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Successful Sotheby's auction unfettered by "Orgy of the Rich" protest
artinfo / February 16th, 2011
A band of activists invaded a contemporary art evening auction at Sotheby's London on February 15. Amidst the action-packed sale that sent 54 of 59 lots to a total $71,051,252 (£44,359,900), far exceeding the $48.7-68.9 million presale estimate, the group of protestors made a disturbance with ...
Legislator proposes pawning Pollock
Quad-City Times / February 13th, 2011
Iowa State Rep. Scott Raecker has an idea about how to fund art student scholarships at the University of Iowa. Sell the school's Jackson Pollock "Mural," a massive painting valued at $140 million. It is Pollock's seminal work that reshaped his style and transformed American art in the 1940s. ...
Picasso: Guitars 1912-1914 opens Feb. 13 at MoMA
Bloomberg / February 10th, 2011
A Feb. 8 preview for the exhibition “Picasso: Guitars 1912-1914,” which opens Feb. 13 at New York's Museum of Modern Art, attracted more than the usual art elite, including R.E.M.’s songwriter Michael Stipe. The MoMA exhibition offers insight into Pablo Picasso's creative process during his ...
Renoir to Richter, antique pistols to rare gems shine at Palm Beach fair
artinfo / February 9th, 2011
Nearly 8,000 guests flocked to the gala preview of the American International Fine Art Fair in Palm Beach last weekend. About 40,000 visitors are expected altogether to peruse the booths of 66 dealers, down from 84 last year. The 15th edition of the fair, which runs through Feb. 13 at the Palm ...
Gauguin fizzles, Bonnard soars at London auction
Reuters / February 9th, 2011
A much-touted lot at Christie's impressionist and modern art sale in London failed to sell on Wed. The rare Paul Gauguin still-life titled "Nature morte a 'L'Esperance," painted as a tribute to Van Gogh, was expected to bring up 10 million pounds ($16 million). Pierre Bonnard's "Terrasse a ...
Picasso, Esherick among modern masters lifting auction results
Washington Post / February 8th, 2011
A Pablo Picasso painting of his mistress Marie-Therese Walter, titled "La Lecture," more than doubled its low estimate to fetch 25.2 million pounds ($40.7 million) at a Sotheby's auction in London on Tuesday. The Picasso edged up the firm's modern and impressionist art auction total to 68.8 ...
Google Art Project could be a game-changer
Huffington Post / February 7th, 2011
Introduced last Tuesday, Google's Art Project is a new kind of interactive online showcase that allows users to virtually browse through some of the world's greatest museums using a Google Street View-like interface. From London's Tate to New York's Met, 17 renowned museums can be viewed inside ...
New York Observer's Top 50 Art Collectors
New York Observer / February 3rd, 2011
From stockpiles of Matisses to flocks of duck decoys, early works by Koons to ravishing Rothkos and Renoirs and rooms full of Chippendale and Biedermeier furniture, or even Damien Hirst's infamous shark, New York's leading collectors have amassed a wide array of art and antiques. View the New ...
Eskimo masks bring $4.6 million at Winter Antiques Show
Canadian Press / January 26th, 2011
Two highly expressive ceremonial masks, created by Yup'ik Eskimos in Alaska over a century ago, sold for $4.6 million at the Winter Antiques Show, which continues through Jan. 30 at Manhattan's Park Avenue Armory. Exhibitor Donald Ellis believes the masks garnered a record price for Native ...
Verdict still out on virtual VIP Art Fair success
Wall Street Journal / January 25th, 2011
The launch last weekend of the new VIP Art Fair, a week-long and online-only event, drew visitors from 130 countries who viewed artwork on the website more than 3.3 million times. That amount of traffic also slowed the site, frustrating some users, and causing techinical difficulties which ...
Collector parts with Thomas Hope treasures
Huffington Post / January 23rd, 2011
At the New York City home/gallery of antiques dealer Carlton Hobbs is a dazzling exhibition titled "Inspired By Antiquity, Classical Influences I 18th and 19th Century Furniture and Decorative Objects." On display is an exceptional collection of Thomas Hope furniture and accessories assembled by ...
Stark Museum of Art unveils new acquistion
Dallas Art News / January 23rd, 2011
The Stark Museum of Art invites the public to a gallery spotlight and a reception on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. to celebrate the life and artistry of internationally acclaimed African American sculptor Edmonia Lewis. During this event, the Museum will unveil its newest ...
Antiques Week in New York: Showstoppers at the fairs
New York Times / January 20th, 2011
A bevy of antiques shows, auctions, museum exhibitions and gallery events are underway in New York City through this weekend. At the Park Avenue Armory, 75 dealers in the Winter Antiques Show (through Jan. 30) represent the creme-de-la-creme of high-end antiques. Among this year's show ...
Cleveland Museum of Art to auction off old masters
Plain Dealer / January 18th, 2011
Beginning on Jan. 27, the Cleveland Museum of Art will offer 30 European old master paintings from its collection in a series of sales at Sotheby's in New York. Mostly by minor masters, three-quarters of the paintings to be sold were gifts to the museum. The auction total is estimated at a ...
New online art fair tests the waters
Wall Street Journal / January 14th, 2011
Next weekend, the VIP Art Fair, an online-only event where collectors can browse through blue-chip modern and contemporary art by the likes of Jackson Pollock, Louise Bourgeois, Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst, will debut as the first-of-its-kind internet art show. About 140 top-tier galleries ...
Critics question strategy behind PAFA sales, acquisitions
CultureGrrl on ArtsJournal / January 13th, 2011
Art critic Lee Rosenbaum, aka CultureGrrl, posted a blog titled "PAFA's folly; Art sales v. Acquisitions," which scrutinizes the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts' latest decisions in deaccessioning and acquiring works of art for its permanent collection. "The disposal of traditional, historic ...
Shepard Fairey, AP settle over Obama poster
mediabistro / January 13th, 2011
A settlement has been reached between artist Shepard Fairey and the Associated Press over a contested Obama image. The AP had asserted that Fairey infringed on their copyrights by using an AP photograph as the basis for his now iconic poster rendering of Obama. While Fairey believed he was ...
Dennis Hopper's bullet-ridden Warhol nets $302,500
KEYC / January 12th, 2011
An Andy Warhol portrait of Mao Zedong from 1972---which "Easy Rider" star and director Dennis Hopper shot two bullet holes through---went for $302,500, more than ten times the high estimate, at a Christie's auction this week. Warhol later called Hopper a collaborator on the piece. The late ...
In with the old: Antiques revival reels in new buyers
Telegraph / January 11th, 2011
Interest in art and antiques has been on the rise for a couple of years as new and seasoned collectors increasingly seek investment quality pieces for their homes. Part of the newfound interest is spurred on by legendary finds such as the $80 million Chinese vase discovery in an English estate ...
Artistic rights to balloon dog up in the air
mediabistro / January 10th, 2011
A small San Francisco store and gallery, Park Life, was served a cease-and-desist letter from Jeff Koons's lawyers for selling a set of bookends that resemble the artist's large, metallic “Balloon Dog” sculptures. The store removed the bookends from its inventory, posting on its blog, "...Jeff ...