Monthly archive
10 headlines
Source-linked reporting
fromthefloor.blogspot.com
Todd Gibson reports on From the Floor about The Thomas Kinkade Company acquiring Maurizio Cattelan, a move described as extending Cattelan’s brand presence in North America. The press release states TKC will acquire rights to all future production by Maurizio Cattelan for an undisclosed cash amount and notes a long-term contract for site-specific works with museums and biennials.
elpais.com
The Sánchez Cotán still life Cardo y francolín (c. 1600) sold at Christie’s in London for 5.85 million euros, a record for a Spanish still life. The buyer is an American private bidder whose identity was not disclosed. Also sold was El Greco’s The Baptism of Christ (ca. 1567–1570) to Creta, Greece, for 1.14 million euros.
irishexaminer.com
The owner of Exclusive Art gallery in Manhattan, Ely Sakhai, and office manager Houshi Sandjaby admitted roles in a scheme involving forged paintings by artists such as Marc Chagall and Pierre-Auguste Renoir totaling €5.5 million (£3.8m). Sakhai agreed to pay €10m and forfeit 11 paintings, with a prison term of three to four years; Sandjaby faces up to five years. The forged works spanned at least 15 years and involved copying authentic paintings and aging coatings to look authentic.
nypost.com
Ely Sakhai, owner of Exclusive Art, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy for commissioning forgeries of works by Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Klee and Paul Gaugin, and selling them for about $7 million over 15 years. He agreed to pay $12.5 million in restitution and to forfeit 11 paintings; gallery manager Houshi Sandjaby also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy.
mg.co.za
Gauguin, Renoir, Chagall, Modigliani, Klee, Cezanne. Artwork titles mentioned: Vase de Fleurs by Gauguin, Le Mont Kolsas by Monet (though Monet is named among artists, not artwork title), Le Roi David dans le Paysage Vert by Chagall. restitution $12,5-million, estimated $3,5-million illicit gains, original sale at Sotheby’s for £169 000. Museums/rooms: none. The page discusses Ely Sakhai’s fraud involving copies of paintings attributed to Gauguin and other artists, ultimate restitution, and auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
latimes.com
Suzanne Muchnic reports that MOCA received a gift of 123 works by 78 artists from E. Blake Byrne, a MOCA trustee. The donation significantly expands the museum's holdings, including works by John Baldessari, Mike Kelley, Robert Gober, Ed Ruscha and Andy Warhol, and adds new names to the collection.
nytimes.com
The artist Kehinde Wiley is featured in a studio visit profile by Mia Fineman, published December 19, 2004, describing Wiley at his West 23rd Street studio ahead of Art Basel Miami Beach; the article notes his representation by major galleries in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
codart.nl
Willem van Haecht Apelles paints Campaspe is mentioned in the page; the main article discusses Peter Paul Rubens, Venus disarming Mars, and its discovery at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg after being looted from Königsberg Castle in East Prussia in 1945, with discussion of ownership and potential return.
standard.co.uk
Damien Hirst's pickled shark could be heading out of the country after Charles Saatchi agreed to sell the artwork for £6.25 million. The deal will mean that Saatchi will make a £6.2 million profit on the work he bought 13 years ago for £50,000.
antiquesandthearts.com
Claude Hirst, born Claudine, is discussed in relation to the trompe l’oeil still life tradition in America at the turn of the twentieth century. Approximately 30 paintings by Hirst are featured in the Columbus Museum of Art exhibition Claude Raguet Hirst: Transforming the American Still Life, on view January 15–April 10 at 480 East Broad Street.