The First Annual Art Awards via Guggenheim.org

Last night, October 29, marked the inauguration of a new annual art event: Rob Pruitt presented The First Annual Art Awards at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New Yorkin association with the city’s oldest alternative art space, White Columns.

The awards were conceived by artist, Rob Pruitt, as a performance-based artwork; for the occasion he recruited the characters of Index Magazine’s wry satirical web series, Delusional Downtown Divas. The New York Times have reported that “…the Divas schemed to infiltrate the art establishment by any means possible. In one segment they pitched a tent in the Guggenheim, doing their laundry in the lobby fountain.”

Jeffrey Deitch and Kembra Pfahler at The First Annual Art Awards at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum via style.com

More images, text and related links after the jump….

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Karfunkelfee (2009) by Anselm Kiefer, via White Cube

Currently on view at the White Cube in London is Anselm Kiefer‘s Karfunkelfee and The Fertile Crescent, featuring two new work by the renowned German artist. The artist continue to reflect upon the violence and paradoxes of human history in his work offering abstract images that emphasize the cycles of creation and destruction.  The exhibitions are staged at the White Cube Mason’s Yard and White Cube Hoxton Square making them the largest gallery showing of Kiefer’s work to date in London.

Aus Dunklen Fichten flog ins blau der Aar (2009) by Anselm Kiefer, via White Cube

more images, story and relevant links from the press after the jump…

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Portrait of Geoff Dyer Talking, Francis Bacon (1966) at FIAC, Paris

If Frieze opened willing to court the unavoidable media speculation about sales or the lack of them: FIAC, and the exhibitors it houses this year, have in the early stages proved characteristically reticent. Not to mention laconic. At least on the surface. This morning there was little sign that much of Paris and beyond would descend on the Grand Palais and the Cour Carrée du Louvre at noon.

In London’s Regents Park – as part of Frieze Art Fair – A ‘re-enactment’ as part of Jordan Wolfson’s intervention, Your Napoleon, based on the String Theory

Based in Berlin and New York, artist Jordan Wolfson creates videos, installations and photographs that exist on the spectrum between Pop Art and Conceptualism – inventively fusing the two into a unique language, his works reference and mix up common mythologies and histories, technology,  popular culture, and media, whilst maintaining the touch of uncanny personal experience. Wolfson was this year’s winner of the prestigious Cartier Award, at Frieze Art Fair. There he staged an elaborate project appropriating the scientific concept of String Theory, to comment on how we try to understand and describe the reality of our world. Participants were able to sign up to a tour through the fair guided by a String Theorist, the ensuing conversation was recorded and then transcribed. Each tour added to a constantly evolving and expanding script. Wolfson then manipulated this script by randomly placing excerpts from the last 30 years of cultural history – including stories about  – marrying science with popular culture. Finally, these stories were re-enacted just outside the fair, in Regents Park, in a private recital with the artist and two performers. The project as a whole represented the collective cultural psyche of the fair using a distinctive conceptual language.

Related Links:
Frieze Art Fair
Frieze Foundation Cartier Award

Interview after the Jump….
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Polar Bears of the Liro, Marc Quinn (2008) Sold within estimate range for £97,250

The Contemporary Sales at Phillips de Pury & Company on Saturday October 17 offered a truly diverse selection of works from premier Contemporary artists. The 43-lot evening sale included four unique works by Martin Kippenberger from the Bleich-Rossi Collection alongside exciting works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lucio Fontana, Steven Parrino, On Kawara, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Jonathan Meese. The Day sale kicked off with a charity auction of twenty-one works by internationally renowned artists, including Anselm Kiefer, Rudolf Stingel and Francesco Vezzoli, to benefit the EMERGENCY charitable organization. The total sales from the Day sale amounted to £2,643,713 and the Evening sale brought in £4,104,950 against a low estimate of £5 million.

Concetto Spaziale, Lucio Fontana (1958-60)

Related Links:
Phillips de Pury & Company Website
Full List of Auction Results [Phillips de Pury]
Basquiat sells as buyers get picky at Choosy at $6.7 million auction [Bloomberg]
Signs of Life in London’s Art Market [WSJ]
A Whole New Spectrum of Buyers [Art Market Monitor]

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Paris Bar, Martin Kippenberger

To celebrate Frieze Art Fair, currently underway in London’s Regent’s Park, Christie’s auction house held a series of auctions selling Post-War and Contemporary Art – the most notable of which occurred last night, October 16, and saw many record-breaking sales. The presale estimate for the evening auction was £6.8 million and in the end all but 1 of the 25 contemporary works sold, totaling £11.2 million.  It is of course relevant to note that the totals are down incredibly from last year’s estimates of  £57.8 million – £75.6 million for Christie’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale in London on Sunday, October 19th of last year.  That said, the leading highlights included significant works by Peter Doig, Martin Kippenberger, Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Neo Rauch, Dash Snow, Pino Pascali and a rare, early rediscovered drawing by Lucian Freud. All sale totals stated in this article include buyer’s premiums and come directly from Christie’s official website or courtesy of The Baer Faxt.

