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tel. +45 8818 [email protected]

bruun-rasmussen.com


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FEBRUARY 2016

K R I S T I N E

L A R S E N

FEATURES

56 IN THE STUDIO: NICOLA TYSONKnown for her figurative practice in

a range of media, the British-born artiprepares for a show of drawings atPetzel in New York.

BY CHLOE WYMA

64 OPULENCE AND TURBULENCEIn Shanghai, dedicated gallery ownersprovide a grassroots counterpoint to theglitzy city-planned art scene.BY HUNTER BRAITHWAITE

72 NATIONAL SPOTLIGHTS: PART 1Reports on art market developmentsfrom Singapore, Indonesia, and India.

76 THE NEXT NEW THING

Al and Kim Eiber of Miami Beach hbuilt a formidable collection ofpostwar and contemporary design woBY JUDITH GURA

86 THE ART OF ILLUSTRATIONOriginal images commissioned formass print publication find second livin the art market.BY BRIDGET MORIARITY AND

LIZA M.E. MUHLFELD

DEPARTMENTS

12 CONTRIBUTORS 14 FROM THE EDITOR 16 ART PARTIES+OPENINGS

19 IN THE AIR 27 MOVERS+SHAKERS 31 DATEBOOK 34 MUST-HAVES

38 DEALER’S N OTEBOOK

44 CULTURE+TRAVEL MUMBAI

76“Part of the fun is mixing differentdesigners; all of the fun is living with it.”—COLLECTOR AL EIBER, SEEN HERE WITH A 1990YONEL LEBOVICI WELDER’S LAMP IN HIS MIAMI BEACH HOME.

ASIAN MARKET FOCUS

Blouin Art + Auction (ISSN No. 2331-5342) is pu blished monthly witha combined July/Augu st issue and a special Fall issue by Art + AuctionHolding, Inc., 88 Laight Street, New York, NY 10013. Vol. XXXIX, no.Copyright © 2016 Bloui n Art + Auction Magazine. Periodicals postage pat New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Sendaddress changes to Fulco, Inc., Blouin Art + Auction, P.O. Box 3000, DenvNJ 07834-3000. All m aterial is compiled from sources believed to bereliable, but published without responsibility for errors or omissions. BArt + Auction accepts advertisements from advertisers believed to beof good repute, but cannot guarantee the authenticity or quality of objectsor services advertised in its pages. Blouin Art + Auction assumes no resposibility for unsolicited manuscri pts or photographs. Return postage

should accompany such material. All rights, including translation into othlanguages, reserved by the publisher. Nothing i n this publication may bereproduced without the permi ssion of the publisher. The name ART + AUCTis a registered trademark owned by Louise Blouin Media Group, Inc. andcannot be used without its express written consent. Printed in the U.S.A.


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UPCOMING AUCTIONS

AND RESULTS

WWW.PIASA.FR

VIEWINGS & AUCTIONS

PIASA118 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré75008 Paris - France+33 1 53 34 10 10

PIASA SA - agreement n° 2001-020 - Auctioneer: Frédéric Chambre

UPCOMING

Focus on Josef Frank - February 17 2016Limited Edition III curated by Mathieu Mercier - March 2016Italian Design - March 30 2016Design Artists-Decorators : a partnership with the magazine AD - April 2016

CURATED AUCTION HOUSE IN PARIS

SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN

& FOCUS ON JOSEF FRANK

Auction: February 17 2016

Axel Johannes Salto (1889-1961) Poul Kjærholm (1929-1980)


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FEBRUARY 2016

FOR DAILY MARKET WATCH UPDATES,GO TO BLOUINARTINFO.COM

THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE FOR ART COLLECTORS FEBRUARY2016

TRIBAL ART IN SAN FRANCISCO MUMBAI SHUFFLE AT SOTHEBY’S NICOLA TYSON

LONDON SALESPREVIEW

A MeasuredMarketOutlook

DESIGNSON LIFE

Al and KimEiberatHome

EYES ON ASIA

Shanghai andRegional Markets

THE ART OFILLUSTRATION

A MediumontheAscent

ON THE COVER:Le Moteur , 1918, an oil oncanvas by Fernand Léger,rolls onto the block with anestimate of £4 millionto £6 million ($6–9 million)at the Impressionist andmodern art sale at Christie’sLondon on February 2.

86N.C. WYETH’S

WILD BILL HICKOKAT CARDS , 1916,

WHICH SOLD AT THECOEUR D’ALENE ART

AUCTION IN JU LY 2007FOR $2,240,000.

COLUMNS

23 REPORTERBuyouts at Sotheby’s were just part ofthe end-of-year job reshuffle.

BY JUDD TULLY

47 ON THE BLOCK

As escalating prices draw long-heldblue-chip pieces to this month’sLondon sales, the buying frenzy appearsto be cooling.

BY JUDD TULLY

MARKETWATCH

94 AUCTIONS IN BRIEFArts of the American West in Denver,Chinese imperial t reasures inHong Kong, and in Paris, the libraryof Pierre Bergé.BY LIZA M.E. MUHLFELD

98 DATABANKThe numbers behind an overduemarket correction for contemporaryChinese art.BY ROMAN KRÄUSSL

104 THE ACQUISITIONThe Rubin Museum of Art in New Yorkprocures a set of illustrated foliosthat illuminate Tibetan astrology,divination, and cosmology.


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ORGANIZED BY Art Dealers Association of America

March 1–6, 2016 PARK AVENUE ARMORY AT 67TH STREET, NEW YORK CITY

ON PARK AVENUEARTDEALERS.ORG/ARTSHOW #TheArtShow Lead spof

TO BENEFI THenry Street Settlement

Gala Tickets 212.766.9200 , EXT. 248 OR H ENRYSTREET.ORG/ARTSHOW

F O U N


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Gilbert StuartPortrait of George Washington (detail)

Oil on canvas, 1798Presale Estimate: $150,000–$250,000

Sold: $1.025 Million

2 0 1 6 A U C T I O N S C H E D U L E

FEBRUARY: e Fine and Decorative Art AuctionAPRIL: e Fine Jewelry AuctionMAY: e Fine Art AuctionSEPTEMBER: e Fine and Decorative Art AuctionNOVEMBER: e Fine Art AuctionDECEMBER: e Jewelry and Couture Sale

N O W A C C E P T I N G C O N S I G N M E N T S

F O R A L L S P R I N G A U C T I O N S .

C O N TA C T: Elaina Grinwald, Director of [email protected]


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As vice chairman and head ofthe ne art department atFreeman’s auction house inPhiladelphia, Nichol is aregular appraiser on ’sAntiques Roadshow , wherehe specializes in Americanpaintings, drawings, andsculpture. Born in Scotland,Nichol began his career withPhillips in Edinburgh beforemoving to the company’ssalesrooms in Glasgow andLondon. In he venturedto New York to head thene art department at Phillips;he joined Freeman’s in

. “Since arriving in the U.S., I have sold many examples ofillustration art and have twice held the world-record auctionprice for a work by N.C. Wyeth,” says Nichol, who offeredhis expertise to Art+Auction for our article on illustration art(page ). His contribution reminded him “what a peculiarlyAmerican collecting area illustration art is, and how reective itis of the American character and psyche.”

An associate art editor at Brooklyn Rail , Wyma is currently pursuingher Ph.D. in modern and contemporary art at the City Universityof New York Graduate Center. A resident of Queens, she also teachesart history at Baruch College as an adjunct professor. On page ,Wyma writes about her visit to the studio of artist Nicola Tyson.“She is as brilliant and funny in person as she is in her paintings,”Wyma says. “What I thought would be a straightforward interviewbecame an hours-long,digression-lled conversa-tion spanning feministart and theory, punk andthe s, and the struggleto develop a personalartistic idiom apart fromartistic trends.” Ofparticular interest to theart historian was theirdiscussion of TrialBalloon. “The irreverent,all-female space thatTyson founded in the ’ sbecame a ash point forNew York’s undergroundlesbian scene,” she says.

CONTRIBUTORS

Christine von der Linn

Alasdair Nichol

Danielle Whalen

Chloe Wyma

Ekta Marwaha

A graduate of Bard College, von der Linn hasbeen head of Swann Auction Galleries’ art,

architecture, press, and illustrated booksdepartment for years. Since , she hasbeen organizing the house’s sales of illustrationart, a eld she discusses on page . At presstime she was anticipating Swann’s Januaryauction in the category: “In this particularlycolorful presidential race, we enjoyed pullingtogether a selection of topical images likeHoward Chandler Christy’s I Am an American! and amusing caricatures of Bernie Sanders

and Donald Trump. Illustration is the visual storytelling of our t ime, so it’s nice to havea sale that is relevant and current.” Von der Linn has contributed to articles on collectingand market trends for publications including the New Yorker and the Wall Street Journal .

Born and raised in Rhode Island, Whalenmoved to New York in to studywriting at Eugene Lang College. She thenpursued photography at the School ofVisual Arts and graduated with a degree in visual and critical studies beforejoining Art+Auction last year as an editorialassistant. On page , she writes aboutModernism Week, the annual designand architecture event in Palm Springs,California. “Whenever I speak to dealersand collectors, there’s not only a deephistorical knowledge about the objectsthey collect but also a strong emotionalconnection. Collecting is as much aboutfeeling as anything else,” she says. Whalencontinues to take photographs, inspiredby trips abroad and by the streets of NewYork City. She is currently polishing herforeign language skills, particularly inGerman, with aspirations to learn French.

After earning a degree in history from Hans Raj College,University of Delhi in India, and completing graduatestudies in journalism and mass communication atSt. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, Marwaha began workingwith India Today in . During her tenure with themagazine, she wrote features on art, travel, fashion, andfood. Today the New Delhi–based journalist is destinationseditor for the online publication Blouin Culture+Travel .On page , she offers a guide to Mumbai timed to theKala Ghoda Arts Festival this month. “It’s an interestingtime for all art and history enthusiasts, as there’s a plethoraof cultural activities taking place across the city—fromheritage walks to live art demonstrations, workshops, andtalks on art and literature, along with a whole list ofcollections and regional handicrafts on display,” she says.

