Artelligence for May 25, 2018

Christie’s Revamps London Spring Contemporary Sales: Christie’s released a statement this morning replacing the First Open concept of middle market sales with a new Post-War to Present category. These sales will take place in March, June and September with the June sale replacing Post-War and Contemporary art in London. This is a continuation of Christie’s effort to remake the auction calendar by shifting the biggest Post-War and Contemporary art sales to October.

• This June Christie’s will present a fresh season of Post-War and Contemporary Art, which will include two focused auction platforms, Post-War to Present and Handpicked: 100 Works Selected by the Saatchi Gallery, as well as an exhibition titled Sacred Noise. Post-War to Present will create new dialogues that situate contemporary artists within the framework of their artistic peers, demonstrating the synergy between artists of different generations across the globe. Launching in London, this new auction platform will also take place in New York annually in September and March, aligning the international calendars of Post-War and Contemporary Art Auctions at Christie’s. Following the success of the 2017 iterations in London and New York, Christie’s will stage Handpicked: 100 Works Selected by the Saatchi Gallery, a collaboration with the Saatchi Gallery that will present a selection of 100 works that reflect the Saatchi Gallery’s role in nurturing young artists across both live and online channels. Francis Outred, Chairman and Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s: “Bridging the gap between London’s key auction seasons in March and October, our June focal point will engage with a global audience hungry to continue connecting with new talent, understanding and engaging with its role in the wider cultural firmament. The fresh, innovative auctions will situate contemporary artists alongside their historical peers offering a new perspective on the legacy and impact of artists practising throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.” …

Rent Not to Own: The Wall Street Journal has an odd puff piece about Len and Louise Riggio’s Hamptons home and sculpture gardens. The profile starts as standard shelter piece but quickly descends into bizarre Trump-like praise of Riggio’s preternatural business talents and acumen. Arne Glimcher makes an appearance first claiming, possibly anachronistically, that he first met Riggio when there was a slump in the art market in the late 1980s.

• Most important, there was the deal that Glimcher calls “the one I’m most proud of in my career.” He represented the Noguchi estate (and still does) at a time when Riggio was falling in love with the work of the Japanese-American sculptor. “He always wanted a Noguchi garden, but the estate would only let us sell to museums,” says Glimcher. Riggio got creative and had Glimcher broker an unusual deal. The Riggios were allowed to acquire nine of the pieces now in their garden, but they also signed an agreement that upon their deaths, those works would go back to the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum. “They ‘rented’ the Noguchis for their lifetimes,” Glimcher says, marveling at the deal. “Who else would do that?”