Damien Hirst, “Frank Eggs-ellent Dunphy” (2010), pen on placemat, 22 cm (image courtesy the British Museum)
The British Museum has acquired 73 portraits of Frank Dunphy by Damien Hirst, donated by Dunphy through the Cultural Gifts Scheme. The portraits are known as “The Wolseley Drawings” and were created between 2004 and 2010, when the two would meet for breakfast at the Wolseley in Mayfair. During their meetings, Hirst drew these portraits on the back of the Wolseley restaurant’s 22 centimeter diameter placemats. “The British Museum is delighted to have acquired such a vivacious group of drawings by Damien Hirst, and we are grateful to the Cultural Gifts Scheme and to Frank Dunphy for making it possible,” said Hartwig Fisher, Director of the British Museum. “These drawings provide a compelling insight into one of the most fascinating and impactful art world partnerships.” [via email announcement]
The Brooklyn Museum has announced a wide range of acquisitions across a number of collections and mediums. Acquisitions include Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun’s “Portrait of Countess Maria Theresia Czernin;” over 3,000 vintage photos on women’s history taken between the 1850s and 1980s from the Kaplan-Henes Collection, assembled over 25 years by Daile Kaplan, Vice President of Photography and Photobooks at Swann Gallery, and Brooklyn-based artist Donna Henes; Xu Bing’s “Square Word Calligraphy: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Walt Whitman” (2018), created for the Brooklyn Museum in consultation with Susan L. Beningson, Assistant Curator, Asian Art, in celebration of the artist’s close relationship with Brooklyn; 50 photographic works by contemporary Chinese artists such as Cang Xin, Hai Bo, Hong Hao, Huang Yan, Li Tianyuan, and more; 31 gelatin silver photographs by American artists Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind; Chris Martin’s “Dark Times in America (Blonde on Blonde)” (2017), Al Held’s “Untitled” (1958), and Alex Katz’s portrait of Arthur Jafa, “Arthur 1” (2017), all gifted by Alex Katz; Joan Snyder’s painting “Buried Images” (1978); Constance Peck Beaty’s portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, donated by Ginsburg; and Rob Wynne’s “EXTRA LIFE” (2018). [via email announcement]
Édouard Vuillard, “Modèle assise dans un fauteuil, se coiffant” (c.1903), oil on board, 61 x 67 cm (image courtesy Pallant House Gallery)
Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, UK has acquired Édouard Vuillard’s oil painting “Modèle assise dans un fauteuil, se coiffant [Model seated in a chair, combing her hair]” (c. 1903). The work was acquired from the estate of Lord Hutchinson and allocated through HM Government’s Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme, run by the Arts Council. The painting will go on display in the Gallery’s current exhibition Art Quake: Post-impressionism and British Art, which continues through June, and will then enter the collection displays for the summer. [via email announcement]
Diedrick Brackens, “when no softness came” (2019), cotton and acrylic yarn, 96 x 96 inches (image courtesy the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles and Seoul)
At Frieze New York, the Brooklyn Museum has acquired Diedrick Brackens’s “when no softness came” (2019) and Gala Porras-Kim’s “13 International Dogs” through the LIFEWTR Fund. Founded in 2017, the LIFEWTR Fund supports the Brooklyn Museum’s acquisition of works by emerging artists. [via email announcement]
The News Journal; text from Northeast Conservation Association, Black Survival Guide, or How to Live Through a Police Riot, c. 1960s; Daniels Collection, image courtesy the Delaware Historical Socisty, © Hank Willis Thomas)” width=”720″ height=”469″ srcset=”https://hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/05/How-to-Live-through-a-Police-Riot-720×469.jpg 720w, https://hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/05/How-to-Live-through-a-Police-Riot-600×391.jpg 600w, https://hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/05/How-to-Live-through-a-Police-Riot-1080×703.jpg 1080w, https://hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/05/How-to-Live-through-a-Police-Riot-360×234.jpg 360w, https://hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/05/How-to-Live-through-a-Police-Riot.jpg 1460w” sizes=”(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px”>Hank Willis Thomas, “Black Survival Guide, or How to Live Through a Police Riot]” (2018), screen print on retroreflective vinyl with aluminum backing, 62 x 48 inches, (photograph of Wilmington Riots and National Guard Occupation by Frank Fahey, 1968; courtesy The News Journal; text from Northeast Conservation Association, Black Survival Guide, or How to Live Through a Police Riot, c. 1960s; Daniels Collection, image courtesy the Delaware Historical Society, © Hank Willis Thomas)
The Delaware Art Museum has purchased Hank Willis Thomas’s “Black Survival Guide, or How to Live Through a Police Riot” (2018), a series of 13 retroreflective screen prints; an 1871 oil painting by Robert Duncanson; and a 1940 poster by Robert Pious. “It is particularly exciting to acquire as we plan for the reinstallation of several permanent collection galleries in 2020,” said Heather Campbell Coyle, Chief Curator and Curator of American Art. “These works will allow us to share a more inclusive and exciting story of art and artists with our community.”