ART+AUCTION FEBRUARY 2016 | BLOUINARTINFO.COM


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April 14–17, 2016

April 13Opening Night Preview

Park Avenue Armory New York

The Association of InternationalPhotography Art Dealers

The world’s leadingphotography art galleries

Premier Corporate Partner of AIPAD


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FROM THE EDITOR

Eric BryantEditor in Chief

In today’s sped-up art ecosystem,contradictions are resolved into sound-bites and subtleties are shunted

aside for future stud y. The nuancedgets short shrift. W ithin marketprecincts, art history is too often

reduced to a philosophical tug-of-warbetween the canonical and therevolutionary. Reinforcing thisbinary reading, many market analysts

would have us believe the rewardsare bestowed only on yesterday’s most exaltednames and today’s brashest iconoclasts.

No single set of players is to blame. Agrowing number of gallerists court the specula-tive minded by tethering rebel allure to thefantasy of a quick, outsize payoff. A onetimecasino habitué, I understand the attractionof long odds. I felt the same irresistible pullto lay money on the hard eight at the crapstable that many collectors feel when encounter-ing a debut show by a young unknown withan emphatically signature style. The sparkle offuture possibilities, however unlikely, blindone to the dull truth of probabilities.

At the other pole, more than a few auctionhouses and dealers have grown adept atassociating the familiar with the safe, con-ating the best-known with the best. Not thatthe linkage is ctional. Economic analysescontinue to conrm that the most secureart investment is blue-chip work by blue-chipartists. But caveats abound in these studies,as they do in the ne print of hedge fundprospectuses, and are just as seldom read.Technicalities aside, when passion is drained

from the way collectors look at any artist,even the most brilliant, the long-term value

of that artist’s work must surely start to wane.And blue-chip collecting, except when practicedby dedicated connoisseurs, engenders all thepassion of signing up for an insurance policy.

So long as the number of new collectorsentering the market outpaces the numberdisaffected by unfullled promises of quickprots or safe investments, the markets maymaintain a healthy appearance. In the longrun, however, this simplistic view of art historywill corrode the engine that powers thosemarkets—love of art.

The good news is that thanks to the Inter-net and a multitude of ofine sources, amore nuanced version of art history, full ofcontradictions and subtlety, is within the reachof any collector at any level. They need onlycommit to investing time and thought inaddition to money. As a rst step, those whosepersonal interests are tied to the market’slong-term health should stop fomenting get-richer-quick delusions. Just as importantly,we need to start promoting the idea thatan intellectual investment in art history notonly brings returns in kind, but also may very

well lead to nancial rewards for thosewhose studies lead them off the beaten track.



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ART PARTIES + OPENINGS


MOSTLY IN MIAMIEye-popping moments at some of our favorite art world evenings: the New Mus eum’s annual Next Generationdinner, honoring artists Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Josh Kli ne, at the Bathhouse Studios in New York’sEast Village (1, 10, 11, 18); a dinner at the home of Don and Mera Rubell for the opening of “No Man’s Land:Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection” at the family’s eponymous museum in Miami (2, 6, 17, 19, 21);the performance of Dimensions , a collaboration between musician Devonté Hynes and artist Ryan McNamara,at the Pérez Art Museum Miami (3, 24); Galerie Gmurzynska’s buffet dinner at the Villa Casa Casuarinain Miami Beach, with Sylvester Stallone and curator Germano Celant (4, 7, 9, 14, 16); the VIP opening of ArtBasel Miami Beach at the Miami Beach Convention Center (5, 8, 12, 13, 15, 20); and the Cultivist’s firstannual event at the Miami Beach fair, a luncheon for its members at the Setai hotel (22, 23).

WITH PATRICK M C MULLAN

4. Franz Humer

9. Pri ncess Michael of Kent

1. Wangechi Mutu, Isolde Brielmaier

2. Mar ia Baibakova, Marc Spiegler

7. Mathias Rastorfer, Isabelle Bscher, Jennifer Flavin Stallone, Sylvester Stallone, Krystyna Gmurzynska, Lucas Bscher

3. Richie Shazam, Steve Nishimoto

5. Larry Warsh, Christopher Missling

8. Jean Shafiroff, Chuck Close

14. Calum Sutton

15. Andrea Fiuczynski

16. Carole Hall, Ira Hall

10. Fabiola Beracasa, Prabal Gurung, Vanessa Traina Snow

17. Sara Colomb

6. Tanya Selvaratnam, Lucy Walker

11. N jideka Akunyili Crosby

12. Kyunghwa Kim

21. Victoria Miro

13. Nick Acquavella, Andrea Glimcher

20. Stephen Robert,Pilar Crespi

18. Christina Ricci

22. Glenn Kaino

23. Rujeko Hockley, Zoe Buckman, Mark Guiducci

24. Andrea Schlieker

19. Mai-Thu Perret


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Martin Lewis, Shadow Dance , drypoint and sand-ground, 1930. Estimate $30,000 to $50,000.

19th & 20th Century Prints & DrawingsMarc

Todd Weyman • [email protected]

104 East 25th Street

New York, NY 1001

212 254 4SWANNGALLERIES.COM


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IN THE AIR

Strength in NumbersFollowing last summer’s announcement by the SyndicatNational des Antiquaires ( ) that the venerable Biennale des

Antiquaires will become an annual event after its editionat the Grand Palais in September, the four-year-old Old Masters–centric Paris Tableau fair has decided to team up with itserstwhile rival. “With organizational changes within the and its decision to annualize the biennial, dealers who had beenparticipating in Paris Tableau saw a potential to revive Paris asa capital of the arts by joining forces to strengthen that event rather than having us continue togo it alone,” says Paris Tableau president and Italian Old Masters dealer Maurizio Canesso .With a revamp of the biennale spearheaded by Dominique Chevalier , who was elected presidentof the following the ouster of Christian Deydier, event organizers expect the fair to offera formidable alternative to the European Fine Art Fair ( ), held each March in Maastricht.

—Philanthropist, collector, and political activist Barbara Lee, commenting on her $ milliongift of works by female artists to the Institute of Contemporary Art/ Boston in December.

“My gift puts women artists frontand center at an institution

known for breaking barriers.”

Pollock andthe Polar Bear

“All you have to do is look at thework to know it’s authentic,”says Colette Loll of Art FraudInsights, commenting onskeptics who question theattribution of Untitled(Red, Black, and Silver) , 1956,to Jackson Pollock . Repre-sentatives of the estate of RuthFelicity Kligman have longargued that the canvas on panelwas painted as a gift for theartist’s mistress just weeksbefore his fatal car crash. Tosecure the attribution, Loll andestate trustees invited forensicscientist Nicholas Petraco of the John Jay College ofCriminal Justice in New York toanalyze the painting to identifytrace elements that could placeits creation in Pollock’s EastHampton home and studio.Among the findings was a hairfrom a polar bear—its skin used

as a rug in the artist’s livingroom. According to Loll andcurator Lisa Ivorian-Jones ,the Pollock-Krasner Founda-tion never denied the work’sauthenticity, as some reportshave claimed; they even agreedto include it in a supplementto the known corpus of his work.Unfortunately, the foundation’sauthentication board wasdisbanded before the paintingcould be assessed. “We’vedone our due diligence in ourinvestigation of this paintingand devoted the appropriateamount of time to study it,”says Loll. “Our findings, bothscientific and historical, fullysupport its authenticity. ”

It’s a Snow Storm

After receiving her firstencrypted e-mail from EdwardSnowden in January 2013,Boston-born filmmaker LauraPoitras became one ofseveral key players who wouldenable the exiled formerCIA whistleblower to connectwith a public audience. Intime, she and journalist GlennGreenwald contributed toPulitzer Prize–winning reportspublished in The Guardian

that drew onSnowden’sleaked classifieddocuments,and Poitras madethe Oscar-winning 2014film Citizenfour ,which broughtthe NationalSecurity Agency’smass surveillanceprograms in the

wake of 9/11 squarely intothe American consciousness.This month, the Berlin-basedPoitras, who trained at the SanFrancisco Art Ins titute andthe New School, underscoresthe realities of life in a surveil-lance state with the openingof her first solo museumexhibition, “Astro Noise,” atthe Whitney Museum in NewYork. Portions of the Snowdenarchive will be presentedwithin the five installations.

Edward Snowden in a still fromthe documentary Citizenfour .

UnBlSia 2inconattto Po

F R O M

T O P :

P A R I S T A B L E A U ;

H B O

F I L M S ; S

T U A R T F I S H E R

A N D

T H E E S T A T E O F R U T H

F E L I C I T Y

K L I G M A N

BLOUINARTINFO.COM | FEBRUARY 2016 ART+AUCTION

The stand of noted Old Masters dealerDidier Aaron at Paris Tableau 2013.


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In December, Tate director NicholasSerota said

that -year-oldAmerican Popartist Ed Ruscha had given“a wonderfulChristmaspresent to thewhole nation,”in announcinga major gift ofhis work to the

British institution. The artist has donated printeditions and promised to donate one impressionof all future prints made in his lifetime to the Tatecollection. Currently, the museums hold ofhis paintings, unique works on paper, and prints, most of which were donated to Tate byBritish dealer Anthony d’Offay in .

