Newlinks for Wednesday October 7th, 2009

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009


Kirsten Dunst on the set of a production by Takashi Murakami in collaboration with McG via aarting

Tate Modern’s “Pop Life: Art in a Material World,” features a video that is a collaboration between McG – famous Hollywood director, and Murakami – Japan’s king of pop art: starring actress Kirsten Dunst on the streets of Akihabara in Tokyo for “Turning Japanese” by rock band The Vapors [The Wall Street Journal]
A 1984 work by Chinese artist Li Keran sold for $940,000, the most for a print at a Hong Kong auction, where bidding led by mainland buyers has taken many prices several times above estimates
[Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s Asia sales in Hong Kong revealed that demand for Chinese paintings, while firm, is mixed; as the market is still vulnerable, less pricey, quality pieces were the ones to realize numbers higher than their estimates
[Reuters]
Works including those by Renoir, Pollock, Degas and Rembrandt stolen from the home of a retired Harvard Medical School professor and collector, and his business partner; only authentic pieces were taken, leaving behind impeccable reproductions [Boston Globe via Art Market Monitor] in related Uncooperative and unable to produce evidence that the stolen art existed, Angelo Amadio and Dr. Ralph Kennaugh, become suspects of the theft to which allegedly they are victims [ArtDaily]


Tracey Emin via Guardian UK

Discouraged by British government’s top rate tax, Tracey Emin threatens to abandon England for France where she claims the politicians understand the importance of supporting culture and art [Guardian UK] in related At the London’s Frieze Art Fair, in the booth of New York’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery, Tracey Emin, known for her confessional artwork, is offering to make customized artworks based on answers to fifteen personal questions [Artinfo]
Fanjul paintings nationalized by Cuba in an exhibit in Museo del Prado in Madrid involve legal consequences as the Museum is being investigated by the US department of state for illegal trafficking of a work of art owned by US citizen confiscated by Cuban government
[The Art Newspaper]
Turner Prize exhibit at Tate Britain in London this time startles the viewers with the lack of now expected blood, outrage and other shock factors
[Bloomberg]
The Bloomberg administration makes an announcement of its plan to give nonprofit cultural groups access to gallery and theater space in city owned properties and help artists develop business plans
[Crain’s Business]


Donald Judd concrete constructions in Marfa Texas via Hip-Ster-Krit

6 of 15 concrete constructions built by Donald Judd in Marfa Texas required repair and conservation work, October 10th the works will once again be open to the public [Artinfo]
A look at the Chinese Gao brothers who are shocking their country with brave, politically challenging art works, such as a life-size sculpture of Mao whose body is only reunited with his head on ‘special occasions’
[The New York Times]
When most artists’ prices are decreasing in a recession, a few go up: Italian Maurizio Cattelan is one of those who thrive in the tough economic times, an analysis of his work reveals some truths on the variables of the art market [The Economist]


Damien Hirst posing in front of his work via ARTblog +

A portrait of Damien Hirst built through an interview: his influences, unusual artistic paths (such as painting) and mediums to come, and a subjective depiction of the artist’s personality [Times Online] in related Hirst tells BBC that he will not be producing large scale installations and will rather concentrate solely on painting by applying oil to the canvas with his hands, something he has been secretly doing these recent years [BBC] and in related the FT reports that Hirst lays off much of his staff, closes two studios and is actually making paintings himself; while the galleries give no comments on the unsold works worth millions [Financial Times]
As art fairs struggle to retain exhibitors, a new modern and contemporary fair in Abu Dhabi signs up forty-eight names, including PaceWildenstein, Gagosian, Acquavella and White Cube
[Lindsay Pollock] related 50 paintings from the New York Guggenheim Museum to be shown in Abu Dhabi [Arts Abu Dhabi]


‘Fuego Flores’ by Jean Michel Basquiat via Auction Publicity

Sotheby’s October Contemporary Art Auction, estimated to realize in excess of £9 million, will include works by leading artists, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Anish Kapoor, Andy Warhol, Chris Ofili, Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Antony Gormley and Yan Pei-Ming [Auction Publicity]
Following in the footsteps of Anselm Kiefer and Toni Morrison, Umberto Eco has been named the next guest curator at the Louvre; the show
“Vertige de la Liste” (Vertigo of Lists) will revolve around his chosen theme “the list”
[Artinfo] in related news, talks are underway to open a McDonald’s restaurant and a McCafé at the Louvre next month [Telegraph]
An art dealer from Stockholm, Sweden has been accused of faking works by heavyweight modernists including Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Edvard Munch, and Egon Schiele
[Artnet]


Child of lonely – performance by Terence Koh October 6 at Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, Photo Olivier Zahm via purple DIARY

Terence Koh prepared his first solo show at the Parisian gallery Thaddaeus Ropac, which takes a form of an imaginary opera in eight acts, the first act taking place October 6, 2009 [The Art Newspaper]
The four artists shortlisted for Turner Prize 2009 are: Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright; the winner is to be announced December 7th
[Turner Prize 2009]
Jerry Saltz writes about new galleries emerging despite the economic crises
, provides a list of new galleries to see and comments on the effects of the recession on the female artists [New York mag]


The current state of the building to house Sperone Westwater and the computer rendering of it via Lindsay Pollock

A concrete foundation is rising at the site of the future Sperone Westwater gallery designed by the British architect Sir Norman Foster on the Bowery; the 10 story building will rise only one block away from New Museum [Lindsay Pollock]
As opposed to expanding outside their home in LA, Tim Blum and Jeff Poe open a new 21,000 square foot space conveniently located in front of their existing gallery on South La Cienga Boulevard, Los Angeles [Los Angeles Times]


Jacket designed by JR via The World’s Best Ever

A jacket from JR’s Face2Face Project comes in a limited edition of only 100 [The World’s Best Ever] in related A video interview with JR in Paris about his project Women are Heroes, which allows the viewers to call a number and hear an interview with one of the chosen women for the project [Vernissage TV]
An interview with Dasha Zhukova that notes her easy acceptance in the art world [Guardian UK]
28 as opposed to 40 exhibitors had pulled out of the Frieze Art Fair, yet despite the equally disappointing numbers, many lesser known, but in no way inferior galleries, will get a shot at the famous art fair [Telegraph]


Miranda July via Vice

Miranda July creates a series of photographs to imitate and bring attention to the extras in iconic movies [Vice]
An Italian professor, Dr Seracini, has been working on technology that can enable the search for the largest painting Leonardo da Vinci ever painted – The Battle of Anghiari, a work he believes to be hidden underneath the frescoes in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio [The New York Times]
MoMA received an unexpected gift this month – an estate, estimated to be worth more than $10 million, belonging to the late Michael H. Dunn, a bachelor from Derby, Vermont [The New Yorker]

Go See – London: Anish Kapoor at London's Royal Academy through December 11, 2009

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009


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Svayambh, Anish Kapoor via The Guardian

Currently on show at London’s Royal Academy is a major solo exhibition of one of the most influential sculptors of our time, Anish Kapoor. The 1991 Turner Prize winner’s work has taken over the main galleries of the Museum and serves as a survey of his entire body of work to date, as well as introducing the viewer to new and previously unseen pieces.


