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24brussels.online
Ettore Pagano, an Italian cellist, won the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Competition for Cello in Brussels. Tae-Yeon Kim took second, Leland Ko third; Pagano will play the Pablo Casals cello for four years and receive 25,000 euros plus concert engagements.
The Strad
Italian cellist Ettore Pagano, 23, won First Prize at the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition in Brussels, receiving the Queen Mathilde Prize of 25,000 euros and a four-year loan of the 1733 Matteo Gofriller cello known as the Casals, courtesy of the Pau Casals Foundation, along with concert engagements.
Christie’s
Christie’s examines Two flower paintings by ‘the greatest of all’ Dutch still-life artists: Jan van Huysum and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
The Art Newspaper
Christie's will offer the Clermont-Tonnerre Grail, a richly illustrated medieval manuscript, in London with a £1.5 million to £2 million estimate. Produced around 1290 to 1310, it preserves early versions of the King Arthur, Merlin and Holy Grail narratives.
The Art Newspaper
A researcher for Gustav Schweitzer's heir says a Cezanne watercolour shown at the Fondation Beyeler was lost through Nazi persecution. Archival records document Schweitzer lending the work in 1936, while its later transfer remains unresolved between a possible forced sale and looting.
Apollo Magazine
Apollo analyses New York's May 2026 marquee auctions, in which more than $2.5bn of art sold. Jackson Pollock's Number 7A (1948) set a record at $181.2m, roughly three times his previous $61.2m high, and Constantin Brancusi's Danaide (1913) made $108m; other results cited include Mark Rothko's No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe) at $98.4m and Brown and Blacks in Reds at $85.7m, Henri Matisse's La Chaise lorraine at $48.4m, Gerhard Richter's Kerze (Candle) at $30m hammer, and a Donald Judd stack at $12.8m, with Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Andy Warhol, Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre and Joan Miro also discussed.
Christie’s
Christie’s reports on The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and Christie's Unveil 'The Meeting Ground: Scenes from the KNMA Collection'. Its source account states that lONDON – The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi and Christie's London announce The Meeting Ground: Scenes from the KNMA Collection .
press.christies.com
Christie’s New York achieved more than $1.45 billion across nine sales spanning Impressionist & Modern, Post-War & Contemporary, American and Latin American Art during the Spring Marquee Week. Adrien Meyer donated a Mark Rothko from the Agnes Gund collection for $98.4 million; the event marked the highest Spring total in Christie’s 260-year history. The results contribute to a global Marquee Week total exceeding $2 billion in 2026 across New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris.
Sotheby's
Sotheby's reports its New York spring 2026 season closed with $908.6 million in sales across its Contemporary and Modern evening and day auctions. Highlights included Mark Rothko's Brown and Blacks in Reds at $85.8 million, Henri Matisse's La Chaise lorraine at $48.4 million, Pablo Picasso's Arlequin (Buste) at $42.6 million, Vincent van Gogh's La Moisson en Provence at $29.4 million, Andy Warhol's Brigitte Bardot at $24.8 million, Alberto Giacometti's La Clairiere at $23.1 million, and Roy Lichtenstein's Girl in Mirror at $6.4 million.
Bonhams
Bonhams concluded its 20th and 21st Century Art Week at its new New York flagship at 111 West 57th Street with a grand total of $28.34 million, its evening sale held on 20 May 2026. The single-owner Renoir Collection of Gabrielle Renard sold all 21 works for $4.1 million, led by Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Fleurs (1887) at $559,300 and Gabrielle a la blouse blanche (1907) at $381,500; other highlights were Yoshitomo Nara's Words Mean Nothing at All at $5.02 million, Constantin Brancusi's La Muse endormie II at $3.09 million, and Rene Magritte's Le miroir vivant at $2.06 million.