Stellwerk (Signal Box), Neo Rauch

Related Links:
Christie’s Homepage
Christie’s Sells $18.3 million, Lures Buyers with Low Estimates [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s and Christie’s Auction Within Estimates [Reuters]
Auction Reports: post-war and contemporary art [The Art Newspaper]

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Afro Apparition, Chris Ofili (b.1968) all pictures from Sotheby’s unless otherwise noted.

Today Sotheby’s London held their October Contemporary Art Auction to coincide with Frieze Art Fair which is currently underway in London’s Regent’s Park and art observed was on site with coverage.  The 223 lot auction comprised of work, in a range of media, by leading post-war artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Chris Ofili, Gerhard Richter, Anish Kapoor, Damien Hirst, Frank Auerbach, Anthony Gormley, Farhad Moshiri and Yan Pei Ming. 73% of the contemporary works were sold and the eventual total of the sales came in at  12,757,125 GBP. All sale totals stated in this article include buyer’s premiums and come directly from Sotheby’s official website or courtesy of The Baer Faxt.

Fuego Flores, Jean-Michel Basquiat

Related Links:
Sotheby’s Homepage
Autumn Fairs are a Barometer for the Art Market [NYTimes]
Can Frieze reheat the art market? [The Independent]

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Vincent van Gogh, “Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night” (1888). Via How Stuff Works

Beginning in January 23, 2010, the Royal Academy of Arts will host a landmark exhibition of Vincent van Gogh’s work with a focus on his private correspondence through letters. Over 35 original letters penned by Van Gogh will be showcased in this exhibition along with approximately 65 paintings and 30 accompanying drawings. The letters, as the centerpiece of the exhibition, will tie together the principal themes found in the actual artwork.

Related Links:
The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters [Royal Academy of Arts]
Van Gogh’s letters: the definitive edition [The Art Newspaper]
What Van Hogh’s letters reveal of his life [Financial Times]
The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters [Art Museum Journal]

Vincent van Gogh, “Van Gogh’s Room at Arles” (1889). Via Scituate.

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Xavier Veilhan Photo ©: François-Thibaut Pencenat

One of the most prominent French artists, Xavier Veilhan, created a site-specific show at Versailles to run through December 13, 2009. Recognized for his work that transcends disciplines and employs an array of mediums, Veilhan, unlike many contemporary artists, makes art historical references while maintaining his very own recognizable style. Oftentimes, it is in recreation of the archetypal that the French artist’s singularity is manifested.  Figures and forms rooted in the collective memory of art history seem to be stripped down in their physicality, yet the very act of reduction translates into a broader measure of proliferating rather than voiding, when it is directed towards the archetype.

Fascinated by modernity, Veilhan considers the notion in its historical expression: “after World Wars I and II, it is difficult to feel the same way that Boccioni did with the idea of modernity,”  explains the artist. Similarly, his interests while transcending the imposed boundaries of present disciplines, stay respectful and sensitive to the complexity of their past.

Interview with Xavier Veilhan:

Manan Ter-Grigoryan for Art Observed: To jump right in, tell me how it all started for you. Not in Versailles, but your path as an artist?

Xavier Veilhan: I grew up in boring suburbs… and I saw that for a lot of art students there was a lot of art but also a lot of partying! (Laughs) It was a time of new radio, free radio; I worked a little bit in the radio. There was lot of traveling… I traveled to Germany, studied a little bit in art school. It was a very carefree time. I met a lot of people in those times… then I started to get more focused on visual arts and work with Pierre Huyghe and that’s when we started doing some shows. In 1989 I had my first solo show in Italy. It was important to use a kind of universal language for me, to be international.

