The theory: speculation in art (and young art) is over

What is the silver lining in all this cloudiness? Perhaps a return to the importance of museums, critics and alternative spaces for validation and the introduction of new art.

Read Josh Baer's article in the Art Newspaper here.

For the first time ever an auction house will act as dealer for a living artist

"Phillips de Pury is to represent the photographer Annie Leibovitz in a move which further blurs the boundaries between auction houses and dealers. According to Simon de Pury, Phillips’s energetic chairman, Leibovitz approached the auction house through Charlie Scheips, its worldwide director of photographs, who joined in 2007 and has known the photographer since 1987."

You could see that one coming when Hirst started going solo and dealing directly with auction houses.

"The auction house would not disclose what commission it will take from these sales, although it is unlikely to vary dramatically from the usual contemporary gallery level of around 50%. Phillips says no Leibovitz works from its selling exhibitions will be offered at auction. The two strands of the business are completely separate, says Mr de Pury.

Read the full article here.

Antognoli at R. Coury Fine Art Gallery

Erin Antognoli's latest solo exhibit of her Holga artwork is now hung and ready to be seen by the public at R. Coury Fine Art Gallery in Savage, Maryland. There are 29 of her works hanging in all, some of them never before exhibited.

There's an opening reception from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM ON Friday, October 31st. The artist will be present for questions and conversation! R. Coury Fine Art Gallery is located in Historic Savage Mill in the Spinning Building suite 217A, 8600 Foundry St., Savage, MD 20763. The gallery is open by appointment, and is owned and operated by artist Jill Hackney.

Feel free to bring the kids as there will be trick-or-treating throughout the mill or if you're in the mood, there is a Halloween costume party at the Ramshead (also in Savage Mill)_ from 5:00 PM to Midnight. The exhibit will run from October 13 to November 14, 2008.

The Power 100

The November issue of ArtReview magazine, with the 2008 Power 100 list is out. Read a full report on the list here.

01. Science (Damien Hirst)
02. Larry Gagosian
03. Kathy Halbreich
04. Sir Nicholas Serota
05. Iwan Wirth
06. Jay Jopling
07. David Zwirner
08. François Pinault
09. Jasper Johns
10. Eli Broad
11. Jeff Koons
12. Steven A. Cohen
13. Daniel Birnbaum
14. Charles Saatchi
15. Brett Gorvy & Amy Cappellazzo
16. Tobias Meyer & Cheyenne Westphal
17. Marian Goodman
18. Gerhard Richter
19. Richard Prince
20. Dominique Lévy & Robert Mnuchin
21. Michael Govan
22. Marc Glimcher
23. Annette Schönholzer, Marc Spiegler
24. Alfred Pacquement
25. Matthew Slotover & Amanda Sharp
26. Barbara Gladstone
27. Matthew Marks
28. Takashi Murakami
29. Agnes Gund
30. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan
31. Dakis Joannou
32. Bernard Arnault
33. Richard Serra
34. Sadie Coles
35. Julia Peyton-Jones & Hans Ulrich Obrist
36. Donna De Salvo
37. Simon de Pury
38. Don & Mera Rubell
39. Ann Philbin
40. Paul Schimmel
41. Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
42. Michael Ringier
43. Jose, Alberto & David Mugrabi
44. Chris Kennedy
45. Bruce Nauman
46. Cy Twombly
47. Ai Weiwei
48. Tim Blum & Jeff Poe
49. Andreas Gursky
50. Olafur Eliasson
51. Harry Blain & Graham Southern
52. Jeff Wall
53. Peter Doig
54. Roman Abramovich & Daria Zhukova
55. Bruno Brunnet, Nicole Hackert, Philipp Haverkampf
56. Marlene Dumas
57. Gavin Brown
58. Victoria Miro
59. Mitchell Rales
60. Yvon Lambert
61. Mike Kelley
62. Paul McCarthy
63. Banksy
64. Emmanuel Perrotin
65. William Acquavella
66. Lucian Freud
67. Victor Pinchuk
68. Maurizio Cattelan
69. Cai Guo Qiang
70. Maureen Paley
71. Roberta Smith
72. Peter Schjeldahl
73. Thelma Golden
74. Ralph Rugoff
75. Robert Gober
76. Iwona Blazwick
77. Richard Armstrong
78. Massimiliano Gioni
79. Jerry Saltz
80. Reena Spaulings/Bernadette Corporation
81. Louise Bourgeois
82. Cindy Sherman
83. Okwui Enwezor
84. Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn
85. Shaun Caley Regen
86. Liam Gillick
87. Miuccia Prada
88. John Baldessari
89. Francesca von Habsburg
90. Christian Boros
91. Nicholas Logsdail
92. Subodh Gupta
93. The Long March Project
94. Paula Cooper
95. Peter Nagy
96. Casey Reas
97. Anita & Poju Zabludowicz
98. Guy & Myriam Ullens
99. Laurent Le Bon
100. Thomas Kinkade

Is number 100 a joke?

James Castle at the PMA

The nature of "outsider" art may be debatable, but self-taught artist James Castle was an outsider of sorts from the day he was born.

Castle, subject of a new exhibit organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, was born profoundly deaf and never learned to read, write, sign or speak. But he spoke volumes through art, which he created ceaselessly from early childhood until his death in 1977 at age 77.

"James Castle: A Retrospective," which opened this week and remains on display through Jan. 4, brings together more than 300 evocative drawings, handmade books, collages and sculptural pieces from 60 public and private collections. The first comprehensive museum exhibition of Castle, it will travel to Chicago and San Francisco in 2009.

Read the review by Joann Loviglio here.