The Artist’s Loft

By NANCY KEATES .20 November 2009. The Wall Street Journal

Art dealer Ernie Wolfe imports his distinctive style to a Los Angeles neighborhood

Ernie Wolfe has an unruly head of curly white hair, a matching beard, and wears only khaki shorts and camouflage. He lives in a rusty steel house packed with old objects like wooden stools and ladders.

But the shorts are custom-made in Ghana and the camouflage is always neatly pressed, even for visits to the Santa Monica farmer’s market. “It isn’t like this is some weird Halloween costume,” said Mr. Wolfe, an African-art dealer and gallery owner. “This is who I am.” The objects in Mr. Wolfe’s new house, designed by noted architect Steven Ehrlich and completed earlier this year, are museum-quality finds from around the globe.

On a recent Sunday, guests arriving for a cocktail party entered Mr. Wolfe’s home, a 3,400-square-foot hulking, weathered, brownish building modeled in part after a Quonset hut—a corrugated metal structure with a curved roof. It looms above the bungalows and flat-roofed steel-and-glass modern structures in this diverse neighborhood sandwiched between Santa Monica and Century City.

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Source:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704204304574543671515865890.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Posted by Lizziloraine. 19 November 2009. PressAbout.com

Medusa-art.com, the largest online dealer in ancient art and antiques has launched their website with perfect functionality and high quality images of their collectables. The website is aligned with the firm’s mission, which is to provide buyers with authentic ancient art along with unparalleled customer service.

Medusa-art strives to find the right work of art to suit each collector and has assisted the Bata Family Collection, the Harer Family Trust Collection, the Mildenberg Collection, as well as evaluated objects for Federated Insurance Co., Hamilton Co., the Government of Canada, the Government of New Zealand, and several others.

The ancient art market, as we know, offers excellent investment opportunities for anyone looking for something built to last. To quote Angus Murray, Fund Manager (The Art Newspaper, September 2009), “Art is comparable to gold as an irreplaceable, un-leveraged real asset, and real assets perform well at times when central banks are printing money.” It’s also true that historically, ancient art investments have yielded excellent long-term capital appreciation, usually 8% to 10% annually. Any investment in tangibles, especially works of art, should be projected for at least five to ten years. Collecting fine art is a pleasurable way of hedging against inflation.

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Source:

http://www.pressabout.com/medusa-art-launches-largest-website-for-antiquities-and-ancient-art-28206/

By Susan Soccoccia. November 19, 2009. The Bay State Banner.

Bringing a war that remains remote to many Americans closer to home is the multi-media installation by Krzysztof Wodiczko, “ … OUT OF HERE: The Veterans Project,” on view through March 28, 2010 at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.

Visitors are immersed in the sounds of the Iraq war in a simulated empty warehouse as part of “…OUT OF HERE: The Veterans Project” at the ICA. (Photo courtesy of the artist and Galerie Lelong, New York

A terse, 10-minute narrative unfolds across three walls in a darkened gallery where viewers stand, sit and sprawl on a carpeted floor. Projections turn the gallery into the interior of an abandoned warehouse with a long, narrow band of murky windows.

Viewers are immersed in the sounds of an occupied Iraqi city — the imam’s chants from the loud speaker of mosque, the shouts of children at play. A soccer ball shoots by a window and the shadow of a helicopter looms against a wall.

To read the rest of the article click here.

Source:

http://www.baystatebanner.com/arts42-2009-11-19

Contributed by Prieur du Plessis. November 19, 2009. Investing Lessons, Market Commentary.Straight Stocks.com.

“I have always been a keen follower of trends in the art world as these often provide clues regarding the economic cycle. A recent interview of Edward Dolman, chief executive of Christie’s International auction house, by Richard Milne of the Financial Times is therefore of particular interest.”- Prieur du Plessis

Part 1: On art world recovery
Ed Dolman, CEO Christie’s International auction house , talks about how quickly he sees the art world recovering from the current downturn.

Click here or on the image below the view Part 1 of the interview.

Source:

http://www.investmentpostcards.com/2009/11/19/edward-dolman-on-art-world-recovery/

Inge Reist’s father was not interested in the subject of money. A medievalist in the comp lit department at Columbia, he reserved a “certain disdain for business and the stock market,” according to his daughter, and preferred instead to spend his time thinking about more meaningful things. “I think,” Ms. Reist said, “it was just the culture among academics to have this disdain for things that related to commerce.”

