REPORT ON THE CONTEMPORARY SALES IN LONDON
Bloomberg's Scott Reyburn reports that Sotheby's 40-lot contemporary art sale in London last week totalled £25.5 million with fees, just below the high estimate of £27.4 million based on hammer prices, with 92.5 percent of the works finding buyers. The result is 73 percent drop from the equivalent sale last year. Three works by Andy Warhol sold for a total of £6.4 million ($10.5 million) with Sotheby's relying on established names to bolster the contracted auction market for contemporary art. The average price a year ago was a record £1.33 million. Twelve months later, in a market still adjusting to the economic slump, the average figure dropped to £690,000. Auction houses are refusing to guarantee sellers a minimum price for their property; that made fewer high-value works available for purchase, said dealers.
Meanwhile at Phillips de Pury & Co. 77 percent of the 39 lots sold, totalling £5.1 million ($8.44 million) with fees, a 79 percent decline from last year, when 41 of the 91 lots were guaranteed minimum prices to sellers. Phillips had given the sale a low estimate of £5.4 million, based on hammer prices. Half of the lots sold for hammer prices of less than £100,000. The most highly valued work was the 1989 word painting "That Was Then This Is Now" by Ed Ruscha, which sold for £713,250. John Chamberlain's 1963 sculpture "Mr. Moto" sold for £529,250. A large-scale paint and metal-foil abstraction by German artist Anselm Reyle sold for £85,250 (a similar work sold last year at Sotheby's, London, for £205,250). A 2005 canvas by Yue Minjun featuring five of his trademark grinning self-portraits was offered with a low estimate of £250,000 and sold for £421,250. In 2007 and 2008 a total of 27 paintings by Minjun sold at auction for prices between $1 million and $6.9 million. Richard Prince's 2005 photograph "Spiritual America IV," of the bikini-clad actress Brooke Shields leaning against a motorcycle, had never been offered at auction before and failed to sell against an estimate of £400,000 to £600,000.
At Christie's the number of lots was similarly reduced. The sale of 40 lots, compared to 58 a year ago, made £19 million ($31.28 million), compared with £86.2 million in 2008. Christie's sold 88 percent of the lots last night, compared with 83 percent last June. The total, which included fees, was achieved against a low estimate of £17.4 million, based on hammer prices. The 1997-1998 cityscape "Night Playground" by Peter Doig had an estimate of £1.5 million to £2 million and sold for £3 million. Gerhard Richter's 1974 color-chart painting, "1025 Farben (1025 Colors)," estimated at £1.3 million to £2 million, attracted just a single telephone bid of £1.4 million.
AI WEIWEI BOYCOTTS THE WEB
In a posting on Twitter last week, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei - an adviser on the design of the Bird's Nest stadium built for the Beijing Olympics - appealed for a one-day boycott of the internet which took place on July 1 in protest at a government plan to fit computers with a filter to censor sensitive information. He wrote: "Stop any online activities, including working, reading, chatting, blogging, gaming and mailing. Don't explain your behaviour." The Times reports that the artist hoped that the date, the anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, could become a permanent memorial for lack of freedom on the internet in China. From July 1, all computers produced in China for domestic sale must come with the Green Dam software, that the Government says is designed to block access to pornographic sites and those deemed to be "unhealthy" for young people. The Government has postponed the mandatory installation of the controversial "Green Dam-Youth Escort", although some computer companies are already implementing the government's orders. Many fear that the software is the start a crackdown on groups and websites that the Government fears or disapproves of. Mr Ai told The Times: "I hope to awaken national consciousness and action. The constitution regulates that we can strike and so on but in fact we can boycott nothing. We can only boycott our own happiness. I just want to show my view and do the little that I can do."
SARAH JESSICA PARKER'S ART SERIES GOES INTO PRODUCTION
A cable series focusing on the contemporary art scene is in the works at Bravo. The show (whose title has not yet been announced) is being produced by Sarah Jessica Parker through her company Pretty Matches, along with the Magical Elves production company ("Top Chef," "Project Runway") and "Runway" producer Eli Holzman. In the series, 13 contestants will compete for a gallery exhibition, a cash prize and a sponsored national tour. The artists will create works in the fields of sculpture, painting, photography, industrial design and more. Their completed works will be judged by a panel of art world figures including gallerists, collectors, curators, critics and fellow artists. The finalists' work will be featured in a nationwide museum tour. Bravo, which is owned by NBC Universal, is in the casting phase of the show. Open casting calls are scheduled this month for Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and New York.
HAUNCH CLOSES ZURICH GALLERY
Contemporary art dealer Haunch of Venison has announced the closure of its 3,500 sq. ft space in Zürich which opened in 2005. The Art Newspaper reports that Haunch, which is owned by Christie's, denied that the economic slump has prompted the Swiss withdrawal, saying in a statement: "To ensure the continued support of their roster of international artists and an expanding exhibition programme in London, Berlin and New York, contemporary gallery Haunch of Venison announces the closure of their Swiss exhibition space, Haunch of Venison Zürich, at the end of 2009. Following Haunch of Venison London's recent relocation to 6 Burlington Gardens earlier this year, the London programme has been extended to include a broad range of multi-faceted exhibitions; the closure of the Zürich space will allow the gallery to further focus on a programme of work by gallery artists and invited participants."
