Sue Williams, Philip Zelikow, Historian (2013) All photos courtesy of 303 Gallery

303 Gallery presents Sue Williams WTC, WWIII, Couch Size, on view through February 22nd, 2014. Williams’ ninth solo exhibition with the gallery, this show features six new large-scale paintings, of ‘couch-sized’ proportion.  This titular reference to the commercial appraisal of artworks marks the comic butt of a seemingly sinister thematic program, which proclaims the World Trade Center and World War III as its subject. Williams’ nominal list introduces the ironic tone that colors her paintings, their dark subject matter bursting with chromatic brilliance and her signature comic levity.

(more…)

Francis Bacon, Portrait of George Dyer Talking (1966), via Christie’s

Another week of contemporary art auctions have come and gone, with a number of high-profile works changing hands in London this week, and a number of new records being for artists across the board.  All auction houses boasted strong sales results, with Christie’s once again taking the lead.

Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild 776-1 (1992), via Phillips (more…)

Vasily Kandinsky, Circles within a Circle (1923), Philadelphia Museum of Art: The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950
Photo Credit: The Philadelphia Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Compiling one of the more ambitious exhibitions of work recently shown on the Russian avant-garde, the recently closed exhibition on the work of Vasily Kandinsky offered perhaps one of the best perspectives on the developing voice of one of the 20th century’s most vital painters.  Charting his move from early impressionist works to the conceptually rigorous formalism that he developed as a consequence of his broader exposure to the European art world after his move to Germany, From Blaue Reiter to the Bauhaus, 1910-1925 is a fitting origins story for this influential artist.

Vasily Kandinsky (Installation View), via Art Observed (more…)

Andisheh Avini, Untitled (2013), Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York © Andisheh Avini, photo credit: Jason Wyche

For his first solo exhibition at Marianne Boesky Gallery since joining in 2012, artist Andisheh Avini presents a refined selection of recent works, informed by the artist’s own personal experience of his Iranian heritage, a subjective approach that he ultimately uses to explore broader and more collective notions regarding the relevance of both memory and imagery.

Andisheh Avini (Installation View), Courtesy of Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York © Andisheh Avini, photo credit: Jason Wyche (more…)

Francis Bacon, Portrait of George Dyer Talking (1966), via Christie’s

Following the first two weeks of the annual set of early-year auctions in New York and London this year, the market will focus its attention this week on contemporary works, with a trio of auctions taking place this week in London.  This year, the proceedings will kick off at Phillips in London on February 10th, and will see a day day break between auctions, with Sotheby’s joining the auction fray on the 12th, and Christie’s wrapping up the week on the 13th.

Roy Lichtenstein, Interior with Painting of Trees (1997), via Sotheby’s (more…)

A pair of George Condo shows on view in London showcase recent work by the artist both before and after a bout with Legionnaire’s disease, showcasing a wildly divergent pair of styles influenced by the artist’s inability to paint during his illness.  The works are on view at both Simon Lee Gallery and Skarstedt, opening concurrently with London’s contemporary auctions this week. (more…)

An article in Bloomberg this week traces the current speculation over young artists and the art market, detailing the increasingly seen practice of flipping young artists quickly after purchasing them.  Of particular note are the works of artists Lucien Smith and Oscar Murillo, whose works have seen increase of more than 3,000% in two years. (more…)

Gregory Edwards, Steady Work (Installation View), via ArtObserved

Gregory Edwards’ approach to abstraction is oddly figurative. For his latest solo show at 47 Canal, entitled Steady Work—the Brooklyn artist’s first since his solo debut in 2011—Edwards riffs on the inspirational sloganeering of the self-help genre. Featuring single words or short phrases painted amidst garishly colored, textured backgrounds, the show’s six works perhaps most strongly recall the increasingly vintage aesthetic of MS PowerPoint slideshows and WordArt.

Gregory Edwards, Steady Work (2013), via 47 Canal (more…)

The trailer for the Penn Gillette-directed film Tim’s Vermeer has been released, charting a computer graphics designer’s inquiry into the painting technique of Johannes Vermeer, and the impact it makes on the art world. (more…)

El Greco, The Annunciation, via Sotheby’s

The past week of Old Masters auctions in New York has concluded with a series of successful auctions at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s this week, bringing respectable sums that set the stage for the next two weeks of Modern and Contemporary Works at both houses.  Notably more subdued than last year’s competitive sales, a number of works still managed to drive the auctions beyond their anticipated figures.  Sotheby’s capped a series of well-attended auctions that brought in a total sum of $71 million, while Christie’s closed a series of auctions bringing in just over $65 million. (more…)

Albrecht Dürer, Bildnis der Mutter des Künstlers, Barbara Dürer, geb. Holper (1490) Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg Foto: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg

The Städel Museum in Frankfurt is currently presenting an exhibition of around 250 works focused on the art and influence of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, including 190 works by the artist himself, a massive project which required many loan negotiations with museums around the world. Dürer: His Art in Context gives an overview of the artist’s entire career, including 25 panel and canvas paintings, 80 drawings, and 80 prints and books. Also on display are works by some German, Italian, and Dutch artists who inspired Dürer, both contemporaries and those who worked before him, providing a context through which viewers can see the world of Dürer including Martin Schongauer, Hans Baldung Grien, Hans von Kulmbach, and Lucas van Leyden.

