The exhibition Violinom iznad granica / Stradivari u Rijeci – Kresnik i Cremona at the Pomorski i povijesni muzej Hrvatskog primorja Rijeka marks the 150th anniversary of Dr. Franjo Kresnik, a Rijeka-based violin maker who uncovered the secret of Stradivari and Guarneri violins. The show features violins made by Kresnik alongside eight Cremonese violins, including one Stradivari and one Guarneri del Gesú, with concerts planned on period instruments.
Christie’s documents the market development behind Autumn 2019 auctions in Hong Kong total HK$2.6 billion. Its account reports that the Christie’s annual Hong Kong autumn auctions(22-27 November) achieved a total of HK$2.6 billion / $337 million (including buyer’s premium), and saw artist records established for Asian and Western artists, including Sanyu, Kim Whan-Ki and Eddie Martinez.
Sotheby’s documents the market development behind Sotheby's New York to Present Inaugural Auction Dedicated to Aboriginal Art. Its account reports that inaugural Auction Dedicated to Aboriginal Art at Sotheby's New York Achieves $2.8 Million](https://www.sothebys.com/en/press/inaugural-auction-dedicated-to-aboriginal-art-at-sothebys-new-york-achieves-2-8-million).
The article from Italiavola & Travel reports that Vermillion, South Dakota's National Music Museum is loaning rare Cremonese bows to Cremona's Museo del Violino for an exhibition called Reunion in Cremona, running until October 18, 2020. It mentions notable pieces including a Nicolò Amati violin (1628), a Stradivari Cutler-Challen mandolin (1680), a Stradivari Rawlins guitar (1700), violins from the Amati brothers (1595, 1609, 1613), a 1781 Nicola Bergonzi viola, a 1793 Lorenzo Storioni child’s violin, and a bow attributed to Antonio Stradivari’s workshop for King Carlo IV (~1700).
Percival Rosseau, Pointers on the Hunt, 1927, oil on canvas, top lot at $100,000, sold at Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers. The sale totaled $2.3 million with 266 lots and more than 76 percent sold; other notable works included John George Brown, The Flower Girl (1878) at $87,500 and works by Alfred T. Bricher, Hugh Bolton Jones, and Fern Coppedge among others.
Gethyn Jones, a 60-year-old member of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, has reported his cello, his lifelong instrument, stolen from his car after leaving it in a city centre car park. The instrument, made by Colin Irving in 1977 and numbered 72, was accompanied by a bow made by Albin Hums; Jones describes the cello as irreplaceable and part of him after 34 years with the instrument.
A Massachusetts pawn shop, LBC Boutique and Loan in Somerville, purchased a Ferdinando Gagliano violin for $50, which is valued around $250,000 and 5,000 times that price. The instrument had been stolen from a local house, and is being returned to its rightful owner as investigations continue.
Artemisia Gentileschi’s Lucretia (c. 1630), oil on canvas, sold for $5.3 million at Artcurial. Souls Grown Deep Foundation announces four museum acquisitions by African American artists, with institutions including the Asheville Art Museum, Henry Art Gallery, Toledo Museum of Art, and Baltimore Museum of Art. The article also notes several related museum gifts and donations.
Pablo Picasso’s oil painting Femme au chapeau, previously displayed in a Calgary gallery, sold for $9.1 million at a Toronto auction conducted by Heffel Auction House. The work, created in 1941 and inspired by Picasso’s relationship with Dora Maar, was part of a sale featuring 113 artworks.
Frida Kahlo, Portrait of a Lady in White (c. 1929), sold for more than $5.8 million at Christie’s Latin American art sale in New York, making it the second-highest price for Kahlo at auction. The painting’s date is around 1929, and its subject is uncertain, with theories ranging from a lover of Kahlo to a relative or friend of Ralph Stackpole; it was gifted by Kahlo to Lola Álvarez Bravo and later loaned to Stanford University.
Sotheby’s documents the market development behind Sotheby’s to Present Inaugural Online-Only Auction Dedicated to Space Photography. Its account reports that nEW YORK, 20 November 2019 – Sotheby’s is thrilled to present our inaugural online-only auction dedicated to Space Photography.
