Chelsea’s Flag Art Foundation hosted a party for the Shaquille O’Neal curated Size Does Matter exhibition on March 2, including a cameo from the big man himself. Shaq was a good sport, coming despite an injured hand (note the bandage) and posing for photos with throngs of hoop and art fans.
Left to right: John Phelan, Shaq, Amy Phelan, Flag founder Glenn Fuhrman
Painter Richard Phillips with a work selected by Shaq for "Size Does Matter"
The 22nd annual ADAA Art Show attracted a record 15,000 visitors during the fair’s March 3-7 run.
Among my personal favorites were small abstract graphite landscapes by Roland Flexner, temptingly tagged $6,000 apiece at D’Emilio Terras. Flexner also has a wall of pseudo-Surrealistic works at the Whitney Biennial. Of course I forgot to take a photo of them but the artist’s website has plenty of visuals.
Here are a few photos from show floor at the Park Avenue Armory.
Nancy Spero at Galerie Lelong "Sheela Na Gig at Home"
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Sotheby's CEO William Ruprecht, via UVM
Bloomberg’s Philip Boroff has dug into Sotheby’s SEC filings, reporting that that CEO William Ruprecht’s voluntary $100,000 pay cut has been restored. Read Boroff’s story on Bloomberg here.
Ruprecht took a pay cut in May 2009 on the heels of plunging auction revenues, according to Boroff. His salary has been restored to $700,000, plus other benefits.
The CEO’s pay rose following a period of drastic cost cuts which helped Sotheby’s post a $73.6 million profit in the fourth quarter of 2009. The company fired twenty…
Bronze African 'Walking Man' and 'Walking Woman' figures
A reader sent me this jpeg depicting a pair of West African bronze statues he had acquired and was re-considering in the wake of Sotheby’s sale of Alberto Giacometti’s $104.3 million Walking Man I. (Read more on that sale here.)
Alberto Giacometti with a `Walking Man,' photo: Henri Cartier-Bresson
The collector tells me his African statues are over 100 years old and hail from Mali. They do bear an uncanny resemblance to Giacometti’s 1960 attenuated figure.
Bernard Goldberg at home with a favorite Guy Pene du Bois painting
Link to Bloomberg story here.
By Lindsay Pollock
March 4 (Bloomberg) — New York art dealer Bernard Goldberg, 77, reckoned the time had come for a graceful and reasonably lucrative exit from the business.
After 12 years of dealing in high-end American art, Goldberg will close his Madison Avenue gallery and sell its entire inventory of 175 artworks and furnishings at New York auctions hosted by Christie’s International this year. The sale is estimated to fetch as much as…
Nick Cave Sound Suits at Armory Show
Link to Bloomberg story here.
By Lindsay Pollock and Katya Kazakina
March 4 (Bloomberg) — Wealthy and determined art collectors stormed David Kordansky’s booth yesterday afternoon during the opening hours of New York’s Armory Show.
The slender Los Angeles dealer held off a stampede of would-be buyers at the art fair, at one point calling out, politely but firmly, “Just let me get a handle on what has sold!”
The objects of desire: colorful geometric paintings by artist Will Fowler, tagged at $6,800-$7,000 a piece. Kordansky moved 13…
Sergey Skaterschikov, photo: Skate's
The six-year old art research firm Skate’s, led by Sergey Skaterschikov, has formed an alliance with Brant Art Media. Brant takes a 40% equity stake in Skate’s, according to a press release. Art in America, one of Brant’s publications, will have a “long term strategic marketing and services” relationship with Skate’s. The arrangement gives Skate’s a wider platform for distribution of its research.
“We need to bring our information and analytics to a wide audience,” Skaterschikov said in a statement.
Skate’s has published an Art Investment Handbook,…
Sotheby’s Board of Directors have finally recruited some younger blood, nominating 37-year old James Murdoch to run for a spot during the firm’s annual shareholder meeting on May 6.
Murdoch is chairman and chief executive for Europe and Asia of his billionaire father’s News Corporation, and heir apparent to run the global media company. He’s even got a quasi-racy back story: a Harvard drop-out, who ran a hip-hop company before joining the family fold. Read more on Murdoch here.
Sotheby’s current male dominated board includes: Michael Sovern, the Duke of Devonshire, William Ruprecht, Robin Woodhead, John Angelo,…
Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas in their Paris apartment, 1923
Dear Readers,
Pardon the friendly plug.
I am moderating two panels this week in conjunction with the Armory Show.
Please come.
Saturday, March 6 @ 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Location: The Armory Show, Open Forum Lounge, Pier 92
The Upside to the Downside: Young Collectors in the Global Market
Hosted by the Association of Professional Art Advisers (APAA), the panel focuses on opportunities for collectors.
Panelists:
Joshua Adler, collector
Jen Bekman, dealer
Sharon Coplan Hurowitz,…
William Wegman "About Four Thirty" and "The Architect, photo: 20 x 200
Art fairs aren’t the only way to move quantities of art.
Dealer and technology impresario Jen Bekman, whose 20 x 200 website markets affordable prints, sold over $100,000 worth of work by William Wegman on Feb. 3. Today she sold 220 prints by artist William Powhida–in two hours.
Bekman has recently begun collaborating with more established artists on her virtual gallery. The website, founded in 2007, is best known for marketing images by young and mid-career names. (Bekman also…