Albrecht Dürer, Melencolia I (Die Melancholie) (1514), Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main Foto: Städel Museum – ARTOTHEK

(more…)

Kazimir Malevich, Mystic Suprematism (red cross on black circle) (1920-1922), via New York Times

Kazimir Malevich’s impact on the early-Twentieth century Russian avant-garde is difficult to ignore.  Pushing forward the “new art,” he pioneered early minimalist practices and pushed the rupture of modernist art almost simultaneously with the Cubist deconstructions happening further west.  But it was Malevich that ultimately took these same processes to new abstractions, and perhaps what could be considered their limit, rendering pure geometric forms in contrasting, minimal explorations of color and space, ultimately developing the language that would come to define much of Twentieth century fine art.

Kazimir Malevich And The Russian Avant-Garde (Installation View), Via Stedelijk Museum Photo: Gert Jan van Rooij (more…)

Dana Schutz, Yawn 2 (2012), Courtesy Hepworth Wakefield Gallery

At The Hepworth Wakefield Gallery in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, is the first solo show in the UK for young artist Dana Schutz. Mostly made up of new paintings and drawings, the exhibition includes 20 vibrantly colored works depicting absurd, hypothetical situations.

(more…)

Philip Guston, Painter’s Head (1975), Courtesy Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt

On view at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is an exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of American painter and printmaker Philip Guston (1913-1980), with a selection of around forty works from the later part of his career.

(more…)

Christie’s London art auction next month will see the sale of another iconic Francis Bacon painting, a portrait of the painter’s lover George Dyer, which is estimated to sell for $49 million.  “These sellers understand margins, and the uplift can be colossal,” says dealer Alan Hobart. “The auction houses have the buyers at the top end of the market. It’s globalized money. Bacon is now an auction commodity.” (more…)

Collectors Keith and Katherine Sachs, longtime supporters of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, have endowed the institution with 97 works by Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Brice Marden and Gerhard Richter, among others, valued at over $70 million.  This museum has always been committed to contemporary art,” said Museum Director Timothy Rub. “Now, with the Sachs gift, we will have one of the best collections of contemporary art in the country. It’s transformative.” (more…)

Forbes has published its annual “30 Under 30” list for the worlds of Art and Design, featuring a number of promising young talents.  Among the list are artists Lucien Smith and Oscar Murillo, curator Alex Gartenfeld, and furniture designers Simon and Niki Haas. (more…)

Sotheby’s London has announced a non-selling exhibition of works from the collection of Alexey Ananiev, the Russian billionaire whose collection of Soviet Era Russian art will look to challenge the often kitschy perception of much work from the the second half of the twentieth century in the USSR.  “The best artists of communist times did work that was a continuation of the Russian realist art from the early 19th century,” Ananiev says. “With a historical pause of 15 or 20 years, we can now see and appreciate their art in full measure.”  (more…)

René Magritte (Belgium, 1898-1967). La clairvoyance (Clairvoyance). 1936. Oil on canvas. 21 1/4 x 25 9/16″ (54 x 65 cm). Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Ross. © Charly Herscovici -– ADAGP – ARS, 2013

The work of René Magritte is nothing if not recognizable.  His subtle, often humorous subversions of painterly convention and semiotic understanding are foundational elements of the early 20th century avant-garde, from  to his classic piece of semantic self-destruction, The Treachery of Images to the dreamlike paintings of imagined worlds and pastiched approaches to conventional subjects.  It’s these iconic works that form the center of the artist’s exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, examining his early works as the foundations of both his own career, and the vital lifeline of Surrealism in the twentieth century.

René Magritte (Belgium, 1898-1967). La durée poignardée (Time Transfixed). 1938. Oil on canvas. 57 7/8 x 39″ (147 x 99 cm). The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Joseph Winterbotham Collection. © Charly Herscovici -– ADAGP – ARS, 2013 (more…)

The Tate Gallery is the subject of controversy, after including work by one of its trustees, the Turner Prize-winning artist Tomma Abts.  “This is all very wrong. There are tens of thousands of artists in this country who would give anything to have their work at the Tate. It seems blatant favouritism that works by their own trustees should be repeatedly selected,” said artist Charles Thompson.  “And it goes without saying that having a painting exhibited at a prestigious national gallery can only enhance the artist’s earning power.” (more…)

A selection of authentic works by Egon Schiele have been discovered  in Austria.  The portfolio of works were discovered in the attic of a recently deceased man’s home, when his son was cleaning.  “When I saw Schiele’s signature on one of the pics I thought it was probably a copy. I never dreamed it might be genuine,”  he told local news. (more…)

New research is indicating that most artists make their best, most valuable work at the age of 42.  Studying the work of 200 of the most prominent artists around the world, researchers found that the average age at which they produced their highest valued work at auction was usually made at two thirds into their life.  The number fits startlingly well with Fibonacci’s “golden ratio” of 0.6180, which has long been seen to guarantee proper proportions in the arts. (more…)

As the investigation surrounding the Knoedler Gallery continues, The Art Newspaper traces a number of fake works that are still out in the market.  Two fraudulent pieces are currently held in the storage of The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri, and others have continued to circulate through various resales.  “I unloaded my victimhood,” says Bernard Kruger, a doctor who purchased a fake Richard Diebenkorn from the gallery, and who later resold it. (more…)

Peter Doig, I Think it’s Time (1982-83), via Michael Werner

Currently on view at Michael Werner Gallery in New York is an exhibition of works by Scottish artist Peter Doig, meant to be indicative of his formative years, including several works that have never been on public display before.  Displaying the artist’s signature, boundary-breaking approach, the show is a fitting complement for anyone interested in the painter.

(more…)