The Seventh Frieze contemporary art fair drew enormous crowds to London’s Regents Park this week, despite the lingering recession. Photo ACN.
Commenting this week on the current state of the world economy, Lloyd C. Blankfein, chairman and chief executive of US investment bank Goldman Sachs, referred to “improving conditions and evidence of stabilization, even growth across a number of sectors.” Judging from the available evidence, one of those sectors might be the art market.
After achieving a four-fold increase in profits, Goldman Sachs is planning to pay out some $5.35 billion in quarterly pay and bonuses to its employees over the coming months. Given that some 5,500 of them are based in London, one cannot help wondering whether any of that freshly generated wealth will be spent on art. Continue reading
Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978), oil on canvas portrait of William Haussler titled That Musical Pal of Mine. Estimate $30,000-$50,000. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Pook & Pook.
DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. – Pook & Pook Inc.’s fine arts auction Oct. 23 will have a fascinating mix of American and European works depicting dogs, chickens and even a boy playing a harmonica, painted by Norman Rockwell.
The auction will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The Rockwell painting, an oil on canvas portrait of 13-year-old William Haussler playing a harmonica, is titled That Musical Pal of Mine. The boy’s father, who worked for Hohner Harmonica, commissioned the painting. It has a $30,000-$50,000 estimate.
A coastal scene by Edward Moran (American, 1829-1901) titled Rocs de Toqueville is signed on the lower left and inscribed “Paris 1878.” The 34- by 64-inch oil on canvas was included in the exhibition Americans in Brittany and Normandy, which toured four U.S. museums in 1982-1983. It has a $15,000-$20,000 estimate.
Several Ben Austrian paintings featuring his trademark chicks are in the sale. The best is a 20- by 28-inch oil on canvas dated 1911 depicting a hen and 14 chicks. It has a $15,000-$25,000 estimate.
Top dog in the sale is a pointer in a fall landscape by Aiden Lassell Ripley (American, 1896-1969). The 10- by 14-inch watercolor has a $10,000-$15,000 estimate.
Henry James Soulen’s (American, 1888-1965) oil on canvas illustration of a fox hunting party traveling through the woods, is a favorite of Pook & Pook cataloger Deirdre Magarelli.
“It’s nicely done and I love the fall colors,” she said.
The painting is 46 by 36 inches and has a $4,000-$8,000 estimate.
Magarelli is also partial to an oil on canvas coastal scene dated 1845 by John Wilson Carmichael (British/American, 1800-1868). The 24 1/4- by 36 1/4-inch oil on canvas painting has an $8,000-$12,000 estimate.
“It’s an incredible coastal scene with ships and men in a rowboat … great detail,” said Magarelli.
An impressionist townscape by Andre Lanskoy (French/Russian, 1902-1976) has generated significant interest, said Magarelli.
“I’ve had more requests for additional pictures and condition reports from this painting than any other,” she said.
The oil on canvas painting, 19 3/4 by 25 1/2 inches, has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate.
The sale will also include a few examples of sculpture.
“It’s a good sale with a nice mix of nice old scenes and some funky newer works,” said Magarelli.
For details on any lot in the sale, call 610-269-4040.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Ben Austrian (Reading, Pa., 1870-1921), oil on canvas of a hen and 14 chicks. Estimate $15,000-$25,000. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Pook & Pook. Aiden Lassell Ripley (American, 1896-1969), watercolor landscape with pointer. Estimate $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Pook & Pook. Henry James Soulen (American, 1888-1965), oil on canvas illustration of a fox hunting party traveling through the woods. Estimate $4,000-$8,000. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Pook & Pook. Edward Moran (American, 1829-1901), oil on canvas titled Rocs de Toqueville. Estimate $15,000-$20,000. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Pook & Pook.
A John James Audubon (Am., 1785-1851) Havell engraving, titled Blue Crane, or Heron, sold for $82,250 at a Fall Estates Auction held Sept. 12-13 by Neal Auction Company in New Orleans. The buyer was a Southern collector bidding by phone. It was a new world auction record, shattering the previously held record of $71,700 posted by Christie’s for its sale of Audubons from the Ducal House of Sachsen-Meningen. Also, the John W. Mecom Collection of Mardi Gras Memorabilia garnered $36,000. Prices include a 17.5 percent buyer’s premium.
Bill and Melinda Gates during their visit to the Oslo Opera House in June 2009. Photo by Kjetil Ree, obtained through Wikimedia Commons.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is giving $10 million to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture planned for the National Mall in Washington.
