La Surprise, Jean-Antoine Watteau (c. 1718) via Christie’s

Christie’s Old Master Sales that took place last Tuesday, July 8th, featured quite a few ‘lost’ works of art, and generated over $47 million. In addition to the three rediscovered Goya drawings which sold for a combined $8 million, La Surprise by Jean-Antoine Watteau led the Old Masters Sale with a record breaking $24,376,385. The Watteau painting had been lost for almost 200 years, and was assumed to be destroyed until it appeared last year in a private English collection. It is the highest paid price for a French Old Master painting sold at auction to date, and well exceeded it’s $5.9-$9.8 million estimate. The sale also featured artwork by Anthony Van Dyck, Pieter Brueghel II, Thomas Lawrence, William Larkin, Jan Josefsz Van Goyen, and many more notable old masters.

Rediscovered Watteau Masterpiece Sells for Record $24.4 Million [Artdaily]
A Watteau sets record at £12.36 million in an uneven Old Masters sale [IHT]
Lost Watteau Fetches Record; Old Masters Languish at Christie’s [Bloomberg]
ÄŒR buys 8 Liechtenstein works at Christie’s auction [Praguemonitor]
Goya sketches “lost” for 130 years sold at auction [ReutersUK]
Goya Boosts Christie’s Drawings Sale [NYSun]
Francisco de Goya at Christie’s London [Coxsoft]
‘Lost’ Goya drawings sold for £4m [BBC]
Art buyers find ‘lost’ works [LATimes]
Christie’s Auction Results [Christie’s]
Goya Boosts Christie’s Old Masters Drawing Sale on Tuesday [Artobserved]

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Bajan Riñendo, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) via BBC

Three drawings from Spanish artist, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, sold at Christie’s Old Masters Auction on July 8th for $7.9 million, double the pre-sale estimate. The three drawings had been rediscovered after being ‘lost’ for the past 130 years. The trio was last recorded at an auction in Paris in 1877, and did not resurface until the Old Masters Auction at Christie’s last Tuesday.

Goya sketches “lost” for 130 years sold at auction [ReutersUK]
Goya Boosts Christie’s Drawings Sale [NYSun]
Francisco de Goya at Christie’s London [Coxsoft]
‘Lost’ Goya drawings sold for £4m [BBC]
Lost Watteau Fetches Record; Old Masters Languish at Christie’s [Bloomberg]
‘Lost’ Goya works sell for 4m pounds at Christie’s [Economic Times]
Christie’s Auction Results [Christie’s]

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Artist Anish Kapoor via Billslater

Indian-born artist, Anish Kapoor, has been commissioned to design a large-scale public sculpture for a new residential tower in Tribeca. In addition to Kapoor, the New York-based real estate company, Alexico Group, has chosen the world-renowned Pritzker Prize winning architectural firm, Herzog & de Meuron to design the building. Izak Senbahar and Simon Elias, principals of the Alexico Group, have announced that the Kapoor sculpture will be installed at ground level and be fully incorporated into the architectural design. The designs for the building and sculpture that will sit at the intersection of Leonard and Church Streets, will be released in the fall, and construction is projected to be completed in Spring 2010 .

New Tribeca Tower to Include Kapoor Sculpture [Artinfo]
A New Tower For Tribeca [VanityFair]
Alexico Group Announces Manhattan Commission to Architects Herzog & De Meuron and Artist Anish Kapoor [Artdaily]
Swiss Firm to Design New TriBeCa Tower [NYTimes]
Alexico Group inked a deal with architects Herzog & de Meuron [NYDailynews]
Herzog & de Meuron and Anish Kapoor to Collaborate on New York Tower [InteriorDesign]
Tribeca Skyscraper to get Sculpture [TheRealDeal]

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Landscape at Evening with Travellers and a Hunter Near Classical Ruins, Pierre Patel the Elder (circa 1640) via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s has a forthcoming sale of Old Master Paintings, to be held in London at its New Bond St. location, on Wednesday, July 9th. The sale’s highlights include works from Pompeo Batoni, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Carlo Crivelli, Frans Hals, Guido Reni, Sir Peter Paul Rubens, David Teniers the Younger, Aert van der Neer, Gaspar van Wittel (Vanvitelli) and a number of other exemplary European painters of this time.

