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Over Half a Million Visitors Flocked to Venice Biennale in 2015; Next Year: Detroit Re-imagined at Architecture Pavilion
ArtfixDaily / November 24th, 2015
On November 22, 2015, the 56th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia chaired by Paolo Baratta and curated by Okwui Enwezor, closed its gates. Open to the public for about 7 months, the exhibition wrapped after hosting 501,502 visitors (475,000 in ...
Holiday Gift Guide and December Preview
ARTFIXdaily / November 23rd, 2015
Browse selections for your holiday gift list and preview December’s art events from ARTFIXdaily’s ArtGuild network of leading galleries, auction houses and museums. Find a selection of fine art, jewelry and antiques; art books and collectibles; experiences and exhibitions. And preview ...
Paddle8 Aims to Corner Middle Market of Art Auctions
Forbes / November 23rd, 2015
Fresh from raising $34 million Series C funding, of $44 million total from a host of high-profile investors, online auctioneer Paddle8 talks strategy with Forbes. Chairty auctions and contemporary art lots with an average selling price of $4,800 have taken the young company to $25 million in ...
Armed Bandits Steal Haul of Masterpieces from Museum in Italy
Telegraph / November 22nd, 2015
Armed bandits stormed a museum in Italy on Thursday and made off with 17 artworks, including masterpieces by Tintoretto, Rubens and Bellini, in one of the country’s biggest art heists, according to the Telegraph. Thought to be a raid for a dubious private collector, one art expert even ...
Hannah Rothstein Imagines How Famous Artists Would Arrange Their Thanksgiving Dinner Plates
Hannah Rothstein / November 21st, 2015
Painter and illustrator Hannah Rothstein has revived her "Thanksgiving Special" photo series from 2014 with a new set of artists this year, including Georgia O'Keeffe, Man Ray and Salvador Dali. View the works (on plates) in the styles of 10 artists here. The artist's ...
American Art: Rockwell Tops Christie's Sale; Taubman's Heade Heads to Museum
ArtfixDaily / November 19th, 2015
Following Christie's major auctions devoted to Impressionist, Modern, Post-War and Contemporary Art last week, which generated $1.1 billion in total sales, the auction house offered up about 100 lots of American art on Nov. 19 bringing a total $45 million in New York. The sale was strong ...
Largest Diamond in 100 Years Discovered in Botswana
MSN / November 19th, 2015
A snowball-sized, 1,111 carat "gem quality, Type IIa" diamond was unearthed at a mine in Botswana on Monday. Vancouver-based mine company Lucara Diamond Corp. says it is the largest diamond discovered in over a century after the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond found in 1905 in ...
French President Hollande Offers 'Asylum' to Artworks Threatened by Islamic State
AFP / November 18th, 2015
In a speech to the UN cultural body on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande said he would introduce "Right to asylum" for artworks and cultural objects threatened by destruction or illegal sale by Islamic State (IS) miltants. The measure is to stem the activity of militants ...
Mixed Results, Multiple Artist Records in Sotheby's American Art Sales
ArtfixDaily / November 18th, 2015
Two sales of American Art at Sotheby's on Wednesday night brought a total near-$40 million, with a season total of $52.2 million in American Art, according to Sotheby's. The Taubman collection fell short of some hefty estimates on a number of works, and 8 of 31 offered lots went unsold, ...
MoMA Files Plans for Expansion of American Folk Art Museum Site
CurbedNY / November 17th, 2015
After the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) acquired its neighboring site housing the American Folk Art Museum for $32.1 million in 2011, the Tod Williams Billie Tsien-designed building was razed at 45 West 53rd Street. Plans were filed for the expansion and Diller Scofidio + Renfro is the firm ...
Now There's an App for Virtual Reality Museum Tours
TechCrunch / November 17th, 2015
Museums and galleries can now be walked through from any place in the world with a new virtual reality app --- the WoofbertVR app has just launched on Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus. “What museums are excited about — among other things — is access,” said co-founder ...
Inside Iran's Hidden World-Class Modern Art Collection
Bloomberg / November 17th, 2015
As the Tehran Contemporary Art Museum prepares to open its first exhibit of modern art in years on November 20—and plans for international shows—Bloomberg reporter Peter Waldman is the rare Western journalist to go inside the Museum’s locked basement vault to view its hidden collection of the ...
Whistleblower CFO Fired by San Francisco Fine Arts Museums
SF Chronicle / November 17th, 2015
San Francisco Fine Arts Museums whistle-blower Michele Gutierrez is out of a job — and it happened soon after the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that she had gone to the city and the state attorney general with allegations of financial misconduct involving powerful museums ...
Brands Clamor for the Touch of 'Carbon' Artist Judith Braun
ArtfixDaily / November 16th, 2015
Burton's Feelgood Snowboard 2015 for women is now available to the public at a sale price and it features a winning design, literally. Sporting edgy black artwork by Judith Braun, the snowboard debuted with Olympian Kelly Clark who won the Bronze ...
Louvre Among Cultural Sites Set to Reopen Monday After Terror Attacks on Paris
ArtfixDaily / November 15th, 2015
Paris cultural sites including the Louvre, Eiffel Tower and others will reopen on Monday at 1pm after a national moment of silence for the 132 victims killed in a terror attack around the city on Friday night. A state of emergency was imposed Nov. 13 after 8 or more ...
Picasso, Magritte Boost Christie's Sale to $145.5M
Christie's / November 12th, 2015
An example of Analytical Cubism led Christie's evening sale of Impressionist and modern art on Thursday. The solid sale totaled $145.5 million, boosted by several estimate-busting lots and alternately sunk a bit by passed lots. Eighty-three percent of ...
Hong Kong Tycoon's 7-Year-Old Daughter Gets $77M in Diamonds from Auctions
CBS News / November 12th, 2015
Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau, who was convicted of corruption last year, was the buyer of two record-setting diamonds at auction this week, according to his office. Lau paid about $77 million for the two gems, including "Blue Moon," a 12.03-carat fancy vivid blue diamond. It brought the ...
Sale of $70.5M Cy Twombly Wraps Sotheby's $1 Billion Series
LA Times / November 12th, 2015
One of Cy Twombly's scribbled "blackboard" works was sold in New York on Wednesday by the Los Angeles attorney Sydney Irmas and his wife, Audrey, and proceeds will help fund a new events center in the collectors' city. It led a solid sale totaling $295 million for 54 lots and ended Sotheby's fall ...
Highlights of American Paintings Week in New York
ArtfixDaily / November 10th, 2015
A seven-day fête of historic American art, particularly 19th to 20th-century painting and sculpture, kicks off this weekend in New York City. The American Art Fair begins the week of events with a by-invitation preview on Sat., Nov. 14 and public viewing of its 8th edition ...
Pink Diamond Demands Record $28.5 Million in Geneva
ArtfixDaily / November 10th, 2015
A 16.08-carat cushion-shaped fancy vivid pink diamond, the largest of its kind to ever appear at auction, brought an auction record for the category at Christie's in Geneva when it sold for $28.5m on Tuesday. A Hong Kong bidder is reported to have renamed their purchase “The Sweet ...