Xavier Veilhan for Versailles via Chateau de Versailles

Interview and more images after the jump… (more…)

Detail from “Spiritual Americana” by Richard Prince via Telegraph.co.uk

On Tuesday the British Metropolitan Police visited the Tate Modern exhibition ‘Pop Life: Art in a Material World‘ to investigate the exhibition of ‘Spiritual America‘ by Richard Prince: an image depicting a 10-year-old, naked Brooke Shields. It was reported yesterday that officers were consulting with the Crown Prosecution service over whether the image breaches the Obscene Publications Act. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said, “The officers have specialist experience in this field and are keen to work with gallery management to ensure that they do not inadvertently break the law or cause any offense to their visitors,” according to the United Kingdom Press Association. The image has now been officially withdrawn from the show which opened on Monday.

Brooke Shields via People.com

Related Links:
Tate Modern
Richard Prince Website
Photo of nude 10-year-old Brooke Shields, ‘Spiritual Americana’, part of Tate Modern Pop Art exhibit [NYDailynews]
Brooke Shields picture withdrawn from Tate Modern show after Police Visit [Telegraph.co.uk]
Brooke Shields Controversy: Tate Modern exhibits hardcore porn in same show [Telegraph.co.uk]
Naked Police power in the Gallery [Guardian.co.uk]
Nude Brooke Shields photo “Spiritual America” closed-off from Museum-going public [WallStreetJournal]

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Joan Miro piece thought to be among those stolen Via Monterey County Herald

Approximately $27 million of artwork has been stolen from a home in Monterey, California on Friday afternoon. The substantial collection, belonging to A. Benjamin Amadio and Dr. Ralph Kennaugh, contained several important works including pieces by Jackson Pollock, Matisse, Miro, Rembrandt and Van Gogh. The Jackson Pollock, a painting measuring  3-by-7-foot has never been on the open market and could potentially be worth more than $40 million alone.

Related Links:
$27 Million in artwork stolen Pebble Beach home [Monterey County Herald]
$27 million worth of Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Pollock artworks stolen from Pebble Beach home [LA Times]

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Murakami aluminum bears via Billionaire Boys Club

Galerie Emannuel Perrotin is showing, until October 17, an important collection of new works by Takashi Murakami.  The exhibit brings together seventeen paintings, including three monumental ones, as well as five sculptures and two movies.  Coming shortly after the end of Murakami’s retrospective exhibition, which traveled from the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art to New York, Frankfurt and Bilbao, at a time when Murakami’s work is very much in the public eye, this exhibit is entitled “Takashi Murakami Paints Self-Portraits” and is dedicated to the portrayal of the artist himself, through the means of the various characters who populate his work.

Kaikai Kiki and Me, Takashi Murakami (2008) via Galerie Perrotin

Related Links:
Takashi Murakami Artist Page [Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin]
Kaikai Kiki Co. [Official Website]
Murakami Paints Himself Warhol [Interview Magazine]
Takashi Murakami: in the court of the king of cute [Times]
Openings: Takashi Murakami “Self-Portraits” @ Emmanuel Perrotin [Arrested Motion]
Artist Takashi Murakami talks on how he paints [Guardian]

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Olympia, Rene Magritte (1948). Via Telegraph.co.uk

This morning two men stole an oil painting by the Belgian Surrealist Rene Magritte with an estimated street value of $1.1 million. The painting, Olympia (1948), was part of an appointment-only exhibition at The Rene Magritte Museum, Brussels.

Journalists gather outside the Magritte Museum in Jette, Brussels. Via NYTimes

It has been reported that the two men, one armed with a pistol, entered the museum shortly after it opened at 10 am. Brussels city police spokesman, John Berckmans announced today that one thief entered the building first after ringing the doorbell, “and as soon as he came in he threatened personnel with a weapon.” Museum staff, along with two tourists – a Japanese couple – were forced to lie on the ground by the first thief, while his accomplice took the painting from the wall.

Berckmans has added “The investigation is continuing but we have found no trace of the culprits.”

Related Links:
Rene Magritte Museum Homepage [MagritteMuseum.be]
Magritte painting stolen at gunpoint [Guardian.co.uk]
Magritte painting stolen [NYTimes]
Armed thieves steal Magritte work [BBC News]

Helvoetsluys – the City of Utrecht, 64, Going to Sea, Joseph Mallord William Turner (Exh 1832). Via Tate

In acknowledgment of the grand artistic tradition of admiration, imitation and competition, through January 31 Tate Britain will present the work of Joseph Mallord William Turner alongside some 100 related works by Old Masters and Contemporaries. Amid the 30+ artists presented are Canaletto, Titian, Poussin, Rembrandt, Rubens, Veronese, Watteau and Constable.

