painting

Edward Hopper's Maine Paintings to be Exhibited at Bowdoin College

Filed under: Art

In July the Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, Maine will stage an exhibition of paintings and watercolors produced by famed American realist Edward Hopper during his many sojourns in Maine. Hopper spent several summers there beginning in 1914 and painted many Maine scenes, including the lighthouse at Two Lights, above, in Cape Elizabeth, from 1929. For Edward Hopper such weather-beaten landmarks "symbolized the solitary individual stoically facing the onslaught of change in an industrial society." Organized with the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, which has a major Hopper show running through April, the Bowdoin exhibition includes over 80 works from both public and private collections.

Tags: art, Bowdoin College, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, colleges, Edward Hopper, Maine, museum, New England, painting

Edward Hopper and His Friends

by Bobbie Leigh (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events, Art

Be prepared to fall in love with Edward Hopper all over again. You might even have had a poster of one of his night scenes in your college dorm room. In the new show of his work and that of some 30 other Hopper contemporaries, Hopper (1882-1967) still emerges as one of the most compelling artists of the last century. "Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time" is at the Whitney which supposedly has some 3,000 Hopper works given by his wife Jo, also an art student and the model for most of the women in his paintings.

The show covers American realism from roughly 1900-1940 and documents the way Hopper and his "friends" rebelled against the academic art that dominated Europe. No more lovely scenes of parks and posh picnics along the Seine, Hopper and his contemporaries -- William Glackens, George Bellow, Thomas Hart Benton to name just a few whose works are on view --- painted everyday scenes. They were drawn to tugboats, bridges, railroad cars, the new skyscrapers. But unlike his contemporaries, Hopper disliked regionalism which made a caricature of America. He advocated an "American art that transcended national, local, and regional traits," according to the sumptuous show catalog.

Tags: American realism, edward hopper, Everett Shinn, George Bellows, museum exhibit, museum exhibition, painting, Thomas Hart Benton, whitney museum, William Glackens

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$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

Angular Momentum Verre Eglomise Green Humming Bird Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

From their popular Artisan collection comes this new Angular Momentum Verre Eglomise "Little Green Humming Bird" timepiece. It features a beautiful reverse painted green humming bird applied on the back of the sapphire crystal with a special enamel pain. Extremely hard to do, this hand-painted creation looks amazingly life-like. Angular Momentum often releases pieces like this and each amazes me. The idea of wearing a small painting on your wrist is probably strange to most people, but In my opinion it is a tasteful endeavor.

Angular Momentum uses their newly developed two-part 12 sided dodecagon case, that here is 39mm wide in Staybrite steel. The interesting design uses a formal style crown with an onyx cabochon. Inside the watch is a Swiss automatic movement that uses a single revolving disc to tell the time in the open window. Angular Momentum has refined this time telling format by adding a small indicator hand that allows for more precise reading of the time.

Is the watch for men or women? Not really sure. At 39mm wide it is sort of in that unisex gray area. I say if you like it, contact Angular Momentum and see how they can make one to your specific specifications.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: Angular Momentum, humming bird, painting, verre eglomise, watch

An Homage to Edward Hopper

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Books

To accompany a major new European traveling exhibition at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, Fondazione Roma Museo in Rome and Fondation de l'Hermitage in Lausanne, Skira has released a massive new monograph on famed American artist Edward Hopper. Illustrated with over 150 oils, watercolors, etchings, and drawings with critical comments on their formal and technical characteristics, topics include Hopper's European travels and his love of movies that influenced his work in various ways, his early work as an illustrator and printmaker, and his process of drawing versus painting. Among the artworks included are Cape Cod Sunset, Second Story Sunlight (shown on the book's cover, above) and several self-portraits from the Whitney Museum of American Art; the famous Morning Sun from the Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, and a number of lesser-known watercolors and oils from Hopper's journeys to Paris. Also included are essays by several noted scholars, and an extensive chronology and bibliography.

