hyde or die

Nothing too exciting is going on, but I’ll do a little link round up of some things that are worth looking into, if you feel so inclined:

• The puzzling paradox of Broad’s Basement.
• The issues facing the funding California’s museums…pulling in crowds with more “populist” shows? No thank you.
• Professor Donny George, former Director-General of the National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq clarifies his role in the evacuation of antiquities from Kuwait. 
• The completely scientific just for fun art survey of America’s Favorite Art Museum is starting to wind down.
• James Franco carries on the Warholian marriage of celebrity and art - and who else?

August 12, 2010, 4:15pm  

» Lehman collection under the hammer

Collapsed financial services giant looks to pay off some debts

Sotheby’s New York will sell the Neuberger Berman and Lehman Brothers corporate art collections on 25 September, now that a bankruptcy court has approved the sale. Proceeds will go towards paying off Lehman’s creditors.

Lehman has sold some of its art since declaring bankruptcy—notably at Freeman’s Auctioneers in Philadelphia last autumn—but retained the bulk of the collection. When it was spun-out from Lehman as its own firm, Neuberger Berman had the option to purchase works of art from Lehman Brothers. Over the past year and a half, Neuberger Berman has been evaluating the collection and deciding which pieces to keep, a decision they finalised at the beginning of May this year. Lehman Brothers Holdings still maintains a 49% interest in Neuberger Berman.

“Holding on to assets to maximise them is part of our strategy for paying off creditors,” said Kimberly Macleod, spokeswoman for Lehman Brothers. “We’re pleased that we’re selling to a better market than we would have at the time of the bankruptcy.”

Over 400 works will be up for auction, many by well-known artists including Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Richard Prince, and Takashi Murakami. The collection is estimated at more than $10m.

July 22, 2010, 11:34am  

» LA County cuts Arts grants 7%

July 15, 2010, 1:15pm  

Polaroid photos by Lucas Samaras, Chuck Close and Andy Warhol

LONDON. A group led by a former US magistrate judge has launched an 11th hour campaign to prevent the auction of photographs from the Polaroid collection. Judge Sam Joyner and others are working towards filing a motion for a rehearing at the Minnesota bankruptcy court that awarded sale rights to Sotheby’s last August.

The once-mighty Polaroid Corporation (famed for its invention of instant, negative-free photographs, but since eclipsed by digital photography) filed for bankruptcy twice in the past decade—most recently in 2008 in connection with a $3.65bn Ponzi (investment fraud) scheme at parent company Petters Group Worldwide. The Polaroid name and assets—barring the photo­graphy collect­ion—were ac­quired by private equity firm Hilco Consumer Capital and liquidator Gordon Brothers Group, for $88m in 2009. The collection remained behind with the defunct Polaroid Corporation, renamed PBE, and is in the hands of PBE’s liquidators.

more here…

See also: More than a set of prints…

March 09, 2010, 12:02pm  

Yves Klein Relief éponge

This sucker went for over $9 million last night at Christie’s…Now I don’t want to get all picky, but if I was going to spend that kind of dough on a Klein, I would want it to be IKB, you know?

February 12, 2010, 9:05am  

» San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Raises $250 Million for Expansion and Endowment

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Board Chair Charles R. Schwab today announced that the museum has received landmark contributions totaling more than $250 million to expand the museum and grow its endowment. Comprising more than 50 percent of a projected $480 million campaign goal, these pledges from museum leadership will fuel SFMOMA’s plans to triple its gallery and public spaces; offer enhanced exhibitions, educational programs, and services for the public; and showcase the Fisher Collection, one the world’s finest private collections of modern and contemporary art. Of the total raised to date, $100 million will go toward SFMOMA’s endowment—increasing it by 100 percent—to support expanded programming and operations and to ensure the institution’s long-term success. These early commitments, which will enable the museum to move forward confidently with its expansion, are structured as challenge grants in order to catalyze support from other funders.

February 05, 2010, 10:05am  

» L.A. City Council decides against ending guaranteed funding for the arts

The Los Angeles City Council decided Wednesday not to cut off the main funding source for the Department of Cultural Affairs, a 1% tax on hotel charges that has fed municipal spending on the arts since 1989. As they tried to cope with a projected two-year budget deficit of nearly $700 million, council members also showed no inclination to back another proposal decried by arts supporters: eliminating the $4-million-a-year arts grant program starting in the 2010-11 budget year. But the council did authorize staff members to pursue another cost-cutting idea from Miguel Santana, the city administrative officer — seeking private, nonprofit partners to take over running nine or 10 of the city’s community arts centers.

Whew! That was a close one.

February 04, 2010, 9:17am