Michael Appleton for The New York Times

It was the sale of the season. When a seminal Warhol — one of the artist’s first silk-screen paintings — came on the block at Sotheby’s auction of contemporary art on Wednesday night, the auctioneer, Tobias Meyer, opened bidding at $6 million and was stunned when a bidder instantly doubled it.

The price rose at breakneck speed as five collectors vied for the classic image, “200 One Dollar Bills.” It ended up selling for $43.7 million (including fees to Sotheby’s), more than three times its high estimate of $12 million. The buyer, whom Sotheby’s refused to identify, bid by telephone through Bruno Vinciguerra, the company’s chief operating officer. Sotheby’s would also not identify the seller, although people familiar with the collection said it was Pauline Karpidas, a London-based collector.

Just a year after the art market was in the doldrums with the world’s financial markets, buyers with deep pockets were not shy about stepping up for tried-and-true artists. The sale topped Sotheby’s expectations, totaling $134.4 million, well above its $67.9 million high estimate. Of the 54 works on offer, only two went unsold. The evening also eclipsed Christie’s auction of postwar and contemporary art on Tuesday night, which brought in $74.1 million. While both sales featured big-name artists, Sotheby’s had just enough blockbusters to make for a successful evening.

In pristine condition, “200 One Dollar Bills” was enticing to any Pop Art collector. Add to that the provenance — it had once been part of the celebrated collection of Robert C. Scull, the taxi tycoon — and it was irresistible.

(Final prices include the commission paid to Sotheby’s: 25 percent of the first $50,000 of the hammer price, 20 percent of the next $50,000 to $1 million and 12 percent of the rest. Estimates do not reflect commissions.)

Warhols of all ages and subjects brought strong prices. A 1965 self-portrait with a top estimate of $1.5 million sold to Laurence Graff, the London jeweler, for $5.4 million ($6.1 million with Sotheby’s commission). Warhol himself gave the work to Cathy Naso, who as a teenager in the mid-1960s worked after school in his legendary Factory.

Scared that it might get stolen, she had stashed it in the closet of her Connecticut home. As a result, its purple and red background colors were as brilliant as they were when it was painted, and collectors knew that. Mr. Graff, who sat in the first row of Sotheby’s salesroom on York Avenue, was not intimidated by five competing bidders.

“It’s a gem,” he said after the sale. “I came to New York for it and for the little Dora Maar,” he added referring to a Picasso painting at Sotheby’s last week. “And I am taking both home.”

Even Warhol drawings fetched solid prices: A 1962 sketch of a roll of cash topped expectations when Larry Gagosian, the Manhattan dealer, bought the work for $4.2 million, above its high $3.5 million estimate.

And one of Warhol’s “Tunafish Disaster” silk-screen paintings, this one from 1963 and being sold by Mr. Gagosian, was snapped up, too. It had been estimated at $1.5 million to $2 million, and Jose Mugrabi, a Manhattan dealer, bought it for $1 million ($1.2 million with fees). At Christie’s on Tuesday night, a more compelling composition of the same subject was up for sale by Peter Brant, the newsprint magnate. It had been estimated at $6 million to $8 million, but there were no takers.

By contrast, on Wednesday, a 1957 Jasper Johns painting, “Gray Numbers,” drew a lot of interest. In 2003 Richard Hedreen, a Seattle collector, bought it for $5.2 million. On Wednesday it was estimated at as much as $7 million, and brought $8.7 million.

Philippe Ségalot, a Manhattan dealer who was one of the unsuccessful bidders for “200 One Dollar Bills,” said: “I think the painting was worth it. It was rare and great. And the appealing estimate helped encourage bidding. It was really Warhol’s night.”

Christian prefers challenging concept art.

‘Spray-painted logs: not challenging concept art’

I am a little shaky on his comparison to Jaspar Johns in regards to the piece above however. Johns did some sculpture work with his light bulb, flashlight, etc, but he is by far known primarily as a painter. Of course there may be some other reference (monochromatic palettes?) that I am unaware of.

Speaking of Jasper Johns, I happened to catch the GRAY show at the The Art Institute of Chicago a few years back. Great exhibition. Unfortunately, there were no photos allowed. I did however get a nice shot of one of my favorite pieces of mid-century-modern sweetness:

Below are two of my mini essays based upon ethical responsibility and post modernism. Comments always appreciated

Ethical Responsibility, A Personal Opinion.

The issues surrounding ethical and moral responsibility within the design industry is by no means a new discussion, often found to be under debate from many designers. Having read the views of Ken Garland and other like minded designers, involved with the signing of the First Things First manifesto, and in contrast to views discussed in Paul Nini’s In Search of Ethics in Graphic Design, it is clear that there are a number of valid points that refer to my own personal beliefs not only as a designer but also as a member of society.

Although labelled by some as conveying ‘anti-consumerist’ views, the emphasis placed upon creating more everlasting forms of communication, to challenge and enhance the knowledge of our society, is something that I feel could be a huge benefit, and certainly pose as a more creative avenue to become involved with rather than contributing to the saturated field of product advertising that will inevitably come and go. Although the pressures of living within a material driven society and financial prosperity remains the priority for a large percentage of people, participating on long term projects and collaborating with other like minded designers to create more academic based information design could run alongside the commercial, consumer led market, as well as still support it, if corporate brands were more willing to collaborate and invest the time and money as well. This said, I agree with one of the comments made in relation to Nini’s essay, in which stated the feasibility of trying to convince designers to uphold to a certain set of rules is even more unrealistic given the scale of contemporary design and to quote, ‘quaintly modernist’.

As a visual designer I have a passion for creativity, and so support the choice of self-expression design rather than always having to create from a user centred perspective with the primary purpose to fulfil the needs of an intended audience. We have a freedom of speech and ideas, and in some cases it is the unhindered, highly personal design that actually achieves the most impact and invites the most discussion because of its individuality and lack of contextual focus. I believe that I have a duty to ensure that my own ideas and creativity is of use for propelling society on a wider level, and enhancing the shape of our future. To give something of meaning back to the industry, yet having fun as well as being financially stable in the process.

Having the power and ability to promote and even manipulate viewers on an unlimited range of subjects invites a wealth of possibilities that should be treated as a positive, rather than missing wasted opportunities or promoting an de-constructive ideal. Understanding the consumer, and the nature of the context of most advertising, if push came to shove I could equally find myself involved with design that some people could consider as unethical although I hope if placed within the situation of choosing work over my morals, that issues surrounding the promotion of animal cruelty; and products such as fur, or glamorising drugs, drinking or smoking, that I would not succumb to the personal rewards that may be on offer.

Ultimately, the varying opinions that ethical responsibility provokes will always remain attached to the design industry, regardless of rules, manifesto’s and market led change. Its dominance over the type of design being produced however will depend upon the continuum of the reactions of the individual, and what they consider to be offensive. As long as each individual designer remains true to his or her beliefs, the industry will continue to evolve supporting the need for a harmonious balance of opinion.

And now for Post Modernism;

Post Modernism; A Recycled Future.

The aggressive force that modernists used as a way of achieving change; leaving the past behind in order to drive forward a new idealistic future, is ultimately what caused the natural death of the modernist era, the possibilities of creating movements based solely upon original concepts and intents proving more and more difficult. This lack of background as grounding is what helped to fuel the initial catalyst of the post modernist development.

Acting as a philosophical departure from the notions of an idealist age, accepting the knowledge of the past was seen as a tool to help produce more informed design, with enhanced meanings and provide greater levels of reflection. Presenting ideas with a freedom of artistic styles and concepts could help the contemporary society develop on a range of levels rather than forcing creativity to flow in single minded avenues.

The exploration of this visual sampling process has continued to grow, with a wide array of artists and designers from numerous backgrounds wanting to explore previous ideas yet placing them into contemporary contexts. Jasper Johns; who was most active during the 1950’s, was one particular artist who, alongside Robert Rauschenberg, worked closely in providing a higher cultural status to everyday ephemera objects to not only enhance their appreciation within society but also relate his talents to objects that would be more personal to his audience.  One example being ‘Beer Cans’ in which Johns believed that the art work and actual design of beer cans were seen as a neglected form of vernacular design, and should be more widely and culturally praised, for instance being housed within art galleries. This was further enhance contextually by the fact that the beer cans were made out of bronze, a material in contrast to the use of ordinary tin, helping to change the relationship in which the viewer has with the object. He also had a strong concern for the process of his art, believing that ‘there may or may not be an idea, and the meaning may just be that the painting exists’. Producing such artwork has led to Johns being labelled as a pop artist, although his work with iconography alongside irony places him as a neo Dadaist. From the postmodernist perspective, it is a collective of all these styles that have helped to fuel his outcomes.

From a more contemporary outlook, Eduardo Recife; a Brazilian designer and illustrator active from the late 1990’s to date, creates his work through a mix of collage and hand rendered line drawings. His collage material is collected from everyday ephemera found around Brazil; ranging from years old to only a few days old, as well as classical imagery inspired by the renaissance chosen not only for its nostalgic benefits but also as a way to subvert contextual meanings to link the past to current issues faced within a contemporary society. This is further enhanced by his inclusion of personal doodles, placing his own reflections as an artist upon his pieces for which others can make up their own minds and opinions on.  Although these pieces act as art forms in their own right, many have been created for a commercially driven purpose, in which their relationship towards a particular issue in crucial for their success in enhancing the additional written communication that may exist. It is this regurgitation and subsequent manipulation of historic design influences that helps to relate its intents to that of the post modernists; a sense of ultimate creative freedom, with endless possibilities but that is heavily underpinned by the actions and developments of previous pioneers and artists, recycled and presented in new visual forms. It is this collage medium that I find particularly relevant in relation to post modernism, in allowing new meanings to develop the moment one begins juxtaposing visual samples together.

Without an understanding of historic design practices; as well as the intents and desired outcomes from the creative experiments of artists and designers, I believe we would quickly fall into a vacuum of soulless ideas, lacking in the structure and support needed to uphold new discussions and perspectives which are ultimately the driving force of a society behind propelling positive change rather than dictating it. We need to use the lessons learned in previous generations to act as grounding, as a basis for which ideas can be expanded and evolved with enhanced awareness and in light of discovering new design avenues. The post modernist era I believe can therefore be summed up as a pause within the history of design, a time for contemplation of where we have come from, what has been learned and ways in which we can draw out all of the inspiration from before, making use of anything that we may have missed first time around, caught up in the fast paced furry of ploughing out a new future. A second chance in preparation for bigger and better things.

Post Again Soon!

Currently showing at the Henry Art Gallery.

Via Atelier.

As a university theatre student, my classmates and I had a sneering reference for what we saw as inferior art, art for the masses, thinking from our golden thrones that accessibility was somehow pandering to the lowest common denominator of audience. We would roll our eyes and say this particular brand of establishment (read that as: mainstage) work was just “Art for Bucks.” A more arrogant bunch of twits you would be hard pressed to find…until you visited the next university art department…

Burt Glinn

This program has nothing to do with lowest common anything…over 85 leading, contemporary visual artists have donated their work for the Children’s Cancer and Blood Foundation auction coming up on September 22 at Sotheby’s in New York. If you aren’t Big Apple bound that day, you can also bid online for work by luminaries such as Jasper Johns, Zhang Huan, Richard Serra, Andres Serrano, and more.

From the announcement: “The Children’s Cancer & Blood Foundation (CCBF) supports the pioneering and lifesaving work of the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Each year, CCBF treats thousands of children with an array of pediatric diseases from cancers to sickle cell and HIV/AIDS. CCBF has a truly incredible group of doctors, scientists and staff committed to finding cures, as well as new and better treatments for these children regardless of their ability to pay. The hospital has made great advances in many of these diseases in recent years due to CCBF’s support. In fact, through research and in conjunction with treatment, the CCBF doctors are close to a cure for sickle cell. No child is ever turned away from services, regardless of his or her ability to pay.”

Richard Pettibone

Now THAT is accessible and all about accessibility–so get bidding.

Carlos Betancourt

I have recently bought an iPhone and have struggled to get hold of some good artist related backgrounds. So in the same vein as my earlier post Widescreen Artist Wallpapers I have once again decided to make some of my own. Just click on the image to download a version for your iPhone.

Warhol	Monet	Bacon
Braque	Klimt	Matisse
Pollock	Johns	Malevich
Duchamp	Picasso	Cézanne
Rauschenberg	Kandinsky	De Kooning

Have you ever read the abstracts of humor pieces from the New Yorker archive? Of course you haven’t done, you uncultured sot. Well, let me just point you in the right direction. Read this and tell me what you think.

Pretty funny, no? I thought so, too. I’m glad we agree on the matter.

I also found another interesting, related (if you clicked the link) little something. There have been, this decade, no less than four pieces, plus a blog entry, in the New Yorker with the title “String Theory.” Observe here. Talk about weak. This is supposed to be the top cultural magazine in the world (maybe? I don’t really know. I assume it is.) and they’re using the same trite pun for articles about Joanna Newsom, Jasper Johns and French ready-to-wear fashion.

