Displaying items by tag: Contemporary Art

On January 28, 2014, the Hill Collection of Renaissance and Baroque bronzes will go on view at the Frick Collection in New York. The Frick will be the only venue for the first public exhibition of the figurative statuettes, which span the 15th through the 18th century. The Hill Collection is exceptional in that it contains a number of rare, autograph masterpieces by Italian sculptors such as Andrea Riccio, Giambologna, and Giuseppe Piamontini.

In an unexpected twist, the show will juxtapose the bronzes alongside modern masterpieces from the Hill’s collection including works by contemporary artists such as Cy Twombly and Ed Ruscha. Collectors Janine and J. Tomilson Hill have spent around 20 years amassing their holdings -- a mix of Renaissance sculptures and works by postwar artists, specifically Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Francis Bacon, Willem de Kooning, Lucio Fontana, Brice Marden, Ruscha, and Twombly.

The Hill Collection will be on view at the Frick through June 15, 2014.       

Sotheby’s announced that Tobias Meyer, who has served as the auction house’s worldwide head of contemporary art since 1997, will leave the company. Meyer joined Sotheby’s in 1992 as head of the contemporary art department in London. Rumors have swirled that Meyer’s departure was the result of pressure from Sotheby’s investors to establish new leadership and more efficient operations. Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, who owns Third Point LLC and is Sotheby’s largest shareholder, has spoken critically of the auction house’s executive compensation and supposedly waning competitive edge.

Meyer said, “I will always cherish my time at Sotheby’s and look forward to the next chapter in my career.I have had over 20 years of the most marvelous experiences at Sotheby’s where I have made many friends and had wonderful times. I wish Sotheby’s the best of luck in the future.”

The auction house said that it has no plans to fill the role of worldwide head of contemporary art. Alex Rotter will continue as the head of contemporary art in the Americas and Cheyenne Westphal as the head of contemporary art in Europe.

On November 13, Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York realized an impressive $380,642,000 – the highest price achieved for any sale session in the auction house’s history. The 61-lot auction carried an estimate of $280.7 million to $394.1 million and saw records set for seven artists including Andy Warhol.

Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster), the last of four in a series of the artist’s paintings depicting car crashes, sold for $105.4 million, shattering Warhol’s auction record of $71.7 million. The work, which is believed to have come from a private Swiss collection, has belonged to a number of important collectors including Bruno Bischofberger, Gian Enzo Sperone, the Saatchi Collection and Thomas Ammann.

Other highlights from the auction included Gerhard Richter’s large-scale A.B. Courbet, which sold to a telephone bidder for $26.5 million; Cy Twombly’s 24-piece Poems of the Sea, which garnered $21.7 million; Willem de Kooning’s Abstract Expressionist canvas Untitled V, which realized $24.8 million; and Barnett Newman’s abstract By Twos, which sold to dealer David Zwirner for $20.6 million.

On November 12, Christie’s Evening Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art in New York achieved an unprecedented $691,583,000 – the highest total for any auction in art market history. The top lot was Francis Bacon’s triptych, Three Studies of Lucian Freud, which garnered $142,405,000, a world record for any artwork ever sold at auction.

The highly anticipated painting, which was was expected to sell for $85 million to $95 million, portrays Lucien Freud, Bacon’s friend and fellow artist. Executed in 1969, the work is one of Bacon’s most important paintings and unites two of the most significant figurative artists of the 20^th century.

The sale set ten new world auction record prices for Bacon, Jeff Koons, Christopher Wool, Lucio Fontana, Donald Judd, Wade Guyton, Vija Celmins, Ad Reinhardt, Willem de Kooning and Wayne Thiebaud. Three works sold for over $50 million, 16 went for above $10 million, and 56 works exceeded $1 million. In addition, Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog (Orange) achieved $58,405,000, a new world auction record for a living artist and the most expensive contemporary sculpture ever sold.

Brett Gorvy, Chairman and International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie’s, said, “We are thrilled to announce an historic total of $691.6 million for this evening’s sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art. It is the second time this year that Christie’s has broken the highest total in auction history. Collectors from 42 countries registered tonight with strong bidding from American, European and Asian collectors but also from institutions. The sale was heavily focused on icons and masterworks, achieving an astonishing 10 record prices and breaking the record for any work of art ever sold at auction. Beyond the records, 10,000 art lovers flocked to Christie’s galleries in the last week to engage with and enjoy the remarkable selection of artworks on display.”

