| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Wednesday, November 8, 2023 |
| | | Have art auctions become 'Must-See TV'? | |
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In an undated image provided via Sothebys, the auctioneer Oliver Barker, chairman of Sothebys Europe, presides over the Freddie Mercury sale on Sept. 6 in London. Talking with a teleprompter makes it smoother, more professional, said Barker. (via Sotheby's via The New York Times)
by Carol Vogel
NEW YORK, NY.- As Sothebys and Christies prepare for the start this week of the major New York auctions of impressionist, modern and contemporary art at which a 1932 Pablo Picasso is expected to bring in more than $120 million teams of tech experts, producers and show directors are readying their salesrooms as if they were CNN Central. They have made more space for roving video cameras, LED screens and expert lighting by shrinking their once-valued seating for collectors and dealers by about 30%. Just like a television station, both auction houses have added control rooms filled with producers and directors who watch every camera angle and monitor where the action is in the salesroom. Their attention is not only on auctioneers but on the banks of telephone bid-takers who drive the nightly drama, advising their clients from London to Hong Kong to Doha, Qatar, when competing bids are received. These livestream feeds can capture the energy of the moment, Gillian Gor ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Installation view, David Adamo, On the Fence @ rodolphe janssen, Brussels, Belgium. 2023. Photo © Hugard & Vanoverschelde.
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| Four men charged in the case of the missing golden toilet | | Olympia Auctions announces inaugural dedicated sale of Chinese and Japanese Works of Art | | Important work by Mary Cassatt emerges after six decades n the same private collection |
The 18-karat gold toilet, an artwork by the Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. (Tom Lindboe, via Blenheim Art Foundation via The New York Times)
by Alex Marshall
NEW YORK, NY.- Four years ago, a fully functioning 18-karat gold toilet was stolen from an art exhibition at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. On Monday, Britains Crown Prosecution Service announced that it had authorized charges against four men in connection with the theft of the golden loo an artwork by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, titled America, which had been on display as part of an exhibition at the palace, which is in Oxfordshire, England. The Crown Prosecution Service said in a news release that it had charged James Sheen, 39, with burglary, conspiracy to transfer criminal property and transferring criminal property; Michael Jones, 38, with burglary; and Fred Doe, 35, and Bora Guccuk, 39, with conspiracy to transfer criminal property. The four men ... More | |
A Large Pair of Chinese Famille-Rose Fish Bowls, Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng Period (1723-35). Estimaate: £40,000 - £60,000.
LONDON.- Olympia Auctions inaugural dedicated sale of Chinese and Japanese Works of Art presents a diverse range of Chinese Works of Art from the Neolithic period, Liangzhu Culture (3,300-2,300BC) to the Warring Sates Period (475-221BCE), through the Ming (1368 to 1644) and Qing Dynasties (1723-35), concluding in the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). The sale includes ceramics, bronze vessels and figures, jades including a green jade cong, archers rings and small animals. Also lacquer, paintings including ancestor portraits, posters and silk panels. Estimates range from £100 - £60,000, and 22 of the 126 lots are offered without reserve. From the Neolithic period, a Chinese mottled green jade cong, Liangzhu culture (3,300 2,300BC) is carved to each corner with a stylized mask beneath striated bands. This is from a private collection, acquired in Japan in the 1990s. There is a very ... More | |
To be offered by Ader Auction House on November 24 with an estimate around 1 million.
PARIS.- On the occasion of the forthcoming sale Art Impressioniste on 24 November 2023 at Hôtel Drouot in Paris, the auction house of Ader will unveil Mary Cassatts Portrait de Jeune Fille au Chapeau Blanc, estimated at 800,000 to 1,200,000. The American painter, an emblematic figure of Impressionism and one of the rare female artists of the movement alongside Berthe Morisot, produced this striking portrait in 1879, the year of the fourth Impressionist exhibition, a reflection of her commitment as ambassador of the movement to her American compatriots. This painting illustrates the singularity of her art and her perfect technical mastery of both colour and form. Born in 1843 in Pennsylvania, Mary Stevenson Cassat travelled frequently to Europe with her family, notably to Paris and Germany. Once back in Pennsylvania, she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and then, in 1866, returned to Paris where ... More |
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| Leopold Museum presents first exhibition dedicated to the oeuvre of Gabriele Münter in Austria | | Excavation reveals Beckford's hidden Grotto is double the expected size | | Original works of art commissioned for Playboy to be offered a Bonhams |
Gabriele Münter, Fruits and Flowers, 1909 (detail) © ALBERTINA, Vienna - The Batliner Collection. Photo: ALBERTINA, Vienna - The Batliner Collection © Bildrecht, Wien 2023.
