Screen shot, Palace of Versailles, via Google Art Project

Over 1,000 works from 17 museums are now available to view online in high-resolution, thanks to today’s launch of Google Art Project. Founded and headed by Amit Sood, the new site combines several Google applications to provide virtual tours similar to Google Street View, with a zoom-in feature and information on each work. Most noted is the the project’s use of gigapixel resolution—7 billion pixels—rendering a virtual view magnified greater than the naked eye could achieve; at this stage the extra gigapixel technology has only been employed on one work per musuem.

Screen shot, max zoom of Hans Holbein the Younger’s The Ambassadors (1533), via Google Art Project

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Egyptian special forces on Monday secured the main floor inside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Via NY Times

The National Egyptian Museum is currently guarded by tanks, having been looted Friday night. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities—and a member of the current administration—claims over 1,000 protesters stole from the gift shop, with ten making it into the galleries and smashing glass vitrines and antique statues, including one of King Tutankhamen, as well as beheading two mummies. Wafaa El-Saddik, former director of the Egyptian Museum (until just a month ago), believes the museum’s own guards did the looting, who are hugely underpaid despite El-Saddik’s previous efforts.

Next door, buildings of the National Democratic Party and the Press Club were in flames over the weekend; efforts lacked to save the structures, though the museum was kept safe. In Tahrir Square—Arabic for Liberation—protesters scorn current leader Hosni Mubarak with chants and clever graffiti and signs, speaking English in an appeal to the West.

Protestor, with National Egyptian Museum in the background, via Economist

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Christian Marclay, The Clock (still), 2010. Via River00000

Debuting at White Cube this past October (and already covered by AO), Christian Marclay‘s The Clock has been warmly accepted in New York at the Paula Cooper Gallery, with several 24-hour screenings throughout the exhibition, through February 19th. Splicing together a day’s worth of found film, the artist and six assistants spent two years on the project, drawing from classics like “Great Expectations” and “Mary Poppins,” to more recent films like “Tomb Raider.” Every single clip makes reference to the time—moving in realtime—with clocks synced to the actual time of New York (or wherever it’s showing). The highly acclaimed work is to be included in the British Art Show 7, a group exhibition ran only every five years, touring to the Hayward Gallery, Tramway-Glasgow, and Plymouth Art Centre later this year.

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Tiziano Vecellio (Titian), A Sacra Conversazione: The Madonna and Child with Saints Luke and Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1560 (est. $15-20 million, realized $16.9 million), via Sothebys.com

Sotheby’s 378-lot Old Master Sale in New York today realized a total of $90.6 million and set a record for a Titian painting at auction. The painting generated only one bid from an unidentified European collector and sold for its low estimate of $15 million. Still, the sale broke the previous record for a painting by the artist at auction that was set 20 years ago with the sale of Venus and Adonis for $13.6 million at Christie’s in London. The new record-holding painting is a late work and, according to the auction house’s research, has changed hands only six times since its creation around 1560.

-J. Mizrachi

At Sotheby’s Sale, Titian Draws One Bidder [New York Times]
Titian Painting Fetches Auction Record [ABC News]
Titian’s Madonna Fetches Record $16.9 Million at Sotheby’s Old Master Sale [Bloomberg]

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Still, Waste Land, via Oscar

Documentary films by Vik Muniz and Banksy have both been nominated for an Academy Award in the same category of Best Documentary Feature. Muniz’s stirring Waste Land and Banksy’s clever Exit through the Gift Shop will face off at the Oscars in Hollywood on February 27, with hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco. The question of Banksy’s presence is especially hyped as the artist’s true identity is entirely secretive—as dictated by his edgy work and persona, he appears only in silhouette throughout his own film.

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Still, Exit through the Gift Shop, via Oscar

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Will Ryman, The Roses (2011). All photos via Paul Kasmin Gallery unless otherwise noted.

