Early Warning
I'm getting some insider info on the possibility of a major DC area art gallery which may be about to close.
More later (if anything happens)...
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Bankable Art
Actually, no one quite knows what Lehman Brothers, the financial services firm that filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15, will do with its 3,500-piece art collection, but with works by such bankable artists as Jasper Johns and Andreas Gurky, it is likely to be on sale at a major auction house near you.Read the WSJ report here.
Sausage Art
I'm getting pretty suspicious as to what Jeffry Cudlin has been reading lately, but I couldn't pass on relaying the following:
Read all about it here
"The sausage art is now popular in Russia. They have made some major masterpieces out of sausages and wurst and put on display so that anyone can eat them."
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Prices
Artprice, an auction database, says unsold works at auctions held since September 1 this year rose to 39.2 percent against 36.8 percent last year in the same period. On October 1, prices had slipped 4.45 percent in a year and there were 20.5 percent less auctions in the last six weeks.Read all about it here.
And auctions early this month in Asia and London were "disappointing", with more than half of works up for sale left unsold at times, according to specialist insider newsletter The Baer Faxt.
"Masterpieces," said Curiel of Christie's, "are seeing excellent prices, but sales will be more difficult for less exceptional works or those believed to be over-rated. Before this summer, it was never a problem to issue a high or very high estimate. But now it is."
Opportunity for Artists
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH), in collaboration with the Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Adams Morgan community, is looking for an artist or artist team to design, create and install a permanent outdoor installation at the corner of 18th Street and Columbia Road, NW, Washington D.C.
The objective of this project is to create a "distinctive art piece that communicates the history and current character of the surrounding community and commercial district. The work will reflect the cultural diversity of the neighborhood and enhance the pedestrian experience."
To download the prospectus please visit, www.dcarts.dc.gov or for further questions contact Deirdre Ehlen at 202-724-5613 or by email Deirdre.Ehlen@dc.gov.
Cudlin on Gopkinism
Blake Gopnik’s remarks were interesting (yes, I’ll stick with interesting). He claimed that the problem with painting now is that painters don’t address their work directly to art critics. This is an odd thing to say, but it's pretty much in sync with other sorts of observations Blake likes to make about the art world. Like, for example, when he asserted that art is better when developments in the market aren’t leading or influencing museums—and museums can be left to do their job in peace.Read the whole Jeffry Cudlin post here.
At the time, I thought this was simply a bizarre misunderstanding on Blake’s part. But Blake is a smart guy, and hearing this new curious notion has made me realize that he has a remarkably consistent viewpoint — albeit one not even remotely grounded in reality. He seems to be wandering through a utopian socialist shadow art world, one in which painters don’t try to sell their works, and collectors are shooed away from the boardrooms of institutions, or from contact with curators.
A History of Dogs And Witches
New work by Laurel Hausler opens Thursday October 16, 2008 from 6-9 pm in DC's Nevin Kelly Gallery.