Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1982), via Sotheby’s
A pair of auctions capped off the May Evening Sales this evening, as Phillips and Sotheby’s concluded their respective Post-War and Contemporary marquee sales. Notching a number of impressive records at both auction houses, the evening was an impressively strong final night for a week that made good on promises for the market’s slow but steady recovery. Read More »
| Comments Off on AO Auction Recap – New York: Phillips 20th Century and Contemporary Sale at Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Sale, May 18th, 2017 | | 
Cy Twombly, Leda and the Swan (1962), via Christie’s
The week’s long stream of major auction sales saw another strong outing by Christie’s last night, with the auction house cruising through a 71 lot outing to reach a final tally of $448.1 million with only a handful of pieces going unsold. The sale, which saw an overwhelming push from American buyers, meets early rumblings about a recovering market, and hints at continued growth over the coming months. Read More »
| Comments Off on AO Auction Recap – New York: Christie’s Post-War and Modern Evening Sale, May 17th, 2017 | |
Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Composition with Plane in Projection (1915), via Sotheby’s
The Impressionist and Modern Sale at Sotheby’s this past evening has closed out the early week’s offerings in that market, capping a $173.8 million sale that saw few major highlights or sparks in bidding, a marked contrast from the occasional fireworks of Monday’s sale at Christie’s. Despite early claims by Sotheby’s that the auction market was gradually strengthening again after several tepid sales in past months, the past evening’s outing in New York saw somewhat modest results that paled in comparison. The sale’s sell-through rate hovered at 74%, tempered by the early withdrawal of an Egon Schiele work some had anticipated would reach over $30 million. Read More »
| Comments Off on AO Auction Recap – New York: Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale, May 16th, 2017 | |
Contantin Brancusi, La Muse Endormie (1913), via Christie’s
The first auction of the week has come and gone in New York, as Christie’s notched an impressive outing for its Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale, confirming expectations of a solid return of buying interest in the secondary market. Considering the past several outings for the auction houses in London and New York, where only a handful of buyers were reportedly keeping the market afloat, this week’s sales hit a different note entirely, with ample phone bids that saw one major auction record fall with Constantin Brancusi’s La Muse Endormie demolishing expectations at over $57 million, and marquee lots performing quite well over the course of the evening. Read More »
| Comments Off on AO Auction Recap – New York: Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale, May 15th, 2017 | |
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1982), via Sothebys
Following a bustling two weeks of sales and shows, focus returns to New York City this week for a marathon run of auction sales that will set the stage for the summer season, offering one a chance for collectors to get their hands on marquee works before Art Basel in June marks a break in market action before the fall auction season. Five sales in a stretch of only four days should offer buyers a range of options, with both Impressionist/Modern and Post-War/Contemporary categories seeing ample opportunities to buy.
Pablo Picasso, Femme assise, robe bleue (1939), via Christie’s Read More »
| Comments Off on AO Auction Preview – New York: New York Auction Week, May 15th – 18th, 2017 | |
Phyllida Barlow, Folly at the British Pavilion, via Art Observed
Spread out across the Giardini and the various storehouses and spaces inside the Arsenale, the Venice Biennale‘s annual invitations to various nations around the globe serves to offer a counterpoint to the sprawling main exhibition, Viva Arte Viva. Presented by individual curators and supported by art institutions back home, the shows offer not only a selection of singular voices from around the globe, but equally a look at the various national discourses of each country’s artistic institutions and infrastructure, a point that equally sets it as a strong conversation piece against the curatorial discipline of the main exhibition’s lone organizer, in this case Centre Pompidou’s Christine Macel.
Jana Zelibska at the Czech Republic Pavilion, via Art Observed
| Comments Off on AO On-Site – Venice: The National Pavilions at the Venice Biennale, May 13th – November 26th, 2017 | |
Etel Adnan| Gerhard Richter at THE FLAG Art Foundation, 2017. Photography by Object Studies
The FLAG Art Foundation’s joint exhibition of works by Etel Adnan and Gerhard Richter promises a unique perspective towards rarely-seen works by two of the most prolific artists working today. Both celebrated for their distinct renderings of abstraction and color spectrum, Adnan and Richter have pursued disparate trajectories that mark them today as pioneers in nonfigurative art. Yet certain graphical and technical similarities between the two make for a striking exhibition, consolidating the two artists’ work through tapestry, a path for which both painters diverged from their canvas-based practices to experiment with visual extents of the traditional craft method. Read More »
| Comments Off on New York — Etel Adnan & Gerhard Richter Is On View at FLAG Art Foundation Through May 13, 2017 | |
Anne Imhof’s Faust at the German Pavilion, via Art Observed
The Golden Lions have been announced for this year’s edition of the Venice Biennale, with Anne Imhof and Franz Erhard Walther taking top honors for their work in the German National Pavilion and Main Exhibition, respectively. The full list of winners is included below. Read More »
| Comments Off on Venice Biennale Awards Ceremony, May 13th, 2017 | |
The Central Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, via Art Observed
Spread between above the green lawns and trees of Venice’s Giardini, and the winding streets and canals of the Arsenale nearby, the Venice Biennale’s Central Pavilion has opened its doors for its Vernissage event, kicking off the 57th annual edition of the exhibition, and welcoming visitors to its first open viewings before it opens to the public this coming Saturday. Read More »
| Comments Off on AO On-Site: The 57th Annual Venice Biennale Vernissage, May 10th – 13th, 2017 | |
Philip Guston, The Line (1978), via Art Observed
Aiming for a head start on the hustle and bustle of the Venice Biennale Vernissage, the Galerie dell’Accademia in Venice’s (Neighborhood) opened its entry for the week’s proceedings this past Monday; an exhibition tracing the vivid graphic practice of artist Philip Guston, and his work’s interaction with the texts of the 19th and 20th (check) centuries’ most exploratory writers and poets. The exhibition, Philip Guston and the Poets, captures a series of the artist’s paintings and drawings, displayed alongside selections of text by D.H. Lawrence, W.B. Yeats, Wallace Stevens, Eugenio Montale and T.S. Eliot, offering deeper links to both the artist’s work, and the historical threads of literary culture that often run parallel to it.
| Comments Off on Venice – “Philip Guston and the Poets” at Gallerie dell’Accademia Through September 3rd, 2017 | |