Along Park Avenue, from 57th to 67th Streets, New Yorkers can enjoy an early spring thanks to Will Ryman‘s steel and fiberglass installation, The Roses. Towering up to 25 feet high, the works brighten up the wintry uptown grayness, breaking down the elitism of gallery-laden art and offering a different experience from each point of view—below, above, in a cab passing by. From a family of artists, and a background in theatre, Ryman capitalizes on the public placement, relying on the viewers to “complete my piece,”according to NY Times. Working with City Hall, the Borough Hall Commissioners Office, and the Park Avenue Sculpture Committee, Ryman had his trash vetoed—matches and a Doritos bag—but a variety of dog-sized bugs survive, as well as 20 scattered rose petals, six of which double as lawn chairs.

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Richard Armstrong, director of Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, via ArtDaily

Helsinki, Finland’s largest city and the Nordic nation’s cultural center, may be home to the sixth museum under the Guggenheim banner. On Tuesday Mayor Jussi Pajunen and the Director of Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Richard Armstrong announced that a $2.5 million study will be conducted over the course of 2011 to determine the appropriateness of building a museum in the city. Adding to an already vibrant Helsinki art scene, growing steadily since the 1990s, a Guggenheim endorsement could vastly improve the city’s economic development and infrastructure; the Guggenheim Bilbao paid for itself ten fold in only five years.

Helsinki waterfront, via Viking River

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Mike Kelley, Still from Extracurricular Projective Reconstruction #34 (The King and Us/The Queens and Me) (2010). Via Gagosian

Mike Kelley rages ahead at the Gagosian, expanding on projects from his infamous show at the gallery’s New York hub, titled Day is Done, in 2005. Exhibiting for the first time at the L.A. Gagosian, Kelley presents Kandor 10/Extracurricular Activity Projective Reconstruction, #34 Kandor 12/Extracurricular Activity Projective Reconstruction #35, a combination of two earlier works, Kandors (1999) and Extracurricular Activity Projective Reconstruction (EAPR) (2006). Recently known for exemplifying what art critic Jerry Saltz coined as “clusterfuck aesthetics,” Kelley continues his explorations of the grotesque pop cultural diaspora. The titling of this new show alone indicates Kelley’s continued interest in clusterfuck art: the scrambled code of his earlier works, barely intelligible key words that read like an internet pop up.

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Mike Kelley, Kandor 18 B (2010). Via Gagosian

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Via Telegraph

In the center of London, Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth will display sculptures of a bronze boy on a rocking horse in 2012, and a bright blue rooster in 2013. Danish artist Michael Elmgreen and Norwegian artist Ingar Dragset created Powerless Structures, Fig. 101 to playfully contrast the ‘ordinary’ and a hope for peace against the other plinths’ weathered war heroes. Hahn/Cock, by German artist Katharina Fritsch is a colorful 14 foot tall addition to the square, representing regeneration and awakening, as well as male domination (with no specific nationality).

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All photos via Duyanpili. All rights reserved.

Two years ago Chinese artist and political activist Ai Weiwei was asked by Shanghai government officials to build a studio in a grape field outside the city. An entire artists’ complex, worth $1 million, it was meant to attract other important artists and culture to Shanghai. As Ai Weiwei was set to open the space this summer, officials claimed that it in fact did not follow land use regulations, ultimately demolishing the structure Tuesday. Ai is quite skeptical of such an excuse, suspecting that his political activism has much more to do with the situation.

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Banksy, Save or Delete Jungle Book, 2001 (est. £60,000-80,000, realized £78,000), via Bonhams

Tuesday night’s auction of Urban Art at Bonhams in London – the fourth auction of its kind the house has mounted – realized just over £455,000 for 51 of 67 lots sold. Attesting to interest in the artist following the release of his film Exit Through the Gift Shop, ten Banksy lots offered at the sale accounted for approximately half of the evening’s earnings. The top lot was Banksy’s Save or Delete Jungle Book, which sold for £78,000 against presale estimates of £60,000-80,000. The image was created for a poster campaign about deforestation but was never circulated due to copyright issues with Disney.

Shepard Fairey, Peace Goddess on Wood, 2008 (est. £8,000-12,000, realized £27,600), via Bonhams

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Chuck Close, mustache close-up of Lucas (1987-88), via ShowMedia

Throughout January, artwork by Chuck Close and Kehinde Wiley will travel New York City atop 500 taxi cabs, thanks to art enthusiast and ShowMedia president John Amato. With an estimated value of $100,000, Amato said, “I can do this as my annual holiday gift not just to myself, but to everyone who enjoys seeing the art as it travels around New York City’s streets.” ‘Art Adds’ is the second annual collaboration between ShowMedia and the Art Production Fund, a campaign bringing art to the streets for all to enjoy. The inaugural year featured Alex Katz, Shirin Neshat, and Yoko Ono.

