The Whitney‘s 2011 American Art Award Gala, all images Winston Morris for Art Observed.

AO was on site this Thursday for the Whitney Museum‘s 2011 American Art Award Gala, an event held for the presentation of the 20th Annual American Art Award, which honored Marissa Mayer and Google for their support of the arts in New York, and as celebration of the groundbreaking of the Whitney Museum’s new space in the Meatpacking district. The official groundbreaking, which will take place on May 24, marks the Whitney’s move from the Marcel Breuer-designed building it has been located in since 1966 on Madison Avenue and 75th Street. The event took place in a tent by the entrance to the High Line and ended with a performance by Debbie Harry and members of Blondie. The Annual American Art Award has been commissioned by the Whitney each year since 1992, and is designed by an artist. This year’s award was created by Ellsworth Kelly, and will be given to Marissa Mayer, Google VP of product management. The Whitney’s Education department has partnered with Google to hold a nationwide contest for young artists, Doodle 4 Google, which this year is themed “What I’d Like to Do Someday.” 40 Regional Finalists will have their drawings displayed at the Whitney from May 19th through June 16th, 2011.

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Installation view of Donald Judd’s “Progressions.” All images by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

Currently on view at Galerie Vedovi in Brussels is “Progressions,” a fresh look at the work of seminal American sculptor Donald Judd. The exhibition focuses on Judd’s use of mathematical algorithms to create geometrical progressions. These systems are non-representational tools that offers viewers a neutral way to view the works. With the object autonomous, the focus turns to the wall and its relation to the object.

Judd is also the subject of another concurrent exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery, which opened during New York Gallery Week. It is a restaging of Judd’s 1989 exhibition at the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Baden-Baden, Germany.

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Installation view of Rene Ricard’s “Sonnets from the Portuguese”. All images Ian Hassett for Art Observed.

AO was on-site for the opening of Rene Ricard‘s “Sonnets from the Portuguese,” presented by Vito Schnabel at the former Heidi Cho Gallery in Chelsea.  This is the artist’s first solo painting show in over twenty years, and features paintings overlaid with sharp, evocative poems written by Ricard. The show is entitled “Sonnets from the Portuguese” after a book by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and is meant to “show [his] affection for the city of Lisbon.” It features sixteen canvases painted in basic “poison” green with short poems, and larger works featuring images based on those culled from family photo albums of Ricard’s friends, similarly painted over with text.

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Cyprien Gaillard The Recovery of Discovery (2011), via KW Berlin.

French artist Cyprien Gaillard’s “The Recovery of Discovery” is currently on view at KW Berlin.  The work consists of cardboard boxes of beer that form the shape of a pyramid, which are available to the public to open and drink, after signing a waiver.  The show opened on March 27th, and is in a continuing state of destruction until May 22nd.

Cyprien Gaillard’s beer pyramid opening night, via KW Berlin. More text and images after the jump…

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Andy Warhol, Liz #5, 1963 (est. unpublished, realized $26.9 million). All images via Phillipsdepury.com.

The week’s Contemporary art sales ended Thursday night with a fifty lot auction at Phillips de Pury & Co. The sale just missed its low presale estimate of $84.5 million before fees were added. Thirty-eight lots sold for a total of $82.7 million, or $94.8 million with fees. For the third time this week a Warhol canvas was the top lot. Liz #5, rumored to be sold by hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen, sold for $26.9 million against an unpublished presale estimate of $20-30 million. Unlike Warhol’s photo-booth self portrait on offer Wednesday night at Christie’s, Liz #5‘s trip to the auction block was brief. Bidding opened at $18 million and rose to $24 million before contenders called it quits.

Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, Third Eye, 1985 (est. $2-3 million, realized $7 million)

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Ai Weiwei, Colored Vases (2009), all images by Soraya Gilanni for Art Observed

AO was on site for the preview of Lisson Gallery‘s major survey show of work by Ai Weiwei. Any reading of the exhibition cannot help but be inflected, if not radically transformed, by the knowledge that the artist’s whereabouts and condition are still unknown after being detained by authorities in Beijing on April 3rd, 2011. The exhibition, which will open to the public on May 13th, coincides with the London display of Ai Weiwei’s Animal/Zodiac heads at Somerset House.

Lisson director Greg Hilty and founder Nicholas Logsdail began the day by addressing the absence of the artist directly. They explained that Lisson Gallery had considered canceling the show, but that the “general consensus” among all involved was that it should “absolutely go ahead” despite the fact that Logsdail described the opening day without the presence of the artist as “mortifying.”

