"Murmur" by Ray Lee. No Longer Empty at Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art.

New Food: Anonymous Gallery along with some other biggies present

Theresa Byrnes Performance on Kickstarter: Join her cause

Jean Pigozzi Limo Land Launch Party

This party rocked! I don't exactly agree with the "old rich men" description of  Guest of a Guest but they have great pics of some celebs wearing Jean Pigozzi's line. After perusing, parlaying and purchasing at the Limo Land store on 829 Washington Street, everyone went next door to Hector's, the quintessential meat packing Diner/Deli/Dive for, you guessed it!, grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, fried chicken and champagne. A belly dancer, and music to dance to complimented the happy vibe among the party goers. Of course, that night I forgot my camera home.
However: Click here for some great photos from the party from the Billy Farrell Agency...
The after after  party was then at Boom Boom Room.

Core Club Presents Skidmore, Owings and Merrill; Architects of the Burj Khalifa, the World's Tallest Building

All it took is what the structural engineer called a client with a vision, to create the world's tallest building (828 m/2717 ft). Core Club presented a talk with the architects behind the Burj Khalifa, known throughout development as Burj Dubai, that opened earlier this year with a lot of fanfare. Fascinating the research that was done by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) before construction.

Post War and Contemporary Offerings: Murakami's Miss KO2

Phillips de Pury & Co has a great Philippe Segalot curated sale this week. I love Murakami's Miss KO2 uptown at the new space on 57th Street.

TAKASHI MURAKAMI

Miss ko².1997.Oil paint, acrylic, synthetic resin, fiberglass, and iron. 72 x 25 x 32 1/2 in.  Edition of 3 plus 1 AP.

And Cattelan gives new meaning to the phrase "trophy wife" with this beautiful bust of Stephanie Seymour:

MAURIZIO CATTELAN

Stephanie. 2003. Colored pigment, wax, synthetic hair, glass, metal. 43 5/16 x 25 9/16 x 16 9/16 in. Edition of 3 plus 1 AP.

Christie's rules the roost with a wide range of brand name art works and Sotheby's follows suit.

Anselm Kiefer: Next Year in Jerusalem

No words or pictures can describe the enormity of this exhibition. Go see it.
Here's an excellent interview with Anselm Kiefer:

John Currin at Gagosian: Sexier than ever but still so white

I love John Currin. Hands down he is one of my favorite American painters. Not only is he a technical virtuoso but he has a keen sense of what makes paintings beautiful, what Delacroix would call "une fete pour l'oeil." His sensuous brushstrokes reflect perfectly his subject matter. A few years ago at a dinner for his last show at Gagosian I asked him, So are you still painting porn? And he smiled sheepishly and said, Yes. He likes that subject matter and what healthy person doesn't? I do wish though that his circle of erotic subjects got a little more chocolate from time to time. But I guess that's just what it looks like out there in Connecticut, and where the paintings end up anyway...
Until December 22, 2010

19th Century Masterpiece by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema Brings a Record $35.9 Million at Sotheby's

A friend sold this piece at Sotheby's for about 10x it's estimate. When asked Is it really worth it? let your eyes and your bank account do the answering. Personally, I'd say YES!

Good question to consider: How many of these are still in private hands and may come on the market? Not enough to make this work any less valuable than the price it sold for.

The Finding of Moses, 1904, oil on canvas, 137.7 x 213.4 cm

Here's a great article by www.artdaily.org

Sale Season Starts at Sotheby's

If you're shopping for some goodies from the Impressionist and Modern sales this week...

From Sotheby's:

Henri Matisse. Danseuse dans le fauteuil, sol en damier, 1942. 

From Christie's:

Fernand Leger. Nature Morte, 1927.