Monthly archive
20 headlines
Source-linked reporting
time.com
The story concerns the Air Force Band aiming to purchase a rare $75,000 1787 cello. The article discusses how military bands decide what instruments they need and mentions the cello’s age and significance.
artnews.com
Christie’s postwar and contemporary evening sale in London brought in £39.6 million ($52.8 million). Two Basquiat works from Johnny Depp’s collection exceeded their high estimates, contributing to a strong auction and a high sell-through rate. The sale followed Sotheby’s contemporary sale and occurred amid Brexit-related economic uncertainty.
theartnewspaper.com
The article reports that Christie’s faced withdrawal of the top lot, a 1994 Abstraktes Bild (811-2) by Gerhard Richter, estimated around £14m, affecting the auction but the sale still showed strong results with artists such as Sean Scully, Adrian Ghenie and Jean-Michel Basquiat contributing to a £33.7m total (£39.6m with fees). It notes a 92% sell-through rate and comments from Edmund Francey and Alain Servais about Brexit and market uncertainty.
news.artnet.com
Anselm Kiefer’s work For Velimir Khlebnikov; The doctrine of War; Battles (2004-2010) led Phillips’s post-Brexit 20th Century and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, selling for £2.4 million ($3.28 million). The sale totaled £11.9 million ($16.25 million) across 31 lots, with 10 unsold and 11 under the low estimate, and it followed a June sale performance in London. Other notable works mentioned include Domenico Gnoli's Inside of Lady’s Shoe (1969) and Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Violet Dog (1968).
theartnewspaper.com
Jenny Saville’s monumental painting Shift was sold at Sotheby’s for £6m (£6.6m with fees) to Liu Yiqian’s Long Museum. The sale occurred during a post-Brexit market turmoil, with other notable results including Jean Debuffet and Adrian Ghenie selling for notable sums in the same sale.
thesoundpost.co.uk
The article discusses the Eastman Young Master Viola (AI042/VA405), a high-detail, antiqued, hand-finished instrument offered by The Sound Post. It lists specifications such as sizes (15, 15.5, 16 inches), Ebony Guarneri chinrest, Despiau bridge, ebony fittings, and measurements, and mentions related instrument ranges under Eastman and Young Master lines.
antiquesandthearts.com
Pablo Picasso, Femme assise, 1909, was bid to $53.6 million, a world auction record for any Cubist work. Sotheby’s London sale led with Picasso’s Cubist masterpiece selling for $63.6 million, a record price for any Cubist work at auction and the highest price for a work sold in London in over five years. Amedeo Modigliani’s Jeanne Hébuterne (au foulard), 1919, sold for $56.6 million, the second-highest price for a painting sold in London in more than five years.
nytimes.com
The painting Picasso’s Femme Assise sold for $63.7 million at Sotheby’s in London, a record for Cubism. The work depicts Picasso’s lover Fernande Olivier and was painted in 1909 during his time in Horta de Ebro. The prior record for a Picasso was $179.4 million for Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’) at Christie’s, established last year.
culturetype.com
Njideka Akunyili Crosby is highlighted, with reports that Victoria Miro Gallery sold “Super Blue Omo” at Art Basel to an unidentified American museum for a five-figure price; the Norton Museum of Art later announced acquisition of the work. The article references prior acquisitions by major museums of Akunyili Crosby’s works, including Whitney Museum of Art purchasing “Portals” (2016) at the Armory Show, and acquisitions by LA County Museum of Art, SFMOMA, Studio Museum in Harlem, Nasher Museum of Art, Tate, and others.
news.artnet.com
Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani are highlighted in Sotheby’s London sale, which totals 151 million dollars including premium. Picasso’s Femme Assise (1909) sold for 43.3 million pounds, while Modigliani’s Jeanne Hébuterne (au foulard) (1919) carried a 28 million pound estimate with a guarantee; overall sale proceeds were 103.3 million pounds.
news.artnet.com
The article discusses strong demand for blue-chip works at Art Basel in Basel 2016, with notable sales including Mike Kelley’s Memory Ware Flat #10 (2001) for $4.4 million and Lygia Pape’s Book of Night and Day (1963–1976) for $2.8 million; Mnuchin Gallery reported Brice Marden’s First Window Painting (1981) for about $4 million and John Chamberlain’s Honest 508 (1973-74) for $3 million; gallery leaders describe the market as healthy and the pace of sales as developing throughout the week.
dw.com
The article reports that a 35-year-old man who snatched a Landolfi violin left on a Munich commuter train has turned himself in. The 250-year-old instrument, valued at 100,000 euros (120,000 euros with bow, rosin and shoulder rest), was found undamaged in the man’s apartment; the suspect faces theft and fraud charges. The violin’s 65-year-old owner, mother-in-law to the woman who left the violin, expressed relief upon its recovery, and the instrument is being held as evidence by authorities.
epochtimes.com
The Artemis Quartet principal second violin Anthea Kreston had her 1928 Carl Becker violin stolen on a train between Frankfurt and Mannheim before a Freiberg concert. Four violists offered to lend their fine instruments after the band posted about the theft on social media, enabling Anthea to perform.
theartnewspaper.com
The article discusses a still-life of flowers attributed to Paul Gauguin, authenticated by the Wildenstein Institute, rediscovered in Connecticut and set to be sold at Litchfield County Auctions with an estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million.
news.artnet.com
Liu Yiqian acquired Gerhard Richter's 36-foot-wide painting 930-7 Strip at Art Basel. The purchase was confirmed by a friend of Liu and reported by artnet News; Liu and his wife Wang Wei are noted collectors and founders of the Long Museum in Shanghai. The article also recalls previous high-profile purchases by Liu, including a porcelain cup at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2014 and Amedeo Modigliani nude at Christie’s New York in 2015.
news.artnet.com
Pablo Picasso, Bust of a Woman (1931) is discussed in the settlement between Gagosian and the Qatari family, with Leon Black set to receive the sculpture. The piece previously sold by Picasso’s daughter Maya Widmaier-Picasso to Gagosian for $106 million in May 2015 and earlier to Pelham Holdings for $42 million in November 2014, with the Qataris’ claim resolved in May and disclosed on June 15.
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports an international alert in Germany for a 1928 Carl Becker violin stolen from a train traveling from Berlin to Basel. The instrument reportedly belonged to Anthea Kreston of the Artemis Quartet and was taken between Frankfurt and Mannheim, with distinctive orange/red color and blue glittery tape on the fingerboard; Bow makers Hill and Naurenburger are mentioned for the bows in the case.
artforum.com
David Nahmad admits he is the current owner of the Modigliani painting Seated Man with a Cane, 1918, disputed regarding its provenance and restitution claim by Philippe Maestracci’s heir. Nahmad previously lent the work to the Jewish Museum in New York in 2004 and cites a 1947 French court document in his defense; the document relates to Stettiner’s restitution case and is legally sealed until 2022.
slippedisc.com
The Toronto Symphony is selling a pedigree viola to its foundation to address a larger-than-expected deficit, with a board member citing commitments by Jeff Melanson that were more expensive than anticipated.
ottawacitizen.com
Paul McCartney’s stolen violin bass may be in Ottawa, according to a new biography about Paul McCartney by Philip Norman. The article mentions two violin basses, the 1962 Hamburg instrument and the 1963 upgraded model, with the 1963 model still used by McCartney and insured for over $4 million; the older Cavern bass remains unrecovered. A Liverpool taxi driver, Peter Hodgson, provides information suggesting the Cavern bass may be in Ottawa with someone called ‘The Keeper.’