Elizabeth Taylor was allowed to keep Vincent van Gogh's View of the Asylum and Chapel at Saint-Remy, painted in 1889, after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal. The painting had been purchased by Taylor's father at a Sotheby's auction in London in 1963 for 92,000 British pounds. Descendants of Margarete Mauthner claimed under the 1998 Holocaust Victims Redress Act that the work had been forced from them, but lower courts dismissed the suit as time-barred and the Supreme Court did not review. The painting's current value is estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.
Christie’s announced a 750-lot London sale drawn from Giorgio Marsan and Umberta Nasi’s homes in Turin, London and Corfu. The collection ranged from more than 50 works by Edward Lear to Old Masters, topographical paintings, furniture and decorative arts, with individual estimates up to £300,000.
Artists: Melia Watras; Makers/Artists: none specified. Instrumental works mentioned include Shostakovich Viola Sonata, Bach Suite No. 6, works by Dan Visconti, and pieces by Fritz Kreisler and Henryk Wieniawski. Venue: Meany Theater. Event date: Tuesday, Oct. 30. Host: UW News.
The article discusses Ronald Lauder’s role in aiding the restitution of Klimt paintings, including funding a legal opinion that helped return the Klimt works in 2006 and his subsequent position as president of the World Jewish Congress. It also notes the Neue Galerie’s purchase of Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I for $135 million and raises questions about Lauder's dual role as restitution advocate and major art collector.
The Museums Association reports on concerns about loss of masterpieces to overseas buyers, citing Mark Jones of the V&A and Ed Vaizey on export licensing for a Pierino da Vinci bronze relief sold to Prince of Liechtenstein for £10m. The piece discusses potential licensing reforms to ensure works remain accessible in the UK and references acquisitions by the Getty and discussions of tax benefits, with examples from Chatsworth, Monteviot, and Dalmeny House.
A woman was detained at Kazan airport customs in Russia for allegedly attempting to smuggle a rare eighteenth‑century violin by Guarneri into the United States. The instrument and a bow were seized for examination; authorities note the possibility of a fake, but such high‑level forgeries are rare. The case is being investigated under Article 188 of the Russian Penal Code (smuggling).
The New York Times article discusses Ronald S. Lauder’s Klimt portrait acquisition for $135 million and the Neue Galerie show, while raising questions from Holocaust restitution experts about transparency and provenance of items in Lauder’s private collection.
This article reports Swann Galleries' second African-American art auction on Oct. 4, which sold $1.4 million of a $1.06-1.5 million estimate range, with 92 percent of 94 lots sold. Top prices were Charles White's General Moses (Harriet Tubman) at $360,000 and Hughie Lee-Smith's Slum Song at $216,000, both records for the artists. Other notable results include White's The Brother at $144,000, John Biggers' Market Women, Ghana at $96,000, Henry Ossawa Tanner's Seated Arab at $72,000, and David Hammons' Moving to the Other Side at $64,800; Beulah Woodard emerged as a star with African Woman at $19,200 and Maudelle at $14,400.
Vincent van Gogh's The Ox-Cart (1884) arrives at the Portland Art Museum, donated by Fred and Frances Sohn of Roseburg, becoming the museum's first van Gogh painting and the most expensive gift in its history. The painting will go on display in mid-November after framing and cleaning; its value is not yet determined.
Gustave Courbet’s Nude Woman Reclining, a 1862 painting, was recovered after wartime looting and is on view at the Grand Palais, with plans to travel to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work belonged to Baron Ferenc Hatvany, who also owned The Origin of the World; the painting circulated via a Slovakian family and a Bratislava doctor before being returned to the baron’s heirs about two years ago, with an estimated value around $15 million.
The Courbet painting Femme nue couchee (Nude Woman Reclining) tied to Baron Ferenc Hatvany, long believed lost after wartime looting, is now exhibited in Paris at the Grand Palais and will travel to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in February. The work, once in the possession of a Soviet soldier and later a Bratislava doctor, was returned to Hatvany’s heirs after a $706,000 reward for the family, with an estimated value around $15 million.
Frantisek Kupka's abstract painting Elevation IV sold for 22.1 million crowns (about 1,130,000 USD) at Prague Art Consulting, setting a new auction record. The previous record was 13.4 million crowns (over 642,000 USD) for Abstract composition by Kupka earlier in May. The sale was described as surpassing expectations by auction house director Jiri Rybar.
The Times reports that a stolen Leonardo da Vinci painting, Madonna with the Yarnwinder, worth up to £25 million, was recovered in the Glasgow area after four years. Four men have been arrested and charged in connection with the theft and recovery operation.
Police seized a £30m Leonardo da Vinci painting, Madonna with the Yarnwinder, during a raid on HBJ Gateley Wareing in Glasgow. Four men from Glasgow and Lancashire were arrested and are expected to appear at Dumfries Sheriff Court; one partner at the law firm, Calum Jones, was taken away. The work had been stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in 2003 and was reportedly under-insured, with the late duke having received an insurance payout of just over £3m.
Edgar Degas, St. Louis Art Museum, purchased a circa 1899 oil on canvas titled The Milliners for $10 million from Blondeau Fine Art Services, Geneva. The sale was described as the museum’s most expensive purchase to date and was funded through a mix of endowment purchase funds, donations, exhibit income and deaccessions.