The City of Sin will soon play host to one of the largest auctions of Picasso paintings ever. 11 works owned by the MGM Resorts, with a combined estimated value at around $100m USD will be available for the biggest pocketbook on October 23.
Presented by Sotheby’s, the auctioneer will bring its New York show room to elegant halls of the Bellagio — a hotel whose art roots are now legend, thanks in part due to movies, such as Oceans 11. But more than just a film reference, the Bellagio has always championed the arts, with many of the artwork to hit auction hanging in the hotel’s Picasso Restaurant. The reason the work is going on sale, according to MGM Resorts chief hospitality officer, Ari Kastrati, is to buy new art in hopes “to creating an even more inclusive collection that maintains the breadth of our existing portfolio while giving a greater voice to artists from underrepresented communities.”
One of the highlights of the auction is Picasso’s 1938, Femme au Béret Rouge-Orange, one of the final artworks he created of his lover and muse, Thérèse Walter, who Picasso’s grandson, Olivier Widmaier Picasso, states reawakened his grandfathers art.
The sale of these 11 Picasso’s is expected to be the largest fine arts auction in the history of Las Vegas. An event that will coincide with a four day exhibition of luxury items. The auction takes place on October 23.
Fast forward to contemporary art, George Condo has brought his psychological cubism to Sprüth Magers Berlin.
Bellagio
3600 S Las Vegas Blvd,
Las Vegas, NV 89109Cali Thornhill Dewitt‘s eclectic career has spanned working on capsule collections with NEIGHBORHOOD and HYPEBEAST, to showcasing art at Brixton Village Marketand Tokyo’s COMMON Gallery. For his latest exhibition, “Haunted House,” the Los Angeles-based artist uses his background in streetwear to speak on the tragic fate to befall some of the most revered musicians and entertainers in history.
The solo exhibition is located at Los Angeles’ One Trick Pony and features 20 never-before-seen obituary sweatshirts designed by Dewitt, alongside a grid of two-tone portraits of the obituary subject. Amongst the legendary figures on display, you can find a piece dedicated to Whitney Houston, Joan Crawford, Carrie Fisher, Harpo Marx and Darby Crash.
Speaking on this latest body of work, Dewitt tells Hypebeast:
“These are portraits, both text based and actual portraits, of 21 people who’s work and lives are heartbreaking and messy, singular and inspirational, beautiful and frightening. Most of them ended in some form of tragedy. History has showed us, time and time again, there isn’t much room on this planet for people with this kind of vision. They are too beautiful for this world.”
Fans of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo merch, will instantly gravitate towards Dewitt’s work which, for this sereis, will run at One Trick Pony until August 28.
Also happening in art, Yoko Ono invites you to mend broken pottery in her new interactive exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery.
One Trick Pony
1051 S Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
The painting appears to be visually chaotic, accented with dozens of cartoonish characters that connect with audiences through their large, boggling, bug-eyes. The piece is a comment on the dark humor of Rick Sanchez. The vibrant use of multiple colors, including warm oranges and red contrasting with cool blues and greens, help to embrace Roiland’s signature humorous and child-like cartoon imagery.
The artist fills the canvas with a slew of facial expressions that range from grotesque figures with bared fangs to over-exaggerated smiles and excitement. Sotheby’s comments on the figures stating, “There is something tragic about these creatures that try to frighten us but cannot. Or perhaps there is something tragic about our position as viewers, so far removed from the innocence of childhood when these creatures might have frightened us.”
For more information on the piece, check out Sotheby’s
New York-based filmmaker Sophia Loren Heriveaux has released an interesting film comparing the artistic lives of Jean Dubuffet and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Produced by Goldfin Films and in partnership with the Barbican Centre, Brut, My Beauty provides a fascinating look at two artists separated by nearly 60 years, but who possess a strikingly similar aesthetic, influences, and philosophy towards society and life.
As the film shows in more detail, neither had a formal art education and were equally inspired by self-taught artists. Both had a similar approach to painting their work, hovering over the canvas as it lay on the floor. Amongst their biggest similarities, the film argues, is the idea that both artists defied the traditions of realist paintings by capturing the spirit of their subjects through their raw and gestural aesthetics.
In the 1980s, Basquiat would ask Pace Gallery founder, Arne Glimcher, if was able to be in attendance when Dubuffet’s work was being installed. Some art historians believe the rising horizon lines in some of Basquiat’s subsequent work was inspired by these visits, such as the French artist’s landscape (paysage), 1950-59.
It is unknown to the public whether the two actually met, but perhaps the closest encounter the two physically had, was in 1983, when they both exhibited at a group show, entitled “Expressive Painting After Picasso” at Basel’s Beyeler Foundation. Regardless if they ever met or were influenced by one another, they inevitably share a symbiotic relationship in the canon of art history.
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