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Anish Kapoor via The Royal Academy

Related Links:
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Royal Academy Homepage
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Anish Kapoor Official Homepage
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Anish Kapoor, Royal Academy, London [The Independent]
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Anish Kapoor: A very fine mess [Guardian UK]
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Kapoor Fires Cannon, Makes Mess at Royal Academy: Interview [Bloomberg]
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“Bloody” Anish Kapoor sculptures on show at Royal Academy [M&C]
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Anish Kapoor exhibition at the Royal Academy [Times Online]
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Anish Kapoor [Guardian UK]
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Shooting Into the Academy [The Wall Street Journal]
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Anish Kapoor at the Royal Academy, London [Financial Times]
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Bringing beauty and beast into the drawing room [Economist.com]
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Anish Kapoor at the Royal Academy review by Lucy Charkin [fadwebsite.com]

More text and images after the jump…..
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(more…)

Newslinks for Monday September 27th 2009

Monday, September 28th, 2009


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Installation view of Anish Kapoor’s work at the Royal Academy of Arts in London via BBC

Anish Kapoor, the first living artist to exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, installs a work that shoots red paint to the walls of the famed 18th century building [The Wall Street Journal]
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Jeff Koons to be the curator of the New Museum show of Dakis Joannou’s collection, including works by Maurizio Cattelan, Urs Fischer, Robert Gober, Chris Ofili, and Jeff Koons himself
[The New York Times]
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Russia’s biggest contemporary-art fair opened September 23, 2009 in Moscow to coincide with Third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art
[Bloomberg]
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Donald Fischer, founder of Gap and art collector, loses his battle to cancer at 81; his collection will be permanently housed at San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art
[San Francisco Chronicle]
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Artist Ed Ruscha stars in a film by video artist Doug Aitken to be projected as installation entitled “Frontier” on Tiberina island in Rome
[The Art Newspaper]
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Andreas Gursky, his works and Pop influences, mainly Warhol’s, as analyzed in the Economist conclude “99 cents II (Diptych)” as the artist’s most important piece
[Economist]


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Ryan McGinness via J. Crew

Last summer painter Alex Katz modeled clothes for J. Crew catalog; this year seven New York artists, including Ryan McGinness and Vito Acconci, are featured [J.Crew]
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Tate Modern to recreate a 1992 exhibition that took place in New York’s Leo Castelli and was criticized as racist; 15 years later Tate curators appropriate the show as a part of a bigger Pop Life: Art in a Material World exhibit and hope for a different reaction
[The Independent]
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A Sigmar Polke painting, Untitled – Oil on Drape (1969), stolen directly from the artist’s atelier, the police deliberates the thief could only be someone with access to the space
[Artforum]
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Frieze Art Fair 2009 announces the details of its sculpture park, in London’s Regent’s Park; “Henry Moore Bound to Fail” by American artist Paul McCarthy is to remain on display for six months
[Frieze Art Fair]


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Guggenheim Museum Art Award via The New York Times

Louise Bourgeois, Urs Fischer, Dan Graham and Mary Heilmann are among the select individuals nominated for the First Annual Art Awards Guggenheim Museum announced this week [The New York Times] In related, the Frieze Art Fair announced the call for entries to The Cartier Award 2010 [Art Review]     
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Results from Sotheby’s mid-season Contemporary Art Sale
details at Art Market Monitor [Sotheby’s]
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The British Arts Council and the London 2012 organization announce Anthony McCall as a finalist in their nationwide initiative to commission public art in celebration of the upcoming Olympics. McCall has proposed a 1,5 mile earth sculpture in the form of a simulated vertical cloud in Liverpool [ArtInfo]
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A detailed survey of Contemporary-Art Auction values in the midst of economic crises as influenced by several variables, show a significant decrease [Bloomberg]
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65 year old Jehuda Reinharz, President of Brandeis University- home to Rose Art Museum housing works by artists such as Warhol and De Kooning, is to resign [Los Angeles Times]


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Sophie Calle photographed by Yves Geant via Guardian UK

France’s conceptual artist Sophie Calle’s path to art world recognition as examined through a personal perspective: stripping, spying, sleeping, “seducing her father” all turned into artistic practice [Guardian UK]
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At Westminster Cathedral, British painter Peter Doig is to create a new installation to coincide with a concert from the British pianist Stephen Hough whom he met after a recital in London in 2008 [Art Review]
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Two new co-directors, both previously with Art Basel, promote this year’s Art Forum Berlin to attract some of the city’s big name art galleries, among which: Max Hetzler, Johann König, Klosterfelde and Neugerriemschneider [Financial Times] and here is some video of the event [Vernissage TV]
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60 Galleries are not returning to Art Basel Miami Beach, but 65 new ones are added, hence the fair grows in quantity [Lindsay Pollock]


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Picasso’s sketch to be auctioned via Guardian UK

Picasso’s sketch that must have taken seconds to produce is expected to sell for more than £20,000 at Duke’s auction [Guardian UK]
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Christie’s “First Open” Post-War and Contemporary Art sale brings in good results, appealing to many buyers while providing a wide range of pricing and themes [Art in America]
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Christie’s Frieze exhibitions and auctions dedicated to Post-War and Contemporary Art will include works by artists such as Lucio Fontana, Damien Hirst and Gerhard Richter [ArtDaily]
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Museum of Contemorary Art in Los Angeles raises $60 million since December 2008 when it had revealed its financial troubles
[Culture Monster]
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Annie Leibovitz and Damien Hirst to design for Louis Vuitton [Elle UK]

SILLINESS OF TODAY’S HORROR MOVIES INSPIRATION FOR WAYANS BROTHERS.(What’s Happening)

Seattle Post-Intelligencer July 14, 2000 Most fans just laugh at how silly horror movies have become. Three of filmdom’s Wayans brothers decided to parlay their reaction into real laughs in “Scary Movie.” “It’s like `Airplane,’ ” says director Keenan Ivory Wayans. “Those guys knew that the disaster genre had been beaten to death.

“In horror, you’ve had the Jason series, the Freddy series, the `Scream’ series. This genre’s been played to death. . . . Same thing with `Don’t Be a Menace . . . ‘ You had `Boyz N the Hood,’ `South Central.’ ” The makers of “Scary Movie,” which had a huge opening last weekend, are no strangers to parody. Wayans targeted blaxploitation films when he wrote, directed and starred in the 1988 comedy “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.” He also acted in “Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood,” the 1996 comedy written by and starring younger brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans. in our site horror movies 2010

“If you can find a genre’s that’s beaten itself to death and has sort of ingrained itself in popular culture, then it’s ripe for parody,” says Keenan, 42.

“Scary Movie” originated with Shawn, 29, and Marlon, who’ll turn 28 on July 23. “All they do all day is call me,” Keenan Wayans said in an interview. “They sit in the house, and they call me, like, four times a day, going, `Is there something in this?’ And I’ll go, `No, that’s ridiculous.’ “And then they called me and said, `Is there something in the idea of doing a parody of all these teen horror movies?’ And I said, `Yeah, there’s definitely something in that.’ ” The younger Wayanses got together with Buddy Johnson, who’d served as executive story editor on their WB sitcom “The Wayans Brothers,” and Phil Beauman, who co-wrote “Don’t Be a Menace” and wrote for “In Living Color,” the sketch-comedy show created by Keenan in the early ’90s, and wrote a script. in our site horror movies 2010

“And 10 drafts later . . . it got made,” says Keenan. (Two other writers who’d come up with a similar idea are also credited because Miramax bought their script to avoid legal hassles.) Inspiration for “Scary Movie” came from sitting in theaters, watching the recent horror films and seeing how ridiculous they were, Marlon Wayans says.

“The first `Scream’ was good,” he says. “Then they do the sequel and they do `I Know What You Still Did Last Summer’ and . . . `Urban Legend.’ ” “Scary Movie” goofs on all the usual suspects plus “The Usual Suspects,” “The Sixth Sense,” and “The Blair Witch Project.” Marlon and Shawn wrote parts for themselves, naturally, but neither of them is the main character.

