Chagall Sets a Record in Seoul Auctions' Uneven $10.2 Million Hong Kong Sale (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - Despite a lackluster performance by several marquee lots, Korea's Seoul Auctions was able to claim a victory in its modern and contemporary art auction in Hong Kong today, setting Asia's auction record for a work of Western modern art when a late Marc Chagall hammered for HK$28.5 million ($3.7 million). That star lot, "Bestiare et Musique" (1969), boosted the fledgling auction house's tally to an overall HK$78.5 million (US$10.2 million) in the 60-work sale.
Largest Avedon photograph auction set for Paris (Reuters)
Reuters - More than 60 photographs by Richard Avedon, some rare and unpublished, will be auctioned next month by Christie's in Paris to create the Richard Avedon Foundation endowment fund.
Arnold Scaasi's Sexy Dresses Slink into MFA Boston (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - While at times it has been en vogue to question the legitimacy of certain fashion exhibitions in hallowed visual arts institutions, at the Museum of Fine Arts BostonÂs "Scaasi: American Couturier" show, nose-thumbers will have to leave their noses well alone. Arnold Scaasi — on whose Boston duplex’s walls hang a Monet, a late Picasso, and whose collection also boasts two Louise Nevelson sculptures — recently donated more than 100 of his fabulous outfits to the museum, to complement its acquisition of his archive of sketches. An exhibition that runs through June 19, 2011 showcases 28 of the 79-year-old designer’s most visually stunning looks.
Classic Contemporary Art From China Electrifies a $26.4 Million Sale at Sotheby's Hong Kong (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - In a packed Sotheby's auction room in Hong Kong on Monday night, Zhang Xiaogang was once again proven to be the ultimate blue-chip name in Chinese contemporary art when his brooding 1992 masterpiece "Chapter of a New Century — Birth of the People’s Republic of China II" was hammered down for HK$46 million ($5.9 million), bringing in twice the painting's high estimate in a buzzing sale that moved a total of HK$205 million ($26.4 million) in art.
Virtual Version of Florence's Uffizi Will Show Masterpieces in Microscopic Detail (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - Since the advent of digital cameras and the Internet, art lovers and students looking for a glimpse of Renaissance Italy have only had to tool around the Web to see the period's great masterpieces, albeit most often in the form of tiny, muddled, low-resolution jpegs. Now, an Italian company working with Florence's Uffizi Gallery has produced a special series of online images that will allow people around the world to examine several classic works of Italian art in remarkable detail — allowing them to savor a single canvas-cracked grape within CaravaggioÂs "Bacchus," for instance, or the purplish toenail of BotticelliÂs "Venus."
Picasso exhibition to debut in US (AP)
AP - A traveling exhibition of essential works from Pablo Picasso's personal collection is making its U.S. debut this week.
$1 Million Allosaurus to Lead Attack at Sotheby's France Dinosaur Auction (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - Call it a really Old Masters sale. Tomorrow, Sotheby’s France will open its salesroom for an auction not of delicate jewels or sensitively-rendered art but of fierce bones and fossils left behind by dinosaurs, including a showstopping complete skeleton of an Allosaurus that is between 135 and 153 million years old and over 30 feet long. The 86-lot sale, which carries an overall estimate of €3.6-4.6 million (or $4.9-6.3 million), will also feature several once-warmblooded critters and an assortment of other prehistoric fare.
Congress Could Reform Tax Breaks for Artists' Donations (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - More than 40 years after Congress enacted legislation severely limiting the tax breaks artists are eligible for when donating works to nonprofits, lawmakers are at last considering the possibility of reinstating those rules before the end of the current congressional term. According to Bloomberg, some 90 members of the House of Representatives and 23 senators have cosponsored a bill proposed by Vermont senator Patrick Leahy that would allow artists to deduct the fair market value of works donated to museums and other nonprofit initiatives.
Versailles, Site of Murakami Controversy, Will Limit Contemporary Art to Its Gardens in 2011 (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - Takashi MurakamiÂs show at Versailles has drawn worldwide attention for its juxtaposition of the Japanese artist's manga-influenced work with the Gallic splendor of the Old Regime French kings, but next year the Château will not give over its gleaming halls to contemporary art. Instead, the series of shows by living artists — inaugurated by Versailles president Jean-Jacques Aillagon in 2008 with a Jeff Koons exhibition — will take place in the palace's gardens.
Danish Artist, Alive, Buries Himself (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - Tom Sawyer may have had the bizarre pleasure of viewing his own funeral services, but now Danish media artist Claus Beck-Nielsen is doing him one better, not only viewing his own burial but overseeing it in all of its details.
In Reversal, Russia Releases Anti-Putin Art for Louvre Show (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - In a surprising reversal, Russian authorities have decided to allow Avdei Ter-OganyanÂs controversial painting "Radical Abstractionism, No. 8" to appear in a show of Russian contemporary art at the Louvre, Le Monde reports. However, in yet another new twist, Ter-Oganyan has now announced his refusal to participate in the show, citing the Russian government's failure to meet his demands for immunity for exiled artist and filmmaker Oleg Mavromatti.
Art Dealer David Zwirner Lands Donald Judd Estate (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - Just days after the Pace Gallery made known that it has secured the right to act as primary dealer for Willem de Kooning's estate, Chelsea–based dealer David Zwirner has announced that he has snagged representation of Minimalist artist Donald Judd, who had previously been handled by — you guessed it — Pace. The news was broken, once again, by New York Times art beadle Carol Vogel, who reports that Zwirner is planning a show of Judd’s work in May and says he will work to "strategically place works in public collections."
Christie's to Sell a $40 Million Lichtenstein, While Sotheby's Bets on a $25 Million Warhol Pop (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - There are many ways to reap the benefits of Roy LichtensteinÂs popularity these days. One option is to visit the three shows concurrently showcasing his work in New York, at the Morgan Library, Leo Castelli, and Mitchell-Innes & Nash. Another option, if you were recently named the world’s 468th richest man and have a Lichtenstein in your vast art collection, is to take that work and sell it for a lot of money. Steve Wynn, real-estate developer and necromancer of the Las Vegas strip, is doing just that: he will offer a Lichtenstein painting at Christie’s November 10 contemporary art auction that should net at least $40 million thanks to a third-party guarantee, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Art of the Deal: The Affordable Art Fair Opens in New York (ARTINFO)
ARTINFO - New York's biannual Affordable Art Fair, a four-day bazaar targeted at aspiring to mid-level collectors willing to pay between $100 and $10,000 for contemporary artworks, is opening to the public tonight and running through the weekend. A reliable stop for a wide-ranging assortment of wares that run the gamut from the in-your-face eccentric to the quietly accomplished, the fair has drawn exhibitors from around the world, and from both the gallery sphere and online.
PLAYBILL ON OPENING NIGHT: 'The Pitmen Painters' Art Isn't Easy (Playbill)
Playbill -
Meet the first-nighters at the opening of Lee Hall's The Pitmen Painters at Broadway's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.