Jay Jopling’s White Cube, purveyor of art by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Chapman Bros., to open first overseas branch in Hong Kong, shortly after Larry Gagosian [AO Newslink]

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National Portrait Gallery director unveils Tate’s operation to secure stolen Turners and £24m insurance [AO Newslink]

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A Carl Andre interview regarding “Things in Their Elements” and upcoming retrospective by Dia:Beacon in 2013 [AO Newslink]

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Artist-filmmaker Miranda July has cover of New York Times Magazine, to release “The Future” this summer [AO Newslink]

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Charles Saatchi “the original collector who deals” publishes new edition of “The History of the Saatchi Gallery” [AO Newslink]

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Mr. Brainwash of Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop plasters LA for new Red Hot Chili Peppers album (with cover by Damien Hirst) [AO Newslink]

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Klimt landscape estimated to sell for $25 million in Sotheby’s auction [AO Newslink]

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Accused Picasso thief kept “small museum” of stolen art at home, with more Picassos, a Léger, Basquiat Photo [AO Newslink]

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Centre Pompidou permanently installs Calder’s Horizontal in front of façade [AO Newslink]

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German billionaire pays over $70 million for Holbein painting, outbids Staedel Museum in Frankfurt [AO Newslink]

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Ryan McGinley sued for copyright infringement, “Jah Jah” Gordon claims 150 of his photographs are based on her work [AO Newslink]

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Takashi Murakami, currently showing at Gagosian UK: “Does he think he’s too expensive? ‘I think so, yes, honestly, yes'” – via Bloomberg [AO Newslink]

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Jennifer Rubell “worked in food, then wrote about food, and then became known as a ‘food artist'” – via NYMag [AO Newslink]

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Manhattan art dealers accused of selling forged Motherwell painting – via NYPost [AO Newslink]

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Guy Wildensien via The Independent

The French art collector Guy Wildenstein, has been charged by the French authorities with the concealment and breach of trust in reference to the 30 pieces of art work found in the Wildenstein Institute’s Paris storeroom. Multiple lawsuits against Guy have been taken out by the Wildenstein family, as they continue to fight amongst each other for their fortune.

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Yue Minjun, The Crowing with Thorns, 2009 via Pace Beijing

The Road, an exhibition of recent paintings by Chinese artist Yue Minjun (born 1962) is on view at the Pace Gallery, Beijing from June 6th to July 16th, 2011.  Minjun gained international recognition in the 1990’s for his political allegories, epitomized by rows of figures with grotesque smiles, commenting on Chinese communist ideology. The Road features Minjun’s signature grinning characters with strong reference to Christian iconography.

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Image via New York Times.

Celebrated painter Cy Twombly died today at the age of 83.  Twombly passed away from cancer in Rome, where he has been living since 1957.  Known as somewhat of a recluse, Twombly usually did not write about his work or give interviews.  One of the exceptions to this was made in 2008 when Twombly spoke to Nick Serota, director of the Tate. “I had my freedom and that was nice,” he said.

Born Edwin Parker Twombly, Jr.  in 1928 in Lexington, Virginia, and nicknamed “Cy” by his father, the artist was known for his calligraphic style. Writer, critic and assistant professor at the San Francisco Art Institute Claire Daigle writes, “Twombly arrived in Manhattan in 1950 while the New York School painting of Pollock and de Kooning was in full swing. Upon Robert Rauschenberg’s encouragement, Twombly joined him for the 1951–1952 sessions at Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Carolina – a liberal refuge [staffed by] influential teachers present at this time [such as] Charles Olson, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell and John Cage.” In 2001, Twombly won the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale.

Cy Twombly, Untitled, (Peony Blossom Painting), 2007. Image courtesy Gagosian Gallery.

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Francis Bacon, Study for a Portrait, 1953 (est. unpublished, realized $28.6 million), via Christies.com

Christie’s sale of Contemporary art on Tuesday night realized $127 million for 53 lots sold. The total, which fell just above the high estimate of $125 million once fees were added, is the highest for any sale at Christie’s in Europe since the boom of June 2008. The top lot was a Francis Bacon self portrait that shows a man sitting in a throne-like chair wearing a suit and glasses. The painting sold for $28.6 million against an unpublished estimate rumored to be about $17 million. A self portrait by the artist sold for $25 million at Christie’s spring sale in New York .

