The Royal College of Art Secret Postcard fundraiser via The Guardian

-The Royal College of Art’s Secret 2009 event has 2,500 postcards for sale for £40, made by artists including Anish Kapoor, Grayson Perry and Yoko Ono.  Though buyers don’t know who the artist is until after they buy. [Times UK]

-Penelope Curtis has been appointed director of Tate Britain, the first woman to hold a directorship at Tate. [Guardian]

-Tracey Emin opens a new exhibition in New York, that, while popular, comes nowhere near the levels of sales or attendance she normal receives in Britain. [NY Times]

An artist’s rendering of Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Cirkelbroen’ bridge to be built in Copenhagen via Artinfo

-Olafur Eliasson has designed a bridge to be completed by 2012 in Copenhagen’s harbor. Called ‘Brikelbroen,’ the bridge is comprised of five circles that take pedestrians on a winding path rather than straight across. [Artinfo]

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

Head of a Muse, Raphael via Guardian UK

-Offered for the first time at public auction as part of Christie’s Old Masters sale, Raphael’s drawing “Head of a Muse”- a study for a figure in one of his Vatican frescoes, if it achieves its estimate £12-16million, will break the auction record for an old master drawing currently held by Michelangelo’s and Leonardo da Vinci’s works [Guardian UK]

-As art collectors become more cautious with their purchases, dealers at Frieze and FIAC fairs put works on reserve, among them $40 million Mondrian allegedly put on hold for Bernard Arnault [Bloomberg]

-Ms. Temkin, the chief curator of painting and sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, introduces unexpected changes, unframing certain paintings and subjecting the almost sacralized permanent collection to frequent renewal [The New York Times]

“Your Mercury Ocean” Skateboard by Olafur Eliasson via aarting

-Another collaboration between Mekanism and Olafur Eliasson results in a 13-ply deck 3d patterned skateboard with a mirror coating [aarting]
-In related, Olafur Eliasson commissions by the mayor of Copenhagen to design a bridge for the Danish capital; the artist shares his plans for a transparent bridge in a close vicinity to the water [The Art Newspaper]

– The survey carried out by the Art Fund, the UK’s independent art charity, shows that despite the substantial drop in public funding and investment income, a figure that proves to grow in the context of economic fall is the number of visits to museums [Art Knowledge News]

-In the midst of economic uncertainty, gallery Matthew Marks, which represents artists such as Jasper Johns, and Peter Fischli and David Weiss, plans on expansion with a new space on the West Coast [The New York Times]

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

Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain, Paris via fiac.com

The action at France’s biggest art fair, Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) in Paris came to a stand still on Saturday, October 24. The aftermath of FIAC, much like Frieze before it, is buzzing with discussion surrounding sales – big and small. On Saturday Bloomberg News reported that Piet Mondrian’s abstract Composition With Blue, Red and Yellow, valued between $30 and $40 million, was put on hold while a wealthy buyer made up their mind. Similarly, it seems the Pablo Picasso painting, Femme Ecrivant, was reserved by a potential buyer during the first few hours of FIAC’s VIP preview on October 21.

Galerie Suzanne Tarasieve – photo by Art Observed

More text and related links after the jump….

(more…)

–>
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…)

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]

The opening of Juergen Teller’s ‘Paradis’ at Lehmann Maupin Gallery all photos by ArtObserved or courtesy of the gallery

Last week marked the start of the new gallery season with a number of Chelsea galleries opening their doors on Thursday night. Coinciding with Fashion Week was the opening at Lehmann Maupin of Juergen Teller’s fifth exhibition with the gallery, ‘Paradis.’ Originally commissioned for the French magazine Paradis, the exhibition features Charlotte Rampling and Raquel Zimmermann, whom Teller has photographed previously, alone and nude in the Musée du Louvre.

