NYMag Speculates on Timing of Hirst Skull Sale [Intelligencer]
Damien Hirst’s New Friends: Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen [PageSix]
Nancy Hoffman to Leave SoHo after 35 Years, 27th St Awaits [ArtInfo.com]
Walker Art Center Gets New Director From Hirshhorn [NYTimes]
Sotheby’s Executives Sell Inside Shares to Avoid Risks [Bloomberg]
Damien Hirst’s Skulls Adorn Prada Party [Portfolio]
Prada/Tom Sach’s Collaboration Coats Taken from Gagosian Opening [FWD]
9/11 Commemoration at New York Historical Society [NYTimes]
Holland Cotter Reviews the Art Parade [NYTimes]
The Women Behind Salon 94 & Freeman’s Alley [NYSun]
What’s Behind the Restoration of the Guggenheim [NYTimes]
Finance Isn’t Everything – The Arts Make New York Go ‘Round [Economist]
Collectors Cut Back on Acquisitions as Market Declines [FW]

Louise Bourgeois’ ‘Femme Maison’ via Kicking Wind

Auction giant Christie’s has released it’s results for Monday’s Post-War & Contemporary sale. Any doubts for art sales this fall injected into our minds by the failing credit markets were comforted by this auction for sure. 254 out of 333 lots were sold, totaling $12,356,950. Thanks to the buyers, four artists can claim a new world auction record, including Louise Nevelson, Alice Neel, Norman Bluhm, and Louise Bourgeois. (more…)

“The Little Mermaid” by Liu Ye via Sotheby’s

Auction house Sotheby’s will be holding their Contemporary Asian Art sale on Thursday September 20th at 1334 York Avenue at 72nd Street. Session 1 will be held at 10am and session 2 will begin at 2pm. Liu Ye‘s “The Little Mermaid” (pictured above) is the the highest priced piece in the sale, with a low estimate of $1 million and a high estimate of $1.5 million. Auction details after the jump. (more…)

Courtesy of Ian Whalen

The third annual Art Parade (organized by Deitch Projects, Creative Time and Paper Magazine) took place this past Saturday, September 8th in SoHo. One dazzling hour saw over 80 participants dressed in a variety of costumes made of materials like glitter, foam and body paint. What was so mesmerizing about the parade? Was it the glint of glitter sparkling in the sunlight? Being outnumbered by trannies? The unabashed nudity? Whatever it was, the sheer amount of spectacle during this event made it difficult to turn away. More photos after the jump. (more…)

From Bloomberg via Christies Images

According Bloomberg.com, collectors who choose to sell their Warhols and de Koonings are being guaranteed $1 billion before the fall auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. The auction giants are relying on collectors from Russia and Asia to help prop up New York City art prices as the credit markets decline. These overseas collectors seem to make large purchases despite losses many finance professionals are experiencing. (more…)

‘Transient Rainbow’ 2002, photo by Hiro Ihara

Chinese-born artist Cai Guo-Qiang will have his mid-career retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in February 2008. The artist was chosen as a finalist for the museum’s Hugo Boss Prize in 1996. The exhibition will feature lesser known works by the artist, and will coincide with the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and will travel to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in 2009. (more…)

Photo Esther Kim

It seems to be the other way around instead, according to an article in the NYSun last week. Now that the art market has proven to be a hot arena, the fashion industry is doing all it can to include itself. Bloomindale’s latest campaign is called “Artrageous,” working in conjunction with the new New Museum opening in the Bowery this December. (more…)

Anna Marie Kellen for The Metropolitan Museum of Art

If you haven’t seen Frank Stella’s first solo exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art yet, you still have some time. Weather permitting, the artist’s sculptures will be on the rooftop of the Museum through October 28th.
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Frank Stella on the Roof [Met]

NYMag.com posted a video yesterday highlighting the runway show for Damien Hirst & Warhol Factory X’s collaborations with Levi’s. Hirst created spin art pieces specially for the show, designs that were also featured on his denim. (more…)

via Team Gallery

And the races are off! Yesterday evening marked the reawakening of the summertime sonmambulist art world, peacefully resting in New York City throughout the hottest months of summer. (more…)

via Deitch Projects

The Third Annual Art Parade will take place tomorrow, Saturday September 8th starting at 4pm. Starting on Houston Street along West Broadway to Grand Street, the parade will include street spectacles, portable sculptures, and kites among other visuals. (more…)

The theories surrounding the mysterious sale of Damien Hirst’s $100 million diamond skull continue! Carol Vogel of the New York Times reiterates what we already knew – private investors, deal to be closed within a few weeks, Hirst retained a stake to ensure a museum tour. Vogel is right – no museums were named. Maybe it’s bit too early to decide when and where it would or will exhibit. But we may also see replicate skulls in the future – Hirst has retained the right to make two more sculptures. (more…)

Mutu via Christie’s

Auction house Christie’s will be holding their Postwar & Contemporary sale no. 1872 on Monday, September 10th. Session I will begin at 10am and session II will begin at 2pm, both at 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City.

