The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Record auction price up to US$30m eyed for Kandinsky Posted: 29 Aug 2012 06:46 AM PDT  A visitor looks at the painting 'Einige Kreise' (1926) by Russian-born artist Wassily Kandinsky, the founder of abstract painting, at Centre Georges Pompidou museum in Paris in this file photo of April 6, 2009. A 1909 oil painting by Kandinsky is poised to sell for as much as US$30 million when it hits the auction block at Christie's this fall. – Reuters pic "Study For Improvisation 8," a vibrant work on cardboard and canvas from the pioneering abstract artist's "Improvisations" series, is being sold by the Volkart Foundation, a charitable trust founded by 160-year-old Swiss commodities trading firm Volkart Brothers. "Kandinsky's 'Improvisation' series is at the nexus of some of the most compelling innovations of the avant-garde era," said Brooke Lampley, head of Impressionist and modern art Christie's, which estimates it will sell for US$20 million to US$30 million. A sale in that range could set a record for the artist, whose previous high was US$20.9 million for his 1914 piece "Fugue." Set in 1990, that price is a notably longstanding mark given soaring prices in the art market since that time. Speaking about Kandinsky and the piece's influence, Lampley said that "all of our contemporary notions of abstract art evolved from pioneers like Kandinsky, who truly blazed the trail for so many to follow." Kandinsky, who did not begin painting until age 30 and taught at Germany's influential Bauhaus school for a decade, conceived his oeuvre into categories of "Impressions," "Improvisations" and "Compositions," starting with the "Improvisations" series. "Study for Improvisation 8" and its finished version were the last in that series. The work depicts domes and cupolas in the old, walled city of Kiev, with pilgrims surrounding two male figures outside the city's gates. Art historians suggest one of the figures, a swordsman, may be St. George, an early motif of Kandinsky's, Christie's said. Other theories hold that the male figures are sons Boris and Gleb of Vladimir the Great, under whose authority Kiev transited from pagan to Christianity late in the 10th century. The sale could provide a partial test of the art market's current strength, after it collapsed in the wake of the financial crisis before making a startlingly fast recovery. Studies from the "Improvisation" series, most of which grace museum collections, have been auctioned from private collections only twice in recent years. Christie's sold one during the shaky November 2008 season – mere weeks after the crisis took hold – for US$16.9 million. The price was the second-highest for a Kandinsky at auction. "The market for masterpiece quality works continues to accelerate, especially among emerging markets," Lampley said, adding that collectors at the highest levels "place a premium on strong provenance, pristine condition and of course aesthetic appeal. This picture ticks all three boxes." "Study for Improvisation 8," which has never gone on public exhibition in the United States, will be sold at Christie's Impressionist and modern art auction on Nov. 7 following five days on view at the auction house's Rockefeller Center headquarters. – Reuters |
| Slim people with excess belly fat at higher risk for heart attack than obese Posted: 29 Aug 2012 01:56 AM PDT  People who fall within a healthy BMI but carry excess belly fat are at higher risk of heart disease than obese people, says a new study. – shutterstock.com The results are surprising and debunk the conventional notion that cardiovascular disease targets mostly those who are overweight and obese. For their study, researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota examined the body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio of 12,785 subjects 18 years and older from a representative sample of the US population. The mean age of the subjects was 44 years. In a 14-year follow-up, there were 2,562 deaths, of which 1,138 were cardiovascular-related. After analyzing the subjects' BMI and waist-to-hip ratio, researchers found that the risk of cardiovascular disease was 2.75 times higher and the risk of death about 2 times higher in people of normal weight with high waist-to-hip ratios, compared to those with a normal BMI and normal waist-to-hip ratio. "We knew from previous research that central obesity is bad, but what is new in this research is that the distribution of the fat is very important even in people with a normal weight," said Dr Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, lead researcher and cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "... Our research shows that if a person has a normal BMI, this by itself should not reassure them that their risk for heart disease is low. Where their fat is distributed on their body can mean a lot, and that can be determined easily by getting a waist-to-hip measurement, even if their body weight is within normal limits." The findings were presented at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Munich this week. Meanwhile, a US study published last year found that the best bet for trimming belly fat is vigorous aerobic activity like jogging and brisk walking rather than weight training. – AFP/Relaxnews |
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