Ai Weiwei, Surveillance Camera (2010)

Weiwei often pushes the boundaries of institutions that exhibit his work, therefore the difficulty of putting on a survey show lies in that the nature of his practice is hard to define. The selection is curtailed to video and sculptural works in a kind of redress of the attention attracted by works like his famous Sunflower Seeds and Template.

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Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait, 1963-64 (est. $20-30 million, realized $38.4 million). All images via Christies.com.

Christie’s nearly white-glove sale of of Post-War and Contemporary art on Wednesday night brought in more than twice as the equivalent sale at Sotheby’s on Tuesday evening. Sixty-three of sixty-five lots sold for a whopping $301.7 million, giving the sale a sell through rate of 95% by lot and 99% by value. The total beat the high presale estimate of $299 million despite the fact that a Rauschenberg combine estimated to fetch between $12-18 million was withdrawn from the sale. Wednesday night’s results were the best the auction house has seen for a Contemporary evening auction since May 2008 (that sale realized $331 million). Bidding went on for about two hours, approximately fifteen minutes of which was spent on a single lot. Two telephone bidders chased Andy Warhol‘s blue self-portrait, one on the phone with Brett Gorvy of Christie’s and the other with Philippe Segalot, formerly of Christie’s. The audience laughed as bidding escalated in $100,000 increments and cheered each time one contender took a bigger leap ahead. In the end Gorvy’s buyer was triumphant and paid $38.4 million for the four-part piece, which was estimated to fetch between $20-30 million. The sale was a record for a Warhol portrait (self or otherwise) at auction.

Mark Rothko, Untitled No. 17, 1961 (est. $18-22 million, realized $33.7 million)

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Felix Gonzales-Torres, Untitled (Aparición), 1991 (est. $600,000-800,000, realized $1.65 million). All images via Sothebys.com.

Tuesday evening’s auction of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s New York brought in $128 million for forty-nine of fifty-eight lots sold. The sale’s estimate of $120.8-171.4 million included two lots that were withdrawn from the sale. Inclusive of the buyer’s premium, the night’s earnings barely passed the low presale estimate (prices realized include the buyer’s premium, estimates do not), and the results stood in stark contrast to Monday night’s sale at Sotheby’s of works from the collection of Allan Stone, which realized $54.8 million against a high estimate of $46.8 million. At the press conference auctioneer Tobias Meyer explained that estimates were “possibly aggressive” and that Sotheby’s had worked with sellers in reevaluating their expectations in response to the market, which in some cases meant lowering the reserve price. The sale’s top two lots – Sixteen Jackies by Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons‘ Pink Panther – both fetched respectable prices despite the fact that they fell short of presale estimates.

Andy Warhol, Sixteen Jackies, 1964 (est. $20-30 million, realized $20.2 million)

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All photographs by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

MONUMENTA is an invitation from the French Ministry for Culture and Communication for an internationally-renowned contemporary artist to create a site-specific work for the Grand Palais in Paris; this year’s invitation went to Indian-born Anish Kapoor. With 13,500 square meters of space, the Palais serves as a magnificent backdrop for artistic interaction. Previous invitations include Anselm Kiefer (2007), Richard Serra (2008) and Christian Boltanski (2010).

Entitled Leviathan, Kapoor’s sculpture is a breathtaking 35 meters high. “My ambition,” the artist shares, “is to create a space within a space that responds to the height and luminosity of the Nave at the Grand Palais. Visitors will be invited to walk inside the work, to immerse themselves in colour, and it will, I hope, be a contemplative and poetic experience.”

Although Kapoor was all smiles during the inauguration of the sculpture, he took the publicity as an opportunity to show solidarity for Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Kapoor dedicated the sculpture to his incarcerated colleague, and issued a call to museums and galleries of the world to close for a day in protest of Wei Wei’s detention by the Chinese government.

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Jeff Koons, Pink Panther, 1988 (est. $20-30 million), via Sothebys.com

This week Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips de Pury will hold Contemporary art auctions in New York. After an anemic week of Impressionist and Modern art sales, the auction houses hope to broker nearly half a billion dollars of Contemporary art. On Monday Sotheby’s will offer forty-three lots during two parts of a three part sale of the collection of Allan Stone (consisting mostly of works by Wayne Thiebaud and Willem de Kooning), followed by their fifty-nine lot Contemporary art evening sale on Tuesday. The next night Christie’s will offer sixty-six works expected to fetch at least $230 million. The week ends with Phillips de Pury’s fifty-one lot sale that carries an estimate of $85-120 million.

