Basel buyers bring back art boom

19 June 2011

Galleria Massimo Minini showed Anish Kapoor's Push – Pull, 2008

click to enlarge

The ghost car ride by Manfred Kielnhofer at the contemporary art fairs in Basel including, ArtBasel, Liste, Scope, Volta. See http://www.kielnhofer.com

(Manfred Kielnhofer)

Top-dollar works by Mark Rothko, Maurizio Cattelan, and Anish Kapoor were among the sales from Art Basel's $1.7 billion worth of 20th-21st century art. The annual Swiss pilgrimage of art world VIPs closed with exhibitors comparing the five-day fair to the pre-2008 art boom.

According to Bloomberg, anonymous dealers stated Gagosian sold $45 million of art in the first 15 minutes of the fair, including Cattelan's "Frank and Jamie," a wax work of two upside-down New York policemen, for a reported $3 million.

Read more at Bloomberg

More News Feed Headlines

Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson, and their daughter Mary Patricia Anderson Pence, standing in front of Franz Kline, Figure 8, 1952 and Mark Rothko, Pink and White over Red, 1957. Both are works being donated to Stanford University.

Stanford to Showcase Anderson Collection in $30 Million New Building

Stanford University has chosen the New York-based architectural firm Ennead Architects to design the structure that will house the University’s recent acquisition, the impressive Anderson ...

Elizabeth Taylor’s Precious Jewels, Gowns Take the Crown at Auction

Seven world records were set at the jewel auction of the late Hollywood screen legend, and ardent jewelry lover, Elizabeth Taylor, that took place at Christie’s New York this week. On Tuesday, 80 singular lots were offered and all 80 quickly sold, fetching a total of $115.9 million, making it the most valuable private collection of jewels ever sold at auction. On Thursday, a Christian Dior evening gown of silver encrusted brocade swept to $362,500...

Henry Koerner (American, 1915-1991) Under the Overpass, 1949. Oil on masonite, 30 x 38 inches. Courtesy of Jonathan Boos.

Well-attended American Art Fair Shines in New Venue

The fourth incarnation of The American Art Fair triumphed at a dazzling new venue from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, 2011. Held for the first time at the Bohemian National Hall, a Renaissance Revival style building on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the focused fair featured 17 leading gallery exhibitors offering prime examples of historic American art.

Julien Hudson, 1811-1844 American. Creole Boy With A Moth, 1835, oil on canvas, courtesy of a private collection; photo courtesy of Fodera Fine Art Conservation, Ltd.

First Retrospective of Early African American Artist Julien Hudson at Worcester Art Museum

A groundbreaking exhibition opened Dec. 9 at the Worcester Art Museum entitled “In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre-Civil War New Orleans.” Julien Hudson (1811-1844) is the second-earliest documented portrait painter of African descent to work in the United States. Little-known today, Hudson died an untimely, somewhat mysterious death, and only fragments of his oeuvre survive to tell his story.