Millions expected for Kandinsky and da Vinci; an ode to Klimt in the offing

A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun!

A Kandinsky to go for $25 million

Sotheby’s has unveiled an abstract painting by Wassily Kandinsky that will be auctioned during its Impressionist and modern art evening sale in London on June 29. Tensions calmées (1937) will be on view to the public at Sotheby’s New York headquarters until May 12, after which it will travel to Dubai, Taipei, and Hong Kong before its final stop in the UK. The work is from the collection of the artist’s friend Solomon R. Guggenheim. Coming to auction after 57 years in private hands, it is expected to fetch a price between $25 million–$35 million. ARTNews outlines.

Da Vinci’s bear could draw in $16.7 million

The 7-centimetre square by Leonardo da Vinci, ‘Head of a Bear’, is a silverpoint drawing on a pink-beige paper. Christie’s is selling the work in London on July 8 with a price estimate of $11.14m to $16.71m. The auction house said it was \”one of less than eight surviving drawings by Leonardo still in private hands outside of the British Royal Collection and the Devonshire Collections at Chatsworth\”. It could beat the 2001 sale of Leonardo da Vinci\’s ‘Horse and Rider’ which went for more than $11m, a record for a drawing by the Italian Renaissance master. The National News has more.

An ode to Klimt at Annabel’s reopening

The grand reopening of the hospitality sector in the UK is slated for May 17, which means exciting plans are afoot at Annabel\’s in Mayfair. A dazzling display inspired by the artist Gustav Klimt\’s Golden Period will welcome back members. The grand immersive installation includes works like Danaë, The Kiss and Medicine. Guests will walk under a \’Tree of Life\’ archway to enter the club, with reinterpretations of Klimt\’s most beloved works to be found throughout the restaurants and bars. Even the cocktail menu has also been given the Klimt treatment, with a list of gold cocktails. Tatler has the scoop.

Covid funds used for giant squid statue in Japan

Concerned citizens in the coastal Japanese town of Noto filed a petition last week that garnered almost 2,000 signatures — they object to the use of 30 million yen or roughly $274,000 of the $7.3m in Covid-19 stimulus relief money awarded to them by the central government, to build a statue of a giant squid. Local officials said installation, 30 feet long and 13 feet tall, is a long-term strategy to boost tourism to the area. But online reactions to this fund use were also highly mixed. The Art Newspaper reports.

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