The release discusses Christie's handling of a sale by The Alfred Beit Foundation to endow Russborough House. It mentions Old Master paintings by Rubens, Adriaen van Ostade, David Teniers the Younger, and Francesco Guardi to be offered at auction in London on 9 July, as part of funding for restoration and upkeep of Russborough.
Clayton Haslop, a renowned Los Angeles-area violinist and concertmaster, has acquired a violin crafted by Eric Benning in 2012, modeled after a Stradivarius. The instrument is Benning’s 93rd completed piece and reflects his expertise in copies of Stradivari and Balestrieri.
The article announces the 2015 Tibor Varga Sion Valais International Violin Competition candidates in Sion, Switzerland (August 20–26). It lists 23 open round candidates and names the 2015 jury and the first prize amount of CHF 15,000 (US$16,000).
The Art Newspaper reports that a sale of 49 drawings from the Triton Foundation at Christie’s Paris on 25 March raised nearly €10 million, with all lots sold and several records set. The top lot was Camille Pisarro’s Paysannes travaillant dans les champs (1881) selling for €1.4 million, followed by Salvador Dalí’s La reine Salomé (1937) at €721,500. Records were also set for artists including Paul-Elie Ranson, Frédéric Bazille and Claude-Emile Schuffeneucker.
Van Gogh’s L’Allée des Alyscamps sold for $66.3 million at Sotheby’s, setting a Van Gogh auction record. Monet’s Nymphéas brought $54 million, while Picasso’s Femme au chignon dans un fauteuil sold for $29.9 million and Matisse’s Anémones et grenades fetched $6.1 million. The Jerome H. Stone collection led to a total of $57.8 million, highlighted by Giacometti’s Buste de Diego at $12.8 million.
Collector William Louis-Dreyfus plans to sell his 3,500-work modern and contemporary art collection incrementally to benefit Harlem Children’s Zone, timing disposals according to market values while seeking greater recognition for lesser-known artists in the holdings.
The Violin Channel reports surveillance footage identifying two suspects in the alleged theft of a 2014 Emilio Stradella cello (SN 1115) valued at about US $8,500, stolen from a car in a San Francisco Union Square garage at 9pm on April 11. Descriptions: male, ~30-40 years old, ~175 cm, medium build, shaved hair; female, ~20-30 years old, ~165 cm, medium build, brown hair. Police are asking for information.
The CBS San Francisco report describes a 16-year-old girl who owned a $8,500 cello stolen from a car in a downtown San Francisco parking garage. An anonymous citizen left the instrument at a Chinatown bar on Grant Street and instructed staff to give it to police, which led to its recovery.
Interminable Net #3 (1959) by Yayoi Kusama is headed to Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New York on May 12. The work, an oil on canvas measuring 52½ in. by 49 in., is expected to fetch $5 million to $7 million and could set a Kusama record.
The article discusses the late billionaire A. Alfred Taubman and his art collection, including works donated to institutions such as the Detroit Institute of Arts. It notes Taubman’s role with Sotheby’s, a past price-fixing case, and contemplates how his collection might be managed after his death, with a likelihood of works entering permanent museum collections rather than being auctioned.
Sotheby’s profiles financier Christopher Tsai’s research-led collecting strategy, tracing his shift from contemporary Chinese figurative art toward concentrated holdings in Ai Weiwei and other artists he considers historically meaningful or undervalued.
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation announced that The Pace Gallery, Gallery Thaddaeus Ropac, and Galeria Luisa Strina will now represent the artist's estate worldwide, replacing Gagosian Gallery which had represented the estate since the artist’s death in 2008. The foundation notes that Pace, Ropac, and Luisa Strina have planned major exhibitions in coming years in New York, London, Hong Kong, Beijing, Paris, Sao Paulo, and South America, and that Pace and Ropac will co-present at Art Basel in June 2015.
Alberto Giacometti’s L’homme au doigt (Pointing Man) is to make its first appearance at auction at Christie’s Evening Sale in New York on May 11, 2015, as a key lot in the Looking Forward to the Past sale; the sculpture is cast in bronze, about 69 7/8 inches tall, and is estimated around $130 million.
Edward Hopper's Two Puritans (1882-1967) is the star lot for Christie's spring American Art sale in New York on May 21, 2015, with an estimated in excess of $20 million. The work, painted in 1945, has appeared in major exhibitions and was most recently shown in Paris at the Grand Palais.
The article discusses Antonio Brosa's 1730 Stradivari known as the Vesuvius and its connection to Benjamin Britten's violin concerto, noting a slow reception and negative British reviews around its premiere.
Alberto Giacometti is offering L’homme au doigt (Pointing Man), a cast bronze sculpture, at Christie’s upcoming spring sale in New York with an estimate around $130 million. The work is by Alberto Giacometti, titled L’homme au doigt (Pointing Man), and Christie’s will feature it in the Looking Forward to the Past sale on May 11. Previous Giacometti high prices noted include L’Homme qui marche I sold for US$104.3 million and other works like Grande tête mince and Chariot.
The press release announces Christie’s sale Visions of the West: American Paintings from the William I. Koch Collection, spanning 19th century to contemporary Western art, with over 65 paintings including works by Thomas Moran, Frederic Remington, Henry F. Farny, William Robinson Leigh, Philip R. Goodwin, Howard Terpning, Martin Grelle, Tom Lovell, and G. Harvey; the sale is scheduled for May 21 in New York following Christie’s Spring sale of American Art.
