Monthly archive
29 headlines
Source-linked reporting
thecjn.ca
The article reports that a Nazi-looted 1837 painting, Scandinavian Landscape by Andreas Achenbach, was withdrawn from auction in Germany and restitution was announced to the Canadian and Israeli university heirs of Montreal art dealer Max Stern. Concordia University led the Max Stern Art Restitution Project, representing Stern's estate and its beneficiaries (Concordia, McGill University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem).
concordia.ca
The Max Stern estate reclaims Andreas Achenbach’s painting Scandinavian Landscape (1837), restituted after being sold under duress in 1937 at Lempertz Auction House in Cologne; the return, announced on October 29, 2013, was aided by Van Ham Fine Art Auctions and announced at the Embassy of Canada to Germany in Berlin.
mutualart.com
Andy Warhol’s Coca-Cola (3) is discussed as a famous Pop Art masterwork highlighted by Christie’s, with an estimate of 40,000,000–60,000,000 USD. The work, painted in 1962, is described as hand-painted rather than silkscreen and has been in a private collection for nearly two decades, with a London preview and Rockefeller Plaza sale on November 12.
gallerix.org
The heirs of Erich Lederer, a Jewish collector, request restitution of Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze after claiming it was sold under duress in Austria post-World War II. Marc Weber, the family’s lawyer, says the Austrian Ministry of Culture has received the restitution lawsuit, noting the work was sold for 15 million Austrian shillings (about 1.09 million euros) far below its estimated value. The fresco, created in 1902 for the Vienna Secession, is currently in Austria.
tarisio.com
The 1696 Stradivari violin, previously owned by Min-Jin Kym after being stolen from London’s Euston Station in 2010 and recovered in 2013, will be sold by Tarisio in a special auction ending on 18 December. The instrument is described as a mid-1690s Stradivari with a back length of 35.5 cm and ties to other Stradivari works; bidding starts at £1 million and a portion of proceeds will benefit authorities involved in the recovery.
tarisio.com
Min-Jin Kym’s 2010 stolen violin, valued at around £1.2 million, is set to be auctioned by Tarisio with online bidding starting at £1 million and expected to exceed £2 million; the instrument was recovered undamaged in the Midlands after thieves attempted a sale in an internet cafe.
tarisio.com
The article reports that a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin stolen at Euston Station in 2010 could fetch more than £2 million at auction. Thieves took the instrument from musician Min-Jin Kym and it was found intact in the Midlands with minor damage; bidding is expected to start at £1 million per the Evening Standard.
musictimes.com
The article discusses a Stradivarius violin owned by Min-Jim Kym that was stolen in 2010 and recovered in 2013. It notes the instrument will be auctioned by Tarisio on December 18 and could bring up to $3.25 million, with two other bows mentioned as stolen items worth $100,500 and $8,100.
paulfrasercollectibles.com
Kym's stolen Stradivarius violin, recovered earlier this year, is set to be auctioned for £2m ($3.2m) at Tarisio in London on December 18. The instrument, produced in 1696 by Antonio Stradivari, was stolen from Min-Jin Kym in 2010 at London’s Euston station and later recovered by police in the West Midlands.
standard.co.uk
The Stradivarius violin stolen from Min-Jin Kym at a cafe near Euston station is expected to fetch around £2 million at a Tarisio auction. The instrument, made in Cremona in 1696, was snatched three years ago and later recovered by police after Kym acquired another Stradivarius.
reviewjournal.com
Raphael Satter of the Associated Press reports that a violin believed to have been played on the Titanic fetched more than 1 million pounds (over $1.6 million) at auction. The instrument, thought to belong to bandmaster Wallace Hartley, is described as coppery sea-worn and unplayable, and the sale price included buyer’s premium and tax.
independent.co.uk
Gustav Klimt's unfinished portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl, on loan to the National Gallery for Facing the Modern: The Portrait in Vienna in 1900, is discussed as Nazi-looted art. The painting was connected to Amalie Zuckerkandl, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, and Erich Führer, with a history of confiscation and restitution involving Maria Altmann and the Klimt paintings.
wlrn.org
NPR reports that a violin believed to have been played by Titanic bandmaster Wallace Hartley sold for about $1.6 million. The instrument, housed in a leather case, is linked to Hartley and his orchestra who stayed on deck as the ship sank. The sale, by Henry Aldridge & Son, was described as the most expensive Titanic artifact to date.
washingtonpost.com
The Washington Post reports that the Titanic violin, an iconic instrument linked to the doomed liner's sinking, sold for $1.45 million, more than twice its expected price. The sale is described as a record for the instrument.
