Monthly archive
31 headlines
Source-linked reporting
robbreport.com
Mark Bradford is the Los Angeles-based artist discussed. The artwork and exhibition mentioned include a sold-out show at Hauser & Wirth in Hong Kong during Art Basel in Hong Kong, featuring works such as stand down soldier. The article notes the exhibition runs through May 12 and references Bradford’s Tomorrow Is Another Day shown in Venice and opening at the Baltimore Museum of Art in September.
theartnewspaper.com
Nazi policies forced Jewish collectors like Paul Leffmann to sell their art, whatever the price (The Art Newspaper). The article discusses a US court ruling regarding Picasso’s The Actor and how restitution perspectives conflict with the decision, referencing Paul Leffmann and Thelma Chrysler Foy, and noting concerns about third-party duress under New York law.
news.artnet.com
Willem de Kooning, Untitled XII (1975), was sold by Lévy Gorvy for $35 million to a private collector. The sale occurred during the VIP preview of Art Basel in Hong Kong, with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen identified as the owner who asked Lévy Gorvy to sell the painting.
artnews.com
Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XII, 1975, sold for $35 million at Lévy Gorvy’s booth to a private collector during Art Basel Hong Kong. The sale, tied to a tech billionaire collector, marked a strong start to the fair, which is described as maturing into an art-market powerhouse.
wpln.org
Kristi Seehafer, a first violinist with the Nashville Symphony, discusses playing the Violins of Hope, a collection of about two dozen instruments once owned by Jews who survived the Holocaust. The violins, restored by Israeli luthier Avshi Weinstein and his family, include pieces with histories from both Jewish musicians who fled Germany and prisoners in concentration camps.
theviolinchannel.com
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has reopened its André Mertens Musical Instrument Gallery after a two-year renovation and re-curation, featuring more than 5,550 instruments from six continents, including violins and cellos by Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Amati.
onlineonly.christies.com
The lot features a soapstone ink rest carved as a miniature kang table, a soapstone brush pot carved as a gnarled tree trunk, and a rectangular brush washer with inscribed auspicious verses. Largest piece measures 5 5/8 inches (14.3 cm) long.
fineartconnoisseur.com
Edward Hopper, “House by a River,” 1919, etching, sold for $100,000. Pablo Picasso, “La Colombe,” 1949, lithograph, sold for $67,500. Diego Rivera, “El sueño (La Noche de los Pobres),” 1932, lithograph, sold for $40,000.
artforum.com
The Broad in Los Angeles has acquired Mark Bradford’s Helter Skelter I, 2007, and I Heard You Got Arrested Today, 2018, as well as Yayoi Kusama’s Longing for Eternity, 2017. The museum purchased Helter Skelter I at Phillips, London, for $12 million.
usaartnews.com
Mark Bradford’s Helter Skelter I (2007) sold for £8.7 million ($12 million) at Phillips in London, with Eli Broad’s museum identified as the buyer. The Broad Museum in Los Angeles also acquired Bradford’s I heard you got arrested today (2018) and Kusama’s Longing for Eternity (2017), among other acquisitions.
culturetype.com
The Broad acquired Mark Bradford’s Helter Skelter I (2007), along with works by Julie Mehretu and Kerry James Marshall, after Bradford’s piece fetched a record price at auction. The article discusses the sale history, the price achieved, and Broad’s acquisition as a centerpiece for its collection.
exibart.com
Mark Bradford’s Helter Skelter I set a auction record, sold in London by Phillips for 8.7 million pounds; Eli Broad financed the purchase bringing the painting to The Broad Museum in Los Angeles. The Broad also acquired Bradford’s Ho sentito che sei stato arrestato oggi (2018), shown in a Hauser & Wirth exhibition in Los Angeles.
sothebys.com
Peter Paul Rubens, Portrait of a Venetian Nobleman, bust length, from the 1620s, sold for £5.4 million in Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings sale in London on 4 July. The painting, once in Hans Wetzlar’s collection, has not appeared on the market for over 60 years. The work is associated with Rubens’ Venetian studies and may be based on a Tintoretto prototype.
news.artnet.com
Mark Bradford's Helter Skelter I (2007) sold for £8.7 million ($12 million) at Phillips in London, a record for the artist. The buyer was Eli Broad’s The Broad Museum in Los Angeles, which also acquired another Bradford work, I heard you got arrested today (2018), and announced additional acquisitions by Yayoi Kusama, Kerry James Marshall, Sherrie Levine, and others.
chestnuthilllocal.com
Elizabeth Pitcairn, a Philadelphia-area violin soloist, will perform on a 300-year-old Stradivarius known as the Red Mendelssohn, valued at $1.7 million. The recital is at the Great Hall of Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn, with pianist Louise Thomas.
israelhayom.com
The article reports that Albert Einstein’s violin, made in Pennsylvania by Oscar Steger, sold for $516,500 at a New York auction, well above its $150,000 catalog estimate. It notes that Einstein valued music, began playing at age 6, and that the instrument was later passed to the son of a Princeton janitor; Ian Ehling of Bonhams Auctions is quoted.