Mahmoud Sabri, “Al Mawt Al-Tafl (The Death of a Child)” (1963), oil on canvas, 54 x 77 1/8 inches (image courtesy Sotheby’s)
Sotheby’s sale of 20th Century Art / Middle East in London brought in a total of £3,458,000 (~$4,525,000) on April 30. The sale’s top lot, Mahmoud Sabri’s “Al Mawt Al-Tafl [The Death of a Child]” (1963), sold for £891,000 (~$1,166,000).
Jean-Léon Gérôme, “Rider and His Steed in the Desert,” oil on canvas, 23 3/4 x 39 1/2 inches (image courtesy Sotheby’s)
Sotheby’s The Orientalist Sale sale in London brought in a total of £5,367,500 (~$7,023,000) on April 30. The sale’s top lot, Jean-Léon Gérôme’s “Rider and His Steed in the Desert,” sold for £1,155,000 (~$1,511,000).
Andy Warhol, “Campbell’s Soup I (F. & S. II.44-53)” (1968), 10 screenprints in colors, on wove paper, printed by Salvatore Silkscreen Co., Inc., published by Factory Additions, New York, framed, sheets: 35 x 23 inches (image courtesy Sotheby’s)
Sotheby’s Prints & Multiples Day and Evening sales in New York brought in a total of $13 million on April 29 and 30. The sales’ top lot, Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup I (F. & S. II.44-53)” (1968), sold for $980,000.
Juan van der Hamen y León, “Still Life with Flowers and Fruit” (1629), 34 x 51 7/8 inches (image courtesy Christie’s)
Christie’s sale of Masterworks from the Estate of Lila and Herman Shickman in New York brought in a total of $10,464,750 on May 1. The sale’s top lot, Juan van der Hamen y León’s “Still Life with Flowers and Fruit” (1629), sold for $6,517,500.
Jan Sanders van Hemessen, “Double portrait of a husband and wife, half-length, seated at a table, playing tables” (1532), oil on canvas, 43 3/4 x 50 3/8 inches (image courtesy Christie’s)
Christie’s Old Masters sale in New York brought in a total of $32,982,250 on May 1. The sale’s top lot, Jan Sanders van Hemessen’s “Double portrait of a husband and wife, half-length, seated at a table, playing tables” (1532), sold for $10,036,000.
Gustave Courbet, “Le chasseur d’eau” (1973), oil on canvas, 23 1/2 x 28 3/4 inches (image courtesy Christie’s)
Christie’s European Art sale in New York brought in a total of $6,292,875 on April 30. The sale’s top lot, Gustave Courbet’s “Le chasseur d’eau” (1873), sold for $615,000.
Jean-Henri Riesener, a Louis XVI ormulu-mounted bois satine, amaranth, sycamore, and marquetry commode (1774), 37 1/2 inches high, 65 3/4 inches wide, 25 1/2 inches deep (image courtesy Christie’s)
Christie’s The Desmarais Collection: A pied-à-terre sale in New York brought in a total of $5,400,250 on April 30. The sale’s top lot, a Louis XVI Ormolu-mounted bois satine, amaranth, sycamore, and marquetry commode by Jean-Henri Riesener (1774), sold for $1,155,000.
A Roman Marble Portrait Bust of emperor Didius Julianus, reign 193 CE, 28 inches high (image courtesy Christie’s)
Christie’s Antiquities sale in New York brought in a total of $8,652,125 on April 29. The sale’s top lot, a Roman marble portrait bust of Emperor Didius Julianus, sold for $4,815,000.
A Roman black chalcedony intaglio portrait of Antinous (c. mid-2nd century CE), in a Renaissance gold mount, 1 3/8 inches long (image courtesy Christie’s)
Christie’s sale of Masterpieces in Miniature: Ancient Engraved Gems formerly in the G. Sangiorgi Collection in New York brought in a total of $10,640,500 on April 29. The sale’s top lot, a Roman black chalcedony intaglio portrait of Antinous (c. 130–138 CE), sold for $2,115,000.
Christie’s Post-War & Contemporary Art sale in Amsterdam brought in a total of €7,834,250 (~$8,811,000) on April 30–May 1. The sale’s top lot, Imi Knoebel’s “Zion” (1998–99), sold for €328,000 (~$429,000).
Christie’s sale of Orientalist Art in London brought in a total of £4,798,125 (~$6,257,000) on April 29. The sale’s top lot, Gustav Bauernfeind’s “Forecourt of the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus” (1890), sold for £3,611,250 (~$4,710,000).
