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Christie’s International is shipping a 14-foot-high Andy Warhol “Mao” portrait to Hong Kong in search of a buyer, reports Bloomberg.
The silkscreen-on-canvas work, which will be displayed in the city’s main convention center May 22–29 as part of an exhibition dedicated to Warhol’s representations of the late communist leader, is expected to bring in up to $120 million in a private sale. Warhol’s auction record currently stands at $71.7 million, paid for Green Car Crash (1963) at Christie’s last May.
Christie’s is offering the “Mao,” one of Warhol’s largest and the only one in private hands, on behalf of an anonymous European seller. The other Mao portraits of this size are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. None has been shown outside of the West.
“It’s worth $120 million because it’s so rare,” said Ken Yeh, Christie’s deputy chairman in Asia.
The exhibition, “Mao by Andy Warhol,” which Christie’s organized in collaboration with New York’s L&M Arts gallery, will feature 15 portraits.
Christie’s expects the 14-foot Andy Warhol “Mao” it’s exhibiting in Hong Kong to fetch up to $120 million.
Source: Blomberg.com
Hong Kong – Christie’s is honored to showcase one of the most important works from the Mao series by Andy Warhol and the most valuable work by Warhol to remain outside of a museum during its Hong Kong 2008 Spring Sales. The work will be displayed as part of an exhibition featuring portraits of Mao by Andy Warhol from May 22-29 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where Christie’s holds its sales and views.
“It is an honor and a unique opportunity to bring one of the most important paintings by Warhol to remain outside an institution to Christie’s in Hong Kong where the international art world will gather for our Spring Sales.” said Brett Gorvy, International Co-Head of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art. “Visitors will have a chance to view this extraordinary Mao in Asia for the very first time as part of a specially curated exhibition celebrating Warhol’s legendary series.”
Mao by Andy Warhol is a superlative work in every aspect. One of the finest and greatest examples from Warhol’s entire oeuvre, this magnificent, colossal Mao stuns viewers with its staggering size and wall-power. Over 14 feet high, the painting is one of four Giant Maos of these dimensions executed by the artist. The other three are in major American and European museum collections: the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. Never before has any of these paintings been displayed outside of the Western world.
Mao encompassed Warhol’s first major critically and commercially successful series following his premature “retirement” from painting in 1965 to pursue filmmaking. A near fatal shooting in 1968 led Warhol to reevaluate his career and artistic output and he began to execute commissioned celebrity portraits in the early 1970’s. The subject of Mao marks a turning point in the artist’s career and would begin a period of renewed growth. Warhol’s choice of subject also reflected the political developments of his day. In 1971, the People’s Republic of China replaced Nationalist China in the United Nations General Assembly and Securities Council and relations between China and the United States became less strained. In fact, it was Chairman Mao who was credited for encouraging President Nixon’s visit to China in February of 1972, the first by an American leader, with the visit easing Cold War tensions between the United States and China.
The subject of this work and its relevance to Chinese history makes it an important work to exhibit in Hong Kong given its proximity and ties to mainland China. Despite his radical policies, many people still see Mao as a figure of strength and unity. Warhol’s Mao represents the shift in cultural values that has taken place over the past decade and is therefore emblematic of the bridging of east and west.
A smaller portrait of Mao by Andy Warhol established a world auction record for the artist when it sold for US$17,376,000 in Christie’s New York Evening sale in November 2006. This record was surpassed in Christie’s May 2007 Evening Sale by Warhol’s Green Car Crash, which sold for US$71,720,000 and which remains a world auction record for any work by Warhol.