It should also be noted that there will be ten paintings featured in the July 9th sale which come from the esteemed private collection of the late Dr. Gustav Rau, a 20th century philanthropist and collector of works from artists such as Pierre Patel the Elder, whose piece, Landscape at Evening with Travellers and a Hunter Near Classical Ruins, is estimated to fetch $800,000-$1,200,000 (Pictured above).

London Old Master Paintings Evening Sale [Sotheby’s]
Masters and Surprises In London, Old Masters Set To Be Sold [NYSun]

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State prosecutor, Jacques Dallest, displays stolen paintings via ReutersUK

A Frenchman living in Florida has been charged with conspiring to sell four masterpieces, stolen from the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Nice, France back in August 2007. The Frenchman, Bernard Jean Ternus, was caught trying to sell four paintings, by Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Pieter Breugel, to undercover FBI agents. The four recovered paintings were Falaises près de Dieppe by Claude Monet, Allée de peupliers de Moret by Alfred Sisley, and Pieter Breugel’s Allégorie de l’eau and Allégorie de la terre.

French Man Living in Florida Indicted for Conspiring to sell stolen works [Artdaily]
Frenchman in Florida charged in Monet, Sisley Art Heist [CBC]
U.S. charges Frenchman over stolen Monet, other art [ReutersUK]
Frenchman Charged With Plotting to Sell Stolen Monet Painting [Bloomberg]
French Citizen charged in brazen Art Theft [CalgaryHerald]
Art thieves aren’t just in it for the Monet [Guardian]

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Shallow, Malcolm McLaren via Rawartint

Creative Time has announced the U.S. premier of the video, Shallow, by Malcolm McLaren of the Sex Pistols. The video is a series of film clips taken from films of the 1960s, all of which contain the moments right before or after sex scenes. The film is going up on MTV’s huge outdoor HD screen the middle of Times Square between 44th and 45th Street. The film will be up through August and plays at the top of the hour, every hour. McLaren’s video is just one of Creative Time’s projects, others include David Byrne’s Playing the Building and Mike Nelson’s Psychic Vacuum.

At 44 1/2 Creative Time presents Malcolm McLaren [Creative Time]
Malcolm Mclaren’s ‘Shallow’ And Creative Time [Rawartint]
Porn-again Times Square [NYDaily]
Malcolm McLaren and MTV Bring “Artful Porn” To Times Square [Exclaim]
McLaren take porn to New York City [ContactMusic

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Naked Portrait with Reflection, Lucian Freud (1980) via Artinfo

Christie’s held its Postwar and Contemporary Evening sale on Monday, June 30th, setting new records and selling 83% of the lots. The four largest sales came from Jeff Koons, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, and Andy Warhol. Other artists who were featured in the finely curated sale were Mark Rothko, Gerhard Richter, and Gilbert and George just to name a few. Out of the 48 lots that sold, 30 of them made over $1 million, and the total sale raised $172 million. This is Christie’s best result for a post-war and contemporary art sale in Europe.
Bacon Self-Portraits Fetch $34.5 Million at London Art Auction [Bloomberg]
Koons sculpture highlights record-breaking art sale [APF]
Koons record as London art sales draw to close [Reuters]
Christie’s London Bests Own Contemporary Record [Artinfo]
Record price for Koons sculpture [BBC]
Christie’s Post War and Contemporary Art Sale [Christie’s]
Bacon Triptych Sells for $34.4 Million in London [NYTimes]
Dead Artists Breathe Life Into Auctions [Wall Street Journal]
Koons’s ‘Balloon Flower’ sits in St. James Square before sale at Christie’s June 30th [Art Observed]

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Untitled, Willem de Kooning (1984) via Artinfo

Sold for about $5.6 million.
Estimate was $2.4 million – $4 million.

The Contemporary Art sale at Phillips de Pury and Company monday had some disappointing news to report when 34% of the lots went unsold. Even some of the top by Xang Xiagang and Paul McCarthy found themselves unable to sell. Damien Hirst, who sold 3 of his 4 works in the auction, managed to barely meet his estimate on the ones sold.

Contemporary Market Bruised but Resilient After London Sales [Artinfo]
Market news: London’s contemporary art sales [Telegraph]
McCarthy, Zhang Flop in Tepid London Contemporary-Art Auction [Bloomberg]
London Contemporary Week Lurches Into Action at Phillips [Artinfo]

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Image via Telegraph UK

Award-winning sculptor Antony Gormley will present his work “One And Other” in Trafalgar Square, London as he was recently chosen for the Fourth Plinth commission. His piece will occupy the Fourth Plinth for 100 consecutive days, for 24 hours, by members of the public who volunteered to stand for an hour. This will allow 2,400 people to participate in this piece.

