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Week in Review: Keith Haring’s Subway Drawings, Ruth Asawa Coast-to-Coast and Ed Ruscha’s Rejection Note

3 min read  ·  01 Nov 2024

MoMA Design Store launches a Luna Luna–inspired merchandise ahead of the artist-designed fun fair opening at The Shed on November 20. Image courtesy MoMA Design Store

With the big New York sales imminent, the auction houses have announced big-ticket works of art. They are led by early works on paper by Jean-Michel Basquait in crayon and Keith Haring in chalk, with $20m and $6.3m respectively. Coinciding with the sales, the "forgotten" fairground attraction Luna Luna, to which both artists contributed, opens at The Shed. For Luna Luna merch, head to MoMA Design store.

1

New York: A group of Keith Haring’s subway drawings collected by the writer Larry Warsh, go on show at Sotheby’s ahead of a sale on November 21. The 31 works, which the artist drew on the black paper of empty advertising panels, have a total estimate of $6.3m.

2

San Francisco/ New York: SFMOMA and MoMA are co-organizing a major Ruth Asawatouring exhibition, which will head to Europe after opening on the West Coast next spring.

3

New York: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1982), a large-scale portrait in crayon, heads to auction at Christie’s with a $20m estimate on November 21. HENI News

4

London: Works by Mahmud Said and Ziad Dalloul were star lots at Christie's Middle Eastern Art sale on October 31. The auction totaled $6.42m, exceeding the pre-sale high estimate. For all the highlights, see the HENI News report.

5

New York: Nicole Eisenman's Fixed Crane has gone on show in Madison Square Park. The artist's embellished industrial crane, which lies on its side, is due to be on view until next March.

6

Los Angeles: Cecilia Vicuña and Julian Charrièrehave been awarded MOCA LA’s inaugural Art and Environment prize, funded by philanthropists Eric and Wendy Schmid.

7

Market: Leonora Carrington’s two sons are at loggerheads over late bronzes created when their mother was in her 90s, which are now available in posthumous editions, The Art Newspaper reported.

Nicole Eisenman, Fixed Crane (2024). Copyright the artist. Image courtesy of Madison Square Park Conservancy

In other news

Market: Early sales were slow at the ADAA’s The Art Show in New York but collectors snapped up the darkly surreal work of self-taught artist Abraham Lincoln Walkerpresented by Andrew Edlin, Observer reports.

Market: Artissima returned to Turin's Oval Lingotto and the city’s institutions opened a host of major shows to coincide with the fair. For a round-up of the best, see HENI News.

New York: The Whitney Museum could expand the nearby Gansevoort Meat Market building. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, announced the plan as part of the proposed Gansevoort Square.

"‘We do not wish to accept this book.’ Ed Ruscha tells Francesco Clemente about a brutal rejection note from the Library of Congress when it declined Ruscha’s gift of a copy of Twentysix Gasoline Stations."

- Interview