What Else Does Joe Lewis Have That Might Be For Sale?: After the news broke of Joe Lewis planning to auction his large David Hockney Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), a number of observers have remarked that the current exhibition at the Tate contains a number of works owned by the billionaire. The National finally made the observation in print:
- “A current Tate Britain exhibition in London, All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life, includes several works from Mr Lewis’ collection.” …
There’s More to Come for the Fall: The Fall season is shaping up to have some dramatic sales, if the market chatter is any indication. Two of the three houses have large collections coming to market that have not yet been announced. Some will feature major artists with the potential to provide market leadership.
Andrew Fabricant Joins Gagosian: Earlier this Summer Andrew Fabricant left the Richard Gray gallery after 22 years representing the Chicago stronghold in New York. Gossip in the art market had him joining his wife, Laura Paulson who left Christie’s not too long ago, acting as an art advisor. Today, Katya Kazakina announces that Fabricant will join Gagosian Gallery decades after he worked for the dealer in Los Angeles. Fabricant has the kind of access and institutional knowledge that will be immediately useful to Gagosian’s high-performance sales network.
Although Kazakina’s story on the move fixates on Gagosian, the closing quote raises more questions about the future of Richard Gray Gallery, an outfit noted in the industry for its ability to arrive at an art fair with a major work previously unseen on the market. Here’s Paul Gray on the departure:
- “He was a big contributor,” Gray said of Fabricant. “I’m sorry to see him go.” …
Santa Fe’s Folk Art Market Loses Another Director: Jeff Snell is leaving the Santa Fe Folk Art Market after less than three years at the helm. The wildly successful folk art market did $3.4m in sales this year up from $3.1m last year with average booth revenue rising 25%. Snell, who built his reputation in social entrepreneurship, was brought in to expand the market into satellite cities due to the overwhelming demand from the global folk artisans the market serves and attendees. Santa Fe’s market has been at capacity for some time and the organization, International Folk Art Alliance, has been looking for models to scale. Here’s the Santa Fe New Mexican:
- “In recent years the alliance has been considering “sister markets” that would provide artists with new venues to sell their work. A market in Arlington, Texas, for example, is in its second year. Snell was enthusiastic about moving forward with the idea and favored using a venture capital investment model that would require the alliance to find private equity to expand. But the board had reservations. Jane Reid, vice chairwoman of the alliance, said the members realized that it was going to be “pretty difficult to replicate the model” in the current economic climate when nonprofits nationwide are reporting a decline in the number of Americans giving to charity. And finding suitable venues is a challenge. The success of the Santa Fe market depends on a huge— over 2,000 — volunteer base and enormous help from the city of Santa Fe. The board, for example, is still reviewing the Arlington Market, which turned out to be “more challenging than we thought,” Reid said.” …’
Martin Puryear’s Venice Biennale Is Official: Robin Pogrebin has the official announcement in the New York Times:
- “Martin is one of the most important artists working today,” said Brooke Kamin Rapaport, the deputy director and senior curator of the Madison Square Park Conservancy, which commissioned and will curate the United States Pavilion at the Biennale. “His work confronts contemporary issues and he has by now influenced generations of artists in our country and internationally.” Mr. Puryear will create new, site-specific pieces for the pavilion, a Palladian-style 1930 structure, including sculpture for its galleries and an outdoor installation in the forecourt. A spokeswoman said the artist was traveling on Tuesday and unavailable for interviews (which he typically avoids). The Biennale will run May 11 through Nov. 24, 2019. …
W Visits with Alberto and Stefania Sabbadini: The Milanese jewelry family gives the fashion magazine a tour of their apartment and the art contained therein:
- [W]e pass Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom, a sad yet mesmerizing depiction of Chairman Mao Zedong by the German artist Anselm Kiefer. […] The first artwork Alberto bought Stefania was a Marc Chagall gouache that she treasures; they also have a Fernand Legér from early in their marriage. Cohabitating with these acquisitions is a huge turquoise painting with grinning skulls by Jean-Michel Basquiat that dominates the sitting room. On an adjacent wall is Andy Warhol’s 1964 Flowers, and elsewhere there are works by George Condo, Cindy Sherman, and René Magritte. Stefania gravitates toward historical pieces that represent the weight of European culture. […] “Usually, I suggest new artists in New York long before they become known,” pipes up their daughter, Micól. “When I tell my dad, it goes in one ear and out the other. Then someone else tells him about them, and he goes and buys them, five, 10 years later. I could have saved him a lot of money!” Micól, who is 34 but looks like she could be in college, is a fixture on the Milanese social scene.