798 District Blog

LONDON.- Sotheby’s Contemporary Art evening auction on Friday, 15 October, 2010, which coincides with the Frieze Art Fair in London, will present for sale 40 artworks that are estimated to realise in excess of £10 million. In addition to the outstanding pieces by leading artists such as Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach in the auction from the Collection of Jerry Hall, the world-famous American supermodel and actress, the sale will also feature important works by established artists such as Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder and Andreas Gursky, as well as pieces by a younger generation of artists including Bansky, Elizabeth Peyton and Ahmed Alsoudani, whose artworks have never before been offered at auction.

The auction record of £1.7 million for Andreas Gursky (b. 1955) was established by Sotheby’s London in 2007 for the artist’s 99 cent II (diptych), and the forthcoming October Evening Auction is to be headlined by – among other works – a major cibachrome print by the artist, Pyongyang IV. Executed by the artist in 2007 and from an edition of 7, the work is one of a series of five images that Gursky made on this subject following his 2007 visit to North Korea. The work examines the same formal themes of surface ornament and pattern that pervade many of his best works, but in an entirely different corner of our globalised society; North Korea, the last outpost of communist dictatorship. The festival, held annually to commemorate the birth of North Korea’s former leader, Kim Il Sung, is recognised as the largest event of its kind in the world and is the showpiece of the country’s dictator, Kim Jong Il. In this painstakingly choreographed spectacle, tens of thousands of gymnasts, individually hand picked for their skill, execute with mechanical precision a sequence of synchronised moves which radiate waves of energy around the Rungrado May Day Stadium, the largest stadium of its kind in the world. In the background, thirty thousand strictly disciplined school children in white attire hold up sheets of paper of a different colour at the appointed time to create a succession of background images, each child an individual tile in a monumental human mosaic. To avoid any potential political gloss, Gursky’s photograph consciously avoids depicting portraits of Kim Il Sung, Korean slogans or propagandistic images of the happy proletariat which, in the course of the spectacle, variously appear on the human screen in the background. Instead, Gursky’s camera focuses on the abstract patterns that underpin this event. The work, illustrated on page one, is estimated at £500,000-700,000. Sotheby’s sold one other work from this edition in 2008, in the New York (AUCTION) RED, well above the estimate of $300,000-400,000 for the sum of $1,375,000.
Read full article:

NEW YORK— For five years, Metropolitan Museum of Art curator James Watt has worked with a team of scholars and administrators to arrange loans of works from China, Russia, Taiwan, Japan, and different parts of America for “The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty,” which opens to the public today.

The exhibition, which presents more than 200 objects and works of art, including paintings, sculptures, textiles, and ceramics, covers a period of incredible dynamism and experimentation in Chinese culture, stretching from 1215, the year in which the famed Mongol leader and eventual Chinese emperor Khubilai Khan was born, until 1368, when the Yuan Dynasty fell.

Organized into four separate thematic sections, the show presents works that relate to the daily lives of Chinese people of the time, images associated with religious practices, revolutionary examples of painting and calligraphy, and a wide selection of pieces from the decorative arts.

Read full article:

SAO PAULO.- Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Heads/Circle of Animals installation opened at the 29th Sao Paulo Biennale in Brazil. The Biennale opened on September 25th and drew large crowd of art aficionados from all across the globe. The Zodiac Heads/Circle of Animals is the centerpiece of a global, multi-year touring exhibition that will be presented in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

The 29th São Paulo Biennial is curated by Moacir dos Anjos and Agnaldo Farias and a team of guest curators from various backgrounds: Fernando Alvim, Rina Carvajal, Yuko Hasegawa, Sarat Maharaj, and Chus Martinez

The title of the this years Biennale, “Há sempre um copo de mar para um homem navegar (There is always a cup of sea to sail in)” was inspired by a line by the poet Jorge de Lima (1895 – 1953) in his work Invenção de Orfeu (1952). The concept of this year’s São Paulo Biennial is based on the notion that it is impossible to separate art from politics. Art, through ways of its own, is “capable of blocking the sensorial coordinates through which we understand and inhabit the world by bringing into it themes and attitudes that did not previously fit in, thus making it different and wider.”

