| In This Issue |
| Picasso "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust" |
When Christie’s sold the 1932 Picasso “Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust” for over $106M last year in London everyone wondered who the winning bidder was (read the man that paid over $100M for a lesser Picasso painting). The work is now on loan at the Tate so those wondering what $100M on canvas looks like can make their way over to London and see the work most likely bought by Roman Abramovich.
| Improv at the Metropolitan Museum of Art |
It is rare that we find a relevant youtube clip for the newsletter but this little stunt is worth noting. No sooner had the Metropolitan Museum of Art restored and placed the Velasquez painting of King Philip IV of Spain then an improv group found a similar looking actor to play the role of the King and sign autographs in front of the painting. How so many onlookers believed that he was still alive is beyond us.
| Chinese Market Number 1 |
These results are hardly a surprise given that Artprice stated that there was more fine art auction business in China in 2010 than any other country. Most other art databases left them at second. According to Artprice’s statistics, China accounted for 33% of the fine art sales.
| Penn Station Lichtenstein |
| April, 2011 |
Dear Friends,
I am writing you from the never ending winter of New York 2011. It is still cold as we enter the opening days of April and international political and natural events have changed the course of the art world. The earthquake and resulting disasters in Japan make it even more difficult to complete deals in Asia and the turmoil throughout the Arab world has done nothing to increase buyer motivation. Many deals with Japanese clients were put on hold as a result of this tragedy. But spring is around the corner and there is a brighter future for those formerly under Mubarak’s iron fist and Qaddafi's maniacal reign.
Long live art!
Very truly yours,
David Benrimon
One of our favorite writers on the contemporary art scene, Souren Melikian, took the bull by the horns and asked hard questions on the meaning of contemporary art and how we can quantify that meaning. In his “special report” in the New York Times, he points out that much of the highest commanding artworks at auction are really just “artistic nihilism”. We enjoyed him taking Jeff Koons to the whipping post but he could have gone at him with a real stick, not a twig. “The day one of the pundits discovers that the kind has no clothes on, all the glib talk of marketing teams telling investors how savvy they are will not prevent tens of millions of dollars from melting like butter in the sun.” Marcel Duchamp was an original intellectual and artist but the current crop of blue chip contemporary artists are derivatives that may well melt away.
The court has sided against Richard Prince. He must destroy a series of work he did on pages taken out of a Patrick Cariou book. Prince has pushed the boundaries of “fair use” in court before but was victorious. However, this time, the judges did not buy his “re” line, whether it be reinterpretation or recontextualization or rephotographing.
The WSJ characterized the judge’s attitude toward Prince’s reappropriation even more harshly, explaining, “Even a little idea—something, anything—would have done, the judge suggests in her ruling.” Meaning that Prince had nothing novel to add in this series of his art.
The WSJ characterized the judge’s attitude toward Prince’s reappropriation even more harshly, explaining, “Even a little idea—something, anything—would have done, the judge suggests in her ruling.” Meaning that Prince had nothing novel to add in this series of his art.
What would March be without a visit to Maastricht? TEFAF kicked off to busy crowds in the middle of March to only see a subdued crowd after the first week. Museum directors, curators and consultants filled the halls of this beautiful convention center only to leave as quickly as they came. Some big sales were made but the buzz had faded after the first weekend. Over 260 galleries displayed upwards of $1.4B worth of artwork and collectibles.
David Benrimon Fine Art
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