Andy Warhol, Mao, 1973 (est. $9.6-12.8 million, realized $11.1 million), via Christies.com

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Jean-Michel Basquiat, Self-Portrait, 1985 (est. $3.2-4.8 million), via Phillipsdepury.com

The summer sales continue in London this week as the major auction houses host their Contemporary art auctions. Phillips will offer 32-lots on Monday evening, followed by Christie’s 67-lot sale on Tuesday and capped with an 88-lot sale at Sotheby’s on Wednesday. The Phillips sale will take place at the company’s new exhibition space at Claridge’s London. Like the auction house’s move uptown to 450 Park Ave in New York last year, the new London location is closer than their Howick Place headquarters to competitors Sotheby’s and Christie’s. The night’s 32 lots are expected to fetch $16-23 million and are headlined by a Basquiat self portrait that is estimated to bring as much as $4.8 million.

Damien Hirst, Confession, 2008 (est. $958,000-1.3 million), via Phillipsdepury.com

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Rickshaw-style pedicabs parked on Orchard street. All photos by L. Streeter for Art Observed

In his latest endeavor, maverick graffiti artist Kenny Scharf has launched a project entitled “The Gates Project” produced in part by Anonymous Gallery.  In the project Scharf will paint roughly 100 roll-down storefront gates focused in the burgeoning Lower East Side.  Boldy painting in the middle of daylight, Scharf has already completed murals at 2 Delancey street, 132 Orchard street and most recently, a massive mural stretching for blocks on the Bowery. Scharf is teaming up with Anonymous Gallery for the project, and getting permits for each of the spaces he paints on. Art Observed was lucky enough to have the chance to take a pedi-cab tour of the lower east side visiting each location of Scarf’s work, led by Anonymous director Joseph Ian Henrikson.

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Kenny Scharf and friend at his Cosmic Cavern a Go Go

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Kalup Linzy performs at the event (All photos by B. Pinell, Art Observed unless otherwise noted)

Monday night’s StandART Video Art Series Launch, curated by Anne Pasternak’s CreativeTime, showcased seven short films at the Standard Hotel, NYC. To date, CreativeTime has worked with over 2,000 artists to produce more than 335 at projects, the latest of which is bringing acclaimed contemporary works to each and every room within the Standard.

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Holland Festival and the Stedelijk Museum presents Your Name In Lights; a public installation on Amsterdam’s Museumplein by renown conceptualist and multimedia artist John Baldessari. A 30 meters long L.E.D. sign is set up 15 meters above the Museumplein from June 1st to 26nd, giving people the opportunity to briefly experience the sensation of being a celebrity.

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Ai Weiwei after being released from detention on Wednesday, via New York Times

Ai Weiwei, who has been detained by the Chinese authorities since April on charges of tax evasion declared in May, was released today. “I’m released, I’m home, I’m fine,” he told the media in English. “In legal terms, I’m — how do you say — on bail. So I cannot give any interviews. But I’m fine.” According to a report by Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, the artist was released on bail because of his “good attitude in confessing his crimes,” and because he was willing to pay the taxes he allegedly evaded. The same report claimed that Ai Weiwei’s company, the Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., destroyed accounting records which showed the evasion of “a huge amount of taxes.”

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Pablo Picasso, Femme Assise, Robe Bleue, 1939 (est. $6.4-13 million, realized $29 million), via Christies.com

Christie’s marathon evening sale of Impressionist and Modern art in London on Tuesday evening realized $227 million for 80 lots sold. The sum fell comfortably within presale estimates of $186-265 million despite the fact that the top lot, Monet’s Nymphéas, failed to sell against a high estimate $40 million. The auction included several lots from the estate of Ernst Beyeler, the late Swiss dealer and co-founder of Art Basel. The sale began with Mr. Beyeler’s 17th century walnut & fruitwood desk, which sold for nearly half a million dollars against a high estimate of $20,000. The evening’s top lot did not come directly from the Beyeler estate, though its provenance includes a pass through the Galerie Beyeler. Picasso‘s Femme Assise, Robe Bleue carried a high estimate of $13 million but sold for $29 million, allegedly to Greek financier Dimitri Mavrommatis. The painting of Picasso’s lover, Dora Maar, belonged to renowned art dealer Paul Rosenberg and was confiscated by the Nazis in 1940. It was eventually seized by the French Resistance and restituted by the Commission de Récuperation. Pittsburgh collector G. David Thompson acquired the work from Rosenberg and sold it to the Galerie Beyeler at a 1966 sale at Sotheby’s Parke Bernet. Tuesday night’s selling party bought the painting from the Galerie Beyeler two years later.

Pablo Picasso, Jeune Fille Endormie, 1935 (est. $14.5-19.3 million, realized $21 million), via Christies.com

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