Juan Gris, Figure Seated in a Café (Man at a Table) (1914). via New York Times
Leonard Lauder, the former chairman of Estée Lauder and a noted collector of early 20th century art, has donated a vast collection of Cubist works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, valued at more than $1 billion. (more…)
Artforum is reporting that dealer and artist Daniel Reich recently passed away, taking his own life on Christmas Day of last year. He was 39 years old. Reich began showing art in 2001, and established his own gallery in Chelsea, which closed in 2011. “Change is hard, but it’s also good,” he said at that time. “It resets you, it returns you to that initial energy, the fire that you had, way back then, when you knew that you wanted to do this.” (more…)
Christie’s has been granted a license to operate without government oversight in mainland China, becoming the first independent auction house in the country. The agreement comes in the wake of a reported dip in auction sales for the country last year, and some suspect the move comes as a way to introduce higher standards of authentication to the proceedings of auctions in mainland China. “In recent years we have seen phenomenal developments take place in the global art market, particularly in China, where the market has grown at an unprecedented rate,” said Christie’s CEO Steven P. Murphy. “Today’s announcement further solidifies Christie’s position and commitment in a market which possesses a strong heritage and deep appreciation of art.” (more…)
Karlheinz Stockhausen and Rikrit Tiravanija, Oktophonie (Installation View), via Park Avenue Armory
German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s work explores the constantly shifting nature of both music composition and performance in the 21st century, utilizing recording consoles, synthesizers and mixing boards as devices to explore the human relationship with technology and composition while creating imersive, powerful works.
Karlheinz Stockhausen and Rikrit Tiravanija’s Oktophonie (Installation View), via Park Avenue Armory (more…)
Study for Portrait of P.L.(1962), the Francis Bacon painting of his lover Peter Lacy, will go on the auction block next month as part of Sotheby’s May 14th Contemporary Art Auction in New York. Expected to sell between $30 and $40 million, the painting could serve as a test of the art market’s current health. Bacon’s current record at auction is $86.2 million. (more…)
Claes Oldenburg’s iconic Floor Burger (1962) is currently undergoing a restoration project at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in preparation for its upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Purchased by the AGO in 1967, the work, which is stuffed with empty ice cream cartoons, has shifted in appearance over the years, and now requires restoration work to help regain its original form and coloration. “I was more concerned with the effect of the piece as I was making it rather than its future conservation,” says Oldenburg, “I started with the foam, but found it was weighing the sculpture down,” he says, “so we used the empty boxes to make it lighter.” (more…)
Ugo Rondinone, Pure Moonlight (Installation View), via Almine Rech
Almine Rech Gallery Paris is currently hosting its 7th installation of work by the Swiss-born Ugo Rondinone, exploring the interplay of time and creative practice on the artist. Titled Pure Moonlight, the show consists of a series of Rondinone’s concentric “date paintings,” as well another set of small-scale candle sculptures.
Painter Eric Fischl has published a memoir of the 1980’s New York art scene, chronicling the excesses and darker side of the high-profile art world of Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Mary Boone. Titled Bad Boy, My Life On and Off the Canvas, the tell-all book includes a story about an infamous 1983 party thrown by Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, with “lookout towers, armed guards, and a glamorous crowd . . . some naked,” with waiters offering “glasses of Champagne [and] a choice of cocaine or heroin.” (more…)
A UK tax judgement this week has challenged the taxation of art works in the country, allowing Portrait of Omai by Sir Joshua Reynolds to be taxed as a “wasting asset,” thereby avoiding capital gains tax. The painting had hung in North Yorkshire’s Castle Howard for over two hundred years, and was recently sold by owned Simon Howard, who claims the work contributed to the appeal of the castle for tourists. “The case could give vendors savings of 28 per cent on the sale of works of art that fulfil the same criteria,” said art agent Robert Holden. (more…)
The most recent issue of Billboard Magazine features a cover story on French rock band Phoenix, showing the band standing in front of a work by Dan Flavin from the artist’s recent show with Donald Judd at David Zwirner in New York. The picture was taken during the first exhibition at Zwirner’s new 19th Street location, as the band searched for inspiration for their upcoming tour. “These pieces have a very short lifetime,” frontman Thomas Mars said, “which makes them even more precious.” (more…)
Frieze New York on Randall’s Island will once again host a variety of local food vendors at this year’s edition of the fair. The list of vendors, announced Friday, will include pizza from Roberta’s Pizza, coffee from Blue Bottle Coffee, and a full-service restaurant by Frankie’s Sputino. The fair runs from May 10th to the 13th. (more…)
Michelangelo Pistoletto, Pistoletto Politico (Installation View), via Luxembourg and Dayan
The Years of Lead, between the late 1960’s and early 1980’s, were a divisive, violent time for the nation of Italy, reflecting the severe growing pains of a country recovering from the horrors of World War II while contending with rapidly shifting power flows and political ideologies that split much of Europe. With the economy at a standstill, and bloodshed in the streets, the country was forced to take a hard look at itself, evaluating its own identity and divided society.
