contemporary art

Did Abramovich Just Bag a Bacon for $37 Million at Sotheby's?

Last month when we wrote about an important Francis Bacon triptych being auctioned off at Sotheby's, we predicted it would blast past its $14 million high estimate. And indeed on Thursday Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud (above) sold for a whopping $37 million, or more than two and a half times the top quote, at the auction house's Looking Closely sale of 20th century artworks in London. In our original post we also put forward Bacon-loving oligarch Roman Abramovich as the likely buyer, since he's in the midst of decorating his new $230 million mega-mansion in London; while Thursday's purchaser was anonymous, we bet the Freud triptych will be hanging on Abramovich's wall before long. The Thursday sale, from works said to have belonged to the low-profile Geneva collector George Kostalitz who died last year, also saw a new auction record for any surrealist work of art – Salvador Dali's Portrait de Paul Eluard, which sold for $21.6 million.

Tags: art, auctions, contemporary art, Francis Bacon, London, Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaires, Salvador Dali, Sothebys, wealth

Will Richard Prince's Naughty Nurse Paintings Nosedive?

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

While the market for some blue-chip contemporary art stars has rebounded from the recession, for others it remains a rocky ride. Take Richard Prince, the master of appropriation who gained widespread fame outside the art world for a collaboration with Louis Vuitton in 2007. His naughty nurse series - basically pulp fiction book covers he scanned and painted over - were a flop when they first debuted in 2002, but soon became hot commodities in the boom years before the economy went belly up. In 2008, Sotheby's in London set a record with the sale of Prince's 2002 Overseas Nurse for an eye-popping $8.5 million.

At Christie's' upcoming Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London on Feb. 16, however, another 2002 work, The Taming of Nurse Conway, is only expected to fetch $1.4 million to $1.9 million. It would appear the auction house's experts aren't confident of achieving a result comparable to that of Phillips de Pury, who knocked down 2004's Nurse in Hollywood #4 for an impressive $6.5 milllion back in May – which might have been a one-off considering his 2002 Millionaire Nurse (above) only brought in $2.8 million at Sotheby's in London in June. Of course that was before the Euro really went down the tubes. No doubt Prince's prices will recover when the currency of so many collectors does.

Tags: art, auctions, Christies, contemporary art, Louis Vuitton, Phillips de Pury, Richard Prince, Sothebys

Dennis Hopper's Furniture On Offer at Christie's

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Auctions, Celebrity Shopping, Art, Architecture & Design

Last summer my colleague Deirdre Woollard covered the sale of Dennis Hopper's house and major works from his impressive collection of contemporary art. Now Christie's is offering a number of prized pieces of furniture that belonged the late actor, artist and aesthete. Tops among Hopper's design classics in Christie's Interiors sale in New York on Jan. 11 – 12 is a chrome and black leather chaise by Le Corbusier, estimated at $1,000 – $1,500; a cardboard "bubble chair" designed by architect Frank Gehry, estimated at $3,000 – $5,000; and an oak and black leather Eames chair with ottoman, estimated at $1,000 – $1,500. Also included are various photographs and works of art, including an Andy Warhol silkscreen of Marilyn Monroe estimated at $40,000 – $60,000, and even the actor's set of Tiffany & Co. teacups and desert plates, estimated at $200 – $300. A number of the items are being offered without reserve, so it's a good chance for Hopper fans to score a memento.

Tags: actor, Andy Warhol, art, auction, celebrity, Christies, contemporary art, Dennis Hopper, Eames, Frank Gehry, furniture, Le Corbusier, Tiffany Co.

$14 Million Francis Bacon Stars in Sotheby's Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

A triptych portrait of artist Lucian Freud by Francis Bacon is the starring attraction at Sotheby's' Looking Closely sale of 20th century works in London on February 10. Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud (above) is estimated at up to $14 million. However, now that Bacon enthusiast Roman Abramovich has a new $230 million mega-mansion to decorate, we bet it could go much higher. Other top lots in the sale, said to have belonged to the low-profile Geneva collector George Kostalitz, who died last year, include works by Freud himself, Salvador Dali and Marc Chagall. "The works were bought between the 1960s and the 1990s," Helena Newman, Sotheby's European chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art, tells Bloomberg. "It's a personal collection of pieces that can be lived with on a domestic scale." The total high estimate for the works on offer is $85 million.

