing both indoor and outdoor sculpture in several media, including bronze, aluminum, plaster, charcoal, and drawings. (more…)

Elmgreen and Dragset’s long-awaited installation, Tomorrow, which creates the fictional home of a disillusioned, homosexual architect, has opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  Featuring works by the artists alongside objects from the museum and a nearby antiques market, the show will seek to alter the perception of the museum and its collection.  “There are lots of clever art shows at the moment where you go and look and it’s almost as [predictable as] mathematics,” Says Michael  Elmgreen.  “We do something where even we ask ourselves: ‘What is it about?'” (more…)

Christie’s completed its first auction mainland China yesterday, selling a variety of artworks, jewelry and collectibles for a total sale of $25 million.  One highlight was a painting by Pablo Picasso, which achieved a final price of over $1.5 million.  “I’m very happy with the results, with the right place, with the right people, with the right moment,” said Christie’s executive Steven Murphy.  (more…)

Rapper A$AP Rocky was spotted this week wearing a piece from Supreme’s Jean-Michel Basquiat Collection, which is set for release today both online, and in Supreme flagship stores nationwide.  Featuring photographs and graphics from Basquiat’s work, the line has been hotly anticipated by urban fashion enthusiasts and art lovers alike. (more…)

Part of the upcoming release of Lady Gaga’s newest release, ARTPOP, the singer has commissioned Jeff Koons to create a sculpture of herself for the cover of the album.  “I’m still trying to figure out if we drugged him and mind controlled him into doing this.”  Gaga joked. (more…)

Capitalizing on Atlantic City’s immense casino tax funds, New Jersey governor Chris Christie has launched a major public art campaign, installing large-scale works around the city.  A number of artists have already been recruited for the project, including Robert Barry, Kiki Smith, and John Roloff, with more to be announced soon.  “What makes my heart race is to bring artists into new situations where they have to interact with the people,” says curator Lance Fung. “There are around 30 million visitors here every year, and most of them are not art people.”  (more…)

Public art pioneer Suzanne Lacy has announced a major project coming to Brooklyn on October 19th.  Created in collaboration with Creative Time, the project will install “300 women and a few men” on the stoops of apartments in Prospect Heights, and on the steps of the Brooklyn Museum to engage pedestrians and visitors in dialogues on contemporary gender politics.  The project is informed by 5 months of research Lacy completed this year with an advisory board of 16 activists. (more…)

The 2012 Turner Prize nominee formerly known Spartacus Chetwynd has undergone another identity change, documenting the process in The Guardian this week. Originally named Alalia Cichosz before changing her name in 2006, the artist has yet again changed her name to Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, in honor of the deceased soul singer.  “For the last six months or so, I’ve been thinking about changing my name again – this time to Marvin Gaye Chetwynd. Again, it’s a good experiment. It could work like a shield, or a spell. In the end I just thought: ‘I’m going to try it, because nothing matters very much.'” She writes. (more…)

The Serpentine Sackler, via The Guardian

The newly completed redesign of the Serpentine Sackler Gallery is set to open this Sunday in London’s Kensington Gardens neighborhood, featuring a sloping new design extension by architect Zaha Hadid, which complements a freshly renovated gunpowder store initially constructed in 1805.

The Serpentine Sackler, via The Guardian (more…)

An enormous inflatable concert hall, designed in a collaboration between Anish Kapoor and architect Arata Isozaki, is set to open this week in the coastal Japanese town of Matsushima.  The project is intended to provide a temporary place for events in a region badly damaged by the 2011 Tsunami, and was initiated by Michael Haefliger of the musical event Lucerne Festival.  “I felt a strong desire to make a contribution to overcoming the consequences of the catastrophe, within the scope of what we have to offer.” He said. (more…)

Cy Twombly, Sunset (1957), Image Credit: Tom Powel Imaging / Courtesy Dominique Lévy, New York.

Twenty minutes of continuous, monotone sound, followed by twenty minutes of absolute silence; such is the premise for Yves Klein’s 1949 Monotone Symphony, a powerful piece considered to stand at the core of the artist’s pioneering conceptual ouevre and one that bore remarkable influence on fellow artists Cy Twombly and Lucio Fontana, each of which drove their own sense of dichotomous action on canvas and sculpture, defining the continued explorations of abstraction and concept in post-war art.

Yves Klein, Pluie Bleu (S 36) (1961), Image credit Tom Powel Imaging, © Yves Klein, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York ADAGP, Paris 2013.

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A major legal battle over the estate of copper heiress Huguette Clark has reached a settlement, with the Corcoran Gallery of Art receiving a large share of Clark’s fortune, including $10 million in cash, half the proceeds from the sale of Monet’s Water Lillies, and a seat on the board of a new national arts foundation.  “We’re going to be very guarded with these funds,” said Corcoran President Peggy Loar. “This will help our operating situation, but very carefully.” (more…)

The Fall/Winter issue of Document Journal will feature a special edition designed by Paul McCarthy. Dawing a naked figure over the photographed body of Kate Moss, as shot by Mario Testino, McCarthy turns a subdued image into a lurid, Freudian exercise. (more…)

A number of artists who left the MOCA Board  in 2012 have joined the search team for selecting a new director for Los Angeles’s contemporary art museum.  John Baldessari, Barbara Kruger, Catherine Opie and Ed Ruscha have all signed on as part of the 14-person board, and will help in the search and selection process.  “Pertinent qualities [for a new director] would be fundraising, experience in how a museum operates, and most importantly, vast curatorial skill,” Baldessari said. “It would be a real opportunity to whoever is appointed, because there’s nowhere to go but up.” (more…)