Valentine Prax (1897-1981)

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the Zadkine Museum in Paris invites us to discover the life and work of Ossip Zadkine and his wife, the painter Valentine Prax, through a hundred works, including many photographs of the couple.

There has recently been renewed interest in the sculptor and ceramist, who died last year at 96. The price of her works is rising steadily, as witnessed by the sale of her studio contents—with a world record to boot.

A mural depicting a young girl shooting a catapult of flowers appeared on a wall in the artist’s hometown of Bristol in the early hours of February 13. It was confirmed as a genuine Banksy the same day, but less than two days after the artwork first appeared, it had already been graffitied with bright pink obscenities.

The world record was set with a pair of gilded bronze andirons by the French ceramist and sculptor - who died in 2021. This 1968 creation, produced in three copies, sold for €86,360 at the auction of her estate by Auction Art, on Thursday, June 30 at Drouot.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, Vienna’s Belvedere Museum is offering 10,000 NFTs of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. Costing €1,850 each, registration for purchase began on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the museum said that the project could bring in a total of €18.5 million for the museum. (monopol)

After a spell as head of the commercial department of the Manufacture de Sèvres in 2020, she will take over the management of the Semiose Gallery in January. In 1994, she co-founded with Philippe Valentin the Chez Valentin Gallery, which she left at the beginning of last year.

Visual artist Valentine Schlegel, known for her sculptural landscape fireplaces and the fluid forms of her vases, died on May 16. Throughout her career, the sculptor-ceramist sought to reconcile art and the art of living, seeking to activate the domestic space through sculptural form. She was 95 years old.

On the occasion of Valentine's Day, the Swiss author of books dedicated to her collection of intimate letters, testifies to a passion born twenty-seven years ago.

Founded by collector Dean Valentine in 2019, the young fair known for its relaxed atmosphere will open on February 15 in the legendary Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, one day before the launch of Frieze LA. It will welcome 14 newcomers and two galleries present in Paris: Fitzpatrick Gallery and Sultana.

The French Minister of Culture announced that a self-portrait by Pyotr Konchalovsky owned by Petr Aven "will remain in France so long as its owner... remains targeted by an asset freeze." A work by Valentin Serov from the Fine Arts museum in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro will also stay until it can be safely returned.