Degas

Top Museum Shows of 2010

Filed under: Art

Museum-goers had much to be grateful for in 2010. In New York City, the twins Mike and Doug Starn's "Big Bambu: You can't, You Don't, and You Won't Stop" on the Roof Garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art was a blockbuster installation consisting of 5,000 interlocking bamboo poles lashed together with nylon rope. Think of it as an enormous spider's web of bamboo scaffolding, an example of audience-participation art. Thousands of museum-goers walked through its wavy internal foot paths, which on a windy day were not all that stable. This site specific installation which grew during the spring and summer to an immense structure, 50- feet high, 50-feet wide, and 100-feet long, was a first for New York. The public, the critics, and especially children loved it. The reward for the non-acrophobic willing to walk to the highest point: stunning views of the city, especially at sunset.

Tags: Bronzino, Degas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Palazzo Strozzi, Rubin Museum, Sterling and Francis Clark Institute

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Degas Painting Lifted From French Museum

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Crimes and Misdemeanors

2009 ended with a little art theft in France. On Thursday, a Degas painting, Les Choristes was stolen from the Cantini Museum in Marselle. The AP reports that the painting is worth around $1.15 million and was on loan from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. The small pastel painting was painted in 1876-77 and depicts choral singers. A security guard discovered that the painting was missing but no other details are known yet. Degas works have been a target before, one was stolen during a major heist in 2008.

Tags: art theft, ArtTheft, cantini, degas

2009's Top 10 Art Auction Sales

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

The art market was already in decline when the global financial system was sent into mayhem in September 2008, but the financial nightmare accelerated the drop. This past year has been pretty miserable for artists, galleries, dealers and collectors (who have seen their buying power dry up), but that doesn't mean there hasn't been anything to celebrate.

Several prominent pieces hit fantastic heights at auction this year. Some of the names will look familiar, including Andy Warhol, Henri Matisse and Alberto Giacometti. Old Masters and Asia are represented as well, as they have generally done best in resisting the forces of the art market recession.

Below, take a look at the top 10 pieces at auction in 2009.

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Tags: andy warhol, AndyWarhol, art auction, art auctions, art collector, art dealer, art galleries, Art Gallery, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtCollector, ArtDealer, ArtGalleries, ArtGallery, ArtMarket, degas, galleries, gallery, giacometti, rembrandt

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Rothko, Diebenkorn and Degas join Obama in the White House

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Celebrity Design

The world's latest Nobel Peace Prize winner also has excellent taste in art. President Barack Obama has skipped the staid portraits that are usually pulled to adorn White House walls and instead opted for three dozen pieces with a bit more of an edge. Works have been pulled from the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Smithsonian American Art Museum to decorate the building the symbolizes executive authority in the United States.

The Obama family is definitely leaning modern, with Rothko, Degas and Diebenkorn among the artists represented. They've also included a word painting by Ed Ruscha. Not wanting to deprive the public of the opportunity to view works on display, the Obamas limited their choices to artwork in museum storage.

There's now a lot of money hanging from those White House walls. "Red Band" by Rothko, "Berkeley No. 52" by Diebenkorn and "White Line" by Sam Francis together are estimated to be worth between $20 million and $30 million. Throw a piece by Jasper Johns into the mix – specifically "Numerals, 0 through 9" – and you get a sense of the collection the Obamas have assembled.

Even with access to a collection of that caliber, though, I'd still never take Obama's job. And, there aren't enough Rothkos out there to change my mind.

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Tags: art, art collecting, art collection, art museum, art museums, ArtCollecting, ArtCollection, artist, artists, ArtMuseum, ArtMuseums, artwork, barack obama, BarackObama, degas, ed ruscha, EdRuscha, hirshhorn-sculpture-garden, jasper johns, JasperJohns, mark rothko, MarkRothko, michelle obama, MichelleObama, museum, museums, national gallery of art, NationalGalleryOfArt, nobel peace prize, NobelPeacePrize, obama, president, president barack obama, president obama, PresidentBarackObama, PresidentObama, rothko, smithsonian, smithsonian american art museum, SmithsonianAmericanArtMuseum, white house, WhiteHouse

Auction Houses Getting Ready for Fall Season

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Summer is slow for the art auction houses – and anyone else who has to step outside into the oppressive heat. But, in air conditioned offices around the world, Sotheby's and Christie's are getting ready for the September auctions in New York. The first will be the Christie's Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean auction on September 16 and 17, followed by Contemporary Art on September 23 and 24 at Sotheby's.