While the “Scream” films satirize the horror genre, “they just heightened where you need to go in terms of showing comedy,” says Marlon Wayans. “They make commentary. We show.” “They had an actual, real killer,” says Shawn Wayans. “We had a killer, but we made fun of what was funny about the killer in those movies.” “Scary Movie” also follows in the footsteps of gross-out comedies such as “There’s Something About Mary” and “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.” “ `Something About Mary’ and `South Park’ kind of opened up the door,” says Marlon Wayans. “What you do is, you go, `OK, y’all like that? Well, wait till you get a load of this!’ “What we’re doing with the comedy, pushing the envelope like that, is making a parody statement itself. Like, `Look at all the crazy things that people are doing out there.’ And teens love it.” What the Wayanses love is working with each other. Even though they couldn’t come up with roles for brother Damon or sister Kim, “Scary Movie” was a family affair.

Marlon and Shawn expect to continue collaborating. “I like working with him,” says Marlon. “I slept in a bed with him for 16 years. I had his feet in my face my whole life, so this is my best friend.” As for having big brother direct, that was a no-brainer. “Keenan is great,” says Shawn. “I think he’s a genius, and we totally respect his work. He taught us everything we know about comedy and just about life, period.

“It’s kind of like he’s been the director of our life anyway.” Adds Marlon: “So to finally get paid to be bossed around, hey!”

Newslinks for Monday September 21st, 2009

Monday, September 21st, 2009


Rembrandt’s portrait of an unknown man via Times Online

Estimated at £25m, a portrait by Rembrandt is expected to raise a record price for the artist at Christie’s in London [Guardian UK]
Despite crisis, Mikhail Piotrovsky- the director of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg is planning an expansion, reinstallation and several new international venues [ARTnews]
Tate’s plan to increase display space by 60% is challenged by a £140m shortfall; donation for the past year amount only to £4m due to recession
[The Independent] in related Tate announces upcoming exhibitions of Gauguin, Picasso and Chris Ofili [Guardian UK]
More on ex art-dealer Anthony d’Offay, who traded a $160m profit for a chance to provide the British public with an access to contemporary and modern art
[Bloomberg]
Reuters Felix Salmon calls on Bloomberg’s Scott Reyburn who claims that Damien Hirst’s sales are recovered to levels seen at peak of the art market boom; Salmon claims the analysis by Reyburn is unsubstantiated [Reuters and Bloomberg via ArtMarketMonitor]


Ai WeiWei via Twitter

Ai Weiwei publishes on twitter images of himself going in for surgery after undergoing an attack by Chinese police [The Art Newspaper]
RoseLee Goldberg, Performa’s founding director, reads an excerpt from the Futurist Manifesto, announces details and gives hints about the surprise performances and their locations
[Artinfo]
The director of the MET, Thomas Campbell, shares that the painting reattributed to Velazquez last week, “Portrait of a Man”, may soon travel to the Prado Museum in Madrid [ArtDaily]
More on the Artist Pension Trust, an investment vehicle that provides artists, who rarely engage in financial planning, with financial security when they retire [Guardian UK]
An antique shop in New Mexico put on sale a Van Gogh sketch for his painting Night Cafe, from a May 13 burglary, worth $250,000-1million, for $250 [Artinfo]


Caravaggio, The Supper at Emmaus via Artinfo

The National Gallery in London is sending Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus to be exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago from October 10, 2009 to January 31, 2010 [Fine Art Publicity]
Since Thursday, 110 galleries, most of them in Chelsea opened their doors to the new art season, showcasing what sells, what is missing on the art scene and which gallery spaces are more beneficial to the sales [New York Magazine]
Pope Benedict XVI organizes an art summit reaching out to 500 contemporary artists to reunite in Vatican [BBC via Art Market Monitor]  in related After his initial refusal to participate in Vatican’s art initiative, that will attempt to reestablish the dialogue between spirituality and art, Bill Viola rearranges his schedule and accepts Pope’s invitation [Artnet]
Curator of Modern and contemporary art at Menil Collection, Franklin Sirmans will be appointed chief curator oc contemporary art in LACMA and will assume his position in January [Culture Monster]


Anish Kapoor via Times Online

After an attempt to investigate the very nature of the scale of Anish Kapoor’s work and the man behind the work in an article published last week, Times Online writes on Anish Kapoor’s retrospective, providing a survey of the artist’s career, at the Royal Academy [Times Online]
An interview with Turner Prize winning video artist Steve McQueen where the artist speaks of his childhood, artistic influences, his musical preferences and view on art world and Artist Yoshimoto Nara speaks of musical, artistic and personal influences on his work [Guardian UK]

Velazquez, Las Meninas via The Wall Street Journal

Velazquez’s “Las Meninas”- an enigmatic work that has contributed to the shift of its very medium from the realm of craft to that of art [The Wall Street Journal]
Marlene Dumas, Tracey Emin, Marc Quinn, Antony Gormley and other contemporary artists donating works to Sotheby’s “Art for Africa Auction” on tonight
[ArtDaily]
September 16, at the Guggenheim International Gala, a $1.2m Ellsworth Kelly painting received by the Museum as a gift was auctioned [Auction Central News]
The life and death of Dash Snow [Guardian UK]
Art critic, Holland Carter, proposes smaller and more smartly curated shows to take place of large blockbuster exhibits [The New York Times]
A new 37,000-square-foot outdoor space is lent temporarily to Lower Manhattan Cultural Council for exhibitions and performances by developers postponing their building projects, hence the name- LentSpace [The New York Times]


Richard Serra, Shift (Detail) via Arts Journal

As a 1970 iconic earthwork by Serra outside Toronto remains endangered, a litigious battle concerning access to and protection of the artwork continues [Arts Journal]
New York’s Armory show will move in geographic pattern from representing one city to another, its first choice is Berlin
[Lindsay Pollock]
A short interview by brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman, discussing their drawings
[Guardian UK]
David Zwirner is to be the first dealer to solely represent The Estate of Dan Falvin
[David Zwirner]
New works by Julian Schanbel, Paul Chan, John Currin and Francesco Vezzoli are currently on show at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in an exhibition inspired by Mary Magdalene [metoperafamily.org]
Book review: “I Sold Andy Warhol (too soon)” by Richard Polsky [WallStreetJournal]


Zac Posen, RTW Spring 2010. Via WWD.com

Rosson Crow designs floral prints for Zac Posen’s Spring RTW collection [wwd.com]
Julian Schnabel is selling pieces from his art collection, including work by Picabia, Braque and Balthus to finance his divorce
[New York Post]
The Roman Empire – Russia’s Roman Abramovich’s toychest of expensive things, inlcuding works by Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud, is examined
[Wall Street Journal]
Sales of Chinese art at Sotheby’s Total: $15,532,479 Exceeding Expectations [ArtDaily]
The king of Japanese Contemporary Art, Takashi Murakami, speaks openly about the state of the art market, his legacy and his upcoming plans [Artinfo.com]
An encounter with Takashi Murakami in the Boom Boom Room at the Standard Hotel, New York following his opening at Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea [NYTimes]

Newslinks for Tuesday August 11, 2009

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009


Portrait of Pastor Swalmius, Rembrandt via BBC

Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp restores the “Portrait of Pastor Swalmius” and discovers it is Rembrandt’s creation, as such, the value of the work increases from $1.4 million to $28 million [BBC]
Russian Minister of Culture, looking for $100m to fund the development of a museum of contemporary art in Moscow, turns both to governmental support and private investors
[Art Info]
The destruction in fire of Peggy Cafritz’ Collection mourned not only by her, but also by museums and galleries that recognized its value
[The New York Times]
This Thursday night, Artist Duke Riley planning a naval battle for Queens Museum of Art gets support from volunteers, the event titled “Those About To Die Salute You” promises to be the city’s art party of the summer [Wall Street Journal]
A major site-specific sculpture installation by Anish Kapoor will be at Guggenheim for the Museum’s 50th anniversary
[Guggenheim]
An $150,000 Philadelphia art prize announces finalists and boasts being the largest prize given for visual arts in a juried competition [Art Review]
In related, The Kandinsky Prize, the most important Contemporary art prize in Russia, will be showing works in London and will coincide with the Frieze Art Fair [Art Daily]


Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa via Louvre

A woman threw a tea cup at Mona Lisa in Louvre, as the painting hangs behind a bullet proof glass it is not damaged, the woman is taken to a psychiatric word [CNN]
Rocco Landesman’s pending appointment as the head of National Endowment for the Arts has been confirmed by US Senate
[Los Angeles Times]
Elizabeth Andrews, a gallery supervisor, intends to file a lawsuit against the Tate Modern regarding its cold temperature contributing to her deteriorating health as she is forced to move there from Tate Britain [Art Review]


Bruce Nauman via Sperone Westwater

A plane will perform Bruce Nauman’s Skywriting Project on September 12 in Pasadena, 40 years after the idea’s conception [Artforum]
3 months after its inauguration, MoCA China runs out of money and Mr. Aranita, its founder flees to Hawaii leaving his ex-girlfriend and only legal partner to deal with his many debts [Art Newspaper]
After Ryan McGinley spent two months in caves of North America for photo shoots, his Manhattan food choices are documented by New York Magazine [Grub Street]


Unicorn The Child’s Dream, Damien Hirst via Guardian

Damien Hirst’s vitrine “The Child’s Dream” will become a part of Tate St Ives exhibition titled “The Dark Monarch” starting 10 October [Art Daily]
After Sotheby’s profit declines 87%, William Sheridan, its Financial Officer, claims that art prices and sales have bottomed
[Bloomberg]
Due in part to failed relationship with Sotheby’s, Stephen Ranger resigns as president of Toronto auction house Ritchies, as the auction house lays off its entire staff of 25 people [CBC]


Presidio, San Francisco – a historical site where Fisher planned to build a museum via LAT

Gap founder Donald Fisher’s immense collection of art may not be available to public in San Francisco, since his plan of building a museum in Presidio has been opposed by the preservationists [Los Angeles Times]
With rent prices dropping almost to half of what they used to be, art dealers open galleries in the Hamptons where their clients spend Summers
[The Art Newspaper]
To stop graffiti artists, Rome’s Mayor tries to pass a new law which assumes not only fines but also mandates cleaning up the defaced walls
[Life in Italy]
In reaction to decline of art donations, senator Charles Schumer tries to pass a bill making donating tax-advantageous [Wall Street Journal]
Christie’s in collaboration with Pierre Bergé and Associates announce the second Yves Saint Laurent auction estimated to raise $3-4 million for H.I.V research and in related Sotheby’s 4 November, 2009 sale will include seven Impressionist paintings from the Durand-Ruel collection [Auction Publicity]


Newport Mill transformed into an exhibition space via The Moment

Enormous old mill in New Hampshire is transformed by William Ruger into an exhibition space where an inaugural show “H2O Film on Water” will be held [The Moment]
Ryan McGinness is commissioned to create his first site-specific work to celebrate the opening of a new wing in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts [Art Info]
The 5 star Hotel Marienbad in Berlin accepts artwork as a form of payment as long as artists are not local [Guardian]
Glenn D. Lowry, the director of MoMA took a voluntary pay cut and yet managed to be the highest paid Museum Director in the six US museums with biggest budgets, landing $1.32 million for the fiscal year [The New York Times]
Funded by team owners, 14 site-specific works are created by prominent contemporary artists including Olafur Eliasson for the Dallas Cowboys Stadium
[The Art Newspaper]

Newslinks for Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009


Anish Kapoor’s ‘Shooting into the Corner’ via The Independent

Britain’s Royal Academy opens its galleries in September to Anish Kapoor for the first single artist exhibition there since 1988 [Independent] and Kapoor’s commission for the Deutsche Guggenheim, ‘Memory,’ opens in October [Guggenheim]


Gilbert and George in Hong Kong via Financial Times

Gilbert and George describe their trip to Hong Kong for the opening of ‘Louis Vuitton: A Passion For Creation’ at the Hong Kong Museum of Art [Financial Times]
Oreg0n art dealer indicted for running gallery as a Ponzi scheme [Artinfo]


Glenn Brown’s ‘Christina of Denmark’ via Art in America

Lynn MacRitchie visits painter Glenn Brown’s studio [Art in America]
Predictions about the future of auction houses following the burst of the art market bubble
[CNBC via Art Market Monitor]


Aerial view of Governors Island via Governors Island

Creative Time announces Plot, a public art quadrennial, to take place on Governors Island this summer, with 19 international artists showing in 5 buildings previously closed to the public [Creative Time]


Pablo Picasso’s ‘Homme à l’épée’ via Philippe Sollers estimated to sell for £5-7 million at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art Sale later this month

Christie’s announces its Impressionist and Modern Art Sale, with important works by Monet, Duchamp, and Picasso as highlights [Auction Publicity] and in other auction news, Latin American sales follow the downward trend [Artinfo]


Terence Koh and Tom Sachs celebrate the release of Koh’s new book at Julian Schnabel’s house via Style

Vito Schnabel holds a dinner party at Palazzo Chupi in honor of Terence Koh’s new book, ‘Flowers for Baudelaire’ [Style]
Eric Fischl is organizing a touring exhibition aimed at involving artists in the evolution of American identity in the wake of post-9/11 politics [LA Times]


Takashi Murakami signing posters for the Vogue Nippon launch via Hint

Comme des Garçons x Vogue Nippon concept shop opens, featuring Takashi Murakami collaborations [Hint]
Controversial modern museum, the Ara Pacis, in the heart of historical Rome, is vandalized [BBC]


Jenny Holzer’s ‘Monument’ via Economist

Daniel Arizona looks at how Jenny Holzer’s early aphorisms stand up now and how her new ‘Redaction Paintings’ capture today’s anxiety [Economist]
Antony Gormley and Sir Peter Blake among judges of Saatchi Gallery-Sunday Telegraph Art Prize for schoolchildren [TelegraphUK]

AO On Site Auction Results: Phillips de Pury Part I Contemporary Art Sale falls short but with records set for artists represented by moderately priced works

Saturday, May 16th, 2009


Simon de Pury at the helm at the auction in front of the Philip Guston

Last night’s contemporary auction at Phillips de Pury fell short of its low estimate of $12.2 million, bringing in $7.7 million, with 12 of the 43 lots going unsold.  The sale’s highlight, an untitled Robert Gober sculpture of a Farina cereal box valued at $2.5-3.5 million, went unsold with only one bid at $1.6 million.  An untitled Anish Kapoor sculpture, estimated at $800, 000-1.2 million, also was met with no bids.  However, one of the auction highlights, Philip Guston’s painting, ‘Anxiety,’ was the highest selling lot, going for $1 million, just making its low estimate. John Baldessari’s painting, ‘Person with Pillow: Desire/Lust/Fate,’ sold for $290,500, missing its estimate of $300,000-400,000.  It had sold at Sotheby’s a year and a half ago for nearly double that amount.  Many artists however, such as Zeng Fanzhi, whose show just concluded at Acquavella Gallery in New York and was covered by Art Observed here did break auction records (work shown below), the details of which are after the jump.

Phillips Contemporary Auction Falls Short of Estimate [NY Times]
Phillips Limps to the Finish Line [Artinfo]


Zeng Fanzhi’s ‘Little Boy’ via Phillips de Pury sold for $446,500 against estimates of $250,000-300,000

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AO Auction Preview: New York Contemporary Art Part I Sale

Thursday, May 14th, 2009


–>
Philip Guston’s ‘Anxiety’ via Phillips de Pury, estimated to sell for $1-1.5 million.

The last of the post-war and contemporary art auctions takes places tonight at Phillips de Pury & Company in New York.  Pre-sale estimates are $12.2-17 million for 43 lots. Highlights include a late Philip Guston painting, a sculpture of a Farina cereal box by Robert Gober, estimated at $2.5-3.5 million, and an Anish Kapoor sculpture, estimated at $800,000-1,200,000.  AO will be on site to cover the auction, starting at 7pm tonight.

