In the annals of rarity, a large, fine Burmese ruby is considered the prize above all others. It is the stone that finds a place in the bible: “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her price is above rubies.” In modern times, that price is high indeed.
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On July 4th Sotheby’s London will offer a rare treasure at auction. “The Bust of Peace” (1814), a newly recovered marble bust by Italian Neoclassical master Antonio Canova (1757-1822) will make its debut after nearly 200 years of obscurity.
Today the art world mourns the death of Robert Indiana. The pop artist died on Saturday at the age of 89. His ubiquitous “LOVE” sculptures, notably seen in Philadelphia, New York, and Indianapolis, are iconic works of art. The four letters stacked in a square with an off-kilter “O” were made famous in 1964 as a Museum of Modern Art Christmas card. Indiana went on to create steel sculptures based on this design, as well as prints. Since then the image has gone on the grace postage stamps, clothing, and every kind of souvenir imaginable.
Christie's continued a streak of record-breaking auctions at their Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on Tuesday. Kazimir Malevich’s "Suprematist Composition" led the sale, achieving nearly $86 million. The 1916 painting is one of his most iconic and is representative of the height of Malevich's Suprematist movement.
Not to be left behind by Christie’s record-breaking Rockefeller sales last week, at Monday evening’s Impressionist and Modern Art Sale, Sotheby’s set new records of its own. The highest auction price in Sotheby’s history went to Modigliani’s nude masterpiece, “Nu couché (sur le côté gauche),” selling for $157.2 million. Modigliani is one of only three artists whose works have achieved over $150 million at auction, the other two being Picasso and da Vinci. “Nu couché” is one of a series of nudes that Modigliani painted between 1915 and 1917.
Christie's started off a big week of auctions with a bang last night. Their 19th & 20th Century Art Evening Sale, the first in a series of auctions of the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, totaled over $646 million dollars. Touted as the most valuable collection ever offered at auction, all proceeds will go to some of the many charities the Rockefellers supported.
The seventh annual Frieze New York Art Fair, which ran May 4-6, featured more than 190 galleries, curated awards and special sections, a robust talks schedule, and vibrant performance art. The fair, just one in Frieze’s multinational series that includes both a masters and contemporary edition in London and a new iteration in Los Angeles, was housed in a redesigned, labyrinthian temporary structure that stretched across New York City’s Randall’s Island Park.
Modeled after a live bunch of violets, one of the many delights of this brooch is the use of demantoid (green) garnets and yellow sapphires, sprinkled within the amethysts, emulating the real flowers. Green garnets, weighing a total of 3.51 carats, and the 2.01 carats of yellow sapphires, bring brightness to the quiet purple of the carved amethysts. The artfully shaped amethysts capture the look of violets to a remarkable degree.
Sotheby’s recent auction, "A Beautiful Life: Photographs from the Collection of Leland Hirsch," presented fifty striking photos from Hirsch’s private collection. Richard Avedon’s iconic "Dovima with Elephants" led the auction, selling for $375,500, one of the highest prices of the season.
In the spirit of the English poet Alexander Pope, art, like hope, springs eternal. And this year the vernal equinox, signaling the onset of spring, our most hopeful season, occurred on March 19th, the earliest in recent memory. While March 2020 also saw the proliferation of that other “v” word necessitating a period of enforced isolation, artists are possibly the best equipped to weather this period given the solitary nature of most creative activity. Many artists have recognized the uplifting power of spring, particularly in times of societal upheaval.
