thank you | sotheby's

thank you, sotheby's

for publishing my photograph 

of the nymphaeum garden at villa d'este in lake como, italy 

in the catalogue for the 15 may 2014 contemporary art day auction in new york.

sotheby's new york | contemporary art day auction | 15 may 2014

lot 448 | elizabeth peyton | ben (villa d'este) | oil on canvas | 1965

figure 2 | the nymphaeum garden at the villa d'este, lake como italy, where elizabeth peyton was inspired to paint the present work
photo: lisa walsh for innerspace interior design llc

click here to browse the auction catalog
click here to read my previous post about lake como, italy

grazie mille, sotheby's!

art | harry bertoia

i love living in san francisco.  but, sometimes i miss living in a larger city, like london.
i especially miss the auction previews in mayfair and st. james's.
they seem like pop-up museums.

 i missed the harry bertoia selling exhibition at wright in their new york auction gallery from 1/22/14-2/15/14.

so, while i was working in new york last week, i popped in to see bertoia: a celebration of sound and motion, a selling exhibition at sotheby's from 11 february-9 march 2014.

harry bertoia may be best known for his sound sculptures, called sonambients.

'...a sculptural element breaking silence,

it has a voice,

hence, we listen to it,

maybe there is something to say.'

-harry bertoia, 1972

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1 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | eleven monumental sound sculptures, commissioned for the standard oil building plaza | chicago IL | 1975

2 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | monumental sound sculpture from the standard oil commission | beryllium copper and brass | 1975

photo credits wright 20 and lisa walsh | innerspace

and, for his other welded wire constructions.

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 3 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | large spray | stainless steel and steel wire | circa 1965

4 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | pine tree | stainless steel and steel | circa 1955

photo credits sotheby's

'wire forms have a great range of expressions.

their constructions pertain to space rather than ground,

and their configurations can be light, airy, almost floating.'

-harry bertoia

the sotheby's installation reminded me of the ruth asawa sculpture gallery at the de young museum in san francisco.  

asawa's looped and tied wire sculptures explore the relationships between light, shadow, transparency, and form.  bertoia's sculptures also incorporate sound and motion. 

click here to read my previous post about ruth asawa.

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5 | ruth asawa sculpture gallery | lobby | hamon tower | de young museum | san francisco CA

6 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | dandelion | gilt stainless steel, brass and slate | 1960

photo credits joseph mcdonald, lisa walsh | innerspace, and sotheby's

like bertoia's wire constructions, his bush sculptures are radiant and organic.
almost like they could continue to grow naturally.

'i regard nature as being the strongest influence.'
-harry bertoia, 1957

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7 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | bush | patinated bronze | 1965

8 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | bush | patinated bronze | 1965

9 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | bush | patinated bronze | 1965

photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace

i have an asian art background.
so, some of bertoia's naturalistic sculptures remind me of chinese antiquities.
the patina of ancient chinese bronzes...
the textures, forms, and perforations of antique chinese scholar's rocks...

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10 | money tree | bronze with glazed earthenware base | eastern han dynasty (25-220) | asian art museum (aamsf) | san francisco CA
 11 | black lingbi y-shaped scholar's rock | 18th/19th century | christie's new york | 16-17 september 2010 | sale 2339 | lot 1227 
photo credits aamsf and christie's

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12 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | untitled | patinated bronze | circa 1965
13 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | untitled | patinated bronze | circa 1965
14 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | untitled | welded and patinated bronze | circa 1960
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace

other bertoia sculptures are more metaphysical.

'...my mind would think in terms of cosmic relationships,
such as planetary systems and galaxies...'
-harry bertoia, 1972

don't you think that bertoia's comet sculpture is spectacular?

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 15 | harry bertoia (1915-1978) | maquette for the comet sculpture, designed for the w. hawkins ferry residence | grosse pointe shores MI | brass coated metal wire and bronze | 1964  
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace

'the work of harry bertoia defies categorization.
its singular, aggressively personal expression,
sits on the borders between art, design, sculpture, and instrument.'
-reed krakoff, designer and bertoia collector, 2014

asian art | zodiac animal sculptures returned to china

the controversy is over.

two of the twelve bronze zodiac animal sculptures that once surrounded the fountain in the gardens of the old summer palace (yuanmingyuan), a qing dynasty (1644-1911) imperial retreat near beijing, have been returned to china by french billionaire francois-henri pinault.

the zodiac sculptures were not only the subject of circle of animals/zodiac heads, a public outdoor sculpture exhibition by chinese artist/activist, ai weiwei... 

