Monthly archive
14 headlines
Source-linked reporting
fadmagazine.com
The page discusses signs that the art market slowed in 2015, noting record sales such as Picasso’s Women of Algiers (Version O) at $179m and Liu Yiqian’s $170.4m Modigliani sale, with overall market slowdown across various segments including Russian art and Old Master auctions.
thetimes.com
The Times reports Florian Leonhard, a London-based instrument dealer, restorer and maker, claims up to a third of violins in the $20,000 to $100,000 range are fake within a $4 billion annual market; he notes a Czech millionaire was duped paying $50 million for what he believed were 18th-century classics, receiving three $500 violins instead. The piece discusses widespread faking, the difficulty of authenticating Stradivarius instruments, and the perception of instruments as investments.
10news.com
The article reports that a handmade Italian Matteo Mazzotti violin was stolen in a string of burglaries in a Scripps Ranch neighborhood. The family values the violin highly, with a reported price tag of about $6,000; other stolen items included a guitar, computer, and a KitchenAid mixer.
kesslerandsons.com
The page discusses Scott Cao discontinuing the Kreisler model for the 750 and 750E Artistic Series, while continuing to stock the Kreisler on the 850 and 950 models. It notes that after discontinuation, the 750/750E will offer artistic recreations including Cannon 1743, Brusilow 1743, Soil 1714, and Gibson 1713, with Cannon becoming the primary stocked option. The 750E Violin – Artistic Series Kreisler Model is introduced as part of the Artistic Series, honoring historic violins and indicating ongoing quality, training, and a trial/return policy.
theartnewspaper.com
The Art Newspaper reports that a US foundation seeks to recover paintings by Picasso, Degas, Goya, Van Gogh and Hans Memling from Havana, believed seized during Castro’s rise in 1959 from Olga Lengyel, an Auschwitz survivor. The inventory mentions Degas’ Dancing Figure and Bending Dancer, Van Dyck’s Portrait of the Marchesa, Goya’s Three Noblemen, Memling’s Angel in Paysage, and Picasso’s Fruits in a Bowl.
news.artnet.com
The article discusses Glafira Rosales’s forged works being sold at a US Marshals sale in Texas through Gaston & Sheehan auction house, with lots seized by the US Marshals. It notes artworks by Louise Lawler, Sean Scully, Jules Olitski, Ad Reinhardt, Kenneth Noland, and Andy Warhol were auctioned, with top sellers including Richard Pousette-Dart’s Le Bijou and a Reinhardt abstract from 1947; no Pollock, Rothko, or Motherwell pieces were included in the sale. The forgeries were created by Pei Shen Qian, who is linked to the Knoedler forgeries case. The proceeds were reported as $4.8 million to those who lost money due to the fraud.
culturetype.com
Norman Lewis, painting Untitled (circa 1958), sold for $965,000 (hammer price $800,000) at Swann Auction Galleries on December 15, 2015. The sale set an artist record and contributed to a Swann African-American Fine Art department total of $3,117,132.
bbc.co.uk
The BBC reports that a Joseph Wright painting titled A grotto in the Gulf of Salerno, with the figure of Julia, Banished from Rome sold for £665,000 at Sotheby's, to benefit Syrian refugees. The work was donated by Godfrey Meynell to Christian charity Us, with the painting originally priced at £150,000. Proceeds are to fund shelter, food, and healthcare for refugees in Greece.
icaboston.org
The ICA/Boston announces major gifts of art to The Barbara Lee Collection of Art by Women, adding 20 works by women artists to the collection. The Barbara Lee Collection, established at the ICA in 2014, brings together painting, sculpture, photography, and videography by Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse, Sherrie Levine, Ellen Gallagher, and Kara Walker, among others.
kvraudio.com
VirHarmonic announces the Bohemian Violin as part of the Soul Capture Series, featuring a Virtual Performer to manage articulation and bow selections for composers using the UVI Workstation. The instrument offers two arc types with multiple dynamic layers, round robin variations, and additional dynamics including sustains, dimunuendos, spiccatos, and pizzicato, enabling a range of bowing and expression on each note.
abc.net.au
The story discusses Bathurst's Mitchell Conservatorium of Music receiving a unique quartet of string instruments crafted by luthier Peter Reid of Orange. The set, including two violins, a viola, and a cello, features backs, necks and sides from Tasmanian Blackwood and belly plates from a single slab of 1,000-year-old King William Pine. The Gelin family, Ben and Martha Gelin, funded the gift to secure the instruments for long-term use by the conservatorium.
news.artnet.com
The article reports an out-of-court settlement between a New York collector and the Knoedler Gallery over a forged Willem de Kooning painting purchased in 2007 for $4 million. The case, involving former gallery president Ann Freedman and Knoedler owner 3-81 Holdings, had sought damages over $4.5 million under federal RICO, potentially up to $12 million, before the settlement was reached. The article notes Freedman’s continued assertion of innocence and mentions Glafira Rosales, who pleaded guilty to fraud in 2013.
wmur.com
A Dartmouth College student says her prized violin was stolen in California last month. The instrument, made in London in the early 1800s, is valued at $20,000 and was loaned to a friend for a music school audition.
tarisio.com
Alessandra Barabaschi reports on three Stradivari instruments associated with Medici in Florence: a 1690 cello, a 1690 and 1716 violins, and a 1716 violin, now housed by the Conservatory and exhibited at the Galleria dell’Accademia as part of the de’ Medici collection.