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Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale, Attese (1968). All images via Haunch of Venison and the estates of the artists.

The Elena Geuna curated “Afro Burri Fontana” exhibition is on now at Haunch of Venison‘s Chelsea space, 550 W. 21 St, and focuses on Italian artists Afro, Alberto Burri, and Lucio Fontana. Showing five paintings by each artist, Haunch’s international director Emilio Steinberger explained that the gallery sought to create a balanced show that would make evident the original dialogue between the three post-WWII Italian abstract artists and their American contemporaries.

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Cy Twombly, The Artist’s Shoes (2002)

On view at Palais des Beaux-Arts is Cy Twombly: Photographs 1951-2010, featuring a series of 100 photographs selected by Twombly before his death in 2011. Known for his paintings that subtly changed the course of contemporary art, Twombly had been a productive photographer since his student days. However, it wasn’t until late in his career that photographs were exhibited to the public. Taken with an instant Polaroid camera, Twombly’s photographs are consistently out of focus, concentrating on the ethereality in mundane objects such as a pair of slippers, a lemon, a can of paintbrushes.

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Cy Twombly, To Vivaldi (1960). All photos courtesy Eykyn Maclean and the Sonnabend Collection, New York © Cy Twombly Foundation.

Nineteenth and twentieth century artworks gallery Eykyn Maclean is exhibiting Cy Twombly works from the Sonnabend Collection in its London space, and the works will move to New York City in April. The exhibition consists of eleven pieces from the collection of Ileana Sonnabend, who ran the Sonnabend Gallery for over thirty years, until her death in 2007. Ileana Sonnabend was an early supporter of Twombly, and shortly before his death in 2011, he said of her that “she had the eye.” Many of the works have not been seen in public before, and are part of Sonnabend’s son’s personal collection. The works span several phases of Twombly’s career, beginning with various Twombly-scribbles on large, light canvases from the fifties. Each of the works, from the fifties through the sixties, presses the boundary between writing and painting, revealing the physicality in both.

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Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild at Galerie Sho Booth, Pier 92

On the third and final day of the Armory Show 2012 both spirits and sales were high amongst the 228 exhibitors. Besides the notable success of David Zwirner’s solo booth by Michael Riedel, which sold out entirely in the first 30 minutes of the fair, many of the other galleries also benefited from the sales of their high-ticket items throughout the three-day exhibition. Art Observed spoke with representatives from various exhibitors including the Susan Sheehan Gallery, Spanierman Modern, Meredith Ward Fine Art, Art in General, Sprüth Magers, and the Gary Snyder Gallery. (more…)

‪‬Miami condo developer Martin Margulies collateralizes $80 million loan for 24-story tower from U.S. Trust with 59 pieces of modern art including works by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Cy Twombly, and Jasper Johns [AO Newslink]

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‪Late painter Cy Twombly and his American advisers allegedly evaded $38.8 million in Italian tax on approximately 40 paintings sold from 2005 to 2009. Although Twombly’s eldest son Alessandro was due to receive $150 million in cash via the Cy Twombly Foundation in New York, funds were seized and cannot be released until the legal battles clear [AO Newslink]

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‪Cy Twombly Foundation grants Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) $300,000 to artists-in-residence, honoring the recently deceased, Virginian-born contemporary artist, as well as VCCA Fellow and Advisory Councilman. [AO Newslink]

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Alberto Burri, Combustione Legno, 1957 (est. $1.2-1.9 million, realized $5 million), via Sothebys.com

Sotheby’s London hosted a pair of auctions on Thursday evening that raised a combined total of $62 million. The 20th Century Italian Art sale, comprised of 58 lots, was followed by a 47-lot Contemporary Art sale. The $34 million achieved for the Italian auction was the highest total for an auction in this category, while the Contemporary sale fell just short of its $30 million low estimate. The mixed results suggest that there is money to be spent on the most desirable lots and that buyers are not willing to shell out for anything less. The sales progressed amid demonstrations outside the auction house by protestors of the company’s months-long battle with their art handlers in New York.

