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The Headlines
DEATH AND DISASTER—AND SUCCESS.A giganticAndy Warholpainting of a photograph of a brutal car accident, repeated 19 times over,sold last nightatSotheby’sfor $85 million, buoying two solid sales of contemporary art,Angelica VillaandDaniel Cassadywrite inARTnews. Together, those sales hammered at $276.9 million, which was just slightly above their low estimate. With fees, that number rises to $314.9 million. Among the sale’s most exciting moments was the point whenSalman Toor’s paintingFour Friends(2019), which had been used to market his 2020Whitney Museumshow, hit the block. It sold for $1.6 million with premium, more than four times its estimate. Records were also set forBarbara Kruger,Betye Saar,Jacqueline Humphries,Carol Bove, andElizabeth Peyton. The auction action this week will continue tonight at Christie’s, which is hosting two sales of modern and contemporary art
A BIGGER SPLASH.The artistDavid Hockneyis the latest person to join the immersive experience trend, theGuardianreports, with anew one geared around his workplanned for a four-story space near Kings Cross in London. The composerNico Muhlyhas been tapped to provide the music for the immersive experience, which is titled “David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (Not Smaller & Further Away)” and which aspires to offer detailed views of his art that cannot be obtained when it is encountered in a traditional gallery. Hockney seemed to welcome the show when he said, “The world is very very beautiful if you look at it, but most people don’t look very much.” The immersive experience will kick off a new enterprise calledLightroomthis January.
The Digest
For its 2023 edition,Art Basel Hong Konghas lined up 171 exhibitors, 24 percent more than the 130 who participated in 2022. Still, that number is far smaller than pre-pandemic editions.[ARTnews]
Veteran New York galleryJack Shainmanis expanding to Tribeca, which is home to a growing art district. The gallery will continue to retain its Chelsea space, as well as its schoolhouse location in Upstate New York.[The New York Times]
CriticJonathan Jonesis really mad about the recent spate of climate protests in art museums. “It is arrogant to go into a museum and assume everyone around you is some kind of complacent aesthete who doesn’t care about the environment,” he writes.[The Guardian]
Two artworks have been stolen from a show of work byYaleM.F.A. students at the Connecticut university. According to one student, the event has caused an “uproar” in the vaunted program.[Yale Daily News]
Although two Shanghai art fairs closed well before the end of their rundue to Covidlast week, some galleries still reported big sales.Hauser & Wirthsaid it sold aGunther Förgpainting for north of $360,000, andLisson Gallerysaid one buyer took anOlga de Amaralpiece for $480,000.[Artsy]
Animé Los Angeles, a popular convention dedicated to the art form, has said it will ban AI-generated art at its 2023 edition.[Kotaku]
The Kicker
KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS.It’s a big art week for art-related Kardashian updates. First, there was aPage Sixstoryabout howKim Kardashianmatched a “Barbiecore”Balenciagadress to a pinkJames Turrellpainting. Now, word has arrived, via her own Instagram, thatKendall Jennerattended the glitzy opening of theBrooklyn Museum’sThierry Muglershow. Did she happen to see theJimmy DeSanaretrospective or aprotest led by the museum’s union? We’ll never know! All she wrote was: “Wowow what a beautiful night celebrating the opening of the Thierry Mugler Archive Exhibition at the Brooklyn museum. such an honor to wear a piece of fashion history. thank you to the mugler team 🖤.”[@kyliejenner/Instagram]