Prior to 1960, when it was donated to the Courtauld Gallery collection in London,The Procuress was considered a forgery from the first half of the twentieth century. However, recent studies surrounding the work have proven its authenticity as a product of the Dutch Golden Age.
An article published by The Art Newspaper presents a brief overview of the current research, as well as the key issues regarding the origin and significance of The Procuress. It also raises an important question about the possible change in value of the painting. "The Courtauld picture is not, of course, for sale, but it is interesting to consider whether it is more valuable financially as a 17th-century copy or a Van Meegeren fake?"
My Name is Charles Saatchi and I am an Artoholic: Everything You Need to Know About Art, Ads, Life, God, and Other Mysteries and Weren’t Afraid to Ask
This book's title is as long and convoluted as the titles of the works of art he has helped fund such as Damien Hirst's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, which sits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until further notice.
Charles Saatchi, an advertising guru, is currently marketing his book, which will come out on October 7, 2009. He has kept silent for so long and out of the media spotlight, but now the whole world will be able to take a glimpse into his mind as he has written in his book. It is almost an autobiography by the infamous art collector.
This is also his way of saying to the exterior world to leave him alone as he will still remain a very private man. All the answers that will ever be told will be in this book and can be used as a point of reference- he still wants no phone calls, simply the bare minimum.
Time is so precious, which is why you want to use it really efficiently.
For those of us who have an iPhone there is this amazing new application for art lovers.
One is called ArtNear. It has five views (Near, Venues, Artists, Calendar and Bookmarks) and the "Near" function helps you navigate from where you are in town to the nearest art venue.
The second one is called the Brooklyn Museum iPhone App, which is meant to make the art museum visiting experience more interactive and personalized. This means it's not a standard museum visit everyone will go through and listen to the same recording. It means you pick an artwork and then the application does the curating for you....so you see artwork that are tailored to your tastes. I guess it works in a similar way to the Pandora app, but for art while you're in the museum. Sounds awesome.
I found out about these two iPhone apps while reading an article that popped up into my MutualArt.com account- I love technology updates, it puts my time to good use!
The Moscow art dealer Gary Tatintsian has sued the Luhring Augustine gallery for a breach of agreement of $3 million with regards to art by artists George Condo and Richard Prince:
April 2008- 12 new Condo paintings for a total of $2.7 million were put on reserve to Gary Tatintsian by the Luhring Gallery (representing George Condo)
July 2008- Tatintsian pays $1 million in advance and expects the paintings to come in bit by bit a year from now. The contract states two Condo paintings are to be delivered every month and Tatintsian will pay for the paintings as they are delivered.
August 11 2009- Tatintsian files a lawsuit against Luhring Augustine
" 'We paid a year ago and haven’t seen the paintings,' Tatintsian said in a telephone interview. 'During this time, I saw eight works Condo did for other collectors. I won’t let anyone treat me like this.' " - From a Bloomberg article reporting on the filed lawsuit against Luhring Augustine
The story continues:
"This summer, Luhring Augustine offered the dealer five Condo paintings valued at $1.04 million and matching the specifications outlined in the agreement, according to Netzer.
'Tatintsian has steadfastly refused to accept delivery of the paintings or even to look at them,' Netzer said in an e- mailed statement.
Tatintsian said the gallery offered the paintings too late and that they weren’t the ones he wanted. "
When things don't go according to plan, lawsuits always seem to get brought up. However, in the lack of transparency in the art world this is still a difficult field to grasp or to settle in a court room because who is to say that the Condo paintings weren't the ones he wanted if they haven't even been created, but simply consigned as 'new contemporary artwork.' When is the artist going to have a say in where the artworks actually belong?
To read more on issues of art appropriation and art law see my article entitled Who Does Art Belong To?
The Andy Warhol Michael Jackson portrait seems to have caused a lot of ups and downs in the art world, especially after Michael Jackson's death.