Moonlight, a Study at Millbank, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1797). Via Tate

J.M.W. Turner is often regarded as one of the most artists of his time, whose work varied to include watercolors, oil paintings, drawings and prints. While Turner’s spirit is often deemed as independent, David Solkin, Professor of the Social History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, University of London who conceived the exhibition, wishes to highlight how Turner was in fact, deeply engaged with the work of other artists.

Related Links:
Tate Britain Website [Tate.org.uk]
Tate Britain exhibition revives Turner’s and Constable’s old rivalry [TimesOnline]
Turner and the Masters [Guardian.co.uk]
The Times; May 8, 1832 – Royal Academy Exhibition [TimesArchive]
Turner and Constable: We’ve lost the art of feuds for art’s sake [Telegraph.co.uk]
Revealed: how Turner began his career copying the old masters [TheIndependent]

More Images and text after the jump…

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Annie Leibovitz during a photoshoot earlier this year. Via The New York Times–>

On Friday, September 11, The New York Times reported that the photographer Annie Leibovitz and her creditor, Art Capital Group reached an agreement to restructure the photographer’s finances and reconsider how much more time she had to repay a $24 million loan. Leibovitz’s financial struggles became apparent early this year when news broke that she had used real estate and the rights to all of her photographs as collateral for the loan.

Related Links
Agreement Reached on a Reprieve for Leibovitz Loan Repayment [NYTimes]
Understanding the Leibovitz Loan [ArtMarketMonitor.com]
Annie Leibovitz buys back copyright to her photos [The Associated Press]
Photographer Leibovitz could lose portfolio due to debt [CNN.com]
Annie Leibovitz as Everywoman [San Francisco Chronicle]
Annie Leibovitz avoids bankruptcy [Telegraph.co.uk]
Road to Recovery [Vogue.com]
Leibovitz buys back control of Photos, Real Estate [Bloomberg]
Art Capital Group sues Annie Leibovitz to collect on $24million loan [ArtObserved]

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One third of Monet’s famous triptych, ‘Water Lilies,’ via NY Times

This fall, New York’s two most venerable art museums will each each spotlight famous paintings by two old masters. The Museum of Modern Art is exhibiting all three paintings of Claude Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’ triptych together for the first time in eight years.  Also in the exhibition is a single large painting, also entitled ‘Water Lilies,’ as well as three smaller studies.

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has lent Johannes Vermeer’s most famous painting, ‘The Milkmaid,’ in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage up the river that would bear his name. This is the first time in 70 years that the painting has been exhibited in the United States, and it joins the Met’s five paintings by Vermeer as well as works by a small number of other Dutch artists.

‘Monet’s Water Lilies’ runs September 10, 2009-April 12, 2010 at the Museum of Modern Art, and ‘Vermeer’s Masterpiece “The Milkmaid”‘ runs September 10-November 29, 2009 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in New York.

Monet’s Water Lilies [MoMA]
Vermeer’s Masterpiece ‘The Milkmaid’ [Metropolitan Museum]
Serenade in Blue [NY Times]
Moanin’ With Monet [Artnet]
Nieuw Girl [Art Market Monitor]
Vermeer’s ‘The Milkmaid’ on View at a New Exhibition at Metropolitan Museum of Art [Art Knowledge News]

Vermeer’s ‘The Milkmaid,’ via Art Knowledge News

“Ruth Smoking #2” (2006) by Julian Opie. Via Art4Presents

The new work of Julian Opie is currently showing at A and D Gallery in London, UK. Dabbed as “Hoxton’s answer to Warhol,” Opie achieved his early success in 1983 when Lisson Gallery featured his first solo exhibit, thus paving the way for the fellow British contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst to take the art scene by storm. His quirky and highly stylized portraits are created to reflect the high speed lifestyles of its subjects.  The show is a continuation of Opie’s study and will be showing until September 14th, 2009.

Related Links:
Artist & Sculptor: Julian Opie [A and D Gallery]
Opie of the Masses [Tatler]
Julian Opie [Julian Opie]
Julian Opie 1958, UK [Artfacts]

Julian Opie via Artfacts

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A recent work by Takashi Murakami via Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin

This morning in Paris, during event to promote the launch of a show of work on September 13th by French pop artist Xavier Veilhan at Château de Versailles, the Versailles museum director Jean-Jacques Aillagon announced to the Associated Free Press that Japanese artist Takashi Murakami had been chosen to appear at the venerable institution in 2010.  Murakami is often described as the “Japanese Warhol” due perhaps to his Pop art style and extremely prolific production of work.  Of course another artist often described in this way is Jeff Koons, who in the winter of last year displayed many of his significant sculpture pieces at Versailles, which though iconic as contemporary art, were perhaps incongruous to that particular location.

