Flash News: Robert Doisneau – Art Basel Hong Kong – Art Karlsruhe

[06/03/2015]

 

Every fortnight, Artprice provides a short round up of art market news: Robert Doisneau at Musée Rodin. Art Basel Hong Kong: Starting soon. The artists at Art Karlsruhe

Robert Doisneau at Musée Rodin

The second exhibition taking place at Musée Rodin in Meudon is devoted to photographer Robert DOISNEAU. The event site deserves to be visited as much as the exhibit being held there. Because the Musée Rodin in Meudon, named the Villa des Brillants (Bright Villa), is a neo-Louis XIII style house that Auguste Rodin bought at auction in 1895, after having rented it for two years. The artist converted the annexes into several workshops where numerous practitioners, workers and secretaries worked. It was here that Rodin created his most intimate works, and regularly travelled from Meudon to Paris. It was Rodin’s idea to create the museum in 1916.
The Doisneau exhibit, which opens 14 March (through 19 November 2015) was organised by Hélène Pinet, director of photographic collections at Musée Rodin. She has selected 30 of Robert Doisneau’s photographs, inviting us to discover the studio of Giacometti, César, Hans Arp, Henri Laurens, Niki de Saint Phalle and Tinguely. These photographs also invite us to explore the Rudier Foundry, where Rodin’s bronzes were created, and Les jardins des Tuileries. Indeed, Doisneau did numerous reports on the artist workshops of his time. Certain iconic snapshots remain, such as Les pains de Picasso (Picasso’s Bread) or the plunging view of Alberto Giacometti dans son Atelier (Albert Giacometti in his Studio)(the prints of which can sell for between USD 6,000 and 8,000 each). But there are also images a little less renowned and more affordable, such as that of Henri Laurens in his studio (sold for EUR 400, or USD 517 in March 2013 at Millon & Associes Paris) or that of Tinguely disappearing behind the smoke cloud of one of his sculpture-machines (listed for between USD 1,500 and 2,000).

Art Basel Hong Kong: Starting soon

The third edition of Art Basel Hong Kong opens in March this year. 45 years after the launch in Switzerland of this show considered the world’s biggest contemporary art show, and three years after Art Basel purchased the Hong Kong Art Fair, the show organisers modified the dates to avoid making the big Western galleries rush to Art Basel after the Frieze show in New York. Thus the show will be held from 15–17 March 2015, while it always took place in May before. The 2014 edition attracted more than 65,000 visitors, with 245 galleries representing 39 countries.
A special feature of the Hong Kong edition that differs from that of its Swiss (Basel) and American (Miami) sisters: half the exhibitors are coming from Greater Asia (including Asia South Pacific). The Western galleries feature either Asian names known in the region (last year, the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery presented the Franco-Chinese Yan Pei-Ming and the Perrotin Gallery held exhibits featuring Chan Fei and Gao Weigang) or very established Western names. The local market is not very open to emerging Western artists yet and collectors prefer the big names from the art market.

The Asian market hub, this show is a must for Asian collectors. Furthermore, it is comfortable for merchants, thanks to its free port, with no import or export taxes. Hong Kong is fourth in the world market for the sale of works of art at auction (more than USD 866m in 2014) after London (USD 2,869bn).
At the same time as Art Basel, two other events are riding on the wave of Hong Kong during those days, with the 43rd edition of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, and with a new show, Art Central Hong Kong, on the seafront of Victoria Bay (14–16 March 2015).

Les artistes d’Art Karlsruhe

The twelfth edition of the Art Karlsruhe show is being held from 5–8 March 2015 at the Karlsruhe Trade Center. Only three days to discover an especially large collection of nearly 800 artists. The works proposed are primarily art from the 20th century, but one also finds some older artists – from the 18th and 19th centuries – such as Eizan Kikugawa (1787-1867), André Lhote (1885-1962) and Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919).
The 210 galleries presenting at Art Karlsruhe emphasize the most circulated names and those that are the most often listed on the art market. Also on the rails are Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, Gerhard Richter, Alberto Giacometti, Roy Lichtenstein, Joan Miro, Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, Tom Wesselman, Georg Baselitz, Jean Dubuffet and Yves Klein, for the great classics. One will also discover some 280 other artists who are still living (some of whom are already well-established, such as Robert Combas, Bernar Venet, Banksy and Tony Cragg). Thus, art Karlsruhe is a show for both artists already very anchored in the second market and 35% of contemporary artists still living and active. The show’s identity is built around art history (even recent) but also has a prospective approach. However, three young artists (born after 1980) should be noted: VHILS (born in 1987), Andrej DÚBRAVSKÝ (born in 1987) and QIN Xiujuan (born in 1985). Their works are affordable, from USD 1,000–9,000 on average at auction houses, but the current high demand for Street art and related products has spurred Vhils’s popularity, who set a record with a sale of more than USD 19,000 on 4 February 2015 at Artcurial Paris (with a piece that appears torn, entitled Compro Logo Existo #9).