New York’s Contemporary art sales kicked off on Monday, November 11 at Phillips. The sale, which featured 40 lots, garnered over $68 million and sold 88% by lot and 84% by value. The top lot was Roy Lichtenstein’s Woman with Peanuts, which sold for $10.8 million, just past its low estimate of $10 million. Other highlights from the sale included Andy Warhol’s Nine Gold Marilyns (Reversal Series), which realized $$9.1 million and Jeff Koons’ Buster Keaton, which sold for $4.4 million. There were a number of records set for popular contemporary artists including Nate Lowman, Lucien Smith and Jacob Kassay.

Sales will continue on November 12 and November 13 at Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

Steven A. Cohen, a hedge-fund manager and founder of SAC Capital Advisors, will sell works from him impressive art collection in New York later this month. The majority of the sales will be part of Sotheby’s contemporary art evening sale on November 13, but Christie’s will also sell a small portion, estimated to be worth less than $5 million.

The trove headed to Sotheby’s includes works by Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter and Cy Twombly and is estimated to be worth around $85 million. Highlights include Andy Warhol’s portrait of Elizabeth Taylor titled Liz #1 (Early Colored Liz); a 10-by-8-foot canvas by German artist Gerhardt Richter, which was shown by the Pace Gallery at Art Basel in 2012; and a bronze sculpture by Cy Twombly.

Cohen, an avid collector who is active in the market, is bringing this collection to auction after SAC was accused in a grand-jury indictment of encouraging insider trading. The company was told it would have to pay $1.8 billion and admit wrongdoing to resolve securities-fraud charges, including a previous penalty of approximately $600 million.

The Venice Biennale, a major contemporary art fair that takes place every two years, has welcomed its 400,000^th visitor, marking a major attendance milestone for the event, which is in its 55^th year. The fair’s turnout was up 18% from its last iteration in 2011. The Biennale still has until November 24 to rack up new attendance.

In addition to the particularly high visitor numbers, this year’s Venice Biennale set a single-day attendance record on November 2 when 7,331 people made their rounds at Venice’s Giardini and Arsenale, where the fair is held.

Christie’s sale of Impressionist and Modern art on November 5 failed to reach its low estimate of $188.8 million despite strong interest from buyers in the middle market. The 46-lot sale ended up fetching $144.3 million with the top lot being a portrait by Alberto Giacometti of his brother Diego. The painting sold to an anonymous buyer for $32.65 million, just past its low estimate of $30 million; Christie’s said that the price was a world record for the artist in that medium.

A number of lots were withheld from the sale after bidding fell short, including works by Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani. Brooke Lampley, head of Impressionist and Modern art at Christie’s, said, “We believed in the pictures. We didn’t find the bid in the room tonight but I’m sure we’ll either be receiving good after sale interest of you’ll see them in the future sale venue.”

On Tuesday, November 12, Christie’s will hold its highly anticipated sale of post-war and contemporary art in New York.

Philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad were given the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership at the annual meeting of The Philanthropy Roundtable on October 21st in Los Angeles. The prize includes $250,000 for the charity of the recipient’s choice; the Broads will give the funds to the High School for the Visual and Performing Arts in downtown L.A.

The Broads were honored for their extensive philanthropy in the areas of K-12 education reform, scientific and medical research, and the arts. The couple has invested over $3.5 billion in these areas in the past 50 years. Eli Broad said, “Edye and I are honored and humbled to receive this award and we are delighted to give the prize money to the arts high school, which combines academics with the arts to prepare the next generation of Los Angeles artists."

 Eli Broad championed the creation of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s flagship citywide arts high school, the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art and a number of other cultural institutions. The Broad Art Foundation is a lending library of contemporary artworks that have been loaned over 8,000 times to nearly 500 museums and galleries around the globe. The Broads are currently building a contemporary art museum and headquarters for The Broad Art Foundation in Los Angeles; the Broad is slated to open in late 2014.

Millions of dollars worth of art was sold in London last week thanks to the Frieze art fairs. Frieze Masters, which is in its second year and presents works created before 2000, included the sale of Pablo Picasso’s Femme assise au chapeau (Acquavella Galleries) for $7 million, an abstract painting by Willem de Kooning for $8 million and two Jean-Michel Basquiat works for a combined $9.3 million.

Frieze London, which features established contemporary artists as well as promising newcomers, saw fewer big-ticket items. As the event drew to a close, Gagosian Gallery, which presented five highly anticipated works by Jeff Koons, had no confirmed sales. A sculpture by Takashi Murakami being offered by Hauser & Wirth was also still available as the fair winded down.

Frieze week also includes a number of contemporary art auctions and a number of satellite events, which added to the week’s hefty art sales.