The New York Times Was Very Eager to Confirm Sean Combs as Buyer of the Kerry James Marshall at Sotheby’s: Barbara Graustark edits the art market coverage for the New York Times and you can address your accolades or complaints about the paper’s coverage to her. Her byline is not a common sight. So it is of interest that she wrote a piece confirming a single fact:
- Ever since the sale at Sotheby’s on Wednesday night of “Past Times,” a monumental painting by Kerry James Marshall with a narrative centered on black experiences, many people have been speculating about which collector or museum might have placed the winning $21.1 million bid. The sale was an auction high for Mr. Marshall, and it was widely reported to be the most ever paid for the work of a living African-American artist. “We weren’t the buyer, but wish we were,” Joanne Heyler, the founding director of The Broad, said when asked if the new buyer was her boss, Eli Broad. On Thursday night, Jack Shainman, Mr. Marshall’s gallerist and dealer in New York, told The Times that the buyer was Sean “Diddy” Combs …
Former Malaysian PM’s Homes Raided: The Singapore Straits Times is reporting that the former Prime Minister of Malaysia’s homes were raided last night as the new government pursues an investigation into the 1MDB affair. The raid revealed hundreds of luxury hand bags, including one that had once set a record price:
- A total of 284 boxes containing luxury handbags – including dozens and dozens of orange boxes holding Hermes Birkin bags – were loaded into trucks and carted away. Several of the orange boxes were tagged with photographs of different Birkin bags, with descriptions such as “Brown Ostrich”. …
The Anti-Deaccessioning Jihadists Might Want to Look at This Story: The city of Jacksonville, Florida just sold a big Joan Mitchell painting at Christie’s during the day sale. Despite an updraft in the Mitchell market, the work only made it to the $2.7m reserve price. That hasn’t dampened the consignor’s sense of satisfaction. The work was being de-accessioned from the Jacksonville MOCA to the benefit of the museum and the city, according to the Florida Times-Union:
- The city and MOCA will split the proceeds 50-50. The city will put its $1.35 million share into Art in Public Places Trust Fund for maintenance of art such as murals and statues. MOCA will set aside its share of the sale proceeds for its own collection, either by purchasing new works or taking care of the art it has. The Prudential Insurance Co. gave Iva to the city in 1997 and it was displayed at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts and then at MOCA. MOCA stopped displaying the painting in 2008. At 21 feet wide and 10 feet tall, it is so large that the only place in the museum building with enough space is the atrium, but that is the area where MOCA launched its popular Project Atrium series, which commissions works from emerging and mid-career artists. MOCA and the city decided to take the painting out of storage and sell it through the Christie’s auction. …
Economist Decries Art Market Inequality, Suggests You Get a Masters Degree from Her for Only $45,000: Professor Rachell Pownall doesn’t like art market inequality. But she also doesn’t like many of the corrective measures recently bruited about. So she’s taken to Apollo Magazine to suggest that you enroll in her Executive Masters degree program, if you can afford it:
- Those able to show cultural leadership in this domain without the need for inefficient redistribution mechanisms and the involvement of the state are likely to flourish in future. (These and related topics in how the art world looks today and how can it be keep healthy, effective and efficient plays in the future is a key focus of the new Executive Master in Cultural Leadership programme, which I co-direct, offered by Maastricht University together with the Royal Academy of Arts in London.) …
Best Headline of Auction Week: “Accused Sexual Predator Is Reportedly Furious at Christie’s for Damaging His Picasso” That was New York Magazine’s The Cut on Steve Wynn’s bluster surrounding the damage done to his Picasso this week. They went on to find some amusement in Wynn complaining about carelessness around Picasso paintings.
Steve Wynn’s Strange Art Dealership: Wynn’s recent behavior has been hard to understand. Shortly after being defenestrated from his casino empire, Wynn seems to have decided to dump a number of his artworks in the least discreet manner raising questions about his future intentions as a collector. Now, the damage to Le Marin has revealed his plan to establish himself as an art dealer online, according to Artnet’s Julia Halperin. Odder still, the website presents some well known works as inventory, including Picasso’s Cigare which he bought for $1m at the Jan Krugier sale in 2013. The work was bought in at less than half that price this week. Nonetheless, Wynn seems eager to continue to flip at the very top of the market. Most observers assumed works from the Rockfeller sale would be bought by collectors eager to have access to the family’s direct provenance and even pay a premium for it. Halperin claims Wynn was an agressive bidder in the sale, “We understand that Wynn’s new company, Sierra Fine Art LLC, was the buyer of Monet’s Nymphéas en fleur (ca. 1914–17), which sold for $84.7 million.”