“Jesus” by George Condo via Luhring Augustine via Bloomberg

In “Christ: The Subjective Nature of Objective Representation,” George Condo depicts God, Jesus and the two thieves, Dismas and Gestas, who were crucified next to Jesus, in four large-scale painting. Condo’s style, which quotes old masters, cubism, surrealism and cartoons, focuses here on religious iconography and its implications.

Christ: The Subjective Nature of Objective Representation [Luhring Augustine]
George Condo Biography [Luhring Augustine]

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Gustav Klimnt, Beethoven Frieze via secession.at

Klimpt’s historic ‘Beethoven Frieze’ to be reconstructed at Tate Liverpool [NY Times]
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Old master stolen by Stasi (East German secret police) valued at $2 million [Bloomberg]
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The architectural intelligence of the New Museum [Financial Times]
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Update: Goat farm video, other favorites, at Whitney Biennial [Bloomberg]
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Brooklyn and Manhattan street art gains fans, collectors [NY Times]
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A case against art for Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth [Financial Times]
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Gagosian’s Uptown Gallery Expands, with a new director (former Picasso biographer) [Art Info]
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The nominal three (to William of Ockham), 1963 [telegraph uk]

Zwirner & Wirth is re-staging a seminal exhibition of Dan Flavin’s fluorescent light sculptures which first took place in 1964 at Green Gallery in New York. The show marked the first time his work was entirely composed of fluorescent lights– a practice which would characterize him for the rest of his career, making him commonly regarded as one of the most influential artists of the late 20th century.

Exhibition information [Zwirner and Wirth]
Biography of Dan Flavin [NGA]
More [The New York Times]

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Opening of the Whitney Biennial

The 2008 Whitney Biennial opened last night to throngs of people. It was curated this year by Shamim Momin and Henriette Huldisch and reverted back to the Biennial’s original mission to create a time capsule out of a far reaching art world that, as Adam Weinberg says, “… is, essentially, out of control.”

Whitney Biennial 2008
Opening of the Whitney Biennial [New York Times]
Whitney Opening [NewsDay]
The Launch of the Whitney [ArtInfo]
Biennial 2008 [New York Times]
Newslinks 03.03.08 [ArtObserved]
Round-Up: Whitney Biennial opens in New York [ArtObserved]

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Alec Wildenstein via Telegraph

Obituary for Alec Wildenstein, of major art world dynasty[Independent UK]
Update: D’Offay wants ‘iconic’ gallery to house £125 million gift [The Scotsman via ArtForum]
In Brooklyn, DUMBO’s most controlling real estate family keeps 1,000 artists and arts organization in the neighborhood [The New York Times]
De Kooning sells for $5 million at the European Fine Art Fair [Bloomberg]
Bill Ruprecht continues to navigate Sotheby’s through uncertain times [Economist]
Future of Metropolitan and Guggenheim is controlled by same exec search firm [NYSun]
‘Gallery condos’ as artist and dealer space for sale in Chelsea [ChelseaNow]
Jeff Koons studio visit is auctioned off, for charity [c-monster], [charitybuzz]

Jean-Michel Othoniel “Diary of Happiness” (detail) 2008 via Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin

Jean-Michel Othoniel’s solo exhibition opens tonight, March 8th at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Miami. The French artist has constructed a huge installation measuring 7 by 15 feet. The piece makes evident the passage of time and the collective contemporary experience within and without it.

Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin [Galerie Perrotin]

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Francis Bacon portrait being auctioned via Sotheby’s via sgallery.net

The evening sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips de Pury & Co. this February raised the most money ever for a series of contemporary sales. However, a report issued by an art market firm on Thursday indicated that the majority of items sold at the low end of their estimates, meaning that the enormous sales numbers may be masking a more disappointing trend.

Sotheby’s sets auction record with sale of Bacon nude [ArtObserved]
Sotheby’s stock down 7% after report is issued [Bloomberg]
Art Report say 60% of February sales lots missed estimate [Bloomberg]
February auction activity roundup [ArtObserved]
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“Animal Estates” by Fritz Haeg via the New York Times

