renoir

Fab Fair for Art Royalty

Filed under: Art

Louvre, hyperphoto by Jean-Francois Rauzier, Waterhouse & Dodd

Is it all about money or art? The answer is probably both but if you're in the Art 101 category, you can catapult up to PhD level at The European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

TEFAF is the most sophisticated, highly vetted, and elegant art fair anywhere. All true, but it is also a place where the minute the doors swing open to VIP guests, there's a stampede to the jewelry booths where for the most part glitz not glamour dominates.

Collectors, museum curators often accompanied by their trustees, and general connoisseurs attend to browse, to see and be seen, and to bring home treasures. This year, some 73,000 visitors attended. Most are Dutch, followed by Germans and Belgians, English, French, Italians, Americans and an impressively growing numbers of Russians and Chinese. Among a handful of Arab sheiks, most prominent this year was Sheikh Saud al-Thani, the art-hungry collector who is a cousin of the ruling Emir of Qatar. He surely arrived on one of the 154 private jets that landed on the tarmac of the tiny Maastricht-Aachen airport.

Van Gelder Antique Indian Jewelry

At the blue chip opening one of the first pieces to be snapped up was by a Russian collector: a billowing tapestry made of beaten red and gold bottle tops by the Ganaian artist El Anatsui. The price was $965,532. You can see his aesthetically beautiful "Earth and Heaven" sculpture installed in the African art galleries at the Met. In another gallery in the modern section, a well-heeled collector bought Spanish artist Joan Miro's sculpture, "Oiseau Lunaire," or moon bird, a wooden surreal, bird-like figure for $5 million. A bronze version of a moon bird by Miro is in the Nasher Sculptural Center in Dallas. That same day, March 18, Russian TV didn't waste a minute filming at the booth of Van Gelder Indian Jewelry which showcased some fabulous South Sea pearls and antique jewelry.

Tickets to the private first day are distributed to dealers who then invite their most important clients. The next day, all are welcome at a tab of €50 or about $75.

Now if you don't fit into the curator or collector category, what would draw you to TEFAF? Without a doubt, it is a remarkable learning experience for anyone who loves art. As Michelin says, it's worth the voyage, merely to see some 5,000 years of impeccable art, exquisitely presented. It could be that some TEFAF director handed down guidelines to the presenting dealers insisting that they treat every inquiry with respect. You won't find any condescending brush offs here.

Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo, Rembrandt

One item that drew large crowds was a fragment of an Egyptian water clock depicting Alexander the Great from about 332 BC at Belgium's Harmakhis Galerie. Old Dutch masters, especially a portrait by Rembrandt, "Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo" from 1658 and Renoir's "Woman Picking Flowers," depicting Camille Monet in a field of flowers also gained a lot of attention. A major attraction was a Helmut Newton solo exhibition of 40 photos from London's Hamiltons Gallery. Other standouts were Joana Vasconselos sensual feminine crocheted canvases at Haunch of Venison, Secessionist furniture at Kolomon Moser, beautiful Chinese textiles from Jacqueline Simcox in London. Only a BMW art car designed by Jeff Koons looked as if it had driven in by mistake.

TEFAF, first organized in 1975, invites 260 dealers from 16 countries all of whom undergo tremendous scrutiny to assure the quality, condition, and authenticity of their objects. About 100 dealers apparently are on a waiting list hoping to make it another year. Think of it as an art melting pot presented in an aura of gentility. It's the most promising, sophisticated, and enjoyable fair for specialists and the general public.

Tags: art, Art Fairs, Maastricht, Netherlands, Rembrandt, Renoir, TEFAF, The European Fine Art Fair

Super Bowl Town Museums Put Impressionist Art On The Line

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Sports

Super Bowl XLV is just over a week away and the rivalry between Green Bay and Pittsburgh has heated up. The Milwaukee Art Museum and the Carnegie Museum of Art have decided to make a friendly wager on the football game. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that each is offering up an Impressionist work of art. If the Packers win the Carnegie Museum will send over Renoir's "Bathers with Crab" for a temporary loan where visitors can see it and not only take in some beautiful art but gloat a bit too. Should the Steelers prove victorious, "Boating on the Yerres" by Gustav Caillebotte will be taking the journey to the Carnegie.

This is the second year in a row that art critic Tyler Green has prompted a bet. Last year the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art squared off which resulted "The Fifth Plague of Egypt", 1800, a landscape by British artist J.M.W. Turner spending a few months in new Orleans where it was displayed with a Lombardi-trophy-shaped sign designating the triumph.

Tags: caillebotte, green bay packers, impressionist, impressionist art, impressionists, Indianapolis Colts, renoir, Super Bowl XLV

Sotheby's Triples Christie's Result, Top Estimate Beat

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

A big auction with major pieces actually beat the top-end estimate – when's the last time you heard that? Wednesday night at Sotheby's, the Impressionist sale brought in $181.8 million, thrashing the high estimate of $163 million and almost tripling the Christie's auction from November 3, 2009. It's also around three times the last equivalent sale by Sotheby's, which was back in May.

