Researchers have proven a long held belief that there is a hidden painting beneath Picasso’s iconic The Blue Room.  Using infrared scanning technology, experts revealed a portrait of a bow-tied man, resting his head on his hand buried under the layers of the finished painting.  “It’s really one of those moments that really makes what you do special,” said Patricia Favero, the conservator of the Phillips Collection.  “The second reaction was, well, who is it? We’re still working on answering that question.” (more…)

Panterapantera’s Zerzura (2014) outside Messe Basel, photo by Maria-Anna Goess for Art Observed

The doors have opened at Messe Basel for the VIP preview of Art Basel this year, launching the sales of the franchise’s flagship art fair into full swing. Despite the crowded schedule of major fairs this year (Basel Hong Kong closed less than a month ago), the first hours of the fair were as packed as expected, as all-star dealers and collectors vowed for the works on sale. Tico Mugrabi, Dasha Zhukova, Steven Cohen, and the Rubell family could all be seen wandering the aisles of the fair, and the brisk pace of sales seemed to match the star power of those in attendance. (more…)

Guillermo Kuitca, Untitled (2013), all images courtesy Sperone Westwater

On view at Sperone Westwater in New York, NY is an exhibition of new works by Argentinean painter Guillermo Kuitca, featuring large scale works with a concept of fragmentation and fractured forms, including a painted, room-like structure visitors can pass freely in and out of. The exhibition will continue through June 21st, 2014.

Guillermo Kuitca, This Way (Installation View) (more…)

Matthew Barney is interviewed in The Guardian this week regarding River of Fundament, which premieres in London later this month. In the interview, Barney discusses his work with Norman Mailer, the public’s incredulous reception to the movie thus far, and Barney’s atypical, cinematic narrative style that will continue to carry out his reputation for producing ambitious works in the future. “It’s to do with the way my brain is wired,” he says. “It’s a type of slowness I have with regard to resolving things and connecting the dots. The specifics really come quite late. There is a willingness for the work to develop organically.”

(more…)

Filmmaker Matt Black explores the creative philosophy of Jeff Koons during a studio visit for a new video profile on Nowness, delving into the artist’s work and inspiration.  “Much of his work focuses around the idea of sensuality and being alive,” Black says. “It’s not a cold world he creates.” (more…)

Ai Weiwei has backed the new Digital Arts website The Space which will commission and showcase new art online for website visitors.  The artist has also donated the names of 5,196 student victims from the Sichuan Earthquakes in 2008, in the hope that The Space will use them to create a new work.  “It gives another opportunity and a platform for artists or somebody like me to work with. I believe many, many young people and students will love it,” Ai says.  (more…)

A recent investigation has shown a number of cities across the U.S. failing to enforce a law requiring property developers to allocate a small percentage of cost for any construction project to fund public art, and many organizations are clamoring to enforce the laws.  “It’s really a question of making people aware that this law is on the books,” says Tom Chestnut of the Buffalo Arts Commission, who has pushed to enforce a related law in the Western New York city. (more…)

Venus Over Manhattan’s Adam Lindemann has penned an op-ed for Gallerist today, humorously reflecting on the popularity of Instagram among collectors, dealers, artists and consultants, and his love of those willing to ruthlessly critique any and all contemporary art.  “It’s perfect for people with zero attention span, zero education and zero interest in learning about anything—perfect, in other words, for the art collectors of today,” he writes. (more…)

The New York Times has penned a new report on the ongoing disputes between MoCANoMI and the City of North Miami, with disagreements running all the way up to who is currently the director of the museum.  With both sides filing lawsuits over alleged injustices, and a potential move to Miami Beach being threatened by MoCANoMi, both sides are claiming control over the museum and its collection.  “It is as if a child is born and in turn says it is the mother of its mother,” says Babacar M’Bow, the man appointed as director by the city but disputed by the museum board. (more…)

The most recent issue of Vanity Fair is causing a commotion in the art world this week, following its nude photograph of Jeff Koons exercising on a fitness machine.   “Koons, at 59, has already begun a strict exercise-and-diet regimen so that he will have a shot at working undiminished into his 80s, as Picasso did,” the article notes. (more…)

Following concerns over possible damages during a renovation at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York, Pablo Picasso’s immense stage curtain painting Le Tricorne will be moved to the New York Historical Society.  “It’s going to be at a good home, where even more people will see it,” Landmarks Conservancy President Peg Breen said. (more…)

The New York Times notes an increased trend for galleries around the world to embrace unique exhibition spaces and showing rooms, favoring houses, industrial spaces and other new spaces over the traditional gallery.  “A house feels more exclusive and private than standing around in a gallery,” said Stuart Lochhead, the director of Daniel Katz Ltd., which recently set up shop in a 5-story townhouse in London . “Someone would feel comfortable in a space like this after stepping off a G5 from Los Angeles.” (more…)