IN THE AIR

FOR MORE OF WHAT’S IN THE AIR, VIS ITBLOUINARTINFO.COM

A Future for the PastEvent producer U.S. AntiqueShows has formed an alliancewith Antiques YoungGuns U.K. to bring the latter’sprogram across the pond.Mirroring the British initiative,launched in 2011, AntiquesYoung Guns U.S.A . aimsto bridge the generation gapbetween millennial antiquesdealers and baby boomercollectors by promoting“growth, education, and expo-sure to those in the trade, 39years old or younger.” At itsinaugural event in November,the organization recognized

its first Antiques Young Gun ofthe Year, Margaret Schwartz ,31, owner of the New Canaan,Connecticut, shop the SummerHouse. “I look forward to anexciting year getting to knowother young guns and growingthe program,” she says of thehonor. With networking eventsand social media platforms,program coordinators expectbright young things totake brilliant old things intothe next generation.

Anglophilia

Price realized for a -foot-wide bronze Spider, – ,by Louise Bourgeois , on November at Christie’s

New York. It was an auction record for Bourgeois and thehighest price ever paid for a sculpture by a female artist.

Still Making WavesAfter 500 YearsA half millennium afterLeonardo da Vinci unveiled hisMona Lisa , the artist continuesto make headlines with a trioof stories ushering in the NewYear. In November, the Englishforger Shaun Greenhalghannounced in his tell-all bookthat it was he, not da Vinci, whoexecuted La Bella Principessa ,a pen, ink, and chalk portrait ofa young girl in profile that wasattributed to the Renaissancemaster in 2010 by the notedscholar Martin Kemp of OxfordUniversity. The portrait, which

Cases ClosingThe dispute between Danh Voand the Dutch collector BertKreuk , raging since 2013, wasfinally put to rest in December,when the parties reached asettlement. Kreuk alleged thatVo was in breach of contractwhen the artistfailed to create anoriginal work fora museum exhibi-tion of Kreuk’scollection. Thesettlement setsaside a ruling bya Rotterdam judgethat ordered Voto deliver a largepiece to Kreuk. The artist, hisdealer Isabella Bortolozzi ,and the collector have agreedto part ways completely, eachwithdrawing all claims againstthe other. Kreuk made apoint of selling the remainingVo works in his collection.

sold as an anonymous German19th-century work for $21,850at Christie’s in 1998, had been,according to its consignor, inthe family since 1955. It couldbe worth an estimated $150million with da Vinci’s nameattached. On December 9, arthistorian Andrew Graham-Dixon told viewers in a BBCdocumentary, Secrets of theMona Lisa , that French engi-neer Pascal Cotte used cutting-edge scanning technology toanalyze the layers of pigmenton the painting’s poplar paneland found, much to his surprise,what appears to be a portraitof a different woman beneaththe famed visage. Then, in midDecember, reports surfacedin the Daily Mail of yet anotherMona Lisa painted by da Vinci,supposedly in the possessionof an anonymous Russiancollector in Saint Petersburg.A number of Mona s have cometo light over the years, nonefound to be by Leonardo’s hand.

Meanwhile, a long-runninglawsuit filed against New York’sKnoedler Gallery , whichwas accused of selling a fakeWillem de Kooning paintingto collector John Howardin 2007, has also been settled.Amid a flurry of forgery

accusationsthat surfaced in2011, the galleryshuttered itsoperationafter 165 yearsin business.Knoedler and itsformer directorAnn Freedmanhave settled

the case with Howard for anundisclosed amount, but theystill face a 2012 suit broughtagainst them by Sotheby’schairman Domenico De Soleand his wife, Eleanore, whopurchased a “Mark Rothko,”above, from the gallery in 2004.

Wall Rocket ,

2013, alithograph byEd Ruscha,

is amongrecent gifts

the artist hasmade to the

Tate museumsin London.


$28,165,000

Art historianAndrew

Graham-Dixonwith the

unfinishedIsleworth

Mona Lisa , oneof several

versions of thecelebrated

Louvre paint-ing that somehave claimed

to be the workof Leonardo

da Vinci.

Margaret Schwartz


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FEBRUARY 21, 2016

PETER LOUGHREY, DIRECTOR | 16145 HART ST., VAN NUYS, CA 91406 | 323-90 4-1950 | LAMODER N.COM

MODE RN ART & DE SIG N

Featuring Frank Lloyd Wright’s George D. Sturges Residence and propertyfrom the Estate of Jack Larson to benet The Bridges/Larson Foundation

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHTGEORGE D. STURGES RESIDENCE

Designed and completed in 1939in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, California

Sold to benet The Bridges/Larson Foundation

ESTIMATE $2,500,000–$3,000,000

property is listed for sale by Barry Sloane (BRE#01024594) and Marc Silver (BRE#01875513) of Sotheby’s International Realty–Beverly Hills Brokerage#00899496) 9665 Wilshire Blvd #400. Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (310) 786-1844. Licensed Auctioneer Peter Loughrey (BOND#7900405194) of Los Angeles Modernons (LAMA) is the provider of auction marketing services and is not a licensed brokerage and is not directly involved in selling real property. The services referred to are not available to residents of any state where prohibited by applicable state law. See Auction Terms & Conditions for full details.


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Opens M a rch 26

ALEX DA CORTEFREE ROSES

Open se a son a lly through 2028

ANSELM KIEFER

Through 2033

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87 MARSHALL ST. NORTH ADAMS, MASS. | 413.662.2111 | massmoca.org

Opens Febru a ry 13

RICHARD NONAS


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IN THE WAKE OF the highlypublicized $432.8 millionmultiday sale of works fromthe estate of onetimeSotheby’s owner A. AlfredTaubman in November, thehouse’s newbie CEO , TadSmith, sent out a company-wide e-mail on November 13announcing a voluntaryprogram to reduce the headcount of its 1,600-personworkforce and associatedcompensation costs. Clearlythe auction giant was reelingfrom the relatively lacklusterTaubman sell-off, which it hadguaranteed to the tune of$515 million, anticipatingthat the haul would havebrought in a total closer tothe high end of its $420.2 mil-lion-to-$602.6 million pre-sale estimate. As it stands,the sale total only clearedthe low bar with the buyers’premium included.

Just how much Sotheby’sis destined to lose on itsfinancial bet won’t be knownfor months to come. Twopricey buy-ins from theTaubman Masterworks saleon November 4 were anEdgar Degas pastel, Femmenue, de dos, se coiffant ,1886–88, which failed to sell

against a $15 million-to-$20 million estimate, andDisappearance I , 1960,by Jasper Johns, whichcarried an identical estimate.Sotheby’s now owns bothworks, and how long thehouse will have to carrythem on their books beforefinding buyers remains an

REPORTER

accounting uncertainty.Losses from the Taubman

sales may be mitigatedwhen 300 or so lesser-valued lots hit the block thisyear at events includinga single-owner sale of OldMasters in late January,estimated at $21.2 million to$30.3 million. But it is clearthat the projected shortfallhelped hammer Sotheby’sstock down to a year-endlow. In mid December, sharesin the house, which tradeon the New York StockExchange under the tickerBID , had dropped to $26.50,having already declineda precipitous 38 percentthe month before. The figurewas a far cry from theshare price of $47.28 inJune 2015, two months afterSmith’s hire and investorDan Loeb’s successfulboardroom putsch to shakeup management andshore up the company’sprofitability profile.

The gist of Smith’s “DearJohn” letter was that if thevoluntary buyouts fell shortof the intended goal, layoffswould ensue. “I certainlyunderstand,” he wrote, “thatannouncing a cost reduction

program right after twoweeks of dazzling sales maybe unexpected. It is ourhope—but because this isvoluntary we cannot besure—that this program willachieve both the efficien-cies from which ourorganization would benefit,as well as create enhanced

professional developmentand leadership opportunitiesfor those who will steerSotheby’s into the future.”

Along with Smith’s stafflean-out notice, the firmsimultaneously filed aSecurities and ExchangeCommission Form 8-Kformally announcing “CostsAssociated with Exit orDisposal Activities.” Then, onDecember 14, Sotheby’sreleased an amended form8-K saying that it hadreached its goal of shaving5 percent of its globalworkforce (amounting to 80employees) at a cumula-tive cost of $40 million.Bundled into that number—which averages out toapproximately $500,000per employee—are sever-ance costs based on theparticipant’s position, yearsof service, and base pay,as well as, for some, the“continued vesting of equityrewards,” according tothe filing. Those paymentswill be made in lump sumamounts “as soon aspossible after termination.”The grand total will nodoubt be reflected in whatis expected to be Sotheby’sred ink–drenched fourth-quarter results for 2015.

While Sotheby’s had yetto identify those taking

buyouts at press time,Art+Auction learned thatthe list includes some ofthe top and most seasonedexecutives at the house.Among them is MitchellZuckerman, executivevice president of globaloperations and longtimepresident of Sotheby’sVentures LLC , the parentfirm’s financial servicesarm, which has consistentlyoutperformed the auctionplatform. Another isthe canny trusts and es-tates attorney WarrenWeitman Jr., chairman forNorth and South Americaand one of the firm’stop client handlers, who haschosen to leave after 37years with the company.Other departures includeNew York–based seniorinternational specialistAileen Agopian andspecialist Scott Nussbaum,both in the relativelylucrative department ofcontemporary art.

In the client service anddepartment specialistrealms, Roberta Louckx, vicechairman for the Americasand Middle East; PollySartori, a veteran seniorvice president and head of19th-century Europeanpaintings, drawings, andsculpture; and David

Slim-down at Sotheby’sTHE AUCTION HOUSE TRIMS ITS GLOBAL STAFF AND

HIRES A RAINMAKER AMID A DROP IN SHARE PRICE

“I certainly understand thatannouncing a cost reduction

program after two weeks of dazzlingsales may be unexpected. ”

P A T R I C K

M C M U L L A N


Marc Porter


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Redden, the worldwidechairman of books andmanuscripts, also tookhandsome buyout packages.Matthew Weigman, theLondon-based public rela-tions specialist andSotheby’s worldwide directorof sales publicity, alsosigned up and was acceptedfor release after 30-plusyears of service.