VIENNA.- The comprehensive retrospective shows more than 130 works by the artist, including paintings, drawings and printed graphic works, and honors her largely unknown photographic oeuvre. The Leopold Museum is the first institution in Austria to dedicate a comprehensive exhibition to the work of Gabriele Münter (18771962), one of the main exponents of the European avant-garde. Featuring high-quality artworks from international museums and private collections, the exhibition affords insights into the artists multi-faceted oeuvre. Münter practiced the most diverse techniques, tried out courageous stylistic changes, and pursued a life-long quest for pure painterly expression. Her path was shaped by enthusiastic moments, occasioned by artistic achievements, but also by personal disappointments and periods of resignation. The presentation at the Leopold Museum focuses on the autonomy ... More | |
Senior Curator at Bath Preservation Trust Dr Amy Frost. © Wessex Archaeology.
BATH.- For the first time in over 100 years, William Beckfords hidden Grotto Tunnel is publicly visible again. A team of archaeologists and building experts have uncovered the original steps and retaining walls, along with various historic objects including clay pipes smoked by the stonemasons who first built the Grotto in the 1820s. It is believed that at some point after Beckfords death, the Tower-end of the Grotto was filled in, leaving the other end open to become what appears to have been a rubbish dump for the then large Victoria villa Hamilton House (on the site where the modern apartment block of Hamilton House now stands). Emery Brothers Ltd and Wessex Archaeology began the full excavation of the Grotto in September 2023, uncovering several historical objects in the process. While the existence of the subterranean Grotto was known, nobody knew exactly how large the interior was. The excavations, involving the removal of tonnes of soil ... More | |
Neighbors, 1973 by Roger Brown (1941-1997), estimated at $40,000 60,000. Photo: Bonhams.
NEW YORK, NY.- Coinciding with the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the lifestyle and entertainment magazine, Bonhams will present a selection of works of art from the Collection of Playboy from November 8 17. Playboy reflected the major world events and cultural shifts of the 20th and 21st Centuries, most notably defining the archetype of the international bon vivant. Their commitment to publishing original, provocative content grew their reputation as a cultural tastemaker, attracting Pulitzer prize-winning and internationally renowned writers to every issue. The works in this dedicated sale represent a celebration of storytelling. An influential force behind the magazines artistic vision since it was founded in 1953 was Art Paul (1925 2018), an American graphic designer and the first art director of Playboy. In addition to designing the brands instantly recognizable Bunny logo, Paul commissioned original paintings an ... More |
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| Major international loan exhibition at Getty explores the world of William Blake | | Freedom from Torture announced its 13th edition of their biennial art auction | | Painting once traded for a tie tack fetches more than $50,000 at auction |
Satan Exulting over Eve, 1795. William Blake, British (1757-1827). Color print with graphite, pen and black ink, and watercolor. 42 1/2 x 53 1/2 cm (16 3/4 x 21 1/16 in.). The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES, CA.- The J. Paul Getty Museum presents William Blake: Visionary, an exhibition featuring over 100 striking works by English printmaker, painter, and poet, William Blake. On view at the Getty Center from October 17, 2023, through January 14, 2024, this is the first major international loan exhibition of Blakes work on the West Coast. Now celebrated as one of the greatest artists of the early Romantic era, Blake was largely unrecognized during his lifetime and lived mostly in obscurity. William Blake: Visionary follows his journey as an artist, from his early years as a commercial printmaker to the legendary creator we know today, exploring Blakes wild imagination through some of the acclaimed works that have perplexed and delighted audiences for ... More | |
Ian Davenport, 4 AM. Estimate: £7,850
LONDON.- Freedom from Torture announced that the 13th edition of its biennial art auction, Drawing a Line Under Torture will run online from 23.10 06.11. Twelve Selected works will be auctioned live at a private, invitation-only viewing at Sothebys, New Bond Street, London. Drawing a Line Under Torture will feature works by more than 60 artists, with world-renowned names including: Ai Weiwei, Grayson Perry, Kiki Smith, David Hockney, Maggi Hambling, Antony Gormley, Jim Dine, Paula Rego, Mona Hatoum, Quentin Blake and Julian Opie. This vital biennial event has raised more than £1 million since its inception in 2003 and we hope to raise more than £300,000 in 2023. Art works will start at £400 and with up to £95,000 expected for an original Grayson Perry ceramic, created especially for Freedom From Torture. 100% of the sale price of every work sold goes directly to Freedom from Torture, a British charity ... More | |
Ellington enjoyed The Lobsterman in his home for roughly 50 years before consigning it to New Hamburg-based Miller & Miller Auctions for their Oct. 14 Folk Art sale, where it sold for over $50,000.