Next on the Trafalgar Square plinth: the public [Times Online]
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London Mayor Offers to Be Living Artwork for Gormley [Bloomberg]
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Gormley’s human exhibit wins battle of Trafalgar [Independent]
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Antony Gormley will ask Trafalgar Square volunteers to climb plinth for art [Telegraph UK]
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Public art — literally — for London’s Trafalgar Square [AFP]
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Trafalgar Square: The People’s Plinth – A Portrait of our Time [Independent]

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Study for Head of George Dyer, Francis Bacon (1967) via NYTimes

Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Sale in London took place yesterday on July 1st and brought in an encouraging total of $188.8 million.  Francis Bacon’s painting of the profile of his lover and companion, George Dyer, was a highlight of the auction. This intimate portrait based on a photograph by John Deakin, was originally predicted to collect $15.5 million, but sold at a much higher $27.4 million to an anonymous collector. Although the sellers of the Bacon painting were kept anonymous, the New York Tims reported that experts speculate that it was sold by Ian and Mercedes Stouker, London Philanthropists.  Other impressive results of the sale achieved records for 11 different artists, and included the high profile sale of a Basquiat painting from seller U2, and an Andy Warhol from seller John McEnroe. The sold-out collection from the German industrialist, Walther Lauffs, which included work from Yves Klein, was another highlight of the show.

Sotheby’s July 2008 Contemporary Art Evening Sale Triumphs [Artdaily]
U2’s Jean-Michel Basquiat work on Sotheby’s block for $17.7M [Art Observed]
Bacon Stars, 10 Records Set at Sotheby’s; U2 Sell Art [Bloomberg]
Anish Kapoor sculpture attracts $3.87 mn at Sotheby’s sale [Economic Times]
Ten Works Set Records at Sotheby’s Contemporary Auctions [NYSun]
Sotheby’s contemporary art sale reaches £94.7 million [International Herald Tribune]
Contemporary Art Evening Auction Results [Sotheby’s]
Bacon Is Again a Top Draw at Auction [NYTimes]

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Your Dogs, 2008 via Maureen Paley

German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans has an exhibition at Maureen Paley gallery in London’s East End. His first solo exhibition in the UK since 2005, it offers new work as well as older, rarely viewed video. This exhibit is a combination of traditional photographs, photographic sculptures, photocopies and video. Two themes recurring throughout both floors of Tillmans’ work are the photograph as an object and the interaction of nature and man-made objects.

Wolfgang Tillmans, Maureen Paley Gallery [Maureen Paley]
Wolfgang Tillmans [ArtNews]
Wolfgang Tillmans at Maureen Paley [SHOWstudio]
Wolfgang Tillmans at Maureen Paley [Dazed Digital]
Wolfgang Tillmans – Maureen Paley Gallery [Photoicon]
Discover ‘Lighter’, the new solo exhibition from Wolfgang Tillmans [London is Free]

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New York City Waterfalls, Olafur Eliasson via NYTimes

Danish Artist, Olafur Eliasson has completed his $15.5 million New York City Waterfalls project. This sublime installation consists of four free-standing cataracts that have been transformed into 90 to 120 feet of falling water. The waterfalls started flowing yesterday, June 26th and will continue through October 13th.

Olafur Eliasson’s The New York City Waterfalls in New York [Artdaily]
Niagara’s New Rivals -For a Time, Anyway [Wall Street Journal]
The Falls Guy [NYMag]
Olafur Eliasson set to make a splash in Manhattan with waterfalls [Guardian UK]
Eliasson’s Waterfalls Make Instant Monuments for N.Y. Harbor [Bloomberg]
Cascades, Sing the City Energetic [NYTimes]
‘Waterfalls’ art installation to shower East River [NYDaily News]

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Chant 2, Bridget Riley (1967) via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s is holding its Contemporary Art Evening Auction on Tuesday, July 1st at its New Bond St. location in London. The sale’s highlights include works from Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, Bridget Riley, Andy Warhol and a number of other notable contemporary artists. The complete body of works for this sale will be on view at Sotheby’s New Bond St. galleries Monday, June 30 from 9am-7pm and Tuesday, July 1 from 9am-12noon.

