Art News

Art News

Exceptional Self Portrait by Sir Anthony van Dyck Sells for a Record US$13,521,704

LONDON.- Tonight’s sale of Old Master & British Paintings at Sotheby’s in London saw a new auction record established for Sir Anthony van Dyck – one of the most important artists to have worked in England – when his last Self Portrait soared above expectations and sold for £8,329,250/ €9,207,960/US$13,521,704. The portrait was the top-selling lot in a sale which realised £15,098,250/ €16,691,068/ US$24,510,499, within the pre-sale expectations of £12,340,000-18,410,000. Strong prices were also seen for works by the Dutch artist Cesar Boetius van Everdingen and the prominent British masters, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer and Samuel Scott. The outstanding van Dyck Self Portrait was hotly pursued by nine bidders, who drove the price far above the pre-sale expectations of £2-3 million and established the record-breaking price. The painting was finally purchased by Alfred Bader in partnership with Philip Mould. Van Dy

Art News

Rembrandt Painting Sold at $33,210,855 ~ A Record Price at Christie’s Weak Old Master Sale

Christie's auctioneer James Bruce-Gardyne takes bids for the Rembrandt painting 'Portrait of a man with arms akimbo' during the 'Old Masters and 19th Century Art' auction in London, Dec. 8, 2009. The painting sold for 18 million pounds ($29,592,000, 19,872,000 euro) with fees making the total sale value of the painting up to ($33.2 million), the most expensive Rembrandt ever to sell at auction. AP Photo/Matt Dunham.

LONDON (N Y Times).- A Rembrandt painting unseen
in public for nearly 40 years sold for a record 20.2 million pounds ($33.2
million) at auction in London on Tuesday, the highest ever paid at auction for
the 17th century artist.
Christie’s said that “Portrait of a man,
half-length, with his arms akimbo”, painted in 1658, fetched the 4th
highest-price paid at auction for any old masters painting. It was bought by an
anonymous client bidding via telephone, Christie’s said. The top price
at auction for any old master picture is 49.5 million pounds ($77 million) for
“The Massacre of the Innocents” by Peter Paul Rubens set at Sotheby’s in London
in 2002.

Art News

Krannert Art Museum to Present the Works of Reverend Howard Finster

Howard Finster - Matthew Arient’s Angel (6927),1987 - Tractor enamel on wood. - Collection of Matthew J. Arient.

CHAMPAIGN, IL.- Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead
Pavilion will present Stranger in Paradise: The Works of Reverend Howard
Finster. A self-proclaimed “Man of Visions,” Finster was one of America’s most
widely known and prolific self-taught artists
, producing over
46,000 pieces of art before his death in 2001.
Born in rural Alabama in
1916, Finster went on to become a preacher, tent revivalist, and “master of 22
different trades” before building his roadside tribute to inventors, the Plant
Farm Museum. Later dubbed “Paradise Garden” by Esquire magazine, this rock- and
junk-encrusted wonderland was the focus of Finster’s life work. On view
29 January through 28 March, 2010.

Art News

Sotheby’s Auction of Swiss Art from Private Collections Brought Excellent Results

Ferdinand Hodler - "Stockhornkette mit Thunersee" / Estimated CHF 350,000 to 450,000 (€ 233,000-299,000), it finally sold for CHF 590,500 (€ 390,675). / Photo: Sotheby's.

ZURICH.- Monday’s « Swiss Art » Auction at
Sotheby’s Zurich realised CHF 5,862,875 (€ 3,878,878). The sale was 65% sold by
lot and 83.2% by value. In addition to landscapes and portraits by Hodler from
the private collection of his model Jeanne Charles, works by Ernest Biéler, Max
Buri as well as Giovanni
and Augusto Giacometti also sold well under
the hammer of Dr. Claudia Steinfels, Director of Sotheby’s Zurich. Sotheby’s
Zurich holds « Swiss Art » auctions twice a year. The next one will take place
in Spring 2010.

Art News

Unknown John Singer Sargent Revealed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

John Singer Sargent -  American, (born Italy, 1856-1925), "The Derelict", c. 1876 - Oil on canvas. - Private Collection.

HOUSTON, TX.- The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
will feature more than 80 paintings, watercolors, and drawings of seascapes and
coastal scenes from the early career of the pre-eminent late-19th-century
American expatriate painter John Singer Sargent (1856—1925), from February 14 to
May 23, 2010.
Following a presentation at the Corcoran Gallery of Art
in Washington, D.C., this fall, Houston´s showing is the final stop in the
United States before the exhibition travels to London´s Royal Academy. Dr. Emily
Ballew Neff, MFAH curator of American Painting and Sculpture, organizes the
Houston showing, which is complemented by Houston´s Sargents: a show of some 30
Sargent works from private Houston collections.

Art News

McCaffrey Fine Art shows First Ever Solo Exhibition of Kazuo Shiraga in the U.S.

Kazuo Shiraga - "Soryu no Mai", (Dance of the Two-Headed Dragon), 1994 - Oil on canvas, 76 3/8 x 102 inches (193.9 x 259 cm). Photo: Courtesy McCaffrey Fine Art, New York

NEW YORK, NY.- McCaffrey Fine Art is showing at their
new gallery at 23 East 67th Street the first ever solo exhibition of Kazuo
Shiraga in the United States.
He succeeded in creating paintings
of great innovation with his unique style that involved sliding, spinning,
and swirling his feet in mounds of oil paint on large sheets of paper laid
on the floor. By the time of his 1957 “performance painting” on stage,
Sanbaso–-Super Modern, Shiraga was amongst the most avant-garde artists
working anywhere and his work was drawing international attention. 
Kazuo Shiraga: Six Decades which continues through January 23,
2010.

Art News

Sotheby’s Sets Records With Exceptional Works of Art from Africa & Oceania

'Superbe Masque', Okuyi Punu, Gabon, height 35 cm. Estimate: 250,000 – 400,000 €. Sold at: 264 750 € ($408.095) It portrays a superbly stylized female face, celebrating the beauty of women and their importance in the spirit world.

PARIS.- After a
hugely popular four-day viewing in Paris – attended by 1300 people –
today’s sale of exceptional works of art from Africa and Oceania attracted
a packed Sotheby’s saleroom throughout
, with ferocious
competition between telephone bidders and collectors in the saleroom.
The sale total of over €5 million ($7.9 million) represented a
selling-rate of 83% by value.
Most of the top prices were paid by
private collectors and connoisseurs, predominantly European or American,
all seeking exceptional items in a variety of specialized fields.

Art News

Gonkar Gyatso Presents Two New Works at 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

QUEENSLAND.- Rossi & Rossi Ltd. announced that Gonkar Gyatso will participate in the ‘6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’. On view are two new works, “Reclining Buddha – Shanghai to Lhasa Express” and “Spring 2008”, along with a third, “Angel”, from the permanent collection of the Queensland Art Gallery. It will be the artist’s first exhibition following his inclusion in the ‘Arsenale’ at the ’53rd Venice Biennale’ in summer of 2009. Each work is crafted through Gyatso’s signature technique, with hundreds of stickers carefully arranged to create images culled from mass media and Buddhist iconography. “Angel” presents the iconic image of an Abu Ghraib prisoner rendered in brand logo stickers superimposed over a Buddhist deity of compassion. A flurry of news headlines and advertising taglines surround the ambiguous figure. Meticulous prints and drawings create a delicate counterpoint to the graphic vi

Art News

Baltic Center for Contemporary Art Anounces Jenny Holzer Exhibition

GATESHEAD.- Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art announced a major exhibition of internationally renowned American artist Jenny Holzer opening on Friday, March 5, 2010. In 2002 Holzer participated in the ‘B.4.B’ pre-opening program, projecting her haunting texts onto facades throughout “Tyneside”. For her new exhibition, the artist will present work spanning the last two decades, filling two floors of Baltic’s galleries. Including painting and sculpture alongside her spectacular LED installations, the exhibition is Holzer’s largest and most comprehensive for fifteen years and the first of its scale to be shown in the UK. Best known for her use of text as art, Holzer combines an investigative use of language with an innovative use of materials and modes of distribution – LEDs, billboards, marble benches, T-shirts, condom wrappers, projections and, most recently, paintings – to confront some of the most potent iss

Art News

Van Gogh Museum Announces Paul Gauguin: The Breakthrough into Modernity

AMSTERDAM.- From February 19 to June 6, 2010 “Paul Gauguin: The Breakthrough into Modernity” will be on view in the Van Gogh Museum (exhibition wing). This exhibition is the first to devote attention to the ‘Volpini Suite’: a series of prints that Gauguin (1848-1903) exhibited in monsieur Volpini’s Café des Arts during the Paris Exposition of 1889. The 11 zincographs offer a fascinating overview of the key themes in the artist’s work: from the exotic landscapes of Martinique to scenes of Brittany and Arles. The exhibition will also show works by Gauguin and his friends closely linked to the ‘Volpini Suite’. Altogether there will be some 60 works of art (paintings, works on paper, sculptures and ceramics) on view, including key pieces such as “Be Mysterious”, (Musée d’Orsay), “Breton Girls Dancing”, (National Gallery of Art, Washington), “Self-portrait”, (Pushkin Museum, Moscow), and “Is there news?” (Gemälde galerie Neue Me