Current Art
See also : Koons Hockney Banksy New Chinese painting Mountains in China
Chronology : 21st century 2010-2019 2017 2020 to now 2021
Chronology : 21st century 2010-2019 2017 2020 to now 2021
2011 Spinach in Art
2014 SOLD 28 M$ including premium
The series of the Celebrations brought to the art of Koons a universal language and a flawless and inimitable technique, with its pure colors in transparent coating onto a perfectly polished stainless steel. A come back to American kitsch was tempting. Koons highlighted Popeye.
This is a clever choice. The image of Popeye, created in 1929, is recognized worldwide. This character has a gruff and whimsical behavior that appeals to Americans. He is never completely caught by his stupidity offset by a large dose of sentimentality.
Popeye would not exist without his spinach box, which provides him with oversized forearms and an invincible strength. Koons notes that spinach transforms this character same as art transforms the reality of life. Popeye is the precursor of these superhuman heroes led by Superman who managed to brighten the Americans at the height of the Great Depression.
His name is an allusion to his pirate eye. Meanwhile, the pop art has gone. Koons offers a sign of connivence to pop art that is indeed a tribute to his predecessors Warhol, Lichtenstein and Mel Ramos.
As for the Celebrations, the statue has two dates, from design to completion. This 2 m high Popeye, dated 2009-2011, was edited in four units plus one artist's proof.
One of them is for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 14. The press release issued on April 11 announced an estimate around $ 25M. I invite you to play the short video shared by Sotheby's for introducing this lot.
The above video was only a short preview. I invite you now to play the full length video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very recent work was sold for $ 28M including premium.
This is a clever choice. The image of Popeye, created in 1929, is recognized worldwide. This character has a gruff and whimsical behavior that appeals to Americans. He is never completely caught by his stupidity offset by a large dose of sentimentality.
Popeye would not exist without his spinach box, which provides him with oversized forearms and an invincible strength. Koons notes that spinach transforms this character same as art transforms the reality of life. Popeye is the precursor of these superhuman heroes led by Superman who managed to brighten the Americans at the height of the Great Depression.
His name is an allusion to his pirate eye. Meanwhile, the pop art has gone. Koons offers a sign of connivence to pop art that is indeed a tribute to his predecessors Warhol, Lichtenstein and Mel Ramos.
As for the Celebrations, the statue has two dates, from design to completion. This 2 m high Popeye, dated 2009-2011, was edited in four units plus one artist's proof.
One of them is for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 14. The press release issued on April 11 announced an estimate around $ 25M. I invite you to play the short video shared by Sotheby's for introducing this lot.
The above video was only a short preview. I invite you now to play the full length video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
This very recent work was sold for $ 28M including premium.
CUI RUZHUO
1
2013 The Grand Snowing Mountains
2016 SOLD for HK$ 307M by Poly
The favorite theme of Cui is the unlimited landscape of snowy mountains, eternally indifferent to men.
The Grand Snowing Mountains, inspired by Jiangnan, was painted in ink and color on paper by Cui in 2013.
It was probably unpaid after being sold by Poly on April 7, 2013 for HK $ 236M, lot 2314, just after being prepared as a set of eight mounted panels 292 x 143 cm.
It was sold at the same venue on April 4, 2016 for HK $ 307M from a lower estimate of HK $ 150M as a mounted set of six for an overall 300 x 870 cm, lot 1213.
The similarity between the two lots leaves no doubt that it is the same piece.
The Grand Snowing Mountains, inspired by Jiangnan, was painted in ink and color on paper by Cui in 2013.
It was probably unpaid after being sold by Poly on April 7, 2013 for HK $ 236M, lot 2314, just after being prepared as a set of eight mounted panels 292 x 143 cm.
It was sold at the same venue on April 4, 2016 for HK $ 307M from a lower estimate of HK $ 150M as a mounted set of six for an overall 300 x 870 cm, lot 1213.
The similarity between the two lots leaves no doubt that it is the same piece.
2
2017 Twelve Screens of Landscape
2017 SOLD for RMB 240M by Poly
A set of twelve painted in 2017 by Cui was sold for RMB 240M by Poly in December 2017.
It is illustrated in the post sale report shared by The Value. The reported title, Twelve screens of finger ink landscape, refers to Cui's signature painting technique.
It is illustrated in the post sale report shared by The Value. The reported title, Twelve screens of finger ink landscape, refers to Cui's signature painting technique.
