Daily art news

HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Spring 2011 sale of Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings today fetched a stunning total of HK$108 million / US$13.8 million, tripling pre-sale estimate (HK$36 million / US$4.6 million*). The sale set the world record for any Contemporary Southeast Asian Painting at auction and for the artist, when the thought-provoking piece – Grayground by Filipino artist Ronald Ventura sold for HK$8.4 million / US$1.1 million. There was strong interest in important and top quality artworks, proved by active participation in the room and over the phone throughout the sale, which led to numerous artist records, including Hendra Gunawan, Andres Barrioquinto, Samsul Arifin, Nguyen Gia Tri and Indieguerillas.

MOUNTAINVILLE, N.Y.- Storm King Art Center, one of the world's most distinguished and best-loved sculpture parks, opened to the public for its 2011 season on April 1. Located about an hour north of New York City, in the Hudson Valley, Storm King encompasses over 500 pristine acres of rolling hills, fields, and woodlands. These provide space for more than 100 large-scale sculptures by some of the preeminent artists of our time, including Alexander Calder, Mark di Suvero, Andy Goldsworthy, Maya Lin, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi, Richard Serra, David Smith, and Ursula von Rydingsvard, among others. Highlights of Storm King’s 2011 season include two special exhibitions organized in honor of its fiftieth anniversary, on view for their second and final season. Other special offerings include: Zhang Huan’s colossal Three Legged Buddha (2007), a recent addition to the collection that is on view for its first full season, and Sit Down, a work by French conceptual artist Daniel Buren that has been refabricated and reinstalled. Maya Lin’s Storm King Wavefield (2007–2008), the sculpture park’s latest commissioned work, is on view for its second season, and has already become a visitor favorite.

NEW YORK (REUTERS).- London has Paddington Bear but New York now has a giant yellow teddy bear, a great sculptural masterpiece that could sell for more than $9 million at auction in May, Christie's said on Saturday. A 23-foot (7-meter) high, bronze teddy bear slumped under a black bedside lamp will be on display for five months in midtown Manhattan from next week and be a highlight of the Post-War & Contemporary sale on May 11. The 35,000 pound (15.8 metric tons) sculpture, Untitled (Lamp/Bear), is the work of New York-based Swiss artist Urs Fischer. Brett Gorvy, Christie's deputy chairman for Post-War and Contemporary Art, described Fischer as the Jeff Koons of his generation. "We have seen contemporary sculpture works by Jeff Koons selling at $25 million and Urs Fischer is the leading pretender to the throne," he said. "He is considered the most important, the most provocative of contemporary artists today."