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Source-linked reporting
theartnewspaper.com
Roland Dumas and Jacques Tajan are ordered to trial for abuse of confidence related to proceeds from Giacometti estate sales. The case concerns funds allegedly retained by Tajan from 18 Giacometti estate pieces sold in the mid-1990s to cover costs, with Dumas as executor and implicated in overcharging fees.
nytimes.com
Victor Vekselberg, chief operating officer of TNK-BP, buys the Forbes family Imperial Fabergé eggs collection, reportedly paying about $100 million; the deal includes nine imperial eggs and about 180 other Fabergé objects and is not disclosed by Sotheby's.
forbes.com
The Forbes family, publishers of Forbes, owned the largest private collection of Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs and sold it privately to Victor Vekselberg. Pre-auction estimates for the collection were $80 million to $120 million, with Sotheby’s in New York previously planned to auction the eggs.
nytimes.com
The article reports that Victor Vekselberg purchased the entire Fabergé collection owned by Malcolm Forbes's family, including the nine imperial Easter eggs and about 180 other pieces, with the aim of returning them to Russia. Sotheby’s had planned to auction the items in New York, and estimates suggest the purchase price may have been around $100 million, though the exact amount was not disclosed.
washingtonpost.com
The Washington Post reports that Victor Vekselberg acquired the Forbes collection of Faberge art objects, including nine imperial Easter eggs, from Malcolm S. Forbes. Sotheby's had estimated the collection at $90 million to $130 million, and the purchase was described as significant for Russia's cultural heritage and repatriation efforts.
antiquesandthearts.com
The Forbes Collection of Fabergé, scheduled to be sold at Sotheby’s on April 20-21, 2004, has been sold privately to Russian industrialist Victor Vekselberg for an undisclosed amount. Highlights, including the Imperial Easter Eggs, will be publicly exhibited at Sotheby’s in New York before returning to Russia.
upi.com
Viktor Vekselberg, who recently bought a 200-piece collection of Faberge art, plans to publicly display the collection, which includes nine Easter eggs commissioned by Nicholas II. The exhibit will begin in Yekaterinburg and will travel to other Russian cities, with the Coronation Egg as its centerpiece.
thetimes.com
The Times reports that the Inland Revenue agreed to a £13 million tax deduction when the National Gallery agreed to buy Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks for £22 million after tax relief from a gross £35 million. The deal keeps the painting in Britain, despite doubts about its attribution, with the Duke of Northumberland originally planning a sale to the J Paul Getty Museum for £35 million. The douceur provision is intended to encourage pre-eminent works to stay in the UK through private treaty sales to public institutions.
independent.co.uk
Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks was saved for the nation after the J Paul Getty Museum withdrew from its bid. Charles Saumarez Smith announced that the National Gallery purchased the work for £22m, helped by a donation from Christopher Ondaatje and with £11.5m from the Heritage Lottery Fund; Sotheby’s facilitated a private treaty sale after the Getty pullout.
artforum.com
The article discusses a deal between Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, which guarantees the MFA at least one million dollars for loaning twenty-one Monet paintings. It notes the exhibition Monet: Masterworks From the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has attracted strong attendance since January 30, with eighteen thousand visitors in the first ten days and potential for revenue to exceed a million dollars by the show’s September end.
antiquesandthearts.com
The National Gallery and the Duke of Northumberland announce a private treaty sale of Raphael’s Sixteenth Century painting known as The Madonna of the Pinks, with the National Gallery paying $41.5 million to keep the work in England; the work is an oil on fruitwood panel measuring 11.4 by 9 inches and depicts the Virgin with the infant Jesus amid pink flowers.
thetimes.com
The Sunday Times reports that The Taking of Christ will travel to Milan in October for display at the Museo Diocesano, with Italian owner Mario Bigetti lending an identical painting to be hung beside it to compare authenticity. Sir Denis Mahon and Maria Letizia Paoletti comment on the paintings’ authenticity, while Raymond Keaveney of the gallery and Sergio Benedetti discuss the opportunity to evaluate the two works side by side; Mahon also mentions an Rome exhibition planned for 2006.