The Sotheby's auction was packed with notoriety. Conde Nast's top dog, S. I. Newhouse Jr., sent some work under the gavel, as did Louis Reijtenbagh. Artwork by Giacometti, Picasso and Renoir was sold. Sixty-six lots were offered, with only 10 failing to sell.

New York art dealer Helly Nahmad told Bloomberg News, "The art market is back," but that may be premature. Bidders were chasing the high-quality pieces, and it is tempting to believe that what auctioneer Tobias Meyer calls "a year of abstinence" is over. The fact that the Sotheby's auction was so much greater than that at Christie's, though, makes me want to see a few more sales before calling it a trend.

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Tags: art, art auction, art auctions, art dealer, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtDealer, artist, artwork, auction, auction-house, auctionhouse, auctions, christies, conde nast, CondeNast, giacometti, picasso, renoir, si newhouse, SiNewhouse, sothebys

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Auction Houses Getting Ready for Fall Season

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Summer is slow for the art auction houses – and anyone else who has to step outside into the oppressive heat. But, in air conditioned offices around the world, Sotheby's and Christie's are getting ready for the September auctions in New York. The first will be the Christie's Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean auction on September 16 and 17, followed by Contemporary Art on September 23 and 24 at Sotheby's.

The catalogues haven't been published yet, but a little bit of information is starting to slop out. On November 4, for example, Sotheby's will be bringing several Impressionist paintings from the Paul Durand-Ruel collection under the gavel. These works were purchased directly from the artists and have not left the collection since being bought. Durand-Ruel (who died in 1922) supported several of the Impressionist artists. The collection consists of nearly 12,000 pieces – with 1,000 by Claude Monet, 1,500 by Auguste Renoir, 400 by Edgar Degas, 800 by Camille Pissarro and 200 by Edouard Manet.

The economy seems to be turning, albeit slowly. And, stronger pieces are coming to auction. This combination could be the first sign that the art market is on its way back, though it's going to take a while to reach 2007 levels again. For now, let's be patient and just hope for an exciting, full and active autumn auction season.

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Tags: art, art auction, art auctions, art house, art market, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, ArtHouse, artist, ArtMarket, artwork, auction, auction-house, auctionhouse, auctions, christies, christiesauction, christiesauctionhouse, christiesinternational, claude monet, ClaudeMonet, degas, manet, monet, renoir, sothebys

Concorde Hotels & Resorts Allows Guests to Vacation with Renoir

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

This fall the Gallerie Nationales du Grand Palais in Paris will host an exhibit of Renoir's 20th century works. Touted as the first monographic study of Renoir since 1985, it will focus on the paintings from his last decades after he bid adieu to formal impressionism. Sure to be a magnificent draw, you can spare yourself some time in line if you lodge at any of Paris' six Concorde Hotels & Resorts.

The company's "Renoir in the 20th Century package" will provide you and a guest priority access to spend time with Paul Durand-Ruel and the Woman at the Well. In addition to two tickets to the exhibition, you'll enjoy a buffet breakfast for two for every night of your stay at any of six hotels in the city of lights, love, and crepes galettes -- including the Hotel Crillon, Hotel du Louvre, and Hotel Lutetia.

The package is available from September 23, through December 21, 2009, and rates for double accommodation rooms begin at €202 ($282 US) per night, per room. You can book at www.concorde-hotels.com/renoir, and don't forget to say hello to Madame Renoir with Bob while you're there.

Gallery: Concorde Hotel & Resorts Renoir Package

Tags: art, concorde hotels, ConcordeHotels, hotel, paris, renoir, resort, travel

Results of the Lanvin Art Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

The Christie's Paris sale of Impressionist and Modern paintings that belonged to French fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin came in far below estimate on Monday. The Washington Post reports that the sale raised euro7.67 million ($9.67 million) at the sale which included works by Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Christie's had originally valued the collection at euro20 million ($25.2 million). The top seller was Renoir's "Woman with a Parasol Sitting in the Garden," which went for euro1.16 million ($1.46 million) and has a top estimate of euro1.8 million ($2.27 million). A total of 23 of the 31 lots were sold. Another painting by Renoir, "The Tapestry in the Park (Presumed Portrait of Camille Monet)" went unsold as did works by Edgar Degas, Eugene Boudin and Camille Pissarro.Lanvin, died in 1946 at the age of 79, but was once of France's most influential designers of the 1920s and '30s and created the classic fragrance "Arpege." The paintings hung in her Paris apartment and a portion of the proceeds from the sale will go toward two arts charities run by the Polignac dynasty, the aristocratic family which Lanvin's daughter Marie-Blanche married into.

The Lanvin fashion label remains one of France's oldest fashion houses under the creative direction of Israeli-American designer Alber Elbaz. Recently Stella McCartney hired Frederick Lukoff, the business development director of Lanvin, to lead the British fashion brand, part of the Gucci Group. Lanvin has recently been it talks with potential investors to raise funds to expand.

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Tags: art, auction, christies, lanvin, renoir