DAILY SKETCH: Fresh Arab Identity | $219 Million in Collectibles | Kayne's Twisted Fantasy | Art Meets Fashion

Building Museums, and a Fresh Arab Identity (NY Times)
"ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — It is an audacious experiment: two small, oil-rich countries in the Middle East are using architecture and art to reshape their national identities virtually overnight, and in the process to redeem the tarnished image of Arabs abroad while showing the way toward a modern society within the boundaries of Islam."

$219 Million in Collectibles on the Block at Christie’s (WSJ)
"Classical Chinese paintings, contemporary Asian art and rare pink diamonds from India set the pace for a show of collectibles rooted in Asian tradition to be auctioned by Christie’s.
Christie’s autumn sales, which run from Nov. 26 to Dec. 2 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, will offer more than 2,800 works of art; the estimated value exceeds 1.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$219 million)."

Artist George Condo Explains His Five Covers for Kanye West’s Twisted Fantasy (NY Mag)
"Last spring George Condo received a phone call from Hawaii. It was Kanye West, asking if the painter was interested in collaborating on art for his upcoming album. “He was new to me,” Condo says. “I was very old school rap, you know what I mean?” The ensuing partnership resulted in the five covers that West has presented for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy."

London Underground | Art Meets Fashion (T Magazine)
"Just when you don’t think you can’t visit one more pop-up store, along comes one that is not only inspired, but relevant, too. House of Voltaire, in the heart of Mayfair, is a temporary store that was opened by the South London contemporary arts space Studio Voltaire to finance its artist program and education work."

DAILY SKETCH: Rauschenberg @ Gagosian | Peter Blake, The Collector |

Fruitful Talent Who Made Art World Mutiply (NY Times)
"Robert Rauschenberg, the subject of a chock-a-block time capsule of a show at Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea, was an optimist and a doer. He not only did what artists normally do: make paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs. He also did the work of performers, musicians, philanthropists and career politicians."

Peter Blake, Sgt. Pepper Image Maker, Likes Crowd Scenes (Bloomberg)
"Peter Blake isn’t only an artist, he’s also a collector, of an unconventional sort.
Blake says he owns “what I’ve begun to bill as the worst doll collection in the world, which is made up broken, funny, celluloid dolls.” Another item is a set of small plastic models, described on the box as “people being frightened in B movies.”

DAILY SKETCH: Murakami's Inflation | Picasso Storms Hong Kong | The Old is New Again

Art Inflation: Macy’s Murakamis (NY Times)
"It is not uncommon for people to react with awe to their first up-close encounter with a balloon from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. But when Takashi Murakami saw his contributions to Thursday’s event, he bowed. Twice."

Picasso Storms Hong Kong as Asian Buyers Seek Western Art Icons (Bloomberg)
"Pablo Picasso said art should never be exposed to those who aren’t sufficiently prepared for it. Three sales in Hong Kong this week will show whether Asia is sufficiently prepared for Picasso."

The Old Is New Again (NYMag)
"Abstract Expressionist New York: The Big Picture,” which is currently occupying MoMA’s fourth floor, is composed entirely of art drawn from the museum’s colossal permanent collection (much of which lives in storage in Queens and other locations the rest of the time). It’s a don’t-miss show that doesn’t, admittedly, tell any new stories but that is a profound reminder of a revolutionary vitality."