Madonna relaxes on Newson’s “Lockheed” on-camera in 1993. Amazingly, this fact hasn’t hurt the chair’s value…

Supertouch buddy and upcoming “Stages” art show participant MARC NEWSON created his iconic “Lockheed Lounge” chair in 1988 and in recent years it has become the most famous piece of designer furniture to ever change hands at auction. Last week saw an artist proof of the silver aluminum chaise lounge that previously belonged to the artist’s mother (and once made an appearance in Madonna’s 1993 “Rain” music video) close out the design auction at PHILLIPS DE PURY & CO in London for a record $1.6 million USD, a new record for a piece of design furniture. The chair broke its own sales record previously established at a 2007 Sotheby’s auction when the chair brought in $968,000 USD. Amazingly, the design world has managed to buck the massive sales slump currently facing the art world with resale values remaining virtually undiminished and demand for stellar pieces consistently high. Maybe the fact that it’s art you can actually helps justify the splurge in a downturn…

In a true sign of the times, the art world’s current downturn has been bucked by a dead artist unlike any other before or after him—namely, ADOLF HITLER. In a move straight from the WTF?!? Files, the murderous dead German dictator has made a significant posthumous move in the art world by managing to earn nearly $12,000 USD last week when 15 of his original watercolors—including the self-portrait from 1910 seen here—were put up for auction at MULLOCK’S:

HITLER’S ART ATTRACTS BIG SALE PRICES
Source: CNN

LONDON, England—A painting by Adolf Hitler sold for almost $15,000 Thursday–more than six times as much as expected.

The watercolor was one of 15 items of Hitler art being sold at auction. Together, the artworks by the Nazi leader fetched almost $120,000.

They had expected to raise just under $50,000, auction house Mullock’s of Shropshire estimated.

Many of the pictures were on the market because one of the sellers wanted money to install a new central heating system in his house, a spokesman for the auction house said.

“The watercolors came from a collector who is a regular vendor of ours,” said Richard Westwood-Brookes, a historical documents expert at Mullock’s. “He’d forgotten about them for years. He found them in his garage.”

He refused to disclose the identity of the seller, as a matter of policy.

Thirteen watercolors were expected to fetch $580 to $2,200 apiece, while the lone small oil painting was estimated at up to $30,000, the auctioneer estimates.

All of the watercolors shattered expectations — 12 of them selling for between $4,400 and $9,000.

The remaining watercolor — a 1910 painting showing a figure sitting on a stone bridge — fetched almost $15,000. There has been speculation that the figure was a depiction of Hitler himself.

The oil painting sold at only almost $20,000. A pencil sketch signed “A Hitler 1914″ went for almost $4,700, beating the auctioneer’s estimate of up to $3,700.

An easel thought to have belonged to Hitler sold for nearly $15,000, having been expected to bring $2,900 to $5,800. An anonymous bidder purchased it by phone.

Hitler dreamed of being an artist as a young man, and although he failed to get into the Vienna Academy of Arts, he supported himself by painting watercolors for several years before World War I, according the Holocaust Encyclopedia of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The auction also includes dozens of items related to Hitler’s time as leader of Nazi Germany — including documents from concentration camps where those deemed “undesirable” by the Nazis were imprisoned, sterilized and murdered. Approximately 6 million Jews were killed in Nazi death camps, alongside millions of political prisoners, homosexuals, Gypsies and others. Click HERE to continue reading…

We’ve said it many times before on ST: We don’t do streetwear collabs here, but this one’s bulletproof (and guaranteed to leave a nation of young sneakerhead zombies scratching their heads wondering who LOU REED is). Too bad the old man’s not still in his “Transformer” period…

Jeff Koons’ “Stacked” was the prize pig at Sotheby’s evening sale selling for $4,136,939…

Last year saw the art market operating at unprecedented highs with works by blue chip artists being snapped up as commodities in an array of auctions that made the heads of even seasoned dealers spin. Of course, by year’s end Damien Hirst had claimed the title of “ultimate master of the game” with his masterfully timed, record setting “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” Sotheby’s auction at the precise moment the entire worldwide financial market threw a rod and seized. Since then auction houses have been in the kind of despair heretofore known only to the American auto industry while the art market in general has slowed considerably in keeping with the beleaguered economy. The International Asian Art Fair scheduled to take place during this year’s NYC-based Armory show in NYC was even cancelled due to financial concerns and was quickly followed suit by the Moscow World Fine Art Fair (May) and the Salzburg Fine Art Fair (August) which were killed off entirely for 2009. Needless to say, the February auctions by Sotheby’s, Christies, and Phillips de Pury that began in London on February 5th and run through the 13th are off to a promising start with a smaller, more carefully curated collection bringing in nice returns (the Sotheby’s evening sale brought in $25,785,250 alone) and brightening expectations for this year’s art market considerably in the process:

“Predictions of an art market meltdown were confounded in London this week as six sales of impressionist, modern and contemporary art at Christie’s and Sotheby’s turned in solid results.