The grant announced Thursday will support the capital campaign for design and construction of the new museum.
Foundation President Allan Golston says the museum will make the stories and history of African Americans available to everyone.
Groundbreaking is expected in 2012, and the opening is slated for 2015. Construction is expected to cost about $500 million, with half the funds to be provided by Congress.
Museum director Lonnie Bunch has been quietly working to raise funds. He says the Gates Foundation grant is a vote of confidence for the project.
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Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Syria is a nation of archaeological treasures. Its capital city, Damascus, is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, with civilization documented as early as 10,000 B.C. Shown here is a street in Old Damascus. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – Archaeologists have discovered two Crusader-era murals depicting heaven and hell in a medieval church on Syria’s coast – a rare find that could reveal new information about the Christian knights who battled Muslims for control of the Holy Land hundreds of years ago.
Experts are now renovating the 12th century paintings, which were discovered last year by a joint Syrian-Hungarian team excavating an old Crusader fortress on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean in the eastern city of Tartous.
The murals, which measure about 8 feet (2.5 meters) high and 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide, were hanging on either side of the altar of a 12th century chapel inside the al-Marqab Citadel and had accumulated thick layers of dust and dirt, archaeologists said.
The panel depicting hell shows people being tortured inside a wheel covered with knives and others being hanged and burnt, said Marwan Hassan, head of the Department of Antiquities in Tartous. The one portraying heaven includes saints surrounded by light colors.
Hassan said the Crusader murals were important because they were the first ones found in the Middle East depicting heaven and hell.
Authorities have restricted access to the paintings while archaeologists finish their excavation
“Crusaders did not stay in one place for a long time, and so it very rare to find such paintings left behind by them,” Michel Makdisi, head of excavations at Syria’s Directorate General of Antiquities, told The Associated Press.
Bassam Jamous, the country’s director-general of ruins and museums, told the state-run Al-Thawra newspaper last week that the paintings could provide information about the traditions and beliefs of the Crusaders.
Pope Urban II ordered the First Crusade in 1095 to establish Christian control of the Holy Land. European Crusaders soon took Jerusalem, but they lost it in 1187 to the famed Muslim leader Saladin.
The al-Marqab Citadel in Tartous, located some 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of the Syrian capital of Damascus, is believed to be the place where Richard the Lionheart, the former king of England, landed at the beginning of the Third Crusade, which was prompted by Saladin’s capture of Jerusalem.
Syria, once a regional trade center, is home to several imposing Crusader fortresses, including the famed Krak des Chevaliers – Castle of the Knights – that Lawrence of Arabia called the best in the world. ___
Associated Press Writers Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam reported from Beirut.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
LONDON (AP) – The British capital’s cutting-edge art sale kicks off Thursday, but cautious collectors may be cutting back.
Although London’s annual Frieze Art Fair has all the usual weirdness – works include a ghostly white tree, molten red computer mice and garlands with breast-shaped balloons – exhibitors say the fair has lost much of its former frenzy.
“It’s a different style of spending,” said Javier Peres, of the Peres Projects gallery, which has locations in Berlin and Los Angeles. “It’s a much more thoughtful process of acquiring works.”
Frieze is one of the biggest events in the world of contemporary art – along with Art Basel in Switzerland, Art Basel Miami Beach and the Parisian art fair FIAC, which begins next week.
Gallery owners shell out serious money for a stall at the fair – largely seen as “a sign of recognition,” according to Andreiana Mihail, whose eponymous Romanian gallery is displaying at Frieze for the first time.
The fair also generates a motley assortment of off-venue events and parties, ranging from the Zoo Art Fair – which tends to draw younger galleries – to the Free Art Fair, where artists give their work away to members of the public. Auctioneers are also capitalizing on the crowd of collectors flocking to Frieze by holding lucrative contemporary art sales.
Often surprising, sometimes bizarre, the fair embraces a wide range of art.
A particularly popular piece, a large, bronze trumpet plugged into a giant snow white ear, played Beethoven to passers-by. Nearby, a model’s bare arm periodically poked out of a hole in a white wooden panel, lazily scratching out pencil marks before bemused visitors.
One work, a metal ziggurat made from recycled window frames, towered over the other exhibits. Lithuanian artist Mindaugas Navakas would not be drawn out on its meaning.