NEW HAMBURG, NY.- A rare Maud Lewis (1903-1970) painting, traded by a London, Ontario artist in the 1970s to a London goldsmith for a tie tack, recently sold at auction for over $50,000. The late artist John Kinnear, a snappy dresser, was reeled in by a blue sapphire goldsmith John Ellington had in his Richmond Street shop and so the two men agreed to a trade: one custom sapphire tie tack for any painting Kinnear had on his studio wall down the street. When the time came to make the trade, Ellington shied away from Kinnears own paintings, which were appealing but too large. Instead, he set his eyes on the only Maud Lewis on the wall a small, delightful painting of a pipe-smoking lobster fisherman. Kinnear initially resisted, saying that was his favorite painting, but ... More |
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| Goldstein painting acquired by Nationalmuseum | | Phillips announces highlights from the New York Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art | | Mestaria Gallery presents "Black & White" by Wissam Shawkat |
Johann Theodor Goldstein: View of a Gothic Cathedral, 1822. Oil on canvas. NM 7696.
STOCKHOLM.- Nationalmuseum has acquired a painting dated 1822 by Polish-German artist Johann Theodor Goldstein. The imaginary scene depicts a towering cathedral in the early dusk. With its wonderfully visionary qualities, the painting is a novel addition to Nationalmuseums German art collection. It will go on show for the first time in autumn 2024 as part of the exhibition entitled The Romantic Eye. There are few known works by Johann Theodor Goldstein (17981871), and the artist is little known today. This is somewhat puzzling, since the recently acquired View of a Gothic Cathedral is a very advanced work that must have required great skill and technical mastery. The cathedral itself is portrayed in wonderful detail, with minute architectural features and ornamentation discernible. Images of this kind, featuring huge churches, were introduced by the architect and artist Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who produced paintings of elabora ... More | |
Georg Baselitz, Ein Roter, 1966. Estimate: $6,000,000-8,000,000. Image courtesy of Phillips.
NEW YORK, NY.- Phillips announced highlights from the New York Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, with the full sale now available online. Taking place on 14 November, directly following the highly anticipated dedicated auction, Living the Avant-Garde: Works from The Triton Collection Foundation, the seasonal Evening Sale will feature a remarkable selection of thirty works by artists spanning the Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary movements, including Gerhard Richter, Georg Baselitz, Joan Mitchell, Pablo Picasso, and Henry Taylor. The exhibition at 432 Park Avenue will be open to the public from 4-14 November in the lead-up to the auction. Robert Manley, Deputy Chairman and Worldwide Co-Head of 20th Century & Contemporary Art, said, The sales assembled by Phillips this season are a true testament to the strength of our team, ... More | |
Wissam Shawkat, "Dance of Love".
