Portrait Painter Lucian Freud Leaves $150 Million in Will

Renowned portrait painter Lucian Freud has left a record ₤96 million – $AU150 million – in his will, the largest sum bequeathed by a British artist, according to London’s Mail On Sunday newspaper.

Freud died last July aged 88, by which time his uncompromising, fleshy portraits had made him one of the world’s most revered and coveted artists, with subjects ranging from the Queen to supermodel Kate Moss. His Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, a 1995 portrait of a woman asleep in the nude on a sofa, fetched $US33.6 million at Christie’s in 2008 – an auction record for a living artist.

The newspaper said Freud left 2.5 million pounds and a house to his long-term assistant David Dawson, who is pictured in Freud’s last unfinished work Portrait Of The Hound, which also featured the artist’s pet whippet Eli :: Read the full article »»»»

National Museum of Australia Snaps-up Rare Aboriginal Art

The National Museum of Australia in Canberra has purchased two rare pen and ink drawings thought to have been created more than a century ago by an Aboriginal artist. ‘Buckley’s Escape’ drawn by Aboriginal artist Tommy McRae, depicts convict William Buckley escaping captivity to spend the next 32 years of his life with Aboriginal people. The Museum paid $AU65,000 for the drawing.

The National Museum of Australia scooped up the two 1890s drawings by Tommy McRae at Deutscher and Hackett’s Important Aboriginal and Oceanic Art Auction in Melbourne on April 4. The museum bid $AU20,000 for the second McRae drawing, Murray Tribe Warfare, which shows Aboriginal people fighting in northern Victoria. McRae lived in the Upper Murray, Victoria, where he made and sold books of drawings. He is one of only a few Aboriginal artists to depict life in 19th century Australia. Both McRae drawings had been held by the same NSW family since being bought directly from the artist in the 1890s :: Read the full article »»»»

Belvoir Street Theatre to Perform Ibsen’s Wild Duck in Norway

Sydney: Belvoir Street Theatre’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s play The Wild Duck has been invited to be part of the International Ibsen Festival in Norway later this year. Belvoir Street Theatre’s production, directed by Simon Stone, was completely rewritten and set inside a glass box featuring a live duck. The production won several Helpman and Sydney Theatre Awards. The Ibsen festival is held at the National Theatre in Oslo and celebrates the best Norwegian and international productions of the famous playwright’s works:: Read the full article »»»»

Dali’s “Printemps Necrophilique” Expected to Fetch $US15+ Million

Printemps Necrophilique, is a 1936 work by the Spanish master, the piece depicts a seated male and a standing female in an eerily realistic landscape, has a presale estimate as high as $US15 million when it’s offered at the Sotherby’s May 2 sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York. the piece was last on the market 15 years ago.

Surrealist art has seen soaring prices in recent seasons, with works by painters such as Max Ernst and Paul Delvaux selling for many times their estimates or setting records at sales in New York last year. Read the full article »»»»

Dior Replaces Galliano

Belgian designer Raf Simons is taking over as artistic director at Dior, the Paris fashion house has announced, ending months of speculation over who would replace disgraced predecessor John Galliano. Simons, who previously worked for fashion house Jil Sander and is known for his understated looks, was long considered an unlikely candidate as Dior conducted exploratory talks with more high-profile rivals ranging from Marc Jacobs, head designer at Louis Vuitton, to Alber Elbaz of Lanvin.

The top design post at Christian Dior – part of the luxury conglomerate LVMH - has been vacant for more than a year after Galliano was fired for a drunkard anti-Semitic outburst in Paris in March 2011. In September 2011 Galliano was convicted of anti-Semitic behavior by a French court, he was handed a suspended sentance and fined $US8,400. Sidney Toledano, Dior’s chief executive and president, said at the time of the conviction: “The fact that the name of Dior has been linked through its designer, as brilliant as he may be, to intolerable words, is very painful for us.” Read the full article »»»»