Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis
Here’s the show causing all the stir at Art Basel (and a slew of sales through Zwirner:
Fondation Beyeler’s summer exhibition is dedicated to the German artist Wolfgang Tillmans. The exhibition features around 200 photographic works dating from 1989 to 2017, which will be on show from May 28 to October 1, together with a new audiovisual installation.
Opening reception of German artist Wolfgang Tillmans’ solo exhibition at Fondation Beyeler in Riehen (Basel, Switzerland), May 27, 2017.
The Financial Times has a nice story highlighting the Ernst Beyeler Foundation and its plans to expand the building which are proceeding apace. But in the conversation with Sam Keller, the former head of Art Basel who now runs the foundation, the reporter asks about Beyeler’s taste which elicits an illuminating response from Keller:
Keller also notes that the foundation’s 300 works—”encompassing more than 30 Picassos, two exemplary works by Hans Arp, including the 1960 sculpture “Schalenbaum”, and Cézanne’s “Madame Cézanne in the Yellow Chair” (1888-90)“—needs to move forward with Contemporary acquisitions.
The big casualty of Christie’s sale was the Monet Nymphéas that failed to attract a single bid. Judd Tully spoke to the head of the Fondation Beyeler who exuded confidence in the face of a set-back:
a much-shopped and widely exhibited painting that remained in the dealer’s inventory for good reason and not for a lack of trying. It carried a sky-high £17-24 million pre-sale estimate, too rich for a Monet estate painting that bore the artist’s stamped signature, indicating that it was either not fully finished or that Monet was content to keep it cloistered in his studio. The piece bought in at an imaginary £15 million.
That casualty didn’t seem to bother Beyeler Foundation director Sam Keller, buttonholed moments after the flop. “I wasn’t surprised [it didn’t sell], and that’s not the picture you give away at a bargain,” he noted. “We’d only let it go when it would make a very high price. The museum can show it and it will be very valuable in five to ten years.”
A Contest For Picasso’s Mistresses Spurs Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Sale to a Stunning $227 Million (ArtInfo.com)