The exhibition “Mao by Andy Warhol” will feature 15 additional portraits depicting Mao by Warhol. Christie’s is collaborating with L&M Arts, New York, for the exhibition of “Mao by Andy Warhol.” L&M Arts were responsible for the first exhibition of Mao to take place in American in 2006. The exhibition and sale of the Giant Mao has been organized with the help of James Mayor, The Mayor Gallery, London.
warhol is one of the pioneers of pop art, a phenomenon that emerged in the 1950s. pop art is a form of art that employs imagery from everyday life, such as consumer products and famous people. titled “a is for andy”, this exhibition features 116 of warhol’s original paintings, worth US$15 million!
for those of you who may not be familiar with warhol, here are some examples of his more known pieces.
his famous silkscreen painting series of marilyn monroe, the epitome of beauty, was done 5 years after her untimely death. each of the prints has been called “an icon of an icon created by an icon”. this is also my personal favorite from warhol.
of course, who can forget his series of 32 campbell’s soup cans? each painting in the series features a unique flavor of campbell’s soup. why campbell’s soup? because warhol had it for lunch everyday for twenty years!
the exhibition has been open for private viewing for a week. one of the first paintings to be sold is this series of 10 paintings of the late chinese leader, mao zedong, in different colors.
Found this from Paintbits.com, Paintbits has a few amazing beautiful collection , if you like Desktop Customization, icons, wallpaper, please click the link visit it, and be kind leave comments or stumble it.
Here are some of the greatest wallpapers you can find in the internet. These are among my favorites and I hope you enjoy using them as much as I did collecting them here. I was looking at the wallappers I have in My Pictures folder and remember to share them with you. Most come from deviantArt, since this is my favorite source to search for stuff like this.
Don’t forget to leave comments (if possible) in the authors pages to thank them for their work.
Kudos to their authors!
Abstract
Minimalist
Space Art
Brands
Landscape
Miscellaneous
Reader Chloe sends these images of what is surely a new Banksy piece in Bethnal Green. And she seems to have captured the face of the artist, hitherto unseen. (However, we’ve seen that flower shape before, around Shoreditch—perhaps Banksy is here teaming up with someone else.)
The work seems to be some kind of riposte to Tower Hamlets council, which recently declared it would erase all of Banksy’s graffiti in the borough.
A video claiming to show graffiti artist Banksy at work around the capital while he explains his motives is becoming a major hit on YouTube.
The clip features an interview with a man who, in a thick West Country accent, claims to be the anonymous guerrilla artist, and follows him around London as he creates several works.
In keeping with the Bristol-born artist’s desire to keep his identity secret, the face of the man in the film is never seen, and he wears a large hat throughout.
His agents refused to comment on the video, which shows the man whitewashing a wall to create a blank canvas before painting an image depicting the Mona Lisa using a bazooka gun, believed to have been in Noel Street, Soho.
It has since been painted over. The artist defends his work as he paints, asking: “Who is doing worse? Is it the billboard people or the writers?”
He also boasts of being able to finish a piece in under a minute.
“In London you can get a really good image up in 30 to 40 seconds. I believe what I am doing is fair enough and makes the city look better.” He even claims the police have helped hone his skills.
“The Old Bill are a big part of the creative process, they are like this third party helping you make decisions on the design and the amount of detail you use.”
The video also shows the artist climbing over walls to paint a railway bridge.
“If a train driver sees you they call the British Transport Police straight away,” he said.
In the film he claims to be half entertainer, half activist. “If you can be arsed to get up in the middle of the night, go out armed with paint and paint pictures that people see when they are on the train on the way to work then you are in the entertainment business. You’re also in the start-a-revolution business, and a bit of both is probably ideal.” If the film is of the real Banksy - who has become a seriously collectable artist in recent years, selling a piece for charity at Sotheby’s New York in February for almost £1million - it will be the first time his fans have been given a detailed insight into his working methods.
However, alongside the authentic Banksy pieces painted on buildings across London, there is an increasing trend for others to create “homages” to his work, complete with stencilled signatures, leading to confusion about what is, and is not, a genuine Banksy.
World’s Famousest Graffitist Stenciler Banksy Caught on Film with Damon Albarn
Banksy is a graffiti artist who did the Blur’s “Think Tank” CD cover . Until now nobody knew what he looked like.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (well, France actually) the forces of good and evil did battle once more.