In commenting on theshake-up, George Sutton,a senior research analyst atthe Minneapolis-basedCraig-Hallum Capital Group,who has tracked Sotheby’sperformance for years, said,“That’s absolutely a move totry to improve profitability atthe cost level. The challengeis, the margin pressureshave been significant at theauction level itself.”

That stress on the marginwas no doubt ratchetedup in mid September whenSotheby’s sought to tem-porarily increase itscredit agreement with aninternational lendingsyndicate led by GeneralElectric Capital Corpora-tion to a hefty $800 millionto cover the Taubmansale guarantee. PatrickMcClymont, chief financialofficer at Sotheby’s and

a hire during the latter partof former CEO WilliamRuprecht’s reign, has sinceresigned after a two-yearstint. He has been replacedtemporarily by Dennis M.Weibling, a member ofthe board of directors atSotheby’s since 2006.

In speaking of theSotheby’s bid for Taubman’sestate, Sutton bluntly noted,

“It was just a terrible butnecessary deal for Sotheby’s.The good news is, therearen’t other Taubmansout there. That’s probablythe best news of all.”

Taubman, of course,was the former white knightsavior of Sotheby’s, whobought the privately heldcompany from its Britishowners in 1983, staked bydeep-pocketed partnersincluding Henry Ford II. Theshopping mall magnate andvoracious art collector tookthe firm public, getting itlisted on the New York StockExchange in 1988, onlyto fall into disgrace over aprice-fixing scheme witharchrival Christie’s, for whichhe was indicted in May 2001.

In an interesting twist,market insiders hadexpected Christie’s, notSotheby’s, to have won whatwas viewed as the plumTaubman trove, followinghis death at age 91 lastApril. Christie’s made ahard charge led by MarcPorter, the widely respectedchairman of Christie’sAmerica and internationalhead of private sales. Thisultimately pushed Sotheby’sto overreach and guaranteewhat some observers at

the time believed to be farmore than what the propertywas worth. Now, it seems,Sotheby’s has hired Porterto take on a yet-to-be-announced senior manage-ment role, trying to pull arainmaking rabbit out ofthe proverbial corporate hat.Porter won’t officially jointhe firm until the fall of thisyear, when his mandatory

“gardening leave” fromChristie’s expires.

“Marc trained as alawyer,” says attorney RalphLerner of the New York–based Art World Advisors.“He’s charming, he’s veryknowledgeable about art,he’s triple A-plus and isgoing to be a real asset…Itwould be a lot better if theyhad got him right away,”Lerner says, in referenceto the enforced leave andthe buyout departures ofZuckerman and Weitman.“Tad Smith got rid of a lot ofbrain power at Sotheby’s.They just think the Sotheby’sname will carry them over.”

The Porter hire doesrepresent a talent blow toChristie’s, which has seena surge in specialistdepartures since the abruptDecember 2014 exit of CEO Stephen Murphy. In whatnow looks like a prescientmove, in June of last yearChristie’s hired BrookHazelton—the onetime CEO of Phillips and, morerecently, a managing partnerin the investment firmSt. James Partners—to anewly created positionof president, client manage-ment Americas. Hazelton,no doubt, will fill some ofthat Porter void.

“Marc was very importantto Christie’s,” says GuyJennings, the managingdirector of the London-based Fine Art Fund andChristie’s former deputychairman of Impressionistand modern art in NewYork. “He was a very goodnegotiator; he tended tocrack all the big deals, thebig estates and appraisals.He had a lot of goodcontacts with many of thetop lawyers in New Yorkwho dealt with the bigconsignments and that sortof thing. So from that pointof view, it’s quite a big deal.”

More important, perhaps,is Jennings’s view that“Tad [Smith] lacks someexperience in how the artmarket works, and it’spossible that Marc fits thatbill quite well and they couldwork well with each other.”

“I told Christie’s in Aprilthat I was leaving,” Portersays, countering what someobservers erroneouslyinferred was a blindsidingexit to rival Sotheby’s, “and adiscussion about my leavinghas been going on since.”

Porter explains that hehad been eager to takeon another complex role atChristie’s after the firm,under the revised leadershipof CEO Patricia Barbizetand global president JussiPylkkanen, decided tobreak up his job as headof global private sales andreturn that part of thebusiness to individualspecialist departments. “Itwas the reorganizationof the business that left mewithout a significant role,”says Porter. “We couldn’tfind a similarly complexone, and when Sotheby’sunexpectedly contactedme in late October, I chosethe role that Tad Smithoffered.” While he says he’sleaving Christie’s with “norancor or anger,” Porternotes, “I think Sotheby’s is agreat choice for me now tobuild a business again.”

JUDD TULLY

In an interesting twist, marketinsiders had expected Christie’s, not

Sotheby’s, to have won what wasviewed as the plum Taubman trove.

Tad Smith

REPORTER



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Somogy Art Publishers since 1937w w w. s o m o g y. n e t


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In November, Paul Kasmin Gallerylaunched PK Editions , a virtual exhibi-tion space focused solely on limited-edition prints. The venture is headed bygallery director Eric Gleason . For itsdebut show, PK partnered with theDedalus Foundation to present a collec-tion of prints by Robert Motherwell ,accompanied by relevant archival mate-rial organized in three sections, accordingto the master printers the artist workedwith from the 1960s until his deathin 1991: I rwin Hollander, Ken Tyler, andCatherine Mosley. “The benefit of havingit as a digital platform is that there’s nolimit to the number of works and, moreimportant, the amount of context we canadd to the website,” says Gleason, whoadds that once an exhibition is releasedonline, it will remain on the site perma-nently for web guests to revisit at theirleisure. “This is the beginning of a stringof heavily researched and contextualized

digital exhibitionsfocusing on theadvancements of20th-century print-making,” Gleasonpromises. Futureprojects will exploreprints by JulesOlitski andDavid Hockney . —DANIELLE WHALEN

Mori Seguchi has wasted little timesince assuming the role of president andmanaging director of Sotheby’s Japanin October, with client engagement histop priority. In addition to “getting upto speed on the art markets most relevantto Japan, namely Impressionist andmodern art, contemporary art, andChinese works of art,” Seguchi says, hehas been meeting with collectors notonly in Japan but also in Hong Kong andTaiwan. Prior to joining Sotheby’s,Seguchi bur-nished hisreputationas a businessgo-getteras presidentof operationsin Japanand Mexicofor MaxxiumWorldwide, aNetherlands-based wine andspirits company,and more recentlyas president ofClub Med Japan, where he cultivated newcustomers and business channels forthe hospitality chain. “On top of expand-ing the Sotheby’s client network, I am alsodevoted to delivering the highest levelof service to our clients,” he says. —BM

PARIS

French Relations

On February , Sprüth Magers gallery of London and Berlin expands itsoperation to the States with a new outpost at Wilshire Boulevardhelmed by directors Sarah Watson and Anna Helwing . Prior to joining thegallery in , Watson was a director at Gagosian Gallery, leaving forL&M Arts, where she worked until Dominique Lévy and Robert Mnuchin

parted company three years ago. Swiss-born Helwing, who started with SprüthMagers last year, ran her own gallery before coming on board as a director atHauser & Wirth, where she worked from to . “The decision to opena space in L.A. depended largely on the needs and interests of our artists, manyof whom live and work here,” says Helwing, name-checking John Baldessari ,Lizzie Fitch and Ryan Trecartin ,Barbara Kruger , Analia Saban ,Sterling Ruby ,and Ed Ruscha . The gallery will open with a show of new work by Baldessari,mounted in collaboration with Marian Goodman Gallery. —BRIDGET MORIARITY

LOS ANGELES

Have Artists, Will Travel

MOVERS + SHAKERS

C L O C K W I S E F R O M

T O P L E F T :

T W O I M A G E S

, S P R U E T H M A G E R S ;

S O T H E B Y ’ S ;

F I N E A R T A U C T I O N S P A R I S ;

P A U L K A S M I N G A L L E R Y

After three yearsas a specialistat Fine ArtAuctionsMiami ( ),founded byFrederic Thutin , Daniel

Coissard hasset up a similar operation in Paris,Fine Art Auctions Paris ( ),which held its rst sale of Impres-sionist and modern masters thispast January. Coissard, whostudied art history at the Ecole duLouvre, is no stranger to theParisian art and auction scene.He worked as a director at Galeried’Orsay during the s, andin he founded an art advisorycompany that counted the auction

house Drouot among its clients. plans to specialize in Impres-

sionist and modern paintings andsculpture—primarily by Frenchand international artists whoworked in France throughout the

th century—along with designand jewelry. —BM

NEW YORK

Virtual Sphere

Eric Gleason


TOKYO

Crossing Luxury Lines

Daniel Coissard

M

Anna Helwing

Sarah Watson


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LOS ANGELES

Retrograde Motion

MOVERS + SHAKERS

“The burgeoning cultural vibrancy of L.A.reminds me of the manner in whichthe city’s art scene attained its voicein the 1960s and ’70s.” So says FranklinParrasch of his eponymous New Yorkgallery, explaining its expansion tothe West Coast, where this past fall hepartnered with local dealer ChristopherHeijnen to open Parrasch HeijnenGallery . The inaugural show at the down-town space, at 1326 South Boyle Avenue,is a survey of the late L.A.-based artist KenPrice , running through March 8. “I beganshowing his work back in 1989, when heintroduced me to his local artist friendsand colleagues, including Larry Bell andPeter Alexander ,” says Parrasch, whohas gained a reputation for championingCalifornia artists. “Both Parrasch HeijnenGallery and Franklin Parrasch Gallerywill focus on L.A. artists whose careersemerged in the 1960s,” he adds. —BM


LONDON

A New Lens

Phillips has appointed GenevieveJanvrin head of photographs for Europe,aiming to grow a department that hasflourished in New York in recent years.“Historically, the market for photographshas been predominantly New York—focused, but with such a growing numberof collectors in Europe, there is now ademand for a strong secondary-marketpresence for the medium,” says Janvrin,who is working on a sale slated forMay 16 in London. Janvrin, who beganher career at London’s Michael HoppenGallery and most recently worked asa private art adviser after a brief stintat Rex Irwin Fine Art in Sydney, is nostranger to Phillips. She joined Phillips dePury & Company in 2007 to o rganizethe house’s inaugural London sale ofphotographs, and ran its London-basedphotographs department until 2009. —BM

Genevieve Janvrin

IN BRIEFAfter nearly two decades, DerekEller Gallery has left New York’s

Chelsea district for BroomeStreet on the Lower East Side;the space is tentatively scheduledto open in March…This pastDecember, Vito Schnabel ’sgallery opened its doors in BrunoBischofberger’s former spacein St. Moritz… Paddle has hiredStefany Morris , former directorof Waterhouse & Dodd’s UpperEast Side gallery and a specialistin the Impressionist and modernart department at Christie’s,

as head of ne art auctions andmanager of its for-prot sales…This month, Berlin-based Arndtgallery is moving to the city’sCharlottenburg district, where itwill focus on artist management,art advising, and curatedexhibitions under the rubric ofArndt Art Agency ; the gallery’scommercial efforts will continueto operate out of its Singapore-based Arndt Fine Art space.