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Nicolas Poussin, Seven Sacraments: Confirmation, ‘Twombly and Poussin: Arcadian Painters’ (1637-1640), all images via Dulwich Picture Gallery

Dulwich Picture Gallery in London exhibits the recently deceased American contemporary artist Edwin Parker “Cy” Twombly  (April 1928-July 2011) with 17th century classical French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) in an exploration of the Arcadian style. The exhibition opened on June 29th, just 6 days before Twombly’s death on July 5th, 2011, and will run through September 25th, and is exhibited alongside Tacita Dean‘s Film “Edward Parker”.

Cy Twombly, Quattro Stagioni: Inverno, ‘Twombly and Poussin: Arcadian Painters’ (1993-5)

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

Image via New York Times.

Celebrated painter Cy Twombly died today at the age of 83.  Twombly passed away from cancer in Rome, where he has been living since 1957.  Known as somewhat of a recluse, Twombly usually did not write about his work or give interviews.  One of the exceptions to this was made in 2008 when Twombly spoke to Nick Serota, director of the Tate. “I had my freedom and that was nice,” he said.

Born Edwin Parker Twombly, Jr.  in 1928 in Lexington, Virginia, and nicknamed “Cy” by his father, the artist was known for his calligraphic style. Writer, critic and assistant professor at the San Francisco Art Institute Claire Daigle writes, “Twombly arrived in Manhattan in 1950 while the New York School painting of Pollock and de Kooning was in full swing. Upon Robert Rauschenberg’s encouragement, Twombly joined him for the 1951–1952 sessions at Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Carolina – a liberal refuge [staffed by] influential teachers present at this time [such as] Charles Olson, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell and John Cage.” In 2001, Twombly won the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale.

Cy Twombly, Untitled, (Peony Blossom Painting), 2007. Image courtesy Gagosian Gallery.

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Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait, 1963-64 (est. $20-30 million, realized $38.4 million). All images via Christies.com.

Christie’s nearly white-glove sale of of Post-War and Contemporary art on Wednesday night brought in more than twice as the equivalent sale at Sotheby’s on Tuesday evening. Sixty-three of sixty-five lots sold for a whopping $301.7 million, giving the sale a sell through rate of 95% by lot and 99% by value. The total beat the high presale estimate of $299 million despite the fact that a Rauschenberg combine estimated to fetch between $12-18 million was withdrawn from the sale. Wednesday night’s results were the best the auction house has seen for a Contemporary evening auction since May 2008 (that sale realized $331 million). Bidding went on for about two hours, approximately fifteen minutes of which was spent on a single lot. Two telephone bidders chased Andy Warhol‘s blue self-portrait, one on the phone with Brett Gorvy of Christie’s and the other with Philippe Segalot, formerly of Christie’s. The audience laughed as bidding escalated in $100,000 increments and cheered each time one contender took a bigger leap ahead. In the end Gorvy’s buyer was triumphant and paid $38.4 million for the four-part piece, which was estimated to fetch between $20-30 million. The sale was a record for a Warhol portrait (self or otherwise) at auction.

Mark Rothko, Untitled No. 17, 1961 (est. $18-22 million, realized $33.7 million)

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Cy Twombly, Camino Real II, 2010. All images courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

On October 20th, Gagosian Gallery inaugurated its Paris space with an exhibit of five new paintings by Cy Twombly, grouped under the title “Camino Real,”  as well as a selection of the artists’ bronze sculptures.  The opening of Gagosian’s ninth gallery was scheduled to coincide with the start of FIAC, the International Contemporary Art Fair, which took place in Paris from October 21 to 24.  These works will be on display in the gallery’s project room until December 23, 2010.

Cy Twombly, bronze sculptures exhibition view, 2010.

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Cy Twombly, The Ceiling, 2010

Cy Twombly is the first contemporary American artist to create a permanent work for the Louvre: a 3,750-square-foot painting on the ceiling of the Salle des Bronzes. A council of international experts selected Twombly to paint the mural for one the oldest and largest wings of the museum, in keeping with the Louvre’s commitment to incorporating modern art within its galleries. Along with Anselm Kiefer of Germany and Francois Morellet of France, Twombly is the third artist to paint a decorative work for the Louvre since 2007.