Tags: art, auction, contemporary art, Francis Bacon, London, Lucian Freud, Roman Abramovich, Salvador Dali, Sothebys

Ukranian Billionaire Flys in Ducasse, Cirque du Soleil for $6 Million Birthday Bash

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Wealth

Ukrainian billionaire Viktor Pinchuk (above) is spending more than $6 million on an opulent 50th birthday bash for himself in the posh French ski resort of Courchevel tonight, flying in the Cirque de Soleil and superchef Alain Ducasse for the occasion. The steel magnate and contemporary art collector, whose has an estimated fortune of over $3 billion, is sparing no expense for the 300 guests invited to the event, the London Telegraph reports. It has taken 50 workmen two weeks "under difficult climactic conditions" to set up an enormous marquee to showcase the Cirque du Soleil, the world-renowned Canadian circus troupe, the paper notes.

Ducasse's haute cuisine will be accompanied by oceans of the finest champagne, vodka and top grand cru vintage wines. The evening will end with a spectacular fireworks display before guests retire to the resort's 11 five-star hotels, all booked out for the occasion. Pinchuk, who owns one of London's most expensive houses, has his own private museum in Kiev housing major works by Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Louis Vuitton collaborator Takashi Murakami. He has a number of philanthropic projects and arts sponsorships in the works with the likes of Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Steven Spielberg, George Soros and Bill Clinton, all of whom could turn up at the birthday blowout.

Tags: Alain Ducasse, billionaire, Cirque de Soleil, contemporary art, Courchevel, Damien Hirst, events, france, Jeff Koons, museum, oligarch, parties, Paul McCartney, Russian billionaires, Takashi Murakami, Ukraine, wealth

"He + She" The Ceramics of Sergei Isupov

by Bobbie Leigh (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

You can't just look casually at Sergei Isupov's stoneware ceramics at his show at the Barry Friedman Ltd. Gallery in Chelsea. They are spellbinding. In fact, they are so cryptic, so dreamlike, so unlike anything you have ever seen, you feel compelled to keep staring.

Tags: Barry Friedman, ceramic sculpture, contemporary art, Leslie Ferrin, Sergei Isupov

Continue reading “"He + She" The Ceramics of Sergei Isupov”

Abramovich Buys $400 Million Private Island in Russia

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Wealth

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich is splashing out around $400 million to buy a private island in the heart of historic Saint Petersburg with plans to build an art museum there housing his incredible collection, the London Daily Telegraph reports. Abramovich, one of the richest men in the world, has quietly established himself as the world's leading collector of modern and contemporary art thanks to the influence of his beautiful young girlfriend Dasha Zhukova, the paper notes. New Holland island, which he has just acquired, is a crumbling 300-year-old former military base which belonged to the Russian admiralty. Abramovich plans to transform the 18th century warehouses into a cultural and commercial center in Russia's old imperial capital, including space for his amazing art collection, starring the record-breaking $86.3 million Francis Bacon triptych he bought in 2008, monumental works by Lucien Freud, Pablo Picasso and more.

Tags: art, contemporary art, Dasha Zhukova, Francis Bacon, island, Lucien Freud, museum, private museum, Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaire, St. Petersburg

$50 Million Warhol Stars in Christie's Contemporary Art Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

A rare early Andy Warhol painting expected to fetch up to $50 million, the first picture by Warhol ever to be shown in a museum, headlines Christie's incredible Contemporary Art sale in New York on Nov. 10. The artist's Big Campbell's Soup Can with Can Opener (Vegetable), dated 1962 (above), is one of several multimillion-dollar Warhols on offer in the eye-popping sale. The next most expensive artwork is Roy Lichtenstein's Ohhh...Alright..., dated 1964, expected to fetch in the region of $40 million and one of a number of Lichtensteins on offer, again with several carrying multimillion-dollar estimates. Both seminal paintings "literally changed the course of art history," Christie's notes. In third place price-wise is Gerhard Richter's 1982 oil on canvas Zwei Kerzen, estimated at $12 million – $16 million, followed by Jeff Koons' steel sculpture Balloon Flower (Blue), 1995 - 2000, also estimated at $12 million – $16 million. Following that in the $9 million – $15 million range are two works by Mark Rothko, Untitled (Black on Gray) and No 18 (Brown and Black on Plum). Oligarchs and oil sheikhs, prepare your paddles.

