An Interview With Alex Assouline

Alex Assouline carries himself differently than most people his age. At first impression, it takes a second to remember that he’s only in his mid-twenties. When I met him in his office one afternoon, he greets me in a three piece suit, immediately apologizing for making me wait an extra three minutes. He’s had a busy day, he explains. I, however, hadn’t even noticed those three minutes as, sitting in the lobby, I’m intrigued by the gorgeous coffee table books that surround me. Highlighted in a striking red, all-encompassing book case, the titles catch my attention. Dior. Chanel. Bentley. Vintage Cars. Up next, he tells me, is a book with design family Missoni. But, it’s not the book you’d expect: it’s a cookbook. It’s unique, and it’s on brand with Assouline, the publishing company Alex’s parents started that records culture in an elegant, timeless way.

Our conversation took us through some of that culture, with more upcoming additions to the Assouline catalogue, his passion project, and his fashion inspirations.

For those of us who are not already familiar with your family’s publishing house, give us an introduction to Assouline and your role within the company.

“So Assouline is a nearly 25 year old coffee table book publisher. We specialize in books about art, lifestyle and culture. I joined a few years ago after working in consulting. I’m now the director of marketing, and I work a lot on interior design, where I curate libraries, especially in New York.”

Other than the Missoni book, can you tell us what’s coming up for you? 

“I’m working on a fantastic book on [Azzedine] Alaia, who passed away a few months ago. It’s a very dear project to me because he was my godfather. We’re working on a special edition as well, leather bound with three different covers. It’s going to be a good homage.”

Tell me about the process of curating a library.

“So I started that a few months ago as an organic extension of what I was doing, but just on the side. So I met with a friend of mine for lunch and she was working on a building with her family as well, and she was just saying that she needed a space where–she needed a library, you know? She needed a space where people could just sit down and unplug from everything and feel safe and troubles with their minds are gone. And it just was a perfect fit, so I started one there, at The Shephard with the Naftali Group. Then I started having some requests, from word of mouth, and then started to structure it as a part of the business. So I go to a very specific place, whether it’s a hotel, restaurant, office, apartment or amenities for a library building, I just study the place, the neighborhood, the tenants, who goes there and their interests, and after a few days or weeks I just come up with something. A little drawing, a proposition. It’s a passion at this point.”

I can tell. 

“It’s my own thing. Something I developed that I’m happy about and proud of. It’s kind of the extension, when you have a family business, that you need to find your area to develop, while still being in the family business. And I found it, so I can have my own thing on the side.”

So let’s talk about style. Do you have a style philosophy? Do you have some icons you look up to? 

“I just saw a documentary on Gianni Agnelli. It absolutely changed my philosophy of fashion. It was so interesting because this guy was super well dressed, and he wasn’t scared of going his own way and his own style. Like putting the watch over the cuff, for example. And he did it in such a stylish way, that’s very inspiring. There’s no real boundary that you have to set for your style.

I like to wear suits. I feel good in a suit, I feel comfortable in a suit, which may sound a bit not genuine, but to me I really feel comfortable. You need to present yourself in a way that people can receive well. It’s an action of respect as well. I keep t-shirts for Sundays.”

Where are some of your favorite places to buy suits? 

“I have the two extremes. I have a tailor in Hong Kong that comes once a year or once every two years. So I just see everything, all the patterns that I can do. I’m very into plaid, so I’m very experimental in that way. So that’s fun. And then, I have a store in Paris where I buy most of my suits called Wicket. I trust them, I know every time I go I’m going to leave with a couple. It’s exactly my taste. In New York, I just buy my shirts at Brooks Brothers. Cufflinks, only vintage and on eBay. And suspenders as well, only on eBay. I have a big collection of suspenders. I’m very proud of it. I used to go on eBay and start betting on crazy suspenders and I would try to get a pair once a week. I cannot stop, but I don’t have space anymore.”

Do you have any brands of suspenders that we would recognize? 

“There’s vintage Ralph Lauren and there’s Trafalgar. These are the only two I find, but when I go to a vintage store or something, I might stumble upon something unusual, but it’s very rare. It’s not really in today’s culture, even to carry in vintage stores.”

Where did your love of suspenders come from? 

“That’s the thing. I didn’t see them anywhere, and I wanted to have something different. I wanted them with different colors, like an accessory that wasn’t something you couldn’t see on everyone. I wanted to build my own identity from that.”

