Marianne Boesky Gallery has announced that it will open a new exhibition space in downtown New York, titled Boesky East.  Located at 20 Clinton Street, the space will open its doors May 4th with an installation by Pier Paolo Calzolari.  “I’m looking forward to expanding our reach into such an exciting neighborhood for art,” Boesky told Art Observed.  “Clinton street will be a wonderful complement to our Chelsea and Uptown locations.”

Following a steady stream of artists moving upstate, David Hammons has purchased warehouse space in Yonkers with the intent to turn the space into a gallery for showing new work.  The news comes after architect and artist Maya Lin purchased space in the town late last year.  “Now others in the art world want to join the transformation taking place in Yonkers,” Mayor Mike Spano said. (more…)

Larry Gagosian is preparing to add another pair of New York exhibition spaces to his already impressive set of spaces, including a new space at Park Avenue and 75th, and a temporary exhibition space on Delancey Street in the Lower East Side, both of which will open next month with shows of new sculpture by Urs Fischer.   (more…)

Chuck Close is in the Wall Street Journal this week, discussing his recently renovated apartment in the East Village.  Close bought the apartment in 2011, and has installed a number of works from his collection, as well as painting the walls a bright red, inspired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  “All artworks that interest me are constructed,” he says.  “They don’t have to be massive works. They just have to engage me.” (more…)

The construction of an enormous tower next door to the Art Students League has raised fierce debate among members and supporters of the institution.  The soon to be built Extell Building will stand as one of the tallest buildings in the world, with several cantilevered segments hanging over the school, for which developers will pay the organization $31 million.  While many at the Art Students League are eager to accept the money, others worry about rushing into a deal that may ultimately endanger the school’s future.  “The League is too beautiful and too venerable to be messed with like this,” says member Beth Karts. “Some things in this world, like the League, are worth a lot more than money.” (more…)

The government of Qatar has purchased the former East 64th Street gallery previously owned by the Wildenstein international art dealing family, with an estimated sale price of over $100 million.  “In many ways, it’s a little bit the soul of this company and the soul of this family, so seeing it go will be difficult,” dealer David Wildenstein said. (more…)

The Guardian reports on the rising rent and low return on investment in the rapidly developing London neighborhoods of St. James and Mayfair, and the impacts the growth in high-end construction is having on the long-standing galleries of the area.  The story centers around Cork Street, where a number of storied London galleries are located.  “I am an angry old man,” says gallerist Leslie Waddington of the 80-year old gallery Waddington Custot. “Cork Street has been built up over the years and relies on a mix of different galleries. We are the victims of a kind of commercial fascism, where those making decisions based on profit feel they are unaccountable.” (more…)

W Magazine profiles the sprawling rural estate of two anonymous New York City collectors in the Hudson Valley region, a site which formerly served as the working farm of the James Cagney estate.  Featuring works by Sol LeWitt, Monika Sosnowska, Franz West and Jeppe Hein, the site is a new adventure for the couple.  “We’d see people pack up their cars on a Friday night and laugh,” they say. “But we always considered ourselves sculpture collectors—and in a New York City apartment that’s a hard thing to do.” (more…)

Sotheby’s is currently searching for a new headquarters in New York City, but any move or purchase still hinges on the auction house’s ability to sell its current location at 1334 York Avenue on the Upper East Side, and for which it is still accepting bids. “We continue to explore options as we determine what’s best for Sotheby’s now and in the future, but no decisions have been made,” says Andrew Gully, Sotheby’s worldwide director of communications. (more…)

Another activist investor is making waves at Sotheby’s.  Richard McGuire, the head of Marcato Capital Management LLC (currently the third-ranking stockholder at the company) is apparently engaged in behind the scenes talks to convince the auction house to sell off its New York and London locations, while unlocking money from its smaller dealings in art finance and dealing.  Some have anticipated such a move could free up to $1.3 billion in cash, enough to buy back nearly a third of the company’s stock.  “Sotheby’s is committed to healthy two-way communication with its investors and welcomes thoughtful suggestions as we pursue our common goal of a strong, growing, competitive Sotheby’s open to new opportunities,” said company spokesman Andrew Gully. (more…)

The Financial Times reports on the growing trend for artists seeking large live-work spaces in New York.  Profiling the live-in studios of Vik Muniz, Cai Guo-Qiang and Lawrence Weiner, the article traces the appeal of working from home, especially as Muniz notes: “no matter how you succeed in your career, you will always be nostalgic for the time when your working table and your bed were next to each other.” (more…)

A new development on the Lower East Side has been green lighted by city authorities, and will include a New York outpost for Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum.  Essex Crossing, a $1.1 billion development planned by L+M Development Partners, BFC Partners and Taconic Investment Partners, will include a community center, rooftop garden, as well as the 10,000 square foot space occupied by the museum. (more…)

