Wednesday's Art Notes

_A painting entitled 'Self-Portrait with a Black Eye' by British artist Lucian Freud is displayed at Sotheby's auction house in central London. The artwork, which was painted following an altercation with a taxi driver, is expected to reach between $4.8-6.5 million when it is auctioned at the Contemporary Art Evening auction in London, on February 10. Photo by Shaun Curry/AFP/Getty Images_ * Apple rolls out its hotly anticipated new device today. After the huge commercial successes of the ipod and the iphone, publishers are getting excited about "how a popular new product could help increase readership and revenue":http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/187623/what_an_apple_tablet_would_mean_for_publishing.html of their digital editions. * After "the death of its founder last July":http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2009/07/remembering-merce-cunningham.html, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company "has announced the dates of its final tour":http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/arts/dance/27arts-ALONGFAREWEL_BRF.html. It will be the last time his works are performed by the dancers he trained. * Graphic artist Shepard Fairey "is facing a criminal investigation":http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/01/shepard-fairey-under-criminal-investigation-in-ap-case.html for misconduct related to a legal dispute over the use of an Associated Press image to create his iconic presidential campaign poster for Barack Obama.