What about timepieces?

“I don’t like extravagant or showy timepieces. I love my Cartier Tank because it’s meaningful to me. I got it when I was 18, and there was a big story behind it. My father, when he was an assistant and he was 18, saw it on his boss at the time in an elevator. And he said, “wow, this is what I want for my son one day.” And he got it for me when I was 18. So I just keep it at all times.”

Take me through a day in your life. 

“I wake up at 6:30 or 7, depending on what I did the night before. Then I jump on my rowing machine for about 20 or 30 minutes. I have to do that every day because it keeps my body moving at all times. It gives me the right energy. Then I have a big glass of water, shower, go to the office, meet with my team around 9 or 9:30. I try to separate my day around the tasks in the aspects of marketing or the library or communications. Mostly, I start with working on the new products we’re going to release–for example, we’re working on bookstands, candles. Then I answer e-mails for partnerships that we’re doing, and work on marketing products for books–how to make the book come to life. And then quick lunch with my parents to debrief about what’s happening in the company. And after that go back to the office, until I finish the day and I take out my pencil and I just draw a library. For a client or just to practice. I leave the office around 7 or 7:30, depending on whether I have a drink with a client, or dinner, which usually happens.”

What’s your favorite drink? 

“I’m in my spicy margarita with salt phase. I don’t know how long that’s going to last. But, usually, I love a pisco sour. It’s a Peruvian drink made of pisco, lime juice, sugar and egg whites and a bit of tabasco.”

What do you feel like is different about New York? 

“What I see the most is the energy and the willingness for people to achieve. That’s a pretty cool trait.”

You can follow Alex on Instagram at @alexassouline and Assouline at @assouline. Assouline is on Twitter at @AssoulinePub.

Featured photo courtesy of: Assouline, by Josh Deveaux.

Dior Takes Canada

There’s no doubt about it: Christian Dior is legendary. And so, in a special exhibit at the Patricia Harris Gallery at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, the French designer is celebrated in an exhibition of beauty, elegance and, of course, fashion.

Check out some photos from the exhibition below:

For more information visit:  www.rom.on.ca/en/dior

Talking Art: Interview with Dale Lewis

Dale Lewis is undeniably one of the most talented as well as creative up and coming abstract British artists of today; his work is awe inspiring and thought provoking, reaching deep into the mind of the viewer and bringing out emotions they may not have known they possessed.

One of Mr. Lewis’ latest shows, titled “Fat, Sugar and Salt”, brings together a collection of mural sized paintings which breathe life into the depiction of comical grotesque scenes of contemporary, lower class, urban existence packaged inside a quintessentially British set of modern dark humor.  The end result of viewing Lewis’ work can best be described as unforgettable.

Far flung from his days as a studio assistant to Damien Hirst and Raqib Shaw, where he worked on kaleidoscope and photorealist paintings; Lewis, now fueled by his absorption of past memories, paints in a frantic style of work that is often compared to that of the likes of David Hockney and Jean-Michel Basquiat. 

What has been the inspiration for some of your most recent works?

“The latest body of work shown at Edel Assanti was based on my home in East London, after spending quite a lot of time away last year I thought I’d focus more on what I see in my immediate surroundings.”

What does it mean to you to be a quintessentially British artist? What is your viewpoint in regards to the Art Scene in London today?

“There is lots of British humour in my work and looking at very ordinary day to day life of people that I’m surrounded by. I don’t think much of the art scene, it’s more important to look at life in general rather than look at what everybody else is doing.”

Take us through a day in the life of Dale Lewis.

“It’s quite ordinary. I wake up naturally and slowly make my way to the studio along the canal and think about what I’ll do when I get there. Arriving in the studio, I have some breakfast and start painting. I usually paint til quite late in the evening and drink wine and look at what I’ve made today. I’m usually filthy at the end of the day and head home to spend an hour or so in the bath before going to bed.”

Your work consistently explores both dark humor and religious references, which ultimately provokes and develops deep thought and emotion within the mind of the viewer, if there is just one thing that a viewer takes away with them from your work what would you like that to be?

“I would just like them to remember it. Or see something they see in their own life reflected back at them.”

How has your own London neighborhood helped inspire your paintings that depict scenes of the reality of urban life?

