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Source-linked reporting
elpais.com
The Magritte painting L oiseau du ciel, an oil on canvas, 68.5 by 48 cm, was sold in Brussels for 3.4 million euros during Sabena's collection sale. The buyer’s identity was not disclosed, but it was noted the purchaser is a well-known Belgian figure and the work will not leave the country; the sale also included other Sabena assets and items such as 30 numbered lithographs.
deseret.com
Michel Cohen, a New York art dealer, was arrested in Brazil for allegedly selling Pablo Picasso's Nu Accroupi for $4.5 million and collecting $7.5 million for a Monet painting he did not deliver. The gallery involved was Richard Gray Gallery in Manhattan, and extradition proceedings were initiated by U.S. authorities.
elpais.com
Sotheby’s vendió la pintura Dans Les Roses (Madame Leon Clapisson) (1882) de Pierre-Auguste Renoir por 23,5 millones de dólares, con comisión incluida, a un empresario de Las Vegas, Steve Wynn. La obra, previamente estimada entre 20 y 30 millones, fue adquirida vía teléfono móvil durante la subasta que marcó el inicio de la temporada de primavera.
munhwa.com
Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte's work L’Oiseau de Ciel (Sky Bird) was auctioned for 3.4 million euros (about 4.7 billion KRW) to raise severance for workers of the bankrupt Sabena airline; the painting is noted as one of Magritte's best-known cloud-and bird images sold in years. The owner Sabena Airlines had kept it since the 1960s after commissioning the work.
telegraph.co.uk
Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting titled In The Roses (a portrait of Mme Leon Clapisson) sold for £14.6 million at Sotheby's in New York. The work had been rejected by the commissioner, Leon Clapisson.
latimes.com
Steve Wynn paid $23.5 million for Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Dans les Roses (Portrait de Madame Leon Clapisson) at Sotheby’s in New York. Three works consigned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, two Degas pastels and a Renoir painting, also sold for about $14 million. The auction total was $65.6 million, below the $70.9 million low presale estimate, with 11 of 39 works not finding buyers.
elpais.com
El Estado compró por 3,5 millones de euros dos cuadros de Francisco de Goya, de tema religioso, tras una subasta de Alcalá Subastas en Madrid. Los lotes formaban parte de una colección tasada previamente y fueron declarados inexportables por la Junta de Calificación, Valoración y Exportación de Bienes del Patrimonio Histórico Español.
iol.co.za
Two previously unknown paintings by Francisco de Goya were auctioned in Madrid for €3.5-million (about R29-million). The Spanish state acquired them via right of first refusal, likely for display at Madrid's Prado museum. The works are Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) and Tobias y el Angel (Tobias and the Angel), painted in 1787.
nytimes.com
The New York Times report covers Christie’s auction night where Mark Rothko’s No. 9 (White and Black on Wine) led sales, selling for 16.3 million to Robert Mnuchin; Arshile Gorky’s Year After Year failed to meet its estimate of 13-15 million; François Pinault emerged as the top seller, with Christie’s handling his Rothko sale. The event totaled 69.7 million, with 18 of 61 works unsold, and comparisons were drawn to Sotheby’s lower 27.3 million showing.
nypost.com
Sam Waksal, founder of ImClone Systems, sold two paintings at Sotheby’s for a 19 percent loss, after paying $3.3 million for the pair which brought in $2.7 million. He is liquidating nine masterwork paintings bought for $15 million. The article mentions Gagosian’s involvement and bids at Sotheby’s, including a $5.27 million Jackson Pollock and other works by Willem de Kooning and Roy Lichtenstein.
washingtonpost.com
Claes Oldenburg’s Soft Light Switches sold for $360,000 (total price $405,500 including commission) at Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg, part of Enron’s five-work auction that yielded about $1 million. The sale included works by Donald Judd and Jack Pierson; Enron owed billions amid Chapter 11 filings since 2001.
antiquesandthearts.com
John Sloan’s Easter Eve, a nighttime New York City scene from 1907, was the top lot at Sotheby’s auction, selling for $3,032,000. The Potamkin Collection’s top lot was Theodore Robinson’s Boats at a Landing, which sold for $2,136,000, exceeding its high estimate; several other artists set auction records.
theartnewspaper.com
The Art Newspaper reports that the 10th International Fine Art Fair, organized by Brian and Anna Haughton, ran from 9 to 14 May at the Seventh Regiment Armory and featured Old Master and modern paintings, drawings, and sculpture. Highlights included Jan Breughel the Younger’s Landscape with a village feast sold to Galerie d'Art Saint-Honoré for about $2.4 million, and notable works in works on paper such as Redouté's Hydrangea, Hyacinths, Saint-Jacques Lilies and Daisies sold for $600,000; an 1817 Ingres pencil portrait of Mrs Pellew sold for $450,000; a Klee watercolour Kopfracht sold for $650,000; a Fontana Concetto Spaziale sold for $585,000; and other six-figure sales across several dealers.