news.justcollecting.com
Phillips’ March 8 20th Century Contemporary Art auction in London achieved total sales of £97.8m ($135.2m), a house record. Picasso’s La Dormeuse (1932) led with £41.8m ($58.1m), surpassing its £18m ($20.3m) estimate, while Mark Bradford’s Helter Skelter I (2007) brought £8.6m ($11.9m), setting a new auction record for the artist.
antiquesandthearts.com
The instrument, a violin made by Oscar Steger and gifted to Albert Einstein, sold for $516,500 at Bonhams’ books and manuscripts auction in New York City on March 9. Einstein received the violin in 1933 and later gave it to Lawrence Hibbs; the sale price followed a bidding battle that pushed above its low estimate.
jta.org
Albert Einstein’s violin, reportedly gifted to the son of a Princeton janitor, sold for $516,500 at Bonhams in New York. The instrument was inscribed by its maker, Oscar H. Steger, and later passed to Sylas Hibbs’ family.
theviolinchannel.com
The Violin Channel reports that a spruce-top, maple-sides violin believed to have been owned and played by Albert Einstein sold in New York for $516,500, well above its original estimate. The instrument was crafted by American maker Oscar H. Steger in 1933 and bore an inside label referencing Professor Albert Einstein. Bonhams handled the sale, which far exceeded the initial estimate of $100,000–$150,000.
newatlas.com
The article reports that Albert Einstein's violin, made by Oscar Steger of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, fetched $516,500 at Bonhams New York auction. The instrument was presented to Einstein in 1933 and later gifted to Lawrence Hibbs, remaining in the family since. Quotes mention Einstein’s love of music and a biographical note about his musical activities.
prnewswire.com
Pablo Picasso’s portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter sold for nearly $70 million, contributing to a total of more than $430 million across eight Sotheby’s auctions held between February 28 and March 8, 2018. The period included a record online-only sale and high sell-through rates, with bids led by works from Picasso, Doig, Richter, and Wool among others.
news.artnet.com
Pablo Picasso La Dormeuse (1932) sold for £41.8 million ($57.8 million) and Allen Jones’s T-riffic (1966) sold for £705,000 ($974,000) at Phillips’ London sale, which totalled £97.8 million ($135 million), the highest Phillips sale ever. The article notes Phillips’ strategy of mixing Modern and contemporary works and discusses their use of guarantees and blue‑chip ambitions under Hugues Joffre and Edward Dolman.
ocregister.com
John McEnroe sold Mark Bradford’s 2007 painting Helter Skelter I for $10.4 million at Phillips in London; the work was inspired by Charles Manson. The painting was created by Mark Bradford and Housed in McEnroe’s Manhattan apartment prior to sale; the buyer was not disclosed.
republicain-lorrain.fr
The instrument once owned by Albert Einstein is going up for sale in New York by Bonhams. The item is valued between 100,000 and 150,000 dollars. The violin bears the inscription Made for the world's greatest scientist Professor Albert Einstein by Oscar H. Steger, Feb 1933, Harrisburg.
Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s documents the market development behind Doig Leads Contemporary Masters to £109 Million in London | Contemporary Art. Its account reports that the Contemporary Art Evening Auction was led by a landmark Peter Doig painting — The Architect’s Home in the Ravine— which realised £14.4 million.
theartnewspaper.com
Rhode Island School of Design denies a claim on Pablo Picasso’s Femme assise au livre (Seated Woman with a Book) (around 1910-12) by the heirs of Alphonse Kann, who alleged the work was looted by the Nazis. Provenance research commissioned by RISD concluded the painting was not looted from Kann’s collection.
washingtontimes.com
Article discusses an old cello, built by Johann Antes, found abandoned in a Pennsylvania attic and later sold at auction for $20,740 to Thomas Riddle in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The instrument is the oldest surviving cello made in America and was examined by Moravian Historical Society; the piece mentions Antes family history and Bethlehem origins.
sueddeutsche.de
The 12-year-old violinist Clara Shen from Puchheim earned the top score among 55 participants in the German Musical Instrument Fund competition in Hamburg and will be loaned a Carlo Antonio Testore violin from 1740 in Milan for a year by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben. She is set to perform at the Menuhin Competition in April, for which she qualified as the only German entrant. Also mentioned is Tasssilo Probst, 15, from Emmering, who participated and was loaned a Giovanni Grancino violin for another year.
artsy.net
Nate Freeman reports that a £112.7 million Picasso spending spree helped Christie’s and Sotheby’s achieve strong sales in London. The piece notes Christie’s Impressionist and Modern evening sales and a high-performing Picasso, with a Sotheby’s sale featuring Picasso’s portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter fetching £49.8 million ($65.6 million).
news.artnet.com
Pablo Picasso’s Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (1937) led Sotheby’s impressionist sale in London, estimated at £36 million and carrying a third-party guarantee, with the sale total reaching £136 million ($188.9 million). Colin Gleadell reports that the market showed strength as Picasso’s works dominated the evening, including the single most valued lot of the season in London, and that Sotheby’s was behind Christie’s total for the week.