Bonhams has hired Ingrid Dudek , who previously served as vice president andinternational senior specialist in Asian th-century and contemporary art atChristie’s. Based in New York, the new director of modern and contemporary art forAsia has been charged with developing an American consignment and buyer base

for the house’s Hong Kong sales. Meanwhile, Tokyo-based Ryo Wakabayashi has been given asimilar task in Japan and Korea. Wakabayashi, former of Mizuma Art Gallery, joinsBonhams as senior specialist in modern and contemporary art, Asia. Dudek andWakabayashi are also working to cultivate a collector base in Asia for the postwarand contemporary art sales in New York and London. According to MagnusRenfrew , deputy chairman and director of ne arts for Asia, the house’s efforts onthis front have already been paying off. “Thirty-six percent by value of work fromour London sale of postwar and contemporary art earlier this year found buyersin Asia—a signicant increase from last year,” says Renfrew. —DARRYL JINGWEN WEE

NEW YORK AND TOKYO

Bases Covered

Ingrid Dudek

Ryo Wakabayashi

FranklinParrasch

ChristopherHeijnen


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THROCKMORTON FINE ART

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March 3rd - April 23rd, 2016Catalogue Available: Northern Dynasties, $50

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B E A U

M O N D E V I L L A S

FEBRUARY 2016 THIS MO NTH’S CULTURAL AGENDA

has a long history as a getaway forcelebrities looking for respite from Hollywood, which has left thedesert city dotted with homes designed by such midcentury modernmasters as E. Stewart Williams , Albert Frey , and Donald Wexler .February through , Palm Springs hosts its annual ModernismWeek , opening up many of these homes—such as the Williams-designed Twin Palms estate, pictured above, built for FrankSinatra —for visits, tours, talks, and parties.

The highlight of the week is the th edition of the ModernismShow and Sale , which runs February through at the PalmSprings Convention Center , with more than exhibitorspresenting furniture, decor, and ne art. “A lot of modern design

is timeless and classic, with clean lines, and it ts into houses thathave good eye appeal,” says James Claude , a Palm Springs dealerwho has traded in midcentury design for years. His gallery,A La Mod , co-owned with Miguel Linares , is returning for itsfourth fair.

“Many baby boomers are at a position in life now where they’reable to afford these items,” says Claude, who has noted increasingattention to modernist design . “All of a sudden, the s arepopular,” he adds. “I think it’s bringing back memories of childhoodfor people in my age bracket, or even younger, just like it did forthe people who were buying s furniture and were in their ssome or years ago.” —DANIELLE WHALEN

Mad for Modernism

DATEBOOK

PALM SPRINGS


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DATEBOOK: AMERICAS

Los Angeles ModernAuctions ( LAMA ) joins forceswith Sotheby’s InternationalRealty to sell the boutiquehouse’s rst-ever real estatelot. The George Sturges

House , designed by FrankLloyd Wright in , leadsLAMA ’s February modern ar t and design sale, which includes more than

lots from the estate of Jack Larson , the actor and playwright best knownfor his role as reporter Jimmy Olsen in the s TV series Adventures ofSuperman , who passed away this past September. In addition to the house,lots from the collection of Larson and his partner, the late James Bridges ,include works by Andy Warhol and Alex Katz, whose oil on MasoniteHere’s to You is estimated at $ , to $ , . —DW

Flash Mob

Straying fromthe traditionalsemiannual

photography salesthat take place in April andOctober, on February 17and 18, Christie’s offers alarge, off-cycle sale featuringapproximately 200 lotsseized from Philip Rivkin,who pleaded guilty inJune 2015 to fraud chargesstemming from his owner-ship of a Houston-basedbiodiesel company. Theauction highlights prominentAmerican photographersfrom the late 19th and 20thcenturies, including Alfred

Stieglitz and his followers,such as Paul Strand ,Edward Steichen , andEdward Weston , whoseShell , 1927, pictured here, is estimated at$250,000 to $350,000. Works by keyEuropean modernists, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Josef Sudek , are also available.Darius Himes , international head of thedepartment at Christie’s, is confident thatthe sale “will bring the top collectors ofthe category.” The first day, an evening salefeatures roughly 50 works, with the remainingpieces offered in morning and afternoonsessions the following day. Regardlessof Rivkin’s status, Himes points out that“provenance should not be overlooked,” asmany of the works at one time belonged to

LOS ANGELES

NEW YORK

international interest inMexican modernism to murmurings withinartist circles of its being “the next Berlin,”

Mexico City, with the requisite affordablespaces, rich history, and edgy spirit, seemspoised to step onto the global art stage.

“Mexico is a real point of focus at thisparticular moment,” says Galería OMRdirector Cristobal Riestra , who is over-seeing the -year-old gallery’s move froma colonial home in the Roma neighborhoodto a white cube in Córdoba, with aninaugural exhibition of works by JorgeMéndez Blake opening February .“Mexican collectors are buying abroadmore now, and we’ve seen a fast-paced,growing interest in the artists we representas well as other Mexican artists,” henotes. “And the number of museum

patron groups visiting Mexico City hasgrown exponentially.”The inux of artists and young galleries

to Mexico is one of the driving forcesbehind the spike in collector interest. Lulu ,a Kunsthalle-style space under the direction

of Chris Sharp and Martin Soto Climen t,is one of the best-known newer spaces.“We’re one of the few places in MexicoCity where you can see non-Conceptual,medium-specic work—painting, forinstance—by serious emerging andmidcareer artists,” says Sharp.

is at the -year-old blue-chipZona Maco fair—bringing works byartists including Jose Dávila , whose untitledprint from is pictured above—February through at the Centro Banamex ,while Lulu is at -year-old satelliteMaterial Art Fair , February through at Expo Reforma . —SARA ROFFINO

¡Ciudad Caliente!MEXICO CITY

prestigious collectors and institutions. Amongthe lots up for auction is Steichen’s ThePool–Evening: A Symphony to a Race andto a Soul , 1899 (est. $150–250,000), whichsold at Sotheby’s New York in 200 6 for$296,000 (est. $100–150,000) as part ofthe sale Important Photographs from theMetropolitan Museum of Art Including Worksfrom the Gilman Paper Company Collection.The remainder of the 2,000-piece trove will besold throughout 2016 in a series of online-onlythematic and monographic auctions. The first,beginning at the end of this month, featuressolely American artists. —LIZA M.E. MUHLFELD

BREAKINGNEW GROUND


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DATEBOOK: MUST – HAVES

1. PRESTIGE HAT, from the Bamileke or Bamun people, in cotton and wool,Cameroon, 20th century; $1,800 from exhibitor Andres Moraga Textile Art,Berkeley, Californ ia. 2. TJI WARA HEADDRESS , in wood with metal fittings,from the Bamana people of Mali, early 20th century; $35,000 from BerzGallery of African Art, New York. 3. TUTSI COIL-SEWN AGASEKE BASKET withconical lid, Burundi, ca. 1950; $950 from Amyas Naegele, New York.4. POLYCHROME NAZCA VESSEL , Peru, A .D . 200–600; $1,200 from MorganOakes Tribal, San Francisco. 5. TURKANA LEATHER SHIELD , Kenya, early20th century; $950 from Farrow Fine Art Gallery, San Rafael, California.

6. BERBER STONE INKWELL from the Atlas Mountains, M orocco, late19th century; $850 from Robert Morris Fine Art, Santa Fe. 7. TEA KETTLE,in brass or bronze, Brunei, ca. 1800; $2,200 from Mark A. Johnson TribalArt, Marina del Rey, California. 8. BOAR’S TUSK MOUTH ORNAMENT , withcowrie shells, shell rings, red seeds, and beads, from Collingwood Bay,Oro Province, Papua New Guinea, early 20th century; $2,000 from MichaelHamson Oceanic Art, Palos Verdes Estates, California. 9. NETSUKE INTHE FORM OF A SNAIL , in boxwood, Japan, Edo period; £2,200 ($3,300)from Brandt Asian Art, London. —ANGELA M.H. SCHUSTER

The San Francisco Tribal & Textile Arts Show, which runs February 19 through 21 at the Fort Mason Center, providesample opportunity for collectors to expand their holdings of ethnographic art from around the globe

ETHNIC ARTS


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William N.

COPLEYThe WorldAccording

toCPLY

THE MENIL COLLECTION February 19–July 24, 2016 menil.org1533 Sul Ross Street, Houston, Texas 713-525-9400 Free admission, always.

This exhibition is organized in collaboration with Fondazione Prada.