Ms. Reist began her career in the academy too, as an art history graduate student at Columbia. But since 1980, she has worked at the Frick Collection, the small but stunning museum that houses the collection of steel magnate Henry Clay Frick. In her current role at the Frick’s Art Reference Library, Ms. Reist heads a research center dedicated to a cause her father might have found questionable. Namely, she is the director of the Center for the History of Collecting in America—essentially a think tank that was established in 2007 in order to encourage scholars to pursue a field within art history that Ms. Reist and her colleagues feel has been largely overlooked by the academy.

The history of art collecting and patronage, according to Ms. Reist, is in many ways the history of art itself, and to study art from an aesthetic point of view without studying the material conditions under which it was paid for, displayed and preserved is to ignore something quite essential.

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Source:

http://www.observer.com/2009/culture/frick-focus-collector-art-history

7.11.2009 | Author: Sophia Lazarri | Posted in Photography

Aesthetic sense sets a man apart from other living creatures. Let’s take the personalization of that living space which one lovingly calls a ‘home’. This magic word symbolizes security and the luxury of rest. Little wonder that people love to personalize this space to give it an aura of warmth and comfort. This could be in the choice of furniture, curtains, wall paint and wall art. Wall art in the form of painted canvases becomes a very important part of a home decor as they are ideal to cover many a bare wall and convey an elegance and sophistication in and aesthetic form. The choice of this art could add that personal signature to the walls and transform it from a normal house to an inviting home.

Canvas Art paintings which are arguably the best forms of wall arts have a plethora of themes. They could be traditional art, modern art, contemporary art or abstract art which could symbolize objects like nature, emotion and even politics. The symbolism could be pretty much straight forward as in a landscape or still life or could have an abstract concept. Let’s discuss each of these styles.

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Source: http://www.article-database.com/2009/11/17/importance-of-art-in-ones-life/

By Mike Boehm .November 16, 2009. Los Angeles Times

Art collector and philanthropist Eli Broad has nearly doubled the size of the museum he intends to build on the Westside for his 2,000-piece collection of contemporary art, and the cities of Beverly Hills and Santa Monica are vying to be its home.

He will also create a $200-million endowment that would generate $12 million a year to operate the privately run, nonprofit institution. The only bigger single cash donation to the arts in Southern California history would be J. Paul Getty’s initial $700-million 1976 bequest to establish the J. Paul Getty Trust — $2.65 billion in today’s dollars.

Broad said that he isn’t trying to play the two municipalities against each other — and added that there is a third possible location that he declined to name. The billionaire said he hopes that by talking to several different cities he can accelerate the process of building the headquarters for his Broad Art Foundation.

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Source:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-broad16-2009nov16,0,5579893.story

By Lindsay Pollock. Bloomberg.com.  November 10.2009

Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) — Udo Fritz-Hermann Brandhorst, an heir to Germany’s Henkel AG & Co. fortune and a major art collector, avoided a public court case in New York by settling a lawsuit filed by his former mistress involving two Damien Hirst sculptures and a custody dispute.

The settlement was reached Sunday night according to the woman, Venetia Kapernekas, and Brandhorst’s lawyers.

Kapernekas, a 49-year-old New York art dealer filed a suit in federal court in Manhattan claiming an interest in the two Hirsts, which have been valued at an estimated $47.6 million, court documents show. The custody suit, involving their 8-year- old daughter, was being heard in New York County Family Court.

Kapernekas has agreed to drop the federal suit and claims on the Hirsts in exchange for: custody of their daughter (Brandhorst gets visitation and vacation rights); a one-time payment of $100,000; a $500,000 trust for the daughter’s education; a loft on Wooster Street in Manhattan’s Soho district valued at about $5 million to be held in the daughter’s name as sole owner; $5,000 a month in child support; and $640,000 to cover Kapernekas’s legal expenses, according to Kapernekas.

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SOURCE:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=alQmEIzf2VtM

By Dorothy Ranger. November 18,2009. Online Business and Affiliate Marketing Blog.

If you are interested in a unique investment, an art collection can be a wonderful and beautiful place to put your money. Real, original art will often increase in value over time and is much more interesting to look at than a stock portfolio. Art dealers are an important part of building that collection, and finding the right art dealer is very important.

Because of this, you want to make sure that you know about artwork before you begin to invest in it. You may not need as much knowledge as a dealer, but you need some information so that you know if the dealer you are working with is giving you accurate advice, or if they are completely out of touch. Going to a gallery can also be a good way to do some research but it may have to do more with the way a piece looks rather than how much it is worth.

The internet is often a great tool for looking at both art dealers and art galleries. You can get a feel for the differences in what they are offering and the kind of advice they are able to give. By viewing websites in great detail, you can get a better idea not only of what you like, but also how a gallery or a dealer can assist you when it comes to actually purchasing pieces for a collection.

