If you ignore the daft prattlings about the end of the auction houses and the depredations of estimates, Souren Melikian does his best to promote the dealers at TEFAF which opens later this week:

Last December, one of the most remarkable paintings by Jacob Jordaens, “The Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa,” was sold at Christie’s for £2.05 million, or $3.13 million. Done in his grandest Rubensian manner, the mythological scene is set in a landscape with admirable chiaroscuro light effects. The Jordaens, known from a valuation made in 1865, had never been illustrated before its reproduction in the Christie’s catalogue. Its glory, however, could be surmised rather than seen under a film of dirt and decaying varnish accumulated over 150 years.

It takes the eye of a professional with long experience to evaluate the actual state of the paint surface of a picture under these circumstances. Few collectors are able not only to make this assessment but, more important, to form a mental image of what the grimy picture might look like after cleaning. At the private viewing on Thursday, privileged guests will discover the Jordaens gleaming in pristine condition on Mr. Van Haeften’s stand. There, they will also see an admirable painting by Joachim Wtewael, “Maternal Charity.” Signed and dated 1623, this landmark in the Dutch Mannerist artist’s later oeuvre had come up at Christie’s December auction. But it is only after cleaning that the glory of its color scheme with its glazes intact was revealed for the first time in living memory.

A Russian collector was tempted to get the gem but, a professional in the trade tells me, he abstained, uncertain of how well preserved the paint surface would turn out to be after cleaning — buying a picture obscured by dirt is a gamble.

Why the Future Lies at Art Fairs (NYTimes)

Georgina Adam in the Financial Times:

• Sprüth Magers: Barbara Kruger’s “Untitled (The meaning of life is that it stops)” (2008), for an undisclosed price
• Presenhuber : Ugo Rondinone’s “Kiss Now Kill Later – 2 parts” (2010) to a major US collection for a price in the region of SFr200,000 (£140,000)
• Bischoff/Weiss:  two sculptures by Rana Begum, priced between $8,000 and $20,000.

Judd Tully on Artinfo:

• Hollis Taggart Galleries: Michael Goldberg’s richly painted “Still Life” (1957) sold for a sum within the $200,000 range; Hans Hofmann still life from 1936, a kind of floral homage to Matisse, sold in the $150,000 range.
• Mazzoleni Arte Moderna sold four works in the $130,000-240,000 range, including Agostino Bonalumi’s 1964 shaped canvas “Bianco,” in the $200,000 range.
• American abstract artist Charles Kuntz, sold at New York’s Driscoll Babcock to an American collector for slightly under six figures.

Shane Ferro adds to the atmospherics (but few specifics):

• Sprueth Magers, based in London and Berlin, did exceptionally well, selling 12 works by gallery artists including Barbara Kruger’s “Untitled (The Meaning of Life Is That It Stops),” 2008, for an undisclosed price, three works by George Condo between $45,000 and $250,000, a Sterling Ruby collage for $65,000, and four works by Cyprien Gaillard for €18,000. The gallery said the majority of these sales were to American collectors.
• Zurich-based Andreas Huber, a first-timer at the Armory, sold out on opening day. Works byFlorian Schmidt went for €16,000 at his booth.
• Kavi Gupta reported selling his Theaster Gates work — the commissioned artist at last year’s edition of the fair — for $125,000.
• British dealer Thomas Corvi-Mora reported a similar smattering of sales. Works by his artistsLunette Yiadom-Boakye, Imran Qureshi, Brian Calvin, and Anne Collier all sold in the $20,000-30,000 range.

Katya Kazakina adds this sale on Bloomberg:

• Victoria Miro: A fragile sculpture of a globe made by Sarah Sze, who will represent the U.S. at the Venice Biennale this year, has already sold for an undisclosed price.

