Monthly archive
28 headlines
Source-linked reporting
art-critique.com
Lobster Telephone (White Aphrodisiac) by Salvador Dalí, one of 11 commissioned lobster phones, will remain in the UK after the National Gallery of Scotland acquired it for £853,000. The acquisition was funded by Art Fund (£100,000) and the Henry and Sula Walton Fund (£753,000). The artwork is on display at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.
smithsonianmag.com
Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1615-17, at the National Gallery, London, is highlighted as part of a renaissance of attention to her Baroque work. The painting was purchased by London’s National Gallery for £3.6 million (about $4.7 million USD) and went on public view after conservation and restoration. The article also notes the painting’s inclusion in a broader discussion about women in art and potential Nazi-era looting concerns.
sothebys.com
Claude Monet’s Enchanting Vision of Venice to Appear at Auction for the First Time discusses Monet’s 1908 painting Le Palais Ducal, with an estimate of £20,000,000–30,000,000, to be offered in Sotheby’s London Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 26 February 2019.
slippedisc.com
Daniel Chandler's lost violin, engraved with the maker Chris Johnson of Loughborough, was recovered after a Paris shop checked a list of stolen instruments and police were notified when a man attempted to sell it.
art-critique.com
Artemisia Gentileschi’s Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1615, was acquired by London’s National Gallery for £3.6 million after selling in Paris the previous December. The gallery notes due diligence on provenance, while a board minutes discussion mentions the work potentially listed as having an incomplete history between 1933 and 1945 amid Nazi-looted art concerns.
hyperallergic.com
Salvador Dalí’s Lobster Telephone (1938) was acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland for £853,000 (~$1,077,000); the piece involved a plaster lobster receiver and a red version is in the Tate. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston received the Wan-go H.C. Weng Collection of 183 Chinese paintings and calligraphy. The J. Paul Getty Museum acquired Vilhelm Hammershøi’s Interior with an Easel, Bredgade 25 (1912).
press.christies.com
Katelyn Kraunelis of Christie's reports that Tiffany Studios Pond Lily lamp (circa 1903) sold for $3,372,500, a new world auction record for Tiffany Studios. Other notable results include François-Xavier Lalanne’s Canard aux Nénuphars centerpiece ($250,000), Frank Lloyd Wright urn ($576,500), Nakamoto Collection glass sale ($2,728,000), and Émile Gallé Lys vase ($444,500). The Design sale totaled $8,493,125 with 84% by lot and 96% by value.
bbc.co.uk
Salvador Dalí’s Lobster Telephone was bought by the National Galleries of Scotland to prevent it leaving the country and will be displayed at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh. The work was purchased for £853,000, largely funded by a private fund, with contributions from the Henry and Sula Walton Fund and Art Fund.
elmanana.com
The article discusses a Stradivarius violin from 1729 stored by the Guardia Civil in Córdoba since 2007, potentially valued at up to three million euros. It details the seizure incident near Carmona (Sevilla) and notes experts’ opinions on authenticity as either genuine or a forgery.
christies.com
Artist Kazimir Malevich created Suprematist Composition in 1916 and it sold for $85,812,500 on 15 May 2018 at Christie’s New York. Max Carter, head of Impressionist and Modern Art at Christie’s New York, discusses the painting and its record sale as one of art’s great thunderclap moments.
sothebys.com
Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players, painted in 1894–95 and housed at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, is one of five versions of the composition. The painting was stolen in 1961 in Aix-en-Provence and later returned after a ransom; other versions are in the Barnes Foundation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Courtauld Institute, and the Royal Family of Qatar collection. Claude Monet and Fernand Léger are cited evaluating Cézanne, describing him as a revolutionary and a master of realism.
christies.com
Edward Hopper, Chop Suey (1929), oil on canvas, 32 x 38 in, is described as Hopper’s most iconic painting left in private hands. It sold for $91,875,000 (including buyer’s premium) on 13 November as part of An American Place: The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection at Christie’s New York. The piece has an estimate of $70-100 million.
christies.com
The Christie’s sale of The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection in New York on 12 December 2018 set multiple world auction records for American Modernists, including Edward Hopper’s Chop Suey at $91,875,000 and Willem de Kooning’s Woman as Landscape at $68,937,500; the auction total reached $317,801,250 with thirteen artist records and two medium records.
Christie’s
Christie’s documents the market development behind Rockefeller sales total $835.1 million — highest ever for a single collection. Its account reports that after a six-month campaign, 10 days of online sales and three days of dynamic live auctions at Christie’s Rockefeller Center HQ, the total for the 1,500 objects comprising The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller reached $835,111,334/ £720,599,874, well exceeding initial expectations and…
casastradivari.org
Kirill Troussov and Alexandra Troussova participated in the Casa Stradivari Artists in Residence program in Cremona on 27–28 February 2026, featuring violin making and music masterclasses, a roundtable, and a concert at Teatro A. Ponchielli with works by Beethoven, Wieniawski, Brahms and Sarasate.
jonathansolars.com
Jason Viseltear created this viola in 2009 in New York. The instrument has a back length of 41.7 cm and is listed by Jonathan Solars Fine Violins.
casastradivari.org
The article covers Casa Stradivari's participation in Expo 2025 Osaka, where Cremona's musical and violin-making traditions were showcased by Regione Lombardia. Violinist Fabrizio von Arx performed on the 1720 Stradivari “The Angel – ex Madrileno,” with Antonio Valentino on piano, and a violin-making demonstration by the International School of Violin Making “Antonio Stradivari” of Cremona led by Daniele Pitturelli and Marco Pedrini.
polanddaily24.com
The article reports that from December 7 to 21, 2018, a Stradivarius violin arrived in Warsaw and was to be exclusively played by Janusz Wawrowski. The violins, named Polonia, are deposited in a display glass case and funded by Roman Ziemian and Stephan Morgenstern of the FutureNet portal. Antonio Stradivari crafted the violins, with a history of over 250 years since his death, and the piece emphasizes the instrument’s prestige and the virtuoso requirements to unlock its potential.
monumentsmenandwomenfnd.org
Ambrosius Bosschaert still-life paintings from the Schloss collection were identified as part of a private Old Master assemblage and halted from sale at Apple Tree Auction Center in Newark, Ohio. The two works, copper panels measuring five by eight inches, were seized from unclaimed property tied to the Schloss looting during World War II and subsequently secured by the auction house at the Foundation's intervention.
casastradivari.org
The page covers Maxim Vengerov visiting Casa Stradivari in Cremona as part of the Artist Residency program. It mentions bringing back the 1727 Kreutzer Stradivari, meeting luthier students, and participating in events at the Giovanni Arvedi Auditorium, including a violin masterclass with three competition winners and a roundtable discussion.
casastradivari.org
Robert Brewer Young is a violinmaker, photographer and lecturer appearing at Casa Stradivari as part of the Artists in Residence program, with Amos Yang (cellist, San Francisco Symphony) accompanying. The event is organized with Fondazione Casa Stradivari and Istituto d'Istruzione Superiore Antonio Stradivari Cremona, including a round table on cello setup in Cremona on June 4, 2026, free admission while seats last.
forbes.com
The article discusses a federal lawsuit filed in the United States seeking the return of 143 paintings taken during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, including works by Dutch Old Masters such as Ferdinand Bol, Pieter Claesz, Jan Steen, and the Rembrandt school; it mentions that pieces were allegedly sold under duress and references figures like Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering in relation to potential display in a Führermuseum or Goering’s collection.
elpais.com
The article reports that a 1729 Antonio Stradivari violin, allegedly created in Cremona in 1731, was found hidden in a van confiscated by the Guardia Civil near Carmona, Seville. The piece remains in Córdoba’s police records, with valuations ranging up to about three million euros, though some regard it as a forgery.
theviolinchannel.com
William Hagen, a VC Young Artist, has been granted the long-term use of the 1732 Arkwright Lady Rebecca Sylvan Stradivarius violin on loan from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation. The instrument was donated by Dr. Joseph Sylvan and is valued at over US $4 million.
rmx.news
The article reports that the Stradivarius violin named Polonia was officially presented at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. It notes the instrument, created in 1685, is valued at around PLN 20 million and is on display in a glass showcase from December 7 to 21, 2018. Janusz Wawrowski is the only person in Poland allowed to play the instrument, which was brought to post-war Poland with help from Roman Zieman and Stephan Morgenstern.
Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s documents the market development behind (RED) Auction in Miami Raises $10.5 Million for the Fight Against AIDS. Its account reports that (RED) Auction Raises… $10.5 Million for the Fight Against AIDS](https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-third-red-auction-is-coming-to-miami-this-december).
Christie’s
Christie’s documents the market development behind One of the most important European royal portraits to come to auction for a generation. Its account reports that on 6 December, Sir Anthony van Dyck’s highly important Portrait of Princess Mary (1631-1660), daughter of King Charles I of England, full-length, in a pink dress decorated with silver embroidery and ribbons will be offered in the Old Masters Evening Sale at Christie’s London, during Classic Week.
music.si.edu
The Amati violin known as the King Louis XIV was made by Nicolo Amati in Cremona, Italy in 1656. It has historical provenance including ownership by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume and Prince Nicholas Yousoupoff, and has been associated with Louis XIV though gem inlays are now considered glass. The instrument has also been referred to as the Youssoupoff and was discussed in Strad magazine.