Vik Muniz, Pictures of Magazine 2 (Installation View), via Galeria Elba Benítez

Currently on view at Galeria Elba Benítez in Madrid, Pictures of Magazine 2 is a solo show for Brazilian artist Vik Muniz.  The works in this exhibition are created using Muniz’s unique collage process, combining magazine images to recreate the works of famous artists, all while incorporating his own artistic bent. He then takes photographs of his finished collages, enlarges them, and prints them to create the finished piece. (more…)

Filmed in 1968, Andy Warhol’s “San Diego Surf” spent years locked away before finally seeing a screening at 2011’s Art Basel Miami Beach.  The film, shot by Warhol and his manager/assistant Paul Morrissey, had sat unfinished until 1995, when the Warhol Foundation commissioned Paul Morrissey to complete a final cut.  The film will finally see a public release this month at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, on view from January 23 to the 28th. (more…)

Jonas Mekas, Jonas Mekas (Installation View), Via Serpentine Gallery

Lithuanian-American artist Jonas Mekas has worn many hats over his sixty-plus year career. Emigrating to the United States after his imprisonment in labor camps during World War II, Mekas began creating films that embraced a diaristic approach to documenting the events of his own life, but were informed by his active participation in the New York avant-garde film scene of the 1950’s. (more…)

Reflecting the ongoing prominence of American postwar art on the global market, Andy Warhol was recently determined to be the highest selling artist at auction for 2012.  With sales topping $380.3 million last year, Warhol has supplanted Chinese painter Zhang Daqian at the top of the list.  German painter Gerhard Richter was also named the highest selling living artist.  “The market is selective and concentrated on works by certain artists. The instant recognizability of masterpieces by Warhol and Richter makes them well suited to performing well.” Says Jonathan P. Binstock, senior adviser at Citi Private Bank Art Advisory & Finance. (more…)

Contemporary artists are once again exploring the medium of wallpaper, hearkening back to the wall-based works of Andy Warhol and Sol LeWitt in the 1960’s.  Using new developments in digital printing and , many artists are using the classic decorative material to move beyond the canvas and explore new modes of exhibition and presentation in their works.  “Artists are becoming more interested in that line between what’s art and what’s part of your everyday life, and wallpaper becomes this weird fuzzy space—is it art, or is it decoration?” Says 29-year-old Brooklyn artist Gregg Louis. (more…)

The images of Chairman Mao in the largest travelling exhibition of Andy Warhol’s work will be banned from going on public display in China. The show, a two-year tour across Asia that commemorates the 25th anniversary of the artist’s death, is comprised of around 300 works across a variety of media. Among them are the iconic Soup cans, Jackie Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe images, alongside 10 Mao paintings. (more…)

With soaring prices for certain contemporary and modern artists, some say there are signs of a bubble that is about to burst, such as the fact that people are attracted to high prices and “trophy” art. Some say it is similar to “tulipomania” in 17th century Holland, whereby the insiders have already purchased, so the market expands to newer, international audiences to continue growth. One [anonymous] advisor put it like this:  “The market has to come down—because it has to. They don’t call it a market because it only goes up. You call that ‘magic.’” Others such as Mary Boone and Sean Kelly, question whether the frenzy at the top of the market is truly an indicator of a bubble. Kelly says, “Every time you thought the world was ending, this market has confounded that prediction.”  (more…)

New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) Art Fair 2012, all photos by E. Simone for ArtObserved

The NADA fair is home to the some of the youngest, and most surprising artists and gallerists during Art Basel week, and is often described as a respite from the big-named, shiny, high-altitude atmosphere of the main fair. Dealers and collectors come to NADA searching out the new artists they think have the most potential, reveling in the discovery.

Keith Farquhar, Leslie Fritz Gallery (formerly Renwick Gallery) (more…)

Wayne Thiebaud, Cafe Cart (2012),courtesy Acquavella Galleries

Wayne Thiebaud’s most recent retrospective is currently on view at the Acquavella Galleries in New York. The exhibition is organized into different rooms under the simple headings, ‘places, people and things’, which express the fundamentals of his landscapes, figures and still lifes.

Wayne Thiebaud, Two Kneeling Figures (1966) , courtesy Acquavella Galleries (more…)

In The New Republic, art critic Jed Perl discusses the cult of Warholism in context of the “Regarding Warhol” exhibition at the Met: “If we are all Warholians, then even our distaste for Warhol is a Warholian act… I would be perfectly happy never to see anything by Andy Warhol again”, he says, and asks: “Could it be that Warholism is by its very nature irreconcilable with discrimination? … Warholism as a faith ought by now to be in ruins, although you certainly wouldn’t know it from the prices that Warhols are reaching in the auction houses”. (more…)

Phillips de Pury saleroom photo by ArtObserved

On Thursday night, boutique auction house Phillips de Pury & Co. hosted the final Contemporary Art Evening Sale in a blockbuster week for the art market. Tallying $79.9 million against its projected estimate of $73 to $110 million, Phillips de Pury’s Chief Executive Officer, Michael McGinnis, stated “we’re happy with the competition and prices,” especially after the third consecutive night of Contemporary Art sales. McGinnis reflected on the evening saying ” it was a small and deliberate sale, with works specifically chosen to compliment the week.”

Andy Warhol Mao courtesy Phillips de Pury & Co.

Despite achieving just over its low estimates for the sale, Phillips de Pury had a sell by value of 98% and a sell by lot of 83%. With a very carefully selected 35 lots offered, only six artworks failed to find a buyer. However, all of the lots had third party guarantees, of which there were five guarantors.

