Hockney Donates 40-Footer to Tate

British artist's exhibit got much hype, but only because he's famous, say critics

(NEWSER) - “Bad boy of British art" Damien Hirst decided to put his headline-grabbing, conceptual art projects aside and return to painting. Critics, however, are not impressed with the exhibition of 25 new paintings, which opened today:

• “There are many painters in evening classes much worse than Hirst,” writes Tom Lubbock in the Independent. “On the other hand, you'd find quite a few who were better, too. To try to be accurate: Hirst, as a painter, is at about the level of a not-very-promising, first-year art student.”

(NEWSER) - Herb and Dorothy Vogel had just modest incomes—he was a postal clerk, she a librarian—but over four decades they acquired more than 3,600 drawings, paintings, and collages from America's leading artists. They collected so much that they had to stuff works under their bed. But now the Vogels' one-bedroom apartment has been cleaned out, and their works have been scattered: 50 each to 50 museums across the country plus another 1,100 to the National Gallery in Washington. More»

Lack of once-plentiful foreign cash hurts auctioneers

(NEWSER) - London became the hottest art market in the world last year, eclipsing New York, but the recession is putting the squeeze on auction houses, the Wall Street Journal reports. Last year’s influx of foreign money has dried up, and sellers are keeping a firm hold on their most desirable pieces. Not only are the auction houses’ offerings meager, but their prices have fallen. More»

(NEWSER) - A CD of Mikhail Gorbachev singing traditional Russian ballads has sold for $164,940 at a charity auction in London, the Guardian reports. The sole copy is now in the hands of an “anonymous British philanthropist.” The benefit was held to raise money for a foundation, named after the former Soviet premier’s late wife, committed to fighting childhood cancer. More»

Hockney breaks record as auction house sells $93.7M

(NEWSER) - Christie's contemporary auction in New York last night went better than expected, selling $93.7 million worth of postwar art—double the result of its rival Sotheby's the night before. The top lot was a 12-foot panorama by British painter David Hockney, which sold for $7.9 million, a record for the artist. But while the art world was cheered by last night's result, a recovery is still far away; at last year's spring sale, Christie's sold more than three times as much. More»