Luxury Brief: The Spaniard's private life was as well publicized in the world press as today's Brad and Angelina show. His open affairs broke hearts but the relationship with Dora Maar was an intellectual exchange and intense passion. Pablo's portrait of her is of grand scale and was sold at Sotheby's London on May 3rd for $95 million. This fetching price claims the second most expensive painting in auction history.
New York City is hands-down America's melting pot. Where else can you find a Tibetan restaurant, a Jewish deli and a chilidog stand within a few feet of each other? New York is also America's fashion hub and pioneer in many other industries-architecture, design, literature, music and, without a doubt, the visual arts. Along with some of the world's best art collections at the Met and MoMA, NYC boasts dozens and dozens of renowned galleries in all corners of the city. Sumi New York is home to a unique collection of Sumi art and features Asian-inspired pieces by a rotation of international artists. Sumi, which is Japanese for carbonized material, is made through an intricate process called Tanka (carbonization). Sumi is made of wood from forests grown specifically for this purpose. After being placed in a kiln at 800 degrees, the wood is reduced to a third of its size and resembles ceramic or glass. So, the next time you're in the Big Apple, stop by Sumi for the amazing Asian art, then hop over to the El Museo Del Barrio in Spanish Harlem, then back to Manhattan for Baroque masterpieces at the Met. And, if there's time, check out an Andy Warhol at MoMa.
Luxury Brief: Everyone always asked the same question. Are those real clothes on J. Seward Johnson's bronze sculptures? I can only imagine the look on that someone's face when they attempt to pry a layer off a display at a local park while trying to hide from the night's cold chill. The imagery starts from a 12' statue and grows to envelop the humanist details and emotions he sees in each of us. Look for the Fisherman reeling in a catch, the Photographer capturing your smile or a couple of Grandmas on a park bench discussing the challenges facing there grandchildren trying to find a mate. Every one of them telling a story caught in a moment of the bronze age.
Today's word is "giclee." Giclee, pronounced
zhee-CLAY, is such an innovative method to generate
high-resolution reproductions of quality art that the
term has yet to land in dictionaries. However, it is
the rave of the art world. Giclees are generally
released in quantities of 50 to 100, while limited
productions usually consist of 500 to 1,000.
GolfART Giclee delivers poignant paintings and
photography from the world's greatest golf artists,
preserving magical moments of the sport forever
through giclees, lithographs and photographs.
Spectacular paintings by golf artists such as Bob
Crofut, Tom Fort, Michael Heslop, and Walter
Spitzmiller capture legendary heroes on the fairways
and greens. Photographs from the Ron Watts Collection
span a century of events. From the birth of the Ryder
Cup to the early days of Bobby Jones in knickers to
Ben Hogan, Jack, Arnie and Tiger, GolfART Giclee
offers framed or unframed artwork memorabilia
encompassing golf's entire history. The firm also has
figurines, lamps, urns and other collectibles. Enjoy
the vast offerings of GolfART Giclee at
www.golfartgiclee.com.
A group of Kentucky high school friends are coming together across the country to invest in and promote friend and artist, Kim Luttrell. After seeing an article in The Wall Street Journal about a patent attorney who won the World Series of Poker and funded his entry fee by selling shares of his stake in the tournament, friends were inspired to buy shares to form Luttrell Fine Art, LLC and fund the artists entry into the International Artexpo in New York.
Friends are hoping to capitalize on the talent they see in Luttrell's work through this unprecedented business model in the art arena and gain a piece of the growing $60 billion dollar art industry.
There are times when reality can drain a soul empty
faster than four college students can chug a 32-ounce
pitcher of beer. Those are the times when a dose of
beautiful artwork can really hit the spot, prompting a
refocus toward the wonders of the world-a "Club Head"
vacation of sorts. The Salander-O'Reilly Galleries is
the perfect antidote to put one back on course.
However, it is not necessary to feel melancholic or
whelmed by a case of "heavy drama" to visit an art
gallery. The S-O Galleries is a great place just to
meet up with friends and look at awesome masterpiece
all day long. It is bling-bling for the soul.
Touted exhibitors frequently include Théodore
Rousseau, Joan Miró, Charles Demuth and William Blake
just to name a few of the regulars on the venerable
roster of all-star artists. There is an ongoing
exhibition that includes selections of Renaissance and
Baroque sculptures along with old masters and 19th
century paintings.
There is also a most extensive list of books in print
offered online that is sure to be treasured by all
viewers. Take a virtual promenade through the
culturally aesthetic surroundings of the
Salander-O'Reilly Galleries at
http://www.salander.com.
We all know someone with a special talent or passionate hobby. The mailroom guy with a knack for woodworking or the systems analyst with a voice that would knock any American Idol contestant out of the running. But how often to you meet someone who builds masterful homes, churches and banks in addition to creating three-dimensional sculptures that fetch prices upwards of $38,000?
Selling his contracting business to pursue sculpting full time was not as easy as leaving a dull corporate job but Robert Holmes clearly made the right decision. Since devoting his energy to sculpture, Holmes has risen to international acclaim for his ability to capture beauty through the marriage of space, light, and form. Holmes draws on his architecture background to enhance his work by harmonizing structures with their environment, the people within the environment, and art, creating three dimensional spaces.