Tags: American art, art, coffee table books, Edward Hopper, Europe, exhibition, museum, painter, painting, Whitney Museum of American Art

Michael Crichton's Jasper Johns Flag Painting Sells for Record $28.6 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Following the record-breaking $106 million Picasso sale we reported on last week, another world record has been set with the sale of late author Michael Crichton's seminal Jasper Johns Flag painting last night for $28.6 million. Both works were sold by Christie's in New York, fulfilling our prediction in The Classicist last month that the auction house's May art sales would bring in "megabucks". The 1966 flag painting, which had been estimated at up to $15 million, was sold to to New York art adviser Michael Altman before a crowd of VIPs and art collectors including hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen, Hollywood mogul Michael Ovitz, billionaire Eli Broad, author Salman Rushdie and designer Marc Jacobs. The sale's other big cash cow was Andy Warhol, whose 1965 Elizabeth Taylor diptych, "Silver Liz," sold for $18.3 million to New York art dealer Dominique Levy. The Crichton estate's 31 pieces alone sold for $93.3 million, against a $69.6 million high estimate. The sale broke at least five world records for artists including Johns, as predicted by Luxist's Tom Johansmeyer.

All in all Christie's auctioned $232 million of post-war and contemporary art on Tuesday, with around 74% of the offerings going to American buyers. "Within five minutes of opening the rooms for the stunning pre-sale exhibition of the Crichton Collection, we were packed," said Brett Gorvy, International Co-Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie's. "There was a sense of anticipation. The sale [Tuesday] reaffirms the continued confidence in the art market." Amy Cappellazzo, Christie's International Co-Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, notes that "This is the most significant Post-War & Contemporary Art collection ever sold at auction. It was a quintessential American sale. We were delighted with the results across the board and also to see the works by Warhol sell well. Warhol is a bellwether for the market. It sends a strong signal across the board."

Gallery: Megabucks May 2010 Art Auctions

Source

Tags: Andy Warhol, art, auction, auction record, contemporary art, flag, Jasper Johns, Michael Crichton, New York, painting, Picasso, world record

Magritte Masterpiece Back in Print

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

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

Met Museum's Guards Show Don't Just Watch: They Paint, Too

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Charity

The Upper West Side of Manhattan was once again home to an exciting and unique art exhibition last week. 25CPW, a temporary art gallery occupying a vacant retail space on Central Park West hosted an art show for a unique group within the Metropolitan Museum of Art: the guards. It turns out that some of the people protecting the masterpieces on the other side of Central Park also like to create, and from what I saw on Thursday night, when I attended the opening, they are pretty damned good at it.

The Thursday night opening also included the launch of Sw!pe Magazine: Guards' Matter, an art journal that accompanied the exhibition.

On display were paintings, drawings, photographs and other pieces. The styles varied but were displayed intelligently, preventing contrasting styles from crowding each other and leaving each artist enough space for his work to stand out. Nelson Diaz, an artist and friend who attended the how with me, was as electrified as I was – both by the works on display and the energy in the 25CPW space.

You can view the NY Times photo gallery here.

The next 25CPW event is on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 night at 6:00 PM, when the Afghan Art Auction will be held to benefit the George Dritsas Anthropos Fund. The fund was created to help refugees in transition, so do find a way to open your wallet. The money raised will also be used to help the Afghan Women Council, which seeks to assist women and children inside Afghanistan.

From the inaugural event at 25CPW:

Gallery: 10 from 25: Emerging Artists using Photography

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Tags: art exhibit, art exhibits, art galleries, Art Gallery, art show, central park, central park west, drawing, drawings, manhattan, metropolitan, MetropolitanMuseumOfArt, new york, new york city, painting, paintings, Upper West Side

Massive $12 Million Basquiat on Offer at Christie's

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

On Nov. 10 Christie's in New York will auction off an epic 15-ft. wide Jean-Michel Basquiat painting as part of its Post-War and Contemporary Art sale. The painting is expected to fetch up to $12 million. Brother Sausage (detail above), painted in 1983 and featured on the cover of Basquiat's catalogue raisonné, is a cartoon strip-like composition of six panels hinged together to form a narrative frieze of multiple drawings and Xeroxed overlays, each laden with themes of racial inequality and prejudice, wealth and corporate greed in a fame and consumer-obsessed American. Christie's notes the work is "steeped in Basquiat's signature style, raw energy and ingenious, loaded layering," exemplifying the artist at the pinnacle of his career. Also included in the auction are Andy Warhol's Tunafish Disaster, painted in 1963 and estimated at $6 - $8 million; and Jeff Koons' Large Vase of Flowers from 1991, estimated at $4 - $6 million.