Michelangelo Pistoletto, Pistoletto Politico (Installation View), via Luxembourg and Dayan
Artist Takashi Murakami’s first feature-length film, Jellyfish Eyes, is set for its International premiere America this coming Monday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Taking place in a small Japanese town, the film follows a young boy who befriends a series of bizarre monsters after moving to a new town. The screening of the film will also include a a Q-and-A with the director. (more…)
Manet’s current exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts is about to have its own tour on-film. Directed by filmmaker Phil Grabsky and premiering on April 11th, the film will take viewers on a high-definition tour of the blockbuster museum exhibition, offering insights and in-depth perspectives on the artist’s practice and approach to painting. The film is the first of a series of museum films distributed worldwide, and will be followed by a tour of the Oslo exhibition Munch 150, celebrating the 150th birthday of painter Edvard Munch. (more…)
Jackson Pollock’s No. 19, 1948 will be on the auction block at Christie’s next month, part of the auction house’s May 15th sale of Contemporary and Post-War Art in New York. A classic “drip-painting” by the artist, the work last sold at auction for $2.4 million in 1993, and is estimated to sell between $25 and $35 million. “You can see the circular movement of Pollock’s hand,” Said Worldwide Post-War and Contemporary Art Chairman Brett Gorvy said. “It’s one of those paintings you get lost in.” (more…)
The family of late Paris gallery owner Paul Rosenberg has demanded that the Henie Onstand Arts Center in Oslo return a number of paintings seized from him during the German occupation of Paris during World War II . While the family has provided documents claiming a number of works, including Matisse’s Woman in Blue in Front of Fireplace, the Norwegian museum claims it had no indication that the work was plundered when it was purchased 60 years ago, and that the painting is now the property of the museum under Norwegian law. “We need to investigate this matter properly,” Says museum director Tone Hansen. “It is too early to draw any conclusions. We are in dialogue with the family and will continue to be so. This case has other aspects than pure legal aspects that have to be taken into consideration.” (more…)
After breaking auction records for the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat twice last year, Christie’s will look to set the bar even higher for the Brooklyn-born artist’s work. Basquiat’s Dustheads will be offered at the auction house’s May 15th Contemporary Sale in New York, with an asking price of $25 to $35 million. The artist’s current record is $26.4 million, and a buyer has reportedly already agreed to pay $25 million. “Collectors used to be snobbish about Basquiat since he started out painting on the streets,” Says Christie’s specialist Loic Gouzer. “But now his myth just seems to be getting fresher and more relevant with younger collectors.” (more…)
British artist Damien Hirst has announced that he will release a complete catalog documenting over 1,400 “spot paintings” that the artist has done over the past 27 years. The artist’s highly controversial series, consisting of rows of multi-colored dots and usually painted by his assistants, has occasionally irked collectors and followers, despite claims that “every single spot painting contains my eye, my hand and my heart”. He says. (more…)
Members of the now-defunct hip-hop group Das Racist will perform at The Whitney Museum on Sunday, in conjunction with member Himanshu Suri’s Greedhead Music record label. The event, part of the programming for The Whitney’s current Blues for Smoke exhibition, will feature several musical performances, as well as several installations by Suri, including “hippie culture and spiritual tourism, the films and life of Guru Dutt, the skin lightening cosmetic industry in India, Air India, the Indian diaspora and immigration, South Asian visibility in Western pop culture, international working class labor politics, and much more.” (more…)
Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager and prodigious Art Collector Steven A. Cohen has issued a statement clarifying the details behind the purchase of Picasso’s Le Rêve from casino owner Steve Wynn. Despite reports of the sale coming to light only recently, the deal was reportedly made last October, at the purchase price of $150 Million, when dealer William Acquavella contacted Cohen about the work’s availibility. “We were at the gallery the next morning,” Says Sandy Heller, Cohen’s art advisor. “In three minutes we had a deal.” (more…)
Virginia Overton, Untitled (Juniperus virginiana) (2013), via Mitchell-Innes & Nash
Mitchell-Innes & Nash is currently hosting an exhibition of new works by Virginia Overton, the Tennessee-born, Brooklyn-based artist whose sculptural installations play at conceptions of personal identity, spatial interaction and artistic process. (more…)
Sotheby’s and The Whitney have announced a major auction of works to benefit the construction of the museum’s new downtown location in Chelsea. Featuring works by Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder, the New York auction, held on May 14th and 15th, will attempt to augment the $562.4 already raised by the museum with an expected $8 million in proceeds. “The Whitney has been there for these artists, especially early on in their careers before people really knew them,” said Whitney Director Adam D. Weinberg. “I think for many of them, they feel that this is a way to give back.” (more…)
Beginning in June, artist Donald Judd’s Spring Street home and studio, which he purchased in 1968 and renovated himself, will reopen as a museum, offering visitors a look inside at the artist’s personal collection of works and living space. The building stands as the only intact, single-use cast-iron building left in the neighborhood, and was renovated under the supervision of The Judd Foundation. “This has all been toward the goal of having people experience this place as if none of these things we had to do were ever done. And from the beginning it’s been a battle between preserving the art and preserving the building.” Said Judd’s daughter, Rainer. (more…)
The British Government has placed a temporary export ban on a 16th century drawing by Raphael, in hopes that a British buyer will come forth to keep the work in the country. Head of a Young Apostle (1519-1521) was sold at auction in December for £29 million, setting the auction record for a work on paper at three times its estimate. “I hope that placing a temporary export bar on the Raphael will allow time for a UK buyer to come forward and secure this magnificent example of Raphael’s work for the nation.” Says British Arts Minister Ed Vaizey. (more…)