Here is a brief timeline highlighting relevant dates on the journey of this Andy Warhol portrait:
May 2009 Sotheby's sold for $278,500
June 25 2009 Michael Jackson dies at age 50
July 12 2009 On the last day and at the very last minute of ArtHamptons, due to the death of Michael Jackson, the Vered Gallery decides to have this piece consigned as part of a silent auction.
However, on July 12 the Vered Gallery decides to remove the portrait from the auction, most likely due to the lack of organization and timing to create a proper auction - the emotional stress of Michael Jackson's death was still very strong worldwide.
August 19 2009 New deadline for a second attempt at creating a silent auction for the Michael Jacksonpainting. At 8pm, the minimum bid is $800,000. This time, the piece had traveled to Los Angeles and New York for previews alerting interested buyers that this artwork is on offer.
Sadly, the death of Michael Jackson is no longer the most discussed topic worldwide, so some of that fever has died down. The result? The portrait went for an undisclosed amount (first they said it went for "millions" then changes that to over $1 million) by an unidentified buyer. It was estimated to go for up to $10 million. What an anti-climax....
A Bloomberg article mentions "Lehr (the gallery owner) said she expects the man who bought it from the gallery to consign it back to the gallery to resell." How long is this saga going to continue?
It seems to be harder and harder to differentiate what is actually going on - has there actually been popular demand they are just hiding from the public or is this discretion and silence a sign the auction was a failure?
I came across an article observing how there has been a rise in art consultants and advisers with the layoffs occurring in art auction houses, the art advising department of UBS, museums, and the list goes on as a consequence of the dire economy. The logical and smart move is to put your art experience and knowledge into becoming an art consultant. Inside the world of the art adviser gives some insight as to why this might or might not be a good career move.
The article says "So what do the advisers do? “The good ones give us, as dealers, access to great collections,” says Andrew Silewicz of Sprüth Magers (2.0/D4). “They focus their clients and do the legwork for them.” This means, as well as buying art, they are curating, keeping abreast of the art world and dealing with loans and exhibitions. And according to Basilico, the adviser can have an educational role for newcomers to the market: “He or she can turn a new buyer into a speculator—or a collector,” he says."
"So how do you find a good adviser? Word of mouth is worth its weight in fine art. “We typically get our clients through recommendation,” says Basilico. “We check new clients very carefully before accepting reservations,” says Goodrow. And Schwartzman advises the starter collector to be guided by their local museum community."
In art consulting one of the most important things you can do for yourself is to be constantly updated with news upcoming in the art world. By news I mean if there's any mention of emerging contemporary artists, gallery exhibitions to take note of, or important auctions that might interest clients.
This is easier said than done because there are so many art news sources to choose from. My favorites are Artforum and the Arts section of the New York Times, but this is not enough to get a well-rounded perspective of what is going on.
Luckily for us MutualArt.com came along to save the day (or simply to make our lives easier and more efficient.) This is a useful art resource website dedicated to collecting all worldwide art information news so readers can have one place to go to, login, and have updated articles featured everyday.
Even better than this it also tells you of art events in your area currently happening (gallery openings, museum exhibits, art auction house sales, educational programs, and so on.)
Also as an art consultant, I find that my clients have a variety of tastes (from art history periods, to preferred art mediums, nationality of artists, to where my clients are geographically located.) MutualArt.com provides the option of creating a personalized profile where you can pick your artistic preferences and cities and the news, articles, and events that pop-up on your main page will be relevant to your indicated preferences.
Therefore, every time I have a new client I update their preferences, city location, specific artists, and likes into my MutualArt profile so I can be aware of art events helping me become a better art consultant. There are many art resources out there you can pick from, new technologies to help the art world function (such as ArtBase, ArtSystems) for better managing. This is simply a new addition!
I am an art consultant based out of Darien, CT. I work with both commercial and private clients and am very willing to shift my focus to suit your needs.
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