The article reports that Qatar’s ruling Al-Thani family bought Damien Hirst’s Lullaby Spring for £9.7m at Sotheby’s London in June 2007, the highest price for a living European artist at auction, and is also believed to have purchased the Rockefeller Rothko for $72.8m at Sotheby’s New York in May prior, with both works now in Doha as part of a growing Western-art collection. It cites independent confirmation by The Art Newspaper for the Hirst purchase and notes the Rockefeller Rothko’s alleged presence in the Al-Thani collection, though not independently confirmed.
Marei von Saher and her daughter Charlène stand before Jan Steen’s Sacrifice of Iphigenia (1671) at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, after restitution of Nazi-seized art. The painting, previously in the Rijksmuseum, is part of a large restitution initiative involving Dutch- and Nazi-era looted works, with several other works by Van Dyck, Bellini, Lorrain, Lippi, and others being returned and exhibited.
The article mentions violinist Philippe Quint reuniting with a $4 million 1723 Antonio Stradivari ex-Keisewetter violin after it was left in a taxi; the incident occurred in New York and Newark, with the owner Mohamed Khalil returning the instrument.
John T. Scott: A New Orleans Artist 1940-2007 discusses Scott, his role as educator and mentor in New Orleans, and the 2005 Circle Dance retrospective at the New Orleans Museum of Art. It mentions the accompanying catalog with a foreword by Ellis Marsalis and an introductory essay by Richard J. Powell, and references Scott’s concept of “jazz thinking” and works like Making Whopee (1986).
A Newark cabbie was honored by the mayor with a medallion for reuniting touring musician Philippe Quint with his $4 million 1723 Antonio Stradivari violin after it was left in the cab. The instrument was valued at upward of $4 million and Quint fell to his knees and cried when it was returned.
Heirs of the artist Kazimir Malevich settled a dispute with Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, receiving five paintings in return for the right to keep the remaining Malevich works in the city’s collection. The heirs argued that the original seller, Hugo Haring, had no right to sell the paintings to Amsterdam in 1958, and plan to withdraw their US action permanently.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Israeli violinist Pinchas Zukerman will perform Bruch's Violin Concerto in G minor with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Paavo Jarvi, and will host a master class for CCM string students in room 1630 of the Corbett Center for the Performing Arts at CCM Village. An added note mentions a recent sale of a Guarneri del Gesu violin for $3.9 million in Moscow.
The article reports Srećković Philippe Quint, nominated for a Grammy, discovering his 1723 Antonio Stradivari violin, known as Ex-Keisewetter, worth $4 million, left in a taxi that brought him to New York's Battery Park. The violin remained in its case on the back seat until the taxi company assisted with the recovered instrument.
The article discusses the Jewish Museum’s exhibition Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning and American Art, 1940–1976, running May 4 through September 21. It highlights works by 31 artists including Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, and references critical perspectives by Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg.
Damian Hackett of Deutscher and Hackett describes a cautious but active art auction market. The sale in Melbourne saw several works undersold relative to estimates, with notable results for Tom Roberts, John Perceval, Charles Blackman, Pro Hart, Bessie Davidson, Will Ashton, Henri Matisse, and Andy Warhol, and a total of about $5.05 million with 78% of lots sold.
In Madrid, the Prado Museum exhibition featuring works related to the 1808-1814 war has removed the painting Colossus by Francisco Goya from the catalogue amid doubts about its authenticity. Prado director Miguel Zugaza and art historians are cited as considering the work a possible forgery, with further research to be published in forthcoming journals.
The article reports a £10,000 reward offered for a 1698 Venice-made Goffriller violin left on a Taunton-bound train by Robert Napier. The instrument, valued at £180,000 in London, disappeared after Napier left the train at Bedwyn on 29 January; the bow bears the stamp R Sartory.
Christie’s announced three London Asian Art Week auctions for May 2008, covering Chinese ceramics and works of art, Japanese art and design, and a South Kensington sale. The group was expected to exceed £7.5 million, with highlights including Qianlong jade, 17th-century ceramics and Japanese prints.
The Penny Stradivarius, a 300-year-old Antonio Stradivari violin, sold for $1.27 million at Christie’s in New York. The buyer was anonymous, and the sale price was below the $3.54 million paid for The Hammer in 2006.
The sale in Hong Kong for the first part of the Estella Collection totaled HK$139,352,010 (US$17,887,230), with Zhang Xiaogang’s Bloodline: The Big Family No. 3 leading at HK$47,364,500 (US$6,061,619). The Estella Collection is described as the largest and most important Chinese Contemporary Art collection to appear at auction, and the result exceeded estimates. The sale was 97% sold by value and 90% sold by lot; the remainder of the collection will be offered at Sotheby’s New York in autumn.
David Barboza reports Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction of Chinese contemporary art brought in nearly $18 million, led by Zhang Xiaogang’s Bloodline: Big Family No. 3 which sold for just over $6 million, above its $3.4 million high estimate. The sale set a record and exceeded presale estimates of about $12 million for the session; other noted artists mentioned include Yue Minjun, Zeng Fanzhi, Cai Guo-Qiang, Ai Weiwei and Sui Jianguo.
The Italian master Antonio Stradivari violin, named Penny after previous owner Barbara Penny, sold at Christie’s auction in New York for 1.27 million dollars. Penny had been estimated at 1 to 1.5 million dollars. Stradivari, who lived in Cremona, built about 1,100 instruments, of which 650 survive.
The Stradivari violin named The Penny, made by Antonio Stradivari, sold at auction in New York for 1.27 million dollars, about 12.6 million kroons. The instrument, 300 years old, was previously owned by pianist and violinist Barbara Penny and was auctioned after her death; the buyer was anonymous. Reuters reported the details.
Carol Vogel reports that the heirs of Ileana Sonnabend have conducted two private sales worth about $600 million to cover estate taxes, involving works by Warhol, Johns, Rauschenberg, and Twombly; buyers include GPS Partners and the Gagosian Gallery, with total art valued at over $1 billion.
The Sonnabend heirs sold about six hundred million dollars worth of paintings and sculptures in two private sales to pay estate taxes, according to Carol Vogel in the New York Times. The collection includes works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Cy Twombly; the estate is valued at over one billion dollars and taxes exceed half the value. The buyers were represented by dealers Franck Giraud, Lionel Pissarro, and Philippe Ségalot, with Sonnabend’s son Antonio Homem and daughter Nina Sundell inheriting the collection.
Edvard Munch's Girls on a Bridge and a large Fernand Léger Cubist work are highlighted in Sotheby's New York sales previews, with Léger estimated at 35 to 45 million dollars and Munch's Girls on a Bridge estimated at 24 to 28 million dollars; the piece notes previous sale of Munch’s work in 1996 and mentions guarantees on several works by Giacometti and a portrait by Caroline Tamagno, with total New York biannual sales potential around 1.8 billion dollars.
The article reports that a Stradivari violin known as The Penny, owned by Barbara Penny and associated with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, sold for $1,273,000 at Christie’s with an estimated price of up to $1.5 million.
The article discusses Ileana Sonnabend’s estate sale, noting private transactions by her children, with an estimated value near $1 billion and works by Rauschenberg, Warhol, Koons, Johns, Lichtenstein, and Twombly. It references coverage from The New York Times, Art Forum, Bloomberg News, and Art Info.