There’s About to Be a Whole Lot More Talk About Leonardo: Walter Isaacson’s latest blockbuster biography is on Leonardo da Vinci. Isaacson’s previous blowout hit biographies of Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs almost guarantee that Leonardo will be a popular topic of conversation over the next month. …
Swann’s African American Sale = $2.7m: Swann had a strong African-American Art sale last week with an 81% sell-through rate and works by Norman Lewis, Henry Ossawa Tanner and Sam Gilliam all selling above their estimates. …
The Ullens Center Has Been Sold to an Investment Group: The South China Morning Post details how the Ullens Center in Beijing has found backers to continue the program under director Phillip Tinari:
- The sale of UCCA was also a test of how an art space with no art and real estate could be valued. […] The owners may also make a profit from businesses operated under the UCCA brand run separately from the charitable foundation. These include retailing and children’s art education launched a few years ago to help the centre become more financially independent. Towards the end of its relationship with Ullens, the centre was self-funding around 80 per cent of the 40 million yuan (US$6 million) it needs for its annual operational budget. …
Lehmann Maupin Names Jessica Kreps Partner:
- Kreps joined the gallery in 2009 and became a director in 2014. Prior to Lehmann Maupin, Kreps was a sales director at Two Palms gallery. Born in Montreal, and raised in New York, Kreps attended Nightingale-Bamford School, and graduated with a BA in Art History (Highest Honors) from Emory University in Atlanta. In addition to her work in sales, Kreps has also served as an artist liaison at Lehmann Maupin for Kader Attia and Shirazeh Houshiary. She speaks fluent French and currently sits on the Artist’s Council of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
