Monthly archive
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Source-linked reporting
news.artnet.com
France returned a portrait by Joos van Cleve to the grandchildren of a German-Jewish couple who were driven to sell the work in the 1930s. The painting, titled Portrait d’homme, dates to the 1530s or 1540s and was acquired by Martin Bromberg in Berlin in 1912 before passing through several hands, including a sale in Paris in 1938 and a Reich Chancellery acquisition during World War II.
theglobeandmail.com
Lawren Harris’s Mountain Forms sold for $11.2-million in Toronto, setting a Canadian art record. Alan Klinkhoff predicted that a Morrice could be worth $20-million, while the sale suggested rising interest in Group of Seven and Canadian modernist artists, with commentary from David Silcox and notes on related exhibitions.
theviolinchannel.com
Yoo Na Ha of South Korea won first prize at the 2016 Mirecourt International Violin Competition in Mirecourt, France, receiving €5,000 (USD 5,400) presented by the City of Mirecourt and the Lions Club. Second prize went to Carla Ines Marrero Martinez of Spain, while Eimi Wakui and Hana Wakamatsu, both from Japan, won third and fourth prizes respectively.
culturetype.com
Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s painting Drown sold for $1,092,500 at Sotheby’s New York on November 17, 2016, setting an auction record for the artist for the second time in two months. The work is a 2012 acrylic, colored pencil and solvent transfer on paper measuring 60 by 72 inches, and sold with fees; the sale was reported by Culture Type citing six bidders and coverage of interracial themes in Crosby’s work.
theviolinchannel.com
The article reports that Gabor Draskoczy, a London-based luthier, won dual gold medals for both Violin Tone and Violin Workmanship at the 2016 Violin Society of America International Instrument and Bow Making Competition in Cleveland. Other gold and silver medal recipients in various categories (violin bow, viola bow, cello bow) are listed, including Cody Kowalski, Emmanuel Bégin, Emmanuel Carlier, Eric Fournier, Jinlong Yang, Justin Hess, Yunhai Xu, Piotr Pielaszek, Rainer Beilharz, Andrew Ryan, and Emmanuel Bégin. The Violin Society of America, founded in 1973, promotes making, repairing, and preserving stringed instruments and bows.
theartnewspaper.com
Ames collection helps Sotheby’s bring strong result in contemporary art auction. The piece mentions six Gerhard Richter works from the Steven and Ann Ames collection totaling $63.3m, led by A.B., Still (1986), and Njideka Akunyili Crosby selling for $1.1m with fees; Crosby’s prior record was $93,750. The auction overall brought in $237.4m (before fees) with Christie’s competition noted.
ingleshayday.com
The Ingles & Hayday auction featured a violin crafted from one of Winston Churchill’s cigar boxes, which sold for £5,500 to Gerry O’Brien, owner of The Churchill Arms in Kensington, London. The instrument was made by William Robinson (1880-1960) of Plumstead and bears labels and inscriptions linked to Churchill; Yehudi Menuhin reportedly played it in 1958.
theviolinchannel.com
Francisco Fullana, a VC Young Artist from Spain, has been granted long-term use of the 1735 ‘Mary Portman’ Guarneri del Gesu violin. The article notes his Juilliard education, current USC Artist Diploma studies, prior competition wins, and his appointment as Principal Violinist of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
artnews.com
Gerhard Richter, Düsenjäger (Huntsman), 1963, oil on canvas, realized $25.6 million. The sale total was $111.2 million, up 66 percent from last year. The piece is part of Phillips’s fall New York evening auction, which sold 34 of 37 lots with a 92 percent sell-through rate.
theartnewspaper.com
The article reports Claude Monet’s Meule (Grainstack) (1891) selling for $81.4m including fees at Christie’s in New York, a new auction record for Monet. The sale helped Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art evening sale achieve $214.4m with fees, over the estimate of $202m, and an 81% sell-through rate. Other notable results included Wassily Kandinsky’s Rigide et courbé (1935) selling for £20.6m ($23.3m with fees).
benningviolins.com
The article reports that distinguished violinist Mitchell (Mitch) Newman, a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has acquired a Guarneri-model violin crafted by Los Angeles luthier Eric Benning. The instrument was modeled from a mold by the late Carl Becker and completed in 2016 after Benning studied with Becker; Newman praises the instrument and its playability.
Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s reported $276.6 million traded in its contemporary art evening auction, with all but four of 64 lots sold; 25 paintings from the Steven and Ann Ames collection dominated the sale, including five Gerhard Richters totaling $75.6 million.
washingtonpost.com
Robert Yuan (author) and Yuan Lin of Bethesda, Md.; Rosalind and Sung-Hou Kim of Moraga, Calif. visit Cremona, Mantua and Bergamo in Lombardy, Italy, highlighting Cremona's violin making tradition and the Museum of the Violin with a collection of about 10 instruments.
news.artnet.com
Willem de Kooning Untitled XXV (1977) sold for $66.3 million, above an estimated range around $40 million. John Currin, Jean Dubuffet, Giuseppe Gallo, and Jonathan Horowitz also set auction records in Christie’s New York postwar and contemporary sale totaling $277 million.
artnews.com
Willem de Kooning Untitled XXV (1977) realized $66.3 million, exceeding its $40 million estimate. Christie’s postwar and contemporary sale in New York totaled $277.5 million with 54 of 61 lots sold. The event did not meet earlier high estimates and showed a decline versus prior years, including November 2014’s $852.9 million sale; de Kooning’s record was accompanied by other highlights and several artist records.
news.artnet.com
Edvard Munch’s Girls on the Bridge (1902) sold for $54.2 million with premium at Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern art sale. The sale totaled $157.7 million with 34 of 42 lots sold (81 percent by lot, 92 percent by value).
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports a giveaway of 5 signed VC Artists Dover Quartet CDs titled ‘Tribute: Dover Quartet Plays Mozart,’ featuring Mozart quartets and quintet with Guarneri violist Michael Tree. The entry link is http://s.heyo.com/75cfce and entries close November 22, 2016.
artnews.com
Edvard Munch’s Pikene på broen (Girls on the Bridge), 1902, led Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern art evening sale with a realized price of 54.5 million. The sale totaled 157.7 million with 81 percent sold. Other notable prices include Vincent van Gogh’s Nature morte: vase aux glaïeuls, 1886 at 5.86 million and László Moholy-Nagy EM 1 Telephonbild, 1922 at 6.1 million, setting a new artist record.
Sotheby’s
Three auctions of David Bowie’s collection totaled £32.9 million and set 59 artist records, drawing more than 1,000 online bidders; Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Air Power led the published highlights at £7.093 million.
artforum.com
The Wildenstein Plattner Institute was founded to advance art-historical research through accessibility, cataloguing, and digitization of primary sources. The institute is cofounded by Guy Wildenstein and Hasso Plattner, with Elizabeth Gorayeb named executive director; a publishing imprint will launch a catalogue raisonné of Jasper Johns’s painting and sculpture authored by Roberta Bernstein.
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports the 2016 8th Louis Spohr International Violin Competition in Weimar, Germany, announcing category prize winners for three age groups. Winners include Shihan Wang, Hana Chang, and Marley Erickson for Category 1; Anne Luisa Kramb, Elias David Moncado, and Sophia Su for Category 2; Angela Sin Ying Chan, Sumina Studer, and Mairéad Hickey for Category 3. Monetary prizes of €1,750, €2,500, and €3,500 were awarded to category winners, plus €500 vouchers and additional €500 awards for special interpretations and EMCY prizes.
slippedisc.com
Anthea Kreston of the Artemis Quartet recounts the theft of her violin in a Süddeutsche Zeitung magazine feature, translated by Anthea and republished with permission. The article describes the January 2016 incident on an ICE train and the circumstances surrounding the loss of the instrument.
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports that a warrant was issued for a 23-year-old man from Ellington, Connecticut, Michael Devaughn Porter, who allegedly stole and sold his mother’s 19th century German violin valued at more than $65,000 to fund a drug habit. He faces first-degree larceny and additional larceny charges related to illegally using his mother’s credit cards and bank accounts.
news.artnet.com
The page reports that a New York Supreme Court judge allowed Fabrizio Moretti's $6 million lawsuit against David Zwirner to proceed regarding Jeff Koons's Gazing Ball (Centaur and Lapith Maiden), 2013. It notes the charges of fraud and promissory estoppel and references commentary from the Art Newspaper.