jeffkoons

Ukranian Billionaire Was Big Hirst Buyer

Ukranian billionaire Viktor Pinchuk has revealed he was a major buyer at Damien Hirst's record-breaking $200 million Sotheby's sale last month, but has declined to say exactly what he purchased. Pinchuk, who's worth an estimated $5 billion, has his own museum in Kiev, the first private institution of its kind in the former Soviet Union, which already houses works by Hirst, Jeff Koons and Vuitton collaborator Takashi Murakami. He says he plans to display his new Hirst acquisitions at the Pinchuk Center in the spring.

"Victor Pinchuk is having a great impact on the [art] market," Simon de Pury, chairman of auction house Phillips de Pury & Co., who credits him with starting the oligarch art collecting trend, tells Bloomberg. "The contemporary art market in both Ukraine and Russia has really taken off in the past two years, and I expect this growth to continue." Earlier this year Pinchuk paid a record $150 million for a house in London, the world's most expensive at the time.

Tags: Damien Hirst, DamienHirst, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons, Kiev, Pinchuk Center, PinchukCenter, Russian billionaires, RussianBillionaires, Simon de Pury, SimonDePury, Ukraine, Viktor Pinchuk, ViktorPinchuk

Abramovich's Girlfriend Parties with Supermodels in Moscow

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Art

Our friends at Kempt spotted Dasha Zhukova, Russian oligarch / Luxist mascot Roman Abramovich's gorgeous 27-year-old girlfriend, partying with supermodels and movie stars at an A-list art gallery opening in Moscow the other night. Zhukova (right) rubbed elbows with the likes of Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova (left), sexy star of several ad campaigns, at the opening for megabucks art dealer Larry Gagosian in a former chocolate factory. As we reported recently, Abramovich has bankrolled a new Moscow art gallery for Zhukova, which will mount a major Francis Bacon exhibition in 2010. At the Gagosian show, works by the likes of Jeff Koons and Vuitton collaborator Takashi Murakami were on display.

Tags: dasha zhukova, DashaZhukova, Francis Bacon, FrancisBacon, Gagosian Gallery, GagosianGallery, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons, Kempt, Larry Gagosian, LarryGagosian, Moscow, natalia vodianova, NataliaVodianova, Russia, Supermodels, takashi murakami, TakashiMurakami

Esquire Names Abramovich One of Century's Most Influential

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Esquire magazine has just named Luxist mascot Roman Abramovich one of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century. The honor comes on the heels of the lovably profligate oligarch's advancement to 8th place on Vanity Fair's list of the world's 100 most powerful people, as we reported earlier this month.

The magazine cites Abramovich's rise from hawking rubber duckies at Moscow's open-air markets to a multi-billionaire oil kingpin, art collector extraordinaire, megayacht owner, Putin confidant, and so on.

Also landing slots on Esquire's list, which appears in the October issue and is not ranked, are Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, ruler of Dubai and one of the world's richest royals; luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH; and provocative artist Jeff Koons, whose work sells for millions.

Tags: bernard arnault, BernardArnault, Dubai, Esquire magazine, EsquireMagazine, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons, roman abramovich, RomanAbramovich, russian billionaires, RussianBillionaires

Jeff Koons Invades Versailles

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Art world provocateur Jeff Koons has ruffled feathers in France by installing his immense, kitschy statues in the storied Palace of Versailles. The groundbreaking exhibition, which opened Wednesday and runs through December, features 17 Koons works including a giant balloon dog, enormous aluminum lobster, and a ceramic ode to Michael Jackson and his pet chimp Bubbles. As my colleague Deidre Woollard reported previously, Koons' 3,500 lb. Hanging Heart sculpture fetched $23.4 million at auction in November.

The opening of the exhibition drew a crowd of protestors who consider the Koons show an affront to France. "This exhibit is sacrilegious and insulting to the symbols of the Republic and its art," Arnaud-Aaron Upinsky, president of the Union Nationale des Ecrivains de France, fumed to the AP. However Koons insists he has "complete respect for Versailles [and] complete respect for each individual coming to Versailles."

Tags: Contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, France, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons, Versailles

Steve McQueen Wins Gucci Group Award for 2008

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Steve McQueen is the art world's new King of Cool. The British filmmaker whose recent project Hunger won the prestigious Caméra d'Or award at Cannes, adds another prominent award to his collection: Gucci Group's annual recognition of an international artist who makes a significant contribution to film. And this year's group of nominees -- Julian Schnabel, Isaac Julien and Adam Yauch -- provided staunch competition indeed.

Robert Polet, Gucci's CEO and President, presented the award to McQueen during the 65th Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. The committee included some of the world's greatest arbiters of style, Italian Vogue's Franco Sozzani, the artist Jeff Koons, actress Isabelle Huppert, Yves Saint Laurent's creative director Stefano Pilati and the artistic director of the Venice Film Festival, Marco Muller.