9news.com.au
The news item reports that the violin reputedly played by Wallsace Hartley and the Titanic band sold for STG900,000, about A$1.5 million, at a public auction in Devizes, Wiltshire. The instrument had a historic association with the Titanic disaster and has been exhibited in Titanic museums in the US and Northern Ireland.
apnews.com
The article reports that a violin believed to have been played by bandmaster Wallace Hartley during the Titanic disaster will go on sale in Wiltshire, England, with auctioneer Henry Aldridge and Son predicting a price above 200,000 pounds (about US$323,300). The violin, German-made and engraved with a dedication from Hartley’s fiancée Maria Robinson, cannot be played and has been authenticated after testing.
bbc.co.uk
The violin reportedly played to calm passengers during the Titanic sinking was sold for £900,000 at Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, having had a guide price of £300,000. Auctioneer Alan Aldridge described it as the rarest and most iconic Titanic memorabilia, with two telephone bidders competing before the sale.
Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s reports on Dia Art Foundation’s renewed New York presence and the institutional history behind its presentation of Minimal and Conceptual art.
press.christies.com
Untitled (No. 11) by Mark Rothko is described as a radiating sunset-orange abstract masterpiece to be offered at Christie’s in New York in November 2013. The release notes its orange-yellow and white cloud-like colors within a deep orange field, mentions prior record sale of a Rothko painting, and notes the piece’s exhibition history and estimated price range.
paulfrasercollectibles.com
Leila Josefowicz’s Bergonzi violin, made by Michele Angelo Bergonzi in the 1750s, is being sold at Ingles and Hayday in London, with an estimated price between £100,000 and £150,000 (about $159,825–$239,738). The sale also includes violins by Carlo Bergonzi and Francesco Rugeri, a Lorenzo Storioni viola, and a David Techhler cello.
noma.org
The New Orleans Museum of Art announces the gift of Five Brushstrokes, 1984 (Fabricated 2010) by Roy Lichtenstein, a 20-foot tall painted aluminum sculpture installed in front of the museum by the end of 2013. The work is a gift from Sydney and Walda Besthoff with partial gift from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
globalnews.ca
Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud is discussed as potentially selling for up to $100 million at Christie’s New York sale, potentially surpassing the artist’s current record. Christie’s Francis Outred comments that the market has moved on since Bacon’s 2008 Triptych sold for $86 million.
press.christies.com
Andy Warhol’s Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Grand Prix Car (Streamlined Version, 1954), executed in 1986, from the Daimler Art Collection. The release notes the work, its relation to Warhol’s late oeuvre, and its estimate of $12–16 million.
press.christies.com
Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud, an icon of twentieth century painting, is highlighted in a Christie's press release issued in New York Americas on 11 October 2013. The release discusses the painting’s exhibition timeline during Frieze Art Week and its anticipated sale at Christie’s New York on November 12, mentioning a world auction record for Bacon and Freud’s collaboration as a centerpiece of post-war and contemporary art.
bbc.com
Francis Bacon’s triptych Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969) is expected to fetch at least $85m (£53m) at auction in New York. The work, one of Bacon’s greatest masterpieces, will premiere in the UK at Christie's during Frieze Art Week in London, with a preparatory version having sold for £23m in 2011.
dallasnews.com
The Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University has acquired an important late portrait by Francisco Goya in honor of the museum's 50th anniversary. The oil-on-canvas depicts Goya's grandson Mariano, painted in 1827, and marks a major addition to the Meadows Collection. The acquisition was financed through the Meadows Foundation and Eugene McDermott Foundation.
Sotheby’s
An open letter considers Xu Zhen’s selection for the Armory Show commission and the artist’s decision to work through the MadeIn Company identity.
press.christies.com
Gerhard Richter Abstraktes Bild (809-1) from the Eric Clapton collection is highlighted as a top work in Christie’s fall season and will be sold in New York on November 12, 2013, after on-viewings in London and Paris; the release includes quotes about the work and provenance mentioning its 2001 auction acquisition by Clapton.
Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s examines Zhang Huan’s skull paintings and their connections to Buddhist imagery, opium history and collective remembrance.