| | Christie's Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale Sets Records, Realizes $155,995,500
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A Christie's employee poses with artist Claude Monet's "Les Peupliers" at Christie's auction house. The piece, estimated to fetch up to $30 million (18.4 million pounds), was auctioned in New York on May 4, 2011. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor.
NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale achieved $155,995,500 (£93,597,300/€104,516,985), demonstrating the continuing appeal of this category among collectors worldwide. Three works sold for over the US$20 million mark, and two new artist records were set for the Fauve artist Maurice de Vlaminck and the neo-Impressionist artist Maximilien Luce. In total, sell-through percentages were strong, with 82% sold by lot and 81% by value. The top lot of the sale week for any auction house was Claude Monet’s Les Peupliers, one of the most celebrated of the artist’s great series of works from his years in Giverny. Painted en plein air during the summer of 1891, the work is the largest of the artist’s paintings devoted to a picturesque arrangement of poplar trees. Offered in pristine condition from an important private collection, the painting sold for $22,482,500 (£13,489,500/€15 ... More |
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Vlaminck Crowned with New World Auction Record Paysage de Banglieue Realizes $22.5 Million
Maurice de Vlaminck, Paysage de Banlieue, 1905, oil on canvas, Price Realized: $22,482,500.
NEW YORK, NY.- A new world auction record was set for the French artist Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958), at Christie’s New York tonight. The vividly-hued 1905 landscape, a fitting tribute to springtime in New York, sold for $22,482,500 (£13,489,500/€15,063,275). The magnificent Fauvist landscape – a highlight of the pre-sale exhibition - was fought over by multiple bidders before a rapt audience. Conor Jordan, head of Impressionist & Modern Art at Christie’s New York, won the lot after four minutes of bidding on behalf of a unidentified client on the phone. It bested the previous auction record for the artist of $10,756,419, set in 1990 for his work Les Pecheurs a Nanterre, of 1905-1906. With a pre-sale low estimate of $18 million, the Fauve masterpiece by the celebrated French landscape painter — universally lauded as the “wildest of the Fauves” (or “wild beasts” as they were dub ... More | | Mayor Michael Bloomberg Opens Exhibit by Detained Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei
A detail from a sculpture installation, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads," by detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. AP Photo/New York City Hall, Spencer T. Tucker.
By: Samantha Gross, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP).- New York's art community and Mayor Michael Bloomberg honored detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei on Wednesday, unveiling his giant bronze sculpture installation even as he remains imprisoned in his homeland amid a recent crackdown on dissent. "Artists risk everything to create," Bloomberg said, standing before the 12 animal heads rising from Manhattan's Pulitzer Fountain. "But artists like Ai Weiwei, who come from places that do not value and protect free speech, risk even more than that." The mayor said Ai's willingness to take risks speaks to his courage, "but also to the indomitable desire for freedom that is inside every human being." Hundreds of lawyers, activists, and other intellectuals ... More | | Karla Black, Martin Boyce, Hilary Lloyd and George Shaw Nominated for Turner Prize
London-based video artist Hilary Lloyd who has been short listed for the 2011 Turner Prize. AP Photo/BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.
By: Mike Collett-White
LONDON (REUTERS).- Two Scottish sculptors are among four nominees for the 2011 Turner Prize, one of contemporary art's most prestigious and controversial awards, following the success last year of Scotland's Susan Philipsz. Karla Black, the youngest of the nominees aged 38, was born in Alexandria, Scotland, and lives and works in Glasgow, as does Hamilton-born Martin Boyce, aged 43. Completing the shortlist announced on Wednesday were English artists Hilary Lloyd, 46, a London-based filmmaker, and 44-year-old George Shaw, a painter who works in North Devon. The annual prize awards British artists aged under 50 for an "outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the twelve months preceding." Established in 1984, ... More |
 | Exhibition of Prints by Pierre Alechinsky Opens at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Le Test du Titre (The Test of the Title), 1966. An album of six etchings, 35x50; 38.3x48.2. Copy 12/54. Publisher: Éditions Georges Visat, Paris. Gift of Fonds de Solidarité avec Israel , Paris (June 1967).