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Kehinde Wiley, The Virgin Martyr St. Cecilia (2008), via ShowMedia

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‘The Broad’ rendering, all photos via Los Angeles Times

77 year-old LA based billionaire art collector Eli Broad has unveiled the design for his new museum in downtown Los Angeles. Officially named The Broad Foundation, it will be known as the Broad.  Designed by New Yorked-based architects Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, the museum’s three stories will house Broad’s collection of over 2000 contemporary works, including Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Cindy Sherman. The sunny top floor will be known as the ‘gallery’, while the 1st and 2nd floors have been dubbed the ‘vault.’  Estimated at $130 million, completion is scheduled for 2013.

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Via SteveMartin.com

Steve Martin’s An Object of Beauty is a well-paced, entertaining novel about the inner workings of the blue-chip art world. The main character Lacey viciously climbs the New York art scene’s social ladder, as Martin attempts to criticize the superfluity of such major collectors, dealers, and artists. Sharing his own experience and expertise in the scene, Martin offers an insider’s perspective with real people and places–and the occasional sexual favor–with a spin of wit, informative and accessible.

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Turbine Hall, Tate Modern. Via ArtInfo

Tacita Dean will take over Tate Modern‘s Turbine Hall on October 11, 2011. As the 12th artist in the Unilever-sponsored series, she will replace Ai Weiwei‘s floor of Sunflower Seeds. Though she is best known for her work with 16mm film, she uses other mediums as well, including found objects, photography, drawing, and sound. Tate Modern’s chief curator, Sheena Wagstaff, has expressed excitement over the commissioned work’s outcome; in regards to Dean, “Her interest in light, space and history, as well as her keen sense of the cinematic and the sublime, make her a perfect choice.”

Tacita Dean. Via Bloomberg

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Salad Days at The Journal Gallery, courtesy the journal

Michael Nevin‘s the journal is akin to an unfolding art project, a published collaborative diary of art, photography, fashion, music, zines and pop culture that converge and merge in a mix of commercial, art, and DIY creatives. While a range of art-historical precedents—of multi-disciplinary explorations by artists working in print, fashion, music, and collaborating with photographers and contemporary dance—are increasingly visible today, the journal stands out with its 10+ year history, adding to New York City’s fine tradition of artist-run projects of magazines, printed matter, and periodicals: Interview, Index, Zing, et al.

AO on site: Interview with Michael Nevin

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Anish Kapoor, Shooting Into the Corner, via The Telegraph–>

Last week brought the grand opening of Anish Kapoor‘s latest exhibition, his first ever in his native India. Kapoor claims to embrace his Indian heritage but believes that an artist’s identity should be based on their creativity, not nationality. He has in fact been looking for a suitable exhibition space in India for nearly a decade, finally deciding on the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Mehboob Film Studios.

National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, via Flickr–>

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Inside the Bermondsey Street warehouse, via NovaLoca

London art dealer Jay Jopling has just announced that the former Recall warehouse in Bermondsey Street will soon be converted to a gallery under his White Cube umbrella.  Jopling, through White Cube, represents such artists as Jake & Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Marc Quinn and his former wife Sam Taylor-Wood, among others.
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Jay Jopling, via The Rich Life

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New Holland Island, via architettura.it

Adding to an assortment of yachts and football clubs, Roman Abramovich has purchased the entire New Holland Island in St. Petersburg. For nearly $400 million, island plans center around a museum complex – complete with hotels and shopping – to house a portion of the Russian oligarch’s extensive art collection. Among the collection are such high profile pieces as Francis Bacon‘s 1976 “Triptych” and Lucian Freud‘s 1995 “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping,” for which Abramovich paid record-setting prices at Sotheby’s New York and Christie’s, respectively, on an extravagant pair of back to back evenings in 2008.