Bloomberg takes a look at the current arts community in Cuba, and its long, robust tradition of arts over the past century.  The article also goes on to discuss a loophole in the U.S. embargo which allowed America collectors to purchase artworks and prints under the classification of “informational material,” and which led to a surge in the market during the 1990’s.  “The arrival of foreign collectors sounded an alarm for the Cuban government,” says dealer Luis Miret Pérez. (more…)

When the famous artist Lucian Freud died in 2011, he left behind assets of £95 million, none of which went to his daughter Lucy Freud nor her siblings. Allegedly enduring a difficult childhood with a detached father of multiple affairs, Lucy Freud still believes she is a rightful heir to the fortune and continues to speak up for her siblings,”I don’t believe Dad had it in him to be specifically derogatory to us as a group. I don’t believe he would have done it.”

(more…)

Part of the fanfare surrounding Jeff Koons’s retrospective at the Whitney, H&M will turn its 5th Avenue shop into a miniature Jeff Koons exhibition, featuring a special purse branded with the artist’s signature Balloon Dog.  “The partnership with H&M was really exciting for me,” Koons says, “and the chance to showcase one of my most popular works to a new generation of people was inspiring.”  (more…)

Newly released documents in a civil court case against Ann Freedman have shown that one of the forged Jackson Pollock paintings purchased by the former Knoedler Gallery director herself had misspelled that name of the artist as “Pollok.”  “Freedman, Knoedler and their so-called ‘experts’ claim not to have seen forgeries even when it was literally (mis)spelled out for them,” lawyer John Cahill quipped in an email to the New York Times. (more…)

Richard Prince, Cheese & Crackers (2008), via Art Observed

Showing for the first time since Richard Prince settled his lawsuit with photographer Patrick Cariou over several of the source photographs, Gagosian’s uptown location is currently presenting Canal Zone, the series of photo and paint collages that sat at the center of the legal dispute for the first time since 2008. (more…)

The Guggenheim’s currently under construction space in Abu Dhabi is hosting a preview exhibition of its collection, showing 16 works in the exhibition  “Seeing Through Light: Selections From the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Collection” at Manarat later this year.  “It is small in nature because the space, a temporary exhibition gallery used to foster audience engagement for the three museums, is only about 15,000 square feet,” says Curator Susan Davidson. (more…)

David Shrigely is interviewed in the Financial Times this week, as he prepares to open his specially commissioned installation at Sketch Restaurant in London.  In the interview, Shrigley discusses his choices for the restaurant, and his education as an environmental artist in Glasgow.  “I really enjoyed art school but I didn’t do very well,” he says. “They all thought I wasn’t taking it seriously, but I was. They just didn’t think I was a very talented artist.” (more…)

The New York Times profiles Gertrude, a recently organized project that holds salons for the viewing and discussion of art.  Taking famed art its and Paris social lynchpin Gertrude Stein as its inspiration, the organization allows interested groups to gather for the appreciation and examination of art.  “If you do a high-level description of what the art world is, you have the commercial side of the art world, which is about selling art work, and then you have institutions on the other end of the spectrum, with education as the main goal,” said founder Kenneth Schlenker.  “What we want to offer is something in the middle that’s an educational experience and a social one.” (more…)

An Henri Matisse painting from the collection of Cornelius Gurlitt has been confirmed as Nazi loot, the Art Newspaper reports.  A task-force has uncovered that the 1921 work Femme Assise was taken from the collection of the Paris-based dealer Paul Rosenberg.  “Even though it could not be documented with absolute certainty how the work came into [Cornelius Gurlitt’s father] Hildebrand Gurlitt’s possession, the task force has concluded that the work is Nazi loot and was taken from its rightful owner Paul Rosenberg,” says researcher Ingeborg Berggreen Merkel. (more…)

Darren Bader at Andrew Kreps (Installation View), all images courtesy Andrew Kreps Gallery

Working at the intersection of installation, sculpture, and writing, Darren Bader’s newest exhibition at the Andrew Kreps Gallery forces viewers to question authorship as well as the relationships between creator, viewer, and object. The gallery describes the exhibition as being made up of three shows, distinct but occupying the same space: a show on the walls, Photographs I Like; a show on the floor, To Have and to Hold; and a show on a piece of paper at the front desk.

(more…)

RoseLee Goldberg, the curator and art historian founded who founded Performa is in the New York Times this week, reliving some of her favorite moments from the ten-year history of the festival, including performances by Jesper Just, Mike Kelley and Francesco Vezzoli.     (more…)

Blackstone Group LP vice chairman James Tomilson Hill has been acknowledged as a billionaire this week by Forbes Magazine, after his stake in Blackstone rose to $585 million yesterday, complementing the avid art collector’s broad selection of works by artists like Peter Paul Rubens, Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol.  “I don’t like to talk about the financial aspect of art,” he said in a recent interview. “Collecting art is a highly personal endeavor.” (more…)