The works by American artist Cy Twombly really seem to be loved and sought after by many collectors, curators and museum directors. And in July 2007 a reported fact proved how someone can love excessively his masterpieces. Everyone will remember the scandal raised by Rindy Sam, French artist of Cambogian origins who, while visiting the  Collection Lambert Museum of Avignon, kissed a white canvas by Twombly. A love gesture, an artistic act provoked by the power of art that cost Sam the charge for having “vandalized” a masterpiece worth 2 million dollars.

The Contemporary Art Evening Sale, which took place on 14th May at Sotheby’s New York, was a record auction from every point of view. Firstly, for its turnover: 362,037,000 dollars, well above the best estimates which expected the auction to realize between 288.1 million and 354.7 million dollars. This is the second best result ever achieved in the world for a contemporary art auction and the most important sale in the history of Sotheby’s. 73 lots of the 83 presented were sold and represented 86.8% of the works by value.

Robert Rauschenberg, the irrepressibly prolific American artist who time and again reshaped art in the 20th century, died on Monday night at his home on Captiva Island, Fla. He was 82.
(The New York Times)

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

Last October, the death of Ileana Sonnabend launched an upset in the art world. A woman of refined taste, for decades she was the point of reference for contemporary art, defined by the critic Achille Bonito Olivia as “the greatest gallerist of the second half of the XX century”.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

The Whitney Museum announced a few days ago that it had received a truly generous donation, the biggest ever to be received by the New York Museum. We are talking about 131 million dollars, donated by the cosmetic industry typhoon Leonard A. Lauder through the The American Contemporary Art Foundation that he is president of.