Five Artists in the News: Frank Auerbach Gives a Rare Interview, Anselm Kiefer Leads Early Sales at Art SG and Martin Johnson Heade’s $3.44m hummingbirds are on song at Christie’s

An Anselm Kiefer painting sold for just under $1.2m at Art SG, ARTnews reports, but most first-day sales at the Singapore fair sold for lower price points, such as a colorful portrait by Nigerian artist Ken Nwadigobu at Retro Africa.

In a rare interview, Frank Auerbach tells the Financial Times that until he was middle aged, he worried about being able to afford paint. The 92-year-old artist's evocative portraits in charcoal will be highlights of a solo show at the Courtauld Gallery in London.

Martin Johnson Heade’s painting of Brazilian hummingbirds and orchids was the headline sale at Christie's 19th Century American & Western Art auction, on January 18 in New York. It sold for $3.44m, 175% above its low estimate. For more results, see HENI News.

After works by Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin among thousands of other artists were used to train AI software, Midjourney, British artists have contacted US lawyers to discuss joining a class action against the US company and other AI firms, The Guardian reports.

And in other news

London’s Serpentine Gallery summer pavilion will be designed by architect Minsuk Cho, The Guardian reports. The South Korean architect plans to create a cluster of structures that draw on his country’s vernacular timber architecture.