Monthly archive
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Source-linked reporting
forbes.com
Melik Kaylan reports that a Wassily Kandinsky painting, Improvisation Number 10, looted during the Nazi era, remains the subject of a ownership dispute as the current Swiss owner refuses to relinquish it; a lawsuit has been filed in Swiss courts by Jen Lissitsky, descendant of the painting’s pre-Nazi owners.
cbsnews.com
Rembrandt and two Albrecht Durer drawings, including Durer's 1496 ink drawing Woman's Bathhouse valued at $10 million, were returned to the Bremen Museum. The works were part of a group of a dozen drawings totaling about $15 million and were presented in a ceremony at Sotheby’s with U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, Germany’s ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, and Bremen Museum president George Abegg. The story traces their journey from a castle in Nazi Germany to the KGB, then to the Baku Museum and finally to their recovery.
welt.de
Ernst Beyeler, Basler Galerist und Museumsstifter, feiert seinen 80. Geburtstag. Eine Klage gegen die Fondation Beyeler wurde vor dem Basler Zivilgericht eingereicht von Jen Lissitzky, der ein Bild aus der Sammlung seiner verstorbenen Mutter Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers zurückfordert. Das Bild ist Kandinskys Improvisation Nr. 10 aus dem Jahr 1910, ein als Schlüsselwerk der abstrakten Kunst geltendes Werk, dessen Wert auf rund 25 Millionen US-Dollar geschätzt wird.
nzherald.co.nz
The French painting Still on Top by James Tissot, valued at $8 million, was restored after a 1998 robbery and is now back on public show at the Auckland Art Gallery. The two-year restoration cost $140,000 and involved Sarah Hillary, with input from Sotheby’s experts and Michael Wentworth, a Tissot scholar. The painting will be on display until October 14 and is accompanied by restoration process photographs and other Tissot works.
independent.co.uk
Leonardo da Vinci's drawing Horse and Rider sold for £8,143,750 at auction, setting a world record for an Old Master drawing. The piece previously valued around £3.5 million and equals Michelangelo's The Study For The Risen Christ price. The drawing was part of the Brown family collection and is linked to Leonardo's Adoration of the Magi study; a Michelangelo drawing was also mentioned as auctioning at Sotheby's.
latimes.com
The article discusses Claude Monet’s Impressionist painting The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light going on view at the Getty Museum, noting its provenance and price context from Monet’s Rouen Cathedral series, with related acquisitions including Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, and Hans Hoffmann works, and a total acquisitions outlay for 2000-2001 around $50 million.
archive.seattletimes.com
Melinda Bargreen of The Seattle Times reports on Dr. Ray Carlsen, a dermatologist who owns about 40 cellos from the 18th to 20th centuries and lends them free to gifted youths. His Bellevue-based Carlsen Cello Foundation aims to help young players access higher-quality instruments that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The article notes the high prices of quality cellos, the role of Carlsen and his teacher Richard Aaron, and the practice of buying and restoring instruments for hopeful musicians.
the-independent.com
The article discusses a rare Michelangelo drawing, Study of a Mourning Woman, that was salvaged from a private scrapbook in an English stately home and is expected to be sold at Sotheby's in London due to lack of UK buyers willing to meet its £7.5m price; it may end up with an anonymous overseas buyer. The work was identified as a previously undocumented Michelangelo and had been the subject of a rescue bid supported by fund-raising efforts that ultimately failed after the Heritage Lottery Fund declined a grant.
theartnewspaper.com
Art Basel 2001 report discusses how European collectors were driven more by passion than financial considerations, highlighting dealer Daniel Templon's remarks and the fair's strong attendance and contemporary and modern art sections.