Duchamp Goes On Tour: Philadelphia’s Museum of Art is sending its collection of Duchamp’s work on tour to Asia, WHYY reports:
- “The museum is creating a traveling show with about 90 objects from its Duchamp collection. In October, on the 50th anniversary of his death, “The Essential Duchamp” will begin touring Japan, South Korea, and Australia with stops planned in Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney.” …
Hong Kong’s Satellite Fairs Move Up a Notch: Last week, it came out that the vetting committee for Art Central, one of the fairs that take place when Art Basel Hong Kong is in town in late March, has made a conscious move to exclude some of the galleries that were previously in several editions of the fair, Enid Tsui reported in the South China Morning Post:
- “It is time for Art Central to up its game, according to new fair director Shuyin Yang, who was previously a specialist in 20th-century and contemporary Southeast Asian art at Christie’s, and more recently associate director of Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Singapore. Yang says 37 out of the 102 galleries this year are new to the fair. The turnover is no higher than in previous editions, she adds, as galleries do not always choose to come back. But this year, applications have gone up by 40 per cent, which gives the fair more control over quality.” …
The Porcelain That Was More Expensive than a Pollock: Scott Reyburn’s column on the surprise price paid for a piece of 18th century American porcelain has this interesting factoid buried toward the bottom. David Rockefeller had a bit of a porcelain problem acquiring 60 or so services that will be offered at Christie’s. His profligacy is even more interesting when you learn that his habit was more expensive than buying what was then contemporary art:
- “Back in 1951, the Rockefellers paid $1,260 at J. Rochelle-Thomas for a 39-piece Derby gold-ground dessert service, dating from around 1815-20. In that same year, the New York gallerist Betty Parsons was selling Jackson Pollock paintings for less than $900. Christie’s has given the service a current valuation of $10,000-$15,000. That doesn’t buy much Pollock nowadays.” …
Outsider Art Fair Added to Basel Frenzy: Andrew Edlin’s Outsider art fair is coming to the heart of the heart of the art market, according to the Financial Times‘s Melanie Gerlis:
- “Basel is the next stop for the Outsider Art Fair, which opens in the Swiss city in June, its third location after New York (founded in 1993) and Paris (since 2013). Coinciding with Art Basel, the new fair (Hotel Pullman, June 13-17) will be around the corner from the Messeplatz, where most of the art action happens.”