Phillips de Pury & Company
–>
New York Contemporary Art Part I Sale
–>
Thursday, May 14, 2009, 7pm
–>
450 West 15th St
–>
New York, NY

Phillips de Pury & Company
–>
Phillips de Pury & Company Announces the Highlights from its Forthcoming New York Contemporary Art Part I Sale [Artdaily]

The New York Times Calls for Submissions for the ‘Modern Love’ College Essay Contest.

Entertainment Close-up February 17, 2011 The New York Times opened its second “Modern Love” college essay contest to undergraduates nationwide.

Students at least 18 years of age, residing in the United States and enrolled in an American college or university are invited to submit personal essays between 1,500 and 1,700 words that illustrate the current state of love and relationships. The winner will be published in a special Modern Love column in The New York Times Sunday Styles section, the Company said. in our site college essay topics

In this age of Facebook, texting, new attitudes about sex and dating, evolving gender roles and 24/7 communication, what is love now? The New York Times invites students to explain what love is like for them.

According to a release, four semifinalists and one grand prize winner will be chosen. The winning essay will be published in the newspaper on May 1 and on NYTimes.com, and the winner will receive $1,000. Semifinalists may also have their essays published in print and on NYTimes.com. Full contest details are available at NYTimes.com/EssayContest. The deadline for submissions is 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, March 31.

“Three years ago, we were overwhelmed and moved by the depth of insight and the emotional resonance in many of the essays we received,” said Daniel Jones, Modern Love editor, The New York Times. “We look forward to hearing what college students have to say about love today.” Launched in October 2004, The New York Times Modern Love weekly column publishes reader-submitted personal essays about a range of relationship experiences, including marriage, dating, divorce and parenthood. website college essay topics

The New York Times Company, a media company with 2010 revenues of $2.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com.

More information:

www.nytco.com ((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

Newslinks for Thursday, March 12, 2009

Thursday, March 12th, 2009


Installation view of Rothko’s ‘Seagram Murals’ via MSNBC

Tate Liverpool exhibits Rothko’s Seagram Murals after a 20-year absence [Artdaily]
Rochelle Steiner, under whose tenure Olafur Eliasson’s “New York City Waterfalls” was sponsored, leaves the Public Art Fund [NY Times] and in related, Sotheby’s CEO takes big paycuts in the wake of the market downturn [Bloomberg]


Alex James, bassist of Blur via The Mirror

Blur’s Alex James to judge Charles Saatchi’s art-star reality TV show [The Mirror]
Jonathan Jones on how consumerism spawned Warhol and Pop art and thus the shallowness of contemporary art [Guardian]
Vanity Fair’s imagined conversations overheard at a MoMA party [VanityFair]
A new show at Paris’s Musee d’Art Moderne acknowledges how Italian Surrealist Giorgio de Chirico sold backdated copies of his own work [Bloomberg]


Patti Smith via The Art Newspaper

Patti Smith, whose Polaroids are showing at Robert Miller gallery, on her early career as an artist and why she feels Jeff Koons’s work is “just litter upon the earth” [The Art Newspaper]


Andy Warhol’s BMW Art Car via W Magazine

The BMW Art Car series by artists such as Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg to appear at New York’s Grand Central Terminal starting March 24 [W Magazine]
Chinese art dealer who sabotaged Christie’s sale of bronzes during the Yves Saint Laurent sale weeps at his shattered credibility [Bloomberg]


Steve McQueen modeling for T Magazine

A brief profile of Turner prize winning film artist Steve McQueen’s fashion aesthetic [The Moment]
The Las Vegas Sun does a post-mortem on the Las Vegas Art Museum, which closed last month
[Las Vegas sun via ArtsJournal]

–>–>–>–>–>–>–>–>–>–>–>
Trailer for ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’ via Entertainment Weekly

Soon to open in New York, an art world outsider chronicles his relationship with an art world insider in the film ‘Guest of Cindy Sherman’ [Entertainment Weekly]
Susan Moore looks at the recent emergence of a homegrown art scene in the United Arab Emirates [Financial Times]


Collectors Stephanie Seymour and Peter Brant.  Image courtesy Mary Barone via Artnet

Art in America and Interview Magazine owner Peter Brant opens his private collection to the public, by appointment only, at the Brant Foundation Art Study Center [NY Times]
How the former CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland was unable to secure an immense 16,000 piece art collection obtained during a takeover of ABN Amro as that bank’s CEO deftly transferred ownership to a foundation before the merger
[TimesUK]
Turner Prize winning sculptor Antony Gormley announces first public art installation for Scotland
[TheScotsman]


Laura Hoptman, Massimiliano Gioni and Lauren Cornell, curators at the New Museum of Contemporary Art via NY Times

A preview of the New Museum’s inaugural triennial, “The Generational: Younger Than Jesus” [NY Times]
Hans Ulrich Obrist’s book “The Conversation Series” includes interviews with artist such as Wolfgang Tillmans and Gilbert and George [ArtInfo]


A peek at Pierogi Gallery’s new annex, the Boiler via NY Times

Williamsburg’s Pierogi Gallery opens new annex, The Boiler [NY Times]
Chelsea galleries, including Andrea Rosen, Barbara Gladstone, Mary Boone and Matthew Marks, to show work at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, Cuba [The Art Newspaper]


Anish Kapoor’s ‘Temenos’ via AnishKapoor

Construction begins on first of five of Anish Kapoor outdoor sculptures in the UK: the ‘world’s biggest art project’ [DesignWeek]


Portrait of Pope Benedict XIV by Pierre Subleyras via NY Mag

Old masters prove to be a bellwether in the market downturn [Financial Times] as such, The Metropolitan Museum acquires a Renaissance portrait of Pope Benedict XIV for nearly $1 million amidst financial woes [NY Mag] and this painting also is featured here in a separate video discussion on the resilience of old master paintings [Sotheby’s]

AO On Site with Photo Essay: 2009 New York Armory Show and Armory Modern, plus opening party at MoMA with Gang Gang Dance

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

David Zwirner booth at the Armory, showing Yan Pei-Ming, John McCracken, and Rachel Khedoori.

New York Armory Week 2009 is in full swing, with attendance higher than expected moving into the weekend.  Despite the absence of several blue chip galleries – including Matthew Marks and Lehmann Maupin – the gallerists’ collective mood seems hesitant but optimistic.  177 contemporary galleries are exhibiting in the Armory’s 11th year, along with the addition of a Modern wing at Pier 92 selling more established, less edgy work.

The Armory Show 2009 and the Armory Modern
Piers 92 and 94
12th Avenue at 54th Street
March 4-8, 2009


Armory Opening Party at MoMA.

RELATED LINKS
Sales still down, but spirits are buoyant [Art Newspaper]
On the Piers, Testing the Waters in a Down Art Market [New York Times]
Has the Recession Sparked a New Renaissance? [Guardian UK]
On the Scene at the Armory Preview Party [Style File Blog]
MoMA’s Armory Show Opening Benefit Party [Patrick McMullan]
Armory MoMA After Party [Guest of a Guest]
Now Dealing | The Armory Show
[TheMoment]
Window-shoppers Descend on Armory Art Show
[NYMag]
What’s Selling (or Not) at the New York Armory Show [NYMag]
‘Creepy’ Bernie Madoff Watercolor Fails to Sell at Armory Show
[NYMag]
Dealers Sold on Armory Modern, Collectors Less So [ArtInfo]
The Herd Is Out, but Holding Back
[ArtInfo]

more stories and photos after the jump…

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AO Auction Results: Sotheby’s Contemporary Art evening sale, London, Thursday, February 5, 2009, Richter, Koons and Fontana lead robust results

Sunday, February 8th, 2009


Stacked (1988) by Jeff Koons; Sold for £2,841,250 ($4,136,939) against estimates of £2,200,000 - £3,200,000 ($3,215,434 – $4,676,995). Image via Artnet.