William N. Copley, Los Angeles Angels , 1962. The Menil Collection, Houston. © 2015 The Estate of William N. Copley / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York


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Founded in 1982, ARCO madrid has built an international reputation that has consistently attracteddealers and collectors from throughout Latin America, Europe, and North America. “In the pastfive years, we’ve especially emphasized the link between Latin America and Europe,” says fairdirector Carlos Urroz , highlighting one of the ways in which the fair has buoyed itself against

the Spanish economic crisis, which started in 2008 and didn’t begin to wane until mid 2015. The result,according to Urroz, is that “more than 60 percent of sales at the fair are to non-Spanish clients.”

As Madrid regains its footing following several years of economic turmoil—which saw the closing oflong-standing galleries including Soledad Lorenzo and Oliva Arauna in the historic art district of Chueca-Justicia—a younger generation of dealers is setting up shop around Doctor Fourquet Street, close to theReina Sofía. “It’s both generational and geographic that the gallery scene is changing,” says Urroz. “Galler-ies are coming from Barcelona and other parts of Spain. It’s really becoming a hub for contemporary art.”

ARCO runs February 24 through 28 at the Feria de Madrid , with nearly 200 galleries, including Madrid’sLa Caja Negra , which is bringing José Pedro Croft ’s 2015 Untitled etching and collage, seen at left.Additional programming throughout the city to mark the fair’s 35th edition includes contemporary artinterventions in non-contemporary venues such as the museums of Romanticism and archaeology. —SR

Spain Stays in Step


DATEBOOK: EUROPE & AFRICA

Fanfare for the Grotesque DEN BOSCH, NETHERLANDS

MADRID

The Dutch hamlet is pulling out all the stops with a hostof events to celebrate the th anniversary of the deathof Hieronymus Bosch , medieval master of the macabre.Foremost among them is “Jheronimus Bosch: Visionsof Genius,” the largest exhibition of his works ever held,running February through May at the Noordbrabants Museum .Drawn from collections around the globe, the paintings and drawings on view depict all manner of fanciful gures presented alongwith works that contextualize the artist and his oeuvre.

“Bosch probably never saw so many of his works together at onetime,” says museum director Charles de Mooij . Nearly events andprojects are planned in the Netherlands for the quincentennial, includ-ing the world premiere of Requiem for Bosch , composed by DetlevGlanert and performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra . —AMHS

Center panelof The LastJudgment ,1495–1505, byHieronymusBosch.

Art Week Cape Townreturns for its fourth editionFebruary through ,while Cape Town ArtFair runs February through . Art+Auction ’sSara Rofno checked inwith Jonathan Garnham ,

owner of Blank Projects (one of the city’srst contemporary art spaces) and founderof Art Week Cape Town, about where thecity has been and where it’s going.

You opened Blank Projects in 2005. How hasart in Cape Town changed since then?

In I returned to South Africa af ter years in Berlin, and I discovered that Cape

Town had two or three galleries devoted tocontemporary art. Their programs, althoughbrave at the time, were very commerciallydriven and focused on local audiences. Sincethen, the sector has grown, and grownup. There are now several galleries in additionto Blank, like Stevenson, Goodman, andWhatiftheworld, with quality programssupporting the artists they represent andtaking their work to international audiences.

Who are the collectors in South Africa?We have a small collector base, mainly fromCape Town and Johannesburg. It is a quiteconservative market, but that is changing aspeople become more familiar with contem-porary art. Many of the collectors we deal

with are based in Europe and America, andthere is a lot of potential to access new marketsin fellow developing economies in Africa andin other parts of the world.

What are the highlights of Art Week this year?I’m particularly excited about commissionedprojects happening within the fabric of thecity: Artists and architects will be reactingto contested spaces inherited from the apart-heid era, when the city was planned aroundseparate development. The Cape Town ArtFair promises to be the best yet. Now inits third year, the fair brings together the bestgalleries from the region along with someexciting international participants. At Blank,we’re presenting two new sound installationsby James Webb, and Stevenson will beshowing an installation by Meschac Gaba.

ON THE RISECAPE TOWN


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Armed with a mix of th- and th-century

drawings, the London dealer returns this month toWorks on Paper after a hiatus from the fair.Ever in quest of the rare, the sought-after, and theundiscovered, Ongpin spoke with Art+Auction about his evolution in the trade, his market predic-tions, and his nds for the fair’s current edition.

IN THE BEGINNINGI majored in art history at the University ofManchester and fell in love with the subject. Aftertaking the Sotheby’s Institute of Art’s Works ofArt course in London, I knew that I wanted towork in the art market, particularly in the eld ofOld Masters. I got a job as a porter in the NewYork branch of the Old Master gallery Colnaghi,where I wound up staying for years. In

I began working with Jean-Luc Baroni, who ranthe drawings business there. I knew that one dayI wanted to deal in drawings on my own, andin I nally took the plunge. I teamed up withmy colleague Guy Peppiatt, who dealt in Britishdrawings and watercolors, and we opened agallery in Mason’s Yard in St. James’s, wherewe remain to this day. Guy and I have completelyseparate businesses, but we share the gallery.

MAJOR MILESTONEMy rst signicant sale was a superb drawing ofthe head of a youth, in red chalk on blue paper,by th-century Venetian artist GiovanniBattista Tiepolo. It was a very striking,quite modern image, and I put it on the frontcover of my rst independent cataloguein . It was sold to a private collector inChicago, and I still remember receivinga check for the drawing with what wasat that time the biggest number I had everseen on a check with my name on it.

BRANCHING OUTUnlike, say, the contemporarymarket, the drawings eldremains much less prone towild uctuations andhype. Collectors ofdrawings tend tobe driven by a genuinelove of the worksand don’t viewthem as a means ofinvestment. Still,as collectors of OldMaster drawingsbegin to nd fewerworks in theirchosen eld, theymay begin to lookfarther aeld—at

th-century drawings,

for example. I’m seeing more Old Master collectorsalso moving into the th centu ry. In manyways a drawing by Lucian Freud would appeal asmuch to someone who also loves the drawingsof Degas or Ingres. Similarly, a drawing by a

contemporary artist like Jenny Saville, who drawssuperbly, can attract a collector of Old Masters.

FAIR PLAYThe wonderful thing about the Works on Paperfair is that it attracts al l sorts of people, not justcollectors of drawings but also museum curatorsand scholars. I shall be bringing a mix of mainly

th- and th-century drawings, with some bignames (Henri Lebasque, Camille Pissarro, BenNicholson) and many works by lesser-known butequally gifted artists, as well as a handful of Old

Master drawings. When one looksbeyond the obvious names, there are

many artists who are less wellknown but can still be recognizedand admired as superb draftsmen.

TWO FOR THE SHOWI will be exhibiting a very strikingimage by René Gruau, which washis design for a advertisement

for Cinzano vermouth. Very oftensuch commercial artists do not getrated as highly as “ne” artists,

but I believe that he fullydeserves to be recognized

as a great draftsman.Another drawing I will beexhibiting is an orientalistlandscape, Sunset inEgypt, with Two Bedouinon Camels , by the

th-century Frenchartist Louis AmableCrapelet. Crapelet wentto Egypt between and , travelingdown the Nile as far asthe Third Cataract, andthis journey providedhim with material for

much of his later career.

Stephen OngpinAGE: 53HAILS FROM: Manila, PhilippinesPRESIDES OVER: Stephen Ongpin Fine Art,LondonGALLERY’S SPECIALTY: Drawings, watercolors,and oil sketches from the 15th to the20th centuryMOST RECENT SHOW: “Master Drawingsfrom the 16th to the 20th Century,” DickinsonRoundell Inc., New York, January 2016

THE ESSENTIALS

“A distinctive feature of our fair isthat no one period dominates,” saysLucy Russell , a director of Works

on Paper , the seventh editionof which runs February 11 through14 at its new venue, the RoyalGeographical Society . “Visitorsseem to enjoy the juxtapositionof something quite early—like the15th-century woodcut by AlbrechtDürer brought by ElizabethHarvey-Lee —and something by,say, a contemporary Japaneseartist like Toko Shinoda , whosework is being shown by the TolmanCollection .” Russell says thatthere has been a rising interest in20th-century material. Anothertrend to emerge, she adds, is theincreasing presence of dealers who

lack a brick-and-mortar gallery;in fact, morethan half of the44 participants fit

this description—among them theOxford-based, online-only ZuleikaGallery , which debuted its collectionof 20th- and 21st-century art inOctober, and Freya Mitton ,who since 2012 has specialized in20th-century British art. Mittonreturns to the fair this year with arange of works by the likes of JulianTrevelyan and Mary Fedden . “Anoil by Fedden can fetch between£15,000 and £20,000 [$22–30,000],but a work on paper, while notcheap, is in the range of £5,000to £15,000 [$7,000–22,000],”says Mitton. A loan exhibition ofnever-before-shown paintings anddrawings by the popular Britishauthor Laurie Lee accompanies theworks for sale.

—BRIDGET MORIARITY

Books for theParis Review ,1998, by HowardHodgkin atZuleika Gallery.

DATEBOOK: AMERICAS

DEALER’S NOTEBOOK


Paper SourceLONDON


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CALDER FOUNDATION

IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE 2015 CALDER PRIZE LAUREATE

HAROON MIRZA

CALDER FOUNDATION


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Art Fair Philippines (AFP

), which started from humble beginnings in 2013, returns for itsfourth edition February 18 through 21 at the Link , a multistory parking facility in downtownMakati’s Ayala Center . Although the fair is l argely seen as a local event, its casual settingmakes for a lively and dynamic show that benefits from the loyal support of a staunchcadre of Filipino collectors. Cofounder Trickie Lopa notes that the momentum generatedby the fair has led to a frothy gallery scene throughout the year. “Galleries that specializein younger artists—those out of art school for no longer than three years—don’t find itdifficult to attract an audience for their shows, and their viewers can be j ust as young astheir artists,” says Lopa. “We also see seasoned collectors constantly on the lookout forless established talents, artists they don’t need to get on a waiting list for.”