Christie’s
Christie’s reports on The Collection of Henry S. McNeil, Jr. and Marian's Richters & the 21st Century Evening Sale Total: $162,698,350. Its source account states that nEW YORK – Following two days of record-breaking sales across eras and categories, Christie's continued its billion-dollar Spring Marquee Week with back-to-back evening sales on Wednesday, May 20 showcasing works from the post-war and contemporary eras: Defined Space: The Collection of Henry S.
Phillips
Christie’s examines PHILLIPS’ MORNING AND AFTERNOON SESSIONS OF MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART ACHIEVE $30.5 MILLION, A 40% INCREASE FROM MAY 2025 and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
GraffitiStreet
Banksy's Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape (2012), from the artist's Crude Oils series, sold for US$18 million (about 13.3 million pounds) at a Fair Warning auction held inside Tiffany and Co's Landmark store on Fifth Avenue in New York on 20 May 2026. The price placed the work among the highest ever paid for a Banksy.
The Art Newspaper
Christie's evening auctions in New York on 20 May 2026, featuring Gerhard Richter works from the collection of the late dealer Marian Goodman, totaled $162.6 million with fees. Gerhard Richter's Kerze (Candle) (1982) sold for $35.1 million, a Donald Judd untitled plexiglass and copper stack for $12.8 million, Carl Andre's 66 Copper-Carbon Corner for $1.1 million, and Jean-Michel Basquiat's Asbestos (1982) for $6.5 million.
Artlyst
A market wrap of the May 2026 New York evening sales reports Christie's delivered a double-header that totalled $1.1 billion on its opening night, Sotheby's followed with $303.9 million in Modern art, and Phillips added $115.2 million, for a week the report frames as around $1.8 billion across the three houses. Highlights cited include Jackson Pollock's Number 7A (1948) at $181.2 million, Henri Matisse's La Chaise Lorraine at $48.4 million, Pablo Picasso's Arlequin (Buste) at $42.6 million, a Donald Judd untitled stack at $12.8 million, and Andy Warhol's Sixteen Jackies (1964).
news.artnet.com
Gerhard Richter, 18. Juni 2009 (2009), from Marian Goodman’s collection, sold for $82,550 (with fees $82,550) and one of eight Richter works, Kerze (Candle) (1982), sold as part of the Goodman holdings; the Christie’s sale overall totaled $162.7 million. The lot group including Kerze and seven other Goodman Richters netted $78.8 million in a 42-lot sale at Christie’s in New York.
The Art Newspaper
Phillips's Modern and Contemporary evening sale in New York on 19 May 2026 brought a hammer total of $91.73m ($115.2m with fees), with every lot sold. Andy Warhol's Sixteen Jackies (1964) was the top lot at $16.2m, followed by Claude Monet's La Route de Vetheuil, effet de neige (1879) at $9.9m, Jackson Pollock's Untitled (c. 1948) at $9.1m, Joan Mitchell's Plain (1989) at $6.8m, Lee Bontecou's Untitled at $4.2m, Helen Frankenthaler's Paloverde at $2.1m, and Anna Weyant's Dinner at $980,400.
The Art Newspaper
Sotheby's New York Modern art evening sale totalled 303.3 million dollars with fees. Henri Matisse's La Chaise lorraine (1919) from the Barbier Mueller Collection led at 48.4 million dollars with fees after a bidding battle, and his La Seance du matin made 20 million dollars. Other results included Pablo Picasso's Arlequin (Buste) (1909) at 42.6 million dollars, Vincent van Gogh's La Moisson en Provence (1888) at 29.4 million dollars, Alberto Giacometti's La Clairiere at 23.1 million dollars hammer, Mark Rothko's Untitled (c. 1959) at 9.27 million dollars, Georgia O'Keeffe's Pink Camellia (1945) at 2.6 million dollars, Yves Tanguy's Aux Aguets le jour (1939) at 1.8 million dollars, and a pair of Diego Giacometti Carcasse chenets at 512,000 dollars.
