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☆ Art experts and millionaires head to a Swiss town once a year for its annual Art Basel festival. Here's what it's like to visit as a first-timer.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Monica Humphries | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

I traveled to my first Art Basel, an international art fair hosted each summer in Basel, Switzerland. Collectively, this made up Art Basel, the world's premiere art show, where more than 250 gallerists feature 4,000 artists. Photo Basel and the Liste Art Fair Basel are hosted on the same weekend. Clara Tuma for BIBefore arriving in Basel, the art fair felt vaguely familiarI can't pinpoint the first time I heard about Art Basel. Growing up in Florida, I'm sure I heard murmurs about Art Basel Miami, one of the four locations where Art Basel fairs are held each year.

Persons: —, Paloma Varga Weisz, Gordon Parks, Pat Steir, Clara Tuma, could've, I'm, David Zwirner, Joan, Serena Williams, Julio Le Parc, Ryan Gander, Keith Haring, Francisco Sierra's, Alfredo Jaar's, Seba Calfuqueo, gallerists, crosse, Beyeler, Agnes Denes, Basel's, Mandy El, Eric Hattan, Eric Hattan's Organizations: Art Basel, Service, Art, BI, Liste Art Fair, Basel, Art Basel Miami, FDR, New, Botanical, tote Locations: Basel, Switzerland, Art Basel, Swiss, Art, Florida

☆ Rare Hermès Birkin Bags Are up for Auction and May Fetch Over $100,000
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-01 | by ( Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewIf you're in the market for a Hermès bag that doubles as a doll house, you're in luck — as long as you have $100,000 or so to spare. A new Birkin bag starts at about $10,000 and can cost well into the six figures depending on material, size, and rarity. Since 2022, Hermès bags sold at Christie's auctions have gone for an average of 141% of the lowest estimated price, Christie's said. "Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags, especially the Faubourg bag, for example, are iconic symbols of luxury and status, coveted by collectors worldwide." Courtesy of Christie'sAs the auction demonstrates, luxury handbags — particularly those made by tightly controlled brands like Hermès — are increasingly worthy investments.

Persons: —, Christie's, Birkin —, handmake, Hitha Herzog, Hermès, Faubourg Birkin, Birkin, Nicole Pollard Bayme, Hermès Birkin, Kelly, Chanel, Alexis Clarbour, Louis Vuitton, Yayoi, Dior, Loewe, Roger Vivier Organizations: Service, Business, Rue du Faubourg Saint, Deloitte, Credit Suisse, Madison Avenue Couture Locations: Birkins, Rue, Paris, retails

☆ Art Basel Hong Kong: Collectors return to Asia’s biggest art fair despite cooling market
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Stephy Chung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Hong Kong CNN —Picture Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and George W. Bush as 7-year-olds. Noemi Cassanelli/CNNAsia’s largest art fair, which concludes Saturday, has returned to “pre-pandemic scale,” as organizers put it. Hong Kong artist Mak2's installation in the fair's "Encounters" section. A colorful booth by Dvir Gallery, based in Paris, Tel Aviv and Brussels, which participated in the Hong Kong fair for the first time. So while Art Basel is a “very international platform,” Chan said, it still provides the chance to showcase homegrown talent.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel, George W, Bush, Lí, Noemi Cassanelli, Hong, Hong Kong’s, ”, William Leung, fairgoer, “, Ivy Haldeman, François Ghebaly, It’s, it’s, “ It’s, Victoria Miro, Wirth, Mark Bradford, Philip Guston, Ed Clark, ” Keith Tsuji, Willem de Kooning’s, Kooning, Fuyuhiko Takata, Yoko Ono’s, Takata, Fuyuhiko, Louise Delmotte, I’m, ” Takata, fairgoers, Jaume Plensa, Mary Sabbatino, Sabbatino, Mak2, Teppei, Maho Kubota, Alexie, Kantor, Trevor Yeung, Stephen Wong, people’s, Hilda Chan, London’s, ” Chan Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Art Basel, CNN, “, Hauser, Hauser & Wirth, Galerie Lelong, The, Hong, Dvir, Hong Kong, CNN Hong, London’s Tate Locations: Hong Kong, Beijing, Hong Kong ., China, New York, Art Basel Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Asia, American, Spanish, York, Paris, Australian, Paris , Tel Aviv, Brussels, Hong

☆ How this cult Japanese artist’s eerie paintings foretold our digital malaise
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Christy Choi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —In the land of Hello Kitty, kawaii (“cute”) culture and the Neo-Pop art of 1990s Japan, Tetsuya Ishida was an outlier. An untitled 2004 acrylic and oil painting by late Japanese artist Tetsuya Ishida from the Gagosian retrospective "My Anxious Self." Ishida, who had gone to art school, worked part-time at a print shop and as a night security guard. Many of the 200 or so paintings Ishida completed in his lifetime portray the gloom of becoming a cog in the economic machine. Another painting entitled "Gripe," painted by Ishidia in 1996, portrays a Japanese salaryman with lobster claws for hands.