 




















ai weiwei | circle of animals/zodiac heads
exhibited 2 may-15 july 2011 | pulitzer fountain | new york, NY
photo credit arrested motion

...but also, the subject of chinese zodiac, a jackie chan action movie.



christie's sold the the two sculptures for 31.4 million euros (US$40 million) during the february 2009 auction of the collection yves saint laurent et pierre berge.  but, the buyer, a chinese national, withheld payment in protest.  so, the two sculptures remained in the collection of pierre berge until they were acquired by the pinault family.

bronze rabbit and rat zodiac animal sculptures | from the fountain at the yuanmingyuan | qianlong period (r. 1736-1795)

collection yves saint laurent et pierre berge | christie's paris | 23-25 february 2009 | sale 1209 | lots 678 and 677 

photo credits les cahiers d'alain truong

the pinault family controls kering, the french luxury brand group formerly known as ppr, which also owns christie's.

coincidently, christie's was recently granted a license to become the first independently operated international auction house in china. (the chinese operations of christie's compititor, sotheby's, are a joint venture with state-owned beijing gehua cultural development group.)

does this seem like a convenient coincidence?
click here to read related previous posts, new york times, wall street journal, and financial times articles.

asian art | rumors about the chinese asian art market

is chinese porcelain as valuable as impressionist art?

sold for US$21.6 million,

the world record auction price for ming dynasty porcelain.

a blue and white meiping vase with fruit sprays | yongle period | ming dynasty

the meiyintang collection, part II | lot 11 | sotheby's hong kong | 5 october 2011
photo by sotheby's

sold for US$69.5 million,

the highest price paid for any chinese work of art at auction.

the bainbridge vase

a yang cai reticulated double walled vase sith six-character mark in underglaze blue of qianlong and of the period

lot 800 | bainbriges, west ruslip, middlesex, united kingdom | 11 november 2010

photo by bainbridges

but, rumor has it that...
the bainbridge vase hasn't been paid for...
the bainbridge vase isn't genuine...
the provenance of the bainbridge vase isn't real...
click here to read more about the bainbridge vase...

which could become more valuable?
a picasso painting

sold for US$106.5 million,

the world record price for a work of art sold at auction.

pablo picasso | nude, green leaves and bust | oil on canvas | 1932

property from the collection of mrs. sidney f. brody | lot 6 | christie's new york | 4 may 2010

photo by christie's

or,
a painting by chinese contemporary artist zhang xiaogang

sold for US$10.2 million,

the world record auction price for a chinese contemporary painting.

zhang xiaobong | forever naked love | triptych | oil on canvas | 1988

the ullens collection-the nascence of avant garde china | lot 808 | sotheby's hong kong | 3 april 2011

photo by artnet

henry howard-sneyd, vice chairman of asian art at sotheby's, votes for zhang xiaogang.

his 27 october 2011 lecture at the san francisco fall antiques show about collecting opportunities: the rise of the asian art markets could be considered controversial.

howard-sneyd believes that the bubble could eventually burst.  but, he also thinks that this is one of the great periods of artistic endeavor in china, so a correction in pricing probably wouldn't destroy the market for contemporary or traditional chinese works of art.

even though the demographics of the market are currently dominated by chinese dealers and collectors, in the long term, he thinks that western dealers and collectors are also very important.

but, howard-sneyd questions whether or not the phenomenal growth of the leading chinese auction houses, such as poly, china guardian, beijing hanhai, or council, can be believed.

according to published figures, the turnover in asian art at these four auction houses now dwarfs the turnover in asian art at sotheby's, christie's, and bonham's.

but, howard-sneyd also noted that, using data from xinhua, a chinese government news agency, a chinese newspaper journalist implied that the actual volume of these four auction houses could be closer to 25% of the published figures, based on the amount of sales tax that they paid.

all of the rumors seem quite controversial, don't you think?


rumor has it | adele | 21