Paul Cézanne, Les Pommes (1889-90)

Tonight, Sotheby’s opens it’s doors to the many collectors in town for New York’s spring auction season as well as the art fairs happening simultaneously. After the last two record breaking seasons in both New York houses, it will be worth watching to see if the art market continues to rise. While there are many noteworthy items on the block over the next couple days, there does not seem to be a single blockbuster, such as last spring’s The Scream by Edvard Munch, which sold for a staggering $120 million.

Amedeo Modigliani, L’Amazone (1909)

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James Rosenquist, “Orange Field”, 1964, all images courtesy Acquavella Galleries

On view from April 10th through May 24th, 2013 at Acquavella Galleries is the exhibition “The Pop Object: The Still Life Tradition in Pop Art,” providing an overview of the Pop art movement as it developed in the United States, and focusing particularly on the role of the still life as a mode of illustrating themes surrounding post-war consumerism.

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New York Magazine has published an in-depth interview with Jeff Koons, in advance of the artist’s two shows opening this week at galleries Gagosian and David Zwirner.  Examining Koons’s successful career, the interview charts his creative history, and his often complex relation with the upper echelons of the art world, noting that he has never had a retrospective in New York City.  “I really think that the journey that art takes you on as an artist is that you first learn self-acceptance.”   He says. (more…)

Donald Judd’s five-story residence in downtown New York is nearing its scheduled opening date this June, restored through the efforts of the Judd Foundation.  With the opening date approaching, the Financial Times has published a spotlight on the artist and his practice, noting his challenging take on the art market.  Says his daughter, Rainer Judd: “He was in utter disbelief that you could make money from art. When he began his art practice, he had no concept of it being a moneymaking endeavor. He would try to make as much money as possible to buy Swedish furniture and buy Scotch and make great meals.” (more…)

This month’s upcoming arts auctions are projected to see over $1 Billion in art change hands in the next few weeks, with a number of major works by Gerhard Richter, Barnett Newman and Fernand Léger all expected to command impressive auction prices.  Analysts are pointing to new focuses on artist’s early work, and aggressive price setting by the auction houses as evidence that the market is ripe for sale, which could lead to a number of record-setting transactions. (more…)

In the wake of the Museum of Modern Art’s decision to demolish the former home of the American Museum of Folk Arts, The New York Times has published an exhaustive survey of MoMA’s expansion over its 100-plus year history.  As the article shows, the museum has a long reputation of demolishing surrounding buildings, including the destruction of a former Rockefeller home, and the George Blumenthal mansion, both of which would be considered landmarks by today’s standard. (more…)

Capitalizing on the growing market of private art sales, Sotheby’s Auction House will open a private sales gallery in London, Bloomberg reports.  The move follows the increasing trend of discreet art purchases for blue chip works, avoiding the high-profile spotlight of the auction room.  “It’s very smart. I would do the same,” said the New York-based dealer Christophe van de Weghe. “Sotheby’s will have the same clientele for both their auctions and their gallery sales.” (more…)

The Royal Academy of the Arts is preparing for a major exhibition of works from the Australian continent, opening in September.  Featuring some of the country’s most iconic works, the show is already generating a great deal of interest in both the UK and Australia.  “I think it’s true to say that there has never been an exhibition like this before,” said Kathleen Soriano, the show’s curator. “This survey is long, long overdue. We should know more of these important figures as part of our broader art historical canon, not least because so much of it relates directly back to this country but even more so because there are some tremendous artists we really should be aware of and should be able to enjoy.” (more…)

One of the most anticipated art events of the year, Creative Time’s annual gala took place Tuesday night at the Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg, honoring painter, artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel.  Celebrating the artist’s career and creative output, the event lived up to expectations, hosting nearly 600 guests inside the Sugar Factory’s remarkably maintained space.  Featuring a menu prepared by renowned chef Mario Batali, as well as a performance by Laurie Anderson and a tribute to Schnabel by Dick Cavett, the event once again showcased Creative Time’s reputation as a driver in the New York art world.

May Andersen, Julian Schnabel and Anne Pasternak

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Rachel Whiteread, Detached (Installation View) © Rachel Whiteread. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery, Photo Mike Bruce

Gagosian London is currently exhibiting Detached, a self-reflexive exhibition by Rachel Whiteread that calls to attention the artistic process itself, abstracting and casting everyday objects into large scale sculptures meant to symbolize the detachment from reality that an artist experiences during his or her process.

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A pair of statues from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Southeast Asian collection will be sent back to Cambodia, officials announced this week.  The “Kneeling Attendants” were smuggled out of the country during the violent Cambodian civil war of the 1970’s, and were donated to the museum in the late 1980’s.  “This is a case in which additional information regarding the Kneeling Attendants has led the museum to consider facts that were not known at the time of the acquisition and to take the action we are announcing today,” said Met director Thomas P. Campbell. (more…)

Richard Jackson, Bad Dog, 2013 via Orange County Museum of Art

The Orange County Museum of Art is currently presenting the first retrospective of Los Angeles-based artist Richard Jackson. Known for his radical expansion of painting’s practice and definition over the past 40 years, Jackson’s personal take on “action” painting invigorated its performative potential, and brought it into the sculptural dimension, while extending his practice into everyday life. Jackson’s pioneer approach to making paintings most likely has roots in his homestead upbringing. Sacramento born and raised, he spent most of his free time on a 2,000 acre ranch as a child before going on to study art and engineering at Sacramento State College.

