Anny Shaw discusses Banksy, noting that his 2005 work Love is in the Air will be the first physical artwork accepted for cryptocurrency payments by an auction house; the piece, also known as Flower Thrower, originated in 2003 near the West Bank barrier. The article highlights Banksy’s activism, including support for refugees and his creation of the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem and a theme park in Weston-super-Mare, while noting ongoing disputes over his imagery and copyright.
Beethoven’s Triple Concerto is featured by the Victoria Symphony with soloists Lorraine Min (piano), Terence Tam (violin), and Brian Yoon (cello), conducted by Giuseppe Pietraroia. The program includes Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op. 56, performed at a concert filmed January 16, 2021 at the Royal Theatre.
Jeff Koons announces he will show exclusively with Pace Gallery, a move disclosed in a letter to Gagosian and David Zwirner (with whom he has shown since 2013). The news was first reported by the New York Times, and Koons had been represented by Gagosian since 2001 and by Zwirner since 2013.
Christie’s documents the market development behind Illuminated Manuscripts and Early Printed Books from the Collection of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg totals $12,405,625 - Christie's. Its account reports that eugenio Donadoni, Senior Specialist, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts, London comments, “This was a once-in-a-generation auction, and an emphatic endorsement of the exquisite taste and discerning eye of Alexandre and Elaine Rosenberg.
Colnaghi will oversee restoration, authentication and subsequent sale of a painting withdrawn from Madrid auction for €1,500, which some specialists say could be by Caravaggio. The work, The Crowning of Thorns, was to be sold by Ansorena and is owned by the Pérez de Castro Méndez family, who have asked Colnaghi to lead scholarly assessment and scientific analysis.
The Bavarian State Painting Collections restituted a ca. 1480 painting to the heirs of A. S. Drey, a German-American art dealership. The painting, depicting St. Florian of Lorch, is believed to have been sold under duress during the Nazi era and was created in a Bavarian workshop with an unknown master.
Christie’s documents the market development behind Christie's to Offer Contemporary Art Donated to Benefit CORE's COVID-19 Relief Efforts - Christie's. Its account reports that a selection of contemporary artworks that have been generously donated by the artist themselves will be sold during Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sale on May 11, 2021 in New York.
Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Resurrection, 1530, was featured in Christie’s Old Masters sale in New York that brought in 18 million dollars with buyer’s fees. Four works were withdrawn before the sale, including a Murillo crucifixion scene claimed to be a copy; the Murillo was removed from the auction. The sale also highlighted interest in rediscovered works by artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi and the broader challenge of placing mid-value Old Masters works.
The Venus painting attributed to Lucas Cranach, seized from the Prince of Liechtenstein during a forgery investigation, must be returned following a Paris Court of Appeal ruling declaring no further grounds to keep it as evidence. The case involves Giuliano Ruffini and related fakes attributed to Orazio Gentileschi, Parmigianino, and Frans Hals, with connections to several major museums.
Sotheby’s documents the market development behind Sotheby's Hong Kong Spring 2021 Modern & Contemporary Art Sales Achieve a Combined Total of HK$2.25 Billion / US$289 Million | Press Release. Its account reports that 20 April 2021, Hong Kong: With Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring Sale series still underway, sales of Modern and Contemporary Art concluded today, having realised a combined total of HK$2,249,509,540 / US$289,466,888 - establishing a new record high for any Modern and Contemporary Art sale series ever…
The article discusses Claude Monet’s large-scale Water Lilies painting Le Bassin aux Nymphéas, painted 1917–19, estimated to sell for over $40 million, to be offered at Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York on May 12. The painting measures nearly 40 by 79 inches and is part of Monet’s Grandes Décorations series; provenance includes Ray Stark and his wife Fran, with viewing in Taipei starting April 26 and in New York by appointment from May 1.
Sotheby’s documents the market development behind Sotheby's Hong Kong ICONS: Masterpieces from Across Time and Space & Beyond Legends: Modern Art Evening Sale Achieve a Combined Total of HK$1.15 Billion / US$147 Million in One Night | Press Release. Its account reports that modern Art offerings across the two sales achieve a combined total of HK$1,042,148,400 / US$134,103,656 - second highest in this category at Sotheby’s Asia (highest total of HK$1.1 billion was achieved in Autumn 2018).
This press release discusses Mark Rothko’s Untitled from 1970, described as his penultimate painting, highlighted for Christie’s NY 20th Century Evening Sale in May 2021 with an estimate in the region of US$40 million. It notes Rothko’s late-career vibrant color work, provenance from the Mellon Collection and a later private collection, and includes commentary from Emily Kaplan on the painting’s significance.
The article discusses the exhibition I violini di Vivaldi e le Figlie di Choro at the Museo del Violino in Cremona, running from May 5 to August 1 (dates subject to government reopening policies). It notes curators Fausto Cacciatori, Deborah Pase and Federico Maria Sardelli, and highlights the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice where Vivaldi worked and the instruments collected there, including two Matteo Goffriller cellos and a Pietro Guarneri violin. The exhibition presents a rare collection of baroque instruments and documents about the Pietà and the Girls of Choro, with restoration work by the Museo del Violino and the University of Pavia.
Gustav Klimt, Apple Tree II (1916) is discussed as a work once confused for Roses Under the Trees and restituted to the wrong family, now held by Bernard Arnault. The article notes the history of the Lederer family and the Belvedere, and mentions the ongoing restitution issues surrounding Klimt works in Austria.
Camille Pissarro: Transatlantic struggle for painting stolen by Nazis describes how a Pissarro painting, La Bergère Rentrant des Moutons, was hidden in a French bank safe during Nazi occupation, later found in an Oklahoma gallery in 2012, and is now at the center of a cross‑border restitution dispute between the Meyers and the University of Oklahoma, with a 2016 agreement that rotated the work between a US museum and a French gallery.
The article reports that Maison Bernard, a Belgium-based luthier workshop in Brussels led by Jan and Matthijs Strick, won the 2021 Primum Familiae Vini Prize worth €100,000. The prize supports publication projects and a study trip for Matthij, and the workshop repaired a 1732 Stradivarius.
The painting Crowning of Thorns, attributed to Spanish artist José de Ribera in the auction catalogue, is being examined with some experts suggesting it could be by Caravaggio; Spain blocked the auction and declared the work not for export. The starting price was 1,500 euros, and estimates could reach up to €150 million if authenticated as Caravaggio.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Lucretia (ca. 1627), oil on canvas, 36 ½ x 28 5/8 inches, recently acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The painting, which depicts Lucretia at the brink of death, had been unrecognized for decades after being rediscovered in southern France and sold in 2019 for €4.8 million (~$5.2 million) at an Artcurial auction in Paris before the Getty acquired it.
Christie’s reports on a 1982 Basquiat work, Untitled (One Eyed Man or Xerox Face), to be offered in the 20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale in Hong Kong on May 24. The piece was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and is part of a series connected to Basquiat’s Warrior, with the 1981–1982 works emphasized as pivotal in his career.
Greenville County Museum of Art in Greenville, South Carolina sold Alma Thomas, “Alma’s Flower Garden,” circa 1968 for $2.8 million to an anonymous buyer. The sale was deaccessioned following the museum board’s unanimous vote on October 21, 2020, and the buyer’s identity remains confidential.