Our most-talked-about stories in Art, Design & Style, and Performing Arts, February 6 - 10, 2012:

ART

— ARTINFO was sad to report that painter Antoni Tapies, pioneer of European abstraction and a devotee of the mystic, died at age 88. We remembered the different stages of his career through his work.

— We gauged the success of the online-only VIP Art Fair’s second outing from the perspective of collectors, dealers, and artists. Sales were slow — but maybe sales aren’t the only metric to measure VIP by.

— Judd Tully reported that Christie’s had a “rock solid” Impressonist/Modern and Surrealism sale in London, netting $213 million with top lots from Van Gogh and Henry Moore. However, Sotheby’s Impressionist/Modern sale didn’t go quite as well the next night, taking in an anemic total of $125 million.

— Julia Halperin previewed the public art projects that will decorate New York City’s upcoming Second Avenue subway line, featuring work by Sarah Sze and Jean Shin.

— What’s holding back India’s art scene? Shane Ferro investigated.

DESIGN & FASHION

— New York Fashion Week kicked off, but even if you’re not hitting the runway shows, Ann Binlot gathered a list of related art events, including shows by Ouattara Watts and Juergen Teller.

— We talked to Band of Outsiders designer Scott Sternberg about using iconic California painter Ed Ruscha as a model for his Fall/Winter 2012 collection.

— Designer Steven Alans created his collection under the influence of Diego Rivera’s intensely political exhibition of murals at MoMA.

— A café in Helsinki let viewers control their furniture over the Internet — making it a little hard for one couple to have a romantic moment. 

— Janelle Zara talked to architectural firm HWKN being selected for MoMA PS1's Young Architect's" program: an environmentally friendly tower that cleans the air passing through it.

PERFORMING ART

— Performing arts editor Nick Catucci argued that HBO’s hit show Boardwalk Empire just won’t be the same without star actress Paz de la Huerta.

— The politics of Iranian movie “A Separation” have caused a few out-there theories to surface as to its motives.

— Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks are rumored to be considering the roles of P.L. Travers and Walt Disney in a film exploring their conflict over the creative direction of “Mary Poppins” (which Travers wrote).

— Surprising for a country notoriously hard to shock, French citizens are aghast at suggestive posters for a new film called “The Unfaithful Ones.”

— Naomi Watts is replacing Hollywood star Jessica Chastain as Diana, Princess of Wales in “Caught in Flight,” a movie that spans the last two years of the Princess’s life.

BONUS

— What’s the latest news from Australia? Why, cat art, of course! These cats make paintings that help rescue other cats (but their owners are careful to explain that the cat painters are treated well and are not art “slaves.” )