ARTFIXdaily News Feed - Breaking News from the Art World

Photographer Andreas Gursky Unseats Cindy Sherman in Record Setting Sale

CBS News / November 14th, 2011

A digital photograph entitled “Rhein II” by German photographer Andreas Gursky sold for $4.3 million last week at Christie’s New York, setting a new record for the artist and the category.

$316 Million Sotheby's Auction Belies Deep Recession

Reuters / November 10th, 2011

The contemporary art market roared past recession woes, floundering worldwide economies, and a contingent of noisy Occupy Wall Street protesters outside Sotheby's on Wednesday to deliver an above-estimate $315.8 million sale.

Robust Sales in Postwar and Contemporary Art Week; Sotheby's Sells $61.7 Million Clyfford Still, Christie's Led by $43 Million Lichtenstein

ArtfixDaily / November 9th, 2011

The series of postwar and contemporary art auctions in New York have boasted very strong results and numerous record prices so far this week. Two days of sales at Phillips de Pury totalled $78 million, Christie's evening sale with part of the Peter Norton collection topped $247 million, and ...

Christo Gets Go-Ahead to Swathe the Arkansas River in Silver

New York Times / November 9th, 2011

Noted environmental artist Christo has gained the US government’s approval for his controversial 42-mile wrapping project on the Arkansas River. “Over the River,” required an extensive environmental impact report...

Chinese Citizens Rally in Aid of Ai Weiwei to Cover $2.4 Million Tax Bill; His Work On View in New York, Miami, Taipei

ArtfixDaily / November 4th, 2011

The Chinese government claims influential artist and activist Ai Weiwei owes $2.4 million in back taxes. Thousands of individual Chinese have since sent money to his Internet account to help pay the bill within the ten-day deadline...

Slow Growth for Artnet Online Auctions, Says Skates

Skate's / November 3rd, 2011

Financial results released by artnet for nine months ending September 30, 2011, were "disappointing," according to Skate's Market Notes. The firm has taken losses on its 3-year-old online art auctions and more so on its magazine publication business.

Artists Sue California Galleries Over Resale Royalties

Los Angeles Times / November 2nd, 2011

The foundation of the late abstract painter Sam Francis is the lead plaintiff in class-action lawsuits filed Tuesday against nine galleries in California, alleging that they did not pay owed artist's royalties on resold artworks.

WSJ. Magazine Names Ai Weiwei as Art "Innovator of the Year"

ArtfixDaily / October 26th, 2011

Chinese activist and artist Ai Weiwei has seen his star rise higher this month. He led ArtReview’s annual ranking of the 100 most influential people in the art world and has now been named "Innovator of the Year" in art by WSJ. Magazine.

Hirst, Ruscha Among Seven-Figure Sales at FIAC

Bloomberg / October 20th, 2011

An international crowd has descended upon Paris for FIAC, the annual event featuring first rate offerings of cutting-edge contemporary art and 20th-century masters. Billionaire buyers such as Christie's owner Francois Pinault and LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault were...

Christie's, Sotheby's Sued by Artists over Royalties

Los Angeles Times / October 19th, 2011

A pair of class action lawsuits were filed on Tuesday against Christie's and Sotheby's alleging that the auction houses violated the California Resale Royalty Act. Painter Chuck Close is among the plaintiffs.

Hedge Funders Use Art Collections to Secure Loans

Bloomberg / October 18th, 2011

With borrowing costs at record lows and prices for top-tier artworks soaring at auction, private banks are increasingly doling out loans to ultra-rich clients who use their art collections as collateral. Picassos and Pollock...

Richter 'Candle,' Gormley 'Angel' Blow Away Auction Records

ArtfixDaily / October 16th, 2011

Christie's in London posted a promising October sale of Postwar & Contemporary Art with a total of £38 million ($60 million) on Friday. World record prices were smashed for artists Gerhard Richter, Antony Gormley, and Martin Kippenberger.

Gallerist Set to Launch Miami's First Auction House

Sun Sentinel / October 13th, 2011

Art gallery owner Gary Nader will launch a new full-service auction house in Miami during the busy Art Basel Miami Beach week of fairs in December. Nader has selected 112 lots valued at more than $40 million...

Artelligence Conference Asks: Is Miró the New Picasso?

Art Market Monitor / October 3rd, 2011

“Miró is one of the most undervalued of the 20th century masters,” Helly Nahmad stated at the Artelligence conference held last week. “We have yet to see a $100 million Miró like we have with Picasso or Giacometti.”

Critics Say Bob Dylan Paintings Mirror Famous Photographs

International Business Times / September 29th, 2011

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's first ever New York gallery exhibition has come under scrutiny as critics have denounced some of his work as painted copies of famous photographs. "The Asia Series," at Gagosian Gallery, includes works that Dylan said...

Celebrities Boost Christie's Haiti Charity Auction to $13.6 million

Hollywood Reporter / September 25th, 2011

"Artists for Haiti" brought a hefty total of $13,662,000 for 27 offered lots in a benefit auction for the earthquake-damaged and impoverished Caribbean nation on Sept. 23 at Christie's. Actor Ben Stiller and art dealer David Zwirner...

Houston Fine Art Fair Debut Totals $6 Million in Sales

ArtfixDaily / September 21st, 2011

The inaugural Houston Fine Art Fair found a ready audience in Texas over the weekend. The gate topped 10,500 with 3,000 attending the opening night of this new 80-dealer show. Sales of artwork were reported to be about $6 million total.

Pacific Standard Time documents the rise of postwar L.A. art

Los Angeles Times / September 18th, 2011

The Getty's unprecedented, six-month initiative "Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A., 1945-1980," a series of region-wide exhibitions, is set to thoroughly record Southern California in the history of art. This eye-opening cultural extravaganza...

MoMA to Stage De Kooning Retrospective

New York Times / September 14th, 2011

Curators researching works for the upcoming Willem de Kooning retrospective at New York's museum of Modern Art (MoMA) found a wealth of new discoveries about the work of this pivotal postwar American artist. The resulting exhibition, which opens sunday, includes about 200 works made over ...

Richard Hamilton, British Pop Art pioneer, remembered

Washington Post / September 13th, 2011

Richard Hamilton, the artist known as the "Father of Pop Art" who depicted former British prime minister Tony Blair as a cowboy and designed the cover of the Beatles’ “White Album,” died on Sept. 13. He was 89.