ArtPourri

Finalists Named—Four artists have been shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2007:  Zarina Bhimji, Nathan Coley, Mike Nelson and Mark Wallinger. To be held for the first time outside of London, the Turner Prize exhibition will open at Tate Liverpool on Oct. 19, with the winner (who will receive $50,000) announced on Dec. 3

Stamps Reissued – The U.S. Postal Service has issued reprints of the 3-cent Silver Coffee Pot and 1-cent Tiffany Lamp definitive stamps in new formats.  The Silver Coffee Pot, sixth in the American Design series, features Tania Lee’s simplified rendering of a circa 1786 silver coffee pot belonging to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Tiffany Lamp is the third stamp in the American Design series and features artist Lou Nolan’s rendering that evokes the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Comfort Wall Hanging Donated – After the recent tragic events at Virginia Tech, fiber artist Meryl Ann Butler created a comforting quilt for her daughter, a 2^nd year student at the college.  Next she created a fiber art wall hanging entitled “Hugs for Hokies:  Hearts and Hands Reach Out to Virginia Tech” to present to the university, crafted from over 450 separate pieces of fabric.  Butler is also an author associated with Krause Publications.  To donate to the Hokie Memorial Fund, established by the university to aid in the healing process, call 800-533-1144.

NEA News – The NEA will award 951 grants totaling $67,348,450 to benefit local, state, regional and national arts organizations across the country in the categories of Access to Artistic Excellence, Arts on Radio and Television, Learning in the Arts, Partnerships and American Masterpieces.— They have also announced recipients of the Summer Schools in the Arts program, an initiative designed to enhance the quantity and quality of arts education opportunities for youth, and hence, to create model programs.  Twenty-five grants totaling $680,000 were awarded to organizations in communities ranging from Boston, MA, to Wailuku, HI.— Valerie Rosenthal, a volunteer at Phoenix Art Museum in Phoenix, AZ, has been awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award, a national honor offered in recognition of volunteer service.

Auction News – Christie’s:  The evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art totaled $236.4 million, the third highest result for the category at Christie’s.  Five world auction records were set.  The Post-War and Contemporary Art sale became the most valuable auction ever in the category and the second highest art auction in history at over $384.6 million.  Twenty-six new world auction records were set, with Warhol’s epic Green Car Crash selling for $71.7 million. 

Sotheby’s:  The spring sales of Impressionist and Modern Art achieved an outstanding total of over $337.2 million, the second highest ever in company history.  Several records were set and the top price achieved was for a watercolor by Paul Cezanne, Nature morte au melon vert, at $25.5 million.  The evening sale of Contemporary Art made auction history at over $254.8 million. Two masterpieces that shattered previous records were Mark Rothko’s White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) at $72.8 million and Francis Bacon’s Study from Innocent X at $52.6 million.  On July 4 Sotheby’s will offer for sale one of the finest collections of watercolors by J. M. W. Turner to have come to the market in living memory.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 17 No. 8 — June 2007