Andy Warhol’s former uptown home at 1342 Lexington Avenue has just sold for $5.5 million, just two years after its owners purchased it for $3.5 million, and spent $1 million on a full refurbishment and restoration.  Warhol lived in the apartment from 1959 to 1974, a time that marked some of his most iconic works.  “Whenever we had an open house, we’d get lines of people who just wanted to come by and take photos,” said broker Glenn Minnick. (more…)

Rumored since earlier this summer, Sotheby’s Uptown New York headquarters is now officially on the real estate market, following the recent share acquisition by activist investors.  The auction house has already entertained several bids for the space, but has not disclosed an asking price.  “It’s premature to speculate, as the process is still continuing.”  Said spokesman Andrew Gully. (more…)

The Wall Street Journal reports on the current state of Sotheby’s auction house going into the fall art season, detailing the company’s increasing stock price despite sales that have been less than exemplary.  With a series of high-profile investors now on board, including the recent addition of Daniel Loeb’s Third Point, Sotheby’s has a number of options standing before it to increase its value for shareholders. (more…)

The rural home of Pablo Picasso in Mougins, France, where the artist spent the last 12 years of his life, is up for sale, with a momentous asking price of $220 million.  Originally purchased for $13 to $16 million by a Belgian art dealer, the asking price stands at well over 8 times its previous sale price. (more…)

The former Paris studio where Pablo Picasso waited out the Nazi occupation and painted some of his most famous works, among them Guernica, is currently embroiled in a bitter argument between a private arts education group that currently occupies the space rent free, and the building’s owners, who want the group gone.  Calling them “squatters,” the firm owning the building has made moves to evict the group, despite sharp protests.  “It was abandoned and we renovated it completely, respecting its original state,” said Alain Casabona, spokesman for the occupying group, the Comité National Pour l’Education Artistique. (more…)

A group of artists, led by Jules de Balincourt, are taking active measures to prevent the ongoing cycle of gentrification from driving them from their studio spaces in the North Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick.  The rising rents in the swiftly gentrifying neighborhood has some artists pushing to take a stand before they are priced out.  “Ten years ago, artists were paying $1 a square foot. Now, in some cases, it’s as much as $4,” says artist William Powhida. “We’re seeing floors subdivided into smaller and smaller spaces, and landlords are charging more and more money. It certainly prices out a number of artists.” (more…)

Maurice and Paul Marciano, known as the co-founders of Guess Jeans, have purchased the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, with the intent of turning the space into a museum for their contemporary art collection.  The property was purchased by the Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation, for the price of $8 million. “We have been looking for a home for the collection,” said William F. Payne, a spokesman for the foundation. “It’s a legacy project for the family.” (more…)

Sotheby’s has placed its York Ave. Headquarters on the Upper East Side of Manhattan up for sale, sources report.  The auction house will be looking to potentially lease back the building for the time being, as it looks to readdress its current home.  “Given the location of our building, the current real estate market, the unsolicited interest we’ve received in our property and our responsibility to our shareholders, we are exploring our options,” Sotheby’s spokesman Andrew Gully said. (more…)

Dealer Matthew Marks is currently selling his West Village apartment, built in 1830 by painter Abraham Rattner.  The building boasts impressive renovations, all made since the building was purchased in 1997.  “At home, we like to move the furniture around, repaint and change the art frequently, but after 16 years, we’ve tried all the combinations and it’s time to move on.”  Marks said. (more…)

A range of new real estate projects worldwide are embracing the intersections of luxury living and artistic communities, using local artistic cultures to bolster the property offerings of new developments.  Tying creative culture closely with high-value properties, developers and real estate agents are using the creative spirit of their property locations to lure interested buyers. “(These developments) encourage buyers to truly invest in an area and not buy and sell simply to make money.”  Said Argentinian developer Alan Faena.
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980 Madison, the block long building currently home to Gagosian Uptown alongside several other art galleries and exhibition spaces on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, is currently up for sale.  Sources report that the building owners are looking to take advantage of a hot New York sales market, and some are reporting that the building could be worth over $400 Million.   (more…)

The rapidly skyrocketing rent prices in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood is driving out many of the galleries that brought the area to prominence a few years earlier.  The neighborhood’s rapid growth has attracted a number of high-profile clients that have caused fierce competition over much higher rent prices, and middle-sized galleries are feeling the pinch.  “The mid-range galleries are going to just vanish from Chelsea,” says gallerist Magdalena Sawon of Postmasters Gallery, effectively eliminating “anything radical or experimental.”   (more…)