Among the 40 galleries participating—up from 33 last year—are Galerie Michael Janssen of Berlin and Singapore, Nunu Fine Art of Taipei, Edouard Malingue Gallery of HongKong, and West Gallery of Manila, whose booth includes the diptych Skyshade , below, a 2015thread on canvas by Raffy Napay . —DARRYL JINGWEN WEE

MANILA

A BRIGHT LOCAL LIGHT


DATEBOOK: ASIA PACIFIC

TAIPEI

Opening February and runningthrough March , Tina Keng Gallery presents a solo exhibition of worksby Chinese painter Wu Dayu , oneof the country’s rst artists to studyin Paris. Dayu’s Portrait of Son ,a mid th-century oil on canvas,is pictured above. —SR

Early Expat

,curators, historians, and otherscholars convene in BangladeshFebruary through for thethird edition of the Dhaka ArtSummit ( ), a research platformsponsored by Nadia and RajeebSamdani and their art foundation.The couple checked in withArt+Auction ’s Sara Rofno abouttheir efforts to build supportfor artists in South Asia.

What are the big challenges

facing artists in Bangladesh?Basic art infrastructure is yetto be developed. Very fewof the galleries in Bangladeshrepresent artists, nor is therea contemporary art museum.Appreciation for contemporary,cutting-edge art is g rowing,but still rare. Galleries tendto show more established and

commercial artists, which makesit challenging for emerging artiststo build their careers.

How does the summit addressthis situation?

is the largest researchplatform for South Asian artand the only one of its kind withno commercial agenda in theregion. Most of the South Asiancountries, except for India, facechallenges similar to Bangladesh’swhen it comes to local art scenes.There are few galleries in theregion that represent and promoteartists internationally, and fewthat participate in important artfairs where artists’ work can bevisible to an audience of collectorsand arts professionals who cansupport them. was createdas a facilitator for internationalmuseums, institutions, andcurators to learn about the re-gion’s art s cene. As we a renoncommercial, no one can payfor space within the summit, soall the artists who are exhibitedare selected by a team of curators

without any motivation otherthan the quality of the work.

How has the summit evolved sinceits first edition in 2012?The rst edition of presentedonly Bangladeshi artists, butwith the second edition, in ,the focus shifted to the entireSouth Asian region. For theupcoming edition, the summitis also focusing on diasporaartists and those who have strong

connections to the region. Oneexample is American artist LyndaBenglis, who has a solo projectcurated by Diana CampbellBetancourt. Benglis spent morethan years living betweenIndia and the United States, andshe still has a studio in India.Her work also has a very strongIndian inuence.

Are collectors involved withthe summit?

is a noncommercial publicevent with a free and ticketlessformat, and the artworks areon loan for exhibition only. Itattracts museums, institutions,galleries, curators, journalists,critics, and collectors fromall over the world. It is also aplatform for Bangladeshi andSouth Asian collectors to see andlearn about the art from theirown region. In the upcomingedition, over speakers from

countries will take partin panel discussions, which is agreat way for collectors to learnmore about South Asian art.

Cultivationof the New

DHAKA, BANGLADESH


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The Art WorldAt Your Fingertips

www.blouingalleryguide.comCHECK US OUT AT*

*NYC only for a limite

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DATEBOOK DATEBOOK

NOW ON VIEW> NEW YORKUp through February atDag Modern is “The Nakedand the Nude: The Body in

Indian Modern Art.” Bringingtogether works by artists, the exhibition surveysthe diverse ways in whichIndian artists have usedthe nude, in its variant forms,as a vessel for a diverserange of ideas and emotions.F F.N. Souza, Untitled ,

4> NEW YORKA two-volume rst editionof the Federalist Papersfrom hits the blockwith an estimate of $ ,to $ , as part ofthe Printed & ManuscriptAmericana sale at SwannAuction Galleries. Also offeredis a newly discovered seventhedition of the Bay Psalm

Book, , believed to be therst book printed in NorthAmerica (est. $ – , ).Offering lots, the salecarries a total high estimate

of $ , . B

John André,A Representation of Major John André…going fromthe Vulture Sloop of War ,circa (est. $ – , )

6> BOSTONOne of the best collectionsof Western art in Montanagoes under the gavel atSkinner. The holdings ofthe late Van Kirke Nelson—a prominent Montanaphysician—and his wife,Helen, comprise approxi-mately lots of Plateauand Plains Indian artifacts,including a Blackfootman’s shirt from aroundthe s, with an estimateof $ , to $ , .

D Lakota Beaded HideWoman’s Dress, circa s(est. $ , – , )

> CLINTON,

NEW YORKThe Wellin Museum of Art atHamilton College presents thelargest survey in the UnitedStates of Yun-Fei Ji, a Beijing-born watercolor painter.His compositions, made in thestyle of landscape paintingsfrom the Song Dynasty,depict contemporary issuesof Chinese society. “Yun-Fei

Ji: The Intimate Universe,”running through July ,includes more than of

Ji’s pieces, made since . A Yun-Fei Ji, The Villageand Its Ghosts ,

11> ROTTERDAMArt Rotterdam Week runsFebruary through withpop-up shows, an architecturaltour of the s-era VanNelle Fabriek, the rstexhibition of Ugo Rondinone’ssculptures in the Netherlands,and an evening dedicatedto Allen Ginsberg, hostedby Galerie West and held atthe Arminius conferencecenter with a performance bythe Mondriaan Quartet. Alsopart of the week’s eventsare two fairs: Art Rotterdamand the Rotterdam Con-temporary Art Fair.

> CHICAGOWright brings anotherselection of th-centuryAmerican design to the

block, including pieces byCharles and Ray Eames andGeorge Nelson. G Set ofthree Steelframe cabinets byGeorge Nelson & Associates

(est. $ , – , )

12> LOS ANGELESNow in its fourth year, theLA Art Book Fair runsFebruary through at

the Geffen Contemporaryat . Some independent publishersfrom the United States andabroad present an arrayof artist books for sale,including monographs,zines, and catalogues.Organized by New York’sPrinted Matter, last year’sLos Angeles spinoff of thefair, which has taken placein New York since ,attracted nearly ,visitors. Among this year’sexhibitors are Oakland’sCreative Growth, OnestarPress of Paris, and Japan’sKomiyama Tokyo.

14> CHICAGO“Van Gogh’s Bedrooms” atthe Art Institute of Chicago

centers on the troubled artist’sfamed stay in a violet-walledroom in a yellow housein southern France. Drawingon three paintings Vincentvan Gogh made of this spacebetween and , theshow includes nearly works

by the artist as well as itemshe owned. This look into VanGogh’s intimate space runsuntil May . C Vincent vanGogh, The Bedroom ,

15> MUSCAT, OMAN

Oman, now in its thirdyear, includes exhibitorsboth local and internationalshowing examples of interiordesign, decor, and furnishings,with a special section of morethan Italian vendors. Thefair will occupy Muscat’sOman International ExhibitionCentre through the th.

ALSO THIS MONTH

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18> PALM BEACH

Georgia O’Keeffe, MargueriteZorach, Florine Stettheimer,and Helen Torr are thesubjects of a survey at theNorton Museum of Art

exploring the role played byidentity and gender in thework of these four femalemodernists and the inuenceeach had on the others.

Their art is being displayedtogether for the rst time in“O’Keeffe, Stettheimer, Torr,Zorach: Women Modernistsin New York,” openthrough May . E FlorineStettheimer, Spring Saleat Bendel’s ,

> STOCKHOLM

The Stockholm InternationalAntiques Fair hosts a rosterof more than dealersin ne art, contemporarydesign, antiques, and“curiosities” at the Stock-holm Exhibition andCongress Center, runningthrough February .

19> HOUSTON

The work of the late WilliamN. Copley is the focus of “TheWorld According to CPLY” at

the Menil Collection through July . The artist’s rstmuseum retrospective in theUnited States, the show tracesthe self-taught painter’s careerfrom the s to the ’ s,with roughly examplesof his paintings and workson paper. Copley was alsoan avid collector, and theexhibition is complemented byartworks that he once owned.

24> MADRID

Almost galleries areparticipating in this year’sArt Madrid fair, whichmarks its th edition atthe Galería de Cristal deCentroCentro Cibelesthrough February .Galleries displaying th-century and contemporaryart include Barcelona’sGalería Alonso Vidal,

the local Galería Kreisler,and Gallery Kaplanonof Athens. Participatingin the One Project section,which brings specicallycurated and commissionedexhibitions to the space,are Galerie Voss ofDüsseldorf, Espacio Nucafrom Salamanca, andsix other galleries.

> MARRAKECH

The sixth MarrakechBiennale is organized around

the theme of “Not NewNow,” an exploration ofart’s role in the present,rather than the future orpast. Curated by ReemFadda, associate curator ofMiddle Eastern art for theSolomon R. Guggenheim’sAbu Dhabi project, theevent takes place in venuesthroughout the city, withsite-specic commissions byinternational artists at theEl Badi and Bahia palaces.Through May .

26> VIENNA

“Chagall to Malevich: TheRussian Avant-Gardes,”running until June at tAlbertina, includes wby th-century Russian arsuch as Natalia Goncharoand Wassily Kandinsky aloside Kazimir Malevich anMarc Chagall. The exhibitraces the creative processof the artists and their varistylistic development.

