Monthly archive
12 headlines
Source-linked reporting
artandantiquesmag.com
Picasso ceramics from the Madoura Collection sold at Christie’s London for over £8 million ($12.5 million), four times their presale estimate, with the sale totaling for the two-day event. Alain Ramié, son of the founders of the Vallauris pottery, consigned the pieces kept by the Madoura facility; the works numbered more than 500 and spanned Picasso’s Madoura years.
theedinburghreporter.co.uk
The Edinburgh Reporter reports that a custom-made Zeta 5-string Electric violin, designed and crafted in California, was stolen from the Carrubbers Christian Centre in Edinburgh during a Festival performance and later recovered by the Police after staff at Cash Converters on Leith Walk took possession of it.
classical-iconoclast.blogspot.com
Juliet Williams reports on the world premiere of James MacMillan's Since it was the day of preparation at the Edinburgh International Festival, featuring the Hebrides Ensemble and Synergy Vocals, Brindley Sherratt and William Conway as director and cello respectively. The work, co-commissioned by the Hebrides Ensemble, is performed in Greyfriars Kirk and sets the final section of St John’s Gospel from the removal of the body from the cross to Pentecost, with interludes for various instruments and vocal groupings.
yle.fi
The German customs authorities confiscated Yuzuko Horigome’s 18th century Guarneri violin after she could not prove ownership of the instrument. She was asked to pay 380,000 euros in duties and fines. Negotiations according to Yomiuri Shimbun have not progressed.
m-news.artron.net
Charles Saatchi offered to donate a collection valued at upwards of £30 million (S$60 million) to the nation, but two years later the bequest has not found a home. The collection includes works by Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Jitish Kallat, and Emin, among others, and features pieces such as My Bed, Tragic Anatomies, 20:50, Chinese Offspring by Zhang Dali, and Ghost by Kader Attia.
monzatoday.it
Article about a pensionato brianzolo, 81, stopped near Imperia for routine check and found with two fake violins, a Stradivari and a Scarampella. A purchase proposal for 50,000 euros and fake documents were found; the Stradivari is described as having inestimable value. He was denounced.
broadwayworld.com
Kelsey Denette reports that the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) named Robert Brophy (viola), Sandy Hughes (flute), Carrie Kennedy (violin II), and Joel Pargman (violin II) to its roster. The article notes this marks the first full season with Brophy, Kennedy, and Pargman, and the first LACO performance for Hughes.
elconfidencial.com
The article discusses a Swiss violinist Alexander Dubach who left a Stradivarius on a train and recovered it thanks to a passenger, Pascal Tretola. It notes that the owner’s identity is unknown and mentions a past incident in 2008 involving a Stradivarius worth 3.2 million euros. It also references the record prices paid for Stradivarius violins, including the 1721 Lady Blunt which sold for over sixteen million dollars.
ox.ac.uk
The Ashmolean Museum raised £7.83 million to acquire Edouard Manet's Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus and keep it in the United Kingdom. The painting had a temporary export bar and was eventually made available to a British public institution for 27% of its market value.
museumpublicity.com
Manet, Édouard Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus, 1868; the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford acquired the painting following an 8 month campaign, raising £7.83 million with donations from hundreds of members of the public.
theartwolf.com
Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto, painted London: New Horse Guards from St James’s Park. The work, oil on panel measuring 58.5 by 110 cm, was estimated at €2,000,000–€3,000,000 (about $2.45–$3.7 million) and was set to be sold by Dorotheum in Vienna on October 17, 2012. The painting documents 18th century London during Canaletto's English stay (1746–1755) and is tied to other works depicting the Old Horse Guards and related drawings in major collections.
newsfeed.time.com
The TIME article reports that a Stradivarius known as The Penny, borrowed by Swiss violinist Alexander Dubach, was left on a Bern train and later recovered by passenger Pascal Tretola who turned it into the train station. After a five-day search, the violin was returned to its rightful owner, and Dubach vowed to reward Tretola.