Richard Jackson, Deer Beer, 2013 via Orange County Museum of Art

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Skateboard and fashion brand Supreme is currently embroiled in a lawsuit over its iconic logo, suing another designer for using their name and logo in a series of shirts.  The legal action has prompted artist Barbara Kruger, whose color scheme and typography appears to have inspired the Supreme brand design, to respond, calling them: “Totally uncool jokers.”  She continued,  “I make my work about this kind of sadly foolish farce.  I’m waiting for all of them to sue me for copyright infringement.” (more…)

Following the departure of Frank Gehry, and an installation project currently running behind schedule, MOCA Guest Curator Christopher Mount has speculated that the museum may have to cancel its planned exhibition for the Getty Museum’s Pacific Standard Time show on Modern Architecture.  Titled A New Sculpturalism, the exhibition ran into delays when architects (including Gehry) began expressing concern over how Mount was choosing to display and explain their work.  “I didn’t feel comfortable in it,” Gehry said. “It didn’t seem to be a scholarly, well-organized show.” (more…)

Sterling Ruby, THE POT IS HOT (2013), via Hauser and Wirth

Los Angeles-based Sterling Ruby is currently exhibiting a selection of new works in London, on view at Hauser and Wirth’s Savile Row location.  Investigating a creative process that incorporates studio detritus and recycled elements of previous work into his assemblages and collages, Ruby welcomes a new perspective on the fixed artwork. (more…)

Art mogul Larry Gagosian has announced plans to open his 3rd London gallery in the city’s Mayfair neighborhood, and his 13th gallery worldwide.  The new space is set to open this fall.  “We’ve been looking for a bigger place in Mayfair, one that would resemble a Chelsea gallery,” Gagosian says. “And this has great space with over 15-foot-high ceilings.” (more…)

Lisa Spellman’s 303 Gallery is set to open its new location tonight on 24th Street in Chelsea.  The move is the latest in a series of migrations from the space’s original location on Park Ave, and will also serve as the opening for a show of new work by Rodney Graham.   Spellman’s gallery has a long reputation for cultivating major talents; “I try to work with artists I feel a connection to,” she says, “since that helps determine the quality and longevity of the relationship.” (more…)

Damien Hirst, Forbidden Fruit (2012-3), via White Cube Hong Kong

White Cube Hong Kong is currently presenting Entomology Cabinets and Paintings, Scalpel Blade Paintings and Colour Charts, a broad exhibition of new work by British artist Damien Hirst. Through the three series on view, Hirst explores life’s dualities through the beauty and horror of both the Natural world and modernity.

Damien Hirst, The Judged (2012), via White Cube Hong Kong

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Roni Horn, Untitled (“Consider Incompleteness as a Verb”), (2010-2012), via Hauser and Wirth Zurich

Currently on view at Hauser & Wirth Zürich is a solo show by American visual artist and writer Roni Horn, encompassing the artist’s signature glass sculptures alongside a photographic series created between 2010 and 2012.

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The Smithsonian Institution has announced a series of summer closures in order to make up for the current national budget sequester.  Beginning yesterday, the Institute closed several rooms at the Hirshhorn, the Smithsonian Castle, and the Museum of African Art as it cut back on security and maintenance during the summer.  The measures are scheduled to conclude on September 30th. (more…)

Local Planning Committee the Thorney Island Society has raised objections over the proposed installation of artist Katharina Fritsch’s bright blue cockerel sculpture on London’s Fourth Plinth.  Taking umbrage with the work’s apparent “innappropriate” placement in Trafalgar Square, the group is taking action to prevent its installation. “We cannot see any logical reason for the proposed sculpture to be placed on the fourth plinth. It is unrelated to the context of Trafalgar Square and adds nothing to it but a feeble distraction.”  The group said in a statement. (more…)

Next month, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will announce an ambitious, $650 Million plan for a new museum space.  As the plans stand, the new construction would call for the destruction of core parts of LACMA’s campus, including the original 1956 building by William Pereira.  The proposal is the latest in a series of proposed major construction on the museum over the years, but the first under director Michael Govan, who has already led the museum through a number of smaller expansion projects. (more…)

The British Museum’s current expansion efforts, projected to cost £135 Million, are currently running on schedule, and on budget, museum curators said in a progress report this past Monday.  The project will add much needed operations space to the institution, as well as a 1,100 square foot exhibition space designed for major exhibitions.  “Almost in every decade, there’s had to be some kind of amendment, adjustment or extension to the building to make it fit for purpose.” says the museum director, Neil MacGregor. (more…)

Artnet’s Katherine Markley is reporting on the continued growth of the art market for contemporary female artists, focusing in particular on the work of Yayoi Kusama.  Analyzing sales figures for the last several years, Markley points out that Kusama has vastly exceeded the current sales figures for both Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons since 2007, and reframes the question of female artists’ presence in terms of comparison to direct market competitors, in favor of the 100 highest selling works list often cited in news articles and auction reports. (more…)