Artnet’s Faces & Figures Photographs Sale

Bert Stern – Marilyn Monroe: from The Last Sitting (“I beg of you”)

Artnet will be featuring a special sale of 375 photographs until November 19th. It may be your chance to fetch a Cecil Beaton or a Doisneau for $500. The auction includes portraits of some of the most unforgettable faces of the 20th-21st century by legendary photographers. Bert Stern figures with Marilyn Monroe luminous portraits from the “Last Sitting”.

Yousuf Karsh – Georgia O’Keefe – circa 1956

Nude Supermodels in Sotheby’s Sale

On October 9th in New York, Sotheby’s will stage a stunning sale of photographs including several nude portraits of supermodels, with work from the likes of Chuck Close, Peter Beard, Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton and more. One of the top lots is a series of six full frontal nudes of Kate Mossby Chuck Close taken in 2003 (below), estimated at $100,000 – $150,000. (…) this relatively tame image of Nadja Auermann by Irving Penn from 1994 is also a relative bargain at $6,000 – $9,000.
- via Luxist

Pop Life: Art in a Material World

It’s tomorrow! On October 1st Tate Modern opens the doors for its very anticipated show Pop Life. The exhibition brings together artists from the 1980s onwards who have embraced commerce and the mass media to build their own ‘brands’: Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Keith Haring, Tracey Emin and others. The subject will be discussed  during the symposium Good Business is the Best Art (after Warhol’s quote). The best way to celebrate this must-needed show is by hitting the Tate shop. You can take home a Murakami Rainbow Flower Cushion or a Jeff Koons Beach Towel among many other items.

Nate Duval – Poster Art

Nate Duval works for some of my favourite bands – Wilco, Flight of The Conchords and Andrew Bird – and manages to come up with an exclusive and exciting idea for each one. Rauschenberg was partially responsible for elevating posters to a higher category of art and many artists followed his footsteps. If your budget is not enough for an original art piece, why not skip the Van Gogh’s museum posters and go straight to Duval’s website? Prices start at $15.

The Kings of Pop – Michael Jackson by Warhol goes to Auction

Andy Warhol, Michael Jackson, 1984, 76.2 x 66 cm, technicolor silkscreen

Commissioned to celebrate the success of Thriller, a portrait of Michael Jackson painted by Andy Warhol goes to auction later this August in New York. From 1984, when both artists were at their peak, the silkscreen will probably fetch far more than its starting price of $800K. Read more.

Art World Dream Gift List – part 3

Damien Hirst, Beautiful galactic exploding screenprint

Next December 16th you can be the happy winner of the online auction. This gorgeous Damien Hirst print published by Eyestorm can be bought on artnet for something between $12,000 and $14,000.
In this work Hirst reprises his early abstract spin paintings in an edition of only 500 prints.

Art World Dream Gift List – part 1

Watercolor Jamais, Louis Vuitton by Richard Prince and Marc Jacobs

In times of recession we need to escape to dreamland. My Christmas gift list comes from there. This bag is from Louis Vuitton 2008 summer/spring collection and it’s a limited edition of just 50. The price is £9,000 with part of the profits going to Serpentine Gallery in London. Why so expensive? Richard Prince signs the design together with Marc Jacobs. Read more at The Bag Lady.