Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog (Orange) was sold for $58,4M and set a new record

During the Post-War & Contemporary Evening Sale at Christie's New York on 12 November, which totalized $691,583,000 (including buyer's premium), Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog (Orange) realized $58,405,000 achieving world auction record for a living artist.

 Signed and dated 'Jeff Koons 1994-2000' (on the underside), Balloon Dog (Orange) is a 121x143x45in (307.3x363.2x114.3cm) mirror-polished stainless steel "inflatable" sculpture with a translucent colour coating.
This work is one of five unique versions (Blue, Magenta, Orange, Red, Yellow), part of the highly acclaimed Celebration series of paintings and sculptures that Koons instigated in the early 1990s. 



The one-ton metal balloon sculpture is formed by 60 parts welded together to produce the simple, but very suggestive shapes, as well to convey an illusion of weightlessness. Jeff Koons worked closely during years with a specialist foundry in California perfecting the meticulous colour coating that appears to hover abouve the stainless-steel surface.

Over 1500 Paintings and Sketches found in Cornelius Gurlitt's apartment in Munich

In the last couple of years, German authorities have started checking more frequently for tax evasion carried out by wealthy citizens, namely through deposits in Switzerland.

 It was during one of those checks on a train from Switzerland in September 2010, that Cornelius Gurlitt, sole survival son of art dealer Hildebrandt Gurlitt, was caught with an envelope containing 9,000 Euros in cash. Cornelius had never worked and presented no other means of income.

 Official authorities issued a search warrant for his near €700-a-month rented apartment in Munich suburb of Schwabing and in 2011 the over 1500 paintings and sketches estimated to be worth over 1 billion Euro were discovered. 
Bizarre enough, the works of art were stashed behind piles of canned food and noodles that would reach the ceiling, much of it from the 1980's.

However, customs issued a ban on information about the raid and things were kept in secret from the public. But now the German magazine Focus has published an article about this surprising case and the story has been revealed to the public. A case worthy of a novel, such are the ingredients and the people directly and inderectly involved.

 Among the paintings and sketches, are famous names such as Albrecht Dürer, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Ernst LLudwig Kirchner, Franz Marc, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Max Beckmann, Max Liebermann, Oskar Kokoschka, Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee.

 Hildebrandt Gurlitt had supposedly acquired those artworks in the 1930s and 40s from Jews who would dispose of their valuable works of art for a pittance in exchange for escaping from the Nazis. At a later date, Hildebrandt reported them all to be destroyed during the vast bombing of Dresden in February 1945.
His Jewish ascendancy and initial opposition to Nazism made him, in the perspective of the Allies, a victim not a persecutor and was never acused of taking advantage of Jews by acquiring and selling their collections for scanty amounts of money in exchange for their escape to safe countries. Hildebrandt  carried on dealing in art until 1956 when he was killed in a car crash.

 Included in the discovered paintings is a portrait of a woman by the French master Matisse that belonged to the Jewish French art dealer Paul Rosenberg, who had to leave behind his collection before his escape from Paris when the country fell in 1940. Rosenberg was renowned for representing Georges Braque, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. Him and his brother Léonce Rosenberg were among the world's major dealers of Modern art.
 
 Paul Rosenberg's granddaughter Anne Sinclair, the wife of former top banker Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been fighting for decades for the return of his artworks stolen by the Nazis, but according to Focus she 'knew nothing' of the existence of this painting.

 Art historians in charge of examining the Cornelius Gurlitt collection claim that near 300 of those works were part of an Munich exhibition organized in 1937 by the Nazi called 'Degenerate Art' (Enkartete Kunst) - modern 'dissident' pieces to show German people what not to like.

 Hitler, who himself had been a watercolourist, liked only romantic paintings that idolised his vision and art movements such as modernism and cubism had no place in the Third Reich. Together with his propaganda minister Josef Goebbels, Hitler confiscated near 20,000 such works before WW2.

Visit Art Basel 2013 During The Weekend

 If you are in Switzerland or nearby, why not reserve some of your time this weekend and visit one of the most renowned art fairs in the world?

 The 2013 edition of Art Basel, puts the public in direct contact with Modern and Contemporary art, ranging from the great masters of the 20th century to 21st century artworks, including the latest generation of emerging arists. All represented by 230 of the world's leading galleries.

 With more than 4000 artists represented, most of the artistic medium are represented at the fair, including paintings, sculpture, installations, videos, multiples, prints, photography, and performance.
Art Basel 2013 offers eight sectors that complement each other and enrich the visitor's experience.

Curated projects include solo presentations, juxtapositions, or thematic exhibits.
Each year, two outstanding young emerging artists from the statements sector, are awarded with the Baloise Art Prize. These solo projects are acquired by the Baloise Group, which are then donated to renowned European art institutions.

