Voor de liefde Gods

Damien Hirst's famous "skull" is now on view in Amsterdam. Click here for more information.

Big bucks for Bacon

Ever wondered why Francis Bacon's work has become so exceptionally highly priced? The Art Newspaper explains. The Bacon exhibition at the Tate opened last week.

Another Belgian in America

Last week, I went to see one of the most expensive paintings ever sold: 'Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I', by Gustav Klimt. The work hangs in the beautiful Neue Galerie, in New York. I was happy to see that Adele is flanked by two nice sculptures by George Minne, a Belgian Symbolist artist.

At the end of 2007, the New York Sun reported: "Exactly 100 years ago, Gustav Klimt's iconic portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, now enthroned in the Neue Galerie and possibly the most famous painting in New York, was exhibited in Vienna between two soulful and sinewy sculptures by the Belgian artist George Minne. Today, after a tumultuous century of world wars and totalitarian regimes, the two sculptures have turned up on the Upper East Side at the Neue Galerie. There, once again, they flank the ethereal Frau Bloch-Bauer. All three works had belonged to her family before they were confiscated by the Nazis. Two years ago, after the Klimt portrait was finally "restituted" to her descendants, they sold it to the Neue Galerie. Now they have donated these two sculptures."

Read the full story here.

Art etc.

Some art (market) news from around the world:
- Excitement at art fair in Maastricht
- Chinese art-buyers in overdrive
- The world's most popular museums - and the most visited exhibition
- UK art dealer becomes art philantropist

Freudian times

Two important Lucian Freud exhibitions are held this year, one at each side of the Atlantic. In New York, the MoMa hosts 'Lucian Freud: The Painter's Etchings' (until March 10). Art Knowledge News reviews this show. In The Hague, you can go to an impressive retrospective:

Art's economic indicator

The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York holds its 2008 Biennial until June 1. Read the reviews by The New York Times ("And this year we have a Whitney show that takes lowered expectations — lessness, slowness, ephemerality, failure — as its theme.") and Artnet ("And indeed, the dominant sense you get is of things half-finished or things falling apart."). The NYT article also contains an interactive feature guiding you through the exposition.