The catalogues haven't been published yet, but a little bit of information is starting to slop out. On November 4, for example, Sotheby's will be bringing several Impressionist paintings from the Paul Durand-Ruel collection under the gavel. These works were purchased directly from the artists and have not left the collection since being bought. Durand-Ruel (who died in 1922) supported several of the Impressionist artists. The collection consists of nearly 12,000 pieces – with 1,000 by Claude Monet, 1,500 by Auguste Renoir, 400 by Edgar Degas, 800 by Camille Pissarro and 200 by Edouard Manet.

The economy seems to be turning, albeit slowly. And, stronger pieces are coming to auction. This combination could be the first sign that the art market is on its way back, though it's going to take a while to reach 2007 levels again. For now, let's be patient and just hope for an exciting, full and active autumn auction season.

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Tags: art, art auction, art auctions, art house, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtHouse, artist, ArtMarket, artwork, auction, auction-house, auctionhouse, auctions, christies, christiesauction, christiesauctionhouse, christiesinternational, claude monet, ClaudeMonet, degas, manet, monet, renoir, sothebys

Blame Andy Warhol for Drop in Auction Sales

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

It's no surprise that last year's art market looked nothing like that of 2007. Last year, the top 10 artists by sales racked up $1.7 billion and accounted for 20 percent of the global art market on 1.5 percent of transactions. This slip in the big revenue number is a lot different from 2007, in which the top 10 brought in $1.8 billion, a year-over-year gain of 50 percent, according to ArtPrice.

Andy Warhol was the problem last year.

The top artist of 2007 fell substantially last year. In 2008, only $236.7 million in Warhol sales occurred – compared to $420 million the year before. As a result, Warhol slid from the #1 spot to #3, and Picasso regained the apex. Francis Bacon moved from #3 to #2 on sales of $256 million. Unbelievable growth of 514 percent in his work from January 2005 to January 2008 turned abruptly, and the artist finished last year down 48 percent ... not that he'd give a tinker's damn about it.

Despite the economic challenges, the price of admission grew. Last year, sales in a particular artist at auction had to reach $91.8 million to hit the big time, up from $87 million in 2007, $59.6 million in 2006 and a comparatively paltry $33.7 million in 2005.

Take a look at the scorecard after the jump.

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Tags: andy warhol, AndyWarhol, bacon, claude monet, ClaudeMonet, damien hirst, DamienHirst, degas, francis bacon, FrancisBacon, gerhard richter, GerhardRichter, hirst, pablo picasso, PabloPicasso, picasso, warhol

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Little Dancer's Big Price

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

A bronze sculpture of a young dancer proved that the art market isn't quite dead yet. British millionaire Sir John Madejski put his Degas dancer up for sale at Sotheby's Impressionist art auction on February 3. The bronze sculpture, Petite danseuse de quatorze ans, is one of only a few remaining in private hands and was estimated at £9 – 12 million. Instead it brought in £13.3 million pounds ($19.2 million) over £8 million more than he paid for it back in 2004.The three-foot-high sculpture of a dancer was one of an edition of 28 bronze casts made in 1922 after the artist's death in 1917. The buyer was an anonymous Asian collector. The sculpture was the top lot in Sotheby's London sale of Impressionist and modern art where 76 percent of the 29 lots found buyers. The sale brought in £32.6 million versus a low estimate of £40.6 million. Compare that with last year, where the February Impressionist and modern art sale at Sotheby's brought in £117 million.

[Thanks, Lana]

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Tags: auction, bronze, dancer, degas

Little Dancer Seeks Big Price

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

British millionaire Sir John Madejski is sending his Tiny Dancer to the auction block at Sotheby's Impressionist art auction on February 3. The bronze sculpture from Degas, Petite danseuse de quatorze ans, is one of Degas's most famous and popular works. The bronze cast is one of only a few remaining in private hands. It is estimated at £9 – 12 million. Sir John Madejski is one of Britain's leading arts philanthropists and the sculpture was on display at the Royal Academy in London since 2004 when he bought this statue for £5 million at Sotheby's in London. Another version sold in 1999 for $12.4 million which is highest price paid for a Degas sculpture.

[via Wealth Bulletin]

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Tags: bronze, degas, impressionist, sculpture, sothebys

Sotheby's Impressionist Sale

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

Sotheby's New York Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale will be taking place this coming week on Wednesday, May 3rd. To tempt more sellers, Sotheby's has fixed the prices of more of the pieces up for auction, guaranteeing sellers at total of $253.8 million. The star piece of the auction, with a minimum price tag of $50 million, is Pablo Picasso's "Dora Maar au Chat," which is offered for sale by a relative of a Chicago businessman.

Other pieces include "Nu couché vu de dos" by Henri Matisse, "La Danse Grecque" by Edgar Degas and "Arlequine au Baton," also by Picasso, all of which have estimated sale prices over $6 million.

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Tags: 2006, art, auction, degas, impressionist, matisse, may, new york, picasso, sotheby's