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Portrait of Geoff Dyer Talking, Francis Bacon (1966) at FIAC, Paris

If Frieze opened willing to court the unavoidable media speculation about sales or the lack of them: FIAC, and the exhibitors it houses this year, have in the early stages proved characteristically reticent. Not to mention laconic. At least on the surface. This morning there was little sign that much of Paris and beyond would descend on the Grand Palais and the Cour Carrée du Louvre at noon.

Jeff Koons’s giant rabbit at the Covent Garden in London via Hypebeast

A giant helium-filled Jeff Koons balloon made its UK debut on October 8th, the inflatable rabbit floated above central London, it will be displayed in Covent garden [The Independent]
Coinciding with the Frieze fair, the 10th Turbine Hall commission launches, Baldessari’s retrospective opening the same day, Hayward Gallery presents Ed Ruscha, Turner Prize coming up and many other shows and openings, turn London into the center of attention [Guardian UK]
Frieze art fair excites not merely the International art scene, but also the social diaries of those who like to mingle with the rich and famous [Guardian UK] the contemporary art event even has installations to turn its visitors into the subjects of the artwork. [The Independent] Only displaying works by contemporary living artists, Frieze has been considered 1-dimensional in the past. Frieze helps London take over the art world in October [The Independent]- but not without competition, as FIAC, the Parisian fair, is to begin next week and may steal the battle as art collectors in today’s economic climate are forced to pick which fairs they will be attending [The Wall Street Journal]

Unrecognized work by Leonardo Da Vinci via Antiques Trade Gazette

A drawing sold at auction for $19,000 in the late 1990s is now attracting attention for its authorship, if by Leonardo Da Vinci, a theory that recent research strongly suggests, the work could be worth as much as $147 million [Bloomberg]
The Wapping Project in London, often compared to Tate Modern, is expanding with the opening of the Wapping Project Bankside- a new gallery reminiscent of a New York loft to feature film, video and photography almost “a stone’s throw” from Tate [The Moment]
The Whitney Museum of American Art’s plans for a second Renzo Piana location have advanced [The New York Times]

To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week … (more…)

Installation view of Cy Twombly’s sculpture show via Gagosian Gallery

The Gagosian Gallery Uptown is currently exhibiting the recent sculpture works of Cy Twombly. The show coincides with several others around the world that highlight diversity of themes and media that comprise Twombly’s oeuvre. Among these is the inaugural exhibition of Gagosian Athens outpost titled “Leaving Pathos Ringed with Waves” assembled of the artist’s  four new paintings. The other two exhibits are “Cy Twombly: The Natural World, Selected Works, 2000-20007” at the new wing of The Art Institute of Chicago and “Cy Twombly: Sensations of the Moment” held at Museum Mederner Kunst, Vienna. The New York-based show is on view until October 31st, 2009.

Cy Twombly in front of one his paintings via The Guardian

Related links:
Gagosian Gallery
Cy Twombly Press Release [Gagosian]
Gagosian Athens Inauguration Press Release [Gagosian]
Cy Twombly: The Natural World [The Art Institute of Chicago]
Cy Twombly: Sensations of the Moment [MUMOK]
Jonathan Jones on Cy Twombly [The Guardian]
Eli Broad Bags a Twombly at Gagosian [Lindsay Pollock blog]
Cy Twombly “Eight Sculptures” [NY ArtBeat]

More text and images after the jump…

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The show is comprised of works by 63 artists, with some pieces showing publicly for the first time. The sweeping comprehensiveness of the exhibition allows for a juxtaposition of artists rarely seen. Paintings by Claude Monet accompany those by Cy Twombly and Paul Signac. Cubist Georges Braque brings the cartoons of Jean Dubufett into sharper relief. Included are Paul Cézanne and Abstract Expressionists Mark Rothko and Sam Francis, in an exhibition that shows even the pop art of Andy Warhol and the Surrealist paintings of Salvador Dalí.