“I live in a very poor, miserable part of East London where I see people drinking in the morning. There is rubbish everywhere and people not doing very much, and I like that. No ambition and no future.”

Are there any artists in particular that have influenced you most?

“Yeah, probably Rose Wylie, she’s a real hero. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know her over the last few years. I find her work very freeing and enjoyable.”

Are there any other mediums outside of spray paint/acrylic on canvas that you are looking to explore further in the future?

“Not really. I’m a traditional painter. I like the smell of the paint. I like how oil moves and how instant spray paint is. It suits my often frantic way of working.”

France Has Won: The Book of Hours of King Francois I Returns to France

The Book of Hours of King Francois I has been put on exhibit at the Louvre. Celebrate this momentous occasion at the Louvre while giving a special thanks to the great LVMH. The French have won! It all took place on Feb 15^th, when France was able to accumulate 10 Million Euros to acquire the fabled book, which could be said to be a priceless heirloom of the past king.

The Louvre happens to be the owner of one of the biggest art collections. You can expect to see everything from every era that has long since been etched into the records of ages passed. Being a former royal palace, the minimum you await to find is but an abundance of historical artifacts and antiquities, however, it was missing one important piece to complete the grand collection.

We now tell you the story of how The Book of Hours of King Francois I began:

An old Englishman from the 18^th century got his hands on this book and was able to keep it in England’s collection for decades. The French wept, wanting to have back their “unique vestige of the treasures of the House of Valois” as the Louvre say. Their dream came true on Oct. 2017, when its current London owner decided to put it on sale. As for the ending of this story, it isn’t as simple as it appears to be. The deal for the Louvre to have it back was to acquire 10 million euros before Feb. 15^th.

How did they do that, you ask? Well on Oct. 15^th Musée de Louvre launched a campaign “Tous Mécènes!” to help raise the money. This campaign is the crowdfunding type to help enrich the Louvre’s collection.

However, the money collected wasn’t just based on “Tous Mécènes!”. LVMH was generous enough to donate 5 million euros, thereby securing half the acquisition. So, with the help of both, the Louvre was able to pay the full amount and add The Book of Hours of King Francois I to its sizable collection

And this ends the story of how France was able to retrieve back what she considers to be a historical treasure.

Image credit:  Louvre Museum

Hockney: Retrospection over a Retrospective

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 

After a particularly fortuitous astrological alignment, we have finally made it to the David Hockney retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, after having missed it in both London and Paris. The retrospective has been organized in conjunction with the Tate and the Pompidou, and will be on view in New York until February the 25^th, 2018. This exhibit is a major retrospective for the octogenarian artist, spanning some sixty odd productive years. Hockney is best known for being a major figure of the British pop art movement of the 1960’s and for his iconic imagery of poolside Los Angeles best encapsulated in the 1967 work the Bigger Splash (the keystone piece of the exhibit). The retrospective itself is divided into a series of rooms offering comprehensive groupings of Hockney’s oeuvre that leave visitors with a keen sense of Hockney’s fearless engagement with both his materials and his responses to wider art history.

The exhibition begins chronologically with two rooms devoted to Hockney’s student days, ranging from the late 1950’s through to the early 1960’s. Hockney was already making splashes (you’ll forgive the pun) at the Royal College of Arts in London for bending rules (refusing to write essay exams for example; making the rather fair point that his medium was painting not word-smithing) and for actively engaging with his sexuality through his artwork (homosexuality was decriminalized in the United Kingdom by the Sexual Offenses Act of 1967). These early works draw inspiration from a diversity of source material but notably from Francis Bacon, both methodologically and topically. Hockney establishes early on that his true passion as an artist lies in the figural and landscape genres, running contra to the prevailing trend of the day for abstract expressionism. Where some artists of the era were marginalized for not embracing abstract expressionism as a doctrine, Hockney found a way to balance his more classical impulses and present them in an engaging way that resonated to a modern audience.

David Hockney, Rubber Ring in a Swimming Pool, 1971. Acrylic on Canvas.