Bridget Riley’s piece, Chant 2, a unique color painting which will be in the sale, was part of a show which won the artist the esteemed International Prize for Painting at the 34th Venice Biennale in 1968 .

Estimate: $4,000,000 – $6,000,000 (Pictured above)

London Contemporary Art Evening Auction [Sotheby’s]

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“Too Far Too Close”, Os Gemeos at Deitch Gallery via Art Observed

On June 28th, the doors opened at 18 Wooster St in New York to reveal the fantastical world of Os Gemeos. The twin brothers that make up Os Gemeos, Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, are having their second show at Deitch, called “Too Far Too Close”. The artist duo, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, has successfully altered the space into a colorful world filled with chimerical portraits, music, and scenes straight from the intimate minds of Os Gemeos.

Sharing a brain: Os Gemeos [GQ]
Os Gemeos: Too Far Too Close [Deitch]
Os Gemeos’s Homepage [Lost Art]
Bomb – It: International Graffiti Documentary [Bomb-It]
Os Gemeos “Too Far Too Close” [NYArtbeat]

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Paul McCarthy’s “Spinning Room” (2008) at the Whitney Museum of American Art via NYTimes

An exhibition of new and barely seen works from one of America’s most important artists, Paul McCarthy, is open at the Whitney Museum of American Art. McCarthy, who increased his notoriety when he transformed the Maccarone Gallery into a chocolate factory last November, now has “Central Symmetrical Rotation Movement Three Installations, Two Films” at the Whitney through October 12. The show was curated by Chrissie Iles and is designed by McCarthy, in part to address the viewer’s sense of perception.

Whitney to Present Paul McCarthy: Central Symmetrical Rotation Movement [Artdaily]
A Trip Through the Revolving Doors of Perception [NYTimes]
On View Now: Paul McCarthy [The Whitney]
Maccarone now officially home of Peter Paul Chocolates [ArtObserved]
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Louise Bourgeois via Artatien
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The iconic artist, Louise Bourgeois, is honored by the culmination two major events. Her exhibit at the Guggenheim in New York recently opened on June 27th. June 25th was the theatrical premier of “Louise Bourgeois:The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine”, a documentary about her life and work at the Film Forum.

New Louise Bourgeois Documentary Film to Premiere at New York’s Film Forum [Artdaily]
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Louise Bourgeois at the Guggenheim [The Art Newspaper]
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Portrait of a Haunted Artist Who Befriended Giant Spiders [NY Times]
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‘Louise Bourgeois’: An Intimate Look at a Provocateur [NYSun]
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The Guggenheim Museum: Louise Bourgeois [Guggenheim]
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Raw Materials of a Life, Revealed by Sculpture [NYTimes]
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Louise Bourgeios at the Guggenheim [NYTimes]
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`Cumuls,’ Dolls Recall Daddy Dearest in Louise Bourgeois Show [Bloomberg]
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For Your Distorted Pleasure: Louise Bourgeois [NYTimes]
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Bourgeois Looms Large at the Guggenheim [NY artbeat]

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Nine Multicolored Marilyns, Andy Warhol (1979-1986) via Phillips

Phillips de Pury & Company is holding it’s Contemporary Art Sale on June 29 and 30. The sale highlights works from Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paul McCarthy, and many other distinguished contemporary artists.

Phillips Contemporary Art Sale [Phillips]

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Balloon Flower (Magenta), Jeff Koons via flickr W10

Jeff Koons’ magenta colored Balloon Flower sits in St. James Square waiting to be sold on Monday, June 30th, at Christie’s London. From the series Celebration, the enormous flower was previously owned by the Rachofsky Collection in Texas. It has been deemed the highlight of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale, and is estimated to fetch $23.5 million.

Koons Dallas ‘Flower’ may fetch $23.5 Million at Christie’s London June 30th [artobserved]
Jeff Koons Sculpture May Fetch 12 Million Pounds at Christie’s [Bloomberg]
Win One, Lose One for Dallas Museum [NYTimes]

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A Christie’s worker takes a closer look at Monet’s Le basin aux nymphaes via yahoo

At Christie’s auction yesterday Monet’s water-lily painting, Le basin aux nymphaes, sold to an anonymous collector for $80.5 million, well over the estimated $35 to $47 million. This is a record breaking sale for the artist, and a tell tale sign that there is some life in many sectors of the art market. The other big sale of the evening was Degas’, Danseuses a la barre, which sold for $26.5 million.