[via JustLuxe]

Tags: Andy Warhol, AndyWarhol, Christies, contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jean-michelBasquiat, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons, New York, NewYork, painting

Paintings of the Hudson River School

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Books

In celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's first voyage up the Hudson River, the New York Historical Society has an exhibition of Hudson River School paintings running through March. In case you can't make it to the museum in person, they've also just published a book, The Hudson River School: Nature and the American Vision, featuring works from their incredible collection. In the first half of the 19th century, a group of painters working in New York City developed a distinctly American vision of the landscape. Their powerful interpretations of American scenery, which came to be known as the Hudson River School, "tell the story of how landscape imagery can shape both national and cultural identity." The book showcases more than a hundred of these images, many in full-page reproductions that convey the original paintings' monumental scale, and features work by all the greatest artists of the group including Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church, Thomas Cole, Jasper Cropsey and Asher B. Durand.

Tags: Frederic Church, FredericChurch, Hudson River, Hudson River School, HudsonRiver, HudsonRiverSchool, museum, New York, New York Historical Society, NewYork, NewYorkHistoricalSociety, Olana, painting

Is The Lady A Da Vinci?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Could the lovely lady at right be a work by Leonardo da Vinci? Antiques Trade Gazette has a fascinating piece that speculates that this small (13" x 9") picture on vellum mounted on an oak board could be a long-lost da Vinci. The portrait, listed as "German, early 19th century" sold for $19,000 at Christie's New York in 1998 to art dealer Kate Ganz who sold it for around the same amount to art connoisseur Peter Silverman in 2007. But now Martin Kemp, Emeritus Professor of History of Art at Oxford University has said that the painting might belong to the Renaissance master. Evidence gathered using a "multispectral" camera from Lumière Technology of Paris has found a fingerprint near the top left of the work. The fingerprint may be similar to a print on Leonardo's St Jerome in the Vatican. A palm print left on the neck in the painting may also reflect da Vinci's hands-on approach to shading. Analysis also shows the drawing and hatching were done by a left-handed artist, which da Vinci was. The lady's hair and costume would be appropriate for the time period.

Professor Kemp believes the lady in the picture may be Bianca Sforza, daughter of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (1452-1508), and his mistress Bernardina de Corradis and dates to around 1496 when she was 13 or 14. Peter Silverman, who had been an underbidder in the 1998 Christie's sale had mentioned the work to Dr. Nicholas Turner, formerly Keeper of Prints & Drawings at the British Museum. He directed Silverman to Professor Kemp who is a da Vinci specialist. The portrait hasn't been shown in public since its reattribution and Kemp has written a book about the subject which has not yet been published. The painting's new value should be around £100 million. It is set to go on display next March at a show called And There Was Light: The Masters of the Renaissance Seen in a New Light to be held in the Eriksbergshallen, Gothenburg, Sweden.

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Tags: art, leonardo da vinci, LeonardoDaVinci, painting, renaissance

Art Market Turning? Autumn to Confirm or Deny

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

The Art Price Global Index suggests that the art market started to turn at the middle of the year, but it's going to take the autumn art season to confirm whether this is a false positive or the start of a new trend. Maybe the slight improvements in economic conditions are leading to more art market confidence (and spending), or perhaps they're just sick to death of being in a slump.

Art prices increased by 4.97 percent at the end of the second quarter, according to the Art Price Global Index. This comes after the index fell a total of 30 percent from the start of 2008. The collective will of art collectors, dealers and auctioneers probably won't be enough to change the art world, but it could happen at the same time. The Art Market Confidence Index gained 20 points during the second quarter, supporting the notion that we're all ready for this to be over.

It was still a tough quarter for Post-War and Contemporary artwork, which saw prices drop nine percent and four percent, respectively. But, the rest of the art market has fared better, thanks in large part to the increase in the number of affordable works brought under the gavel. So far this year, 79 percent of pieces sold for less than €5,000, up from 73 percent in 2008. Paintings and multiples declined, as well, by 31 percent and 41 percent, respectively, since 2008. With 4 percent and 5 percent price drops in the second quarter of 2009, their prices have returned to 2004 levels.