In this sense the title “There is Always a Cup of Sea to Sail in” epitomizes the curators’ intentions, asserting the utopian dimension of art. According to them: “It is in the ‘cup of sea’ – or in this near infinite in which artists insist on producing their works – where in fact lies the power to move forward, despite everything else.” As the author of the poem Jorge de Lima continues, “the power to sail on even without ships / even without waves and sand.”
Read full article:

BEIJING—Hearing that an artist has made work out of panda feces, one can quickly think of a few possible suspects: panda-mad Rob Pruitt perhaps, or Chris Ofili, who has used elephant dung in past works. Even Piero Manzoni, who famously canned his own excrement, seems a possible culprit. However, it turns out that Chinese artist Zhao Bandi is, in fact, the man responsible, and that these new works are only the latest (and dirtiest) work stemming from his ongoing artistic fascination with pandas.

Although several years ago he mounted a pitched campaign against the public screening of the “Kung Fu Panda” movie in China, petitioning the central government’s bureau of broadcasting on the grounds that it was an insulting misappropriation of a precious Chinese cultural symbol, his own use of China’s beloved bear has brought a hail of criticism down on his own head. His “haute couture” panda works have drawn on a dizzying array of Chinese types — construction workers and stock brokers, hostesses and sex workers, beggars and gays — for inspiration and have created public furor and widespread animosity on the grounds that his work was insulted and injured China’s self-respect.

In spite of his seeming indifference to public opinion, he has recently embraced philanthropy and held a series of auctions of his work in aid of his favorite charity, which supports old people’s homes on the banks of the Yellow River.

Read full article:

HONG KONG.- Seoul Auction, Korea’s leading art auction house, will hold its Modern & Contemporary Art sale on 4 October 2010 at 4 pm at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, presenting an excellent and diversified selection of Western and Asian art. A total of 60 works by leading Western, Korean, Japanese and Chinese artists with a total estimate of HK$100 million (US$12.8 million) will be offered. Of note, collectors will be thrilled to find more striking and significant works by Western artists in this season’s sale.

Misung Shim, Managing Director of Seoul Auction Hong Kong Ltd. said, “A pioneer in the market, Seoul Auction was the first auction house to offer Western masterpieces in Hong Kong. This season, we are privileged to present an even stronger and more compelling selection of works by distinguished Western Modern, Impressionist and Contemporary artists. These carefully selected works of art are truly outstanding examples of great importance and rarity.”

“We have also assembled an impressive array of superb pieces created by the most eminent artists in the Chinese, Japanese and Korean art scene. Each section is hence proudly represented by the best quality and most exemplary objects that are set to enthrall Asia’s art market. I believe collectors with different tastes and interests will be drawn by this season’s exciting line-up, and we will witness heated competition during the sale.”
Read full article:

NEW YORK—Stemming from Lehman Brothers’ massive 2008 bankruptcy, the auction  of contemporary artworks from the Neuberger Berman and Lehman Brothers Corporate Art Collection that Sotheby’s held on Saturday morning was, in effect, a liquidation. In contrast to the financial fate that led to the sale, however, the auction was a success: nailing the $12.3 million high estimate, Sotheby’s found buyers for all but 24 of the 142 lots for a 17 percent buy-in rate by lot and five percent by value. One work sold for over a million dollars and 17 artist records were set, according to the auction house.

The decision to schedule the sale early in the day — in part to cater to Sotheby’s expanding collector base in Asia — seemed to pay off, with work by Asian artists turning in strong numbers. Liu Ye’s large-scale 2005 figurative painting “The Long Way Home,” part children’s book fantasy and part biting commentary on China’s brutal Cultural Revolution, sold to an anonymous telephone bidder for $962,500 on an estimate of $500-700,000.  Meanwhile, Fang Lijun’s 1997 “Untitled (Swimmer No. 1),” a painting mocking former leader Mao Zedong’s supposed Olympian swimming feats, sold to another telephone bidder for $374,500 against a $200-300,000 estimate. The work was acquired from the Max Protetch Gallery in 1998, when the artist’s primary market paintings were priced in the $10,000 to $20,000 range, according to one of the underbidders, who didn’t want to be identified.

