Wong Kar-wai Plans Sotheby’s Sale (and NFT), Restored Rialto Bridge Christened, and More: Morning Links for September 8, 2021

To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.

The Headlines

THE NEW ART SEASON HAS BEGUN, and there is action in the market. The Hamptons Fine Art ran this past weekend in Southampton, New York, and a controversial sculpture of towering legs by Larry Rivers sold for $100,000, the New York Post reports. Tomorrow, the Armory Show opens to VIPs in New York—at the Javits Center, for the first time. Its director, Nicole Berry, spoke with Maximilíano Durón in ARTnews about what to expect. And the revered Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai is offering an NFT of unseen footage from his 2000 classic, In the Mood for Love, according to NME. It will be included in a sale at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong that will feature memorabilia from his films. Discussing the event, the director offered a simile-filled statement that is worth quoting at some length: “The first day of every film production is like the first date with your dream lover—it is filled with fright and delight, like skating on thin ice. An arrow never returns to its bow; twenty years on, this arrow is still soaring.”

Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.

FROM THE LEGAL WORLD: A federal judge in New York ruled that an ancient marble statue owned by collector Michael Steinhardt does not have to be returned to Turkey, the New York Times reports. Turkey had argued that the work—the Guennol Stargazer, which is believed to be more than 6,000 years old—had been illegally obtained and should be repatriated. Intriguingly, the colorful memoir of the late Metropolitan Museum of Art director Thomas Hoving figured in the proceedings. Hoving described dealer J.J. Klejman, who sold the piece in 1961, as one of his “favorite dealer-smugglers.” Judge Alison J. Nathan wrote that the memoir did not delve into his “specific trading practices.” Meanwhile, the New York Post notes that Stuart Pivar, a co-founder of the New York Academy of Art, has filed suit against the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam because it “rejected the authenticity” of a painting he asked it to review. Pivar, who got the work he believes to be a genuine van Gogh at a country auction earlier this year. He is asking for—not a typo—$300 million. The museum has not yet commented.

The Digest

The mid-career Canadian artist Jeremy Gordaneer died in Victoria, British Columbia, in late August, after police found him at his home with serious injuries. Authorities are reportedly treating his death as a homicide. [CBC]

Vogue comes bearing news of new collaborations between artists and famed brands. Daniel Arsham has linked up with jewelry maker Tiffany & Co., and Mamma Andersson has teamed with the Swedish interior design company Svenskt Tenn[Vogue and Vogue]

The new Los Angeles headquarters of Roc Nation, the Jay-Z–founded entertainment company, was designed by Willo Perron, and sports artwork by Derrick AdamsHanna Liden, and Moffat Takadiwa, as well as furniture by Vico MagistrettiCharlotte Perriand, and more. [Architectural Digest]

After two coronavirus delays, a ceremony was finally held to inaugurate the freshly restored Rialto Bridge in Venice. The roughly $5.9 million project was funded by Renzo Rosso, the founder of the Diesel fashion label. The revered tenor Andrea Bocelli sang a Puccini aria from atop the structure as part of the occasion. [AFP/France 24]

Speaking of the floating city, billionaire collector and philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen’s Berggruen Institute just opened a new branch on the island of Giudecca that will host cultural programming like exhibitions and symposia. Philosopher Peter Singer was given the $1 million Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture at the inauguration event. [Artnet News]

The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia in Athens received nearly 3,000 photographs as a gift from three collectors. The vast majority of the works are by the American photographer Arthur Tress. The total haul is valued at close to $8 million. [ArtDaily]

The Kicker

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT. Because they are minting NFTs and, in some cases, making huge amounts of cash! Time has a dispatch from the teen NFT scene. Meet Jaiden Stipp , a 15-year-old high school sophomore. He just who sold a token tied to a digital illustration of a cartoon astronaut for the equivalent of about $30,000. Here’s Stipp narrating his parental unit’s reaction: “My dad was like, ‘No way this is actual money.’ It seems like it’s a lot of fake money being passed around. So we took some of the money out just to see what’s actually real. And then at the bank. I was like, ‘Whoa.’ ” Whoa, indeed. He has sold four more pieces, and Time reports, “cashed out enough to help his parents pay off their house and cars.” [Time]

Source: artnews.com

No votes yet.
Please wait...
Loading...