We see this clearly in the third room of the exhibition, where diluted layers of acrylic ripples on swimming pools walk the thin line between abstraction and representation to evoke the iconic plasticity of Los Angeles. Leaving aside A Bigger Splash, we note less recognizable works such as Rubber Ring in a Swimming Pool. Hockney indicated that without the point of reference of the title, this work can be considered wholly abstract, and dreamily tells us the scene reminds him of Max Ernst. There is something equally wonderful and cinematic about pieces like Lawn Sprinkler and Savings and Loan Building that are able to imbue drama into such static frames. Indeed this sense of static drama is present throughout Hockney’s work if we consider his Play Within a Play, a portrait of his art dealer John Kasmin inspired by frescos attributed to 17^th century Italian baroque master Domenichino. These Domenichino frescos served as a conceptual inspiration for Hockney, painted to look like tapestries adorning the walls. This double-reality (inception) led Hockney to do the same in his portrait pressing his rather harangued looking gallerist in between a hyper-flattened periwinkle tapestry and in a Baconian fashion, a layer of Plexiglas. Bacon notably included layers of glass in many of his works to add a distortive element to the composition, here Hockney’s diluted and dry paint treatment is subtle enough that in fact even a trained eye does not immediately spot the seam of the glass entrapping Mr. Kasmin.

David Hockney, Play Within A Play, 1963. Oil and Plexiglass on Canvas.

Moving past the swimming pools, the exhibition proceeds with a room of beautiful double portraits that represent a mature and refined Hockney, these works continue to display Hockney’s interest in using geometry as a staging device to create psychological energy. They are primarily portraits of Hockney’s social circle. We are particularly drawn to the portrait of Fred and Marcia Weisman in American Collectors. We see them here in Hockney’s portrait having a super chic palm spring moment looking as artful as their collection and home. For those of you in the Los Angeles area, the couple’s rather fabulous Holmby Hills home makes for an interesting afternoon outing. There is also within the same set of double portraits, a lovely depiction of groovy designer Ossie Clark and his wife Celia Birtwell, and their cat Percy (loathe to be excluded it seems). From double portraiture we abruptly depart to engage with photography, collages and cubism. We confess it took us a moment to recalibrate to these offerings from the 1980’s. We take Hockney’s point, however; that photography is an excellent medium for cubist exploration as we consider My Mother, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire, Nov. Photography allows for the compositing of various angles to be worked into an overall super structure. We also love Yorkshire. Our adventures with Hockney close with the winding landscapes in bright synthetic colours, representing the artists most recent work. Hockney continues to be active, and this retrospective is a delightful ode to his career, one we hope has many more years still to unfold.

David Hockney. My Mother, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire, Nov. 1982. Photographic Collage.

Meet Sabrina Percy

Meet London based Artist and Illustrator, Sabrina Percy. Fresh from her days at the London College of Fashion, the 27-year old Tatler ‘It Girl’ is making a name for herself as a shining star on the illustration scene.

In a world which lacks the sophistication of icons such as Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, the ever so stylish British aristocrat is refreshing, and can easily be dubbed today’s queen of class, with a style reminiscent of days long gone. Sabrina is often found gracing the runways of Dolce & Gabbana in Milan or working in her London Studio to create illustrations for fashion brands such as lululemon and British marques like Rolls Royce. And on her days off, she is no stranger to a quintessential adventure in the Scottish Highlands or a holiday in southeast Asia.

Though very much to the contrary of many young artists, Sabrina’s creativity is somehow different, there is a certain “je nais se pais” to her work that is completely unique, yet, all of her work flows together in a meaningful and harmonious fashion. It can almost become addicting to see her next piece of work. Sabrina’s imagination certainly knows no bounds and can only be considered remotely equal to her passionate entrepreneurial drive.

This Holiday season we were given the exclusive privilege of speaking with Sabrina on her deeply energetic and personal work as an artist in addition to her pursuit of excellence in style and world travels.

How did you first become interested in a career as an illustrator? Was it an encounter with fashion or art in your childhood, or through family or school?

“When I was very young my mother was a fashion designer, and she used to take me to the factory where the clothes were made. I saw her fashion sketches and was inspired to draw myself. I am very dyslexic and so art was something I was actually quite good at – and I held it as a strong point. I enjoyed it and it lead me to gain an art scholarship to my secondary school, then onto my degree in Fashion Illustration from London College of Fashion.”

What have been some of your favorite Illustrations that you have created so far?

