Property owned by Anish Kapoor, designer of the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower for 2012 Olympics in London, is occupied by protesters. The group, called Bread and Circuses, plans to hold arts events in the empty Georgian house.
Francis Bacon’s full length Study for a Self-Portrait is up for sale at Christie’s following a dramatic last appearance in 2008. The work is expected to fetch £20 million ($31.2 million).
$150,000 Dalà Stolen From Adam Lindemann’s Venus Over Manhattan Gallery. Police sources say “surveillance cameras show a man wearing a dark shirt with white polka dots enter the gallery with a black cloth bag. He was later seen on camera leaving the gallery with the painting.”
Jason Martin, Yaba (2011). All images courtesy of Lisson Gallery.
“Infinitive,” on view now at Lisson Gallery though June 23, showcases a selection of Jason Martin’s signature monochromatic gestural paintings, and bold new cast works. Also included is a massive sculptural work, which brings Martin’s fascination with material into three dimensionality.
Jason Martin, Behemoth (2011).
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Regen Projects to upgrade to a 20,000 square foot space in Central Hollywood. The new building, designed by architect Michael Maltzan, will open with a multi-artist show on September 22, 2012.
American artist, LeRoy Neiman, popular for his bright colored depictions of sporting events, died at age 91 in New York yesterday, June 20th. While overall not receiving the critical acclaim and presence at auction as contemporaries with similar name recognition, his overall popularity in a way seemed to transcend the vagaries of the contemporary art scene. He painted and sketched an expansive range of subjects spanning from athletes to wild animals, to jazz musicians to presidents. Close friends with Hugh Hefner, Mr. Neiman was a prolific contributor for Playboy Magazine. Mr. Neiman further contributed to fashion magazines such Vogue in his early years and appeared in three “Rocky” movies because of his ties to the boxing world. His longtime friendship with Muhammad Ali dates back to the boxer’s time as Cassius Clay.
“Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present” trailer released: “The hardest thing is to do something which is close to nothing.”
Pablo Picasso, Femme Assise (1949) which sold for £8.5 million
In London yesterday, Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale totaled £92.5 million – close to the high pre-sale estimate of £108.7 million. Of the 70 lots offered only 14 did not sell, determining a sell through rate of 80%. Nearly a third of the artworks, 27 to be exact, sold for over £1 million achieving sales of 84% by value. Two artist records were set in the process, making Christie’s inaugural sale this season in London a notable one.
René Magritte, Les jours gigantesques (1928) which sold to Wilbur Ross for £7.2 million, nine times its low hammer-price estimate
T Magazine exposes the ‘punk, haute glam and horror’ blend that is the life of artist Kembra Pfahler, “I would rather do concerts in the parking lots of 7-11’s across the country than do a show at the Louvre.”
The NY Times reports on art experts’ growing apprehension over authenticating original works, fearing potential lawsuits. “Art scholarship is fighting a losing battle against commerce,” says Peter R. Stern, an art lawyer in New York who advises his clients to withhold unsolicited opinions.
Ai Weiwei warned by police to stay away from his court hearing in Beijing. With his lawyer missing, the Chinese artist and activist is fighting allegations of having unpaid back taxes. Denying the accusations, Ai says that “the price that the authorities will pay for blatantly violating the law is now too large… This case has always been a fabricated case.”
Donations to arts organizations in the U.S. totaled $13.1 billion in 2011, a 4.1% increase from the year before. “Giving is going up modestly along with a modest economic recovery, but it’s going to take some time,” says Una Osili, research director at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy.
Marc Chagall, Noce et Musique (1939) which sold for £2.5 million
Last night at Sotheby’s marked the opening night of three straight weeks of art auctions in London. The evening achieved a few exceptional and even record breaking sales, yet it did not compare with the astonishing May auctions held previously this year in New York. Out of the 48 lots offered only 33 of them sold – a sell through rate of 69%. Still, Sotheby’s total sales for the night reached £75 million – above their low estimate of £73 million.
Domenico Gnoli, Ritratto di Luis T (1967) All images courtesy Luxembourg & Dayan unless otherwise noted.
Prodigious Italian artist Domenico Gnoli left behind only several dozen paintings when he met an early fate – at age 36 – in April 1970. Eighteen of those important works are currently on display in the first U.S. exhibition dedicated to the artist in over 40 years. The paintings are primarily acrylic mixed with sand; finely detailed and close cropped, they are intimate portraits of a very certain place and time.
Wim Delvoye – Gallery View – Galerie Perrotin
Belgian neo-conceptualist Wim Delvoye is known for his re-interpretations of classic art. By taking the classic symbols of Romantic and Gothic sacred art (crucifixes, towering spires, mythological sculpture) and twisting their forms into the shapes and forms of contemporary art and science. His recent show, “Rorschach” at Galerie Perrotin in Paris, extended this practice, offering a selection of works that continued to use sacred and classical art to turn a lens on modernity.
The Telegraph contributes another perspective on Jeff Koons‘s popularity and demeanor in a comprehensive report. After an interview at his studio, Lucy Davies concluded that “Koons’s appeal is beyond love or hate. His is a sunny, pleasure-filled world whose pull is hard to resist… The real world outside is, well, a bit of a let-down.”
James Stourton, chairman of Sotheby’s UK, to leave company to pursue a 2016 completion of a biography on Kenneth Clark, a controversial director of the National Gallery in London. Contrasting other opinions in the art world, Stourton calls Clark the “grandest of grandees in the art world.”
Jerry Saltz of the NY Magazine critiques the art of Documenta 13, exploring the rise of Post Art but only in select installations: “even with its tremendous flaws, Documenta allows us all to feel a stake in this thing called art, and sense that Post Art is on the immediate horizon, approaching fast.”
The NY Times elaborates on Lakshmi Mittal‘s celebration and the public’s reception of the recently completed ArcelorMittal Orbit at Olympic Park in London, remarking on the mixed praise and criticism of the visual design of the public art piece. Turner prize winner, Anish Kapoor, comments that “the experience will be about winding up and in on oneself. You want to forget the construction and engage with what you’re experiencing.”
London art market sales are expected to reach $1 billion with the help of affluent collectors from the East. “The four week summer season of major international auctions at Christie’s… is set to become one of the richest and most valuable series of auctions in company history,” says Jussi Pylkkanen, head of Christie’s Europe.
Kehinde Wiley discusses his new collection and artwork for Santigold’s album cover in an interview with Dazed Digital. “Aesthetically Santi and myself both have an abiding interest in finding parallels between cultures and genres.”
All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.
With the closing of the weekend, Art Basel has reached the culmination of what has been an extensive and prolific week of exhibitions, sales, salons, and performances. The cultural capital sited on the banks of the Rhine attracted more than 2,500 artists, 300 galleries, and an international presence of 36 countries for the festival’s 43rd successful installment.
“System of Display” (2010) from Pace, reflecting Andy Warhol‘s “Mao” (1973) at the LM ARTS booth
