Surrealist

Magritte Masterpiece Back in Print

Filed under: Art, Books

To celebrate the recent opening of the Magritte Museum in Brussels, Abrams / Fonds Mercator has come out with a new edition of Magritte, the masterful monograph on the Surrealist genius by the late David Sylvester, the world's foremost expert on Rene Magritte's work. Brought up to date by the Magritte Museum's director, Michel Draguet, the classic work which has been out of print for over a decade features 40 chapters of critical insights and clues to Magritte's poetic painted puzzles, and over 500 lavish full-color illustrations. Magritte's influence has been felt by many artists since the 1960s including Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Ed Ruscha. The Magritte Museum, housed in a neo-classical building in Brussels' Place Royale, displays over 200 original Magritte paintings, drawings and sculptures. Another museum is located at rue Esseghem 135 in Brussels in Magritte's former home, where he lived with his wife from 1930 to 1954.

Tags: Andy Warhol, art, art book, Belgium, book, Brussels, Jasper Johns, Magritte, Magritte Museum, museum, painting, Rene Magritte, Surrealism, Surrealist

Giacometti on the Block: Family Collection to Move at Christie's in Paris

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Surrealist, modern and postwar pieces will go under the gavel next week at the Christie's Impressioniste et Moderne auction in Paris. More than 140 lots will be offered on December 1, 2009, with presale estimates ranging from $6 million to $9 million. Among the artists represented in the auction, which consists of the Lefebvre-Foinet collection, are Alberto Giacometti, Max Ernst, Henri Matisse and Zao Wou-Ki. The collection was amassed over five generations, with the latest in the family making the decision to sell.

A portrait of Maurice Lefebvre by Giacometti could fetch between $1 million and $1.5 million, but other lots are more attainable. "Lyrical Explosion C," by Alberto Magnelli, is expected to sell for $210,000 to $270,000, and Sonia Delaunay's "Colored Rhythms No. 615" could go for up to $160,000. Playing on the success of the market for Chinese art, Zao Wou-Ki's "5.11.64" could move for as much as $600,000.

Paris has done pretty well through the art market slump, especially when the auctions deviate at least somewhat from the norm. Though there aren't any guarantees, let's keep an eye on this one. It could be the touch of fresh air we need.

[Photo via Christie's]

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Tags: art, art auction, art auctions, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, Artists, ArtMarket, artwork, auction, auction-house, AuctionHouse, auctions, Christies, contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, giacometti, matisse, max ernst, MaxErnst, modern art, ModernArt, paris, paris france, ParisFrance, PostwarArt, surreal, surrealism, surrealist, Zao

Dali Swiped From Dutch Digs

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Armed robbers absconded with two paintings from the Scheringa Museum for Realist Art in Spanbroek last Friday. One of them was a piece by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali. An exact number of thieves was not reported, but they were "several," and they wore masks. Walking into this museum with guns, they threatened the museum staff and dashed off wit the prize.

Driving off in a little black car, the art bandits left with "Adolescence," painted by Dali in 1941, and "La Musicienne," by Polish art deco painter Tamara de Lempicka (1929). Both paintings ~~are~~ were owned by the museum.

If you have a taste for Dali, look for the fence. Just don't get caught!

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Tags: amsterdam, art, art theft, artist, ArtTheft, dali, netherlands, salvador dali, SalvadorDali, surreal, surrealism, surrealist

Distant Origin Photo Chairs

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

The photo chairs from Distant Origin are a bit of a litmus test for weird. After all, it's not everyone who is itching to have an elegant carved wood Louis XVI chair with a black and white photo of a dog, ostrich or kitten in a suit on it. The chairs are artsy and just a bit disturbing, juxtaposing classic lines, silver leaf finish details and polished nickel nailheads with the photographic vinyl upholstery which is printed in the front and back with different images and features a ghostly hand or footprint on the seat. The chair shown here sells for $5,900 at Vivre.

Tags: art, chair, decor, distant origin, DistantOrigin, furniture, surrealist