Displaying items by tag: wassily kandinsky

A museum rarely publicizes its doubts about rights to works in its collection—but that’s what Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum is doing in an exhibition that opens Friday.

“The Stedelijk Museum in the Second World War” recounts the daring ways in which the museum’s employees fought Nazi censors after Germany conquered the Netherlands in May 1940. But the show also features 16 works in the permanent collection by artists including Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Henri Matisse that the museum says it might not rightfully own.

Works by Kandinsky, Chagall and Malevich are due to travel from Russia to Spain for the opening of Malaga’s State Russian Museum this March. The first European branch of the St. Petersburg institution is due to be housed in a former tobacco factory in the southern Spanish city.

The inaugural display, “Russian Art of the XV-XX centuries”, traces a path of the country’s art history through 100 works, beginning with Russian icons from the end of the Middle Ages to Modernism and concluding with Soviet Realism. The director of the Russian State Museum, Vladimir Gusev, told "El Diario Sur" in an interview: “we want to break the stereotypes of Russian art.”

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art presents Expressionism in Germany and France: From Van Gogh to Kandinsky ( on view through September 14, 2014), an exhibition that sheds new light on the extraordinary response of artists in Germany and France to key developments in modern art in the early 20th century. For the first time in a major museum exhibition, Expressionism is presented not as a distinctly German style but as an international movement in which artists in Germany and France responded with various aesthetic approaches to modern masters such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, and Paul Gauguin, among others. Over 40 artists—including Wassily Kandinsky, Emil Nolde, Gabrielle Münter, Franz Marc, Robert Delaunay, and Pierre Bonnard—are represented in over 90 paintings and 45 works on paper, in addition to approximately 30 ephemera objects.

“Expressionism in Germany and France offers a unique opportunity to observe the ways that a generation of artists was influenced by some of the greatest names in modern art history,” says exhibition curator Timothy O. Benson. “Our visitors will gain insight into the culturally rich cosmopolitan milieu established by the many exhibitions, collectors, gallerists, critics, and not least the artists of the time (many of whom traveled between Paris and Germany) and how this cultural atmosphere transcended national borders.”

An iconic painting of water lilies by Claude Monet helped Sotheby’s (BID) sell 122 million pounds ($208 million) of Impressionist and modern art in London.

Yesterday evening’s tally represented a 15 percent increase from a year ago and was Sotheby’s third highest result for the category in London. Of the 46 lots offered only four failed to find buyers as Russian, Asian and American collectors competed for works by Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky. The sale also benefited from the presence of several estates, including that of Jan Krugier, a prominent art dealer who died in 2008.

Christie’s Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art on Tuesday, May 6, realized $285,879,000 (£168,668,610/€205,832,880), selling 89% by lot and 96% by value. This marks the highest total for Christie’s New York in this category since May 2010. Of the 53 works offered, 9 lots sold for over $10 million, 18 for over $5 million, and 43 for over $1 million. The sale was led by works from distinguished private collections, including Monet’s Nymphéas from The Clark Family Treasures and Picasso’s Portrait de femme (Dora Maar) from the Viktor and Marianne Langen Collection. Two additional sales, Works on Paper and the Day sale, will complete the series on Wednesday, May 7.

Brooke Lampley, Head of Department, Impressionist & Modern Art, Christie’s New York, commented, “Our strong performance tonight, the highest since May of 2010, is a testament to the continued strength of the global market for Impressionist and Modern works of art. Bidders from 36 countries competed in our sale tonight for a wide variety of works, from Monet’s classic Nymphéas and Modigliani’s engaging portrait of a red-haired man, to bold, modern works by Picasso and Kandinsky. Our global team has worked tirelessly to source the best works available this season, many of which had never been offered at auction, including star lots from the leading collections of the season: the Clark Family Treasures, the Estate of Edgar M. Bronfman and the Viktor and Marianne Langen Collection.”

"Degenerate Art" is the term Adolf Hitler and his henchmen used to describe works they simply did not like. The Nazis are long gone. Much of the art they denounced has survived, and is now on view. Here's Erin Moriarty of "48 Hours":

In the cultural capital that was Berlin in the early 1930s, art and politics often clashed, with modern artists like George Grosz leading the charge.

"Grosz was fearless, and whether it was his art or politics, he spoke his mind," said Jonathan Petropoulos, a history professor at Claremont McKenna College in California. "He was probably the most famous Communist artist in Germany at the time, and he used his art as a weapon."