The 2008 Whitney Biennial opened this Thursday at the Whitney Museum of American Art, to usual fanfare and anticipation. The exhibition will take place from March 6 until June 1, 2008 and will host eighty-one artists, selected to tell us ‘where American art stands today.’ The Biennial was founded in 1932 and has evolved into the most important survey of the state of contemporary art in the United States.
Whitney Biennial 2008 [Whitney]
Interactive installation view with audio commentary [ New York Times]
Opening of the Whitney Biennial 2008 [New York Sun]
Whitney and Park Avenue Armory Collaboration [City Guide NY]
By-the-numbers: New York, Los Angeles well-represented [artinfo]
Opening night photos: artists, curators and friends [ArtForum]
Whitney Biennial opens with ‘casual idealism’ [New York Sun]
Mood of Biennial reflects ‘slowness’ in art economy [New York Times ]
Going prices for seven most talked-about artists [Portfolio]
Best of show and worst of show [artfagcity]
Podcast: Portraits of past biennial participants [Whitney]
Most represented dealers in the show[Portfolio]
Some say witty, some say ingratiating [culturegrrl]
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Virgine by Francesco Clemente via Galeria Javier Lopez

The work of Francesco Clemente is on view at Galeria Javier Lopez, Madrid through March 27. In this exhibition, a selection from his series New York Muses, the artist brings his musical, lyrical, slightly melancholy style of playing with time and space to the women walking the streets of New York City.

Galeria Javier Lopez
Francesco Clemente [Gagosian Gallery]
Biography of Francesco Clemente [Guggenheim]

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Bruce Nauman “My Name as Thought it Were Written on the Surface of the Moon” 1968 via Guardian

For its newest exhibition, the Barbican Centre in London will reopen its art gallery as the Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art. Fictional martian curators picked works by 115 earthling artists including Joseph Beuys, Maurizio Cattelan, Damien Hirst, Bruce Nauman and Andy Warhol.

Barbican reopens as Martian Museum [Times Online]
Martian Museum of Art Exhibition [Guardian]
Martian Museum Art [Independent]
Barbican Website [Barbican]
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Pieces by artist Robert Rauschenberg via USA today

Artist Rauschenberg sues over sale of discarded art [USA Today]
World’s largest art fair opens March 7th in Dutch city of Maastricht [Bloomberg]
Chinese art claims new presence in volatile market [The New York Sun]
Iranian artist hits new record in million-dollar sale at Dubai auction [Bloomberg]
Jeffrey Weiss ends brief stint as Dia Art Foundation Director [The New York Times]

Marquise Casati by Man Ray via Tate Modern

The exhibition “Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia”, featuring the three artists often cited as responsible for launching Dadaism through their exhibitions in New York, is on view at the Tate Modern until May 26. 

Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia and Man Ray at the Tate Modern [Times Online]
Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia at Tate Modern [24 hour Museum]
Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia’s show at the Tate Modern [AFP]
Tate Modern [Tate Modern]

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“The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil” via Telegraph.co.uk

Follow up: Monet’s “The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil” sells for £20 million at Christie’s [Telegraph.co.uk]
Update: Make your own movie at Gondry Deitch Projects [New York Times]
Tracey Emin spends $8 million to save an art district in London [ArtForum via the Guardian.com]
Whitney Biennial’s busy schedule, starting next Thursday [New York Times]
A good overall summary on artist Paul McCarthy [LATimes via C-Monster]
Judge Denies Salander’s bankruptcy [Bloomberg]
Michael Ovitz may buy the Chelsea Art Museum Building for growing art collection [New York Post]

Leonardo’s Annunciation via the Art Newspaper

For the first year, a survey has been made regarding the attendance figures in the museums for the year 2007. Unsurprisingly, the Musée the Louvre comes first with 8.3 million visitors in 2007. Of note is that the Tokyo National Museum had the highest daily average last year (regarding “Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation”) for any exhibition since the survey began in 1997.

After the jump, the Top 10 museums attendance in 2007… (more…)

“Chuck Close” self-portrait via The State Hermitage Museum

From February 29 until April 13, the State Hermitage Museum in St.Petersburg presents the Chuck Close’s most recent series of portraits, created between 2005 and 2007. The show has been organized jointly with the London-based gallery White Cube.

Chuck Close at the Hermitage Museum [Bloomberg]
Chuck Close: seven portraits [State Hermitage Museum]
Chuck Close [White Cube]

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Warhol’s Private Drawings via Artfacts

From February 28th to March 29th the Paul Kasmin Gallery is presenting Andy Warhol’s new exhibition “Strange World” a collection of Andy Warhol’s blotted-line drawings created between 1948 and 1959.

Warhol Exhibition [Paul Kasmin Gallery]
Andy Warhol’s exhibition [Warhol Foundation]
Andy Warhol’s drawings at Paul Kasmin Gallery [Daily News]

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Sotheby’s via news BBC, Phillips de Pury via Iron Arts, Christie’s via Drexel Daily Digest

This month has been monumentally beneficial to the Contemporary Art Market. Sales rose over 50% within the past three weeks. Over the last month Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips de Pury hosted a series of auctions in London; each producing record breaking results for at least one of their sales.