“I am still particularly proud of the painting I did for the Kings Road lululemon store. It took me about 6 months to complete as it is just over 8 feet tall. It was so tall I had to work the whole painting on the floor, as it wouldn’t stand up in my flat. Another is a picture of a baby Rhino – I met the little thing while I was out in Kenya. Even so young, it’s grey skin was so wrikly and textural. The piece was created to be the logo for the event launch of the Borana Conservation trust. Then the original was sold in the auction of the event, and all the money was donated toward the charity.”

Do you have a preferred medium for illustrating?

“I think my favorite is pencil, because I believe it behaves the best for me – but I love the vibrancy of colours in ink. I recently discovered digital drawing with a stylus and a tablet, which is my new obsession. I’m not very good yet, but practice makes perfect.”

In addition to your passion for art, you are also a gifted model and fashionista. Do you ever see yourself combining your love of fashion with your illustrations to become a designer? 

“It’s funny because my mother was a fashion designer, I have dipped my toe in a bit of small projects with her, which leads me to discover that the pages are my happy place, not the pattern cutting table. I’m in awe of people who can create a garment from scratch with all of the math and textile rules. If someone could work with me to realize my drawings into fabric form, then that would be great – but won’t be handling a sewing machine anytime soon.”

To what do you credit the inspiration for your inherently unique and very classy style? Are there any particular style icons that you look up to? 

“I was very keen on Audrey Hepburn when I was younger. I love Olivia Palermo’s style, but I’m yet to meet a girl who doesn’t. I think Poppy Delevigne has great style and fashion sense as well.” 

Who are some of your preferred fashion labels at the moment?

“I love Dolce & Gabanna, their clothes are so playful and fun that you feel the emotion as soon as you put them on. I feel that Stefano and Domenico’s energy always makes it’s way into the clothes. Their energy and good vibes are infectious. I also love Burberry for it’s classic English heritage, it feels like my home brand.”

Tell us more about your relationship with Dolce & Gabbana, and what initially started your love affair with the quintessential Italian fashion house?

“In September I received a request to walk in their Millenials ‘secret show’ in Milan. My boyfriend and I where whisked out there and the whole team was such a pleasure to work with, you really get the sense of family with them. The clothes were beautiful and everyone there was so lovely and so passionate, it was impossible not to fall in love. Then we worked together again in November, where they did the Harrods take over and we walked the catwalk in the Harrods food hall. I was over the moon to be reunited with the team, to wear even more beautiful clothes and party the night away with them eating their pasta – Dolce and Gabanna really know how to live la dolce vita.”

Being a rather frequent traveler, what have been some of your favorite destinations this year?

“This year started for me in the mountains in Japan at Gala-Yuzawa, which was incredible. I was surprised how different it was in sport and culture to European skiing. The sport is more leisurely and the long skiing lunches are not a thing! But it’s beautiful and their Onsen culture is amazing in the mountains with natural hot volcanic springs everywhere. Antigua is always a beautiful destination – crystal clear water and the vibe is very laid back. Perfect holiday…  It was my first time to Florence this year and I was lucky enough to go twice as we had two different weddings there. I love Italy for the beautiful architecture and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was breathtaking.”

Having just recently returned from a trip to Northwestern India, do you have any tips for those of us who are looking to visit the country?

“I think it very much depends on when you go, but when we were there in November it was great. Warm in the day and cooler in the evening. You cannot go wrong with a visit to India, just explore as much as possible. In Udaipur be sure to visit lake Pichola, the City Palace is unbelievably beautiful, and surprisingly completely man made, inspired by Venice.”

What do you believe sets London apart being your locality of choice?

“I would say it’s the diversity. The people, the areas, the styles, it’s a complete melting pot of the best of everything. I challenge someone to find a style of food that cannot be found in London and I don’t think there is another city that can match that array of amazing cuisines and quality, all in one city. I think no matter who you are or what you’re into, you should be able to find your tribe here. Each borough is like it’s own little village with a unique culture and feel. If you looked around enough I would say you are sure to find your own little community.”

Where can we follow you?

My personal instgram is @sabrinacpercy

If you’re just after my artwork, best to go to @sabrinapercyart

And for my website at:  www.SabrinaPercy.com

Where to next?

“I am heading to Kenya for the New Year, which will be amazing. Most importantly, I have to get my calendar out, pick a date, and commit to my first exhibition.”