Needless to say, none of the articles are actually about string theory.

For many Americans, President Barack Obama symbolizes a changing mindset in America. For art lovers, this change can also be applied to the art in the private residence of the most traditionally American house in the nation: the White House.

Compared to other presidents, Obama’s artistic taste reflects a more modern, contemporary approach to fine art. Clinton preferred a frothy portrait of Mamie Eisenhower clad in a pink debutante ballgown, where George Bush fancied the more muscular patriotism of George Caitlin’s  “Wild Frontier” series. Obama in turn has made clear that he wishes to add a brighter color pallete to the imperial walls.

The Art Newspaper described the launch of a campaign that will “replace the fustiness of the existing collection with works by ‘more diverse’ artists.” Approaches (discreet and not) have been made to dealers and collectors who represent African American, Hispanic and Asian artists as well as female painters. Of the 400 pieces in the White House’s permanent collection purchased over centuries, only five are by black artists.

Specifically, the President has been drawn to contemporary painters such as Ed Ruscha and Jasper Johns. On inauguration day, the National Gallery for Art provided  the presidential living quarters with a plethora of loans, including John’s 1969 lead relief, Numerals, 0 Through 9; and Ruscha’s I think I’ll…

The First Lady’s office, which handles the White House’s art outreach effort, has turned to the Hirschorn Museum and Sculpture Garden for loans on paintings by modern artists, including Glenn Ligon & Alma Thomas. Pieces include a 1992 text painting by Ligon, Black Like Me #2 and two works by Thomas: Watusi (Hard Edge) and Sky Light. The Hirschorn’s chief curator, Kerry Brougher, said he was impressed by the diversity on the list of choices the Obamas requested. “I don’t believe there’s been any administration that has been as interested in contemporary art,” he said. “I was extremely impressed when they sent over the list of what they were interested in borrowing, because it showed a wide range of interests and a wide spectrum and understanding of both modern and contemporary art.” This gesture to remove some of the older artworks is viewed as a deeply symbolic gesture.

Kinshasha Holman Conwill, deputy director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture asserted that the nation’s art world is “abuzz” over the campaign. “Such a gesture from so influential a place has understandably had a catalytic effect, stirring conversation and raising expectations,” she said. “And that’s a good thing.” The approach taken by the President and First Lady “evinced an ability to transform the bully pulpit into a poetic perch from which to suggest new strategies for broadening the conversation about art and culture in this country”.

This is one change we truly can believe in.

Another Bouncing Ball, a blog by former Seattle PI art critic Regina Hackett, featured 4 blog posts about the current exhibitions at the Henry.

Inside-Out

Jasper Johns

Business as Usual

Panda

From left: John Cage, Jasper Johns, and Merce Cunningham, July 3, 1989. Photograph by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

……

In his Huffington Post column, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders pays tribute to Merce Cunningham, who died yesterday at the age of 90. Timothy recalls photographing the iconic dancer and choreographer in 1989, a session at which he also made the above portrait of Cunningham with artist Jasper Johns and composer John Cage. “It was a wonderful day,” writes Timothy. “John Cage made us laugh, Jasper seemed delighted to see his old friends and Merce was full of life, still excited about new dances.”

……

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Jasper Johns: os sete primeiros anos de sua arte

Retirado de Outros Critérios, Cosac & Naify, 2008, pgs. 38 a 78.

The new exhibition, Jasper Johns: Light Bulb opens this week – and the installation is looking fantastic.

Some “illuminating” reviews of the exhibition at other venues:

From the New York Times:
“Pleasure is something you receive from an artwork; beauty is a quality intrinsic to it. Art can.. be pleasurable to look at without being beautiful.”
-BENJAMIN GENOCCHIO

From the San Diego Union-Tribune

It’s hard to imagine anyone could make these ordinary forms look more seductive, and that is part of their power. In the groundbreaking examples of the flag and target, he used the encaustic (melted wax) medium with unparalleled virtuosity. In his first light bulb sculpture of 1958, he took up sculp-metal – a new malleable material marketed to hobbyists that simulated the look of metal – and created a meticulous version of one, lying on its side and cradled in a craggy base.