2014 Koons on the Mound
2018 SOLD for $ 23M including premium
The original artist is a toddler named Ludwig Koons. He plays to triturate Play-Doh multicolored modeling clay, a trademark of Hasbro. Posterity has forever retained this dialogue with his father : Ludwig: "Daddy !" Jeff: "What ?" Ludwig: "Voilà !".
The story takes place in 1994 when Jeff Koons is conceiving as a whole his series of Celebrations. Ludwig's achievement is a formless mound but composed of bright and varied colors. Jeff is not an abstract artist. It does not matter. He will justify the insertion of Play-Doh in his list of Celebrations by the fact that it is a toy that will remind for the visitor the happiness of childhood.
The expectation lasted until 2014 when Play-Doh was released in five copies with different color configurations according to the immutable process for this series. Composed of 27 painted aluminum plates, it measures 315 x 387 x 348 cm, slightly higher than the Balloon Dog.
The delay was long but Jeff Koons turns it to his advantage : it was necessary that the joining of the plates and the surface finish reach perfection. It is true that this surface simulating the impact of touch by the fingers of the toddler is the most complex of the Celebration series. An early trial in polyethylene had not given him satisfaction.
One of the five Play-Dohs will be sold by Christie's in New York on May 17 as lot 12 B. The April 9 press release announces an estimate in the region of $ 20M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house where the lot is discussed by Jeff Koons.
The story takes place in 1994 when Jeff Koons is conceiving as a whole his series of Celebrations. Ludwig's achievement is a formless mound but composed of bright and varied colors. Jeff is not an abstract artist. It does not matter. He will justify the insertion of Play-Doh in his list of Celebrations by the fact that it is a toy that will remind for the visitor the happiness of childhood.
The expectation lasted until 2014 when Play-Doh was released in five copies with different color configurations according to the immutable process for this series. Composed of 27 painted aluminum plates, it measures 315 x 387 x 348 cm, slightly higher than the Balloon Dog.
The delay was long but Jeff Koons turns it to his advantage : it was necessary that the joining of the plates and the surface finish reach perfection. It is true that this surface simulating the impact of touch by the fingers of the toddler is the most complex of the Celebration series. An early trial in polyethylene had not given him satisfaction.
One of the five Play-Dohs will be sold by Christie's in New York on May 17 as lot 12 B. The April 9 press release announces an estimate in the region of $ 20M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house where the lot is discussed by Jeff Koons.
2017 Garrowby Hill by Hockney
2022 SOLD for £ 14M by Sotheby's
The landscape should be the most authentic expression of nature. In the 20th century, the theme became boring, in large part due to the overabundance of photographs. In his permanent desire to act against the tide, David Hockney manages to rehabilitate the landscape.
He has a revelation in a road tunnel in 1985. The dot of light he sees beyond the darkness grows larger as the car moves forward. Photography lies doubly, because it shows the landscape from a still point of view and because the lens brings distortions. To paint a landscape, it will first be necessary to abolish perspective. The old Chinese masters understood it : their hand scrolls are travellings.
The division of an image into sections had been made necessary by the small individual format of the paper pulps prints, a technique tested by the artist in 1978. He applies this principle to painting, with the panoramic views of the Grand Canyon in 1998. and the woods in Yorkshire in 2006. In 2007 Bigger Trees near Warter, also in Yorkshire, measures 460 x 1220 cm overall in 50 panels which cancel the distortion.
Hollywood had made David a keen landscape painter. Down from his residence at the top of the hills, he enjoys the meanders of the highway that runs within the vivid and pure colors of the Californian countryside.
He soon considers that the hills of his beloved pastoral East Yorkshire lit by a bright summer sun are not really different. The meander of the road takes the whole foreground in a view of Garrowby Hill, oil on canvas 152 x 193 cm painted in 1998 kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
In 2017, then aged 80, David manages to get rid of the classical perspective through clipped canvases that reduce the surface of an uninteresting foreground. Tall Dutch Trees after Hobbema, 165 x 370 cm overall in 6 six irregular parts, is a complex demonstrator. This 'useful knowledge' trial, according to the subtitle of that work, was sold for £ 6.8M by Sotheby's on March 25, 2021, lot 117.
A rectangular format with cut away lower corners fits that fight of the artist against the classical perspective. A shaped remake of Garrowby Hill, acrylic on canvas 122 x 244 cm overall painted in 2017, was sold for £ 14M from a lower estimate of £ 7.5M by Sotheby's on March 2, 2022, lot 124. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
He has a revelation in a road tunnel in 1985. The dot of light he sees beyond the darkness grows larger as the car moves forward. Photography lies doubly, because it shows the landscape from a still point of view and because the lens brings distortions. To paint a landscape, it will first be necessary to abolish perspective. The old Chinese masters understood it : their hand scrolls are travellings.
