Greek-Italian artist Jannis Kounellis passed away yesterday evening, aged 80.
Born in Piraeus, Greece, in 1936, Kounellis lived and worked in Rome from 1956 onwards, where he studied at the Accademia delle Belle Arti and gradually established himself as one of the major representatives of the Arte Povera movement. Kounellis was known for his use of “poor” materials — including soil, burlap sacks, gold, coal, lead, wood, and even live animals — but he also experimented with other mediums, such as performance and theatre. He had his first solo exhibition at Rome’s La Tartaruga Gallery, but one of his most famous exhibitions was his 1969 show at Galleria L’Attico in the Italian capital, where he exhibited twelve living horses.
Jannis Kounellis' 2014 show at the Musée d'art moderne de Saint-Etienne. Photo : Henri Robert
Today, his work is in the collections of some of the world’s leading institutions, including Paris’ Centre Pompidou, Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof, London’s Tate Britain as well as the Guggenheim Museum and MoMA in New York. Kounellis was represented by Tornabuoni Art, Cheim & Read and Gallery Karsten Greve. His work is currently on show in two group exhibitions at Karsten Greve St. Moritz (until tomorrow) and Cologne’s Kolumba Museum. The Art Newspaper has more information.
Dealer Paul Kasmin joins Invaluable
Invaluable, the Boston-based e-commerce platform for fine art, antiques and collectibles, has announced the appointment of art dealer Paul Kasmin to its advisory board.
Kasmin joins board director Bill Ruprecht, formerly chairman of Sotheby’s, and the two will work together to expand Invaluable’s relationships with dealers and galleries. Paul Kasmin gallery, which opened in 1989 in SoHo, currently has three locations in Chelsea. Rob Weisberg, CEO of Invaluable, has commented: “(Paul’s) knowledge and experience in the art market and Invaluable’s innovation and strength in technology are a powerful combination we think will bring great value to dealers.” Blouin Artinfo has more.
Calls are open for LOOP’s 2017 DISCOVER Award
LOOP.
LOOP, the Barcelona fair dedicated to the promotion of video art, has announced that calls are open for the 2017 edition of its DISCOVER Award.
The award recognizes international artists working with video and film, and is endowed with €5,000. The winner and ten other selected finalists will have their work promoted by LOOP through its network and festival, and they will show at an exhibition organized by LOOP at the former Estrella Damm brewing factory in Barcelona, which will then travel to Eikon, Viena; La Sala, Vilanova i la Geltrú; Centre d’Art Maristany, Sant Cugat del Vallès; Tinglado 2, Tarragona; and Sala Muncunill, Terrassa. Read the announcement here.
Essl Collection to be acquired by the Albertina Museum
The Essl Collection, which has risked liquidation multiple times over the last few years, has finally found a new home.
Vienna’s Albertina Museum — one of the city’s leading art institutions — has announced that the collection, owned by businessmen Karlheinz Essl and Hans Peter Haselsteiner, is to go on a permanent loan to the museum. The news comes after the collapse of Karlheinz Essl’s company bauMax, which considerably endangered the future of the collection. In 2014, Essl and his wife announced that they were ready to sell the 7,000 work collection — including works by artists such as Gerhard Richter, Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke, Albert Oehlen, Rosemarie Trockel, Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor, and Maria Lassnig — then held in its own museum in Klosterneuburg, outside Vienna, now closed. In the same year, industrialist Hans Peter Haselsteiner provided collateral for a new company which purchased the collection, thus saving it from liquidation. The Essl Collection will be integrated into the Albertina Museum in the next six months. Read more on artnet news.
Entrance to the Albertina Museum, Vienna.