“There is no clear message,” he said. “I’m not interested in clear messages.”
But the message from buyers seems to be that they’re on a budget. Many of Frieze’s fringe events have disappeared, and the Free Art Fair says this year will be its last. Zoo has traded its stately home at the Royal Academy near Piccadilly Circus for grittier surroundings in East London’s Shoreditch neighborhood and is experimenting with a less commercial feel.
Auctioneers are bracing for some of their worst October figures in years. Christie’s expects sales of up to 23 million pounds ($37.2 million) at its two contemporary art auctions this weekend – a drop from 2008 and less than half of the 51.8 million pounds that changed hands at the same events in 2007.
Sotheby’s is also preparing for lower sales at this weekend’s contemporary art and 20th century Italian art auctions. The two events collectively made more than 60 million pounds in 2007 – but this year Sotheby’s only expects sales of up to a third of that amount.
With fewer works being put up for sale, Sotheby’s condensed its day and evening auctions into one.
Christie’s spokesman Matthew Patton said contemporary art sales volumes are down across the auction world.
First-time exhibitors at Frieze were under no illusions.
“To be honest, it might be hard to recoup the money” spent on renting out a stall, said Olga Chatzidaki, whose Greek gallery AMP is only a year old. But she liked the exposure at one of the world’s top art events.
The sentiment was backed by Mihail, whose modest white stall was dominated by a large red banner reading: “Long Live and Thrive Capitalism.”
“It’s worth it, even if I don’t sell,” she said. “Image is more important than money.”
Note: See the London Eye column to be published on Auction Central News on Monday, Oct. 19 for Tom Flynn’s insightful observations of this year’s Frieze Art Fair.
Damien Hirst sculpture For the Love of God, platinum cast of a human skull, covered with 8,601 diamonds. Fair use under U.S. Copyright Law.
LONDON (AP) – Damien Hirst has made a fortune and become an art-world brand by peering at life’s dark side.
Rows of skulls stare sightless from deep blue backgrounds in the new exhibition by the man who turned pickled sharks and rotting cows’ heads into multimillion-dollar works of art.
“I got called morbid at school,” Hirst said Tuesday ahead of the show’s opening at London’s Wallace Collection. “I used to borrow the teacher’s red pen to draw the blood on severed limbs.
“I like looking into the darkness. It fills me with wanting to live,” added the 44-year-old former enfant terrible of British art. “The further into the darkness you look, the brighter the brightness becomes.”
The most striking thing about the show, No Love Lost, isn’t the skulls – Hirst’s work has long dwelled on mortality and decay. The surprise is that these are paintings, executed in oil by Hirst himself.
After gaining fame as a Britart bad boy in the 1990s, Hirst became an industry, employing dozens of assistants to create signature works such as multicolored dot paintings and rows of pill bottles in medicine cabinets.
Some critics carped that Hirst’s factory-scale output devalued his work – a criticism Hirst says is misguided.
“Architects don’t build their own houses,” he said. “That’s a criticism of craft, really, not of art.
“People want something made by the actual artist. But in terms of art, I don’t like that. I just want a beautiful object.”
In any case, prices for Hirst’s work soared. A Sotheby’s auction last year netted almost $200 million, a record for a living artist. A buyer paid $17 million for a shark preserved in formaldehyde, and an embalmed calf with golden hoofs sold for $18.5 million.
The two-day sale began on Sept. 15, 2008 – the day Lehman Brothers bank collapsed and the global economy tipped into crisis. That timing has made the auction seem like the end of an era, the twilight of a long art-market boom.
Since then, even Hirst has been hit by the credit crunch, laying off staff and closing two workshops.
“We’re definitely not selling like we were,” Hirst said. “We were very lucky with that auction. I think it’s a lot more to do with luck than skill.”
The paintings in the current show represent a return to basics, although Hirst says his new focus is not a response to the economic crisis. He started work on the paintings in 2006, and continues to paint. An exhibition of more recent paintings – branching out from blue into red and other colors – opens at London’s White Cube gallery next month.
Hirst said he enjoys the time and attention that painting requires.
“I’m very impatient as a person,” he said. “I got into the rhythm of getting a lot of things done using other people.”
Hirst has matured over the years. The artist once famed as a celebrity hell-raiser gave up drinking and smoking three years ago.
But it still feels incongruous to see his work in the Wallace Collection, an 18th-century mansion chock full of Old Master paintings, antique furniture and assorted gorgeous objets. Hirst’s paintings take up two rooms, their walls lined in pale-blue silk chosen by the artist to complement the classical surroundings.