Sotheby’s contemporary art evening sale concluded this week’s auctions on a high note, as 25 of 27 lots by Lucio Fontana, Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, among others, were sold to collectors taking advantage of the art market’s price correction. The auction attracted relatively brisk bidding on several of the lots on offer, with over 200 clients registering to participate in the auction.

The sale realized a total of £17,879,250 ($25,785,250), solidly within the estimate of £16.5-23.1 million, selling 92.6% by lot–one of the highest ever achieved for a February contemporary art auction at Sotheby’s–and 90.7% by value. 24% of buyers were from the US, with 48% European, 12% Middle East, and 16% Asian being the breakdown for the remainder.

The lot featured on the catalogue cover, Concetto Spaziale by Lucio Fontana, was the highest priced lot, although it sold for £4.4 million ($6.4 million), or 12% below its £5 million ($7.3 million) low estimate. The painting is part of the 22-piece Venezia series, conceived and executed in 1961 by Fontana, widely considered to be Italy’s foremost post-war artist. While the lot was bought below the low estimate, it still set a record for a painting from the Venezia series. It was bought directly from the artist shortly after its execution and resided in a private collection for over 45 years, never shown in public during that period.

Successful auction sales calm jittery art market [Financial Times]
‘Rediscovered’ art fetches £4.4m [ BBC]
Koons, Fontana Works Sell in Smaller London Art Sale [Bloomberg]
A Svelte Sale Yields Positive Results at Sotheby’s [ArtInfo]
Sotheby’s February 2009 Contemporary Art Evening Sale Achieves $25,785,250 [Art Daily]

(more…)

GO SEE: ANISH KAPOOR, DRAWINGS/ INSTALLATIONS AT REGEN PROJECTS, LA, THROUGH FEBRUARY 28TH

Friday, January 9th, 2009

Anish Kapoor – ‘Installation View at Regen Projects’, LA, via Regent Projects

Drawings and Installations, a show by Anish Kapoor, is on view at the Regen Projects in LA, until February 28th. The show deviates from the usual sculptures that Kapoor is best known for. Using drawings and installations, Kapoor manages to fill entire rooms with simple yet large objects to create a sense of scarceness yet serenity. Anish Kapoor is an Indian-born British Installation Artist, best known for his large sculptures, which often simulate simple curves with cavities and bends. These traits can be found in the installations at the Regen Projects exhibition. The large concave white disc disorients the viewer through its glossy finish, reflecting the room’s light and other objects – namely the black item placed opposite. The choice to exhibit the installations in white rooms, accents this.

 

Focus: Anish Kapoor: Regan Projects, LA

(more…)

Go See: Anish Kapoor at the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, November 30, 2008 – February 1, 2009

Sunday, December 14th, 2008


Memory
by Anish Kappor on display now at the Deutsche Guggenheim via Deutsche Guggenheim

Anish Kapoor – Memory
Deutsche Guggenheim Museum
, Unter den Linden 13/15 10117 Berlin
November 30, 2008 – February 1, 2009

Considered one of the most talented and influential sculptors of his generation, Anish Kapoor recently unveiled his new installation Memory (2008) at the Deutsche Guggenheim.  Born in Bombay, India in 1954, Anish Kapoor lived and worked in London through the 1970’s and quickly rose to prominence as a sculptor during that time.  Since then, Kapoor has gained international acclaim and has exhibited extensively worldwide at venues such as the Tate Gallery and the Hayward Gallery in London, Haus der Kunst in Munich, Reina Sofia in Madrid and Kunsthale Basel and more.  Memory is part of a program established by the Deutsche Guggenheim in 1998, which consists of a series of projects committed to prominent and innovative contemporary artists such as John Baldessari, Hanne Darboven, William Kentridge, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Bill Viola, and Phoebe Washburn.

Anish Kapoor Memory [Deutsche Guggenheim]
Anish Kapoor: Memory
[Guggenheim]
Anish Kapoor Memory
[ Press Release]
Video: Anish Kapoor: Memory / Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin / Interview [vernissage.tv]
Kapoor Installation Pictures
[Flikr]

more images and story after the jump…

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Work by Anish Kapoor, Tracey Emin, Olafur Eliasson, among others sold at RCA Secret Annual Postcard Sale

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008


Amy Winehouse by unknown artist, on RCA Secret postcard, via BBC

2,700 postcards composed by a combination of famous and emerging artists were sold at the Royal College of the Arts’ Secret postcard event this past Saturday, November 22nd, in London.  Every year, students from the college contribute original pieces of art on postcards, along with many of the worlds top artists and assorted other notables, to raise funds for the school. The RCA has managed to raise close to £1 million from the sale of the postcards since 1994, when a student came up with the idea.

Cards sell for £40 each, and are unmarked and unsigned; the viewer or buyer does not know who created it, leading to the possibility of acquiring works by the likes of Damien Hirst, Peter Doig, or Manolo Blahnik very inexpensively.  Postcards have been resold for princely sums at major auction houses. A card by Hirst was sold for £15,600 in 2004, while a Doig original sold for £42,000 in 2000.  “Keeping the works anonymous is a very clever idea because potential buyers have to use their own powers of discrimination,” noted artist and regular contributor Grayson Perry said. “They must look at art works closely rather than read labels, a habit they might find rewarding at any exhibition.”

While readers have missed out on this year’s sale, which was held on November 13th, they can always look forward to 2009.

Exhibition page: RCA Secret
Secret art postcards go on sale [BBC]
Lucky dip in secret postcard sale [GuardianUK]
In London, Purchase a Postcard Worth 42,000 British Pounds [IHT]

(more…)

AO November Auction Roundup 4 of 5: Phillips de Pury’s Contemporary Art Sale, New York, Thursday, November 13th, Results “brutal” but Phillip’s clear due to lack of Guarantees

Monday, November 17th, 2008


“Untitled (77/23 — Bernstein)” (1977) by Donald Judd sold for $3,218,500 against an estimate of $4.0 million, via ArtInfo

PHILLIPS DE PURY’S CONTEMPORARY ART SALE, New York, Thursday, November 13th

Total Lots Offered: 51, originally 56
Total Lots Sold: 30
Total Sales Value: $9.6 Million
Total Sales Pre-Auction Estimate: $23-$32 Million

Before Phillips de Pury’s Contemporary Art sale began in New York on Thursday evening November 13th, five works were withdrawn, including John Currin’s Standing Nude from 1993 (est. $500–700,000), pictured below, Richard Prince’s Untitled (Tire Planter) from 1999 (est. $120–180,000), and an Anselm Kiefer work. Total sales were $9,608,700, which was less than half of the low estimate of $23 million. By way of comparison, a comparable Phillips sale a year ago fetched $42.3 million. In the end, 41% of the lots (21 lots) were unsold (51% unsold by value) and those that did sell did so at below estimates. Anything estimated to sell at more than $1 million was either withdrawn or went unsold. In attendance were collectors such as Adam Lindemann, Stavros Merjos, Stefan Edlis of Chicago, Maria Baibakova, Mera and Don Rubell, Zurich dealer Doris Ammann, and executives from the Russian luxury goods giant Mercury Group which, as covered by Art Observed here, recently purchased the Phillips de Pury auction house.

Despite the dismal outcome of the totals, Phillips de Pury’s in the end appeared prescient versus its competitors Sotheby’s and Christie’s who both got crushed by over guaranteeing works in a down market, by contrast, Phillips guaranteed none of the 51 works offered, save for a single neon text 2005 sculpture by Kendell Geers, which had a low estimate of $60,000 and sold for $56,250. In a comparable sale last November, Phillips guaranteed about half the lots.

