The trial for Pierre Le Guennec, a former handyman for Pablo Picasso, and his wife has begun. The pair recently revealed an enormous trove of works by the artist they claim they were given in the 1970’s, and which state prosecutors claim they stole. If convicted of theft, they could face up to five years in prison and a €375,000 fine. (more…)
Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild (1983), via Sotheby’s
The Contemporary Evening sale at Sotheby’s has concluded, following a sale of works that was fairly by the book in comparison with past auctions, with the exception of a massive new auction record for artist Gerhard Richter just one day after his 83rd birthday. Despite a lack of exceptionally competitive bidding, the 77-lot sale still brought in impressive returns, finishing at a tally of £123,515,250. (more…)
Francis Bacon, Two Studies for Self-Portrait (1977), via Sotheby’s
Concluding a three week series of auctions, the Contemporary Evening Sales are set to take place in London in the coming evenings, offering a perspective on the strength of the market as 2015’s art season gets underway.
The auctions begin on Tuesday, February 10th, with Sotheby’s Evening sale. The 77-lot sale is carrying a presale estimate of £89.7 million to £127.1 million, led by a large-scale Gerhard Richter Abstraktes Bild from 1986, which is estimated to sell for £14 million to £20 million. Also topping the list is a rare Francis Bacon double self-portrait, executed in 1977 and carrying a £13 million to £18 million presale estimate. The painting, executed just weeks after the suicide of his partner George Dyer, is already commanding impressive buzz, and may turn out to be the night’s most coveted lot. A Lucio Fontana “slit” work also sits at the top of the sale offerings, estimated at £5 million to £7 million. (more…)
Kehinde Wiley is in New York Magazine this week, showcasing gowns from the spring fashion season worn by a number of female models the artist painted for his soon to open Brooklyn Museum exhibition. “What we wanted to do was to play up the real world within the language of glamour,” Wiley says. “I wanted to have a reprise of that moment, to go back to this idea of fashion and art having something in common, the idea that fashion could change the perception of an individual.” (more…)
Kurimanzutto at Zona Maco, via Zona Maco
Just one week after the hectic schedule of Art Week in Los Angeles, the fair scene has headed south, setting up shop in Mexico City for a selection of fairs, exhibitions and special projects that have helped establish Mexico’s capital as a swiftly-growing arts hub for both Latin America and the international market. (more…)
An article in The Art Newspaper this week examines the strategies and impacts of museum’s undertaking collection and implementation strategies for video games and computer programs, as well as utilizing game platforms and structures to encourage engagement. “It’s an innovative way to get the public interested in collections, especially audiences that wouldn’t normally engage with them,” says Stella Wisdom, the British Library’s digital curator. “There’s a lot of potential for creative industries to work with cultural institutions and vice versa. We’re just at the start of a journey.” (more…)
A group of artists including Tomma Abts, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Anish Kapoor, and Jeremy Deller have issued a statement condemning Cuba’s treatment of artist Tania Bruguera, following her performance several weeks ago in Havana. “In her work Tania Bruguera frequently addresses issues embedded in Cuba’s social, political and economic history. But her aim is not a question of direct political action but to open our eyes to the injustices and social issues in the world and to expose the mechanisms of power and protocol that shape human behavior,” the letter reads. (more…)
The Louvre Abu Dhabi has purchased an iconic portrait of George Washington, executed by portrait artist Gilbert Stuart from Los Angeles’s Armand Hammer Foundation. The work will hang in a gallery featuring work exploring the notion of prominent individuality, alongside the Jacques-Louis David ’s Napoleon Crossing the Alps. (more…)
MoMA has announced that it will remain open all weekend, offering late night, discounted admission for the last weekend of the popular Matisse Cut-Outs exhibition. The show closes on Tuesday. (more…)
An exhibition of work by Peter Doig has been announced at the Palazzetto Tito in Venice, coinciding with the opening the Biennale later this year. The exhibition will feature a number of Doig’s large scale works, as well as several intimate pieces. (more…)
MoMA has announced the winner of its yearly Young Architects Program design contest, a “party artifact” titled COSMO and designed by Spanish architect Andrés Jaque. “This year’s proposal takes one of the Young Architects Program’s essential requirements–providing a water feature for leisure and fun–and highlights water itself as a scarce resource,” said Pedro Gadanho, Curator in MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design. “Relying on off-the-shelf components from agro-industrial origin, an exuberant mobile architecture celebrates water-purification processes and turns their intricate visualization into an unusual backdrop for the Warm Up sessions.” (more…)
Artist Mickalene Thomas is interviewed in the New York Magazine this week for the paper’s ongoing “21 Questions” segment, discussing her favorite New York sushi restaurants, her methods of working, and her nostalgia for the old Times Square. “’It’s interesting because it was a really sort of crazy under-culture of different types of people walking around expressing themselves, and trying to make their dreams happen. Now you just don’t have that anymore.” (more…)