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Tags: 2008 gucci group award, 2008GucciGroupAward, adam yauch, AdamYauch, film, filmmaker, franco sozzani, FrancoSozzani, gucci, gucci group, GucciGroup, isaac julien, IsaacJulien, jeff koons, JeffKoons, julian schnabel, JulianSchnabel, robert polet, RobertPolet, stefano pilati, StefanoPilati, steve mcqueen, SteveMcqueen

Greek Billionaire Commissions Yacht by Jeff Koons

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

This has got to be one of the stranger luxury craft plying the waters: Guilty, the 115-ft. yacht Greek billionaire Dakis Joannou commissioned from art world superstar Jeff Koons. Joannou, an industrialist who owns one of the world's finest collections of contemporary art, had Koons' design executed by Italian yacht builder Ivana Porfiri.

Though Koons' colorful scheme calls to mind the Pop Art paintings of the late Roy Liechtenstein, Joannou says the design is actually based on a WWI camouflage pattern. After the yacht's completion, Joannou came across a text painting entitled Guilty by British artist Sarah Morris, which he immediately purchased to decorate the yacht. The eye-popping craft which was recently spotted on its maiden voyage in Monaco.

[via Monaco Eye]

Gallery: Guilty by Jeff Koons

Tags: Billionaires, Contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, Dakis Joannou, DakisJoannou, Ivana Porfiri, IvanaPorfiri, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons, Monaco, Roy Liechtenstein, RoyLiechtenstein, Sarah Morris, SarahMorris

Rare Never Exhibited Bacon on Offer at Christie's

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

A rare Francis Bacon triptych that has never before been seen in public and has never been offered at auction is expected to fetch over $20 million during Christie's Contemporary Art Sales in London at the end of the month. Painted in Paris in 1975, Three Studies for a Self Portrait (above) is similar in character to the Bacon triptych that sold for $28 million at Christie's last month. Also starring in the sales on June 30 through July 1: Lucian Freud's Naked Potrait with Reflection, one of the most important works by the artist ever to be offered at auction, est. $20 million - $30 million; Jeff Koons' Balloon Flower (Magenta), 1995-2000, the most important Koons work ever offered at auction in Europe, est. about $25 million; Andy Warhol's Nine Multicolored Marilyns, est. $5 million - $7 million; and Jean-Michel Basquiat's Trunk, painted in 1982, est. $2 - $3 million.

Gallery: Christie's Summer Sale

Tags: Andy Warhol, AndyWarhol, Christies, Contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, Francis Bacon, FrancisBacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jean-michelBasquiat, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons, Lucian Freud, LucianFreud, Marilyn Monroe, MarilynMonroe

Jeff Koons Art Book

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

If you can't afford one of Jeff Koons's monumental works you can content yourself, or the art lover on your holiday list, with a book on his workds. The Jeff Koons monograph includes a catalog of his work which is organized to tell his story through pictures. There are 100 limited art edition copies with an original artwork by the artist. The book is 606 pages and measures a hefty 13" x 17¼". It sells for $1,000.

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Tags: book, christmas gift, coffee table book, holidash, jeff koons, JeffKoons

Jeff Koons Is Now The Top Selling Living Artist (At Auction)

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

If the art market is any indicator of the economy it looks like things are pretty secure. Overall the fall art auctions in New York City ended up strong with the only down note being the Impressionist sale last week at Sotheby's which had the misfortune to take place on the day the stock market took a serious dip. Analysts now say the auction was just an isolated episode although at the time the auction house's stock plummeted. Sotheby's had a much better night with their contemporary art auction, it brought in $316 million, above expectations. The big star of the auction was one big work, Hanging Heart by Jeff Koons which went for $23.4 million setting a auction record for an artist who is still alive besting Damien Hirst who garnered the title last June. Two Francis Bacon pieces also sold for a combined $79 million.

The Hanging Heart is done in high chromium stainless steel weighs over 3,500 pounds and is almost nine feet tall. It was the second monumental piece that Koons sold during the fall auctions. His giant faceted blue diamond sculpture sold at Christie's for $11.8 million. Both pieces were bought by Larry Gagosian who is the art dealer for Jeff Koons.

[Thanks, Lana]

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Tags: art, christie's, jeff koons, JeffKoons, new york, sotheby's

Jeff Koons Has A Big Heart

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

The good thing about a Monet or a Van Gogh is that you can probably find space for it in your home. It's not quite so easy with some of the works by today's artists such as Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons. Case in point, Koon's big bright Hanging Heart (Magenta and Gold) which will be auctioned off on November 14 at Sotheby's New York as part of their Contemporary Art Sale. This beauty in high chromium stainless steel weighs over 3,500 pounds and is almost nine feet tall.

Koons employs a large stable of artists and this work and took over 6,000 man hours to produce. The work is on display at Sotheby's this week through Sunday, October 8th, by private appointment. When it sells it is estimated to bring $15/20 million. I wonder if that includes shipping and installation.

[via Elite Choice]

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Tags: art, auction, jeff koons, JeffKoons, sothebys

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