Art Basel Hong Kong goes hybrid, Ai Weiwei\’s house gets sold

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!

‘Satellite Booths’ at Art Basel Hong Kong

From May 19 to 23 this year — two months later than it is usually held — Art Basel Hong Kong will host its ninth edition. But, this will be significantly smaller than in the past, with just 104 galleries taking part, down from over 240 in 2019 (and zero in 2020, thanks to the pandemic). Further, 56 of these are unable to attend the physical fair due to local regulations and will participate through ‘satellite booths’. In essence, over half the galleries at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre won’t have their own staff on the ground. Ocula Magazine elaborates.

The only private home Ai Weiwei designed in USA: SOLD!  

Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has in 2006 designed an upstate New York home with Swiss firm HHF Architects — commissioned by investor Christopher Tsai, the Tsai Residence is the only private property designed by Ai in the US, and has been on the market since 2019. And now, it has been sold for a whopping $4.9 million. Built on a 37.5-acre property, the Tsai Residence is a 2,800-square-foot building, praised as “livable art”. Artnet News reports.

Sold for €1,500, is this Caravaggio worth €50m?

The Spanish government has imposed an export ban on a painting earlier attributed to the circle of the 17th-century Spanish artist José de Ribera, suspecting now that it may be the work of Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Auction house Ansorena has now withdrawn the painting from Thursday evening’s auction till further notice. “The possible misattribution may be understandable: Ribera, the son of a shoemaker, studied in Rome and was a noted follower of Caravaggio and an admirer of his use of chiaroscuro,” says The Guardian, furnishing more details.

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