The article reports that a 34-year-old woman in Nagoya, Japan, was arrested for destroying her former partner’s violin collection and 70 bows, totaling 105.9 million yen (about $950,700). The collection included 54 violins, with the most valuable Italian-made violin valued at 50 million yen. The incident occurred in 2014 during their breakup, and the former husband is described as both a maker and collector of violins. The suspect is said to be a Chinese national and was arrested after returning from China to Tokyo.
The article reports that a 34-year-old woman destroyed her 62-year-old former husband’s violin collection in Nagoya, including an Italian-made violin worth 50 million yen (£342,670), after breaking into his apartment. The incident reportedly occurred during their breakup in 2014, and the woman, said to be a Chinese national, was arrested after returning from China to Tokyo.
A violin from 1699 was left in Freiburg and stolen from a case; a witness saw a man and a woman depart in a gray SUV with Polish plates. The instrument, made by Giovanni Battista Rogeri, is not as expensive as Stradivari, but still worth several hundred thousand euros, with two valuable bows also taken (about 8,000 euros). Police are investigating and ask witnesses to contact 0761-8978780 or 0761-882-4221 for information.
The article reports that The J. Paul Getty Museum has acquired 16 Old Master drawings and a painting by Watteau, including works by Michelangelo, Parmigianino, Rubens, Goya, and Degas. It quotes Getty director Timothy Potts expressing that the opportunity to add such works is unlikely to arise again for some years.
A woman in Freiburg is distraught after an antique violin disappeared on the street. A man with a companion and two children took the violin case in a grey SUV with a Polish license plate; police are investigating. The instrument is an antique violin from 1699 valued in the six figures, with two valuable bows inside the case worth about 8,000 euros.
Michelangelo, Lorenzo de Credi, Andrea del Sarto, Parmigianino, Rubens, Barocci, Goya, Degas, Antoine Watteau. Artwork names: La Surprise by Antoine Watteau; Head of Saint Joseph by Andrea del Sarto; Study of a Mourning Woman by Michelangelo; The Destruction of Pharaoh’s Host by John Martin. The purchase reportedly worth upwards of $100 million.
The Getty Museum bought 16 drawings and one painting by artists including Michelangelo, Parmigianino and Watteau from a British collector, with an estimated total price possibly exceeding $100 million. The group includes Michelangelo's Study of a Mourning Woman, Andrea del Sarto's Study for the Head of St. Joseph, Parmigianino's Head of a Young Man, and Watteau's La Surprise; other works mentioned include a Goya sketch, a Degas pastel, and a Cuyp drawing.
The Getty announced a landmark acquisition of sixteen master drawings including works by Michelangelo, Lorenzo di Credi, Andrea del Sarto, Parmigianino, Rubens, Barocci, Goya, and Degas, as well as a canonical painting by Jean Antoine Watteau. Timothy Potts, the Getty Museum director, called the acquisition transformative for the collection.
Christina Jihee Nam, Qing Yu Chen, and Johan Dalene were announced as the final three competitors in the 2017 Cooper International Competition for Violin. They will perform complete concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall, with a total prize purse of $20,000 for the top prize.
The Getty Museum announced the addition of 16 Old Master and 19th century drawings, including a Michelangelo pen and brown ink study, and simultaneously acquired Jean-Antoine Watteau’s painting The Surprise. The Parmigianino painting Virgin with Child, St. John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene is cited as a prior major acquisition, with total values discussed but not disclosed; prices referenced for related works suggest a total well above $31.5 million. The announcement notes the acquisition from a single unidentified British collection and mentions export licenses for all but four drawings.
The end of the 23rd Music Festival “Carevčevi dani” in Veliko Gradište featured a violinist competition with the RTS folk orchestra. The jury awarded Sofija Živić first prize, with Kristina Višnjić and Vojislav Živić tying for second and Larisa Kopić with Andrija Janković taking third; prizes included cash, a monograph, a statue, and a high-quality violin donated by Jana Nemčeka.
Andreas Achenbach’s 1861 painting Sicilian Landscape was removed from an exhibition at Düsseldorf’s Museum Kunstpalast because it is believed to have been the property of Max Stern, a Jewish art dealer who was forced to liquidate his art collection and flee Nazi Germany. The painting was on loan from Wolfgang Peiffer, who purchased it in 1999 at a Phillips auction.
The US Ninth Circuit revived a Holocaust-related lawsuit by the Cassirer family over a Camille Pissarro painting from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation in Madrid, allowing them to pursue proof that the museum knew the painting was stolen and could be an accomplice to the theft. The painting involved is Rue Saint-Honoré, dans l'aprè̀s-midi, Effet de pluie (1897), which was sold in 1939 under coercive conditions following persecution of Jews. The case hinges on whether the museum acquired the work with knowledge of its theft, under Spanish law as the painting was located in Spain at the time of acquisition.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived a lawsuit by Lilly Cassirer’s great-grandchildren, David and Ava Cassirer, over the 1897 Pissarro painting Rue Saint-Honoré, Après-midi, Effet de Pluie, which was looted by the Nazis. The Cassirer family contends the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid aided the looting by not disclosing provenance, and the case was returned to a lower court for further litigation.
The appeals court revived a 16-year Nazi restitution dispute over Camille Pissarro's Rue Saint-Honoré, Après-midi, Effet de Pluie (1897), currently at Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, with potential value above $40 million. The case centers on whether the museum knew the painting was stolen when acquired in 1993 from Baron Hans-Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza as part of a $338 million purchase.
The article discusses Jeff Koons and his working method, noting his view that studio assistants do not contribute creatively and that all work is his own. It places Koons in a lineage with artists like Duchamp, Andy Warhol, and Gerhard Richter, and summarizes labor-law topics in the arts, including attempts by Koons workers to unionize and subsequent layoffs in 2015–2017.
Canaletto, “The Coronation of the Doge on the Scala dei Giganti,” pen and brown ink and washes, sold for a record $3,404,385 at Sotheby’s in London. The article discusses the record price and includes quotes from Greg Rubinstein and context about the drawing's place among Canaletto’s works.
Andy Warhol’s Portrait of Madame Rochas (1975) is mentioned as part of the Cerruti collection loaned to Castello di Rivoli; the collection is valued at about €500 million ($570 million). The article notes the loan to Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea in Rivoli-Torino and mentions Francesco Federico Cerruti’s foundation and the collection’s scope from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.
Sotheby’s July sculpture sale included a private collection of works retained by Cecil Howard’s descendants, led in the article by Archer at a £12,000–18,000 estimate and Torso of a Boxer in Movement at £5,000–7,000.
This article discusses scanning an 1682 Nicolò Amati violin using 3D imaging technology by SMART3K in Trento, Italy, and outlines the process, equipment challenges, and potential applications for instrument restoration and analysis. The post is written by Jason Price and published on July 4, 2017.
The National Post article discusses Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes violin reference and the possibility that the Stradivari violin mentioned in Doyle’s fiction holds a clue about Holmes’s character. It traces the history of Stradivari instruments and forgeries, suggesting a 130-year overlooked link between Holmes and the real-world violin craft.
The Violin Channel reports an international alert for a circa 1930s Ouchard cello bow, stolen from a Berlin shopping centre in February. The silver-mounted bow, in a hard black case with dark red interior, was last seen around 6:45 pm on February 10 at Prague Passage in Berlin, and is valued at about €12,000. If you have information, contact +49 157 7819 3726.
Paul Gauguin’s 1892 oil painting “Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry)?” sold for $210 million in 2014, $90 million less than originally reported. The New York Times report discusses a London High Court trial that questioned the painting’s sale price and the parties involved.