Gallery: Christie's Contemporary Art 11/10

Tags: Andy Warhol, art, auction, Contemporary Art, Gerhard Richter, Jeff Koons, Mark Rothko, museum, New York, painting, Roy Lichtenstein

Megabucks Rothko, Warhol & Bacon Head Sotheby's Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

A $30 million Mark Rothko, $25 million Andy Warhol, $18 million Roy Lichtenstein and $10 million Francis Bacon will headline Sotheby's stunning Contemporary Art sale in New York on Nov. 9. Though the least expensive of the top four lots the Bacon, 1985's Figure in Movement (above), is our favorite among the offerings. Bacon gave the painting to his personal physician, Dr. Paul Brass, and the sale marks it's historic first appearance to market. It featured prominently in the 2008 landmark exhibition Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective at Tate Britain which traveled to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Rothko, 1955's Untitled, is one of the artist's most monumental works measuring over 7.5 ft. high. Warhol's contribution is 1962's Coca-Cola, not particularly compelling but guaranteed to ride the wave of high prices realized for his work. The Lichtenstein, Ice Cream Soda, is also dated 1962 and has been in a private collection since it was originally purchased that same year.

Tags: Andy Warhol, art, auction, Contemporary Art, exhibition, Francis Bacon, Mark Rothko, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Roy Lichtenstein

Inside Luxury King Francois Pinault's Private Palazzo Museums

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Wealth, Architecture & Design

Francois Pinault is a man justifiably envied by many. With a fortune of $8.7 billion the high-school dropout-turned luxury goods titan is the majority shareholder of PPR, whose brands include Gucci, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. He also owns famed auction house Christie's and the renowned Chateau Latour winery. His amazing contemporary art collection, worth an estimated $1.4 billion, encompasses 2,000-plus works by over 80 artists including Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Takashi Murakami and Damien Hirst. Much of it is now housed as his two incredible private museums in Venice, the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana. Both historic buildings were transformed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando and are the subject of a smashing new book from Skira Rizzoli.

Tadao Ando: Venice - The Pinault Collection at the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana shows how Ando's designs seamlessly blend history and innovation while adhering to the strict laws governing the preservation of historic buildings in Venice. At the Palazzo Grassi, prominently located on the Grand Canal, Ando's quiet but expert renovation of the eighteenth-century rooms makes a perfect backdrop for Jeff Koons' eye-popping balloon sculptures. At the Punta della Dogana (shown on the cover above), the Venetian Republic's original customs warehouse, the large-scale space was subtly subdivided into refined rooms for installation art. The "dialogue – that is collision and friction – between the new and the old," Ando states, "is the driving force in creating a city's future."

Tags: architect, architecture, art, art collection, Balenciaga, billionaire, Bottega Veneta, Chateau Latour, contemporary art, Damien Hirst, France, Francois Pinault, Gucci, Italy, Jeff Koons, luxury goods, museum, PPR, Richard Prince, Tadao Ando, Takashi Murakami, Venice, Yves Saint Laurent

Tough Year for Takashi Murakami as Auction Revenue Plunges

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Contemporary art values got spanked following the financial crisis, and even though there were signs of hope in October and November 2009, it's been a long road to recovery. Some artists, in particular, were beaten particularly severely by the collapse of the contemporary art market.

Takashi Murakami, a fervent self-marketer as well as artist, sustained a decline in total auction revenue from $8 million for the July 2008 – June 2009 period to $3.4 million for the 12 months running from July 2009 – June 2010. ArtPrice reports that only 223 of his pieces were brought to auction during the year ending in June 2010, and only nine brought in more than €100,000. None hit the seven-figure mark.