The viewing schedule for the lots after the jump. (more…)

Auction house Sotheby’s will be holding their Contemporary sale (part I & II) Wednesday, September 12th at 1334 York Avenue & 72nd Street. Session I will be held at 10am for lots 1 – 118, immediately followed by lots 119 – 262. Session II will continue at 2pm with lots 263 – 474.

Viewing schedule for the lots is below:

Thursday, September 6 : 10am – 5pm
Friday, September 7 : 10am – 5pm
Saturday, September 8 : 10am – 5pm
Sunday, September 9 : 1pm – 5pm
Monday, September 10 : 10am – 5pm
Tuesday, September 11 : 10am – 1pm

For more information, visit the Sotheby’s website.

Photo by Christopher Peterson

Scott Schuman, known as “The Sartorialist” to his avid fans and readers, announced yesterday that he will be working with Danziger Projects to handle print sales and fine-art related business. The gallery represents photography greats such as Chuck Close and Annie Leibovitz. (more…)

It’s September, which means New York City’s Fall art season will be in full swing beginning this Thursday the 6th. With over 80 openings on Thursday alone, Chelsea will be a madhouse from 5pm – 9pm, not to mention the burgeoning art scene on the Lower East Side. Within this frenzy, which exhibits will be worth the elbowing through? AO has our top picks after the jump. (more…)

Last year, auction house Phillips de Pury was rumored to be moving their headquarters to a new location on Howick Place and that their inaugural auction would coincide with Frieze Art Fair 2006. The Art Newspaper reported that it was to open October 14, 2006. Well, it’s September 2007 and they’re still not open? (more…)

Hirst Skull Simply Act of Creation & Consumption? [WashPost]
Museums Losing Against Private Collectors [LATimes]
Asia Society Positions to Build Contemporary Collection [NYTimes]
Takashi Murakami – “Warhol of Japan”? [Portfolio]
Met Shows Off New Contemporary Acquisitions This Fall [NYMag]
NY Legislature Seeks to Ban Sham Bidding [Maine Antique Digest]
Olafur Eliasson’s Glacial Perspective [NYTimes]
Sean Dack’s Musical Prank [NYTimes]
The Collector Who Knew ‘Bill’ de Kooning [FT]
Hirst’s Sale = Small Profits [WSJ]
Zhang Huan’s Changes: Performance Art to Studio Factory [NYTimes]

Jen Bekman, the Lower East Side gallerist who also runs Hey, Hot Shot!, an online photography competition, will be launching her latest online venture, 20×200. She’ll be curating an online exhibit with prints in editions of 200 each available for only $20. (more…)

via New York State Military Museum, DMNA

Motorcycles leaving behind fluorescent skid marks in Drill Hall in the Seventh Regiment Armory hardly seems the norm, but beginning September 18th through the 23rd, they will be part of a performance piece by Aaron Young named “Greeting Card”, according to an article that appeared this weekend in the New York Sun. (more…)

It seems as though the rumors circulating that Hirst had purchased the $100 million diamond-studded skull himself are partially true. According to an article by the Associated Press, Sara Macdonald (spokeswoman for White Cube gallery in London) revealed that Hirst “retained a stake in the work” and would sell his stake when the piece is sold by the investor group in a few years. (more…)

Featuring work by Will Cotton, Ghada Amer, Cecily Brown, Eric Fischl, Nir Hod

Salomon Contemporary’s exhibits are usually on view only by appointment, but this holiday weekend, the gallery will be open this weekend for viewing – Friday August 31st through Monday September 3rd, 10am – 6pm. If you can’t make those times, call 917.617.0828 to make an appointment.–>

Salomon Contemporary Warehouse
6 Plank Road – Unit 3
East Hampton, New York

Saturday August 18th [NYObserver]
Salomon Contemporary

Bolton & Quinn via Bloomberg News

“For the Love of God”, Damien Hirst’s skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds and priced at $99 million, was reported as sold for $100 million to an investment group according to an article on Bloomberg.com. In an interview on June 2, 2007, Hirst revealed that “someone” was “very interested” in purchasing the skull and speculated that it could be sold within a few weeks. (more…)

via Expoships

SeaFair, David Lester’s $20 million venture into the trendy world of art fairs, is scheduled to make its maiden voyage to Greenwich, CT, arriving on September 25, 2007. The 228-foot-long yacht named the Grand Luxe, will be arriving in New York City’s Chelsea Piers on from October 9 – 14. Problems such as shortages of steel and workers have postponed their initial January 2007 date back to this fall. (more…)