Read full article:

LONDON.- The continuing international appeal of Asian Art was further illustrated in the September sales in New York which realised $70.7 million; re-confirming Christie’s continued position as market leader for the category with 72 % market share. This autumn, Christie’s London Asian Art Week will run from 9 – 12 November 2010, featuring important, rare and beautiful examples with excellent provenance. The sales include: Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 9 November at King Street; Interiors – Juxtaposing Eastern and Western Styles on 9 November at South Kensington; Japanese Art & Design on 10 November at South Kensington and Chinese Ceramics, Works of Art and Textiles on 12 November at South Kensington.

Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art: 9 November at 10.30am, Christie’s King Street
Christie’s Asian Art Week London commences with a remarkable array of porcelains, metal work, furniture, and organic materials such as jade, ivory and rhinoceros horn, offered in the Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art sale on Tuesday 9 November 2010. Featuring over 350 lots, dating from the Shang Dynasty (1600c – 1100c BC) to the Republic Period (1912-49), estimates range from £2,000 up to £1.2 million. The sale is expected to realise in excess of £8million.

The star lot of the whole sale is ceramic: an important and very rare small guanyao baluster vase, Hu southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), 13th century (estimate upon request) which is offered from the Ronald Longsdorf Collection. This exquisitely delicate rich greyish-blue glazed vase has extensive, highly attractive crackle and is of beautiful proportions, measuring just 5.1/8 in. (13 cm.) tall. The bulbous lower body is supported on a tall slightly splayed foot, with a tapering neck which ends with a flaring dished rim.
Read full article:

HONG KONG.- In response to the increasing interest throughout Asia and especially within China in the field of Impressionist and Modern art, Sotheby’s announced a major selling exhibition to be held this autumn. Modern Masters: Impressionism and Early 20th Century Art will comprise approximately 20 works representing many of the most important artists active in Europe from the late 19th and early 20th century and who left an indelible impression on art history, including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso and Edgar Degas, among others. The exhibition will preview in Beijing from 22-25 October 2010 and will then move on to Hong Kong from 26-28 November 2010. The works included in this exhibition are priced from US$2 million to $25 million (HK$15.6 to $195 million).

“This exciting event is both a first for Sotheby’s and for China,” said Patti Wong, Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia. “We have been impressed by the interest in the field of Impressionist and Modern Art from within China and across Asia in our recent auctions. While we will continue to serve this market through our regular auctions of Impressionist and Modern Art in London and New York, mounting a selling exhibition specifically for the Asian market consisting of high quality works from significant artists in this field is a unique opportunity for our many clients in the region. Asian collectors have historically shown considerable interest in other Sotheby’s selling exhibitions of modern and contemporary sculpture – at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, UK and Isleworth Country Club in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A. We look forward to bringing this assembly of works directly to our discerning Asian clients, and continuing to develop enthusiasm among collectors for this important field.”
Read full article:

BERLIN—Organizers for the Berlin Biennale, the biannual contemporary art exhibition that has established itself as a proving ground for emerging curatorial talent, has announced that Polish artist Artur Żmijewski will curate the next edition of the event, which opens in 2012.

Żmijewski is known for wildly controversial video art, which often involves the participation of people in extreme or outrageous situations, and that often represents historical traumas and catastrophes. He has, for instance, filmed World War II concentration-camp survivors having their numbers re-tattooed onto their arms, and a group of men and women playing tag, naked, in an abandoned basement.

Read full article:

Determining the probable price of a work of art was once based on precedent. Specialists must now rely on instinct. The result is often surprising.

Estimating how much a work of art is likely to fetch at auction has never been an easy game. These days it is becoming nearly impossible.

The fundamental problem is that as art supplies dwindle, so does the number of pictures or objects at recent sales that might offer a valid base of comparison.

Auction house specialists must increasingly rely on their personal instinct and that makes it easier for consignors to insist on ever-higher estimates — the perverse effect of rarity is that it can be invoked as an excuse to justify an extra hike. This past June in London, the result was a chaotic pattern at the Impressionist and modern art sales. In a market more bullish than ever, several works soared sky high, but many more only just made it and a few star lots actually dropped dead. There is always a point beyond which buyers, however easily impressed by the experts’ discourse, will stall, deciding that enough is enough, even in a market as consistently bullish as it is now.

Read full article: