The California Supreme Court will decide if state courts can hear a dispute over the ownership of a Picasso painting alleged to have been stolen by Nazis during World War II. The case centers on Picasso’s 1922 oil painting Femme en blanc (Woman in White), which circulated through Paris and Chicago collectors before entering Los Angeles and Chicago exhibitions. The lawsuit was filed by Thomas Bennigson against Marilyn Alsdorf and related parties seeking restoration of the painting, with provenance research cited by Art Loss Register indicating it was stolen.
The Fitzwilliam Museum and the John P Getty Museum clash over the Macclesfield Psalter, a 14th‑century illuminated manuscript that sold for £1.5m at auction. The Fitzwilliam hopes the government can temporarily ban export to raise funds to keep it in Britain.
A painting once sold at Sotheby’s for £75,000 ($139,000) is now authenticated by experts as an important work by Caravaggio. The Telegraph reported that the piece, titled Apollo the Luteplayer, was previously attributed to Circle of Caravaggio, with Sotheby’s catalogue noting a possible attribution to Carlo Magnone.
The article reports Sotheby’s auction in London where Vermeer’s painting “Young Woman Seated at the Virginals” sold for $30,006,650, after a bidding process that began at $4.5 million and surged to $11 million before the final bid.
The CBC News article reports that a violin once owned by Canadian fiddling legend Don Messer sold for $8,200 at the Maritime Fiddle Festival. Della Gillespie bought the instrument, which Messer collected among 14 fiddles, and plans to have it played by someone who loves it.
Sotheby’s in London sold a portrait of a young woman playing a musical instrument by Johannes Vermeer for £16,245,600, more than $30 million, to an anonymous telephone bidder. The painting is a disputed Vermeer, with questions about authenticity having persisted for decades.
The article discusses Libby Sheldon of UCL’s History of Art Department leading a ten-year study that used scientific techniques to verify that Vermeer’s Young Woman Seated at the Virginals is an authentic Vermeer and not a forgery; the painting was set to be auctioned at Sotheby’s for about £3 million.
Elizabeth Taylor is defending her ownership of Vincent van Gogh’s View of the Asylum of Saint-Remy, asserting no Nazi possession history and seeking a pre-emptive court declaration. The painting, valued at $10 to $15 million, was claimed by descendants of Margarete Mauthner as having been taken from their ancestor during World War II.
The Art Newspaper review discusses Sophie Lillie’s book documenting Austrian Jewish art collectors looted by the Nazis, based on extensive archival material and the actions of Austrian officials, including references to Gustav Arens and others.
Carol Vogel reports that a Vermeer sold for $30 million at Sotheby’s in London, amid bidders including Stephen A. Wynn. The painting, long suspected of being a fake, was bought by an unidentified bidder, with speculation about potential buyers such as the J. Paul Getty Museum or Lord Thomson of Fleet; Sotheby’s auction included a 20% commission on the first $100,000 and 12% on the rest.
The article discusses Sotheby’s London sale of a Vermeer painting titled A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals, identified as the 36th known Vermeer and one of only two Vermeers in private hands. The estimate is £3m ($5.5m), and the piece notes the painting’s recent reinstatement and the public interest spurred by a popular novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Maria Altmann can pursue her case in American courts after the US Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that Austria can be sued in the US over alleged wrongful retention of six Klimt paintings looted by the Nazis.