Henri Matisse, “Nu au coussin bleu”, 1924. Estimate: $20-30 million. Photo: Christie’s Images Ltd., 2010.

Christie’s announced the sale of one of the greatest private American collections of Modern Art to come to auction: The Collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody. Remarkable for its extraordinary depth and quality, the collection boasts a wealth of master works by the towering figures of the Modernist movement, including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, Georges Braque, Edouard Vuillard, Marino Marini, and Henry Moore. The total value of the works to be offered is expected to exceed $150 million, making it one of the most valuable single-owner collections ever offered at auction.

Continue reading — Christie’s to Sell the Collection of Mrs. Sidney F. Brody

Ai Weiwei, Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995). Photograph: Ai Weiwei
The cavernous space of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall has been dwarfed by a massive spider, cleaved by a 167-metre crack and baked by an artificial sun. Now, the gallery has announced, the space is to be filled by its most politically adventurous commission yet.

Sotheby’s today announced results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.
Despite a 7% decrease in net auction sales, Sotheby’s reported a substantial improvement in fourth quarter 2009 earnings over the prior year fourth quarter. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2009 is the second highest in Company history at $73.6 million, [...]

The “five-to-10 good years” phenomenon, first articulated by former Tate director Alan Bowness, suggests that virtually all artists do their best work in a relatively short period, whether it was the 10 years Delacroix had between 1824 and 1834, Courbet’s six (1849 -1855) or Munch’s three (1892-95).
After a major artist makes his breakthrough, he will [...]

Some of the most magnificent drawings ever executed – physical manifestations of Michelangelo’s love and infatuation for a handsome and intelligent teenage boy – will on Thursday go on display as a group for the first time.
The groundbreaking show at the Courtauld gallery in London, with loans from the Vatican and the Queen, is essentially [...]

The reputations of artists are almost always in a state of flux, but the works of few painters can have suffered a more graphic illustration of the descent from superstar to pariah than Paul Delaroche. At the height of his fame this French painter of mostly English historical scenes was critically applauded and popularly fêted [...]

The Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí presented the loan of the work Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pommegranate One Minute Before Awakening (1944), from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Madrid). The oil painting will be exhibited at the Drawings Room (number 6) of the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres from 9 February until 2 May [...]