DUBAI.- Renowned award-winning Iraqi artist Wissam Shawkat is set to captivate art enthusiasts once again with his latest exhibition, Black & White running from Saturday 11th November to 12th December at Mestaria Gallery. This exhibition invites attendees to dive into the essence of art and experience an innovative journey into the world of form, shape, and composition, all the while embracing the deliberate absence of colour. Shawkat's exhibition offers a unique perspective, emphasizing emotional expression and beauty of calligraphic letterforms, revealing their intricate complexity and interplay in the absence of colours. The artist pushes the boundaries with his artistry, through the intention of a monochromatic palette. Highlighting the delicately orchestrated dance between positive and negative spaces, offering viewers an exploration of proportion, depth, weight, and style. The intentional simplicity of escaping colour is far ... More |
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The Extraordinary Wine Cellar of Dr Allard Botenga | Christie's inc
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Heritage sets two new auction records for vintage video game consoles and arcade cabinets
DALLAS, TX.- Heritage continues to set the standard for how the video game world goes to auction, and that includes how to shatter world records. In recent years the auction house has set records with eye-watering prices for pristine copies of Legend of Zelda ($870,000), Super Mario 64 ($1.56 million) and more, but it was an array of vintage consoles that led its November 3 - 4 Video Games Signature® Auction. The event produced two new records for video game consoles and arcade machines. The auction topped $1.8 million in sales, with strong results for high-grade copies of many of the most desirable games in the collector market. But the session dedicated to consoles in this event set it apart from previous Heritage auctions in the category. The highest price paid for a commercially available video game console was realized at Heritage on Nov. 3: The Nintendo Entertainment System Deluxe Set Console from 1986, graded 85 NM+ by VGA, sold for $120,000. T ... More
Highest-graded João V Gold 400 Reis joins coveted 1894 Gold 'Genie' Series 100 Francs atop Heritage auction
DALLAS, TX.- A Republic gold 100 Francs 1894-A MS64 Prooflike NGC and a João V gold 400 Reis 1730-R MS62 NGC each sold for $84,000 to lead Heritage's World Coins Platinum Session and Signature® Auction to $3,903,124 November 3-4. The 100 Francs, from the KJR Collection, is from an original mintage of just 143 pieces, only five of which including this example have earned the Prooflike designation from the grading services. "We knew this was a trophy-level coin that would draw major interest," says Cris Bierrenbach, Executive Vice President of International Numismatics at Heritage Auctions, "and the flurry of competitive bidding validated that belief. It is an exceptional coin that will immediately ... More
The Ukrainian Museum, New York announces Maria Prymachenko and Helena Christensen exhibitions
NEW YORK, NY.- The Ukrainian Museum, New York announces two exhibitions - Maria Prymachenko: Glory to Ukraine (until 7th April 2024) and Wearloom: Ukrainian Garments guest curated by Helena Christensen (until 17th January 2024). In the Main Gallery Maria Prymachenko: Glory to Ukraine honours the distinctive style and diverse practice of one of Ukraines most celebrated artists, Maria Prymachenko (19091997). It is the first exhibition outside of Europe on Prymachenko, and the largest ever of her work - an icon of Ukrainian culture, identity and tradition. The First Floor Gallery hosts Wearloom: Ukrainian Garments guest curated by international supermodel, designer, and photographer Helena Christensen. This expansive exhibition offers a new interpretation of Ukrainian traditional embroidery and costumes, addressing the aesthetics ... More
Art21 launches artist-driven campaign committed to expanding access to contemporary art
NEW YORK, NY.- Art21 announced the launch of Art21 for Everyone, a capacity-building campaign designed to advance the organizations mission to expand access to contemporary artists and art. Art21 has always made its continually expanding catalog of films freely accessible; this campaign will ensure that this remains the case, as well as allow the organization to launch brand-new impactful initiatives. A number of groundbreaking artists, including Amy Sherald, Oliver Herring, Julie Mehretu, Pedro Reyes, Aki Sasamoto, Eli Sudbrack, Leonardo Drew, Shaun Leonardo, Azikiwe Mohammed, Guerrilla Girls, Laylah Ali, and Marcel Dzama, will be encouraging audiences this fall to support Art21 as the resource that has been instrumental in their development as artists. Having grown up in the midwestern US, outside of the reach of coastal cities and art centers, I know how special and precious access to art and the people wh ... More
In 'Food,' Geoff Sobelle explores the extremes of eating
NEW YORK, NY.- It was a little before 6:30 on a recent weeknight, and the kitchen in Geoff Sobelles West Village home was in chaos. Two toddlers zoomed around on a ride-on truck and begged him to read from an Alice in Wonderland pop-up book. In a minute, Sobelle told his son as he stirred artichokes that were simmering on the stove. All the while, he talked to a reporter about his solo show, Food, which is running as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Musics Next Wave festival through Nov. 18. This is like a three-ring circus, Sobelle, 47, said. He had invited me over for dinner with his family his wife, Sophie Bortolussi, a longtime Sleep No More performer; and his two children, Louise, 4, and Elliott, 2 or, as he wrote in an email, my chaotic household as I try to get two toddlers to eat. Its INSANE, hed added. Sobelles nightly domestic juggling act is akin to the intertwinin ... More