TEL AVIV.- Tel Aviv Museum of Art presents Pierre Alechinsky's 'The test of the Title'. Pierre Alechinsky (b. 1927, Brussels), an interdisciplinary artist who has worked in painting, drawing, print, writing, and filmmaking, studied book illustration and typography at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et des Arts Décoratifs in Brussels (1944-46). In 1949 he joined the CoBrA ( COpenhagen , BRussels , Amsterdam ) group (1948-1951) which formed a year earlier in Paris as an alternative to the declining Surrealistic tendency in contemporary painting. The group members believed that the pursuit of pure psychic automatism in the spirit of Surrealism swept its followers to over-concentration on matter, against ... More | | Artist Anish Kapoor to Create a New Artwork for the Vast Nave of Paris' Grand Palais
File photo of Anish Kapoor standing in front of his work "Shooting into the Corner". AP Photo/Lilli Strauss.
PARIS.- Each year MONUMENTA invites an internationally-renowned artist to turn their vision to the vast Nave of Paris’ Grand Palais and to create a new artwork especially for this space. MONUMENTA is an artistic interaction on an unparalleled scale, filling 13,500m² and a height of 35m. The first three MONUMENTA exhibitions were hugely successful, drawing in 150,000 visitors over five weeks. In 2007, the first challenge was met by German artist Anselm Kiefer, who resides in France, followed by American artist Richard Serra in 2008 and French artist Christian Boltanski in 2010. For its fourth incarnation, the French Ministry for Culture and Communication has invited Anish Kapoor, one of his generation’s greatest artists, to produce a new work for the Nave’s monumental space, from 11th May ... More | | Smithsonian Scientists Find that First Rainforests Arose When Plants Solved Plumbing Problem
Image of leaf veins of a tropical forest tree. Photo: STRI.
WASHINGTON, D.C.- A team of scientists, including several from the Smithsonian Institution, discovered that leaves of flowering plants in the world’s first rainforests had more veins per unit area than leaves ever had before. They suggest that this increased the amount of water available to the leaves, making it possible for plants to capture more carbon and grow larger. A better plumbing system may also have radically altered water and carbon movement through forests, driving environmental change. “It’s fascinating that a simple leaf feature such as vein density allows one to study plant performance in the past,” said Klaus Winter, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, who was not an author. “Of course, you can’t directly measure water flow through fossil leaves. When plants fix carbon, they lose water to the atmosph ... More |
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Paul Gauguin Bust Made in Tahiti Sells at New York City Auction for $11.3 Million
This sculpture dated circa 1890-1893 was sold at auction by Sotheby’s in New York for $11.3 million. AP Photo/Sotheby's.
NEW YORK (AP).- A rare wooden sculpture of a Tahitian girl by Paul Gauguin sold for $11.3 million at auction Tuesday. The "Young Tahitian" bust, last seen by the public in 1961, had been estimated to bring $10 million to $15 million, the Sotheby's auction house said. The sculpture is of a serene-looking Tahitian girl wearing large earrings and a necklace of coral and shells the French artist collected and strung himself. It's the only known fully worked three-dimensional bust he made. Gauguin, a post-Impressionist master, spent many years in Tahiti painting the island's beautiful women, flowers and lush tropical landscape. He presented the sculpture, "Jeune tahitienne" in French, to a friend's 10-year-old daughter in 1894 after promising her he would bring her a gift from the South Seas. Many years later, that girl, Jeanne Fournier, entrusted a Dominican priest to sell the sculpture. ... More | | Detroit Institute of Arts Names African American Gallery for Roy and Maureen Roberts
Maureen and Roy S. Roberts are well-known philanthropists in the areas of the arts, culture and education.
DETROIT, MI.- The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) has named a gallery of contemporary African American art after Maureen and Roy S. Roberts. Roy Roberts is a retired General Motors (GM) group vice president, and he and Maureen Roberts are well-known philanthropists in the areas of the arts, culture and education. “We are delighted to name a gallery after Maureen and Roy, whose generous gift will help us continue to provide our community with imaginative, high-quality programs and exhibitions,” said Graham W. J. Beal, DIA director. “Their support affirms the role art plays in enhancing the quality of life and the named gallery is a wonderful legacy for their family.” The DIA is the only encyclopedic fine arts museum in the world with a curatorial department devoted to African American art. The Maureen & Roy S. Roberts gallery is one in a ... More | | Auction House Bonhams Appoints Jane Beattie as Their New Representative in Ireland
Jane is well known to the Irish Art world having spent ten years with Adams Fine Art Auctioneers.
