Prices Plummet at End of 2008

Sotheby’s and Christie’s lost at least $50 million and $40 million each from failed guarantees in their final-quarter sales. Auction houses are cutting staff, abandoning guarantees of a price to sellers, and reducing estimates on individual works.

Read the report by Scott Reyburn and Katya Kazakina here.

Crisis or Transformation?

Renee Phillips' terrific article in Art Calendar is a must read for emerging artists. Read it here.

At La Florida

I'm in Florida for a bit of sun and sand and fermented drinks, thus why postings have been sporadic.

Reading Tom Gjelten's acclaimed Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause.

More later...

Happy New Year's

May 2009 bring all of you loads of good things and good health... salud!

Goodbye 2008

Nothing like a good beer to say adios to the 8th year of the 21st century.

Airborne



Heading to Miami for the New Year's... more later. Already pissed off that US Air charges $15 for your one piece of checked-in luggage.

Some posts have been already scheduled for the next few days.

Opportunity for Artists

Deadline: June 16, 2009

The Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site in Philadelphia is seeking proposals for its 2010 tour season and beyond. There are two funding categories: Exhibition, approval providing a budget of up to $7,500 and approval to exhibit at the historic site; and Exhibition Development, providing up to $2,500 with no guarantee of exhibition. Full details are available at this website.

The Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site "was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cell blocks and empty guard towers. Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, this was the world's first true penitentiary, a prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of convicts. Its vaulted, sky-lit cells once held many of America s most notorious criminals, including bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone." Tours today include the cell blocks, solitary punishment cells, Al Capone's Cell, and Death Row. A critically-acclaimed series of artists installations is free with admission.

Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site
2027 Fairmount Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130