Monthly archive
12 headlines
Source-linked reporting
theartnewspaper.com
Robert Rauschenberg's three-panel work Rebus, 1955, was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA) for around $30 million from François Pinault. The sale was arranged privately through Pinault's Christie’s, with previous owners including Hans Thulin and Charles Saatchi.
theartnewspaper.com
The Art Newspaper reports that a new Ukrainian buyer spent over £12 million ($21 million) at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern art sale on 20 June, purchasing three of the top five lots and possibly the top lot, Van Dongen Femme au grand chapeau, which sold for over £5 million. The buyer shopped through an agent in Switzerland and was not previously active in the market.
the-independent.com
Valerie Fay Beston, an art dealer born 26 May 1922 in West Bromwich, died 9 June 2005 in London. The article details her 50-year tenure at the Marlborough Gallery, her role with artists Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon, and the discretion and meticulousness that characterized her career.
lenta.ru
The article reports that a violin by Guarneri del Gesù, dated 1736, was stolen from the Museum of the Decembrists in Novoselenginsk, Buryatia, along with other valuables. The piece is described as a good German or Austrian copy and highly valuable.
m.newsru.com
The article reports that in the Museum of the Decembrists in Novoselenginsk, Buryatia, a late good copy of a violin by an Italian maker Guarneri was stolen. The instrument, insured at 100,000 rubles, was taken during a nighttime robbery when electricity had been cut due to debts. A rare book and an ancient Buddhist text matrix were also taken. The museum director notes the museum has security but was shut down over debts of 24,783 rubles; the search for the criminals is underway.
abc.net.au
The article reports that Genevieve Laporte, 79, is selling 20 Picasso sketches she says he gave her more than 50 years ago, ahead of an auction in Paris. Auction house Artcurial values the sketches at about 2 million euros (US$2.44 million). Laporte had a long relationship with Picasso, who was older, and the sketches are tied to a period described by the Hermitage Museum as Picasso's tender or Genevieve period.
observer.com
Guggenheim Wouldn’t Be Museum If Not For Hilla Rebay discusses the origin of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and how Hilla Rebay shaped its early mission, including her role in acquiring Kandinsky works and the museum’s founding as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting in New York in 1937.
publico.pt
The article discusses a petition signé by about fifty violoncellists (Portuguese and foreign) asking that the Montagnana cello once played by Guilhermina Suggia be entrusted to the Casa da Música in Porto for safekeeping and public use. The instrument, dating from around 1700 and made in Cremona, is currently owned by the Porto City Hall and has a history linked to Suggia and various institutions including the Conservatório do Porto, the Museu Nacional de Soares dos Reis, and the Museu Romântico. The petition is led by Madalena Sá e Costa, Jed Barahal, and Paulo Gaio Lima, and cites ensuring maintenance, security, and international exposure.
artforum.com
The Museum of Modern Art has acquired Robert Rauschenberg’s 1955 painting Rebus, a three-panel work nearly 11 feet long that marks a key moment in the artist’s move away from early combine works toward a more literal urban imagery, as reported by Carol Vogel in the New York Times.
nytimes.com
Benjamin Genocchio reports on the discovery of previously unknown Pollock works in a storage locker belonging to Alex Matter, son of Herbert Matter and Mercedes Matter, along with minor works by Guston, de Kooning, Giacometti, Mondrian and others; the article notes that some dispute the authenticity of the Pollocks and mentions the potential value.
Christie’s
Christie’s June Impressionist and modern art offering featured a 1907 Braque from the transition toward Cubism, five Picasso works spanning 1901 to 1972, and a major group of Archipenko sculpto-paintings. Estimates for the highlighted Braque and Picasso works reached seven figures.
artforum.com
Oslo offered a 2,000,000 Norwegian crowns reward (about $310,000) for information leading to the recovery of Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Madonna, after they were stolen from a museum in Oslo; the reward would be paid after verification of originals.