Art Basel Recap
June 13, 2012
BASEL, SWITZERLAND— The Art Basel main fair opened to VIP guests on Tuesday amidst a splurge of early sales. Despite recent concerns about the stability of the red hot art market, galleries generally did very well, appealing to elite clients by offering larger, pricier items that were likely chosen to rival auction-house offerings.
Marlborough Fine Art had the fair’s most expensive asking price— $78 million for a Rothko painting, Untitled 1954. The Marian Goodman Gallery sold a Gerhard Richter in under two hours, and L&M Fine Arts got $2 million before lunch for a 1967 Frank Stella drawing. Matthew Marks Gallery shed paintings and sculptures by Ellsworth Kelly, Rebecca Warren, and Katharina Fritsch. The New York D’Amelio Gallery is exhibiting the conceptual creations of Cady Noland, the world’s most expensive living female artist, whose work recently went for a sales-room record of $6.6 million.
A day of dramatic sales concluded with an evening performance by Belgian artist Filip Gilissen the satellite fair Liste. The piece featured a 1,000 light bulb sculpture that reads, “it’s all downhill from here” slowly being lifted into the air above the city by a crane. The piece flashed in the night sky until 7am.
Image courtesy of Art Basel 43
In celebration of the 100th birthday of Grand Central Terminal in mid-town Manhattan, the Chicago-based sculptor Nick Cave…
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Reflecting upon art of the 20th century is the theme this season at New York’s major museums. For the second time in six months…
Reflecting upon art of the 20th century is the theme this season at New York’s major museums. For the second time in six months…
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The art market was front page news on the New York Times this week, with the recurring theme of whether more regulation is needed…
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Held annually since 2002 as the sister event to Switzerland’s art fair, Art Basel Miami Beach has arguably become the most popular…
Held annually since 2002 as the sister event to Switzerland’s art fair, Art Basel Miami Beach has arguably become the most popular…
Held annually since 2002 as the sister event to Switzerland’s art fair, Art Basel Miami Beach has arguably become the most popular…
Inspired by the work of Buckminster Fuller, Leo Villareal’s Buckyball applies Fuller’s geometric theories to a monumental 30-foot tall, illuminated…
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The pop master Roy Litchenstein is being treated to the first major survey of his work since the he died 15 years ago. For Holland Carter, reviewing…
Picasso Black And White, the exhibiton currently on view at the Guggenheim Museum in New York treats visitors to a unique survey…
Through November 18th, a temporary art installation that somewhat resembles the midtown walk-up apartment of Tatzu Nishi will…
Through November 18th, a temporary art installation that somewhat resembles the midtown walk-up apartment of Tatzu Nishi will…
Lines stretched around the block to attend the last day of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s retrospective of the Japanese artist….
The first museum exhibition of the Brooklyn-based painter Mickalene Thomas opened last weekend to much fanfare. Three years…
Through November 18th, a temporary art installation that somewhat resembles the midtown walk-up apartment of Tatzu Nishi will…
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s inaugural exhibition at their Chelsea location is a sign of the times. “We the People,” which…
A module of architectural confusion has consumed the rooftop of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as part of the summer rooftop series…