 Unlimited is an exhibition platform dedicated to projects that transcend the physical limitations of a common art-show stand. Large-scale installations, out-sized sculptures and paintings, video projections and live performances, are some of the innovative works exhibited on this platform. Unlimited is curated by New York-based curator Gianni Jetzer.


 Berlin film scholar Marc Glöde and Zurich collector This Brunner, are the curators of the film section,  a week-long programme dedicated to films by and about artists.

 Enhancing the experience beyond Basel's headquarters, Parcours engages the public with interventions and performances by renowned international artists and emerging talents, as well with site-specific sculptures.
This section is curated by Florence Derieux and is open to the public.

 Visitors can acess some of the most prominent art publications from around the world.
Editors and publishers are often present  and many magazines contribute with presentations to the Salon series, including lectures and panel discussions.

 Beyond these sectors, Art Basel offers a full programme of events that include symposiums and artist talks.
The morning Conversation series, enables the audience to access to an insider's point of view, while Dynamic dialogues take place between prominent members of the artworld, each sharing their unique perspective on producing, exhibiting and collecting art. Conversations is presented in collaboration with the Absolut Art Bureau.

 A mobile app is available for Art Basel, providing essential information as well as an interactive 3D-map and events listing.

 Tickets can be purchased online until the last day of the art fair.

Video curtesy of Vernissage TV

Visit the LA Art Show 2013 during this weekend

During this weekend take the family with you and go visit the LA Art Show 2013.
The event provides a comprehensive art experience offered by The Modern & Contemporary; The Historic & Traditional; The Vintage Poster and by The IFPDA Los Angeles Print Fair.

Now in its 18th year, the LA Art Show features some known galleries from around the world and a complete programme that includes lectures, tours, special exhibits, and must-attend after parties.

The event takes place at the LA Convention Center/South Hall J and K and can be visited this Saturday January 26 (11am - 7pm) and Sunday January 27 (11am - 5pm)
Ticket price for one day (general admissons) is $20 with $5 discount when purchased online.

Last year, the event, which is the longest running venue for contemporary, modern, historic and traditional art in the country, hosted more than 100 prominent art galleries and drew more than 50,000 visitors with its two-show concept that distinctly separated modern and contemporary works from historical and traditional works.
The city of Los Angeles is a world reference in the arts in its various forms, represented in its over 300 museums, music festivals and by dozens of distinct ethnic communities. All combined with a perfect weather and one of the world's largest economies.

Last days to see "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" at The Art Institute of Chicago

                                    Roy Lichtenstein. Ohhh...Alright..., 1964

 Until September September 3, 2012, you still have the rare opportunity to see the ever assembled largest group of drawings, paintings, and sculptures by Roy Lichetenstein, organized by The Art Institute of Chicago. Comprising more than 160 works, "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" offers a full scope of the artist's process, interests, and ambitions.

 A catalogue with nine essays by leading critics and scholars; an extensive timeline of Lichtenstein’s life and career, filled with archival images; and 172 color plates, accompains the exhibition.

 Painter, sculptor, and printmaker, throughout his career, Lichtenstein dedicated himself to explore different styles, including Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism and Art Deco design, always transforming them into something completely his own. Better than any other, he defined the basic premise of pop through parody, often in a tongue-in-cheek humorous manner.

 Due to its success, the exhibition can be visited until 8:00 p.m. from Friday, August 31, through Monday, September 3. Please use the Michigan Avenue entrance after 5:00 p.m.

 "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" is curated by James Rondeau, Dittmer Chair and Curator of the Department of Contemporary Art.

 On November 8, 2011, Lichtenstein's "I Can See the Whole Room…and There's Nobody in It!" (1961), was sold for $43,202,500 (₤26,785,550/€31,105,800), setting an auction record for the artist.

Christie's to auction The Collection of Hélène Rochas

           Andy Warhol 'pink' portrait of Hélène Rochas (1 of 4), 1974 (c) Christie's Images Limited 2012

Chrisitie's will be offering at auction in Paris on 27 September 2012, following a pre-sale public exhibition from 11 to 26 (except on Sundays) of the same month, The Collection of Hélène Rochas, also known as ‘la belle Hélène’ or ‘la belle Madame Rochas’.
 The collection comprises art works from the Modern and Post-War eras; exquisite examples from the Art Deco period, important furniture and European objets d’art as well as Old Master and 19th century paintings and drawings.

 Set aside from the big aristocratic collections as well as from those amassed by the French financial and industrial bourgeoisie,  Rochas' preferences were influenced by wealthy foreigners, aesthetes, and collectors who followed the examples of Carlos de Beistegui, Arturo Lopez-Willshaw, Antenor Patiño or even took inspiration from the more modern tastes of Eugénia Errázuriz and Cole Porter.

Alongside her friends Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé, Hélène Rochas was one of the first to start an important Art Deco collection. Among the acquired artworks and objects, now to be offered at auction, are a torchère serpent, created by Edouard Marcel Sandoz in 1931 (estimate: €25,000-30,000); a floor lamp by Edgar Brandt & Daum (estimate: €40,000-60,000), Deux masques, circa 1925 by Jean Lambert-Rucki and inlayed with egg shell by Jean Dunand (estimate: €60,000-80,000), as well as four works by Diego Giacometti, led by a Berceau coffee-table circa 1963 (estimate: €60,000-80,000). She explained she found a “dreamlike potential” in the period.

An important sale of her Art Deco collection was organised at Christie’s Monaco in 1990.

 In 1974, while living in New York, she commissioned four portraits by Andy Warhol (each estimated at €200,000-300,000), and also acquired Ben Nicholson’s 1933 abstract painting "Fiddle and Spanish Guitar", a testimony to the Abstract movements that led the 1930s art scene (estimate: €300,000-500,000). This work was displayed in her Paris apartment facing a striking Neoclassical sofa previously owned by Arturo Lopez-Willshaw, who had acquired it at the age of just 16 (estimate: €12,000-18,000). It was flanked with a pair neoclassical ormolu and lac burgaute candelabras, from Harewood Castle in England (estimate: €100,000-150,000).

 A magnificent 151 x 94 cm life-size Portrait of Lucien Guitry by Edouard Vuillard (estimate: €150,000-250,000), which was featured as number 303 in the Vuillard retrospective at the Grand Palais, Paris September 2003-January 2004, dominated the entrance hall of her Parisian apartment on rue Barbet de Jouy, in the elegant 7^th arrondissement.
 The living room was presided over by Braunes Schweigen, a 1925 oil painting by Wassily Kandinsky, which hung above a sofa (estimate: €1,5 million-2 million). A large 1954 terracotta vase by Picasso (estimate: €40,000-60,000) stood on one of a pair of Neoclassical side tables (estimate: €80,000-120,000).

The petit salon was the area where Madame Rochas hosted friends and guests, presenting them with a large Balthus painting, Japanese woman with red table, 1967-76, which hung over the entire wall (estimate: €3 million-5 million; dimensions: 144 x 192.2 cm). The work represents Setsuko Ideta, the painter’s second wife, whom he met in Rome, after he was appointed director of the Academy of France at the Villa Medici, and married in 1967. This relationship had a considerable influence on his art, and Setsuko became his muse, adopting a traditional Far-Eastern style. In the same room, above the fire-place sat an important flower bouquet by Jean Fautrier (estimate: €60,000-80,000) once part of the André Malraux Collection.

 Both the exhbition and sale will take place at Christie’s, 9 avenue Matignon 75008 Paris.
 The Collection of Hélène Rochas (sale 3538) is estimated to realise 8 million euros.

dOCUMENTA (13) - Modern and Contemporary Art

 Founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultural Show), dOCUMENTA is a  an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years at different venues in Kassel, Germany. Typically gives its artists at least two years to conceive and produce their projects, allowing them to present elaborate and intellectually complex works.

 Dedicated to artistic research and forms of imagination that explore commitment, matter, things, embodiment, and active living in connection with, yet not subordinated to, theory, dOCUMENTA (13) is about the transversal alliances, influences and consequences that a globalized world provokes in the difference areas of society, and how politics are inseparable from a sensual and energetic worldly alliance between current research in various scientific and artistic fields, and other knowledges, both ancient and contemporary.
 In 2012, dOCUMENTA (13) is physically and conceptually held in Kassel (Germany), Kabul (Afghanistan), Alexandria/Cairo (Egypt), and Banff (Canada), exploring site-related micro-histories and promoting different and partial perspectives connect to the local history and reality of a place, while sharing influences of a globalized world.
 Besides the traditional main venues located in Kassel (the Fridericianum, the documenta-Halle, and the Neue Galerie), dOCUMENTA (13) takes place in a variety of other spaces that represent different physical, psychological, historical, cultural realms and realities. At spaces devoted to natural and technical science, such as the Ottoneum and the Orangerie, throughout the Baroque Karlsaue park, with its little components suggesting a particular mode of proximity by way of the spatially diffused aggregation of elements that also maintains their own singularities, and at the industrial spaces behind the former Hauptbahnhof, once Kassel’s main train station but now only used for local transport—a dystopian space connected to the factory world that produced the military tanks for the National Socialist regime in the twentieth century and that is still adjacent to the factories.



The exhibition willl also take place in a variety of “bourgeois” spaces of a different order, off the main venues, places that are still in normal use or, on the other hand, places that have been forgotten and “removed.”

 Limited to 100 days of exhibition, which is why it is often referred to as the “museum of 100 days,” dOCUMENTA (13) is being held between 9 June - 16 September 2012.
Over 750,000 visitors are expected.

The Italian American writer, art historian and curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev is the Artistic Director of this year's edition.