China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, purchased a painting by Pablo Picasso of his young children, for $28.2 million at Christie’s in New York on November 4, 2013. The work, which was part of the sale of art dealer Jan Krugier’s collection, was expected to sell for $9 million to $12 million. Jianlin acquired Claude et Paloma through Rebecca Wei, managing director of Christie’s Asia. He is the founder of Dalian Wanda Group, a Chinese conglomerate with activities in real estate development, tourism, hotels and more.  

Overall, the sale failed to reach its full potential, falling 34% below the low end of its presale estimate of $171.4 million. The two-part auction brought in $92.5 million and out of 155 lots, 29 failed to find buyers including works by Paul Klee, Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Gerhard Richter and Robert Rauschenberg.

Krugier, who died in 2008, was one of the leading dealers in premier 20^th century art for four decades. He operated galleries in Geneva and New York.

Christie’s Geneva will offer the jewelry collection of Hélène Rochas, wife and muse of the late fashion designer Marcel Rochas, on November 12, 2013 as part of its Magnificent Jewels auction. The 18-piece collection includes a ruby brooch by Van Cleef & Arpels (estimate: $190,000-$255,000), a rare leaping tiger brooch by Rene Boivin (estimate: $190,000-$255,000) and a pink topaz, aquamarine and diamond bangle by Verdura (estimate: $127,000-$190,000).

Rochas, who passed away in 2011, also maintained an impressive art collection that included works by Edouard Vuillard, Wassily Kandinsky and four portraits of herself by Andy Warhol. In 2012, Christie’s Paris organized a sale of her art holdings, which ended up breaking four world records.

Besides Rochas’ collection, the jewelry sale will include pieces once belonging to Bolivian tycoon Simón Iturri Patiño. Highlights include an emerald and diamond necklace by Cartier London (estimate: $7 million-$10 million) and a cushion-shaped F-color diamond ring of 32.65 carats by Chaumet (estimate: $2.2 million-$2.8 million).

Christie’s will sell a number of pieces from the collection of Jan Krugier, an art dealer who sold works for Pablo Picasso’s family. The sale will include over 150 lots and is expected to garner at least $170 million. The sale, A Dialogue Through Art: Works from the Jan Krugier Collection, will take place on November 4-5, 2013 at the auction house’s New York location.

Krugier, who died in 2008, was one of the leading dealers in premier 20^th century art for four decades. He operated galleries in Geneva and New York and exhibited at highly anticipated art fairs including Art Basel in Switzerland and TEFAF Masstricht in the Netherlands. Krugier’s Manhattan gallery closed in 2010 and his company no longer participates in fairs.

A Dialogue Through Art will present 30 works by Picasso including a maquette for the 65-foot sculpture Tete, which is located in Chicago. The work is expected to sell for $25 million to $35 million and is the most valuable piece in the sale. Other highlights include a bronze sculpture by Alberto Giacometti made for the Venice Biennale, which is expected to sell for $9 million to $12 million; a Fauvist period landscape by Wassily Kandinsky, which carries a $20 million to $25 million estimate; and a 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, which is expected to sell for $3 million to $4 million.

A selection of works from the upcoming sale will be on view at Christie’s headquarters in London through September 19, 2013.

On November 4, 2013, Christie’s will auction works from the private collection of the prominent art dealer Jan Kruiger. The sale, which will take place five year’s after Kruiger’s death, is expected to garner over $160 million. A consequent sale of works on paper and sculpture will likely bring around $15 million.

The sale at Christie’s will present a mere fraction of Kruiger’s personal collection. The remainder has either been sold privately or resides with his family. Highlights from the upcoming auction include Wassily Kandinsky’s landscape Herbstlandschaft, which carries an estimate of $6 million to $8 million, and Pablo Picasso’s sheet-iron sculpture Tete (Head), which is expected to fetch $25 million to $35 million.

While Christie’s and Sotheby’s were in close competition to helm the sale, Christie’s allegedly offered a more profitable financial package to Kruiger’s heirs, giving them a more significant percentage of the buyer’s premium.

Kruiger opened the Jan Kruiger Gallery of New York, which specialized in 19^th century, 20^th century and contemporary art, in 1967. It remained a fixture of the art world for decades.