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estimate of $299 million despite the fact that a Rauschenberg combine estimated to fetch between $12-18 million was withdrawn from the sale.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 The sale’s estimate of $120.8-171.4 million included two lots that were withdrawn from the sale.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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Ryan McGinley, Jake (Fall Foliage) (2011), via Gabriel Rolt

Although it was his pointed and unabashed live action shots of young, fit nudes jumping off cliffs, climbing trees, and running down sand dunes that transformed Ryan McGinley into an a globally recognized artist, the artist’s current exhibition at Gabriel Rolt in Amsterdam, Somewhere Place, showing through May 14^th, reveals a turn towards more cinematic, choreographed, Baroque imagery. The exhibit also marks McGinley’s first foray into color studio photography, and the young nudes that have become characteristic of his work have moved indoors, calling attention to McGinley’s increased use of choreographed settings and postures in his work.

Ryan McGinley’s “Somewhere Place” Installation, via Gabriel Rolt

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Wim Wenders, Open-Air Screen (2007), via Haunch of Venison

Currently on view at Haunch of Venison London are two solo exhibitions, Wim Wenders and Eve Sussman, artists who work in a variety of media and cannot be pigeon-holed as either photographers, filmmakers or video artists. On their own, these dueling solo exhibitions would be worth a visit but together they are enhanced in their coexistence. Wim Wenders, a German director known for such films as Paris Texas (1984), The Wings of Desire (1987), and Buena Vista Social Club (1999) shows a series of photographs depicting landscapes and cityscapes, for the most part completely devoid of human subjects, and Eve Sussman is showing her photographs alongside one of her video projects.

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James Cuno, who resigned this morning from the Art Institute of Chicago to become President/CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust. Image via ArtDaily

Earlier this morning, James Cuno announced in an email to the staff of the Art Institute of Chicago that he would be leaving his post as the museum’s director to become the President and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Cuno, who has been at the helm of the Art Institute for seven years, is an accomplished leader: he has seen the museum through the addition of a new wing and has raised museum attendance by 33 per cent. Previously, Cuno has been director of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, the Harvard University Art Museums, whose budget and staff he doubled in his 12-year reign, Dartmouth’s Hood Museum of Art, and UCLA’s Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts.

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The Getty Center. Image via Artinfo.

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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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A video projection on the facade of the New Museum on Bowery by Flash:Light – All photos by Ilhan Kim for Art Observed unless noted

The New Museum’s “Festival of Ideas for the New City,” took place from May 4th- 8th, 2011 off the Bowery, in downtown Manhattan. Promoting the ideas of community, diversity, collaboration, dialogue, and change, this effort was carried by several institutions, including universities, grassroots groups, museums, arts oriented spaces, businesses, and the city. The festival, by delivering many conferences, shows, and street performances, created a very unique and somewhat mesmerizing ambiance to the neighborhood, as it was temporarily transformed into an exhilarating forum of expression, where the simultaneous manifestations of different artistic ideals and perspectives, derived into a multitude of individual and collective experiences, for both participants and audiences.

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The Streetfest on Bowery

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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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Founded by the New Museum, the Festival of Ideas for the New City is a collaborative program which embodies the Lower East Side’s re-invention as a cultural hub and alternative to chic Chelsea. During the four-day long effort, innovative ideas, fresh talent and some familiar faces will be showcased with a mix of street festivities, panel discussions and gallery projects.

The changing Lower East Side freflected in an 1984 issue of New York Magazine.

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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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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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Berlin will host its ersatz spring art fair, Gallery Weekend Berlin (GWB), this weekend, Apr. 29 – May 1, with over 44 galleries participating. Now in its seventh installment, GWB has an air of excitement about it – perhaps due to the number of buyers, dealers, and other visitors flying in, which also coincides with the yoke of the winter season being thrown off.  In any event, GWB promises some interesting viewing experiences, and brings a concentrated selection of strong art and events to a city is a prime destination for the creatives of the world.

Albert Oehlen, Stars (2005), via Galerie Max Hetzler

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Diane Arbus, A Castle in Disneyland (1962), via Gagosian

The Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles presents “People and Other Singularities,” an exhibition of the photographs of Diane Arbus between the years of 1956 to 1971. The gallery showcases  the most extensive collection of Arbus photographs within Los Angeles since “Diane Arbus: Revelations” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2004. “People and Other Singularities” contains several photographs that have never before been exhibited publicly, along with some older favorites that have become part of photography’s canon.

