Monthly archive
17 headlines
Source-linked reporting
press.christies.com
The release discusses Christie’s plan to offer Property from the Collection of John C. Whitehead as the cornerstone collection in its Spring Impressionist and Modern Art sales on May 4 and 5, featuring works from a 90-piece collection including major names such as Modigliani, Monet, Morisot, Renoir, Seurat, and Van Gogh, with an expected total above US$40 million.
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports that four VC members won autographed copies of Tre Voci's new album, featuring violist Kim Kashkashian, harpist Sivan Magen and flutist Marina Piccinini, with works by Takemitsu, Debussy and Gubaidulina. Winners: Katie Cho (USA), Stefan Acker (Germany), Renee Douglas (Australia), Hannah Yi (Canada).
ideelart.com
Christie’s is set to sell Mark Rothko’s No.36 (Black Stripe) at Christie’s New York on May 13, with initial estimates between $30 million and $50 million. The painting from 1958 comes from Freider Burda’s collection and is described as a trademark horizontal colour-slab work.
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports that Connecticut luthier and fine instrument dealer Charles Magby Jr, founder of Charles H. Magby Jr Fine Violins, received an eight-year suspended jail sentence and was ordered to repay about $379,000 to former customers after being convicted on three counts of first-degree larceny. The case mentions a Lorenzo Ventapane cello sold for $165,000 and a client owed $27,000 related to a cello and two bows; Magby was said to be in possession of a Stradivarius valued up to $6.5 million.
forward.com
The article reports that two paintings looted by the Nazis are to be returned to the heirs of their original owners: El Greco's Portrait of a Gentleman and Henri Matisse's Seated Woman. The returns involve the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, Art Recovery International, and confirmation by Germany’s culture ministry, with the Gurlitt collection and related restitution efforts mentioned.
privateartinvestor.com
The El Greco painting Portrait of a Gentleman, once owned by Julius Priester, was restituted with the help of Art Recovery International and the Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE). The work passed through several hands after Priester fled Vienna in 1938 and was seized by the Gestapo; it was ultimately returned to Priester’s heirs under a settlement facilitated by CLAE.
news.artnet.com
El Greco, Portrait of a Gentleman is returned to the heirs of Julius Priester. The painting, once listed in Knoedler & Co’s catalog and tied to Freferick Mont and a Gestapo-connected dealer, was recovered after being looted by the Nazis; TEFAF 2014 asking price was $650,000 and claimed sale over $1 million. Priester’s heirs have also had works by Corneille de Lyon, Lucas Cranach, and Pintoricchio restored or returned over the years.
observer.com
El Greco, Portrait of a Gentleman (1570) returns to the heirs of Julius Priester after a restitution deal announced by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe and Art Recovery International.
news.artnet.com
Helge Achenbach was found guilty on 18 counts of fraud by a district court in Essen. The case involves alleged inflated invoices and markups related to clients including Berthold Albrecht's family and Christian Boehringer, with Achenbach sentenced to six years in prison.
news.artnet.com
Steve Cohen is mentioned in connection with a Modigliani and a $75 million Leonardo at the center of Yves Bouvier’s case. The article discusses a worldwide asset freeze ordered by a Singapore court and the seizure of a 1951 Mark Rothko painting, No.6 (violet, vert et rouge). It also references Dmitry Rybolovlev’s criminal complaint against Bouvier triggered after disclosures involving Cohen’s adviser, Sandy Heller, and a Modigliani nude sold for $93.5 million.
artinvestment.ru
The article discusses the Austrian government’s decision to keep Klimt's Beethoven frieze in Austria. It notes that heirs of Erich Lederer claim the work was sold under duress in 1973 and seeks restitution, while the Austrian Committee for the Restitution supports returning the work only under certain grounds, but the government ultimately will not return it.
faz.net
The Frieder Burda collection is selling Mark Rothko’s No. 36 (Black Stripe) from 1958 at Christie’s in New York on May 13, with an estimated range of $30–50 million. This comes after Rothko’s Untitled (1952) fetched $59 million at the same venue last May, and a Rothko record of $77.5 million for Orange, Red, Yellow at Christie’s in 2012. Proceeds benefit the Frieder-Burda-Stiftung, which funds the museum in Baden‑Baden that houses the collection. The sale, described as a unique move, aims to secure long-term museum financing by concentrating Burda’s collection on German Expressionism, Picasso’s late works, and post-1960 German art.
press.christies.com
Mark Rothko’s No. 36 (Black Stripe) from the collection of Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, led Christie’s New York Post-War & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in May 2015. The work, painted in 1958, is described as Rothko’s mature style with three shimmering rectangles on a luminescent red ground and was acquired by Frieder Burda more than thirty years ago.
artlyst.com
Mark Rothko Masterpiece No. 36 (Black Stripe), 1958, from the collection of the Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden, is slated for auction at Christie’s. The work, noted for Rothko’s mature style of concentric color blocks, was acquired by Frieder Burda and has not previously appeared at auction; estimated at $30-50 million. Proceeds support the Frieda Burda’s non-profit foundation and the Museum Frieder Burda.
washingtonpost.com
Jennifer Higdon’s Viola Concerto had its world premiere during a Curtis Chamber Orchestra program at the Library of Congress, performed by violist Roberto Diaz on a Stradivari on loan to the library. The piece was commissioned by the Library of Congress. A correction notes that the instrument is Stradivari and that Roberto Diaz is president of the Curtis Institute of Music.
archive.nytimes.com
Mark Rothko's "No. 36 (Black Stripe)" from 1958, to be auctioned at Christie’s in New York on May 13, with an estimated sale price of $30 million to $50 million. The painting was being sold by German collector Frieder Burda, who has housed it at his Baden-Baden museum.
news.artnet.com
Gustav Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze (1902) was looted by the Nazis from Jewish industrialist August Lederer and later sold to the Austrian state in 1972. Austria’s Art Restitution Advisory Board ruled against returning the work to Lederer’s heirs, though its verdicts are not legally binding. The Vienna Secession Museum, where the work is on display, contends that Erich Lederer voluntarily sold the piece and that restoration was funded by the Austrian government.