Clare O’Brien, the collection’s director of development, said the show situates Hirst “within the European painterly tradition.”
“There is the connection with life and death, which are subjects artists have been painting for centuries,” she said. “And it is obviously one he thinks very deeply about.”
Critics acknowledge Hirst’s bravery in placing his work alongside the Titians and Rembrandts in the Wallace Collection, but early reviews for the show are not good. The Guardian said that “at its worst, Hirst’s drawing just looks amateurish and adolescent,” and The Independent dismissed the paintings as “not worth looking at.”
Hirst said he tries to ignore reviews.
“The biggest effort I make is not to get excited by the good ones. Then you can ignore the bad ones.”
He also tries not to think about money, calling the prices his work fetched at last year’s auction “bonkers.”
“Last year, I (had) the most expensive artwork ever paid for a living artist, and then two weeks later it was Jeff Koons,” he said. “And for a moment you do go, ‘Damn.’ But it’s just meaningless … It’s like buying a yacht. Somebody always parks next to you in a bigger one.”
No Love Lost is at the Wallace Collection in London from Wednesday until Jan. 24.
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On the Net: www.wallacecollection.org <http://www.wallacecollection.org>
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Benny Andrews had already established himself as one of America’s leading black artists when he created ‘Mrs. Viola Andrews – My Mother’ in 1974. The oil and mixed media collage has a $10,000-$15,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Susanin’s.CHICAGO – Benny Andrews’ starkly poignant portrait of his sharecropper mother picking cotton is one of the featured works of art in Susanin’s Premiere 77 auction on Oct. 17. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding. The sale will begin at 10 a.m. Central.
Mrs. Viola Andrews – My Mother, an oil and mixed media collage on canvas, measures 60 by 48 inches. It carries a $10,000-$15,000 estimate.
Benny Andrews was born in Madison, Ga., in 1930, one of 10 children. He attended Fort Valley State College in Georgia and later received a BFA degree from the Art Institute of Chicago. He taught art for 19 years at Queens College in New York and was at one time director of the Visual Arts Program at the National Endowment for the Arts.
Andrews’ artwork was exhibited nationally and internationally for more than 40 years before his death in 2006. His work is in the permanent collections of numerous institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Susanin’s Premiere 77 auction will also have more than 700 lots of additional artwork, furniture, decorative arts, Asian arts and silver.
Tops among the furniture is a pair of French Art Deco bronze mounted cabinets of macassar ebony. Both cabinets contain two interior drawers, which are marked, “Gouffe a Paris.” The cabinets are 55 1/4 inches wide, 34 inches high and 19 inches deep. The estimate for the pair is $8,000-$10,000.
A 1952 painting by Enrico Baj (Italian, 1924-2003) that was once exhibited at the Indianapolis Museum of Art will also be offered at Susanin’s The abstract enamel on canvas painting depicting two figures has a $15,000-$25,000 estimate.
An etching and aquatint by Joan Miro (1893-1983), a signed and numbered (46/50) edition, also carries a $10,000 by 15,000 estimate.
Norwegian artist Reidar Berge’s Carousel, an acrylic on Masonite panel, has provenance from the Rockford Art Museum in Rockford, Ill. The painting measures 48 by 108 inches and has a $5,000-$7,000 estimate.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Reidar Berge (b. 1922) captured the kinetic excitement of a carousel in this 9-foot-long painting. Image courtesy of Susanin’s. Pablo Picasso’s fascination with bull fighting is conveyed in this pottery bowl, which is signed and stamped ‘Edition Picasso Madoura.’ The 5-inch-diameter bowl has a $1,000-$1,500 estimate. Image courtesy of Susanin’s. Exotic macassar ebony makes a bold statement in a pair of French Art Deco cabinets. Image courtesy of Susanin’s. Italian artist Enrico Baj titled this large painting ‘Leakage.’ It measures 39 1/4 by 78 3/4 inches. The estimate is $15,000-$25,000. Image courtesy of Susanin’s. Joan Miro’s signed etching and aquatint titled ‘Mambo’ is from an edition of 50 and measures 44 1/2 by 28 3/4 inches. The estimate is $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy of Susanin’s.