Sales of art from around the world at Art13 London included:

• Pearl Lam Galleries, Shanghai/Singapore/Hong Kong sold a painting by Zhu Jinshi, entitled ‘Children’s Dreams’, 2012, for $150,000 USD
• In Sook Kim’s ‘Saturday Night’, 2007, from Galerie Paris-Beijing, France/China/Belgium sold to a British collector on the first night for £70,000 GPB
• PIFO Gallery, China sold two works by Liang Quan for £30,000 GBP to a British Collector in the first hour of the opening day. A work by Zhang Xuerui went to a French Collector for £10,000 GBP
• Two works by Asad Faulwell, from Lawrie Shabibi UAE priced between £6,000 – 15,000, GBP, sold, one to a Middle Eastern Collector, and Shahpour Pouyan’s ‘Projectile 8’, 2012 sold to an American Collector for £15,000 GBP
•  ‘Mass Writing’, 1958, a painting by Judit Reigl brought by Kalman Maklarky Fine Arts, Hungarysold for £200,000 GBP to a British Collector
• Lazarides, UK sold a work by Banksy for £375,000 GBP to a British Collector. In addition, ‘Monarch’, 2012, by Antony Micallef went for £72,000 GBP to an American Collector; ‘L’Armour et La Violence’ by Conor Harrington sold for £60,000 GBP to an American Collector, and a video work by Doug Foster sold to a British Collector for £60,000 GBP.
• Alexander Ochs Galleries, Berlin/Beijing sold an installation by artist Young-Jae Lee entitled ‘Earth, Ink and Fire’, 2011 for 50,000 Euros to an Italian Collector
• A Stephan Balkenhol sculpture ‘Female Bust’, 2012, from Deweer Gallery, Belgium, sold for £28,000 GBP to an European Collector
• Hakgojae Gallery, South Korea sold Lee Yongbaek’s work, ‘Angel-Soldier No.4’, for £22,750 GBP, and a Lee Seahyun work, ‘Between Red 174’ for £14,300 GBP
• Ronchini Gallery, UK sold Gianpietro Carlesso’s ‘Curvatura Venti’, 2013 for £22,000 GBP and Alighiero Boetti’s ‘Tra l’incudine e il martello’, 1988, for £25,000 GBP, both to private collections

Georgina Adam has sales from ARCO in her column:

• Edward Nahem: sold Juan Muñoz’s “Untitled” (1998) sculpture of two men looking in a mirror to a Spanish collector; it was tagged at €200,000.
• Galerie Lelong placed an alabaster Jaume Plensa portrait bust, “Awilda VII” (2011), with a buyer from Madrid (about €240,000).
• 10 Brazilian galleries reported healthy sales, with Casa Triângulo selling a Joana Vasconcelos piece to a Spanish collector for €65,000.
• Álvaro Alcázar gallery: Californian Blake Byrne bought Juan Garaizábal’s “Tower Window” (2012) in the solo projects section tagged at $18,000.

The Art Market: Pay up, pay up and play the game (Financial Times)

ARCOmadrid, 13th February 2013

FIRST SALES

Helga de Alvear (Madrid), Isaac Julien “Yishan Island, Long March” Eudnaprint 36.000 Pounds

Leandro Navarro (Madrid), José Guerrero “ Tanto monta, monta tanto”, 1966, 172.000 EUR, Spanish private collector

Oriol (Barcelona), José Guerrero 1960, between 120.000 and 180.000

Juana de Aizpuru (Madrid), Albert Oehlen “Untitled”, 2012, 340.000 EUR, Spanish private collector

Marlborough (Madrid) Juan Genovés “Noticias”, 95.000 EUR, Spanish private collector

Thomas Schulte (Berlin), Alfredo Jaar “Kultur = Kapital”, neon light installation, 16.000 EUR, Belgian private collector

Georg Nothelfer (Berlin), Christo y Jeanne-Claude “The Mustaba of Abu-Dhabi”, collage 1979, 90.000 EUR, French private collector

Lelong (Paris), Jaume Plensa “Awilda VII”, sculpture 2011, 240.000 EUR, Spanish private collector

Barbara Gross (Munich), Kiki Smith, several works on paper, 20.000 $ each // Tejal Shah “Lucid Dreams I”, paper work 2013“ 3.000 EUR

RESERVATIONS

Juana de Aizpuru (Madrid), Martin Kippenberger “Untitled”, 1994, 70.000 EUR

Hans Meyer (Dusseldorf), Hans Hofmann “Shifting Planes”, 1947, oil on wooden panel, 330.000 EUR

Max Weber Six Friedrich (Munich), Peter Zimermann “Rigo”, 43.000 EUR

Christine König – Miriam Charim (Vienna), Valie Export, black and white photography

Walter Storms (Munich), Robert Voit “Venice”, photography, ed. of 6

Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Arts (New York), Calder “Personnage” 1966 // Antoni Tapies “Nu encuadrat” 2003 // Juan Muñoz 1998

Bloomberg and some local outlets cover the fairs:

Timothy Taylor Gallery: a Sean Scully abstract for over US$500,000, as well as two early Andy Warhol illustrations priced between US$20,000 and US$25,000.

