November 5, 2014: A Maurizio Cattelan Documentary Arrives Next Summer, Sotheby’s Biggest Sale Ever, and IFPDA Print Fair Opens

Opening

In New York … IFPDA Print Fair opens for its evening preview at the Park Avenue Armory; “Takeshi Murata: OM Rider” and “Jessica Rankin: Dear Another” open at Salon 94 Bowery and Freemans, respectively; “Seeing Through Light: Selections from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Collection” opens at Manarat Al Saadiyat as the future museum’s pre-opening show; “Guglielmo Achille Cavellini / Centennial Exhibition” opens at LYNCH THAM; “Richard Diebenkorn: The Healdsburg Years 1988–1993” opens at Van Doren Waxter. 

In Paris … “Jacques-André Boiffard: La Parenthèse Surréaliste” opens at the Centre Pompidou; “Canal+Xavier Veilhan: L’expo des 30 ans” opens at the Palais de Tokyo. 

Closing 

In New York … “Peggy Cyphers, Pam Longobardi: Prairie Conversation / Threshold” closes at CREON. 

In London … “What Marcel Duchamp Taught Me” closes at The Fine Art Society. 

Today’s Notable News

A documentary charting the life of provocateur Maurizio Cattelan will open in Summer 2015. Filmed over the course of 10+ years, “Maurizio Cattelan: The Movie” follows the artist through both pre- and post-retirement, featuring interviews with and commentary from collaborators, artists, critics, collectors, and Cattelan’s intimate friends and family. (via The New York Times) 

Yesterday’s Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale at Sotheby’s fetched a staggering $422 million in sales, making it the auction house’s biggest sale ever. Notable lots include Alberto Giacometti’s Chariot, which went for nearly $101 million, and a Van Gogh still life, sold for $61.8 million. (via Art Market Monitor) 

Art censorship in France continues, as curator Françoise Paviot made the decision to remove a photographic polyptych by artist Diane Ducruet from an exhibition participating in Le Mois de la Photo in Paris. The exhibiting gallery, Galerie Catherine Houard, received a series of threatening messages condemning the images’ content; the polyptych, which depicts a mother and daughter, both nude, entwined in an intimate embrace, was labeled by protesters as “incestuous” and “pedophilic.” (via The Art Newspaper)

The World Jewish Congress has warned Switzerland’s Kunstmuseum Bern not to accept the approximately 1,200 works of Cornelius Gurlitt’s private collection (which the late Gurlitt bequeathed the museum in his will) or it will commence an “avalanche” of lawsuits. Much if not most of the collection is believed to be art looted by Nazis during the second World War; it was discovered stashed in a cramped apartment last year after Gurlitt’s death. Families worldwide have already made claims to certain items in the collection, which includes works by Picasso, Beckmann, Dürer, and Courbet, to name just a few. (via The LA Times) 

The development company that bought and subsequently demolished the graffiti center 5Pointz in Queens, NY, has filed to trademark the name “5Pointz” to use for the new apartment complex they are constructing. (via Hyperallergic) 

Best of Instagram

Via @cmainnyc: “See you tonight at #CMAArtAuction at @dreamdowntown! Keep bidding online on silent auction lots like ‘Looking West I’ by #kikismith on @artsy until 9:30PM! Online bidding for live auction lots closes at 3PM & transfers to the live event! Support CMA’s dedication to #art4all! #childrensmuseumofthearts #art #nyc” 

Good Reads

“Artist Frank Stella Continues to Provoke” (via The Wall Street Journal) 

“Art Worlders on Who Should Get the Brooklyn Museum’s Top Job” (via The New York Observer) 

Want to catch up with the rest of this week’s news? Review past Daily Digests here.