Category: visual

“The last time we had a worthy and substantial winner of the Turner Prize, a winner who was going to be remembered in the annals of British modern art for decades to come, was four years ago, when the intelligently transgressive Gillian Wearing won. Since then, the prize has gone to a succession of irredeemably minor artists for whom winning the prize will be seen as the summit of their careers. When petits maîtres like Tillmans win, we can be sure that the Turner has had to resort to some serious barrel-scraping.” – The Sunday Times (UK)

Berlin’s museums are in disarray. Rumors are flying about breaking up longtime collections and reorganization of the city’s museums. And ambitious new projects seem to find favor one minute, then just as quickly lose steam. – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The most important art auction in Canada this year features a big Renoir and Chagall. But it’s not being sold by one of the major auction houses. Instead, a self-described “fussy little firm” that usually specializes in rugs and jewelry snagged the sale from a distressed Japanese collector. – The Globe & Mail (Canada)

After booming sales earlier this year, Australia’s art market is showing signs of cooling off. At this week’s major auctions, buyers were cautious and even important works attracted scant interest – due in part to the recent imposition of a countrywide GST. “Instead of the frenetic bidding that had turned the big art sales of the past into gladiatorial contests, the salesroom at Christie’s was as quiet as a picnic.” – Sydney Morning Herald

A painting by George Stubbs (an equine painter who died in 1806) fetched an astonishing £2.7 million at auction this week. “The story of how Stubbs rose from minor specialist artist to auction house megastar involves an American millionaire, a Derby winner, and a contender for the Turner prize…” – The Guardian (UK)

Russia’s struggling Sakharov Museum, which “aims to promote the ideas of human rights and civil society,” has been offered a boost from an unlikely source. Boris Berezovsky, the industrialist accused of embezzling $1 billion from Aeroflot airlines and who fled the country last month, has gievn the museum $3 million. “The donated sum is almost twice the museum’s total budget over the four years of its existence, which was about $1.7 million. That money had come from foreign grants, the bulk of which were from the U.S. Agency on International Development, which stopped funding this fall.” – Moscow Times

Just before the Turner Prize winner was announced this week, Glenn Brown, one of the nominees was accused of plagiarizing the work of a science fiction artist. Now another artist has come forward to make a similar claim about another Brown painting. – The Times (UK)

Online auctions were supposed to transform the world of art sales, democratizing the bidding process and thus driving up prices. “But so far, that hasn’t proven to be the case. Fine art collectors, perhaps missing the posh surroundings of the auction house, don’t seem to feel comfortable shopping online.” – Wired

“The Turner Prize is probably the biggest advert for the British art world. Headline-grabbing exhibitions aside, it is the one time the esoteric world of the ‘YBAs’ – Young British Artists – meets the people. For all its outrageousness, once an artist is nominated for the Turner Prize, they become part of the establishment.” Here’s an annotated guide through the workings of the Turner. – The Scotsman

The director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art is taking the museum to court to prevent its board from advertising his job. The museum board recently failed to roll over the director’s contract when it expired and propose to open the post up for competition. – Irish Times