Monthly archive
16 headlines
Source-linked reporting
news.artnet.com
Amedeo Modigliani painting Seated Man With a Cane (1918) is at issue in a New York lawsuit filed by the estate of a Paris art dealer against the Nahmad family. The suit seeks restitution of the $25 million Nazi-looted portrait, alleging the painting is controlled by the Nahmad-affiliated International Art Center and stored in a Geneva freeport.
abc.net.au
Ceridwen Davies, a musician who regularly plays with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, appeals for the return of her stolen viola from her car in St Kilda West. The instrument has personal and professional significance, having been owned since 1998, and is identified by a sticker and an engraved bow by AR Sandner, with the case described as damaged. Davies is currently using a loaned viola while hoping for recovery.
cbsnews.com
CBS Los Angeles reports Glendale police seek help locating a stolen maroon 2007 Acura ATL with a valuable antique cello in the trunk. The cello, labeled Antonio Domenicelli Fecit en Ferrara 1714, is valued at more than $1 million and is owned by Cameron Stone, a Hollywood studio musician. A $1,000 reward is offered for information leading to recovery.
tri-cityherald.com
The Tri-City Herald piece discusses a reader’s claimed Antonius Stradivarius violin from 1744, labeled Made in Germany, and explores whether it is genuine or a reproduction. The article provides three categories of news about such instruments: Good News, Disappointing News, and Maybe Really Good News, starting with the case made by Lifton of New York and dating from 1920–1940, estimated at $500–$800 in excellent condition.
cnbc.com
Liu Yiqian, the Shanghai museum founder, purchased Amedeo Modigliani's Nu Couché (Reclining Nude) for 170.4 million dollars at Christie's in New York. The hammer price was 152 million dollars before fees, making it the second-highest price for a Modigliani at auction. The sale drew attention to other big-ticket items and contributed to Christie's total hammer and buyer's premium figures for the evening.
bloomberg.com
Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 Nu Couche (Reclining Nude) sold at Christie’s for $170.4 million, setting a record for the artist at auction. The sale occurred during New York’s semiannual Impressionist and modern, postwar, and contemporary sales.
christies.com
Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu couché (Reclining Nude), painted in 1917-1918, led Christie’s New York sale The Artist’s Muse, realizing $170,405,000 with buyer’s premium. The work set five world auction records for the artist and became the second highest price ever paid at auction for a work of art; the Long Museum purchased the top lot of the evening.
france24.com
Amedeo Modigliani's 1917-1918 painting, known as Reclining Nude, sold at Christie's New York for $170.4 million, setting a world record for the artist and marking the second highest price at auction for any artwork. The sale occurred during an evening sale in New York, with the buyer remaining anonymous.
csmonitor.com
A Medeo Modigliani nude painting titled Reclining Nude from 1917–1918 fetched $170.4 million at Christie's in Manhattan, setting a world record for the artist. The sale occurred in New York on November 9, 2015, and surpassed the previous Modigliani auction record of $71 million.
newsweek.com
The Newsweek article discusses how many people find old violins believed to be Stradivari, with Stephanie Culp Smith discovering an instrument labeled Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis; the piece notes authorities recovered Roman Totenberg's Stradivarius 35 years earlier and warns that genuine Stradivarius violins are rare and documented, with only about 650 believed to exist.
theartnewspaper.com
The Art Newspaper reports Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern sale topped expectations after a Taubman sale earlier in the week, led by Pablo Picasso’s La Gommeuse (1901) sold for $67 million, a new Blue Period record. Other notable results included James Ensor’s Les Poissardes melancoliques (1892) at $7 million and Vincent van Gogh’s Le bébé Marcel Roulin (1888) at $7.6 million, with Paysage sous un ciel mouvementé (1889) selling for $54 million.
antiquesandthearts.com
A. Alfred Taubman collection at Sotheby’s totaled $377 million, led by Amedeo Modigliani’s Portrait of Paulette Jourdain which sold for $42.8 million. Frank Stella’s Delaware Crossing sold for $13.7 million, Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XXI sold for $24.9 million.
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports a 2010 Marten Cornelissen cello stolen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on October 25. The instrument was valued at about US $40,000 and was in a silver Accord hard case with a Dacunha and an unlabelled cello bow inside; owner left it unattended outside the Renaldo House Museum of American Art.
limelight-arts.com.au
An 1825 silver and ebony mounted violin bow by luthier François Xavier Tourte sold at Beares in London for the equivalent of $288,960, the highest price ever paid for a bow at auction. The bow is believed to have been owned by Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman and bears his engraved initials on the ferule. The same sale included 39 other musical items and the total raised exceeded $2.7 million.
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports Beares Auctions, London, set a world record for the most expensive violin bow sold at auction. The silver and ebony mounted bow by Francois Xavier Tourte was bought for US $288,960, and is believed to have been previously owned by Bronislaw Huberman, with BH engraved on the ferule.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This Times of India Jaipur article discusses Daniel Dodds, an Australian-born violinist and artistic director of Festival Strings Lucerne, who carries a 1717 Stradivarius violin worth upwards of Rs 65 crore and why such instruments are highly valuable and closely watched.