“Involution” By Martín Loyato: Upcoming Album Release

Through the co-operation among a collection of skilled musicians from different backgrounds, a masterpiece titled “Involution” was created. More than 30 musicians from all over the world, including Argentina, Australia, Germany, Greece, Korea, Lebanon, Spain and the USA, have combined their talents to produce this “electro-acoustic experimental album” containing 9 breathtaking tracks.

The 18^th of December is the awaited day when “Involution” by the professional Argentinian trumpet player “Martín Loyato”, a multi-instrumental player, who added to his treasure a new album that will be released digitally worldwide. Through this diversity in culture and self-expression, Loyato is trying to establish a new sort of recording that embraces all different types of music, thus uniting their imperfections together to come up with a magnificent blend. The album was recorded and mixed at Audio Addicts Studio in Beirut, Lebanon. Under the label of Syncretism Records, which is an independent music label interested in releasing creative-contemporary free world music from experimental jazz to classical, founded by Loyato in 2009.

Loyato is pioneering this new type of music that is stripped of all dominant discourses shaped by intersection of gender, race and class praising the mere “interconnectedness” among people, thus combining music the same way people blend with each other and connecting their emotions that fluctuate between happiness and pain. The inspiration behind the music is the “spiritual meaning of involution” that aims for progression of the untouchable spirits. For him”This philosophy represents the inner evolution of the mind, heart and soul, the inward path of a spiritual aspirant toward self-realization that might be the ascent back to God or beyond the creation.”

Surprisingly enough, Dr. Loyato has worked on many other skillful projects and some of them even took place at the Lebanese American University – the institution he teaches at – that partially supported this recording in addition to other contributors such as Audio Addicts Studio, Patrizia Jewelry Sculptor, SaxOn… Loyato tries his best to encourage talented students by giving them a chance to let their music reach out to people’s ears inside and outside the university bubble. Many Lebanese American University students participated in this album as the choir and by instrumental playing.

I personally perceived the music as similar to the sea where at some points it’s raging and at other points it’s calm. A mixture of different musical instruments: Qanoon, Oud, Saxophones, violins and electronics… This unique taste of mixing East and West accompanied by changing levels of vocals, creates the sense of complication “involution” hence communicating a meaningful and pleasurable experience while listening to the recordings. Moreover, It’s quite interesting how Dr. Loyato includes some Arabic lyrics in the album without creating dissonance, but, on the opposite harmoniously the melody pampers the ears. Eagerly, he’s trying to spread his art in the Arab region too by adding an Arabic touch to this album.

For more information about Martín Loyato visit:  MartinLoyato.com

For additional details about the album check out the below video.

Christie’s NY Impressionist and Modern Art Sale and previews of Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale

Christie’s, New York.

We are off to a strong start to the November sales with the Christie’s Impressionist-Modernist sale on Monday generating a $479.3 million turnover with 88% of the lots finding happy homes. The prize fish of the auction, a late Van Gogh, Laborer dans un Champ sold for $81,312,500 million surpassing its estimate by 31.3 million. Honourable mentions in the Modernist category go to Fernand Leger’s Contraste de Formes at $62 million, and a lovely Rene Magritte of the L’empire des Lumieres series sold for $20,562,500 million.

Next on our agenda, we take in the offerings on the previews floor for the contemporary evening sale, wondering who will make bigger splashes with a Da Vinci thrown in the mix? As much as we are rooting for a reaffirmation of the renaissance master and that glorious rock crystal orb in Salvator Mundi, we are also hedging that we can expect big splashes from Andy Warhol’s Sixty Last Suppers and Twombly’s Untitled from his Bacchus series. The record prices for Warhol and Twombly are $105 million for Silver Car Crash (double disaster) and $70 million for Untitled (New York City), respectively. We yawned passed the $35 million estimate on Rothko’s Saffron, preferring that particular colour in our food, to cast a cool eye over Kerry James Marshall’s Still Life with Wedding Portraits. We’ve spotted Marshall from London to Miami in recent years, so we will be keeping an eye on that $1,500,000 estimate tomorrow, as well as on Lee Krasner’s Shattered Light at $2,500,000, and Currin’s Gold Nude. But the piece that has most stolen our heart is a room filled with mylar fish by Philippe Parreno, at an approachable estimate of $350,000.   

Stay tuned for our updates from the auction house floor.

Last privately held work by Da Vinci to go to auction tomorrow in New York

Christie’s, New York.