LONDON.- Bonhams, the international fine art auction house, has appointed Jane Beattie as the company’s representative in Ireland, based in Dublin. She started her new role on April 26th. Matthew Girling, Bonhams CEO for Europe and the Middle East, comments: “We are delighted to have secured the services of Jane Beattie. She will doubtless build on our presence in Ireland which is one of the great storehouses of art and antique treasures in Europe with a very educated and growing group of art buyers.” Jane is well known to the Irish Art world having spent ten years with Adams Fine Art Auctioneers, who were previously in partnership with Bonhams. Jane was the first female Associate Director appointed by Adams. Last October she joined the Oliver Sears Gallery in Molesworth St, Dublin, as a fine art consultant and valuer. A fully accredited arts surveyor and a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (R ... More |
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Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Acquires 24-Hour Video The Clock by Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay. Courtesy White Cube, London and Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Photo: Dr. J Caldwell.
BOSTON, MA.- A unique and compelling new work created by world-renowned sound and video artist Christian Marclay has been acquired jointly by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), and the National Gallery of Canada (NGC). Entitled The Clock (2010), this ode to time and cinema comprises thousands of fragments from a vast range of films that create a 24-hour, looped, single-channel video. “Christian Marclay’s The Clock is a mesmerizing work of video art that captures the dynamic nature of time. We are particularly pleased to be able to premiere it in Boston during the unveiling of the MFA’s Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art in September,” said Malcolm Rogers, Ann and Graham Gund Director of the MFA. “The acquisition of The Clock reinforces how contemporary art is part of a rich continuum at our encyclopedic museum and highlights exciting new directi ... More | | Auctioneer Noel Barrett Promises "Something for Everyone" in His May 21 Sale
McLoughlin’s Go Bang, from a large selection of antique games. Noel Barrett Auctions image.
NEW HOPE, PA.- As its title promises, Noel Barrett’s May 21 auction has “something for everyone” within its 714-lots, from fresh-to-market holiday items and antique games to coveted clockwork toys and salesmen’s samples. The Saturday event commencing at 10 a.m. at the Eagle Fire Hall in New Hope, Pa., will feature items from the collections of Philip and Ann Henderson, and Rex Horchem. The eclectic array of treasures opens with a small selection of Christmas Dresdens and diecuts; Thanksgiving candy containers and decorations; and an extremely rare clockwork Halloween veggie man with moving eyes. Auction company owner Noel Barrett commented that the early 20th-century papier-mache veggie man, which stands an impressive 16 inches tall, was quite likely used as a store window display piece, a k a sales stimulator. “This is only the second such vegetable man to have surfaced in recent memory,” sa ... More | | Johannesburg Saves Nelson Mandela's Old Law Offices, Turns Them into Museum
Advocate George Bizos tours the building. AP Photo/Denis Farrell.
By: Donna Bryson, Associated Press
JOHANNESBURG (AP.- The central Johannesburg building where Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo had a historic law office was on the verge of collapse. Now, city officials hope it will anchor a renaissance. Amos Masondo, the mayor of South Africa's largest city, on Wednesday showed off the results of 5 million rand (about $750,000) spent over the past year to turn Chancellor House into a museum and archive. Mandela and Tambo, who each would go on to lead the African National Congress, opened the country's first black law partnership on the top floor in 1952 and closed it in 1960, when their political work made it impossible to keep practicing. Masondo has another 2 million rand (about $300,000) budgeted for the finishing touches of the renovation and to install the planned museum tracing the building's ... More |
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 1850 Severin Roesen Masterwork Expected to bring $600,000+ at Heritage AuctionsDALLAS, TX.- A magnificent 1850 still life by German-born American painter Severin Roesen, Still Life with Fruit and Flowers in a Landscape, is expected bring more than $600,000 as the central highlight in Heritage Auctions' Signature® Fine American, European Art & Western Art Auction on Tuesday, May 17 at the company's Design District Annex, 1518 Slocum Street. "This rare example of Roesen's early work was produced only two years after the artist's arrival in the United States from his native Germany where he had trained as a porcelain painter," said Dr. Marianne Berardi, Senior Fine Arts Expert at Heritage. "The sophisticated composition has its roots in the lavish still lifes of the eighteenth-century Dutch and Flemish masters of the genre, such as Jan van Huysum, Jan Frans van Dael and the Spaendoncks. The beautiful design, combined with Roesen's dazzling technical skills and attention to naturalistic detail, ... More First Edition of One of Earliest Printed History Books for Sale at BonhamsLONDON.