White Cube: Antony Gormley cast iron sculpture for £300,000 (S$585,000), as well as a Rachel Kneebone porcelain for £250,000.

Gajah Gallery:sold two Masriadis for $350,000 and $200,000

Indonesian Pavilion: “Silent procession of this cheerful Trojan horse” (2012), by Indieguerrillas, sold quickly for about S$27,000 (£14,000)

Strong Sales at Art Stage (Business Times)

Dylan, Hirst, Masriadi Woo Asian Billionaire Art Buyers (Bloomberg)

The Art Market: Dagges at Dawn (Financial Times)

NADA Miami 2012 showcases a range of work from sophisticated solo projects to glimpses of artists who, while still growing in practice, display signs of sincere promise. Here is a small selection of artists worth remembering.

Marko Mäetamm presents a solo project, Our Daddy is a Hunter, 2011 at emerging Estonian gallery, Temnikova and Kasela. This installation encompasses watercolor drawings, sculpture, print and video. Drawing on the dual viewpoints of both father and child, this series tenses on the line between dark and playful. Highly personal, Mäetamm unfolds before the viewer his personal anxieties at the pressures placed on a modern day, working, family man. The sculpture in the corner is a portrait of Mäetamm wrapped in a living room rug, not standing upright yet not on the floor, willingly captured in this domestic situation. With imagery of the father hunting his family in their domestic environment, the watercolors create mixed anxiety for the viewer. The handwritten text reads from a child’s perspective exerts such as:

“Our Daddy has a big hunting gun, It is very heavy, And very dangerous, And it makes a big noise, When our daddy starts to shoot”

This child, however, also wants to be  just like daddy when he grows up. This childlike reverence of the father figure as a hunter, unaware of the dangers that await him in society as a man, strains against the imagery above, and somehow reverberates out into the viewer the mixed emotions and anxieties felt by Mäetamm himself. However, the playful nature of the drawings reminds us that this is a modern day family life, and while these strains may be placed upon the man of the house, it is a place he has willingly placed himself amongst the family he loves.

At Brennan & Griffin , Sandeep Mukherjee’s Devour, 2011 captures attention without demanding attention. This subtle work, elegant in execution, is created with acrylic and acrylic inks on duralene (a polymer film.) With a range of brushstrokes and exquisite mark making, Mukherjee engages the viewer with a material practice based on instinct and improvisation. The final form grows from a combination of organic material influences and an organic, intuitive process. He is interested in blending the process of image with generic iconography. With Devour the dark area could represent a plain, the colored area a generic, organic form (such as a seashell) though Mukgerjee references such forms implicitly.

Bischoff Weiss wowed with a challenging and complex solo presentation of Raphael Zarka. A risky and demanding presentation for an art fair audience, this booth, for those who paid due time and diligence to the work, delivered a highly sophisticated presentation. Since 2001, Zarka has been assembling a mass of forgotten or neglected sculptural forms in a series know as Les Formes du Repos (Resting forms.) 

According to Suzanne Cotter: Zarka captures the sculptural possibilities of these forms as images, such that the abandoned, the disused, and the forgotten become sites of potential, with a lexicon of formal associations that runs from Plato to modernism to postminimalist sculpture. 

Years of living as a keen skateboarder have enabled him view the geometry of shapes and surface dynamics of objects in a way that the standard observer of such opportunities would fail to perceive, his work opening up this dialogue to the viewer.

Images courtesy of:

Jessica Silverman Gallery

Lautom Contemporary

Temnikova and Kasela

Brennan & Griffin

Independent Curators International