The Brooklyn Museum’s El Anatsui show is filled with recent work lent by the Jack Shainman Gallery. Now the museum has taken advantage of the loans to buy one of the works for its own collection, Carol Vogel reports. No word on the price of the work but the Met bought their El Anatsui a few years ago for what was said to be $1 million and Bonhams will sell one next month with an estimate that reaches over seven figures:
This week the museum announced that it has acquired “Black Block,” its first work by Mr. Anatsui. The two-panel wall hanging from 2010 is part of the show. “It’s one of his signature pieces,” said Eugenie Tsai, the museum’s curator of contemporary art.
Unlike the colorful, shimmering wall hangings that Mr. Anatsui has become known for, “Black Block” is monochromatic. When the exhibition closes in August, “Black Block” will travel with the show to the Des Moines Art Center, the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach and the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego.
Inside Art: El Anatsui in Brooklyn (New York Times)