The division of an image into sections had been made necessary by the small individual format of the paper pulps prints, a technique tested by the artist in 1978. He applies this principle to painting, with the panoramic views of the Grand Canyon in 1998. and the woods in Yorkshire in 2006. In 2007 Bigger Trees near Warter, also in Yorkshire, measures 460 x 1220 cm overall in 50 panels which cancel the distortion.
Hollywood had made David a keen landscape painter. Down from his residence at the top of the hills, he enjoys the meanders of the highway that runs within the vivid and pure colors of the Californian countryside.
He soon considers that the hills of his beloved pastoral East Yorkshire lit by a bright summer sun are not really different. The meander of the road takes the whole foreground in a view of Garrowby Hill, oil on canvas 152 x 193 cm painted in 1998 kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
In 2017, then aged 80, David manages to get rid of the classical perspective through clipped canvases that reduce the surface of an uninteresting foreground. Tall Dutch Trees after Hobbema, 165 x 370 cm overall in 6 six irregular parts, is a complex demonstrator. This 'useful knowledge' trial, according to the subtitle of that work, was sold for £ 6.8M by Sotheby's on March 25, 2021, lot 117.
A rectangular format with cut away lower corners fits that fight of the artist against the classical perspective. A shaped remake of Garrowby Hill, acrylic on canvas 122 x 244 cm overall painted in 2017, was sold for £ 14M from a lower estimate of £ 7.5M by Sotheby's on March 2, 2022, lot 124. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
2018 Love is in the Bin by Banksy
2021 SOLD for £ 18.6M by Sotheby's
Girl with Balloon, stencil painted by Banksy, first appeared in 2002 on a wall in London. Under a strong wind which messes her hair and inflates her skirt, the child has just let go the string of a heart-shaped balloon. A second painting also in London brings the artist's message, "There is always hope", which in some way revisits the traditional theme of the bottle thrown into the sea.
The image is simple and without social aggression and became immediately popular. Banksy often reused it for happenings or other actions to promote his political opinions.
A spray paint and acrylic on canvas 101 x 78 cm was listed by Sotheby's in London in the contemporary art evening sale of October 5, 2018, lot 67. While Oliver Barker's hammer falls for £ 1.04M including premium, the artwork is shredded in the auction room by a mechanism hidden in the 18 cm thick artist's frame.
Banksy authenticated this remote-controlled destruction with a convincing evidence including short films displaying the preparation of the happening. He also stated that the stop of the shredding halfway of the composition was a malfunction. The modified work has been certified by Pest Control with a new title, Love is in the Bin.
The successful bidder appreciated the specific place of her acquisition in the history of art dissidence, beside famous destructive acts by DADA, Rauschenberg, Tinguely or Ai Weiwei. A collusion between Banksy and Sotheby's for this unprecedented event is not credible. It had nevertheless been the last lot of the evening and was exhibited in full visibility during the auction.
Love is in the Bin was sold for £ 18.6M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Sotheby's on October 14, 2021, lot 7. The frame is still integral with its shredding mechanism which has been decommissioned. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The image is simple and without social aggression and became immediately popular. Banksy often reused it for happenings or other actions to promote his political opinions.
A spray paint and acrylic on canvas 101 x 78 cm was listed by Sotheby's in London in the contemporary art evening sale of October 5, 2018, lot 67. While Oliver Barker's hammer falls for £ 1.04M including premium, the artwork is shredded in the auction room by a mechanism hidden in the 18 cm thick artist's frame.
Banksy authenticated this remote-controlled destruction with a convincing evidence including short films displaying the preparation of the happening. He also stated that the stop of the shredding halfway of the composition was a malfunction. The modified work has been certified by Pest Control with a new title, Love is in the Bin.
The successful bidder appreciated the specific place of her acquisition in the history of art dissidence, beside famous destructive acts by DADA, Rauschenberg, Tinguely or Ai Weiwei. A collusion between Banksy and Sotheby's for this unprecedented event is not credible. It had nevertheless been the last lot of the evening and was exhibited in full visibility during the auction.
Love is in the Bin was sold for £ 18.6M from a lower estimate of £ 4M by Sotheby's on October 14, 2021, lot 7. The frame is still integral with its shredding mechanism which has been decommissioned. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
2020 A Gift for the Hospital
2021 SOLD for £ 16.8M including premium
In the spring of 2020, in each country, everyone discovers the existence of superheroes, people like you and me, very keen of doing their daily work with perseverance and abnegation : the frontline health staff, which was until then mostly distinguished by the press for social and wage demands.