Persons: kawaii, Tetsuya Ishida, wasn’t, Japan’s “, Gripe, ”, Gulliver, Tetsuya Ishida's, Gagosian, ” Nick Simunovic, “, ” Gagosian, Simunovic, Ishida, ” Simunovic, Gagosian Ishida, Jacky Ho, ‪, Martin Wong, Ishidia, Cecilia Alemani, ” Ishida, Robert McKeever, Tamaki Saito, didn’t, Sharp, Japan's, claustrophobia, Takashi Murakami, Yoshimoto Nara, ” Alemani, Alemani Organizations: CNN, Asia, Art, San Francisco Asian Art Museum, Venice Biennale, Hong Kong, Christie’s Asia, Japan Inc, dehumanization, Gagosian's, Sony Locations: Japan, Japanese, Japan’s, Gagosian, New York, Venice, Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Tokyo, , York

☆ ‘Cute’ exhibition examines the complex power of all things adorable
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Zara Khan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

How cuteness has taken over our world — and why — is a subject being explored in “Cute,” a new (and the first ever) exhibition devoted to the movement at London’s Somerset House. The Industrial Revolution and the rise of mass production allowed cuteness to be unleashed on the world — toys, books and illustrations could, increasingly, be made easily and cheaply. The exhibition — a world first — examines the enduring appeal of the cute aesthetic amongst adults and asks deeper questions about its allure. For Simon May, a professor of philosophy at King’s College London and author of “The Power of Cute,” kawaii is just part of a story which involves the country of Japan more broadly. The Edwardian artist is credited with increasing the cute appeal of our feline friends by giving them human hobbies and pastimes.

Persons: cuteness, Hattie Stewart, David Parry, ”, Somerset, Cliff Lauson, Tim Berners, Lee, Claire Catterall, Andy Holden's, Louis Wain —, Andy Holden’s, Joshua Dale, “, Isabelle Galleymore, Yumeji Takehisa, Simon May, kawaii, Louis Wain's, Kitty, Japan ”, Setsuko Tamura, Rachel Maclean’s, Maclean, ” May Organizations: CNN, London’s Somerset House, Somerset House, Somerset, Cats, King’s College London, Bethlem, panini, Somerset House Scottish, “ Locations: London’s, London, Somerset, Tokyo, Japan, ” Japan

☆ Clothing brands failing to eradicate forced labor risk in supply chains, research finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

(Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)Many of the world's major fashion brands are failing to address forced labor in their supply chains, according to a report, with French luxury giant LVMH among the worst performers. The research from KnowTheChain, an organization focused on forced labor in supply chains, analyzed 65 companies for exposure to forced labor risk. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, KnowTheChain said companies scored on average 21/100. "They remain largely reactive to human rights violations, rather than evidencing robust, embedded human rights and environmental due diligence practices designed to prevent them," it added. "As such, it demonstrates that a corporate strategy which embeds human rights due diligence does not have to come at the cost of long-term sustainable growth or investor returns."

Persons: Louis, Yayoi, Louis Vuitton, Edward Berthelot, KnowTheChain, Veronique Rochet Organizations: Louis Vuitton's, Human, Puma, Adidas, P Retail, CNBC, PUMA, Fair Labor Association, Fair Labor Locations: Paris, France

☆ Hey Elon – what's up with all the scammy ads for Louis Vuitton bags on X?
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some X users say they're seeing lots of ads for likely fake Louis Vuitton handbags on the platform. After Elon Musk told major advertisers to "go fuck yourself" and "don't advertise" at The New York Times' DealBook summit Wednesday, some X users saying they're seeing lots of ads for Louis Vuitton bags that are probably fakes. "X prohibits the sale of or promoting the sale of counterfeit goods on the platform," according to its counterfeit policy . "Twitter had resorted to letting people place ads for their fake Louis Vuitton bags. According to a X business blog post , Louis Vuitton ran an ad campaign for its collaboration with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in January, but it's unclear if it's an ad partner or big spender.