No, it’s not the seventh instalment of the Star Wars series, it’s a collection of striking images involving characters from the franchise in bleak surroundings.
They include robots C-3PO and R2-D2 checking out a smashed up Citroen, overweight crimelord Jabba the Hutt in a derelict room and bounty hunter Jango Fett holding up a car.
Darth Vader is also pictured – swinging his red lightsaber against a sinister-looking building while Stormtrooper snipers prowl on the roof.
And fans of X-wing fighters and Imperial Walkers have also been catered for in the stunning images.
The Force was clearly strong with French photographer Cedric Delsaux, who created the scenes. He also managed to give his photographs a crisp science fiction feel despite the stark urban backdrops in them.
Firstly, Mr Delsaux captured bleak landscapes in Paris and Lille, and then photographed the models, which were between 20cm and 40cm tall.
He then merged the two using a computer. ‘I decided to mix together the common suburbs and some fantastic characters, which I think has created something poetic,’ he said.
Adam Lamping, of fans’ website jedinews.co.uk, said: ‘It’s such an unusual thing to see Star Wars characters from this galaxy far, far away juxtaposed with everyday suburban scenes.
‘The pictures of the Emperor’s Royal Guard are particularly impressive with the red against the dark grey skies. ‘It’s been captured perfectly.’
French photographer Cedric Delsaux brings this little Star Wars into our contemporary urban surroundings. Head over to his site to view the entire series.
THE public is making its mark on graffiti artist Banksy’s first British exhibition in three years as a whole street has been transformed into an art exhibition.
The Cans Festival, a three-day street party of stencil art, kicks off yesterday in an old tunnel formerly used by taxis, which was vacated when Eurostar left its Waterloo terminal in London.
Huge installations include smashed up cars, a CCTV camera-laden tree, an ice cream van, a cut-out of the Queen, and statues as well as artwork on the walls.
Boris Johnson also features in murals by a Dutch artist named Hugo Kaagman.
In one piece - We Need Change - the politician’s face appears by a picture of a Smurf.
From today the public can add to the exhibition with their own stencilling.
Banksy said: “Graffiti doesn’t always spoil buildings, in fact it’s the only way to improve a lot of them.
“In the space of a few hours with a couple of hundred cans of paint I’m hoping we can transform a dark forgotten filth pit into an oasis of beautiful art.”
The free event is open to the public from 10am until 10pm on Monday.
After that, the installations will be removed from the road, but the artwork will remain on the walls.
The exhibition takes place in Leake Street, near Waterloo Station.
Members of the public are being invited to take part in Banksy’s latest project, as an army of graffiti artists turn a whole London street into an art exhibition
The Cans Festival starts on Saturday in an old tunnel formerly used by taxis
It was vacated when Eurostar left its Waterloo terminal in London
Banksy had noticed an abandoned access road. Eurostar, which no longer owns the tunnel, helped to put his brainwave into action
Artists from as far afield as Brazil, Canada and Australia are also taking part
Huge installations include smashed up cars, a CCTV camera-laden tree, an ice cream van, a cut out of the Queen and statues, as well as artwork on the walls
Banksy said: “Graffiti doesn’t always spoil buildings, in fact it’s the only way to improve a lot of them. In the space of a few hours with a couple of hundred cans of paint I’m hoping we can transform a dark forgotten filth pit into an oasis of beautiful art”
The public will be able to play their part by adding to the exhibition with their own stencilling
The free event is open to the public from 10am on Saturday until 10pm on Monday
The public are being encouraged to bring their own stencils and wear clothing they don’t mind being damaged
Banksy’s pieces include a classical-style statues with a twist - one named David In Flak Jacket and another called Homeless Venus. Another statue is named Brew Period and is painted in camouflage colours and holding a can of Special Brew
The Cans Festival takes place in Leake Street, near Waterloo Station. For more information see www.thecansfestival.com
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