And yet, the more you think about his choice of subjects, the more each seems like a paradox and a puzzle. The American flag is more symbol than object, as is a target. Each is flat too, just like a canvas. So, is he painting a symbol, in the case of a flag, or an abstraction, with a target? Still, we recognize the target as what it is, so perhaps it’s as much a thing as a house or a tree.
-Robert Pincus

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Jasper Johns

Three Flags 1958

In the late 1950’s, Jasper Johns emerged as force in the American art scene. His richly worked paintings of maps, flags, and targets led the artistic community away from Abstract Expressionism toward a new emphasis on the concrete. Johns laid the groundwork for both Pop Art and Minimalism. Today, as his prints and paintings set record prices at auction, the meanings of his paintings, his imagery, and his changing style continue to be subjects of controversy.

Born and raised in Allendale, South Carolina, Jasper Johns grew up wanting to be an artist. “In the place where I was a child, there were no artists and there was no art, so I really didn’t know what that meant,” recounts Johns. “I think I thought it meant that I would be in a situation different from the one that I was in.” He studied briefly at the University of South Carolina before moving to New York in the early fifties.

In New York, Johns met a number of other artists including the composer John Cage, the choreographer Merce Cunningham, and the painter Robert Rauschenberg. While working together creating window displays for Tiffany’s, Johns and Raushenberg explored the New York art scene. After a visit to Philadelphia to see Marcel Duchamp’s painting, The Large Glass (1915-23), Johns became very interested in his work. Duchamp had revolutionized the art world with his “readymades” — a series of found objects presented as finished works of art. This irreverence for the fixed attitudes toward what could be considered art was a substantial influence on Johns. Some time later, with Merce Cunningham, he created a performance based on the piece, entitled “Walkaround Time.”

The modern art community was searching for new ideas to succeed the pure emotionality of the Abstract Expressionists. Johns’ paintings of targets, maps, invited both the wrath and praise of critics. Johns’ early work combined a serious concern for the craft of painting with an everyday, almost absurd, subject matter. The meaning of the painting could be found in the painting process itself. It was a new experience for gallery goers to find paintings solely of such things as flags and numbers. The simplicity and familiarity of the subject matter piqued viewer interest in both Johns’ motivation and his process. Johns explains, “There may or may not be an idea, and the meaning may just be that the painting exists.” One of the great influences on Johns was the writings of Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. In Wittgenstein’s work Johns recognized both a concern for logic, and a desire to investigate the times when logic breaks down. It was through painting that Johns found his own process for trying to understand logic.

In 1958, gallery owner Leo Castelli visited Rauschenberg’s studio and saw Johns’ work for the first time. Castelli was so impressed with the 28-year-old painter’s ability and inventiveness that he offered him a show on the spot. At that first exhibition, the Museum of Modern Art purchased three pieces, making it clear that at Johns was to become a major force in the art world. Thirty years later, his paintings sold for more than any living artist in history.

Johns’ concern for process led him to printmaking. Often he would make counterpart prints to his paintings. He explains, “My experience of life is that it’s very fragmented; certain kinds of things happen, and in another place, a different kind of thing occurs. I would like my work to have some vivid indication of those differences.” For Johns, printmaking was a medium that encouraged experimentation through the ease with which it allowed for repeat endeavors. His innovations in screen printing, lithography, and etching have revolutionized the field.

In the 60s, while continuing his work with flags, numbers, targets, and maps, Johns began to introduce some of his early sculptural ideas into painting. While some of his early sculpture had used everyday objects such as paint brushes, beer cans, and light bulbs, these later works would incorporate them in collage. Collaboration was an important part in advancing Johns’ own art, and he worked regularly with a number of artists including Robert Morris, Andy Warhol, and Bruce Naumann. In 1967, he met the poet Frank O’Hara and illustrated his book, In Memory of My Feelings.

In the seventies Johns met the writer Samuel Beckett and created a set of prints to accompany his text, Fizzles. These prints responded to the overwhelming and dense language of Beckett with a series of obscured and overlapping words. This work represented the beginnings of the more monotone work that Johns would do through out the seventies. By the 80s, Johns’ work had changed again. Having once claimed to be unconcerned with emotions, Johns’ later work shows a strong interest in painting autobiographically. For many, this more sentimental work seemed a betrayal of his earlier direction.

Over the past fifty years Johns has created a body of rich and complex work. His rigorous attention to the themes of popular imagery and abstraction has set the standards for American art. Constantly challenging the technical possibilities of printmaking, painting and sculpture, Johns laid the groundwork for a wide range of experimental artists. Today, he remains at the forefront of American art, with work represented in nearly every major museum collection.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/jasper-johns/about-the-painter/54/