ArtPourri

Prize Winner Announced – The Guggenheim Foundation and HUGO BOSS AG have announced that German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann has been named the winner of THE HUGO BOSS PRIZE 2010.  He is the eighth artist to win the biennial honor, established in 1996 to recognize significant achievement in contemporary art, which carries an award of $100,000.

Auction News – Swann Galleries' auction of African-American Fine Art resulted in auction records for several artists, including Robert Colescott and Sargent Johnson.  The auction of Whistler and His Influences set almost 20 world auction records, including the top lot by Whistler, Nocturne, which became the most expensive Whistler print ever sold at auction at $282,000.  At Christie’s, a sculpture by Henri Matisse, Nu de dos, 4 etat (Black IV) set a record for the artist at $48.8 million.  The sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art set five new artist records, with a top seller by Roy Lichtenstein for Ohhh…Alright… at $42.6 million. At Sotheby’s, the Contemporary Art Sale set five new artist records, with Coca-Cola [4] Large Coca-Cola by Andy Warhol selling for $35.3 million.  Phillips de Pury & Company’s inaugural auction at the new 450 Park Avenue location set world records for five artists, with Warhol’s Men in Her Life selling for over $63 million.

Winning Videos Announced – The Guggenheim Museum and YouTube have announced the top 25 videos, selected from 23,358 online video submissions and 91 countries for YouTube Play—A Biennial of Creative Video.  The 25 videos were created by 39 video artists from 143 countries.  Visit www.youtube.com/play.

Windows Return – After a five-year absence, the Art Institute of Chicago welcomes the much-anticipated return of one of the most beloved treasures in their collection—Marc Chagall’s American Windows.  Following an intensive period of conservation treatment and archival research, the windows return as the stunning centerpiece of a new presentation at the east end of the museum’s Arthur Rubloff building.

Holiday Tradition Continues – The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, continues a longstanding holiday tradition with the presentation of its Christmas tree, a favorite of New Yorkers and visitors from around the world.  A vivid 18^th century Neapolitan Nativity scene—embellished with a profuse array of diminutive lifelike attendant figures and silk-robed angels hovering above—adorns the candlelit spruce.  Recorded music and lighting ceremonies will add to the enjoyment of the holiday display.  Medieval Sculpture Hall – through Jan. 6.

Holiday Stamp Issued–Angel with Lute - For the holiday season, angels represent peace on earth. This stamp features an angel playing a lute, an image from a fresco painted around the year 1480 by Italian Renaissance artist Melozzo da Forli for the apse of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome. It radiates serenity and dignity, along with compassion, while the lute points to harmony and song.  Also, available now at Post Offices are 44-cent Madonna and Child, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Eid stamps this holiday season.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 21, No. 2 — December 2010