Some ten years after the contract was signed, after construction delays and controversies over conditions for the foreign workers building the place, the €1 billion museum, the Louvre’s first permanent branch overseas, should open sometime around American Thanksgiving, say sources.
Category: visual
Dueling High-End Auctions Reveal A Fascinating Battle Over Pricing Art
“The Spiegels, who died eight years ago, left their art to their two daughters, who each received half of its estimated value. For this month’s auctions, one chose Christie’s and the other, Sotheby’s—though not without intrigue within the houses themselves. The companies expect the works could sell for more than $160 million, the two largest art consignments of the bellwether spring auction season. The dueling auctions on May 17 and May 18 illustrate the challenges of valuing estates involving art, as well as the hard edges and personal animus underpinning what might seem a genteel business.”
A New Era Of Battling Art Fairs Is Devouring The Art World
“We are in a market phase where galleries are mere cogs in an overarching global fair machine, which has become the predominant platform to showcase and direct-market art (with Instagram as the unwitting media partner). And, undeniably, the fact that fairs are now the art world’s supply chain has had a Darwinian impact on the art.”
Why Are Star Artists So Rarely Used In Ads?
“Making money outside of the typical fare artists offer–paintings, drawings, sculptures, objects, books, prints, lectures, teaching gigs–is weirdly frowned upon. Or it might be the case that most artists, either by face or name, aren’t well known enough, pretty enough, or cunning enough.”
Freud’s Favorite Fresco (And What It Taught Him About Memory)
“In the small Italian town of Orvieto in 1897, Sigmund Freud had a revelation. In the town’s cathedral, before a depiction of the Last Judgement by the Renaissance painter Luca Signorelli, the 41-year-old psychoanalyst felt he had found ‘the greatest’ depiction of the theme he had ever seen. The intense and violent fresco, which carries an odd sexual energy, was seared into his mind. Yet upon his departure, ‘to his immense frustration, Freud could not recall the name of the artist.'”
The Ten Biggest Art Controversies In Venice Biennale History
The exhibition has suffered several dust-ups in its 114-year history, from vexing grand prize winners to derogatory showcases of “primitive” African art.
This Museum Put A Neuroscientist On Staff To Rethink The Audience Experience
“[Tedi] Asher’s initial one-year appointment is part of a broader strategy at the Peabody Essex [in Salem, Mass.], which over the next five years will completely redesign its galleries, incorporating neuroscience to devise multisensory exhibitions, unexpected gallery spaces, stories, and interactive features to heighten audience engagement.”
Art Dealer ‘Forgets’ $1.6 Million Painting In Paris Taxi
“The artwork is by Argentina-born Italian sculptor and painter Lucio Fontana (1899-1968), entitled Concetto spaziale (Spatial concept), with an estimated value of 1.5 million euros, police said.” The canvas was later returned by the cab driver.
Here’s A First Look At Designs For The Obama Library
The Obama Presidential Center, which the president unveiled at a talk on Wednesday in Chicago, comprises a campus designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. Based on the preliminary sketches and an architectural model, the vision for the center is modern but unfussy, featuring a vertical lantern-shaped museum and a low-slung library and forum building with landscaped rooftop gardens.
Cartoonist Kills Off Pepe The Frog After Pepe Becomes A Hate Symbol
“It’s completely insane that Pepe has been labeled a symbol of hate, and that racists and anti-Semites are using a once peaceful frog-dude from my comic book as an icon of hate. It’s a nightmare, and the only thing I can do is see this as an opportunity to speak out against hate.”