OAKLAND, Calif. – A striking oil painting by renowned naturalist painter Eric Sloane was the highlight of Clars Auction Gallery’s Oct. 10-11 auction, selling for $11,850 (all prices quoted inclusive of 18.5% buyer’s premium). Ducks Flying over the Marshland is an excellent example of the dramatic, solitary landscapes for which Sloane (American, 1905-1985) is famous.
California art, always a strong seller at Clars, fared quite well in this sale. A vivid, abstract oil on canvas by Richard Thorpe McLean (b. 1934) measuring 73 inches by 67 inches drew considerable attention, ultimately selling for $8,295, well above its pre-auction estimate of $3,000-$5,000. A coastal landscape by noted California Impressionist Joseph Kleitsch (1882-1931) fetched $6,518.
The Sloane and other American artworks set the stage for a number of other highlights that met with success in the two-day sale. A diamond choker necklace mounted in platinum and set with diamonds weighing 11.36 carats realized $10,665. Another stunning diamond piece, a diamond-covered Omega wristwatch set with 13 carats of diamonds, dazzled as it rose to a final selling price of $8,295. A lady’s President Rolex in 18K yellow gold sold for $6,518.
Next, Clars prepares for its Nov. 7-8 estate auction. For consignment and other information, please visit www.clars.com or call 888-339-7600. As always, LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding and host the online catalog for this sale.
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ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
Diamond and platinum choker necklace set with 11.36 cts. of diamonds. Sold for $10,665 Framed oil on canvas, Abstract, by Richard Thorpe McLean. Sold for $8,295 Diamond covered Omega wristwatch set with 13 cts. of diamonds. Sold for $8,295 Framed oil on canvas, Seascape, by Joseph Kleitsch. Sold for $6,518
Nathaniel Lakeman’s portrait of a ‘Young Woman’ is dated 1822. It has a 2,000-$4,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Stephenson’s Auction.SOUTHAMPTON, Pa. – Stephenson’s Auction will feature dozens of beautiful women in their sale Oct. 16, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Many are of the Royal Doulton variety – a collection or more than 50 ceramic figurines – in addition to a bronze sculpture of Cleopatra and a folk art portrait of a woman painted in 1822 by Nathaniel Lakeman. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The Lakeman portrait measures 25 by 22 inches and bears a plaque that reads simply, “Young Woman.” A partial New York label specifies that the painting was part of the Wilde Collection, Cambridge, Mass. and Isabel Carlton Wilde Collection of Early American Folk Art. It has a $2,000-$4,000 estimate.
Another folk art classic in the sale is a mid- to late-19th-century running horse weathervane in gilt over copper and zinc. The horse measures 15 inches high by 30 1/2 inches long. The vane also has the directionals. It has a $4,000-$8,000 estimate.
The auction includes the contents from the estate of Richard de Groot, former advertising director of Gourmet magazine. In his world travels De Groot acquired many antiques, works of art and books.
The 15 1/2-inch bronze of Cleopatra is signed (Eutrope) “Bouret” and dated 1873 on the base. It has a $2,000-$3,000 estimate.
Also from the De Groot estate is a signed first-edition Salvador Dali book, Les Diners de Gala, which is estimated at $1,000-$2,000.
American art will include landscapes by New Jersey painter Paul Matthews (b. 1933). His Across From Evermay is 29 by 22 3/4 inches and has a $600-$1,000 estimate. His Landscape Along River, 77 by 80 inches, has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate.
Several lots of sterling silver flatware will be offered including 76 pieces of Governor’s Lady pattern by Gorham, which has a $700-$1,100 estimate.
Cast-iron doorstops will include a nicely painted Anne Hathaway Cottage by Hubley, which has a $400-$800 estimate.
For details call 215-322-6182.
View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Cleopatra’s name is printed on the base of this bronze statue. Dated 1873, the historic beauty is estimated at $2,000-$3,000. Image courtesy of Stephenson’s Auction. New Jersey artist Paul Matthews is known for his lakeside landscapes. This 29- by 22 3/4-inch oil on canvas painting has a $600-$1,000 estimate. Image courtesy of Stephenson’s Auction. A collection of cast-iron doorstops, including this Anne Hathaway Cottage by Hubley, is from a West Orange, N.J., estate. Image courtesy of Stephenson’s Auction. One of the top items at Stephenson’s Auction will be this late-19th-century weather vane complete with directionals. The horse is gilt over copper and zinc. The estimate is $4,000-$8,000. Image courtesy of Stephenson’s Auction.