Persons: Louis Vuitton, Elon, —, Elon Musk, hasn't, It's, Taylor Fisher, Linda Yaccarino, Monique Pintarelli Organizations: Service, The New York Times, Louis, Twitter, Business, X, ust Locations: Americas

Here is what Lahaina looked like less than a year ago, a vibrant and popular destination for tourists and home to treasured artifacts of the town’s history. In an analysis of satellite imagery, The Times identified about 1,900 structures that had been visibly damaged or destroyed by the blaze. A brush fire was first spotted on Tuesday in an area near Lahaina Intermediate School. It also destroyed a temple and a pagoda at Lahaina Jodo Mission. Nearby, one of Lahaina’s most cherished landmarks, a 150-year-old banyan tree, was badly scarred by the wildfires, but still standing.

Persons: Dora, Hara Organizations: Times, Lahaina Intermediate School, New York Times Locations: Maui, Hawaii, Lahaina, Lahaina Jodo

☆ Pharrell Williams, Louis Vuitton’s New Don
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Jon Caramanica | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Earlier this month, Pharrell Williams was in the men’s atelier on the second floor of Louis Vuitton’s corporate office in Paris, sunglasses on, surveying his new perch. “This window is different.”The window by his desk looks out over the small plaza on the north side of the Pont Neuf, where in just a couple of weeks, his first show as Louis Vuitton men’s creative director would take place. A 50-foot statue of the artist Yayoi Kusama, a Vuitton collaborator, hovered just outside. The rapper Pusha T and the streetwear innovator Nigo were milling about. I mean, the Seine River right there — it’s like the moat.”

Persons: Pharrell Williams, Louis Vuitton’s, ”, Pont, Louis Vuitton, Pusha, Williams’s, “ Locations: Paris, Seine

☆ Kusama Takes On the Infinite With a Sly Wink
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Will Heinrich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Once a high-profile fixture of the 1960s New York avant-garde, Yayoi Kusama has long since become an icon, in the sense of a visually recognizable brand. Like Coca-Cola, it also goes with anything: A recent collaboration with Louis Vuitton even included Instagram and Snapchat filters. The downside of being a brand might be a certain predictability. Each partial circle is hard against an edge, so that, with its reflection, it appears whole. Among other things, this means that your gaze doesn’t pause at the edge, instead gliding painlessly right into the mirror world.

☆ Crowds swarm Art Basel Hong Kong as galleries report sales bonanza
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] An installation titled "Calligraphic Wig" by Daniel Knorr is displayed at Art Basel in Hong Kong, China, March 23, 2023. Art Basel Hong Kong is one of the first big events the city has held since dropping its COVID-19 mask mandate this month. City authorities are welcoming the art fair as they try to reinvigorate the economy and promote Hong Kong as a vibrant cultural hub. Teresa Choi, a visitor from Macau, said Hong Kong was much busier than during COVID times. "Hong Kong has always been the international financial hub for Asia ... Travellers are regaining their confidence about Hong Kong and the economy and want to come."

☆ LVMH Looks to Renewed China Luxury Spending for Earnings Bump
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Nick Kostov | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Louis Vuitton collaborated with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama for a new collection. Demand for LVMH’s brands has been strong despite the pandemic and inflation. PARIS— LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 results later Thursday, as it rides a surge of demand for luxury goods that China’s recently loosened Covid-19 restrictions could extend into this year. Postpandemic demand for LVMH’s dozens of brands, including fine wine, jewelry and fashion labels and upscale hotels, has cemented the group’s position as the most valuable listed company in Europe. It has also helped its chief executive and controlling shareholder, Bernard Arnault , overtake Elon Musk as the world’s richest person.

☆ The surreal worlds of Yayoi Kusama
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Jeremy Schultz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

A girl plays at the "Guidepost to New Space" installation by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama at her exhibition titled "Yayoi Kusama - Obsessions" at the Japan Culture Foundation in Hanoi May 27, 2013. The exhibition is the first one held in Vietnam for...moreA girl plays at the "Guidepost to New Space" installation by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama at her exhibition titled "Yayoi Kusama - Obsessions" at the Japan Culture Foundation in Hanoi May 27, 2013. The exhibition is the first one held in Vietnam for Kusama, who is known as the "polka dot queen of avant garde art". It runs till July 28 as part of 40th anniversary celebrations of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan. REUTERS/Kham (VIETNAM - Tags: SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY POLITICS ANNIVERSARY)Close

☆ Batteries got more expensive in 2022 after years of dropping prices — and it could delay access to cheaper electric cars
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The world may need to wait longer than expected for affordable electric cars. BloombergNEF graph of battery prices over time. BloombergNEFAs electric cars have graduated from niche to mainstream, battery costs have plummeted. And those steadily declining prices held the promise that someday EVs would cost roughly the same as combustion-engine cars and trucks. BloombergNEF expects battery prices to rise slightly in 2023 before continuing their downward trend in 2024 as lithium mining and processing ramps up.

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