Art Stories That Mattered In 2012 – The First Six Months

Art  is usually a subject that gets missed off of the popular year end roundups, but as I sit here in our editorial office, reminiscing about the year end I can think of a number of stories that are worthy of a reminder. Here is the first six months in this two part article. January to June 2012.

January 2012

January 2012 saw  the UK Droit de Suite Come Into Law. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this new EU law, it stands to destroy the secondary art market in Britain for many dealers. And who stands to benefit? Why the big artists like Damien Hirst and Anish Kapoor, of course, who will get even more money, as if they aren’t rich enough already!
Frieze Art Fair organisers Sharp And Slotover Awarded OBE. The rise and rise of Amanda and Matthew. London ,New York and the world.
The death of Eve Arnold the last of her generation of great portrait photographers.
Damien Hirst Spot The Difference, Gagosian opens 11 simultaneous exhibitions of Damien Hirst’s Spot Paintings internationally
London’s Art Below Takes On New Orleans. First ‘pop up’ billboard show in America, running throughout Mardi Gras February in New Orleans. ArtLyst was a media partner of this great event!

February 2012

Artist and Destroy All Monsters Founder Mike Kelley Dead. Kelley, was a Michigan born, artist whose Detroit based band, Destroy All Monsters, predated the punk rock scene,. He committed suicide and was suffering from severe depression.
Cezanne Breaks Record For Worlds Most Expensive Painting. Qatar Royal Family pay £158m for The Card Players The nation of Qatar which is better known for its oil than its European art collection has purchased a painting by the post Impressionist, Paul Cézanne for what is thought to be the highest price ever paid for a work of art.
Catalan Abstract Painter Antoni Tapies Dies. Antoni Tàpies, the Spanish abstractionist has died in Barcelona. He was 88.  Tapies was one of the last surviving European first generation abstract painters.
Lucian Freud Bares All At National Portrait Gallery. Blockbuster Lucian Freud Portraits exhibition opens at the National Portrait Gallery, tracing a life-time’s encounter with human flesh
Ab Fab Star Joanna Lumley Unveils Fourth Plinth Boy on a Rocking Horse Statue by Elmgreen & Dragset.

March 2012

Sotheby’s Axes James Murdoch From Board. Newspaper Executive Considered A Liability For Auction Giant It seems no self-respecting multinational wants James Murdoch sitting on their board of directors. The disgraced News Corp executive is considered too much of a liability for his role in the UK’s highest  profile news paper, phone hacking scandal.
China Steals Global Art Market Dominance From USA. China is now the world’s biggest market for art and antiques, ending the USA’s decades of domination. Hailed by the finders, as ‘perhaps one of the most fundamental and important changes in the last 50 years’, this historic moment – indicating the wider general movements in the global economy as a whole – has been revealed by a new report; ‘The International Art Market in 2011: Observations on the Art Trade over 25 Years’.


April 2012

Damien Hirst Love Money Death And Hyperbole oh yes and a retrospective exhibition.
Zhukova & Koolhaas Pilot Russian Art Revival With New Garage GalleryDasha Zhukova – famous for being the daughter of a Russian oil magnate, a stunningly beautiful celebutante, and for almost single-handedly piloting a Russian art renaissance through the operations of her outstanding Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow. And today really is, in the words of Alison Myners chair of the ICA, ‘absolutely Dasha’s day’, as she reveals the major new plans for Garage in collaboration with OMAmazing architect Rem Koolhaas.

David Weiss, one half of the Swiss conceptual art duo Fischli/Weiss, passed away on 27 April 2012, after battling cancer since September.  Weiss was 66 at the time of his death.

May 2012

US Artists Line Up For Britain’s Cultural Olympiad. Highlights for the American artists participating in the London 2012 Festival, the summer climax of the Cultural Olympiad and perhaps ‘the largest cultural celebration in our lifetime’ ‘ The visual artists include Alex Katz, Marina Abramović, Jeff Koons, Yoko Ono, Yes Yes No and The Wooster Group. Mostly high profile internationally established names.
NY Frieze Sets The Benchmark For Future Art Events. Frieze is just what the doctor ordered to reinvent the lackluster New York fair scene, which has spent many years in the doldrums.
Ai Weiwei Serpentine Pavilion A Sublime Masterpiece
Tracey Emin Generic Filler For Rodin And Turner Sandwich. You can’t help but admire Tracey Emin’s for wanting to use her name and art for the good in reviving her home town of Margate.

History Made As Edvard Munch Scream Blows Picasso Out Off The Water.So after all the hype, the auction of Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ did not disappoint, selling for an incredible $119.9 million – the most expensive piece of art to ever sell at auction, smashing the previous record held by Picasso.

 

June 2012

The unveiling of this years Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, designed by Herzog & de Meuron and the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, has taken place under overcast skies and a light drop of rain.
Art Basel Recession Proof Switzerland Fuels Market Confidence

January 2012 Links

https://artlyst.com//articles/uk-droit-de-suite-comes-into-law
https://artlyst.com//articles/frieze-art-fair-sharp-and-slotover-awarded-obe
https://artlyst.com//articles/veteran-photographer-eve-arnold-dies
https://artlyst.com//articles/damien-hirst-spot-the-difference
https://artlyst.com//articles/londons-art-below-takes-on-new-orleans

February 2012

https://artlyst.com//articles/artist-and-destroy-all-monsters-founder-mike-kelley-dead
https://artlyst.com//articles/cezanne-breaks-record-for-worlds-most-expensive-painting
https://artlyst.com//articles/catalan-abstract-painter-antoni-tapies-dies
https://artlyst.com//articles/ab-fab-star-joanna-lumley-unveils-fourth-plinth-statue

March 2012

https://artlyst.com//articles/sothebys-axes-james-murdoch-from-board
https://artlyst.com//articles/china-steals-global-art-market-dominance-from-usa

April 2013
https://artlyst.com//articles/damien-hirst-love-money-death-and-hyperbole-review
https://artlyst.com//articles/damien-hirst-love-money-death-and-hyperbole-review
https://artlyst.com//articles/swiss-conceptual-artist-david-weiss-dies-age-66

May 2012
https://artlyst.com//articles/ny-frieze-sets-the-benchmark-for-future-art-events
https://artlyst.com//articles/ai-weiwei-herzog-de-meuron-serpentine-pavilion-unveiled

https://artlyst.com//articles/tracey-emin-generic-filler-for-rodin-and-turner-sandwich

https://artlyst.com//articles/history-made-as-edvard-munch-scream-blows-picasso-out-off-the-water

June 2012
https://artlyst.com//articles/ai-weiwei-serpentine-pavilion-a-sublime-masterpiece
https://artlyst.com//articles/art-basel-recession-proof-switzerland-fuels-market-confidence

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