The New York Times has published an interview with Christie’s auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen, discussing the continued growth of the contemporary market, the atmosphere of the auction, and some of the tricks in working a room.  “Someone might have collected 40 or 50 good paintings, and when the one work that he wants more than anything else comes up for auction, the auctioneer has to be very sensitive to that,” he says. (more…)

A selection of authentic works by Egon Schiele have been discovered  in Austria.  The portfolio of works were discovered in the attic of a recently deceased man’s home, when his son was cleaning.  “When I saw Schiele’s signature on one of the pics I thought it was probably a copy. I never dreamed it might be genuine,”  he told local news. (more…)

Filmmaker and Video Artist Steve McQueen is profiled in The Guardian this week, talking about his inspirations, his childhood dyslexia, and his personal reflections on the history of slavery.  “All I remember feeling was a real sense of shame and embarrassment about it,” he says. “We can deal with the second world war and the Holocaust and so forth and what not, but this side of history, maybe because it was so hideous, people just do not want to see. People do not want to engage.” (more…)

New research is indicating that most artists make their best, most valuable work at the age of 42.  Studying the work of 200 of the most prominent artists around the world, researchers found that the average age at which they produced their highest valued work at auction was usually made at two thirds into their life.  The number fits startlingly well with Fibonacci’s “golden ratio” of 0.6180, which has long been seen to guarantee proper proportions in the arts. (more…)

The Financial Times continues its ongoing “Breakfast with the FT” series with Nicholas Penny, director of the National Gallery, talking about the challenges of public interest, his opinions on contemporary art, and the role he sees the National Gallery taking in education and advocacy.  “I don’t believe art up to the present should be taught at university,” he says. “Because of consumer demand, the explosion of teaching of contemporary art now is colossal – and it is achieved at the expense of older art. We at the National Gallery should do more to become a magnet for scholarship.” (more…)

As the investigation surrounding the Knoedler Gallery continues, The Art Newspaper traces a number of fake works that are still out in the market.  Two fraudulent pieces are currently held in the storage of The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri, and others have continued to circulate through various resales.  “I unloaded my victimhood,” says Bernard Kruger, a doctor who purchased a fake Richard Diebenkorn from the gallery, and who later resold it. (more…)

Peter Doig, I Think it’s Time (1982-83), via Michael Werner

Currently on view at Michael Werner Gallery in New York is an exhibition of works by Scottish artist Peter Doig, meant to be indicative of his formative years, including several works that have never been on public display before.  Displaying the artist’s signature, boundary-breaking approach, the show is a fitting complement for anyone interested in the painter.

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Sculptor Antony Gormley was honored with knighthood this New Year’s Day.  “I’m really very humbled and delighted.  I think Britain has this extraordinary history of people who think through making things that live in our world and are to be shared.” (more…)

Elmgreen and Dragset, Tomorrow (Installation View) via Art Observed

Snaking through the hallways of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s London space is an immersive, illusory installation by Danish artists Elmgreen and Dragset, a multi-room piece realizing the home and studio of a fictional, disillusioned architect named Norman Swann.

Elmgreen and Dragset, Tomorrow (Installation View) Courtesy the Artists and Victoria Miro, London. © Elmgreen & Dragset. Photography: Anders Sune Berg (more…)

W Magazine profiles the sprawling rural estate of two anonymous New York City collectors in the Hudson Valley region, a site which formerly served as the working farm of the James Cagney estate.  Featuring works by Sol LeWitt, Monika Sosnowska, Franz West and Jeppe Hein, the site is a new adventure for the couple.  “We’d see people pack up their cars on a Friday night and laugh,” they say. “But we always considered ourselves sculpture collectors—and in a New York City apartment that’s a hard thing to do.” (more…)