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2009 Art Sales May Not Have Been Bad For Auction Houses, But Was It Good For Art?

Posted by Deanna on January 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

Antique Week, Vol. 41, Issue No. 2112 (January 11, 2010) has a report in the national section on art sales in 2009.

In the article, two things stood out for me.
First:
Auction houses started slashing pre-sale estimates by as much as 50 percent to stimulate sales. When Sloans & Kenyon of Chevy Chase, Md., gave a [...]

Filed under Collecting, Opinions · Tagged with , , , ,

Fauning Over Maclise

Posted by Deanna on December 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Several people must have been fauning fawning over R.A. Daniel Maclise’s Pan And The Dancing Fairies (The Faun And The Fairies) because the pretty painted piece sold for 301,250 GBP (roughly $498,509 in US dollars) at Sotheby’s Victorian & Edwardian Art auction held December 17th, 2009.

I show it to you merely because it [...]

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A Breath Of Spring Air

Posted by Deanna on December 21, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

A lovely fashion sketch by Sir Cecil Beaton, which wafts off my monitor and makes my heart lighter…

In non-art related news, I’ve been spending all weekend cleaning my home, laying down poison and traps, all to rid myself of an unwanted, non-pet, mouse. I can understand him wanting to move in here; it’s already [...]

Filed under Illustration, Sketch Book · Tagged with , , ,

Hugh Grant: Lessons In Buying Art

Posted by Deanna on December 16, 2009 · 2 Comments 

In the January 2010 issue of Elle magazine, there’s an interview of Hugh Grant by Holly Millea. Whatever you think of Grant, there’s an interesting bit on the actor as an art collector.
Elle: Tell me, is it true that you bought an Andy Warhol painting of Elizabeth Taylor for $4 million in 2002 and sold [...]

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Michael Jackson: King Of Commissioned Kitsch

Posted by Deanna on December 10, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

We keep hearing how poor MJ was, but the dude spent a fortune commissioning art — of himself. And while he was one helluva a musical artist & entertainer, he didn’t have a clue about art.
Just unveiled, Kehinde Wiley’s monumental commissioned portrait of Michael Jackson:

And here’s a 1990 painting of Jackson by David Nordahl:

Now [...]

Filed under Commercial Success?, Opinions, Painting · Tagged with , , , , , , ,