The Art Newspaper reports that more than 30 Manhattan art collectors have volunteered to pay $6 million in unpaid New York State sales tax on art works. The article discusses a related case where Samuel Waksal, former president and CEO of ImClone Systems, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a scheme to evade sales tax on art purchases, with works by artists such as Mark Rothko, Francis Bacon, Franz Kline, and an de Kooning involved in the scheme.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam confirmed that a Sunflowers painting, previously thought to be a forgery, is genuine and has documentation showing it once belonged to Van Gogh's brother. The work was purchased in 1987 by Yasuda and Marine Insurance Company for £25m; some experts previously speculated it might be forged by Claude-Emile Schuffenecker or created by Gauguin. There are three Sunflowers paintings, all now on view at the Van Gogh Museum.
The Darmstadt Madonna by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) is being considered for sale by Donatus, Prince of Hesse, to pay £8m inheritance tax. The work, a 16th‑century Renaissance masterpiece, is valued at up to £70m on the open market but its removal is restricted by German export rules.
Elspeth Moncrieff reports that Sotheby’s in London will auction Rubens’s The Massacre of the Innocents, estimated at 4 to 6 million pounds (about 6.4 to 9.6 million euros). The work, recently identified and linked to Samson and Dalila, has a disputed attribution history and is part of a broader discussion about Rubens’s oeuvre.
The article discusses the opening of the 70th Whitney Biennial in New York. It mentions artist Roxy Paine and his stainless-steel tree sculpture in Central Park, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s remarks, and the Whitney’s three-floor, 113-artist exhibition organized by head curator Lawrence Rinder, with works spanning architecture, sound, performance, and Internet art. It also notes artists linked to prior exhibitions, including Robert Lazzarini and Vija Celmins, the involvement of Lebbeus Woods and Rural Studio, and the team of Whitney colleagues Chrissie Iles, Christiane Paul, Debra Singer, and Karin Campbell. Some context about the show’s themes, Beings, Spaces, and Tribes, is provided.
Possession Obsession: Objects from Andy Warhol's Personal Collection at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA, USA features roughly 300 items from Warhol's personal collection, including 19th-century furniture, folk art, cookie jars, Art Deco pieces, Native American artifacts, and jewelry, drawn from Warhol's 1988 Sotheby’s auction and related acquisitions.
The Art Newspaper reports on record prices for works by Andreas Gursky, Peter Doig, Luciano Fabro and Douglas Gordon during a post-war and contemporary sale in London, noting a surprising lack of Warhol consignments. Christie’s and Sotheby’s are highlighted for their respective strategies and results, including a new auction record for Peter Doig and the top price for Gerhard Richter, with discussion about a perceived diminished supply of Warhol works.