artnews.com
Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, and Vincent van Gogh were highlighted as blue-chip works during Sotheby’s Modern Evening Sale, which totaled $303.9 million with 98 percent of lots selling. The sale came in below the presale high estimate of $320.2 million.
shimamura.co.jp
The page discusses a Nicolas François Caussin violin from Neufchâteau, France, dated 1865. It provides specifications and notes that the instrument is a copy of a Guadagnini model, crafted by Caussin in his late period, with detailed measurements and a description of its finish and sound characteristics.
tarisio.com
Jason Price and Matthijs Strick report on the loan of the ‘Casals’ Goffriller cello to the First Laureate of the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition. The instrument, a Goffriller cello built around 1710 in Venice, was owned by Pablo Casals and will be loaned for four years by the Fundació Pau Casals.
rehs.com
The page covers Christie’s sale of the Newhouse Collection, led by Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A which set a new record at $157 million (with premiums $181.2 million). It also discusses Constantin Brâncuşi’s Danaïde, with an estimate on request. The event relates to S. I. Newhouse and the Condé Nast group.
thetamesis.com
The Christie’s SI Newhouse Collection and 20th-century art evening sale totaled $1.1 billion. Highlights include a Pollock at $181.2 million and a Rothko at $98.4 million, with strong bidding in the American art market and a substantial sub-$20 million market presence.
ArtMajeur Magazine
At Christie's New York, Jackson Pollock's drip painting Number 7A, 1948 sold for 157 million dollars hammer, or 181.2 million dollars with fees, a record for the artist, as part of the sale of the S.I. Newhouse collection. In the same sale a bronze by Constantin Brancusi made 107.6 million dollars with fees, also a record for that artist. The 16 works from the Newhouse collection totalled 630.8 million dollars with fees.
artforum.com
Jackson Pollock, Number 7A, 1948, sold for $181.2 million with fees at Christie’s, a new record for Pollock; the painting had a $100 million guarantee. The sale contributed to Christie’s $1.1 billion evening totals. The Pollock was part of the S. I. Newhouse collection, which yielded multiple high prices for other artists including Constantin Brancusi’s ca. 1913 Danaïde, which sold for $107.6 million with fees.
MutualArt
At Frieze New York 2026, held at The Shed from 13 to 17 May, White Cube sold two 2025 works by El Anatsui for $2.2 million and $1.9 million, Thaddaeus Ropac placed a Georg Baselitz painting for 1.4 million euros, and Almine Rech sold a James Turrell installation for around $900,000 to $1 million. Korean galleries including Kukje and Tina Kim placed works by Ha Chong-Hyun and Kim Tschang-Yeul.
theartnewspaper.com
Christie’s back-to-back evening auctions of the S.I. Newhouse collection and its 20th century evening sale netted about $1.1 billion with fees, exceeding pre-sale expectations. The sales featured records for artists including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Constantin Brancusi, Joan Miró and Alice Neel, with notable works like Picasso's Tête de femme and Homme à la guitare achieving high prices.
trillionairedaily.com
The Christie’s Newhouse Collection sale at Rockefeller Plaza cleared its $450 million projection range, with Pollock Number 7A and Brancusi Danaïde both hitting the $100 million zone. The leads were Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A (1948) and Constantin Brancusi’s Danaïde (circa 1913), both selling at or above estimates; the sale is noted as a milestone for Newhouse-related auction activity and as a tone-setter for the rest of New York’s marquee week auctions.
artnews.com
Agnes Gund's Rothko painting No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe), 1964, sold at Christie’s New York for a hammer price of $85 million and $98.4 million with fees, setting a new Abstract Expressionist auction record. The work carried an $80 million estimate and was originally purchased from Rothko in 1967 by Gund, who led MoMA from 1991 to 2002.
