November 25, 2010
Filed under: Art crime — Alan @ 6:32 am
A family’s stolen work of art that was nearly sold by the Gianni Versace estate has been returned to its rightful owners without lawyers or legal battles, it was announced. Major George Maule is the subject of a painting by Johann Zofanny dating back to the time of George III. It was actually up for bidding at a Sotheby’s auction, but was withdrawn when one of the Major’s descendants recognized it through a newspaper article.
The painting was part of the art collection of Gianni Versace and was valued at about £60,000. The designer did not know it was a stolen piece when he purchased it for his collection. The Versace family was very cooperative once it was proved that it belonged to heirs of the late Major-General John Sheffield, who had the artwork stolen from above his mantelpiece.
When the Versaces were provided evidence that the painting was a treasured family heirloom, they made arrangements to settle everything out of court and the family is once again in possession of the piece.
Quite often, when situations like this arise within the art world there can be lengthy court battles that drag on for years over rightful ownership of the property and what the unsuspecting collector is entitled to be paid in the way of recovery.
In this instance, both parties decided that such wrangling was unwarranted and would only serve to enrich attorneys. They decided that, instead of battling lawsuits, they would sit down and attempt to arrange an amicable solution.
While no one is giving details of what that amicable solution turned out to be, it is reported that both parties are pleased with the way things were settled.
November 20, 2010
Filed under: Photography — Alan @ 6:52 am
A professor of photography at New York University is going to have a camera installed on the rear of his head for a year-long project entitled, “The Third I.” The work is under commission by a new Qatar museum. The camera will take thumbnail photos and stream them back for visitors at the museum to see.
Wafaa Bilal, who is an assistant professor, will undergo surgery to have the mini camera installed. The camera will take pictures at the rate of one per minute and stream them live to a monitor at the museum in Qatar.
Because Bilal is a working professor, engaged in the daily routine of teaching courses, more issues have been raised than you might expect. Apart from the sense, and sanity, of having a backwards-pointing camera surgically affixed to your head, the process raises questions of privacy rights.
While professor Bilal certainly has the right to surgically attach a camera to his head and stream pictures to Qatar, what about the people, particularly the students, whose personal activities are caught by the gadget. Do these innocent bystanders have the right to demand that images of them living their daily lives not be broadcast for overseas strangers to observe?
November 19, 2010
Filed under: Exhibitions — Alan @ 4:15 am
The price tag placed on a Renaissance masterpiece by its private owners is just too high for the Louvre Museum’s budget. The museum’s president, Henri Loyrette, says the painting is a national treasure that should not be allowed to leave France, but so far the appeal for funds has raised only €3m, and the asking price is €4m. The Louvre is asking for art-lovers to pony up the €1m shortage, and “the world’s most visited art museum” is getting some flak about it, since most of its operations are funded by public money, i.e. taxes.
Le Trois Graces was painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1531, and has never been exhibited to the public. Its present owners have had it for almost 80 years, and apparently they are firm on the price. The painting, three nude women on a black background, is only about the size of a sheet of A4 paper, or 24cm by 37cm, but is described by Mr. Loyrette as “amusing, troubling, mysterious, and yet with a great sensuality”.
The museum has launched a website where visitors can view the painting, and hopefully make a contribution, but they only have until January 31st to do so if Les Trois Graces is to become the property of the Louvre and remain in France for posterity.
November 17, 2010
Filed under: Art Sales — Alan @ 2:49 am
The late actor, Dennis Hopper had an art collection of about forty pieces, featuring works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Keith Hammer. The works were auctioned off at a Christie’s contemporary art auction, which was later celebrated by Hopper’s eldest daughter Marin, investor Richard Turley and Marin’s co-executor Alex Hitz.
Marin confirmed that Hopper’s youngster daughter, Galen 7, will hold 40 per cent of the proceeds n trust. There has been a messy legal battle between Hopper’s estate and his wife; Victoria Duffy has filed a $45 million legal suit.
The talented actor was an enthusiastic collector, painting, and photographer in his own right.
November 13, 2010
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 12:59 pm
On 8 December, part of the Playboy Magazine art collection will go up for sale through Christie’s Auction House. It is rumoured that Playboy is selling over 125 works of art in response to financial difficulties. The Magazine is thought to have lost about $27 million in the third-quarter.
Nonetheless, the art works on sale make up a very small percentage of Playboy’s entire art collection of more than 5000 pieces.
For this auction, which is being called, The Year of the Rabbit, there will be pieces available by Salvadore Dali, Tom Wesselmann, Alberto Vargas, and photos of supermodels like Cindy Crawford and Elle MacPherson by Herb Ritts.
The painting, Mouth #8, by Tom Wesselmann is the jewel of the collection and projected to sell at around $2 million to $3 million. The work was commissioned back in 1966 for inclusion in a 1967 pictorial depicting playmates as fine art. Other noteworthy artists of the time contributed pieces as well. Falling in a time before the advent of digital photo retouch software, some of the original Playboy pieces have come to be collectors items. Despite the Playboy reputation, auctions like this demonstrate its history in bringing noteworthy artists together. If your budget falls short of $2 million to $3 million, there are less expensive treasures to be had, like a mounted transparency featuring Marilyn Monroe from the cover of Playboy’s first edition that is expected to fetch $1000 to $2000. Cartoons by E. Simmons Campbell, who was the first syndicated African American cartoonist, are expected to bring $400 to $600 each.
For collectors looking to purchase things connected to the business operations at Playboy, layout boards, complete with jotted instructions directing how to position the models and scores for attractiveness, will be on sale. Hugh Hefner himself initialled some of these boards for approval.
In fact, there is evidence of Hefner’s presence in several aspects of the collection. A representative said that Mr. Heffner was very involved with the artistic turnout at Playboy and it is natural that you will find evidence of his presence, like his scribbled initials, on different features of the offerings.
November 4, 2010
Filed under: Exhibitions — Alan @ 5:18 am
The Serpentine has won a bid to extend its gallery business to a historic location just a few minutes from its doors. The gallery will be opened in a building that once housed munitions and more recently was used by Royal Parks for storing the flags from the Mall. The gallery will open just in time for the Olympics.
The funding to make all of this possible comes from a single donation bestowed by the Dr. Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation. The gallery will be appropriately named The Serpentine Sackler.
In order to get the project, Serpentine won out over fellow bidders, The Halcyon Gallery and Damien Hirst.
It is reported that Hirst was planning to exhibit pieces of his private collection, which would have included works from Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and Francis Bacon. There were also plans to construct bronze gates and new windows of stained glass.
The Halcyon Gallery President commented that they were very pleased to have been included in the final three bids for consideration and that they will continue fulfilling their goal to bring art to the public by seeking out other venues.
Royal Parks said that all three of the final bids were very worthy and that there will be more opportunities in the parks at later dates.
The Serpentine will use the opportunity to exhibit work by less famous artists, it says. There are plans to add a new pavilion by architect Zaha Hadid. The pavilion will feature a large-scale light exhibition. A different artist will also be given a commission every year to create an outside play area and a restaurant, café, and a shop will be opened for visitors.
Admission to the new gallery is free, as it is privately funded.
Of course, the Serpentine was delighted to win the project and very excited to get work for the new gallery underway.