Though the cash isn't rolling in, ArtPrice notes that Murakami "is back in the limelight thanks to his theatrical exhibition in the Château de Versailles which runs until 12 December 2010."

[photo by achimh via Flickr]

Source

Tags: art market, artist, Artists, artwork, contemporary art, financial crisis, murakami, Takashi Murakami

Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black by Jeff Koons

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Art

Earlier this summer my colleague Noah Joseph reported on the BMW M3 GT2 painted by famed artist Jeff Koons as part of BMW's renowned Art Car program. Now it seems Koons has adapted the design to the new limited edition Aston Martin Carbon Black DBS. Based on the top-of-the-line GT that serves as James Bond's ride of choice, the Carbon Black edition features a unique black paint process designed to deflect the light at different angles, plus lightweight carbon-Kevlar seats upholstered in black leather with silver stitching, piano black trim, special wheels and more. We're not sure why Koons' design would be applied over the special black finish, but there you have it. Koons' colorful pattern is meant to evoke "power, motion and bursting energy." The Aston was spotted in the Netherlands and is slated to participate in The Challenge 2010 race at the end of this month.

[via LuxuryLaunches]

Tags: art car, artist, Aston Martin, Aston Martin Carbon Black DBS, Aston Martin DBS, BMW, BMW art car, contemporary art, Jeff Koons, supercar

More Solid Sales At Sotheby's London

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Sotheby's London held its Summer Sale of Contemporary Art on Monday, hitting a solid, if not sky-high total of £41,091,800 ($61,806,176) which was within pre-sale expectations of £38,330,000- 52,830,000. The total was the third highest total for a Summer Sale of Contemporary Art at Sotheby's London and represented a 60 percent increase over the equivalent sale last year. Yves Klein's RE 49, Relief Eponge Bleu, which was from the collection of HVB Group, the German banking unit of UniCredit SpA, sold for 6.2 million pounds. A 1964 Richter painting, "Neger (Nuba)," sold for 3.7 million pounds against a low estimate of 3.5 million pounds. Concetto Spaziale, La Fine di Dio by Lucio Fontana sold for £4,745,250 ($7,137,331) against an estimate of £4.5-5.5 million.The sale had sell-through rates of 83% by lot and 87.3% by value with 45.4% of the sold lots selling above their pre-sale high estimates.

Tags: contemporary art, sothebys, yves klein

Gutsy Munoz Sculpture at the Clark

by Bobbie Leigh (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Art

Juan Munoz, Conversation Piece, 2001, Private collection, Estate of Juan Muñoz

Juan Muñoz was a storyteller, but the story is yours to tell, not his. In Conversation Piece five bronze below life-size figures whose legs are bagged teeter towards one another, but they aren't speaking. It's your job as the viewer to interact with them, walk around them, and decide for yourself what you make of their enigmatic placement and size. Strange and alluring, their eyes are stitched closed, but they reach out to one another yearning for something. Each statue is anchored to its spot, frozen in time, on the terrace of Stone Hill Center, the woodsy space and exhibition gallery of The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass.

Tags: contemporary art, Juan Muñoz, Stone Hill Center, The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute

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$11 Million Warhol & More in Christie's Sale

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

An important Andy Warhol portrait of Liz Taylor painted in 1963 is expected to fetch up to $11 million at Christie's' landmark Post-War & Contemporary Art sale in London on June 30. The iconic Silver Liz (above), painted for Warhol's now famous show at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles in October 1963, could easily go for much more considering last month's world record sale of a Warhol self portrait and the eye-popping results of the Michael Crichton collection. Also on offer in the stunning sale: Jeff Koons' 1999 oil on canvas Loopy, estimated at about $3.5 million - $5 million; Jean-Michel Basquiat's Untitled, painted in in 1982, estimated at about $2.5 million - $3.5 million; Roy Lichtenstein's Woman Reading, painted in 1980, estimated at about $3 million - $4.5 million; Cy Twombly's Untitled (Gaeta), painted in 2004, estimated at $3 million - $4 million; and Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild, painted in 1986, estimated at $2.2 million - $3.5 million.

Gallery: Christie's Contemporary Art June 2010