ARTnews in Brief: Ed Ruscha Painting Could Fetch $22 M. at Auction—and More from October 20, 2021
Wednesday, October 20
Ed Ruscha‘s 1967 painting Ripe will hit the auction block during a New York contemporary art evening sale at Christie’s this November. The painting, which features its titular word written in an unidentifiable crimson-red liquid, is expected to fetch a price between $18 million and $22 million. If it reaches its high estimate, the work will be among the top four pieces by the artist ever sold at auction. The canvas is one of the earliest three-dimensional word paintings that Ruscha produced, and is one of just 12 large-scale liquid paintings by Ruscha, nine of which reside in museums collections. The work has been held in the same collection for 20 years and was last exhibited at the Menil Collection in Houston in 2000.
Stephen Friedman Gallery Adds Hulda Guzmán to Its Roster
Stephen Friedman Gallery in London now represents Dominican painter Hulda Guzmán. Drawing on Surrealism, Mexican muralism, and Caribbean folk traditions, she conjures Technicolor jungle landscapes and sparse interiors populated with a riotous cast of humans, animals, and mythic creatures. In these dreamlike narratives, she alludes to colonial legacies that intrude on the natural landscape. Guzmán’s first presentation with the gallery will take place in 2022. Her work has previously been exhibited at venues including Galería Machete in Mexico City, Fundación arteba in Buenos Aires, and Dio Horia Gallery in Athens.
Tuesday, October 19
Sotheby’s Sells Hebrew Manuscript for Record $8.3 M.
On Tuesday, Sotheby’s set a record price for an illustrated German Hebrew prayerbook dating to between the late 13th century and early 14th century for $8.3 million. The book sold for twice its low $4 million estimate. The result makes the manuscript the most expensive Hebrew prayerbook ever sold at auction. The book was sold from the collection of the Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU) to support the institution’s educational initiatives. An American collector with significant holdings of Medieval Hebrew manuscripts purchased the book, according to Sotheby’s.
Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement Reveals Artist List for 2021 Edition
The Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement has announced the participating artists for its 2021 edition, which opens in Geneva on November 11. Entitled “A Goodbye Letter A Love Call A Wake-Up Song”, it is curated by Andrea Bellini, director of the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, and DIS, a New York–based collective comprised of Lauren Boyle, Solomon Chase, Marco Roso and David Toro, which will also present a new film. The participating artists are Emily Allan & Leah Hennessey, Theo Anthony, Riccardo Benassi, Will Benedict & Steffen Jørgensen, Hannah Black & Juliana Huxtable & And Or Forever, Giulia Essyad, Simon Fujiwara, GRAU, Mandy Harris Williams, Camille Henrot, Sabrina Röthlisberger, Akeem Smith, and Telfar. Each artist will produce a new moving image work for the exhibition.
Toledo Museum of Art Appoints Curator of American Art
The Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio has named Erin Corrales-Diaz as its new curator of American art, beginning next month. Corrales-Diaz will be responsible for leading the museum’s collection of American art and collaborating with the curatorial team on the reinstallation of the museum’s collections, with the aim to make art historical narratives more accessible to audiences. In a statement, Adam Levine, the museum’s director, said, “Erin brings fresh and original insights to American art history. Her important perspective will expand our vision of what defines American art.”
Monday, October 18
Emma Enderby Named Chief Curator of Haus der Kunst
The Haus der Kunst in Munich has appointed Emma Enderby as its chief curator. Enderby is currently a curator at the Shed, an arts space in New York where she has staged exhibitions devoted to Ian Cheng, Agnes Denes, and others. She will remain curator-at-large there, and is set to continuing working on a Tomás Saraceno show for the Shed before beginning at the Haus der Kunst in November. “Emma’s broad interdisciplinary expertise combined with her deep commitment to visionary artistic practices will be a fundamental contribution to the new paths of Haus der Kunst,” Andrea Lissoni, the institution’s artistic director, said in a statement.
Hawai‘i Contemporary Announces Details for Hawai‘i Triennial
Hawai‘i Contemporary has announced the artist and venue list for the inaugural Hawai‘i Triennial, which will take place February 18 through May 8 across seven exhibition venues spanning the Hawaiian Island of O‘ahu, including the Bishop Museum, the Foster Botanical Garden, the Hawai‘i State Art Museum, the Honolulu Museum of Art, and the Royal Hawaiian Center. Entitled “Pacific Century – E Ho‘omau no Moananuiākea,” it will feature 43 International and native Hawaiian artists including Ai Weiwei, Theaster Gates, and Herman Pi‘ikea Clark. Each artist and collective will present new commissions exploring themes of post-colonization and climate change within a local context.
Getty Museum Acquires Rare Bassano Painting
The Getty Museum in Los Angeles has acquired the monumental 16th-century painting The Miracle of the Quails (1554) by Venetian artist Jacopo Bassano. Measuring around seven feet tall, it is one of the largest works executed by the artist and has never before been displayed publicly. The painting depicts the biblical episode of Moses and the Israelites averting starvation in the desert after a flock of quails falls from the sky. In a statement, Getty director Timothy Potts said the work will be installed in early November as the centerpiece of the museum’s 16th-century northern Italian paintings gallery, alongside works by Titian, Veronese, Savoldo, Lotto, and Dosso Dossi.
Source: ARTnews