Julie Mehretu is the artist discussed; the page covers a LACMA and Whitney co-organized survey titled Highlights from “Julie Mehretu” on view at LACMA, with works on paper and paintings from 1996 to the present and themes including migration, revolution, climate change, global capitalism, and technology. The page mentions works such as Untitled (two), Stadia II, and Black City with details about collections and lenders.
The Stradivarius violin stolen from Roman Totenberg in 1980 was recovered by the FBI and returned to his daughters. Nathan Meltzer, a 19-year-old violinist, played the instrument in Cambridge, Massachusetts, reviving its legacy at a concert titled “Homecoming.” The instrument, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1734, is on long‑term loan to Meltzer who studies at Juilliard.
Sotheby’s New York sale totaled $270.7 million for 46 sold lots with 8% buy-in rate; hammer total before fees was $230 million. Works by Willem de Kooning, Charles White, Kerry James Marshall, and Piero Manzoni were noted, with multiple artist records set.
David Hockney’s Portrait of an Artist (Pools with Two Figures), 1972, was among the highlights; Rashid Johnson’s Untitled Anxious Audience (2018) sold for $879,000 and Dana Schutz’s Shooting on the Air (2016) sold for $1.1 million. The Christie’s postwar and contemporary art evening sale totaled $325.3 million, with four artist records set.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, The Ring (1981) is mentioned in relation to Phillips’ evening sale that totaled just over $108 million. Norman Rockwell is noted as a painting new to the Phillips evening sale that drew robust demand, alongside works by Joan Miró, Picasso, and Giacometti; Julie Curtiss, Party Down (2016), sold for $400,000 with a six-figure hammer price, exceeding expectations and Curtiss’s prior high.
Artemisia Gentileschi's Lucretia painting sold for €4.8m (fees included) at Artcurial in Paris, setting an artist record. The work had been in a private Lyon collection for more than 40 years and was purchased by a British buyer.
Christie’s documents the market development behind New world record for Ruscha in $325.2 million evening sale. Its account reports that top billing goes to the most important Ruscha painting to come to market in years, Hockney’s break-up masterpiece realises $29.5 million, day sales produce highest total in auction history.
Tamara de Lempicka La Tunique rose (1927) is pictured as part of Sotheby’s sale coverage. The article reports that Sotheby’s and Christie’s highlighted blue-chip artists such as Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, and Paul Signac, with the sale totaling $209 million and 42 of 50 lots sold. A notable moment includes Picasso Nus (1934) selling for $8.8 million, and an early René Magritte work La Légende des siecles surpassing its high estimate; Tamara de Lempicka set an auction record for La Tunique rose.
David Hockney’s Sur la Terrasse (1971) is featured as Christie’s potential $45 million work. The painting portrays Hockney’s former lover and model Peter Schlesinger, who disputes the label of muse, discussing the Marrakech and London sessions that inspired the work and the relationship in decline.
The Violin Channel reports that a missing 1709 David Tecchler violin, taken from a London train on October 22, has been returned to its owner, British violinist Stephen Morris. A man reportedly contacted the owner via Twitter and handed over the instrument in a supermarket car park. The instrument is valued at about £250,000.
René Magritte’s Le seize septembre (1957) sold for $19.6 million. The Christie’s Impressionist and Modern sale in New York brought in $191.9 million overall with premiums, with a hammer total of $162 million.
Stephen Morris, a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, is reunited with his 310-year-old violin made by David Tecchler in 1709 after launching a national plea. The instrument was left on a train, was valued at about $320,000, and Morris had been playing it for 15 years.
Gabriele Finaldi, the National Gallery director, and Fiona Alderton, one of the gallery's educators, with a group of children in front of Orazio Gentileschi’s The Finding of Moses. The National Gallery plans to buy The Finding of Moses (1630-33) for £19.5m, having already raised about 90% of the amount.
The event opened with Edoardo Zosi performing with the Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù violin “Spagnoletti” 1734, in duo with pianist Raphael Gualazzi, at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala for the Premio Internazionale Lombardia è Ricerca. The ceremony included a one-million-euro grant to Guido Kroemer for research on calorie restriction and cellular aging, with remarks by Attilio Fontana and Paolo Veronesi.