Andy Warhol, Sixteen Jackies, 1964 (est. $20-30 million), via Sothebys.com

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Installation view of “For the Time Being” at Galerie Thaddeus Ropac, (Antony Gormley is at right) All images Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

Antony Gormley with Cumulate (2011)

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All images Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

In his third solo exhibition at Air de Paris, Rob Pruitt toys with the idea of “acceptable” art. The self-titled show puts on display two new bodies of work from Pruitt- the first is a series that takes wall art from IKEA and reinvents it as richly layered paintings, and the second a pair of cardboard robots, made from found materials.

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Maurice de Vlaminck, Paysage de Banlieue, 1905 (est. $18-25 million, realized $22.5 million). All images via Christies.com.

The second and final Impressionist and Modern art evening sale in New York this spring was held Wednesday night at Christie’s. The auction realized $156 million, just below the low presale estimate of $162.3 million. Ten of the fifty-seven lots offered failed to find buyers, giving the sale a sell through rate of 82% by lot and 81% by value. The evening progressed much like the Sotheby’s sale last night. There was frenzied interest in a few lots, but otherwise buyers seemed unimpressed by the offerings and hence hesitant to bid. First place was shared by two works – Maurice de Vlaminck‘s Paysage de Banlieue and Monet‘s Les Peupliers both sold for $22.5 million. The Vlaminck was sold by billionaire collector Steven Cohen and just about doubled the artist’s previous auction record set in 1990 for $10.8 million.

Claude Monet, Les Peupliers, 1891 (est. $20-30 million, realized $22.5 million)

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Ai Wei Wei’s Animal/Zodiac Heads, unveiled today outside the Plaza Hotel. All images Ian Hassett for Art Observed.

In conjunction with an exhibition on the third floor of the Arsenal Building, the Pulitzer fountain outside the Plaza Hotel by Central Park is currently the site of Ai Wei Wei’s Animal/Zodiac Heads, as part of a multi-year touring exhibition that will cross the United States.  The exhibition takes place in the wake of international uproar and protests over the disappearance of artist and activist Ai Wei Wei, who was taken into custody by the Chinese government on  April 3rd, 2011 and has since been missing. The unveiling had been moved up to Wednesday from Monday due to the Mayor Bloomberg’s wish to postpone it to attend a news conference responding to the death of Osama bin Laden, which had been announced the night before.

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Alexej von Jawlensky, Frau mit Grunem Facher, 1912 (est. $8-12 million, realized $11.3 million). All images via Sothebys.com.

Tuesday night’s auction of Impressionist and Modern art at Sotheby’s New York, which carried presale estimates of $158.9-229.7 million, realized $170.5 million for forty-four of fifty-nine lots sold. The sale had a sell through rate of 74.6% by lot and 84.8% by volume. In reflecting on the evening at the press conference, Simon Shaw, head of the Impressionist and Modern department at Sotheby’s New York, noted that while bidding was “not euphoric,” there was still solid bidding both in the room and on the telephone. The sale’s top lot – Picasso‘s 1934 portrait of his muse Marie-Thérèse Walter – did not reach its low estimate when it sold for $21.4 million (allegedly to an Asian buyer), and several other top lots were bought in. Still, the evening saw spirited bidding for a few works, and several artist records were set.

Paul Gauguin, Jeune Tahitienne, c. 1893 (est. $10-15 million, realized $11.3 million)

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Gallerist Charles Riva with Brancusi Tree (2007). All pictures by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

Art Observed was on site at the opening of Paul McCarthy “Selected Works” at the Charles Riva Collection Thursday, April 28th. The show’s opening fell on the inaugural night of Art Brussels 2011, which ArtInfo calls a “slow burn” – in an interview with Perry Rubenstein, the gallerist compared the show to Art Basel Miami Beach: “The collectors that attend [Art Brussels] are true connoisseurs — they look at work many times and engaged in informed dialogue before acquiring.” The same thoughtful collecting can be seen in Mr. Riva’s selection of 30 of McCarthy’s most seminal works.

Paul McCarthy is a multimedia artist, who is known for his sexually-tinged transgressive work. He fires satirical shots at beloved American icons and myths– of Hollywood, of Manifest Destiny, of Democracy itself.