The Value
Sotheby's The Now and Contemporary evening sale in New York totaled US$266.8 million with fees, selling 40 of 44 lots. Jean-Michel Basquiat's Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown) (1983) led at US$52.7 million; other results included Willem de Kooning's Untitled III at $26m, Andy Warhol's Brigitte Bardot at $24.83m, Lucio Fontana's Concetto spaziale, Il cielo di Venezia at $16.49m, Mark Rothko's Untitled at $16.47m, Roy Lichtenstein's Half Face with Collar at $12.99m, Agnes Martin's Untitled #10 at $8.9m, Helen Frankenthaler's Cape Orange at $7.26m, Ed Ruscha's Me at $6.95m, and Keith Haring's Self-Portrait at $4.34m.
HENI News
Christie's Masterpieces: The Private Collection of S.I. Newhouse sale in New York totaled $630.8m, exceeding its pre-sale high estimate with a 100 percent sell-through. The top lots were Jackson Pollock's Number 7A (1948) at $181.2m, Constantin Brancusi's Danaide (1913) at $107.6m, Joan Miro's Portrait de Madame K (1924) at $53.53m, and Pablo Picasso's Tete de femme (1907) at $48.36m.
The Strad
Norwegian cellist Truls Mork was loaned the 1727 Iwasaki Stradivari cello, made by Antonio Stradivari on the shorter cello model with a back length of 721mm. The instrument is owned by the Anders Sveaas Charitable Foundation, which loans instruments to Norwegian and Nordic musicians. No value was stated.
artnews.com
Jackson Pollock, Number 7A, 1948, sold at Christie’s for a hammer price of $157 million, with fees totaling $181.2 million. The work was formerly owned by S. I. Newhouse and set an auction record for Pollock.
Sotheby’s
Sotheby’s reports on Collection Fred Feinsilber de Giacometti à Brauner | Art Auction & Sales. Its source account states that collection Fred Feinsilber de Giacometti à Brauner | Art Auction & Sales | Sotheby's.
press.christies.com
Christie's reports a single-night sales total of $1.121,126,500 across Masterpieces: The Private Collection of S.I. Newhouse and the 20th Century Evening Sale in New York, with Jackson Pollock and Constantin Brancusi achieving record results in the evening sales.
HENI News
Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale in New York totaled $490.3m, meeting its pre-sale estimate. The top lot was Mark Rothko's No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe) (1964) at $98.39m, followed by Roy Lichtenstein's Anxious Girl (1964) at $46.06m, Cy Twombly's Untitled at $45.48m, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Woman with Lilacs (Portrait of Nini Lopez) at $28.23m.
TEFAF
TEFAF New York 2026 opened at the Park Avenue Armory with an invite-only preview on 14 May and public days from 15 to 19 May, reporting strong momentum. Reported sales included ML Fine Art placing Andy Warhol's Mao in the first hour, Mennour selling Lucio Fontana's Concetto Spaziale for $2.3 million, Thomas Gibson Fine Art selling Henry Moore's Reclining Figure for $395,000 and John Chamberlain's Honeybee Banquet for $250,000, and Tina Kim Gallery placing Ha Chong-Hyun paintings.
stringsmagazine.com
Emily Wright reports in Strings Magazine that the Celebrating Women Luthiers exhibit demonstrates how women have historically been underrepresented in violin making, highlighting both modern and earlier female makers and the broader diversity of the trade. The article mentions Katarina Guarneri (née Roda) as a historically cited example and describes a traveling exhibit planned for 2022 in Atlanta, Vermont, and Virginia.
artnews.com
Sotheby’s May sale in New York totaled $433.1 million, led by an $85.8 million Rothko from the Mnuchin estate. The sale included 11 works from Robert Mnuchin and Adriana Mnuchin, with total group sales of $166.3 million with fees.
HENI News
Mark Rothko's Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957) sold for $85.78m at Sotheby's in New York on 14 May 2026, part of the Robert Mnuchin collection evening auction. The price represented a roughly 12 percent annualized return over its previous $6m sale in 2003.