Juergen Teller: Paradis [Lehmann Maupin]
Photographer Juergen Teller: “It’s Time for You to Take Your Clothes Off” [Wall Street Journal]
Lehmann Maupin – Juergen Teller: Paradis Photography Exhibition [Freshness]
Bringing Humanity To The Fashion World [Style.com]
Cathy Horyn & Juergen Teller Talk Paradis [Elle]

Juergen Teller’s ‘Paradis’ via Lehmann Maupin Gallery

(more…)

Francis Bacon – Man in Blue VI via TimesUK

Francis Bacon’s ‘Man in Blue VI’ highlights Christie’s February 11th sale [BBC]
Museums cut budgets as endowments shrink [Art Newspaper]

Art Dealer and White Cube Gallery owner Jay Jopling and Artist Sam Taylor-Wood via the DailyMail

On the fractious Jay Jopling and Sam Taylor-Wood “£100m divorce” and a brief history of the couple [DailyMail]
Art galleries Guild & Greyshkul, Cohan and Leslie, and Roebling Hall are the latest to close [Artnet]
The Guggenheim museum sets record attendance [Cranes] as does The Louvre [ArtInfo]
Fashion brand Lucien Pellat-Finet to collaborate with artist Marc Quinn [Vogue]

Lucio Fontana – Concetto spaziale, 1961 via ArtDaily

Sotheby’s February 5 London Contemporary Art Evening auction to sell
Lucio Fontana’s rediscovered Concetto spaziale (1961) at at estimate of £5-7 million [Reuters]
The total value of London’s art auctions in February are a mere 23% of 2008 levels [Bloomberg]
Scores of artists settle in Sunset Park, Brooklyn’s “Industry City” [NYMag]
Art colleges as hype machines? [GuardianUK]

Hiroshi Sugimoto’s cover for U2 via Blitz.pt

Hiroshi Sugimoto is the cover art for U2 new album [Rolling Stone]
Edward Winkleman offers tactics for art galleries to weather a recession [ArtworldSalon]

Sam Taylor-Wood via TelegraphUK

Sam Taylor-Wood, YBA artist turned filmaker (and wife of White Cube Gallery owner Jay Jopling), to direct John Lennon film [FirstPost]
Selling dealer weighs in on the Leonardo Da Vinci portrait authenticity debate [NYTimes]
More on the contemporary art market’s surge in China [Financial Times]
Louvre to lend 17th-century art to Japan [ArtInfo]
Charlene Weisler documents NY Street art [New York Sun]
A critique of Jeff Koons-in-Chicago as “overexposure” [WallStreetJournal]

Louvre’s glass-roofed Islamic wing via Guardian

The Louvre Museum in Paris has commenced the construction of its new Islamic art wing with plans to finish it in 2010. The new wing, which is being called “The Veil”, has been described by its Italian architect, Mario Bellini, as a Muslim “headscarf blown in the wind.” The $100 to $135 million project will provide 33,000 square feet of space to exhibit the Louvre expansive Islamic Art collection. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has claimed that the wing is more than a space to exhibit Islamic art but also a symbol of the friendship that exists between France and the Arab world. The Saudi prince, Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world’s wealthiest men, is contributing $20.5 million to the project, other funding is coming from oil giant Total and Lafarge, as well as the French government.

Louvre draws a veil over artistic neglect with bold new Islamic wing [Guardian]
Prince funds Louvre Islamic wing [BBC]
First stone laid for Louvre’s Islamic art gallery [Associated Press]
Sarkozy lauds Islam at Louvre ceremony with Saudi prince [AFP]
Islamic Art [The Louvre]

(more…)

Starry Night over the Rhone, Van Gogh via NYTimes

‘Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night’ coming to The MOMA [NYTimes]
Details of contract for the Louvre Abu Dhabi revealed [TheArtNewspaper]
In industry executive news: MoMA’s Chief Curator of Paintings and Sculpture says ‘Good-Bye’ [NYSun]
In other executive moves, DIA Art Foundation has a New Director, Philippe Vergne [NYMag]
More executive news: Neil MacGregor, of the British Museum, declines directorship of the Met [TIME]
In page six today: Andy Warhol criticized in memoir by former friend and Ahn Duong, former flame to Julian Schnabel and Simon de Pury, ends her marriage [NYPost]