Category: visual

The architectural archive of New York’s most famous skyscraper, which includes more than 500 elevation drawings, models and other items, will be sold at the Wright auction house in Chicago on Dec. 11. The low estimate for the collection is $740,000.

“The Young British Artists (YBAs) who drove the contemporary boom were a bad thing for British art, the new Turner Prize winner said last night.” From the podium, artist Mark Leckey criticized the artistic discourse: “‘I kind of hate the relationship the press in Britain has towards art,’ he said. ‘I hate the way it’s all Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin and Banksy.'”

“A benchmark Paris sale of Impressionist and Modern paintings that belonged to French fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin fell well short of pre-sale expectations Monday…. Christie’s auction house said in a statement it raised $9.67 million at its evening sale of works by artists including Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It had originally valued the collection at $25.2 million.”

“Carole Feuerman’s artwork, Survival of Serena, is a haunting, vivid sculpture of a woman clinging for dear life to an inner tube. But Survival of Serena, which traveled to Venice and Beijing, did not survive the trip to Miami. The sculpture, estimated at $300,000, was destroyed and crushed into pieces on its way from Venice to Miami International Airport, where it arrived Wednesday.”

“The ‘truth to power’ side of the Capitol, the East face, has been demolished by the new Visitor Center, a tragically misconceived and overscale addition, which opens today. The East face has become something entirely new, with a false and slick pomposity created by an impressive promenade over an imposing bridge, which seems to cross a kind of moat. It is a historical and aesthetic jumble, a nonsensical place and a gross disfigurement of one of this country’s most important and iconic buildings.”

“In principle, the Capitol Visitor Center — the vast underground addition to the U.S. Capitol that opens today — has something for just about everyone. … And yet the CVC, the most important addition to the Capitol in nearly 150 years, is fundamentally misconceived.”

“While the world’s flashiest art fair tries to put on a brave face, the grim financial picture worldwide has cast a pall over the festivities and sales prospects” at Art Basel Miami Beach. “The fair’s main sponsor, Swiss bank UBS AG, has recorded about $50 billion in writedowns and losses.”

“Alex Nyerges is no stranger to working 16-hour days and wearing multiple hats. As director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, his domain ranges from the art blogosphere to the VMFA’s $130 million construction site — with countless travel obligations, fundraising opportunities and donor visits thrown in for good measure. Oh, and then there’s the ghost.”

“Art Basel Miami Beach is known for its aestheticized hedonism. But city officials have barred the installation of artist Cooper’s Roman-style, black-ink-spewing Dark Fountain, which was commissioned for the fair, from a public park. ‘The ink stains,’ says Max Sklar, the city’s tourism honcho. ‘Clothing, cars, the sidewalk–everything.'”

“A witty meditation on the nature of film in popular culture taking in Felix the Cat, Homer Simpson, Titanic the movie and Philip Guston, tonight helped Mark Leckey win what is still acknowledged as the country’s most important contemporary art prize.” As Leckey received the award and the accompanying £25,000 check, “the most controversial thing about this year’s Turner prize was its lack of controversy.”