But, the summer's pretty quiet for the art market. We won't be able to confirm a recovery until the fall auction season begins. Then, we'll know if wallets are ready to be opened and stay that way for a while.

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Tags: art, art auction, art auctions, art collecting, art collection, art collector, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtCollecting, ArtCollection, ArtCollector, artist, ArtMarket, artwork, auction houses, auction-house, auctionhouse, AuctionHouses, contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, painting, paintings, postwar art, postwarart

Michael Jackson Portrait by Andy Warhol Expected to Fetch Millions

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

In 1984, Michael Jackson and Andy Warhol were at the heights of their respective careers. The two pop artists have since passed, but their one collaboration is about to hit the auction block in a sale expected to figure in the millions.

This portrait of Jackson painted by Warhol, measuring 30 x 26 inches, is valued at half a million pounds sterling (nearly $850k), but is likely to fetch far more than that when it hits the block in the near future in a New York auction. Until then, it will be on display at the British Music Experience in London, where Michael was due to launch his comeback concert immediately prior to his untimely death.

[Source: Luxurylaunches.com]

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Tags: andy warhol, AndyWarhol, art auction, ArtAuction, jackson, michael jackson, michael jackson portrait, MichaelJackson, MichaelJacksonPortrait, painting, warhol

Angular Momentum Crown Jewels Of Nature Enamel Bird Painting Watches

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Latest from the Angular Momentum Verre Eglomise Artisan Timepiece collection comes these beautiful enamel painted watches in four varieties with three cockatoo painted dials and one kingfisher. The dials are done in verre eglomise which is reverse enamel painting on a sapphire crystal. The paintings are done in reverse and by hand. Using the Angular Momentum Time Gallery watch case these watches are each done in 18k white gold and are between about 40mm - 41mm wide (which probably feels like a good size given the very thin bezel, and yes each is a slightly different size).

Diamonds decorate the thin bezels and lug structures, while each watch has an attached alligator strap. Inside the watch is an automatic mechanical movement. Time is read digitally (this is digital too) through the window placed at 12 or 6 o'clock. The rest of the dial is dedicated to the limited edition paintings. This is not the first time that Angular Momentum has presented enamel paintings of birds, but each new collection impresses me. Interestingly, this collection has three different images of cockatoo birds - each in a different pose - and a beautiful version with a kingfisher bird. I must admit not being sure what the namesake bird of an Indian beer has in common with a popular clever shoulder avian, but I like the watches. Prices are likely at least $25,000 - $30,000 each.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Angular Momentum Crown Jewels Of Nature Enamel Bird Painting Watches

Tags: angular momentum, AngularMomentum, cockatoo, crown jewels of nature, CrownJewelsOfNature, enamel, kingfisher, painting, timepiece, verre eglomise, VerreEglomise, watch

Christie's Rakes In $32.7 Million, New Category Said To Be Successful

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

The latest London market art auction was good for $32.7 million last night, as Christie's International moved lots from its Old Masters & 19th Century art category. The works ranged from late 14th century to late 19th century, with this newly created broad category intended to push "crossover" buying (from different periods) among collectors. Christie's is already celebrating the effectiveness of this plain, even though sales continue to be well below 2008 levels.

Sixty-three lots came under the gavel at the Christie's auction, and the house did hit its low estimate of $25 million. Only 24 percent of the lots were not purchased. Last year at this time, the same auction generated close to $50 million on 48 lots. And, the July 2007 Christie's Old Masters auction was good for around $80 million on 91 paintings. The two top paintings this year sold for below their estimates.

Despite Christie's self-proclaimed success for the Old Masters & 19th Century Art category, dealers aren't sold on it. A few claimed that the later work detracted from the pieces created earlier in this broad period.

The next sale comes today, as Sotheby's moves 200 pieces that currently belong to Johnson & Johnson heiress Barbara Piasecka Johnson. The auction is expected to yield $9.2 million in sales.

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Tags: art, art auction, art auctions, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtMarket, artwork, auction, auction-house, auctionhouse, auctions, christies, old masters, OldMasters, painting, paintings, sothebys

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