Palm Springs Fine Art Fair

Palm Springs Fine Art Fair 2015, image courtesy of PSFAF
Palm Springs Fine Art Fair 2015, image courtesy of PSFAF

The Palm Springs Fine Art Fair returns to the desert this week with an impressive selection of 66 modern and contemporary art galleries. In its fourth edition this year, the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair is already as large as Art Los Angeles Contemporary and seems ready to surpass the longer running LA Art Show as the premier West Coast art fair.

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Auction Guarantees: Show Me the Monet

Alberto Giacometti, Chariot (2/6), conceived in 1950 and cast in 1951-52; painted bronze on wooden base, 57 inches; image courtesy of Sotheby's
Alberto Giacometti, Chariot (2/6), conceived in 1950 and cast in 1951-52; painted bronze on wooden base, 57 inches; image courtesy of Sotheby’s.   The work sold for $100.9 million with an unknown guarantee at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale on November 4, 2014.

After a record-breaking year in which global art auctions exceeded $16 billion, the world’s largest auction houses have resumed the risky practice of guaranteeing minimum prices for very expensive lots. Christie’s and Sotheby’s had mostly abandoned guarantees in late 2008, and observers are keen to speculate about their return.  February sales with works by Monet, Cézanne, and Picasso are primed to set new records.

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My Generation: Young Chinese Artists

Chi Peng, Sprinting Forward
Chi Peng, Sprinting Forward, 2004; chromogenic print, 47-1/4 x 91-1/2 in; © Chi Peng, courtesy of the artist; photo courtesy of the Tampa Museum of Art

At the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, My Generation: Young Chinese Artists presents works by artists born in mainland China after 1976. They are products of China’s one-child policy and have grown up during a time of rapid urbanization, globalization, and cultural transition.

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Anila Quayyum Agha, Intersections

Anila Quayyum Agha, Intersections
Anila Quayyum Agha, Intersections (installation view, Grand Rapids Art Museum), 2014; image courtesy of Anila Quayyum Agha

In Michigan’s Grand Rapids Art Museum, Anila Quayyum Agha’s Intersections is installed after being named the winner of ArtPrize 2014. The installation consists of a light source inside a laser-cut wooden cube, casting shadows that evoke Islamic sacred spaces.

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Art Basel in Miami Beach Recap

Art Basel in Miami Beach 2014
Art Basel in Miami Beach 2014

We gave an overview of Art Basel in Miami Beach before the fair opened last week.  Now hundreds of private jets are disbursing from Florida as the art world returns to New York, Europe, and Latin America. The 13th edition of Art Basel in Miami Beach, and about twenty other fairs that opened for Miami Art Week, concluded tonight.  Here’s our recap.

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Dreaming 2074

Rêver 2074

The Comité Colbert is an association of 78 luxury brands and 14 cultural institutions to promote the concept of luxury and the French art de vivre. The group was founded in 1954 and named for Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the politician who introduced economic reform under the rule of King Louis XIV and was a significant patron of literature and the arts.

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Harvard Art Museums

exterior view of the Harvard Art Museums; photo by Nic Lehoux
exterior view of the Harvard Art Museums; photo by Nic Lehoux

It has been a great few weeks – indeed, a great year – for new museum buildings. It gets even better this weekend when the Harvard Art Museums will open a new building. The incredible structure, designed by Renzo Piano, unites Harvard’s three separate museums under a vast glass roof.

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Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center

Palm Springs Art Museum, Architecture and Design Center
Palm Springs Art Museum, Architecture and Design Center; photograph by Daniel Chavkin, courtesy of Palm Springs Art Museum

This weekend, the Palm Springs Art Museum will open its new Architecture and Design Center in a restored mid-century modern building. The A+D Center is an important extension of the museum’s facilities as well as its exhibitions and programs.

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Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights

Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, ca. 1500 – 1505, oil on oak panels, 220 x 389 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid

The Garden of Earthly Delights is one of at least eight triptychs by Hieronymus Bosch, an early Flemish painter active from the late 15th century.  Triptychs were typically produced as didactic altarpieces, and those in the style of the Northern Renaissance frequently incorporate allegory and moralizing narratives.

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