por Antonio Mejías-Rentas
Trovador
RECORD BREAKER: A rare work by Mexican master Rufino Tamayo that was at the center of a recant legal battle has sold at auction for the highest amount ever paid for a Latin American painting. Trovador sold for $7 2 million this month at New York’s Christie’s auction house. The 1945 painting of a musician with his guitar was sold by Virginia’s Randolph College at more than double the expected price. Thepainting had been donated to the school.
Last November opponents got an injunction to block the sale, but dropped the case to focus on a court challenge to the former women’s school’s 2006 decision to go coed.
The iconic, colorful canvas, not seen at auction for 40 years, went to an anonymous buyer.
The previous highest price for a Tamayo was 52.59 million. The previous record for a Latin American painting belonged to Frida Kahlo’s Raíces, which sold in 2006 for $5.6 million.
Several records for Latin American art were broken at two major New York auction houses, including a second Tamayo, Comedor de sandías, sold at Sotheby’s for $3.6 million.
Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s reported their highest-ever totals for one-evening sales of Latin American art, signaling a healthy, growing market in the category.
Christie’s reported two-day take of $33.9 million also included works by Alfredo Ramos Martinez ($2.2 million) and Claudio Bravo ($1 3 million) among its top-ten sellers. Across town, Sotheby’s one-night sale of $21 million included a record for a work by Joaquin Torres-Garcia, which sold for 51.7 million.
JULIETA JUNE: Audiences got a first peek at one of the year’s most anticipated recordings last week as MTV Tr3s continued an extensive marketing campaign for one of its most popular artists.
The bilingual, youth-oriented network premiered the Julieta Venegas MTV Unplugged special June 5. Recorded earlier this year in Mexico City, it featured a guest performance by Gustavo Santaolalla and new, acoustic takes on the Tijuana~born singer songwriter’s best known songs.
As part of an ongoing on-air campaign, MTV Tr3s will tape an appearance by Julieta Venegas on its signature Mi TRL show on June 17, the day the Julieta Venegas MTV Unplugged CD and DVD go on sale. The taping at MTV’s Times Square studio will be projected outside on a 44-foot high screen and air on the channel on June 19.
A series of Julieta Venegas vignettes have been airing on the channel since mid-May and additional related material can be seen on the website unplugged.mtv3s.com. Hispanic Link.