At Paul Taylor, a drum circle and a fierce sisterhood
NEW YORK, NY.- When designing sets for choreographer Paul Taylor, artist Alex Katz had a habit he called killing the center. Katz would stick obstacles in the middle of the stage fake boulders, a bunch of mirrors, cutouts of dogs to deny Taylor the easy power of that theatrical focal point. Taylor always rose to the creative challenge. For Drum Circle, a new work that the Taylor company debuted at Lincoln Center on Friday, choreographer Larry Keigwin has killed the center for himself. Hes stuck a large platform just off the middle of the stage, an island that William Catanzaro and two other percussionists inhabit along with an array of instruments, mostly percussive. Keigwin, though, doesnt rise to the challenge. Having the musicians take up so much prime real estate, playing Catanzaros lively score, does major damage to the space ... More
LeVar Burton wants to be heard
NEW YORK, NY.- LeVar Burton has spent much of his career encouraging children to read. Now, he is urging them to listen really listen. They can develop that skill, along with an ear for mysteries, in Sound Detectives, a new podcast for audiences of elementary-school age that is part whodunit, part science exploration and part comic adventure. Co-produced by SiriusXMs Stitcher Studios and LeVar Burton Entertainment, Sound Detectives features Burton as a fictionalized version of himself, an inventor with the same name. In a certain sense, LeVar Burton has reached iconic status, Burton said in a phone conversation. And its fun for me to lean into that. He added, Its also an opportunity for me to introduce LeVar to another generation. Many adults recognize Burton as the actor who played Kunta Kinte in Roots and Geordi La ... More
Birds in the Americas will no longer be named after people
NEW YORK, NY.- The American Ornithological Society, the organization responsible for standardizing English bird names across the Americas, announced last week that it would rename all species honoring people. Bird names derived from people, the society said in a statement, can be harmful, exclusive and detract from the focus, appreciation or consideration of the birds themselves. That means the Audubons shearwater, found off the coast of the Southeastern United States, will no longer have a name acknowledging John James Audubon, a famous bird illustrator and a slave owner who adamantly opposed abolition. The Scotts oriole, a black-and-yellow bird inhabiting the Southwest and Mexico, will also receive a new moniker, which will sever ties to U.S. Civil War Gen. Winfield Scott, who oversaw the forced relocation of Indigenous ... More
How Rebecca Yarros packed dragons, magic and steamy sex into a blockbuster fantasy
NEW YORK, NY.- When Rebecca Yarros pitched her publisher a sexy fantasy about telepathic dragons and their riders, she thought it might be a tough sell. Shed built a career and a dedicated following writing romances, often drawing on her experience as a military wife. What she was proposing was wildly off-brand: an epic fantasy series with dragons, griffins, magic and political intrigue. To Yarros surprise, her publisher, Entangled, loved the idea, and wanted to launch a new fantasy imprint with it. Over a feverish few months, Yarros crash-wrote Fourth Wing, an intricately plotted 500-plus-page narrative that takes place at an elite war college, where two dragon riders feud, then fall in love. She was stunned when she learned they were printing more than 100,000 copies and rolling out an elaborate marketing campaign ... More
OpenAI lets mom-and-pop shops customize ChatGPT
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- OpenAI said on Monday that it had created a service that allows individuals and small businesses to build customized versions of its popular online chatbot ChatGPT, and instantly share them on the internet. Through a new service called GPTs, anyone can quickly customize the chatbot for a particular task without help from additional software or computer code. The owner of a small bed-and-breakfast, for instance, could build a chatbot that answers questions for anyone who stays there. You can imagine someone building a GPT that specializes in teaching someone a new language or gives interior design advice, Peter Deng, OpenAIs vice president of consumer and enterprise product, said in an interview. OpenAI, the San Francisco artificial intelligence startup, has accelerated the release of its AI tools in recent ... More
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PhotoGalleries
Gabriele Münter
TARWUK
Awol Erizku
Leo Villareal
Flashback On a day like today, American illustrator Norman Rockwell died November 08, 1978. Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 - November 8, 1978) was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine for more than four decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter, Saying Grace (1951), The Problem We All Live With, and the Four Freedoms series. He is also noted for his work for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA); producing covers for their publication Boys' Life, calendars, and other illustrations. In this image: Laurie Norton Moffatt, director and CEO of the Norman Rockwell Museum, discusses the painting "Girl at Mirror", Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007, in Akron, Ohio.
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