On May 6, 2020, Banksy hangs at the University Hospital Southampton an oil on canvas 91 x 91 cm, clearly visible to staff and patients. This work incorporates the artist's social humor, but without his usual irreverence. It is the message of hope that people increasingly need, one year after the global expansion of the pandemic.
The work is named Game Changer. This title is descriptive. It features a kneeling kid brandishing his new toy, a Superman-inspired masked nurse flying to our rescue. The outdated toys, Batman and Spiderman, are in the bin. The visual effect is not forgotten. In this freehand painting in black line, the only color is the Red Cross clearly visible on the nurse's uniform.
Banksy promised that this work would be sold to benefit the National Health Service. He keeps his word. Game Changer is estimated £ 2.5M for sale by Christie's in London on March 23, lot 6. At Southampton Hospital, hope will not be lost : a replica has been installed in place of the original.
The lot was offered with a saleroom notice :
"The artist wishes to thank the British Red Cross for authorising the use of the Red Cross emblem in this work. The red cross symbol is restricted by law in order to preserve its protective function during armed conflicts."
On May 6, 2020, Banksy hangs at the University Hospital Southampton an oil on canvas 91 x 91 cm, clearly visible to staff and patients. This work incorporates the artist's social humor, but without his usual irreverence. It is the message of hope that people increasingly need, one year after the global expansion of the pandemic.
The work is named Game Changer. This title is descriptive. It features a kneeling kid brandishing his new toy, a Superman-inspired masked nurse flying to our rescue. The outdated toys, Batman and Spiderman, are in the bin. The visual effect is not forgotten. In this freehand painting in black line, the only color is the Red Cross clearly visible on the nurse's uniform.
Banksy promised that this work would be sold to benefit the National Health Service. He keeps his word. Game Changer is estimated £ 2.5M for sale by Christie's in London on March 23, lot 6. At Southampton Hospital, hope will not be lost : a replica has been installed in place of the original.
The lot was offered with a saleroom notice :
"The artist wishes to thank the British Red Cross for authorising the use of the Red Cross emblem in this work. The red cross symbol is restricted by law in order to preserve its protective function during armed conflicts."
2021 Beeple the New Bard
2021 SOLD for $ 69M including premium
His website says it clearly : Beeple is Mike Winkelmann. He is a graphic designer who produces digital art in the form of short films and concert visuals and complacently offers some animated images under the Creative Commons license.
Beeple uses the most advanced techniques of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. This acquisition of skills did not happen overnight. On May 1, 2007, he made the very clever decision to publish one image per day on the Internet. This visibility obliges him to maintain a professional level in all his experiences.
He never stopped. The 5,000th opus was released on the 5,000th day, January 7, 2021. This set shows a fruitful evolution, in the political sensibility and in the futuristic vision. The characteristic of an artist is to reveal his conception of the universe : Beeple has become a digital artist.
The first 5,000 daily releases were put together as a 21,069 x 21,069 pixel mosaic, which is about 300 x 300 pixels per item. The most current techniques, driven by cryptocurrencies, make it possible to provide a guarantee of authenticity in the form of forgery-proof marks with an NFT protocol in a jpg format.
This unique compilation was prepared on February 16, 2021. Titled Everydays: The first 5000 days, it will be sold by Christie's in an online sale that ends on March 11, lot 1.
There is no antecedent in the history of art and a fortiori in the history of auctions. Bids are in US dollars but the hammer price must be paid in a cryptocurrency defined by Christie's and Beeple, on a wallet address defined in the catalog. The auction fees must be paid separately in dollars.
How much can it be worth ? Christie's responds: "estimate unknown". The auction was opened on February 25. The next day, the starting bid of $ 100 had been covered 120 times, reaching $ 2.4M.
Beeple uses the most advanced techniques of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. This acquisition of skills did not happen overnight. On May 1, 2007, he made the very clever decision to publish one image per day on the Internet. This visibility obliges him to maintain a professional level in all his experiences.
He never stopped. The 5,000th opus was released on the 5,000th day, January 7, 2021. This set shows a fruitful evolution, in the political sensibility and in the futuristic vision. The characteristic of an artist is to reveal his conception of the universe : Beeple has become a digital artist.