Despite the innovation of his designs, Holmes believes that a living space should be minimal, yet warm, and sculptural without being imposing. His pieces support his philosophy. The Oval Time Bronze cast bronze table ($26,000) epitomizes his harmonious, yet impacting works of art. Today, Holmes maintains a bronze-casting foundry in Sebastopol, California and comes up with more designs in his Sea Ranch home, which itself is an example of his architectural designs fused with his renowned fine art.
The majority of Salvatore Erato's artwork stems
directly from a passion for auto racing and its
participants. His talents are multifaceted with works
both in paintings and sculptures that capture the
sport's essence. Indy cars, Formula Ones, Nascars and
sports cars, such as Porsches, Jaguars, Ferraris,
Lolas, Reynards, and many other classic automobiles.
The paintings and sculptures are so intricately
detailed that his work could be driven off walls and
onto racetracks. Using acrylics and airbrushing
techniques, both paintings and sculptures glean of a
blur that fuses motion and speed to many pieces.
Sculptures are made with a combination of wood, resin
and plastic.
Limited-edition prints also are available, such as
"Frequent Flyer," which features Michael Andretti at
the 1994 Indy Carnival race in Surfer's Paradise,
Australia. Each print is numbered and autographed by
Salvatore and Michael. Mr. Erato can be commissioned
to do original work and is receptive to project
proposals from all interested patrons. Take a long,
slow look at all of Erato's racy, fine automotive art
at www.salerato.com.
If you're a fan of antiques and retro furniture, then you appreciate a good story about your furnishing's history. It seems unlikely that you would want to display a piece of furniture that spent years on a busy street corner in New York City, but legendary artisan John Carter hopes to convince you otherwise. Lauded as "one of the 30 artists who will change our culture" by The New York Times, Carter pushes the proverbial envelope with his eye-opening, interactive interior designs and progressive artwork.
One his most recent masterpieces, the "Walk/Don't Walk" chair, which comes standard with all the genuine scuffs and stains from its days on the street, epitomizes the new industrial chic. Reglazed with 1" thick polished resin and cushioned with felt suspension, the "Walk/Don't Walk" chair is fully operational as actual seating or functional street signs--just plug into any standard 115V AC outlet.
$2,700.00
Materials: steel, metal
Dimensions: 33" L X 24" W x 35" H
For LxM Amy Covington
Luxury Art: It was 1963; times were both good and bad ... the Vietnam War was in full swing and JFK was assassinated but Jim Morrison and John Lennon were still alive and music still had soul. Andy Warhol was the artist of the era, with his celebrity portraits, one of the most famous being the portrait of Elizabeth Taylor, which just sold for $12,616,000 at a Sotheby's auction in New York. Can we say "discretionary income"? The fortuitous buyer was English collector Laurence Graff, who also is a London-based jeweler. The Warhol silkscreen definitely stole the spotlight of the auction, which took in just over $68 million, $5 million above the low pre-sale estimate.
Arts & Culture: Word is that Monet's "Railroad Bridge at Argenteuil," a canvas from 1873, sold recently at an auction at Christie's for $41.4 million -- a record for the artist. With the dollar down in relation to the Euro, European art collectors are coming out of the wood work to take advantage of this current economic trend.
When I saw this pricey image online recently, I was faced with an oxymoron I had never considered. Monet and other impressionists were painting concurrently with the Industrial Revolution. I had always thought of this romantic vision of the world including such famous images as ballerinas, flowers, fields and pre-John Deere haystacks happened before steam engines and sewing machines.
The romantic quality of Impressionist painting includes visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on light with its transient qualities, the portrayal of ordinary subject matter, and often the inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience including sometimes unusual visual angles.
Kevin Robb's unique style as a metal sculptor has earned him a permanent place as leader in the international art scene. Robb's free-flowing, gravity-defying stainless steel and bronze sculptures bring a quiet energy to both indoor and outdoor spaces in private collections around the world, as well as museums, parks and among corporate and university collections. Robb's fabricated bronze pieces inspire intimacy with their warm tones, which resemble the dynamic colors only found in natural rock formations. His cast bronze pieces take after ancient, unearthed markers in a rough-hewn, earthy texture combined with graceful shapes. Robb's sculptures are not contrived, deliberate pieces but true inspired creations. Each element in his sculptures is an "answer to a question of relationships," discovered as he works. Robb becomes "one with the metal and intuitively knows the precise twists and turns that will be required to achieve the desired result." The result is a masterpiece that blends with its surroundings, whether against a wooded backdrop or displayed in a pristine fountain or sophisticated atrium.
JustLuxe is a luxury Web publication providing objective analysis and information to affluent consumers to assist with their decision making, decisions such as charting a yacht, purchasing a jet membership card, booking a luxury hotel, traveling to a specific destination, or buying real estate. Our writers conduct interviews with industry executives and leaders in their fields, analyze product offerings and review the Web sites of leading companies to ensure our readers have up-to-date data to make informed decisions. Consumers can find purveyors of fine luxury goods, services and travel solutions throughout the pages of JustLuxe via content or with our advertising partners. See our Best of Luxury High end Brands and partners.
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