It’s that time of the year again. Oh the bright lights of New York in November. The crowds are gathering to take in the ice skating rink under a golden art deco Prometheus, the baubles and a newly installed Christmas tree on Rockefeller. Of course some of us have come to take part in a very different sort of spectator sport, and for us it’s that time of the year again, only the most influential sale on the auction house circuit, the Evening Contemporary sale. We have turned our eyes to Christie’s to take in the offerings, the people, the installations and…. a Leonardo Da Vinci.

Yes, the latest addition to the extravaganza is a not so contemporary work by the renaissance master. It can be found situated on Christie’s ground floor, in a bizarre bout of cross marketing flanked by Andy Warhol’s Sixty Last Suppers. Whether it is a stroke of genius, or madness is open for debate, but here are the details we’ve drummed up to whet your appetite.

Salvator Mundi has an illustrious 500-year history, packed with the strange twists and turns of any work of art worth it’s salt. It is believed to have been commissioned for Louis XII of France and afterwards found a home in the famed art collection of Charles I of England. After the English restoration, it languished in gentle obscurity until the 20^th century where it re-emerges as a part of the Cook collection. Minor restorations and time out of the limelight are enough to throw authorship to Bernardino Luini, a follower of Da Vinci. In 1958 it was sold at auction for £45 GBP (adjusted for inflation approximately £990 GBP) and re-emerges in the United States in 2005.

With less than twenty paintings attributed to Da Vinci, how do we know Salvator Mundi belongs to this body of work? The painting certainly has the presence and the materiality characteristic to Da Vinci’s work. It is a small work on wood panel, specifically walnut which is a signature of Da Vinci paintings. The use of lapis is also characteristic to Da Vinci, its expense, as a pigment is indicative of the esteem for the commission and artist. The painting is very appealing for its simplicity of composition, driving all the viewers attention to the sitter and orb. The meticulous, almost mathematical rendering of the textiles and curls is another indication that the authorship is Da Vinci’s, especially when compared to sketches in his notebooks. The technique to depict the paintings recession of space also point to the experimental nature of the artist, analysis shows hand prints in the modulation of the paint to create Da Vinci’s signature sfumato effects on the face. If that all sounds woolly, there is also ample scientific analysis and historical documentation to consider. Scanning techniques reveal that the painting has several corrections (pentimenti) underneath, these are nearly always indicative of an original work, as a follower would draught what they saw at the surface level. Pigment analysis shows us that everything is consistent with the period and comparison to other Da Vinci works, especially the Mona Lisa and his St. John the Baptist. Only one detail seems to be troubling experts and that is the light penetration of the orb, and its lack of reflections on the surface. On that detail we say give the man a break! Da Vinci could have many reasons for tweaking the details a bit, from wanting to create an impression of the divine and otherworldly, to perhaps even just liking the visual effect of an opaque rock crystal surface.

Estimates for Salvator Mundi (lot 9B sale 14995) is $100,000,000 USD

NYC: Louis Vuitton exhibition “Volez, Voguez, Voyagez” For the First Time!

After tracing their glamorous touch across the globe, from Paris to Tokyo, Louis Vuitton has decided to bring it’s charm – for the first time – to New York City through an exclusive exhibition. Having just opened on October the 27^th of this year, the exhibition will proceed until the 7^th of January, 2018, while taking place at the American Stock Exchange building in lower Manhattan. The exhibition features the glorification of the history of Louis Vuitton, giving a chance for visitors to discover its authentic past as a luxurious fashion house since its inception in 1854 till present day. Through in-depth analysis and exploration of the display, guests can detect the connection of the House with the United States and NYC in particular, where one of the house’s rooms is devoted entirely to ‘The Big Apple’.

The event that is held in New York’s Financial District, greets customers with opened arms, mirroring the values and splendid accomplishments of Louis Vuitton’s history, starting firstly with the brand’s iconic product, the “Louis Vuitton trunk”. This product specifically offers users an unrivaled and safe experience in preserving their luggage. Other fashionable products include Louis Vuitton idealistic bags, accessories, shoes and outfits. Admission is free, so don’t miss this marvelous chance to be exposed to products through the ages of a precious and storied brand like Louis Vuitton.

Louis Vuitton exhibition “Volez, Voguez, Voyagez” 2017-2018 in the US.

For more information visit:  LouisVuitton.com