The auction houses managed to restore confidence to a jittery market with successful sales by radically shrinking the size of the catalogue and lowering estimates compared with last year. Some distress selling is, however, beginning to filter through.

Among the week’s highlights were a classic impressionist painting by Monet that fetched £11.2m, a Degas sculpture that sold for £13.3m and a carved stack of cartoon-like animals by Jeff Koons that made £2.8m. The day sales, which offer more moderately priced works, also proved successful.

“We feel a lot better than we did a week ago,” said James Roundell, a London dealer. “At best, people thought the sales would be patchy. These results send a positive message to the market.” Click HERE to continue reading…

We certainly saw this coming a mile away…

Chinese artist O ZHANG covers her bases…

Andy Warhol’s “Coca Cola”…

Given our increasingly frequent discussions of the concept of “FAIR USE” in the art world, we at Supertouch thought now was a good time to reprint (using the article’s creative commons license) “Fair Use it or Lose it…” one of our favorite pieces of writing on the subject. Written by MARJORIE HEINS and published on the website of nonprofit action agency FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting), the piece is an erudite discussion of the copyright and trademark issues crucial to the increasingly central “remix” culture that is a driving force in modern art and creative endeavors. HAVE A READ:

FAIR USE IT OR LOSE IT
Copyright owners’ threats erode free expression
By Marjorie Heins, Extra! May/June 2006

Tom Forsythe is an artist with a mission. In 1997, he created “Food Chain Barbie,” photographs depicting the iconic doll interacting with various kitchen appliances. The results—“Malted Barbie” and “Barbie Enchiladas,” among others—were intended, Forsythe said, “to critique the objectification of women associated with Barbie.”

Barbie’s manufacturer, Mattel, sued Forsythe for copyright and trademark infringement. Eventually, a federal court ruled for the artist, finding that “Food Chain Barbie” was protected as a “fair use” under both copyright and trademark law. The court explained that there are great public benefits to allowing critique of cultural icons. Letting Forsythe use Barbie’s image encourages “the very creativity” that is at the heart of copyright law.

This was a success story for free expression, but it cost four years of bruising litigation. Most people threatened with suit cannot afford the risk, the cost and the stress. (Forsythe was helped by pro bono counsel recruited by the ACLU.) Often, they cave in to “cease-and-desist” letters or legal threats, even though they might have a legitimate fair use defense.

Fair use is an essential part of intellectual property (IP) law, which includes the law of copyright and trademark. It allows anyone to copy part—sometimes all—of a work without permission, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting and education. The copyright law lists four factors to be considered in evaluating a fair use claim: the purpose and character of the use; the nature of the copyrighted work; the amount and importance of what was copied; and the effect on the market for the copyrighted work. There are also fair use and First Amendment defenses in trademark law. Read the rest of this entry »

C&B’s $249 photo of Espo’s artwork and a guideline for suggested use…

In a move seemingly made especially for the WTF?!? Files, mass market home furnishings retailer CRATE & BARREL has recently made available for sale an ink-on-canvas print of a photograph of the Coney Island snack shop signs hand painted by STEPHEN POWERS (aka: ESPO) back in 2005 as part of CREATIVE TIME’s Coney renovation project, THE DREAMLAND ARTISTS CLUB. Shot by photographer ERIN CLARK, the image is available through the company’s “hip” CB2 imprint for the rock bottom price of $249 USD and comes signed by the photographer with a list of the Clark’s accomplishments printed on the reverse, yet curiously, no mention of Stephen Powers or the Dreamland Artists Club:

“Hot diggety dog. Armed with a camera and an appetite for nostalgia, artist and NY native Erin Clark captured this kitschy Coney Island summer tableau. Reproduced in ink on canvas and stretched on a wood frame for hanging. Artist signature; bio on back informs Clark’s work has been shown in various solo and group exhibitions.

Collectors take note: This one-time-only limited edition of prints will not be re-issued, so don’t miss out.

•A kitschy detail shot reminiscent of childhood summers
•Printed on high-quality canvas
•Unframed   

HAVE A LOOK (and buyer beware): Read the rest of this entry »

…Aired in Japan, only, of course. That kind of stuff doesn’t happen here.