Manet’s Marine, Temps d’orage (1873) is being sold by the Kunstmuseum Bern to the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo for $4 million. The sale involves works from Cornelius Gurlitt’s estate and is the museum’s first deaccession from his collection; provenance notes include that the painting was once owned by Kōjirō Matsukata. The price reflects an independent appraisal and may fund provenance research and related costs.
Rembrandt van Rijn etching of “Pieter Haaring” (1655) sold for $81,250 and “A Beggar Seated on a Bank” (1630) sold for $60,000 at a Swann Galleries sale of Old Master Through Modern Prints. Other highlighted sales include a Paul Klee etching for $75,000, a Manet painting valued at $4 million for a Bern museum, Olivia Newton-John memorabilia selling for $405,700 at Julien’s, a Katsuhika Hokusai woodblock print selling for $250,000 at Christie’s online sale, and a Chinese School scene selling for £68,750 at Christie’s China Trade Paintings sale.
MinGwan Kim from South Korea won the 1st prize at the 2019 Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition in Prague, Czech Republic. The prize package includes 20,000 CZK, a viola bow by Luboš Odlas, a GEWA viola case, Finetune pegs by Wittner, Pirastro KorfkerRest shoulder rest, and two sets of Pirastro Evah Pirazzi strings. Second and third prizes went to Yuri Yoon from South Korea and Evgeny Shchegolev from Russia.
Sotheby’s documents the market development behind A Monumental Julie Mehretu Work Comes to Auction As Her Massive Retrospective Opens at LACMA. Its account reports that concurrently, Mehretu’s monumental, nearly ten-foot wide painting, Rise of the New Suprematists (2001) is on view in Sotheby’s New York galleries in advance of the Contemporary Art Evening Auction on 14 November.
The article by Iliana Magra reports that Stephen Morris, a professional musician, left his 310-year-old violin, crafted by David Tecchler in 1709, on a train near London and later recovered it in a parking lot. The instrument is valued at about 250,000 pounds (over $320,000).
BBC News reports that Stephen Morris, a professional musician, was reunited with a 310-year-old Tecchler violin worth £250,000 after it was left on a London-bound train. The instrument, made by David Tecchler in 1709, had been missing since 22 October and was returned in a Waitrose car park in Beckenham following covert negotiations and a police operation.
November 2, 2019 Gig Violins discusses the author’s development of a smaller viola pattern using Kevin Kelly’s four circles method, inspired by the Conte Vitale Andrea Guarneri viola. The post notes larger initial viola sizes, the design process, and materials such as Italian spruce from Val di Fiemme and European maple.
Stephen Morris, a professional violinist, reported a 310-year-old David Tecchler violin from 1709 stolen on a London Victoria to Orpington train. The instrument, valued at £250,000, was returned to Morris with no damage after police identified a suspect and the violin was handed over in Beckenham.
Willem de Kooning’s Untitled XXII (estimate $25/35 million) and Mark Rothko’s Blue Over Red (estimate $25/35 million) are among the highlights. The sale also features Clyfford Still’s PH-399, Brice Marden’s Number Two, Wayne Thiebaud’s The First Cake Counter, a work from Francis Bacon’s Tangier paintings, David Hockney’s first pool painting, a work from Lee Krasner’s Earth Green series, with public exhibition starting November 1 in New York.
Sotheby’s documents the market development behind Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art | Auction Results. Its account reports that caillebotte, Monet and Signac Propel New York's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale](https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/caillebotte-monet-and-signac-propel-new-yorks-impressionist-modern-art-evening-sale).
Frank Stella, 1936–2024, Going Abroad from Waves II, a 1985/1989 screenprint, lithograph and linoleum block with hand coloring and collage, signed and numbered 58/60; 73 x 64 inches; publisher Waddington Graphics, London; literature Axsom 196; provenance Private Collection; auction result 12,500 USD (estimate 8,000–12,000 USD) at Post War + Contemporary Art, Rago Auctions, 8 November 2019.