Ferdinand Hodler, “le Grammont,” at Fondation l’Hermitage. Image courtesy of the museum.

Yves Klein, “ANT 20,” at Fondation l’Hermitage. Image courtesy of the museum.

Initially founded in 1984 with the Bugnion Family collection, Fondation l’Hermitage now boasts over 600 works, shown in rotation along with its temporary exhibitions. The Fondation is also home to a collection of 12th-19th century Chinese porcelain, donated by the Vergottis Foundation and on permanent display in its underground space.

René Magritte, “La Ruse Symétrique,” at Fondation l’Hermitage. Image courtesy of the museum.

Paul Klee, “Felsenlandschaft,” at Fondation l’Hermitage. Image courtesy of the museum.

Edgar Degas, “Danseuses (Danseuses au repos),” at Fondation l’Hermitage. Image courtesy of the museum.

– R. Fogel

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A view of the Cy Twombly retrospective at MUMOK.

A retrospective of Cy Twombly’s work is currently showing, for the first time in Austria, at Museum Moderner Kunst [MUMOK].  On view until October 11, the exhibition includes 200 pieces, ranging in medium from photography to painting, sculpture to drawing, as well as graphic works.  The exhibition, curated by Achim Hochdorfer, features works drawn mostly from private holdings.

Related links:
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Cy Twombly
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MUMOK: Cy Twombly
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First Retrospective for Cy Twombly in Austria at Museum Moderner Kunst in Vienna [Artdaily]
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Cy Twombly – Sensations of the Moment – Restrospective [FineArtPublicity]
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Cy Twombly’s Masterpieces Inaugurate Abbott Galleries for Special Exhibitions [FAD]
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Museum Moderner Kunst (MUMOK) opens First Retrospective for Cy Twombly in Austria [Art Knowledge News]

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The Rose (2008) by Cy Twombly, via Gagosian Gallery

Currently on display at Gagosian’s Britannia Street Gallery in London are five new monumental paintings by American artist Cy Twombly.  Each painting depicts four wood panels with three vibrantly colored roses in full bloom.  The colors of the roses range from deep burgundy to bright orange, violet, crimson, and gold against a turquoise background.  Stanzas from “Les Roses” by German poet Rainer Maria Rilke are inscribed on the last panel of each painting. The poems inspired this series of works and tell of the artist’s characteristic coupling of painting and poetry.

Exhibition Page: Cy Twombly: The Rose
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Last-Chance Timeless Beauty: ‘Cy Twombly: The Rose’ shown at the Gagosian Gallery, London [Financial Times]
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Cy Twombly Covers Walls of Gagosian Gallery with Giant Roses [Bloomberg]
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Cy Twombly: The Rose [Art Newspaper]
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Charles Spencer: How my admiration for Cy the scribbler blossomed. [Daily Telegraph]
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Titian and Twombly: the most youthful of old masters [GuardianUK ]

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Abstraktes Bild 809-3 (1994) by Gerhard Richter, via the Tate

Under a program called “Artist Rooms,” the British public (and anyone visiting the United Kingdom) will be able to enjoy a large and diverse collection of contemporary art, including works by Joseph Beuys, Jenny Holzer, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Diane Arbus, Gerhard Richter, Gilbert and George, Damien Hirst and other prominent and influential artists ranging from the immediate postwar period to the present.

The works originally belonged to Anthony d’Offay, one of contemporary art’s most powerful dealers and collectors. d’Offay relinquished his 725-piece collection worth £125 million to the British and Scottish governments; the dealer effectively sold his collection to the governments for £26.5 million, far below market value . The collection was then transferred it to the National Galleries of Scotland and the Tate.

The works are set up in a series of 50 rooms featuring 25 artists, located at 18 galleries and museums throughout the United Kingdom, in an ambitious effort to broaden the audience and geographical reach of contemporary art. Sir Nicholas Serota, head of the Tate, expressed the hope that the show could be kept on the road indefinitely(as reported last February by Art Observed here).  The Art Fund, an arts charity, is working in conjunction with the Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland, and has pledged £250,000 a year to help keep the “permanent tour” going.

