JasperJohns

Michael Crichton's Art Collection Heads To Auction

Author Michael Crichton wasn't just a prolific writer and the creator of "ER" he was also an avid art collector. Crichton, who died in 2008, had collected works from Picasso, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein and others. Some of those works will be sold by Christie's in New York as part of their May auctions. The total value for the collection hasn't been given but just the haul from the big four listed above is supposed to top $32 million. One piece is one of John's famous flag paintings. Crichton was a Johns scholar, the two had met and this painting, "Flag" by Johns, dated 1960-66, was bought directly from the artist's collection and has never been on the public market.

Auctions that have a celebrity provenance have done well in the past few years even when the rest of the art market was in the doldrums. With the recent excitement of a new record set by a Giacometti sculpture, hopes are high for big results on this one. Reuters reports that the auction record for a Johns is $17.4 million set back in 2007 for his 1959 work "Figure 4," but that another piece, "False Start," sold for a reported $80 million in a private sale.

Tags: art collection, ArtCollection, christies, jasper johns, JasperJohns, michael crichton, MichaelCrichton, robert rauschenberg, RobertRauschenberg

Basquiat and Warhol Fail Christie's

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Christie's tried in New York with a 1983 piece by Jean-Michel Basquiat and didn't succeed. The auction house may have been too aggressive in estimating the 16-foot piece at $9 million. That's what's tough about the art market right now. There are signs of recovery, and it can be tempting to push for higher prices. Unfortunately, it's easy to get a bit excited. The painting had the highest estimate at the auction. The piece with the second highest presale estimate, a piece by Andy Warhol, met a similar fate.

The Basquiat piece, "Brother Sausage," was offered anonymously by a buyer later revealed by Bloomberg News to be Peter Brant, an art collector based in Connecticut. The piece may be a casualty of his divorce from model Stephanie Seymour. Well, it won't be financing post-marital discord and could remain a contested asset for a while.

Warhol's "Tunafish Disaster" was projected to move for up to $8 million and, like the Basquiat painting, didn't receive any bids. Art dealer Robert Mnuchin of L&M Arts was stuck taking it home.

Yet, some works beat the odds in an auction that raked in $74.2 million, within the presale range of $61.5 million to $88 million. Nonetheless, this was the lowest result we've seen from a Christie's New York contemporary art effort since May 2003 and down 81 percent from the top of the market two and a half years ago.

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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

Jasper Johns, John Baldessari Collaborate to Raise Funds for Obama

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Big Givers

A group of 13 highly covetable artists including John Baldessari, Frank Gehry, Ed Ruscha, Jasper Johns and Richard Serra have donated print editions of their work to raise funds for Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Los Angeles-based print publisher Gemini G.E.L. commissioned the group of artists to create what they're calling the "Artists for Obama" portfolio, a set of prints in a limited edition of 150 (not including Jasper Johns's iconic Flag, at right). Art lovers looking to acquire the rare set of prints must donate a minimum of $20,000 to the campaign.

[via The Los Angeles Times]

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Tags: artists for obama, ArtistsForObama, barack obama, BarackObama, ed ruscha, EdRuscha, gemini, jasper johns, JasperJohns, john baldessari, JohnBaldessari, richard serra, RichardSerra

Damien Hirst Is Most Expensive Living Artist

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Damien Hirst is now the world's most expensive living artist, which is quite a title considering the price many pieces are going for at auction these days. America's Jasper Johns held the honor previously, on and off since the 1980s, along with Willem de Kooning from 1989-1997. Damien Hirst officially took the title when his Lullaby Spring pill cabinet sold for $19.1 million at Sotheby's, but he didn't take it directly from Jasper Johns. Just 24 hours earlier artist Lucian Frued had the title (yep, for just one day) after his "Bruce Bernard" portrait sold for $16.5 million in London.

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