.com ...the link between you, the visual artist, and the manufacturer of art materials. Established 1990

SIGN UP - FREE ARTtalk e-Newsletter©
Search all of ARTtalk!!

Spring Auction Results In

--Christie's auction of Impressionist and modern art was highly successful with sales totaling over $97 million. A work by Brancusi set a record for sculpture at auction with a bid of $18.1 million.

--Sotheby's sale of Impressionist and modern art had sales totaling in the middle of its estimate. Top bid went to Cézanne's "Pitcher and Plate of Pears" for $16.7 million.

--At Phillips' sale of contemporary art, sales totaled just above the low estimate. Bacon's "Study for Portrait of Henrietta Moraes" received the top bid of $6.7 million.

--Christie's sale of Postwar and contemporary art broke records for 15 artists. Top sellers were a Basquiat for $5.5 million, a record for the artist, and a Dubuffet that brought $4.7 million.

Gifts on View--Long-time supporters of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art recently gifted the museum with six paintings by Frank Stella. Impressed by their generosity, the artist also donated a work. A 17 x 14 ft. painting completed in 2001 titled "The Duel (Der Zweikampf) F" is also now on view.

Honors Bestowed

--Famed architect Frank O. Gehry has won the Gold Medal for Architecture awarded every six years by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

--Late actress Audrey Hepburn, a former global ambassador for UNICEF, was celebrated recently with the unveiling of a new permanent sculpture in the public plaza outside UNICEF headquarters in New York City. "The Spirit of Audrey," a seven-foot-tall bronze sculpture was created by John Kennedy and seeks to convey the unique bond between an adult and a child.

--Among the five senior fellows named by the National Arts Journalism Program is Elizabeth Kendall, author and adjunct professor at Bard College. She will receive a stipend for her project, a photo-text panorama of female American artists.

"Golden" Egg Sells at Auction--A Russian Imperial Faberge Easter egg has sold at auction for almost $9.6 million. The Winter Egg is embellished with more than 3,000 diamonds and contains a basket of spring flowers symbolizing the rebirth and seasonal change associated with Easter.

Exhibitions

Washington, D.C. -- Renwick Gallery -- "Woodturning Since 1930" includes 130 works that document six decades of woodturning in North America. The exhibition celebrates the variety and beauty of turned wooden objects while providing the first critical history of the craft. Through July 14.

Kansas City, MO -- Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art -- "Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from the British Museum" includes 144 objects that paint an intriguing portrait of Ancient Egypt and the lives and beliefs of its people, including pharaohs. Through July 7.

Brooklyn, NY -- Brooklyn Museum of Art -- "Star Wars--The Magic of Myth" encompasses two floors and includes more objects than were seen at any of the previous six venues. Included are over 30 costumed mannequins, 35 models, and 50 concept drawings, storyboards, and paintings produced by the artists of Lucasfilm. Through July 7.

Napa, CA -- COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & The Arts -- "The Artful Teapot: Twentieth-Century Expressions from the Kamm Collection" examines the form of the teapot, a cultural icon and inventive vehicle for artistic expression throughout the twentieth century. Two hundred fifty objects include interpretations of teapots by painters Roy Lichtenstein and David Hockney, as well as works by 100 other sculptors, ceramists, and painters. Through September 2.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 12 No. 8 -- June 2002