Installation view, Paul McCarthy “Selected Works” at Charles Riva Collection.

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Pablo Picasso, Femmes Lisant (Deux Personnages), 1934 (est. $25-35 million), via Sothebys.com

The New York spring sales begin this week as Sotheby’s and Christie’s hold their Impressionist & Modern evening auctions on May 3rd and 4th, respectively. Sotheby’s 59-lot sale is estimated to fetch $158.9-227.9 million, while Christie’s 55-lot sale is expected to bring in at least $160 million. Five works to hit the auction block (one at Sotheby’s and four at Christie’s) carry estimates of $20 million or more. The headlining work at Sotheby’s is a 1932 portrait by Picasso of his mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter. The painting is similar to the portrait of Walter that led the February Impressionist and Modern sale at Sotheby’s London and sold for £25.4 million (about $42.4 million) against a high estimate of £18 million ($30 million). Femmes Lisant (Deux Personnages) last changed hands in 1981 and is expected to fetch between $25-35 million.

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Scott Campbell, Untitled (2011). All images Nicolas Linnert for Art Observed.

Friday evening marked the opening of Marc Jancou Contemporary’s exhibition Blankness is Not a Void, a group show of works by Steven Parrino, Raymond Pettibon and Scott Campbell. Encouraging a dialogue between three artists of disparate time and locale, the exhibition showcases the overlapping thematic and formal references each artist drew not only from their social milieu, but also from each other.

Artist Scott Campbell (left) and gallerist Marc Jancou (right) with friends.

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The Brooklyn Artist’s Ball 2011 took place at The Brooklyn Museum on April 27th.  It was chaired by museum trustee Stephanie Ingrassia, and  co-hosted by actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Liv Tyler.  The traditional annual gala of the museum was given a twist this year in order to celebrate the creative and influence of Brooklyn’s artists. This year’s honorees were the artists Fred Tomaselli, Lorna Simpson, and Fred Wilson, as well as the retiring Brooklyn Museum Chair, Norman M. Feinberg. The Ball was followed by an after party in the Museum’s Great Hall, and featured live DJs.

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All pictures by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed

Currently on view at Tate Modern is “Joan Miro: The Ladder of Escape” featuring over 150 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints in the first London retrospective of the renowned Surrealist artist in over fifty years. Working in a rich variety of styles, Juan Miro (1893-1983) is considered a precursor to Abstract Expressionism. He effectively combined his surrealist style with strong political views to create work which is all at once playful and socially thought-provoking.

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All photos by Art Observed

Daniel Arsham‘s recent collaboration with Storefront for Art and Architecture, entitled “DIG,” is comprised of three stages: an exhibition, installation and performances, and is performed by the artist along with the group Snarkitecture, which is “is a collaborative practice operating in territories between the disciplines of art and architecture,” according to their website.

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Video still from Fall Frum Grace, Miss Pipi’s Blue Tale at Lehmann Maupin Gallery. All images Nicolas Linnert for Art Observed.

Kara Walker is expanding her study of silhouette figures and video to Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side branch. The exhibition, Fall Frum Grace, Miss Pipi’s Blue Tale, presents a few video works in conjunction with Walker’s graphite drawings that are on view at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in Chelsea.

Kara Walker, Miss Pipi Title (left) and Levee (right) (2011).

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The audience at SculptureCenter’s Lucky Draw 2011. All images courtesy of SculptureCenter.

Last Wednesday, Art Observed was on site at SculptureCenter’s Lucky Draw in Long Island City. Of the events in New York’s spring benefit circuit, Lucky Draw stands out for its rapid paced, chance-dependent operation that lends the event an element of excitement and guarantees that each ticket holder brings home a piece of art. Even though the auction format gala keeps it casual by omitting a formal dinner or seating order, anticipation leads up to a quick raffle draw that replaces the traditional art world bidding process. Every ticket purchased guarantees the lucky philanthropist a piece of art as decided by the raffle’s random draw and not the highest bidder. However, SculptureCenter knows the anxious collector’s soul and lets the event begin with a traditional search for the three highest bidders, who are then allowed to bypass fate and pick the first three works of art.

SculptureCenter volunteer carrying an Olaf Breuning piece 

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Stock, Ryder Ripps (2011).

The crowd on the New Museum’s 7th floor at Rhizome’s 15th anniversary benefit party.

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