Artnet News reports that three paintings and one drawing by Vincent van Gogh, with works spanning his Hague and Arles periods, along with canvases by Lucian Freud and Mark Rothko, are approaching auction at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in New York. Christie’s will offer a Lucian Freud portrait, Benefits Supervisor Resting (1994), with a presale estimate of up to $50 million, while Van Gogh’s work from the Arles period and a Rothko color block canvas are among the other high-value lots expected to total around $100 million across the sales.
This press release from Christie’s announces three iconic works by Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, and Peter Doig to lead post-war and contemporary art auctions. The works highlighted are Francis Bacon’s Portrait of Henrietta Moraes, Lucian Freud’s Benefits Supervisor Resting, and Peter Doig’s Swamped, with notes on their significance and the forthcoming London exhibition before NY auctions in May 2015.
Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon are highlighted as two of Britain's postwar greats returning to auction, with Sotheby’s and Christie’s showcasing works from private collections in London. The article, by Scott Reyburn, references early access to retirement funds and notes the private viewing of about 20 works in Sotheby’s London space.
Lucian Freud’s Benefits Supervisor Resting is highlighted as the centerpiece of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art sale. The press release notes prior records for Freud, including Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (2008), and references major museums and exhibitions such as Tate Britain, MoMA, and the National Portrait Gallery.
Christie’s announces the May 2015 Evening Sales for Impressionist and Modern Art in New York, including Looking Forward to the Past led by Picasso’s Les Femmes d’Alger Version O and Monet’s Le Parlement, Soleil Couchant, and the Evening Sale featuring Monet’s Les Meules à Giverny and Mondrian’s Composition No. III, with 44 lots and several works from the Collection of John C. Whitehead.
The page reports Christie’s highlight of Claude Monet’s Les meules à Giverny (Haystacks at Giverny), oil on canvas (1885), as part of its New York Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on 14 May. The painting is estimated US$12-18 million and is tied to a settlement between the consignor and the heirs of René Gimpel. Monet’s Haystacks at Giverny is described with details of the scene and creation context.
Hendra Gunawan’s Pandawa Dadu (The Dice Game from the Mahabharata Epic) (1971) sold for HK$26.4 million (US$3.39 million), setting a new auction record for the artist. Wu Guanzhong’s Plum Blossoms (1973) sold for HK$66.8 million (US$8.6 million as part of the Nature Through the Eyes of Wu Guanzhong group, while Lotus Flowers (1973) fetched HK$34.3 million (US$4.4 million). The evening sale totaled HK$603 million (US$77.3 million) with 82.6% of 69 lots sold, contributing to an overall HK$863.5 million (US$110.7 million) across multiple Modern and Contemporary Asian Art sales.
Gustave Courbet contributes La Bohémienne et ses enfants, oil on canvas, 1853-1854, with an estimate of $1,800,000 – 2,500,000. The press release announces Christie's April 28 sale of 19th Century European Art in New York, featuring works by Gustave Courbet, Federico Zandomeneghi, Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, and others, including collections from private sources and institutions such as the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Seattle Art Museum.
Brian Boucher reports that the Peabody Essex Museum surrendered a mid-19th-century portrait of Maharaja Serfoji II of Tanjavur and his son Shivaji II, purchased in 2006 and now in Homeland Security Investigations’ custody; Subhash Kapoor is alleged to have falsified provenance and is awaiting trial in India on smuggling charges. The museum reportedly paid $35,000 for the painting.
Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian billionaire, is an art collector who purchased Modigliani’s Nu Couché au Coussin Bleu for $118 million, with dealers Marking up the price by more than $20 million after a $93 million initial sale to him through Yves Bouvier; the article discusses the markup and subsequent legal actions.
Mark Rothko's No. 36 (Black stripe), 1958, oil on canvas, 156.9 x 169.9 cm, is slated for Christie’s May 13, 2015 evening auction in New York with an estimated price of 30–50 million dollars. The painting is connected to the Frieder Burda collection and the Museum Frieder Burda, with proceeds benefiting related programs.
The article reports that a carbon fiber violin by mezzo-forte won the Deutschen Musikinstrumentenpreis, marking the first time a carbon fiber violin beat wooden violins in the German Music Instrument Awards. It notes mezzo-forte's background in carbon fiber bows and the involvement of Luis and Clark founder Luis Leguia and Steve Clark in developing carbon-fiber instruments.
Picasso’s Femmes d’Alger (Version O) is anticipated to set the record for the most expensive painting ever sold. The work is discussed as a tribute to Henri Matisse and Eugène Delacroix, drawing on Delacroix’s Femmes d’Alger dans leur appartement, and is linked to broader post-colonial context and Picasso’s late reworkings during the 1950s.
The article discusses a Christie’s London auction of Canadiana from Peter Winkworth’s private collection, which brought in more than $5 million. Highlights include William Raphael’s 1880 Bonsecours Market purchased by the National Gallery of Canada for $324,036, Captain Thomas Davie’s 1762 Niagara Falls watercolour sold for $274,158, and Cornelius Kreighoff’s 1856 Quebec Farm selling for £194,500 ($288,444).