$9.6 Million at Phillips De Pury [ArtNet]
Phillips Sale Totals Less Than Half the Low Estimate [New YorkTimes]
Phillips Goes with the Downward Flow [ArtInfo]
Hirst Painting Flops at ‘Brutal’ New York Art Auction [Bloomberg]

more story and pictures after the jump…

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Newslinks for Saturday November 8, 2008

Saturday, November 8th, 2008

Anish Kapoor - Cloud Gate via heartland.vanabbe.nl

A London studio visit interview with Anish Kapoor [GuardianUK]
Richard Prince, who opened at Gagosian Chelsea tonight, interviewed on VBS.TV [VBSTV]
Three public art projects from Jeff Koons, Daniel Arsham, and John Henry will be at Art Basel Miami Beach [Artdaily]
All about Maia Norman, Damien Hirst’s companion [TimesUK]
How the current times can offer art bargains [Bloomberg]
The Asian Contemporary Art Fair, on in New York from Thursday to this Monday the 10th at Pier 92, 52nd Street & 12th Avenue [Official Site]
Two portraits authenticated as Van Goghs from 1886 Paris [cbcnews]
Former MET Director Philippe de Montebello and Paula Zahn to host 13’s SundayArts [ArtDaily]
Murakami ‘Wraps’ Louis Vuitton corner on 5th and 57th in Manhattan [WWD via Kempt]

The first major post-financial collapse art market event, The 2008 Frieze Art Fair, in London, is on right now.

Friday, October 17th, 2008


Cory Arcangel’s “Golden Ticket” to the 2008 Frieze Art Fair via Artnet

With over 150 galleries, The Frieze Art Fair, set in London’s Regent’s Park, began selling works by over 1,000 artists on October 15. Since its first year in 2003, the Frieze fair has grown to be regarded as the youngest and perhaps the most cosmopolitan and cutting edge of the global fairs, which include Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach and the Venice Biennial. The fair, which runs until the 19th of October, and the London auctions that will occur this evening and this coming weekend, mark the first major opportunity for transparency into the the status of the global art market since the widespread financial turmoil began. Following Damien Hirst’s groundbreaking, clearing house, £111.5 million, direct-to-market auction of his own work at Sotheby’s last month (as covered by ArtObserved here) the market has had some clouds brewing over it, with beginning indications of weakness manifesting in events such as Sotheby’s lackluster first evening sale of contemporary Asian art in Hong Kong earlier this month (as covered by ArtObserved here), which sold £7 million against expectations of £30 million to another auction that same weekend in which Sotheby’s sale of modern 20th-century Chinese art left over a third of the lots unsold. More recently, the Singapore Art Auctions were also a dissapointment.

London’s Frieze Prepares for a Chill [Wall Street Journal]
Crisis Imperils U.K. Art Fairs, $183 Million Sales, Dealers Say and Auction Houses Guarantee Top Lots; Dealers See Falling Demand and Paltrow, Saatchi, Zhukova Browse Frieze Art as Sales Go Slowly, Aguilera Parties, Damien Hirst Has a Head Case: London Art Buzz [Bloomberg]
Deep Frieze: UK’s hottest art fair braces itself for the chill of the banking crisis and Prank canvas [GuardianUK]
Frieze Art Fair: Super-rich to cast economic crisis aside and Andy Warhol’s Skulls up for auction [Telegraph]
All the fun of the fairs: the art world gathers for Frieze [Independent]
The Post-Materialist | Frieze Art Fair [TheMoment]
Diary: Frieze Frame [ArtForum]
Frieze Factor [Artnet]
Frieze: First night blur [ArtReview]
Frieze Art Fair 2008 [Frieze Art Fair]

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AO AUCTION PREVIEW: Freud, Warhol, de Kooning, Koons, Murakami at Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, Oct. 19th, Christie’s, London

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008


Desmond by Jean Michel Basquiat, up for auction at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Auction, via Christie’s

In addition to selling a rare portrait by Francis Bacon, Christie’s October 19 auction catalogue features a long list of post-war luminaries. Several portraits of Mao and Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol figure prominently among the auction’s offerings. A sculpture by Jeff Koons, as well as pieces by Jean Michel Basquiat, Gerhard Richter, Richard Prince, Anish Kapoor, Willem de Kooning, Lucian Freud and a plethora of other artists account for the rest of the lots. The priciest of 48 lots is expected to be Lucio Fontana’s canvas, Concetto spaziale, la fine di Dio, which should fetch around £12 million pounds ($21.8 million).

Christie’s: Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Christie’s: Press Release for Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale

Fontana work may fetch $21.8 million in Record Christie’s Sale
[Bloomberg]
Bacon Portrait Expected to Sell for £7.5 million at Christie’s Auction in October [ArtObserved]

(more…)

Go See: Turner Prize show at the Tate Britain, London, Sept 30th through Jan 18

Monday, September 29th, 2008


‘I give you all my money 2008’ by Cathy Wilkes, a finalist at 2008’s Turner Prize, via Guardian

The Turner Prize is exhibiting this year’s finalists starting September 30th at the Tate Britain, in London. Founded in London in 1984 to support the development of contemporary artists under 50 years of age, the prize is widely considered one of the art world’s highest honors. This year’s finalists are Runa Islam, Goshka Macuga, Mark Leckey and Cathy Wilkes–the first time in the prize’s history that three of its four nominees are women. The works shown run the gamut from installation art to film.  Past award recipients have included Wolfgang Tillmans, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor and Steve McQueen.

Turner Prize page at the Tate Britain
A mannequin on a toilet and dry porridge – it’s the Turner Prize
[Independent]
The Turner Prize 2008: who cares who wins?
[Telegraph]
Turner Prize Nominees Offer Supermarket Checkouts, Broken China
[Bloomberg]
Video: Take a tour of the Turner prize 2008
[Guardian]
Turner Prize 2008: Who’s Who
[Guardian]
Dummies and china compete for Turner
[Financial Times]
Turner fight begins again [Financial Times]
Nurses and Curses: Adrian Searle on this year’s Turner Prize finalists
[Guardian]

(more…)

Renderings of Herzog & De Meuron’s Tribeca tower with Anish Kapoor sculpture released

Thursday, September 18th, 2008


Rendering of Herzog & de Meuron’s 56 Leonard St. tower including the site specific sculpture designed by artist Anish Kapoor via Andrea Schwan Inc.

The design for Pritzer Prize winning architects, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron’s Tribeca tower was released earlier this week. The $650 million project will be 57-stories high with condominiums ranging from 1,430 square feet to 6,360 square feet, and is projected to be open in 2010. The tower is said to house 145 residences each with its unique floor plan and complete with a private balcony. The translucent skyscraper will be the first high-rise commission for the Swiss architects, who have had their hand in designing the Beijing National Stadium in China for the recent 2008 Olympic games, the Tate Modern in London, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco. The contemporary artist Anish Kapoor has been commissioned to install one of his signature stainless steel, reflective sculptures on the ground floor. The tower will appear to be resting a top his sculpture, and will be the first permanent public artwork for the artist in New York City.