Though the Jeff Koons in Versailles show last year was generally concluded to be both a successful and well attended exhibition, with almost 1 million visitors attending, it did garner significant controversy.  Prince Charles-Emmanuel de Bourbon-Parme, a French aristocrat in the line of succession to the French throne and a descendant of the palace’s original creator, Louis XIV, mounted a high profile legal challenge to the installation, which ultimately failed.  Prince Charles-Emmanuel cited the Koons exhibition as “pornographic.”  As Takashi Murakami is also known to produce relatively illicit subject matter in his art this exhibit may as well stir up some ire with French traditionalists.

Takashi Murakami is soon to have simultaneous solo exhibitions this month in both Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea on September 17th, New York and at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris on September 15th.

Related Links:
Japanese pop artist to exhibit in Versailles [AFP]

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George Baselitz, Kulakentrstung via Galerie thaddaeus Ropac

Currently showing at the Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery is an exhibit of Georg Baselitz’s works.  The exhibit takes place in the Salzburg gallery and is comprised of 13 works on canvas, a sculpture and watercolors. Baselitz, although in his 70s, is still a prominent and active figure in the International art scene. One of the most important German artists, Baselitz has caused a stir throughout his career with the politically controversial work he creates. Returning to Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery this year Baselitz shows examples of his art that comment on the fall of political protagonists. The show titled: “Verdunkelung [Collusion] ” is over September 19, 2009.

Related Links:
George Baselitz [Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac]
Current Viewing: Georg Baselitz: Verdunkelung: Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac [The Imagist]
George Baselitz: Press Release [Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac]
George Baselitz: Remix (2008 exhibit at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac) [Artinfo]
George Baselitz (bio) [Gagosian Gallery]

Georg Baselitz, Maler – Maler via Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

More text and pictures after the jump… (more…)

via The World’s Best Ever

Steve Powers- a famed graffiti artist known as ESPO, was born and raised in Philadelphia, and had his first museum solo show in Pennsylvania. In 1994 he moved to New York City. A Fulbright Scholar- Steve Powers painted a project similar to love letter in the streets of Dublin and Belfast, now returning to his hometown to conduct a massive graffiti project carrying the same title.  The “Love Letter” is planned to be complete by Labor Day.

A mural from Love Letter Project curated by Steve Powers via Gradient

Related Links:
Steve Powers (Bio) [Deitch Projects]
Love Letter Project [A Love Letter For You]
A Love Letter Project [Design You Trust]
Artists Steven Powers Curated Love Letter Project [Gradient]
Steve Powers Philadelphia Mural Arts Project [Curated]
Steve Powers Love Letters to Philadelphia [The World’s Best Ever]
Love Letter to Philadelphia [The Wall Street Journal]

More text, pictures and interview with Steve Powers after the jump… (more…)

D’ou venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Ou allons-nous? (Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?) Paul Gauguin, (1897-98). Via MOMAT

MOMAT, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, is celebrating Paul Gauguin’s masterpiece D’ou venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Ou allons-nous? (Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?) through September 23rd.  This exhibition brings Gauguin’s celebrated painting to Japan for the first time. In fact, it is only the third occasion that the painting has left the USA since its inclusion in the permanent collection in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1936.

E haere oe i hia (Where are you going?), Paul Gauguin (1892). Via MOMAT

Related Links:
MOMAT, the National Museum of Modern Art Homepage [MOMAT]
Paul Gauguin, Exhibition Page [MOMAT]
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston [MFA, Boston]
Huge Gauguin masterpiece makes rare visit to Japan [Reuters.com]
Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts Celebrates 10th Anniversary [ArtDaily]

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David Byrne at the Roundhouse. Via Creative Review

On view now, David Byrne’s exhibition, “Playing the Building” is open to the public until August 31st. Located in north London, the Roundhouse was originally constructed in 1846 as a steam engine shed. Later on in the 20th century, the structure was converted into a popular arts center that hosted bands like The Doors and Jimi Hendrix. “Playing the Building” was originally commissioned in 2005 by Färgfabriken in Stockholm before moving to New York last summer. Byrne has completely transformed the Roundhouse, so that it is now a playable instrument. Metal beams and pipes make whistling noises, while iron pillars vibrate and rumble when blown.