An art collection can be wonderful. It is a beautiful way for you to decorate your home and can become quite valuable over time. The only problem may be that when it comes time to sell the pieces on, you love them so much you won’t want to see them go.

If you are looking for a new method to decorate your home, you may want to look on artist websites so that you can find a few good art dealers out there.

Listed below are a few of my favorite artist’s websites and online galleries :

Artist: WANDA PEPIN
http://www.wandawonders.com	The Many Faces of Autumn by Wanda Pepin
Artist: ELAINE FRENETT
http://www.elainefrenett.com/index.html	Sunflower Drama by Elaine Frenett
Artist: CHRISTINA MADDEN
http://christinamadden.com/	Canyon Sunset by Christina Madden

Read the whole article.

Source:

http://www.onlinebusinesshelp.net/5423/how-to-locate-art-dealers-who-can-help-you-build-your-collection/

Tues. November 17,2009. Herald . Ireland.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009.  http://edwardwinkleman.blogspot.com
In the blog article of Edward Winkleman he states :

“I remember it like it was yesterday. Art market articles across the spectrum of the art press spreading the story in sync of how the new boom of the early 2000’s was quite different from the previous booms because the collectors buying then were so much better informed than those who had come before them.”

Read the rest of the article:

SOURCE: http://edwardwinkleman.blogspot.com/2009/11/buying-art-in-information-age-open.html

By Carol Vogel. Nov. 15, 2009. New York Times

Oh the drama of auctions: the salesrooms packed with smartly dressed collectors; the tension of having to decide in seconds whether to drop another million dollars on an artwork or let it go; the steely smile of the auctioneer trying gently to squeeze another hundred thousand from bidders. And the final results of the last two weeks of Impressionist, modern and contemporary art auctions in New York, which saw the return of a surprising number of collectors, their wallets open, but only if the price was right.

Warhol's “200 One Dollar Bills” sold for $43.7 million at Sotheby's last week, more than three times its high estimate.

“The numbers may not be the same as they were two years ago,” said Guy Bennett, a former co-head of Impressionist and modern art at Christie’s who is now a private dealer, “but confidence is back.”

And when it comes to auctions, confidence is everything. As soon as one person in the audience senses hesitancy, others sense it too. But when a collector is sure enough about an artwork to keep bidding, that kind of conviction becomes contagious.

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Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/arts/design/16auction.html?_r=1

By: thinkSPAIN , Friday, November 6, 2009

STAR of the show at Sotheby’s major art auction in the UK is Valencia-born painter Sorolla’s Boats on the beach (Barcas en la playa) which is expected to attract bids averaging a million euros.

On November 24, Sotheby’s will open its doors to art fans with the cash to shell out on original paintings of global renown.

This year, the auction intends to concentrate on 19th-century European painting.

And Sorolla, whose work spanned the end of the 1800s through to the early 20th century, was highly-acclaimed for his late Romantic paintings that depicted simple scenes of local life in his home province.

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SOURCE:

http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/17268/sorolla-painting-to-star-at-sothebys

By Kyle Midura. kulr8.com. Nov 5, 2009 .

BILLINGS – American Police Force’s Michael Hilton came through on one of his many promises Thursday. A California judge ordered Hilton to turn over four paintings as part of a settlement with Rick Earnhart.

Thursday Hilton turned over his collection. ‘Leopard’ is a limited edition work by Rick Garcia, as is ‘Almost Gone.’ The paintings are said to retail for $1,000 dollars.

Hilton also turned over an original painting of his own depicting Mother Teresa and a framed poster of Catalina Island. The artwork will be appraised and put up for auction.

To read the article and view the video click here

SOURCE:

http://www.kulr8.com/news/local/69338837.html

By JENNY BARCHFIELD (AP). November 5, 2009.

PARIS — Forget the lions, tigers and bears. Paris’ Pompidou Center plans to fill a colorful circus big top with Picassos, Matisses and Calders instead, creating a roving museum to take its masterpieces of modern art to France’s culturally deprived rural regions and rough suburbs.

The so-called “Pompidou Mobile” aims to be just as avant-garde in its design as the original Pompidou Center — the audacious, tube-covered structure that houses the city’s premier contemporary art museum and caused a furor when it opened in 1977.

Only part of the necessary funding has been raised and no itinerary has yet been drawn up. Visiting the roving Pompidou will be free, and the project’s priorities are rural regions and the poor, crime-ridden suburbs that ring France’s cities but are often largely cut off from the cultural offerings there.

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SOURCE:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5huGOKQYnTRufomhwvxEEA2Cp_fVQD9BPEI7O3