Construction Begins On Herzog & De Meuron’s 56 Leonard Street [Artdaily]
Olympic Bird’s Nest architects design NY high-rise [Associated Press]
A Stack of Houses [NYTimes]
Fantastical Form in TriBeCa: Herzog & de Meuron’s 56 Leonard St. [NYSun]
At 57 Stories, 56 Leonard St. to Tower Over Tribeca [Tribeca Tribune]
One’s Huge, the Other’s Crazy [NYMag]
Herzog & de Meuron reach for the sky [World Architecture News]
Herzog & de Meuron’s Plans Unveiled for New York City Tower [ArtForum]
New York Developer commissions Anish Kapoor for Herzog & de Meuron residential project in Tribeca [ArtObserved]

(more…)

Newslinks for Sunday September 7th, 2008

Sunday, September 7th, 2008


the sculptor Anish Kappor via the Boston Globe

Sculptor Anish Kapoor set designs for an upcoming Akram Khan play featuring Juliette Binoche [National Theatre, London]
Are Olafur Eliasson’s waterfalls damaging the local natural environment? [ArtInfo]
Relating a past run-in with Francis Bacon and reflecting on his work before his retrospective at the Tate [The Independent]
Author Michael Gross’s ‘Rogues’ Gallery’ exposes the inner circles of the Metropolitan Museum of Art [ArtInfo] Aug 29
Gustav Klimt at the Tate Liverpool brings record attendance [BBC News] while the British National Gallery’s strategy of exhibiting newer artists leads to a sharp drop in paying visitors [Times Online] Aug. 31

Newslinks for Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008 via Serpentine Gallery

Gehry’s Serpentine Pavilion, reflective of his early style, up through October 19 [Serpentine Gallery]
–>
Sao Paolo police find $630,000 of stolen works, including a Picasso [BBC]
–>
Banksy posts a comment on his identity [Banksy.co.uk via The World’s Best Ever]
–>
Royal Academy announces upcoming Anish Kapoor retrospective [Artinfo]
–>
Sir Nicholas Serota, Tate Modern director, is ‘learning Russian fast’ to court philanthropic support of new extension [Russia Today ]

Dresses: a material focus.(WWD/MAGIC International)

WWD January 16, 1996 | Pogoda, Dianne M.

NEW YORK — Fabric is shaping up as the key element in summer dresses.

Most vendors say the emphasis on simplicity in silhouettes is casting a spotlight on texture and surface interest. Some are launching new lines, with a focus on a new fabric or new price, to spark spring sales.

Dressmakers are bringing spring/summer to WWD/MAGIC, for deliveries as late as May 30. They will show some transition and early fall, but said stores are ordering close to need and often require immediate deliveries of fill-in items.

Casual and business casual are the driving force behind growth in Jerell Inc.’s dress sales, said Sam Klapholz, vice president and national sales manager of the Dallas-based firm.

Jerell is launching a new line — 1431, a moderate label that retails between $59 and $79 — to complement its Melissa brand, which is aimed at specialty stores and retails for $100 to $120.

“We’re very excited about the casual revolution, because it gives a woman a new reason to buy a dress,” he said.

Klapholz cited heavily laundered denim and twill, with very soft hands, and combinations of wovens and knits as key fabric treatments.

“Anything with surface interest is very important,” he said.

As for silhouette, he said unfitted A-line and Empire styles are doing well, but the company is doing terrific business with shirlwaists. web site easrer dresses

`These really hit a nerve in the market,” said Klapholz. “They aren’t old-looking dresses, though. They’re modern, like the Ann Taylor style with double needlework, or military style with epaulets and great belts, in French cotton twill.” He also said the layered look was important, with vests over knit and woven dresses — “a twinset over a dress.” Mica is launching a new garment-washed denim group in its dress collections for spring, according to owner Judy Rabineau.

“They’re sweet, sexy little dresses in similar silhouettes to what we do in other fabrics, like rayon — halters, long fitted jumpers, sleeveless sheaths,” she said.

Mica will take orders for May deliveries at WWD/MAGIC, for the last of spring/summer. Rabineau said retailers expect quick turn on goods, and everyone is cutting very close to need.

Other key fabrics are shantung, rayon crepe pastel velvets, georgette and a printed rayon pique, which resists wrinkles and has been getting a strong reception.

The dresses are “cool and hip, but not junior-y,” she said, noting there are many women in their mid-to-late 40s who want youthful style, but don’t want to look as if they are dressing like their daughters.

She said prints are booking well, including bright novelty themes like fruits, random-placed florals or conversationals.

Kami Rehanian, president and designer of High Point, which makes day and evening dresses, said styles are “not gaudy” and fabric is the key element in spring style.

“From misses’ to juniors, women are looking for simple style, with less embellishment and embroidery,” he said. “It’s the same trend that’s happening in Europe. Women want something they can wear to many places, too, not just to the office.” Rehanian said suitings, especially pantsuits, and short skirts are leading choices for spring. He said triacetates, rayons, silk and linen blends and Lurex metallics are among the hot fabrics, which is where the fashion statement is made.

Jodi Schaff, owner of On Your Back, said basics — some with trim — and layers are key for the casual knit dresses she’s making for spring. The Doylestown, Pa.-based company is essentially a T-shirt maker, with dresses accounting for 20 percent of its business. Dresses, however, is a growing category, she said. here easrer dresses

One key style is a tie-back jumper with an easy fit that suits many bodies. The fabric is either combed cotton or a blend of cotton and Lycra spandex Colors, from basics like black, red, navy and ecru, to novelties like aqua, rose and chamois in overdyed heather jersey, are especially important.

Schaff said she will take orders for immediate delivery through May on spring/summer goods she’s bringing to WWD/MAGIC.

“Money is scarce, and stores are ordering much closer to season,” she said.

Simplicity is the buzzword at Brasseur/Davinci, said Danny Golshan, national sales manager of the Los Angeles-based ready-to-wear maker. The firm will show suits and dresses for spring/summer “We do basic styles, not too trendy, in large and misses’ sizes,” he said. The collection features embroidered suits with three or four-button jackets, and one- and two-piece dresses at $79 to $150 wholesale. Button treatments include metal and rhinestones, while lengths are mostly long, he said. Fabrics include linen, polyester crepe and triacetate.

Pogoda, Dianne M.

New York Developer commissions Anish Kapoor for Herzog & de Meuron residential project in Tribeca

Wednesday, July 9th, 2008

Artist Anish Kapoor via Billslater

Indian-born artist, Anish Kapoor, has been commissioned to design a large-scale public sculpture for a new residential tower in Tribeca. In addition to Kapoor, the New York-based real estate company, Alexico Group, has chosen the world-renowned Pritzker Prize winning architectural firm, Herzog & de Meuron to design the building. Izak Senbahar and Simon Elias, principals of the Alexico Group, have announced that the Kapoor sculpture will be installed at ground level and be fully incorporated into the architectural design. The designs for the building and sculpture that will sit at the intersection of Leonard and Church Streets, will be released in the fall, and construction is projected to be completed in Spring 2010 .

New Tribeca Tower to Include Kapoor Sculpture [Artinfo]
A New Tower For Tribeca [VanityFair]
Alexico Group Announces Manhattan Commission to Architects Herzog & De Meuron and Artist Anish Kapoor [Artdaily]
Swiss Firm to Design New TriBeCa Tower [NYTimes]
Alexico Group inked a deal with architects Herzog & de Meuron [NYDailynews]
Herzog & de Meuron and Anish Kapoor to Collaborate on New York Tower [InteriorDesign]
Tribeca Skyscraper to get Sculpture [TheRealDeal]

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Sotheby’s London Contemporary Art Evening Auction, July 1 – Preview

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Chant 2, Bridget Riley (1967) via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s is holding its Contemporary Art Evening Auction on Tuesday, July 1st at its New Bond St. location in London. The sale’s highlights include works from Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, Bridget Riley, Andy Warhol and a number of other notable contemporary artists. The complete body of works for this sale will be on view at Sotheby’s New Bond St. galleries Monday, June 30 from 9am-7pm and Tuesday, July 1 from 9am-12noon.

Bridget Riley’s piece, Chant 2, a unique color painting which will be in the sale, was part of a show which won the artist the esteemed International Prize for Painting at the 34th Venice Biennale in 1968 .

Estimate: $4,000,000 – $6,000,000 (Pictured above)

London Contemporary Art Evening Auction [Sotheby’s]

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