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Sotheby’s saleroom with Rothko, No 1 (Royal Red and Blue) photo by ArtObserved

Last night Sotheby’s held its highest grossing auction ever. The Contemporary Art Evening Sale totaled over $375 million, just over the projected high estimate of $374 million. Auctioneer Tobias Meyer rejoiced stating “I can hardly express how thrilled we are.” According to Sotheby’s, it has experienced a record-breaking year in 2012, with Contemporary Art sales totaling over $1 billion.

Rothko, No 1 (Royal Red and Blue) Courtesy Sotheby’s
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Christie’s sale today to benefit the Andy Warhol Foundation achieved $17,017,050 for the Foundation’s endowment, with 91% of lots sold. Leading the sale of 354 works by Andy Warhol were Endangered Species: San Francisco Silverspot, which had an estimate of $1,000,000 – $1,500,000 and sold for $1,258,500; followed by Endangered Species: Bighorn Ram, estimated at $700,000 – $1,000,000 and achieving $842,500; and Jackie, which more than doubled its high estimate of $300,000, realizing $626,500. (more…)

Surfboard shaper Tim Bessell has created a series of Warhol-inspired designs for surfboards in collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation. The first set were on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Each one retails between $5,600 and $8,000. (more…)

Conservators are overwhelmed with the aftermath of Chelsea flooding. AXA said that they made a list of the 300 most critical locations; although many works are salvageable, the costs are too great, with restoration fees ranging from $1 – 100,000. Zach Feuer alone reportedly had 550 artworks damaged. The Gloria Velandia Art Conservation company is working on pieces by Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, Lucio Fontana and Joel Shapiro. (more…)

New York’s November auctions will offer several Warhol works, among them Christie’s $100 million sale of works in three separate sales from the Warhol Foundation, and at Sotheby’s two “A-plus” paintings from the “Death and Disaster” series. Concerns that an influx of Warhols on the market have lowered demand stem from weak London sales for the artist earlier this month. (more…)

The New York Times reports on the rising wealth in Singapore and its interest in arts and culture; a particular example at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. Over 4,200 paintings and sculptures are on view to the public in the hotel. “Moby Dick,” a fiberglass sculpture the hotel commissioned by Frank Stella, hangs in the lobby. The corporate collection includes work by Andy Warhol, David Hockney and Henry Moore. The four Kwee brothers, whose company owns the hotel, are known to be one of Singapore’s wealthiest families. They started by displaying their private collection in the hotel and then went on to commission 350 artworks for the site. (more…)

Image: Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild, 1977
oil on canvas, 78 3/4 x 118 1/8 in
ESTIMATE £2,500,000 – 3,500,000
SOLD AT £2,449,250

Phillips de Pury & Co. realized £12,223,600 ($19,565,094) in its Contemporary Evening sale in London on October 10th, with 24 of 37 lots sold. Notable sales were a Basquiat entitled Big Joy from 1984, sold just above its low estimate at £2,617,250 including premium ($4,189,170), and a Gerhard Richter Abstraktes Bild from 1977, which sold for £2,449,250 ($3,920,269), with a presale estimate of £2,500,000-3,500,000 ($4,001,500 – $5,602,100). (more…)

Christie’s will dedicate a full day of sales to work from the Andy Warhol Foundation on Nov 12th. Around 350 works, with estimates ranging from $2,500 to $1,500,000, will be offered in 3 separate sales. The foundation is de-accessing 20,000 artworks to pay for grants through multiple auctions at Christie’s.
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Peter Brant is recapitalizing his newsprint business, according to state regulatory filings, by pledging 56 artworks to the lending arm of Sotheby’s (BID), including pieces by Warhol, Richard Prince and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Other filings show a pledge by Brandt of pieces to a unit of Deutsche Bank AG, including a 1963 Warhol that could be worth as much as $35 million. (more…)

Image: Warhol’s Cow Wallpaper and Silver Pillows, The New York Times

“Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years” is a group show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that juxtaposes fifty Warhol works with one hundred of those by his peers and successors. The show attempts to capture the scope and breadth of Warhol’s impact on contemporary art history. Presented 25 years after his death at the age of 58 in 1987, the exhibition showcases the works of both artists who have risen to fame after Warhol’s death as well that of his contemporaries. Some of the artists included are Maurizio Cattelan, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Robert Gober, Takashi Murakami, Cindy Sherman, Ed Ruscha, Alex Katz, Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter.

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The Royal collection has purchased four Andy Warhol screen prints of The Queen of England to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. They will be on view at Windsor Castle later this year. Warhol was famously quoted as saying: “I want to be as famous as the Queen of England.” It is part of a portfolio called “Reigning Queens” from the Royal Edition.

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New York Magazine senior editor Christopher Bonanos has published a new book entitled Instant: The Story of Polaroid, (Princeton Architectural Press), which will be released this week. It profiles how artists as diverse as Lucas Samaras, Andy Warhol and Ansel Adams have used the the Polaroid as their medium of choice. (more…)

Music band The Velvet Underground has lost a portion of its case for the rights to an iconic Warhol banana image, featured most notably on the band’s 1967 album, “The Velvet Underground & Nico.” The group had joined forces with Warhol to create many of its designs and reportedly was angered by the Warhol Foundation’s wish for partial rights to this graphic. It filed a suit in January, claiming that the Foundation was violating the band’s rights by potentially allowing use of the picture to other companies.

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