Welcome to the first edition of our Sunday Art Brunch series, where every week we will be bringing you the latest and most exciting developments in the art world. From new exhibitions and artist interviews to market trends and industry insights, we've got you covered. So sit back, relax, and join us for a curated selection of art news to start your Sunday off right.
The most expensive art works of 2022
The 10 most expensive works of 2022, from Magritte to Basquiat and Van Gogh, breaking the $100 million mark. Artsy describes the ranking, stating that most of sales come from Paul Allen Collection, the most expensive auction in recorded history.
The first work is Andy Warhol's Marylin which went to auction at Christie's with an estimate never seen before: $195 million grabbed by Larry Gagosian. It is the top od 2022.
The second one, Les Poseuses Ensemble by Georges Seurat, 50 years after its last auction, was sold for $149.2 million again during an auction at Christie's in New York. This result is aided by the reference to Un dimanche d'été à l'Île de La Grande Jatte, the artist's most famous work, "incorporated" in the painting beyond the chain of illustrious former owners, from Alphonse Kann to John Quinn, all the way to Microsoft co-founder, tycoon and philanthropist Paul Allen.
The third work auctioned is by Paul Cézanne, La Montagne Saint Victore, defined by Christie's "as the talisman of his most intimate self", sold during the sale dedicated to Paul Allen Collection, with a growth equal to 250% compared to 2001 during Philips auction.
The fourth, also from Paul Allen Collection, is Verger aver cyprès, sold in Rockefeller Center for $117.2 million.
The Tahitian women, the paradisiacal environment, the clear fields of color, all the best of Paul Gauguin's research is present in the masterpiece awarded in November by Christie's in New York. Maternité II from 1899 now holds the title of the artist's most expensive work sold at auction, with a new milestone of $105.7 million.
Another sale for over $100 million, the last one in 2022. It is The birch forest by the Viennese Gustav Klimt, exhibited during the exhibition Klimt: Secession, in Vienna, already in 1903.
In New York, again against the backdrop of the collection of philanthropist Paul Allen, Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau) of Lucian Freud – inspired by Watteau's work Pierrot Content (about 1712, at Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid) – flies to share $86.3 million. A new record for the Berlin artist.
It's a double for the King of the Pop: beyond the portrait of Marilyn, Andy Warhol's White Disaster (White Car Crash 19 Times) also finds space in the top 10. Sotheby's sold it in November, in New York, for the stratospheric sum of $85.3 million.
Jean-Michel Basquiat led Phillips' 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale last May. 5 meters of length and an exhibition curriculum that have made Untitled the highest paid piece of the maison in the last 12 months. Untiltled was awarded for $85 million.
At Sotheby's Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction in March in London, Magritte's Empire of Lights tripled the artist's latest finish, coming in at $79.2 million.
NFTMe coming soon on Amazon Prime Video: a new documentary TV series about art and technology
The TV series, as Cointelegraph tell us, features artists, collectors, and industry professionals across the world sharing their experiences with NFTs and how the merger between art and technology has positively affected their daily lives. In six 30-minute episodes, NFTMe introduces 50 pioneers in the NFT space from four continents, including American singer Susaye Greene of The Supremes; Queen Diambi Kabatusuila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Refik Anadol, a digital artist for SpaceX and NASA; Peter Rafelson, a music producer for Madonna; and Cheryl Douglas of Portion, who launched NFT collections for the Black-Eyed Peas. “NFTMe intends to be the MTV of NFTs, providing the default go-to for information on NFTs in a clear, understandable, and effective way, enabling viewers to absorb the plethora of terminology, diversity, and opportunity in the Web3 realm, whilst experiencing the culture, the mood, the style, and the energy”, Tech Talk said in the official announcement.
168 spectacular new Nazca geoglyphs have been discovered in Peru
A team of archaeologists has discovered 168 new geoglyphs in the desert area of Nazca, in southern Peru: ART news shows that the drawings represent birds, cats and humans and date back to a period between 100 BC. and 300 AD.
Although the exact function of the Nazca geoglyphs remains unknown, one of the most accredited hypotheses is that they had a ritual purpose, in relation to astrology.
The exploration campaign was led by Professor Masato Sakai of University of Yamagata, Japan, and Peruvian archaeologist Jorge Olano. The team used aerial photographs, some captured by drones, to decipher the lines. Most of the newly discovered figures are relatively small, less than thirty feet, and many were drawn on hillsides.
Germany returned 21 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
21 Benin Bronzes of the public collections of German museums have been returned to Nigeria, during an handover ceremony in the administrative capital of Abuja.
More than a thousand artifacts from the series Benin Bronzes, as The Guardian tell us, ended up in German museums following their purchase by British traders, who had stolen the precious artifacts during a violent raid on the Kingdom of Benin in 1897. Over a century later, the works are returning to Africa.
The city of Cologne has confirmed that they started the procedures for the repatriation of 92 bronzes, 40 of them will remain in the country for the time being. The United States has also done its part, returning the bronzes from the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
An exhibition dedicated to female sexual pleasure in Portugal
Artribune writes about an exhibition that explores the theme of Amor Veneris (the clitoris) from an artistic and scientific perspective, seeking to provide an educational, provocative and irreverent experience. Amor Veneris — A Journey into Female Sexual Pleasure also aims to lead the public to reflect on the relevance of female sexual pleasure, and on fundamental issues such as consent, sexual violence against women, and the female sexual response, among other concepts that are inseparable from the experience of sexuality. Alongside the presence of numerous national and non-national contemporary artists, the selection of the works makes use of international names known for genre poetics, such as Louise Borgeois, Anette Messager, Ana Mendieta, Laura Prouvost and an original body of bibliographic research, Cliteracy. The message of the exhibition is provocative and enlightening: female emancipation finds its way only through awareness of the importance of one's own pleasure.
Open unti March 8, 2023
Amor Veneris. Viagem ao Prazer Sexual Femnino
Museu Pedagogico do sexo
Palàcio Anjos, Lisbon, Portugal