- A fine first edition of one of the earliest printed histories, the Nuremberg Chronicle (or Liber chronicarum) of July 1493, is for sale at Bonhams Printed Books and Manuscripts sale in London on 7 June. It is estimated at £25,000-30,000. The most lavishly illustrated printed book of the 15th century, the Nuremberg Chronicle is, essentially, a history of the known world. One of the first books to combine text and illustration successfully it contains over 1800 woodcuts including world and European maps and city views. It is one of the most famous and sought after incunables – the technical term for books printed before 1500. Written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel - in Germany the book is known as Schedel’s World History - it was produced in Nuremberg by Michael Wolgemut and published by Anton Koberger, the Renaissance equivalent of a publishing tycoon, who owned printing presses throughout Europe. Koberger&# ... More Works by Artist Embedded with the British Army in Afghanistan Exhibited at BonhamsLONDON.- In February 2010 the Suffolk-based artist, Jules George, was sponsored by the Ministry of Defence to visit Afghanistan as an officially sanctioned war artist embedded with 2 Yorks (Green Howards), part of the 11th Light Brigade. The results of his time in Afghanistan with the British Army will be exhibited at Bonhams in New Bond Street, from Friday July 22nd to August 5th. Viewing times will be from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday (no weekend viewing). The works range in price from £180 to several thousand. The artist has pledged to donate a percentage of all sales to the charity Combat Stress, Britain’s leading charity which specialises in the mental health care of ex-service men and women. Bonhams will match this contribution. Sketching on the move and under fire was stressful and required a quick learning curve, George says. The experience has suited the raw energy ... More Art Fund Collect Offers £75,000 to Museums and Galleries for New Craft PurchasesLONDON.- For the fourth consecutive year the Art Fund is collaborating with the Crafts Council to run Art Fund Collect, a £75,000 initiative offering selected curators the chance to win an object for their public collections at COLLECT. Art Fund Collect 2011 takes place on Thursday 5 May, the preview day of COLLECT. Shortlisted curators are granted special access to the fair, ahead of VIPs and private buyers. They will have just one hour to pick an object they wish to purchase, before presenting their selection to the expert judging panel. Winners will be selected on the day – watch this space for more information. Look out for shortlisted and winning objects at the fair – each one will be marked with an Art Fund Collect plaque. Thirty-seven galleries from around the world will be exhibiting at the Saatchi Gallery at this year’s exhibition, taking pl ... More Native Life in the Americas: Artists' Views at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and EthnologyCAMBRIDGE, MA.- The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and Tozzer Library present a new exhibition, Native Life in the Americas: Artists' Views. The exhibition opens today, May 4, 2011, in Tozzer Library and will remain on view through February 28, 2012. Native Life in the Americas: Artists' Views showcases the work of important though not well-known artists who focused on Native American life and culture. This exhibition displays selected prints and books from the Tozzer Library collection, looking beyond the familiar 19th-century white male painters to include women artists, Native artists, and even one living artist. The exhibition also includes artists who were primarily illustrators, designers, and printmakers rather than painters. The geographic focus of the exhibition is North America, though Mexico, Central America, and the Andes are also re ... More United States Demand for bin Laden Memorabilia SoarsNEW YORk (REUTERS).- After 9/11, President George W. Bush famously urged Americans to shop to bolster a shocked U.S. economy. Now after Osama bin Laden's killing, consumers are snapping up memorabilia of his dramatic killing. The website Zazzle, which lets customers submit designs for items such as t-shirts and buttons, said Wednesday it has handled thousands of orders this week for merchandise related to Osama bin Laden's death. Marketing Director Mike Karns said Zazzle has fielded tens of thousands of submissions for designs, including one that was submitted Sunday almost an hour before U.S. President Barack Obama officially announced bin Laden's death. "It's been boiling up for 10 years and this is the moment where people can finally express this sentiment," Karns said. Popular items include a keychain saying "Osama Bin Killed" with crosshairs over a caricature of bin Laden and t-shirts thanking the U.S. Navy Seals unit that killed him. Street vendors from New York to Chicago ... MoreRare Cosmetic Box by Imperial Artist A Highlight Bonhams Japanese SaleLONDON.- A rare and important early 20th century cosmetic box by Asahi Gyokuzan is one of the highlights of the Fine Japanese Art sale, taking place on the 12th May at Bonhams, New Bond Street. Asahi Gyokuzan was a designated Imperial Court Artist and one of the most famous and influential carvers in Japan during the Meiji Period (1868-1912). The cosmetic box made of white paulownia wood, estimated to sell for £200,000 – 250,000, represents the hallmark of the finest Japanese art: the depiction of the transience of nature. The decoration both on the outside and inside of the box encapsulates the changing seasons. Asahi Gyokuzan deliberately used the medium of a box, since it can be opened and closed, and in doing so creates a series of stories and movement: the stages of the flowering Chrysanthemums representing Autumn, the flying birds on the inside of the box, and the light droplets of water, inlaid in mother-of-pearl. ... More |
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