art news Archives – Daily Art Fixx

“The Art Review Power 100, published each year in the November issue of Art Review magazine, is a comprehensive listing of the artworld’s most powerful figures. Entrants are ranked according to a combination of influence over the production of art internationally, sheer financial clout and activity in the previous 12 months – criteria which encompass artists, of course, as well as collectors, gallerists and curators. Regular appearances are also made by those who run the major art fairs, by museum and foundation directors, and even by the occasional critic.”

Topping the list in the artist category were American artists Bruce Nauman, and Jeff Koons, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss, and American mixed media artist Mike Kelley to name a few.

Visit Art Review 100 to see the complete list.

Bruce-Nauman-Topological-Gardens-2009 - Top Artist named in The Art Review Power 100

Happy New Year Everyone!! See you in 2010!!

1. Raphael’s (1483-1520) chalk drawing “Head of a Muse” sold for 29.2 million pounds ($47.6 million) at Christie’s London on Dec. 8, setting an auction record for a work of art on paper. It was bought by the U.S.-based collector Leon Black, chief executive of Apollo Global Management LLC and a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

2. Henri Matisse’s (1869-1954) 1911 still life of cowslips, “Les coucous, tapis bleu et rose” from the collection of late couturier Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge sold for 35.9 million euros ($45.6 million), an artist record, at a Christie’s Paris auction on Feb. 23. The buyer was New York- based dealer Franck Giraud.

3. Andy Warhol’s 1962 silkscreen painting of 200 one-dollar bills sold for $43.8 million at Sotheby’s New York on Nov. 11. It was the second highest auction price for a work by the pop artist.

4. Constantin Brancusi’s (1876-1957) wooden sculpture “Madame L.R.” (Portrait de Mme L.R. 1914-17), sold for 29.2 million euros ($37.1 million) at Christie’s Feb. 23 auction in Paris from the collection of Saint Laurent and Berge.

5. Rembrandt’s 1658 “Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo” sold for 20.2 million pounds ($32.9 million) to Las Vegas casino developer Steve Wynn. The painting was sold by Johnson & Johnson heiress Barbara Piasecka Johnson at Christie’s London on Dec. 8.

6. An Art Deco armchair with lacquered wood arms shaped as dragons, by designer Eileen Gray (1878-1976), sold for 21.9 million euros ($28.1 million), more than 10 times its low estimate at Christie’s Paris. The work from the collection of Saint Laurent and Berge established an auction record for 20th-century design.

7. Piet Mondrian’s 1922 abstract “Composition avec bleu, rouge, jaune et noir” sold for 21.6 million euros ($27.4 million) at Christie’s Paris sale from the collection of Saint Laurent and Berge.

8. A Ming-dynasty scroll “Eighteen Arhats” by Wu Bin (1573-1620) sold for 170 million yuan ($25 million) at Poly International Auction Co. in Beijing in November. Shanghai-based collector and stock-investor Liu Yiqian bought the work.

9. Alberto Giacometti’s (1901-1966) figure of a falling man, “L’Homme Qui Chavire,” sold by Conde Nast chairman S. I. Newhouse Jr., sold for $19.4 million at Sotheby’s New York on Nov. 4.

10. Edgar Degas’s (1834-1917) bronze sculpture, “Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans” (1922) sold for 13.3 million pounds ($19.2 million) at Sotheby’s London on Feb. 3.

Source: Business Week

2009 Art Review Power 100

Top Ten Art Sales of 2009