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Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. Photo by Douglas Graham/ Roll Call/ Getty Images courtesy of PBS.org

November 30th marked the beginning of the art world’s latest controversy with the National Portrait Gallery’s removal of a work on display deemed offensive by the National Catholic League and members of congress.  The piece in question is “Fire in my Belly” a video by artist David Wojnarowicz that was put on display October 30th as part of the groundbreaking exhibition “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture.”  While the artist’s cut of the film is over 30 minutes long, the version on display at the National Portrait gallery was shortened to four minutes.  An 11-second portion of this cut showed a small crucifix covered with ants, an image William Donohue of the National Catholic League called “hate speech, designed to insult.”

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Susan Philipsz , via BBC

Glasgow-born artist Susan Philipsz has won the £25,000 Turner Prize last night at a ceremony at Tate Britain for her work in sound installation. The artist beat other Turner Prize nominees Dexter Dalwood, Angela de la Cruz, and The Otolith Group for the prestigious prize. Philipsz, 45, was the fourth woman ever to win prize and the first artist to win the modern art prize for sound installation. The artist said she was “very honored” as she received the award from fashion designer/arts patron Miuccia Prada.

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Susan Philipsz Sound Installation Lowlands (2010), via The Guardian

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While satellite fairs have sprung up rapidly around Art Basel Miami over the past eight years, it’s no secret the past few years of recession have been challenging; this year, there’s 14 fairs compared to 17 last year. On top of that, recession or no recession, it is a consistent challenge for each satellite in Miami to carve out its own distinct identity and legacy, while at the same time maintaining a steady stream of foot traffic and buyer interest, all within the frenetic week when art world flocks down to the sunshine state. Therefore, many were skeptical last year when New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) Art Fair, known for displaying up-and-coming, emerging artists, relocated from the Wynwood district – a district similarly jam-packed with similarly cutting edge art exhibits during Basel week – to the large yet a bit off the path location, the Hotel Deauville, roughly 50 blocks North of the main fair. However, in its second year at this locale, while some growing pains (intermittent internet proved painful for many gallerists this year), NADA has truly blossomed and matured into a must-see destination.

The Hole’s, Meghan Coleman and Kathy Grayson at their booth:

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A Pablo Picasso work unearthed in the recent discovery of 271 of the late artist’s work in Paris, France. Image courtesy The Telegraph.

In September, a couple boarded a train to Paris with a suitcase full of works by Pablo Picasso, including, as the New York Times reports, “several watercolors, dozens of lithographs, more than 200 sketches and 9 Cubist collages, in the hopes of having it authenticated by Claude Ruiz-Picasso, the artist’s son and the administrator of the Picasso estate.” The trip was at the request of the artist’s son after reading a letter Mr. Le Guennec had sent him requesting authentication.

The works’ owners are Pierre Le Guennec, 71, and his wife Danielle, 68. Mr. Le Guennec had worked as an electrician at three of the famed Spanish-born artists’s properties in the French Riviera in the early 1970s. The couple had kept the works in their garage for the past thirty plus years, but after Mr. Le Guennec’s recent surgery, they thought it best to evaluate the works for their children’s inheritance.

Instead of giving the authentication the Le Guennecs anticipated, Mr. Ruiz-Picasso contacted the Fight Against Traffic in Cultural Goods and his family’s lawyer, Mr. Jean-Jacques Neuer. Among heirs Mr. Neuer represents are Mr. Ruiz-Picasso, Picasso’s stepdaughter Catherine Hutin-Blay, and four others. A law suit was filed on September 23 claiming the works as stolen goods. Two weeks later, on October 5, the Le Guennecs were stunned to find the artworks seized from their home by police.

Pierre Le Guennec, retired electrician to Picasso, from whose house the works were seized by French police. Image courtesy The Guardian.

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John Baldessari, Epaulet, Hand, Arm, Baton and Elephant Leg, 2010. All Images © John Baldessari courtesy of Marian Goodman.

Pioneering California-based conceptual artist John Baldessari has been making his way around New York this fall.  Concurrently with his retrospective Pure Beauty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Marian Goodman Gallery is entering its final week of Sediment (Part 2), an exhibition featuring a selection of the artist’s new painted works.

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John Baldessari, Bowtie, Shirt, Person (with Shadow) and Money, 2010.

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