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Old Masters
Books: Magical Realism
This book is about Giambattista Tiepolo, the superbly energetic Venetian master of frescoed ceilings and inheritor of the mantle of Paolo Veronese. But it’s also about serpents, symbols, sacrifices, Persian magi, Chaldean oracles and ritual magic. None of which should surprise anyone who is familiar with the delightfully subversive scholarship and essayistic verve of Roberto Calasso, the Italian book publisher (his firm, Adelphi Edizioni, is headquartered in Milan) and writer on a wide variety of cultural subjects.
Crystal Clear
In 1291, the rulers of Venice ordered all glass foundries to relocate to the little island of Murano, about a mile to the northeast of the main cluster of islands, because of the fire hazard they posed to the city’s wooden buildings. Ever since then, the island’s name has been synonymous with hand-blown, luminously colored, deftly crafted glass.
Today's Masters: The Bridge Builder
Just outside a former pipe and piano factory in London’s Camden Town, several tons of rusted steel and iron scraps sit parked like refugees from the Industrial Revolution. Acquired from junkyards around Europe, these twisted bits of detritus and mysterious machine parts serve Anthony Caro as the building blocks of his brand of modernism—one that has elevated the 85-year-old British sculptor into the upper reaches of art history.
In a Nutshell: Blaze of Glory
All Fabergé objects are emblems of a vanished world, but the cigarette cases made by the great Russian luxury firm also represent a vanishing custom. “It was positively eccentric not to smoke in 1900,” says Geoffrey Munn, managing director of Wartski, a London dealer that specializes in Fabergé.
Market: Encore in Paris
By: Sallie Brady Here we go again. Underbidders at February’s historic $483 million sale of couturier Yves Saint Laurent’s collection of art and antiques have another chance to own a piece of the tastemaker’s legacy when the final portion of the estate goes up for sale Nov. 17–20 at Christie’s Paris. This time, look for…
Market: Prints Charming
By: Sheila Gibson Stoodley The International Fine Print Dealers Association fair returns to the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan on Nov. 5–8 with 84 dealers offering, among other things, strong works by artists who excelled in more than one medium. Included in the British prints that the Fine Art Society will bring is C.R.W. Nevinson’s…
Market: Autumn’s Appetites
By: Jenna Curry Despite a tough economic year for the art world, Christie’s and Sotheby’s have high hopes for their New York Impressionist, modern and contemporary evening sales this month. Christie’s kicks off the season on Nov. 3 with its Impressionist and modern sale, featuring Pablo Picasso’s 1943 oil-on-canvas Tête de femme (est. $7–10 million),…
Market: House Party
By: Sheila Gibson Stoodley The second annual American Art Fair will take place at the National Academy & School of Fine Arts in New York on Nov. 30–Dec. 3. All but one of the 11 exhibitors from the inaugural fair will return to the second-floor galleries of the mansion-turned-museum. Each dealer may choose to mark…
Market: Doubly Modern
By: John Dorfman This month, for the first time, Modernism (in its 24th edition) will be merged with Art 20 (in its eighth edition) into one event, to be held at New York’s Park Avenue Armory on Nov. 13–16. According to fair producer Sanford Smith, the decision was made in response to current market conditions….
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