Related Links:
David Byrne: Playing the Building, London [FT.com]
David Byrne “Playing the Building” [BoingBoing]
David Byrne’s Playing the Building [New Tang Dynasty Television]
David Byrne: Playing the Building [About.com]
London: Playing the Building III [David Byrne’s Journal]
Playing the Building: An Installation by David Byrne [New York Magazine]
David Byrne: Playing the Building [The Art Newspaper]
David Byrne on Playing the Building at the Roundhouse [Telegraph UK]

Playing the Building Via Roundhouselondon Youtube

More text and pictures after the jump…

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Eli Broad via Los Angeles Times

Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad for a while unwilling to shed details on his plan of building a new museum, speaks about its possible location in Beverly Hills and progress [Los Angeles Times]
A portrait and history of art–hotels, some of which today offer accommodations with works by artists such as Damien Hirst or Cy Twombly [Guardian]

Neo Rauch via Incident

Neo Rauch resigns as professor of painting at Leipzig School and is having is first solo show in London as part of “Leipzig week” [Art Review]
“Art in Empty Spaces” a program funded by Arts Council England’s grants, believes art can play a role in economic regeneration, hence helps artists transform vacant spaces into artistic ones [Art Daily]
Highly curated Hong Kong Sotheby’s sales will include works from Contemporary Chinese art, modern Chinese ink paintings and others and are estimated at $100 million [Auction Publicity]

Miuccia Prada and Germano Celant- an Italian curator and the director of her art initiatives via Photobucket

On Miuccia Prada’s significant art patronage, with her Milan Gallery exhibiting works of internationally acclaimed artists and discovering the unknown ones [This is London via Art Market Monitor]
Elizabeth Andrews- a Tate employee has lost her legal battle after having claimed her health has been made poor by the temperature in the gallery [BBC]

Computer rendering of new plan by for Parrish Art Museum via New York Times

In deference to today’s economy, the Parrish Art Museum’s upcoming Southampton home is to be a cheaper architectural alternative [New York Times]
Whitney is the latest major museum affected by recession to lay off staff members [Crain’s New York]
An insight into loaning artwork for exhibitions: the bureaucracy, negotiation and trust that go into the process of enabling art travel [Guardian]
Los Angeles Times publishes an open letter from Martin Scorsese addressing LACMA and their decision to stop the weekend film program- a tradition that goes back 40 years [Los Angeles Times]

Pablo Picasso, Les Deux Femmes Nues via Auction Publicity

A detailed review of Christie’s bi-annual sale to be held in September, including works by Ernst, Picasso, Warhol among others [Auction Publicity]
12 artists’ plans from a pool of over 2,000 proposals will have a chance to be realized in London, the competition is currently down to 59 [Art Daily]
Works by Kandinsky- inspired Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and The Blue Rider in Performance are commissioned by Guggenheim to show during the Vasily Kandinsky exhibit [Guggenheim]

A phone camera photo of Ai Weiwei posted on Twitter of police in his hotel’s hallways via Trunc

Ai Weiwei among those experiencing problems with the Chinese authorities for attempting to testify on a trial against a civil rights advocate [The New York Times]
The Independent attributes the recent higher sales of works by Old Masters versus contemporary artists in Christie’s and Sotheby’s to the recession [Independent]

Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol via BBC

Andy Warhol Painting of Michael Jackson commissioned by Times magazine dates back to 1984 and is being auctioned at a starting bid of $800,000 in Vered Gallery in LA [Los Angeles Times]
Mysterious art dealer receives $26.5 million for enabling the transaction of Rothko sale for a self-proclaimed victim of Bernard Madoff’s scheme [Bloomberg]
Yet another Gagosian Gallery will open, this time in Greece, 3 Merlin Street in Athens will now house the gallery with its inaugural show titled “Leaving Paphos Ringed With Waves” [Lindsay Pollock via Culture Monster]

Food Fight staged by Duke Riley on the reflecting pool in Queens on Thursday via The New York Times

“Those About to Die Salute You” an unscripted art event organized by Duke Riley took place in Queens on Thursday night [The New York Times] more here [New York Magazine]
Antony Gormley’s fourth plinth art project had a nude man as a participant, but he was asked to cover up in order to avoid arrest [Guardian]
Géricault’s “The Raft of the Medusa” examined in its sculptural, architectural and historical influences by Spiegelman [The Wall Street Journal]
25 Year old Kate Levant’s art is shown at Zach Feuer Gallery in New York, after Yale dean refuses to showcase her idea of Red cross conducting a Blood Drive inside the gallery space [New York Magazine]