The first 5,000 daily releases were put together as a 21,069 x 21,069 pixel mosaic, which is about 300 x 300 pixels per item. The most current techniques, driven by cryptocurrencies, make it possible to provide a guarantee of authenticity in the form of forgery-proof marks with an NFT protocol in a jpg format.
This unique compilation was prepared on February 16, 2021. Titled Everydays: The first 5000 days, it will be sold by Christie's in an online sale that ends on March 11, lot 1.
There is no antecedent in the history of art and a fortiori in the history of auctions. Bids are in US dollars but the hammer price must be paid in a cryptocurrency defined by Christie's and Beeple, on a wallet address defined in the catalog. The auction fees must be paid separately in dollars.
How much can it be worth ? Christie's responds: "estimate unknown". The auction was opened on February 25. The next day, the starting bid of $ 100 had been covered 120 times, reaching $ 2.4M.
2021 Human One by Beeple
2021 SOLD for $ 29M by Christie's
In February 2021 the availability of the NFT technology was the breakthrough long awaited by digital art to appeal the collectors. A mere 7 months later, Beeple demonstrates the compatibility of the physical with the video.
His HUMAN ONE is a seminal work of kinetic aluminum sculpture surrounded with four video walls, the whole in a 220 x 122 x 122 cm wood frame. The endless motion is supported by the corresponding dynamic non-fungible token.
The artist offers the most universal theme of the man in his exploration of space and time. The LED lit monolithic life size character in an astronaut uniform and helmet is endlessly striding in an ever changing landscape fed by a data pool, in a 24 hour day and night cycle.
This artwork may never be finished as a new imagery can be loaded by the artist through the Ethereum blockchain for the use of its owner. It provides a suitable and ever current environment to the lone primordial walking men by Boccioni and Giacometti.
HUMAN ONE was sold by Christie's on November 9, 2021, lot 7A, for $ 29M from an expectation over $ 15M.
His HUMAN ONE is a seminal work of kinetic aluminum sculpture surrounded with four video walls, the whole in a 220 x 122 x 122 cm wood frame. The endless motion is supported by the corresponding dynamic non-fungible token.
The artist offers the most universal theme of the man in his exploration of space and time. The LED lit monolithic life size character in an astronaut uniform and helmet is endlessly striding in an ever changing landscape fed by a data pool, in a 24 hour day and night cycle.
This artwork may never be finished as a new imagery can be loaded by the artist through the Ethereum blockchain for the use of its owner. It provides a suitable and ever current environment to the lone primordial walking men by Boccioni and Giacometti.
HUMAN ONE was sold by Christie's on November 9, 2021, lot 7A, for $ 29M from an expectation over $ 15M.
2021 Bored Apes NFT by Yuga Labs
2021 SOLD for $ 24.4M by Sotheby's
The CryptoPunks by LarvaLabs have opened the way to new entertainment. Incorporated in 2021, YugaLabs adds a social application by which an element is also the digital membership card of a club that offers collaborative actions such as decorating a board.
Two series are starting the new process : Bore Ape Yacht Club and Bore Ape Kennel Club. Each of them is made of 10,000 NFT supported digital images, released on the Ethereum blockchain. The dogs had originally been released for a free adoption.
All of them are unique. As for the CryptoPunks but in a much higher variety and size, all elements match a same matrix. They vary in background, clothes, earring, eyes, fur, hat and mouth for the apes in bust portraits, for a total of 170 traits. For the dogs, clothes, earring and hat are superseded by back, head, neck and feet. Most apes are bored throughout a few variants but rarer expressions from rage to jovial are also included.
A set of 101 of each series will be sold online by Sotheby's on September 9, 2021. The Yacht Club was sold for $ 24.4M from a lower estimate of $ 12M, lot 1. The Kennel Club was sold for $ 1.84M, lot 2.
Two series are starting the new process : Bore Ape Yacht Club and Bore Ape Kennel Club. Each of them is made of 10,000 NFT supported digital images, released on the Ethereum blockchain. The dogs had originally been released for a free adoption.
All of them are unique. As for the CryptoPunks but in a much higher variety and size, all elements match a same matrix. They vary in background, clothes, earring, eyes, fur, hat and mouth for the apes in bust portraits, for a total of 170 traits. For the dogs, clothes, earring and hat are superseded by back, head, neck and feet. Most apes are bored throughout a few variants but rarer expressions from rage to jovial are also included.
A set of 101 of each series will be sold online by Sotheby's on September 9, 2021. The Yacht Club was sold for $ 24.4M from a lower estimate of $ 12M, lot 1. The Kennel Club was sold for $ 1.84M, lot 2.