HEATHROW TERMINAL 5 TO BECOME ART GALLERY
The Times reports that plans are being drawn up by the Government which would see the newest terminal at London's main airport showcasing masterpieces from the national collections, together with contemporary art works. Proposals for the project include securing short-term loans of artworks held in the national collections, hosting exhibitions of sculpture and installation works by contemporary artists.
A series of high-quality reproductions of paintings such as The Hay Wain, by John Constable, could also be put on display. A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), said that the project was in "very early stages" but that the department would approach institutions including the National Gallery, the Tate galleries and the Hayward Gallery in London to work on the project.
DE LA CRUZES OPEN NEW SPACE IN MIAMI
The Miami Herald reports that collectors Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz are adding another significant player to the Miami art scene - a long-anticipated warehouse space in the Design District to showcase their world-class collection of contemporary art. The de la Cruzes hope to open the museum-like structure, under construction on 41st Street at North Miami Avenue, to the public during Art Basel Miami Beach in December. At 30,000 square feet, the three-story building will sport considerable exhibition space and house a library, offices, and basic living quarters, perhaps for an artist in residence. ''I see the warehouse as an extension of my home,'' says Rosa de la Cruz, who for the last 15 years has opened her Key Biscayne house to art lovers. It is an official stop on the Art Basel schedule of VIP activities along with other private collections housed in warehouses in Wynwood and downtown Miami - The Margulies Collection, the Rubell Family Collection, and the Cisneros-Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO). ''I want the collection to be accessible to the community - especially to students - and admission to the space will be free,'' de la Cruz says. "I want people to use the space, to come and see the art as many times as they want to, to use the library to study.'' The de la Cruzes, major donors to North Miami's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), plan the permanent installation of seminal works by two internationally acclaimed artists with Miami connections - the late Félix González-Torres and Ana Mendieta, Cuban Americans who, de la Cruz believes, have been denied the recognition they deserve in South Florida.
MERKIN FORCED TO SELL ART COLLECTION
The Associated Press reports that New York financier J. Ezra Merkin is selling his art collection, shortly after news that his hedge funds lost $2.4 billion in the Bernard Madoff swindle. He has lost his post as chairman of GMAC Financial Services. Bombarded by lawsuits accusing him of fraud, Merkin and his wife have arranged to sell their impressive collection of paintings by abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, as well as some valuable sculptures by Alberto Giacometti, according to legal papers filed Tuesday. An anonymous buyer has agreed to pay $310 million for the trove, AP said. The profits, however, won't be finding their way into Merkin's pockets anytime soon. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit in April accusing him of various wrongdoing in connection the Madoff scandal, and sought the art and other assets to compensate his many wiped-out investors. That suit has yet to be decided, and until it is, money from the sale will be held in escrow, under a deal between the two sides. Minus taxes, fees, and amounts due to other people with a stake in the paintings, the sale could raise $191 million for Merkin's disgruntled clients, Cuomo's office said. Merkin does not face criminal charges. Levander said his client was truthful with investors and duped by Madoff, just like everyone else. Madoff was sentenced Monday to a 150-year prison term.
PINA BAUSCH 1941-2009
The Telegraph reports that Pina Bausch, the German dancer and choreographer died aged 68 this Tuesday, five days after being diagnosed with cancer. She was the most influential figure in European contemporary dance for the past 30 years, creating a much-imitated fusion of radical theatre, surreal art, sexual drama and danced body language, known as Tanztheater. Drawing deeply on the violence in male-female relationships, often with mordantly witty texts and fantastical sets, Pina Bausch crossed the borders between dance and theatre, inspiring radical theatre and film directors such as Robert Wilson, David Alden and Pedro Almodóvar as well as younger choreographers including William Forsythe, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and Lloyd Newson of the company DV8.
PRIZES
Malick Sidibé has been awarded the top prize at Spain's international photography festival, PhotoEspana. One of Africa's most celebrated photographers, Sidibé is best known for his black-and-white studies of popular culture in the 1960s. In 1958, he opened his own studio in the Malian capital of Bamako and specialized in documentary photography, particularly focusing on the city's youth culture. In the 1970s, he shifted to studio portraits. He has already received the Venice Biennale's Golden Lion award (the first for a photographer), the New York International Center of Photography's Infinity Award, and the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography.
COMINGS AND GOINGS
Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum has appointed Ann Goldstein as its new artistic director. Goldstein is currently senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. She will begin her new role in 2010.
Stephen Deuchar has been appointed the next director of the Art Fund, the UK's largest independent art charity, according to Bloomberg. Deuchar, who is currently the director of Tate Britain and was also chairman of the 2009 Turner Prize jury, will begin his tenure at the Art Fund on January 4, 2010. Deuchar follows David Barrie, who resigned in May after serving as director for 17 years. |