Diane Arbus, Identical Twins(1962) via Diane Arbus Photography

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Richard Serra, Calvino (2009) via Artnet.com

Currently showing at Gagosian Geneva, is Richard Serra‘s “Greenpoint Rounds,” featuring large-scale drawings using a paint stick and showcasing a medium Serra is not often associated with. Primarily know for his sculptural work, Richard Serra plays on minimalism through methods that encompass both shape and texture. The gallery’s rounded, sparse walls emphasize the shape and movement in the new drawings, which will be on display through May 15th.

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Installation view, “Secondary Evidence of Things Unseen,” via VeneKlasen Werner

Currently on view at VeneKlasen Werner (VW) in Berlin is “Secondary Evidence of Things Unseen,” featuring four artists of varying notoriety- Neil Campbell, Paul Sharits, Ryan Sullivan and Jeffrey Wells.  The show was curated by Clarissa Dalrymple and brings together work in various mediums including drawing, sculpture, painting and video installation.

Paul Sharits, Hand and Cube (1982), via VeneKlasen Werner

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Installation view of Elemental at Paula Cooper Gallery. All images via Paula Cooper Gallery.

On view now through April 16th at the Paula Cooper Gallery is a group exhibition titled Elemental. What binds the selected works of Carl Andre, Jennifer Bartlett, Donald Judd, Sherrie Levine, Sol LeWitt and Robert Wilson is the use of “repeated elements arranged in a sequential structure.” The gallery notes that this strategy is often associated with minimal art, and the show pairs pieces by three pioneers of Minimalism with works by what the exhibition is defining as representatives of the second (and possibly third) generation of Minimalists.

Donald Judd, Untitled (1982)

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John McCracken, who died at the age of 76 on Friday in New York, bridged an empirical study of Minimalist matter with subtle mysticism, thereby extending realities beyond the concrete and the visible. Irreducible to its object-ness, his work is imbued with almost invisible traces of the hand and proposes what contemporary transcendentalism might look like. Unafraid of taboo topics and non-anthropocentric ecology, McCracken held a fervent belief in the intelligence of other multiple forms of life that gave new dimensions to his work.

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Bourj (2010) by Mona Hatoum, via Alexander and Bonin Gallery

Currently on view at Alexander and Bonin Gallery is “Bourj,” an exhibition of recent works by Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum. The artist’s fifth exhibit with the gallery, the show features a wide range of the her  political and poetic oeuvre in a range of media including installations, sculpture, works on paper, and photography.”Bourj,” the title of the exhibit, means “tower” in Arabic and refers to a specific work the artist originally made for a solo exhibition at the Beirut Art Center in 2010. The piece is made of stacked steel rectangular tube sections which have been cut and burnt, giving the impression of a building fallen prey to the scars of war.

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Zhang Xiaogang, Forever Lasting Love, 1988 (est. $3.2-3.9 million, realized $10.1 million), via Sothebys.com

The auction record for a work by a living Chinese artist was set on Sunday at Sotheby’s Hong Kong during a 105-lot sale of works from the Ullens collection of contemporary Chinese art. The white glove sale realized $54.8 million – more than triple its high presale estimate of $16.7 million.

Zhang Xiaogang in his studio with Forever Lasting Love, via Sothebys.com

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Urs Fischer, Untitled (Lamp/Bear), 2005/2006, via Wall Street Journal

Untitled (Lamp/Bear), a 23-foot, 16-ton sculpture of bright yellow teddy bear slumped beneath a Bakelite lamp, will be on display at the Seagram Building (375 Park Avenue, at 53rd St) through September 2011. The piece, by Swiss sculptor Urs Fischer, is a highlight of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art auction, and began its life as a 1-foot teddy bear, which was then scanned three-dimensionally with lasers in Switzerland and cast in bronze in Shanghai. Christie’s will be auctioning the installation on May 11th.

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via Associated Press

Yesterday, Chinese artist and political dissident, Ai Weiwei, was prevented from catching a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong. The assistant who was with Ai at the time, Jennifer Ng, was told by officials that “he had other business” to attend to as the artist was taken into custody. The location and condition of the artist are to date unknown. The detention of the prominent artist, well-known for his open criticism of the Chinese government, may relate to an accelerated suppression of Chinese intellectuals, possibly related to fear on part of the incumbent authorities of a Chinese version of the so-called “jasmine movement” that has been shaking, and in some cases dismantling, some of the Middle East’s dictatorship regimes. Under these still-unclear premises, at least twenty-three Chinese political dissidents have been detained, three have been formally arrested, and at least a dozen are missing. These events, embodying the most severe crackdown in China during the last decade, reflect the rigid and, considering the lack of public anti-government protests, delusive security measures of the system.

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