Auction House’s Revenue Jumps Dramatically [bloomberg]
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“Beetle” breaks Russian Contemporary record [bloomberg]
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Phillips de Pury Children with AIDs Benefit Auction [ArtInfo]
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Breakdown of top February sales [Art Martket Watch]
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Review of February Auctions [NY Sun]
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GO SEE: Sotheby’s contemporary art sale, London, February 27th [ArtObserved]
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Phillips sets 15 artists records in contemporary sale [ArtInfo]
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Fontana, Richter and Meire break records [ArtInfo]
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Contemporary Russian Art Auction, Phillips de Pury, February 28, London [ArtObserved]
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Warhol’s “Three Self Portraits” fetches £11.5 million [CBC]
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Competition between Sotheby’s & Christie’s Impressionist & Modern auctions [NY Sun]
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Sotheby’s Sets Auction Record with $39.7 million Francis Bacon Nude [ArtObserved]
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Sotheby’s Accomplishes Record Quarterly Profits [ArtObserved]

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Benedicte Sehested at Rivington Arms Gallery – Photo from ArtObserved

On February 27 2008, “4 Weeks / 4 Shows” opened at Rivington Arms Gallery in New York. Benedicte Sehested’s photographic exhibition “V. L. and Other Pseudonyms or While My Hair Grows Longer” is the first of four artist’s shows in succession over the next month.

Rivington Arms Gallery [Rivington Arms Gallery]
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Benedicte Sehested ‘s exhibition [Rivington Arms Gallery]

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“The Desperate Man” via the New York Times

From February 27 until May 18, 2008, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present more than 130 oil paintings and works on paper by the provocative realist french artist, Gustave Courbet (1819-1877).

Gustave Courbet’s exhibition at the MET [New York Sun]
Realist french painter Gustave Courbet’s exhibition [City Guide]
–>Gustave Courbet’s showcase [Newsday.com]
“The most arrogant man in France” in exhibit at the MET [New York Times]

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Aby Rosen via Wikipedia

Aby Rosen’s influence on the worlds of real estate and art [NYMag]
Review of “The Gates” documentary on HBO [New York Times] and here [New York Sun]
An evaluation of street art’s move to high art [Financial Times]
Editorial on Title validity of “forced sales” under Nazi threats [Wall Street Journal]
Update: Review of Tuymans’s Disney themed works at Zwirner [New York Sun]

“Study of a Nude with Figure in a Mirror,” Francis Bacon via Bloomberg

A Francis Bacon painting of a female nude was sold last night in London, for £20 million ($39.7 million).

Auctions record at Sothby’s [BBC News]
Bacon’s painting sold for £20 million [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s triumph in London last night [Guardian.co.uk]
Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction [the Economist]

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Anthony D’Offay via MSNBC

The British art dealer Anthony d’Offay has made one of the biggest arts sales in Britain for a reported fifth of their value. 725 works have been sold to the national collection, the Britain’s Tate and Scotland’s National Galleries on Wednesday.
British Art Dealer Anthony d’Offay Sells Major Collection [MSNBC]
More Modern Art for British museums [Telegraph.co.uk]
The Battle between the Tate and the MOMA [Guardian Unlimited]

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Sotheby’s New York, via New York Post

Sotheby’s International announced, on Tuesday, that their profit margin has grown 46% in the last quarter. The anticipated quarterly estimate was $1.47 per share on $337.7 million in revenue. The resulting figure resounded at a record $345.8 million, which was a $32.1 million dollar increase in comparison to last year.

Sotheby’s annual report released [Fox Business]
Sotheby’s Fourth Quarter raises bar [Business Week]
Auction House Annual Report [Sotheby’s International]
Auction House’s net income breaks record [United Media]
Sotheby’s full year results [Street Insider]

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A part of the Chapman brothers’ ‘Family Collection’ via The Independent

Six years after Charles Saatchi acquired the “Chapman Family Collection”, the Tate Gallery is about to acquire the wooden figures for an unknown price. “The Chapman family collection” was first exhibit at the White Cube in 2002. At this time, the dealer and collector, acquired them for the average price of $2 million.

Jake & Dinos Chapman [White cube]
Tate buys Saatchi’s “Chapman Collection” [ArtInfo]
Jake and Dinos Chapman’s sculpture acquired by the Tate Gallery [The Independent]
Tate acquires Chapman Family Collection [First Post]