A Monet Sets a Record: $80.4 Million [NYTimes]
Monet fetches record $80.5m [FinancialTimes]
Christie’s in London Sells Monet Masterpiece for $ 80.5 Million A Record for the Artist [artdaily]
Monet record smashed as art market boom goes on [Forbes]
$80M A Whole Lot of Monet [NYPost]
A lot of Monet as Christie’s sells waterlilies for record £41 million [Times Online UK]
Monet record smashed as art market boom goes on [Guardian UK]
In London, Will Moderns Move? [NYSun]
AO Preview: Christie’s London Impressionist and Modern Art [ArtObserved]

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A visitor looks at Rembrandt Laughing at the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam via daylife

The Rembrandt self-portrait, once thought to be a knockoff, has recently been confirmed by the Rembrandt Research Project to be authentic. Rembrandt Laughing was originally estimated to be worth $3,100 but sold for $4.5 million in an English auction house last October.  The painting’s current estimated value is $30,000,000 to $40,000,000.

Rembrandt confirmed a genuine item [Bloomberg]
A Rembrandt, Really [NYTimes]
The Rembrandt House Museum Presents Today “Rembrandt Laughing” in Amsterdam [Artdaily]
‘Rembrandt Laughing’ is self-portrait [Chicago Tribune]

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Le bassin aux nympheas, Claude Monet (1919) via Christie’s

Christie’s London will conduct its Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale this Tuesday, June 24.  The sale will feature work from artists such headliners as Monet, Degas, Giacometti, Goncharova, Bonnard, Picasso, as well as many other notables. Viewing of the works on the block will continue until the day of the show.

Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale [Christie’s]

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Damien Hirst, The Golden Calf via artdaily

Sotheby’s in London has recently announced that Damien Hirst will be auctioning off a number of newly created works at the sale: ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’ on September 15 and 16. The highlight of the sale is Hirst’s Golden Calf, which is an 18-carat gold encrusted bull submerged in a tank of formadehyde, is expected to sell for $16 to $24 million. This Sotheby’s sale is comprised exclusively of works made by Damien Hirst during the past two years.

Hirst’s Golden Calf Is Pricey Per Pound [NYTimes]
The Golden Calf by Damien Hirst Headlines Groundbreaking Auction of Work by Artist [artdaily]
Damien Hirst to Auction Own Works at Sotheby’s [artinfo]
Damien Hirst to sell £12 million ‘Golden Calf’ artwork at auction [TIMESOnline UK]
Dropping the Other Calf [TIME]
Hirst to Offer `Golden Calf’ for 12 Million Pounds at Sotheby’s [Bloomberg]

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Guggenheim Vilnius Museum via ejpress

The government of Lithuania has approved the construction of a new contemporary art museum for its capital, Vilnius.  If the project reaches it’s fund raising goals, the museum would be a joint project between the Guggenheim and the Russian State Hermitage Museum. The renowned Iraqi architect, Zaha Hadid has been selected to design the building, which is projected to open in 2013.

The Guggenheim Goes East Again [TIME]
Coming Soon: Guggenheim Vilnius [NYSun]
New Hermitage-Guggenheim museum in Vilnius to house centre on ‘Litvaks’ [EJPress]
Lithuania Approves Guggenheim Project [NYTimes]
Zaha Hadid to Design Planned Museum in Lithuania [Bloomberg]

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Charles Saatchi via arts guardian.co.uk

In an event reminiscent of seminal moments in the YBA (Young British Artist) scene years ago, three students from the Royal Academy met good fortune when the affluent collector, Charles Saatchi, bought out the majority of all their works.  The chosen three, Angus Danders-Dunnachie, Jill Mason, and Carla Busuttil are names that we will likely hear again.  Saatchi has created a reputation for himself by making early purchases that helped jump-start the careers of the now famous Damien Hirst, Tracy Emin, Jake and Dinos Champan, and Natasha Kissell.

Charles Saatchi Buys Student Art at Royal Academy Show [Artinfo]
Saatchi Taps Young Artists [nytimes]
Charles Saatchi makes three artists’ fortunes at art show [timesonline.uk]

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