Sinead O’Dwyer, In Myself (Installation View), via Waves and Archives

Currently on view at New York’s Waves and Archives, artist Sinead O’Dwyer presents a selection of new works, returning to her nuanced silicone works alongside work created for an upcoming performance at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  The exhibition, which marks the artist’s first in New York, makes for an engaging entry in her body of work, and look at her intricate incorporation of human bodies and synthetic materials. (more…)

The New Yorker has a piece this week on Georgia O’Keefe’s expansive file of recipes.  “Food served in the O’Keeffe household was always nutritious, tasty, and simply but beautifully presented,” says writer Margaret Wood, who worked as O’Keefe’s assistant and regularly prepared her meals. (more…)

A piece in Dezeen charts additional issue at Cooper Hewitt beyond its recent leadership shakeup. “Design is central to how we are going to make our world better,” says architect Aaron Betsky. “The various disciplines that make it up are changing rapidly, but they are doing so based on accumulated knowledge, skill, and beauty that we need to see and understand more fully. We need the Cooper Hewitt to become that institution.” (more…)

A piece in the NYT showcases growing interest in Iranian contemporary art, as tensions escalate with the country itself. “Iranian art collecting was an exclusively Iranian affair among Iranians,” until recently, says collector Mohammed Afkhami.  “We are still in the early stages of that diversification away from purely Iranian patronage,” he added. (more…)

Art Newspaper has a piece charting Sotheby’s recent emphasis on its private sales department.  “We have probably spent 250 of our 275 years pretending it didn’t exist,” says David Schrader, Sotheby’s head of private sales. “But it’s a really important service which we don’t think is cannibalistic to the legacy business, it’s quite complimentary.” (more…)

Michael A. Robinson, all images by Elisa Etrari for Art Observed

As The Armory Show returns to the Piers on the West Side of Manhattan, so too comes the annual opening of the SPRING/BREAK Art Show, the adventurous, curator-driven program that takes up space at a pop-up location for a week of compelling and unique exhibitions and projects.  (more…)

Francis Bacon’s 1981 Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus will head to Sotheby’s this May, estimated at $60 million.  The work comes form the collection of Hans Rasmus Astrup, a Norwegian business tycoon who is selling the piece to benefit the consignor’s family foundation. (more…)

The NYT reports live from TEFAF, noting a significant drop in attendance at the fair caused by coronavirus concerns. “Normally I’m on a plane with 10 collectors from Milan,” says gallerist Maurizio Rigillo. “This year I was on my own.” (more…)

Lisson Gallery will grow its footprint in New York this spring, taking over the space adjacent to its home at 504 West 24th Street.  “This new space offers more diversity in our programming as it is smaller and more intimate than the open warehouse structure of 504,” says NY gallery head Alex Logsdail. (more…)

In an unexpected shakeup, the Armory Show has moved its date and season for next year, running September 9th – 12th at the Javits Center downtown.  “September is a great time of year to be in New York City, and we are eager to align with gallery openings to kick off the fall season,” says Nicole Berry, the fair’s executive director.  “We hope everyone will mark their calendars.” (more…)

New York museums are accelerating preparations for coronavirus as institutions shutter around the globe. “The health of our staff and visitors is of paramount importance to the Guggenheim,” a spokeswoman for the museum says. “All non-essential museum travel has been suspended or postponed. We are also discussing plans to enable working at home here appropriate in the event of a closure.” (more…)

An unpublished Albrecht Dürer drawing has been reportedly discovered, and will go on sale in London. The work comes from an unidentified American collection, which some speculate is that of the family of the architect Jean-Paul Carlhian. (more…)

Catherine Opie is interviewed in the LA Times this week, as she gives a preview of a new body of work focusing on the swamps of Florida. “There is a lot of life in those swamps,” she says. “At first, I thought I’d go in at night with a flash, then I realized how many alligators there were.” (more…)

Bianca Beck at Rachel Uffner, all images via Art Observed

Kicking off the 11th year of operation, Independent NY has once again touched down at Spring Studios in Tribeca, once again opening the doors on its take on the presentation of an art fair.  Smaller in scale and more focused in terms of its gallery selections, the fair’s presentation feels more like a presentation of a series of small gallery shows run side-by-side, with ample space and a mellow browsing experience that draws strength from the fair’s invite-only exhibitor structure and immense glass windows, underscoring its reputation as a boutique event with impressive draw.

Clementine Keith-Roach at P•P•O•W

(more…)

The Venice Architecture Biennale will be postponed until August. “The new dates have been established as a consequence of the recent precautionary measures in the matter of mobility taken by the governments of a growing number of countries around the world, which will have a domino effect on the movement of people and works in coming weeks,” reads an official statement. (more…)

The global art market dipped by 5% this year, according to the annual report by UBS and Art Basel, but private sales continued to grow. “It was a tricky year, but not disastrous,” says publisher Clare McAndrew. (more…)

The Musée D’Orsay will be expanding its capabilities for exhibition thanks to a $23 million donation. “This goes beyond the question of the display of the collection. We also want to fulfill our mission in a more modern and complete way,” says museum president Laurence des Cars. “Visitors are no longer just expecting a museum to display works of art, but to offer a complete experience.” (more…)

Austin Lee at Jeffrey Deitch, all images via Art Observed

Considered among New York’s premier art fairs, and a leading cultural destination for discovering and collecting the world’s most important 20th- and 21st-century art, The Armory Show has long figured at the forefront of the city’s annual spring offerings for art exhibitions and shows.  With its first day of sales in the bag, the fair is once again showing why its impact and stature cannot be ignored. (more…)

A piece in the SCMP this week notes that as galleries continue to struggle in the face of the coronavirus spread, many are asking if physical gallery locations are even feasible anymore, while others in Hong Kong point out how protests have affected their business. (more…)

Casey Kaplan is profiled in Art News this week, as he prepares an expansion of his gallery space in New York’s Flower District. “I’m doubling down on New York, my home,” he says. “I’m not interested in having a gallery somewhere else. I am a big believer in focusing, and I can focus by not being in London and Paris and Milan and Los Angeles. I can do my job well when I’m paying attention to what I need to pay attention to here.” (more…)

Sotheby’s private sales division sold almost $1 billion in works last year 2019, the auction house announced this week. The news comes amid a focus for the auction house on “fixed price-point sales.” (more…)

Artist Carmen Herrera will erect a large-scale mural in East Harlem. “The whole idea is to bring the power of visual beauty to neighborhoods where there is very little and where parents are just not taking their kids to museums,” said Ruth Lande Shuman, the founder of Publicolor. (more…)

The Guardian has a piece on the Lithuanian pavilion from last year’s Venice Biennale, and take a look at the country’s artistic community, where many artists are struggling just to get by. (more…)

Art Dubai has been postponed, the latest in a series of postponements and closings over coronavirus fears. “It is a sensible decision,” says gallery director Anne-Claudie Coric. “Too many collectors are afraid of flying and being quarantined.”  (more…)