A Paul Gauguin painting from 1892 has reportedly been sold for close to $300 million, setting a new record for the most expensive work of art. Rudolf Staechelin, a retired Sotheby’s executive, confirmed the sale with the New York Times, but the Qatari buyer’s identity has not been disclosed, nor has the official price. “The real question is why only now?” Mr. Staechelin said of the Gauguin sale. “It’s mainly because we got a good offer. The market is very high and who knows what it will be in 10 years.” (more…)
Yael Bartana, Inferno (2013)
Yael Bartana’s new body of work, containing two video pieces, two photographs and a neon installation, is currently on view at Petzel Gallery. The Tel Aviv and Amsterdam-based artist has become one of the strongest artistic voices from her home in Israel, a territory Bartana, in her own words, aims to ‘treat as a social laboratory’. Living abroad gives the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design graduate the opportunity to maintain a neutral outside perspective towards her country that has always remained embedded in political, religious and social turmoil. (more…)
Following her arrest over a performance in Havana, Tania Bruguera has claimed that Cuban authorities are closely following her every movement. “I can move around Havana, but I have a car following me everywhere I go,” the artist tells the Miami New Times. “I know they are listening to my calls, because recently, during a phone conversation with a friend, I mentioned I was going to pass out fliers that the government might find alarming. Then, 20 minutes later, a government blogger wrote, ‘Tania is on her way to distribute inflammatory leaflets here.'” (more…)
The Stedelijk Museum has announced a major donation of 175 works from the collection of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, featuring pieces by Lawrence Weiner, Anselm Kiefer, and Jeff Wall, among many others. “The Stedelijk is deeply honored to receive such a generous, essential and wonderful gift, says Beatrix Ruf, director of the Museum. “We are extremely moved about their decision to make the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam their collection’s new home. It reflects their deep engagement with the city as well as the Stedelijk’s relationship and engagement with the history of artistic exchange between the US and Amsterdam.”
The Association for the International Diffusion of French Art has announced the nominees for the 2015 edition of the Marcel Duchamp Prize: Davide Balula, Neil Beloufa, Melik Ohanian, and Zineb Sedira. The prize honors one French artist or artist living in France working in the plastic or visual arts. (more…)
A 1986 Ellsworth Kelly design for a free-standing building has been acquired by the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, and will be constructed on the museum grounds this spring. The building has some ties to the contemplative, spiritual air of the Rothko Chapel, as well as Matisse’s design for the Chapelle du Rosaire. “I think people need some kind of spiritual thing because, as you can see, there are spots around the world that are blowing up and we don’t want that,” the artist says. “No one wants that.” (more…)
Adam Lindemann is opening a new gallery in Los Angeles, the aptly titled Venus Over Los Angeles, which will open downtown in April with a show of work by Dan Colen. “I don’t know that I’m going to be the person to find the next great L.A. artists,” Mr. Lindemann tells the New York Times, “but it’s a great place for huge sculpture, huge paintings.” (more…)
A number of New York City art galleries and dealers have been subpoenaed in the past weeks by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, asking for a sales and shipping records for past sales. Some speculate that the high prices paid at recent auctions have triggered a response by the DA to investigate possible fraud and tax evasion. “I suspect they are looking at many. It is very rare they would go after a one-off unless it was someone who was very well known,” says tax specialist Ken Zemsky. (more…)
The 2015 Edition of Frieze New York will include a “Projects” section with works by Korakrit Arunanondchai, Pia Camil, Samara Golden, Aki Sasamoto and Allyson Vieira, the fair has announced. The section is curated by Cecelia Alemani, and will include a series of massage chairs by Arunanondchai, and an intricate underground installation by Golden. (more…)
The recent decision of Marina Picasso, granddaughter of painter Pablo Picasso, to sell off her collection of her grandfather’s works has many market analysts worried about a “flooded” market, even though Picasso has been selling works one by one for some time. “Instead of having a dealer show them, it’s been an open secret that there are works for sale and people have been asking other people if they would be interested,” says historian John Richardson. “I’ve been asked by odd people who tell me, ‘We are in on a great deal, and Marina is selling all her stuff.’ ” (more…)
Bloomberg takes a look at the current state of the Euro, and its effects on the series of auctions currently taking place in London, considering the ongoing economic crises from a variety of perspectives. “The euro is just killing Europe, but it’s killing Italy more than anything else,” says dealer Otto Naumann says. “I haven’t seen any Italian collectors buying anything.” (more…)
Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Walter Liedtke was one of the victims of this week’s tragic MTA North crash outside of Valhalla, NY, the New York Times reports. “He had a wonderful way with words and engaged people through those unexpected approaches in language,” says Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of Northern Baroque paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. “He had strong opinions about things, and he was not shy about expressing those opinions.” (more…)