Christie’s
Christie’s examines Christie’s must-have finds under $50,000 and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
homelesschroniclesintampa.blogspot.com
The post discusses Wolf, a violin maker associated with Guidantus lineage, born in Bologna in 1837, and his history including connections to Peter Psarianos and San Francisco; it mentions a Stradivarius lineage and a comparison of violin and viola making. The entry is part of a narrative on instrument making and ownership.
The Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper previews New York's May 2026 spring sales at Christie's, Sotheby's, Phillips and Bonhams, with works cumulatively estimated to bring between $1.8bn and $2.6bn. Estates and collections offered include those of S.I. Newhouse, Marian Goodman, Robert Mnuchin, Agnes Gund and Enrico and Adele Donati; headline lots cited include Gerhard Richter's Kerze (Candle) (1982) at $35m to $50m, Mark Rothko's Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957) at $70m to $100m, Jackson Pollock's Number 7A (1948) at about $100m, Constantin Brancusi's Danaide at about $100m, Pablo Picasso's Arlequin (Buste) up to $40m, Vincent van Gogh's La Moisson en Provence at $25m to $35m, and Jean-Michel Basquiat's Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown) (1983) at $45m and up.
usaartnews.com
France passes landmark restitution law for looted art. The article references New York’s May auction calendar with marquee sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Phillips, Bonhams, and Fair Warning, and mentions specific works such as Mark Rothko’s Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957), a 1948 Jackson Pollock drip painting, Claude Monet’s La Route de Vétheuil, effet de neige (1879), Yoshitomo Nara’s Words Mean Nothing at All (2012), Banksy’s Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape (2012), and details about the S.I. Newhouse collection.
The Local France
France's parliament unanimously adopted legislation allowing the government to return colonial-era looted artworks without passing a separate law for each object. The measure removes a major procedural barrier to restitution requests from countries including Algeria, Mali and Benin.
Christie’s
Christie’s examines Your guide to Christie's 20/21 auction week in New York and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
Christie’s
Christie’s examines Explore the 2026 Venice Biennale India Pavilion with curator Dr Amin Jaffer and its significance for artists, collectors, institutions, or the art market.
barnebys.co.uk
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, View of the Sea from Haute-Cagnes, 1910 (oil on canvas) was restituted to the heirs of Jakob Goldschmidt and then repurchased by the city of Hagen for display at Osthaus Museum Hagen; the arrangement was supported by Kulturstiftung der Länder, North Rhine-Westphalia state, and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
zmescience.com
The article discusses a MIT physics-based model of the 1715 Titian Stradivarius violin, created from CT scans and divided into millions of elements to simulate wood, varnish, strings, and air. It describes how altering wood, plate thickness, and f-hole openings in the virtual violin could change its sound, offering a computational approach beyond traditional sample-based virtual violins.
barnebys.co.uk
Barnebys Magazine reports that the Joachim-Ma Stradivarius violin, made in 1714 by Antonio Stradivari, is anticipated to fetch up to $18 million at Sotheby’s Masters Week in New York. The sale could set a new record for the most expensive instrument ever sold. The instrument previously belonged to Joseph Joachim and later to Si-Hon Ma, and proceeds from the sale would fund NEC scholarships.
The Art Newspaper
The Klesch Collection acquired Sandro Botticelli's The Virgin and Child Enthroned and will lend it to Oxford's Ashmolean Museum for three years. The painting was valued at £10.2 million under a UK export bar after selling at Sotheby's for £9.7 million with fees.
stringsmagazine.com
The article reports on Myrna Herzog’s 1685 Edward Lewis viola da gamba, valued at $200,000, that was severely damaged on an Alitalia flight. The viola was in a German Gewa hard case, and Herzog publicly criticized the airline after being unable to reach staff. The piece also points readers to related guidance on avoiding travel damage, FAA regulations for traveling musicians, and selecting protective cases.