“Artist rooms” marks the first time a national collection is being shown simultaneously across the UK, and the first room will open on March 2nd, 2009 at the Tate Britain, featuring the work of Ian Hamilton Finlay.

Rooms with a view: £125m art collection tours UK [Guardian]
Art collection to be split and shown around UK [Reuters]
Artist Rooms Collection of Contemporary Art Goes Nationwide [ArtDaily]
British Dealer Anthony D’Offay Sells 725 Works to Tate for Reported Fifth of Their Value [ArtObserved]
Exhibition page: Artist Rooms collection at the Tate
Exhibition page: Artist Rooms collection at the National Galleries of Scotland

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Untitled (Peonias series) by Cy Twombly, on display at the Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain

100 of Cy Twombly’s works, including paintings, drawings and sculptures are on display at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, marking the most comprehensive show the artist has had in thus far in Spain and highlighting the tremendous influence Cy Twombly has had on postwar art. Curated by Carmen Gimenez, Guggenheim Bilbao’s curator of 20th Century art, the exhibition is a joint effort between that museum and the Tate Modern, and is arranged in roughly chronological order, featuring some well known Twombly pieces.

Nine Discourses on Commodus (1963), a recent acquisition belonging to the Guggenheim Bilbao’s permanent collection, is a nine piece polyptych that is also a central piece in the exhibition. Meant to be viewed together, the panels are a meditation on Commodus, a Roman Emperor and son of Marcus Aurelius, reflecting Twombly’s career-long interest in antiquity and mythology. Ferragosto (1961), a five piece set which was actually the first series of paintings conceived as such by Twombly. The series, which unlike Commodus can be viewed as separate pieces unto themselves, was previously spread across the collections of several museums and private collections; the display at the Guggenheim is thus a unique opportunity to see them all at once. Quattro Stagioni (1993-5), a series currently housed at the Tate Modern in London which revolves around seasonal themes, symbols and colors, is another important series on display.

Many of the works are on loan from renowned arts institutions, including the Tate Modern in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris as well as from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Menil Collection of Houston and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among others. The exhibit occupies the entire second floor, and a gallery on the first floor of the landmark museum designed by Frank Gehry, a setting which is a work of art itself and can be seen to interact with the works in the exhibit.

CY TWOMBLY
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Guggenheim Museum
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Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain
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through February 15, 2009

Artist Page: Cy Twombly at the Gagosian Gallery
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Exhibit page: Cy Twombly at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
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Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao Celebrates Cy Twombly’s 80th Birthday with Exhibition [ArtDaily]
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Previously on ArtObserved: GO SEE: CY TWOMBLY AT TATE MODERN, UK, THROUGH SEPTEMBER 14

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Guernica, Pablo Picasso (1937) via BBC

Picasso’s famous Guernica in ‘stable but serious’ condition and deemed ‘too fragile to move,’ more here [Daily Telegraph] [The Guardian]
Bravo picked up Sarah Jessica Parker’s art reality show, covered in March by AO here [Gawker]
The Sun on Twombly’s first retrospective in 15 years, showing at the Tate Modern [NYSun]
Review of Richard Prince at Serpentine: ‘the coolest artist alive’ [Telegraph]
The Economist begins a summer series on collectors, starting with a historical view [The Economist]
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich finances Russia’s first retrospective by postwar artists in a 150 work show at his girlfriend ‘Dasha’ Zhukova’s galllery [Bloomberg]

Cy Twombly, Quattro Stagioni: Autunno, (1993-5) via Tate Modern

From June 19 – September 14, the Tate Modern presents the first solo retrospecitve of Cy Twombly in 15 years.  Twombly, an abstract expressionist painter, is regarded as one of the most influential artists of our time.

Cy Twombly at Tate UK [Tate Modern]
Cy Twombly at Tate Modern, London [Gagosian Gallery]
Cy Twombly – Cycles and Seasons [Digital Arts]
Tate Unites London, New York Versions Of Cy Twombly’s Great Painting Cycle [HulIQ]
Cy Twombly is the only graffiti artist I care about [Guardian UK]

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