January 2009

Explore the Apollo archive

Look back over two vibrant years of Apollo: browse every issue from January 2006 to the present day.

Tate secures Rubens for the nation
A Rubens sketch for the ceiling of the Banqueting House, Whitehall, is to remain in the UK after Tate successfully raised £5.7m by the final day of the deadline. The Apotheosis of James I was produced by Rubens during the course of his diplomatic mission to England in 1629 and has been described as ‘a unique treasure in the history of British art’. The sketch was at risk of being sold abroad by its owner, Viscount Hampden, who imposed a funding deadline of 30 September. On the final day the asking price was reduced by £300,000 to £5.7m after tax, around half the sketch’s estimated value. Tate launched their public appeal in June, but on the day of the deadline the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund and Tate Members all increased their original pledges to secure the sketch: it was the Art Fund’s largest ever gift for a single work of art. Stephen Deuchar, director of Tate Britain, said he was ‘simply thrilled…everyone came together in the course of just two weeks’. The National Gallery and National Galleries of Scotland are hoping to emulate Tate’s success in their campaign to raise £100m to secure two Titians owned by the Duke of Sutherland.

New Saatchi Gallery opens
Charles Saatchi’s latest gallery (on King’s Road in Chelsea) opened to the public free of charge on Thursday with an exhibition devoted to contemporary Chinese art. The long-awaited gallery, which has taken a year longer than planned to complete, is Saatchi’s third venture after an eviction from County Hall on the Southbank in 2005. An opening party attended by celebrities and art world stars was held on Tuesday evening.

Sotheby’s shares scare
Shares in Sotheby’s have fallen to the lowest since July 2005, despite Damien Hirst’s recent record-breaking £111m sale, amid fears about the future of the art market. At Sotheby's sale of ‘20th-century Chinese Art’ on 5 October in Hong Kong, two-thirds of the lots went unsold. Despite the setback, the auction house plans to offer an unprecedented selection of Andy Warhol's iconic Skulls series (est. £5m-£7m), as well as works by Gerhard Richter, Richard Hamilton, Anish Kapoor, Anselm Kiefer and Gilbert and George, at its upcoming October sale. Sotheby's also announced this week that they will be opening an office in Doha, Qatar, and will hold its first major international series of auctions in Doha in early 2009.

Boom in Southeast Asian art as fair opens
Paintings and sculptures by emerging artists from Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries have defied slowing auction demand for top Chinese and Western works as global financial markets tumble. ‘There's going to be some impact, but in Asia there's still a lot of disposable income,’ said Chen Shen Po, director of ArtSingapore, Southeast Asia's biggest art fair, to be held this weekend. ‘A lot of Southeast Asian artists are still very competitive in pricing and still very affordable.’ The four-day fair, which opens today, gathers 110 galleries from 16 countries, with a special emphasis this year on works from India and South Korea. Some S$80 million ($54.5 million) of art is on sale, including works by Chinese artists, such as Feng Zhengjie's cross-eyed faces and Huang Gang's Mao sculptures.

Design Museum announces renovation project
The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, will begin work on a renovation and expansion to its buildings in January 2009. The museum hopes to raise its profile and attract new visitors by developing space for ambitious exhibitions. The museum has so far raised $37m of its $64m estimated budget for the project.

Parisian funeral parlour reborn as new contemporary arts centre
A 19th century funeral parlour at 104 rue d’Aubervilliers in north-east Paris is set to open to the public this weekend after a radical transformation has seen it turned into a new contemporary arts centre. The €100m restoration project known as Centquatre, will offer cutting-edge workshops for artists, fashion designers, film directors and sound engineers in an attempt to regenerate the 19th arrondissement, known for its high-rise flats, poverty and gang culture.

Stirling Prize to announce winner
The winner of the prestigious Stirling Prize, organised by the Royal Institute of British Architects, will be revealed this weekend. 2004 Pritzker Prize winner Zaha Hadid is one of the favourites to receive the award.

   Previous Back to Muse   Next 

Print this article   |  Email to a friend |   Subscription offers | Comment