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T O P L E F T :

S K I N N E R ;

P H

I L A D E L P H I A M U S E U M

O F A R T ;

W R I G H T ;

D A G M O D E R N


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CULTURE + TRAVEL

SEE

Located in the city’scultural hub, theJehangir Art Gallery isglobally recognized as acenter for contemporaryIndian art. The gallerysponsors the Monsoon

Art Show, which takesplace between Julyand August, to promotethe work of emergingartists across India.Look for “The Scapeand Scope,” a groupshow of paintings,sculptures, and instal-lations at Jehangir and

the Tao Art Gallery,February 9 through 15.161 KALAGHODA

91-22-2284-3989

jehangirartgallery.com

The National Galleryof Modern Art, Mumbaiexhibits an eclectic

mix of works by M.F.Husain, Raja Ravi Varma,and Pablo Picasso,among others. Housedin a historic building,the venue was a prom-inent location forconcerts and meetingsthrough the 1950s. How-ever, it suffered from

years of neglect until anextensive restorationsaw it reopen in 1996 asa gallery intended topromote evolving trendsin Indian culture.MAHATMA GANDHI

ROAD

91-22-2288-1969

ngmaindia.gov.in

The ChhatrapatiShivaji Maharaj VastuSangrahalaya is amuseum that appeals toboth art and historyenthusiasts, situatedacross from the NationalGallery of Modern Art

at the city’s southernedge. The building,designed in the Indo-Saracenic style, is hometo a collection of morethan 60,000 art objectsand is always abuzzwith activity. AncientIndian art is on display in

the Stone SculptureGallery, which includesworks from the nearbyElephanta Caves.Pieces from Nepal andTibet are also on show.159-161 MAHATMA

GANDHI ROAD

91-22-2284-4484

csmvs.in

MumbaiHome to the Bollywood film industry, the city previously known as Bombay also serves as India’s financial powerhouse while containing Asia’slargest forest in an urban space. Amid extremes of rich and poor, the community comes to life during the annual Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, a nine-dayevent commencing February 6 and showcasing a display of art, music, theater, and literature in venues across South Mumbai. BY EKTA MARWAH A

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43 5

1 The Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj Vastu Sangra-halaya museum. 2 Indiancuisine is the specialtyof Masala Kraft at theTaj Mahal Palace hotel.3 The Oberoi, Mumbaihotel overlooking theArabian Sea. 4 The KalaGhoda Arts Festivalfeatures displays such as

these ceramic shoes. 5 A suite at the Trident,Nariman Point. 6 TheJehangir Art Galleryentrance. 7 Camouage

Harvest , an installationby Lalit Patil at the 2011Kala Ghoda Arts Festival.


T O P L E F T :

O B E R O I H O

T E L S & R E S O R T S ;

H A R I N I C A L A M U R V I A F L I C K R ;

O B E R O I H O T E L S & R E S O R T S ;

J U S T . I N V I A

F L I C K R ;

W I K I P E D I A

STAY

Set in the city’sheritage precinct, theResidency Hotel isless than a mile from theChhatrapati ShivajiTerminus stationand a short walk fromattractions like theColaba Causeway. Thehotel’s façade evokesan old-world charmwith its triumphal stonearchitecture. The on-siterestaurant has a colo-

nial feel with woodenseating and arched open-ings to the street; inside,vintage photographsdecorate the walls.26, CORNER OF D.N.

ROAD AND RUSTOM

SIDHWA MARG

91-22-6667-0555

residencyhotel.com

The 35-story Trident,Nariman Point providespanoramic viewsof Marine Drive (or the“queen’s necklace,”as the promenadeis popularly known).The hotel offers spaciousrooms, impeccableservice, and the award-winning restaurantsFrangipani and IndiaJones. Guests canpamper sore musclesat the spa.NARIMAN POINT

91-22-6632-4343

tridenthotels.com

Next door to theTrident, the Oberoi,Mumbai is a luxehotel that enjoys similarMarine Drive views.The property’s center-piece is a white-marble-

Indian cuisine andContinental options.10 ROPEWALK LANE

91-22-2263-3866

kgcafe.in

After a long daywalking throughgalleries, head to theIrish House , located in acharming heritagebuilding in Mumbai’scultural center, fora refreshing respite.Choose from fresh draftbeers straight out of

wooden kegs andsample fare like sh andchips while watchinglocal and internationalsports on the big screen.RAMPART ROW

LEVEL 2, 30K

DUBASH MARG

91-22-4915-0000

theirishhouse.in

wrapped lobby featuringoor-to-ceiling windows,and the hotel’s rooms,restaurants, and spa,with their emphasis onsleek surfaces andnatural light, follow thesame stylish aesthetic.NARIMAN POINT

91-22-6632-5757

oberoihotels.com

EAT

The Kala Ghoda Caféis a quaint coffee

shop located in the heartof Mumbai’s culturaldistrict. Its cozy,art-lined interiors createa gallery-like setting.On offer are a range ofcoffees, teas, andsmall bites, along with abreakfast menu thatincludes both traditional

Don’t miss the chanceto take a culinary touraround the historicfort area to discover thehost of Persian-stylecafés tucked along thenarrow lanes. Servingdistinct and intricateParsi cuisine, thesevintage establishmentswere the rst to intro-duce Irani chai and bun

maska . As Bombayexpanded under Britishrule, so did the cafés,but today the legacy is

fast disappearing.Britannia and CompanyRestaurant offers theopportunity to indulgein classics such as patrani

machi and berry pulav .BALLARD ESTATE,

OPPOSITE NEW

CUSTOM HOUSE

91-22-2261-5264

No visit to SouthMumbai is completewithout seeing theGateway of India, amonument overlookingthe Arabian Sea, andwhen there, it’s almostimpossible to miss thenearby Taj Mahal Palacehotel. The iconic prop-erty exudes opulence,and houses someof the nest restaurantsin the city. One suchspot is Masala Kraft ,known for exquisite

North Indian cuisine witha modern twist. Thefusion of Westerningredients and tradi-tional Indian avorsmakes this a must-visit.THE TAJ MAHAL PALACE

APOLLO BUN DER

91-22-6665-3366 tajhotels.com

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THE WORLD’SLEADING MEDIA GROUP

FOR ART, CULTURE, TRAVEL, LUXURY & STYLE

For more information, visit us at LouiseBlouinMedia.com

@artinfodotcom @ARTINFO @blouin_artinfo @blouinartinfo @blouinartinfo


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BY JUDD TULLY | FEBRUARY 2016

ON THE BLOCK

S O T H E B Y ’ S

WHAT TO LOOK FOR AT AUCTION

Assuming a Quieter ProfileLONDON

As dawns, the auctionspecialists’ usual hyperbolepredicting record pricesfor their hard-won waresis strikingly absent. The

combination of unrelenting art marketaction and tumultuous world events hascoalesced into a less condent market,

populated by experts that are acutelyaware of its long-running success.

Jay Vincze, the Christie’s London headof Impressionist and modern art, linksthe tentative atmosphere to the glutof quality material lured to the block byever-climbing prices. “There’s so muchchoice around these days that buyers can

afford to be selective and wait for something that really ticks the boxes forpeople,” Vincze observes. “If somethingnot quite right, they’ll wait for anothermoment and let other pieces slide.”

Despite the cautious atmosphere, the amarket soldiers on, collectors ready to piand choose whatever is best and brightest


HENRI MATISSE

La leçon de piano, Oil on canvas IMPRESSIONIST

& MODERN ART

EVENING SALE

SOTHEBY’S LONDON February EST. £12 MILLIONTO £18 MILLION($17.8–26.7 MILLION)


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FEBRUARY 2 CHRISTIE’S IMPRESSIONIST & MODERN ART

Unlike its New York relation,Christie’s London is still

staging its evening sale the sameweek as that of archrival Sotheby’s.

Star lots include PaulCézanne’s ravishing oil Fermeen Normandie, été (Hattenville) ,1882 (est. £4.5–6.5 million;$6.7–9.7 million), depicting thegarden of the house belonging toVictor Chocquet, an early Cézannechampion and the subject ofnumerous portraits, who onceowned 33 of the artist’s works.“It’s trademark Cézanne for thatperiod,” says specialist JayVincze. The painting last sold atSotheby’s London in June 1997for £2.8 million ($4.7 million).

Just on the cusp of the artist’smove to abstraction, a transi-tional period Wassily Kandinsky, Strasse in Murnau , 1908, depictsa bustling street scene andcarries an estimate of £1.5 millionto £2.5 million ($2.2–3.7 million).

The house is also offeringFernand Léger’s Cubist-styleLe Moteur , 1918, left (est.

£4–6 million; $6–9 million),brimming with strong color, crispgeometry, and the symbolic powerof the postwar Machine Age.In November 2001 a larger versionwith the same title and from thesame year sold for $16.7 million,then an artist record, at Christie’sNew York as part of the RenéGaffé single-owner sale.

Another highlight from theWorld War I era, Ernst LudwigKirchner’s Expressionist BahnhofKönigstein , 1916, is pegged at£1.5 million to £2 million($2.2–3 million). The valuationreflects the fresh-to-marketstatus of the work, which hasbeen in the same Germancollection since it was acquireddirectly from the artist theyear it was painted.

An iconic 1928 Marc Chagall,Les mariés de la Tour Eiffel ,depicting the artist and his wife,Bella, flying across Paris, the EiffelTower prominent in the back-ground, is estimated at £4.8 millionto £6.8 million ($7–10 million).

FEBRUARY 2 CHRISTIE’S

THE ART OF THE SURREAL

In the house’s separate-catalogue Surrealist sale, held the sameevening as the Impressionist and modern art auction, the scale

and period fast-forwards significantly to Joan Miró’s exuberantly giddyand color-charged Femme et oiseaux dans la nuit , 1968, right,measuring nearly four feet wide. Reflecting this season’s moderatedexpectations, the painting carries an estimate of £3 million to £5 million($4.5–7.5 million), despite having earned £5.2 million ($7.8 million)

on an estimate of £4 million to £6 million ($5.9–8.9 million) in its lastappearance on the block, in June 2010, at the same house.In somber contrast, thanks to its unusual gray, black, and white

palette, Pablo Picasso’s small-scaled yet power-packed Arlequin, 1926,is estimated at £1.5 million to £2.5 million ($2.2–3.7 million).

Organized

Art Auction Feb

Documents

Transcript of Art Auction Feb